2011 MLB Baseball Thread

Curly4444 · **Reply #300 on:** June 20, 2011, 10:19:35 PM

Quote from: metaldams on June 20, 2011, 09:59:59 PM

Yeah, I heard that, what a tough break for you guys.

I think he should have taken the deal they offered him earlier.

metaldams · **Reply #301 on:** June 20, 2011, 10:23:23 PM

Quote from: Curly4444 on June 20, 2011, 10:19:35 PM

I think he should have taken the deal they offered him earlier.

I disagree. Pujols would be crazy not to test the free agent market. He's a onece in a lifetime player, so you can't blame him for wanting to see how much of a contract he can command. You also have to bear in mind if Pujols did not test the market, the player's union would have a bird.

Curly4444 · **Reply #302 on:** June 21, 2011, 12:19:56 AM

Quote from: metaldams on June 20, 2011, 10:23:23 PM

I disagree. Pujols would be crazy not to test the free agent market. He's a onece in a lifetime player, so you can't blame him for wanting to see how much of a contract he can command. You also have to bear in mind if Pujols did not test the market, the player's union would have a bird.

You think this injury will effect his value in the free agent market?

metaldams · **Reply #303 on:** June 21, 2011, 10:21:23 AM

Quote from: Curly4444 on June 21, 2011, 12:19:56 AM

You think this injury will effect his value in the free agent market?

There's no way of telling right now, but I do know whatever team is interested will take extra interest in the physical Pujols will have to take.

metaldams · **Reply #304 on:** June 28, 2011, 02:40:51 PM

Tonight's Red Sox line up Vs. Cliff Lee

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
Adrian Gonzalez 1B
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Darnell McDonald LF
Jason Varitek C
Mike Cameron RF
Marco Scutaro SS
Josh Beckett RHP

1 - 4 I'm OK with, #9 is a necessary evil in NL games, and I guess I'm OK with #8 since Scutaro is adequate and we have nothing better. That said, Salty's been hitting well lately and should get a shot against Lee. Darnell McDonald has no business hitting #5, and Cameron has been awful this year. I understand they're righties facing a lefty, but this line-up is incredibly weak past the 4 spot. Reddick can hit lefties even if he's one himself, and since he's hot right now, I wish Francona would use him.

Man I wish Carl Crawford could come back a little sooner.

garystooge · **Reply #305 on:** June 28, 2011, 02:52:10 PM

Quote

Darnell McDonald has no business hitting #5, and Cameron has been awful this year. I understand they're righties facing a lefty, but this line-up is incredibly weak past the 4 spot.

I wouldn't worry Metal....Phils usually look like the '62 Mets when playing against the Sox and our lineup is weak in spots 1 thru 9

metaldams · **Reply #306 on:** June 28, 2011, 02:58:41 PM

Quote from: garystooge on June 28, 2011, 02:52:10 PM

I wouldn't worry Metal....Phils usually look like the '62 Mets when playing against the Sox and our lineup is weak in spots 1 thru 9

I know we've had your number over the past 5 or 6 years, but you've never faced us with Darnell McDonald in the five hole and the level of pitching you have now. Any Kevin Youkilis or Adrian Gonzalez AB short of a home run is a failure with the guys after them.

Thursday should be interesting. Cole Hamels is the only Phillies pitcher who has owned The Red Sox in recent years and Lester has owned the Phillies both times he faced them.

Lefty · **Reply #307 on:** June 28, 2011, 03:06:02 PM

Quote from: metaldams on June 28, 2011, 02:58:41 PM

Thursday should be interesting. Cole Hamels is the only Phillies pitcher who has owned The Red Sox in recent years and Lester has owned the Phillies both times he faced them.

The over/under for that game is ONE (1) run.

Lefty · **Reply #308 on:** June 28, 2011, 03:11:43 PM

Concerning this "possible World Series preview," Ryan Madson was just put on the DL retroactive to 6/19, meaning he could be ready for the more important games -- division matchups. Also, I just heard that Carl Crawford is on the shelf. And last and least, there's someone with the Red Sox -- I can't remember his name, but his initials are J.D. Something and he's as well-liked in Philly as the wage tax -- who is that guy?

Lefty · **Reply #309 on:** June 28, 2011, 03:15:23 PM

Oh yeah, he was the one whose agent Snot Bore-@$$ in 1997 wanted a contract for 4 years and $11 million. Poissonally, between the two of them, it should be for 11 million years at $4.00.

metaldams · **Reply #310 on:** June 28, 2011, 09:43:08 PM

While it would be true to say Boston had far from their best line up tonight, I'm not sure if the 1927 Yankees could hit Cliff Lee this month. He's amazing.

Justin T · **Reply #311 on:** June 28, 2011, 10:13:28 PM

Quote from: metaldams on June 28, 2011, 09:43:08 PM

While it would be true to say Boston had far from their best line up tonight, I'm not sure if the 1927 Yankees could hit Cliff Lee this month. He's amazing.

He sure is, he was the main reason the Phillies won the 2 games he pitched in the 2009 World Series against the
Yankees. When he's on, he's awesome.

Yankees continue to do well against the NL this year (9-4 interleague record so far) we beatdown the Brewers tonight
12 to 2. I'm glad Swisher is starting to get better at the plate, that 3 run bomb put the game out of reach for the Brewers. Teixeira hit home run #24 to stay tied with Jose Bautista for the HR lead.

shemps#1 · **Reply #312 on:** June 30, 2011, 03:08:50 PM

Why did the Sox sign Jenks again?

metaldams · **Reply #313 on:** June 30, 2011, 03:13:09 PM

Quote from: shemps#1 on June 30, 2011, 03:08:50 PM

Why did the Sox sign Jenks again?

Eric Gagne was lonely.

shemps#1 · **Reply #314 on:** June 30, 2011, 03:17:08 PM

At least Papelbon only needed throw 8 pitches for the save, but if Jenks had just gotten the garbage outs we wouldn't have had to use him.

metaldams · **Reply #315 on:** June 30, 2011, 03:45:26 PM

Quote from: shemps#1 on June 30, 2011, 03:17:08 PM

At least Papelbon only needed throw 8 pitches for the save, but if Jenks had just gotten the garbage outs we wouldn't have had to use him.

Normally I'd agree with you but Paps has had so few opportunities this year, especially as of late, that's it's probably a good thing he got the work in.

You know, we are halfway through the season, and we have not lost a single game because of Papelbon. Take it for what it's worth, but it's an absolute fact. We won the blown save against Minnesota (a cheap bloop single blown save on an inherited baserunner), we won the extra inning game against Oakland, and he's been fine other games.

shemps#1 · **Reply #316 on:** July 03, 2011, 05:24:25 PM

Well the All-Star Game rosters are out and I thought I'd go over them.

AL Starters: A pleasant surprise at catcher as Alex Avila topped "I'm only getting votes because I'm a Yankee" Russel Martin. Don't get me wrong, Martin has had a good season and is a reserve BUT it would have been a travesty to put him in the starting lineup over Avila. Of course we have the broken-down old man "Mr. Average" Derek Jeter getting a most undeserved start at SS. I've said plenty on this earlier in the thread but I will add that Jeter doesn't even deserve to be Honorary Bat Boy at this year's game. Hey Skanks fans, it's no longer 1999 and Jeter is no longer an All-Star. Cabrera in Cleveland is really the only SS who belongs in the AL starting lineup. Two Yankees that made the starting lineups that I cannot argue with are Cano and Granderson. Big Papi got voted in as DH...I thought there was no DH voting when the ASG is played in a NL park but my memory could be faulty. There's really no other player at DH that even approaches Ortiz. Good ol' A-Roid "Bitch Tits" gets voted in at 3B when Beltre was more deserving. That's not a MAJOR gripe of mine but it does mean 4 Skanks are starting which is too many.

Another bad thing about voting Jeter in is that when I saw his name I KNEW that either Martin or Teixeira would have to get a snub because there are too many Skanks and it was Teixeira. There is no way he deserved to start over Adrian Gonzalez so the fans got it right there, but he did deserve to be a reserve. Almost as bad as voting Jeter in is voting Josh Hamilton in this year. It's not because his numbers are bad but because he's been on the DL for a good chunk of time and only played in 46 games so far. I would have gone with Ellsbury instead. Bautista, on the other hand, nobody can argue with.

AL Pitching: Josh Beckett, who just had another excellent performance in a win against the Astros, deserves to start. If not Beckett than either Verlander or Weaver or Shields. Hey the AL pitching is pretty stacked. I don't know why Brandon League got selected as he is an ERA of almost 3.50 and has three blown saves all of which became losses and another loss on top of that. Reliever Chris Perez is having a great season in Cleveland, as is Valverde in Detroit. Mariano is of course Mariano so he's going to close.

AL Reserves: This is where the players and managers try to clean up messes that idiot fans make as well as make sure every team is represented. Personally I don't think every team needs to representative: if you don't have a guy deserving of a spot then none of your guys should get a spot. Here we see Ellsbury, Beltre and Cabrera who belong in the starting lineup. Matt Joyce of the Rays is a surprising but deserving pick. I think an argument could be made for Kendrick over Cano at 2B, but Cano is deserving and at least Kendrick got on the team. Michael Young...do we really need a starting DH?

AL "Lone Representatives": These are the players who were picked as the "lone representatives" of their teams. Let's see if they actually deserve to be there.

Jose Bautista, TOR: Duh.

Aaron Crow, KC: A mop-up relief pitcher who has a sweet 1.36 ERA. Despite the low ERA he has only pitched 39.2 innings, most of which were not important and also has two blown saves with no actual save. NO

Gio Gonzalez, OAK: A great up and comer and a sorry team, he has managed to get a 7-5 record with a 2.38 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. YES

Matt Wieters, BAL: .263 7 HR, 33 RBI...do we need a third Catcher that bad? If Skanks fans did not vote in Jeter then JJ Hardy could have been the O's rep as the backup to Cabrera. NO

Michael Cuddyer, MIN: This guy keeps plugging along for the Twins, putting up very good numbers year in and year out. This year is no different. YES

Final Vote: A tough one to call but of the five players I would cast my vote for Ben Zobrist of the Rays over Adam Jones of the O's, Paul Konerko of the ChiSox, Alex Gordon of the Royals and Victor Martinez of the Tigers. I was tempted to go with Martinez but we already have three catchers and two DH in a National League park! My guess is that Konerko will win.'

Up Next: The NL All-Stars, or as I like to call them Team Where The Fuck Is Andrew McCutchen?

shemps#1 · **Reply #317 on:** July 03, 2011, 06:06:16 PM

NL Starters: Brian McCann is the ONLY logical choice to start at catcher... in fact he is the best backstop in MLB. Milwaukee has three players starting and all deserve to: Fielder, Weeks and Braun. Berkman is having a comeback year in StL, Kemp is rocking it out in Hollywood and Jose Reyes has realized this is a contract year and woke up for the Mets. Does the NL lack so much at 3B that Polanco gets the start? Must be considering his backup is a broken down Chipper Jones. How is that the fans can do so well with the NL team but just arbitrarily vote for Yankees in the AL?

NL Pitchers: Halladay, Hamels and Lee. Those are obvious no-brainers and one of the Phillies' "big three" should start and his name rhymes with "Troy Falladay". He's been the best pitcher in baseball for quite a while now, considering he wrested that title away from a man who is now retired (Pedro Martinez). Lincecum's ERA (3.06) and record (6-6) suggests that the poor kid is getting very little run support. Vogelsong has been even better for the Giants so he deserves in and Wilson and his gnarly beard should count for two spots on the roster. Jurrjens might actually have a case to start over Halladay...this kid has an asinine ERA of 1.89.

NL Reserves: Where the fuck is Andrew McCutchen? He is the biggest "snub" of the game and not even on the "final vote" ballot and he deserves to go more than Carlos Beltran. Molina is OK for backup catcher, as is Holliday. The Reds have 3 reserves: Votto and Phillips are deserving but as for Bruce...where the fuck is Andrew McCutchen? Chipper Jones way past his prime...where the fuck is Andrew McCutchen?

NL "Lone Representatives":

Tyler Clippard, WSH: He has good stats, but has blown what few save opportunities he has had. NO

Heath Bell, SD: 24 of 25 saves opps converted and a 2.35 ERA to boot. YES

Joel Hanrahan, PIT: Converted all 24 save opps, ERA of 1.41 but WHERE THE FUCK IS ANDREW MCCUTCHEN! YES (but should not be a "lone rep")

Gaby Sanchez, FLA: Miami shouldn't even have a team. NO

Starlin Castro, CHC: Another spot that was needlessly taken because "every team needs to be repped" yet no sign of McCutchen. NO

Troy Tulowitzki, COL: I'm actually a bit surprised he didn't win the vote. YES

Hunter Pence, HOU: You really can't argue with a .323 BA despite being on a shitty team. YES

Justin Upton, ARI: Very good numbers, kinda sad that he is the "lone rep" for the host team. YES

Final Vote: Andrew McCutchen should have been a choice here but for some idiotic reason he is not. He is batting .294 12 HR, 45 RBI 15/20 SB and has helped propel the Pirates to a level of respectability they haven't seen since Tim Wakefield and the Killer B's. Nonetheless, out of the five choices I would go with Todd Helton of the Rockies. Each team has an old fart who doesn't deserve to be there, why not one who actually does? I also wouldn't mind seeing Ian Kennedy go in since he plays in Arizona, but do they really need another pitcher? Other choices are Andre Ethier LAD, Michael Morse WSH and Shane Victorino PHI. You really can't go wrong with any of those except maybe Victorino but if McCutchen were on the ballot he'd get my vote. I hope someone pulls out last minute.

JazzBill · **Reply #318 on:** July 07, 2011, 07:05:24 PM

Quote from: shemps#1 on July 03, 2011, 05:24:25 PM

My guess is that Konerko will win.'

You called that one right. He deserves to be there. 22 HR, 64 RBI, 319 AVG, 389 OBP, 572 SLG are pretty solid numbers.

metaldams · **Reply #319 on:** July 07, 2011, 10:21:30 PM

You know, I've barely been following the all star voting, as I think it's a joke (for reasons I've stated before) and disgraceful this one game decides who has home field advantage in the World Series. I'll enjoy the game itself I'm sure, and with the injuries Boston has, I'm glad they are getting a few days off, as I'm sure are other team's fans, but in reality, I'm glad this All star thing, as well as Jeter's 3,000 hit chase, is finally coming to an end so we can focus on something I'm truly interested in - the trade deadline!

Sorry to kick a guy when he's down, but I'm still aching to know Boid's NL Central is the dominant division bullshit, now that the AL East has the 3 best records in the American League.

shemps#1 · **Reply #320 on:** July 08, 2011, 01:08:30 PM

I think the day that Selig decided that the ASG would decide home field in the World Series is the day that fan voting should have ended. You can't put something like that in the hands of the fans, and it was done as a rash reaction to that one year when the ASG was called on a tie after each team had used up their rosters and people got pissed.

In a perfect world home field would have nothing to do with the ASG and it would either go back to alternating between the leagues or a better record scenario that would also take wild cards into account (ex: if the AL team was a wild card team and had a better record than the NL team that won their division the NL team would get home field).

shemps#1 · **Reply #321 on:** July 08, 2011, 06:48:23 PM

The plot thickens with a Bronx exodus of the ASG. Jeter, A-Roid and Rivera have all bowed out of the game. It'll be interesting to see who will replace them on the team. I think Beltre and Astrubal Cabrera will rightfully get the calls to start at SS and 3B.

shemps#1 · **Reply #322 on:** July 08, 2011, 09:26:31 PM

You gotta "love" homer commentators. When Papi and Gregg got into the fight during today's Sox/O's game the Orioles' crew announced that Papi had instigated it, then a replay pops up clearly showing that Gregg instigated by motioning Ortiz down to first after he popped up the ball (Papi had taken exception to a couple of pitches that were very inside and walked towards the mound just before the pop up). Papi wasn't even looking at Gregg at the time and the home plate umpire tossed Gregg before the fight even began. During the fight you can clearly see Ortiz never throws an actual punch while Gregg is swinging for the fences. Luckily for Gregg he missed or else he might have pissed Papi off and gotten his ass knocked out.

Kevin Gregg is nothing more than an unprofessional ass and should get at least 10 days suspension.

metaldams · **Reply #323 on:** July 08, 2011, 10:55:29 PM

Quote from: shemps#1 on July 08, 2011, 09:26:31 PM

You gotta "love" homer commentators. When Papi and Gregg got into the fight during today's Sox/O's game the Orioles' crew announced that Papi had instigated it, then a replay pops up clearly showing that Gregg instigated by motioning Ortiz down to first after he popped up the ball (Papi had taken exception to a couple of pitches that were very inside and walked towards the mound just before the pop up). Papi wasn't even looking at Gregg at the time and the home plate umpire tossed Gregg before the fight even began. During the fight you can clearly see Ortiz never throws an actual punch while Gregg is swinging for the fences. Luckily for Gregg he missed or else he might have pissed Papi off and gotten his ass knocked out.

Kevin Gregg is nothing more than an unprofessional ass and should get at least 10 days suspension.

I'm sure Kevin Gregg was told to hit Ortiz after the ass whipping his team received these past two games. No doubt Baltimore started this. No doubt Gregg instigated the brawl by telling Ortiz to "go to 1st" or whatever the Hell he says, but the bottom line is Baltimore will lose their closer for a few games. Big deal, they never have leads to defend. In the meantime, Boston will lose their DH for a few games, and we're in a pennant race.

At least Kevin Gregg is picking on somebody his size. Remember when 6'7" Daniel Cabrera tried starting a brawl with Dustin Pedroia, who about 5'5"?

shemps#1 · **Reply #324 on:** July 09, 2011, 01:15:58 PM

That begs the question of why was their closer in a game in which they were getting their asses handed to them? Gregg's explanation was pure bullshit "we're not afraid of them and their $180 million dollar payroll, they think they're better than everybody else...blah blah". Gee I'm sorry the Sox are a money making juggernaut with ownership that puts money into the team, and I'm sorry we're in first place in the toughest division in baseball while you occupy the cellar (again). I'm sorry you have a shithead owner that was rated "worst owner in baseball" in a 2009 SI article.

What an asshole that Ortiz is, not running the bases on an easy shallow pop up with a 10-3 lead in the bottom of the 8th. Please! I have never heard more asinine excuses from such an untalented scrub of a closer. I watched a bit of the post game and of course the homer O's team was making excuses. Pitching a guy inside is one thing, practically nailing him in the same spot on three straight pitches is another. So as the Red Sox continue to light up the terrible O's pitching and march on to the post season just remember your place, or as the Rock would say "know your role, jabrone".