Teller Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 How's this for old.... I remember when Tim Wakefield was a Pirate! Yep, I was hoping his welcome back would be a little more rude that it has been. Got five off of him, but the Sox have homered twice in the top of the 7th. 5-4 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDoyler23 Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 At least he did better than John Wall. :pfft: It's amazing how so many world class athletes step to the mound and can't accurately throw a baseball at 60' 6". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metalhead Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 I just turned on the Rays-Reds game on espn. So what's the deal with espn putting the floating box over home plate showing the strike zone?? Seriously, it's one of the most annoying things I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teller Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Bucs 5-2 vs. the AL East. Who cares if 1/3 of our opening day lineup is out? Seriously. This team can play with ANYONE in baseball. ANYONE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins_Fan82 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 EPIC game last night. I was exhausted, and it was the bottom of the 14th, but something told me to stay. Coors field was PACKED all game long, but droves of people left after the end of each extra inning. By the bottom of the 14th, only the hardcore crowd was still there. It was well over a 4-hour game at that point, and pushing 11PM. The game started at 6:30. Bottom of the 14th, two outs, full count, runner on first. Runner goes on the pitch, and Ianetta hits a high blooper that falls between the shortstop and the centerfielder. here he comes, around 3rd. the throw is off, safe! ROCKIES WIN!!!!!!! the bottom of the lineup gets it done AGAIN!!! I am a life-long Orioles fan dating back to Memorial Stadium, but the Rockies are winning me over!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I wouldn't blame you if you switched. Looks like the Orioles will never have a winning season as long as I'm still alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tris Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Hooray for Umpires! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royallypwned Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 yet again, the Rangers take the "coveted" silver boot vs the DisAstros. God I hate interleague. The Lastros will probably top 100 losses this season. So awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjfootballer Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 And in a year where the Orioles drew a couple of NL Central teams, we get the Cards, Reds and Pirates and not the Lastros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble Screen Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Jair Jurrjens:notworthy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sportjunkie07 Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Jair Jurrjens:notworthy dude is good, still think its gonna fall out soon though. the orioles will continue to get destroyed by atlanta's pitching this weekend. what is going on with uggla? first mcclouth goes to the braves and sucks, now uggla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySkinsFan Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 Mariano Rivera closed out 2 batters in the bottom of the ninth against the Mets in a subway series. My favorite player. He's about 20 some away from the all time record. I hope he breaks it this year. Incredible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble Screen Posted July 2, 2011 Share Posted July 2, 2011 dude is good, still think its gonna fall out soon though. the orioles will continue to get destroyed by atlanta's pitching this weekend. what is going on with uggla? first mcclouth goes to the braves and sucks, now uggla. Just curious, why do you think Jurrjens is gonna fall out? Its not like he hasn't pitched alot of innngs before. I know he gets hurt from time to time, but there's no reason to think he can't keep up his current pace (or at least close to it). The thing that is so amazing about him is how he can locate his pitches. Like tonite, he rarely threw many balls over 90. Even when he doesn't have the velocity, he still pitches great. The announcers even commented tonite that he might even be a better pitcher when he doesn't throw as hard. As for Uggla. Man, I don't even know where to start with this guy. He's been a bum so far. But he might just be a slow starter, I dunno. He looks completely lost of there right now. One at bat tonite, he came up with runners on 2nd and 3rd. There was a base open. And it appeared that Guthrie wasn't gonna give him anything to hit. Make him get himself out with pitches off the plate, and if he walks, at least they have set up the DP. What does he do? He swings at pitches nowhere close to the plate.:doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACW Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Okay, why does 1 division have 4 teams while another has 6? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Because that's how they roll. Jair Jurrjens for NL Cy Young / MVP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teller Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 July 4th. One game out, and two more against the lowly 'Stros. Why...not...US?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble Screen Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Because that's how they roll. Jair Jurrjens for NL Cy Young / MVP. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew_Fl Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 chone figgins :doh: ]This group of players have hurt their respective teams immensely over the first halfBy Jonah Keri FanGraphs Welcome to the No-Stars Team. Rather than focusing on All-Stars, or All-Star snubs, we reward some of the worst first-half performers with special honors. If you're a .190 hitter or own a 6.00 ERA, you've got a good shot at making the team. But special circumstances help. A player who's having a bad year and getting tons of playing time has a shot at the team. A player who's having a bad year, getting tons of playing time and getting paid superstar dollars is a virtual lock. Without further ado, here's this year's No-Stars Team: C Joe Mauer (.244/.298/.291, minus-0.2 WAR, $23 million) A consensus top-10 MLB player, and possibly the best player on the planet just two years ago, Mauer has seen persistent leg injuries curtail his power and threaten his longterm outlook. He has just one homer since Aug. 19 of last year and isn't roping line drives like he once did either. Still just 28, Mauer has plenty of time to get healthy and return to elite status. But calls for him to switch positions to avoid further injuries aren't reassuring, especially when Mauer has seven and a half years left on a $184 million contract. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1B Aubrey Huff (.244/.299/.379, minus-0.7 WAR, $10 million) Never overpay for last year's stats. It's a truism that's held true for as long as baseball has been played, yet general managers continue to make this mistake. The Giants acquired Huff on a cheap one-year, $3 million deal, following a season in which he was nearly two full wins worse than a replacement-level player. He then enjoyed a monster season, putting up an .891 OPS and serving as a key player on the Giants' championship team. The lesson should have been that buying low can pay big dividends. Giants GM Brian Sabean apparently thought it meant that giving a wildly erratic, 34-year-old defensive butcher a two-year, $22 million deal, even with a top first-base prospect waiting in the wings. Flags fly forever, but postchampionship glow can lead to bad decisions too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2B Dan Uggla (.175/.241/.330, minus-0.7 WAR, $9 million) The Braves have gotten all-world pitching performances from Jair Jurrjens, Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters, lead the NL wild card race and have ample minor league depth to bolster the roster as the season wears on. But one can't but wonder what this team would look like if Dan Uggla were hitting like the elite offensive second baseman he'd been during the first five years of his career. He's not terribly far off his 31-homer average from those first five seasons, but his on-base percentage has cratered. His .189 batting average on balls in play will almost surely see some positive regression. But whether it's due to pressing or genuine skills erosion, Uggla's walk rate (11.6 percent in 2010, 7.8 percent this year), isolated slugging (.218 career, .162 this year) and line drive rate (17.8 percent in 2010, 14.1 percent this year) are all way down. Like Mauer, Uggla is just starting a longterm deal (five years, $62 million), so the Braves have to hope signing a 31-year-old second baseman with old player's skills won't end up looking as bad as it does now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3B Chone Figgins (.185/.230/.246, minus-1.3 WAR, $9 million) Fun fact, via my FanGraphs and ESPN Insider colleague Dave Cameron: Mariners third basemen have combined for a .464 OPS; Detroit is second-to-last, but nearly 100 points better. Seattle can thank Chone Figgins for that atrocity. A player who looked like a perfect fit for spacious Safeco Field -- lots of walks, gap power, great speed -- Figgins might now be the worst everyday hitter in baseball. His defense has tailed off sharply from peak levels, and his baserunning skill has also started to wane. Figgins might be the former star who's least likely to bounce back in the entire No-Stars lineup. Two and a half more years to go on his four-year, $36 million contract, and that assumes his $9 million option doesn't vest in 2014. Oy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SS Hanley Ramirez (.227/.318/.351, 0.7 WAR, $11 million) Derek Jeter has been nearly as bad and makes more money, and several other starting shortstops fall below replacement level. But Ramirez has been the biggest disappointment by far, given his performance levels heading into this season. Though his numbers dipped a bit in 2010, Ramirez still hit .300/.378/.475, huge numbers at a time when shortstop talent was so thin. Back problems have sapped his effectiveness this year, and that's a red flag given that he's had back issues before. As with Mauer, Ramirez could benefit from playing a less strenuous position; the key would be whether he can reignite his offense if he were eventually moved to a corner or to the outfield. A hot start has turned into another lost season for the Marlins, so they'll have plenty of time to monitor Ramirez and figure out how to handle him in the final three years of his contract. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LF Raul Ibanez (.234/.283/.392, minus-1.3 WAR, $11.5 million) The scary thing about Ibanez's performance (he's last among major league left fielders in WAR) is that these numbers look infinitely better than the ones he posted in April (.465 OPS). But after a monster May in which he swatted 16 extra-base hits, Ibanez hit .211/.258/.311 in June and looks like a player who should be cut -- or at least benched, given the Phillies' World Series aspirations. Despite the Tony Batista-like OBP, Ibanez's biggest problem, as ever, in his defense. He's one of the worst everyday defenders in the majors, so much so that he needs to put up major offensive numbers to become a valuable player. The Phillies are rumored to be shopping for a right-handed bat to bolster their lineup down the stretch. They should be shopping for someone to replace Ibanez, period. (Vernon Wells warrants an honorable mention here as well, with a minus-0.3 WAR and the Angels on the hook for $18 million of his preposterous $23 million salary this season.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CF Alex Rios (.218/.269/.319, minus-0.3 WAR, $12 million) When the White Sox grabbed Rios off waivers from Toronto in August 2009, they did so knowing full well they'd be on the hook for the bulk of his seven-year, $70 million contract. But in Rios, the Pale Hose saw a legitimate five-tool player, someone who at various points in his career had posted monster numbers in various categories: 74 extra-base hits in 2007, 32 steals in 2008 and strong defensive performances throughout. It was only a matter of time, they figured, before Rios put it all together. That hasn't been the case this year. As with several other players on this list, Rios has been the victim of some bad luck, sporting a paltry .227 batting average on balls in play. But he's also the same guy who never walks, meaning he needs to hit for a high average and show power to yield positive offensive value. He's the third-best baserunner in the majors according to FanGraphs' advanced measures, but that speed hasn't shown up in his stolen base or defensive results, both of which are way down for him this year. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RF Magglio Ordonez (.212/.279/.285, minus-0.7 WAR, $10 million) Never the most durable player, Ordonez played just 84 games last season. He hit well while on the field(.303/.378/.474), but heading into the season at 37 years old and having just missed half a year, a one-year deal at a low price was the only option that made sense. The Tigers got the one-year deal, but the $10 million contract was a lot for a Detroit team that has carried nine-figure payrolls for the past four years, but has nowhere near the revenue streams that the Yankees, Red Sox and other penthouse-dwelling teams do. With Brennan Boesch, Andy Dirks and other intriguing outfield options around, the deal made even less sense -- and that was before Ordonez stopped hitting entirely. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DH Adam Dunn (.165/.301/.302, minus-1.2 WAR, $12 million) Has Dunn fallen off a cliff the way potent sluggers like Dale Murphy and Tim Salmon once did, going from consistent terror to Nick Punto levels in the span of a single year? It's tough to know what to think. Dunn's BABIP is down to .256, the second-lowest figure of his career, but not outrageously low given the falling numbers throughout baseball. The two bigger shockers are his startling drop in power (isolated slugging of .141, vs. .265 for his career) and his abominable numbers vs. lefties (1-for-53!). U.S. Cellular Field traditionally plays as a power hitter's park, and warmer summer weather could help. But for now, White Sox GM Kenny Williams' recent gambles -- including the pickups of Dunn and Rios, and trading away budding ace Daniel Hudson -- look spectacularly bad. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SP Barry Zito (3.81 ERA, 4.56 FIP, 0.1 WAR, $18.5 million) We don't mean to pick on Zito, one of the sharpest, most compelling characters in the game. It's not his fault that Brian Sabean looked past his so-so peripherals, fixated on gaudy win totals and a Cy Young award and threw $126 million at him. But that contract all but guarantees the veteran lefty a regular spot on this list, short of a monster rebound season. Zito was actually a very serviceable back-end starter the past two years, producing two-plus wins above replacement in 2009 and again in 2010. This year, injuries have nullified his chances to meet that fairly modest goal. The good news for the Giants is that Zito's injury opened the door for Ryan Vogelsong to stage one of the most amazing and unlikely comebacks in recent memory. Zito recently returned from the DL, and will get a chance with Jonathan Sanchez on the shelf. If he fails in this go-round, the Giants will face an uncomfortable decision. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RP Joe Nathan (6.52 ERA, 5.22 FIP, minus-0.3 WAR, $11.3 million) The Twins were cautiously optimistic that their once-elite closer could start to regain his old form after missing all of 2010 following Tommy John surgery. Yielding nine walks and four homers in 19.1 innings is bad enough, but the bigger concern is the overall drop in command, and also velocity. Nathan's has generated a swinging strike percentage of just 6.8 percent (vs. 13.4 percent for his career) and his fastball velocity's down to 91.6 mph from 93.9 career. Getting sub-replacement level performance from their star catcher and star closer isn't what the Twins had in mind when they guaranteed the pair more than $34 million this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble Screen Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 My gawd Uggla has been so awful. The writer is correct. You can't help but wonder how good this team would be with him hitting like his usual self. Guys like Freddie Freeman and McCann have bailed the rest of the offense out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royallypwned Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Okay, why does 1 division have 4 teams while another has 6? To keep an even number of teams in both leagues. Unless you want to move the Astros to the AL and have one interleague series going on at all times. And if that happened, I'd kill myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble Screen Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 To keep an even number of teams in both leagues. Unless you want to move the Astros to the AL and have one interleague series going on at all times. And if that happened, I'd kill myself. I actually think they should move the Stros to the AL. It would balance out the two leagues. Plus it would build a natural rivalry with the Rangers. I don't have much problem with the interleague thing. Just wish they would stop allowing stupid fan voting for the all star starters.:mad: I mean, its bad enough that the winner of the all star game gets homefield. At least get the right damn players in the game! Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACW Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 To keep an even number of teams in both leagues. Unless you want to move the Astros to the AL and have one interleague series going on at all times. And if that happened, I'd kill myself.Why does there need to be an even number of teams in both leagues? The NHL and the NBA don't do that. So let them have 1 interleague at all times :bfd: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 Why does there need to be an even number of teams in both leagues? The NHL and the NBA don't do that. So let them have 1 interleague at all times :bfd: What are you talking about? The NHL and the NBA have 15 teams in each conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew_Fl Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 as bad as the Astros are right now, I think any team would like to have them in their division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royallypwned Posted July 5, 2011 Share Posted July 5, 2011 I actually think they should move the Stros to the AL. It would balance out the two leagues. Plus it would build a natural rivalry with the Rangers.I don't have much problem with the interleague thing. Just wish they would stop allowing stupid fan voting for the all star starters.:mad: I mean, its bad enough that the winner of the all star game gets homefield. At least get the right damn players in the game! Ugh. The Rangers and Astros having any kind of rivalry is laughable to think about. We don't care about them, and they don't care about us. Although they probably have more "hate" for us just because it's a cool thing to hate on Dallas teams. Plus, they are Texans fans and hate the Cowboys. Meanwhile, we don't give two ****s about the Texans. Not saying that a rivalry wouldn't be produced. Because it definitely would when you play the same team about 18 times a season instead of the 6 we play currently. Forcing the Rangers to play two interleague series with the DisAstros every season doesn't build up any kind of rivalry with them. It just puts six of the most meaningless games possible on the schedule. If they moved to the AL West, it would take a long time for it to approach the kind of rivalry we have with the Angels. Definitely my most hated team in the division. Houston is in a different conference in the NFL than Dallas and I'm fine with it staying that way in MLB. The only rivalry Dallas has with a Houston team is with the Rockets. I can't stand that team and their fans. Ironic that one of my best friends is a Rockets fan. He's a Cowboys fan too, so he makes up for it. What are you talking about?The NHL and the NBA have 15 teams in each conference. That's what he said. They don't have en even number of teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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