# MLB: August 2018 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 1, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950 "2018-08-01T22:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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 8, 2018, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/61 "2018-08-08T14:53:19Z")
What the hell is up with the Braves’ announcers, lately? First, the really weird criticism of the Dodgers’ warm-up attire, and now [questioning Juan Soto’s age](http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/24314817/atlanta-braves-broadcaster-joe-simpson-suggests-juan-soto-lie-age)? I’m not saying the comment about Soto was meant to be particularly malicious (I haven’t heard a recording of it—I’ve just read the text). But at some point, don’t you start maybe thinking before you speak? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/62 "2018-08-09T10:27:04Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > Rick Ankiel is such a fascinating story. He hasn’t played in MLB since 2013 and hasn’t pitched since 2004. Have we ever seen a career fall apart all at once like Ankiel’s in the 2000 playoffs? There was Steve Sax who went from being a good fielder to being unable to throw reliably to first base. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/63 "2018-08-09T13:02:33Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > There was Steve Sax who went from being a good fielder to being unable to throw reliably to first base. And Steve Blass, who had it happen around 1972. The condition became informally known as “Steve Blass Disease.” > **[Steve Blass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blass?wprov=sfla1)** > > Stephen Robert Blass (born April 18, 1942) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports color commentator. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1964 and from 1966 through 1974. Blass was one of the National League's top pitchers between 1968 and 1972, helping the Pirates win four National League Eastern Division titles in five years between 1970 and 1974. He played a key role in the Pirate Blass ... ---
**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 9, 2018, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/64 "2018-08-09T13:13:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Boy, I can think of worse teams to cheer for. In my memory the Mets have been in the World Series three times and won it once. (I am not old enough for 1969 or 1973.) > > The Mariners have still NEVER been in a World Series, nor have the Nationals, and you must be bummed if you were an Expos fan. The Padres and Brewers have been around since before I was born and still haven’t won one. > > The thing is, if your team blows, it makes it so much sweeter when they win. Do Yankees fans fondly remember the 2009 World Series winners the way White Sox fans remember 2005, or Angels fans 2002? Did winning the 2009 World Series mean to New York what winning the 2016 World Series meant to Cubs fans? Hell no. For Yankees fans the big ones were 1977 and 1996. The gap was big enough to generate the type of extra excitement you’re talking about. 77 was my first, doesn’t matter how storied the franchise history is, that world series victory after the long time without was huge. Hell of a post season run to get there also. For a younger generation 1996 was similar, especially with that young core of players that gave you hopes for a nice run. Even younger fans were hoping this year might be the start of another Yankee run. The Mets fans do have it tougher than many others to be fair. Playing in the biggest market with the hated Yankees dominating the sports pages and with terrible owners is rough. Expectations are high when you shouldn’t have payroll restrictions and your fan base is badly outnumbered in your own town. The Whitesox & Angels are probably the only other fan bases to get this and I don’t think it is as bad for them. There was a survey recently that showed the Mets weren’t the most popular team in any county in the US, including Queens. At least the Whitesox have the south side. **SuperDude** : See also Chuck Knoblach among others. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/65 "2018-08-09T14:44:58Z")
Jon Lester has a famous mental block about throwing to first, too. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/66 "2018-08-09T14:52:17Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > **SuperDude** : See also Chuck Knoblach among others. One day 2000, when the yips were consuming Knoblauch, the Yankees were playing the White Sox in Chicago. Greg Norton hit a slow roller to second, Knoblauch charged, scooped up the ball and whipped the ball way over Tino Martinez’s head. The ball sailed into the stands and hit Keith Olbermann’s mother in the face. :eek: Those were some strange times. ETA: There was also the case of Mackey Sasser, the catcher who couldn’t throw the ball back to the pitcher. ---
**Author:** ![Panther\_Modern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Panther\_Modern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panther_Modern)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/67 "2018-08-09T15:29:34Z")
This might be a little off-topic from normal MLB talk, but I figured I shared my recnet experience with scorekeeping at games: I’ve never been a big baseball fan. It’s not that outright hate it, I just never really got into it (didn’t help I grew up in a city where the regional team was always bad). Since moving to my new city two years ago, I’ve attended several games, each I’ve enjoyed greatly. A couple weeks ago, I attended a game with a coworker. He grabbed a scorecard and kept score throughout the game. I watched him mark up the card and thought it seemed like an interesting activity. Fast forward to last night’s game. I remembered to grab a scorecard and tried to keep score during the game. I don’t know what happened, but I had more fun doing that than talking with other people. I felt more engaged with the game and was hooked easily. That explains why my coworker – who is also in his mid-20s – does it when he goes to games. I ordered a small scorebook last night to take with me to future games. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/68 "2018-08-09T19:01:42Z")
> [@Panther\_Modern](#): > > This might be a little off-topic from normal MLB talk, but I figured I shared my recnet experience with scorekeeping at games: > I’ve never been a big baseball fan. It’s not that outright hate it, I just never really got into it (didn’t help I grew up in a city where the regional team was always bad). Since moving to my new city two years ago, I’ve attended several games, each I’ve enjoyed greatly. > > A couple weeks ago, I attended a game with a coworker. He grabbed a scorecard and kept score throughout the game. I watched him mark up the card and thought it seemed like an interesting activity. > > Fast forward to last night’s game. I remembered to grab a scorecard and tried to keep score during the game. > > I don’t know what happened, but I had more fun doing that than talking with other people. I felt more engaged with the game and was hooked easily. That explains why my coworker – who is also in his mid-20s – does it when he goes to games. > > I ordered a small scorebook last night to take with me to future games. Even further off-topic, I also enjoy keeping score, although I haven’t done it in a while. Several years ago I played in a recreational softball league. The umpire handed us a scoresheet, just as an aid in helping him to remember the score of the game. All we had to do was mark down who scored and who made outs each inning. I insisted on keeping score the “right” way, though. My favorite thing was to charge the opponents’ fielders with errors whenever they botched a play. One guy on our team hit a high fly ball that was dropped by the opponent’s leftfielder, allowing our batter to round the bases and score. My teammate said that I should have just awarded our player a home run, but I insisted that the play MUST be recorded as a four-base error! ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/69 "2018-08-09T20:27:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The thing is, if your team blows, it makes it so much sweeter when they win. Do Yankees fans fondly remember the 2009 World Series winners the way White Sox fans remember 2005, or Angels fans 2002? Did winning the 2009 World Series mean to New York what winning the 2016 World Series meant to Cubs fans? Hell no. I can’t remember who originally said it, but my favorite line is, “Rooting for the Yankees is like going to a casino and cheering for the house.” ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/70 "2018-08-09T23:52:59Z")
Just noticed how brutal the Braves schedule is for August, after a day off on August 6, the Braves split a doubleheader with the Nationals. The Braves don’t have a day off again until August 27 and they have yet one more double header against the Marlins. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/71 "2018-08-10T19:40:43Z")
Now I’ve seen it all. … Bryce Harper just attempted to bunt up the 3rd base line for a hit. It didn’t work, but his heart was in the right place. ---
**Author:** ![Panther\_Modern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Panther\_Modern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panther_Modern)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/72 "2018-08-10T19:55:16Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Now I’ve seen it all. … Bryce Harper just attempted to bunt up the 3rd base line for a hit. It didn’t work, but his heart was in the right place. Nat’s fan? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/73 "2018-08-10T20:21:38Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I can’t remember who originally said it, but my favorite line is, “Rooting for the Yankees is like going to a casino and cheering for the house.” During the 1950s actor Joe E. Brown likened rooting for the Yankees to rooting for US Steel, because US Steel was the big rich company that got what it wanted. It was the opposite of an underdog. US Steel has fallen, but the Yankees are still there on top. Well second in the AL East at the moment but close enough to the top for argument’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/74 "2018-08-10T22:26:14Z")
> [@Panther\_Modern](#): > > Nat’s fan? How could you tell? ---
**Author:** ![Panther\_Modern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Panther\_Modern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panther_Modern)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/75 "2018-08-10T22:27:58Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > How could you tell? You talking about Harper lol. ---
**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 10, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/76 "2018-08-10T22:31:10Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I can’t remember who originally said it, but my favorite line is, “Rooting for the Yankees is like going to a casino and cheering for the house.” Its not though, I’ll admit it is far easier to be a Yankees fan then lets say a Jets or Mets fan or even NY Giants and way easier then the Knicks or the NY Rangers. But if you grow up a third generation Yankee fan in the Ny Metro area, it is still rooting for the local team. I can’t speak to the out of state fans that don’t have the generation thing going, but it was always explained to me that most of these ended up Yankee fans as the Yanks were the team they saw on TV. Yankees success = more national TV exposure = more fans = more money to sustain Yanks being competitive = more Yankee success … ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/77 "2018-08-11T02:13:31Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Its not though, I’ll admit it is far easier to be a Yankees fan then lets say a Jets or Mets fan or even NY Giants and way easier then the Knicks or the NY Rangers. But if you grow up a third generation Yankee fan in the Ny Metro area, it is still rooting for the local team. The best thing about being from the Bronx is being able to root for our local team.😃 My favorite quote: _Rooting for the Yankees is like owing a yacht._ -Jimmy Cannon My family were traditionally NY Giant fans. When they moved, my father and three of my brothers ended up sticking with the NL as Mets fans. I and another brother got the better end of the deal by treasonously going over to the Yanks. ---
**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 11, 2018, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/78 "2018-08-11T02:20:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The best thing about being from the Bronx is being able to root for our local team.😃 > > My favorite quote: > > _Rooting for the Yankees is like owing a yacht._ > -Jimmy Cannon Yep, I was born in the Bronx but grew up in Central Jersey, close enough to go to up to 22 games in a year one year. My Grandfather remembered seeing Babe Ruth in the Polo Grounds. He half kiddingly thought the Bambino was Italian and loved Poosh em up Lazzari. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/79 "2018-08-11T04:30:12Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > I can’t remember who originally said it, but my favorite line is, “Rooting for the Yankees is like going to a casino and cheering for the house.” I thought it was Bill Simmons, but he claims here that it was one of his readers. [ESPN.com: Page 2 : Sounding like the enemy](http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/040219) > [@](#): > > One of my readers once compared rooting for the Yankees to rooting for the house in blackjack. This was just before the height of Theo and their 2004 World Series title, and a payroll that would compete with the Yankees and others for largest in baseball. And now that I just checked Spotrac, it claims the Red Sox have the biggest payroll in baseball, at around 228 million. [2024 MLB Team Salary Cap Tracker](https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/payroll/) The Yankees are 6th, at 177.5 and Houston’s 9th, at 161.4. Damned if the Yankees weren’t awesome though from 1996 to 2012, with only 2000 and 2008 as minor hiccups. [New York Yankees Team History & Encyclopedia | Baseball-Reference.com](https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/) 5 World Series wins in that time out of 7 appearances, and in the playoffs seemingly every year. During the time, 1996-2001, that Simmons and his readers were complaining, the Yankees went to the WS 5 out of 6 years, and won four of them. No wonder he was sour. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2018, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950/80 "2018-08-11T13:23:38Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > And the Mets are, of course, Still Paying Bobby Bonilla. Not to mention David Wright, and the semi-permanently injured Yoenis Cespedes. I had thought the Mets would permanently release me from any obligation to root for them by dumping one or both of their star pitchers, bringing up Jesus Boy from Double-A to the majors, or both. Hasn’t happened yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlb-august-2018/818950.md?page=5)