2015 MLB Season - Let's Play Two!

[JSngry]

"LOS CUBBIES!!!!"

"...PRIMERA VEZ!..."

now what I did NOT know is that "swing and a miss" in Spanish is "swingandamiss!!!" one word.

That must be that North Side Spanish!

I know my Uncle Bob would be happy as hell right now if he was still alive, but then again, you can only ask people to live for so long, right?

Not meaning to alienate any Mets or Dodger fans, but going forth, I gotta be GO CUBS! in NL, and barring the chef forgetting the double order of Texas Toast that's sure to come tomorrow, all the way into the WS if it goes like that.

I like Pat.

Oh, Iiked him too. I was going back and forth, just because I could. And because the "temperature" of excitement is different when you don't really understand the words..not better, just different.

Even though AtBat lags behind the TV by almost 10 seconds, I wanted to hear it from people who really cared. It was fun.

 

Also switched over to KMOX to hear, I think it was Mike Shannon, sound unhappy. That was fun too!

[TedR]

I'm an Indians fan and usually only follow the American League. But I'm rooting for the Cubs the rest of this post season.

[Milestones]

I'm also an Indians fan, but I really like the Cubs this year.  Plus I have relatives in Chicago.

[Scott Dolan]

Fuck Mike Shannon. 

Fuck the Cardinals. 

And especially, FUCK the Cardinals obnoxious POS fans in mid Missouri. 

They can all tongue my fucking balls. 

I can't stand the Cubs, but tonight is a damn good night! 

Actually, I have nothing against the Cubs as a team, I just hate that fucking nasty toilet they play in. 

[Chuck Nessa]

Sorry Wrigley isn't up to your standards. I have enjoyed the place for years. I miss the old Comiskey Park and like Fenway too.

[JSngry]

Did you ever make it to Briggs/Tiger Stadium, Chuck?

[Chuck Nessa]

Nope. Never had any Michigan connections beyond living here.

 

[Scott Dolan]

I'm spoiled because we have two of the greatest and modern stadiums in MLB right here in Missouri. With comfortable seats designed to supply some elbow room. I suppose Wrigley has its old school charm, but it's more a great place to tour than a good place to watch a game. 

[Larry Kart]

All through the lineup, and including the manager, this year's Cubs team is about as appealing a bunch as I've ever seen, and I've been a White Sox fan since 1951. I mean that many rookies and other young players, all making major contributions. Also, Kyle Schwarber ( a.k.a. "Baby Babe Ruth") has the biggest head of any ballplayer in capitivity. Only weakness I can see is starting pitching after Arietta and Lester. 

[JSngry]

Are we talking about biggest head in terms of absolute measurement, or baseball-card-looking big?

Like this guy:

vs

vs, especially

I think people could afford bigger heads back then because the earth was less crowded, so there was not the need to save the air space that there is now. also, fewer airplanes, satellites, and grackles everydamnwhere. A man could go ahead and rock the big head without fear of random collision (be it intentional OR accidental) with his fellow intraplaneteries.

Plus, you know, it was The Golden Age Of Big Head Baseball Players, thank god we have it all captured on cardboard.

[Larry Kart]

Kyle's head. He supposedly wears a size 7 1/2 hat, which means that the circumference of his head is 23 1/2 inches. Other sources say he wears a size 8 hat, which would be a circumference of 25 inches.

Duke Snider's hat size was 7 1/8:

http://www.legendaryauctions.com/duke_snider_1957_brooklyn_dodgers_game_used_cap-lot164996.aspx

 

Edited October 14, 2015 by Larry Kart

[JSngry]

Less than an hour to learn Duke Snider's hat  size. Tell me that this is not THE best of all possible worlds!

[Brad]

Neither the Cubs nor Cardinals are among my favorite teams; Cub fans still whine about 1969.  However, I know that they will draw big ratings and be America's darlings.  Mike Shannon? One of the worst broadcasters and biggest homers around.  Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I've never been to Wrigley but places like that and Fenway are our cathedrals.   

Duke, a great CF and part of the trio of great CFers (along with Mays and Mantle) when NY was the center of the baseball universe.  Saw him play at the old Polo Grounds. 

[Dave Garrett]

And the notion that the odds of sports fans in Texas' two biggest cities being more invested in baseball than in football on a Sunday where the NFL season is fully underway are at least 50/50 defies any type of physics, known or unknown.

Indeed. It's somewhere between ridiculous and ironic that Houston now has very good baseball and basketball teams, and a perpetually godawful football team, but guess who still gets the lion's share of viewership, let alone media coverage? I just saw a piece last week that claimed that almost twice as many people on average were watching Texans preseason games (featuring mostly second-stringers) than watched the Astros-Yankees wild card game.

Football is king in Texas. 'Twas ever thus, and seemingly always will be, unfortunately for those of us who recognize the clear superiority of baseball. 

I know I'd watch more Astros games if it were possible with any of the cable providers in Corpus Christi, and so would many other fans in this area.  This is an Astros market, but since the Astros have been on "Root Sports" and whatever it was before that, they simply aren't available here to watch.  They used to be on Fox Sports all the time.  

So I can understand why the Astros tv market is small, even in Houston over that general timeframe, with some games getting a 0.0 viewership.

What still doesn't make sense to me is why Houston is considered a small market for baseball when it's the 4th largest city in the nation.

 

 

Root Sports took over Comcast SportsNet after the latter's bankruptcy. CSN was collectively owned by Comcast, the Rockets, and the Astros, but most people never got to see televised Astros or Rockets games even in Houston because said ownership wouldn't budge on the carriage fees they were asking from competing providers like DirectTV, Dish Network, and AT&T U-Verse. The upshot was you were screwed if you didn't have Comcast cable, the only provider that carried the channel. Neither side would budge, and CSN eventually went bankrupt without the revenue from the carriage fees. As soon as Root got the remnants, the other providers were able to pick up the rebranded channel, and order was partially restored, but there are a lot of people still pissed off over the whole affair. Collateral damage was that CSN had very good, detailed local sports coverage for lots of other things besides MLB and NBA, all the way down to high school football, all of which went away as that kind of reporting isn't really in Root's wheelhouse.

I also heard that Houston has surpassed Chicago for the 5th spot. Chicago is the Sixth City now.

Not for another 15 years or so, according to recent projections. Houston is actually #4 now and Chicago is #3, but growth in Chicago has slowed to a crawl and is still booming in Houston, so most demographers think it's no longer a question of if but when Houston will pass Chicago. There's still plenty of undeveloped/redeveloped land in the Houston area to absorb future growth, which is certainly not the case in Chicago.

[JSngry]

The Astrodome was my cathedral. Space Age. Local. Best of Both Worlds, just not of All Worlds.

Roy Hofheinz was my (allen) shepherd, I shall not win. He madeth me to lie down in green-ish turftures. His rods and his staffs, they tortured me. Lo, though I walked through the valleys of a ten team National League, I was not in last place.

And then, 1969, the year the O's made it back and 1966 made some more sense. I liked orange, next thing I know, it was an Agent.

Me, I blame Nixon. It's handy and you'll never be COMPLETELY wrong.

Space age, that's a contradiction, is it not?

NOW they tell me.

Come back, Ed White, we hardly knew you.

 

[Scott Dolan]

 

I've never been to Wrigley but places like that and Fenway are our cathedrals.   

 

And it's all about sentimentalism. 

Wrigley is a dump. 

Though perhaps it's gotten better with the renovations, who knows? The atmosphere of Wrigleyville is really cool, but the stadium itself is a hole. I've been to better low A stadiums. 

Or, let me put it another way. Wrigley Field comes from the same era when the Model T was the hottest car on the block. Now, let's say you drive a relatively new Vette as a daily driver. Is driving that Model T going to really be that exciting? It'll be a somewhat cool novelty to tell your friends about, but that's about it. 

But, I do agree that Shannon is one of the biggest homers in the announcing world. Perhaps a tick below Hawk Harrelson, but it's close. 

Edited October 14, 2015 by Scott Dolan

[Scott Dolan]

Here, this pretty much sums up my feelings on Wrigley. 

http://www.si.com/more-sports/2011/06/17/wrigley

[Brad]

That article doesn't completely convince me, not to mention its four years old. I notice they talk about the new Yankee Stadium and it's soulless. Unlike old YS it has no personality. 

At at any rate new ownership has renovated or is renovating the place. 

Regarding last night's game, I'm not terribly optimistic about tomorrow. Bats have been generally quiet for a couple of weeks, Monday being a major exception.  deGrom will need to be close to perfect to win. They may need to bring in Syndergaard at some point, with him and Colon being a bridge to Familia.  No one else in that pen is trustworthy. 

Edited October 14, 2015 by Brad

[Dan Gould]

Well my only concern after the Cubbies won was that Dodgers force a fifth game and I got that, having either Grienke or the Mets ace out until game 3, and Kershaw can't go until Game 2 if the Dodgers win Thursday. Still like the Mets as an opponent and not only because the Cubs went 7-0 but Lester sported an ERA over 8 against LA.

 

Have to agree with Larry that the Cubs starters after Arrieta and Lester are problematic but they've got hitters up and down the lineup and a few of them are pretty locked in right now.  I like their chances.

 

[Scott Dolan]

That article doesn't completely convince me, not to mention its four years old. I notice they talk about the new Yankee Stadium and it's soulless. Unlike old YS it has no personality. 

 

More sentimentality would be my guess. 

Saw it here when Busch II was demolished and the Cardinals moved into Busch III, one of the cleanest, well thought out, and comfortable stadiums in MLB, with arguably the best outfield view, period. Old schoolers bitched and moaned and said it just lacked the personality of the old Busch, and that games just weren't as fun in the new stadium.

Hahahaha…yeah. Busch II was the old cookie cutter multi-sport shithole a la Veterans and Fulton County Stadium. 

Went to several games at the old Busch, and have been to several games in III. People that miss Busch II need their heads examined. 

 

Sentimental. Memories. First time going to a game with their dad. First time going to a game with their son.

I get it. 

But the difference between the two stadiums is night and day. 

[JSngry]

I went to a couple of games in the old Busch, and yeah, it was cool, and yeah, they were ballgames, all of them, but it was definitely one of those generic things. You ask me what I most remember about it, the stadium itself, and I'll tell you that it was round. That's about it.

What I did dig was that you could by liquor in the convenience stores in the immediate area, so, yeah, knowck off a half pint and go watch a ball game. In a round stadium. With turf.

The last time I was in St. Louis (over a decade ago by now), I had my local buddy drive me down to where the old Sportsman's Park used to be. It's gone (I guess the field remains, though?), but if I remember the drive correctly, still standing is part of the old city gas works (or maybe it still is part of the city gas works?), any how, the stadium was right in the area of the gas works and thus the name "Gashouse Gang". All I know is that it looked old and kinda Meet Me In Saint Louis, Louie, like a lot city did. I kept looking for Judy Garland to come screaming out of nowhere on a trolley car runnig amok, OFF THE RAILS CLANGCLANGCLANG RUN FOR YOUR LIFES!  Never happened, but maybe I just got out of town in time to miss it. Who knows?

Don't get me wrong, nice town, but all the photos I've seen of old Sportsman's Park suggest that anybody having nostalgia for BuschBowl is having it because of what happened, not where it happened, not that people can really sort those things out, but still...

[johnblitweiler]

Last month for the 2nd time this century I went to Wrigley Field. Again, for the cheapest seats, paid twice what the cheapest  White Sox ticket cost - nothing wrong with that, Cubs were in a wild-card race - but again wound up in the lower deck behind a post, had to watch most infield plays on the scoreboard  replay. Had to go down 4 long flights of stairs to the mens' latrine and wait in a long, long line to stand in urine. The stadium was dirty, food selection small, seats airplane-tiny. A really lousy experience. It was a dump compared to where I usually go, the current Sox Park where it's clean and there are plenty of room for all, restrooms with dry floors and a variety of concessions on both decks, and the only thing wrong is my mismanaged (from owner on down) baseball team.

I love these young Cubs' opportunism - the bunting, stealing remind me somewhat of the Go-Go Sox of my teenaged years, plus they hit home runs now and then. No doubt there are still some old drunks who get moony over the Lovable Losers of the Sandberg-Grace-etc. years, but these bright young guys seem to have a future.

Maybe Arrietta vs. Greinke next week?

 

[Aggie87]

Are we talking about biggest head in terms of absolute measurement, or baseball-card-looking big?

I think people could afford bigger heads back then because the earth was less crowded, so there was not the need to save the air space that there is now. also, fewer airplanes, satellites, and grackles everydamnwhere. A man could go ahead and rock the big head without fear of random collision (be it intentional OR accidental) with his fellow intraplaneteries.

Plus, you know, it was The Golden Age Of Big Head Baseball Players, thank god we have it all captured on cardboard.

12 years later, we all go back to where we start:

[Scott Dolan]

Last month for the 2nd time this century I went to Wrigley Field. Again, for the cheapest seats, paid twice what the cheapest  White Sox ticket cost - nothing wrong with that, Cubs were in a wild-card race - but again wound up in the lower deck behind a post, had to watch most infield plays on the scoreboard  replay. Had to go down 4 long flights of stairs to the mens' latrine and wait in a long, long line to stand in urine. The stadium was dirty, food selection small, seats airplane-tiny. A really lousy experience. It was a dump compared to where I usually go, the current Sox Park where it's clean and there are plenty of room for all, restrooms with dry floors and a variety of concessions on both decks, and the only thing wrong is my mismanaged (from owner on down) baseball team.

 

Wow, what airplanes are you flying in? 

If Wrigley seats were as BIG as airplane seats, I would have had a more pleasant experience. 

[Larry Kart]

Last month for the 2nd time this century I went to Wrigley Field. Again, for the cheapest seats, paid twice what the cheapest  White Sox ticket cost - nothing wrong with that, Cubs were in a wild-card race - but again wound up in the lower deck behind a post, had to watch most infield plays on the scoreboard  replay. Had to go down 4 long flights of stairs to the mens' latrine and wait in a long, long line to stand in urine. The stadium was dirty, food selection small, seats airplane-tiny. A really lousy experience. It was a dump compared to where I usually go, the current Sox Park where it's clean and there are plenty of room for all, restrooms with dry floors and a variety of concessions on both decks, and the only thing wrong is my mismanaged (from owner on down) baseball team.

I love these young Cubs' opportunism - the bunting, stealing remind me somewhat of the Go-Go Sox of my teenaged years, plus they hit home runs now and then. No doubt there are still some old drunks who get moony over the Lovable Losers of the Sandberg-Grace-etc. years, but these bright young guys seem to have a future.

Maybe Arrietta vs. Greinke next week?

 

Am enjoying the heck out of this Cubs team -- haven't seen such a roster of young talent since the dawn of the Big Red Machine -- but haven't been to Wrigley in years and remember it as the dump John describes. Agree, too, with his positive view of the current Sox Park; wish we had a good team there. One nice memory of Wrigley was sitting in a front row box seat just to the screen side of  the visiting team's on deck circle and watching Stan Musial wait there on one knee. At that age -- maybe 10 or so -- figures like Musial and Ted Williams were deities.

@Brad -- No Cubs fan in his right mind (which admittedly excludes a fair number of them) whines about 1969 or talks about the Billy Goat Curse for that matter. One of the best things about the current regime is that it's defused a good deal of that, if only because no member of this team gives a hoot, or even knows, about such nonsense.

@Jim -- Absolute measurement or baseball card big, take your pick initially, but it's the former in the finals.

P.S. Finding Snider's cap size was easy. Just found a site -- EBay, I think it was --  where one of his old Dodger caps was up for sale; its size was given.