The Major League Baseball thread

[Teh One Who Knocks]

MLB Announces latest move to speed up play...

http://i.imgur.com/ZaqMTDh.jpg?1

Don't give them any ideas :slap:

[DemonGeminiX]

I'm sorry to say this, but the Dominic Republic and Puerto Rico look like the teams to beat in the WBC.

[DemonGeminiX]

Puerto Rico beat the Dominican Republic. Wow.

[DemonGeminiX]

Japan and the Netherlands are in the Semifinals. Waiting on Pool F to finish. They still have a few days of games to go so Japan and the Netherlands are sitting around waiting.

Venezuela vs USA tonight.

[DemonGeminiX]

USA beats Venezuela 4 - 2. :usa: :cheerlead:

[DemonGeminiX]

:shock:

USA beat Japan 2 - 1 to get to the WBC Finals. They'll face Puerto Rico.

[DemonGeminiX]

We won! :cheers: :usa:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Chris Mack - CBS Pittsburgh


http://i.imgur.com/Hg7YAgK.jpg

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) – There’s not a kid in the United States that woke up this morning wanting to be Ian Kinsler.

What’s that say about the guy who hit the game-winning home run in the Championship game of the World Baseball Classic? What does it say about the state of baseball fandom in America? And what does it say about the World Baseball Classic and its ability to connect to both the average sports fan as well as the hardcore baseball fan?

Let’s start with Kinsler, who less than 24 hours before the Championship against Puerto Rico, and just four days after defeating the Dominican Republic in an elimination game, told Billy Witz of the New York Times, “I hope kids watching the WBC can watch the way we play the game and appreciate the way we play the game as opposed to the way Puerto Rico plays or the Dominican plays. That’s not taking anything away from them. That just wasn’t the way we were raised. They were raised differently and to show emotion and passion when you play. We do show emotion; we do show passion. But we just do it in a different way.”

Kinsler followed up those comments with a 2-run homer in the Top of the 3rd inning and one of the most modest, staid home run trots in the history of the game. Joylessly circling the bags as if he were lightly jogging to a puppy’s funeral, Kinsler was straight out of the National Football League’s forthcoming “How To Celebrate” video that will undoubtedly consider chest-thumping a terroristic threat, twerking a lewd and lascivious act, and if given the opportunity to regulate baseball, would equivocate bat-flipping with assault with a deadly weapon.

In a tournament that’s been fun to watch – as long as one of your favorite ballclub’s players isn’t pitching or getting hurt – it’s gone from “cute little international exhibition tournament” to “battle for the reputation and pride of entire nations” because of the energy and enthusiasm nearly every team has played with throughout.

If you have any doubt, go back and watch the first couple of innings of the semifinal between Puerto Rico and The Netherlands. Or any part of the aforementioned Round 2 game between the U.S. and Dominican Republic. Or, even more exemplary of my point, the Round 1 match-up between those same two teams that turned Marlins Park in Miami into a hybrid of a postseason ballpark and a Punta Cana dance floor.

That wasn’t just fun for the people there, it was fun to watch.

And that’s what brings us around to the state of baseball fandom in America. Like most sports other than football, once a person’s favorite team is eliminated, that person stops paying attention to that sport.

Don’t think so? Quick, name the last five Stanley Cup champs before the Penguins. Or the last five World Series champions.

Did the WBC change the way most average, everyday sports fans are going to watch baseball this summer? Maybe. The bet here is that more than a few kids who saw players from the Dominican and Puerto Rico having fun while they played baseball, will be drawn to either keep an eye on certain players or certain teams as long as those guys with the gall to have fun while playing baseball are still around.

As for hardcore baseball fans, how can you argue with the down to the wire games and thrilling outcomes in some of the biggest games of the tournament? Complain if you will about the ridiculous extra inning rules – I’ll be happy to join you in praying they never come to MLB – but the baseball itself, despite the pitch counts, the lack of major leaguers on some squads, and the inexperienced managers who in some cases strategized themselves into losses (Yes, I’m looking at you, Hensley Muelens, for your atrocious 11th inning work against Japan in the 2nd Round.), the quality of ball being played was excellent.

So we had really good baseball – especially in comparison to what’s usually available in March – being played in electric environs, with a postseason feel to it, and we’re supposed to either dislike it because there’s a slim chance it may negatively affect the players on our favorite major league team, and/or because people are having fun?

Huh?

For every Didi Gregorious shoulder strain, give me Gregory Polanco bouncing back from a hideous 2nd half to hit .579 in the WBC. For every soulless, grimaced gallop around the bases on a long ball, give me a 15-foot high bat flip, double point to the stands, blonde-haired Victor Cruz-style salsa saunter around the bases.

And for every complaint about baseball being fun, give me guys playing for their country, going all out in a month when Spring Training games are highlighted by faux announcer skirmishes and battles for a 5th outfield spot, and give me the World Baseball Classic.

Whether Ian Kinsler likes it or not.

[DemonGeminiX]

Indeed. This was fun baseball.

[DemonGeminiX]

Opening day! :cheers:

[RBP]

:woot:

[DemonGeminiX]

Bumgarner has 2 homers in the Giants' game against the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner. The pitcher. He smacked one of them against Greinke.

[DemonGeminiX]

... and the Giants lose in the 9th after being on top by 1. Their brand new, highly paid closer blows his first save of the season. :lol:

Crazy. Maybe a harbinger of the season to come?

[RBP]

... and the Giants lose in the 9th after being on top by 1. Their brand new, highly paid closer blows his first save of the season. :lol:

Crazy. Maybe a harbinger of the season to come?

I feel like you just wanted to use the word 'harbinger".

[deebakes]

Mmmm... harbinger :homer:

[DemonGeminiX]

The Cubs lost their first to the Cardinals.

Cubs 0 - 1

[Teh One Who Knocks]

BoSox and Rockies are both undefeated! :cheers:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Associated Press


http://i.imgur.com/wynYykK.jpg

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Of course he did. Tim Tebow hit a home run in his first official at-bat as a New York Mets minor leaguer, a charmed start Thursday night for a popular yet polarizing athlete who seems to have a knack for these remarkable moments.

Playing a sport where many thought he didn't even belong in the batter's box, the former NFL quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner launched a two-run drive for the Columbia Fireflies in a Class A South Atlantic League game against Augusta. It was his only hit in five plate appearances.

"All of my sports experiences helped me for moments like that," Tebow said. With a 15 mph wind blowing out, Tebow hit a shot just over the 372-foot sign in left-center field. He stopped at second base, thinking it was a double — but the ball hit a railing above the fence at the Bojangles Berm, and an umpire twirled his hand to indicate it was a homer.

Tebow spent an hour in the batting cage before batting practice Thursday with the hitting coach hitting fastballs away to the opposite field. Then on the fourth pitch, he got one. "It definitely felt good because that is something we worked on so much today," Tebow said laughing.

Tebow clapped and pumped his fist in the air as he rounded the rest of the bases in the second inning as the crowd, already going wild, went into a frenzy. His teammates rushed the dugout railing, waiting for him. He laughed when he talked about one of his teammates saying it was the best thing he had ever experienced.

"Special things happen to special people. And that was a special moment," Columbia manager Jose Leger said. The 29-year-old Tebow played three seasons in the NFL, highlighted by a playoff touchdown pass in overtime that lifted the Denver Broncos over Pittsburgh. A two-time national champion at the University of Florida, he left football for broadcasting after the 2012 season.

Tebow later tried out with the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, but got cut in training camp. He then decided to pursue a career in a sport he last played as a junior in high school, signing a minor league deal with the Mets.

Last fall, in the Instructional League, he also homered his first time up. But in spring training for the Mets, Tebow batted .148 in 27 appearances. He struck out eight times and didn't have an extra base hit or an RBI.

The lefty-hitting Tebow homered off Augusta lefty Domenic Mazza, a 22-year-old who had an 11-3 career record in the minors after playing at UC Santa Barbara. Mazza was the 666th pick in the 2015 draft.

In Tebow's second at-bat, he couldn't beat out a slow roller to the shortstop. He struck out the next three times up — two of them looking. "There will be a lot of highs and lows in this game. That's why you can't make too much of anything," Tebow said.

Columbia beat Augusta 14-7, with the Fireflies hitting three home runs. Tebow was batting seventh for the Fireflies and starting in left field in a league that typically uses 21- or 22-year-olds early in their pro careers.

Tebow sort of fits that mold. He hasn't played organized baseball since his junior year of high school. He concentrated on football, winning the Heisman as a sophomore for Florida in 2007. He then went to the NFL. In 2011, Tebow lifted the Broncos over the Steelers with an 80-yard TD pass on the first play of overtime. Tebow was traded to the New York Jets the next season, throwing only eight passes.

But maybe it's Columbia that suits Tebow well. With the Gators, he accounted for seven touchdowns, threw for 304 yards and ran for 120 more as Florida beat South Carolina about 3 miles away at Williams-Brice Stadium 51-31 in the 2007 game that cemented his Heisman Trophy campaign.

Columbia is embracing the man it once rooted against. Noelle Colligan stood in a line at least a dozen people deep to buy a new No. 15 Tebow Fireflies jersey. She became a Tebow fan watching his march to the 2007 Heisman Trophy. The University of South Carolina student put on the jersey before the game started.

Then, as Tebow came to the plate, she leaned over and told a friend with the wind blowing out and Tebow's amazing career so far, she just knew he would hit one out. "It's just not who he is as an athlete. It's his whole character. It's what he believes. It's the good work he does," said Colligan, who volunteered in February with a local special needs prom put on by the Tim Tebow Foundation.

In the Fireflies merchandise shop called The Mason Jar, employees were restocking the racks with the Tebow jerseys well into the night.

[DemonGeminiX]

:hand:

Let me know when he hits for the cycle against a Major League pitcher on a rehab assignment.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:hater:

You'll be singing a different tune when the Phillies trade for him [-(

[DemonGeminiX]

:hand:

The Phillies' brass isn't that stupid.

[RBP]

:hand:

The Phillies' brass isn't that stupid.

Like the Eagles?

[RBP]

In the 24 hours after the Chicago Cubs' nail-biting, drought-ending 2016 World Series victory, euphoric fans dropped an eye-popping $75 million on team gear.

:faint:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-cubs-store-wrigley-field-rank-rally-0408-biz-20170407-story.html

[deebakes]

:shock:

[DemonGeminiX]

Like the Eagles?

Like the Bears.

[RBP]

:facepalm:

Keep it classy, first time Cub fans...

NSFW

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">(NSFW) Literally no one was asking for this woman to flash them at Wrigley Field. <br><br>(Cruzredeye - YouTube) <a href="https://t.co/BtZpuRj4s6">pic.twitter.com/BtZpuRj4s6</a></p>&mdash; Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) <a href="https://twitter.com/AldoSoto21/status/855110582407704577">April 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[deebakes]

no one even cared :lol:

[RBP]

no one even cared :lol:

:lol: watch again for the hot dog vendor!

[RBP]

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAA pWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY 9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wO HiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GP T6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90G Sy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAA AElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BNsljbahEPp/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">My god������ my boy sale to Btown? You guys got me thinking ��?</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by David Ortiz (@davidortiz) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2016-12-07T00:59:06+00:00">Dec 6, 2016 at 4:59pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>

:pray:


Dudeman is on fire. Wow. Too bad he isn't getting any run support.

In his first four games, Chris Sale has been objectively stellar — allowing just three total runs and striking out 42 batters in nearly 30 innings of work. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings so far this season, Sale has the third lowest WHIP (0.71) and the fourth lowest ERA (0.91).

http://i.imgur.com/UVVK5MY.png?1

And he's 1-1. :|

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Red Sox are averaging 1.8 runs per game in Chris Sale's four starts, 4.9 runs per game when any other pitcher starts</p>&mdash; ESPN Stats &amp; Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/855138058584416256">April 20, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[RBP]

The Reds had a little fun at the expense of Cubs fans during Friday’s game at Cincinnati’s Great American Park.

Now that the Chicago team has erased its underdog status by winning its first World Series in 108 years, the Reds took advantage of the throngs of newly minted Cubs fans that have come out of the woodwork with this trolling “Bandwagon Cam.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here&#39;s this. <a href="https://t.co/iyfcv9B3eB">pic.twitter.com/iyfcv9B3eB</a></p>&mdash; Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) <a href="https://twitter.com/Reds/status/855649410214109184">April 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/cincinnati-reds-ruthlessly-troll-cubs-fans-with-bandwagon-cam-042217

Awesome and true... :lol:

[DemonGeminiX]

:lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:bwaha:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I know it's only April, but the Rockies have the 2nd best record in the majors and they have the #1 bullpen :shock:

[RBP]

http://i68.tinypic.com/nosyon.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/1zfs7r4.jpg
http://i64.tinypic.com/205teaa.jpg

:shock:

[RBP]

Red Sox win the series, 2-1. The Cubbies collapsed at the end of game 3.

[RBP]

The Yankees and Cubs broke a major league record for combined strikeouts in a game with 48 on Sunday night in New York's 5-4 victory in 18 innings at Wrigley Field.

The record fell when Yankees catcher Austin Romine became the game's 44th strikeout in the 17th inning, while facing Cubs reliever Pedro Strop.

Four more K's pushed the total to 48 as the game stretched into the 18th inning, making it MLB's longest of the season by innings and duration. It also was the first interleague game to go 18 innings and the longest in game time, at 6 hours, 5 minutes, in the history of Sunday Night Baseball, since the series began in 1990.

The previous record of 43 strikeouts was set in a 20-inning game between the Los Angeles Angels and Oakland Athletics in 1971.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Lose 2 out of 3 to the BoSox, swept by the Yankees.... :-k

[DemonGeminiX]

They're gonna go back to losing for another 108 years.

[deebakes]

:haha:

[RBP]

Lose 2 out of 3 to the BoSox, swept by the Yankees.... :-k


They're gonna go back to losing for another 108 years.


:haha:

It's a long season, my friends. Slow your roll.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Lose 2 out of 3 to the BoSox, swept by the Yankees.... :-k

And 2 outta 3 to the Rockies... :-k

[RBP]

Marquez pitched a hell of a game.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Rox are off to their best start ever after 35 games

[RBP]

:tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Brewers don't believe Cubs cancelled Saturday's game due to weather (https://sports.yahoo.com/news/brewers-accuse-cubs-canceling-game-reasons-weather-191157091.html)

:fbd:

[RBP]

Brewers don't believe Cubs cancelled Saturday's game due to weather (https://sports.yahoo.com/news/brewers-accuse-cubs-canceling-game-reasons-weather-191157091.html)

:fbd:

:roll:

I had tickets, everyone was hoping for a rainout because it was so shitty that morning.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I wonder what team has 3 game winning streak at Wrigley going right now? :-k


8-[

[RBP]

I wonder what team has 3 game winning streak at Wrigley going right now? :-k

8-[

Clearly not the Cubs. Your boys are kicking ass.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Clearly not the Cubs. Your boys are kicking ass.
Longest winning streak since 2011, next record in the National League, it's like being in a bizzaro world, especially since they are doing it mostly with good pitching :shock:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Couldn't get the sweep :(

[RBP]

Couldn't get the sweep :(

A blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Damn, what a way to wrap up a series...a walk-off 3 run homerun to not only complete hitting for the cycle but to complete the weekend sweep. Rox have the best record in the NL.

[DemonGeminiX]

The Phillies currently have the worst record! :D

Oh wait :sad2:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Phillies currently have the worst record! :D

Oh wait :sad2:

:empathy:

[deebakes]

do you think the rockies have enough to make a serious playoff run? :?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

do you think the rockies have enough to make a serious playoff run? :?

http://i.imgur.com/XT2T52Q.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/vkiwiQy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mgk6UbM.jpg

They're in the top 10 in all three major team categories and they have a good pitching staff (especially considering they play at Coors Field). I think they are legit this year.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

And the wheels have come off, the Rox have dropped 8 in a row now and went from 2 games up in first place to 6 games back in third place :wha:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

by R.J. Anderson - CBS Sports


http://i.imgur.com/XpTf80I.png

In keeping with ancient baseball tradition, we're passing final and lasting judgment on a recent baseball controversy. That's why we call this Kangaroo Court -- it's a nod to the old days when a veteran player would preside over clubhouse "legal proceedings" and mete out fines based on baseball-related offenses. For instance, if you fail to advance a runner, take too long rounding the bases, wear the wrong jersey to batting practice, or in the case of former Red Sox manager John McNamara use aerosol deodorant as hairspray, you get fined by the judge. These days, the Kangaroo Court is a clubhouse relic of the past, but we're here to revive it and to bring the mechanisms of baseball justice to bear on present-day dust-ups, hostilities, and close calls.

Today, we're addressing Miguel Montero's public comments about now-ex-teammate Jake Arrieta. In case you missed it, Montero blamed Arrieta's slowness to the plate for the Washington Nationals stealing seven bases against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. Montero's comments were not well received, as Anthony Rizzo called him selfish and the Cubs designated Montero for assignment, effectively ending his career in Chicago.


"That's the reason they were running left and right today, because they [Arrieta] were slow to the plate," Montero said after the Cubs' 6-1 loss. "Simple as that. It's a shame it's my fault because I didn't throw anyone out.

"It really sucked, because the stolen bases go on me. But when you really look at it, the pitcher doesn't give me any time, so yeah, 'Miggy can't throw anyone out,' but my pitchers don't hold anyone on."

~Miguel Montero

The case for Montero

Montero is correct in everything he said. Pitchers are almost always more responsible than catchers for stolen bases; Arrieta is slow to the plate and was the main reason the Nationals ran wild; honesty is the best policy; and so on.

That's about the best you can say here without reaching into the fog. For instance, one might be tempted to say the Cubs -- who have disappointed all season long -- could stand to benefit from the kind of public accountability Montero dispensed on Tuesday night.

But the counterpoint is Montero's comments resulted in his banishment from the roster, effectively hurting the Cubs by lowering their talent level. As such, that's not the most practical argument.

The case for the Cubs

It's almost never a good idea to call out a teammate. Sure, Montero has every right to be annoyed with Arrieta's disregard for baserunners -- especially because, as he noted, he gets blamed for it -- but what's the upside? Arrieta isn't likely to change his approach because Montero went public.

Compounding matters is the fact Montero framed his message in a selfish way. He wasn't worried about the Nats stealing bases and scoring runs and winning the game -- he was worried about how those stolen bases reflect in his individual statistics. That's not a good look. None of this is.

Additionally, Montero just created more drama for a team that already had a sufficient share. Presuming Montero intended to remain on the roster, he did nothing but make everyone's jobs more difficult by airing the Cubs' dirty laundry.

Four CBS Sports judges weigh in

Jonah Keri: They were all right. Montero is right on Arrieta, since pitchers are much more responsible for stolen bases than pitchers. The Cubs were right to DFA him, since Montero isn't very good, and sniping at teammates when you're the defending champs and struggling is a bad look. And Rizzo was right to be frustrated at Montero, since airing your grievances toward another player to the press never leads to anything good.

Matt Snyder: If you can't even throw the ball to second base from behind the plate, you aren't a big league catcher anymore and should shut your mouth. Montero also complained about a lack of playing time after his team won the freaking World Series. "Thanks for the grand slam in the NLCS and see ya" is the proper sentiment. And, yes, Rizzo was dead on.

Dayn Perry: Montero is right about pitchers having a lot to do with stolen bases, but so what? Montero can't throw anymore, and that also has a little something to do with it. Even framing it as something like, "We just couldn't control the running game tonight," would've been fine and accurate. Instead, he laid all the blame on Arrieta and did so in very public fashion. That's not cool. Maybe coming from a clubhouse-leader kind of catcher, you might interpret this is an attempt to motivate, but we know from past experiences that Montero is prone to letting his mouth get ahead of his brain.

R.J. Anderson: Montero made valid points, but he made them in an incorrect forum. Catchers are supposed to be good communicators, ones skilled in knowing how to take blame and pass credit. Maybe this was a last resort. But, man, he had to know how this would look -- and he did it anyway. As such, it's hard to feel too bad for him, even after he was designated for assignment. Hopefully everyone involved learned a lesson here.

The verdict

Let's be clear once more: Montero's criticisms were on point. His choice of framing and medium, however, leave us no choice but to side with Arrieta and the Cubs.

[RBP]

Montero's criticism was not on point - his pitcher's comment is true, but so what? I believe he was 0-31 on stolen bases on the season at the time he was DFA. He sucks and he was being a dick, and it wasn't the first time he done it. Good riddance.

[DemonGeminiX]

:-s Where the hell did the Astros come from?

[RBP]

:-s Where the hell did the Astros come from?

Houston. Duh.

[DemonGeminiX]

:slap:

[RBP]

:dance:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Montero's criticism was not on point - his pitcher's comment is true, but so what? I believe he was 0-31 on stolen bases on the season at the time he was DFA. He sucks and he was being a dick, and it wasn't the first time he done it. Good riddance.
:hater:

Maybe your pitching staff should learn how to hold runners on base :hand:

[DemonGeminiX]

:hand:

They won't learn how to do that for another 108 years.

[RBP]

:hater:

Maybe your pitching staff should learn how to hold runners on base :hand:

<iframe src='//players.brightcove.net/2157889318001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5438346408001' allowfullscreen frameborder=0></iframe>


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5A-NaQrDOM

:cheers:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:facepalm:

FFS I could pick a runner off first if they took that kinda lead :roll:

[RBP]

:facepalm:

FFS I could pick a runner off first if they took that kinda lead :roll:

Lester cures the yips! :cheers:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Lester cures the yips! :cheers:
:shakehead:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

A tale of two pitchers - Rockies rookie Kyle Freeland comes within 2 outs of pitching a no hitter and Jon Lester of the Cubs gives up 10 runs (4 earned) and 2 home runs without getting out of the 1st inning (becoming only the 4th pitcher in the last 100 years to give up 10 or more runs in the first inning and get pulled before the inning was over)

[DemonGeminiX]

The bigger story is that Freeland blew the no hitter. Lester's shitty game was just a really bad day. It could happen to anybody.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:nono:

Lester became a part of a select group of pitchers with that performance

[DemonGeminiX]

Yeah, pitchers that have bad days. Mainly all of them. The kid choked on a no-hitter. He may never get the opportunity for a no-hitter ever again. That disappointment is like stealing a puppy from a little disabled kid.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Yeah, pitchers that have bad days. Mainly all of them. The kid choked on a no-hitter. He may never get the opportunity for a no-hitter ever again. That disappointment is like stealing a puppy from a little disabled kid.

Yeah, he choked, he's a rookie that had only 17 starts in the majors before yesterday and in the 25 years at Coors Field, there's only been one no hitter ever pitched, but yeah, he "choked" :roll:


A tale of two pitchers - Rockies rookie Kyle Freeland comes within 2 outs of pitching a no hitter and Jon Lester of the Cubs gives up 10 runs (4 earned) and 2 home runs without getting out of the 1st inning (becoming only the 4th pitcher in the last 100 years to give up 10 or more runs in the first inning and get pulled before the inning was over)

That's making history

[DemonGeminiX]

:nono:

2 outs away and he blew it. Dominating the entire game then giving up a hit. That's choking. Or technically, the team choked. A no-hitter is an entire team effort. Anyway, that's a confidence breaker. That kid's headed for the minors. Mark my words.

Lester's been in the league for years. He'll shake it off.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:facepalm:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Did you know that Nolan Ryan lost FIVE no-hitters all with one out in the ninth inning? Does that mean he choked all those times? :-s

[DemonGeminiX]

It means the entire team choked all 5 times.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

It means the entire team choked all 5 times.

http://i.imgur.com/Ma21OEt.gif

I'll choke you! :x

[DemonGeminiX]

:dance:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Oh, the All Star game was yesterday :yawn:

[RBP]

A tale of two pitchers - Rockies rookie Kyle Freeland comes within 2 outs of pitching a no hitter and Jon Lester of the Cubs gives up 10 runs (4 earned) and 2 home runs without getting out of the 1st inning (becoming only the 4th pitcher in the last 100 years to give up 10 or more runs in the first inning and get pulled before the inning was over)

Damn Yips. :x

[RBP]

I was at last Thursday's 11-2 debacle, Cubs hosting Brewers. It was awesome to see Jon Jay pitch the 9th. All pitches betweeen 45 and 65 MPH with the scoreboard auto-tagging "changeup" on every one. :lol: He gave up 1 hit and no runs and got the loudest ovation of the day.

http://i.imgur.com/ktmzUw5.jpg?1

Loved it.

More importantly, my deceased brother has a brick paver in the sidewalk at Wrigley. It was his 50th birthday present from us. We took my 83 year old mother to the game. She hadn't been to Wrigley in 40-45 years, despite watching the games on TV like her mother listened to them on radio before her. She has had a number of joint replacements and surgeries and felt like she could do it. She was a trooper, and finally got to see her son's brick in the sidewalk. It still gives me pause.

[RBP]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGXSEPR2UWw

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I was at last Thursday's 11-2 debacle, Cubs hosting Brewers. It was awesome to see Jon Jay pitch the 9th. All pitches betweeen 45 and 65 MPH with the scoreboard auto-tagging "changeup" on every one. :lol: He gave up 1 hit and no runs and got the loudest ovation of the day.

http://i.imgur.com/ktmzUw5.jpg?1

Loved it.

More importantly, my deceased brother has a brick paver in the sidewalk at Wrigley. It was his 50th birthday present from us. We took my 83 year old mother to the game. She hadn't been to Wrigley in 40-45 years, despite watching the games on TV like her mother listened to them on radio before her. She has had a number of joint replacements and surgeries and felt like she could do it. She was a trooper, and finally got to see her son's brick in the sidewalk. It still gives me pause.

That's awesome :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Damn, the Dodgers are on fire, going for their 12th in a row tonite and they have the best record in baseball.

[DemonGeminiX]

... and the Phillies still suck.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

... and the Phillies still suck.

:empathy:

[RBP]

Outstanding, Kyle Farmer. Good for you; enjoy your well-deserved blowjob.

27 - having slugged it out in the minors for years - first at bat in the bigs, walk off double that scores 2 for LAD.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:-k

[RBP]

:-kGreat come from behind extra inning win for LAD over SFG last night. The kid got his shot and delivered, big time. Awesome finish!

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Ah, I was just trying to figure if there was a Cubs angle somewhere :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Yu Darvish to the Dodgers...damn, already they are the beast of the NL and they just got even better

[RBP]

Yeah, the Dodgers are going to be tough to beat.

The Cubs filled a couple gaps with a nice trade with the Tigers. Justin Wilson (Reliever) and Alex Avila (Catcher) for good prospects.

[deebakes]

fucking twins trade away their all star closer for a bag of chips :|

[RBP]

Damn, how did Arenado catch that pitch? :shock: Hell of a piece of hitting to win the game in the 9th.

Yes, I get every MLB game :oops:

[RBP]

fucking twins trade away their all star closer for a bag of chips :|

We're buyers! [one week later] We're sellers!

[RBP]

And what the hell happened in Boston last night?!? Jesus! That catch into the bullpen was insane!

Flair for the dramatic: Red Sox reclaim first place in insane fashion


Scott LauberESPN Staff Writer

BOSTON -- Amid the euphoria and the sheer delirium,*Christian Vazquez*stood with his back to the*Boston Red Sox*dugout, arms in the air, just bathing it all in.

And then came the bath.

Xander Bogaerts*sneaked back onto the field and dumped a bucket of red Gatorade on Vazquez, who moments earlier had crushed a walk-off three-run home run to almost straightaway center field. It was quite likely the hardest ball the Boston catcher has ever hit, and it ended probably the strangest game you will see all season, a*12-10 Red Sox victory*over the*Cleveland Indians.

"This was a PlayStation game, you know?" Bogaerts said. "You keep bouncing back and forth. It was like PlayStation."

Consider the wackiness of Tuesday night in Fenway Park:

Red Sox ace*Chris Sale, the Cy Young favorite in the American League, gave up a season-high seven runs -- five in the first two inning -- after allowing a total of five runs in his previous six starts.

Indians right-hander*Carlos Carrasco*gave away a 5-0 lead in the second inning and lasted only 1 2/3 innings, the shortest non-injury start of his career.

A Red Sox second baseman not named*Dustin Pedroia*notched three hits and four RBIs. And with Pedroia going on the disabled list earlier in the day,*Eduardo Nunez*might get a lot more time at second. One thing is certain: Nunez will stay in the lineup, having gone 11-for-22 with four doubles and two homers in five games since being acquired last week in a trade with the*San Francisco Giants.

Indians center fielder*Austin Jackson*leaped to rob*Hanley Ramirez*of a home run in the fifth inning,*tumbled over the bullpen wall and held on to the ball. It was such a terrific catch that Red Sox closer*Craig Kimbrel*said, "You want to start clapping, but then you realize he just took a run away from us." Sufficiently impressed, the Fenway crowd gave Jackson a standing ovation. "I was just so pumped up, it's like I didn't even hear them," Jackson said. "I was glad I was able to hold on to it, especially going over like that."

Here's where things really got weird. Indians relief ace*Andrew Miller*couldn't hold a 7-5 lead in the sixth inning and blew only his second lead of the season.

Not to be outdone in the ninth inning, Kimbrel gave up a leadoff homer to*Francisco Lindor*and allowed the go-ahead run to score on a wild pitch. It was the fourth blown save for Kimbrel, who has struck out 81 of the 165 batters he has faced this season.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth,*Mitch Moreland*struck out but reached base on a wild pitch from Indians closer*Cody Allen. After another wild pitch, Vazquez turned around a 95 mph fastball for only his second homer in 208 at-bats.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What a game. What an ending. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/walkoff?src=hash">#walkoff</a> <a href="https://t.co/rWV4VbkVJl">pic.twitter.com/rWV4VbkVJl</a></p>&mdash; MLB (@MLB) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/892581004552151041">August 2, 2017</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
http://i.imgur.com/lNo8Ssj.jpg

[Teh One Who Knocks]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">������<a href="https://twitter.com/Indians">@Indians</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLBNShowcase?src=hash">#MLBNShowcase</a> <a href="https://t.co/uT9MxELUSq">pic.twitter.com/uT9MxELUSq</a></p>&mdash; MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBNetwork/status/892551792025907204">August 2, 2017</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Austin Jackson robbed Hanley Ramirez with an absolutely ridiculous catch in 5th. Fenway crowd even gave a standing ovation. <a href="https://t.co/JqCqiFm910">pic.twitter.com/JqCqiFm910</a></p>&mdash; Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/892551755090862082">August 2, 2017</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[RBP]

It kind of sucks for AZ and CO... amazing seasons, fighting for wild card home field. And for their effort, if they win the wild card game, they get the Dodgers. :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

But, the Dodgers have a history of having a great regular season and tanking in the playoffs, so there's always hope.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Machado to Schoop to inning over. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TriplePlay?src=hash">#TriplePlay</a> <a href="https://t.co/w42aFUwGfv">pic.twitter.com/w42aFUwGfv</a></p>&mdash; Cut4 (@Cut4) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cut4/status/893284629435699201">August 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Triple play by the O's against the Tigers last night

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Don Baylor passes away at 68 from cancer :rip:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

http://i.imgur.com/BpZXuic.png

:shock:

[RBP]

I know. Scary.

[DemonGeminiX]

Darren Daulton, former catcher for the Phillies on their '93 World Series run, died of brain cancer yesterday. He was 55.

[deebakes]

Don Baylor passes away at 68 from cancer :rip:

:rip: he was on the minnesota twins '87 world series championship team :(

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:rip: he was on the minnesota twins '87 world series championship team :(

He was on the '86 Red Sox World Series team and hit a clutch HR in the ALCS to help get them there. And he was the first manager in the history of the Rockies :(

[RBP]

The Cubs look flat and frustrated again. :| The Brewers are not playing well. But the Cardinals seem to have worked through there issues. :| I swear to fucking god, I will lose my shit if the Cardinals sneak in at the wire the year after the Cubs win the WS. :x

Anyway... went to the Sox game last night. Cheapo seats I got for free. Fun game, lots of offense and an amazing catch by Engel in center. "Holy shit did he catch that?!?" was what I blurted...

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Engel in the Outfield. <a href="https://t.co/0U4FyV1QV7">pic.twitter.com/0U4FyV1QV7</a></p>&mdash; Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) <a href="https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/895102109972123649">August 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>...

http://i.imgur.com/84dsKZq.jpg?1

View of the city from the upper deck ramp after the game...

http://i.imgur.com/O5LgkD1.jpg?1

[RBP]

Fun fact... the Cubs sell 17,000 hot dogs at every home game (~1.337 million annually). The White Sox average attendance is 22,000 per home game. :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Still a long way to go, the Cards could fall apart again, or the Brewers could pick up the pace, or the Cubs could right the ship again like they did earlier this year. Still lots of baseball to be played.

Meanwhile, in the Junior League, Sale was dominant for the BoSox again last night, 8 inning, 1 walk and 13 K's against the Rays. Seven in a row now for Boston.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Fun fact... the Cubs sell 17,000 hot dogs at every home game (~1.337 million annually). The White Sox average attendance is 22,000 per home game. :lol:

The ChiSox are just sad this year :lol:

[RBP]

Still a long way to go, the Cards could fall apart again, or the Brewers could pick up the pace, or the Cubs could right the ship again like they did earlier this year. Still lots of baseball to be played.

Meanwhile, in the Junior League, Sale was dominant for the BoSox again last night, 8 inning, 1 walk and 13 K's against the Rays. Seven in a row now for Boston.

My other half is a huge Sale fan so I get updated on like EVERY start. :lol:

What was the stat... only 4 pitches have ever gotten to 20+ strikeouts in 20 or less starts? Sale being #4 this year, I believe. If he keeps it up, he might get his first Cy Young.

Go Red Sox!

[RBP]

The ChiSox are just sad this year :lol:

I'll give them credit. Kenny Williams (he's a dick) has gone halfway between rebuild and veteran-buyer for years so they are always mediocre. But Rick Hahn said "enough, we're rebuilding from the ground up" and they have stuck to the plan so far. They now have the #1 ranked farm system in the league.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

My other half is a huge Sale fan so I get updated on like EVERY start. :lol:

What was the stat... only 4 pitches have ever gotten to 20+ strikeouts in 20 or less starts? Sale being #4 this year, I believe. If he keeps it up, he might get his first Cy Young.

Go Red Sox!

http://i.imgur.com/CCQQ4Kh.png

As long as he can stay healthy and doesn't have some kind of collapse, he is easily the front runner in the AL for the Cy Young. He also reached double digits in strikeouts for the 15th time this season, the first time that's been done since Randy Johnson in 2002.


I'll give them credit. Kenny Williams (he's a dick) has gone halfway between rebuild and veteran-buyer for years so they are always mediocre. But Rick Hahn said "enough, we're rebuilding from the ground up" and they have stuck to the plan so far. They now have the #1 ranked farm system in the league.

Good for them, it's a hard road to go down because it does upset the fans and makes the attendance go down. The hardcore fans stick around because they see the bigger picture, but the casual and bandwagon fans abandon the team so fast it's ridiculous.

[RBP]

I'm calling it. Mark this post. The St Louis Cardinals will win the NL Central Division this year.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

They won their 5th in a row last night while the Cubs have dropped their last 2 :-k

[RBP]

Yup. And the Cubs hot-handed clean up hitter yanked a hammy yesterday. They just look frustrated and flat.

The Cardinals look loose and are having fun. #rallycat (video below) if you didn't see that ridiculousness last night.

[RBP]

<iframe src='https://www.mlb.com/video/share/molinas-grand-slam-to-left/c-1708398983?tid=240570844' width='540' height='360'></iframe>...

[RBP]

#rallycat... the hospital visit

http://i.imgur.com/Wmxpp6n.jpg?1

[RBP]

Not everyone has #rallycat fever... :lol:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am going to punch the first person who makes a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RallyCat?src=hash">#RallyCat</a> t-shirt.</p>&mdash; Stephen Bolen �� (@sbolen) <a href="https://twitter.com/sbolen/status/895473851769004032">August 10, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Teh One Who Knocks]

MLB Power Rankings

http://i.imgur.com/hkIeOuf.png

[RBP]

Yep. The Cubs look like crap again after a spurt post break.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Cards won again, only 1 game back of the Cubs now :-k

Red Sox and Yankees have a 3 game set in the Bronx this weekend. Sale is going to get the start on Sunday evening for Sunday Night Baseball.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

https://i.imgur.com/e9fxV37h.jpg

Sox take 2 outta 3 from the Yankees :cheers: And their 10th win outta the last 11 games

Sale pitched a gem last night (12 K's and one run in 7 innings), too bad the Sox offense took the night off and he ended up with a no decision :|

[RBP]

I watched the game through when Sale was done. He was awesome. I consider that a shutout performance. That missed catch by Mookie was absolutely an error.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAA pWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY 9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wO HiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GP T6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90G Sy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAA AElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BXveicclyNn/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_blank">Making up for a huge Yankee loss #subwaycreatures</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A post shared by SubwayCreatures™ (@subwaycreatures) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-08-13T17:09:28+00:00">Aug 13, 2017 at 10:09am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>

A couple of Yankee fans on the subway after the loss to the Red Sox on Saturday :lol:

[RBP]

That's so creepy. :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

What? Not everyone fucks on the subway ride home? :-s


:lol:

[RBP]

I don't think they understand what "the subway series" means. :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The BoSox tried to help your Cubbies out yesterday by destroying the Cards and then you guys lose to the 20 games under .500 Reds :facepalm:

[RBP]

What a great story... the guy beats cancer once, then it comes back metastatic... :(... beats it again :cheers: then returns to the team and pitches 7 shutout innings in his first outing. :shock:

http://i.imgur.com/s1zIHGL.jpg?1

Cancer sneaked up on Chad Bettis twice — first in November, when a tumor appeared he could not explain, then again in February, when blood cells he could not see threatened his life. Baseball never vanished. He just looked in the other direction.

By Monday morning, he could no longer ignore the onrush of his first game since last September. The thought of pitching again knocked him in the face.

“It crept in when I woke up,” Bettis said, his eyes swelling. “Just thinking about everything that happened, everything my family went through. I was holding back tears until the game started.”

His time arrived Monday night at Coors Field as the Rockies started a vital four-game series against the Atlanta Braves with a 3-0 victory. The Rockies’ veteran right-hander, the senior member of a pitching rotation with its sights set on the postseason, returned to pitch for the first time this season, and with flair, throwing seven scoreless innings and allowing just six hits.

Bettis got a no-decision for his efforts, departing a 0-0 game, but Colorado finally got on the board in the eighth, thanks to Charlie Blackmon‘s leadoff triple. A single by Gerardo Parra scored Blackmon, and a two-run single by Carlos Gonzalez gave the Rockies a 3-0 lead that held as final.

The game, though, belonged to Bettis. After surgery to remove testicular cancer in December and nine weeks of chemotherapy in the spring while Colorado started its season on a tear, as his hair fell out and medicine racked his body and exhausted his strength, Bettis was back on a pitching mound as though he had never left.

“What he went through is way more important than baseball. But he loves the game. That’s why he’s back,” Rockies all-star third baseman Nolan Arenado said. “To go through that and now he’s here to help us with a playoff run, it’s a big deal.”

When Bettis walked in from the bullpen toward the Rockies dugout before his first pitch, a wave of applause from fans in the stands followed him down the right-field line. This is the man who led the Rockies in victories (14) and innings pitched (186) last season, the veteran member of a staff that otherwise averages a green age of 24 years, with three rookies. He is the pitcher who guided 24-year-old right-hander Jeff Hoffman through his first professional slump late in spring training, the sage who helped teach Jon Gray to throw a curveball.

And after beating cancer, Coors Field and its acres of outfield suddenly felt smaller with Bettis on the mound.

His team seemed especially amped. Ender Inciarte’s line drive to lead off the game skipped past Gerardo Parra in left field, but Parra tag-teamed a relay throw with shortstop Trevor Story to throw out the runner trying to stretch an inside-the-park home run.

“I went from incredibly high to ‘oh, no,’” Bettis said. “But Parra ended up making a spectacular play. To see guys give their 100 percent effort for me is all I can ask for.”

Their defense extended around Coors Field. DJ LeMahieu slid on his knees to snare Danny Santana’s hot shot toward right field in the fourth and threw him out to end the inning and save a run.

In the fifth, Bettis kept Dansby Swanson at second base after a one-out double. In the sixth, Bettis caught Nick Markakis looking at an 84 mph changeup to end a three-up, three-down inning with a strikeout.

“Man, this day feels like it went by so fast, but so slow,” Bettis said. “I don’t think I was really in tune with what was going on until the fifth. Just so many emotions and I was trying to get them under control, but it was taking longer than I expected.”

Bettis’ comeback was watched by players and fans throughout the majors. Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon underwent surgery to remove testicular cancer on May 8, while Bettis was recovering from chemotherapy, and the Rockies pitcher sent Taillon a text message of encouragement.

Taillon later heard Bettis was attempting to pitch again this season — considered a longshot when he left spring training — but Taillon never blanched at the idea and he promised to tune in.

“A lot of people saw that and thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool. He wants to come back. That’s inspirational, but no chance,’ ” said Taillon, who watched on an off-day from Milwaukee. “It gave me chills. I texted him. I was like, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you on a mound this year. Not if or when or I hope it happens, I’m looking forward to the day you pitch this season, 2017.’ ”

Bettis gave up a leadoff double to Kurt Suzuki in a crucial seventh inning. Then he dug for more. Suzuki scampered to third on a sacrifice bunt. With the go-ahead run 90 feet away, Bettis forced Ozzie Albies and Swanson to fly out to Charlie Blackmon in center. Suzuki never threatened.

“I don’t think I could have pitched much better,” Bettis said.

Colorado manager Bud Black sat next to Bettis on the bench before the bottom half of the seventh. They shared few words, but one solid handshake and a pat on the head. Bettis then navigated a line of hugs through the dugout.

“I wanted him to enjoy what was going on in the moment,” Black said. “Just two guys looking at each other. And I expressed how well he threw.”

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Yeah, that's a completely awesome story, so happy for the guy. Hopefully it's gone for good this time. :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

http://i.imgur.com/YG57ETo.png

[RBP]

The BoSox tried to help your Cubbies out yesterday by destroying the Cards and then you guys lose to the 20 games under .500 Reds :facepalm:

Anthony Rizzo actually said that they just need to win the division; "there's no style points" "we had lots of style points last season". Doesn't matter if you win by one or 20, according to Rizzo.

Really dude? So your goal is to limp into the playoffs, barely making it, with no momentum. Awesome plan. :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

That's how you lose in the first round of the playoffs :lol:

And you guys play the Cards 7 times in the last 17 games? There's your division race right there, not much room for error on either side.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Check out the standing ovation <a href="https://twitter.com/Rockies">@Rockies</a> fans gave Chad Bettis when he took an <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB">@MLB</a> mound for the first time since beating cancer. ������ <a href="https://t.co/Xjy4DItFN1">pic.twitter.com/Xjy4DItFN1</a></p>&mdash; FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) <a href="https://twitter.com/FOXSportsBraves/status/897257309939707905">August 15, 2017</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Walk off win against the Cards last night for a 2 game sweep :cheers: Day off today then a 3 game set against the Yankees at Fenway.

[RBP]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This has to go straight into the First Pitch Hall of Fame <a href="https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis">@Jared_Carrabis</a> <a href="https://t.co/8L7b3Mwea2">pic.twitter.com/8L7b3Mwea2</a></p>&mdash; Mark Garbino (@Garbino42) <a href="https://twitter.com/Garbino42/status/897957061882920960">August 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>...

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:lol:

[DemonGeminiX]

The Mets sent Granderson to the Dodgers.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Sox took 2 outta 3 from the Yankees again this weekend. :cheers:

Only loss in the series was the game Sale started :shock:

[DemonGeminiX]

RBP, your Cubbies dropped 2 of 3 to my last place bottom-feeding Phillies. Not for nothing, but that doesn't bode well for your boys going into the playoffs. Y'all got a month to light a fire.

[RBP]

I stand by my prediction of the Cardinals. There's no fire there. They look pissed off.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Sox have dropped 6 of 10 and just got swept at Fenway by the Orioles :wha:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Sox seem to have righted the ship a bit...4 game set with the Yankees starts tonight with the Sox up by 5-1/2. This could determine the AL East.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Verlander to Houston, didn't see that one coming :-k

[RBP]

Verlander to Houston, didn't see that one coming :-k

Me thinks the purse strings opened at the idea of sport providing solace.

[DemonGeminiX]

I don't know. I think the Astros had a good chance at a good playoff run without him. If he's on, he could only help with that. Still, it is Verlander, and he's only second to Kershaw. Maybe you're right.

[RBP]

New England is a bunch of cheaters. :hand:

[DemonGeminiX]

:-s

You're in the baseball thread dude.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

New England is a bunch of cheaters. :hand:

Meh, everyone does it, they just got caught


:-s

You're in the baseball thread dude.

The Sox got caught allegedly stealing signs from the Yankees in a series back in August

[RBP]

I heard it was Tom Brady relaying the signals to the dugout. :hand:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Rockies beat Kershaw and the Dodgers last night 9-1 :shock:

7th straight loss and 12 outta 13 losses for the once unbeatable Dodgers

[RBP]

Rockies beat Kershaw and the Dodgers last night 9-1 :shock:

7th straight loss and 12 outta 13 losses for the once unbeatable Dodgers

Very odd turn of events. They better get the mojo back before the playoffs or they are one and done again.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Rox complete the 4 game sweep of the Dodgers yesterday...in Los Angeles :shock:

10th loss in a row for the Dodgers now and 15 outta 16. Worst losing streak in 25 years.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

And meanwhile the Indians have won 18 in a row now :shock:

[RBP]

And the Brewers swept the Cubs while the Cardinals swept the Pirates.

http://i65.tinypic.com/11rglyt.png

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Damn, tight race right there as the regular season is winding down.

[RBP]

Damn, tight race right there as the regular season is winding down.

I stand with my prediction.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

https://i.imgur.com/GPGnf6K.png

Looks like to make the playoffs, you will have to win that division (Cubs, Brewers, Cards)

[Teh One Who Knocks]

A lot will be decided in the next couple of weeks for you guys it looks like. 3 games at home against the Cards next week, and then starting the following weekend, back to back 4 game series with the Brewers and Cards, all on the road. Gonna be tough.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Cleveland set the AL record for consecutive victories yesterday...streak is at 21 now.

[RBP]

Cleveland set the AL record for consecutive victories yesterday...streak is at 21 now.Most impressive is the way they have done it. No miracle wins, no flukes. They are just dominating. Kluber threw a complete game shutout for #20, his third of the year. :shock: #cyyoung #sorry,sale

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Sale has let the wheels come off down the stretch, it's all on him if he loses out on the Cy Young. And the streak is now 22 in a row. Four away from tying the all time record of 26 in a row by the 1916 NY Giants.

[RBP]

Lackey completely lost his shit on the ump and got tossed, followed by his catcher Contreras. Contreras just got off the DL and will likely get fined if not suspended.

Yeah it was a bad call, but the ump didn't lose his composure and hang that shitty curve ball on the next pitch, John. You dick.

These fucking guys....

[DemonGeminiX]

Streak's over for the Indians. KC beat them 4 - 3 tonight.

[RBP]

Red Sox fined an undisclosed amount for using technology to steal signs. All the money will be donated to hurricane relief. I'm okay with this outcome as long as MLB clarifies the rules.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Lackey completely lost his shit on the ump and got tossed, followed by his catcher Contreras. Contreras just got off the DL and will likely get fined if not suspended.

Yeah it was a bad call, but the ump didn't lose his composure and hang that shitty curve ball on the next pitch, John. You dick.

These fucking guys....

What happened? Did the ump make a bad call on a pitch that should have been a strike?

[RBP]

What happened? Did the ump make a bad call on a pitch that should have been a strike?

<iframe src="http://vplayer.nbcsports.com/p/BxmELC/chicago_embed/select/media/QUeqRlL6VDu_" width="624" height="351" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>Your browser does not support iframes.</iframe>

http://www.csnchicago.com/chicago-cubs/john-lackey-and-willson-contreras-go-absolutely-bonkers-home-plate-umpire-after-insane-call-cubs-cardinals-ejected

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Damn, the Sox were losing 5-2 in the 9th last night and then they end up winning 13-6 n 15 innings :shock:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I stand with my prediction.

Only 13 games left in the season and the Cards have dropped to 3rd place 6 games back. Wanna change your prediction now?

[RBP]

Only 13 games left in the season and the Cards have dropped to 3rd place 6 games back. Wanna change your prediction now?

If I want any lip from you, I'll rattle my zipper. :x

[Teh One Who Knocks]

If I want any lip from you, I'll rattle my zipper. :x

:empathy:

[RBP]

:oops:

:daisy:

Nah, I'm sticking with it for now. The weekend sweep made the numbers much harder for the Cards, but they still have 4 left in STL so we'll see.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

https://i.imgur.com/osf7oeK.png

https://i.imgur.com/RDd8xtH.png

https://i.imgur.com/BTqqAQu.png

[RBP]

The Brewers and Twins just refuse to go away. Watch your back in CO as well! This thing is far from over.

[RBP]

On the strength of the 13-K, no-walk performance, Sale became the first AL pitcher since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez in 1999 to reach 300 K's in a season. Sale also joined Martinez as the only pitchers in the long and storied history of the Red Sox to achieve that number.

It was the first 300-K season in the big leagues since Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw did it in 2015.

To put into perspective how rare a 300-K season is in the offensive-minded AL, consider that Sale joined Randy Johnson (1993) as just the second AL lefty to achieve it since the designated hitter was instituted in 1973. The only other AL pitchers to reach 300 over that same span aside from Sale, Johnson and Martinez? The legendary Nolan Ryan, who did it five times.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/255273560/red-soxs-chris-sale-reaches-300-k-plateau/

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Plus the Sox clinched a playoff berth last night.

And meanwhile, the Rockies are doing their best to play themselves right out of the playoffs :wha:

[RBP]

Plus the Sox clinched a playoff berth last night.

And meanwhile, the Rockies are doing their best to play themselves right out of the playoffs :wha:You know, it's possible for the Brewers and Cardinals to make the post season with the Cubs and Rockies going home. :shock:

The johnny-come-lately Cubs fans think the race is over. :|

[Teh One Who Knocks]

And the Rox lost their 4th in a row last night :|

[RBP]

Careful, the Yankees are hot...

[RBP]

I was at this game last night. What an amazing finish!! :shock:

<iframe src='https://www.mlb.com/video/share/white-sox-turn-two-after-review/c-1845603983?tid=63817564' width='540' height='360'></iframe>

[RBP]

<iframe src='https://www.mlb.com/video/share/must-c-dozier-rounds-the-bases/c-1847238583?tid=6479266' width='540' height='360'></iframe>...

[RBP]

<iframe src='https://www.mlb.com/video/share/must-c-brewers-rally-vs-cubs/c-1846603083?tid=6479266' width='540' height='360'></iframe>...

[RBP]

<iframe src='https://www.mlb.com/video/share/statcast-stantons-57th-homer/c-1847667483?tid=6479266' width='540' height='360'></iframe>...

[deebakes]

I was at this game last night. What an amazing finish!! :shock:

:hand: so much for you being a long-time cubs fan :nono:

[deebakes]

in other news, the twins might actually make the playoffs :shock:

[RBP]

:hand: so much for you being a long-time cubs fan :nono:

I'm a baseball fan.

South side: 4 seats in the 4th row in the left field outfield for $40. Tailgating before the game for a $20 parking fee.

North side? Can't get 1 ticket for $40, parking is all private parking for like $50, and no place to tailgate.

Oh and while the jam packed north side concourse is loud as hell and continues the same during the national anthem, that night I watched the entire concourse (sans 1 black dude and a Mexican couple) stop in their tracks and wait for the national anthem to conclude before proceeding.

[RBP]

in other news, the twins might actually make the playoffs :shock:

:tup: magic number: 4

[RBP]

https://i.imgur.com/Vs5HCib.gif

Glad I was incorrect. But it was close. First back to back division titles in team history.

[RBP]

in other news, the twins might actually make the playoffs :shock:

Congrats!!



CLEVELAND -- It took a loss from the Angels to make it official, but the Twins made history on Wednesday night, becoming the first team in Major League history to make the postseason one season after losing 100 or more games.

The Twins, who lost a Major League-high 103 games in 2016, are baseball's Cinderella story in '17, having clinched a spot as the second American League Wild Card team hours after their 4-2 loss to the Indians at Progressive Field on Wednesday night. The clinch came when White Sox first baseman/outfielder Nicky Delmonico crushed a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Chicago a 6-4 win over the Angels. Twins players, who had hung around the visiting clubhouse at Progressive Field after their game ended, watched with excitement as the ball cleared the fence and the celebration was on.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The moment... <a href="https://t.co/unQQnkB84y">pic.twitter.com/unQQnkB84y</a></p>&mdash; Dustin Morse (@morsecode) <a href="https://twitter.com/morsecode/status/913274718186348544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Red Sox magic number to clinch the AL East is down to 2 now and the Rockies magic number to clinch the final Wild Card in the NL is down to 2 as well.

[DemonGeminiX]

I'm totally cheering for the Twins in the playoffs this year.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Red Sox magic number to clinch the AL East is down to 2 now

Down to 1 now :dance2:

They got slaughtered by the Astros last night tho :wha:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

And, with the way the rotation has been down the stretch, I really don't like the Red Sox chances against either Cleveland or Houston, whoever they end up getting in the first round.

[RBP]

I don't like the Cubs against the Nats.

[deebakes]

I'm totally cheering for the Twins in the playoffs this year.

thanks buddy :gimme5:

last minnesota championship (not counting WNBA nonsense) was the twins in '91 :(

[RBP]

Down to 1 now :dance2:

They got slaughtered by the Astros last night tho :wha:

Still at 1 now :dance2:

[RBP]

https://i.imgur.com/A7HYL8V.mp4

[deebakes]

:dunce:

[RBP]

http://i67.tinypic.com/2rm9zyw.png

[RBP]

MLB.com bracket challenge. Free entry, winner gets $5000.

https://www.mlb.com/fantasy/postseason-bracket-challenge

My picks for the contest

American League Wild Card Winner
Minnesota Twins

American League Division Series Winners
Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians

American League League Championship Series Winner
Cleveland Indians

National League Wild Card Winner
Arizona Diamondbacks

National League Division Series Winners
Washington Nationals
Arizona Diamondbacks

National League League Championship Series Winner
Washington Nationals

World Series Winner
Cleveland Indians

Tiebreaker
How many total runs will be scored in the final World Series game?: 9
How many total hits will be recorded in the final World Series game?: 14
How many total runs will be scored in the entire World Series?: 32
How many total hits will be recorded in the entire World Series?: 48

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Still at 1 now :dance2:

I hope that snide comment jinxed your Cubs :nana:

[DemonGeminiX]

Is Houston hot right now? Because they were unstoppable earlier in the season.

[DemonGeminiX]

Oh, and fuck the Yankees. Go Twins!

[RBP]

I hope that snide comment jinxed your Cubs :nana:

:oops: I'm torn. I've been pissed off with their attitude and play, but they had a great record in the 2nd half. To me, the Nats look like the team in the NL to beat right now.

[RBP]

Is Houston hot right now? Because they were unstoppable earlier in the season.

They had a rough patch but got back to playing great ball. They should be tough and have the sentimental motivation after the storm.

The addition of Verlander was a spark. He is 5-0 with a 1.06 ERA since going to Houston. :shock:

https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/09/19/houston-astros-justin-verlander-baseball-playoffs

[RBP]

Lights, camera, Cubs: As the Chicago Cubs try to become the first National League team in 41 years to repeat as World Series champions, casting has begun for a film that celebrates the Cubs’ 2016 championship. The movie is based on the book “Teammate,” by retired catcher and “Dancing With the Stars” runner-up David Ross. According to Deadline, manager Joe Maddon could be played by Bill Murray, a diehard Cubs fan who joined in the clubhouse clinching festivities last year. “Are you serious?” Maddon said. “That’s awesome. He's much better looking than me.”

[deebakes]

Oh, and fuck the Yankees. Go Twins!

:+1:

[DemonGeminiX]

Sorry, Dee. :sad2:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Fucking Yankees :meh:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

https://i.imgur.com/QvhBzFg.jpg

[deebakes]

Sorry, Dee. :sad2:


Fucking Yankees :meh:

i heard that the twins have now lost 13 straight playoff games, 10 of them to the yankees :x

[deebakes]

go colorado :tup:

[deebakes]

or is it the denver nuggets? :?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

And Rocktober is over :|

[deebakes]

sorry lance :(

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:(

And now the Sox are in a 0-1 hole

[RBP]

:(

And now the Sox are in a 0-1 hole

Sale sucked.

[RBP]

Sorry Lance. :daisy:

[RBP]

Dusty Baker is a lunatic. Mold? Hotel rooms? Illnesses? What the fuck are you talking about?

And after the rain-out you're not pitching Strasburg on full rest? What? Okay, Dusty, you do you, man. You. Do. You.

[RBP]

Dusty Baker is a lunatic. Mold? Hotel rooms? Illnesses? What the fuck are you talking about?

And after the rain-out you're not pitching Strasburg on full rest? What? Okay, Dusty, you do you, man. You. Do. You.

http://i66.tinypic.com/2uoow79.png

:lol:

[RBP]

Stunners tonight. Wow.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Fucking Yankees :meh:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Sorry Lance. :daisy:

Meh, the way they played down the stretch I didn't expect much from them in the playoffs this year. And it cost Farrell his job.

[RBP]

Great game last night and not without controversy. Cubs move on.

Stunning implosion by Max Scherzer, wow.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

by Dayn Perry - CBS Sports


The Cubs edged the Nationals by a score 9-8 in Game 5 of the NLDS and in doing so advanced the NLCS to face the Dodgers. The deciding contest at Nationals Park, however, was touched by controversy.

First, in the fifth inning the umpiring crew failed to realize that Javier Baez struck Matt Wieters' mask on a passed ball that allowed a run to score. Had the umps properly ruled that the ball was dead after Baez clipped Wieters on his backswing, the inning would've been over. Given that the Cubs prevailed by a single run, the non-call looms large.

What also looms large is the replay decision that ended the eighth inning. With Jose Lobaton on first and the speedy Michael Taylor representing the potential tying run on second, Cubs catcher Willson Contreras attempted to back-pick Lobaton at first. Lobaton was ruled safe, but the Cubs challenged ...
918701483356332033
You get a hint of it there, and additional angles showed that Lobaton popped off the bag momentarily while Anthony Rizzo still had the tag applied. So he was out, and the Nationals lost one of the four outs they had left. First, a slow-footed catcher has no business straying far off the bag when the tying run is 90 feet ahead of him with two outs in the eighth inning. That said, however, this kind of thing strains the purpose of replay.

It's easy to push back against this kind of thing by saying, well, Lobaton should learn to slide/lunge better and not pop off the bag. We also see this on stolen bases all the time. A runner careens into second or third, loses contact with the bag momentarily, and the fielder keeps the tag on and gets the call on replay. The runner beat the throw and tag, but he wasn't able to harness his momentum for an instant. Out.

This, though, stretches the proper jurisdiction of replay, and we need to think about the disincentives in play. In the homer-rich era, in which station-to-station baseball pays off more than ever, do we want another reason not to take chances on the bases? Mostly, though, it's about keeping replay where it belongs. If you look at the replay rules, you'll find that 12 general categories of baseball occurrences are eligible to be reviewed. By implication, a lot that happens on the field isn't reviewable. Ball-strike calls, for instance. Whether the batter clips the mask of the catcher, to cite another somewhat relevant example.

The point is that we've already decided some things are reviewable while others aren't. MLB should add "pop off the bag" plays to the ledger of the un-reviewable. Yes, it's a spirit-of-the-rule argument, and some find such arguments to be too open-ended. Fair enough, but the point of replay is to maximize the number of correct calls while not compromising the game of baseball as a consumer product. When you in essence tell players they need to go into the base half-cocked or not at all, you're tampering with one of the more enjoyable aspects of the sport.

What happened in the eighth inning on Thursday night appeals to those who make a fetish out of the minutiae. Get the calls correct, yes, but in those instances that still allow baseball to be baseball.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

918667801258332160
918663182075523072
Plus a blown call in the 5th

[DemonGeminiX]

:empathy: RBP

Sorry, bud.







That's 1 year. 8-[

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:lol:

[RBP]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9xQlcvNlxg

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The World Series will (most likely) be the Dodgers and the Yankees...yay :meh:

[RBP]

The World Series will (most likely) be the Dodgers and the Yankees...yay :meh:

Worst nightmare. Most obnoxious scenario possible.

Also, what the hell TBS? :lol:

https://i.imgur.com/3P7mneZ.jpg?1

Lastly...

Me: Apparently my niece is mad at some jew?
Fiance: What?
Me: She texted me "I don't like that kike" ?
Fiance: I think she means Kike Hernandez, honey.
Me: Oh! :oops:

Still laughing. :lol:

[deebakes]

:(

[DemonGeminiX]

Astros and the Dodgers in the World Series.

[deebakes]

way to go houston :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

So, is the fix in then? Does Houston win the World Series because of the hurricane? On paper, there's no way they should beat LA.

[DemonGeminiX]

On paper, there's a lot of underdogs that should've lost instead of winning. Does that mean a fix was in?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Maybe :dunno:

[DemonGeminiX]

How about the last time the Red Sox won the World Series, right after the Boston Marathon bombing?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Possibly :dunno:

[DemonGeminiX]

I think the desire of wanting to give something back to the community that's suffered a great deal is a big driver for some of these guys.

[RBP]

I think the desire of wanting to give something back to the community that's suffered a great deal is a big driver for some of these guys.

The hurricane also opened up the purse-strings of ownership to acquire Verlander.

[deebakes]

:fbd:

[deebakes]

dodgers take game 1 of the world series over the astros, 3-1

[DemonGeminiX]

Series tied at 1 each. The Astros take a wild game 2 in extra innings.

[deebakes]

that was an amazing game... i am bummed out there isn't another game on tonight!

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Ken Davidoff - The New York Post


https://i.imgur.com/I9kP4NB.jpg

HOUSTON — Of all the major professional sports in the U.S., baseball presents the greatest melting pot, a captivating blend of cultures and backgrounds that, at its best, brings people together for a common good.

At its worst, you get the incident that hijacked Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night.

The Astros topped the Dodgers 5-3 at Minute Maid Park, and Houston now owns a 2-1 advantage in this Fall Classic with the chance to take a commanding lead in Saturday night’s Game 4. A balanced offensive attack from the majors’ best-hitting team saw eight Astros combine for 12 hits, and five players each drove home one run.

First baseman Yuli Gurriel, however, delivered the most offensive moment of the night. The one folks here discussed the most afterward.

After he crushed a Yu Darvish fastball for a home run to left field, producing the game’s first run in the second inning, the Cuban native Gurriel was caught on camera in the home dugout making a “slant-eyed” gesture — historically derogatory toward people of Asian descent — and saying the word “Chinito,” which means “little Chinese boy” and can be used in either an endearing or defamatory way, according to the popular website Urban Dictionary. Darvish is not Chinese. His mother is Japanese, and his father Iranian.

Through an interpreter, Darvish called Gurriel’s action “disrespectful” and added: “He made a mistake and you have to learn from it. We are all human beings. We have to learn from it.”
924088252742508544
Gurriel, through an interpreter, expressed remorse over what transpired, although his answers — and the Astros’ silly decision to cut off questions rather than let the interview session to play out — left it unclear whether he actually appreciated why he created such a storm.

“I didn’t mean to offend anybody in Japan,” Gurriel said. “I have a lot of respect. I played in Japan [in 2014].”

He used the term “Chinito,” he said, because “in Cuba, we call everybody who’s from Asia ‘Chino.’ We don’t call them Japanese. We call them Chino.’ ”

That’s not great, obviously, and you really hope he stops doing this. Yet at least he provided some context.

As for the gesture, Gurriel said: “I was commenting to my [teammates] that I hadn’t had any good luck against Japanese pitchers here in the United States.”

He entered the at-bat 1-for-7 lifetime against Darvish and 2-for-6 against the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka with a double.

While you could surmise Gurriel grew up believing such a gesture was acceptable, we don’t know for sure because the Astros shut down the interview session at his locker just as that line of questioning was set to begin. The Astros also turned down Major League Baseball’s request to bring Gurriel into the designated interview room, which would have given him and his team a more comfortable platform to express accountability and perspective.

Instead, Gurriel dug himself out of most of the hole he had created but not all of it, as it isn’t clear whether he fully appreciates the cause of the controversy. That would be on his employers, rather than him.

Gurriel, who said he learned of the social-media fire he had started during the game, also said he gladly would meet up with Darvish to discuss what transpired.

“I will talk to him because I don’t have anything against him,” he said. “I think he’s one of the best pitchers in Japan, and I never had success against him. That’s what I said. Japan opened my doors to baseball. I didn’t mean to do anything offensive.”

In his first full season in the big leagues, Gurriel slashed .299/.332/.486 with 18 homers in 139 games, and after homering and doubling in Game 3, he owns an even better .346/.393/.558 slash line for the postseason. Like many of his Astros teammates, he has been a dynamic player.

The dynamism went the wrong way on this night. MLB had best make sure Gurriel comprehends why it went wrong so the next time he goes deep, we’re talking about the homer’s impact on the game’s score instead of his gesture’s impact on the game’s culture.