2010 MLB Season

[mikelz777]

I saw my first game at the new Twins Target Field. What a beautiful ball park! They did a fantastic job given it's size and it's small footprint. We had great seats and the Twins thumped the Red Sox 8-0! The Twins are off to a great start. I hope they can carry that momentum late into the season.

Regarding the discussion above, I hate the Yankees. I guess it doesn't help that they seem to have our number and beat us regularly. I'll take the Twins' "develop-the-players" two World Series over the entire championship record of the Yankees' "buy-the-best-team-possible" any day. You can't buy heart and soul. (Though given what they just paid Mauer, which is well-deserved by a could-hardly-be nicer-guy, you might wonder.)

Edited April 16, 2010 by mikelz777

[Dave James]

I think the thing about this is that those folks who wear the Yankees logo in those places aren't necessarily fans though. It's a symbol of America, like McDonalds. They wear it for style, not to show they're a fan of the team or even follow baseball at all.

I agree 100% with what Erik says on the issue of "come lately" Yankee fans. The interlocked "N" and "Y" is iconic, something way more than just a team logo.

With respect to longevity as a fan, I go all the way back to 1954 when I first saw the light at six years of age. I was born, raised and still live in Portland, Oregon. In this country, that's about as far away from New York City as you can get.

[Tim McG]

Astros Baseball Fever - catch it! Now on a 1 game winning steak!!

Not that it matters, but Brad Mills' son Beau attended the HS I used to work for [and still announce baseball and football games] and played baseball there. I must have announced his kid's number a hundred times or more.

[Chuck Nessa]

Man, are Soriano and Fukudome terrible outfielders, butchers to anything coming their way....

Cubs win.

[Tim McG]

Giants vs. Dodgers this weekend.

The oldest running rivalry in MLB heats up tonight!

[Matthew]

Giants vs. Dodgers this weekend.

The oldest running rivalry in MLB heats up tonight!

See where that freakin' idiot Vicente Padilla nailed Aaron Rowand in the face, with the result that Rowand has two small fractures in his cheek, plus a mild concussion. Texas got rid of Padilla because of stuff like this, now the Dodgers are stuck with him, especially after he signed for a big contract. Rowand has never been one of my favorites, but he plays the game full out, and that's something you have to respect, so I hope he comes back full strength. Padilla is such a loser, good luck with him Torre.

[Dan Gould]

With respect to longevity as a fan, I go all the way back to 1954 when I first saw the light at six years of age. I was born, raised and still live in Portland, Oregon. In this country, that's about as far away from New York City as you can get.

Are you fucking kidding me? "Saw the light"? You were six years old and you saw a winner. Everybody loves to root for a winner, even more so at that age if you don't have familial ties to a team with a more benighted history. You are exactly the fan Queenan writes about, and longevity will never alter the reality of why you became a fan.

Its too bad you were too young to understand what "rooting for U.S. Steel" meant.

And as for GoM, let's just say that I've often wondered what if he was studying the Plains Indians when he looked for a team? That would have been tough, finally having a good team and always going to the playoffs but only winning it all one time.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Dave James]

Are you fucking kidding me? "Saw the light"? You were six years old and you saw a winner.

Well at least that explains why I never became a Red Sox fan.

[Dan Gould]

Are you fucking kidding me? "Saw the light"? You were six years old and you saw a winner.

Well at least that explains why I never became a Red Sox fan.

Better than shameless front-running + longevity.

I'd sure as hell have a lot more respect for the likes of you if you'd only say "I was eight, I started in little league, and I loved Mickey Mantle." But no, you were six and you liked the idea of rooting for a winner. You're beneath contempt.

[Dave James]

I'd sure as hell have a lot more respect for the likes of you if you'd only say "I was eight, I started in little league, and I loved Mickey Mantle." But no, you were six and you liked the idea of rooting for a winner. You're beneath contempt.

So if I told you that I was six and loved Mickey Mantle, that doesn't work? Oh lordy, lordy, please tell me I'm not beneath contempt. That could ruin my weekend.

[PHILLYQ]

Joe Queenan tells it like it is:

I do not object to Yankees fans in principle, so long as they are homegrown, preferably natives of the Bronx or Yonkers. (Yankees fans born in Queens or Brooklyn, it goes without saying, are Iscariots.) But those of us who grew up in fiendishly inbred sports towns like Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis and even Boston cannot stomach the kind of parvenu, out-of-town front-runner who becomes a “die-hard” Yankees fan without any moral, cultural, ethnic, genetic or geographical connection with the team. And like most Americans, I reserve my greatest antipathy for the millions of bogus Yankees fans in the pink or green or red Yankees caps one routinely runs across in London, Rome, Sydney, Stockholm and Mombasa. Or, if driving, runs over.

More here.

This guy is remarkably ignorant of NYC. There was only one baseball team in NYC from 1957-1962- who would a kid from Brooklyn or Queens root for? In '62 the Mets began, and only those who are attracted to lovable comic losers, or Yank haters or die-hard NL fans rooted for them. I went to my first baseball game in 1962, a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium and became a Yank fan for life there. I'm no Iscariot and any suggestion of same is a steaming pile of poo.

That said, I'm not too crazy about the young kids who are Yank fans and only know winning and playoffs, etc. and are spoiled rotten. Yanks lose two games and they want to trade the team. I was a Yank fan in the dark years of Horace Clark, the reign of error of Stump Merrill, etc. This guy's an ignorant yutz.

[WorldB3]

Giants vs. Dodgers this weekend.

The oldest running rivalry in MLB heats up tonight!

See where that freakin' idiot Vicente Padilla nailed Aaron Rowand in the face, with the result that Rowand has two small fractures in his cheek, plus a mild concussion. Texas got rid of Padilla because of stuff like this, now the Dodgers are stuck with him, especially after he signed for a big contract. Rowand has never been one of my favorites, but he plays the game full out, and that's something you have to respect, so I hope he comes back full strength. Padilla is such a loser, good luck with him Torre.

Padilla is a piece of crap. He said last year he didn't understand why he got released by Texas. I do, I was at the game. The A's hit back to back HR's against him and he hit the next batter in the helmet. Guess what the first twwo Rangers hitters got plunked in the back the next inning. Padilla was gone the next morning. Clueless, does not deserve to wear the uniform.

[Quincy]

With respect to longevity as a fan, I go all the way back to 1954 when I first saw the light at six years of age. I was born, raised and still live in Portland, Oregon. In this country, that's about as far away from New York City as you can get.

Are you fucking kidding me? "Saw the light"? You were six years old and you saw a winner.

What the hell was he supposed to do, pick the closest team geographically? In 1954 that was the St. Louis Cardinals! (Dang Dave, you're old! ) The Cardinal radio network was powerful as they had fans out in Nebraska, Colorado & even Wyoming, but I don't think the reach extended to Orygun.

The flip side of "front-running" is picking a team because of its losing history. Some people love wallowing in "whoa is me, my poor team has never won." That crap that gets old really fast if that's all there is to the fandom. Having grown up on the Mason-Dixon line of Cub-Cardinal country I find a certain flavor of Cub fan along with many of the "persecuted" pre-2004 Red Sox fan to be even more insufferable than front-runners (which I saw plenty of around here w/ 49ers fans when they were winning. Now homeless people wear those jackets & shirts.)

Edited April 17, 2010 by Quincy

[ghost of miles]

With respect to longevity as a fan, I go all the way back to 1954 when I first saw the light at six years of age. I was born, raised and still live in Portland, Oregon. In this country, that's about as far away from New York City as you can get.

Are you fucking kidding me? "Saw the light"? You were six years old and you saw a winner. Everybody loves to root for a winner, even more so at that age if you don't have familial ties to a team with a more benighted history. You are exactly the fan Queenan writes about, and longevity will never alter the reality of why you became a fan.

Its too bad you were too young to understand what "rooting for U.S. Steel" meant.

And as for GoM, let's just say that I've often wondered what if he was studying the Plains Indians when he looked for a team? That would have been tough, finally having a good team and always going to the playoffs but only winning it all one time.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

What the hell does it matter? Jesus Christ, Dan, I am so SICK of this shit. Grow up. Talk about beneath contempt...so much for the "new and improved" version, I guess. What prompted this jeremiad in the first place, anyway--NY's good start this season? You called somebody else out on troll-like behavior the other day and by posting Queenan's goofy column you've replicated exactly what you were knocking elsewhere. You're attacking posters here simply on the basis of a baseball team they happen to like. Why can't you just talk about the game and what's happening on or off the field? You have a lot of insight to offer--why go off into some obsessive degeneracy over the Yankees?

I'm sorry to sound rather angry and personal, but your diatribes against Yankee fans have taken that personal tack here. Telling Dave James, a nice, smart guy and a longtime poster, that he's "beneath contempt" because he's a lifelong Yankee fan? I mean, c'mon--you can go to any Yahoo message board and find plenty of like-minded folk if that's what you're into. It's not worthy of you.

Edited April 17, 2010 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Joe Queenan tells it like it is:

I do not object to Yankees fans in principle, so long as they are homegrown, preferably natives of the Bronx or Yonkers. (Yankees fans born in Queens or Brooklyn, it goes without saying, are Iscariots.) But those of us who grew up in fiendishly inbred sports towns like Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis and even Boston cannot stomach the kind of parvenu, out-of-town front-runner who becomes a “die-hard” Yankees fan without any moral, cultural, ethnic, genetic or geographical connection with the team. And like most Americans, I reserve my greatest antipathy for the millions of bogus Yankees fans in the pink or green or red Yankees caps one routinely runs across in London, Rome, Sydney, Stockholm and Mombasa. Or, if driving, runs over.

More here.

This guy is remarkably ignorant of NYC. There was only one baseball team in NYC from 1957-1962- who would a kid from Brooklyn or Queens root for? In '62 the Mets began, and only those who are attracted to lovable comic losers, or Yank haters or die-hard NL fans rooted for them. I went to my first baseball game in 1962, a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium and became a Yank fan for life there. I'm no Iscariot and any suggestion of same is a steaming pile of poo.

That said, I'm not too crazy about the young kids who are Yank fans and only know winning and playoffs, etc. and are spoiled rotten. Yanks lose two games and they want to trade the team. I was a Yank fan in the dark years of Horace Clark, the reign of error of Stump Merrill, etc. This guy's an ignorant yutz.

...and there's no reason why anybody here should have to justify rooting for whatever team they happen to like, or make apologies, or offer notes of contrition. And yeah, Joe Queenan's the same guy who thinks jazz is a bunch of shite. The "I'm-gonna-tell-it-like-it-is-'n-kick-a-sacred-cow" schtick can be as phony as the things it supposedly decries.

PhillyQ, I know of what you speak...over at Pinstripe Alley a running joke is to post "FIRE GIRARDI!" any time one little thing happens to go wrong on the field. Still, any successful team will always attract its share of bandwagon jumpers (like, say, Boston after winning '04 and 07 WS, ahem... the whole "Red Sox Nation" phenomenon, etc.).

[BERIGAN]

Joe Queenan tells it like it is:

I do not object to Yankees fans in principle, so long as they are homegrown, preferably natives of the Bronx or Yonkers. (Yankees fans born in Queens or Brooklyn, it goes without saying, are Iscariots.) But those of us who grew up in fiendishly inbred sports towns like Philadelphia, Cleveland, St. Louis and even Boston cannot stomach the kind of parvenu, out-of-town front-runner who becomes a “die-hard” Yankees fan without any moral, cultural, ethnic, genetic or geographical connection with the team. And like most Americans, I reserve my greatest antipathy for the millions of bogus Yankees fans in the pink or green or red Yankees caps one routinely runs across in London, Rome, Sydney, Stockholm and Mombasa. Or, if driving, runs over.

More here.

This guy is remarkably ignorant of NYC. There was only one baseball team in NYC from 1957-1962- who would a kid from Brooklyn or Queens root for? In '62 the Mets began, and only those who are attracted to lovable comic losers, or Yank haters or die-hard NL fans rooted for them. I went to my first baseball game in 1962, a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium and became a Yank fan for life there. I'm no Iscariot and any suggestion of same is a steaming pile of poo.

That said, I'm not too crazy about the young kids who are Yank fans and only know winning and playoffs, etc. and are spoiled rotten. Yanks lose two games and they want to trade the team. I was a Yank fan in the dark years of Horace Clark, the reign of error of Stump Merrill, etc. This guy's an ignorant yutz.

[Matthew]

The way Tim Lincecum & Felix Hernandez are going, they're not going lose a game this year. Lincecum especially looks great.

[Tim McG]

Lincecum looked good at the plate as well as on the mound; went 3-4 with 3RBIs. Not too shabby, eh?

Wellemeyer OTOH, well....I think Triple-A Fresno looms large for this BP pitcher. Prime meat for hitters. Wow.

[Neal Pomea]

Another win for the Internats! Hope we can get Ryan Zimmerman back on the field in good shape.

[WorldB3]

Can the Mets or Cardinals score a fricken run? 16 innings 0-0?

Congrats to Jimenez of the Rockies on the no no.

A's and Giants both looked good today. If Zito wants to win the heart of Giants fans he needs to beat the Dodgers on Sunday.

[Dave James]

I can understand why Dan is pissed off. The Red Sox are looking like they might drop a deuce to the Rays today. In the first of two, Manny Delcarmen got his bell rung so badly in the late innings that the Tower of London would probably like him to start making relief appearances on their behalf. And In the nightcap, Clay Bucholltz surendered a four spot in the first inning. No hitting and no pitching make for a lethal combination in the AL East.

On a more positive note., Ubaldo Jimenez just pitched the first no-hitter in the history of the Colorado Rockies tonight against the Braves. He gave up six walks, so it's not exactly a perfect game, but a no-no is still a no-no. Congrats to him and to the Rockies.

Edited April 18, 2010 by Dave James

[Brad]

The Mets Cards game has to be one of the more interesting ones recently, just for the fact it went 20. Cards in extra innings ran themselves out of a few innings and certain decisions weren too sharp such LaRussa not hitting for the pitcher with the bases loaded or Luttwig running with Pujols at bad; he was called out on a call that could have gone either way.

I wouldn't say the pitching was great; the offenses were relatively inept.

Memorable game though.

[Tim McG]

I can understand why Dan is pissed off. The Red Sox are looking like might drop a deuce to the Rays today. In the first of two, Manny Delcarmen got his bell run so badly in the late innings that the Tower of London would probably like him to start making relief appearances on their behalf. And In the nightcap, Clay Bucholltz surendered a four spot in the first inning. No hitting and no pitching make for a lethal combination in the AL East.

On a more positive note., Ubaldo Jimenez just pitched the first no-hitter in the history of the Colorado Rockies tonight against the Braves. He gave up six walks, so it's not exactly a perfect game, but a no-no is still a no-no. Congrats to him and to the Rockies.

Dave, Dude...Dan is pissed off 24-7/365.

The BoSox are just another reason.

[Dave James]

I think Dan's a good guy. He just gets a little wound up from time to time.

[Brad]

I think Dan's a good guy. He just gets a little wound up from time to time.

We all do; it's in the nature of being passionate about things.