2010 MLB Season Discussion

[Akiyama]

Sorda like them getting owned by the 'stros?

[Headspace]

Oh god, they lost to Houston again. 1 game back son.

Garcia vs Harang: Dont' know how that'll go, but at least it's not Carpenter

Wainwright vs Leake: Wainwright is godly and Leake has been our most consistent pitcher. Probably going to Wainwright.

Penny vs Arroyo: Totally dependent on what Arroyo shows up.

[Trichocyst]

Bill Baer has an article up chock full of Uncle Cholly quotes regarding the sign stealing fiasco:

http://crashburnalley.com/2010/05/12...l-keep-crying/

The stand out star:

Finally, Crossing Broad gives us another reason to worship Chuck:

Now, you can take this one with a grain of salt, this is hearsay at its finest. A source, who is rather connected, said Charlie Manuel attended dinner with Tommy Lasorda in New York the night before Game 1 of the WORLD SERIES. According to source, who was in attendance, Charlie remained out late (1:30am, really Charlie?) and got very drunk.

Fair enough.

Here’s where it becomes the thing legends are made of. When my source said, “Charlie, don’t you have a game in like 16 hours?”, Charlie replied “Fuck it. I have Lee pitching”.

[Cephius]

He's kind of right and kind of wrong in my opinion. Yeah, if teams are bad enough to make their signs obvious, then it's their own fault. But if you're using technology or people in the bullpen to steal signs then I think that's crossing the line. Not that it's against the rules, but if you don't even try to hide the fact that you're stealing signs, be prepared for someone to slide cleats-first into Utley or throw at Howard's ribs. It just won't end well.

And bringing up someone's home/road splits as evidence of sign-stealing is pretty asinine. The Mets play in a huge ballpark and have a lot of fly ball pitchers and line drive hitters, that may have something to do with them tending to play well there.

[Absolutely Virtue]

My bi-monthly drive-by of this thread:

Clippard has allowed a staggering 60% of his inherited runners to score, which explains the good traditional numbers and huge win total. It's obviously unsustainable. BTW the records, for the sake of argument:

Most wins by a relief pitcher, season- Roy Face, '59 Pirates, 18 wins (lol)
Highest percentage of inherited runners to score, season- Derrick Turnbow, '07 Brewers, 86% (holy shit lol)

So Clippard's numbers are unusual, but not historic. From my perspective, and I watch every day, the press, broadcast team, and fans all love Clippard. Part of the appeal is how goofy looking he is. But the other thing is that he actually throws strikes, which is a novelty in the Nats pen outside of Capps.

And the Strasburg watch:

No hitter last night in six innings pitched. He's now allowed 1 hit in two starts in AAA. They've been broadcasting his AAA starts on tape delay in Washington, that's how much hype he has. Still looking like his first start in DC will be June 4-6 against the Reds. If he pitches on the 4th, they could start him again on the 10th against the Pirates in the same homestand. Obviously the club could use the ratings/attendance/buzz boost.

Let's go Nats, etc

[Cephius]

I maintain what I said in the winter that the Nats could definitely be a .500 or better team when all is said and done. I don't think they'll compete for the division title or the wild card, but they certainly aren't the pushovers they have been the last couple years. Their offense is legit as it was last year and they have some pitching to compliment it now along with a pretty decent closer. As much attention as Clippard has gotten, Capps has been shutting the door pretty well so far.

Strasburg certainly looks like the real deal, it'll be interesting to see how he does against some major league bats.

[Headspace]

His AAA highlights looks like he was going up against little leaguers, and that's not a compliment. These kids looked small.

[Headspace]

double post....

GO REDS AND ASTROS

[Stiker]

Man, I hope last night was the night our offense finally woke the hell up. If they continue to click with Cruz coming back (and of course assuming our pitching stays consistent), holy crap, we could do some damage in the West.

Of course though, our closer situation still scares me pretty shitless...

[Bozo]

He's kind of right and kind of wrong in my opinion. Yeah, if teams are bad enough to make their signs obvious, then it's their own fault. But if you're using technology or people in the bullpen to steal signs then I think that's crossing the line.

Phillies were accused of stealing signs in the playoffs too. It's ridiculous because unless they relay the signs through headsets or something then they literally have less than 5-10 seconds to get them to the batter from hundreds of feet away who happens to be focused on the pitcher. Both seem rather farfetched.

[Cephius]

Phillies were accused of stealing signs in the playoffs too. It's ridiculous because unless they relay the signs through headsets or something then they literally have less than 5-10 seconds to get them to the batter from hundreds of feet away who happens to be focused on the pitcher. Both seem rather farfetched.

It's still possible though, if you have someone in the stadium using a series of lights to relay what pitch is coming, a batter could pick that up in time if they were told where to look.

[Bozo]

Eh, maybe. Even if they do steal signs it's not like they are the only team doing it.

This article on sporting news was a pretty good read. http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the...en_a_big_deal?

I wasn't aware of the stealing signs accusation when they faced Santana but stolen signs shouldn't cause a pitcher to walk Moyer with the bases loaded. Did the Phillies accuse the giants of stealing signs when Halladay gave up 5 runs?

[Stiker]

Well so much for hoping the Rangers offense got back on track. Sheets is 2-hitting us through 6 with 8 Ks...

[Viq]

Eh, maybe. Even if they do steal signs it's not like they are the only team doing it.

I remember back when the Pats were going through that camera sign stealing thing a couple years ago. Francona was doing one of his regular radio interviews, and one of the questions was about sign stealing. Terry's response was something along the lines of, "If we're not trying to steal signs, then we aren't doing our jobs."

[Trichocyst]

It's a part of the game. You shouldn't use devices or electronic means, but I don't really think that they were using binoculars to steal signs from the bullpen. It would be a really inefficient and obvious way of doing things.

[Headspace]

.5 games back

[pohibaba]

Why the fuck can't the Giants beat the Padres? They're the fucking Padres and we're 0-6 against them this year. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by any means, but Bruce Bochy has seriously lost to the Padres 35 times to them since becoming our manager. There's something fucking wrong with that.

[Akiyama]

Well.. they are 22-12, which is the best record (wtf) in the National League, so.. it's not like they're terrible right now.

Which, by the way.. is made of what the fuck. 22-12, lol Tied for the second best record in the majors, and iirc.. the lowly Braves beat them in a series.

[Trichocyst]

Padres probably stealin' signs an shit.

[*Shinzon*]

What a fucking shitty way for the Mets to lose a pitchers dual with Satana v. Johnson. This fucking homo Nieve is getting too much work and the game ends on a wild pitch. Greaaat.