Subject: Baseball
Date: Fri Jul 1 12:59:50 2022
User: SilvioManuel
Message: Just read this entire thread while eating breakfast today.
Most enjoyable meal i've had in years.
Date: Sat Jul 9 09:24:42 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Only the 23rd walk-off balk since 1920...Reds over Rays...
Date: Sat Jul 9 15:08:05 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Saw that. And it was such a minimal movement. Crazy rule, but I guess a line must be drawn somewhere.
Date: Sat Jul 16 02:00:58 2022
User: Klepp
Message:I'm not so good at math, but I think Josh Hader's ERA in (solely) his latest appearance was exactly 162.00...sounds odd, comical even...
Date: Sat Jul 16 02:20:49 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:There are a very few pitchers whose lifetime ERA is infinity, and even some with an ERA "undefined". But yeah, that 162.00 is up there.
Date: Sun Jul 17 21:51:48 2022
User: Kaos
Message:The roller coaster 🎢 that is the Seattle Mariners enter the all-star break on a 14-game win streak - the longest streak entering the break ever. It’s also their 2nd longest win streak in Mariners history. One game short of the 15-game streak the ‘roid fueled juggernaut from 2001 enjoyed.
Responding to Tn, Otani is starting to remind me of Steve Carlton, another pitcher of outstanding ability on a struggling team. If he keeps pitching like he has, and the Angels continue to decline through the rest of their roster, he’ll really have a case to make as an all-time great. Of course, Otani is also a great hitter. Something Carlton only had to deal with when he pitched.
Date: Mon Jul 18 04:43:23 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Never would have thought of comparing Ohtani to Lefty. I think Ohtani crushes him badly in a home run derby competition. LOL. But I see the comparison. There's quite a few in history that fit that pattern.
Nice to see the Mariners doing well. Now if the Supersonics and Pilots could just catch a break, too............. ;)
Date: Mon Jul 18 12:21:40 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Soto scoffed at 440 million...I wonder if Rodriguez will do the same when the front office ponies up...I think the Mariners have big electronics money from Japan in their back pocket...(maybe it's a little early to make the call on J-Rod, but that dude seems a sure superstar, wow!)...
Date: Mon Jul 18 14:13:29 2022
User: mrbuck
Message:I don't know that he scoffed at the offer, it was an offer that was heavily backloaded and the AAV wasn't as good as Scott Boras thinks Soto can get on the open market. I'm a Nats fan and I hate to see Soto gone, but he's going to be gone, maybe even soon if a team offers enough young controllable talent and can pay Soto the kind of money he and Boras are looking for, which would likely be a record breaking contract, including the AAV.
mrbuck
Date: Mon Jul 18 17:15:12 2022
User: Klepp
Message:I'm not old enough to have seen Mickey Mantle play, but I've studied MLB's history enough and have heard so very many stories, that I imagine Seven was a lot like Trout (same sort of looks, build even), except he had huge power from BOTH sides of the plate, and may have been even quicker on the base paths...and I recall hearing he suffered an injury early in his career that hampered him, but you certainly can't tell from the stats...sadly, all I saw was an old drunk in need of a fresh liver back in the 90's...what if Mantle had never drunk alcohol in his life--.325 lifetime BA, 700 HRs, and maybe now even still alive into his nineties to see as powerful a NYY team as ever, maybe? We all have our crutches I suppose--psychological, pharmaceutical, narcotic even...Trout seems exceedingly well grounded and sober, though (can't hide much at all from today's media...he signs more autographs than anybody! Respect...
Date: Wed Jul 20 09:57:02 2022
User: mrbuck
Message:I just became a Kershaw fan.
mrbuck
Date: Fri Jul 22 20:27:06 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:So, moments ago …. Blue Jays up 6-0 with bases loaded and two out in the top of the 3rd. Red Sox bring in a reliever. First pitch is popped up to mid center field. The CF trots in a few steps and then puts his hands out indicating he lost the ball. The ball bounces behind him and rolls to the wall. Inside the park grand slam.
The Fenway faithful are not amused.
Date: Fri Jul 22 22:41:54 2022
User: _.!._
Message:Update on that one. Toronto now has 4 TDs (minus one missed extra point). Still a 9th left for Toronto. Red Sox really in some kinda downer these days.
Date: Fri Jul 22 23:08:08 2022
User: _.!._
Message:Final Toronto 28 Boston 5. Toronto got a rekick on that missed extra point.
Date: Sat Jul 23 00:04:30 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Sydney: 50.68 in Eugene. One or two(?) of the commentators were calling it Beamon-esque, as she knocked an amazing .73 seconds off her previous record. No, it's not quite that extreme - but one could make the case......... Utterly stunning either way.
But that's Sydney being Sydney. It *is* kinda hard to absorb, like Beamon's feat, but truly a bit less so.
As this linked story notes, she's now broken the 400 hurdles WR 4 times, matching my man Edwin Moses. Moses did it over his career. Sydney has done it in just over a year. Supposedly she has her sights set on taking down the flat 400 record, which is one of the older track records extant, set by Marita Koch way back in the dark ages of 1985.
For those not hepped up.......see this thread, late June of 2021.
And also avail yourself of watching a rare, rare talent by viewing this young woman in action. She was born to do what she does.
Link: Sydney being just all Sydney - again
Date: Sat Jul 23 00:09:36 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Darn it - that was supposed to go in the "Recent sports tidbits" thread........😕. Will copy and re-post there when I get on real computer. Hate doing this on the phone
But while I'm 'here' in *this* sport........there *had* to be all kinds of records for this gridiron classic, right?......
Date: Sun Jul 24 17:54:53 2022
User: Klepp
Message:I'd understand if the batter were using the count, score, and base runner situation to determine which side to bat from (power side versus contact side, and such)...but what I saw looked random...idk...
Date: Mon Jul 25 00:54:24 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Dude pitches either arm...hope to see soon...recent draft pick...
Link: Jurrangelo Cijntje
Date: Thu Jul 28 19:16:06 2022
User: Klepp
Message:The Earl Weaver Orioles were a nuisance to this Brewers fan, but wow! This Baltimore team is now a mere three, THREE! games out of the final AL Wildcard...an amazing resurgence from awful 100+ loss seasons, and in the league's toughest division no less!
Date: Sun Jul 31 05:12:07 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:"I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous." -- mrbuck
-- As quoted by MrFixit in the current "Thought of Deepness". How transparent can mrbuck be?! Is it not obvious that he was trying to supersede (or more properly, *pre*cede) Jurrangelo Cijntje, as we were alerted to by Kleep just 6 days ago? mrbuck, being the keen baseball purveyor and submarine-knuckleballer-in-training, was trying to beat Cijntje to the punch - or "punch-out", as they say in the game. Great investigative journalism by MrFixit!
Date: Sun Jul 31 13:47:44 2022
User: mrbuck
Message:It turns out you don't use your knuckles to throw a knuckleball. Back to the drawing board.
mrbuck
Date: Sun Jul 31 14:13:24 2022
User: Kumquat-of-Conciliation
Message:Some did - especially (I think) the early practitioners - but yeah, most these days, and for a while, have used, well, now you know what. I won't spill those beans in case there are others trying to get to that promised land ahead of you.
Date: Sun Jul 31 14:44:36 2022
User: joeygray
Message:Why isn’t the sweatball just as effective as the spitball? Would be impossible to legislate against it.
Date: Sun Jul 31 15:08:29 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Sweat just soaks into the horsehide/cowhide. Spit (or more often something like vaseline, grease, or something more substantial), 'sits' on the cover without absorbing in (nearly as much), thus giving the obvious (additional) asymmetry.
Date: Sun Jul 31 15:18:46 2022
User: Klepp
Message:The A's used to rub soap into their home whites to make soap with their sweat...maybe Barry Zito, he could throw crazy stuff...
Date: Sun Jul 31 22:51:29 2022
User: mrbuck
Message:K of C,
Should I learn the bean ball?
mrbuck
Date: Mon Aug 1 01:09:10 2022
User: Kumquat-of-Conciliation
Message:Gee, that's a tough question. I think you need to have the rest of your arsenal in good order first. There's really not much (legitimate (cough cough)) need for employing the bean ball unless they're crowding the plate too much on ya. And they won't be doing that unless you're wearing them out on the outside corner.
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. If you master that submarine knuckler, you may not *need* the bean ball. That should keep them off-balance well enough right there. Of course that's *if* you master that difficult delivery. But if you *don't* get it working reliably...............then maybe cock your ear to what ol' Dizz would say. And I'm fairly happy I never had to step into the box against Sir Walter Johnson; I'll say that.
[Disclaimer: my words are likely slightly skewed by learning, just yesterday, of the death of a local high school player here, in 1925 or 1926, from a beaning. True story, and I actually heard it second-hand, from a reporter, a close friend, who interviewed two live witnesses, one of whom was a sports reporter himself covering the game, and the other a family member of the deceased. That sports reporter lived to the ripe age of 103, and apparently was mentally sharp as a tack right 'til the end. All that said...........get the rest of your repertoire all lined up, and see if you need it. You may just be the next Robin Roberts. (From the scouting reports I've been privileged to see, you're not *quite* in the Koufax mold.)]
Link: The "old rules" -- who owns the plate?
Date: Wed Aug 3 14:53:59 2022
User: mrbuck
Message:Not sure if this post belongs here or in the over 90 thread, but Vin Scully died yesterday. I whole heartily believe he was the greatest baseball announcer ever. There have been a lot of great ones, but he stands out as the GOAT.
mrbuck
Date: Wed Aug 3 16:57:14 2022
User: Klepp
Message:MLB.com is my homepage...I got the bad news there. Ah, too sad...
Date: Sun Aug 7 19:29:58 2022
User: Klepp
Message:A seemingly unreal statistic: Vin Scully called more than half of all Dodgers' games ever played...sort of an astounding reality...
Date: Sun Aug 7 22:27:36 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Wow. That is.
Date: Thu Aug 11 19:51:23 2022
User: Klepp
Message:Portrayed by Frank Whaley (youthful) and Burt Lancaster (mature) in Field of Dreams (1989)...
Link: (Dr.) Archie (Moonlight) Graham
Date: Fri Aug 12 01:40:27 2022
User: Klepp
Message:It'd have been cool to watch J. Bench catch J. Smoltz (for a complete game SHO).
Date: Fri Aug 12 22:24:56 2022
User: Klepp
Message:OCTOBER: Likely something like the old days I can recall...Yankees/Dodgers World Series...Billy Martin (as manager) Tommy LaSorda Yogi Berra (as coach) Steve Garvey Chris Chambliss Ron Cey Thurman Munson Ron Guidry Goose Gossage Rick Monday (vet) (rookie) Fernando Valenzuela Willie Randolph Dusty Baker Reggie Jackson Davey Lopes (Milwaukee Brewers very very worst manager 25 yrs. later) Mickey Rivers Greg (or Craig, I disremember) Nettles Mike Marshall Don Sutton...(to be continued)...
Date: Sat Aug 13 06:01:39 2022
User: TNmountainman
Message:Not quite the same as what happened to Kershaw back in April when he was pulled with a perfect game...............but LaRussa pulled Michael Kopech with a no-no intact after 6. Sure enough, first batter up to face the reliever - a base hit. ChiSox still won the game, tho.
Link: Kopech goes 6 hitless, then yanked
Date: Sat Aug 13 08:06:25 2022
User: _.!._
Message:Yankees-Mets 2022
Date: Sat Aug 13 08:48:19 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Padres can’t catch a break. They made a huge deal for Soto only to lose Tatis for 80 games due to PED violations.
Date: Fri Aug 19 22:14:50 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:The Toronto Bluejays, previously struggling to cling to the final wildcard spot, just beat the Yankees for the second day in a row. Considering the Yankee’s record since the All Star break, the quickest fix to a team’s woes is to play the pinstripes.
Date: Sat Aug 20 00:58:25 2022
User: Katya
Message:The Cardinals certainly enjoyed playing the Yankees recently - with a three game sweep.
Date: Sat Aug 20 23:24:38 2022
User: Klepp
Message:I have to give Travis d"Arnaud some credit...backing up Plawecki in '15 on that NYM team that lost the Series to KC, never thought he could possibly last this long...an "average" career, I never saw it coming...('spose his mom did, though)...
Date: Mon Sep 5 07:14:38 2022
User: BuzzClik
Message:Over the next few days, teams will be eliminated from the playoffs. Washington will likely be the first followed by Oakland and Detroit.
The Dodgers should be the first to clinch a playoff spot, but not for another 2 weeks or so.
Date: Mon Sep 5 11:18:39 2022
User: Klepp
Message:The Orioles must have been eliminated last year three weeks earlier than this, even...gotta root for such an underdog...
Date: Wed Sep 7 09:20:24 2022
User: MrFixit
Message:I was complaining yesterday to a buddy that players today can't bunt after watching some guy on the Cards totally muff a bunt.
But last night Sierra laid don't a perfect walk off bunt to win the game for the Angels.
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