2024 MLB Thread

[Tiger337]

So, Sasaki saying he didn't want to play in a large market was bull****.  

[IdahoBert]

Given that Bob Uecker just died, a family member here in Boise Idaho alerted me to this photo from the 1958 Pioneer League Boise Braves that shows young Bob Uecker circled in the top row on the far right side. I just thought it was sort of cool. 

[IdahoBert]

3 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

So, Sasaki saying he didn't want to play in a large market was bull****.  

Shocking. Unfortunately, he’ll be moving to the area when housing prices will be skyrocketing due to immense demand with a depleted supply. 

[RandyMarsh]

We all saw this coming, shouldn't have dragged teams like the Blue Jays along when you know he had little intention of signing with them. The Dodgers are the best team in baseball, play on the west coast and have Ohtani and Yamamoto on the team, he wasn't going to go anywhere else. 

[Tiger337]

2 hours ago, Motor City Sonics said:

Two of baseball's greatest characters there.    Man, that game.   The whole country got introduced to The Bird.        It's so sad how it didn't last, but I guess the story wouldn't have have been as magical if we saw him slowly age.   But even in his last years when he'd be around for interviews he was like a big kid.   It's like he was the last of the wide-eyed kids to make it.   So many of these guys now are pumped up so much by the time they get to the big leagues they are jaded at 25.  Not this guy.  That wasn't an act.  It breaks your heart that he died so young and so oddly.    Guy didn't have a negative cell in his body. 

That magical year in 1976 will never be repeated again.  You had to be there to understand it.  It was the most exciting individual Tigers season since I've been a fan.  More fun than Cabrera's Triple Crown year or Verlander's Cy Young/MVP season, Fielder's 50 homer season or any other season.  

Edited Friday at 11:34 PM by Tiger337

[RedRamage]

18 minutes ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

Sasaki to the Dodgers because of course

I am SHOCKED... Just SHOCKED!

[Motor City Sonics]

30 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

That magical year in 1976 will never be repeated again.  You had to be there to understand it.  It was the most exciting individual Tigers season since I've been a fan.  More fun than Cabrera's Triple Crown year or Verlander's Cy Young/MVP season, Fielder's 50 homer season or any other season.  

We were coming out of such a dismal season in '75.  They lost 19 straight that year.  Lolich, Hiller, Horton and Freehan were all that's left from the glory days and they were past prime.  The farm system was another 2-3 years from developing anything.  

And I remember it VIVIDLY, even though I was just 11.   It was a cool and cloudy Saturday and the Indians were playing the Tigers.  It was on TV (I think only about 40 games were televised then).  His first start.   Fidrych gets up there, he's all arms and legs, he was shaped like a stick figure with curly hair and he'd pitch the ball and the catcher would return it and he just couldn't wait to throw another pitch.   My dad had me go with him to a plumbing store on Van Dyke near 14 mile.   He and the store guy get into some lengthy conversation about nothing that mattered to me and I sat there watching the game on this little black and white TV.   The Bird just cruised through the game.   Not looking this up, this is on memory, but he 2-hit them, right?   And that game was over in less than 2 hours.    You could tell - even then, that that cat was different.  He looked like he wants to burst out of his own skin, he's stomp around the mound after every out.    And 6 weeks later he ws a superstar.    In an interview the interviewer said "that was a tragically short career".   He said "Tragic?  It wasn't tragic, I started an All-Star game,  I was on the cover of Rolling Stone, it was great".      In 1985 he suffered an injury (working on his truck, of course) and went and got an MRI, which weren't common then.   They found the tear in his shoulder and he was told it could be repaired and in a year it could be as strong as ever.   He was 30.  He could have done it but he just said that he didn't want to set himself up for the heartbreak again because he was happy where he was.      How do you not root for a guy like that?

[papalawrence]

In 13 months the Dodgers added 4 front line starters via FA. Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell and Sasaki. And they have Glasnow, May, likely Kershaw. They could possibly field 2 playoff teams.

[monkeytargets39]

Sweeping the Dodgers on opening week is gonna be great

[Hongbit]

Do the Dodgers have the greatest team on paper ever assembled in any sport?  

[monkeytargets39]

3 minutes ago, Hongbit said:

Do the Dodgers have the greatest team on paper ever assembled in any sport?  

It’s a shame that the original Dream Team took Laettner instead of Shaq

[IdahoBert]

1 hour ago, Tiger337 said:

That magical year in 1976 will never be repeated again.  You had to be there to understand it.  It was the most exciting individual Tigers season since I've been a fan.  More fun than Cabrera's Triple Crown year or Verlander's Cy Young/MVP season, Fielder's 50 homer season or any other season.  

I remember wearing a Tigers cap to Tucson Toro games in 1975 and people would come up to me and sincerely tell me that they felt bad about how the Tigers were getting beaten up during that 0-19 stretch. And given how it was hard to stay connected to the team other than through box scores and that I lived 2000 miles away and how I spent a month in England that summer missing even the Fourth of July bicentennial celebrations I pretty much missed that season since my plate was full with other stuff.

All of that changed when several guys from Detroit and Ann Arbor moved down to Arizona and joined my friend circle, and it was easy then to get drawn back into the family for a while. 

[IdahoBert]

51 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

We were coming out of such a dismal season in '75.  They lost 19 straight that year.  Lolich, Hiller, Horton and Freehan were all that's left from the glory days and they were past prime.  The farm system was another 2-3 years from developing anything.  

And I remember it VIVIDLY, even though I was just 11.   It was a cool and cloudy Saturday and the Indians were playing the Tigers.  It was on TV (I think only about 40 games were televised then).  His first start.   Fidrych gets up there, he's all arms and legs, he was shaped like a stick figure with curly hair and he'd pitch the ball and the catcher would return it and he just couldn't wait to throw another pitch.   My dad had me go with him to a plumbing store on Van Dyke near 14 mile.   He and the store guy get into some lengthy conversation about nothing that mattered to me and I sat there watching the game on this little black and white TV.   The Bird just cruised through the game.   Not looking this up, this is on memory, but he 2-hit them, right?   And that game was over in less than 2 hours.    You could tell - even then, that that cat was different.  He looked like he wants to burst out of his own skin, he's stomp around the mound after every out.    And 6 weeks later he ws a superstar.    In an interview the interviewer said "that was a tragically short career".   He said "Tragic?  It wasn't tragic, I started an All-Star game,  I was on the cover of Rolling Stone, it was great".      In 1985 he suffered an injury (working on his truck, of course) and went and got an MRI, which weren't common then.   They found the tear in his shoulder and he was told it could be repaired and in a year it could be as strong as ever.   He was 30.  He could have done it but he just said that he didn't want to set himself up for the heartbreak again because he was happy where he was.      How do you not root for a guy like that?

You are awesome Mark, thanks. 

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, Motor City Sonics said:

We were coming out of such a dismal season in '75.  They lost 19 straight that year.  Lolich, Hiller, Horton and Freehan were all that's left from the glory days and they were past prime.  The farm system was another 2-3 years from developing anything.  

And I remember it VIVIDLY, even though I was just 11.   It was a cool and cloudy Saturday and the Indians were playing the Tigers.  It was on TV (I think only about 40 games were televised then).  His first start.   Fidrych gets up there, he's all arms and legs, he was shaped like a stick figure with curly hair and he'd pitch the ball and the catcher would return it and he just couldn't wait to throw another pitch.   My dad had me go with him to a plumbing store on Van Dyke near 14 mile.   He and the store guy get into some lengthy conversation about nothing that mattered to me and I sat there watching the game on this little black and white TV.   The Bird just cruised through the game.   Not looking this up, this is on memory, but he 2-hit them, right?   And that game was over in less than 2 hours.    You could tell - even then, that that cat was different.  He looked like he wants to burst out of his own skin, he's stomp around the mound after every out.    And 6 weeks later he ws a superstar.    In an interview the interviewer said "that was a tragically short career".   He said "Tragic?  It wasn't tragic, I started an All-Star game,  I was on the cover of Rolling Stone, it was great".      In 1985 he suffered an injury (working on his truck, of course) and went and got an MRI, which weren't common then.   They found the tear in his shoulder and he was told it could be repaired and in a year it could be as strong as ever.   He was 30.  He could have done it but he just said that he didn't want to set himself up for the heartbreak again because he was happy where he was.      How do you not root for a guy like that?

The first time I saw him was on TV in a Spring training game against the Red Sox.  I had seen his name in the TSN stats before, but knew nothing about him.  The results were not great in this game, but he certainly captured my attention with his curly hair and mannerisms.  My father said he reminded him of Bill Lee.  We both liked that he was from Northboro, MA.  

[Motor City Sonics]

6 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

The first time I saw him was on TV in a Spring training game against the Red Sox.  I had seen his name in the TSN stats before, but knew nothing about him.  The results were not great in this game, but he certainly captured my attention with his curly hair and mannerisms.  My father said he reminded him of Bill Lee.  We both liked that he was from Northboro, MA.  

I always wished I had the guts to be as independent as Bill Lee

[1776]

1 hour ago, monkeytargets39 said:

Sweeping the Dodgers on opening week is gonna be great

Book it.

[1776]

35 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

The first time I saw him was on TV in a Spring training game against the Red Sox.  I had seen his name in the TSN stats before, but knew nothing about him.  The results were not great in this game, but he certainly captured my attention with his curly hair and mannerisms.  My father said he reminded him of Bill Lee.  We both liked that he was from Northboro, MA.  

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this over the years. I’m sure most everyone has seen this but I’ll put it here for anyone that hasn’t. 
 

[IdahoBert]

1 hour ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I always wished I had the guts to be as independent as Bill Lee

I was aware of Bill Lee and how he had fun with Don Zimmer calling him chipmunk, so when Zimmer was a coach for the Cubs and they came to Tucson to play the Indians in spring training at Hi Corbett Field in ‘84-‘85 and far from the field I shouted at Zimmer “Hey chipmunk how’s it hanging today?“

He was royally upset and he almost had to be restrained. I didn’t realize how stinging Bill Lee‘s taunt of him had been and how Zimmer took it personally. I chuckled about it at the time and then pretty quickly felt it was kind of gutless of me to take a cheap shot at a guy from the cheap seats no less.

And I can’t really chalk it up to youth because I was in my early 30s by then, but it was a lesson learned and I’ve never again been a gutless twerp who shouts stuff from the stands. The fact that I drank six Miller Lights and I’m not much of a drinker is still not a good enough excuse. 

[Arlington]

Fydrich is my favorite what might have been.  You don't associate him with the '80s but he would have been in his prime when the Tigers were.  A healthy 30-year old Fydrich leading the 1984 rotation? 

[Motor City Sonics]

31 minutes ago, Arlington said:

Fydrich is my favorite what might have been.  You don't associate him with the '80s but he would have been in his prime when the Tigers were.  A healthy 30-year old Fydrich leading the 1984 rotation? 

The final game at Tiger Stadium, after the game and players came from Centerfield, Wasn't he the first one out there?   I was at the game, I think he was.   Gathering dirt and putting it in a baggy.    I still get emotional about that place, but also understood why they needed to make the move. 

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, IdahoBert said:

I was aware of Bill Lee and how he had fun with Don Zimmer calling him chipmunk, so when Zimmer was a coach for the Cubs and they came to Tucson to play the Indians in spring training at Hi Corbett Field in ‘84-‘85 and far from the field I shouted at Zimmer “Hey chipmunk how’s it hanging today?“

He was royally upset and he almost had to be restrained. I didn’t realize how stinging Bill Lee‘s taunt of him had been and how Zimmer took it personally. I chuckled about it at the time and then pretty quickly felt it was kind of gutless of me to take a cheap shot at a guy from the cheap seats no less.

And I can’t really chalk it up to youth because I was in my early 30s by then, but it was a lesson learned and I’ve never again been a gutless twerp who shouts stuff from the stands. The fact that I drank six Miller Lights and I’m not much of a drinker is still not a good enough excuse. 

Zimmer hated Bill Lee.  It was not a happy clubhouse.

By the way, it was gerbil, not chipmunk.  

[lordstanley]

I mentioned here before that I had my 9th birthday party in the lower deck in left on the Fidrych Yankees Monday Night game. The last day of school was the Friday before. Summer was starting. I was going into  surgery in a week. All night I was surrounded by friends and family, some no longer with us. We expected a crowd of 20k, it was jam packed with 48k. The cheers on every out. The post-game curtain call, which was a rarity back then. From memory, almost 50 years later, I could write a 5,000 word essay on that night. Easily the most memorable day of my childhood. But ask me to write 500 words about anything I did in 2017 and I’d be stumped without checking emails or a calendar from that year. I’m so silly that whenever I watch a replay of that game I still hold out the faint hope that when the camera pans the crowd I might spot us, somehow having never noticed before.  If someone offered me a chance to go back to that day for 6 hours in exchange for $100,000 I’d write a check in a heartbeat. 

Edited Saturday at 07:03 AM by lordstanley

[papalawrence]

Next year will be the 50th anniversary of Fidrych's magical season. Someone should make a motion picture about that ride.

[romad1]

6 hours ago, lordstanley said:

I mentioned here before that I had my 9th birthday party in the lower deck in left on the Fidrych Yankees Monday Night game. The last day of school was the Friday before. Summer was starting. I was going into  surgery in a week. All night I was surrounded by friends and family, some no longer with us. We expected a crowd of 20k, it was jam packed with 48k. The cheers on every out. The post-game curtain call, which was a rarity back then. From memory, almost 50 years later, I could write a 5,000 word essay on that night. Easily the most memorable day of my childhood. But ask me to write 500 words about anything I did in 2017 and I’d be stumped without checking emails or a calendar from that year. I’m so silly that whenever I watch a replay of that game I still hold out the faint hope that when the camera pans the crowd I might spot us, somehow having never noticed before.  If someone offered me a chance to go back to that day for 6 hours in exchange for $100,000 I’d write a check in a heartbeat. 

That was an amazing time.  I got to see him pitch but it was the next year.  He won and he was pretty good but we didn't know he was on his way to injury shortened career.   Watching the replay of that Yankee game and seeing how electric the stadium was was amazing. 

As for your memory same here.  But there is a side benefit of putting a gallon jug of memories into the shot glass of the here and now.  My daughter was at a high school theater improv competition last night and my wife in the audience (she was there, I was not), told me because she more life experiences to draw from she was thinking of ideas for the kids way before the kids on stage were thinking things up.   Whatever that would be worth to you, dunno.

[IdahoBert]

13 hours ago, Tiger337 said:

Zimmer hated Bill Lee.  It was not a happy clubhouse.

By the way, it was gerbil, not chipmunk.  

Ah, you’re right. I’m pretty sure I did the insult correctly 40 years ago, but my memory failed me just now. Thanks for clarifying this sacred memory.