r2i forum

Guys & Gals,

Baseball season has begun, let's discuss the season here and predict world series teams. I am going with two my favorite teams from each league, Cubs vs. Yankees.

Cubs don't have quality pitching this season but I don't mind their win as they remain as sentimental favorites to erase the goat curse. Yankees might repeat but to avoid IBD saying how difficult it's to repeat in MLB, I want Red Sox and want them to keep their winning streak of every 3 years since 2004 : ). If that happens Fenway green monstah fan would get to rub on all the NYY fans (IBD, KirKS, DG, FFH and Reacher) : )

Red Sox, if not, then Cubs.

Just one from the memory lane for no reason...NYY fans can relate to this.

Don Zimmer and Pedro Martinez altercation on Game 3 of Yankees-Red Sox ALCS series in 2003.
Who knows who threw the first punch? Was the first punch thrown when a 72 year old Bench coach rushed towards a 32 year old pitcher on the suspicion of bean ball throwing at NYY sluggers? Or was it when a much younger pitcher in order to defend himself manhandled the 72 yr old man rushing towards him? Was it wrong on the part of Pedro refusing to apologize when the old man did apologize for his role? Was it wrong for Michael Bloomberg ( NYY mayor) to suggest that Pedro should have been arrested for pushing Zimmer? Was it wrong for the Boston Police to conduct an investigation of Red Sox groundskeeper hit by NYY bullpen pitchers when this issue was at the center stage? Or did the groundskeeper bring it on himself by cheering too loud for the Sox? Was this all simmering because Larry Lucchino, the Red Sox President called NYY as the' evil empire' in the signing controversy of Jose Contreras in the pre-season? Or was it the Babe Ruth trading which denied Boston any WS ring since 1918 which fueled this rivalry? When was the first punch?

Pedro has moved on with Phillies and Red Sox erased the 86 year old curse in 2004 before Pedro left the Sox. Since then, Red Sox have won the WS once in 2007 and Yankees did it in 2009. The talk of rivalry and mutual bad feelings is mostly forgotten by fans on either side and would be mostly erased except if the media continues to bring it on. That's the gist of this story folks, that animosity between teams or individuals is easy to erase if people don't fuel it : )

What series is it again? :confused:

World Series - Which World are they talking about. Imaginative world maybe :p

When only a couple of teams outside (from Canada) of US are participating naming it world series is nothing more than asinine. I'm starting to see more and more of them are starting to recognize there's a real world out there outside of America.

BTW, I'm picking Phillies. They need some team to win a championship. Phillies are the closest to doing that this season.

RaReSha3;279632That's the gist of this story folks, that animosity between teams or individuals is easy to erase if people don't fuel it : )

Then it wouldnt be so much fun watching those games, would it?

RRS,
I watched that incident (#3) live on TV and felt at the time that both were equally guilty. Zimmer should not have come out of the dugout running as if he is going to beat someone. He should have behaved appropriately based on his age and as a bench coach. Pedro should not have shoved Zimmer due to his age and stature in baseball. Overall, I feel emptying the dugouts during a fight is so overrated. If a hitter is mad for a high and tight pitch and rushes towards the mound, let them fight and get it over with. Instead, everyone runs towards the mound to take cheap shots.

As for the rivalry, it is mostly fanbase driven. I don’t think players really care that much. Media promotes the rivalry to sell the sport and get ratings.

Btw, what do you think of the season so far? It is a very long season and we really cannot predict anything until after the all star game. Yankees looks to be tough team to beat again this year. Cubs are going though the same problems like last year, lack of timely hitting and horrible bullpen.

DeccanGuy;279688If a hitter is mad for a high and tight pitch and rushes towards the mound, let them fight and get it over with. Instead, everyone runs towards the mound to take cheap shots.

That exactly is the point DG to narrate this anecdote. Sports, Here and anywhere people take cheap shots not allowing the concerned parties to settle it amongst themselves and get it over with :)

O.K. Too early for the season and unless the teams reach 140+ games and start the playoff hunt, Baseball is boring to watch on TV and only ceremonial for fans to go and get a feeling of live action in huge ball park for reasonable cost. Planning to go this year to couple of A's game when NYY/Sox come to town before the Park goes away.

DeccanGuy;279688RRS,
I watched that incident (#3) live on TV and felt at the time that both were equally guilty. Zimmer should not have come out of the dugout running as if he is going to beat someone. He should have behaved appropriately based on his age and as a bench coach. Pedro should not have shoved Zimmer due to his age and stature in baseball. Overall, I feel emptying the dugouts during a fight is so overrated. If a hitter is mad for a high and tight pitch and rushes towards the mound, let them fight and get it over with. Instead, everyone runs towards the mound to take cheap shots.

As for the rivalry, it is mostly fanbase driven. I don’t think players really care that much. Media promotes the rivalry to sell the sport and get ratings.

Btw, what do you think of the season so far? It is a very long season and we really cannot predict anything until after the all star game. Yankees looks to be tough team to beat again this year. Cubs are going though the same problems like last year, lack of timely hitting and horrible bullpen.

Yes, it's a long season. Agreed that we can't predict anything till All Star game. After that Reacher,DG,FFH, IBD,KirKS and others will predict Yankee win :).

Just noticed--I didn't even see an option for NY Mets in the poll. Have we already decided that they should only play minor league?.

farfromhome;279697
Just noticed--I didn't even see an option for NY Mets in the poll. Have we already decided that they should only play minor league?.

I picked two teams from each division for the poll and guessed on who had a good chance to make it to WS. We know there is no parity in baseball and usually heavy weights (payroll) make to the playoffs, except for Marlins and Rays. Mets and Cubs have very bad contracts and that's why they are not competing well, even with the high payrolls. However, to answer your question, it is very safe to assume that Mets will most likely end the season at the bottom of their division. :)

Actualy my opinion is there is more parity in baseball than in any of the other american sports that have a salary cap. Just look at the winners in the last 10 years. That should say something. As far as some teams whining about salary cap now I don't agree with Randy Levine of the yankees on much but the dude really said it like it is recently. Here's the quote to Brewers Owner.

"I'm sorry that my friend Mark continues to whine about his running the Brewers," Levine told ESPNNewYork.com in a phone interview Tuesday morning. "We play by all the rules and there doesn't seem to be any complaints when teams such as the Brewers receive hundreds of millions of dollars that they get from us in revenue sharing the last few years. Take some of that money that you get from us and use that to sign your players."