Major League Baseball 2015

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Originally posted by patespo1:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
i still think replay in baseball is the dumbest idea ever

the only thing that should be reviewable is HR/foul balls

Couldn't disagree more. If the technology is there to improve the game, why not.

A lot of people (myself included) are turned off by the arbitrary nature of balls and strikes behind the plate, 'unwritten rules', and the like which make baseball seem antiquated.

why not just have robots play the game with robot umps

why not just have lasered markers so you know for sure if a ball is out or not

why not let the guys have receivers and head sets so they can read % of pitches the pitcher is likely to throw?

just cause we have technology doesn't mean a time old game like baseball needs to implement it.

would you have more fun playing baseball if there was an electronic ump?

can you imagine tommy lasorda arguing with an electronic ump?

yawn.

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Originally posted by g-man:
can you imagine tommy lasorda arguing with an electronic ump?
yawn.

Hey, some people would argue with anyone. Or anything.

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Originally posted by billhike:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
can you imagine tommy lasorda arguing with an electronic ump?
yawn.

Hey, some people would argue with anyone. Or anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf9E1zhnFec

#classicbaseball

LOL! Crawling grenade thing was hilarious.

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:
I know what you guys are saying, but I think he is being held somewhat to an unrealistic standard. It's part his own doing because he has been so fantastic over the last 5 years. It's just seems more something for the baseball talking heads to talk about then any real story. If the Dodgers score 2 runs in 2 of those 4 games, Kersh has a few more wins and nobody would be talking about this.

Being held to something unrealistic? Kershaw was the Cy Young winner in the NL in 2011, 2012, and 2014 along with the NL MVP in 2014. Some of his wins during the regular season may be attributed to the dodgers scoring 2 more runs here and there also. Just more focus on the play-offs.

Kershaw is great and am not a dodger fan. Every team would love to have him on their team.

quote:

Originally posted by patespo1:

quote:

Originally posted by g-man:
i still think replay in baseball is the dumbest idea ever

the only thing that should be reviewable is HR/foul balls

Couldn't disagree more. If the technology is there to improve the game, why not.

A lot of people (myself included) are turned off by the arbitrary nature of balls and strikes behind the plate, 'unwritten rules', and the like which make baseball seem antiquated.

Would have liked to seen a more defined replay of the Rios double down the left field line that was ruled over the bag. That play changed the dynamics of the game. Seemed that the telecast just went in favor of the call on the field with no question of any other call.

It's good for you. Eat it.

quote:

Originally posted by patespo1:
Couldn't disagree more. If the technology is there to improve the game, why not.

A lot of people (myself included) are turned off by the arbitrary nature of balls and strikes behind the plate, 'unwritten rules', and the like which make baseball seem antiquated.

Preach, Pat! PREACH!

Sam Dyson whining about Bautista's bat flip last night. Sour grapes anyone?

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/...-blue-jays-sam-dyson

quote:

Originally posted by CSM:
Sam Dyson whining about Bautista's bat flip last night. Sour grapes anyone?

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/...-blue-jays-sam-dyson

Baseball: the only sport in which spontaneous celebration is not only discouraged, it is criticized, and, in most cases, met with retaliation. #ridiculous #arcane #boring

quote:

Originally posted by CSM:
Sam Dyson whining about Bautista's bat flip last night. Sour grapes anyone?

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/...-blue-jays-sam-dyson

My suggestion - don't throw a meat pitch when the game is on the line. When you do, shut up. Don't touch the opponent after you already lost the game and acted like an idiot.

quote:

Originally posted by CSM:
Sam Dyson whining about Bautista's bat flip last night. Sour grapes anyone?

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/...-blue-jays-sam-dyson

"respect the game a little more"

hahahah

you hear that toronto fans

that means not throwing things from the upper decks onto your fellow toronto fans.

reminds me of celebrations

"Just win!"

for people who didnt see this gem of an interview yesterday

http://www.si.com/extra-mustar...i-interview-alds-mlb

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Originally posted by Arsenal4ever:
Class act by the Toronto fans in throwing stuff on the field. Obviously they don't know the rules.

None of the players I saw interviewed afterwards knew that obscure rule.

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Originally posted by VinCentric:

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Originally posted by Arsenal4ever:
Class act by the Toronto fans in throwing stuff on the field. Obviously they don't know the rules.

None of the players I saw interviewed afterwards knew that obscure rule.

it's pretty straight forward, if there ever was an error thrown within the infield, the ball is now live and runners can score.

if anything the ump some how got confused and called the play dead when he shouldnt have

quote:

Originally posted by gigabit:

quote:

Originally posted by CSM:
Sam Dyson whining about Bautista's bat flip last night. Sour grapes anyone?

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/...-blue-jays-sam-dyson

Baseball: the only sport in which spontaneous celebration is not only discouraged, it is criticized, and, in most cases, met with retaliation. #ridiculous #arcane #boring

Now who's preaching

The fans that actually still enjoy baseball will soon age out, they need to start cultivating new fans, and following 'old school' traditions will not work. The game needs to evolve.

By that point in the game the tension was so high, of course Bautista would react after slamming that homer. But he stood there watching it for less than 2 seconds and he didn't stare down Dyson. He tossed the bat emphatically but it wasn't a bat flip. It's much ado about nothing.

I'm a huge fan, fairly young (mid-30's), and have no problem with most of the traditions of the game. That being said, I had no problem with the bat flip. Mid-June in a game that means nothing...don't flip the bat or admire your homer. October baseball, in a do-or-die game, with tensions running as high as they were, and a whole country at your back...so long as you don't throw the bat directly at the pitcher, it's fine by me.

Same with Cueto mouthing off after striking a guy out...maybe not in June. But October...let them know.

As Dallas Braden said on ESPN, if you don't want to be shown up, don't throw a pitch that can be hit to the stands. And my other thought is that if, as a pitcher, all you are worried about is "respect" for the game, in a game 5 or game 7, then you shouldn't be out there with the game on the line. Save the preaching for the dog days of summer. This is playoff baseball.

I agree that MLB needs to evolve. I was skeptical about expanding the playoffs back in the 90s, but I've really enjoyed it and keeps more teams and fans involved.

The one thing in baseball that is really annoying is the subjective nature of calling balls and strikes. I don't think I want to use it in a live game, but it would be great to evaluate umpires. If you incentivize them to make the objective call, then you can have a more standardized strike zone.

I love this from Michael Schur writing for NBC Sports Great whole article by the way with Joe Posnanski. ( NBC Sports article )

I understand there are traditionalists and purists and whatever-ists who think that flipping a bat after you hit a home run is bad form, or disrespectful, or something. I disagree. I think it’s awesome, frankly, and if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats, who had that crazy itinerant baseball life and then found a home in Toronto, and who is the soul and beating heart of this team — a team which hasn’t been in the postseason in 22 years and which has brought sports life and sports relevance back to one of the world’s great cities — and whose team went down 0-2 at home to a clearly inferior team and then stormed back on the road and gutted out two big wins and then went back to Toronto, fell behind early, scratched their way back to even, then went down by a run on one of the weirdest plays in postseason history, then loaded the bases on three errors and had a guy forced at home and then only scored one run and had a guy thrown out at second on a single to the outfield … if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats flipping his bat towards his own dugout in a badass and life-affirming and glorious and barbaric yawp of baseball excellence after hitting a home run in that situation, then I feel bad for you. Or you’re a Rangers fan, in which case, well, I still feel bad for you, because your team lost.

talk about rubbing it in.

hey it was a bat flip, whatever. I dont see the need to justify it that alot of sports writers have been writing about.

nothing at all to do with purists or traditionalists.

Instant replay though, that goes at purists vs traditionalists.

I personally love celebrations. It makes the sport fun. People trying to justify these things are just dumb.

i mean it's not like having a player on the other team take out your starting shortstop, who didnt need to tag the base because it WAS a neighborhood play, not touch his own base because he was taking out said SS, run to the dug out, have the ump not make the right call, get challenged, and come back safe on second without ever touching the base only to have that one play change the outcome of the entire game.

no, the to and tx game was fair.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
I love this from Michael Schur writing for NBC Sports Great whole article by the way with Joe Posnanski. ( NBC Sports article )

I understand there are traditionalists and purists and whatever-ists who think that flipping a bat after you hit a home run is bad form, or disrespectful, or something. I disagree. I think it’s awesome, frankly, and if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats, who had that crazy itinerant baseball life and then found a home in Toronto, and who is the soul and beating heart of this team — a team which hasn’t been in the postseason in 22 years and which has brought sports life and sports relevance back to one of the world’s great cities — and whose team went down 0-2 at home to a clearly inferior team and then stormed back on the road and gutted out two big wins and then went back to Toronto, fell behind early, scratched their way back to even, then went down by a run on one of the weirdest plays in postseason history, then loaded the bases on three errors and had a guy forced at home and then only scored one run and had a guy thrown out at second on a single to the outfield … if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats flipping his bat towards his own dugout in a badass and life-affirming and glorious and barbaric yawp of baseball excellence after hitting a home run in that situation, then I feel bad for you. Or you’re a Rangers fan, in which case, well, I still feel bad for you, because your team lost.

That's awesome, and I couldn't agree more. I have no idea why anyone (other than a bitter Rangers fan) would have a problem with Bautista celebrating the way he did.

Anyway, with everything that happened in the game last night (weird, frustrating and wonderful), I find it really strange that this the one thing that everyone in baseball is hung up on.

If Adrian Beltre (or some other Ranger) did it, Jays fans would be pissed about it and Rangers fans would've loved it. That's just the way it goes.

I think Toronto's the best team in baseball, with the biggest jerks in the game. Mantle just put his head down and ran around the bases. Jimmy Brown let the ball drop in the end zone and ran back to the sideline. These jerks have no idea what good sportsmanship is. Justifying it because they're on your team and resenting being told they're jerks is akin to resenting people who criticize Canadian wine simply because you're Canadian.

Oh whatever.

Come on Mets!!! Want to see a Cubs-Blue Jays World Series however!

Mets-Cubs are gonna be fun to watch.

The LA stands for Lost Again.

Four teams remain.
KC, Toronto, Cubs and Mets.

Kansas City is the westernmost city, and it is also the southernmost.

If the World Series goes 7 games, it could be pretty cold for game 7 on November 4.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob_Sutherland:
I love this from Michael Schur writing for NBC Sports Great whole article by the way with Joe Posnanski. ( NBC Sports article )

I understand there are traditionalists and purists and whatever-ists who think that flipping a bat after you hit a home run is bad form, or disrespectful, or something. I disagree. I think it’s awesome, frankly, and if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats, who had that crazy itinerant baseball life and then found a home in Toronto, and who is the soul and beating heart of this team — a team which hasn’t been in the postseason in 22 years and which has brought sports life and sports relevance back to one of the world’s great cities — and whose team went down 0-2 at home to a clearly inferior team and then stormed back on the road and gutted out two big wins and then went back to Toronto, fell behind early, scratched their way back to even, then went down by a run on one of the weirdest plays in postseason history, then loaded the bases on three errors and had a guy forced at home and then only scored one run and had a guy thrown out at second on a single to the outfield … if you can’t enjoy Joey Bats flipping his bat towards his own dugout in a badass and life-affirming and glorious and barbaric yawp of baseball excellence after hitting a home run in that situation, then I feel bad for you. Or you’re a Rangers fan, in which case, well, I still feel bad for you, because your team lost.

Brad Gilbert wrote a book he titled 'Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis--Lessons from a Master'. Different sport, but the concept can equally apply to baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by Wine Sparty:
If Adrian Beltre (or some other Ranger) did it, Jays fans would be pissed about it and Rangers fans would've loved it. That's just the way it goes.

See the thing is, it's not Rangers fans that are pissed, it's the crybaby Rangers themselves. I don't think Jays fans would have an issue with someone celebrating a home run to win a playoff series.

Simple solution for Dyson, you don't want a guy celebrating after he hits a moon shot off you, don't lob him a grapefruit right down the middle (third fastball in a row to a fastball hitter too).

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
I think Toronto's the best team in baseball, with the biggest jerks in the game. Mantle just put his head down and ran around the bases. Jimmy Brown let the ball drop in the end zone and ran back to the sideline. These jerks have no idea what good sportsmanship is. Justifying it because they're on your team and resenting being told they're jerks is akin to resenting people who criticize Canadian wine simply because you're Canadian.

Says the guy who roots for the team that STILL employs AROD. The biggest jerk and biggest cheater in the history of sports.

quote:

Originally posted by CSM:

quote:

Originally posted by Wine Sparty:
If Adrian Beltre (or some other Ranger) did it, Jays fans would be pissed about it and Rangers fans would've loved it. That's just the way it goes.

See the thing is, it's not Rangers fans that are pissed, it's the crybaby Rangers themselves. I don't think Jays fans would have an issue with someone celebrating a home run to win a playoff series.

Simple solution for Dyson, you don't want a guy celebrating after he hits a moon shot off you, don't lob him a grapefruit right down the middle (third fastball in a row to a fastball hitter too).

I should've expanded more to clear up what I was referring to. This is an issue throughout MLB, regardless of team. I'm pretty sure that everyone of our teams has had a pitcher that got pissed another guy "showed him up" with a bat flip or something. And on the flipside, I'm pretty sure all of our teams has had a guy that flipped a bat or violated some other "unwritten" rule of etiquette after hitting a dinger. This one just got magnified due to it being the playoffs and being one of (if not the) the craziest innings of baseball.

I'm generally someone who prefers less showmanship, but then again, my favorite player growing up was Rickey Henderson.

I'm rooting for a Toronto / New York World Series, and I really hope Price can put in some good performances to help him get a ring. Of course, he'll cash in regardless this offseason, but I really liked him during his time in Detroit.

not sure why pitchers are allowed to fist pump & yell after a big strike out or double play, but a batter better not admire his home run or flip his bat after the biggest home in the franchise's last two decades.

bring on the mets!!! Go CUBS!!

I apologize to sarbuze, smartlysauced, and allred in advance, as I may be a bit distracted at tomorrow's offline

Impressive performance by Daniel Murphy in the final game and in the series overall (hit HRs off both Kershaw and Greinke). While his RBIs on the triple and homer were great, the play of the game was when he went from first to third on a walk when the Dodgers were in a shift. That heads up play won the game.

quote:

Originally posted by TPEwinedrinker:
not sure why pitchers are allowed to fist pump & yell after a big strike out or double play, but a batter better not admire his home run or flip his bat after the biggest home in the franchise's last two decades.

how about pointing to the stands where you're going to hit the ball in game 3 of a world series? =)

quote:

Originally posted by TPEwinedrinker:
The LA stands for Lost Again.

You guys have had a nice run, but LA still has more WS wins than SF

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:

quote:

Originally posted by TPEwinedrinker:
The LA stands for Lost Again.

You guys have had a nice run, but LA still has more WS wins than SF

glenn- wins before either of us were born don't count.

Disappointing finish for the Dodgers but that team had too many flaws to really make a deep run. Will be an interesting offseason. I hope they re-sign Kendrick who was very solid at 2nd. I would not give Greinke the $200M his is going to want. He has been great but at 32 I wouldn't go there.

Good news is we have some high end pitching in the minors that should start to pay off next year. Also excited about Corey Seager who could be at an MVP level in a couple of years. Joc had a rough 2nd half but at worst he is a low avg, high power, high on base guy with gold glove defense in center.

Have to fix the bullpen and I would love a new manager but lot's to like for Dodger fans next year and beyond.