The 2023 MLB Season Thread

[sterlingice]

I can't think this is an intentional trick. Like if you thought you had some sneaky move like that, you probably don't whip it out to try and win game 1 of Spring Training when there are no real stakes. I mean, unless your goal was to get the loophole closed before the season started, but teams usually don't do that until they benefit from it.

SI

[Lathum]

Mets and cardinals combined for 19 runs and the game was still under 3 hours.

[JPhillips]

If you subscribe to the Athletic, the update to Joey Votto's story from 2021 is great. Votto added commentary to most of the stories told about him.

[molson]

Maybe everybody but me saw this two months ago, but this was hilarious and demonstrates the need for baseball timing reform

how many inside the park home runs can José Altuve hit before Pedro Báez throws one pitch? - YouTube

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

If you subscribe to the Athletic, the update to Joey Votto's story from 2021 is great. Votto added commentary to most of the stories told about him.

I’ve seen/heard him on Dan Patrick. He is really entertaining. He’s made a ton of money from playing, but I’d love to see him become a studio analyst or color guy.

[miami_fan]

I am disappointed that one of the coaches was not standing behind the pitcher's mound calling balls and strikes.

No umps when Orioles and Pirates play unneeded bottom of 9th

[Lathum]

Justin Turner just got rocked in the head with a fastball. Looked really bad. Hope he’s ok.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Mets and cardinals combined for 19 runs and the game was still under 3 hours.

Game time is down an average of 23 minutes so far and several games yesterday in under 2:20, this really bodes well for actually being able to enjoy Baseball on TV again.

[GrantDawg]

Is it really baseball if it doesn't include at least 45 minutes of a batter checking his gloves?

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[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Is it really baseball if it doesn't include at least 45 minutes of a batter checking his gloves?

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I have been told repeatedly that if I don't enjoy that, I don't enjoy baseball, despite my lifetime of evidence to the contrary

SI

[Solecismic]

If they could eliminate mound visits and leaving the dugout to yell at an umpire, they could be on to something. The pitch clock is going to be gamed, though. I think they need to add a clause stating that the batter must be in ready position for at least a full second before the windup begins.

I don't think I can handle the fast-pitch softball extra-inning rule, though. Call it a tie, or have a shootout where pitchers have to hit those little plastic ducks like they're at a carnival. Anything.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

Game time is down an average of 23 minutes so far and several games yesterday in under 2:20, this really bodes well for actually being able to enjoy Baseball on TV again.

That's like 20 fewer games over the extent of the season. I wonder if we'll see more games played for starting position players.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I wonder if we'll see more games played for starting position players.

Fat chance. As players get steadily softer, more likely to see even more "rest days" ala the nba.

[Lathum]

Justin Turners wife. Oof....

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Solecismic

If they could eliminate mound visits and leaving the dugout to yell at an umpire, they could be on to something. The pitch clock is going to be gamed, though. I think they need to add a clause stating that the batter must be in ready position for at least a full second before the windup begins.

I don't think I can handle the fast-pitch softball extra-inning rule, though. Call it a tie, or have a shootout where pitchers have to hit those little plastic ducks like they're at a carnival. Anything.

One of the guys in KC sports talk has been saying that's next after the pitch clock for a couple of years. Basically, the thought is that baseball has unlimited "time outs" whereas every other sport has timeouts. I am also ok with limiting this nonsense. I want more baseball, less non-baseball in my baseball.

SI

[miami_fan]

At this point, they should probably go the route of Twenty20 cricket and start a new league. One time at bat per team to score as many times as possible with a 75 minute time limit and 120 pitches per team. Two and a half hour games guaranteed and on to the next city for the next match. 30 teams face each other home and away with and an extra match against teams in your league. Boom, 75 game season. The Boys of Summer theoretically could play from April to September with the World Series being done by Labor Day

Old timers like Jon and me can hang on to the league that has traditional "test" baseball with three plus hour games* and 3,4, 5 game series.

*As long as it is baseball of the early to mid 1980's for me

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

*As long as it is baseball of the early to mid 1980's for me

I don't hate that ... though I'd probably go with '72 (last year without the DH foolishness) as the lock year.

edit to add: The irony being that 1972 average game length was 2:23, might get finished faster than the short-attention span league lol

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

At this point, they should probably go the route of Twenty20 cricket and start a new league. One time at bat per team to score as many times as possible with a 75 minute time limit and 120 pitches per team. Two and a half hour games guaranteed and on to the next city for the next match. 30 teams face each other home and away with and an extra match against teams in your league. Boom, 75 game season. The Boys of Summer theoretically could play from April to September with the World Series being done by Labor Day

Old timers like Jon and me can hang on to the league that has traditional "test" baseball with three plus hour games* and 3,4, 5 game series.

*As long as it is baseball of the early to mid 1980's for me

The amusing thing is, most IPL games last at least 3.5 hours now. As someone who just has it on in the mornings, it's interesting during the power play (overs 1-6), boring from overs 7-17 (unless a bowler gets hot) and then a spint from 18-20. Then repeat after the break.

I'd actually be interested to watch a baseball game where one team bats completely, then the other team bats. Be fun to see how pitcher usage adapts and how teams might change strategies and lineup positions.

[Ksyrup]

The Lexington minor league team, which lost its MLB affiliation a few years back and is just a glorified Harlem Globetrotters experience now (I imagine), just changed its name from the Legends to the CounterClocks. Supposedly, that is a nod to the fact that both baseball players and horses run counter-clockwise.

On the local news, this was the question of the day and the new name had a 3% approval rating. But I suppose for teams like this, the publicity is more important than anything else, so...

[miked]

Maybe they'll be the next Savannah Bananas...

[Solecismic]

Back when teams could reasonably have nine or ten pitchers on the entire staff, the DH seemed like a bad idea. It wasn't even until the '80s, IIRC, teams even considered carrying eleven pitchers at times.

The average team had 42 complete games in 1972 and 44 different pitchers had ten or more.

Now, eleven is a bad idea and complete games from pitchers are rare. In fact, only four pitchers had more than one complete game last season.

The DH was an experiment when Ron Bloomberg stepped into the box in 1973. With today's structure, it's a necessity.

I'm trying to remember when it was that I realized I didn't want to watch baseball any more. Most of the dice-and-paper games I invented as a kid were baseball games.

Today, I watch television with the sound off for the most part. Back maybe 20-25 years ago, that started because I used to have baseball on as a default most evenings. But the commercials were repetitive and louder and there was this local commercial I found so annoying that I had to watch for that commercial and turn the sound off. It mushroomed from there, as did the number and length of commercial breaks.

The ALCS/NLCS/World Series were always must-watch. And it was around the time Fox started televising them and changed how they were doing it and I realized that it was a chore to watch. It wasn't peaceful any more. You could no longer really follow a game just by watching.

Now, I think it's closing in on 20 years since I watched a full game. Probably 2004 and the Red Sox playoff run, since I was living in that area back then. Even by then, though, I was as much following online as watching on television.

I miss baseball before that time. But it's never coming back. Any messing with it at this point is going to be an attempt to appeal to the kids who wouldn't even know what baseball is otherwise.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miked

Maybe they'll be the next Savannah Bananas...

Did you REALLY feel the need to push THAT particular button of mine?
Srsly? Am I not heated ENOUGH on a routine basis to suit you, and particularly in this thread.

$#%@#$% abominations.

[miami_fan]

Message for all my fellow cheapskates.

I just got an email confirming that MLB.tv will once again be free for all T-Mobile and Metro customers. Sign up will be March 28 through the 3rd of April.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Message for all my fellow cheapskates.

I just got an email confirming that MLB.tv will once again be free for all T-Mobile and Metro customers. Sign up will be March 28 through the 3rd of April.

About time! I heard they were still fighting about contracts since the last one expired in 2022. People thought that maybe they were subbing MLS for it (never mind that you have to have AppleTV for MLS and, while MLB is not where it used to be, it's not MLS level of popularity either).

If I'm going to have (cheap) crappy cell service, I might as well get free MLB TV out of it.

SI

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

About time! I heard they were still fighting about contracts since the last one expired in 2022. People thought that maybe they were subbing MLS for it (never mind that you have to have AppleTV for MLS and, while MLB is not where it used to be, it's not MLS level of popularity either).

If I'm going to have (cheap) crappy cell service, I might as well get free MLB TV out of it.

SI

See, you say that. But TMobile has been the best cell service I have ever had. Beats the ever-loving crap out of AT&T. It is also much better than Verizon that I have on my work phone, at least since the 5g switch.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

See, you say that. But TMobile has been the best cell service I have ever had. Beats the ever-loving crap out of AT&T. It is also much better than Verizon that I have on my work phone, at least since the 5g switch.

We made the switch from Verizon a couple of years ago and had awful service in our home at first with t-mobile , but they sent us a signal booster for free and since then absolutely no issues. Our bill is about half what we were paying with Verizon and with the booster our coverage is more or less the same. Customer service is significantly better too. I hope we never have to go back to Verizon or AT&T.

[stevew]

T-Mobile is hot garbage where I live.

[sterlingice]

T-Mobile is hot garbage here, too. AT&T is as well. So many dead spots. Verizon seems to be consistently better across the board. This is going by average complaints from our local Pokemon Go community, which requires internet service pretty much wherever you are to play (and dead spots kill it).

I was on Sprint, which, if you were in the city, was what I used to describe as "reliably slow" - it was slow but it was always there. However, with the T-Mobile merger, that was no longer an option. I mean, I'm paying $80 a month for 2 lines so I can't complain at all about the price. But T-Mobile's coverage is awful. I mean, it could be worse, I could be paying like 50% more and get AT&T, which is just as bad.

SI

[GrantDawg]

Verizon used to be better here pre-5g. I get signal with my personal phone that I never can get with my work Verizon phone.

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[Ksyrup]

I've had AT&T for a couple of decades and have no complaints.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

See, you say that. But TMobile has been the best cell service I have ever had. Beats the ever-loving crap out of AT&T. It is also much better than Verizon that I have on my work phone, at least since the 5g switch.

It must be an Atlanta thing, because TMobile has been great for me as well.

[miked]

I'm in Atlanta and Verizon has been great. AT&T was/is awful and their home products suck as well.

[GrantDawg]

Verizon used to be the best coverage in North Georgia. The last few years that hasn't been the case, at least for me. Their dead zones are still dead, where I am now getting full bars with T-Mobile.

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[Ghost Econ]

Strike three, you're out!!!

Tempers flared after the strikeout call that ended the Miss. Valley St.-New Orleans game.

Do you agree with the call? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/x6risaNisk

— ESPN (@espn) March 11, 2023

[stevew]

Just watched that and jeez

[Lathum]

That ump is a dick.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That the UNO catcher tried to save the MVSU batter from himself speaks volumes about how bad that was.

That bastard should never work another game in his life ... but after seeing the interaction after strike two, I immediately thought "he better swing at whatever pitch comes next" cause you could tell the ump had bad intentions.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

That the UNO catcher tried to save the MVSU batter from himself speaks volumes about how bad that was.

That bastard should never work another game in his life ... but after seeing the interaction after strike two, I immediately thought "he better swing at whatever pitch comes next" cause you could tell the ump had bad intentions.

Same, although based on the location of that last pitch, he probably would have been ejected anyways for going to the dugout and returning with a pitching wedge.

[miami_fan]

For those are unaware, Dave Wills, the play by play announcer for the Rays passed away early this year. Watching my son process this over the week has surprised me if I am being honest. I did not think that kids today could still have that sort of relationship with their hometown sports announcers.

[GrantDawg]

Why did the ump not just eject the batter after he missed strike two?

[JonInMiddleGA]

fwiw, at least the Southland Conference has suspended the umpire indefinitely.

[flere-imsaho]

Am I right in thinking that he was going to call the third pitch a strike regardless due to the batter's reaction to the second pitch? Or, was he just being terrible at calling strikes, because to me the second pitch also looked like a ball?

Serious question - I don't watch a lot of baseball.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Am I right in thinking that he was going to call the third pitch a strike regardless due to the batter's reaction to the second pitch? Or, was he just being terrible at calling strikes, because to me the second pitch also looked like a ball?

Serious question - I don't watch a lot of baseball.

That third strike was the umpire's reaction, right or wrong, to the batters reaction to strike two.

[JPhillips]

Yeah, my only question is whether there were other incidents prior to that at-bat.

[JPhillips]

If Mexico and Colombia beat Canada and Great Britain, as expected, the USA will need to beat Colombia by 8 runs or more to advance in the WBC.

[miami_fan]

Stolen from the headline of Ken Rosenthal’s column today but also a valid question?

If Team USA will be handcuffed by pitching restrictions, is it worth even playing in WBC?

Also, have the managers for the other countries been given similar restrictions?

[miami_fan]

I fully admit to waiting until the last minute to purchase tickets but $75-$90 for a general seating ticket to Wednesday's Phillies vs. Yankees spring training game in Tampa seems a bit excessive, no?

[stevew]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I fully admit to waiting until the last minute to purchase tickets but $75-$90 for a general seating ticket to Wednesday's Phillies vs. Yankees spring training game in Tampa seems a bit excessive, no?

My dad went to Tigers/Yankees in Lakeland a few years ago and I remember it was 45$+ and I thought that was ridiculous.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

My dad went to Tigers/Yankees in Lakeland a few years ago and I remember it was 45$+ and I thought that was ridiculous.

It looks like it is a Yankee thing as opposed to a general spring training thing. I can get a ticket at the Phillies facility in Clearwater for $21 and I can get one behind the plate at Tropicana Field for $20. To be fair, ain't a whole lot of seats available so more are willing to pay the price than are not.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

If Mexico and Colombia beat Canada and Great Britain, as expected, the USA will need to beat Colombia by 8 runs or more to advance in the WBC.

Great Britain says hold my Tea. I don't exaggerate when i say this is on the level of USA over USSR in Hockey 1980 in the mother country, I am pretty stoked right now!