Official MLB Discussion Thread

[jackson13]

This is just regarding my baseball life:

The good news: Barry Bonds could be out the entire season.


The bad news: Joe Borowski is out 6 weeks with a broken arm. That means the Cubs have 3 starters and no closer now, since Kerry, Prior and JoBo are all out now. Cubs pitching is gonna be hurting BAD if they have to pitch every 3 days (especially with Maddux in the lineup). All we got until these guys get healed is Zambrano, Maddux and Demspter. I dont expect too good of a start to the season for my Cubbies.

[free]

Wasn't Hawkins a starter before relieving the last few years. I'm sure he could make a spot start or two.

Hey, it makes you feel any better, you're welcome to take Rietsma off our hands.

In all seriousness, do you think they might look into Uggy Urbina? He used to be an unhittable closer with the Expos.

[Buck Turgidson]

I wanted to mention in passing that I noticed where Danny Bautista had retired. He was a solid player for a good while, and I really loved him during his tenure with the Braves. He played full tilt, with a dignity and determination that always impressed me.

He took one of the worst beanings it's ever been my misfortune to witness. Pitching for the Cardinals, Jeff Parret, as usual, couldn't hit the broadside of a barn and plunked Danny square in the face. I can still see the image in my mind of him lying on his stomach on the ground by home place with blood pouring out of his nose like it was coming from a spiggot. He missed the rest of that season and playoffs but came back strong the next season and never, ever, showed one iota of fear at the plate.

As horrible as it was for me to see the Diamondbacks win the '01 Series, I took some solace in his being an integral part of it and earning a ring.

[brodeurnumber1]

Originally posted by free


In all seriousness, do you think they might look into Uggy Urbina? He used to be an unhittable closer with the Expos.

They gave away their chance to get Uggy from the Tigers when they traded Farnsworth to them. Now, we have Farnsworth, Percival, and Urbina, what's the rush to get anyone out of town. We should keep our great bullpen intact.

GO TIGERS!

[daddiefatsacks]

well the sox got worked

[Haddonfield]

Originally posted by daddiefatsacks
well the sox got worked

Yep, Matz taking that homer away was the ball game. Yanks made some great plays and the Sox didnt.

Fun game overall, here's to 161 more!

[ChemicalRomance]

I was at the Sox vs. Yankes game last night, and it was a real fun time. First time I had ever sat in the bleachers. The fan connection their is so great, everyone is slapping hands like crazy, people just yelling like out of their mind and there is rarely anyone sitting down.

Matsui's catched looked UNBELIEVEABLE from my seat. I did a double take.

[daddiefatsacks]

Season Predictions

AL EAST: Yanks
AL CENTRAL: Twins
AL WEST: Seattle
AL WILDCARD: Tigers

NL EAST: Marlins
NL CENTRAL: Reds
NL WEST: Padres
NL WILDCARD: Cubs

ALCS: Twins over Yanks
NLCS: Padres over Reds

WORLD SERIES: Padres over Twins

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira
AL CY YOUNG: Barry Zito
AL ROY: Nick Swisher
AL COMEBACK PLAYER: Juan Gonzalez
AL BIGGEST SURPRISE: Team - Tigers, Player - Carlos Pena

NL MVP: Adam Dunn
NL CY YOUNG: Carlos Zambrano
NL ROY: Jeff Francis
NL COMEBACK PLAYER: Ken Griffey Jr
NL BIGGEST SURPRISE: Team - Reds, Player - Khalil Greene

[brodeurnumber1]

How about them Tigers? 11-2 on opening day, now that is fun. Here's to a season with Dmirti Young belting homers left and right!

[ChemicalRomance]

And...

yes, it's official the Mets will NEVER be good.

[bob]

Hmm...this is the second year in a row Kaz Matsui has hit a home run in his first at bat of the year. Hopefully this year goes a little bit better for him...

[jackson13]

Cubs are the best hitting team in baseball!!

16 runs, 23 hits. If the bats keep this up all season, we may not have to worry about pitching that much. At least everyone but JoBo and Prior are healed now.

CUBS ALL THE WAY IN 2005!

[horrorfreak13]

Halladay looked like his old self and the Blue Jays open with a victory which is nice.

Also it was a good laugh seeing the Mets blow it yesterday it's just way too funny seeing a team spend huge money on free agents every year and get worse and worse every year.

Even better I get the Red Sox/Yankees game on TV today and the Blue Jays are ahead of the Red Sox.

Yeah I know it will probably last until Friday or Saturday.

[CrazyKillah]

Originally posted by ChemicalRomance
I was at the Sox vs. Yankes game last night, and it was a real fun time. First time I had ever sat in the bleachers. The fan connection their is so great, everyone is slapping hands like crazy, people just yelling like out of their mind and there is rarely anyone sitting down.

Matsui's catched looked UNBELIEVEABLE from my seat. I did a double take.

It's funny, he seems to have a hard time playing the ball when it's in front of him, but he makes some fantastic plays going back. Plus, I think that he's one of the most underrated hitters in baseball. That said, Yankees suck! Yup, it's that time of year again! Go Sox!

[CrazyKillah]

Originally posted by CrazyKillah
It's funny, he seems to have a hard time playing the ball when it's in front of him, but he makes some fantastic plays going back. Plus, I think that he's one of the most underrated hitters in baseball. That said, Yankees suck! Yup, it's that time of year again! Go Sox!

Damn it! Nothin' like shootin' your mouth off, then sticking your foot in it! Damn you, Jeter! An 0-2 start is not the way I envisioned this thing. And, with Mussina going tomorrow, they're staring at 0-3 - Moose has killed 'em the last few times out. Arrrgghh!

[ChemicalRomance]

Derek Jeters first regular season walk off home run ever.

Ohhhh, it tastes so good.

[bob]

God, I'm glad I traded for Hideki Matsui in my fantasy league...that guy is an absolute monster.

[free]

1 2/3 Innings............. 7 earned runs.

Well, not the best way to start the comeback year for Smoltzy.

[thedudeman69]

Originally posted by free
1 2/3 Innings............. 7 earned runs.

Well, not the best way to start the comeback year for Smoltzy.

Advice to Cox and the GM-Trade anybody to get a better starter than Smoltz, and make him a closer again.

[horrorfreak13]

Originally posted by bob
God, I'm glad I traded for Hideki Matsui in my fantasy league...that guy is an absolute monster.

Crap and I traded him too and the 2 players I got back have done nothing in their first game.

1 trade I was glad I made was trading for Miguel Batista 2 saves already and Chachin looked awesome yesterday.

Blue Jays are 2-0 and the Red Sox are already 0-2.

[CrazyKillah]

Correction, those fantastic Red Sox are now 1-2. Man, does Rivera have his problems with the Sox, or what? Is it...

A) Man, he's fucking old and losing his stuff or
B) The Sox have whooped his ass so many times that they're in his head?

Chemical Romance, feel free to chip in your two cents here

[bob]

Being the only other Yankees fan on this board besides ChemicalRomance, I'll chip in...

I think Rivera is getting old. He's still the most talented closer in baseball, but he's no longer the most consistent. I don't think the last two games reflect what his season will be like, but I do think he'll have cold stretches of two or three games more than once this season. Flash Gordon and the rest of the bullpen need to start taking some of the weight of his shoulders.

[free]

Waaaay better game for us today.

Hampton was dominant, our bullpen kept it together, and Chipper wins it with a homer in the 13th.

Tom Martin, however, needs to be shot. If not for the double-play bunt from Pierre, we would have lost it.

[ChemicalRomance]

Originally posted by bob
Being the only other Yankees fan on this board besides ChemicalRomance, I'll chip in...

I think Rivera is getting old. He's still the most talented closer in baseball, but he's no longer the most consistent. I don't think the last two games reflect what his season will be like, but I do think he'll have cold stretches of two or three games more than once this season. Flash Gordon and the rest of the bullpen need to start taking some of the weight of his shoulders.

Hahhaa, Yankee fans..unite! There's a shortage!

Originally posted by CrazyKillah
Correction, those fantastic Red Sox are now 1-2. Man, does Rivera have his problems with the Sox, or what? Is it...

A) Man, he's fucking old and losing his stuff or
B) The Sox have whooped his ass so many times that they're in his head?

Chemical Romance, feel free to chip in your two cents here

Hmm...tough loss I'd say. Here is my 2 cents, via a post on the Yankees LiveJournal community..

Booing him isn't going to do anything but make his problem worse. Don't you think? Mariano is somewaht falling apart. Is it just him and the Sox? Or is he really just falling to pieces? It's too early to tell, but if this continues against the Red Sox or any other team, I think it's pretty safe to say that Mariano as we know him may be gone. No, this isn't overreacting and I will tell you why.

Remember when you used to hear "Enter Sandman" and you had the feeling that you should just turn the game off because...well it was over? Well you still want to turn it off, but you want to turn it off now because you can't stand watching him absolutely miss the strike zone and give up singles and homers.

Mo, cmon'...

John Kruk claims that Mariano is suffering from "dead arm". I think they may be hiding an injury...and the fact that Mariano didn't get to toss around all that much in Spring Training is hurting him now. Kruk also claimed that Mariano is trying new stuff and that once he gets to all click to perfection, he's once again going to be the most dominant relief pitching force in baseball. He said the pitch to Manny (aka the A-Rod groundball bloop) was a sinker, and that Rivera never throws sinkers and must be testing out something new.

Interesting if you ask me.

[daddiefatsacks]

i don't think rivera is to blame entirely for that loss, how about A-rod's little blunder at third.

[Buck Turgidson]

ARod didn't put all those runners on base.

Granted, that was a colossal fuckup, but his match set off all the gas that Rivera had already spilled.

[theonlyonlyonly]

It'll be interesting to see what happens to Rivera over the course of the season. If his struggles continue against teams besides the Red Sox, he could be suffering from BK Kim Syndrome. I mean, he was one inning, one out even, away from winning the ALCS, and he loses the series? After those two games in Yankee Stadium in 2001, Kim was never the same (the Red Sox found that out in agonizing detail). Could it be that the same thing's happening to Mo?

To follow up on what BT said, the run that scored on Slaps' error was only the tying run. There was still plenty of time for Rivera to get out of that inning without giving up four more.

Also, booing him is just inexcusable. You can only boo someone on your team if they're not trying or if they do something to piss the fans off off the field. Without Rivera, there is no Yankee Dynasty.

[ChemicalRomance]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
ARod didn't put all those runners on base.

Granted, that was a colossal fuckup, but his match set off all the gas that Rivera had already spilled.

Perfectly. said.

[ChemicalRomance]

Originally posted by theonlyonlyonly
It'll be interesting to see what happens to Rivera over the course of the season. If his struggles continue against teams besides the Red Sox, he could be suffering from BK Kim Syndrome. I mean, he was one inning, one out even, away from winning the ALCS, and he loses the series? After those two games in Yankee Stadium in 2001, Kim was never the same (the Red Sox found that out in agonizing detail). Could it be that the same thing's happening to Mo?

To follow up on what BT said, the run that scored on Slaps' error was only the tying run. There was still plenty of time for Rivera to get out of that inning without giving up four more.

Also, booing him is just inexcusable. You can only boo someone on your team if they're not trying or if they do something to piss the fans off off the field. Without Rivera, there is no Yankee Dynasty.

Agreed on booing.

However, I think it's somewhat strange that you're comparing Kim to Mariano. If they both fall, well it would be just that, a fall. However if Rivera were to sink to much greater lows, it would be a colossal fall. One of the worst in baseball history probably, especially for relief pitchers. Poor man.

And people that boo: Remember when Mariano's family was killed in Panama by electrocution? And the next day he was back in a New York uniform to pitch for the playoffs? I would like to see anyone do it..anyone besides Mo. Do people forget how unbelievable his success rate is in the regular season and especially in the post season? His results are so good, it's almost dizzying.

Man...

[bob]

ChemicalRomance-

Can't you just tell from the News Media already that if the Yankees fuck anything up this season, it's gonna get blamed on ARod?

That really pisses me off. It's a 9 man lineup, every article you read about the Yankees jumps all over Rodriguez. Personally, I like the guy. He's got mad talent, and he's gonna show his critics his Texas form this season.

[ChemicalRomance]

Originally posted by bob
ChemicalRomance-

Can't you just tell from the News Media already that if the Yankees fuck anything up this season, it's gonna get blamed on ARod?

That really pisses me off. It's a 9 man lineup, every article you read about the Yankees jumps all over Rodriguez. Personally, I like the guy. He's got mad talent, and he's gonna show his critics his Texas form this season.

Hey, looks like we're friends now..Yankee fan buddy. Name's Drew, I'm sure we will both be posting here a lot so I'm Drew. Just call me that haha.

Well, A-Rod gets blamed by all the New York papers because he is in fact the richest player in baseball. He isn't playing to his full potential, thats for sure, but he definitly does seem to be blamed for everything. I mean, jesus, the man is so naturally talented, no one should worry because at the end of the year we get: a .300 batting avergae, almost 40 homers, and over 100 RBI's. Generally people just see him as our "savior" to end our "championship drought", because he is getting paid a buttload of money, 1/4 of a million bucks is a lot of money to go out there and play some baseball. He definitly doesn't deserve all the blame for certain stuff though, and yes, I agree, it does get pretty damn annoying.

Don't you agree about what I said about Mo? (The whole family thing...)

**OH YEAH HAHA, media was saying today that the Yanks need to ship out Rivera and get...

...

BILLY KOCH! HAHAHA. Man, they are funny sometimes.

[Buck Turgidson]

Anyone saying that needs to be beaten to death with a sockfull of quarters.

[daddiefatsacks]

hahaah billy koch, did anyone see the highlights of him at the tampa/jays game on tuesday?

anyways, when he was in spring training before the jays cut him, he bought 250 tickets for kids in the tampa area to come watch him pitch, well he got cut, but he fulfilled his promise (not a bad move)....but he shows up in an Aubrey huff jersey, with a foam finger and d-rays hat, and sits behind the jays bullpen

lol

anyways im goin to the jays opener tonite against the defending champs, can't wait to heckle the bosox fans who always make the trip up.

[theonlyonlyonly]

Scary save by Foulke tonight. He got the job done, but that's just about as close as you can get to blowing it without actually blowing it. Hope it's just an isolated incident, and he settles down once he gets into the groove.

How about Bronson Arroyo, though? I really hope he manages to stay in the rotation all year; I absolutely love him.

[brodeurnumber1]

The Mets are 0-5, this causes for a celebration of sorts. And to top it off, the Tigers are 3-2! Who cares about the 157 games left, let's start the playoffs now.

[thedudeman69]

Originally posted by brodeurnumber1
The Mets are 0-5, this causes for a celebration of sorts. And to top it off, the Tigers are 3-2! Who cares about the 157 games left, let's start the playoffs now.

3-2 is on fucking fire for them.

[RicochetShaw]

Originally posted by bob
Being the only other Yankees fan on this board besides ChemicalRomance, I'll chip in...

I think Rivera is getting old. He's still the most talented closer in baseball,

Not the most talented, just the most consistent... well actually he's not even that anymore, that would have to be Gagne. But the thing about Rivera isn't his talent, it's his mental ability, he only has one pitch, the cutter, but the mentality he has everytime he steps on the mound, intimidating and almost never letting things get out of hands... is what has made him great. Eric Gagne, Franky Rodriguez, Trevor Hoffman, all are closers with more talent and ability, but can get too fiery or emotional. Rivera always has ice in his veins, which is probably the most important thing for a closer, and it's why he's had such prolific stats.

[brodeurnumber1]

Eric Young of the Brewers is done for at least half year if not the whole year or maybe his career. He injured his shoulder on a pretty damn good catch and I just hope the guy plays again, it would suck to have your career end on a great catch.

[horrorfreak13]

Well the Blue Jays take 2 of 3 from the Red Sox and the Blue Jays are 4-2. This team is looking good so far.

At least it's better than the dreadful start last year and they are winning these division games something they didn't last year.

And even better we're in 1st place. Let's see how long it lasts.

While my impressions on the newly renovated Rogers Centre(I still prefer Skydome) it looks amazing the new turf looks great the scoreboard and the new Jaysvison looks amazing I like the changes.

[theonlyonlyonly]

The Red Sox pulled off one Hell of a celebration today. From Roberts and Lowe, to cheering Rivera, to "Thank you A-Rod"...that's how you do a home opener. Absolutely brilliant.