Baseball 2013 (3 Viewers)

[maddadicus]

It is amazing to me that the owners who probably knew all about roids in their players for the last 30 plus years, had no problems with ,secretly encouraged it ( big paydays for HR hitters ) when the juicers brought the popularity and fan base back to baseball after the strike years. They had no problems with the record HR'S being hit by so so players ( Brady Anderson's 50, etc.) Arod has become the whipping boy for a guilty as charged MLB hierarchy who colluded with, facilitated the use of roids (team doctors and trainers involved) and turned a blind eye to every player that looked bulked up during the era. Remember how Mr. Olympus most players looked at one time. Why are they escaping scrutiny and outing ( Big Papi, Ivan Rodriquez, and most every player of that period ) and Alex is taking the hit. I want him to fight ,to expose the hypocrisy of the games' upper management who created the drug culture that they are so sacrosanct to clean up now. If we need to ban players, then we ought to start by banning the owners who paid to stick the needles in them..My rant...Michael

 

[lancer]

It is amazing to me that the owners who probably knew all about roids in their players for the last 30 plus years, had no problems with ,secretly encouraged it ( big paydays for HR hitters ) when the juicers brought the popularity and fan base back to baseball after the strike years. They had no problems with the record HR'S being hit by so so players ( Brady Anderson's 50, etc.) Arod has become the whipping boy for a guilty as charged MLB hierarchy who colluded with, facilitated the use of roids (team doctors and trainers involved) and turned a blind eye to every player that looked bulked up during the era. Remember how Mr. Olympus most players looked at one time. Why are they escaping scrutiny and outing ( Big Papi, Ivan Rodriquez, and most every player of that period ) and Alex is taking the hit. I want him to fight ,to expose the hypocrisy of the games' upper management who created the drug culture that they are so sacrosanct to clean up now. If we need to ban players, then we ought to start by banning the owners who paid to stick the needles in them..My rant...Michael

Michael, it is interesting that you mention Brady Anderson by name. As a long time O's fan, I and many others have always been puzzled by his career year of 1996. That year saw Brady post career highs in virtually every offensive category except BB's and stolen bases. In his 15 year career he hit 210 Hr's, 50 in '96. His next biggest Hr seasons were 24 and 21, once each. In no other season did he hit more than 19. In '96 he had 110 RBI's. His next highest total was 81. His '96 BA was .297, his career BA is .256. On the face of it the accomplishments scream PHD's. But '96 is a complete 1 year fluke for Anderson. There is no upward performance curve to explain it, and there is no downward falloff curve afterwards. His career numbers are all over the place leading up to and following '96. If he was doing PED's, I would think there would be some sort of pattern to tack to the '96 spike, but there is none. Certainly a player that experienced that kind of performance increase from PED's wouldn't just do it for one year and quit, would he? I'm at a loss to explain '96, other than the possible one year experiment with PED's, or the equally possible unbelievable career year that a ballplayer might have.^&confuse -- Al

 

[snowyowl]

I was watching the Jays game (as usual) and the first game that ARod played on his return, the broadcasters kept interrupting to show his at bats. Every time that he came up they did a split screen with the Jays in one side and Arod on the other. I have never heard of a Jays fan who had anything but contempt for him. Who makes these idiotic decisions?

 

[jazzeum]

The producer or the station management, in all likelihood.

Whether you like him or not, I think people want to see his at bats. I'm not a Yankees fan but yesterday I switched over to YES to watch his bats and then switched back to the Mets game. It's curiosity, similar to motorists slowing to see an accident on the road.

 

[lancer]

The producer or the station management, in all likelihood.

Whether you like him or not, I think people want to see his at bats. I'm not a Yankees fan but yesterday I switched over to YES to watch his bats and then switched back to the Mets game. It's curiosity, similar to motorists slowing to see an accident on the road.

The horror. The horror. -- Al

 

[lancer]

Brad, it's not going to happen for the Nats this season. They're DOA. They have had several "turn-around wins" this season that all ended up wasted as the Nats can't get any momentum. It's one step forward and two steps back, all season long. Like I said earlier, they are going to be lucky to finish .500. -- Al

Beginning to think .500 might be a pipe dream as this team just gets worse offensively. After 2 consequtive 1-run losses to Hotlanta, the Nats are 54-59, DOA in the pennant race, though still mathematically alive for the playoffs. What a disaster and disappointment this season has been for the whole of Nats nation, from the owners, to the manager, to the players, and to we fans. The offense has let everyone down from beginning to end. The team has played 113 games and has now scored 2 or fewer runs in 52 of them, resulting in an impressive 6-46 record in those games. Hidden within this stat is the fact that they have scored 1 or 0 runs in 31 games, to a 1-30 record. Second year man Bryce Harper leads the team with 17 Hr's, and has only played in 75 games because of injury problems. The leading RBI man, Ryan Zimmerman, has a mighty 54, to go with only 12 Hr's, low numbers for him. No one has lived up to expectations with the bat, for whatever reasons. The pitching has held together, though individual records show the result of low run support. Only Jordan Zimmermann's 13-6 record has been what was hoped. Gonzalez is 7-5, with 11 ND's, but 16 QS. Strasburg is a woeful 5-9, 8 ND's, but with 14 QS, and a team leading 3.01 ERA for the starters. Just been a heartbreaking season all around, leaving the fans with the eternal cry of all losing teams, "Just wait till next year!". :rolleyes2:{sm2} -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Since it's not looking this year, why not bring in somebody new to manage the team. At least they'll have a head start for next year and can start to evaluate the talent.

 

[lancer]

Since it's not looking this year, why not bring in somebody new to manage the team. At least they'll have a head start for next year and can start to evaluate the talent.

Brad, I tend to agree with you. Johnson, having announced his retirement BEFORE the season, thus becoming a lame-duck, has not been really effective this season. I don't think he is going to be replaced early, the Lerner's respect him a lot, and they would be risking a public relations mess. Johnson could resign but I don't think he wants to be perceived as a possible quitter (aka Riggleman) in his last season, even if he goes out on a losing note. He'll finish what he started, I think. For whatever reason, the Nats have really underperformed for Johnson this season and he has been unable to do anything about it. Too bad for the Nats that things have gone the way they have, but that's baseball. Baseball's very nature has a way of short-circuiting the best laid plans. -- Al

 

[Panzer ace]

Brad, I tend to agree with you. Johnson, having announced his retirement BEFORE the season, thus becoming a lame-duck, has not been really effective this season. I don't think he is going to be replaced early, the Lerner's respect him a lot, and they would be risking a public relations mess. Johnson could resign but I don't think he wants to be perceived as a possible quitter (aka Riggleman) in his last season, even if he goes out on a losing note. He'll finish what he started, I think. For whatever reason, the Nats have really underperformed for Johnson this season and he has been unable to do anything about it. Too bad for the Nats that things have gone the way they have, but that's baseball. Baseball's very nature has a way of short-circuiting the best laid plans. -- Al

Brad/Al:

I was wondering about Johnson the other night. Part of me (like Brad) thinks they could bring in someone new to get a head start on 2014, while the other part of me agrees with Al that the best end might just be playing out the season under him. It truly is a tough spot for the franchise and Johnson.


-Jason

 

[Warrior]

Maybe the Nationals will be inspired now that Harper got drilled last night, seems to have set off a twitter war of words.

How about this; hit a home run, get around the bases and park your rear end in the dugout, don't admire the thing for five minutes and then Cadillac your way around the bases.

And before anyone says anything; Ortiz is the biggest culprit of them all.

 

[lancer]

Maybe the Nationals will be inspired now that Harper got drilled last night, seems to have set off a twitter war of words.

How about this; hit a home run, get around the bases and park your rear end in the dugout, don't admire the thing for five minutes and then Cadillac your way around the bases.

And before anyone says anything; Ortiz is the biggest culprit of them all.

So true, George. As I watched Harper stand there and admire the Hr and then flip his bat, I remember thinking that he was going to pay for that bit of showmanship next time up. Harper is still real young, so I guess he will learn. Heck, I think he got off easy. The pitcher could have thrown the pitch a little higher than mid-thigh.:wink2: Baseball does have a wonderful symmetry to it. What goes around, comes around. -- Al

 

[Panzer ace]

Warrior/Al:

I hate to say it but the moment I saw Harper watch his home run and slow motion it around the bases I thought that his next at bat was going to end with him getting drilled because the bills in baseball usually come due right away. And sure enough.........

-Jason

 

[jazzeum]

So true, George. As I watched Harper stand there and admire the Hr and then flip his bat, I remember thinking that he was going to pay for that bit of showmanship next time up. Harper is still real young, so I guess he will learn. Heck, I think he got off easy. The pitcher could have thrown the pitch a little higher than mid-thigh.:wink2: Baseball does have a wonderful symmetry to it. What goes around, comes around. -- Al

It's not necessarily attributable to youth. Trout doesn't do that. Incidentally, today is his birthday and he hit a two run shot in the first.

 

[rekp]

It's not necessarily attributable to youth. Trout doesn't do that. Incidentally, today is his birthday and he hit a two run shot in the first.

Didn't help them Angels though . The Rangers are hitting top form again , 13 stolen bases in 2 games and all of the lineup contributing with the bat . Joint top now after i was worried at 5 games back on the A's . Nelly will be back for playoffs though if they continue like this he won't get in .

 

[jazzeum]

It wasn't intended to be about the Angels but about one of the best players in baseball, in only his second year. The fella from Washington has a long way to go before he catches up to number 27.

The Angels need pitching, starting pitching and a closer. They only have two reliable starters.

 

[Warrior]

The Red Sox escaped Houston, winning 2 out of 3; considering they were down two nights ago 7-3 and were losing 5-4 in the top of the ninth last night, I'm thrilled they won those two games.

The possibility of getting swept by the Astros was very real and good God are they awful, they should have stayed in the NL. They should have Chico's Bail Bonds on the back of their jerseys, not names and numbers.

And Porter, their manager, is a Joe Maddon wannabe; last night, he made about 4,237 trips to the mound.

Have to give them credit, there were a lot of fans at all three games; they've won 9 games this year and they draw better than the Rays, who are battling for first in the division.

They've cooled off quite a bit lately as well, I knew they couldn't stay that hot much longer.

 

[jazzeum]

Mets played this afternoon in a tidy 2:44 in beating the Rockies for their third in a row and cementing their hold on 3rd place. Watch out Nats, here we come! ^&cool

 

[Warrior]

I could watch this all day long, just priceless........Yankees fans at their absolute best............

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1058525/baseballyankeefans.gif

 

[jazzeum]

Every team gets old. They've had an incredible run of 20 years. Most teams get five years if they're lucky. Now, it's time to rebuild. Dynasties can fall apart quickly when it starts to go south.

 

[lancer]

Every team gets old. They've had an incredible run of 20 years. Most teams get five years if they're lucky. Now, it's time to rebuild. Dynasties can fall apart quickly when it starts to go south.

So true. I remember when the ultimate NYY dynasty hit the skids in the 60's and 70's. Everyone got old at once. Took them a few years to rebuild. With luck, the AL East may have a few years without the NYY's in the mix, but they will be back. Too much history, tradition, and, wait for it, MONEY, not to get back. -- Al