Baseball 2024

[jmyrlefuller]

I'm from Pittsburgh. 'Nuff said. They will not get to the World Series in my lifetime. Thankfully, I'm old enough to have seen Clemente, Stargell, et al., in person.

If the Red Sox and Cubs can win in my lifetime... anything is possible.

[AllThatJazzZ]

Great graphic, @DCPatriot!




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Here's a graphic no team or fan would ever want, yet here we are. 

What the heck?????

[catfish1957]

Great graphic, @DCPatriot!




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Here's a graphic no team or fan would ever want, yet here we are. 

What the heck?????

That is what happens when the front office completely forgoes any pitching depth (esp. bullpen) during the previous off season.   Saw this coming, but not at this level.  A strong season by JV, Valdez,  just might get us to .500 by end of season.

OTOH, it was a fun run, and time for some other fans to enjoy

[Hoodat]

That is what happens when the front office completely forgoes any pitching depth (esp. bullpen) during the previous off season.   Saw this coming, but not at this level.  A strong season by JV, Valdez,  just might get us to .500 by end of season.

OTOH, it was a fun run, and time for some other fans to enjoy

Middle relif is highly underrated.

[AllThatJazzZ]

Here's a text I got from my son-in-law (a decades-long baseball fan who bleeds Dodger blue).

From the USA Today farm system rankings:

2) Houston Astros.... have not had a great farm system for quite some time now and perhaps that lack of attention to their lower levels is finally starting to take its toll... this team doesn't seem to have much going for it on the pitching side...

That "2" ranking is second-worst btw  😞

Isn't that what Jeff Luhnow was so good at? Was Dana Brown supposed to fill those shoes? What's Jim Crane's roll? Help me out, Astros fans. Who has let us down?

[catfish1957]

Here's a text I got from my son-in-law (a decades-long baseball fan who bleeds Dodger blue).

From the USA Today farm system rankings:

2) Houston Astros.... have not had a great farm system for quite some time now and perhaps that lack of attention to their lower levels is finally starting to take its toll... this team doesn't seem to have much going for it on the pitching side...

That "2" ranking is second-worst btw  😞

Isn't that what Jeff Luhnow was so good at? Was Dana Brown supposed to fill those shoes? What's Jim Crane's roll? Help me out, Astros fans. Who has let us down?

I have written 1000 word posts at baseball forums of how unfairly Luhnow was blamed for the cheating scandal.  I still stand by that 100%.

What you are witnessing is the dynasty that he built has been torn down systematically by the likes of Crane, Bagwell, and Dusty Baker.

[AllThatJazzZ]

What you are witnessing is the dynasty that he built has been torn down systeatically by the likes of Crane, Bagwell, and Dusty Baker.

@catfish1957

For what purpose? 

[catfish1957]

@catfish1957

For what purpose? 

No purpose, just in the highly competitive world of MLB, competence reigns.  And Luhnow built the infrastructure of a team that competed at the highest level for 10 years.  We are now seeing the decline with post 2020 neglect. 

[DCPatriot]

I'm so old, I remember the disappointment, when the Buffalo Bisons of the International League had their road games on radio.  Must have been 7 or 8 years old!

Found out there was no 'booth'... the pitches/plays were sent to the studio on "Ticker Tape" and that the play-by-play guys were acting them out...emotion and all!   

No different than today, not having FIOS or CABLE TV and getting the play-by-play on ESPN internet and pretending that you're broadcasting the game in real time.

[AllThatJazzZ]

No purpose, just in the highly competitive world of MLB, competence reigns.  And Luhnow built the infrastructure of a team that competed at the highest level for 10 years.  We are now seeing the decline with post 2020 neglect.

@catfish1957

Okay. Maybe I misunderstood your use of "systematically."

[DCPatriot]

“Once a cheater always a cheater” - MLB fans troll Astros as pitcher Ronel Blanco gets ejected due to foreign substance
By
Cresswell McCoy



https://www.sportskeeda.com/baseball/news-once-cheater-always-cheater-mlb-fans-troll-astros-pitcher-ronel-blanco-gets-ejected-due-foreign-substance?key2=263106

[GrouchoTex]

I still like watching Baseball, and the Astros, in particular.
Blanco was a bright spot (until last night).
Tucker is hitting like crazy.
Altuve, Alvarez, Pena, Diaz, Dubon, all playing well.
Bregman had back-to-back games showing he is coming around on offense, defense was never an issue with him.
Fun to see Loperfido get called up.
We seem to give up games early and not come back, or give them up late with our "vaunted" 7th-8th-9th inning guys.

Mrs. GrouchoTex and I have annual "Silver Stars"  package to the Sugar Land Space Cowboys AAA games, every Tuesday home game.
I keep hearing the "experts" say the the Astros farm system isn't very good,.
Yet, Loperfido, Diaz, Meyers, Pena, JP France, Arrighetti, Hunter Brown, have all come out of there since 2021 or even more recently.
Okay the 3 pitchers mentions have to get better, but I think Brown and Arrighett will, and have shown recent signs of it.

All is not lost.
It may be the end of the dominance, 2015 is when it started, 2017 ito 2023 it was in high gear, but they will still be in the mix.
2015/2024 is pretty good run.
29 other baseball teams in the league would love to say the same.

[DCPatriot]

“Once a cheater always a cheater” - MLB fans troll Astros as pitcher Ronel Blanco gets ejected due to foreign substance
By
Cresswell McCoy



https://www.sportskeeda.com/baseball/news-once-cheater-always-cheater-mlb-fans-troll-astros-pitcher-ronel-blanco-gets-ejected-due-foreign-substance?key2=263106

BFD!  A ten GAME suspension!  That's only TWO scheduled STARTS for a rotation pitcher.

Should be at least a FIFTY (50) DAY suspension...locked out of the league, not just the field.  Without salary!

[AllThatJazzZ]

@DCPatriot You're so funny!. 

[DCPatriot]

@DCPatriot You're so funny!. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfcy15ZUE2c

@AllThatJazzZ   

[DCPatriot]

I once umpired balls and strikes for a Little League game as a favor to my close friend.

These kids just graduated from "T-Ball" and pitchers usually walked the bases loaded...inning after inning after inning.

Got so damned tired that these pitchers couldn't throw strikes.

Finally there was a pitch thrown in such an arc...the pitch crossed the plate over the batter's head, but the catcher never had to move he glove, which was held right over the heart of the plate.

"STRIKE!!!", I yelled.

The entire bleacher-filled cadre of parents screamed out their displeasure.  It was the last time they ever asked me to umpire a game.       

[DCPatriot]

FOUL BALL TO THE FACE!!

Had she put her damned cell phone away, this probably would not have happened.

[mountaineer]

Centerfielder tags out the batter at home plate.

https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis/status/1794387697760661670

[DCPatriot]

Wow!  Good one, @mountaineer   

[AllThatJazzZ]

Centerfielder tags out the batter at home plate.

https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis/status/1794387697760661670

@mountaineer

OMG! I had to watch that 3 times to believe my eyes! It would have served them right if the runner had scored an inside-the-park home run. I would love to have heard the coach after the game.

[catfish1957]

Centerfielder tags out the batter at home plate.

On the scorecard, a Triple with a put out "8" unassisted.  Can you imagine trying to explain that as accurate 5 years from now?

I guess you could possibly see this in "T" Ball, but High School?

[DCPatriot]

On the scorecard, a Triple with a put out "8" unassisted.  Can you imagine trying to explain that as accurate 5 years from now?

I guess you could possibly see this in "T" Ball, but High School?

ROFL!  @catfish1957

Friday's Orioles' game was only on APPLE TV, so I was forced to 'follow' the game on the ESPN website.

Using the "PLAY BY PLAY", it read: "Double to 3rd base".   

NOT "double to Left Field"??

So I'm having fun in my mind's eye thinking how in the world does a hitter get a clean "double to 3rd"? 

Did the ball hit the bag on a line-shot and end up in the stands?   

Did the ball go thru the 3rd baseman's legs without him touching it??

Any ideas?? 

[catfish1957]

ROFL!  @catfish1957

Friday's Orioles' game was only on APPLE TV, so I was forced to 'follow' the game on the ESPN website.

Using the "PLAY BY PLAY", it read: "Double to 3rd base".   

NOT "double to Left Field"??

So I'm having fun in my mind's eye thinking how in the world does a hitter get a clean "double to 3rd"? 

Did the ball hit the bag on a line-shot and end up in the stands?   

Did the ball go thru the 3rd baseman's legs without him touching it??

Any ideas?? 

I can't fathom how that happened.  Kind of like a 3 base singular error on a wild pitch.  I can see that happen with two errors, but....

[AllThatJazzZ]

ROFL!  @catfish1957

Friday's Orioles' game was only on APPLE TV, so I was forced to 'follow' the game on the ESPN website.

Using the "PLAY BY PLAY", it read: "Double to 3rd base".   

NOT "double to Left Field"??

So I'm having fun in my mind's eye thinking how in the world does a hitter get a clean "double to 3rd"? 

Did the ball hit the bag on a line-shot and end up in the stands?   

Did the ball go thru the 3rd baseman's legs without him touching it??

Any ideas?? 

@DCPatriot

Is there a game recap on YouTube? If you find it, bring it back here and post it for us since you have our curiosity piqued!

[DCPatriot]

@DCPatriot

Is there a game recap on YouTube? If you find it, bring it back here and post it for us since you have our curiosity piqued!

@AllThatJazzZ

ESPN seems to scrub the "PLAY-BY-PLAY" shortly after the game is over.

They revert to providing scoring summaries.

What I'll do next time is take a pic of the monitor when I have a similar situation and post THAT!   

That...or record the entire game and then take a video of the play in question.