2009 MLB Thread

[scratchbomb]

I'm sure you all thought of me when you heard that the Cards signed Smoltz.  I'm optimistic about this.  Hopefully he can serve as a better option as a fifth starter and a nice weapon in the setup role perhaps.  At the least, his experience and wisdom in the clubhouse can only help.

Going back to the NL should help him. I hope so — I've always liked Smoltz, and I'd like to see him go out in a better way than his Red Sox stint.

Of all the Braves' 1990s aces, he's the one I despised the least.

What was your problem with Maddux?  Of course I disliked him with the Braves because the Cubs fucked up so bad.

I have no idea. He just bugged me. Especially later in his career, when he'd be pitching a shutout through six innings with only 70 pitches under his belt and take himself out anyway.

I mean, I can totally separate my admiration for a player's ability from my personal feelings toward them. Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine are three of the best pitchers of their era. I'm just not particularly fond of any of them.

If I was a baseball writer, I would totally give a Hall of Fame vote to, say, Chipper Jones--even though if I ever met him in person, I'm pretty sure I would punch (and then run away as fast as I could).

I tend to dislike the Atlanta Braves in general, but largely because I'm a Twins fan and Braves fans will not ever shut the hell up about Kent Hrbek "pulling" Ron Gant off the bag.

To be fair, he totally did. But I haven't exactly shed too many tears about it, either.

[buffcoat]

And I wish Dan Gladden had broken his ankles with that little jump onto the plate.  That 91 World Series was pretty crushing.

[Stupornaut]

And I wish Dan Gladden had broken his ankles with that little jump onto the plate.  That 91 World Series was pretty crushing.

Oh, boo effin' hoo, at least the Braves got something like 14 consecutive division titles and a '95 World Series win and got to get called "America's Team" and all that nonsense. Puckett got glaucoma and Hrbek retired and the Twins wound up a 90-loss team for most of the rest of the decade. They wound up fielding lineups like this and almost got contracted. And now Mauer's going to lose the MVP to Mark Teixiera because the starting rotation can't get into the 4th inning anymore and the Twins are struggling to get to .500. I'm starting to think the post-'91 Twins are panning out a lot like the post '86 Mets, only without the benefit of ever getting to hear Scott Leius rap about getting Twinergized.

[buffcoat]

That's not all Puckett got.

[nec13]

That's not all Puckett got.

 

Anyway, I'm with Nate on this one. Post-1991, the Braves were winning division titles and going to World Series' while the Twins were fielding the likes of Scott Stahoviak and Midre Cummings. So quit your complaining.

And you want to talk about the '91 World Series being crushing, how about the '92 NLCS? I still have emotional scars from that series. Plus, it sent the Pirates on a downward slide from which they have never recovered.

[chrisfoll577]

I stopped feeling bad for Braves fans when they stopped selling out playoff games.

[yesno]

Not enough Bruntlett love youse guys.

[kevin_]

Chase Utley got robbed.

[fonpr]

Did any of you baseball freaks catch Gene Weingarten's column this week regarding left handed catchers.

I thought of you guys when I read it.



My speculative answer to his query: because there are more right-handed batters than left-handers.

[Stupornaut]

Did any of you baseball freaks catch Gene Weingarten's column this week regarding left handed catchers.

I thought of you guys when I read it.



My speculative answer to his query: because there are more right-handed batters than left-handers.

I still think the "if your left arm's strong enough to throw out a runner, maybe you should use it to pitch instead" theory makes the most sense to me.

[fonpr]

Did any of you baseball freaks catch Gene Weingarten's column this week regarding left handed catchers.

I thought of you guys when I read it.



My speculative answer to his query: because there are more right-handed batters than left-handers.

I still think the "if your left arm's strong enough to throw out a runner, maybe you should use it to pitch instead" theory makes the most sense to me.

You may have it dere, Stupe.

Did you read the column? pretty funny regarding number freaks.

[scratchbomb]

Not enough Bruntlett love youse guys.

luckiest/unluckiest thing ever. aided, of course, by the mind-meltingly stupid decision to send the runners. I'm beginning to suspect Jerry Manuel isn't very smart. Or wants to be fired.

[yesno]

Not enough Bruntlett love youse guys.

luckiest/unluckiest thing ever. aided, of course, by the mind-meltingly stupid decision to send the runners. I'm beginning to suspect Jerry Manuel isn't very smart. Or wants to be fired.

It's such a fluke I wouldn't read too much into it.  Though there have been way more unassisted triple plays in recent years.  It's probably just chance, but I wonder if hit and run is more common or something.

There have been 7 cycles this year, a perfect game, a cool home-stealing play, and now this.  What weird ass thing is left?  4 homers in one game?

[fonpr]

Not enough Bruntlett love youse guys.

luckiest/unluckiest thing ever. aided, of course, by the mind-meltingly stupid decision to send the runners. I'm beginning to suspect Jerry Manuel isn't very smart. Or wants to be fired.

It's such a fluke I wouldn't read too much into it.  Though there have been way more unassisted triple plays in recent years.  It's probably just chance, but I wonder if hit and run is more common or something.

There have been 7 cycles this year, a perfect game, a cool home-stealing play, and now this.  What weird ass thing is left?  4 homers in one game?

A left-handed catcher?

[scratchbomb]

Not enough Bruntlett love youse guys.

luckiest/unluckiest thing ever. aided, of course, by the mind-meltingly stupid decision to send the runners. I'm beginning to suspect Jerry Manuel isn't very smart. Or wants to be fired.

It's such a fluke I wouldn't read too much into it.  Though there have been way more unassisted triple plays in recent years.  It's probably just chance, but I wonder if hit and run is more common or something.

There have been 7 cycles this year, a perfect game, a cool home-stealing play, and now this.  What weird ass thing is left?  4 homers in one game?

weird thing is, i have a feeling there's less hit and run than there used to be. i have no evidence to support that, but it's such a risky move (case in point: unassisted triple play) and it's so un-sabermetric-y, i feel like most managers stay away from it. then again, most managers seem to be violently anti-stats, so who knows.