2012 MLB Season

[Lights Out]

Dear God I hate sabemetrics so much, it is ruining the sport. What makes baseball special is any slob can understand the stats and numbers its easilly calcuable and brings fathers and sons together as they keep a scorebook and stats like RBI, average, Home Runs you know the big three the historic three the most imporntant stats in the game since 1869. Take the WAR, RZR and UZR and place them in a septic tank and keep the DRS in the hospital.

Utterly ridiculous and unnecessarily stubborn. Honestly, what's wrong with trying to know as much as possible about each player's production?

[TheOldRoman]

Yeah, I see how you didn't defend any of your statements. There's always next year to do that.

If anyone ever wanted to know why Cubs/Sox fans don't like each other, crap like this is precisely why.

Right. Cubs fan makes nonsensically optimistic post about Cubs, shows ignorance about Sox' season, essentially saying "Haha, you guys suck even though you won 20 more games. We are TOTALLY turning it around right now and yous are gonna suck so hard. World Series, Baby!" He is called out on it, throws barb and then backs away. Later, throws hands in the air and claims martyr status. The only thing missing from the Cubs meatball total package are the "we are better because we have higher attendance" and a "Comiskey Park - World's Largest Ghetto" t-shirt.

Here's the proper formula:

- Cubs fan posts anything insinuating some semblance of enthusiasm/jab at Sox

- Sox fan, disregarding that they have the high road (recent title, obvious cub team in ashes), has to put Cubs fan in his place

- Cubs fan notes that Sox fans are generally braying jackasses, but sees a flame war and bows out

- Sox fan, disgruntled that flame war did not ensue, continues to poke and prod, ever-seeking the chance to remind the community that the Cubs haven't won a title in over a century, "unfairly" draw more to their overblown ballpark, and are in general stupid fans that root for the wrong Chicago baseball team

- Cubs fan writes rebuttal post, saddened that he has to do so for the 1000th time and makes mental note never to bring up the White Sox ever again so he doesn't have to deal with the same old tired crap from their bitter, snarky fan base

And yet, when I hear "same old tired crap from their bitter, snarky fan base", I think of Cubs fans saying their team is better because the attendance is higher, claiming the world series win was irrelevant because it was the lowest rated series in several years (until the one after it), claiming that 3/4 of the 2 million people at the Sox' championship parade were actually Cubs fans wanting to watch any championship parade (Hi, Rick Morrisey), saying that Sox fans are lower class/less intelligent/white trash and being a Cubs fan makes one a better, more attractive human being, claiming that the park is in a ghetto, and getting all around uppity because people dare to be fans of another team. Oh, and don't forget bitterly rooting against a team and then claiming in the next breathe to not care a bit about them.

So, goodbye until you forget your mental note and bring up the Sox again in a bitter, snarky manner.

[Lights Out]

BTW, Trout deserves the AL MVP. His wOBA is very close to Cabrera's, but he creates more runs for his team. Defensively, there's NO comparison between Trout and Cabrera. Trout is much better, and the stats prove it: up there with Ichiro in UZR, 1st in DRS in the AL, an excellent .942 RZR.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but do you think those buffoons who vote for these awards take into account wOBA, UZR, DRS, and RZR? I doubt some (many?) don't even know what they mean.

Well, you'll have some stubborn old voters who hate sabermetrics, but I'd say Felix Hernandez's Cy Young proves that SOME people have started paying attention.

[CS85]

And yet, when I hear "same old tired crap from their bitter, snarky fan base", I think of Cubs fans saying their team is better because the attendance is higher, claiming the world series win was irrelevant because it was the lowest rated series in several years (until the one after it), claiming that 3/4 of the 2 million people at the Sox' championship parade were actually Cubs fans wanting to watch any championship parade (Hi, Rick Morrisey), saying that Sox fans are lower class/less intelligent/white trash, claiming that the park is in a ghetto, and getting all around uppity because people dare to be fans of another team.

So, goodbye until you forget your mental note and bring up the Sox again in a bitter, snarky manner.

I agree that Cubs fans are equally horrific and awful people at about the same ratio as Sox fans. It appears we both are of the same mind that we're exhausted of the same old crap. You're likely just as exhausted as having to fight the same old tired fights using the same old tired arguments/assumptions against Cub fans who are morons. I am not a baseball savant by any means, but I'm not a moron. I have had a dozen negative facepalm experiences arguing with Sox fans over trite nonsense for every one good interaction. It genuinely gives me joy to interact with cool Sox fans, especially in person, because the 'rivalry' is basically a joke. It's nice to just talk baseball/sports and chuckle about the two teams, knowing we're going to agree to disagree on some points.

If I crossed the line, my bad. I routinely deal with Sox fan parasites on other websites who are far less civilized than the ilk that frequents this thread for the most part. It's a pointless argument. I know my beloved franchise is a catastrophe that has unwarranted popularity, and while I don't follow the day in/day out goings on of the White Sox I don't wish them ill-will (I do that only for the Cardinals, they're due for some bad hoodoo). My entire point of the original post was expressing that for all the jokes made at the Cubs expense this season from Sox fans (of other communities), both teams ended up in the same place come playoff time. I was emphasizing the pointlessness of trash talk during the regular season, and yet it ironically birthed a trash-talk session. Dammit.

And MEANS, if I was being a dick, I apologize, but "Scrubs fan?" C'mon.

[TheOldRoman]

Fair enough. There are idiots in both fanbases. I have seen Cubs fan trolls run wild on Sox message boards, too. As I moved from fan to diehard fan to insane fan, I cared less and less about the Cubs. I don't like them by any means, but my feeling are more of an indifference. Contrast that to teams like the Twins (before this year) and Tigers, which I have intense hatred for. I don't care if the Cubs win or lose, honestly. I don't care about the crosstown series. Winning it gives me no pleasure, and I would rather the teams didn't even play.

It seems to me that the majority of fans on either side who do the trash talking are generally the people who care less about the actual teams. The people who I always hear cackling or posting on facebook about how the Sox suck, are ghetto, attendance, etc. are generally people who go to Wrigley just to party and likely think Sosa is still on the team. The only Sox fans who routinely post about the Cubs sucking are people who go to maybe a game a year and don't attentively follow the season until there is a groundswell from the media and other fans telling them the team is good this year. I guess it's like that in football too, since a couple of years ago before the NFC Championship game, my mother-in-law started talking trash about the Bears, although she doesn't watch or understand football and she is only a "Packers fan" by virtue of her husband and son rooting for the team.

[BrySmalls]

In more important news:

TEDDY WINS!

Congratulations Teddy!!!

[Kramerica Industries]

It appears the Washington Nationals will finish with the best record in baseball this season, and by reaching 98 wins, they even exceed a .600 winning percentage.

I said 94-68 in March. They exceeded even that. Phenomenal season in D.C.

[njmeadowlanders]

Dear God I hate sabemetrics so much, it is ruining the sport. What makes baseball special is any slob can understand the stats and numbers its easilly calcuable and brings fathers and sons together as they keep a scorebook and stats like RBI, average, Home Runs you know the big three the historic three the most imporntant stats in the game since 1869. Take the WAR, RZR and UZR and place them in a septic tank and keep the DRS in the hospital.

Utterly ridiculous and unnecessarily stubborn. Honestly, what's wrong with trying to know as much as possible about each player's production?

...and by doing that Tank any chance the Mets have of being relevant EVER again (small as it may be) would be over. Welcome to the 21st Century. Deal with it.

[sportstar1212]

The Astros are currently playing their last ever game as an NL team.

[The_Admiral]

Dear God I hate sabemetrics so much, it is ruining the sport. What makes baseball special is any slob can understand the stats and numbers its easilly calcuable and brings fathers and sons together as they keep a scorebook and stats like RBI, average, Home Runs you know the big three the historic three the most imporntant stats in the game since 1869. Take the WAR, RZR and UZR and place them in a septic tank and keep the DRS in the hospital.

Yeah, ummm, unfortunately for George Will football has supplanted baseball as the "sports opiate of the masses" so dumbing down the analysis to appeal to said masses is kind of pointless.

George Will still hates football.

This A's team reminds me of the '06 Twins, that came back to snatch the division from the Tigers only to run out of gas in the playoffs (against, yes, the A's). I hope they ride this wave all the way, though.

[Sport]

The National League is set.

Nationals - Braves/Cardinals

Reds - Giants

[NJTank]

Dear God I hate sabemetrics so much, it is ruining the sport. What makes baseball special is any slob can understand the stats and numbers its easilly calcuable and brings fathers and sons together as they keep a scorebook and stats like RBI, average, Home Runs you know the big three the historic three the most imporntant stats in the game since 1869. Take the WAR, RZR and UZR and place them in a septic tank and keep the DRS in the hospital.

Utterly ridiculous and unnecessarily stubborn. Honestly, what's wrong with trying to know as much as possible about each player's production?

...and by doing that Tank any chance the Mets have of being relevant EVER again (small as it may be) would be over. Welcome to the 21st Century. Deal with it.

I dont care if scouts use it, I just dont want the press to use and decide MVPs that way

[Lights Out]

I dont care if scouts use it, I just dont want the press to use and decide MVPs that way

So now that you've conceded that organizations using sabermetrics isn't necessarily EVUL, why on Earth would you want the baseball media to judge players on an entirely different set of criteria than the rest of baseball?

[rams80]

I dont care if scouts use it, I just dont want the press to use and decide MVPs that way

So now that you've conceded that organizations using sabermetrics isn't necessarily EVUL, why on Earth would you want the baseball media to judge players on an entirely different set of criteria than the rest of baseball?

Especially when there are contractual bonuses tied to these awards.

[The_Admiral]

Isn't it better for the Orioles to tank the game today? If they win, they can tie New York for first, which would mean a Game 163 to determine who doesn't have to play the wild card game. If they lose, they guarantee going straight to the wild card game without having to possibly burn their #1 and #2 starters just to get to the ALDS, just the #1. You can't worry about seeding; at this point, they're all good. You can worry about using up your pitchers.

[Kramerica Industries]

A.J. Griffin picked a bad day to remind everyone that he, and his rotation mates, are all rookies. It appears Texas will escape the regular season with the division title after all.

[TheOldRoman]

Isn't it better for the Orioles to tank the game today? If they win, they can tie New York for first, which would mean a Game 163 to determine who doesn't have to play the wild card game. If they lose, they guarantee going straight to the wild card game without having to possibly burn their #1 and #2 starters just to get to the ALDS, just the #1. You can't worry about seeding; at this point, they're all good. You can worry about using up your pitchers.

No, I think you still go all-out to try to get homefield advantage in the first round (even if it's a silly 2-3 format). If they tie today, they have two chances to make it into the "second round", either by winning the East tiebreaker or winning the wildcard tiebreaker play-in whatever-you-call-it game. If they concede the division then their season rests on one game Friday. Besides, I would rather have my #1 throw tomorrow, with my #2 as back-up on Friday in case tomorrow was a loss, than having my #1 pitch with golf on the schedule the next day in case of a loss.

[Sport]

Isn't it better for the Orioles to tank the game today? If they win, they can tie New York for first, which would mean a Game 163 to determine who doesn't have to play the wild card game. If they lose, they guarantee going straight to the wild card game without having to possibly burn their #1 and #2 starters just to get to the ALDS, just the #1. You can't worry about seeding; at this point, they're all good. You can worry about using up your pitchers.

Getting a little Willmorrisey on us.

If you're an Orioles fan and they have a shot at winning the division, probably the hardest division in sports to win and what would be an incredible story, you want them to go for it.

[BigEd76]

The Phils finished 81-81 and they're already looking ahead to next year. An hour after the game, Greg Gross (hitting coach), Sam Perlozzo (1B coach) and Pete Mackanin (bench coach) were all fired.

[The_Admiral]

Isn't it better for the Orioles to tank the game today? If they win, they can tie New York for first, which would mean a Game 163 to determine who doesn't have to play the wild card game. If they lose, they guarantee going straight to the wild card game without having to possibly burn their #1 and #2 starters just to get to the ALDS, just the #1. You can't worry about seeding; at this point, they're all good. You can worry about using up your pitchers.

Getting a little Willmorrisey on us.

If you're an Orioles fan and they have a shot at winning the division, probably the hardest division in sports to win and what would be an incredible story, you want them to go for it.

Of course I would if I were a fan, but just thinking about the outcomes, I don't know if I want the risk of tying for first, burning my ace against the Yankees, losing, burning my #2 against the A's, and either

1) losing with my #2 pitcher

2) winning to go to the ALDS with my 3 against their 1

I would just take the sure thing and bypass playing a game I don't have to play.