BASEBALL 2017---Bring it On!!!

[DCPatriot]

This just in: Bryce Harper's suspension was cut to three games. No word yet on whether Hunter Strickland got
his suspension reduced on appeal.

Ponder this: Assuming Strickland's original suspension term holds up, it means Harper suspended for a minimum
of 27 innings and Strickland, being a relief pitcher, suspended for . . . six innings, perhaps seven. When
Strickland instigated things by exercising a grudge almost three years old.

You see why some people are sour on baseball government? Every time you hope for Solomon, you wind up getting
Maxine Waters.

Bryce Harper is #1 in All-Star vote tallies to date.

In protest, he should boycott playing in the All-Star Game.

Stay home and work on going to the opposite field.

[EasyAce]

Bryce Harper is #1 in All-Star vote tallies to date.

In protest, he should boycott playing in the All-Star Game.

Might not be a bad idea!

Stay home and work on going to the opposite field.

I dunno. Whatever he's doing is working big for him; he's neck and neck with Ryan Zimmerman leading that Nats
lineup. The pair of them are deep in the MVP hunt as it is, and this may just be the best-operating Nats team of
the past few seasons.

The good news: Losing Harper for three games won't hurt the Nats in the big season picture as badly as losing
Mike Trout for 6-8 weeks (torn thumb ligament he got sliding into second on a steal) hurts the Angels. They were
barely in second in an AL West that doesn't look that great to begin with behind the Astros, and Trout was
what one writer said: "hitting like Ted Williams but with four backup catchers for protection." Without him for
a time frame that long, the Angels don't even look like a back-door wild card team this year.

[EasyAce]

Speaking of the AL West, bank on it: The A's probably will move Sonny Gray at or before the non-waiver
trade deadline. Teams in dire need of help in the rotation are probably debating internally on the packages
they'll offer the A's even as I write. (Are you listening, New York Mets? Do not even think of including Amed
Rosario in any package you're dreaming up for a play at Gray, who'd probably help you bigtime in the event
either Steven Matz or Seth Lugo don't round back into full shape after they come off their rehab assignments.)

[al_c]

That Astros Memorial day game was nuts.

Down 8-2 going into the 8th, at Minnesota.

Score 11 in the eighth and 3 in the ninth to win 16-8.

That was crazy! Hopefully Texas will find some defense next week against y’all.

[DCPatriot]

Might not be a bad idea!

I dunno. Whatever he's doing is working big for him; he's neck and neck with Ryan Zimmerman leading that Nats
lineup. The pair of them are deep in the MVP hunt as it is, and this may just be the best-operating Nats team of
the past few seasons.

The good news: Losing Harper for three games won't hurt the Nats in the big season picture as badly as losing
Mike Trout for 6-8 weeks (torn thumb ligament he got sliding into second on a steal) hurts the Angels. They were
barely in second in an AL West that doesn't look that great to begin with behind the Astros, and Trout was
what one writer said: "hitting like Ted Williams but with four backup catchers for protection." Without him for
a time frame that long, the Angels don't even look like a back-door wild card team this year.

Hmmm....I don't know, buddy.

I watch him every night.  And with Daniel Murphy and a scalding 'hot' Ryan Zimmerman....I'm tired of seeing him always opening up while still trying to pull everything over the wall.   He looks silly missing that outside pitch.   I'm weary of it.

I'm not HALF as confident of Harper with two strikes as I am with Murphy.

You'd think he'd watch Murph....who always manages to square up.    And he's only two lockers down.    ^-^

[EasyAce]

I'm not HALF as confident of Harper with two strikes as I am with Murphy.

You should be, though.

Through this writing, Bryce Harper has had 118 counts that included two strikes. His slash line in those counts: .280/.347/.579(.927 OPS).
Daniel Murphy through this writing has had 92 counts that included two strikes. His slash line in those counts: .235/.244/.494 (.738 OPS).

Harper in two-strike counts: 30 hits, including eight doubles and eight home runs, with 22 runs batted in.
Murphy in two-strike counts: 19 hits, including six doubles and five home runs, with 11 runs batted in.

I think you should be far more confident with Harper at the plate in any two-strike count.[/quote]

[DCPatriot]

You should be, though.

Through this writing, Bryce Harper has had 118 counts that included two strikes. His slash line in those counts: .280/.347/.579(.927 OPS).
Daniel Murphy through this writing has had 92 counts that included two strikes. His slash line in those counts: .235/.244/.494 (.738 OPS).

Harper in two-strike counts: 30 hits, including eight doubles and eight home runs, with 22 runs batted in.
Murphy in two-strike counts: 19 hits, including six doubles and five home runs, with 11 runs batted in.

I think you should be far more confident with Harper at the plate in any two-strike count.

Hmmmm......   my lyin' eyes are acting up again.   

[EasyAce]

Hmmmm......   my lyin' eyes are acting up again.   

[Cripplecreek]

Spectator behind the plate in Minnesota with a sign that says "Covfefe the Tigers". 

[Night Hides Not]

That was crazy! Hopefully Texas will find some defense next week against y’all.

I wouldn't count on it. This edition of the Texas Rangers is one of the worst teams I've seen in terms of fundamentals, and their bullpen is horrid. Their pitchers walk too many, the batters strike out too often, they have too many lapses on the base paths, and did I say the bullpen is horrid?

For a team payroll of nearly $180 million, Jon Daniels should be on the hot seat, he constructed this mess.

[Cripplecreek]

Warwick Saupold is kind of unique in the MLB.

An Aussie relief pitcher. He had a very solid scoreless 3 inning outing in the Tiger's win over the Royals last night.

[DCPatriot]

Still bugging the Shiite out of me regarding the uneven disbursement of game suspensions to Strickland vs. Harper.

Harper...3 games....27 innings....15+/- PAs

Strickland...6 games as a closer/reliever.....6 innings


WTF, @EasyAce ???

[EasyAce]

Still bugging the Shiite out of me regarding the uneven disbursement of game suspensions to Strickland vs. Harper.

Harper...3 games....27 innings....15+/- PAs

Strickland...6 games as a closer/reliever.....6 innings


WTF, @EasyAce ???

@DCPatriot
My sentiment exactly!

You see why some people are sour on baseball government? Every time you hope for Solomon,
you wind up with Inspector Clouseau.

[Cripplecreek]

Tigers doing it to the White Sox again. 15-5 win last night and currently 9-1 in the bottom of the 8th now.

[Cyber Liberty]

Miami just no-hittered the Diamondbacks.  I don't think the Dbacks have had that happen since 2006.

 

[EasyAce]

Miami just no-hittered the Diamondbacks.  I don't think the Dbacks have had that happen since 2006.

 

In '06, it was another Marlins pitcher (Anibal Sanchez) who no-hit the Snakes.

[Cyber Liberty]

In '06, it was another Marlins pitcher (Anibal Sanchez) who no-hit the Snakes.

Funny that.  One more game in the quartet.  10AM tomorrow here....

[EasyAce]

Shock of the weekend: Jon Lester (Cubs) picked off Tommy Pham (Cardinals) in the top of the fifth.
Pham took about an eighteen-foot lead off first. Lester came to his set. Did nothing but move his
left foot off the rubber and in the same split second threw a lob that looked slower than a knuckleball
to nail Pham and retire the side.

The best news, for the Cubs: The Schwarbinator's grand salami in the seventh, pointing the Cubs
to the win.

[Bigun]

Astros win! Astros win! Astros win again!  9 in a row on the road!  40/16 overall!

DAMN these guys are fun to watch!

[EasyAce]

Albert Pujols---hits number 600 and a grand salami at that.
Edinson Volquez---no-hits the Diamondbacks after rolling his ankle on an infield play off the game's third pitch.

In the immortal words of Mel Allen, how about that!

Sad note: Jimmy Piersall---whose spectacular crackup with the early 1950s Red Sox turned into his memoir
and film Fear Strikes Out, revealing his battle with mental illness in a time when mental illness was
still something you shoved under the rug---passed away at 87.

[Bigun]

Albert Pujols---hits number 600 and a grand salami at that.
Edinson Volquez---no-hits the Diamondbacks after rolling his ankle on an infield play off the game's third pitch.

In the immortal words of Mel Allen, how about that!

Sad note: Jimmy Piersall---whose spectacular crackup with the early 1950s Red Sox turned into his memoir
and film Fear Strikes Out, revealing his battle with mental illness in a time when mental illness was
still something you shoved under the rug---passed away at 87.

Jimmy Piersall was one scary dude.  May he rest in peace!

[EasyAce]

Jimmy Piersall was one scary dude.  May he rest in peace!

What he was was a great defensive outfielder. He once pulled back a home run on Mickey Mantle,
leaping way over a high enough fence to get it, and Mantle kicked a ton of dirt out of the infield
over it. Mantle later quoted a sportswriter as writing, "In seventeen years covering baseball I
never saw a catch like that!"

Piersall turned up as a Met for a spell in 1963. While there, he hit his 100th career home run.
He backpedaled around the bases to run it out, cracking up both the crowd and the Phillies,
off whom he hit it.

[dfwgator]

Astros win! Astros win! Astros win again!  9 in a row on the road!  40/16 overall!

DAMN these guys are fun to watch!

Note to John Daniels...."SELL!  EVERYTHING MUST GO!!!!"

[EasyAce]

Jimmy Piersall was one scary dude.  May he rest in peace!

[Bigun]

What he was was a great defensive outfielder. He once pulled back a home run on Mickey Mantle,
leaping way over a high enough fence to get it, and Mantle kicked a ton of dirt out of the infield
over it. Mantle later quoted a sportswriter as writing, "In seventeen years covering baseball I
never saw a catch like that!"

Piersall turned up as a Met for a spell in 1963. While there, he hit his 100th career home run.
He backpedaled around the bases to run it out, cracking up both the crowd and the Phillies,
off whom he hit it.

Yeah! No doubt about it! But I also saw him try to climb the fence behind home plate to get at a fan that was giving him the business.  Scary!

[EasyAce]

Yeah! No doubt about it! But I also saw him try to climb the fence behind home plate to get at a fan that was giving him the business.  Scary!

If I remember the incident right, Piersall got in the guy's face, after the guy called him "screwball,"
and replied, "Bet you wish you were making the money this screwball's making!"

The electroshock treatments he underwent wiped out his memory of the previous year (sportswriter
Al Hershberg had to help him re-piece it to write Fear Strikes Out), but during that year
his funniest bit was a dead-on impression of Satchel Paige's pitching motions, which he'd do when
he reached base against Paige. Even Paige had to crack up.

He also goaded Billy Martin into a fight during that year. Believe it or not, that was the only
fight Martin ever admitted he regretted, saying, "If I'd known how sick he was, I wouldn't have
fought him."

[Bigun]

If I remember the incident right, Piersall got in the guy's face, after the guy called him "screwball,"
and replied, "Bet you wish you were making the money this screwball's making!"

The electroshock treatments he underwent wiped out his memory of the previous year (sportswriter
Al Hershberg had to help him re-piece it to write Fear Strikes Out), but during that year
his funniest bit was a dead-on impression of Satchel Paige's pitching motions, which he'd do when
he reached base against Paige. Even Paige had to crack up.

He also goaded Billy Martin into a fight during that year. Believe it or not, that was the only
fight Martin ever admitted he regretted, saying, "If I'd known how sick he was, I wouldn't have
fought him."

 

[Cripplecreek]

Holy crap.

José Iglesias just roundhouse kicked the up in the face at second base and took him down and still got the out.

 

[Cripplecreek]

J Up for a 3 run walk of homer for a sweep of the White Sox.

Crazy day, Verlander only went 2 innings with Warwick Saupold taking over and looking like an ace.

Kung Fu baseball.  http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/6479266/v1463700383/cwsdet-iglesias-hangs-on-after-collision-with-ump

[al_c]

I wouldn't count on it. This edition of the Texas Rangers is one of the worst teams I've seen in terms of fundamentals, and their bullpen is horrid. Their pitchers walk too many, the batters strike out too often, they have too many lapses on the base paths, and did I say the bullpen is horrid?

For a team payroll of nearly $180 million, Jon Daniels should be on the hot seat, he constructed this mess.

I couldn’t agree more. We have a few hot bats, and some good infield players, but the bullpen is pathetic at best … and overall defense just sucks. Houston embarrassed them over the weekend.

[al_c]

Astros win! Astros win! Astros win again!  9 in a row on the road!  40/16 overall!

DAMN these guys are fun to watch!

Most days, I’d agree. But not at the expense of my Rangers. That was hard to watch.

[catfish1957]

Astros win! Astros win! Astros win again!  9 in a row on the road!  40/16 overall!

DAMN these guys are fun to watch!

Another W tonight.

Our Astros are now 42-16 , 11 in a row.   

14 ahead in division
8   ahead of closest AL competitor
5   ahead of the next best record in MLB.  (Wash) 


Just Dayum!!!!!!

[Bigun]

Another W tonight.

Our Astros are now 42-16 , 11 in a row.   

14 ahead in division
8   ahead of closest AL competitor
5   ahead of the next best record in MLB.  (Wash) 


Just Dayum!!!!!!

    

If they just play .500 ball from here on out they finish 94/68!

[Cripplecreek]

Surprised there's nothing posted about Scooter Gennett's 4 HR game.

A solo home run, 2 runs scored HR, 3 runs scored HR and a grand slam all from a utility player not known for being a power hitter.

[Machiavelli]

MLB: The 6 Greatest Catchers to Ever Play the Game

@EasyAce

[Cripplecreek]

MLB: The 6 Greatest Catchers to Ever Play the Game

@EasyAce

Pudge was a sniper.

[DCPatriot]

GEEZ.....

My Orioles looked like Division 2 college players against these freaking Yank-Me's!   Drop to 6.5 back

My NATS get swept by the Texas Rangers.  At home.

The good news is the rest of the NL EAST has played .500 ball too, the last 10 played...still leading the pack by 9.5

[Bigun]

MLB: The 6 Greatest Catchers to Ever Play the Game

@EasyAce

In no particular order:

Roy Campenella
Yogi Beria
Johnny Bench
Gary Carter

[DCPatriot]

In no particular order:

Roy Campenella
Yogi Beria
Johnny Bench
Gary Carter

Can argue with those selections.

 

[Bigun]

Can argue with those selections.

 

Need two more.  They will come to me.

[Bigun]

No sooner than I hit the post key Carlton Risk came to mind.

Tim Macarver probably needs to be there as well.

[EasyAce]

MLB: The 6 Greatest Catchers to Ever Play the Game

@EasyAce

@Machiavelli
I'd have put Yogi Berra slightly ahead of Johnny Bench for these reasons:

* With Yogi Berra as the Yankees’ regular catcher, Yankee pitchers not named Whitey Ford did better on the mound
when throwing to him than they did with anyone else behind the plate, Yankee or otherwise; and, they did better as
Yankees with Berra behind the plate than they ever did with any other team for whom they pitched. That group
included the one Yankee pitcher not named Ford who was thought to be a Hall of Famer in the making but fell short
enough: Allie Reynolds.

(Bench wasn't as good as Yogi at doing that with his pitching staffs, but in all fairness Bench also ran into a syndrome
that afflicted Reds pitching staffs both before and after his career: whenever they came up with good young pitchers
who might become aces, nearly every last one of them developed arm and shoulder trouble and ended up with
careers shortened too early, comparatively speaking. Jim Maloney, Sammy Ellis, Gary Nolan, Don Gullett, and Tom
Browning were only the most classic examples.)

* Only two men in major league history have hit 350+ lifetime home runs while striking out less than 500 times: Berra,
and Joe DiMaggio. (In case you were wondering, Berra never struck out 40 times or more in any season and, in five of his
seasons, his home runs out-numbered his strikeouts. For any hitter that would be an impressive achievement. For a classic
bad-ball hitter who’d swing at anything that was anywhere within Yankee Stadium’s ZIP code—oops, Berra played before
the ZIP code—that’s an unbelievable achievement.)

* Between Berra’s rookie season (1947) and the first season of expansion (1961, when the American League introduced
the Angels and the second Washington Senators), only one man in baseball drove in more runs than Berra: Stan Musial.
(Classic Berra: Before one All-Star game, Berra happened upon a meeting of American League pitchers when the subject
was pitching to Musial. “Forget it,” Berra cracked. “You guys are trying to figure out in fifteen minutes what nobody’s figured
out in fifteen years.”)

* Berra is compared most often to Bench, but those who argue for Bench’s superiority must confront the fact that Yogi

a) led his league in putouts eight times, assists five, defensive double plays six, and fielding percentage twice, to Bench
leading his in putouts twice, assists once, defensive double plays once, and fielding percentage once.

b) needed 38 fewer total games to drive in 54 more runs, score 83 more, strike out 864 fewer times, ground into 55 fewer
double plays, and hit for a higher lifetime slash line.

[Bigun]

Yogi get's my vote as the best who ever played the game and by a WIDE margin!

[catfish1957]

Yogi get's my vote as the best who ever played the game and by a WIDE margin!

Bench or Yogi....  Greats


Here is the wisest of them all. :dx1:

[EasyAce]

Yogi get's my vote as the best who ever played the game and by a WIDE margin!

@Bigun

In Yogi Berra's first season in the minors, at Norwalk, Virginia, he played a doubleheader
and drove in 23 runs. His late wife, Carmen, often deadpanned about that: "When I heard
about the 23-RBI day, I figured he probably had a future."

In later years, she liked to tease him whenever reporters visited them by urging him to
tell them about "the anniversary card." Apparently, on one wedding anniversary (they were
married 65 years when Carmen died in 2014), he gave her a card signed "Love, Yogi
Berra." Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, visiting the Berras for his chapter
on Yogi in Pride of October: What it Was to Be Young and a Yankee, was aghast.
He asked Yogi why he did that.

"I dunno," Berra replied. "I guess out of habit."

"I was actually kind of glad he thought to sign his last name," Carmen cracked. "I wouldn't
have wanted to confuse him with all the other Yogis I know."

Carmen Berra was a looker to the tenth power when the Berras married, and it inspired no
few wisecracks from those in baseball who made a sideline of wisecracking about Yogi's
not-so-handsome looks. The smartest crack may have come from Tiger pitcher Dizzy Trout:
Hey, Yogi, I hear ya got married. How does your wife like living in a tree?

Mrs. Berra kept her looks for a very, very long time. In 1964, when Yogi first got to
manage the Yankees, he was invited to be the mystery guest on the CBS panel quiz
What's My Line? The panel figured him out in about three seconds, so host John
Daly decided to help fill in the time by bringing Carmen Berra out and introducing her
as "Yogi's lovely bride." The CBS switchboards went nuclear with outraged callers demanding
to know just when Yogi threw his wife and three kids over for this little homewrecker!

The Berras did rather splendidly for a couple who first met when she worked as a waitress
in the St. Louis steakhouse into which Stan Musial eventually bought, helping make him
a junior-grade millionaire. But Carmen Berra was no pushover: when George Steinbrenner
moved to heal the rift between Yogi and the Yankees that happened when Steinbrenner
fired him as manager in 1982, after The Boss promised Yogi a full season but dumped
him after sixteen games (saying infamously, "I didn't fire Yogi, the players did"), Mrs.
Berra insisted it wouldn't happen unless she was present. And Steinbrenner relented. Why
was she so adamant? She wouldn't forget that when Steinbrenner canned her husband,
he sent Clyde King to deliver the execution papers.

[Bigun]

@Bigun

In Yogi Berra's first season in the minors, at Norwalk, Virginia, he played a doubleheader
and drove in 23 runs. His late wife, Carmen, often deadpanned about that: "When I heard
about the 23-RBI day, I figured he probably had a future."

In later years, she liked to tease him whenever reporters visited them by urging him to
tell them about "the anniversary card." Apparently, on one wedding anniversary (they were
married 65 years when Carmen died in 2014), he gave her a card signed "Love, Yogi
Berra." Bill Madden of the New York Daily News, visiting the Berras for his chapter
on Yogi in Pride of October: What it Was to Be Young and a Yankee, was aghast.
He asked Yogi why he did that.

"I dunno," Berra replied. "I guess out of habit."

"I was actually kind of glad he thought to sign his last name," Carmen cracked. "I wouldn't
have wanted to confuse him with all the other Yogis I know."

Carmen Berra was a looker to the tenth power when the Berras married, and it inspired no
few wisecracks from those in baseball who made a sideline of wisecracking about Yogi's
not-so-handsome looks. The smartest crack may have come from Tiger pitcher Dizzy Trout:
Hey, Yogi, I hear ya got married. How does your wife like living in a tree?

Mrs. Berra kept her looks for a very, very long time. In 1964, when Yogi first got to
manage the Yankees, he was invited to be the mystery guest on the CBS panel quiz
What's My Line? The panel figured him out in about three seconds, so host John
Daly decided to help fill in the time by bringing Carmen Berra out and introducing her
as "Yogi's lovely bride." The CBS switchboards went nuclear with outraged callers demanding
to know just when Yogi threw his wife and three kids over for this little homewrecker!

The Berras did rather splendidly for a couple who first met when she worked as a waitress
in the St. Louis steakhouse into which Stan Musial eventually bought, helping make him
a junior-grade millionaire. But Carmen Berra was no pushover: when George Steinbrenner
moved to heal the rift between Yogi and the Yankees that happened when Steinbrenner
fired him as manager in 1982, after The Boss promised Yogi a full season but dumped
him after sixteen games (saying infamously, "I didn't fire Yogi, the players did"), Mrs.
Berra insisted it wouldn't happen unless she was present. And Steinbrenner relented. Why
was she so adamant? She wouldn't forget that when Steinbrenner canned her husband,
he sent Clyde King to deliver the execution papers.

Thanks for the inside dope! I grew up watching the Yog, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, and all of the other Yankee greats play but Yogi was always my favorite. Don't know how anyone could not like him!

[EasyAce]

Thanks for the inside dope! I grew up watching the Yog, Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, and all of the other Yankee greats play but Yogi was always my favorite. Don't know how anyone could not like him!

@Bigun
It was impossible to dislike him.

But once during his playing days Yogi had a strange habit---he loved to mooch personal products whenever
he ran out. At the same time, Whitey Ford used a special kind of stickum that he kept in a roll-on deodorant
bottle, using the stuff for a better grip on his curve ball. Knowing Berra's quirk, Mickey Mantle moved
the label-less bottle to a spot on Ford's locker shelf where Berra was sure to see it. Sure enough, Yogi took
the bait. Two minutes later he went screaming into the trainer's room---he had to have his arms shaved
loose from his sides.

Yogi otherwise was thought to be so much the type to whom good things happened almost preternaturally
that Casey Stengel once wisecracked, "Mr. Berra could fall into a sewer and come up with a gold watch."

It don't matter if you're ugly in this racket. All you have to do is hit the ball. And I never saw anyone
hit one with his face.---Yogi Berra, on the cracks about his looks.

Whitey Ford was pretty witty himself. When he learned Sandy Koufax went to New York to accept a
Corvette as the 1963 World Series MVP, and that Koufax went down to the car after the luncheon to
see it parked on the sidewalk with a $15 ticket attached to the windshield, Ford cracked, "Sandy has
only two flaws. He can't hit, and he can't park."

[Machiavelli]

Who is Aaron Judge?

Real or not? Aaron Judge on MVP path, Corey Seager is still great

Yankees' 6-foot-7 wunderkind is starting to get MVP whispers after 2 home runs unlike anything baseball has seen lately

The other side of Aaron Judge’s legend: The pitches he spits on

Where the Hell Did Aaron Judge Come From?

Why Yankees' Aaron Judge gets yet another MLB honor

If Aaron Judge can chase Roger Maris’ 61 home runs, it could bring feel-good vibe to baseball

Wikipedia article

Career stats

@EasyAce

[EasyAce]

Bench or Yogi....  Greats


Here is the wisest of them all. :dx1:

Ah, but he never said ninety percent of the game was mental and the other half was physical. ;)

[DCPatriot]

Inside the Nationals' endgame identity crisis


Blake Treinen and the rest of the Washington Nationals bullpen are the weak link in the District -- and their problems are starting to become the clubhouse's problems

Eddie Matz

The Washington Nationals' bullpen spent the first couple months of the season coughing up leads in games. Recently, they've graduated to coughing up the division lead.

In the space of one week (June 6–12), the first-place Nats lost four games off their division lead, going from a season-high 12.5 games ahead in the National League East to just 8.5 games up. Granted, there are 28 other teams in the league that would kill to have "just" an 8.5-game lead (the Astros are all set, thanks). Still, when you lose a third of your cushion in the blink of an eye, it’s concerning. It’s especially alarming when you consider that Washington’s bullpen, which has been a sore spot from Day 1, has played a key role.

rest at:

http://www.espn.com/blog/washington-nationals/post/_/id/2660/inside-the-nationals-endgame-identity-crisis