MLB Thread

[attica]

I have not enjoyed having A-rod on the Yankees. I even hate his batting stance. So, understanding that others for whom I have affection like him anyway, I say Vaya con Dios.

(Out loud. In my head, it sounds way more like "Na-na-NAH-na, na-na-NAH-na, hey, hey, hey, Goo-ood bye-yi!")
 

[mojoween]

Aww I LOVE his batting stance.  I love watching him even when he chases way out of the zone.  I will be sad on Friday.

I appreciate that I am way in the minority amongst baseball fans around the globe attica and I have made my peace with that.

This is what sucks about getting old!  I'm tired of watching my favorite players hanging them up across all sports and trying to latch on to these new young whippersnappers I have nothing in common with, other than I am old enough to be their mother.

Edited August 7, 2016 by mojoween

[mojoween]

Joe HAS to play ARod once in Boston so the fans are given the opportunity to boo him lustily one last time.

[King of Birds]

I didn't watch the press conference, but I recall at some time that ARod wasn't going to do a "farewell tour" like DJ. So the "one week notice" works for me. I think his time on the bench got to him. Especially so close to 700- which lets face it- after last year I bet he thought he'd fly by Ruth.

5 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Joe HAS to play ARod once in Boston so the fans are given the opportunity to boo him lustily one last time.

HAS TO PLAY HIM IN BOSTON, yes yes yes.

BTW if there ever was a day to follow Red Sox fans on twitter.. today and this next week should be fun.

Edited August 7, 2016 by King of Birds

[Bort]

31 minutes ago, mojoween said:

Joe HAS to play ARod once in Boston so the fans are given the opportunity to boo him lustily one last time.

That was pretty much the fun of the Rangers acquiring Beltran: Astros fans getting more opportunities to boo him  

[jennifer6973]

God Bless Mark Melancon

 

Nats win

 

Sorry Giants fans.

 

Now if only the Indians play the way the played the Yankees the first and third games of this series on Tues/Wednesday that would be great.

[attica]

I was thinking I also wouldn't miss Michael Kay's habit of crawling all the way up A-Rod's ass, but it is now clear to me that he will still do so -- in memoriam. Ugh.

[rippleintime17]

Madison Bumgarner is the new Matt Cain. Throws a complete game, gives up two hits and loses. Jeez.

[Rick Kitchen]

MadBum pitched an 8-inning 2 hitter, and lost 1-0.  Dammit, Giants,

[Lantern7]

So . . . when will #13 be retired? And A-Rod will be going into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee, right?

ETA: In 1969, Steve Carlton struck out 19 Mets and lost. Is that relevant?

[MyAimIsTrue]

Congratulations to Ichiro on his 3,000th hit!

[jennifer6973]

Sorry about the Giants loss, but if they could go back to their winning ways in Miami, that would be awesome.

 

and yes Congrats to Ichiro on the 3000th hit.  Now they can stop talking about it.

[King of Birds]

20 hours ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

Congratulations to Ichiro on his 3,000th hit!

Just saw this story about Ichiro and his All-Star game rallying speech to the players. Makes me like him even more.

[MyAimIsTrue]

That is awesome!  Count me as one who didn't know Ichiro even spoke, let alone knew any English.  He's quite the enigma and I love it.

[smittykins]

I remember watching a clip of him at an All-Star Game(one that Joe Torre managed)where Joe asked him, "What'd you tell me last year?" and Ichiro acted embarrassed.  Joe said, "It's okay.  Tell 'em what you said last year."  Ichiro finally said, "Let's kick their ass!"(bleeped because it was on TV, probably MLB Network).  The entire room lost it.

[MyAimIsTrue]

I saw a blurb where Curt Schilling said he wants to run for president.  Holy shit, he'd make Trump look like Mother Teresa, Gandhi, and Dr. King combined.

[King of Birds]

I just wish Schilling would GO AWAY. I like it when baseball players GO AWAY after they retire. Sure, you get a few who make it as an announcer here or there, but Curt needs to know his 15 minutes are gone.  What an ass. Pay back Rhode Island why don't you?

[mojoween]

Didn't he somehow, unfathomably, win his lawsuit?

Hated him as a player and he has only increased my ire as an "analyst."

[Lantern7]

The guy was instrumental to the 2001 Diamondbacks and 2004 Red Sox. Not saying he can walk on water, but never say never, y'know?

Heads up for Mets fans . . . the game with Bartolo's homer is now on SNY's Mets Classics.

[mojoween]

17 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

The guy was instrumental to the 2001 Diamondbacks and 2004 Red Sox. Not saying he can walk on water, but never say never, y'know?

Ha!  Exhibits A and B as to why I will always hate him.

Edited August 9, 2016 by mojoween

[King of Birds]

Let's band together and concentrate on his evil-ness, which is POST- BASEBALL CAREER, mojoween.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Brandon Crawford had a 7-hit night, one of only 5 baseball players to achieve that, and the first since 1975 Pirates' Rennie Stennett. Yet he still wasn't an All-Star this year.... ;) Long night of baseball.

[mojoween]

Tim Tebow is now invading my baseball.  What is it going to take for him to get the hell out of sports?  Why does the media fawn all over this guy??

[MyAimIsTrue]

I cannot stand Tebow or his public proselytizing.  He obviously has no skills with which to get a real job and that's why he's trying to stay in sports.

[King of Birds]

Right? He's just a more athletic George Costanza.

[Rick Kitchen]

After the Diamondbacks asked for millions of dollars in upgrades to their stadium, a county supervisor told them, "Take your stupid baseball team and leave."

[King of Birds]

Best. Headline. Ever.

[Lantern7]

What is Tim Tebow doing, baseball-wise? And are the Dbacks on the outs in Phoenix? If so, I don't know where they could move.

[rcc]

Montreal really wants a team again. 45,000 each game to see the Red Sox and Blue Jays in an April exhibition two game series this year. Of the 90,000 that weekend many fans from Vermont, Maine and upstate NY crossed the border. Canadians bleed hockey but also love baseball. Rusty Staub and other former Expo players were there and there's a movement going on to get a team. Tampa with their poor attendance record was mentioned but they probably would welcome the DBacks.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Maybe Tampa's attendance record will increase; as it should because they should be excited to see the Duffster play on their team. :-P 

3 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

After the Diamondbacks asked for millions of dollars in upgrades to their stadium, a county supervisor told them, "Take your stupid baseball team and leave."

The Dbacks need $$ to rebuild their pool which has been contaminated since the Dodgers all jumped in there. 

[rcc]

I hope so because 12,000 fans for a MLB game is pathetic.

The Giants let Panda go to the Red Sox because they knew Matt Duffy could play third base for them. They can have Panda back anytime IMO. lol

[MVFrostsMyPie]

I feel like a lot of the ballparks get rather shitty attendee numbers, which is a bummer. Whenever I'm watching an away game and they're like, "this sold out crowd of 27,000....!" for like a Friday night game with a giveaway, I think, ouch that sucks.

On the other hand I'm jealous when I view ticket prices for other ballparks because I could get darn good seats at other ballparks for the same amount of money I pay for bleacher seats at our ballpark on a weeknight. Or seats cheaper than the cost of a crab sandwich ?

ETA: Panda's not welcome back here :-P

Edited August 9, 2016 by MattDuffysCat

[rippleintime17]

42 minutes ago, rcc said:

I hope so because 12,000 fans for a MLB game is pathetic.

The Giants let Panda go to the Red Sox because they knew Matt Duffy could play third base for them. They can have Panda back anytime IMO. lol

That's actually not true. Matt Duffy wasn't the plan for 3B that year. They signed Casey McGehee, but he played his way out of the starting lineup, Matt swooped in and he stuck there. It's also what makes it weird when some Giants fans say the Giants were smart not to sign Pablo. They really wanted to sign Pablo! Pablo didn't want to go back to SF. They did dodge a bullet, but it wasn't their intention to, really.

[rcc]

Panda went to Boston because they didn't insist that he get checked on his diet. The Giants were well within their right and were smart to insist on it. The Red Sox FO are probably kicking themselves for not doing so. Of course they will never say it publicly.

Yes, the Giants dodged a bullet. I wasn't aware of McGehee but they did have a very good player in Duffy to play third. That's what I remember was mentioned when Panda was signed as a free agent in the Boston media.

[MVFrostsMyPie]

He burned his bridge when he said he would only miss Bochy and Pence upon leaving. He couldn't keep it classy.

[xaxat]

5 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

After the Diamondbacks asked for millions of dollars in upgrades to their stadium, a county supervisor told them, "Take your stupid baseball team and leave."

This is the letter the supervisor was delivering when the said that. It starts 

Quote

I write this letter to share with you my frustration with your recent behavior. Your slanderous public comments and attempts to rewrite history demand a response.

And goes downhill from there. A hundred years ago he would have been standing outside the stadium challenging D'back management to a gunfight. 

There's a reason why the debuts of 27 plus year old rookies occasionally get some highlight play on the MLB network. Because it's an unusual occurrence. And Tebow thinks he can be a thirty plus year old rookie making the show? 

Time to move on dude.

[ratgirlagogo]

8 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

After the Diamondbacks asked for millions of dollars in upgrades to their stadium, a county supervisor told them, "Take your stupid baseball team and leave."

Glory be, does this mean America is finally waking up to this scam?   Make it so.

[Mittengirl]

So now Prince Fielder is going to retire.  Sort of.   Apparently doctors will not give him medical clearance to play again after his second neck surgery, at least so says Yahoo Sports.  Neck issues would not be something I would want to take a chance on - if doctors are telling him he shouldn't play, he would be a damn fool not to listen, IMO.  Not like he will be hurting for money.

[Moose135]

8 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

So now Prince Fielder is going to retire.  Sort of.

Interesting fact I read this morning - if Prince does indeed retire, he will finish with 319 career home runs, the same as his father, Cecil.

[Lantern7]

Really? I remember Cecil hitting fifty homers back when that was rare. I would've guessed he had hit at least 400.

[smittykins]

Plus they're the only father and son to have 50-homer seasons.

[Carey]

Quote

Plus they're the only father and son to have 50-homer seasons.

Sounds like a story that's lead to a question from Jayson Stark (leading to a wrong answer).  Though I'd be curious to know if there are 2-3 other father-son duos with as many as 25-40 homer seasons.  Smart of Cecil getting out. Nice to love the sport, but IMO, it pales in comparison to loving life in general (even if your career is your life, and in most cases, that's probably not a good thing)

[Lantern7]

Is it wrong that I think of this in regards to Prince Fielder?

[mojoween]

The most interesting thing I learned about Prince yesterday is that he has been married for 11 years so was only 21-ish at the time.

(I'm not judging!  I was 22 and my hubby not legally able to drink champagne when we got hitched)

[mojoween]

If Joe Girardi is actively and purposely trying to humiliate A-Rod and send some sort of message I have lost a LOT of respect for Joe.  Alex did his time.  Did he behave badly when he tried to sue everyone?  Of course.  

But you can't accept the guy back with open arms, have the owner discuss putting up a plaque in monument park, and then make the guy look like a fool when all he wants to do is play baseball.

I understand my A-Rod island is very small and I'm ok with that.

[rippleintime17]

I am on your island. I think Joe looks pretty petty right now, especially since the team is clearly not playing for October and what does it matter if A-Rod comes up in the 8th and strikes out? It doesn't matter. Let the guy play. He'll be out of your hair for good in three days.

[MyAimIsTrue]

Question posed by my O's fan coworker:  Game seven, two outs, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, would you rather have Tony Gwynn or Ichiro at bat?

[mojoween]

What's the score?  If we only need one run I'll take Ichi but if we need the bases cleared I'll take Gwynn.

[xaxat]

Which one is more likely?

a)Ichiro is one of the Japanese celebrities that runs with the torch in the opening ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo games.

b)Ichiro, at 46 years old, makes the team for the return of baseball to the Olympics.

I'm rooting for "b".

[King of Birds]

3 hours ago, rippleintime17 said:

what does it matter if A-Rod comes up in the 8th and strikes out? It doesn't matter. Let the guy play.

I thought for sure they were gonna PH him last night in the 9th while Kimbrel was imploding.

And yes, Girardi is being an asshat.