It's New! It's Improved! It's the Official Annual Off-Topic Baseball Thread!!
 

Opening Day, baby!!

I'm not big on Opening Night, but at least this year, the Sox didn't have to fly to Japan for regular season games. Unfortunately, they got rained out this afternoon; they'll make it up tomorrow at 4.

More good news: The Yanks are getting killed in Baltimore 10-5 in the 8th. Mick's Tigers are off to a tough start, down 4-0 only 2 innings into the new season. The Cubbies are poised to go 162-0 (they're up 2-0 in the third) and DJ's Mariners open the season without a Putz on the roster for the first time in years. The Pirates, meanwhile, score 4 in the top of the 9th to beat St. Louis.

Personal apologies for the delay in getting the thread started. Real life intruded. Enjoy, and I'll see you all in the chat room tonight for the Men's Final!

If it is improved it is not new. If it is new it is not improved.

I think someone here has that tagline.

Sweet!!!!!!!!

And the Yankees start the season in LAST place. :D

Baseball started? Wow, it tells you how much I have been paying attention. ;)

Peace

Yeah, with hockey in its stretch drive and all.;)

:mad::mad: A real heart breaker to kick off the season.

But thanks for getting it started!!

Go Blues!!

Tiger Curtis Granderson just jacked one. :)

I thought Hockey ended a month ago. I guess I am going to have to start paying attention to other sports. ;)

Peace

An inside-the-park homerun on Opening Day!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=290406128
Bonifacio hits first Opening Day inside-the-park homer since 1968 in Marlins' win

You Heard it Here First!
 

I've got the Nats and Orioles in the series......

Hey, it's opening day! One can hope can't one?

Well at least my A's are off to a roaring start.

*facepalm*

is it new or improved?

To the Blue Jays! 12 - 5 Final. The Jays will do slightly above average for a few months, then slow down and overall tank the season. Roy H will find it tougher to say the cliches for his staying in Toronto.

Cubs win! Cubs win!

And in other news, the Cardinals relief pitching woes just carry over into this season.

WOW, a MLB first. Two guys from the same team on Opening Day!

Tony Clark and Arizona newcomer Felipe Lopez each homered from both sides of the plate...

Lopez and Clark became the first switch-hitting teammates to homer from both sides of the plate in a game since Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams did it for the New York Yankees on April 23, 2000. It had never been done on Opening Day.

Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks - Recap - April 06, 2009 - ESPN

Pretty cool that the last guy to do it was Yaz!

I haven't been excited about baseball since the 1981 Reds had the best season record and were excluded from the playoffs.

How can you be a baseball player and never hear of Carl Yastrzemski

Ahh...the sun rose in the east this morning, and the Annual Baseball thread has started.

Life is good.

Strange and exciting things already happening this season.

I wonder what else can happen that hasn't happened in a long time?...

Enjoy it while you can, there are still 159 games left. :cool:

StL
 

While watching the MLB network yesterday, only ONE (Sean Casey - I think) even picked the Cardinals to make the playoffs. :(:( It looks to be a long season. BUT, there is hope - remember 2006!! ;);)

Hey, get your own off topic thread.

You're welcome, Chuck.

Yay.

And even more impressive than all this other drivel - the Mariners have a winning record!! And Griffey not only hit a home run, he made it through an entire game without being injured!!:p

See...strange and wonderful things are happening.

So, he projects out to having 162 homers this season? Not bad for a possible Hall-of-Famer.

If Griffey makes it through his career without being mentioned in connection with steroids, that'll be the only record he needs to get into the Hall.

Well I guess you just ruined that, didn't you?!!?:mad:

Griffey's in...first ballot

I don't count. (No "that's what she said" jokes).

If anyone is inocculated from the steroid issue, it's Jr. All his injuries should make that clear.

Who has played 3 games already? Or were you just rounding off to the nearest multiple of 53?

Who is Sean reporting for this year?

Sox win their opener. Beckett and Pap both look phenomenal. Beckett struck out 10, and Pap had an easy 9th. Okie struggled a little in the 8th, but Tek hit a homer, which is good news. A bounceback season offensively for him would mean really good things for the Sox.

Hmm, the Sox have improved because they delayed their schedule?

If that's the case, the Cubs have definitely improved because they delayed their World Series championship...

And here's a little bit of trivia:

Last night was the first time that Ivan Rodriguez of the Astros caught a pitcher with the same last name (Wandy Rodriguez). Given how long Ivan has been in the majors, and how common that name is, it is at least mildly surprising.

Ok, maybe only to me. :)

Well, the M's HAD a winning record for one day.:mad: Not a good sign when they are bringing Batista in is the closer!!:(

They were the R&R Guys.

They were the R&R Guys.

You can say that again.

The Giants won yesterday....this may be the last time this season they have a winning record. :rolleyes:

Do you really believe that?

The Giants are going to be one of the more improved teams this year.

Much depends upon the big unit who takes the mound tonight, but I expect 82 wins and 2nd place in the West behind the Dodgers.

Some unfortunate news from the new baseball season
 

<script type="text/javascript"> //document.getElementById('number_of_comments').inne rHTML = commentCount+" Comments"; </script> <!-- // Story Content // --> <script> if(fanid.length > 0 && typeof(nflDefaultLeague)!= "undefined") { leagueId = nflDefaultLeague; //find teamId of default league (if exists) for(var i=0; i < teamsInfo.length; i++){ if(teamsInfo[i][4] == leagueId){ defaultTeamId = teamsInfo[i][0]; } } var fantasyLeaguePlayerJsPath = 'http://msn.foxsports.com' + '/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; }</script>Report: Man dies after opening-day fight <!-- // Writer Attribution// --> <!-- Meta Tag For Search --> <!-- meta name="author" content=""--> <!-- meta name="source" content="FOXSports.com"--> <!-- meta name="eventId" content=""--> <!-- meta name="contentTypeCode" content="1"--> <!-- meta name="editorContentCode" content="1"--> <!-- meta name="blurb" content=""--> <!-- meta name="modDate" content="April 8, 2009 20:04:07 GMT"-->
by FOXSports.com

The fight occurred at about 8:45 p.m., as the crowds were clearing the stadium after the Angels defeated the A's 3-0.
Witnesses say 27-year-old Brian Powers was fighting with a man when a third man joined the fight, according to the Anaheim Police Department. The third man reportedly approached Powers from behind, punching him in the head. Powers then fell and hit his head on a concrete step in a stairwell in the right-field pavilion.
Powers was pronounced brain dead at UC Irvine Medical Center Tuesday around midnight, and died at 12:23 a.m. today, according to Anaheim Police Sgt. Rick Martinez.
Police have not established a motive for the fight, but they are looking for two male suspects, aged 25-30 and both with goatees. They're also reviewing security videos that may have captured the attack, but are still searching for more information about the fight that led to the death of the Buena Park, Calif., man. "We're asking the public's help to find out what the fight was about," Martinez said.

The Mayor
 

He's one of the talking heads on the MLB network now that his career is finished. I had the pleasure of watching him play in college.

Huh. So one of the commentators on the network owned by MLB is the only one picking the Cardinals. And, I would think MLB would want one of their own to be known as a great prognosticator. Sounds like the perfect setup for a conspiracy.

Once again, the Cubs are being held back from their destiny. :(

<font size=1>(Yep, we're great with coming up with excuses - we've had 101 years of practice...)</font size> :D

No...not really but they have been frustrating to watch lately. I am looking forward to how they do this season and am hoping for the best (even if they don't have Omar Vizquel anymore...grumble grumble). Johnson's outing was great yesterday but I think he will be a valuable addition to their rotation.

Yet another tragedy:

Angels' Adenhart, 22, killed in auto crash; game postponed - USATODAY.com

Angels rookie Adenhart, 22, killed in hit-and-run crash; game ppd. - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball

Very sad
 

FULLERTON, Calif. -- Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others were killed by a suspected drunk driver Thursday, a shocking end to the life of a rookie who had overcome major elbow surgery to realize his big league dreams.
The accident in neighboring Fullerton occurred hours after the 22-year-old pitcher made his season debut with his father in the stands, throwing six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics. The Angels ultimately lost the game, 6-4.
The team postponed Thursday night's game with Oakland, the final one of their season-opening series.
...

Update
 

Orioles will not go undefeated this season thanks to the freakin Yankees loss last night.

Prediction - Nats will win a game by the end of April.

Setup - YES!! :rolleyes:
Conspiracy - NO!! :o

tomato, tomahto
 

PD: Ketchup Heading For Sox Opener Stolen
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/cnn-...77/detail.html

The World Famous (quoting the team's website) Toledo Mud Hens defeated the Indianapolis Indians last night. The win puts the Mud Hens a top the International League Central Division with a 3 and 0 record as the Mud Hens go after their third Governor's Cup Trophy (Champions of the IL) in the last four years. Go Mud Hens!!

MTD, Sr.

And the Governors will enter the Ice Castle for a football game with the YSU Penguins on Saturday, September 12th at 04:00pmEDT. See you there, :D.

MTD, Sr.

How about that AL Central, with 2 teams at .500 all the way down to my hapless Tribe, who are tied with the Nationals.

Of course we lost 3 to Texas, which is the best team in baseball right now...

Nats and Indians in the Series this year? What do you think?

The Giants are not going to win 82 games this year.

Where in the world are you going to get 82 out of that team. The G's 4 and 5 starters are lame ducks and pitch like lame ducks.

Maybe I'll see something here in a couple of weeks but not seeing anything yet....

Mark,

Remind me... what are the Mud Hens famous for?

Having one of their jerseys worn by Corporal Klinger.

http://mash.sipe.cz/galerie/farr/12.jpg

• Friday, 10
  • Texas 2 Detroit 15
    

• Saturday, 11
  • Texas 3 Detroit 4

• Sunday, 12
  • Texas 4 Detroit 6

:)

Cleveland Indians 1-5 .167 Won 1
Washington Nationals 0-6 .000 Lost 6

Nats are hopeful of a Home Opening win today........

Yeah, I said "right now."

Ok, maybe I should have said "has the best record..." I'll give you that. ;)

Don't blink or you will miss this - the M's are in first place!!!!!! At least for now.

Same with the Jays. :D

Couple of intereting tidbits from the Cubs-Brewers game last night:

The Cubs scored 4 runs in the top of the 4th, all from bases-loaded walks. Before this season, the last time 4 runs came in only on bases-loaded walks in one inning was 1969, and it has been done twice already this season. (I believe it was the Phillies last week.)

Then, later in the game with the Brewers down 4, Prince Fielder is robbed of a grand slam by Reed Johnson, who jumped up and grabbed the ball over the fence and brought it back. Instead of moping and groaning, however, Fielder did a classy thing by tipping his cap to Johnson on his way back to the dugout. Next inning, when Johnson was at first, they even joked about it a little. Johnson told him, "'Man, I know you don't want to hear it, but that was the first time I've ever done that." Fielder managed to have fun with it, too. "I said 'Great play, you jerk,"' Fielder said. "You can't be mad about it. We still got a run in, so you can't be too upset."

I saw that play. It would have been Fielder's first career grand slam. Ouch!

I'm guessing he'll end up with a few before it's all over.

That is an old picture. Where did you find it? Hey, I was just quoting the Mud Hens Official Website. Maybe the Corner Gas Station could sell some Mud Hens hats. I am sure there are some Mud Hen fans in Dog River, :D.

MTD, Sr.

google image: klinger mud hens

In the White Sox beating of the Tigers in Detroit, Dye and Konerko hit consecutive homeruns. For each player, the homerun was career #300. :)

It looks like they were the first teammates ever to hit century milestone HR's of at least 300 in the same game, and they even did it in consecutive at-bats.

More sad news, this time involving the Tigers:

Former Tiger, Rookie of the Year Fidrych found dead at 54 - MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball

I remember even trying to emulate his style of delivery after that magical season, but didn't even come close. (To the style, or the quality.)

Another factoid for Chuck!
 

Mets fall behind early but rally falls short as Padres win Citi Field debut


NEW YORK -- The place looked gorgeous. The Mets looked lost.
Jody Gerut christened Citi Field with a leadoff homer -- the only time that's happened in major league history -- and the San Diego Padres spoiled New York's first game in its glittering new ballpark with a 6-5 victory Monday night.

Nevada is tied for second with Florida State, Oklahoma and Stanford for the most players from an NCAA Division I school playing major league baseball this season, according to CollegeBaseballInsider.com.
LSU leads the way with eight big-leaguers.

The former players who are on major league rosters are Corky Miller (Chicago White Sox), Lyle Overbay (Toronto), Chad Qualls (Arizona), Ryan Church (NY Mets), Kevin Kouzmanoff (San Diego), Eddie Bonine (Detroit) and Chris Dickerson (Cincinnati).

AND, so are the Cardinals - at least for now!!!

And so are the O's!

I recommend we end the season right now - your playoff teams:

American - Jays, Orioles, Mariners, and Royals

National - Marlins, Cards, Padres, and Dodgers

Anyone second? ;)

Really don't blink this time - but the M's now have the best record in the AL!!!!

Griffey hits his first Safeco homer for the M's...Ichiro with a grand slam...Chavez has hit safely in all 9 games...M's are 7-2!! It's been a while since the M's had a winning record after the first couple weeks of the season. They are actually fun to watch again!

And it's been a while (about 15 years) since the Sox have gotten off to this bad of a start. Wake no-hits the A's for 7 innings and goes for the complete game yesterday. Nice way to finish up a horrendous road trip. The offense has been terrible, and Dice-K is already on the DL. When your arm is "fatigued" before Tax Day (let's hear it for the WBC!!), you're not going to have a good season.

And a 6-game suspension for Beckett? That's ludicrous. If the benches hadn't cleared, he wouldn't have gotten anything at all. The suspension is b/c of the Angels' reaction, nothing more; and that's stupid. It wasn't even all that close to the batter, who was already backing out of the box.

Yeah, but...the plate umpire had called time, and Beckett threw anyway. And threw awfully close to the batter's head - especially considering that the batter was already backing up. Looked pretty bad from where I was sitting - keeping in mind that I really don't like Boston that much, of course.:p

Already this season TWO players have hit for the cycle!
Of course, there have also been a couple of near no-hitters.

Fun start to the season. :)

Didn't Matt Williams come from your neck of the woods ? :D :D

I believe he went south to play ball....:D

Way off topic baseball thread.
 

Today, MTD, Jr., and I umpired a boys' H.S. freshmen baseball game today (Apr. 16/Thu.). The game was played at Wapakoneta (Ohio) H.S. which is near Ohio Northern University (where Mark goes to school). Mark was home for Easter Break last weekend and umpired a H.S. JV game while home. He left his plate shoes (size 13, just wait for it later in the post) at home because I told him I would shine them for him when I shined mine.

Note: When we umpire together, Mark always (well almost always, and no J. Dallas Shirley jokes please) works tha plate, after all, why should I get beat up behind the plate when I have a 19 year old son that can get beat up behind the plate.

I picked up Mark at school and we proceeded the game site. When we got there we discovered that I had forgot to pack Mark's plate shoes (but I hadn't forgot mine), and since mine are size 9, I ended up working the plate. And what a game it was, :D.

Game time was 05:00pmEDT, and Greenville H.S. did not show up until 04:50pm meaning we did not start until 05:20pm. We fiinshed the 6th inning at 07:55pm with the scored tied at 9-all, and sunset at 08:17pm. We decided to try to complete the game and Greenville H.S. scored 4 runs in the top of the 7th but by this time it was 08:16pm and we (the umpires and coaches agreed to suspend the game due to darkness). And a good time was had by all, :).

The game fee was $50 per umpire and Mark and I spent almost $30 total on dinner, :D.

Our next game together is on Mon., Apr. 27th and I am going to make sure his plate shoes are in the van, :p.

Good night all.

MTD, Sr.

Carnac the Magnificent
 

Nats Win!!!! Nats Win!!!!

(With all due respect to Cubs fans and the late Harry Caray).

Indians 10 - Yankees 2. Way to open the new stadium. Ouch. :D

Did anyone else see on the news or hear about the Pepsi Free Ticket give-away debacle in NY yesterday? A near riot ensued.

BOTTOM LINE if you didn't: Pepsi apparently announced free tickets were to be given out at a certain location in the city. (Note - Some of the Opening Day Tickets were going for THOUSANDS of dollars each (read - several games of refereeing. :rolleyes:). People arrived very early and formed long lines in the middle of the city for the tickets......only to be informed many hrs later they were at the wrong location. Many ran across town to another location, in the middle of traffic through the city, etc......only to be dissappointed again as this location was apparently changed for security reasons. When finally located, it turns out: A) The tickets were NOT for Opening Day, and B) There were not as many tickets as previosuly thought.....many were shutout. Hence, a bunch of tired, pissed off people who are at this point not very fond of Pepsi and began smashing "free" Pepsi products that were distributed.....ah, NY!

I'm guessing Pepsi is taking applications for a regional marketing manager this morning.

The national news show I watched interviewed what I would consider a somewhat shell shocked Pepsi PR person on the scene who said there was apparently some "miscommunication." Ya think?

Padgett has an OT game?

Sheffield hit 500th
 

The nine-time All-Star hit a full-count pitch an estimated 385 feet for his first hit and homer of the season for the New York Mets after being cut by the Detroit Tigers the last week of spring training.

Look for him to announce his retirement in the next week.

Three cycles so far this year!
 

Another cycle already.

"Jason Kubel completed the ninth cycle in Twins' history with a go-ahead grand slam (fifth of career) to cap off a seven-run eighth inning for Minnesota. Kubel had five RBIs to lift the Twins to their fifth win."

For those of you who don't understand mbyron's most recent post, Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees - Recap - April 18, 2009 - ESPN

Tribe scores 14 in the top of the second inning against the Yankees, winning the game 22-4. No team has EVER scored 14 runs in the 2nd inning of a game, and it happened in just the third game ever played in the new Yankees stadium.

Wang's ERA is now somewhere around 34.50. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian was on SportsCenter this morning with some other great stats about the game. The 14 runs in the 2nd is more than the Braves have scored in their last five games combined, I think.

One of the NYC papers had this on the back page:

Ballpark: $1.5 billion
Payroll: $200 million
Team: Worthless.

Somewhere right now, JR and Dan and rolling in their graves. :D

A Bronx Cheer ...
 

ChuckElias: Let's not make a mistake and gloat too much about what happened in the Bronx yesterday. The Bronx team is still a half a game ahead of The Olde Towne Team in the standings, and neither team is above .500, yet. And remember, what goes around, comes around.

The "New" Launching Pad?
 

The 17 home runs in the first three games at the new Yankees Stadium is apparently the most ever hit in the first three games at any "new" park in major league history.

PS - I know it's early but, any money on whether the Yankee Manager lasts the yr.....? What say you Nevada?

You've seriously misunderstood me, Billy. I was not gloating at all (especially with the Sox in last in the division). I was merely explaining why mbyron was gloating.

The Olde Towne Team ...
 

It's better than that. The Olde Towne Team is a half a game ahead of the defending American League Champions:
Boston Red Sox 5 6 .455 3.0
Tampa Bay Rays 5 7 .417 3.5

More History in the Bronx......
 

Bottom of 7, Yanks down by a run. Matsui on base. Jorge Posada, PH, and drives a ball to right. Trevor Crowe, Indians, RF, leaps to make a play and a fan interferes w/ the ball (ala Jeffrey Maier). Ump determines it a HR, Indians Coach comes out to argue. The Umps go to the REPLAY Booth, apparently for the first time......and rule it a HR. Interesting call and replay. You'll see it on ESPN umpteen times I'm sure.

I read that he will have to pitch over 48 scoreless innings (7 or 8 shutout starts) to bring his ERA down to his career average.

According to the Yankees, "he's not hurt."

Sox are almost looking respectable, winning again yesterday. Bruins are up 2-0 on the Habs. We won't talk about the C's (although I still think they'll win the series).

Marlins become the first team EVER to sweep a 3-game series after trailing in the 9th inning or later in each of the three games.

In a related story and on a sad, side-note, I think the Nats have now been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs!
:eek: