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[Other Sport] Baseball Season - 2018



Easy 10

Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Jul 5, 2003
61,673
Location Location
I've just subscribed to mlb.tv for the season in time to watch opening day in Milwaukee.

38 degrees but with the roof closed hopefully our bats will heat it up.

Dunno why - you can get perfect streams on Reddit. I've just watched the Twins game in HD, uninterrupted.
 


Barry Izbak

U.T.A.
Dec 7, 2005
7,310
Lancing By Sea
Dunno why - you can get perfect streams on Reddit. I've just watched the Twins game in HD, uninterrupted.

Never mind. I get this on my tv and phone so will just have to suck up the cost.
I have no idea about streams. Such a luddite.
 


brakespear

Doctor Worm
Feb 24, 2009
12,326
Sleeping on the roof
The season has not started well for the Orioles but at least I can watch them lulling the others into a false sense of security on TV :) And I understand about two-thirds of the major rules now so starting into the acronyms :D
 


Hamilton

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 7, 2003
12,390
Brighton
I need to watch a baseball game. At the moment, I just don’t get what it’s all about.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 


Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Jul 11, 2003
73,369
West west west Sussex
I need to watch a baseball game. At the moment, I just don’t get what it’s all about.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Here's a simple tip for you:-

Don't watch the same baseball game as me.


I seem to attract the dullest of dull 0-0's with slow pitching and big ball counts.
I've even turned off said games after the 7th inning only to find it ended 8-7, without extra innings.

I listen to a particular American (Washington DC) podcast which fills it's summer with baseball.
Much like football I find listening to people talking about it more entertaining than watching.
So I'll only look at enough games just to get by, without taking in the whole 162 game season :ohmy:
 




adub68

Active member
Jul 25, 2013
100
Don't get the non-mlb streaming option either. Have been subscribing to mlb.tv for the 6 or 7 seven years now. Although the price has moved up a bit over the years still the best value sports channel bar none given pretty much every game for every team available (via apple tv). Tend to watch first four or five innings of an east coast game pretty much every evening and then catch up on the mobile app in the morning. Can lead to a few late nights!. Lots of "a dub" Irish family in Boston so have naturally followed the Red Sox. Excellent 5 - 1 road trip to start the new season - starting pitching and bats looking good - relief pitching to get to Kimbrel the only possible weakness this year. Tend to visit at least twice a year later in the season for a couple of Red Sox home stands.
 


Peter Grummit

Well-known member
Oct 13, 2004
6,769
Lewes
I need to watch a baseball game. At the moment, I just don’t get what it’s all about.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you can, watch with someone who is ITK and can help explain things and translate them into English.

Much like cricket, It's a game of endless nuances and tactical decisions with stats a big part of things. It can seem slow and tedious to the uninitiated but is hugely rewarding. And the players have endlessly amusing names.

Pick a team you have a vague connection with, line up a couple of beers and some (un)suitable snacks and invest a few hours in the MLB Free Game of the Day https://www.mlb.com/scores/2018-04-04 . Today it's the Baltimore Orioles at the world champion Houston Astros at 7pm our time.

Enjoy.
 


Kalimantan Gull

Well-known member
Aug 13, 2003
12,898
Central Borneo / the Lizard
Looks like the same teams who were good last year will be good this year - Astros, Cubs (but shaky start), Dodgers, Nats, Indians - with the addition of the Angels, RedSox and Yankees. MLB needs a good Yankees side to get the juices going, whatever Mr. Met up there says.

Having said that, Mets should make the wild-card - Phillies might be good but probably a year too soon for them. NL West looks toughest division, Dodgers strong as ever but Giants have re-tooled, Rockies seem to have got their shit together, D'backs have a good roster and Padres are my dark horse outsiders to surprise. Brewers always flatter to deceive, Twins just can't take seriously as contenders, Mariners and Orioles will potter along as they always do, I can't call the Cards or Rangers right now and looking forward to seeing what Acuna does when he joins the Braves.

Tigers, Royals, Rays, WhiteSox are tanking, A's are just generally shit, Blue Jays surely will tank before too long to get some talent alongside Vlad jr when he comes up, and the Marlins are in the middle of yet another roster blow-up, how many times in the last 10 years Nick?
 






Pavilionaire

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
30,521
Looks like the same teams who were good last year will be good this year - Astros, Cubs (but shaky start), Dodgers, Nats, Indians - with the addition of the Angels, RedSox and Yankees. MLB needs a good Yankees side to get the juices going, whatever Mr. Met up there says.

Having said that, Mets should make the wild-card - Phillies might be good but probably a year too soon for them. NL West looks toughest division, Dodgers strong as ever but Giants have re-tooled, Rockies seem to have got their shit together, D'backs have a good roster and Padres are my dark horse outsiders to surprise. Brewers always flatter to deceive, Twins just can't take seriously as contenders, Mariners and Orioles will potter along as they always do, I can't call the Cards or Rangers right now and looking forward to seeing what Acuna does when he joins the Braves.

Tigers, Royals, Rays, WhiteSox are tanking, A's are just generally shit, Blue Jays surely will tank before too long to get some talent alongside Vlad jr when he comes up, and the Marlins are in the middle of yet another roster blow-up, how many times in the last 10 years Nick?

A good assessment of where we are. I don't see too many surprises this season: Nationals, Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Indians, Astros look solid with Yankees and Giants as wild cards.

I agree that the NL West is incredibly strong and I fully expect 2 sides to move into the play-offs from that division.

One word about the Marlins - I've watched 2 of their matches in this new Jeter era (both pitched by the useful Urena) and they are far better than I thought they'd be after losing so many star players. You have to believe that Jeter has come there to win and I fancy they will get stronger and stronger, although I don't expect them to contend this season.
 


Badger

NOT the Honey Badger
NSC Patreon
May 8, 2007
12,749
Toronto
After losing the first 2 against the Yanks, the Jays have now won 4 in a row (2 vs NYY, 2 vs CWS). Unbeaten in April :clap2:
 






Kalimantan Gull

Well-known member
Aug 13, 2003
12,898
Central Borneo / the Lizard
A good assessment of where we are. I don't see too many surprises this season: Nationals, Cubs, Dodgers, Red Sox, Indians, Astros look solid with Yankees and Giants as wild cards.

I agree that the NL West is incredibly strong and I fully expect 2 sides to move into the play-offs from that division.

One word about the Marlins - I've watched 2 of their matches in this new Jeter era (both pitched by the useful Urena) and they are far better than I thought they'd be after losing so many star players. You have to believe that Jeter has come there to win and I fancy they will get stronger and stronger, although I don't expect them to contend this season.

I forgot the Reds and Pirates, but least said about them the better!

Marlins - they did one massive fire sale, built it back up and came nowhere near the post-season, 14 years since they played in October, and now they've torn it down again. In that time both the Cubs and Astros have launched massive rebuilds, finished last and won the WS. Not only that, both times the Marlins tear-down has been getting rid of payroll rather than building a farm - look at that return for Stanton, it was , in the words of one article on it, a 'Baseball Disgrace' and they didn't do much better with Dee Gordon.

Maybe Jeter will build something, they got better returns for Yelich and Ozuna and surely he's not in this just to save payroll. But I wouldn't be expecting anything other than a fifth-place finish this season and a top pick next year, and same again in 2019
 






Albion my Albion

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Feb 6, 2016
17,625
Indiana, USA
Weeelll...they're not unlike the Albion. They've had a few days in the sun (World Series winners in 1924, 1987 and 1991), but for the most part its been mostly mediocrity and disappointment. Much like us, they moved into a truly beautiful, spectacular new 40k ballpark in 2010 (albeit 12 months before we did), and...I just love Minneapolis. The city, the people, the state..."Minnesota Nice" is NOT a myth. Its a special place. I could never latch on to a NYY or Red Sox, any more than I would ever affiliate myself with a Man U or Liverpool. The Twins are a bit quirky, they're mostly a bit crap, but that just makes any success all the sweeter.

I just feel a genuine bond with them, and have been to see them 3 times (3 defeats, natch). One day I'm gonna see them WIN.

When do the Twins play the Blue Jays?
 


Albion my Albion

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Feb 6, 2016
17,625
Indiana, USA
I've just bought tickets for the Yankees in May.

I have absolutely no idea of the rules.

Chug a beer am I right? Which innings is the beer innings?

Why are games played over 3 days, that's a lot of beer to chug.

One thing I remember from my time at Wrigley Field in Chicago is that there is a time that they cut off selling beer at the baseball games. Make sure you buy as many as you are allowed to buy just before they stop selling beer.
 


Albion my Albion

Well-known member
NSC Patreon
Feb 6, 2016
17,625
Indiana, USA
The other pitch is if the batter clips the ball, but it goes away behind the foul line. That doesn't register at all with the count, so you might see multiple pitches that get sliced behind, sometimes into the crowd, but none of them will count towards the actual count at all. But the batter can still be caught behind the foul line, in which case, of course he's out.

The "foul tip" doesn't effect the actual count only when there are already two strikes on the batter. If the count is zero or one strike then the "foul tip" would count as a strike. A batter simply can not strike out on a "foul tip" (unless the catcher, the player behind the batter with the mask on, catches the foul tip which is fairly difficult)

EDIT: Sorry, missed seeing your explanation.

Sorry, got that wrong. A foul ball counts as a strike (1 and 2), but you can't get a strike 3 and be out on a foul ball. Thats when it doesn't add to the count.

Twins just gone down 4-5 in Pitsburgh, all the damage in the 1st innings. Tch.
 
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Barry Izbak

U.T.A.
Dec 7, 2005
7,310
Lancing By Sea
The problem with the start of the new season is that it plays havoc with me when I need to get up and go to work in the morning.
Carlos Martinez put his difficult spring training behind him last night and shut down the Brewers in brilliant style.
 





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