Baseball 2016

[derspiess]

At the cards/ mariners game.   Mike Leake sucks.

Leake is terrible.  He'll give you one good game to make you want to give him another chance, then he has another string of shitty games. 

wtf Mariano Rivera wouldn't deserve the intro the mariners just gave to Steve Cishek

The high point for a lot of Reds games was when Aroldis Chapman ran out from the bullpen.  Now they just get to watch their relief pitching get shelled

[derspiess]

So a few weeks ago I decided to shift my NL All Star voting strategy from all Cardinals to anti-Cubs.  Aside from Catcher (voting Yadi of course), I'm voting for the player who has the best chance of beating the Cubs player leading the voting.  For AL I'm just voting the best player at each position

[Barrister]

So a few weeks ago I decided to shift my NL All Star voting strategy from all Cardinals to anti-Cubs.  Aside from Catcher (voting Yadi of course), I'm voting for the player who has the best chance of beating the Cubs player leading the voting.  For AL I'm just voting the best player at each position

Sounds complicated.  I just vote all-Royals in the AL, and leave the NL blank.  Reminds me I should vote again.

Remind me again why we have fan voting for the ASG?

[derspiess]

Sounds complicated.  I just vote all-Royals in the AL, and leave the NL blank.  Reminds me I should vote again.

Not really.  I just look at the latest vote leaders and go with the 2nd place guy in a lot of the positions.  I did vote for some Royals in AL.

BTW-- for our last alloted 5 ballots tomorrow, how about I agree to vote all Royals and you vote all Cardinals? 

Remind me again why we have fan voting for the ASG?

I don't have a problem with it.  It gives the fans a voice in who is chosen, but it's limited to the starting positions.  Players and coaches pick the backups and pitchers.  Any remaining slots are filled at the discretion of the All Star team managers. 

[Barrister]

BTW-- for our last alloted 5 ballots tomorrow, how about I agree to vote all Royals and you vote all Cardinals? 

Deal.

Remind me again why we have fan voting for the ASG?

I don't have a problem with it.  It gives the fans a voice in who is chosen, but it's limited to the starting positions.  Players and coaches pick the backups and pitchers.  Any remaining slots are filled at the discretion of the All Star team managers.

I mean I don't get all worked up over it, but it seems more like a test of fan support, and not how good the actual players are.

But then again, the Royals have done okay for themselves.  I looked back to confirm - they had 4 players in the starting AL line-up.

[derspiess]

So Tommy's last Little League game was Saturday and they won.  Good ending to a bad season for a pretty bad team (poorly coached, not much talent below the top 3 or 4 kids).  He did well in batting, fielding, and pitching.  His pitching has particularly come along, as I've had him take a little velocity off the ball to increase his control.  At this level he pitched from 42 feet away.  He'll have to pitch from 46 feet next year, but based upon what I saw during his All Star tryouts he should do fine.

He got chosen as an alternate for his Little League All Star team, which is a pretty big accomplishment IMO with this being his first year.  We turned it down, though, because we have to commit to him going to all games with the possibility of him getting zero playing time.  They only chose 12 players for the team with a couple alternates; don't know why they didn't just go with 14 as the team size with no alternates, but whatever.  We turned it down, since we would have to shelve any vacation plans through early August for possibly nothing. 

I'm not overly impressed with how our local Little League is run, so I may get him on a select/Knothole team next year.  A friend of mine may end up taking over the 9 & under Midland team next year, and if that is the case I'll definitely try to get Tommy on that team.  The Midland program has produced 75 Major League players, 46 First Round draft picks, & 517 Division 1 players.

[derspiess]

Deal.

I set an Outlook reminder

I mean I don't get all worked up over it, but it seems more like a test of fan support, and not how good the actual players are.

But then again, the Royals have done okay for themselves.  I looked back to confirm - they had 4 players in the starting AL line-up.

It's a game for the fans, and yes the Royals made out like bandits last year due to their fans stuffing the ballot box (metaphorically now that there are no paper ballots ).  Cubs fans are doing it this year.  And I have no problem with it; if a particular team's fans are that enthusiastic, might as well have that reflected in the starting lineups.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Val, Horns new baseball coach: David Pierce.

http://texassports.com/news/2016/6/29/david-pierce-named-texas-baseball-head-coach.aspx

In his five seasons as a Division I head coach, Pierce has posted a 197-109 (.644) overall record, including a 76-46 (.623) mark at Tulane. Joining the Green Wave in 2015, the Houston native guided the school into its first season in the American Athletic Conference. His team posted a school-record nine shutouts, which ranked fourth in the nation, en route to a 35-25 record and the program's first regional appearance since 2008.

Pierce's second season at Tulane brought even more success as he led the 2016 Green Wave to a 41-21 record, a regular season AAC championship and a second-consecutive regional appearance. The 41 wins were the most for the program since 2006. The team led the nation with 13 shutouts and ranked in the top 25 in both ERA (23rd/3.24) and WHIP (25th/1.24), while belting out 66 home runs, which was tied for 13th nationally. Tulane produced two third-round picks in the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft in catcher Jake Rogers and shortstop Stephen Alemais with Rogers becoming Tulane's highest draft pick since 2008. Seven players earned All-AAC honors, including four first-team selections, while starting pitcher Ross Massey was named freshman All-America after leading the conference and tying for 18th in the nation in victories (10).

Etc.

CWS final is tied at 1-1.  Last game is tonight.

[Valmy]

Yes. Amazing story from Coastal and frankly a wonderful championship series. Reminds me why I love College Baseball. Shame our Big 12 brethren shit the bed there in the semis.

Great hire. Pierce was exactly the kind of guy I hoped UT would hire. Youngish, hungry, with his best days in front of him and ready to be the next great Texas Baseball Coach. I expect him to last at least 15 years.

[derspiess]

Deal.

I have fulfilled my treaty obligations

[Valmy]

I have not seen a corrupt bargain this outrageous in baseball since the 1980s collusion scandal 

[derspiess]

Please don't tell Rob Manfred.

[Barrister]

Deal.

I have fulfilled my treaty obligations

As have i.

[derspiess]

Just had a flashback of last year's Twitter vote for the final AL & NL roster spots.  Cards fans had a deal with Royals fans to vote for both Moustakis and Martinez.  Both made it

The last morning/afternoon of the voting was crazy-- my friends were voting Cueto but I kept canceling out each of their votes with a Martinez vote.  I was off work for an All Star Week event, so I had the time.

[dps]

Just a reminder for everyone that wants to cast All Star ballots that voting ends tonight.