WARNING!! Annual OT Baseball Thread 2011!! Open at Your Own Risk!
 

We are minutes away from the first pitch of the 2011 baseball season!!! The scariest thing about this season is that it seems like every talking head is picking my Red Sox to win the AL. This is no doubt a media conspiracy to jinx us. The Sox should be better this year, unless Beckett and Lackey fall flat again.

The good news today is that Opening Day actually has day games this year, for a change!!! And they're actually being played in MLB ballparks, instead of in Japan!! If only they'd give Cincinnati the honor of being the first game to start.

When MLB will cut about 4 teams and play about 20 fewer games and start in May, I might care about baseball this early in the year.

Like you heard me say on another forum, "Talk to me in June." :)

Peace

So if baseball starts in May, you'll start caring on March 31? :confused:

Fair weather fan. :p

I've been waiting for this day since November, can my Giants repeat? Probably not but it will be a fun ride along the way!

We'll see how the Rays' bullpen shakes out. Still a solid rotation. Especially, if they can foist Shields on someone.

Opening day is tomorrow. At least that's when the Phillies (and my new Cliff Lee jersey) will debut.

Thought you had a game today.

Go Cubs Go!

I hate it when I hear people pick the Cubs to do well....I was actually looking forward to having no expectations for them this year.

The only people that picked the Cubs to do well live in a room with rubber walls. And you will be rightly rewarded for your expectations when the Cubbies are eliminated from Wild Card consideration....which should be somewhere around next Wednesday.

I can honestly say that I have heard no one - not even a member of their own organization - pick my M's to do well this season. So I don't have to worry about any jinxes...just worry about another 100+ loss season.:mad:

*I* do. The Phillies don't.

You've got more problems than Beckett or Lackey, even though you have full right to worry about both of 'em. Papelbon doesn't scare anyone anymore and Ozzy Guillen has a hit out on Bobby Jenks. It's just a matter of time with Jenks until Oz has his pitching arm broken. Add in Dice K who has become an annual question mark and you could have some real problems.

On the bright side though, it looks like Big Papi has found a new pharmacist who is doing a great job with him.

Is J.D. Drew on the DL yet?

This season? :confused:

Shut up, Hackensack Boy.:p

For the cost of the Rays' entire rotation, you could get A-Rod for about 80 games. ;)

Pap's not a problem, because he won't be the closer at the end of the season. If Jenks can't do it, they've got Bard and 98 mph slider to close. I think they'd like to keep Bard in a set-up role this year and move him to closer next year, but Pap's been the worst "successful" closer in all of the big for 2 years now. Believe me, nobody in New England is being fooled by the number of saves he's racked up.

I don't know that story, although there's very little you could tell me about Ozzy that would surprise me.

I don't think anybody will ever be really excited about having Dice K, but a couple of the writers who should know say that he looks VERY good this spring.

Just a matter of time.

The Rays ain't that stoopid. I just finished watching RoidBoy do one of his patented home run trots. On a double.

They don't need ARod. They have Johnny Damon AND Manny Ramirez!! What could possibly go wrong???

The over/under on Joe Maddon throttling Manny should be about April 15. And wait until he gets a coupla months of Kyle Farnsworth in too.:eek:

Baseball. http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...ages/sleep.gif

Well let's see, I guess that means you and Rut agree on something. :eek:

Yup, that sound you here is them bonding.

Who? :confused:

Baseball is boring beyond belief, although the playoffs are sometimes tolerable.

EEW, I thought it was the cobra slithering.

I KNOW you're not talkin bout me!
 

Went to the Nationals Opening Day game today.

Expectations were high......but the temps weren't = 42o, drizzly and breezy. But, it was nice to hang out with my bro and talk sports for a few hrs!

We hope to get a sniff of .500 ball this yr. Just a sniff. Today, before the first ball was tossed, may be as close as we get..... :rolleyes:

I heard that Cubs fans are already saying, "Wait 'till next year". :D

Of course, my White Sox look like they're going to have a terrible year, if their spring training record is any indication.

When I was a kid growing up on the "Great South Side", I used to say I had two favorite teams - the White Sox and whoever was playing the Cubs that day. :p

Go Blackhawks! :)

Reminds me of when I lived in ABALAMA - my favorite bumper sticker was:

I route for Auburn, or whoever is playing Alabama! :p

Did you see Tony Kornheiser? He said he was going; but with the temperature, I have to believe he was in a heated corporate box, away from the "littles".

Biggest concern for Red Sox is that Ellsbury doesn't get hurt and miss most of the season again.

The Padres just hit a homer with 2 out in the ninth to tie it up in St. Louis just when the Cards thought that they had it won.

Milwaukee opens with back-to-back homeruns and then ends with a walk-off! I'm sure that someone will be along to tell us whether a team has ever hit homers in it's first and last at bats on Opening Day before.

Nope. Closest I got to "celebrity mingling" was meeting the "President's Mascots", talking to a local DJ in the Bull Pen (local drinking hole across the street from the stadium) and listening to a pretty good rock band before the game.

The crowd did boo the new DC Mayor though.....but, in their defense, he really had it coming. :o

I would have liked to have met Tony though. I think he's pretty entertaining.

Actually no, but it is going to snow here this weekend. Not excited about a sport where it is cold when the season opens. ;)

Peace

No one measures up to Marion Barry, huh? :p

Good Call, Ref
 

Nice!

FYI - In his latest saga, they booted his car because it wasn't registered and had the license plates on it from the car he recently sold. He blamed it on the dealership......they lost the paperwork.

Welcome Back ...
 

ChuckElias: Welcome back. How much did The Official Forum Basketball pay you to move this highly rated thread from Basketballrefs.com back to here?

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Opening day is tomorrow. So far not the worst team.

http://abagond.files.wordpress.com/2...hief-wahoo.jpg

Only in road games, though.

Spoke too soon.

Right: NOW we're the worst team.

Tied....with the Cubs.

Run differential? :p

Did you see this?

Nats spell John Lannan&rsquo;s name wrong - DC Sports Bog - The Washington Post

By Dan Steinberg
http://forum.officiating.com/rf/imag...EeCgjK5zxtfgcA

http://forum.officiating.com/rf/imag...EeCgjK5zxtfgcA
Welcome to 2011, Nats fans.

Red Sox blew a 2-run lead, when Lester gave up a monster 3-run homer in Texas. :(

Would you expect anything else from the "Natinals"?

Yep, that's our 2011 "Natinals." :p

The Sox are already 2 full games behind the Yankees. It's panic time!!!

Don't be silly. That won't come until 5:00pm this afternoon.

The Phillies have started well. Good starts by Halladay and Lee. Clutch comeback for the Phils on Friday in the ninth inning.

Lee was dominating -- he gave up a garbage 2-run homer in the sixth inning, but struck out 11 in 7 innings.

Only have Oswalt going today, though. What a letdown. :D

I think I'll wear my Phillies jacket to Brewers opening day tomorrow.

For the record.....
 

early this day of 3 Apr, 2011, the Orioles and Nationals have better records than the Red Sox, Cardinals, Twin, Giants, and Dodgers.

I'm calling it a season right now! ;)

I watched the game on SportsTimeOhio. How can a team get 17, count them, 17 hits and still lose the game by more that 5 runs. Dang I wish Charlie Sheen was still pitching for the Indians.

MTD, Sr.

Go Jays Go

I think he's available! :p

They just went.

Yup, now it officially is panic time.

Cubs take a lead into the ninth today (Sunday) and lose again on a bonehead play. So what's new? :D

Cub fans slogan: "Wait 'till next century".

The REALLY OFF-TOPIC Baseball Thread!
 

MTD, Jr.'s first baseball game of the season was this past Tuesday. He was the Base Umpire (BU) for a boys' H.S. jr. varsity baseball game; the home team won in 4-1/2 innings by the mercy rule.

Yesterday was my first baseball game of the season. Mark (his second game of the season) and I had a boys' H.S. jr. varsity game that was scheduled for 11am. The 11am game was the first game of a doubleheader between the two schools and our assigner tries to assign two seperate crews for a DH which he was able to do.

Normally, Mark would have been the PU in our game but the scheduling supervisor where he works scheduled him to start work at 2pm even though Junior had told him that he could not start work any sooner that 3pm. Therefore I was the PU so that he could boogie off to work as soon as the game was over. We walked off the diamond after 7 full innings at 1:5pm. Needless to say, MTD, Jr. did not get to work until about 2:45pm.

But it only gets better. Midway through our game the H-AD comes to me and asks if I can stay and umpire the 2nd game because the 2nd umpire for the 2nd game thought the game and been canceled and had gone out of town. I said yes. The 2nd game started at 2:30m and we walked off the diamond at 4:50pm after the home team had lost in 5 innings, 22-1.

The first game was played under overcast skies and the temperature the low 40's. The weather got better in the 2nd game, LOL. A very stiff wind from the west made the temperature feel like it was almost freezing and we had intermintent drizzles for most of the game.

Just another early spring day in NW Ohio.

MTD, Sr.

Giants drop 3 of 4 to the D-dgers (can't even bear to write their name out today). At least they didn't get swept but 5 errors in the first two games? Ouch... :(

How about that triple play CLE turned against CWS yesterday? Asdrubel Cabrera turned the last MLB unassisted triple play 2 seasons ago, I think, and he was involved in this 3-4-6 triple play on a bunt. Does CLE have the last 2 triple plays?

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Believe me, I'm not talking smack after my Sox just got swept in Arlington, but I guess the sun was brutal in Oakland yesterday, huh? Where's DJ to weigh in on the outfield defense?

Maybe, but I hear his most recent outing didn't go so well.

Go White Sox
 

This joke was in the humor column in the local Portland newspaper today. It's about Chicago sports teams.

Five Chicago sports fans, each one representing one of the five Chicago major league teams, climb a mountain to show their team loyalty. The first one yells, "This is for the Blackhawks - Stanley Cup champs" and jumps off the mountain. The second one yells, "This is for the Bulls - the greatest team of the 90s" and he jumps off the mountain. The third one yells, "This is for DA BEARS AND DA COACH" and he also jumps off the mountain. The fourth one yells, "This is for the White Sox and the Great South Side" and he throws the Cub fan off the mountain.

If you grew up in Chicago like I did, this would make perfect sense. :D

And so far...

(Yeah, it's early April.)

Just watched a fan in the first row of the left field stands in the Yankees' game try to catch a foul ball with his styrofoam carton of onion rings. Yup, naturally the ball went right on through. Onion rings and styrofoam chips all over the field.


Gotta love idiots. They are so entertaining.

Just watched the Tribe beat the hapless ... wait for it ... Red sox!

2-2. Watch out for the Tribe!

Solid bullpen. Best young Catcher in baseball. If the Starting pitching can sort itself out, the Tribe could be competitive

When did Buster Posey get traded to the Indians? :D

More idiots. Not entertaining, tho. :(

Giants Fan Beaten At Dodger Game Likely Suffered Brain Damage CBS San Francisco

I hope they fry the basterds.

:d

In Double A maybe. :p

Competitive? Maybe they should start their own competitive league.

Or just play split squad games against themselves. Then they'd be competitive. :D

Red Sox are now 0-6. :eek: :D

Shoulda made that a sticky.....

And this weekend. . . bring on the Yankees. :(

How nice of them to keep the Astros company.

"One of these things is not like the other..." :p

Watched yesterday's game in replay last night after my baseball game, because I wanted to see how the Indians scored without a hit. Boston pitching was superb yesterday, except for the walk in the 8th that the Indians moved around and scored on a suicide squeeze.

That type of execution is not their hallmark... Hey Chuck, did you happen to notice that it was an illegally batted ball? :D

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National League / American League? ;)

That could be just what the BoSox need....

Seriously.

I imagine that the Yankees are thinking that what they need is the BoSox right now... ;)

Oh, and I found this for Chuck:

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The Cleveland Indians swept the Boston Red Sox last night!

MTD, Sr.

You're a little late to the party, but I don't mind. We have to gloat about it now, because the Sox will be playing in October while the Indians watch on TV.

In other old news, did you happen to hear about the Hindenburg?

More baseball news unrelated basketball. My JV baseball DH for tormrrow morning has been canceled because the home team does not have enough players to field a team due to injures and illness. :(

I now have $80 less with which to gamble tomorrow night at the Start H.S. SideLiners (athletic boosters; Bonnie Jean, my beautiful and smart better half have been co-vice president in charge of the football/track stadium concessions for the last six years) Reverse Raffle. There are still a few tickets, at $50 each, left. Inky's Italian Resturant is catering. If anyone is interested in contributing to a great cause, just contact me or any of my Mafia (oops, I mean business) associates in Youungstown, :D.

MTD, Sr.

Buh-bye, Manny
 

This just in....

Manny Fernandez has just retired from beisbol.

Of course, it doesn't have anything to do with him having failed another drug test during this year's spring training. Naw......

He was looking at another big-time suspension if he didn't retire.

Sad finish to his career.

Manny Being Manny ...
 

Old baseball players never die, they just open a door, walk into the Green Monster, piss into a cup, and never come back out to play left field again.

Ramirez retires amid drug policy 'issue'

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Tampa Bay slugger Manny Ramirez tested positive for a banned substance for the second time and informed Major League Baseball on Friday that he is retiring rather than face a 100-game suspension.

Slugger Manny Ramirez retires amid mlb drug policy issues - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN

The Red Sox win!! Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Red Sox win (finally)!!

Even in victory, though, they didn't look that great. They basically won thanks to a 5 run inning from Phil Hughes. They still gave up too many runs.

This is sad, but not surprising. The fact that he was dumb enough to get caught again is "Manny being Manny", a guy who does what he wants, has some laughs, and doesn't think about anything.

Every Sox fan is still going to cherish 2 titles in 4 seasons, but there's no question that they were won with chemical assistance; and that's sad. For sure, Manny's not even the only player on those teams (at leasts the '04 team) who was using something. :(

555 home runs, and no HOF for Manny.

I don't think you can find a single team from 1995 to 2005 that didn't have at least a few players roiding up. Methinks all stats during that era are pretty suspect.

You heard it here first. :eek:

And someone else agrees with you Chuck...........
 

Man-alysis: There will be no Hall entry after Ramirez's exit - Daily Pitch: MLB News, Standings, Schedules & More - USATODAY.com

"Yet, in an era where Hall of Fame voters are trying to decide whether to permit players who took steroids or violated the game's drug policy, they are now presented with a new challenge: Voting for an idiot."

And not only that......

Manny was the reason that the Cubbies didn't win the World Series in 2008.

Chicago Cubs: Chicago Cubs wonder if juiced Manny Ramirez to blame for ruining their 2008 playoffs - chicagotribune.com

Yup, our longest running national tragedy would now be over except for Manny.

It's true, it's true.....


To come: Manny and Japan's recent earthquake.

We really should start a "meltdown" thread

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The Cleveland Indians?

Really?

Yeah, baby. 8 in a row. When they lose 17 of 25 in May they'll be just a few games below .500 instead of done for the year. ;)

Hey, where's your skepticism about the Rangers? :mad:

It's taken a back seat to his glee about the Red Sox. But at least Dice-K looked great last night :rolleyes:

The guy can throw strikes.

Don't worry: he'll look better tonight. :D