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[Para bailar La Bomba]

And that's game, Yankees win. It was pretty adorable when the Met fans thought they had a chance to win, I guess some people never learn. That was fun, Let's do it again sometime!

Was that before or after you declared that "baseball sucks"?

 

[Sanjuro]

At least the cancer is gone from baseball for now. I almost forgot what an American League team looks like.

 

[The Frankman]

Do Yankees fans just make up stuff to say is wrong? Not a single Mets fan in here thought they were going to win once the bullpen came in.

Was that before or after you declared that "baseball sucks"?

Now now, let's not bring things like logic and common sense into it. Like the bandwagon Yankee fan who used to be a Mets fan said:

Stay classy METS.

Lastly, I can’t stand Swisher, who had that cocky grin on his face the entire time he motored around the bases. Last night, he laughed and pointed at Mets fans after catching the final out in the right field. Sure, I’d probably love him if he was on the Mets. But he isn’t, and his constant grinning and mocking of opposing fans is so irritating. I mean, for all of Jose Reyes‘s shenanigans, he never laughed at the other team like Swisher does. Remember how he showed up Johan Santana, parading around the dugout, laughing, after Cano’s home run in the Bronx earlier this month? To me, that’s more disrespectful than anything Jose ever did. So long as he’s on the team, Yankee fans can’t call their franchise ‘classy.’

Classy.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Now now, let's not stoop to their level. Like the bandwagon Yankee fan who used to be a Mets fan said:

lol

 

[Para bailar La Bomba]

Classy.

Swisher's transition from goofball to douche has been meteoric. That's what putting on the MFY pinstripes does to you.

 

[Malo]

Swisher's transition from goofball to douche has been meteoric. That's what putting on the MFY pinstripes does to you.

Do you post on sosh?

 

[Para bailar La Bomba]

Do you post on sosh?

It's used on other forums besides sosh, most notably a prominent Mets forum.

 

[Sanjuro]

Let's get it straight, Swisher has always been a douche.

 

[The Frankman]

Let's get it straight, Swisher has always been a douche.

This level of douche? With the A's? Now I don't know about that... I mean he was kinda odd, yeah. But this is just full-blown douchebro now. Some pitcher who doesn't have alot of restraint is going to headhunt him if he's not careful. Pedro DEFINITELY would've been like "Whoops, ball in your ear!"

But whatever. Not alot of pitchers going to do that nowadays unless Swisher really ups the ante.

 

[Malo]

It's used on other forums besides sosh, most notably a prominent Mets forum.

Ah, didn't know. I thought it was primarily a sosh thing.

 

[Fox318]

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

This level of douche? With the A's? Now I don't know about that... I mean he was kinda odd, yeah. But this is just full-blown douchebro now. Some pitcher who doesn't have alot of restraint is going to headhunt him if he's not careful. Pedro DEFINITELY would've been like "Whoops, ball in your ear!"

But whatever. Not alot of pitchers going to do that nowadays unless Swisher really ups the ante.

You think playing on a team with guys like Jeter and Andruw Jones that they would teach him to play the game the right way.

 

[LJ11]

But whatever. Not alot of pitchers going to do that nowadays unless Swisher really ups the ante.

Only thing left is for him to pull some is Anisimov type shit. He should do it too, the bro fists are getting old.

 

[Link]

Swish is like, "Sorry I'll be nailing your girlfriend tonight, bro."

 

[Para bailar La Bomba]

Ah, didn't know. I thought it was primarily a sosh thing.

It definitely originated on sosh.

 

[lucius]

Ops too big

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

hey, she's kinda cute.

''Not too bad for a bunch of chickens"

LoL, oh that swisher. sure he comes through in the regular season but I can't forgive him for his sucky-ass post season.

The Bronx Bombers hit 15 home runs against the Mets this season - seven at reconfigured Citi Field - to account for 24 of their 32 runs.

so much for cheapies huh? yeah it's against the mest bullpen but a homer is a homer, no matter the stadium's configuration. and I figure a good tema takes advantage of their home ballpark.

 

[rekameohs]

Matt Garza saw the Cubs' record.

 

[Para bailar La Bomba]

But whatever. Not alot of pitchers going to do that nowadays unless Swisher really ups the ante.

Cole Hamels will sort him out it, no problem. On second thoughts, he's so gutless he may reconsider about throwing at a player on a high-profile team.

 

[Insidious_Walrus]

Hey there MLB-GAF, at long last my account has been activated. See, even plebeian new users can find this thread, no matter how deep down it's buried!

I'm a Red Sox fan, so we can skip the KOG histrionics. However, I don't think I'm willing to divulge my condiment allegiances at the moment. I-I'm too fragile.

 

[Prade]

Hey there MLB-GAF, at long last my account has been activated. See, even plebeian new users can find this thread, no matter how deep down it's buried!

I'm a Red Sox fan, so we can skip the KOG histrionics. However, I don't think I'm willing to divulge my condiment allegiances at the moment. I-I'm too fragile.

It's our MLB insider Walrus! We've been so lost without you! Welcome, and please inform us on all the info we've been missing out on around the Majors.

Some Met news:

"The Mets designated infielder/outfielder Vinny Rottino for assignment and selected the contract of LHP Justin Hampson from Buffalo (AAA)."

He apparently hasn't pitched in the bigs in 4 years... Welp at least it's a move...

 

[Dmncnby2k9]

In Sandy I Trust.

 

[The Frankman]

It's our MLB insider Walrus! We've been so lost without you! Welcome, and please inform us on all the info we've been missing out on around the Majors.

Some Met news:

"The Mets designated infielder/outfielder Vinny Rottino for assignment and selected the contract of LHP Justin Hampson from Buffalo (AAA)."

He apparently hasn't pitched in the bigs in 4 years... Welp at least it's a move...

Holy fuck they actually called up Hampson? LOL I just threw him in the lefty farm report for giggles. I actually remember this dude on the Pods back in the day.

EDIT:

This season, he was 4-2 with a 2.13 ERA and two saves in 28 appearances with Triple-A Buffalo. He did allow two runs in two innings -- including a solo homer to lefty hitting Matt Mangini -- Sunday night at Durham and suffered the loss. Overall, lefty batters are hitting .218 against Hampson this season, versus .233 for right-handers.

 

[Dmncnby2k9]

Holy fuck they actually called up Hampson? LOL I just threw him in the lefty farm report for giggles. I actually remember this dude on the Pods back in the day.

Ur a GM bro!

 

[The Frankman]

Ur a GM bro!

I wish I was so I could trade Rauch for Henry Rodriguez, unless the Nats suddenly are back in love with him.

 

[Dmncnby2k9]

I wish I was so I could trade Rauch for Henry Rodriguez, unless the Nats suddenly are back in love with him.

Doesnt seem like Mejia is comin up anytime soon for bullpen.

 

[The Frankman]

Robinson Cano after the game where he JUST HIT A GW HOMER:

Robinson Cano wanted to get one thing straight before he left Citi Field late last night.

“That was not an error,” he said. “If you want to make an error, make it the right error.’’

The Yankees second baseman, who had a ball hit by Justin Turner glance off his glove for an error that helped the Mets to a game-tying, three-run sixth inning, atoned for his miscue with a long, tie-breaking home run leading off the eighth as the Yankees beat the Mets 6-5 in the final game of the Subway Series.

But the home run — his 16th of the season — did little to soothe the slick-fielding Cano’s wounded pride.

“I don’t want to make an error, but that’s not an error,” he said. “That’s not right. I was playing [Turner] up the middle. I had to run to my left for that ball and it took a bad hop. That’s not an error.”

... damn Frank Franc was right.

 

[McNei1y]

I wish I was so I could trade Rauch for Henry Rodriguez, unless the Nats suddenly are back in love with him.

Henry Rodriguez would be the cause of your season to collapse.

 

[r4z4]

Hi MLB Gaf. I'm in New York today and was hoping to catch the Yankee's game tonight against the Indians.

Will I be able to buy tickets at the gate? If not best way to buy tickets? And any other tips for a baseball virgin?

Uk gaffer here with no idea about baseball.

 

[RobotHaus]

Hi MLB Gaf. I'm in New York today and was hoping to catch the Yankee's game tonight against the Indians.

Will I be able to buy tickets at the gate? If not best way to buy tickets? And any other tips for a baseball virgin?

Uk gaffer here with no idea about baseball.

Whenever I buy tickets, I use Stubhub.com, it's usually cheaper and you can get a decent variety of tickets(usually). The only downside is most of the time you have to print your ticket on normal printer paper and with some digital tickets you get a digital fee.

 

[r4z4]

Whenever I buy tickets, I use Stubhub.com, it's usually cheaper and you can get a decent variety of tickets(usually). The only downside is most of the time you have to print your ticket on normal printer paper and with some digital tickets you get a digital fee.

Thanks - found some tickets on StubHub but have no printer. Hopefully I can pick them up at Will Call.

 

[The Frankman]

Henry Rodriguez would be the cause of your season to collapse.

Dan Warthen is a miracle worker, at this point I'm willing to take the risk.

 

[RobotHaus]

Thanks - found some tickets on StubHub but have no printer. Hopefully I can pick them up at Will Call.

You could always use a library or something, most public ones should have a printer for the public use.

 

[r4z4]

You could always use a library or something, most public ones should have a printer for the public use.

Cool, will try a library while I'm out during the day. Google also tells me that I can print at a UPS Store...

 

[RobotHaus]

Hey, so I'm curious, what news source do you guys use for your team info? I've gotten into the habit of using ESPN, but I have a feeling they never show 100% of all the info. Would you say MLB.com is a better option?

 

[RBH]

Hey, so I'm curious, what news source do you guys use for your team info? I've gotten into the habit of using ESPN, but I have a feeling they never show 100% of all the info. Would you say MLB.com is a better option?

Either use the local newspaper's website, find a blog that covers the team, follow a local beat reporter's twitter feed who covers the team, or find a message board for the team.



For the Braves I use:

http://www.talkingchop.com/
http://capitolavenueclub.com/
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/
http://www.chopnation.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=5
http://twitter.com/#!/ajcbraves

 

[RBH]

Major League Baseball did not grow into an $8 billion business over the last two decades without burying some bodies along the way. There's a mass grave in Iowa. Plenty more scattered throughout Las Vegas. A few in North Carolina. Some in Buffalo. Lots strewn about Canada. Everywhere in Hawaii. That was the price for baseball fattening itself on television money: poor fans who just want to watch a ballgame but can't because of MLB's greed and gluttony.

Here we are. Still. Years later. It's 2012. We can watch anything we want anywhere we want on any device we want at any time we want. Except baseball games. If you live in Iowa, you can't see the Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Royals, Twins or White Sox. It's just as ugly in Vegas: no A's, Angels, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants or Padres. Baseball continues to black out televised games in these areas because of territorial-rights rules conceived when TV was black and white and people actually watched commercials.

And it's more evident than ever why baseball does it: to protect its relationship with the regional sports networks that are paying billions of dollars for the exclusive rights to broadcast games in demarcated territories. It's a business deal that enriches MLB, the networks and cable companies while passing on every last dime to fans – and leaving tens of millions unable to see their favorite team play.

Preying on the very consumer who wants to buy your product seems like the antithesis of good business sense, and yet baseball has done nothing to change its tack. Commissioner Bud Selig said: "We'll figure it out. … We have to do something about it."

That was six years ago.

Since then, television-based revenue has become baseball's lifeblood, bringing in far more than ticket sales, merchandising, concessions and sponsorships. Live sports programming is DVR-proof and immensely valuable to advertisers, enough that a club in bankruptcy, the Los Angeles Dodgers, fetched $2.15 billion when sold in April. The revocation of the current blackout rules grows unlikelier by the billion.

Unless, that is, four fans and an armada of lawyers can reverse the most inane, arcane rule in sports.

On the first page of a complaint filed May 9 in Manhattan, two words aim squarely for Major League Baseball's jaw and deliver a swift blow: "Illegal cartel."

Garber et al v. MLB is a class-action antitrust suit looking to do what no amount of complaining from baseball fans could: destroy the blackout rules. Four fans – Fernanda Garber, Marc Lerner, Derek Rasmussen and Robert Silver – are suing MLB, MLB Advanced Media (which runs the MLB.tv service), DirecTV, nine teams and eight stations that broadcast games. They claim baseball "colluded" by packaging its out-of-market games together via the Extra Innings and MLB.tv offerings and that the league and its partners "exploit their illegal monopoly by charging supra-competitive prices."

The basis of the argument is simple: By dividing up territories and setting fixed prices, MLB is in violation of the Sherman Act. If baseball is indeed breaking antitrust laws, its entire business model goes kaboom. And so while lawsuits stream into 245 Park Avenue frequently, this is one, according to a number of sources, the league is taking very seriously.

That doesn't mean MLB is concerned it will lose. A number of factors favor the league, according to antitrust and sports law experts. A vast majority of antitrust cases are found in favor of the defendant, and that's if they reach a judgment. Often, as has been the case in past sports antitrust cases, the parties settle before the discovery phase, which can be a long, drawn-out and very expensive endeavor that can reveal secrets baseball would rather bury.

Baseball is likely willing to pay a premium to keep its blackouts intact and business model healthy, even if the experts agree case law often favors the leagues. While the NFL lost a landmark case last year in which it tried to establish itself not as 32 independent teams but one league, courts still have found leagues are uniquely interdependent and different than normal competitors. And ultimately that's what this case boils down to: Are baseball blackouts, and the sport's entire TV distribution model, pro- or anti-competitive?

The arbitrariness of MLB's territories – seriously, six teams want to claim Iowa as their own? – lends a sense of unfairness to the system. And yet baseball can say it has no obligation to distribute its games as it does, and the sports-law experts believe that might be the most compelling argument of all: MLB has designed its product to help its business run best, and just because there is collateral damage doesn't make it inherently anticompetitive.

Beyond that is MLB's trump card: its antitrust exemption, which remains one of America's great legal mysteries. Scholars have spent careers dissecting it, judges have lamented its being, experts have wondered whether it even exists anymore and baseball has been loath to wield it, aware that a judge may take a gander at it, recoil at its illegitimacy and overturn it once and for all.

Whether we get to see it sooner than later may depend on the resolve of the plaintiffs and just how willing they are to fight a league that has no qualms with alienating entire states.

Here's how the regional sports network (RSN) system operates. Exclusive content, such as live baseball, makes them must-carry channels for cable companies. RSNs approach them, demand to be included on their basic-cable tier and reap huge subscriber fees when the companies accede. In areas where it makes no sense to carry a particular RSN, the fans are out of luck even if they buy the Extra Innings or MLB.tv packages. Baseball will black out those games.

Why would Charlotte, N.C., where the Cincinnati Reds are for some reason blacked out, ever carry Fox Sports Ohio? It wouldn't, of course. Certainly Buffalo has no interest in Root Sports Pittsburgh. Canada's distribution of Rogers Sportsnet has been a mess historically – especially considering the Blue Jays own the entire country's rights – and Hawaii, which is thousands of miles from a major league stadium, splits its territory among the A's, Angels, Dodgers, Giants, Mariners and Padres.

No TV provider in Hawaii carries Mariners or Padres games. Oceanic Time Warner, the dominant cable company on the islands, doesn't subscribe to the Giants or A's RSNs. When Sen. Daniel Inouye wrote MLB to voice his displeasure over the blackouts to his constituents, he received a letter from Chris Tully, the league's vice president of broadcasting. In the correspondence, obtained by Yahoo! Sports, Tully doesn't placate Inouye as much as turn into a salesman for the Bay Area teams' RSNs.

Wrote Tully: "We at MLB would, of course, like to see Oceanic Time Warner better serve cable subscribers in Hawaii by distributing all four RSNs. … In the meantime, please rest assured that MLB and each of these Clubs are committed to serving the best interests of our fans in Hawaii."

Whether legal or illegal, baseball's tack with blackouts is appalling. Rather than push its sport on a population that wants it, the league pimps a cable company. Rather than allow the game to seed itself among a younger generation, MLB turns away fans to protect partnerships with the sorts of corporations that will fleece fans any chance they get. RSNs pay stupid money for rights, cable companies balk at making customers' bills even more usurious and fans end up with no outlet to see their favorite teams and an empty screen on their TVs and computers.

These aren't just blackouts. They're blackmail.

The most forward-thinking executives in baseball agree: this must change, and soon. One team president compared it to the BCS, where self-interested entities resisted change because the comfort of the status quo and the fear where change may take them. If large-market teams continue to control the sport – the newest collective-bargaining agreement is expected to widen the competitive balance chasm – it may take longer than logic says it should.

Currently, every dollar that goes through MLBAM, the league's digital arm that runs MLB.tv, is distributed evenly among the 30 teams. Large-market teams with enormous cable bases, on the other hand, get to hog those revenues for themselves. Were baseball to offer a-la-carte pricing on its games, something that makes so much sense it'll never happen, a large enough number of people would take advantage on mobile devices that it could devalue cable's exclusivity and cut into the gigantic TV-rights sums teams are reaping.

Of course, the music industry once rebelled against single-song purchases … until Napster came along and almost took down the industry. There's no such nuclear bomb yet with baseball. The worst thing the league faces at the moment is people making videos about how to get around the blackout on the web.

Perhaps Garber et al v. MLB can change that and, at very least, convince MLB to lift the blackout cloud and allow those who want its product to get it whenever they want, wherever they want and however they want – TV, satellite, phone, iPad – everything.

Baseball has embraced the digital revolution so wonderfully, from its industry-leading streaming video to its social-media prowess, that something this elementary looks wrong, feels wrong and indeed is wrong.

Subvert the greed. Suspend the gluttony. Figure it out, Bud, and do something about it this time. No more empty words. No more hollow promises. Let us watch.

All of us.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb’s-blackout-problem-keeps-sport-in-dark-ages.html

 

[Dragon]

Bye Youk.

Hey Middlebrooks.

 

[Dmncnby2k9]

Hey, so I'm curious, what news source do you guys use for your team info? I've gotten into the habit of using ESPN, but I have a feeling they never show 100% of all the info. Would you say MLB.com is a better option?

I look at the Mets SB Nation page. Really good page. Check out Realgm.com and mlbtraderumors.com too.

 

[cashman]

Hey, so I'm curious, what news source do you guys use for your team info? I've gotten into the habit of using ESPN, but I have a feeling they never show 100% of all the info. Would you say MLB.com is a better option?

SB Nation blogs do a pretty good job

http://www.draysbay.com/

http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/

Spoiler

you two team heathen

 

[Windu]

The braves played the cubs on May 7-9, that was the last time they played a team below .500. (they played in miami once, but at the time they were a few games above). The next time the braves play a team below .500 will be....the cubs on July 3-5. The braves have gone 19-21 in that stretch with a 8 game losing streak, and a 4 game losing streak in there. I'll take that. Still have to play the Dbacks and Nationals before the cubs (and then phillies) though. Damn AL East + NL East play.

edit:

dat outfield

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...son1=2012&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&players=0

 

[Dominican Power]

The braves played the cubs on May 7-9, that was the last time they played a team below .500. (they played in miami once, but at the time they were a few games above). The next time the braves play a team below .500 will be....the cubs on July 3-5. The braves have gone 19-21 in that stretch with a 8 game losing streak, and a 4 game losing streak in there. I'll take that. Still have to play the Dbacks and Nationals before the cubs (and then phillies) though. Damn AL East + NL East play.

edit:

dat outfield

http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.as...son1=2012&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&players=0

Tell that fool Uggla to start hitting the baseball. Looks like Heyward is going to have a breakout year.

 

[Windu]

Uggla isn't hitting for his usual power yet but goddamn at his walk rate. 16.2%. He is Adam Dunn this year with less power.

 

[eznark]

I for one welcome our new Rizzo overlord.


Look for Wandering Wind to update you on this in an hour.

 

[Dominican Power]

I for one welcome our new Rizzo overlord.


Look for Wandering Wind to update you on this in an hour.

What's wrong with Cory Hart?

 

[eznark]

What's wrong with Cory Hart?

? He looks like a cave man? I don't know. Nothing. Why?

 

[Dmncnby2k9]

? He looks like a cave man? I don't know. Nothing. Why?

I guess he thinks Brewers calling up Rizzo.

 

[eznark]

I guess he thinks Brewers calling up Rizzo.

Oh God I hope not, Rizzo is garbage.

The Cubs called up Rizzo, at least I assume they did. He was removed from his AAA game today.

 

[Dmncnby2k9]

Oh God I hope not, Rizzo is garbage.

The Cubs called up Rizzo, at least I assume they did. He was removed from his AAA game today.

Yea, they did. Coming in for the Mets series.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mlb’s-blackout-problem-keeps-sport-in-dark-ages.html

if baseball wants more fans they need to open themselves to every market. blackout rules are the antithessis of this.