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2005 Baseball Season
- Thread starter Sayhey
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I'm glad my Astros have gotten off to such a decent start (currently 4-2), I believe--meanwhile, the Mets are floundering...(though they did beat us on Monday).
Never got my predictions in there:
NL EAST
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Washington Nationals
NL CENTRAL
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates
NL West (All losers...)
LA Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks
The NL Central (the best and most exciting division in baseball) will continue to fight amongst themselves, and thus the Braves will sneak into the playoffs as the Wild Card.
My boys from Houston lost a lot less than people think. Carlos Beltran is not worth the $$$ that the Mets paid him (or the $$$ that the Astros were going to pay him)--look at his career numbers they are good, but he's not exactly Willie Mays. Beltran's October hitting probably earned him an extra $25M -- that said, his October hitting was marvelous! Jeff Kent moving on opened up a spot for future HoF'er Craig Biggio to return to a more familiar position (Kent is probably the worst defensive 2B the Astros have ever had), and for Willy Taveras to begin his development as the team's next arm in CF and leadoff hitter. It remains to be seen how Taveras' defense compares to Beltran--but I think, overall, we're improved up the middle. Finally, I think once Berkman is back, Ensberg will develop into a great 5 hitter and those of you in NL-only Rotisserie Leagues would be happy to have him on your team. I'm, surprisingly, pleased with the job that Tim Purpura has done since Gerry Hunsicker's departure.
Finally, let's not forget that last year's National League Cy Young Award winner is the THIRD starter in our rotation (though, some say he should be second)...the Oswalt-Pettitte-Clemens trio will go a LONG way, if healthy (fairly big IF).
The American League is worthless, and I prefer not to talk about them...but I do want to mention that both Boston and NYY are under .500 at the moment--and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Boston hovered around the .500 mark for the remainder of the season. The Yankees, unfortunately, will win 100 games with that starting rotation.
It's a lot of fun to live in Boston and boo the Sox and all of their AL companions.
So, I'm a total Astros fan--if you hadn't noticed.
Never got my predictions in there:
NL EAST
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Washington Nationals
NL CENTRAL
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates
NL West (All losers...)
LA Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks
The NL Central (the best and most exciting division in baseball) will continue to fight amongst themselves, and thus the Braves will sneak into the playoffs as the Wild Card.
My boys from Houston lost a lot less than people think. Carlos Beltran is not worth the $$$ that the Mets paid him (or the $$$ that the Astros were going to pay him)--look at his career numbers they are good, but he's not exactly Willie Mays. Beltran's October hitting probably earned him an extra $25M -- that said, his October hitting was marvelous! Jeff Kent moving on opened up a spot for future HoF'er Craig Biggio to return to a more familiar position (Kent is probably the worst defensive 2B the Astros have ever had), and for Willy Taveras to begin his development as the team's next arm in CF and leadoff hitter. It remains to be seen how Taveras' defense compares to Beltran--but I think, overall, we're improved up the middle. Finally, I think once Berkman is back, Ensberg will develop into a great 5 hitter and those of you in NL-only Rotisserie Leagues would be happy to have him on your team. I'm, surprisingly, pleased with the job that Tim Purpura has done since Gerry Hunsicker's departure.
Finally, let's not forget that last year's National League Cy Young Award winner is the THIRD starter in our rotation (though, some say he should be second)...the Oswalt-Pettitte-Clemens trio will go a LONG way, if healthy (fairly big IF).
The American League is worthless, and I prefer not to talk about them...but I do want to mention that both Boston and NYY are under .500 at the moment--and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Boston hovered around the .500 mark for the remainder of the season. The Yankees, unfortunately, will win 100 games with that starting rotation.
It's a lot of fun to live in Boston and boo the Sox and all of their AL companions.
So, I'm a total Astros fan--if you hadn't noticed.
MacNut said:What do you think would happen if the Cubs ever won.
Ron Santo would finally get into the Hall of Fame. And everyone would start wearing Harry Carey glasses.
Stevie, do the Cubs finish fourth because their pitching never gets healthy, or because Dusty Baker is prominently involved? Because if Prior and Wood are healthy, throwing Zambrano and Maddux in there gives them a better rotation than the Astros.
stevietheb said:
Well, it took one of the biggest hot streaks of recent years for the Astros to get into the playoffs last year. Seems unlikely that they could have another streak like that, but they also might not underachieve like in the first half of last year either.
It's one thing to be a fan, but to think the Astros are better than the Cardinals seems too optimistic. I suppose anything is possible, but be realistic here. Biggio and Bagwell will probably be worse than last year. Replacing the offense of Kent and Beltran will certainly be cheaper and it might work, but then it might not. Maybe they'l overachieve and St. Louis will underachieve, but how likely is it that this will make 13 games of difference? That's the margin that St. Louis won the NL Central by in 2004. The wild card is much more realistic, especially considering all of the Cubs' uncertainties.
NL West "losers"? I wonder if a division that includes the Brewers and Pirates would qualify?
stevietheb said:
I find it interesting that the Cubs' drought gets so much more attention than the White Sox's. The Chisox have gone longer without a championship than the Red Sox did and haven't played in the World Series since 1959. Is it only because of Wrigley Field that we have an affection for the Cubs instead?
Now, consider the cosmic implications of a Cubs-White Sox World Series. It happened in 1906....
Sox said:
Congrats on being losers for 86 years! I wish the Yankees would go on streak like that so I can witness a real ceremony
And say all you want about purchasing championships, but please do remind who was #2 in payroll?I also, congrats to Schilling for going 0-1.
Koodauw said:Congrats on being losers for 86 years! I wish the Yankees would go on streak like that so I can witness a real ceremony
I also, congrats to Schilling for going 0-1.
Yes, the Red Sox are #2 in payroll...by over $80 million. The Yankees spend more on their starting rotation that the Devil Rays do their entire team. Stade Fasciste, indeed. David Ortiz makes $5 million a year (but was signed in 2003 for $1.25 million). A-Rod makes five times that.
I have a question: Since you as a Yankees fan have a fixation with past glory, why do you gloss over the past four seasons, a period that saw the Yankees increase their payroll exponentially from year to year, but, for lack of a better phrase, continuously choked? Or, do those immense failures not count?
The Yankees have won more championships than any other sports team in the USA, perhaps the world. However, the Yankees are also the only team to ever lose a best-of-seven series when leading 3-0. That's never happened before, in all of history, to the point that it was deemed impossible as of October 16th, 2004. From now until Forever, the Yankees will be the Team That Choked, in a way and with more magnitude than any other sports team in the history of the USA, perhaps the world.
The Red Sox celebrated IN YOUR HOUSE. Or, does that not matter? If, like Mark McGwire, you are "not here to talk about the past," then you can forget Luis Gonzalez's single, the Anaheim Angels, and Josh Beckett. And you can expunge from mind the painful memories of David "Senor Octobre" Ortiz, Dave Roberts, and Bloody Socks. You can never bring them up again. But, if you choose to do that, you have to forget about bragging about those 26 champoinships, most of which happened before you were even born. As long as you fall back on your past glory, you must face your past failure. And the past failure of the Yankees is more profound than any in history.
***
Schilling lost a game? Damn, there goes the perfect season. First the gilded 162-0, now a 35-0 mark for Schill. All down the tubes. At this rate, he'll have a bigger ERA than Rivera. We're doomed.
I think the Red Sox forgot to invite a few people, I didn't see Bill Buckner anywhere at Fenway Park. Lets not forget the Red Sox past. The Sox were 1 out away from a championship in 86 when a ball went between the legs of Buckner and the Sox choked game 7.
The Red Sox should of easily of have had 5 or 6 championchips over the past 86 years. Don't blame the Yankees for all of your problems over the years. I think every team in baseball that was better than you should take some blame for the Curse of the Bambino. The past is over and its time to look to the future, all the way to the year 2090, the next time the Red Sox will ever win again.
the next time the Red Sox will ever win again.MacNut said:The Red Sox should of easily of have had 5 or 6 championchips over the past 86 years. Don't blame the Yankees for all of your problems over the years. I think every team in baseball that was better than you should take some blame for the Curse of the Bambino. The past is over and its time to look to the future, all the way to the year 2090,
Oh, I completely agree with you. 1946, 1949, 1967, 1978, 1986, 1988, and that's just for starters.
I'm not "blaming" the Yankees for anything. They're a great team. Where have I said otherwise? I've only mentioned certain parts of their history which fanboys like your Yankee compatriot conveiniently forget about.
And, let's be clear, the "Curse" was a media invention to sell books, nothing more, nothing less. If you think a ghost spooked Mike Torrez into giving up that pop fly in '78, then you're delusional. The "Curse" as a phenomenon only arrived a few years ago, and only because Dan Shaughnessy's an idiot.
And thank you for agreeing with me - the past IS over and it IS time to look to the future. And I'll be happy to do so with any Yankee fan, as long as he does the same. If 2004 is "over," than so are the Yankees 26 championships. See? It's the hypocrisy that kills me. We should look to the future, to 2005, where the Toronto Blue Jays are in first place.
You saying that the Sox won't win for another 86 years has about as much validity as me saying that the Yankees won't ever win again because they'll play the final four games of the ALCS with their hands placed firmly around their throats.
A knucklehead in right field at Fenway took a swing at Sheffield, who was going after a hit by Varitek. What a drunk idiot. It amounted to a graze; apparently he was going for the ball, per ESPN reporting. He was tossed out. Still, despicable. Sheffield hit him back, more of a shove. Terrible.
The crack security guard jumped right in before anything could escalate, but we cannot have these things happen. Fans need to stay in the stands, players in the field.
This is a great rivalry, but it must be played out between the lines. We had cops on the field in game 6 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium, and now this at Fenway. No good, and I condemn it.
Let's just play ball.
The crack security guard jumped right in before anything could escalate, but we cannot have these things happen. Fans need to stay in the stands, players in the field.
This is a great rivalry, but it must be played out between the lines. We had cops on the field in game 6 of the ALCS at Yankee Stadium, and now this at Fenway. No good, and I condemn it.
Let's just play ball.