2012 MLB Season

[rams80]

Braun won his appeal. 50 game suspension has been lifted.

MLB says it "vehemently disagrees" with the ruling.

MLB can go to hell.

F***king agreed. Selig is going all butt-buddy on his toy franchise.

And that is why he vehemently disagrees with the ruling.

/READ DUMMY!

You really believe Selig's Milwaukee connection didn't have an influence on the overturn?

Yes, as a matter of fact. Of course I'm not so irrationally paranoid as to see enemies around every corner and feel that my teams are being persecuted despite evidence to the contrary.

[CS85]

Braun won his appeal. 50 game suspension has been lifted.

MLB says it "vehemently disagrees" with the ruling.

MLB can go to hell.

F***king agreed. Selig is going all butt-buddy on his toy franchise.

Pretty much. I don't give a damn about the Brewers but anytime Bud Selig looks like a numbnuts, I'm in favor of it.

[Still MIGHTY]

Braun won his appeal. 50 game suspension has been lifted.

Chalk up another commisioner who hates LA-based sports teams.

First, David Stern screws the Lakers with the whole CP3 thing, then Roger Goodell tells that LA is not ready to host the NFL again until the stadium proposals can prove to benefit the NFL (milking taxpayers). Now, Selig tells Matt Kemp to go f*** off and throw away the PED tests of that cheating bastard Brawn.

What's next? Gary Bettham secretly relocates the Kings to shut the people of Quebec City up?

...you cannot be serious.

NOTE: dbadefense1990's opinions do not reflect the opinions of the Greater LA area as a whole. Thank you.

[Lights Out]

F***king agreed. Selig is going all butt-buddy on his toy franchise.

His "toy" franchise that he hasn't owned since he was made acting commissioner in 1992?

First, David Stern screws the Lakers with the whole CP3 thing

Yeah, Stern absolutely loathes the Lakers... just ask the Sacramento Kings!

Not to mention, you clearly don't know the rules regarding trades in the NBA.

Now, Selig tells Matt Kemp to go f*** off and throw away the PED tests of that cheating bastard Brawn.

Even if Braun WAS juicing, that isn't cheating. And Kemp already refused to accept the MVP if it was stripped from Braun.

[Raysfan12]

I think this might be the first year that we won't see both NYY or BOS in the playoffs. Anyway, here are my predictions:

AL East: Tampa Bay Rays: I'm tired of people saying that the Rays aren't capiable of winning the AL East, but they're ready to challenge to meet the high expectations using Joe's new Slogan: Expectations = Fuel. 99-67

AL Central: Detroit Tigers: Duh, this is too easy. Prince + Miguel + Verlander = AL Central title 102-60

AL West: Texas Rangers: Despite LA signing Pujols and CJ Wilson, the Rangers with their experenced bats will win the divisonal title. My only question is the Pitching. 90-72

AL Wild Cards: LA Angels/Boston Red Sox

NL East: Miami Marlins: Finally the reign of the Phillies is over as Miami Marlins would win shockingly, their first division title (2 WS championships during span). 94-68

NL Central: Pittsburgh Pirates: With the NL Central in a mess, Pittsburgh would snatch this opportunity to not only have it's first winning season in 19 years, but their first division title since '92. 92-70

NL West: Arizona DBacks: This team keeps getting more powerful each day with Justin Upton's amazing power leading the charge. 101-61

NL Wild Cards: Philly/Atlanta

Playoffs:

WC: Angels over Red Sox

ALDS: Rays over Rangers in 5: Losing CJ Wilson and production with Evan Longoria will finally push the Rays past Texas.

ALDS: Tigers over Angels in 5: Justin Verlander and Prince would be too much for the Angels

ALCS: Rays over Tigers in 6: Despite Detroit's star power: the Rays are more balanced and Evan Longoria would use his clutchness to send his team to their first WS since '08 ALCS MYP: Evan Longoria

NL Wild Cards: Atlanta over Philly

NLDS: Arizona over Atlanta in 3: Arizona's balanced attack is too much for Atlanta's inconsistant hitting.

NLDS: Miami over Pitt in 5: Miami's postseason experence is too much for Pittsburgh to handle along with Mike Stanton.

NLCS: Miami over Arizona in 7: Miami's combination of speed and power is too much for the exhausted DBacks. NLCS MVP: Mike Stanton

WS: Rays over Marlins in 4: Shocked didn't you, Tampa has just too many great pitchers and postseason experence for Miami in this Citrus Series. Also Miami doesn't have a player like Longoria who can come up in the clutch. This series will end with him hitting a series winning HR. WS MVP: Evan Longoria.

[dbadefense1990]

Braun won his appeal. 50 game suspension has been lifted.

Chalk up another commisioner who hates LA-based sports teams.

First, David Stern screws the Lakers with the whole CP3 thing, then Roger Goodell tells that LA is not ready to host the NFL again until the stadium proposals can prove to benefit the NFL (milking taxpayers). Now, Selig tells Matt Kemp to go f*** off and throw away the PED tests of that cheating bastard Brawn.

What's next? Gary Bettham secretly relocates the Kings to shut the people of Quebec City up?

...you cannot be serious.

NOTE: dbadefense1990's opinions do not reflect the opinions of the Greater LA area as a whole. Thank you.

Maybe not to you, who's a diehard Angel fan, but my Dodger friends are all pi**ed off about this. Plan to boo the hell outta the Brewers when they come to town.

[dbadefense1990]

First, David Stern screws the Lakers with the whole CP3 thing

Yeah, Stern absolutely loathes the Lakers... just ask the Sacramento Kings!

OMG. C'mon, Stern can care less about the Lakers themselves. The refs rigged the 2002 WCF because the Lakers-Kings rivalry made the league money, and Stern wanted the series to be extended to the max Game 7 for more cash.

Let's say Bibby doesn't hit the game winner in Game 5 or Kobe makes his in that game. If the Lakers led 3-2 entering Game 6, the refs would have screwed the Lakers instead, to extend the series to a Game 7. If the NBA did rig because of the Lakers, the series would have been 4-0 Lakers.

Anyway, can we save this for the NBA boards, back to baseball...

[Gothamite]

F***king agreed. Selig is going all butt-buddy on his toy franchise.

His "toy" franchise that he hasn't owned since he was made acting commissioner in 1992?

Sure, why not? The conspiracy nuts have been all over this for twenty years, so they're used to tortured "logic".

The panel gave MLB the result it dreaded. The result it didn't want. Somehow Selig masterminded that?

It's bizarre, but not that much more so than the really nutty things some people have been saying about him for decades. I guess we ought to expect lunacy by now.

[Still MIGHTY]

Braun won his appeal. 50 game suspension has been lifted.

Chalk up another commisioner who hates LA-based sports teams.

First, David Stern screws the Lakers with the whole CP3 thing, then Roger Goodell tells that LA is not ready to host the NFL again until the stadium proposals can prove to benefit the NFL (milking taxpayers). Now, Selig tells Matt Kemp to go f*** off and throw away the PED tests of that cheating bastard Brawn.

What's next? Gary Bettham secretly relocates the Kings to shut the people of Quebec City up?

...you cannot be serious.

NOTE: dbadefense1990's opinions do not reflect the opinions of the Greater LA area as a whole. Thank you.

Maybe not to you, who's a diehard Angel fan, but my Dodger friends are all pi**ed off about this. Plan to boo the hell outta the Brewers when they come to town.

1) Did you not see the part where MLB "vehemently disagreed" with the decision? Selig still wanted the 50-game suspension. This was done through an appeal to arbitrators. This is not MLB's fault.

2) Again, Braun even getting the MVP isn't MLB's fault. That's the Baseball Writers who vote on the MVP.

3) I was more responding to everything else you said:

- If David Stern is a "commissioner who hates LA-based teams", then why did Chris Paul end up on the LOS ANGELES Clippers. Yeah I was pissed at the decision, but that's not because Stern hates LA. And to say he goes out of his way to screw the Lakers? He let the Pau Gasol trade go through, which even I can say as a Laker fan was a complete farce and a steal. Stern denied the Lakers CP3 for many reasons other than "OMG IT'S THE LAKERS! LA!"

-Goodell doesn't hate LA either. LA is going to bring the NFL more money. The fact is that there won't be a stadium until a team agrees to go to LA. That's not Goodell hating on LA.

- And I just pointed out how your Selig allegations are silly. Like Lights Out said, Selig has NOTHING to do with the Brewers 20 years later and Kemp didn't want to be handed the MVP if it was stripped, an MVP which again wasn't decided on by Selig or MLB.

- Bettman wouldn't do anything to hurt Anaheim/LA either. Remember the draft being in LA not too long ago? The All-Star game? The Ducks winning the Cup? Bettman made a sacrificial lamb out of one Southern market in Atlanta, but I'd think if there were any of these other teams he'd die trying to fight them off (i.e. Phoenix)

I understand being passionate about the home teams, since we're from the same area, but take off the rose-colored glasses my man.

[The_Admiral]

You want to drop the hammer on a guy, don't be so careless. You can't not let Braun skate. They screwed up.

[Lights Out]

OMG. C'mon, Stern can care less about the Lakers themselves. The refs rigged the 2002 WCF because the Lakers-Kings rivalry made the league money

Only one of those teams brought in the money in that rivalry. I'll let you guess which one it is.

[The_Admiral]

"Stern hates the Lakers and just wanted to make money on them going to the Finals, thus giving them preferential treatment despite hating them except when he doesn't because he hates them" is some restaurant-quality derangement. Props.

[Gothamite]

You want to drop the hammer on a guy, don't be so careless. You can't not let Braun skate. They screwed up.

When the test comes back with levels that out of the ordinary, and the chain of custody involves one of the testers taking the sample home and putting it in his fridge because he thinks the local FedEx might be closed for the evening, then yes. Braun's suspension pretty much has to be overturned.

[dbadefense1990]

Braun won his appeal. 50 game suspension has been lifted.

Chalk up another commisioner who hates LA-based sports teams.

First, David Stern screws the Lakers with the whole CP3 thing, then Roger Goodell tells that LA is not ready to host the NFL again until the stadium proposals can prove to benefit the NFL (milking taxpayers). Now, Selig tells Matt Kemp to go f*** off and throw away the PED tests of that cheating bastard Brawn.

What's next? Gary Bettham secretly relocates the Kings to shut the people of Quebec City up?

...you cannot be serious.

NOTE: dbadefense1990's opinions do not reflect the opinions of the Greater LA area as a whole. Thank you.

Maybe not to you, who's a diehard Angel fan, but my Dodger friends are all pi**ed off about this. Plan to boo the hell outta the Brewers when they come to town.

1) Did you not see the part where MLB "vehemently disagreed" with the decision? Selig still wanted the 50-game suspension. This was done through an appeal to arbitrators. This is not MLB's fault.

2) Again, Braun even getting the MVP isn't MLB's fault. That's the Baseball Writers who vote on the MVP.

3) I was more responding to everything else you said:

- If David Stern is a "commissioner who hates LA-based teams", then why did Chris Paul end up on the LOS ANGELES Clippers. Yeah I was pissed at the decision, but that's not because Stern hates LA. And to say he goes out of his way to screw the Lakers? He let the Pau Gasol trade go through, which even I can say as a Laker fan was a complete farce and a steal. Stern denied the Lakers CP3 for many reasons other than "OMG IT'S THE LAKERS! LA!"

-Goodell doesn't hate LA either. LA is going to bring the NFL more money. The fact is that there won't be a stadium until a team agrees to go to LA. That's not Goodell hating on LA.

- And I just pointed out how your Selig allegations are silly. Like Lights Out said, Selig has NOTHING to do with the Brewers 20 years later and Kemp didn't want to be handed the MVP if it was stripped, an MVP which again wasn't decided on by Selig or MLB.

- Bettman wouldn't do anything to hurt Anaheim/LA either. Remember the draft being in LA not too long ago? The All-Star game? The Ducks winning the Cup? Bettman made a sacrificial lamb out of one Southern market in Atlanta, but I'd think if there were any of these other teams he'd die trying to fight them off (i.e. Phoenix)

I understand being passionate about the home teams, since we're from the same area, but take off the rose-colored glasses my man.

1. There has to have been some influence by Selig's Milwaukee connection in this. Maybe one of the other MLB bosses influence the overturn so that the suspension doesn't uglify Bud Selig's credibility for his hometown.

2. I know the Baseball Writers are one-and-done traditionalists who will never rescind first choices. But at the least MLB can critizice the choice, stating that it has a bad influence on the league's drug policy.

3a. It was probably one of the first times an commisioner himself blocked a trade. CP3 could have made the Lakers legit title contenders, but he's in a team with a tired coach, a superstar (Griffin) who can't shoot 15+ foot jumpers, a team who is miserable on the pick-and-roll and a team jinxed with injuries and painful losses. Maybe the NBA likes this because of the extra revenue for the league, but from a championship standpoint, neither LA team is a contender now.

3b. This is probably the most asinine of my posts, but we've been there before. Every little thing the NFL says about LA, I scrutinize because of how close we were in the past. Seattle's closer of bringing back the NBA than we are at getting the NFL. I'm gonna pay attention to what city Goddell picks to host SB 50 later this year.

3c. Like I said, MLB could have condemmed Brawn from the beginning but chose to kick the can. Kemp doesn't want anything to do with the whole issue; he's using this as fire for the upcoming season.

3d. I was just hyped on by the recents things that have happened to us. I know for sure that nothing like that will ever happen to us.

[dbadefense1990]

OMG. C'mon, Stern can care less about the Lakers themselves. The refs rigged the 2002 WCF because the Lakers-Kings rivalry made the league money

Only one of those teams brought in the money in that rivalry. I'll let you guess which one it is.

Sp you're implying that Sacramento's rabinous fanbase is marginal. They really don't care about basketball and that their influence for the Kings is overstated.

Did you see the ratings for that series? If it was just Laker fans who saw the series, then ratings would have sucked (like what really happened in the subsequent 2002 Finals). Everyone in America saw that WCF, and the majority of America wanted LA to lose, the Kings to win it. Add all the fights and drama off the court and the nation was treated to a classic toast.

[rams80]

Maybe you should take a few plays off. Calm down, take a soma, play some Modern Warfare....something dude.

[Still MIGHTY]

1. There has to have been some influence by Selig's Milwaukee connection in this. Maybe one of the other MLB bosses influence the overturn so that the suspension doesn't uglify Bud Selig's credibility for his hometown.

2. I know the Baseball Writers are one-and-done traditionalists who will never rescind first choices. But at the least MLB can critizice the choice, stating that it has a bad influence on the league's drug policy.

3a. It was probably one of the first times an commisioner himself blocked a trade. CP3 could have made the Lakers legit title contenders, but he's in a team with a tired coach, a superstar (Griffin) who can't shoot 15+ foot jumpers, a team who is miserable on the pick-and-roll and a team jinxed with injuries and painful losses. Maybe the NBA likes this because of the extra revenue for the league, but from a championship standpoint, neither LA team is a contender now.

3b. This is probably the most asinine of my posts, but we've been there before. Every little thing the NFL says about LA, I scrutinize because of how close we were in the past. Seattle's closer of bringing back the NBA than we are at getting the NFL. I'm gonna pay attention to what city Goddell picks to host SB 50 later this year.

3c. Like I said, MLB could have condemmed Brawn from the beginning but chose to kick the can. Kemp doesn't want anything to do with the whole issue; he's using this as fire for the upcoming season.

3d. I was just hyped on by the recents things that have happened to us. I know for sure that nothing like that will ever happen to us.

1) Or not. There doesn't have to be any influence. This is something you're just cooking up for the sake of it.

2) At the time the award was announced, this hadn't come out yet, so MLB had nothing to say about it. And again, MLB "vehemently disagreed" with the overturning of the test. I don't know what's so hard to understand.

3a) It might have happened elsewhere, but this happened because Stern was acting as the owner of the Hornets. There's plenty of times an owner has nixed a deal, but this situation in particular is just stupid, even beyond the implactions of the Lakers... And CP3/Kobe/Bynum wouldn't have brought the Lakers a title by itself either. There'd be even less depth than the Lakers have now. There is much more of a mess for the Lakers than just not having CP3. But really, the nixing of the trade didn't have anything to do with making whichever team better, so that's a moot point.

3b) Trust me, I know how the tantalizing NFL/LA carrot has been thrown around. I remember being excited about the NFL coming back to Anaheim in the Angel Stadium parking lot. Really, I know the deal, but picking a Super Bowl city will have nothing to do with LA getting a team, I'll guarantee that much. And Seattle's no closer to the NBA/NHL than LA is to the NFL. Neither situation will get the green light until a team agrees to go there, which hasn't happened in either. And Seattle wants an NBA AND NHL team. LA just needs one.

3c) See point #2.

3d) Simpatico.

[dbadefense1990]

"Stern hates the Lakers and just wanted to make money on them going to the Finals, thus giving them preferential treatment despite hating them except when he doesn't because he hates them" is some restaurant-quality derangement. Props.

Stern began to hate the Lakers around the time Kobe got accused of rape. He's a family kind of person, and thought of Kobe being a smut, and Lakers fans of being imbecile of defending him. He hated all these players in the early 2000s who evoked the "gansta" image (Kobe, Iverson, McGrady, Francis to name a few). Then came along these rule changes to try to end that (dress code, age limit) and some superstar players today have been relatively humble (Rose, Durant, Howard).

[rams80]

"Stern hates the Lakers and just wanted to make money on them going to the Finals, thus giving them preferential treatment despite hating them except when he doesn't because he hates them" is some restaurant-quality derangement. Props.

Stern began to hate the Lakers around the time Kobe got accused of rape. He's a family kind of person, and thought of Kobe being a smut, and Lakers fans of being imbecile of defending him. He hated all these players in the early 2000s who evoked the "gansta" image (Kobe, Iverson, McGrady, Francis to name a few). Then came along these rule changes to try to end that (dress code, age limit) and some superstar players today have been relatively humble (Rose, Durant, Howard).

What.

[McCall]

F***king agreed. Selig is going all butt-buddy on his toy franchise.

His "toy" franchise that he hasn't owned since he was made acting commissioner in 1992?

First, David Stern screws the Lakers with the whole CP3 thing

Yeah, Stern absolutely loathes the Lakers... just ask the Sacramento Kings!

Not to mention, you clearly don't know the rules regarding trades in the NBA.

Now, Selig tells Matt Kemp to go f*** off and throw away the PED tests of that cheating bastard Brawn.

Even if Braun WAS juicing, that isn't cheating. And Kemp already refused to accept the MVP if it was stripped from Braun.

Selig DID own the team as Acting Commissioner. It wasn't until he became the full-time commish that he had to up his stake in the team.

And how is juicing NOT cheating? They're illegal, performance enhancing drugs. That means cheating.

And all this LA conspiracy crap is some of the most nonsensical hogwash I've ever heard.