Tim McG Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 (edited) So how does everyone feel about their own team as we wait for first pitches? I am ever so cautiously optimistic that: Jon Lester will regain his mojo, partially due to the return of the former pitching coach as manager John Lackey will pitch much better now that he is healthy. And while he's grossly overpaid, if he pitches like a number three in the number 5 slot, that's pretty good The bullpen is going to be shut-down, with two closers, not to mention two topnotch Japanese righthanders, Andrew Miller as lefty strikeout guy, Aceves as swing man, and Daniel Bard, should he regain his consistency, waiting on the farm. My worries are: Ortiz is out longer and starts showing his age; Shane Victorino was a shitty contract for a guy rapidly aging before our eyes Gomes can be a great clubhouse influence but he's still a butcher in LF and will flail against righties. I think the ship is turning and the team will be decent, but better days aren't far away. The Giants will continue to be a force with defense and pitching though I do worry about a less-than-stellar bull pen. Kontos and Casilla in particular. They will still hit for average, preferring little ball over HRs. As always, winning the NL West will be a struggle against the usual suspects: Dodgers, D'Backs and Rocks. BTW...Cain looked pretty sharp with six shutout innings yesterday. Sadly, Kontos and Casilla didn't. Good wins for Mets and Halos. Great relief pitching for Halos. Scott Rice, a 14 year veteran of the minors, finally got a chance to pitch in the major leagues by pitching the 9th for the Mets. Yeah, I'd say the Angels are a legit contender for the World Series this year. Edited April 2, 2013 by GoodSpeak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Pomea Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 Here are my predictions for this season. AL East Tampa Bay AL Central Detroit AL West LA Angels Wild Card Texas Rangers NL East Washington NL Central Cincinnati NL West San Francisco Wild Card LA Dodgers World Series Detroit and Cincinnati (I'm probably WAY off!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JETman Posted April 2, 2013 Report Share Posted April 2, 2013 Here are my predictions for this season. AL East Tampa Bay AL Central Detroit AL West LA Angels Wild Card Texas Rangers NL East Washington NL Central Cincinnati NL West San Francisco Wild Card LA Dodgers World Series Detroit and Cincinnati (I'm probably WAY off!) You are! There are 2 wildcards in each league beginning this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Blah blah blah Near perfect game? Who cares! Indians tied for 1st place!!!! I guess they don't have a magic # cuz they are tied for 1st? Not sure or could it be 161/162/163 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 That was a very entertaining game, the one which the Rangers played to made it back to .500. They'd not had a losing record since sometime early in 2010, I heard. It's been fun. But for that other thing, Kenny Rogers is still the man, and in 1994. Mark Holtz was still alive (and on the radio). Guess I should break out the VCR and watch it one day/night. And get the thing oiled up good for the next one...someday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Jim Ever see Nolan Ryan pitch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Numerous times n TV, and once in person, yeah. Took my son to see it, just so he could tell his kids that he got to see Nolan Ryan pitch. And Nolan pitched a damn good game that night, against the As. Nolan didn't finish it, but he won it. We sat up high, but behind home plate. So the kick was in front of us on every pitch. I strongly recommend taking kids to see legends play. Or just taking them to a game period. But especially if there's legends involved. It'll be a story forever for them, and I do believe in leaving your kids with some stories to tell, some good ones, and some fun ones and some funny ones. You want them to smile and laugh when they think about you when they're gone (or you're really gone). And really, what better place to laugh and have fun than at a game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Pomea Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Here are my predictions for this season. AL East Tampa Bay AL Central Detroit AL West LA Angels Wild Card Texas Rangers NL East Washington NL Central Cincinnati NL West San Francisco Wild Card LA Dodgers World Series Detroit and Cincinnati (I'm probably WAY off!) You are! There are 2 wildcards in each league beginning this year. Then I will add the 2 extra wildcards; NL Atlanta AL Chicago White Sox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Jim Ever see Nolan Ryan pitch? I have. Even watched him toss a no-no once. The guy was a monster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JETman Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 Jim Ever see Nolan Ryan pitch? I have. Even watched him toss a no-no once. The guy was a monster! Not when he was a Met! Typical line: 8 IP, 9K, 9 BB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted April 3, 2013 Report Share Posted April 3, 2013 (edited) Jim Ever see Nolan Ryan pitch? I have. Even watched him toss a no-no once. The guy was a monster! Not when he was a Met! Typical line: 8 IP, 9K, 9 BB True. But he was just getting control of his fastball back then. With the Angels he vastly improved. Houston and Texas did well with him in the rotation as well. Edited April 3, 2013 by GoodSpeak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 In 1990 I saw Trevor Wilson lose a no-hitter vs San Diego on the first batter in the top of the 9th Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Interesting match up in pitchers tonight at Dodger Stadium: Josh Becket vs. Tim Lincecum. Both these guys need a good year, especially Lincecum, since he took a steep drop-off last year in quality. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Pomea Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Pretty early in the season for interleague play! Columbian District plays White Sox next week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Pretty early in the season for interleague play! Columbian District plays White Sox next week! It is weird, and I can't say I'm a fan of it either. It was strange to see the Angels playing the Reds for Opening Day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Interesting match up in pitchers tonight at Dodger Stadium: Josh Becket vs. Tim Lincecum. Both these guys need a good year, especially Lincecum, since he took a steep drop-off last year in quality. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I would argue Becket needs it worse than Lincecum. He has been mediocre at best for quite awhile now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Shouldn't there be inter league series going all the time with Houston going to the AL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHILLYQ Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Pretty early in the season for interleague play! Columbian District plays White Sox next week! There'll be interleague any day that all the teams are playing at a minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Interesting match up in pitchers tonight at Dodger Stadium: Josh Becket vs. Tim Lincecum. Both these guys need a good year, especially Lincecum, since he took a steep drop-off last year in quality. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I would argue Becket needs it worse than Lincecum. He has been mediocre at best for quite awhile now. Neither one was all that great last night, Beckett got the loss, and Lincecum went five for the win, 0 runs, but 7 walks in 5 innings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Walter Johnson doing play-by-play: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/when-baseball-was-a-whole-different-ballgame/274541/ A whole day of WJSV 9-21-39: http://archive.org/details/OTRR_WJSV_Complete_Day_Singles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted April 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 Walter Johnson doing play-by-play: http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/when-baseball-was-a-whole-different-ballgame/274541/ A whole day of WJSV 9-21-39: http://archive.org/details/OTRR_WJSV_Complete_Day_Singles Louis Prima Orchestra @ Midnight. Never realized Prima had a radio show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim McG Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 (edited) Interesting match up in pitchers tonight at Dodger Stadium: Josh Becket vs. Tim Lincecum. Both these guys need a good year, especially Lincecum, since he took a steep drop-off last year in quality. It'll be interesting to see what happens. I would argue Becket needs it worse than Lincecum. He has been mediocre at best for quite awhile now. Neither one was all that great last night, Beckett got the loss, and Lincecum went five for the win, 0 runs, but 7 walks in 5 innings. Still Spring, though. Most pitchers struggle a bit. But at least Lincecum wasn't giving up runs or the long ball. Becket was. I'll take that for now. Edited April 4, 2013 by GoodSpeak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted April 4, 2013 Report Share Posted April 4, 2013 GTFOH Tribe 2-0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 5, 2013 Report Share Posted April 5, 2013 Five partial player comments from the 1997 Baseball Prospectus annual: 1. On Mariano Rivera: "... I think he needs a better second pitch and more work. The better second pitch is a big issue, because Rivera got hit worst when he fell behind and had to come in with a fastball for a strike. Without one, I think he'll decline further this year. 2. On Trot Nixon: "One of the more overrated prospects in baseball. Nixon has more tools than Home Depot, but he uses them about as well as the government uses tax revenues. His back troubles have damaged his game as well. As Boston's #1 pick in 1993, he'll get plenty of chances to embarrass himself in the majors." 3. On Tim Wakefield: "Three years after nearly washing out of baseball, two years after nearly winning the Cy Young and just months after a temporary demotion to the pen, Wakefield may have found his niche: middle-of-the-rotation innings eater." 4. On Jeff Bagwell: "A fine defender, intelligent baserunner, and one of the best power hitters in the game. Still looks like an adult Bud Bundy ...." 5. On David Ortiz: "... He is very young, and the Twins may want him to have more than a half-season at Double A before they hand him a starting job in the majors, but his upside is very high. Think Dave Parker." From the Boston Globe blog, Touching All The Bases. The Trot Nixon and Mariano Rivera comments are classic but I am sure many other off-base assessments can be found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 6, 2013 Report Share Posted April 6, 2013 "Fine defender, intelligent baserunner"...why, that almost sounds like "nice personality"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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