TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Mar 23, 2010 19:48:07 GMT -5
So, I've been out of the country since last Tuesday. Anything big go down here? Anything that I, a member of HoyaTalk with 5000+ posts and a tendency to post on the Blue & Grey Board might be interested in?
Anything? Anything? Bueller? No? Really? Wait, what's that you say? The Twins extended Joe Mauer through 2018? SWEEEEEETTTTT
(I love, love, love how my teams are very good at timing very good news for shortly after my other teams do something that makes me want to break things. I would appreciate it if they stopped the cycle by stopping the breaking things part though).
Anyway, the Twins are clearly going to christen Target Field with a World Series Championship, with a different reliever getting each of the last 6 outs of the World Series (hey, us mid-market teams can make playoff games last forever just as easily as the Yankees).
Other things I'm interested / will be watching this season:
Seattle--they look like the team to beat in the AL West this year. I really like the Figgins and Lee acquisitions, but their lineup is just putrid.
Justin Upton--not to go all Hifi on this post, but after having him on my fantasy team last year, let me tell you--this kid is something special. I want to see Jason Heyward too.
Baltimore--I'm a sucker for young teams with talent. Wieters, JonesMatsuz and Tillman all look like keepers. The O's would be dark horses for a division title if they weren't in the AL East.
Steven Strasburg--Sending him down is the smart move. Still, I can't wait to see what he can do in the pros. I want to see Aroldis Chapman too. I'd pay good money to sit by home plate and watch those two duel with their 98 mph fastballs.
Anyway, less than two weeks until Opening Day.
;D ;D ;D
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Mar 23, 2010 19:53:20 GMT -5
Kansas City Royals - making the playoffs! Book it. [/joe posnanski]
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hoyarooter
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Post by hoyarooter on Mar 23, 2010 20:17:41 GMT -5
Kansas City Royals - making the playoffs! Book it. [/joe posnanski] Which season? Not this one. While the Twins have spent too much time tormenting me, I'm happy for them that they are keeping Mauer. Better there than with the Yankees or Red Sox. I wouldn't be planning any parades, just yet, though.
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Mar 26, 2010 18:39:07 GMT -5
I saw Heyward play against the Tigers today, with Verlander on the mound. Buck O'Neill would always talk about how he'd only heard two players that made the same sound hitting the ball as Babe Ruth--Josh Gibson & Bo Jackson. I, obviously, have no idea if Heyward sounds the same, but he hit a line drive up the middle of Verlander that I thought was a home run, based solely on the sound of the bat hitting the ball. It was on TV, but I don't know that I've ever heard anyone hit the ball that hard. [Scroll down for O'Neill's story about Ruth/Gibson/Jackson: www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/shadowball/oneil.html]
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Mar 29, 2010 9:50:02 GMT -5
Kansas City Royals - making the playoffs! Book it. [/joe posnanski] Which season? Not this one. While the Twins have spent too much time tormenting me, I'm happy for them that they are keeping Mauer. Better there than with the Yankees or Red Sox. I wouldn't be planning any parades, just yet, though. Joe Po does a column every year proclaiming the Royals will make the playoffs. I just hope they do before we waste the prime years of Greinke's career.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Mar 29, 2010 9:51:22 GMT -5
I saw Heyward play against the Tigers today, with Verlander on the mound. Buck O'Neill would always talk about how he'd only heard two players that made the same sound hitting the ball as Babe Ruth--Josh Gibson & Bo Jackson. I, obviously, have no idea if Heyward sounds the same, but he hit a line drive up the middle of Verlander that I thought was a home run, based solely on the sound of the bat hitting the ball. It was on TV, but I don't know that I've ever heard anyone hit the ball that hard. [Scroll down for O'Neill's story about Ruth/Gibson/Jackson: www.pbs.org/kenburns/baseball/shadowball/oneil.html]F you Bud Selig! How Buck O'Neil is not in the HOF, especially with the negro league group that went in a few years ago, is beyond me. A complete travesty.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Apr 5, 2010 12:47:20 GMT -5
I know Obama said he likes to go to his left, but that first pitch was pitiful.
Maybe if there was a teleprompter behind the catcher he would have been closer to the plate. ;D
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Apr 5, 2010 14:04:31 GMT -5
He throws like a girl. A little Muslim Communist girl! (OH, STOP IT! Take a joke already!!!) Anyway, I logged on to this thread for a legitimate question: Why don't all of the MLB teams play on Opening Day anymore? How long has that been going on?? I don't mean having a "pre-opening day" night game like last night. Or even a couple of them. That's actually a pretty good idea. But there are several teams who won't play their first game until tomorrow. Am I misremembering my youth when I actually used to watch baseball? Didn't EVERY team used to play on opening day? I don't like it. For that matter, why are all those people in uniforms playing all over and messing up a bunch of really nice lawns all over the country? GET OFF THE LAWNS!!!
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Apr 5, 2010 15:00:35 GMT -5
He's a hoops player, not a baseball player. For an old man, he's got a decent stroke from 3 if you saw his POTUS game against Clark Kellogg.
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Apr 5, 2010 15:05:20 GMT -5
He's a hoops player, not a baseball player. For an old man, he's got a decent stroke from 3 if you saw his POTUS game against Clark Kellogg. That's nice. He still throws like a girl.
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Apr 5, 2010 15:07:09 GMT -5
He throws like a girl. A little Muslim Communist girl! (OH, STOP IT! Take a joke already!!!) Anyway, I logged on to this thread for a legitimate question: Why don't all of the MLB teams play on Opening Day anymore? How long has that been going on?? I don't mean having a "pre-opening day" night game like last night. Or even a couple of them. That's actually a pretty good idea. But there are several teams who won't play their first game until tomorrow. Am I misremembering my youth when I actually used to watch baseball? Didn't EVERY team used to play on opening day? I don't like it. For that matter, why are all those people in uniforms playing all over and messing up a bunch of really nice lawns all over the country? GET OFF THE LAWNS!!! The Sunday night game exists for the same reason all bad sports scheduling exists--TV money. As to the fact that not all teams play today, well, I don't know the answer, but I'm sure it's Bud Selig's fault.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Apr 5, 2010 15:08:19 GMT -5
He's a hoops player, not a baseball player. For an old man, he's got a decent stroke from 3 if you saw his POTUS game against Clark Kellogg. I'm not a baseball player either. Heck, I haven't played softball since playing in the law firm summer league down on the mall. But I bet I could at least get it within 5 feet of the plate.
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SSHoya
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Post by SSHoya on Apr 5, 2010 15:09:44 GMT -5
His madrassah in Indonesia didnt have baseball!! Is that his fault?
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Apr 5, 2010 15:18:35 GMT -5
His madrassah in Indonesia didnt have baseball!! Is that his fault? Touche' ;D
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Apr 5, 2010 23:23:29 GMT -5
It's opening day and I already hate Juan Pierre.
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Apr 8, 2010 10:35:47 GMT -5
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Jack
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Post by Jack on Apr 8, 2010 10:51:35 GMT -5
Who is the disgrace here? Joe West should get in shape so he can actually be in position to make proper calls, and both he and Angel Hernandez should try calling the strike zone as the rules provide - then we might see the pace pick up. But to suggest that pitchers are trying to be too fine or that batters shouldn't take pitches when you are calling them balls is just idiocy. I would be fine, though, with limiting catcher visits to the mound, and appreciate forcing batters to stay in the box.
John Lackey showed how you can be an effective pitcher and keep the game moving last night, but no matter what happens, these two offenses will make you throw a lot of pitches. If we are really worried about kids being able to see games, I think 8 pm Opening "Day" games are a bit more to blame than Papelbon staring down A-Rod for 20 seconds before he throws.
All that said, clearly these games are beyond the attention span of many modern consumers. I was dismayed to be at Tuesday night's game and see the freaking wave start with Posada on second and no one out in the seventh inning of a tie game. The wave is moronic under any circumstances, but it is downright infuriating in that situation. I guess without Steven Tyler, Neil Diamond, Keri Hilson, and some 5 year old from Tennessee quoting an obscure movie to keep them entertained, people cannot enjoy baseball on its own.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Apr 8, 2010 10:56:39 GMT -5
What the F?!?!? Jeter asks for time, doesn't get it, and STILL steps out of the box anyway? That should be an automatic strike, if not an automatic out. Now, I didn't watch these games -- because they last longer than my work day and are just as boring -- so I realize this may not be the full story. But if that's really what happened? Baseball needs to address that IMMEDIATELY, if there isn't a rule for it already. Anyway, cheers to this umpire. Baseball could move so much faster, it's ridiculous. And that's all teams, not just Yanks-Sox. (Of course, one of the ways baseball could move faster would be to use technology as opposed to umpires.) (FWIW, I think football games should move faster also.)
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Apr 8, 2010 15:39:39 GMT -5
What the F?!?!? Jeter asks for time, doesn't get it, and STILL steps out of the box anyway? That should be an automatic strike, if not an automatic out. Now, I didn't watch these games -- because they last longer than my work day and are just as boring -- so I realize this may not be the full story. But if that's really what happened? Baseball needs to address that IMMEDIATELY, if there isn't a rule for it already. Anyway, cheers to this umpire. Baseball could move so much faster, it's ridiculous. And that's all teams, not just Yanks-Sox. (Of course, one of the ways baseball could move faster would be to use technology as opposed to umpires.) (FWIW, I think football games should move faster also.) If you don't get time, and you step out anyway, the pitcher just pitches. That's the solution. And if you're a badass like Bo Jackson, you jump back in and hit a home run.
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TBird41
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Post by TBird41 on Apr 10, 2010 10:37:37 GMT -5
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