MLB 2021 Season

[Booth]

Looks like the injury bug has hit Mike Trout again.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ml...s-due-to-calf-injury/ar-BB1gSNEk?ocid=U453DHP

 

[shamrock]

Yet another reason to hate today's baseball: Someone named Vermin Mercedes ignored Tony LaRussa's take sign and hit a homer on a 3 and 0 pitch, justifying his insubordination with "I play MY game." As if that's not enough, the opposing team had a catcher pitching to him - at 45 mph speeds. What a nauseating mockery they've all made of the game, save for a handful of earnest players like the great Mike Trout. Those of us who grew up watching Musial, Spahn, Kaline, Seaver, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and other players who respected the game and gave it all they had all the time must be sickened by such a display of arrogance (by Vermin) and mockery (by catchers who pitch.... at 45 mph).

 

[Leonardfan]

Yet another reason to hate today's baseball: Someone named Vermin Mercedes ignored Tony LaRussa's take sign and hit a homer on a 3 and 0 pitch, justifying his insubordination with "I play MY game." As if that's not enough, the opposing team had a catcher pitching to him - at 45 mph speeds. What a nauseating mockery they've all made of the game, save for a handful of earnest players like the great Mike Trout. Those of us who grew up watching Musial, Spahn, Kaline, Seaver, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and other players who respected the game and gave it all they had all the time must be sickened by such a display of arrogance (by Vermin) and mockery (by catchers who pitch.... at 45 mph).

Let's just hope he gets thrown at and the pitcher can use the same excuse. Mercedes is 28 (in Dominican years) so he certainly should know the unspoken laws of the game.

 

[shamrock]

Let's just hope he gets thrown at and the pitcher can use the same excuse.

Agreed. I can think of a few pitchers who'd have been happy to bust him good: Nolan Ryan, Drysdale, Lolich, Roger Clemens, Carlton, and a slew of others. Clemens would have nailed him and then dared him to come out to the mound.

 

[Leonardfan]

Kluber throws a no-hitter!

 

[white lightning]

It's unbelievable how many no hit games we have seen already this year. If you like pitching, it's a dream season so far!

 

[Bucky]

What a Cohencidence that as soon as they get rid of the lighter balls, pitching becomes relevant again! I'm enjoying it, never though I'd say I was getting sick of seeing too many HRs. But I was.

 

[Leonardfan]

Jesse Winker with a 3 HR night!

 

[Carolina Speed]

Jesse Winker with a 3 HR night!

Twins OF-1B Alex Kirilloff returned from the IL going 2-5, 2R, and 2RBI. Hopefully he's back to stay.
Braves Austin Riley on a tear going 3-4, 2 HR's, 3RBI's, and 2 runs scored. His average is up over .300 now. SS Dansby Swanson went 3-4 as well.

 

[Leonardfan]

Twins OF-1B Alex Kirilloff returned from the IL going 2-5, 2R, and 2RBI. Hopefully he's back to stay.
Braves Austin Riley on a tear going 3-4, 2 HR's, 3RBI's, and 2 runs scored. His average is up over .300 now. SS Dansby Swanson went 3-4 as well.

I am hoping Witt gets a call up this year too. Kelenic has started slow but will hopefully adjust in the next month or so.

Joc Pederson has been on a bit of a tear for the Cubs as of late.



Buster Posey is having a great start to the year .359 batting average !

 

[Phall]

This past Tuesday, the Giants struck out 17 times, a franchise record for a nine inning game, while still winning 4-2. The club was founded 148 years ago.

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article at ESPN (feel free not to click through):

In April, there were 1,092 more strikeouts than hits, the largest such gap in any month in major league history. The season strikeout record surely will be broken this year for the 15th consecutive time. In 2016, the percentage of plate appearances that ended in a strikeout was .211. It has risen, year by year -- .216, .223, .230, .234. Right now, it stands at .243. Those are, of course, the six highest rates in major league history. In 1968, the famed Year of the Pitcher, the K rate was only .158.

It's rare to see a non-racial narrative building up in any sport. Now, I know the "boring baseball" theme does overlap with letting non-white players flip their bats, stare at their home runs, and break the rest of the unwritten rules. This analytics-driven trend of throw hard, swing hard seems to be changing the game just as much as Manfred's stupid extra innings runners. I wonder if they will move the mound, ban infield shifts, add a DH to the National League, or some other big countermeasure sometime soon.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

Another white batter hit in face with fastball. White pitcher, but this seems to be happening a lot to white hitters lately. I would bet the reaction to black stars being hit in the face would be a lot more harsh and there'd be an uproar over it. But for white hitters, it's "just a pitch that got away".

 

[shamrock]

This past Tuesday, the Giants struck out 17 times, a franchise record for a nine inning game, while still winning 4-2. The club was founded 148 years ago.

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article at ESPN (feel free not to click through):


It's rare to see a non-racial narrative building up in any sport. Now, I know the "boring baseball" theme does overlap with letting non-white players flip their bats, stare at their home runs, and break the rest of the unwritten rules. This analytics-driven trend of throw hard, swing hard seems to be changing the game just as much as Manfred's stupid extra innings runners. I wonder if they will move the mound, ban infield shifts, add a DH to the National League, or some other big countermeasure sometime soon.

I would love to see the game die. For me, it died when the steroid abuse became pervasive back in the 90s anyway, but today's game is as boring as anything can be, but bat flips, guys showing off, hideous tattoos, batters admiring home runs, and other such travesties are just obscenities viewers must tolerate if they choose to watch now. Manfred is a mental defective, and his new rules are abominations that cure nothing and only add to the problems.

The real problem is that nothing happens on the field any more. Baseball has become little more than a game of pitch and catch like we all used to do in our yards as kids. Pitcher throws to catcher who throws it right back and so on until the batter finally either strikes out, walks, or hits one out so that the game of pitch and catch can resume. The home run is far from the most exciting ending to a ballgame; the best ending is when a fast runner's on second, the batter gets a sharp base hit, and everyone in the stands holds their collective breath waiting to see whether the outfielder's throw cuts the runner down or whether the runner, sliding for home in a whirl of dust, beats the throw and wins the game. That's baseball. Unfortunately, it's rarer now than it's ever been. And I, for one, will not pay for an MLB Season Ticket to watch two guys play catch with each other.

 

[TomIron361]

Johneshwy Fargas - I don't know who the aforementioned guy is but he's on the Mets and he got hurt. What is this with MLB? Is there some sort of award given out for the team with the most injuries I don't know about? These guys must be the most fragile bunch a pansies the world has ever seen.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Johneshwy Fargas - I don't know who the aforementioned guy is but he's on the Mets and he got hurt. What is this with MLB? Is there some sort of award given out for the team with the most injuries I don't know about? These guys must be the most fragile bunch a pansies the world has ever seen.

Yep. Gone are the days of Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive game streak. Guys like Pete Rose who regularly played the full 162 game schedule. As hard a Rose played, he was never seriously injured. He played all 162 games at age 41! I'm sure there were many other players who were able to play every day.
Now, in today's MLB Mike Trout can't stay healthy at a relatively young age. Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager are younger than Trout and can't stay healthy. Too many others to name who can't play a consecutive month much less a full season. I don't think it's just baseball, although I could be wrong. Injuries seem to be more of an issue than in years gone by.
Is there someone here who can speak more to this problem? I think someone on CF once said it could be something in the food? IDK, but it seems to be a big problem over that two to three decades.
Anyone have any ideas?
Could someone who may know more about this start a thread?

 

[TomIron361]

Indians’ Zach Plesac hurt thumb ‘aggressively ripping off’ shirt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Things are getting really dumb when a guy hurts himself taking off a shirt.

 

[Don Wassall]

Yep. Gone are the days of Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive game streak. Guys like Pete Rose who regularly played the full 162 game schedule. As hard a Rose played, he was never seriously injured. He played all 162 games at age 41! I'm sure there were many other players who were able to play every day.
Now, in today's MLB Mike Trout can't stay healthy at a relatively young age. Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager are younger than Trout and can't stay healthy. Too many others to name who can't play a consecutive month much less a full season. I don't think it's just baseball, although I could be wrong. Injuries seem to be more of an issue than in years gone by.
Is there someone here who can speak more to this problem? I think someone on CF once said it could be something in the food? IDK, but it seems to be a big problem over that two to three decades.
Anyone have any ideas?
Could someone who may know more about this start a thread?

Players used to have natural strength from growing up outdoors or working on farms and eating natural, wholesome food. Now it's muscles and bulk created through weights and chemicals. Great sluggers like Jimmy Foxx and even Mickey Mantle would be average-sized at best in today's game.

It seems to be even worse with pitchers. The more they're babied the more injury prone many become. For most of baseball's history, pitchers went out every four days (sometimes three and even two days), and were expected to throw a complete game unless their stuff was off and a reliever was needed. Few suffered arm injuries.

Check out this play to see, as if we didn't know already, how much fundamentals have deteriorated. Pure idiocy by Will Craig and his fellow Keystone Kops on the Pirates:

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1397965478027530246?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1397965478027530246|twgr^|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https://nypost.com/2021/05/27/video-javier-baez-embarrasses-pirates-in-ridiculous-scene/

 

[Carolina Speed]

Check out this play to see, as if we didn't know already, how much fundamentals have deteriorated. Pure idiocy by Will Craig and his fellow Keystone Kops on the Pirates:

It's not all bad for the Pirates Don. Second baseman/OF Adam Frazier is leading the league in hits with 64 and batting .332.
Three of the top 5 MLB base stealers are white.
1. Merrifield, KC 14
3. Turner, WAS 10
3. Hampson, COL. 10

 

[Phall]

Wow, that Pirates play was a Bill Buckner-esque catastrophe! My 8th grade coach would have gone apoplectic if we’d fumbled a play like that.

The hapless Tigers got a nice 3-2 win tonight after a walk-off homer from LF Robbie Grossman in the 10th inning. Starter Casey Mize did not get a decision, allowing one run in 5 innings and striking out 7 on 97 pitches. Gerritt Cole went 6 innings, allowed a run, and struck out 5 on 103 pitches for the Yankees. Seems a little early to give them the hook in a pitchers’ duel, to be honest.

 

[knightedsoldier5000]

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3964565/posts

San Francisco Giants debut special Pride uniforms, first MLB team to do so

The San Francisco Giants will debut special uniforms to honor the LGBTQ+ community this week, the team announced on Tuesday, the first day of Pride Month.
The move will make the Giants the first team in Major League Baseball to incorporate the 11 Pride colors into an on-field uniform.
“We are extremely proud to stand with the LGBTQ+ community as we kick off one of the best annual celebrations in San Francisco by paying honor to the countless achievements and contributions of all those who identify as LGBTQ+ and are allies of the LGBTQ+ community,” Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said in a statement.
The team’s jerseys will feature the Giants logo in the Pride colors on their sleeve and hat, starting with their game against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park on Saturday — which is the third of their four game series with the Cubs.
The custom uniforms are similar to what the Giants’ High-A affiliate did back in 2019, which made them the first MiLB team to wear Pride-themed uniforms.

 

[Phall]

That will put the butts in the seats! I appreciate how the gays keep adding colors to the Roy-G-Biv to account for the growing list of delusions and sex fetishes they have normalized.

The Brewers lost 10-7 to the Tigers on Tuesday despite hitting five home runs. Teams are 18-4 on the season when they hit at least five homers… wow, four teams have lost with that stat line. The two teams combined for 9 home runs and 25 strikeouts.

 

[Don Wassall]

Bob Brenly grovels and apologizes for saying nothing wrong, will now undergo sensitivity training from a commissar:

https://www.outkick.com/bob-brenly-marcus-stroman-mets/

 

[Bucky]

Bob Brenly grovels and apologizes for saying nothing wrong, will now undergo sensitivity training from a commissar:

https://www.outkick.com/bob-brenly-marcus-stroman-mets/

Pathetic, but predictable.

 

[shamrock]

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3964565/posts

San Francisco Giants debut special Pride uniforms, first MLB team to do so

The San Francisco Giants will debut special uniforms to honor the LGBTQ+ community this week, the team announced on Tuesday, the first day of Pride Month.
The move will make the Giants the first team in Major League Baseball to incorporate the 11 Pride colors into an on-field uniform.
“We are extremely proud to stand with the LGBTQ+ community as we kick off one of the best annual celebrations in San Francisco by paying honor to the countless achievements and contributions of all those who identify as LGBTQ+ and are allies of the LGBTQ+ community,” Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said in a statement.
The team’s jerseys will feature the Giants logo in the Pride colors on their sleeve and hat, starting with their game against the Chicago Cubs at Oracle Park on Saturday — which is the third of their four game series with the Cubs.
The custom uniforms are similar to what the Giants’ High-A affiliate did back in 2019, which made them the first MiLB team to wear Pride-themed uniforms.

Baseball has become an absurdist parody of itself. Bears no resemblance to the manly and fascinating game it once was. Love to hear what Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, Goose Gossage, Nolan Ryan and so many others would say about this. Time to put the game out of its misery, just like you would an animal in the agony of its death throes.

 

[Don Wassall]

Check out this play to see, as if we didn't know already, how much fundamentals have deteriorated. Pure idiocy by Will Craig and his fellow Keystone Kops on the Pirates:

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1397965478027530246?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^1397965478027530246|twgr^|twcon^s1_&ref_url=https://nypost.com/2021/05/27/video-javier-baez-embarrasses-pirates-in-ridiculous-scene/

Here's another Keystone Kops play from the good ol' Buccos: an idiot loses a home run and is called out because he didn't bother to touch first base. The Pirates in recent years have made numerous base running blunders that defy belief and I'm sure such is the case with the other teams as well.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-misses-first-base-loses-home-run/7612702002/