MLB Season 2010

[Sylar]

Well, the bats have been polished, the diamonds prepared, the pitchers are ready, and all have been recalled to Spring Training in either Arizona or Florida, as the Majors gear up for another season :thumbsup:

I'm a wee bit early with the thread, but having just secured some tickets to see the Tigers host the Tampa Bay Rays, I'm rather excited about it all!

Apprehensive about our chances this year (as we've lost Granderson to the Yankees and Polanco to the Phillies (our 1 and 2 slot hitters). However, having acquired Johnny Damon to bat as our no.2, I'm a little encouraged - should be another good year for Tigers baseball.

I'd imagine that the BoSox, Yankees, Angels, Cardinals, Dodgers and Phillies will all be amongst the favourites again this year, but there's been a few interesting trades over the closed season which should make the league quite interesting this year.

Can't wait for it to all get underway, starting with the first Spring Training game tonight! :thumbsup:

[J-C]

Well, the bats have been polished, the diamonds prepared, the pitchers are ready, and all have been recalled to Spring Training in either Arizona or Florida, as the Majors gear up for another season :thumbsup:

I'm a wee bit early with the thread, but having just secured some tickets to see the Tigers host the Tampa Bay Rays, I'm rather excited about it all!

Apprehensive about our chances this year (as we've lost Granderson to the Yankees and Polanco to the Phillies (our 1 and 2 slot hitters). However, having acquired Johnny Damon to bat as our no.2, I'm a little encouraged - should be another good year for Tigers baseball.

I'd imagine that the BoSox, Yankees, Angels, Cardinals, Dodgers and Phillies will all be amongst the favourites again this year, but there's been a few interesting trades over the closed season which should make the league quite interesting this year.

Can't wait for it to all get underway, starting with the first Spring Training game tonight! :thumbsup:


I got back into watching this last year while I recouped from my hip operation, don't have a particular team as such but liked the way the Yankees played the game, also been in NY a few times so I suppose I'm a Yankee fan.:greengrin

Cue the Troll :greengrin

[Part/Time Supporter]

Awfully considerate of the Tigers to give Granderson (who will hit a load of HRs in that bambox) to the Yankees for a bucket of balls and a jockstrap to be used later.

:rolleyes:

Can't say that I will be paying much attention this year as the Indians bear close resemblance to a AAA team. The 70s are truly back.

:grr:

One of their few half decent players is facing a Zemmama style scenario. (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Military-commitment-leaves-Choos-future-in-doubt-88182873)

[James.]

Mets fan here. Not expecting much this year to be honest - we were in desperate need of a top quality starting pitcher but instead we're still stuck with a rotation which features Oliver Perez. Jason Bay will be decent but the success of our offense will be more dependent on Reyes and Beltran returning to full health. Best case scenario I say we get the NL wildcard but we could as easily finish fourth in our division. Sadly the Phillies own us right now :boo hoo:

[Part/Time Supporter]

Mets fan here. Not expecting much this year to be honest - we were in desperate need of a top quality starting pitcher but instead we're still stuck with a rotation which features Oliver Perez. Jason Bay will be decent but the success of our offense will be more dependent on Reyes and Beltran returning to full health. Best case scenario I say we get the NL wildcard but we could as easily finish fourth in our division. Sadly the Phillies own us right now :boo hoo:

... and have ever since that mad collapse in September 2007, which I was privileged to witness at first hand.

:greengrin

[J-C]

Awfully considerate of the Tigers to give Granderson (who will hit a load of HRs in that bambox) to the Yankees for a bucket of balls and a jockstrap to be used later.

:rolleyes:

Can't say that I will be paying much attention this year as the Indians bear close resemblance to a AAA team. The 70s are truly back.

:grr:

One of their few half decent players is facing a Zemmama style scenario. (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Military-commitment-leaves-Choos-future-in-doubt-88182873)


Didn't realise they'd signed Granderson, I take it that's to cover the loss of Johnny Damon who left on a free last year.

[Sylar]

Awfully considerate of the Tigers to give Granderson (who will hit a load of HRs in that bambox) to the Yankees for a bucket of balls and a jockstrap to be used later.

:rolleyes:

Can't say that I will be paying much attention this year as the Indians bear close resemblance to a AAA team. The 70s are truly back.

:grr:

One of their few half decent players is facing a Zemmama style scenario. (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Military-commitment-leaves-Choos-future-in-doubt-88182873)

We're not really in a financially strong enough position to turn down offers for these players to move on at the moment, with the way the economy (particularly in Michigan) is at present.

To be honest, I don't see Granderson taking that much to New York - he didn't have a great season last year, though he was out injured for a month or so around June. Polanco will be a much bigger loss in Motown.

It's a shame the Tribe suck just now, as I always loved the "derby" series'. Recall being at Commerica a couple of years back when Edgar Renteria smashed a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to seal the deal after a very entertaining game, where the Indians lead from the first inning!

[Part/Time Supporter]

Didn't realise they'd signed Granderson, I take it that's to cover the loss of Johnny Damon who left on a free last year.

Granderson is a better player than Damon now - younger model, basically. Much better fielder as well.


We're not really in a financially strong enough position to turn down offers for these players to move on at the moment, with the way the economy (particularly in Michigan) is at present.

To be honest, I don't see Granderson taking that much to New York - he didn't have a great season last year, though he was out injured for a month or so around June. Polanco will be a much bigger loss in Motown.

It's a shame the Tribe suck just now, as I always loved the "derby" series'. Recall being at Commerica a couple of years back when Edgar Renteria smashed a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to seal the deal after a very entertaining game, where the Indians lead from the first inning!

Similar problems apply to the Indians and the majority of teams IMO. The Indians did have a free run at it in the late 90s when the NFL cocked up by temporarily killing off the Browns, and the Cavs sucked, but neither of those factors apply now.

MLB should put a third team in the NY metropolitan area (either Manhattan or Newark) and a second team in the Boston area to resolve some of the competitive balance issues. The Red Sox, Yankees and Mets are far too rich compared to the majority of teams. It would be like only having two Premier League teams in London; those teams would end up being ridiculously massive compared to the clubs in other cities, even Man Yoo. That would be a "back to the future" solution, as back in the day there were three NY area teams (Yankees, Giants and Dodgers) and two Boston teams (Red Sox and Braves).

[Shrekko]

Granderson is a better player than Damon now - younger model, basically. Much better fielder as well.



Similar problems apply to the Indians and the majority of teams IMO. The Indians did have a free run at it in the late 90s when the NFL cocked up by temporarily killing off the Browns, and the Cavs sucked, but neither of those factors apply now.

MLB should put a third team in the NY metropolitan area (either Manhattan or Newark) and a second team in the Boston area to resolve some of the competitive balance issues. The Red Sox, Yankees and Mets are far too rich compared to the majority of teams. It would be like only having two Premier League teams in London; those teams would end up being ridiculously massive compared to the clubs in other cities, even Man Yoo. That would be a "back to the future" solution, as back in the day there were three NY area teams (Yankees, Giants and Dodgers) and two Boston teams (Red Sox and Braves).

Different teams operate in different markets but one thing you cant say about baseball is that it's dominated by 2 or 3 teams (on the field). Smart scouting, revenue sharing, compensation draft picks etc. can make up for teams having lower incomes. I'd say at least half of the 30 teams will have realistic ambitions on winning the World Series this season and we've seen teams like Colorado and Tampa coming very close in recent seasons- not exactly like the EPL!

BTW- totally disagree with your assesment of the Granderson- Yankees deal. I think he's a great pick up but to say they got him cheaply is quite frankly absolutely not the case. Time will tell but IMO Detroit did very well out of that.

[Sylar]

Granderson is a better player than Damon now - younger model, basically. Much better fielder as well.



I wouldn't say he's a "better" player - he offers something absolutely differently to an offense, as Granderson is mostly about speed. He has added power to his game lately to be fair, but he'll add something very new to the Yankees. I don't think New York landed him on a cheap though - Coke and Jackson are both brilliant prospects for us and will provide a long term resource in Detroit.


Similar problems apply to the Indians and the majority of teams IMO. The Indians did have a free run at it in the late 90s when the NFL cocked up by temporarily killing off the Browns, and the Cavs sucked, but neither of those factors apply now.

Perhaps, but I doubt any of them will have been hit as hard as the Detroit teams. It only takes a quick visit to Michigan to notice how much devastation has hit the area since the bottom fell out the motor industry (which is entirely concentrated in that area). Most of the financial backers of the Detroit sports teams are somehow linked into the motor industry and the financial backing has dropped rediculously as loss of jobs has risen almost exponentially. Companies like GM, Ford, Belle Tire and Chevrolet just cannot afford to piss money away by paying for sponsorship of major sports teams. I'm not niave enough to think that Michigan is the only state which has been hit, but I'd doubt that many have suffered as much.


MLB should put a third team in the NY metropolitan area (either Manhattan or Newark) and a second team in the Boston area to resolve some of the competitive balance issues. The Red Sox, Yankees and Mets are far too rich compared to the majority of teams. It would be like only having two Premier League teams in London; those teams would end up being ridiculously massive compared to the clubs in other cities, even Man Yoo. That would be a "back to the future" solution, as back in the day there were three NY area teams (Yankees, Giants and Dodgers) and two Boston teams (Red Sox and Braves).

I don't think that the 2 teams entirely dominate the league to be honest. Granted, they're powerhouses in the Majors, but as Rich said, there are numerous contenders who have serious ambitions of taking the World Series come opening day.

[NOLA]

I've had a soft spot for 2 teams in MLB caused by the movies Major League (Indians) and 9 men out (White Sox) so this season will be cheering 'The Tribe' , miracles can happen:dizzy:

[heretoday]

Not this year for the Tribe, I fear. When you think of their power back in the 90s.......

[Sylar]

And here. we. GO!....

Day 1 of the Major League Season gets underway tonight as the Boston Red Sox welcome the New York Yankees to Fenway with CC Sabbathia ready to face up to Josh Beckett. These games are usually hot blooded, action packed and have the tendancy to be high scoring.

Both sides will no doubt be optomistic after having good spring trainings under their belt. Both have made good acquisitions to their rosters (I'm still pained by the Yankees purchase of Curtis Granderson and Marcus Thames, but both will add significant speed/power to the Yankees offense). The Sox have added John Lackey, giving their rotation some serious strength and depth. The Sox have heavily bolstered their defense, with Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre and Mike Cameron.

The game starts at 1.00am BST and is on both ESPN America (Sky channel 430) or on the MLB website.

Most of the other games are played tomorrow!

Bring it on!

[Sylar]

Cracking opening game at Fenway last night between the Sox and the Yankees.

New York raced into an early 5-1 lead with back to back home runs from Posada and Granderson getting things underway. Boston rallied in the 5th to tie the game at 5-5 before New York put another 2 runs on the board in the bottom fo the 6th.

Boston hit back again with a 2-run homer from Pedroia before a triple from Youkilis and another run from Mike Cameron secured a 9-7 victory for the Red Sox.

More of the same tonight please - 2 games are live on ESPN America today - St Louis Cardinals@Cincinnati gets underway at 5.10, followed by the Chicago Cubs@Atlanta Braves which starts around 9. All the other games are available on mlb.com/mediacenter (though you need to pay a subscription fee - £50 for EVERY game, all season long and all archived incase you miss them!).

[CFC]

Whats your team story so far? Personally I dont have one other than supporting all of the Yankees rivals in the AL East. ABY for me! Agree with the statements above though, size of market does not dictate success (just ask a Cubs fan lol!) you've had the Marlins, St Louis, Angels win WS in this past 10 years. Not like one or two teams has dominated.


Never mind you said in the OP its the Tigers.

[Sylar]

Whats your team story so far? Personally I dont have one other than supporting all of the Yankees rivals in the AL East. ABY for me! Agree with the statements above though, size of market does not dictate success (just ask a Cubs fan lol!) you've had the Marlins, St Louis, Angels win WS in this past 10 years. Not like one or two teams has dominated.


Never mind you said in the OP its the Tigers.

Yep - I'm in a similar boat in terms of the ABY sentiment, though it's more because I also follow Tampa Bay due to family connections within the organisation.

Sadly, I don't feel optomistic for either of my teams this coming season!

[James.]

More of the same tonight please - 2 games are live on ESPN America today - St Louis Cardinals@Cincinnati gets underway at 5.10, followed by the Chicago Cubs@Atlanta Braves which starts around 9. All the other games are available on mlb.com/mediacenter (though you need to pay a subscription fee - £50 for EVERY game, all season long and all archived incase you miss them!).

Cracking deal. :agree:

I've got the MLB At Bat app for the iphone, for £8.99 you get audio coverage of every game and at least one live televised game every day. Last night they had three games including Phillies @ Nationals which was an entertaining game, they even managed to get Obama in booth for an inning.

[Sylar]

I decided to go to bed early with my laptop and watch the Tigers@Royals game but it was the only one which wouldn't work for me on the MLB.tv player - pain in the ass, but just a technical glitch.

Ended up missing a cracking game too, which we edged 8-4, sealing the game with a rather explosive 6-run 7th inning!

More of the same throughout the season would be nice as our bats looked pretty hot last night - defense was also fairly steady, although I should have learned from last season not to get excited by opening day, as usually Verlander is on the mound - the rest of our rotation has been pretty poor the last couple of years!

[Sylar]

I'm pretty delighted with the start to the season we're having, but I've been here before with this Tigers organisation - superb start out of the blocks, even running strong up until the All-Star break, then tend to have too many big players fall to pieces!

We've rallied well to win 3 out of our 6 successes so far, which is VERY encouraging - still a little concerned about the lack of strength and depth in our rotation, but what else is new!

Sitting joint top of the AL Central for the time being with the Twins though, so no real room for complaints!

I have to feel a little sorry for fans of the Indians, Orioles or Astros though - wow these organisations look AWFUL right now.

How about the San Fransisco Giants/Phillies just now though? San Fransisco's pitching unit continues to dominate, giving up 4 hits last night and striking out 13! I watched the Pirates@Giants game last night in San Fran and Aubrey Huff hit an in-the-park home run - the 4th regular season and 5th overall in-park HR at AT&T.

[DH1875]

To many games to go until the play offs. Will start to get excited in a few months and check with you all then.