2019 MLB Season

[Leonardfan]

One of my high school friends was drafted in the mid 2000s - he got up to AA ball but never past it. He did tell me that many of the players from latin america were juicing so I can only imagine it is worse now 10+ years later.

 

[Freethinker]

Shadowlight, as far the Dominican players and steroids connection, I could go in several different ways with this response but I would be typing forever. Right now I want to focus on three names in baseball to make three points, dating back to the 70's up to current times: Robin Yount, Rafael Santana and Nick Gordon.

Let me begin with the second name: Rafael Santana was the starting shortstop for the 1986 Mets and was, perhaps, the clubs first impact player from the Dominican. And at 6' 1" he was not small, by any means. During that amazing 108 win 1986 season Santana had 436 plate appearances and only 1 HR. The previous year, 564 plate appearances and only 1 HR. In 1987, the year baseball historians believe the "ball was juiced" (as it likely has been in baseball since the 2015 All-Star break to now), Santana's HR numbers spiked: 470 plate appearances and 5 HR's. So, even though the "ball was juiced", the fairly tall shortstop hit a career high of only 5 dingers? Well, even if the ball is currently "juiced" in baseball why are so many smaller Latin infield types putting up monster power numbers, including players much shorter than Santana? Santana is just one example.

Go back from 1954 (when the first Dominican Ozzie Virgil debuted) to the early 1990's and you'll find most Latin infielders were above-par defenders and mostly slap hitters. Even the superstars like Bert Campaneris, Dave Concepcion, Alfredo Griffen, Tony Fernandez, Cookie Rojas, Luis Aparicio and others. Those six probably played more than 90 years combined, but you can probably count on one finger how often they hit more than 12 HR's in a season. Aparicio's listed height/weight was exactly the same as Jose Ramirez of Cleveland (currently). Ramirez hit more HR's by the age of 25, than Aparicio did during his entire 17 year Hall of Fame career -- he played until age 39. Now, suddenly, just about every 5' 7" to 5' 11" starting Latin infielder can get hit over 21 HR's per season and a lot of these small-fries have little problem getting beyond 30 per? Jose Altuve might actually be a shade over 5' 4", but he can hit 400 foot opposite field HR's just as if he's a modern day Dave Kingman? And, unlike King Kong Kingman types, he can hit for average.

Let me move onto Nick Gordon. Gordon, is the son of a very rare African-American MLB pitcher that made some All-Star teams, but is probably best known for having 5 kids with 4 different woman he was never married to. Nick's older (half) brother, Dee, has also made some All-Star teams as speedy lead-off hitter. And despite hitting for little power, Dee was suspended for steroids. Anyhow, Nick Gordon was hyped back in 2014 as a potential generational talent and #1 overall pick. He's a shortstop that saw his stock plunge a bit (went 5th overall), but along with the overrated Byron Buxton was deemed a future MVP candidate for the Minnesota Twins. Fast forward five years (to today), Gordon (who was born is 1995) has finally arrived at AAA, but guess what, he's being blocked for the foreseeable future by another (you guessed it) smaller (5'11") Dominican who has suddenly become a slugger, of sorts? Jorge Polanco was signed as a 16 year old and had a total of 35 HR's in nearly 600 minor league games. He came to the big's prior to his 21st birthday and displayed mediocre power early in his career. Suddenly, Polanco is a five tool player and looks likes a modern day George Brett .... Polanco's signing bonus from the Dominican was "only" $575,000. By contrast, Nick Gordon's bonus was $3,851,000, yet he's miles behind Polanco, who recently signed a 5 year $25 million deal. Regardless how hyped black and mulatto North American players are, they simply can not compete with black and mulatto Latin players, who I believe are loaded to the Gills on Steroids.

I was listening to a Padres game on the radio 2 years ago and the road team announcer noted that Robin Yount was once considered an extreme rarity in baseball because he made the jump from Low A ball, directly to the Majors the next season. I mostly remember Yount from the latter parts of his career and did not realize he was such a "prodigy" as a teenager. Robin was drafted #3 overall in 1973, then after spending a few months in Newark that summer, he started for the Brewers in 1974. Announcer next mentioned how the Padres had 2 very young Latin (Rule 5) players on their roster for the entire 2017 season that made the direct jump from Low A/Rookie ball that season. He then noted that leap was far more common in baseball than ever before. What he didn't say, was the vast majority of those players jumping from Low A to the MLB in the same season year (or next year) were/are Latin. By the way, after being hyped as "future MLB stars", both of the Padres 2017 "prodigies" are currently in the minors -- A ball and AA, respectfully. Who knows how such "talented upsiders"/"future stars" regress so fast?

So, to recap quickly, for the first 40 to 45 years Latin players competed in the Majors, the better smaller/averaged sized infielders and speedy center fielders were mostly slap hitters and defensive stars. Suddenly, even 5'9" infielders are "sluggers" and triple crown threats. Also, they tend to come up way before others and American blacks simply can't compete with their Latin Brothers. Used to be the other way around in the Hank Aaron, Willy Mays, Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield and even earl Barry Bonds eras? Go figure?

_______________

Finally, on a positive note: While these Steroid loaded Latin players fly up to the Majors in their teens and early 20's, current San Francisco Giants outfielder Michael Yastrzemski finally made it to the show at age 29 this weekend and had three 3 hits Sunday. He is the grandson of Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Michael Yastrzemski.....Also, last Friday Cavan Biggio made his MLB debut with the Toronto Blue Jays. The 24 year old that starred at Notre Dame is the son of Houston Astros Hall of Famer Craig Biggio.

Speaking of goys born in 1990 making their debuts, infielder Jack Mayfield started at shortstop today for the Astros, after a long stretch in the minors (618). Given his age, it's not real likely his stay in Houston will be long. Astros seem to be much whiter than usual this weekend. I guess that's one positive of being on mostly Latin "Steroid team"....Steroids help a lot in the short term, but the eventually destroy bodies. Look at Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets, it got to the point where he could not run first to third without DWF's cowering in fear that he'd pop a hamstring and miss a month or two?

Great post as usual. Your work unearthing these Latino cheats is priceless and needs to reach a wider audience. I think it’s hard to refute the evidence you are presenting.

 

[Don Wassall]

Great post as usual. Your work unearthing this Latino cheats is priceless and needs to reach a wider audience. I think it’s hard to refute the evidence you are presenting.

Yes, a lot of great information. Should probably have its own thread to at least make it easier to locate.

 

[Shadowlight]

"....Steroids help a lot in the short term, but the eventually destroy bodies. Look at Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets, it got to the point where he could not run first to third without DWF's cowering in fear that he'd pop a hamstring and miss a month or two?

I think this is true. And not being an expert I suspect the steroids being used in baseball ( as opposed to those being used in Track and Field sprinting ) slow down the running speed over time. So many of these Latin players become strong men but lose their speed and flexibility. Barry Bonds seemed significantly slower over time in his drug filled career. Many of these drugged up players look as stiff as boards.

The baseball appears to be wound tighter and perhaps the center core has been moved which allows it to travel through space with greater velocity. Most agree it has changed but they can't or won't say exactly why.

But the game looks different these days. Like basketball players they are often unusually muscular for baseball too. Many sport football type of builds and going back in time that was something not to be desired. Back in the day flexibility, fluidity and litheness was of utmost importance. Many football players who doubled up sports were too stiff and teams would spend months trying to loosen their bodies up to get into real baseball shape.

There were always a few big muscle guys in baseball but today with the weightlifting and other factors discussed above players don't look as flexible or as athletic as players from the past. They just seem stiff which might help explain why there are so many strikeouts.

My first priority in baseball everyday is to see how Mike Trout is faring. As feared he is being pitched around. He has 47 walks and we are not even at the one third mark yet. He has yet to go on a tear this season. His BA is at .281 so we want that to go up. His power numbers are decent but he is overall hitting below his very high standard. Great for most players not named Trout.

Speedster SS Trea Turner has yet to do much this season. His injury set him back and his play hasn't been great. He is hitting around .250 and is stuck on I believe 8 stolen bases. So another player I hope to see pick it up. The Nationals are heading towards a disaster if they don't right the ship.

Like a swarm of bees the league is littered with Latin players like I have never seen before. Makes it hard to wade through but I try.

Kevin Keirmaier of Tampa Bay made a sensational catch yesterday. Like Jake Marisnick of the Astros, KK is a stellar all around athlete with terrific speed. But like Jake hitting has been a constant problem. They are both off to decent starts at the plate and I am hoping they can carve out a Steven Finley like career. But I wouldn't bet the house on that based on their history.

Too many white CF speedsters have flamed out. The Cardinals Harrison Bader is seeing spot duty. The White Sox Adam Engel I think has been demoted although their RF Charlie Tilson has terrific wheels too. Will have to wait and see if he clicks.

The Giants Steven Duggar has seen solid playing time but his hitting has been sub par so far and teams have very little patience for white CF speedsters who aren't hitting up a storm. There are exceptions. His teammate Kevin Pillar and the Yankees, longtime favorite of mine, Brett Gardner aren't exactly tearing it up. Although Gardner at .240 is still clutch as hell and can still run like the wind. He still is a valuable player and scores a lot of runs despite his BA. And he can still chase down fly balls in the OF. Gardner usually doesn't play CF anymore.

The Reds Nick Senzel isn't a classic speedster but he is playing CF and looks like he can hit.

The Marlins had a speedster in late blooming CF Jon Berti but he has an injury now. Often injured Rockies OF David Dahl is off to a decent start at the plate this season and they just called up SS Brandon Rodgers who many compare to Brandon Crawford of the Giants.

The Yankees OF Clint Frazier has a lightening quick bat and has 10 homeruns. Tampa Bay's Austin Meadows, who came up at the same time as Frazier and both were traded from their original teams ( why?) is off to a spectacular start. He doesn't have enough at bats to qualify for the batting title just yet but he is hitting .351 and has 11 home runs. He has been on a tear the past few games. Both of these players ran 6.3 60 yard dashes in high school. I don't think they are that fast but they can move for big players. Both are 24 years old.

Speaking of athletic Cody Bellinger, who has an old fashioned lithe baseball body, hit another dinger last night. He did pop up twice with a lot of base runners on last night though which was frustrating. Still it was his throwing arm that got attention. He gunned down two Mets runners last night and leads MLB in assists. Got a cannon for an arm. Gets down the first base line as fast as anybody. He can do it all. While his average has dipped far below .400 he is still the biggest story in MLB so far this season.

I hate to talk up players given my jinx history but the players above are definitely worth rooting for.

 

[Johnny Tightlips]

both were traded from their original teams ( why?)

Frazier was traded in 2016 for Andrew Miller when Cleveland went all in on their World Series run so that is understandable. However, Austin Meadows was ignorantly given up on by the Pirates and was the key asset in last years deadline move to obtain the middling Chris Archer. The Pirates showed they were more committed to Gregor Polanaco in right than they where with Meadows and it is biting them in the ass

 

[Don Wassall]

When the Pirates traded for Chris Archer last summer the local media and DWFs were thrilled. I knew almost nothing about him, but was informed that not only was he a very talented pitcher but he was also oozing charisma. I just checked his career stats and he's 58-76. His ERA for the past four seasons have been 4.02, 4.07, 4.31, and this season he's 1-5 with a 5.75 ERA.

After attending the Pirates game on Sunday and seeing how the attendance was announced at over 25,000 when barely half that many people were actually there, I decided to look at the crowds from last night's games. 13,824 in Cincinnati, 6,407 in Miami, and 5,786 in Tampa. Wow, haven't seen crowds that small in late May for some time, and like the Pittsburgh crowd the actual number of attendees may have been considerably than even those paltry announced figures. But like the NBA and NFL, MLB thrives on the symbiotic relationship between corporations -- the corporate entities that own the teams, the corporations that pay to advertise during the games (like Gillette and all the others with their Hate White Men propaganda), and the corporate sports entities -- local newspapers, radio and TV stations, and ESPN and other national and regional entities -- that prop up the leagues and keep the corporate money flowing to and from each other.

 

[sport historian]

When the Pirates traded for Chris Archer last summer the local media and DWFs were thrilled. I knew almost nothing about him, but was informed that not only was he a very talented pitcher but he was also oozing charisma. I just checked his career stats and he's 58-76. His ERA for the past four seasons have been 4.02, 4.07, 4.31, and this season he's 1-5 with a 5.75 ERA.

After attending the Pirates game on Sunday and seeing how the attendance was announced at over 25,000 when barely half that many people were actually there, I decided to look at the crowds from last night's games. 13,824 in Cincinnati, 6,407 in Miami, and 5,786 in Tampa. Wow, haven't seen crowds that small in late May for some time, and like the Pittsburgh crowd the actual number of attendees may have been considerably than even those paltry announced figures. But like the NBA and NFL, MLB thrives on the symbiotic relationship between corporations -- the corporate entities that own the teams, the corporations that pay to advertise during the games (like Gillette and all the others with their Hate White Men propaganda), and the corporate sports entities -- local newspapers, radio and TV stations, and ESPN and other national and regional entities -- that prop up the leagues and keep the corporate money flowing to and from each other.

The attendance was that low and lower in 1968. That was the Year of the Pitcher (meaning dull games with little scoring) and no pennant race in either league. In 1969, the leagues were split into four divisions, the pitcher's mound was lowered, hitting and scoring increased, and attendance went up considerably.

Also in 1968, many teams were still playing in old ball parks in "bad neighborhoods."

 

[Flint]

A lot of choking had to happen for the Red Sox to lose that Series. That was only game 6 when the error was made and just the tying run. Hell today it might not have been an error! The standards for errors have been so loosened up today I can't believe it. If a ball is hard hit off a players glove, or the player doesn't touch it then they score it a hit. I'd say modern scoring adds about 20 points to a batting average over the year. If that play happened today during the regular season it would be scored a single.

 

[Shadowlight]

That Bill Buckner and Cubs fan Steve Bartman were treated so unfairly is sickening. Years later the Red Sox gutlessly invited Buckner to Fenway only after they finally won a world series.

Buckner had to endure the wrath of most Red Sox fans who are annoying to begin with. And poor nerdish dedicated Cubs fan Bartman has been in hiding ever since 2003.

Both incidents reeked of anti white anything goes mob speak. With more than a hint of violence. Too many people in this country think it is cool and hip to denigrate white people.

Many Cubs and Red Sox fans demonstrated their true colors in these separate incidents. Buckner didn't field the ball and Bartman did field the ball. Symmetry if you will. All I know is the blood thirsty fans back then were nothing but cowards.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

cast your MLB all star game ballot if you think it will do any good:

https://www.mlb.com/all-star/ballot

 

[white is right]

That Bill Buckner and Cubs fan Steve Bartman were treated so unfairly is sickening. Years later the Red Sox gutlessly invited Buckner to Fenway only after they finally won a world series.

Buckner had to endure the wrath of most Red Sox fans who are annoying to begin with. And poor nerdish dedicated Cubs fan Bartman has been in hiding ever since 2003.

Both incidents reeked of anti white anything goes mob speak. With more than a hint of violence. Too many people in this country think it is cool and hip to denigrate white people.

Many Cubs and Red Sox fans demonstrated their true colors in these separate incidents. Buckner didn't field the ball and Bartman did field the ball. Symmetry if you will. All I know is the blood thirsty fans back then were nothing but cowards.

Yes, the closest DWF hate on a Black player was probably the "Decision" and James brought that nonsense on himself with his arrogant television special on his selection of Miami.

Also the media constantly reminded viewers and readers that irate DWF Cavalier fans mirrored racist rioters from the 60's and commentators like Stephen A. Smith constantly brought up his "unease" with the visuals of burning James jerseys.

I think what made the Bartman situation worse was Moises Alou pointing to the umpire that Bartman interfered with his ability to field the ball, IMO it was unplayable as Alou would have had to be able to leap 13' feet to play the ball and still hang on to it. The Bartman incident was blown out of proportion like the Buckner incident because of the long droughts the two clubs had since they last won the World Series.

 

[Shadowlight]

The Bartman incident was blown out of proportion like the Buckner incident because of the long droughts the two clubs had since they last won the World Series

No question about it. They say the measure of a person is how they respond to adversity. I guess we discovered that many Cubs fans ( who I used to think were mild mannered like Ernie Banks) and Red Sox fans ( who I never liked) showed their true colors with these incidents. Not an ounce of courage or dignity.

Austin Meadows as mentioned before is off to a fiery start and if it wasn't for Cory Bellinger he just might be the talk of the town. Tampa Bay has two athletic OF studs in Meadows and CF Kevin Kiermaier.

Austin is currently batting .360 (139 ABs) with 12 dingers and 31 RBIs. Also swiped 6 bags. Yes this may go down as a real knucklehead move by the Pirates who traded him last season.

Meadows like Clint Frazier were considered future stars coming out of high school. But both have had major injury setbacks throughout their minor league careers hence their development has been much slower than anticipated. Hopefully Meadows breaks his injury bug which has riddled him since he broke into the minors in 2013. He has already missed some time this season.

But he has star potential. In fact I think an apt player comparison given his size and speed is Larry Walker. I didn't realize Walker batted .379 one year and .350 or better in three other seasons. Just forgot. I knew at one time he was big time but he went on a tear for several years. That is a tall wall to climb for Meadows and it is much too early to predict such big things but perhaps all that talent scouts were gushing about when he was in high school is finally coming to fruition. He is only 24 and that is about the age that Larry Walker started to get comfortable.

Hope he keeps it up and earns an All Star spot.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

cast your MLB all star game ballot if you think it will do any good:

https://www.mlb.com/all-star/ballot

Primary voting ends June 21st, but mark your calendars - The Starters Election begins June 26th!

You can vote up to 5 times per day. Here is my ballot:


Luke
Voit



DJ
LeMahieu



Alex
Bregman



Jordy
Mercer



Joey
Gallo



Austin
Meadows



Mike
Trout



James
McCann



Hunter
Pence

First Base


Freddie
Freeman

Second Base


Mike
Moustakas

Third Base


Kris
Bryant

Shortstop


Paul
DeJong

Outfield


Cody
Bellinger

Outfield


Charlie
Blackmon

Outfield


Bryce
Harper

Catcher


J.T.
Realmuto

Designated Hitter

 

[Shadowlight]

I like your style Knight. No diversity in the right direction. Another name to consider is David Dahl who is 25. Much like Meadows and Clint Frazier, Dahl was a highly rated five tool player out of high school but has suffered even more injuries than them which is saying something. He even ruptured his spleen during a Double A game. He had to have it removed.

That said he went 4-5 today with a home run in a stirring Colorado shootout win over Arizona. He is now sitting at .319 with 5 dingers and 18 RBIs.

 

[Truthteller]

Leonardfan, Freethinker and Shadowlight, thanks for the feedback on the Steroids topic. Don, I think it would be great if we could cull out several of the longer/better Steroid posts I have put forth on CF the last few weeks and make it into a new thread. Shadowlight and others have come up with great replies, so we can move them to the new thread at some point? Just give me some time to wrestle them up. It would be ashamed if all these Steroid posts were obscured in these broader threads, because I think the topic of Latin players (in particular) on Steroids is huge and severely downplayed by the corporate media. I also think the topic will get a lot replies and believe lurkers will get a ton of info from them.

In the NFL and NBA there seems to be a clear cut Caste system were the whites are filtered out on draft weekend/night. In baseball, it's harder to freeze out whites, because stats tell a clear story. For example, the NFL can keep around an endless supply of black busts at wide receivers (i.e. Breshad Perriman, Kevin White and Corey Coleman) and give them chance after chance based on "upside". Retarded whites fans will swallow that "upside" bulls$hit hook, line, and sinker almost every-time. And most black fans and Jewish media types (i.e. Weenieworld, SI and ESPN) don't care about talent or meritocracy in sports; they just want want "whitey purged".

In baseball, you simply can't hide a sub .190 hitter or pitcher with a 6.00 ERA and tell DWF's "don't worry, his upside is amazing"! Look at South Florida native "Sweet" Lew Brinson (acquired in the Christian Yelich deal) who was promoted as a modern day Andre Dawson. Along with fellow "incredible athlete/amazing upsider" Monte Harrison (also in the Yelich deal), Marlins DWF's were dreaming of a day when these two "super studs stolen away from football" were starting All-Star games and contending for Triple Crowns! Brinson was handed a starting job last year and did hit with some power (juiced ball), but was usually hitting around .160 and struck out way too much. Not even Weenieworld types can "polish that turd", like they do in the NFL, so he's been in the minors for quite a while. Meanwhile, Miami has promoted at least 4 (Dean, Berti, O'Brien, Cooper) white outfielders (at different times) this season to get a chance where Brinson failed. Harrison, by the way, has yet to make it up.

My point with Brinson, was MLB just can't have all those black and non-white busts, so I wonder if they've sort of intentionally looked the way on Steroid usage, desiring more black stars, even if they are mostly from Latin countries?

 

[Don Wassall]

Leonardfan, Freethinker and Shadowlight, thanks for the feedback on the Steroids topic. Don, I think it would be great if we could cull out several of the longer/better Steroid posts I have put forth on CF the last few weeks and make it into a new thread. Shadowlight and others have come up with great replies, so we can move them to the new thread at some point? Just give me some time to wrestle them up. It would be ashamed if all these Steroid posts were obscured in these broader threads, because I think the topic of Latin players (in particular) on Steroids is huge and severely downplayed by the corporate media. I also think the topic will get a lot replies and believe lurkers will get a ton of info from them.

TT, I don't have the ability to take individual posts from a thread and move them to a new thread, at least that I'm aware of. I think the easiest way would be for you to start a new thread and then copy and paste your previous posts on the subject. Authors of pertinent replies like Shadowlight and others can do the same with their posts in reply to (or quoting) your posts as they did above. A bit of tedious work and duplication for sure but I don't see a simpler way to do it.

 

[Truthteller]

Thanks Don, I did not know that. On some sites mods can move threads or posts. This one is obviously different. At some point I will do that -- start a steroid thread, unless someone beats me to it. Once the thread is started, I will move them via cut & paste. Have to come up with a great title: Steroids in baseball? Latin Players and Steroids?


Couple more random notes:

One of the Latin players I've often thought was very likely a Steroid creation, is Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera. The other night I was watching the Dodgers game and the announcer said Herrera was suspended. Considering Herrera had only 14 HR's in 612 minor league games (2604 PA's), then suddenly became a slugging outfielder with light-tower power in Philly, I assumed he was finally popped for Steroids. Turns out MLB's lax testing did not catch him. He was suspended for Domestic Violence (Roid Rage?), so he'll be out for quite a while -- perhaps the balance of the season? Anyhow, Phillies have moved vastly underrated athlete and potential Gold-Glove shortstop Scott Kingery to centerfield. Hate to lose a quality white shortstop, but at least Kingery can start every day now, then move back to SS some day?

In recent years the Phillies have mostly been a Latin/Dominican team (every day lineup) and I've rooted against them. Things got so bad last year that Philly legend Mike Schmidt was almost fired as a TV broadcaster for merely suggesting that Herrera might not be a great fit as team captain because he wasn't fluent in English. Schmidt apologized to the Marxist media a million times and kept his job. But signing Bryce Harper and trading for J.T. Realmuto, to go along with 2018 token cracker/starter Reese Hoskins, makes them more watchable. In the short-term, they will still be a team I will continue to root against -- in terms of making the playoffs. But that could change soon.

They have Mickey Moniak, the #1 overall pick in the 2016 draft. Moniak has not been a smash success at an early age, like Mike Trout and Harper were, but he recently turned 21 and he's steadily improving. And don't forget, unlike a lot of these Dominican "teen phenoms", it's doubtful Moniak is a serious steroid user. Speaking of potential steroid freaks, Phillies current third baseman is starting to fade fast (Yasiel Puig style) after looking like the greatest prospect on the planet a few years ago. So much so, that the Phil's used their 3rd overall pick in 2018 on Wichita State's Alec Bohm, who is widely compared to Kris Bryant. Centerfielder Adam Haseley, a top 10 pick in 2017 recently promoted to AAA, is another to watch. And unlike Moniak, he's really lit things up in the minors. Although, in fairness, Adam played big time college ball; Mickey signed out of high school.

One last point on the Phillies: African American outfielders Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr were both highly regarded prospects that had decent seasons in the last two years. I'm sure Philly DWF's saw them as long-term, entrenched starters as recently as 12 months ago. Currently both appear to be "busting" at the ages of 25 (Williams) and 28 (Altherr) and could be out of the Majors soon. Altherr was cut last week and picked up by the Mets. He's currently hitting .054 this season, after hitting .272 with 19HR's and 65 RBI's in 2017. Williams is hitting .165 with 1 HR and 4 RBI's after strong 2017/2018 seasons.

______________

In a recent post, I mentioned Minnesota Twins shortstop/rising A.L. MVP candidate Jorge Palonco looked like a potential Steroid user. Turns out I made a mistake: He is actually a confirmed Steroid user -- was suspended for half of the 2018 season for 'Roids. Just wanted to clear that up, as the former light-hitting shortstop is currently favored to start in the All-Star game.

______________

Shadowlight and KnightedSoldier, two other goys that have quietly had great seasons and deserve serious A.S. consideration are Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil of the New York Mets. I'd be surprised if Alonso (a rookie with 19 HR's) did not make the All-Star team and could start as a DH? McNeil was red-hot prior to nagging injuries. Was in a prolonged slump before going on the I.L., but is still hitting .333, with a .418 OBP. In an era of juiced baseballs, he's a throw-back type singles, doubles, triples contact hitter with speed, who doesn't strike out much.

 

[TomIron361]

MLB’s attendance problem is getting worse
By Associated Press

The Marlins haven't been drawing many fans this season. AP

NEW YORK — The Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins drew 12,653 Wednesday night — combined.

Baltimore, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Tampa Bay set stadium lows this year. Kansas City had its smallest home crowd since 2011 and Toronto and San Francisco since 2010. The Marlins’ average attendance is less than Triple-A Las Vegas.

Major League Baseball’s overall average of 26,854 through Wednesday is 1.4 percent below the 27,242 through the similar point last season, which wound up below 30,000 for the first time since 2003.

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred attributes this year’s drop to fewer season tickets but emphasizes day-of-game sales are up 6 percent.

“Given the explosion of entertainment alternatives and the growth of the secondary market, it is not surprising that season ticket sales can be challenging,” he said. “The clubs are responding to this challenge with creative and effective approaches. For example, sales of subscription tickets are double what they were a year ago. And the Twins recently had a $5 flash sale that produced crowds of over 30,000 in three of four games, and the largest single-game attendance since 2016.”

Nineteen of the 30 teams have seen their average fall from a similar point last year, with the largest drops in Toronto (6,963), San Francisco (6,463), Baltimore (3,839) and Detroit (3,686).

Large rises have taken place for Philadelphia (10,383), Oakland (4,027), San Diego (3,465) and the Chicago White Sox (2,311). The Phillies signed Bryce Harper and the Padres added Manny Machado.

“A lot of it comes down to competition. Fans want to know their teams are doing everything they can to compete for a championship every year,” union head Tony Clark said. “I see every empty seat as a missed opportunity. Experiencing a game and seeing players perform in person creates a bond with baseball; our industry needs to find ways to convert those empty seats into lifelong fans.”


The Rays and Marlins drew 12,653 Wednesday night — combined.AP
MLB’s average peaked at 32,785 in 2007 — the last year before the Great Recession and the next-to-last season before the New York Yankees and Mets moved to smaller stadiums. The average was at 30,517 in 2015 before sliding for three straight years, and last season’s final figure of 28,830 marked a 4% drop, the overall number hurt by unusually cold and wet weather early in the season.

Manfred points to other metrics that please MLB: Games top prime-time cable ratings in 24 of 25 markets and MLB.tv streaming is up 8.5%. He views increases for the Phillies, Padres, Athletics and White Sox tied to team performance.

Florida remains a problem on both coasts.

Despite a sparkling, eight-season-old ballpark with a retractable roof, Miami is averaging 9,554 in Derek Jeter’s second season as chief executive — below the 9,582 average for Triple-A Las Vegas in its first season at a new 10,000-capacity stadium.

Tampa Bay plays in one of the most outmoded facilities in the major leagues and drew 5,786 against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, the smallest home crowd for the Rays, who started play at Tropicana Field in 1998.

“The more people there are, the more energy there’s going to be,” Tampa Bay outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said. “No matter what crowd you’re playing in front of, you have to get motivated.”

A quartet of last-place teams has seen swaths of empty seats.

Miami is on track to have the lowest home attendance in the National League for the seventh straight season. Tampa Bay is at the bottom of the AL for the fifth consecutive year.

“Any time you’re seeing less people show up to the ballpark, I think you’re wondering why and you’re wondering how you can change that,” said Miami first baseman Neil Walker, accustomed to big crowds from his time in New York. “You’ve got to assume that it has a little bit to do with it being expensive to come to the ballpark.”

Having traded many veterans, the Orioles are 28th in the majors at 16,263. Baltimore topped 2 million in 21 of its first 25 seasons at Camden Yards, exceeding 3 million nine times. But the Orioles drew 6,585 against Oakland on April 8, the lowest in the ballpark’s 28-season history except for a 2015 game closed to the public at a time when the city was plagued by rioting.

“I wish fans were here. When we played in Wrigley, the energy level was off the charts,” first-year Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “I’m hoping that someday soon that will be the case here.”

Cincinnati’s crowd of 7,799 against Milwaukee on April 1 was the lowest for a Reds’ home game since 1984 at Riverfront Stadium. That same day, Toronto drew 10,460 against the Orioles, the smallest attendance at the Rogers Centre since 2010.

San Francisco drew 28,030 vs. Pittsburgh on April 10, the Giants’ lowest home crowd since 2010.

Kansas City’s crowd of 10,024 against the Twins on April 2 was the lowest at Kauffman Stadium since 2011. Minnesota drew 11,465 against
Toronto on April 17, the lowest figure in Target Field’s 10-season history.

“As a kid, I loved more than anything to go to the ballpark and I loved nothing more than playing baseball,” Walker said. “But I think a lot of people are just — they want action now. They don’t want to be totally consumed with a game maybe that’s just not timed.”
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It's my view that attendance is down because young people/children don't play the game and they don't even go outside where the game is played. In the not too distant future, teams will fold.

 

[Shadowlight]

They have Mickey Moniak, the #1 overall pick in the 2016 draft. Moniak has not been a smash success at an early age, like Mike Trout and Harper were, but he recently turned 21 and he's steadily improving.

Moniak was billed as a smooth athletic fielder with a contact ready bat but his climb through the minors has been a mighty struggle. Sometimes you wonder if it is lack of strength in the wrist and arm areas? He has had trouble hitting.

The MLB draft is Monday but I have been reticent to discuss MLB drafts here because it is largely a crap shoot. Half the time first round picks don't even make the big leagues.

Moniak batted .270 last year and is at .251 in the tough Double A Eastern League as I post. He does have 5 triples and is 6-6 in stolen bases.

And he has battled through despite not meeting the high expectations of being the first pick in a draft. But the good news is he just turned 21 and perhaps with some added maturity and an increase in his core strength, which comes with age, he just might pan out after all. It would be swell to see him manning CF for the Phillies with Harper in RF for years to come.

This year's high school position player stud is Bobby Witt Jr. whose father pitched in MLB for many years. Witt is an all around SS with speed and some pop. Might be a baseball version of CM with his dad guiding him along so I am confident Witt will pan out. He is 6'1" 185 lbs.

Last year's prize SS in the draft was Brice Turang and he is off to a very fine start this season raking the ball and stealing bases. Turang is a speedy defensive minded SS and one to keep an eye on further down the road. He is in the Brewers farm system.

One minor point about attendance. The Florida teams are an embarrassment and should relocate. But baseball ticket prices have gone way up. It used to be affordable for average households to attend MLB games but that sadly is a thing of the past.

That isn't the only reason for the drop but if say the minor leagues are doing well attendance wise then that is a clue the MLB ticket prices are becoming a problem. I know Yankee tickets are sky high. Season ticket prices are outrageous.

MLB used to have fan friendly ticket prices in comparison to the NFL, NHL and NBA. But that gap is closing. Which is why I think minor league attendance has been up in recent years. Since baseball is the best "family attendance" type of sport many families figure why go broke, in this so called booming economy, bringing the kids to a MLB game when a minor league game is the better price option?

And Austin Meadows went 2-5 with 4 RBIs last night. He is hitting .500 over the past seven games. His younger brother Parker was drafted last year is also highly touted but he is struggling in his first full season so far. Parker is a rangy 6'5" OF and is athletic just like Austin.

Hoping Mike Trout wakes up. He had two nice hits last night as the Angels have been winning games of late.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Trout 1-3 with a BB and HR last night. Even during his 'slumps' he's slow and steady in racking up the stats.

Bellinger 2-4, hitting .379 now.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

cast your MLB all star game ballot if you think it will do any good:

https://www.mlb.com/all-star/ballot

I'm trying to cast 5 ballots every day for the white players. If you have 5 minutes, please help our guys out. (I always put in a fake email address, you don't have to verify it)

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

I'm trying to cast 5 ballots every day for the white players. If you have 5 minutes, please help our guys out. (I always put in a fake email address, you don't have to verify it)

Also I noticed that the voting is open "worldwide" as it makes you select what country you're from. What a sick disgrace that "American" sports are really the world's sports teams, whereas, I was reading in Japan they only allow so many foreigners on their teams. Just like everything else, whites, or even Americans in general, aren't allowed to have anything of their own because that would be racist.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Baseball's likely #1 overall pick intentionally walked with bases loaded

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ml...tschman-gets-barry-bonds-treatment/ar-AACf15f

The Bearcats decided to intentionally walk the Oregon State catcher with the bases loaded and nobody out in a 5-2 game, forcing in a run.

Rutschman is batting .418 this season with 10 doubles and 17 home runs. He has 75 walks on the season compared to just 37 strikeouts. This is his second straight season batting over .400 for the Beavers.

The junior catcher is widely expected to be the top overall pick in the upcoming MLB Draft. He’s not someone Cincinnati wanted to see beat them

 

[Carolina Speed]

Trout 1-3 with a BB and HR last night. Even during his 'slumps' he's slow and steady in racking up the stats.

Bellinger 2-4, hitting .379 now.

Trout another HR,(14) tonight. Also,
Gallo, 17
Rizzo, 16
Goldschmidt, 12
Yelich, 22
Moustakas, 16
Freeman, 14
Swanson, 11....and the Braves Austin Riley with his 8th in 16 games! The most by any Braves player in history through 16 games!

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Trout's getting hot. 3-3 + 1 BB with 2 R, and 2 RBI so far today. should get at least 1 more AB.