2022 MLB Season Thread

[Brad]

Looking forward to that Red Sox playoff game today. Oh, wait…

 

 

[Dan Gould]

  On 10/8/2022 at 3:42 PM, Brad said:

Looking forward to that Red Sox playoff game today. Oh, wait…

 

 

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4 WS championships since your last, pal.

And more than any other team in the 21st century.

 

[JSngry]

  On 10/8/2022 at 6:37 PM, Dan Gould said:

 

And more than any other team in the 21st century.

 

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More than the Yankees? More than the Cardinals? More than the Rangers? 

Gotta love the 21st century!!!!! 

[Brad]

  On 10/8/2022 at 6:37 PM, Dan Gould said:

4 WS championships since your last, pal.

And more than any other team in the 21st century.

 

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[soulpope]

Seattle Mariners .... what a comeback ....

[Dan Gould]

  On 10/8/2022 at 7:58 PM, Brad said:

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I agree it did feel a little "old hat" after the first couple.

[Dave Garrett]

Still one of my favorite Judge moments, from his rookie season.

 

[JSngry]

Whatever happened to the Mike Trout guy? Is he still the next great player for the ages?

[ghost of miles]

  On 10/11/2022 at 12:46 AM, Dave Garrett said:

Still one of my favorite Judge moments, from his rookie season.

 

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Yes, great flashback—thanks much. That appearance on The Tonight Show established his likability early on.

  On 10/11/2022 at 1:47 AM, JSngry said:

Whatever happened to the Mike Trout guy? Is he still the next great player for the ages?

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Early last season a guy on Twitter tweeted the following, which went waaay viral and is still referred to in discussions of both Trout and Ohtani:

every time I see an Angels highlight it's like "Mike Trout hit three home runs and raised his average to .528 while Shohei Ohtani did something that hasn't been done since 'Tungsten Arm' O'Doyle of the 1921 Akron Groomsmen, as the Tigers defeated the Angels 8-3"

… point being that the Angels now have two marquee generational players and continue to be a non-contender that never makes the playoffs. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Trout’s ever played in a postseason game. He continues to be an amazing player, but the argument’s been made that his profile would be higher if the Angels got into the playoffs from time to time. I don’t think it holds back Ohtani’s recognition level, partly because his Ruthian ability as both a top-notch pitcher and a slugger is so unique. 

Edited October 11, 2022 by ghost of miles

[GA Russell]

Bruce Sutter has died at 69.  RIP.

Bruce Sutter, Hall of Famer and Cy Young winner, dies at 69 (msn.com)

[ghost of miles]

  On 10/14/2022 at 10:22 PM, GA Russell said:

Bruce Sutter has died at 69.  RIP.

Bruce Sutter, Hall of Famer and Cy Young winner, dies at 69 (msn.com)

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Sorry to hear that. My brothers and I played a lot of Strat-O-Mat baseball around the end of the 1970s, and Sutter’a card for the 1977 and 78 seasons made him seem unhittable. One of the first lights-out closers I remember from my early years of following the game.

[JSngry]

An innovator as well as one gnarlyass beard! 

[Dan Gould]

Gleyber Torres would get a pitch or three way up and in starting in Spring Training or regular season 2023 but Tito is too much of a class act to order that after that punk ass move.

 

[ghost of miles]

  On 10/19/2022 at 10:25 AM, Dan Gould said:

Gleyber Torres would get a pitch or three way up and in starting in Spring Training or regular season 2023 but Tito is too much of a class act to order that after that punk ass move.

 

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Did you not see the incident that provoked Torres’ gesture last night? Josh Naylor started that little chain of events the night before in game 4 after hitting a HR off Cole.  Even the Guardians fans over at Cover The Corner saw Naylor’s rock-the-baby trot as an unwarranted taunt. I’m more than happy, though, to let his 4-22, .545 OPS performance in the ALDS speak for itself. And good on Gleyber to wait till the very last out to return the favor. You have to take care of business on the field first for proper payback. 

 

[JSngry]

rock the baby?

[Dan Gould]

  On 10/19/2022 at 3:07 PM, ghost of miles said:

Did you not see the incident that provoked Torres’ gesture last night? Josh Naylor started that little chain of events the night before in game 4 after hitting a HR off Cole.  Even the Guardians fans over at Cover The Corner saw Naylor’s rock-the-baby trot as an unwarranted taunt. I’m more than happy, though, to let his 4-22, .545 OPS performance in the ALDS speak for itself. And good on Gleyber to wait till the very last out to return the favor. You have to take care of business on the field first for proper payback. 

 

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Of course I saw the initial celebration and also understand he's been doing it all year - his homers are "his babies". The only thing questionable about it was doing it when they were still trailing. If Cleveland fans criticized it should have been for cutting the deficit not taking the lead on the homer. 

I guarantee if it happened to the Yanks back when, Billy Martin would have ordered retaliation. I'd suggest he stay loose in the box in the future but like I said, Tito isn't known as that kind of manager.

 

[JSngry]

So, are the Astros still cheating, or are they just playing really good ball?

[Dan Gould]

  On 10/24/2022 at 12:41 PM, JSngry said:

So, are the Astros still cheating, or are they just playing really good ball?

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Who knows but this was almost like an alternative reality where Dave Roberts doesn't get the stolen base and the Red Sox got swept out of the playoffs again, only the shoe is on the other foot.

All things considered this WS is probably the best realistic outcome to come out of the LCS's.  I have no desire for an Astros championship, whether cheating or not so I guess I am rooting for the Phils despite their 87 wins on the year.  Do it for Schwarber.

[ghost of miles]

  On 10/24/2022 at 12:41 PM, JSngry said:

So, are the Astros still cheating, or are they just playing really good ball?

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They have an organization that’s second to none (save for perhaps the Rays) when it comes to developing young talent. That’s how they’ve been able to let Cole, Springer and Correa all walk in recent years and not really miss a beat. They’re especially phenomenal at developing pitching. I still think their 2017 WS title should have been voided—they had an organized, systematic and illegal procedure in place that the manager knew about and refused to stop—but MLB rendered its decision and now it’s a Bonds HR situation in perpetuity. The official record stands, like it or not. I actually think it’s added incentive for Houston to go for a non-tainted title this time around—but like Dan, I’ll be pulling for the Phillies, who get to play the scrappy underdog role now against the Houston juggernaut. And it’ll be fun to see Bryce Harper in a WS. Anyway, 2022 Astros are just a damn good team that rarely makes mistakes and pounces on the ones made by their opponents, as they did relentlessly against both Seattle and New York. 

  On 10/19/2022 at 4:05 PM, Dan Gould said:

Of course I saw the initial celebration and also understand he's been doing it all year - his homers are "his babies". The only thing questionable about it was doing it when they were still trailing. If Cleveland fans criticized it should have been for cutting the deficit not taking the lead on the homer. 

I guarantee if it happened to the Yanks back when, Billy Martin would have ordered retaliation. I'd suggest he stay loose in the box in the future but like I said, Tito isn't known as that kind of manager.

 

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Whoa. If Naylor truly does every time he hits a HR, he’s lucky he doesn’t get chin music on a regular basis. Not buying that his HRs are his “babies”—it’s clearly an I’m-your-daddy gesture. No wonder Cleveland fans weren’t defending him in the game threads. I’d advise Mr. Naylor to “stay loose” in the box if disrespect is an ongoing feature of his play. Gleyber did nothing wrong in returning the favor. 

[Dan Gould]

  On 10/24/2022 at 1:38 PM, ghost of miles said:

 

Whoa. If Naylor truly does every time he hits a HR, he’s lucky he doesn’t get chin music on a regular basis. Not buying that his HRs are his “babies”—it’s clearly an I’m-your-daddy gesture. No wonder Cleveland fans weren’t defending him in the game threads. I’d advise Mr. Naylor to “stay loose” in the box if disrespect is an ongoing feature of his play. Gleyber did nothing wrong in returning the favor. 

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You are 100% wrong:

https://www.mlb.com/news/josh-naylor-home-run-celebration-alds-game-4

 

[ghost of miles]

  On 10/24/2022 at 1:48 PM, Dan Gould said:

You are 100% wrong:

https://www.mlb.com/news/josh-naylor-home-run-celebration-alds-game-4

 

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That 100% does nothing to disprove my point. I suppose Naylor could round the bases flying two middle fingers at the crowd and one could say, “That’s Naylor taunting the gods that try to prevent him from hitting HRs.” I don’t particularly care, but acting as if Gleyber committed some egregious offense by throwing it back at him, and suggesting that he deserves to get thrown at as a result, is ridiculous. 
 

Edited October 24, 2022 by ghost of miles

[Dan Gould]

  On 10/24/2022 at 2:01 PM, ghost of miles said:

That 100% does nothing to disprove my point. I suppose Naylor could round the bases flying two middle fingers at the crowd and one could say, “That’s Naylor taunting the gods that try to prevent him from hitting HRs.” I don’t particularly care, but acting as if Gleyber committed some egregious offense by throwing it back at him, and suggesting that he deserves to get thrown at as a result, is ridiculous. 
 

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So his teammates are just straight out lying, they know that he means "Who's your Daddy" and to keep that from getting out, they've agreed to tell the press that he thinks of his home runs as his babies and he's rocking their cradle.

This is staggering in its ridiculousness. You think Gleyber didn't do anything terrible deserving retaliation, fine.

But don't invent an alternative reality and pretend that you know what Naylor really means when he does that trot.

[Aggie87]

I was at the Phillies/Padres game yesterday, and the atmosphere was amazing.  A cold, drizzly day, but the fans in the stand didn't let that dampen any of their enthusiasm, even when the Padres went ahead on Dominguez's wild pitch.  Then Harper's HR in the 8th and the place went completely crazy, until the end of the game.  

I didn't grow up a Phillies fan, but I became one in about 2010 or so, and then even more so upon moving up here in 2019.  Now I've got to figure out who to root for - the local team I love, or the Texas team I've loved since 1982.  

PS - my son in law won a raffle for WS tix, so we're going to the game on Nov 2!

Edited October 24, 2022 by Aggie87

[JSngry]

  On 10/24/2022 at 3:09 PM, Aggie87 said:

 

PS - my son in law won a raffle for WS tix, so we're going to the game on Oct 2!

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Only been to one WS game, and it was like no other ballgame I've been to, ever.

Enjoy, savor every second of it. In fact, come early and stay late, regardless of outcome! 

[Ken Dryden]

I can say that I have no interest in watching these two teams play. The Astros still have the stain of the sign-stealing camera scandal, while I've never liked the Phillies.