beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:02 pm

chuckrh wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 24, 2020 6:37 am

@beantownbubba : For the love of God, why in the world did Boston let Mookie Betts go? Watched the Dodgers game last night & it appears that he could very well be the final piece that wins them a world series.

You're asking the wrong person. I washed my hands of the team the moment that happened. Being a Red Sox fan is a full time job and one that I loved for decades. But for John Henry to make a payroll saving move w/ one of the 3 or 4 best players of his generation was too much cynicism and hypocrisy for me. Henry is welcome to run his team as a business and I am entitled to have no more loyalty and pay no more attention to it than I pay to any other business.

Sorry, didn't mean to stomp on an open wound. It's just shocking. I feel your pain. Below is a quote from SportspressNW.com regarding my not so beloved Mariners:

Speaking of odds, the Mariners are 250-1 to win the World Series, according to BetOnLine.ag. That’s not as bad as the Orioles and Pirates, both 300-1. But it is in line with standard expectations for a franchise that understands losing the way Homer Simpson understands beer (“Homer no function beer well without”).

A complete game shutout on opening day is about the best way to start the season

For oilpiers wherever he may be: In one of the stories in Don Winslow's new book, Broken, Winslow waxes poetically and ecstatically (although briefly) about Francisco Tatis.

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 13, 2020 1:57 pm

For oilpiers wherever he may be: In one of the stories in Don Winslow's new book, Broken, Winslow waxes poetically and ecstatically (although briefly) about Francisco Tatis.

It has been quite the 24 hours for that kid. I enjoy watching him nightly, though the bullpen, predicted to be a top 3 in MLB, is an everyday anxiety.

Post by whatwouldcooleydo? » Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:27 am

oilpiers wrote:
He has displayed Ozzie Smith (originally a Padre) defense, with a better arm. Tony Gwynn batting, with more power. And clearly the best baserunner in MLB now.
Poor man’s Khalil Greene

Who's laughing now?

Great job, Justin Turner!

Swamp wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:42 am

Great job, Justin Turner!

Going for the coveted COVIDIOT of the year award. He's got some stiff competition though.

Swamp wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 29, 2020 4:42 am

Great job, Justin Turner!

Great job, Kevin Cash!!

Turner is a moron, but the conspiracy floating under the water is that maybe his first test did come back positive, and was reported as inconclusive so he could be in the lineup for that game...

also, here is the real take:

MLB was not waiting for day-of tests to come back to clear the team to play.

Pitchers and catchers have already reported and not a peep from any of us. Sign of the times I guess.

From a Joe Sheehan newsletter enthusing over the Padres - Tatis, Jr. megacontract:

"Over the 20 years between the Jeter and Tatis contracts, the labor market for players changed. Career paths changed. Player evaluation and development changed. More than all that, the amount of money in the game changed. Local television rights doubled and then doubled again. National-TV deals exploded in value. Franchise values skyrocketed. Successive CBAs redistributed more revenue from the game’s wealthiest teams to its least wealthy. Many teams learned that they could make a solid profit by collecting the free money available without putting much of it back into the team. The relationship at the core of 1990s-era analysis -- that the path to making money was winning baseball games -- has been severed.

We now cover a sport in which every team has plenty of money to invest in players, even the very best of them, and the problem has become convincing teams to do so."

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:40 pm

Pitchers and catchers have already reported and not a peep from any of us. Sign of the times I guess.

From a Joe Sheehan newsletter enthusing over the Padres - Tatis, Jr. megacontract:

"Over the 20 years between the Jeter and Tatis contracts, the labor market for players changed. Career paths changed. Player evaluation and development changed. More than all that, the amount of money in the game changed. Local television rights doubled and then doubled again. National-TV deals exploded in value. Franchise values skyrocketed. Successive CBAs redistributed more revenue from the game’s wealthiest teams to its least wealthy. Many teams learned that they could make a solid profit by collecting the free money available without putting much of it back into the team. The relationship at the core of 1990s-era analysis -- that the path to making money was winning baseball games -- has been severed.

We now cover a sport in which every team has plenty of money to invest in players, even the very best of them, and the problem has become convincing teams to do so."

A sure sign of spring: a giant shit storm with the Mariners as they start spring training. Disgraced former CEO Kevin Mathers totally screwed the pooch. He'd been with the team about 25 years & has overseen the era of futility that started when Lou Pinella was forced out. Despite a change in ownership dynamics, the same idiots have been running things. They are all about extorting as much money as possible from the fans & taxpayers without bothering to put out a viable team. Now, things are getting better with good young players that Mathers has went out of his way to alienate. One of the most dysfunctional teams in pro sports. Despite this we have some of the most expensive tickets in baseball. The true fans are sick of it & lately the crowds are more about the social gathering aspect rather than the games. The name Theo Epstein is being bandied about a lot to replace Mathers but I think Epstein is too smart to get involved in the quagmire. BTW, Mathers was implicated (along with 2 others in upper management) in a sexual harassment scandal. The other 2 were let go after a financial settlement with the accusers whilst Mathers was promoted. i love baseball but I'm done until we get a real season. My $12 bleacher tickets now are north of $30 a game. Not worth the money. time or effort.

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:40 pm

Pitchers and catchers have already reported and not a peep from any of us. Sign of the times I guess.

Looking fwd to yet another season of profound mediocrity from the Phillies. Play ball!!

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:40 pm

Pitchers and catchers have already reported and not a peep from any of us. Sign of the times I guess.

From a Joe Sheehan newsletter enthusing over the Padres - Tatis, Jr. megacontract:

"Over the 20 years between the Jeter and Tatis contracts, the labor market for players changed. Career paths changed. Player evaluation and development changed. More than all that, the amount of money in the game changed. Local television rights doubled and then doubled again. National-TV deals exploded in value. Franchise values skyrocketed. Successive CBAs redistributed more revenue from the game’s wealthiest teams to its least wealthy. Many teams learned that they could make a solid profit by collecting the free money available without putting much of it back into the team. The relationship at the core of 1990s-era analysis -- that the path to making money was winning baseball games -- has been severed.

We now cover a sport in which every team has plenty of money to invest in players, even the very best of them, and the problem has become convincing teams to do so."

The problem is that the majority of owners see team ownership as an investment opportunity, not a winning championships opportunity. And boy, what a bad investment if you want to make money (unless you hold on to the team for 30 years). You simply can't buy a baseball team, put minimal money into it, and expect a great year-to-year return.

Zip City wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 24, 2021 2:12 pm

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:40 pm

Pitchers and catchers have already reported and not a peep from any of us. Sign of the times I guess.

From a Joe Sheehan newsletter enthusing over the Padres - Tatis, Jr. megacontract:

"Over the 20 years between the Jeter and Tatis contracts, the labor market for players changed. Career paths changed. Player evaluation and development changed. More than all that, the amount of money in the game changed. Local television rights doubled and then doubled again. National-TV deals exploded in value. Franchise values skyrocketed. Successive CBAs redistributed more revenue from the game’s wealthiest teams to its least wealthy. Many teams learned that they could make a solid profit by collecting the free money available without putting much of it back into the team. The relationship at the core of 1990s-era analysis -- that the path to making money was winning baseball games -- has been severed.

We now cover a sport in which every team has plenty of money to invest in players, even the very best of them, and the problem has become convincing teams to do so."

The problem is that the majority of owners see team ownership as an investment opportunity, not a winning championships opportunity. And boy, what a bad investment if you want to make money (unless you hold on to the team for 30 years). You simply can't buy a baseball team, put minimal money into it, and expect a great year-to-year return.

Sheehan disagrees, except maybe at the margins. While any single year can be a problem, and 2020 certainly stands alone, on the whole owners of baseball teams have made a fortune. Between annual earnings, tax breaks and the increasing value of franchises it's a big moneymaker. The implicit end of that sentence is "whether or not your team wins." And therein lies a tale of broken dreams.

Clams wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:26 am

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 23, 2021 2:40 pm

Pitchers and catchers have already reported and not a peep from any of us. Sign of the times I guess.

Looking fwd to yet another season of profound mediocrity from the Phillies. Play ball!!

If things go well the Giants could be a contender for third place in the west.

Been out of So Cal for 3 years now. I went to Padre games at Dodger Stadium at least once a year for decades. Went to games at Petco and Qualcom when I could. I have only really missed my sons since I moved from California, but boy, do I wish I could go to Dodger Stadium this year and be a fan of the visiting Padres in 2021! Glad the Dodgers are still favorites. It would suck for a team stacked like SD have no real divisional competition. As Justin Turner said, they have 19 World Series games against SD this year.

I don't claim to know the Giants' roster or prospects in any depth, but after a brief review of moves made & not made, gambles taken and not, this is Joe Sheehan's summary, which i think is kind of pithy, whatever its accuracy:

"The reason teams tank is to stay out of where the Giants are now."

beantownbubba wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:53 pm

I don't claim to know the Giants' roster or prospects in any depth, but after a brief review of moves made & not made, gambles taken and not, this is Joe Sheehan's summary, which i think is kind of pithy, whatever its accuracy:

"The reason teams tank is to stay out of where the Giants are now."

That's about right, bubba. Some big contracts are finishing this year,
so we will learn something about Farhan Zaidi next year.

I have been becoming more and more disillusioned with baseball in recent years. However, it is something that my dad and I still like to talk about all the time so that has kept me fairly up to date on what our team, the Cardinals, is up to. So when my dad decided to cut his cable television off I made the choice to buy MLBTV so that he could still catch the games. Little did I know these fucks couldn't reach an agreement on the television rights and over half the games are blacked out. When we saw that we decided to turn the cable back on and get the most basic package that offered Fox Sports Midwest, which is where almost all of the St. Louis games used to be televised. They too have significantly decreased the number of games televised. With two different subscriptions purchased he is still only getting around half the games. He lives 270 miles from St. Louis....why the fuck are the games not available ?
I am seriously done with MLB. I'll watch highlights when someone gets beaned and a brawl happens. Other than that...fuck them.

The MLB blackout rules are the most ass backward thing conceivable

Fuck the MLB blackout rules. Rob Manfred deserves prison.

Sterling Bigmouth wrote: ↑

Sat May 01, 2021 1:11 pm

Fuck the MLB blackout rules. Rob Manfred deserves prison.

They've been around a lot longer than Manfred

Zip City wrote: ↑

Sat May 01, 2021 2:57 pm

Sterling Bigmouth wrote: ↑

Sat May 01, 2021 1:11 pm

Fuck the MLB blackout rules. Rob Manfred deserves prison.

They've been around a lot longer than Manfred

Not to the level it is right now. I've never had an issue with blackouts living where I do.
And with covid restrictions in place....why are any teams blacked out anywhere right now ?

Except for the Bart Giamatti - Fay Vincent era, it feels like during my entire lifetime baseball has been run by people who don't even like the game. It's actually hard to make as many bad decisions as these guys do.

I look at the occasional headline but I haven't looked at a single box score this season. I still subscribe to Joe Sheehan's newsletter but I often don't know anything about the players he writes about; at this point I'm just supporting him because it feels like the right thing to do.

Mookie Betts was the last straw for me. I don't even know what place the Red Sox are in and I don't care. I will admit to some schadenfreude when John Henry was caught smack dab in the middle of that money grab briefly called the soccer Super League. He got what he deserved that time, anyway.

has anyone listened to The Edge, the podcast about the Astros? It's great.

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Sun May 02, 2021 2:44 pm

has anyone listened to The Edge, the podcast about the Astros? It's great.

No. You can bet your ass I'm going to though.

The "runner on 2nd in extra innings" rule is a joke

tinnitus photography wrote: ↑

Sun May 02, 2021 2:44 pm

has anyone listened to The Edge, the podcast about the Astros? It's great.

Agree 100%. It was excellent. Another great sports-related podcast -- in the loosest sense -- is the Jim Brockmire Podcast. Its as good as the show.

jr29 wrote: ↑

Sat May 01, 2021 11:59 am

I have been becoming more and more disillusioned with baseball in recent years. However, it is something that my dad and I still like to talk about all the time so that has kept me fairly up to date on what our team, the Cardinals, is up to. So when my dad decided to cut his cable television off I made the choice to buy MLBTV so that he could still catch the games. Little did I know these fucks couldn't reach an agreement on the television rights and over half the games are blacked out. When we saw that we decided to turn the cable back on and get the most basic package that offered Fox Sports Midwest, which is where almost all of the St. Louis games used to be televised. They too have significantly decreased the number of games televised. With two different subscriptions purchased he is still only getting around half the games. He lives 270 miles from St. Louis....why the fuck are the games not available ?
I am seriously done with MLB. I'll watch highlights when someone gets beaned and a brawl happens. Other than that...fuck them.

That is insane. I live 260 miles from St. Louis and the only games blacked out here are Cincinnati games. I heard that in Hawaii both western divisions are basically blacked out. What kind of sense does that make? When I lived outside of LA only the dodgers and angels were blacked out on MLB.TV

For those desiring to engage in a little nostalgia,

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/spor ... 029039208a

What a pleasure to remember that Joe Morgan was an amazing baseball player, not merely a less than adequate tv commentator.

Descriptions of Al Kaline and others, especially Tom Seaver, the way I remember them.

And that last anecdote about Henry Aaron gets to the heart of the matter.