Baseball Thread...

[TheBigChicken]

Holy freakin' double plays... :D :D bottom of 10th :o

[aMillionDreams]

Great game last night! I was rooting for your twins, Walt.

They've got a quick turn around against NY, but I hope they can stay hot.

[.Walt]

Great game last night! I was rooting for your twins, Walt.

They've got a quick turn around against NY, but I hope they can stay hot.

Rooting for the Twins, or your man-crush?  ;)

It's nice to see them in the playoffs, but since I don't get all homered out it's tough to believe. Not having Morneau and lack of pitching is the main reason. But it's usually the Twins that make the most outta nothing. I do believe in the "hottest team entering the playoffs" theory. So that could work their way. 0-7 against the Yankees this year, so hopefully that ends tonight.

Jelly, if I can find a place selling the hankies I am getting you one, so hopefully that won't be a problem.

Remember it's not the Twins against the Yankees. It's every baseball fan and team against the Yankees.

Go Twins!

[Taterbug]

Great game last night! I was rooting for your twins, Walt.

They've got a quick turn around against NY, but I hope they can stay hot.

Rooting for the Twins, or your man-crush?  ;)

It's nice to see them in the playoffs, but since I don't get all homered out it's tough to believe. Not having Morneau and lack of pitching is the main reason. But it's usually the Twins that make the most outta nothing. I do believe in the "hottest team entering the playoffs" theory. So that could work their way. 0-7 against the Yankees this year, so hopefully that ends tonight.

Jelly, if I can find a place selling the hankies I am getting you one, so hopefully that won't be a problem.

Remember it's not the Twins against the Yankees. It's every baseball fan and team against the Yankees.

Go Twins!

WOW !!!!! what a game. NOW I'm rooting for the Twins.  Got room on the bandwagon for me ?  I'm really glad I'm not a Tigers fan, if I was I would probably be buying a new T.V today... Because I would've thrown a chair right thru it.  

[Ruckus]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5YmzHOMBps[/media]

[mjkoehler]

Cards needs to step the fuck up. Sadly, I have a feeling their season is done.

[sweatboard]

Cards needs to step the fuck up. Sadly, I have a feeling their season is done.

I'm heartbroken and I need a hug from BH.  It's going to be ok....right?  I think Holiday is a douche and not because he missed the fly ball but because he watched three strikes go straight down the middle of the plate with the bases loaded in game one, and then had the audacity to look back at the ump on the third strike, like a whiny little bitch.  The guy is a great player but I'm not crazy about the way he goes about playing the game.  I do love Brendan Ryan and his moosestach, classic 30's style porn, and he plays the game the right way.

[aMillionDreams]

That twins game was a heart breaker. Nathan really choked. He was getting behind on everyone and then dishing em up right down Broadway on 3-1. ARod made him pay. Dammit!

[Paulie_Walnuts]

That twins game was a heart breaker. Nathan really choked. He was getting behind on everyone and then dishing em up right down Broadway on 3-1. ARod made him pay. Dammit!

I went to watch the Yankees on my recent trip to NY so it's given me a real interest in these playoffs, and for the reason that I saw them I am following the Yankees for this post season. I get ESPN America over here so I can watch it.

I fell asleep on the couch last night and woke up at 1am UK time. I sat up until 3.45am to watch the end of the game! What a game! I'm picking up more and more about the sport as I watch it. I learned about the differences between the two leagues i.e. the pitcher bats in one, pinch hitters etc. But I learned a new one last night...pinch runners? I'm assuming it's the same as the pinch hitters; you can put one in any time but he has to remain for the rest of the game? And they bat too?

I'm still learning the subtleties of the game; but that was a fantastic game to watch last night.

More late nights to follow.....

[aMillionDreams]

Baseball is full of subtleties. People who think baseball is boring just don't understand what they are looking at. I'm trying to teach my wife all the ins and outs of baseball and it's fun. Having an idea of what the pitcher might throw based on balls and strikes makes every pitch interesting. Before Arod hit his homer I told my wife "3-1 and he's been going away the whole time so look for a fastball inside, we'll see what Arod can do with it". Of course the fastball drifted to the middle of the plate where Arod put a hurtin on it.

RE pinch runner: yes, same principle as a pinch hitter. After that half of the inning is over he can either stay in or the manager can replace him with someone else from the bench, the guy he replaced is done for the night though. Wait till they pull out the old double switch on ya!

[Paulie_Walnuts]

What's a double switch?

[aMillionDreams]

It would take too long. Here ya go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_switch_(baseball)

[BH]

Cards needs to step the fuck up. Sadly, I have a feeling their season is done.

I'm heartbroken and I need a hug from BH.  It's going to be ok....right?  I think Holiday is a douche and not because he missed the fly ball but because he watched three strikes go straight down the middle of the plate with the bases loaded in game one, and then had the audacity to look back at the ump on the third strike, like a whiny little bitch.  The guy is a great player but I'm not crazy about the way he goes about playing the game.  I do love Brendan Ryan and his moosestach, classic 30's style porn, and he plays the game the right way.

*virtual hug*   :'(

worst 26 hours of sports ever

[.Walt]

Nothing else that needs to be said. We lost to the better team. (Time for the end of the season rant)

Dear Twins Owners,
You don't get it, we need to spend money. I understand that this is a hobby for you, and you don't really care about "winning". That being the case, could you sell the team to a better owner that actually cares about winning? I'm sick of spark-plug players, and players that have good "hustle". How about getting players that are good. Sure winning the triple-A world series is fun, but the novelty is wearing out.

Thank you,
Walt


[smiley=thumbdown.gif] [smiley=thumbdown.gif]

[BH]

Nothing else that needs to be said. We lost to the better team. (Time for the end of the season rant)

Dear Twins Owners,
You don't get it, we need to spend money. I understand that this is a hobby for you, and you don't really care about "winning". That being the case, could you sell the team to a better owner that actually cares about winning? I'm sick of spark-plug players, and players that have good "hustle". How about getting players that are good. Sure winning the triple-A world series is fun, but the novelty is wearing out.

Thank you,
Walt


[smiley=thumbdown.gif] [smiley=thumbdown.gif]

I feel your pain Walts.  Don't forget however that you're still luckier than 75% of baseball fans with the success the Twins have had over the last 22 years (Damn 1987 >:()

[sweatboard]

yeah, I literally shed tears in 87, damn you Kirby Puckett, Gary Giettie, Kent Herbeck and your crappy dome.

[capt. scotty]

Nothing else that needs to be said. We lost to the better team. (Time for the end of the season rant)

Dear Twins Owners,
You don't get it, we need to spend money. I understand that this is a hobby for you, and you don't really care about "winning". That being the case, could you sell the team to a better owner that actually cares about winning? I'm sick of spark-plug players, and players that have good "hustle". How about getting players that are good. Sure winning the triple-A world series is fun, but the novelty is wearing out.

Thank you,
Walt


[smiley=thumbdown.gif] [smiley=thumbdown.gif]

I feel your pain Walts.  Don't forget however that you're still luckier than 75% of baseball fans with the success the Twins have had over the last 22 years (Damn 1987 >:()

this

[Paulie_Walnuts]

Assuming that the Yankees finish off the Angels in the next few days, how do people see the match up between them and the Phillies?

Am I right in thinking that the AL and NL teams do occasionally play each other in the regular season now? If so, did the Yankees and the Phillies play each other?

And one last question. Can somebody explain to me what the pitcher's ERA is?

[aMillionDreams]

It should be a good series. I think the Phils are going to repeat no matter what though.

There are interleague games these days but only a few series a year, so it is unlikely they have played each other. I'll check...nope, they didn't.

A pitcher's ERA is their Earned Run Average or how many earned runs they give up over 9 innings actually pitched. For example, if a pitcher gives up one earned run over the course of six innings then their ERA for that game was 1.50. If they give up three runs in one inning then their ERA for that game was 27.00. Over the course of a season ERA is determined by dividing a pitcher's Innings Pitched by 9 and diving their number of earned runs by the number from the first equation.  For example, CC Sabathia pitched 230 innings this year, giving up 86 earned runs. 230/9=25.555 and 86/25.555=3.37, which is his ERA.

Earned runs are runs that you can rightfully blame on the pitcher, if the first baseman commits an error with two outs, every run allowed after that is an "unearned run".  Or if a closer comes in with the bases loaded, those three runs would be unearned runs for him. But they would count as earned runs for the pitcher who was responsible for the runners getting on base. Kinda screwy, I know.

[Paulie_Walnuts]

Beautifully explained. Thanks.