S01.E07: San Francisco

[DearEvette]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I do appreciate the exposition sometimes.  I had no idea a relief pitching is different from regular pitching.  To me it is just the pitcher goes up there and throws a damn ball.  But yeah, I wish it wasn't at Ginny's expense.  By all reports she's been living breathing baseball since she was a kid.  She shouldn't be that naive.  Also meh on the nudie photes.  Glad they are over.  Liked the ESPN photo shoot but as a plot that storyline just kinda fizzled.

I loved the opening with Mike coming into the empty locker room with his legs all taped and his knees creaking.  Basically I love all things Mike.  Him in that ice bath-- Yikes!  I am not a huge fan of the flashbacks.  In a show like This is Us they are vital to the storytelling.  In this show they are distracting.  But I did like seeing the backstory of young Mike.  I don't know if it was just me but every time he or his mother walked about her "interviews" or "appointments" I kept putting quotations around the words.  I kept thinking she was a grifter or call girl.  Since they never said, I still think so.

I absolutely loved all of his interactions with Livan(sp?)  Mike has to know this is the guy being groomed to be his replacement and yet he still tries to give the guy good advice and is thinking of the team.

Speaking of Livan -- so according to Oscar fleeing Cuba gives you carte blanche to be an asshole?  What a contrast to his introduction as the newbie  on the team and Ginny's.  She worked hard to be included and tried very much to be part of the team, this guy is coming off as being rather cocky and selfish and is trying very hard to be this bad ass loner.  After they won the game everybody was in high spirits and there was a great sense of team camaraderie and he had to shut that down with a nasty remark to Mike. Screw him.  I hope he gets knocked down hard.

I am enjoying the evolution of Oscar as character.  In the pilot he just came off as a slick operator.  Now he seems more like the GM. I am  also liking the evolution of his relationship with Amelia. 

I am also liking they are incorporating more humor in the show.  Like when Ginny walked into the office where Buck and Al were and she was complaining about not starting.  Buck just says "two days off in ten days." and Then Al says "What he is trying to say, Ginny, is that we have two days off in ten days."  And Buck just looks at Al.  Ha! 

Also Ginny's cutter. And am I mistaken or did Livan of all people tell her to pitch it in that last game?

And finally, I would love to see pictures of Blip's Yorkies in questionable outfits.

[Jediknight]

17 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

Also Ginny's cutter. And am I mistaken or did Livan of all people tell her to pitch it in that last game?

He did tell her, because he knew the hitter would swing at anything close to the plate.

[Nanrad]

5 hours ago, wendyg said:

I'm increasingly less interested in this show and will probably abandon it soon. But in the meantime...I don't understand why they don't give up on having the characters explain stuff they already know to each other and simply introduce a rookie announcer who can go around asking questions and being told what's going on because it's somebody's nephew or niece being given a chance to learn. Or something like that.

btw, when did baseball start having 13 innings? I thought it was nine.

I do agree they could do it a better way--it just needs to be explained in some way because some of the viewers aren't familiar with the intricacies of baseball.

What I DO know (lol) is that, in order to end a game, a team needs to have +1 run more than the other team even if it's 1-0. If it's 0-0, it goes to another inning until someone scores. So, it can go for 13 innings, despite the normal innings being 9. Baseball doesn't have a clock, the innings end when the second team that hits gets three outs. So, it doesn't matter if the score is 0-0 or 10-10, someone needs to get 1-0 or 10-11 to end the game whether it be in the 9 or they have additional innings. It's an overtime of sorts.

[Dowel Jones]

41 minutes ago, Nanrad said:

btw, when did baseball start having 13 innings? I thought it was nine.

Unlike the other sports, someone has to win a baseball game.  Wait for it..... There's no tying in baseball.  Sorry.  What's the modern day Major League record, something like 18 or 20 innings?  Eventually someone makes a mistake from weariness and the game is over. 

Nice shoutout to Austin Powers when Mike stood up from the ice bath, facing the camera for a moment.

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, Dowel Jones said:

Unlike the other sports, someone has to win a baseball game.  Wait for it..... There's no tying in baseball.  Sorry.  What's the modern day Major League record, something like 18 or 20 innings?  Eventually someone makes a mistake from weariness and the game is over. 

Nice shoutout to Austin Powers when Mike stood up from the ice bath, facing the camera for a moment.

White Sox -Brewers in 1984 went 25 innings. It could be worse, it could be cricket.

[rippleintime17]

3 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Unlike the other sports, someone has to win a baseball game.  Wait for it..... There's no tying in baseball.  Sorry.  What's the modern day Major League record, something like 18 or 20 innings?  Eventually someone makes a mistake from weariness and the game is over. 

Nice shoutout to Austin Powers when Mike stood up from the ice bath, facing the camera for a moment.

The 2014 playoffs featured an 18-inning game. The first nine innings were completed in a little over two hours. The final game time? Nearly SIX HOURS! It was awesome. 

[yanksno1]

Like this show for the most part. It's staying on my DVR for now. The thing I find interesting is it looks like they have full cooperation in being able to use the stadiums and uniforms (just can't wear active player numbers). But all the undershirts are all wrong. It looks like they're using the generic Nike ones since it doesn't have any Padres logos on it. Plus the swoosh looks bigger then what the authentic ones MLB players wear. Then in the last episode, one of the players was wearing a Padres Nike t-shirt that is sold to us. For those that don't know, for what ever reason Nike sells different t-shirts and undershirts to us then what the players actually wear. They always get a swoosh on the collar for all the undershirts and t-shirts if they wear those under the jersey's. The other thing that I'm nitpicking at is obviously not every player is endorsed by Nike. There's Adidas, Under Armour, New Balance just to name a few and a bunch of players just wear "generic" official MLB undershirts with no swoosh. So I'm guessing there's some sort of agreement with Nike here as a sponsorship of the show (esp with last weeks episode where they endorse her) that everybody wears them on the team. So I find it really interesting that they have some sort of sponsorship with Nike, but don't get the authentic stuff. The other main gripe I have with this show is why is every game on Fox Sports 1? I get Fox is trying to promote the channel (which is prob the reason), but the Padres play on FSSD which would be nice to see used. Maybe since Ginny being the first woman ball player MLB and Fox would show every game on Fox Sports 1, but I doubt it. Sorry for the rants, but I just wished it was a bit more authentic in those area's coming from a baseball fan. It always irks me when I know a show/movie is in a certain time period and I see baseball caps in them and they have the '47 or New Era logos on the side of the caps when I know they didn't exist in those time periods. Costume designers have failed me in those occasions haha.   

[Neurochick]

I think this episode and the previous one showed is that today people aren't allowed to make mistakes, be crazy, do crazy things because of smart phones and social media, the Internet.  I remember when I was in college and a classmate streaked somewhere (well she was wearing a flesh colored body suit) and we all laughed, and that was it, but that was decades before smart phones and all that shit.  People did the same shit forty years ago that they do today, only then the world never knew about it.

[Nanrad]

8 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

Unlike the other sports, someone has to win a baseball game.  Wait for it..... There's no tying in baseball.  Sorry.  What's the modern day Major League record, something like 18 or 20 innings?  Eventually someone makes a mistake from weariness and the game is over. 

Nice shoutout to Austin Powers when Mike stood up from the ice bath, facing the camera for a moment.

I don't know how the quote was attributed to me because I didn't ask this--someone else did. lol. This is like one of the few things I know about baseball.

[ahisma]

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As a Giants fan, loved that this episode featured the real Giants broadcasters, Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow! Wasn't expecting that even knowing that this episode was going to take place in SF, what a fun surprise. 

I was so psyched to hear Kruk and Kuip! The whole SF trip was great, and I loved Al being a hometown boy.

[marina to]

On 11/11/2016 at 5:46 PM, DAngelus said:

Well, Rougned Odor, for one, obviously.

Suck fist, Joey Bats!  Can't wait for you to come back to a US-based team and see your stats collapse once you can't get those Quality Canadian Steroids any more.  

(Bautista, who had hit a total of 46 home runs in 5 years as an Oriole, Devil Ray, Royal and Pirate [2004-2008] and who managed all of 13 in his first year with Toronto, suddenly hit 54 bombs in 2010, at the age of 29, when most players' skills have started to decline.  Nah, not suspicious at all.  Perhaps 'roids are covered under Medicare up north, eh?)

He finally got regular playing time and they revamped his swing. His development had been completely messed up when he was a rule 5 player and ended up bouncing around through 4 different teams that year rather then getting daily work in AA. He always had power - that's why the O's rule 5'd him in the first place. Screw off with the sour grapes steroids thing. Where were people saying that when Chris Davis came out of nowhere, especially because he actually was using an approved drug (Adderall)?  Dominican hits 50 home runs? Must be on drugs. White American hits 50 home runs? Well, he worked on it. It's racist.

People outside Toronto don't get that in that moment of the bat flip heard around the world, Jose was all of us. Context is important.

Toronto sports fans had suffered from incredible disappointments from all the teams that had the major profile in the city. Toronto FC had never sniffed the playoffs in their entire existence. The Raptors made the NBA playoffs only a few times in theirs and had never gotten out of the first round. The Maple Leafs, the biggest team in Toronto consciousness, hadn't seen the playoffs since 2004 where they were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion.

In 2011, ESPN names Toronto the worst sports city in North America. Grantland calls us the worst sports city in the world. Frustrations turn to doom and gloom, a sense that the sports gods are against us. Fandom is a bleak place that always expects the worst.

And then the Jays go on a magical end of the season run and get to the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years. It's hard fought. We're now in a win or go home situation. The go-ahead run for the Rangers scores on a throw back to the pitcher which hits off the batter's bat - something crazy that all the media covering the game had never seen. We get angry, convinced we're getting screwed yet again. Some people took out their anger in throwing stuff on the field and while I don't condone that action, I understand it.

Have you ever been in a room with angry people? It's unsettling. Now amplify that by 50,000 people in an enclosed space because the roof is closed and that's the atmosphere going into the bottom of the 7th in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS. I'm convinced that's why in the bottom of the inning 3 errors on routine plays happen. We get the tying run across and we begin to hope.

Jose comes up to bat and the second he makes contact we know it's gone. Jose says he doesn't remember that moment. That's because he was all of us. He was our warrior, our champion. In that moment, we were saying a collective FU to decades of futility. It was the release of a city's angst. It was a fist pump with a bat and it was beautiful.

Odor sucker punching him because he dared to show his emotions after hitting one of the biggest home runs in Blue Jays history is the biggest piece of bullshit ever. It's ridiculous that MLB didn't throw the book at him. It was assault and he should have been arrested. And you Texas jerks CELEBRATED it.

So happy we swept your asses in the playoffs this year. Karma's a bitch.

And for those of you new to baseball, the 7th inning is online for you to see for yourself. It's one of the craziest innings of baseball ever. Here's a 5 minute recap.

Edited November 13, 2016 by marina to

[marina to]

On 11/11/2016 at 6:48 PM, ProudMary said:

Lastly, what bothered me about Ginny's relief appearance was that the Padres had taken the lead in the top of the 13th.  Assuming that their closer had already been used, why wouldn't Skip bring her in to start the bottom of the 13th as a clean inning rather than bring her into a bases loaded, one out situation?  I highly doubt they'd do that IRL.  Dramatic effect, I guess but a bit of an eye roll from me on that one.

I got the feeling he didn't want to use her but when the pitcher he had chosen couldn't find the plate, he had to do something.

[DAngelus]

4 hours ago, marina to said:

you Texas jerks CELEBRATED it.

The only parts of Texas I've ever set foot in are airports, changing planes from Las Vegas to the East Coast, just so you know.  I've literally never breathed open Texan air.

4 hours ago, marina to said:

He always had power - that's why the O's rule 5'd him in the first place.

The year before Baltimore drafted him, Bautista had hit a whopping five home runs.  They thought he was a spry 2B-3B; they never envisioned that sort of power.  His professional high in HR, pre-2010, was 24, hit in AA/AAA in '05. Then he went another 4 years without cracking 20 in any of those seasons, even at all levels combined.  And then, one happy day, with the age 30 decline phase looming on the horizon, he triples his usual power level.  Yeah, definitely all about the swing adjustments, sure.

And as for the "racism" thing, I don't like cheaters, of ANY color.  McGwire and his "cream", who first made a joke of the record book, is white.  Bud "let's make EVERY game an interleague game! And ALL clubs should make the playoffs! Wildcards for everyone!" Selig, who turned the blindest of eyes to the cheating, is white. Tony LaRussa and his clubhouse steroid dispenser Barry "Needles" Weinberg, both white.  Paul LoDuca, white.  John Rocker and his tree-sized neck, white.  Chipper Jones, whom nobody calls out but who has the same neck, white.

Barry Bonds, who ruined one of the great careers of all-time (3 MVPs in 4 years while clean, and he should have had the 4th one as well…Pendleton's award was a joke) by becoming the worst cheater ever, with his wearing that freakin' armor to the plate and having a swing with his hands in the strike zone, so covering the outside half of the plate was easy as pie and if you pitched inside you got a warning, so he ended up with insane walks totals (I swear, if I was managing against SF in '03, I would have just had my pitchers keep drilling him in the head and take my ejections and fines just because his every at-bat was a freaking disgrace by that point)…okay, he's black, but the exception to the rule.  Most of the cheaters I've disliked through the years are as white as the driven snow.  Or at least Jose Canseco and Rafael Palmeiro and Alex Rodriguez, all of Latino heritage, but light-skinned.  So no, not a racism thing, no matter how much you want to make it so.  

I swear on a Roger Clemens 'Roid Rage temper tantrum.  Bautista's sudden jump to the 50 HR threshold is IMO as legitimate as that of Brady Anderson (white) or Luis Gonzalez…i.e., not at all.

Edited November 13, 2016 by DAngelus

[DAngelus]

16 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

What's the modern day Major League record, something like 18 or 20 innings?

Ha! A mere pittance.  The longest game ever was a 26-inning tie between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves in 1920.  Called on account of darkness, as they didn't have lights in the majors back then.

Longest game played to a conclusion in one day was St. Louis over the Mets in 1974, 25 innings.  The go-ahead run scored in the top of the 25th when the Mets pitcher made a bad pickoff throw to 1st and the runner came all the way around to score because the RF was too exhausted to promptly dig the ball out of the corner.  There was a Minnesota-Chicago White Sox 25-inning game in 1984 or 1985, but the American League has (or had?) this lame curfew where no inning can start after 1.00 AM, so they stopped at some point and finished it off the next day.  Way to screw over the fans who stuck around.  Finish the damn game!

The longest game in professional history was 1981, between Pawtucket (AAA team for the Red Sox) and Rochester (then the Orioles' top farm).  32 innings until they gave up and called it off in the early morning, and then it ended quickly in the 33rd the next night.

Longest game in one day, professionally, to a conclusion, was in the Florida State League in 1966, between the St. Petersburg Cardinals and the Miami Marlins.  A quick 29 innings; Miami won on a sac fly.  (The centerfielder threw out a runner at the plate; unfortunately, it was a second runner trying to score on the play and one run was more than enough.)

[DAngelus]

9 hours ago, yanksno1 said:

why is every game on Fox Sports 1? I get Fox is trying to promote the channel (which is prob the reason), but the Padres play on FSSD which would be nice to see used.

The Fox Network games (Joe Buck doesn't lower himself to appear on cable…) are given prominence in some episodes, but we've seen FSSD announcers Dick "Oh, My!" Enberg and Mark Grant in several episodes as well.  I guess they just don't show the regional graphics for some contractual reason.  

We even got the great Giants announcer tandem of "Kruk & Kuip" (Mike Krukow/Duane Kuiper) for a bit in this episode.  Albeit with no FS Bay Area (or whatever) graphics for that telecast, either.

Edited November 13, 2016 by DAngelus

[wendyg]

raja et al: thanks for the explanation. Actually, *tennis* is the sport where there's no tie and you have to go out and win it. (Tennis is also the only sport I know anything about.) You can't send in a replacement or wait out the clock. Tennis plays a tiebreak when (most) sets get to 6-6, but you still have to win by two points, and it's entirely possible even for a tiebreak to extend infinitely. See also Isner vs. Mahut, Wimbledon 2010, first round, 70-68 in the final set, in a match that took three days to finish.

[romantic idiot]

Wait, I thought in Wimbledon now there is no tiebreak in the final set? In one of the Grand Slams for sure.

[yanksno1]

10 hours ago, DAngelus said:

The Fox Network games (Joe Buck doesn't lower himself to appear on cable…) are given prominence in some episodes, but we've seen FSSD announcers Dick "Oh, My!" Enberg and Mark Grant in several episodes as well.  I guess they just don't show the regional graphics for some contractual reason.  

We even got the great Giants announcer tandem of "Kruk & Kuip" (Mike Krukow/Duane Kuiper) for a bit in this episode.  Albeit with no FS Bay Area (or whatever) graphics for that telecast, either.

Totally missed that, thanks! That definitely adds to the further strangeness that they never showed the FSSD graphics when they're using those announcers. That's def a nice touch for Padres fans that they were used though. 

[Irlandesa]

7 hours ago, romantic idiot said:

Wait, I thought in Wimbledon now there is no tiebreak in the final set? In one of the Grand Slams for sure.

The US Open is the only one of the majors to use a regular tie-breaker in the fifth set where they play up to 7 points and it's over when one player wins by 2 points. The Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon all have fifth sets where the match's winner needs to win by two games. So those final sets can last a very long time.  The tie-breaker sets could, in theory, last a long time as well but it's easier to win two points in a row than it is to win two games in a row.

Still. No tie. Volleyball has similar scoring.

[Randomosity]

On 11/12/2016 at 1:44 PM, Dowel Jones said:

Unlike the other sports, someone has to win a baseball game.  Wait for it..... There's no tying in baseball.  Sorry.  What's the modern day Major League record, something like 18 or 20 innings?  Eventually someone makes a mistake from weariness and the game is over. 

Nice shoutout to Austin Powers when Mike stood up from the ice bath, facing the camera for a moment.

Wait, what can you still tie in? I mostly follow hockey, and they did away with ties in the pros a while ago. Volleyball can go on forever, I know that from playing myself.  I don't give a rat's arse about football, soccer, or basketball, so I guess I don't know what they do.

I wonder how taxing it is to extend play in the various sports. I know for insanely long hockey playoff games, players are basically inhaling pizza, gatorade, and bananas in the locker room, some even hooked up to IVs.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Some baseball points...

I don't have the same issue many have with Ginny never having been used in relief.  You typically want a reliever to have one "out" pitch.  This is usually a fastball, or some kind of split fastball which dives as it approaches the plate.  If a soft-thrower comes in, it's usually bad news - as should have been the case in this ep.  That batter made fantastic contact and was simply unlucky to not have had a hit.  I also believe she would have been treated with "kid gloves" throughout her career.  She would not have been asked to throw without sufficient rest and, I believe, would not have been asked to chew innings (complete games) as a starter.  She's just not built to take it.

Livan's flat refusal to study the hitters and then take a standard pre-game meeting with the starting pitcher would have meant an instant yanking from the starting line-up.  Oscar would have backed Al on this.   All of baseball would be that way.  It would have been better if the show had depicted him as lazily doing this, or just going through the motions.  A flat refusal was absurd.

Pitching from a full windup with any runner on third, and nobody on first with second base open, is entirely up to each pitcher.  Many starters, particularly, will go to a full wind up as Ginny did.  The only real issue would be a potential stealing of home.  A runner might could take a bit of a bigger lead, but if no contact is made, they risk getting thrown out by the catcher - as the Cubs showed time and again this season.  Relievers will almost always throw from the stretch, even with nobody on base.  They are almost certain to have to pitch from the stretch in any game they enter, so they just focus on that method.

[Raja]

40 minutes ago, Randomosity said:

Wait, what can you still tie in? I mostly follow hockey, and they did away with ties in the pros a while ago. Volleyball can go on forever, I know that from playing myself.  I don't give a rat's arse about football, soccer, or basketball, so I guess I don't know what they do.

I wonder how taxing it is to extend play in the various sports. I know for insanely long hockey playoff games, players are basically inhaling pizza, gatorade, and bananas in the locker room, some even hooked up to IVs.

Well since you asked both international futbol and American football (during the regular season only) can end in a tie game. Specifically for baseball except for the pitchers like Ginny who can only throw hard for so many pitches and to a lessor extent the catcher like Mike the game is waiting around before a quick blast of acceleration. Should the tie remain for an extended period baseball is like soccer and once a person leaves the game he can not return. However even though pitchers are specialist, most players on the team were the best player and hardest thrower at every amateur level of play and many of them in the pitching rotation during high school and junior play. So if a manager ran through all of his pitchers and the game was still tied in managing for the  season and not just a single game he might choose to move a position player like Blip to the pitching mound and save that last pitcher's arm for a latter game by moving him to the outfield in Blip's position.

In effect even if the rules dictate the battle must be completed  a manager doesn't want to lose the war because he used everything to win a single battle. As it looked like was about to happen this year in the World Series when the Cubs used up their "closer" (the best short relief pitcher) in game 6 and he wasn't up to his previous standard  in game 7.

[Purple Hyatt]

On 11/12/2016 at 0:44 PM, Dowel Jones said:

Unlike the other sports, someone has to win a baseball game.  Wait for it..... There's no tying in baseball.  Sorry.  What's the modern day Major League record, something like 18 or 20 innings?  Eventually someone makes a mistake from weariness and the game is over. 

Nice shoutout to Austin Powers when Mike stood up from the ice bath, facing the camera for a moment.

Cubs fan here...Cubs tied with Pirates back in September.  Cubs already clinched and Pittsburgh was out of the race.

http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/09/29/cubs-pirates-tie-game-rainout

[Raja]

;) Okay no ties except for an act of God and then the league decides what difference does it make and doesn't set up a double header to make up or finish the game. To the show's situation of running out of pitchers the 2002 All-Star Game with no advantage for winning and the chance of hurting the teams future by overusing the pitchers is closer to a real tie in baseball. And even an exhibition game ending in a tie so shock up the purist the rules of the game where changed so that the league which won the All-Star Game had its representative in the World Series awarded home field advantage to discourage settling for a tie in games that don't count for nothing except for a show for the fans

[romantic idiot]

14 hours ago, Randomosity said:

Wait, what can you still tie in?

Cricket.

[wendyg]

btw, what's a "cutter"?

[marina to]

On 11/13/2016 at 5:44 AM, DAngelus said:

I swear on a Roger Clemens 'Roid Rage temper tantrum.  Bautista's sudden jump to the 50 HR threshold is IMO as legitimate as that of Brady Anderson (white) or Luis Gonzalez…i.e., not at all.

So I took this to my folks on my Jays site and they had this to say:

Quote

Jose had four 35+ HR seasons over a six year period. If six years of tests didn't reveal anything, then I'm inclined to believe he's clean.

But to hell with logic! Gotta hate him because he's Dominican and plays on the Canadian team.

Quote

Judging by the one post, it's also patriotic/nationalistic bias as well. He inferred that Canadian teams don't have to abide by the same rules as the US teams, which is the dumbest thing I've ever read. If THIS is the type of insight we are getting from the accusers, it makes it hard to agree with them.

PEDs or not, Jose also walks a ton, he has a great eye at the plate allowing him to recognize good pitches to drive, great bat speed, an improved swing, and he started pulling everything. That alone can explain the surge. If he was on PEDs and getting away with it, good for him, so was a majority of the league at the time.

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People will believe whatever they want to believe.

The entire case against Bautista is literally "He used to not hit a lot of homeruns and then he hit a surprising number of homeruns".

You know who else is a clear steroid user, based on that reasoning? Wade Boggs. Jacoby Ellsbury. George Foster. Rico Petrocelli. Hank Sauer. Lefty O'Doul. Sherry Magee. Ozzie Smith.

And from an article ESPN wrote:

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Here's what the Baseball America Prospect Handbook wrote in 2003, when it named Bautista the No. 7 Pirates prospect after he hit .301/.402/.470 at Class A Hickory of the South Atlantic League:

"He has a good eye for a young hitter and should develop into a high on-base percentage guy with experience. Bautista is a good defensive third baseman with above-average arm strength and athleticism. To add versatility, he played center field in the Dominican League. Bautista hasn't been able to translate his bat speed into power yet, though that should come as his body fills out."

Bautista did hit 14 home runs for Hickory, and also outhit Robinson Cano and David Wright in the Sally League that year (although they were 2 years younger). Anyway, note the key phrases: good eye, athleticism, power potential.

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I was going to look to find that bat speed thing too. The scouts were drooling over that and no one could translate it into power except for Cito and Dwayne Murphy, with an assist by Vernon Wells. (By getting him to start his swing earlier)
http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201106/number-crusher-how-blue-jays-slugger-jose-bautista-experimented-his-way-greatness

 

On 11/13/2016 at 5:44 AM, DAngelus said:

The only parts of Texas I've ever set foot in are airports, changing planes from Las Vegas to the East Coast, just so you know.  I've literally never breathed open Texan air.

Quote

I'm pretty sure I know what fanbase this guy is a part of. It's all right there in the phrase "Quality Canadian Steroids". O's fan's gonna O's.

Whom the Jays beat in the wild card game this year. Who have had a hate on for the Jays ever since the 1993 All Star game, in which Mike Mussina got up to do a warm up and Os fans thought that meant he was going into the game, although Cito Gaston (Jays manager and manager of the American League team) had promised Os front office that he wouldn't use him since he had pitched only a couple of days prior. Mussina was being an ass but Os fans have always blamed Cito. That fan base has been looking to find reasons to hate the Jays ever since.

Edited November 15, 2016 by marina to

[Jediknight]

1 hour ago, wendyg said:

btw, what's a "cutter"?

A fastball that's kind of like a slider, because it breaks just before it reaches the plate.  Or you can call it the pitch Mariano Rivera perfected, and nobody's come close to duplicating it.

[marina to]

4 minutes ago, Jediknight said:

A fastball that's kind of like a slider, because it breaks just before it reaches the plate.  Or you can call it the pitch Mariano Rivera perfected, and nobody's come close to duplicating it.

Roy Halladay threw a great one.

[marina to]

On 11/13/2016 at 10:35 PM, Raja said:

In effect even if the rules dictate the battle must be completed  a manager doesn't want to lose the war because he used everything to win a single battle. As it looked like was about to happen this year in the World Series when the Cubs used up their "closer" (the best short relief pitcher) in game 6 and he wasn't up to his previous standard  in game 7.

I'm reminded of the Canada Day game with the Jays and Cleveland. The Jays went to position players, Cleveland went to a starter and won it in 19 innings. Cleveland then went 4-7 to the all star break. I ran into a Cleveland fan at that time and they said they had just finally got their rotation reset. The Jays went on a 7 game win streak right after and went into the break 8-3. A fine example of losing the battle to win the war. 

[Raja]

55 minutes ago, Jediknight said:

A fastball that's kind of like a slider, because it breaks just before it reaches the plate.  Or you can call it the pitch Mariano Rivera perfected, and nobody's come close to duplicating it.

We do know the next question is what's a slider since Ginny is supposed to be a screwball specialist.

Wiki types of baseball pitches.

[wendyg]

Nah, we have spin in tennis. :)

[Popples]

I didn't see the coach being Mike's dad, I thought he would be his favorite mentor coach who taught him everything he knows, but it made sense when he missed his dinner reservation with his wife and other kids just to spend more time with him. I'm guessing that Mike is the result of an extramarital affair, because his age looked to fall in between the two kids his father had with his wife. And way to go Dad, putting all that pressure on young Mike to be the adult when it comes to his mother.

How many times have they shown Blip and Evelyn's house and they're just no mentioning Yorkies. I need to see them.

On 11/12/2016 at 8:13 AM, attica said:

My greatest objection to the episode is how photoshoppy all the team nude shots were. I'm assuming MPG had body-double approval, because his new body was quite, quite good.

I've taken it upon myself to do extensive research into this, and while I somewhat lean towards a bit of photoshop, MPG's body isn't that bad to begin with. I'm going to crack a window.

[attica]

I maintain that MPG's body may be good, but I just don't think the body in the photo is his.  But yeah: more research won't hurt...

[Lonesome Rhodes]

MPG was asked to put on extra weight for this role and he gladly agreed.  He is more fleshy than he has been for most of his life.  He is very conscientious about taking great care of his bod.

[Court]

  Good grief, can we give the Jays thing a rest?  Face it, most, if not all, baseball players have used steroids at some point. Plenty still are.

I loved this episode. I'm a casual baseball fan but had no idea who Wally Pipp was. I did know the other stuff.

[Tetraneutron]

So I'm the only one who thinks it really was MPG's real body in the photo shoot? Lighting, makeup, photoshop, strategic posing and dehydrating before the shoot can count for a lot. Especially since we saw him naked in the scene where he meets Duarte for the first time, and while he looks very nice, he wasn't crazy cut.

As to Ginny throwing a cutter, my understanding is cutters are about 5 degrees slower than fastballs, maybe less. It's still a pitch that relies on speed and power. I was hoping to see part of Ginny's story be that, since she isn't going to be as physically strong as most guy pitchers, she relies on breaking stuff, control, and intelligence to get outs instead of pure heat. That would realistically be a part of her story - that she has to not only overcome people's skepticism because she's a woman, but that she can win without numbers that make radar guns light up. That's what they said in the pilot.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Tetraneutron

[topanga]

2 minutes ago, Tetraneutron said:

So I'm the only one who thinks it really was MPG's real body in the photo shoot? Lighting, makeup, photoshop, strategic posing and dehydrating before the shoot can count for a lot. Especially since we saw him naked in the scene where he meets Duarte for the first time, and while he looks very nice, he wasn't crazy cut.

Darn, I guess I'll have to watch those scenes again so I can give my informed opinion. I'm really taking one for the team, here. 

[rippleintime17]

40 minutes ago, Tetraneutron said:

So I'm the only one who thinks it really was MPG's real body in the photo shoot? Lighting, makeup, photoshop, strategic posing and dehydrating before the shoot can count for a lot. Especially since we saw him naked in the scene where he meets Duarte for the first time, and while he looks very nice, he wasn't crazy cut.

 

I do as well! 

[ClareWalks]

Definitely his body, maybe crazy photoshopped (like you said, dehydration plus high contrast can make those cuts pop) but all those pictures are, so who cares? MPG is sexy hot. Even with that beard!

[piequinn35]

Does anyone has a link of their photo shoot?

[DearEvette]

4 hours ago, Tetraneutron said:

So I'm the only one who thinks it really was MPG's real body in the photo shoot? Lighting, makeup, photoshop, strategic posing and dehydrating before the shoot can count for a lot. Especially since we saw him naked in the scene where he meets Duarte for the first time, and while he looks very nice, he wasn't crazy cut.

 

I think it is him.  At the top of the episode when he comes into the locker room and he's alone, IIRC he strips out of his shirt.  He is beefier than I think I've ever seen him (last time was in Franklin & Bash) but there was no fat.  He was cut & brawny.  I agree it is the lighting, the shadows, the pose (there is a twist to his torso, he is shown in 3/4 profile) and yeah a little artistic photoshop that shaves a bit.

BTW, can anyone tell me who the baseball player on the team is with the blond hair and beard who was in the scene with Mike at the start of the episode talking about his "screaming kids."?  I can't find him in the credits.  Is he a IRL player or an actor.  I have developed a small crush on him!

[topanga]

I watched the scenes again. I don't think the ESPN picture is his body. MPG looks great, even with the added weight, but in the ESPN photo, the body that’s supposed to be his has a more tapered waist than Lawson did coming out of the ice bath. Maybe MPG didn’t want to show his naked body on TV?

[biakbiak]

8 minutes ago, topanga said:

I watched the scenes again. I don't think the ESPN picture is his body. MPG looks great, even with the added weight, but in the ESPN photo, the body that’s supposed to be his has a more tapered waist than Lawson did coming out of the ice bath. Maybe MPG didn’t want to show his naked body on TV?

In This EW article Mark states it was him.

Quote

On preparing for this episode’s nude scenes and the team’s decision to support Ginny:
We didn’t put in extra work the day before. We put in extra work months before. Production gave us a heads-up that this was a storyline because they know how important it is for us to get into shape and to look the part. Mo McRae and I have been on very strict diets since the beginning of the show because we were preparing for these scenes. For me, I’ve had to gain some extra weight to look the part. We all sort of help each other with our diets and our workouts and keep each other honest during the process, because it’s hard to be on set all day and have craft service there and not get yourself in trouble. The day before, you don’t drink water, and before the scenes, you work out to pump yourself up — all of which I’d honestly rather not do, but I was glad with the results. I have so much respect for the people who do magazine spreads and model because it’s not easy.

Looking back on it, I know Mike is there for her and so is the team. Mike cares deeply for Ginny and for the team. Knowing that this is going to affect her in the way that it was going to, he wants to help Ginny, but it’s also selfishly for the team. Being the captain, he’s thinking, “What can I do to help?” and that’s the solution they came up with. However, looking back on it from an acting standpoint, you think, “Oh my God, I’ve got to get nude? Are you kidding me? I have to start working out harder. I have to diet. Oh shit!” I didn’t see the entire team’s photos, but I got to see a preview of Kylie Bunbury, Mo, and myself. I was pretty happy with myself, but not so much with Mo. I think he could’ve done better. (I’m kidding.) But I was pretty happy with the outcome. I thought, “Damn, that looks good.” (I’m speaking about Kylie, not myself, by the way. I would never say that about myself.)

[Court]

It's definitely his body. He says so. :)

Edited November 17, 2016 by Court

[topanga]

9 hours ago, Court said:

It's definitely his body. He says so. :)

Thanks. but his waist did look different between the time of the ice bath and the photo. Were working out and starving enough? Dieter's tea, maybe?

[biakbiak]

4 hours ago, topanga said:

Thanks. but his waist did look different between the time of the ice bath and the photo. Were working out and starving enough? Dieter's tea, maybe?

Most likely just photoshop.

[piequinn35]

Found it: http://hellogiggles.com/the-cast-of-pitch-get-naked/

[topanga]

Thanks for the link. Now I know why I thought MPG's body was someone else's. His chest and abdomen look fake--as if they belong on a Ken doll. His arms look real, but everything else is fake and silicone-looking. I don't want to see a painted, over-air-brushed picture of his torso. Not if the whole point of the Body Issue is to look at and appreciate the human body in all of our various forms. Granted, we're looking at the bodies of professional athletes, but still. They're all different. 

[Haleth]

Whew, finally caught up enough that I feel I can comment on this show.  In general, it's wonderful.  Great characters, great stories, enough of a surprise each week to keep it interesting.  (Last week having Cara be a good person and not exploiting Ginny by selling the video of her breakdown was a pleasant surprise.  This week learning of little Mikey's relationship with the coach was a genuine surprise.)  I love the comradery among the players, and between the players and management.  This is Ginny's story but it's more of an ensemble.  I can't help but compare this to Fri Night Lights, which I still think was one of the best written shows ever.  As in that show the characters in Pitch are real, organic.  I don't mind any baseball exposition since (like many fans of the show) my baseball knowledge is lacking.  But I'm watching more for the people I've grown to love.  

I'm certainly glad Al didn't join the team at the photo shoot.  I kept waiting for him to stroll in in a bathrobe too.  :0