2011 MLB Season Thread

[DEAD!]

Looks like Cy Young Candidate Adam Wainwright is headed for a date with Tommy John.

Ruh roh. Looks like the Brewers playoff chances just got a whole lot stronger.

... you mean the Reds, right?

[NJTank]

Today we are all having Tommy John surgery.

[UnclearInitial]

Today we are all having Tommy John surgery.

The classics never get old... except when Tank uses them.

[NJTank]

That was gold

[JayJaxon]

I hope he has a speedy recovery. He had some issues in High School too. This isn't the first time Wainwright has a problem with the arm.

in other news:

That Gents, is the future of the Atlanta Braves

[The_Admiral]

I hate falling victim to this sort of Fire Joe Morgan emptiness, but every guy who puts on an Atlanta Braves uniform just looks like such a freakin' ballplayer. I can't be the only one who feels this way. How else was a nation once snookered into believing in Jeff Francoeur?

[TheGrimReaper]

I hate falling victim to this sort of Fire Joe Morgan emptiness, but every guy who puts on an Atlanta Braves uniform just looks like such a freakin' ballplayer. I can't be the only one who feels this way. How else was a nation once snookered into believing in Jeff Francoeur?

I kinda feel that way too. They have a very good uniform set, maybe one of the better ones in the league.

It's kind of a similar feeling as what I get with the Dodgers, I feel like every player who becomes a Dodger is mediocre. I don't know why.

[FiddySicks]

I hate falling victim to this sort of Fire Joe Morgan emptiness, but every guy who puts on an Atlanta Braves uniform just looks like such a freakin' ballplayer. I can't be the only one who feels this way. How else was a nation once snookered into believing in Jeff Francoeur?

I kinda feel that way too. They have a very good uniform set, maybe one of the better ones in the league.

It's kind of a similar feeling as what I get with the Dodgers, I feel like every player who becomes a Dodger is mediocre. I don't know why.

Because they are.

[McCall]

It's official...

Wainwright having Tommy John surgery. Done for season.

This... well, it sucks @$$, basically.

[Gary]

Spring Training officially starts tomorrow, for the guys who can't be here in Phoenix, or Florida, you are truly missing out. It's been a tradition for the last 10 years to go to every park in Arizona before Spring Training ends, but with no teams in Tucson and I get to see the new Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, this will be a great Spring.

[Shumway]

So long, G.A.

Garret Anderson retires

[Still MIGHTY]

So long, G.A.

Garret Anderson retires

My favorite all-time Angel. I'll admit I choked up a little bit today when I heard that he was retiring.

I grew up on Garret Anderson. One of the best the Angels have ever had, and he was the most humble and classy player I ever saw play for the Angels or met. Sometimes when he played with his demeanor, some might have thought he didn't care or whatever. But that was GA. Just cool and relaxed. No moment was too big or too small, just another at bat, just another fly ball to left.

And what Angel fan could forget that it was his bases clearing, three-run double in 3rd inning of Game 7 in 2002 that would stand up as the World Series winning runs.

The game and the Angels will miss ya G.A. #16 will be hanging up in the right field pavilion soon enough.

[Shumway]

So long, G.A.

Garret Anderson retires

My favorite all-time Angel. I'll admit I choked up a little bit today when I heard that he was retiring.

I grew up on Garret Anderson. One of the best the Angels have ever had, and he was the most humble and classy player I ever saw play for the Angels or met. Sometimes when he played with his demeanor, some might have thought he didn't care or whatever. But that was GA. Just cool and relaxed. No moment was too big or too small, just another at bat, just another fly ball to left.

And what Angel fan could forget that it was his bases clearing, three-run double in 3rd inning of Game 7 in 2002 that would stand up as the World Series winning runs.

The game and the Angels will miss ya G.A. #16 will be hanging up in the right field pavilion soon enough.

Hank Conger's actually wearing #16 this spring. As the franchise leader in, well, everything, I think GA does deserve the honor of having his number retired.

[Still MIGHTY]

So long, G.A.

Garret Anderson retires

My favorite all-time Angel. I'll admit I choked up a little bit today when I heard that he was retiring.

I grew up on Garret Anderson. One of the best the Angels have ever had, and he was the most humble and classy player I ever saw play for the Angels or met. Sometimes when he played with his demeanor, some might have thought he didn't care or whatever. But that was GA. Just cool and relaxed. No moment was too big or too small, just another at bat, just another fly ball to left.

And what Angel fan could forget that it was his bases clearing, three-run double in 3rd inning of Game 7 in 2002 that would stand up as the World Series winning runs.

The game and the Angels will miss ya G.A. #16 will be hanging up in the right field pavilion soon enough.

Hank Conger's actually wearing #16 this spring. As the franchise leader in, well, everything, I think GA does deserve the honor of having his number retired.

...um, what?

No offense to Hank, I'm excited for all he can potentially bring to the Halos (who I'm finally going to see tomorrow vs KC in Tempe), but yeah he can't hold a candle to GA.

Relinquish the number, young fella.

[NJTank]

The Angels have many number retired, and if Anderson is as important to that teams as anybody.

[oddball]

So long, G.A.

Garret Anderson retires

My favorite all-time Angel. I'll admit I choked up a little bit today when I heard that he was retiring.

I grew up on Garret Anderson. One of the best the Angels have ever had, and he was the most humble and classy player I ever saw play for the Angels or met. Sometimes when he played with his demeanor, some might have thought he didn't care or whatever. But that was GA. Just cool and relaxed. No moment was too big or too small, just another at bat, just another fly ball to left.

And what Angel fan could forget that it was his bases clearing, three-run double in 3rd inning of Game 7 in 2002 that would stand up as the World Series winning runs.

The game and the Angels will miss ya G.A. #16 will be hanging up in the right field pavilion soon enough.

Hank Conger's actually wearing #16 this spring. As the franchise leader in, well, everything, I think GA does deserve the honor of having his number retired.

...um, what?

No offense to Hank, I'm excited for all he can potentially bring to the Halos (who I'm finally going to see tomorrow vs KC in Tempe), but yeah he can't hold a candle to GA.

Relinquish the number, young fella.

*shrugs* While I'm all for Garrett Anderson, I'm just not sure if his or even Tim Salmon's number should be retired. Yes, they were very good players, but I'm not sure as players they were worthy. You look at the other players who've had their numbers retired and they were sure fire Hall of Famers. The only exception in Fregosi who led them to their first championship as a manager. I would put them in his class, along with Brian Downing. Come back and do something else important for the franchise and then we'll retire your jersey.

[The_Admiral]

Didn't Garret Anderson lead the Angels to a world championship and act as pretty much the face of the franchise for the most successful era in team history? What more does Garret Anderson have to do to pass Jim Fregosi in your world?

[Lee.]

Deliver a baby in the back of a 1950's style Checker cab, walk on water without the use of an acrylic table just below the surface, and eat a 96 ounce steak in under an hour.

[Still MIGHTY]

Didn't Garret Anderson lead the Angels to a world championship and act as pretty much the face of the franchise for the most successful era in team history? What more does Garret Anderson have to do to pass Jim Fregosi in your world?

This right here. All of this.

GA and Tim Salmon were THE faces of the 90s/early 00s Angels. From 1995 to 2002, they were THE guys. And with GA specifically, he leads in almost every category for the Angels.

15 and 16 will be retired.

[The_Admiral]

I forgo preseason baseball. Is this weird? I'm enough of an NBA/NHL fan that I have other sports stuff to care about, and watching preseason anything is ungratifying in general because you have the cognitive dissonance of wanting your team to win while knowing that having an effective and productive scrimmage is more important than the outcome. I can't watch the games until they count. When I watch the first game of the year without having spoiled my supper with spring training, it makes me so happy.

Naturally, it follows that I don't follow preseason anything, of course, but nobody cares about the other leagues' preseasons. The NFL's preseason is a running gag, the NBA seems to conduct theirs in secret government bunkers, and much like with All-Star Games, I'm almost insulted that the NHL has the audacity to promote a preseason. Only spring training is romanticized.