We begin the long, long (did I mention long?) marathon to October.

The major rule change this season is the pitch clock. On the Yankees game yesterday they said league wide spring training games this year were on average 25 minutes less than last year. I would expect that to continue into the regular season.

Other big changes are bigger bases (expected to increase stolen bases) and the shift banning rules (we'll see how that plays out, but should benefit certain players)


On the horizon is robo umps calling balls and strikes, but that talk can be saved for another year.

Opening Day also means it's time for another episode of Ball, Get Out Of My Nachos.

In the immortal words of Ball, Get Out Of My Nachos, "Ball, get out of my nachos"

XEQC6slQkeE
https://youtu.be/XEQC6slQkeE

retro60's, the A's are winning the World Series this year, right?

Mr.Cleveland, the Guardians are winning the World Series this year, right?

retro60's, the A's are winning the World Series this year, right?

LOL, would be nice but that isn't going to happen, looks like it will be the 2nd straight year that the A's are basement dwellers in the AL West division.

And the chances of moving to Las Vegas are increasing as the decision makers in Oakland continue stalling and shuffling their feet over the new stadium situation there.

The coliseum where the A's play isn't really that old, I believe it opened in 1966, if it had just been properly maintained over the years this need for a new stadium wouldn't even be necessary, the whole situation is very sad but it is what it is.

And with the expansion of intra-league play, each team will face every team in the opposite league at least once over the course of the season :thumbsdow


I believe the one aspect most fans overlook is who, or what "Major League Baseball" really is. There is no altruistic organization that is preoccupied with objective fair play, MLB is a consortium of the owners, and the commissioner and all the umpires work for them.

Consequently, merit will always take a back seat to economics.

Another rule change of note is now only 2 unsuccessful pickoff attempts are allowed per runner. If the third is also unsuccessful it’s considered a balk and the runner advances a base.

Yankees win the home opener versus San Fran. Only 161 wins to go for the perfect season.

LOL, would be nice but that isn't going to happen, looks like it will be the 2nd straight year that the A's are basement dwellers in the AL West division.

And the chances of moving to Las Vegas are increasing as the decision makers in Oakland continue stalling and shuffling their feet over the new stadium situation there.

The coliseum where the A's play isn't really that old, I believe it opened in 1966, if it had just been properly maintained over the years this need for a new stadium wouldn't even be necessary, the whole situation is very sad but it is what it is.

I think the thing most hated about the A’s stadium, at least by batters, is there’s sooooo much foul territory. Foul balls in other parks are outs here. Pitchers I’m sure love it.

A potential World Series Game 7 would be on November 4.

The games should be shorter with the rule changes. I would expect many more runs. I wonder how much shorter they will be in the long run. I couldn't believe how quickly the Giants/Yankees made it to the 7th inning in their game. If I'm paying for tickets or streaming games, I would want to pay less for the shorter games. You get less bang for your buck.

Here are my 2023 MLB predictions. The Cubs and Orioles will be better than expected, but both will fall short of the wild cards.

NL East - Atlanta
NL Central - St. Louis
NL West - San Diego
NL Wild Cards - New York Mets, Philadelphia, Los Angeles Dodgers
NL Champion - Atlanta over San Diego in 7 games

AL East - New York Yankees
AL Central - Chicago White Sox
AL West - Houston
AL Wild Cards - Toronto, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles Angels
AL Champion - Toronto over Houston in 6 games

World Series Champion - Atlanta over Toronto in 7 games

NL MVP - Ronald Acuña Jr.
NL Cy Young - Spencer Strider
NL Rookie of the Year - Corbin Carroll

AL MVP - Shohei Ohtani
AL Cy Young - Gerrit Cole
AL Rookie of the Year - Gunnar Henderson

Calling it now. Rays go 162-0 then lose in the first round.

Calling it now. Rays go 162-0 then lose in the first round.

Rays are now 14-2, but the scenario you suggested basically just happened a year ago.

Although the 2022 Dodgers did not go 162-0, the team did go an incredible 111-51 the most wins by an NL team since the 1906 Chicago Cubs. And what did it get them, they lost in the first round to a team in their own division that finished 22 games behind them with a record of 89-73!

Last season 16 teams finished over .500 and 14 of those teams made the playoffs. In the last two seasons the Braves with 88 wins, and the Phillies with 87 wins represented the National League in the World Series, why play 162 games for results like that.

I would like to see each team with the best record in each league receive a bye in the playoffs, something like this:

The division champ with the worst record would play the wildcard team (series: best of 3 or single game). The winner would then play the division champ with the 2nd best record (best of 5). Finally, that winner would play the "best" team I mentioned above (best of 5 or 7), for the right to go to the WS.

Duster76, biffbronson, do either of you have a team you root for?

Last years A's team that finished with a 60-102 record is looking like a team of champions compared to the mess that is this years squad, unless they start playing better as the season goes along I think there is potential they could lose 130 games or more.

And as time goes along, the team relocating to Las Vegas is looking increasingly likely, I imagine there will be some news regarding that situation in the fairly near future.

Hey guys,

It was a GREAT Night for the City of Angels, but not so much for the Big Apple

Ohtani OWNS the Judge while Clayton Kershaw gets win #200

Angels def. Yankees in Yankee Stadium and the Dodgers SHUTOUT Mets in Dodger Stadium

Here are the Stories:

Ohtani homers 100 years after Babe, leads Angels over Yanks
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/recap/MLB_20230418_LAA@NYY/

Kershaw wins No. 200 in style as Dodgers blank Mets 5-0
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/gametracker/recap/MLB_20230418_NYM@LAD/

That's pretty shocking, for Oakland to lose both the Raiders and the A's. "Las Vegas A's"? That would take a long time to get used to.

Duster76, biffbronson, do either of you have a team you root for?

Fan of the Pirates for many years, but with realistic lack of expectations (lol). I also want to see the Cubs & White Sox do well.

Duster76, biffbronson, do either of you have a team you root for?

I guess you could call me a retired or inactive Yankee fan. I grew up rooting for them but really got turned off by the current owner Hal Steinbrenner, if the Steinbrenner family would sell the club I might start following the team again.

MLB wants to expand placing 16 teams in each league which will lead to yet another expansion of the postseason to 8 teams in the AL and 8 teams in the NL. This brings us around to the announcement that the A's have purchased 43 acres of land in Las Vegas. MLB wanted the dual problems of the A's and Tampa Bay solved by the close of business in 2023, one problem has now been solved. Tampa Bay will either have a stadium commitment by the end of the year or they will be lost to either Montreal or Nashville. The one joker in the deck, believe it or not is Salt Lake City which is in the mix for an expansion team, the city could jump ahead in line and make a play for the Rays. Once the Rays situation is settled MLB can make plans to expand in either 2025 or 2026.

How much does it cost to go to a baseball game? How much are the tickets?

I have only been to one MLB game in my life when I was in sixth grade, my small private school in Memphis (for some odd reason) decided to do a school trip to St Louis with the 4th, 5th and 6th grade going. This was in 1979, 44 years ago to the month (the trip was either in April or May) and at least the 6th grade kids went of not everyone, so a minimum of about 13 kids and a maximum of about 30. I don’t remember any of it at all except the roof of the Cardinals stadium, and that I think the Cards played the Pittsburgh Pirates which looking back doesn’t make sense since the Cards were NL and the Pirate AL. Was their inner league back then? I don’t think so.

I wonder how how much tickets back then was. We were a group so there must have been a discount. Even if tickets were like $5, that would have been $150-200 dollars in 1979 money which would have been upwards of a $1000 dollars now. Considering that probably most of us kids could not have cared less about baseball. I was so young, I was scared about going up the St Louis Arch. How do the elevators work? Wouldn’t they curve over? Looking out the windows gave me vertigo also, take me down from this thing.

I still have a stock joke to anyone I am introduced to who is from St Louis…”Do you still have that art deco thing on the river?”

How much does it cost to go to a baseball game? How much are the tickets?

I have only been to one MLB game in my life when I was in sixth grade, my small private school in Memphis (for some odd reason) decided to do a school trip to St Louis with the 4th, 5th and 6th grade going. This was in 1979, 44 years ago to the month (the trip was either in April or May) and at least the 6th grade kids went of not everyone, so a minimum of about 13 kids and a maximum of about 30. I don’t remember any of it at all except the roof of the Cardinals stadium, and that I think the Cards played the Pittsburgh Pirates which looking back doesn’t make sense since the Cards were NL and the Pirate AL. Was their inner league back then? I don’t think so.

I wonder how how much tickets back then was. We were a group so there must have been a discount. Even if tickets were like $5, that would have been $150-200 dollars in 1979 money which would have been upwards of a $1000 dollars now. Considering that probably most of us kids could not have cared less about baseball. I was so young, I was scared about going up the St Louis Arch. How do the elevators work? Wouldn’t they curve over? Looking out the windows gave me vertigo also, take me down from this thing.

I still have a stock joke to anyone I am introduced to who is from St Louis…”Do you still have that art deco thing on the river?”

Well a couple of housekeeping issues before I begin:

The Pirates are in the National League always have been. 1979 was the "We Are Family" season for the Pirates they won not only the NL pennant but went on to beat the Orioles in the World Series after trailing the series 3-1. This was the second time in history the Pirates accomplished that feat, they first accomplished it in 1925. It was also the last season the Pirates won the World Series!

The second point, St. Louis played at the original Busch Stadium in 1979, while it was a multipurposed stadium but it had no roof.

The last major league game I attended was in 2018 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, attending was a last minute decision so I purchased the tickets at the box office, I paid about $176 dollars for a party 7, unreserved grandstand behind home plate. Where they really get you at these parks is the concession stands, I know someone who went to a Yankee game in 2013, it was a night game on a cold evening in early May, he went with his son, he purchased two 12 oz hot chocolates, he paid $9.50 each, $19 bucks total! That's nothing short of price gouging, it's disgraceful. The fact that public money goes into building these parks and the teams are allowed to get away with such consumer ripoffs infuriates me to no end.

Fan of the Pirates for many years, but with realistic lack of expectations (lol). I also want to see the Cubs & White Sox do well.

Yeah, Pirates almost won 100 in 2015 and then quickly dropped off in the following years.

I always thought in Chicago someone was required by law to only choose one or the other.

I guess you could call me a retired or inactive Yankee fan. I grew up rooting for them but really got turned off by the current owner Hal Steinbrenner, if the Steinbrenner family would sell the club I might start following the team again.

I’m a current Yankees fan. Just there for the team and the sport. Don’t really care who’s paying the bills. (I do know a bunch of people who hate Brian Cashman though).

I’m a current Yankees fan. Just there for the team and the sport. Don’t really care who’s paying the bills. (I do know a bunch of people who hate Brian Cashman though).

You know one more, I agree with the people you know who hate Brian Cashman. At some point I don't blame Cashman as much as I blame Hal for continuing to employ him, he's failed, he should have been held accountable years ago.

I always thought in Chicago someone was required by law to only choose one or the other.

There's a lot of truth to that in Chicago I believe. But I've always lived in Indiana, so I've considered myself exempt in a way, and I like both. However I will say that I know of ardent White Sox fans in Indiana who are close to the Illinois-Indiana border and they have a pretty deep hatred of the Cubs.

My dad was a Cub fan for many decades and I've seen tons of their games on WGN-TV over the years. The sting of 1969 remains to some extent.

As far as the Chisox, I've met Hawk Harrelson briefly, well-known as the Sox play-by-play announcer -- his wife's extended family are members of the same church as I am, and reportedly Hawk lives right in my area (a long commute to Chicago).

Last years A's team that finished with a 60-102 record is looking like a team of champions compared to the mess that is this years squad, unless they start playing better as the season goes along I think there is potential they could lose 130 games or more.

And as time goes along, the team relocating to Las Vegas is looking increasingly likely, I imagine there will be some news regarding that situation in the fairly near future.

Oakland A's say team is moving to Las Vegas after signing deal to purchase land for new stadium (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oakland-as-moving-las-vegas-land-new-stadium/)

There have been several examples in MLB history of teams moving from the west eastward, where historically the reverse has been far more common:

> St. Louis Browns move east to become the Baltimore Orioles
> Milwaukee Braves move east to become the Atlanta Braves (their 3rd city)
> Seattle Pilots move east to become the Milwaukee Brewers
> Oakland A's move east to become the Las Vegas A's (their 4th city)

The Montreal Expos moving to D.C. may qualify, but I don't know the geography. :(

With the A's now calling their 4th city home, that may well be the MLB record (Phila/KC/Oakland in the past). The old Washington Senators have a complex history entwined with the Twins & Rangers, but even that mess I think involved only 3.

Fan of the Pirates for many years, but with realistic lack of expectations (lol)

Pirates have the best record in the National League. I figured I should post that quickly, before they don’t.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Have The Best Record In The NL (https://sportslens.com/news/the-pittsburgh-pirates-have-the-best-record-in-the-nl/)

Tigers/Phillies and White Sox/Yankees postponed because of poor air quality caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires. It looks like a scene in Blade Runner or Night of the Comet.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/37814386/mlb-wnba-postpone-games-due-smoke-canadian-wildfires

1666531379423719428

With Aaron Judge on the lL, Yankees could use another couple of weeks of apocalyptic smokeouts.

With Aaron Judge on the lL, Yankees could use another couple of weeks of apocalyptic smokeouts.

Man, did I call that one correctly.

I don’t think this is the Yankees’s year. Too dependent on Judge for offense. Everyone else’s bats went cold. Cole has been the only reliable starter. Seems like the players are made of glass when it comes to injuries. Other teams in the division never seem to lose a game.