papsrus Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Bush got a nice round of..........boos........when tossing out the first pitch in DC tonight. Point of clarification: It's my understanding that a person throwing out the ceremonial first pitch should NOT step on the pitcher's mound. They should throw from directly in front of the mound. Pitchers can be fussy and superstitious about such things. And out of respect, if you're not pitching the game you shouldn't be the first one to step on the mound. That's my understanding from purists who have actually thrown out a ball or two in spring training. Is this widely known? Or am I off-base (pun intended) on this? I know Joe Morgan mentioned several times during Sunday night's opener in D.C. about how Bush went up on the mound and brought some high heat, but of course he didn't say Bush shouldn't have stepped on the mound. The president probably gets an exception to this "rule." And many dignitaries do in fact throw from the mound. But should they? Do others know about this baseball pre-game etiquette? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 ... on a related note, man I'm glad baseball is back!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted March 31, 2008 Report Share Posted March 31, 2008 Derek Jeter told the President before throwing out the first pitch in (I think) the 2001 World Series, "throw it from the rubber dude, or they'll boo you". Bush did. I think that there is a tendency to throw from the front of the mound but its hardly a hard and fast rule. If I ever had the opportunity, I'd damn sure try to go to the rubber to throw the ball. And I guess that only home teams have fussy pitchers since once the game starts, the other guy doesn't get to pitch on a pristine mound either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 (in fact I heard that they are playing a game or two at the LA Colliseum which I guess is not designed for baseball - LF will be something like 200 feet from home plate or something(?) ... and they've sold 100,000 tickets for both games. The Dodgers played there for a few years when they moved from Brooklyn. "Moon shots" meant something else there - named for Wally Moon's short "blasts" over the LF fence. An old computer game (Earl Weaver baseball) included the park (or maybe I "built" it) and it was always a nutty experience. A couple of pictures here and some details, though surely better can be found through more digging. Yeah, my brother and I wanted to go to one of those games, but they sold out before we noticed that the tickets had gone on sale. Maybe we should get scalped seat. A I ended up going - my brother got handed 4 $2 tickets to the game at work, way high up, so we went with my 6 year old nephew and our Mom (also a Dodger fan). It was fun for a while - lots of special guests being introduced, but no one was taking the game seriously., When my nephew pooped out at the 6th inning, we were all fine with leaving. We were very high up and it was rather cold for LA, wind blowing too. They had a bunch of the 1958 Dodgers there, including Don Newcombe and Duke Snider. And then the world champion 1959 Dodgers -a few more including Chuck Essegian, whom my mom went to high school with. But the left field fence at 201 feet was really something else. The Dodgers played the game with 2 outfielders and 5 infielders basically. They next out in left was 60 feet high, and while we there one Red Sox hit a homer over it. A Dodger hit one over after we left. But people were hitting drives to the left-center "gap" that would bounce off the wall at 250 feet and they would be stopped with a single. It was wacky. There's also no way that 110,000 people actually were there. They may have sold that many tickets, but we were in row 83 for example, and almost everything around us was empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalupa Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 (edited) AL Red Sox Tigers Angels WC: Yanks NL: Braves Cubs Rockies WC: Mets Oh and Chase Utley (AKA best 2nd basemen in the world) will be the third Phil in a row to get the NL MVP!! Edited April 1, 2008 by J.H. Deeley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BERIGAN Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 AL Red Sox Tigers Angels WC: Yanks NL: Braves Cubs Rockies WC: Mets Oh and Chase Utley (AKA best 2nd basemen in the world) will be the third Phil in a row to get the NL MVP!! And yet you don't have the Phillies making it to the playoffs!!! Braves have flat out stunk the last two games(Didn't help playing a Sunday night game in DC, and coming back to ATL to play Monday, who thought up a one game road trip?) Guess it went to their heads that some folks were actually predicting them to win the division. Hudson and Glavine have been fine, but the 5 flamethrowers out of the pen all look like scared little boys! It should be very interesting to see which of the 3 teams comes out on top.... Oh, and I want to be on the record saying the Devil Rays will finish 3rd this year!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 Oh, and I want to be on the record saying the Devil Rays will finish 3rd this year!!! Nice! ... They gave up some good, young talent in the offseason but appear to be better both offensively and defensively (on paper, at least). It looks like Navarro may be a much better hitter this year, and Bartlett and Hinske should be great additions. Crawford looked a little shaky in left at Baltimore on Monday. As long as Kazmir doesn't develop some nagging arm injury, the starting rotation should be able to keep their offense in games. And the pen is definitely improved, but how could it not be. Tough division though. To finish third either the Yankees or Jays will have to go in the tank. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Pomea Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 AL Blue Jays Tigers Angels Rays (wild card) NL Mets Cubs Rockies Nationals (wild card) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 AL Blue Jays Tigers Angels Rays (wild card) NL Mets Cubs Rockies Nationals (wild card) I guess I should admire your guts since you think that the two long-shot AL East teams will both make the playoffs and the two dominant teams will both fail. But all I can really say is: :wacko: :wacko: :wacko: :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 ... on a related note, man I'm glad baseball is back!! It is? I opened the paper today to see that the Rangers gave up two unearned runs and were 0-5 with runners in scoring position, leading to a 5-2 loss. I figured last season was just continuing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldB3 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 Tampa Bay deserves to be in last place at least until they add the Devil back to Ray and play in real ball park. Some nice young talent but its hard to take them seriously. Luckily for you it appears the Orioles really want that last place slot a little more. "LETS GO OAKLAND" Oh, and I want to be on the record saying the Devil Rays will finish 3rd this year!!! Nice! ... They gave up some good, young talent in the offseason but appear to be better both offensively and defensively (on paper, at least). It looks like Navarro may be a much better hitter this year, and Bartlett and Hinske should be great additions. Crawford looked a little shaky in left at Baltimore on Monday. As long as Kazmir doesn't develop some nagging arm injury, the starting rotation should be able to keep their offense in games. And the pen is definitely improved, but how could it not be. Tough division though. To finish third either the Yankees or Jays will have to go in the tank. ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 The new park will happen, and can't come soon enough. Nice. The Devil part, not going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alocispepraluger102 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 time to renew! http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/subscriptions/gamed...io.jsp?c_id=mlb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldB3 Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 ooh that does looks cool, what's the eta? who is paying for it, as you know the housing and office space market is a little soft right now. The new park will happen, and can't come soon enough. Nice. The Devil part, not going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 ooh that does looks cool, what's the eta? who is paying for it, as you know the housing and office space market is a little soft right now. The new park will happen, and can't come soon enough. Nice. The Devil part, not going to happen. It was proposed just recently. Lots of details to be worked out, but I think state and local movers and shakers will make this happen one way or the other. Gov. Crist has already expressed concerne about the state losing clubs to Arizona during spring training. I believe the Marlins have a new downtown stadium proposal as well. Not sure what's going on with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 ooh that does looks cool, what's the eta? who is paying for it, as you know the housing and office space market is a little soft right now. The new park will happen, and can't come soon enough. Nice. The Devil part, not going to happen. It was proposed just recently. Lots of details to be worked out, but I think state and local movers and shakers will make this happen one way or the other. Gov. Crist has already expressed concern about the state losing clubs to Arizona during spring training. I believe the Marlins have a new downtown stadium proposal as well. Not sure what's going on with that. After many, many years of ill-conceived proposals and deals that never came to fruition, the Marlins have their stadium deal - a new stadium with retractable roof to be built on the location of the old Orange Bowl, and with costs shared by the team, Miami-Dade county (mostly tourism taxes) and some amount from the state. Its a horrible decision, as it moves the team deeper into Miami. This makes the trek to a game even worse for those who don't live in Miami-Dade. Dolphins Stadium was convenient for most of the tri-county because it was right off the turnpike and not far from I-95. If anything they should have moved farther north into Broward county so that they'd be more centrally located. Instead they are likely to lose a significant portion of ticket buyers from Broward and Palm Beach while hitching their wagon to the Latino population of Miami which already has an overwhelming history of not supporting the team. If Tampa-St Pete politicians and movers and shakers are much more committed to their team than anyone in south Florida has been, then maybe they will have a much easier time getting their stadium built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 1, 2008 Report Share Posted April 1, 2008 (edited) After many, many years of ill-conceived proposals and deals that never came to fruition, the Marlins have their stadium deal - a new stadium with retractable roof to be built on the location of the old Orange Bowl, and with costs shared by the team, Miami-Dade county (mostly tourism taxes) and some amount from the state. Its a horrible decision, as it moves the team deeper into Miami. This makes the trek to a game even worse for those who don't live in Miami-Dade. Dolphins Stadium was convenient for most of the tri-county because it was right off the turnpike and not far from I-95. If anything they should have moved farther north into Broward county so that they'd be more centrally located. Instead they are likely to lose a significant portion of ticket buyers from Broward and Palm Beach while hitching their wagon to the Latino population of Miami which already has an overwhelming history of not supporting the team. If Tampa-St Pete politicians and movers and shakers are much more committed to their team than anyone in south Florida has been, then maybe they will have a much easier time getting their stadium built. It has always baffled me that the Latinos in Miami do not support a baseball team. The Rays' new ownership is pretty good about trying to put a quality product on the field and generating enthusiasm for the team, including doing the little things (like free parking!) that will attract fans. One of the likely sticking points with this new stadium is that the Rays say they will need to sell the Tropicana Field property to a developer as a condition for the new stadium project. As WB3 pointed out, the real estate market ain't so hot right now, but Florida has something of a cushion there, perhaps. The chamber of commerce should love this though, as well as politicos well up the food chain. ... Here's hoping! EDIT: This is also good news for the Rays -- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Carl Crawford's $8.25 million option for 2009 was exercised Tuesday by the Tampa Bay Rays, who declined Rocco Baldelli's $6 million option and agreed to a $10.5 million, three-year deal with reliever Dan Wheeler. Edited April 1, 2008 by papsrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Did anyone catch the Mets-Marlins game? It wasn't broadcast in the sarasota area. How bad did Pedro's injury look? Mets say they don't know when he'll be back. And how about Andino with a walkoff HR in the bottom of the 10th! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Al Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 THE RANGERS ARE AT .500! THE RANGERS ARE AT .500! THE RANGERS ARE AT .500! THE RANGERS ARE AT .500! THE RANGERS ARE AT .500! :party::party: Hey, gotta enjoy these moments while they last, being as few and far between as they are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Did anyone catch the Mets-Marlins game? It wasn't broadcast in the sarasota area. How bad did Pedro's injury look? Mets say they don't know when he'll be back. And how about Andino with a walkoff HR in the bottom of the 10th! I didn't see the injury, but I did see the Marlins pound on him in the first two frames, and then the walk-off at the end. Too bad they gave the kid the shaving cream pie in the face while he was off camera, talking about the pitch or something. But watching Pedro at the start, you couldn't help but notice that his fastball was sitting at 88-89, which simply means that when he doesn't spot it or command his other pitches, he's going to have days like this. My wife and I weren't sure which was worse - the injury, or the way he pitched. Since Duque is on the DL it really isn't a good situation for Mets fans if he is going to miss any significant time. Meanwhile the Red Sox had what I thought of as a "must-win" with Dice-K facing Joe Blanton in a rematch of opening day, before Rich Harden faces Jon Lester again today. That's going to be a tall order so I was glad that they managed the win last night with a stellar performance by Dice. Two hits over 6 2/3, 9 Ks and ZERO walks. Complete turn around from Opening Day, I am sure this was the game he hoped to have in front of the home fans last week. But that was definitely the Dice-K we are hoping to have all season. The one weird point was when Papelbon was called on for a four out save, with no off-day tomorrow. I mean, I thought of it as a must-win game but does this mean that Paps will be used more this season? At least he was back to his dominating self after nearly giving away the game in Tokyo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted April 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 First the good news: The Giants actually scored two whole runs last night and Cain pitched a great game; 6 IP, 3H, 0 Runs. Now the bad news: The Giants bullpen. Nuff said? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 First the good news: The Giants actually scored two whole runs last night and Cain pitched a great game; 6 IP, 3H, 0 Runs. Now the bad news: The Giants bullpen. Nuff said? Reminds me of a poll I thought about doing: Who will lose the most number of games this season? The Giants The Pirates The Orioles The Marlins My money is on the Giants, who are likely to be terrible for many years to come, regardless of how their young starters do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldB3 Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 First the good news: The Giants actually scored two whole runs last night and Cain pitched a great game; 6 IP, 3H, 0 Runs. Now the bad news: The Giants bullpen. Nuff said? Reminds me of a poll I thought about doing: Who will lose the most number of games this season? The Giants The Pirates The Orioles The Marlins My money is on the Giants, who are likely to be terrible for many years to come, regardless of how their young starters do. I don't know how Brian Sabian can still have a job. While Cain, Linzicum and Lowrey are very nice to have the rest of the division has good front end rotation starters and young players that are major league contributors. The best position players in the Giants organization are 3 years away. I don't know how a team with a such a long history and high revenues can turn into the KC Royals or worse so quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papsrus Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 (edited) Or how about, who will lose the most late-inning leads? Your starter gives you 7 solid innings, you're up by one or two (or more) runs, then .... SPLAT. Edited April 2, 2008 by papsrus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 I like Chad Finn's comment about the Giants: The 1962 Mets, reincarnated? The San Francisco Giants, who have Bengie Molina (103 homers in 3,418 career at-bats) batting cleanup and who had 36-year-olds Rich Aurilia, Ray Durham, and Dave Roberts in their Opening Day lineup, along with Randy Winn (34) and Molina (33). If you're going to be brutal, shouldn't you at least be young? Two other questions: Will Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain combine to go 8-33 with a 2.95 ERA? And how does Brian Sabean keep his job? It would be pretty funny if their two young stud pitchers have a record anywhere close to that. For those who enjoyed Finn's Nine Innings column on foxsports.com last year, you should know that he has signed a deal with Boston.com, to start around April 8. He's got an obvious Red Sox bias but his column for Fox was pretty good - I liked the way he took an old Bill James player rating book and quoted what was thought of famous/infamous guys way back when. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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