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Square Wheels

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It used to be that most men and boys in the Baltimore area could name all the Orioles players and recite many statistics.

Now it's much reduced, with know-it-all owner Peter Angelos reducing the team from one of the great baseball franchises to two decades of bottom-of-the-barrel performances. This year, they had one of the worst modern-era seasons in the history of baseball, with 47 wins and 115 losses - just 5 fewer losses than the worst expansion era team, the 1962 "Amazin' Mets" where manager Casey Stengel asked, "Can anyone on this team play baseball?"

In 2018, for the first time since TV sports began, there were NO Orioles games shown on broadcast TV.  You needed a cable service that carried MASN Sports Network - owned by Orioles owner Angelos.  Since 50% of people no longer have cable TV, Angelos is making sure 50% of potential fans aren't encouraged to root for the team!

When I ask people who once followed the Orioles closely, "So what's the pitching like this year?" they reply they don't know the names of any of the pitchers.

It's going to be like on Star Trek, where they talk about the last professional baseball teams and of the pro sport.

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1 hour ago, Square Wheels said:

is still boring.  Lots of spitting.  They have replay review now?  Makes it even worse to watch.

Looked Boston was going to easily take this in 4.  Now it looks like they are trying to lose.

It was highly unlikely Boston was going to sweep even through they are a juggernaut this year.

Either you get baseball or you don't.  It's a beautiful game but I get it...

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40 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

It used to be that most men and boys in the Baltimore area could name all the Orioles players and recite many statistics.

Now it's much reduced, with know-it-all owner Peter Angelos reducing the team from one of the great baseball franchises to two decades of bottom-of-the-barrel performances. This year, they had one of the worst modern-era seasons in the history of baseball, with 47 wins and 115 losses - just 5 fewer losses than the worst expansion era team, the 1962 "Amazin' Mets" where manager Casey Stengel asked, "Can anyone on this team play baseball?"

In 2018, for the first time since TV sports began, there were NO Orioles games shown on broadcast TV.  You needed a cable service that carried MASN Sports Network - owned by Orioles owner Angelos.  Since 50% of people no longer have cable TV, Angelos is making sure 50% of potential fans aren't encouraged to root for the team!

When I ask people who once followed the Orioles closely, "So what's the pitching like this year?" they reply they don't know the names of any of the pitchers.

It's going to be like on Star Trek, where they talk about the last professional baseball teams and of the pro sport.

I was involved in the baseball community so nearly all of my sons friends played and followed it and still do. But I also get we are the minority.

Baseball hasn't been shown over the air in years out here. Cable or satellite only.  I'm an Angel fan but the Dodgers and their cable network have been in a pissing contest with the satellite providors so Direct TV viewers haven't been able to watch the Dodgers for 2 years now.

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17 hours ago, ChrisL said:

I was involved in the baseball community so nearly all of my sons friends played and followed it and still do. But I also get we are the minority.

Baseball hasn't been shown over the air in years out here. Cable or satellite only.  I'm an Angel fan but the Dodgers and their cable network have been in a pissing contest with the satellite providors so Direct TV viewers haven't been able to watch the Dodgers for 2 years now.

Our family's next generation's 10th year old is on an elite traveling league team that practices all year. I coached an high school elite fast-pitch softball team that was always ranked in the state's top 10 - as ranked by the Baltimore Sun newspaper. It wasn't that I was such a great coach, it's that Northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland used to be THE hotbed for girl's softball in the state and had lots of great rec. leagues that fed skilled players to us.

So I've loved the sport, but despaired over the Orioles' Owner. At one point, there was a citizens' march on his offices demanding he do something to improve the team. That worked for a while over the past several years, but owner Peter Angelos got rid of the good baseball men who had brought the team back from being a train-wreck of an organization.

I've gone to more of the Single A Aberdeen Firebirds games (owned by Cal Ripken, who many wish owned the Orioles) and the AA Bowie Baysox in recent years than I have Orioles games.  The A and AA teams have small but great stadiums with playgounds for kids and picnic tables next to them so the adults can watch the games and kids and eat, every seat is close to the field, and the concessions are McDonald's-priced - it's not a financial adventure to take a family to the game!

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1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

Our family's next generation's 10th year old is on an elite traveling league team that practices all year. I coached an high school elite fast-pitch softball team that was always ranked in the state's top 10 - as ranked by the Baltimore Sun newspaper. It wasn't that I was such a great coach, it's that Northern Anne Arundel County, Maryland used to be THE hotbed for girl's softball in the state and had lots of great rec. leagues that fed skilled players to us.

So I've loved the sport, but despaired over the Orioles' Owner. At one point, there was a citizens' march on his offices demanding he do something to improve the team. That worked for a while over the past several years, but owner Peter Angelos got rid of the good baseball men who had brought the team back from being a train-wreck of an organization.

I've gone to more of the Single A Aberdeen Firebirds games (owned by Cal Ripken, who many wish owned the Orioles) and the AA Bowie Baysox in recent years than I have Orioles games.  The A and AA teams have small but great stadiums with playgounds for kids and picnic tables next to them so the adults can watch the games and kids and eat, every seat is close to the field, and the concessions are McDonald's-priced - it's not a financial adventure to take a family to the game!

Could be worse, you could be a Padre fan and live through decades of crappy baseball!!

You  know I've never been to a minor league baseball game. The Angels are closer than any of the local minor league teams.  

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I might have mentioned this in another thread, but the guy across the hall from me at work has a brother who's a Major League Ump.

He had the privilege of being the home plate ump for the marathon game Friday night.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/sports/baseball/world-series-game-three-ted-barnett.html

 

At 7 hours 20 minutes, it was the third-longest game in the last century, topped only by an 8 hour 6 minute marathon between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox in 1984, and a 7 hour 23 minute slog between the Mets and the San Francisco Giants in 1964. The Brewers-White Sox game was suspended and finished the next day, meaning that Game 3 was nearly the longest to be played in one sitting.

 

Actually, forget the word sitting. For Barrett and crew, there was no sitting at all. Not once in the 440 minutes of Game 3 did Barrett take a seat. He paused for a bathroom break in the 14th, he estimated, but otherwise stayed upright and alert for all 561 pitches.

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1 minute ago, BuffJim said:

I might have mentioned this in another thread, but the guy across the hall from me at work has a brother who's a Major League Ump.

He had the privilege of being the home plate ump for the marathon game Friday night.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/sports/baseball/world-series-game-three-ted-barnett.html

 

At 7 hours 20 minutes, it was the third-longest game in the last century, topped only by an 8 hour 6 minute marathon between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox in 1984, and a 7 hour 23 minute slog between the Mets and the San Francisco Giants in 1964. The Brewers-White Sox game was suspended and finished the next day, meaning that Game 3 was nearly the longest to be played in one sitting.

 

Actually, forget the word sitting. For Barrett and crew, there was no sitting at all. Not once in the 440 minutes of Game 3 did Barrett take a seat. He paused for a bathroom break in the 14th, he estimated, but otherwise stayed upright and alert for all 561 pitches.

Wow that's rough.  We would see umps sign up for multiple games during a tournament but they didn't call balls & strikes in back to back games, even 7 inning HS games.  

That's pretty hard core!

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9 hours ago, Parr8hed said:

Never watched the baseball until Em started playing softball.  I enjoy it much more now.  I feel like I understand the game more.  

You hit the ball and you run in a circle until you get back to where you were. What's not to understand?

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14 minutes ago, shotgun said:

You hit the ball and you run in a circle until you get back to where you were. What's not to understand?

INFIELD FLY is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder stationed in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.

When it seems apparent that a batted ball will be an Infield Fly, the umpire shall immediately declare "Infield Fly" for the benefit of the runners. If the ball is near the baseline, the umpire shall declare "Infield Fly if Fair."

The ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught, or retouch and advance after the ball is touched, the same as on any fly ball. If the hit becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul.

If a declared Infield Fly is allowed to fall untouched to the ground, and bounces foul before passing first or third base, it is a foul ball. If a declared Infield Fly falls untouched to the ground outside the baseline, and bounces fair before passing first or third base, it is an Infield Fly.

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2 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Well you're gonna have to wait until April now.... 

Define "gonna have to wait"

I use to love baseball.  I grew up like so many other kids wanting to be a big leaguer.  I played LL and Senior LL and HS ball and some as an adult.  I was a student of the game.  It helped that both my mom and dad loved the game.  My dad was my first LL coach.  Maybe the best day of my childhood was the day I say Mickey Mantel standing in a parking lot at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

As I aged I lost the patience for the game.  It bores me to death.  I can watch an inning or 2 but that's it.

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8 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Define "gonna have to wait"

I use to love baseball.  I grew up like so many other kids wanting to be a big leaguer.  I played LL and Senior LL and HS ball and some as an adult.  I was a student of the game.  It helped that both my mom and dad loved the game.  My dad was my first LL coach.  Maybe the best day of my childhood was the day I say Mickey Mantel standing in a parking lot at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

As I aged I lost the patience for the game.  It bores me to death.  I can watch an inning or 2 but that's it.

Gonna have to wait till April to watch a regular season major league game.  But since Prophet hasn't watched a major league game since June it's not likely he'll watch an AZ fall league or one of the Dominican winter league games let alone College or youth fall leagues.

We lived and breathed baseball year round for years...  My son actually admitted the other day he gave up on it too soon and wished he had stuck it out another year... He's thinking of spending the winter/spring getting back in shape and trying to walk on somewhere.

 His girlfriend who he met after he quit asked him if he was any good.  He said I probably could have gotten drafted if I stuck with it.  They play baseball in the Army...  

Good thing she's pretty....

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1 minute ago, ChrisL said:

Gonna have to wait till April to watch a regular season major league game.  But since Prophet hasn't watched a major league game since June it's not likely he'll watch an AZ fall league or one of the Dominican winter league games let alone College or youth fall leagues.

We lived and breathed baseball year round for years...  My son actually admitted the other day he gave up on it too soon and wished he had stuck it out another year... He's thinking of spending the winter/spring getting back in shape and trying to walk on somewhere.

 His girlfriend who he met after he quit asked him if he was any good.  He said I probably could have gotten drafted if I stuck with it.  They play baseball in the Army...  

Good thing she's pretty....

Classic.

 

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5 hours ago, Parr8hed said:

dropped 3rd strike.

From the parent who had a kid with a nasty split finger I hated that rule. I lost count of the number of swing & miss 3rd strike passed balls he had. Defense was so bad many of those strike out victims scored too.

If they had a stat for complete game losses he would have led his league 2 years in a row..  He was the league leader is Ks, #2 in ERA with a 3.2 and most innings pitched his senior year. And was 4-7... 

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On 10/29/2018 at 2:41 PM, Ltdskilz said:

Baseball calls it a diamond in an attempt to impress the chicks.

Chicks dig the long ball

I prefer the college game to the MLB version. I can watch MLB tonite to catch up on things. I enjoy the reparte as they go around the games. The MLB seems too focused on home runs. I like the strategy in collge ball. 

Plus..my oregon state beavers are CWS Champs!

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3 hours ago, ChrisL said:

From the parent who had a kid with a nasty split finger I hated that rule. I lost count of the number of swing & miss 3rd strike passed balls he had. Defense was so bad many of those strike out victims scored too.

If they had a stat for complete game losses he would have led his league 2 years in a row..  He was the league leader is Ks, #2 in ERA with a 3.2 and most innings pitched his senior year. And was 4-7... 

Kinda the same with Emmy's drop ball.  

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