Sabrespacer Baseball Teams

[Sabres Fan in NS]

On 5/17/2023 at 12:48 AM, Sabel79 said:

I love the Mets, because I hate myself.  Obviously.  

Not to mention Arsenal .. I will show myself out .........

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I grew up in The Great Satan, so I fell in love with the Jays once they started to field a good enough team to win some games .. around 1984.

Prior to that I was a Yankee fan .. yikes !!

 

I have always has a special place in my heart for the Expos too.

 

[Thorner]

20-1

[centralparkhockey]

On 5/18/2023 at 3:19 AM, ubkev said:

Yankees.

My dad and I watched around 145 games per year together from about 1992 until I moved out in 2003. Even then, I'd still call him whenever anything cool happened in a game. It didn't even have to be a big game, could have been a cool sliding catch in June. 

Paul O'Neill is my only favorite player in any sport. The distain he had for his own failure is probably my favorite quality in an athlete. 

1996 World Series is my favorite sports memory. After that it's the 03 NCAA Basketball Championship.

The Baseball Hall of Fame is the greatest museum on planet Earth. I can easily spend 5 hours inside and not get sick of looking at the awesomeness in there. 

Re: The Baseball Hall of Fame

I live nearby and we have a membership.  I go several times a year with my wife and kids and I see something new every time.  Seriously love that place.  
 

My favorite time to go is on a late afternoon in winter. You can sit quietly in the plaque gallery while the sun sets.  It’s peaceful.  You usually have the whole space to yourself. I highly recommend it. 
 

Oh,  and I’m a Detroit Tigers fan.  

Like most of you guys, I’m a western New Yorker without a hometown team to root for.  Picked up the Tigers when I was about 8 years old.  Been rooting for them from a distance for about 35 years now. 
 

 

 

 

 

[JoeSchmoe]

On 5/21/2023 at 11:32 AM, matter2003 said:

It's novel right now...let's see what happens over the next 10 years.  The average fan age is still mid 60s, and that is a major problem.

Is this a fact? Seems nearly impossible. For every 20yo fan you'd need 3 or 4 80yo old fans. Not what I'm seeing at the Jays games I go to.

The games are better now. More balls in play, less dead time. I don't see it overtaking the NFL by any stretch, but I think baseball is here to stay. 

[Doohicksie]

On 5/21/2023 at 10:32 AM, matter2003 said:

The average fan age is still mid 60s

Really now?

[Doohicksie]

On 5/20/2023 at 7:24 PM, JoeSchmoe said:

I think this year's rule changes are going to help a lot

It has definitely sped up the game (by more than a half hour on average), but surprisingly made game playing times more uniform as well.  It's now very common for games that start at the same time to end withing a few minutes of each other.  You can now easily fit a baseball game in a 3 hour time window with little chance of it running over.

I think having the pitch clock (and batter's box clock) enforced immediately by awarding a ball for an offending pitcher or a strike for an offending batter is particularly satisfying.  Immediate, tangible consequences.

[French Collection]

6 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

It has definitely sped up the game (by more than a half hour on average), but surprisingly made game playing times more uniform as well.  It's now very common for games that start at the same time to end withing a few minutes of each other.  You can now easily fit a baseball game in a 3 hour time window with little chance of it running over.

I think having the pitch clock (and batter's box clock) enforced immediately by awarding a ball for an offending pitcher or a strike for an offending batter is particularly satisfying.  Immediate, tangible consequences.

They need to speed up golf with those kinds of penalties.

 

[Sabres Super Fan]

My favorite baseball teams are the Buffalo Bisons and New York Yankees in my opinion. Go Bisons! Go Yankees! Let’s Go Buffalo 

[Marvin]

Go Bisons!

[Thorner]

What a tough stretch....

[Thorner]

Bichette having a fantastic year, though. Has *16 more* hits than anyone else in AL. Leads Jays in OPS, AVG (.335), Runs, RBI, HR, and Hits (76). A bright spot for sure so far.  

Gotta find a way to lock him up LT. 

[HoosierDaddy]

Cincinnati Reds. I loved the Yankees until I moved to Cincinnati. Living in a town with a team is different. I can go to multiple games a year and follow the team all summer. So I dove all the way in. Needless to say, it was a bad decision.  Thankfully the Bills are pretty good right now, because other than that my teams are the IU Hoosiers, Pacers, Sabres, Reds, and Leeds United. That’s a lot of losing. It’s enough to make one stop watching sports all together.

[Doohicksie]

Rangers with their best start in franchise history, and the second best record in baseball.  Nice.

[Thorner]

[All Along The Watchtower]

Grew up in Rochester when it was an O's farm and have been a Baltimore fan all my life, despite the past decades of irrelevance.  

Saw many stars come through Silver Stadium: Don Baylor, Al Bumbry, Mike Flanagan, Mike Boddicker, Mike Mussina, Eddie Murray, Doug DeCinces, Bobby Grich...and this Ripken kid, who in the summer of 1981, when there was no major league baseball, captivated a town and the much of the baseball world.  We knew he was a HOFer in waiting.

Rochester actually left Baltimore in the early 2000s, which is not common with minor league teams.  The Red Wings were just tired of Peter Angelos' shenanigans, and sadly, said goodbye to the Orioles after 40 years of affiliation.

Now, the Orioles farm system is rated among the best, and I'm very glad to see that.  I'm hoping the Angelos family will soon sell the franchise, as they have been a big part of the team's decline...with a change in ownership and a strong farm system, maybe better days are ahead.  

[jsb]

Grew up a Yankees fan because I thought they had to be in the World Series (50's-mid 60's). Moved to Houston and became an Astro's fan especially after they bought the Yankees (yes they've owned them the past 10 years). Hate everything Dallas so no way I could ever cheer for the Stars, Cowboy's or Rangers. 

[JujuFish]

Cleveland. When I was growing up, my uncle lived near Cleveland and I used to visit him and his family every summer. He got me into the Guardians.  The Bisons becoming affiliated with them only strengthened the bond.

 

And, of course, given the championship success of the Guardians/Indians, it's only natural that I feel at home as a Sabres/Bills fan, heh.

[Thorner]

The strike zone in my Jays game today 😭😭😭

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Thorny

[Night Train]

I'm old. When i was a kid, I liked teams that were like the Bills of the late 1960's. Losers. Anyone can bandwagon

 

The pathetic Washington Senators had this giant of a man named Frank Howard.  he was 6-7, 255 and could hit the ball a country mile. They stunk but he led the American League in homers a few times. Met him at a card show in Maryland 30 years back.. Such a nice man.

 Franchise moved to Ft. Worth Texas in 1972. Never won a World Series. Came close twice 10-11 years ago. The last 6-7 years have been really bad but they hired a good GM 2 years back in Chris Young that has tried to turn things around. Young hired his old Manager Bruce Bochy, who won 3 titles with San Fran. Suddenly, they have some actual pitching and the best Offense in baseball. Just crushing the ball. Yet the best team in baseball may be their divisonal rival Houston, the reigning WS champ. So we'll see how things go but it's so much better now than the last few years. Have seen them play several times in Baltimore and Toronto. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by Night Train

[Broken Ankles]

18 hours ago, Thorny said:

The strike zone in my Jays game today 😭😭😭

 

  You won’t have to endure these bad calls for too much longer.  Triple A is using Full  ABS or ABS challenge and from the GMs I’ve heard speak on the subject most are in favor of a Ball/Strike challenge by next year, with some advocating full ABS to follow.  Aaron Judge is regularly at the top of the list each year for incorrect low strike called against and yet he is still crushing the ball.  Now that he has improved his chase rate, I can’t wait to see how a full ABS might enhance his OPS. 

[Doohicksie]

On 6/2/2023 at 11:00 PM, jsb said:

Hate everything Dallas so no way I could ever cheer for the ... Rangers.

Rangers are gonna *own* the Stros this year 😄

[Doohicksie]

3 hours ago, Night Train said:

Young hired his old Manager Bruce Bochy, who won 3 titles with San Fran. Suddenly, they have some actual pitching and the best Offense in baseball. Just crushing the ball. Yet the best team in baseball may be their divisonal rival Houston, the reigning WS champ. So we'll see how things go but it's so much better now than the last few years.

It's shocking how quickly the Rangers turned around.  Bochy is the best manager they've had since Ron Washington, and as much as I liked Wash, Bochy is probably even better.  He has the track record at least.

The Rangers turned over the starting pitching staff, bringing in Jake deGrom, Nate Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney, all of whom have been stellar.  deGrom has missed some games due to injury and former starter-turned-reliever Dane Dunning has been lights out filling in for him.

They lucked out a bit (but I think it has a lot to do with Bochy's handling of the situation) that they have some emerging players that are instantly dominant. 

• Jonah Heim (from the Buffalo area) is one of the best catchers in baseball. 
• Josh Jung so far is hands down the rookie of the year, 1st among rookies in all offensive stats, in the top 5 league-wide for most of them.
• Ezequial Duran came out of nowhere to backfill injured Corey Seager and put up big offensive numbers and solid defense.  His play has been so good that Bochy has been forced to get him playing time.  Fortunately he's doing well at all the fielding positions so can be used to give the regular starters time off.
• Grant Anderson been dominant in his MLB debut as a relief pitcher.  In two appearances he's struck out 8 of 13 batters, allowing just two singles so far.

Early in the season the Rangers were having trouble holding leads; their Achilles heel has been the bullpen.  But recently the bullpen has been greatly improved; not only with the appearance of Grant Anderson but in general.  The bullpen's recent run of scoreless innings finally broke in the 9th inning of a 16-6 laugher against the Mariners, when John King allowed 3 meaningless runs in the 9th inning.

[Doohicksie]

One last thought about Bruce Bochy:  He seems to be a good developmental coach.  He puts young players in challenging positions and by and large they've been succeeding.  He has a quiet confidence in his players.  He doesn't put them in over their heads but he doesn't hesitate to put them into positions that challenge their limits, similar to, for instance, how Granato improved Cozens' game by playing him opposite the other teams' best lines.  But he's also very good at handling experienced veterans.

I think his handling of the bullpen early the season, while not always yielding the best results, is now starting to pay dividends.

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, Broken Ankles said:

  You won’t have to endure these bad calls for too much longer.  Triple A is using Full  ABS or ABS challenge and from the GMs I’ve heard speak on the subject most are in favor of a Ball/Strike challenge by next year, with some advocating full ABS to follow.  Aaron Judge is regularly at the top of the list each year for incorrect low strike called against and yet he is still crushing the ball.  Now that he has improved his chase rate, I can’t wait to see how a full ABS might enhance his OPS. 

Ya he’s a super freak