Random Thoughts About Baseball...

Discussion in 'Baseball' started by Dr. Wankler, Apr 8, 2013.

  1. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_living_Major_League_Baseball_players

    Oldest living hall of famer is now former Cardinal Red Schoendienst at 94 years and then some. Ladt spring, my brother was at a Cardinal game, having gotten in way early. Red took grounders at shortstop for about ten minutes. They weren't busting his ass by sending him deep into the hole, but they had him moving a bit.

    There's a health goal: be able to field grounders from a fungo onto one's old age
     
    crazypete13 repped this.
  2. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    2017 Manager of the Year

    A.L.-
    Paul Molitor, Twins
    N.L.- Torey Lovullo, Diamondbacks

    Manager of the Year honors were first given out in 1983. One other Twins manager has won the award: Tom Kelly in 1991. Previous Diamondbacks winners: Bob Melvin in 2007 and Kirk Gibson in 2011.

    The Mets and Brewers are the only teams never to have had a winner.
     
  3. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    2017 Cy Young Award

    A.L.- Corey Kluber, Indians
    N.L.- Max Scherzer, Nationals

    Scherzer's third win and Kluber's second.
     
  4. StiltonFC

    StiltonFC He said to only look up -- Guster

    Mar 18, 2007
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    and former Milwaukee Brave, '57 WS Champ.
     
    Dr. Wankler repped this.
  5. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    He already had one WS with the Redbirds in '46, and won one as a manager for them in '67.

    Just had to check: he was the second youngest regular on that 46 team at 23. Joe Garagiola was 20.
     
  6. StiltonFC

    StiltonFC He said to only look up -- Guster

    Mar 18, 2007
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was fortunate enough to be able to attend one of the WS games at County Stadium in '57. Sat in the owner's box behind the 1st base dugout.
     
  7. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    2017 Most Valuable Player

    A.L.-
    Jose Altuve, Astros
    N.L.- Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins

    Altuve won going away. Stanton beat out Joey Votto of the Reds by 2 points -- 302 to 300. Both received 10 first-place votes.

    Altuve is the second Astro to win. Jeff Bagwell was the first in 1994. Stanton is the first Marlin and the fifth player from an under-.500 team to win the MVP award. The others: Ernie Banks (Cubs, 1958 & 1959); Andre Dawson (Cubs, 1987); Cal Ripken, Jr. (Orioles, 1991); Alex Rodriguez (Rangers, 2003).
     
  8. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    Aaron Boone To Be Named Next Manager Of The Yankees - ESPN
    http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21634728/aaron-boone-become-next-manager-new-york-yankees
     
  9. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    [​IMG]

    Two-Way Japanese Star Shohei Ohtani To Sign With Angels
    - ESPN
    http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/21712038/shohei-ohtani-sign-los-angeles-angels
    Shohei Ohtani at Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=otani-000sho
     
  10. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    Yankees Have Deal In Place For Giancarlo Stanton - N.Y. Post
    https://nypost.com/2017/12/09/yankees-have-a-deal-in-place-for-giancarlo-stanton/
     
  11. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    Jack Morris, Alan Trammell Make Hall Of Fame - ESPN
    http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ected-baseball-hall-fame-modern-era-committee
     
  12. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    Football Still America's Favorite Sport, But Popularity Is Falling - N.Y. Post
    https://nypost.com/2018/01/04/football-still-americas-favorite-sport-but-popularity-is-falling/
    Gallup News: http://news.gallup.com/poll/224864/football-americans-favorite-sport-watch.aspx
     
  13. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    #1164 riverplate, Jan 24, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2018
    Four Elected To Cooperstown - ESPN
    http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...ome-trevor-hoffman-elected-baseball-hall-fame
    Baseball Reference:
    -- Chipper Jones: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jonesch06.shtml
    -- Vladimir Guerrero: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guerrvl01.shtml
    -- Jim Thome: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thomeji01.shtml
    -- Trevor Hoffman: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hoffmtr01.shtml

    Other 2018 inductees voted in by the Modern Era committee last December...
    -- Jack Morris: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/morrija02.shtml
    -- Alan Trammell: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/trammal01.shtml

    Close, but no cigar...
     
  14. kcscsupporter

    kcscsupporter Member+

    Apr 17, 2002
    D17
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    feels like the bar isn't what it once was for the hall.
     
  15. StiltonFC

    StiltonFC He said to only look up -- Guster

    Mar 18, 2007
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    to which player(s) do you refer???
     
  16. kcscsupporter

    kcscsupporter Member+

    Apr 17, 2002
    D17
    Club:
    Sporting Kansas City
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    vlad and thome. both good players, but neither really strike me as "all-time" great players. maybe i'm not being fair, as i'm just going on how i thought of them back in my memory rather than actually looking at the stats. i just remember vlad being incredible for a couple years, but striking out seemingly every other at-bat... and then not sustaining his level for very long (again, my memory may be flawed). thome always struck me as just a good, but not great, player. basically, an impact player you want on your roster, but not someone for which you'd break the bank. i actually feel the same about trammell, though i'll admit i paid less attention to baseball back then.

    honestly, i should be saying the opposite about thome and trammell. i should be trumpeting them. i'm one of those who firmly believes that if you play most/all of your career in places like cleveland or detroit ... or kansas city, you're less likely to get into the hall than if you were the exact same player who played in new york or boston. and i don't just mean for baseball.
     
  17. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    #1168 riverplate, Jan 31, 2018
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2018
    [​IMG]

    Oscar Gamble, Known For His Afro And Lefty Power, Dead At 68
    - N.Y. Daily News
    http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...le-afro-lefty-power-dead-68-article-1.3790239
    Apparently, Gamble lost a sponsorship deal as a result of being required to cut his hair by the Yankees. But George Steinbrenner stepped up to pay Gamble the money he lost from the cancellation.

    Oscar Gamble at Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gamblos01.shtml
     
  18. StiltonFC

    StiltonFC He said to only look up -- Guster

    Mar 18, 2007
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Re: Vlad G...lifetime BA 40pts higher than Eddie Mathews and average SOs 20 fewer. Total HRs 6 fewer per season.
     
  19. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    [​IMG]
    Wally Moon, Whose Homers Helped Dodgers Win World Series, Dies At 87
    - ESPN
    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/11/obituaries/wally-moon-dead.html

    Wally Moon, who became a celebrated figure in the early history of the Los Angeles Dodgers when he lofted “moon shot” home runs over the short left-field screen at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to help take an aging team to a 1959 World Series championship season, died on Friday in Bryan, Tex. He was 87.

    Moon, a left-handed-hitting outfielder, was the National League’s rookie of the year in 1954, batting .304 for the St. Louis Cardinals, and had several fine seasons afterward. But the Cards traded him to the Dodgers before the 1959 season, when he was coming off an injury. In their second season in Los Angeles after leaving Brooklyn, the Dodgers still had a lineup with Duke Snider, Gil Hodges and Carl Furillo from their “Boys of Summer” pennant-winning teams, but all were approaching the ends of their careers. When Moon was installed in left field, he emerged as something of a hero for fans who had long hungered for major-league baseball.

    The Coliseum, the Dodgers’ home until 1962, when they moved into Dodger Stadium, opened in 1923 and had been used mostly for football and track and field. Its dimensions were bizarrely suited for baseball. The wall behind right-center field was some 440 feet from home plate, but it was only 251 feet down the left-field line, where a 42-foot-tall screen had been erected.

    Moon’s former Cardinal teammate Stan Musial, one of baseball’s greatest hitters, suggested that Moon try an in-and-out swing that might send opposite-field pops over the screen. Moon took his advice. He hit 14 of his 19 homers in 1959 at the Coliseum. That year he also batted .302; led the National League in triples, with 11; stole 15 bases; and finished 4th in balloting for most valuable player.

    The Dodgers defeated the Milwaukee Braves in a pennant-playoff series and bested the Chicago White Sox in a 6-game World Series, with Moon hitting a home run at Comiskey Park in the final game. Moon hit 39 of his 47 home runs from 1959 to 1961 at the Coliseum. He won a Gold Glove award for his fielding in 1960 and hit .328 with 88 runs batted in, both career highs, in 1961. He was an All-Star in 1957 and 1959.

    He received two more World Series championship rings with the Dodgers, in 1963 and 1965, but his playing time had diminished as the Dodgers’ rebuilding brought the outfielders Tommy Davis, Willie Davis, Ron Fairly and Frank Howard.

    Wally Moon at Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/moonwa01.shtml
     
  20. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    MLB Announces Pace Of Play Initiatives For 2018 - MLB
    https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-announces-pace-of-play-initiatives/c-266718664

    Mound visits: Mound visits will be limited to six per team per nine innings. Teams will receive an additional visit for every extra inning played. Any manager, coach or player visit to the mound will count as a mound visit.
    Between inning breaks: A timer will now count down between innings from 2:05 for breaks in locally televised games, from 2:25 in nationally televised games and from 2:55 for tiebreaker and postseason games. At the 25-second mark, the umpire will signal for the final warmup pitch, the batter will be announced at the 20-second mark and the pitcher must begin his windup to throw the first pitch of the inning as the clock hits zero.
    Timing of pitcher changes: The timing clock also applies to pitching changes, and it will begin as soon as the relief pitcher crosses the warning track. Relief pitchers shall leave the bullpen promptly following an appropriate signal by their manager or coach.
    Sign stealing: Installation of new phone lines connecting the video review rooms and the dugout to monitor the communications over those lines to prevent their use for sign-stealing.
    Pitch clock: Action on implementation of a pitch clock and between-batter timer has been deferred.
     
  21. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    #1172 riverplate, Mar 29, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2018
    [​IMG]

    Rusty Staub, 'Le Grand Orange', Dead At 73
    - N.Y. Daily News
    www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/rusty-staub-beloved-mets-icon-dead-73-article-1.3902929

    Rusty Staub at Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/staubru01.shtml
     
  22. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    [​IMG]

    Ichiro Joins Mariners' Front Office For Rest Of 2018
    - ESPN
    http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...eattle-mariners-front-office-rest-2018-season
    Ichiro Suzuki on Baseball Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suzukic01.shtml
    Ichiro Suzuki (Japan): https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=suzuki001ich
     
  23. riverplate

    riverplate Member+

    Jan 1, 2003
    Corona, Queens
    Club:
    CA River Plate
    Jim Kaat: 7-Inning Games Would Benefit Players, Fans - ESPN
    http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...mlb-adapt-7-inning-games-effort-improve-sport
    Kaat's points:

    • It would restore the importance of starting pitchers: "Go five," Kaat said, "and then turn it over to the setup man and closer."

    • It would reduce the size of pitching staffs: "When I broke in, there were 16 teams, eight in each league," Kaat said. "You had basically 10 pitchers on a staff, 160 in all of the major leagues. Now you have almost 400."

    • It would help bring back 4-man rotations, allowing some of the biggest stars in the game to pitch more often: "We went every four days back when we were pitching 300 innings," Kaat said. "These guys are bigger, better, stronger. It would just be a matter of training them."

    • Kaat dismissed the notion that 7-inning games would render obsolete the history books and the stats that drive so many baseball fans. "To me, the record book has been distorted over the years in so many ways -- expansion, the DH, 13-man pitching staffs, steroids, can't brush hitters off the plate, livelier bats, hitters diving into the ball," Kaat said. "Craig Kimbrel just got his 300th save. That's a great accomplishment. But 300 saves when Kimbrel does it is a lot different than when Bruce Sutter did it."
     
  24. StiltonFC

    StiltonFC He said to only look up -- Guster

    Mar 18, 2007
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Dodgers stink, and Roberts inadequacy as a manager is now apparent.
     

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