Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

[danielmak]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Cubs are set up to win for a while, but I would worry about Lester and Lackey. Lackey only has one more year, so he just needs to get through 2017. Lester will be the bigger concern if he drops off. The national TV announcers keep talking about Montgomery moving into the rotation, which likely means that talk is coming from the club, but I don't see him as adding more as a starter than what he gives in the pen.

The other major need will be a closer. Rondon did well, but obviously things changed radically when Chapman was acquired.

Finally, they will have to figure out the outfield. Baez seems to have taken second base, which means Zobrist moves to left or right (if Hayward is moved to center and Fowler is not re-signed). Basically they have 6 legit outfielders (if we include Fowler). The Dodgers have shown that this can be untenable if all of those players are healthy. The plus sides is that someone like Soler could be traded for a quality reliever. If I was running things, I'd want Hayward in right where he is a gold glove defender. In center, he is only average when compared to other center fielders (says the metrics).

[multipleman78]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

I have just watched some of the fan reactions on youtube. It's the older folks reacting that gets me. How long have they waited for that victory? Then there is the folk who get all weepy, perhaps thinking of loved ones who never got to see it.

Lots of modern sport leaves me feeling cold, the Champions League is the biggest culprit, but this felt like a glorious moment and i don't even support the Cubs.

[danielmak]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

I forgot to post this yesterday (or maybe before game 6). I saw an interview with Phil Rodgers (Chicago Tribune Reporter) and he talked about pitching on short rest. The stats show a dramatic drop in effectiveness and he highlighted the 2009 NY Yankees. A lot of critics point to the Yanks as a championship team, but the ERA of those starters was super high and the runs scored by the Yankees made up for the poor pitching.

[jason voorhees]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

The only thing sending a chill through my spine with that Hillary pic is that John Kerry saw his beloved Red Sox break a curse when he was running for President. We all see how that turned out.

Hopefully Hillary becoming a Yankee fan will prevent that Democrat-Seeing-Their-Beloved-Team-Break-Curse-Then-Lose-The-Election-Curse.

Sorry Hill, no Cubbacks. You're one of us.

Trust me. It's for the best.





Pretty funny article, with some great picks of Harry Caray and Hill....
http://www.hardballtimes.com/our-would-be-fans-in-chief/

[ursus arctos]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

We will accept the Prodigal Daughter with open arms.

Though Barrack's invitation to the Cubs to come to the White House "before I leave" was a bit catty.

[Hot Pepsi]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

I'd respect her more if her Yankees fandom were purely political rather than just a hedge against the Cubs being bad.

[danielmak]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Zobrist was well deserving of the MVP. He seemed to the only Cub to hit consistently, as other players went through lows and highs.

But I think there was a very good case to be made to have co-MVPs this time around, with Kluber sharing the award. Although Miller was incredible in the playoffs, he was less effective against the Cubs. But Kluber was lights out for two of his three starts. And if the team had been deeper, he would have only needed to start twice.

I can't remember a time when a losing player was awarded the MVP honor in the WS or a co-MVP. Has that happened before?

[Hot Pepsi]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Bobby Richardson, 1960. Pirates beat the Yankees on Maz' home run but the Yankees scored more runs total.

[tee rex]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

The BBC has a short piece on this, and then for some reason opens it up to Have Your Say (not an option for most of their sports stories, thank goodness).

Without even looking you can start filling in your comment bingo card ... "rounders ... not World ... stupid Mercans ...". What sad, insular lives some must lead.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/baseball/37857919

[Hot Pepsi]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

tee rex wrote: The BBC has a short piece on this, and then for some reason opens it up to Have Your Say (not an option for most of their sports stories, thank goodness).

Without even looking you can start filling in your comment bingo card ... "rounders ... not World ... stupid Mercans ...". What sad, insular lives some must lead.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/baseball/37857919

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. From the desperate city you go into the desperate country, and have to console yourself with the bravery of minks and muskrats. A stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind. There is no play in them, for this comes after work. But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things..”

You know who said that? An American.

The "it's just rounders" bullshit is the reason AG Spalding commissioned the creation of a myth that General Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown. He heard that from snotty Englishmen during a European baseball tour and wanted to counter it.

The reality is that rounders and baseball are more like cousins then parent and child. The first reference to base ball is older than the first reference to rounders.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_baseball

Baseball as we know it, really, didn't come into being until the 1890ss. (and yet the reserve clause is even older than that) What makes it different than rounders or games like that - and yet a bit more like cricket - is the duel between pitcher and batter. Whereas, in rounders for example, the pitcher has to throw underhand in a smooth motion and can't bring their hand higher than their shoulder on the windup and if they throw two no-balls in a row, the other team gets a half-point or something like that. So the best they can do is put the ball where the batter can hit it and hope for the best. (That is, however, a pretty good description of most pitching in little league)

Rounders is, from what I can gather having watched it on youtube and read the rules, more like a version of stickball or slow-pitch softball. (although the Irish versions seems more like baseball, especially early baseball, than the English version) Fine for picnics, the beach, or physed class, but not really something great athletes would commit their lives to or that people would pay to watch or cry over after 108 years.

But this is great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luJ4F1N7eEA

[Renart]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Hot Pepsi wrote: I'd respect her more if her Yankees fandom were purely political rather than just a hedge against the Cubs being bad.

It almost certainly is purely political. Is there any evidence of Hillary being a Yankee fan before she ran for senate in New York?

Anyway, if we're reading baseball's entrails for election predictions, when the National League team wins in an election year, the Democratic candidate has won. American League victory leads to Republicans.

[Hot Pepsi]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

It almost certainly is purely political. Is there any evidence of Hillary being a Yankee fan before she ran for senate in New York?

Yes. If you read the article, it shows evidence that she hedged and made the Yankees her "second team" or designated "American League" team long before she got into politics.

My "second team/" American League team is the Rays. The fucking Rays. But I'm not ashamed of it. I have a hat and a shirt. I also have some connections to the Twins and I have a soft-spot for the A's. My brief flirtation with the Red Sox was purely geographical. I ditched it asap.

But to just pick the Yankees, of all teams, because your team sucks is just....Well, it's like running for Senate in New York because you're superambitious even though you don't live in New York. Who would do that?

[Renart]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Yeah, I feel like the only good excuse for being a Yankee fan is growing up in The Bronx.

[Gangster Octopus]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Hot Pepsi wrote: But to just pick the Yankees, of all teams, because your team sucks is just....Well, it's like running for Senate in New York because you're superambitious even though you don't live in New York. Who would do that?

Have you spoken to hobbes, Rogin, Toby or any of the Irish posters?

[Ginger Yellow]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Most tortured 108 years reference so far, on WGN just now: "You know this is the next best thing to sliced bread, because sliced bread wasn't invented in 1908".

[Hot Pepsi]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Gangster Octopus wrote:

But to just pick the Yankees, of all teams, because your team sucks is just....Well, it's like running for Senate in New York because you're superambitious even though you don't live in New York. Who would do that?

Have you spoken to hobbes, Rogin, Toby or any of the Irish posters?

Not in person. I try to avoid the subject on here.

[Ginger Yellow]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

[ursus arctos]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Five MILLION people?

[Renart]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Wow!

Although the turnout maybe shouldn't be too surprising. Both Kansas City's and San Francisco's parades drew more than a million, and the Cubs have a much bigger national fanbase than either.

And of course the Cubs haven't had a World Series parade in a while.

[Doraemon]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Belated congratulations to all the Cubs on here.

I've really enjoyed following the baseball this season including this thread. The one minute highlights clips on Google help (They appear to have the same for the NFL). Are these available worldwide or is it just in certain markets (including the UK)?

[Hot Pepsi]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

ursus arctos wrote: Five MILLION people?

Where did you see that? I read "hundreds of thousands."

Five million is half the population of the Chicago metro area.

I don't think I would go to something like that, regardless of who won what. The thought of being stuck in a crowd that size terrifies me.

[ursus arctos]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

The Tribune had it, citing local government. They are claiming the 7th largest gathering in human history, but I think it is highly exaggerated. Still a ton of folks, though.

The city is in a state of euphoria. The cast of Hamilton did "Go Cubs Go" as an encore last night.

[tee rex]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

I love how the All Blacks can go out and join the Chicago crowd, take selfies and be completely ignored. Even wearing their official uniforms.

[Gerontophile]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

Doraemon wrote: Belated congratulations to all the Cubs on here.

I've really enjoyed following the baseball this season including this thread. The one minute highlights clips on Google help (They appear to have the same for the NFL). Are these available worldwide or is it just in certain markets (including the UK)?

Not sure what you mean D, but if you visit the mlb.com site, they generally have clips of all the highlights of all the games, the day after. They are bite-sized by play, so you don't have to watch a double-play if it doesn't interest you.

[Ginger Yellow]

Dudes Dig the Low ERA (MLB 2016)

ursus arctos wrote: The Tribune had it, citing local government. They are claiming the 7th largest gathering in human history, but I think it is highly exaggerated. Still a ton of folks, though.

The city is in a state of euphoria. The cast of Hamilton did "Go Cubs Go" as an encore last night.

It's what the founding fathers would have wanted.