The way I understand it is that everyone can play unless the MLB team has put them on the 40 man roster. I guess at that point they are under the auspices of the union. So then they can't play as they are subject the the lockout. If you go to AAA games I would imagine there are player(s) that can't play at this point.

Really messed up.

MLB has put players union on notice - looks more likely games will be canceled if nothing happens this weekend. Bummer.

@porkchopbob 

There is a good article in today's Chicago Sun Times by a good sports columnist, Rick Morissey. He's basically asking what the two sides expect from people on the outside looking in (the fans). How much is enough? They almost killed the game in 1994. Ironically the steroid era helped save things.

You might be able to find it online.

@lee

It sounds like players are just looking for more money and security for the average player, and I can understand not being overly concerned if that bothers average fans. Revenues are up in baseball, players should profit accordingly. As long as the owners are portrayed as the villain hoarding cash from Johnny Baseball, I think they can avoid fans checking out like we did in 1994.

I just noticed the negotiations are taking place at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter FL, which is where I often watch minor league ball in the Summer (and down the road from the former site of Burt Reynolds' Ranch where Where It All Begins was recorded)

Well, MLB just cancelled the first two series of the season. I can't say I am shocked. This is really disappointing. I'm not really on either side. To me they are arguing over "Monopoly money" that I (and most baseball fans) will never see so it is hard to relate. And the players won't get paid. Owners won't get the gate from missed games. Employees wil have no income. I do find it interesting that Max Scherzer of all people is really standing up to fight for what the players want. I think he is making $30 plus million or something and he is fighting for the young guys and the league minimum. 

Oh well. I have a handful of friends that have season ticket packages to both the Cubs and White Sox. They already had to pay for their tickets. They've had to go through a similar situation before and the teams don't want to give them their money back, they want to offer them future tickets. I imagine that will happen again this year.

Sad...

@lee

Cancelled games are a bummer, but I hope players get what they want. From what I've read, the owners aren't making any concessions even though league profits have gone up. And they want uniform ads like the NBA now has, and expanded playoffs.

Players are fighting for measure in the payroll and draft that discourage tanking, like fire sales or low payrolls (Cleveland had a $20M total payroll in 2021).

I'm not saying the players are saints here, but they'd probably want your friends to get money back for games they themselves aren't being paid to play.

@porkchopbob 

I totally get what you are saying. But I will go back to what I said in that the average fan simply can't relate to the amount of money being argued over. As to the issues they are arguing about, those are really complicated and I am not a labor lawyer. I would say a lot of fans just want them to get back on the field. 😀 

As to my friends & acquaintances, that is a tad more complicated.

Getting their money back is certainly an easy option. You would probably get it within a year or so. The problem with that is these guys have had their tickets for X amount of years and they don't want to give up their seats. If they get their cash back, they obviously lose the seats. For a handle of years or so they are offered better seats if they want them. Some guys take them, some don't. If they get the cash back they are basically at the back of the line for tickets.

The other thing (which is important) is they can get playoff tickets that the average fan can't. They give up their regular season tix and they lose playoff tix. It probably wouldn't matter for the Cubs for a few years but it certainly does for the Sox.

@lee

Nah, I get average fans are going to drift away the longer it goes on. People just want to see a game, be entertained. I don't think players can worry about that. It might sound like a lot of money, but your average player might only get 2-3 years of league pay. Why just let the owner get it when the owner is already looking for a zillion other ways to make even more money and pay players as little as possible:

To earn a full year of service, players need to spend 172 days on the major league roster. In his first season, NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant was on the Cubs' roster for 171. He filed a grievance. The arbitrator ruled in favor of the Cubs.

Not saying players are Robin Hood, but they aren't the ones raising ticket prices either.

Posted by: @porkchopbob

@lee

Nah, I get average fans are going to drift away the longer it goes on. People just want to see a game, be entertained. I don't think players can worry about that. It might sound like a lot of money, but your average player might only get 2-3 years of league pay. Why just let the owner get it when the owner is already looking for a zillion other ways to make even more money and pay players as little as possible:

To earn a full year of service, players need to spend 172 days on the major league roster. In his first season, NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant was on the Cubs' roster for 171. He filed a grievance. The arbitrator ruled in favor of the Cubs.

Not saying players are Robin Hood, but they aren't the ones raising ticket prices either.

 

The Bryant situation was bad. I think he got screwed. To his credit, he didn't whine about it. I would have been pissed.

Regarding the discussion, I don't disagree with what you're saying. But I do wonder if players might consider that if they play the amount of time you are saying, they would still walk away with a couple million bucks. Young enough to go do whatever you want with quite a nice cash cushion. Would I resent owners? Hell yes, but you still have a lot of money. I dunno, check your ego at the door perhaps?

I just saw that Manfred cancelled two more series. I think they are treading in dangerous water. I'm glad I'm not on the hook for anything. i.e. season tickets and travel plans.

@lee 

In Macon, we have the, wait for it,  Macon Bacon.  The mascot is named, again, wait for it,           KEVIN BACON.  Would you believe that once in a while the real Kevin Bacon shows up and signs autographs, poses with you and the mascot, and even gets on the PA system once in a while.

Haven't seen all the details but I guess they are playing a full 162 game season and none of that 7 inning runner on second crap in the extra innings. This is good.

MLB had pushed for expanding the postseason to 12 teams -- a plan to which the MLBPA agreed. Additionally, player uniforms will feature advertising for the first time, with patches on jerseys and decals on batting helmets.

Other elements of the deal include:

• A 45-day window for MLB to implement rules changes -- among them a pitch clock, ban on shifts and larger bases in the 2023 season

• The National League adopting the designated hitter

• A draft lottery implemented with the intent of discouraging tanking

• Draft-pick inducements to discourage service-time manipulation

• Limiting the number of times a player can be optioned to the minor leagues in one season

Some big changes here. Some I like, some I don't.

Happy to see a lottery, the tanking was making post-firesale Aug/Sept baseball kind of tough to watch at times. There will always be a debate about the DH, and as fun as it is to see Roberto Colon hit a HR once every 10 years, it's time to take the bats away from the pitchers in the NL.

I'm fine with the shift, I don't get everyone whining about it.

Posted by: @lee

Regarding the discussion, I don't disagree with what you're saying. But I do wonder if players might consider that if they play the amount of time you are saying, they would still walk away with a couple million bucks. Young enough to go do whatever you want with quite a nice cash cushion. Would I resent owners? Hell yes, but you still have a lot of money. I dunno, check your ego at the door perhaps?

I don't see it as an "ego" issue at all, they aren't fighting for the Trouts and Verlanders. It's the opposite, they're fighting for the very guys who could have missed a huge chunk of their short careers if the lock-out went on. Even though veteran minimums are still a lot of money to most people, average players deserve their share. They shouldn't be content to roll over and just be happy to be there as profits go up (the advertising patches sounds like it was approved, unfortunately). Just because it's a sport and not, say, software engineering doesn't mean these employees doing the work shouldn't reap the benefits.

Player salaries have dropped over the past four seasons despite growing revenues that topped out at an estimated $10.7 billion in 2019. The significant rise in franchise values -- which have almost quadrupled over the last two basic agreements -- became a rallying cry for players.

@porkchopbob 

The big thing I don't like is expanded playoffs. When I grew up there were four teams. Before 1969 there only two as you probably know. The playoff setup system takes looking at to figure out. A little too complex to me. I am I old school, to me it looks like it waters down the regular season even if MLB says it emphasizes a few things, including more teams being in it at the end of the season. This is true. If you are a casual fan and you know your team is out of it at the beginning to September, why pay attention?

Regarding the shift, I really dislike it. On the other hand, when they first started doing it, I thought why not just try to hit it the opposite way? Easier said than done I know. But it can be a skill you can get good at. 

I guess that rule doesn't change until next year anyway if I understand it.

So unvaccinated players for the Mets & Yanks cannot play home games this year. I find this both funny and sad at the same time. Can you imagine if this comes to fruition?

Baseball is now fully just a hybrid game with 10 players. 2 only participate in 1/2 the game. I say why not just have offensive and defensive teams. You could go out to the minors and find the best hitters and create a back to back HR machine. As well as you can go and get the very best defensive players that can't hit worth a chit.

Or better yet we could just play strikeout. No one runs. You don't need a catcher just a wall with a box drawn on it. And every one agrees upon what is a hit, double triple and of course over the fence is a HR.

Ya know why Ohtani can hit and pitch....because when he was a kid he gave a rats a$$ on developing a complete game. He wanted to be a complete player. He didn't want to be just a rhythm guitar player he wanted to make it cry and scream.

The excuse about pitcher not hitting is just that excuses.

1. We don't want them to get hurt running. - Oh is it ok when your best hitter pulls a muscle or gets a knee injury running. How does that affect the team?

Obviously there are pitchers who can hit. Why?....probably they gave a rats a$$ to become a complete player and didn't buy into the BS that pitching is special. So is every position. It takes the same skill level to be play any position and excel at it

Well, 1 down, 161 to go for the Flubs. Although shaky, they won on opening day! 😀 

I got into this neat baseball pool this season. There are 30 guys and each one of us has a team. So your team has to score, on the nose 0-15 runs in a game. As soon as they do that, you don't need them to do it again. So for instance, I pick Milwaukee and they scored 4 so I don't care if they do that again, it doesn't matter. The guy that has the Cubs no longer needs them to score 5 again. First one to hit on all of the 16 scores wins. Pretty simple.

There was actually a "draw" if you will on a computer program so everyone just got in line for their turn and picked from whatever was left. I didn't get to pick until 23 and I had a dilemma. My two favorite teams, Tigers and Cubs were still left. But I went with the Brewers. It's all pretty much a crap shoot but I figure I want someone who can score a game in the teens. I imagine the low scores will be covered quickly.

I guess last year it ended in mid July. Should be fun to watch all the scores every night. Only $20. 😀 

Cardinals win by 3 field goals ...  

Go Giants!

Caught the end of the Brewers game, had to tell the bar to switch off adult putt-putt - it's opening day, fools! I had forgotten David Robertson is a flub - I used to like that guy.

Was just nice to be watching baseball.

Thought this was interesting, nice attempt to eliminate sign stealing.

Brewers catcher Omar Naváez and pitcher Corbin Burnes became the first battery in MLB history to use electronic pitch-calling in a regular season game. The catcher calls the pitch by pressing button on his wristband and the pitcher hears the call via a little speaker located under his cap. (They’re calling it an “earpiece,” but I don’t think that’s the appropriate term if it’s not lodged in his ear.) This screen shot shows Naváez’s crib sheet for his buttons, which are on the other side of the wristband:

 

 

And then here’s Naváez pushing the buttons to call a pitch (not a very satisfying view but it’s the best I could get):

 

Re: the push-button pitch calling, while my initial reaction upon hearing about it was that it was yet another unneeded B.S. rule change, I changed my mind after watching it just one game.  Holy Hannah did that speed up the pace of the game.  I tend to be a traditionalist and look at prospective rule changes with hefty skepticism.  But MLB desperately needs to speed up the games.  The push button pitch signals seems a lot better than pitch clocks or limits on using pinch hitters or changing pitchers (which impact game strategy).  I'll have to watch a few more games before I decide, but so far it seems good.

I agree with above comment about no need for new rules about the Shift.  Personally, I'm not a fan of the Shift, but it's easily beatable if a professional batter would just hit the ball the other way every once in awhile.  Hell, they used to teach Little Leaguers to hit the ball to opposite field.  Shouldn't be a problem for MLB'ers.

Not a fan of the DH in the NL, but I see why we have it now.  And once that cat is out of the bag it ain't ever going back.

That's why they call it the Windy City - it wreaked havoc at Comiskey ystrdy - those popups were uncatchable

Let's go BoSox

RIP Mike Bossy, great player

The title at the moment is regarding the ****ing jerk that is Aaron Boone. As a dies-hard Tigers fan, I am watching the game on my phone because I want to see if I can see Cabrera's 3,000 hit. Here is the scenario. Tigers are batting, bottom of the 8th. Two outs. Runners on 2nd & 3rd. Boone already changed pitchers twice in the inning and they were already losing. Cabrera comes up. As soon as I saw first was open I afraid Boone would walk him. And he did.

What as ass. He'll probably say he was trying to set up a force play, I don't know. Did he want Miggy to reach a milestone against the Yankees? Sure as hell looks that way. Miggy was cool walking off the field, basically telling the crowd to calm down as I imagine they were pissed.

Sorry, have the balls to pitch to the guy. Heck, Anthony Rizzo, the Yankee first baseman said he would like to see a milestone like this.

Posted by: @lee

The title at the moment is regarding the ****ing jerk that is Aaron Boone. As a dies-hard Tigers fan, I am watching the game on my phone because I want to see if I can see Cabrera's 3,000 hit. Here is the scenario. Tigers are batting, bottom of the 8th. Two outs. Runners on 2nd & 3rd. Boone already changed pitchers twice in the inning and they were already losing. Cabrera comes up. As soon as I saw first was open I afraid Boone would walk him. And he did.

What as ass. He'll probably say he was trying to set up a force play, I don't know. Did he want Miggy to reach a milestone against the Yankees? Sure as hell looks that way. Miggy was cool walking off the field, basically telling the crowd to calm down as I imagine they were pissed.

Sorry, have the balls to pitch to the guy. Heck, Anthony Rizzo, the Yankee first baseman said he would like to see a milestone like this.

 

It had nothing to do with not wanting Miggy to get his 3000th hit against the Yankees Lee.

I was watching the game on the MLB network and the Yanks were losing 1-0 and there was runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th when Boone walked Miggy.

The Yanks had a left hand pitcher on the mound, Luetge, who is tough against lefty hitters with lefty hitter Meadows up next. Unfortunately it did not work as Meadows hit a dinky bloop single that scored two runs.

Boone was trying to get out of the inning only down by one run to give his team a chance to try to at least tie the score in the ninth inning. Much easier scoring one run then three. 

It is called strategy Lee and was the right call by Boone.

Be patient, there are plenty of games for Miggy to get his 3000th hit.

Perhaps Casey Stengel. Perhaps. 😎 As a Tigger fan and all of the 40,000 people in Comerica Park it did not look good. Just saying. Of course he will make it. And who knows, one game could matter in September.

Thanks for pointing out baseball strategy to me. 🙄 

If you want to read something about baseball thought, pick this up.  What he considered even early on blew me away.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/white-rat-a-life-in-baseball_whitey-herzog_kevin-horrigan/431810/item/807069/?mkwid=%7cdc&pcrid=76622380847791&pkw=&pmt=be&slid=&product=807069&plc=&pgrid=1225955718369265&ptaid=pla-4580221855735599&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping+%7c+NEW+condition+books&utm_term=&utm_content=%7cdc%7cpcrid%7c76622380847791%7cpkw%7c%7cpmt%7cbe%7cproduct%7c807069%7cslid%7c%7cpgrid%7c1225955718369265%7cptaid%7cpla-4580221855735599%7c&msclkid=80c8d07910af16f92fc5b218d37d9a06#idiq=807069&edition=1882610

I can actually send my copy to you. Good read. 😀 

Posted by: @lee

Perhaps Casey Stengel. Perhaps. 😎 As a Tigger fan and all of the 40,000 people in Comerica Park it did not look good. Just saying. Of course he will make it. And who knows, one game could matter in September.

Thanks for pointing out baseball strategy to me. 🙄 

If you want to read something about baseball thought, pick this up.  What he considered even early on blew me away.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/white-rat-a-life-in-baseball_whitey-herzog_kevin-horrigan/431810/item/807069/?mkwid=%7cdc&pcrid=76622380847791&pkw=&pmt=be&slid=&product=807069&plc=&pgrid=1225955718369265&ptaid=pla-4580221855735599&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping+%7c+NEW+condition+books&utm_term=&utm_content=%7cdc%7cpcrid%7c76622380847791%7cpkw%7c%7cpmt%7cbe%7cproduct%7c807069%7cslid%7c%7cpgrid%7c1225955718369265%7cptaid%7cpla-4580221855735599%7c&msclkid=80c8d07910af16f92fc5b218d37d9a06#idiq=807069&edition=1882610

I can actually send my copy to you. Good read. 😀 

There is no perhaps about it Lee, Boone was trying to win the game so he was not worried about the optics for Tigger fans. Even the "Old Perfesser" Stengel would have made that move. 😉 

You are right about one game making a difference as the Yanks were tied with the Red Sox last season and had to play a Wild Card game in Fenway due to the tie breaker which they lost. I am sure they would have preferred to have played in the Stadium instead had they won one more game than the Sox last year.

I understand you not be happy about being a diehard Tigger fan but once you get over the emotion of it I am sure you will see the logic in what Boone did.

Miggy is a great HOF bound player so hopefully he gets his 3000 hit in Detroit for fans to celebrate.

As a Yankee fan his situation reminds me of the late 1960's Yankee teams who were terrible but we had Mickey Mantle in the twilight of his career to root for. Every time the Mick came to the plate that last year he got a standing ovation. The Tiggers may stink but at least you have Miggy to root for.

Thanks for the offer of the book. I will put it on my list to read. Right now I just started a bio on Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy and I have a large backlog of music biographies to saw through this summer.

What, no Joe Pepitone?

I have one card of Mantle and it is 1969. His last card Topps produced. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185222753629?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1ToHoqedISbqua3kaVKPkeA32&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=185222753629&targetid=4581046489808872&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=418640322&mkgroupid=1239149842233245&rlsatarget=pla-4581046489808872&abcId=9300602&merchantid=51291&msclkid=236ef90f79901f1695b79b6eb6a61d26

Mine is not worth that much.