Baseball Sucks Now

[doug.goodman]

I'm rooting for the Braves (because my team(s) both lost) but I hope the guy who is about to replace the guy who is throwing a no-hitter gives up a HR on his first pitch...

Doug "old guy shouting at the wind" Goodman

[FrankWakefield]

No.....


I'd like the Braves to win in 5, or 6. And have a combined no hitter tonight.


Doug, as someone once told me, You're not a Baseball fan.

It shocked me, then he told me that I was a fan of 19th and 20th century baseball, but not in these crazy times of 21st century baseball with the expensive tickets, expensive MLBP licensing for ball cards and such, $9 beer, and such...

[4k6]

I'm just amazed that a 74 year old flute playing progressive rocker managed to pitch five no-hit innings in the world series.

[mrreality68]

These are the types of games I enjoy. Low scoring pitchers duals where every pitch and at bat counts because each one can change the game dramatically

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by 4k6

I'm just amazed that a 74 year old flute playing progressive rocker managed to pitch five no-hit innings in the world series.

Some of those classic rockers really are ageless. The Stones played here last week, and my buddy forwarded me this picture of Keith Richards and Betty White:

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

These are the types of games I enjoy. Low scoring pitchers duals where every pitch and at bat counts because each one can change the game dramatically

I agree

[bxb]

I dunno, I can't seem to stay awake past the 7th inning any more.

Also, after about 3 innings I need the mute button to block out Joe Buck's voice.

[Snapolit1]

Game has changed, but so has football and basketball. All things must change. I thought his move pulling the pitcher last night was spot on genius. But clearly it rankled a lot of people.

Older I get more I just appreciate the game. I used to stop watching baseball once the season ended and my team was done. But in last 5 years or so I’ve gotten very into the post season. So many amazing stories. Sniker. Dusty. I loved last nights game and will be sorry when baseball is gone for a number of months.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Game has changed, but so has football and basketball. All things must change. I thought his move pulling the pitcher last night was spot on genius. But clearly it rankled a lot of people.

Older I get more I just appreciate the game. I used to stop watching baseball once the season ended and my team was done. But in last 5 years or so I’ve gotten very into the post season. So many amazing stories. Sniker. Dusty. I loved last nights game and will be sorry when baseball is gone for a number of months.

+1 agree

[Snapolit1]

There are no hitters in progress where a guy’s stuff is so electric you think no one may come even close to getting a hit off him. Like a Dwight Gooden or Bob Gibson. Last night was not one of those nights.

[FrankWakefield]

Agree about 'electric stuff' ... but sometimes that stuff isn't enough; it takes some luck or good fortune. I heard an interview of some of the 1968 Tigers (Kaline among them) talking about Gibson's slider and fastball in game 1 of the World Series. One of them, when asked who the best pitcher he ever faced, said that Gibson, on that day, was the best. The Tigers got 5 hits that day, but Gibson was dominant. The 17 strikeouts stand out, but I like that of the 9 Tigers that started that game every one of them struck out at least once.

Last night, if the Braves short stop peels off to one side and runs past the outfielder (in case the ball gets by him), then I think the outfielder doesn't slow down and he catches that ball. The outfielder didn't slow down to catch the ball, he slowed because of the short stop running towards him. If those two had been students of George Kissell that ball may well have been caught.

Every thread needs a card...
https://www.net54baseball.com/images/attach/jpg.gif

[rand1com]

Well, Snitker's move worked so it can't be second guessed now but I certainly first guessed it when he made the move. The starter was wild but they had not gotten a hit.

I know the theory that you can't let a good hitting team see the same pitcher a third time but that is BS in my opinion as long as his stuff is good.

He had thrown less than 80 pitches through 5 innings. Now obviously, he was not going the distance No-No or not, but Snitker had to use an extra pitcher that may well come back to haunt him the next two games which he has no true starting pitcher. I know, it was only one inning but he used his best 4 relievers for one inning in one game.

I fully expected the Astros to get to one of those 4 but alas, Snitker was a genius.

If it had gone the other way, he would have been an idiot.

Guess that is why he gets the big bucks.

[Snapolit1]

Looks like the Braves year. Lot of good dudes on that team and how can you not be happy for their manager. Been in the Braves system for like 38 years or something crazy.

[obiwan1129]

I haven't got to see too much of the games on TV but Snitker is such an interesting story. If you haven't read the book about his high school team the 1971 Macon Ironmen, give it a read. One of my all-time favorite baseball books, like easily Top 5. "One Shot at Forever" by Chris Ballard. Since it was 50 years ago, I gotta figure the idiots at Fox have at least mentioned it.

I also can't stand Joe Buck, it was painful listening to him during the 2016 Series.

[Yoda]

[QUOTE=Mark17;2158627]Some of those classic rockers really are ageless. The Stones played here last week, and my buddy forwarded me this picture of Keith Richards and Bett

Mark, The Stones played so soon after Charlie's passing?? My God, who was on drums?

[Pjere]

Originally Posted by bxb

I dunno, I can't seem to stay awake past the 7th inning any more.

Also, after about 3 innings I need the mute button to block out Joe Buck's voice.

The most classic voice of modern time


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[Klrdds]

Yoda
Steve Jordan is replacing Charlie Watts for this tour . He has been a successful session drummer for years , I believe he is about 62 years old . He also is the drummer for Keith Richards' other band The X - Pensive Winos. He'll never replace Watts and he's not really trying to , he just wants to keep up Watts' and the Stones' music and legacy. From the reviews it seems he's doing a good job too since he's been familiar with the Stones' music for years.

[Klrdds]

Baseball just takes too long these days but yet I watch it because I love the game and all of its subtleties . Almost 4 hours per game , I remember 2 hour games growing up and the grumblings from fans when the games started to hover around the 2 1/2 hour mark. TV and relief pitching have the changed the game so much that an NFL game is almost less time.
Also where are the bunts and hit and run plays ?
Buck IMO hates silence , he always has to say something and IMO Smoltz has to plan his entry into the conversation because Buck just doesn't stop talking to let anyone else talk.

GO BRAVES !!!

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Game has changed, but so has football and basketball.

But baseball matters.

I'm philosophically opposed to sports with clocks.

And sports where the size of a single player controls the outcome of an entire game.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

Yoda
Steve Jordan is replacing Charlie Watts for this tour . He has been a successful session drummer for years , I believe he is about 62 years old . He also is the drummer for Keith Richards' other band The X - Pensive Winos. He'll never replace Watts and he's not really trying to , he just wants to keep up Watts' and the Stones' music and legacy. From the reviews it seems he's doing a good job too since he's been familiar with the Stones' music for years.

Before he passed, I don't believe that Charlie was planning on playing on this tour (the 40th anniversary tour of their 1981 Farewell Tour, by the way) and he was the guy who picked the replacement. I think. Too lazy to google it.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

But baseball matters.

Amen!

Personally, I didn't care about the no hitter. I didn't feel invested for some reason. I disagree with removing pitchers early because the more hitters face "armpen" options, the easier it is to time them and grow accustomed to their stuff. So I wanted the starter to stay in to give the bullpen a rest. That bullpen is going to be maxed out in another game or 2, and then games 5/6/7 are going to be offensive slaughters. I don't agree with using starters as closers because you can't efficiently manage the bullpen. It has become too common. It takes away the magic of what pitchers like Randy Johnson and Bumgarner did in the WS.

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[Tabe]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

Also where are the bunts and hit and run plays ?

It took a long, long time but teams finally figured out those plays are a waste of time.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Tabe

It took a long, long time but teams finally figured out those plays are a waste of time.

But if those players still existed they would destroy the shift...

[Shoeless Moe]

Well when you have guys like Kyle Schwarber leading off the bunt is highly unlikely.

Not too many Brett Butlers or Mickey Rivers these days, everyone is worried about their exit velocity. Not sure what the ideal exit velocity is on a bunt.

Pitchers still bunt, but in the Post Season rare for a pitcher to even bat these days.

[Gorditadogg]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

But baseball matters.



I'm philosophically opposed to sports with clocks.



And sports where the size of a single player controls the outcome of an entire game.

You must have hated Big Unit.

Plus baseball needs a clock.

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[tschock]

Wasn't it Bergman who had a pretty good bunt from the dugout?

[frankbmd]

1. Here’s the ball. I’ll see you after the game.

2. A rotation of 4 starters with a 50% chance of completing the game.

3. A rotation of 5 starters with a 15% chance of finishing the game.

4. A closer to help the #2 pitchers finish the game.

5. A holder (sometimes called a set up guy) and a closer in most games.

6. 2 holders and a closer in most games.

7. The extinction of the 2 inning relief pitcher, requiring at least 2 more holders in the pen.

8. A starter who can pitch 6 innings becomes a franchise player.

9. Two pitchers on every roster who need or who are recovering from Tommy John surgery.

10. 4 starters on a team with a 50-50 chance of completing 5 innings.

11. Managerial excellence based on his ability to change pitchers every inning after the third and to put the fielding manifesto in everyone’s cap.

12. Despite all of the above, and a lot of travel days in October, a team in the World Series is deemed in good sharp if they have 3 marginal 5 inning starters and 9 100mph cannons in the bull pen.

13. Of course with events like Charley Morton’s broken fibula, baseball’s greatest stage wouldn’t be complete without 2 or 3 bullpen games.

WaJo would look at Marty and say “What the f*** is a bullpen game?”

And Matty would reply "Give me the ball. I'll see you after the game."

[Shoeless Moe]

.....but I'll say this.

I would not even watch a Braves - Astros game if it was regular season,

But in the post season, wouldn't miss it.

Every pitch in the post season is intense.


LOVE IT!

[Shoeless Moe]

Anybody notice how Buck and Smoltz won't even mention "The Chop" war chant in the background.

You clearly hear it.

They clearly ignore and make no mention of it. Possibly instructed not too.

but still a little.........GUTLESS

It's friggin' awesome. Just say it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiG0CyWTIHY

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

But if those players still existed they would destroy the shift...

Hit & run would have no effect on the shift. And a bunt against the shift is a win for the defense - why do you think teams don't do it? Also, it's not exactly easy to bunt 98mph.

[Steve D]

Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe

Anybody notice how Buck and Smoltz won't even mention "The Chop" war chant in the background.

You clearly hear it.

That's the reason I haven't watched either of the last two games, and I won't watch game 5 either. I can't stand that incessant war chant. It's also the reason I could never watch the Braves on TBS in the 1990s, as much as I would've liked to have watched Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz pitch. I could not stand either the chant, or Skip Caray.

It's not that I think there's anything wrong about it, it's just that I can't stand having to listen to that same chant going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and..........for over three hours!!!!!

It's like being forced to listen to the, in your opinion, absolute worst song you've ever heard, non-stop for hours at a time!

Steve

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Hit & run would have no effect on the shift. And a bunt against the shift is a win for the defense - why do you think teams don't do it? Also, it's not exactly easy to bunt 98mph.

Hit and run would have an effect if they got a hit...

A bunt single (or double) against the shift is a far better outcome than an out. I think teams don't do it for various reasons, not the least of which is that the average "hitter" these days can't hit really that well.

It's also hard to get a hit off 98 mph, but these guys are (in theory) professional hitters.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by tschock

Wasn't it Bergman who had a pretty good bunt from the dugout?

Exactly, maybe he should do that when they shift him...

[cardsagain74]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Hit & run would have no effect on the shift.

The best part was always listening to announcers foaming at the mouth screaming "see they stayed out of the double play so it's the best thing evererer" when someone hit a typical sad little grounder on a hit & run.

Not even considering the obvious fact that if you weren't forcing the guy to swing at anything, he wouldn't have to be helplessly slapping those grounders to begin with. It was like even lifelong baseball minds were powerless to realize that you weren't getting the same result from the hitter as a normal approach and cut.

The only worse play was the suicide squeeze. Which of course was also beloved.

[4k6]

Originally Posted by Steve D

That's the reason I haven't watched either of the last two games, and I won't watch game 5 either. I can't stand that incessant war chant. It's also the reason I could never watch the Braves on TBS in the 1990s, as much as I would've liked to have watched Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz pitch. I could not stand either the chant, or Skip Caray.

It's not that I think there's anything wrong about it, it's just that I can't stand having to listen to that same chant going on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and..........for over three hours!!!!!

It's like being forced to listen to the, in your opinion, absolute worst song you've ever heard, non-stop for hours at a time!

Steve

Exactly how I feel. Disrespectful nature of the chant aside, it's just f@cking annoying as hell. And for thirty years! Just stop please.

[Tabe]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Hit and run would have an effect if they got a hit...

A bunt single (or double) against the shift is a far better outcome than an out. I think teams don't do it for various reasons, not the least of which is that the average "hitter" these days can't hit really that well.

It's also hard to get a hit off 98 mph, but these guys are (in theory) professional hitters.

Lemme ask you - do you really, truly believe that you've figured out the solution but none of the professional folks have considered your ideas?

The whole point of the shift is that it makes hits significantly more difficult to get. It's not like you can just "hit away from the shift". For one thing, that's extremely difficult since teams pitch to force guys to hit into the shift. Bunting is the same thing.

[RCFire82]

$9 beer...that's a deal at California venues!
Braves fan since 1991 (9yrs old). Now I've got my 10yr old son glued to the games with me, pretty awesome
We youtubed game 7 of the 1992 NLCS (Sid Bream's game winning slide to beat Bonds throw home) as a warm-up to game 4. My son couldn't believe it when Doug Drabek, Pittsburghs starting pitcher, was still pitching in the 9th inning with a pitch count over 125 LOL. What a different game.

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

No.....


I'd like the Braves to win in 5, or 6. And have a combined no hitter tonight.


Doug, as someone once told me, You're not a Baseball fan.

It shocked me, then he told me that I was a fan of 19th and 20th century baseball, but not in these crazy times of 21st century baseball with the expensive tickets, expensive MLBP licensing for ball cards and such, $9 beer, and such...

[KMayUSA6060]

When the commissioner of Major League Baseball hates the sport of baseball, of course the sport is going to suffer. That incompetent, anti-baseball a-hole is going to run the MLB into the ground. He either completely oblivious to what makes baseball so great, or loathes what makes baseball so great. Regardless, the sport will not grow as it should under his guidance.

I hope the Braves win tonight so he and the rest of the people behind the decisions to not punish the Trashstros and pull the All Star Game from Atlanta have to watch their golden child Trashstros lose and the city of Atlanta celebrate.

[jakebeckleyoldeagleeye]

Originally Posted by 4k6

I'm just amazed that a 74 year old flute playing progressive rocker managed to pitch five no-hit innings in the world series.

I guess it was to cold to do it in his loin cloth.

[tschock]

Smoltz isn't bad but I can't stand Buck. That said...

Y'all realize that neither the government nor the 'entertainment cartel' hasn't mandated that if the picture is on the sound must be on as well, right?
Maybe put on Dark Side of the Moon to see if the music syncs up with the game?

[Snapolit1]

When I turn 60 do I automatically have to start arguing that every

major sport
holiday
restaurant
news show
tv comedy
movie
book
album release
singer
band
play
household appliance
new home construction
educational system
hair cut
young person
vacation
etc.

is nowhere near as great as it was when I was young. Is that the law. Is it on the books somewhere? Just need to prepare myself.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

When I turn 60 do I automatically have to start arguing that every

major sport
holiday
restaurant
news show
tv comedy
movie
book
album release
singer
band
play
household appliance
new home construction
educational system
hair cut
young person
vacation
etc.

is nowhere near as great as it was when I was young. Is that the law. Is it on the books somewhere? Just need to prepare myself.

Short answer - Yes
Long answer - Hell yes!

etc. ain’t what it used to be.

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Short answer - Yes
Long answer - Hell yes!

etc. ain’t what it used to be.

+1

[Klrdds]

Originally Posted by frankbmd View Post
Short answer - Yes
Long answer - Hell yes!

etc. ain’t what it used to be.

+1
When I was younger and my dad was getting older he would always say how things were better and simpler when he was younger , now that I am 62 I find my dad was right about something else . I always thought he was wrong , or just old but now it wasn’t that he was old but instead he was right.

[Snapolit1]

At some point in the 1960s there was a whole generation of olds that hated the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and used to say stuff like "is this supposed to be music? This is a fad. It's not music. Now Louie Prima . . . now that's a songwriter!!!"

[Keith H. Thompson]

I'm 91 years old and was in personal attendance at both Houston games and the first game at Atlanta. This thread has a lot of talk about baseball strategy, the players and managers, and I know it is better to study these features of the game from a TV screen and replays than from a seat in the highest row of Minute Maid Park, but I feel obligated to share (as many NET54 members know) that there is nothing to compare to the atmosphere of being at an actual game.
Also nothing to compare (as I did in Boston at the recent Wild Card game) with the feeling of being at a game ending at midnight facing a mile walk back to the parking garage and a six hour drive home with my son to Bellport, NY. He works at a hospital in Manhattan and we got home just in time for him to catch a train to get to work. I can go to bed, but he is up 36 hours straight. Nathan has been to 76 World Series games. For us, Baseball is all about being at the Ballpark which would include the evaluation of baseball cuisine. He has been in 51 different Major League Parks.
As a personal comment, the electronic version of the "Tomahawk Chop" on the scoreboard at Atlanta would appear to me to be a formidable psychological weapon. Not sure how much longer that will be allowed to go on in today's social climate.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Keith H. Thompson

I'm 91 years old and was in personal attendance at both Houston games and the first game at Atlanta. This thread has a lot of talk about baseball strategy, the players and managers, and I know it is better to study these features of the game from a TV screen and replays than from a seat in the highest row of Minute Maid Park, but I feel obligated to share (as many NET54 members know) that there is nothing to compare to the atmosphere of being at an actual game.
Also nothing to compare (as I did in Boston at the recent Wild Card game) with the feeling of being at a game ending at midnight facing a mile walk back to the parking garage and a six hour drive home with my son to Bellport, NY. He works at a hospital in Manhattan and we got home just in time for him to catch a train to get to work. I can go to bed, but he is up 36 hours straight. Nathan has been to 76 World Series games. For us, Baseball is all about being at the Ballpark which would include the evaluation of baseball cuisine. He has been in 51 different Major League Parks.
As a personal comment, the electronic version of the "Tomahawk Chop" on the scoreboard at Atlanta would appear to me to be a formidable psychological weapon. Not sure how much longer that will be allowed to go on in today's social climate.

Sounds like you and your son definitely know how to enjoy and experience the game.

Thanks for sharing Keith

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Tabe

Lemme ask you - do you really, truly believe that you've figured out the solution but none of the professional folks have considered your ideas?

Yes I do.

Doug "insert smiley face here" Goodman