2011 MLB Season

[Mx. Canadian Destroyer]

The Jays game last night was tough to watch. Litsch looked terrible in his five innings of work, yet he somehow managed to squeeze himself out of two bases-loaded situations. Then came the bullpen who gave up far too many walks. I was a little anxious when Camp came in because I thought the game could have gone as long as the 14-inning one. Didn't matter though, because the Mariners walked-off. I'm a little annoyed I stayed up until 2:00 to watch the end.

[gunnar hendershow]

The Josh Hamilton annual injury came at a great time this year, its still April and even though his loss creates a hole this lineup is so loaded where I think it takes off at most 5 wins from what they would have gotten over the next 6-8 weeks.

[Toe]

The Jays game last night was tough to watch. Litsch looked terrible in his five innings of work, yet he somehow managed to squeeze himself out of two bases-loaded situations. Then came the bullpen who gave up far too many walks. I was a little anxious when Camp came in because I thought the game could have gone as long as the 14-inning one. Didn't matter though, because the Mariners walked-off. I'm a little annoyed I stayed up until 2:00 to watch the end.

Since it was a late game, I went to bed when the score was 5-0. I assumed incorrectly that the bullpen would be able to stop the Mariners from coming back.

[Ananas]

Barry Bonds found guilty of obstruction of justice. Let that be a lesson to athletes everywhere - don't get in the way of politicians grandstanding.

[Trey]

Any idea how much this ended up costing?

[Maxx]

ESPN has an article up about the Bonds conviction and the impact of the steroid era, taking it to a little bit of an extreme.

There is not another American sport where so many of the elite have been disgraced. Nothing comes close to this. Not Pete Rose, not the Black Sox, not baseball's drug trials of the 1980s, not the college basketball scandals of the 1950s.

Yeah, I'm still pretty sure fixing the fucking World Series is a bit worse than wide spread steroid use.

[Meacon Keaton]

No, Maxx, don't you understand? Anything that happens now is much more impactful than anything that happened prior to now.

I really hate ESPN, sometimes.

[Damian WayLNKe]

I think they were just referring to the quantity of players involved.

[Ananas]

The only players that should be considered disgraced (although even that is a bit harsh) are the ones who have tested positive since 2004. Everyone else was just doing something that there wasn't any enforced rule against.

[sahyder1]

MLB looks to expand instant replay.

They still aren't going far enough though. Plays at the bases should be re viewable too. I think everything but balls and strikes should be reviewed.

[sahyder1]

It doesn't look like Phil Hughes will be making his next start (or any in the near future for that matter). Yankees have off days to play with and will probably skip him next time around and possibly replace with him Colon the start after.

He's on the verge of dropping to 0-2 on the year with a 13.94 ERA through 3 starts. He's only been able to pitch 10.1 innings and his velocity is barely touching 90.

If you remember the Yankees skipped him once in July last year because of arm strength. Since that point in 20 starts (including tonight) he is 7-9(a loss tonight would be his 10th) with a 6.16 ERA and only 99.1 innings pitched.

Edited April 15, 2011 by sahyder1

[Lint]

MLB looks to expand instant replay.

They still aren't going far enough though. Plays at the bases should be re viewable too. I think everything but balls and strikes should be reviewed.

Agreed to that. Or hell, even make balls and strikes reviewable, but make it like the NFL and give managers a limited number of challenged.

Hell, I've been saying this for awhile..give'em red baseball to throw at the umps head when they want something challenged...

[sahyder1]

MLB looks to expand instant replay.

They still aren't going far enough though. Plays at the bases should be re viewable too. I think everything but balls and strikes should be reviewed.

Agreed to that. Or hell, even make balls and strikes reviewable, but make it like the NFL and give managers a limited number of challenged.

Hell, I've been saying this for awhile..give'em red baseball to throw at the umps head when they want something challenged...

Teams should have 2-3 challenges. If they are right they get to keep them. Not football style where you must get both of the first two right in order to earn a 3rd one. I like Cricket's system where as long as you're right you keep your challenges. Balls and strikes will never be reviewed.

[gunnar hendershow]

They should basically take the Cricket system and adapt it. The problem, well biggest problem, is that while we have technology you will never see reviews of balls and strikes. But reviewing home runs, fair/foul, safe or out on the bases, and close catches in the field is enough for me.

[Ananas]

Hey damshow? We had Gregg for a year too, I feel your pain.

[Lint]

They should basically take the Cricket system and adapt it. The problem, well biggest problem, is that while we have technology you will never see reviews of balls and strikes. But reviewing home runs, fair/foul, safe or out on the bases, and close catches in the field is enough for me.

And there shouldn't be reviews of balls or strikes. Much like how in football they say "well holding occurs on every play"..well in baseball theres more ball/strike calls that could be challenged then ones that can't. Reviewing those would turn whats already a 2+ hour game into a 4+ hour game, because all those close pitches will be challenged. No thanks. Fair/Foul, close plays at the base, questionable catches and homeruns are good enough for me

[The Buscher]

Might cancel my planned trip to Pittsburgh for the Mets/Pirates series in June. Already have tickets to the games but they were cheap despite being good seats and can be StubHubbed. Not sure it's worth the other expenditures, time, and travel to watch the Mets play at this point.

[gunnar hendershow]

Hey damshow? We had Gregg for a year too, I feel your pain.

Kevin Gregg and Michael Gonzalez couldn't strike out blind guys. This was the biggest weakness going into the season and it showed last night.

[Meacon Keaton]

If it's any consolation, at least the Yanks are bringing your boys back to Earth before they get too big-headed.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I'm not overly familiar with Adrian Gonzalez, so maybe this question is a silly one, but why are the Red Sox shelling out almost 160 mil over 7 years for a lifetime .280 hitter?