2023 MLB Thread

[pg1067]

This is a couple days old, but WTF, Dodgers?!

First we had Trevor Bauer, and now Julio Urias has been arrested on felony domestic violence charges.  It's his second such arrest in four years, although the first one did not result in charges being filed, but only because Urias completed a year-long DV counseling program.  We'll see how the process plays out, but I'm guessing his MLB career is over.

Aside from the obvious, this is just another kick to the nuts of a pitching staff that's been plagued all season.  In theory, we should have had Kershaw, Urias, Buehler, May and Gonsolin.  Kershaw has mostly been Kershaw, but he's having his usual struggles with injuries.  Buehler might come back from Tommy John surgery in the next 7-10 days, but I suspect he'll be on no more than a 3-4 inning limit.  May is made of bone China, and Gonsolin won't pitch again this season.  Fortunately, Bobby Miller has stepped up in a huge way, and Lance Lynn has been mostly very good since being acquired from the White Sox.  The Dodgers will win the Division, but I'm very nervous going into the postseason, and that sucks given how well the lineup (especially Betts and Freeman) have been.

[Glasser]

This is a couple days old, but WTF, Dodgers?!

First we had Trevor Bauer, and now Julio Urias has been arrested on felony domestic violence charges.  It's his second such arrest in four years, although the first one did not result in charges being filed, but only because Urias completed a year-long DV counseling program.  We'll see how the process plays out, but I'm guessing his MLB career is over.

Aside from the obvious, this is just another kick to the nuts of a pitching staff that's been plagued all season.  In theory, we should have had Kershaw, Urias, Buehler, May and Gonsolin.  Kershaw has mostly been Kershaw, but he's having his usual struggles with injuries.  Buehler might come back from Tommy John surgery in the next 7-10 days, but I suspect he'll be on no more than a 3-4 inning limit.  May is made of bone China, and Gonsolin won't pitch again this season.  Fortunately, Bobby Miller has stepped up in a huge way, and Lance Lynn has been mostly very good since being acquired from the White Sox.  The Dodgers will win the Division, but I'm very nervous going into the postseason, and that sucks given how well the lineup (especially Betts and Freeman) have been.

The Dodgers will find a way. Buehler will definitely be on a pitch limit but having him back should fill the Urias void and I think the pen will get it done. I understand your concerns but they are too good to not a make a deep run.

[pg1067]

Hope you're right.  I'd love to see Kershaw get another ring in a full season.

[Glasser]

Hope you're right.  I'd love to see Kershaw get another ring in a full season.

I don't think any AL team will stand in their way. Getting past the Braves may be their only issue.

[pg1067]

The Braves are beasts.  Their starting pitching seems to be much better than any other team.

[Dream Team]

The Astros will be a tough out.

[LudwigVan]

Orioles have been a juggernaut.

[pg1067]

O's have a GREAT young core.

[T-ski]

Brewers close to wrapping up the NL Central, still not convinced they can win a playoff series though.

[pg1067]

As things stand right now, the NL Central winner will play the Diamondbacks, Marlins, Reds or Giants.  On the other hand, the Central runner up will play the Phillies.  Of the four potential WC3 teams, the Marlins are the only one that I think has the potential to win the series.  If the MIL/CHC series to close the season still means something, those should be some great games.

Dodgers' magic number down to 7.

[T-ski]

Brewers pitching threw 10 innings of no hit ball against the Yankees but ending up losing 4-3 in 13.

[pg1067]

Brewers pitching threw 10 innings of no hit ball against the Yankees but ending up losing 4-3 in 13.

That's just painful.

Reminds me of when Rich Hill had a no hitter or perfect game through 9 against the Pirates a few years ago and then gave up a walk-off HR in the bottom of the 10th.

[Glasser]

Yanks Jasson Dominguez with a torn UCL. Unreal man. I feel awful for him.

[pg1067]

Yanks Jasson Dominguez with a torn UCL. Unreal man. I feel awful for him.

Don't know who that is, but that sucks.

It's interesting.  Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention, but it always seemed to me like these "xCL" ligaments didn't exist before the late '80s or early '90s.  Or maybe it was just that the media used "bum knee" or "bum elbow" rather than specific terms.

I thought the Dodgers were getting Walker Buehler back.  He had a really good rehab start in AAA Oklahoma City a couple weeks ago.  Afterwards, he said he felt good, but the Dodgers issued a press release late last week that he wouldn't pitch again this season (no other information).  I'm just hoping there wasn't a medical setback and that Buehler will actually return in 2024.

[pg1067]

Dodgers clinched the NL west yesterday for the 10th time in 11 years!  But I'm still not confident in the pitching - especially against the Braves.

Now, the Dodgers have a magic number of 6 to clinch a first round bye (the Dodgers have the tiebreaker against Milwaukee).

The Orioles have clinched their first playoff birth since 2016 and are on pace for the team's first 100 win season since 1980.

Both the O's and the Rays have clinched playoff births, with the O's holding a 2-game lead in the AL east.

We're almost certain to have only the second MLB postseason in the wild card era without either the Red Sox or the Yankees (the only other WC-era year in which neither team made the playoffs was 2014).  It's going to be a huge fight to avoid being the odd man out in the AL wild card race, and there will be two teams outside lookin in in the NL.

[T-ski]

Despite having one of the worst offenses for most of the season, the Brewers clinch the NL Central!

[TAC]

Despite having one of the worst offenses for most of the season, the Brewers clinch the NL Central!

Despite having one of the best offenses for most of the season, the Sox are in last place in the AL East..

[pg1067]

Despite having one of the worst offenses for most of the season, the Brewers clinch the NL Central!

Despite having one of the best offenses for most of the season, the Sox are in last place in the AL East..

They will likely be the only team among the top 10 in runs scored that won't make the playoffs.


Also, RIP Brooks Robinson.  THE quintessential defensive third baseman of the '60s and '70s.  His career was close to being over when I started watching baseball, but his exploits were legendary.  I also remember his batting helmet with the really short bill.

[DragonAttack]

^
Yeah, I'll never understand that short bill on the batting helmet.

As to Brooks:
Growing up a die hard Tiger fan in Michigan, I was ten when they won the ’68 WS. My first truly great moment as a sports fan, especially after falling one game short of the AL pennant the prior year. They would have won the AL East in ’69 and ’71 if not for Brooks and Frank Robinson and those despicable Orioles. One grows older and wiser, and hate turns into respect and admiration.

After moving here, I heard many a story of my wife and her father occasionally bumping into Brooks as they walked their dogs in the Lutherville community, or of him and his wife taking in a Little League game at the nearby elementary school. One of Susan’s fellow teachers babysat the Robinson’s kids.  Him and his wife would stop and chat at someone’s bake sale, garage sale, etc etc.

I remember going to an Ollie’s where he was signing autographs.  The line was long, so I didn’t get one (stupid me since they’d also get a picture with him) but I
wanted to get close enough just to see him in person.  The pictures of various people with him on Fbook and other outlets that are popping up are a joy to see.

Just an incredibly gifted athlete, legend, and even better person.


The first image I think of when Brooks is mentioned, from the ’70 WS.  Wish they would put this at the base of his statue. Heck, I wish his statue was this pose.




There’s thousands of homes, garages, and bars throughout Maryland that have this photo from the ’66 WS clincher over the Dodgers hanging on a wall




A nice little fan story from last year, including the Norman Rockwell drawing.
https://trustyourstuff.com/2022/08/14/meeting-orioles-legends-the-time-brooks-robinson-argued-with-me/




Sports writer R. Gordon Beard once said that, unlike Reggie Jackson, legendary Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson “never asked anyone to name a candy bar after him. In Baltimore, people named their children after him.”

[pg1067]

That's some MAD air in that second picture!

[ProfessorPeart]

What dirt does Angel Hernandez have on MLB? The man is a disgrace. He trends so often on social media and there's never a doubt how wrong he was. I just watched the checked swing strike 3 he called on Bryce Harper. There is no excuse for just how horribly bad that was. I don't even like Harper and think he is a violent, angry blowhard but, just wow. Business as usual for the blindest ump in baseball.

Watch until the end to see just how bad this was.

https://sports.yahoo.com/phillies-star-bryce-harper-ejected-launches-helmet-into-stands-after-charging-at-umpire-angel-hernandez-233959469.html

[TAC]

That was a pathetic call for sure.

[Glasser]

That's some MAD air in that second picture!

Damn! He's up there. 

[pg1067]

What dirt does Angel Hernandez have on MLB? The man is a disgrace. He trends so often on social media and there's never a doubt how wrong he was. I just watched the checked swing strike 3 he called on Bryce Harper. There is no excuse for just how horribly bad that was. I don't even like Harper and think he is a violent, angry blowhard but, just wow. Business as usual for the blindest ump in baseball.

Watch until the end to see just how bad this was.

https://sports.yahoo.com/phillies-star-bryce-harper-ejected-launches-helmet-into-stands-after-charging-at-umpire-angel-hernandez-233959469.html

My observations:

1. Harper is a hothead.  Call it competitiveness if you want, but he's a whiny, little bitch.
2. Anyone notice how little urgency the coach chasing after Harper had?  And the 3rd base coach didn't even attempt to get in between Harper and Hernandez until Harper got within 3 feet of Hernandez.  Of course, by that point, he'd already been tossed.
3. Angel Hernandez is one of the two worst umpires in the MLB (along with C.B. Buckner).  The ONLY reason he still has a job is because his union (like all professional sports unions) protects mediocrity.  Dude could toss a bomb into a dugout (on camera) and still only be suspended (with pay) while an investigation happens.

I don't know if you've ever seen the umpire scorecards that circulate every day.  They show everyone having 97+% accuracy.  The problem is that my cat could call a strike down the middle.  They need to re-vamp the system so that they look at the close calls:  pitches called strikes that are out of the zone and pitches that are in the zone and within the width of the ball from the edges.  That would show some separation.

Also, in case you don't know, back in 2017, Hernandez sued MLB, alleging that, because of racial discrimination, he had not been assigned to work a World Series since 2005 and had been passed over for a crew-chief position (although Hernandez had worked as an "interim crew chief" at times), despite being a highly graded umpire.  Hernandez also alleged that Joe Torre, who made key decisions about umpires, had animosity toward Hernandez from back when Torre was the Yankees manager.  Unfortunately, instead of defending the case on the basis that Hernandez is a shitty umpire, MLB got the case dismissed on summary judgment on the basis that there was no statistically significant difference in playoff assignments and crew-chief promotions between "white" and "non-white" umpires.  The Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision.

[jammindude]

With only 2 games left in the season, we began the night with decent odds of a wild card birth, and a small chance of winning the west and getting the rest of a 2nd seed.

We ended the night being eliminated entirely.

There is a lot of talent on this team. I hope they just make the necessary adjustments and don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.

[TAC]

RIP Tim Wakefield.

Damn. 57 years old. This was one of the good guys. He did a ton in the community and for charity, and was a 2x World Series Champion on top of it.

 

[King Postwhore]

Amen, Tim. The most humble pro sport athlete I ever met.

[TAC]

Amen, Tim. The most humble pro sport athlete I ever met.

Yeah, around 97-98, he shopped in the store I worked at in Chestnut Hill. He was fucking humongous, but totally low key.


This was the first thing I thought of. I cried when it was happening live. Kills me everytime.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yPUcDoQpJc

[King Postwhore]

Breaks my heart, man.  And as you know, I'm emotional now about cancer.

[TAC]

I know.


BUT....you're emotional anyway!

[King Postwhore]

I'm a softy.

[TAC]

I'm a softy.

Especially in the NFL thread.

[King Postwhore]

Listen to you Felger. So full of shit. Put a napkin on your feet. Lol

[TAC]

Listen to you Felger. So full of shit. Put a napkin on your feet. Lol

Guess who's in the game!!

[cfmoran13]

RIP Tim Wakefield.

Damn. 57 years old. This was one of the good guys. He did a ton in the community and for charity, and was a 2x World Series Champion on top of it.

As a long-time Sox fan, he was one of my all-time favorite players.  Back in '07 when my daughter was born, had she been a boy, her name was going to be Tim because of Wake.  What's crazy is I had watched multiple Sox games this year with him in the booth.  He looked and sounded totally fine.  And, his wife currently has pancreatic cancer.  Absolutely horrible.