Tony Phillips posted:

KIM JONG TRILL posted:

I want a time machine to go back to late April and tell myself this team would be in a Wildcard spot and just 4.5 out of best in the AL in a little over a month.

tarlibone posted:

This is my problem with them. And even if the rate has gone down, bats break all the time. I'm a little curious as to what the stats are, actually--I'd be amazed if no one was counting these.

Even if they didn't pose a safety risk--and they undeniably do--there is another good reason to get rid of them: how many broken-bat dingers do you see in a year? Broken bats turn base hits into easy outs, they turn great cuts into glorified bunts, and they turn dingers into shallow outfield flyouts. If we have to have something that breaks apart during play, how about some balls designed in such a way that you can literally knock the cover off the drat thing? Like in The Natural. Rip the cover off the ball, and it's a Torn Ball Triple or something.

Ball destroyed by bat: fun for everybody, stories to last a lifetime. Bat destroyed by ball: "Oh, gee, another out. It is fun to watch this."

TheIncredulousHulk posted:

Oh yeah, I'm all aboard. Some of it's probably to do with lineup protection, which I have no idea if Banister really believes in or not. But pitchers have pretty much refused to throw him fastballs after what he did to Jeff Samardzija and it's hard to believe batting in front of Prince Fielder instead of Elvis Andrus could hurt you.

I'm just so used to the Wash years, in which batting the shittiest hitter second bordered on religious doctrine

Senf posted:

gently caress the Cardinals and gently caress the Angels.

TheIncredulousHulk posted:

The worst umping I have ever seen on a baseball field. Worse than Joe West, worse than Angel Hernandez.

AppleCider posted:

I agree, but I think I'd be happy enough just to catch one and hand it to the nearest kid. Not sure what I'd do with one, let alone eight thousand baseballs.

Must give him great pleasure to think of the people he bullied and cheated to get those balls. Weird.

IcePhoenix posted:

N: Joey Gallo was sent to AAA to make room for Hamilton.

V: gently caress Josh Hamilton