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2005 Baseball Season

Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
MacNut said:
Wash your baseball cap and clean the cleats as baseball season is only a day away.
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What are the chances the Diamondbacks will lead baseball in walks this year.

Could even set a record.

They took the top 3 pitchers for walks in the NL last year and put them on a single team.

---

Oh well, as long as they don't lead baseball in losses.
 
S

Sox

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2005
187
0
Sun Baked said:
What are the chances the Diamondbacks will lead baseball in walks this year.

Could even set a record.

They took the top 3 pitchers for walks in the NL last year and put them on a single team.

---

Oh well, as long as they don't lead baseball in losses.
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It all depends on whether Vasquez pitches like he did before the All Star Break last year. When he's on, he throws strikes and misses bats. I think he'll benefit from being out of the NY media circus. More importantly, he's had an offseason to recover from the past three years, where he logged roughly 3,000,000 innings of work. Although the Yankees would never talk about it, Vasquez obviously lost his arm in the second half last year. They gave up on this guy too quickly, and I think he'll have a great season.

I'd be more worried about the DBacks offense. Green hasn't earned his contract for two or three seasons now, and Glaus has a horrendous injury history. However, I think they'll win more games than the Royals.
 
wdlove

wdlove

macrumors P6
Oct 20, 2002
16,568
0
This is the day that Red Sox fans have been waiting for, 86 years since they have been defendign a World Title. Red Sox playing the Yankees in New York for the season opener. :D
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
wdlove said:
This is the day that Red Sox fans have been waiting for, 86 years since they have been defendign a World Title. Red Sox playing the Yankees in New York for the season opener. :D
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The first few innings of the season opener are looking rather ugly for the Red Sox right now. :eek:
 
S

Sox

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2005
187
0
MacNut said:
The Yankees are out for blood as they just won 9-2. :) :cool: :D :p
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That's it. Blow up the team. We'll never ever beat the Yankees! Woe is me!


Things we learned last night:

1. David Wells either needs to drink more or less before gametime.

2. Baseball umpires will NEVER ajudicate the HBP rule correctly.

3. The rivalry (as usual) is going to come down to pitching. Last night was a horrible mismatch going in (especially with the weather. No one had any semblence of control last night, but RJ has power to fall back on while Wells tops out at 89 mph). I'm not saying that the Sox win that game with Schilling, but it's not a 9-2 laugher. The more realistic comparison will come tomorrow afternoon, with Clement vs. Pavano.
 
aloofman

aloofman

macrumors 68020
Dec 17, 2002
2,206
3
Socal
wdlove said:
This is the day that Red Sox fans have been waiting for, 86 years since they have been defendign a World Title. Red Sox playing the Yankees in New York for the season opener. :D
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I think the home opener will be a bigger day. Something about revealing a championship banner at Fenway. I hear tickets were selling on e-bay for $5,000 apiece.
 
aloofman

aloofman

macrumors 68020
Dec 17, 2002
2,206
3
Socal
Sox said:
I'd be more worried about the DBacks offense. Green hasn't earned his contract for two or three seasons now, and Glaus has a horrendous injury history. However, I think they'll win more games than the Royals.
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Being in Socal, I've been observing both these guys for several years. I think the Angels let Glaus go mainly because they had a cheaper third-base prospect moving up (MacPherson), more than thinking that Glaus was past his prime. Which makes sense considering the other big contracts they have. The good news for them is that Glaus came back in the last part of 2004 and hit pretty well. His injury does not make him as risky as, say, Richie Sexson, but I don't know that he's that much more injury-prone than the average star player. I don't know that he'll hit 40 homers again though, if only because he's now playing a lot more games in SF, SD, and LA, which don't give up many home runs.

I'm less optimistic about Green. I don't see him ever hitting 35 homers again. His shoulder injury (frayed labrum) is not the type that baseball players ever fully recover from. In his first full year after his injury, he set a Dodger season record for doubles. Sounds good, right? Wrong. He pulled a bunch of doubles down the right-field line because he no longer had the power to hit them over the fence. (The Dodger front office is not blameless here. They hid his injury and made it seem like his power outage was just a product of age or bad mechanics instead of a physical problem. They were also kind of disrespectful to him in all their trade talks last season.) Green has always been a streaky hitter and at the end of last season he had a nice run that made his season seem respectable. He also has not been a great fielder the last several years. He doesn't have the range or the arm that he used to.

Having said that, I think Green can still be a decent player for a while. But he's overrated now like many veteran power hitters are. As crazy as it seemed at the time, I approved of the trade even though it didn't save LA that much money. I really think they're better without him. And it's possible that the change of scenery will to Shawn some good. He was a popular player here and I'm sure the Arizona fans will like him. But I wouldn't expect to him to earn that contract extension.
 
S

Sox

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2005
187
0
A few years ago, I seem to recall a Glaus suffering a similar injury to his shoulder problems from 2004. He's certainly not past his prime, by any means. He and Vlad were the only two Angles who hit in the ALDS last year. And you're right - he's no Richie Sexon.

MacPherson was sent to AAA to start the season. Is he injured?

Also, what's your take on the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" boondoggle?
 
MacNut

MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,973
CT
How weak is that division if the Tigers can take 2nd. They are currently killing the Royals right now up 5-0.
 
MacNut

MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,973
CT
Pedro seems to be holding his own so far as a Met, But he's no Randy Johnson.
 
buryyourbrideau

buryyourbrideau

macrumors 65816
Mar 1, 2005
1,212
0
Chicago
okay i know you people dont care about the tigers but know dmitri young just got his third jack of the day and if this dosnt raise any eyebrows about the tigers offensive ability this year then i dont know what will...11-2 bottom 8 :)
man this is just making my day
 
MacNut

MacNut

macrumors Core
Jan 4, 2002
22,995
9,973
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They are playing Kansas City tho so in not sure if thats a good judgement of the Tigers. :rolleyes:
 
buryyourbrideau

buryyourbrideau

macrumors 65816
Mar 1, 2005
1,212
0
Chicago
agreed...will have to wait a little while to get some respectful bragging rights, we did beat the yanks in spring trainng but thats not too much to holler about....but hey they are 150% better then last year so that at least makes me happy :)
 
aloofman

aloofman

macrumors 68020
Dec 17, 2002
2,206
3
Socal
Sox said:
MacPherson was sent to AAA to start the season. Is he injured?
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Yes.

http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/8341613

Sox said:
Also, what's your take on the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" boondoggle?
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It's way overplayed. The scoreboards will say "LAA", but the team refers to itself generically as "the Angels." Most of Socal doesn't care and changing the name won't attract many new fans, as the team owner hopes. Their main fan base in Orange County will be peeved, but if the Angels play well, they'll still show up to the games. The "of Anaheim" is only there for contractual reasons to prevent the city of Anaheim from stopping them. Nobody expects people to say the whole official name.

Overall, I'd say it's a creative marketing move that won't yield much in extra revenue.
 
Sun Baked

Sun Baked

macrumors G5
May 19, 2002
14,937
157
Sox said:
It all depends on whether Vasquez pitches like he did before the All Star Break last year. When he's on, he throws strikes and misses bats. I think he'll benefit from being out of the NY media circus. More importantly, he's had an offseason to recover from the past three years, where he logged roughly 3,000,000 innings of work. Although the Yankees would never talk about it, Vasquez obviously lost his arm in the second half last year. They gave up on this guy too quickly, and I think he'll have a great season.
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Well he's throwing strikes all right, unfortunately -- he's throwing them right at the bats. :(

Threw for 8 hits and 6 runs in his first 5 outs before they called the bullpen, and it got a little worse before somebody could replace him.

At least they weren't a bunch of walks. :rolleyes:
 
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