MLB 2023 Season - Now with Playoffs

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 11:49 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 5:15 pm I do have a bit of personal history with the Marlins. I was there for their very first spring training game, and the next season for their very first spring training game at the new Space Coast Stadium about twenty minutes away from me.

To clarify, the first spring training game in Brevard County, which was the year after the joined the league as an expansion team. And for that first day there were very unusual tickets:

And since I'm posting my memorabilia, here's my one and only official MLB baseball. I got it at the very first Mets spring training game played at the Mets new stadium at Port St Lucie. No, I didn't catch some fly ball. We were at the stadium very early and the Mets were out throwing balls around and one guy missed the ball and it bounced into the stands. I actually was going to throw it back into the field but my buddy yelled at me and I held on to it

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Thu Mar 30, 2023 11:54 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 10:52 pm We got the nice seats because my work buddy had made friends with someone high in the Astros organization. Because of him we also got a private tour of the Astros spring training facility when it was in St Cloud, FL, including the clubhouse where we sat with the spring training manager in his office...

Since I save so many things

I actually found the business cards for these two gentlemen. The guy my buddy made friends with was the Traveling Secretary for the Astros. The title of the "spring training manager" was actually Director of Minor League Operations.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:06 am

Angels' new outfielder Hunter Renfroe makes an insane no look catch in the first game:

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:20 am

Jaymann wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:06 am Angels' new outfielder Hunter Renfroe makes an insane no look catch in the first game:

Now that's just showing off

Jaymann wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 11:44 pm I have been to The Murph, Petco Park, Anaheim Stadium, and minor league stadiums in Columbus and Birmingham (where I saw Michael Jordan play).

We went to a few other places for spring training. We went to see the Dodgers in Vero Beach where it was really just a field with old bleachers and the cars were parked on the local golf course. And we went to West Palm Beach where the Blue Jays and the Braves shared a facility.

Another minor league stadium used for spring training that we went to was the Kansas City Royals facility at "Baseball City, Florida", which was southwest of Orlando.

In 1986, Orlando publishing company Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (HBJ) bought an aging 847-acre theme park in Central Florida called “Circus World” for $18 million and closed it to redevelop the site for a grand, new theme park called “Boardwalk and Baseball.” The park would have rides and baseball-themed exhibits, including several playing fields. What they really needed was a Major League team host spring training games there as an anchor tenant. They were able to lure the Royals with a 7,000-seat, $15 million baseball complex to be known as “Baseball City”.

And it was quite a place! We went to the Boardwalk park a lot and also caught several games at the stadium, include a couple where Bo Jackson was playing. There was crossover bridge and you could buy a ticket at the front gate of the amusement park that gave you access to both the rides and to the stadium for the game.

click to enlarge

And of course we brought home a mug!

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:03 am

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Mar 30, 2023 11:35 pm I've been to … Rockies

Can confirm!

(I’ve seen NHL playoff games in six arenas, but can’t compete in baseball stadiums.)

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:12 am

I count 18 stadiums.

Vet*
Citizen's Bank (whatever the new Philly one is called)
Shea
Yankee (old)*
Yankee New
County*
Miller
Tiger*
Comisky*
New Comisky
Wrigley
Camden
Great American
Three Rivers
Cleveland*
Jacob
Angel
Fenway

There may be a few I'm forgetting.

Plus a handful of MiLB parks and spring training facilities (Florida). And Doubleday field.

*gone forever

disarm · Post by **disarm** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:54 am

I've been to Fenway quite a few times, including game 2 of the 2018 World Series against the Dodgers. Watching the Red Sox win a series game at home is easily one of my top sporting event experiences...so much energy packed into a relatively tiny old ballpark.

I went to an event at Petco Park (San Diego) a few years ago where we got to hang out on the field, but I haven't seen a game there. I have some cool pictures standing on the pitcher's mound, home plate and sitting in the Padres dugout though.

I've also been to multiple minor league games...mostly the Hartford Yard Goats, although I've also seen the Louisville Bats and Buffalo Bisons. Interestingly, my 8yo son has caught a foul ball at every stadium he's ever visited...two in Buffalo, one in Hartford, and one while we were sitting off left field at Fenway last year. He gets excited about games because he wants another ball for his collection and I keep telling him it's not normal to catch a ball every time, but it just keeps happening...doesn't understand how lucky he's been.

Madmarcus · Post by **Madmarcus** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 9:25 am

I've been to three stadiums that no longer exist (Astrodome, Three Rivers Stadium, Fulton County Stadium) plus Turner Field plus a couple of minor league fields. I suppose I'll get to the Phillies stadium at some point now that I'm in the area.

I don't watch baseball on TV but with the new house I fell into old habits and listened to the opening day game on the radio. Lots of hitting and runs yet the game felt kind of flat. I don't know if that is the new rules speeding things up, the Phillies broadcast team, or just that I have been away from following MLB for a while.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:10 pm

The Mets broadcast was as amusing as ever. Hernandez is as old school as you can get so he huffs and puffs and it's hilarious. They did a commercial ad that was during the broadcast and he was like what the hell was that. He cracks me up.

I do think it kind of sucks for people that go in person. You spend a fortune to go to a game and they are racing to finish as fast as possible. And as soon as the game ends they force you out like the place is on fire. At Citi Field they will freak out if you try and take a picture after the game is over. They just scream no pictures and throw you into the mass exodus.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:18 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:10 pm And as soon as the game ends they force you out like the place is on fire. At Citi Field they will freak out if you try and take a picture after the game is over. They just scream no pictures and throw you into the mass exodus.

Wow, really? That does suck. It's been thirty years since I've been to an MLB game, things have definitely changed. I remember after the games at the Astrodome ended, the traffic was always bad so people hung around and the vendors kept selling.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:25 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:18 pm
Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:10 pm And as soon as the game ends they force you out like the place is on fire. At Citi Field they will freak out if you try and take a picture after the game is over. They just scream no pictures and throw you into the mass exodus.
Wow, really? That does suck. It's been thirty years since I've been to an MLB game, things have definitely changed. I remember after the games at the Astrodome ended, the traffic was always bad so people hung around and the vendors kept selling.

Nope everything is shut down and you need to get out ASAP. I wonder if there's a rule in NY or something? It's freaking bizarre. I would totally hang out for an hour and spend more money if they would let me. The only time we every really got to check out the entire stadium is when they did the old timers game last year. Since they played and then had the real game after there was a gap where we could go around and see stuff. Otherwise you just feel like you a being rushed around.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:37 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:25 pm
jztemple2 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:18 pm
Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:10 pm And as soon as the game ends they force you out like the place is on fire. At Citi Field they will freak out if you try and take a picture after the game is over. They just scream no pictures and throw you into the mass exodus.
Wow, really? That does suck. It's been thirty years since I've been to an MLB game, things have definitely changed. I remember after the games at the Astrodome ended, the traffic was always bad so people hung around and the vendors kept selling.
Nope everything is shut down and you need to get out ASAP. I wonder if there's a rule in NY or something? It's freaking bizarre. I would totally hang out for an hour and spend more money if they would let me. The only time we every really got to check out the entire stadium is when they did the old timers game last year. Since they played and then had the real game after there was a gap where we could go around and see stuff. Otherwise you just feel like you a being rushed around.

That's not the case at Fenway at least, FWIW. Not that I've ever tried to hang out for a super long time, but I've definitely stayed for like 10 - 15 minutes and taken a couple pictures.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:38 pm

My wife and I have been on tours of other ballparks when there weren't games. We really enjoyed the tour of the new Progressive Field in Cleveland, but that's because we were the only two old people. There were two tour guides and the younger one took everyone else down to the locker rooms and the dugouts. There were stairs and my wife would have had difficulties with them. The other guide was older and had actually retired from many years in the Cleveland organization. He took us to the VIP elevator and we got to see a lot of the high-end suites, including the owner's one, as well as the press rooms and facilities and other cool stuff. He cautioned us not to take pictures and basically "be cool" because we were in areas that was definitely not supposed to be open to tours

. I think he was really enjoying the opportunity to have a reason to wander around in those places. When we were finished and came back to the tour starting area it turned out that the rest of the tour folks had already returned and left, seems our tour took a lot longer than it was supposed to

. When my wife tells folks about our trip to Cleveland, she says the Rock and Roll Museum was just OK, but the Progressive Field tour was the highlight, and she is not at all a baseball fan.

Our worst tour was of the new Washington Nationals stadium. We were the only two people on the tour, which should have been great, but the guide was a older volunteer and hardly took us past the upper deck public areas. Every time we'd go by a column that had a poster of an old time Washington player (and every column had a poster) he'd stop and ramble on about the history of that player. All very nice, but we would have rather seen the rest of the field.

Coolest tour was the Blue Jays stadium in Toronto at the base of the CN Tower. We saw some neat stuff and then got treated to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe overlooking the field.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 2:48 pm

Another big speed-related rule change: MLB is now banning stirring monologues by pitchers between pitches.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 2:59 pm

El Guapo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 2:48 pm Another big speed-related rule change: MLB is now banning stirring monologues by pitchers between pitches.

Almost suckered me in on that

In case it hasn't been mentioned, one of the nuances of the 2023 changes is that walk-on songs are now limited to ten seconds.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 3:50 pm

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 2:59 pm
El Guapo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 2:48 pm Another big speed-related rule change: MLB is now banning stirring monologues by pitchers between pitches.
Almost suckered me in on that

In case it hasn't been mentioned, one of the nuance of the 2023 changes is that walk-on songs are now limited to ten seconds.

Also I feel like there should be minimum requirements to be allowed a walk-on song. Like you have to be hitting at least .250 or have at least 10 HRs for hitters, and an ERA under 4 for pitchers.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Fri Mar 31, 2023 7:13 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Mar 31, 2023 12:10 pm They just scream no pictures and throw you into the mass exodus.

To paraphrase Andrew Dice Clay:

"We're done, get out. I said we're done, get the fuck out!"

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Sat Apr 01, 2023 5:44 pm

Just watched the Friday Marlins game which wasn't available on my cable channel till this morning. It was Flashback Friday at the stadium so the team was out there in the original teal pinstripes, which I think looked pretty cool. Also back then they were the Florida Marlin so they had the "F" logo with the fish on it.

They also had the roof and the giant windows open which was neat. When we took a tour there several years ago they were both open as well and it was nice. I did find out during the game that last year they played only three games with the roof open, and only two games that way the year before. A lot of money for just a few game days.

The game took two hours and nine minutes, but it didn't feel rushed at all. There was one time violation on a batter but otherwise everyone seemed to be doing well with the new rules. Alex Arias, one of the original Marlins was up in the booth talking about then and now and it was noted that back then the games were averaging about two and a half hours, which is what the new rules are trying to achieve. Maybe that's why the games don't seem rushed to me, that early nineties period was when I was last following baseball.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:11 pm

Let's see, I've been to:

Kaufman Stadium
Wrigley Field
Turner Field
Kingdome
Safeco Field

And every Phoenix-area spring training facility

I'm hoping to add to that list in a few years by doing a northeast trip (Fenway, NYY/NYM, maybe PHI or BAL) or southern California (LA, LAA, SD).

Also the Royals have now lost two straight games 2-0 and haven't scored in 18 straight innings. Baseball is dumb.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sat Apr 01, 2023 11:20 pm

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Sat Apr 01, 2023 11:59 pm

That would be terrible if it happened to any other team - but it's the Mets so it's hilarious.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Sun Apr 02, 2023 1:12 am

They won so it doesn't matter, but why have replay if things like that happen? The game the day before something similar happened where they challenged a call and lost even though it was obviously wrong. The really cool thing I'm seeing so far? Stolen bases. Like a lot more. This is awesome as the station to station hoping for a HR nonsense was not fun to watch.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Sun Apr 02, 2023 3:15 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Sun Apr 02, 2023 1:12 am They won so it doesn't matter, but why have replay if things like that happen? The game the day before something similar happened where they challenged a call and lost even though it was obviously wrong. The really cool thing I'm seeing so far? Stolen bases. Like a lot more. This is awesome as the station to station hoping for a HR nonsense was not fun to watch.

Well the video that Isgrimnur shared makes a decent case for why the call wasn't overturned.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Sun Apr 02, 2023 3:36 pm

Mets fans don't let thing like convincing arguments get in the way of their beliefs.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Sun Apr 02, 2023 3:42 pm

Still looks like he was never on the bag to me, but I'm not exactly losing sleep over it.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Sun Apr 02, 2023 11:52 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Sun Apr 02, 2023 3:42 pm Still looks like he was never on the bag to me, but I'm not exactly losing sleep over it.

I just finished watching that game, which I had recorded but with Formula One and Indycar this weekend it had a lot of competition. And it was a recording of the replay from earlier this morning as well. The Marlin announcers talked about that catch a bit just after it happened, and a similar thing had happened the night before. According to them, the rule states that the ball is considered caught when it enters the interior of the glove, so it was a very close thing.

I'm old school of course and think that baseball should remain one of the few sports unsullied by endless instant replays. I think the one challenge per game is probably one more than should be allowed

.

There will be a number of times over this season that I'll have to wait till the day after the original game for a replay to be available to me, so I'll stay off this thread to avoid seeing spoilers till I catch up.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 12:21 am

After the first weekend the only undefeated teams are:

The Rays
The Twins
The Rangers

Not exactly the top echelon.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:58 am

Mets went 3-1 so I can't complain. The Marlins have a serious problem with their outfield defense. They put Jazz Chisholm in CF when he has never played it before. And it showed... A lot. I feel bad for the dude as that's a really hard spot to play with no experience. I doubt he makes it more than a month before they put him back into the infield.

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 4:05 pm

I saw a play where the ball went through the webbing of the first baseman's mitt. By the criteria above the runner should be called out since the ball crossed the glove threshold.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 4:13 pm

Jaymann wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 4:05 pm I saw a play where the ball went through the webbing of the first baseman's mitt. By the criteria above the runner should be called out since the ball crossed the glove threshold.

The defensive player has to retain control of the ball.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 4:14 pm

Well, the Red Sox won their first series 2-1. All they have to do is keep scoring 9 runs per game and have opposing outfielders drop out 3 in the bottom of the ninth, and they are golden.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 5:45 pm

Giants hit 7 HR's today, one of them a Grand Slam. White Sox gave up in the 9th and had a utility player pitch.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 5:51 pm

naednek wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 5:45 pm Giants hit 7 HR's today, one of them a Grand Slam. White Sox gave up in the 9th and had a utility player pitch.

I've never been a fan of home runs. It rather defeats the idea of having any defenders at all. If I had my way (which is almost completely unlikely to happen) I'd go back to a dead ball era or make the balls slightly larger or give them rubber bats. Or something

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 5:57 pm

naednek wrote: ↑Mon Apr 03, 2023 5:45 pm Giants hit 7 HR's today, one of them a Grand Slam. White Sox gave up in the 9th and had a utility player pitch.

Alberto was one of their best pitchers on the day too. 2/3, 1K, 0ER. He had 10 appearances last year with a 4.09 ERA as well according to the broadcast. 3rd baseman who has thrown his first pitch of the season before he's had his first AB.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Apr 03, 2023 9:41 pm

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Wed Apr 05, 2023 8:05 pm

And then there was one. Rays are now the only undefeated team.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Thu Apr 06, 2023 8:48 pm

naednek wrote:Giants hit 7 HR's today, one of them a Grand Slam. White Sox gave up in the 9th and had a utility player pitch.

5 more home runs today. And damn a blow out

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Apr 06, 2023 9:19 pm

Spoiler:

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Fri Apr 07, 2023 1:20 pm

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Apr 06, 2023 9:19 pm

Spoiler:

ya it's either lose bad, or win big. Hopefully they can mellow out and be consistent (in winning)

Jaymann · Post by **Jaymann** » Sat Jun 10, 2023 12:14 am

I don't know why the Mets soured on Dirty Sanchez, but he is tearing it up for the Padres.