MLB 2014: APRIL

[Cristobal]

He had a 3.38 xFIP and a K:BB ratio over 3, so I'm not sure what you're basing the claim that he wasn't very good on, and they sent Baltimore a 27 year-old player not even good enough to be called AAAA in return, so it's not like they gave up value to get a guy on a 1-year deal.

[Craig H]

That was about the weirdest half-inning of baseball I've seen in a long time in this Pirates @ Cubs game. First, Cole was wild as hell. Then, Welington Castillo has a basehit and Starlin Castro starts to run home. Starling Marte's throw makes it to Russell Martin in time at the plate, Castro slides in, with his foot colliding with Martin's hand or glove, can't remember which, and Castro was ruled safe. Clint Hurdle comes out to find out what is going on, but time isn't called at all during this point, and Castillo makes his way over to third. Castro is still safe, no challenge was made, but there was no determination at the time that Martin blocked the plate, which it looked like he didn't.

[Dewar]

Blue Jays had a chance to challenge a pick-off play at first base last night, manager came out of the dugout, and they didn't bother to challenge. Was strange to watch.

[Goodear]

Managers seem to be just coming out all the time now just to give the crews a chance to review plays on their own volition rather than use the challenges.  You know, if the Nationals' broadcast team is to be believed.

 

Speaking of the Nationals, Strasberg with 12 Ks, Werth with another home run, and the second grand slam for the team in two games.  Sometimes its fun to be a baseball fan.

[Kuetsar]

Hawk Harrelson, role model and fine human being, not racist at all, nope:

http://deadspin.com/hawk-harrelson-should-probably-not-suggest-asians-a-1562071103

[Craig H]

Hawk is the worst color commentator in all of MLB...

[cubbymark]

Hawk is the worst color commentator in all of MLB...

Yes.

[odessasteps]

Hawk is the worst color commentator in all of MLB...

Put THAT on the board, yes

[Kuetsar]

http://deadspin.com/michael-pineda-was-cheating-and-no-one-cares-1562155548

Looks like Pineda had some help. . . If your not caught. . . .

[odessasteps]

Adam Jones came to bat tonight in Baltimore using the Warrior's theme as his music.

[CSC]

Adam Jones came to bat tonight in Baltimore using the Warrior's theme as his music.

 

It only counts if he ran out of the dugout and shook his bat like a set of ropes before stepping into the batters box.

[piranesi]

 

Adam Jones came to bat tonight in Baltimore using the Warrior's theme as his music.

 

It only counts if he ran out of the dugout and shook his bat like a set of ropes before stepping into the batters box.

 

 

It really only counts if he ran right past the batter's box, around the bases, back into the dugout, into the locker room, out the back door, and off into the horizon.

[Ryan]

Somehow, the Brewers continue to defy all odds and have the best record in baseball. This surely won't last, but I'm happy for now. Somewhere piranesi is laying in wait with gloating posts after the inevitable 30 game losing streak somewhere around the AS break.

[piranesi]

Somehow, the Brewers continue to defy all odds and have the best record in baseball. This surely won't last, but I'm happy for now. Somewhere piranesi is laying in wait with gloating posts after the inevitable 30 game losing streak somewhere around the AS break.

 

 

Ugh.  April is always full of rabble and huddled masses.

Wake me in September.

[Just Dave]

Never get tired of beating the Gnats. EVER.

 

New year, same result.

[Dolfan in NYC]

Seems about right.

[The Nature Boy]

Re: Tonight's Sox/Yankees game. 

 

I'm not sure that the umps met the "clear and convincing" burden required to overturn the out that basically gave the Yankees the winning run. Napoli gaining control of the ball and Cervelli hitting first base happened almost simultaneously and it was almost impossible to determine which happened first (the difference was microseconds). While I can see HOW Cervelli hit first base first, I don't think it's clear enough to necessitate reversing the call. I think that when a run is at stake, the umps need to exercise greater discretion. 

[Greggulator]

My wife and I are trying to go to every park. I think we're past the halfway point. I'll do a review of each stadium later. But the latest we checked off was the new Yankee Stadium. We saw Sox/Yanks there this weekend.

Overall: THIS PLACE IS A TURD! I'll ignore the prices because it's New York and the Yankees and expected. The exterior of the stadium is gross. Most of the new stadiums (started from, say, Camden Yards on) have an exterior that is airy and welcoming and lets you see into the park from outside. It provides excitement and color when you head out of a vast sea of parking lots. Yankee Stadium is a giant concrete slab. The exterior architecture also makes it super claustrophobic and weird when getting through security. Finally inside, you then have to walk a few flights to get onto the concourse level. The food options are essentially "food." There's nothing local about the place -- Citi Field has Shake Shack and stuff like that. CBP has cheesesteaks and a bunch of other local things. It's the same with so many other stadiums! Yankee Stadium is essentially just Aramark stuff. Our seats were in the upper deck nosebleeds and they felt like 50,000,000 miles away. I usually sit in nosebleed seats. These were just so far away and awful. I was closer to the field when I sat at the rooftop decks at Wrigley. Like significantly closer. There's no aesthetic inside the park, either

 

There's also no real history at the park save for a few banners and things like that. I missed the Yankee Museum at the park so I might have missed something.

 

I am not saying that as some crazy Yankee hater or anything. I grew up a Yankee fan until I settled here in Philly. My family are all Yankees fans. I grew up going to the original Yankee Stadium. A lot of the key moments of my life revolve around Yankees games and moments. I'm not a Yankees fan anymore but I'm not an avid Yankees hater.

The Yankees have every financial advantage imaginable AND have a history of tradition and grandeur. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars and ended up with what's essentially the CVS of baseball stadiums.

 

[piranesi]

Someone is Weekend at Bernies-ing that guy.  and they've learned the first Law of WaB-ing:

 

"Choose a slender fellow."

[The Nature Boy]

My wife and I are trying to go to every park. I think we're past the halfway point. I'll do a review of each stadium later. But the latest we checked off was the new Yankee Stadium. We saw Sox/Yanks there this weekend.

Overall: THIS PLACE IS A TURD! I'll ignore the prices because it's New York and the Yankees and expected. The exterior of the stadium is gross. Most of the new stadiums (started from, say, Camden Yards on) have an exterior that is airy and welcoming and lets you see into the park from outside. It provides excitement and color when you head out of a vast sea of parking lots. Yankee Stadium is a giant concrete slab. The exterior architecture also makes it super claustrophobic and weird when getting through security. Finally inside, you then have to walk a few flights to get onto the concourse level. The food options are essentially "food." There's nothing local about the place -- Citi Field has Shake Shack and stuff like that. CBP has cheesesteaks and a bunch of other local things. It's the same with so many other stadiums! Yankee Stadium is essentially just Aramark stuff. Our seats were in the upper deck nosebleeds and they felt like 50,000,000 miles away. I usually sit in nosebleed seats. These were just so far away and awful. I was closer to the field when I sat at the rooftop decks at Wrigley. Like significantly closer. There's no aesthetic inside the park, either

 

There's also no real history at the park save for a few banners and things like that. I missed the Yankee Museum at the park so I might have missed something.

 

I am not saying that as some crazy Yankee hater or anything. I grew up a Yankee fan until I settled here in Philly. My family are all Yankees fans. I grew up going to the original Yankee Stadium. A lot of the key moments of my life revolve around Yankees games and moments. I'm not a Yankees fan anymore but I'm not an avid Yankees hater.

The Yankees have every financial advantage imaginable AND have a history of tradition and grandeur. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars and ended up with what's essentially the CVS of baseball stadiums.

 

 

I'll never understand why the Yankees tore down the old stadium instead of just investing money in renovations. I would say ditto for the Detroit Tigers and Tiger Stadium, but at least there was some economic development plan there. The Yankees just built a new stadium in the damn parking lot. 

[Greggulator]

 

My wife and I are trying to go to every park. I think we're past the halfway point. I'll do a review of each stadium later. But the latest we checked off was the new Yankee Stadium. We saw Sox/Yanks there this weekend.

Overall: THIS PLACE IS A TURD! I'll ignore the prices because it's New York and the Yankees and expected. The exterior of the stadium is gross. Most of the new stadiums (started from, say, Camden Yards on) have an exterior that is airy and welcoming and lets you see into the park from outside. It provides excitement and color when you head out of a vast sea of parking lots. Yankee Stadium is a giant concrete slab. The exterior architecture also makes it super claustrophobic and weird when getting through security. Finally inside, you then have to walk a few flights to get onto the concourse level. The food options are essentially "food." There's nothing local about the place -- Citi Field has Shake Shack and stuff like that. CBP has cheesesteaks and a bunch of other local things. It's the same with so many other stadiums! Yankee Stadium is essentially just Aramark stuff. Our seats were in the upper deck nosebleeds and they felt like 50,000,000 miles away. I usually sit in nosebleed seats. These were just so far away and awful. I was closer to the field when I sat at the rooftop decks at Wrigley. Like significantly closer. There's no aesthetic inside the park, either

 

There's also no real history at the park save for a few banners and things like that. I missed the Yankee Museum at the park so I might have missed something.

 

I am not saying that as some crazy Yankee hater or anything. I grew up a Yankee fan until I settled here in Philly. My family are all Yankees fans. I grew up going to the original Yankee Stadium. A lot of the key moments of my life revolve around Yankees games and moments. I'm not a Yankees fan anymore but I'm not an avid Yankees hater.

The Yankees have every financial advantage imaginable AND have a history of tradition and grandeur. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars and ended up with what's essentially the CVS of baseball stadiums.

 

 

I'll never understand why the Yankees tore down the old stadium instead of just investing money in renovations. I would say ditto for the Detroit Tigers and Tiger Stadium, but at least there was some economic development plan there. The Yankees just built a new stadium in the damn parking lot. 

 

 

The old Yankee Stadium wasn't any great shakes. It was really hard to walk in, had a lot of blind spots, etc. But it's better than their new place.

I didn't go to the old Tiger Stadium. But Conerica is one of my favorite parks. We went last year. It's really open and airy. They also make it a carnival-type thing outside and have a lot of fun with the Tiger logo, fitting it into the vibe of the stadium. That's a really good stadium.

[Dolfan in NYC]

The amount of renovations old Yankee Stadium would have needed would require them to do the same thing they did in the 70's and leave the stadium for a season or two while it was completely re-done.  Rather than deal with the Mets - who were in stadium negotiations of their own - and whatever ridiculousness they were asking for to do that, they held the city hostage. The threat was they were going to move to a new stadium in New Jersey and leave the Bronx forever.  

 

Giuliani, in his final fuck you to New York for not electing him to a third term (term limits), announced tentative agreements with the Mets and Yankees on new stadiums.  That was December '01.  This sort of went under the radar of a lot of New Yorkers because you know what happened and no one cared - especially because they said the new stadiums would be entirely privately funded.  Standard NYC politics/union issues got groundbreaking pushed back to 2006.  Somewhere in there, I think it was the Times discovered that the reason they got the stadium deal done was that the Yankees got so many tax concessions from the city that they got to build a new stadium for pennies on the dollar (and more importantly would get to play there tax-free).  Again, it was the middle of the financial market boom, so no one cared.

 

So yeah, the Yankees got to build the stadium they wanted - essentially for free - and we still got that.  Eh,  at least the Roger Waters concert I saw there was awesome.

[The Nature Boy]

 

 

My wife and I are trying to go to every park. I think we're past the halfway point. I'll do a review of each stadium later. But the latest we checked off was the new Yankee Stadium. We saw Sox/Yanks there this weekend.

Overall: THIS PLACE IS A TURD! I'll ignore the prices because it's New York and the Yankees and expected. The exterior of the stadium is gross. Most of the new stadiums (started from, say, Camden Yards on) have an exterior that is airy and welcoming and lets you see into the park from outside. It provides excitement and color when you head out of a vast sea of parking lots. Yankee Stadium is a giant concrete slab. The exterior architecture also makes it super claustrophobic and weird when getting through security. Finally inside, you then have to walk a few flights to get onto the concourse level. The food options are essentially "food." There's nothing local about the place -- Citi Field has Shake Shack and stuff like that. CBP has cheesesteaks and a bunch of other local things. It's the same with so many other stadiums! Yankee Stadium is essentially just Aramark stuff. Our seats were in the upper deck nosebleeds and they felt like 50,000,000 miles away. I usually sit in nosebleed seats. These were just so far away and awful. I was closer to the field when I sat at the rooftop decks at Wrigley. Like significantly closer. There's no aesthetic inside the park, either

 

There's also no real history at the park save for a few banners and things like that. I missed the Yankee Museum at the park so I might have missed something.

 

I am not saying that as some crazy Yankee hater or anything. I grew up a Yankee fan until I settled here in Philly. My family are all Yankees fans. I grew up going to the original Yankee Stadium. A lot of the key moments of my life revolve around Yankees games and moments. I'm not a Yankees fan anymore but I'm not an avid Yankees hater.

The Yankees have every financial advantage imaginable AND have a history of tradition and grandeur. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars and ended up with what's essentially the CVS of baseball stadiums.

 

 

I'll never understand why the Yankees tore down the old stadium instead of just investing money in renovations. I would say ditto for the Detroit Tigers and Tiger Stadium, but at least there was some economic development plan there. The Yankees just built a new stadium in the damn parking lot. 

 

 

The old Yankee Stadium wasn't any great shakes. It was really hard to walk in, had a lot of blind spots, etc. But it's better than their new place.

I didn't go to the old Tiger Stadium. But Conerica is one of my favorite parks. We went last year. It's really open and airy. They also make it a carnival-type thing outside and have a lot of fun with the Tiger logo, fitting it into the vibe of the stadium. That's a really good stadium.

 

 

I'm not insulting Comerica. I've been to a couple of games there (and to downtown Detroit a few times), it's a wonderful ballpark that I'm sure helped liven up the downtown area. I just hate to see a piece of baseball history torn down. I grew up going to Fenway so I'm used to old ballparks but I hear Fenway is in much better shape than Tiger Stadium or even Yankee Stadium ever were. 

[Tabe]

Tiger Stadium was a dump in a terrible neighborhood. It had no parking - unless you count getting triple-parked and stuck in a lot across the street at a church add parking. There were a ton of obstructed view seats and the actual structure was a mess. I loved the place and even I knew it had to go rather than be renovated.

[piranesi]

Tiger Stadium was a dump in a terrible neighborhood. It had no parking - unless you count getting triple-parked and stuck in a lot across the street at a church add parking. There were a ton of obstructed view seats and the actual structure was a mess. I loved the place and even I knew it had to go rather than be renovated.

 

It looked so great on t.v. though.