Author Topic: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!  (Read 45643 times)

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Offline jmyrlefuller

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #25 on: February 16, 2019, 07:36:39 pm »
From The Onion
Climatologists Find Pitchers And Catchers Reporting Further South Every Spring
https://sports.theonion.com/climatologists-find-pitchers-and-catchers-reporting-fur-1832655368
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Offline Machiavelli

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #26 on: February 24, 2019, 12:58:07 am »
Spring training (that's what it's always been called even though it begins in winter) is here!  happy77


Error 404 (Not Found)!!1
« Last Edit: February 24, 2019, 01:00:06 am by Machiavelli »

Offline EasyAce

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #27 on: February 24, 2019, 02:58:58 am »
Contrary to what anyone has heard otherwise, when Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara threw the first pitch of today's exhibition game, Marlins fans did not hold up placards saying, This year is next year!

 wink777


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Offline TomSea

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #28 on: February 24, 2019, 03:33:38 am »
Quote
Pirates players wearing 'Freedom for Venezuela' shirts to show support
9:01 PM CT

    ESPN

A group of Pittsburgh Pirates players are wearing T-shirts that read, "Freedom for Venezuela" amid the country's battle over humanitarian aid.

Catcher Francisco Cervelli is leading the effort to raise awareness for the crisis in his native country.

"There have been 20 years of dictatorship in my country, and it's time for it to stop," Cervelli told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "They're trying to stop the aid. We are fighting to get aid to our people. Our people are dying. The army doesn't want to let them get in. So we are fighting. Our people need freedom. We have been fighting for this for a long time."

Read more at: http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26065402/pirates-wearing-freedom-venezuela-shirts

Offline TomSea

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #29 on: March 10, 2019, 03:22:31 am »
Happy #77

https://babalublog.com/2019/03/09/happy-77-bert-campaneris/

Maybe it is unfair, this is what he seems to be remembered for ... I don't mean to disparage him in any way, he was a great player...


Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

It cuts into black a few seconds in but comes back into full view.

Bert "Campy" Campaneris...
« Last Edit: March 10, 2019, 03:27:48 am by TomSea »

Offline DCPatriot

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #30 on: March 14, 2019, 07:39:07 pm »
Life after Harper? Juan Soto can be what Bryce was ... and more

Eddie Matz





WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- If you think Juan Soto is feeling pressure, think again.

Last May, Soto exploded onto the scene as a 19-year-old outfielder with the Washington Nationals. Due to injuries in D.C., he was rushed to the majors after just eight games above Class A. Over the next four and a half months, he wrecked big league pitching and developed a habit of doing things few, if any, teenagers before him had accomplished. But that was then, and this is now.

Following a freshman campaign that, were it not for Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr., would have made him the runaway Rookie of the Year, Soto isn't sneaking up on anyone. What's more, now that a certain superstar and his big bat have moved just up the road to Philly, Soto is being counted on to do even more. Suddenly, he's the face of the outfield -- and the heart of the lineup -- on a Nationals team trying to conquer a stacked NL East and prove that there is, in fact, life after Bryce Harper.

continued at:  http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/26227865/life-harper-juan-soto-bryce-was-more


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Offline Machiavelli

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Offline EasyAce

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #32 on: March 19, 2019, 07:06:00 pm »
Report: Angels, Mike Trout Finalizing 12-Year, $430+ Million Extension for Largest Contract in Pro Sports

@EasyAce
@Machiavelli
And he's worth every nickel plus.

I did a tabulation I've been experimenting with called real batting average. (RBA.) The traditional batting average's number one flaw is that it doesn't measure everything you do at the plate, it counts all hits as equal (and all hits are not equal) and measures them by official at-bats only, not total plate appearances. (Maybe they should call the traditional batting average a hitting average and not a true batting average?) And, on-base percentage (a better way to measure a hitter than traditional batting average, anyway) is flawed slightly because it, too, considers only official at-bats and not total plate appearances. So, since Trout is so often compared not to his contemporaries but to the best of the best post-World War II Hall of Famers, I added total bases (you get one for a single, two for a double, three for a triple, four for a homer), walks, and sacrifices (they should count, since you're doing what the late broadcaster Bob Murphy---the only announcer in baseball I ever heard put it this way---called building runs; or, in the case of a sacrifice fly, scoring them), then divided by total plate appearances:

TB + BB + SAC / PA

The average RBA by that formula among all the Hall of Famers who played the majority of their careers in the post-World War II/post-integration/night ball era is .531.

The highest RBA among them is Ted Williams, with a .708. The other Hall of Famers with RBAs of .600 or better: Chipper Jones (.600), Mike Schmidt (.600), Hank Aaron (.603), Jeff Bagwell (.606), Willie Mays (.611), Stan Musial (.615), Ralph Kiner (.620), Jim Thome (.629), Frank Thomas (.629), and Mickey Mantle (.636). (Jones, Schmidt, Mays, and Mantle, of course, played two of the toughest field positions in the game; between them, Schmidt was the far better defensive third baseman than Jones, and Mays and Mantle were about equal as defensive center fielders, though you wonder how Mantle's defensive statistics would really have shaken out without all those leg injuries.)

[Joe DiMaggio would have played the majority of his career pre-integration/night ball if he hadn't lost three seasons to military service. He comes out as playing exactly one more season post-World War II than pre-service, so I didn't include him in the survey, but for the record his RBA is .619. He might have come out higher except for costing himself a lot of home runs because of (stop me if this sounds familiar to you when talking about a lot of today's players) his insistence that the only "legitimate" hitting was pull hitting. (Once, when someone suggested to him that he might have some more home runs and drive in some more runs if he thought about going with the pitch on the outer region of the plate and aiming for the fabled Yankee Stadium short porch in right field, DiMaggio dismissed it with, "I could p@ss them over that wall. That's not hitting.")]

Mike Trout also plays one of the three toughest field positions in the game. (I'd have to say catching qualifies, which is why you won't see any postwar/post-integration/night-ball Hall of Fame catchers with RBAs above the average or at .600 or better: the highest RBA among them is Mike Piazza's .590, but he wasn't a great defensive catcher. Yogi Berra's .526 is below the average for the Hall of Fame catchers and Johnny Bench's .534 is just below the HOF average overall, but Berra was the greatest all-around catcher who's probably the most underrated defensive and pitcher-handling catcher with Bench his extremely close second. The lowest RBA among the HOF catcher: Ivan Rodriguez, .494.) And he can say that 43 percent of his lifetime hits have gone for extra bases.

Trout has an RBA through the end of last season of---wait for it---.698.

.698.

That's higher than every .600+ RBA postwar/post-integration/night-ball era Hall of Famer by a very wide margin and only ten points shy of Ted Williams's mark. It's also far higher than Bryce Harper's .587 and Manny Machado's .527, calculated by the same formula. (In case you were wondering, you can also look up how often a player took extra bases on followup knocks---and Trout's done it 57 percent of the time he's been on base.)

If the Angels really are going to make Trout an Angel for life, good for them. They've got the money. Now, all they have to do is finish building a team the best player in baseball and in Angel history can be proud of.

« Last Edit: March 19, 2019, 07:18:18 pm by EasyAce »


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Offline DCPatriot

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #33 on: March 24, 2019, 03:04:45 pm »
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Offline GrouchoTex

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #34 on: March 25, 2019, 02:59:02 pm »
Verlander got an extension, so he's with the Astros this year and 2 more.

Offline Jazzhead

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #35 on: March 25, 2019, 04:14:45 pm »
Quote

 If you think Juan Soto is feeling pressure, think again.

Last May, Soto exploded onto the scene as a 19-year-old outfielder with the Washington Nationals. Due to injuries in D.C., he was rushed to the majors after just eight games above Class A. Over the next four and a half months, he wrecked big league pitching and developed a habit of doing things few, if any, teenagers before him had accomplished. But that was then, and this is now.

Following a freshman campaign that, were it not for Atlanta's Ronald Acuna Jr., would have made him the runaway Rookie of the Year, Soto isn't sneaking up on anyone. What's more, now that a certain superstar and his big bat have moved just up the road to Philly, Soto is being counted on to do even more. Suddenly, he's the face of the outfield -- and the heart of the lineup -- on a Nationals team trying to conquer a stacked NL East and prove that there is, in fact, life after Bryce Harper.


For what it's worth,  I just started my APBA Dice Baseball league season,  against my opponent who took Juan Soto as the number #1 pick in our draft.   In our three-game set,  Soto hit five homers,  two doubles and two singles.    I complained to our league's commish that his card needs to be tested for steroids.   
« Last Edit: March 25, 2019, 04:16:05 pm by Jazzhead »
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Online Polly Ticks

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #36 on: March 28, 2019, 01:10:42 pm »
:cheerlead: :0012:    IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!     :0012: :cheerlead:

Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too. -Yogi Berra

Offline Jazzhead

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #37 on: March 28, 2019, 01:40:18 pm »
:cheerlead: :0012:    IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!     :0012: :cheerlead:




And it's here in PHILLY against the Braves!    Mrs.  Jazz and I will be at the game this afternoon, cheering on the new-look Phightins.

@Polly Ticks , it's going to be one heck of a scrum this year in the NL East.  May the best team win!!
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Online Polly Ticks

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #38 on: March 28, 2019, 01:45:54 pm »

And it's here in PHILLY against the Braves!    Mrs.  Jazz and I will be at the game this afternoon, cheering on the new-look Phightins.

@Polly Ticks , it's going to be one heck of a scrum this year in the NL East.  May the best team win!!

@Jazzhead
Color me jealous.  I hope you and the Mrs. have a great time!  I'm going to be in a conference call at 3pm, but I will absolutely be live streaming the game on MLB.TV on mute.   :laugh:

It's going to be a fun season in the NL East, any way you slice it.  Your guys are definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with.
 :beer:
Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too. -Yogi Berra

Offline Jazzhead

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #39 on: March 28, 2019, 02:32:59 pm »
Thanks, @Polly Ticks   What is Johan Camargo's status?   Will he be getting regular playing time, do you think?   
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Offline dfwgator

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #40 on: March 28, 2019, 02:53:18 pm »
The Texas Rangers have already been mathematically eliminated.

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #41 on: March 28, 2019, 03:08:24 pm »
Thanks, @Polly Ticks   What is Johan Camargo's status?   Will he be getting regular playing time, do you think?   

Tough to say.  I think it probably depends on how healthy Josh Donaldson stays and how well Dansby Swanson can rebound from a tough year offensively.  He's a talented guy, though, so I'm still hoping to see plenty of good things from him.



The Texas Rangers have already been mathematically eliminated.
:rolling:
That's just mean!
Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too. -Yogi Berra

Offline Jazzhead

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #42 on: March 28, 2019, 03:43:31 pm »
Tough to say.  I think it probably depends on how healthy Josh Donaldson stays and how well Dansby Swanson can rebound from a tough year offensively.  He's a talented guy, though, so I'm still hoping to see plenty of good things from him.

That sounds about right.   I drafted Camargo for my dice league team, so I'm hoping he gets to play a lot this year,  and punishes NL pitching (other than against the Phillies, natch).   
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Offline jmyrlefuller

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #43 on: March 28, 2019, 03:54:03 pm »
For all this talk of baseball and tradition, the fact that Opening Day isn't in April anymore draws surprisingly few complaints.

It's like Christmas creep: rushing the season.
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Offline GrouchoTex

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #44 on: March 28, 2019, 04:18:15 pm »
The Texas Rangers have already been mathematically eliminated.

LOL.

Did they get the new ballpark this year or is that next year?

I am taking a 1/2 day vacation here in a few minutes.

Off to the icehouse with friends and relatives to watch Astros-Rays.

 :beer:

Offline Jazzhead

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #45 on: March 28, 2019, 04:50:17 pm »
For all this talk of baseball and tradition, the fact that Opening Day isn't in April anymore draws surprisingly few complaints.

It's like Christmas creep: rushing the season.

Heck,  only the last six days of the Phillies' Spring Training this year took place in the spring.   
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Offline EasyAce

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #46 on: March 28, 2019, 08:19:14 pm »
Opening Day.

Duel of the Cy Young winners in Washington---Jacob deGrom for the Mets, Max Scherzer for the Nationals.

The Mets win, 2-0.

DeGrom punches out 10 in six innings and the Mets bullpen doesn't blow it for him for a change.

Scherzer punches out 12 in 7 2/3 but surrenders a first-inning bomb to Robinson Cano, and Cano drives in the second run (charged to Scherzer) in the eighth.

First final of the day.

But the only two words in the English language sweeter than "Opening Day" are, of course, "World Series." Welcome to baseball season!


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Offline EasyAce

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #47 on: March 28, 2019, 08:20:11 pm »
The Texas Rangers have already been mathematically eliminated.
@dfwgator
Aw, cut them some slack---at least it took until Opening Day. I know two teams who were mathematically eliminated when spring training began, and they don't play in Texas.  wink777


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Offline Jazzhead

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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #48 on: March 29, 2019, 12:53:25 pm »
A delirious,  sellout crowd in Philly yesterday - and things got off with a bang with McCutcheon's towering blast leading off the first inning of the season.    The depth of the Phils lineup was illustrated by bombs from our leadoff hitter,  eight-hole hitter (Maikel Franco, who nearly lifted the park off its foundations with his three-run shot) and, of course,  clean-up man Rhys Hoskins.     

And clean up Rhys did.    With men on second and third and nobody out,  the Bravos walked Bryce Harper and the place reverberated with boos like some runaway subway train from hell.   And that brought up Hoskins,  who deposited the second pitch into the stands.    And unless you've been to Cape Canaveral to hear a Saturn V take off,  I doubt you've heard a louder roar.   

Baseball's back!    The Phils are back!    And next time I go I may need earplugs! 
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Re: BASEBALL 2019---LET'S DO IT!
« Reply #49 on: March 29, 2019, 01:00:41 pm »
A delirious,  sellout crowd in Philly yesterday - and things got off with a bang with McCutcheon's towering blast leading off the first inning of the season.    The depth of the Phils lineup was illustrated by bombs from our leadoff hitter,  eight-hole hitter (Maikel Franco, who nearly lifted the park off its foundations with his three-run shot) and, of course,  clean-up man Rhys Hoskins.     

And clean up Rhys did.    With men on second and third and nobody out,  the Bravos walked Bryce Harper and the place reverberated with boos like some runaway subway train from hell.   And that brought up Hoskins,  who deposited the second pitch into the stands.    And unless you've been to Cape Canaveral to hear a Saturn V take off,  I doubt you've heard a louder roar.   

Baseball's back!    The Phils are back!    And next time I go I may need earplugs!

@Jazzhead
I thought about you and the Mrs. when Hoskins hit that grand slam.  What an amazingly fun time to be at the ballpark!

Congratulations to your guys; they played a heck of a game.   Nola's curveball was exquisite, by the way.
Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too. -Yogi Berra