Baseball 2015 (3 Viewers)

[Warrior]

As a Yankee fan, I will hate the Red Sox to the day I die.............

Growing up in the early to mid 1970's, the Orioles and Tigers were the two teams who battled with the Red Sox for the division each year, the Yankees to quote you stunk on ice (love that phrase too by the way, I stole it from you and use it all the time..........).

Then free agency began and Heir Steinbrenner in the turret of his Tiger I started throwing money around and the Yankees became the team to beat in the AL East, 1978 resulted in me hating the Yankees with the fire of 10,000 suns.

Hate grew to respect in the mid 1990's as they had a ton of home grown talent and played the game the right way, plus Mr Torre was, is and always will be aces in my book, had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions and he's just a tremendous person.

After 2004, all the anger and nonsense from 1976 till then got washed away in one sweet, glorious tidal wave.

Since 2004 and up until 2013, the Red Sox were the better team, the Yankees no longer annoyed me, they were like ants at a picnic, the hatred I felt towards them seemed to be going away, three WS titles vs one will do that to a fan.

Now with the worm turning once again, that old hatred is back and back big; Horseface, Aroid, Sherman Klump, Gardner (Good Christ his dome is huge), McCann, Dreamboat, the hate is back, burning like the fire of 10,000 suns once again.

Old feeling and habits die hard I guess.............it will be fun rooting against them in the AL playoffs again..............

 

[Panzer ace]

I'm not saying 99% of players are cheating, I am saying 99% of players either (1) hitting 40+ homers in a season or (2) throwing 98+ mph are cheating. That's probably more like 10% of players, but it is a majority of players winning the MVP, homer run title, RBI title, Cy Young Award, etc.

Why do I still watch? Because of clean, hard nosed players like Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia, who manage to become stars in this PED era without any signs or even allegations of PED use.

As a Yankee fan, I will hate the Red Sox to the day I die, but I respect the hell out of some of their players, from guys like Carl Yastrzemski , Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, and recently, Dustin Pedroia. If I had a hall of fame vote, I would vote for Jim Rice, based on how much I feared and hated him as a kid. If Pedroia mantains his present career course, I would vote for him, just like I would hope Red Sox fans with votes would vote for Derek Jeter, and for the same reason: they play the game right.

Great post.

 

[DMNamiot]

Man oh Man George you should write a blog or better be hired to do the commentary for the sox at Fenway. Love it when you get on a roll and even better when it seems like every sports writer out there is saying how amazing it is that the Yankees are in first at the All Star Break. Give me a break with all the predictions. There is a lot of Baseball left to play and I think its a tad too early to call it for one team or another.

 

[Warrior]

Man oh Man George you should write a blog or better be hired to do the commentary for the sox at Fenway. Love it when you get on a roll and even better when it seems like every sports writer out there is saying how amazing it is that the Yankees are in first at the All Star Break. Give me a break with all the predictions. There is a lot of Baseball left to play and I think its a tad too early to call it for one team or another.

Glad you're a fan of my work; so is Michael, he just isn't willing to admit it like you are.............:wink2:

Thanks to Aroid and Horseface, the MFY's are mashing again like the Bronx Bombers of the 1970's, plus the back end of their bullpen is lights out (and you're welcome for Andrew Miller, what an idiotic, boneheaded decision to trade him, then not resign him when the O's with their 42.00 payroll couldn't). McCann is mashing too; yet another coconut head on the MFY's; they've got a lot of guys who are bald, anyone notice that. Roids cause you to blow your feathers, so there you go.

And you're right, still a lot of ball to be played, as long as Aroid and Horseface don't break down in the second half, you've got an excellent shot at winning the AL Least, what a crappy division..........................

 

[jazzeum]

These Yankee teams are not nearly the same as the ones of even a few years ago. They are the better team in a weak division. Their starting pitching is adequate but not great; Tanaka is one pitch away from TJ surgery. The players you mention are on the downside of their career and hardly inspire the awe they once did. It's not a team equipped to win anything but the division. They're a nice little team (as Suzyn Waldman, one of their announcers, used to say about other teams) but no more than that. Moreover, it's the halfway point so let's not get crazy just yet; a lot of ball yet to be played.

 

[lancer]

I kind of disagree that the AL East is a weak division. True, the AL East does not have a dominating team that is running away with it all, but neither does the rest of the AL. In general, there are no really terrible teams in the AL, with only the Royals excellent first half putting the lower half teams of the Central in deep trouble. It seems parity is the order of the day in the AL. The NL still appears to have the classic dominating teams, like the Cards, and the classic terrible teams, like Philly. It's just that the gap between the have's and the have not's is much larger in the NL. The AL East will end up being the most interesting race in baseball and how can that be bad? With all the teams having a shot, there will be something for the fans to stay involved in. What do the fans of Philly, Cinncy, and Milwaukee have to look forward to in the second half? Not much. So for fans of the AL East, revel in the lack of a dominating team and dream that your team will end up as the top dog, because it could happen. 70 games is plenty of time to go from worst to first when the gap is only a half-dozen games.:wink2:^&grin -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Competitive doesn't mean strong and the AL East is competitive but there is no real good team in there, certainly none that would terrify me in a playoff.

The teams that stand out at the break so far are the Royals and, in a rush at the end, the Angels.

In the NL, it's the Cards and the Pirates. The rest are a big "eh." The Nats should be in there but not following them that closely, I don't know what is their issue.

 

[lancer]

Competitive doesn't mean strong and the AL East is competitive but there is no real good team in there, certainly none that would terrify me in a playoff.

The teams that stand out at the break so far are the Royals and, in a rush at the end, the Angels.

In the NL, it's the Cards and the Pirates. The rest are a big "eh." The Nats should be in there but not following them that closely, I don't know what is their issue.

Brad, the issue with the Nats is injuries. They haven't been able to put their preferred starting line-up on the field all year. At present, 4 of their 8 starters are on the DL, another has a hamstring issue but is playing. Couple this with a really down year by the SS Desmond (both offensively and defensively) and that leaves 2 starters the Nats have had to rely on, Harper and the catcher Ramos, and those 2 need a day off here and there. Same thing a lot of clubs go through. Several times in the last week or so, the Nats have fielded teams with just 2 regulars and no matter how well the subs play, they are not as good as the starters. I'm actually happy that the Nats have been able to play as well as they have because consistency has been impossible to achieve. Also, 2 of the vaunted starting pitchers have missed several starts because of injury. The best laid plans... -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Injuries, everybody's bane. Well, perhaps if some of these people come back Al, your team can show what it can do.

 

[jazzeum]

deGrom was about as perfect as you could be in the All Star Game: three strikeouts on 10 pitches. He was throwing some serious gas.

 

[lancer]

deGrom was about as perfect as you could be in the All Star Game: three strikeouts on 10 pitches. He was throwing some serious gas.

He looked outstanding. Chapman wasn't throwing marsh mellows either. NL fanned 15 ALers yet the NL got whupped, with the premier left-hander in MLB taking the loss. Go figure. {sm2} -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Last night the "Franchise Four" was unveiled for each team. I have some issues with the Mets choices (Hernandez, Carter, Piazza and Seaver) as all except for Seaver and maybe Piazza didn't play for the Mets that long. What about Mookie, Koosman, Gooden or Strawberry.

The one team that stood out for me though was the Giants (Mays, McCovey, Bonds and Posey). Bonds should be on the Steroid Franchise Four (along with Aroid, Clemens and McGwire) but not mentioned with Mays or McCovey. Posey is too young to be mentioned in that crowd, in my opinion, but I can see a case being made. However, what about Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Bill Terry or -- hello -- Marechal. You could also make a case for Bobby Thomson for authoring one of the great moments in Giants and baseball history.

I think this is what happens when the fans get too much of a say.

 

[lancer]

Last night the "Franchise Four" was unveiled for each team. I have some issues with the Mets choices (Hernandez, Carter, Piazza and Seaver) as all except for Seaver and maybe Piazza didn't play for the Mets that long. What about Mookie, Koosman, Gooden or Strawberry.

The one team that stood out for me though was the Giants (Mays, McCovey, Bonds and Posey). Bonds should be on the Steroid Franchise Four (along with Aroid, Clemens and McGwire) but not mentioned with Mays or McCovey. Posey is too young to be mentioned in that crowd, in my opinion, but I can see a case being made. However, what about Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott, Bill Terry or -- hello -- Marechal. You could also make a case for Bobby Thomson for authoring one of the great moments in Giants and baseball history.

I think this is what happens when the fans get too much of a say.

Haven't seen the "Franchise Four' lists but if the Giants left off Mathewson and Marichal there is obviously no legitimacy to their list. Posey? Really? Cepeda might have a better claim. Leaving off Mathewson is equivalent to leaving Cobb off the Tigers or Ruth off the NYY's. Jeesh.:rolleyes2: -- Al

 

[lancer]

Went and looked up those "Franchise Four" lists. I see Nolan Ryan was listed with 3 clubs, the Rangers, Angels, and Astros. -- Al

 

[jazzeum]

Here is the Franchise Four story with all the lists.

I think the Yankee and Dodger list is spot on.

On the four greatest living players, it's hard to really quibble with Aaron, Mays, Koufax and Bench but I think I would have put Gibson in place of Gibson. On the other hand, the game was in Cincinnati so you can't go too crazy. After all, Bench was a great player, certainly the best all around catcher in the last 50 or so years.

 

[lancer]

Just saw an interesting stat on ESPN. Sandy Koufax's career monetary earnings were $430,500 total, over 12 years. Today's minimum salary for 1 year is $507,500. --Al

 

[Panzer ace]

As a Giants fan the list is embarrassing and it shows what little historical knowledge our fans have. Bonds and Posey? This is a franchise with a rich and deep history and that is what they came up with?

Wow..................

 

[lancer]

As a Giants fan the list is embarrassing and it shows what little historical knowledge our fans have. Bonds and Posey? This is a franchise with a rich and deep history and that is what they came up with?

Wow..................

Jason, have to agree with you an Brad. The 4 M's should have represented the Giants or at least 3 M's and an O.:wink2: -- Al

 

[Panzer ace]

Jason, have to agree with you an Brad. The 4 M's should have represented the Giants or at least 3 M's and an O.:wink2: -- Al

Al:

Yup and I also couldn't agree more about Brad's Bonds comment. That clown only belongs on the 4 greatest steroid cheaters list.

-Jason

 

[Louis Badolato]

Al:

Yup and I also couldn't agree more about Brad's Bonds comment. That clown only belongs on the 4 greatest steroid cheaters list.

-Jason

Yes, Bonds would be #1 on that list, the only question is which of the following four very deserving candidates would be left off it: McGuire, Sosa, A-Roid or Clemons?