2015 MLB Season - Let's Play Two!

[JSngry]

 How the Padres are any less "local" than the Angels is beyond me.

Dude - I can tell you about the Angels stadium, how that bigass "A" behind home plate looks like something that somebody painted on the side of a shed out in the country somewhere. I can tell you haw the Angels announcers get under my skin in this really creepy way.. I can tell you how their Wally World outfield park and how Mike Trout robs a hit it makes him look like some freak superhero and how when he gives that "aw shucks" throw in on a routine fly (which he doesn't do as much these days?) it makes him look like some punkassbitch you just love to hate. I can tell you how I went to see the DFW Spurs (AA Texas League) play an Angels farm team in old turnpike Stadium, which a few years later was expanded into Arlington Stadium, home of the Texas Rangers, and how at that game, I, a 100% asshole of a kid, relentlessly taunted a catcher names Tom Egan whose baseball cards I had of him as an Angel, and hey, Tom Egan, you're not on the Angles NOW are ya! HAHAHAHA. I can tell you how the Rangers & Angels both came into the American league as expansion teams (we were the "new" Washington Senators then) in 1961 and how the Angels became a good team pretty damn quickly whereas the Senators were even worse than the team whose name they took over, but they had characters such as Frank Howard, Ed Brinkman, both of whom came over as Rangers ,iirc. But the Angels had already had Jim Fregosi, Dean Chance, Bo Belinski (HA), and some other names I can't recall, and they had established themselves as a legitimate pro team, something that eluded us here until, really, the Bobby Valentine years (late 1980s) , and REALLY really until the Johnny Oates years (late 1990s). In th interim, the Angels had produced so good teams and some GREAT players. To this day, there's a pocket of condescension towards the Rangers by "deep" angels fans, and there is definitely an air of Fuck The Angels amongst the same type of Rangers fans. And a guy named RevHaloFan who keeps (or kept?) the Angels Halos Heaven SB Nation Blog does his damndest to make sure that those traditions are carried forth. The Angels have won just one WS, we have won just none, and those type of Angels fans love to crow about how "Flags fly forever" every time we beat them out of a division title or playoff spot, or damn near anything.

So yeah, that gets pretty local, built up over time and a sustained, shared history.

The first thing that comes to mind about the Padres is Preston Gomez and then Steve Garvey, Ozzie Smith, Heath Bell, and I guess they play in a pitcher-friendly park now, couldn't even tell you what it looked like except that the old Polo Grounds come to mind for some reason.. And of course Tony Gwynn. the GREAT Tony Gwynn, RIP.

But past that, not too much.

[Scott Dolan]

Ah, so by "local" you meant familiar. Gotcha. 

Well, I can see your point. I certainly don't subscribe to it, mind you. But, I'm not the purist that you are. Geographically it makes complete sense. Kind of like when we play St. Louis or Colorado in I-70 series. Or the Marlins play the Rays. Or Yankees/Mets… You've got two markets which are relatively close to each other (considering the cities are far more spread out in that part of the country), so it turns into a regional affair. 

For me, I don't need characters, or history, or story lines in order to enjoy watching a Royals game. I just want to see a well-played game between two good teams. Beyond that, I don't care if they only meet once every 10 years, or once every 10 weeks. But, that may be a matter of perspective borne from following one of the biggest jokes in MLB for years, and now seeing them experience some success. I don't care who it comes against, just that it happens. 

[JSngry]

Dude, I remember when the Royals were a GREAT team, and one of my favorites. One of my best buddies in college was from Overland Park, and the ritual of Royals/Yankees ALCS was a part of my life in those years. I liked the Yankees then, watching the pain was kinda weird, but when the Royals finally came out on top, I found myself glad that the Yankees had gone down. And then the tide began to turn, once and for all.

Sure, the game is always the thing, and a good game is a good game, no matter what, I'll take any kind of a good game. But with sports, I'm kinda like, these are pros, it should be SOME kind of a good games nearly always, and my time is my time, my money is my money, etc, so what's gonna make me WANT to invest my time and money (and emotion) into anybody's game, because hell, EVERYBODY'S got a game for you, you can get a good game 24/7 these days, live, recorded, whatever. And I'm not the type of guy who "needs" sports in his life, that's what music does for me. But I do really enjoy sports if there's enough of a personal attraction to get me hooked. Fo me, that's baseball, the only sport I can sit down in front of and in less that...90 seconds get totally sucked into.

Now, if the Rangers played the Padres X number of times EVERY year, home and away, then, yeah, there would be some back story developed, and something I would feel like following as part of the bigger, ongoing story. but right now, they just feel like exhibition games. We're not playing them again for, what, another 3 years? So...yaaaaaawn. They still feel like exhibition games more or less, even though they count in the standings, and that's where my personal disconnect come in.

MLB TV helps, I mean, you can pretty much follow every team every day in more or less real time during all the games, if you have the time and interest in that. I wish (maybe) that I do, but I so do not. I've tried, too, it was fun, but not sustainable. It's a looooong season!

 

[Scott Dolan]

Right, but that's the difference between you and I. You have to have a narrative to fully appreciate your team and the games they play. I don't. 

If a narrative exists, fine. But if one doesn't, equally fine. Sometimes the complete lack of a narrative makes the competition that much more exciting because nobody really has any real idea what's going to happen after that first pitch is thrown. 

Edited October 7, 2015 by Scott Dolan

[JSngry]

Narrative or not, nobody ever has any real idea of what's going to happen after that first pitch is thrown.

I know a certain class of, shall we say, "speculative investors" who wish it were otherwise!

[Brad]

I know you don't like the Angels, which is understandable because the Rangers and Angels are division rivals and my son who is a big Angels fan and Trout fan hates the Rangers, which is also understandable.  What I don't get is these comments about Trout, just the greatest player in the game today, along with Harper.   The Angels announcers creepy?  Now, the TV guys are not that great (at least compared to the Mets announcers) but I like the radio guy Terry Smith.  Think he does a pretty good job.

Fans just lord it over other fans, that's just the nature of the beast.

BTW, I went to school in DC and was at the last game the Senators played at RFK when they forfeited to the Yanks.  One of the most unforgettable games I've ever seen as every fan crashed the field the top of the 9th and took everything in sight.  The fans hatred for Bob Short knew no bounds.

[Scott Dolan]

Narrative or not, nobody ever has any real idea of what's going to happen after that first pitch is thrown.

 

Not entirely. But you still have a decent idea of what to expect from players that you see many times each and every year. 

[JSngry]

Trout's a serious badass, but he had this "aw shucks" thing going on in the outfield when he was a rookie, kinda "yeah, I'm the next Mickey Mantle, you know it, I know it, we all know it" that just bugged the dogpiss out of me. In an Angels uniform, it only got worse, of course, but even if it would have been a Ranger player...grrrrr...It would be like if you took the goofy out of Elvis and just left the cute. Ugh.

Broadcasting thing is entirely subjective, of course, but the Angels guys just bug me in general, maybe it's a SoCal thing or something. Again, that they're Angles guys is just gravy on the BugMe Biscuit.

Really, though, Angles/Rangers rivalry has roots going back pre-Division. They were the two expansion teams of 1961, one thrived, the other floundered. Kinda like the twin bothers found on the side of the road and adopted by the rich family in town, one earns favor, the other doesn't, bad blood just waiting to happen once the Bad Son gets it together.

Bottom line - if you can't bring your irrational peeves, phobia, distrusts, and and outright hatred (and their counterparts in irrational positivisms) to the arena of sports fandom, then where can you bring them? I mean, isn't that what it's there for?

We grew to hate Short here too, and it didn't take long. But that gave us Eddie Chiles, and lordhavemercy, you talk about "local flavor" that was equal parts fun and pain...that was Eddie Chiles.

Broadcasters, though...the MLB AtBat app gives you, like, the ultimate transistor radio, and I find that there's this guy in Baltimore, Joe Angel, who has a voice and a cadence that is music to my ears, he really stands out as unique in the really good way. I've been known to listen to Rangers/Orioles games on AtBat just to hear Joe Angel for a couple of innings.

[Aggie87]

Hey Aggie...

How 'bout them Astros?

I knew they'd play better in the AL West. Congrats!

 

Thanks!  

I'm still in shock about this season for the 'Stros so far.  Exceeded my expectations and most fans, I think. 

The two times I saw Carlos Correa in person while he was with our local team this season, I never imagined he'd be playing in October *this year*.  Dude only turned 21 two weeks ago.

I'd love to see a competitive series against the Royals now!

 

Edited October 7, 2015 by Aggie87

[Scott Dolan]

The Astros remind me, a lot, of the Royals from last year. Only with a lot more pop at the plate. 

I wouldn't be shocked in the least if they went all the way to the Big Show this year. 

Our rotation is our weakness, and Houston can expose that without even breaking a sweat. I'm thinking we'll make an early exit this year, but it has still been a fantastic year for those of us who suffered through all of those 100 loss seasons not so long ago...

And since Houston kind of took our place as MLB whipping boy for a few years, I wouldn't mind seeing their fans getting to enjoy  what we were able to last year. 

[JSngry]

Hey Aggie, it might make you happy to know that Correa is already our new thorn-in-the-side:

Carlos Correa makes his presence known as a problem for the Texas Rangers for the next ten years

http://www.lonestarball.com/2015/9/26/9402189/84-70-correa-crushes-thoughts-of-a-rangers-sweep

(warning, LSB posters can be real dick-y d-bags sometimes, and quite often are. But as an ongoing source of team gossip and ponderings, the good outweigh the bad...generally)

anyhow, this is gonna be fun! The team of my adult life vs the team of my youth for the next...how many? years, there are no losers in this one!

[Chuck Nessa]

Go Cubs.

Scott, stop typing.

[Dave Garrett]

Astros locker-room celebration on Sunday after clinching a spot in the wild-card game. Didn't see many mentions of this, aside from the obligatory apology from the TV network for airing the f-bombs. 

Someone on Reddit suggested that there oughta be "I Love You MFers" t-shirts printed up. I'd sure buy one. 

[Tim McG]

I never much cared for that inter-league stuff either.

For me, it was always the fun part of the World Series to see the NL square off against the AL. Besides, that DH nonsense spoils the game for us hardcore baseball purists. I can tolerate it for a couple WS games, but not an entire season's worth.

I'm with Jim on this one.

Yeah, nothing beats watching a pitcher strike out 4 or 5 times a game.

Not in Giants-land.

Our pitchers can hit!

[Brad]

Looks like Pirates are screwed.  Heck, they were screwed after the top of the 1st. 

[Scott Dolan]

Go Cubs.

Scott, stop typing.

Huh?

What'd I say?

I had a feeling the Pirates were in for a rough night with Arrieta on the mound. 

 

 

[Chuck Nessa]

U dint lissen.

[GA Russell]

 

BTW, I went to school in DC and was at the last game the Senators played at RFK when they forfeited to the Yanks.  One of the most unforgettable games I've ever seen as every fan crashed the field the top of the 9th and took everything in sight.  The fans hatred for Bob Short knew no bounds.

Brad, I too was at that game, and I too ran onto the field! 

When the fans chanted, "We want Short!", I sensed (for the only time in my life) a vibe that bordered on violence.  I believe that if he had attended the game, he would have been killed.

[JSngry]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/splits/_/id/30145/jake-arrieta

2015 Arrieta splits by teams and parks:

:

By Opponent	ERA	W	L	SV	SVO	GP	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG
vs. ARI	1.93	1	0	0	0	2	2	0	14.0	11	6	3	1	2	14	.212
vs. ATL	0.00	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	13.0	7	0	0	0	4	17	.152
vs. CHW	1.72	2	0	0	0	2	2	1	15.2	7	4	3	0	2	14	.130
vs. CIN	3.55	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	12.2	11	5	5	1	4	11	.229
vs. CLE	7.20	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	5.0	3	4	4	1	6	6	.167
vs. DET	4.50	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.0	8	3	3	1	1	8	.333
vs. KC	5.14	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	7.0	8	4	4	3	0	5	.286
vs. LAD	0.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	9.0	0	0	0	0	1	12	.000
vs. MIL	2.08	2	1	0	0	4	4	1	26.0	17	6	6	1	5	30	.183
vs. MIN	0.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	9.0	4	0	0	0	0	7	.129
vs. NYM	1.13	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	16.0	8	2	2	0	2	17	.160
vs. PHI	2.57	1	1	0	0	2	2	0	14.0	12	4	4	2	5	15	.226
vs. PIT	0.75	3	1	0	0	5	5	0	36.0	18	4	3	0	5	33	.151
vs. SF	0.00	2	0	0	0	2	2	0	13.2	8	1	0	0	3	14	.160
vs. STL	2.42	2	1	0	0	4	4	0	26.0	22	8	7	0	8	25	.229
vs. WSH	1.50	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.0	6	1	1	0	0	8	.273
By Stadium	ERA	W	L	SV	SVO	GP	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG
AT&T Park	0.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.0	4	1	0	0	1	8	.174
Busch Stadium II	3.65	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	12.1	12	6	5	0	3	14	.250
Chase Field	4.50	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.0	7	6	3	1	2	7	.280
Citi Field	1.13	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	8.0	5	1	1	0	0	7	.185
Citizens Bank Park	1.13	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	8.0	6	1	1	1	2	7	.200
Comerica Park	4.50	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.0	8	3	3	1	1	8	.333
Dodger Stadium	0.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	9.0	0	0	0	0	1	12	.000
Great American	3.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.0	4	2	2	1	3	6	.182
Miller Park	1.50	1	0	0	0	2	2	0	12.0	7	2	2	0	3	13	.163
Nationals Park	1.50	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.0	6	1	1	0	0	8	.273
PNC Park	0.82	2	0	0	0	3	3	0	22.0	12	3	2	0	4	17	.162
Target Field	0.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	9.0	4	0	0	0	0	7	.129
Turner Field	0.00	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	7.0	3	0	0	0	3	10	.125
U.S. Cellular Field	2.70	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	6.2	5	3	2	0	2	5	.192
Wrigley Field	1.97	9	5	0	0	15	15	2	105.0	67	23	23	6	23	107	.184

\

http://www.baseball-reference.com/games/head2head.cgi?teams=CHC&from=2015&to=2015&submit=Submit

2015 Cubs splits by teams:

Rk	Franchise	Tm	G	W	L	W-L%	RS	RA	hmW-L	rdW-L
1	Arizona Diamondbacks	ARI	6	4	2	.667	38	24	3-0	1-2	games
2	Atlanta Braves	ATL	7	6	1	.857	40	19	4-0	2-1	games
3	Chicago White Sox	CHW	6	3	3	.500	17	18	1-2	2-1	games
4	Cincinnati Reds	CIN	19	13	6	.684	92	80	6-4	7-2	games
5	Cleveland Indians	CLE	4	2	2	.500	22	11	1-1	1-1	games
6	Colorado Rockies	COL	6	4	2	.667	30	32	2-1	2-1	games
7	Detroit Tigers	DET	4	1	3	.250	28	34	0-2	1-1	games
8	Kansas City Royals	KCR	3	2	1	.667	7	9	2-1	0-0	games
9	Los Angeles Dodgers	LAD	7	3	4	.429	12	20	2-2	1-2	games
10	Miami Marlins	MIA	6	3	3	.500	20	17	2-1	1-2	games
11	Milwaukee Brewers	MIL	19	14	5	.737	77	58	6-3	8-2	games
12	Minnesota Twins	MIN	3	2	1	.667	14	8	0-0	2-1	games
13	New York Mets	NYM	7	7	0	1.000	27	11	4-0	3-0	games
14	Philadelphia Phillies	PHI	7	2	5	.286	29	39	0-3	2-2	games
15	Pittsburgh Pirates	PIT	19	11	8	.579	81	71	5-4	6-4	games
16	San Diego Padres	SDP	6	3	3	.500	22	22	1-2	2-1	games
17	San Francisco Giants	SFG	7	5	2	.714	33	31	4-0	1-2	games
18	St. Louis Cardinals	STL	19	8	11	.421	79	84	5-4	3-7	games
19	Washington Nationals	WSN	7	4	3	.571	21	20	1-2	3-1	game

Plus, a +10 RD against Pirates, -5 vs Cards.

Not surprised that the Cubs won tonight. Happy, but not really surprised.

Cubs vs Cards, though, that's gonna be a battle. Also figure that for Cubs to get to LDS, they'll nave to play at worst .666 ball (4-6) and Cards just.600 ball (3-5).

Nevertheless, GO CUBS!

[Brad]

 

BTW, I went to school in DC and was at the last game the Senators played at RFK when they forfeited to the Yanks.  One of the most unforgettable games I've ever seen as every fan crashed the field the top of the 9th and took everything in sight.  The fans hatred for Bob Short knew no bounds.

Brad, I too was at that game, and I too ran onto the field! 

When the fans chanted, "We want Short!", I sensed (for the only time in my life) a vibe that bordered on violence.  I believe that if he had attended the game, he would have been killed.

Of all the games that I've attended over the years, that's the one I remember the most.  As I recall (which could be shaky), the Yankees held the lead through the middle of the 8th.  Then a couple of fans ran onto the field. The crowd was warned that if it happened again, there would be a forfeit. In the bottom of the 8th, the Senators grabbed the lead, maybe 3-2 or 4-3, don't exactly remember.  

Comes the top of the 9th.  Bang! It was like a jail break. Hundreds, thousands, ran onto the field. Everything was taken: bases, lights from the scoreboard, you name it.  I ran onto the field too, but too late for any souvenirs.  I saw some people ripping out seats. My thought at the time was that some Redskins fans wouldn't have seats to sit on Sunday.

Amazing scene, to say the least.

And, yes, had the fans seen Short they definitely would've assaulted him. They're there all kinds of signs in the ballpark like "Short sucks." Unforgettable.

******

As you can see from Jim's stats, the Cubs killed the Mets this year.  The only thing I can say is that it wasn't against the team that was changed at the trading deadline: no Wright, Cespedes, Kelly Johnson or Conforto. Not much to hang your hopes on but better than nothing.  Of course, both teams have to get there first.

Edited October 8, 2015 by Brad

[Dan Gould]

Perfect night all around for me - Sue and I saw John Cleese/Eric Idle's new show which was great, and the Cubs won without me having to live or die pitch to pitch.

Jon Lester has to come up huge - as he usually has in the past when it's October - because the Cards can throw their number one twice and Arrieta can only go once.  But if Lester pitches like he did in 2013 I think the Cubs can do it.

I have the feeling the Cubs streak of futility is going to end inside of 5 years but with my Mom turning 80 last July and my older brother in failing health (and openly speaking about "going out on his own terms"), I want the futility to end as soon as possible.

[JSngry]

Been waiting/fearing a Beltre hamstring thing all year long. Finally comes today. Damn.

Typically Beltre, though it came on an RBI.

He's my hero.

(I'm saying hamstring...watching game with sound down...might be back spasms...either way, much love for Beltre).

Edited October 8, 2015 by JSngry

[Neal Pomea]

Harold Reynolds mentioned that the artificial turf may have been a factor. When he was with Seattle he used to do special exercises to avoid injury, especially to the  back.

 

Long time ago National Lampoon called it Astro-Concrete or Astro-Broken Glass!

Edited October 8, 2015 by Neal Pomea

[JSngry]

Yeah, it's the back.  Better news than hamstring.

Not a fan of the turf myself, but it's a fact of life, fortunately a decreasing one.

[JSngry]

Love to see Odor continuing to act like he belongs here, and Elvis like he's gonna stay here. It took Roogie a trip back to AAA and some straight talk about his potential, and it took Elvis basically being told, hey, you've been sucking too much for too long, do want to stay here or not?

Jesus, Pete Rose on postgame...what kind of an android has he become?