The Swamp

tennbengal wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:09 am

EnochRoot wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:29 pm

bfj wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:24 pm

EnochRoot wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:20 pm

bfj wrote: ↑Tue Apr 11, 2023 8:17 pm Ryan Mountcastle with 9 rbi so far tonight.

I'm watching. Rodriguez needs to learn to work the hitter's eyes some more. He'll get there.

I like that he battled and never gave in to try and throw heat by hitters. His off speed stuff disappeared as he got more tired.

McDonald was touching on it a bit. The fact all the hits he gave up were on 0-2 or 1-2 counts, and the # of hitters he got to those same counts 16 of something like 21? Suggests he's not wild enough in the zone. Don't let the hitter focus in on a section of height in the zone. Like I said, he'll figure it out.

Ah, should have read further. That's interesting.

Also, since my seats were down the RF line I could not see side to side and don't know if he was getting squeezed or not. Top of the zone was not being given from where I was sitting in any event.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 1:41 pm Exceptionally weird game for the umps in Cleveland.

Jerloma wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 8:25 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Apr 12, 2023 1:41 pm Exceptionally weird game for the umps in Cleveland.

Definitely wasn't a catch but has that ever been a thing? Overturning a call from the scoreboard replay after the other team doesn't challenge it?

mister d wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 7:05 pm At this point I don’t even know what you can do. It’s not like Hicks where it’s something different every time; if Giancarlo gets hurt you can almost guarantee it’s a lower body muscular injury.

On the flipside, Cole struck me as the type who might get a little mind-fucked by the clock, and maybe he still will in “certain games”, but he’s been absolute nails.

brian wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 8:19 pm I think it’ll be interesting to see how many (if any) pitchers the Pitch Clock Era ends the careers of.

MaxWebster wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 7:43 am obviously very early but Alek Manoah has been absolutely brutal this season, no obvious injury tells... utter guy-at-the-bar analysis here but he's always been amped and seems too-amped already this season, his command is so off (e.g. first pitch was HBP yesterday) that i wonder if he is inadvertently rushing himself.

brian wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 8:19 pm I think it’ll be interesting to see how many (if any) pitchers the Pitch Clock Era ends the careers of.

degenerasian wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 10:35 am

MaxWebster wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 7:43 am obviously very early but Alek Manoah has been absolutely brutal this season, no obvious injury tells... utter guy-at-the-bar analysis here but he's always been amped and seems too-amped already this season, his command is so off (e.g. first pitch was HBP yesterday) that i wonder if he is inadvertently rushing himself.

brian wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 8:19 pm I think it’ll be interesting to see how many (if any) pitchers the Pitch Clock Era ends the careers of.

Yup I think he's out of shape too. Used to take extra time to catch his breath which he can't anymore

MaxWebster wrote: ↑Mon Apr 17, 2023 1:11 pm A Real Old-Time Baseball Trade!™

brian wrote: ↑Fri Apr 07, 2023 7:24 pm I predict the As announce their move to Vegas by the All-Star Break.

Not sure where they’ll build the permanent location (my guess is the current Rio site with some kind of people mover across I-15 on Flamingo) but they’ll temporarily expand Las Vegas Ballpark to accommodate 18,000 for 2024 and 2025 while it’s being built.

Craig Calcaterra wrote:The Daily Briefing

The Athletics are Vegas-bound

The Oakland A’s have entered into a binding agreed to purchase 49 acres north of the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas with the hopes of having a new stadium ready to start the 2027 season. They are likewise closing in on a binding agreement to construct a $1 billion stadium. The team’s official statement:

“The A’s have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a future ballpark in Las Vegas. We realize this is a difficult day for our Oakland fans and community.

“For more than 20 years, the A’s have focused on securing a new home for the Club, and have invested unprecedented time and resources for the past six years to build a ballpark in Oakland. Even with support from fans, leaders at the city, county, and state level, and throughout the broader community, the process to build a new ballpark in Oakland has made little forward progress for some time. We have made a strong and sincere effort to stay here.”

“We recognize that this is very hard to hear. We are disappointed that we have been unable to achieve our shared vision of a waterfront ballpark. As we shift our focus to Vegas, we will continue to share details about next steps.”

Shen Thao, the mayor of Oakland had this to say:

“It is clear to me that the A’s have no intention of staying in Oakland and have simply been using this process to try to extract a better deal out of Las Vegas. I am not interested in continuing to play that game - the fans and our residents deserve better . . . I refuse to compromise the safety and well-being of our residents. Given these realities, we are ceasing negotiations and moving forward on alternatives for the redevelopment of Howard Terminal.”

In a statement to the Las Vegas Review-Journal Rob Manfred said: “We support the A’s turning their focus on Las Vegas and look forward to them bringing finality to this process by the end of the year.”

As for the stadium, The Nevada Independent reports that the governor and state legislators are on board with the deal. It sounds like the usual situation: the politicians are saying there will be “no new taxes” to pay for it yet they are concocting an elaborate special taxing district, diverting, sales taxes, and are using terms like “public-private partnership” which means that hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds are, without question, going to the A’s and their stadium.

Las Vegas will be the fourth city that the A’s call home, having played in Philadelphia from their founding in 1901 through 1954, and moving to Kansas City and playing there from 1955 through 1967. They have been in Oakland for the past 55 years, longer than any other city. They have, quite obviously, however, had one foot out the door for a long time.

The A’s spent many years under two different ownership regimes to figure out a way to stay in the Bay Area, looking at sites in San Jose, Fremont and, for the past several years, in and around Oakland. While for a long time they seemed committed to staying put in the East Bay, ever since the possibility of Las Vegas arose a couple of years ago it’s seemed pretty clear that they’ve been using Oakland as a bargaining chip and had no plans to stay. As it is, they have slashed the payroll, raised ticket prices in an effort to squeeze more money out of fans, and now they stand as one of the worst teams in recent baseball history.

Oakland baseball fans deserve better. They’ve been taken advantage of like crazy all so John Fisher and Dave Kaval can get another billion bucks or two in their pockets. As it stands now the team is supposed to finish this season in Oakland and play there three more seasons before heading to the desert. One can only hope that everyone realizes how awkward that is and that they just pick up and move now and play in some temporary location to save everyone the indignities of more bad baseball in a vermin-ridden stadium with empty seats. Most of all, they can save everyone the indignity of John Fisher and Dave Kaval making a single penny from the people and city of Oakland.

The A’s now have the pile of chips in front of them that they wanted. It’s time for them to collect their winnings, cash out, and hit the road.

mister d wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 11:16 am I don't know what cities can do to fuck over owners/teams that are leaving, but Oakland for sure should do something.

mister d wrote: ↑Thu Apr 20, 2023 11:30 am Right, Oakland didn't siphon money away from schools and shit to build the Gap heir (net worth >$2B) so he let them play in sewage until he could leave. Fuck him out the door.

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 21, 2023 3:37 pm Drew Smyly is doing something interesting if done with this Arsenal game.