The 2011 Major & Minor League, College Baseball & Baseball Card Thread

[Locomotion69]

I don't think Smoltz is a 1st ballot or even a HOF Pitcher myself. Yes Smoltz will get in but IMO Glavine will always the ace before and after Maddux was the Braves #1 starter.

 

Belle did not play long enough (attitude/being a jerk aside)to warrant serious HOF considertation anyhow.

 

Belle was the '90's/early 2000's version of another outstanding player, former Phillies/White Sox star of the 1960's/early '70's D ick Allen.

FYI. Allen was the 1964 Rookie of the Year and 1972 AL MVP.

 

You don't think Smoltz is a HOF pitcher? are you for real? why?

because he has only 213 lifetime wins? 3,084 K's is pretty damm good.

16th place out of all time strike out leaders.

 

I agree though that he isn't a 1st ballot shoo in.

[Shortline Bus]

You don't think Smoltz is a HOF pitcher? are you for real? why?

because he has only 213 lifetime wins? 3,084 K's is pretty damm good.

16th place out of all time strike out leaders.

 

I agree though that he isn't a 1st ballot shoo in.

 

Yup. Smoltz winning only 213 games is a reason he should not be in IMO . I know Smoltz will get in for being a 'nice guy' and being clean. However IMO he is almost the same as this recent generation of Don Sutton. Sutton like Smoltz was also a very good picther that was helped by being on world series/playoff teams for many years with the Dodgers in the '70's. Personally at his peak IMO, Jack Morris should be in the HOF first before Smoltz. Nothing personal against Smoltz.

As a Yankee fan i hate to say it but Mike Mussenia also very close is not a HOF, so this is not a anti-Braves thing.

 

Of Course these other starting pitchers especially during the 'steriods era' should get in first IMO who are 'shoo-ins' that never been caught or suspected of the PED's.

 

Curt Schilling

Randy Johnson

Pedro

Tom Glavine

Greg Maddux

 

I know some of you may disagree but that my takes watching MLB in late '90's/turn of the 21st Century.

[YankeesPwnMets]

Wow. Even with instant replay the umpires STILL can't get it right.

 

How in ****'s name is this a home run?

 

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110817&content_id=23364596&vkey=news_nyy&c_id=nyy

 

In the YES Broadcast Kim Jones even showed a mark left by the ball. The mark clearly shows that the ball didn't even go into the crowd. Umpires can't see BS these days

 

When you get Mariano Rivera pissed, and when the hitter (Billy Butler) expected to have his HR reversed, you KNOW you got the call wrong.

[7LineFan]

Wow. Even with instant replay the umpires STILL can't get it right.

 

How in ****'s name is this a home run?

 

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110817&content_id=23364596&vkey=news_nyy&c_id=nyy

 

In the YES Broadcast Kim Jones even showed a mark left by the ball. The mark clearly shows that the ball didn't even go into the crowd. Umpires can't see BS these days

 

When you get Mariano Rivera pissed, and when the hitter (Billy Butler) expected to have his HR reversed, you KNOW you got the call wrong.

 

Of course, the only reason this is an issue is that the Yankees lost by only one. This shows the umpires clearly didn't know the ground rules of the park -- Royals broadcasters and a staff member at Kauffman Stadium independently agreed that should have been a double.

 

Is a home run call considered a judgment decision? If not, then Girardi should definitely have protested this game even though the chances of getting it replayed would still be rather low.

 

Either way they had better break out the yellow paint to clearly define the top of the fence.

[B35 via Church]

Of course, the only reason this is an issue is that the Yankees lost by only one. This shows the umpires clearly didn't know the ground rules of the park -- Royals broadcasters and a staff member at Kauffman Stadium independently agreed that should have been a double.

 

Is a home run call considered a judgment decision? If not, then Girardi should definitely have protested this game even though the chances of getting it replayed would still be rather low.

 

Either way they had better break out the yellow paint to clearly define the top of the fence.

 

for the royals/kauffman sta., there are no stadium specific rules.... so yes it's a judgment call....

 

there's 5 teams whose parks/stadiums don't have specific rules.... the yankees, ironically, is another one.... the mets, the white sox, and I think the twins are the other 3.....

[R68 Subway Car]

for the royals/kauffman sta., there are no stadium specific rules.... so yes it's a judgment call....

 

there's 5 teams whose parks/stadiums don't have specific rules.... the yankees, ironically, is another one.... the mets, the white sox, and I think the twins are the other 3.....

Actually, Citi Field does have rules on this. If the ball clears the orange line of the high walls in left center and right center, it is a HR.

 

EDIT: In addition, if a fly ball hits the facing of the Pepsi Porch, it is a HR.

[7LineFan]

for the royals/kauffman sta., there are no stadium specific rules.... so yes it's a judgment call....

 

there's 5 teams whose parks/stadiums don't have specific rules.... the yankees, ironically, is another one.... the mets, the white sox, and I think the twins are the other 3.....

 

See, the thing is, with Yankee Stadium, the top of the wall is basically a flat boundary. There's no question that if the ball goes over the padding on the wall, it goes over the wall. At Kauffman, part of the wall has a short little railing on top -- the pads on the railing are flush with the front of the wall, but there's a chain link fence in the holes that's about two or so inches behind. The ball bounced in front of that fence and back onto the field of play. The ground rules have to define what the top of the wall is, the top of the padding or the top of the railing.

 

It's not the same type of judgment call as safe or out or ball or strike, though.

 

EDIT -- Joe Torre has gone on record saying the umpires did blow the call -- but since Girardi didn't protest the game, they won't do anything about it.

[R68 Subway Car]

BTW, as bad as the call was, the Yankees blew their chances. Cano should have gotten a big hit in the 9th inning.

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

I feel that Boston fans should be disappointed about their standing in the AL East given their 10-2 record against the Yankees. They are clearly underperforming against the rest of the AL (Boston made their run to the top during interleague play) and would be in a race with Tampa and LA Angels for the wild card if the Yankees had at least an even record against them. If the Sox end up as the wild card they could be one and done come playoff time.

[Shortline Bus]

I feel that Boston fans should be disappointed about their standing in the AL East given their 10-2 record against the Yankees. They are clearly underperforming against the rest of the AL (Boston made their run to the top during interleague play) and would be in a race with Tampa and LA Angels for the wild card if the Yankees had at least an even record against them. If the Sox end up as the wild card they could be one and done come playoff time.

 

As a Yankee fan, that why (i know you take everyone in post season 'seriously)the team i am most concerened about is Texas in a playoff series.

 

PS JW72093 got my PM about ESPN's Dan Shulman?

[YankeesPwnMets]

Joe Mauer is playing RF tonight. The Twins don't have any bench players tonight. The Twins are one injury away from seeing Carl Pavano playin the field

[Shortline Bus]

Joe Mauer is playing RF tonight. The Twins don't have any bench players tonight. The Twins are one injury away from seeing Carl Pavano playin the field

 

The Twins when healthy are a playoff team. They are having a 'nightmare' season in which pretty much the entire team has been on the DL at some point this season.

[B35 via Church]

Twins have a Justin Morneau HR to RF called back, thanks to Girardi....

 

Whether the ball was fair or foul or not, really couldn't tell, thanks to the skyline....

Gardenhire thrown out of the game as a result....

 

stay tuned....

[Shortline Bus]

Twins have a Justin Morneau HR to RF called back, thanks to Girardi....

 

Whether the ball was fair or foul or not, really couldn't tell, thanks to the skyline....

Gardenhire thrown out of the game as a result....

 

stay tuned....

 

Also anyone notice Mauer playing RF? I think by as early as next year, Mauer will no longer be catching and switch to an OF spot full time.

[R68 Subway Car]

Holy crap the Twins are messed up this year.

[B35 via Church]

Also anyone notice Mauer playing RF? I think by as early as next year, Mauer will no longer be catching and switch to an OF spot full time.

 

to be real w/ you, I could care less about him playing right field, or any other position.... much ado about much of nothin....

 

Mauer to me is overrated anyway, but that's besides the point.....

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

As a Yankee fan, that why (i know you take everyone in post season 'seriously)the team i am

most concerened about is Texas in a playoff series.

 

PS JW72093 got my PM about ESPN's Dan Shulman?

 

I got your message about Dan Shulman. While he is a good announcer I thought ESPN would pick one of their primetime football announcers for the

gig. On a side note ESPN should pick a single #1 announcer to be the lead voice for all ESPN coverage instead of having a separate lead voice for each sport. That person would call the MNF games, lead college football matchup with Kirk Herbstriet, lead college basketball matchup with **** Vitale, Sunday Night Baseball games and NBA games with Jeff Van Gundy. Also have

a #2 guy to back up in case sports overlap or the #1 gets sick. It's far better than having Brent Musberger, Dan Shulman, Mike Tirico and Mike Breen each

serving as #1 voices for a particular sport.

 

Back to baseball news, I feel Saturday Primetime and LCS/World Series rights should go to NBC in the next TV agreement. FOX seems to invest more time into it's NFL coverage (Buck, Albert and Brennaman, FOX's top baseball voices will each be doing NFL games come Sept 11th while some guy off the street will call important pennant race impacting baseball games). NBC has high quality NHL and Sunday Night NFL coverage and deserves to expand to MLB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and

[Shortline Bus]

Tirico IMO should be the #1 play-play announcer for college football and golf.

Musberger who was probablt the best NFL TV Studio host going back over 35 years in his CBS days is being kind, not great at PBP and becoming another Keith Jackson an all time great College announcer who stayed way past his prime. For the NFL IMO ESPN should have Giants radio announcer Bob Papa doing play-play, since he is also that station's #1 Boxing announcer.

Papa is really good imo.

 

And regarding Mike Breen, I disagree JW. Other than Marv Albert, Breen is probably the best NBA play-play man in America right now. I don't have a problem with Shulman as lead MLB announcer as both he and Sean McDonugh(spell check)are both very good.

 

On the next TV contract we shall see. Comcast who already co-owns the MLB Network and now NBC may make a serious challenge to Fox and return to being the primary national TV outlet in America for MLB. It's also possible IMO that Fox and NBC/Comcast share the rights and ESPN& TNT lose the cable rights. Although Fox always makes the NFL #1 in their sports coverage, since Selig is 'close friends' with Rupert Mudrock who at 1 time owned the Dodgers, I think Fox will at least continue to at least share the MLB TV package.

 

On the cable fron,t with the new NBC sportsnet(formerly Versus)looking to challenge ESPN and expand their programming beyond college football and NHL coverage, getting MLB cable rights i.e 1st round/division series would be a huge break for them. We shall see after soon as the tv deals end i think after the 2013 season.

 

I got your message about Dan Shulman. While he is a good announcer I thought ESPN would pick one of their primetime football announcers for the

gig. On a side note ESPN should pick a single #1 announcer to be the lead voice for all ESPN coverage instead of having a separate lead voice for each sport. That person would call the MNF games, lead college football matchup with Kirk Herbstriet, lead college basketball matchup with **** Vitale, Sunday Night Baseball games and NBA games with Jeff Van Gundy. Also have

a #2 guy to back up in case sports overlap or the #1 gets sick. It's far better than having Brent Musberger, Dan Shulman, Mike Tirico and Mike Breen each

serving as #1 voices for a particular sport.

 

Back to baseball news, I feel Saturday Primetime and LCS/World Series rights should go to NBC in the next TV agreement. FOX seems to invest more time into it's NFL coverage (Buck, Albert and Brennaman, FOX's top baseball voices will each be doing NFL games come Sept 11th while some guy off the street will call important pennant race impacting baseball games). NBC has high quality NHL and Sunday Night NFL coverage and deserves to expand to MLB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and

[YankeesPwnMets]

Twins have a Justin Morneau HR to RF called back, thanks to Girardi....

 

Whether the ball was fair or foul or not, really couldn't tell, thanks to the skyline....

Gardenhire thrown out of the game as a result....

 

stay tuned....

 

I didn't see enough conclusive evidence whether the ball was fair or foul. I'm not sure if FS North's cameras caught anything, but I sure didn't see anything from YES cameras

[7LineFan]

I feel that Boston fans should be disappointed about their standing in the AL East given their 10-2 record against the Yankees. They are clearly underperforming against the rest of the AL (Boston made their run to the top during interleague play) and would be in a race with Tampa and LA Angels for the wild card if the Yankees had at least an even record against them. If the Sox end up as the wild card they could be one and done come playoff time.

 

They are disappointed. And jittery.

 

I didn't see enough conclusive evidence whether the ball was fair or foul. I'm not sure if FS North's cameras caught anything, but I sure didn't see anything from YES cameras

 

They did. It was clearly foul.

[JubaionBx12+SBS]

Granderson is my favorite for AL MVP as I feel the Yankees will end up taking the AL East title. Adrian Gonzalez will get some votes and could win it if Boston ends up in first place.

 

The NL MVP race is too close to call right now. I would of given it to Reyes if he played the whole season and the Mets stayed in contention past the All-Star break.

 

Verlander, Weaver and Sabathia are the leading candidates for the AL Cy Young

 

Roy Halladay is my favorite for the NL Cy Young.

[YankeesPwnMets]

And Ivan Nova should be Rookie of the Year. Man, NY hasn't seen a homegrown pitcher like this since Andy Pettitte.

[YankeesPwnMets]

They are disappointed. And jittery.

 

 

 

They did. It was clearly foul.

 

Yep. I see it now. At least this time they got the right call

 

Also, I really have to add the Twins to the list of most retarded teams. Their team is built around Joe Mauer, and he only has one homer this season. Clearly, Target Field's large field has taken away a lot of his power. The same could be said for David Wright and Jason Bay when Citi Field opened. I wish teams will start building parks that actually benefits their own players. The Yankees have ground ball pitchers like Garcia, and they have power left handers in Granderson, Tex and even ARod hits a lot of drives to right. Yankee Stadium is perfect the the Yankees, which is what you want out of your home ballpark. However, in Citi Field and Target Stadium, their hitter's power is being taken away from there. I'm sure that a lot of power hitters like Fielder and Pujols are going to shy away from those large ballparks when they become Free Agents in the offseason

[R68 Subway Car]

Yep. I see it now. At least this time they got the right call

 

Also, I really have to add the Twins to the list of most retarded teams. Their team is built around Joe Mauer, and he only has one homer this season. Clearly, Target Field's large field has taken away a lot of his power. The same could be said for David Wright and Jason Bay when Citi Field opened. I wish teams will start building parks that actually benefits their own players. The Yankees have ground ball pitchers like Garcia, and they have power left handers in Granderson, Tex and even ARod hits a lot of drives to right. Yankee Stadium is perfect the the Yankees, which is what you want out of your home ballpark. However, in Citi Field and Target Stadium, their hitter's power is being taken away from there. I'm sure that a lot of power hitters like Fielder and Pujols are going to shy away from those large ballparks when they become Free Agents in the offseason

Thank you for stating what I have been saying forever about parks like these. They have to change the dimensions of Citi Field and I highly believe they will this off-season.

[7LineFan]

Yep. I see it now. At least this time they got the right call

 

Solution:

 

Put cameras in each dugout that are fixed to look straight down the line at both foul poles. Also put one along that line just behind the foul pole looking straight up.