2009 MLB Thread

[yesno]

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/info-ticketprices.html

it's criminal to not have any tickets for under 10 bucks.

That dude's other infographics are great if you haven't seen them.

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/index.html

[jbissell]

I think the Mets will go on a run at some point, where they reel off, say, 15 of 20 games. They have performed well, given the injuries.

I would expect that too. Hopefully, they're not 10 games out by that point.

What's infuriating is that they've lost a ton of games they could easily have won. And even beyond the injuries, they keep finding new ways to lose. Santana has a horrible outing. Then the other starters do well but K-rod melts down. Then Santana rebounds but the bats go silent, and then the rest of the bullpen melts down. They're extremely lucky to be only 2 games back--and at the same time, they could also easily be in first place if they hadn't assed away about five easily winnable games.

Sounds an awful lot like the Cubs.

[scratchbomb]

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/info-ticketprices.html

it's criminal to not have any tickets for under 10 bucks.

That dude's other infographics are great if you haven't seen them.

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/index.html

I have no idea how this site escaped my notice until now, but thanks for highlighting. All those graphs are pretty awesome.

[hugman]

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/info-ticketprices.html

it's criminal to not have any tickets for under 10 bucks. Dodgers tickets went up after acquiring Manny, but they still have $9 tickets. 
For shame, Philadelphia and St. Louis. They won't spend any money but they expect the fans to.  Because they will.
Now, I wanna go to Houston and sit behind home plate.

Anyway, great game tonight between the Mets and Cards.  Favorite moment:  Announcer: (something to the effect of) "I'm not afraid of anything Ludwick's gonna do.  Especially in this ballpark, he's gonna stay in the ballpark."  About one second later, Ludwick hits a two-run homer.  Announcer:"I'm an idiot."

Was that on ESPN? Because the exact opposite happened on SNY, where the announcers kept talking about how you couldn't overlook Ludwick, and then three seconds later he hit that homer.

CitiField's gotta be the hardest ballpark to hit a home run in, other than maybe Petco. Which is fine--I think home runs should be hard to hit.

Yea, it was on the deuce.  The only person I remember was Rick Sutcliffe, but I can never tell who's talking unless it's Joe Morgan.  I like to take a break from Al Hrabosky whenever I can.  I get tired of reminding him who's up or what the count is, etc.

[scratchbomb]

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/info-ticketprices.html

it's criminal to not have any tickets for under 10 bucks. Dodgers tickets went up after acquiring Manny, but they still have $9 tickets. 
For shame, Philadelphia and St. Louis. They won't spend any money but they expect the fans to.  Because they will.
Now, I wanna go to Houston and sit behind home plate.

Anyway, great game tonight between the Mets and Cards.  Favorite moment:  Announcer: (something to the effect of) "I'm not afraid of anything Ludwick's gonna do.  Especially in this ballpark, he's gonna stay in the ballpark."  About one second later, Ludwick hits a two-run homer.  Announcer:"I'm an idiot."

Was that on ESPN? Because the exact opposite happened on SNY, where the announcers kept talking about how you couldn't overlook Ludwick, and then three seconds later he hit that homer.

CitiField's gotta be the hardest ballpark to hit a home run in, other than maybe Petco. Which is fine--I think home runs should be hard to hit.

Yea, it was on the deuce.  The only person I remember was Rick Sutcliffe, but I can never tell who's talking unless it's Joe Morgan.  I like to take a break from Al Hrabosky whenever I can.  I get tired of reminding him who's up or what the count is, etc.

I don;t think I've ever heard the Mad Hungarian call a game, but there's no way he's more infuriating than whoever's on ESPN.

[Trotskie]

What's infuriating is that they've lost a ton of games they could easily have won... they could also easily be in first place if they hadn't assed away about five easily winnable games.

Steve Phillips tripped over an interesting point the other day:  that the game is not learned on the field anymore.  These days young players spend most of their time in the cage.  This leads to a lessened sense of spacial and situational awareness on the field. 

A theory anyway.

[scratchbomb]

What's infuriating is that they've lost a ton of games they could easily have won... they could also easily be in first place if they hadn't assed away about five easily winnable games.

Steve Phillips tripped over an interesting point the other day:  that the game is not learned on the field anymore.  These days young players spend most of their time in the cage.  This leads to a lessened sense of spacial and situational awareness on the field. 

A theory anyway.

That's probably true. And yet, I want to Steve Phillips harmed very, very badly.

[jbissell]

I want to Steve Phillips harmed very, very badly.

Fess up.  You're just jealous of his hair.

[hugman]

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/info-ticketprices.html

it's criminal to not have any tickets for under 10 bucks.

That dude's other infographics are great if you haven't seen them.

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/index.html

i'm in awe. that guy should have a zazzle page with tshirts of all that shit.

[nec13]

Haha. This one's the best.

http://www.flipflopflyin.com/flipflopflyball/info-reallyfantasybaseball.html

[nec13]

Donald Fehr will be resigning as head of the MLBPA in March of 2010. Overall, I would say the results of his tenure were mixed. Fehr did a masterful job in fulfilling his responsibilities to the players. The players love him because he continued to build upon the successes achieved by Marvin Miller. Player salaries went up astronomically, there was no institution of a salary cap, and the MLBPA is perhaps the strongest union in professional sports, if not the United States. However, Fehr and his cohort Gene Orza, along with the owners, deserve a lion's share of the blame for refusing to accede to mandatory drug testing. As a result of their willful ignorance of an obvious problem, the game of baseball and reputation of its players have been permanently tainted.

I believe that Fehr leaves behind a dubious legacy. There have been few labor leaders as effective as Donald Fehr. But were his achievements ultimately detrimental to the integrity of the sport? Thoughts?

[hugman]

Donald Fehr will be resigning as head of the MLBPA in March of 2010. Overall, I would say the results of his tenure were mixed. Fehr did a masterful job in fulfilling his responsibilities to the players. The players love him because he continued to build upon the successes achieved by Marvin Miller. Player salaries went up astronomically, there was no institution of a salary cap, and the MLBPA is perhaps the strongest union in professional sports, if not the United States. However, Fehr and his cohort Gene Orza, along with the owners, deserve a lion's share of the blame for refusing to accede to mandatory drug testing. As a result of their willful ignorance of an obvious problem, the game of baseball and reputation of its players have been permanently tainted.

I believe that Fehr leaves behind a dubious legacy. There have been few labor leaders as effective as Donald Fehr. But were his achievements ultimately detrimental to the integrity of the sport? Thoughts?

duhhhh....I like baseball....

[yesno]

He should have spent his time trying to help the average player, instead of setting up a lottery system for superstars.

[chrisfoll577]

I wish such an effective labor head could have worked for the average American worker instead of the MLBPA.  What he and Gene Orza did was treat player performance enhancing drug use as a just another bargaining chip when negotiating CBAs with the owners, instead of acknowledging that it was an issue that hurt both union members who never used steroids or hgh, as well as the long term health of union members who did do these drugs. 

Baseball remains fairly popular but probably runs second only to English Premier League soccer when it comes to being a plutocracy. He shares a lot of the blame in the fact that every free agent period and trading deadline inevitably results in a team from New York, Boston, Chicago or LA ending up with the top talent by the mere fact that smaller teams can't compete.

One of his contemporary player association heads, Gene Upshaw of the NFLPA, was a prime example of a negotiator who failed his members in bargaining, retired players' welfare and looking out for their well-being when it came to concussions and long term brain damage, so I suppose Fehr could have been a worse union head.  But then again, the NFL is the most popular league in America, and its players have prospered as much as anyone.  So maybe relative labor ineptitude paired with team owners practicing socialism is exactly what a sports league needs to be successful.  Donald Fehr was just too good at his own job, and in my opinion hurt the game more than he helped it.

[nec13]

He should have spent his time trying to help the average player, instead of setting up a lottery system for superstars.

I agree that he did, in effect, set up a lottery system for baseball's superstars. But I also think he did actually help the average player. When Fehr assumed the role as head of the MLBPA in 1983, the average salary was $289,000. Today, the average salary is $3.3 million.

I wish such an effective labor head could have worked for the average American worker instead of the MLBPA.  What he and Gene Orza did was treat player performance enhancing drug use as a just another bargaining chip when negotiating CBAs with the owners, instead of acknowledging that it was an issue that hurt both union members who never used steroids or hgh, as well as the long term health of union members who did do these drugs. 

Baseball remains fairly popular but probably runs second only to English Premier League soccer when it comes to being a plutocracy. He shares a lot of the blame in the fact that every free agent period and trading deadline inevitably results in a team from New York, Boston, Chicago or LA ending up with the top talent by the mere fact that smaller teams can't compete.

One of his contemporary player association heads, Gene Upshaw of the NFLPA, was a prime example of a negotiator who failed his members in bargaining, retired players' welfare and looking out for their well-being when it came to concussions and long term brain damage, so I suppose Fehr could have been a worse union head.  But then again, the NFL is the most popular league in America, and its players have prospered as much as anyone.  So maybe relative labor ineptitude paired with team owners practicing socialism is exactly what a sports league needs to be successful.  Donald Fehr was just too good at his own job, and in my opinion hurt the game more than he helped it.

A perfect summation of the reign of Donald Fehr.