2013 MLB Discussion Thread, Redux

[Kramerica Industries]

Last time it happened was in 1999 with the Yankees and Braves.

Last time it happened with the two overall best records in baseball meeting up? Oh jeez. 1995 with the Indians and Braves.

[DaRadniz29]

I'm lost at the the hatred for the Cardinals. I understand the hatred for the Yankees, is it the same type of thing for the Cardinals? I mean I know why some members on these boards don't like the Cardinals, and have a few theories as to why a lot of people hate the Redbirds, just not sure what the consensus reason is - if there is one. Just curious.

I'm still not sure I agree with the scrappy holier-than-thou label, and while I think the Cardinals do have some great fans, just like every other team they have some knuckleheads as well. I'm not sure the "Best fans in Baseball" is anything to be concerned about as EVERY team feels they have the best fans in (insert pro sports city here).

I would think that maybe it's on the same lines of the Dallas Cowboys "America's Team" label. Am I close? If so I can kind of see it hatred or whatever you wish to call it.

Anyway. I like this matchup, and the Red Sox will be a tough opponent to beat. Go Cardinals.

[dbadefense1990]

So either St. Louis or Boston will win three World Series titles in the last decade. And there's also the Giants who have won two as well. So much for parity.

You're acting as if you're blaming the lack of parity for the Giants winning only two World Series titles. Be happy that at least you've seen your favorite team win the hardest and most mind-numbing championship in sports* in your lifetime. And two of them, for good measure.

*subject to debate with the Stanley Cup Playoffs

[McCall]

So either St. Louis or Boston will win three World Series titles in the last decade. And there's also the Giants who have won two as well. So much for parity.

You're acting as if you're blaming the lack of parity for the Giants winning only two World Series titles. Be happy that at least you've seen your favorite team win the hardest and most mind-numbing championship in sports* in your lifetime. And two of them, for good measure.

*subject to debate with the Stanley Cup Playoffs

How is he blaming anything for the Giants only winning two World Championships? He was simply stating the multiple winners of the last 10 years. Or were you just looking to play another "woe is me" card so everyone will feel bad for you?

[FiddySicks]

So either St. Louis or Boston will win three World Series titles in the last decade. And there's also the Giants who have won two as well. So much for parity.

You're acting as if you're blaming the lack of parity for the Giants winning only two World Series titles. Be happy that at least you've seen your favorite team win the hardest and most mind-numbing championship in sports* in your lifetime. And two of them, for good measure.

*subject to debate with the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Oh no I'm just making an observation. Not complaining at all. It's just interesting how few teams have been at the top over the last decade. And the ones who haven't repeated broke fairly large dry streaks (except for the Yankees in 09). It's been a good decade of baseball. It's much better than seeing the Marlins win twice in six years.

[GFB]

Well, that series went just about the way I thought it would go (it took a game longer than I had guessed). You can make the case that Jim Leyland and Prince Fielder alone cost the Tigers a shot at the World Series.

Take last night for example. After the whale beaching at 3rd base, Leyland pinch runs Don Kelly for Jhonny Peralta (one of the Tigers hotter hitters) at 2nd with 2 outs, yet he didn't pinch run for Fielder on 3rd with no outs. Plus, Fielder couldn't hit a beach ball out of the infield, so it's not like you're losing anything at the plate.

Or after terribly mismanaging the bullpen in Game 2, he comes back with Jose Veras in Game 6, who proceeds to start off another inning that leads to a Boston grand slam.

Anyway, go Cards.

[RedRenesis]

I say this fully aware of the fact that 2004 haunts me to this day, and will haunt me regardless of how many titles (if any titles) the Yankees win for the rest of my lifetime, but I could honestly make the case that 2013 has been the worst season in the history of baseball.

The worst.

There was a show with Wendie Malick and a couple other people about ten years ago. What was the name of that again? Oh, that's right - Just Shoot Me.

This reminds me of a comment a Yankees fan made to me several years ago when he said with a straight face that the Pirates ruined his childhood when they won the World Series in 1960. It must be tough to be a Yankees fan, I'm sure the rest of us sympathize.

[Brass]

I say this fully aware of the fact that 2004 haunts me to this day, and will haunt me regardless of how many titles (if any titles) the Yankees win for the rest of my lifetime, but I could honestly make the case that 2013 has been the worst season in the history of baseball.

The worst.

There was a show with Wendie Malick and a couple other people about ten years ago. What was the name of that again? Oh, that's right - Just Shoot Me.

The worst as a Yankees fan, I'm sure. Otherwise, I'm enjoying this season quite a lot.

[worcat]

I don't understand all the hate for the Cardinals? Not just here but any site (Yahoo, espn etc). Cardinals are a classy team and organization. I can understand people hating on them for constantly contending but same goes for Boston. What gives? Am I missing something?

[dbadefense1990]

So either St. Louis or Boston will win three World Series titles in the last decade. And there's also the Giants who have won two as well. So much for parity.

You're acting as if you're blaming the lack of parity for the Giants winning only two World Series titles. Be happy that at least you've seen your favorite team win the hardest and most mind-numbing championship in sports* in your lifetime. And two of them, for good measure.

*subject to debate with the Stanley Cup Playoffs

How is he blaming anything for the Giants only winning two World Championships? He was simply stating the multiple winners of the last 10 years. Or were you just looking to play another "woe is me" card so everyone will feel bad for you?

See, this is the kind of sentence which make me believe the arguments made by CMM and LMU, that all Cardinals fans are hypocritical, conservative, self-entitled bullies, who pick on fans from less-than-charmed franchises just for fun.

[-kj]

C'mon... don't blame the rest of us for McCall.

[infrared41]

Last time it happened was in 1999 with the Yankees and Braves.

Last time it happened with the two overall best records in baseball meeting up? Oh jeez. 1995 with the Indians and Braves.

Am I missing something here? Aren't the #1 seeds also the teams with the best records?

[ninersdd]

Last time it happened was in 1999 with the Yankees and Braves.

Last time it happened with the two overall best records in baseball meeting up? Oh jeez. 1995 with the Indians and Braves.

Am I missing something here? Aren't the #1 seeds also the teams with the best records?

Not necessarily. They're the best teams in the respective leagues(AL and NL). There could be multiple teams in the other league better then the #1 seed in the other league.

[cmm]

So either St. Louis or Boston will win three World Series titles in the last decade. And there's also the Giants who have won two as well. So much for parity.

You're acting as if you're blaming the lack of parity for the Giants winning only two World Series titles. Be happy that at least you've seen your favorite team win the hardest and most mind-numbing championship in sports* in your lifetime. And two of them, for good measure.

*subject to debate with the Stanley Cup Playoffs

How is he blaming anything for the Giants only winning two World Championships? He was simply stating the multiple winners of the last 10 years. Or were you just looking to play another "woe is me" card so everyone will feel bad for you?

See, this is the kind of sentence which make me believe the arguments made by CMM and LMU, that all Cardinals fans are hypocritical, conservative, self-entitled bullies, who pick on fans from less-than-charmed franchises just for fun.

I never argued that. Every fanbase has its jerks, and the Cardinals are no different. I'm sure there are Cards fans who don't buy into the Best Fans nonsense that is forced down our throats. Or who don't pick on poor Scott Van Slyke for goofing off with Joe Kelly.

And for the record, I was actually rooting for St. Louis in the NLCS because I hate Don Mattingly more than I hate any Cardinal fan. Because I am a jerk Met fan with an unhealthy hatred for everything Yankee-related.

[waltere]

I don't understand all the hate for the Cardinals? Not just here but any site (Yahoo, espn etc). Cardinals are a classy team and organization. I can understand people hating on them for constantly contending but same goes for Boston. What gives? Am I missing something?

Any team that consistently contends will get hate, the Cardinals have consistently contended since the turn of the century. They've managed to do this yet somehow remain the 'small guy' in most of the media coverage, with the focus consistently managing to ignore that they regularly have one of the biggest payrolls in the league. They're also just a flat out irritatingly competent organisation, who always seem to magically produce some guy from the minor leagues to step up and do exactly the job required really rather better than anyone expected. On top of all this they also seem to be a persistent dream-killer in recent years, ending the seasons of so many actual underdog teams, whose fans were daring to dream for the first time in years, only to get steamrollered by the endless Cardinal juggernaut.

Then there's the smuggest, most self-congratulatory fanbase in all of baseball...

[infrared41]

Last time it happened was in 1999 with the Yankees and Braves.

Last time it happened with the two overall best records in baseball meeting up? Oh jeez. 1995 with the Indians and Braves.

Am I missing something here? Aren't the #1 seeds also the teams with the best records?

Not necessarily. They're the best teams in the respective leagues(AL and NL). There could be multiple teams in the other league better then the #1 seed in the other league.

Understood. I was thinking best record in their respective leagues not best record overall. Turns out I was missing something.

[Jimmy!]

Dodgers to be eliminated soon....espn must be crushed

I can understand the Cardinals Hate Train (heck, I'm on board that locomotive), but can we please quit making crappy comments on how such-and-such matchup is terrible for ESPN (or FOX or NBC or whomever) because some "small market" team wins? It is the worst.

I never understood people's obsession over what matchups they think networks will prefer. "Pirates versus Indians? The FOX executives are gonna hate this lol derrr" Who the hell cares what the networks want?

If this did ever materialize, FOX would then run sap stories between a team whose fans have endured 20+ years of sucking (Pirates) against a team who looks to end a city-wide curse of horrible luck among all its teams (Indians).

A match up FOX executives would hate? Mariners vs. Padres.

Hey! Eh...you're right. Mariners have only achieved relevancy for ten weeks in 1995. That's one advantage of living here. Once June comes around and Seattle is out if it, I can tune out of baseball and the "Insert team here" is a bunch of classless jerks.

[McCall]

So either St. Louis or Boston will win three World Series titles in the last decade. And there's also the Giants who have won two as well. So much for parity.

You're acting as if you're blaming the lack of parity for the Giants winning only two World Series titles. Be happy that at least you've seen your favorite team win the hardest and most mind-numbing championship in sports* in your lifetime. And two of them, for good measure.

*subject to debate with the Stanley Cup Playoffs

How is he blaming anything for the Giants only winning two World Championships? He was simply stating the multiple winners of the last 10 years. Or were you just looking to play another "woe is me" card so everyone will feel bad for you?

See, this is the kind of sentence which make me believe the arguments made by CMM and LMU, that all Cardinals fans are hypocritical, conservative, self-entitled bullies, who pick on fans from less-than-charmed franchises just for fun.

And see, this is where you show your ignorance. My comment had nothing to do with me being a Cardinals fan. But rather you, a Dodgers fan, basically attacking and twisting an innocent comment from a Giants fan into him being ungrateful. For the record, I like the Dodgers and hate the Giants, but you didn't even take his comments out of context. It was pretty clear he was simply listing multiple World Series winners of the last 10 years and yet you tried to make him sound like a whiner, which is ironic given just about every post you've made in here.

So how does that translate into Cardinals fans being hypocritical? It doesn't except for the fact that you don't like the team. No one said you couldn't. And until 8W...'s comments on the Dodgers due to the stand-off, which I disagreed with because I quite rather enjoyed it, most of the chatter back-and-forth had been between you haters and those who aren't Cardinal fans but simply defending them.

It's pretty clear that you're simply looking for anything and anyone you can criticize for whatever reason.

[dbadefense1990]

How is he blaming anything for the Giants only winning two World Championships? He was simply stating the multiple winners of the last 10 years.

Or were you just looking to play another "woe is me" card so everyone will feel bad for you?

See, this is the kind of sentence which make me believe the arguments made by CMM and LMU, that all Cardinals fans are hypocritical, conservative, self-entitled bullies, who pick on fans from less-than-charmed franchises just for fun.

And see, this is where you show your ignorance. My comment had nothing to do with me being a Cardinals fan. But rather you, a Dodgers fan, basically attacking and twisting an innocent comment from a Giants fan into him being ungrateful. For the record, I like the Dodgers and hate the Giants, but you didn't even take his comments out of context. It was pretty clear he was simply listing multiple World Series winners of the last 10 years and yet you tried to make him sound like a whiner, which is ironic given just about every post you've made in here.

So how does that translate into Cardinals fans being hypocritical? It doesn't except for the fact that you don't like the team. No one said you couldn't. And until 8W...'s comments on the Dodgers due to the stand-off, which I disagreed with because I quite rather enjoyed it, most of the chatter back-and-forth had been between you haters and those who aren't Cardinal fans but simply defending them.

It's pretty clear that you're simply looking for anything and anyone you can criticize for whatever reason.

1. I was merely observing the fact that I thought Bucfan desired parity, which hasn't really existed despite one of his teams being successful in this current run. We all want parity in sports for the results to be more fun and more thrilling in the long run, so for him to desire it, despite the Giants being the benefactors of such anti-parity, was kind of shocking. But he cleared the manner up, anyway. He's cool about it.

2. We're having this whole discussion as to why people hate the Cardinals, so while you say nothing in the discussion relating to your fan-hood, you do show for it in terms of the attitude towards the post. And it sure doesn't help how other Cardinal defenders have defended the team's actions with the whole "Cardinals are baseball Puritans" line.

3. Really? You, LMU and 8BW were all friendly in that whole "Van Slyke-Kelly" discussion? Sure didn't seem like it (the decree of "Just For Men" and "Kleenex" as official sponsors).

4. "Haters?" Really? Are we all back in middle school or something? This is something I hear little kids (or NBA fan-boys) say when they've run out of full arguments, a blanket-to-cover-all term of annoyance.

5. To borrow CMM's line, some of you St. Louis people sure have issues when someone criticizes the Cardinals, as if there is a double-standard. Set accordingly, there's the "other way" (i.e. other teams can't have fun nor other fans can't opinionate because it is sacrilegious and classless) and there's the "Cardinals way" (i.e. we're baseball's Messiah's and we can do whatever we want because we're the baseball God's chosen people).

6. You could have ended your response after the 2nd sentence and I'd be fine with it ("...he was simply stating the multiple winners..."). But you railroaded me out of nowhere on that last sentence ("...or were you looking for a woe-is-me..."). End your point after sentence number two, and I wouldn't take any offense to your original post. But adding that last part validates my suspicion on some Cardinals fans being bullies, sidelining other fans when given the chance. Never did I want any nor seek any pity from anyone; I was trying to draw up an observation on Bucfan's post and he answered back diligently. But you proved my point of hypocrisy; if the Cardinals were all about "class and knowledge," they don't need to come up with backhanded insults to other fans. Point being, you came up with such, and I take very offense to that. You had nothing to do with Bucfan's post to begin with, yet you wanted to bring yourself and the Cardinals into it, by implying that I want sympathy from other people because your team beat up on my team.

[The Six]

7. That's a long list.