2011 MLB Season Discussion
Thursday, March 31st, 2011 - 10:25am
"If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there are men on base."
-Dave Barry
"I don't want to play golf. When I hit a ball, I want someone else to go chase it."
-Rogers Hornsby
"You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen."
-Joe DiMaggio, referring to Opening Day
garion333 wrote:
but I just couldn't say no to the Johnsons.
Honey Badger don't give a sh*t.
The one day of the year where everyone has a chance, every team is on a level playing field.
Of course, rain (possibly snow, WTF?!) is predicted on the East Coast the next couple of days, but welcome to OPENING DAY!
Predictions for 2011:
(Honorable Mention = VERY close, but no cigar; Disappointing Season = Way below expectations)
American League:
East- Boston Red Sox
Central- Detroit Tigers
West- Los Angeles Angels
Wild Card- New York Yankees
Honorable Mention: Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays
Disappointing Seasons: Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox
National League:
East- Philadelphia Phillies
Central- St. Louis Cardinals
West- Colorado Rockies
Wild Card- Atlanta Braves
Honorable Mention: Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants
Disappointing Seasons: Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers
garion333 wrote:
Honey Badger don't give a sh*t.
Already saw a bit of snow this morning in NY - not enough to delay the game, though.
Predictions for 2011:
American League:
East- Tampa
Central- Detroit Tigers
West- Los Angeles Angels
Wild Card- Red Sox
Disappointing Seasons: Yankees
National League:
East- Braves
Central- St. Louis Cardinals
West- Dodgers
Wild Card- Phillies
Fondest hope: Mets sold to Mark Cuban
Twitter: @Tanglebonitis GPlus: Me!
Quote:
No predictions. But I saw this over at The Blog for the Sports Gamer.
Xbox Live: JayhawkerStL
"I suggest we imbibe copious amounts of alcohol and just wait for the inevitable blast wave." - Castiel
Subscribing.
Go Phillies!
Steam: Polliwog | LoL: EastC0ast | BattleTag: EastCoast#1353
I love how my honorable mention comes back to beat one of my disappointing teams. Up 6-3, Milwaukee blows the lead to the Reds in the bottom of the 9th. John Axford loaded the bases, but struck out Jay Bruce. Then a sac fly puts him 1 out away from sealing the game. Enter Ramon Hernandez.
"It seemed like (Hernandez) got a good piece of it, but I wasn't too sure," Axford said.
Gee, you think?
*EDIT*
On a side note, Cards/Padres tied 3-3. Only starting position player for the Cardinals without a hit: Albert Pujols. A homerun would be awesome for Cards fans when he comes up in the bottom of the 10th...................................
*EDIT 2*
Double-play. 0 for 5. You're killing me Pujols.
garion333 wrote:
Honey Badger don't give a sh*t.
I'll give this a shot. Note: As a Twins fan, I don't think they'll win the division but they simply know how to win and the White Sox know how to fall apart so I had to pick them (I don't get why everybody's so high on the Tigers all of a sudden).
American League:
East- Red Sox
Central- Twins
West- Rangers
Wild Card- Rays
National League:
East- Phillies
Central- Cardinals
West- Dodgers
Wild Card- Rockies
Steam/Xbox Live/PSN: iaintgotnopants
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Psych wrote:
I'm a White Sox fan but I have to agree with you. Unfortunately.
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PSN: Xosa17
What downer that turned into. Up 3-2 with 2 outs and no one on in the ninth (thanks to an awesome HR from Holliday in the 8th), and then poof. I was listening on the radio, as I had to take my daughter to lessons. But really, opening day with Mike Shannon is really the way baseball is meant to be.
After the home run and the two quick outs, you could just hear the joy emanating from Shannon. Opening day in Cardinal Nation, and winning a great game was just spot on. That home run from Maybin just deflated the entire city. It's kind of a bummer listing to the reactions now. If that last ball was a little shorter, and a flyout to colby, everybody would be talking about the team's chemistry and the great performances from Carp, Holliday, Rasmus, and some amazing defense from David Freese at third. But no it's all doom and gloom.
On the bright side, I tried out the MLB At Bat app for the iPad that Donan had told me about, and holy cow is it amazing! I bought the full version for $15. But it is so worth it. Not only is it a great app for following the game, but it lets you listen to either team's radio broadcast feed. Highlights pop-up during the game of key plays. Every single pitch is shown on screen, giving you location, speed and type. And if you subscribe to MLB.TV, you can even watch the game via the app. If Cardinal games weren't blacked out, I'd be springing for that in a heartbeat.
But Donan was right. In some ways, the app is better than watching it on TV. I'm kind of anxious to give it a try at the stadium, although I'm afraid the lag would pretty much ruin it.
Xbox Live: JayhawkerStL
"I suggest we imbibe copious amounts of alcohol and just wait for the inevitable blast wave." - Castiel
I love Opening Day. Of course, only half the teams played yesterday. Mariners @ Oakland tonight.
My 'I've never made predictions before' for 2011:
American League:
East: Red Sox
Central: Twins
West: A's
Wild Card: Yankees
National League:
East: Phillies
Central: Cards
West: Giants
Wild Card: Braves
Rules cannot trump power -- The Godfather Doctrine
I'll make mine too, but remember I'm a Padre fan, so I'm a bit biased in the NL West!
AL
East: Red Sox
Central: Twins
West: Rangers
WC: Rays
NL
East: Braves
Central: Brewers
West: Padres
WC: Phillies
XBL: EnjoyablePaper
White Sox offense showed up for Opening Day! Hope they keep it up for the next 161 games
XBL: Xosa17
PSN: Xosa17
Anybody who doesn't pick the Yankees to win their division, pennant and Series is just wrong! Pinstripes forever baby!!!
A hit with the ladies since the 1980's
Certainly feels good to own Dunn, Konerko, AND Quentin in one of my fantasy leagues
xbl: carrotpanic | ps3: carrotpanic | steam: carrotpanic
They might need a little help with their pitching, aside from CC, the rest of the staff could be very good, or very bad.
garion333 wrote:
Honey Badger don't give a sh*t.
The Phillies score 3 runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Houston, 5-4.
I'm going to need a bathtub full of TUMS and probably heart surgery by the of the season if they make this a pattern.
Steam: Polliwog | LoL: EastC0ast | BattleTag: EastCoast#1353
After watching the first two Blue Jays games, I've been happy to see that they've remembered how to blow the ball out of the park. (19 runs, 6 HRs in two games so far.) They were a riot to watch last year, and in any other division other than the @#%#$^$ AL East I'd think that they would have a legitimate shot at contending. Starting pitching still scares me a bit - so many young arms - but there's massive potential there.
Twitter
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3DS - 4854-6554-5149
You might want to wait until they play a team that realizes that spring training it over.
Steam/Xbox Live/PSN: iaintgotnopants
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Psych wrote:
I'm not delusional enough to think that they'll dominate teams the way the Twins are having it handed to them.
I'm just saying that I suspect they'll still be fun as hell to watch, which is all a Toronto fan can ask for - and more than we've been given for many years.
Twitter
PS3 - EvolvedTurnip
3DS - 4854-6554-5149
I'd never thought I'd say this but I miss Joe Morgan. Bobby Valentine is horrible.
"Men like sex, thus boobies! Oogaba!" - dejanzie
"Butt hat is my opinion and we all know how far that goes around here." - Demonicmaster
Twitter
Yeah.. damn good manager, though
Twitter: @Tanglebonitis GPlus: Me!
Quote:
I know it's 1 series at the beginning of the year, and it's the Houston Astros, but for all the talk about the Phillies not making the playoffs because they have no hitting..............................granted, Baltimore is (3-0), and Kansas City is (3-1), but I think the Phillies will be fine with their lineup.
Also, and I'll once again note that we're only 3-4 games into the season, but for all the people that jumped on Boston's bandwagon and have them written as the 2011 World Series Champions, might want to check the box scores from this weekend. Texas does not have the greatest pitching staff in the world, Boston should have managed to win at least 1 of those games, if they are such a lock to win it all this year.
garion333 wrote:
Honey Badger don't give a sh*t.
Did anyone catch Bobby V's editorial in the nytimes about smokeless tobacco? Pretty whiny stuff.
XBL: Xosa17
PSN: Xosa17
In the past, I've actually stopped watching a game that I was interested in because Valentine was on the crew. I've done the same with Baseball Tonight too, many times. As soon as he starts talking, I would change the channel in disgust.
I would rather watch a game with Joe Morgan as the play-by-play AND commentary announcer than watch a game with Valentine as just the on-the-field announcer who speaks a couple times during the game.
Steam: [GWJ]MeatMan
Hm, I didn't mind Bobby V too much. Morgan and Jon Miller infuriated me, though. I really like Orel Hershiser.
xbl: carrotpanic | ps3: carrotpanic | steam: carrotpanic
Red Sox drop to 0-6 after to losing 1-0 to Fausto Carmona. The same pictcher that the White Sox lit up on opening day. Team batting average drops to .163...still too early to panic?
XBL: Xosa17
PSN: Xosa17
It'll be interesting to see how the fans react tomorrow when the Yankees come to town.
Edit: Heh.
Twitter
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3DS - 4854-6554-5149
My only consolation about the rays is that they are tied with the red Sox! Not sure why these 2 teams are starting off so slow, but they have the players, managers and time to turn it around. It's early in the season!
I asked my wife the same thing last night. She replied with "stop being a moron and wash the damned dishes" -- Paleocon asking his wife about zombies
Yes.
"Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way."
— Martin Luther King Jr.
I think it's far more likely the Reds will win the NL Central than the Cards. With the loss of Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals pitching rotation is probably not good enough to carry them through the regular season. I am open to arguments as to how they've improved enough from last year to make them better than the Reds.
I think the Reds probably still feel the sting of getting swept, including the no-hitter, in the playoffs last year despite winning their division. That should provide some motivation, especially as their younger players slowly become veterans.
Disclaimer: Despite my location, I am a Brewers fan through and through. That context is required so you can understand how painful this post was for me to write.
MyBrainHz wrote:
Steam | XBL | PSN: Phishposer | Twitter
Manny calls it quits...
ooh.. possibly to head off a suspension for a drug violation.
Aint nothing new about the world order..it's been playing since the day they put George Washington on a quarter
85's face the truth you're too dumb.