# Baseball Season Is So Close **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 22, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650 "2013-03-22T16:01:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Yaxche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8dc957/32.png) [@Yaxche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yaxche)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/81 "2013-03-28T15:13:17Z")
Puig sent down for the Dodgers. The explanation kind of makes sense, though. He plays every day there, and if he plays at least 20 days in the minors, his free agency eligibility is pushed out another year. So, let him get some work in, and give Crawford a month to wash out, or Kemp a month to get hurt… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/82 "2013-03-28T16:35:10Z")
IOW, the Longoria/Trout treatment. Jackie Bradley get his three weeks in AAA to “play every day and get more seasoning” when Ortiz comes off the DL. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/83 "2013-03-28T16:49:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > You know, I’ve never understood this, either. What difference can it possibly make if you have no lefthanded starters? Is there some team out there with all lefthanded batters that you’re going to face every fifth day in a one-game series? That was the Indians last year! Their splits against lefties was atrocious. I believe Shelley Duncan was the only true RHB in the lineup. Houston, incidentally, was pretty bad against lefties last year too, but then they were pretty bad all around. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/84 "2013-03-28T17:05:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Anyway, I came in to hypothesize what the Yankees Opening Day lineup will be: > > Ichiro Suzuki 9 > Brett Gardner 8 > Robinson Cano 4 > Kevin Youkilis 5 > Travis Hafner DH > Vernon Wells 7 > Eduardo Nunez 6 > Lyle Overbay or maybe Juan Rivera (Dan Johnson? Who knows) 3 > Francisco Cervelli 2 > > Unless there’s a Fountain of Youth in the Bronx, that might to be the worst lineup in baseball. I don’t know, I think they can win the 2003 World Series. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/85 "2013-03-28T17:55:37Z")
Are they going to paint a cornfield on the outfield wall in the Bronx, so the team can enter the field through it? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/86 "2013-03-28T17:57:42Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Well, what I find baffling is that they’re willing to give Wells a pile of money, but didn’t want to retain Nick Swisher. That’s just… why? Two reasons, or maybe one reason with two causes: shitty planning, and desperation to get under the luxury tax threshold in 2014. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/87 "2013-03-28T21:21:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > For that matter, WRT to Erik Bedard thing, the “third starter/fourth starter/fifth starter” thing is stupid, too. Most teams go with a strict five-man rotation, rarely skipping the fifth starter, so it really makes no difference what order they go in. Well, except for the playoffs, of course. Speaking of starters, the Cardinals signed Adam Wainwright to a five-year extension. With Chris Carpenter’s pitching career over, Wainwright’s the face of the Cardinals rotation, and it’s nice to see him as a career Cardinal. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/88 "2013-03-29T01:21:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Speaking of starters, the Cardinals signed Adam Wainwright to a five-year extension. With Chris Carpenter’s pitching career over, Wainwright’s the face of the Cardinals rotation, and it’s nice to see him as a career Cardinal. And there was much rejoicing! I only saw a couple clips of it, but it sounded like he gave a fine press conference as well. It might just be a sop for the fans, but I still kind of want the players to talk about how much they love St. Louis and the team tradition. But can someone explain the Cardinals’ Wainwright billboard to me? The Cards have this series of billboards, each with a picture of a player and some pithy line. Like, there’s one with Molina and the line, “A Gold Glove for every finger of his hand.” OK, that’s pretty clear. But the one with Wainwright has the line “12-6 all day.” It’s laid out like so: 12-6 [image of AW throwing] All day. Granted, I don’t claim to be the best informed baseball fan in town. Is this something obvious to everyone but me? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/89 "2013-03-29T02:28:33Z")
[It’s a term for a curveball that drops straight down as it approaches the plate.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12%E2%80%936_curveball) Picture a clock: the ball starts off at 12 and drops to 6. Other curveballs move more diagonally. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/90 "2013-03-29T03:56:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [It’s a term for a curveball that drops straight down as it approaches the plate.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12%E2%80%936_curveball) Picture a clock: the ball starts off at 12 and drops to 6. Other curveballs move more diagonally. Thanks! I had never heard that before. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/91 "2013-03-29T05:04:33Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > The Sox are full of problem spots, no question about it, but I don’t see how the Yankees pitching rotation is going to hold up: CC is hurting, Pettitte is older than dirt and more fragile, Kuroda is a decent pitcher but no better than that, Hughes is ok, Nova is coming off injuries…l just don’t get it. I take exception to Kuroda being called no better than decent. He finished 9th in ERA in 2011 in the NL and 8th in ERA in 2012 in the AL, tossing more than 200 innings both years. He’s pretty damn good and maybe under-appreciated. But lord, what a line-up for the Yankees. Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/92 "2013-03-29T12:27:44Z")
[A-Rod will make more this year than all the Astros combined.](http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/51366696/ns/sports-baseball/) And he’ll do it by riding the bench all season. For that alone the Yankees deserve to finish in the basement for the next 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/93 "2013-03-29T13:27:56Z")
Looks like Johan Santana is done, at least for the year - [he has another capsule tear](http://baseballmusings.com/?p=92046). I’ve never been a Mets for (or a Twins fan, for that matter), but Santana was always a pitcher that was fun to watch, and was exciting when he was lighting it up. Sad to see him in a decline like this. > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Are they going to paint a cornfield on the outfield wall in the Bronx, so the team can enter the field through it? I’m absolutely stealing this. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/94 "2013-03-29T13:35:55Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Are they going to paint a cornfield on the outfield wall in the Bronx, so the team can enter the field through it? (clicks Like button) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/95 "2013-03-29T17:31:31Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Looks like Johan Santana is done, at least for the year - [he has another capsule tear](http://baseballmusings.com/?p=92046). I’ve never been a Mets for (or a Twins fan, for that matter), but Santana was always a pitcher that was fun to watch, and was exciting when he was lighting it up. Sad to see him in a decline like this. Yeah, I’m used to rooting against him since he was a Twin, but I hate to see news like this. He’s such a good pitcher, a great pitcher, when he’s healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/96 "2013-03-29T17:48:38Z")
He was one of those pitchers who, when asked by a non-fan why you like pitching matchups (rather than high scoring games), you could show, and it’d be instantly clear how a great pitching performance can be dazzling and worth watching (and paying attention to). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/97 "2013-03-29T17:59:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > For that alone the Yankees deserve to finish in the basement for the next 20 years. And what do the Astros deserve? [Forbes says the team is worth more than $600 million](http://www.forbes.com/teams/houston-astros/), they were profitable last year, they’re getting revenue sharing money, and they’re spending jack shit on players. Overpaying guys is bad, but mailing it in is OK? ---
**Author:** ![MentalGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MentalGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MentalGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/98 "2013-03-29T18:12:21Z")
Fun fact: Since 2009 there have been more perfect games in MLB than [Joey Votto popups](http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-less-pressing-joey-votto-question/) (as counted by fangraphs). Also, Joey Votto has only pulled one ball foul into the stands [in his MLB career](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/joey-votto-only-pulled-one-foul-ball-stands-165815322.html). ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/99 "2013-03-29T18:27:48Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And what do the Astros deserve? [Forbes says the team is worth more than $600 million](http://www.forbes.com/teams/houston-astros/), they were profitable last year, they’re getting revenue sharing money, and they’re spending jack shit on players. Overpaying guys is bad, but mailing it in is OK? Meh. They were in a horrible position a couple years ago, with not enough talent to win in the majors and a farm system that was ranked dead last in the majors. They got that way largely by refusing to acknowledge that the Killer B era was over and they needed to rebuild, instead signing second-tier free agents to first-tier contracts and wasting at least two years. They did what they had to do: traded everyone over the age of 27 or so who had any trade value whatsoever for prospects. If you assume they’re not going to be good again until 2015 at the earliest, the only guy they traded away who might still be productive is Jed Lowrie, and he’s never been healthy for even 100 games in a season. If they start trading away their young guys as soon as they hit arbitration eligibility, or are still at the bottom of the salary list in two years or so, then you have a case that they’re being cheapskates; as it stands they’re doing what they have to do to be competitive in the long term. Or do you have specific suggestions of a couple free agents they could have signed for $30 million or so who could have made the team competitive for the playoffs this year? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650/100 "2013-03-29T18:38:12Z")
In 2013, baseball officially resides in Southern California. Dodgers and Angels will both be in the World Series. Kershaw wins the Cy Young, Pujols wins the Triple Crown. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-season-is-so-close/653650.md?page=6)