2011 MLB Thread

[lungs]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

How can you not like stuff like this? It's great for these two teams, I love it.

Don't get me wrong, it's entertaining. But it seems like anytime Albert Pujols gets plunked, even in obvious situations where you don't want to plunk a guy, the Cardinals dugout/management/announcers/whoever go berserk like the opposing pitcher just committed first-degree murder.

I'll give Pujols credit for being smart enough to know that it wasn't intentional. But what the hell was up Dave Duncan's ass? Seriously.

And I'm not even a Reds fan, but I do see the douchebaggery of the Cardinals enough when they come to Milwaukee. The Reds? My only problem with them is they keep beating the Brewers

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Especially after Jeter backed Posada yesterday, claimed he did nothing wrong.

From teh ARod freeze-out, to his response to his declining offense and defense, to this Posada thing...I'm beginning to think that Jeter's reputation as a clubhouse leader is less deserved than his reputation as a gold glove SS.

We are on the same wave length here. He's been a great player for a number of years, but his leadership qualities have always seemed a little off to me.

If he doesn't turn it around quick, they are going to need a lineup card with Posada 8th and Jeter 9th by the time the middle of the season rolls around.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

How can you not like stuff like this? It's great for these two teams, I love it.

I like a good old fashioned rivalry. I don't really like one team crying over something so ridiculous. Nobody wants to see Albert plunked, but to think someone is going to hit him intentionally in that situation is beyond idiotic.

I don't think the Cardinals are handling themselves well right now at all. Just my two cents from a guy who could care less about either team.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Very sad news in the Royals organization. Paul Splittorff had reportedly been fighting a virus which caused his speech to slur. As it turns out, he has late stage cancer and is expected to pass soon. He's a huge part of the Royals both as a player and announcer. He's also a family friend of ours and we hate to see this happen to him and the family.

Off the Couch

Paul Splittorff has cancer

Posted 5-16-11

Paul Splittorff spent his 15-year MLB career with the Kansas City Royals befuddling major league batters as a talented southpaw on the mound. The past two seasons he has done the same to Royals fans who have tuned in to Royals TV broadcasts on FoxSports. Splittorff was there for opening day in 2010 but his voice was gone. The longtime Royals' analyst's speech was slurred. He had people asking if he had suffered a stroke.

Splittorff quickly brushed off all questions about his health by saying he had simply caught a virus and that he expected his voice to recover soon. Fox removed him after the 2010 season opener but he returned to the broadcasts later last season. After returning, his voice seemed no better despite the layoff.

Splitt has been there for almost every Royals' home game I've watched this season and sounded worse than ever. His speech issues again have sparked a number of rumors and questions as to what is affecting his speech. I have confirmed with people close to Splitt that he has been suffering from both throat cancer and melanoma now for some time and he appears to be close to death. He recently was administered his last rites from his priest in his KU Medical Center hospital room. He is not expected to make it through the week.

Individuals at the Med Center have marveled at how head-on Splittorff has handled his cancer. He would take his chemo treatments and then rush out the door to cover the Royals. His charts at KU Med are covered with warnings to not bother him with autograph requests or to ask him for the typical requests all professional athletes receive. This didn't stop at least one doctor from asking Splittorff if he could bring his sons by to meet him. And anyone who knows Splitt knows that he told the doctor. 'Sure, that would be fine.'

I first saw Splitt pitch when he was breaking in with the Royals in Omaha in 1969. I was just starting high school and the Royals had just replaced the A's as Kansas City's expansion team. It seemed every time I went to Rosenblatt Stadium, Splittorff was the starting pitcher for the Omaha Royals. I was always disappointed. How could this skinny lefty from Morningside College be expected to make it in The Show? Obviously, I had an eye for talent even then.

I got to know Splitt a bit when I wrote for The Star and spent some time in the Royals' press box. I don't think you could find a more down-to-earth guy. He never acted like a former player by big-timing anyone. He was beyond humble, especially about his broadcasting. We sat and talked about my column as he nervously picked away at flecks of dry skin on his hands and arms.

He took his broadcasting career very seriously. When he started broadcasting games for ESPN, he was in a word: awful. I wrote in a column how bad he was and we talked about that column a few times. Splitt told me he agreed 100% with how bad I thought he was during his early years. It made him work all the harder at his new craft.

Splitt eventually became very good as an analyst and a broadcaster. He was excellent at making a point. During the height of the Royals 100-loss seasons, Splitt was one of the few broadcasters associated with the Royals to criticize the club for their lack of direction and the deterioration of a once-proud franchise. He quickly became one of my favorite analysts because of his passion for the Royals and his fearlessness in speaking his mind.

While he has battled cancer, much of that fire and insight has dimmed from his work on Royals' broadcasts. Only Splitt knows why he was determined to go on television when he might have been spending his last year doing something we all would find more life fulfilling. But as I stated, Splitt takes his job seriously. Going to work is what he finds life fulfilling. We need more guys like Splitt wearing Royals blue. We need more guys like Splitt period.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I think Girardi and Cashman have known Jeter shouldn't be hitting lead-off since well before this season. As the Posada incident demonstrates, there's knowing you have a problem, and then there's figuring out how to deal with the problem. I can't wait until they have to do something with Jeter, and then a couple of years later it's CC, Tex, and ARod all sucking the life out of the team.

The only reason they put up with Jeter's numbers last year is because they were able to win in spite of a 90 OPS+. Now that they're 2 games from sitting in last place, they can't just absorb subpar numbers.

You can't continue to pay and treat your former stars like they're still still stars because this is the situation you end up in.

The Yankees have what should have been a natural replacement for Posada sitting in AAA. They should have spend this year with Montero platooning so they could determine whether or not he can catch at the major league level. However, they've put themselves in a situation where they really can't call Montero up right now because of the way Jeter and Posada are handling this. I don't think anyone in their right mind would put a prospect like him under that much pressure.

As stated a couple times in this thread, Jeter continues to show that his "leadership" is as much of an aberration as his clutch hitting. He continues to fail in situations where leadership is most needed.

[Scoobz0202]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I like a good old fashioned rivalry. I don't really like one team crying over something so ridiculous. Nobody wants to see Albert plunked, but to think someone is going to hit him intentionally in that situation is beyond idiotic.

I don't think the Cardinals are handling themselves well right now at all. Just my two cents from a guy who could care less about either team.

Yea, I don't think even Cardinal fans can get upset at what happened. Yea, I don't like Votto getting hit but it happens. Cordero said it best:

“I think it was because I hit Pujols 0-2. Gerald Laird was all loud in the dugout. He was yelling at me and pointing at me and saying a whole bunch of stuff. I will say it again. Out of all those guys they have there, those great hitters and great players, Gerald Laird did not even play and he’s the one yelling at me because I hit Pujols 0-2…0-2. I wasn’t trying to hit him. I’ve got to face Holliday next. They can take the lead with one swing. Lance Berkman is one of the great hitters in the National League. All I know is [Laird] was loud and saying something to me. I said something back to him.” — Francisco Cordero on the postgame shouting to the Cardinals dugout.

“I looked in the dugout and Pujols was sitting down. He was quiet because he knows I wasn’t trying to hit him. This stuff happens. Obviously we swept them and are up a game and a half in the division. Whatever happened last year was last year. It’s a new year. We’re just trying to play baseball. It’s not wrestling. It’s a baseball game. That’s all we’re trying to do here.” — Cordero

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by lungs

Don't get me wrong, it's entertaining. But it seems like anytime Albert Pujols gets plunked, even in obvious situations where you don't want to plunk a guy, the Cardinals dugout/management/announcers/whoever go berserk like the opposing pitcher just committed first-degree murder.

I'll give Pujols credit for being smart enough to know that it wasn't intentional. But what the hell was up Dave Duncan's ass? Seriously.

And I'm not even a Reds fan, but I do see the douchebaggery of the Cardinals enough when they come to Milwaukee. The Reds? My only problem with them is they keep beating the Brewers

I think it was magnified because it was a Reds pitcher who did it, but give Cordero major kudos for explaining exactly what happened.

It was a chance for some players and Duncan to pop off to a team they don't like - which is likewise by the Reds.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I like a good old fashioned rivalry. I don't really like one team crying over something so ridiculous. Nobody wants to see Albert plunked, but to think someone is going to hit him intentionally in that situation is beyond idiotic.

I don't think the Cardinals are handling themselves well right now at all. Just my two cents from a guy who could care less about either team.

I love watching these two teams go at it.. all they talked about today was the 4th of July when the Reds come to town.. it sells tickets.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

Yea, I don't think even Cardinal fans can get upset at what happened. Yea, I don't like Votto getting hit but it happens. Cordero said it best:

Defnitely not upset and I'm with Cordero.. Laird of all people, really?

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

How can you not like stuff like this? It's great for these two teams, I love it.

+1 I think this rivalry has been great for the Reds.

[Ksyrup]

Vin Mazzaro had a night to remember. For Jayson Stark, anyway.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Vin Mazzaro had a night to remember. For Jayson Stark, anyway.

Can't wait for June 1st. The Royals have some fantastic starting pitching in AAA that they're trying to hold off bringing up for a couple weeks. Having to watch starts by Mazzaro and Davies is painful knowing that's going to happen eventually.

[samifan24]

Tribe 19, Royals 1 in the 7th inning. Nasty.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Can't wait for June 1st. The Royals have some fantastic starting pitching in AAA that they're trying to hold off bringing up for a couple weeks. Having to watch starts by Mazzaro and Davies is painful knowing that's going to happen eventually.

The Royals' starting pitching issues will be long gone once Montgomery, Duffy and Lamb all debut and Aaron Crow joins the rotation. They're going to be good for a very long time with that lot.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by samifan24

The Royals' starting pitching issues will be long gone once Montgomery, Duffy and Lamb all debut and Aaron Crow joins the rotation. They're going to be good for a very long time with that lot.

No doubt. I still can't get over the run the Mets had with Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher, Jason Isringhausen, and Bobby Jones.

[molson]

Originally Posted by samifan24

The Royals' starting pitching issues will be long gone once Montgomery, Duffy and Lamb all debut and Aaron Crow joins the rotation. They're going to be good for a very long time with that lot.

It'd be nice to see them all come up together and thrive in KC but isn't it more likely that any of those 4 that "make it" will just be traded for the next Montgomery, Duffy, and Lamb? I guess at the very least, KC will have a real opportunity to show whether they're actually committed to winning or not.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Defnitely not upset and I'm with Cordero.. Laird of all people, really?

Reds announcers were talking about it and hinted that Cordero and Laird haven't liked each other since they were both in Texas. Goes a long way back.

[lordscarlet]

Mid-May weekday game for the Nats today, and its supposed to rain all day. Way to take the fun out of it, weather gods.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by molson

It'd be nice to see them all come up together and thrive in KC but isn't it more likely that any of those 4 that "make it" will just be traded for the next Montgomery, Duffy, and Lamb? I guess at the very least, KC will have a real opportunity to show whether they're actually committed to winning or not.

Royals have structured themselves to keep these guys for some time to come. They have the lowest payroll in baseball after spending quite a bit on salary over the past few years. They brought it way down knowing that these guys were on the way and they wanted to leave space for some big contracts if needed.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by rowech

Reds announcers were talking about it and hinted that Cordero and Laird haven't liked each other since they were both in Texas. Goes a long way back.

That makes sense then.

[GrantDawg]

Nice write up about an historic pitching day: Joe Posnanski » Posts The Worst Pitching Performance Ever «

[fantom1979]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Can't wait for June 1st. The Royals have some fantastic starting pitching in AAA that they're trying to hold off bringing up for a couple weeks. Having to watch starts by Mazzaro and Davies is painful knowing that's going to happen eventually.

I don't think Montgomery is ready. His 4.25 era and 25 walks in 42 innings is a bit scary. Duffy is the only guy I see in their AAA that I am really excited about for this season. Pucetas (age 26) is a 1/4 year wonder and Teaford (age 27) might be serviceable in long relief and spot starts. Is there someone I am missing?

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Mid-May weekday game for the Nats today, and its supposed to rain all day. Way to take the fun out of it, weather gods.

Game cancelled unfortunately.

[JPhillips]

Dusty,

Stop batting Janish and his sub .600 OPS second.

Thanks.

[Scoobz0202]

I love the Cubs

[Scoobz0202]

Saw this gem from the Cubs owner in regards to attendance.

I can't stand it when I hear someone say they can't afford to go to a game. It might be hard to get tickets for a Yankees or Sox game, but there's no reason why they can't afford to go another game. We want to get more fans in the park.

How much are bleacher seats there nowadays?

[JPhillips]

Marty Brennamen on the "infantile" Dave Duncan.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/?podcast...l&dcid=CBS.STL

I can't get enough of this rivalry.

[TroyF]

Rockies take two straight from the Giants, coming back in both wins. Wonder if the Giants will file an appeal with the league and try to prove the Rockies poisoned the humidor guy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

How much are bleacher seats there nowadays?

Depends on when you want to go ... but not in the way you might think.
Apparently the Cubs have taken the multi-tier pricing model to the extreme.

Games are designated as one of five categories: Marquee, Platinum, Gold, Silver, or Bronze.

The range on bleacher reserved is $34 to $100 with $70 as the mid level
The range on bleacher g.a is $20 to $72 with $42 as the mid level
(not counting the 12% "Amusement Tax" tacked onto each ticket, per the Cubs website)

Here's the thing though, the designation of the games isn't about opponents entirely, it's as much about the date of the game. The only Bronze left are late Aug/early Sept but they're against the Braves, Reds, and Brewers.

If you want to see the Pirates in May, those are Platinum. Want to see the Bucs in Sept then those are Silver.

If they're having attendance problems at Wrigley, I'm thinking it might be because nobody can figure out how much the fucking tickets cost

[Scoobz0202]

So a family of four is looking at $160+ in the mid-level range of bleacher general admission. And that's before the taxes? And he can't stand to hear it when people say they can't afford to go to multiple games on a whim?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Scoobz0202

So a family of four is looking at $160+ in the mid-level range of bleacher general admission. And that's before the taxes? And he can't stand to hear it when people say they can't afford to go to multiple games on a whim?

Silly. You really can't say that in Atlanta. There are still $5 general admission seats (walk up only). They are where I'd never sit, but you could definitely go to a game cheap if you wanted to.

[Scoobz0202]

Yea, here in Cinci there are 12 dollar seats that while not the greatest they are really not that bad. Upper bowl, behind home plate.

[Ksyrup]

I'm paying about a dollar a day for HD viewing of all games, free parking, access to a limitless fridge, and a comfortable bed. Not much of a contest. The only MLB game we've been to since we moved to Lexington (an hour from Cincy as opposed to 5 hours from Tally to Atlanta or St. Pete) was one that our girls got discount tickets to for finishing a summer reading program. We had seats behind 1B for a total of $40 for the family. Otherwise, I'll spend the $150 on something else and just watch on TV.

This is the problem facing all sports - TV viewing/access is much better, so getting people to the games is a chore. That's why the Cowboys built an entertainment complex and the Dolphins convinced a bunch of celebs to buy into the team and hang out on the sidelines.

[miked]

I love my $6 at the Ted, and you can bring in a bunch of food. Now parking will cost $15-20 and truly sucks ass, and there's no other way to conveniently get to the game, but it's still the cheapest date in town.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm paying about a dollar a day for HD viewing of all games, free parking, access to a limitless fridge, and a comfortable bed. Not much of a contest. The only MLB game we've been to since we moved to Lexington (an hour from Cincy as opposed to 5 hours from Tally to Atlanta or St. Pete) was one that our girls got discount tickets to for finishing a summer reading program. We had seats behind 1B for a total of $40 for the family. Otherwise, I'll spend the $150 on something else and just watch on TV.

This is the problem facing all sports - TV viewing/access is much better, so getting people to the games is a chore. That's why the Cowboys built an entertainment complex and the Dolphins convinced a bunch of celebs to buy into the team and hang out on the sidelines.

I'll go to the occasional baseball game, but it would take me quite a bit to even *think* about going to a football game.

$1/day though? Hrm...at some point I might consider dropping Sunday Ticket for the MLB package. I seem to get plenty of HD NFL as it is, and last year that included probably half of the Eagles games anyway. It might be nice to have the Phillies as a nightly fallback option through the summer.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by miked

I love my $6 at the Ted, and you can bring in a bunch of food. Now parking will cost $15-20 and truly sucks ass, and there's no other way to conveniently get to the game, but it's still the cheapest date in town.

MARTA. I always take it to the stadium. And if I get there early enough, there are the $1 Skyline tickets.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I'll go to the occasional baseball game, but it would take me quite a bit to even *think* about going to a football game.

$1/day though? Hrm...at some point I might consider dropping Sunday Ticket for the MLB package. I seem to get plenty of HD NFL as it is, and last year that included probably half of the Eagles games anyway. It might be nice to have the Phillies as a nightly fallback option through the summer.

I thinnk the MLB package costs me around $34/month for 6 months. Pretty much every game is in HD, and usually they have separate channels for both home and away broadcasts. Occasionally a game might not be televised locally, so it is not available. And on Saturdays, Fox has an exclusive. But I've noticed that even when you can't get the other games during the Fox game, the 8-screen matrix page still works fine, so you can follow up to 8 games on the tiny screens, you just can't watch any of them on a dedicated channel. I more than get my money's worth out of that package.

Football...I watch less NFL than I used to, and I'm usually too busy to watch on Sunday afternoons, so I stopped getting that package 3 or 4 years ago. I wish I could get the NFL red zone channel, but I have DTV, so they wouldn't dare dream of cutting into sales of Sunday Ticket.

[molson]

I wonder if there's something to be said for smaller stadiums and creating the buzz of scarcity. Certainly in Boston, interest in the team has gone down a little the last 2 years or so, but you still have to go through a re-seller to get in. Though it appears now that you can get actual non-standing room tickets for Yankee games for under $100, when it would have been $250ish or more just a few years ago (in the cheap seats). I would have loved to live near an MLB stadium in my 20s that I could just walk up to and get in for under $20, I would have gone all the time. As it was, I used to take trips to Montreal and Baltimore that centered around going to baseball games. It was often cheaper to see the Red Sox that way, even accounting for travel costs.

[Chief Rum]

The Angels bullpen is so bad, I have actually come full circle from falling into a deep funk about their consistently awful performance to actually being impressed they could be so bad.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by molson

I wonder if there's something to be said for smaller stadiums and creating the buzz of scarcity. Certainly in Boston, interest in the team has gone down a little the last 2 years or so, but you still have to go through a re-seller to get in. Though it appears now that you can get actual non-standing room tickets for Yankee games for under $100, when it would have been $250ish or more just a few years ago (in the cheap seats). I would have loved to live near an MLB stadium in my 20s that I could just walk up to and get in for under $20, I would have gone all the time. As it was, I used to take trips to Montreal and Baltimore that centered around going to baseball games. It was often cheaper to see the Red Sox that way, even accounting for travel costs.

I've gotten to the point where I have no interest in going to a game of any sort "just to be there." If I'm going to go, I want good seats. I'd much rather go to a local Lexington Legends single-A game and pay $40 for the family to sit in row 3 behind the 3rd base dugout than pay even $20 at an MLB game for the privilege of sitting in the nosebleeds.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've been very spoiled. Always lived 20 minutes or less from Royals Stadium. Outfield tickets were $2-6 for most of my life. You can still get a fountain ticket in the outfield for $7-9 even today or sit upstairs for $5. Food can be brought in all the time along with water on days it's over a certain temperature.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I've been very spoiled.

Eye of the beholder. There's a reason tickets were so affordable.

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Rockies take two straight from the Giants, coming back in both wins. Wonder if the Giants will file an appeal with the league and try to prove the Rockies poisoned the humidor guy.

Bitter? Teams in all sports try to gain advantage (Pats video taping, teams messing with radar gun to mess with opposing pitchers or intimidate opposing batters, etc). Prior to this season, they did not have an MLB official watching the balls at all times once out of the humidor. You're going to tell me that it wasn't plausible for a Rockies employee to switch out balls at certain points in the game? Whether it happened or not, the Giants were not the only team to complain and having the MLB official there should quell all speculation moving forward.

Onto the actual matter of why the Giants lost both games: their defense. They have been atrocious all year and they currently rank tied for 3rd in WORST fielding pct. in all of MLB.

[kingfc22]

And now they go to LA to face Kershaw who will undoubtedly shut their anemic offense down once again tonight.

[larrymcg421]

Loved McCann's heroics. Comes in to pinch hit in the bottom of the 9th and hits a game tying HR with 2 outs and 2 strikes. Then hits the walk off HR in the bottom of the 11th.

Braves really got it going now.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Marty Brennamen on the "infantile" Dave Duncan.

CBS Audio Player

I can't get enough of this rivalry.

I love it.

[JPhillips]

LaRussa's response:

"I think the safest thing to say is he [Brennaman] is a Hall of Famer, and he should get the respect that inclusion in that place deserves. And then he ought to earn it every day from his Hall of Fame induction forward. He ought to earn it and not abuse it."

[Ksyrup]

Odd that Tony LaRussa should be lecturing someone about issues of abuse.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

Bitter? Teams in all sports try to gain advantage (Pats video taping, teams messing with radar gun to mess with opposing pitchers or intimidate opposing batters, etc). Prior to this season, they did not have an MLB official watching the balls at all times once out of the humidor. You're going to tell me that it wasn't plausible for a Rockies employee to switch out balls at certain points in the game? Whether it happened or not, the Giants were not the only team to complain and having the MLB official there should quell all speculation moving forward.

Onto the actual matter of why the Giants lost both games: their defense. They have been atrocious all year and they currently rank tied for 3rd in WORST fielding pct. in all of MLB.

Yes, I am bitter. It was a joke the Giants of all teams threw a fit about it. They didn't lose to a huge Rockies comeback last year. It was mind games and idiotic mind games at that. Nobody ever bothered to research how often the Rockies came back at home before the made the accusation. I find it incredibly funny the Giants lost on two comebacks in successive days when the Giants actually had more 7th inning and later rallies to beat the Rockies at Coors last year than the Rockies did against the Giants.

Poetic justice never felt so good.

I don't think the Rockies are "back" though. They need to step up the offense and I'm still worried something is wrong with Ubaldo.

The Giants defense is bad, but I think they have one major concerns right now:

They are 29th in the league in runs scored. I know Sandoval has been hurt and I know they play in a pitchers park, but 29th will not cut it. Last year they were 17th in the league in run. Going off of that, they have won their last 8 one run games and are 12-3 on the year in those type of games.

Something will give with those numbers. It's going to be tough to stay above .500 when you simply can't hit, no matter how good your pitching staff is. They are right at the same league rank of extra base hits as last year, so it isn't like waiting for power is going to fix their plight.

Yes, the defense needs to get fixed, 30 errors is ridiculous. But that offense is going to need a monumental shift for them to win 90 this year.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Odd that Tony LaRussa should be lecturing someone about issues of abuse.

I'll say it again, from a pure outsiders perspective, this isn't a rivalry, it's one team making themselves look like idiots and whining.

This started last year because Phillips said the Cardinals were whiners, right? Well, what have the Cardinals done to defend that? They've whined. They whine about the mound, the fireworks, King Albert getting hit with an 0-2 pitch, about their pitching coach being made fun of (the idiot SHOULD have been made fun of)

More than the rivalry, I'm just looking forward to the next team that gets pissed at the Cardinals and how they respond to it. I haven't seen whining like this sense the last time I watched a Laker playoff game.