FWIW, I grew up watching Reggie shred my Angels. Jeter and Judge are both stand up guys, but neither will be #MrOctober.
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Don’t follow baseball much these days, but I too grew up an Angels fan in the 70’s and 80’s was even a member of the Junior Angels. Agree, as pompous as Reggie was, he was clutch
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Well, you both must have been happy when Reggie finally signed with the Angels in the 80s then, even if it was after he had hit his prime.
He was my favorite ball player as a kid…I was a Yankees fan as a result. Don’t worry, I got better, Yankees hater now.
As someone who prefers baseball to basketball, I’m more interested in the World Baseball Classic than March Madness.
If you get a chance watch a replay of one of the Asian teams. Polite golf clap after each pitch when on defense , and on offense each hitter has a unique beat and chant. Taiwan has cheerleaders. Really cool.
Another fun thing. Americans have a group behind home plate that punch out Ks.
US plays Saturday.
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Trea Turner with a Salami to keep the US going. Game 7 level atmosphere. The side story is that Bard got the yips and gave up the lead. The relief he must feel after this dinger.
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How about Jr’s batting practice? Showing off what he had and still has.
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Thank you Arenado. These guys instantly become some of my favorite players. Playing for your country should be the pinnacle of your career (WBC, Ryder Cup, Olympics etc…). And the atmosphere can’t be beat. Anyway, USA in finals on Tuesday, versus the winner of Mexico/Japan tonight (it will be Japan). Given our holdouts I don’t see our pitching good enough to beat Japan, but, anything can happen in one game.
Nolan Arenado calls out baseball’s stars for skipping the WBC (msn.com)
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As much as I feel athletes should want to play for their country’s team in an International tournament, I get the desire to avoid the extra wear and tear. For a pro athlete, sometimes the business comes first.
When you see the Mets lose their closer Diaz for the season to an injury in the WBC, that season ender will likely impact their salary cap and will influence their regular season success. From experience there is nothing a game because the closer you now have goes to the mound with a couple of gas cans and a match. Don’t believe me? Go watch the Bees.
The greatest moment of all Los Angeles sports history.
FTFO!
Didn’t affect their salary expenditure too much as insurance covered the injury, although you are correct, for luxury tax purposes it didn’t matter. But it’s not like Cohen cares about blowing past that threshold, right?
We’ve got to figure something out with baseball. The WBC is just too successful. If the various professional soccer leagues around the world can make room for international games scattered throughout the season, then we can do something with the WBC somehow. Not sure how, but… somehow.
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Step 1: Return to a 154 game regular season
Step 2: Require some minimum number of double headers in the scheduling.
Step 3: Put two, two week breaks into the schedule plan - one in June and one in August, to accommodate breaks for international play.
Just a thought. Oh, and while we’re at it, make sure that the World Series is complete no later than the middle of October.
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I’m not a big baseball fan, I follow the loveable losers that are the Cubs. I do have to say that the WBC has been interesting to follow, even if by the follow up stories and box scores. I really did enjoy the piece on Jr and his BP homer clinic.
I think you’re correct in that MLB would do well to schedule time out for international play of some sort during the season. That would be a good way to break up the monotony of mid season games.
A game for the ages last night as Japan defeated Mexico in B9 to set up a game with the US tonight at 5p for the ship. Thought we might get into a “Stanford Band” situation for a second there.
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Like Magic and Larry put March Madness on the map, Trout and Ohtani just woke up Americans to baseball again. This year’s WBC final just cemented this tournament as one to watch.
FYI - for Dodger fans, it looks like Urias will be the Opening Day starter this season.
Jeez. Check out the video.
I haven’t been able to watch a whole game yet this year, but have caught a couple of innings here and there. I’m definitely on board with the pitch clock change. The game was unwatchable when batters were wandering half way to third base messing around with their gloves and body armor. Haven’t seen enough with steal threats to speak to the base size and limited hold throws yet.
I’m basically a traditionalist at heart. I don’t like the DH because I think it reduces strategy. But something had to be done. It’s better.
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The one I don’t agree with is the one outlawing the shift. Hitters got to learn to hit it where they ain’t. As far as I’m concerned, if they want to put 7 guys in right field they should be allowed to.
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If you are such a ■■■■■■ batter an infield and outfield can shift on you, then you need to rethink your batting strategy. Rod Carew was a master at moving the ball around to get hits. George Brett, though considered a power hitter, knew how to adjust his swing to get a base hit when needed.
Having gone to several Bees games over the last few years, I had come to like the pitch clock. It kept the game moving. Just wished the Bees has relievers that didn’t carry gas cans to the mound to burn down a chance to win.
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I don’t disagree. Analytics screwed up the training of hitters so pull percentage went up too much. I’d love to watch the Carews, Boggs, Brett’s, etc make a team look foolish in a shift.
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