Baseball

[Brooklyn]

Argh!

Was watching NY Yanks vs Washington with the Yanks ahead 4-1 at the top of the 6th. Then the rains came with some thunder & lightning .

Gerrit Cole vs Max Scherzer


Great to see MLB playing again. Too bad they don't like to use indoor stadiums as the game would continue regardless of the weather. I like the way the Yanks lineup was referred to as the new Murderers Row. That's quite a heritage to live up to.

Will wait to see what happens next ....

[Nigel]

Empty seats behind the catcher vs cardboard fans behind the catcher? Give me the latter! I know they're fake but it just makes the game seem more 'real'. Totally serious.

[old salt]

Empty seats behind the catcher vs cardboard fans behind the catcher? Give me the latter! I know they're fake but it just makes the game seem more 'real'. Totally serious.

Need mannequins & crash dummies in home team gear.

Watching Pirates @ StL on MLB nerwork -- there's crowd noise in the background, which goes up & down with the play on the field.
I wonder if it's piped in over the stadium PA or added by the MLB tv production staff.
If you didn't see the empty stands, listening only, with the crowd noise, PA & organ, you'd think it was a full stadium.

[Brooklyn]

Yesterday I watch NWSL's womens pro soccer national championship game as Houston > Chicago 2-0.

https://www.google.com/search?q=NWSL+so ... 6z;dt;fp;1;;

Interestingly, the tv announcers said not one person in the league tested positive for corona infection. This in marked contrast to what is being reported in MLB today where 2 games had to be cancelled for fear of contamination:


https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/marl ... yer-cases/


Now I wonder how these players got infected and who did they possibly infect??? Why on earth did MLB not take the same preventive measures that the NWSL took to protect its players. Let's hope all the leagues (NBA, WNBA, NHL, NFL, etc) take those same measures and that the problem is contained before it gets worse.

[44WeWantMore]

Have you ever seen NWSL groupies gather around the team hotel?

I used to walk by the Four Seasons on the way to the office, and I could always tell when the LA Lakers were in town. Back in the day, the throng of their groupies were easily triple the size of any other visiting team's.

Now MLB might not be the NBA, but it isn't the NWSL either.

[Brooklyn]

Have you ever seen NWSL groupies gather around the team hotel?

I used to walk by the Four Seasons on the way to the office, and I could always tell when the LA Lakers were in town. Back in the day, the throng of their groupies were easily triple the size of any other visiting team's.

Now MLB might not be the NBA, but it isn't the NWSL either.

Dunno about those groupies. Have a link to provide more info?

[44WeWantMore]

No links, but if I had pics, I would post them for the WOMBAT, having caught his eye with throng.

[Brooklyn]

Milwaukee 6
Pittsburgh 8


https://www.google.com/search?q=pittsbu ... e&ie=UTF-8


Started out as a good game with very good pace. Suddenly, the HP umpire decided to squeeze the srike zone in the 7th inning and refused to call strikes. Because of that both teams scored 4 runs in their half of the inning. I guess these umpires are paid by the hour and that is why he wanted to prolong the game. Up to the 7th the tv announcers praised the ump's K zone only to criticize him later on when he refused to call strikes - this despite the fact that the screen shows a k zone and some of the pitches were within it.

Make me the Commish and I'll see to it that the game is called properly so that they can end within 2 hours or so.

[Nigel]

One of the biggest disappointments this year about baseball is the absence of fans jeering the cheating Houston Astros. I would've loved to see and hear some good old fashioned razzing from the stands.

Joe Kelly got eight games but many baseball fans and ex-players were on his side after ydays incident. I'm not a fan of Joe Kelly, but I was yday.

[Brooklyn]

Red Sox v Mets:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrBI0E- ... ure=onebox



time of the game = 3:45

In the old days I used to play/coach/watch double headers that took about as much time as this game did.


Mets starter DeGrom had 31 consecutive scorelss innings. But HP ump refused to call third strike and he was forced to give up a run in 4th inning. Had 2 WP's which is the total he gave up last year. Males me glad the NBA and NHL seasons are starting soon.




Baseball bulletin: John McNamara, RIP https://www.wkbn.com/sports/former-clev ... mara-dies/

[Brooklyn]

A number of games have been postponed due to player contamination from covid. There is talk that the commissioner may cancel the rest of the season for fear of plaguing the entire league.

As I wrote above, other leagues took control but for some reason MLB failed to do so. I guess the nitwits who control the league are just too stupid to get the job done properly.

[Brooklyn]

Happy birthday to a true old school star:





Happy 91st to Brooklyn's Joe Pignatano!


Played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and cultivated a veggie garden at Shea Stadium.



http://www.loveofthegameproductions.com ... -duca-442/

[Brooklyn]

watched the Mets get their butts kicked by Washington tonight 16-4


https://www.google.com/search?q=mets&rl ... e&ie=UTF-8


During the broadcast the tv commentators said St Louis players have violated the protocols imposed by MLB during the lockdown. A couple of players went to dinner at a restaurant thereby possibly exposing themselves to covid. Because of this they had to go into isolation and were not allowed to suit up. You have to wonder just how stupid could these guys be? Violating a direct order is one thing - potentially jeopardizing your career as well as your life and that of your teammates is quite another. Dunno if the commish has the authority but if he does and those clowns are found to have caught and spread contagion, he should ban them from the game. Better to do that than to have a manslaughter charge imposed if a teammate dies because of those dupes and their stupidity.

[Nigel]

Q - Is this heaven?
A - No, it's Buffalo.

[Brooklyn]

Sahlen Field!




So good to see three MLB ballgames going on in NYS on the same day. First time this has happened in 105 years. Buffalo should have been given a franchise decades ago. Lots of good baseball fans in the region and it would have led to many great rivalries with the Yanks, Mets, Phillies, Pitt, Toronto, and even with Montreal.


tonight's Yankees game:


https://www.google.com/search?q=yankees ... e&ie=UTF-8


https://stories.mlb.com/live/631192.html



Among the Yankees hallmarks in their many decades of success have been their bullpen and solid defense. I thought their bullpen was not sharp and their D especially at SS/2b was too weak. It was reported that this is the 26th series in a row won by the Yanks. I wonder if this means home series.

I am also concerned about Giancarlo Stanton as it is reported that his leg injury could keep him out for the rest of the short season. With him the Yanks prolly have the strongest lineup in MLB today.





A thought occurred to me re late season moves to strengthen a team in the stretch drive for the pennant. In the past there was a cut off date of August 1 in order for a team to pick up a veteran player. Has there been any report about what last minute moves a team can make in the pennant drive? I haven't kept up with the news so I have no idea if this has been reported.

[Nigel]

Trade deadline is 8/31.

Stanton going IL gives Clint Frazier another shot. Certainly Stanton is more of a long ball threat but Frazier ain't chopped liver and has shown he too can hit the ball out of the ballpark. So that leaves an OF of Judge/Hicks/Gardy Party/Tauchman/Frazier. Judge most certainly needs to stay health, hopefully Hicks too. The key for the Yanks is getting Gleyber and Sanchino going. They've both been brutal so far in the batters box. Paxton pitching like a major leaguer once again would be helpful too.

[Brooklyn]

@Nigel


Thanx

Hopefully, all will stay healthy, the D improve, and the bullpen kept sharp.

Enjoy the game tonight ...

[Brooklyn]

A great baseball story:


https://www.fox9.com/sports/minnesota-p ... e-mariners


Minnesota pitcher goes from town ball to big leagues with Seattle Mariners





Like many amateur baseball players across the state, Joey Gerber honed his pitching skills on a town ball team, playing for the Hamel Hawks in Hamel, Minnesota.

“It all started kind of around then realizing that I know I’ve got this potential that I haven’t fully realized,” Gerber told FOX 9.


Gerber had arm problems in high school and went undrafted. Went to college, strengthened his arm, and continued to develop his skills. Took the long road from high school, to college, to town ball, and then to the minor leagues. Now he's in the Big Leagues! All this in a suprisingly short period of time.


Up to just a few decades ago, Hamel was a farming village. It has expanded into a suburban city with a great sports tradition, notably baseball. One person who was largely responsible for the growth of baseball was Paul Fortin - a field in that town was named for him as was a baseball scholarship at the University of Minnesota. It is my great pleasure and privilege to say Paul was a good friend of mine.

https://twitter.com/scoremonsternow/sta ... 9092398080

[RedFromMI]

Found this on the DII Football blog:

(hat of one division arranged in a particular order)

[Brooklyn]

Thom Brennaman - ha, ha ~ caught in the act!


https://twitter.com/JV__19/status/12962 ... 27168?s=20



Always suspected he was secretly a member of the right wing. Now we know fer sure.