MLB 2017 Season

[MerrittsMustache]

I don't get the "sour grapes from the rainout" point either.

As far as I know, the Brewers haven't made a public statement about it.  I haven't seen a quote from an official about it.  There was one line in a story saying they "strenuously objected" to it. 

We have no real idea why they objected.

The Cubs postponed a game against the Brewers early and the rain never actually came. The Brewers were upset about this and rightfully so. However, I don't think they handled that situation very professionally which leads me to believe that the reported outrage and "vigorous" opposition to this slight schedule change is related to their previous outrage from the "rain" out. IOW, they think the big, bad Cubs are yanking them around again in terms of scheduling.

There has been no specific report of the scheduling issues being related and perhaps it's not at all. To me and many others though, it seems highly likely that there's a connection. We'll never actually know for sure since I doubt anyone from the Brewers will admit it but the perception is still there.

[wadesworld]

The Cubs postponed a game against the Brewers early and the rain never actually came. The Brewers were upset about this and rightfully so. However, I don't think they handled that situation very professionally which leads me to believe that the reported outrage and "vigorous" opposition to this slight schedule change is related to their previous outrage from the "rain" out. IOW, they think the big, bad Cubs are yanking them around again in terms of scheduling.

There has been no specific report of the scheduling issues being related and perhaps it's not at all. To me and many others though, it seems highly likely that there's a connection. We'll never actually know for sure since I doubt anyone from the Brewers will admit it but the perception is still there.

Or they're chasing the Cubs and had a scheduling advantage that the Cubs took away from them and they're pissed that that's gone.  But sure, they're just worried about those big bad Cubs and a game they won 11-2.

[MerrittsMustache]

Or they're chasing the Cubs and had a scheduling advantage that the Cubs took away from them and they're pissed that that's gone.  But sure, they're just worried about those big bad Cubs and a game they won 11-2.

[robmufan]

I guess the only way to solve this is to make every game TBD up until a week of the game!

There are often saturday games that move based on network tv for saturday games, so its not like a team has never had a gametime move a week before the game.

I think it is funny to listen to Counsel complain, it gives me joy that the Cubs are doing something right!

EDIT: The cubs also didn't go around the MLB to do this, the MLB approved it. Be angry at the MLB brewer fans, not the cubs

[Vander Blue Man Group]

...says the only person on the board who thinks there isn't a competitive advantage in the Cubs favor by moving the start time back to a night game.  The people involved in this decision themselves said so multiple times.  But you're the smartest man in the room, as always, so of course everyone else is wrong.  Heck, the Cubs just wanted to move the start time back for the fun of it, maybe see those sour grapes coming out!  They don't see any real advantage in moving the start time back.  It's all for a good laugh.  Genius (again, I home I'm using this right!  Been a while since I was young enough to think it was cool to call other people a genius when I thought they were wrong).

First, I'm not the only person that thinks that in this thread unless you're willfully ignoring other posts. 

I never said I was the smartest man in the room and am more than willing to admit when I'm wrong.  You, on the other hand, show no capability of being able to do so, especially when it comes to the Cubs or Chicago sports.   

I've also said that moving the start time is to the Cubs benefit, however small that benefit may be. 

However, to me, there is a distinct difference between the time change helping the Cubs and giving them a competitive advantage over the Brewers.  All it does is help to level the playing field between the two teams in terms of rest.  To me, that is not a competitive advantage.  You think it is.  I think you're wrong. 

Are you this much of a turd in real life? 

[wadesworld]

First, I'm not the only person that thinks that in this thread unless you're willfully ignoring other posts. 

I never said I was the smartest man in the room and am more than willing to admit when I'm wrong.  You, on the other hand, show no capability of being able to do so, especially when it comes to the Cubs or Chicago sports.   

I've also said that moving the start time is to the Cubs benefit, however small that benefit may be. 

However, to me, there is a distinct difference between the time change helping the Cubs and giving them a competitive advantage over the Brewers.  All it does is help to level the playing field between the two teams in terms of rest.  To me, that is not a competitive advantage.  You think it is.  I think you're wrong. 

Are you this much of a turd in real life?

Yes.  Are you?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Yes.  Are you?

I'm not a turd here so your question is not relevant.   

[wadesworld]

I'm not a turd here so your question is not relevant.   

Nailed it. That was almost not the most predictable response ever. The irony following a post where you say you have no problem admitting when you're wrong. Guess your only problem is admitting you're a "turd."

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Nailed it. That was almost not the most predictable response ever. The irony following a post where you say you have no problem admitting when you're wrong. Guess your only problem is admitting you're a "turd."

Oh relax.  I'm joking around. 

Anyway, you have yourself a great holiday weekend. 

[#UnleashSean]

This is a 162 game baseball season.  Guess what?  Sometimes teams have to play games against other teams that just had an off day while they had to play a game that prior day.  It happens.  This isn't unique to the Cubs. 

*have to play 14 hours after night game
*won't be leaving the stadium until around midnight
*have to travel to another city
*this is unique to the cubs

[wadesworld]

Oh relax.  I'm joking around. 

Anyway, you have yourself a great holiday weekend.

Let's see if you do better with this façade of being the bigger man and moving on from a guy who isn't intelligent enough to belong in a conversation with you than MerritsMustache did.  He lasted about long enough to get a night's sleep in after being "correct and logical on everything" before he jumped right back into the conversation with his cute GIFs.  Maybe you really will be the bigger man, and if so, congrats to you.  But if you're going to play it off like you are then don't jump right back in.

*have to play 14 hours after night game
*won't be leaving the stadium until around midnight
*have to travel to another city
*this is unique to the cubs

*are the only team that can choose when it's most convenient for them to play and change the start time of a scheduled game one week before it is scheduled with no reason other than we want to get our players some rest.

It's a 162 game season.  There are points in the season for every team that the schedule gets long with no days off and quick turnarounds.  The Cubs can't handle it I guess.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Moving the game back is not a competitive advantage for the individual game. As others have pointed out, it is evening out the advantage the Brewers have over the Cubs in this individual game.

Moving the game back is a competitive advantage for the season as a whole. As far as I know (I could be wrong), no other team has been allowed to move the start time of a game midseason because they have a difficult turnaround time. As others have said, scheduling sometimes leaves teams in tough spots. As far as I know, the Cubs are the only ones have been allowed to mitigate one of their more difficult start times. That's an advantage the Cubs have now been given that I don't think any other team has been given.

Now is the extra six hours of rest going to make much of a difference? Probably not. Is it that big of a deal? To some? Maybe. To me personally as a Brewers fan? Nah.

Has anyone considered that the Brewers "vigorously protesting" the time change is just a show for the players? Managers going out to scream at the umpire after a close call never actually changes the call. But the managers do it to try and motivate their players and show that they have their back. My guess is that the Brewers' protest is more likely motivated by pumping up the players for an important rivalry game than it is about 6 hours of rest.

[#UnleashSean]

Let's see if you do better with this façade of being the bigger man and moving on from a guy who isn't intelligent enough to belong in a conversation with you than MerritsMustache did.  He lasted about long enough to get a night's sleep in after being "correct and logical on everything" before he jumped right back into the conversation with his cute GIFs.  Maybe you really will be the bigger man, and if so, congrats to you.  But if you're going to play it off like you are then don't jump right back in.

*are the only team that can choose when it's most convenient for them to play and change the start time of a scheduled game one week before it is scheduled with no reason other than we want to get our players some rest.

It's a 162 game season.  There are points in the season for every team that the schedule gets long with no days off and quick turnarounds.  The Cubs can't handle it I guess.

Actually. Could you show me another team that has a night game in one City followed by a 1pm game in the same time zone in another city?

[MerrittsMustache]

Moving the game back is not a competitive advantage for the individual game. As others have pointed out, it is evening out the advantage the Brewers have over the Cubs in this individual game.

Moving the game back is a competitive advantage for the season as a whole. As far as I know (I could be wrong), no other team has been allowed to move the start time of a game midseason because they have a difficult turnaround time.As others have said, scheduling sometimes leaves teams in tough spots. As far as I know, the Cubs are the only ones have been allowed to mitigate one of their more difficult start times. That's an advantage the Cubs have now been given that I don't think any other team has been given.

The Cubs are the only team in MLB that's not allowed to schedule night games on Fridays. Any other team would have had this game scheduled for a Friday night from the get-go. The Cubs needed special permission to do so. If anything, people should be upset with the Pirates for scheduling a night game on get away day.

Has anyone considered that the Brewers "vigorously protesting" the time change is just a show for the players? Managers going out to scream at the umpire after a close call never actually changes the call. But the managers do it to try and motivate their players and show that they have their back. My guess is that the Brewers' protest is more likely motivated by pumping up the players for an important rivalry game than it is about 6 hours of rest.

I actually considered this. They whined about the rainout and the team dominated the make-up game. Perhaps it's an attempt to motivate players by making them feel disrespected.

[wadesworld]

Actually. Could you show me another team that has a night game in one City followed by a 1pm game in the same time zone in another city?

I'm not sure.  Maybe I'll check later.  But what does "another" mean?  Unless I missed something and either Pittsburgh or Chicago changed time zones the Cubs don't fit that bill on September 7/8 either...

[wadesworld]

The Cubs are the only team in MLB that's not allowed to schedule night games on Fridays. Any other team would have had this game scheduled for a Friday night from the get-go. The Cubs needed special permission to do so. If anything, people should be upset with the Pirates for scheduling a night game on get away day.

I actually considered this. They whined about the rainout and the team dominated the make-up game. Perhaps it's an attempt to motivate players by making them feel disrespected.

Teams don't make their own schedule, which is why the Brewers have every right to be upset here.  They can put in requests for which holidays they would like to play at home, they can let the MLB know when there are conflicts going on in their stadiums, etc. but they aren't picking out, "Hey, we'd like to host the Cubs 9/4-9/7 with these start times."  The MLB comes up with the schedule.  Teams follow the schedule.  Unless you're the Cubs and want some rest.

[mu_hilltopper]

Arguing if it's a competitive advantage is not silly because the person who doesn't like the move is making that exact argument.

I'm not arguing it's not beneficial to the Cubs - that would be silly. But it doesn't give them an edge OVER the Brewers. That's the point.

I probably shouldn't have used "silly" .. the better word I'd swap is "irrelevant."  Whether it's a competitive advantage is irrelevant. 

It's bending the schedule to assist a team compete moreso than they would have been able prior. 

Everyone else plays by the schedule (and any TV rules that may move them.)   

Imagine a MLB rule that said "teams can request time changes to give them more rest when they are in a pennant race, playing the 2nd place team."

Maybe an analogy is to request the 100m dash be 90m because one runner is tired.  They'll all have to cover the same distance, so no one gets a "competitive advantage," right?     

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Let's see if you do better with this façade of being the bigger man and moving on from a guy who isn't intelligent enough to belong in a conversation with you than MerritsMustache did.  He lasted about long enough to get a night's sleep in after being "correct and logical on everything" before he jumped right back into the conversation with his cute GIFs.  Maybe you really will be the bigger man, and if so, congrats to you.  But if you're going to play it off like you are then don't jump right back in.

*are the only team that can choose when it's most convenient for them to play and change the start time of a scheduled game one week before it is scheduled with no reason other than we want to get our players some rest.

It's a 162 game season.  There are points in the season for every team that the schedule gets long with no days off and quick turnarounds.  The Cubs can't handle it I guess.

What on earth are you even talking about at this point?  I stand behind everything I've said and disagree with you completely.  There's no need to discuss it any further. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Moving the game back is not a competitive advantage for the individual game. As others have pointed out, it is evening out the advantage the Brewers have over the Cubs in this individual game.

Moving the game back is a competitive advantage for the season as a whole. As far as I know (I could be wrong), no other team has been allowed to move the start time of a game midseason because they have a difficult turnaround time. As others have said, scheduling sometimes leaves teams in tough spots. As far as I know, the Cubs are the only ones have been allowed to mitigate one of their more difficult start times. That's an advantage the Cubs have now been given that I don't think any other team has been given.

Now is the extra six hours of rest going to make much of a difference? Probably not. Is it that big of a deal? To some? Maybe. To me personally as a Brewers fan? Nah.

Has anyone considered that the Brewers "vigorously protesting" the time change is just a show for the players? Managers going out to scream at the umpire after a close call never actually changes the call. But the managers do it to try and motivate their players and show that they have their back. My guess is that the Brewers' protest is more likely motivated by pumping up the players for an important rivalry game than it is about 6 hours of rest.

The difference between the Cubs and the rest of the teams in MLB in terms of start times is the Cubs are the only team under a restriction regarding the amount of night games they can have due to a city ordinance.  I feel like this keeps getting overlooked in the discussion.   

So while they can't control the days of the game, there could be more control in terms of the start times if they weren't under this restriction. 

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Teams don't make their own schedule, which is why the Brewers have every right to be upset here.  They can put in requests for which holidays they would like to play at home, they can let the MLB know when there are conflicts going on in their stadiums, etc. but they aren't picking out, "Hey, we'd like to host the Cubs 9/4-9/7 with these start times."  The MLB comes up with the schedule.  Teams follow the schedule.  Unless you're the Cubs and want some rest.

How do you keep missing the point that there is a difference between the schedule and the actual start times of the schedule?

[Vander Blue Man Group]

I probably shouldn't have used "silly" .. the better word I'd swap is "irrelevant."  Whether it's a competitive advantage is irrelevant. 

It's bending the schedule to assist a team compete moreso than they would have been able prior. 

Everyone else plays by the schedule (and any TV rules that may move them.)   

Imagine a MLB rule that said "teams can request time changes to give them more rest when they are in a pennant race, playing the 2nd place team."

Maybe an analogy is to request the 100m dash be 90m because one runner is tired.  They'll all have to cover the same distance, so no one gets a "competitive advantage," right?   

Again, the limitations the Cubs are under in regards to number of night games played and not being able to play regular season Friday and Saturday night games play a role in this. 

The city of Chicago has been very strict with the Cubs in terms of any deviations from the current rules.  If it were up to the Cubs, they would have night games the day after any getaway night game. 

The Cubs have already been asking about easing this very restriction for a while.  This is not something new.  The city agreeing to it certainly is. 

I don't think your 100m dash comparison holds water. 

[MerrittsMustache]

Maybe an analogy is to request the 100m dash be 90m because one runner is tired.  They'll all have to cover the same distance, so no one gets a "competitive advantage," right?   

That's a pretty weak analogy.

If Marquette won an NCAA Tournament game in Pittsburgh at 7pm then flew back to Milwaukee and had to play at noon the next day against a team coming off an off-day, would you have a problem with the tip-off to be moved back?

[wadesworld]

That's a pretty weak analogy.

If Marquette won an NCAA Tournament game in Pittsburgh at 7pm then flew back to Milwaukee and had to play at noon the next day against a team coming off an off-day, would you have a problem with the tip-off to be moved back?

This isn't the Playoffs. It's a 162 game season that has some quick turnarounds during it. You play the game at its scheduled time unless a TV station picks it up. It's not that hard.

[MU82]

Jake Arrieta does not and has not used PEDs. I think this ...

Your first sentence is stated as a fact. You cannot possibly know if this is true or not.

You then go into opinion mode, which is what the first sentence really was.

As for wades ...

Shyte, man, your head must have exploded when the Cubs won the WS last year. How long did it take to clean all the brain guts from your ceiling!!!

Although I am not a Cubbie fan (have accused of being a Cubbie hater many times, but I'm not that either), I think I would have loved to have been a fly on your wall when you watched Game 7. The celebrating when Chapman blew the lead ... followed by the total despondency when the Cubbies actually won. Wow! Musta been something to behold.

I think I'm as passionate about my family as you are about your hatred for all things Cubbie, but I'm not really sure!

[GGGG]

*have to play 14 hours after night game
*won't be leaving the stadium until around midnight
*have to travel to another city
*this is unique to the cubs

It's not unique the Cubs.  The Yankees have a 1:05 game this upcoming Monday in Baltimore after playing a night game this Sunday in New York.