MLB 2021
- Thread starter Turnip
- Start date
Oh ffs. I'm thinking I should have picked a different team to root for
I recommend the Giants. Similar color scheme and not a hint of history stealing signs.
Come on you baseball nerds, bite
Just Barry Bonds and his magically growing dome. And yes I see the white text
That wasn't the fish I was going for. You need to brush up on your baseball conspiracy theories
What a poor poor at bat by Longoria
Bonds isn’t a conspiracy theory though. Dude was juiced out his ass.That wasn't the fish I was going for. You need to brush up on your baseball conspiracy theories
This was exactly what I thought was going to happen. The Dodgers murder DeSclafani this year and they are beating his ass again. Right call to not start Webb, but maybe it should have been Cueto or a bullpen game today. Between that and the Giants baffling ineptitude with RISP I think we are getting a game 5.
Absolutely he was for the last 7-8 or so years of his career. Still loved watching him hit though
There was Juan Marichal going full-on Joe Pesci with a bat.
Braves
I felt empty this morning waking up with no highlights to watch and it makes me think, how am I going to deal with life when the postseason is over?
There must be another sport currently on that's worth watching... hold me MLBCafe
There must be another sport currently on that's worth watching... hold me MLBCafe
Hockey just started.I felt empty this morning waking up with no highlights to watch and it makes me think, how am I going to deal with life when the postseason is over?
There must be another sport currently on that's worth watching... hold me MLBCafe
You beat me to it. Who doesn't want to watch the man I once dubbed 'the best version of KDB and the best version of Hazard rolled into one'?
Who might this be?
Had to google Phaneuf's name to get a memory jog. Didn't help.
Now, McDavid is more appropriate.
I felt empty this morning waking up with no highlights to watch and it makes me think, how am I going to deal with life when the postseason is over?
There must be another sport currently on that's worth watching... hold me MLBCafe
Greatest sport on God’s earth or better known as American football
I craved baseball up through my teens, but these days I find it a fairly boring game. The only time I will watch a full game, let alone one inning, is the World Series. That's not how I felt pre-94. I would watch any game throughout the day, sometimes multiple games (thank you TBS and WGN!), and any highlight show possible, absolutely loved TWIB. Having grown up immersed in baseball, and gridiron ball and basketball to a lesser extent in that order, I do say that association football is the best sport in my view. Nothing rivals the passion and the nuances of association football. I once thought baseball was the greatest sport ever but it's well behind a few others sports these days.
I'll give it a whirl. I don't know much about the sport but I did enjoy NHL 99 when I were a kid. Always played as the Penguins, who I gather are actually quite good...
This is one I'd really like to get into! Any tips?
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It's because launch angle and sabermetric stats have almost ruined the game.
What was different about pre-94 baseball? When I watch old clips it looks like it used to be faster. Less time between pitches etc
Maybe it's just because I'm actually paying attention to baseball for the first time in my life but the interest in it seems to be on the rise. As an outsider, it seems like a sport that takes a while to understand, unlike basketball, possibly why the NBA is so popular in Europe and around the world in comparison to the other 3 major NA sports. Well that and the fact that it's so accessible. Playoff baseball has been fantastic to watch, but I did find the 162 games regular season kind of laborious towards the end.
I'm interested to know, what's the difference between 2021 baseball and the baseball your grew up with?
Pre-1994 was before the players strike.
As far as the game itself changing... prior to this launch angle/sabermetrics era, there was a completely different approach to the offensive side of the game. Baserunning was emphasized. Situational hitting, like bunt & runs, hit & runs, actively trying to hit the "top half" of the ball instead of the "bottom half" of the ball, which led to more ground balls and line drives vs. home runs and strike outs.
Games had more action and, yes, were faster.
Ah right, so would you say there were less routine fly outs back then?
In other news, the cards have sacked their manager, Mike Shildt. I thought he did a decent job getting them to the postseason...
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/10/cardinals-parting-ways-with-manager-mike-shildt.html
Not necessarily fewer routine fly outs, but the range of outs (e.g. ground balls to left side, right side, pitchers fielding their position, foul territory outs) seemed greater. Foul territory is much more reduced now, which reduces immediate outs and generates strikes, more pitches, and increase in strikeout potential. Batters don't carve the baseball much at all, or else you'll see spray charts that are not heavily skew to their pull side.
Bats were also made out of ash back then, so more broken bats and weaker contact. Now, most bats are made from maple, which allows for stronger contact even if your swing plane was not ideal/optimal.
Firing Shildt was a surprise. Maybe go in-house hire or Skip Schumaker?
What he said below is dead on. There was so much more variety to how you got out and how you scored.
Also, guys actually knew about, and utilized, bat control. The crazy defensive shifts you see now would not have work because guys like Gwynn, (pre-steroid) Bonds, Boggs, etc. would have a field day racking up hits to the openings. The extreme focus on home runs has ruined things partially in my opinion. It’s why I love guys like Posey so much. Could he hit 10-15 more home runs a year if he went extreme pull? Absolutely, but his swing is designed to let him control where the balls go based on pitch location. I hope we circle back to that one day.
The art hitting has become the science of hitting, which promotes and rewards power, when not everyone on a team needs HR power. Extra base hits and situational hitting is what makes the strategy of the game so much fun and interesting.
Well it’s a hard sport to get into because it has a lot of breaks which pisses people off but if you can get past that and actually start to understand how complex it is beyond the simple bang bang physicality you will enjoy it a lot . The best thing about American sport is unlimited content on YouTube so just start watching random YouTube videos and you will keep getting linked to more stuff
P.S I am talking about NFL . My quote might Make it seem like it’s hockey
That’s very strange because the opposite is true for me . I used to be obsessed with soccer but once I got into American sport I have lost most of my interest in soccer now. I watch like probably one non United game or 2 at most a week while I watch pretty much all the Sunday nfl games and consume so much other American sport content even though I live in the UK
There's a bit of an indoor football element to hockey, game's obviously much faster & has an offside rule. I'd suggest watching pro football first as the game is played at a much higher level than college, although passion can tend to run higher for certain college teams.
Typically higher scoring games in college though
good point
here we go
how has no one mentioned yet that Logan Webb look like an American Wayne Rooney???
That ball to Betts was a strike for Urias twice last inning. Gotta love human umpires.
Bonds couldn’t throw out Sid fecking Bream from deep short. What a glorious night that was.
There is no way the home plate umpire is not related to Urias. This is getting ridiculous.
Ump has been a little inconsistent both ways. Needs to be tighter in this elimination game.