gingerjon Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Just starting a thread on obtaining my baseball fix until the MLB season is restarted in time to infect all of America. Right now, the only league playing anywhere in the world is the four-team Chinese Professional Baseball League - where 'China' in that name means Taiwan. Four teams but it's still a 120 game season ending in a play-off series. You have to love that. I've picked the Chinatrust Brothers because their emblem is a very cool elephant. After six games, 'we' are 2-4. But there's still 54 games in this half of the season to go ... matches are on Twitch and Twitter at around 11.30UK and are free. If you know baseball, the way the standard is described is "around AA" - which, from what I've seen, sounds fair. Also, it's a bit old school in that, as there is little depth to pitching, the starter is expected to go deep into games and over 100 pitches. So, that's Taiwan ... And, as of yesterday, I'm now a lifelong fan of the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organisation (KBO). Exhibition (preseason) games started yesterday with the season due to begin on May 5th. The 10 teams are going for a full season of 144 games. I've backed Kiwoom because they fulfil one of my favourite sports logo etiquettes. That of being so bored with fancy designs (see elephant above and note I'm fickle) that you literally just have a ball with your name on it as the badge. No idea what time UK these games will be or even if they will be as easily available as Taiwan's. Korean baseball is officially decent though - AAA as opposed to AA - and there is of course the added attraction of the casual and despicable sexism of regularly getting in a highly attractive female to throw the first pitch. Disgraceful. Everything's behind closed doors but it's good fun so far. It'll keep me going until the we get some actual real stuff of any sporting flavour ... Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Still lots of MLB World Series, seaon openers, historic games, compilations e5c on YouTube, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 19 minutes ago, JohnM said: Still lots of MLB World Series, seaon openers, historic games, compilations e5c on YouTube, too. This is true. Unfortunately, as the Cubs were uniformly awful for much of that time, even our compilations of best bits tend to end in defeat. Aside from 2016, where I've watched Game 7 again recently. Still not convinced that Bryant's throw to Rizzo will make it until Pat Hughes calls, "IT'S IN TIME!" There is some good stuff on YouTube. Plus I now know about the New World Order thanks to its recommended videos. 2 Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 minute ago, gingerjon said: This is true. Unfortunately, as the Cubs were uniformly awful for much of that time, even our compilations of best bits tend to end in defeat. Aside from 2016, where I've watched Game 7 again recently. Still not convinced that Bryant's throw to Rizzo will make it until Pat Hughes calls, "IT'S IN TIME!" If you insist ... Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Today's Rakuten Monkeys pitcher has a 2-8, 8.57 record in the major leagues. There's a reason he's in Taiwan. The Brothers are looking damn fine in all yellow. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Stein Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I decided to follow a minor league team this year and chose the Rocket City Trash Pandas. No idea if they will actually get to play. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, Jeff Stein said: I decided to follow a minor league team this year and chose the Rocket City Trash Pandas. No idea if they will actually get to play. Or, given that MiLB has apparently agreed to a reduction of around a quarter of its teams, whether they will even exist?! Bizarrely, a friend got some Trash Pandas merch as his brother was in Madison, Alabama a few months ago. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Stein Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 hour ago, gingerjon said: Or, given that MiLB has apparently agreed to a reduction of around a quarter of its teams, whether they will even exist?! Bizarrely, a friend got some Trash Pandas merch as his brother was in Madison, Alabama a few months ago. Someone would catch a really bad cold in that case given that they are playing in a stadium that has just been built for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerrumonside ref Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 (edited) Any chance of the baseball ️ big brains on here giving me a roundup of what has happened in the sport since Washington won the World Series? I know there was a brouhaha about cheating and the Houston Astros? What happened? Any significant trades? Please tell me from the beginning using simple terms (although you don’t have to start with the dinosaurs ). Ta and many thanks! Edited April 22, 2020 by Gerrumonside ref Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattSantos Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I used to go watch the Doosan Bears in Seoul.. oh they were the days. Running the Rob Burrow marathon to raise money for the My Name'5 Doddie foundation: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ben-dyas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 12 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said: I know there was a brouhaha about cheating and the Houston Astros? What happened? Any significant trades? No trades involved the Cubs so therefore I didn't really care. The Astros were absolutely bang to rights on using video cameras and all manner of tech to tell their batters which pitch was coming. It was growing to be a very big deal ... it may do so again. 1 Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) Baseball - cheating? Never! www.mlbdailydish.com/platform/amp/2020/1/13/21064074/mlb-discipline-astros-sign-stealing-scandal Edited April 23, 2020 by JohnM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleep1673 Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 (edited) Marlins. Rubbish team that has never won a division, and has twice won a Worlds Series from a Wild Card position. Perennial underdogs. Edited April 23, 2020 by Bleep1673 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiltshire Warrior Dragon Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I have previously suggested on other threads at other times that we are all influenced by the 'cultures' which envelop the sports we follow. Such a culture, I would argue, can be sport-specific or nation-specific, or both. There is a prevailing abhorrence amongst British RL fans of playing the opposition more than twice (once home, once away) each season. Some soccer fans dislike play-offs. Then there is the attitude towards draws (or ties). SL's loop fixtures cause me less angst than is the case for some other fans; indeed, you could argue that you need some regular season fixture imbalance to logically justify a play-off process. But my stance may be because I follow ice hockey. For instance, the EIHA National League top flight, which includes my nearest teams, such as Basingstoke Bison, as well as the Yorkshire pair, Hull and now Leeds, has ten teams who play each other six times each in a normal season. Another Basingstoke -v- Bracknell local derby? Fine by me; bring it on! Can I ask those of you who follow baseball, whether you like loop fixtures in SL, and if not, how, philosophically, you square that with a passion for baseball, in which, as I understand it, at MLB level, multiple fixtures against other teams is the long established norm? This isn't a trick question. I won't accuse anybody of illogicality or, worse, hypocrisy; that's not really my style. I'm just curious to know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 33 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said: I have previously suggested on other threads at other times that we are all influenced by the 'cultures' which envelop the sports we follow. Such a culture, I would argue, can be sport-specific or nation-specific, or both. There is a prevailing abhorrence amongst British RL fans of playing the opposition more than twice (once home, once away) each season. Some soccer fans dislike play-offs. Then there is the attitude towards draws (or ties). SL's loop fixtures cause me less angst than is the case for some other fans; indeed, you could argue that you need some regular season fixture imbalance to logically justify a play-off process. But my stance may be because I follow ice hockey. For instance, the EIHA National League top flight, which includes my nearest teams, such as Basingstoke Bison, as well as the Yorkshire pair, Hull and now Leeds, has ten teams who play each other six times each in a normal season. Another Basingstoke -v- Bracknell local derby? Fine by me; bring it on! Can I ask those of you who follow baseball, whether you like loop fixtures in SL, and if not, how, philosophically, you square that with a passion for baseball, in which, as I understand it, at MLB level, multiple fixtures against other teams is the long established norm? This isn't a trick question. I won't accuse anybody of illogicality or, worse, hypocrisy; that's not really my style. I'm just curious to know. The Cubs have played the Cardinals 2,443 times, apparently - going all the way back to 1892. I think it's currently set that you play the other four teams in your division 19 times, you have a home and home series (as the American terminology seems to be for what we'd call a home and away series) of three or four games each (so 6 or 8 total) per season against teams from the other divisions in your league. The schedule is then rounded off with 2x series against your interleague rival (for the Cubs this is the White Sox) and then 2x series against teams from one of the divisions in the other league either West, Central or East. I'm quite partial to playing the same team multiple times in this set-up. Baseball comes to life through series as much as it does through individual plays in the game itself. As for rugby ... I think it's the artificiality of the loops. For example, I've followed 10-team leagues which play a 27 game season - not perfect but an acceptable way to get to a reasonable number of games. I don't object to loop games too much but they don't feel quite right either. 1 Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graveyard johnny Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I may be stupid asking this but why is it called the world series? see you later undertaker - in a while necrophile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 10 minutes ago, graveyard johnny said: I may be stupid asking this but why is it called the world series? Because it was a play off between the National League and the American League to determine the overall champion. That champion couldn’t be the American champion or the National champion and so the marketers needed a decent name for it. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I played in the Swinton and Pendlebury Borough Band in the late 1950s onwards. When I joined, our band room was a wooden building on the Baseball Ground on Bolton Road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleep1673 Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 20 hours ago, graveyard johnny said: I may be stupid asking this but why is it called the world series? Because it was sponsored by an American newspaper called The World, hence "The Worlds Series " when the paper went bust, the name stuck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 24, 2020 Author Share Posted April 24, 2020 2 minutes ago, Bleep1673 said: Because it was sponsored by an American newspaper called The World, hence "The Worlds Series " when the paper went bust, the name stuck. No, this is not true. I have given the reason above. "The World" story is an urban legend. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 All four Taiwan teams in action today - starting 10.05am UK time and available for free via twitter and twitch. Three of the teams are 3-5, meanwhile the Rakuten Monkeys are 7-0. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnM Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 From page 59 of Baseball - An Illustrated History, Geoffrey C Ward and Ken Burns Published in 1994, ISBN 0-679-76541-7 ( you can pick one up on ebay for between £5 and £10) Actually, cricket was doomed in this country regardless of England's actions in the Civil War. The pace was too slow and more important the requirements for field maintenance were too great for it to be played by soldiers forever on the move. What America did to cricket was what it does to all exogenous innovation - repackage it to suit its own tastes. Baseball borrowed much of cricket’s nomenclature, its copious record keeping, its style of play and most significantly, its emblematic relation to its nation of origin. Many other clubs had sprung up after the Knickerbockers in 1845 - the Gothams, Eagles, Mutuals Excelsiors, Atlantics, Eckfords and scores more. The class struggle of white and blue collar was played out on the field and not surprisingly the working man won out; after the Knickerbockers initially attempted to limit baseball competition to men of genteel stock, it was playing ability not social standing that counted in baseball. The gentlemanly players of baseball’s first team retreated from the field shaking their heads in dismay at how common riffraff had perverted the “grand old game”- not even a generation old - and probably ruined it forever. Sounds familiar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 23 minutes ago, JohnM said: From page 59 of Baseball - An Illustrated History, Geoffrey C Ward and Ken Burns Published in 1994, ISBN 0-679-76541-7 ( you can pick one up on ebay for between £5 and £10) Actually, cricket was doomed in this country regardless of England's actions in the Civil War. The pace was too slow and more important the requirements for field maintenance were too great for it to be played by soldiers forever on the move. What America did to cricket was what it does to all exogenous innovation - repackage it to suit its own tastes. Baseball borrowed much of cricket’s nomenclature, its copious record keeping, its style of play and most significantly, its emblematic relation to its nation of origin. Many other clubs had sprung up after the Knickerbockers in 1845 - the Gothams, Eagles, Mutuals Excelsiors, Atlantics, Eckfords and scores more. The class struggle of white and blue collar was played out on the field and not surprisingly the working man won out; after the Knickerbockers initially attempted to limit baseball competition to men of genteel stock, it was playing ability not social standing that counted in baseball. The gentlemanly players of baseball’s first team retreated from the field shaking their heads in dismay at how common riffraff had perverted the “grand old game”- not even a generation old - and probably ruined it forever. Sounds familiar? Quite a few of the first baseball players of renown were cricketers as well as baseball players. Jim Creighton was only 21 when he died but he packed a lot into both sports: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Creighton. The reason I know him is that he gets a mention in the Simpsons' baseball episode. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerrumonside ref Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 On 22/04/2020 at 08:32, gingerjon said: Just starting a thread on obtaining my baseball fix until the MLB season is restarted in time to infect all of America. Right now, the only league playing anywhere in the world is the four-team Chinese Professional Baseball League - where 'China' in that name means Taiwan. Four teams but it's still a 120 game season ending in a play-off series. You have to love that. I've picked the Chinatrust Brothers because their emblem is a very cool elephant. After six games, 'we' are 2-4. But there's still 54 games in this half of the season to go ... matches are on Twitch and Twitter at around 11.30UK and are free. If you know baseball, the way the standard is described is "around AA" - which, from what I've seen, sounds fair. Also, it's a bit old school in that, as there is little depth to pitching, the starter is expected to go deep into games and over 100 pitches. So, that's Taiwan ... And, as of yesterday, I'm now a lifelong fan of the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organisation (KBO). Exhibition (preseason) games started yesterday with the season due to begin on May 5th. The 10 teams are going for a full season of 144 games. I've backed Kiwoom because they fulfil one of my favourite sports logo etiquettes. That of being so bored with fancy designs (see elephant above and note I'm fickle) that you literally just have a ball with your name on it as the badge. No idea what time UK these games will be or even if they will be as easily available as Taiwan's. Korean baseball is officially decent though - AAA as opposed to AA - and there is of course the added attraction of the casual and despicable sexism of regularly getting in a highly attractive female to throw the first pitch. Disgraceful. Everything's behind closed doors but it's good fun so far. It'll keep me going until the we get some actual real stuff of any sporting flavour ... Manny Ramirez linked with this today: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/apr/29/12-time-all-star-manny-ramirez-considers-return-to-baseball-at-47 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerjon Posted April 29, 2020 Author Share Posted April 29, 2020 1 minute ago, Gerrumonside ref said: Manny Ramirez linked with this today: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/apr/29/12-time-all-star-manny-ramirez-considers-return-to-baseball-at-47 No. Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. (Terry Pratchett) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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