I noticed that we didn't have a MLB thread yet for the 2011 season. Talk amongst yourselves Tibbers. I'll kick it off by saying that the Cubs have about a 6 percent chance of coming in anything higher than 4th. I'm usually optimistic about their chances, because well, they've already taken my sanity and its all I have left. Then the season starts and I lose both. Things that I am predicting about the Cubs: Garza gets rocked and everyone in Chicagoland hates him. We opine for the return of Silva the Hut. Pena hits under 225, someone from the Trib calculates how many thousands of dollars per percentage point he is getting paid. Carlos Marmol hits a mascot from a wild pitch. I hope that its Bernie the Brewer. Fuck that mascot. Aramis Ramirez will get injured again and will only play 100 games. We once again have no decent backup for him. Casey McGhee chuckles under his breath when he hits a soft liner to Jeff Baker and he takes it in the teeth. Starlin Castro will kill 14 people in the stands by over throwing first base. By doing so Shawon Dunston's record is eclipsed. Ryan Dempster's only value to the team is that he lightens the clubhouse mood by doing impressions of Harry Carey. Koyie Hill loses another finger, this time to a radial arm saw. However, this helps his batting average, because now its up to 200. Strange. The Ricketts openly admit that the Cubs suck and they should have never bought them. I throw over 60 items at the TV when Fukudome corkscrews into the ground after a strike out. The Fiance asks me at least a thousand times to calm down and stop walking around the house ranting and raving like a fucking lunatic. I tell the Fiance to shut the fuck up over a thousand times. I take solace in the fact that even though the Cardinals are a better franchise and have many a World Series victorys in the past 100 years, their fans have to live in a shitty place like,,, you know, St Louis. Fuck those people. The Cubs take notice of me making fun Cardinal fans and finish below them in the standings, because, you know, if you've been getting disappointed for over a hundred years..... What's one more?
I am stuck at work. I had a choice, I could either take off st. Patricks day, or today. I chose to drink guiness until my poo was darker than the night. Anyway.... What is the website you use to stream sporting events? AED.tv or something to that effect? I really don't want to be reprimanded for leaving the office to watch the Reds play. Looks like I was looking for this: atdhenet.tv And it doesnt have baseball links. SO any idea where to get the games streaming?
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.myp2pforum.eu/threads/54207-Streaming-MLB-Today-Thursday-31-March-Opening-Day" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.myp2pforum.eu/threads/54207- ... pening-Day</a> They'll probably post the links on the main site closer to the first pitch, but that thread should have all the details on how to get the streams working. Apparently MLB is cracking down on internet streaming, so they may not have flash streams and you may have to download a program to watch the games. Not sure if you can do that on the computer at work, but at least that's one way to watch.
Kaz Matsui pulled it off his first 3 years in the bigs. I have a sneaky feeling their careers aren't going to head down the same paths. EDIT: In more useless Opening Day trivia, Pujols is now the 100th player in major league history to hit into 3 double-plays in 1 game.
Sox start in Texas... good thing since there's 10" of snow on the ground here. In honor of Tim Wakefield making the opening day roster I have proudly brought him back. Timmah! So much new pop in the lineup this year it's exciting. Hoping Pedroia and his half bum foot stay healthy.
Ok, here's the deal. I have fucking loathed baseball for some time now. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you the details. I want to give it a half-decent chance as I've only ever really watched it for like, 5 minutes without desperately wanting to change the channel. What's the best way for me to get into baseball?
Honestly, if you can't go to a game, it can be hard to get into baseball. I totally understand people who aren't into baseball and have never actually been to a game or played it themselves. It can be fairly boring to watch on TV, and even I struggle with that. However, going to a baseball game is awesome. The game seems to move much faster in person, plus having a few drinks and hanging out with friends at a baseball game is honestly one of the best things to do during the summer. This is especially true if your team's stadium has great food (and US Cellular Field has amazing food). Fantasy baseball got me more into it, too. It taught me to look at players outside my own team (I am a White Sox fan), in much the same way Fantasy Football made me a much bigger football fan. Look for an easy fantasy baseball league to join just for shits and giggles, do a little research, and try to keep up with it. If you can't, you can't. If it is a Yahoo public league, you'd just be one of the eighty thousand who stop playing half way into the season. If neither of those are options? I recommend picking a team you really like and following them closely. Again, not sure where you live, so I don't know what teams broadcast in your area (MLB has some arcane fucking rules about who gets broadcast where). MLB.tv can allow you to see and pick any team you want. The main thing is that if you have a team you're actively rooting for, it makes the sport more fun.
Predictions for the Pirates (as if it matters): 65-67 wins. Pitching is going to be terrible but strong bats are going to compensate for it and win them some games they would not have last year. Doumit gets traded. Cheese Chester is the pierogie champion for the year. As for stuff that matters... Division Winners: Red Sox, White Sox, Rangers, Phillies, Reds, Giants. Wildcard: TB Rays, Atlanta Braves World Series: Red Sox over Phillies
Prediction time! AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez NL MVP: Buster Posey AL CY: C.C. Sabathia NL CY: Josh Johnson AL ROY: Jeremy Hellickson NL ROY: Freddie Freeman Divisions: Bos, Min, Texas, Atlanta, Mil, SF WC: NYA, Phil NY over Min Bos over Texas NY over Bos Phil over SF Mil over Atlanta Mil over Phil NY over Mil These predictions are actually a mix of things I think will happen, and things that I think are +EV bets. Which is which should be obvious.
Guy analyzes whether it is possible to watch every MLB game within one year (most pre-recorded of course) Short answer: Yes but it'd be an awful existence. http://www.sbnation.com/2011/4/2/2086740/baseball-schedule-2011-mlb
I like Pitt to win more games than that, nothing outlandish, but approaching 75 wins isn't an absurd thought and they're clearly headed in the right direction. McDonald & Morton will be better than most would expect too. This year 4th place in the Central, next year the World? I bet I watch most of well over 200 games a year, not counting minor league games or days games I have to just listen to now that my job has banned the use of internet for streaming sporting events. Horrible, horrible predictions: ( I'm never anywhere close on these) Divisions: Bos, ChiSox, Tejas, Atlanta, Cincy, SF WC: NYY, Phil CWS over NYY Bos over Tex CWS over Bos Cincy over Phil Atlanta over SanFran ATL over Cincy ATL over CWS I don't think TB has the bats to pull out the wildcard, I think Florida makes a stronger push than most expect and are in strong contention the final week of the season, Cincy struggles due to pitching but ultimately holds on to the Central while Mil & StLou fall short due to bullpen and injury woes, respectively. NLWest turns into a slopfest but SanFran holds on despite it's arms struggling from a long season last year ( I leaned Colorado but Ubaldo looked broken yesterday.) Minny finally plays like it appears they should on paper & people stop trying to use the "small-market" argument for a team with the 9th highest payroll in baseball. The ATL pick is very obviously a homer one, but I expect them to use a surplus of arms to bring in another RH OF during the season, as Chipper will get injured & Prado will have to be relocated to 3B. Minor spends most of the season in the rotation as JJ's injury is more significant than anticipated, Beachy & Vizcaino become trade-bait, Teheran & Delgado are retained, and Kawakami is eventually put back on the 40-man and makes useful appearances in long-relief and a few helpful spot starts down the stretch.
My baseball and ATL knowledge isn't nearly as refined as Kinsey, but I'll get on board with everyone else. I plan on watching much more baseball than usual now that football's in such limbo. Plus, how can you not get excited about Jay-Hey? 1.000+ OPS? YES WE CAN! No doubt these will be so laughably wrong by October, but whatevs: NL East: Philadelphia NL Central: St. Louis NL West: San Francisco Wild Card: Atlanta AL East: NY Yankees AL Central: ChiSox AL West: Texas Wild Card: Tampa Bay AL MVP: Mark Teixeira NL MVP: Jason Heyward AL CY: David Price NL CY: Doc Halladay AL ROY: I have no fucking clue NL ROY: Freddie Freeman I forget how playoff seedings work, and don't have the inclination to look it up. Not that it will matter, since the Braves will shit all over everyone, Heyward hits like 20 HRs in the NLCS, and Hanson will throw 4 no-hitters against whatever chump team comes out of the AL. I'm just happy to see Chipper back for another year, even though I'd be surprised to see him play 120 games. It would have sucked to see him finish his career on the DL, though. Plus, he has the opportunity to pick up a few milestones this season (2500 hits, 500 doubles, 1500 RBIs, can move up as much as 4 spots on the career HR list). You know what's going to be super-duper awesome about the 2011 season? This:
So I am in another city without cable or a television. Any game-streaming help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Thank you Ted Turner for my ability to watch every game, starting 5 minutes after normal programing would.
Predictions, cause why not (note: yes I am a White Sox fan): AL East: Red Sox AL Central: White Sox AL West: Rangers AL Wild Card: Yankees NL East: Phillies NL Central: Reds NL West: Giants NL Wild Card: Braves Playoffs: ALDS: White Sox over Yankees, Rangers over Red Sox NLDS: Phillies over Reds, Giants over Braves ALCS: White Sox over Rangers NLCS: Phillies over Giants World Series: Phillies over White Sox AL MVP: Adam Dunn (I think he'll hit damn near 60 home runs playing in US Cellular Field for half his games) NL MVP: Joey Votto AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum If I'm right about any of this, I'll be shocked.
Mediocre pitching matched up against one of the best line ups in the league. The worst case scenario happened.