unclevlad Posted September 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 One of the all-time great base stealers has passed. Maury Wills was 89. No CoD was given. He persevered...8 years in the minors, after being drafted out of HS. That limited his peak, which largely was from 60-66, but included an ASG MVP in '62 (the year of 104 steals), 2 Gold Gloves, and 5 All Star designations. slikmar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted September 20, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2022 Diamondbacks and Dodgers are playing a day-night DH today. LONG day for the players; the 1st game just ended, the 2nd game starts in about 3 hours. D'Backs have a great game going. Up 5-1 going into the bottom of the 8th. Hey, great! Way to start a double header, right? Single. Homer. Error. Walk. Walk. Pitching change. Single. Infield Single...tie game. Strike out. Strike out...almost out of it at least with a tie....but no. Another infield single. Dodgers take the lead. Strike out. Strike out. Foul out. Game over. It's not just the Rockies, Mr. P.... EDIT: and the Pirates lead 8-4 going into the bottom of the 9th. Judge homers. Double. Walk. Single, loading the bases. Stanton blasts a grand slam. Yankees walk it off 9-8. 5 batters, all get on, all score.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted September 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2022 AL Central has likely been locked up tonight. Cleveland smacks around the White Sox, putting the Sox 6 back with 13 to play...and they lose the tie breaker. So if the Sox finish 12-1, Cleveland could go 6-7 and still take it. Minnesota also just lost to KC, so they're 9 back. I believe they also lose the tie breaker, so their elimination number should be 4. Sox and Twins face similar odds to get a WC spot; Tampa Bay has the same record as Cleveland. Seattle's tied in the middle innings right now; if they lose, they'd drop 1/2 game behind TB with 1 fewer win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted September 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2022 Pujols pops not one, but 2 tonight to reach 700!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #699 was his 20th this season, marking the 18th time he's reached that level, behind only Aaron and Bonds. slikmar and Logan D. Hurricanes 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted September 24, 2022 Report Share Posted September 24, 2022 Awesome, I was really rooting for him to hit that, especially if he's serious about this as his last year. slikmar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted September 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2022 WEIRDNESS. And it ended up being 3...a runner on 1st, at the start, *scores*. I guess it's technically a balk, but the guy's pitched close to 300 innings in the majors, and this is the first time it's ever been called. That's the part that's insane. And the motion's not at all deceptive to me. Very, very bizarre. The ump's experienced, even if he looks fairly young. (In fact, he's 39.) He's been in the majors since 2016. Gonna be a meme now..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted September 28, 2022 Report Share Posted September 28, 2022 apparently same batter, not just same inning from what MLB was saying this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted October 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2022 American League teams are almost set. Baltimore needs to win out, and Seattle lose out; the rest are all in. The order of the WC teams is still up in the air. NL, Padres are in good shape, 2 up, but still can't stumble. Losing to the White Sox right now...and yeah, the underdogs have been smacking the WC candidates. Cubs swept Philly. Philly and Brewers are tied. The most interesting series is Mets-Braves. Braves win tonight, so they're dead tied. The season series is 9-8 Mets, with 2 more over the weekend. If either team takes both, it's all but over...they'd be 2 up with 3 to play, AND have the tiebreaker. So they'd be dormie. A split leaves them tied, but with the Mets having the tiebreaker. EDIT: and the Mariners get in on a walk-off, 2 out, solo HR by a pinch hitter. How cool is that for the batter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted October 1, 2022 Report Share Posted October 1, 2022 Wait, the Mariners are in the postseason? How did that happen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted October 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2022 2 minutes ago, Pariah said: Wait, the Mariners are in the postseason? How did that happen? Seattle is allocated one playoff team per year. Since the Seahawks have no shot, it passed back to the Mariners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted October 1, 2022 Report Share Posted October 1, 2022 That's very equitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted October 1, 2022 Report Share Posted October 1, 2022 1 hour ago, unclevlad said: Seattle is allocated one playoff team per year. Since the Seahawks have no shot, it passed back to the Mariners. So, does Denver get two? Avalanche and Nuggets, I'm guessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted October 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2022 2 minutes ago, Pariah said: So, does Denver get two? Avalanche and Nuggets, I'm guessing. Nope. They're allocated zero. They sometimes manage to steal one from a more deserving city/fanbase. Well...ok, sometimes it's not stealing. Chicago manages to toss theirs aside with some regularity. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted October 2, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2022 Angels avoid arbitration by signing Ohtani for next year (only) for $30M. I'm not sure if this is a good move, or simply likely to perpetuate more ultra-top-heavyness. They are getting Syndergaard and Upton off their books, and that's almost $50M, but this is already eating up half of that savings. Rendon, Trout, and Ohtani combined still exceed $100M. Unless the Angels can somehow get several mid-level free agents that don't cost an arm and a leg, it seems unlikely 2023 will be any different from this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grailknight Posted October 2, 2022 Report Share Posted October 2, 2022 11 hours ago, unclevlad said: Angels avoid arbitration by signing Ohtani for next year (only) for $30M. I'm not sure if this is a good move, or simply likely to perpetuate more ultra-top-heavyness. They are getting Syndergaard and Upton off their books, and that's almost $50M, but this is already eating up half of that savings. Rendon, Trout, and Ohtani combined still exceed $100M. Unless the Angels can somehow get several mid-level free agents that don't cost an arm and a leg, it seems unlikely 2023 will be any different from this season. What they need to do is stop being cheap and invest more in their scouting and player development. Every team in the league would want the problem of paying Trout and Ohtani. They're big box office, good role models and they perform at HOF level. Yeah, the baseball draft is even more of wild gamble than any other sport, but they don't do a good enough job to hit on even one of their top three picks every year. Contrast that to the Dodgers that have a ROY candidate almost every year even if they don't become stars. slikmar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted October 2, 2022 Report Share Posted October 2, 2022 ...or the Rockies, who draft and develop really good players who inevitably end up playing somewhere else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikmar Posted October 2, 2022 Report Share Posted October 2, 2022 14 hours ago, unclevlad said: Angels avoid arbitration by signing Ohtani for next year (only) for $30M. I'm not sure if this is a good move, or simply likely to perpetuate more ultra-top-heavyness. They are getting Syndergaard and Upton off their books, and that's almost $50M, but this is already eating up half of that savings. Rendon, Trout, and Ohtani combined still exceed $100M. Unless the Angels can somehow get several mid-level free agents that don't cost an arm and a leg, it seems unlikely 2023 will be any different from this season. 2 hours ago, Grailknight said: What they need to do is stop being cheap and invest more in their scouting and player development. Every team in the league would want the problem of paying Trout and Ohtani. They're big box office, good role models and they perform at HOF level. Yeah, the baseball draft is even more of wild gamble than any other sport, but they don't do a good enough job to hit on even one of their top three picks every year. Contrast that to the Dodgers that have a ROY candidate almost every year even if they don't become stars. Unfortunately, this does not preclude them trading Ohtani, especially as that $30 mil is kind of a bargain. His FA contract will be a minimum of $45+ a year. And Ohtani and Trout make back the money they are paid in spades with merch and attendance, guaranteed. Been saying that for a while Grailknight, ever since they basically fired their scouting director and half his staff and haven't replaced them. Hoping Minasian is doing so. As too next season, one thing they have going for them is they seem to have found some young starting pitching. Detmers, Sandoval and Suarez were very good this year and hopefully better next season. Chris Rodriguez, who missed 2022 after a shoulder surgery, is another young controlled pitcher who is good. Injuries and a bullpen expected to be a strength with proven guys (Bradley who missed half the season due to breaking his arm in the Mariner Brawl, Tepera, Loup and Iglesias specifically) who all blew games at an alarming rate for 2 months as the offense disappeared. Rendon's injury, Trout's injury/slump, missing Fletcher (whose numbers are never spectacular, but he is the spark plug of the team), Walsh turning out to be injured (basically had rib removed in a surgery), Stassi forgetting how to hit really led to their downfall. Also, Adell and Marsh, as decent as they played, really never played at the level anyone thought they would. So I have hopes for next year, but I totally agree they need to revamp their scouting and hopefully under new owners they will. Dodgers are a tough team to compare too. They basically have an owner who said I don't care how much you spend, they got a tv contract with that owners company to help pay for those players, so eating contracts is something they don't care about. They spent money to basically get all they top analytic guys from TB to come to them. And conspiracy people, like my brother, wonder how it is that players come from other teams and then hit more HRs and better then they did at any other point in their career, and why these ROY guys come up and are greatest ever for 3 months then disappear (see Puig). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 3, 2022 Report Share Posted October 3, 2022 Huh. Cal Raliegh was the first player in MLB history to hit a pinch-hit, walk-off HR to clinch a playoff berth for his team. Bottom of the 9th, 2 outs, 3-2 count, 7th pitch of the at-bat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 3, 2022 Report Share Posted October 3, 2022 On 10/1/2022 at 9:14 AM, unclevlad said: Seattle is allocated one playoff team per year. Since the Seahawks have no shot, it passed back to the Mariners. Actually, the spot has been monopolized by the Sounders over the last decade or so. Since they missed the playoffs for the first time in their history, and the Seahawks are destined for a 4-13 season, it fell on the Mariners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted October 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2022 2 hours ago, Cancer said: Actually, the spot has been monopolized by the Sounders over the last decade or so. Since they missed the playoffs for the first time in their history, and the Seahawks are destined for a 4-13 season, it fell on the Mariners. We're talking serious sports titles. Soccer's a sport but MLS is AAA-level at best. Pariah 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 3, 2022 Report Share Posted October 3, 2022 Where you are, that may be true. I personally don't put the NBA as high as that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclevlad Posted October 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2022 Well that's because they abandoned you, I suspect. Playoff picture is almost locked in. Mets needed 1 to be in great shape...2 to all but clinch. Instead they get swept by the Braves, giving Atlanta the tie breaker and a 2 game lead with 3 to play. Milwaukee's technically alive, but Philly's magic number is 1 because they have the tie break. #1's are set; Yankees and probably Braves are the #2s. The 3rd division winners are set, they'll host. The WC order's a bit flexible. Toronto's 2 up in the loss column with only 3 to play...but the Mariners have the tie break. Mets are the #4 barring a very long shot turnaround. The 5 and 6 slots aren't all that different; on the road throughout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pariah Posted October 4, 2022 Report Share Posted October 4, 2022 19 hours ago, unclevlad said: Well that's because they abandoned you, I suspect. That's probably how a lot of the locals are going to feel about the Jazz by the end of the upcoming season. They're gonna be a glorified G-League team. Kind of like the Rockies every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 4, 2022 Report Share Posted October 4, 2022 By virtue of losing to Detroit last night, Seattle is locked out of hosting a playoff series. They are by no means locked out of hosing a playoff series, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted October 4, 2022 Report Share Posted October 4, 2022 I thought I was cynical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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