2018 Installment of MLB Bitchin' & Moanin'

[Snaggletiger]

Glad the Braves had the Fish for 4.  Able to pick up 3 wins at their place after 2 wins against the Rays.  5-1 road trip, which has become the norm. Braves playing waaayyy better on the road than at home.  4 straight coming up against the Cubbies.  Good measuring stick.

The Cards get the Padres on their home turf for a series.  Time to get some of that back.  Can't see SD doing much at 16-26.

Proud that MY Red Sox (Been riding that bandwagon like a porn star) are keeping pace.  Sox are really talented.  However, the damn Yank Me's are so loaded with wallbangers, it's ridiculous.  They're beatable, though.

On a bad note for my division, it looks like the Nats done been woked.  Dismal start to the season, but they're playing like everyone expected now.  I look for them to rise to the top soon.  

[Snaggletiger]

Was off today so I got to watch several innings of the Braves/Cubs.  Bravos held on for dear life with the Cubbies loading up the bases, down two in the 9th.  Eeked out a 6-5 win with Kris Bryant flying out to left for the last out.

On a side note, the home plate umpire was teh super suxxors today.  Even the Braves announcers were "complaining" when strikes should have been called on Braves hitters.  Anyway, the two teams head back to the ATL for three.

[Snaggletiger]

Damn it, snorting coke gets to me again. Don't know what I was looking at thinking the Padres were coming to St. Louie...I got nuthin' to explain that.  Looks like the Birds head to Minnesota for what I assume is a make up game, like the Braves did today in Chicago.  Then home to Philly for a series, then host the Royals.

I guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

[AUJarhead]

Cards take on Lance Lynn this week.  He's a gamer, and I appreciate his late inning roles from 2011, but I'm happy the Cards passed on him.

And a really good write up on Waino from one of the beat writers.  It sucks getting old...

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-watching-wainwright-labor-was-tough-to-take/article_5cba3bf3-376c-581b-be3b-db4d770dfa8a.html

Watching Wainwright labor was tough to take

It sure looked like Waino in the pictures — tall and scruffy and birds-on-the-bat across his proud chest — but there was one difference.

During Adam Wainwright’s rehab start in Springfield, one Monday ago, he wasn’t wearing No. 50.
They’d given him No. 36.

And it was as if he were branded by the number, his age, for everyone to see the reason Waino no longer was Waino. The No. 36 was red, but it might as well have been scarlet.

Wainwright got through the Class AA game, earning him a spot back in the Cardinals’ rotation, and the No. 50 back on his back.

By now, you’ve heard what happened next. Re-aggravated his right elbow during Sunday’s warm-ups. Didn’t have his stuff. Walked six. Paltry velocity.

Maybe he’ll bounce back from this injury, too. But Sunday was the first day I wondered if he’ll ever be back to an every-fifth-day quality starter. Tough sentence to write. But honestly, this doesn’t even have to do with Jack Flaherty or Alex Reyes. This has to do with the fact that it’s getting to the point where it’s always something — an injury, an aggravation, trouble locating, trouble finding speed, or some deflating combination of all of it.

And then, this great pitcher is reduced to turning his pitches into science fair projects, just to make it through a few starts. How long can that last? He can give you a good start here and there. The man beat the Cubs earlier this season, if you recall. But can the 36-year-old string strong starts together, all summer? Maybe his body will prove that he can again, but how many rough starts must St. Louis endure to find that out?

Before we go any farther here, two things must be asserted. One, Adam Wainwright is a Cardinals legend. A red coat. His accomplishments are stitched into Cardinals lore like lace into the baseballs he once made dance. Two, he’s valiant. A Georgia bulldog. Regardless of what happens, no one can say he didn’t push himself to return. He cares so much about this team, this uniform and the men who wear it.

Just a week ago, manager Mike Matheny captured it well, talking about the leadership of both Yadier Molina and Wainwright, the battery that ignites this generation.

“I see Yadi having conversations with other people, Waino going and having conversations with guys completely out of their lane,” the skipper said. “Could be a position player that Waino will go talk to. Those kind of things are priceless for us as a club and for a culture that we believe in. Those two guys in particular are a huge part of that. They’re very intentional, without any prompting. They see something and they’ll say, ‘What’s happening right there ... does not line up with our tradition and winning baseball in St. Louis, and I need to do something about that.’

“When you have that in real time, you’re very, very blessed.”

But when it comes to starting baseball games, you can’t victory lap as a starting pitcher. It’s the nature of what makes the position so important — you can’t hide a starting pitcher like you could a power forward in basketball, or even an aging slugger in baseball. A starting pitcher is the fulcrum of a game.

And almost like the script of a sports movie, the Cardinals have the next stud starters ready to go. Flaherty will start Tuesday at Minnesota. And Reyes is rehabbing his way up each “A,” playing in Peoria on Monday night. The former No. 1 prospect in the game will start for St. Louis this summer. Austin Gomber, John Gant, Dakota Hudson, Michael Mayers, they’re also all itching to start, itching to star.
After Wainwright’s Sunday start, in which he couldn’t get through three innings, he told reporters in San Diego about a desire. He wants to be “a force down the stretch.” A fair and realistic assessment. Maybe, just maybe, he can rehab like the dickens and return, in some capacity, down the stretch. Maybe Waino could be a reliever, eating up an inning with the need of just two biting pitches, instead of forcing three or four? It’s fun to get optimistic, but one wonders if that is countered by being realistic. On one hand, there is so much time between now and September. On the other hand, with a 36-year-old ballplayer, time is the enemy.

Sunday seemed like it could be sunny. The Padres aren’t that good of a hitting team. And the Cards clearly saw something in Waino’s Springfield start that gave them confidence. It was Mother’s Day, and there was a tape of Adam on the broadcast, wide smile, wishing his mother and wife the happiest of days.

At the end of the start, it was heartbreaking to watch — Wainwright on the dugout bench, Matheny talking to him. Broadcasters Dan McLaughlin and Al Hrabosky let the moment breathe. They didn’t talk. And the absence of sound made it the more poignant. You didn’t have to hear what was said or hear analysis of what might’ve been said. You just had to look at this image to know that it’s no longer the same, and it might not ever be the same for No. 50, now 36.

[Snaggletiger]

The article was good until the part about him being a Georgia Bulldog.

Fuck Georgia!

[AUJarhead]

The article was good until the part about him being a Georgia Bulldog.

fudge Georgia!

Yes, that goes without saying.
Fuck Georgia!
But you'd be his jizz mopper if he won a world series for the Braves.

[Snaggletiger]

Yes, that goes without saying.
Fuck Georgia!
But you'd be his jizz mopper if he won a world series for the Braves.

Jizz mopper?  Really? There is absolutely no way.  I don't care if he won 5 WS for the Braves, pitching a no-hitter in every game 7.  Jizz mopper is where I draw the line. 
Now, cum dumpster?  In a heartbeat.

[Buzz Killington]

Yes, that goes without saying.
fudge Georgia!
But you'd be his jizz mopper if he won a world series for the Braves.

I bet he still jacks off like a pilgrim

[AUJarhead]

New York Times

‘With Our Deepest Sympathy, From the New York Yankees’

The Police Department in Yarmouth, Mass., was mourning the death of one of its officers, Sean Gannon, last month when a bouquet of flowers arrived at the station bearing a card with five unexpected words: “From the New York Yankees.”

Officer Gannon was shot and killed while serving a warrant in neighboring Marstons Mills, a tiny village in Cape Cod, where the Yankees are considered bitter rivals.

“I’m a die-hard Red Sox fan, and my first reaction was, ‘Call the delivery guy and tell him to take them back,’” said Frank Frederickson, the Yarmouth police chief. “I say that in jest, of course. That is a class move, and it meant a lot to us. All the guys came down and wanted to see it. They were like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

Reactions were similar at the sheriff’s department in Lebanon, Ind., last month and at a home in Fargo, N.D., in 2016, and dozens of other locations from Maine to Alaska. For the past three years, the Yankees have been quietly sending flowers to the families and police departments of slain law enforcement officers across the country.


In most of the places, the immediate question was similar: Why would the Yankees send flowers to us? Chief Frederickson initially wondered if it was because Aaron Judge, the team’s slugging outfielder, had played in the 2012 Cape Cod Baseball League season, including many games in Yarmouth.
Actually, the gesture grew from something the Yankees have done for decades — sending flowers to the funerals of officers killed in the New York metropolitan area. But one day in 2015, Sonny Hight, a former detective in the New York Police Department who is a Yankees vice president and the chief security officer, heard about a police officer killed in another state. Mr. Hight said he did not now remember the episode, the city or the date, only that he was moved to act.

“I just thought, hey, this guy deserves to be recognized for his sacrifice,” Mr. Hight said. “We should at least send some flowers acknowledging it.”

The start of the nationwide effort in 2015 coincided with rising national protests against the police after a series of deadly shootings involving officers, but Mr. Hight said there was no political agenda behind the gesture. It was, and remains, merely an expression of sympathy.

George Steinbrenner surely would have approved. Steinbrenner, the former Yankees owner who died in 2010, had a personal affinity for law enforcement, and for decades many of the team’s security personnel have been hired from posts at the N.Y.P.D. and the F.B.I.

In 1982, Steinbrenner helped create the Silver Shield Foundation, which provides money for educational support to the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty, and the flowers are an extension of the same ethos.

The goal of the project is to deliver flowers to the funerals or station houses of every officer killed in action nationwide, but it is difficult to keep pace. In 2016, 64 police officers were killed by gunfire in the United States, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. Thirteen others were killed by vehicles; one was stabbed to death.

In 2017, 46 more were shot and killed. There have been 27 such deaths so far this year.

The Yankees’ process for sending flowers is informal. Usually it begins after Mr. Hight or someone else in the organization hears about an officer killed in the line of duty. It is then brought to the attention of Todd Letcher, a former F.B.I. agent who serves as the Yankees’ executive director for stadium security. Mr. Letcher researches the case and passes the information to Debbie Nicolosi, a Yankees employee since 1973, who finds the names and addresses, and arranges for the flowers and cards to be delivered.

“We don’t even know how many we have sent,” Ms. Nicolosi said. “It can sometimes be as many as twice a week.”

In Lebanon, Ind., last month, officers at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office received a bouquet of flowers from the Yankees shortly after their colleague Jacob Pickett was shot to death on March 2.
Maj. Tony Harris, one of Deputy Pickett’s colleagues and a fan of the Chicago Cubs, was so moved by the gesture that he said he went online and bought a Yankees cap and a sweatshirt and put his name and badge number on the back of the shirt.

“They reached out all the way from New York, and with everything they’ve got going on they think of us?” Major Harris said. “For them to do that was incredibly classy.”


While the flowers usually arrive without warning or explanation beyond the message on the card, the gesture can elicit strong emotions. In Fargo, when Officer Jason Moszer was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2016, his 11-year-old stepson, Dillan Dahl, was devastated. When the flowers from the Yankees arrived, Dillan took them to his room and watered them, trying to keep them alive for as long as possible, said his father, Tim Dahl.

“It was the first time he smiled in days,” Mr. Dahl said.

Two years ago in Kansas City, Kan., Capt. Robert Melton was shot while trying to apprehend a suspect. Captain Melton, 46, had three children, and his girlfriend was expecting another child; their daughter, Eloise, was born five months after his death.

Upon receiving the Yankees’ flowers, Terry Zeigler, the police chief, replied with a letter of thanks, one of the many that Mr. Hight keeps in his office.

Chief Zeigler said in an interview that Captain Melton was the second officer killed in Kansas City in a matter of three months that year, and that before he died he had been asked to draw up guidelines for the parades for fallen officers. He wrote them and placed them in a binder.

“He came into my office, put it on the shelf and said, ‘I hope we never have to use that again,’” Chief Zeigler said. “Unfortunately, we did. But when you’re going through the grieving process and you get that kind of support and kindness from people on the other side of the country, that is meaningful.
“Unfortunately, it keeps happening.”

[Snaggletiger]

Must....resist.  Must not.....like....Yankees.  Stay strong.  Hold...out.  You can do it. 

[AUJarhead]

Must....resist.  Must not.....like....Yankees.  Stay strong.  Hold...out.  You can do it.

I liked them better when George worked for them...
But I still wish Mark Wahlberg shot Jeter.

[Buzz Killington]

Damn, that is incredibly classy!  

[Snaggletiger]

Damn, that is incredibly classy!  

Wahlberg shooting Jeter?  You're a sick man.

[Buzz Killington]

Wahlberg shooting Jeter?  You're a sick man.

Don't tell me you've never done a desk pop?

[Snaggletiger]

Rimma-nissing here a bit.  As a kid, I was a Yankees fan because my dad loved them.  But, that was back in a time when money wasn't even a part of any discussion about pro sports.  Names like Lou Piniella, Thurman Munson, Mickey Rivers, Craig Nettles, Catfish Hunter etc. were why you tuned in.  Those players were the face of your team.  Seems like they were together for more than a decade.   Then, it all changed.  Individual and team payrolls were published and you started seeing players making decisions and changing teams strictly for money. And eventually, the Yankees started lapping everybody in the salary department.  I remember when their payroll hit $100 million.  I thought, that's enough for me.  This is just a team of hired guns with players coming and going every year.  But, that's the way of the sports world these days.

And the Red Sox are public enemy #2 in that department.  Their goal seems to be to out-bid the Yankees every year for talent.  

[AUJarhead]

And the Red Sox are public enemy #2 in that department.  Their goal seems to be to out-bid the Yankees every year for talent.  

Might want to direct your gaze to the Northside of Chicago sometime...

[Buzz Killington]

Might want to direct your gaze to the Northside of Chicago sometime...

Forget about them, they're just high priced.

[Snaggletiger]

cbssportsdot I am a gay twerker that has no balls!!!!  I also have no idea how to use the quote function to post stories, so I annoy the piss out of others.  I like male genatalia in and around my mouth.  This surprised me, but shouldn't have.  On the Yankees, 7th place won't last too much longer.  Guys like A-A-Ron Judge, Didi Gregorius and Gary Sachez are about to get paid.  And whoever gets Bryce Harper is going to open the vault. 


The Associated Press has undertaken an analysis of likely Opening Day payrolls, and the Boston Red Sox are expected to knock the Los Angeles Dodgers out of the top spot, where the Dodgers have been for the last four years. Via the AP, here are the projected top five Opening Day payrolls for 2018 (payroll figures are approximate) ... 

• Red Sox: $223 million
• Giants: $203 million
• Cubs: $183 million
• Dodgers, Nationals: $180 million

Next is the Angels at $170 million and then the Yankees at $167 million. As the AP notes, that figures to be the Yankees' lowest payroll since 2003 -- quite a feat, considering how MLB payrolls at the top tend to inflate -- and their lowest payroll ranking since way back yonder in 1992. 
This is all by design, of course. The collective bargaining agreement between owners and players significantly increases the penalties for teams that exceed the $197 million competitive balance tax threshold (informally known as the luxury tax threshold), especially for repeat "offenders." By getting under the threshold for 2018, the Yankees and Dodgers will be able to reset their penalty scale in anticipation of spending big money on the free agent class of 2018-19 that will include the likes of Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, and Clayton Kershaw (should the ace choose to exercise his opt-out). As for the Yankees, they were able to get under the threshold despite adding to the fold Giancarlo Stanton, Brandon Drury, and Neil Walker this past offseason. 
As for the Red Sox, in 2018 they've got almost $100 million committed to just four players: David Price, the newly signed J.D. Martinez, Hanley Ramirez, and Dustin Pedroia. As well, if Hanley Ramirez's $22 million option vests, then the Sox will have more than $150 million in long-term salary for 2019. 

[Snaggletiger]

Only one question right now.  Why in the fuck do you have instant replay when the people reviewing it are on crack?  Game changer.  The Braves announcers went off on "New York". 

[Snaggletiger]

Kudos to the Cubs for 3 hits in the 9th to take a one run win and even the series.  Not bitching here.....oh hell, yes I am.  I said that horrific call was a game changer.  It was.  Just a blatant missed call/review.  It's one of those that the first time they showed it, EVERYONE went, "Oh yeah, that's overturned." 

Oh well.  Can't take anything away from a great team that took advantage of their opportunities.  That's what championships are all about.