ML baseball wind down...

[jj]

who's the team you root for and/or located nearest to where you reside or born?

do you like Pujols or Votto?

and how about, Hamilton or Cabrera?

side trivia:
Toronto needs to hit about 2 HRs per game to break the MLB team HR record

[jj]

so happy for Halladay getting his 20th...that's 9-2 in his last 11 decisions

now awaiting Bautista's 50th...

Yanks and Rays a tossup....

[Unsettled 1]

Go Padres!

[jj]

Originally Posted by Unsettled 1

Go Padres!

thx, brian...i knew it was just a matter of time before this thread went viral

[jj]

Originally Posted by jj

s
now awaiting Bautista's 50th...

(Rogers didn't allow us to see the game/moment once again...they didn't even have video highlight at their SN1 website... pathetic, so i went to TSN's site to see the video )

ps)
amazing post, mm! and more than thorough, thank you...Ichiro's also amazing

[timetraveler]

Originally Posted by jj

who's the team you root for and/or located nearest to where you reside or born?

do you like Pujols or Votto?

and how about, Hamilton or Cabrera?

side trivia:
Toronto needs to hit about 2 HRs per game to break the MLB team HR record

As many know, I'm a Texas Rangers fan. And my personal pick would be Hamilton, who unfortunately is out for a while with broken ribs. I don't remember exactly how it happened, but I think that it had to do with a broken bat. There is one other Ranger that our family is partial to & that is a player from Arkansas named Cliff Lee.

[jj]

Originally Posted by MistyMoppens

Lived for decades an hour north of Philly. (Love the Phillies esp. ex-Pitcher Jaime Moyer - watched him grow up in PA. The Phillies have a lot of heart. Go Phillies..)

good choice, and they also have a lot of talent...Halladay looking at a possible Cy young again...21st W tonight is looking good...solid ERA, lotsa Ks, always a leader in CGs

tt, i guess either the Yankees or Rays will have to face Lee 2x in miniseries

that's really some WC race in the NL, brian...every game is like a playoff one

another tidbit - all star Buck just homered for the Jays...if he hits another this week then there will be 6 Jays with 20+ homers, including Bautista's 52...too bad they don't have a regular (or five!) hitting over .270...but a really good year...pitching seems promising

[charlene]

Thanks Cito ! We're gonna miss you!

http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseba...ter-to-toronto

[BILLW]

Your boy Bautista has almost as many home runs as my Orioles have wins. 21 years rooting for Baltimore now. Before that it was the NY Mets. Never cared much for the Yankees except for the Reggie Jackson/Billy Martin era. Fights in the dugout? It was as good as the WWE. So when we moved to Maryland I no objections to jumping on the Os bandwagon - but the last 13 years or so have been a tad rough.

Anyway "wait'll next year"!!!! LOL

Bill

[charlene]

Bautista is on fire...wonderful to watch..

[vlmagee]

Go Yankees!

[KHester]

I'm another Yankee Fan

Grew up in Illinois, moved to Iowa after High School.
Never care for the Chicago teams

My teams growing up were

MLB Yankees
NFL Baltimore Colts (yes Balitmore) who had the most wins in football between 1957 and 1973 I still would take Unitas over any QB
NHL Boston Bruins
NBA The Lakers of Jerry West, Wilt and Elgin Baylor,

Kevin

[jj]

Originally Posted by BILLW

Your boy Bautista has almost as many home runs as my Orioles have wins

hey, they hit 6 more last night against a tough pitcher (homers-allowed-wise) and tough park to launch em...Jose hit 2 of them including a slam plus his FIRST to the opposite field out of his 54 'pulled' dingers, lol

i don't think he's on 'roids cos he swings like a madman every pitch that's close to the plate...these are the 'check swing', McGuire type of homers

but i don't see EA sports having Jose on the cover on 2011 MLB videogames

well, the Jays need to hit 12 homers this weekend to break the alltime ML record

thanks for the replies, interesting stuff...big Padres/Giants game tonight

[jj]

Originally Posted by jj

another tidbit - all star Buck just homered for the Jays...if he hits another this week then there will be 6 Jays with 20+ homers, including Bautista's 52

correction: 7 with 20 or more homers which ties ML record...our 'starting SS position' actually hit 20+ homers also which would have made 8....

Bautista finished with 54 but if he would have been able to get his 10th stolen base he would have joined the Babe (and Bonds) for those into 'elite season stats lists'

btw, my sympathies, brian...they gave it a terrific go this weekend, exciting

[charlene]

Halladay is a classy guy..

Doc right back at it
By Ken Fidlin, Toronto Sun

Last Updated: October 7, 2010 11:02pm

.PHILADELPHIA - After he pitched his perfect game against the Florida Marlins in May, Roy Halladay presented his catcher, Carlos Ruiz, with some gifts.

He had them dig up home plate at Sun Life Stadium and gave it to his battery-mate, along with a ring engraved with the words: “We did it together. Thanks, Roy.”

That wasn’t the end of Christmas in May. Halladay bought and distributed 60 Swiss-made watches to his Phillies teammates, coaches and all the little people in the organization: The bat boys, clubhouse attendants, training staff. In short, anyone who had a role to play in the day-to-day routine of the team.

“For me, it was just a way to thank everybody,” Halladay said at the time. “It’s something you tend to get the credit for but a lot of other people are big parts of that. It’s not just that day, but everything leading up to it. I just wanted them to know I appreciated everything they’ve done for me.”

Jimmy Rollins was ruminating on that generosity Thursday afternoon, the day after the night before when Halladay became the second man in history to pitch a no-hitter in the post-season, beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-0.

“Maybe we get watches with diamonds this time,” joked Rollins, who admitted to being jacked-up during the dramatic final few innings as he played shortstop behind Halladay.

“In every no-hitter or perfect game, there’s a play that gets replayed all the time, a play that made it possible,” said Rollins. “That was on my mind.

“My mindset was: ‘Which great play are you going to make?’ A dive? Bare-hand catch? I was hoping to be that guy.”

Turns out, Halladay didn’t need that extraordinary defensive gem. He just kept mowing down the Reds to the finish, 28 up, 27 down, a fifth-inning Jay Bruce walk the one exception.

Closest thing to the kind of play Rollins envisioned was a sliding catch made by Jayson Werth in the third inning when Reds relief pitcher Travis Wood lined a ball into right field.

“I would say the slide was more for show than anything else,” said Werth on Thursday. “It was a pitcher (at bat), I was playing him short anyways. The guy swings the bat pretty good for a pitcher. So I wasn’t playing him too short, but I was able to go over there and catch it.”

Typically, Halladay was the first man at the ball park Thursday, a slave to his legendary physical routine.

“He’s like a boxer in training for a 10-round fight, except he’s going to train as if it’s 25 rounds,” commented manager Charlie Manuel.

“He’s the most humble superstar I’ve ever seen,” said centre fielder Shane Victorino. “Nothing changes about that guy. I got here pretty early this morning and he was already here, doing his workout thing.”

It was probably a good day to have off for the Phils as they attempted to move on from this singular accomplishment.

“It’s part of history,” said Victorino. “It’s going to be there in my memory forever. But we’ve just started to go where we want to go. There’s a lot to finish.

“We’ve celebrated, now we move on. It’s something special. It’s history.

“I can use that word because it’s in the past, it’s behind us.”

Halladay made certain it was behind him. After the team workout Thursday, he dressed quickly and slipped out a side door to avoid 100, or so, reporters.

Guess he wanted to be fresh for his cheerleading duties on behalf of Roy Oswalt, whose scintillating September record provides the most compelling argument that the Phillies will have little trouble “moving on” from Halladay’s achievement Friday night.

Oswalt was just about the best pitcher in baseball the last month, allowing a grand total of two earned runs in his last 28 innings. Since he joined the Phils in late July, Oswalt is 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA.

“If you’re going to turn the page on a no-hitter,” said Manuel, “this is a pretty good page to be turning to.”

He also turned down Letterman and other shows because he had family things and his sons 6th b.d. to attend..

[timetraveler]

How many of you plan on watching the World Series? If it weren't for the fact that my cable people took TBS & relabeled it as a premium channel, I'd be watching it on Wednesday night. At least I can keep up with the scores on ESPN 1&2.

[RM]

FOX network has exclusive rights to the World Series. (not TBS)

[charlene]

I'll be watching...

[RM]

Just a note of meaningless trivia :

The World Series this year will find the 4th player from CDO High School here in Tucson, AZ to appear in a World Series (rather remarkable).

This year it's Ian Kinsler of the Rangers.

[charlene]

Originally Posted by RM

Just a note of meaningless trivia :

The World Series this year will find the 4th player from CDO High School here in Tucson, AZ to appear in a World Series (rather remarkable).

This year it's Ian Kinsler of the Rangers.

what do they feed those kids?


I'll be watching him!

[RM]

Originally Posted by charlene

what do they feed those kids?

Burritos, tacos, and enchiladas.

[charlene]

Originally Posted by RM

Burritos, tacos, and enchiladas.

aha - methane power!
lolol

the hockey kids from around here are nuclear powered. we're situated between two nuclear plants..lol

[jj]

i checked out the school, quite an alumni and sports success over the years, among others i'm sure...i have not heard of the guys listed but that more shows my abstinence of collecting sports card the last few decades...i stopped when the bubble gum stopped, and when you needed over 1000 cards to complete your set...the various 'official' rookie card declarations was the nail in the coffin

way to go, Brian!....you probably could have made some good dough at Vegas

[BILLW]

I'll be watching jj... I think I'll root for SF. I lived there for awhile when I was stationed at a base nearby. My niece took us to their new park a few years back. Now that's an impressive setting to watch a game in.. right on the water... very nice.

Cheers,

Bill

[BILLW]

Originally Posted by MistyMoppens

Bill - were you stationed in Alameda?

I was at the Marine Barracks on Mare Island at Vallejo. We did security for the Naval base among other things. The island was being developed with million dollar homes awhile ago until the developer went bankrupt. The Marine Barracks is a historical landmark which can be delevoped under certain rules to preserve the outer structure.

Anyway I lived in SF, Berkeley, and Vallejo itself while I was stationed there. I kept shortening my commute, LOL.

Bill