Hit and Run

[Reciprocity]

Anyone else watch the Series game tonight between Dodgers and Rays? Great game with back and forth runs and changing of the lead but what a finish - WOW! 

 

Bottom of 9th; 2 down with 2 strikes on the final Ray's batter then, all hell breaks loose! Most bizarre ending to a gam I've ever seen. Critical game too!!

[Boo]

Hall of Famer Phil Niekro passed away yesterday.  Niekro won 318 games in his career.  Struck out 3,342 batters.  Niekro racked up 5,404 innings pitched.

 

The numbers are impressive, but what I really remember about Phil Niekro is how nice he was to me when I met him.  It was 1982, I was eight years-old.  My dad took me to a Braves game at the old Fulton County Stadium.  Phil Niekro signed a baseball for me, I still have that ball in a plexiglass box.  Most of the guys on the team would sign an autograph, but Niekro took time to talk to me for a while.  He asked me if I played baseball.  I told him I had just joined the Dixie Youth league.  I explained that I had tried to throw a knuckleball a few times but I always put them in the dirt.  Niekro laughed and said: "I still put some of mine in the dirt."  Phil asked me: "you doing well in school...behaving yourself?"  I hesitated and answered: "for the most part."  He laughed and said: "all you can do is all you can do right?"

 

Thirty-eight years later and I remember that conversation like it was yesterday.

 

Rest in peace Knucksie.

[johnny5]

Horrible news about Phil Niekro.

 

Regarding the Cubs, I have no idea WTF their front office plans are.  Theo Epstein, former president of Cubs operations, left.  This wasn't totally unexpected.  Kyle Schwarber and Albert Almora were released (not tendered contracts for arbitration to be technical).  Almora was not a surprise.  Schwarber isn't a total surprise either but it is a tough to see someone capable of hitting 30 home runs released like that.

 

Again, the above was not completely unexpected.

 

Now, the Cubs traded their best pitcher and Cy Young award runner up Yu Darvish and their above average backup catcher Victor Caratini for the decent pitcher Zach Davies and 4 lower tier minor league players.  You never know how those minor league players turn out but this deal makes me more sick than the Eloy Jimenez, Dylan Cease trade for the super mediocre pitcher Jose Quintana.

 

There are also rumors about Willson Contreras being traded.

 

Cubs management swears this is not about finances but I assume the Cubs, who have been playoff contenders the last few years, are now trading everyone and rebuilding. 

 

Complete BS

Edited December 31, 2020 by johnny5

[Boo]

On 12/31/2020 at 4:22 PM, johnny5 said:

Cubs management swears this is not about finances but I assume the Cubs, who have been playoff contenders the last few years, are now trading everyone and rebuilding. 

 

Complete BS

 

When they say it's not about the money...it's about the money.

 

I hope the Cubs don't go the Marlins route and go into full fire sale mode.  I thought it was bad for baseball when Florida did it and it would be even worse to see a storied franchise like the Cubs do it.

 

The day "investment groups" and those sabermetrics guys took over baseball was a bad day for America's game.

[johnny5]

10 minutes ago, Boo said:

 

When they say it's not about the money...it's about the money.

 

...

 

The day "investment groups" and those sabermetrics guys took over baseball was a bad day for America's game.

 

Yes, it is about money.

 

Couldn't agree with you more about investment groups and metrics.  Metrics were what was used to argue that the Jose Quintana deal made sense at the time.

 

Javier Baez's contract comes up at the end of next season, as does Kris Bryant's and Anthony Rizzo's.  It is assumed Bryant will be gone.  Rizzo and his agent tried to negotiate a "team friendly" contract extension last off season and the front office delayed it. 

 

It will be interesting to see what happens to Baez who is the face of the franchise now.  It doesn't look good.

Edited January 1, 2021 by johnny5

[jillar]

Is this the thread where I tell you that Robin Ventura lives here and my husband and him played little league together?

 

 

[johnny5]

32 minutes ago, jillar said:

Is this the thread where I tell you that Robin Ventura lives here and my husband and him played little league together?

 

 

 

I collected baseball cards as a kid.  I think I might have his rookie card.

[Boo]

3 hours ago, jillar said:

Is this the thread where I tell you that Robin Ventura lives here and my husband and him played little league together?

 

It was a quite day in the neighborhood.  Then Nolan Ryan showed up and all hell broke loose.

[johnny5]

Well, a pretty crappy last couple of days for Cubs fans like myself.  They traded half the dang team.

 

Anthony Rizzo -> NY Yankees

Kris Bryant -> San Francisco Giants

Craig Kimbrell -> Chicago White Sox

Javier Baez -> NY Mets

Joc Pederson -> Atlanta Braves (I'm ok with that trade)

....and we still have Jason Heyward . 

 

In return, the Cubs get a ton of minor league prospects that will hopefully be good 3-5 years from now.  It is going to be a long next few years.

 

 

[notsmokinjo]

Was popping in to see how Boo was celebrating the end of the drought. 

 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO??????  

 

[Boo]

17 minutes ago, notsmokinjo said:

Was popping in to see how Boo was celebrating the end of the drought. 

 

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO??????  

 

 

As usual...my timing is impeccable.  I haven't really been paying attention to baseball the last couple of years.

 

The Covid season just felt weird.  Couldn't really get into baseball in 2020.  Then 2021 hit and baseball was infected by politics.  I just wanted to watch the games, geek out about stats, and tell that story about the time I met Phil Niekro for the umpteenth time.

 

Instead, the news was about Atlanta losing the All-Star game over some voter registration bill in Georgia.  The same old worn out debate over the "chop" being racist.  There was more talk of changing the team name.

 

As a kid, I simply loved baseball, playing and watching.  As an adult, I came to appreciate that baseball was a nice escape.  In the grand scheme, it didn't really matter if the Braves won or lost yet it did seem important in the moment.  For nine innings, all that political bullshit seemed to exist in a different world.  Those were simpler times.

 

I'm happy that the Braves are World Series Champions.  Been waiting since 1995 for that to happen again.  However, I feel a bit removed from it all.

 

God bless Chief Noc-A-Homa and GO BRAVES!

 

[Reciprocity]

Oh Boy! Blue Jays creamed Boston tonight; 28-5 

Including an inside the park grand slam home run! Clearly was NOT Boston's night 

[johnny5]

Rest in Peace Fernando Valenzuela