Baseball

[GoCubsGo]

As much as I didn't want the Yankees to win, I would've liked a little more excitement for an entire series.

[Vrede too]

As much as I didn't want the Yankees to win, I would've liked a little more excitement for an entire series.

3! errors in the 5th is a sucky kind of excitement. Next year - Go Os!

[GoCubsGo]

As much as I didn't want the Yankees to win, I would've liked a little more excitement for an entire series.

3! errors in the 5th is a sucky kind of excitement. Next year - GoOCubsGo!

FTFY.

[Vrede too]

3! errors in the 5th is a sucky kind of excitement. Next year - GoOCubsGo! Ahhhh, forget it, it's gonna be a while.

FTFY.

FTFY.

[Vrede too]

After Midnight: "Don't grab other people's balls."

[O Really]

Damn, it's over before I even started watching. Maybe the guy who tried to steal the ball and got banned from tonight's game (with a refund) came out better than he thought.

[GoCubsGo]

FTFY.

[GoCubsGo]

Damn, it's over before I even started watching. Maybe the guy who tried to steal the ball and got banned from tonight's game (with a refund) came out better than he thought.

No doubt.

[Vrede too]

Buster Olney
@Buster_ESPN

From the Yankees, about the fan who will sit in the seats left behind by the two fans kicked out of Game 4: Calvin Young was one of approximately 80 children from families battling pediatric cancer invited to a “Kids Only” Press Conference at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 13, in which Jazz Chisholm., Jr, Anthony Rizzo, Jose Trevino and Marcus Stroman fielded questions from children battling cancer and in remission.

Unfortunately while walking from his car to the stadium, Calvin became very ill and weak and was not able to attend the press conference or stay for the game. He was admitted back to hospital and had to have surgery. As he recovered, we let him know we would love to have him out to the Stadium when he felt well enough (Anthony Rizzo sent him this video invitation.). We followed up again today and he accepted our offer. He is attending tonight’s game with his mother and younger brothers.

Calvin has been a patient of the pediatric sarcoma team at MSK. He was diagnosed June 2023 with DSRCT Sarcoma.

Calvin and his family live in Bergenfield, NJ. This will be the first time any of them have been to a playoff game at Yankee Stadium.

Article

Checkmate. "Well done, Yankees."

[Vrede too]

Wow, the lengths people will go to in order to get away from Useless:

A's clear last major hurdles for $1.75 billion Las Vegas stadium

[GoCubsGo]

Wow, the lengths people will go to in order to get away from Useless:

A's clear last major hurdles for $1.75 billion Las Vegas stadium

Well, you can't blame them for that.

[GoCubsGo]

Crap.

[GoCubsGo]

Half hearted and half-assed.

But I guess it's enough to get him in the door.





We did have a lot of fun watching though.


Longest home run I'd ever seen that stayed in the ballpark.

[Vrede too]

Half hearted and half-assed.

But I guess it's enough to get him in the door.

I agree. I thought about asking your opinion, but didn't want to be the one to rip that bandage off.

It's looking like Sosa, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Albert Belle and Barry Bonds will never get into the HoF, nor do I think they should. Alex Rodriguez has an outside chance of getting in, but I hope he doesn't. Baseball's Steroid Era has created a Hall of Shame.

[GoCubsGo]

I agree. I thought about asking your opinion, but didn't want to be the one to rip that bandage off.

It's looking like Sosa, Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Albert Belle and Barry Bonds will never get into the HoF, nor do I think they should. Alex Rodriguez has an outside chance of getting in, but I hope he doesn't. Baseball's Steroid Era has created a Hall of Shame.

You forgot Roger Clemens.

And yep.

[Vrede too]

You forgot Roger Clemens.

And yep.

I work hard at forgetting RW racist Roger Clemens.


Baseball great Rickey Henderson dies at 65

Wiki: Rickey Henderson

"Following a bout of pneumonia"

Too many records, achievements and anecdotes to excerpt.
RIP

[Vrede too]

MLB aggrieved fan index: The 10 most frustrated fan bases of 2024



... The sport has a payroll structure that even its defenders would agree isn't exactly equitable across all 30 teams. The New York Mets, case in point, will pay Juan Soto nearly $122 million in 2025 -- a $75 million signing bonus plus a $46.875 million salary. That outlay will top the 2024 Opening Day payrolls of 13 teams.

Salary caps and equitable revenue sharing NOW!

... We have a name for this: the Aggrieved Fan Index. Let's rank the top 10 fan bases who currently have the greatest right to be frustrated, factoring in teams' expectations coming into this past season, their 2024 performance and what they've done so far this offseason.

(Disclaimer: The Athletics, whose fans in Oakland arguably have the right to be the most frustrated of all, did not make this list since they won't be playing in their new home until 2028. I mean, who are their fans right now anyway? Still those in Oakland? Or West Sacramento? People in Las Vegas who think Brent Rooker might be the magician playing at the Bellagio?)

Would have been my #1 pick.

10. Miami Marlins

Throughout their history, the Marlins have been plagued by poor ownership....

Marlins fans, bless them, have been here many times before. Someday perhaps they'll get an owner interested in building a consistent winner.

You a fan, O Really?

9. St. Louis Cardinals ...

Congrats, GoCubsGo.

8. Colorado Rockies

This ranking is tempered only by the fact that Rockies fans have long grown accustomed to their team not doing anything and didn't expect them to be any good in 2024 anyway. Still, back-to-back 100-loss seasons and no evidence that things are going to turn around anytime soon must make even the most dedicated Rockies fan question their faith. Or maybe not: Attendance remains solid, as the Rockies drew 2.5 million fans in 2024, 15th in the majors. They outdrew the Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals -- all playoff teams. Maybe we should just blame the fans: Keep showing up and there's no incentive for ownership to fix things. (Although, the Coors Field sunsets are lovely).

Fun fact: Since 2011, only the Marlins have lost more games than the Rockies (1,224 losses to 1,209)....

7. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are the lone big-market team in a division with three legitimate small-market clubs and one midsized franchise -- and yet, they haven't made the playoffs in a full season since 2018. That's one playoff appearance in the past six seasons if you do the math. The Cubs even swiped manager Craig Counsell from the rival Brewers -- only to see the Brewers win another division title while Chicago finished 83-79 for the second straight season.

It was disappointing enough that chairman Tom Ricketts wrote a season-ending apology to the fans: "There is no way to sugarcoat it -- this is not where we planned to finish the season. Bottom line, we did not play a complete season of competitive baseball. As a result, we have again missed the most exciting and exhilarating month of the season -- October."...

Sorry, GoCubsGo.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates ...

5. Toronto Blue Jays

It's now been more than 30 years since the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and 1993, so an entire generation of Jays fans have grown up without memories of those glory days. They went 21 years without making the playoffs before making consecutive ALCS appearances in 2015 and 2016. While that team was quickly torn down, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette soon arrived ready to usher in a new golden era.

But that hasn't quite happened. Yes, the Jays made the playoffs in 2020, 2022 and 2023, so it hasn't been misery, but the Jays fell apart last season, going 74-88. They've been passed in the AL East pecking order by the Orioles and the Red Sox as well.

... . The front office hasn't figured out how to get the team over the hump and now, coming off a losing season and failing to land Soto with Guerrero and Bichette perhaps departing next offseason, Toronto might be staring into the abyss.

You a fan, O Really?

4. Minnesota Twins ...

3. Chicago White Sox

... Since winning the World Series in 2005, the White Sox have just three playoff appearances. This is a new level of rock bottom, however, and remarkably, they might be just as bad in 2025.

... Light at the end of the tunnel? The White Sox aren't even in the tunnel yet.

You know what, though? These depressing situations can turn around quicker than people realize. Heck, just last year, the Royals went from 56 wins in 2023 to the playoffs the following season, although the White Sox admittedly don't have a Bobby Witt Jr. on their roster. The Orioles went from 110 losses in 2021 to 101 wins in 2023. The Tigers lost 119 games in 2003 and were in the World Series three years later. It can happen.

Ouch, only city with 2 entries on the aggravation list.

2. Seattle Mariners

Ha! You were perhaps expecting to see the Cincinnati Reds here, but Mariners fans have suffered a certain type of aggrievement: the pain of falling just a little bit short with an ownership unwilling to do just a little bit more. The Mariners have four straight winning seasons and did break that two-decades-long playoff drought in 2022, but then they missed the playoffs by one win in 2023 and then one win in 2024.

... Meanwhile, the AL West is the most winnable it has been in years. The Astros won the division with just 88 wins in 2024, traded Tucker and might lose Alex Bregman, too. Now is the time for the Mariners to pounce and add some offense. Instead: silence....

Lady O a fan?

1. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels were once a model franchise. From 2002 to 2009, they made six playoff appearances in eight years and followed that up with a bunch of winning seasons, including a 98-win campaign in 2014. Since then: nothing but bad decisions, bad moves, bad player development and a whole bunch of losses. The Angels are now riding a streak of nine consecutive losing seasons including a franchise-record 99 losses in 2024. They wasted the Mike Trout-Shohei Ohtani years.

That takes some real effort.

... Of course, all this is in stark contrast to the success of the Dodgers, a reminder that the Angels could be doing the same thing, with all the benefits of playing in the Los Angeles area with a large fan base (the Angels drew over 3 million fans every year from 2003 to 2019).... The Angels now have the longest playoff drought in the majors. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have made 12 consecutive trips to the postseason and Angels fans have to watch Ohtani playing across town. Most frustrated fan base indeed.

[O Really]

We don't get excited much about baseball at least until playoffs. Lady O used to follow Mariners back in the day, but not for a long time. Yeah, I like the Jays, but whatever. I do feel sorry for baseball fan GoCubsGo, though. Cubbie fans deserve better.