2011 MLB Season Thread

[BigTimeTimmyJim]

This is probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

http://www.mytopclip.com/videos/36043/Hawk-Harrelson's-in-depth-analysis-of-a-Jim-Thome-HR

The only thing that comes to mind at the moment which tops that is this
http://www.viddler.com/explore/STO/videos/17/

 

[FRUMPY]

Chipper Jones moves into second all time for the most RBI's by a switch hitter, passing his childhood hero micky mantle. This guy is a serious legend in my books.

Having a damn good season thus far coming back from a knee reco at 37 years of age.

Braves finally back to .500 and bats starting to come around and match their pretty good pitching

 

[BigTimeTimmyJim]

Pablo Sandoval out 4-6 weeks with a broken right hand.

What a terrible start to the season the Giants are having.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Perfect scenario to highlight why W/L record for pitchers is one of the most ridiculous stats in all of sports.

Astros lead into 9th inning 1-0 on the back of a terrific outing by Wandy Rodriguez. Brandon "i couldn't save a game to save my life" Lyon relieves him in the 9th. Fielder homers and ties the game at 1-1. Another BS to Lyon.

Astros single in bottom of 9th brings home the winning run and Lyon gets the win when the only reason we won was because of Rodriguez!!! Ridiculous!!

 

[lionbear]

Loving the Indians at the moment How long can they keep it up?

When do they go from people saying they are ordinary and this is luck to a team considered not too bad?

 

[Oscarman]

Loving the Indians at the moment How long can they keep it up?

When do they go from people saying they are ordinary and this is luck to a team considered not too bad?

Not sure how long it will last, but it is awesome at the moment. So many different players popping up to win games. Most wins ever in April too.

The question is: when will there be a Tribe game on ONE?

 

[BigTimeTimmyJim]

When do they go from people saying they are ordinary and this is luck to a team considered not too bad?

One thing you'll learn about baseball writers is that only 6 teams exist: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Cardinals, Phillies, Rockies. If your team is not one of these, there is an extremely high chance that they do not watch or pay any attention to your teams games.

Being the underdog is a great thing in baseball. Nobody gave the Giants a chance last year, and they won it all.

The baseball season is incredibly long, so what happens in one month doesn't mean it will continue. Once again, compare the Giants pitching in August to September. The Mets, and more recently the Tigers have shown that it is possible to **** things up beyond belief, so don't get too excited. Teams like the Brewers have shown it's almost customary to explode mid-season.

That being said, if I was an Indians fan I'd be going pretty nuts right now.

 

[Cousin Jed]

The Rays?

You sure about that one?

 

[USACats]

The Rays?

You sure about that one?

Needs to take the Cards and Rockies out too, and insert the Cubs instead.

 

[USACats]

Loving the Indians at the moment How long can they keep it up?

When do they go from people saying they are ordinary and this is luck to a team considered not too bad?

Outside of the Tribe, that AL Central is BAD. The two preseason contenders are 10 games out on May 1st. Sure, there is a lot of season to go, but the Twins are severely banged up, and the Sox are just playing bad, bad baseball. With the drama there, that team is a time bomb. KC is still a couple years away. I could see Detroit putting it together, but their offense has been awful, and their position players are already injured.

Cleveland is a fun team to watch. Now, if you saw Justin Masterson starting 5-0 w/a 2.25 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, I need lottery numbers from you. I'm confident that won't hold up for an entire season, but I'd like to be wrong.

 

[USACats]

Loving the Indians at the moment How long can they keep it up?

When do they go from people saying they are ordinary and this is luck to a team considered not too bad?

Rob Neyer (former ESPN'er, now freelance/SBN) just posted this in regards to the Indians and Sox/Twins.

http://mlb.sbnation.com/2011/5/2/2148665/twins-or-white-sox

 

[BigTimeTimmyJim]

The Rays get coverage purely because of the division they are in.

Why would you take the Cardinals out? ESPN LOVES the Cardinals, they get just as much coverage when Pujols performs bad compared to when he performs... like Pujols. That's without combining that with their love of Yadier and Garcia.

The Rockies are another team people obsess over due to the streaks the team seems to go on at different times each year.

The only reason the Cubs are reported on, is mocking them.

 

[USACats]

The Rays get coverage purely because of the division they are in.

Why would you take the Cardinals out? ESPN LOVES the Cardinals, they get just as much coverage when Pujols performs bad compared to when he performs... like Pujols. That's without combining that with their love of Yadier and Garcia.

The Rockies are another team people obsess over due to the streaks the team seems to go on at different times each year.

The only reason the Cubs are reported on, is mocking them.

Not so much...and I say this as a Cards fan from StL. The Cardinals aren't a sexy team to ESPN. Easily behind the Phils, Giants (now), Dodgers, and Cubs in the NL alone in ESPN coverage, not to mention the Yanks, Sawwwwx, Rangers (now), and even the Angels.

ESPN digs Pujols. But they have zero coverage of Garcia...you're thinking Carp and Wainwright, and even then, not too much from ESPN. Yadi isn't a draw to ESPN either. ESPN has massive east coast, Chicago, and LA boners. Just look at ESPN(Insert City).com to see where ESPN's interests are. There isn't one for St. Louis. MLB Network gives some great all around coverage of all teams.

The Cubs have a national following, a large payroll, big market, and a have a history of losing. ESPN LOVES the Cubs. Their issue is, Wrigley can only have like 20 night games a year, and that's where ESPN gets their ratings from...night baseball, not straight up day baseball.

The Rocks get passed on by ESPN until mid-July every year, and that's only if they are making a comeback in the NL West.

So you're saying the Jays and O's get good coverage because they're in the AL East with the Yanks, Sox, and Rays then? It's purely the Yanks and Sox that get any coverage out of that division, minus the year the Rays made it to the WS.

 

[BigTimeTimmyJim]

Not so much...and I say this as a Cards fan from StL. The Cardinals aren't a sexy team to ESPN. Easily behind the Phils, Giants (now), Dodgers, and Cubs in the NL alone in ESPN coverage, not to mention the Yanks, Sawwwwx, Rangers (now), and even the Angels.

Hardly.

They're obviously not covered as much as the Phillies or Yankees, ever since they won the WS coverage on the Giants is rather minimal. It only picks up during the Dodgers series really. The only reason the Dodgers are getting coverage at the moment is due to the takeover situation and Eithier. Before that even happened, all the talk last season was about the divorce, rather than the team itself.

Angels are only starting to come back into the light.

ESPN digs Pujols. But they have zero coverage of Garcia...you're thinking Carp and Wainwright, and even then, not too much from ESPN. Yadi isn't a draw to ESPN either. ESPN has massive east coast, Chicago, and LA boners. Just look at ESPN(Insert City).com to see where ESPN's interests are. There isn't one for St. Louis. MLB Network gives some great all around coverage of all teams.

I'm not thinking of Carpenter or Wainwright. Writers dig tommy-john guys who are actually good. ESPN loves Yadier, they consider him to be one of the best catchers in baseball. With his batting improvements over the years it has only given them more reasons to praise him.

The ESPN state sites are about as useful as ESPN-W. The reasons those sites are set up is for all sports. Ofcourse St. Louis won't have one. It's a city with only 3 teams.

The Cubs have a national following, a large payroll, big market, and a have a history of losing. ESPN LOVES the Cubs. Their issue is, Wrigley can only have like 20 night games a year, and that's where ESPN gets their ratings from...night baseball, not straight up day baseball.

The Cubs are also shitting themselves in debt and have ridiculous prices because of this, which actually keeps people away from games. ESPN loves the Cubs losing. Not the Cubs as a team. They're the lovable losers.

The Rocks get passed on by ESPN until mid-July every year, and that's only if they are making a comeback in the NL West.

After Jeter, Tulo is basically every beat writers favourite shortstop to write about. As a team, collectively they're extremely streaky which makes them not only easy to report on, but fun.

So you're saying the Jays and O's get good coverage because they're in the AL East with the Yanks, Sox, and Rays then? It's purely the Yanks and Sox that get any coverage out of that division, minus the year the Rays made it to the WS.

Where did I even mention those teams?

It's not purely Red Sox and Yankees because it's evolved into a 3 way race in that division with the addition of the Rays. As the Yankees and Red Sox continue to age, the Rays have been able to chase them with improving young baseballers. Just because their fanbase is garbage doesn't mean they don't receive coverage.

 

[USACats]

Hardly.

They're obviously not covered as much as the Phillies or Yankees, ever since they won the WS coverage on the Giants is rather minimal. It only picks up during the Dodgers series really. The only reason the Dodgers are getting coverage at the moment is due to the takeover situation and Eithier. Before that even happened, all the talk last season was about the divorce, rather than the team itself.

Angels are only starting to come back into the light.



I'm not thinking of Carpenter or Wainwright. Writers dig tommy-john guys who are actually good. ESPN loves Yadier, they consider him to be one of the best catchers in baseball. With his batting improvements over the years it has only given them more reasons to praise him.

The ESPN state sites are about as useful as ESPN-W. The reasons those sites are set up is for all sports. Ofcourse St. Louis won't have one. It's a city with only 3 teams.



The Cubs are also shitting themselves in debt and have ridiculous prices because of this, which actually keeps people away from games. ESPN loves the Cubs losing. Not the Cubs as a team. They're the lovable losers.



After Jeter, Tulo is basically every beat writers favourite shortstop to write about. As a team, collectively they're extremely streaky which makes them not only easy to report on, but fun.



Where did I even mention those teams?

It's not purely Red Sox and Yankees because it's evolved into a 3 way race in that division with the addition of the Rays. As the Yankees and Red Sox continue to age, the Rays have been able to chase them with improving young baseballers. Just because their fanbase is garbage doesn't mean they don't receive coverage.

From your post, I'm not sure you're watching the US SportsCenter, which is where I thought you were going with this.

The Angels have the largest following in the 2nd largest city in the US...a city that ESPN has also opened a SC studio in across the street from Staples. ESPN is all over the Angels. Hell, the Angels and ESPN were owned by the same company (Disney) until Artie bought them a few years back and turned them into winners. LA fans are fickle and bandwagon...and so is ESPN with their coverage of the teams in the 2nd largest market in the US. ESPN loves the Dodgers, especially Kershaw, Torre during his run there, and Ethier (streak or not, dude is clutch). Plus, Vin Scully is the most recognizable voice in American sports, and he does LAD games. SC anchors usually acknowledge Vin at least a few times a week during the highlights. I know people that watch Dodgers game for Vin alone. He's that good. ESPN knows that people love Vin.

Garcia and Yadi don't grab viewers. Most fans have no clue who Jaime Garcia is. He was our #5 out of Spring Training last year, moved up to #3 in June, and while I like him (after all, I'm a Cards fan), I realize that he isn't even close to the upper echelon of SPs. Wasn't a hot prospect either. People don't tune in just for a Garcia start. People don't tune in just for Yadi either. There are only a couple catchers ESPN is all over- Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez. I'm as big a fan of Yadier Molina as there is, but he is a .280 hitter with a few HRs. Sure, he's probably the best behind the plate, but again, that doesn't grab viewers. Would you and millions tune in just to watch Yadier Molina behind the plate? No? ESPN gets that. That's why Joe Mauer, who hits .330/15/90 gets the top billing and endorsements on a team very similar to the Cardinals (market size, passionate fans, payroll). Yadi is a great defensive catcher, but can't touch Mauer or VMart in the box, and that's what people tune in for. How many times have you seen Yadi doing stuff on ESPN? Mauer is there all the time. ESPN loves him.

You said it yourself: ESPN loves the Cubs. The Cubs have new owners with deep pockets. Of course, this comes after the Tribune company ran up the payroll with studs that never could get the Cubs over the hump. I love this more than anyone can imagine.

And the ESPN(InsertCity).com sites are a true gauge of where ESPN's interests are. They don't make cash off Nashville, KC, etc. More content, specific shows created for their city sites, writers hired on specifically for that city...just watch where ESPN(InsertCity).com cities are in the SC rundown and how much time they get. Typically towards the beginning. Marlins/Nats, O's/Jays highlights? End of the show, and maybe :10 long. Watch how many of their games are on ESPN. Those ESPN(InsertCity).com teams? Yanks, Mets, Cubs, White Sox, BoSawwwwwx, Halos, Dodgers, and Rangers. Only one missing from that list of ESPN favorites is Philly.

An even easier way to look at this: http://www.stevetheump.com/Payrolls.htm

Take your top eight, throw in any other top five market team(s), you've got ESPN.

 

[USACats]

The Rays get coverage purely because of the division they are in.

So you're saying the Jays and O's get good coverage because they're in the AL East with the Yanks, Sox, and Rays then? It's purely the Yanks and Sox that get any coverage out of that division, minus the year the Rays made it to the WS.

Where did I even mention those teams?

In your earlier post where you said the Rays get coverage because the division they're in. The same exact one as the Jays and O's.

The Rays get nothing. Yanks and Sox get all the coverage in the AL East. The Rays have an exciting team, but if they can't sell out a playoff team, I can't argue that they deserve heavy coverage nationally. Why invest into a team that can't even fill seats in a pennant race. Same with the Cincinnati Reds.

 

[Oscarman]

Was just looking at the scores on the At Bat Lite app - how did the Mets not win with loaded bases and 1 out in the 9th?

Hello - sacrifice fly?

 

[Cousin Jed]

You woulld have gott extremely long odds of Liriano throwing a no hitter the way he has been pitching so far this year

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Was just looking at the scores on the At Bat Lite app - how did the Mets not win with loaded bases and 1 out in the 9th?

Hello - sacrifice fly?

grounded into double play. Not always that easy to hit a deep enough sac fly.

 

[USACats]

You woulld have gott extremely long odds of Liriano throwing a no hitter the way he has been pitching so far this year

Worst part? Liriano is really the best SP on that squad. Pavano? Ughhh...

I watched that game last night from start to finish since the earlier games on TV were turning into blowouts. The Sox got the bat on balls, so I'm a little surprised Liriano got the no-no. Valencia saved the no-no in the 7th or 8th on a SMASH down the line.

And how many people had this series as a battle to stay out of the AL Central basement in early May?

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Perfect scenario to highlight why W/L record for pitchers is one of the most ridiculous stats in all of sports.

Astros lead into 9th inning 1-0 on the back of a terrific outing by Wandy Rodriguez. Brandon "i couldn't save a game to save my life" Lyon relieves him in the 9th. Fielder homers and ties the game at 1-1. Another BS to Lyon.

Astros single in bottom of 9th brings home the winning run and Lyon gets the win when the only reason we won was because of Rodriguez!!! Ridiculous!!

Brandon blows another one!! 2-0 up bottom of the 9th. 5 batters get on and Astros lose 2-3. Spoils a good starting debut by Aneury(?) Rodriguez.
Has Lyon got something against pitchers named Rodriguez??

 

[Cousin Jed]

Fun game going in Boston....

 

[sblack]

2:45am

How good was this:

John, Tom and Larry serving free Hot chocolate to anyone that stayed.

 

[usalion]

Verlander with a no-no for the Tigers against the Blue Jays.
He was throwing 100 mph in the 9th
Second career no hitter, seventh in Tiger history
Only one walk allowed in the 8th

 

[USACats]

Verlander with a no-no for the Tigers against the Blue Jays.
He was throwing 100 mph in the 9th
Second career no hitter, seventh in Tiger history
Only one walk allowed in the 8th

Not sure what's in the water this week. Trying to think...Verlander and Lirano no-no's and Jaime Garcia, Yo Gallardo, and Lowe all go deep with perfect games.

Hell, Lowe had his going v Cliff Lee, who struck out 16. Crazy game.

I'm surprised with Verlander's. Not that he's not dominant, but he has struggled v Toronto over his career.