Are you ready for some baseball?

1. 72

   BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years ago

   Nothing goes with baseball better than hot dogs and beer.
   
   Not to mention hot tamales. Anybody watching the Cardinals @ Miami and the young ladies walking the Miami players onto the field? No wonder Jose Reyes left New York for Miami.

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   1. 78

      Greekgeekposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm waiting for baseball, and for the first time in 3 years, I've just bought my ticket package for my crow's nest seat up above Vin Scully's head. I'm stoked. Even if my team does abysmally this year, at least I'm no longer going to be paying for Frank McCourt's many mansions!
      
      Pro sports makes me wrestle with all kinds of ethical dilemmas -- bread and circuses,  spending so much on athletes and spectacle and so little to support education -- but when the pipe organ's playing and some scrappy little guys lay down a perfect double steal, I forget all the external stuff and just hoot and holler.
      
      -- chick who digs small ball

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      1. 72

         BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         It must be hell being a Dodger fan. I mean, you got that guy Kirk Gibson who provided one of the greatest moments in Dodger history managing one of your chief rivals for the division.
         
         How soon do you think Magic Johnson will become manager of the Dodgers? I've heard the rumors that he is totally jealous that Michael Jordan played baseball and he desperately wants to one-up him.

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         1. 78

            Greekgeekposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I'm happy for Gibson. Now, if he'd wound up managing the Giants, I'd feel differently, but as it is, I can root for him when he's not playing against us. He's probably the only member of an opposing team that gets a standing O when he walks onto the field at Dodger Stadium... provided he pumps his elbow so we can see who it is. ( not during a game, but I've seen it happen during pregame ceremonies.)
            
            Magic is a figurehead, not likely to get that involved. He's set himself up to be a bit of a cheerleader, leaning over the dugout rail to bark support at players (or at least at Kemp for a HR, so far.) He was also seen sitting next to Frank McCourt, doing nothing to assuage fan doubts about the fact the McCourt still has a part interest in the parking lots. I finally stopped boycotting now that the team is sold, buuuuut... I'll be taking the train.
            
            Being a Dodger fan is definitely ... a wild ride. Last year, Selig didn't let the Dodgers play all 162 games due to a rainout. Kemp went 39-40 in hrs, steals. He hit a HR on the last day of 2010 and the first day of 2012. Argh.
            
            Kershaw  was sooooooo sick yesterday. He pitched 3 innings and threw up for 6 with a really, REALLY bad stomach flu. He allowed one run. Poor boy was white as a sheet.
            
            Such are the typically crazy things that one sees as a Dodger fan.
            
            Adjk - I always have respect for the Cards as good opponents (even if they always seem to start my team's losing streak after the break when they visit St L.) I forgot to check and see if Raffy was gutting it out another year. I loved watching him play.

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            1. 90

               adjkp25posted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Yep, they re-signed Furcal for two years.  He was on base a few times in the first game and stole a base too.

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      2. 72

         BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Were you at the game today? I thought I saw you during "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" stretching. Looked like an awesome day at the ballpark what with the sunshine and short sleeves. I watched it on the local Pittsburgh station.
         
         I usually go to around a dozen games a year, either in Pittsburgh or Cleveland, but wait until the middle of the summer. I mean, you can see a few snowflakes here in western PA today.
         
         Are the Tigers going to win 162 games? Wow.

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         1. 78

            Greekgeekposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Yep, I was there, but I was back up in my nosebleed seat behind home plate, so the only glimpses of me would be from the Good Year Blimp! Opening Day, Dodger Stadium's 50th anniversary. Pre-game show by the Beach Boys, appropriately enough. We tend to drown in nostalgia out here.
            
            I grew up in eastern PA, so I can still look out at the picture-perfect sunshine and palm trees and think, "Toto, I'm not in Kansas anymore."
            
            Lovely day, well-pitched game on both sides, and both of our star gold glove center fielders distinguished themselves by losing a fly ball in the sun. Yes, baseball is back.

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   2. 90

      adjkp25posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'm a Cardinals fan so I absolutely watched the game.  It is only one game but it looks like they did OK without Pujols.  The new Marlins stadium looked nice but I think there was too much green beyond the outfield; it looked like the grass was growing all of the way to the roof.

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   3. 87

      Jason Marovichposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Reyes is good enough to play on the moon if he requested it.  Miami and San Diego are destinations #1 and #2 these days.
      
      I watched the Detroit Tigers - Boston Red Sox game yesterday.  What a game!  Verlander goes eight innings and pitches two-hit ball.  Valverde comes in to save the game and blows it.  They eventually get the win.  Very exciting.  So glad baseball is back.

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      1. 72

         BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yeah, I watched that game too. I'm a Red Sox fan so the outcome wasn't to my liking. I think the Tigers are going to have a monster year. If the Red Sox don't find a closer they are probably due for a rocky road early. But I don't know what could be much worse than their start last year. Or their finish.
         
         Greekgeek's Dodgers and adjkp25's Cardinals look like good clubs with a good shot at division titles. As good as anybody else. The National League is without any teams that are going to really dominate.

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