BATTER UP!

[DeaconKC]

Simply rewrite the rules about injuries. If determined that a player deliberately tried to injure another player, they are ejected for the same time that the injured player misses and that team does not get to fill that roster spot. So if a Cueto deliberately kicks a Larue in the head during a brawl, his career is OVER. If a pitcher is determined to have hit a batter in the head deliberately or a player sliding into Second trying to hurt another player, the team as a whole pays the penalty. There is a huge difference between breaking up a double play cleanly and trying to hurt another player.

 

[belfastboy]

Simply rewrite the rules about injuries. If determined that a player deliberately tried to injure another player, they are ejected for the same time that the injured player misses and that team does not get to fill that roster spot. So if a Cueto deliberately kicks a Larue in the head during a brawl, his career is OVER. If a pitcher is determined to have hit a batter in the head deliberately or a player sliding into Second trying to hurt another player, the team as a whole pays the penalty. There is a huge difference between breaking up a double play cleanly and trying to hurt another player.

Umpires have enough trouble calling balls and strikes correctly....don't be giving them additional discretionary calls to make. It won't end well.

 

[DeaconKC]

Umpires have enough trouble calling balls and strikes correctly....don't be giving them additional discretionary calls to make. It won't end well.

Oh no, I would let the Umpires simply report an incident for investigation. If an Umpire ejects a player for a suspected deliberate action that game, it is not changing their responsibilities to run the game.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I agree with Lizzie re the owners, but I'd add that if the players - others than the Astros - really want fairness and not just their revenues, they'd find a way to strike / protest / force baseball to punish the guilty players. Right now, the framework allows the not-guilty players to act sanctimonious while cashing their humongous paychecks. If they don't play, something will give - they are the game. And I'd bet big they players would have the public behind them.

The problem with this is simple: the Astros were not the only team stealing signs. Every team was stealing signs. Every team's pitchers use illegal substances on the ball. The players know this. The players did not want all of this. The owners did not want all of this. They all know that if MLB banned all players who were "cheating" there'd be exactly zero players in MLB.

This is a perfect example of how social media has turned into a mob. Publicly, when a reporter sticks a microphone in their face and asks them for a comment about the Astros, they have to show outrage. That's how a mob works. But, personally, they're just praying they aren't the next guys ratted out. They are deeply regretting this wasn't handled internally and allowed the public to play judge, jury, and executioner of their internal dealings, absent of any facts, common sense, context, or perspective.

 

[belfastboy]

The problem with this is simple: the Astros were not the only team stealing signs. Every team was stealing signs. Every team's pitchers use illegal substances on the ball. The players know this. The players did not want all of this. The owners did not want all of this. They all know that if MLB banned all players who were "cheating" there'd be exactly zero players in MLB.

This is a perfect example of how social media has turned into a mob. Publicly, when a reporter sticks a microphone in their face and asks them for a comment about the Astros, they have to show outrage. That's how a mob works. But, personally, they're just praying they aren't the next guys ratted out. They are deeply regretting this wasn't handled internally and allowed the public to play judge, jury, and executioner of their internal dealings, absent of any facts, common sense, context, or perspective.

Thank you for your post. I think you nailed it.

 

[Harp]

I can recall Gaylord Perry being caught by an ump during a nite game-and he tried to toss the patch.
Always considered him a sorry sonuvabitch for not admitting it then-and-there-years later I caught a
televised interview and Perry did the smartass horseshit routine. Its obviously part of the woof n' wool
spun inside the actual game itself but the silly shit routine gets old.

Ahh, this season's gonna be iced.

 

[belfastboy]

I can recall Gaylord Perry being caught by an ump during a nite game-and he tried to toss the patch.
Always considered him a sorry sonuvabitch for not admitting it then-and-there-years later I caught a
televised interview and Perry did the smartass horseshit routine. Its obviously part of the woof n' wool
spun inside the actual game itself but the silly shit routine gets old.

Ahh, this season's gonna be iced.

I always considerate, pine tar, slippery elm, emery paper as all part of the game. part of its quirckyness.

Corked bats, stealing signs all part of its allure. George Brett with his pine tar bat half way up. All about bending/breaking the rules to gain an edge. I loved Gaylord, one of my favourites. Bobby Grich knowing which players slid into second head first so he could block the base while awaiting the throw (back in the day when players still slid into second feet first). Knowing if you crossed a line, broke a code you or a team mate would pay. Knowing that if you faced Bob Gibson he would knock you on your ass anytime he wanted to because it worked for him and he was Bob Gibson. Damn, I miss those days.

 

[Harp]

I always considerate, pine tar, slippery elm, emery paper as all part of the game. part of its quirckyness.

Corked bats, stealing signs all part of its allure. Knowing that if you faced Bob Gibson he would knock you on your ass anytime he wanted to because it worked for him and he was Bob Gibson. Damn, I miss those days.

Yeah, I miss those days too. But despite the practice of gaining an edge, if you're caught red-handed, ya fess up.
Perry lost me with the bullshit. Koufax would break a shoulder, Gibson knock a man flat assed.
But Perry always grated for his styled innocence after he busted flush.

 

[Frunobulax]

I can recall Gaylord Perry being caught by an ump during a nite game-and he tried to toss the patch.
Always considered him a sorry sonuvabitch for not admitting it then-and-there-years later I caught a
televised interview and Perry did the smartass horseshit routine. Its obviously part of the woof n' wool
spun inside the actual game itself but the silly shit routine gets old.

Ahh, this season's gonna be iced.

You might be remembering Joe Niekro tossing the emery patch? I always associated Perry with spitballs.

As far as Perry's attitude, I've always gotten the impression he had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek during those denials. I remember seeing an Old Timer's game once where he walked out to the mound with a bucket of water.

 

[belfastboy]

You might be remembering Joe Niekro tossing the emery patch? I always associated Perry with spitballs.

View attachment 226216

As far as Perry's attitude, I've always gotten the impression he had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek during those denials. I remember seeing an Old Timer's game once where he walked out to the mound with a bucket of water.

View attachment 226228

Yep, Perry was the juicer....Niekro the master of the emery cloth.

 

[Harp]

You might be remembering Joe Niekro tossing the emery patch? I always associated Perry with spitballs.

This was a patch, he tossed it away then his usual innocent act, which I recall included a shoulder shrug.
It was Perry up to his tricks-yeah he was a spitballer but he scratched the apple too.

 

[Frunobulax]

This was a patch, he tossed it away then his usual innocent act, which I recall included a shoulder shrug.
It was Perry up to his tricks-yeah he was a spitballer but he scratched the apple too.

Yeah, I don't doubt it. If you can get away with one thing, why not two? Or three?

That Joe Neikro clip is a riot. I remember being quite entertained when first seeing it.

 

[Harp]

Yeah, I don't doubt it. If you can get away with one thing, why not two? Or three?

I can see stealing whatever edge, and the older the supposedly wiser hurler. Perry's in the Hall, Charlie hustle ain't.
C'est la vie. Now Roger Clemens is an altogether different story. The game has certain dark corners- some darker;
others a bit more light but whatever the shade be it an individual; or, more recently a team and the Series,
the proverbial line must be drawn for baseball to have any integrity.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I couldn't stand Fat Boy even before he doped. He was the most overrated pitcher in the league when he was in Boston, and couldn't win a clutch game to save his life. I did not weep when he left town.

 

[Harp]

I did not weep when he left town.

When Chris Sale left the White Sox beneath emotional cloud cover akin to a court martial discharge under Section 8;
Reinse wouldn't trade him to the Cubs if his life depended upon it-although Dylan Cease crossed over the North Side
and became a Sox-uncontrolled weeping ensued. Cried in my beer drawn at the Cork n' Kerry-a dangerous den
for a diehard Cub fan. There is simply no justice in this world.

 

[belfastboy]

When Chris Sale left the White Sox beneath emotional cloud cover akin to a court martial discharge under Section 8;
Reinse wouldn't trade him to the Cubs if his life depended upon it-although Dylan Cease crossed over the North Side
and became a Sox-uncontrolled weeping ensued. Cried in my beer drawn at the Cork n' Kerry-a dangerous den
for a diehard Cub fan. There is simply no justice in this world.

Sale and Price...two examples of the danger of big contracts to pitchers....will Sale ever recover? Will Price relocate his mojo? In terms of the White Sox...haven't rooted for them since Fox & Aparicio. Although came back a bit when Minnie Minoso played for them in the ugly uniform era.

 

[Harp]

Sale and Price...two examples of the danger of big contracts to pitchers....will Sale ever recover? Will Price relocate his mojo? In terms of the White Sox...haven't rooted for them since Fox & Aparicio. Although came back a bit when Minnie Minoso played for them in the ugly uniform era.

Yu Darvish comes to mind. So too Tyler Chatwood, now fifth in the Cub rotation. And Lester is an aged southpaw.
The arm and the mind.
-------
Aparicio once owned a house in my neighborhood.
Minnie-a name from the past.

 

[belfastboy]

Yu Darvish comes to mind. So too Tyler Chatwood, now fifth in the Cub rotation. And Lester is an aged southpaw.
The arm and the mind.
-------
Aparicio once owned a house in my neighborhood.
Minnie-a name from the past.

Aparicio back from the day ballplayers were just regular folk and many had jobs in the off season.

 

[Tiki Tom]

R.I.P. Mary Pratt, a member of the original 1943 Rockford Peaches of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), has died. She was 101 years old. The AAGPBL was formed when Major League Baseball players were called for military service during World War II. What started as a way to keep ballparks busy and produce wartime entertainment, quickly progressed into a professional league for women baseball players.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...ginal-1943-rockford-peaches-team-dies-at-101/

 

[Bugguy]

This one's for Harp... some shots of your idol, Ernie Banks. I was about 10 yo when Banks visited the Lawndale Chicago Boys Club. The back of my head is in the bottom of the picture of Banks showing his swing. What a guy. No scandals that I've ever heard of. He was a role model for us kids.