2021 MLB Season Thread

[DINGO Joe]

Albert Pujols is set to retire at the end of this season, per his wife Deidre's Instagram.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1364009457873653761

UPDATE: Diedre later clarified that the post was not an official retirement announcement.

Well, it was a realistic announcement as no one will be willing to pay Albert to play baseball anymore.

[DINGO Joe]

The Baltimore Orioles are on pace to go 162-0 this season.  Oakland on pace to go 0-162. 

Moneyball is dead.

[DINGO Joe]

Albert Pujols DFA.

All the way back in the mid 80s while still in HS I found a Bill James Baseball Abstract (the precursor to moneyball) in the bookstore and I learned it's a really bad idea to give middle aged stars big long contracts and in college I had a history professor who said history doesn't repeat itself because leaders don't know their history, it repeats itself because leaders are arrogant enough to think that they'll be the exception to the rule.  Thus is the story of Albert Pujols and the Angels of Anaheim.

[DINGO Joe]

Albert Pujols DFA.

Disgraceful
Extremely disrespectful

It's baseball. They've already paid him for the vast bulk of his contract which was frankly a lot for his pretty good but not great time spent as an Angel. He was batting .198.

That said he is one of the greatest players of my lifetime and he deserves all the accolades. No roids, either.

His OPS+ for St. Louis career  170
His OPS+ for Angels career 108

And the last time he was above 100 was 2016.  He was good for one season in Anaheim, ordinary for a few and plain awful from 2017 on. 

Don't know if the Angels have anyone worth developing with the ABs Pujols was getting, but they gotta try.  It's a shame the way they've wasted Trout's career.

He's the all time leader in GIDP (by a large margin), which you have to be good for a long time to rack up that many.  The top 10 are all HoF or near.  Don't know if or when any one can challenge it.

[DINGO Joe]

A reunion with La Russa in Chicago maybe.

LaRussa says Pujols is "not a fit here"

[DINGO Joe]

Corey Kluber no-hits the Texas Rangers for the Major Leagues's sixth no-hitter this season.

New York Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber threw the sixth no-hitter this season in Major League Baseball on Wednesday night, striking out nine in a 2-0 win against the Texas Rangers.

When is Major League Baseball going to admit their pitchers are too good!

It's kind of freaky that of the six no-hitters it's only been three teams that have been no-hit, Seattle, Texas and Cleveland, each twice.

[DINGO Joe]

It time to make the leap......to Blernsball!

[DINGO Joe]

Something I never expected to be saying this season: the Hawks are a better basketball team than the Braves are a baseball team.

Maybe.  The Knicks are hardly a good way to judge.

[DINGO Joe]

Ohtani was voted into the All-star game as the DH and selected by the players as a pitcher.  Obviously a first.