2009 MLB Season

Van_Slyke_CF

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The great Roy Halladay is off to an 8-1 record with a 2.78 ERA.
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celticdb15

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Anyone see Joe Mauer who is officially the MLB's most athletic catcher make that play last night tagging out speedster Bret Gardner??
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Don Wassall

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I was just watching ESPN's "Baseball Tonight," which duly and quickly noted Jason Kendall getting his 2,000th career hit tonight. After video of it, this feat earned a follow-up graphic with the following three facts:

1. Kendall became the 253rd player to reach 2,000 hits.
2. He is just the 8th player who primarily played catcher (over half his games at catcher) to get to 2,000 hits.
3. Of those 8 catchers, his 73 career home runs rank 8th.

What possible relevance does the third fact have to do with anything? It's like they had to add something negative to detract from Kendall's notable accomplishment. Edited by: Don Wassall
 

LabMan

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You are right about that Don,another White player minimized,I was watching the game when Kendall got his 2,000th hit and the "Fox" announcers downplayed the event,as we know,it is widespread!The establishment derides and minimizes a player such as Kendall because he is a throwback type of player,would not want to let people know how baseball used to be played,or for that matter,how life used to be in the country,it's all about erasing tradition!
 

Van_Slyke_CF

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Did the announcers mention how Jason Kendall overcame a horrific ankle injury in 1999 to continue playing the game's most physically demanding position at a high level for many years? No, of course not.

Did they talk about how a wrist injury a couple of years later sapped whatever line-drive power Kendall had? Nah, that would be too fair.

Did they take a second or two to comment on Kendall's SB total being the 3rd highest all-time for catchers since 1900? Nope, too complimentary.

Did they express admiration for how Kendall played about 150 games with the tools of ignorance on last season for the Brewers, setting the franchise's all-time record for games played in a season? Maybe they made a passing reference to this fact, but I doubt it.

Kendall's mistake has been to play the game hard each and every day and not complain. Furthermore, he decided to forego the steroid abuse and prima donna-like attitudes of so many players of recent years and respect the fact that he was playing a game-our nation's pastime-and getting paid millions of dollars each season for the privilege of having people watch him do it.

Jason Kendall deserves our respect for all of his accomplishments in baseball.
 

Don Wassall

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I've been watching more baseball games this year than in previous years, and more of the Baseball Tonight stuff and the MLB Network, and have to say baseball announcers are worse than their football counterparts when it comes to degrading white players, ignoring their strengths while being quick to criticize them for mistakes while at the same time excusing or giving a pass to the weak play and fundamentals of so many non-whites.

I didn't think that was possible, given how bad most football announcers are, but it must be the constant whining about the supposed lack of American negro players, the whole Saint Jackie Robinson mentality that infuses everything black, combined with a resentment of the fact that there are still so many good white baseball players in spite of MLB's determination to replace them with blacks, hispanics and asians.

To give just one example, I watched Randy Johnson go for his 299th victory the other day against the Mets. The announcers, especially Eric Karros
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, had virtually nothing good to say about him, especially after he struggled in the first inning. After only a few batters had been up, Karros remarked a couple of times that there had been no swinging strikes, something that was routine when Johnson was younger. Well, the next two batters struck out swinging. So Karros then began harping, over and over for the rest of the game, about how the first two batters against Johnson had gotten hits when the count was 1 and 2, again lamenting how in the past that would never have happened and how his fastball and slider weren't as fast as they used to be.

No kidding! Johnson's 45 going on 46, he's had three back operations, yet is still pitching at a high level most of the time and still brings heat in the low 90s. If this was a 45 year old black pitcher going for 300 wins, Karros probably would have been wearing his jersey in tribute to him. It was the same thing when Tom Glavine got his 300th win a couple of years ago, a subdued, almost laconicreaction by the announcers. It's as if Joe Morgan and his many resentments have been institutionalized as standard operating procedure for everyone in the media.

It's tough to keep the sound on when listening to most baseball games.

Edited by: Don Wassall
 

jaxvid

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Good point Don, Randy Johnson should be lionized as a near God for his career and skills. He's a good guy, no steroid taint about him, no scandal. But the MSM and their caste whores cannot get off the program even for this guy. Guys like Randy Johnson should be treated like Tiger Woods, a guy who has not been as dominant in his sport for as long as Johnson has in his. The countdown to 300 should be a national sports event, as significant as it is. Instead it seems as if it will go quietly into the record books. Very sad.....
 

Tom Iron

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I'll put this here even though it might not be the correct thread.

Way back when I started being interested in mlb, it was said that the worst player on the worst team in the majors (which was the Pirates then in the NL) was good.

Not so anymore. I don't watch TV, but i hear on the radio of the mess the players make of the game. They make every mistake that you could see a little leaguer make, plus they're lazy. I have no idea how you guys can watch this stuff. I remember when Gil Hodges went out to left field and took Cleon Jones out of a game when he loafed after a ball.

Not even having to do with race, Billy Martin hated Reggie Jackson not because he was black, but because he was a lazy bum. A lazy bum that was wearing the Yankee uniform. Martin couldn't stand anyone wearing that uniform who wasn't trying 100% every play.

So here we are all these years later, and the quality of play in the majors is garbage and getting worse all the time. I would advise everybody to not watch mlb anymore and just go see the local minor league games. It's a nice evening and doesn't cost an arm an a leg either.

Tom Iron...
 

Freethinker

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Don while I agree with some of your comments on the state of MLB I can't agree that the announcers are worse than the NFL. Maybe this seems so because there are so many whites in baseball to talk about compared to the rare few non QBs in football. More criticism of whites is inevitable.

Where I do agree is the ESPN's Baseball Tonight is almost unwatchable now. I used to watch this show every night when it first started but it has gotten worse every year. Like almost everything at ESPN
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, the focus is not on quality or factual reporting, but on entertaining. Baseball Tonight is just as much a circus as the other pitiful programing on "the sports leader's" network. Ever year the affirmative action hirings become more and more laughable. I used to like Harold Reynolds but now we are stuck with Eric Young (borderline illiterate), Chris Singleton (talk about a true nobody former player), Vina, Perez and some other lame minority former players. Then you've got John Kruk who is quick to mock himself and his career, portraying himself as some fat slob who "got lucky". Steve Phillips is another tool.

I find myself watching MLB network almost exclusively now. I find their coverage much more fair and in depth. The former players they have on are actually deservant. Mitch Williams, Barry Larkin, Sean Casey, Al Leiter, Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac all bring different knowledge to the table. Other than the over saturated Jackie Robinson and negro league junk, I think its a worthwhile watch for any baseball fan.
 

Don Wassall

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Todd Helton got his 2,000th hit last night. From his rookie season in '98 through '04 Helton was a beast, one of the very top hitters in the game. His 2000 season in particular was sick -- league leading .372 BA, 138 runs scored, 216 hits, 59 doubles, 42 homers, and 147 RBIs. The 59 doubles is the most by any player since 1936 and is tied for 7th all-time for a single season.

Helton's also won 3 Gold Gloves at first base. Looked like he would be going down as one of the top hitters in baseball history (perhaps helped some by playing in Denver), but he wasn't able to sustain it. Even so, his lifetime batting average is still at a lofty .328 even though he no longer contends for batting titles.

Trivia fact: Helton backed up Peyton Manning at Tennessee.
 

Freethinker

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Interesting fact!

Helton is hitting a superb .336 as of right now despite being caste aside by most experts and fans.
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To be fair, I think his HUGE contract is alot of the reason he is highly critiqued.
 

celticdb15

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Congrats to Todd!! Having seen him play i truly can say he is a great hitter. I caught him while he was still in his prime years that Don stated. When this guy hits a homerun its outof the park fast, due to his level swing a lot of his homers have been line drives to right.
 

Don Wassall

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Freethinker said:
I find myself watching MLB network almost exclusively now. I find their coverage much more fair and in depth. The former players they have on are actually deservant. Mitch Williams, Barry Larkin, Sean Casey, Al Leiter, Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac all bring different knowledge to the table. Other than the over saturated Jackie Robinson and negro league junk, I think its a worthwhile watch for any baseball fan.

The MLB Network is a big improvement over ESPN's baseball coverage.
 

Don Wassall

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On top of being a batting champion, Joe Mauer is now a power hitter as well. He crushed his 10th home run tonight into the upper deck at the Metrodome and now has 10 in less than 80 at bats. And his batting average is well over .400.
 

Van_Slyke_CF

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Gordon Edes at Yahoo! Sports in "Trade winds begin as a breeze," has this interesting snippet today:

"Even while Gary Sheffield has proved to be a productive hitter for the New York Mets after his sudden release this spring by the Tigers, one Detroit official said the team has no regrets about letting him go. "We felt Sheff could still hit,"Â￾ the adviser said. "We didn't think he could play the outfield every day at age 40 without getting hurt, but the real reason we made the move was we wanted to change the dimensions of the club. Better defense, better speed, younger, more athletic.


"We traded for Josh Anderson and we brought up Clete Thomas. Those guys have given us good defense in the outfield, and also have contributed offensively, too. We're a much better team defensively this season, with Adam Everett and Brandon Inge on the left side of the infield, and Gerald Laird, the catcher we traded for, has had a real positive impact on our pitching staff."Â￾

Caste Football posters said last year the Tigers went in the wrong direction bringing in one black and Hispanic punk after the other, following an ethnic cleansing of whites from the roster. 2008 was a disaster for Detroit, while this season looks promising because they ditched the cancerous Sheffield and brought in/up some talented white players to somewhat balance the roster. Good thinking, Tigers, but it's a shame it took you a year to figure it out!
 

Don Wassall

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A V-DARE reader's look at the Mets:


<H1>A New York Reader Says Los Mets Are A Sad Collection</H1>


From: Robert Kuza (e-mail him)<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" />
Re: Nicolas Stix's Blog: Los Mets Fired The Wrong Man
Things are tough for Los Mets. Carlos (Delgado), Jose (Reyes) and Alex (Cora) are hurt.
The other Carlos (Beltran) is limping, too. Francisco (Tatis) might have to play shortstop.
Los Mets demoted multimillion- dollar bust Oliver (Perez) and his 10.00 ERA to save him from further embarrassment when he took to the mound. Maybe the team should have offered Pedro (Martinez) a contract.
But the situation could be worse. Los Mets still have catchers Omir (Santos) and Ramon (Castro) as well as and infielders Luis (Castillo) and Ramon (Martinez).
And thank God for pitchers Johan (Santana) and Francisco (Rodriquez). If it weren't for them, General Manager Omar (Mineya) and Manager Jerry (Manuel) would be in a real bind.
Carlos"¦Jose"¦Francisco"¦Oliver"¦Omir"¦Luis"¦Ramon"¦Pedro. Whatever happened to Mickey, Willie and the Duke?
Welcome to baseball 2009, the Great (South) American pastime.
Kuza, an electrician, adds that he is so disgusted that he will not attend any games at the Mets' new Citi Field even if tickets are given to him free.

http://vdare.com/letters/tl_052609.htm
 
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Don Wassall said:
A V-DARE reader's look at the Mets:
<div> </div>
<div>
&lt;H1&gt;A New York Reader Says Los Mets Are A Sad Collection&lt;/H1&gt;


From: Robert Kuza (e-mail him)&lt;?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:eek:ffice:eek:ffice" /&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;
&lt;P =Msonormal&gt;&lt;SPAN =style3&gt;Re: Nicolas Stix's Blog: Los Mets Fired The Wrong Man&lt;/SPAN&gt;&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;
&lt;P =style2&gt;Things are tough for Los Mets. Carlos (Delgado), Jose (Reyes) and Alex (Cora) are hurt.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;
&lt;P =style2&gt;The other Carlos (Beltran) is limping, too. Francisco (Tatis) might have to play shortstop. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;
&lt;P =Msonormal&gt;Los Mets&lt;SPAN =style2&gt; demoted multimillion- dollar bust Oliver (Perez) and his 10.00 ERA to save him from further embarrassment when he took to the mound. Maybe the team should have offered Pedro (Martinez) a contract. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;
&lt;P =Msonormal&gt;But the situation could be worse. Los Mets still have catchers Omir (Santos) and Ramon (Castro) as well as and infielders Luis (Castillo) and Ramon (Martinez)&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"&gt;.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;
&lt;P =style2&gt;And thank God for pitchers Johan (Santana) and Francisco (Rodriquez). If it weren't for them, General Manager Omar (Mineya) and Manager Jerry (Manuel) would be in a real bind.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;
&lt;P =Msonormal&gt;Carlos"¦Jose"¦Francisco"¦Oliver"¦Omir"¦Luis"¦Ramon"¦Pedro. Whatever happened to Mickey, Willie and the Duke&lt;SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'"&gt;?&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/SPAN&gt;
&lt;P =style2&gt;Welcome to baseball 2009, the Great (South) American pastime.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;
&lt;P =style4&gt;Kuza, an electrician, adds that he is so disgusted that he will not attend any games at the Mets' new &lt;SPAN style="COLOR: maroon">Citi Field&lt;/SPAN&gt; even if tickets are given to him free.
<div></div>
&lt;P =style4&gt;http://vdare.com/letters/tl_052609.htm&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;</div>

I remember around 1989, a writer named Allan Barra wrote an article about Darryl Strawberry which said the Mets were "too white." This was the team that won a World Series in 1986 and a division title in 1988. Barra's theme was that Strawberry was being expected to lead a "team of white veterans," and more black players were needed on the Mets.
 

Don Wassall

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Was watching the Dodgers and Phillies and was startled by how many non-whites were in attendance at Dodger Stadium. It looked to be about half hispanic and asian.

First the white athletes were purged, then the DWFs. Compare the 2009 crowdsat Dodger Stadium to those of 30 or 40 years ago and the demographic revolution in this country is vividly illustrated.
 

NorCal831

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seems like an accurate representation of the city of Los Angeles, only 46.9% of the city is White, it would only make sense that only about half the crowd would be white. I live in San Jose but am a very big Dodgers fan so i make it down to Dodger Stadium whenever i can and trust me, there are plenty of drunk white fans, drunk mexican fans, and drunk asian fans.
 

Don Wassall

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NorCal831 said:
seems like an accurate representation of the city of Los Angeles, only 46.9% of the city is White, it would only make sense that only about half the crowd would be white. I live in San Jose but am a very big Dodgers fan so i make it down to Dodger Stadium whenever i can and trust me, there are plenty of drunk white fans, drunk mexican fans, and drunk asian fans.

It struck me because I'm so used to seeing mostly white crowds at sporting events no matter how large the black population is in a city, and in most big cities it's quite large. Asians and hispanics are obviously much more inclined than blacks to go to sporting events, and as America continues to "brown," crowds like those at Dodger Stadium will more and more become the norm.
 

jaxvid

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Don Wassall said:
NorCal831 said:
seems like an accurate representation of the city of Los Angeles, only 46.9% of the city is White, it would only make sense that only about half the crowd would be white. I live in San Jose but am a very big Dodgers fan so i make it down to Dodger Stadium whenever i can and trust me, there are plenty of drunk white fans, drunk mexican fans, and drunk asian fans.
<div> </div>
<div>It struck me because I'm so used to seeing mostly white crowds at sporting events no matter how large the black population is in a city, and in most big cities it's quite large.  Asians and hispanics are obviously much more inclined than blacks to go to sporting events, and as America continues to "brown," crowds like those at Dodger Stadium will more and more become the norm.</div>

True, in Detroit the sports crowds are 95%+ white, even for basketball. But California has been taken over, no question, like southern Florida it is no longer part of the united states except in name and federal handouts only.
 

Tom Iron

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That was some ending to the mutt-yank game last night. Leave it to a black or hispanic to louse things up at exactly the wrong time.

At least, in my life, I saw baseball the way it should be played. When I was young, the worst guy on the worst team in the majors was good.

Now, you've got a bunch of sadsacks running around like a bunch of gerbils getting paid millions of dollars to mess up.

Tom Iron...
 

Don Wassall

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Tom Iron said:
That was some ending to the mutt-yank game last night. Leave it to a black or hispanic to louse things up at exactly the wrong time.

At least, in my life, I saw baseball the way it should be played. When I was young, the worst guy on the worst team in the majors was good.

Now, you've got a bunch of sadsacks running around like a bunch of gerbils getting paid millions of dollars to mess up.

Tom Iron...

Mark Teixiera ran hard on that dropped pop fly, scoring all the way from first to win the game. That'swhat he was supposed to do, but I wonder how many of thenon-whites force-fed into baseball would have done the same. A casual attitude has too often replaced hustle in baseball and fundamentals have beenallowed to be thrown to thewaysidefor the greater cause of diversity.
 

guest301

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Don Wassall said:
Tom Iron said:
That was some ending to the mutt-yank game last night. Leave it to a black or hispanic to louse things up at exactly the wrong time. At least, in my life, I saw baseball the way it should be played. When I was young, the worst guy on the worst team in the majors was good. Now, you've got a bunch of sadsacks running around like a bunch of gerbils getting paid millions of dollars to mess up. Tom Iron...
<div> </div>
<div>Mark Teixiera ran hard on that dropped pop fly, scoring all the way from first to win the game.  That's what he was supposed to do, but I wonder how many of the non-whites force-fed into baseball would have done the same.  A casual attitude has too often replaced hustle in baseball and fundamentals have been allowed to be thrown to the wayside for the greater cause of diversity.</div>

There is never any excuse to go half-speed during play on the field unless you are in a home run trot around the bases. That used to be the old-school way of looking at things.
 

PhillyBirds

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Just an update on the current vote totals for this year's Midsummer Classic. The NL is a total diversity nightmare, while the American League is certainly the team to pull for.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

First Base
1.Albert Pujols; Cardinals [2,158,036]
2.Ryan Howard; Phillies [1,147,227]
3.Prince Fielder; Brewers [926,727]

Second Base
1.Chase Utley; Phillies [2,273,355]
2.Orlando Hudson; Dodgers [904,648]
3.Rickie Weeks; Brewers [707,074]

Shortstop
1.Jimmy Rollins; Phillies [1,216,007]
2.Hanley Ramirez; Marlins [1,128,547]
3.J.J. Hardy; Brewers [865,306]

Third Base
1.David Wright; Mets [1,256,736]
2.Ryan Zimmerman; Nationals [920,780]
3.Chipper Jones; Braves; [864,017]

Catcher
1.Yadier Molina; Cardinals [1,051,485]
2.Brian McCann; Braves [895,663]
3.Jason Kendall; Brewers [815,880]

Outfield
1.Raul Ibanez; Phillies [1,897,905]
2.Ryan Braun; Brewers [1,667,029]
3.Carlos Beltran; Mets [1,367,412]
4.Alfonso Soriano; Cubs [1,340,699]
5.Shane Victorino; Phillies [1,116,524]
6.Manny Ramirez; Dodgers [999,800]

AMERICAN LEAGUE

First Base

1.Kevin Youkilis; Red Sox [600,175]
2.Mark Teixeira; Yankees [506,339]
3.Justin Morneau; Twins [483,226]

Second Base

1.Ian Kinsler; Rangers [787,619]
2.Dustin Pedroia; Red Sox [641,281]
3.Robinson Cano; Yankees [413,605]

Shortstop

1.Derek Jeter; Yankees [1,017,560]
2.Jason Bartlett; Rays [435,456]
3.Elvis Andrus; Rangers [393,906]

Third Base

1.Evan Longoria; Rays [1,036,071]
2.Michael Young; Rangers [441,912]
3.Alex Rodriguez; Yankees [428,690]

Catcher

1.Joe Mauer; Twins [769,320]
2.Jason Varitek; Red Sox [406,788]
3.Jarrod Saltalamacchia; Rangers [401,375]

Outfield

1.Jason Bay; Red Sox [729,590]
2.Josh Hamilton; Rangers [685,463]
3.Ichiro Suzuki; Mariners [481,263]
4.Ken Griffey Jr.; Mariners [452,849]
5.Carl Crawford; Rays [439,870]
6.Torii Hunter; Angels [422,220]Edited by: PhillyBirds
 
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