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Goddamn, the Cubs are tearing it up this year thus far. I wonder what idiotic superstition is going to topple their dreams this year. A goat? Another Steve Bartman? A goat named Steve Bartman?

Mound charge.

So the ump sees the shitty pitching by Ventura, but does nothing? Just lets it happen? wtf?

I think the clips are 3 innings apart. The first 3 are from the 2nd. The next is from the 5th.

New meaning has been given to the phrase "breaking ball." Why, yes, it does involve a Cleveland player.

Remember Sadaharu Oh, the dude the Japanese claim is the "true" home run king of baseball? They're trying to pull this shit again.

Ichiro has 2,977 Major League Baseball hits to go along with his 1,278 hits in nine seasons in Japan. Add them up and the Miami Marlins outfielder is one hit shy of tying Rose's major league record of 4,256 hits.

If things that happened in Japan count, then so should things that happen in minor league baseball.

Player staring down lifetime ban wonders wtf? This cat has tested positive for juice multiple times. On the flip side, there's this:

Seeking answers, he had his blood checked separately by a family-care physician, endocrinologist and toxicologist; all told him that his hormone levels were normal, offering no indication that he had used steroids.
...
His negative test was on Feb. 10. His appeal finally was heard on May 12; baseball processed other cases while Stanley served his suspension.

Stanley and his wife flew to New York for the hearing. They thought it went well, that the scientist hired by the union had argued persuasively on his behalf.

On Thursday, they learned such was not the case.

What kind of tests do the MLB lab coats run such that they're flagging positive results when other medical professionals can't find any?

I feel bad for him. Must be terrible to face a lifetime ban for steroids when all those roid heads from the 90s aren't banned for life. Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, Consecos, etc. (I know I fucked up Jose's name.)

Probably a lot like all these people the government has or is about to prosecute for mishandling classified documents, yet Hillary does it to a record number and doesn't even get a slap on the wrist for it.

Indians relive Hollywood moment to break slump.

Don't steal Jobu's rum!

It worked!

But it back fired.

Maybe they gave Jobu cheap rum?

It's funny because it's Cleveland.

Remember when the Cards hacked the Astros?

Jail time.

4 years? That seems a bit much considering violent criminals get off easier.

Phrasing.

In other baseball news, MLB's commissioner is considering shortening the season.

"You know the problem with relief pitchers is that they're so good. I've got nothing against relief pitchers but they do two things to the game; the pitching changes themselves slow the game down and our relief pitchers have become so dominate [sic] at the back end that they actually rob action out of the end of the game, the last few innings of the game...

The commish and everyone else can go suck a dick on this one. Arguing that relief pitchers effectively remove the last few innings from a game is as fucking stupid as saying, "Well you know, having a fresh starter out there for the first couple innings really robs you of the action," or "You know, allowing for a pinch hitter really takes away from the pitcher's potential strike out total." Just fuck you.

This year, the average time of a game is 3 hours, 4 minutes. By comparison, in 2005 games averaged 2 hours, 49 minutes.

You know what'd speed up games? Not letting hitters take a time out when the pitcher is fucking three-quarters of the way into his windup or perhaps even hurrying up the players between innings.

I like it. Limit the roster to a full field, plus 6. No substitutions. Everyone bats. Let them play tired by the 7th inning. See what happens.

GORDON wrote:I like it. Limit the roster to a full field, plus 6. No substitutions. Everyone bats. Let them play tired by the 7th inning. See what happens.

They tried that until relievers became en vogue around the '50s or '60s. Now I'll grant you they also had 3-man rotations for a lot of those years, but your average power fastball also clocked in somewhere near 93-95mph if you were good (it wasn't until the '70s that the 100mph mark was officially broken). The fact remains that it caused a lot of wear and tear to players trying to perform at levels which today would be considered inadequate or bush league. There's no way the owners approve this rule change, and there's no way the commish makes a new rule with the owners.

You get 22 players on the team, 11 on any given day. 9 players and 2 subs. Players can switch positions between innings (ie: If pitcher is tired, can switch with 1st baseman after the end of inning).