Baseball

[GoCubsGo]

I've always considered myself a baseball purist, no DH in the National League, the pitcher is one of nine and should bat. Makes for more interesting in game strategy etc.

Really not missing their plate appearances much at all.

What do you think of the softball-style long draggy pants that they wear, instead of the traditional calf-length pants?
I'm not that big a baseball fan, and DH/no-DH doesn't bother me one way or the other. But I have always abhorred aluminum bats and it's good MLB never started using them. I do like the strike zone graphics they've been putting up, and wouldn't object to electronic plate umps.

Never been a fan of that look.


Old style calf with funky socks are kind of cool, I'm even ok with ankle.

Aluminum bats in the bigs would be a travesty.

Looking forward to the electronic strike zone. Way too many umps just suck.

[Vrede too]

... I do like the strike zone graphics they've been putting up, and wouldn't object to electronic plate umps.

... Looking forward to the electronic strike zone. Way too many umps just suck.

Just like race car crashes, the arguments with umps are the most exciting part of the sport.

Why has the National League changed the DH rule, and is it just this year?

[GoCubsGo]

... I do like the strike zone graphics they've been putting up, and wouldn't object to electronic plate umps.

... Looking forward to the electronic strike zone. Way too many umps just suck.

Just like race car crashes, the arguments with umps are the most exciting part of the sport.

Why has the National League changed the DH rule, and is it just this year?

Just this year (so far), I think they have a collective bargaining agreement coming up in two years, wouldn't be surprised at this point to see it adapted.

Every team is staying in their geographic zone for the short season to limit travel. So the Cubs for example are playing the NL Central and the AL Central. A little less than half their games are against American League teams. There probably would be a disadvantage for the AL with so many games in National League ballparks.

They also have expanded rosters, double headers are only seven innings and extra inning games automatically start with a runner on second in the tenth inning and beyond.

I do like the runner on second, instant drama and no 15 inning games.

St. Louis had a Covid outbreak and were shut down for two weeks. The Cubs, for the first time in 120 some odd years will play no games in St. Louis this year. They are currently playing a make up game in Chicago with the Cardinals as the home team.
Weird.

[Vrede too]

Ah, thanks.

... St. Louis had a Covid outbreak and were shut down for two weeks. The Cubs, for the first time in 120 some odd years will play no games in St. Louis this year. They are currently playing a make up game in Chicago with the Cardinals as the home team.
Weird.

Not getting to go to St. Louis is the saddest CV-19 story I've heard. :wave:

[GoCubsGo]

Ah, thanks.

... St. Louis had a Covid outbreak and were shut down for two weeks. The Cubs, for the first time in 120 some odd years will play no games in St. Louis this year. They are currently playing a make up game in Chicago with the Cardinals as the home team.
Weird.

Not getting to go to St. Louis is the saddest CV-19 story I've heard. :wave:

Genuine National Pastime tragedy.

[GoCubsGo]

Wind is gusting in Chicago.

[GoCubsGo]

Opps...

[GoCubsGo]

Ok, this is different. The Cubs and Tribe are in a drone delay.

[Vrede too]

... The Cubs ...

Ugh, sorry. You can always say that 2020 doesn't really count.

Go As then NYY > Miami in the WS.

[GoCubsGo]

... The Cubs ...

Ugh, sorry. You can always say that 2020 doesn't really count.

Go As then NYY > Miami in the WS.

So can I to change my signature with an asterisk?

[Vrede too]

So can I change my signature with an asterisk?

Idk, that might diminish the division win. Up to you.

... Go As ...

Crap.

[GoCubsGo]

So can I change my signature with an asterisk?

Idk, that might diminish the division win. Up to you.

... Go As ...

Crap.

Might need more than one asterisk.

Can't make myself root for the evil empire under any circumstances...besides it's the team of Cheetohead.

[GoCubsGo]

Damn, I think I might have to root for the Dodgers and the Rays.

No evil empire, Stros are the big cheaters, Fish haven't been forgiven for 2003 as well as this year, Padres still sting from 84.

California has had a rough go, they deserve some love and I used to live in Sarasota plus the Ray's are sort of Black Sheep which I can relate to.

[Vrede too]

Damn, I think I might have to root for the Dodgers and the Rays.

No evil empire, Stros are the big cheaters, Fish haven't been forgiven for 2003 as well as this year, Padres still sting from 84.

California has had a rough go, they deserve some love and I used to live in Sarasota plus the Ray's are sort of Black Sheep which I can relate to.

What have you got against the As?

[GoCubsGo]

Damn, I think I might have to root for the Dodgers and the Rays.

No evil empire, Stros are the big cheaters, Fish haven't been forgiven for 2003 as well as this year, Padres still sting from 84.

California has had a rough go, they deserve some love and I used to live in Sarasota plus the Ray's are sort of Black Sheep which I can relate to.

What have you got against the As?

Opps, nothing. Just an oversight. Go A's!

[Vrede too]

Opps, nothing. Just an oversight. Go A's!

That's better. :thumbup:

"84", seriously?

[GoCubsGo]

Opps, nothing. Just an oversight. Go A's!

That's better. :thumbup:

"84", seriously?

Broke my little heart.

[Vrede too]

Broke my little heart.

:violin: You should be grateful. It prepared you for the next 31 years.

[GoCubsGo]

Broke my little heart.

:violin: You should be grateful. It prepared you for the next 31 years.

The 1984 Leon Durham Gatorade play was the precursor for the (ex-Cub) Bill Buckner 1986 world series gaff and gave credence to the ex-Cub factor and drove Mike Royko and me to drink.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-Cubs_Factor

Royko was a life-long fan and critic of the Chicago Cubs. Every spring he would devote a column to a "Cubs Quiz", posing obscure trivia questions about mediocre Cubs players from his youth, such as Heinz Becker and Dom Dallessandro. Just prior to the 1990 World Series he wrote about the findings of another fan, Ron Berler, who had discovered a spurious correlation called the "Ex-Cubs Factor". Berler and Royko predicted that the heavily favored Oakland Athletics, who had a "critical mass" of ex-Cubs players on their Series roster, would lose the championship to the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds achieved an upset outcome in a four-game sweep of the A's, with Royko's sponsorship propelling the Ex-Cubs Factor theory into the spotlight. Carl Erskine repeats Royko's claim of the Ex-Cubs Factor, and applies it to the 1951 Dodgers, in his book Carl Erskine's Tales from the Dodgers Dugout.[28]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Royko

A Pessimist sees the glass as half empty; A Cub Fan wonders when it's gonna spill.

[Vrede too]

The 1984 Leon Durham Gatorade play was the precursor for the (ex-Cub) Bill Buckner 1986 world series gaff and gave credence to the ex-Cub factor and drove Mike Royko and me to drink.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-Cubs_Factor

...

A Pessimist sees the glass as half empty; A Cub Fan wonders when it's gonna spill.

I really liked Royko's columns.