Tag: Baseball

The Marlins Are Replacing the Ugly Home Run Statue With Irony

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That statue perfectly encapsulates the Miami Marlins; gaudy, over priced, and out of place. It’s one I’ve written about extensively in the past.

“Did anyone else realize this sculpture that goes off after every home run cost $2.5 MILLION DOLLARS. That is fucking bananas. The sculpture that looks like Miami Vice got drunk and puked in a coy pond. The thing that looks like a mashup between the New York Mets apple in center field and the old Lets Go Fishin game.”

You knew it was going to be the first thing Derek Jeter kicked to the curb when he moved in. Derek Jeter is a man of class and sophistication. The technicolor pyrotechnic fish statue?

Not so much. So the team that had 39 of the 50 lowest attended games in baseball last year is solving their problem by adding the one thing they absolutely don’t need….more seats.

The Marlins couldn’t fill a minor league ballpark and now they’re adding even more seats? Brilliant. The absolute definition of irony. Hey, at least it’ll drive ticket prices down even further than they already are if I’m ever in southern Florida like Big Z was.

Keep doing you, Jeets.

The 300s Podcast: Red Sox vs Dodgers World Series Mega Preview

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It’s a very special episode of The 300s Podcast because after FIVE looong years the Boston Red Sox are back in the World Series.

-With 108 wins, and beating two other 100+ win teams along the way, this would be one of the most impressive World Series runs in MLB history.

-Mookie Betts at second base?

-Do Chris Sale’s on again, off again health concerns worry you?

-Has David Price exorcised his playoff demons?

-Manny Machado, still a dirtbag

-Puig, Kershaw and the rest of the LA Dodgers

-MVP Picks

-Red and Big Z make their official predictions

Did Eric Gagne Save the Red Sox Season?

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WEEI – Eleven years after leaving town, Gagne finally got his save for the Sox. It was locked up while sitting in the living room of his Arizona home, but it was a save nonetheless. A big one.  The story started just about 18 years ago when the kid from Montreal befriended an infielder who came from Puerto Rico. Gagne was a relief pitcher. Alex Cora was a utility player. Both had plenty of time on their hands while living life as Dodgers. They started a hobby: Identifying pitchers who were tipping their pitches…

The pitcher he witnessed Tuesday night, Craig Kimbrel, wasn’t one of the more difficult ones. For Gagne, it was pretty clear what was going on. As far as the former pitcher was concerned, the Red Sox closer’s high-wire act against the Astros in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was no accident.

It was enough evidence that Gagne felt obligated to reach out to his old friend, and the new manager of the Red Sox…“Nowadays you don’t even need to talk to people, it’s perfect,” he said. “I just sent him a message saying, ‘Hey Craig, I’m not sure if you care about these things but I’m friends with Alex and I’ve been seeing this or that. I think you should sit down to look at it. It’s an easy fix. It’s not that difficult. You might change your set-up, but that’s not that big of a deal.’ It was a pretty easy fix once he knew what he was doing.”

What a wild story from an unlikely source. Remember our old friend Eric Gagne? The guy who at one point in time was the most dominant closer in all of baseball. The guy who once converted 84 save opportunities straight. The guy who Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox traded for as a “luxury, not a necessity” on a stacked 2007 team. As we all know, Gagne was absolutely abysmal for the Sox, finishing with a 6.75 ERA in 20 games. He fell so far that the Sox big trade deadline acquisition only pitched 4.1 innings in the 07 playoffs. Well, THAT guy might have just saved the 2018 Red Sox season.

Gagne spoke with Rob Bradford and told him how, from his couch, he was able to pick up that Craig Kimbrel was apparently tipping his pitches. Does that explain Kimbrel’s complete inability to find the plate in the playoffs thus far? No, but it does explain how basically everyone he’s faced has had more plate discipline than a monk and was pretty much ready for whatever he did get over the plate.

This is why you never burn any bridges. Gagne and Cora were two guys that came up together in the Dodgers minor league system and bonded over watching film and figuring out who was tipping pitches. Pretty obscure hobby for a super utility player and a 30th Round Draft pick turned stud closer. Moral of the story, ya just never know who’s going to come out of left field and throw you a bone. If Gagne doesn’t reach out to his old friend with some advice on why his all-star closer is suddenly a disaster on the mound, then maybe they don’t fix anything and we’re looking at another disappointing Red Sox postseason performance.

Kudos to Cora for accepting and welcoming the constructive criticism from an old teammate. How many managers would have just scoffed at a player that is “out of baseball” offering up criticism of his All-Star closer while watching at home on TV?

Was Gagne a bum for the Sox? Absolutely. But any time a guy with 187 career saves wants to throw out some advice for a struggling Boston bullpen then I am all ears. If Kimbrel is back to his 1-2-3 ways in the 9th inning then I think we all owe Gagne a beer, preferably one brewed by his 2007 Red Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis.

Red Sox Are One Win Away from the World Series After an All-Time Classic ALCS Game

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This is why it’s impossible to beat the drama of playoff baseball. No other sport’s intensity kicks up as much as MLB in the postseason. I mean aside from the 9 pm start time and the 1:30 am finish, that game was incredible. Unforgettable. Classic. It wasn’t without it’s controversy though.

So with the 8:39 pm start time I already knew I was in trouble because I am old and #washed. I started fading in the 7th inning. Luckily I have a Cosmo Kramer-like internal alarm clock that woke me up in time for the 9th inning.

Boy am I glad I saw that shit show. I almost threw up in my bed watching Craig Kimbrel nearly give the game away. Seriously this guy has been the only member of the Boston bullpen fans have felt somewhat confident in all year. Ever since the playoffs hit he’s been a wild, erratic, mess of a closer. Kimbrel threw 35 pitches over 2 IP last night, with only 19 for strikes.

In case you missed this tightrope walk, let me give you a quick summary of how the bottom of the 9th went with the Sox up 2 and their $13 Million closer on the mound.

  • Yuli Gurriel pops out. 1 out.
  • 5 pitch walk to Josh Reddick.
  • 5 pitch walk to Carlos Correa. Winning run is now at the plate.
  • Brian McCann flies out. 2 outs.
  • Alex Cora mound visit. I legit thought he was going to bring David Price into the game here.
  • 6 pitch walk to Tony Kemp, the NUMBER NINE HITTER. Bases loaded.
  • Alex Bregman (.286/31 HR/103 RBI/51 Doubles) steps to the plate with the bases chucked. He’s also hitting .350 in the postseason this year.
  • Bregman hits a sinking liner to LF that had me standing up in my bed. Andrew Benintendi is sprinting in with the game on the line and LAYS OUT TO MAKE THE DIVING CATCH.

Holy shit, what a game. Even Sox radio play by play announcer Joe Castiglione nearly had a heart attack watching that final play.

But Kimbrel, what the hell man? Now I gotta worry about you imploding at every opportunity? You shall henceforth be referred to as Byung-hyun Kim-brel

Now lets get to the catch everyone is talking about. Mookie Betts made an all-time classic play that will be played at his Hall of Fame induction and Astros fans will be analyzing that play for years to come like it’s the Zapruder film.

Back. And to the Left.

Hey, Adult Jeffrey Maier, keep your hands to yourself. Mookie makes that catch 100 times out of 100 if unimpeded. Cowboy Joe West got it right.

Mookie’s absolute hose of a throw in the bottom of the 8th will be forgotten because of how much went on last night but that was another series altering play for Betts in a week full of them.

It also makes me laugh hysterically that this is the hill Evan Drellich will die on. He must have tweeted no less than a dozen times about the play and how awful of a call it was. Just a quick reminder that Drellich was the Astros beat writer for nearly three years.

But moving on to more important matters. Assuming the Red Sox don’t blow this whole series now do you realize something?

JACKIE BRADLEY JR IS YOUR ALCS MVP!

I feel bad for Adam Jones’ mentions on twitter, but holy hell when Jackie gets hot he gets HOT.

JBJ must feel like this right now:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the disaster that nearly was. After YEARS of fans ripping David Price for his lack of big game performances, Cora had him ready to go with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. You think Price actually wanted the ball there?

Game 5 is tonight and David Price gets the ball with a chance to get his first postseason win ever…oh and with a chance to send the Red Sox to the World Series! First pitch is at 8:09 pm so don’t sleep now!

It Would Be a Shame if JD Martinez Missed the Triple Crown Because of Mookie Betts

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How wild would it be if arguably the greatest free agent signing in Red Sox history, J.D. Martinez, doesn’t win the Triple Crown only because his teammate is also having a historic season?

That could very easily happen.

Currently Martinez leads the league in HR with 38 and RBI with 108 (the tweet above is from Tuesday) and is second in Batting Avg. at .333. The only guy he trails in Avg is his teammate and fellow outfielder Mookie Betts, who is batting an insane .340. Mookie has dropped 4 points since Tuesday, but it would take a legit slump from a guy who was hitting .350 most of the year for Martinez to catch him at this point.

Obviously the Triple Crown is just a weird stat that we all give credence to that doesn’t actually mean anything like hitting for the cycle, but it does provide a historic moment for any and all bar trivia for the rest of time. To put into perspective Mookie’s batting average lets take a look at the AL leaders over the past 10 years.

  • 2017 Jose Altuve .346
  • 2016 Jose Altuve .338
  • 2015 Miguel Cabrera .338
  • 2014 Jose Altuve .341
  • 2013 Miguel Cabrera .348
  • 2012 Miguel Cabrera .330
  • 2011 Miguel Cabrera .344
  • 2010 Josh Hamilton .359
  • 2009 Joe Mauer .365
  • 2008 Joe Mauer .328

First off, golf clap for Joe Mauer. Holy shit, I forgot how good he used to be. The dude hit .365 (!) in 2009 and nobody even talks about it because he’s in the frozen wasteland that is Minnesota. Still doesn’t touch Nomar’s .372 in 2000, but to be fair that is the greatest display of hitting I ever saw and is also why every guy in my softball league still taps their toes 35 times before stepping into the box.

Also, for all the Mike Trout apologists out there its time to pipe down. I don’t care that he has a 7.1 WAR or that he has a 1.083 OPS, the dude currently sits at 60 RBI. Does not matter how bad the team in front of him is. You cannot win the MVP with under 100 RBI. That may be me turning my back on sabermetrics, but so be it. Can’t have it.

It’s either Mookie Betts or potential Triple Crown winner J.D. Martinez for 2018 AL MVP. Goddamn it’s a good time to be a Red Sox fan.

 

PS – You can in fact win the RBI with under 100 RBI, but that didn’t fit my argument so I threw it here in the PS section that nobody reads. It happened last year in fact when Altuve won the MVP with 81 RBI, Mauer in ’09 with 96, Pedroia in ’08 with 83, and Ichiro won the MVP in 2001 with 69 RBIs!

The Oakland A’s Just Got Rid of Season Tickets, Introducing a Whole New System

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SFGate – The A’s, perennially near the bottom in major-league attendance, are getting creative about selling tickets for next season. They scrapped their traditional season-ticket format and are introducing a more flexible system in which fans will have a variety of options at every home game.  It’s called A’s Access, and memberships will go on sale at 9 a.m. Friday. “A’s Access is the first program of its kind,” COO Chris Giles said. “From access to every game to special member concessions pricing, we’re focused on maximizing the value proposition for members. We are inviting our fans to truly become members of the A’s.”

First Moneyball, now this. Billy Beane strikes again!

If you can’t be good be interesting, or in this case, super convenient. Papa Giorgio and I have debated for years about going in on Red Sox season tickets, but its such a commitment. Aside from the exorbitant price of course, you have to commit to 81 games, and all the expenses that go with it. Beer, food, merch. It adds up to a fat bill quick.

Well the A’s have addressed all of that because they probably realize nobody is going to sign off on going to 81 Athletics games. This ain’t 2002.

So they flipped the script and introduced this new flexible membership plan.

“The program provides members general-admission access to every game, a reserved-seat plan and additional benefits including half-price concessions, 25 percent off merchandise and upgrade credits for games not included in a reserved-ticket plan.”

General Admission access is a great idea, especially for a team that is at the bottom of the league in attendance. Whats the point in charging a guy who buys tickets in the last row in the nosebleeds significantly less than the guy who buys tickets in the first row of the nosebleeds? If no one shows up those guys are gonna be sitting next to each other anyways. (Unless you’re one of those weirdos who sits in his obscure seat despite open seats everywhere around you.)

So just split the difference and offer GA and let people basically sit wherever they want with the option to upgrade and reserve seats for the high rollers.

Now this is where the perks get good.

“Plans begin at $240, and pricing includes $4 beers, $3 hot dogs and $2.50 sodas. Current season-ticket holders can renew under the new program. A 12-month payment plan is available.”

FOUR DOLLAR BEERS?! Thats worth the price of admission alone.

I’m terrible at math so I’m certainly not going to do this exercise, but lets say you went out to the bar 81 times between April and September. I bet you would save significant money just going to the A’s games instead and getting cocked on $4 beers, even when you factor in the ticket price. I’m just going to take that as fact.

Add in $3 dogs, $2.50 sodas and 25% off merch and I am ready to move to the Bay Area (not Oakland because I want to live) and become an A’s fan to take advantage.

Plus this ticket package beats the hell out of what their neighbors the Golden State Warriors introduced last year.

The sales and marketing team got a little cocky at the end though.

“The ticket department, confident the A’s will overtake teams above them in the standings, said fans buying the A’s Access plan for 2019 will get first crack at 2018 postseason tickets.”

MLB Trade Deadline Day: Red Sox Trade for Second Baseman Ian Kinsler

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In the midst of walking off with their 75th win of the season, the Red Sox and Dave Dombrowksi were working the phones and acquired second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Angels while most of us were sleeping.

The Sox PR team wasted no time in announcing the trade as I got this email at 1:02 AM.

Now I know what you’re thinking, no, Ian Kinsler is not a relief pitcher. The Indians, Astros, and Yankees continue to load up on bullpen arms while the Sox are doubling down on whats gotten them this far; hitting the shit out of the ball. So while I would like to see the Sox acquire some arms for the pen, barring any deadline day deals it doesn’t seem to be a top priority for them.

I guess the thinking is you can just take whoever doesn’t make the playoff rotation and throw them in the pen with the rest of that motley crew. So take Nathan Eovaldi, Drew Pomeranz, and Hector Velazquez and have them handle some innings in the playoffs. It worked with David Price last year, but I’m also not crazy about throwing starting pitchers into high leverage relief situations in October and hoping for the best.

Anyways, Kinsler is a big name and a 4-time All-Star with more pop than your typical second baseman. Similar to my old favorite Dan Uggla, except Kinsler is actually a pretty slick fielder having won a Gold Glove in 2016. He’s not the same guy he used to be as he’s now 36-years-old, but I like the addition.

He’s batting a weak .239 on the year, but if you factor out a slow start to the season he’s been pretty good the past 2 months.

“In 51 games since May 29, the right-handed batter has hit .286 (57-for-199) with an .866 OPS, including .417 (20-for-48) with a 1.137 OPS in his last 13 games.”

Incredible irony in the move though as Kinsler is taking over for the injured Dustin Pedroia at second base, years after Pedroia took Kinsler’s job.

“Pedroia and Kinsler were teammates in college at Arizona State, where Pedroia took over Kinsler’s starting shortstop spot in 2002. Kinsler then transferred to Missouri the following year.”

For all the hype “Dealer Dave” gets he sure does love trading for the same players over and over again, having traded for Kinsler when he was with the Tigers in 2013.

Unfortunately this probably takes the Sox out of the running for old friend Adrian Beltre as the Kinsler move frees up Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez to platoon at third in Rafael Devers’ absence.

We’ve got just a few hours before the Trade Deadline so we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any additional moves the Red Sox make today.

The 300s Podcast: The Dog Days of Summer Mean It’s Officially Red Sox Season

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Start your weekend early with The 300s Podcast + it only takes 2 minutes before the first “Homer at the Bat” reference. Listen, subscribe, rate and review on iTunes, Google Play, and The 300s Podcast is also NOW ON SPOTIFYYYYY

Seeing as its the dog days of summer and there’s no other Boston teams playing, unless you count the Revs and the Cannons, pretty much everyone’s attention has shifted towards the Red Sox finally. So that’s what we’re gonna focus on today.

BONUS: If you catch the obscure reference 37 minutes in and tweet us a GIF from that movie, you win a prize.

-The Death of Baseball has been Greatly Exaggerated
-Outlaw the Shift?!
-Why Does the Media Insist Nobody Cares About the Red Sox When Ratings Are in Fact UP?
-JD Martinez may legitimately challenge for the Triple Crown this year.
-The 300’s Top 3

The 300s Podcast: Red Sox Chasing 100 Wins & the Gang Fights a PED Suspension

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A new episode of The 300s Podcast is hot off the presses! This ep is a grab bag of news as we’ve got headlines everywhere from drug rings to a historical run by the Red Sox to PED suspensions and back to NBA free agency. Click here to listen or download on iTunes or Google Play. Subscribe, rate, and review today!

It came out the other day that Hanley Ramirez was allegedly Pablo Escobar andddd now he’s apparently not. Whoops.

The Red Sox are on pace to win 100+ games for the first time since 1946 and I’m still not sold on this team.

Julian Edelman is pulling a Ryan Braun and appealing his 4-game suspension on the way his test was physically handled more so than the actual results.

LeBron “The Decision” James reportedly doesn’t want a recruiting circus this time around in free agency. Is this the height of hypocrisy or has LeBron learned from getting roasted after The Decision?

The 300s has a very exciting announcement to make and that my friends is what they call a big market tease.