Baseball 2023

[Polly Ticks]

@Bigun  @catfish1957  @Polly Ticks  @AllThatJazzZ

Society has changed.  My daddy's generation wore ties and fedoras to ballgames.  No player would dream of hotdogging or taunting an opponent back then.

The strikezone was top of the letters to the knees.  The pitcher's mound was higher, which made the breaking ball much more effective, IMHO.

Today's youth are raised on action video games.  Their situational awareness is much more heightened than simple me who was raised on Sky King, and Bugs Bunny cartoons.   

I like the pitch clock.

What I don't find appealing is the 190lb ballplayer hitting it on the end of this bat (out of the sweet spot) 425 feet to the OPPOSITE FIELD.

What I don't find appealing is that we don't utilize mechanical balls and strikes.

Last night the last batter in the O's/Rays game was robbed with no only "strike 1", but also the next pitch "strick 2".

...changed the batter's entire approach.  Of course, the SOB was throwing it 102mph. 

The biggest hint that the ball is juiced is when you see Freddie Freeman...at his age, getting 60 doubles.
What kind of bullsh*t is this??  LOL!   

Luv talkin' baseball with you guys!   

Ok, I was with you most of the way there, but you can't be hating on Freddie!  I still love that guy, even though his current uniform stinks.

[Bigun]

@Bigun  @catfish1957  @Polly Ticks  @AllThatJazzZ

Society has changed.  My daddy's generation wore ties and fedoras to ballgames.  No player would dream of hotdogging or taunting an opponent back then.

The strikezone was top of the letters to the knees.  The pitcher's mound was higher, which made the breaking ball much more effective, IMHO.

Today's youth are raised on action video games.  Their situational awareness is much more heightened than simple me who was raised on Sky King, and Bugs Bunny cartoons.   

I like the pitch clock.

What I don't find appealing is the 190lb ballplayer hitting it on the end of this bat (out of the sweet spot) 425 feet to the OPPOSITE FIELD.

What I don't find appealing is that we don't utilize mechanical balls and strikes.

Last night the last batter in the O's/Rays game was robbed with no only "strike 1", but also the next pitch "strick 2".

...changed the batter's entire approach.  Of course, the SOB was throwing it 102mph. 

The biggest hint that the ball is juiced is when you see Freddie Freeman...at his age, getting 60 doubles.
What kind of bullsh*t is this??  LOL!   

Luv talkin' baseball with you guys!   

You are perfectly entitled to like whatever you wish @DCPatriot but I agree with @catfish1957 100% on this! To hell with ALL of it!

[catfish1957]

@Bigun  @catfish1957  @Polly Ticks  @AllThatJazzZ

Society has changed.  My daddy's generation wore ties and fedoras to ballgames.  No player would dream of hotdogging or taunting an opponent back then.

The strikezone was top of the letters to the knees.  The pitcher's mound was higher, which made the breaking ball much more effective, IMHO.

Today's youth are raised on action video games.  Their situational awareness is much more heightened than simple me who was raised on Sky King, and Bugs Bunny cartoons.   

I like the pitch clock.

What I don't find appealing is the 190lb ballplayer hitting it on the end of this bat (out of the sweet spot) 425 feet to the OPPOSITE FIELD.

What I don't find appealing is that we don't utilize mechanical balls and strikes.

Last night the last batter in the O's/Rays game was robbed with no only "strike 1", but also the next pitch "strick 2".

...changed the batter's entire approach.  Of course, the SOB was throwing it 102mph. 

The biggest hint that the ball is juiced is when you see Freddie Freeman...at his age, getting 60 doubles.
What kind of bullsh*t is this??  LOL!   

Luv talkin' baseball with you guys!   

 

Find a 100 fans, and you will hear a 100 different versions of what is right or wrong about baseball right now.  I understand the new obsession with making this game like a video game, but there are still some dinosaurs like me who proudly wear the moniker of "purist"
I understand how the game has to change to compete, but its happening too damned fast for my tastes.

[DCPatriot]

You are perfectly entitled to like whatever you wish @DCPatriot but I agree with @catfish1957 100% on this! To hell with ALL of it!

@Bigun

You're full of it!        You're a teddy bear.

Bet I could tie you to a chair for a week of Orioles' games this week (RAYS...then ASTROS) and turn you into a Bird's fan!

[DCPatriot]

Ok, I was with you most of the way there, but you can't be hating on Freddie!  I still love that guy, even though his current uniform stinks.

@Polly Ticks

I'm just jealous.  Still reeling from the Orioles' bust of an extension given to Chris Davis...$110M??
Suddenly, he couldn't get around on a fastball.

Yet Freddie is like the EverReady Bunny...he just keeps on going.

[Bigun]

I understand how the game has to change to compete, but its happening too damned fast for my tastes.

I don't! Not at all! And I never will understand why what is good and right needs to be adulterated. For what?

[Bigun]

@Bigun

You're full of it!        You're a teddy bear.

Bet I could tie you to a chair for a week of Orioles' games this week (RAYS...then ASTROS) and turn you into a Bird's fan!

Yeah! Right! And speaking of being full of it, you seem to forget that I once played the game at a time when .200 hitters remained completely unknown to almost everybody.

[catfish1957]

I don't! Not at all! And I never will understand why what is good and right needs to be adulterated. For what?

When we were kids, Baseball by far was the most popular sport in the U.S.  Now it is No.3, and dropping.  I'm with you, in that I hate the changes, but I am afraid if the game doesn't adapt, it won't survive.

[Bigun]

When we were kids, Baseball by far was the most popular sport in the U.S.  Now it is No.3, and dropping.  I'm with you, in that I hate the changes, but I am afraid if the game doesn't adapt, it won't survive.

There are a host of dying Churches in this country who have adopted the same philosophy. I'll pass!

[DCPatriot]

Yeah! Right! And speaking of being full of it, you seem to forget that I once played the game at a time when .200 hitters remained completely unknown to almost everybody.

Well back then, old-timer... we only had to watch EIGHT teams in a league.  SIXTEEN total.

.200 hitters stuck out like sore thumbs.  Thus, Mendoza! 

[catfish1957]

Well back then, old-timer... we only had to watch EIGHT teams in a league.  SIXTEEN total.

.200 hitters stuck out like sore thumbs.  Thus, Mendoza!

I'm sorry, but when you look closely at the bottom 2 or 3 player's WAR, of say the 10 worst teams in MLB.  Do you think they deserve to be Major Leaguers?

The dilution of talent in the past few decades has been awful.

[Bigun]

I'm sorry, but when you look closely at the bottom 2 or 3 player's WAR, of say the 10 worst teams in MLB.  Do you think they deserve to be Major Leaguers?

The dilution of talent in the past few decades has been awful.

 

[DCPatriot]

I'm sorry, but when you look closely at the bottom 2 or 3 player's WAR, of say the 10 worst teams in MLB.  Do you think they deserve to be Major Leaguers?

The dilution of talent in the past few decades has been awful.

That's my point, @catfish1957

I look at the OPS of the average ballplayer today and think... should be riding pine and not getting 5 ABs a game.

...especially with a belt to knees strikezone.

[Bigun]

Well back then, old-timer... we only had to watch EIGHT teams in a league.  SIXTEEN total.

.200 hitters stuck out like sore thumbs.  Thus, Mendoza!

Tell me, if you can, exactly what was wrong with that. @DCPatriot

[DCPatriot]

Tell me, if you can, exactly what was wrong with that. @DCPatriot

@Bigun

Nothing.

Starters today are only expected to throw 100 pitches. 

It's because MLB is watered down.

Thank God, the Hispanic and now the Japanese have embraced it...it shall live one.

Now, if I can just get used to Tatis Jr's annoying stutter step approaching 3rd base in his HR trot. 

[Bigun]

@Bigun

Nothing.

Starters today are only expected to throw 100 pitches. 

It's because MLB is watered down.

Thank God, the Hispanic and now the Japanese have embraced it...it shall live one.

Now, if I can just get used to Tatis Jr's annoying stutter step approaching 3rd base in his HR trot. 

  To the point it no longer interests me at all. @DCPatriot

I'd just as soon watch Sam Houston State play McNeese.

[catfish1957]

I got to admit back in the day, I was obsessed with the game, and could tell you at moments notice ba.'s , era's, etc. of any Houston player.  Even back in the mid 80's I used to make at leat 15-20 games a year.  Now, I really don't get into it until the playoffs.  Mostly for reasons that we have discussed on this page.

p.s.  I haven't been to a game since the early 2010's.

[Hoodat]

I like the pitch clock.

The pitch clock is gay.

[DCPatriot]

The pitch clock is gay.

LOL!  Last night I saw a TAMPA RAY step out of the box on a 0-1 count.

O's starter Bradish threw a pitch right down the pipe.

He was NOT happy being 0-2. 

But it reminds me of a scene in a movie ...might have been Driving Miss Daisy, but the older person in the backseat suggested that because she was so old, she'd appreciate it if they could get moving.

That's baseball to me watching the old Trey Turner step out of the box after EVERY pitch to adjust his jock, batting gloves and helmet.

I so wished that a pitcher would have tossed a slow curve at this head.

[Bigun]

REAL baseball! I still get goosebumps watching it!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MtnU4yno4o

[Hoodat]

LOL!  Last night I saw a TAMPA RAY step out of the box on a 0-1 count.

O's starter Bradish threw a pitch right down the pipe.

He was NOT happy being 0-2. 

But it reminds me of a scene in a movie ...might have been Driving Miss Daisy, but the older person in the backseat suggested that because she was so old, she'd appreciate it if they could get moving.

That's baseball to me watching the old Trey Turner step out of the box after EVERY pitch to adjust his jock, batting gloves and helmet.

I so wished that a pitcher would have tossed a slow curve at this head.

The one thing that has slowed the game down more than any other factor is television.  It is remarkable how much faster a game goes without four-minute commercial breaks between half-innings.  That's over an hour of commercials between the first and ninth innings.

I went to a lot of Braves games when I was younger.  And it was very noticeable when a game was televised on one of the local networks.  There would never be any rushing out to take the field.  Never any need for someone to get behind the plate to take the warm-up tosses from the pitcher because the catcher was the second-base runner when the last out was made.  The major television networks have ruined the game.  And now they want even more commercial time to cram into their 3-hr window by forcing play to move along faster.

You want a pitch clock?  How about a commercial clock.  Once a team takes the field and the pitcher gets his warmup tosses, commercials end right there, and television coverage comes back online.

[Hoodat]

REAL baseball! I still get goosebumps watching it!

I remember sneaking small transistor radios in to middle school to listen to playoff or world series games, which back then were played during the day.

[Bigun]

I remember sneaking small transistor radios in to middle school to listen to playoff or world series games, which back then were played during the day.

I watched the last half of that game in the gym on a small TV that a coach brought in.

[DCPatriot]

REAL baseball! I still get goosebumps watching it!

h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MtnU4yno4o

Thanks for that, @Bigun

Last time I watched that was on our 21 inch B&W table TV age 14.

All the fans are wearing white shirts with ties, but then it's a DAY GAME and the 7th game of the World Series. 

What else I notice is the quick delivery out of the "Stretch Position" of the Pirates pitcher in the 7th inning.
Plus, he was facing the batter same as his "windup" start.

Laughed because I had a Tony Kubek glove in my playing days...to see him on the screen...WOW!   

[DCPatriot]

Shohei Ohtani's locker emptied out; Angels to explain Saturday



Associated Press
Sep 16, 2023, 07:55 AM ET

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Shohei Ohtani's locker has been mostly cleared out at Angel Stadium, and the Los Angeles Angels declined to say why Friday night.

The two-way superstar missed his 11th consecutive game with an oblique muscle injury Friday night when the Angels lost 11-2 to the Detroit Tigers. Although Ohtani was at the stadium before the game, the soon-to-be free agent's locker was largely empty afterward.

Nearly all the personal items had been removed from his locker and the adjoining empty stall. A fully packed bag with a logo from the 2023 All-Star Game sat in front of his stall where his shoes would normally be, and only a few workout shirts hung on the rack.

Nearly a half-hour after reporters were allowed into the locker room and noticed the absence of Ohtani's possessions, an Angels spokesperson said the team will give more information about the development Saturday.

continued at link:  https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38411677/shohei-ohtani-locker-emptied-angels-explain-sat

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