# Baseball



## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

A thread for everything regarding this great game. A simple game that reflects life, struggle, purpose, meaning, the step-by-step in day-to-day and minute-to-minute moment -- a mirror to reality. Truly, baseball is a different game. Actually, maybe even a banal game. Something every person can understand. How fantastic is that?

Does it takes patience, sure. Skill, yes. Strength? No, not necessarily. How about composed, thorough thought? Absolutely. This is true. This is common and open to all. 

So, for all things baseball, let us....


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Baseball is the only sport that interests me. I have played in some pick-up games but never on a team. What a load of fun to smash a ball as hard as you can with a big stick. Baseball bats fascinate me, and gloves. Only the real thing, wood bats and leather gloves. I can't stand aluminum bats. They simply irritate me, the annoying ping, all the painted up designs, plastic end caps--bleah! But wood--now there is beauty in the grain and the feel, the smack of the wood bat hitting a hardball is beautiful. You can even carve your own bat if you have a lathe. 

A lot of kids these days seem not to know how to hold a wood bat. You have to turn it so you hit the ball endwise to the grain, and they don't learn that playing with aluminum bats. I try to explain it to them when they want to use my wood bat in a pickup game and I usually get a blank stare. I even heard that some who move up from high school baseball to the minors just can't adjust to the wood bat. Too bad. That aluminum bat sort of spoiled them. Even the Mens Senior Baseball League (a national organization) uses aluminum bats in the lower age groups--I was told because the guys want the higher stats. 

For that treasured leather glove, get some lanolin, the type in a one ounce tube at the pharmacy that is used for raw nipples of nursing mothers and rub it into your glove every now and then to keep it supple. I always shift my fingers in my glove, leaving the first finger by the webbing empty and my last two fingers both in the last finger slot (sometimes have to loosen or remove one leather tie from the small finger to make this work). I like the feel with the shifted fingers and it gives you more closing power.


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## Proms Fanatic (Nov 23, 2014)

Avey said:


> Strength? No, not necessarily.


I think the steroid/PED era showed that strength is a big help.

I started watching baseball in 2002 and have been a fan since. Rather unsurprisingly I'm a fan of the LA Angels, who won the World Series that year with their "small ball" style.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

I'm a *big* NFL and NBA fan, but despite trying to get into baseball I have never really been able to.

I watched parts of last year's World Series, very much wanting KC to do the trick.

Threee simple qualms I have with the game, from a novice's point of view:

i) the MLB regular season is bloody ridiculously long. 162 games? Ludicrous. The playoffs are what matter most.
ii) the Steroids scandal was a huge turn-off. I remember vaguely being interested around the time Bonds was nearing the HR record. His cheating meant that it was a meaningless pursuit.
iii) Out-fielding in baseball is pathetic compared to cricket. I swear most people can catch anything with a glove as large as that. Try doing that with your bare hands in cricket, and with a smaller balls too (and without the ability to lean on the fence, lol).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Thanks, Avey. I was waiting for a thread to start. I considered it myself but thought it more appropriate if one of our American members did it. 

I love immersing myself in the history of the game and reading about all those live fast/play hard/fight even harder players who helped define the sport's blue-collar image in the late 19th/early 20th centuries, and the later mavericks like owner Bill Veeck who really got up the noses of the game's grandees with his promotions, stunts and generally cocking a snook at convention. 

The steroid thing that blew up with McGwire etc. was a betrayal but it was probably a long time coming - it's hard to imagine no-one inside their clubs knows well in advance that something might be going on but how can you report hearsay? The cloud still hovers over the sport but, as with in the wake of the Black Sox scandal, it will ultimately survive.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Baseball/softball is a great game for a child. Incentive to plan, to think, to train reactions, chances to run fast, and hit a moving object with a club. An individual game within a team game (preparation for a useful life). 

Without knowing that adults play the game, the child's interest would be much less. That's my excuse.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

As a child, I was a huge baseball fan. Now I still like it, but don't check box scores every day or anything like that. That my Pirates went decades without a winning season didn't help (but they're back!). 

I don't have a problem with the long season. It's a marathon, not a sprint.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Despite liking the Yankees I'm actually a bit of a romantic really - now that the Red Sox and White Sox have broken their World Series hoodoos in recent years I'd like to see the Cubs win it again while I still live. Their fans deserve it just like Dodger fans deserved it in '55 when they won it for the first time after losing seven previous series.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Proms Fanatic said:


> I think the steroid/PED era showed that strength is a big help.





elgars ghost said:


> The cloud still hovers over the sport but, as with in the wake of the Black Sox scandal, it will ultimately survive.





Skilmarilion said:


> ii) the Steroids scandal was a huge turn-off. I remember vaguely being interested around the time Bonds was nearing the HR record. His cheating meant that it was a meaningless pursuit.


I very much dissent from the traditional thoughts on PEDs. Recall, testing did not start until 2003. So during that "steroid era," as some like to deem it, the sport simply did not care what players were doing. They had a rule against the practice, but did not enforce it. Morality may dictate how you approach that situation, but if the sport is not enforcing it, I don't see the practice as illegal. I think it is silly to continue to prevent players from entering the Hall, either because they were a (1) suspected or assumed user of PEDs, or (2) they simply hit a lot of long balls in that era. You either can hit a baseball or you cannot. PEDs don't change that.

Truly, the whole PED issue is a misnomer. Not one single person knows precisely what PEDs do. That is, we may know what they _technically_ do inside the body to cells, muscles, etc., but we do not know how that affects the game. Average Joe can start a steroid diet, but give him a bat and he won't hit the ball (out of the infield) against a major league pitcher.

Or, even major league players, like Melky Cabrera, a recently suspended player for a failed-PED test: He hit 11 home runs, slugged a decent .516, in his allegedly "doping" season. Jose Bautista hit 54 home runs three years ago, tested clean all year.

And re the arguable best player _ever_: Barry Bonds did not have a career .450 on-base percentage because of PEDs. He did not hit .350 in his four straight MVP years because of PEDs. You do not hit home runs unless you can hit a baseball, and hit it correctly.

Maybe PEDs helped him play to 42(!), maybe they helped him recover day-in, day-out while others were cramping and aching. Maybe, just maybe.

But let us stop acting like we know for certain *those enumerated players* that performed above the rest of competition in their era were dominant because they opted for the needle. It is specious reasoning.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> I don't have a problem with the long season. It's a marathon, not a sprint.


Also, yes! If I had my way, I would be *adding* games to the season and shortening the post-season. I was very disappointed when they added this two-team wildcard game. This was an addition to lure in the non-baseball fans and buy into the sport for, what, a single game? Seriously, they added this arbitrary one-game playoff to attract fans that like the "win now or go home" prospect, but then they go back into 5-game series right after that...?


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## Proms Fanatic (Nov 23, 2014)

Avey said:


> I very much dissent from the traditional thoughts on PEDs. Recall, testing did not start until 2003. So during that "steroid era," as some like to deem it, the sport simply did not care what players were doing. They had a rule against the practice, but did not enforce it. Morality may dictate how you approach that situation, but if the sport is not enforcing it, I don't see the practice as illegal.


I mostly agree with this - baseball were willing to reap all the benefits of Bonds vs Sosa and McGwire. Then when people started getting caught doing it - the baseball community suddenly turned on them.



Avey said:


> I think it is silly to continue to prevent players from entering the Hall, either because they were a (1) suspected or assumed user of PEDs, or (2) they simply hit a lot of long balls in that era. You either can hit a baseball or you cannot. PEDs don't change that.


It's true that PEDs don't change pitch recognition, timing of your swing. However with all the new Statcast data that's now available, it is now known that there is more or less a straight-line correlation between how hard you hit the ball (specifically the exit velocity of the ball leaving the bat) and how likely you are to get a hit. This is where PEDs would make a massive difference.



Avey said:


> Truly, the whole PED issue is a misnomer. Not one single person knows precisely what PEDs do. That is, we may know what they _technically_ do inside the body to cells, muscles, etc., but we do not know how that affects the game. Average Joe can start a steroid diet, but give him a bat and he won't hit the ball (out of the infield) against a major league pitcher.


This is just being facetious. Of course PEDs won't help average Joe. They help elite athletes gain that extra 1-2% in performance over other elite athletes.



Avey said:


> And re the arguable best player _ever_: Barry Bonds did not have a career .450 on-base percentage because of PEDs. He did not hit .350 in his four straight MVP years because of PEDs. You do not hit home runs unless you can hit a baseball, and hit it correctly.


This is what I find saddest about the whole PED issue, it would have been awesome to see how Barry Bonds, A-Rod did just on their own amazing natural talent. Like you imply, they'd be sure-fire Hall-of-Famers anyway.



Avey said:


> But let us stop acting like we know for certain *those enumerated players* that performed above the rest of competition in their era were dominant because they opted for the needle. It is specious reasoning.


Their level of play was raised and that taints the numbers they produced, which is very important to a lot of people, particularly those that vote on the Hall of Fame ballot.


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## Gaspard de la Nuit (Oct 20, 2014)

Proms Fanatic said:


> I think the steroid/PED era showed that strength is a big help.
> 
> I started watching baseball in 2002 and have been a fan since. Rather unsurprisingly I'm a fan of the LA Angels, who won the World Series that year with their "small ball" style.


Part of the advantage that steroids/ strength provided is because of the tiny dimensions the newer fields have, which make trying to hit home runs a feasible strategy.

Fun fact, the clinic that gave Alex Rodriguez his performance-enhancing drugs is right down the street from my mom's house. It's got a big sign that says "SUPPLEMENTS".

I played baseball in high school, I wasn't the best but I definitely wasn't the worst. It is a uniquely dramatic game...I've played other sports but none provide the same kind of suspense and deep satisfaction.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Trades seemed to have made a difference this year, thus far. Interesting. Usually, on retrospect, big-name trades do not make a noticeable difference. Jays looking great, however, with their major moves.

Anyone a fan of a certain team?


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Yankee enthusiast here. Those three little words may make me sound like a glory seeker but when I first got interested in the game during the mid-80s they weren't making the post-season and as the decade wore on things got worse. If the Baltimore Orioles were still the St. Louis Browns I would probably root for them as well.

There's no team I particularly dislike - I'd happily see the Mets win the WS (as long as they don't beat the Yankees to do it, that is) and perhaps surprisingly I've got no beef with the Red Sox either. If there is one team I would like to see the Yankees beat in a WS it would be the Cardinals, only because the Cardinals lead the Yankees 3-2 in WS match-ups.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I am a Detroit Tigers fan but not a big fan. With all the trading it is rather meaningless to be a fan of any particular team. It is not like it is a team of guys from Detroit only or even Michigan. In the old days it was more that way.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Avey said:


> Trades seemed to have made a difference this year, thus far. Interesting. Usually, on retrospect, big-name trades do not make a noticeable difference. Jays looking great, however, with their major moves.
> 
> Anyone a fan of a certain team?


Pirate fan. One of the best teams in the league, but stuck in the same division as the Cardinals.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> Pirate fan. One of the best teams in the league, but stuck in the same division as the Cardinals.


Pirates, ugh, so close! Great team, all around, and they cannot get over that first round. But this year?!?

I am rooting for them. I despite the Cardinals, for my own reasons. So I am on board with the Bucs.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Florestan said:


> I am a Detroit Tigers fan but not a big fan. With all the trading it is rather meaningless to be a fan of any particular team. It is not like it is a team of guys from Detroit only or even Michigan. In the old days it was more that way.


I *LOVE *this comment. For real. I _abhor_ trading, at least w/r/t fandom. I play fantasy baseball, and I am an truly engrossed in that genre, so trading does not _actually_ bug me. But if I root for a team, it is the Tigers (family from Detroit/born an hour away) or Mariners (lived in the PNW the past decade). The reason I never feel attached to Detroit is because of Dombrowski's yearly changes -- i.e., _always trading and dealing and bringing in *that hot new player*_. I don't buy it. Year after year, we are shown that $ does NOT equal wins/success. All that $ buys, in players, is $ in the stands (I think). And, well, that may be the point...

Anyways, your comment also reminds me of *Baseketball*, where Ted Denslow, the fake commissioner that brings the sport to the masses:

_" I can see they feel a certain connection with you as players. Baseketball, we can start fresh. Not allow teams to change cities or... players to be traded. And everybody will get paid the same!"_

Obviously, funny, but ideal nonetheless! And that is funny!


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

While it's true that players switch teams more often today, it's wrong to get upset that the Tigers aren't just made up of local guys any more. When ever were they? The late 1800s?

They called Ty Cobb the Georgia Peach for a reason. 

In other news, The Cubs now have the 4th best record in the majors, but are in 3rd place in their division.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

FWIW from sportsbusinessnews.com

International Players*

• The percentage of players who were born outside the 50 United States on the 2015 Opening Day 25-man rosters and inactive lists was 26.5 percent. These players come from 17 countries and territories. This was an increase of 0.4 of a percentage point from 2014.

• The all-time high for international players was 29.2 percent (242/829) on the 2005 Opening Day rosters.

*Note: The 230 players born outside the U.S. come from the pool of 868 players (750 active 25-man roster players and 118 disabled or restricted Major League players) on April 5th rosters and represent 17 countries and territories outside the U.S., the highest total ever. The highest previous total was 16 countries in 2008 and 2014.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> While it's true that players switch teams more often today, it's wrong to get upset that the Tigers aren't just made up of local guys any more. When ever were they? The late 1800s?
> 
> They called Ty Cobb the Georgia Peach for a reason.
> 
> In other news, The Cubs now have the 4th best record in the majors, but are in 3rd place in their division.


Well, obviously, I was providing a fun comment. I just prefer teams that develop their own players, through the scouting-draft-minors-majors. The bubble, if you are a team that continually trades prospects for big name stars, eventually bursts. And that is what (is) has happened to the Tigers.

So shocked by the Cubs. Honestly, thought they would end up below .500 again this year. And think back; they got all the pre-season hype because of Lester. But he has to be one of the last reasons they are where they are today!


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Avey said:


> Well, obviously, I was providing a fun comment. I just prefer teams that develop their own players, through the scouting-draft-minors-majors. The bubble, if you are a team that continually trades prospects for big name stars, eventually bursts. And that is what (is) has happened to the Tigers.


You hit upon it. As a kid it seems the players were the same over more years and it was nice to be able to see the same players year after year. They should calculate a turnover ratio for baseball teams and compare it over the years.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Well done, Metsies - I'd rather have seen the Cubs make the World Series but I'll be rooting for you irrespective of whether you face Kansas City or Toronto.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Florestan said:


> You hit upon it. As a kid it seems the players were the same over more years and it was nice to be able to see the same players year after year. They should calculate a turnover ratio for baseball teams and compare it over the years.


Here you go. The average year-to-year turnover rate for the last century was 23%, currently it looks like it's a shade over 30%. Scroll down a bit and you see that more productive players are far more likely to switch teams than in the past.

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/...ns-reduced-the-rate-of-roster-turnover-041014

Note that this doesn't necessarily mean teams are developing their own players. The great old Yankee teams often picked up players developed through other organizations, but before they made it in the majors.

Last, I'll just point out that the old concern that free agency would lead to domination by the big money teams hasn't panned out. Kansas City could make the Series two years in a row, Houston made the playoffs, etc.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

There's no mo' loyalty in any business. Companies, players, are changing faster than a bat of an eye. The Yankees are hobbled by ownership and front-office. They used to be the pride of baseball with their minor league organizations and scouting system. Now they choose the Al Davis/Oakland Raiders way. Buy has-beens, or soon to be has-beens. The only trouble with that philosophy is today's has-beens are a helluva lot more expensive. Minimum salary in baseball this year is $507,500. Average MLB salary is $3.3M. I won't buy a ticket anymore. They lost me. Yes, I can hear them crying. ha ha

Most MLB post-seasons, I don't care about any teams involved. That's the way it is again this year. Baseball from spring training February to an almost snowy November doesn't do anything for me.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

Caught a bit of the action during the Blue Jays / Royal series.

Would be nice for KC to do the trick having been so close last year.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

GreenMamba said:


> Here you go. The average year-to-year turnover rate for the last century was 23%, currently it looks like it's a shade over 30%. Scroll down a bit and you see that more productive players are far more likely to switch teams than in the past.


Probably also a factor if the distortion of time. When you are a kid a few years seems like eternity, where now (I am in my 50s) a few years go by pretty quickly relatively. That and the lower turnover rate when I was a kid would have made it seem like the team members almost never changed.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

Skilmarilion said:


> Would be nice for KC to do the trick having been so close last year.


Also, for all the Americans who are NOT IN NEW YORK CITY, it would be delicious for the Mets to lose. Having to deal with all the attention that this team got this entire year, even when you are stationed almost 3,000 miles away, that was truly obnoxious. East-cost bias. So done with it.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I appreciate how you feel but now you know what us Anglos go thorough when the media here keep drooling non-stop over Manchester City and Manchester United. At least living in England has shielded me from all the Mets hype - yes, I still want them to win the WS but I probably wouldn't be able to handle all the media overkill either.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Series off to a ripping start with that Game 1.


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## Boothvoice (Oct 5, 2015)

GreenMamba said:


> As a child, I was a huge baseball fan. Now I still like it, but don't check box scores every day or anything like that. That my Pirates went decades without a winning season didn't help (but they're back!).
> 
> I don't have a problem with the long season. It's a marathon, not a sprint.











My favorite scene from childhood....a sports memory frozen in time...3:36pm..Thursday, October 13, 1960....Bill Mazeroski's home run to beat the Yankees in game seven of the 1960 Word Series....Still a huge fan.....Let's go Bucs!


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Oh the indignity! I went to bed after watching all of innings 7-13. I was just too tired to care about seeing the ending


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## Boothvoice (Oct 5, 2015)

GreenMamba said:


> As a child, I was a huge baseball fan. Now I still like it, but don't check box scores every day or anything like that. That my Pirates went decades without a winning season didn't help (but they're back!).
> 
> I don't have a problem with the long season. It's a marathon, not a sprint.











One of the best memories of my childhood....3:36 p.m. Thursday, October 13, 1960..Bill Mazeroski's home run in the 9th to beat the Yankees in game seven of the World Series...Still a huge fan...Let's go Bucs!


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Vasks said:


> Oh the indignity! I went to bed after watching all of innings 7-13. I was just too tired to care about seeing the ending


I left after top o' the 10th. An impressive clout by Royals' Gordon, an inning earlier. All the more impressive, for a guy who's only hit 20 or more homers twice in his career. 2016 will be his option year, at $12.5M.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Boothvoice said:


> View attachment 77010
> 
> 
> One of the best memories of my childhood....3:36 p.m. Thursday, October 13, 1960..Bill Mazeroski's home run in the 9th to beat the Yankees in game seven of the World Series...Still a huge fan...Let's go Bucs!


I'm still snapping suspenders all these years later (and I was a Yankees fan) for calling that shot. It hadta. Player #9, Score 9 - 9. 9th inning.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Boothvoice said:


> View attachment 77010
> 
> 
> One of the best memories of my childhood....3:36 p.m. Thursday, October 13, 1960..Bill Mazeroski's home run in the 9th to beat the Yankees in game seven of the World Series...Still a huge fan...Let's go Bucs!


World Series game finishing at 3:36 pm on a weekday. Also, the series ending in the first half of October.

Times have changed.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

GreenMamba said:


> World Series game finishing at 3:36 pm on a weekday. Also, the series ending in the first half of October.
> 
> Times have changed.


Too many teams now to do without playoffs. But, if each league had only 2 divisions - no need for a 'division series'. No 'wildcard'. 154 game regular season. Could get it all done by mid-October. Up the Revolution!


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

GreenMamba said:


> World Series game finishing at 3:36 pm on a weekday. Also, the series ending in the first half of October.
> 
> Times have changed.


Yes indeed. My pals and I skipped school to watch weekday games.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Ukko said:


> Too many teams now to do without playoffs. But, if each league had only 2 divisions - no need for a 'division series'. No 'wildcard'. 154 game regular season. Could get it all done by mid-October. Up the Revolution!


I agree. It's too much of everything. I'd like to see the number of regular season games cut severely. Of course it won't happen. MLB needs to feed all the networks that in turn feed them moolah, so they can feed player pensions so the players won't starve during retirement. Ha! They lost me long ago.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

If each league had only two divisions and cut the regular season to 154 games I would wager that the MLB overlords would still concoct a post-season featuring at least eight teams whether it meant eliminating the wild card scenario or not.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

elgars ghost said:


> If each league had only two divisions and cut the regular season to 154 games I would wager that the MLB overlords would still concoct a post-season featuring at least eight teams whether it meant eliminating the wild card scenario or not.


Ssh, we are in pipedream mode here. There have been whispers in dark rooms about a _140_ game regular season! A seven game league championship series between winners of the two regular season divisions, followed by a seven game World Series. No regular season games between leagues; one three game series between teams in different divisions per year. No DH. The home plate umpire doesn't call balls&strikes unless the computer system breaks.

Ah, if they would only listen; and believe.


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## Boothvoice (Oct 5, 2015)

And not for the better methinks.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

This thread was due a bump.

*CLE 3-2 CHC*

Game 6.

Go Cleveland.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

It's tough on the Cubs but the Tribe had to wait a hell of a long time as well. Considering the Cubs' and Indians' long histories and both with relatively little to cheer since the 1940s this was a World Series for the romantics, methinks.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

well, somebody has to win the World Series, so the Tribe and the Cubbies are both in with a chance

the sentimental favorite seems to be the Cubbies, BUT....if the Indians do win, it will be their first championship at home since 1920 (I believe) 

so either way, the fans of one city are going to witness something that they haven't seen in literally a lifetime


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

For sure. The combined championship wait of 176 years has been ridiculous. 

As a Cavs fan I've just been keen to see a second Cleveland title within 5 months, with there having been a 52 year run without a title in the city. :tiphat:


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

so the Cubs finally did it. After 108 years, they are World Series Champs again! 

I stayed up to watch it. Here on the east coast it went into the wee hours. They even had a rain delay near midnight EDT

but the Tribe was set to win with a game 7 walk-off, or the Cubs were going to somehow not lose afterall...

either way...there in the 10th it felt like when I stayed up to watch the moon landing when I was a kid. I was going to witness history if I could just stay awake long enough:lol:


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

What a game. I can't believe that I have to get up to go to work at 5 AM. I'm reserving my tickets for the 2124 World Series right now!


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

yea, when the Indians tied it up in the bottom of the 8th, I thought they were going to actually pull it off.

these Cubs didn't implode when things got tough. You have to give them a lot of credit. That is a lot of emotion to have to keep a lid on when you are up 3 and its getting late...then the big lead goes away and its headed for extra frames.

That fella that pinch ran in the 10th made a great play to tag up on that long fly ball. That was baseball.

but with 2 outs the Tribe had the tying run on base, the winning run at the plate, ...and the thing is you have to get all 3 outs before its over

and in baseball its never over till its over

what a game


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

That was one for the ages. 

I was pulling for Cleveland, and they almost completed the comeback! I felt like they needed to pull it off in the bottom of the 9th, coming off that game changing HR from Davis. Fact is, they were outplayed in games 6 and 7 and Chicago deserved it.

Also interesting that the Cavs came back from 3-1 down to win the NBA Finals in June, but the reverse happened to the Tribe in the World Series. 

But yeah, congrats Cubs.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Over the last twelve years the Red Sox, White Sox, Giants and now the Cubs have broken their long title droughts. That just leaves the Indians - here's to next year.

I'm so pleased for the Cubs and their fantastic support - but what a shame Cubs great Ernie Banks couldn't live long enough to see his beloved team become champions.


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

GreenMamba said:


> As a child, I was a huge baseball fan. Now I still like it, but don't check box scores every day or anything like that. That my Pirates went decades without a winning season didn't help (but they're back!).
> 
> I don't have a problem with the long season. It's a marathon, not a sprint.


OUR pirates!!! lets go pens!


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## ldiat (Jan 27, 2016)

Boothvoice said:


> View attachment 77009
> 
> 
> My favorite scene from childhood....a sports memory frozen in time...3:36pm..Thursday, October 13, 1960....Bill Mazeroski's home run to beat the Yankees in game seven of the 1960 Word Series....Still a huge fan.....Let's go Bucs!


YES! was by the radio and was listening!! only time a home run won series in the 7th game! lets go pens!


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

ldiat said:


> YES! was by the radio and was listening!! only time a home run won series in the 7th game! lets go pens!


I was thinking about that. I remember some classic walk off home runs in the world series, but none of them were series winners. Kirk Gibson's was in game 1, Fisk's one for the ages forced a game 7...but the only one I could think of was Maz in 1960 at the old Forbes Field. So that really was the only one?

that's kind of comforting...at least my memory's not completely shot just yet

...and that was the last time a championship was won in the city of Pittsburgh, the City of Champions. The Superbowl is always at a neutral field. The 1971 and 1979 (We Are Family) Pirates both won in the city of Baltimore. In fact, there is a long tradition of Pittsburgh teams going down to Baltimore and turning out the lights. For the Pens and Caps its practically a Rite of Spring

this last year in game 6 of the Cup Finals was the first time the Pens franchise ever had an opportunity to win the Cup on home ice. Both the cups from the Mario years were won on the road and in 2009 we had to win game 6 at home to force game 7 at the Joe

So I'm hoping to see our Pens win the Cup in the city of Pittsburgh this year


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Congrats to the Cubs. One of the few baseball teams that I have seen myself (early 90s, while in Chicago for a conference, can't remember against whom).


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

I used to be a serious baseball fan and watched many games. Over the past 20 years or so I've gradually lost most of my enthusiasm for the game. Even though I am (or really was) a huge Yankees and Mets fan, I watched very little of their World Series games in 2009 or last year. I did, however, watch almost all of the final games of this series. My son is a Cubs fan, and the possibility of ending such a long streak swayed me to watch.


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## Guest (Nov 5, 2016)

This is what you use to get a glove soft and pliable. It's what I used as a kid.


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

Verlander pitched his 3rd no-hitter against the Jays today (one of his other no-no’s was in Rogers vs the Jays) 

0-0 until top of 9th then rookie 3B Abraham Toro, playing his fifth or sixth ML game with all his family in the stands as he is from Canada, hits a 2-run homer then fields the final out. Best game of the year


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