MLB 2020

[ronmac]

I think a July 1 start to the season is still very much on the table.

I don't. Not by what I'm seeing. At least, not with crowds.

[Poisoned Youth]

I don't. Not by what I'm seeing. At least, not with crowds.

Oh, I should have clarified, no fans in the stands and some very strict guidelines for the players. Same thing if they end up having basketball/hockey playoffs.

[Jerjo]

I am thinking there won't be a season but who knows. Damn, I was really looking forward to this season.

[polmico]

I was thinking about it the other day, to add a little levity, that baseball is the most 'social distancing of all the major sports'. The defense is properly spaced apart (maybe they do away with some of those unsafe shifts tho), they only allow 1 batter up at a time, and the catcher wears a mask. Everyone uses gloves to catch the ball. Balls are disposed of once put in play. Managers will have to resort to kicking dirt, so they aren't spitting in the ump's face.

Ben Clemens took your thought exercise, added images, wrote an article and published the thing on Fangraphs the other day:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/imaginin...nced-baseball/

So, yeah, sports writers have a little bit of time on their hands.

[SteveSly]

RIP, Tigers' legend, Al Kaline age 85.

Being a Yankees fan, I was never a Tigers fan. But, my favorite bat as a kid during the best summers of my life was a 32-oz. Al Kaline bat with a split in it. (We used tennis balls in our games.)

I grew up in Michigan and attended my first Tigers game in 1969 at the age of 8. Kaline was already a legend then. The man was always a class act and stayed with the organization after his playing days were over. He was also a very talented broadcaster up into the 2000’s. One of the all time Tiger greats for sure.

[ronmac]

I just stumbled upon this on Youtube. I remember watching this happen live. It's one of the earliest Yankee moments cemented in my memory. It's one of the moments that made me a Yankees fan. I've always remembered this and never thought I'd ever see it again.



Pretty tripped-out seeing it again after all these years.

[SteveSly]

Very cool video!

I actually have a Mickey Mantle story. In the summer of 1984, I had the opportunity to work at a restaurant in New York City. It was in the Halloran House Hotel which was located on the corner 49th and Lexington if I remember correctly. It was a totally surreal experience for a hayseed kid from the Midwest. Anyway…….I was a cook in this restaurant, and we closed at 10:00PM. One night it was around 11:30PM. We had the kitchen all closed up, cleaned up and were ready to walk out the door. All of a sudden, the boss came back in the kitchen and says, “you guys are not going anywhere stay at your stations”. Micky Mantle had shown up unannounced with an entourage of about a dozen people. We opened the kitchen back up and basically cooked them a private meal. We were not allowed to go out of the kitchen and bother them, but I caught a few quick glimpses of the Mick out of the server window. The waiters got an enormous tip that night.

[TheLoony]

I just stumbled upon this on Youtube. I remember watching this happen live. It's one of the earliest Yankee moments cemented in my memory. It's one of the moments that made me a Yankees fan. I've always remembered this and never thought I'd ever see it again.



Pretty tripped-out seeing it again after all these years.

Cool clip but what the heck was that? I think it was edited but it seemed like he never got out of the batters box. He was older than dirt at that time so really? I knew he was tough but damn, if that's not edited all to hell then he get's even more respect for that.

Okay, new stat, if it's true. Jaime Moyer pitched to almost 9% of all MLB players, ever. I'm watching the show so we'll see if that's correct. No confirmation but they just said that....no they just confirmed that there have been roughly 17,000 players and it's true. About 1700 players.

I so love baseball.

[ronmac]

^^ Mantle was in his early 40s, not older than dirt. It's a slow-pitch Old Timers' Game. While it may have been edited, it's not unreasonable to think he didn't doddle around the batter's box like modern payers do.

[Shadow]

^^ Mantle was in his early 40s, not older than dirt. It's a slow-pitch Old Timers' Game. While it may have been edited, it's not unreasonable to think he didn't doddle around the batter's box like modern payers do.

I wondered why the pitcher pitched the ball so fast without scratching his nuts first.

[TheLoony]

^^ Mantle was in his early 40s, not older than dirt. It's a slow-pitch Old Timers' Game. While it may have been edited, it's not unreasonable to think he didn't doddle around the batter's box like modern payers do.

I guess I missed that. Older than dirt may not have been quite right but his body did take a huge toll over the years.

[ronmac]

Hank Steinbrenner, oldest son of George, and co-owner of the team, has died after a lengthy illness. Not COVID-19.

[ronmac]

I guess I missed that. Older than dirt may not have been quite right but his body did take a huge toll over the years.

I believe he retired in '69. His knees were older than dirt. Imagine if he was healthy. He could have hit 800 HRs.

[ronmac]

Two weeks and no posts. How depressing.

The Little League World Series got cancelled this week.

Not even a comment about the Red Sox getting their wrists slapped.

[polmico]

ESPN is looking to get the broadcast rights to Korean baseball. The league starts play on 5 May.

I’ll watch.

[Jerjo]

Two weeks and no posts. How depressing.

The Little League World Series got cancelled this week.

Not even a comment about the Red Sox getting their wrists slapped.

For me, the grief is still too near...to post

[Jerjo]

Do yourselves a favor, go to Netflix and watch this movie. 9 out of 10 flaming brooms.

[Shadow]

I was channel surfing yesterday and I came across a Korean baseball game. It must have been recent because it didn't look like there were any fans and the players in the dugout were wearing masks.

[NogbadTheBad]

Yeah, they kicked off the season recently and ESPN are showing it

[polmico]

Yeah, they kicked off the season recently and ESPN are showing it

The games are worth watching. The broadcast is not worth hearing. Hard to fault the commentators; they don't really know anything about the players.

Mute it. Put some tunes on and enjoy the games (they are enjoyable). (Or you could find the Korean broadcasts as Ben Clemens did: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/on-watch...mes-in-korean/)

I will be cheering for the NC Dinos. Because "Dinos."


dinos.jpg

[polmico]

Do yourselves a favor, go to Netflix and watch this movie. 9 out of 10 flaming brooms.

Absolutely second this recommendation. A compelling story on multiple levels and great archival footage of minor league baseball from the 70s!

[ronmac]

The games are worth watching. The broadcast is not worth hearing. Hard to fault the commentators; they don't really know anything about the players.

Even the MLB games are intolerable to listen to on ESPN.

This is it for now, though. Even the Little League World Series has been cancelled.

[Poisoned Youth]

I’d like to see more random games from the last 2 years on MLB Network. They and others tend to replay too many playoff games and pivotal historic games. If it’s just some random game like Padres vs. Diamondbacks from May 2019 where you have no memory or guess who won, it is the closest to the real thing imo.

[ronmac]

I’d like to see more random games from the last 2 years on MLB Network. They and others tend to replay too many playoff games and pivotal historic games. If it’s just some random game like Padres vs. Diamondbacks from May 2019 where you have no memory or guess who won, it is the closest to the real thing imo.

They want as many viewers as possible. Otherwise, they won't be able to sell advertising space.

[Shadow]

They want as many viewers as possible. Otherwise, they won't be able to sell advertising space.

I'm tired of the Seahawks/Rams game on NFL channel.