...and, heeeeere we go!

Yanks @ Nats Gerrit Cole/Max Scherzer starting (no Soto, no problem?)

Giants @ Dodgers Johnny Cueto/Clayton Kershaw (seems like only yesterday, Cueto kicked Jason LaRue in the head, up against the backstop in Cincy...forcing him to retire due to concussion-related syptoms)

.

.

but he's either missing bats, or wild, so far.

.

First of all, it doesn't "sound" good. Like, it could be easily confused as feedback. The AEW manages to do it better.

Second, I just don't like the idea of it. "Crowd" noise isn't essential for an event.

I mean, it's not like the majority of games have a Game 7 World Series atmosphere. The cutouts are weird. They were saying during the Nationals game that each home team gets to choose if they want cutouts, or if they want those seats behind home plate, left open. Nationals went open.

The artificially of it bothers me. Like, why do I need noise to enjoy a game.

but I'm so used to it while watching baseball games it would just be weird to hear an empty stadium. In the Yankees - Nationals game Smoltz was commenting on how good a job they are doing with keeping it in the flow of the game, Michael Taylor hit a homer in Washington and they ramped up the crowd noise as the ball was flying over the fence + cheering when he was rounding the bases and they didn't miss a beat, i didn't even notice until he said it cuz it sounded so normal.

Since each stadium features ambient noise recorded from games played at that park, each space sounds subtly different.


Funnily enough, it sounds more natural in real life than it does in the game since there's an actual engineer at the helm instead of an algorithm.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Looks weird, sure, but it gets the fans involved when they can’t go to the park, and I’ve surprisingly gotten used to it while watching the KBO. I think the noise is more for the players than the fans, so I’m fine with that too. Fox is about to add a digital crowd though and for me that’s a step too far.

A's put up one with Tom Hanks selling hot dogs (which he legit did way back in the day). Players requesting cut outs of their dogs near them is kinda funny too.

the giant teddy bears are kinda cute too. it just looked kinda ludicrous at first sight, but I've actually pretty much gotten used to the whole thing now.

if they're gonna do it they should do more fun goofy stuff like have a Marlins Man cutout at every game one night, have Thumbs Down Guy at the Yankees-Mets and Yankees/Rays games, etc.

https://twitter.com/Braves/status/1287122652985950214

ok what the hell, I'm on board with it now.

baseball is always kind of like background noise to me anyway...rarely am I glued to the couch focusing on it. I just have it on while I'm doing other stuff.

baseball isn't nearly as reliant on fan noise as football...where I think the piped in noise will be far more noticeable to me as I do focus on the game to a much greater extent.

He was SO confident too. Most bad first pitches you can see the person second-guessing themselves. Not him, he really thought he was nailing it.

Oh well, god bless him.

he is almost 80, so there’s that.

is if it was the same person over and over again, a la Being John Malkovich. Heck, let's make them all printouts of John Malkovich, really ramp up the absurdity to 12

so that's cool

he could stand to drop a few pounds though.

(last out from previous inning starts on 2nd)

My only concern was if it would affect pitchers’ stats the way college football OT affects defensive stats, but it seems from last night with the A’s grand slam that the initial runner counted as an RBI for the batter, but not an Earned Run for the pitcher. Someone correct me if I got that wrong, but if that’s the case it’s A-OK with me.

Which I'd hate.

https://twitter.com/Mike_Anthony13/status/1287183692083990530

they wanna cap it at)

Too easy to get a run in from 2nd with no outs.

we still got it, baby

https://metsmerizedonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/charlie-brown-football-lucy.jpg

http://twitter.com/craigmish/status/1287427358710992896?s=21

cancelled. At least 14 players and coaches, tested positive.

Had honestly forgot how upset I was when Donaldson didn't resign but...it's gonna be okay

The Falv-ine regime has been hugely fun, but it's kind of funny that Falvey in particular was sold as the spin-whisperer for pitchers, the sort of guy who'd combine Terry Ryan's knack for finding diamonds in the rough with a re-prioritized Twins scouting machine to give Minnesota an endless run of Kluber-esque finds.

That hasn't really happened, but the blunt solution of just hitting the ball over the wall nearly twice a game is a perfectly fine substitute.

Watching Maeda carve up the White Sox yesterday kind of showed the ideal of what the team spent 2008-2015 trying to cultivate and therefore probably why that was such a bad idea: he seems like a pretty idiosyncratic talent, rare not just in size (not to get carried away - he's a not a STAR but there aren't a lot of pitchers better than him) but in shape.

If this won’t work, neither will football.

nba got the bubble. mlb got some natural social distancing already embedded in the game with some additional new mitigation protocols.

nfl basically just sent an email chain letter around like 'yall ready to show up for work?'.

if they really do try to start the nfl season...the magnitude of their outbreaks is gonna be embarrassing. a few weeks into it and its just gonna be utter chaos and confusion with a bunch of schefty scoops of players/coaches/staff/owners shitting on each other for the incompetence.

cross your fingers and hope?

>cross your fingers and hope?

ignore and it will "disappear"

yikes...the Marlins played even though they knew at least four people were positive...the fuck?

>yikes...the Marlins played even though they knew at least
>four people were positive...the fuck?

clearly MLB does not give a flying fuck about any precautions; they're just trying to churn through a shortened season at any cost. I'm not going out there while MLB just guesses what safety measures they should take next.

Even more players, coaches and personnel means football is about to be a disaster.

.

Dodgers and Astros just had to go toe to toe last night eh?

Mask or not don't stand don't stand so close to me (c) Gangsta Boo

https://mobile.twitter.com/USATODAY/status/1288181655874818050

lets open up the schools!

no Phillies' players, at this point. Saturday doublheader and Sunday game, with the Blue Jays, postponed.

This is gonna fall on MLB/Manfred

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2. Players are tested EVERY OTHER DAY WITH A TURNAROUND TIME OF 36 HOURS.

3. Nowhere does the 113-page protocol that governs the 2020 season explicitly address how the league would handle a coronavirus outbreak.

4. Players/teams can have their salaries withheld if they are unable to play due to contracting the virus.

All of the above is just insane. The MLB literally does not give a shit. And unfortunately that mirrors the Conservative mentality that is ever-present at the top of the league. This is horrible.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29561640/mlb-requiring-teams-add-coronavirus-protocol-compliance-officers

three confirmed cases in a workplace of 29 people is a fucking outbreak happening in real-time. especially with the aforementioned 1.5 day turnaround on tests.

per Marly Rivera:

https://www.espn.com/espn/now?nowId=21-41096315-4

I've spoken to several MLB managers in both Leagues, and one thing they're really concerned about has been team hotels being full of people. Two managers told me about weddings being celebrated at the team hotel, which were really crowded and no social distancing was practiced.

That sounds like pure hell on earth.

seems like that would be possible at the moment.

not sure how the league expects players/staff to stay safe when they have them in close quarters (elevators, lobbies, etc) with the general population. the stupidity and lack of foresight is maddening. i'm really at a loss for words.

with 3 young kids in swimsuits, heading down to the pool. I swear I thought these teams were like buying out the hotel, for their stay.

https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1288987551638970368
https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1288988393192460290
https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1288990503497867267
-----
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have agreed to stage seven-inning doubleheaders starting Aug. 1, sources familiar with the situation tell ESPN.

With a number of doubleheaders expected to take place on account of rescheduled games due to current and potential coronavirus outbreaks as well as weather-related postponements, shortening games to seven innings was a compromise that came together quickly.

The extra-innings runner-on-second rule still will apply in doubleheader games, meaning teams in the eighth inning will automatically start with a runner on second base, sources tell ESPN.

.

each batter comes to the plate with a full count.

Let an algorithm determine the most likely scenario for each at bat and start it from there. Some guys start 0-2, some 3-1, etc.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

due to a positive test...per Buster.
Yep...the end is near. Only so many 7 inning double headers you can play.

.

playing duck season, rabbit season, duck season, rabbit season, rabbit season!!

I don't understand how they can have the information to say 'isolate, distance, etc'

I'm not even trying to simplify this but I kinda am. And if it was one of those crowded hotel sitches, then that's fucked up, but if it was like 'we went to a bar'.....I don't really have sympathy at this point

Like, even white football players and professional wrestlers aren't quite as stupid.

with all the travel they're doing and with no real infrastructure to control hundreds of players, the virus was gonna get in and spread. NFL is gonna be even worse if they actually start.

back in April...APRIL!! They were talking of doing it all in Arizona and instead...

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1289306225331654656

if the sport doesnt do a better job?

they do realize that they have to *make* the sport do a better job right? like completely overhaul parts of your approach and implement stricter measures for *everyone* to abide by. you cant just make changes to your schedule and pray for the best lol.

Dude is having a rough calendar year. The Astros shit, calling the World Series trophy a piece of metal and now this COVIDey restart/shutdown on his watch.

Lorenzo Cain tells the Brewers, “I’m out ✌🏾“. Feels like, at any moment, Buster Olney will announce the season is cancelled.

https://twitter.com/Stephania_ESPN/status/1289667044858662913

people talk about covid like a zero sum game. you either live or you die. or maybe that theres even some long term damage in the more severe cases.

but a recent study shows 78% of people who got the virus had some degree of heart damage. 60% with ongoing inflammation that could last for years or even a lifetime (and disrupts the hearts rhythm or ability to pump blood). the majority of them were mild cases that werent hospitalized and many were even asymptomatic.
https://twitter.com/DrZoeHyde/status/1287789724376035329

imagine what those numbers look like when you consider all of the people who just get it and keep on moving. with no idea that this thing could be a ticking time bomb doing damage to their body that might not be blatantly noticeable until 10-20 yrs down the line.

.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29584055/mets-unable-get-contact-yoenis-cespedes

then opted out:

https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1290022370984378368

too bad cause i loved watching him play

https://nypost.com/2020/08/02/yoenis-cespedes-confronted-mets-about-playing-time-before-opting-out/

*13 over the past week. Six players, seven staff.

How....did they pad the end of the schedule for all these extra games/series? Like HOW is this being handled so poorly. Other teams are at like 9/10 games played and the Marlins are at like 3.

>How....did they pad the end of the schedule for all these
>extra games/series? Like HOW is this being handled so poorly.
>Other teams are at like 9/10 games played and the Marlins are
>at like 3.

Each side starts with the bases loaded.

>Each side starts with the bases loaded.

No digital content available to fans

No marketing their stars

No national brands other than Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers

Greedy moron players

Laissez Faire plan for Covid


this “season” could be a death knell for these guys, the fitting end that’s been a long time coming. It’s like they want to be irrelevant on purpose.

What average kid sees all of this and thinks MLB is cool? When you can watch Lebron dunks and UFC knockouts and Mahomes touchdowns on Instagram with a few finger taps? That’s what would concern me the most if I cared about the sport enough...their league-wide culture of stubbornness stands to render future generations of ball players extinct.

like this is them actually trying to change with the times and its still so terribly bad. They added players weekend the last couple of years. But obviously this year they are losing that. This season they relaxed the rule on cleats. They started the let them play campaign. So they are taking steps in the right direction. But its all too little too late. These are baby steps they should have taken years ago. I mean they had a chance to be the first sport on the air with NO COMPETITION, and they blew it with labor talks. But they need to stop with the baby steps and start taking some HUGE leaps. Because baseball cant afford to be an old mans game any longer. They need to now before soccer and hockey pass them.

yikes.

as valuable, but considering the summer of 2018 to now...

good thing the Nationals didn't tie themselves to his past performance contract demands.

I'm kind of at a loss here regarding how the fuck someone does a Nazi salute twice, especially after Hendricks corrects him the first time.

for the correction, then doubled down on it. Like... really leaned into it.

https://twitter.com/TommySledge/status/1291526542812680192?s=19

Best team in the AL, with or without fascist coaches.

The 2006 sweep didn't even help.

>The 2006 sweep didn't even help.

Well, if you want to score some points on lippy Twins fans - this is a pretty good way to do it. The 2006 Twins team was the best of that 00's run of playoff appearances, and that series was such an absolute clusterfuck. No Liriano. Brad Radke pitching with a literal broken shoulder. Torii Hunter overplaying a liner (by Mark Kotsay, I think?) into an inside-the-park homer. Just rough all the way through.

So that's the tip. That series stung hard as a Twins fan. Wield it with honor and spite.

he went out to party with his friends in Chicago after his start on Saturday.

baseball guys are gonna baseball guy.

half your starting rotation just doing dumb shit

no surprise their bench coaches are starting fights with players and they are throwing at people already.

we know they aren't going to get in any real trouble for it; embrace the heel role and keep making a mockery of the MLB.

If nothing else, the coaches are supposed to be "the adults in the room" when it comes to player fights and actively working to help cooler heads prevail. Instead, he's goading Lauriano and talking shit about his mother, then hides behind the rest of the roster when Lauriano charges at him.

19 of those should be for fucking up Scott Rolen's shoulder. #neverforget

the league does owe the Astros their safety so i can see why they are coming down superhard on anyone that takes it into their own hands.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1293167730582073344

might as well give it a try!

n/m

we promised Houston we would take care of them and we WILL punish you.

threatening to suspend Bauer more games for cleats than the entire Astros roster. they are the kings of the losing news cycle.

literally all MLB news that reaches the general public is just them shoving their thumbs up their asses repeatedly. it'd be like the NBA banning Bron from the chalk toss back in the day, or NFL coaches holding a joint press conference on how Mahomes' no look throws go against the unwritten memoir of Bart Starr.

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i mean he let the steroid era happen then ran the players over with the bus while he drove to the Hall of Fame.

Bud had his fuckups and we talked about them. Bud was also the commissioner for 20+ years...a lot of that time, baseball was beloved. Baseball is fighting off death, now. Manfred has barely been commissioner for 5 years and seems to be compressing maximum bullshit into a small timeframe.

the baseball strike happened in 94 which damn near killed the game. Then he had the steroid era. The rest of his time at the top was running into players with his bus. He was a complete shit show.

Honestly. You're not getting any disagreement from me on how much Selig fucked up. That has nothing to do with Manfred and what's going on right now.

Not quite halfway thru the short season.

They looked mad shaky when the season started. But we took 3 of 4 in the first series against the Yankees and just finished a 3 game sweep. That clinches the season series against NY. And we swept the Red Sox just before that. I think we've won 10 of our last 11.