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MLB 2015

#61
Very cool - those might have some value.

It looks like this guy - Tommy Beals 1874 Boston Red Stockings Tommy Beals Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com
He was a utility player - mostly 2B but some OF, the Red Stockings were an early dynasty, they finished first in the National Association from 1872-75, the predecessor to the National League - most of these guys became the core of the National League Boston Red Stockings which eventually became the Boston-Milw-Atlanta Braves. Their pitcher was Albert Goodwill Spaulding who is in the Hall of Fame as an equipment maker and team/league executive. He also was a pretty good pitcher - he went 54-5 in 617 innings with a 1.59 ERA in 1874! I'd love to go into free agency after a year like that - start at $75,000,000 per for 8 years maybe settle for 70 for 6 years.

For comparison, the 2014 Boston Red Sox starters had 50 wins among 10 guys.
 
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#62
I'm in the middle of a book entitled "The Summer Of Beer And Whiskey..How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, And A Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America's Game". It's a fine read about the creation of the American Association (forerunner of the American League) and how they took on the National League in the early 1880s. Talk about a bunch of characters! It's very well written. I'd suggest it to any fan of base ball history! (I just took a look at the link you provided. Thanks! That's surely the guy.)
 
#63
dangnewt said:
those might have some value.
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I didn't mean to give you the impression that I actually own these images, so as to hold them in my hand. These are just cool old base ball images that I've Stumbled Upon out here in the Intrawebs. :)
 
#64
Pilgrim said:
I remember the Mariners when Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and A-Rod (pre-idiot phase) all played for them. I remember the magnificence of Edgar Martinez, and the surprisingly open batting stance of Jay Buhner. LOVED that era of Mariners!!
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I did as well. As awesome as that group was, I enjoyed the supporting cast as well. Guys like Rich Amaral, Sterling Hitchcock, Hard Hittin' Mark Whiten, Greg Pirkl. Oh I could go on for hours about this mid to late 90's teams.

-Mike
 
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#68
MJ5150 said:
I did as well. As awesome as that group was, I enjoyed the supporting cast as well. Guys like Rich Amaral, Sterling Hitchcock, Hard Hittin' Mark Whiten, Greg Pirkl. Oh I could go on for hours about this mid to late 90's teams.

-Mike
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The Refuse to Lose season completed my transition from being a National League fan who had moved to Seattle into a full blown Mariners fan. The last decade hasn't been near as much fun, but this season looks like it has some good entertainment potential. The great thing about baseball is that a team that looks unstoppable on paper might not do so well, while a team that looks like a doormat might have a breakout season any given year. But, the Mariners haven't managed to have the breakout season. This is the year, though. They are still in first place! Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow, and they are still tied for first!

On a slightly grim note, Mariners prospect Victor Sanchez got hit by some kind of watercraft and is in critical condition with skull fractures and other issues. The report I read says he's improving but still in a coma. He's only 20 years old.
 
#71
I am - batters need to stop adjusting every piece of clothing and equipment and pitchers need to get the ball and throw. MLB is doing it the right way by introducing it in the minors and tweaking the systems before bringing it to the majors; by doing so, they are training future major leaguers to pick up the pace. A ball game should be 2.5 hours all in - the Red Sox routinely go over 3 hours and when they play the Yankees figure 3.5-4 hours.
 
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#72
I'm reminded of when the NHL finally came to the conclusion that helmets were necessary. Goalies took to the mask by themselves. Many (TOO many) skaters pushed back against the helmet. The NHL simply ordained it a new rule in the minor leagues, and grandfathered veteran NHL players who didn't want to wear one...knowing that in short order, the entire league would wear helmets. Get high school and college kids used to playing a baseball game in 2 hours, and they will carry those habits with them on the way up the food chain. Minor leaguers are, no doubt, easier to 'direct'. The rules that they become accustomed to this year will make their way to the majors soon enough...and we'll all be richer for it.
 
#77
By all accounts, he is the real deal - if he were subject to the draft, he'd be the first or second taken overall and in line for a pretty big bonus any way. He is built like an NFL safety 6' 1" 215 lbs of muscle, he's a switch hitter who can play short but eventually could be moved to 2nd, 3rd or outfield (Yaz was drafted as a shortstop as was Pedroia). From a Red Sox fan perspective, it is a great signing, you need talent and this kid has talent, he doesn't cost them a pick or a player just cold hard cash which Sox ownership has in abundance. At worst, he should become an average major leaguer, at best, a perennial All-Star - he could see the majors in late 2016 when he would only be 20-21.

The Sox don't have to win every year but they need to be competitive. Last year they were bad, too much reliance but on the young guys, too many injuries that thrust some younger guys into more prominent roles than they were ready for. The Sox have some depth in system, they just weren't ready last year. Betts will either take over RF for good or backup the entire outfield. Vasquez will be the starting catcher and he already is Gold Glove caliber defense and is probably a .240-.250 hitter; there is a better hitting catcher behind him in Swihart as long as the Sox don't trade him for Cole Hamels. I expect better things from Bogaerts this year. Pedroia seems fully recovered from hand surgeries; Sandoval replacing Middlebrooks at 3rd is a huge upgrade and Hanley Ramirez in left will have more HR's himself than the entire outfield had last year.
 
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#78
Well written! Insightful! Thanks for the 411! Da Saux are my favorite American League team. Sometimes when I'm watching them I can a l m o s t allow myself to forget that they're playing 10-man 'baseball':rollno:. I wonder if you'll miss David Ross as much as I did when he left Atlanta. I think of him as a real gamer. Thank GAWD he landed in Bahstan and McCann landed in NY. I'd have lost my mind if it had worked out the other way around. Braves are doing nothing else but making plans for 2017 when all these new minor leaguers are supposed to be ready to play at the new stadium. This could be a very, very long summer. Some good news from down this way though...the original plan was to simply tear down The Ted and leave yet another gaping hole in the middle of Atlanta. Now, I've heard, that the city of Atlanta will sell the stadium to Georgia State University for a dollar, and GSU will reconfigure it to accommodate its new football program, as well as baseball. GSU is one of the fastest growing universities in the country...located right down town and coming on as a basketball and football school...recruiting locally, etc... Now I'm looking forward to a higher grade of college baseball at The Ted; a GREAT place to see a game. BUT! Just this morning I heard some bad news from up your way. My wife is from Rhode Island, and we've traveled up there each summer for decades. My time in RI isn't complete until I've taken in a game or two at McCoy Stadium...the finest minor league ball park I know of. The park in Rome, GA is really, really nice, too! But now I'm told that the PawSox are preparing to abandon McCoy and move to Providence! Say it ain't so!
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...and in an effort to bring this back around to the bass guitar...I love this picture of our eldest grand daughter and a bassist / busker named Alexander Ponomarenko, and his '62 P Bass. He's been busking outside the stadium for 3 years now, and we've gotten to talk and to know each other pretty well. He's a REALLY good player, and, obviously, a really nice guy.
 
#79
Thanks.
It will take at least 2 years, but the new ownership of the PawSox wants a downtown Providence stadium. I usually try to catch a game or two every year at McCoy and a Providence location would mean a longer drive for me.

Ross was exactly what the team needed after the disaster that was the Bobby Valentine/Chicken and Beer Red Sox - a great guy, the pitchers loved him, winning attitude. The bat has just declined too much for the Sox to hang onto him especially with one catcher at the big league level this year (Vasquez) and a potentially better one at Triple-A in Swihart.
 
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#80
The Mariners already have had one tragedy going into spring training with Victor Sanchez' catastrophic injury. He is a farm hand at this point, but he is also a bright prospect. It will be a while before he pitches again, if he even recovers. Now James Paxton has had an "unathletic moment" and injured himself during agility drills. Tripping over your own feet can be unfortunate. But, Felix Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, JA Happ, Roenis Elias, Taijuan Walker, and the bullpen all seem like they are healthy and ready to go. Even Danny Hultzen, who lost all of last year to shoulder problems, seems like he's back and will be ready or close to ready. And, they are still tied for FIRST PLACE! Gotta love spring training.
 
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