things I learned about in baseball this week/how i learned to stop worrying and love baseball

lol. I had no knowledge of the Damon grand slam before watching this series so when he gets thrown out at the plate to start the game, I was like, oh ok cos I already knew the outcome…little did I know.

The Ortíz slash line for that series is filth 😮‍💨

.387/.457/.742, OPS of 1.199

I was on baseball reference looking that up and then I was like, Manny didn’t really seem to do much that series, wonder if he had a better WS?

Looked further up the page and see that he was the WS MVP so I guess it turned out fine

That 2003 series ended less satisfyingly than 2004 but it sticks out more in my memory because I'd never seen cops lining up against the walls during the game (near the end of game 7 IIRC) before.

honestly i remember where i was in 2004, talking to my dad long-distance on the phone, saying to him look, i know it looks bad, we’re down 3-0 in the series, but if we can just win this one then we got pedro, we got schilling, and then it’s game 7 and anything can happen

a lot of people forget the key contributions of curtis “the mechanic” leskanic to win game 4 (in fact his name is missing from the back of my commemorative t-shirt from that year, though everyone else on the postseason roster is there). his 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball in game 4 were the last pitches he’d ever throw in the majors.

something i didn’t know about the mechanic until now

His cousin Katrina Leskanich was the lead singer of Katrina and the Waves, known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine."[3]

My discovery of old gamedays on mlb.com leads me to once again conclude that the universal DH is a crime

https://i.postimg.cc/KzYs4ZLC/IMG-1404.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/TPfsMjPd/IMG-1405.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/zvbtS0xj/IMG-1407.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/fyGHHmFh/IMG-1408.jpg

Impressed with the Zito single already but hitting young Verlander’s high velo 😮‍💨

you know that felt good

https://i.postimg.cc/KjZ6tRjN/IMG-1417.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjOeJTsKDE8

lol most “excuse me” swing ever

EXCUSE ME FOR RAKING

LOOK AT THAT OPPO POWER

I was going back through this thread looking for classic games to watch so I’m collating the links here for winter

1975 WS game 6 recommended by clemenza - this video has far better quality than some much later games.

1986 WS game 6 - recommended by PBKR

Red Sox-Yankees 1st July 2004 - recommended by PBKR

2003 ALCS - recommended by PBKR

2004 ALCS -recommended by PBKR

ALDS game 2 2007 (CLE-NYY, midges) -recommended by PBKR

1995 ALDS (NYY-SEA) - games 1 2 3 4 5 - recommended by PBKR

2011 WS game 6 - recommended by clemenza

2016 WS game 7 - recommended by NoTimeBeforeTime

2015 ALDS game 5 (Toronto-Texas) - recommended by mookieproof

1988 WS game 1 - recommended by mookieproof

1993 WS game 4 - recommended by clemenza

Kerry Wood 20 strikeout game - recommended by Jimmy the Mod

Let me tell you, when there’s an accidental space between the link and the = in one of those bb links? Not a good time

Have you ever seen footage of Craig Counsell's batting stance when he was a player?

here's a fun one:

Rangers defeat Orioles 30-3

xp I have not…Hunter Pence esque?

I will add your game to my list omar cos I watched game 7 2016 yesterday and I have thoughts about that but I need to finish hoovering my house first

https://www.mlb.com/video/backstory-of-counsell-s-stance-c1869982183

I’m speechless, I couldn’t have predicted that in a million years

2016 World Series, Cubs - Indians, Guardians, ugh, Indians

I read the story of this game 7 in SI a while ago and although that detailed out the key happenings of this in detail, that was a whole 162 games ago for me and I’d forgotten. So I was watching thinking, k this goes to extras but how? Hendricks was cruising, the Cubs were grinding out runs here and there, and then…they take Hendricks out early.

He looked how I felt watching it seven years later: like he wanted to kill someone. Insane if they took him out an inning early and ended up getting walked off.

I’d forgotten how many star names were on the rosters - a very young Lindor! A very young Kyle Schwarber! A baby faced Jose Ramirez! Drone injury clown Trevor Bauer! so I had some nice moments of recognition throughout. Anyway back to the game. I was trying to remember how the lead slipped away and then Jon Lester came in.

Anyway JL is a Sox/Cubs legend and yeah…that wild pitch off David Ross’s head? That felt like something that could only happen to the Cubs, and it did. But after that they pulled the score back to 6-3 and I was like, ok, where is this going?

Aroldis Chapman is coming out of the bullpen?

Yeah. I’m sure his blown saves are like actually less than his converted but at the same time you’re like…how the fuck does this guy have a job? And the Cubs ended up using three catchers in this game. I didn’t even know you could carry three on the roster.

Spent most of the ninth wondering where is this rain delay? And then it happened. Obviously I knew how it turns out but it felt when Cleveland didn’t walk it off in the end of the 9th that they weren’t going to, because that and the rain were a huge break for the Cubs.

What a thrilling double from Zobroist, though. The man went 0-4 and still stepped to the plate in the biggest moment of his life and got it done. NOT TRYING TO DO TOO MUCH. Rizzo freaking out on third as he realised they’ve scored the go ahead run and the inning is still going is one of the most endearing things I’ve ever seen in a game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE_1ShFSrY0

That’s got to be the biggest Cubs hit of all time, right? None of these guys should ever pay for anything in Chicago again. This also made me realise that Rizzo hasn’t been back to Wrigley since he was traded. I looked up the Yankees schedule for next year and it’s finally happening - in September. I hope he has a healthy year next season, but also, fuck the Yankees for jeopardising his health.

Bryzzo getting the final out was perfect. I only saw 2023 Kris Bryant play and he was incredible. What can you say? But his Cubs years are eternal.

Going to post this before I lose this post (happened once already!) and then paste the notes I took on my phone

Notes:

- Schwarber being ruled safe after bad Kluber fielding - lmao what even was that? Disastrous.
- Kluber era under 1 entering this game (!) - this was prime Kluber (and it made me sad watching him a bit, having watched his Red Sox non-season this year). He was pitching well but they got him.
- Rizzo to Fowler: WE NEEDED THAT - lol Dexter Fowler’s first inning homer. Rizzo was so much the heart and soul of this team. You can see it a mile off and seven years out.
- Kyle Schwarber stole a base?! - lol
- Jose Ramirez the best hitter “out of nowhere” - I was like, wtf, but then I looked up his br page and his 2015 was horrific.
- Ramirez pickoff - this was cruel but funny
- Schwarber TOOTBLAN - some guys can try for two, but not everyone can or should!
- Bryant slide at home - this was pure magic, what a perfect bit of baserunning
- “irregardless of what happens on the pitching front” - Smoltz 😑
- David Ross micd up talking to Rizzo (Rizzo: I’M AN EMOTIONAL WRECK RIGHT NOW) - this was the cutest omg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQKhf--Gxw0
- Bryant scoring from 1st (more baserunning masterclass)

Also the intentional walks used to be a joke? They used to make the guy stand there at the plate while they threw four balls?????

We have letters from my grandfather (lifelong Cubs fan) he wrote home from Sicily and Italy while fighting in WW2 where he says, "maybe this is the Cubs year?", so it was so awesome that he got to see them win it all at age 98. I wasn't a Cubs fan but I was rooting so hard for them that series for his sake. Even my Mom stayed up to watch Game 7 and she dngaf about baseball.

That’s incredible. I’m so happy he got to see it!

There's definitely an entire generation of Chicago baseball fans whose parents or grandparents never saw their preferred hometown team win a World series title. The White Sox won in 1917 and then finally in 2005, and of course the Cubs hadn't won in 108 years when they won in 2016. My dad's mom, a Northside Cubs fan, was born in 1911 and died in 1994. My mom's parents, southside Sox fans, born in 1918 and 1920, died in '98 and '99.

Also the intentional walks used to be a joke? They used to make the guy stand there at the plate while they threw four balls?????

― mojo dojo casas house (gyac), Monday, November 6, 2023 4:57 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

it was silly that they had to stand there but if not for that we never would have had this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6YzVvtxoaY

lol, was that considered against the unwritten rules

Or this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR0jGrfQCu4

That was the trade-off: 100 years, 10,000 boring IBB, two memorable highlights.

Also the intentional walks used to be a joke? They used to make the guy stand there at the plate while they threw four balls?????

And we liked it that way!

We have letters from my grandfather (lifelong Cubs fan) he wrote home from Sicily and Italy while fighting in WW2 where he says, "maybe this is the Cubs year?", so it was so awesome that he got to see them win it all at age 98. I wasn't a Cubs fan but I was rooting so hard for them that series for his sake. Even my Mom stayed up to watch Game 7 and she dngaf about baseball.

― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Monday, November 6, 2023 2:23 PM bookmarkflaglink

Love this so much

They used to make the guy stand there at the plate while they threw four balls?????

was there ever an instance of a catcher being busted for stepping out from behind home plate too soon?

5.02 (a): the catcher must stand with both feet within the lines of the catcher’s box until the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand.
PENALTY: Balk

the ritual of the intentional walk is so good, hate they got rid of it

OTM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJBMm70kRgo

PLAY THE GAME

Bruce Bochy w/ Murph & Mac on former Giants reaching out following World Series win:

"Buster sent me a nice message, as Bum did too. Man, I tell ya, Timmy is one you don't hear from as much and for him to send one...Like I said it was overwhelming." 🥲

— KNBR (@KNBR) November 7, 2023

Indeed. Miss Bochy so hard right now, what a legend

His first boys texting him like that especially knowing how much he loves them all (was Matt Cain too busy though? Cmon…)

tbf Cain's arm still doesn't work after that 285 pitch CG.

Weak sauce, pretty sure Cain never threw as many pitches in a cg as Lincecum (148!)

Good baseball names I have seen on my daily trips around BR:

- Bullet Joe Bush
- Jimmy Outlaw
- Hank Shanks
- Bugs Raymond
- Snake Henry
- Sack Morgan
- Big Train Jackson
- Big Boy Davis
- Hooks Wiltse
- Rube Marguard
- Smead Jolley

Reading about the Ichiro inside the park home run at the ASG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiwO2BjcweU

Chris Young, the 6’10” former basketball player from Princeton, was making the first and only All-Star appearance of his career, and his nerves might have shown in the fifth inning when he took the mound and issued a leadoff walk to Baltimore’s Brian Roberts.

Ichiro already was 2-for-2 when he batted with one out. Would he try to bunt for a hit? Maybe slap a single to the left side? Instead, he faced a power pitcher and tried to supply his own. Young threw a first-pitch fastball and Ichiro turned on it, driving the ball over Griffey’s head and toward the right-field arcade. Griffey had played enough games at AT&T Park to know that whenever the ball hit the bricks beyond the sixth archway, it almost always kicked toward center field. He backed off and drifted toward center, like a power forward getting ready to box out for a defensive rebound. But the ball had other ideas.

The drive glanced off the seventh archway, and under normal circumstances, it would have taken a dead bounce off the chain-link fence. But the league installed additional signage in the form of plastic sheeting that was wrapped tightly around the bottom of the archways. Ichiro’s ball hit the signage and instead of deflecting toward center, it kicked hard right. A phrase flashed through Griffey’s mind.
“It’s a four-letter word,” he said, “and ‘oh’ is in front of it.”

Third-base coach Ron Washington said he never had a doubt about waving Ichiro home with the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history. Ichiro didn’t even need to run full speed or slide. “Noooo, no, no,” Washington said. “That was riding a bike over there.… He ended up walking into home plate. There was no doubt. You’re looking at a guy who plays as hard as he can and he wasn’t going to cheat himself. If you’ve got any kind of speed, you should be able to make it in there. That wasn’t just normal speed. You had exceptional speed right there.” Griffey, upon returning to the NL dugout, made eye contact with Bonds and they shrugged at each other. All those asymmetrical quirks of the ballpark, the ones that Magowan insisted upon during the design stage, created one of the most thrilling moments in All-Star Game history. Ichiro, with a straight face, joked that he felt the slightest bit of disappointment. He thought the ball had a chance to clear the arcade.

among the pitchers to throw a no-hitter in the pacific coast league are:

Sea Lion Hall (twice)
Red Toner
Bill Malarkey
Skeeter Fanning (twice)
Suds Sutherland
Death Valley Jim Scott
Tiny Bonham
Cotton Pippen
Kewpie Dick Barrett
Red Munger
Bubba Church
Luis 'Foreign Object' Tiant

― mookieproof, Wednesday, January 13, 2016 9:51 PM (seven years ago)

Rube marquand was a dude

Why is no one spelling his name right? it's Rube Marquard

Legendary entry in "The Glory Of Their Times" obv

give this clip some time once the replay angles start showing up, some eye-opening things abound lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjOeJTsKDE8

Steve Shasta I have covid and my brain is working at like 5% capacity, what am I missing here :(

Miggy's flat-footed attempt at fielding is something but Delmon Young's throw-in is an all-time WS highlight. These were the 2 best teams in baseball ~10 years ago.

Feel better soon, try to get Paxlovid if it's still available to you.

now see normally when my female Red Sox friend sends me a clip with a caption like that it’s usually to highlight that some player’s dick is visible through their pants - none of these morons wear cups anymore

xp oh I’m fine, I’m just full of mucus, we’re really in bad cold territory