The Talkin' Baseball Thread

[Radiobarry]

The 2006 Major League Baseball Season is upon us - it officially starts tomorrow (Sunday) night when the defending champion Chicago White Sox host the improving Cleveland Indians. Most teams open their seasons Monday or Tuesday.

Off the field, as usual, there's plenty to talk about...from the Bonds/steroids fiasco, to the game's continuing competitive and economic imbalance which has virtually doomed once-proud franchises like Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Kansas City among others.

Still, like the author says...Life Begins On Opening Day.

My team? The Angels. The Angels that play in Anaheim. Yeah, the name-change thing. I just call em..the Angels. Looks like we won't be seeing as much of em on TV round here this season...

Dodger fans... Cubs or White Sox fans...Twins fans...
everybody's welcome here, and we'll try to provide a close-to-daily account of the "news of the day" as we go along...do we have to accept Yankee fans too? ...
Wellll...OKAYYY....

Play ball!

Barry

EDIT PS...I called the thread "Talkin' Baseball" in honor of the great Terry Cashman song...honoring Willie (Mays), Mickey (Mantle) and the Duke (Snider)...

[DMof2]

...do we have to accept Yankee fans too? ...

You bet your bottom you do

#1 Yankees fan here

1st game vs. Oakland- Monday, April 3rd (MY BDAY ) I will be up at 10 pm EST to WATCH every minute of it

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh BASEBALL is FINALLY HERE!!!!!

*turns up the tune.... New York, New York by blue eyes*

[Radiobarry]

Originally Posted by DMof2

You bet your bottom you do

#1 Yankees fan here

*turns up the tune.... New York, New York by blue eyes*

***Turning down the Sinatra tune even though he's a fan of Francis Albert***

Hey DMof2! Seriously, glad to have you aboard. You know that I have two favorite teams, the Angels and whoever's playing the Yankees. Seeing as how the AL West might come right down to the wire, I am put in an uncomfortable position whenever that "whoever" is Oakland!!! I still can't bring myself to root for the Yanks, even when it's in my own self interest...

Anyway, what a wild weekend next week when the Angels open at home with those guys. At least the Angels have enough fans now where at least half the stadium cheers for them when they host teams like New York and Boston...

We have so many transplants out here that it used to feel like Yankee Stadium West when they were in town...
!!!

Anyway, friendly rivals to the end, my friend...

Barry

[DMof2]

Anyway, friendly rivals to the end, my friend...

[Mac Daddy]

Yankees are the best team in baseball....to hate. Red Sox are a close second, but the Yankees bring out the best...er...worst in all of us.

As I am a hard core ANAHEIM Angel fan, I can't wait for the season to begin. I'm thinking Tim Salmon might be back in the lineup, but whooo boy. I hope he holds together for the season. It seems like one bad slide into third and he could be in a wheel chair.

And we still need another bat. Bengie is going to be VERY tough to replace. We've lost several bats in the last couple of years: Glaus, Eckstein (Last year = WHERE did THAT come from?), Guillen (Good riddance, but that dude could HIT), and now Bengie. Bengie is the ONLY reason the Angels made the playoffs last year. If Salmon is back, all we need to do is get Erstad, Figgins, Cabrera, Anderson, and the rest of the team to REMEMBER how to HIT THE FRICKIN BALL!! Why does Mickey Hatcher still have a job? How many slumps did this team go through last year? Or was the whole season a big slump?

Hit.

The.

Ball!

[Radiobarry]

Okay here goes...my picks...we'll review at season's end...

AL -
West - Oakland
Central - White Sox
East - Yankees
Wild card...Cleveland
(hope I'm wrong of course. Oakland has really strengthened itself, and the Angels will have to win on pitching and defense.

NL - Giants (with outfield sponsored by MediCare)
Central - Cardinals
East - Atlanta (again)
Wild card: ready for this - Cubs

World Series: Indians-Cardinals and St. Louis wins it...

How about yours...Again, I hope I'm wrong...I picked the Angels to finish third in the West in 2002.

Barry

[TCwalt]

My Picks:

AL
East- Yankees
Central- White Sox
West- Angels
Wild Card- Twins

NL
East- Mets
Central-Astros
West-Dodgers
Wild Card- Braves

World Series
Angels v. Mets

Angels in 6.

[Radiobarry]

Originally Posted by TCwalt

My Picks:

AL
East- Yankees
Central- White Sox
West- Angels
Wild Card- Twins

NL
East- Mets
Central-Astros
West-Dodgers
Wild Card- Braves

World Series
Angels v. Mets

Angels in 6.

Hope you're right, Walt!

For the record, the Sports Illustrated pre-season prediction:

AL

West-Oakland (Angels 2nd)
Central-White Sox
East-Yankees
Wild Card-Angels

NL -
West-Dodgers
Central-Cardinals
East-Braves
Wild Card-Mets

AL playoffs:
White Sox beat the Angels (again)
A's beat the Yankees
White Sox beat the A's

NL playoffs:
Cards beat the Mets
Braves beat the Dodgers
Cards beat the Braves

World Series...White Sox beat St Louis to repeat as champs

At least that's how SI sees it...

Barry

[Anders]

I can only hope the Twins dedicated season to Kirby goes well! Also hope the M&M boys Mauer and Mornieau continue to develop for the Twins as well as Torii Hunter making Kirby-like catches in centerfield.

[Barbaraann]

Now if Sports Illustrated puts the White Sox on their cover, is that some kind of a curse?

My grandson and I were talking the other day, about Kerry Wood, and Mark Prior not being able to pitch. Sean feels that the Cubs won't do very well this year. Now I explained to Sean that perhaps the Cubs will have some other pitchers, that will really do well, in the absence of Wood and Prior. Sometimes, talent services, when you least expect. Anything can happen, that's why they play the games.

Looking forward to Opening Day on both sides of town.

[Barbaraann]

Baseball is being played tonite at Sox Park, now called U.S. Cellular Field. The Sox play the Cleveland Indians. The paper says that the game is sold out. I should hope so. Fans better leave early, or take CTA transportation, because the Dan Ryan expressway is being worked on, and I understand has 1/2 the lanes.

Will the White Sox repeat? That remains to be seen. That's why they play the game.

[PrincessY]

Originally Posted by Radiobarry

the Angels. Looks like we won't be seeing as much of em on TV round here this season...

Why not??

Originally Posted by TCwalt

World Series
Angels v. Mets

Angels in 6.

Let's hope you are right!! Go Angels!

[JangoFett]

Originally Posted by Radiobarry

...do we have to accept Yankee fans too?

I'm going to Tuesday's A's - Yankees game. Should be fun provided I can get over the mountains. There's a big storm coming in and I live in Reno.

[Mac Daddy]

Originally Posted by JangoFett

I'm going to Tuesday's A's - Yankees game. Should be fun provided I can get over the mountains. There's a big storm coming in and I live in Reno.

Ouch. A drive over the Donner pass in the snow to see the A's. THAT's dedication! I moan when I have to sit on the 57 to see the Angels.

BTW - Your A's are going DOWN!

[Mac Daddy]

Originally Posted by Radiobarry

I just call em..the Angels. Looks like we won't be seeing as much of em on TV round here this season...

Yeah...Brilliant marketing strategy by Arte Moreno, wasn't it? Change the name to LOS ANGELES Angels and TV stations will fall all over themselves to broadcast the games.

See how well THAT worked out?

Long live the ANAHEIM Angels!!!!!