2011 MLB Season

[sahyder1]

Sounds like Dustin Pedroia is going to miss a month with a knee injury.

ESPN just quoted Francona as saying that Pedroia could be back in lineup tomorrow.

[Toe]

Wow. I guess the people doing the Jays game were WAAAAAY off with that one!

[gunnar hendershow]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6651634

While I kind of like eliminating divisions, giving 3 spots in the AL (Boston and New York qualify automatically) and 5 in the NL, I don't see how 2 leagues of 15 teams would work. You'd have to have an interleague series every day, and while I am a huge fan of interleague play basically having it so matchups like Red Sox-Cubs, Yankees-Dodgers, and Athletics-Giants happen every single year really ruins the allure of it all. It's not time for expansion of the league, though I would endorse a 32-team format in baseball down the line because of the shear number of open markets and number of good players out there.

I think someone at ESPN might not have fact-checked enough, the whole reason for moving Milwaukee to the NL was to make sure both leagues had even numbers of teams since you can't really operate on a 15-team league without completely ruining what makes baseball so special.

But getting rid of divisions is a good thing. The only league I really like having divisions is the NFL, in every other league it feels unneeded because of the number of games played.

[Hickey]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6651634

While I kind of like eliminating divisions, giving 3 spots in the AL (Boston and New York qualify automatically) and 5 in the NL, I don't see how 2 leagues of 15 teams would work. You'd have to have an interleague series every day, and while I am a huge fan of interleague play basically having it so matchups like Red Sox-Cubs, Yankees-Dodgers, and Athletics-Giants happen every single year really ruins the allure of it all. It's not time for expansion of the league, though I would endorse a 32-team format in baseball down the line because of the shear number of open markets and number of good players out there.

I think someone at ESPN might not have fact-checked enough, the whole reason for moving Milwaukee to the NL was to make sure both leagues had even numbers of teams since you can't really operate on a 15-team league without completely ruining what makes baseball so special.

But getting rid of divisions is a good thing. The only league I really like having divisions is the NFL, in every other league it feels unneeded because of the number of games played.

I agree 100% with you. I don't mind if they eliminate the divisions, but I hate the idea of an NL team moving to the AL. Like you said, I don't want interleague play all throughout the year. Part of what makes baseball great is the seperate leagues that only meet during a short period of the season.

[Pizza]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6651634

While I kind of like eliminating divisions, giving 3 spots in the AL (Boston and New York qualify automatically) and 5 in the NL, I don't see how 2 leagues of 15 teams would work. You'd have to have an interleague series every day, and while I am a huge fan of interleague play basically having it so matchups like Red Sox-Cubs, Yankees-Dodgers, and Athletics-Giants happen every single year really ruins the allure of it all. It's not time for expansion of the league, though I would endorse a 32-team format in baseball down the line because of the shear number of open markets and number of good players out there.

Right now, the 162 game season takes 182-185 days to complete. Even accounting for the all-star break, that's enough days off that they could have 14 teams play with one team having an off day every day and still finish the season in time. It'd be a logistical nightmare for whoever's making the schedule, but it could be done without constant interleague.

[gunnar hendershow]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6651634

While I kind of like eliminating divisions, giving 3 spots in the AL (Boston and New York qualify automatically) and 5 in the NL, I don't see how 2 leagues of 15 teams would work. You'd have to have an interleague series every day, and while I am a huge fan of interleague play basically having it so matchups like Red Sox-Cubs, Yankees-Dodgers, and Athletics-Giants happen every single year really ruins the allure of it all. It's not time for expansion of the league, though I would endorse a 32-team format in baseball down the line because of the shear number of open markets and number of good players out there.

Right now, the 162 game season takes 182-185 days to complete. Even accounting for the all-star break, that's enough days off that they could have 14 teams play with one team having an off day every day and still finish the season in time. It'd be a logistical nightmare for whoever's making the schedule, but it could be done without constant interleague.

But wouldn't that basically destroy any chance of rainouts getting replayed?

[Pizza]

There are still 5-8 off days per team left over to sprinkle through the season if they do the 14 on, one off. Plus, during interleague presumably everyone would be playing so that would give them a couple extra off-days to work with. Plus, they could always do double headers. Like I said, it'd be a nightmare for the people who actually have to work on this kind of stuff, but it's definitely doable.

[naiwf]

I'm a little late here, but I think they should simply dress the 25 players from the Yankees and pit them against the 25 best players from the other teams in the league. THAT's how you get ratings. It would also show the Yankees superiority when they win that game every year. If they really want to spice things up, the best player from the other team would then be traded to the Yankees during the offseason to avoid having to haggle over a contract that the other team couldn't afford when they get to free agency. It'll be an American take on the relegation/promotion thing in European soccer. Prove yourself on a lesser team and earn you way into the pinstripes baby.

[Guest mr. potato head]

We're all okay if you want to be even later to the party.

[HailtotheYo]

Naywoof is funny.

[Panni]

I just started seeing videos of Todd Coffey sprinting down to the mound, from the bullpen, to the theme music of the Ultimate Warrior. For those who haven't seen it, it's very funny and definitely worth checking out.

[Pizza]

I'm doing some research, maybe someone here can help me. I'm trying to find out how many grand slams have been hit this season so far, and how many times on average this decade when a grand slam is hit, is it the first/only home run of the game.

[naiwf]

I don't subscribe to that play index feature on baseball-reference.com, but that would be the easiest way to find out what you're looking for. The link below shows the free stuff you can get, but if you know of someone with a subscription they could do those searches for you in relatively short order.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/event_finder.cgi?type=b#gotresults&year=2011&year_to=2011&divisory=1&from=button&type=b&team_id=ANY&event=23&out_type=&ajax=1&submitter=1

Edited June 14, 2011 by naiwf

[Pizza]

That's awesome, exactly what I was looking for, thanks. (Y)

[gunnar hendershow]

To/if anyone subscribes to that, is it worth the money?

[Meacon Keaton]

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6661570

How can you not love minor league baseball and their glorious promotional days?

[sahyder1]

Josh Beckett pitched a 1-hit shutout tonight (it was an infield hit) and allowed no walks. He threw just 97 pitches. What a year he's having.

Edited June 16, 2011 by sahyder1

[Ananas]

I'm doing some research, maybe someone here can help me. I'm trying to find out how many grand slams have been hit this season so far, and how many times on average this decade when a grand slam is hit, is it the first/only home run of the game.

34 grand slams so far this season. I'm not sure there even is a qualifier in the BBRef play index to count how many times a particular home run is the first of the game.

[The Buscher]

Jose Reyes is reportedly trying to switch agents from Peter Greenberg to...yep, you guess it, Scott Boras.

He's good as gone. Now it's just a question of whether the Mets think they can get more from trading him or from draft picks. It might be the latter, actually...since not too many contending teams are in need of a shortstop and as such they'd be less likely to trade a lot of talent for a rental player who is expecting to make more than Crawford.

Competing executives have said Reyes will absolutely get the Crawford contract he wants. I just don't know who the fuck is gonna give it to him. It certainly isn't the Mets. The Yanks won't boot Jeter out of the spot. The Sox have enough money tied up in hitting. The Cubs have Castro. The Cards are gonna invest every last dollar they have into keeping Pujols. The Dodgers don't have the money. The Phillies probably feel obligated to keep Rollins, and he'll be WAY cheaper.

Who does that leave? The Angels? The Tigers? The Reds? The Orioles? I just don't see where people think he's gonna get that enormous contract from.

I'll continue to hold out hope that he stays with the Mets for like 5 years, $90-100 million or something.

[sahyder1]

I don't blame Reyes for going for the big contract. He took one hell of a bad deal last time around. I could definitely see him back with the Mets. I wouldn't be surprised to see Einhorn pump in the money to keep him. It'd be a great investment for him. If the Dodgers get sold they will definitely be in the mix. I will not count out the Yankees and the Red Sox. People keep saying that the Yankees won't boot Jeter out of SS but the tough contract negotiations did set up the stage for it. The Angels actually wouldn't surprise me if they made the push for him. Reyes is their kind of player. Hunter's contract comes off the book next year. $11 Million for Gary Matthews comes off the books this year. Kazmir is only due $2.5 Million next year as well

Edited June 18, 2011 by sahyder1