MLB Network's Bold Second Half Prediction: Shohei Ohtani Will Be an Atlanta Brave

[Revad]

5 hours ago, AngelFanInTheATL said:

I took this as a joke prediction, or not something to be taken seriously.  A wacky, far-out prediction.

Living in the ATL, I can't see Liberty Media shelling out what it would take to sign him long term.  They don't usually spend (Matt Olson contract notwithstanding, but that money would have gone to Freeman anyway).

But I've been surprised before.  Not expecting it.

Agreed.  Unless it made them money, and Ohtani will do that.  Somewhere I saw that Ohtani brings in $10 a year from merchandising and so on.  That seems low.  It makes sense for the Angels to resign him, but I’m not sure $40M plus makes sense for other teams.

[Angels 1961]

Ohtani will decide where he wants to play.

[Angelsfan1984]

4 minutes ago, Angels 1961 said:

Ohtani will decide where he wants to play.

He either plays for the angels or anyone they send him to. So he doesn’t have much of a choice. 

[Angels 1961]

1 hour ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

He either plays for the angels or anyone they send him to. So he doesn’t have much of a choice. 

Free Agent he will

[Stradling]

6 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

Free Agent he will

Cool thank you for stating something that isn’t unique to Shohei or anyone else. 

[Dtwncbad]

10 hours ago, Angels 1961 said:

Free Agent he will

[UndertheHalo]

Think about how this production meeting went.  Lol.  

[mmc]

[ten ocho recon scout]

I hate the Dodgers with all of my being. But I'd for whatever reason be cool seeing him there. Same as NYY. Giants. Padres. Etc.

If he for whatever reason ended up a Ranger. Or something else stupid, I'm giving up baseball and joining @Lou on Cricketwin.com

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I hate the Dodgers with all of my being. But I'd for whatever reason be cool seeing him there. Same as NYY. Giants. Padres. Etc.

If he for whatever reason ended up a Ranger. Or something else stupid, I'm giving up baseball and joining @Lou on Cricketwin.com

Absolutely not to the first part. 

As for the second part, there's no need to wait. @WicketMaiden and I would enjoy your company.

[ten ocho recon scout]

12 minutes ago, Lou said:

Absolutely not to the first part. 

As for the second part, there's no need to wait. @WicketMaiden and I would enjoy your company.

I don't know a thing about cricket

 

But I'm fairly confident I can end most sentences in question format. "Inn't it?". And so on and so fourth.

From Trout and Salmon to fish and chips. Here we go...

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I don't know a thing about cricket

 

But I'm fairly confident I can end most sentences in question format. "Inn't it?". And so on and so fourth.

From Trout and Salmon to fish and chips. Here we go...

It wasn't that long ago that I didn't either.

On 2/29/2020 at 3:07 PM, Lou said:

I've been watching cricket for about 20 minutes.

I have no f'n idea what the hell is going on.

 

[WicketMaiden]

16 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I don't know a thing about cricket

 

But I'm fairly confident I can end most sentences in question format. "Inn't it?". And so on and so fourth.

From Trout and Salmon to fish and chips. Here we go...

You don't need to know much to enjoy it to begin with @ten ocho recon scout: man throws ball with speed or deception, tries to hit (or get the ball past) a man holding a big piece of wood 60 feet away; man with big piece of wood tries to hit the ball with either deft skill, incredible timing or full power; ball gets hit, lots of people run around a bit and sometimes come up with incredible bare-handed catches you have to watch over a few times. The literal ins and outs of the game can come later and just add more and more enjoyment and understanding to what is a very nuanced game once you really get into it.

T20 world cup starts mid October for a month (9pm game times for you West Coasters). Will maybe do a watch-along game-day type thread for a few of those games if there's any interest.

Try it, I've said many times, there are so many crossovers between baseball and cricket that if you appreciate one you'll very likely enjoy the other. @Lou can attest that you'll probably pick it up pretty quickly too, because of that foundation of understanding bat and ball games. They're both great games for very similar reasons.

[AngelsLakersFan]

16 minutes ago, WicketMaiden said:

You don't need to know much to enjoy it to begin with @ten ocho recon scout: man throws ball with speed or deception, tries to hit (or get the ball past) a man holding a big piece of wood 60 feet away; man with big piece of wood tries to hit the ball with either deft skill, incredible timing or full power; ball gets hit, lots of people run around a bit and sometimes come up with incredible bare-handed catches you have to watch over a few times. The literal ins and outs of the game can come later and just add more and more enjoyment and understanding to what is a very nuanced game once you really get into it.

T20 world cup starts mid October for a month (9pm game times for you West Coasters). Will maybe do a watch-along game-day type thread for a few of those games if there's any interest.

Try it, I've said many times, there are so many crossovers between baseball and cricket that if you appreciate one you'll very likely enjoy the other. @Lou can attest that you'll probably pick it up pretty quickly too, because of that foundation of understanding bat and ball games. They're both great games for very similar reasons.

Have they invented the shift yet?

[WicketMaiden]

33 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Have they invented the shift yet?

Yes, about 150 years ago, we call them slips:

 

EDIT: to be accurate, from right to left the position of the guys behind the batsman are called; Wicketkeeper, 1st slip, 2nd slip, 3rd slip, 4th slip, Gully. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

6 minutes ago, WicketMaiden said:

Yes, about 150 years ago, we call them slips:

Someone tell Manfred that cricket has had shifts for 150 years without issue.

[WicketMaiden]

24 minutes ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Someone tell Manfred that cricket has had shifts for 150 years without issue.

As a batsman in cricket the first thing you do is look at the field, notice the gaps between the fielders and try to hit the ball through them. The fielding team can put the fielders pretty much anywhere, so it's up to you as the batter to assess the risk / reward and adjust. 

I must admit it annoys me a bit that most baseball players facing the shift don't seem to be able to do this, they just need to hit the gap with control and take the single / double a few times and that will affect the shift back in their favour. I don't know whether it's ego, stupidity or lack of skill but it certainly isn't smart to ignore the adjustments your opponent makes and just carry on regardless. The shift isn't the problem, the hitters ignoring it is.

[AngelsLakersFan]

8 minutes ago, WicketMaiden said:

As a batsman in cricket the first thing you do is look at the field, notice the gaps between the fielders and try to hit the ball through them. The fielding team can put the fielders pretty much anywhere, so it's up to you as the batter to assess the risk / reward and adjust. 

I must admit it annoys me a bit that most baseball players facing the shift don't seem to be able to do this, they just need to hit the gap with control and take the single / double a few times and that will affect the shift back in their favour. I don't know whether it's ego, stupidity or lack of skill but it certainly isn't smart to ignore the adjustments your opponent makes and just carry on regardless. The shift isn't the problem, the hitters ignoring it is.

The hitters have decided that there is more reward if they swing as hard as they can and pull the ball, vs focusing on contact away from the defense. They are not wrong. The ball parks are small and everyone can hit homers to the pull side in today's game when they square it up. Going to the opposite field means a single, and no one gives a crap about batting average anymore.