2021 MLB Season Thread

[GeorgiaModerate]

I don't mind the 7-inning doubleheaders, but the ghost runner in extra innings is awful.  Maybe a compromise would be to play N (maybe 2) extra innings without it, and if the game is still tied then start using it.

I've never been in favor of the universal DH, but with the Braves re-signing Marcell Ozuna I might be tempted to rethink it.

[GeorgiaModerate]

To really change things up: switch the direction runners go around the bases.  Or maybe even switch it every inning; that would create the potential for some hilarious mistakes.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1376624451148775430

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1376624451148775430

I refuse to believe that there are Rays fans in SE Georgia. There are barely Rays fans in the Tampa area.

There are also apparently no White Sox or Angels fans.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Opening Day will come for everyone except the Red Sox, who foolishly continue to play in a "historic stadium" instead of a beautiful, weather-resistant dome like their AL East betters.

It won't come for the Nationals either, as their opener vs. the Mets has been postponed due to COVID issues (with the Nats).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Funny one in the Braves-Phillies game last night.  Score tied 4-4, Braves with men on first and third with one out, Freddie Freeman at bat.  He hits a comebacker to the pitcher, who whirls toward second to start an inning-ending double play...and finds nobody covering second.  Then he all of a sudden remembers that there was a runner on third, whirls again and throws to the plate -- far too late to prevent the runner from scoring what turned out to be the deciding run.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Don't be dumb. Bohm's foot touched the plate.

The Braves are just a disgusting franchise so nobody should feel sorry for them.

From other angles it looked like there was a very small gap between his foot and the plate.  But I don't think any of the views were definitive (either way), so it's back to the old "insufficient evidence to overturn the call on the field".

[GeorgiaModerate]

Huascar Ynoa is brilliant for the Braves tonight.  He's struck out 8 through 4 innings and just hit his first career home run.  The Braves are up 7-0, bottom of the 4th.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The Cubs, now down 10-0 to the Braves, have put in Anthony Rizzo to pitch. And he just struck out Freddie Freeman, who was 4-4 with 2 HR up to that point! Crazy game.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Huascar Ynoa, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite Braves players, just hit a grand slam against the Nationals.  He was the first Braves pitcher to hit one since Jaime Garcia hit one in his final start for the Braves in 2017 -- and before that you have to go back to 1966, when Tony Cloninger hit *two* grand slams in one game (the only pitcher in MLB history to accomplish that feat).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Happy Bartolo Day everyone

Is today the anniversary of his first home run?

Yes, May 7, 2016.

[GeorgiaModerate]

It's only the beginning of May, but we already have four no-hitters this year, as Wade Miley of the Reds, no-hits the Cleveland Indians.

Wade Miley pitched baseball's second no-hitter in three days -- and fourth already this season -- leading the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 win Friday night over the Cleveland Indians, who were no-hit for the second time in a month.

....

The left-hander shook off an 83-minute rain delay to start the game in Cleveland and followed Baltimore's John Means, who no-hit Seattle on Wednesday, to continue an early run of pitching gems in 2021 -- quickly becoming the Year of the No-No.

....

This is the earliest in a calendar year there have been four no-hitters since 1917, when the fourth was thrown on May 5 and the fifth on May 6, and only the second season overall in MLB history to have four no-hitters before the end of May, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. It's no wonder: Hitters entered Friday batting a record-low .233 this season.

I'll repeat myself, Baseball needs to do something to swing the balance of power back towards the hitter, be it lowering the mound, moving the mound back, or something more drastic like changing the number of strikes needed for a strikeout (presumably from three to four).

Madison Bumgarner has also thrown a no-hitter in a 7-inning doubleheader game this year, but it's not counted as an official no-hitter due to the shortened game.  I'm undecided as to whether this is a fair rule.  I can see arguments both ways.

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/StatsBySTATS/status/1391582554495533062

In last night's game, Ynoa gave up a first-pitch home run to Andrew McCutchen but was in command after that, as the Braves won 6-1.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Here's a really radical idea that would undoubtedly juice up offense in baseball: eliminate the force out, i.e. require runners to be tagged out before reaching base.

[GeorgiaModerate]

The problem with increasing the number of strikes needed for a strikeout is that it would make the game, which is often too long, even longer.  As an alternative, how about reducing the number of balls needed for a walk to 3?

[GeorgiaModerate]

The NL East is a bastion of mediocrity so far, but that's resulted in an extremely tight race.  As of today, the last place Nationals are only two games behind the first place Mets!

[GeorgiaModerate]

Hilarious:

https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1397965478027530246

There were two outs.  Why didn't the first baseman simply step on first?

Of course, nothing will ever top the (in)famous play on which Tommy John made three errors on the same play.

[GeorgiaModerate]

OK, I have to post one more on the Cubs-Pirates play.  Anyone who remembers the old Benny Hill Show will appreciate this.  The music meshes with the action perfectly!

https://twitter.com/rogcastbaseball/status/1397976102505680896

[GeorgiaModerate]

Mets still winning

How? No idea, but they are

I'm having flashbacks to 1969 watching this Mets team.

wow, you might be older than GA Moderate

Not necessarily.  I remember the '69 Mets.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Mets still winning

How? No idea, but they are

I'm having flashbacks to 1969 watching this Mets team.

wow, you might be older than GA Moderate

I really am 28. It's just, the 1969 Mets are a fond memory for pretty much any Mets fan, including myself.

As a Mets fan, have you ever read Now Wait a Minute, Casey! by Maury Allen?  It's the story of the 1962-64 Mets teams.  One of the funniest sports books I've ever read.

[GeorgiaModerate]

A new entry for future sports blooper reels:

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1399433932450435075

[GeorgiaModerate]

DeGrom is undoubtedly a superstar pitcher, but let's wait a few months to see how his numbers hold up.  There have been plenty of cases of early gaudy numbers for both pitchers and hitters that fade later in the season.  One that springs to mind is the year that John Smoltz started the season with an unearthly 14-1 record, but cooled off to 24-8 by season's end (still a very impressive record, and he did win the Cy Young).

[GeorgiaModerate]

Batting is broken right now. These pitchers are not superhuman.

On a recent Braves broadcast, Paul Byrd (a former pitcher) said that it felt to him like the seams were higher this year, which gives pitchers more control.

[GeorgiaModerate]

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

[GeorgiaModerate]

My ESPN favorites list shows two ATL-PHI games tonight; one NBA, one MLB.  This isn't terribly uncommon (it almost happened with ATL-NY last week, but the Braves-Mets game was rained out that night).  What I'm wondering is: have the same two cities ever played in *three* major sports on the same day?