The Baseball Thread 2007

[Big Al]

DB4EVA, I went to a game in Pittsburgh in the late 70s to see Gaylord Perry pitch for the Padres. San Diego wore the uniform you posted, and the Pirates wore their gold uniform, and it was very difficult to tell the teams apart!

(As I recall, Perry won a close game and made it look easy.)

that is a thing of beauty. its too bad we as a society have lost that wonderful color palate of the 60's-70's, with its mustards, browns, and psychedelic swirls. instead the teams of my generation wear the crappy conservative blues and whites, boring everyone to death with their inoffensiveness. stupid reagan

Ah, don't worry; like everything else in society, it'll come back around. Then again, maybe everyone's eyes are still adjusting after that colorful decade!

[Tim McG]

This is the year.

2007.

The year the Phillies will record their

10,000th loss.

Sigh.

http://www.countdownto10000.com/

Giants fan here.

I feel your pain.

[Dan Gould]

DB4EVA, I went to a game in Pittsburgh in the late 70s to see Gaylord Perry pitch for the Padres. San Diego wore the uniform you posted, and the Pirates wore their gold uniform, and it was very difficult to tell the teams apart!

(As I recall, Perry won a close game and made it look easy.)

that is a thing of beauty. its too bad we as a society have lost that wonderful color palate of the 60's-70's, with its mustards, browns, and psychedelic swirls. instead the teams of my generation wear the crappy conservative blues and whites, boring everyone to death with their inoffensiveness. stupid reagan

That's a bunch of bull.

What passed for "style" in that era was complete and utter nauseating garbage - from baseball uniforms to "regular" fashions. And if Reagan stands for taste, class, style and sophistication then I'll stand with him.

[BERIGAN]

Dan, and the other Red Sox faithful,

I meant to post a few days ago how the Braves might actually give you some decent competition this year(unlike last year's lameass team) then Smoltz got hurt, and then I heard Mark Redman might actually make a start with the Braves again,(Just made a AAA for a rehab start) In BOSTON! How did he only have an ERA of 5+ last year in the AL? Without a DH, we thought he'd be a 3-4 run guy per 6 innings. Well, he's been more like a 4 inning run plus per inning(10.62 era) guy.

And what's up with the interleague play this year? We play the Red Sox May 18-20th, then don't play anyone in the AL again til June 12th??? Anyone else's team have this kind of strange interleague schedule? Not really against spreading the fun out a bit, just seems weird to play 3 AL games only in May.

Edited May 15, 2007 by BERIGAN

[Matthew]

I really wish the Padres would go back to wearing these beautiful unis:

the red sox are lame

Nothing reminds me more of growing up in San Diego during the 70s than those Padre uniforms. Sorry Dan, the uni's in the 70s were just mega-cool . Long live polyester!

edit: spelling & for a trivia note. Most people think Nate Colbert was the Opening Day first baseman for the Padres first game ever -- not true, it was Bill Davis. Just thought you guys & dolls would want to know the

Edited May 15, 2007 by Matthew

[Dan Gould]

Conrad,

I think everyone has a single interleague series this weekend, the so-called "traditional rivalries" series. Now, Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox and a few others make sense, but there is no rivalry between Boston and Atlanta just because the Braves started out (a long, LONG time ago) in Boston. But I am glad that we won't face Smoltz, apparently. I'd be happy to get Redman and someone else plus Tim Hudson. At least two of the games are on TBS.

As for the balance of inter-league schedule, everyone goes into it later on in June for however many games it is.

[donald byrd 4 EVA]

Here's a few more gems:::

[Patrick]

...need Oscar Gamble with the 'fro and a '74 Indians softball uniform...

[Soulstation1]

[Matthew]

Don't forget these....

Extra points if you can tell me what's so special about this picture also.

[Dan Gould]

Don't forget these....

Extra points if you can tell me what's so special about this picture also.

I'm guessing its the four guys who each won 20 in whatever year that was.

[Chalupa]

Don't forget these....

Extra points if you can tell me what's so special about this picture also.

I'm guessing its the four guys who each won 20 in whatever year that was.

L to R

Mike Cuellar, Doyle Alexander, Dave McNally?, Jockey underware model

[zen archer]

Conrad,

I think everyone has a single interleague series this weekend, the so-called "traditional rivalries" series. Now, Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox and a few others make sense, but there is no rivalry between Boston and Atlanta just because the Braves started out (a long, LONG time ago) in Boston. But I am glad that we won't face Smoltz, apparently. I'd be happy to get Redman and someone else plus Tim Hudson. At least two of the games are on TBS.

As for the balance of inter-league schedule, everyone goes into it later on in June for however many games it is.

Well Dan my dad loves when the Braves come to town even though he has always been a Red Sox fan he used to go see the Braves play at Braves field . So i think for some it may be a nostalgic weekend.

I think Braves field was the largest ballpark back in the day

[Tim McG]

You know, everybody says the orange Giants uniforms were ugly. Roger Craig once said it was like watching pumkins play baseball...or words to that effect.

I dunno...I kinda liked them.

[Matthew]

Embrace the polyester....... Bill Evans did......

[Tim McG]

OK.

Giants are leading by two runs, 'Stros are up with a man on in the bottom of the 8th. Two out.

Then it happens: the ugly specter of recent Giants bullpens past rises up and brings in [here we go again] Armando "fucking" Benitez. He quickly runs the count to full and then...a two run jack, game tied.

After which Sanchez comes in and does his best Benitez impression with a walk-off HR.

We Giants fans have not seen a decent bullpen since before Robb Nen.

I still have nightmares about Felix "You mean I'm supposed to get the batter out?" Rodriguez dating clear back to the 6th Game of the 2002 World Series.

Edited May 16, 2007 by GoodSpeak

[BERIGAN]

Hey Dan, wanna trade for Andruw Jones? You can have him, reallll cheap! We would gladly accept Jon Lester for him! Andruw is hitting a robust .223, with fairly decent power numbers, 6 Hr's, and 27 RBi's. He just looks terrible! he has completely changed his wide stance of his (nearly)MVP year, and now swings in a way that looks like the best way to hurt your knee, back, and shoulder, all at once, while swinging at a slider 2 feet outside!

Since Andruw's one and only .300 season in 2000, his average each year after that has been, .251, .264, .277, .261, .263, and .262 last year. His OBP isn't bad, surely Theo isn't going to be fooled by that fact and the RBI's, is he? Honestly, before this season, many a braves fan was trying to figure out how the hell we could keep him , what we would have to do to make him fit in our limited budget. Myself, and many others were more than willing to give away Tim Hudson for a nice bag of balls to save some money, that would have been great! Double

Some people think he is trying too hard in his walk year, but it looks more like he is just incredibly stubborn, keeps saying he is a pull hitter, period.(this after back to back game winning opposite field hits) Hitting coach Terry Pendleton has even mentioned how he has tried to work with Andruw, but he doesn't listen to him.

Now, a lot of folks will be more than glad to see him go, and wish we could trade him NOW, for a pitcher(Of course, he is a 5 and 10 man, and wouldn't go even if management was smart enough to trade him)

We have several outfield prospects,(And amazingly, Willie Harris is hitting well over .400 right now inleft) and we really don't want to lose "Salty", who looks to be the best catcher prospect in the game right now, he is even taking some balls at first base.

Edited May 16, 2007 by BERIGAN

[BERIGAN]

Oh, forgot, but the other post is too long as it is, from the AJC baseball blog writer David O'Brien ....

Andruw is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in his past three games, and 7-for-47 (.149) with 15 strikeouts, one homer, eight RBIs in 13 games (including consecutive game-winning hits to the opposite field, after which he reminded us both times that he’s a pull hitter, period).

But here’s the stat that might be most alarming. We all know Andruw’s capable of carrying the offense for two or three weeks at a time when he’s not, but consider how long he’s been hitting for a very low average:

Are you ready for this? In 87 games since Aug. 7, he’s hit .228 (69-for-302) with 21 homers, 61 RBIs, 58 walks, 73 strikeouts, one stolen base, a .367 OBP and an .867 OPS. Folks, that’s .228 for more than half a season by the 2005 MVP runner-up.

[Quincy]

Are you ready for this? In 87 games since Aug. 7, he’s hit .228

(69-for-302) with 21 homers, 61 RBIs, 58 walks, 73 strikeouts, one stolen base, a .367 OBP and an .867 OPS. Folks, that’s .228 for more than half a season by the 2005 MVP runner-up.

It's a very productive .228 though... Folks, that's 21 homers, 61 RBIs for a little more than half a season.

The swing change you describe doesn't sound good though. Hey, if he ends up in Fenway he can change stances faster than you can say Yastrzemski.

[Dan Gould]

Well, Andruw has certainly been considered as a replacement for Manny as protection in the lineup for Papi. But having Jacoby Ellsbury in AAA makes it really hard to imagine how we fit Andruw into the outfield, even if he were swinging great. My strong suspicion is that the Yankees will go very hard for him, with the plan of moving Damon to first base next season (or maybe they don't pick up Abreu's option and put Andruw in RF and leave Damon in center). But I think the Yankees are coming to realize that Damon's playing style is catching up to his age and that they will see continuing diminishing returns running him out to CF as often as possible. He's already spoken about moving to 1B in the future, I think the Yanks may recognize that time is now. It would certainly help to solve the productivity problem at 1B.

In the meantime, I really wonder what the Sox will do to protect Ortiz, but maybe, since this is now the "Era of Good Feelings" between Manny and Boston, they'll end up picking up his option years and keep him for three more seasons. Certainly those option years have started to look much more reasonable than they were when he signed originally.

[Big Al]

Oh, forgot, but the other post is too long as it is, from the AJC baseball blog writer David O'Brien ....

Andruw is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts in his past three games, and 7-for-47 (.149) with 15 strikeouts, one homer, eight RBIs in 13 games (including consecutive game-winning hits to the opposite field, after which he reminded us both times that he’s a pull hitter, period).

But here’s the stat that might be most alarming. We all know Andruw’s capable of carrying the offense for two or three weeks at a time when he’s not, but consider how long he’s been hitting for a very low average:

Are you ready for this? In 87 games since Aug. 7, he’s hit .228 (69-for-302) with 21 homers, 61 RBIs, 58 walks, 73 strikeouts, one stolen base, a .367 OBP and an .867 OPS. Folks, that’s .228 for more than half a season by the 2005 MVP runner-up.

At this stage, I'm surprised the Rangers haven't traded a pitching prospect for him.

Gee, only two more losses and we'll be the worst team in the league. Joy.

[zen archer]

Well, Andruw has certainly been considered as a replacement for Manny as protection in the lineup for Papi. But having Jacoby Ellsbury in AAA makes it really hard to imagine how we fit Andruw into the outfield, even if he were swinging great. My strong suspicion is that the Yankees will go very hard for him, with the plan of moving Damon to first base next season (or maybe they don't pick up Abreu's option and put Andruw in RF and leave Damon in center). But I think the Yankees are coming to realize that Damon's playing style is catching up to his age and that they will see continuing diminishing returns running him out to CF as often as possible. He's already spoken about moving to 1B in the future, I think the Yanks may recognize that time is now. It would certainly help to solve the productivity problem at 1B.

In the meantime, I really wonder what the Sox will do to protect Ortiz, but maybe, since this is now the "Era of Good Feelings" between Manny and Boston, they'll end up picking up his option years and keep him for three more seasons. Certainly those option years have started to look much more reasonable than they were when he signed originally.

No Way will they pick up Mannys options i still think they will try to trade him in the offseason. The protection

for papi could be A-Rod . The Sox wouldn't trade for Andruw Jones isn't he a free agent at seasons end?

Gee i can't imagine Damon at first never thought of that !

[Dan Gould]

Well, Andruw has certainly been considered as a replacement for Manny as protection in the lineup for Papi. But having Jacoby Ellsbury in AAA makes it really hard to imagine how we fit Andruw into the outfield, even if he were swinging great. My strong suspicion is that the Yankees will go very hard for him, with the plan of moving Damon to first base next season (or maybe they don't pick up Abreu's option and put Andruw in RF and leave Damon in center). But I think the Yankees are coming to realize that Damon's playing style is catching up to his age and that they will see continuing diminishing returns running him out to CF as often as possible. He's already spoken about moving to 1B in the future, I think the Yanks may recognize that time is now. It would certainly help to solve the productivity problem at 1B.

In the meantime, I really wonder what the Sox will do to protect Ortiz, but maybe, since this is now the "Era of Good Feelings" between Manny and Boston, they'll end up picking up his option years and keep him for three more seasons. Certainly those option years have started to look much more reasonable than they were when he signed originally.

No Way will they pick up Mannys options i still think they will try to trade him in the offseason. The protection

for papi could be A-Rod . The Sox wouldn't trade for Andruw Jones isn't he a free agent at seasons end?

Gee i can't imagine Damon at first never thought of that !

I don't think Manny goes anywhere, unless he actually has a down season and they think he's on the decline. The fact is that he has one more year left only, and as 10/5 player can drive a hard bargain not only in where he goes but in demanding that his option years get picked up. If a team takes him and has to exercise the option years, what are we going to get for him? At the very best, you might get decent pitching prospects like the ones that the Tigers gave up for Sheffield. That is all and it is hardly worth it, unless you've signed someone to replace Manny in the lineup. As for that ...

I'd put the odds of A-Rod coming to Boston as extremely low. Not only is there too much water under the bridge, but after watching his performance run hot and cold so much in New York, why would you want to throw a boatload of money at someone with so many obvious mental issues about performance/how much he's "loved"?

[Noj]

Time Warner has announced the sale of the Atlanta Braves to Liberty Media.

[Patrick]

Fausto Carmona beats Johan Santana for the second time this season--this time a 4 hit complete game shutout. Only 6 flyouts (17 groundouts, 4 K's). Pitch count was high (121), but what're ya gonna do with only a two run lead and Joe Borowski in the pen? Looks like Fausto is not headed back to Buffalo anytime soon--Jeremy Sowers will get that ticket when Jake Westbrook returns in 3-5 weeks.