Al East: Toronto Blue Jays Baltimore Orioles New York Yankees Boston Red Sox Tampa Bay Rays Notable Changes: Blue Jays add Josh Donaldson from athletics and may be favorites to take the division.
AL Central: Detroit Tigers Cleveland Indians Chicago White Sox Kansas City Royals Minnesota Twins Notable Changes: Tigers add David Price and look to take the division, Twins have a ton of young talent including top overall prospect Byron Buxton and may look to call up some of their young players as the year goes on.
Al West: Los Angeles Angels Seattle Mariners Houston Astros Texas Rangers Oakland Athletics Notable Changes: Rangers look to rebound after terrrible 2014, Athletics overhaul their roster and Angels will probably win this division easily.
Nl East: Atlants Braves Washington Nationals Philadelphia Phillies New York Mets Miami Marlins Notable Changes: This is the Nationals and Marlins division now. Braves overhauled their roster, Phillies will probably be the worst team in MLB (sob) and the mets are still probably a year away from contending.
Nl Central: St. Louis Cardinals Chicago Cubs Milwaukee Brewers Cincinatti Reds Pittsburgh Pirates Notable Changes: Cubs are most intruiging team in MLB. Army of young prospects including Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Jorge Soler will look to join Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro and take this team out of irrelevance.
Nl West: Arizone Diamondbacks Colorado Rockies San Diego Padres Los Angeles Dodgers San Francisco Giants Notable changes: Padres redo entire outfeild and will look to compete with the Dodgers for the division. Rockies must stay healthy but have the talent to compete deep into the playoffs.
4/5 Padres acquire closer Craig Kimbrel and outfeilder Melvin (formerly BJ) Upton for Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin + prospects.
4/17 cubs call up Kris Bryant, prized 3rd base prospect who has the potential to hit 40 home runs a year. 4/20 cubs call up Addison Russel, another prized prospect. Russel is a shortstop by trade but will play 2nd base with the cubs for the time being, he is regarded as probably the best shortstop prospect in the game, maybe beind the astros Carlos Correria. He will hit for great power at the position and play stellar defense. Cubs getting exciting and scary, I wish I was a fan.
On April 07 2015 05:15 Aveng3r wrote: NOTABLE TRADES and CALLUPS
4/5 Padres acquire closer Craig Kimbrel and outfeilder Melvin (formerly BJ) Upton for Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin + prospects.
God, remember when Cameron Maybin was a stud prospect in the Tigers' system? Remember when BJ Upton was an exciting player in Tampa? God, remember when Carlos Quentin could bop like crazy on Detroit?
On April 07 2015 05:15 Aveng3r wrote: NOTABLE TRADES and CALLUPS
4/5 Padres acquire closer Craig Kimbrel and outfeilder Melvin (formerly BJ) Upton for Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin + prospects.
God, remember when Cameron Maybin was a stud prospect in the Tigers' system? Remember when BJ Upton was an exciting player in Tampa? God, remember when Carlos Quentin could bop like crazy on Detroit?
On April 07 2015 05:15 Aveng3r wrote: NOTABLE TRADES and CALLUPS
4/5 Padres acquire closer Craig Kimbrel and outfeilder Melvin (formerly BJ) Upton for Carlos Quentin and Cameron Maybin + prospects.
God, remember when Cameron Maybin was a stud prospect in the Tigers' system? Remember when BJ Upton was an exciting player in Tampa? God, remember when Carlos Quentin could bop like crazy on Detroit?
On April 07 2015 05:15 Aveng3r wrote: Major League Baseball 2015 thread.
Al East: Toronto Blue Jays Baltimore Orioles New York Yankees Boston Red Sox Tampa Bay Rays Notable Changes: Blue Jays add Josh Donaldson from athletics and may be favorites to take the division.
the blue jays are not going to win the American League East this year. Alex Anthopoulos does not have the background as a scout and talent evaluator to make very smart and risky moves as GM. All he can do is make consensus type moves.
Anthopoulos is an average GM. so expect average results on the field.
Toronto should bring back Pat Gillick from Philadelphia if they want to get serious.
On April 07 2015 05:15 Aveng3r wrote: Major League Baseball 2015 thread.
Al East: Toronto Blue Jays Baltimore Orioles New York Yankees Boston Red Sox Tampa Bay Rays Notable Changes: Blue Jays add Josh Donaldson from athletics and may be favorites to take the division.
the blue jays are not going to win the American League East this year. Alex Anthopoulos does not have the background as a scout and talent evaluator to make very smart and risky moves as GM. All he can do is make consensus type moves.
Anthopoulos is an average GM. so expect average results on the field.
Toronto should bring back Pat Gillick from Philadelphia if they want to get serious.
NO YOU CANT HAVE HIM. WE NEED HIM.
How about the cubs right now? man, I wish I was a cubs fan. They are gonna have the scariest infeild in the game for quite a while pretty soon, and soler is no slouch in the outfeild. Of course I missed picking up russell in my fantasy league.
You know something is insane if it hasn't happened yet in baseball. Seems like everything, no matter how unlikely or odd, has happened before in the game.
In MLB’s official rules on the “legal pitching delivery”, the phrase “disengaging the rubber” is used, but only in regards to what a pitcher can and cannot do with regards to pickoffs. For instance, it specifies that a pitcher must drop his hands if he disengages the rubber — in order to show that he’s no longer preparing to throw a pitch — but there isn’t any wording in there that says you cannot disengage the rubber during your natural throwing motion.
The fact that Walden has been doing this for years without punishment set a precedent that it was legal, and Capps even got assurance from MLB that his delivery is indeed allowable.
Marlins reliever Carter Capps received some clarification from Major League Baseball regarding his unorthodox delivery, where he takes a small hop off the rubber. Basically, it was pointed out to the reliever to not elevate so high.
Capps’ mechanics came into question last Thursday, when he was pitching in the ninth inning for Triple-A New Orleans. Each of Capps’ first two pitches against Omaha were called illegal pitches, resulting in automatic balls.
Rather than have Capps change his delivery, which could lead to injury, he was instructed to intentionally walk the batter. After the four pitches, Capps was replaced.
The next day, the Marlins contacted Major League Baseball seeking clarification on what Capps, who has 88 games of big league experience, was doing wrong.
“They just said they wanted me to make sure I dragged my foot and not get too elevated in the air, and make sure it’s more on a lateral plane,” Capps said. “As long as I do that, they have no problem with it. But it was very strange.”
…
“It doesn’t look pretty, obviously,” Capps said. “But that’s the first time anybody had a blatant problem with it. They didn’t want me to get too much elevation. They understand I’m going to come off the rubber, but they wanted me to drag my toe a little bit more. I’m going to try to do that.”
So, according to Capps, jumping forward is okay, but jumping up is not. The league clearly knows their rulebook a lot better than I do, though I will admit that I was unable to find anything in the rules that would be the basis for that conclusion. That doesn’t mean it isn’t in there. Perhaps there is an addendum to the delivery rule that simply didn’t make its way online. This isn’t an area where I’m going to claim to have any kind of insight, because I’m not a rules junkie, and I’ve never umpired. If MLB says it is legal, then it’s legal.
TL:DR: There is nothing in the rulebook about leaving the rubber during a pitch. The Marlins asked for clarification from MLB and they said as long as he doesn't elevate while doing the "jump" then it is legal.
On April 27 2015 12:13 JimmyJRaynor wrote: if ur foot is not on the pitching rubber when you release the pitch it is a balk.
the pitch is a ball and baserunners advance 1 base.
You are misinformed.
here is my source.
according to MLB rules.
, "An ILLEGAL PITCH is (1) a pitch delivered to the batter when the pitcher does not have his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate; (2) a quick return pitch. An illegal pitch when runners are on base is a balk."
On April 30 2015 13:04 Spiller wrote: TL:DR: There is nothing in the rulebook about leaving the rubber during a pitch. The Marlins asked for clarification from MLB and they said as long as he doesn't elevate while doing the "jump" then it is legal.
the rulebook in this area is self contradictory. which is why he got away with this for so long. and why MLB waffled so badly.
dealing directly with this: he'll have to "push off" directly from the rubber.
until recently , he pushes off from the rubber, lands, and then pushes off again from a spot about 10 inches in front of the rubber if MLB lets him do this , next we'll have guys doing 4 leaps forwards and throwing the ball from 50 feet away.
in general what MLB will begin to do is also apply this rule with runners on base. "8.05(g) The pitcher makes any motion naturally associated with his pitch while he is not touching the pitchers plate;"
lots of pitchers' pivot foot is off the rubber when the pitch is out of the guy's hand. lincecum comes to mind. and umps let those slide. but what this guy did was really distinctly a second push off.
On April 30 2015 20:33 oneofthem wrote: lots of pitchers' pivot foot is off the rubber when the pitch is out of the guy's hand. lincecum comes to mind. and umps let those slide. but what this guy did was really distinctly a second push off.
MLB Umpires let both pitchers and hitters stretch many of the existing rules. but, the rule is still there.
another example is "The batter's legal position shall be with both feet within the batter's box." a lot of hitters back foot are not in the batters box.
so we've got pitchers releasing from a few inches off the rubber and hitters a few inches behind the batter's box.
Robinson Cano currently has the lowest WAR of all second basemen in the American League. Below even J.D. Drew. That 10-year contract feelin pretty heavy right now.
On May 26 2015 15:28 GhandiEAGLE wrote: Robinson Cano currently has the lowest WAR of all second basemen in the American League. Below even J.D. Drew. That 10-year contract feelin pretty heavy right now.
His power has totally dried up, it's weird. It's not like he's less patient, or chasing pitches, he just can't drive contact.
On May 26 2015 15:28 GhandiEAGLE wrote: Robinson Cano currently has the lowest WAR of all second basemen in the American League. Below even J.D. Drew. That 10-year contract feelin pretty heavy right now.
His power has totally dried up, it's weird. It's not like he's less patient, or chasing pitches, he just can't drive contact.
The cure for that came into widespread use in MLB in the 1980s. Steroids.
Eh, I talk shit, but Cano is a professional. He'll break out of the slump, he just needs to find his batspeed again. The mariners don't need a power hitter from him, they just need a singles-doubles kind of guy (and hes really high on the doubles list this year). I think he'll be alright. And the Mariners themselves are really starting to turn themselves around.
On May 26 2015 15:28 GhandiEAGLE wrote: Robinson Cano currently has the lowest WAR of all second basemen in the American League. Below even J.D. Drew. That 10-year contract feelin pretty heavy right now.
He's so bad, you're comparing him to J.D. Drew's less talented younger brother, Stephen Drew, without knowing it!
On May 26 2015 15:28 GhandiEAGLE wrote: Robinson Cano currently has the lowest WAR of all second basemen in the American League. Below even J.D. Drew. That 10-year contract feelin pretty heavy right now.
He's so bad, you're comparing him to J.D. Drew's less talented younger brother, Stephen Drew, without knowing it!
Interesting that the Mets go with a 6 man rotation now, no? I say they're trying to prevent their young arms from more Tommy John episodes a la Harvey and wheeler
On May 28 2015 11:53 Aveng3r wrote: Interesting that the Mets go with a 6 man rotation now, no? I say they're trying to prevent their young arms from more Tommy John episodes a la Harvey and wheeler
In Japan, starters pitch 1 time per week. should we be surprised that Yu Darvis had tommy john surgery.
On June 05 2015 09:17 Aveng3r wrote: They gotta update the posey rule, Phillies just got robbed by the rulebook
aren't the Phillies in the middle of the heavy lifting stage of a long rebuild? doesn't this make their record this year relatively unimportant if you're a phillies fan?
that said, the posey rule is pure stupidity. the blue jays #1 play-by-play commentator guy, Buck Martinez, had his career basically ended in a home plate collision. Even he is against the rule.
On June 05 2015 09:17 Aveng3r wrote: They gotta update the posey rule, Phillies just got robbed by the rulebook
aren't the Phillies in the middle of the heavy lifting stage of a long rebuild? doesn't this make their record this year relatively unimportant if you're a phillies fan?
that said, the posey rule is pure stupidity. the blue jays #1 play-by-play commentator guy, Buck Martinez, had his career basically ended in a home plate collision. Even he is against the rule.
Yes they are, I am actively rooting for them to lose every day so that maybe we can snag the next Bryce harper
That said, I still don't like it when dipshit rules calls screw their young guys out of production
On June 05 2015 14:06 GhandiEAGLE wrote: Lighting a candle in remembrance for the Mariners 2015 season. We had high hopes.
A reminder why you don't get hyped over a DH. Looking at you, Detroit.
Nelson Cruz hype far understated his current impact on the team. It's not even remotely his fault this season is happening the way it is.
I wasn't implying it was Cruz's fault at all; he's been one of the best hitters in the AL this year. I was merely pointing out that DH's have a limited impact on the game and whenever anyone signs one people get hyped through the roof that their team will be significantly better. On a similar note, fans and media do this will outfielders who can hit and can't play a lick of defense (San Diego).
Every year people lose their minds thinking the upstart teams who make splash moves in the winter will win divisions and go to the World Series, but it's always teams like St. Louis and Detroit. Nobody likes rooting for the Death Star, but the Death Star usually wins.
On June 05 2015 09:17 Aveng3r wrote: They gotta update the posey rule, Phillies just got robbed by the rulebook
aren't the Phillies in the middle of the heavy lifting stage of a long rebuild? doesn't this make their record this year relatively unimportant if you're a phillies fan?
that said, the posey rule is pure stupidity. the blue jays #1 play-by-play commentator guy, Buck Martinez, had his career basically ended in a home plate collision. Even he is against the rule.
Yes they are, I am actively rooting for them to lose every day so that maybe we can snag the next Bryce harper
That said, I still don't like it when dipshit rules calls screw their young guys out of production
Pat Gillick is the only non-ownership baseball exec in the hall of fame.. except for Branch Rickey of course.
u guys are lucky to have him guiding the process ... even if he is 5000 years old now.
-he drafted tony fernandez when he was 135 lbs... -began the gold rush for baseball stars in the dominican. -the mcgriff trade... -picked up george bell for $25,000 -by 1985 when Gillick was about 40 years old most owners had a standing order with their GM that they were not allowed to make trades with him... LOLz -ran the only team other than the Yankees to win consecutive World Series in 40 years. -traded away ARod and GriffeyJr and won 116 games after the trades. -the Halladay trade
his nickname in his prime was "yellow pages" because he never forgot even the smallest trivial fact or figure.
On June 05 2015 09:17 Aveng3r wrote: They gotta update the posey rule, Phillies just got robbed by the rulebook
aren't the Phillies in the middle of the heavy lifting stage of a long rebuild? doesn't this make their record this year relatively unimportant if you're a phillies fan?
that said, the posey rule is pure stupidity. the blue jays #1 play-by-play commentator guy, Buck Martinez, had his career basically ended in a home plate collision. Even he is against the rule.
Yes they are, I am actively rooting for them to lose every day so that maybe we can snag the next Bryce harper
That said, I still don't like it when dipshit rules calls screw their young guys out of production
Pat Gillick is the only non-ownership baseball exec in the hall of fame.. except for Branch Rickey of course.
u guys are lucky to have him guiding the process ... even if he is 5000 years old now.
-he drafted tony fernandez when he was 135 lbs... -began the gold rush for baseball stars in the dominican. -the mcgriff trade... -picked up george bell for $25,000 -by 1985 when Gillick was about 40 years old most owners had a standing order with their GM that they were not allowed to make trades with him... LOLz -ran the only team other than the Yankees to win consecutive World Series in 40 years. -traded away ARod and GriffeyJr and won 116 games after the trades. -the Halladay trade
his nickname in his prime was "yellow pages" because he never forgot even the smallest trivial fact or figure.
Oh definitely, I am thrilled to have him cuz god knows Ruben Amaro isn't gonna get it done, Gillick is the man that assembled the 2008 ws roster and oversaw the best stretch of baseball in phillies history
We probably also have the worst farm system in the league to boot, by FAR. Ruben Amaro is just such a stupid ass hole I can't get my head around it. I could have done a better job than him since he took over.
On June 15 2015 13:17 Aveng3r wrote: We probably also have the worst farm system in the league to boot, by FAR. Ruben Amaro is just such a stupid ass hole I can't get my head around it. I could have done a better job than him since he took over.
Ernie Whitt is good. He is a big part of Baseball Canada and a great instructor/teacher/leader. an open minded guy with a massive amount of knowledge. former catcher of course. he can handle both the sabermetric analysis side and the practical side of the game.
Gillick and Whitt have a long history together. Don't be surprised if Whitt is given a lot more responsibility if he wants it.
If he is happy with his nice cushy job with Baseball Canada he might not want it though. Basically, with Baseball Canada Ernie is 1 small step below God.
On June 15 2015 13:17 Aveng3r wrote: We probably also have the worst farm system in the league to boot, by FAR. Ruben Amaro is just such a stupid ass hole I can't get my head around it. I could have done a better job than him since he took over.
Not super familiar with the Phillies situation, but IIRC the Tigers have a really bad one which is gonna kill them in a few years.
Gillick says 2017 or 2018 for the Phillies and definitely not 2015 or 2016.
The last time Gillick built a team from the ground up was in 1981 and their situation was a lot worse than the Phillies situation. does he still have the magic?
imo, baseball is such a great game that watching your favourite team lose is still very interesting. i realize i'm amongst a tiny minority of baseball fans though.
On June 16 2015 11:28 Shellshock wrote: I think it would be pretty funny if they pull it off I mean it's not like people take All Star voting super serious right?
well it decides who the home team is for the 7th game of the world series. and in terms of the 4 major sports in NA ... the baseball all star game more closely resembles real competition.
On June 16 2015 11:28 Shellshock wrote: I think it would be pretty funny if they pull it off I mean it's not like people take All Star voting super serious right?
I find it hilarious if only because I hate that the game counts.
wow, there is deflating footballs... standing 2 inches outside the batter's box.. and then on a whole other level u have cheating that prompts the FBI and Justice Department into action.
Still pretty petty thing to do, even if it's hilarious that they just used his old passwords. Strange thing to do as well considering that everyone scouts everyone's guys nowadays.
On June 17 2015 08:30 AgentW wrote: Still pretty petty thing to do, even if it's hilarious that they just used his old passwords. Strange thing to do as well considering that everyone scouts everyone's guys nowadays.
Yeah that's what I didn't get like can't they just send scouts to the games? What secret information could they be trying to get?
On June 17 2015 08:30 AgentW wrote: Still pretty petty thing to do, even if it's hilarious that they just used his old passwords. Strange thing to do as well considering that everyone scouts everyone's guys nowadays.
Yeah that's what I didn't get like can't they just send scouts to the games? What secret information could they be trying to get?
On June 17 2015 08:30 AgentW wrote: Still pretty petty thing to do, even if it's hilarious that they just used his old passwords. Strange thing to do as well considering that everyone scouts everyone's guys nowadays.
Yeah that's what I didn't get like can't they just send scouts to the games? What secret information could they be trying to get?
I guess what they can get out of it is how the Astros assess their own guys? Helps them gauge better how much they would actually need to put on the table to snag whoever they might be looking at on the Astros.
I guess that makes sense, still the whole thing seems weird to me like have some faith in your own talent evaluation! You can figure out how another team values someone by asking them and then comparing your own assessment before making a trade offer.. haven't these guys ever played fantasy baseball??
access to medical records would give additional knowledge as well.
inside info on personnel problems. often when a guy is doing stuff like Jon Jones has been doing the team knows. borderline substance abuse issues etc.
teams never fully know about all a guys warts until they actually draft him and get him inside their organization.
the media likes to act like it knows everything about a baseball player. it does not. some people buy into the media acting like they know it all.
From 1983 until he retired Cito Gaston was the flat out best at picking up pitchers tipping off their pitches of any on field management. Often Cito would have a pitcher pegged for 3+ years before they figured out Cito knew.
now that Paul Molitor is a manager and that Cito is gone ...guys like Molitor , and Winfield discuss this...Bobby Cox will talk about it... however throughout Cito's career this subject was strictly forbidden.
edit: Molitor himself , come to think of it. his drop in production in his late 20s and mysterious resurgence in his mid-30s can only be explained away by 1 thing ....his love affair with cocaine.
who is currently the best sign stealer in the MLB? we'll never know because the guy that is best at it does not want any one to know because he wants to keep on stealing signals. we'll find out 20+ years from now when everyone is retired and peddling their baseball biographies.
outside observation never tells the whole story. if u have a shot at full access to inside information it must be tempting to go after it.
Geezus, what the hell happened to Robinson Cano.... Was hitting behind texeira and rodriguez that much of a difference for him or something...? Hes making pujols/cabrera money but damn
On June 22 2015 10:28 SwARmZzz wrote: Geezus, what the hell happened to Robinson Cano.... Was hitting behind texeira and rodriguez that much of a difference for him or something...? Hes making pujols/cabrera money but damn
This is a fantasy article but it goes into detail how people were probably expecting a little too much out of Cano coming into this year (due to his contract) when nothing in his stat profile shows that he would deliver big numbers.
Has anyone ever seen a worse way to break up a perfect game?
and it looks like Pete Rose also bet on baseball as a player. the real truth always comes out 30+ years later because too many people have too much to lose by people knowing the truth when it actually means something.
yoan moncada, the white whale i had been following for like 2 years that eventually got signed by boston, is judging A-ball and finding it unworthy. probably will be top 5 prospect in all of baseball by year's end.
but yea rather sign drew and capuano at 50% lux tax premium.
unfortunately, its over. no more amazing quotes. yogi berra is dead.
you look up the word "catcher" in the baseball dictionary and there is a picture of yogi berra in it. the cartoon character "Yogi Bear" was named after him.
Man it was hard seeing the Astros crash and burn for the last 10 years after their World Series run, it's good to see them in the playoffs again playing competitive baseball.
On October 08 2015 00:49 oneofthem wrote: still not sure how good keuchel actually is. take away the bullshit low zone of the past two years, how does he do.
Take that away all pitchers are worse, but you have to give him credit for abusing it much better than a lot of other pitches. If the zone gets changed again that still bodes well for him.
given his minor league track record and what he did his first couple of years, i don't see him doing that well without the low zone. the guy is great at locating his fastball in that area but the low zone magnifies the ability to command and stretch the strikezone that much more.
On October 08 2015 02:56 oneofthem wrote: given his minor league track record and what he did his first couple of years, i don't see him doing that well without the low zone. the guy is great at locating his fastball in that area but the low zone magnifies the ability to command and stretch the strikezone that much more.
with so many hitters getting shifted i wonder how much bunting onto the weak side of the shift we'll see in this year's playoffs. i think bunting is a lost art that has a real upside if players take the time to perfect it.
the yankees did it during their pennant chase and it worked well.
On October 09 2015 04:42 oneofthem wrote: you can say the strikezone is the same for everyone, but it was designed that way for the reason of achieving a better game.
he's not a cheater or whatever, but his success is exploitative of a recent trend of the zone that may be unhealthy.
unhealthy in what sense? i find the game approximately as entertaining as i always have ; i've been a baseball fan since '99.
On October 09 2015 04:51 JimmyJRaynor wrote: with so many hitters getting shifted i wonder how much bunting onto the weak side of the shift we'll see in this year's playoffs. i think bunting is a lost art that has a real upside if players take the time to perfect it.
the yankees did it during their pennant chase and it worked well.
On October 09 2015 04:42 oneofthem wrote: you can say the strikezone is the same for everyone, but it was designed that way for the reason of achieving a better game.
he's not a cheater or whatever, but his success is exploitative of a recent trend of the zone that may be unhealthy.
unhealthy in what sense? i find the game approximately as entertaining as i always have ; i've been a baseball fan since '99.
in the extreme scenario, the game would be distorted by the low zone. it's a development that may break teh balance of offense and pitching if allowed to go too far.
the strike zone in the AL also dropped when AL Umpires abandoned the outside chest protector. Some umps used it and some didn't so the strike zone varied from umpire to umpire for about 10 years... and we went from 76 to 90 with zero 50 home run hitters and the game was just fine.
Not happy with Gibbons pulling R.A Dickey after 4 and 2/3 to hand the win to Price....very very very weak. Dickey was not struggling in any way. He was doing great IMO
on a scale of 100 .. . i was 55/45 AGAINST removing Dickey. Dickey was removed so Price could face Shin-Soo Choo.
They want Stroman starting on proper rest. Not Price on 3 days or 5 days. So Price is their lefty out of the bullpen.
Shin Soo Choo was 2-2 against Dickey. before the game started in 14 plate appearances Shin-Soo Choo has 4 hits and 3 walks for a .500 OBP against Dickey. he has a .370 OBP against Price while striking out more than 1/3 of the time against Price.
Price didn't get hit very hard. One of the doubles he gave up was a ground ball through the left side of an incorrectly shifted infield. When you are shifting on half the players occasionally the shift gets fucked up and Price was a victim of a positioning mistake by his infield.
I somewhat disagree with removing Dickey, but I'm not really bent out of shape about it.
not a single canadian team has won a major professional championship since the blue jays won the world series in October of 1993 ..... The Montreal Expos, Vancouver Grizzlies, and Quebec Nodiques all left...
i guess canada is desperate for a winner and is rallying around the blue jays.
not a single canadian team has won a major professional championship since the blue jays won the world series in October of 1993 ..... The Montreal Expos, Vancouver Grizzlies, and Quebec Nodiques all left...
i guess canada is desperate for a winner and is rallying around the blue jays.
intresting thats the same year that the last canadian team won in the NHL too. baseball obviously ends later but maybe this is a sign we will return!
On October 15 2015 02:56 oneofthem wrote:canadians acting like first time baseball watchers
i can't say for the rest of the country, but inside the jays home park its not an act.
there are certainly real and informed jays fans, but also a bunch of bandwagoners and adorably enthusiastic fans. just a little joke at canada's expense, not very serious
That's the craziest full inning of baseball I have seen ever. I have never seen a catcher hit a batter while tossing back to the pitcher (seen it after a strike out once when the batter started walking towards his dug out but the bases were blank).
Then 3 errors, Bautista not even half way to first when the ball hits the 4th deck and twice the benches empty.
Insane Also, Rogers center has to be by far the loudest building in any sport. Would love to see a decibel meter
not a single canadian team has won a major professional championship since the blue jays won the world series in October of 1993 ..... The Montreal Expos, Vancouver Grizzlies, and Quebec Nodiques all left...
i guess canada is desperate for a winner and is rallying around the blue jays.
considering they're in one of the hardest divisions and blue jays fans haven't had a whole lot to celebrate in 2 decades i think it's fair they're coming out of the wood work. When the Blue Jays first enter the league this city was crazy over them especially with the new Dome. They used to have so many sellouts and then the lockout hit and things went to shit.
when the blue jays 1st entered the league their attendance was "meh" for the first 6 years. CBC had their TV rights and they paid fuck all for them.
according to my baseball coach when the Blue Jays first entered the league people went to watch the opposition.. guys like Reggie Jackson and Nolan Ryan. they didn't go to watch the blue jays.
everything changed once Gillick got control of the team... the best baseball exec. for the past 45 years.
Also, of the remaining teams the Toronto Blue Jays have the most recent World Series Champ. Every other team is a lot older than the Blue Jays and only the Dodgers ahve more titles than the Jays.
Given all this, its hard to paint the Blue Jays and their fans in a sympathetic light.
On October 15 2015 10:45 JimmyJRaynor wrote: when the blue jays 1st entered the league their attendance was "meh" for the first 6 years. CBC had their TV rights and they paid fuck all for them.
according to my baseball coach when the Blue Jays first entered the league people went to watch the opposition.. guys like Reggie Jackson and Nolan Ryan. they didn't go to watch the blue jays.
everything changed once Gillick got control of the team.
Also, of the remaining teams the Toronto Blue Jays have the most recent World Series Champ.
You need to get your shit straight. Sure people went to go watch Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson considering they're big time attractions and they were playing in the fucking EX before the sky dome. It didn't have a whole lot of seats man. How do I know this shit? Because I was there with seasons tickets.
As for TV ratings. They were never really that good. Baseball was pretty big back then in the T Dot. Everyone I knew played and fuck we won Provincials a few times during that period. ._.
i listen to the stories my old baseball coaches tell me.. one of 'em even struck out Rob Ducey in a big game.
On October 15 2015 10:49 StarStruck wrote: they were playing in the fucking EX before the sky dome. It didn't have a whole lot of seats man.
actually the capacity at the Ex ( CNE Stadium) was over 45,000.. the clinching game... from 1985, its on youtube.com, has 45,000+ and not many of the fans had to sit in right field.. standard left field bleachers.,... just watch the game and you can see how far out the people sit in the covered football stadium portion.
cliff johnson was pissed fucking drunk for that game.. .just watch him stagger onto the field for the celebration... he is the last guy to join the pile of players and he can barely stand up.
how do i know Johnson was a drunk? i read "The Bronx Zoo" by Sparky Lyle... Johnson and Lyle played together on the '78 Yankees.
Blue Jays seasons tickets at the CNE Stadium? LOL.. you could sit in the outfield and go to every game for $81 if you went to A&P.
i am a student of the game and somewhat of a baseball historian; i can back up my points.
to get back to my original point: the city was not crazy for the Blue Jays when they first entered the league.. the tickets were dirt cheap ( less than 1/2 the price of a movie ticket back then) and attendance was "meh".
Jose Bautista is my favourite Blue Jay because he is from the Dominican Republic .. the other country that cheers for the Blue Jays.
On October 15 2015 22:14 oneofthem wrote: with the low zone seemingly here to stay guys who can hit those low pitches should be more valuable. vlad gurrerro would be a god right about now
george bell.. the balance between pitching and hitting is great...i'm 100% happy.
Yeah I have no delusions that I'm not just bandwagoning. I prefer to watch hockey mon-sun but playoffs are so exciting its making a baseball fan out of me. some of my earliest memories are in the nosebleeds in the skydome with my father so its not completely without cause.
He used to be, then he was terrible, but he had a fine year that was driven by BAbip and a high LOB%. He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
On October 16 2015 09:36 AgentW wrote: He used to be, then he was terrible, but he had a fine year that was driven by BAbip and a high LOB%. He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
the playoffs are too small a sample size for a 3rd starter to comment on any kind of trend. tomorrow might be his last start.
thus far in the playoffs Estrada has 1 great start against a heavily left handed hitting team that had the best offense in the AL in the 2nd half of the season... not too shabby.
this is far and away the best year for a 31 year old who has never had more than 23 starts in his career... so saying he will "regress heavily next year" ain't sayin' much.
Estrada pitching usually means Navarro will be the starting catcher. Martin > Navarro... so there is that to factor in.
Unlike the implication by the guy i quoted i'll say Marco Estrada is full value for his low ERA he put up in a hitter's park while having Reyes and Collabello as basically red flag zones playing the infield and outfield respectively. Reyes was horrible at SS and Collabello had never played the outfied before.. he was equally abysmal... he had trouble judging simple fly balls all year.
There is your Marco Estrada report.
looking at Shin-Soo Choo's #s i think we can see why Gibbons used Price against him in game 4.
On October 16 2015 09:36 AgentW wrote: He used to be, then he was terrible, but he had a fine year that was driven by BAbip and a high LOB%. He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
the playoffs are too small a sample size for a 3rd starter to comment on any kind of trend. tomorrow might be his last start.
thus far in the playoffs Estrada has 1 great start against a heavily left handed hitting team that had the best offense in the AL in the 2nd half of the season... not too shabby.
this is far and away the best year for a 31 year old who has never had more than 23 starts in his career... so saying he will "regress heavily next year" ain't sayin' much.
Estrada pitching usually means Navarro will be the starting catcher. Martin > Navarro... so there is that to factor in.
Marco Estrada is full value for the #s he put up in a hitter's park while having Reyes and Collabello as basically red flag zones playing the infield and outfield respectively.
There is your Marco Estrada report.
looking at Shin-Soo Choo's #s i think we can see why Gibbons used Price against him in game 4.
Oh, come off it. Clayton Kershaw's LOB% for his career is 78.3%. Estrada had a 79.2% this year which is 6% better than his career average. His BAbip of .216 led the league by a wide margin.
Don't be a homer, he's severely outperformed his peripherals.
Reyes at Shortstop... Collabello flat out missing fly balls all over the place. LOL Bautista short arming the ball half the year...etc etc. Even Collabello at first
how many Blue Jays games did you actually watch live to see the mess the Jays defense was until Tulo and Revere arrived and Bautista's 4th cortisone shot finally worked?
considering the park the jays are in and the defense Estrada has to put up with he is full value for the ERA he put up.
Uh, what? You're making my point. Despite terrible defense, he led the league in BAbip which is partly dependent on the batted ball profile he allows and the defense behind him. He was 2nd in the league in fly ball percentage (<50%) which is freaking bonkers considering his 8.7% HR/FB rate. He's going to get SMASHED next year. He's not good at all.
On October 16 2015 09:25 Jer99 wrote: Is Estrada good? I haven't been following it long enough to know all the jays players yet
I responded with "no". You replied with:
On October 16 2015 09:39 JimmyJRaynor wrote: the playoffs are too small a sample size for a 3rd starter to comment on any kind of trend.
Which is correct. But then you say:
On October 16 2015 10:13 JimmyJRaynor wrote: what were you expecting against his 1 start against Texas , a perfect game?
See the issue? I'm looking at the full season. He's not good.
Look, your team is really, really good at hitting the ball a million miles and has a few top notch starters, but Marco Estrada isn't good. This isn't the hill to die on.
Estrada is good this year and has been 100% full value for the low ERA he put up this year which is why he is the starter for game 1.
Estrada is Toronto's best starter in the playoffs so far this year. You mentioned some kind of regression in the playoffs...it did not happen against a really good offense ... he walked zero and struck out 4.
Taking a look at his entire career he has not been good... but this game is being played in 2015... not some theoretical time in the past.
TL; DR Version
Gibbons picked Estrada to start game 1 because he had the best start of any Toronto pitcher in the previous playoff series. A negative to Estrada starting is that Navarro is the starting catcher when he pitches. Russell Martin is better than Dioner Navarro.
Of course I'm mentioning regression, his statistics are that of a ticking time bomb! He plays in a super HR friendly park and has somehow black magicked his way into not giving up basically any HRs. That's sorcery that's bound to disappear any minute.
As for you citing a single game as validation of his abilities: if you really believe that, I'm waiting for you to start using RBIs as a measure of Josh Donaldson's talent.
On October 16 2015 10:26 AgentW wrote: As for you citing a single game as validation of his abilities:
you stated a regression in the playoffs and i criticized it as too small a sample size... and then provided the 1 start that has happened in the playoffs. please read my posts
On October 16 2015 09:36 AgentW wrote: He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
the playoffs are too small a sample size for a 3rd starter to comment on any kind of trend. tomorrow might be his last start.
On October 16 2015 10:26 AgentW wrote: He plays in a super HR friendly park and has somehow black magicked his way into not giving up basically any HRs. That's sorcery that's bound to disappear any minute.
there is no black magic over 181 innings in a division that was 30 games over .500 featuring 3 of the top 4 offenses in the AL. also, he did give up 24 home runs... so his black magic ain't that great any way.
On October 16 2015 09:36 AgentW wrote: He used to be, then he was terrible, but he had a fine year that was driven by BAbip and a high LOB%. He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
the playoffs are too small a sample size for a 3rd starter to comment on any kind of trend. tomorrow might be his last start.
thus far in the playoffs Estrada has 1 great start against a heavily left handed hitting team that had the best offense in the AL in the 2nd half of the season... not too shabby.
this is far and away the best year for a 31 year old who has never had more than 23 starts in his career... so saying he will "regress heavily next year" ain't sayin' much.
Estrada pitching usually means Navarro will be the starting catcher. Martin > Navarro... so there is that to factor in.
Marco Estrada is full value for the #s he put up in a hitter's park while having Reyes and Collabello as basically red flag zones playing the infield and outfield respectively.
There is your Marco Estrada report.
looking at Shin-Soo Choo's #s i think we can see why Gibbons used Price against him in game 4.
Oh, come off it. Clayton Kershaw's LOB% for his career is 78.3%. Estrada had a 79.2% this year which is 6% better than his career average. His BAbip of .216 led the league by a wide margin.
Don't be a homer, he's severely outperformed his peripherals.
The thing with Estrada is that BAbip doesn't tel the whole story.
He's an extreme flyball pitcher. Take a look at his percentages and he gets a lot more pop-ups and flyballs than average. He's in the 99th percentile for the former and the 96th for the latter. He's also in the 1st percentile in number of line drives. So he gets a ton of fly balls, pop-ups, and very few line drives.
Now the fly balls are dangerous when they're hit at over 100mph. But get between 94 and 75mph, and the average plummets to .041, and the slugging to .084. 65% of Estrada's flyballs, in comparison to the league average 59%, are in thiis dead ball zone. Plus, the groundballs he does get (4th percentile so very few) are hit more poorly than average.
Using BAbip is useful for broad generalizations, but can differ between pitchers. It's important to look at the finer details too. Estrada is walking a fine line. If he lets his pitches get hit a bit harder, he might regress, but that goes for almost any pitcher. I don't think he's overperforming at all atm.
Estrada started 5 out of 28 times against the Yankees. the difficulty of Estrada's competition was as tough as any starter in the AL ( and by extension MLB because of the DH).
To have the 5th lowest ERA in the AL while having 18% of your starts against an offense as potent as the Yankees is a solid accomplishment.
The East is the toughest division in the AL and any pitcher managing a low ERA in that shark tank of sluggers and tiny ball parks has well earned it.
Marco Estrada included.
The pitcher is 100% responsible for Ks, BBs and Home Runs... its a pitcher's 100% responsibility to keep the ball in the ball park and there is no "black magic" involved at all.
In his only playoff start he gave up zero home runs, zero walks and 4 Ks while surrendering a sequence of bullshit ground ball base hits. his quality start against the best offense in baseball in the 2nd half of 2015 was well earned.
any one claiming Estrada is all about luck is just not watching him actually pitch. They are just reading a stat sheet.
Edit: Gratz to the Mets..... a Cubs/Blue Jays world series will become Canada versus the USA for the fans.
On October 16 2015 09:36 AgentW wrote: He used to be, then he was terrible, but he had a fine year that was driven by BAbip and a high LOB%. He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
the playoffs are too small a sample size for a 3rd starter to comment on any kind of trend. tomorrow might be his last start.
thus far in the playoffs Estrada has 1 great start against a heavily left handed hitting team that had the best offense in the AL in the 2nd half of the season... not too shabby.
this is far and away the best year for a 31 year old who has never had more than 23 starts in his career... so saying he will "regress heavily next year" ain't sayin' much.
Estrada pitching usually means Navarro will be the starting catcher. Martin > Navarro... so there is that to factor in.
Marco Estrada is full value for the #s he put up in a hitter's park while having Reyes and Collabello as basically red flag zones playing the infield and outfield respectively.
There is your Marco Estrada report.
looking at Shin-Soo Choo's #s i think we can see why Gibbons used Price against him in game 4.
Oh, come off it. Clayton Kershaw's LOB% for his career is 78.3%. Estrada had a 79.2% this year which is 6% better than his career average. His BAbip of .216 led the league by a wide margin.
Don't be a homer, he's severely outperformed his peripherals.
The thing with Estrada is that BAbip doesn't tel the whole story.
He's an extreme flyball pitcher. Take a look at his percentages and he gets a lot more pop-ups and flyballs than average. He's in the 99th percentile for the former and the 96th for the latter. He's also in the 1st percentile in number of line drives. So he gets a ton of fly balls, pop-ups, and very few line drives.
Now the fly balls are dangerous when they're hit at over 100mph. But get between 94 and 75mph, and the average plummets to .041, and the slugging to .084. 65% of Estrada's flyballs, in comparison to the league average 59%, are in thiis dead ball zone. Plus, the groundballs he does get (4th percentile so very few) are hit more poorly than average.
Using BAbip is useful for broad generalizations, but can differ between pitchers. It's important to look at the finer details too. Estrada is walking a fine line. If he lets his pitches get hit a bit harder, he might regress, but that goes for almost any pitcher. I don't think he's overperforming at all atm.
after 5 more years of improving on this design i think training camp pitchers will use a far better version of this product to assess the state of their pitching elbow.
On October 16 2015 09:36 AgentW wrote: He used to be, then he was terrible, but he had a fine year that was driven by BAbip and a high LOB%. He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
the playoffs are too small a sample size for a 3rd starter to comment on any kind of trend. tomorrow might be his last start.
thus far in the playoffs Estrada has 1 great start against a heavily left handed hitting team that had the best offense in the AL in the 2nd half of the season... not too shabby.
this is far and away the best year for a 31 year old who has never had more than 23 starts in his career... so saying he will "regress heavily next year" ain't sayin' much.
Estrada pitching usually means Navarro will be the starting catcher. Martin > Navarro... so there is that to factor in.
Marco Estrada is full value for the #s he put up in a hitter's park while having Reyes and Collabello as basically red flag zones playing the infield and outfield respectively.
There is your Marco Estrada report.
looking at Shin-Soo Choo's #s i think we can see why Gibbons used Price against him in game 4.
Oh, come off it. Clayton Kershaw's LOB% for his career is 78.3%. Estrada had a 79.2% this year which is 6% better than his career average. His BAbip of .216 led the league by a wide margin.
Don't be a homer, he's severely outperformed his peripherals.
The thing with Estrada is that BAbip doesn't tel the whole story.
He's an extreme flyball pitcher. Take a look at his percentages and he gets a lot more pop-ups and flyballs than average. He's in the 99th percentile for the former and the 96th for the latter. He's also in the 1st percentile in number of line drives. So he gets a ton of fly balls, pop-ups, and very few line drives.
Now the fly balls are dangerous when they're hit at over 100mph. But get between 94 and 75mph, and the average plummets to .041, and the slugging to .084. 65% of Estrada's flyballs, in comparison to the league average 59%, are in thiis dead ball zone. Plus, the groundballs he does get (4th percentile so very few) are hit more poorly than average.
Using BAbip is useful for broad generalizations, but can differ between pitchers. It's important to look at the finer details too. Estrada is walking a fine line. If he lets his pitches get hit a bit harder, he might regress, but that goes for almost any pitcher. I don't think he's overperforming at all atm.
Keep reading my posts, I go into this. He's still an anomaly.
Jose Bautista and Ricky Romero's large change in performance was also anomalous. Does not mean it was luck driven in either case.
The only way to know of Romero's giant decline at age 27 in 2012 was to watch him actually pitch. The only thing a guy reading a stat sheet could say about his 2012 performance up to August is "sample size too small".
Jeez I don't even wanna know what the cost of a B2 Stealth Bomber fly-by is. Only in America can a 737 million dollar plane be used at a baseball game lol
back to 1973 baseball as the blue jays trade a runner at 1st with none out for a runner on 2nd and one out... only the pitcher should be making a bunt like Goins just did.
Volquez's pitch #100 looked like a Willie Hernandez screwgie cool pitch.. i wish he'd use it more.
the royals starter really got fucked on Bautista's ball 4 pitch. that was a perfect pitch and strike 3. that was an example of the pitcher throwing such a great pitch he even fooled the umpire.
we're at ~ 200 innings now for Estrada this year.. where is that guy that said his success this year is based on luck
5 starts against the Yankees, 1 against Texas after Texas hitting lead the majors in the 2nd half... 2 against a team that broke a record for runs scored in 4 post season games. the quality of his competition has been absolutely brutal.
Price played fine, we really need to figure out what to do with our 8/9 spots if they can't hit in these situations. I'm fine with Price signing or leaving, it's not like it's bad having a pitcher getting you into the 8th with only 3 runs, but we were hoping he would be more clutch for us in the playoffs. Hopefully the Jays can pull out some more magic next year before Bautista gets too old, because he's our friggin' savior. I have to go find a Bautista jersey now to cry in
On October 24 2015 13:41 Blisse wrote: TORONTO DISAPPOINTMENT CONTINUES
Toronto baseball fans are spoiled... of the 4 remaining teams they had not just 1 but the 2 most recent world series wins. also, this years team had a 42-12 stretch.
of course, most of the toronto people moaning about this loss are not baseball fans.
On October 24 2015 13:41 Blisse wrote: TORONTO DISAPPOINTMENT CONTINUES
Toronto baseball fans are spoiled... of the 4 remaining teams they had not just 1 but the 2 most recent world series wins. also, this years team had a 42-12 stretch.
of course, most of the toronto people moaning about this loss are not baseball fans.
:p i have a picture of me with a jays hat from 2002 i can show you if you don't think i'm a fan
when is the last time a team went 42-12? Bautista has been the best slugger in the post steroid era. Roy Halladay.
How many walk-off world series winning homers have their been in the 120+ year history of baseball ? How many teams less than 50 years old have repeated as World Series champs?.. for that matter how many teams less than 100 years old have done it? How many non-owner baseball execs are in the Hall? Any time Rogers Communications decides to flex their financial muscles they can instantly put a winner together.
Blue Jays fans have witnessed some historic stuff in the team's short life.
I dont understand how the manager lets Matt Harvey talk his way into the 9th inning. I think Mets would have won if they had just started the 9th with the closer. oh well.
On November 02 2015 14:15 Shellshock wrote: I dont understand how the manager lets Matt Harvey talk his way into the 9th inning. I think Mets would have won if they had just started the 9th with the closer. oh well.
I would've understood if Harvey had a mid 80s pitch count and you figure you could get away with having him pitch one more inning (as he probably will not be pitching in the series again), but there was no reason not to go to the closer in that situation.
the closer has been getting bombed by the royals making it far from a clear cut decision.
On October 16 2015 09:36 AgentW wrote: He used to be, then he was terrible, but he had a fine year that was driven by BAbip and a high LOB%. He'll probably regress heavily next year and potentially in this playoff.
As I stated earlier making a prediction about a playoff is haphazard at best due to the small sample size. However, your prediction was incorrect. He pitched great. 15Ks adn 1 Walk has nothing to do with luck.
Estrada threw 200 innings this year and given the strength of the competition he faced he is full value for his low ERA both during the regular season and in the playoffs.
Estrada may have found a new level to his game and made an improvement in his 30s that not many pitchers make. or he might revert back to his earlier career performance. it'll be interesting to see the kind of contract Estrada gets next year. Very few GMs will assign his performance to luck and that will be reflected in his next contract.
Gratz to the Royals on their first world series since 1985....
they steam rolled a team that went 42-12 at the end of the year and buried the Mets. i'm glad a bullshit BO5 which proves nothing didn't knock them out in the 1st round. KC was the best over all team on planet earth this year, but i would've prefer to see them face St. Louis or the Cubs or the Pirates because those were the best 3 teams in the NL.
Gratz to Yost and the city... KC is a great place to watch a ball game.
you predicted his "regression" in the playoffs though.
his biggest problem is his age.,, he won't "regress"... if there is a decline in his performance he'll deteriorate as the overwhelming vast majority of athletes do in every sport in their 30s.
but, that's boring to discuss so i'll talk about the lagrange vector of the pitcher's planar projection of his blah blah ...
After plenty of posts in a back and forth debate its time to "pay attention to outcomes" on the Marco Estrada case.
Marco Estrada finishes 2016 with 3.48 ERA, 176 IP, 131 Hits, 165Ks, 65 BBs. 12th best ERA amongst starters in the AL in the toughest division playing on painted green concrete only a handful of starters have more Ks per innings pitched than Estrada
Therefore, Marco Estrada's performance fell in line with my prediction. His biggest problem this year is a deteriorating back. He is not regressing to the mean; he is aging and deteriorating due to age. Again, pretty much as i stated. Player's bodies deteriorate after age 30.
Marco Estrada did not get "smashed" in 2016 nor in the 2015 playoffs as others suggested. "Smashed" would be a substantially below average pitcher.
At this point its hard to declare 350+ innings as a small sample size. This is what Marco Estrada is. A slightly below average pitcher who evolved into an above average pitcher.
Projection For Estrada: If his back holds out he'll continue to perform as he has the past 370 innings with a small decline due to age. If he does not resolve the herniated disk problem in his back he'll be terrible. We'll have to see if he gets surgery for his back.
post season Marco Estrada putting up Sandy Koufax #s. LOL. Koufax WHIP .835.. Estrada .832 Estrada gives up way too many home runs to be considered in Koufax's league. But, if you want to sit around and play with trivial stat #s all day you can make anything seem true.
Joe Maddon is a baseball genius..... but that squeeze with a 3-2 count was a big mistake. he rode his best guys hard. i'd do the same damn thing. the 100+ year draught is over. Congratz to the Cubs and their great fans.
top 3 baseball fans. top 3 place to watch an MLB game.
rip the lights down and play every game at wrigley in the afternoon next year
Roy Halladay died. very , very sad. seeing how he interacted with his wife and family i'd say he was 1 of the few pro athletes that didn't cheat on his wife. this sucks.
Roy Halladay was tough as nails, first class, and just a top notch human being who represented the Toronto Blue Jays and Canada better than any player did in the history of the Blue Jay organizaiton.
this is really sad. greatest blue jay ever... RIP.
OPENING DAY FELLAS LETS GO WOOOOOOOOO btw im putting my spot on accurate 2015 predictions in a spoiler and will update with all the latest, would a mod mind changing the thread title to 2018?
I'm still roffling over the tigers signing ron gardenhire for their manager. His greatest achievement is losing to the Yankees year after year after year. and getting a contract renewal after two 100 loss seasons.
i do miss the mvp baseball series. a game that ea actually got right over the years until they canned it (ironically cause 2k took the mlb license as revenge for ea taking the nfl license lol)
online competitive play for Super Mega Baseball 2 is not good for several reasons. if you want to play 1v1 competitive with this game you have to be in the same room with your opponent.
meh, i quit watching the MLB brand of baseball a few years ago.
Too many at bats end in a walk, strike out or home run. Its boring to watch 25+ Ks and 15+ Walks in a game. I think MLB should have ball parks like old Yankee Stadium and Old Tigers Stadium in order to cut back on every single player in the line up including the shortstop and second baseman swinging for the fences on every pitch...
The closer the management personnel gets to on field coaching the more difficult it is for a non-player to be qualified for the job. Especially, batting coaches and pitching coaches.
On January 09 2021 04:54 JimmyJRaynor wrote: .....
For Lasorda to put a crippled up, slumping Gibson in to pinch hit... talk about balls. .....
Gibson was the Dodger's Hottest and best hitter before he got hurt. The Dodger's hitting that year was average at best. So losing Gibson was a big blow to their chances of winning. He was so badly hurt, he was cringing in pain with every swing. It was amazing seeing him hit that home run. That's a real man there, pushing through the PAIN! AND WINNING!
as great as that was ... a "field rush" was not permitted. what made that walk off home run so fun was the "field rush". I think the last time "field rush"-es were permitted was 1985. The Blue Jays didn't have a "field rush" in '89, '91, '92, or '93.
I believe the last "field rush" was the 1985 Toronto Blue Jays winning the American League pennant over the New York Yankees in a 6 month 162 game steele cage Texas Death Match.
1986 had no field rush.
its a cryin' shame there was no field rush that year because the 1986 world series was one of the greatest ever... in the history of anything...