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Post by GLX on Jul 26, 2019 1:54:51 GMT
I caught a brief glimpse of MLB’s YouTube game, today. One of the big draws is the live chat involving team reps, an MLB rep, and various YouTubers. Presentation looks to be similar to MLB Network’s stuff. I’m hoping to get to see the Blue Jays/Indians game next week on the platform. Saw some of this the other day, but I caught the best parts. The broadcast team had Unbox Therapy in the booth for an inning to talk about his channel and baseball. There were some segments that gave looks into the lives of the players. Next week’s game features the Angels.
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Post by achilles on Jul 26, 2019 13:21:04 GMT
A first in MLB history last night in the Baltimore Orioles vs the Angels, the Baltimore center fielder became the first position player, (non-pitcher, non-catcher), in MLB history, well, since 1969 when they first kept the stat----to earn a save pitching, in this case in extra innings. I honestly thought that has happened long ago. www.foxnews.com/sports/position-player-earns-save-for-first-time-in-mlb-history-in-orioles-wild-victoryOkay, the Angels are my home team, but congrats to Steve Wilkerson and the Orioles for a first. As a side note, the game was the second longest ever at Angel's Stadium, (the Big A), and lasted 16 innings IIRC, and 6 hours and change.
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Post by achilles on Jul 29, 2019 14:27:21 GMT
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Post by achilles on Jul 31, 2019 23:01:15 GMT
The trade deadline is over, and the Astros suddenly became my favorite to maybe overtake the Yanks, getting Zack Greinke from the D-Back for three magic beans and a Kevin Costner baseball card.
Just for fun, that is the greatest most dramatic at-bat I've ever seen, and a great choice for best all-time. From the 1988 World Series. Notice the set-up, 2 outs, bottom of the ninth, a full count, and a Kirk Gibson who is so brutally banged up he can barely stand, and wasn't even introduced at the start of the game because they thought there was no way he'd play. Add in the baserunner, the throws to first, and the eventual stolen base...and it's MOVIE TIME!
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Post by GLX on Aug 3, 2019 15:20:38 GMT
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Post by achilles on Aug 3, 2019 16:51:02 GMT
Hopefully, at some point, they intend to inform him that you don't really get a running start on that pitch in the majors...
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Post by achilles on Aug 4, 2019 14:26:25 GMT
So the Astros are my new favorite for the Series. Well, if the Yankees cooperate so they can get there. But their new pitcher Aaron Sanchez got in a combined 9-0 win over the Mariners. Oh...and it was a no-hitter, the 12th combined no-hitter in MLB history. Not bad for his first game with his new team. And that's why they're my new favorite for the Series.
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Post by achilles on Aug 5, 2019 2:08:32 GMT
So, in the D-Back/Nationals game, a D-Back made that rarest of all single baseball plays---and most exciting, the inside the park home run! A thing of beauty.
A bit of an edit here when I realized that straight stealing home might be rarer than an inside the park home run; I really don't know, they are both very rare. But for sheer drama, for me it's the inside the park home run.
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Post by achilles on Aug 7, 2019 14:12:43 GMT
OMG, I LOVE the Orioles! Outfielder DJ Stewart...er....dove a BIT early on a catch try....and as he was laying on the field, got hit in the head with the ball, suffering a concussion. Now, not to belittle that, I've had one and they aren't fun, but how he got it should get him a drink in a bar for years to come. Saw Greinke's first game as an Astro...and he didn't have a good game, though he did get the win. So a bit of background for those not following the Astros. They got him for peanuts just before the trade deadline, giving the Astros one of the most formidable starting pitching rotations in baseball. In fact, with Verlander and Greinke, the Astros have the number two and three active pitchers with the most career wins. But the Astros three best pitchers are a perfect study in contrasts. Verlander and Cole are power pitchers, who vary their pitches vertically; Greinke is a finesse pitcher, with much slower speeds for his pitches than is normal these days in MLB, but he varies his pitches from side to side, painting the lower and inside or outside parts of the zone, with baffling pitches that drop out to an unusual degree, so that he can get batters swinging on pitches that seem to be in the strike zone, only to have them drop out when it reaches them. The game was a showcase for the Astros offense; there really isn't a weak spot in the line-up. My favorite to win the AL.
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Post by GLX on Aug 8, 2019 21:12:33 GMT
The Dodgers/Cardinals game that was on yesterday, made for a good way to polish off another shift at work. Quite surprised to see Nomar Garciaparra in the commentary booth.
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Post by GLX on Aug 17, 2019 15:34:45 GMT
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Post by achilles on Aug 24, 2019 13:37:31 GMT
MLB gets some things right. And of course they get some things wrong...very, very wrong. Like "Player's Weekend" AKA Spy vs Spy, or Chess, The Baseball Musical. So what was it? Well, the home players had to wear all white uniforms. No, seriously ALL WHITE! As in everything, including the player's names, team names, whatever, you couldn't read them. And they looked dumb. Away players had to wear black, making for a really stupid look, but at least you could read the player's names. Needless to say, it launched a thousand tweets...Spaceballs anyone? Not the best pic, as it was taken with a high res telephoto lens, but on TV and I'm told in person, very hard to see the names on the white uniforms.
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Post by achilles on Aug 25, 2019 13:50:21 GMT
God those Spy vs Spy uniforms are stupid. To make it even harder on...well, everyone trying to follow the game, even the broadcasters, they all have their....NICKNAMES on the uniforms, not their real names. Problem is, how are casual fans supposed to even know those nicknames, some of which are pretty obscure? Interestingly, the whole idea also embraced allowing the players to choose their own shoes and evidently bats. Saw some day glow yellow bats among the A's, still trying to figure out any advantage painting the contact area of the bat that color, (and one bat also had a dayglow pink handle area).
Watched the A's vs the Giants in the Bay Bridge series, and they brought in Eck among others for the occasion, (and the team's hall of fame weekend), and damn, he had a couple of words for the quake world series, (the famous WS game probably saved hundreds of lives that surreal day), but had most of his comments for the Kirk Gibson home run the other year....apparently people love to ignore the REST of his HOF career in favor of his giving up arguably the most famous home run in modern MLB history. He was kind of laughing about it, while also a bit frustrated by it.
In other MLB news, the Dodgers' Ryu had the first ever Grand Slam hit against him in his MLB career. Quite a feat, and despite that and a couple of bad, (for him), outings, I think he's still the MLB ERA leader.
Current best records in baseball are the Dodgers and Yankees, mostly tied, and the Astros, a game or so behind. My pick...the Astros, because they beefed up their pitching, starting and pen, before the trade. The Dodgers typically have a late season/post season collapse, and haven't won a series since...that Gibby home run deal I mentioned.
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Post by achilles on Aug 26, 2019 13:51:13 GMT
So..."Sea Bass"? WTF kind of nickname is THAT? And how the hell is the casual fan supposed to know who "Sea Bass" even is? And...announcers, don't you think maybe a bit of backstory explaining the name would have been in order? But if they did that, there wouldn't even be time for the game...
Okay, it was nice to honor Little League, (what the "Player's Weekend" was all about), but next time, ditch the Spy vs Spy theme, and ditch the nicknames...
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Post by achilles on Aug 28, 2019 13:06:42 GMT
Terrible, horrible news, and my condolences to Mr. Bivens and his family. Blake Bivens, a AA prospect with the Rays, suffered a horrible loss as his wife and baby were murdered in a triple homicide, killed by his wife's 18 year old brother, who was caught naked by the cops. It happened in Virginia. He plays for the Montgomery Biscuits, the Rays' AA affiliate in Alabama.
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