Random MLB News & Discussion 2014

[trwi7]

Mariners win. I'd like to see them in the playoffs.

[trwi7]

Wisconsin native Jordan Zimmermann threw a no hitter today.

[RightFieldCoder]

I was watching MLB.tv live on my phone for the last inning. The 27th out was awesome.

[Matt Breen]

Congrats to Jose Altuve who won the batting title with a .341 BA. Houston wanted Altuve to sit out the finale to ensure he won (Victor Martinez as a few points behind him), but Altuve talked his way into the lineup and went 2-4.

 

No Jose Reyes-type crap for Altuve. Kudos to the man.

[Thurston Fluff]

Cards are the most hated playoff team. http://theweek.com/article/index/269017/speedreads-the-cardinals-are-the-most-hateable-playoff-team There's a surprise.

[jerichoholicninja]

This may have been discussed when it happened, but I just read this article today and wanted to pass it on.

 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/06/tony-la-russa-defends-the-dbacks-plunking-of-andrew-mccutchen-and-its-ridiculous/

 

“I don’t see where the Diamondbacks should catch all this (expletive) they’re catching,” La Russa said . . . La Russa believes the Pirates were still responsible regardless of intent.

 

The crux of his argument lies in what he believes to be the Pirates’ pitching philosophy. They don’t just pitch inside, La Russa said. They pitch up and in. And by choosing to do so, they have to live with the consequences.

 

La Russa thinks that pitching up and in, not hitting a guy, warrants drilling someone in the ribs. What garbage this guy is. The story also has links to some great Cardinal hypocrisy featuring La Russa and the ever-popular Chris "How will I explain this to my son?" Carpenter.

[Thurston Fluff]

If fewer hitters would dive into pitches you would see fewer pitchers pitching up and in. Intimidation was always part of pitching. For someone who is supposedly so into tradition and unwritten rules LaRussa sure does misremember a lot of how things were always done.

[jerichoholicninja]

Behold the consistency of Aoki. While his power numbers have dropped quite a bit after his rookie season, his batting average and on-base percentage have stayed virtually the same.

 

YR/AVG/OBP

 

12/.288/.355

13/.286/.356

14/.285/.349

 

I remember one of the things we ragged on Roenicke about was his assertion that he hit lefties better than righties. For his career he has a .776 OPS vs LHP and a .726 OPS vs RHB. His batting average is 46 points higher against lefties. This season his OPS against lefties was .205 higher than against righties. While I think the franchise better off with Smith than Aoki, I miss him.

[Matt Breen]

Cards are the most hated playoff team. http://theweek.com/article/index/269017/speedreads-the-cardinals-are-the-most-hateable-playoff-team There's a surprise.

The mayor of St. Louis replies to the article - and makes you want to hate the Cardinals (and St. Louis) even more:

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/st-louis-to-america-dont-be-jealous-1412273454

[Matt Breen]

Cards are the most hated playoff team. http://theweek.com/article/index/269017/speedreads-the-cardinals-are-the-most-hateable-playoff-team There's a surprise.

The mayor of St. Louis replies to the article - and makes you want to hate the Cardinals (and St. Louis) even more:

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/st-louis-to-america-dont-be-jealous-1412273454

Writer at SB Nation has a fun look at the article - he hates them even more as well.

 

http://www.sbnation.com/2014/10/2/6895281/mayor-st-louis-responds-cardinals-hateability-pompous-ass

[jerichoholicninja]

Cards are the most hated playoff team. http://theweek.com/article/index/269017/speedreads-the-cardinals-are-the-most-hateable-playoff-team There's a surprise.

The mayor of St. Louis replies to the article - and makes you want to hate the Cardinals (and St. Louis) even more:

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/st-louis-to-america-dont-be-jealous-1412273454

 

I came here to post this too. I started to read it and then quickly skimmed the rest of it. The generalization of Midwesterners being quiet and humble does not apply to St. Louis.

[miggs721]

Fredi Gonzalez brought back by Atlanta, and Bo Porter hired as 3rd base coach, seems like a good move by ATL

[DocLuna7]

Cards are the most hated playoff team. http://theweek.com/article/index/269017/speedreads-the-cardinals-are-the-most-hateable-playoff-team There's a surprise.

The mayor of St. Louis replies to the article - and makes you want to hate the Cardinals (and St. Louis) even more:

 

http://online.wsj.com/articles/st-louis-to-america-dont-be-jealous-1412273454

 

I came here to post this too. I started to read it and then quickly skimmed the rest of it. The generalization of Midwesterners being quiet and humble does not apply to St. Louis.

 

I think of St. Louis and its residents as Southerners.

[Patrick425]

I get the hatred for St. Louis. However, I always get the feeling that most of the East and West coast hatred towards the Cards (mostly East Coast) is not for the same reasons we hate StL. It's more on par with people in the middle part of the country hating the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, etc. I think if Milwaukee, KC, or Minnesota had the same successful history that the Cards had, they would feel the same animosity from the 2 coasts. It disrupts their whole belief system that that other parts of the country can't possibly have anything going for them and why would anyone want to live there.

 

I'm not trying to defend St. Louis, I would love nothing more to see them get swept in humiliating fashion by LA. I'm just saying that people in places like NY have different motives for hating any part of the country that is able to find success outside of what they view as the center of the universe.

[jjgott]

Qualifying Offers will be $15.3 million

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/10/qualifying-offers-to-be-worth-15-3mm-this-offseason.html

[JohnBriggs12]

One thing that bothers me about MLB is that they play 162 game season which we all pay good money to see and follow for 6 months, and the team with the best record is done along with the team tied for 2nd best and the 4th best, while the teams with the 5th, 7th, and 8th best records are still playing.

 

Baseball was king when there was a true World Series between the two best teams that was determined over an entire baseball season, not a handful of games played in football season when 90% of the country is focused on its pro or college teams game that week. I'm not advocating going back to that, but I would go back to just 4 teams in the postseason.

[TooLiveBrew]

One thing that bothers me about MLB is that they play 162 game season which we all pay good money to see and follow for 6 months, and the team with the best record is done along with the team tied for 2nd best and the 4th best, while the teams with the 5th, 7th, and 8th best records are still playing.

 

Baseball was king when there was a true World Series between the two best teams that was determined over an entire baseball season, not a handful of games played in football season when 90% of the country is focused on its pro or college teams game that week. I'm not advocating going back to that, but I would go back to just 4 teams in the postseason.

My dream for the MLB postseason is just this. It'll never happen, because... money. But man, two leagues with two divisions each, & NO Wild Card... that's the best format imo.

[Matt Breen]

Dan O'Dowd out as GM in Colorado. 15 years. That's an amazing run for a team that hasn't been that successful. I guess the World Series appearance bought him a long hook.

 

If I remember right, the Brewers were interested in O'Dowd back in '99, but Colorado was more appealing.

 

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11663630/dan-odowd-colorado-rockies-general-manager-15-seasons

[dlk9s]

I like the single wild card format. Gives teams a chance to get to the World Series despite being unlucky to be stuck in a division with another great team. I HATE HATE HATE HATE the one-game play-in that they have now. And I'd expand the the first round to best of seven.

 

If the team with the best record won every time, the Packers wouldn't have won the Super Bowl a few years ago.

[trwi7]

I despise the one game playoff too. The problem is I would guess you put the division winner who faces them at a disadvantage with all of the off days if you go best of 3.

 

I would suggest the wildcard a day after the regular season ends (assuming no tiebreakers are needed) and then the Division Series starts the next day no matter how far the wildcard team has to travel. That gives the team with the best record in the league an advantage with minimal time off for them.

[young guns]

I agree. The division winner was supposed to have the advantage, but this year the top team from both leagues combined for a single win against the wild card.

[danzig6767]

I agree. The division winner was supposed to have the advantage, but this year the top team from both leagues combined for a single win against the wild card.

 

Washington had plenty of chances to win that series. An 18 inning game where scoring a single run from the 10th-17th innings would likely have won the game, followed by being one out away from winning game three. The Angels lost the first two games at home vs KC in extra innings.

[jerichoholicninja]

Whoever wins the wild card game is most likely going to be a disadvantage since they most likely used one of, if not, their best starter in the game. They then play the team with the best record in the league who will have a fresh ace and a fresh bullpen. Aside from only being a 5 game series, the wild card play-in game should make the "best" team win the divisional playoff round more often than previously. Isn't that what people want? The wild card winner to not make the world series.

[dlk9s]

Let's just call the team with the best regular season record the champ. That way we guarantee the team with the best regular season record is the champ!

[TooLiveBrew]

Let's just call the team with the best regular season record the champ. That way we guarantee the team with the best regular season record is the champ!

Works for association soccer! Problem being that in those leagues, each team plays the other teams an equal amount.