Ahhhhhh Baseball!

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-03-30 02:53pm

'tis a glorious start to the year!

First, the insidious Yankees suffer an embarassing loss to the Japanese League Hanshin Tigers (BANZAI!!), and then, oh glory be to the fates, they blow a 2-0 lead and get assraped 11-3 by the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays!

[nelson muntz] HAH-HA! George Stienbrenner has a fat head. [/nelson muntz]
!

Bertie Wooster · Post by **Bertie Wooster** » 2004-03-30 03:02pm

The Yankees are way too loaded up on superstars. I'd like to see them get beaten. Quite literally, the "Galactic Empire" of MLB.

Post by **RogueIce** » 2004-03-30 03:04pm

"Lowly" Devil Rays? Bah, go fuck yourself.

(Sarcasm!)

GO D-RAYS!!!!

Montcalm · Post by **Montcalm** » 2004-03-30 03:05pm

Prayer: Dear God make sure the Montreal Expos are sold to any US city willing to buy a team.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-03-30 03:06pm

RogueIce wrote:"Lowly" Devil Rays? Bah, go fuck yourself.

(Sarcasm!)

GO D-RAYS!!!!

i wouldn't go that far, but i will say : Go Rocco Baldelli! Hometown boy done good.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-03-30 03:07pm

Montcalm wrote:Prayer: Dear God make sure the Montreal Expos are sold to any US city willing to buy a team.

i've heard two things regarding that:

1 the expos are moving to puerto rico

2 the expos are moving to connecticut

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-03-30 03:16pm

......................... I hate baseball.

Someone please tell me why a small-town city like Charleston WV has to have a $100mil brand-spankin' new Baseball Stadium when the current stadium can't even fill itself!!! ESPECIALLY when it's being built in an area of town that doesn't even have a Grocery Store because the Chain decided to abandon it, and the city hasn't cared enough to lure another store in!!!

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-03-30 03:32pm

LadyTevar wrote:......................... I hate baseball.

Someone please tell me why a small-town city like Charleston WV has to have a $100mil brand-spankin' new Baseball Stadium when the current stadium can't even fill itself!!! ESPECIALLY when it's being built in an area of town that doesn't even have a Grocery Store because the Chain decided to abandon it, and the city hasn't cared enough to lure another store in!!!

considering the fact that there isn't a major leauge tem in Charleston, West Virginia, i'd say thats a pretty dumb idea. One of Robert Byrd's pork barrel,' build it for the sake of construction jobs' projects perhaps?

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-03-30 03:36pm

LadyTevar wrote:......................... I hate baseball.

Someone please tell me why a small-town city like Charleston WV has to have a $100mil brand-spankin' new Baseball Stadium when the current stadium can't even fill itself!!! ESPECIALLY when it's being built in an area of town that doesn't even have a Grocery Store because the Chain decided to abandon it, and the city hasn't cared enough to lure another store in!!!

I find baseball extremely boring to watch other than in highlights, and the season is way way way too long. You know something is boring as all hell when they have to create odd statistics for the fans to track so they can get excited.

Anyway, what was the point of Charleston's new stadium? Do you have a minor league team that plays there or was it built to attract Major League teams for spring training.

Tucson built Tucson Electric Park a few years ago to attract and keep more spring training teams. We'd long had spring training teams at High Corbet, and that was were the local minor league team played but we kept losing teams because our stuff wasn't new and fancy enough and there weren't enough teams down here for them to play against each other.

So with the addition of TEP we have a few more teams for Spring Training and now the local team plays at TEP instead of High Corbet. Interestingly, TEP was built by charging a tax on hotel rooms and RV space rental, plus they charge a bunch for parking to go to the games. High Corbet parking is still free.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-03-30 04:42pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:
LadyTevar wrote:......................... I hate baseball.

Someone please tell me why a small-town city like Charleston WV has to have a $100mil brand-spankin' new Baseball Stadium when the current stadium can't even fill itself!!! ESPECIALLY when it's being built in an area of town that doesn't even have a Grocery Store because the Chain decided to abandon it, and the city hasn't cared enough to lure another store in!!!
considering the fact that there isn't a major leauge tem in Charleston, West Virginia, i'd say thats a pretty dumb idea. One of Robert Byrd's pork barrel,' build it for the sake of construction jobs' projects perhaps?

Charleston has a AA feeder team for the Blue Jays, iirc, the Charleston AlleyCats. And it's not Byrd this time, it's the City Of Charleston, who were told by the owners of the AlleyCats to get them a new stadium or they take the team elsewhere.

My opinion? If you don't want to fix up the old stadium that you can't even frikkin' fill to half-capacity, don't build a new, bigger one in an area that needs that property for a frikkini' Grocery Store!!

But this is an old rant

Sorry to bring it up, but it's a very sore subject.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-03-30 05:00pm

LadyTevar wrote: Charleston has a AA feeder team for the Blue Jays, iirc, the Charleston AlleyCats. And it's not Byrd this time, it's the City Of Charleston, who were told by the owners of the AlleyCats to get them a new stadium or they take the team elsewhere.

My opinion? If you don't want to fix up the old stadium that you can't even frikkin' fill to half-capacity, don't build a new, bigger one in an area that needs that property for a frikkini' Grocery Store!!

But this is an old rant Sorry to bring it up, but it's a very sore subject.

The new stadium might be able to revitalize things for awhile. It's suprising how a new fancy stadium will attract people.

I do wonder how much money the Alley Cats pump into the local economy. Is it worth the money that was spent on the new stadium?

I'm just glad I don't live in a city with a crappy professional team that insists that the tax payers shell out millions of dollars to pay for their new stadium. The same stadium that the professional team will charge me an arm and a leg to see a game in.

At least the new stadium that New York City is considering building for the Jets is intended to double as part of the convention center.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-03-30 05:06pm

Tsyroc wrote: The new stadium might be able to revitalize things for awhile. It's suprising how a new fancy stadium will attract people.

I do wonder how much money the Alley Cats pump into the local economy. Is it worth the money that was spent on the new stadium?

I'm just glad I don't live in a city with a crappy professional team that insists that the tax payers shell out millions of dollars to pay for their new stadium. The same stadium that the professional team will charge me an arm and a leg to see a game in.

At least the new stadium that New York City is considering building for the Jets is intended to double as part of the convention center.

Revitalize? How? By providing crappy minimum-wage part-time jobs?

Here's how stupid they are... during the Summer season, the studium sets off fireworks nearly every damn game, but they're building the new stadium next to a HOSPITAL.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-03-30 05:15pm

LadyTevar wrote: Here's how stupid they are... during the Summer season, the studium sets off fireworks nearly every damn game, but they're building the new stadium next to a HOSPITAL.

That's a smart move. Maybe they are thinking that this way they'll be close to emergency care when someone gets hurt setting off the fireworks.

As for the revitalization. I really wasn't thinking so much the crappy jobs the stadium provides but more along the lines of the money that the Alley Cats spend in the city, but I guess if the new stadium doesn't bring any other teams in all you are stuck with is the expense of the nex stadium and all the same problems you had before.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-03-30 05:26pm

Tsyroc wrote:
LadyTevar wrote: Here's how stupid they are... during the Summer season, the studium sets off fireworks nearly every damn game, but they're building the new stadium next to a HOSPITAL.
That's a smart move. Maybe they are thinking that this way they'll be close to emergency care when someone gets hurt setting off the fireworks.

As for the revitalization. I really wasn't thinking so much the crappy jobs the stadium provides but more along the lines of the money that the Alley Cats spend in the city, but I guess if the new stadium doesn't bring any other teams in all you are stuck with is the expense of the nex stadium and all the same problems you had before.

Other than a weekend in a hotel, maybe dinner out, there's not that much that visiting teams bring us. Not many people outside of Charleston itself even go to the game.

If it tells you anything, even my grandfather, a rabid baseball fan living only an hours drive away, Never Went In His Life. Why? It's AA.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-03-30 05:32pm

LadyTevar wrote: Other than a weekend in a hotel, maybe dinner out, there's not that much that visiting teams bring us. Not many people outside of Charleston itself even go to the game.

If it tells you anything, even my grandfather, a rabid baseball fan living only an hours drive away, Never Went In His Life. Why? It's AA.

The only times I've gone to minor league games was when the local supermarket was sponsoring the game and I could get in free and get a free batting helmet.

Post by **LadyTevar** » 2004-03-30 05:54pm

Tsyroc wrote:
LadyTevar wrote: Other than a weekend in a hotel, maybe dinner out, there's not that much that visiting teams bring us. Not many people outside of Charleston itself even go to the game.

If it tells you anything, even my grandfather, a rabid baseball fan living only an hours drive away, Never Went In His Life. Why? It's AA.
The only times I've gone to minor league games was when the local supermarket was sponsoring the game and I could get in free and get a free batting helmet.

Yeah, and it's not even a GOOD Minor League team by all accounts... so the new baseball field is going to be an over-expensive boondoogle that will be abandoned far too soon. Especially since the team's owners that made the "build it or we leave" demand went and put the team on the market.
You'd have *thought* that would have stopped the project... but No, the city councilmen just panicked and some local moneybags got his buddies together and bought the team.

Post by **RogueIce** » 2004-03-30 09:57pm

Maybe it's just me, but I found our softball game on Sunday to be far, far more exciting than any baseball game I have ever seen. We were neck and neck there, doing pretty damn good for ourselves, and the suspense was really high, not to mention the tension. You could lamost feel it in the dugout as one side or the other was scoring runs and making plays.

Of course, maybe that's because I was in it.

But, come to think of it, even when I did play in the baseball games, they were never as exciting, "edge of your seat" as this game was.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-03-30 10:16pm

Baseball, sadly, is not a game that appeals to early 21st century sensibilities. I think, though, there will always be just enough cumdudgeons with early 20th century sensibilities like me to keep the sport alive.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2004-03-31 08:12am

RedImperator wrote:Baseball, sadly, is not a game that appeals to early 21st century sensibilities. I think, though, there will always be just enough cumdudgeons with early 20th century sensibilities like me to keep the sport alive.

i find it relaxing. i can still get outfield seats to a Redsox game for $28 and if i take the T from Quincy for a dollar then the parking is free. Toss in some sausage peppers and onions on a hard roll with a couple of beers and i'm a happy man. Oh, and nothing is better than napping on the couch after a hard day of yard work with an afternoon ballgame.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-03-31 11:11pm

LadyTevar wrote:Someone please tell me why a small-town city like Charleston WV has to have a $100mil brand-spankin' new Baseball Stadium when the current stadium can't even fill itself!!! ESPECIALLY when it's being built in an area of town that doesn't even have a Grocery Store because the Chain decided to abandon it, and the city hasn't cared enough to lure another store in!!!

One hundred million for a AA park? That's ridiculous. I don't think it cost more than $50 million to build Zephyr Field here in New Orleans and that's a 10,000 seat facility for a Triple-A team. AutoZone Park in Memphis (also Triple-A) cost only $45 million and seats 15,000. Nice place from what I've seen of it and in the middle of downtown too.

A $100 million Double-A park in a depressed locale. Graft-sink.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2004-03-31 11:12pm

Baseball is boring.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-03-31 11:16pm

RedImperator wrote:Baseball, sadly, is not a game that appeals to early 21st century sensibilities. I think, though, there will always be just enough cumdudgeons with early 20th century sensibilities like me to keep the sport alive.

It's not a game that appeals to anyone who thinks it's a complete fucking waste of time to watch five minutes of the pitcher stepping off the mound to adjust his crotch, followed by the batter stepping out of the box just as the pitcher gets into position so he can adjust his helmet and tighten his gloves, followed by the pitcher picking his nose and spitting out his chewing tobacco, followed by ... you get the picture.

What baseball needs is a shot clock. The batter can't leave the box once he's in there, and the pitcher has 15 seconds to throw the fucking ball. I have better things to do than watch a game where most of the time seems to be spent hemming and hawing.

Patrick Degan · Post by **Patrick Degan** » 2004-04-01 12:29am

Darth Wong wrote:
RedImperator wrote:Baseball, sadly, is not a game that appeals to early 21st century sensibilities. I think, though, there will always be just enough cumdudgeons with early 20th century sensibilities like me to keep the sport alive.
It's not a game that appeals to anyone who thinks it's a complete fucking waste of time to watch five minutes of the pitcher stepping off the mound to adjust his crotch, followed by the batter stepping out of the box just as the pitcher gets into position so he can adjust his helmet and tighten his gloves, followed by the pitcher picking his nose and spitting out his chewing tobacco, followed by ... you get the picture.

What baseball needs is a shot clock. The batter can't leave the box once he's in there, and the pitcher has 15 seconds to throw the fucking ball. I have better things to do than watch a game where most of the time seems to be spent hemming and hawing.

The only thing baseball really needs are umpires who will enforce the rules the way they're supposed to be enforced —by the book. All this bullshit with the pitchers stepping off the mound or the batters stepping out of the box is "gamesmanship" designed to put his opponnent at the plate or on the mound off his rhythm. Umpires have gotten lazy about enforcing the rules in these areas over the past few decades and it has contributed to slowing the game beyond necessary. In previous eras, ballgames used to average around 2.05 for nine innings and no recourse to a time clock was necessary then.

In point of fact:

Official MLB Rules wrote:6.02(a) The batter shall take his position in the batter's box promptly when it is his time at bat. (b) The batter shall not leave his position in the batter's box after the pitcher comes to Set Position, or starts his windup. PENALTY: If the pitcher pitches, the umpire shall call "Ball" or "Strike," as the case may be. The batter leaves the batter's box at the risk of having a strike delivered and called, unless he requests the umpire to call "Time." The batter is not at liberty to step in and out of the batter's box at will. Once a batter has taken his position in the batter's box, he shall not be permitted to step out of the batter's box in order to use the resin or the pine tar rag, unless there is a delay in the game action or, in the judgment of the umpires, weather conditions warrant an exception. Umpires will not call "Time" at the request of the batter or any member of his team once the pitcher has started his windup or has come to a set position even though the batter claims "dust in his eyes," "steamed glasses," "didn't get the sign" or for any other cause. Umpires may grant a hitter's request for "Time" once he is in the batter's box, but the umpire should eliminate hitters walking out of the batter's box without reason. If umpires are not lenient, batters will understand that they are in the batter's box and they must remain there until the ball is pitched. If pitcher delays once the batter is in his box and the umpire feels that the delay is not justified he may allow the batter to step out of the box momentarily. If after the pitcher starts his windup or comes to a "set position" with a runner on, he does not go through with his pitch because the batter has stepped out of the box, it shall not be called a balk. Both the pitcher and batter have violated a rule and the umpire shall call time and both the batter and pitcher start over from "scratch." (c) If the batter refuses to take his position in the batter's box during his time at bat, the umpire shall order the pitcher to pitch, and shall call "Strike" on each such pitch. The batter may take his proper position after any such pitch, and the regular ball and strike count shall continue, but if he does not take his proper position before three strikes are called, he shall be declared out.

8.04 When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 20 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call "Ball." The intent of this rule is to avoid unnecessary delays. The umpire shall insist that the catcher return the ball promptly to the pitcher, and that the pitcher take his position on the rubber promptly. Obvious delay by the pitcher should instantly be penalized by the umpire.

The problem isn't lack of proper rules but lack of proper enforcement.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-04-01 12:32am

Wow, I had no idea that such rules existed. That fact alone says a great deal about their enforcement; they're not even being inconsistently enforced. Even the TV commentators never mention them.

Tsyroc · Post by **Tsyroc** » 2004-04-01 11:23am

Gee, if they actually followed their own rules and used the real strike zone the game might actually be interesting again.