MLB 2023 Season - The Winter Stove of Warmth

Prederick wrote:

I think he's to genuinely beloved for it to happen, but I'm imagining how ferally insane I would go if I was on the Angels and someone tried to bean Shohei anywhere dangerous.

'Tried' is pulling a lot of weight there. There are enough pitchers who throw 100mph but only have the slightest idea of where it's going that it's entirely possible he'll be hit unintentionally but Ohtani's teammates will read intent into it regardless.

Anyway, as we all expected coming into the season, Jarred Kelenic -- he of the career .168 average and 76 OPS+ (over basically a full season -- 558 plate appearances) -- is sporting a 213 OPS+ (second in MLB) and 210 WRC+ (leads the league) as we finish up the first month. He already has more hits this season than he had last year in 2.5x at-bats. Baseball is weird.

Prederick wrote:

Remember Some Guys is a fantastic game, but it's always best in baseball. If I had the ability, I'd make it so you have to Remember A Guy whenever you post in this thread or it gets deleted.

David Segui.

Looking at his page, I'm shocked he had a career at all. Must've had a long leash thanks to his dad being a long-time MLBer, because those first 5 years are real bad for a 1B. Let's continue remembering slightly-above-replacement-level SEA 1B: Paul Sorrento

Glenallen Hill.

If you were wondering what Brian McCann and the Unwritten Rules Committee will be angry about tomorrow, it's Wander Franco.

billt721 wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Remember Some Guys is a fantastic game, but it's always best in baseball. If I had the ability, I'd make it so you have to Remember A Guy whenever you post in this thread or it gets deleted.

David Segui.

Looking at his page, I'm shocked he had a career at all. Must've had a long leash thanks to his dad being a long-time MLBer, because those first 5 years are real bad for a 1B. Let's continue remembering slightly-above-replacement-level SEA 1B: Paul Sorrento

Briefly dipping into this thread to say that the only thing I remembered about David Segui (besides his very brief stint with the Rangers) is that he got in a fight with Randy Johnson one time.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/segui-h...

Every year I'd like to dick around with MLB The Show, and eery year I remember that it's a PS-only exclusive. Pleh.

Also, Ed Taubensee.

Prederick wrote:

Every year I'd like to dick around with MLB The Show, and eery year I remember that it's a PS-only exclusive. Pleh.

Also, Ed Taubensee.

It’s on the Xbox as well these days.

Super Mega Baseball 4 is on its way for the PC.

Graaah. I just really wanna dick around and make a create-a-player with an abomination of a batting stance and then turn the difficulty settings to "Are you alive" and smack 150 dingers in a season.

absurddoctor wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Every year I'd like to dick around with MLB The Show, and eery year I remember that it's a PS-only exclusive. Pleh.

Also, Ed Taubensee.

It’s on the Xbox as well these days.

Super Mega Baseball 4 is on its way for the PC.

Super Mega Baseball plays a better game of baseball than The Show does. The Show is only better if you really need the actual teams and players.

Even as a Yankees fan, I think it's objectively hilarious that they're already 9 games behind a team that's paying literally $200M less in salary than they are.

Also, LOL THE METS ARE PAYING $350M?!?!?!?!?!

Prederick wrote:

Graaah. I just really wanna dick around and make a create-a-player with an abomination of a batting stance and then turn the difficulty settings to "Are you alive" and smack 150 dingers in a season.

Ah yeah, I don't know anything that replicates that, and even The Show is trying to destroy that approach. I mostly play it very casually, sneaking in 10-15 minutes occasionally while cooking dinner or taking a break from work, so that is really what I want to do with it these days as well. But they still haven't brought back importing RTTS characters from version to version, and they creating a superstar player a lot more difficult, because you can use your RTTS player in the Diamond Dynasty mode. I picked up last year's version because Ohtani, but it doesn't sound like they have improved any of that stuff this year so I haven't seen a reason to buy it.

Prederick wrote:

Even as a Yankees fan, I think it's objectively hilarious that they're already 9 games behind a team that's paying literally $200M less in salary than they are.

Also, LOL THE METS ARE PAYING $350M?!?!?!?!?!

My first run with the Mets in OOTP was a disaster that RL is proving close to mimicking.

Also, if you are going to try a longer running franchise with the Mets, you probably want to consider turning down aging and such, the default age regressions didn't treat the team very well for 2024.

Not exactly inspiring faith here
IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/8kYJ2jYW/Screenshot-20230511-082957-You-Tube.jpg)

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/JjQVO4G.png)

Feels like a couple days ago I looked up to the TV doing the dishes and saying, "Oh, his family brought a baby," looking down, hearing the crack of the bat, and looking up and seeing him hit a home run on his second AB in the majors and watching that baby scream their head off.

Prederick wrote:

Scott Servais

The definition of replacement level. 10 year career, 3.1 bWAR. Highest was 2.1, in just 80 games in 1995, where he was traded mid-season from HOU to CHC, posting a 83 OPS+ with HOU and then an incredible 145 with CHC. The season's 125 OPS+ was one of only two years he posted an OPS+ above 90 (ignoring the 11 games he played in 2001)!

Fangraphs likes him a little bit more, crediting him with 4.9 fWAR, thanks mostly to their differing defensive value metrics.

Let's stick with that 1995 HOU team, which also carried a 32yo Pat Borders, who posted a total line that season of .208/.246/.331. He would somehow continue to get MLB at-bats for another decade. 17 year career, 3.1 bWAR (4.5 fWAR).

Holy sh*t.

I remember seeing something about pitchers wearing helmets a few years ago. Maybe they were doing it in the youth leagues? But yeah it needs to happen.

This isn't funny.

But it is also funny because that man is a goddamn menace.

billt721 wrote:

Let's stick with that 1995 HOU team, which also carried a 32yo Pat Borders, who posted a total line that season of .208/.246/.331. He would somehow continue to get MLB at-bats for another decade. 17 year career, 3.1 bWAR (4.5 fWAR).

You just don't get nonsense like this in other sports.

Hipólito Pichardo.

Prederick wrote:

This isn't funny.

But it is also funny because that man is a goddamn menace.

The real question is who hits an awkwardly timed home run after Nick Castellanos' does something wrong?

They're just going to give him an entire county. Perhaps a state.

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/FzZf73wX/image.png)

Prederick wrote:

They're just going to give him an entire county. Perhaps a state.

I didn't realize he was also their DH and has the third most at bats on the team! He is on another level.

Kind of nuts that Mike Trout is, by acclaim, the best player of his generation, he's 31...

...and he's only got 358 career homers. Like, I think he'll get to 500, but 700? No chance. 600 is iffy.

Baseball's numbers are nuts sometimes.

Pete Harnisch.

For all the “You don’t know what was in his heart” crowd, let me just say this:

Glen Kuiper Is a professional talker. No matter what else his job is to get on tv or radio and talk. There is exactly one word you can’t ever say. (I would’ve thought more, but Huggins proved that wrong). If you, as a professional talker, can’t avoid saying one word, it’s probably time to find a new profession.

According to the article is was on a pre-game thing? Does that mean it was a pre-recorded segment? And if so, everyone needs to be fired.

Edit: Jeff Weaver, who I for some reason remember being much better than he actually was.

Rat Boy wrote:

The greatest moment in baseball history happened 30 years ago today nineteen days ago.

FTFY

EDIT: Gary Disarcina

(This was almost Darin Erstad, who was good, but wasn't nearly as good as my video game addled-brain thought he was.)

Prederick wrote:

(This was almost Darin Erstad, who was good, but wasn't nearly as good as my video game addled-brain thought he was.)

32 bWAR (28 fWAR) is a pretty solid career, but it's almost all defense. Career 93 OPS+. That 2000 season, though, really stands out as an all-time fluke-y year. Right up there with Brady Anderson's 1996. Though at least Anderson had several other above-average years at the plate.

Edit: 2000 was 8.7 fWAR. His next highest single-season number was 3.6.

Yeah, my memories of him are absolutely tainted by playing Triple Play 2002 or something.

For me, that player was Eric Anthony in the original World Series Baseball on the Genesis. -0.2 career bWAR (0.3 fWAR -- an almost perfect replacement-level player!) over a 9-year career. He was on SEA in that game and easily kept up with Griffey in homeruns.