re: DAT 11/3: Astros (Verlander) @ Phillies (Syndergaard) 7:03 CT FOX

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Who woulda thunk a couple of defensive gems from Mancini and Chas would save the day?

As I’ve said before, people who don’t love baseball are just people who don’t understand it.

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It truly is sad how the MLB and the disreputable baseball media spent the last 5 years leaning into the "cheating" story and instead they're missing out on promoting the greatness of this Astros run. They could have added a massive population base to the MLB target market by promoting the Astros across the south. What did we get in place of that? More pandering to the petulant children on the coasts from the coastal writers who obsess over :purity".


Jose Altuve should be one of the easiest sells in baseball, everything about the guy is marketable and his story is inspiring and the idiot MLB can barely sell him worth a shite. We hear more about trashcans than Altuve's place as an unlikely MLB superstar.

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As I’ve said before, people who don’t love baseball are just people who don’t understand it.

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My wife (no pics) would sit with me and watch Astros games for years - but she never enjoyed it. Slowly, she would pick up a subtlety of the game, here and there.

When I started coaching our youngest, I talked her into keeping score in a book (not GameChanger). She learned so much more. And now that he pitches, she has learned even more about strategy of the game. She now sees the artistry for every play, each player has a job, even if the ball doesn’t come to them.

She now loves to watch and gets excited when she the little things about the game like last night: on the Chas catch, Tucker was right there in position to play the bounce back, if Chas didn’t make the play.

Want to get someone to love the game, teach them how to keep score in a scorebook.

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Jose Altuve should be one of the easiest sells in baseball, everything about the guy is marketable and his story is inspiring and the idiot MLB can barely sell him worth a shite. We hear more about trashcans than Altuve's place as an unlikely MLB superstar.

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This reminds me of something Joe Davis said on the broadcast last night, I think in the 9th inning. I was too wrapped up in the game to mention it then, but it is appropriate to discuss now.

Altuve was at the plate and Davis and Smoltz were endlessly jabbering about something, which they tend to do. Then Davis said basically the following:

"Altuve has become the face of the franchise, for better or worse"

Yeah frick you a-hole. Get over the "scandal" already. LET IT GO. Be bitter if you want about the Astros "stealing" a World Series from your beloved Dodgers, but do it on your own time and stop taking shots. Time to turn the page.

Davis and Smoltz are brutal. I need a broadcast that is just the sounds of the game. No announcers. Crowd noise, ump calls, the crack of the bats and the sound of the ball popping the gloves.

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"Altuve has become the face of the franchise, for better or worse"

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I heard that and I was immediately breathing fire. I was an absoulte F-bomb machine.

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It truly is sad how the MLB and the disreputable baseball media spent the last 5 years leaning into the "cheating" story and instead they're missing out on promoting the greatness of this Astros run. They could have added a massive population base to the MLB target market by promoting the Astros across the south. What did we get in place of that? More pandering to the petulant children on the coasts from the coastal writers who obsess over :purity".


Jose Altuve should be one of the easiest sells in baseball, everything about the guy is marketable and his story is inspiring and the idiot MLB can barely sell him worth a shite. We hear more about trashcans than Altuve's place as an unlikely MLB superstar.

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You make good points all around.

How quickly they forget the Phillies getting busted using binoculars and then cameras to steal signs and relay them to the batter in 2009-10ish.

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How quickly they forget the Phillies getting busted using binoculars and then cameras to steal signs and relay them to the batter in 2009-10ish.

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It goes deeper than that scandal.

This organization was cheating with buzzers in fricking 1900!

LINK

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Before the 2020 baseball season got underway, the national pastime was rocked by scandal. An investigation by Major League Baseball revealed that both the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox, World Series winners in 2017 and 2018, respectively, were involved in using technology to steal opponents’ signs and gain an illegal advantage. As a result, the Astros fired manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow, the Red Sox parted ways with manager Alex Cora, and the New York Mets fired manager Carlos Beltran. All were involved in the scandal. Using live video replay, players were able to steal signs from opposing catchers and relay the pitch selection to their batters by whistling, clapping, or banging trash cans.

Few fans are probably aware that 120 years earlier, the Philadelphia Phillies used the technology of the day to do the very same thing. It was known around the league that the Phillies were doing something, but no one knew how elaborate their system was. They were caught red-handed on one memorable day in the first game of a doubleheader on September 17, 1900, at the Baker Bowl. Their technology? Binoculars, a buzzer, and a seldom-used backup catcher.

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Where is the moral outrage from our coastal purists? Where is WCA and Zappa with their righteous outrage?

So this morning, we have the best number of all…ONE!!!

Pressly, #1 closer, balls of steel, with his number 1 in the air. I think he does that for his dad, whose name is always on his glove


Chas McCormick, for the number one, game saving play


For Justin Verlander’s WS victory #1


And for Jeremy Peña, number 1 in our hearts

Tomorrow has the potential to be the greatest sports day ever.