Major League Baseball: 2009 Thread

[TS]

Drafted my fantasy baseball team today, deciding to share my team.

 

[Prosthetic]

Awesome you got Lewis and Cain... Might awesome decisions... But watch out Cain always gets poor run support (why his record is so bad) and Lewis has a bunion on his foot. But you got a pretty solid team... I would be concerned about Furcal's health though... wait did I just say that?

Giants lost 4-5 to the Angels today but Rohlinger hit a home run continuing our streak of hitting at least one home run per game. We have 15 now which is how many we had all of last season. Lincecum also pitched 3 perfect innings. 26 pitches, 3 strikeouts, 0 hits, 0 walks. Beast.

 

[JohnBM01]

Lincecum's still going to be quite a pitching threat not only in the NL West, but perhaps in the entire league. This baby-faced beast is going to be delivering plenty good heat with those wicked pitches of his.

As an off-topic note, any of you been seeing the commercials for "MLB09" featuring Tim Lincecum and a polygoned-up Tim Lincecum? So you'll be wanting your team to go from April to a World Series championship virtually soon.

 

[Prosthetic]

Yeah, I saw that commercial a few times. Its awesome.

I drafted my team today too... I was chatting with a Yankee's fan during the drafting process.


C Geovany Soto, ChC C
1B Lance Berkman, Hou 1B
2B Robinson Cano, NYY 2B
3B Garrett Atkins, Col 1B, 3B
SS Hanley Ramirez, Fla SS
2B/SS Miguel Tejada, Hou SS
1B/3B Jorge Cantu, Fla 1B, 3B
OF Alfonso Soriano, ChC OF
OF Nate McLouth, Pit OF
OF Johnny Damon, NYY OF, DH
OF Justin Upton, Ari OF
OF Carlos Gomez, Min OF
UTIL Randy Winn, SF OF
Bench A.J. Pierzynski, CWS C
Bench Kosuke Fukudome, ChC OF


P Cole Hamels, Phi SP
P Jake Peavy, SD SP
P Brad Lidge, Phi RP
P Kerry Wood, Cle RP
P Ted Lilly, ChC SP
P Matt Cain, SF SP
P Max Scherzer, Ari SP
P Trevor Hoffman, Mil RP
P Brian Wilson, SF RP
Bench Sergio Romo, SF RP

I'm bummed, the round I was going to pick Sandoval, the guy in front of me got him... I wanted him at UTIL. Oh well I got Winn.

 

[TS]

Awesome you got Lewis and Cain... Might awesome decisions... But watch out Cain always gets poor run support (why his record is so bad) and Lewis has a bunion on his foot. But you got a pretty solid team... I would be concerned about Furcal's health though... wait did I just say that?

I know about Furcal and his injuries, which is why I got Theriot as backup SS,
I wanted to get Derek Lowe as another starter, but the guy ahead of me in the draft got him, so I ended up with AJ Burnett (hopefully he doesn't get hurt).

Yeah, I saw that commercial a few times. Its awesome.

I drafted my team today too... I was chatting with a Yankee's fan during the drafting process.


C Geovany Soto, ChC C
1B Lance Berkman, Hou 1B
2B Robinson Cano, NYY 2B
3B Garrett Atkins, Col 1B, 3B
SS Hanley Ramirez, Fla SS
2B/SS Miguel Tejada, Hou SS
1B/3B Jorge Cantu, Fla 1B, 3B
OF Alfonso Soriano, ChC OF
OF Nate McLouth, Pit OF
OF Johnny Damon, NYY OF, DH
OF Justin Upton, Ari OF
OF Carlos Gomez, Min OF
UTIL Randy Winn, SF OF
Bench A.J. Pierzynski, CWS C
Bench Kosuke Fukudome, ChC OF


P Cole Hamels, Phi SP
P Jake Peavy, SD SP
P Brad Lidge, Phi RP
P Kerry Wood, Cle RP
P Ted Lilly, ChC SP
P Matt Cain, SF SP
P Max Scherzer, Ari SP
P Trevor Hoffman, Mil RP
P Brian Wilson, SF RP
Bench Sergio Romo, SF RP

I'm bummed, the round I was going to pick Sandoval, the guy in front of me got him... I wanted him at UTIL. Oh well I got Winn.

I see we both got Justin Upton, AJ Pierzynski, Trevor Hoffman and Lidge.

Scherzer is gonna be a question mark for this season, he was decent when he filled in for Randy Johnson & Micah Owings (after Owings was traded for Adam Dunn) but he really didn't go all that long, he usually was done after 5 or 6 innings.

 

[Prosthetic]

Giants are tearing it up offensivly! 3 Homeruns yesterday (Uribe, Rohlinger and someone else I forget) That gives the giants 23 next highest is 18 I think. Rohlinger has hit 3 HR's in 4 games! Giants infeild has some serious competition going on.

 

[JohnBM01]

Johan Santana will start this Thursday on the mound in Grapefruit League action for the Mets. He's coming off of injury (shoulder, I believe). If the Mets are going to be a contender, they'll need some healthy bodies. They may have a shot at perhaps challenging teams like Philadelphia and Atlanta in the NL East.

 

[Prosthetic]

The Phillies and Braves are no where near as good as the Mets. The Phillies weren't really that good last year, they are on par with the Dodgers. Phillies got into the play-offs and got hot. That's how they won.

 

[TS]

I about cried when I saw Orlando Hudson wearing a Dodgers jersey for the first time today.

D-Backs lost to the Dodgers 6-3.

 

[Prosthetic]

I about cried when I saw Orlando Hudson wearing a Dodgers jersey for the first time today.

D-Backs lost to the Dodgers 6-3.

I don't cry when I see Scmedt or w/e. He's to worthless learn how to spell his name.

 

[JohnBM01]

My Astros were 1-10-1 from the exhibition matches. We lost 8-2 to Cincinnati in a recent match. Astros have to get it together for the upcoming season.

I found out that the 2009 debut for the MLB on FOX will be April 11th. I overheard this during the NASCAR race at Atlanta this past weekend. One of those games on 4/11/2009... Houston at St. Louis. That will NOT be pretty. We got to play like we want it and want it more than the other team.

 

[Prosthetic]

Don't get worried John, spring training doesn't mean much. No way in hell are the Giants going to be killing everyone in the homeruns department like we are now.

 

[TopHat]

Don't get worried John, spring training doesn't mean much. No way in hell are the Giants going to be killing everyone in the homeruns department like we are now.

They're hitting homers now because they have a AA lineup, and they're playing against AA pitching right now.

 

[Prosthetic]

They're hitting homers now because they have a AA lineup, and they're playing against AA pitching right now.

Not exactly... We are mostly getting them in the first 4 innings where its the teams starters pitching. The people that are hitting them are people that will make the 25 man roster. They reason we don't hit them in the real season is because AT&T is one of the hardest parks to hit in. Bonds was a smart hitter and knew how to take advantage of the park to get the numbers he did. Hopefully Lewis's foot doesn't bother him as much as it did last year, he has the power to hit 20+ when healthy.


Lincecum has pitched 9 1/3rd innings this spring training and has only allowed 2 hits and no runs. He pitched perfectly today against Japan in a loss 6-4. But as usual one of our ****** relievers gave it up. Thank god they won't be pitching this season.


EDIT: I just found out that Fred Lewis was the first left-handed batter to hit 4 hits in one game off of Randy Johnson! Awesome, I remember watching that game. But I didn't know that its the only time it has happened.

 

[TS]

EDIT: I just found out that Fred Lewis was the first left-handed batter to hit 4 hits in one game off of Randy Johnson! Awesome, I remember watching that game. But I didn't know that its the only time it has happened.

lol, Randy Johnson isn't that old.

 

[Prosthetic]

lol, Randy Johnson isn't that old.

He had better numbers then Lincecum during the second half of last year. Hes been giving the Giants pitching staff a lot of tutoring. Yay!

 

[JohnBM01]

BIG news down the pipe. Pending a physical, we may get some good pitching as Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez signed a 1-year deal to play for my Astros. Good for somebody to actually give us some respect and some hope rather than just slam us like ESPN does or what FOX Sports sometimes do. Good for Pudge. Hope he can give us a pitching hand.

 

[Nicksfix]

BIG news down the pipe. Pending a physical, we may get some good pitching as Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez signed a 1-year deal to play for my Astros. Good for somebody to actually give us some respect and some hope rather than just slam us like ESPN does or what FOX Sports sometimes do. Good for Pudge. Hope he can give us a pitching hand.

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is a catcher 👍

 

[Prosthetic]

BIG news down the pipe. Pending a physical, we may get some good pitching as Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez signed a 1-year deal to play for my Astros. Good for somebody to actually give us some respect and some hope rather than just slam us like ESPN does or what FOX Sports sometimes do. Good for Pudge. Hope he can give us a pitching hand.

CMON JOHN!!! Really?

 

[JohnBM01]

Yep. Heard it on ESPNEWS followed by ABC 13 here in Houston. Looks like a former AL player wants to improve the National League. Not to mention doing it with a team that's not as bad as people say it is. And you know, God help this man. He'll be playing once he's done in the World Baseball Classic. He's got 13 Golden Gloves. Only three guys have 16. I believe three more guys.

It's a 1-year deal at $1.5 million dollars. We need more people with character and willing to help make the Astros better. But yeah. Actually, he played in Texas before with the Rangers. Now he wants to do it with the Astros.

 

[Prosthetic]

No but you said he was a pitcher... o.O

 

[Speedy Samurai]

But a catcher's job is to control the pitching staff. If you have a good catcher, calling a good game, you should have good pitching.

 

[JohnBM01]

Guys... I'm not good with baseball. Maybe I'll just refer to players by name rather than figure out their positions.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Guys... I'm not good with baseball. Maybe I'll just refer to players by name rather than figure out their positions.

He's definitely an upgrade at the plate over Brad Ausmus. I'll miss you, Brad...

 

[Prosthetic]

Guys... I'm not good with baseball. Maybe I'll just refer to players by name rather than figure out their positions.

*Pats John on the back* just go to MLB.com then go to the top left corner click on Team Sites and go to the Astros site. Bookmark it, and when you want info on stats or players just look it up on the roster and such. Easy peasy!

 

[TS]

*Pats John on the back* just go to MLB.com then go to the top left corner click on Team Sites and go to the Astros site. Bookmark it, and when you want info on stats or players just look it up on the roster and such. Easy peasy!

OR you can do what I do and sign up for mobile team alerts.

 

[Omnis]

But a catcher's job is to control the pitching staff. If you have a good catcher, calling a good game, you should have good pitching.

Catchers don't call the pitches, they just "ask" which one it's gonna be.

 

[Speedy Samurai]

Catchers don't call the pitches, they just "ask" which one it's gonna be.

Actually they do. They study the tendencies of their opponents and then when that batter steps up to the plate, the catcher gives the sign to the pitcher for what he thinks should be thrown. If the pitcher has a difference of opinion he shakes him off until he gets a signal he likes.

A good example of this was a couple years ago when Curt Schilling was one out from a no-hitter. The batter was Shannon Stewart and Varitek, the catcher, knew that Stewart is a first pitch fastball hitter so he gave the sign to Schilling to throw a curve. Schilling thought that he would take the first pitch so he shook off the sign. Varitek again signaled for the curveball but Schilling again shook him off. Varitek then gave him the sign for the fastball, but Schilling missed his location and Stewart singled that pitch. Buh-bye no-hitter.

Schilling said afterward that he should have listened to Varitek.

 

[Nicksfix]

A lot of teams work it like this.
A pitch is signaled in by the pitching coach to the catcher,who them signals the pitcher with the oppropriate sign for what pitch is to be thrown.Did you ever notice that when they show a screen shot to the benches and they show a coach holding a notebook ? This notebook contains each batter for the opposition team and it refers to his hitting tendencies.That is why several MLB teams use this system,At times like others have said,the pitcher will shrug off the incoming sign and throw what they feel is better,which does not always work (speedy samurai's example)..There are also cases were the pitcher is in control,he is givin this notebook and his job is to study it and learn about the batters he will face.Catchers will call a timeout and walk out to the mound and tell the pitcher something like " hey,Rodriguez is setting up off the plate a little more than normal,so work him on the outside". Who better to call this than the catcher,he's 2 feet away frrom the batter,he see's this.

John-was not dissing you man,just a slight correction,all cool ? 👍. Keep up your great work,I love reading your stuff.

 

[DaddyVDUB]

Time to talk about Pete Rose again,while talking with Nicksfix earlier he brought it up so CAN THE MAN be in the HALL ALREADY.