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2011 MLB Season Discussion

While the fan's death is a tragedy, it's not like something like this happens every season in the ballpark.

The current incarnation of the Rangers' ballpark has been open since 1994. In 16 years and through 89 games this season, 43.9 million fans have attended games. In the same time period, 3 fans have fallen - one in 1994, one in 2010, and the tragedy last night. One has a .00001% chance of falling over a railing at the ballpark each year.

Sometimes bad shit happens.
 
Hamilton has to feel feel bad, but its not really his fault, the fan could have jumped for a foul ball too.

RAMA
 
Dude, if he's had a bad first half, he shouldn't be in the All-Star Game. This is what I'm talking about when I say fans shouldn't vote on it. The ASG is supposed to be honoring the players who are having the best seasons, not the players with the most fans.

Yup, I agree...I see it as a reward...I didn't say its correct I'm just giving a rationale, yet if Jeter isn't having an MVP caliber year (as he had just 2 short years ago), then the media and everyone thinks he's a has been...as I said, he was still getting hits...
 
No, the only rationale is that he's Derek Jeter and he plays for one of the most popular teams in baseball. I have no illusions about the ASG; I'm a Red Sox fan, after all, so I've seen players from my team get to the ASG even when they didn't deserve it.

The ASG isn't supposed to reward name recognition or past performances. It's supposed to reward the players who have performed the best this season. That's why I think letting the fans vote for players is wrong. Most of them don't care about who's done the best so far, they just want to see their favorite players.
 
Congrats to Derek Jeter for an amazing day...5 for 5, a game-tying HR and 3000th career hit, a double, a stolen base, and the game-winning single! Yeah, he sure is washed up!! Jeter is batting .325 in the last 30 days and .391 in the month of July. All BEFORE the All-Star game!


To all the idiots in the media...Jeter is the 4th youngest player to reach 3000! He easily has 5 good years left...at 150 hits a season (he avgs over 182) he would end up with 3750 hits, 4th most all-time.

RAMA
 
Congrats to Jeter. Hell of a way to get 3000.

I think he'll hang 'em up after his current contract (which still has three years left on it) ends, though.
 
I do want to give Jeter credit. I don't like the Yankees, but he is a classy guy. Definitely deserves it.

On another note, I also want to point out that Cliff Lee hit a homerun (while only giving up one run). Phils did lose in extras, though. Still, I wanted to take another shot at the DH.
 
On another note, I also want to point out that Cliff Lee hit a homerun (while only giving up one run). Phils did lose in extras, though. Still, I wanted to take another shot at the DH.

Sure, we all know a sample size of 1 wins the argument!

What are pitchers hitting (rough average, can include HRs, RBIs, etc) on the season? Can even just tally the NL pitchers, won't make you include the AL pitchers who put up shitty numbers because they don't do it often.

I'd bet that the NL pitcher's average would probably get them demoted to the minors, if they had to make a living batting...

Sure, there's a different strategy, more small-ball and whatnot, but I'm not terribly excited to see someone who hits about as well as ME every 9 batters. Almost guaranteed out every time through the order (on a pathetic swing and miss, or just looking, if they aren't able to sac bunt), and it makes it easier on the other pitcher, seeing how many times that's the 3rd out of an inning.

Be a purist and hate the DH, but I'd rather watch Ortiz bat than Cliff Lee...
 
^ Yeah, that. I also hate how in the NL, the batting order has a tendency to dictate pitching changes. If the starter only lasts five or six innings, you might as well just have a DH for the rest of the game, because none of the relievers are ever going to see an at-bat.
 
Meh. Call me when he catches Pete Rose ;)

Speaking of which, I'm glad David Price didn't go all Eric Show-like and sit down on the mound like a little bitch (true story; that is exactly what Show did when he gave up the 4192nd or whatever hit to Pete Rose) when Jeter got the hit.
 
^ Yeah, that. I also hate how in the NL, the batting order has a tendency to dictate pitching changes. If the starter only lasts five or six innings, you might as well just have a DH for the rest of the game, because none of the relievers are ever going to see an at-bat.

I hate the fact that, in the AL, the batting order never dictates pitching changes. In the NL, there's more strategy to it. If you're down by a run or two, do you take the pitcher out if you have a shot or keep him in because he's pitching well? Are you in a situation where he can advance the runners even if he gets out? I like the NL better, not because it makes one individual at bat more interesting (Ortiz will, on average, have more interesting at bats), but because I think it makes the game more interesting.

I keep using Cliff Lee as an example to show that you never know what you get (plus, to show he's in a position of total domination right now ;) ). It's way more exciting when a pitcher does get a hit and, in the AL, you never get that opportunity. It's also not just the pitcher not hitting that bothers me, it's having one player who quite often could not play defense if he had to play any other position. He's an incomplete player too. And there is an institutional bias against the DH, which makes it very hard for them to ever get into the Hall of Fame.

Besides, why stop at the pitcher? Why not have nine designated hitters and nine designated position players? It'll make the game more exciting with each individual at bat. You'll never have a catcher who can't hit either.
 
I've spent a lot of my life thinking about which way is better. The NL game is inherently more interesting. And yet, most of the awesome feats of the game are performed by the pitcher. Is his accomplishment diminished if he's in the AL?

I say no. I say they're both fine ways to play baseball. Sure, there's an argument over what certain stats mean in that light, but welcome to baseball.
 
IMO, eventually both leagues will have the same rules again, and I think the NL will adopt the DH sooner than the AL would abandon it. The MLBPA won't let MLB get rid of fourteen more jobs for its players.
 
Seems like they'd HAVE to go in that direction if they want to realign the leagues and basically have interleague every night (with 2 divisions of 15, they'd have to).

And when a manager is forced to decide between pulling the pitcher or letting him bat so he can stay out there, isn't that basically acknowledging that he sucks as a batter, and they'd rather take their chances in the bullpen? It's exciting when the pitcher gets a hit because it's rare, and you're used to them sucking donkey balls out there. Not really interested in 1/9th of the game being about a blind squirrel trying to find a nut...

With only a few exceptions, the 'pure DH' is falling out of the league, as well. For most teams at this point, it's become a position they rotate people through rather than a dedicated guy. Ortiz is becoming the exception, and even he isn't TERRIBLE at 1B, there's just better options, so not worth sitting Youk or Gonzalez to do so.

Can't see the MLBPA wanting to let the DH go, as it's a way to let the aging players compete for a couple more years on the end of their careers, and it also allows teams to sign players to longer, more expensive contracts, knowing that they can at least put them at DH towards the end. Doubt A-Rod will be playing much 3B in his early 40s, but the Yankees are going to pay him 30 million a year anyway, so he'll be the DH. Without that position available, he'd have a shorter contract for sure.

Plus, I'd just rather see a legit attempt at an at-bat rather than a weak swing and miss, sac bunt attempt in the 2nd inning, or a pitcher choosing to pitch around the 8th guy in the order to get to the pitcher. With how specialized the roles have become, I just want to see decent at-bats. It's funny when Cliff Lee gets a hit, but less so when he gets pulled in the 6th because he's up next. And less so again when you have to pull your starting LF because a reliever is up to bat soon and you want to double-switch.
 
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