MLB 2019 thread

[cheebs09]

He was the one that didn't need to be exposed to waivers by being sent down.

I think Shaw still has an option.

[Cheeks]

When men were men...235 pitches by one pitcher in a game.  Go Halos.  #NolanRyan


https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-ryan-threw-235-pitches-in-one-game

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Are men not men anymore? What happened?

[Dish]

Eloy is just murdering baseballs this month, good lord.

[Cheeks]

Are men not men anymore? What happened?

Ask some of the ladies.....

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Ask some of the ladies.....

I did. They said men are still men and better than ever.

[The Sultan]

I did. They said men are still men and better than ever.

Apparently the ladies that deal with Cheeks feel otherwise.

[jsglow]

I think Shaw still has an option.

He absolutely does.

[CTWarrior]

When men were men...235 pitches by one pitcher in a game.  Go Halos.  #NolanRyan


https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-ryan-threw-235-pitches-in-one-game

They mentioned this during the Red Sox game Friday night.  Apparently Tiant threw at least 165 pitches (14 1/3 innings)so the starters combined to throw at least 400 pitches.

[Cheeks]

They mentioned this during the Red Sox game Friday night.  Apparently Tiant threw at least 165 pitches (14 1/3 innings)so the starters combined to throw at least 400 pitches.

Correct.


Also, Ryan came back on his typical three day rest after the 235 pitches and won the next start.

[LloydsLegs]

Eloy is just murdering baseballs this month, good lord.

And having fun doing it.  Love this core.

[Cheeks]

Apparently the ladies that deal with Cheeks feel otherwise.

Married 20+ years.  Doing just fine.   Meanwhile I am supposed to be happy these days if my starting pitcher goes 6 innings every fifth day.  Yikes

[Lennys Tap]

Are men not men anymore? What happened?

Chico longs for those wonderful days of yesteryear - when men were men - and sheep were nervous.

[Billy Hoyle]

When men were men...235 pitches by one pitcher in a game.  Go Halos.  #NolanRyan


https://www.mlb.com/news/nolan-ryan-threw-235-pitches-in-one-game

When pitchers made less in a year than they make in one poor start today.

[The Sultan]

Married 20+ years.  Doing just fine.   Meanwhile I am supposed to be happy these days if my starting pitcher goes 6 innings every fifth day.  Yikes

You can derive happiness from whatever you want. Games change. It's neither good nor bad.

[TallTitan34]

White Sox extending nets to the foul poles.

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/06/18/white-sox-to-extend-protective-netting-to-the-foul-poles/

[CTWarrior]

Chico longs for those wonderful days of yesteryear - when men were men - and sheep were nervous.

I think it is different for everybody, but I think baseball was at its best for fans in the 70s and early 80s.  Right mix of talent and strategy.  All different types of players excelled as there were many ways to win ball games.  You had speed guys like Omar Moreno or Bill North stealing 70+ bases, power guys hitting 40+ homers like Mike Schmidt, Jim Rice and George Foster, average guys hitting .330 or better like Rod Carew and George Brett, great defenders like Garry Maddox and Mark Belanger, great all around players like Joe Morgan, Bobby Bonds and Fred Lynn, Durable aces who threw hard (Ryan, Jenkins, Carlton) or soft (Wood, Niekro) and relief aces/firemen (not closers) who pitched multiple innings when the need was greatest regardless of inning like Fingers, Gossage and Quisenberry.

Today's game with so many walks, strikeouts and home runs with the proliferation of relief pitchers is probably strategically best, but it not nearly as interesting to watch, IMO.

[HouWarrior]

I think it is different for everybody, but I think baseball was at its best for fans in the 70s and early 80s.  Right mix of talent and strategy. 

Well...OK ....but

1972 saw the first players strike...and a big drop off in fan popularity. In this time period....NFL rose while MLB fell off....so... to generate interest the AL adopted the DH rule, softball unis, and lots of fan gimmicks...think Disco Demolition Night

The 70s were the time of building many cookie cutter big concrete pad ballparks covered in AstroTurf...all of which were later roundly rejected

Free agency impacted rosters and lots of teams fell on hard times. A very few enjoyed success but  many began to flounder as they learned the new system...the hard way. More player movement ...but fans deep connections with entire  team rosters (think 50s 60s) was gone forever.

A's Reds, Royals, Pirates even Tigers prospered but not much since

You are in the pre steroid period...so athletic achievement/stats weren't tainted like the next decades

...but speed/coke was prevalent during your time window....so this time seemed to go by quickly...for all of us 

Dan Epstein wrote on this period in  "Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s." :
"Nobody hit .400 in a season, or won 30 or more games. Only one player -- George Foster in 1977 -- managed to hit more than 50 home runs in a season," ... "But in those categories that continue to defy statisticians -- weirdness, hairiness, overall funkiness, and sheer amusement -- the 1970s still tower over every other decade before or since."

[Pakuni]

Dan Epstein wrote on this period in  "Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s." :
"Nobody hit .400 in a season, or won 30 or more games. Only one player -- George Foster in 1977 -- managed to hit more than 50 home runs in a season," ... "But in those categories that continue to defy statisticians -- weirdness, hairiness, overall funkiness, and sheer amusement -- the 1970s still tower over every other decade before or since."

Fantastic book.

You somehow forgot to mention Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich in your recollection of 70s baseball.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

White Sox extending nets to the foul poles.

https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/06/18/white-sox-to-extend-protective-netting-to-the-foul-poles/

Foul balls ricocheting off of empty seats is very dangerous.

[HouWarrior]

Fantastic book.

You somehow forgot to mention Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich in your recollection of 70s baseball.

lol ...one of MLB's most unique "trades" ever...

also...

Mark "the Bird" Fydrich,

Bill Spaceman Lee

Doc Ellis' no no on LSD,

Harvey's Wallbangers (...incl. 8balls w/Paul Molitor, Ben Ogilvy and Gorman Thomas...limitations has expired on such antics)

[Pakuni]

Foul balls ricocheting off of empty seats is very dangerous.

[Jockey]

Well...OK ....but

Dan Epstein wrote on this period in  "Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s." :
"Nobody hit .400 in a season, or won 30 or more games. Only one player -- George Foster in 1977 -- managed to hit more than 50 home runs in a season," ... "But in those categories that continue to defy statisticians -- weirdness, hairiness, overall funkiness, and sheer amusement -- the 1970s still tower over every other decade before or since."

Was looking through my 70's baseball cards last week - lotta perms happenin' in the mid to late 70's.

[Cheeks]

Was looking through my 70's baseball cards last week - lotta perms happenin' in the mid to late 70's.

Oscar Gamble sticks in my head

[buckchuckler]

Foul balls ricocheting off of empty seats is very dangerous.

Balls ricocheting all over the place.

<iframe src="https://streamable.com/m/eloy-jimenez-homers-12-on-a-fly-ball-to-left-center-field-james-mccann-scores" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Not bad for a jam job broken bat pop up.  Love Benetti's call of "Thanks Cubs"