Why I Dislike Baseball

[bachbeet]

Here is what the game has come to:

"Right now, I'm just focusing on facing San Francisco and how their order lines up and how I'm facing each batter. He hit it last night, right, 755?" Lannan said Sunday. "I'm really not focusing that much on it. When I do have to face him, if the situation arises and I have to pitch around him, I will. If I have the opportunity to pitch against him, I will have a game plan. I will make smart pitches and just pitch my game."

Bob Gibson never said anything remotely like that timid statement. He'd probably shoot you if you even thought he would say it. He would have said something more like: "If he hits it off me, it'll be the last HR he hits. Ever."

 

[Brian278]

Bob Gibson was unique in his own time as well, and he was also crazy. Koufax would never have said anything to the effect of your imaginary Gibson quote, is there something wrong with him? You've got some young, unkown pitcher going up against history. If he called Bonds out he'd get slammed for being overly arrogant when he hasn't done anything, and rightly so.

 

[bachbeet]

Brian: Koufax would have had the same attitude, if not the same words. So would Drysdale, Osteen, Lonborg, et al. the quote is not an isolated example of a young pitcher. It's a symptom of a large number of pitchers today who use the IBB as a first resort instead of a last one. It's sad; it's gutless; it's not a sport. I have more respect for a guy who has an attitude that he can get you out no matter who you are. If he loses, so be it. At least he's played the game and not avoided one.

 

[Steve B.]

It should be Gagne...

They had some great duels in the past.

IIRC it was pretty much a standoff.

 

[chronoaug]

Yea, pitching around people is kind of annoying. Hitters have just gotten out of control lately. It seems to be less of a pitcher's game nowadays. I don't know if the steroids thing had anything to do with it, but there are a lot of big hitters nowadays who also hit for decent average. I can't believe Prince Fielder isn't even 25 yet.

BTW, i guess i never noticed the Tim Buckley avatar but i like. Happy Sad/Goodbye and Hello/Starsailor get more than their regular share in my cd rotation.

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by bachbeet

Brian: Koufax would have had the same attitude, if not the same words. So would Drysdale, Osteen, Lonborg, et al. the quote is not an isolated example of a young pitcher. It's a symptom of a large number of pitchers today who use the IBB as a first resort instead of a last one. It's sad; it's gutless; it's not a sport. I have more respect for a guy who has an attitude that he can get you out no matter who you are. If he loses, so be it. At least he's played the game and not avoided one.

I can somewhat see your point, but I would blame the rules or Ryan Klesko before I would blame the pitcher. He's simply playing to win, which I think is far from "gutless".

Ironically, Maddux said before his recent start against Bongs: "It's easy pitching to Barry," the pitcher explained to the Associated Press, "because if it matters, you just walk him. I mean, it's not that hard to throw four a couple of feet outside. And then he went right after him, getting Bonds to go 0-3 against him with a strikeout, harmless grounder, and a lazy fly after a missed call robbed him of another K. Man, I love Greg Maddux.

 

[Steve B.]

That Lannan kid pitched right at him tonight.

Bonds is pressing.

Once he gets 756 he'll have a damn good season.

 

[habeas_dorkus]

Where's Russ Springer when we need him? He went after Bonds Gibson-style a year or two ago...

 

[odoreater]

Say what you will about Lannan, but he had Barry's number last night. It was pretty sweet to see Barry go down swinging on his last at-bat.

 

[romafan]

The thing that gets me is the length of the season - what is it, 180+ games? Also, (and I could easily be wrong on this, so pls correct me) there's no consistency in the scheduling. I understand that you play everyone in your division(?) the most (the same # of times?), but the rest seems kind of random. Does everyone play games against the same teams in the other league? Then after 180+ games you have the long drawn out playoffs w/ 'wildcard' teams. It seems like team A could end up w/ a better record than team B because they have an easier schedule....

 

[Joffrey]

I dislike baseball because it is boring.


It is pretty decent watching in a stadium though.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Originally Posted by bachbeet

Brian: Koufax would have had the same attitude, if not the same words. So would Drysdale, Osteen, Lonborg, et al. the quote is not an isolated example of a young pitcher.

You left Nolan Ryan off this list. My favorite baseball picture is the close-up of Ryan after Bo Jackson bounce a line drive off his chin and Nolan is winding up for the next pitch with blood all over his jersey, his lip and his face. One tough SOB.

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by Mark from Plano

You left Nolan Ryan off this list. My favorite baseball picture is the close-up of Ryan after Bo Jackson bounce a line drive off his chin and Nolan is winding up for the next pitch with blood all over his jersey, his lip and his face. One tough SOB.

All the star of the greatest baseball fight ever, in his forties. What a badass.

 

[Mark from Plano]

Originally Posted by Brian278

All the star of the greatest baseball fight ever, in his forties. What a badass.

Yep. Ventura made a big mistake thinking he could take the old guy out. Funny part was that Ventura got tossed, Ryan stayed in the game and pitched a no-hitter the rest of the way.

Edit: Sorry for the thread hijack. I used to love baseball but never watch it anymore for many of the same reasons that the OP mentions. It's gotten long and boring with few of the "characters" of the old days. Gibson was a favorite of mine growing up.

ARod is a great player, but he could do with a bit less media polish. I'd like to see him throw down once or twice and stand up for a team mate to get rid of his "it's all about me" reputation. If he would I think he's one of the few out there today that could reach that "mythic" status.

 

[habeas_dorkus]

Originally Posted by romafan

The thing that gets me is the length of the season - what is it, 180+ games? Also, (and I could easily be wrong on this, so pls correct me) there's no consistency in the scheduling. I understand that you play everyone in your division(?) the most (the same # of times?), but the rest seems kind of random. Does everyone play games against the same teams in the other league? Then after 180+ games you have the long drawn out playoffs w/ 'wildcard' teams. It seems like team A could end up w/ a better record than team B because they have an easier schedule....

It's 162 games. Each team plays the other teams in its division and league the same number of times. The part where it gets tricky is interleague play. Each team may not play the same teams from the other league, or may play them a different number of times. And the "rivalry" games can also create issues, with each team in a division playing games against their "rival" from another league; one team's rival may be much stronger than another's.