Baseball 2023: Shohei Me The Way To Go Home

[Ferris]

Anyone else excited? Jays are pretty good this year I think, 90 wins and a wildcard berth should be the expectation before getting steamrollered in the first round of the post season.

Spring training is already underway - IT BEGINS

[BlodwynPig]

Anyone else excited? Jays are pretty good this year I think, 90 wins and a wildcard berth should be the expectation before getting steamrollered in the first round of the post season.

Spring training is already underway - IT BEGINS

Contemplating a visit to see 'my' beloved Jays later this year.

[Ferris]

Contemplating a visit to see 'my' beloved Jays later this year.

I'm doing the same - let me know when you get a date and we'll try and coordinate. I'm looking at mid May or late summer (end of august/September).

[Dex Sawash]

If anyone wants to come see a Durm Bulls game, I'll give you a ride

[BlodwynPig]

Oh

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/10/phillies-ball-players-cancer-artifical-turf

[Dex Sawash]

Oh

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/mar/10/phillies-ball-players-cancer-artifical-turf

Dex fans will want to note that I work on the quoted Duke Uni oncologist's cars and he lives around the corner from me.
I once asked him about the 80s "coffee causes butthole cancer" scare, didn't understand the answer but I think it was roughly "lol, no"

[Famous Mortimer]

[sevendaughters]

against that lineup 6-2 is a very credible result.

[BlodwynPig]

Reckon Ferris could have done a job for Gb

[convulsivespace]

Great Britain's proud team of zero British players.

[Ferris]

Reckon Ferris could have done a job for Gb

Played 3 innings of fast pitch in my career total.

Position player: 1 for 2 with an RBI double, and credible defence at second base. Pitching line: gave up a single, before a strikeout and a pair of groundouts.

I don't have the arm for the outfield but anywhere else I'll do a job. Developed a decent curveball since then and all. Put me in, coach!

[sevendaughters]

GB could be about to beat Colombia, who beat Mexico, who beat the US.

Five of our squad were born here, I'll take it.

[sevendaughters]

7-3 in the top of the 9th, COL pinch hitter homers, error on next AB, way to choke lads, true British style

[sevendaughters]

Shakira! Gabriel Garcia Marquez! Sofia Vergara! Carlos Valderrama! Pablo Escobar! vi har slått dem alle sammen, vi har slått dem alle sammen! John Leguizamo can you hear me? Your boys took a hell of a beating!

[Famous Mortimer]

I've not seen any of the WBC games, but Jomboy Media's breakdowns and discussions make it sound pretty good.

Just keeping my fingers crossed that the Cardinals who are playing do well - it seems Lars Nootbaar is now a celebrity in Japan, thanks to his friendship with Shohei Ohtani (everyone is doing his "pepper grinder" move).

[BlodwynPig]

I've not seen any of the WBC games, but Jomboy Media's breakdowns and discussions make it sound pretty good.

Just keeping my fingers crossed that the Cardinals who are playing do well - it seems Lars Nootbaar is now a celebrity in Japan, thanks to his friendship with Shohei Ohtani (everyone is doing his "pepper grinder" move).

Best batting average: Tyler O'Neill   .615

Also Paul Goldschmidt joint top of runs scored (8)

[sevendaughters]

Japan-Mexico last night was a total classic. Love the WBC.

[convulsivespace]

Entire tournament comes down to a match-up between the two best players in the world (who are also teammates). Is this thing scripted?

[Famous Mortimer]

Entire tournament comes down to a match-up between the two best players in the world (who are also teammates). Is this thing scripted?

Baseball Doesn't Exist (no idea either) did a really great video about the WBC, highly recommended.

Looks like Cardinals uber-prospect Jordan Walker was so good in spring training that he's jumping straight from AA to the opening day major league roster. Kris Bryant's fight against service time manipulation led to a change in the rules last year which benefits players like Walker - the Cardinals will get an extra supplemental first round draft pick if Walker is on the roster on opening day and comes top 3 in rookie of the year voting. That, combined with the stink of bad publicity if they still try and game the system, should stop owners doing shit like they did with Bryant.

[Ferris]

The Jays did it with Vlad and Bo too, keep them in the minors for like 2 weeks just to run the clock out on a total year of MLB service time.

It's really dodgy, and guys like Bryant and Bichette end up making tens of millions so who cares, but for fringe players it can really hurt their career earnings. It's the naked greed side of the game that puts me off, and it is increasingly rampant: $15 beers at games, parking at the stadium charging through the nose, paying minor leaguers like shit, and all to squeeze an extra dollar or two.

It's so self-defeating and ugly, frankly.

[Famous Mortimer]

Looks like all the dodgy sites I used last season to watch games have been taken down, or massively hampered - sportsurge.net has two games on it, none of the other big sites have any at all. The idea of actually paying to watch baseball seems odd after so many happy years of piracy (and paying to go to games, it's not like I'm depriving them of my cash).

[Ferris]

Surely you wish to see my mighty blue jays crush your inferior cardinals?!

Edit: just checked the score, disregard.

[Famous Mortimer]

I found one after some searching. Pretty fun so far.

Also, holy shit, why does your colour guy sound like a gnome being strangled?

[Ferris]

You don't like Buck Martinez?!

[Famous Mortimer]

Interesting article from Vox about how the race for three-true-outcomes baseball is like AI.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/4/1/23664724/baseball-artificial-intelligence-kyle-schwarber-philadelphia-phillies-moneyball-strikeout-homer

[El Unicornio, mang]

socceronline dot me seems to have all the games in HD

I often just use the MLB.com free game of the day to get my fix though.

Liking the new countdown clock rule tbh. I like baseball's leisurely pace but found all the faffing about between pitches interminable.

[Famous Mortimer]

They at least seem to be aware they're an entertainment product as well as a sport, and are trying to correct the ship. It's good that they ignored the hardcore fans, for whom the most common response seemed to be "why do you want to watch less baseball?" The slowest pitcher of recent seasons was/is a Cardinal (Giovanny Gallegos) and every time he came up, I just read a book or went to tidy the house, because it was almost unbearable to watch. That he's now forced at the absolute maximum to take 20 seconds is a huge plus point.

It's not like games are sprints now, either. Pitch clock is a huge win for baseball fans. 

[Ferris]

Jury's still out on pitch clocks for me. I absolutely see the value of them and get why people like them, but it means genuinely pivotal moments start to feel rushed. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a spike in pitcher injuries and HBPs as pitchers get more strain.

I don't hate them as much as I thought I would though, which is surprising. I'd allow them to stay if we bring back pitchers hitting in the NL as god intended.

[BlodwynPig]

I'd be happy for games to go on for as long as possible. Get myself a room at the Jay's stadium and just soak it all up, day in, day out.

[Ferris]

The 527 section of the SkyDome on a warm summer evening as the sun is going down is genuinely my favourite place on the planet.

Also re: pitch clocks - I don't watch as much baseball as I'd like, so if MLB is reading they really shouldn't prioritize my preferences over people who regularly watch games.