Strike Three... the 2021 Baseball Thread

[Guard Dog]

Nothing much going on right now. The hot stove is ice cold as clubs reckon with millions of dollars in OPEX debt from the 2020 season. The Tampa Bay Rays are following up their World Series run with a fire sale. Charlie Morton, Mike Zunino, Hunter Renfroe, Chaz Rowe and Nate Lowe were all shown the door. The latter in a trade to Texas for farm system spare parts. Blake Snell and Kevin Kiermaier are being shopped for trade. And the Rays appear to be looking at second tier free agents and farm system depth to fill in the holes. Looks like a tank job to me. That means they are looking to just run out the clock on their lease in St. Pete and move the team to Montreal in 2028. To hell (or Canada) with them. 

In other news the Cleveland Indians will change their name in 2022. So far no official candidates. You guys may not know this but the nickname came about because a player on the team, Louis Sockalexis, was a native American. He was the first to play in the major leagues. The name Indians might have been meant as derision. Hard to say. But it was made up by the owner of the team who recruited and paid Sockalexis albeit years later. They say today the name was a tribute but who knows. Before that they were the Naps in honor of star player and manager Nap Lajoie. Before that they were the Blues, Bronchos (yes that is the right spelling), Blue Birds, and Spiders.

Personally I like Spiders. Any other ideas out there? 

[ShadySands]

I like Cleveland Baseball Team or Cleveland Rocks

[Gfted1]

What about the Steamer's.

Ill see myself out.

[Gromnir]

HA! Good Fun!

[Guard Dog]

One of these days I would really like to get to their museum in KC. 

[Guard Dog]

Hank Aaron passed away today. He was 84.  He was a living legend.

[Guard Dog]

No one is going in the Hall of Fame this year. Kurt Schilling fell about 15 votes short. Apparently he’s asking for his name to be removed from next year‘s ballot in some kind of a temper tantrum. But what do you expect from him. It looks like support for Mcgwire and Bonda has plateaued. It’s probably not going to happen except through the veterans committee.

The BWAA Is really dropping the ball when it comes to these Hall of Fame votes. This year a record number of ballots were returned blank.

 

[Hurlshort]

28 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

No one is going in the Hall of Fame this year. Kurt Schilling fell about 15 votes short. Apparently he’s asking for his name to be removed from next year‘s ballot in some kind of a temper tantrum. But what do you expect from him. It looks like support for Mcgwire and Bonda has plateaued. It’s probably not going to happen except through the veterans committee.

The BWAA Is really dropping the ball when it comes to these Hall of Fame votes. This year a record number of ballots were returned blank.

 

Yeah, it's garbage. Shilling should be in, so that's dumb. I mean he may not be a sympathetic character, and his temper tantrum is childish, but his career is what it is. 

Bonds and Clemens are two of the best players to play the game. They were also the best steroid users during the age of steroid use. It is dumb that they aren't in. The BBWAA is such a bizarre, out of touch organization. This doesn't help baseball. It hurts it.

[Guard Dog]

Happy birthday to the National League. It’s 145 years old today.

[Amentep]

Huzzah then to William Hubert and the Chicago White Stockings, Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, New York Mutuals, St. Louis Brown Stockings, Cincinnati Reds and Louisville Greys who joined his crazy idea (and who all helped Hubert from losing his top players due to NAPBBP sanctions...  )

[Hurlshort]

Got the Giants versus the Dodgers on TV tonight! I love watching Spring Training. When I retire I want to just spend every March in Arizona watching games.

[Guard Dog]

 

[Guard Dog]

Sexual assault allegations cloud Yasiel Puig's future in MLB

I think that will be all for him. If the allegations are true and he gets a 1 year suspension he's done. He's already a club house cancer, PR headache, and in decline to boot. 

[Hurlshort]

Opening Day! 

I'm enjoying watching the Giants.

[Guard Dog]

I watched the Yankees - Blue Jays game, then the Rays at the Marlins. Right after that the puck dropped in the Panthers - RedWings game. So basically I spent the whole day in front of the TV

[Guard Dog]

@Hurlshot How about the Rockies showing the Dodgers who's boss yesterday?

 

In other new Lauren Gardner has moved from the NHL network to MLB. She's hosting MLB Quick Pitch in the mornings. Sort of the baseball equivalent to NFL primetime. I wondered what happened to her. She did a great job on it this morning and she is... I have to say... smoking hot. 

[Hurlshort]

2 hours ago, Guard Dog said:

@Hurlshot How about the Rockies showing the Dodgers who's boss yesterday?

 

Opening day is always a bit funny. I went to bed last night and the Giants were up 6-1 after 7 innings, and the Mariners had only managed 2 hits. Woke up to see they lost 7-8. 

[Guard Dog]

Now this is funny

[Guard Dog]

MLB is moving the All-Star game out of Atlanta because of politics

I thought this over and realized I honestly don’t care.  In the era we find ourselves and I am becoming more and more indifferent to politics

[Keyrock]

Nothing to do with this season, but I'm just going to post this clip of Ichiro throwing a strike from the outfield to throw out a runner trying to go 1st to 3rd

That's not really a base running error, either. 90% of the time you make it to 3rd easily, and this was barely a week into Ichiro's MLB career. Players hadn't yet learned the cardinal rule "never run on Ichiro". My man had a freakin' cannon for an arm.

[Guard Dog]

Kudos to Yankees fans in the stands last night against Baltimore. They started protesting this idiotic new extra innings rule. 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fansided.com/2021/04/07/yankees-fans-fed-dumb-mlb-extra-inning-rule/amp/

[Hurlshort]

38 minutes ago, Guard Dog said:

Kudos to Yankees fans in the stands last night against Baltimore. They started protesting this idiotic new extra innings rule. 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fansided.com/2021/04/07/yankees-fans-fed-dumb-mlb-extra-inning-rule/amp/

I don't mind it when my team wins, but it is fake baseball when they lose.

I don't know, I hated it at first but now it is growing on me, just like the DH grew on me last year. Other sports have changed their OT's as well. The shootout is fun to watch but has very little to do with the sport of hockey. At least they are still playing baseball in extra innings instead of a home run derby. It speeds up the game, saves wear and tear on the players, is completely fair since both teams get the same advantage, and it does ratchet up the tension. 

We will just have to wait until the playoffs to get our 18 inning grindfests in.

[Guard Dog]

The Padres joined the NL in 1969. They finally got their first no hitter on Friday. About time!

[Hurlshort]

Baseball has such good stories. Lamonte Wade Jr. woke up this morning in Sacramento in the minors, got the call to make the 90-minute drive to San Francisco, and then got his first taste of centerfield in a super windy ballpark. He didn't even have time to practice out there. On top that he went 2-3 and helped the team win.

[Guard Dog]

Ohtani is something else! Shohei Ohtani's 119-mph double | 04/12/2021 | MLB.com

Plus I love how the Japanese media is following him. There are 11 former NPB players on major league rosters. I can only name like four of them off the top of my head. Well, Yosimoto Tsutugo is easy because he's on the Rays. But Ohtani is the one folks are really watching.