2025 MLB Season Thread
The Tokyo series is March 18-19th, will air on FOX, and is between The Cubs and The Dodgers.
The Regular Season starts Ma
Jazz is a moron.
Jays tickets jacked, $200 for 500 level now being reported. That would be a no.
I remember going to a Yankees White Sox game where Clemens gave up 8 in the top of the second. He was getting knocked around and the Yankees made a few errors.
It was a hot summer day game and I almost never left early but I was already thinking this might be a rare early leave.
Yankees tied it in the bottom of the second.
Yup, there it is, Aug 2, 2007. But 8 in the 2nd isn't 8 in the 8th. 😃 Really, though, I was specifically going for that "8 in the 8th" baseball saying, if you've heard it.
Looks like that was Clemens last year. Was hoping it was his last start. Looked it up ... not quite.
Funny ... you posted about it on the anniversary of the game.
I get that the Phillies might have overpaid, but Abel was almost untradable for anything good a year ago. Tait seems like he could be good. But Duran is casually throwing 103.
Random dude at the pool answers the trick question about Joe DiMaggio's longest professional hitting streak. Knew the team, the league, almost the number. Turns out he was a big Yankee fan and a former sportswriter. Still, surprised he got it. I told him the bit about asking that one at the poker table in Florida during Spring Training, and a guy who was a bartender in NYC said he is taking that back to New York for all the cash.
Spoiler
Joe D. hit in 61 straight games in the Pacific Coast League for the San Francisco Seals in 1933. Second longest streak in minor league history. Higher than his of course far more famous 56-game streak in MLB later. Freaky dude. He's right in the running for GOAT righthanded hitters, but is often overlooked.
DiMaggio played 187 games for the Seals in 1933.
How long was the PCL season?
187 games was the season, so Joe played every game. He had 259 hits and batted .340
Ox Exhardt led the league with 315 hits and a .414 average. 33-35 over 3 years Ox had 865 hits in the PCL. Ox would end up with about 2600 minor league hits but only a cup of coffee in the majors. But I believe at this time some players simply chose to play in the PCL and it was almost like a second major league.
187 games was the season, so Joe played every game. He had 259 hits and batted .340 Ox Exhardt led the league with 315 hits and a .414 average. 33-35 over 3 years Ox had 865 hits in the PCL. Ox would end up with about 2600 minor league hits but only a cup of coffee in the majors. But I believe at this time some players simply chose to play in the PCL and it was almost like
Never heard of him. Just looked him up and it looks like he has the record for highest career batting average minor/major leagues combined, .365.
That year Joe D had almost 100 XBH, OPS 1100 -- and only 13 strikeouts -- made Tony Gwynn look like Adam Dunn. I always had the mistaken notion that Joltin' Joe missed 5 seasons for the service, plus not having great longevity ... and it was impossible the stats he racked up, particularly 1500 RBIs in 13 seasons. Alas, he only missed 3 seasons of course. Pretty sure it was plantar fasciities/achilles tendonitis that slowed him pretty young.
I used to like to quote the unbroken progression of Yankee superstars ... from Ruth, thru Gehrig, to DiMaggio (his rookie year Gehrig's last), to Mantle (his rookie year DiMaggio's last) ... stretching a bit now maybe ... to "Captain" Thurman Munson (appears the year after Mantle retires), to Reggie overlapping with Munson, to Bucky Dent/Steve Balboni/Dave Winfield/Don Mattingly (mostly Mattingly 😀), overlapping to Jeter/Rivera, to A-Rod, to Judge. Unbroken. Anyway the first four and last two in that chain are probably in the top 10 hitters in history.
Weird memory about the day Thurman Munson died in a plane crash. We were at the Yankees rookie league game in Paintsville, KY, who my brother played for. They announced over the intercom the death. Somehow the Yankees had the day off on a Saturday. Gonna have to check that out. There was a moment of silence.
Steve Balboni a superstar?
Yeah Dent was a joke and I threw Balboni in as a bonus. 😀 But Mattingly being there by then, a Mr. Yankee type, kept the streak going. Really it was just those first four -- Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle -- without interruption ... that was the incredible part.
I loved watching Balboni hit.
**lol mets alert**
it's been 42 outs since their last hit.
Sooo, how about that Jays and Colorado series😃
I missed todays mets game, but I think I have listened to every game since all star break... I think they might suck. Its been brutal, hoping thats not the case... but gettin that feeling
Random dude at the pool answers the trick question about Joe DiMaggio's longest professional hitting streak. Knew the team, the league, almost the number. Turns out he was a big Yankee fan and a former sportswriter. Still, surprised he got it. I told him the bit about asking that one at the poker table in Florida during Spring Training, and a guy who was a bartender in NYC said
I knew he had a higher one in the minors wouldn't have gotten the exact games.
Pretty weird I happen to post about that 8-8 in the second inning game in the exact date it happened.
I also remember in Clemens last year Toronto hit Arod. Clemens waited until maybe the 7th inning up 4 or 5 runs and drilled Alex Rios in the middle of the back. He was walking towards the dugout knowing he was gonna be ejected.
Angel Hernandez was working the plate and tossed him. Clemens then told him I've been pitching for 40 ****ing years and you don't know what the hell you're doing."
I remember watching it about 10 times in a row because I thought it was so funny he was counting pitching from little league and also bc Angel didn't know wtf he was doing.
I think I just saw Roman Anthony touted as a super prospect on a par with EDC in an article about signing great prospects long term before their value blows up. Dude is hitting .280-ish with no speed or power. What am I missing? I actually just looked up to make sure he wasn't a pitcher too like Ohtani or something. Nope. Dude is slugging .380 when not in Fenway with no speed. That's worth 130 million? They say he's hitting in tough luck. Meh.
He's 21 and his minors stats for his age are also impressive.
Don't normally tout any of my baseball bets. But I think their is some insane value to be had on Cy Young futures.
Right now on DK, you can get Nathan Eovaldi at +3000. As of now he doesn't have enough innings to qualify for the award, but he'll easily hit that in his next few starts. When he does, I think his odds will plummet.
Through 19 starts he has a 1.39 ERA
Only 4 other players in the modern era have a better ERA though a 19 game stretch.
1968 Bob Gibson 1.06 STL Cardinals
1968 Luis Tiant 1.27 CLE Indians
(1968 was the year they realized they needed to lower pitcher's mound)
2015 Zack Greeinke 1.30 LA Dodgers
1971 Vida Blue 1.38 OAK As
And in his last 14 starts he's only allowed either 1 or zero runs in 13 of them. The only other pitcher in the modern era to do that is Bob Gibson.
In his last start, he went 8 innings and allowed only 1 hit against the Yankees, Retiring 24 of 25 batters.
The only negative I see is he doesn't pitch for a team in the northeast.
Eovaldi is a stud, but those odds aren't long enough. Rangers 35/1 to WS probably better.
I think I just saw Roman Anthony touted as a super prospect on a par with EDC in an article about signing great prospects long term before their value blows up. Dude is hitting .280-ish with no speed or power. What am I missing? I actually just looked up to make sure he wasn't a pitcher too like Ohtani or something. Nope. Dude is slugging .380 when not in Fenway with no speed.
I have no deep insight here but he's got a 127 wrc+ (granted at a .377 BABIP), his walk rate if qualified would be close to top 10 in the majors and he was rated the #1 prospect in baseball when called up. Probably needs more power to keep that walk rate up but he's got all the pedigree and it's not like his performance has been a disappointment or anything. This doesn't seem like a particularly controversial extension to me.
Scherzer vs Kershaw tonight that's pretty cool.
Probably the last time we ever see 2 guys with 200 career wins face-off.
Who's ready for a Blue Jays v Brewers World Series?
