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2019 Major League Baseball chit-chat
Do we have any MLB fans here?
It's a fabulous sport to watch, & they have some cracking Stadia.
The season runs until end of September, with post-season starting October 1st.
If you were not aware, these teams play a LOT of games, something like 160 I believe, plus post-season stuff. So games come thick & fast, often on 3 consecutive nights against the same opponents, then a 1 or 2 day break whilst they travel to the next venue.
The season opens officially on Wednesday, when the Oakland A's play the Mariners in Tokyo of all places, but the season proper starts next week on Thursday March 28th.
Good betting medium, too, though you should never bet on MLB until you know the selected Pitcher. Pitchers in baseball are like Quarterbacks in NFL, very very important.
The big stars earn a few bob too - Mike Trout of the Angels (LA) will earn $36 million this season. Yikes.
It's a fabulous sport to watch, & they have some cracking Stadia.
The season runs until end of September, with post-season starting October 1st.
If you were not aware, these teams play a LOT of games, something like 160 I believe, plus post-season stuff. So games come thick & fast, often on 3 consecutive nights against the same opponents, then a 1 or 2 day break whilst they travel to the next venue.
The season opens officially on Wednesday, when the Oakland A's play the Mariners in Tokyo of all places, but the season proper starts next week on Thursday March 28th.
Good betting medium, too, though you should never bet on MLB until you know the selected Pitcher. Pitchers in baseball are like Quarterbacks in NFL, very very important.
The big stars earn a few bob too - Mike Trout of the Angels (LA) will earn $36 million this season. Yikes.
Comments
Favourite team is probably Atlanta Braves. I saw a big game a few years ago and all the crowd were doing the tomahawk thing. Impressive atmosphere.
It just stuck with me.
Mike Trout, who you mention, is widely accepted as the best player in baseball. He is just about to sign a new contract with the Angels of Anaheim for $430million over the next 12 years. He is 26 years old and unlike some sports contracts , this amount is fully guaranteed. It could be argued that this amount is actually a little low, he was drafted by the Angels and may have given them a hand by not playing hardball. The Angels however are not close to being the best team in baseball.
I have followed baseball since the early 90’s, Sky had the World Series one year, the New York Yankees , probably the best known team, were playing the Atlanta Braves and the series went back and forth and I loved it and was hooked.
I didn’t really have a team until the fateful day I was watching a game on TV and they mentioned how, the team I was watching, the Texas Rangers were in financial trouble and were hoping to get new owners. Well Pompey have had their financial problems so I thought, heck it’s an omen , I have to follow this team.
This year I am going to the USA and will take in my first live games watching the Rangers against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, before going to Arlington, Texas to see the Rangers against the Cleveland Indians. I had to go this year to see the old stadium before the Rangers move into their brand new stadium next year.
I am really looking forward to the new season. If anyone wants to talk baseball I will gladly contribute.
I get to see all the televised games as I can, usually about a dozen a week on BT and ESPN and have also found some lucrative spread betting markets which I aim to exploit.
Being a Mets fan I naturally hate The Yankees. Although everybody in baseball apart from Yankee fans hate the Yankees (bit like Man Utd).
If you want three teams to punt on to give you a good run for your money this year I think the Red Sox (Boston), the Giants (San Francisco) and Cubs (Chicago) are looking strong. N.B. The Cubs never win anything as they are cursed.
Lets "Play Ball"
Mark
Every year when I visit Vegas, I always take in a few trips to Cashman Field to watch the Las Vegas 51ers, & they were Affiliated to the Mets.
All change now, though, they have a brand new Stadium in Summerlin (a suburb of Las Vegas), are now Affiliated with Oakland Athletic. They've also changed their name to Las Vegas aviators, in a nod to Howard Hughes who had strong ties with Vegas.
Nothing more enjoyable that sitting watching them on a summers evening, in the blistering heat, with a few sodas & some hotdogs or popcorn.
The new stadium opens at the start of their season, in about a fortnight.
Rather embarrassingly, I always wait until the bottom of the 7th before leaving, as I like to do that singalong thing. I've stood & sung this a few times, I can tell you.....
Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack
I don't care if I never get back
So it's root, root, root, for the home team
If they don't win, it's a shame
It's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ballgame
Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out to the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack
And I don't care if I never get back
It's root, root, root, for the home team
If they don't win, what else is left
It's one, two, three strikes you're out
At the old ballgame
Test Cricket blows the Americans away, too. FIVE DAYS & IT's A DRAW? WTF?
I know you don’t normally watch films but may I suggest you take a look at the film “Moneyball”
It is all about the general manager of the Oakland A’s, a team with traditionally one of the smallest playing budgets in baseball, came up with a different way of evaluating and signing players. They could not compete with the large market teams in terms of paying the largest salaries, but , the way they tackled the problem was revolutionary and many teams have now adopted this plan. It is an interesting watch.
Johnson and Schilling-a great year. The Leicester City of Baseball.
The MLB season starts today.
Any tips, or what to look out for?
@pompeynic
@Essexphil
@TheEdge949
New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals 1
Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Atlanta Braves vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Detroit Tigers vs. Toronto Blue Jays
Houston Astros vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago Cubs vs. Texas Rangers
Los Angeles Angels vs. Oakland Athletics
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies vs. Miami Marlins
Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins
San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals 4:
Boston Red Sox vs. Seattle Mariners
At that point any team with a 25 /25 record is in with a chance of taking the season deep.
My team, The Mets are quoted on the spreads at 83 - 86. Personally I think anything better than 89 - 80 gets us into the post season.
Mark
Is it American League & National League? If so, which is the strongest?
Think both Leagues has 3 geographical divisions too?
Presumably, it's similar to NFL, in that they play occasional inter division & inter league games?
Inter divisional and inter conference games are played as part of the regular schedule.
One of the major differences is that The American League uses the designated hitter,which is a batter replacement for the pitcher. The National league has no such rule and therefore the pitchers bat in rotation just like any other player.
Now when an AL team visits a NL team home rules apply and the AL teams pitchers must bat. They can be taken out of the rotation and replaced with a hitter but once that happens they are out of the game and can no longer pitch.
That aside the rules for the conferences are the same.
Mark
So in AL, there is actually one extra player in each game, in effect? The regular Team including the pitcher, & the pitcher's replacement - a batter?
T he Western Division have the Dodgers, who are probably most peoples favourite to reach the World Series, they look to have the Western division under its thumb, although the Rockies, with its starting pitching, and the Padres, who bagged Machado in free agency, and its stacked farm system, are getting closer to competing. The Giants appear to be treading water before going into rebuild mode with a new skipper due next season, the Diamondbacks could well struggle to score enough runs to be relevant. Division winners.... The Dodgers
The Central division has the Cubs, Brewers , Cardinals and even the Pirates all looking possible division winners. The Cubs bats went cold at the business end of last season and will be itching to get back to meaningful postseason games this year. Last seasons winners, The Brewers, look likely to be pushing again this year, they have a decent bullpen and some good young hitters.
The Cardinals signed MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt to add some runs to their team and their fantastic bullpen means they could find a way back to the post season this year. The Pirates are another team whose pitching looks more impressive than its batting lineup which will need someone to stand up if they are to be serious contenders. The Reds, well they are the Reds, but I expect them to be better this year especially if Puig shows some maturity and uses his huge talent to its fullest. Division winners..... The Cardinals
The Eastern Division mirrors the Central in that Four of the five teams could legitimately claim to be able to win the division. The Braves, that years winners, added runs and leadership in Josh Donaldson to help Freddie Freeman, but they have a few injuries to their starting pitching and will need some of their young farm talent to step up if they are to repeat. The Nationals, having lost Bryce Harper to the Phillies, May actually be a better fielding side this term with some young talent coming through to fill the big mans shoes, they have fabulous starting pitching and an ok bullpen. The Phillies, as already stated got Harper, but also recruited the best young catcher in the game in J P Realmuto and an experienced player and clubhouse leader in Andrew McCutheon to back up a decent rotation. The Mets , if they can avoid shooting themselves in the foot with some internal disaster, have great pitching and some interesting young talent coming through. The Marlins,well , they are the Reds without the optimism. Division winners..... The Nationals.
NL wildcards The Phillies and the Cubs
American League to follow.