MLB 2023 Season

[Syd Thrift]

Originally Posted by Westheim

...also Reynaldo Lopez.

Reds took Renfroe and Bader (from Yanks).

Mariners snatched Dominic Leone.

Grichuk is currently Jake Harper waiting in the thunderstorm with his kite, because Alan has totally forgotten to pick him up.

That's as much as I could grasp off the Bally ticker at the bottom of the Yanks-Tigers game right now.

So apparently the method to this madness is that all of these waiver cuts should push the Angels down below the luxury tax threshold, which in and of itself shouldn't be a big deal for a team like that but also means that when they extend Shohei Ohtani the QO and he refuses it to sign with the Dodgers (my guess, although hey, the Mariners have a pretty long history with Japanese players even before Ichiro), as a team under the tax they'd get a compensation pick before the 3rd round as opposed to one in between the 4th and 5th rounds. Plus, of course, they won't have to pay that onerous tax levied against this tiny small market team that only gets to play in the 2nd biggest market in the country...

That's still giving up an awwwwwful lot of capital just to get a slightly better pick in a draft that is well-known for its extreme volatility, and for that reason I feel like it's more of a one-off situation. Nevertheless, I am *sure* that MLB will pass some kind of rule preventing this lest a team like the A's just regularly dump all of their non-cost-controlled players into waivers at the end of August every season (which, yes, would be extremely dumb but this is the A's we're talking about).

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

MLB announced its 2023 post-season schedule today.

This year's post-season will be the longest scheduled in MLB history at 34 days. The previous longest was 32 days for the 2007–2010 and 2013 seasons.

It was disorienting last year to attend a WS game on November 1, being handed a Phillies “Red October” towel to wave. They still won, but I saw it as a questionable omen.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by Pelican

It was disorienting last year to attend a WS game on November 1, being handed a Phillies “Red October” towel to wave. They still won, but I saw it as a questionable omen.

The originally scheduled date of the 7th game of the World Series which were in November. The first time that happened was 2007.

2007 = Thurs. Nov. 1
2009 = Thurs. Nov. 5
2010 = Thurs. Nov. 4
2012 = Thurs. Nov. 1
2015 = Wed. Nov. 4
2016 = Wed. Nov. 2
2017 = Wed. Nov. 1
2021 = Wed. Nov. 3
2022 = Sat. Nov. 5
2023 = Sat. Nov. 4

[Cobra Mgr]

If the Braves complete the sweep of the Dodgers tonight, does than cinch the MVP for Acuna?

[thehef]

Few thing irritate more from a sports fan perspective than seeing replay get it wrong. That just happened in the Dodgers-Braves game... Immediately after the botched replay decision, play-by-play guy Joe Davis said something like, "lately they sure seem to be leaning towards the call on the field," color man Orel Hershiser said, "the already have a system for that: it's called "no replay." Good point. Why have replay if their not simply going to get it right, every time?

At any rate, and this crosses into other sports' replay systems, IMO they should give details when they announce the decision. Something like, "there wasn't clear evidence of the tag coming before he touched the base," or "the shot from centerfield shows the ball going into the mitt before the runner's foot hit the base..." or "although it appears that the runner might've beat the throw, we can't find conclusive evidence of that, so the call stands." At least then we'd know the reasoning of these knuckleheads...

[thehef]

Originally Posted by Pelican

It was disorienting last year to attend a WS game on November 1, being handed a Phillies “Red October” towel to wave. They still won, but I saw it as a questionable omen.

I can appreciate all of the playoff games we get to see now. Get-off-my-lawn me, though, considers the golden era to be when the LCS' were scheduled to be completed over six days (the leagues rotating each year having a travel day or playing 5 straight), there were a couple days off, and then the WS. The whole postseason was completed in under three weeks.

Some may not know that the WS was originally intended to be played without off days, with the home team changing with each game. This was the system in place for the first two-and-half decades of the World Series (and City Series'). Sure, there were plenty of deviations from this, but those were always due to geography, weather, war, and/or prohibitions on Sunday baseball. Whenever possible, typically/obviously when there were same-city matchups, or the distance to be traveled was close enough, it was HAHAHAx, with no off days and the x being a coin toss (and the site of the first game usually being decided by a coin toss, too).

[thehef]

Originally Posted by thehef

Few thing irritate more from a sports fan perspective than seeing replay get it wrong. That just happened in the Dodgers-Braves game... Immediately after the botched replay decision, play-by-play guy Joe Davis said something like, "lately they sure seem to be leaning towards the call on the field," color man Orel Hershiser said, "the already have a system for that: it's called "no replay." Good point. Why have replay if their not simply going to get it right, every time?

At any rate, and this crosses into other sports' replay systems, IMO they should give details when they announce the decision. Something like, "there wasn't clear evidence of the tag coming before he touched the base," or "the shot from centerfield shows the ball going into the mitt before the runner's foot hit the base..." or "although it appears that the runner might've beat the throw, we can't find conclusive evidence of that, so the call stands." At least then we'd know the reasoning of these knuckleheads...

Davis' & Hershiser's exchange makes even more sense now that I've seen replays of what happened earlier in the game, when the Braves were similarly victimized by a bizarre replay review that not overturn an obvious-on-replay call.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by thehef

Some may not know that the WS was originally intended to be played without off days, with the home team changing with each game. This was the system in place for the first two-and-half decades of the World Series (and City Series'). Sure, there were plenty of deviations from this, but those were always due to geography, weather, and/or prohibitions on Sunday baseball. Whenever possible, typically/obviously when there were same-city matchups, or the distance to be traveled was close enough, it was HAHAHAx, with no off days and the x being a coin toss (and the site of the first game usually being decided by a coin toss, too).

I have nearly complete data on this, and the above is basically correct, but the actual situation was complicated. In earlier years, the World Series schedule was arranged by the National Commission in association with the leagues and likely pennant winners, Often, multiple schedules were prepared to fit the potential participants.

A format of 2-2-1-1 was adopted starting with 1914, with the site of the 7th game decided by coin toss. Travel days were used if the cities were far enough apart. If the two contesting teams were from the same city, however, then a daily alternating 1-1-1-1-1-1 was used.

In 1918, due to wartime conditions, a 3-4 format was used.

In 1919, with the change to best-of-9, a 2-3-2-1 format was used, with the site if the 9th game, if needed, decided by coin toss. In 1920, it was 3-4-1, and in 1921, it was a 2-2-2-2 format. However, if the participating teams were in the same city, then a 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1 format was used (as happened in 1921).

In 1922, with a return to best-of-7, the base format was 2-3-1, with the site of the 7th game decided by coin toss. Travel days, as usual, were only used if the two cities were far enough apart. And if the two Series clubs were from the same city, then a 1-1-1-1-1-1 format was used. This scheduling arrangement persisted through 1924.

In 1925, the 2-3-2 format was adopted, with the coin toss for the 7th game abandoned. Travel days were used only if necessary. If the contesting teams were from the same city, then an alternating 1-1-1-1-1-1-1. The last time an daily alternating schedule was considered was for the 1934 World Series. After that, the 2-3-2 format would be used even if the teams were from the same city.

Note that due to certain cities prohibiting Sunday baseball, the schedule could contain a non-travel off day as a result.

In 1942, an off day was inserted between the 6th and 7th games, ostensibly to allow more time to sell tickets for the deciding game. This persisted through the 1946 World Series. For 1943–45, due to wartime travel restrictions, if the contesting teams were from different cities, a 3-4 format was used, with up to two travel days, depending on the distance between the cities. If the teams were from the same city, then a 2-3-2 format was used, with no travel days,

In 1947, the Series reverted to the standard 2-3-2 format, with travel days only used if needed. The first time travel days were used regardless of distance between the cities was 1960, as decided by the commissioner. However, in 1962, if the two teams were from the same city, then there would be no travel days. In 1964 the rule was if the contesting cities were more than 300 miles apart, then a travel day was used. Finally, in 1965, the travel day became standard for all cases.

[Cobra Mgr]

Dad & son's adventure @ the ballpark.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Dad & son's adventure @ the ballpark.

So Steve Bartman gets 20 years in purgatory and that guy gets to go on TV and brag about it?

[Cobra Mgr]

Nothing justifies what Bartman went through.

But I think we can all agree these are 2 entirely different situations.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Nothing justifies what Bartman went through.

But I think we can all agree these are 2 entirely different situations.

Yeah, Bartman didn't lean out three feet.

And he was unwise enough to do it to the home team.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Yeah, Bartman didn't lean out three feet.

And he was unwise enough to do it to the home team.

In a playoff game. With his team in the lead. And a century old WS drought.

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

In a playoff game. With his team in the lead. And a century old WS drought.

...in the middle of the biggest meltdown in NLCS history.

[Amazin69]

Bartman wasn't even Fan Interference. And how you blame him for the Scrubs turning man-on-2nd, 1 out into eight runs, I have no idea.

But if Scrubs fans were intelligent, they'd root for the ChiSox.

Meanwhile, that little **** Jeffrey Maier gets away unscathed…

[Leo_The_Lip]

Speaking of 8 runs, Lucas Giolito becames the first man since 1899 to allow at least 8 earned runs in a game for 3 different teams in a single season.

if he gets waived again, he can try for four.

[Cobra Mgr]

They need to do a strip search of Jose Altuve.

[Cobra Mgr]

After leading the West for nearly 4 months, the Rangers are now half a game out of the WC.

If Texas doesn't make the postseason, how do you judge their season?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

After leading the West for nearly 4 months, the Rangers are now half a game out of the WC.

If Texas doesn't make the postseason, how do you judge their season?

Same way I judged the Mets' 101-61 record last year.

Bunch o' turds.

[David Watts]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

After leading the West for nearly 4 months, the Rangers are now half a game out of the WC.

If Texas doesn't make the postseason, how do you judge their season?

I would usually feel sorry for their fans, but I doubt any of them care. As long as they continue to show that silly Nolan Ryan vs Robin Ventura fight on the big screen 6 times a game, they think they're special.