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May-19-15
 | | WannaBe: <Jim Bartle: <pb> has got what I was thinking of.> Jon Lester is 5 beers away from Wrigley Field's record? |
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| May-20-15 | | Jim Bartle: The record for most ABs without a hit is 58. Lester is at 54. |
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May-20-15
| | WannaBe: So, it is beer, most Anheiser Busch!! |
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May-20-15
 | | Phony Benoni: I see the NFL has moved the extra point kick back five yards, which is fine with me. Put a little more "foot" back into "football". Otherwise, you might as well call it soccer or something. They've also adopted the two-point return for PATs blocked and brought back all the way. I also like that idea, and await the first time a team takes a kneel down rather than kicking when they go ahead by a point with little time left. |
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May-20-15
 | | keypusher: <WannaBe: Another example of too much meaning-less stat, saw this on ESPN's web page, but I think the tweet feed is from MLB.
<Entering tonight's game vs, the Yankees, Bryce Harper leads the majors with 36 walks and is on pace for 150 walks this year (in 162 games). That would break Ted Williams’ record for most walks by a player in his age-22 season or younger.>> Well, it's more than a little silly to measure that with the season just over a month old. It's better than seeing a guy go 2 for 4 on opening day and saying "if he keeps that up all year he'll hit .500." But still silly. Guessing that "age-22 season" means you were 22 at the beginning of the year? Caveats aside, if Harper really does break Williams' walk record this year, or even come close, it would be huge. First, most 22-year-olds are still in the minors. Most of those that are in the majors aren't getting to the plate nearly often enough to get walked 150 times. So just being a regular at the age of 22 puts you in fairly rare company. Next, it shows that (i) pitchers are really being careful with you (ii) you've got patience, bat control and a great eye. At age 22! That's why only Ted Williams has done this before. Well, Ted Williams went on to have a pretty good career. I once saw a list of "best major league (batting) seasons at age 20." At the top of the list were Ty Cobb and A-Rod. So, no guarantee that anyone is going to like you, but a pretty good indication that you're going to be one hell of a baseball player, if you stay healthy. 150 walks at age 22 (or even your "age-22 season") is probably almost as good an indicator. |
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May-22-15
| | keypusher: I killed the forum. Come back, guys! Look, here's three RBIs on a ground ball: http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2015/05/20... |
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May-22-15
| | WannaBe: <keypusher> And MLB want to ban shifts... Sheeeeeeeet. I say let them play/position the players anyway they want!! You want to have an seven-men infield, go for it! |
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| May-22-15 | | playground player: <WannaBe> They want to ban shifts? Well, I knew baseball was headed down the drain when they started naming ballparks after corporations who paid for the privilege. |
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| May-22-15 | | Jim Bartle: Seven men to cover the field. They can stand wherever they want. There will always be open spaces. If a left-handed hitter cannot hit to leftfield, then that's a weakness (like not being able to shoot free throws) which the defense should be able to take advantage of. |
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May-22-15
| | keypusher: < Jim Bartle: Seven men to cover the field. They can stand wherever they want. There will always be open spaces.
If a left-handed hitter cannot hit to leftfield, then that's a weakness (like not being able to shoot free throws) which the defense should be able to take advantage of.> Yes, agree. All these shifts should benefit spray hitters, which seems like a good thing. Come back, Wee Willie Keeler! |
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| May-22-15 | | Jim Bartle: By the way, I don't think the three-run single is due so much to the shift as to laziness on the part of the leftfielder. He just grabbed the ball and threw it softly back to the infield and that's when the third runner took off. |
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May-22-15
| | WannaBe: That's one of those "Error" that will not show up in the box score. |
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May-22-15
| | WannaBe: MLB is thinking of shortening the season by 8-games: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1... I just hope we can finally get a balanced schedule for everyone. |
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May-22-15
 | | Penguincw: < WannaBe: ...
I just hope we can finally get a balanced schedule for everyone. > That would be nice. Here's one way to make the schedule 152 games: 8 games/team in the division, 6 games/team in the league and 4 games/team in the other league. But like mentioned in the article, I think the playoffs should be extended. More teams should be allowed in, and the series should be longer (or both). I say top 2 teams/division, plus 2 wild cards/league. In the first round (best of 5), the top 2 division winners face off against the 2 wild cards, while the 3rd division winner takes the 3rd seed, and the rest are in order of record. The 2nd round should also be best of 5, and everything else is normal. Doesn't matter if bracket is fixed or not. Of course, there's probably a better way to do it. If only baseball were a league like the NBA, where it's 2 conferences divided into 3 divisions each and 5 teams each, the season could be extended into 94 games. Simply use a 3-2-1 ratio: play 3 games/team in the division, 2 games/team in the league and 1 game/team in the other league (and multiply by 2 for equal number of home and road games). 2(3×4+2×10+1×15)=94.
Oh wait, it is organized like that, but baseball is different from other sports in that: all games have to played in "series" (unless it's a makeup), and one can't use the exact same lineup game after game (starting pitcher). |
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May-23-15
| | Phony Benoni: Defensive shifts are traditional in baseball; they didn't start with Ted Williams. And I have to agree that any player who can't learn to hit the opposite way when the situation arises -- and there are plenty of them that don't involve shifts -- is not as good a player as he could be. Except perhaps Ted Williams. |
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May-23-15
| | Phony Benoni: Most of the schemes for a balanced schedule remind me of those calendars with 13 identical months of 28 days with an extra day just floating around as an excuse to party. Such ideas are clear, logical, and have everything going in their favor except that we are a muddied and illogical species tied to our traditional ways of doing things, irrational as they may be. There was a time when a Detroiter would have been ecstatic about the prospect of seeing Willie Mays or Ernie banks live in their home park every couple of years. These days, when you can follow any team or player closely through the media, it's rivalries that create interest. I'd much rather see an extra series with the Yankees or Royals than Clayton Kershaw. Especially Clayton Kershaw. |
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| May-24-15 | | Jim Bartle: <Curry and Michael Jordan are the only players to make five or more 3-pointers, score 40 or more points, and shoot at least 55 percent from the field in a conference finals game.> Uncle! |
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May-24-15
| | WannaBe: See if you know the answer without lookin' it up. =) Today in History: First night game in MLB took place, what two teams was involved, and at what stadium? |
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May-24-15
| | Penguincw: I'll give you a hint: it's <not> the Chicago Cubs (really useful hint, I know). FTR: I made a guess, looked it up, and I got one of the teams correct (the home team). |
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May-24-15
 | | OhioChessFan: I got lucky and happened to guess this one. Who threw the switch to turn on the lights? |
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May-24-15
| | WannaBe: Ohio U. Have qualified for the NCAA D-I baseball play-off, this will be their appearance in the tourney. The 16 regional hosts will be announced later today, and the full 64-team field tomorrow. |
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May-24-15
| | WannaBe: Edit: "This will be their <first> appearance in the tourney" |
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| May-25-15 | | Jim Bartle: It took me a while to figure out what happened in this high school baseball play. I think I was fooled by the description of a 'hidden ball trick' (including at ESPN, which it isn't. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du-...
As far as I can tell the pitcher fakes a throw to second, the shortstop jumps high as if it's a wild throw, the runner takes off and the pitcher runs over and tags him. How is that a hidden ball trick? |
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May-25-15
| | WannaBe: Okay, everyone, say "Bye-Bye" to Ray McD, ex-Bears-49ers... http://espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/stor... |
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| May-25-15 | | Everyone: Bye-bye, Ray! |
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