The 2008 MLB Thread

[John Lackey]

Looks like Figgins will be back from the DL Friday. The Angels are good right now. He makes them better.

 

[Hewson]

But he still can't spell "Sean" or "Shawn"

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i refuse to pronounce chone any other way than the way it's spelled.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

while they certainly both suck on the field so far this year, the backdoors competition between the mets and yankees over the new stadiums scheduled to open next spring seems to have a leader in the clubhouse, and it ain't the steinbrenners.

the yankees are paying twice as much to build their new stadium than the mets, and they apparently don't have enough money and are attempting to get a 400 million dollar loan from the city in order to insure that the new stadium is completed on time. a bunch of people who've actually toured the stadium already have also raised concearns that the new stadium will be so fancy and so corporate that they are more or less squeezing the average fan right out of the building, even more so than they already do.

citi field, on the other hand, is on budget and ahead of schedule, and those same people who've toured both stadium say that the mets new stadium seems to be developing a charm to it that the new yankees monstrosity simply will not have.

 

[No spoken words]

while they certainly both suck on the field so far this year, the backdoors competition between the mets and yankees over the new stadiums scheduled to open next spring seems to have a leader in the clubhouse, and it ain't the steinbrenners.

the yankees are paying twice as much to build their new stadium than the mets, and they apparently don't have enough money and are attempting to get a 400 million dollar loan from the city in order to insure that the new stadium is completed on time. a bunch of people who've actually toured the stadium already have also raised concearns that the new stadium will be so fancy and so corporate that they are more or less squeezing the average fan right out of the building, even more so than they already do.

citi field, on the other hand, is on budget and ahead of schedule, and those same people who've toured both stadium say that the mets new stadium seems to be developing a charm to it that the new yankees monstrosity simply will not have.

Which will hopefully compensate for the Mets playing in an inexcusable dump for decades.

Not a surprise that Yankee Stadium could turn out to be more for the rich than the average fan. Sad, but not a shocker.

From Lon Trost, regarding ticket prices:

As for the regular seats, the Yankees hope to send out a relocation plan in April. Through Thursday, the Yankees had sold 39,141 full-season equivalents.

Trost said there will be about 11,000 non-premium seats at field level and 12,000 at the main level. He said 25,000 seats from the final year of the current ballpark won't be increased for 2009.

"Of the non-premium seats, 88 percent will be less than $100," he said. "It's easy to say that that's not cheap, but on the other 55 percent of the ballpark is going to be $45 or less. That's over 24,000 seats. We recognize everybody can't afford the suites. At the same time, we're trying to allow those suite prices to subsidize the other seating in the stadium. Look, the bleachers are $12, will be $12. The grandstand is $20 and $25, will be $20 and $25."

If the bleacher and grandstand prices hold there, that's not TOO bad.

 

[John Lackey]

i refuse to pronounce chone any other way than the way it's spelled.

You can call him Shirley if you want. And in a few days you might be calling him a lot of other things when your Mets run into a fucking buzzsaw known as the 2008 Los Angeles Angels.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

If the bleacher and grandstand prices hold there, that's not TOO bad.

unless they lift the ban on alcohol in those seats, then they could charge 2 dollars, it would still be too much.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—Milton Bradley stormed out of the Texas Rangers clubhouse after an 11-5 victory Wednesday night over Kansas City and bounded up four flights of stairs looking for Royals television announcer Ryan Lefebvre.

Bradley, who led the AL with a .333 batting average heading into Thursday’s games, heard what he considered derogatory remarks made by Lefebvre on a TV in the Rangers clubhouse.

General manager Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington were close behind and intercepted Bradley, who was the designated hitter Wednesday, before he reached Lefebvre.

“I don’t want to get necessarily into the details,” Daniels said. “He was upset. Someone who doesn’t know him was passing judgment on TV. It was obvious he was hurt by the comments.”

Bradley never reached Lefebvre, although he was within about 20 feet of him in the TV booth before being led back down to the clubhouse.


“There was no incident,” Daniels said.

Upon returning to the clubhouse, Bradley screamed at teammates and broke down in tears.

“I’m tired of people bringing me down,” Bradley said. “It wears on you. I love you guys, all you guys. I’m strong, but I’m not that strong. All I want to do is play baseball and make a better life for my kid than I had.”

Several of Bradley’s teammates consoled him after he calmed down.

Lefebvre, who is the son of former major league manager Jim Lefebvre, said he met with Daniels and Washington about his on-the-air comments, but did not talk to Bradley. Lefebvre said the comments were intended to praise Josh Hamilton, who missed nearly four years of professional baseball with cocaine and alcohol additions, rather than tear down Bradley.

“It was a conversation about how Josh Hamilton has turned his life around and has been accountable for his mistakes,” Lefebvre told The Associated Press. “Right now, it seems like the baseball world and fans are rooting for him. … It doesn’t seem like Milton Bradley has done the same thing in his life.”

The oft-injured Bradley has a history of losing his temper.

He slammed a plastic bottle at the feet of a fan in the right-field seats at Dodger Stadium in 2004 after someone threw it on the field. With San Diego in the pennant chase last September, he tore the ACL in his right knee when he was spun to the ground by Padres manager Bud Black, who was trying to keep him from an umpire.

He was suspended for five games after slamming the bottle, and had a four-game suspension for tossing a bag of balls onto the field after an ejection. There was a dugout confrontation with Cleveland manager Eric Wedge during spring training in 2004 before getting traded to Los Angeles.

Bradley claimed umpire Mike Winters baited the player into the confrontation and directed a profanity at him last September. Winters was suspended the final five days of the regular season and didn’t work the postseason.

“We weren’t singling out Milton Bradley,” Lefebvre said. “We also spent a lot of time complimenting Milton Bradley, but that’s not what he heard when he was in the clubhouse.

“We weren’t tearing up Milton Bradley. I told (Washington and Daniels) this wasn’t a Milton Bradley rip session, but just based on the pictures we’ve seen in this series of him walking to the dugout all the way to right field, dropping his bat, making gestures to the fans in right field and above the dugout and taunting them. He’s the only person in baseball I know that does that type of stuff.”

 

[CTU2fan]

This is 2 times in a row where Bradley is basically getting baited into something, and everybody will say "there goes Milton Bradley again" I get what Lefebvre was trying to say but why bring MB into it at all? There's far worse things in the sports world than a guy with a hot temper.

 

[No spoken words]

This is 2 times in a row where Bradley is basically getting baited into something, and everybody will say "there goes Milton Bradley again" I get what Lefebvre was trying to say but why bring MB into it at all? There's far worse things in the sports world than a guy with a hot temper.

He was baited this time???

These comments were made on TV while Bradley was playing. It's not like Lefebvre brought this stuff up during an interview with the guy. While I agree that maybe there was no need to mention MB while waxing about other players, there is REALLY no need for Bradley to listen to the comments while playing, then storming off to "talk" to the broadcaster. MB aint the first guy to get singled out for criticism, and he just brings this shit on himself. Wonderful hitter who, truly, has a screw loose and it manifests itself in bad ways.

 

[CTU2fan]

Hmm maybe you're right, not necessarily baited. The sense I've gotten is that MB has somewhat calmed down, at least compared to what's gone on in the past. I'm wondering if hearing about these remarks was sort of a "last straw" for him; could be he feels like the past is the past and yet it's still brought up? That's the impression I got from the MB quotes anyway.

And also let's be fair to Lefebvre here and acknowledge the point he was making in the first place...Josh Hamilton getting his shit together is a great story. The fact that he's basically setting the league on fire just adds a little wonder to it.

 

[No spoken words]

Hmm maybe you're right, not necessarily baited. The sense I've gotten is that MB has somewhat calmed down, at least compared to what's gone on in the past. I'm wondering if hearing about these remarks was sort of a "last straw" for him; could be he feels like the past is the past and yet it's still brought up? That's the impression I got from the MB quotes anyway.

And also let's be fair to Lefebvre here and acknowledge the point he was making in the first place...Josh Hamilton getting his shit together is a great story. The fact that he's basically setting the league on fire just adds a little wonder to it.

He definitely seemed like he had calmed down a bit, agreed.

And, I mentioned my love of the Josh Hamilton story a few pages back. I hope the guy stays clean, and, hope the guy keeps playing ball the way he has been so far.

 

[DaveC]

The Philadelphia Phillies have 13 runs, and the game is only four innings old.

Who's the buzzsaw now?

 

[No spoken words]

In his last start with a hard cap pitch count, Joba went 6 innings, 1 run versus a pretty potent offense. Not bad. He still struggled with command, but, he threw hard and his breaking stuff was sharp. Game is tied 1-1, Top 7.

 

[No spoken words]

Mariano has been pitching a lot, so, here comes Farnsworth to close the game.

2-1 lead. What do you think is going to happen here?

IMPLOSION.

 

[No spoken words]

I stand corrected.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yeah, so I'm still drunk from last night and I feel like giving this thread a bit of a bump.

I'll just let you guys in on a little secret.

The Buzzsaw has a 5 and 1/2 game lead in their division on June 14th.

 

[lazarus]

Cubs win, douches.

Again.

 

[No spoken words]

They beat Doc Halladay. He's no daisy.

 

[lazarus]

They beat Doc Halladay. He's no daisy.

Without Soriano, too.

And Marquis only gives up 1 hit?!

 

[No spoken words]

Without Soriano, too.

And Marquis only gives up 1 hit?!

Without Soriano for 6 weeks, get used to it. They play just fine without him.

Marquis is a MOT so I gots to root for him...but, yes, a rare well pitched game from him.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i suppose if the mets get swept by the rangers in today's true doubleheader that willie won't be making the trip out west tomorrow... one can only hope omar doesn't get to make the trip, either.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

It's a really really funny thing...the relationship between a manager and the fans of the baseball team he manages.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that if a baseball team is playing well...the fans love the manager...and if a baseball team is under-achieving or playing poorly...the fans hate the manager and place heaps of blame on him and call for his head.

Does the manager wear a glove and a cup and spikes? Does he pick up a fucking wooden stick and try to hit a 95 mph fastball?

NO.

Baseball fans of the world...fuckin place the blame where it deserves to be.

Gimme a little bit of a break.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

ok

a) you can't trade the entire team.

b) when a team shows a consistant lack of focus and, well, consistancy, when a team is lazy, when a team consistantly underachieves... it falls on management, both the manager and the GM.

trust me... i'd love for about a 1/4 of the team and the general manager to get the boot, too. but willie's driving the bus that'll take them out of town.

he never should have been allowed back after the debocle of last year.

 

[No spoken words]

Despite the three misspelled words above, I tend to agree with Headache. When a team suffers a collapse like the Mets did, perhaps the manager should not return. And, I love Willie Randolph, but, yeah, his time has likely come.

 

[DaveC]

Despite the three misspelled words above, I tend to agree with Headache. When a team suffers a collapse like the Mets did, perhaps the manager should not return. And, I love Willie Randolph, but, yeah, his time has likely come.

I, for one, think Willie Randolph ought to stay. Hell, sign him to a 10 year extension. Omar, too.

ETA: Headache loves to misspell words; for instance, "debocle", per say.

 

[Hewson]

ETA: Headache loves to misspell words; for instance, "debocle", per say.

And he does it consistantly.

 

[CTU2fan]

But if you call it the Superbowl you're in deep shit

I think the Mets should just shitcan Willie and get it over with. I mean Jesus, you can't publicly acknowledge that the manager's status is day to day; WTF is that? If that's your assessment of the guy just do it already so the team can focus on playing baseball rather than the status of the manager. Anyone know John Franco's opinion on Willie Randolph? Because you never know, that might be what we're waiting on...

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

you can all go to hell.

 

[CTU2fan]

Maybe they should fire the 3rd base coach...

The pisser of it is they can't really just make a move and move on. It's NY so it'll be damned near impossible to line up a replacement without it being all over the media which means more distraction. If Bobby V is the choice then you've got the whole song-and-dance of luring him back from Japan etc. Making a managerial change mid-season is a real pain in any kind of large market...I say either make the move, now, or announce he's safe for the season and if it doesn't work out do a real search in the offseason.