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2024 Regular Season- First Half
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C. John
(last edited Jul 08, 2024 08:12AM)
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Jul 08, 2024 08:11AM
Not going to be on the site for awhile. We have some sort of memorial thing for my wife's dad this morning and I am not sure when I am going to be back home. Take care all.
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Harold wrote: "Wow, that's pretty harsh for one bad game. He leads the NL in Homers, OPS, and his OPS+ is 186. Breathe R.J. It will be alright. He could win the triple crown. his WAR is already 4.8. That's a good..."Yeah, I get it. I just think there are some things statistics don't tell. He has times where he looks very locked in at the plate, but there are other times where he looks intoxicated. I can only say that watching him every day and seeing every at-bat I find myself frustrated wondering what his stats would look like if he was locked in for every at-bat instead of just some of them. There are very few Dodgers players I don't "like" but he's close to being one of them. The only others I can think of were Machado during his brief unremarkable stint here (that goes for Yu Darvish too, come to think of it) and also for the PED-users Gagne and Lo Duca. I just think if hitting is all you do, you should be dialed in when you to the plate. I'd rather watch Freddie and Will hit than Shohei, although Shohei's hits go farther for sure.
Well, you see him much more than I, but I'm really surprised that you dislike him so much. I get excited watching him hit, and when he is healthy enough to hit, he is amazing.
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As much as it pains me to say this; I agree that Bonds is the greatest living baseball player.
I'll take Mike Schmidt because I can't use the words "greatest living player" to describe a steroid head case like Bonds. Johnny Bench may be second.
It is interesting to note that all the players that are being mentioned as "greatest living player" are retired. Is there no one currently active who maybe deserves the title. Admittedly they would have to already have had a fairly long career but still.
Raul Mondesi has been sentenced to six years in jail in the Domican Republic. The following is all I know. The Toronto Star has a paywall.SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Former Major League Baseball outfielder Raúl Mondesi was sentenced Friday by a Dominican court to six years and nine months in jail and fined $507,000 for corruption during his time as mayor in the city of San Cristobal.
Prosecutors accused the 53-year-old Mondesi of embezzling $5 million during his time as mayor between 2010 and 2016. The sentence came after a deal with the prosecutors’ office.
The Dodgers Dugout newsletters ran some letters that attempted to explain why the Dodgers don't do as well in the voting. There were a lot of interesting ones but this letter jumped out at me, so to speak.Leith Borden of Albuquerque: Perhaps other fans resent ultra-rich teams that outspend everyone else and pack their rosters with superstars developed by other teams. And then vote against them (like me).
Another writer addressed the Ohtani situation and as to why he doesn't get as many votes as might be expected
Adriene Cardan: I have another theory about why Shohei isn’t a top vote-getter. Please keep in mind that I’m 70 years old and have friends whose older generation were rounded up during WWII. It could be bias against Asians, at least with the “older” crowd. It could also have to do with the fact that Shohei doesn’t speak the language after being here several years. It’s nice that Shohei makes contributions to Japanese students over in Japan, such as donating baseball gloves to the girls’ school. But what is he involved with here? People like their players to be involved in the community, like Justin Turner was, like Mookie, Freddie, Will Smith, etc.
I think the not having learned to speak the language and lack of involvement in the community might be valid concerns.
Harold wrote: "Well, you see him much more than I, but I'm really surprised that you dislike him so much. I get excited watching him hit, and when he is healthy enough to hit, he is amazing."I'm surprised too. But it doesn't seem like he hits well in pressure situations. I know what the numbers say, but some of that is the Feast/Famine season the Dodgers have been having this year - they either beat someone by 7 runs or they lose to the Phillies 10-1. Last year they were among the best in baseball at not chasing, two-strike hitting, two-out run production, and hitting with RISP. This year however their numbers are much lower, despite adding Teoscar Hernandez who is having a career year. The only other big change was Ohtani and while I won't blame him for all of the Dodgers failings, he seems to be at least a chunk of them.
It's not just the results, but the eye test is so unexpected. He teeters around in the batting box like he's lost his balance (or has been slipping some sake into his gatorade?). When he hits the ball the results can be very impressive but I just have to wonder what he would look like if he cleaned up some of these issues.
Oh yeah and today the Dodgers optioned Bobby Miller, the young pitcher who looked so good last year but has an ERA north of 8 this year. There was supposedly some shoulder soreness earlier this year, or at least that was the public excuse, but his command has been poor and his confidence looked completely shot in the last couple games he pitched (including yesterday when he served up 4 innings of batting practice to the Phillies, who got him for 9 runs, and it was only that low due to a couple nice defensive plays that were made behind him). Sad to see it, especially with the injuries the Dodgers have suffered this season, but it was the right move.
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If the Twins were struggling, I would understand. But only 3 teams in the AL are better, they are 12 games above .500 and they can only have one All Star?
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RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Oh yeah and today the Dodgers optioned Bobby Miller, the young pitcher who looked so good last year but has an ERA north of 8 this year. There was supposedly some shoulder soreness earlier this yea..."Your Dodgers injury woes remind me of the Tampa Rays in 2022 to 2024. They lose Shane Mccallahan, Tyler Glasnow, Jeffrey Springs, and Drew Rasmussion. Still, they managed to play playoff contention baseball.
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As someone who's mother once broke her wrist I can tell you your suggestion won't work. To properly heal the injury needs to be immobolized, otherwise it is just going to break again, constantly.
Harold wrote: "...Still, they managed to play playoff contention baseball."Yeah, and the Dodgers look like they'll do the same. If they were the pre-2020 Dodgers, I wouldn't worry about it. I would assume they would pick it up in the postseason. But the Dodgers of the last few years just fall flat on their faces in the postseason. So I suspect this year we'll be in for more of the same. Yesterday they showed up at least and made it a good game.
Brina wrote: "Ok, RJ, question. How is it that Bellinger carried the Cubs in the second half last year and this year he’s been trash?..."I assume you don't just want me to say I told you so? ;-)
Further information on the Wander Franco situation. Methinks his career is over, probably even if found innocent.https://larrybrownsports.com/baseball...
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Brina- I had the joy of being in Baltimore to see the Cubs beat the Orioles on Wednesday and Thursday. In consecutive nights, they won 12-0, sweeping the three game series by a total score of 21-2. I did notice that the Cubs lineup, outside of these few games, is terrible. Both nights' starting lineups featured FIVE batters under .210, with no one batting over .280. Regardless of how good Imanaga and Steele pitch, it's hard to win without hits. Thankfully, they knocked the ball around pretty good on the two nights my father, my son and I were there. I wouldn't mind selling Bellinger and Swanson and getting a prospect for each one, while clearing some cap space.
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Here is the current top 10 selling MLB jerseys. Guess who leads the pack? https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/...
Harold wrote: "Here is the current top 10 selling MLB jerseys. Guess who leads the pack? https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/......"Read it. Why am I not surprised. Wonder though if his jerseys would be as popular if he had actually signed with the Jays.
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Or a team in the Midwest not called the Cardinals or Cubs.
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So, Brian, you want to change the entire balanced schedule, the ability for fans to see all 30 teams, just for one exhibition game? I think there is a much easier solution-make it meaningful by giving the winning team home field advantage again in the world series.The game is a joke - that's why
only non veterans want to go. Or, have MLB create a bonus pool for players who make the team. But please don't change inter-league play just for an exhibition game.
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As far as deciding who is best why when the NL was winning the All-Star game year after year the AL was winning the World Series. Seems to me you can argue that if the two teams in the World Series are the best of each league then the league whose team wins is the best. As for players not attending, the fact is that for many players a few days off to rest some nagging injuries is worth more than playing an exhibition game. I can't fault them on that. This is their job and they need to do what is best for them to continue performing that job.
C. John- that's why you have to provide some incentive for them to go. If not monetary,maybe the Commisioner has to make a rule that every player must go unless in the IL.
I guess I'm one of those who figures if resting a few days is going to help the team win in the playoffs I will take the player resting. Besides, given what a share of the playoff pool can be pretty large these days I think any sort of bonus MLB might want to award is also going to have be very substantial.
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Brina wrote: "It’s a great chance for kids to see all the stars in one place because it’s in summer when there’s no school. The commish on his way out has to institute bonus or fine or something that gets the to..."If you want to fine the players for not participating in the ASG you will have to get the union to agree with it. As they say, good luck with that.
Brina wrote: "...I look forward to the game every summer and it’s become a joke. I’d rather see the big stars not the 8th best player at a position because no one else wanted to go."It's pretty much that way with All-Star games in every sport. If there's a solution, no one has found it yet.
The MLS All-Star game has the best players in MLS playing the best players in a Mexican League I believe.
The Blue Jays in the first round selected a pitcher from East Carolina University, Trey Yesavage.
Ashley congratulations on your team making draft history yesterday.
C. John wrote: "The MLS All-Star game has the best players in MLS playing the best players in a Mexican League I believe."Hockey has tried that too. North America vs The World. Now the NBA has "Captains" who draft the teams. Yet the final product in most cases is not very compelling, and stars continue to find excuses not to play in the games.
For me it depends on why the player would prefer not to be in the game. I recall one year when he was with Toronto Devon White turned down the game as he wanted to spend the time with his very ill father. Given that his father lived in Jamaica that actually made sense. Not like you could head there on an off day.
RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "C. John wrote: "The MLS All-Star game has the best players in MLS playing the best players in a Mexican League I believe."Hockey has tried that too. North America vs The World. Now the NBA has "C..."
The difference being that both teams in hockey were comprised of NHL players while in the case of the football game the two leagues were separate entities. The Mexican league is Liga MX and is the top football league in Mexico. Their equivalent to the English Premier League. I almost wrote CMLL but that is a wrestling (Lucha Libre) organization in Mexico.
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The Baseball Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness (other topics)Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments (other topics)
The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness (other topics)
The Baseball 100 (other topics)
The Complete Prophesies of Nostradamus (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Andy McCullough (other topics)Joe Posnanski (other topics)
Andy McCullough (other topics)
Joe Posnanski (other topics)
