2011 MLB Season

[Chalupa]

WOW!! WHAT A COMEBACK BY THE BRAVES!!

Freddie Freeman!

Congrats to Jim Thome on joining the 600 homer club.

[Chalupa]

Check out this triple play that the Brewers turned tonight.

Edited August 16, 2011 by J.H. Deeley

[jlhoots]

Check out this triple play that the Brewers turned tonight.

Nice!

Brewers 3 - Dodgers 0

Cards lose.

Brewers up by 6.

[Patrick]

Jim Thome hit a homie, actually 600 of them!!!

Hopefully he and Omar are HOF-bound, though I suspect it make take awhile for each.

[ghost of miles]

Last night A.J. Burnett won his first August start since 2008. Albeit in less than dominant fashion. Nice moment from the game:

Young Royals fan gives young Yankee fan foul ball

Jsngry--you must be pretty happy with the Rangers' play of late.

[alocispepraluger102]

jim thome hit 2 homers in detroit last night.

the second was #600, cementing a key tiger loss.

tiger fans gave him a rousing lengthy standing ovation.

that says as much for tiger fans as it does thome.

i was listening to the tiger radio broadcast at the time.

what a classy crew!!!

(the very inexpensive mlb app (about $10/yr) allows me to listen to any and all mlb radio broadcasts live.

they are usually synched with the tv broadcast or very very close.

given the choice, i, most times, listen to the radio feed leaving the hdtv off.

our imaginations are brighter and skilled baseball wordsmiths paint better pictures than the brightest screen).

[JSngry]

Jsngry--you must be pretty happy with the Rangers' play of late.

Ben watching every game, enjoyinh the outcome and evolution, mostly, but still reserving judgement on the teams' overall character (which is what matters most to me) until the regualr season has wrapped up. Yoo many chances in the schedule betweennow and then to take a nap, look away, and UH=oh, how did THIS happen. Then there's the upcoming off-season, do we make the effort to resign C.J. Wilson or do we do the FA shuffle? Me. I like CJ, but with the moves made at the deadline, JD has shown that he knows what his team needs and will find a way to get it as shrewdly as possible, so if CJ gets made an offer he can't (or doesn't want to) refuse, I want to see what's taking his place.

Funny thing last night, though. Beltre (get that hammie mended up, bro!) was somehow right up by some mike in the dugout and was louder than hell all through the Rangers 5th. When Cruz hit his homer, there was a loud OH SHIT that was heard over the airways, louder than the announcers. Another one was heard when Mike Napoli followed right up with a solo shot, another SUPER loud OH SHIT out of the dugout and on to the airways courtesy of Adrian Beltre.

But yeah, too much time between now and then to get all fanboy and just LOVE the Rangers, but...they went through too long thinking that things would just "happen" for them like they did last year, and no, things don't just "happen" you have to work to get them. Starting to see more and more of that as the end draws nearer, and when Beltre, who I've longed viwed as the wok-ethic "soul" of this team gets back (early Sept., most likely), that is when the tale will be told - will CJ bump it up and lock it in? Will Colby lose the vestiges of Bad Colby that still pop up at eh least expected places? Will Matt Harrison finally decide that all the drama of one rough/dangerous/bad inning just isn't worth it any more? Will Derek Holland just freakin' GROW UP? Will Alexi Ogando manage to keep zooming through this uncharted territory w/o one day just...breaking?

Lots more questions to see answered between now and the end of September, but I've been most very happ with watching them get worked out, and am very happy at the preliminary answers. Been to the ballpark for seven games this year, most I've been to since...ever? Probably got a game or two left in me before it's all over too. I want to commit to this team, an almost have. But after years of Cowboys & Mavericks style-over-substance, and too many years of Rangers Tease, I need to know that there's more than just "sports entertainment" going on in Arlington. With all the injuries this year, if we can win the division in a convincing manner (i.e. - keep the Angels at bay ourselves w/o having to depend on the kindness of strangers) and win the West, I'll be satisfied. After that, either Yankees or Red Sox have the more veteran team, and a veteran-type patience with at bats is the one thing the Rangers have yet to learn, and I think that will be their downfall in this years' playoffs, should they make it. But just making it, even more than last year, will be a triumph, because there has been no "lightening in a bottle" this year. This year has been all about work - full team work - in the face of adversity, key players out for long stretches, wildly inconsistent pitching, a team just now starting to look like they're finally going to "click on all cylinders", well, ok, let's see. They've been winning enough to lead the west all season, but they could also have had a record by now that would have been SCARY good, easy. At least 10-15 of their losses were due to a laxity of mental character, the inability to just make the plays that needed to be made, and that could/should have been made. But that's getting better now.

I'm willing to be convinced, but they're going to have to convince me.

[alocispepraluger102]

Jsngry--you must be pretty happy with the Rangers' play of late.

Ben watching every game, enjoyinh the outcome and evolution, mostly, but still reserving judgement on the teams' overall character (which is what matters most to me) until the regualr season has wrapped up. Yoo many chances in the schedule betweennow and then to take a nap, look away, and UH=oh, how did THIS happen. Then there's the upcoming off-season, do we make the effort to resign C.J. Wilson or do we do the FA shuffle? Me. I like CJ, but with the moves made at the deadline, JD has shown that he knows what his team needs and will find a way to get it as shrewdly as possible, so if CJ gets made an offer he can't (or doesn't want to) refuse, I want to see what's taking his place.

Funny thing last night, though. Beltre (get that hammie mended up, bro!) was somehow right up by some mike in the dugout and was louder than hell all through the Rangers 5th. When Cruz hit his homer, there was a loud OH SHIT that was heard over the airways, louder than the announcers. Another one was heard when Mike Napoli followed right up with a solo shot, another SUPER loud OH SHIT out of the dugout and on to the airways courtesy of Adrian Beltre.

But yeah, too much time between now and then to get all fanboy and just LOVE the Rangers, but...they went through too long thinking that things would just "happen" for them like they did last year, and no, things don't just "happen" you have to work to get them. Starting to see more and more of that as the end draws nearer, and when Beltre, who I've longed viwed as the wok-ethic "soul" of this team gets back (early Sept., most likely), that is when the tale will be told - will CJ bump it up and lock it in? Will Colby lose the vestiges of Bad Colby that still pop up at eh least expected places? Will Matt Harrison finally decide that all the drama of one rough/dangerous/bad inning just isn't worth it any more? Will Derek Holland just freakin' GROW UP? Will Alexi Ogando manage to keep zooming through this uncharted territory w/o one day just...breaking?

Lots more questions to see answered between now and the end of September, but I've been most very happ with watching them get worked out, and am very happy at the preliminary answers. Been to the ballpark for seven games this year, most I've been to since...ever? Probably got a game or two left in me before it's all over too. I want to commit to this team, an almost have. But after years of Cowboys & Mavericks style-over-substance, and too many years of Rangers Tease, I need to know that there's more than just "sports entertainment" going on in Arlington. With all the injuries this year, if we can win the division in a convincing manner (i.e. - keep the Angels at bay ourselves w/o having to depend on the kindness of strangers) and win the West, I'll be satisfied. After that, either Yankees or Red Sox have the more veteran team, and a veteran-type patience with at bats is the one thing the Rangers have yet to learn, and I think that will be their downfall in this years' playoffs, should they make it. But just making it, even more than last year, will be a triumph, because there has been no "lightening in a bottle" this year. This year has been all about work - full team work - in the face of adversity, key players out for long stretches, wildly inconsistent pitching, a team just now starting to look like they're finally going to "click on all cylinders", well, ok, let's see. They've been winning enough to lead the west all season, but they could also have had a record by now that would have been SCARY good, easy. At least 10-15 of their losses were due to a laxity of mental character, the inability to just make the plays that needed to be made, and that could/should have been made. But that's getting better now.

I'm willing to be convinced, but they're going to have to convince me.

.....playing baseball in that intense heat would wipe out, or seriously diminish, any team by season's end.

although your stadium is fabulous, your team would be better in a dome.

[paul secor]

Last night A.J. Burnett won his first August start since 2008. Albeit in less than dominant fashion.

That's something of an understatement - 10 hits in 5.2 innings. If the Yanks hadn't been playing the Royals, Burnett still wouldn't have a win in August for three years. What's it going to take to sit that guy down?

[JSngry]

.....playing baseball in that intense heat would wipe out, or seriously diminish, any team by season's end.

although your stadium is fabulous, your team would be better in a dome.

There are those who continue to make that point, but ultimately, I would disagree. The heat is intense, but as with any other climatic quirk, the body adjusts. I myself worked three summers doing roustabout work in the oil fields, and that was during the heat of the day, no night games there! It's very manageable, actually, to work in this heat, all sorts of jobs call for it, and all types of people do it. There's no secret to it - just stay hydrated, break before you get broken, and rest in the interval between the time your job is done and you have to do it again.But the body acclimates, wonderful organism that it is.

DFW basewball fans used to blame the heat in the old days, before those late-90s teams won three divisional titles in four years. Then, with the Hicks/A-Rod fiascos, it became apparent that the best climate in the world couldn't protect you against bad players and even worse management. There's no excuses now. Everybody knows that ti's hot here, and everybody knows that it is possible to win here. The heat is no longer an excuse, if indeed it ever was one.

what I do not understand, and this goes back to the maturity of our hitters, is when you get a 3rd or 4th starter from a visiting team in here, the guy is obviously drenching just warming up, and our guys go up there first and/or second pitch swinging, Hell, make that motherfucker work, ya; know? We're used to it, he's not, wear him down, wear him out. I've seen that too often for my taste, just going up there swinging and letting the guy off easy, keeping his pitch count low in 104, 105 degree heat.

That heat is our friend. Use it!

[alocispepraluger102]

pardon the sensitivity to heat and athletics.

5 years ago in sunny 95 degree heat, aloc was playing, outside at 2pm, full court basketball with a bunch of in shape young bucks well less than half his 63 years

he, 3 days later, found that he had suffered a mini stroke during the game.

his shots all were missing the basket 2 feet to the right and he got a bad headache.

texans are athletically superior, it seems; brother aloc is not.

Edited August 16, 2011 by alocispepraluger102

[Chalupa]

Rangers to honor Stone's memory

"Our hope is that this statue will not be a symbol of our family tragedy but rather a reminder of the importance of a family's love -- love of each other, love of spending time together, and love of the game."

The Rangers have announced plans to extend the height of all the rails at the ballpark to 42 inches, an increase of as much as 12 inches in certain areas. The club is currently working with engineers on the design phase and hope to begin to implement the new rails either before this season is over or during the offseason.

:tup

Wish the Phillies(and the rest of the MLB) would do something similar before another fall occurs

[alocispepraluger102]

Rangers to honor Stone's memory

"Our hope is that this statue will not be a symbol of our family tragedy but rather a reminder of the importance of a family's love -- love of each other, love of spending time together, and love of the game."

The Rangers have announced plans to extend the height of all the rails at the ballpark to 42 inches, an increase of as much as 12 inches in certain areas. The club is currently working with engineers on the design phase and hope to begin to implement the new rails either before this season is over or during the offseason.

:tup

Wish the Phillies(and the rest of the MLB) would do something similar before another fall occurs

the rangers are fast BECOMING the class operation of baseball.

[JSngry]

pardon the sensitivity to heat and athletics.

5 years ago in sunny 95 degree heat, aloc was playing, outside at 2pm, full court basketball with a bunch of in shape young bucks well less than half his 63 years

he, 3 days later, found that he had suffered a mini stroke during the game.

his shots all were missing the basket 2 feet to the right and he got a bad headache.

texans are athletically superior, it seems; brother aloc is not.

brother aloc was 63 then. brother jim is 55 & change now...neither one of us should be trying to do in this heat what we did when we were younger. Nowadays, I don't even try. Don't need to, so don't try to.

Now, if you would have been in this heat when you were 25 or so, you'd have kicked ass, I'm sure, and enjoyed plentiful beerage and bodacious barbequeage after you did. In the air-conditioning, of course!

[JSngry]

the rangers are fast BECOMING the class operation of baseball.

I'll be happy with just being "a" class operation instead of "the" class operation, but yeah, it's been a nice contrast to the Cowboys & Mavs, and it's still a work in progress that could all go bad at any given time, life being live, sports being sports, and bizness being bizness and all that, but...when one is surrounded by so much with which one does not wish to be even remotely associated, one watches and one hopes to have something local to feel pride in at all levels.

Don't know where, or even if, this fits in to any of that, but one of the Rangers' billionaire oil-pig owners wrote lyrics to a Merle Haggard song based on Ron Washington's rapidly-becoming-immortal phrase "That's the way baseball go" got Merle to record it, and it is now available on iTunes, with all proceeds going to the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation, the team's community outreach/charity organization.

"Story" (and low-quality mp3 of the whole song) here: http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2011/aug/10/audio-thats-the-way-baseball-go-merle-haggard-wash/?refscroll=114

Me, I think it's pretty badly country-emo, but hey, that's the way Texas baseball ownership go. I will say that the song's intro sounds pretty damn awesome coming over the PA speakers on the way out of the ballpark after a loss. Hopefully I'll get to hear it after a win, just to have a fully informed opinion...

[alocispepraluger102]

pardon the sensitivity to heat and athletics.

5 years ago in sunny 95 degree heat, aloc was playing, outside at 2pm, full court basketball with a bunch of in shape young bucks well less than half his 63 years

he, 3 days later, found that he had suffered a mini stroke during the game.

his shots all were missing the basket 2 feet to the right and he got a bad headache.

texans are athletically superior, it seems; brother aloc is not.

brother aloc was 63 then. brother jim is 55 & change now...neither one of us should be trying to do in this heat what we did when we were younger. Nowadays, I don't even try. Don't need to, so don't try to.

Now, if you would have been in this heat when you were 25 or so, you'd have kicked ass, I'm sure, and enjoyed plentiful beerage and bodacious barbequeage after you did. In the air-conditioning, of course!

sad to say, the ears and brain, as well, slightly lose their ability to react to, comprehend, absorb, and emote to remarkable music performance.

[Chalupa]

Dang a disappointing loss for Halladay and the Phillies tonight and another exciting win by the Braves over the Giants. Maybe they NL East isn't over after all.

Edited August 17, 2011 by J.H. Deeley

[jlhoots]

Brewers 2 - Dodgers 1.

Cardinals lose.

Brewers up by 7 games.

[ghost of miles]

Derek Jeter's been on a tear since coming off the DL, looking much more like the Jeter of old:

Since being activated on July 4, Jeter entered play on Tuesday batting .326 (45-for-138) with eight doubles, two triples, two homers and 24 RBIs in 34 games.

(And he went 2-6 tonight, with a single and a double and two RBIs.)

This might be the reason why.

[ghost of miles]

Jeff Passan ranks the toughness of the remaining schedules for 14 playoff-candidate teams.

[JSngry]

Jeff Passan ranks the toughness of the remaining schedules for 14 playoff-candidate teams.

I've had those Red Sox games in mind pretty much all season long (and taking Toot Toot Priity Kritty Toot Toot to the one this coming Tuesday to celebrate her 21st b-day)...which is why I'm not even slightly beginning to relax with a 6-7 game lead. Quite the opposite, in fact.

[Dan Gould]

You're getting them at exactly the right time, just as you did at the start of the season. Ortiz is out for a week and might play the last game of the trip, Youkilis is headed for the DL, Gonzalez has one home run since the ASB with a lingering neck issue. They've gotten three hits per game for three straight games.

Given who the Yankees play and who the Red Sox play, I will be shocked if the Yankees don't have a three game lead by the start of their series at the Fens at the end of August.

[BERIGAN]

Jim Thome hit a homie, actually 600 of them!!!

Hopefully he and Omar are HOF-bound, though I suspect it make take awhile for each.

Well, if they keep playing, very true!

two very nice stories on a very nice guy....

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/rumblings110816/jim-thome-truly-real-caring-person

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/6847957/road-600-home-runs-memorable-one-jim-thome

Edited August 18, 2011 by BERIGAN

[BERIGAN]

What a hideous and embarrassing weekend in Seattle.

It's a different team than the one that got pounded on at Fenway with at least 4 new guys in the lineup. Forget Justin Smoak, now it's Mike Carp at 1st! You can't have enough 25 year old 1st base prospects to pin your hopes to I always say. A new kid at 3rd, a LF platoon, and we even threw Willie Mo Pena out there to haunt his former team. Not sure about giving Willie Mo at bats over the kids, but if it were between Willie & Cust at this point I'll vote the former. Maybe these guys can play spoiler in September - or start another losing streak.

Did ya know, Willy Mo, (hey that...nevermind) had 5 HR's in 46 AB's in Arizona, and I think 2 game winning hits??? That's why I couldn't figure out them releasing him....

WOW!! WHAT A COMEBACK BY THE BRAVES!!

Freddie Freeman!

Congrats to Jim Thome on joining the 600 homer club.

Hey! We are rivals! Aren't we supposed to hate each other's teams???

It's funny, but never hated the Phils, like watching them play(Just not against the braves) used to hate the Mets(Mainly their online fans) but heck, I like the way they play these days...

So...who should be the NL ROY??? Freeman? 16 HR's 60 RBI's, .295 BA, .360 OBP, all the while playing as good a 1st base defense as you will see, all at the age of 21....or Craig Kimbrel, with 36 saves, 1.81 ERA, and 94 K's in 59 innings???

Edited August 18, 2011 by BERIGAN

[Chalupa]

WOW!! WHAT A COMEBACK BY THE BRAVES!!

Freddie Freeman!

Congrats to Jim Thome on joining the 600 homer club.

Hey! We are rivals! Aren't we supposed to hate each other's teams???

It's funny, but never hated the Phils, like watching them play(Just not against the braves) used to hate the Mets(Mainly their online fans) but heck, I like the way they play these days...

So...who should be the NL ROY??? Freeman? 16 HR's 60 RBI's, .295 BA, .360 OBP, all the while playing as good a 1st base defense as you will see, all at the age of 21....or Craig Kimbrel, with 36 saves, 1.81 ERA, and 94 K's in 59 innings???

Always liked the Braves. I miss not getting their games on TBS anymore. Though I do like to razz their fans about not showing up for playoff games, etc.

RE: ROY. I think it's gotta be Freeman. Kimbrel has been spectacular but Freeman is an everyday player. And that game winning hit he had over the Giants this week sealed the deal me thinks.

Edited August 18, 2011 by J.H. Deeley