The Baseball Thread

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

I think a new baseball thread is needed to be the place to go to talk miscellaneous baseball. The last thread kinda degenerated into an abyss of name calling.

Speaking of miscellaneous baseball stuff - Alex Rodriguez needs one more HR to tie Dave Winfield on the all-time list and two more to move into 25th place all by himself with 466. I toss this out there because I'm sure the upcoming milestone will give rise to a bunch of columns comparing the two players and their lack of success as members of the Yankees.

 

[Angola!]

What did you think of Dice-K yesterday? I think people are getting a little too excited about how he did against a college team.

 

[beefncheddar]

Jeee-zus. It's the first week of March and I'm ALREADY sick of the "Dice-K" nickname.

 

[indiansnetwork]

Dice did ok but your right Angola it was College kids he better have done well. I really think this will be a great year for baseball. We should have some really tight pennant races especially in the AL East and Central. The East has the perennial powerhouses the Yankees and Red Sox but don't count out the Blue Jays. The Al central is a so competitive and might be the best division in all of baseball. The Al Central has the Twins, White Sox, Tigers and Indians all teams with a very good chance at not only winning their division but could play in the World Series. Should be a fun year.

P.S please no talk about A-Rod any more, he is a tired subject and one I don't want to see discussed any further.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

What did you think of Dice-K yesterday? I think people are getting a little too excited about how he did against a college team.

I was surprised that his fastball was only clocked at 92 mph. That kinda worries me. He was hyped as the next Pedro not the next Greg Maddux (but the Maddux comparison may be more valid).

I was also amused by NESN interviewing him after he pitched. They asked him something simple like "How did you feel out there?" which was translated - he answered - his answer was translated back into something like "I felt pretty good." It was the longest 30 seconds I can recall watching on TV in a long time.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Interesting point made here:

http://www.sportsfrog.com/2007/03/hgh_the_baltimore_connection.php

It is worth noting that [Jerry] Hairston [Jr] was on the Orioles when this took place. Between Raffy Palmeiro, Miguel Tejada, Jason Grimsley, David Segui and now Hairston, Camden Yards is turning into quite the hotbed of HGH allegations. All five of those players were in Baltimore in 2004.

 

[sports scrub]

what do you guys think of the prospects of the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, the lineup looks surprisingly similar to a major league one, they have solid pitching (hopefully it doesn't fall apart), decent bullpen although I don't think Solomon Torres is the answer at closer and a good coach in Jim Tracy, could this be the year of a .500 ballclub in the 'Burgh

 

[indiansnetwork]

I am not saying this to be a suck up sports scrub but the Pirates could reach mediocrity this year.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

what do you guys think of the prospects of the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, the lineup looks surprisingly similar to a major league one, they have solid pitching (hopefully it doesn't fall apart), decent bullpen although I don't think Solomon Torres is the answer at closer and a good coach in Jim Tracy, could this be the year of a .500 ballclub in the 'Burgh

For the past few years I would take a look at the still available free agents at the start of spring training and compare a team made up from them against the projected starters for the Pirates. This is the first year in a long time where the Pirates are clearly the better team.

 

[melock]

What did you think of Dice-K yesterday? I think people are getting a little too excited about how he did against a college team.

I was surprised that his fastball was only clocked at 92 mph. That kinda worries me. He was hyped as the next Pedro not the next Greg Maddux (but the Maddux comparison may be more valid).

I was also amused by NESN interviewing him after he pitched. They asked him something simple like "How did you feel out there?" which was translated - he answered - his answer was translated back into something like "I felt pretty good." It was the longest 30 seconds I can recall watching on TV in a long time.

Are you serious? He was pitching in the his first spring training game against a bunch of kids from Boston College. Let him build his arm up and see how hard he's throwing when Jeter's in the box.

 

[indiansnetwork]

What did you think of Dice-K yesterday? I think people are getting a little too excited about how he did against a college team.

I was surprised that his fastball was only clocked at 92 mph. That kinda worries me. He was hyped as the next Pedro not the next Greg Maddux (but the Maddux comparison may be more valid).

I was also amused by NESN interviewing him after he pitched. They asked him something simple like "How did you feel out there?" which was translated - he answered - his answer was translated back into something like "I felt pretty good." It was the longest 30 seconds I can recall watching on TV in a long time.

Are you serious? He was pitching in the his first spring training game against a bunch of kids from Boston College. Let him build his arm up and see how hard he's throwing when Jeter's in the box.

I would love nothing more then to see a nice high hard one near Jeter.

 

[outofplace]

what do you guys think of the prospects of the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, the lineup looks surprisingly similar to a major league one, they have solid pitching (hopefully it doesn't fall apart), decent bullpen although I don't think Solomon Torres is the answer at closer and a good coach in Jim Tracy, could this be the year of a .500 ballclub in the 'Burgh

For the past few years I would take a look at the still available free agents at the start of spring training and compare a team made up from them against the projected starters for the Pirates. This is the first year in a long time where the Pirates are clearly the better team.

This may be the best team the Pirates have had since their 1992 playoff squad, but that's in large part due to the fact that every team since has been a pile of ****.

But there are still so many places it could fall apart. They are counting on Chris Duffy to lead off just because he had two good months to finish the season (Adrian Brown, anyone?)

Freddy Sanchez and Ron Paulino both exceeded expectations last season, but it wouldn't be a shock if their numbers fell off a bit.

Even with Jason Bay and Adam LaRoche, they still don't have much power. Slight detour. More than once, I've read predictions that LaRoche's power numbers will be hurt because lefties didn't hit many homers in PNC Park last year. Obviously, none of these idiots has ever set foot inside the place. It's a great park for lefty power hitters. They just haven't had one capable of taking advantage since they traded Brian Giles. End detour.

The problem is the pitching. Zack Duke finished strong, but overall was a disappiontment last year. Ian Snell showed flashes, but he had a 4.74 ERA and often struggled to get past the 6th inning. And those are the aces of the staff.

Torres could be a disaster, too. The Pirates can't afford to have him get off to his usual terrible start now that he's closing games.

A lot of things have to go right for that team to reach .500. I'm not betting on it happening.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

Freddie Sanchez's performance last season for the Pirates was no fluke.

He'll hit over .300 again this year and will be close to 200 hits. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Sanchez also have a club foot or some such foot deformity?

The Red Sox made a huge mistake in trading him (Theo Epstein's first major mistake).

 

[outofplace]

Freddie Sanchez's performance last season for the Pirates was no fluke.

He'll hit over .300 again this year and will be close to 200 hits. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Sanchez also have a club foot or some such foot deformity?

The Red Sox made a huge mistake in trading him (Theo Epstein's first major mistake).

I wouldn't say fluke, but I don't think he's going to win another batting title, either.

 

[Freelance Hack]

I'm sure this is being discussed somewhere on the board, but how bad does Anaheim's investment in Lil' Sarge look now?

 

[Ellis Redding]

[I would love nothing more then to see a nice high hard one near Jeter.

There are so many different directions to go with this. But I can't pick one. Someone help me out here.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

I'm sure this is being discussed somewhere on the board, but how bad does Anaheim's investment in Lil' Sarge look now?

Hell it was horrendously bad at the time. Now? Teeheehee. Artie is hoping really really hard that Vlad's back doesn't give out. Between those two and Colon's rotator cuff, they're playing with fire.

 

[Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)]

I'm sure this is being discussed somewhere on the board, but how bad does Anaheim's investment in Lil' Sarge look now?

Hell it was horrendously bad at the time. Now? Teeheehee. Artie is hoping really really hard that Vlad's back doesn't give out. Between those two and Colon's rotator cuff, they're playing with fire.

What makes it worse is right now the crop of free-agent centerfielders next offseason include Andruw Jones, Ichiro, Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand. That money they spent on Matthews Jr. would have been much better spent on any of those players. The Angel's could have went with one more season of Erstad or Chone Figgins in CF and have been much better off. Stupid signing when they did it, stupid now and stupid 9 months from now.

 

[buckweaver]

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I'll never understand why teams continue to overpay for PROVEN mediocre talent.

 

[Ellis Redding]

I'm sure this is being discussed somewhere on the board, but how bad does Anaheim's investment in Lil' Sarge look now?

Hell it was horrendously bad at the time. Now? Teeheehee. Artie is hoping really really hard that Vlad's back doesn't give out. Between those two and Colon's rotator cuff, they're playing with fire.

What makes it worse is right now the crop of free-agent centerfielders next offseason include Andruw Jones, Ichiro, Torii Hunter and Aaron Rowand. That money they spent on Matthews Jr. would have been much better spent on any of those players. The Angel's could have went with one more season of Erstad or Chone Figgins in CF and have been much better off. Stupid signing when they did it, stupid now and stupid 9 months from now.

I agree it was pretty stupid. But at least the Angels can claim they've won more World Series titles in the past five years than the Yankees, which makes me smile.