Play ball! 2019 MLB season thread

[Matthew]

1 hour ago, Dave James said:

I'm guessing its the analytics crew.  These days, baseball runs on statistics and probability.  Those who wish to manage by feel, experience and...yes...hunches, a.k.a. managing by the seat of your pants, need not apply.   

And yet, Dave Roberts is supposed to be Mr. Analytics, and he manages like complete crap...

[Brad]

21 minutes ago, Matthew said:

And yet, Dave Roberts is supposed to be Mr. Analytics, and he manages like complete crap...

The managers don’t make the big decisions anymore. 

[Soulstation1]

Good Career CC 

Next stop HOF

Saw him get 3000th strike out up in Phoenix 

[ghost of miles]

32 minutes ago, Soulstation1 said:

Good Career CC 

Next stop HOF

Saw him get 3000th strike out up in Phoenix 

Hated to see him leave the game tonight. So much heart in that guy.

Welp, the fat lady is warming up for tonight’s Houston-NY game. Barring a miraculous turnaround (which would involve beating Verlander and Cole, the latter on the road in Houston, and then still having to win an all-in game 7 after that!), this will be the first decade since the 1910s that the Yankees haven’t made it to a World Series. We’re not in the 20th century anymore, Toto. Small consolation for me is seeing the Nats make it there this year. They’ll definitely be the underdogs, but a good friend of mine who loves baseball thinks they might be able to pull off a 1990 Cincinnati Reds vs Oakland A’s type upset. I’ll be pulling for them, assuming said miraculous NY comeback doesn’t occur.

 

[soulpope]

31 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Hated to see him leave the game tonight. So much heart in that guy.

Welp, the fat lady is warming up for tonight’s Houston-NY game. Barring a miraculous turnaround (which would involve beating Verlander and Cole, the latter on the road in Houston, and then still having to win an all-in game 7 after that!), this will be the first decade since the 1910s that the Yankees haven’t made it to a World Series. We’re not in the 20th century anymore, Toto. Small consolation for me is seeing the Nats make it there this year. They’ll definitely be the underdogs, but a good friend of mine who loves baseball thinks they might be able to pull off a 1990 Cincinnati Reds vs Oakland A’s type upset. I’ll be pulling for them, assuming said miraculous NY comeback doesn’t occur.

Although winning the division dominantly, they didn't convince me as a WS contending team .... and I would stick to this view even if a miraculous comeback should occur ....

[ghost of miles]

This just about made me cry as well. Screw all the blather about Girardi not being close enough to his players:

 

 

[Brad]

Maybe they should hire Girardi back (although I hope he’ll wind up on the Mets). They almost won the 2017 ALCS, with less talent than they have now but were beaten last year and 2019 seems like a repeat. I’m not a Yankee fan but last night was embarrassing and made NY baseball look bad. I’d like to say Boone looked lost but what could he do. 

[Soulstation1]

CC had almost 59000 pitches in his career 

[ghost of miles]

Man, what a great win for New York last night! Odds are still way high against coming back to win the ALCS, but at least they finally dropped Verlander (who was 4-0 in 7 postseason starts against them going into last night’s game) and didn’t get eliminated at home. Nats certainly have to be loving this. If Houston wins today they’ll be able to fully reset their rotation for the WS and start Cole and Verlander for games 1 and 2 on regular rest. If they lose, they have to use Cole for a game 7 tomorrow, and he wouldn’t be available again (assuming Houston won a game 7) until the WS game 3 on Friday. 

[Soulstation1]

Gotta play perfect to beat the Astros

[GA Russell]

IMHO, Washington is an American League city, and Houston is a National League city.

And Houston didn't "win the ALCS" tonight; they won the pennant!

[Dan Gould]

 

"Sometimes you're the windshield - sometimes you're the bug"

 

[JSngry]

[JSngry]

 

Yay baseball!

 

 

 

 

[Soulstation1]

Astros in 6 

wont be disappointed if Washington wins

[ghost of miles]

Contemptible asshole, and not impressed by Houston’s initial response and b.s. followup either:

“After clinching the AL pennant, an Astros staffer shouted “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna!” at a group of female reporters.”

Astros’ assistant GM taunts women reporters about Osuna

On 10/21/2019 at 0:24 AM, Soulstation1 said:

Astros in 6 

wont be disappointed if Washington wins

Agree with both statements. Nats can match Astros’ starters but nowhere else, really. Hoping for a 1990-Reds scenario, though.

Edited October 22, 2019 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

This story has gotten worse as the day has progressed, aided in part by the Astros’ f’d up attempts to respond to it. I’ll be curious to hear or read Brandon Taubman’s extended report on NPR, but Houston really needs to terminate Taubman:

Taubman was targeting reporter who wears DV bracelet

As a baseball fan & friend texted me earlier today after Houston put out its first statements,

>>Apology dont’s: don’t tell people they made it up. Don’t apologize for peoples reactions or feelings to your words. Don’t point to charity to distract. Don’t use “if.” Don’t apologize for something other than what you are supposed to fucking apologize for. This is so bad.<<

[ghost of miles]

NBC baseball writer Craig Calcaterra on Twitter:  “Any competent and ethical business would fire someone who did what Brandon Taubman did. That the Astros’ first move was to close ranks around him and attack the press for reporting what he did speaks volumes about their ethics and their competence.”

Yep, especially since just about every statement in their first public response has proven to be false.

[JSngry]

I'm as tired of being told what's not an acceptable apology as I am of fucking up to the point that apologies are necessary. Just serve the guy up, fire him, discipline him for the fucked up thing that he did, let him pay for being an asshole and for bringing disrepute to his organization (to say nothing of his family, if he has one) and then, if he has real front office skills, bring him back on the shortest of all possible leashes. If that. It's bad for business, for starters. And it's bad for society in general. But in the Free Range Capitalism on professional sports, it's bad for business. Don't overlook the obvious, dumbasses.

In the meantime, there's nothing that gets me fuquitous quicker than offering a sincere, heartfelt apology for something and then being told "well, that's not good enough". Well, sometimes it's gonna have to be.

Sometimes. We either talk more in the spirit of mutual goodwill  or we don't. A sincere apology is a beginning, not an end, and if it is indeed "not good enough", then there's no place to begin, so there's the end, already.

And not that the Astros' official" apology doesn't have Corporate Rush Job written all over it.

But Shame Shaming is still Shaming nonetheless. Not interested. Start - and finish - without me on that one.

[ghost of miles]

35 minutes ago, JSngry said:

 

In the meantime, there's nothing that gets me fuquitous quicker than offering a sincere, heartfelt apology for something and then being told "well, that's not good enough". Well, sometimes it's gonna have to be.

Sometimes. We either talk more in the spirit of mutual goodwill  or we don't. A sincere apology is a beginning, not an end, and if it is indeed "not good enough", then there's no place to begin, so there's the end, already.

And not that the Astros' official" apology doesn't have Corporate Rush Job written all over it.

But Shame Shaming is still Shaming nonetheless. Not interested. Start - and finish - without me on that one.

Did you read the first statement they put out?! It wasn’t even an attempt at an apology, let alone a “sincere” one—it basically said the whole story was b.s. Just about every aspect of it proved to be false. This isn’t about shame shaming, it’s about an organization having the stones to be accountable for how its employees behave. Taubman had complained about one of the women reporters before because she’s spoken up about domestic violence before. There’s nothing that gets me more ornery than this continual Trumpian bullying-force attack against reporters for reporting stories and then blaming people who are upset by said stories and telling *them* the proper way to react. So excuse me if I issue a loud “F-U” to the Houston organization right now, with the exception of A.J. Hinch, who’s the only member of said organization so far to offer a sincere and clear-headed rebuke of what went down. Astros have only themselves to blame for the way this has played out today. OWN YOUR SHIT. It’s simple, really. The nuances of apology etiquette are much less relevant when an actual apology is made, instead of attacking the messenger. 

Here’s Houston’s initial response after they declined to talk with the Sports Illustrated writer before she published her story:

Soon after her story published, the Astros issued a statement suggesting Taubman was supporting Osuna while he was being asked questions during “a difficult time.” The statement went on to say, “His comments had everything to do with the game situation that just occurred and nothing else — they were also not directed toward any specific reporters. We are extremely disappointed in Sports Illustrated’s attempt to fabricate a story where one does not exist.”

All of that is false.

 

Edited October 22, 2019 by ghost of miles

[JSngry]

Yeah, I read that. Did you read this?

And not that the Astros' official" apology doesn't have

Corporate Rush Job written all over it.

So in this case, yeah, fuck that.

But in general, this notion of "Any competent and ethical business..." blahblafblahthatswheremyearsstartglazingoveretcetcetc

That's wishful thinking.Especially in the world of sports. In that world, competency is only defined by profit, and ethics only by what you can get by with without affecting your profit. Hell, that's MOST of the corporate world. Don't kid yourself. The only REAL Good Actor is probably a REALLY good actor.

So yeah, fuck Astros Corp "response". but I'll still be pulling for them. Pigs gonna pig, but pigs are only sometimes on the field, and even then, you don't know who they are until they get found out (and I reckon that if the pig/non-pig ratio is favorable to non-pig...well, I seriously doubt that it is). So me, I'm still going with memories of Loel Passe and JOE PEPPY-TONE - and not giving them one penny in so doing. That, and the fully grown Second Coming Of Eddie Gaedel, Jose Altuve (who may also be a pig. But who also may not be a pig).

My conscience is and will be clear on that one. A.J. Hinch - more-or-less sustainable good guy, and closer to the field at ANY given moment that that asshole Taubman.

 

[Brad]

He should be fired, no if ands or buts. No excuses. 

[ghost of miles]

40 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Yeah, I read that. Did you read this?

 

 

So in this case, yeah, fuck that.

But in general, this notion of "Any competent and ethical business..." blahblafblahthatswheremyearsstartglazingoveretcetcetc

That's wishful thinking.Especially in the world of sports. In that world, competency is only defined by profit, and ethics only by what you can get by with without affecting your profit. Hell, that's MOST of the corporate world. Don't kid yourself. The only REAL Good Actor is probably a REALLY good actor.

So yeah, fuck Astros Corp "response". but I'll still be pulling for them. Pigs gonna pig, but pigs are only sometimes on the field, and even then, you don't know who they are until they get found out (and I reckon that if the pig/non-pig ratio is favorable to non-pig...well, I seriously doubt that it is). So me, I'm still going with memories of Loel Passe and JOE PEPPY-TONE - and not giving them one penny in so doing. That, and the fully grown Second Coming Of Eddie Gaedel, Jose Altuve (who may also be a pig. But who also may not be a pig).

My conscience is and will be clear on that one. A.J. Hinch - more-or-less sustainable good guy, and closer to the field at ANY given moment that that asshole Taubman.

 

Dude, that initial Astros statement isn't even worthy of "corporate rush job."  What they put out *today* fits that phrase.  Their initial statement is the same kind of Trumpian "No puppet! YOU'RE THE PUPPET"  up-is-downism that has hit new heights of prominence in today's Makeitupland otherwise known as America and points beyond.  I have no illusions about the principles of *any* corporate suites in professional sports (or collegiate sports, for that matter), but the 'Stros really showed their ass to the world on this one.  

Anyways, of course you're still going to root for Houston!  I was going to root for the Nats anyway.  Can't see many viable ways for them to avoid defeat at the hands of the Astros, but hopefully it's a good series, if nothing else.  

7 minutes ago, Brad said:

He should be fired, no if ands or buts. No excuses. 

Yep.  The more that comes out about it, the uglier it sounds.  

[JSngry]

Y'all maybe need heroes more than I do?

I mean, in both the keeping and the failing, nobody knows and exemplifies my own personal moral principles than I do.

Why should it be otherwise for anybody?

And of course he should be fired. He got caught, and that's the way it should work for any smart business. Actually, any competent and ethical business would realize that, so maybe the whole organization should fire itself. After all, competent and ethical, we have certain expectations of our pigs these days!

And let's not stop with the Astros, let's audit all them assholes, ALL of them, everywhere. even if it means there would be likely no professional sports left. At this point, I could live with that!  Seriously, actually, I could. We got e-Sports now, so hey, all we need is AI to replace the gamers and then our troubles will be over.

almost there...

And then the banks! And the lawyers! And the....EVERYBODY! FIRE EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE!

WE SHOULD FIRE US ALL!!!!!

 

28 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

... the 'Stros really showed their ass to the world on this one. 

and surprisingly enough, their ass looks like any other ass, just hanging over the rail on the front row right now.

Put that ass back where it belongs, Astros! The ghost of Judge Hofheinz finds your display public display of vulgarity undisciplined and bad for business. One or the other, please, but never both.

At least not at the same time.

28 minutes ago, ghost of miles said:

Anyways, of course you're still going to root for Houston! 

Well, I'd be happy to root for the Braves, but they're not in it. And i could pull for the Nats, but they're, like, the team that neither Canada nor Bryce Harper wanted (nor, for that matter, did the American League want their town - TWICE!!!!), so, hmmmm...again, one or the other, but not both. Maybe if they bring out Felipe Alou we can negotiate. Felipe Alou was cool. No idea if he was a pig or not, though, so that's gonna have to be conditional coolness. Competent and ethical, my endorsement of Sport Love is.

Unless/until, here's to REAL gentlemen playing in REAL stadiums!

[soulpope]

So the Nats finished Gerrit Cole ....