2005 MLB Thread

[oldskool]

They did a thing on SportsCenter a while ago about Ichiro; something about he has the ability to hit 30-40 HR a season, but he prefers to hit leadoff and use his contact ability and speed instead.

[Ananas]

Man, I feel sorry for Miguel Batista. He came in with the team up 6-5 in the ninth. First at bat is a routine groundball to Hillenbrand, who throws the ball into the stands, advancing the runner to second. Then, Soriano singles to score the tieing run on a play that a shortstop with better range could have probably had. Batista gets a pop-up for the first out. In the next at bat Soriano attempts to steal second, and gets third when Zaun's throw goes into the outfield, and eventually the batter draws a walk, to make it runners on first and third with one out. The next play is a routine groundball to Adams, who goes to throw home and throws the ball about 7 feet wide, to end the game. In the end, Batista gets both a loss and a blown save without allowing a single earned run. Absolutely a calamity or errors for the Jays in the ninth today. And on top of that, Halladay got hurt.

[Miami Vice]

On July 8th in Arlington Texas the Toronto BlueJays' 2005 season offically came to an end.

Roy Halladay has a broken foot and will miss 4-6 weeks. No All-Star game, no all-star start, no Cy Young and no playoffs.

This news has just ruined my day. I bleed the Blue and Black of the Jays so this hurts deep. He'll be back in mid August so he still has an outside chance at winning 20 games. I think he would have to pitch perect after his return to be a threat for this years Cy Young. I can't belive this luck! Just last night I was thinking how lucky the team has been with regards to injury. Well to hell with that thought!

[sahyder1]

Yeah, Halladay is out for a month but I have a good feeling the Jays are gonna be in it if he returns in a month. Anything longer is pushing it.

Does it make any possible sense that the Rockies and Phillies each won 1-0 games in their home ballparks today. What were the odds of that coming into today.

[Ananas]

Jays got screwed today. They lost by 2, the exact value of a homerun that should not have been awarded.

[oldskool]

Even stranger, that 1-0 win by the Rockies was the first 1-0 game in Coors Field history.

[JerryLynn420]

Mariners swept AL West leading Angels.. four game sweep to be exact. If we continue to play like that, great pitching and putting up runs, we'll be in the Division race soon.

[oldskool]

Very disappointed in my Mets...Strange, though, that one game under .500 is worst in the NL East, but it would be second place in the NL Central or NL West.

[Green Demon]

Some news from Espn.com about the World Cup of Baseball

DEARBORN, Mich. -- The United States will be grouped with Mexico, Canada and South Africa next year in the first round of baseball's first World Cup-style tournament.

The 16-nation, 18-day event, called the World Baseball Classic, opens March 3 in Tokyo or Taiwan, where Group A will include Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China.

The United States will be in Group B, which starts play March 8 along with the other groups and will be based in the United States.

Cuba, Puerto Rico, Panama and the Netherlands are in Group C, which will be in Latin America, and the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Australia and Italy are in Group D, which will be based in Florida.

Major League Baseball has spent more than a decade discussing the tournament and hopes the event will gain in prestige, such as soccer's World Cup. The International Olympic Committee voted Friday to kick baseball out of the Olympics following the 2008 Beijing Games. IOC president Jacques Rogge cited baseball's refusal to allow players on 40-man major league rosters to participate and the sport's drug-testing rules, which do not meet the World Anti-Doping Agency's standards.

"I don't know if frankly I consider it a blow," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. "I'm sorry they made the decision, but we're moving on in a very dramatic way to internationalize this sport."

While Nippon Professional Baseball has agreed to participate, the Japanese players' association has not yet given its approval and has objected to having the tournament during spring training. It also is unclear whether Cuba, which might fear defections, will accept its invitation.

Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the players' association, said the obstacles could be overcome.

"Cubans play international events with Americans and against Americans all the time," he said.

Several players who agreed to participate attended a news conference on the day before the All-Star Game: Miguel Tejada (Dominican Republic), Carlos Beltran (Puerto Rico) Andruw Jones (Netherlands), Dontrelle Willis (United States), Jason Bay (Canada), Carlos Lee (Panama), Hee Seop Choi (South Korea) and Justin Huber (Australia).

"I just hope I make the team," Willis said.

Tejada said fans back home would look forward to the event, which baseball hopes will be played a second time in 2009.

"They're going to be really excited to see all the players on one team," he said.

Each team plays three first-round games, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the second round, where each team plays three more games starting March 13.

Four teams advance to the single-elimination semifinals on March 18, and the semifinal winners go on to a one-game championship on March 20. The second round will be split between the United States and Latin America, and the semifinals and final will be played in the United States. No specific sites were announced, but the list of possibilities include Houston, Seattle and sites in Florida, Arizona and California.

Each team will have 27 players, including at least 12 pitchers, and there will be pitch-count limits. Players must be citizens of the nation they play for.

"We're aware of the issue of country jumping," said Paul Archey, an executive vice president in the commissioner's office, "but we haven't adopted a hard-and-fast rule."

Teams agreed not to block players from participating, but Orza acknowledged some clubs would try to sway players against playing.

"You can't stop people from talking," he said.

Forty-seven percent on the net proceeds of the 39-game tournament will go to prize money, with the remaining 53 percent split among Major League Baseball, the players' association, the International Baseball Federation and the organizations of the participating teams.

While soccer's World Cup is run by FIFA, the sport's international governing body, this event is pretty much controlled by MLB and the players' association, which has drawn complaints from Japanese baseball officials.

"Some already have accused us of being too dominant in the conduct of this event and we're sensitive to that," Orza said.

Insurance will be the largest single item in terms of cost, said Paul Archey, a baseball senior vice president.

I can probaly name the winners of each group right now but it will still be fun to see an international tournement between all the nations.

[sahyder1]

What a show from Abreu. I was hoping for David Ortiz to win it but Abreu definitely stole the show. Here's hoping he finally draws some much needed attention the way Anderson did a couple of years ago.

[jonnycomelately]

Abreu killed the records for the HR derby. I'm glad I stayed around to watch that show. 24 home runs. And the all looked so easy, he never overswng once even taking it to opposite field once. My pick going in was Carlos Lee but he just ran out of gas in the second round. Best home run derby in a while though.

[Miami Vice]

With The Blue Jays reeling from Roy Halladay's injury, they could be the favorites to land AJ Burnett. The key would be Burnett agreeing to a contract extension with the Blue Jays.

Apparently the Marlins covet Toronto's rookie left-hander Gustavo Chacin and Toronto will part with him if it lands them Burnett. ''If [Toronto] could sign Burnett, the deal would get done now,'' the source said. Stay tuned.

[sahyder1]

With The Blue Jays reeling from Roy Halladay's injury, they could be the favorites to land AJ Burnett. The key would be Burnett agreeing to a contract extension with the Blue Jays.

Apparently the Marlins covet Toronto's rookie left-hander Gustavo Chacin and Toronto will part with him if it lands them Burnett. ''If [Toronto] could sign Burnett, the deal would get done now,'' the source said. Stay tuned.

Click Here For Article

I think I just creamed my pants.

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[mattman1624]

Oakland A's trades from today.

Man, trading Byrnes away sucks.

I doubt Payton will help the team any. I can sort of understand the Byrnes trade, since Bobby Kielty was hitting well recently. Ken Macha also was very upset at Byrnes for tackling the guy who jumped over the outfield fence a few weeks ago. Still, Byrnes was one of the most emotional guys on the team, and he made highlight reel catches almost every night.

[oldskool]

Indeed it does, I always liked Byrnes. Seems he was the A's SportsCenter guy, you'd always see him do something on the highlights, nice pickup for the Rockies, but they lose Kennedy, who's got a ton of potential; Beane's got a hell of an eye for pitching.

[Miami Vice]

Nationals acquired outfielder Preston Wilson from the Rockies for RHP Zach Day, outfielder J.J. Davis and a player to be named or cash.

[jonnycomelately]

I think Preston Wilson will easily fit into the 5 hole in the Nationals' lineup and be a very good run producer. Easily his home run numbers will suffer but with the Nationals playing so well I think he'll get many a chance to drive in runs.

As for poor Eric Byrnes this guy goes from a bad situation to a worse one. The A's aren't going to stink past this year or maybe next at the maximum in my opinion but the Rockies are going to be a bad team for a good amount of time and getting rid of one of your more reliable starters to fill a whole you just created. Don't get me wrong I think Byrnes is a good player, but even in Coors Field I don't think he'll ever put up a Preston Wilson-like season. That team is so far back they could've let a younger guy like a Brad Hawpe or Cory Sullivan play center and not make the Byrnes trade at all.

But this was in response to Jay Payton coming to Oakland. Trade one of your hardest working players for one who does nothing but bitch and complain like a 5 yr old whenever he doesn't get his way. At least he got Kennedy in the Byrnes deal or I would have been doubting Mr. Moneyball for a bit.

[sahyder1]

Yanks just put Wang on the DL and called up Redding. This pitching staff goes from bad to worse.

[oldskool]

Totally forgot they traded for Redding. Good luck to the hometown boy, but the other four starters can keep on losing

[sahyder1]

Totally forgot they traded for Redding. Good luck to the hometown boy, but the other four starters can keep on losing

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