Major League Baseball: 2008 Thread

[JohnBM01]

Astros won again, and the Giants helped us out a bit in the NL Central by beating the Cubs. I've grown a lot more fond of Tim Lincecum lately. Ever since seeing him play against my Astros... dude is just absolutely killer. I think he has an ERA of about 2.75. He's a damn good young pitcher. I even joke that he's older than his young looks. I think he looks 19 but is actually 23.

In Sunday Night Baseball, the Rockies got wasted by the New York Mets in a shutout. Like the Yankees, the Mets have a new stadium they are working on close by there. Seems like two historic stadiums will be replaced by newer stadiums. New York City will still have their finest (if you want to call the Mets finest) two programs. Knocking balls for base hits and home runs when the two stadiums play their first games in their respective new stadiums.

 

[Prosthetic]

Considering how good the Cubbies' bullpen has been throughout the season and how good Rich Harden is I found it surprising that they were able to blow a 5 run lead.

This has happened a lot throughout the year, the Giants have a underrated offense and once I gets started they really plow through. They also played like 3 year olds tossing the ball around with out looking.




@John. Yeah he defiantly is amazing for his age and will only turn better over the years. He could be starting the all-star game and Wilson closing it. That would make me happy after Bengie Molina and Aaron Rowand didn't make it. It Upsets me that the best hitting catcher in the NL didn't make it. At one point last month with runners in scoring position he was hitting over .650

 

[TS]

This has happened a lot throughout the year, the Giants have a underrated offense and once I gets started they really plow through. They also played like 3 year olds tossing the ball around with out looking.

I know what you mean, the D-backs have been playing like that lately and yesterday, I probably saw some of the worst base running ever.

 

[Prosthetic]

I know what you mean, the D-backs have been playing like that lately and yesterday, I probably saw some of the worst base running ever.

Giants for awhile were going great and were only 3 games back... Personally as long as LA doesn't win the western title I'm fine.

 

[TS]

Giants for awhile were going great and were only 3 games back... Personally as long as LA doesn't win the western title I'm fine.

Even though the D-backs are the only team with a record closest to .500, you can't count out the Dodgers or the Giants. Look at the NL East, the Mets at one point were about 8 games behind the Phillies, then they fired Randolph and Jerry Manuel has been able to bring the team within half a game of the Phillies at the break. Anyway, I think the Dodgers won't win it, not with Andruw Jones hitting .165 and their batters like Garciaparra being hurt, the Giants have a better shot of winning it just with their pitching, mainly Matt Cain & Tim Lincecum. Zito has been a total disappointment.

 

[JohnBM01]

If Josh Hamilton was down to the State Farm Gold Balls, State Farm would have made a hell of a lot of money off of Josh Hamilton's bat. Josh Hamilton was "upset" by Justin Morneau in the Final Round to win the Home Run Derby. I saw Lance Berkman knock a few out the park. Though Josh Hamilton didn't win, he put on one hell of a show.

The Home Run Derby is thought to be better than the All-Star Game. We'll see if the All-Star Game has as many fireworks as the Home Run Derby. Ben Sheets (Milwaukee) will be the starting NL pitcher. But I forgot who the AL starter is.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

If Josh Hamilton was down to the State Farm Gold Balls, State Farm would have made a hell of a lot of money off of Josh Hamilton's bat. Josh Hamilton was "upset" by Justin Morneau in the Final Round to win the Home Run Derby. I saw Lance Berkman knock a few out the park. Though Josh Hamilton didn't win, he put on one hell of a show.

The Home Run Derby is thought to be better than the All-Star Game. We'll see if the All-Star Game has as many fireworks as the Home Run Derby. Ben Sheets (Milwaukee) will be the starting NL pitcher. But I forgot who the AL starter is.

The AL Starter is Cliff Lee of the Indians. Go New Westminster, B.C., Canada's Justin Morneau!

 

[Prosthetic]

Even though the D-backs are the only team with a record closest to .500, you can't count out the Dodgers or the Giants. Look at the NL East, the Mets at one point were about 8 games behind the Phillies, then they fired Randolph and Jerry Manuel has been able to bring the team within half a game of the Phillies at the break. Anyway, I think the Dodgers won't win it, not with Andruw Jones hitting .165 and their batters like Garciaparra being hurt, the Giants have a better shot of winning it just with their pitching, mainly Matt Cain & Tim Lincecum. Zito has been a total disappointment.

Nah Dodgers just get lucky and win games... Giants are a much better team then them. Andruw Jones was a possible pick the Giants could have made instead of Aaron Rowand, which would of been a big mistake. Also in the pitchers... your missing Sanchez, he has a better record then Cain, and I think more strike outs. When hot hes like Timmeh, hes just not hot as much. And Zito has made vast improvements, with his last outing striking 8 people out and having 5 hits and 1 run over 7 (i think) innings.

 

[TS]

If Josh Hamilton was down to the State Farm Gold Balls, State Farm would have made a hell of a lot of money off of Josh Hamilton's bat. Josh Hamilton was "upset" by Justin Morneau in the Final Round to win the Home Run Derby. I saw Lance Berkman knock a few out the park. Though Josh Hamilton didn't win, he put on one hell of a show.

Hamilton won over the crowd, with his story of coming back from a severe drug addiction to come play in the majors, something that he said he thought he would never do again. Not only is he playing, he's playing and hitting great, and is a favorite to win the batting triple crown and he almost won the HR derby.

Nah Dodgers just get lucky and win games... Giants are a much better team then them. Andruw Jones was a possible pick the Giants could have made instead of Aaron Rowand, which would of been a big mistake. Also in the pitchers... your missing Sanchez, he has a better record then Cain, and I think more strike outs. When hot hes like Timmeh, hes just not hot as much. And Zito has made vast improvements, with his last outing striking 8 people out and having 5 hits and 1 run over 7 (i think) innings.

Yeah, I forgot about Sanchez, he has been great too.

 

[Prosthetic]

I'm really bummed, 4 Giants should be here to tonight, but sadly only 1 now will be there. Tim Lincincum came down with a bad case of the flu so he won't be pitching tonight.

 

[TopHat]

I'm really bummed, 4 Giants should be here to tonight, but sadly only 1 now will be there. Tim Lincincum came down with a bad case of the flu so he won't be pitching tonight.

Aww, that sucks. I wanted to see him pitch. 👎

 

[Prosthetic]

Aww, that sucks. I wanted to see him pitch. 👎

Yes, I was to, but if the National League is in the save situation then likely it will be Brian Wilson of the Giants (of coarse ) to come and close. He leads the NL in saves, and has the best saves/saves opportunity. He has 6 situations where he didn't get the save. I think only 2 or 3 of those are from him blowing it.
He has a fastball which is usually in the mid to high 90's but in one case it was clocked at 103! He also has a slider that ranges from low 80's to low 90's. So he has a bit of heat

 

[TopHat]

Spoiler

He'll never be as good as Mariano.

 

[JohnBM01]

--- BREAKING NEWS ---​

American Leage wins 4-3 in the Bottom of the 15th!

So the National League's losing streak against the AL continues. Haven't won since 1996.

 

[TS]

Cook did a great job getting the NL out of jams in the 10th-12th innings. And Russell Martin made some damn fine plays at the plate!

 

[JohnBM01]

Someone else's Facebook friends had this as a status update:

(indirect quote) "American League wins 4-3 over the NL. F:censored: Brad Lidge... that's why we traded his ass (formerly of the Astros)"

Jose Valverde's doing... okay for us. I still think that game at Philadelphia we should have won, had it not been for Valverde throwing bad pitches to go from a sure 3-0 win to a 4-3 loss. I'm really sad Tim Lincecum didn't get to pitch in the All-Star Game. He would have given the NL their first All-Star win since 1996 with his closer-like pitches.

Anyhow, the All-Star Break is over. Now we can all get back to scrambling each others' brains in to try to race for the pennant. October is 2 1/2 months away. Who'll be dancing this October? We'll see as we go along.

 

[TS]

My Predictions

American League
West - Angels; K-Rod is nearly unhittable.

Central - Twins; Acquiring Livan Hernandez from Arizona has proven successful, Joe Nathan has been great as well, not to mention their offense from Morneau and Mauer.

East - Red Sox; The team that won the division & the World Series last year is nearly unchanged and that same team will win the division again.

Wild Card - Rays; much like Kyle Busch's dream season going on in NASCAR, the dream season will pay off for the Rays by making the post season for the first time in franchise history.

National League
West - Diamondbacks; It seems that whatever team that can maintain a .500 record will win this one. The pitching staff is outstanding, all they need is more consistent offense, and with Byrnes likely out for the year, everyone else will have to start picking up.

Central - Cubbies; Another great pitching staff and bullpen, and a good offense will allow the Cubs to run away with it. The only team that I think that has a shot to even get close are the Cardinals.

East - Phillies; I have two names for you: Utley and Howard. And two more for you: Moyer and Lidge. kthxbye.

Wild Card - Brewers; Making the trade for CC Sabathia gives the Brew Crew probably the best 1-2 punch in the NL along with Sheets. A good bullpen and big bats like Ryan Braun & Corey Hart will lead them to their first postseason since 1982.

 

[JohnBM01]

Pretty good start for the Astros since the break. We won two out of three from this weekend series. All that we got was our asses beat when Chicago beat us 9-0. Not sure who's next for us, but we know we'll need to keep staring down and taking down opposition if we are to have any chance to make at least a run for the NL Wild Card. You can be a terrible team, but going for the Wild Card gives you at least some sense of hope. Look at my 2005 Houston Astros. We were a crap-tacular team, but made it all the way to the World Series. Only thing better would have been winning the championship as an underdog. I'm sure the '05 Astros would love to be Chaminade to the White Sox's Virginia.

[UPDATE] Congratulations to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for taking down (and sweeping) the Boston Red Sox during Sunday Night Baseball. I thought that the Dodgers and Angels share the same stadium at first because the overhead view looked like where the Dodgers' ballpark. I actually like the Angels' ballpark. A little of a ball park, and a little of an amusement park. Lovely combination.

 

[JohnBM01]

I'm mad, players. We should have beaten the Pirates 3-2 at home. We led 3-2 heading into the 9th Inning. Then the next thing you know it, the Pirates tied it up 3-3. I watch some wrestling and flip over to FSN Houston... and now they lead 5-3. When I saw the final score was 9-3. And here is what I'm thinking in my mind:

"That's it! Trade José Valverde! Leading 3-2 all to lose 9-3 is unacceptable."

Brad Lidge had his problems with my Astros when he was the closer, but at least he could close games better than what Valverde did. José Valverde needs to go. Not to our minor league teams, but out of the Astros in general. Trade him to Seattle or Cleveland. How can we make a statement when Valverde f:censored:s up our chances of winning by closing so poorly? We were supposed to beat Philadelphia 3-0 earlier this year at Philadelphia. Former Astro, Shawn Chacon, put up eight innings of scoreless ball... all for Jose Valverde's terrible closing to have us lose 4-3. I know we need a closer, but we could have done much better. GET... HIM... OUT!!!

 

[TS]

I'm mad, players. We should have beaten the Pirates 3-2 at home. We led 3-2 heading into the 9th Inning. Then the next thing you know it, the Pirates tied it up 3-3. I watch some wrestling and flip over to FSN Houston... and now they lead 5-3. When I saw the final score was 9-3. And here is what I'm thinking in my mind:

"That's it! Trade José Valverde! Leading 3-2 all to lose 9-3 is unacceptable."

Brad Lidge had his problems with my Astros when he was the closer, but at least he could close games better than what Valverde did. José Valverde needs to go. Not to our minor league teams, but out of the Astros in general. Trade him to Seattle or Cleveland. How can we make a statement when Valverde f:censored:s up our chances of winning by closing so poorly? We were supposed to beat Philadelphia 3-0 earlier this year at Philadelphia. Former Astro, Shawn Chacon, put up eight innings of scoreless ball... all for Jose Valverde's terrible closing to have us lose 4-3. I know we need a closer, but we could have done much better. GET... HIM... OUT!!!

I know how you feel, I was rather pissed off when current D-Backs closer Brandon Lyon allowed 5 runs in the 9th on Sunday when the Dodgers were in town, and the D-Backs eventually lost 6-5 when we went in with a 4-1 lead.

Thankfully, last night, Randy Johnson extended his undefeated streak against the Cubs, winning his 291st game, 2-0. (Both pitchers had a perfect game through 3 innings, and Rich Harden had a no-hitter through 6 innings until he allowed a home run by Alex Romero.)

 

[JohnBM01]

First, we were supposed to win last night's game against the Pirates. Tonight, we could have done more to stop the bleeding. Ended up losing 8-2 to the Pirates. I can already imagine all the East Coast bias (or just mostly ESPN) thinking of us as terrible. We did get to manage a player acquistion down. We got us another LHP who played 8 years for the Phillies. Forgot his name.

The NL Central race is basically a three-horse show. The Reds are about 10.5 games back of the Cubs in the NL Central, good for 4th in the NL Central. My Astros and the Phillies (<<< NL Central team?) are 14.5 back of the Cubs. The Cubs are going to have to screw up bigtime, and my Astros have to get hot and keep hammering down wins... all for the Astros to even have a chance. But really, I don't think the Astros will win the NL Central. They may well have to play for the NL Wild Card. We have a 1:05 PM game on tap between the Pirates @ Astros for Wednesday. This, even though the outer bands of Hurricane Dolly will give us lots of rain for just about the entire day. I just hope the only storm that us Astros fans get is that they have a whirlwind of a time getting back into the thick of at least the NL Wild Card.

Actually, this was sad night for both of Texas' two MLB teams. We lost 8-2 to the Pirates, and the Texas Rangers lost 10-2 on the road at the Chicago White Sox. So combined... [the state of] Texas lost 18-4 tonight. Only thing is that the White Sox are a competitive team while we lost to the lowly Pirates. How many more games are we going to lose until we can realize that we can still make it to the postseason? How many losses is it going to take until we can understand that we can still salvage something special without most of our fans looking forward to Houston Texans' preseason football?

 

[TS]

The Pirates are in the NL Central, not the Phillies. Speaking of the Phils, they won a pretty big game last night against the Mets, and it just seems that whenever Johan Santana is on the mound, he has a great outing that goes at least 6 innings, he gets great run support and what does the bullpen do? They blow a 6 run lead and allow the Phillies to win a game that allows them to extend their lead in the NL East to 1 game.

Anyway the Cubs haven't been very good after the All-Star break, first, they're on a road trip and haven't been able to put up the much on the road this season, they lost 2 of 3 against John's Astros, and they may get swept tonight by the D-Backs. And the D-Backs are starting to show that we don't want to be the only division winner with a record below .500, we went and traded away a couple of our minor leaguers (a pitcher and a 2nd baseman) to get Tony Clark (who was a big part of the offense that led the D-backs to the NL West title last year and also coined the phrase "Anybody, Anytime") back from the Padres and to get John Rauch from the Nationals.

Clark has made 2 starts at first base and has been called to pinch hit a few times as well, he hit an RBI ground out last night and scored a run off a double by shortstop Stephen Drew. Rauch was in the pen last night and was called in the 9th to close out the game, he only allowed 1 hit and got 2 strikeouts in his D-backs debut.

 

[JohnBM01]

We're now the worst team in the NL Central as we've failed to take down the Pirates. We lost 8-7. Up next... a trip to Milwaukee. Yay. As if we're not doomed already...

 

[TopHat]

So, some trade news. Bucs traded Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees for 3 pitching prospects (one of them is Ross Ohlendorf). I guess that'll make it that much easier for your Astros to beat them.

Also the Yankees beat the Sox in a tight one today. Final score was 1-0 New York. It was a fantastic game, too bad Beckett didn't get any run support. Chamberlain pitched masterfully tonight. Rivera got his 26th save. Tomorrows game is Pettitte/Wakefield. That'll be another good one. 👍

 

[TS]

The Pirates really needed to improve their farm system by bringing in some top prospects. It helps both teams because now Pittsburgh can improve their Minor League system and the Yankees get another big bat in Nady.

 

[TopHat]

Heh, we needed it. With Matsui out for the season, and Posada likely will be as well, our lineup has been weakened.

 

[TS]

The Yanks still have A-Rod, Jeter, Damon, and Super 'Stache Giambi.

 

[JohnBM01]

Back on Saturday, it was the battle of Brandon Webb and Tim Lincecum. I don't think you're going to see a better pitching duel than this. The action took place at beautiful AT&T Park. Sadly for the Giants, the Diamondbacks won on Saturday. I think the score was 6-2. I'm assuming that B-Webb was the winning pitcher as Lincecum was the losing pitcher (unless there was a no decision for either or both pitchers).

Meanwhile here in Houston, my Astros are coming back home to host the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets. They're coming back after taking two out of three away from Milwaukee. We came from behind to win on Friday night, had a lead until the Brew Crew took the Saturday night, and finally blew out Milwaukee with an 11-6(?) score.

Congratulations to all the ones who made it into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown yesterday. Among the inductees was Rich "Goose" Gossage. ESPN Sunday Night Baseball's Jon Miller was without his Hall of Fame colleague, Joe Morgan, because Joe Morgan was at the Hall of Fame ceremony. I'd love to see one of New York state's own to be inducted- Craig Biggio, and especially for his years of service as well as getting that historic 3,000th hit in that magical game last year.



New week of baseball, folks. Any water cooler talk on MLB action?

 

[TS]

Back on Saturday, it was the battle of Brandon Webb and Tim Lincecum. I don't think you're going to see a better pitching duel than this. The action took place at beautiful AT&T Park. Sadly for the Giants, the Diamondbacks won on Saturday. I think the score was 6-2. I'm assuming that B-Webb was the winning pitcher as Lincecum was the losing pitcher (unless there was a no decision for either or both pitchers).

Webb got the win (his 14th) and Lincecum got the loss IIRC (his 4th).

This California road trip is very, very important for the D-Backs if they want to win the NL West, we just swept the Giants in a 3 game set, now they're headed to San Diego for 3 more games (btw, the Padres have the worst record in the NL) and probably the most important series will be a 4 game series in Dodger statium.

If the D-Backs can come away from that road trip with at least 7 wins (out of 10 total games) I think they can sustain their lead in the NL west and can probably win about 83 games.

 

[JohnBM01]

San Diego is usually a pretty good team. I don't know what's up with them...