Major League Baseball: 2011 Thread

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Those helmets look ridiculous.

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Can you feel it? The 2011 season is coming in close! The season starts March 31 with a handful of games coming up including San Francisco (the defending champs) at the Dodgers on Thursday night!

New season's on the way, folks... get ready!
 
The Cardinals and Padres game has been entertaining so far. Kind of wondering why Cantu wasn't starting... he is a great candidate for comeback player of the year.

EDIT: Holliday hits a HR to take the lead and BOOM Maybin responds. Tie game going to the bottom of the ninth. What a first day so far!
 
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I watched that Tigers/Yankees game this morning (10am start time for me!) and holy crap did Texy hit the snot outa that pitch. He got to do a little home run pose and everything. I could tell that Verlander was struggling with his secondary pitches. The lefty batters were spitting on his circle change. Also notable was that Curtis Granderson brought his big league legs with him out of Spring Training. He made 2 or 3 awesome catches. I was trying my hardest to be a Yankee hater today, but they earned that win. Once Soriano came in for the 8th, that game was over.
 
The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles are officially undefeated in 2011! :D
 
I've got my MLB TV on PS3, blackout restriction fixed, the Cubs are on, my dog Theriot next to me, and the Brewer's blew one yesterday. Yup, I'm set.
 
Your dog is underperforming for the Cardinals? :D

I'm watching the Phillies play Houston right now. Myers pitched well against his former team. Lots of strikes. They got two runs off of him in the 7th but honestly I attribute at least one of those to the home plate umpire. He was definitely getting pinched--that umpire wouldn't have awarded him a strike if Brett was bowling and knocked down all the pins... Not only do I hate when umpires do that, I hate when they make it obvious. Not cool, blue! Bottom of the ninth with the score are 4-2, heart of the Phillies order coming up. We'll see what happens.


UPDATE: The Astros closer lost it against the Phillies hitters. He wasn't locating very well and he let the Phillies hitter pick the pitches that they wanted to swing at. Phillies win 5-4. The game winning run came in on a bloop single over the head of the center fielder, but even if he caught it, the bases were loaded with one out, so the runner would've been likely to score.
 
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So far, so bad... just saw my Astros lose 5-4 at Philadelphia to start the season. That's no April Fool. It was a game-winning hit by PHI with the bases loaded and about one out. I've been sick of seeing my Rockets and Texans fail in their respective seasons. The LAST thing I want to see is another Houston team stink it up.

Yeah, just the first game of the season. Yeah, not much expected out of my ball club, but I'm sick of the losses. We're not heading for 0-162, but this is not the way to start a season, even if not much is expected out of your team.


[UPDATE] I heard that (because I didn't see all of the game) we led 4-0 into the 7th. We gave up six hits and allowed a few hits to lose. Here's how it ended up:

HOU: 4|9|0
PHI: 5|10|1

It was an ESPN game (but also on Fox Sports Houston), so I'm sure that curse played to our loss.





Otherwise, PLAY BALL! Welcome to the new season!
 
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Yeah Myers was pitching well up to the 7th, then he gave up two runs with a pinhole strike zone. A three-run ninth did the rest.
 
I think Hershiser and Valentine are by far the worst commentators in the history of the game. By far worse then Buck and McCarver. All they did was talk about other teams with a few mentions of the game. ESPN started sucking the day Morgan and Miller left, which is good for me because we now have Miller 100% of the time. Also twilight games suck, did you see the back drop? It was impossible to see pitches. Every hit early on was a bloop outside of Huffs almost homerun.

Thankfully tonight we have K&K so I don't have to listen to two brain dead geezers.

Belt looked terrific in his big league debut. Wasn't fooled by Kershaws curve even with terrible California twilight lighting. And Burrell showed that no pitcher can get a fastball over the plate by him so that's a good sign. A few defensive blunders that cost us the game but I still think a few players are getting some of the cobwebs out. Timmy looked fine but he usually hates hot sunny weather, so hes probably looking forward to coming back to the bay.
 
Awesome, jays win their opener in a blowout. I'm a leafs fan, but I found baseball to be interesting after I started playing softball recreationally last summer.
 
Great game for the Phillies yesterday. A come-from-behind victory in the 9th, something they had trouble doing last season.

Two unlikely heroes -- Wilson Valdez and John Mayberry.
 
Wow, we really are the opposite fans aren't we? While I don't love Valentine and co (I'm spoiled, I get Vin Scully), I'll say that they are 1,000,000x better than Joe Miller and Joe Morgan. Joe Miller--to me--is boring and I hate the way he overpronounces Spanish names: Johnathon San-chez. And Joe Morgan... Wow. You realize that there was a blog dedicated to awful sports announcing/writing called firejoemorgan.com, right? He always pointed out the obvious and frequently remembered the past differently than the facts did. I used to hate it when Dodger games were on ESPN solely because of those announcers. You can find one of many Joe Morgan idiotic quote collections here.


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On-topic: I have to admit that my Dodgers look like a totally different team than they did at the opener last year. Last year they opened at Pittsburgh and lost the first two games. The team didn't look ready, players were swinging like it was still Spring Training while making errors left and right. It just seemed like they weren't taking the game very seriously because to them it didn't matter because they were going to win 90+ anyways. The team recovered from that bad start and went "from worst to first" with a hot early summer, and I wonder if that may have validated the attitude from early in the year, "we don't need to give more than 90-90% because we'll just win anyways, we always do."

I'm glad they were all served up that humble pie last year, although I wish it could've been the Padres instead of Los Gigantes :yuck:. This team looks totally different. The whole lineup is playing with tons of energy, the pitchers seemed to have brought their stuff with them, the defense is executing, and the clubhouse actually looks like a cohesive unit that is playing with a goal. I know it's early (and I'm not counting my chickens yet), but making a good impression at the start can be all the difference because it sets the tone for the rest of the season.
 
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The middle game of Astros at Phillies is at 7:00 PM EDT. We don't start our first home series for another 6 or 7 days, when we host the Florida Marlins. LOVE to see the Astros come home.

Good luck to all teams playing today and this weekend!
 
Villain
Wow, we really are the opposite fans aren't we? While I don't love Valentine and co (I'm spoiled, I get Vin Scully), I'll say that they are 1,000,000x better than Joe Miller and Joe Morgan. Joe Miller--to me--is boring and I hate the way he overpronounces Spanish names: Johnathon San-chez. And Joe Morgan... Wow. You realize that there was a blog dedicated to awful sports announcing/writing called firejoemorgan.com, right? He always pointed out the obvious and frequently remembered the past differently than the facts did. I used to hate it when Dodger games were on ESPN solely because of those announcers. You can find one of many Joe Morgan idiotic quote collections.
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I know of the site.. but how can you say they are better when they aren't even talking about the game? They were constantly talking about other games and not talking about the damn teams that were playing. Miller doesn't say San-chez that's McCarver. I listen to Miller practically every day and hes great and I don't find him boring at all. Hes a HoFer for a reason. It was good to hear K&K last night.

As for the game... Ugh. We lost on duck snorts and a couple of errors. Bad luck and mental mistakes can be fixed and its only April 2nd. I'm not too worried, our first road series of the year is bad every year, then things get going. But Bochy made a terrible lineup today.

Belt is a ****ing beast though... Posey is going to have a big game today, hes going to make his adjustments and make some contact and Huff is going get his first hit. He started off slow last year and he once he got going the team shortly after. Sandoval is already showing signs of 09' Pablo with his slick D and increased bat speed. Although he isn't in the lineup today neither is Torres. Cain Vs. Lilly soon, I'm ready to see Shotgun kick ass.
 
It's going to be fun watching Prosthetic and Villain debate all season long as to who's better- the Giants or the Dodgers (unless you fancy any other California team).

I found out that after our at Phillies series, we're at the Reds next. Houston teams (let along the Astros) just don't do very well in Philadelphia. We lost 5-4 on Friday and 9-4 (I believe) last night. Did we REALLY have to start the season at Philadelphia? Most Houston teams start slow anyways, and this isn't any help to my boys.

You all enjoy some baseball today!
 
The Dodgers reserves got smacked around by Los Gigantes yesterday, but hopefully they'll take the weekend 3-1 today. I was impressed with how Lilly was locating his pitches, especially in the beginning of the game. Buster Posey looked mystified in his first AB. I didn't get to watch most of the game because I had to work, but wow, 10-0... Hopefully that was the extent of San Francisco's run production for the weekend. All-in-all, I'm happy with how the season has started, even if they drop the game today. Los Doyers haven't started the season 3-0 since 1981, so I'm not sweatin' it! :D

I wish I could've watch more of the game, because I'd like to see how our relievers were locating pitches, but man, I really hope to see less of Hector Giminez behind the dish. This was maybe his third time catching in a Dodger uniform (I think he caught about 7 or 8 innings in Spring Training), so I'm really not surprised to see that he was ineffective calling pitches. I'm looking forward to today with Furcal, Barajas, Thames, and maybe Uribe back in the lineup. I like their chances against Zito (I'm so glad he's not on my team, that guy would drive me insane).

Kuroda should pitch a solid game, he's got a pitch selection so vast that Barajas might as well take off his glove to show enough fingers on which pitch he wants. 4SFB, 2SFB, Slider, Splitter, Change, Curve, Cutter, Shuuto, Sinker off the top of my head... That seems to be a trend that I've noticed with Japanese pitchers. I know Dice-K has a similar repertoire (and wind up, for that matter--without runners on is very slow and mechanical).

Good luck to everyone around the bigs, except Koios and Prosthetic of course. :sly:


/Damn Yankees! I'm still fuming about that French-Canadian-Creole's first home run in New York :yuck:
 
Texas is just smacking Boston around... Maybe they aren't as good as ESPN wants them too be? Or maybe Texas is just that good. Baltimore is also looking good so far sweeping the Rays. Just the first series but interesting nonetheless.

Zito was hit by a Taxi driver running a red light a few nights ago while he was driving to his home in the Hollywood Hills.

@Villian what do you have against Zito? He is much better then what people make him out to be. No he isn't a 20 Million pitcher but he gives you 200ish innings and 30 starts a year. He has never been on the DL. And he is one of the classiest people in baseball. He is just tremendously overpaid but he gives a lot of it to charities so its really meh.

Ztio Vs. Kuroda neither team has a lot of success off either pitcher so it should be interesting. Also a thing to note, Posey has been dealing with a virus the last few days and is having some issues with seeing the ball.

Tonight is another ESPN game so be prepared to have ****** announcers and terrible camera angles along with the terrible lighting. I prefer Fox afternoon games for national TV.
 
Zito is a decent pitcher like Manny is a good hitter. There are so many outside stories you can read about the guy that'll just drive you up the wall. Then the expectations are so high because he's getting paid a king's ransom. Don't get me wrong, I have tons of respect for him, but all those stories of him partying and living the fast life in West Hollywood, then of course the highest paid player that isn't meeting expectations gets into an accident right at the start of the season. I'm not hating. I'm just saying that, as a fan, it would drive me crazy to have him on the staff.

On todays' game: You can't blame that loss on a car accident. More poor defense by San Francisco and it looks like that bullpen has been exposed. Mota doesn't seem to belong in the bigs anymore, and I'd be worried about that relief depth. Of course, Wilson will be sure to breathe new life into those guys once he returns to the mound, but there is only so much you can do after 8 innings have already been played.

Ironically, Broxton has a 4+ ERA, a WHIP of 0.50, and 3 saves. That's the most in the bigs (Rivera has 2)! He's given up two earned runs and both were solo shot home runs. Brox seems to have a new confidence about him, he's not phased by giving up the long ball. He's forcing the batters to beat him with their bats, no more walks. It's swagger. I like it.

It also feels good to open the season in first place at 3-1. The hitters returning to the line-up did good work. Triples by Marcus Thames and Jamey Carroll, Kemp slugged LA's first home run, and a pinch-hit RBI by Aaron Miles showed that our bench can be effective. No more failure from Garrett Anderson or distractions from Manny Ramirez. There have been some big changes from last year that might take a second glance to realize. Frustration has been replaced with hustle.

Casey Blake and Jon Garland are trying to convince Donnie Two-Times to let them back onto the big club (they're on the DL), so look for the Dodgers to drop Ivan De Jesus Jr. and Hector Giminez or Xavier Paul back to AAA this week or next. If Garland isn't ready, there is a chance that we call up Tim Redding or John Ely to start on Sunday in San Diego.

Ironically prophetic pre-game joke by the Giants (Huff made a diving error in the first inning):
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From a Dodgers.com game recap:

The Dodgers struck early against Barry Zito, who was pitching only days after being involved in an auto accident. Furcal led off the first inning by singling to center and Carroll sent a sinking line drive to shallow right field in almost the exact spot where several Giants players had taped the outline of a sprawled Huff before batting practice, mocking one of his Saturday catches.

This time when Huff went sprawling, there was no catch, the ball rolling past into right field as Furcal scored and Carroll raced to third with a triple. Huff would later fail to track down Thames' triple.
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Barry Zito doesn't bring extra baggage. Its not his fault for being paid its bad ownership that is no longer here. It wasn't HIS fault for being in a car accident... I don't see how you can blame that on him, he got hit by a cab that ran a red light.

Also it wasn't an error that Huff had, he just trapped a ball that he dove for and caught a ball the same way in the exact same spot on the next batter. Our bullpen depth is fine its just Bochy miss-managing it. Runzler was used wrong so is Mota. Also Runzler is much better then what you saw. I'd be pretty confident on saying that our Bullpen is deeper then pretty much every team in baseball except maybe the Padres but they did loose a few pieces in the offseason. Having a 1b/LF playing RF isn't helping us, when Ross comes back it will all be fine. That way we will have 2 CF's and a LF. Huff is fine in LF and was amazing at first. He just isn't a right fielder. We probably could of won the games we lost with Schierholtz in right, giving the amount of bloops you guys got down the right field line.

Once Posey gets healthy our O should be even more effective and its already shown the ability to stay in games. I personally want to see DeRo get more starts because hes a beast.
 
I neither blamed him for being well paid or getting into an accident, but I don't see the point in taking a third try to get my point across so I won't bother. All I will say is that if you think that Barry Zito is a model citizen, then you and I are reading two different stories about his off-the-field antics (and none of the stories I'm referring to came from a Dodgers-related source, most of them are from his days in Oakland with Nick Swisher and the bar shenanigans that they'd get into). All I will say is that I have a lot of respect for him, but it sure says a lot when your highest paid player is left off the playoff roster and doesn't have any serious injuries.

Anyways, I'm over the Giants for about a week when we start up a 3-game series on Monday in SF--by the way, Kershaw is on schedule to start that game so get ready to see him again!
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In the meantime it's all about Colorado on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Friday-Sunday in San Diego. Hopefully the traveling won't be an issue (and I doubt it would, given the plush accommodations given to pro-ballers these days) and the return of Casey Blake on Wednesday (and maybe even Vicente Padilla or Garland as well) is met with positive results. I like the pitching match-ups for the week and I'm still curious as to who Donnie will choose to be the fifth starter on Sunday.
 
Speaking of Giants with questionable behavior, some new evidence was found in the Barry Bonds perjury trial:

Prosecutors said that a long-lost microcassette was unexpectedly and inexplicably found over the weekend and contained a secretly taped conversation that would corroborate the testimony of one of its witnesses. They said it could become a pivotal piece of evidence in the trial.

But Bonds’s lawyers said the tape would never go into evidence, and the judge expressed doubts about the admissibility of parts she had heard because they were barely audible.

Steve Hoskins, Bonds’s former business manager, testified two weeks ago that he made that recording, of him and Dr. Arthur Ting, Bonds’s orthopedic surgeon, in 2003 and 2004, shortly after federal agents raided the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative. He testified that he had repeatedly scoured his home for the tape but never found it.

Hoskins testified that the tape contained a discussion he and Ting had about Bonds’s steroid use, an issue he said they talked about “probably 50 times.” Ting testified last week that those conversations never happened.

The tape may clarify which version is true, prosecutors said Monday, the first day of the trial’s third week.
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It's questionable whether the evidence will be admitted due to poor quality of the recording but Hoskins and/or Ting could also be recalled to the stand to clarify what is on the tape.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/sports/baseball/05bonds.html?src=me

Besides Prosthetic, does anyone not want to see Bonds go to jail?
 
The Astros got swept in Philadelphia. Maybe our chances will improve in our series with the Reds. We'll return home to finally start our first home series this weekend against the Florida Marlins. But for now, it's at the Reds and their beautiful ballpark.
 

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