Is it time to call the Craig Counsell experiment in Chicago a failure?
Yes, the Cubs have had a lot of injuries but this team has too much talent to be a last place team.
Yanks bad stretch cost them 1st place. O’s are ahead by percentage points currently.
Cole looked better yesterday and the offense looked very good.
Happy Bobby Bonilla Day!
Yes, $1,19 million until 2035 if I remember correctly.
Happy Canada Day too!
Probably too early, but I’ll share this anecdote:
I live in the western suburbs of Chicago. I’m from Wisconsin, and on Saturday afternoon, I was at the gas station, filling up my car. I was wearing my Brewers baseball cap.
The guy at the next pump over called over to me. “Hey…do you want your manager back?”
I replied, “no, no, we’re good…you should definitely keep him.” We both laughed.
So, what’s the deal with Counsell?
Looking at the roster, I would expect the Cubs to be a .500 team, at best. Not much of an offense and a crappy bullpen. The starting pitching stats look good, but there are couple guys over-performing.
Are the Mariners for real?
As a longtime Seattle resident before my move to Europe, we were used to the M’s occasionally putting on a good show in spring before fading in mid July into August. (Conventional wisdom was that this was a consequence of their extra travel miles, though I don’t know if I’d totally buy into it.) I don’t really follow MLB action any more, but I happened to look at the standings a few days ago, and … the M’s are, like, seriously dominating the division. Are they legit?
Edit to add: After posting the above, I just checked the standings again, and the Last Ten are 3-and-7. Heh, par for the course, maybe.
The Mariners have a problem with their offense. Hard to say why. Their pitching was dominant for awhile and they obtained a nice lead in the AL West. They’ve been floundering over the past few weeks, but it’s not a crisis yet (perhaps).
They’re good, but not great. I do think they could win the division, but the Astros are on a roll.
How can the Yankees go from being WS contenders to looking totally inept so quickly? Stanton and Rizzo go down, Gil goes from Sandy Koufax to Charlie Brown. Cole looks like a shadow of his former self. Damn what a waste of a fine first half.
once again the Dodgers are doing their normal seesaw … winning by 10 runs 3 games in a row and then losing a series to the last-place team in the league (yeah I’m exaggerating a tad but ya get the gist …)
Yanks lose on baserunning blunder by Volpe. Volpe on 3rd, other runner on first, two out. Hard hit grounder to first, first baseman gloves it, steps on bag and removes force on runner at first. At that point, Volpe should have sprinted home to score before the play is made at 2nd. Instead, he slowly ambles home watching the play develop and touches home just after a tag at second. A run given away due solely to lack of hustle.
Add to it yet another blown save by Clay “Aroldis” Holmes and a 10th inning home run for the Bosox and a game absolutely given away.
Must have been less tha two outs but still a ’ lack of effort’ play.
Baserunning on a ‘bomber’ team is a lost art. I doubt they have a ‘bunt’ sign.
My mistake, there was one out.
In last night’s Royals/Rockies game, a fan appeared to interfere with the Royals outfielder attempting to make a catch on a fly ball that was just about to clear the wall for a home run. The play was ruled a homer, and after review, the call was upheld.
MLB rules state:
Spectator interference occurs when a spectator (or an object thrown by the spectator) hinders a player’s attempt to make a play on a live ball, by going onto the playing field, or reaching out of the stands and over the playing field.
As a Royals fan, I think it was clearly a case of fan interference.
Here’s a picture. I think the hands of the fan were clearly over the wall and into the field of play.
Last night in a home game against the Mets, the Pirates hit 7 home runs. Each home run triggers a round of fireworks, which caused the supply to be completely depleted by the 8th inning.
Ever since @RickJay complained in the June thread that George Springer should be cut by the Blue Jays, he has taken off. He just hit a three run homer off the Mariners.
You’d think a team would be prepared to at least match the MLB record for homers by a team, which is ten. I know they’re the Pirates, but come on.
There’s a lot of noise in my baseball chat groups about MLB should have a full slate of televised games on July 4. Similar to the NBA on Christmas Day or the NFL on Thanksgiving.
As much as I love baseball, just no. It’s a great day to GO to a ballgame, either major or minor leagues. But I really don’t know anyone who is eager to binge watch MLB on the 4th of July. It’s not a holiday when you’re often surrounded by extended family and the weather is far more conducive to getting outside.
The Yankees slide is really weird. All I’ve got (and it is not great) is they were playing there hearts out to keep the team going, until their ace Cole returned from the IL. Now they’ve breathed a sigh of relief and look a lot more like last years dysfunctional team.
Agreed with all of this. The traditional 4th activities (parades, cookouts, and fireworks) are all outdoor things, that would be pulling people away from their TVs.