It's Almost Baseball Time!

[indolikaa]

Another season of MLB Extra Innings is just around the corner. And look at what's happening in the American League East. Who says you can't buy yourself a world championship?

The Anaheim Angels and Florida Marlins say you can't, but that's another story.

My vote's on Toronto.

[Devanshu]

With A-rod gone to the other side, I say the yankees. The friggin team is crawling with all-stars.

[sitlet]

you forgot the option "i havent watched baseball since that strike a few years ago when i learned the players are just out for the money not for the game"

[indolikaa]

you forgot the option "i havent watched baseball since that strike a few years ago when i learned the players are just out for the money not for the game"

Duly noted. You may now vote accordingly.

[Devanshu]

I still love the game, but it's not as competitive anymore.

[Will Hay]

you forgot the option "i havent watched baseball since that strike a few years ago when i learned the players are just out for the money not for the game"

Duly noted. You may now vote accordingly.

Never watched it, but I'll go with that.
Will

[Kevin abq]

Hoping the Boston Red Sox win. They came soooo close last fall. They were getting to the "Spank-Me's" - witness ole Zim throwing a flying tackle on Pedro. Ill-advised move, hahaha The Yankees have had their turn over and over. I loved the hit Luis Gonzales got to give the D-Backs the win over the Yanks. And the Marlins tore 'em a new one!

Gotta go with the Bosox because they are almost as pathetic as my lifelong team .........don't laugh now ...............the Chicago Cubs. The Bosox haven't won it all since ...what is it ....1918? Well ....my Cubs haven't won it all since 1908 :P Gotta love the underdog

[sitlet]

its not that i dont like baseball. i do watch it occaisionally and i do like to go to games every once in a while. but i just dont care anymore about who wins or whos on what team. i just saw a story on dateline nbc a few minutes ago, that said that the amount of money the yanks are paying out in salaries is enough to run small towns, build 9 schools in florida, etc. there was this one guy on there, and he said "give me a few hundred bucks and a hot dog and i'll play for them". the greed of these players is out of control.

[Devanshu]

its not that i dont like baseball. i do watch it occaisionally and i do like to go to games every once in a while. but i just dont care anymore about who wins or whos on what team. i just saw a story on dateline nbc a few minutes ago, that said that the amount of money the yanks are paying out in salaries is enough to run small towns, build 9 schools in florida, etc. there was this one guy on there, and he said "give me a few hundred bucks and a hot dog and i'll play for them". the greed of these players is out of control.

I think I heard somewhere that the pay is bordering $200 mil.

[sitlet]

yeah something like that, i think about 175million

[gmatov]

One thing you gotta remember is, that if they all worked for 5.15 an hour, the tickets would not come down.

Doesn't bother me a damn bit that they're getting 10 million bucks each. The owners, pigs that they are, are trying to buy a Series. Witness Florida. Get the Series, dismantle the team afterwards, "Hey, I got bragging rights, now!!!!".

Leyland says stick it in your ear, I'm outa here..

A-rod goes to NY as 3rd base, Texas pays 47 mil of his contract to get rid of him. Are they crazy, or do they have too much money to be real live people.

Hey, I'll keep watching my Bucs, bad ball is better than no ball.

There just is not enough talent out there to field 30 teams with Aces. NFL should show you that. Think Soccer should start moving in the states. At least they have some pipple with endurance and a little love of the game.

Cheers,

George

[jeex]

i used to love baseball so much.. now that love has grown in to a hate for the yankees. when it was just the championship series' left last year i was just saying "anyone but the yankees".. i was hoping for a cubs/bosox series with the cubs rallying down 9 runs to win in extra innings... but atleast the jew york yankees didnt win.

may injuries cripple the new york yankees (its okay as long as you dont direct it at one player )

[Devanshu]

may injuries cripple the new york yankees

[Ziffelpig]

Yankees all the way , and anyone who will hope for any team but the Yankees is a Red Sox fan
@indolika
You could be right about Toronto, good starting rotation, solid hitting, excellent defense, it could make then the dark horse of the American east, Toronto should be in the hunt for at least the the wild card spot this year, but the division is the Yankees for the taking.

[indolikaa]

@indolika
You could be right about Toronto, good starting rotation, solid hitting, excellent defense, it could make then the dark horse of the American east, Toronto should be in the hunt for at least the the wild card spot this year, but the division is the Yankees for the taking.

We'd gladly take a wildcard, also!

I tell you, though. I don't know about the Yankees. The more they spend the more critical the fans and press will be if they don't produce absolutely stellar results. Can you blame them?

[alenhard]

One thing you gotta remember is, that if they all worked for 5.15 an hour, the tickets would not come down.

I have to disagree. If fans quit paying such stupid prices and didn't go to the games, ticket prices would have to fall. Simple economics. The Expos were selling tickets for $5 last year. It was the only way in the world any fan would show up (I admit this particular example is flawed since the Expos were so terrible, but the principle is the same).

[Kevin abq]

@indolika
You could be right about Toronto, good starting rotation, solid hitting, excellent defense, it could make then the dark horse of the American east, Toronto should be in the hunt for at least the the wild card spot this year, but the division is the Yankees for the taking.

We'd gladly take a wildcard, also!

I tell you, though. I don't know about the Yankees. The more they spend the more critical the fans and press will be if they don't produce absolutely stellar results. Can you blame them?

Yup! Lots of pressure since the payroll is so high. Then a team like the fish, with a minor-league payroll compared to the Yank-me's, come out of nowhere as a wildcard and win it all. I was LMFAO thinking about how that must have cheesed-off the NY fans and press. Priceless This year will be even more pressure for them with A-rod AND Derek Cheater on the infield. If they don't win 115 games and sweep the playoffs there will be rioting in the south Bronx come October

[Will Hay]

My, I wish I could be a part of this thread, this culture seems so appealing








No, really, I mean it.
Will

[Kevin abq]

My, I wish I could be a part of this thread, this culture seems so appealing
No, really, I mean it.
Will

Yeah, your games like dwarf-tossing are soooo much more cultured Or do you call it "pitching the midget"

[Will Hay]

My, I wish I could be a part of this thread, this culture seems so appealing
No, really, I mean it.
Will

Yeah, your games like dwarf-tossing are soooo much more cultured Or do you call it "pitching the midget"

I was being serious, I love (some aspects of) the american way of life.
Will Hay

[alenhard]

Anyone ever read any of Bill Bryson's books? He wrote one called "I'm a Stranger Here, Myself" about his return to the States after living in England for a long time. Really funny book about the oddities of each culture. You should check it out for an entertaining read.

[Kevin abq]

My, I wish I could be a part of this thread, this culture seems so appealing
No, really, I mean it.
Will

Yeah, your games like dwarf-tossing are soooo much more cultured Or do you call it "pitching the midget"

I was being serious, I love (some aspects of) the american way of life.
Will Hay

Hahaha Cool. I was just worried how long I'd have to be a member of this board before I got a chance to mention dwarf-tossing No worse than our WWF or American Gladiators.

Baseball might be an acquired taste. American culture has its bad and its good, like you do. We have some really strange entertainment here at times. Our culture goes through these stages where it can't get enough of something. Right now it happens to be reality TV. There are some exquisitely lame shows out there. I got drawn into watching The Osbournes and actually started liking it Maybe to see if Jack and Kelly could get any more spoiled, or what their yappy little dogs would soil next. I guess it's like slowing down at an accident scene to look ....Ozzy is sooooo burned out, and he's the first to admit it.

There is such crap on TV here. It's mind-numbing. Every once in a while a real gem floats to the surface of the cesspool, like Married With Children or M*A*S*H. My buddy in Sweden sent me some SVCD clips of a british show over there called Believe Nothing. It's hysterical - I love it! He sent me 6 or 8 episodes and said there aren't any more. I put them on DVD. We need more shows like that over here. Us colonists can still learn a lot from our mother country

alenhard,
Just the short time we were in Egypt I noticed the striking differences between their culture and ours. Actually living in England and coming back here would really make our quirks stand out more.

BTW - The Egyptians absolutely adore American and British tourists. I got this from several locals there. Apparently we are the most generous and kindest of all the nationalities they get there. I felt pretty good after hearing that Too bad that after 9/11 our share of tourism there dropped from 50% to 5%.

(This has gotten so off-topic ...sorry Indoliika )

[indolikaa]

This has gotten so off-topic ...sorry Indoliika

Dude, don't apologize! You are talking to the rezident experta in thread hijacking!

(I was going to say Off-Topic posting, but I must defer to Will "Illin' with my Nine Milly" Hay on that one.)

:P

[gmatov]

Alehard,

That was alegorical, I suppose, as Baseball is the only game most families can afford to attend, as families, at least as far as the tickets go.

The Bucs even have Dollar Days to get you in so they can sell you a 4 buck beer, or a 3 buck, maybe that's 4, too, and a 4 buck "dawg" or Doritos.

Hey, they built a new ballpark with taxpayer funding, promising they'd be contenders. The old stadium, which had a bigger mortgage on it than it cost to build 30 years before, wasn't gonna hack it

They sealed off a bunch of seats in the old 50 thou park, weren't allowed to seat pipple there, because they said we're now a 37 thou seat park.

So, the new one IS a 37 thou seat park, and they are lucky to get 20 on a really, really good matchup, 'specially some of the interleague games.

Did you know that all the urinals in the restrooms face the field and have 2 way mirrors in front of them? That's why they named it Pee 'n See Park.

Cheers,

George

Will,

what the hell are those boards stuck in the ground behind the batsman in cricket? Is the bowler supposed to knock them down, and the batsman defending them? Are they the "sticky wickets"? Or is that paddle the wicket?

Yeah, you should watch a game or 2, just so you can honestly say, "Wow, that IS boring!!!" Or not. Might like it They do use a little strategy.

George

[Will Hay]

I haven't a clue with cricket George.
Well, I have, but its soooooooooo boring I'd rather pretend I don't follow the rules.
I mean, what kind of sport breaks for tea and sandwiches?
Would love to give baseball a try, but I'm the sort who neds to know what's going on before I watch, otherwise I end up getting confused and end up disliking
Will

[Kevin abq]

gmatov,
I really like PNC park. It's just too bad Pittsburgh is not a baseball town anymore. It sure was when they first built Three Rivers and the likes of Clemente and Stargell were playing. I still think Leyland is my favorite manager of all time.

On another note, I think the Mariners proved that NO superstar is worth as much as what these guys are getting paid. Look at when they traded Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey, Jr. What did they do without these high-dollar superstars the very next year? They won more games than they ever had before.

[Tiny71]

MARINERS RULE ALL!

sorry for the yell, need to be shouted.


even without Kaz, they will win the west and go on to slap around everyone in the playoffs and then do the same in the WS and win it in 4.

At least that is what I keep telling myself.

Just wish Edgar was blessed with better legs, he would be in the hall of fame before he retired!

[Capmaster]

As long as it ain't the Yanks :P