Patrick425

Seriously? Given the sacrifices that military personnel and their families make for this country, I have no problem with restricting civilian fans from this game.

Fair enough. Personally if I was doing rankings, I would wait another year or two to see if a 20 year old 8th round pick pitching in LoA can continue to pitch well at higher levels before bumping him all the way up to a top 100 prospect.

I don't think that was a stupid deal by either team and I think some are "overvaluing" Paddack. Yes he's having a great year in LoA ball, but he was an 8th round draft pick and ranked number 17 in the Marlins organization after the 2015 season. It's not like he's a top 100 (or even 200 prospect). Miami wanted to solidify their bullpen now and did that with a guy who has given up 1 ER in 28.67 innings. San Diego wanted to add a prospect to their minor league system and did that with a decent (but not sure bet - he's 20 years old and pitching in LoA..still has a lot to prove regardless of what he is doing this year) prospect. Each team got what they wanted out of the deal. I don't see this as a lopsided deal at all.

My son is in his 3rd, and last year, as a varsity player at his school. (If you have TWC, they televised his game on TWC sports - Waukesha West vs. Muskego, from this past Tuesday and will air it several times over the next or so. He's the lead off hitter and CF for West). From what I've witnessed watching varsity baseball over the last 3 years, I'm for the 100 pitch rule as I have seen games where pitchers are throwing 140, 150, or more pitches. Keep in mind also that the current rule in HS baseball in Wisconsin is basically no more than 7 innings in a 3 day window (I believe there are exceptions when a pitcher continues to pitch in an extra inning game). So, right now a pitcher could pitch 120-150 pitches on a Monday and then come back on Thursday and pitch another 120-150 pitches. Basically 2 days rest between starts and no pitch count rule. To me, that's crazy. Actually, High school players up here are starting to play the sport on almost a year round basis now. If their HS plays spring baseball, many then play legion or travel baseball in the summer and then get involved in a fall league after that (If they play HS summer baseball, many then also play in spring and fall leagues). There are also many indoor facilities that have gone up in the past 10-15 years where they train and can actually play simulated games on a full size infield (Hitters in Racine for example) in the Winter. Some of the better players may even travel for a week or two during the winter to go play baseball somewhere down south. Youth/HS Baseball is becoming a big business for many Wisconsin organizations (Hitters, Reinhart, Bigler, Stix...probably others that I'm not aware of). I think this is a big reason you saw two Wisconsin HS boys drafted in the first 2 rounds of this years draft. No, they were not pitchers, and I know it's still a big long shot for northern state pitchers to make it that far, but I think you will continue to see more and more get to that level going forward than in years past. Watch for a 2018 grad by the name of Jared Kelenic out of Waukesha. If he continues on his current trajectory, he could end up as a higher pick in the MLB draft than Gavin Lux (who got picked 20th overall this year). He's currently on the 40 man Team USA U18 Trials Roster. http://web.usabaseball.com/article.jsp?ymd=20160626&content_id=186312688&vkey=news_usab

Don't like this trade as Rodney was on my fantasy team and has been pretty much lights out this year as a closer (I don't think he will be the closer in Miami).

Yes, impressive...especially for a 15 year old!

Good grief people can be ridiculous at times is right!

All these situations I get. However, Logan, not sure I understand the stance you are trying to make by purposely taking your time. You think people hold up others in the parking lot by waiting for someone to back out of a spot. So, instead of speeding up the process and getting out of the spot that you no longer need to use so that the person waiting can park there and not possibly hold up others, you make them wait longer until they finally realize that you are not going to back out (for no reason other than spite)? Ok?

Watching the U.S. Open. Wow. Delayed ruling until after the match on Dustin Johnson's putt. Seriously?!? It would be like if during the Super Bowl, the officials approached one of the teams during the 3rd quarter of a close game and said, "Hey, you know that touchdown that you guys got in the 2nd quarter..the one we ruled a completed pass, well, it may not have been completed and we are going to look at it further after the game and make a decision." Just completely silly.

I think you will see more and more northern players drafted higher going forward. Things have changed over the last 10-20 years in regards to Winter facilities and training for northern states players. When I was a kid there were no indoor baseball facilities and kids that played baseball many times didn't swing a bat or pick up a glove between the months of October-March. There were not fall leagues and spring leagues. There were not nearly as many youth league options and you played maybe 12-15 games on very poorly maintained fields. Even 10 years ago when my son was 8 there was only a few indoor batting cages in the area (Hegan's field of dreams on Lincoln avenue was probably the most popular). Now you got Hitters, Stix, new indoor facilities at Infinity Fields in Waukesha, Bigler baseball academy, and there are probably many more that I'm not even aware of. It's become a big business and these places charge a lot of money to participate. Its not uncommon for a Wisconsin kid who is committed to baseball to now play near 60 games a year from March to the mid-October. This plus all the traveling that is now done for some of the more elite players like Gavin Lux. Even my son, who was a just above average youth player, played in tournaments in Cooperstown and Myrtle Beach at ages 10 and 12...something I could not of even fathomed when I was those ages. There is currently a HS class of 2018 outfielder from Waukesha (Jared Kelenic - His dad owns Infinity Fields in Waukesha) who is ranked very high nationally in his age group (I want to say top 5) and has verbally committed to Louisville. It will be very interesting to continue to watch his progress and see where he ends up getting slotted in the draft two years from now.

Agreed. Who cares if grown men fight? Because they are grown men. I realize that things are different in the sports world and these incidents will always happen when you are constantly battling for wins and that is the nature of your profession. However I'm going to go off on a tangent a little and just say that in general, day to day situations, I get really tired of the "grown men" I see that clearly are looking for an excuse to get into a fight. I don't like what you said, or the way you looked at me, or the fact that you took exception to my unwarranted rudeness towards you....so instead of trying to settle the issue in some intelligent, non-violent manner, I'm going to prove I'm right by displaying my misdirected pride through brute force. I swear, I go to a local summer festival and at times it's like watching a bunch of cavemen who only react to situations based on instinct and zero thought. What does this have to do with a baseball brawl? Maybe not much, but it all contributes to the culture in some manner. The over-served slob in the stands that sees this "action" on the field, and this has the effect of doubling his levels of testosterone as well as his eagerness to find an outlet for it. God forbid there is fan from the other team in the stands near him. This is why I made the choice to sit in the family section many years ago. I enjoy drinking, but I can live without it for 3 hours in order to avoid some of the behavior I have witnessed in other sections.

I read some of the posts right around the Brewers first pick and did not have time to go through all 24 pages of posts, but there seemed to be a lot of hand wringing over the Brewers not selecting Groome as their first pick. From what I read about him recently, it sounded like his agent had upped the ante considerably in regards to what they were looking for in a signing bonus and that he also had decided to go to a CC instead of Vanderbilt (if he decides to hold out). Seems like Groome would have been a risky pick for a team like the Brewers as he may have decided to wait a year and play CC ball if they were unable to pony up the kind of money he was looking for. Also, good for the 2 WI boys selected in the first two rounds!! I used to see Gavin Lux occasionally at Hitters when my son was doing some baseball things there. I didn't know who he was at the time, but I sure remember him..not because I really saw him in action that much, but because of the way he carried himself. You could just kinda tell that he was one of the Hitter's "prodigys". He just had that swagger. I do think my son may have played against his team once or twice in a Hitter's spring league a few years ago, but I'm not sure.

I wouldn't exclude Cory Seager from that conversation. He just went on a 5HR in 3games tear. 2 of those HRs after the post. Villar happened to have 3HRs in this same week. Kinda Cancels out Seager's 3HR game. You're at a .300/.400 5HRs-20+SBs hitter vs .284/341 14HRs to 1SB hitter. Seager certainly has put his name in to the discussion but he's not in the Best discussion quite yet. Seager for his part should be putting up top of the NL SS numbers as he was what? #1 prospect in baseball heading in to season? Villar has a #94 pre2011 ranking to his credit. But he didn't carry it with him in 2012. I realize your original post was before one of his big games and was not trying to point out an error you made. However, A) He may not be the best SS right now, but he certainly is in contention and yes, can be included in the discussion (14 HRs, 12 before your post, 35 RBI, .874 OPS...he can't even be in the discussion?) and B) while it certainly is possible, I don't care how highly touted of a prospect a player is, I think it's a bit unrealistic to just assume that a rookie will be the best player at his position.

I wouldn't exclude Cory Seager from that conversation.

I believe the exact opposite of everything stated above.

Which is one of the many reasons that era bothers me. Both McGwire and Bonds would have probably had great careers and made a lot of money without the aid of steroids. Bonds really kills me...I would have loved to have seen what his untainted numbers would have been like. I think he still would have been one of the greatest. We'll never know.

So, you think if you ask Canseco why he took steroids, he will answer that he took it to recover from injuries quicker?. No, he would tell you that he took them to hit more HRs (along with McGwire, Sosa, and others during that period - although those guys are still in denial) and it worked. A few people are getting caught now and you are assuming that everyone is still taking them. Maybe you are right and I'll admit that the PEDs of today may be a little different than the PEDs from that era...maybe they are more about avoiding injuires now, I don't know. However, during that time they were clearly used to bulk up and gain strength (by allowing them to increase their workout regiment). You can honestly look at these pictures and tell me you don't think PEDs helped these guys with their power? I'm assuming you also think the moon landings were a hoax. http://www.blankmaninc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/steroids-before-and-after2.jpg

Yes, there are rare occasions where players do inexplicably hit for more power later in there career. However, Byrd gets caught twice and you are going to just call it a coincidence that he has suddenly found a power stroke late in his career? I witnessed the PED era. I saw with my own eyes, the bodys of guys like Sosa, McGwire, and Bonds just blow up. I saw guys like Brady Anderson all of a sudden hit 50 HRs out of no where. I sat and watched the 2002 HR Derby at Miller Park (warm ups and the actual Derby) and saw guys hitting balls in places that no current player would be able to reach (even with batting practice pitching). There has also been a pretty big decrease in HR numbers since the crack down and new rules regarding PED use. 25-35 HRs are now considered pretty good for a season.

Byrd seemed to be an obvious PED user. Suddenly at ages 35-37 he was hitting more HRs than he ever did in his career. Do people still want to argue that there is no correlation between PED use and power numbers?

I agree. Never said I was for bean ball retaliation. I think that's a lot more stupid than celebrating HRs. Nevermind the ignorance of purposely trying to hurt another player, why would you ever want to give your opponent a free base runner aside from situations where it strategically makes sense to do so (and in those situations it should be done with a traditional IW)? My problem with some of the celebrations and "having fun" in professional sports is that it starts becoming a culture and, at times, that can interfere with the main objective of doing what is necessary to help win games for your team. As a fan, yes I admit that it's fun to watch some of that stuff sometimes. The Bautista bat flip was a moment in sports in a very exciting and important game. What I enjoy more as a fan is watching my team score and when one interferes with the other that's frustrating (for example, I'm sure many will remember - many of Bill Hall's premature acts of watching his non-HRs).

Yasiel Puig was removed from the game last night for failing to run out a ball that was hit off the wall (it was initially reported that he was removed with a hand injury). He apparently thought it was a HR and stood and watched it. To his credit, he acknowledged to the media that he was in the wrong and stated that the manager made the correct move in taking him out of the game. I get the whole baseball should be fun and there I also get fans enjoying a player showboating a little after he hits a long HR. However, this is where I cringe a little. IMHO, there are too many players who just can't wait for that opportunity to "make baseball fun" and sometimes do it when they really should not. I can forgive the bat flip and stance on a "no doubter", but don't risk the chance of costing your team some runs because you are so eager to "have fun". It's similar to the football player who is so eager to show everyone how much fun he is having scoring a touchdown that he celebrates prematurely before getting into the end zone and either drops the ball too early or gets it tackled and loses the ball and ends up costing his team points.

I noticed that Alex Colome for Tampa Bay pitched a 2 inning save today. Would love to see more closers do that these days (2 or 3 inning saves).

Came on here to post a random thought that Vin Scully is 88 years old..wow, I knew he was old, but 88!..and still sounds great! However, as I was about to post I saw the last post and yes, hate to see anyone get hit in the head/face with a pitch, but it's not like pitchers get hit more in that area that position players. Long list of position players hit in the face with pitches...I don't think a pitcher getting hit in the face is reason for pitchers never batting. I personally would like to see the DH abolished, but I realize I'm in the minority and the opposite will probably happen eventually.

This^^ When I coached my son in youth baseball we were told to never argue with the umps about balls/strikes and really, in youth baseball, you should not "argue" about any questionable calls..it's youth baseball. However, it was frustrating when they would say different umpires have different strike zones and umpires would actually admit that they have "a lower strike zone" or "wider strike zone". How can you have a zone that differs from the rule book. It's like saying, sometimes I give a batter 4 strikes instead of only 3. Rules are rules. (btw..I realize that at different levels and skill levels in youth baseball there are times when an expanded strike zone is needed for the sanity of all players, coaches, and parents involved)

Where the I-10 West meets with I-17 N/S is bad but the I-17 and the Loop 101 exit is just words can not describe that exit. I will not drive in the center or right lane any where near I-17 and Bell and the 101 exit it is just way to hazardous to be driving there. So many bad drivers in Phoenix and I swear every single one drives on the I-17 or the 101 when I am driving. Been to the Phoenix area for Spring training about a dozen times. We always rent a car and do a fair amount of driving while we are there because we will go wherever the Brewers happen to be playing on any given day. Traffic can be a bit heavy at times (and a lot of lane switching) but I don't recall any close calls for us in regards to almost getting in an accident. I will say that I'm always amazed at the amount of skid marks all over the freeways and the number of scrape marks on the barriers (especially on curves). I don't notice this as much in the Milwaukee area.