Baseball season
- Thread starter flimsier
- Start date
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
As a Tigers fan, things could only get better after last season. And they have.
From worst team in baseball to an 11-8 start. Thank God for Ivan Rodriguez.
From worst team in baseball to an 11-8 start. Thank God for Ivan Rodriguez.
Nigel Irritable
Five, Ten, Fifteen Years
I don't have any personal connection to any particular American city. I've never even been to America. So when I started watching baseball I had to pick a team.
I didn't want to pick a team like the Yankees for reasons similar to those expressed by Matt Damon when he was asked why he supports Leeds United at soccer. He said that when he first started watching soccer the team that seemed to be on the the tv the most was Manchester United, so he was tempted to start following them. Then someone told him that supporting Man Utd is the soccer equivalent of cheering for the Yankees. If I have to pick a team, I'm certainly not going to pick the richest and most succesful one.
I wasn't intentionally looking for the very worst team either though. I just liked the idea of Detroit. My mental image is of this big, crumbling, declining industrial city, which I find kind of attractive. Also, Detroit is the home of more great music than any other city in the world. From Soul to proto-punk (MC5, Stooges) to Detroit techno, nowhere else in the world has a musical history like it.
I cheer for the Detroit Lions as well, which can be equally depressing. Unless you are into Ice Hockey (and I'm not) Detroit's sports teams don't win a lot. I suppose the Pistons are pretty good too, but I'm not particularly interested in basketball.
I didn't want to pick a team like the Yankees for reasons similar to those expressed by Matt Damon when he was asked why he supports Leeds United at soccer. He said that when he first started watching soccer the team that seemed to be on the the tv the most was Manchester United, so he was tempted to start following them. Then someone told him that supporting Man Utd is the soccer equivalent of cheering for the Yankees. If I have to pick a team, I'm certainly not going to pick the richest and most succesful one.
I wasn't intentionally looking for the very worst team either though. I just liked the idea of Detroit. My mental image is of this big, crumbling, declining industrial city, which I find kind of attractive. Also, Detroit is the home of more great music than any other city in the world. From Soul to proto-punk (MC5, Stooges) to Detroit techno, nowhere else in the world has a musical history like it.
I cheer for the Detroit Lions as well, which can be equally depressing. Unless you are into Ice Hockey (and I'm not) Detroit's sports teams don't win a lot. I suppose the Pistons are pretty good too, but I'm not particularly interested in basketball.
all the way
pmsl @ the maple leafs
mwah!
grrrrrrrrrr 
Ooops, I forgot about this... 
A decent start so far for the Cubs (except for Prior being out, Maddux stuttering in his first couple of starts and forgetting how to bat against Arizona). Sosa, Alou and Ramirez are starting to look a very strong 3-4-5, pitching looks good again... 13-8, and beating St. Louis 2-0, bottom of the 4th. As for why the Cubs? Well, much the same as Nigel, no particular attachment to Chicago, but they were sort of the ultimate perennial losers when I started watching the game and Wrigley does look like a lovely place to see a game on a sunny afternoon. Helps the team is starting to look capable of winning now, too.
Oh, and NASN is excellent. Well worth £10 a month. We bought it early and got all the NCAA coverage too and I might just keep it on permanently.
A decent start so far for the Cubs (except for Prior being out, Maddux stuttering in his first couple of starts and forgetting how to bat against Arizona). Sosa, Alou and Ramirez are starting to look a very strong 3-4-5, pitching looks good again... 13-8, and beating St. Louis 2-0, bottom of the 4th. As for why the Cubs? Well, much the same as Nigel, no particular attachment to Chicago, but they were sort of the ultimate perennial losers when I started watching the game and Wrigley does look like a lovely place to see a game on a sunny afternoon. Helps the team is starting to look capable of winning now, too.
Oh, and NASN is excellent. Well worth £10 a month. We bought it early and got all the NCAA coverage too and I might just keep it on permanently.
I must have missed that one, Flims... 
I did see the Yankees win in 10 last night (or this evening actually, due to a rain delay), coming from behind again
They are starting to pull it together, sure, but I still worry that their starting pitching is not great, but their bullpen seems solid this year... Rumours have been flying regarding them snatching Pedro from Boston, too, so that should crank the rivalry up just a few notches.
Currently watching Atlanta vs. St Louis (0-0, ^3, 2 out, runners on 1st & 2nd), with the Cubs vs. Dodgers to follow. This could be a late night...
I did see the Yankees win in 10 last night (or this evening actually, due to a rain delay), coming from behind again
They are starting to pull it together, sure, but I still worry that their starting pitching is not great, but their bullpen seems solid this year... Rumours have been flying regarding them snatching Pedro from Boston, too, so that should crank the rivalry up just a few notches.
Currently watching Atlanta vs. St Louis (0-0, ^3, 2 out, runners on 1st & 2nd), with the Cubs vs. Dodgers to follow. This could be a late night...
Me too, its all on NASN. Are you in the US?
Anyway, I saw last night. Very exciting. I turned to my fiancee and said that's why I watch baseball all the time . She had to admit she was engrossed.
If we got Pedro, that would be the end of the competition in that division. I mean, some people (RS fans) were a bit too quick (after a few games, see above posts) to call the end of the Yanks, but the hitting is brill.
You are right though. Hitting can get you to the post-season, but its pitching that gets you through...
You can't argue with Brown (despite his first innings last night) and I like Mussina, but with Clemens looking amazing and not retired, and wishing we still had Pettite, I feel our starting pitching is much much weaker, though the bullpen is brill (and no-one matches Rivera!)
Anyway, I saw last night. Very exciting. I turned to my fiancee and said that's why I watch baseball all the time . She had to admit she was engrossed.
If we got Pedro, that would be the end of the competition in that division. I mean, some people (RS fans) were a bit too quick (after a few games, see above posts) to call the end of the Yanks, but the hitting is brill.
You are right though. Hitting can get you to the post-season, but its pitching that gets you through...
You can't argue with Brown (despite his first innings last night) and I like Mussina, but with Clemens looking amazing and not retired, and wishing we still had Pettite, I feel our starting pitching is much much weaker, though the bullpen is brill (and no-one matches Rivera!)
flimsier said:
Nope, Bristol.
Brown looks good so far and he is without doubt an "Ace"-level starter, but he worries me season-long... Which leaves Mussina, who is undeniably good and consistent - but that's still only two out of 5 places - Lieber is injured again, Vazquez looks good but beatable and I don't even know who's pitching #5 for you (Brandon Duckworth??).
I'm a neutral in the Red Sox/Yankees argument, I'm afraid mate, and I don't think you're gonna like me for this, but at the moment, I still think the Sox are the better team - it's a toss up between them for batting, but the Sox (current) pitching - Martinez, Schilling, Lowe, Wakefield rotation and equally strong bullpen gives them the edge.
As Mr Stark says, they are, currently, simply the best team in Baseball:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=1775243
Soz, Flims, but I wouldn't put it past the Yankees to change that as the season progresses...
Come on Cubbies, come on Cubbies...
Last week, Pedro gave an interview in which he was pretty critical of the Red Sox organisation and management and also announced that he was suspending his contract talks with the Red Sox and would "explore free-agency" at the end of the season.
The immediate reaction in the Baseball press (from what I could ascertain, anyway, an American poster may know more) was that it would make sense for the Red Sox to try to trade the unsettled (and somewhat out of form currently) Martinez soon, rather than allowing him to walk away uncompensated at the end of his contract.
In terms of need for starting pitching, there aren't many teams who could realistically pickup Pedro this season; combined that with the fact that Pedro has a trade-veto clause in his contract, so can effectively pick where he would be traded, the team everyone mentioned was the Yankees.
We shall have to just wait and see, but I'd be amazed if the Red Sox will get a trade deal from the Yankees for Martinez that they see as being satisfactory...
The immediate reaction in the Baseball press (from what I could ascertain, anyway, an American poster may know more) was that it would make sense for the Red Sox to try to trade the unsettled (and somewhat out of form currently) Martinez soon, rather than allowing him to walk away uncompensated at the end of his contract.
In terms of need for starting pitching, there aren't many teams who could realistically pickup Pedro this season; combined that with the fact that Pedro has a trade-veto clause in his contract, so can effectively pick where he would be traded, the team everyone mentioned was the Yankees.
We shall have to just wait and see, but I'd be amazed if the Red Sox will get a trade deal from the Yankees for Martinez that they see as being satisfactory...
Tell you what, mate. This doesn't look so good...
Mike Mussina, now, vs. Seattle:
4.0 IP, 11 Hits, 5 Runs, 5 Earned Runs, 0 Ks
It's a good job the Yanks have scored 3 in the 1st and 2 in the 4th... That and the fact that Seattle starter Gil Meche gave up 2 hits and 4 walks in that 1st and managed a grand total of 0.2 innings...
Mike Mussina, now, vs. Seattle:
4.0 IP, 11 Hits, 5 Runs, 5 Earned Runs, 0 Ks
It's a good job the Yanks have scored 3 in the 1st and 2 in the 4th... That and the fact that Seattle starter Gil Meche gave up 2 hits and 4 walks in that 1st and managed a grand total of 0.2 innings...
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