The Baseball Thread

Alright folks, the time has come. I have just finished my State of the Red Sox Nation: Spring Training Report. It is long and comprehensive, though maybe a touch rough around the edges. I kind of look at it as practice for taking over Ian Browne's job as the Sox beat writer on mlb.com eventually. If you are a Red Sox fan and have not kept track of what has been happening (I know there are a bunch of you Sox fans here) then pm me (or just post here) and I will send you a copy.



So as to not make this a wasted thread we can have general baseball discussion and Sox arguments here too.

Maybe you want to debate what Verducci, Gammons or Starks has just written on espn.com. That can go here.

Speaking of Verducci, did anybody see this week's Sports Illustrated yet? He was an umpire for a day and did a spring Red Sox v. Orioles game. Interesting article, what do you think?

poetinahat said:

Not much to add, except that my boy Finn, 17 months, has decided his favorite toy is a baseball. He can say "baseball" and "catch", and we play catch (after a fashion).

I think he can say "Tek" -- but he won't say "Damon".

The 'umpire for a day' article sounds interesting.

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Good boy. You know how I feel about Jonny Judas.

alleycat said:

I'll have to put my Cardinals avatar back up . . .



Have you ever read Ted William's autobiography, WC?

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I have not, though I might have time this summer. I am currently in a Baseball and Literature class (Eng 391 Topics) and we have been doing a lot of older stuff, Lardner, Spalding. . . we have moved up to Wills Men At Work before moving to Money Ball and Fantasy Land (Lewis and Walker, respectively).

I think the last baseball autobiography I read was Mickey Mantles. . . 1956? Or was it '55? No. . . '56, the "The Dodgers Win the Pennant, The Dodgers Win the Pennant!" in '55. Anyway, it was about his Triple Crown year and I read it 15 years ago or so.

Check out Tony Congligliaro's book too. Good stuff.

Jersey Chick said:

Will you all throw cyber-stuff at me if I confess to being a Yankees fan??

<ducking, just in case>

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Nope, just don't start any flamewars at this writers website. I am all for healthy baseball debate, but at least try to bring it back around to writing as well.

Man o man. If this kid can add a couple of mph to each side he will be the ultimate middle reliever. Check out this article about a Creighton pitcher by Alan Schwarz:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/sports/baseball/06pitcher.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

MMcC said:

*Stands here looking smug.*

My family has a skybox. Proceed to hate me.

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I will contact you when I start attending BU.

Tonight folks we have a very special treat. With millions of people in Japan stuck to their televisions we get the two of the greatest legends in modern Japanese baseball history: Ichiro v Matsuzaka. First pitch: 7:05 EST. (Note. . . that is EST in North America. Not Occidental (eastern) standard time.)


From a sports writing perspective this is very interesting as it will be one of the most widely covered single regular season games in the history of sports with upwards of 150 Japanese media who have been following Dice-K since he first touched down in San Diego in December along with the normal glut of Boston sportswriters who are slightly disappointed that they have been relegated to boxed lunches because of the crush of bodies needing to be fed in the media mess hall.

I was looking for a job in baseball the other day and found a couple items listed: "Must be bi-lingual: Japanese."

And I thought studying spanish for the last couple of years was the way to go. Doh!

I will be watching, of course. I believe the game will be broadcast on NESN and ESPN 2 (of course with the WEEI 850 flagship for Bostonians. . . MLB.TV and Audio and perhaps a couple Westwood One stations will pick up the ESPN feed or your local ESPN radio. Normal for big baseball games.)


Have fun.

-WC

Jongfan said:

I was so pleased with Beckett's two outings so far.. I feel he will remain a solid starter and add depth to our rotation. There is such an "aura" as usual when baseball season begins and it continues well into the fall...

Looking forward to the season and your take on it as well...Weren

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Feel free to ask any questions or make argumentative statements. There is little I enjoy more than lively baseball discussion.

Pena is likely to approach 350 to 400 AB this year and should be capable of hitting somewhere in the vicinity of 15-20 home runs or more in that stretch while batting a touch under .300. He is a professional hitter. So far it has been frustrating for him to try to get into a game but the idea will be to spell Drew about once every ten days so that Wily can get into the game and give him a fair amount of starts against left handers. He was scheduled to start today against a lefty but we have been rained out (I was at the bar that has DirecTV ready and waiting, but no. . . it just had to rain.)

Wily needs to learn to concentrate more, cut down on strike outs and get his head in the game.

Coco is going to go on a hot streak sooner or later though expect him to get a couple of his starts yanked in favor of getting Wily Mo some at bats. The bottom of the line up is a good place for him right now as it takes pressure off of him and gives us a switch hitter that can create problems with pitching scenarios as Tek, who bats ahead of him, is also a switch hitter.

Barring injury I believe J.D. Drew is about to have his best season as a pro. Quote me on that.

Beckett will be fine, not just fine but great. He had a great spring, great beginning so far, may be the actual ace of the staff unless Dice-K goes absolutely insane. I would expect him to start game 1 of a playoff series for us.

Anything else?