2013 Baseball season!!!

[gogo]

I know, I couldn't figure out a better way to phrase that!  I also didn't get enough sleep last night.

[tinnitus photography]

You didn't watch every game?

 

he had to go out to restock on pizzas.

[caliber66]

Who's he?

[tinnitus photography]

gogo.

 

potentially also a she. or a hermaphrodite.

 

 

my data set is limited.

[KevinG]

"These Red Sox are getting ready to enjoy some cans of beer and play some 1990s pinball at that new secret ramen place!"
—Judge John Hodgman

[Oil Can Boyd]

Still in shock that it happened.  I knew they would be better than last year but did not expect this. 

[KevinG]

Still in shock that it happened.  I knew they would be better than last year but did not expect this. 

 

The Red Sox's year really showed the importance of good management and club house chemistry.  

[Atticus]

I watched some of the base ball match last night and very much enjoyed it.

[Oil Can Boyd]

Dan Shaughnessy's closing comments from his Spring training preview of this year's Red Sox team: 

 

"Sorry. The juice glass is half-empty today. These guys could be really bad. And really boring. “Scrappy” doesn’t sell in Boston in 2013. Not after everything that’s happened. For $170 million, a little more prime-time talent would have been nice."

[Sir Stewart]

What a shock - Shaughnessy being loud and wrong.

[Lammycat]

No shit. The guy will stop at nothing to be loud and wrong.

[NoJ]

Who won?

[The High Heat]

The Braves are moving out of downtown Atlanta and Turner Field, play in a new stadium in Cobb County starting in 2017.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/atlanta-braves-leaving-turner-field-for-new-ballpark-in-nearby-cobb-county?ymd=20131111&content_id=63830416&vkey=news_mlb

 

Now if only Tampa and Oakland could only get new facilities...

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

The Braves are moving out of downtown Atlanta and Turner Field, play in a new stadium in Cobb County starting in 2017.

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/atlanta-braves-leaving-turner-field-for-new-ballpark-in-nearby-cobb-county?ymd=20131111&content_id=63830416&vkey=news_mlb

 

Now if only Tampa and Oakland could only get new facilities...

i dont like this at all

 

it sets a very dangerous precedence when a stadium thats not even 20 years old and still in very good shape needs to be ditched for a new, largely taxpayer funded stadium

 

arguing whether taxpayers should ever have to fund a sports stadium is a different matter but the fact that a multi million dollar stadium (albeit one not originally built for baseball) doesnt even have to last two decades anymore is appalling 

[KevinG]

i dont like this at all

 

it sets a very dangerous precedence when a stadium thats not even 20 years old and still in very good shape needs to be ditched for a new, largely taxpayer funded stadium

 

arguing whether taxpayers should ever have to fund a sports stadium is a different matter but the fact that a multi million dollar stadium (albeit one not originally built for baseball) doesnt even have to last two decades anymore is appalling 

 

I think the key is that Turner Field needs $150 - $200 million dollars in improvements to make it viable for baseball in the future.  I think the team ownership see a better deal that will cost them less and make them more in the long run.  

 

Turner field was not all that good to begin with IMHO.  

[bleedorange]

i dont like this at all

 

it sets a very dangerous precedence when a stadium thats not even 20 years old and still in very good shape needs to be ditched for a new, largely taxpayer funded stadium

 

arguing whether taxpayers should ever have to fund a sports stadium is a different matter but the fact that a multi million dollar stadium (albeit one not originally built for baseball) doesnt even have to last two decades anymore is appalling 

 

But it's a converted Olympic stadium. And wasn't it largely paid for by private entities for the Olympics? I don't think this is some taxpayer-funded baseball stadium that will barely last 20 years.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

true, the entire concept of the taxpayer funded stadium just rubs me the wrong way

 

for the braves it's a great deal cuz instead of paying $200 million to fix turner field they pay $200 million and get a new stadium, i just dont like putting the taxpayers on the hook for over $400 million when turner field is still a perfectly usable stadium. this isnt oakland playing in a literal dump of a stadium for years. 

[The High Heat]

From what I understand is that Turner Field wasn't in a desirable location, amongst other issues. It seems that there's not really a good place for traffic flow anywhere in Atlanta, so they're going with a mix use developmental area that is closest to the side of town their fans tend to live - the north side. Also, it appears the Braves will (at least partly) own and operate the new stadium.

 

I didn't see this coming. The Braves will only get 20 years out of Turner Field, but I think Atlanta got what it wanted originally - the Olympics. They shouldn't have assumed the Braves would have stayed for decades without long-term improvements to the area.

[MrRain422]

Supposedly Turner Field's location is problematic, though the Braves did have input in it's placement.  I think the real issue is that the Braves are stuck in a TV deal that is paying them way less than other teams with better, newer TV deals (200m/year for most teams vs like 10-20 for the Braves) and are looking for another stream of revenue.

[jff]

I predict the Turner Field deal wil fall through.   Cobb residents have had NO say in this, and it has been rammed through as quickly as possible (anounced on Veteran's day...how classy), with a final vote during Thanksgiving week. 

 

Having said that, if it does go through I will laugh when it blows up in their faces, and it most definitely will.    

[jff]

Supposedly Turner Field's location is problematic,

It's far easier to get to than the Cobb location will be.  Cobb has no public transit and they have vowed not to build any to this stadium.  Also, the new location is in the most congested part of the entire metro area.  If this stadium is built, on game days it will likely become the most congested stretch of interstate in the country.

 

The current stadium is served by MARTA (via either a shuttle bus or a ten minute walk), I-20, I-75/85, and numerous surface roads. It's also very close to "the world's busiest airport."  The only thing "problematic" about the current location is that it's surrounded by black neighborhoods and a lot of white people in Metro Atlanta, particularly in the north suburbs, are scared of that and regularly come right out and admit it.

 

As a resident of Atlanta, I am very happy that this debacle is being discussed on a national level.

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

The current stadium is served by MARTA (via either a shuttle bus or a ten minute walk), I-20, I-75/85, and numerous surface roads. It's also very close to "the world's busiest airport."  The only thing "problematic" about the current location is that it's surrounded by black neighborhoods and a lot of white people in Metro Atlanta, particularly in the north suburbs, are scared of that and regularly come right out and admit it.

then you have this

 

 

Joe Dendy, chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party, says that he has two conditions for supporting the Braves' proposed move (h/t Jim Galloway):

1.) That Cobb County citizens won't have to pay higher taxes as a result, and

2.) “It is absolutely necessary the (transportation) solution is all about moving cars in and around Cobb and surrounding counties from our north and east where most Braves fans travel from, and not moving people into Cobb by rail from Atlanta."

lovely

[The High Heat]

As a Phillies fan I try not to be a Reuben Amaro hater, but signing Marlon Byrd for two years? It's one thing to end up with him as a one year signing in January, but quite another to make him a priority right at the outset of the offseason while most clubs and teams are still feeling each other out. What's the consolation prize, that at least he's not Delmon Young?

[KevinG]

As a Phillies fan I try not to be a Reuben Amaro hater, but signing Marlon Byrd for two years? It's one thing to end up with him as a one year signing in January, but quite another to make him a priority right at the outset of the offseason while most clubs and teams are still feeling each other out. What's the consolation prize, that at least he's not Delmon Young?

 

I loved Byrd when he was a Cub.  Not necessarily the best player out there, but he always plays with heart and moxie.  He did have a good line last year (.291 with 24 home runs and 88 RBIs in 147 games).

 

When people complain about signings you need to ask, who else you gonna get?  Really 2 years at 16 million is a pretty good deal.  

[The High Heat]

Byrd's had an inconsistent career, he'll be 37 next season, and they added a vesting option for a third season. You don't rush to sign a guy like this. The GM meetings are not the winter meetings. Only one other player signed this week - Nick Punto with Oakland. The only players that sign early are guys who want to stay with their current team and guys who know they're not getting a better deal by waiting. The Phillies overpaid for a guy who'd be a better fit hit sixth in Baltimore or Kansas City for a year or two, not fourth or fifth for two or three seasons for a team that claims it will return to contending next year. It's laughable to think Marlon Byrd will be putting up 80+ RBI at age 39 and 40.