2009 MLB Regular Season Thread

[Chief Rum]

lol, Lackey thrown out of his first game back two pitches in.

Look, I love the fire and passion Lackey, a traditional Texas fireballer type a la Nolan Ryan, brings to the game, and I know the Angels and Rangers don't like each other and that Padilla, who is just a vapid pile of poo and has been notorious for his Angel run ins, is going for the Rangers, but seriously? Come on, Big John, we need you to stay in the game.

I don't even recall any slights or anything from last night's game to lead to this (Lackey threw his first pitch behind Kinsler, and then pegged him in his side with the next one). I wasn't watching when the game started, either, so I don't know if Padilla did something in the top of the first to lead to it.

I'll lmao if Lackey pitches tomorrow (he very well could, I suspect).

[DeToxRox]

He better pitch tomorrow. That is a crushing blow to my fantasy team

[DeToxRox]

Rick Porcello is now 4-3 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. Not bad for a 20 year old with just a shade over 100 career pro innings thrown. He just knows how to pitch.

[samifan24]

Due to an error in Joe Maddon's lineup, the Rays lost their DH today against the Tribe. P Andy Sonnanstine is batting 3rd in their lineup.

[DeToxRox]

What the hell did he do?

[Jas_lov]

LOL! I think he listed two 3rd basemen on his lineup card.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by DeToxRox

What the hell did he do?

He listed both Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist at 3B. Zobrist came out and played 3rd in the top of the 1st so Longoria, who was supposed to be the DH, was unable to DH (although he can come in later) and the pitcher has to hit in the #3 spot in the lineup.

[DeToxRox]

Something interesting brewing in LA.

[Jas_lov]

Clayton Kershaw has a no hitter through 7.

[DeToxRox]

I see Sonnanstine has an RBI double for the Rays today. Good for him.

[Jas_lov]

And Johnny Damon hits another walk off HR for the Yankees over the Twins. This is now 3 games in a row the Yankees have beat the Twins on a walk off hit. 2 games have gone to extra innings. Slowey and Burnett were brilliant today, what a series.

[Tasan]

And the Rangers sweep the Angels......lets see if they can finally get some national love now.

[larrymcg421]

Funny bit from The Onion:

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Due to an error in Joe Maddon's lineup, the Rays lost their DH today against the Tribe. P Andy Sonnanstine is batting 3rd in their lineup.

And Tampa still wins

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

And Tampa still wins

The umpiring in that game was atrocious. How do four ML umpires miss Garko's double and call him out?

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Tasan

And the Rangers sweep the Angels......lets see if they can finally get some national love now.

Come back when you beat our fully healthy team (j/k good series for Tex).

[Buccaneer]

After last night's marathon game (18 innings), the one thing you hope for is a starting pitcher to go deep the next day and Peav came through in the best way possible - a complete game.

[Tasan]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Come back when you beat our fully healthy team (j/k good series for Tex).

Well, we need to take care of things in Detroit now. If we can take 2 of 3 from the Tigers, I'll be happier. I was only wanting 2-3 from the Angels, but I'll take the sweep.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Royals weekend series attendance
Fri, May 15 38,353
Sat, May 16 26,720
Sun, May 17 22,791

Ownership might want to have a word with those announcers that scared everybody away from coming.

[JS19]

Not sure what in the hell is going on with Pelfrey, who's actually pitching a pretty good game, but 3 balks?? seriously?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Jas_lov

Clayton Kershaw has a no hitter through 7.

You're an asshole.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Tasan

Well, we need to take care of things in Detroit now. If we can take 2 of 3 from the Tigers, I'll be happier. I was only wanting 2-3 from the Angels, but I'll take the sweep.

STFU. That's all I got.

[DeToxRox]

So Detroit swept Oakland, coming off a sweep at the hands of the Twins. Galaragga has no bite to any of his pitches, and Dontrelle Willis is our 5th starter, but, we're in first. Somehow anyway.

Bonderman is making a rehab start in Toledo this week, and then it could be only a matter of time until he replaces Armando or Dontrelle in our rotation. If we can get something out of him, then maybe I'll become a believer, but too many guys are outproducing their normal production.

Who knows though. Maybe this is the year Edwin Jackson puts together a full season and Brandon Inge becomes a real offensive weapon an entire season.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Royals weekend series attendance
Fri, May 15 38,353
Sat, May 16 26,720
Sun, May 17 22,791

Ownership might want to have a word with those announcers that scared everybody away from coming.

They had 24K for the Thursday game, which is a great weeknight number for KC as well as the sellout Friday. The Saturday and Sunday numbers are a bit disappointing, to say the least. I mean, it's not as if the Orioles are a huge draw in KC, but even with their poor play the Royals were in 1st coming into the weekend.

Three with the tribe coming up and Game 2 is the crucial one. Meche needs to show that he's healthy. He's looked hurt the last couple of starts and hasn't been nearly as effective.

SI

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JS19

Not sure what in the hell is going on with Pelfrey, who's actually pitching a pretty good game, but 3 balks?? seriously?

IT seemed like he was having some issues with the mound

[ISiddiqui]

Ouch with Delgado getting surgery

[lungs]

Rickie Weeks done for the year... FUCK

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by lungs

Rickie Weeks done for the year... FUCK

Yeah, surprised this isn't a bigger national story. That's a huge loss for them.

EDIT: When I say "national" story, I mean that it should be second or third on ESPN's headlines (or at least above "Martin, Cuban fued hits fever pitch")

[lungs]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Yeah, surprised this isn't a bigger national story. That's a huge loss for them.

EDIT: When I say "national" story, I mean that it should be second or third on ESPN's headlines (or at least above "Martin, Cuban fued hits fever pitch")

Frustrating too, in that he did the same thing to his other wrist and that seemed to have been holding him back until this season.

There will be a dropoff in production obviously but the other options are serviceable at least. They won't be throwing Tony Pena Jr. out there at least.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Yeah, surprised this isn't a bigger national story. That's a huge loss for them.

EDIT: When I say "national" story, I mean that it should be second or third on ESPN's headlines (or at least above "Martin, Cuban fued hits fever pitch")

Pfft... we need another article about A-Rod and Jeter up there!

[sterlingice]

Oh, that's big. I mean, let's not overexaggerate, tho. It's a slow news day so it should be above Gruden going into MNF, TO's first practice, Favre's surgery, and Martin/Cuban. However, it's not Ryan Braun or even Prince Fielder. Sure, baseball fans know who he is but casual sports fans don't.

SI

[lordscarlet]

I didn't watch the game, but Ross Detwiler comes up from AA for his (first? second?) MLB start and gets out with 5 IP, 6 SO, 0 BB, 2 ER

[Young Drachma]

AL East leading Blue Jays win again.

[stevew]

Apparently it was barely a 3 run jack against him but it still counts. At least according to the radio guys he was laboring to those numbers. The pirates don't walk as a team so I really think its hard to read much into the start. Other than your pen sucks worse than ours. He could have won too.

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

I didn't watch the game, but Ross Detwiler comes up from AA for his (first? second?) MLB start and gets out with 5 IP, 6 SO, 0 BB, 2 ER

[stevew]

Weds game with Maholm pitching might be worth going to if you can LS. He's generally very efficient. Probably a 2hour 30 min type game. I dunno if Morgan will be back this series but he's one of the pirates most exciting players to watch.

[ISiddiqui]

World Series Games to start 40 minutes early. Starting before 8 PM EST:

World Series games will start before 8 p.m. ET - ESPN

Also heard that Selig wanted one afternoon game, but couldn't get it through.

Very nice stuff!

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Also heard that Selig wanted one afternoon game, but couldn't get it through.

This is a bit of BS, I'm sure if he'd take less money they'd be happy to move it to the afternoon.

[molson]

Originally Posted by adubroff

This is a bit of BS, I'm sure if he'd take less money they'd be happy to move it to the afternoon.

Who's they? The owners and the networks are the ones that would stand to lose money from a day game.

[adubroff]

Originally Posted by molson

Who's they? The owners and the networks are the ones that would stand to lose money from a day game.

Sorry...meant the networks. If Selig offered them a refund on their rights fees to make up for lost ad revenue, I'm sure the networks would put the games on in the afternoons.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

AL East leading Blue Jays win again.

Man, how many young pitchers do you guys have? They just keep going down and getting replaced

SI

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by adubroff

Sorry...meant the networks. If Selig offered them a refund on their rights fees to make up for lost ad revenue, I'm sure the networks would put the games on in the afternoons.

Seriously doubt that.

And Selig can't offer anything by himself.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by lungs

Rickie Weeks done for the year... FUCK

Speaking as his fantasy owner, I would like to reiterate those sentiments.

[Logan]

Ryan Church, I loathe you.

[JetsIn06]

Oh boy. Sorry Mets fans.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Logan

Ryan Church, I loathe you.

I'd aim the loathing at Reed and Beltran/Pagan right now.

[Lathum]

Creative way to lose a game....

I mean, that required a lot of effort.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Man, how many young pitchers do you guys have? They just keep going down and getting replaced

SI

I have no idea. I give all of the credit to Roy Halladay who I think makes them milk and cookies. And Cito Gaston, who waited way too long to prove that the guy can flat steady a ship. And yes, he gets the credit. We weren't doing this shit before.

[Ksyrup]

As much shit as he gets, Selig should get credit for the WS game time changes, IMO. First time since 1971 that a WS game will start before 8pm. That's ridiculous. Only thing worse is basketball - I think I've seen some championship series games start at like 9:20 or so.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some interesting attendance information in an article today. Baseball attendance is down 5% overall, but Royals attendance is up 15% thus far despite having lower season ticket sales than 2008. Sounds like the Royals might have timed their renovations well in regards to the economy. While teams like the Yankees and Mets built their stadiums with a large reliance on corporate dollars, the Royals moved towards a greater reliance on better value for the average fan. It's working out very well thus far.

Royals notes: Attendance is up at Kauffman - Kansas City Star

Royals notes: Attendance is up at Kauffman
By SAM MELLINGER
The Kansas City Star

The Royals are averaging 21,567 fans through 21 home dates, a 16-percent increase at a time when attendance throughout baseball is down about 5 percent.

A better team and $250 million of renovations to Kauffman Stadium are the driving factors, obviously, but club officials think their numbers would be even better if not for the bad economy. Their season-ticket sales, for instance, are down from 9,200 to 8,500.

But here’s another way to look at it: Maybe this was exactly the right time to improve the stadium.

After all, who knows where the Royals might be without them?

“It’d be a lot worse, absolutely,” says Larry DeGaris, director of the academic sports marketing program at the University of Indianapolis. “You’ve got to measure this not against what you want it to be, but what it would be otherwise. It’s not a zero-sum game.”

DeGaris says the Royals are better positioned for a down cycle in the economy because their stadium’s improvements are more for “the typical fan” than to increase corporate support.

The Royals went from 19 to 26 suites — not including five so-called “party suites” — which is still significantly fewer than many ballparks. DeGaris says the teams that are going to hurt most from the economy’s struggles are those that rely most heavily on corporate money.

This was all by design.

“Most of the renovation went into things you can see and things for fans to do,” says owner David Glass. “We’ve always wanted to be affordable for the family of four, and I think we do that as well as anybody.”

[lungs]

Brewers sweep the Cardinals, and more importantly, untuck their shirts after all three games in the Cardinals' home. Which is all the more sweet since the Cardinals have anointed themselves the keeper of all that is sacred in baseball and think the practice of untucking shirts on the field after that game is an insult to the game itself. (For those that don't know, Mike Cameron has always done this as a tribute to his father and the younger Brewers picked up on it last year).

Mat Gamel takes a lot of the sting out from the news of Rickie Weeks' season ending injury by hitting a crucial three-run home run in his first career start at third base. Also made a fine play defensively to go with a horrible throw later that cost the Crew a few runs.