Show #173: Braves Spring Training Games Start with a Thud
The expanded Wild Card, 1 hit + 9 home runs = bad start, Minor’s comments, McCann’s extension and Braun’s PED case.
113 Responses to “Show #173: Braves Spring Training Games Start with a Thud”
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Pages: « 1 [2] 3 4 5 » Show All
March 6th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
Calling her right now to tattle.
March 6th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
ESPN’s televised ST schedule: http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId=7605455&hcId=6818895&topId=null&wjb=
MLB Network’s televised ST schedule: http://blog.timesunion.com/sportsmedia/2012-mlb-network-spring-training-schedule/9060/
March 6th, 2012 at 1:39 pm
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/03/06/designated.hitter.national.league/index.html?xid=cnnbin
March 6th, 2012 at 2:57 pm
All those guys went on Capitol Hill (McGwire, Palmiero, Clemons, etc.) and told the same lies. Nothing is shocking to me at this point, and really, no one is believable. They’re all liars. I think they just believe that if they can vehemently defend themselves, then it will all go away.
March 6th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
The new playoff system rewards teams for winning division titles more so than it it does for winning games.
It doesn’t matter if a team wins 85 games or 95 games, if the team wins a division, it is free from the one-game playoff.
And it doesn’t matter if a team wins 85 games or 95 games, if the team is a wild card, it is forced in to the one-game playoff.
Basically geography is a major factor in playoff seeding. The 2005 Astros would not have been farther enough west to play in and win the NL West, therefore they would have been forced into the one-game playoff. The 2005 Padres, since they were on the west coast, which allowed them to win a very weak division, they get a pass in the one-game round. Seems fair to me.
March 6th, 2012 at 3:04 pm
I’m actually one of those in the minority who likes the DH. I don’t enjoy seeing pitchers hit. There’s a very good chance, when that spot comes up, that we are going to see an out or a bunt. I suppose some people like to watch guys bunt runners over one base in exchange for an out. I’m not one of those people.
March 6th, 2012 at 3:41 pm
Shaun, I like the DH, too, and even though I’m a traditionalist on 99% of everything, it is obvious to me that the DH is the most elegant form of the game. No sport should ask any of its positions to perform an action three times per game that they are comically unqualified to perform.
Except in the rarest circumstances, you never ask your hitters to pitch. Why, except in rare circumstances, should you ask your pitchers to hit?
The bunting and small ball stategies are all ridiculous contrivances to make up for the obvious fact that you are putting a player who is already more responsible than any other single player in that game in a very stupid predicament. The fact that those contrivances have given us some entertainment and tradition goes no further to make it a good part of baseball than if we had the manager come out three times a game and try to steal a base.
Having the pitcher hit is lame, lame, lame. The DH is the way baseball ought to have been drawn up to begin with. I sympathize with those who refuse to accept that, but there is no other great sport that asks its players to regularly peform a skill they are utterly unqualified to perform.
March 6th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
^ Yes, I got my letter from The Committee for Redundancy Committee.
March 6th, 2012 at 4:36 pm
I like the DH rules as they are now. I know I’m greedy. I like to have my cake and eat it too. You can’t deny the NL game is more fun and we see it time and time again that pitchers can contribute to a win with their bat.
March 6th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
#39 – If we say it vehemently, it’s true. And if you don’t agree, you’ll be receiving a letter from my attorney.
March 6th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
I don’t think the NL game is any more fun. And typical pitchers don’t contribute to a win with their bat more often than the worst-hitting regular position player.
When a pitcher comes up the odds are overwhelming that you’re going to see an out. If a runner is on base you are guaranteed to see a bunt.
Some people call that “strategy.” But is it strategy when the strategy of bunting with the pitcher with runners on and less than two outs? Does a manager really have to decide anything in this situation, for the most part?
There is just as much strategy, if not more so, in the AL. If a pitcher is throwing a pretty good game and it’s getting to the point where it may be wise to take the pitcher out, but a manager can’t really pinpoint exactly when, an NL manager can just wait until the pitcher is due to hit.
Also, in the AL if a hitter low in the order gets on, a manager can’t just automatically bunt the runner over if the 9th spot is up with less than two outs. The manager actually has to decide whether he wants the 8th-place hitter to bunt him over, whether he wants the 9th-place hitter to bunt him over, whether he wants to bunt the runner over at all. And it’s a lot hard to decide whether a bunt is a good strategy because the manager has to weigh whether an actual hitter (position player) has a good chance to get a hit.
March 6th, 2012 at 5:01 pm
#30 – Great post.
March 6th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
#32 – I would love to see Tom Brady play special teams.
March 6th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
Off-Topic:
This could only happen to me: yesterday at 10am I was in a meeting with 20 other students, all of them dressed in sport coats & ties, Senator Marsh, a congressman whose name I forgot, the Mayor of Jacksonville, a city councilman, a tv producer, an actor (Chuck Bush?), a stand-in for Angelina Jolie, the university president, several other dignitaries and Hollywood medium-wigs whose identity I never figured out. And because I never check my university email and had no idea what I was walking into, what did I wear? Jeans and a denim jacket. Somehow we got the money we were asking for anyway. Can’t wait to hear my Professor’s gentle reprimand tomorrow morning.
March 6th, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Just tell him you were wearing a denim suit.
March 6th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
Canadian Tuxedo
March 6th, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Nate, I know, right? Only, the jeans were light and the jacket dark. Oh well.
Curt, I’m thinking of telling him I’m homeless. Explains both the clothes and the unread email.
March 7th, 2012 at 10:14 am
Mike Minor needs to read Kris Medlen’s quotes and learn a thing or two.
March 7th, 2012 at 11:39 am
He needs to make a minor adjustment. He needs to do less medlen’ in front office affairs. When he’s in front of a reporter’s mike, he … uh … needs to be … kristal … clear?
*shoots self*
March 7th, 2012 at 1:25 pm
Excellent.
March 7th, 2012 at 3:19 pm
This is getting ridiculous. Bases loaded first two innings…nothin.
March 7th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Our offense is already in midseason form, IMO.
March 7th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
lateseason form, I think you mean.
March 7th, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Thank God we play the Astros a few times per … oh, wait.
March 7th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Heyward & Pastornicky OPS’ing .480 so far this spring … if you add them together.