The 2023 Baseball Thread

[opus]

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.

[opus]

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"


https://youtu.be/XEQC6slQkeE

[opus]

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

[opus]

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

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by opus

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.

[GentlemanJim]

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


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.

[opus]

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.

[opus]

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

[opus]

Originally Posted by 1960'sTVfan

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.

[TJ]

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

[opus]

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

[Duster76]

Originally Posted by opus

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.

[biffbronson]

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.

[opus]

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

[1960'sTVfan]

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.