General Baseball Thread 2012

[SouthStndJunkie]

Originally Posted by TheChamp24

I remember going to the All Star Game in 1998. It was AMAZING. Of course, further was amazing due to my dad winning the car they gave out at the end, and being on the field next to a lot of those guys, shaking Roberto Alomar's hand as he gave the keys to my dad.
A lot of HOFers in that game. Maddux, Clemens, Griffey, Bonds, Sosa, McGwire, Gwynn, Ripken, Jeter, ARod, Pedro Martinez, on and on.

2005 had a good group:
ARod, Ortiz, Manny, Vladdy Guerrero, Tejada, Teixiera, I think what killed it was the lack of big names throughout on the pitching roster. Matt Clement, Jon Garland, Colon, kenny Rogers, baez, Bob Wickman, Duescheser, etc. Meh.
NL had some good names there, but also actually a lot of one/two year wonders. Morgan Ensberg really jumps out, as well as others. Also guys who were solid, but nothing spectacular.

I think baseball is going to start to be getting back to those spectacular rosters now. Just look at the guys at this years game, 19 or so are under 26 years old.

That's awesome....winning a car and being on the field with all of those players would have made it an epic experience....plus you got to experience it with your Dad.

It was so hot and miserably humid at the 2005 game and I sat by myself before meeting up with everyone later and standing to watch the game from a poor vantage point sucked. Only being able to get single seating tickets made a big difference in the enjoyment level.

It really never cooled off all night and that can make for a miserable time, as I hate humid 90+ degree weather. It was still a good time, but didn't meet my own expectations, partially due to the reasons I mentioned.

The players you listed in the 1998 game are the ones I would love to have seen and grew up watching. I got to see some great players, but not like the list you had in 1998.

That's a once in a lifetime experience you had....something you and your Dad will always remember.

BTW....what kind of car did he win?

[broncocalijohn]

Because Verlander laid a massive egg, no Tigers posts unless it is news worthy. Damn that guy pissed me off tonight!

[SouthStndJunkie]

Originally Posted by broncocalijohn

Because Verlander laid a massive egg, no Tigers posts unless it is news worthy. Damn that guy pissed me off tonight!

Sorry....no can do.

[TonyR]

Originally Posted by broncocalijohn

...no Tigers posts unless it is news worthy.

Of course these guys can post what they want and when they want, but I have to agree there are far too many posts about the 3rd place team in the AL's 3rd best division...

[SouthStndJunkie]

Fellas....it's the baseball thread.

You can post whatever you want in here as long as it's baseball related.

I enjoy it when you guys talk about your teams.

[SouthStndJunkie]

Word around town is that Justin Verlander has been dating Kate Upton.

[TonyR]

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

Fellas....it's the baseball thread.

Agree, just giving you a hard time. It's funny that two of the most frequent posters here are Tigers fans.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by TonyR

Agree, just giving you a hard time. It's funny that two of the most frequent posters here are Tigers fans.

I was explaining that to my wife, which she couldn't understand. Hell, I don't even understand it. I am not a member of any Detroit Tigers message board, nor have I ever been to one. The Denver Broncos message board is where I go to discuss the Tigers.

[SouthStndJunkie]

Yep....I frequent a Tigers posting board now and then, but don't post much on it.

I like taking baseball in this thread....on a Broncos board.

I also like talking about other teams, so it's cool to have fans from other teams to talk to here.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

Yep....I frequent a Tigers posting board, but don't post much on it.

I like taking baseball in this thread....on a Broncos board.

I also like talking about other teams, so it's cool to have fans from other teams to talk to here.

Knowing what I know about Lions fans and UM fans (no offense, just my experience talking here), I don't think I could take a Tigers board anyway. It would likely be a circle jerk with a bunch of homers who believe the team, its management or its players can do no wrong. Every Lions message board or UM message board I've ever been to has been like this.

Sure, this board has its share of those, as well as the other end of the spectrum where people only complain. But this site has a pretty large portion that are somewhere in the middle.

[SouthStndJunkie]

Growing up, I was a Tigers fan, but I've always also been a fan of a lot of individual players from other teams.

When I was growing up, I loved George Brett....easily my favorite non-Tiger.

I also really liked Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, and Tony Gwynn a lot when I was a kid.

[SouthStndJunkie]

Originally Posted by houghtam

Knowing what I know about Lions fans and UM fans (no offense, just my experience talking here), I don't think I could take a Tigers board anyway. It would likely be a circle jerk with a bunch of homers who believe the team, its management or its players can do no wrong. Every Lions message board or UM message board I've ever been to has been like this.

Sure, this board has its share of those, as well as the other end of the spectrum where people only complain. But this site has a pretty large portion that are somewhere in the middle.

You're ok for being a Sparty fan.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

Growing up, I was a Tigers fan, but I've always also been a fan of a lot of individual players from other teams.

When I was growing up, I loved George Brett....easily my favorite non-Tiger.

I also really liked Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, and Tony Gwynn a lot when I was growing up.

I think most fans from our age group feel that way, and I'm sure a lot of it has to do with collecting baseball cards. I know Ripken and Gwynn from your list were always favorites of mine, as well as Puckett, Pete Harnisch, and several others.

I feel like today's kids are going to miss a lot of that, and like every other sport, we're going to see a shift where we have a lot of fans who don't even follow a particular team, but have several favorite players. And it's all because of fantasy sports. Like em or love em (I LOVE fantasy baseball), they have a huge effect on the fan base of the sport.

[ludo21]

wasnt that a doosy last night.....ugh #baseball sucks ha!

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by ludo21

wasnt that a doosy last night.....ugh #baseball sucks ha!

It was probably the most boring baseball All-Star game in recent memory.

That said, it was better than all previous and all future* Pro Bowls combined.

*provided the format remains the same

[SouthStndJunkie]

Yep....I had (still have them) a huge collection of baseball and football cards and that is part of the reason I love statistics and numbers as much as I do.

I'd stare at the back of the cards and memorize the stats and always knew what the all-time records were for all the categories.

I used to read all of the box scores in the newspaper every day as a kid....and still get on and read over the box scores on the Internet every day.

Even today, I closely follow players as they chase achievements like the 3,000 hit club, 300 wins, 3,000 Ks, 500 HRs, etc...

Same deal with football, I pay attention to all of the statistical records and know who is close to breaking what record and who needs what stats to reach certain plateaus.

I spend a lot of time on these sites:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

[gyldenlove]

I was surprised at how bad the AL batting was, they had power up and down that starting lineup but it didn't show at all.

[SouthStndJunkie]

Part of the problem with the All-Star game is that there are too many players and the substitutions all the time don't allow the players to get any continuity.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

Part of the problem with the All-Star game is that there are too many players and the substitutions all the time don't allow the players to get any continuity.

Yep. Baseball is the ultimate performance-over-time sport. An 0-3 hitting line in one game doesn't mean anything, nor does a 3-3 hitting line. It's what you can do over 162 games (if you can play that many).

[TheChamp24]

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

That's awesome....winning a car and being on the field with all of those players would have made it an epic experience....plus you got to experience it with your Dad.

It was so hot and miserably humid at the 2005 game and I sat by myself before meeting up with everyone later and standing to watch the game from a poor vantage point sucked. Only being able to get single seating tickets made a big difference in the enjoyment level.

It really never cooled off all night and that can make for a miserable time, as I hate humid 90+ degree weather. It was still a good time, but didn't meet my own expectations, partially due to the reasons I mentioned.

The players you listed in the 1998 game are the ones I would love to have seen and grew up watching. I got to see some great players, but not like the list you had in 1998.

That's a once in a lifetime experience you had....something you and your Dad will always remember.

BTW....what kind of car did he win?

Yeah, looking back, that 1998 All Star team had a ton of HOF talent playing, some I didn't think would be HOFers at that point too. Derek Jeter was in his 3rd year, Chipper Jones his 4th, Jim Thome, and looking now they are surefire HOFers.
I will always remember that 1998 All Star game, I still have the magazine and scorecard for that game.
Years later, I was able to get Roberto Alomar to sign a pic of me, him, and my dad taken when we were presented the keys. Best autograph I have in my collection, and I have a ton.
The car was a Mercedes SLK 230.

[Beantown Bronco]

Originally Posted by SouthStndJunkie

Yep....I had (still have them) a huge collection of baseball and football cards and that is part of the reason I love statistics and numbers as much as I do.

I'd stare at the back of the cards and memorize the stats and always knew what the all-time records were for all the categories.

I used to read all of the box scores in the newspaper every day as a kid....and still get on and read over the box scores on the Internet every day.

Even today, I closely follow players as they chase achievements like the 3,000 hit club, 300 wins, 3,000 Ks, 500 HRs, etc...

Same deal with football, I pay attention to all of the statistical records and know who is close to breaking what record and who needs what stats to reach certain plateaus.

I spend a lot of time on these sites:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

I'll bet you know what time Judge Wapner is on too.

[houghtam]

Originally Posted by Beantown Bronco

I'll bet you know what time Judge Wapner is on too.

That's one of my favorite scenes in that movie, where Tom Cruise starts messing with his baseball cards and he just about freaks out. Reminds me of someone very close to me whose name sounds like "schmoughtam".

[TonyR]

Some good comments from Chipper Jones on Derek Jeter.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/07/1...ankees+Blog%29

"I had a lot of animosity toward DJ early on in my career," Chipper Jones said. "He beat me in two World Series and I didn't know him. I sat across the field from him so many times, saw all the accolades he was getting and was a little green with envy. Then I got a chance to play with him (at the 2006 World Baseball Classic), in the clubhouse, in the dugout, off the field at dinner. This is the best dude I have ever met. This guy deserves everything."

[Smiling Assassin27]

Jeter on Chipper:

"If you watch him play, he looks like he should be playing baseball. I don't know, really know how to explain it. He just looks like a baseball player. The way he carries himself. The way he runs. The way he swings. Everything about him just defines a baseball player in my mind."

http://www.foxsportssouth.com/06/12/...blockID=745274

[SouthStndJunkie]

Originally Posted by Beantown Bronco

I'll bet you know what time Judge Wapner is on too.

Yeah definitely. Ten minutes to Wapner.