Major League Baseball - 2012 Season

[Sylar]

We're coming closer to the start of the 2012 season and it's shaping up to be a cracker!

The Red Sox have a new manager in Bobby Valentine and have made some good trades in the closed season, including Andrew Miller, Kelly Shoppach and Matt Albers, as well as taking some really good looking options from Pawtucket - hoping for an exciting season in Boston, though I feel they'll still have work to do to be ready for the start of spring training.

The Florida Marlins have rebranded as the Miami Marlins and have made some BIG signings, including new manager from the Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell.

The Cardinals have been all change, with La Russa being replaced in the head coaching role by Mike Matheney and have secured Carlos Beltran, Rafael Furcal, Skip Schumacher and J.C. Romero, though the biggest news from St Louis was well and truly the departure of Albert Pujols to the L.A. Angels.

The Yankees have had a very quiet post-season, though the big news (albeit, not surprising) today was the announcement of Jorge Posada's decision to retire from the game.

The HUGE news today (which I did NOT expect) was the announcement that Detroit have secured Prince Fielder on a 9 year deal worth $214 million! Added to that, we've added Ramon Santiago, as well as collecting some really good minor league contracts, and have secured some of our most valuable players from last year on longer term contracts, including Jose Valverde, Gerald Laird, Rick Porcello, Max Scherzer, Delmon Young and Don Kelly. A little surprised we've also extended the contract of Phil Coke, but we've added more pitchers who will hopefully take his place during spring training.

Still have the Superbowl to look forward to in the NFL, but looking forward to spring training getting underway next month!

[Dashing Bob S]

We're coming closer to the start of the 2012 season and it's shaping up to be a cracker!

The Red Sox have a new manager in Bobby Valentine and have made some good trades in the closed season, including Andrew Miller, Kelly Shoppach and Matt Albers, as well as taking some really good looking options from Pawtucket - hoping for an exciting season in Boston, though I feel they'll still have work to do to be ready for the start of spring training.

The Florida Marlins have rebranded as the Miami Marlins and have made some BIG signings, including new manager from the Chicago White Sox, Ozzie Guillen, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell.

The Cardinals have been all change, with La Russa being replaced in the head coaching role by Mike Matheney and have secured Carlos Beltran, Rafael Furcal, Skip Schumacher and J.C. Romero, though the biggest news from St Louis was well and truly the departure of Albert Pujols to the L.A. Angels.

The Yankees have had a very quiet post-season, though the big news (albeit, not surprising) today was the announcement of Jorge Posada's decision to retire from the game.

The HUGE news today (which I did NOT expect) was the announcement that Detroit have secured Prince Fielder on a 9 year deal worth $214 million! Added to that, we've added Ramon Santiago, as well as collecting some really good minor league contracts, and have secured some of our most valuable players from last year on longer term contracts, including Jose Valverde, Gerald Laird, Rick Porcello, Max Scherzer, Delmon Young and Don Kelly. A little surprised we've also extended the contract of Phil Coke, but we've added more pitchers who will hopefully take his place during spring training.

Still have the Superbowl to look forward to in the NFL, but looking forward to spring training getting underway next month!

I like the look of the Tigers roster this year, and I expect the Twins and White Sox to be weaker, so I'm expecting a bit of a stripey romp in the American central.

My much-loved Pirates will be battling for the spoon with equally hapless Cubs and Astros in Nat central, leaving the Cardinals a clear field.

But the real interest is the revamped and rebranded Marlins. Like Tampa Bay they have been a highly succesful trading club and those Florida treams have bloodied some of the finest players around. Now with the new stadium abd Ossie, they have the chance to build a dynasty.

[heartbreaker]

Go Cubbies !!!

Now that the yawnbowl is over the mind can start to look forward to Spring the the return of the real thing.

Go Cubbies !!

[heretoday]

This is the Indians year. No question!

[Sylar]

This is the Indians year. No question!

:greengrin

[Sylar]

We're getting ever closer, with pitchers and catchers already having reported.

AJ Burnett to the Pirates, Posey back to the Giants - the moves continue to happen as we gear up to the start of ST.

I've taken out the MLB.TV subscription again this year - unlimited coverage of every game in full HD streaming, from the first Spring Training game (Yankees @ Phillies) on March 3rd - HDMI cable to transfer it onto the TV and the season ahead is sorted! :thumbsup:

[Gatecrasher]

I'm going to be following MLB a bit closer this year no predictions about who's gonna though

[Haymaker]

Have the red sox won yet?

[Sylar]

Sad to see that Joel Zumaya is yet again set to miss another season, as he now requires Tommy John surgery on his elbow.

He's been plagued by injuries and hardly played for us during the past few seasons - I wasn't surprised we released him in the close-season, but I was surprised that Minnesota took a gamble on him.

Never forget being inside Commerica and watching him blow Derek Jeter out of the batters box a few years back with a 98, 104, 100mph 3 strike at-bat. The atmosphere was absolutely sensational that night and an unbelievable noise when he hit 104mph. You could see Pudge Rodriguez behind home plate shake his hand in pain after each catch!

Apparently, he is now considering quitting the game, which doesn't come as a huge shock. A great talent unfulfilled really.

[Sylar]

First televised games of Spring Training were yesterday, with New York Yankees beating Philadelphia in the opener 8-5, in what was a great opener, with plenty of good at-bats and 3 home-runs into the bargain. New York's batting lineup looked formidable, even without Texeira, A-Rod and Jeter in the roster.

The second game was a blowout, which was called after 7 innings under the mercy rule, as the Red Sox routed Northeastern University 25-0.

Some scores from day 1:

Detroit Tigers 2-0 Atlanta
Arizona 9-6 San Francisco
New York Yankees 8-5 Philadelphia
Cleveland 6-6 Cincinnati
Pittsburgh 1-7 Toronto
Oakland 9-2 Seattle
Tampa Bay 3-7 Minnesota
Arizona 1-1 Colorado
Washington 1-3 Houston

Exhibitions:

Northeastern University 0-25 Boston
Boston College 3-6 Boston Red Rox

[Sylar]

More good games yesterday, with a first insight into how the Tigers' are likely to shape up with a fully fit roster yesterday against Atlanta and boy, did it pound the Braves and Delgado, with 9 HR's for Detroit. Josh Beckett went 2 innings against Minnesota and looked in good command of his pitching, and the Athletics beat the Cubs in what was an outstanding game, with Oakland scoring 2 in the top of the 9th and held on for the win:

Oakland 12-10 Chicago Cubs
Atlanta 3-18 Detroit
Kansas City 6-1 Texas
Houston 10-2 Washington
Cincinnati 8-6 Cleveland
Minnesota (SS) 5-3 Tampa Bay
San Diego 4-5 Seattle
Philadelphia 4-7 New York Yankees
San Francisco (SS) 1-1 Milwaukee
Toronto 8-5 Pittsburgh
San Francisco (SS) 11-1 Arizona
Minnesota (SS) 3-8 Boston

[Sylar]

What a great start we've had to the Spring Training games, starting strong against good opposition.

Our probable starting rotation has been going in the past 3 games, with Scherzer, Verlander and Porcello all having pitched in recent days.

Another good win against a strong Marlins lineup last night and we didn't exactly have our strongest batting roster out there. Very encouraging for the long season ahead that we seem to have a wealth of resources coming through our younger ranks and AAA associates.

Detroit 3-1 Miami
Chicago White Sox 2-6 LA Angels
Minnesota 3-2 Tampa Bay (despite many tipping them to obtain at least a WC in the AL East this year, they've had a poor start to ST)
Cincinnati 6-8 Seattle
New York Yankees 4-7 Pittsburgh
Colorado 4-11 Chicago Cubs
NY Mets 1-4 Houston
Kansas City 2-3 Cleveland
Philadelphia 7-0 Toronto
Oakland 6-0 Milwaukee
Washington 5-2 Atlanta
San Diego 4-7 Kansas City
St Louis 6-8 NY Mets
San Francisco 8-4 LA Dodgers
Baltimore 4-5 Boston
Texas 16-3 Arizona

[Sylar]

Our outstanding start to the Spring Season campaign continues, with another win yesterday to take us to 6-0 in the Grapefruit.

A pretty comfortable win in the end against a split-squad Tampa Bay Rays, finishing out 8-1, with Doug Fister looking mightily impressive on the mound.

Heartily encouraged at this albeit, ridiculously early portion of the season - ah, it's GREAT to be back.

Plenty to look forward to this afternoon, with Adam Wainwright making his return for St Louis after last season out injured and Buster Posey makes his first start in his return to the Giants. Yesterday's results:

Atlanta 1-2 Baltimore
Boston 3-9 St Louis
Detroit 8-1 Tampa Bay (ss)
Houston 0-8 Washington
NY Yankees 1-6 Toronto
Pittsburgh 4-5 Philadelphia
Tampa Bay (ss) 1-0 Minnesota
Miami 5-4 NY Mets
LA Angels 6-5 Cleveland
Chicago White Sox 6-3 Texas
Cincinnati 8-6 Milwaukee
Oakland 2-7 LA Dodgers
Seattle 10-3 Chicago Cubs
San Francisco 5-2 San Diego
Kansas City 5-0 Colorado

[James.]

Yet to catch a grapefruit league game as I've got NBA league pass at the moment occupying most of my time but looking forward to another season of misery from the Amazin Mets. Our division is just too loaded to keep up this year and I'd bet that only Houston and Pittsburg will have worse records in the NL. On a more positive note it's nice to have Santana back!

[Sylar]

Yet to catch a grapefruit league game as I've got NBA league pass at the moment occupying most of my time but looking forward to another season of misery from the Amazin Mets. Our division is just too loaded to keep up this year and I'd bet that only Houston and Pittsburg will have worse records in the NL. On a more positive note it's nice to have Santana back!

Both the Pirates and Astros aren't having a terrible Spring Training thus far, with Houston having a winning record (7-4) and Pittsburgh showing promise in some games, despite their lowly 4-7.

Your Mets didn't look too bad tonight against us - was a thoroughly enjoyable game from Lakeland actually, with the Mets going ahead, falling behind and then rallying to tie it up in the 8th. We eventually found a run in the bottom of the 10th to seal another win.

We had a few young prospects playing tonight, with PF and MC disappearing after a few innings to be replaced.

Our offense is undoubtedly explosive with the big names, but there are so few holes in it right now, it's just positively scary!

Our rotation also looks very comfortable and our bullpen looks as strong as it did when we got to the World Series in '05.

Really hoping we can get back to the playoffs again this year and perhaps go one better than last year.

NY Mets 6-7 Detroit
Houston 4-3 St Louis
Miami 4-2 Tampa Bay
Minnesota 6-4 Philadelphia
NY Yankees 5-7 Toronto
Pittsburgh 11-5 Baltimore

[Sylar]

And the good run continues, with a convincing 7-2 win over the Braves yesterday - very pleasing start.

Not so great was the injury to Cabrera, who took a line drive in the face at 3rd base on Saturday, fracturing his lower right orbital.

Apparently he's expected back in a week, with the sunglasses he was wearing preventing the injury being worse, as they deflected the ball away.

Looked nasty though!

[Gatecrasher]

When does the regular season start?

[Sylar]

The first regular season game is next Wednesday (am in the UK) between Seattle and Oakland, live from Japan, followed by a second game the next day. There's then a brief return to Spring Training before another one-off regular season game takes place between the St Louis Cardinals visiting the newly branded Miami Marlins on Wednesday 4th April.

The first semi-full schedule is Thursday 5th April.

I guess I'm going to do my predictions:

AL East - NY Yankees
AL Central - Detroit
AL West - Texas
Wildcards: Tampa Bay, LA Angels, Toronto

NL East - Atlanta
NL Central - St Louis
NL West - LA Dodgers
Wildcards: San Francsico, Cincinnati, Philadelphia

ALC - Detroit
NLC - LA Dodgers

WS - Detroit - why the hell not :greengrin

[Gatecrasher]

The first regular season game is next Wednesday (am in the UK) between Seattle and Oakland, live from Japan, followed by a second game the next day. There's then a brief return to Spring Training before another one-off regular season game takes place between the St Louis Cardinals visiting the newly branded Miami Marlins on Wednesday 4th April.

The first semi-full schedule is Thursday 5th April.

Thanks TSSF, I am enjoying March Madness but Baseball is something good to keep an eye on :agree:

[Sylar]

Thanks TSSF, I am enjoying March Madness but Baseball is something good to keep an eye on :agree:

Do you have a team yet? :greengrin

[Gatecrasher]

Do you have a team yet? :greengrin
Baseball or NCAA basketball?

[Sylar]

Baseball or NCAA basketball?

Baseball - you'd said you were struggling to find a team last year :agree:

[Gatecrasher]

Baseball - you'd said you were struggling to find a team last year :agree:
Not really found a team to be honest, I have just been watching it. I usually pick a team for the game I'm watching though

[Sylar]

Not really found a team to be honest, I have just been watching it. I usually pick a team for the game I'm watching though

As a Green Bay fan, the logical option is normally the Milwaukee Brewers (both being Wisconsin teams obviously).

However, if it's the colours you want to be consistent to, Oakland A's need as many fans as they can get :greengrin

[Gatecrasher]

As a Green Bay fan, the logical option is normally the Milwaukee Brewers (both being Wisconsin teams obviously).

However, if it's the colours you want to be consistent to, Oakland A's need as many fans as they can get :greengrin

yeah i heard loads about they Oakland A's :greengrin
The logical option is an interesting one but i'm not going to nail my colours just yet.

[Sylar]

And the first game of the regular season has just gotten underway, live from Japan (and live on ESPN America).

Seattle vs Oakland, just in the top of the first.

[Sylar]

Been a pretty subdued game thus far, but the atmosphere in the Tokyo Dome is absolutely electric!

Currently Seattle 1-1 Oakland, bottom of the 4th.

[Gatecrasher]

what time was that on at? i checked espn america last night and a training match was on

[Sylar]

what time was that on at? i checked espn america last night and a training match was on

Started at 11am this morning and is still ongoing, just in the bottom of the 7th.

Still tied at 1-1 - Felix Hernandez has looked mightily impressive on the mound for the Mariners.

[Sylar]

STILL going - finished 1-1 after 9 innings and we're now in the top of the 11th. Arduous first outing for both sides.

[Sylar]

Seattle 3-1 Oakland in the season opener, with Ichiro adjusting well to his new spot in the batting roster, going 4-5 AB, the first Mariner to do so since Ken Griffey Jnr.

Dustin Ackley knocking the first HR out of the yard for the season!

Decent game in the end.

[Gatecrasher]

Started at 11am this morning and is still ongoing, just in the bottom of the 7th.

Still tied at 1-1 - Felix Hernandez has looked mightily impressive on the mound for the Mariners.
I thought it was on last night!! I was working this morning anyway so would have missed it

[Sylar]

I meant to post a wee update once the Japan series finished but have been busy with work.

So Seattle and Oakland both took a game each in the season opening series in Tokyo, with Seattle winning the first game 3-1 and Oakland winning the second 4-1.

Last night saw the first opening game on American soil, with the St Louis Cardinals travelling to the newly designed Miami Marlins, in their new stadium. Cardinals ran out 4-1 winners in the end, with Kyle Lohse giving a masterclass from the mound, to which Miami had very little answer.

Stunning new stadium (where the old Orange Bowl used to be) and they'll come good, but a dampener for Miami after all the talk and hype to be beaten so easily on opening day.

Should be a great game tonight, with Justin Verlander and the Tigers facing up against John Lester and the Red Sox from Commerica park. Very hard opener to test our "favourite" credentials for the season ahead. Can't wait!

[Sylar]

The beer is cold, the pizza is in the oven and ESPN America is set to go.

Let's PLAY BALL! :thumbsup:

[Sylar]

Defensive battle thus far, with Verlander looking solid on the mound, giving up just a double to David Ortiz through 3 innings.

We've had a few base hits, but Boston's infield have turned two double plays in the first two innings to keep the score level.

Prince nabbed a single base hit in his first at-bat as a Tiger - we might not have scored yet, but dear god this lineup is scarily good!

[Sylar]

Very good opening day result for us, against a very good Boston lineup.

Neither pitcher really deserved to lose today, but we ground it out in the bottom of the 9th.

Went ahead from a Santiago RBI in the bottom of the 6th and added a second in the bottom of the 8th from a Fielder RBI.

Valverde, who was a perfect 49-49 last year in saves, gave up 2 runs in the top of the 9th, before Boston loaded the bases and Jackson knocked in the winner in the bottom of the 9th.

Phew!

[Sylar]

Detroit 3-2 Boston - http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20394489&c_id=mlb
New York Mets 1-0 Atlanta - great to see Johan Santana back on the mound for the Mets - commanded well (http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20394149&c_id=mlb).
Pittsburgh 0-1 Philadelphia - very comfortable open outing from Roy Halladay - was another pitchers battle (http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20394489&c_id=mlb)!
Chicago Cubs 1-2 Washington - Good to see Stephen Strasburg back for Washington!
Cincinnati 4-0 Miami - Miami fall to 0-2 -(http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20394489&c_id=mlb)
San Diego 3-5 Los Angeles Dodgers - Big 2 run HR for Matt Kemp guides the Dodgers to victory after a season of off-field activity (http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20394489&c_id=mlb)
Cleveland 4-7 Toronto - this lasted a mammoth 16 innings, after Toronto scored 3 in the top of the 9th to take it to extra (http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20394489&c_id=mlb)

[Sylar]

The remaining teams got underway yesterday:

Texas 3-2 Chicago White Sox - Chicago looked brutal until around the 7th - 2 huge HR's, one from Texas (Kinsler) and one from Chicago (Adam Dunn)

Baltimore 4-2 Minnesota - 20th anniversary of Camden Yards and Baltimore open the year in style!

Tampa Bay 7-6 New York Yankees - what a game this was - Carlos Pena, 1st inning grand slam off of Sabbathia, followed by the Yankees scoring 6 unanswered. Bottom of the 9th, 6-5 Yankees, bases loaded again and Pena again; coming just shy of another grand slam, but enough to bring in the 2 runs to win the game

Milwaukee 5-11 St Louis - Cardinals continue their impressive start - 5 HR's giving up by the Brewers in the NLDS rematch. Cardinals 2-0 now.

Houston 3-5 Colorado - the much fancied Rockies edge the much unfancied Astros - Troy Tulowizki knocked a HR out of the stadium in the top of the 9th!

Arizona 5-4 San Francisco - poor opening day performance from Tim Lincecum, giving up 2 HR's back to back in a horrendous first inning of 28 pitches.

L.A. Angels 5-0 Kansas City - Weaver on the mound for L.A. with 8 strikeouts through 10 innings - Detroit the only team in the AL Central with a win on opening day :greengrin

San Diego 0-6 L.A. Dodgers - the Dodgers move to 2-0 after a dominating pitching performance, with Billingsley striking out 11!

Seattle 7-3 Oakland - Seattle move to 2-1 following a comfortable home opener.

[Gatecrasher]

Managed to catch a bit of the Texas game on ESPN America last night, will probably watch the Atlanta game tonight :agree:

[Sylar]

Was a decent game in the end, with the Mets going to 2-0, winning 4-2 over Atlanta.

We currently lead Boston 2-0 in Commerica and Doug Fister continues to impress on the mound - hoping he can keep it going :agree:

[Sylar]

Was a decent game in the end, with the Mets going to 2-0, winning 4-2 over Atlanta.

We currently lead Boston 2-0 in Commerica and Doug Fister continues to impress on the mound - hoping he can keep it going :agree:

Bugger - withdrawn in the top of the 4th due to an injury to his side...

Hope it's not serious.

[Sylar]

Boom! Bottom of the 4th and we explode on offense.

Prince gets his first HR in Commerica, followed by a base hit for Delmon Young and then brought home by an Avila HR.

3rd HR of the game so far for us. Very pleasing so far.

[Sylar]

Unbelievable offense in Detroit - the training wheels have been kicked off and we've absolutely exploded!

Cabrera with 2 HR's, Fielder has 2 HR's and Avila has a 2 run HR, as we lead Boston 7-0.

I'll post the highlights tomorrow. Outstanding game so far from a Detroit perspective!

[NOLA]

Chief Wahoo says BOO!

[Sylar]

That was a display of pure power last night, combined with a frighteningly good all round pitching performance from both the starter and enforced use of the bullpen:

http://mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20433647&c_id=mlb

2HR's for both Fielder and Cabrera, with Avila also chipping in - and a shut-out on the other side. Very pleasing indeed!

Scores:

Detroit 10-0 Boston
Cleveland 4-7 Toronto F/12
Chicago Cubs 4-7 Washington
L.A. Angels 3-6 Kansas City
NY Mets 4-2 Atlanta
Baltimore 8-2 Minnesota
Arizona 5-4 San Francisco
Tampa Bay 8-6 NY Yankees
Milwaukee 6-0 St Louis
Texas 3-4 Chicago White Sox
Houston 7-3 Colorado
Oakland 7-8 Seattle
Pittsburgh 2-1 Philadelphia F/10
Cincinnati 3-8 Miami

[Dashing Bob S]

That was a display of pure power last night, combined with a frighteningly good all round pitching performance from both the starter and enforced use of the bullpen:

http://mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=20433647&c_id=mlb

2HR's for both Fielder and Cabrera, with Avila also chipping in - and a shut-out on the other side. Very pleasing indeed!

Scores:

Detroit 10-0 Boston
Cleveland 4-7 Toronto F/12
Chicago Cubs 4-7 Washington
L.A. Angels 3-6 Kansas City
NY Mets 4-2 Atlanta
Baltimore 8-2 Minnesota
Arizona 5-4 San Francisco
Tampa Bay 8-6 NY Yankees
Milwaukee 6-0 St Louis
Texas 3-4 Chicago White Sox
Houston 7-3 Colorado
Oakland 7-8 Seattle
Pittsburgh 2-1 Philadelphia F/10
Cincinnati 3-8 Miami



Our season has officially peaked. Can we just end it all right now?

[Dashing Bob S]

Unbelievable offense in Detroit - the training wheels have been kicked off and we've absolutely exploded!

Cabrera with 2 HR's, Fielder has 2 HR's and Avila has a 2 run HR, as we lead Boston 7-0.

I'll post the highlights tomorrow. Outstanding game so far from a Detroit perspective!

Yes, i sense good times ahead for you, my stripey compadre. Tigers already an absolute stick-on for play-offs in that division.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Doug Fister continues to impress on the mound - hoping he can keep it going :agree:

Oo-er missus!

[Gatecrasher]

anyone else watching Padres v Dodgers, currently 4-0 Padres

[Sylar]

Our season has officially peaked. Can we just end it all right now?

Back to back Bob!

Pittsburgh 5-4 Philadelphia

The final game of the 3-game Tigers vs Red Sox series was an absolute cracker for both the neutral and Tigers fans out there.

Stormed into a 4-0 lead, trailed 7-5 very quickly and ultimately came out on top, 13-12 after 11 innings.

Sensational baseball from Detroit tonight!

The Mets also go to 3-0, with a 3 game sweep over the Braves, winning out 7-5 tonight!

[James.]

Finally caught my first game of the year today as the Amazin Mets swept Atlanta. No hitter into the 7th inning from Niese but it wasn't to be. The wait continues.

[Sylar]

Some great games yesterday - really enjoyed watching a lot of the opening series':

Detroit 13-12 Boston
Cleveland 4-3 Toronto
NY Mets 7-5 Atlanta
Cincinnati 6-5 Miami
Baltimore 3-1 Minnesota
Pittsburgh 5-4 Philadelphia
Tampa Bay 3-0 NY Yankees
Houston 3-2 Colorado
Milwaukee 3-9 St Louis
Chicago Cubs 4-3 Washington
L.A. Angels 3-7 Kansas City
San Diego 8-4 L.A. Dodgers - anyone else seen the Padres' marine uniforms they wear on Sundays?
Arizona 7-6 San Francisco
Texas 5-0 Chicago White Sox

[James.]

The Padres have had those jerseys a while now - they're pretty rank if you ask me. The Toronto Raptors have a similar kind of jersey in the NBA this year, hoping they wear it tonight against my Pacers. Nice to see Boston, the Yankees, Atlanta and Philly all get off to horrible starts this year - not that I'm bitter about their past success :greengrin

[Gatecrasher]

The Padres have had those jerseys a while now - they're pretty rank if you ask me. The Toronto Raptors have a similar kind of jersey in the NBA this year, hoping they wear it tonight against my Pacers. Nice to see Boston, the Yankees, Atlanta and Philly all get off to horrible starts this year - not that I'm bitter about their past success :greengrin

Is that their actual shirts? i thought it was a military day or something.

[James.]

Is that their actual shirts? i thought it was a military day or something.

I'm sure the Padres have worn them on and off for years now. The Raptors have worn theirs once or twice I'm sure and all the proceeds from their shirt sales go to charities for the Canadian Military.

[GhostofBolivar]

I'm sure the Padres have worn them on and off for years now. The Raptors have worn theirs once or twice I'm sure and all the proceeds from their shirt sales go to charities for the Canadian Military.

I suspect the Raptors donate 25% of total sales of that merchandise to Canadian Forces charities - that's the same as the Leafs give on similar merchandise when they have their Canadian Forces Night. And since both teams are owned by the same company, it seems likely that they'll do similar things.

[Dashing Bob S]

Back to back Bob!

Pittsburgh 5-4 Philadelphia

The final game of the 3-game Tigers vs Red Sox series was an absolute cracker for both the neutral and Tigers fans out there.

Stormed into a 4-0 lead, trailed 7-5 very quickly and ultimately came out on top, 13-12 after 11 innings.

Sensational baseball from Detroit tonight!

The Mets also go to 3-0, with a 3 game sweep over the Braves, winning out 7-5 tonight!

Nosebleed time.


Yes, couldn't keep my eyes off Tigers-Red Sox.

[Sylar]

Texas 11-5 Seatle
Minnesota 1-5 L.A. Angels
Philadelphia 2-6 Miami
Cleveland 2-4 Chicago White Sox
Baltimore 2-6 NY Yankees
Toronto 2-4 Boston
Oakland 1-0 Kansas City
Colorado 0-7 San Francisco
Chicago Cubs 5-7 Milwaukee
Cincinnati 1-7 St Louis
NY Mets 4-3 Washington (speaking of nosebleeds...)
Houston 8-3 Atlanta

[Sylar]

Nervy game last night, eventually seeing off Tampa Bay to win 5-2. Really just hung in until we got Matt Moore off the mound and then came to life in the 7th and 8th innings. Was a bit bittersweet last night actually, as I know the Rays pitcher who came in to relieve in the 8th, giving up the 3 hits which put us 5-2 in front.

Detroit 5-2 Tampa Bay
Baltimore 4-5 NY Yankees F/12
Toronto 7-3 Boston
Texas 1-0 Seattle
Kansas City 3-0 Oakland
Chicago @ Cleveland - PP (weather)
LA Dodgers 2-1 Pittsburgh
Cincinnati 1-3 St Louis
NY Mets 2-6 Washington
Houston 4-6 Atlanta
Chicago Cubs 4-7 Milwaukee
San Diego 2-4 Arizona

[Gatecrasher]

I watched the dodgers game on espn America last night but only lasted until the 7th inning as I was up early this morning, not much hitting going on.

[Sylar]

Our first defeat of the season today, falling 4-2 to Tampa Bay after an impressive rally from the Rays in the 9th inning. Also means Justin Verlander is still without a win, but far too early to draw anything from it - he didn't really come good last season until after his no-hitter against Toronto and then exploded into life. He says the same thing every year, that he wants to start better in April and always seems to start slowly.

The Rays look like very genuine contenders in the AL East early doors though - they were impressive against the Yankees and have looked good in their 2 games thus far at Commerica.

The Red Sox on the other hand fall to 1-5...dreadful start for them, though they do have a very challenging opening schedule.

[Sylar]

Boston's bad run continues - hammered by Texas, 18-3 at Fenway...

We lost a couple of games in our series against Chicago White Sox over the weekend, but have bounced back nicely to 8-3. The Padres and Twins are both currently the worst teams in baseball.

San Diego 3-5 Colorado
Minnesota 3-8 NY Yankees
Tampa Bay 3-7 Toronto
Texas 18-3 Boston
Baltimore 3-2 Chicago WS
Detroit 3-1 Kansas City
Oakland 5-3 LA Angels
Cleveland 9-8 Seattle
Houston 0-1 Washington
Chicago Cubs 2-5 Miami
NY Mets 3-9 Atlanta
LA Dodgers 4-5 Milwaukee
Cincinnati 1-2 St Louis
Pittsburgh 5-4 Arizona
Philadelphia 2-4 San Francisco

[Sylar]

Well, we took a beating last night as Texas continue their white-hot streak at Commerica. Granted, it was our 5th and weakest pitcher in our rotation against arguably one of Texas' best pitchers, but they ran riot, beating us 10-3, racking up 19 hits in the process!

Minnesota 6-7 NY Yankees
Baltimore 5-3 Chicago WS
Texas 10-3 Detroit
Tampa Bay 9-4 Toronto
Oakland 4-2 LA Angels
Cleveland 2-1 Seattle
Chicago Cubs 3-5 Miami
LA Dodgers 4-3 Milwaukee
Cincinnati 6-3 St Louis
Houston 11-4 Washington
Atlanta 10-2 Arizona
Philadelphia 2-0 San Diego (Padres are now 3-11!)

[Sylar]

Our game was postponed last night so I watched the Yankees @ Red Sox game, where Boston were celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fenway.

Boston couldn't use it as inspiration though and New York won 6-2, with 5 HR's and the Red Sox falling to their fourth straight defeat.

NY Yankees 6-2 Boston
Minnesota 5-4 Tampa Bay
Toronto 4-3 Kansas City
Baltimore 3-6 LA Angels
Cleveland 4-3 Oakland
Chicago WS 7-3 Seattle
Texas P-P Detroit
Cincinnati 9-4 Chicago Cubs
Miami 0-2 Washington
St Louis 4-1 Pittsburgh
San Francisco 4-3 NY Mets
LA Dodgers 3-1 Houston
Colorado 4-3 Milwaukee
Atlanta 9-1 Arizona
Philadelphia 4-1 San Diego

Both Texas and the Dodgers are steamrolling their divisions and my earlier predictions look alright thus far :greengrin

[hibsbollah]

Red Sox had.a.terrible start last season and turned it around, theyll be ok. The Cubs, on the other hand :boo hoo:

[Sylar]

Red Sox had.a.terrible start last season and turned it around, theyll be ok. The Cubs, on the other hand :boo hoo:

Could be worse - you could be a Padres fan - they look absolutely awful this year :greengrin

[Sylar]

This is painful watching right now - 2nd game in the series between Texas and Detroit, top of the 1st and the Rangers are up 8-0, with 2 men on and one man out...

Texas look absolutely awesome right now :agree:

[Sylar]

Top of the 2nd and it continues - 9-0 now with nobody out and 2 on.

Pitching change - brutal.

[Part/Time Supporter]

Top of the 2nd and it continues - 9-0 now with nobody out and 2 on.

Pitching change - brutal.

Not great in the first game of a double dip. The mop-up reliever will need to pitch until his arm falls off. Or you could pull a Kansas City and use an outfielder.

[Sylar]

Not great in the first game of a double dip. The mop-up reliever will need to pitch until his arm falls off. Or you could pull a Kansas City and use an outfielder.

Certainly not ideal, but had we continued with Porcello, we'd have been clearing the 20 run mark for Texas!

Don't think it matters who pitches - they're hitting everything right now. They routed Boston at Fenway and now they're steamrolling us at Commerica.

Surely Prince Fielder would make an awesome pitcher - some amount of weight to throw behind his fastball :greengrin

[Part/Time Supporter]

Red Sox bullpen bringing pleasure to millions (http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2012/04/red_sox_at_a_lo.html) (of Yankee fans).

[Sylar]

After Porcello left the mound, we only gave up another 1 run and managed to score 4 of our own - maybe it wasn't entirely that the Rangers were red hot, but our pitcher was having a howler of a day!

At least we restored some dignity in the evening game, with JV getting his second win of the season, 3-2.

Been a pretty tight game again tonight, with the score currently tied at 2-2!

[Sylar]

We've hit a bit of a slump in form of late, currently trailing the Indians by 1.5 games.

Been a pretty difficult month for us, with 2 of our rotation really struggling to get anything going and our offense hitting a wee bit of a cool streak. I thought we'd come to life a little in the first game of the series against the A's in Oakland, but it came undone again last night.

Wasn't surprised to see we traded Brandon Inge to Oakland, but was VERY surprised when he rapped a Grand Slam out of the park against us on Thursday night. Part of the reason he was so unpopular in Detroit in the end was the lack of offensive productivity!

Red Sox continue their poor form from last season, currently sitting afoot the bottom of the AL East, though thankfully, managed a win against Cleveland last night before battering them again tonight. Suddenly, the bats are finding some heat :thumbsup:

Still, too many things still not firing and their pitching staff are making too many errors - hopefully this mini-revival continues and a surge up the table can commence!

As a side note, I hope we don't have any Minnesota Twins fans on this board - wow, how bad are they?!?

[HH81]

I have only ever watched one Baseball game and it was in San Diego, not really a fan of the game but they are my team :greengrin

[Gatecrasher]

Finishing off the weekend watching the Rays @ Red Sox

[hibsbollah]

You can tell the Tigers are slipping down their division when TSSFs posts get further apart :greengrin

Forget that, the main event is RIGHT NOW...the two worst teams in baseball Cubs and Padres going head to head in a david vs david contest, the cubbies up 2-1 in the sixth. Mrs Bollah currently in attendance.

[Sylar]

You can tell the Tigers are slipping down their division when TSSFs posts get further apart :greengrin

Forget that, the main event is RIGHT NOW...the two worst teams in baseball Cubs and Padres going head to head in a david vs david contest, the cubbies up 2-1 in the sixth. Mrs Bollah currently in attendance.

It's typical fashion, whether we do well or not, that my posts space out as the season goes on, as I have less and less time going into the summer to watch many games! Managed to see most of the Twins' series there, which was the first few games I'd seen in a few weeks.

We have looked bloody poor of late though. Just can't seem to get it going and I've no complaints with where we are, but still think it'll come good. 4 games back but still with 2 games to play at Fenway, which are tough games indeed!

[hibsbollah]

It's typical fashion, whether we do well or not, that my posts space out as the season goes on, as I have less and less time going into the summer to watch many games! Managed to see most of the Twins' series there, which was the first few games I'd seen in a few weeks.

We have looked bloody poor of late though. Just can't seem to get it going and I've no complaints with where we are, but still think it'll come good. 4 games back but still with 2 games to play at Fenway, which are tough games indeed!

I'm only pulling your leg :aok:

[James.]

A big night in New York Mets history (believe me when I say they don't come around often) after 50 years and 8020 games we finally have our first no hitter. Glad it went to Johan who's had a hellish couple of years.

[Gatecrasher]

Watching the Indians @ Tigers, Currently 7-5 Tigers and probably the highest scoring baseball game i have ever seen. Detroit were whipping them as well. going into the bottom of the 8th.

[Haymaker]

Matt Cain throws the 22nd perfect game in MLB history.

[Sylar]

Matt Cain throws the 22nd perfect game in MLB history.

Seen the condensed game this morning - absolutely sensational performance :agree:

[hibsbollah]

If an Astros batter had reached first base on an error not attributable to Cain (catcher dropped the ball for example), it clearly wouldnt have been a 'perfect game', but would Cain have been able to claim a no hitter?

[Haymaker]

Been watching more baseball these past few weeks, tonight red sox white sox game ended brilliantly! One down at the last batter, runners on 1 & 2 and then a walk off homerun to win the game 3-1

[Sylar]

Well, well, well.

I genuinely doubted at one point that we would even reach the playoffs and here we are going into game 2 of the ALCS against the Yankees.

Won game 1 in the Bronx in extra innings after a late Yankee rally (or should that be Valverde meltdown?). Big news of the night was Derek Jeter fracturing his ankle which will rule him out of the rest of this season regardless of what the Yankees do.

Game 2 is tonight and I'd expect the Yankees to tie it up before we head back to Detroit. Would really love to see us get to the World Series, particularly as there's good chance we'd face St Louis again and have a chance at revenge for losing out in 2005.

[James.]

Sorry to keep plugging this guy but he's worth a look if you're a MLB fan - genuinely funny observations. Most of these are gems but I do like the Yanks, Tigers and Astros ones.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGfs3JDrUEc

[Sylar]

Yankees got a taste of their own medicine last night, being punished for a bad call. They've benefited from capitalising on errors over the years and it was nice to get away with one in the Bronx last night.

Anibal pitched sublimely last night and did enough to shut them out. Quietly confident of us making the World Series after winning twice on the road and now we head back to Commerica to let Verlander and Scherzer try and seal the deal.

[Shrekko]

Yankees got a taste of their own medicine last night, being punished for a bad call. They've benefited from capitalising on errors over the years and it was nice to get away with one in the Bronx last night.


Any good examples of this or are you just posting rubbish as usual?

Bad calls happen, and lets face it, that one in game 2 was as bad as you'll see, but let's not excuse it by making up stories about the Yankees always being the beneficiaries of bad umpiring decisions- utter garbage. There was one in 1996 that was significant but I can't even think of any others since then.

As it happens, virtually everything contentious in this series has gone in Tigers favour- including the utterly ridiculous Verlander strike-zone, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. It's certainly not why they're 3 up but I shows that every team will have good runs of luck and bad runs.

I think the play-offs feature a number of average teams this season and if the Tigers sweep the Yankees it will confirm how poor they really are come the crunch. For me it will be a small price to pay though for the prospect of the likes of Swisher, Granderson and A-Rod finding new homes.

[Sylar]

Any good examples of this or are you just posting rubbish as usual?

Bad calls happen, and lets face it, that one in game 2 was as bad as you'll see, but let's not excuse it by making up stories about the Yankees always being the beneficiaries of bad umpiring decisions- utter garbage. There was one in 1996 that was significant but I can't even think of any others since then.

As it happens, virtually everything contentious in this series has gone in Tigers favour- including the utterly ridiculous Verlander strike-zone, and that's just the way it goes sometimes. It's certainly not why they're 3 up but I shows that every team will have good runs of luck and bad runs.

I think the play-offs feature a number of average teams this season and if the Tigers sweep the Yankees it will confirm how poor they really are come the crunch. For me it will be a small price to pay though for the prospect of the likes of Swisher, Granderson and A-Rod finding new homes.

Even the ESPN and MLB commentators remarked that it was odd for contentious decisions to go against the Yankees, who are the usual beneficiaries of bad decisions. These aren't always major, I agree, but they certainly get their fair share of close calls at bases and strike zones. The size of Sabbathia's strike zone the last time he played the Red Sox at Fenway was ludicrious. Having said that, as a Yankees fan, it comes as no surprise that you find these claims to be "rubbish" and perhaps it's "small team paranoia" to an extent on my part.

That certainly was a horrendous call we got but I don't think it would have altered the outcome any. We were the better team over the series but you're quite right - the general quality of the postseason was far from memorable. I fancied the Giants to get to the playoffs but after their bad start against the Cardinals, I fully expected it might be St Louis we'd face again.

The World Series was a damp squib for most Tigers fans and I'm actually glad I was otherwise preoccupied for the past week and didn't see most of it.

You certainly could be doing with clearing a few players out of the club, I agree. A lot of big name, big salary dead-wood in the Yankees just now. I wouldn't be surprised if Granderson comes back to Detroit next season in all honesty. What is the latest with Jeter by the way?

[Shrekko]

Even the ESPN and MLB commentators remarked that it was odd for contentious decisions to go against the Yankees, who are the usual beneficiaries of bad decisions. These aren't always major, I agree, but they certainly get their fair share of close calls at bases and strike zones. The size of Sabbathia's strike zone the last time he played the Red Sox at Fenway was ludicrious. Having said that, as a Yankees fan, it comes as no surprise that you find these claims to be "rubbish" and perhaps it's "small team paranoia" to an extent on my part.

That certainly was a horrendous call we got but I don't think it would have altered the outcome any. We were the better team over the series but you're quite right - the general quality of the postseason was far from memorable. I fancied the Giants to get to the playoffs but after their bad start against the Cardinals, I fully expected it might be St Louis we'd face again.

The World Series was a damp squib for most Tigers fans and I'm actually glad I was otherwise preoccupied for the past week and didn't see most of it.

You certainly could be doing with clearing a few players out of the club, I agree. A lot of big name, big salary dead-wood in the Yankees just now. I wouldn't be surprised if Granderson comes back to Detroit next season in all honesty. What is the latest with Jeter by the way?

Granderson back in Detroit? Will they send Jackson and Coke back too?!


Seriously though it's just embarrassing to suggest that any team in MLB benefits from umpiring calls. The fact you've been able to come up with zero examples of these significant close calls really just sums it up and you're taking Yankee hating beyond normal levels. I'm more than aware of some of the sticks used to beat the Yanks (and some are justified) but I've never heard that one before. Tell me more about CC's last game at Fenway though- you must have a superb memory, or you're making it up. When was it?

Do me a favour with the 'small team parnoia' thing as well. Detroit (or is it Boston?- I'm never sure!) are not exactly Tampa are they?