Author Topic: Offical MLB Thread! (Read 340131 times)

trueinnuendo · « **Reply #700 on:** May 04, 2007, 01:40:00 PM »

Saburo · « **Reply #701 on:** May 04, 2007, 06:21:38 PM »

Reports from the police and medical examiner in the death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock are in and they confirmed what might be best described as "cause and effect": http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6775024

My sympathies go to his friends and family. However there is something instructive in all of this, especially to the much-heralded manager of St. Louis, Tony La Russa, who was busted for DUI in Florida when he fell asleep at the wheel at a green light with the car in "drive."

OK, now back to the bashing...

Kamesan · « **Reply #702 on:** May 05, 2007, 07:18:23 AM »

I was watching the White Sox vs Angels game last night. The Angels won 5 -1. Anyway, in the 8th inning Jermaine Dye hit a foul ball that hit the home plate umpire right in the nuts. That had to hurt.

Saburo · « **Reply #703 on:** May 06, 2007, 08:29:11 PM »

Well can't say I'm exactly shocked but The Rocket is returning to the Bronx: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2862088

Good thing there's no salary cap in MLB...

Kamesan · « **Reply #704 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:15:38 AM »

It tells you something about the lack of pitching in baseball when a guy who's 45 can demand that kind of salary. He's going to be making more per month than some guys make in a season.

Jsmurf · « **Reply #705 on:** May 08, 2007, 04:42:46 PM »

lol, roger clemens coming back, 45 yrs old?
where would the major leagues be right now without steriods....

Saburo · « **Reply #706 on:** May 08, 2007, 08:54:38 PM »

Rocket will also be making more per month than even A-Rod. So does this mean that Clemens will also be held to the ridiculous standards of Yankee fans towards A-Rod?

I doubt it. Clemens has a ring in pinstripes and has the respect/approval of Holy Joe Torre.

Anyway, part of me is glad that New York signed Clemens cause it lights the fuse for all this great banter between baseball fans. Can you imagine what "Red Sox Nation" is saying online? I can feel the bile clear across the Pacific Ocean.

FWIW I believe Roger Clemens could be the greatest pitcher in MLB history. Really!

Kamesan · « **Reply #707 on:** May 10, 2007, 12:50:57 PM »

Maybe but not at age 45. The Yankees will be a wild card team at best even with Clemens.

Saburo · « **Reply #708 on:** May 12, 2007, 04:29:34 AM »

Yesterday Jeff Weaver got clobbered by the Tigers, like 6 ER in 5 IP -- and LOWERED his ERA.

Today he hit the DL with shoulder problems or something. Whatta bust!

JFC · « **Reply #709 on:** May 12, 2007, 06:47:58 PM »

Dang, Roy Halladay was admitted to the hospital with appendicitis.

Saburo · « **Reply #710 on:** May 13, 2007, 03:08:09 AM »

Rough season thus far for fans of the Jays. All their stars have done time on the DL and I can't imagine why GM J. P. Ricciardi would be so overtly dishonest about the condition of B.J. Ryan, who underwent Tommy John elbow surgery a few days ago. And who knows, maybe Gibbons will self-implode again.

Kamesan · « **Reply #711 on:** May 13, 2007, 08:39:23 AM »

My Cubbies are so frustrating. The win 8 out of 9 then lose 4 out of 5.

The loss of Ryan Howard is going to hurt the Phillies. Hopefully we won't be out too long.

daigong · « **Reply #712 on:** May 13, 2007, 09:00:27 PM »

Damn, Cards are snake bit. I'm glad they picked it up. RIP Josh Hancock

Yankees phenom Hughes carries no-hitter into seventh before injury the other week, no wonder Rocket came back. Listen to Suzyn Waldman have an orgasm announcing Roger Clemens return to pinstripes:
http://www.wcbs880.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=695991

TOO GOOD!!!

What's the biggest surprise this season?? I'm slowly getting into baseball after months of nonstop hockey/basketball scoreboard watching. Gotta bump that Bonds thread since he's THIS close.

Shibo · « **Reply #713 on:** May 13, 2007, 09:46:02 PM »

Woot! Happy mother's day, everyone! And happy mother's day, New England! 6 runs in the bottom of the 9th, Sox win 6-5!!! Poor Baltimore, ouch. Sox up 8 over baltimore now, 7 1/2 over Yanks, who are losing 2-1 in the 6th to Seattle as we speak. Josh Beckett left the game early though..He had a torn flap of skin on the middle finger of his pitching hand. Doesn't sound incredibly serious, hopefully he won't miss any time. We shall see, I guess..

As a card carrying member of Red Sox Nation, I suppose I should weigh in on the whole Roger Clemens thing. I won't lie, it would have been nice to see him come back for a few months, but I never really expected it to happen. The Yankees really need the pitching right now. Sox are in pretty ok shape pitching-wise.. Schilling has been pretty decent this year.. Beckett's 7-0... Matsuzaka's been pretty damn good for a guy facing major league hitting for the first time..And oh yeah, Wakefield has the lowest ERA in the AL. We've got that kid Lester ready to come back as the #5 starter as well.. He looked great last year before the whole lymphoma thing.. Sounds like he's cancer free now, so hopefully he'll be able to contribute. Okajima has been lights out in the 'pen, and Papelbon's not so bad either. It's a long, long season but it's nice to be happy with my team in mid-may. Yanks aren't gonna play dead though, so we need this 7-8 game lead, and we need to make it a 10+ game lead ASAP if possible.

Interesting stat I read at espn.com in a story regarding Clemens..Only 3 pitchers in history have won over 10 games at his age: Tommy John, Nolan Ryan, and Satchel Paige. Clemens is amazing, and I have no doubt that he could do it.. Still, that's some pretty damn good company, eh? And those guys had to pitch a whole season to do it.

Saburo · « **Reply #714 on:** May 15, 2007, 07:15:11 AM »

May 14: the day in MLB...

-- Matsuzaka gets his first complete game, throwing 120-something pitches against Detroit. Weather a factor? Will it affect his next start? Does anyone in NPB even have pitch count records? Boston now has an 8.5 game lead on the Yankees which... might mean jack by the dog days of August.

-- Greg Maddux, 40-something years young, needed less than 100 pitches to put away the Reds. He had a shutout going into the 9th but a Junior Griffey sac fly ended that. I am still split on the future HOF: sometimes his lollypop pitches are being bashed all over creation and then he does something like this, albeit against a struggling Cincinnati ballclub.

-- Maddux's ex-Brave, John Smoltz, dislocated his right pinkie tagging out someone on a rundown play. Didn't look like the collision was too severe but looking at the video, Smoltz reacts as if the finger was cut off or something. OUCH! I think he needs two or three more wins to reach 200 for his career, which I believe will cement his HOF prospects (combined of course with his stellar closer numbers).

-- I didn't see the highlights of the Phillie comeback against the Brewers. Remarkable fortitude by the still-below-.500 Phils or an awful meltdown by the declining Brew Crew? Some bloggers say the latter.

-- The Chicago Cubbies lost a game today on a bases-loaded walk. The relief pitcher for Chicago walked three straight (including one intentional) after getting the first two guys out in the 9th. What's Lou Piniella gonna do?!!

JaisBane · « **Reply #715 on:** May 15, 2007, 05:44:43 PM »

Matsuzaka is just one of those rare pitchers where the more he pitches the better he pitches. Last year for Seibu he pitched 13 complete games, and I think the Sox will find that the closer he pitches to 100 pitches per game, the better he's going to do. Now I don't mean to say that he should pitch 100+ and throw a complete game every other outing, but he's not going to do well if they try to keep him to 60-80 pitches per game. For any other pitcher that would probably be a one-way ticket to the DL, but as long as he maintains his mechanics and they keep him on a schedule similar to his Japanese one, I don't think injury will be a problem. This new cutter he has a good weapon, but once he gets his slider back I think we'll be seeing 7+Ks per game, even against lineups like the Yankees and the Tigers. He also needs to fix a curious problem where one batter out of a lineup will just dominate him the whole game and go 3-3 at bat. I think it's just a problem of experience, but even back in Japan there were a few batters that would just tee-off on every at-bat, and Seattle's Johjima was one of them. It's a curious problem, but if anyone can solve it, it's the Red Sox.

Saburo · « **Reply #716 on:** May 15, 2007, 10:58:14 PM »

God save Felix Hernandez.

He returns to action tonight (Tuesday). Best of luck to him!

Kamesan · « **Reply #717 on:** May 15, 2007, 11:54:37 PM »

Quote from: Saburo on May 15, 2007, 07:15:11 AM

May 14: the day in MLB...

-- The Chicago Cubbies lost a game today on a bases-loaded walk. The relief pitcher for Chicago walked three straight (including one intentional) after getting the first two guys out in the 9th. What's Lou Piniella gonna do?!!

What do you think he's gonna do? You saw the game right? I can begin to see how this team has lost games in the past.

LOL!! like my lou piniella impersonation? I know.. it was terrible.

Saburo · « **Reply #718 on:** May 16, 2007, 02:04:53 AM »

Quote from: Kamesan on May 15, 2007, 11:54:37 PM

LOL!! like my lou piniella impersonation? I know.. it was terrible.

I'm waiting for a You Tube clip of you kicking dirt, throwing bats onto the field and freaking out in general.

His throwing first base into right field was classic...

JaisBane · « **Reply #719 on:** May 16, 2007, 08:23:55 AM »

More bases should be thrown, in my opinion. It could replace shotput in then Olympics!