The 2008 MLB Thread

[WildHoneyAlways]

what up!?!?

WHA...you may be the only respectable White Sox fan on the whole internets.

Don't I know it.

My boy Buehrle blows. I refuse to wear my Buehrle t-shirt in protest from now on. Thank god for Carlos Quentin.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Buehrle is, and has been for 7 years now, my favorite major league baseball player.

He has had a LOT of bad luck this year. Players making dumb plays behind him at the worst possible times. And he's shown in a few games this year that he can still be as sharp as any pitcher in the league...when the ball is actually being caught by his defenders.

I will defend him until the day I die, and I hope you continue to do the same. Keep wearing that Buehrle t-shirt.

And, yeah, that was a stupid comment I made earlier. I hope you can forgive me and don't hate me forever. Sox fans need to stick together. Together we stand, divided we fall!!!

 

[DaveC]

not as long as willie randolph is still managing them they aren't.

the phillies may win the nl east by default, much like last season... but they certainly have no shot at winning a world championship.

Last season certainly wasn't "by default". They poured it on when it counted and won the division on their own merits. The Mets certainly helped, but if the Phillies hadn't played lights-out ball in September it still wouldn't have mattered.

The winning streak continues

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

um yea... you can believe what you'd like. when a team blows two seperate 7 game leads, and the team that ends up winning the division wins by a game... that's a win by default in my book.

and they showed their default status in the playoffs.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

it's funny how all it takes is 3 games filled with energy, a thrilling extra inning victory and a few shnide comments from a canadian phillie fan, as if that makes sense, to get me off the "the mets suck" bandwagon.

 

[CTU2fan]

Next time the Sox go on a west coast trip could someone please remember to bring the bats along? Ash, maple, Wonderboy, who gives a damn, but something...sheesh.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i'm going to take a brief pause from my willie hatred to touch on something that i wondered about last year as well... perhaps it's really not that willie sucks (although i tend to lean that way)... there was some talk last year, from loduca and wagner mostly, that omar and his lacky tony benazard have so much influence with the latin players in the clubhouse that they more or less undermine willie's ability to do his job effectively.

perhaps this was hatched out in that meeting they had monday... as one of the big omar guys, delgado, was benched immediately after in favor of damion easiley, who had a good series. just a though

they certainly showed a lot of life over the past 3 games... the most life they've shown since 2006 really. now the key is sustaining it. they've shown signs of life before, only to go into a tailspin immediately after. we shall see.

the division still sucks, so it's still wide open for the taking. pedro's coming back next week, reyes is playing like reyes again, the bullpen is coming around. hmmmm...

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

^ Not to mention that although Santana has done his job so far this year...he is known primarily as a stronger second-half pitcher. So you got that goin for you.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

yes, johan normaly doesn't really get going until mid to late june. he's been good... very good even. but we still have yet to see a great outing from johan.

in 2006 it seemed as if this was a scene we saw once a week...

haven't seen it since, eh, probably june of last year.

it's hard to take one game and see it as a sign of change, especially when they've showed brief signs before. but i can honestly say that last week, after perez gave up the first lead, and after the marlins took the lead in extra innings, the mets would have just rolled over and died.

still need to sustain this for a few weeks before i can honestly say they've turned a page and are back to where they should be, but it's a nice start.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

meanwhile on the other side of ohio, things are not going so well.

they've got no food... they've got no jobs... their mascots HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!!!

update... the reds are 9-0 at home since mr. redlegs' was decapitated by evil extremists, loosely linked to joe morgan.

 

[zonelistener]

update... the reds are 9-0 at home since mr. redlegs' was decapitated by evil extremists, loosely linked to joe morgan.

Sadly, there are kids all over northern Kentucky now that will never be the same.

 

[zonelistener]

we may drive up for a game later this summer

Don't I know it.

My boy Buehrle blows. I refuse to wear my Buehrle t-shirt in protest from now on.

My autographed Buehrle ball sits in our bathroom!

 

[ET]

Just wanna say......



Here's to the best team in MLB (at least for now)!!

GO CUBS GO!!!

 

[Hewson]

My autographed Buehrle ball sits in our bathroom!

Quite appropriately.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Video-Worst First Pitches Of All-Time - YouTube | MLB

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

My autographed Buehrle ball sits in our bathroom!

Quite appropriately.

My friends, you will reap the dire consequences of those words when Mark Buehrle throws another no-hitter this year.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

zoney's bathroom has three balls

 

[randhail]

That's two more than John Kruk's bathroom.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

zing!

 

[speedracer]

Fans serenade Manny with Happy Birthday - Extra Bases - Red Sox blog

Manny just gave a big wave to fans who serenaded him during BP with a round of "Happy Birthday."

Classic line from Manny in the clubhouse when someone noted it was his birthday. "36 here,'' he said. "39 in the Dominican.''

The Sox media guide lists Manny's DOB as May 30, 1972. He was born in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic.

 

[zonelistener]

My friends, you will reap the dire consequences of those words when Mark Buehrle throws another no-hitter this year.

yeah.

A tour of our 1/2 bathroom (decorating still in progress):

White sox hat sitting on the toilet (the team often misses the toilet come August/September), Buehrle autographed ball first item on window sill, Philly Phanatic ice cream dish (now serves as a soap dish), Red Sox rubber duckie. I bought the stadium seat after college (in Minnesota). It is actually from a stadium here in Indianapolis (former home of the Indy Indians - Pirates Triple A - just a coincidence that I moved here).

We want to add a "astroturf" toilet rug and something else for/from Fenway. We also have a Cubs "Watch for Foul Balls" sign (no pun intended) and a sketch of Bush Stadium wear the seat came from.

 

[zonelistener]

a few more from the season through May 31:

Gagne warming up for a blown game in Cincy

Rushmore Race in D.C. (Teddy "Slipped" on a Banana (in pajamas) and lost the race to Jefferson

My "Obstructed view" seat at Fenway (Sect. 14 Row 1 Seat 1). Hell, it was in Fenway and it was face value.

 

[bono_212]

Here's to the best team in MLB (at least for now)!!

GO CUBS GO!!!

Last time we went into June with the best record in baseball was 1908

 

[CTU2fan]

That line by Manny is great.

#500 for the bad man last night, fantastic. Unfortunately I'd turned off the stream so I didn't get to see it and was listening on XM, and got to hear the Orioles' PBP guy pointing out how sure he hit 500 HR's but he sucks in the field etc etc. I mean jeez, the guy hits his 500th HR and you can't lay off dogging him for one day? The O's guy is so pissy about the Sox because of all the Sox fans that go to Camden, it gets really tiring sometimes.

Edit: Oh, and how 'bout those Mets?

 

[No spoken words]

Maybe the O's guy would be less pissy if the O's could muster up a .500 record one of these seasons. Oh, and it would please him if the owner was not incompetent at running a baseball team. The allure of Camen Yards only gets you so far....after a while, if you don't put a competitive team on the field, seats go unclaimed, and of course Sox and Yankee fans are going to gobble those tickets up and make the relatively short trip down 95 to Camden. Manny is a hitting savant and not quite as bad a fielder as he's made out to be. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer and the best hitter I've ever seen in my life.

 

[CTU2fan]

It doesn't help that it's a pain even getting a ticket in Fenway whereas you can actually get a ticket in Camden without having to sit behind a pole or look over your left shoulder to see the infield.

The guy seriously went on about it from the time Manny hit the HR until the end of the game. I think the Sox fans wanting a curtain call pushed him over the edge.

 

[No spoken words]

It doesn't help that it's a pain even getting a ticket in Fenway whereas you can actually get a ticket in Camden without having to sit behind a pole or look over your left shoulder to see the infield.

The guy seriously went on about it from the time Manny hit the HR until the end of the game. I think the Sox fans wanting a curtain call pushed him over the edge.

He should rip his ownership and possibly his own fans, then. The last group of people I want to defend are Red Sox Nation, but, in this case, what are they supposed to do? Not go to the game? Not cheer? 500 HR's is still quite the milestone, of course you ask for the curtain call.

Meanwhile, my Yanks are at least showing some signs of life lately. Not saying we're on our way to October baseball, but, we are hitting much better with men in scoring position lately, which is nice. Rivera has been fairly amazing thus far. Excited for Joba's start on Tuesday, but it sucks that this process gets so much scrutiny.

 

[CTU2fan]

I'm really curious to see how Joba fares as a starter. It's kind of funny when I hear Hank saying how stupid it is for Joba to be in the pen, and then cite Beckett...when the parallel for me on the Sox is their use of Papelbon in the pen rather than as a starter. Obviously the Yankees having Mariano while the Sox were looking at Joel Pineiro as their closer at the time is a big difference, but I still wonder what kind of starter Paps would have been. I think he'll be a good starter but really he could be anything from great to average. Looking forward to it.

It bugs me when the O's (and Rays) people complain about this. I bet ownership doesn't mind taking Sox and Yankees fans' money when they buy tickets. The situation with Rays games is pretty ridiculous though...they have a good team and still they don't draw all that well. They do have their diehards though, but those folks were there all along. Good for them (but I hate those damn cowbells they've got).

 

[No spoken words]

Well, in the case of the Rays, it's hard to expect 3 good months of baseball to wipe out a decade of futility overnight. Joba should be in the rotation, I firmly believe that. He started in college and in the minors, and was only in the pen last season cos the Yanks were desperate. If there were no Mariano, maybe you could convince me to make him a closer, but Joba has such great stuff that I think he is a potential ace. We shall see.

 

[Hewson]

My "Obstructed view" seat at Fenway (Sect. 14 Row 1 Seat 1). Hell, it was in Fenway and it was face value.

Thats almost where I stood for 2004 ALCS game 5 with my SRO tix.
Just left of there, behind granstand 14 (or Grandstand Jim Ed as I called it).