2018 Baseball season (1 Viewer)

[Warrior]

Hey George, to further the point about Davis passing Ripken for the O's whiff record, your hero, Aaron Judge of the MFY's, just passed Joe Dimaggio's career strikeout total. Joe D played 13 years, 1736 games with 6821 ABs and struck out 369 times. Judge is in his 3rd year, has played 267 games with 944 ABs, and has struck out 370 times. Pretty impressive, eh? :rolleyes2: -- Al

Wow.

That is an incredible stat.

Couldn't happen to a nicer Quasimodo.

 

[Warrior]

Hey George, to further the point about Davis passing Ripken for the O's whiff record, your hero, Aaron Judge of the MFY's, just passed Joe Dimaggio's career strikeout total. Joe D played 13 years, 1736 games with 6821 ABs and struck out 369 times. Judge is in his 3rd year, has played 267 games with 944 ABs, and has struck out 370 times. Pretty impressive, eh? :rolleyes2: -- Al

Tip of the cap to the O's for the 5-4 win over the MFY's tonight in a first game of a twin bill...……..down 4-0 in the second game, but a win is a win.

 

[Panzer ace]

Hey George, to further the point about Davis passing Ripken for the O's whiff record, your hero, Aaron Judge of the MFY's, just passed Joe Dimaggio's career strikeout total. Joe D played 13 years, 1736 games with 6821 ABs and struck out 369 times. Judge is in his 3rd year, has played 267 games with 944 ABs, and has struck out 370 times. Pretty impressive, eh? :rolleyes2: -- Al

Al:

Your post made me want to look up some facts strikeout facts for the late great Tony Gwynn and his 20 year career:

Gwynn faced Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz a combined 323 times. He struck out only four times (two to Glavine, two to Smoltz and NEVER against Maddux or Pedro).

Gwynn never struck out more than 40 times in a season.

Gwynn struck out less than 20 times in six straight seasons with a career-low 15 times in 1995.

Gwynn had 45 career four-hit games. He only had 34 multi-strikeout games.

Gwynn only had one 3-strikeout game in his entire career.

Gwynn had five seasons where he had more stolen bases than strikeouts.

Gwynn only struck out 434 times in 10,232 plate appearances.

-Jason

 

[jazzeum]

Hey George, to further the point about Davis passing Ripken for the O's whiff record, your hero, Aaron Judge of the MFY's, just passed Joe Dimaggio's career strikeout total. Joe D played 13 years, 1736 games with 6821 ABs and struck out 369 times. Judge is in his 3rd year, has played 267 games with 944 ABs, and has struck out 370 times. Pretty impressive, eh? :rolleyes2: -- Al

They're not really comparable as today strikeouts don't have the stigma attached to them when DiMaggio was playing (he retired in 1951). Today's hitters are encouraged to swing hard, even when they're down 0-2. Completely different eras and philosophies.

 

[lancer]

Al:

Your post made me want to look up some facts strikeout facts for the late great Tony Gwynn and his 20 year career:

Gwynn faced Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz a combined 323 times. He struck out only four times (two to Glavine, two to Smoltz and NEVER against Maddux or Pedro).

Gwynn never struck out more than 40 times in a season.

Gwynn struck out less than 20 times in six straight seasons with a career-low 15 times in 1995.

Gwynn had 45 career four-hit games. He only had 34 multi-strikeout games.

Gwynn only had one 3-strikeout game in his entire career.

Gwynn had five seasons where he had more stolen bases than strikeouts.

Gwynn only struck out 434 times in 10,232 plate appearances.

-Jason

Jason, he was a true superstar that was underappreciated by most. One of the most impressive stats he achieved was that in a 20 year career he batted below .300 exactly ONCE, his rookie year in 1982, when he hit .289 in 189 ABs. His career BA. is .338. Just incredible. -- Al

 

[Combat]

I am with George on this. The fact that there is no clock, no timeouts etc. is part of what makes the game so great.

Besides, I enjoy the long games.

In recognition of the slow pace of the game, MLB did implement some clocks/rules to speed it up. But that is like yelling at a snail to crawl faster. The empty seats speak volumes. Most nights these games are 50% or more empty. The Pirates are selling tickets for $9 and can't fill the seats. It's a dying game absent significant change. The old, grumpy white guys who historically make up the fan base are dying off. MLB attendance is down 7% this season. And those figures don't capture the reality of actual attendance as they report tickets sold versus bodies in the seats. The season should start later. The cold weather is horrific in April in many cities for outdoor baseball. Eliminate interleague play and shorten the season by about 30 games. Reduce the games to seven innings. Abolish about ten teams in smaller markets that can't or won't pay to field a competitive team. No more than three pitching changes in a nine inning game.

 

[lancer]

They're not really comparable as today strikeouts don't have the stigma attached to them when DiMaggio was playing (he retired in 1951). Today's hitters are encouraged to swing hard, even when they're down 0-2. Completely different eras and philosophies.

True enough. Comparison is interesting but kind of useless. A simple look at salaries proves that point. Joe D's career earnings as a player totaled $632,250 (13 year career), while Judge is making $622,000 this year ($1,166,800 career earnings to this point in his 3rd year). I should have played ball.:rolleyes2: -- Al

 

[lancer]

In recognition of the slow pace of the game, MLB did implement some clocks/rules to speed it up. But that is like yelling at a snail to crawl faster. The empty seats speak volumes. Most nights these games are 50% or more empty. The Pirates are selling tickets for $9 and can't fill the seats. It's a dying game absent significant change. The old, grumpy white guys who historically make up the fan base are dying off. MLB attendance is down 7% this season. And those figures don't capture the reality of actual attendance as they report tickets sold versus bodies in the seats. The season should start later. The cold weather is horrific in April in many cities for outdoor baseball. Eliminate interleague play and shorten the season by about 30 games. Reduce the games to seven innings. Abolish about ten teams in smaller markets that can't or won't pay to field a competitive team. No more than three pitching changes in a nine inning game.

No insult meant here as your 'dying game' statement is the same thing my father told me year after year, starting in 1960. Now the point may have some validity, in terms of the aging fan base, but at least there is a huge little league, high school, American Legion, college, and minor league baseball system in place that guarantee's a continuing base of players and fans. You also make some valid points, IMO, about the early start date and season length, but I don't see MLB shortening the season and actually shrinking their income window. MLB's season has always hovered in the 154 to 162 game a season mark, since the mid 1910's, anyway. Can't see MLB cutting many games. Maybe they could cut back to 154 games and start a couple of weeks later, but I doubt they will. I agree about cutting interleague games. They are a waste of time. I don't see folding teams a very likely possibility either. Maybe 1 or 2 that are always on the edge in terms of losing money could be folded without too much grief, but there remains the chance that a small-market team can take the title in almost any given year. Since 2000 alone, the KC Royals, Florida Marlins, and Arizona Diamondbacks have all won WS titles. Competition is possible with smart people in charge. Anyhow, I don't see MLB contracting. I can get behind a restriction on something like pitching changes or defensive shifts, but MLB will never consider a 7 inning game, nor should they. Baseball is a 9 inning games, always has been, always will be. MLB has definite issues and needs a tweak here or there, but I don't believe anything drastic will occur in the foreseeable future. Too much tradition, too much money involved to panic. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

In recognition of the slow pace of the game, MLB did implement some clocks/rules to speed it up. But that is like yelling at a snail to crawl faster. The empty seats speak volumes. Most nights these games are 50% or more empty. The Pirates are selling tickets for $9 and can't fill the seats. It's a dying game absent significant change. The old, grumpy white guys who historically make up the fan base are dying off. MLB attendance is down 7% this season. And those figures don't capture the reality of actual attendance as they report tickets sold versus bodies in the seats. The season should start later. The cold weather is horrific in April in many cities for outdoor baseball. Eliminate interleague play and shorten the season by about 30 games. Reduce the games to seven innings. Abolish about ten teams in smaller markets that can't or won't pay to field a competitive team. No more than three pitching changes in a nine inning game.

Where do I start with such an absurd post?

Attendance is down and part of the reason is due to the weather. Attendance is down for some teams because they are rebuilding. When teams are not doing well, fans do not generally attend in droves.

The season cannot start later because of the length of the schedule and please don’t give me that nonsense about shortening the schedule. It’s not happening. You can’t eliminate inter league play unless you move a team to another league (there are 15 teams in each league) or you expand and I don’t see expansion on the horizon.

Abolishing teams? Really? On what basis? And ten only? Why not go for more? :rolleyes2:

I don’t go on your hockey threads and suggest changes to your sport and I watch about as much hockey as you probably do baseball, so why do you feel the need to do so? If you don’t like baseball, no one is twisting your arm to watch it.

 

[Combat]

Where do I start with such an absurd post?

Attendance is down and part of the reason is due to the weather. Attendance is down for some teams because they are rebuilding. When teams are not doing well, fans do not generally attend in droves.

The season cannot start later because of the length of the schedule and please don’t give me that nonsense about shortening the schedule. It’s not happening. You can’t eliminate inter league play unless you move a team to another league (there are 15 teams in each league) or you expand and I don’t see expansion on the horizon.

Abolishing teams? Really? On what basis? And ten only? Why not go for more? :rolleyes2:

I don’t go on your hockey threads and suggest changes to your sport and I watch about as much hockey as you probably do baseball, so why do you feel the need to do so? If you don’t like baseball, no one is twisting your arm to watch it.

This is the second rude response/lecture from you. I'm just expressing my opinion about the state of the sport. If you disagree, that is fine. But there is no cause to be obnoxious about it. What kind of an adult loses all perspective about others expressing an opinion about baseball like a spoiled child? You have bullied folks on the soccer thread as well. I don't care if you post on the hockey thread or not. That is not "my thread" any more than this one is your thread. And if you did and expressed an opinion about ways to improve the sport, I wouldn't go ballistic or deem it absurd even if I disagreed. It might even be a constructive discussion.

 

[jazzeum]

If you want to make suggestions about improving the game, don’t trot out the old ideas but make some that make sense. Abolishing teams, reducing the schedule, reducing the game to seven innings and so forth are not ones that will take place or even have the remotest chance of adoption. If you don’t like the tone of my prior posts, apologies, but you have to expect something like that when you propose radical notions that don’t have the remotest chance of being considered, let alone adopted.

 

[Combat]

No insult meant here as your 'dying game' statement is the same thing my father told me year after year, starting in 1960. Now the point may have some validity, in terms of the aging fan base, but at least there is a huge little league, high school, American Legion, college, and minor league baseball system in place that guarantee's a continuing base of players and fans. You also make some valid points, IMO, about the early start date and season length, but I don't see MLB shortening the season and actually shrinking their income window. MLB's season has always hovered in the 154 to 162 game a season mark, since the mid 1910's, anyway. Can't see MLB cutting many games. Maybe they could cut back to 154 games and start a couple of weeks later, but I doubt they will. I agree about cutting interleague games. They are a waste of time. I don't see folding teams a very likely possibility either. Maybe 1 or 2 that are always on the edge in terms of losing money could be folded without too much grief, but there remains the chance that a small-market team can take the title in almost any given year. Since 2000 alone, the KC Royals, Florida Marlins, and Arizona Diamondbacks have all won WS titles. Competition is possible with smart people in charge. Anyhow, I don't see MLB contracting. I can get behind a restriction on something like pitching changes or defensive shifts, but MLB will never consider a 7 inning game, nor should they. Baseball is a 9 inning games, always has been, always will be. MLB has definite issues and needs a tweak here or there, but I don't believe anything drastic will occur in the foreseeable future. Too much tradition, too much money involved to panic. -- Al

I agree it probably won't happen. Certainly not anytime soon. Money is the driving factor in all sports including baseball. So ideas like shortening the season is unlikely. But the empty seats will eventually have to be dealt with in some manner. My understanding is that the decline in attendance this season is the greatest in MLB history. I do find it interesting when that it is blamed on the weather (even apparently when the decline is occurring in places like Miami and domed stadiums and presumably it has been cold before) but then the suggestion that the season should start a few weeks later when is it warmer is dismissed as absurd. And contrary to our resident expert, I am a baseball fan of long standing. My favorite sport as a kid. I haven't followed it closely in recent years though. I fully understand the attraction of the game. You do have to agree though that the playoff games are almost unwatchable in length with their endless substitutions. They often don't start until 9PM on the east coast and end well after midnight. That can't be good for the sport when very few people are staying up half the night to watch them. Again, just my opinion. Others can disagree.

 

[lancer]

I agree it probably won't happen. Certainly not anytime soon. Money is the driving factor in all sports including baseball. So ideas like shortening the season is unlikely. But the empty seats will eventually have to be dealt with in some manner. My understanding is that the decline in attendance this season is the greatest in MLB history. I do find it interesting when that it is blamed on the weather (even apparently when the decline is occurring in places like Miami and domed stadiums and presumably it has been cold before) but then the suggestion that the season should start a few weeks later when is it warmer is dismissed as absurd. And contrary to our resident expert, I am a baseball fan of long standing. My favorite sport as a kid. I haven't followed it closely in recent years though. I fully understand the attraction of the game. You do have to agree though that the playoff games are almost unwatchable in length with their endless substitutions. They often don't start until 9PM on the east coast and end well after midnight. That can't be good for the sport when very few people are staying up half the night to watch them. Again, just my opinion. Others can disagree.

I have always disliked the move away from the daytime playoff games. I have fond memories of the WS afternoon weekday games when I was much younger. There has always been disagreement about the nighttime start times but has always been an economic decision, regardless of whether little Johnny can't stay up to watch the end of the game, his parents can and that is where the money is. The advertising dollar wins out. At my age, I would appreciate earlier start times and a few day games mixed in.:wink2: -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

I agree it probably won't happen. Certainly not anytime soon. Money is the driving factor in all sports including baseball. So ideas like shortening the season is unlikely. But the empty seats will eventually have to be dealt with in some manner. My understanding is that the decline in attendance this season is the greatest in MLB history. I do find it interesting when that it is blamed on the weather (even apparently when the decline is occurring in places like Miami and domed stadiums and presumably it has been cold before) but then the suggestion that the season should start a few weeks later when is it warmer is dismissed as absurd. And contrary to our resident expert, I am a baseball fan of long standing. My favorite sport as a kid. I haven't followed it closely in recent years though. I fully understand the attraction of the game. You do have to agree though that the playoff games are almost unwatchable in length with their endless substitutions. They often don't start until 9PM on the east coast and end well after midnight. That can't be good for the sport when very few people are staying up half the night to watch them. Again, just my opinion. Others can disagree.

My gentle comments on some of your points:

I'm not an expert but have been watching the sport for some 50 years plus. Even now, I'm still learning.

Empty seats - I think you can ascribe these a team's poor performance. When a team is doing well, it's not a problem or less of one although going to a game is expensive. For example, if I drive to Citifield, parking is $25.

Season length - The owners won't give up this extra income and to fit in 162 games, plus playoffs, you need to begin earlier. Inevitably, you will have games played in poor weather or postponed.

Decline in attendance - Somewhat due to the weather but strikeouts and pace of play are also factors. Another is infield shifts. MLB is thinking of outlawing them as fans want to see offense. I believe that over the course of the season, attendance improves, especially in the summer months.

Playoff games - They do start too late but as you mentioned money drives these start times and all sports follow the money. The diehards will stay up but you will lose the casual fan. I'm not sure how that can be addressed. I'm not quite sure what you mean by endless substitutions. Perhaps you are referring to pitching changes. That's a problem generally that the Commissioner would like to address.

 

[Panzer ace]

21 of the 30 MLB teams have already drawn over 1 million fans to their home games this year and that number will likely total 23 by the all-star break. Couple that with a $12.4 billion dollar TV deal that runs through 2021 and I'd say baseball is going to be fine.

 

[Warrior]

Reading reports that the MFY's are the leaders to get Machado.

My question is why?

Their offense is not the problem, their rotation is the problem.

Severino/Sherman Klump/Professor Toro Tanaka/Sonny tomato can Gray is playing with fire.

If you're going to make a blockbuster deal, it should be for a frontline starter, not a third baseman.

Don't get me wrong, their line up would be beyond sick, but the AAAstros proved last year it's all about pitching in the playoffs.

 

[lancer]

Reading reports that the MFY's are the leaders to get Machado.

My question is why?

Their offense is not the problem, their rotation is the problem.

Severino/Sherman Klump/Professor Toro Tanaka/Sonny tomato can Gray is playing with fire.

If you're going to make a blockbuster deal, it should be for a frontline starter, not a third baseman.

Don't get me wrong, their line up would be beyond sick, but the AAAstros proved last year it's all about pitching in the playoffs.

Good points, all. Thing about Machado is, he wants to play SS. Made the O's move him to SS, where he is adequate, but not nearly as good as he is at 3B. Don't know how much influence this will have on any deal. -- Al

 

[lancer]

Interesting O's factoid: The O's have won 25 games this season...5 of them against the NYY's. You're welcome, Boston. ^&grin -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Reading reports that the MFY's are the leaders to get Machado.

My question is why?

Their offense is not the problem, their rotation is the problem.

Severino/Sherman Klump/Professor Toro Tanaka/Sonny tomato can Gray is playing with fire.

If you're going to make a blockbuster deal, it should be for a frontline starter, not a third baseman.

Don't get me wrong, their line up would be beyond sick, but the AAAstros proved last year it's all about pitching in the playoffs.

Why? Because they can ^&grin

 

[jazzeum]

Interesting O's factoid: The O's have won 25 games this season...5 of them against the NYY's. You're welcome, Boston. ^&grin -- Al

The Sox can say thank you again as they just beat the Yankees, 6-5.