BASEBALL 2017---Bring it On!!!

[EasyAce]

Meanwhile the Twins pitcher who hit Tigers batter Jacoby Jones in the mouth with a fastball wasn't ejected. Then Detroit pitcher Matt Boyd hit Miguel Sano in the ass causing Sano to throw a punch at McCann leading to and Boyd and Sano being ejected.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=19220819

There's a reason why the Twins pitcher who hit Jones didn't get ejected. He wasn't trying to throw at him.
If you saw his reaction as he saw the pitch hit Jones, he looked too obviously distraught over it. I'm not
a lip reader but it looked like "oh sh@t no!" came out of his mouth as he spun around the mound
grabbing his head in embarrassment. That's not the act of a guy who's looking to deck a hitter.

[Cripplecreek]

There's a reason why the Twins pitcher who hit Jones didn't get ejected. He wasn't trying to throw at him.
If you saw his reaction as he saw the pitch hit Jones, he looked too obviously distraught over it. I'm not
a lip reader but it looked like "oh sh@t no!" came out of his mouth as he spun around the mound
grabbing his head in embarrassment. That's not the act of a guy who's looking to deck a hitter.

There was also no good reason for Boyd to get tossed. No warnings had been issued and Boyd was having severe control issues anyway. Even without debating intent, no one would have been ejected without Sano's reaction. Had Sano just taken his base he could have grumbled about it to Boyd all the way down the baseline and let it go, the game would have continued.

The craziest ejection I ever saw was Mike Maroth (Pitching for the Tigers against the Twins) getting tossed while facing the first batter of the game. However that one did come with a pregame warning from the brawl the previous day that led to something like 9 players ejected.

[EasyAce]

There was also no good reason for Boyd to get tossed. No warnings had been issued and Boyd was having severe control issues anyway.

Right there said it all. But beware: just grumbling up the base line is sometimes enough to start a brawl.

The craziest ejection I ever saw was Mike Maroth (Pitching for the Tigers against the Twins) getting tossed while facing the first batter of the game. However that one did come with a pregame warning from the brawl the previous day that led to something like 9 players ejected.

How about the one that began between the Padres and the Braves in August 1984 that began when Pascual Perez
drilled Alan Wiggins on the game's first pitch? That started an evening of multiple brushbacks and three brawls
before it ended.

[Cripplecreek]

Tigers are tearing it up tonight with all their minor league call ups.

currently 7-2 over Seattle in the top of the 5th without Miggy, JD Martinez, Iglesias, and Jacoby Jones.

[Cripplecreek]

OK that's weird.

No pitch intentional walk to Avila.

[Cyber Liberty]

OK that's weird.

No pitch intentional walk to Avila.

I don't like the no pitch intentional walk.  Worst rule change in decades.

[Cripplecreek]

I don't like the no pitch intentional walk.  Worst rule change in decades.

Im guessing the Mariners are wishing this inning would end. 12-4 14-4 16-4 in the bottom of the 5th.

[Cripplecreek]

Biggest inning of the year for the Tigers. 9 runs scored.

[DCPatriot]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjCbbAxUDg8

[Cripplecreek]

Good thing the Tiger bats were hot last night because the defense was not spectacular.

Despite being beaten by 10 runs, the Mariners still managed to score 9 runs themselves.

Most impressive from the Tigers was taking out "King" Hernandez in 2 innings.

[catfish1957]

I don't like the no pitch intentional walk.  Worst rule change in decades.

Here's the Top 5 in my lifetime

1. DH (by far)...plus that f'n slug Selig moving my team to the ALW, where I have to put up with extra midnight baseball and DH almost all the time.
2. NBAization of MLB by having 4 WC spots in playoffs
3. (not a rule but)....   Exponential Growth in MLB salaries, and effect on ticket prices
4. Changes in slide rule.
5. NP intentional walk.  I have seen a number of times WP's or PB's on an IBB that have changed the game.

I do like the instant replay, and when auto -strike zone becomes reality.  Got to make this game C.B. Bucknor proof.

[DCPatriot]

Here's the Top 5 in my lifetime

1. DH (by far)...plus that f'n slug Selig moving my team to the ALW, where I have to put up with extra midnight baseball and DH almost all the time.
2. NBAization of MLB by having 4 WC spots in playoffs
3. (not a rule but)....   Exponential Growth in MLB salaries, and effect on ticket prices
4. Changes in slide rule.
5. NP intentional walk.  I have seen a number of times WP's or PB's on an IBB that have changed the game.

I do like the instant replay, and when auto -strike zone becomes reality.  Got to make this game C.B. Bucknor proof.

Good list, @catfish1957

I have an idea for automation used in calling "East-West" borders of the plate.

All it takes is one person with another as backup and installed sensors inside the border of the rubber home plate.

The sensor would pick up any breach "...on the black".

Once the batter is finished with his 'practice' half swings in the box and is set.....those two guys push a button.

All the ump has to do is call high and low.

And since most umps look over ONE shoulder anyway they can move to the catcher's right shoulder to 'see' even better!

[Cyber Liberty]

Here's the Top 5 in my lifetime

...

5. NP intentional walk.  I have seen a number of times WP's or PB's on an IBB that have changed the game.

I do like the instant replay, and when auto -strike zone becomes reality.  Got to make this game C.B. Bucknor proof.

That's precisely why I don't like the NP Intentional Walk.  It screws the offense by removing four opportunities for errors.  Name one other rule in baseball that does that.  Even the infield fly rule doesn't do that.

I hear ya about making the sport Bucknor-proof.  I don't think there's a team in MLB that hasn't been jacked by that jag-off.

[Cyber Liberty]

@DCPatriot The Nats did a great job last night!  Let's have another!  D-Backs could use that Colorado loss...

[catfish1957]

Good list, @catfish1957

I have an idea for automation used in calling "East-West" borders of the plate.

All it takes is one person with another as backup and installed sensors inside the border of the rubber home plate.

The sensor would pick up any breach "...on the black".

Once the batter is finished with his 'practice' half swings in the box and is set.....those two guys push a button.

All the ump has to do is call high and low.

And since most umps look over ONE shoulder anyway they can move to the catcher's right shoulder to 'see' even better!

I like those ideas.  Considering Tennis uses this technology without flaw, it seems baseball could actually implement easily.

[DCPatriot]

@DCPatriot The Nats did a great job last night!  Let's have another!  D-Backs could use that Colorado loss...

That final score scares the hell out of me.

And it should scare the hell out of you, too.   And every beisbol fan in the world.

We don't need no steenkin' 'Arena Baseball'.

[DCPatriot]

I'd like to see the mound height back to what it was.   And the rulebook strikezone called.  Letters to knees.

Not so sure how today's pitcher's breaking balls would react, though.   LOL!

[Cyber Liberty]

That final score scares the hell out of me.

And it should scare the hell out of you, too.   And every beisbol fan in the world.

We don't need no steenkin' 'Arena Baseball'.

I agree.  Mrs. Liberty watched the final innings on Gameday, and boy was she pissed....

[Cyber Liberty]

I'd like to see the mound height back to what it was.   And the rulebook strikezone called.  Letters to knees.

Not so sure how today's pitcher's breaking balls would react, though.   LOL!

I agree with the part about the mound, too.  It was a failed experiment to increase hitting, and it didn't.  It did, however, increase pitching injuries and contributed to fewer pitchers pitching full games.

The strike zone is an issue that dates back to Doubleday.

[Cripplecreek]

That's precisely why I don't like the NP Intentional Walk.  It screws the offense by removing four opportunities for errors.  Name one other rule in baseball that does that.  Even the infield fly rule doesn't do that.

I hear ya about making the sport Bucknor-proof.  I don't think there's a team in MLB that hasn't been jacked by that jag-off.

True enough. I've seen batters reach out and hit intentional balls and I've also seen intentional balls go to the backstop

[Bigun]

I DO NOT understand why people insist on fixing things that aren't broken! 

I long for the days when baseball was played for the love of the game!

Astros are 14 and 6!

[Polly Ticks]

Is baseball too slow? The battle lines are drawn -- and MLB is taking a side

PHILADELPHIA -- Art Nelson knows that up the New Jersey Turnpike on Park Avenue, Major League Baseball's deepest thinkers are hard at work trying to solve maybe the hottest topic on commissioner Rob Manfred's to-do list: pace of game.

But here in Ashburn Alley, with a cheesesteak in his hand and a Mets-Phillies game about to unfold before his eyes, Nelson would like the commish to know something just as important:

He's in no hurry to go home.

[-snip-]

[...] new polling data, compiled for ESPN this month by digital insights company Toluna, confirm the sentiments of folks in Ashburn Alley. It's all those people who aren't at the park, the ones sitting at home with a clicker or smartphone -- or not watching at all -- who say games are moving way too slowly.

[-snip-]

"They're trying to appeal to the non-passionate fan," Sutton said. "They're looking to attract people who could become fans if you make it appealing enough. That's their biggest problem -- bringing in that audience that they're not getting because the game is too slow."

But the current fans have a question, and it's an excellent one: How does baseball know it can ever attract those fans?

"I don't like all these changes to baseball to please [people] who will never like it," tweeted Bob Romano (@chisox927). "I don't expect soccer to change so I'll like it more."

[-snip-]

Meanwhile, as our polling shows, the incredible divide between the TV/mobile fan base and the in-the-park crowd might remain as impossible to bridge as ever -- because there seems to be only one thing everyone can agree upon.

"Baseball still feels timeless," Bill Sutton said, "if you're at the game."


http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19192828/is-baseball-too-slow-battle-lines-drawn-mlb-taking-side

[Polly Ticks]

-- because there seems to be only one thing everyone can agree upon.

Two things, actually -- the second one being get rid of CB Bucknor.

[Cripplecreek]

@Polly Ticks


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cloU58N0YVI

[Polly Ticks]

@Polly Ticks


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cloU58N0YVI