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    • max.patch wrote:

      Fans heckling Astros spring opener get signs stolen

      Now that headline from USA Today is just funny.

      <snip>

      WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Fans hoping to heckle the sign-stealing Houston Astros at their spring opener were met with quite the coincidence.

      They got their signs stolen.

      In the Astros’ first spring training game since their sign-stealing scandal rocked baseball, some fans brought signs jeering Houston, and ballpark personnel confiscated them before the exhibition opener against the World Series champion Washington Nationals on Saturday night.
      I don't suppose a garbage can and a baseball bat would make it thorough security either. I would be fun to gen an entire center field section to hold up cards to spell out the letters F, S, or C before each pitch when the Astros in are in the field.
    • Astro wrote:

      Opponents must be trying to get their licks in before the games matter, 7 Astros already hit by a pitch in 5 games. And the first game was only 2 or 3 innings before being called due to rain
      Purely a coincidence, nothing to see here :)
      “Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
      the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”


      John Greenleaf Whittier
    • max.patch wrote:

      I do the NY Times mini crossword every morning. I'm having difficulty with 6 across:

      6. M.L.B. player in a 2020 cheating scandal

      It's a 5 letter word starting with the letter A. :)

      nytimes.com/crosswords/game/mini
      Not for sure who it would be, but if 6 letters a lot of irony since Altuve is one of the players who never used it.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • I guess I don't need to make it a priority to read the Sports Illustrated baseball preview. :(

      Although I did glance at their predictions and they've got the 105 win Yankees beating the 107 win Dodgers in the World Series.

      The team they predict will win the 3rd most games? That'd be the 94 win Tampa Bay Rays. Doesn't look like any games this year for me at the Trop -- although you could make the case that even those fans in attendance would still be social distancing.

      Other teams of interest include the Astros (93 wins, 1st place in division), Red Sox (81 wins, 3rd place in division), and Cubs (86 wins, 1st place in division). I'm guessing they said "we don't have the clue how the Red Sox will do" so they put down .500 and moved on. :)
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • Having solved all the states problems, the Florida State Senate votes 37-2 to name the Florida State Seminoles the NCAA basketball national champions by default.

      FSU finished the season ranked number 4, so expect Kansas (Kansas), Washington (Gonzaga) and Ohio (Dayton) to get in on the action.

      edit to add: oops; wrong thread. my eyes obviously can't tell the diff between baseball and basketball. :(
      2,000 miler

      The post was edited 1 time, last by max.patch ().

    • max.patch wrote:

      Having solved all the states problems, the Florida State Senate votes 37-2 to name the Florida State Seminoles the NCAA basketball national champions by default.

      FSU finished the season ranked number 4, so expect Kansas (Kansas), Washington (Gonzaga) and Ohio (Dayton) to get in on the action.
      Baseball or Basketball? Since not real I guess they could go ahead and do both. :rolleyes:
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      Having solved all the states problems, the Florida State Senate votes 37-2 to name the Florida State Seminoles the NCAA basketball national champions by default.

      FSU finished the season ranked number 4, so expect Kansas (Kansas), Washington (Gonzaga) and Ohio (Dayton) to get in on the action.
      Baseball or Basketball? Since not real I guess they could go ahead and do both. :rolleyes:
      I edited my post -- but it looks like you beat me to it. :)
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      lol, Scott Boras has come up with a couple schedules (one for 162 games and one for 144) which he's given to MLB for consideration with the playoffs going thru December. Game 6 of the World Series is scheduled for Christmas Day.

      cbssports.com/mlb/news/world-s…ontent=link&ICID=ref_fark
      He must be afraid they are going to prorate their pay for games played.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      lol, Scott Boras has come up with a couple schedules (one for 162 games and one for 144) which he's given to MLB for consideration with the playoffs going thru December. Game 6 of the World Series is scheduled for Christmas Day.

      cbssports.com/mlb/news/world-s…ontent=link&ICID=ref_fark
      He must be afraid they are going to prorate their pay for games played.
      That was my first thought.
      2,000 miler
    • Jim "Toy Cannon" Wynn passed away this week. Was the first star of Houston Astros. Was traded to Dodgers for Claude Osteen. Then a few years later in a twist of irony he was the primary player in trade to the Braves for Dusty Baker, now manager of the Asros.

      Wynn hit 291 homeruns, but I am sure he would have hit a lot more if he didn't play most of his prime in the Astrodome.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      Jim "Toy Cannon" Wynn passed away this week. Was the first star of Houston Astros. Was traded to Dodgers for Claude Osteen. Then a few years later in a twist of irony he was the primary player in trade to the Braves for Dusty Baker, now manager of the Asros.

      Wynn hit 291 homeruns, but I am sure he would have hit a lot more if he didn't play most of his prime in the Astrodome.
      He also was a star for the Colt .45s' :)

      I was surprised that in his first year he played 21 games at short and 2 at 3rd. I guess that experiment didn't go to well as that didn't happen again.

      With the "Toy Cannon" and "Rusty" Staub Houston was obviously trying for an all nickname team.
      2,000 miler
    • I finally got around to looking at the SI baseball preview so I could move the magazine from the coffee table to the recycling bin.

      In the team preview they made predictions for each team in 2030. Spoiler alert -- Tampa is moving to Charlotte in 2028 and led the league in attendance the first 3 years they were there.

      At the end they made a (tongue in cheek) prediction as what the 2030 cover of the baseball picture would look like. It was a picture of Shohei Ohtani with the headline reading:

      Pitcher
      Hitter
      Manager

      MLB's First 3-Way Player
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      Astro wrote:

      Jim "Toy Cannon" Wynn passed away this week. Was the first star of Houston Astros. Was traded to Dodgers for Claude Osteen. Then a few years later in a twist of irony he was the primary player in trade to the Braves for Dusty Baker, now manager of the Asros.

      Wynn hit 291 homeruns, but I am sure he would have hit a lot more if he didn't play most of his prime in the Astrodome.
      He also was a star for the Colt .45s' :)
      I was surprised that in his first year he played 21 games at short and 2 at 3rd. I guess that experiment didn't go to well as that didn't happen again.

      With the "Toy Cannon" and "Rusty" Staub Houston was obviously trying for an all nickname team.
      Cincinnati native signed by Reds as SS/3B. Colt 45s got him in expansion draft and eventually moved to CF. Great natural athlete with speed and power for a small player. Hit some monster home runs.

      Add 3B Doug "Rooster" Radar to the interesting nicknames (and characters) on those teams.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Watching classic games now that there is no live baseball. Today I re watched Kerry Wood's 20 SO game from 1998. I remember seeong that one live. Amazing that it was only his 5th start in his rookie year. Also forgot some of the game was played in the rain and for most of the game he had only a 1 run lead. Also the only hit was a seeing eye grounder that could have been scored am error which would have given him a no hitter too.. It's interesting how some things have changed. There was no computerized pitch tracking so the commentators had to talk about something other than the strike zone. They also were more tolerant of dirty baseballs. These days they replace the ball if it touches anything except the catchers glove. In that game there was a foul tip into the mud and they just keep playing. How novel.
    • Astro wrote:

      El Oslo Blanco retires. After Astros did not resign him for 2019, he never bothered to resign with anyone else. He sure was fun to watch. No gloves, just a big man swinging a bat. Hard to believe he hit 11 triples one year.

      mlbtraderumors.com/2020/03/evan-gattis-retirement.html
      I liked him, everyone liked him while he was with Atlanta. Interesting backstory.

      I was watching his first game on TV; when he came up to bat for the second time Fox was interviewing his dad who was at the game, and he picked that moment to get his first base hit.

      2,000 miler
    • This ESPN article looks interesting:

      espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/289425…nts-ever-all-30-mlb-teams

      I've read 3 of em and I'm going to go back later to finish.

      The Astros was easy :) , I didn't get the Braves but I should have, and I'll give myself half credit for the Red Sox. I correctly guessed Wade Boggs -- but he's there for something else.

      edit to add: I haven't read the White Sox yet -- but that one is sooo obvious. :)

      <snip>

      From MLB's wildest day to the Astros' scandal: The most meme-worthy moments ever for all 30 teams
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      edit to add: I haven't read the White Sox yet -- but that one is sooo obvious. :)
      Well...it was obvious to me but not to the author. No way, no how, is White Sox minor leaguer Michael Jordan playing pickup basketball against his minor league baseball teammates the most meme-worthy moment of the White Sox. Not even close.
      I remember watching on TV live Larry Walker give that ball to a fan, and then grabbing it back once he figured out what he had done.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      max.patch wrote:

      edit to add: I haven't read the White Sox yet -- but that one is sooo obvious. :)
      Well...it was obvious to me but not to the author. No way, no how, is White Sox minor leaguer Michael Jordan playing pickup basketball against his minor league baseball teammates the most meme-worthy moment of the White Sox. Not even close.
      I remember watching on TV live Larry Walker give that ball to a fan, and then grabbing it back once he figured out what he had done.
      I'd forgotten all about that one. Wish the kid had refused. :)
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      I assume the White Sox had to be the Disco demolition riot, by no.
      Well, it SHOULDA been. Maybe the author was seeing if we were paying attention.
      What I noticed is a lot of sports writers have receny bias, or they are just too young to remember.
      Going way back could have been Black Sox scandal.
      Gotta love Bill Veeck, one of the last of the true "baseball men" owners. Today it is a bunch of multi-millionaires who owning a MLB team is just a play thing, instead of a family business.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Tonight is the (At) Home Opener for the Braves.

      So, probably like a lot of clubs, they had an 1.5 hour pregame with interviews and some of the between innings entertainment they do during the games.

      Then they are showing last years Home Opener, a 9-0 win over the Cubs.

      I asked my friend the Cubs fan if he was going to watch. Editing his answer to keep it clean, he said he was at the game last year and once was enough. :)

      I've got it on right now but I really don't like watching sporting events when I know the outcome.
      2,000 miler
    • max.patch wrote:

      Tonight is the (At) Home Opener for the Braves.

      So, probably like a lot of clubs, they had an 1.5 hour pregame with interviews and some of the between innings entertainment they do during the games.

      Then they are showing last years Home Opener, a 9-0 win over the Cubs.

      I asked my friend the Cubs fan if he was going to watch. Editing his answer to keep it clean, he said he was at the game last year and once was enough. :)

      I've got it on right now but I really don't like watching sporting events when I know the outcome.
      I don't mind watching them again when I win. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • MLB Radio playing lots of World Series and playoff games at night now. Tonight was 1967 Cardinals v. Red Sox. In the 9th inning Red Sox brought in 19 year old Lefty Ken Brett to pitch. HOFer George always said Ken was the best hitter in the family. Pitching in World Series as a 19 year old, I guess you can see why they rushed him to the majors as a pitcher instead. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Funny thing during that game Peewee Reese and the other guy are talking about how Lefty Grove was the last 30 game winner in the AL. At first I am like hold it, how about the Tigers Denny McLain. Then I realize this is 1967, and that didn't happen until 1968. :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Last week they were doing a Mets game where Tom Seaver left in the 7th inning for Tug McGraw the closer. As Goose Gossage would be more than willing to tell you, closers don't do it now days like they used to in the 70s.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • One final interesting thing I heard about Steve Carlton this morning. He didn't respect the "young" Bob Boone as a catcher and struggled for a few years after his 27 out of 59 team wins in 1972. The Phillies had traded Tim McCarver Carlton's long time catcher since he came up with the Cardinals to open the spot up for Boone.

      Now in 1975 after being released by the Red Sox and the Cardinals the previous year McCarver is in Philadelphia interviewing for a job as the sports guy on the evening news. Phillies find out and sign him to be Carlton's personal catcher, and like that Carlton is back on track for his HOF career.

      Besides the catcher for the rookie Carlton and early years with the Cardinals and then Phillies, they were also hunting buddies. And when playing for other teams Carlton pitched against McCarver remembered others players coming back to the dugout saying he got me out, but at least it wasn't with his slider. So now McCarver knew the best go to pitch that right handed hitters hated to see.
      :)
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General