2011 MLB Thread

[henry296]

Originally Posted by jbergey22

Does this make the Pirates 3-1?

All three wins are on the road and they only won 17 road games all last year. Almost 20% of the total in just the first week.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I seem to have a vague recollection of DTV wanting to own regional sports networks being an issue in someone's contract negotiations. I can't remember if it even involved DTV directly. Maybe it lead to the 2006 stock swap. I really can't remember.

One of the things I ran across while pulling that mess together referenced DTV being forced to divest it's interest in DTV Puerto Rico at the time.

Truth is, the way it looks from the backstory, not too many people have "wanted" the regional sports nets in some markets but rather ended up with them until they could figure out a way to unload them. Based on how little revenue many of them generate outside of live event sports (and the high cost of producing those), I can sort of understand that feeling.

[ISiddiqui]

Somehow the Orioles are 4-0. This isn't computing with me.

[Terps]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Somehow the Orioles are 4-0. This isn't computing with me.

... and it's great.

[Logan]

Mets put up a 6 spot on the Phillies in the 3rd, knocking Hamels out of the game, with the rally fueled by two hits in the inning by SP Chris Young. He added a 3rd in the 5th.

[cougarfreak]

Reds maintaining their hot ways tonight.

[samifan24]

Indians continue Red Sox' misery behind a strong outing from starter Josh Tomlin tonight.

[Scoobz0202]

Just booked a hotel in Newport, KY for the weekend of the 13th in May. Now I need to purchase tickets. Planning on hitting the entire series when the Cardinals come to town to take on the Reds. Can't fucking wait.

[Ksyrup]

Just flipped over to the Texas game, and they were interviewing a couple getting married at the ballpark tomorrow. Interviewer says to the guy, "You must be pretty excited." And they guy goes, "Not really, this is going to be the worst day of my life." Fiance sitting right next to him.

HA!

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by cougarfreak

Reds maintaining their hot ways tonight.

Last time they started 4-0 was 1990.

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Last time they started 4-0 was 1990.

Wire to wire in 2011.

[Tellistto]

Rangers start 5-0 with a 3-2 win over Seattle tonight.

Tell

[Lathum]

Pretty excited about the Mets win tonight. Guarantees at worst a 3-3 road trip to start the season.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Royals keep on rollin'! 4-1. First place. First time they've been three games over .500 since early 2009.

[sterlingice]

I had to get to sleep before the game finished last night so I missed the 12th

SI

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Pretty excited about the Mets win tonight. Guarantees at worst a 3-3 road trip to start the season.

And a 3-159 season record.

[Ksyrup]

SBNation recap of Royals win:

Then came the Royals magic that everyone has come to expect in the past few years week. After six scoreless innings from the bullpen, Kansas City played small ball in the 12th inning. A Chris Getz single and a sacrifice bunt set up Cabrera, who singled up the middle off Tony Pena to seal the second straight home-plate celebration for the Royals. The game marked the fifth time in history that someone named "Tony Pena" contributed to a Royals win.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

And a 3-159 season record.

Hey, I'll take any win with this team .

[Suicane75]

Hellickson had 10 K's in 5 innings today. Willie Bloomquist is looking like Rickey Henderson.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Royals keep on rollin'! 4-1. First place. First time they've been three games over .500 since early 2009.

The Royals are 4-1 but the story I'm interested in with them is Alex Gordon. He had a terrific spring and has started off on fire. 6 extra base hits in his first 25 at bats. He seems like a good guy. I hope he keeps it up.

[PilotMan]

I never thought that I would be excited for Minor League opening day. However, this year I got the Minor League package along with my MLB.TV package, and the games start tomorrow. I have never paid so much attention to who was in the LA and Cincy minor league systems and being able to watch some of the games. It's weird.

[JediKooter]

Wondering how long before Giants fans call for Bruce Bochy's firing? I know they were wanting it by the 3rd week of the season last year, from all the phone calls that came into KNBR.

[Suicane75]

Come on, he gets at least a one year grace period.

[JediKooter]

Not with Giants fans. They are (not all of them) some of the whiniest, cry baby fans I've ever heard/seen. I'm surprised there's not a 'Bring Your Therapist to the Game' promo at AT&T park.

[Karlifornia]

Yeah....Giants fans kinda suck sometimes, especially after the bandwagon ballooned during the World Series run.

The team simply isn't playing good defense, whereas they played terrific defense last year. It'll turn around, unless, of course, it doesn't.

[JediKooter]

Yup, their defense is killing them. That and the lack of run support as well.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

Yup, their defense is killing them. That and the lack of run support as well.

And what is with all the non-standard start times. Can they play some 1PM or 7PM games?

[molson]

It's amusing to read the brainy Red Sox fans at Sonsofsamhorn put together statistical analysis of their crappy start and how meaningful it is.

"Just because starting 0-4 doesn't follow normal distribution doesn't make it non-random, any more than a 4-game losing streak to end the season is non-random, or any isolated 4-game stretch*. All we know for certain is that there appears to be a mild correlation between starting badly and ending the season out of contention. History tells us that's because these two factors are likely caused by an 0-4 starting team being, on average, worse than playoff teams. But that likelihood is far from certain, and there is enough variance that drawing conclusions at this stage is making a mountain out of a molehill. This type of reasoning is precisely why people here lament the use of small sample sizes to draw conclusions that are disproportionate to that sample.

*EDIT - This is to say: flip a coin 4 times in a row and tell me that the result is non-random. I just flipped a quarter and got 3 heads and 1 tails. The tails side clearly has a problem facing up. Have 30 people flip coins 4 times in a row, and there's a good chance results will still not follow a normal distribution in terms of <.500 vs. .500 vs >.500"

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

And what is with all the non-standard start times. Can they play some 1PM or 7PM games?

Oh man, no kidding. Did the same people who were responsible for New Coke, come up with the game times this season?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

And what is with all the non-standard start times. Can they play some 1PM or 7PM games?

I decided to glance at the Giants schedule (that's who was being talked about, right?) since I kind of had the same feeling about the Braves so far this year.

Sure enough, it's a mess of starting times for the Giants.

For April/May/June at least (I didn't go farther) it looks like the Giants are committed to playing at least one weekday day game a week when they're at home. Most of those are on getaway days but not all of them.

Saturdays are a real puzzle though, Sat home games in the first half start at 705p,110p,605p, 410p,105p, 110p, and 605p. About the only consistent start time seems to be Sundays at 105p.

[Ksyrup]

What in God's name is going on with the Royals? Will they not win unless it's a walk-off?

Up 6-3 in the 9th with 2 out, none on, and Soria gives up 4. Bottom of the 9th, Kila just doubled in the tying run with 1 out.

[Crapshoot]

Have the Royals decided that fans are entitled to see extra-innings baseball every time around?

[DanGarion]

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by JediKooter

Not with Giants fans. They are (not all of them) some of the whiniest, cry baby fans I've ever heard/seen. I'm surprised there's not a 'Bring Your Therapist to the Game' promo at AT&T park.

Wait, where the heck do you live? Bochy is what he is - he loves his vets unless they are taken away from him (ie, Cody Ross only played last year once Guillen was left off the roster; Molina continued to catch when Posey was called up), but he's very very good handling a pen. The Giants were very lucky last year, and I could comfortably see them losing out to CO in the West this year.

[stevew]

If you thought the Cards were using steroids before.....I shudder at how they will overcompensate for losing 2 of 3 to the Pirates.

[bhlloy]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What in God's name is going on with the Royals? Will they not win unless it's a walk-off?

Up 6-3 in the 9th with 2 out, none on, and Soria gives up 4. Bottom of the 9th, Kila just doubled in the tying run with 1 out.

Unfortunately for the Royals, Sean O'Sullivan is still one of the worst pitchers in baseball. How this guy is still in the majors I have absolutely no idea.

[Ksyrup]

Francoeur blew it in the bottom of the 11th. First and third, 1 out, all he needed was a fly ball and he K'd.

[RedKingGold]

Last night, the Met's have a crazy good 3rd inning, scoring six runs due largely to key hits from their pitcher.

Tonight, the Phillies are having a crazy good 3rd inning, having scored six runs in the inning so far due largely from a key 2-run single hit by pitcher Joe Blanton.

[kingfc22]

Lincecum looks great tonight. 10 K's through 5 IP and only 2 hits allowed.

[EagleFan]

I would LOVE to see Blanton win 16+ games this year. Just because he is always the guy on the outside looking in when talking about the team's pitchers.

[panerd]

The Reds offense looks really good this season. Edinson Volquez gets shelled for 4 runs in the first and they are still up 6-4. Through the first two innings he had given up 4 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs but also struck out 6.

[korme]

Go REDS Go REDS Go REDS

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Have the Royals decided that fans are entitled to see extra-innings baseball every time around?

Yeah, it keeps messing with my schedule

SI

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

Funny! LOL!

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Wait, where the heck do you live? Bochy is what he is - he loves his vets unless they are taken away from him (ie, Cody Ross only played last year once Guillen was left off the roster; Molina continued to catch when Posey was called up), but he's very very good handling a pen. The Giants were very lucky last year, and I could comfortably see them losing out to CO in the West this year.

San Diego and the Bay Area for the last 16 years and grew up in San Diego watching Bochy as a player. He wasn't an All-Star player by any stretch, but, very smart and knows the game.

The whole 'he likes his veterans' thing has been way over blown since he came up to Frisco. I'm not saying that he doesn't, I'm saying it's being made out to be more than what it actually is. What he likes, as he did for many years in San Diego, is players that produce first and foremost. He plays who he thinks will give them best chance to win. He will play players that are on hot streaks, so if you get hot, you're starting, veteran or not. He knows his players and that's why he has been successful. If he's not starting someone, it's based on a number of factors, not just based on a comparison of service time.

He's a pretty dang good coach. He took very mediocre Padres teams and got them to the playoffs more times than they probably should have. He's taken two teams that don't spend money on players like the Red Sox and Yankees do, to the World Series and is 1-1. He's no Joe Torre, but, he also never worked with Steinbrenner's money. It takes luck to be a champion in any league. Everything has to fall into place at the right time, injuries minimized, other teams getting cold at the wrong time, etc...I think the Giants will be fine this year, baring any unforeseen injuries.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Francoeur blew it in the bottom of the 11th. First and third, 1 out, all he needed was a fly ball and he K'd.

That's like blaming a dog for licking itself when all you need it to do is shake.

[molson]

Wow, two innings today so far and the Red Sox staff STILL hasn't given up a home run! Not one so far today!

[Ksyrup]

I hate Thursdays, with all the early games. Only 2 games to watch tonight, both 7pm games. I can't wait until the west coast teams start hosting games.

[MikeVic]

What's with all the weird times and afternoon games? Are there some holidays I don't know about in uhh Toronto? Why is there a Thursday noon game?

[Ksyrup]

It's a combination of the second wave of opening series for teams that started the year on the road and Thursday as the traditional "get away" day for travel to the next series that starts on Friday. Thursdays are usually light schedules to begin with, because it's used as one of the off-days, and the games that are played that day are mostly afternoon so teams can fly out earlier for the weekend series.