Talkin Baseball

MLB announced the other day that they were gonna be starting up the season at the end of July. Other than rushing to figure out what this is gonna mean for my fantasy team and draft, I wondered if I should keep going with my Second Chance Out of the Park league. It’s been a fun league and I’m enjoying the game so I think I’ll keep going but now my time is gonna be split. I suppose having too much can be a good thing.

Baseball is Back!

Well it took them nearly destroying the game but it looks like baseball is finally back. Sure, it required the commissioner to FORCE the games to begin but at least there will be baseball in 2020.

60 games to determine who will make the playoffs. It’ll be short and sweet, and please don’t let my team have a 3 game losing streak or it’ll be all over.

This is really gonna be an interesting season. 9 weeks of baseball, is it enough? We’re used to months upon months of the baseball marathon and this year we get 9 weeks. Many players take 9 weeks just to start to realize they’re playing games that actually count.

So what do you think…the top teams will win 40 games this year? I mean 40–20 is not a bad record. So we go from 4 teams winning 100+ games to the best teams hoping to win 40.

And no fans in the stadiums. That’s gonna impact a few players.

Actually, I’ve already read stories a of how the Cheating Astros will have a harder time getting away with cheating this year because we should all be able to hear the trash can banging without the crowd noise.

I suppose throwing at cheaters would have an outsized impact during this shortened season too. I mean if the commissioner suspended a player for throwing at the cheaters – because he didn’t penalize them AT ALL – how many games would they miss? 5 games? 1/10th of the season? I mean, now that baseball is coming back we can all make sure to remember that some teams cheated their way to World Championships. Were there any repercussions? Nah – we’ll just let it slide this time.

Maybe since the season will have an asterisk anyway, they should just make the Cheating Astros forfeit all their games, or maybe just the home games this year.

Or my favorite punishment, give the opposing teams the same treatment they got when the Cheaters won the World Series – every team that shows up in Houston gets to see the pitch that’s being thrown, broadcast on the scoreboard, before the pitch is thrown. Let’s see how the Cheating Astros like what they forced on the rest of the league.

In any case, I’m glad to have a new season of MLB. Let’s hope the players and owners don’t screw it up more than it already is.

The Angels Sweep the Astros in the SCL

In my Second Chance League I’m just getting started and while MLB may be finally looking to start up for real at the end of July, I’m gonna keep going with my league.

Today I’m covering the 4th game of the season and the close of the opening series between the Angels and the Cheating Astros. So far, the Angels have won all 3 of the games and I’m pretty please to see that. I mean sure, this is a simulation, but any time I can root my team to to victory over the Cheating Astros is a good day.

With that said, I was a bit nervous heading into this game since winning 4 in a row to start the season against the American League champs was a lot to ask for my team. And I was rolling out Dylan Bundy to the mound who I am not very familiar with.

This was also the first time the Out of the Park AI wanted to begin the game with an ‘opener’.

I am not a fan of ‘openers’ but I suppose we’re gonna start seeing more and more tactical changes to the game, particularly with a shortened season this year. In any case, an ‘opener’ is where you start the game with a relief pitcher to throw hard and push to get through at least the first inning of the game – the first and usually most fearsome hitters on the opposing team. I think the idea is to give the real ‘starter’ a chance to mix things up and face easier batters when they show up on the mound. It also lets their 3rd time through the batting order occur later in the game when that might be important.

Anyway, I did not follow the AI’s suggestion and I went with Bundy to start right off the bat. And things worked out just fine. My Angels kicked off the game with a single by Anthony Rendon, a walk to Shohei Ohtani, and a nice 3-run jack by Mike Trout. Sure, Bundy let Houston take back a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Angels were still up 3–1 after the first. And they never looked back.

Ohtani picked up Player of the Game accolades with a 3 for 4 day with a home run and 2 RBIs, but the 2, 3, and 4 betters all performed well. The trio had 8 hits and 2 home runs, batting .667 and picking up 3 walks. They clearly wanted the sweep.

On the mound, Bundy threw 6 innings and gave up a couple of runs before turning it over to Cam Bedrosian. He picked up his first save of the year with 3 innings of shutout ball to seal the deal.

The Angels ended up winning 5 to 2 and sweeping their opening series of the year against the Cheating Astros and while I don’t think they’ll go 162–0, they’re off to a great start.

It’s a Wrap

So in essence, I’ve got a couple of seasons of baseball to look forward to. I’m really enjoying the Second Chance League and OOTP and I’m looking forward to continuing the season. And now I get to prepare for MLB to come back. 60 games should be fun and hey…at least it’s baseball again.

Go Angels!

Ramble 2020.02.46 | Talkin Baseball