Jump to content

MLB 2021


unclevlad

Recommended Posts

Here is how you stay at 500. You go 30-22 against everyone but your own division, but 16-24 against them. That is how Angels are 46-46. If they were even 500 in their division, they would be in playoff race, despite missing serious time from Trout, Upton and Rendon and having a pitching staff that tries to lose games apparently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/19/2021 at 11:19 AM, Pariah said:

The Rockies may be standing pat, or even buying, at the trade deadline.

 

The Colorado Rockies are about to pull off the most Colorado Rockies move of all

 

Well, you know, they're not mathematically eliminated from contention yet.

 

If the Rockies get that one piece they need and every player on each of the other teams comes down with COVID for the rest of the season, I'd say the Rockies have maybe as much as a 45% chance of making the playoffs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Pariah said:

 

No longer than they have to.  I'm not following this very closely, but my broad sense is that the city's more at fault here.  That's separate from the Raiders' long-running circus, as I don't necessarily believe Al Davis was dealing fairly with them.  But, the repeated issues tend to support the A's.

 

With the Rockies...we're closing on the 100 game mark.  They're 12 back in the loss column to the Padres.  With 60-odd games left?  Not likely.  Worse, they've played 53 home games, compared to only 43 road games.  Adding a piece makes little sense when their ceiling is to play in the WC game...on the road, too.  (They're 17 back in the loss column to the Dodgers, who have the 1st WC right now.)  Sell?  That should be all about, what pieces are we gonna lose?  And Mr. P might know, but I don't.... :)

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The leading contenders for the Rocks to sell seem to be Trevor Story and John Gray, with Charlie Blackmon's name also popping up occasionally (even though he's 35). I've even heard closer Daniel Bard's name come up, although with his save percentage, I can't imagine why.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spiders would've been cool but Guardians isn't bad.

 

Inevitably, the subject of the Braves came up;  when will they change their name?  It was mentioned that when Aaron died early this year, the talk was maybe they'd switch to the Atlanta Hammers.  It would be quite fitting, and it was noted, the logo really wouldn't have to change that much.

 

Well...it was too good to last.  D'backs won 4 in a row at home.  Today in Chicago?  Javier Baez hits a 3 run bomb in the bottom of the first, and it's basically over.  Cubs got it up to 7-0;  final was 8-3.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best name I heard proposed was the "Cleveland Wahoos!"

 

They could even put an image of an actual wahoo mackerel on their hats and uniforms. 

 

 

 

More seriously, Chief Wahoo is something I see as offensive. It's very 1950's Peter Pan style Indians.

 

But the idea that the word "Indians" itself is offensive or is some sort of cultural appropriation, that's a stretch in my book. We have actual states named Iowa, Dakota, and Illinois.

 

It's the denigration of Indians by the team that's been the problem, not the use of the name. The way to make up for that in my opinion would be to spend a few decades showing Indians and Indian culture in a positive light rather than abandoning the name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, archer said:

The best name I heard proposed was the "Cleveland Wahoos!"

 

They could even put an image of an actual wahoo mackerel on their hats and uniforms. 

 

 

 

More seriously, Chief Wahoo is something I see as offensive. It's very 1950's Peter Pan style Indians.

 

But the idea that the word "Indians" itself is offensive or is some sort of cultural appropriation, that's a stretch in my book. We have actual states named Iowa, Dakota, and Illinois.

 

It's the denigration of Indians by the team that's been the problem, not the use of the name. The way to make up for that in my opinion would be to spend a few decades showing Indians and Indian culture in a positive light rather than abandoning the name.

 Twenty-six states are named after Native American tribes directly on based on words from Native American languages.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's the opposite of "must watch?"

 

D'backs at Rangers tonight and tomorrow.

 

Teams are a combined 69 games under .500.  

 

Hate this stretch of the interminable baseball season.  Already got teams playing out the string, but not soon enough for the games to be particularly meaningful among the contenders...like Dodgers at Giants tonight.  Have to see if maybe that one's on MLB Network......  But the amusing part right now is watching the moves at the trade deadline.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

What's the opposite of "must watch?"

 

D'backs at Rangers tonight and tomorrow.

 

Teams are a combined 69 games under .500.  

 

Hate this stretch of the interminable baseball season.  Already got teams playing out the string, but not soon enough for the games to be particularly meaningful among the contenders...like Dodgers at Giants tonight.  Have to see if maybe that one's on MLB Network......  But the amusing part right now is watching the moves at the trade deadline.

 

They're supposedly over 101 degrees there. They should have a gentlemens' agreement to play three innings with two outs per inning then go to visit an ice house.

 

Otherwise, they spend the 7th inning stretch recreating the "I'm melting! I'm melting" scene from the Wizard of Oz.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

Depends on whether you like pitching.

Final score was 17-14.

Detroit.

 

I once watched an inning of a Rangers game where they brought in a pitcher after the first couple of batters in the inning (6th inning?) then eventually had to pull him from the game because he'd pitched over 100 pitches. And there was still one out to go in the same inning.

 

I remember the score being 20-1 and not in the home team's favor.

 

I'd guess it was 1996 or so because I skipped a Magic tournament in order to go to the game. I was shouting, "Play Mirror Universe!" which was funny as hell if you were a Magic player because 20-1 was exactly the best time to play Mirror Universe to swap scores with your opponent.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This was the first time in MLB history where a team out-homers the opposition by 7...and loses.  And the first time in a couple decades where a team scored 17 without a home run.  Mind, I thought that'd go back further...I don't remember the exact date, but it was only 20 or so years.  17+ runs is pretty rare to begin with.

 

And there's a Futures game going on in DC...Cubs playing Nats.  The 2 biggest sellers this season...the Cubs traded all 4 of the names that'd been tossed around the last few weeks.  Nats just traded the farm, for the farm system.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In one of the stranger innings of the season...

 

Cards have a 4-2 lead going into the 8th.  Pitchers allow a 2-run dinger to tie it...then it gets weird.  They load the bases with 2 outs...then issue 4 straight walks.  

 

In other news...J.R. Richard died today.  I *vaguely* remember him;  he played with Houston in the 70's until forced to retire after multiple strokes, several not detected until after the fact, when he was only 30.  Playing for Houston back then, pretty much guaranteed anonymity to anyone outside the immediate area, pretty much.  Little to no TV back then, and the Astros were not very good.

 

UNTIL 1980.  The Astros won their division....but Richard pitched only half a season.  The Astros had picked up Nolan Ryan;  the two were perhaps the most terrifying pair since Koufax and Drysdale.  He went 10-4 with an ERA below 2, in 17 starts...but arterial obstructions in his arm (detected) and neck (NOT detected but led to the stroke) ended his season, and effectively career, in mid July.  So he never saw the playoffs.

 

I do remember comments that he was one of the *hardest* pitchers to hit...largely because it was like...who?  Houston.  No TV, no internet.  But they're citing Dale Murphy and Johnny Bench and Joe Morgan...and today, during the Mets broadcast, Gary Thorne and Keith Hernandez talked extensively about him.  Hernandez also called him the toughest pitcher he ever faced.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was in Austin for Richard's heyday and sudden breakdown, which took everyone by surprise.  I remember a doctor responding to a question about when Richards would be ready to pitch again, and his response was, "Right now we're more concerned about whether he's going to live."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently, in the off season, MLB got a bunch of pitchers together to address the stuff on the ball going on. They wanted them to try out different balls, including the ones used in Japan,  and decide on one universal substance to use. The pitchers couldn't agree, hence leading to where we are now with you can't use anything except the rosin bag. One of the analysts on MLB, might have been Showalter, commented that you never see pitchers licking their fingers anymore, which suggests there is something on them you do not want near you mouth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Diamondbacks' elimination number for winning the division is down to 16.  There is a good chance they will be eliminated before the 2nd week of the NFL preseason.

 

From the playoffs altogether, it's 23.  That'll probably be before the 3rd week of preseason.

 

Still better than the Cubs;  they eliminated themselves in late July.

 

Mets are in a world of hurt.  Pitching is down considerably;  they've lost their division lead.  They have the 4th toughest remaining schedule, while Philly has the easiest.  Worse, the Braves are now only 1 back of the Mets in the loss column, and they have the 5th easiest schedule.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A feel-good story.

 

I don't remember Roy Halladay all that well...he was East Coast, and not Yankees, Braves, or Red Sox so...mostly ignored.  But that he was one of the best pitchers of his period can't be argued.  Regular season perfect game and playoff no-hitter.  203 wins, only 105 losses.  67 complete games...he retired as the active leader.  (The current leaders are Verlandier and Wainwright...with 26 each.)  Won 2 Cy Youngs, finished 2nd twice, 3rd once, and 5th twice.  Entered the HOF early after dying in a plane crash.

 

So today, the Phillies retired his number;  his no-hitter in the playoffs was as a Phillie.

 

So, the pitcher for them was Zack Wheeler.  All he did was throw a 2-hit complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts, including retiring 22 in a row.  Now that's paying honor to the occasion for ya.

 

And completing the sweep, and opening the lead over the Mets to 2 1/2...and dropping them to 3rd behind Atlanta.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...