2010 MLB Regular Season

[Bear Backer]

I'm happy for all the white winners of the Gold Glove, but I think advanced defensive metrics shows that a bunch of the awards are more for popularity and reputation, and not based on performance in a particular year.

Derek Jeter this year is a perfect case in point.

Yeah, it has always been this way since I have been a fan and I am in my early 30's. I suspect it was probably that way long before I was around as well. I personally don't think any other things like offense or star power should factor into GG, but it generally always does. I have even heard announcers state that so and so should probably have gotten it, but so and so is a better hitter, or that it was a gesture toward their longstanding performance in the league, even though so and so may have had a better year. To me, awards should go to who simply had the best year in that category. Edited by: Bear Backer

 

[foreverfree]

Will we see a complete 2011 season? I think big labor problems are on the way.

Visited http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/info/cba.jsp (complete with PDF of the CBA) lately?

In 1968, the Major League Baseball Players Association negotiated the first-ever Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in professional sports. It has evolved and strengthened over the years with each generation of players, sometimes at great personal sacrifice, ensuring the continuity of rights for the next.

The current CBA expires on Dec. 11, 2011.

Apparently, regarding labor stoppages, the entire 2011 season is "safe" (as umpires will say to baserunners and Tom Bergeron will say to "Dancing with the Stars" couples

).

John

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

John,

From my understanding of things, there is a distinct possibility of another lockout by owners during the '11 season, as we saw in the '94 one. There are major financial issues that both sides want dealt with before signing a new CBA. Simply because "the current CBA expires on Dec. 11, 2011" doesn't mean the owners can't pull the plug.

As a matter of fact, I bet our real national pastime, the NFL, will experience some significant labor issues next year too.

Thank God for college sports.

 

[foreverfree]

Got links to sources, Van? Or is it just sports bar scuttlebutt you heard. It's news to me. I just yahooed "lockout"+"mlb"+"2011" and the closest I found to this was this year-old item. Got more recent links, Van?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091119093359AAhtvMs

For those who don't want to read its basicly an argument between Scott Boras and Rob Manfred (MLB's Chief of Labor Relations) about what else, MONEY!! Boras is throwing numbers around like he always does and Manfred of course is denying all of it? If what Boras is saying is true, I hate to admit it but I agree with him! I do think the economy is hurting all sports, but if the numbers are close to what Boras is saying, MLB teams should spend it and put a product that people are gonna pay good money to see!

If ya read this article do you think Baseball is headed to another possible Lockout?

BQ: Should Boras keep out of this, and knowing Boras for who he is: example telling the Yankees there is a team out there willing to pay A-rod 30 million/yr for his services; is just throwing numbers around to help his clients but as a whole hurting the MLB?

John

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

John,

What I'm saying is common knowledge among informed baseball fans and was discussed frequently during the '10 season. There is a chance, not a certainty, but a chance that MLB will have some interruption to its '11 season if some new labor agreement is not agreed upon before the latter part of the year.

A simple google search turns up many links discussing this issue, including this one:

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/452702-thanks-pittsburgh-10-reasons-mlb-is-facing-a-labor-dispute

Read the first page and then follow the arrows for a brief story about what is going on.

MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL could all experience labor troubles with their respective CBAs expiring in the next year.

 

[Deadlift]

Buster Posey won the NLs Rookie of the Year award!

 

[Freethinker]

Buster Posey won the NLs Rookie of the Year award!

This is great news as I was afraid ESPN's mancrush Jason Heyward would be gifted the award. Sanity prevailed as Posey had a higher batting average by 28 pts, the same amount of homers in far less at bats and plays a more difficult position. Good job voters and congrats to Posey!!!

 

[Don Wassall]

It's great to see Joey Votto and Josh Hamilton dominate the voting and win the MVP Award in their respective leagues. Both have overcome personal problems, especially Hamilton. Congrats to both!

 

[Deadlift]

That was great news!!

 

[JReb1]

I wonder when the last time was that both leagues had White MVP's... Congrats to Hamilton and Votto!

 

[PhillyBirds]

I wonder when the last time was that both leagues had White MVP's... Congrats to Hamilton and Votto!

Sadly, looks like only one other time since 1990: 2000, when Jeff Kent won in the NL and Jason Giambi in the AL.Edited by: PhillyBirds

 

[Van_Slyke_CF]

Josh Hamilton and Joey Votto-MVPs!

 

[Don Wassall]

Miguel Cabrera pretty much cost the Tigers a playoff spot in 2009 when he went on a drinking spree when the team was battling the Twins for the division title the last weekend of the season. But he was forgiven by the fans and media -- which would be unforgiveable behavior if engaged in by a White star -- and supposedly had stopped drinking. Guess not:


<H1>Tigers' Cabrera charged with DUI</H1>
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FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) -- Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera was arrested late Wednesday on drunken driving charges in Florida, police said, the latest episode for the first baseman who has struggled with a drinking problem.


Cabrera, 27, was spotted by a deputy in a car that's engine was smoking alongside a road in Fort Pierce. Inside the vehicle, Cabrera smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and took a swig from a bottle of scotch in front of a deputy, according to St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said. He refused to cooperate and more deputies were called to the scene.


He was wandering into the road with his hands up before he was handcuffed, the report said. He kept saying, "Do you know who I am, you don't know anything about my problems," and cursed at deputies who tried to get him into a patrol car.


One deputy struck Cabrera in the left thigh several times with his knee after Cabrera pushed into him, causing the ballplayer to fall into the patrol car. Cabrera refused to take a breath test, deputies said.


He was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting an officer without violence. He posted $1,350 bond and was released from jail early Thursday. The arrest occurred about 110 miles southeast of Lakeland, where the Tigers hold spring training.


In 2009, the All-Star first baseman got into a fight with his wife after a night of drinking, right before his team surrendered the American League Central Division title to the Twins.


Police said Cabrera had a 0.26 blood-alcohol reading -- three times above Michigan's legal limit for driving -- and Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski had to pick up Cabrera at the station. No charges were filed.


During spring training last year, Cabrera said he was done drinking alcohol after he spent much of the offseason in counseling.


"You guys write in the paper 'alcoholic,' that's not right," he said last March before a spring training workout. "I don't know how to explain, but it's not an alcohol problem."Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/02/17/cabrera-dui.ap/index.html#ixzz1EFVAHpfT

 

[jaxvid]

This guy has been coddled beyound belief. He's a big part of the team and they have been protecting him but of course if it was a white guy in the same situation--he'd be gone. This incident is going to make it interesting as the local media has been giving him the benefit of the doubt but now??? My guess is he will now have to play the game and go through some AA classes (which he needs) but he'll still stick around. Unlike if he was white. This guy is nothing but a drunken south of the border bum, if he couldn't hit a ball he'd be in jail but the real place he needs to be is out of the usa-which will never happen.

 

[Don Wassall]

Will this lunatic be deported, or will he be allowed to continue to play baseball and be a danger to society? He's a minority so the answer is obvious.


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During his arrest for drunk driving last month, Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera told police to shoot him, according to a police report released Wednesday.


When deputies told Cabrera to drop to his knees so they could handcuff him, he said, "(expletive) shoot me. Kill me," according to the report, which was posted by thesmokinggun.com.
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Cabrera continued to curse at the officers.


"Do you know who I am?" he asked. "I'm Miguel Cabrera. I play for the Detroit Tigers. You don't know my family."


Cabrera, 27, was arrested Feb. 16 in Fort Pierce, Fla., and charged with driving under the influence and two counts of resisting arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which are misdemeanors.


In another document released Wednesday, the manager of a bar described a run-in he had with Cabrera shortly before the arrest.


Cabrera walked into the Cowboys Bar-B-Q &amp; Steak Co. after last call and was asked to leave, bar manager Fletcher Nail said in a statement to police.


The ballplayer ignored the manager and walked up to a table of strangers and began talking to them, said Nail.


When Nail again asked him to leave, Cabrera patted a bag on his shoulder and leaned down close to the manager's face.


"You don't know me," Cabrera told him. "I will kill you. I know all of you, and I will kill all of you and blow this place up."


Another witness, an agent with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission who was at the bar, told investigations that the ballplayer threatened him and Nail.


Cabrera said "he had a gun in his bag for us," said the agent.


The police reports released thus far don't indicate that Cabrera was found with a gun.


After the arrest, Cabrera said he made a big mistake and asked for forgiveness. During a press conference Feb. 24, he apologized to the arresting officers and thanked them for the way they handled the incident.


He will deal with alcohol-related issues by following a plan devised by the baseball commissioner's office and the players' union. But the plan's specific measures weren't disclosed.


When he was arrested, Cabrera reportedly was belligerent and uncooperative with officers. According to an arrest report from the Port St. Lucie Sheriff's Department, a deputy had to handcuff the first baseman and then apply several "knee spikes" to his left thigh in order to get Cabrera into the back of a police vehicle.


Cabrera reportedly swore at the deputy several times and repeatedly said, "Do you know who I am?"


Police said Cabrera smelled strongly of intoxicants, had blood-shot eyes and reportedly took a drink from a bottle of James Buchanan's scotch whiskey in front of deputies. From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110309/SPORTS0104/103090424/Bar-manager--Cabrera-threatened-to-kill-patrons-on-night-of-arrest#ixzz1G9at3SYw