The Official 2013 MLB Thread

[JPhillips]

Holy fuck noodles!

The top five OPS guys for the Reds are batting 1-5!

Is Dusty sick?

[JPhillips]

After reading this I'm rooting for a three way tie in the NL Central.

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/9...ntral-scenario

[larrymcg421]

Craig Kimbrel had a bit of a slow start this season and hasn't been as dominant as last year, but he's on a great run over the last 26.1 innings...

26.1 IP, 9 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 35 K

[sterlingice]

Speaking of sick reliever numbers, (I'm sure I have just jinxed him but) Greg Holland last allowed runs on July 23rd and June 30th.

Season stats: 1.33 ERA 54 IP 10 R 8 ER 84 K (14.0 K/9) 14 BB

His ERA since the first week of the season: 0.69

SI

[SirFozzie]

Unexpected win for the Red Sox tonight, considering we were facing a 19-1 pitcher, and the Tigers lineup was hitting .430 against Lester entering tonight's game.

[SirFozzie]

Uehara's statline on the year

3-0, 1.17 ERA, 61.1 IP, 29 HA, 9 BB, 83 K.

Simply amazing.

[MizzouRah]

103 MPH Chapman.. I hate the Reds, but he is fun to watch.

[Swaggs]

Pirates clinch their first non-losing season since 1992 (the days of Bonds, Van Slyke, Drabek, and rookie sensation Tim Wakefield). Pinch hit home run by Travis Snyder in the top of the 9th and a converted save by Mark Melancon for a 4-3 win.

Two game lead over the Cards and 3.5 over the Reds with 24 games left.

In other Pirates' news, Jason Grilli, who had 30 saves before going on the DL in late July, was reinstated and Wandy Rodriguez, who has been out since the beginning of June, is scheduled to make a rehab AAA start on Friday. Getting those two and Starling Marte back healthy could have a giant impact on the team in the final 3 weeks.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

Speaking of sick reliever numbers, (I'm sure I have just jinxed him but) Greg Holland last allowed runs on July 23rd and June 30th.

Season stats: 1.33 ERA 54 IP 10 R 8 ER 84 K (14.0 K/9) 14 BB

His ERA since the first week of the season: 0.69

SI

He's been ridiculous this year. Certainly came at the right time given the Soria injuries.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Pirates clinch their first non-losing season since 1992 (the days of Bonds, Van Slyke, Drabek, and rookie sensation Tim Wakefield). Pinch hit home run by Travis Snyder in the top of the 9th and a converted save by Mark Melancon for a 4-3 win.

Two game lead over the Cards and 3.5 over the Reds with 24 games left.

In other Pirates' news, Jason Grilli, who had 30 saves before going on the DL in late July, was reinstated and Wandy Rodriguez, who has been out since the beginning of June, is scheduled to make a rehab AAA start on Friday. Getting those two and Starling Marte back healthy could have a giant impact on the team in the final 3 weeks.

No matter who you cheer for, how can you not cheer for the Pirates and what their fans have been through? It's a good storyline.

[spleen1015]

What have the Pirates fan been through?

[Vince, Pt. II]

21 straight years of losing baseball?

[molson]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

What have the Pirates fan been through?

It must suck to be a big fan of a team that suddenly becomes completely irrelevant for 2 decades. I mean, it's not like having cancer or anything, but on the scale of sports fan trauma, that's gotta be up there.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Pirates clinch their first non-losing season since 1992 (the days of Bonds, Van Slyke, Drabek, and rookie sensation Tim Wakefield). Pinch hit home run by Travis Snyder in the top of the 9th and a converted save by Mark Melancon for a 4-3 win.

Hooray!

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by molson

It must suck to be a big fan of a team that suddenly becomes completely irrelevant for 2 decades. I mean, it's not like having cancer or anything, but on the scale of sports fan trauma, that's gotta be up there.

Welcome to the Royals. Perennial playoff contenders from the mid-70s through the mid-80s including a championship, followed by nearly 3 decades of nothing.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by molson

It must suck to be a big fan of a team that suddenly becomes completely irrelevant for 2 decades. I mean, it's not like having cancer or anything, but on the scale of sports fan trauma, that's gotta be up there.

As a fan of the Detroit Lions, there are very few fan bases I feel all that bad for. Other than the Barry Sanders era that led to all of one playoff win, the Lions haven't really been relevant in 50+ years.

The only fanbase I really feel bad for are the folks from Cleveland. They've had it harder. They lost the Browns, Lebron bailed on them, the Indians haven't done anything, the current Browns have pretty much stunk.

[lungs]

Congrats to the Pirates. My Brewers were in the same boat for many years, made a few playoff appearances and are now back in the same boat of sucktitude

[Butter]

Pittsburgh fans have the Steelers, so I really haven't felt any heartburn at all about how terrible the Pirates have been.

[ISiddiqui]

Not every Pirates fan is a Steelers fan though.

[chadritt]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Welcome to the Royals. Perennial playoff contenders from the mid-70s through the mid-80s including a championship, followed by nearly 3 decades of nothing.

That reminds me: As a Braves fan I should say "Thanks for Schuerholz". P.S. I think Ive seen the world series trophy from 85 up close and it is infinitely cooler knowing its for the Royals.

[Crapshoot]

For Reds fans - good read:

The Obviousness of Billy Hamilton | FanGraphs Baseball

[SirFozzie]

Holy shit. 16-4 Sox, with six homers.

EDIT: Make that 18-4, and seven home runs.

John Lackey must be wondering "Where was all this (bleeping) offense all six times we were shut out when I was pitching????"

[cartman]

The Rangers lost to the A's today, 11-4. That broke a streak of 31 straight games where the Rangers gave up 5 runs or fewer to their opponent, the 3rd longest streak since the divisional era started in 1969.

[SirFozzie]

And Napoli hits the Sox eighth HR of the night, tying the team record, set back in 1977.

[korme]

This Reds/Cards series has been great so far. Granted the Reds took the first two so I'm biased. But last night's 1-0 victory had the intensity of a playoff game.

And now tonight it's 3-3 as we head to the top of the 14th.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Uehara's statline on the year

3-0, 1.17 ERA, 61.1 IP, 29 HA, 9 BB, 83 K.

Simply amazing.

And to think, it took injuries to Hanrahan and Bailey, the trading of Melancon, and the falling apart of Bard... all "Proven Closers", (with upper 90's fastballs) to actually give him a shot at closing, despite a WHIP well below 1.00 every year he's relieved. Plus, for all the sabermetric advances in front offices, we've got him signed for another year at $4m, because no other team valued him at $5m+ for a year this winter.

[korme]

Billy Hamilton is an impact player. 2 games, 2 SB, 2 R - 1 game winning, 1 game tying.

That said, Adams just launched one and the Birds lead 5-4

[SirFozzie]

If an ESPN story is true, and the sox hit 3,168 feet of home runs, that means the AVERAGE HR distance of the 8 was 396 feet. (and considering that one of them was an excuse me/hit the ledge at the top of the Monster homer, that must mean the rest of them were absolute BOMBS

[JPhillips]

Dammit Dusty.

Extra innings. Two outs. Runner on third.

BUNT?

[rowech]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Dammit Dusty.

Extra innings. Two outs. Runner on third.

BUNT?

He didn't call for it.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

If an ESPN story is true, and the sox hit 3,168 feet of home runs, that means the AVERAGE HR distance of the 8 was 396 feet. (and considering that one of them was an excuse me/hit the ledge at the top of the Monster homer, that must mean the rest of them were absolute BOMBS

Fwiw, 396 feet is almost exactly the average HR distance in MLB this season - ESPN Home Run Tracker :: Home run tracking and distance measurement

[tucker rocky]

http://mlb.si.com/2013/09/05/clevela...ken-wild-card/

[lungs]

Somebody I know that is a season ticket holder for the Brewers received a phone call from Ryan Braun apologizing for everything. He thought it was a prank call but it was indeed Ryan. I guess he's going down the season ticket list and personally calling all season ticket holders to apologize.

[Logan]

A lot of people will spend 8 hours a day calling people at minimum wage, so nice to see he can do the same thing on his salary.

[lungs]

He does have plenty of time on his hands

[kingfc22]

Some good pitching going on in SF...

[kingfc22]

Still going strong in SF into the 8th...

[MrBug708]

A no-no?

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

A no-no?

A no base runner through 8.

[MrBug708]

Ah, perfect game

[kingfc22]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Ah, perfect game

That would be it...3 outs to go

[MrBug708]

What channel?

[MrBug708]

Oops...just turned it on

[kingfc22]

Eric Chavez (PH) hits a ball that lands a foot in front of a diving Pence with 2 outs...

[Shkspr]

So by uttering the words "no no" and "perfect game" in sequence, followed by turning on the TV, I assume we give MrBug partial credit for jinxing the Giants.

[Vince, Pt. II]

I don't even know what to say. He threw like 90 pitches. What a game.

[dawgfan]

Good for Petit, I've always had a soft-spot for him. He was basically the poster-child for the fact that you can't judge pitching prospects solely by their numbers, you have to put value in the scouting reports too. He just dominated the lower minors up through AA at a young age, but I guess he's never had what scouts consider "great" stuff, and as he got to AAA and the majors he had a rough time.

Looks like maybe he's finally figuring out how to be successful at this level, and he's still young enough to carve out a decent career for himself.

[PilotMan]

Well there goes any chance Dodger fans had of seeing Kemp and Puig in the lineup at the same time, or even seeing Kemp at all the rest of this year. fuuuuuuuuuuuu....

[rowech]

Minus a small hiccup two nights ago, the last four nights Chapman has made some outstanding hitters look totally inept -- mostly with just a fastball.

[PilotMan]

It's weird, normally I'd be really pissed about the Dodgers losing to Cincy, but given the current race, they have it to give, and I'd rather see Cincy push hard in the Central. I'm still cheering for LA though, it just doesn't hurt as bad if they lose.