2023 MLB Season Thread

[FiddySicks]

On 10/18/2023 at 5:12 AM, floydnimrod said:

While I agree with all of this, as someone who is likely never attending an MLB playoff game, I do love meaningful afternoon baseball in the middle of the week. Makes the work day easier. The only half decent thing about the Covid sports schedule to me was that there were NASCAR races on Wednesday afternoons. It was great.

 

More weekday afternoon sporting events*

 

*as someone who's watching from home

If you’re concerned about the cost, you may be in for a surprise. My friend from Philly (lives in Sacramento now) was ready to drive to Phoenix for game four because tickets were like $35. For a NLCS game! That’s like 10% of what the Phillies were doing for a SRO ticket.

 

:censored:ing Diamondbacks Go home, you’re drunk and it’s past your bed time. 

[BBTV]

51 minutes ago, FiddySicks said:

If you’re concerned about the cost, you may be in for a surprise. My friend from Philly (lives in Sacramento now) was ready to drive to Phoenix for game four because tickets were like $35. For a NLCS game! That’s like 10% of what the Phillies were doing for a SRO ticket.

 

:censored:ing Diamondbacks Go home, you’re drunk and it’s past your bed time. 

 

Two of my friends booked flights from PHL to PHX on Frontier for around $300 each, tickets for around $50 (because they don't even sell out, lol) and an airBnB, and it was cheaper than getting into a game here.  I don't understand how baseball can survive in places where there's so little interest that road team fans can take over, and tickets are that easy to come by.  Hell - I have 400-level tickets with a face of $130 (for NLCS) that if I was a scumbag I could easily have sold for $600 - and that's as high in the stadium as it gets.  Even STH couldn't get all of the games, and were entered in a lottery.

 

But in Atlanta, you can just walk up to the box office.  In Tampa, they can't give them away for free outside of the stadium.  In Phoenix, entire sections are road fans - in the freaking championship series.  

 

I'm not saying it's great for a place to be so sports obsessed.  It tends to bring out the worst in people (though now, in mid-west Philly, it's been different), and as a fan, I'd like to be able to get a ticket for $50 whenever I want to vs having to spend $1k or enter a random lottery.  But looking at it from outside eyes, I wonder how the hell anyone thinks the sport can survive in places like that, and why any player other than soft guys would choose that environment (all other things being equal.)

 

That being said, if I had the chance to address Craig Kimbrell right now after yet another dismal outing, I'd say - "don't worry about blowing our chance to sweep because there's 50 things flawed with your game - dust yourself off and get them next time.  You've had a hell of a career and you've proven you can do this.  Keep your head up, know that we've got your back, and we'll support you unconditionally.  You're family, and family sticks together.  Go out there and know that we're with you."

 

[FiddySicks]

Back when I lived in Phoenix I wanted to see the D Backs play as many games vs the Giants as I could, and was willing to spend around $500-$600 to do so. I wasn’t sure that would be enough for all of the Giants games in Phoenix that year, but I wanted to make sure I had tickets to as many as I could. I ended up getting full season tickets, all 82 home games, pre season, plus four Spring Training games at Salt River Fields for around $400. And it was actually a damn good seat, too.
 

 

I made it a mission to try to go to every game that I possibly could, and it was :censored:ing BRUTAL. Felt like a funeral home half of the time and Heath Bell blew about a million saves that year. I saw every single one of them he blew at home. I fell asleep at least a dozen times. Spent most of the last two months of the already dead season sitting alone in the upper deck watching Giants games on my phone. Smoked a buncha weed (only safe spot in Phoenix back then, it felt like) and saw a Lincecum no no. Good times! Sorta. 
 

 

[GDAWG]

The MLB Script Writers are currently debating whether to have the Astros win two in a row or make the series a game 7.  They are also deciding on if there will be a game 6 of the NLCS.  

[Unocal]

21 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

The MLB Script Writers are currently debating whether to have the Astros win two in a row or make the series a game 7.  They are also deciding on if there will be a game 6 of the NLCS.  

 

Well the script writers may be plotting for a sequel to last year.

[GDAWG]

Just now, Unocal said:

 

Well the script writers may be plotting for a sequel to last year.

 

That seems to be the route that they are going with.  

[Unocal]

Just now, GDAWG said:

 

That seems to be the route that they are going with.  

 

I'm not talking about HOU/PHI.

 

I'm talking about HOU/NL 6 seed

[GDAWG]

Just now, Unocal said:

 

I'm not talking about HOU/PHI.

 

I'm talking about HOU/NL 6 seed

The Script Writers are going to make it Houston/Philly round two.  

[SFGiants58]

All the “script writer” talk:

 

 

It’s not funny.

[GDAWG]

I have said before that I am a fan of first time World Champions, and I rooted for the Astros to win their first ever World Series in 2017, before anyone knew that they cheated.  I got back into baseball as a casual fan when the Nats were making their run two years later.  Sadly, I don't think we'll see a team win their first ever World Series this season.  All signs are pointing to a rematch of last year's World Series, but this time I want the Phillies to win because of Bryce Harper.  I want Bryce to get his first championship.  

 

So I am rooting for Philly in the World Series if they play the Astros.  The last time I rooted for a team from Philly was Super Bowl 52 as I wanted to see the Eagles win their first Super Bowl.  

[BBTV]

8 hours ago, GDAWG said:

The Script Writers are going to make it Houston/Philly round two.  

 

I really hope not, because I'd have to either cancel my halloween party or sell my nosebleed game-2 seats.  If it's TX-PHL then game 2 would be on the road (of course, half the people coming to the party would probably go to TX, but that's an issue for another day.)  It's all moot if Topper keeps Bohm in the cleanup spot and continues to call Kimberly's number.

[GDAWG]

2 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

I really hope not, because I'd have to either cancel my halloween party or sell my nosebleed game-2 seats.  If it's TX-PHL then game 2 would be on the road (of course, half the people coming to the party would probably go to TX, but that's an issue for another day.)  It's all moot if Topper keeps Bohm in the cleanup spot and continues to call Kimberly's number.

 

The Astros are tied with the Kansas City Chiefs as the team in pro sports that everyone outside of those cities are sick and tired of at this point.  

[DG_ThenNowForever]

6 minutes ago, GDAWG said:

 

The Astros are tied with the Kansas City Chiefs as the team in pro sports that everyone outside of those cities are sick and tired of at this point.  

 

The Astros cheated and weren't punished. The Chiefs are just good. There's a pretty big difference there.

[SFGiants58]

26 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

The Astros cheated and weren't punished. The Chiefs are just good. There's a pretty big difference there.

 

Addendum for other sports: the Warriors had Draymond Green and were good, and the Lightning were good in a non-traditional market. Big difference between all of them and the Astros.

[BBTV]

This guy was AWFUL yesterday, even the national announcers were laughing at how bad some calls were. He was equally awful on both sides, so can’t blame that on the outcome (though some bad calls are more impactful than others depending on where they happen), but how the hell does a clown like this get a playoff series?

 

And how can anyone not support some kind of automation?  Or a replay system that shows the overhead view to see how outside or inside it is, and a side view to see the height?  Should be a quick and easy thing to do, and not be impacted by ball movement. 
 

Check swings should also be reviewable. 

 

 

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

The Astros cheated and weren't punished. The Chiefs are just good. There's a pretty big difference there.

 

As a fan of first time champions, I was rooting for the Astros in 2017 until they cheated.  

[Sec19Row53]

1 hour ago, GDAWG said:

 

The Astros are tied with the Kansas City Chiefs as the team in pro sports that everyone outside of those cities are sick and tired of at this point.  

That's a mighty broad brush you're painting with, Slim.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

1 hour ago, SFGiants58 said:

 

Addendum for other sports: the Warriors had Draymond Green and were good, and the Lightning were good in a non-traditional market. Big difference between all of them and the Astros.

 

You're not going to get me to say anything nice about the Warriors.

[SFGiants58]

15 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

 

You're not going to get me to say anything nice about the Warriors.

Didn’t think so.

[McCall]

50 minutes ago, BBTV said:

This guy was AWFUL yesterday, even the national announcers were laughing at how bad some calls were. He was equally awful on both sides, so can’t blame that on the outcome (though some bad calls are more impactful than others depending on where they happen), but how the hell does a clown like this get a playoff series?

 

And how can anyone not support some kind of automation?  Or a replay system that shows the overhead view to see how outside or inside it is, and a side view to see the height?  Should be a quick and easy thing to do, and not be impacted by ball movement. 
 

Check swings should also be reviewable. 

 

 

I haven't watched any of the postseason, but this doesn't surprise me. He's become just awful. He used to be one of the guys you respected. Now, especially since he became a crew chief, I guess, he's not only made so many bad calls, but his arrogance and ego has just been out of control. He was the crew chief in the spring training game when Randy Rosenberg ejected JT Realmuto for Rosenberg dropping the ball (literally). He defended the ejection.