# Baseball August 2009 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 1, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998 "2009-08-01T20:41:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/41 "2009-08-06T03:55:41Z")
For a stadium to have soul or character it needs a history. At Tiger Stadium, once Briggs Stadium, once Navin Field ,Ty Cobb, Hang Greenburg, Al Kaline, Ted Williams,and thousands of others ran on its infield. I saw the Yankees of Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Micky Mantle play there. I watched Ted Williams and wondered why he was booed. I saw Denny McClain win 30 , Cecil hit 50 and the Tigers win in 68 and 84. At this time Comerica is a building . ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/42 "2009-08-06T11:30:37Z")
The Yankees swept a mini series against the Jays, and the Rays beat the Sox again, so the Yanks are 2.5 up heading into their weekend series. We get Chamberlain/Smoltz, Burnett/Beckett, Sabathia/Bucholz and Pettitte/Lester. Should be a good weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/43 "2009-08-06T16:22:21Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > For a stadium to have soul or character it needs a history. At Tiger Stadium, once Briggs Stadium, once Navin Field ,Ty Cobb, Hang Greenburg, Al Kaline, Ted Williams,and thousands of others ran on its infield. I saw the Yankees of Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Micky Mantle play there. I watched Ted Williams and wondered why he was booed. I saw Denny McClain win 30 , Cecil hit 50 and the Tigers win in 68 and 84. At this time Comerica is a building . Hmm. Does the Seattle Mariners’ 116-win season in 2001 count as “history” for Safeco Field? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/44 "2009-08-06T16:46:46Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Hmm. Does the Seattle Mariners’ 116-win season in 2001 count as “history” for Safeco Field? Hell no, not by itself. It was an incident. it takes time to develop a history. Tiger Stadium even has a history that includes Mark Fidrych’s great year. That would not be enough by itself to declare the stadium has history. But is is in a huge pile that does. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/45 "2009-08-07T00:49:19Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Hmm. Does the Seattle Mariners’ 116-win season in 2001 count as “history” for Safeco Field? If you like Safeco Field and you have fun watching baseball there, that’s all that matters. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/46 "2009-08-07T01:03:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > If you like Safeco Field and you have fun watching baseball there, that’s all that matters. Different question. The season is part of a history for Safeco. It takes time to build one. Fenway, Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium( the House that Ruth built) ,Wrigley Field, all have thousands of games played. Playoffs, championships, no hitters, super long home runs, all have occurred building up a reservoir of memories in the collective memories of fans and players.It means something to see a game at a storied park. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/47 "2009-08-07T01:12:38Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Different question. The season is part of a history for Safeco. It takes time to build one. Fenway, Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium( the House that Ruth built) ,Wrigley Field, all have thousands of games played. Playoffs, championships, no hitters, super long home runs, all have occurred building up a reservoir of memories in the collective memories of fans and players.It means something to see a game at a storied park. I agree with the nostalgic aspect of your assertion about MLB ballparks. Nostalgia plays a HUGE role in the minds of baseball fans, as it must. Unfortunately, facilities age over time and sometimes cannot be improved to accomodate increased demand in what’s to be considered as a modern baseball stadium. But generally I agree. It’s the same kind of mystique an NFL fan can assign to a place like Lambeau Field (even if you don’t root for the Packers, I don’t), despite the fact that the NFL is too “all about business” to ever hold a Superbowl at such a locale. I think they should, but it has to be a dome or a warm-weather year round stadium to accomodate the NFL’s lust for money. I think personally that a Superbowl between two traditionally warm-weather, open stadia teams would be AWESOME at Lambeau Field. But I’m crazy like that. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/48 "2009-08-07T01:20:09Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Different question. The season is part of a history for Safeco. It takes time to build one. Fenway, Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium( the House that Ruth built) ,Wrigley Field, all have thousands of games played. Playoffs, championships, no hitters, super long home runs, all have occurred building up a reservoir of memories in the collective memories of fans and players.It means something to see a game at a storied park. Of course, I realize a team that is only ~30 years old isn’t going to have much history to begin with 😛 Even with that, I don’t think the old Kingdome was ever going to be considered an “historic” ballpark, and unfortunately that’s where most of the Mariners’ history was. The Kingdome was “affectionately” referred to as “The Big Concrete Turd” by Seattleites. But of the old “historic” parks, there’s one in particular I’m glad to see gone: Yankee Stadium. If for no other reason than that I’ll no longer have to listen to Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus gushing over it every time the M’s play there. I don’t know how other visiting teams’ announcers acted in Yankee Stadium, but Niehaus (even though I otherwise love listening to him) always sounded like he was prostrating himself and groveling on the pitcher’s mound every time the M’s played there, and it was almost nauseating to listen to. He’s almost as bad at Fenway. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/49 "2009-08-07T02:07:18Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > Of course, I realize a team that is only ~30 years old isn’t going to have much history to begin with 😛 Even with that, I don’t think the old Kingdome was ever going to be considered an “historic” ballpark, and unfortunately that’s where most of the Mariners’ history was. The Kingdome was “affectionately” referred to as “The Big Concrete Turd” by Seattleites. > > But of the old “historic” parks, there’s one in particular I’m glad to see gone: Yankee Stadium. If for no other reason than that I’ll no longer have to listen to Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus gushing over it every time the M’s play there. I don’t know how other visiting teams’ announcers acted in Yankee Stadium, but Niehaus (even though I otherwise love listening to him) always sounded like he was prostrating himself and groveling on the pitcher’s mound every time the M’s played there, and it was almost nauseating to listen to. He’s almost as bad at Fenway. I thought getting hit in the head by falling concrete tiles at the Kingdome was considered a rite of passage? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/50 "2009-08-07T02:19:18Z")
I just checked out [MLB.com](http://MLB.com), and one of the headlines is “Posada Flirting with History.” First, i fucking hate the increasingly common use of “flirting with history” in sports reporting, especially at [MLB.com](http://MLB.com). It’s retarded. Second, it turns out that what “flirting with history” means, in this case, as that Posada is a triple short of a cycle. Wow, is that right? You mean that the guy who has hit a total of 9 triples in 15 major league seasons only needs a triple to complete the cycle? Well why didn’t you say so? Let me turn the game on so i can follow this historic event. Idiots. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/51 "2009-08-07T03:23:05Z")
D-backs with a nice 6-1 road trip. They’re beating up the Pirates tonight in extra innings. Even Dan Haren with a nice sacrifice fly tonight! ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/52 "2009-08-07T05:49:56Z")
Andre Ethier gets his 5th walk-off hit of the year – a three-run shot! Drama’s only good when your team comes out on top. 🙂 The Dodgers needed that. They’ve been slumping lately. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/53 "2009-08-07T11:43:33Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I just checked out [MLB.com](http://MLB.com), and one of the headlines is “Posada Flirting with History.” > > First, i fucking hate the increasingly common use of “flirting with history” in sports reporting, especially at [MLB.com](http://MLB.com). It’s retarded. > > Second, it turns out that what “flirting with history” means, in this case, as that Posada is a triple short of a cycle. > > Wow, is that right? You mean that the guy who has hit a total of 9 triples in 15 major league seasons only needs a triple to complete the cycle? Well why didn’t you say so? Let me turn the game on so i can follow this historic event. > > Idiots. I was watching the game and thinking to myself, no way does an about-to-be 38-year old catcher get a triple as the last part of a cycle. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/54 "2009-08-08T11:23:46Z")
Holy cow,what a game last night between the Yanks and Sox. 0-0 through 14, and A-Rod wins it in the bottom of the 15th with home run. Burnett and Beckett both pitched great into the 8th and the pens kept it going, with only a Sox rookie just called up and put in the game late giving in for the losing run. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/55 "2009-08-08T12:27:37Z")
That was a thrilling game. Yanks 2 Red Sox 0 after 15 innings of blown opportunities. Everyone thought it was over in the 14th with Hinske as the hero but J.D. Drew made a great catch and then Melky sliced one that was just foul. The Red Sox used the entire bullpen in a week where they used their bullpen hard. Today Rookie Clay Buchholz (1-1, 6.05) average less than 5 innings per start takes on C.C. Sabathia (11-7, 3.95) averaging 6.74 innings but when he is going good is good for 8 with ease. This is a great match up for the Yanks. Hughes and Rivera are both available and Robertson and Melancon did not pitch last night. The Rays did lose last night, good news for the Yanks and great news for the Sox. Texas crushed the Angels 11-6 though which is very bad news for the Sox. **Wild Card Standings today:** ```auto AMERICAN W L PCT GB HOME ROAD RS RA DIFF STRK L10 Boston 62 46 .574 - 35-17 27-29 560 477 +83 Lost 4 4-6 Texas 61 47 .565 1 37-21 24-26 523 480 +43 Won 2 5-5 Tampa 60 49 .550 2.5 36-18 24-31 570 486 +84 Lost 1 6-4 NATIONAL Colorado 60 49 .550 - 28-21 32-28 535 479 +56 Won 1 6-4 SF 60 49 .550 - 37-17 23-32 442 403 +39 Lost 1 7-3 Cubs 57 50 .533 2 33-19 24-31 471 439 +32 Lost 2 5-5 Florida 56 53 .514 4 29-26 27-27 496 510 -14 Won 1 5-5 Atlanta 56 54 .509 4.5 28-25 28-29 487 457 +30 Won 1 5-5 ``` Yanks have the best record in Baseball today. ½ game up over the Dodgers. Odds are Gaudin joins the staff today, but I don’t know who is go down. The likeliest would be Melancon. Mets had another crusher as K-Rod first coughed up the lead on a double and then the game via a Grand Slam to young phenom Cabrera. Jimbo will be happy. Someone apparently claimed Alex Rios (age 18) yesterday from the Jays. Now we have to see if he gets pulled back. From [Breaking News - Headlines & Top Stories | The Star](http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/678271) > [@](#): > > Last year, Rios signed a seven-year contract worth nearly $70 million (U.S.), but his production this season hasn’t lived up to his huge salary. Through 105 games, he was hitting .261 with 12 home runs and 58 RBIs. (originally posted on Domebo) ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/56 "2009-08-08T12:35:53Z")
The Rangers released Vicenete Padilla. Padilla was up to his old tricks of hitting batters and I guess the Rangers have had enough of that. The A’s retaliated by hitting Michael Young and there is no way the the Rangers can make a playoff run without Young especially with Kinsler still on the DL. Interesting how harsh the A’s were by releasing Jason Giambi. They pointed out his lowest batting average in the majors in the press release. There must be some bad blood there since I’d think all of Giambi’s early Oakland years would at least allow a friendly parting. D-backs manage to lose to the ‘red-hot’ Washington Nationals! ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/57 "2009-08-08T13:18:53Z")
[Here](http://www.bbtia.com/home/2009/8/8/newsflash-vicente-padilla-designated-for-assignment.html) is a good article describing the Padilla release. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/58 "2009-08-08T13:30:08Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The Rays did lose last night, good news for the Yanks and great news for the Sox. Texas crushed the Angels 11-6 though which is very bad news for the Sox. It’s only half bad. It makes the Rangers closer, but pulls the Angels closer as well. They’re not so far ahead that the scenario of Texas winning the West and Boston winning the Wild Card isn’t possible. It’s going to be a good race. I really don’t think Texas is as good a team as either Boston or Tampa Bay, so it will be interesating to see how they far this month, when they play Boston, New York and Tampa. That run could either kill them or really set them up. > [@](#): > > Someone apparently claimed Alex Rios (age 18) yesterday from the Jays. Now we have to see if he gets pulled back. I don’t get the “age 18” bit. He’s 28 years old chronologically, and six years old mentally. That averages out to 17. That said, it’s unlikely Toronto would let him go. As disappointing as he is, 1. He’s not TERRIBLE, and his contract isn’t that onerous by today’s standards, 2. He is legitimately one of the best defensive outfielders in the major leagues, so is better than his hitting numbers would suggest, 3. He might always have a good season if someone lights a fire under his lazy ass, and 4. There’s quite literally nobody else to play right field. Who’re you going to put out there? Russ Adams? They already don’t have a left fielder. They’re only let him go as a trade to get a decent outfielder in return. And that trade wouldn’t make any sense for the other team. BTW, the Blue Jays are a miserable, depressing team. Ricciardi must be fired. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/59 "2009-08-08T15:18:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t get the “age 18” bit. He’s 28 years old chronologically, and six years old mentally. That averages out to 17. > > That said, it’s unlikely Toronto would let him go. As disappointing as he is, > > 1. He’s not TERRIBLE, and his contract isn’t that onerous by today’s standards, > 2. He is legitimately one of the best defensive outfielders in the major leagues, so is better than his hitting numbers would suggest, > 3. He might always have a good season if someone lights a fire under his lazy ass, and > 4. There’s quite literally nobody else to play right field. Who’re you going to put out there? Russ Adams? They already don’t have a left fielder. > > They’re only let him go as a trade to get a decent outfielder in return. And that trade wouldn’t make any sense for the other team. > > BTW, the Blue Jays are a miserable, depressing team. Ricciardi must be fired. I am a terrible proof reader, but I am glad I could set up a good joke for you. Honestly I would take Rios and his contract. I wonder if the Jays would take Swisher and some cash for him? As you pointed out, Ricciardi is stupid. 😉 His handling of his best player was wonderful. Really showed his skill. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998/60 "2009-08-08T20:51:36Z")
Oritz’s [response](http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090808&content_id=6316054&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb) to the whole steroid thing: > [@](#): > > Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said on Saturday that he has never used or purchased steroids, but had been “careless” in his taking of nutritional supplements in 2003, when he reportedly tested positive for the use of performance-enhancing drugs. > > \ > > "But I never bought steroids or used steroids. I never thought buying supplements was going to hurt somebody’s feelings. If that happened, I’m sorry about it. “I’m sorry if i hurt somebody’s feelings”? Really? That’s what you’re going with? Fucking big galoot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-august-2009/504998.md?page=4)