lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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Just pretend the Astros are still in the NL.
Heh, a second division contest instead of a World Series? Sounds right for the both of them.
2021 MLB playoffs
- Thread starter Herdfan
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Heh, a second division contest instead of a World Series? Sounds right for the both of them.
Herdfan
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What ? Remember the NL is the older league by 25 years or so.
lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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Yeah but if we're pretending Houston's in the NL and they're still going to be playing Atlanta next week, then it's a division championship bc Atlanta really IS in today's NL.
In middle school I used to ride my bike with friends or sibs from a northern suburb of Rochester down to what was then the Rochester Red Wings' home turf at Silver Stadium in the city for Triple-A games.
We always had a blast and the players were great with kids back then, acting more like some of the AA ball players do now, not even laughing at us when we asked them after the games to sign foul balls they had hit into the stands.
Our dream, of course, was to get a home run ball signed by some player who'd be called up to St. Louis someday and we'd actually see him on TV sometime, instead of just in real life in the minors. That sorta came true for us when a fielder/catcher named Gene Green went up to the Cardinals, and we treasured his baseball cards as he was traded to several other MLB teams over the years. But back in his Triple-A days he wasn't quite the hitter he became later on, so all we had in the way of mementos from his time in the minors were some scrawled signatures in autograph books. No homers or fouls hit into the parking lot, sigh...
The Red Wings were part of the Cardinals' farm system back then, and remain in the history books to this day (along with the Pawtucket, RI Red Sox) for having played through the longest professional baseball game, that ran to 33 innings over 2 days in April plus a finale arranged for June 23, 1961. The total playing time was 8 hours 25 minutes... and Pawtucket finally won it 3-2. But by then I had gone off to college and so didn't even hear about that game until decades later!
lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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Well... heh... I guess there's still time for the Astros to overcome a 5-1 Atlanta lead at the moment, but the Braves did bring their bats tonight.
Herdfan
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And lost a solid pitcher. It was a pretty good game though.
Herdfan
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Not by a long shot.
I think it was Earl Weaver who said "Momentum in baseball is tomorrow's starting pitcher".
lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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Momentum (or loss of it) in last night's game tended to center around a couple of difficult infield plays, calls on a couple close slides, a call on a check-swing and a ball hit to just below the yellow line on the right field wall. Can't complain about any of it on balance and it was exciting to watch.
That game may have been more fun to watch when not really caring who would win, and that was where I was coming from.
Sorry to read about Charlie Morton's broken leg though. Getting hit by a 102mph line drive hardball does seem like could break a leg, or rather (as has been suggested) nearly break it -- and then the fracture itself apparently developed over the stress from those next 16 pitches the guy threw, until the one that was finally too much, when he had struck out Altuve but then noticeably was in pain and had to exit the game in the third inning. Strange, and sad.
Herdfan
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If the Braves go on to win it, the lore of him pitching with a broken leg will be right up there with Schilling's bloody sock.
I was never hit by a 102, but 90+ hurts like hell. And that was on the back of my thigh, not on bone.
Herdfan
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And while not playoff related, the Cleveland Indians plans to change their name just hit a roadblock:
www.espn.com
Do these teams not have attorneys to look into these things?
Roller derby team sues over Guardians name use
A roller derby team that has called itself the Cleveland Guardians since 2013 is suing the city's Major League Baseball team for trademark infringement.
Do these teams not have attorneys to look into these things?
lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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And while not playoff related, the Cleveland Indians plans to change their name just hit a roadblock:
Roller derby team sues over Guardians name use
A roller derby team that has called itself the Cleveland Guardians since 2013 is suing the city's Major League Baseball team for trademark infringement.
Do these teams not have attorneys to look into these things?
Well the Cleveland attorneys did go to some amazing lengths (to Mauritius for god's sake!) to file its paperwork, which suggests they did know there was a problem, or would be a problem with trying to appropriate "Guardians" as a sports team's name in Cleveland.
Not everyone was a fan of the Indians adopting Cleveland Guardians as a new name anyway. Maybe now they should at least christen their legal team "The Dodo Birds".
The dodo species of bird made its only home on the island of Mauritius before fading into extinction.
And you're right: the Cleveland Indians need a new set of lawyers.
Whatever happened to legal counsel doing its job when push comes to shove and it's time to tell the board of directors that "this name choice won't work out well in the end."
ronntaylor
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IIRC, some legal experts said that the roller derby team will have a helluva time winning since they essentially filed for TM after the baseball team, were not active for ~2 years, and there is no likelihood of confusion between the teams.
lizkat
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Color me disappointed. I'm not a fan of Guardians as the new name. I don't have a better suggestion though...
EDIT: welp, that's game 2. 7-2 Astros... Even up now on the Series... on to Atlanta Friday...
ronntaylor
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I actually wanted them to reuse Cleveland Spiders. I don't like most new names for sports team. Mighty Ducks. Predators. Red Bulls. Sky. Guardians is relatively tame and I understand why the owners prefer it over other suggestions.
Herdfan
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Don't forget the newest team, The Kraken.
Spiders would have been awesome. They could have had so much fun with that at the stadium.
lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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I'm gonna go with Atlanta... how can you not like guys who asked for a soft-serve ice cream machine to be installed in their clubhouse (after sampling the wares of one in the visitors' clubhouse in Boston once during a rain-break)? Yeah!
www.nytimes.com
To Save a Swirling Season, Atlanta Turned to Soft Serve (Published 2021)
Atlanta has been praised for its shrewd deadline trades. Braves players credit their resurgence to a midseason pickup that produces day after day.
lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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Maybe the Braves should have asked for a hot cocoa machine instead of a soft-serve ice cream machine in their clubhouse, since the weather dropped off cold in Atlanta in time for Game 3 of the World Series. but never mind, Atlanta managed to beat Houston 2-0 anyway.
Imagine being a 23-year old rookie pitcher throwing a no-hitter in a World Series game for five innings before being removed after 76 pitches (not for getting swarmed by bats but just out of concern the kid would tire and serve up a fat pitch or two and end up helping lose a key game at home). Performance by Ian Anderson was amazing.
Imagine being a 23-year old rookie pitcher throwing a no-hitter in a World Series game for five innings before being removed after 76 pitches (not for getting swarmed by bats but just out of concern the kid would tire and serve up a fat pitch or two and end up helping lose a key game at home). Performance by Ian Anderson was amazing.
