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2018 MLB Season Thread (1 Viewer)

TonyD

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I’ve hated the Dodgers since they beat the Phillies in 1977 then again in ‘78.
Not sure why I hate the Red Sox.
Might be the fans or just the area has had their faor share of titles the last 20 years.
 

David Norman

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It's the freaking WS -- of course I'm watching. Just like every year since 67 or 68 though 1969 is the first I remembered being obsessed with. Got a Strat o Matic game afterwards and replayed that WS 100 times over the next 5 years and I bet Baltimore won 95 times,

I'd watch the Yankees and Mets if I had to. Or Cubs and WS as long as I don't have to listen to Hawk.
Put Hawk and Michael Kay (or Harold Reynolds or Jeff Francoeur) as the announcers and I'd watch on mute or turn it to the SAP Spanish channel (I've got a 10 word Spanish vocab),

I do like Smoltz and Buck though -- perhaps my favorite national pairing.
 

Kevin Hewell

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Oh. Robert's right. MLB will end up going all-DH. It's just a matter of when ([like I said, it's only been a 45-year experiment for them).

Might as well let MLB use aluminum bats since everyone else is doing it.
 

Robert Crawford

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I’ve hated the Dodgers since they beat the Phillies in 1977 then again in ‘78.
Not sure why I hate the Red Sox.
Might be the fans or just the area has had their faor share of titles the last 20 years.
My hatred of the Dodgers goes back to them leaving New York. Most of my older relatives were Dodgers fans that became Mets fans so their bitterness probably influenced my hatred of them. I never liked the Mets as I grew up watching the M&M boys with the Yankees. I stayed a Yankees fan, though, they started sucking in 1965. Those years between 1965-1975 were bad, but fun years. There was nothing like watching Horace Clarke screw up a double play ball. With that said, I actually rooted against the Yankees in the 1964 WS due to my extreme fandom for Bob Gibson. To this day, he's still my all-time favorite baseball player. I was too young to realize that 1964 Yankee team was the swan song for my Yanks for a while. Anyhow, my fandom for the Cardinals ended when Gibson retired helped fueled my hatred for the Red Sox due to the 1967 WS. Hell, I even rooted for the Reds back in 1975.
 
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Robert Crawford

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For a lot of MLB fans, baseball is a very regional sport when it comes to watching games. I usually don't watch many games if the Yankees aren't involved even though I own the Extra Innings package. I might watch 1 of 2 of the late games during the week when my insomnia has kicked in if Bumgarner or Kershaw are pitching because I like watching great pitchers.
 

questrider

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TBH, I'm tired of the leagues having this DH difference. I've lived with it for 45 years and I want it resolved. I hate watching pitchers hit especially AL pitchers. Is it a crisis? No, but I think it's time for uniformity.

I used to be against the DH but in recent years with all of the specialization I've changed my mind. I do agree though that there should be uniformity and it should simply be an MLB rule across both leagues.


Furthermore, on another note, they need to improve their umpiring by getting rid of umpires like Country Joe West and Angel Hernandez.

I'm of the mind these days that they should definitely go to calling balls and strikes with the triangulated camera setup that gives spectators (on TV and smartphones) the box which shows immediately with very little margin of error exactly where the ball crossed the strike zone. If we can see it at home and in the stadium, then why don't umpires have access to that same data?

There was a great Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel episode from two years ago (September 27, 2016) where they explored this and it is very interesting.






 

Robert Crawford

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I can't wait for the technology in which balls and strikes are taken out of the umpires hands. Too much variation for me even during the game with the same umpire. I think Mike Frezon will probably be against such a move, but I like how they did so in Tennis on line calls, but I want calling a strike, when it's a strike and a ball, when it's a ball. Too many times, I see pitches high in strike zone called balls and vice versa for balls in the lower strike zone. Also, don't get my started on inside and outside strike zone calls.
 
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TonyD

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I really do alike the inconsistency on calling balls and strikes.
I saw in an early playoff game a ball go right down the middle of the plate get called a ball. Why, because the pitcher crossed up the catcher and he had to jump 2 feet to catch the ball.

It was right down the middle. If an ump can’t call a pitch properly just because the catcher moves then he shouldn’t be doing the job.
 

TonyD

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And now in this game the strike zone is changing.

Early on a pitch on the inner edge of the plate on right handed hitters was being called a ball for both pitchers.
Now it’s expanded and balls just off the inside are strikes.
 

Tony Bensley

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TBH, I'm tired of the leagues having this DH difference. I've lived with it for 45 years and I want it resolved. I hate watching pitchers hit especially AL pitchers. Is it a crisis? No, but I think it's time for uniformity. Furthermore, on another note, they need to improve their umpiring by getting rid of umpires like Country Joe West and Angel Hernandez.
I'm in complete agreement regarding the long overdue sacking of Country Joe. Not familiar enough with Angel Hernandez's officiating to make a call one way or the other.

CHEERS! :)
 

Mike Frezon

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I'm a BIG fan of NY Post sports columnist Phil Mushnick. One reason: we agree on many things! :D

full


He consistently takes a traditionalist's view on issues such as lack-of-hustle, show-boating, late game starts, etc.
 

Mike Frezon

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Speaking of traditionalist things, I don’t love the rule change for intentional walks where the pitcher no longer has to throw four balls.

Horrible.

Done under the guise of "speeding up the game." But, instead, all it does is eliminate the opportunity for the human element--which defines baseball--to take hold.
 

Tony Bensley

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Speaking of traditionalist things, I don’t love the rule change for intentional walks where the pitcher no longer has to throw four balls.
Horrible.

Done under the guise of "speeding up the game." But, instead, all it does is eliminate the opportunity for the human element--which defines baseball--to take hold.
Such as the possibility, however slim, that the pitcher throws a wild pitch to advance the runners.

CHEERS! :)
 

holtge

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Such as the possibility, however slim, that the pitcher throws a wild pitch to advance the runners.

Or that the hitter might reach out and hit a pitch that gets too close to the plate. ;)



Actually, one of my all-time favorite baseball movies, The Pride of the Yankees, featured a play very similar to the one above. The base hit Lou Gehrig (Gary Cooper) got by doing this actually ended up extending his hit streak.
 
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Josh Steinberg

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Vladimir Guerrero would occasionally swing at (and hit) an intentional walk ball.

I’ve also seen closers that somehow just didn’t know how to throw four balls in a row on purpose.

I don’t like removing that remote possibility that something could happen.
 

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I live on the east coast. The late start times mean that I rarely am able to finish a game. Also my boys are younger and they won’t see a pitch of the World Series.

It would be nice to have earlier start times.
 

Osato

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For a lot of MLB fans, baseball is a very regional sport when it comes to watching games. I usually don't watch many games if the Yankees aren't involved even though I own the Extra Innings package. I might watch 1 of 2 of the late games during the week when my insomnia has kicked in if Bumgarner or Kershaw are pitching because I like watching great pitchers.

Jacob DeGrom is a great pitcher to watch too. Especially this year!
I try and see him pitch when the Mets are in Atlanta.
 

Tony Bensley

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I live on the east coast. The late start times mean that I rarely am able to finish a game. Also my boys are younger and they won’t see a pitch of the World Series.

It would be nice to have earlier start times.
Agreed! Sadly however, the prospect of schools letting out early to catch an afternoon World Series game has long passed. The kids seem to be almost an afterthought, these days! :(

CHEERS! :)
 

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