Taking advantage of the clocks going back to catch the first hour tonight :wink:
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Taking advantage of the clocks going back to catch the first hour tonight :wink:
Stayed up all this time for the baseball, 4 innings in, still 0-0. :dizzy:
3-1 Red Sox :hyper
Yas!!!!! Let's go Boston!!!
Cleveland. Maybe next year.... 😖
What the hell are MLBUK thinking with their pricing structure for the MLB London series? Cheapest tickets are £35 and they may as well be in Hyde Park.
Nothing in the bottom tier is under £200 (aside from the obstructed view seats in centre field!).
How NOT to attract a large crowd and grow the future fanbase of the game. You set the arena, you bring 2 of the biggest teams in the MLB over for a rivalry match, you hype it up years in advance with pre-events in Hyde Park, Regents Street etc and then you ****ing price everyone out of going! Sheer stupidity.
Not really a surprise though S mate. Think they are overestimating the demand for Baseball.
Apparently I'm flying over for it all paid so... :greengrin
How much is a ticket for an IS game these days (haven't been since the Jets were here). Can't be much cheaper than £35.
I'm not sure of the demand either. They would definitely sold out a one off game and could probably charged what they want but having the 2 games together will effect the ticket sales. The way the baseball schedule works they can't do anything about it though.
I'm still surprised the Redsox would give up 2 home games against the Yankees. Must be getting something out of it. Not even getting the publicity either as anything I've seen about it is all about the Yankees.
Think we are still going :greengrin
I would love to go to one of these games in London, but not as much as I’d like to go to one in America.
Think 1st phase of sales was today. Anyone get tickets?
By all accounts, the ticket sales yesterday were an absolute shambles. People who pre-registered didn't receive codes, Ticketmaster's system just kept spinning around and around. For many who did get in, the cheapest tickets they could access were £180+, with some signing in only to see £290 and £320 tickets available.
Also, every single ticket had a £20 service fee from TM (in addition to a £1.80 handling fee).
Imagine for a second that a family of four wanted to go to this game and sit in the lower tier of the stadium for a decent matchday experience? 4 * 320 for the tickets, plus 80 for the service charge...£1365 for a family of four to go to a baseball game...and that doesn't include the cost of getting there, possible accommodation and food, merch etc.
If you wanted a child's ticket, they were only available in the Category 8 or 9 seats (the cheap seats). If you wanted to take your kid to any other area of the stadium, you were paying the price of an adult. :grr:
And guess what happened to most of the cheap seats? Bought up by touts and appeared promptly on StubHub merely minutes later - one of them was a 4000% markup! :rolleyes:
MLBUK and Ticketmaster should be taking to task for how they've handled the entire thing. Disgraceful first foray into a European market.
Spring Training already coming to an end at the end of the week - some of the trades this off-season have been insane - Harper moves to Philly for crazy money, before Trout signs a monster deal with the Angels to keep him in LA for the next 12 years. All of this after Machado traded the Dodgers for the Padres. A combined $1 billion dollars spent on the three players!
Been an intriguing Spring Training so far. The World Champions have looked pretty lacklustre thus far, and their AL East rivals are currently romping the Grapefruit League - they've built an intimidating bullpen and rotation in the off-season and added some power at bat with the acquisition of Tulowitzki at SS.
First games of the regular season currently being played over in Tokyo right now - Mariners beat the A's last night and lead them again in the Top 3rd, in what could be Ichiro's last ever MLB game.
Anyone else following this year? My predictions:
AL East: Yankees - too much power and too much depth in their bullpen
AL Central: Indians - there's very little else of note in this division this year.
AL West: Hard to not pick the Astros, but if the Athletics can keep their starting rotation healthy, it could be a close run thing.
AL Wildcards: Red Sox and A's.
ALCS: Yankees over Astros
NL East: Nationals - I think they'll thrive without Harper.
NL Central: Anyone not picking the Cubs here? Having a healthy Bryant back will help them.
NL West: Dodgers - too much talent to not be in contention again.
NL Wildcards: Braves, Brewers
NLCS: Cubs over Dodgers
World Series: Yankees over Cubs.
Aren't you a Tigers fan?
Baseball is one of those sports where I can get a decent knowledge of the team I follow but if it's not the Cubs I've got no real interest or knowledge. Ive heard of Trout and know he's a marquee player but I couldn't tell you what position he plays.
Can I divert you with a question S? When I lived in the US and watched baseball the bunt was a bit part of the game, followed by a base runner stealing second. I used to enjoy the quirkiness of the technique. I rarely see anyone bunt these days so much. Is there a reason for this?
I am a Tigers fan of sorts - I went to see them a lot when I was studying over in Michigan. Predating that, I'm a Red Sox fan through the time I spent growing up in the New England area. I was actually primarily a Pawtucket Red Sox fan, but it was nigh on impossible to keep following them when I moved back over here, so I started watching Boston instead (around the late 90s, same time I started following the Pats). I'd also say I have a soft spot for the SF Giants - I've been going to conferences in San Francisco since 2009, and now I spend half of my working year in the Bay Area, so I find myself keeping my eyes on those games too.
It's certainly hard to keep following the entire league, and I do find myself being unable to keep up with certain teams. I'm kinda the same with the NFL to be honest - there's a lot of teams I know very little about apart from their absolute marquee players.
I think the bunt has diminished as the quality and athleticism of the players has improved. You still see them from time to time, but the infield players on most teams can track down a bunt and hit 1st pretty quickly - most players are capable of contact baseball, so in a situation where you're just trying to advance the runner, the outcome of a swing at the ball is less predictable and actionable than a bunt? That's purely a gut feeling though...
Sorry for the long reply :greengrin
Don’t think infielders are more athletic that they used to be... possibly less so actually with some outfield sluggers being converted to 1st basemen to fit them into the line up.
The actual answer to your question is probably highly predictable as it’s baseball.... sabremetrics. Sacrifice bunting is far less popular these days as stats have shown that there’s a higher probability of getting a man in from 1st with no outs compared to a man on 2nd out with one out, so ‘outs’ are no longer being given away for free. This has resulted in players being asked to do it less and therefore less players developing it as a specialism.... it’s way harder than it looks apparently. ‘Power’ is also back with home runs on the increase and managers banking on them.
As far as players bunting for hits goes, it’s more to do with fewer hitters having the speed to do it and again there just being less demand from managers for that type of player. Lead off hitters these days for instance are more likely to try and hit a home run than try to bunt for a hit then steal 2nd. Ironically an exception is that some big sluggers have become adept at bunting for hits to counter ‘the shift’ where all the infielders move to one side and away from their traditional positions and simply try and cover where the hitter normally smacks the ball. Sometimes these guys simply roll it to the other side of the diamond with no pace and easily reach base ... sometimes get 2 bases.
Tell you something else ... Sylar was certainly a diehard Detroit fan a few years ago when he used to comment on baseball here... when they were doing well! 😁
Something I don't deny to this day, as I explained in my earlier post :confused:. I just love the sport, and the 'of sorts' remark is because it would be disingenuous of me to dismiss my connections to the Red Sox (which predate my time in Michigan) or my interest in San Fran (which is quite new and geographical).
I've still been to Commerica more times (about 15) than I've been to Fenway (1), but I used to go weekly to watch the Pawsox when I was living up that way. I've actually been to AT&T (or Oracle Park as we're calling it now) more (7) than I've been to Fenway.
Detroit "doing well" was somewhat flash-in-the-pan stuff - 2 seasons when Ordonez, Rodriguez, Avila, Inge et al peaked and we had a rotation that featured Verlander, Porcello, Fister, Scherzer etc...I started going to watch Detroit well before those days, granted, in 2006 when we lost to St Louis in the WS - I was hooked as soon as I watched Joel Zumaya hurl 3 back to back K's with 100mph+ on the gun a number of times.
And I'd disagree with your assessment that infielders aren't necessarily fitter - gone are the days of Fielder size players occupying 3rd base (the dominant bunt side). Most 3rd basemen are pretty athletic these days - sure, you still get the odd larger 1st basemen, but some of the arms that sit at 3rd in the league now are truly frightening. But predictability is also a factor.
We're not going well but it's preseason and there's a long way to go for our repeat.
I’m just pulling your chain mate
Just for your info though.... Prince Fielder wasnt a 3rd baseman and there isn’t a ‘dominant’ bunting side either- that is just not true as it depends on the situation and whether a player is left or right handed.
You can argue about athleticism, and i think you’re wrong anyway, but whether they are or are not ...that is 100 percent nothing to do with why there are less bunts these days.... Its down to statistical analysis of their effectiveness I can assure you.
Red Sox were easily the top team in MLB last season ahead of an outstanding Yankees team... nothing has changed in their line up so can’t see why they’re not current favourites but ultimately injuries will play a big part in who is successful.
Because of the shift in priorities towards power there are less opportunities for spark plug type players ... small, speedy, athletic slap hitters who field well. I’m sure they still exist but there are less of them with starting jobs in mlb. If you get a guy who can do all that plus hit for power.... Mookie Betts for instance, then you have a superstar. But generally you look at guys at the moment hitting lead off and number 2 and they are not the same sort of guys who did it previously. Lead off guys like Jose Reyes 10 years ago who could bunt for a hit then steal 2nd are much rarer.
This is what I call a bunt
https://youtu.be/L58QN-kUlPo