The seasons getting started this morning, so the MLB thread is here.

If you're watching this morning on YES, judging by first impressions, Joe Girardi sounds really natural in the booth. Too bad they can't dump that loser Kay.

You're missing Harold Reynolds being a shill for the players on ESPN2. Saying the steroid thing has been blown out of proportion. He and Ravetch (makes you long for actual PBP guys like Jon Miller) got into it. Has Reynolds ever had an insightful thing to say at all?

The only times when Harold Reynolds is remotely interesting are either during the Baseball Tonight commercials or his coverage of the Little League World Series.

My ex-cable company doesn't offer any of the sports pay-per-view packages, but now that I have DirecTV, I was finally able to take advantage of the "free preview" week of MLB Extra Innings. The biggest surprise is that Joe Buck is actually tolerable on local St. Louis telecasts, when he's paired up with Al Hrabosky, not Tim McCarver.

No surprise here, but I've been listening to him since he was old enough to hold a microphone.

I like Joe Buck/Al Hrabrosky the best myself.

Of course, every time I see Joe Buck calling a non-St Louis Cardinal Game I feel like he's being a trator to the cause.

Who's calling Cub Games now, anyway? Is it still Harry Caray's obnoxious son/grandson/whatever?

Quote from trainman:



I think the reason for that lies more with ME-Carver than with Buck. Plus, like me, Joe is a born-and-bred Cards fan, so doing Cards games is more of a passion and less of a paycheck.

MsZoid, I think "Chip" Caray is still doing Cubs games for W(e)G(ot)N(othing). Also, putting "Caray" and "obnoxious" in the same sentence qualifies as redundant, no matter which Caray you mean.

Peter Gammon's tribute to Hank Aaron's career was really good stuff. Way to go Baseball tonight!

This "Scooter" thing sucks. So stupid they had to run it twice because they screwed it up the first time they ran it.

It's the bastard child of Peter Puck.

Do they think kids are really watching?

"Scooter" is more retarded than the glowing puck. It has to be the worst CG character ever made.

And I guarantee you Phil Mushnick (NY Post Writer) will rip FOX a new one for missing an out while the stupid thing was playing.

Hell yeah. And the thing is, that time lapse-ball thing ( with the ball in all it's different positions as it went to the plate) showed all the same things Scooter did, without cutting down on the actual baseball.

Oh, and BucCarver? Could you please, quit it with the Johnny Damon hair jokes? I admit , even as a Sox fan, it was funny the first time. Not the 2nd , 3d, 4th, and 5th times. He's still one of the best players out there, so does anyone really care that much about the hair?

Other than that? Kick-ass game. Despite the Boone homer, I am and always will be a diehard Tim Wakefield fan, and he did not disappoint. And though they missed that one out, thank you so much, Camera Guy, for catching A-Rod's ill-advised stealing attempt( and replaying it.) (That's some good baseball schadenfreude right there.)

I was just coming over here to post on my Scooter hate. Damn, what an annoying piece of shit. I hope to never see him again.



I loved A-Rod's temper tantrum. It's good to see his cool demeanor crack. It proves he's human. Sometimes.

Ah yes. :) Forgot that. That poor cup. (I still don't hate him as much as Giambi, though.)

Has anyone else gone from totally loathing the AFLAC ads to feeling sort of fond of them? The duck is actually chewing a toothpick in the latest one...I don't know. It's probably Stockholm Syndrome, just ignore me.

That Scooter thing...I have no words. I actually said out loud, "Oh God, not Rizzuto," and lived to regret it moments later.

If you saw the game, then you'll remember the lovely "BALCO" chant when he batted. That was truly wonderful.

I didn't understand that little ruler thing when the runners were on first. I get that it was to show us how far off the bag the runner is, but who cares? Unless he gets thrown out because of it, I don't really care.

Hee. I'm listening to today's game on the radio, and they've moved from BALCO to "You use steroids!" Giambi's just one of those players I have an unexplainable, irrational hate for.

mmmmmm.....Curt Schilling.

Sorry, the only things Fox ever gets rid of quickly are prime-time shows I like.

The only good thing about Scooter so far was the fact that Conan O'Brien managed to do a nearly dead-on impression of the voice on his show Thursday night, going solely off the description in the Fox press release. "Nearly" dead-on because Conan's impression was only one sentence long.

Dammit. The only baseball I like is the one on Baseball Tonite they would show right before today's homerun list, and he would get hit and scream. I loved him so. I even have a little plush one from the ESPN store.

Beyond the annoying voice of Scooter is the path the knuckleball takes in the demonstration. They show that it moves up and down, but they just retraced the exact same path over and over. Knucklers are supposed to be unpredictable. And sometimes they enter the strike zone; Scooter's didn't. The brain wizards at Fox saw this abomination as an instructional tool for the young; what the hell is this teaching our boys and girls? "Don't hit a knuckleball, it'll bounce up and down, but it'll never, ever be a strike."

I found it amusing to hear the disdain in Joe Buck's voice that he actually was required to talk about Scooter. Buck's a funny, sarcastic guy and you can always tell when he has that "I can't believe I work for this network" thought going on.

Hee.

Watched the Sox-Yankees game on NESN yesterday; I love the little(possibly one-sided) rivalry they've got going on with the YES guys. ( What with standing up and down and all that.) I think when there's nothing really going on in the game, they just switch to gently mocking whatever's going on in the opposing booth. ( Will have to watch some Sox-Yankees games on YES when I get back in their neck of the woods, and see if it goes the other way.)

Watching Toronto-Sox last week on my local UPN affiliate, I discovered an interesting thing to do( and wondered if anyone else does it.) Since a good portion of the games aren't televised, I usually listen to Joe and Jerry calling the game on WEEI. Watching the game on WSBK, the commentators are considerably more....well, boring. So, I turn down the sound on my little 13-incher, put on my Walkman headphones, and voila! Best of both worlds.

(Finally- dude! The Sox swept the series. Sweeet. / Nemo turtle voice)

Well, can't tell you about Saturday's game, cause I was at the Stadium (good game), but I did watch Sunday's game on Yes. All Michael Kay & Co. do is praise the Yankees for breathing, and make excuses if they missed even the simplest play. On the flip side, they berate the Sox for missing impossible plays and downplay really good stuff they do. Then again, I hate the Yankees, so that's just how it sounds to me.

I wish I had NESN.

Lucky bastard; that was a good game. What did they say about Giambi missing that easy throw from Jeter? (Snerk.) ( I think that was Sunday.) That's what I respect about the NESN guys and Joe 'n Jerry from WEEI; if the Yankees do something great ( like a couple of ARod's catches) , they'll call a spade a spade. Likewise, if the Sox screw up, they'll say so.

I'm gonna miss NESN when I go home. :(

I was lucky to get to go, except I bought the tickets from a scalper type, and I had to pay $60 to sit in the upper level tier seats. But it was well worth it.

I do think that was Sunday. I don't remember any glaring errors on the Yankees behalf in Saturday's game.

Did you see Jorge's error yesterday? Please, Kay & Co. just kept saying, "It's a hard catch." Yes, I can see how catching a foul pop up would be hard for major league catcher. HATE (tm Shack) Posada and Yes commentators.



I like that about the ESPN commentators, when they cover games, especially Joe Morgan and Jon Miller. You don't really detect bias.

Well, actually, the NESN guys took it easy on Posada for that one. But not because it was any type of a hard catch; they said instead that it was an easy catch that Giambi should have been well under, and Jorge shouldn't have had to be out there in the first place.

HATE (tm Shack) Jason Giambi. And even though they're pretty even handed, the NESN guys seem to hate him too. I was watching a game with Travis Lee at first, in which Lee made some great plays, and most of the time they added to the praise "Had Giambi been at first, that wouldn't even have been near being caught" or something to that effect. (Snerk.)

GoldfishGirl42, I should have specified. It wasn't the error that Jorge committed that I meant, but the other foul pop up, the first one Damon batted up. Jorge put his hand out to the side, instead of positioning himself under the ball and catching it with both hands.

But, maybe I'm being a bit harsh since I can't stand the guy. The only reason I like Yes telecasts are because they aren't all gimmicky like Fox's. It's just straight baseball, with a little chitchat, and couple trivia questions thrown in.

The problem with YES telecasts is Michael Kay. Can't stand the guy at all. If they had a O'Neill/Singleton/Murcer and Girardi/Kaat rotation, I would watch a lot more.

And for the love of god George, get rid of Giambi already. The guy SUCKS.

Why didn't Fox have a special Friday night showing of the National League best rivalry the Cubs and the Cards, like they did for the Red Sox and Yankees.

or why doesn't Fox do baseball games in April and May?

Fox wouldn't do that because unlike that one rivalry, the two teams in the best rivalry in baseball (yes, I just said that) are both in the Midwest. And as everyone knows (including those bitching about "East Coast Bias" - the West-Coasters), nothing of value in sports happens in the Midwest.

Right? I mean football-wise, no team from the Midwest has ever been to a Super Bowl or had any NFL or Super Bowl MVPs, right? And there certainly aren't any college football teams in the Midwest, right? For basketball, I think about six NBA titles landed in that one city, along with college basketball all over the Midwest. There's no hockey in the Midwest, either. Or anything but cows and wheat, right?

[/end rant of Midwesterner frustrated with the "Both Coast Bias"]

Even though I'm an East Coaster, I still agree with Colonial Philistine. Fox knows that the numbers wouldn't be the same (but I'm sure the Cubs-Cards game would have better ratings than whatever dreck they show on Friday night.)

Well the coasters are missing out on some great baseball. The past three games the cards/cubs have played have been great. Much better than the Red Sox/Yankee games we are subjected to every other weekend on whatever channel.

And yes even a Midwest team would be better viewing than yet another episode of Cops.

Colonial Philistine. must be a Cards fan, cause he makes a lit of sense.

tvjunkie, you're telling me? I finally had to break down. I got tired of going to my dad's house (he has a baseball package, where he gets every baseball game), and I bought this package on mlb.com, where I can watch the games there.

Not only do I get to see any game I want, but I also get to see baseball on all these other channels, like NESN (I know that's an East Coast channel). I get to see different commentators, and see how the different channels do it, and get new fodder for the commercial thread.

I'm watching the Red Sox/Rangers game right now on ESPN, and I must admit, I love Jon Miller & Joe Morgan. Jon's voice is so soothing.

Hell yeah, I'm a Cardinals fan. Born and bred, bleedin' Cardinal red. But as good as the Cards-Cubs rivalry is, I don't hate the Cubs like Red Sox fans hate the Yankees and vice versa.

I used to, but then the Cubs showed all the class in the world when DK died. Can't hate 'em after that. Will continue to root against them in all situations, but can't hate 'em.

Now, the Yankees, I can hate.

Yeah the only time I can get behind the Cubs is if they are playing the Yankees. But it would be hard.

Yes, much respect for the DK stuff.. but most of those Cubs are gone now.

The Cubs/Cards are what sports is about. The Red Sox/Yankees is what sport needs to stay away from.

Actually, as a Cubs fan, I have never seen all that much rivalry between the Cubs and Cardinals. It just looks like any other game to me, despite what I hear. Now, Cubs-Brewers, that's a rivalry. They always play each other even, regardless of standing. Every time I go (I've been at both parks), I see roughly equal numbers of fans for each team, and all we do is talk smack for 9 innings. Not counting the parking lot. And when they do 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame', and they get up to "So let's root root root for the..." you can't make out the team. Both sides scream it as loud as they can and drown each other out, so that it's "Root root root for the brupbiers".

Now watch as I tie this into the topic.

Why do I go? Because A) I like the Cubs, and B) I can't get them on ESPN. Even if it's the only game, ESPN would rather show the Milwaukee market-- not even Illinois here!-- ESPNews and World's Strongest Man than a Cubs game. Even when Wrigley's sold out and they have no excuse for blacking it out, I apparently need to hear more details of the Kobe case. It just pisses me off.

Actually, edited because I actually seemed to actually use the actual word 'actually' too much. Actually.

mtvcdm,

Okay, you are definitely not seeing what I am (and many other Cubs and Cards fans are) seeing.

Cubs & Cards is always intense, and has been for years - over the past two decades in my personal memory, it's always been on. Only recently have both teams been good at the same time, so the stakes are higher than before.

I don't know how many Brewers fans show up at Wrigley, but Wrigley turns half-red when the Cubbies host, and Busch turns almost one-third blue when the Cards host. I've talked smack with plenty of Cubs fans, who are, however, more pleasant than other fans.

Can't speak to the strength of the Cubs-Brewers rivalry myself - but it's hard for me to believe it's bigger than Cubs-Cards.

The Cubs/Cards rivarly is a really good one. Not as evil as the Yankees/Red Sox one but it has its moments. Last year in September was so fun and is what pennant races are all about...loved it. Of course since I have loved the Cubs since I was 6 it really wasn't too hard to not love that run. I do hate the Cardinals but totally respect the organization...although getting rid of Busch Stadium should NEVER happen.

The series this weekend has been great baseball...yesterday's pitchers dual in this offensive minded era of the game was fabulous to watch. Now if we can only keep Kyle Walksworth out of the game today and Maddux looks like he did last start we can salvage a split. Considering the games are in St Louis I would gladly look at a split as a plus.

The Cubs/Cards still have a "rivalry"? Really? Aside from the Chicago-St. Louis thing, which stirs up emotion in any sport, the Cubs and Cards haven't both been all that good in the same season in quite some time. Now, if they were to meet in the NLCS, let's say, I imagine some rivalry could begin to develop.

The Yankees and Red Sox are the top two teams in the AL East every year, and there is genuine dislike going back 80 years. Let's just knock off the comparisons and suggestions that the Cubs-Cards is anywhere near that. I was at Yankee Stadium last June for two games during the Yanks-Cards series and, while the Cards travel VERY well (thousands of red-clad Cards fans in the house), their fans looked truly shell-shocked at the gall of us Yankee fans. They don't like being razzed -- folks in the midwest are just too polite, especially in places like St. Louie.

All that said, I do agree, even being a Yanks fan, that the NY-BOS rivalry is overdone and annoying, especially when Fox dredges up their footage of the exact same things of the last 80 years. Babe Ruth, Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone. Yes, we get it. Seriously, even those of us in New York get it and are tired of it. We know the history and we're the kinds of fans known for the "what have you done for me lately?" attitude.

Still in all, Boston sucks and I hate the Sox.

Especially because that's only been a rivalry since the Brewers switched leagues a few years ago. I went to college in Chicago from 1992 to 1996, and don't remember there being a huge White Sox-Brewers rivalry then. Maybe it's that there are more Cubs fans in southern Wisconsin and extreme northern Illinois than there are Sox fans.

Fox's baseball package wasn't scheduled to start until Saturday, May 22, and to show that Friday night Red Sox-Yankees game, they had to do some intense finagling with Major League Baseball and whoever it was who was already holding the broadcast rights for that game (YES and NESN, I guess). I assume the ratings weren't spectacular enough for Fox to want to have to play "let's make a deal" for additional Friday night games. But I do agree that they should show games on a national basis during the season, especially rivalry games, instead of the regional coverage they normally do on Saturday afternoons.

FOX has audacity, thinking that the entire country cares about a NYY-BOS game... In April, no less. Hate the Sox, HATE the Yanks. HATED the result of last year's ALCS.
I only peeked at the a few innings, cuz there was a Twins game on the local affilate. Glad I missed whatever this "Scooter" thing is. Being that it's FOX, I thought maybe it was ScooterGirl from American Idol.

But if they could create a Friday Night Baseball, along the lines of ABC's Monday Night Football, that'd be pretty cool. It would save them the trouble of coming up with shows like Who Wants To See My Prostate Exam to air Friday nights.

NotTheRock,

The Red Sox and Yankees being the top two teams in the AL East is a relatively recent thing. Granted, they've been that the past six years - but before that, only two out of fourteen. And I'm pretty sure the rivalry existed before six years ago. It might've intensified since then, but being the top two teams in the division isn't a prerequisite for a "rivalry" in my book.

Neither is meeting in an LCS - otherwise, the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry wouldn't have existed until last year - which I thought was their first time meeting in the ALCS.

For me, "rivalry" means that both teams' fans travel well, that both teams care more about playing each other than other teams in the division, and that both teams' fans care about beating the other team (regardless of the record for the rest of the season - see John Cooper).

Under those terms, Cubs-Cards certainly is a rivalry, nearly as old as the Yanks-Red Sox. Is it better? No - I was joking (mostly) when I said that, as additional sarcasm to drive home my serious point about "Both Coast Bias". I do prefer the Cubs-Cards rivalry, however - we are nicer. And that's a good thing, in my book.

Heh. Kyle Walksworth.

I've taken to calling him "Kyle Farnsworthless"

Kyle Walksworth is the only Cub I like. But I'm a Cards fan of course.

This past rainy cold weekend over 180,000 fans saw a split series 2-2 of the Cubs and Cards, now that is a good time.

Can't wait to see how the Cubs choke this seasons, and I hope no one pays any attention to the Cardinals again and they just scoot on in.


As for Friday Night Fox games, I would be all for it, but it would never show a Central Division game of either league so it wouldn't mean much to me.

Random question -- what was the upshot of the Cablevision/YES controversy in NYC from a couple of years ago?

I wish i had been there!

I went to my parents house Friday night to watch the game because the cable company here only shows the CHicago FSN and WGN and I wasn't in the mood to listen to Chip Carey. Al and Joe are much much cooler.

I liked how Joe Buck was like "This is just as good as the Sox/Yankees Rivalry" Because it is.

To further mention the "no one likes Chip Carey" thing-my Cubs fan Grandfather hates him.

Yes, Chip is an idiot. Stone is great, though. He constantly has to gently contradict Chip when he says stupid or bewildering stuff.

Re: Cablevision/YES

As far as I understand it, YES carries the Yankees (duh) and the NJ Nets. Soon, they'll probably start carring the NJ Devils since they're all owned by YankeeNets Co. (aka Steinbrenner). Cablevision owns the Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, and carries the Isles, Mets, and Metro Stars. Basically that's a lot of freaking coverage. Occasionally, especially in Sept/Oct/Nov, there's too much sports for too little TV. So games get bumped from MSG (the TV station) to FSNY to Metro (a Cablevision only channel) and to occasionally Ch. 55 WIJR? (some channel I've never gotten).

Basically, if you subscribe to Cablevision, you have to pay extra to see the Yanks (and the sports channels in general, IIRC). And if you're not on Cablevision, then, once in a while you get screwed if you want to watch the Knicks, Rangers, or Isles. The jist of it is that the comsumer got screwed whilst Steinbrenner and the Dolans made more money.

Like father, like grandson. I used to want to count how many times Stoney must have been biting his lip to keep himself from correcting something that Caray would say. It was kind of sad, especially as Harry got a bit senile and would mess up names, pronunciations, and even teams. Chip obviously isn't senile, but he does say some dumb things at times.

Kyle Walksworth! BWAH! This guy has so much raw talent but can't harness it. I'm glad to see that he's regained the zip in his fastball. It seemed for a while last year (?) he could only hit 92 or so. He reminds me in a way of Mitch Williams, with the dominating fastball but so out of control that you're always holding your breath.

I can't regard Yankees-Red Sox as a real rivalry until the Red Sox beat the Yankees, just one time, when there is something at stake.

Getting back to FOX: why don't they have games in April and May, anyway?

Fox is already occupied on Sundays at that time with the first half of the NASCAR season. When they have to hand the late regular season and playoffs to NBC (boy, Fox must be peeved), then they start airing baseball.