The Official 2013 MLB Thread

[Scoobz0202]

Reading this article about Jeff Loria switching starters prior to a double-header and ignoring baseball etiquette regarding veteran preference, but one line made me chuckle for some reason.

Sources: Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria personally mandated pitching lineup change - Yahoo! Sports

This is not the first time Loria has tried to tinker with his team's on-field product. Loria, one source said, also made lineup suggestions to Ozzie Guillen, the team's previous manager. Guillen ignored them.

[sterlingice]

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

On the other hand, Loria still has a job in baseball. Guillen (best I can tell anyway) not so much so.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

On the other hand, Loria still has a job in baseball. Guillen (best I can tell anyway) not so much so.

True, but I wonder if Loria weren't rich, evil and sane (no quality of which applies to Guillen, I think), if he would have done as well as Guillen did.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Frazier doesn't have enough veteran savvy to bat 4th.

Izturis batting 2nd tonight because....well....he's a middle infielder.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by rowech

Izturis batting 2nd tonight because....well....he's a middle infielder.

You can't have those 60 career sacrifice bunts wasting away at the bottom of the lineup.

[lighthousekeeper]

Random fact that surprised me today:

52 of the top 53 batters this year in terms of WAR are under age 35. The one exception? Vernon Wells (age 37).

[JonInMiddleGA]

With his 17th strikeout against the Braves in the 8th inning, Sanchez sets the Tigers franchise record, breaking the mark of Mickey Lolich who had 16 (twice in 17 days) back in 1969.

[cougarfreak]

Reds prospect Tony Cingrani has now thrown 22 big league innings this year, and struck out 35 batters, through the fifth inning today. He's got some serious deception.

[korme]

Fifth Red ever to strike out 4 batters in an inning.

[korme]

That's 110 pitches for Cingrani. Safe to say that may be it for him. 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 11 K, 1 BB. That'll work

[rowech]

Originally Posted by korme

That's 110 pitches for Cingrani. Safe to say that may be it for him. 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 11 K, 1 BB. That'll work

He's twice the pitcher Leake ever dreamed of being.

[cartman]

The Rangers are the last team to drop two straight games, splitting a 4 game series with the Twins.

[rowech]

No nine inning 5-2 game should take over 3.5 hours to play.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Good weekend for the Royals. 2 out of 3 with the only loss being when we brought up a minor league pitcher for a spot start. Guthrie tied the franchise record of most consecutive starts without a loss (16).

I'm actually heading out to the game tonight with my kids. They're looking forward to the carnival rides in the outfield. I'm looking forward to the 70 degree evening and some baseball!

[lungs]

Yuniesky Betancourt was a brilliant pickup by Doug Melvin. And I say that with a completely straight face.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Braves win 3-2, first time they've won all season without benefit of a home run. They've also lost every game they've played without a homer (prior to tonight I mean)

[Chief Rum]

I don't know if anyone else is still up, but it's 8-7 Angels lead over A's in the bottom of the 15th. A's have two on with no outs.

[Chief Rum]

And the A's tie it.

It's almost like the Angels aren't trying to win at all, the way they have been playing.

[Suicane75]

Imagine if you will. It's 4:15 on the East coast and you're watching Jerry Blevins pinch hit. A game can only last forever, in The Twilight Zone.

[Chief Rum]

And it ends. Two run homerun by Moss in the bottom of the 19th for a 10-8 A's win.

Gawd I hate this stupid Angels team right now.

[MrBug708]

Time for Donny Baseball to go

[Scoobz0202]

I didn't realize this was a thing.

MLB.com Classics - YouTube

The rest of my afternoon is now occupied.

[Crapshoot]

The A's - Angels game was a classic - stayed up till 2AM watching it. Reminds me again why I love baseball.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

The A's - Angels game was a classic - stayed up till 2AM watching it. Reminds me again why I love baseball.

Agreed, terrific baseball game. Terrible, terrible game for the Angels, how they kept blowing that one, but it was a terrific game.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

I didn't realize this was a thing.

MLB.com Classics - YouTube

The rest of my afternoon is now occupied.

They just started yesterday. MLB finally realized its a way to get people talking about your sport.

[molson]

I seems like Boston sports fans are going to be really slow to come around on this team, but the Sox are definitely doing their part, best record in MLB by a full 2 games and a chance to set their all time franchise April win record tonight. I think they'll have to find more offense to keep it going for a good chunk of the season though. More 4-game series with the Astros would also be really awesome.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rowech

They just started yesterday. MLB finally realized its a way to get people talking about your sport.

Not sure about YT, but there were a good number of classic games available on mlb.com for at least the past couple of years. I know I watched The Night Sid Slid as well as a 70s era A-S game and bits of a WS or three.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Good to see 'Big Game' get a win over his old teammates.

Also, saw something I've never seen before. Alex Gordon got a base hit off the knob of the bat in tonight's game. Hudler commented that he'd probably get fined in the kangaroo court for a hit like that.

[Crapshoot]

Pablo Sandoval is very very good. Tonight, he hit a JJ Putz pitch in the 9th inning to at least Scottsdale.

[MrBug708]

Ryu is living up to the hype around him. He had 12 K's in 6 innings

[Easy Mac]

The list of active wins leaders is depressing. After CC, Buerhle can get to 200 if he hangs on, Verlander will get there if he stays healthy, Zito has an extremely long shot... and then who? Felix Hernandez if he can stay healthy?

Rank	Player (yrs, age)	Wins	Throws
1.	Andy Pettitte (18, 41)	248	L
2.	Roy Halladay (16, 36)	201	R
3.	Tim Hudson (15, 37)	200	R
4.	CC Sabathia (13, 32)	195	L
5.	Derek Lowe (17, 40)	176	R
6.	Mark Buehrle (14, 34)	175	L
7.	Bartolo Colon (16, 40)	174	R
8.	Barry Zito (14, 35)	163	L
9.	Freddy Garcia (14, 36)	152	R
10.	Chris Carpenter (15, 38)	144	R
11.	A.J. Burnett (15, 36)	139	R
 	Johan Santana (12, 34)	139	L
13.	Jon Garland (13, 33)	134	R
14.	Josh Beckett (13, 33)	132	R
15.	Ted Lilly (15, 37)	130	L
16.	John Lackey (11, 34)	129	R
17.	Cliff Lee (12, 34)	127	L
 	Justin Verlander (9, 30)	127	R
19.	Bronson Arroyo (14, 36)	126	R
 	Esteban Loaiza (14, 41)	126	R
21.	Ryan Dempster (16, 36)	125	R
22.	Jake Peavy (12, 32)	123	R
23.	Dan Haren (11, 32)	121	R
24.	Kyle Lohse (13, 34)	119	R
25.	Darren Oliver (20, 42)	115	L
26.	Jason Marquis (14, 34)	114	R
27.	Aaron Harang (12, 35)	105	R
28.	Miguel Batista (18, 42)	102	R
 	Jered Weaver (8, 30)	102	R
30.	Kelvim Escobar (12, 37)	101	R
 	Felix Hernandez (9, 27)	101	R
32.	Ervin Santana (9, 30)	99	R
 	Jake Westbrook (13, 35)	99	R
34.	Brett Myers (12, 32)	97	R
35.	Zack Greinke (10, 29)	92	R
 	Cole Hamels (8, 29)	92	L
37.	Jamey Wright (18, 38)	90	R
38.	Jon Lester (8, 29)	89	L
 	James Shields (8, 31)	89	R
40.	Wandy Rodriguez (9, 34)	87	L
41.	Ramon Ortiz (12, 40)	86	R
42.	Matt Cain (9, 28)	85	R
43.	Adam Wainwright (8, 31)	84	R
44.	Joe Blanton (10, 32)	83	R
45.	Chad Billingsley (8, 28)	81	R
 	Tim Lincecum (7, 29)	81	R
47.	Joe Saunders (9, 32)	80	L
48.	Jose Contreras (10, 41)	78	R
 	Ricky Nolasco (8, 30)	78	R
50.	Aaron Cook (11, 34)	76	R
Rank	Player (yrs, age)	Wins	Throws
 	Mariano Rivera (19, 43)	76	R
52.	Bruce Chen (15, 36)	72	L
 	Yovani Gallardo (7, 27)	72	R
54.	Gavin Floyd (10, 30)	70	R
 	Edwin Jackson (11, 29)	70	R
 	Ubaldo Jimenez (8, 29)	70	R
57.	Chris Capuano (9, 34)	69	L
 	Paul Maholm (9, 31)	69	L
 	Kip Wells (12, 36)	69	R
60.	Jeff Francis (9, 32)	68	L
61.	Jeremy Bonderman (8, 30)	67	R
62.	Scott Kazmir (9, 29)	66	L
63.	LaTroy Hawkins (19, 40)	65	R
64.	Clayton Kershaw (6, 25)	64	L
65.	Scott Baker (7, 31)	63	R
 	Erik Bedard (10, 34)	63	L
 	Kevin Correia (11, 32)	63	R
 	R.A. Dickey (11, 38)	63	R
69.	David Price (6, 27)	62	L
70.	Johnny Cueto (6, 27)	61	R
 	Gio Gonzalez (6, 27)	61	L
 	Hiroki Kuroda (6, 38)	61	R
 	Chien-Ming Wang (7, 33)	61	R
74.	Octavio Dotel (15, 39)	59	R
 	Oliver Perez (11, 31)	59	L
76.	Jeremy Guthrie (10, 34)	58	R
 	Mark Hendrickson (10, 39)	58	L
 	C.J. Wilson (9, 32)	58	L
79.	John Danks (6, 28)	57	L
 	Matt Garza (7, 29)	57	R
 	Shaun Marcum (8, 31)	57	R
 	Nate Robertson (9, 35)	57	L
83.	Dave Bush (9, 33)	56	R
 	Josh Johnson (9, 29)	56	R
 	Kyle Kendrick (7, 28)	56	R
 	Jorge De La Rosa (10, 32)	56	L
87.	Max Scherzer (6, 28)	55	R
88.	Trevor Cahill (5, 25)	54	R
 	Roberto Hernandez (8, 32)	54	R
90.	Jair Jurrjens (6, 27)	53	R
 	Francisco Liriano (7, 29)	53	L
 	Chris Young (9, 34)	53	R
93.	Phil Hughes (7, 27)	52	R
 	Mike Pelfrey (8, 29)	52	R
95.	Clay Buchholz (7, 28)	51	R
 	Joe Nathan (13, 38)	51	R
 	Ricky Romero (4, 28)	51	L
 	Anibal Sanchez (8, 29)	51	R
99.	Daisuke Matsuzaka (6, 32)	50	R
100.	Zach Duke (9, 30)	49	L
Rank	Player (yrs, age)	Wins	Throws
 	Rick Porcello (5, 24)	49	R

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

The list of active wins leaders is depressing.

I wonder how many people would have guessed Jon Garland would rank where he does on that list?

[Easy Mac]

I don't even think most cursory baseball fans could tell you what position he plays if you asked them "What position does Jon Garland play?"

[fantom1979]

Whats really sad about that list is by just taking a quick glance, I would guess that at least 25% of the pitchers in the top 50 have less than 20 wins left in them.

[korme]

Brain fart question: How does someone post a higher batting average than BABIP?

[Katon]

Hit a lot of home runs.

[GoldenEagle]

Who on that list really has a shot of winning 300 games? Maybe Clayton Kernshaw and that it is a bit of a stretch. All the young power arms coming up are either getting hurt or on teams that aren't any good.

[Lathum]

Seeing Tim Hudson is 37 makes me feel really old.

Looking at that list I would say Beuhrle has a decent shot. Durable guy on a team that presumably will win some games. CC seems the obvious choice as well.

And Matt Harvey.

[Crapshoot]

I think Sabathia / Felix Hernandez have the best shot - Felix has 100+ wins at age 27.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Really hope they can finish up the game today. Santana was just mowing down TB hitters. Likely won't come back out if they restart the game.

[Butter]

Sorry I missed this a couple of days ago, but it's been 25 years since this happened (well, 25 years and 2 days now).

I was at that game. Play happened during a 5-5 game in the top of the 9th, after the Reds had just tied it up the inning before. My dad threw a styrofoam cup holder onto the field from the left center 2nd deck seats. Fun times all around.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Sorry I missed this a couple of days ago, but it's been 25 years since this happened (well, 25 years and 2 days now).

I was at that game. Play happened during a 5-5 game in the top of the 9th, after the Reds had just tied it up the inning before. My dad threw a styrofoam cup holder onto the field from the left center 2nd deck seats. Fun times all around.

Amazing. I was also at that game. It was one of the academic nights they held and my Dad and I were in the outfield. Neither of us threw anything, but I remember a Central Asian father and son totally confused by the whole event. The father eventually tossed his cup meekly. When the fans around him cheered he stood up and grinned as if he had finally settled into his adopted country.

edit: Can't believe Pallone is the one that posted it on YouTube.

[GoldenEagle]

If King Felix pitches 10 more years, he will need to average 20 wins a year to get it. He hasn't done that yet. I would imagine he will get traded at some point if the M's don't improve. He has been durable though.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Should be able to restart the game here in KC. It stopped raining.

It's now snowing.

[SirFozzie]

Yeah, screw Jack Morris (the ex-pitcher, now a broadcaster for the Blue Jays), that's TWO Red Sox pitchers he's accused of throwing spitballs without any evidence. Newsflash Jack, the reason the Blue Jays are having trouble hitting Red Sox pitching isn't because of some imaginary substance your imagination thinks they're putting on the ball, it's because your hitters aren't very good right now.

Edit: Eckersley brings the high heat.

“I was upset during the game when we found out what was happening with Jack Morris, and the more I saw it, the more I started thinking about it, it made me more and more angry about Jack Morris. To me, that’s clueless on his part,” Eckersley said on NESN. “If he knew anything about Buchholz, he knows how nasty he is. His ball doesn’t dance all over the place. The guy paints. He’s got nasty stuff. [Morris] should know that, and he’s gotten carried away. It becomes about Jack Morris almost.

“Where’s Jack Morris been all these years, anyway?” Eckersley continued. “He finally gets a job up there in Toronto and he has to make statements like that and take away from what this kid has done? I think it’s wrong. He’s pitched long enough to know. Guys, you talk about stick-’em, whatever that is, pine tar. He knows that you go to something if you’re sweaty just to get a grip. It’s all about a grip. You saw the comment — that guy [Hayhurst] backed off a little bit, saying maybe it’s rosin, maybe it’s this, but if you just watch the game, you know: the ball disappears on you.

“When you throw a spitball, the ball falls off the table, and you know it right away. The hitters didn’t complain, but Jack Morris is. I think Jack Morris should zip it,” Eckersley added. “I feel sorry for Buchholz to even have to deal with this. I’m styling here, and you’re taking away from me, a guy that can’t even make it to the Hall of Fame yet, and he’s chirping over there — zip it.”

During Thursday night’s broadcast, Morris also noted that Junichi Tazawa rubbed his fingers on his left forearm at one point, and raised questions about whether Tazawa was cheating.

“It looks to me like he’s got a little something on his forearm also. I don’t know if that’s anything in the slippery point — it might be some tacky stuff to get a feel, but it’s obvious that he has gone to his forearm, too,” Morris said. “Who knows? That might just be deception, too.”

[SirFozzie]

Dennis Eckersley Calls Jack Morris ‘Clueless’ for Claiming Red Sox Cheat, Tells Former Pitcher to ‘Zip It’ (Video) | Boston Red Sox | NESN.com

That's our Eck!

[Butter]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

It was one of the academic nights they held and my Dad and I were in the outfield.

That must've been why I was there also. Because we NEVER sat in the outfield green seats, we always bought the cheapest tickets they had and tried to move down if we could.

[Desnudo]

Mantle corked his bat

Looks Like Mickey Mantle Used To Cork His Bat

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by rowech

They just started yesterday. MLB finally realized its a way to get people talking about your sport.

That's a little harsh since in pretty much every other way, MLB is on the cutting edge of new media.

SI