Baseball 2015

[GrayHare]

Glad to see the rules change. Keeping the batter in the box is the key to speeding up play. Watch some old games, pre-1970s, and you'll see batters rarely stepped out between pitches. In recent years some do between every pitch.

 

[steelyman]

A photo exists of me standing in front of the Stan The Man statue at Busch, wearing a new Cardinal cap and a big smile.

Of course, the other team that day was not Chicago, otherwise I'd have worn the blue. But for that day, I was in the stands rooting for the Cardiac Cards!

That's what the rivalry is like.

 

[like2]

No matter how the Dodgers play this year we are truly blessed with another year of Vin Scully calling the games. I am pretty excited about the dog fight that should be taking place in the NL West, San Diego has made some great acquisitions and of course there is that other team to the north.....

 

[Dave in VA]

Big Nats fan, heading down to spring training next month to catch a few games. Hope this is the year it all comes together!

 

[steelyman]

I'm relatively new to Amazon Prime and was happy to discover they offer the Ken Burns documentary series Baseball free to members.

There's a high probability I will catch a few innings before Opening Day

 

[Mango1956]

This is the Cubs' year.

Steve Goodman had a few things to say/sing about the Cubbies. Nobody could tell a story like Steve. He was the consumate Cubs fan, and died far too young! This is a classic, so if you have 6 minutes to spare, watch and listen!

 

[steelyman]

Baseball...America's impatient pastime

What's next, getting rid of extra innings and just cal the game a tie?

I'm not wild about this. I have friends from southern IL who like to sit around in their garages, door open, with the radio on and a lot of beer on summer days. Baseball announcers yakking on and no big deal to get up and mow the lawn a little, then back to the frosty beverages. No one really cared how long the game took. You aren't glued to the TV.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm not wild about this. I have friends from southern IL who like to sit around in their garages, door open, with the radio on and a lot of beer on summer days. Baseball announcers yakking on and no big deal to get up and mow the lawn a little, then back to the frosty beverages. No one really cared how long the game took. You aren't glued to the TV.

+100

Baseball was meant to be played without a stopwatch.

How does the old song from Alabama go?

"I'm in a hurry to get things done
Oh I rush and rush until [-]baseball's [/-]life's no fun
All I really gotta do is live and die
But I'm in a hurry and don't know why."

 

[easysurfer]

At least the changes aren't too drastic.

Following an offseason in which concerns about ever-growing game times emerged as hot-button issues, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced new policies aimed at reducing game times by shortening the breaks between innings, the time required for instant replay, and the quirk-filled out-of-the-batter’s-box moments between pitches. Violations will earn warnings and fines, in the case of “flagrant violations,” according to a press release

MLB announces changes to speed up games | News OK

IMO, part of the fun is watching a 6 hour game deep in extra innings.

 

[HFWR]

At least they didn't outlaw scratching your, er, uh, adjusting your cup...


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[steelyman]

I just enabled game notifications for my "favorite teams" on my iTouch for the MLB AtBat app. I use the free (Lite) version.

I only enabled "end of game" notifications for final scores.

This'll be great, I'll be up-to-date. When anyone asks me, "How have your Cubbies been treating you lately?", I can quote Norm from Cheers:

"Like a baby treats a diaper"

Here we go!

 

[steelyman]

I referred to the Red Sox in another thread today and remembered this one, which I hope warms up with the weather.

Having Chicago/NL and Boston/AL as your favorite teams was not for the faint of heart for a long time.

I was sick in a hotel room in Europe and heard a BBC announcer say something like, "The hapless Chicago Cubs have once more failed". He went on to describe the infamous Bartman incident in the playoffs.

I was in a NOLA bar, watching the NYY demolish Boston and getting one win away. Then I drove to Baton Rouge and the Red Sox never lost another game that season.

You lose some, you lose another, you lose some more, and more... but then (maybe) you win!

 

[steelyman]

I am proposing a new way of measuring peoples' age.

You know how we speak of "dog years"? Age could be measured in "Cub years": the number of years since their last Series appearance.

It'd be great for early retirees. You could be sitting around on the porch with your corn cob pipes and have conversations like (borrowing a joke from Norm Macdonald):

"How old are you?"
"One."
"Wow! No kidding! You don't look a day over zero."

 

[utrecht]

The Ranger broke MLB records last year for most players used in a season and most pitchers used in a season. All due to unbelievable amount of injuries. So 2015 starts with renewed optimism....and then Yu Darvish pitches one inning and is out for the year. Seriously?

 

[HFWR]

The Ranger broke MLB records last year for most players used in a season and most pitchers used in a season. All due to unbelievable amount of injuries. So 2015 starts with renewed optimism....and then Yu Darvish pitches one inning and is out for the year. Seriously?

Yeah, and why is Tommy John getting another operation?


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[eytonxav]

The Ranger broke MLB records last year for most players used in a season and most pitchers used in a season. All due to unbelievable amount of injuries. So 2015 starts with renewed optimism....and then Yu Darvish pitches one inning and is out for the year. Seriously?

I kind of wonder if they knew this last season and let it play out in Spring training, as they didn't want to kill ticket sales

 

[Kimo]

Enjoy the Rockies, if only they could get it together.


However, having grown up with The Big Red Machine in the 1970's nothing will ever compare to them.

I grew up on the Dodger side of the Big Red Machine, it was a blast to go to the stadium (I had season seats in LA) and watch these two play!

 

[freebird5825]

This may be slightly old news...but...today I read news stories, saw photos and watched a few video clips of Will Farrell's Spring Training "Invasion".

He busted his butt to get to 5 games in 1 day, played (badly) 9 positions on 10 teams, and in the process raised a huge amount of money for charity. All with permission and in complete accordance with the MLB, the teams, and the umpires association. I bet that his muscles will ache for weeks.

Do a Google search on "Will Farrell Spring Training 2015" and enjoy the laughter and inter-team comraderie that an "outsider" brought to the fields. His stint as 3rd base coach with cue cards for the Cubs is absolutely hilarious.

 

[steelyman]

That's funny (Ferrell)! Good windup for the real games. I was reminded of Bill Murray's hilarious times announcing ball games

 

[easysurfer]

Okay, I caved.

This is the year for the Cubbies.

The Cubs are 6-1 to win the World Series at the MGM. Only the Washington Nationals, at 5-1, have better odds. The number of bets on the Cubs more than doubles any other team in the MGM's World Series futures pool.

Bettors putting heavy cash on Chicago Cubs in Las Vegas

 

[steelyman]

It's almost here...

One of my favorite clips from one of my favorite baseball movies. Burt Lancaster as Archie "Moonlight" Graham:

 

[utrecht]

After breaking every MLB record for injuries in a season last year, the Rangers are having De Ja Vu all over again.

Best pitcher...Darvish...out for the year after one spring training inning
2nd best pitcher...Martin Perez...not recovered from last yrs surgery
3rd best pitcher...Derek Holland...threw 9 pitches yesterday and is now out for a month
Right fielder...Shin Soo Choo...left yesterdays game with back spasms
Left fielder...Ryan Rua...left yesterdays game with sprained ankle..going to DL

Hard to believe

 

[TimSF]

I'm a Giants fan and it has been super fun for us these last 5 years. I think this is going to be rebuilding year for our team though. Our bullpen is thin. Bumgarner cannot pitch every game. I predict that we will take what we can get this year and then perhaps make a run for it again in 2016. Personally, I am hoping to see the Royals take it all this year. They are a classy, young, exciting team.

 

[eytonxav]

After breaking every MLB record for injuries in a season last year, the Rangers are having De Ja Vu all over again.

Best pitcher...Darvish...out for the year after one spring training inning
2nd best pitcher...Martin Perez...not recovered from last yrs surgery
3rd best pitcher...Derek Holland...threw 9 pitches yesterday and is now out for a month
Right fielder...Shin Soo Choo...left yesterdays game with back spasms
Left fielder...Ryan Rua...left yesterdays game with sprained ankle..going to DL

Hard to believe

Not hard to believe when you have Nolan's curse hanging over you. I would like to see Daniels out next.

 

[utrecht]

Whats wrong with Daniels? The Rangers went from a laughing stock to a contender each of the last 5 or so yrs until the injuries hit them hard. He also built one of the top 2-3 farm systems in baseball.

I'd like to know the behinds the scenes story about Nolan. Losing him was really bad.