Frayed Knot

12:40 (EDT) Cubs @ Marlins: Jon Lester vs Jose Urena 1:10 Pirates @ Tigers: Ivan Nova vs Jordan Zimmermann 1:10 Cardinals @ Mets: TBD vs Noah Syndergaard 3:05 Twins @ Orioles: TBD vs TBD 3:35 Astros @ Rangers: Justin Verlander vs Cole Hamels 3:37 Yankees @ Blue Jays: Luis Severino vs JA Happ 4:00 Red Sox @ Rays: Chris Sale vs Chris Archer 4:05 Angels @ Athletics: TBD vs Kendall Graveman 4:10 Brewers @ Padres: Chase Anderson vs Clayton Richard 4:10 Phillies @ Braves: Aaron Nola vs Julio Teheran 4:10 Nationals vs Reds: Max Scherzer vs TBD 4:15 White Sox @ Royals: James Shields vs Danny Duffy 7:08 Giants @ Dodgers: Madison Bumgarner vs Clayton Kershaw 10:10 Indians @ Mariners: TBD vs TBD 10:10 Rockies vs Diamondbacks: TBD vs TBD

We've now had several mentions in the past few days about movies that should NOT have been remade but were anyway with mostly predictable (read: bad) results. Which seemed like as good a reason as any for a new topic. A couple of days ago I mentioned the recent incarnation of DEATH WISH. Now I haven't seen the new one, in part because I believe it opened and closed on the same afternoon but also because I had no intention of doing so. Not that the Charles Bronson original was great cinema which screamed not to even try to be equaled. But at least it was done at a time when random, urban street crime was much more of a fear than it is for most people today and when angry guys with guns wasn't a topic in the news seemingly twice a week. And of course few were better than Bronson at playing the strong silent type, so that even if this Bruce Willis version were a good movie it would be one with real bad timing and the near single-digit ratings on 'Rotten Tomatoes' suggests that it wasn't a well done version either. Coming this August is a new version of PAPILLON, the original of which WAS a good movie with top stars [1973 - Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman] and not one that suggests it's in need of a reworking. I've never heard of the leads in this coming version, which by itself doesn't mean it'll be inferior but I guess we'll see in a few months (or, like DEATH WISH, maybe no one will see). TAKING OF PELHAM 1-2-3 [1974 - Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw; 2009 - John Travolta, Denzel Washington] No, just no. Even if the editing DIDN'T manage to clearly show Shea Stadium out the window of the runaway train as it made its way from lower Manhattan into Brooklyn, remaking this one was still neither a good idea nor was it good execution. THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY [1947 - Danny Kaye; 2013 - Ben Stiller] How'd that one work out in the old box office, Ben? Bet it's been erased from the resume you use whenever you go job hunting too. Also from another thread: dgwphotography wrote: Has anyone killed two remakes (that shouldn't have been made) like Matthew Broderick? I assume he's talking about THE PRODUCERS and CHRISTMAS STORY LIVE, although at least that last one was a TV movie and not a theatre release. Or maybe he had another one in mind. Also, how about Denzel deciding to hitch his wagon to re-dos of TAKING OF PELHAM (see above), MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (2016), and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (2004) !!!!! What's up with that DW, trouble finding any real work!?!

I'm with Seo's complaint -- ** still in spoiler alert mode here ** -- about the guy who threatened her with knowledge of the specific crime and, days later, was still in town and was overheard bragging about being complicit in what was apparently some sort of similar crime, yet was eventually passed off as some random guy from 1,500 miles away just passing through town. The only other explanation was that his vaguely referred to gov't/military connections were so important that the feds were able to intervene and falsify the information in order to make it look like he wasn't the guy when he actually was, but now we're getting into tinfoil hat territory. That and Rockwell's pre-redemption character being just too stupid for words.

I learned today that there's a NYM minor leaguer named Patrick Mazeika Looking at his BB-Ref page, he's listed as a Catcher/1st Baseman. Now he has played a lot more catcher than 1B (76 games to 12 this past season) but when I see that in a young player my first thought is that it's a sign he's not a great defensive catcher. And then there's the whole turning 25 later this year part. Not too late, but also not so young for a non-roster invite who's barely peaked his head above A-ball so far. An 8th round pick in 2015, he's a Stetson Hatter although he came there via his birthplace in Massachusetts so he's not a local and was five class years behind deGrom so no overlap there either. Probably will get a chance to see how many ponies he can rumble this year.

Ohtani's ST stats: - batting: 2 for 24, both singles, with 9 Ks - pitching:2.2 IP, 9 R (8 ER) on 9 Hits and 2 BBs (5 K) Yeah it's ST and it's small sample, but it's also quite possible he starts out the season in the minors.

Hovvey doing well and Yo back in the lineup - two decent signs as we head into the final stretch.

He won't be the first guy to play minus his hamate bone. It's a common baseball injury. Whenever there's a hand surgery the pesky little hamate seems to be the culprit.

He apparently took a liner off the glove hand during a back field game on Friday.

All OD games to be played on Thursday, March 29 Marlins to get the honor (if there is such a thing anymore) of hosting the first game of the year because, y’know, Jeter. Starting pitchers listed below are the ones so far confirmed by the schedule on mlb.com We’ll fill in the blanks as more info becomes available but only, of course, if you keep it where it is. 12:40 (EDT) Cubs @ Marlins: Jon Lester vs Jose Urena 1:10 Pirates @ Tigers: Ivan Nova vs Jordan Zimmermann 1:10 Cardinals @ Mets: TBD vs Noah Syndergaard 3:05 Twins @ Orioles: TBD vs TBD 3:35 Astros @ Rangers: Justin Verlander vs TBD 3:37 Yankees @ Blue Jays: Luis Severino vs TBD 4:00 Red Sox @ Rays: TBD vs Chris Archer 4:05 Angels @ Athletics: TBD vs TBD 4:10 Brewers @ Padres: Chase Anderson vs Clayton Richard 4:10 Phillies @ Braves: Aaron Nola vs TBD 4:10 Nationals vs Reds: TBD vs TBD 4:15 White Sox @ Royals: James Shields vs Danny Duffy 7:08 Giants @ Dodgers: Madison Bumgarner vs Clayton Kershaw 10:10 Indians @ Mariners: TBD vs TBD 10:10 Rockies vs Diamondbacks: TBD vs TBD

Is 9 runs our high for the spring? I'm not talking about in one game, I was just wondering if they had scored [u:d3ab3wh7]a cumulative 9 runs[/u:d3ab3wh7] prior to today's game.

Zvon wrote: I'll forever hold this image of Mr. Charles in my memory. R.I.P [fimg=180]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wI8EXH59x0QUFok08_67cphHpVT0JCr-Kv1ne9keBLWP82YHe8O_kQtxKs0RkFr5KsfqFgUsOrgkSpMmo0-qL-vYA7p7G693RdJ-PA25ZP-yC6IIWgXMxAzVAbHOegm09eTML1CXvEzCpstuDStiQuqY1gZvwr27OnCMn1A3vNm5Rvf9oE4ZEyqk_Fm8Xg7ixrujolGTCnLdRWNKUWQYKc11Vitb2FNySfK6AiHKKoy5uOibh13qNDHNdcwnEDpbHRigo_DFDNay2DSrgA2WVctW7TNM9WWxd_jnlHL13WtawgkLTENXSvskSLImaWK6883Z4lvgUHYoZOo9NAXZa8UAu3RWRr7BLRxi0_pbtxBe1DKzR3LSDDGoZlWW0vLz4_57Im-0biEc9KnQD0QAAwCtpl6kEn0udJ2ZWosY4BxfI400IC7s_8k9Tx--I1ZMzsZCHvHV-ZQZNY7tFXFiIIvvNXHP_H3YeXoDXFGOcJXNKeCXvuOkRdaLaDzB7mwW-kr5Y0bimppAW70kE49Tkttw-Zksvf_uBzW52loKE_m21pPQZGKDGNsGxH81sVRKFVJ21ySnL4MhKGvfnC0YLnuuD2Zluv6qOEylxU0Q=w320-h452-no[/fimg] Especially when you consider that that was his final act on a field as an active player.

Always came across as a very dignified man. Be nice if we had leaders of the country like that.

What I like about the pitch clock in the minors is the idea that it will spawn a generation of players who will never develop the time-consuming tics and routines that they'll then bring to the big leagues. If guys get used to throwing a pitch within 15 seconds, or not doing a yoga routine outside the batter's box between each pitch, then there will (at least theoretically) not be a need for a ML pitch clock. When Antonio Bastardo was asked why he pitched so deliberately his response was that he tried going faster but couldn't. Well the next generation's Bastardo would never make it to the majors under these rules and I have no problem with that. And Philly's Odubel Herrera takes a stroll after each pitch because obviously no one ever told him that he couldn't. But Odubel v-2.0 would be forced to adapt or die as well and no one will ever be forced to watch his antics.

seawolf17 wrote: batmagadanleadoff wrote: I don't care. It's a minor league rule change and the # of minor league games I watch every year is about zero. I predict this rule won't make it to MLB. You're right - there's no way this gets past the union. But still, it's stupid at any professional level. My concern is that it started as an idea only for Rookie-level games and before it even appeared there it gets extended to all minor league levels. So while I suspect it's not destined for the majors, I'm not going to believe that simply by taking baseball's word for it. Using the runner-on-2nd in extras during the WBC was more about sticking to the limited amount of time they had for those games.

seawolf17 wrote: If you've ever seen [crossout]minor[/crossout] major league middle relievers, you'd know why. Every [crossout]Ducks[/crossout] Mets game, for example, gets through the first six innings in an hour and then grinds to a halt.

I can either scramble them and we'd have random first-round assignments, or we can work from opposite ends: 1962 vs. 2018, 1963 vs. 2017, etc. Thoughts? I think a totally random set-up would be the fairest way to go. Any other would tend to have some kind of bias, intended or otherwise. And even though this can be set up like the college hoops tourney, there's no real seeding to do. Each year is its own entry but it's not like it pre-earned a right to face off against a particular level or era of opponent.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I found a nice 2017 yearbook image, so 41 Forever is off the hook. (Thanks, though!) No prob! Do you need the Spanish versions? There were two years, I think. Do they have different-looking covers? Yes, the Spanish cover is partially hidden behind a wall.

These were the changes that they were supposedly only going to institute in the extreme lower levels of MiLB where the 'fans' in the seats are mostly members of the friends and family plan plus a few scouts thrown in. That it's going in across the board including the upper levels is shocking and, IMO, stupid. It's like they haven't realized that it's not the time of games that's the problem but rather the dead time within them. And it's not that extra innings take too long or that there are too many of them, it's that they've allowed the game to slip into a situation where it usually takes over 3 hours just to get through the 9th.

My revised list. Wasn't any easier doing it the second time as compared to the first, but perhaps it's more 'accurate' ... whatever that means. Let's put a March 31st deadline on this for anyone who either hasn't contributed but wants to, or anyone who wants to update/adjust your existing list. If you do update then re-enter your list (as opposed to just editing it) so I'll see that you made changes. We'll put this thing into the books on April 1 30 - deGROM -- clearly the best pitcher in the lot and the only one on the team to have a good season AND go wire to wire with it 29 - CONFORTO -- best Runs Created on the squad, and even missing the final month he was 4th on the team in PA 28 - BRUCE -- kinda sad when the guy they tried to deal pre-season and then did deal at mid-season was the second best player 27 - CESPEDES 26 - REED 25 - DUDA 24 - GRANDERSON 23 - CABRERA 22 - REYES -- nice 2nd half saved him and earned him a re-up 21 - BLEVINS 20 - WALKER 19 - d'ARNAUD 18 - LUGO -- Actually the second best starter ERA on the team 17 - SEAWALD 16 - FLORES 15 - NIMMO -- decent production/small sample 14 - WHEELER -- 2nd best starter had a 5.21 ERA 13 - TJ RIVERA -- if only he could actually play the field 12 - LAGARES -- if only he could hit 11 - GSELLMAN 10 - AOKI -- .371 OBA is nice fil-in work, even if only for 100 ABs 9 - MONTERO 8 - R. RIVERA 7 - PLAWECKI 6 - BRADFORD 5 - SYNDERGAARD -- leading the team in ERA (2.97) counts for something even if only over 30-some IP 4 - ROSARIO 3 - REYNOLDS 2 - SMITH 1 - HARVEY

Which is fine if you can, a) stay up past 1:00 AM, and then, still get enough sleep to be able to get to whatever you need to go the following morning. And the real problem isn't the occasional 10:10 start but those weeks where there were four, five, sometimes six in a row, or last year when there were around a dozen games overall which started that late. Those situations are the real killers for east coast folks and I'm betting most of them would opt for four late starts/year rather than 10 - 15

Taking a closer look at the schedule as a whole, I find it's about as good as can be hoped for concerning late night games. The SD road games (late April) fall on a weekend so only the Friday game is a 10:10 start and that's not even a school night so I'm allowed to stay up later. Saturday moves up to 8:40 EDT and Sunday is at 4:10 The mid-June road trip (15th - 21st) is going to be the tough one for east coast viewing: - it starts with four games in Phoenix 9:40, 9:40, 10:10 (Thur - Fri - Sat) then 4:10 on Sunday, and is immediately followed by a Mon-Thurs four game set in Denver: 8:40, 8:40, 8:40, 3:10 And finally there's the usually dreaded SF-to-LA trip starting on Aug 31st, but that begins on the weekend so only Friday by the bay is late [10:15, 4:05, 4:05] and the Dodger series falls over Labor Day giving us an 8:10 holiday Monday start, followed by 10:10 but then an unusual 7:35 get-away-day kick-off on Wednesday. Besides, we might even have the division sewn-up by then. In addition, moving over to the Central time zone, four of the ten games @ Cubs or @ StL or @ Milwaukee are day games, giving us just six more starts (not counting the ESPN-SNB affairs) that are post-8:00 So, particularly after last year's deal of having to face both the NL & AL West squads, this year is a helluva lot better with only four times where they drop the puck after 10:00 and never twice in the same series. Then there are two other post-9:30 starts and four more that get underway after 8:30

As I recall, the story behind that one was that Ronnie was hired last minute -- almost literally -- and therefore went in, by his own admission even, totally unprepared. And it showed. I heard him a couple times that one year and remember thinking he was a stiff. When the Mets hired him later on I saw it as the typical unimaginative move of hiring a guy based on nothing other than his '86 credentials. Fortunately, as we've heard on the local broadcasts and as he's moved quickly up the network ladder (he wasn't a big enough name when he played to get work on his name only) he grew into the role rapidly and no longer even resembles that first-year guy.

Edgy MD wrote: These announcers are all "Max this" and "Max that" and "When we signed Max." Bleh. The Nats' MASN team is really very high-school-ish in their approach. It was a bit understandable in the early days of the team's arrival in Washington. The town had been minus baseball for 30+ years so it was somewhat dependent on the TV crew to be the main conduit not just to sell the nascent and cellar-dwelling Nats [5th, 5th, 4th, 5th, & 5th in their initial five seasons] to baseball fans but they also had to, in effect, re-sell the sport of baseball to a city that went without it for 1/3 of a century and where the arrival of spring was marked by the Washington Post sports section cutting back to only 85% Redskins coverage. But seeing as how this will be their 14th season in D.C., with the last six in a row marked with a fair amount of success (even though still short a playoff advancement), the rah-rah stuff sounds small town and hokey and tends to confirm the rep of Washington as being a small southern town at heart with an inferiority complex towards their larger northern neighbors (Philly, NYC, Boston).

Centerfield wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: One of the Yanx' infielders rolled his wrist during the NYM/MFY game at Tampa the other day so this might partially be in reaction to that. This kind of reminds me of when Todd Zeile signed a late-career contract w/the Yanx. That one ended up with him being released in August after just 66 games played and after he complained about being promised him a lot more playing time at signing time than they wound up giving him. This one smells like it might turn out similarly. You may wind up being right about that. Who knows. But Zeile was 38 years old when he signed with the Yankees. Walker is 32 years old. If you're making the comparison, that would be the equivalent of Zeile's 1998 season. (.271, 19 HR's, 94 RBI, .787 OPS). Two years before he signed with the Mets. It's not so much that I think Walker's going to fail, but I always get the impression that there's an aspect to the MFY's sales pitch on these things that "you'll be playing for the pinstripes" so that if/when the promised playing time doesn't come through because they've started making googly-eyes at someone else, the team thinks Walker should still be happy since shirley he can see that playing twice a week for them, even if promised five/week when he signed the deal, is superior to playing full-time elsewhere.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Benjamin Grimm wrote: I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the Game Two starter was Harvey or Vargas. Hopefully not Harv. The missus really hates him. You're married to JCL?!?