Ready for another season of baseball?

[mr_pikachu]

The 2006 MLB season kicked off yesterday. There's a lot of doubt about many of the teams this year, especially with some questionable off-season trades and releases. But even if there aren't many teams that seem to be "complete", this should be another exciting year of baseball!

I, for one, was very pleased about the action on opening day. St. Louis blew away Philadelphia in a 13-5 blowout, and the Astros' tough 1-0 win against the Marlins was just icing on the cake. If the Cards' offense is anywhere near this effective during the remainder of the season, I'm going to enjoy watching a lot of victories. I do worry about how well the new team will come together; I was rather hoping we'd retain our surprisingly good middle infielders, Eckstein and Grudzielanek, and losing Walker and Sanders in addition to some of our starting pitching could hurt as well. We'll see if St. Louis can hold it together.

So, any thoughts on this year? What do you think about your favorite teams and their chances for the season?

[Dark Dragonite]

Well, the Yankees will underachieve again...but still beat the Red Sox...St. Louis will learn to win in the playoffs, but still not make the World Series...The Mets will improve, and back their pitching up with runs, and if their bullpen holds, they're set to win the penant over Atlanta, who will nose dive...Florida is almost an all rookie team, and will flounder...Houston without Clemens, and probably an injured Petit at some point will flop...

[Number1ChanseyFan]

[color=magenta]No, I am not ready for another season of baseball!! The Indians need another offseason so that they can do things right this time!!

Seriously, I find it hard to be optimistic about Cleveland's chances this year. The White Sox have seemingly improved a lot, and it is hard to find any area that the Indians improved upon. Last year, Cleveland had the best pitching in the American League, and they have lost two starters and three relievers, and none of the replacements figure to do as well. (Why in the world did the Indians feel that they needed to sign Jason Johnson?!) Coco Crisp was traded to Boston, and the Indians still have Casey Blake and Aaron Boone as everyday players. So, considering that last year, Cleveland was good for 93 wins and failing to make the playoffs, and now the competition is stronger this year, I just see no realistic chance of them making it to the playoffs. Cleveland's #1 starter, CC Sabathia, (Well, he is kind of the #1 by default, he isn't really a true #1...) is probably headed the the DL after hurting himself in the third inning of Opening Day.

EDIT: Meh, just to make me look really stupid and to make me look like I have absolutely no idea what I am talking about about, Casey Blake and Aaron Boone combined to reach base 9 out of the 10 times that they went to the plate.

EDIT #2: Just to make me look even more clueless than I already am, Jason Johnson pitched 7 shutout innings against Minnesota yesterday. XD

Stats for players that I complained about in this thread:

Aaron Boone: .350/.381/.550/.931, 1 HR, 4 RBI. He had a 4-hit game against the White Sox last Tuesday, and is only 2 hits away from matching his hit total from last April (9 hits total last April!!)

Casey Blake: .471/.571/.706/1.277, 1 HR, 6 RBI. Hit a grand slam on Opening Day in Cleveland against Minnesota. The last three times that Minnesota has been in Cleveland for Cleveland's Opening Day, a Cleveland player has hit a grand slam. 2002-Travis Fryman against Eric Milton, 2004-Travis Hafner against Kyle Lohse, 2006-Casey Blake against Kyle Lohse.(again lol) I love how the newspapers and the internet have all of these interesting stats. ^_^

Jason Johnson: (1-0, 0.00, 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 K.) Considering that he has never beaten Cleveland in his career, it is nice to see that his problems were a result of pitching against the Indians, and not just pitching in Jacob's Field.

EDIT #3: And now the Indians just swept the Twins by beating Johan Santana. They are really doing their best to make me look totally clueless about baseball!!

[Drago]

Like I do every MLB (middle linebacker? ) season, I'll just pop my head in, knowing little to nothing about baseball, but with enough gaul to interrupt the conversation anyway just to voice a decidedly Canadian opinion. Oh yes. Eh?

I heard some pretty good things on ESPN about Toronto's offseason, but as I do with all my favourite teams, I'll reserve confidence until some serious results start to show. 3-2 may be enough for second in the AL east, but it's still not a spectacular place to be.

Can anyone with actual MLB knowledge give me a Blue Jays prediction, pretty please? Humour me a little...

[Pokemaster Ash]

*waves around flags for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox* Well I was a happy camper after seeing the White Sox win last year. They've started off pretty shakily, but I think they should be able to pull it together and go far.

However the Cubs seem to have made some nice deals, though Kerry Wood and Mark Prior starting off on the DL isn't great. If they can return at 100%, then the Cubs' chances are looking REALLY good. At least there's still Carlos Zambrano and Greg Maddux.

I'm hoping this is finally the year of the Cubs. After all, after the Red Sox and White Sox showing off their stuff the last two years, there's only one team with a LONG-running losing streak left, and after seeing the Cubs' performance thus far against St. Louis, it's looking good...

[Hatake Kakashi]

*Holds up Red Sox flag*It's no longer foolish to think they can win the World Series!

And yes, I'm STILL holding on to the 2004 series. You can all bite me. When your team goes 84s without a win and then comes from 1 game left to SWEEP the series, YOU get to hang on to it for years

[mr_pikachu]

Well, the Cardinals played their first game in their new ballpark earlier today. I admit, I was mildly worried, since the Cards were just swept in a three-game road series against the hated Cubs. But they started life in the new Busch Stadium the right way.

(That means they won.)

[jet1213]

well, since im from jersey im obviously a yankee fan. They keep putting their seemingly endless supply of money into hitters, though. If they had a solid rotation they could win it all easily.. i have my doubts about their rotation big time.

[Dark Dragonite]

I'd personally like to see another 86 series, lol
Who will play Bill Buckner?
Kevin Youkilis?
J.T. Snow?
Hee-Seop Choi?

[Hatake Kakashi]

The Sox are off to a pretty good start. 6-1 now, putting them early in the lead for the Eastern division.

[Dark Dragonite]

Well, being a Yankee/Met fan(although I tend to like players more than teams thanks to fantasy sports playing), usually the Red Sox hold the division lead until late in the season, when the Yanks kick it up a notch, they usually win the penant from behind.

[Myster Myuu]

I used to follow baseball rather religiously back when I was a youngster. Back then, I rooted from the Seattle Mariners simply becuase Ken Griffey Jr. was my favorite player. I also rooted for the Cincinnati Reds because I was born and raised 45 minutes away from Cincy

I was all into the whole Griffey/McGuire/Sosa home run feud. Then Griff had to go and blow his knee and pretty much kill his career. I dunno what happened, but he starting sucking after he slammed his knee into that wall. I more or less quit watching at that point. Until, however, Griffey dawned a Cincy Reds uniform I watched most of his first season with the Reds, grimly clinging to the hope the being with the team that his father played for would bring out the old Griff and, conversely, having the son of a member of the Big Red Machine would rev up said machine again. That didnt happen
So now Ill catch an occasional game for time to time when I happen to catch one on. Im still a Reds fan and always will be. Every other team can go take a flying leap of a tall cliff Do I expect the Reds to do good this year? Prolly not.. they havent had a truly remarkable season since 1990, when they swept the series vs. the As. All the players I remember watching are now long gone too *sighs* I remember the days of Jose Rio.. Chris Sabo.. Barry Larkin.. Paul O'Neil.. Reggie Sanders.. Brett Boone.. *gets all misty-eyed from remenicing(sp?)*

But ANYways.. Its always been my expectancy from baseball for the following to happen:
-Yankees inevitable find a way to make it to the series and win, no matter how good the competition is
-Red Sox have a wonderful season, are on top, look to win it all... only to have a mysterious pebble appear from nowhere and Buckner the whole thing for them.
-Cubs continue to flounder around like a half-dead fish.
-Someone will break someone else's record every single year.
-The Reds will not make it to the Series. And, as a matter of fact, they'll be lucky to even see the playoffs.

Sadly, Babe Ruth's curse has lost its potency since the Red Sox won the series in such stunning fashion. I suppose Ruth decided it was time to cut Boston a break and give them something to be happy about for once. Dont expect it to happen again for another 85 years
Even the cubs seems to be a decent team now-a-days. But you dont understand... baseball NEEDS its cursed team. And now that the Red Sox and White Sox have denounced their respective curses, the Cubs HAVE to keep on loosing. Baseball just wouldnt be the same without a team to call 'cursed' and to point and laugh at as they keep trying in vain to find a way to win.

Ill cut a deal with the Cubs though. Here it is: remain crappy for 10 more years. By that time, I think we can start calling the Pittsburgh Pirates a cursed team since they haven't even been to the series in about 30-40 years. After these 10 years go by, THEN you can win as many World Series' as you like. Deal?

[Number1ChanseyFan]

After all, after the Red Sox and White Sox showing off their stuff the last two years, there's only one team with a LONG-running losing streak left.

[color=magenta]THere is one more team with a pretty long drought... The American League team with the longest World Series Championship drought, and the second longest in MLB next to the Cubs, the Cleveland Indians, who last won it all in 1948. (Although they were only two outs away from winning game 7 in 1997 *kicks Jose Mesa in the groin, but then realizes that it didn't do anything, because he doesn't have any.* ^_^)

Seriously, this 6-1 start that Cleveland is off to is really starting to scare me... it makes me feel like a really long losing streak is right around the corner. XD

[Dark Dragonite]

Mesa screwed up for the Phillies too...but how about we talk about those Mets, and one of the worst closers coming off a good season...Armando Benitez...Oye!

[jet1213]

Can anyone with actual MLB knowledge give me a Blue Jays prediction, pretty please? Humour me a little...

they may be good.. but it doesnt matter.. cuz there is no way they are coming out of a division headed by the yankees and red sox

[mr_pikachu]

Can anyone with actual MLB knowledge give me a Blue Jays prediction, pretty please? Humour me a little...

Well, the Blue Jays spent over 100 million dollars on starting pitcher A.J. Burnett and closer B.J. Ryan. They also increased the salaries of several existing players.

If the Jays want a shot, they've got to take down either the Yankees or the Red Sox. And if they want to do that, they'll need to win early, plain and simple. In the first 23 games alone, they play New York and Boston a combined 11 tmes. And it doesn't get much easier after that.

The problem is that they're stumbling out of the gate a little. Toronto is 4-4 to begin the season. And Burnett's looking shaky; he's already missed two starts due to some elbow troubles.

The basic point is that these next few weeks should be very revealing. If you want to find out the Jays' chances, look at how they perform in these next twenty or thirty games.

[Dark Dragonite]

Toronto's problem...You can spend all the money you want, but if you don't have a leader to bring everyone together, and the right staff to push them, noone will do anything, remember what happened to the Mets the past few years...

[Ghost]

Personally here, I'm a big mets fan (Got my David Wright jersey on atm, and watching the mets beat the Nationals 8-3) I also like the Red Sox, got myself a Josh Beckett jersey the other day (incase you didn't notice, i'm a big jersey fan).

Currently both teams are off to a great start, and the Mets have the most runs scored, best era, best record (if they win this game) and some other titles that i'm very proud of

[Dark Dragonite]

Well, if the Mets can hold together, not have wagner blow up in their faces, as well as delgado, they have a chance...Boston is Boston, and being a NYer, I hate them, lol...

[Ghost]

I was born in New York, but I live in Boston, so if you don't wanna get the **** beat out of you, you gotta like the Red Sox...

BTW- Mets are winning 13-3 now

David Wright= MVP! MVP! MVP!

[Perfect Chaos]

*joins in with fellow Mets fans Raven and DD*

Yay, I'm not alone! Yes yes, Mets are the best team in the NL right now with their 8-2 record. Xavier Nady is quite a pleasant surprise and we have the most potent 3-6 hitters in the batting order other than everyone in the entire NL.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope Beltran has a bounce-back year, or else I WILL think that he's a serious bust (as most people that came to New York have been, unfornately)

I swear, if the Braves win for the 15th straight year...something's SERIOUSLY wrong with us and the rest of our division.

[SupremeChampion]

[i]being from south jersey i'm obviously a phillies fan, though i'm not always proud to say it lol. but seriously, i was actually looking towards the start of the season for the phillies with hope, which was quickly dashed after opening day. and for the next 4 games that followed. but anyway, the phillies have turned it around and have been winning, but they haven't been able to do it consistently enough as of right now. now i know its just the beginning of a very long season and anything can happen, but really right now the phillies need to get solid work out of their starting rotation. their bullpen is decent enough to get the job done, and the offense is doing much better now than it has done in recent years. hopefully they will be able to keep it up, and with even more hope i hope the starting rotation starts to pick it up. if these things happen, i think the phillies will be in decent shape this year.

~The Italian Stallion

[Dark Dragonite]

The Phillies gave up some key players, like Thome, and Wagner, Thome has hit 7HRs, 14RBI, 18 Runs, .349 avg...The Phillies are missing that...and Wagner is 1-0 with 4 Saves, 5Ks, and a 1.29 ERA in 7 innings...they gave up Padilla to Texas for R.Rod, but released him...

Let's just say, as a Mets fan, I am happy with a 10-4 start.

Oh, and Toronto is 7-7...like I said, they won't do too well this year.

[Perfect Chaos]

Let's just say, as a Mets fan, I am happy with a 10-4 start.

Amen to that

-Sean

[mr_pikachu]

Carpenter did it again for the Cards today, pitching near-perfect baseball for eight innings to lead St. Louis to a 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. This win, finished by Isringhausen, brings the Cardinals to within one game of the NL Central leaders, the Houston Astros.

So yeah, as long as we don't have to use any middle relief for the rest of the season, we'll be fine. XP

[Ghost]

Amen to that

-Sean

Yeah baby! Kaz Matsui inside the park home run! I hope the mets win this game!

[Jeff]

I'm not a very close follower of baseball, but one thing's for sure, I support two teams: The Orioles (who won today ), and whoever is playing the Yankees.

[Number1ChanseyFan]

I'm not a very close follower of baseball, but one thing's for sure, I support two teams: The Orioles. (who won today) and whoever is playing the Yankees.

[color=magenta]XD thank you for that 18-9 beating that you gave the Indians on Wednesday, and the 9-4 beating today!! I actually kinda enjoyed that game on Wednesday. I was wondering how many runs the Orioles were going to end up scoring. After your team gets blown out, it just gets kinda funny when the other team keeps on scoring, you just kinda want to see how many runs they can get!!

[mr_pikachu]

Okay, it's not exactly baseball news, but anyone who participates in fantasy baseball (or fantasy sports in general, for that matter) should see the article that's up right now in Yahoo! Sports:

The reality of fantasy

So the MLB is going to own the rights to players' stats, now? What's up with that? After all, they're just events, not property. Next court reporters aren't going to be able to report about criminal cases - not because of confidentiality issues (which are understandable), but because a person's rap sheet is personal property.

[Dark Dragonite]

I have and will never pay for fantasy baseball, I do it for fun, if it goes paid...I'll focus on the hockey more, then maybe pick up on a few I haven't done, like nascar, bball, and golf.

damn whiney rich people, apparently they don't have enough money to swim in yet...

[Ghost]

Sadly, nothing good in life is free. (Unless you steal it)

Mets lost 2-1, with Delgado homering again. The Mets need to get their offense running again, espically against the Padres. We got Pedro pitching tonight, so let's go for #201!

Sadly, Red Sox lost. Beckett gave up 5 runs (Which is totally abnormal) And Mike Timlin (AKA I like to give up lots of runs) lets a man score and ties it up. Game goes to the twelth inning and... BAM they lost Now Beckett is stuck at 3-0... Hopefully he'll rebound and win next week.

[Dark Dragonite]

Well, look at the Cards, they aren't doing super, but they have Izzy doing well, Carpenter getting into last year's form, and Marquis 4-0 excelling

[mr_pikachu]

Yeah, I'm actually surprised about Marquis. I was a little worried about him being in the starting rotation again, because he's got some crazy antics at times, but he's doing well right now. Hopefully he can keep it up.

[Dark Dragonite]

Baseball changes so drastically year to year, and personally, I hate Mr.Selig, think he's one of the worst things to happen to Baseball, but, that isn't the point, thing is, some players start out slow, like J. Santana of the Twins, he heats up after a month or two, same with Carpenter, then there are the players that start hot, and are too good to be true, they cool off, and do nothing more for you. I'm hoping shelton, wigginton, and wright aren't like that

[mr_pikachu]

Man, Isringhausen just blew another save today. Pujols was able to pull his can out of the fire in the bottom 9th, but I'm getting concerned. We can't afford to rely on a game-saving hit every time Izzy comes in. If he can't get it together, I hate to think about using our even less reliable middle relief to make up for it.

Of course, compared to others like A.J. Burnett and Carlos Beltran, our closer woes are nothing at all. Not to mention Derrek Lee, who's out for the next two months. I'd say that all things considered, the Cards have to be pretty happy with a 14-7 record at this point in the season.

[Dark Dragonite]

Yay, Mets are in first by like 4.5 games over the Braves, and 14-7 as well...
They beat the Giants in 11, who knew you could have 2 blown saves in 1 game...and win as well...

[Perfect Chaos]

Yay, Mets are in first by like 4.5 games over the Braves, and 14-7 as well...
They beat the Giants in 11, who knew you could have 2 blown saves in 1 game...and win as well...

For real...

Beltran is supposedly going to start Friday in Atlanta after his little hamstring injury. Bastard better have a good year, or I will deem his ass a bust.

And I pray that Bannister's injury doesn't cause him to miss months of time or else we royally screwed ourselves by trading Benson AND Seo away. God only knows what happens if we move Heilman into the rotation.

And I must definitely say that Xavier Nady is quietly becoming a VERY pleasant surprise for us this year. Hopefully it goes good for him this year.

-Sean

[mr_pikachu]

Xavier Nady? Who the heck is - ah.

Hitting .317 after a week of only .214 (with 2 homers, mind you), with a career average of a mere .269... he's having a pretty darn good start. It's no wonder the Mets are leading the NL East if the average players are picking up the slack like that.

And it appears that Barry Bonds is drawing ever closer to the legendary 714. I wonder if they'll be cutting into broadcasts of other games to show his at-bats?

Meh. Cue the boo-a-thon.

[Dark Dragonite]

I agree about Beltran, Bannister, and Nady.
There is one good thing about Heilman in the SR...he can't blow saves, lol
if Pedro, and Glavine can stay healthy, it should be a nice year.
Oh, and if Beltran gets injured a few more times, I'm going to start chanting Mo Vaughn

[mr_pikachu]

Dang... is anyone looking at this Kevin Mench guy? He's now homered in six straight games! Whoo!

And yet the Rangers are 11-11 after another Cordero blown save. Let's get Mench on a team that actually has some chance at winning so that maybe, just maybe, his slams will actually mean something.