Topic: The Major League Baseball Thread: Did SI Swipe The 2025 Sports Almanac?

[kraken613]

The Official MLB Thread



Let have a place to discuss baseball!

This will probably get heated at times but lets try our best to keep it civil.

So post what your favorite teams, players, and stadiums are. Why you love baseball, and also thoughts on recent games and standings!


Division Standings


Wild Card

   
...


So my favorite team is the Boston Red Sox. I lived in Boston for a few years when I was little and fell in love with the Red Sox.



My favorite player is a hard one. I have many favorites but one that really comes to mind is Jonathan Papelbon. He has some electric stuff and has electric attitude when pitching, you give him the ball in the 9th and you can be pretty sure your going to win.



My favorite stadium is Fenway Park. Its the oldest, and its a special place. Not much beats sitting on the Green Monster in the middle of the 8th then Sweet Caroline coming on....

Sweet Caroline from Fenway Park:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f33c24tuFTU&feature=related

GO SOX!

[NWR_Neal]

I don't mean to grief, but I did purchase a broom this weekend...and a helluva division lead.

[kraken613]

You really think a 5.5 game lead is going to last in the AL East? 5.5 games is far from a runaway in the division. Who has gotten a broom 3 times this year?

Well I think I heard this song last night....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a65H8PR17fY&feature=related

[Ian Sane]

That baseball map needs a much larger area for the Jays.  Like maybe one the entire size of Canada.  Now baseball takes a back seat to hockey and Canadian football but IF you're Canadian and you like baseball the Toronto Blue Jays are usually your team.  When the Jays come to Seattle it's like an away game for the Mariners.  Most of the audience are British Columbians making the drive from the Vancouver area.

Safeco Field is the only ballpark I've visited.  Fortunately it's a REALLY nice park.  For the last couple years I've gone every year.  The first time I went specifically to see the Jays but they don't always visit at a time that's convenient for me so the Mariners have become my number two team.  My brother is specifically a Mariner fan and would taunt me if they were playing the Jays.  This year's trip is this coming weekend in fact.  I'll be taking Friday off work and checking out the last three games of their series against the Yankees.  Should be lots of fun as usual!

I don't follow baseball like I follow hockey though.  It's more of a "nothing to do, hey there's a ball game on" interest.  For me it's because there are so few spots in the MLB playoffs.  I'm sure purists prefer it that way but to me it really kills the interest.  The Jays haven't made the playoffs since they won the World Series in 1993!  And with the Red Sox and Yankees in their division it's going to take a major restructuring of those teams to change that.  All the other sports have more playoff spots and playoffs are fun.  Even if your team goes out in the first round it creates some hope for next year and gives the season some purpose.  With baseball the season is a waste of time for like at least half of the teams that day one the fans know are NOT going to make it.  The Expos only had one playoff appearance in their entire team in Montreal.  Well no wonder they moved.  Who wants to watch a team that's so irrelevent?

One may argue that by having more restrictive playoffs MLB is ensuring a higher standard of play.  I'll freely admit that basketball and hockey are generous to the point that's kinda phony.  But it gets the fans interested more than a winning team being irrelevent for over ten years because the divisions are such that they're stuck in a strong one while another team contends year after year because their division is made up of soup cans.  The thing is to win the Stanley Cup or the NBA Championship still is an accomplishment because the playoffs are long enough that you can't just fluke out.  It's a big enough grind to mean something, even if some subpar teams are in the playoffs.

[Stogi]

Ugh Baseball is like a girl...

You can ignore her for a while, but when you come back, nothings changed.

For real though. The only time I ever had a good time watching baseball is when I'm getting drunk. It's so dreadfully boooooorrrrrrrrinnnnnnngggg.

But please...continue.

[kraken613]

I think Basketball is ridiculously boring....

I grew up watching the Red Sox and grew up loving baseball. You love the sport you grew up watching and paying attention to and for me that was Baseball. Sox fan since I was 4 years old!

I have two favorite teams, the Red Sox and who ever are playing the Yankees.

[NWR_Neal]

...And you have one flavor: ignorant.

The Red Sox aren't an Evil Empire? Psh.

[kraken613]

And what team spent $423.5 million on 3 players in one off season? Red Sox spent less than you will pay AJ Burnett in one season!

They are the Evil Empire because can throw any amount of money at any player and get them. These numbers don't lie, Yankees have the top 4 highest contracts ever. Then 5 above $100 million. How many do the Red Sox have? 1!



You want to tell me the Yankees dont throw money at players? When currently the Yankees have 4 players with 100+ million dollar contracts and the Red Sox have none!

Also overall payroll, Red Sox aren't even 2nd, or 3rd! 4th with a payroll of $80 million less than the Yankees in 09.



One more thing, how much the players make in just the 09 season. I don't see one Red Sox player do I?



The Red Sox largest contract is JD Drew which is $70 million. Yeah, 4 of Drews contracts equals A-Frauds!

Sorry, but numbers don't lie....

[UltimatePartyBear]

Even if your team goes out in the first round it creates some hope for next year and gives the season some purpose.  With baseball the season is a waste of time for like at least half of the teams that day one the fans know are NOT going to make it.  The Expos only had one playoff appearance in their entire team in Montreal.  Well no wonder they moved.  Who wants to watch a team that's so irrelevent?

The people of the great state of Texas, that's who!  Our perennial also-rans are well loved in spite of their nearly nonexistent playoff record, thank you very much.

[Ian Sane]

The only time I ever had a good time watching baseball is when I'm getting drunk. It's so dreadfully boooooorrrrrrrrinnnnnnngggg.

EVERY sport is boring to someone.  I used to not watch sports at all and at first only hockey.  I've found that each game has different things about it that make it entertaining to different people.  Once you acknowledge that and take a game for what it is it becomes much more entertaining.

Though baseball on TV is presented in a pretty shitty manner.  Half the time the commentators just chat about whatever and completely ignore what the hell is going on.  You don't really see that in the other major sports.

[kraken613]

I only watch Baseball on NESN. Its less so on your local networks than your Fox or ESPN's.

[kraken613]

delete

[Guitar Smasher]

My team was the Expos.  I now support the Jays, although it's kind of a joke the way they run things.  And yes I find baseball to be boring, but it's nice when it's in the background.

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm a Cleveland Indians fan, or at least I was until they traded Victor Martinez.

[RABicle]

Desperate for programming, Channel ONE has begun screening MLB here in Australia. I really don't see the appeal. It seems to be a goddamned miracle if people even make it to first base, let alone score a run. Also are batters required to close their eyes or something? Hitting the ball seems to be entirely based on luck.

[BranDonk Kong]

Baseball is incredibly boring to watch, unless you're at the game. Then it's fun for the first 13 or 14 hours, but then it gets boring and you wish you were dead. Steroids should be legal - nay, mandatory, in baseball.

[kraken613]

That's all opinion. I watch at least one Sox game a week.

I also play Baseball for my high school. You couldn't just throw anybody up there and they get lucky and get a hit. Sometimes you do just get lucky but most the time not.

[NWR_Neal]

I've always enjoyed baseball, but I am generally bored by it. In my opinion, live games are fun because of the overall experience, not because of the actual game. And the game usually only gets good if its close in the last three innings.

Although sitting back and putting on a baseball game is good background for playing a DS game. I think I played numerous hours of Diamond and Pearl while watching baseball with my dad in 2007.

[kraken613]

Well I watch the game to watch the game because I find it interesting. I have watched baseball since I was born, I have played since I was 4-5 playing catch. Its the sport that I love. No other sport really grabs me more than baseball. Everyone has a sport they are really into and mine is baseball.

Just about everyday I throw and about every week I will go out to the cage and hit. Then once baseball season for school starts I throw and hit nearly everyday.

Baseball is a huge part of my life.


By the way when you play baseball what position do you guys play? For my school I am a pitcher, when I was little I wanted to be a SS but I am not a guy to be a shortstop. Last season I had a 4-1 record, hit .389 and had a .440 OBP, had 4 home runs and 20 RBI's for the HHS Bearcats.

Our best player who is now a senior hit .494 with a .516 OBP, had 8 home runs and stuck out 90+ over the season. He was conference player of the year.

[NWR_Neal]

I played a lot of rec baseball up until the end of high school. I pitched, and played first and outfield. I call it the lefty curse; I'm relegated to only half the positions.

[Ian Sane]

By the way when you play baseball what position do you guys play?

I don't think I've actually EVER played anything resembling a real game of baseball.  The problem is you pretty much need nine guys per team and that just isn't realistic for a quick spur-of-the-moment game.  You can always play basketball or street hockey with less than the proper amount of players so those always got priority.

In the rare occasions where some baseballish mutant game is played I do tend to be assigned pitching duties a fair bit since among my very unathletic friends I can throw the most consistently and thus can throw something resembling a strike (ie: you can actually hit it).  No one wants to just play a game of all walks, right?

Just got back from my trip to Seattle to watch the Mariners and Yankees.  As usual I had a great time.  The Mariners were quite frustrating to watch until the last game though.  They have a much weaker batting lineup than in previous seasons.  The top four or so in the batting order were okay (and Ichiro is great of course) but after that, I just couldn't get excited when these guys came to bat.  Lots of striking out with guys on base.  Bases loaded, only one out and the 8 and 9 guys just **** the bed.  Obviously the Yankees are at a higher level (and payroll of course) but they had some consistent hitting ability throughout their lineup.  There are too many Mariner players that felt like just guys filling a roster spot.

It's also sad when after a losing effort my Dad, who doesn't follow sports as much as I do, says to me "what's the big deal with this Ken Griffey Jr. guy?"  He really just doesn't have it anymore.

[UltimatePartyBear]

By the way when you play baseball what position do you guys play?

I only played baseball for one year when I was around 9 or 10.  I was in left field, and I was the only bad player on the second place team.

I could rant for a while about my horrible experience playing little league baseball, but I'll just say this.  Little boys do not have an innate knowledge of baseball encoded on the Y chromosome.  If they don't have natural talent, and you just stick them in left field and hope the ball doesn't get hit that way, without even explaining how to play the position, then you are a terrible person and not fit to coach (and you will engender a surprising amount of bitterness apparently, but not as much as that one umpire who called two ankle-high balls in a row strikes.  THIS ISN'T SOME KIND OF HIGH SPEED GOLF YOU JERK!  YOU'RE LUCKY YOU WERE WEARING A MASK!)


EDIT:  by the way.

[D_Average]

I love to play baseball, but I don't watch much until the playoffs.  Just thought you guys should know.

Go Cubs!  and Go Rockies.... (in case the cubs choke again, gotta have a back up)

[UltimatePartyBear]

Can I just get a "WHAT THE HELL, UMP?!" for the travesty that just occurred in the Metrodome?  That wasn't even close to being a strike.  Thanks a lot for turning an exciting night of baseball into a bad joke.

[BeautifulShy]

So right now I am watching the 2nd game of the ALCS and the Angels are up 3-2 in the bottom of the 11th versus the Yankees.Yankees have a 1 game lead.
While I was typing that Rodriguez hit a HR. 3-3 now.
Start of the 12th.
Tied still start of the 13th.
Bottom of the 13th tied still 3-3

Yankees won on a wild throw.Up 2 games to none.