The MLB Thread

Opening Day 2017: Blown saves galore in the NL (but at least STL managed to win anyways).

Investment group that includes Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter wins auction for Miami Marlins with $1.3B bid. Sale is far from final — it still has to be approved by MLB, for one — but it's certainly heading in that direction.

Fuck Loria with a rusty chainsaw, but Jeb and Jeter? I cannot get excited about this.

Can't get worse than Loria.

It is truly a strange world we live in when it's a genuine surprise that the Yankees are the best team in baseball.

Apparently there was a rather odd home run in a minor league game the other day. The ball managed to bounce off two outfielders before going out.

Bonds and Aaron might want to look out...here comes the Judge.

If he stays healthy, this rookie is going to have a hell of a career.

"All rise", indeed.

It's impressive how many times the pitchers aren't even looking around to see if it goes out. They know the moment it leaves the bat.

And to keep going with that: Aaron Judge is the first rookie to ever win the Home Run Derby.

Also he's apparently the first Terminator to play the game. Looks like he could punch through steel.

Welcome to the 3000 hit club, man. You've earned it.

Aaron Judge breaks the MLB record for home runs in a rookie season, beating Mark McGwire's 49-HR record from 1987. Notably, the number 3 player on the list is also from this year (Cody Bellinger, currently at 39), and he's one shot away from breaking a record of his own (the first player to hit 40 homers in the same season as his MLB debut, which as it turns out, is slightly distinct from "rookie season").

edited 25th Sep '17 2:07:11 PM by Blueeyedrat

And he finishes with a nice 52 homers. Rookie of the year for sure.

Anyway, playoffs time! Here's the breakdown:

• AL East: Red Sox (93-69)
• AL Central: Indians (102-60)
• AL West: Astros (101-61)
• AL Wild Cards: Yankees (91-71), Twins (85-77)
• NL East: Nationals (97-65)
• NL Central: Cubs (92-70)
• NL West: Dodgers (104-58)
• NL Wild Cards: Diamondbacks (93-69), Rockies (87-75)

And for the record, this is the sixth major league season ever with three teams that won 100 games.

edited 1st Oct '17 9:53:35 PM by TotemicHero

Yankees come back from a nasty first inning to advance, eliminating the Twins in an 8-4 game.

Diamondbacks currently up 6-0 on the Rockies, top of the 4th. Assuming the score holds, which Wild Card has a better shot at making it to the LCS?

I'm not sure you'd call it holding, since the Rockies pushed themselves to within a run, but in the end the Diamondbacks won in a 11-8 slugfest.

Jose Altuve says, "Hey, Aaron Judge, want to see how it's done?" Then he hit three home runs (being the 9th person in major league history to do so in a single postseason game) as the Astros cruised to an 8-2 win over the Red Sox.

Meanwhile, Aaron Judge, along with the rest of the Yankees, get shut down hard by the Indians, final score 4-0.

You were saying?

They were shut down hard in that game, yes. Them turning around the series doesn't change the outcome of the first game. And Aaron Judge stayed shut down, so...

And then there were four. Astros vs. Yankees in the ALCS, Cubs vs. Dodgers in the NLCS.

If the Cubs repeat, I may have to go out and buy a hat so I can eat it.

I was kind of hoping for an Astros vs Nationals World Series (two franchises that have no World Series wins to their names).

Oh well, the torment of both the Nationals and the Indians continues.

An interesting statistic that was pointed out: the four teams still in the playoffs represent the four most populous cities in the US (but not the most in the MLB– Toronto's in third). For bonus points, they're even seeded like a tournament bracket: NY (1) vs. Houston (4), LA (2) vs. Chicago (3).

edited 14th Oct '17 8:10:33 PM by Blueeyedrat

Well, the Cubs' effort to defend their title is over. The Dodgers are now in the World Series after blowing out the Cubs in an 11-1 game to take the NLCS four games to one.