The 2023 MLB Season Thread

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

That is literally the first I have heard of it. No one even in the announcements I read specified that there was a Tropical Storm. They will usually say the name of the system when announcing these things.

I don't blame ya, idk why exactly Ophelia didn't get any national attention but people at the event I was running merchandise for (NHRA in Charlotte) had been tracking it to make sure it didn't mess up weekend plans too much. Probably mostly because it was always going north/staying east enough it was never a threat to make landfall south enough to kill people, possibly a bit because like Cuervo said they made a huge deal about a complete dud in Lee a week before so nobody cared this time. Certainly seemed like a necessary postponement and a pretty ugly weekend north of us on the coast, glad we just got one outer band overnight Friday but it skirted just north and east enough the event was able to run almost on time. (Not something I'm going to seek out but pretty cool to see up close once, cars do go fast! )

[henry296]

It also didn't get a name until about 12 hours before landfall.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I don't blame ya, idk why exactly Ophelia didn't get any national attention but people at the event I was running merchandise for (NHRA in Charlotte) had been tracking it to make sure it didn't mess up weekend plans too much. Probably mostly because it was always going north/staying east enough it was never a threat to make landfall south enough to kill people, possibly a bit because like Cuervo said they made a huge deal about a complete dud in Lee a week before so nobody cared this time. Certainly seemed like a necessary postponement and a pretty ugly weekend north of us on the coast, glad we just got one outer band overnight Friday but it skirted just north and east enough the event was able to run almost on time. (Not something I'm going to seek out but pretty cool to see up close once, cars do go fast! )

Would this be a good time to tell you about when my father in law was a drag race where the car came off the track into the crowd?

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Would this be a good time to tell you about when my father in law was a drag race where the car came off the track into the crowd?

Better than telling me Thursday! Did hear this one from our tent, (behind the bleachers but right near the starting line and close enough you'd still feel the shaking when top fuel or funny cars went). MASSIVE starting line explosion for Robert Hight - YouTube Luckily the guy is fine, and looking things up sounds like there's only been one fan death at an NHRA one since 1969 (rogue tire in 2010), and no driver deaths since 2010 either which is kinda crazy for how close everything is and how little is separating the crowd from the track, safety has come a long way.

[GrantDawg]

I'm not sure this was a NHRA event, but it happened in 1969 not too far from where I live now. It closed the track after o
It happened. My wife's brother was supposed to go with him that day, and if he had they might been in the section. Instead her dad was talking with one of the sponsors when it happened. 11 people died and 40 were injured.

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[GrantDawg]

Dola: I never heard the cause, but I just read an article about it. A drunk guy was chasing a beer can on to the track when a Funny Car parachute deployed. He was sucked in and killed instantly, and the car veered into the crowd.
That goes to show Porterdale hasn't changed.

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[BishopMVP]

Same, just read one. There's also extremely grainy video on Youtube - don't want to joke about tragedy but yeah a sloped embankment is probably not the best separator for crowd safety.

[GrantDawg]

I had never seen the video. Crazy. Just to cement the area as redneckville, that place is now a trailer park.

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[Swaggs]

The Pirates will officially finish ahead of the Cardinals for the first time since 1999 and, somehow, it doesn't quite feel as good as I thought it would.

[stevew]

Is anything really gain by allowing check swings? They should just always be a strike. Seems like it’s super controversial, especially when you have horrible umpires like Angel Hernandez.

[CrimsonFox]

The reds decided to play football instead.

[SirFozzie]

RIP Tim Wakefield

[sovereignstar v2]

Turn back the clocks - the Twins are winning playoff games again! Any Pirates fans want to jump on this AL bandwagon?

[stevew]

How long till we get a 2/7 playoff matchup in the wildcard round? Really enjoyed the last 2 days of games.

[MrBug708]

Dodgers recent NLDS opponents:

2020: Padres

2021: Giants

2022: Padres

2023: Diamondbacks

This format sucks.

[SirFozzie]

Before the season you coulda got good odds that the Orioles would be the last team from the AL East in the playoffs..

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

Turn back the clocks - the Twins are winning playoff games again! Any Pirates fans want to jump on this AL bandwagon?

Already there!

Also find myself rooting to see Bryce Harper win a championship. I know he can seem arrogant (and maybe he legitimately is), but I love watching him play and put him on that level with LeBron and Shaq as guys that had all the pressure in the world on them, since they were teenagers, and have lived up to expectations without getting in trouble.

[Ghost Econ]

Braves making a terrible pitcher look like a Cy Young winner in the post season is a tale as old as time.

[Ksyrup]

Kershaw... sheesh.

[miami_fan]

All right Astros vs Twins. I think I have seen one relatively close playoff game this postseason. I would prefer a Twins win but will take a one or two run game.

[sovereignstar v2]

It'd be nice if the Twins didn't have to overcome the Astros and these fucking umpires

[JonInMiddleGA]

Dodgers get 4.2 innings out of three starters.

THAT is how you do a complete pitching meltdown (granted, it's more like Dodger BlueCross than Dodger Blue at this point but still)

[Ksyrup]

I took the dogs out and the D-backs hit 4 HR and had a 5th ball reviewed but called foul while I was outside. It's like I crammed a whole weekend of missed soccer goals into one 10 minute HR fest.

[Flasch186]

It was as automatic as bringing in your reliever in OOTP


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[Ghost Econ]

In a completely fair system, a team would be expected to win a world series every 30 years

Assuming the Rangers don't win this season, 14/30 MLB teams will have gone at least 30 years without a World Series title (Rays aren't being counted as a 15th team as they've only been around 25 years).

As a Braves fan, it's annoying watching them shit the bed in the playoffs 90% of the time, but I guess it could be worse

[JPhillips]

The second longest playoff series win drought goes back to 2005.

The longest is the Reds and it goes back to 1995.

I'll be happy just to see them advance once again before I die.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

In a completely fair system, a team would be expected to win a world series every 30 years

Assuming the Rangers don't win this season, 14/30 MLB teams will have gone at least 30 years without a World Series title (Rays aren't being counted as a 15th team as they've only been around 25 years).

As a Braves fan, it's annoying watching them shit the bed in the playoffs 90% of the time, but I guess it could be worse

Braves and Dodgers, thats what we do

[cartman]

I still have PTSD from Game 6 of the 2011 world series between the Rangers and Cardinals

[Ksyrup]

Here are the teams that benefited most from incorrect calls in the postseason - by run value.

1) TOR: +1.188
2) HOU: +1.172
3) PHI: +0.342
4) ATL: +0.332
5) BAL: +0.147
6) LAD: +0.076
7) TEX: +0.057
8) AZ: -0.012
9) MIL: -0.064
10) TB: -0.204
11) MIA: -0.674
12) MIN: -2.360‼️ pic.twitter.com/slSNAmnGoy

— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) October 13, 2023

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Here are the teams that benefited most from incorrect calls in the postseason - by run value.

1) TOR: +1.188
2) HOU: +1.172
3) PHI: +0.342
4) ATL: +0.332
5) BAL: +0.147
6) LAD: +0.076
7) TEX: +0.057
8) AZ: -0.012
9) MIL: -0.064
10) TB: -0.204
11) MIA: -0.674
12) MIN: -2.360‼️ pic.twitter.com/slSNAmnGoy

— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) October 13, 2023

This is my shocked face. :|

[stevew]

Trying to leg out a triple with 0 outs in a 10-0 game probably warrants a fastball to the thigh.

[Ksyrup]

He would have been safe if he hadn't tripped himself. And he was a backup. That was a triple. On the flip side of your point, I'm way more annoyed by the number of MLBers who haven't even gotten halfway to 1B before they downshift and glide into 2B without a thought about their hit possibly being a triple.

Triples are one of the more exciting plays in baseball. We should be encouraging players to go for them more often.

[miami_fan]

I don't know if umpires are taught to do this but I appreciate the umps that will say where the pitch missed if they call it a ball.

[stevew]

Don’t see how Scherzer gets out of the third inning tonight.

[Ksyrup]

Dusty apparently saving the rest of the bullpen for game 8.

[Senator]

Whoop

[stevew]

Originally Posted by stevew

Don’t see how Scherzer gets out of the third inning tonight.

Called it

[SirFozzie]

Random thoughts after reading one of Keith Law's books on baseball.

A) I think one of the most amazing things about baseball and its long and storied history is that there are still arguments over baseball history that very few people who saw them play are still living.

(the discussion that triggered that was the 1941 AL MVP Race between Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. Despite arguably having the better season (this was the year he hit .409), DiMaggio won the award, because of two major reasons, the Yankees won the AL, and because this was the year of DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak.



B) The other question is only something a true stat-head/sim head would do. We have a dynasty running to determine each franchise's best team of all time, so this is something similar. What year's players would make the best team?

That is, if you made a team of the best players of the year (so, the above 1941 team could have DiMaggio and Williams in their outfield), and normalized them stat wise.

[miami_fan]

If we don't have the annual MLB thread near the top of the first page thoughout the World Series, the terrorists win. Go Rangers? I guess

[Ksyrup]

I happen to be in Dallas this weekend. My mom's going crazy during these games and I've seen a ton of people in Rangers gear while out and about.

[Atocep]

My son was doing his motion capture session at driveline today and the player in front of him was Amed Rosario.

[cartman]

Redemption! Can now watch game 6 of the 2011 series without PTSD. Wish my grandpa was alive to see the Rangers win. He introduced me to baseball listening to games on the radio when we went camping when i was a little kid. We went to the first playoff games in their history against the Yankees in the late 90s.

[thealmighty]

Waited 52 years for this, growing-up in FTW and now living in (TooF'in)BigD. Really didn't think I'd ever see this. What a glorious birthday month + a day.


(and I don't care if it is probably the least watched Series ever, either)

[SirFozzie]

Congrats thealmighty! (and congrats to Nasty Nate Eovaldi.. good to see him get another ring after what he did for the Sox)

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

Waited 52 years for this, growing-up in FTW and now living in (TooF'in)BigD. Really didn't think I'd ever see this. What a glorious birthday month + a day.


(and I don't care if it is probably the least watched Series ever, either)

You know what you call the winner of the least watched World Series?
World Series Champions! Congrats, and enjoy the win.

[Senator]

Finally. Long wait.

[Ksyrup]

TV ratings are for Fox and MLB to worry about. I'll start worrying about it when someone walks into my house and changes the channel from the game because not enough people are watching, so I can't either.

[cartman]

I believe this now makes DFW the fifth metro area to have teams win NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB championships

[JonInMiddleGA]

So did anybody have Counsell to the Cubs on their bingo card?

[Ksyrup]

He was going somewhere else, most likely rumored to be the Mets, but I'm not surprised.