2012 MLB Season Discussion: Off-Season

What I have to say to the A's: ""We won a game yesterday, if we win one today that's two in a row. If we win one tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before.""

Attention Mets Organization:
Appealing the 1 hit that Dickey gave up yesterday is like the rest of the world appealing the "foul ball" in the Santana game.
Don't get greedy, LET IT GO.

Attention Charlie Manuel and Shane Victorino:
Worry less about how to read Twitter posts, and more about your 9 1/2 game deficit.

/soapbox

WTH - a third Jays starter injured in less than a week. This is just insane.

Man if the Rays could play the Marlins all season we'd be 162-0.

So if you're not watching you should be. Since it's on FOX. Rays-Marlins heading to the 14th!

RA Dickey is a warlock. That is all.

Prederick wrote:

RA Dickey is a warlock. That is all.

Winning!

When I was a kid baseball was my favorite sport and the Dodgers were my team. Then I found hockey (Kings) and baseball slowly but surely came off my radar.

Of course I still understand and can enjoy the sport but the childhood love is not there.

HOWEVER! I have been watching again recently. Enough for me to post here.

But I have one nagging thought... I absolutely hate the term "walk-off." This was not used when I was younger and watching/playing. It may be irrational but I just can't stand that term and was appalled when I heard it being used while describing my favorite childhood sporting memory... Kirk Gibson's home run.

Thanks for indulging me and maybe I'll be reading more of this thread and talking about the Dodgers. Go Blue!

goman wrote:

When I was a kid baseball was my favorite sport and the Dodgers were my team. Then I found hockey (Kings) and baseball slowly but surely came off my radar.

Of course I still understand and can enjoy the sport but the childhood love is not there.

HOWEVER! I have been watching again recently. Enough for me to post here.

But I have one nagging thought... I absolutely hate the term "walk-off." This was not used when I was younger and watching/playing. It may be irrational but I just can't stand that term and was appalled when I heard it being used while describing my favorite childhood sporting memory... Kirk Gibson's home run.

Thanks for indulging me and maybe I'll be reading more of this thread and talking about the Dodgers. Go Blue!

Apparently it was a Dennis Eckersley term that stuck: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk-of...

Tanglebones wrote:
goman wrote:

When I was a kid baseball was my favorite sport and the Dodgers were my team. Then I found hockey (Kings) and baseball slowly but surely came off my radar.

Of course I still understand and can enjoy the sport but the childhood love is not there.

HOWEVER! I have been watching again recently. Enough for me to post here.

But I have one nagging thought... I absolutely hate the term "walk-off." This was not used when I was younger and watching/playing. It may be irrational but I just can't stand that term and was appalled when I heard it being used while describing my favorite childhood sporting memory... Kirk Gibson's home run.

Thanks for indulging me and maybe I'll be reading more of this thread and talking about the Dodgers. Go Blue!

Apparently it was a Dennis Eckersley term that stuck: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walk-of...

Well damn... it comes full circle, eh?

Whoa.... what a night for the Jays. Their rookie starter and a rookie reliever combined to give up 8 runs, but they pulled through anyways on the power of back-to-back-to-back homers in the sixth, and back-to-back homers in the ninth. Rasmus and Bautista were involved in both sets.

On another note, tell Joel Peralta to stop cheating, Stele.

AndrewA wrote:

On another note, tell Joel Peralta to stop cheating, Stele.

Boo on the Nationals, what a bush league move. I guess it was ok when he was on their team. Granted, Peralta's an ass for doing it in the first place, but I think it's worse to taddle during the game. How about, when he played for your team, you tell him not to do it. I really hope the Nationals implode from here on out, and I'm glad they still lost the game. I hope Ben Zobrist goes 4 for 4 with 4 grand slams today................................

OK, that's only because he's on my fantasy baseball team, but still

Yankees spree snapped by a game with more plays at home plate than I've seen in a while.

Yeah I missed it when watching the NBA game. But I flipped over on timeout and saw Maddon ask them to check the National's glove, so got a little recap. The post-game analysts were pretty pissed off too. Citing the unwritten codes of baseball and stuff, you don't turn on guys like that.

They also said the glove would be sent to MLB HQ to be analyzed. Not sure if that means some other penalty could be coming down the pipe?

I just have to agree with Peralta:

I don't care what they do. Good for them, they still lost the game.

Hope we kick their ass tonight.

So glad to see the end of interleague for the year. The less I see of National League rules, the better. Proponents of the format claim that it adds "Strategy" to the game..... but the strategies are so blindingly obvious that I find that excuse really weak. Playing without a DH just makes for worse baseball - watching pitchers hit is laughable, and the (practically) free out in the line up is just dumb.

AndrewA wrote:

So glad to see the end of interleague for the year. The less I see of National League rules, the better. Proponents of the format claim that it adds "Strategy" to the game..... but the strategies are so blindingly obvious that I find that excuse really weak. Playing without a DH just makes for worse baseball - watching pitchers hit is laughable, and the (practically) free out in the line up is just dumb.

wordsmythe wrote:

No! You are stupid and wrong!

Jayhawker wrote:
AndrewA wrote:

So glad to see the end of interleague for the year. The less I see of National League rules, the better. Proponents of the format claim that it adds "Strategy" to the game..... but the strategies are so blindingly obvious that I find that excuse really weak. Playing without a DH just makes for worse baseball - watching pitchers hit is laughable, and the (practically) free out in the line up is just dumb.

wordsmythe wrote:

No! You are stupid and wrong!

+1 - NL is Coke Classic, where AL is New Coke.

Tanglebones wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:
AndrewA wrote:

So glad to see the end of interleague for the year. The less I see of National League rules, the better. Proponents of the format claim that it adds "Strategy" to the game..... but the strategies are so blindingly obvious that I find that excuse really weak. Playing without a DH just makes for worse baseball - watching pitchers hit is laughable, and the (practically) free out in the line up is just dumb.

wordsmythe wrote:

No! You are stupid and wrong!

+1 - NL is Coke Classic, where AL is New Coke.

That makes sense to me.... Coke Classic tastes like ass, IMO.

AndrewA wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:
AndrewA wrote:

So glad to see the end of interleague for the year. The less I see of National League rules, the better. Proponents of the format claim that it adds "Strategy" to the game..... but the strategies are so blindingly obvious that I find that excuse really weak. Playing without a DH just makes for worse baseball - watching pitchers hit is laughable, and the (practically) free out in the line up is just dumb.

wordsmythe wrote:

No! You are stupid and wrong!

+1 - NL is Coke Classic, where AL is New Coke.

That makes sense to me.... Coke Classic tastes like ass, IMO.

Further proof that the DH damages brain cells.

Jayhawker wrote:

Further proof that the DH damages brain cells.

Where is the fun in watching a pitcher hit? They're nearly universally terrible batters.

AndrewA wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

Further proof that the DH damages brain cells.

Where is the fun in watching a pitcher hit? They're nearly universally terrible batters.

That's in no small part a result of the DH-ification of high schools and the minors, though.

AndrewA wrote:

So glad to see the end of interleague for the year. The less I see of National League rules, the better. Proponents of the format claim that it adds "Strategy" to the game..... but the strategies are so blindingly obvious that I find that excuse really weak. Playing without a DH just makes for worse baseball - watching pitchers hit is laughable, and the (practically) free out in the line up is just dumb.

What pitchers batting are laughable? Are you refering to the AL pitchers? Of course that's laughable, they never hit. Going into last night's ball game, Cliff Lee is hitting .273 for the Phillies. Do you know how many good players there are in baseball today that AREN'T hitting that? The funny thing about that is, that Cliff Lee doesn't have a win yet, but that's a story for another day.

It does add stratagy. 1-1 ball game in the 7th inning, 2 on and 2 out, and your pitcher is up to bat. He's pitching lights out, but so is the other pitcher. Do you take the pitcher out for a PH, and try to take the lead, or do you leave the pitcher in, and hope you get another opportunity like that again.

AL game: #9 hitter up, leave the pitcher in, and bring in a PH. What strategy is that?

Further more, be a man and bat for yourself. Hold your wife's purse while she bats for you. How about you take the tampon out and bat for yourself. 9 players in the field, and they should all bat. What's so special about the pitcher? Babe Ruth pitched, and he hit a ton of HRs. Hell, Carlos Zambrano has been known to pop HRs from time to time (to further make my first point above).

I understand that certain players would be out of a job. If that's the case, make it the best of both worlds, pitchers hit, and you get a DH. Make it a 10-man lineup. Personally, I say 9-man lineup, if you play the field, you hit.

I like having both sets of rules, thank you very much.

garion333 wrote:

I like having both sets of rules, thank you very much.

I really hate it. I like consistency because baseball's popularity is built on statistical analysis. From the simple batting average to more complex sabermetric stuff. It jacks with the comparisons too much.

The DH is like playing an action RPG on easy. It eliminates weaknesses that have to be strategically circumvented.

If you bring in a guy to finish an inning, but want to him to pitch the next, you might need to do a double switch, which means you sacrifice a position player for a bench guy. That affects moves you can make later.

If you are up 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, runner at second and third with the pitcher up, you may have to sacrifice a guy pitching awesome to get those insurance runs. But this depends on the state of your bullpen, whether it is strong, rested, or facing a stretch of games in Cincinnati where you need it.

The only people calling NL baseball strategy blindingly obvious are fans that grew up on the DH and have had their baseball IQ artificially stunted. It goes to the heart of managing your pitching staff for the long term.

I play both console and text based baseball games. the difference in AL and NL is huge. It is depressingly automatic in the AL. It's 100x less fun. Unless you want to play on easy mode.

Jayhawker wrote:
garion333 wrote:

I like having both sets of rules, thank you very much.

I really hate it. I like consistency because baseball's popularity is built on statistical analysis. From the simple batting average to more complex sabermetric stuff. It jacks with the comparisons too much.

The DH is like playing an action RPG on easy. It eliminates weaknesses that have to be strategically circumvented.

If you bring in a guy to finish an inning, but want to him to pitch the next, you might need to do a double switch, which means you sacrifice a position player for a bench guy. That affects moves you can make later.

If you are up 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, runner at second and third with the pitcher up, you may have to sacrifice a guy pitching awesome to get those insurance runs. But this depends on the state of your bullpen, whether it is strong, rested, or facing a stretch of games in Cincinnati where you need it.

The only people calling NL baseball strategy blindingly obvious are fans that grew up on the DH and have had their baseball IQ artificially stunted. It goes to the heart of managing your pitching staff for the long term.

I play both console and text based baseball games. the difference in AL and NL is huge. It is depressingly automatic in the AL. It's 100x less fun. Unless you want to play on easy mode.

You are standing at home plate. A ball is coming at you.

]Hit ball

What do you want to hit the ball with?

]Inventory

You have a bat, and are wearing a helmet and uniform

]Hit ball with bat

Tanglebones wrote:

]Inventory

You have a bat, and are wearing a helmet and uniform

]Hit Bud Selig with bat

FTFY!

Jayhawker wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

]Inventory

You have a bat, and are wearing a helmet and uniform

]Hit Bud Selig with bat

FTFY!

I'll accept that response

Kush15 wrote:

Personally, I say 9-man lineup, if you play the field, you hit.

I agree completely.

I'd suggest that very few other sports/games don't expect the team that you put together to be able to perform the basic skills that the sport requires. (The NFL is the exception, where super-specialization has become the norm.)

To talk about something that I have to manage on a weekly basis - it is a bit more extreme than baseball, where you can make a switch or call to the bullpen, but... - in cricket, bowlers bat, and that becomes part of the composition of the side. You have to manage the batting order, the same way you do in baseball, and you have to manage the fact that certain players are in for certain skills. Not because they can't do both (look at classic all-rounders like Sobers or Botham) but because its much easier to do one or the other.

It also does more for the drama of the game, because drama requires uncertainty and/or weakness to be truly engaging. We have to identify with the pitcher who's up with two men on and two out, and it makes it that much sweeter when he loops a single over the heads of the infielders. A DH who does that just doesn't have the same effect, for me.

The Cardinals emptied their bench tonight in a 10 inning win. While Furcal gets the game-winning RBI, rookie pitcher, Joe Kelly, drove in the 8th run that turned out to be importnat when the Cards gave up one in the bottom of the 10th.

Look at the box score and tell me that pitchers hitting leads to bad baseball to watch. Both teams used a ton of pitchers, double switches, and Miami had two sacrifices by their starting pitcher that led to RBI's by Jose Reyes.