Around Baseball 2019

[Krylian]

I started following baseball in '88 and the Canseco 40/40 was a huge thing... Canseco was a legend in the late 80s early 90s, as most assumed it would be him, and not Mcguire that would challenge 60 homers in the right ballpark and a juiced ball year.

 

Boggs got beat out in WAR by Ripken and Henderson in some of those years... I don't know exactly if it coincided with their MVPs (and too lazy to look it up right now).... Obviously the George Bell MVP, and some reliever from Detroit MVP (84) were a bit problematic. I think the other races were arguable in a

 

The 85 MVP race is interesting... Mattingly won for 145 RBIs, but was like 8th or something in WAR. Henderson was the king that year... and Mattingly only got 145 rbis because of Henderson's 10ish on base and stolen base driven WAR... so Henderson lost himself the MVP by being the MVP. Glancing over it there was also a random Robin Yount MVP in 89 that didn't make much sense in retrospect

 

We're talking about the 1980s. Homers, RBI's, maybe BA...That's all that mattered usually.

[Jimcanuck]

We're talking about the 1980s. Homers, RBI's, maybe BA...That's all that mattered usually.

 

And whether the team made the playoffs. More so than today.

[Nofunatall]

And whether the team made the playoffs. More so than today.

 

Not that I'm a huge fan of the current playoff format but it makes me sad to think of a time when only 4 teams made it.

 

As an aside why were st Louis and Atlanta not flipped in the pre 94 addition of the central divisions? St Louis is clearly much further geographically west than Atlanta.

[Brownie19]

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/hail-to-the-king/

 

How can you not love baseball. What a season for Mariner fans. Starts with Ichiro's retirement, ends with Felix. There will soon be 2 fewer numbers to choose from for future Mariner players.

[glory]

Wow feels like Felix has been around forever and he's only 33. Glad to see him getting a good close in Seattle.

[thatoneguy]

Possibly no pitcher I've ever seen could command pitches with sharp movement as well as Felix could.

[Laika]

Not a hall of famer? It's sad that his last few seasons were so atrocious, rather than just below his standards.

[Laika]

If tasked with turning 34 year old Felix into a league average SP, I wonder what a modern pitch design guy would do.

 

Probably just work on developing a four-seamer with enough spin to throw it up in the zone. With his secondaries + command that's all he would need to do to be effective, like a prime Marco Estrada.

 

The problem with keeping everything down with (-) velocity is that when you hang 89 mph even two inches, it gets murdered. We'll probably see Marcus Stroman get bad pretty fast when he starts to really lose velo.

[Boxcar]

Not a hall of famer? It's sad that his last few seasons were so atrocious, rather than just below his standards.

 

I'm a peak guy, and his pick was great. HOF in my books.

[Laika]

Peak Guy Boxcar

[BTS]

I always thought Felix would age well if his arm held up because he could command 4 different pitches in his prime.

 

It would be cool to see him reinvent himself and put up some late-career 2-win seasons, as he's only 34 in 2020. A bunch of milestones are still in play if he can figure out how to hang on as a back end guy: 200 wins, 3K innings, 3K strikeouts, and 60 fWAR. He probably needs to hit most of them to get into the HoF.

[TheHurl]

he'll do slightly better than Johan Santana and his one and done HOF bid.

[Bobthe4th]

[Brownie19]

Not a hall of famer? It's sad that his last few seasons were so atrocious, rather than just below his standards.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/felix-hernandez-and-the-rocky-road-to-cooperstown/

 

There's an article on it. TLDR, but I caught in it that his resistance to change and conditioning may have accelerated his decline.

[BTS]

The Indians are going to miss the playoffs by 1-2 games. They've received over 1,000 sub-replacement level PA from Martin, Bauers, Allen, and CarGo. They didn't even qualify Michael Brantley and he's had a 4-win season. Just a terrible, terrible organization that doesn't deserve any fans.

[Brownie19]

The Indians are going to miss the playoffs by 1-2 games. They've received over 1,000 sub-replacement level PA from Martin, Bauers, Allen, and CarGo. They didn't even qualify Michael Brantley and he's had a 4-win season. Just a terrible, terrible organization that doesn't deserve any fans.

 

That is a bit sad. They have a pretty nice stadium and they had some crazy dedicated fans when they were good (Baerga, Manny, Thome, Lofton, Sandy days).

[Boxcar]

That is a bit sad. They have a pretty nice stadium and they had some crazy dedicated fans when they were good (Baerga, Manny, Thome, Lofton, Sandy days).

 

If they are dedicated fans when they're good, they aren't really dedicated fans, are they?

[keggy]

We're talking about the 1980s. Homers, RBI's, maybe BA...That's all that mattered usually.

 

That's all that mattered as recently as 2013.

[bones10]

The Indians are going to miss the playoffs by 1-2 games. They've received over 1,000 sub-replacement level PA from Martin, Bauers, Allen, and CarGo. They didn't even qualify Michael Brantley and he's had a 4-win season. Just a terrible, terrible organization that doesn't deserve any fans.

 

You don't think our Jays can shock Tampa for two games? I'm personally hoping for this absurd scenario: https://www.mlb.com/news/3-team-tiebreakers-explained

[Spanky__99]

Hahaha... Maddon...

 

“Of course they are. I get it. But quite frankly, there are certain things I don’t give a s–t about. And that would be one of them.”

 

https://nypost.com/2019/09/27/joe-maddon-doesnt-give-a-s-t-about-brewers-feelings/

[glory]

I can’t think of anything less desirable for MLB this post season than Tampa making it. MLB is a regional sport now but Tampa doesn’t even give a s*** about that team. I hope Oakland kills them (or the Jays sweep them this weekend and CLE gets in).

[Jimcanuck]

Who else is cheering for the Nats in the playoffs

[Spanky__99]

Alonso hits 52...

[Brownie19]

I can’t think of anything less desirable for MLB this post season than Tampa making it. MLB is a regional sport now but Tampa doesn’t even give a s*** about that team. I hope Oakland kills them (or the Jays sweep them this weekend and CLE gets in).

 

I mean you're probably right - it's bad for baseball.....but I love watching TB. I'd love to see TB and/or Oakland get in and upset the big boys.

[Orgfiller]

I can’t think of anything less desirable for MLB this post season than Tampa making it. MLB is a regional sport now but Tampa doesn’t even give a s*** about that team. I hope Oakland kills them (or the Jays sweep them this weekend and CLE gets in).

 

f*** "what's good for baseball". The Rays and A's are the kind of teams that dictate how baseball evolves, them being smarter than everyone else leads to change, and I hope either of them wins the World Series. Yeah it's s***** that the Rays have no fans, but they have a super exciting team built from intelligent decision making and player development. The Rays are pretty much responsible for the adoption of catcher framing and openers, they move the sport forward.

 

"What's good for baseball" would have the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies, Cubs, Giants winning every year. f*** that.

[G-Snarls]

Who else is cheering for the Nats in the playoffs

 

Who starts the WC game Sherzer or Strasburg?

[Jimcanuck]

Who starts the WC game Sherzer or Strasburg?

 

Martinez said Scherzer, with both Strasburg and Corbin available from the bullpen.

[glory]

f*** "what's good for baseball". The Rays and A's are the kind of teams that dictate how baseball evolves, them being smarter than everyone else leads to change, and I hope either of them wins the World Series. Yeah it's s***** that the Rays have no fans, but they have a super exciting team built from intelligent decision making and player development. The Rays are pretty much responsible for the adoption of catcher framing and openers, they move the sport forward.

 

"What's good for baseball" would have the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies, Cubs, Giants winning every year. f*** that.

 

The Rays don't have any elite players (unless you consider Meadows one), they play in a s*** hole stadium, they have no fans, and if they advance to the ALDS it would get lower ratings than reruns of 80s sitcoms. Plus, excessive pitching changes/openers, excessive shifting, etc, is boring as hell to watch. I'm not rooting for teams because they have ivy league front offices. Give me big markets, exciting players, etc. The Jays got a ton of media coverage in the US when Bautista hit the home run because we were loaded with star players. Tampa just has nothing to get excited about.

 

If the Jays are not in the playoffs, then I'm rooting for baseball to succeed. Give me the Astros/Yankees in the ALCS and Dodgers/whoever in the NL side. NYY/LAD in the WS would be great for baseball. Only exception might be that I wouldn't mind if Billy Beane won a title, so if the A's happen to get by, then that's cool too.

[Jimcanuck]

The Rays don't have any elite players (unless you consider Meadows one), they play in a s*** hole stadium, they have no fans, and if they advance to the ALDS it would get lower ratings than reruns of 80s sitcoms. Plus, excessive pitching changes/openers, excessive shifting, etc, is boring as hell to watch. I'm not rooting for teams because they have ivy league front offices. Give me big markets, exciting players, etc. The Jays got a ton of media coverage in the US when Bautista hit the home run because we were loaded with star players. Tampa just has nothing to get excited about.

 

If the Jays are not in the playoffs, then I'm rooting for baseball to succeed. Give me the Astros/Yankees in the ALCS and Dodgers/whoever in the NL side. NYY/LAD in the WS would be great for baseball. Only exception might be that I wouldn't mind if Billy Beane won a title, so if the A's happen to get by, then that's cool too.

 

Not the Expos?

[TheHurl]

Seriously how in the f*** can anyone not love Tampa Bay? And TV ratings are up 18% after a 20% increase last year. No one wants to go to St. Pete's to watch a game.