2015 MLB Season - Let's Play Two!

[JSngry]

Yes, the Grays shared Griffith Stadium with the American League team. The American League team was officially named the Nationals until the mid-50s but you would never know it. People insisted on calling them the Senators, the name of an older franchise.

For some reason I still think Senators should be the nickname of our current franchise. We should be the Washington Senators!  

That's it. I am spreading the rumor that this is a curse on us until we change the name! And change the curly W logo from the franchise that moved to Texas. Nothing against Texas, but the curly W was the logo only for 10 dreadful years in the 60s. Even the block W means more to the city's history. Iconic as the Cubs' C. If they could change it to DC, I am sure many locals would applaud. That is how many of us think of ourselves. DC. A Columbian District.

I'm feeling you on that one, Neal! And so is the White Rat.

[Brad]

One of my least favorite people in baseball and to think he worked for the Mets as head of player development in the 60s!

[JSngry]

Who did he end up developing?

[Brad]

Some great players like Jon Matlack, Wayne Garrett, Gary Gentry, Amos Otis and Ken Singleton.  He felt he was snubbed by M. Donald Grant, the President of the Mets, when Grant named Yogi as Manager over him when Gil Hodges (the greatest of all Mets managers in my opinion) died in 1972. He eventually left the Mets and hated them forever.  Grant is the same idiot who traded Seaver. 

[bluesoul]

I guess it's official now.  Whatever the teams are doing all season long, it is not involvement in a pennant race.  That's history.

I recall mentioning last year that when the teams won the league championship series, the word "pennant" was not used until near the end of the news reports.

This year, I noticed that the AP reports printed in our Raleigh paper for both the Mets and the Royals clinching failed to use the word "pennant."

Yeah, you don't hear it much anymore, the divisions changed all that.  The KC players were wearing this shirt in the locker room though:

http://www.fanatics.com/2252255/

 

 

[Dan Gould]

It's only a pennant race if the result is dependent upon the season records.  It hasn't been for a very long time.

The loser will nevertheless raise the league champion pennant next opening day.

[Scott Dolan]

Though seemingly a long, long time ago...I recall the Royals having the best record in the A.L. this past season. 

How does that make them the loser? 

[Brad]

I think he meant either team.  If the Mets don't win, the WS it will still have been a tremendous season; sure beats the last six seasons. I'm not sure the Royals would feel the same way if they lost as they went to the WS last year. 

[JSngry]

I think what is being said is that the loser of the WS still raises their league championship pennant on opening day.

[JSngry]

Also, fwiw, maybe it's just a sales pitch, but we still very much talk about "pennant race", first in terms of the divisional, and then league championship. You raise a pennant for winning the division, and I assure you, this year, we did.

[Brad]

Don't know about KC, but prices are ridiculous for the games in NY; $700 for standing room only. Crappy seats are around $1,300.  CitiField is not the largest, only seats about 42,000.  Shea had around 56,000. 

Edited October 25, 2015 by Brad

[Neal Pomea]

Series BEGINS Oct. 27. At this rate the hero may be Mr. November!

Edited October 26, 2015 by Neal Pomea

[Scott Dolan]

I think what is being said is that the loser of the WS still raises their league championship pennant on opening day.

OK, but that still makes no sense. League pennants are won before the World Series starts, and have nothing to do with the World Series. 

Either way, Brad, KC had the highest postseason/World Series ticket prices in history last year, but from what I've read the Mets will surpass it this year. Last year our SRO tickets were going for $500, and our Diamond Club seats behind home plate were selling for $12,000-$15,000. 

 

Things get a wee bit exclusive once the Big Show starts. 

[Brad]

That seems to cut out the fan who follows them all year Scott but I think that's always the case.

I also noticed looking on Stubhub that parking passes are $500!  Now, Citifield doesn't have the greatest parking situation but that's crazy.  Getting out of Shea Stadium (which is now the parking lot for Citifield) was always a nightmare so I used to park in Flushing (about 5 minutes from Shea) and take the subway one stop.  Had I been going to a game, that's what I would have done this time.

[Scott Dolan]

Yeah, I usually do that whenever we go to a game at Busch III. There's a seemingly little known parking lot outside of Union Station, just two Metrolink stations from the stadium. Easy in, easy out. Lots of parking garages around the stadium, but the backup getting out can be unbearable at times. 

Kauffman is a slightly better situation because it's outside of the downtown area, and situated on an Interstate. But it can still be a pain in the ass to get out of. And park-n-ride options are pretty much nonexistent. 

Edited October 26, 2015 by Scott Dolan

[ghost of miles]

Have not seen any of his on-air work myself, but sounds as if Alex Rodriguez is doing a great job as a post-season post-game analyst for Fox:

Alex Rodriguez the analyst

 

 

 

[JSngry]

I saw him once or twice, he was ok, but still, A-Rod, maybe if I didn't know...but I do. Still having images of him and Carmen Diaz having herpes and a threeway, maybe or maybe not at the same time, and say what you will about Jeter and his lavish next-day flowerings and ball-shaving, Jeter never let his name get scandalized the way A-Rod has. (and I'm not making any of this up, this is all well-documented baseball gossip, maybe real, maybe not, but out there for consumption for a loooong time).

Pete Rose has them all beat, though, they're all straight men to Pete Rose, who, obnoxious clueless fuck that he tires to be, usually with amazing precision, still gets off a good one on occasion like, "I don't know, they use this pitcher for one batter and then another pitcher for one batter, and then they wonder why they run out of pitchers, I don't know.." Not at all rooted in hardly any real life scenario, but still funny in a Pa Kettle type way.

Really, Fox and sports in general, baseball especially, is getting really tired for me, all of it, pregame, in-game, narratives (as the game goes, so goes who they gush over, everybody's got a "story", ya' know), cliche camera work (if I see one more "nervous fan" close up...BARF) , all of it. It was fresh once, but...time for a change. That's a big reason why I've started listening to radio games on AtBat, just to get something fresh, and NO nervous fan shots, god bless radio for that.

[Soulstation1]

KC Royals in 6 games 

[paul secor]

I saw him once or twice, he was ok, but still, A-Rod, maybe if I didn't know...but I do. Still having images of him and Carmen Diaz having herpes and a threeway, maybe or maybe not at the same time, and say what you will about Jeter and his lavish next-day flowerings and ball-shaving, Jeter never let his name get scandalized the way A-Rod has. (and I'm not making any of this up, this is all well-documented baseball gossip, maybe real, maybe not, but out there for consumption for a loooong time).

Pete Rose has them all beat, though, they're all straight men to Pete Rose, who, obnoxious clueless fuck that he tires to be, usually with amazing precision, still gets off a good one on occasion like, "I don't know, they use this pitcher for one batter and then another pitcher for one batter, and then they wonder why they run out of pitchers, I don't know.." Not at all rooted in hardly any real life scenario, but still funny in a Pa Kettle type way.

Really, Fox and sports in general, baseball especially, is getting really tired for me, all of it, pregame, in-game, narratives (as the game goes, so goes who they gush over, everybody's got a "story", ya' know), cliche camera work (if I see one more "nervous fan" close up...BARF) , all of it. It was fresh once, but...time for a change. That's a big reason why I've started listening to radio games on AtBat, just to get something fresh, and NO nervous fan shots, god bless radio for that.

Only Fox would pair up ARod and Rose as analysts. Disgusting, imo.

[catesta]

KC Royals in 6 games 

Lack of soda and perhaps too much candy corn has obviously turned your brain into mush.

[JSngry]

I've thinking the key will be how well Royals hitters can work the counts/extend the ABs, and the size of the strike zone, not necessarily in that order. And KC has home field/DH advantage, correct? Who would the Mets' DH be? I'm thinking, Rusty Staub, maybe?

Mets, otherwise, based on all that pitching are belong to them.

[JSngry]

Pete Rose peeking into the camera shot is the hottest new meme

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/10/24/9606512/pete-rose-trending-topic-rain-delay-kansas-city-royals-toronto-blue-jays

Pete Rose himself, kinda sad, maybe even tragic.

Pete Rose as Fox analyst, definitely not amusing, except inadvertantly.

But Pete Rose as Social Media Play-Doh..at that I laugh, with vigor!

 

 

[Scott Dolan]

KC Royals in 6 games 

Lack of soda and perhaps too much candy corn has obviously turned your brain into mush.

Yeah, most of my most learned Royals fans are predicting this goes 7. 

I agree. 

These teams are very evenly matched from what I can see. And built the same way, for the most part (i.e. lots of farmhands that grew up together). 

If we don't win it again this year, I'll still be just as pleased as I was last year, so long as they put up a good fight. 

I've thinking the key will be how well Royals hitters can work the counts/extend the ABs, and the size of the strike zone, not necessarily in that order. And KC has home field/DH advantage, correct?

Correct.

And those two things can become significant advantages. 

As for the matchup, it seems to be power vs. "power". Power = Mets starting pitching. "Power" = Royals don't strike out much and tend to get over on right hand fireballers. 

[Brad]

I guess I'm not surprised that you guys would pick the Royals but the Royals haven't faced starting pitching like this, the best starting pitching there has been in baseball in a long time.   They are not just strikeout pitchers but they can do that also.  Since the trading deadline, their lineup has been one of the most explosive in baseball.   Royals rotation is ok but not overwhelming. On top of this, no DH at Citi.  American League teams don't do well at the National League park; heard on one of the baseball channels that since 2006, they were 8-17.  

Mets in 6, 7 at the worst.

 

 

[JSngry]

Oh, I'm not "picking" the Royals as a given, far from it. I firmly believe in the maxim of good pitching beating good hitting, but better ____beats good _____. The question is, where does the see-saw of better finally come to a rest?

Just saying that IF the Royals hitters are good enough to work a count/extend an AB, then its going to be a series.

Also, the size and shape of the strike zone is gonna be crucial (and this is where it's useful to have all those various umpire's strike zones plotted and available for study). IF the strike zone is large, AND if the Royals hitters can force the issue, then they'll stand a better chance than did the Cubs, who as a young team still learning their disciplines, just could not bring themselves to adjust in any kind of meaningful way. Fact of life - IF you can extend an AB, you up the chances of a mistake pitch. But that's a big if predicated on another big if with a big and in the mix as well, and maybe even with one more if?

DH also flavors (sic) offensive rhythm, no let down for that #9 hole, again more good pitches needed, also increases the possibility of a mistake being made.

One more thing - pitchers can have the proverbial "bad day" and in a 7 game series, one or two of those bad days can fuck up all expectations. To that end, hey Johnny Cueto, which one of you is showing up for game 1?

None of this is even close to being a given, of course, they're just considerations before the games actually get played.

Also to be considered is that Daniel Murphy has been the baseball equivalent of 1967 James Brown. So, does he come back as 1968 James Brown, or 1977 James Brown?

You can't predict this stuff with absolute certainty, any of it. That's why I don't wager on sports, and only play poker with friends.