Pitchers are going to hit batters sometimes, if only because there are so many pitchers out there with control issues...and some (ok, all) pitchers are going to try to "keep the batter honest" by throwing inside. Which is fine, baseball is a mental game, and if you can scare the batter into doing something he shouldn't, that's...well...part of the game, really. But deliberately hitting a guy over some almost-certainly-made-up slight and having your douchebag teammates applaud you for it? All in the name of imaginary "grit"?. Fuck. You. Doesn't matter if the guy's a dick or not (i.e. Braun, A-Rod, anyone else who gets way more shit than they deserve to get). You're fucking with someone's living (and possibly their life in the worst case scenario) over some childish horseshit "unwritten rules of the game"...and people wonder why baseball isn't more popular. Maybe it's because self-appointed policemen playing a kids game in pajamas have outlawed any sign of having fun whatsoever (i.e. bat-flipping, watching your home run for more than 1.1 seconds, etc.) because "baseball takes care of itself." It's a little pathetic really.
Incidentally, when was the last baseball fight? I mean actual fight with punches thrown, not the usual 20-on-20 shoving match with way more tough talk than is needed?
Haha, Kyle Farnsworth went to my high school and I have actually worked out with him before. He is not someone you want to start a fight with.
Dem M's. It's astounding to me that Iwakuma doesn't get more national attention. Felix and Iwakuma aren't just a 1-2 punch. They're a left hook-haymaker. Just ask the A's.
I can't believe the Mariners just played a meaningful series in July. Awesome. I still have my doubts that they'll get a wild card spot this season, but it seams like forever since the M's have been relevant or interesting after the all star break. I'm not sure if I want to see them make a move before the trade deadline or not. I still feel sick every time I see a Adam Jones highlight.
Bandwagon fans simply amaze me. People expect a playoff berth every year. They expect that a team can lose major players to injury and just make up the ground somewhere along the way by bringing up MiLB players. These people are idiots.
Big trades went down today. I'm happy that Seattle finally got a couple of RH bats that play OF for a couple of guys that were never going to play. Meanwhile, Oakland gets Jon fucking Lester for a guy who wins home run derbys and will do his best Manny impression in left field at Fenway.
I don't follow baseball all that closely anymore, but the Cespedes trade kind of surprised me. I don't think any other team trades a guy like that before the last year of his contract. Hell, my team has an inferior version of Cespedes in Jay Bruce and he isn't going anywhere.
I love the arms race going on between Detroit and Oakland right now. Oakland is extremely determined not to be owned by Detroit in October for the third year in a row. As someone who has absolutely no dog in this fight, I find it immensely entertaining.
The Yankees, despite injuries to their top 5 (!) starting pitchers, are just 1 games out of the playoffs. Tied in the loss column. If they can get pitchers back healthy and get some luck, they really can make a run at this thing.
And therein lies the problem. Sabbathia's gone for the year (and was pitching terribly when he was around), Nova is out for the year with Tommy John, and I would be very surprised if we got back Tanaka this year (although its not impossible, but partial UCL tears don't just go away). The only pitcher we can realistically get back in time for it to matter in Pineda, and that might not even happen (I've heard at the barest minimum the third week of August, probably later). That being said, they are doing better than I thought they would be in the beginning of the season. I thought they'd be closer to 5-6 games out of it by this point.
Tanaka THREW. Phelps is a legit number 3 starter. Pineda's looking great. McCarthy for Cy Young. Gardner is having an MVP year. All in on these Yankees, baby!!
To be fair, that has as much to do with the AL Central and AL West shitting the bed as anything else.
spent the weekend watching the nats sweep the pirates...fuck me if they don't consistently slump every august. please don't let last year be an aberration...after 20yrs i'm too fearful they'll finish another season under .500.
jesus montero went after a mariners scout with a bat after the scout heckled him and sent him an ice cream sandwich you can't make this stuff up https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-...-scout-over-ice-cream-sandwich-080802669.html