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Post by Bevo on Oct 19, 2021 0:21:22 GMT
I grew up watching the Astros. Nolan Ryan is my FAVORITE sports hero. My 2nd son's middle name is RYAN. But, I've been an ANTI-FAN since the strike of 1998. No matter how I try, I can't help myself: If the Astros make the playoffs, I HAVE to watch.
I have been in Fenway Park. I was there, on the lower level, 1st base line for the 1999 ALL-STAR game. I still have the ticket stub to prove it. Ted Williams was there. Pedro Martinez STRUCK OUT the 1st 9 batters. As dominant a pitching exhibition as I ever saw. The seats there are VERY narrow! ;-)
Just wanted to say... I'm enjoying watching these playoffs (AL & NL) more than I've enjoyed baseball in a long time. I'm looking forward, when I retire... to watching a LOT more baseball.
One thing that bothers me. It's hard to FULLY enjoy the game as much as I used to when, I really don't KNOW all the details about the players, and how they are doing... NOW! Baseball is an intricate game. It's still fun to watch, being ignorant. But, not NEARLY as interesting as when, I KNOW all the details.
That said,
Go STROS!!!
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Baseball
Oct 19, 2021 0:57:30 GMT
via mobile
Post by Bevo on Oct 19, 2021 0:57:30 GMT
Ok. I guess I’ll watch football tonight.
Jeez
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Post by bluehen on Oct 19, 2021 4:12:41 GMT
My son and I have been to Fenway once for a rained out Twins/Sox game on our way back from Cooperstown. Enjoyed just sitting there in the rain looking around ....imagining Ted Williams in LF and even Babe Ruth pitching. Wrigley gave me the same goose bumps.
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Post by doc on Oct 19, 2021 12:59:41 GMT
Fenway Park, Oracle Park in SF (was AT&T) and PNC Park in Pittsburgh are the 3 best parks I've been to - Wrigley is also a top 5 stadium. Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati is pretty nice although I think it was made on the cheap.
I was fortunate enough to follow the Big Red Machine in my youth - they played baseball the way it was meant to be played - on a team full of huge egos they were able to keep their egos in check for the better of the team. I think Tony Perez had a lot to do with keeping everyone grounded and it was no surprise that when they traded Perez the team was never the same. Perez was always my favorite Reds player.
I've enjoyed the playoffs - I like the Red Sox and anyone but the Dodgers. I don't like how the rich teams keep getting richer. I loved that the Yankees with Judge, Rizzo, Gallo, Stanton and Derrick Cole on the mound got drilled by the Red Sox. And while I would like to see Dusty Baker get a title I'm rooting for the Sox to get to the series. I think a big problem with baseball today is many of the players are from Latin American countries and as Bevo said, you just don't know who any of these players are. Back in my youth I could name the starting line-up for every team, that's not the case today. There are players hitting 40+ home runs who I've never heard of. And I hate, absolutely hate all the sabermetrics and the way managers handle their pitchers in the playoffs - Milwaukee was doomed because Council managed completely different in the playoffs as opposed to the regular season. He had 3 hammer starting pitchers and he micromanaged - just infuriating to watch. I wasn't rooting for the Brewers anyway but they didn't even give themselves a chance.
BTW - I don't have any children named after baseball or sports stars - I wanted to name our second son Woody but my wife wouldn't let me. But much to my surprise she did agree to name our daughter after my favorite album - Abbey Road by The Beatles. We have an Abbey Road poster hanging in her bedroom. (We did replace Road with Christine.)
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Post by bluehen on Oct 19, 2021 15:34:27 GMT
That's a great explanation of why MLB is sometimes hard to follow......the plethora of Latin players plus so few big name players that stay at one place for a career. All my youth friends collected baseball cards and we pretty much knew the line -ups too. We also flipped and traded the cards and played a dice BB game with them....keeping standings and stats. What fun, and of course, always playing ball on the neighborhood sandlots. I'm with ya - anybody but the Dodgers, although Houston and Boston have high dollar payrolls. Baseball is a great game.
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Post by Bevo on Oct 19, 2021 19:24:07 GMT
<Fenway Park, Oracle Park in SF (was AT&T) and PNC Park in Pittsburgh are the 3 best parks I've been to - Wrigley is also a top 5 stadium. Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati is pretty nice although I think it was made on the cheap.>
I've been to all 5 of those parks. Was taken to a Astros double-header in Pittsburg, seated in the Nova Chemicals suite just behind home plate! That was nice.
I've also been in the old Riverfront ? stadium in St. Louis (do they still play there?) and at the Ballpark in Dallas. It's really nice. Minute Maid Park in Houston is really nice, but... it sort of feels like an amusement park more than a baseball stadium. It's VERY comfortable. Call me crazy, I liked the Astrodome.
When I was a kid, we bought Icees from 7-11 that had pictures of individual Astros players and All their lifetime stats. I had them, all... and, had most of the stats memorized. We all trades cards too, and.. yea... I pretty much knew EVERY lineup, for sure in the NL. We played a lot of ball in the neighborhood, but, usually we only had 5-6 guys. A Pitcher, two guys covering bases and 1-2 outfielders.... we'd all take turns batting. We played a LOT more football than baseball.
We all played organized baseball from the age of 6 to at least 12. I mean, EVERYONE played, at least at first. We didn't have school sponsored baseball until our Freshman year of High School.
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Post by tigercpa on Oct 19, 2021 21:07:08 GMT
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Baseball
Oct 19, 2021 23:12:22 GMT
via mobile
Post by Bevo on Oct 19, 2021 23:12:22 GMT
Lol. I think that ump has called a few Astros games!
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Baseball
Oct 20, 2021 0:59:17 GMT
via mobile
Post by doc on Oct 20, 2021 0:59:17 GMT
Braves manager should have kept the 7th inning pitcher in the game, Dodgers couldn’t touch him. And the announcers clearly want the Dodgers to win.
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Post by Bevo on Oct 20, 2021 12:36:15 GMT
Boston was pitching bravely to Altuve all night. FINALLY, it came back to bite them.
Astros' bats FINALLY came alive last night. Evened up!
I've never seen a series with SO MANY pitchers. I'm not sure there's ever been one? It's borderline ridiculous.
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Post by bluehen on Oct 21, 2021 4:10:25 GMT
The Braves, from the weakest division in MLB, might pull this off !! Glad Freddie Freeman is out of his funk. ( 7 straight strike outs )
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Post by tigercpa on Oct 21, 2021 12:39:07 GMT
The Braves, from the weakest division in MLB, might pull this off !! Glad Freddie Freeman is out of his funk. ( 7 straight strike outs ) Don't get your hopes up - my Braves have long been known to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
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Post by doc on Oct 21, 2021 12:54:15 GMT
The Braves, from the weakest division in MLB, might pull this off !! Glad Freddie Freeman is out of his funk. ( 7 straight strike outs ) Don't get your hopes up - my Braves have long been known to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory Kind of like last year? I hope they finish the job this year - that Cody Bellinger home run the other night was such a bummer. Made me sick watching him flex his muscles circling the bases, what a tool.
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Post by Bevo on Oct 21, 2021 14:34:18 GMT
I just can't stop watching this clip... the reaction of the kid that's batting just cracks me up. It's like the first introduction in his life to WTF??
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Post by doc on Oct 21, 2021 16:55:58 GMT
I just can't stop watching this clip... the reaction of the kid that's batting just cracks me up. It's like the first introduction in his life to WTF?? I just noticed the kid is on the Reds - of course, they're always getting screwed!
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