Major League Baseball Thread

[Jew]

One other thing that I think has helped pitchers is the advancement in scouting. Instead of relying on the scouting report, pitchers now have every single at bat of every single hitter readily available to them on video. The same can be said for hitters, but it is much easier for a pitcher to hide their tendencies than it is for a hitter.

[cmullin]

I think that baseball is coming to more of an era of good pitchers. When the players aren't on steroids, the seem to be fairly dominant.

[ParkTrips]

I think Kerry wood and roger Clemens' 20k games are more impressive than any no-hitter or perfect game: it was nearly ALL them. Most no-hitters include a bit of luck or good defense. Hell AJ Burnett walked 9 guys in a no-hitter a decade ago, yet it still counts...

 

Btw, did baseball season begin? Meh

[Ed Farmer]

I think Kerry wood and roger Clemens' 20k games are more impressive than any no-hitter or perfect game: it was nearly ALL them. Most no-hitters include a bit of luck or good defense. Hell AJ Burnett walked 9 guys in a no-hitter a decade ago, yet it still counts...

 

Btw, did baseball season begin? Meh

 

I've been to a no-hitter courtesy of Mark Buehrle. The only man to reach base was Sammy Sosa on a BB, and he was immediately picked off (one of Buehrle's specialties), so it was still 27 up-27 down. I've also been to a high strikeout total game, though the name of the pitcher escapes me. It wasn't 20 Ks, but there was an outside chance it could have happened. High Strikeout games simply do not compare to seeing a team get no-hit. The electricity in the crowd that slowly builds up from about the 6th inning on would trump a playoff game crowd.

 

BJ & Justin Upton (brothers) both just hit home runs off Carlos Marmol in the same inning (bottom of the 9th). BJ's tied the game up, and Justin's completed the come from behind win.

 

As a bonus, it was BJ's first hit of the season. Hilarious. One of the best blown save I've seen. Marmol is a gas can.

[Jew]

^I think Joe was talking about the feat itself, not the crowd energy. I agree that the crowd is much more involved with a no-hitter or perfect game, but the actual feat of getting so many guys to strike out is more impressive than a no hitter (especially ones that involve walks & errors).

[PKI Jizzman]

Reds put a beat down on the Angels and are going to continue on the way to the World Series!

[Ed Farmer]

^I think Joe was talking about the feat itself, not the crowd energy. I agree that the crowd is much more involved with a no-hitter or perfect game, but the actual feat of getting so many guys to strike out is more impressive than a no hitter (especially ones that involve walks & errors).

Yeah, misinterpretation by me on that one. 20 Ks is definitely a dominant display. Humbling too, if you're on the wrong end of it.

 

Being in the same city, and despite being a fan of the other team in town- I think it's a shame that Woods' career played out the way it did. Can't help but feel sorry for Cub fans. If it were me in their shoes, it would pain me greatly to see him come back as a reliever in 2007 after that string of injuries shut him down for roughly 3 straight seasons.

[Hercules]

I think Kerry wood and roger Clemens' 20k games are more impressive than any no-hitter or perfect game: it was nearly ALL them. Most no-hitters include a bit of luck or good defense. Hell AJ Burnett walked 9 guys in a no-hitter a decade ago, yet it still counts...

 

Btw, did baseball season begin? Meh

 

I agree with this. There is always a little luck involved with a no-hitter or perfect game. I have always looked at this with a bowling view. A 300 game is impressive, but you always have 1 or 2 frames where you got lucky and didn't throw that great of a ball. Now, an 800 3 game series is really impressive because you were probably extremely consistant all the way through.

[BeemerBoy]

^ But what about a 20K game with an ump that happens to have a generous strike zone? Wouldn't that be similar to the little bit of luck you need to throw a no-no? I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the argument (because the 20K game makes a good point), just curious.

[jray21]

I'm kind of bummed the A's are doing so well after just 9 games. If they start the season good, they usually end bad, and if they start bad, they usually end up really good!

[Sir Clinksalot]

Nice recap on the pointless brawl in San Diego last night.

 

http://www.dodgersbeat.com/dodgers-game-recap-april-11-2013/

 

I just don't get what Quentin was thinking. There is NO WAY Greinke was trying to hit him in a 1-run game and a 3-2 count. I know there are times when pitchers intentionally hit a batter and IMO it's justified.

 

And now Greinke is out with a broken collarbone.

[Jew]

^A.J Ellis should have gotten in front of him right away. Grienke clearly said something to provoke him too. Love that he at least stood in there to back up whatever he said (and/or if the pitch really was intentional), just too bad he got seriously injured.

[Sir Clinksalot]

^ Was hoping the incident would finally wake up the Dodgers bats but apparently that didn't happen this weekend in AZ.

 

Beckett pitched better yesterday than he has in years but got absolutely no run support.

[Ed Farmer]

Nice recap on the pointless brawl in San Diego last night.

 

http://www.dodgersbeat.com/dodgers-game-recap-april-11-2013/

 

I just don't get what Quentin was thinking. There is NO WAY Greinke was trying to hit him in a 1-run game and a 3-2 count. I know there are times when pitchers intentionally hit a batter and IMO it's justified.

 

And now Greinke is out with a broken collarbone.

 

There is a history between Greinke and Quentin, Greinke threw at his head twice in the same AB in 2009, and would have been murderated back then had it not been for Miguel Olivo putting himself in Quentin's way. While this recent incident may not have been an intentional HBP, it was most certainly something that brought back memories (for Quentin) of getting a pitch thrown at his head, which isn't something that one easily forgets. Add Greinke mouthing off afterwards, and you get what we saw. It's not the first brouhaha in baseball, and won't be the last.

 

Here is footage of the second pitch in a row thrown by Greinke that actually ended up hitting him. It wasn't an accident, and he's an idiot for testing those waters again. I think anyone that airs a replay of the SD/LAD incident ought to also air the '09 incident either immediately prior to or afterwards.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=26212187&c_id=mlb

 

Quentin has been HBP a good number of times. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the HBP is "part of his game". That said, of all the times he's been hit, he curiously chooses this particular incident to charge the mound? I'm glad the suspension will most likely only be 3 games after all the appeals run their course. It's unfortunate that this happened while the ink on that absurd contract LAD gave Greinke (despite well known concerns about his fragility, and his being a head case), but there was nothing stopping him from high-tailing it in the other direction- he chose to lower his shoulder into a charging Quentin instead.

[ernierocker]

^What are you talking about???

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9170729/carlos-quentin-san-diego-padres-drops-appeal-starts-serving-suspension

 

And that video you posted shows a guy getting hit by a pitch, a guy that crowds the plate ALL the time. Greinke probably told him to take his base with a cuss word or two thrown in for good measure. The harsh suspension and the dropping of the appeal pretty much shows who was the ass in this situation.

Edited April 16, 2013 by ernierocker

[Jew]

^Exactly.Something that is nearly 3 years old from different teams is not "history." Every pitcher should be throwing at the guy the way he hangs over the plate so much.

 

Had he not dropped the appeal, he would have played in LA tonight---then he'd really know what it feels like to be intentionally thrown it.

[Meteornotes]

^This.

 

dt

[Ed Farmer]

^What are you talking about???

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9170729/carlos-quentin-san-diego-padres-drops-appeal-starts-serving-suspension

 

And that video you posted shows a guy getting hit by a pitch, a guy that crowds the plate ALL the time. Greinke probably told him to take his base with a cuss word or two thrown in for good measure. The harsh suspension and the dropping of the appeal pretty much shows who was the A$$ in this situation.

 

^Exactly.Something that is nearly 3 years old from different teams is not "history." Every pitcher should be throwing at the guy the way he hangs over the plate so much.

 

 

As I said, part of Quentin's game is to turn into the occasional pitch. He's hardly the first batter to do that, and there are far more egregious examples of crowding the plate than what you see in the clip I linked, or during the AB preceding the brawl. Most of the time, it's a celebrated quality (Biggio, Kendall, Eckstein...).

A purpose pitch to brush someone hanging over the plate is perfectly fine, except for this guy threw at his head twice. Those weren't "whoopsies", Greinke is not a wild pitcher (far from it). There isn't one hitter in the history of the game that will just "forget" something like that, as is being suggested- be it 3 months, or 3 years. So again, a pitch like the one that hit Quentin by itself is harmless if you look at it by itself, but it is entirely different if you examine it along with the previous 3 times times Greinke has thrown at him.

 

Here is an article that pertains to the history between Greinke and Quentin.

 

Had he not dropped the appeal, he would have played in LA tonight---then he'd really know what it feels like to be intentionally thrown it.

 

If (after all that) Quentin was in the lineup and someone so much as brushed his jersey with a pitch, that pitcher would have some alone-time off the field as well- that's not something a manager needs if his so called "ace" is out for a while . Odds are that it would draw both benches onto the field for an encore, so I'm assuming that both benches have been warned well ahead of time.

[Jew]

^Umpires would have to warn both benches first, prior to a pitcher being ejected. Umps know the unwritten rules of baseball too. They'd let Quinton get hit before issuing the warning.

[Ed Farmer]

In certain situations (this would qualify), umps can elect to warn both benches before the game. I'm not sure if that happened or not, but if not, I suspect it's because Quentin dropped his appeal. On top of that, and this is just a hunch (I may be wrong, I’m probably wrong)- that would kind of be an ugly thing to have to do on Jackie Robinson Day.

[Jew]

I suspect they would have saved it for today.

 

I'd love to see the box scores from the previous times Grienke hit Quinton to get some perspective. What were the scores of those games at the time and what was the count? As Don Mattingly noted, it would be very stupid to intentionally hit someone on a full count (why waste all those pitches if your intent is to hit the guy?) of a 2-1 game against a team in your division.

[azza29]

While we're in the USA my brother and I have decided to head to a baseball game, so we're seeing the Nationals play the Mets in Washington. I basically understand the sport but is anyone able to fill me in on whether either of these teams are any good, players to watch for and any other tips to help us enjoy the game more?

[megalyte]

While we're in the USA my brother and I have decided to head to a baseball game, so we're seeing the Nationals play the Mets in Washington. I basically understand the sport but is anyone able to fill me in on whether either of these teams are any good, players to watch for and any other tips to help us enjoy the game more?

 

Washington is one of the best teams in the MLB! Great pitching and hitters. I haven't really heard anything on the Mets this year but anything can happen in baseball so it should be a good game, Washington has a great atmosphere it seems. I'm sure more people on here can fill you in with more information on players and other tips.

[Jew]

Bryce Harper is a "phenom" and Stephen Strasburg has is one of the best pitchers in baseball if he's pitching. The Mets on the other hand are quite a mess.

 

My tip would be to get the best seats possible. If you're only going to get to experience a game once, might as well do it up close with all you can eat/drink if you can afford the club seating.

Edited April 17, 2013 by Jew

[Ed Farmer]

Here's that night's recap of KC@CWS. I've searched high and low for a clip of the first pitch I've mentioned, but the only footage I've found is from the game itself, or from COL@SD this past weekend (Friday or Saturday)- they ran a recap during the broadcast. Both of these are through mlb.tv, so I think they require a subscription.

 

Side note- While perusing through results from that day, I realized that Nick Adenhart was struck and killed by a drunk driver early that morning.