2022 MLB Season Thread

[ghost of miles]

Marlins pitcher called for three balks against a single batter

Bleier had logged 300+ career appearances without ever being called for a balk. First call seemed borderline to me, second and third more the first-base ump being an excessive stickler and suddenly deciding to make a point. I mean, if they’re going to suddenly start repeatedly calling that a balk, we’re going to see a lot of unhappy pitchers. It would be akin to the NBA suddenly enforcing the traveling penalty in the strictest, letter-of-the-law fashion. (Saying this in part because iirc Showalter said after the game that MLB stated they were going to crack down on this type of “balk.” If true—that MLB has decided with two weeks to go in the regular season that they’re going to more strictly enforce a certain aspect of the balk rule—that’s certifiably nuts, given pitchers’ mechanics and muscle memory. That’s a change you’d want to make at the beginning of spring training, but given the way they handled the sticky-stuff issue, I wouldn’t be surprised.)

[soulpope]

No 99  Aaron Judge ties after 61 years the American League (and MLB overall non stereoid enhanced) homerun record of 61 homeruns by Roger Maris .... congrats for making history !!

[jlhoots]

Brewers trying to sneak past Phillies for last NL wild card.

 

[Dan Gould]

At this point is it possible Pujols reaches 704 and Judge ends up at 61? I am probably jinxing it now and Judge will get his tater and Pujols will be done.

 

Can I make a Hot Stove prediction early?  Judge will use the Red Sox to extract $450 or $500 million from the Yankees, just as Teixeira did many moons ago.

[jlhoots]

On 9/29/2022 at 7:22 AM, jlhoots said:

Brewers trying to sneak past Phillies for last NL wild card.

 

Didn't happen. Oh, well.

[ghost of miles]

One Swing, One Superstar, One Night We Will Remember Forever

I managed to see #59, 60, 61 and 62 as they happened. (Well, on TV… not at the ballpark!) Happy to celebrate it simply as the new American League record… and certainly, on some level, to see it as an unofficial non-PED mark. Paul O’Neill and David Cone talked on the YES broadcast last night about feeling stunned afterwards, even though Judge breaking the record had been fully expected for the past couple of weeks (though doubt was starting to creep in as the regular season came ever closer to its end without his having done it yet). Congratulations to #99, one of the 21st century’s most iconic and beloved players… thanks for writing a new chapter of baseball history.

[soulpope]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

One Swing, One Superstar, One Night We Will Remember Forever

I managed to see #59, 60, 61 and 62 as they happened. (Well, on TV… not at the ballpark!) Happy to celebrate it simply as the new American League record… and certainly, on some level, to see it as an unofficial non-PED mark. Paul O’Neill and David Cone talked on the YES broadcast last night about feeling stunned afterwards, even though Judge breaking the record had been fully expected for the past couple of weeks (though doubt was starting to creep in as the regular season came ever closer to its end without his having done it yet). Congratulations to #99, one of the 21st century’s most iconic and beloved players… thanks for writing a new chapter of baseball history.

Spot on .... 

[Dan Gould]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

Congratulations to #99, one of the 21st century’s most iconic and beloved players… thanks for writing a new chapter of baseball history.

With all due respect to Judge, "most iconic and beloved" is begging for the qualifier "in New York" or "among Yankee fans". He's 30 years old and is sitting at 220 homers.   As an example, after David Ortiz age 31 season he had won two World Series and was a beloved icon in ... Red Sox Nation.

For Judge, setting aside 2020, he's had three seasons of health and two seasons of not-so-much.  Who knows what the future brings?   

Can we save "most iconic and beloved" for when he's closer to the end of his career and a tad higher up the career lists?  

[JSngry]

Mike Judge, yeah, that I can see.

[HutchFan]

10.5 games back in June... and then sweeping three games from the Mets over the weekend, beating both DeGrom and Scherzer...   Yeah.

Don't count this team out until it is over.

 

[soulpope]

On the MLB Video documenting HR  No. 62 we can see a lot of Rangers Fans applauding to Judge .... well, talking about love ....

[Dan Gould]

17 minutes ago, soulpope said:

On the MLB Video documenting HR  No. 62 we can see a lot of Rangers Fans applauding to Judge .... well, talking about love ....

Fans everywhere appreciate accomplishments. Doesn't make him a beloved icon to Rangers fans. Maybe if he reaches Pujols levels of accomplishment.

[GA Russell]

How many home runs did Judge have after 154 games?

[ghost of miles]

46 minutes ago, GA Russell said:

How many home runs did Judge have after 154 games?

60.  He tied Ruth's 1927 mark around game 146 or 147, iirc.  He's sitting today, so he's going to end with 62.

I've been watching Judge with the Yankees since he hit a HR in his first MLB at-bat in 2016.  There are kids (and adults!) wearing Judge jerseys and rooting for him at nearly every road game the Yankees play--that's been going on for years, well before this epic accomplishment.  He hit 52 HRs as a rookie and now has broken Maris' single-season record.  His physical size, his uniform number, his name, his overall athletic ability, his likabillity and appeal to a broad base of baseball fans... after last night, he's an icon.  And no disrespect to David Ortiz, who's certainly an icon himself, but World Series championships are won by teams, and Judge's lack of a ring so far does not exclude him from that status--unless we're going to say Mike Trout's not an iconic figure, or Shohei Ohtani, for that matter.  And obviously Judge benefits from playing in one of the country's biggest media markets (as does Mookie Betts, who last year had the best-selling jersey of any player), but that also means the pressure and the spotlight is that much more intense.  (Recall that Roger Maris lost some of his hair during his chase of Ruth's record.)  I realize it's a subjective judgement (so to speak :)), but I'm confident that my opinion is rooted in well-grounded reality and not at all an unreasonable case to make.

4 hours ago, soulpope said:

Spot on .... 

Love it!

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, soulpope said:

On the MLB Video documenting HR  No. 62 we can see a lot of Rangers Fans applauding to Judge .... well, talking about love ....

At this point, anybody who goes to a Rangers game is living with  Stockholm Syndrome.

[Ken Dryden]

Two things people overlook about Roger Maris, not to degrade a feat that took 61 years for a non-juiced slugger to eclipse:

He had Mickey Mantle hitting behind him, so he got pitches to hit, there were no intentional walks.

1961 was Roger Maris' only home run title.

[soulpope]

We are living in tough times over here (the war is only couple of 100 miles away), so I definitely prefer a positive approach ....  and I hear and read a lot of sympathy for Aaron Judge as player and person .... so take it or leave it ....

[GA Russell]

1 hour ago, ghost of miles said:

60.  He tied Ruth's 1927 mark around game 146 or 147, iirc.  He's sitting today, so he's going to end with 62.

Thanks, Ghost!

[Patrick]

Nice season for the Cleveland ...dians, getting to 90+ wins. Low expectations at season's start and they play in a lousy division. But ChiSox were supposed to roll through the season. Hopefully Kwan gets some decent ROY consideration (...appears somewhere on several ballots...). And that Jose Ramirez continues to earn his status as beloved icon (...in CLE). Terry Francona remains highly talented in working w young players (...and benefits from the Cleveland Clinic being nearby...). Maybe some exciting baseball moments in October in Cleveland. For this year, just a taste is fine.

[soulpope]

12 hours ago, Patrick said:

Nice season for the Cleveland ...dians, getting to 90+ wins. Low expectations at season's start and they play in a lousy division. But ChiSox were supposed to roll through the season. Hopefully Kwan gets some decent ROY consideration (...appears somewhere on several ballots...). And that Jose Ramirez continues to earn his status as beloved icon (...in CLE). Terry Francona remains highly talented in working w young players (...and benefits from the Cleveland Clinic being nearby...). Maybe some exciting baseball moments in October in Cleveland. For this year, just a taste is fine.

It is always great to witness an organisation achieving an turnaround .... btw also like Baltimore ....

[HutchFan]

Judge is a great hitter -- by ANY definition.  And if his achievement makes anyone happy, I'm all for it.  Heaven knows that our world needs happy stories.

 

 

 

 

OTOH, I will say that ESPN's coverage, as always, is so incredibly NYC-centric that -- as someone who doesn't live in the Northeast -- it's irritating as hell.  I understand that this is solely about demographics -- and, by extension, dollars.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I get it.  But I also know that I'm not the only SEC football fan who was pissed off when ESPN choose to cut over to Judge's at-bats during football games.  There's been plenty of ire across the web, so I won't rehash it, other than to say: "If I wanted to watch Aaron Judge, I'd be watching baseball, not football. Please don't interrupt my game." ... But my gripe with ESPN is not just about Aaron Judge.  During the pennant race, everything was Mets, Mets, Mets, Mets.  How does this affect the Mets?  What does this mean for the Mets?  Did the Mets make the right decisions at the trade deadline?  Ugh.  And enough already. 

And finally -- I want to spell out that the argument I'm making isn't just about my hometown, Atlanta.  For example, ESPN practically ignored San Antonio when the Spurs were a dynasty.  Mid-tier and smaller markets get short shrift... full-stop.  It's a numbers game.  As my wife who majored in journalism reminds me whenever I start spouting this stuff (and, yes, this is a recurrent rant): Unless you're watching PBS, the ONLY reason networks broadcast ANYTHING is to draw in eyeballs.  More eyeballs equals more advertising dollars.  It's the Great American Way!!!

Well, phooey on that.

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by HutchFan

[JSngry]

It's the same way with jazz. The NYC-centric paradigm worked when the world was so unconnected. We needed a hub. 

That's not the way it is now. And as much as the lack of a national consensual viewpoint on damn near anything is going to be our demise, the way to prevent it is not going to be to drive people away because they can't be bothered to give a damn even to be pissed off. 

The 20th Century gets further away every day! 

[soulpope]

7 hours ago, HutchFan said:

Judge is a great hitter -- by ANY definition.  And if his achievement makes anyone happy, I'm all for it.  Heaven knows that our world needs happy stories.

 

 

 

 

OTOH, I will say that ESPN's coverage, as always, is so incredibly NYC-centric that -- as someone who doesn't live in the Northeast -- it's irritating as hell.  I understand that this is solely about demographics -- and, by extension, dollars.  Yeah, yeah, yeah .... But my gripe with ESPN .... During the pennant race, everything was Mets, Mets, Mets, Mets ....

When more than two decades ago our son started playing baseball for an European Little League Team, my love for the game started from the scratch .... two things I've learned quickly that this is about stats .... and money (not talking about the comparatively small "super contracts" back than) .... today I can marvel about any - either individual or team - achievements, cinderella trips or even good stories .... and really just hate cheating .... but probably me being a simple quy .....

[Dan Gould]

I found this rather interesting ... ignoring the whole "cheating" allegation this guy makes a good case here that post-sticky stuff ban by MLB Chapman and Cole have been very different pitchers than they were before.

I wonder how much the Yanks will regret that contract as natural age decline inevitably starts (this is his age 32 season, I believe six left).  

[Dan Gould]

Mets on the cusp after a Scherzer start is certainly a delightful way to start the morning.