2003 ML Baseball Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Steve_Tk]

I'm amazed at the Yankees 5-5 record in the last 10 games.

 

[Jason Seaver]

They can't contend and they're paying Pudge a ton. They got him for one year because they thought they could make the post season.

Actually, I think a good chunk of the reason they got I-Rod was for the "butts in seats" factor. He's a very well-known Hispanic player who the Marlins felt would appeal to the local audience even if they weren't contending.

 

[Phil L]

Actually, I think a good chunk of the reason they got I-Rod was for the "butts in seats" factor. He's a very well-known Hispanic player who the Marlins felt would appeal to the local audience even if they weren't contending.

That's true. Pudge does draw an audience, but didn't the Marlins *reduce* the number of seats this year? My impression was that the Marlins thought they had a shot this year with their pitching. I'm interested to see how things work out with the AJ Burnett situation.

Jason: when you think of Manny what comes first, DH or LF? Just curious.

 

[Jason Seaver]

LF. He plays decent, if unspectacular, defense, much better than his reputation. And, certainly, I'd rather have him at LF and Jeremy Giambi DHing than the other way around.

Interestingly enough, one of Boston's best players so far this year, Kevin Millar, doesn't really have a set position - he's seen time at LF, RF, 1B, and DH (and there was talk of playing him at 3B if someone was fooled by Hillenbrand's usual April and traded for him).

 

[Robert Crawford]

How come? The major league baseball season is a marathon not a sprint with more than a few peaks and valleys throughout the season. There is a reason why you don't see many teams win 114 and 116 games like the Yankees and Mariners have done recently and that is, it just doesn't happen very often. In the last 100 or so years in baseball you can count on one hand the number of teams that were that dominate in any baseball season.

 

[Bolivar G]

Looks like my Dodgers are up to there usual antics. Get of to a crappy start, get red hot the 2nd half of the season but in the end falling short of the playoffs. Ever since the team was sold to Fox is has been downhill :frowning:

Last time we won the world series was '88 :frowning:
Being watching the dodgers since early 80's with fernado mania.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Well, after a fantastic little streak that did wonders for my confidence in the team, we just dropped another game to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Ow.

My wife and I got on TV again. This time our giant sign read Happy belated birthday Josh "Legs" Phelps. They showed us as he came up to bat in the 8th, and again right after he hit that home run.

We also picked up our tickets last night for the 31st, when we're taking our cousins, who are six and eight, to see the Jays against the Red Sox. We got four nice seats in section 113 (foul ball country, just past first base), thirteen rows from the field.

I can't wait. Hopefully that night we'll be the same team that beat the Sox already this season and not the team that's been beaten four times by the Devil Rays.

Stinky attendance last night -- the last few games before their road trip were topping 20,000, but last night only 14,000 people showed up. Don't know if that's because it was Tuesday or because it was against the Rays or maybe even because we've been out of town so long...? It can't be because of our recent record, because our six game road trip had us winning two of three from both the Rangers and the Angels.

Or maybe it's because tomorrow is $2 Wednesday? (All the 500 level seats and the 200 level outfield seats are $2.)

We'll see what attendance is like tonight.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I have no idea when the Braves will go into a slide, but going 23-4 over the last 27 games is just nuts. I had my doubts when they started 4-8, but their defense has been shored up, and their hitting has been timely, and their closer Smoltz has been mostly solid, while the starting pitching has also come around.

 

[Brian Perry]

I am also amazed at the Braves' resiliency. I guess it shows that good organizations with good players will always rise to the top. The Braves have the best record in baseball right now, for crying out loud! I really like John Smoltz and how he's come back from the injury as one of the best closers of all time. At his current pace he'll have 64 saves.

On a negative note, it appears that the Mo Vaughn acquistion is disastrous for the Mets. He still has over $30 million on his contract and it sounds as though he may never play again. Right now he is AWOL and neither the Mets nor his family can reach him while he's supposedly getting medical advice from various doctors around the country.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

So, last night Toronto beat the D-Rays. Finally. Our pitching was a little shaky near the middle, but we survived.

29,000 plus fans. That warmed my heart a bit. And were they ever into the game! Nothing like $2 seats to bring out vocal fans.

But the big story was John Rocker's first major league appearance in ages. Wow. I have never seen a more hostile crowd at a sporting event. The virtually non-stop boos were the loudest cheering of the whole game, and we only stopped booing (yeah, I'll admit it, I was booing right along with 'em, as loud as I could) when he walked a batter or we got a hit...then we'd cheer for a moment and start booing again the moment he touched the ball.

He walked the first batter he faced on four or five pitches, and then, perhaps in reaction to the crowd's booing, nailed Vernon Wells with a pitch. It only served to make the crowd hate him more. Hell, we gave him a standing ovation of boos, whatever you call that.

Whose bright idea was it to give the guy his first inning of work in Toronto?

 

[Todd Henry]

Whose bright idea was it to give the guy his first inning of work in Toronto?

It wasn't his first inning back. He pitched over the weekend and walked 2 batters.

Todd

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Heh, thanks Todd.

I suppose that is the reason his stats were all zeroes.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Nothing like $2 seats to bring out vocal fans.

Well, in Boston we do all right with a consistently good team and a historic ballpark.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Jason, that was cold, man.

So terribly cold.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Still, I see Toronto has more or less righted itself after a slow start, while the Devil Rays have sunken back to dead last after that brief flirt with relavency. Which leaves us with the AL East back "in order" - New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa. How many consecutive years have the teams finished in that order?

 

[Marvin]

Which leaves us with the AL East back "in order" - New York, Boston, Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa. How many consecutive years have the teams finished in that order?

I don't know but I hope they keep doing it.

 

[Brian Perry]

How many consecutive years have the teams finished in that order?

Five straight, not counting this year. Amazing.

How about them Cubbies?! Sammy who? (Just kidding.) Our pitchers are proving to be the foundation for this team's success. They are pure power--more strikeouts than innings pitched as a staff (which has never been done over an entire season, though last year's team came fairly close). Yesterday the Cubs struck out 24 Brewers in 17 innings.

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

Still, I see Toronto has more or less righted itself after a slow start,

God, I hope so. Yesterday was not a confidence-instiller, but then again, for some reason the D-Rays seem to have our number.

The real test will be our roadtrip that starts today, back out against the big boys.

And we'll see in the next couple of years about messing up that order, to the advantage of the Jays.

I feel a little bad about the Jays sending Jayson Werth back down to AAA yesterday. His average didn't show it, but he had really turned things around for himself. Unfortunately for him (but great for the Jays), Frank Catalonotto seems to be on fire at the plate and has been playing right field well. Werth may have a better arm out there, but Frank's offensive skills have been really valuable to the team so far this year. Werth's numbers in AAA show that he can perform in that respect, too, so I don't know what's going to happen over the next couple of years -- I've quickly become attached to Frank, and I hope we're not planning on just using him as a temp to fill the space until Werth is ready. But who will we move? And where?

I suppose that this is a very good problem to have.

And does anyone know what's happened to Bordick? He's been absent from the team "for personal reasons" the last few games. I hope nothing bad has happened to him.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Hey Brian, the Red Sox once had a single pitcher who struck out 20 batters in 9 innings, twice! We got rid of him cause he was old, washed up and at the end of his career, though.

 

[Todd Henry]

My fantasy site reports Bordick had family matters to take care and will be back tonight.

Todd