MLB 2022 Season Thread

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Yep Nola did great, as did the Phillies bats. So awesome to take the first 2 games of the series. Hopefully we can get another one tonight or tomorrow.

After how the Phils were embarrassed in Atlanta last weekend, I would’ve been happy with just ONE win in this series, to have taken the first two was more than I could’ve hoped for. But now I’m greedy, let’s go for more, solidify our chances of locking up that wild card spot.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

NL Wild Card chase:

My Phillies came up short last night, losing 6-3 to the Braves and their now 20-game winner few outside of Atlanta have heard of, Kyle Wright. With that loss and a San Diego win over Colorado, the Padres are back in the second slot by half a game. Meanwhile, the Brewers refuse to go away, having won their fourth straight last night, they're now only 1 1/2 games on the outside.

[Kirby101]

Judge is homerless in the last 4 games. He has 11 games left to break the AL, or real record. Meanwhile, the Yankees, who were god-awful after the break have turned it around and are 14-7 in September.

[babyblob]

Judge is homerless in the last 4 games. He has 11 games left to break the AL, or real record. Meanwhile, the Yankees, who were god-awful after the break have turned it around and are 14-7 in September.

I hope he at least breaks the AL record. I dont know about the so called over all record. I forget the number but wouldnt he have to have pretty much a home run a game?

[Kirby101]

I meant the AL record of 61 is the real record. I don't consider Bond's drug assisted 73 HRs the real record.

[babyblob]

I meant the AL record of 61 is the real record. I don't consider Bond's drug assisted 73 HRs the real record.

I dont consider it the record either but sadly the MLB does and that wont change. I want someone to break the 73 with out the cloud of drugs over their head.

[MRP]

I dont consider it the record either but sadly the MLB does and that wont change. I want someone to break the 73 with out the cloud of drugs over their head.

They could easily drop Bonds record, but if the rationale is it was aided by performance enhancers, they you really need to start digging deep into allegations of massive use of greenies and other substances by the Braves teams of the early 70s that Aaron played for, and Willie Mays use of greenies and other drugs to enhance performances and start removing other records and HOFers and nobody wants to do that. It's a can of worms that no one in baseball really wants to open. If you are going to do it for one record, you need to do it for every record it could apply to. And that's a lot of skeletons MLB would rather leave in the closet. Some players have long used whatever substances they could to get edge. Many of those hold MLB records and are in the HoF. Bonds and his generation were just the first to do it when the public was looking behind the curtain to see how it was done in the age of media. But if your standard is enhanced players shouldn't hold records or be in the HoF, then you need to apply that standard to all baseball records and HoFers, not just recent generations.


-M

edit to add: Just so people don't think I am defending Bonds and the ilk, I am all for removing his record, but if so, I want a full clean sweep of MLB records of any player who used any substance to enhance performance. Cheating is cheating, there is no degree of amelioration. But it won't happen because some of those who did so are sacred cows.

[Malvolio]

Are greenies really performance enhancers? I mean aren't they the same as painkillers given to players still recovering from injuries? I mean, there's a difference between greenies that were given by the team doctor and steroids given by an outside source.

Oh, and the reason Judge hasn't hit a home run the last few games is because the Red Sox pitchers are making a point of not giving him anything to hit. In one of the games, he drew 3 bases on balls! I think the Sox have enough of a sense of baseball history to know that Maris hit his 61st off of a Red Sox pitcher and they don't want that to happen to them again.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Are greenies really performance enhancers? I mean aren't they the same as painkillers given to players still recovering from injuries? I mean, there's a difference between greenies that were given by the team doctor and steroids given by an outside source.

Oh, and the reason Judge hasn't hit a home run the last few games is because the Red Sox pitchers are making a point of not giving him anything to hit. In one of the games, he drew 3 bases on balls! I think the Sox have enough of a sense of baseball history to know that Maris hit his 61st off of a Red Sox pitcher and they don't want that to happen to them again.

Or just plain pettiness because of the longtime rivalry between the Yanks and Bosox. By the by, to the surprise of no one, those teams will be on ESPN tonight, what are the chances Alex Cora issues intentional walks to Judge every time up out of spite?

[MRP]

Are greenies really performance enhancers? I mean aren't they the same as painkillers given to players still recovering from injuries? I mean, there's a difference between greenies that were given by the team doctor and steroids given by an outside source.

Oh, and the reason Judge hasn't hit a home run the last few games is because the Red Sox pitchers are making a point of not giving him anything to hit. In one of the games, he drew 3 bases on balls! I think the Sox have enough of a sense of baseball history to know that Maris hit his 61st off of a Red Sox pitcher and they don't want that to happen to them again.

Greenies are amphetamines which give players an edge and overcome fatigue so they can perform at top level longer, giving them a competitive edge over players not on illegal stimulants.

And Judge has struck out as many times as he has walked. He's not being pitched around unless the game situation warrants being careful but he is not chasing and the Sox pitchers are living on the corners and pitching high up on the stike zone on his to try to get him to chase because that is the one hole in his swing. He has been laying off on some at bats (hence the walks) and chasing in others hence the Ks). Red Sox rookie Tristan Casas has as many walks in the series as Judge, so should we then conclude Yankees pitchers are pitching around him as well?


-M

[Malvolio]

Greenies are amphetamines which give players an edge and overcome fatigue so they can perform at top level longer, giving them a competitive edge over players not on illegal stimulants.

And Judge has struck out as many times as he has walked. He's not being pitched around unless the game situation warrants being careful but he is not chasing and the Sox pitchers are living on the corners and pitching high up on the stike zone on his to try to get him to chase because that is the one hole in his swing. He has been laying off on some at bats (hence the walks) and chasing in others hence the Ks). Red Sox rookie Tristan Casas has as many walks in the series as Judge, so should we then conclude Yankees pitchers are pitching around him as well?


-M

First of all, amphetamines aren't illegal, as long as they're prescribed by a licensed physician, and every baseball team's team doctor is a licensed physician. Secondly, not all batters draw walks for the same reason. For instance, Willie Randolph walked a lot because he had a good eye, while Barry Bonds walked a lot because no one wanted to pitch to him. And you can't say Judge isn't chasing and then say he is chasing in the same paragraph. Make up your mind.

[MRP]

First of all, amphetamines aren't illegal, as long as they're prescribed by a licensed physician, and every baseball team's team doctor is a licensed physician. Secondly, not all batters draw walks for the same reason. For instance, Willie Randolph walked a lot because he had a good eye, while Barry Bonds walked a lot because no one wanted to pitch to him. And you can't say Judge isn't chasing and then say he is chasing in the same paragraph. Make up your mind.

He chases or takes depending on the situation and the pitcher. If the pitcher is living on the edges and the bases are empty, he doesn't chase. If there are runners in scoring position, he expands his swing zone because he's trying to drive runs in and win the game not set a record. There's also different reasons to throw balls. Some pitchers are being careful, others are just wild and don't have command of the strike zone.

And at the time, most amphetamines especially greenies were illegal and usually supplied by clubhouse guys not team doctors. If you go by what some players at the time, such as Tom House, say about the era, anabolic steroids and greenies were rampant as players were ingesting or injecting anything they could to get an edge and they say it was much more rampant then than it was in the so called steroids era, and it was stars down to scrubs doing it.

Again, if you set a standard of if you were using and cheating you don't belong in the HoF and can't be a record holder, then it has to be universally applied, no excuses, no rationalizations to preserve some sort of ideal view of the pass (that is inaccurate buy revered), no making allowances. It is the standard, or it isn't. No double standards for past players. You either cheated or you didn't. Not well then it wasn't cheating but now it is. Or what they did wasn't as bad so we'll let it pass. Either taking stuff to get an edge is acceptable or it isn't. Pine tar is perfectly legal, except in the context of a player using it to get an advantage. Amphetamines ma be legal in certain circumstances, but not when used to get a competitive advantage by a ballplayer. Anabolic steroids are legal when prescribed by a doctor as well. But not when used by a player to get an advantage even if it something prescribed or available over the counter.

you can't have your cake and eat it too. Either you go after cheaters or you don't. You can't go after guys you don't like but let slide others because they are popular or legends or sacred cows.

-M

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Braves 8, Phillies 7, 11 innings. Phils fans on Twitter are melting down because the game wasn’t called after five innings completed with the team leading 6-5 following a two hour rain delay. Sure, that probably would’ve happened if we were playing bottom feeders like Florida or Washington, but with Atlanta fighting for first place in NL East, the umps would’ve waited all damn night to give the Braves a chance to resume playing. Frustrating, but that’s the way it was, especially after the bullpen faltered in the 11th and cost us the win. With the loss and a Padres win over Colorado, we trail San Diego by 1 1/2 games for the second NL wild card, fortunately, Milwaukee also lost, so they didn’t gain on us.

[Hiromi]

Braves take the split and season series while keeping the division within striking distance

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Braves take the split and season series while keeping the division within striking distance

All things considered, my Phillies were lucky to have earned that split. If not for one bad inning by Bailey Falter Saturday afternoon and a bullpen collapse last night, we could've swept the Braves.