Baseball
I went to New York over the weekend, and took in a game of american cricket at Shea Stadium (home of the New York Mets). What an experience!
I got seats 14 row from the front between 3rd base and home plate (closer to home). It was behind the visiting team dug-out, so I could drunkingly abuse their guys as they warmed up to bat. What made it even better was the Mets (New York's Manchester City to the Yankees who are the Manchester United of the league) won 6-3.
Anyone who is going to states, try and get along to a ball game if you can - I thoroughly recommend it.
Did you join in singing 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game'?
I did, but only that line - it is the only one I know. Even had a hot dog but that was to wash out the taste of $8 Budweisers
I've always enjoyed watching baseball. Quite often get on ESPN and sit through a game. Actually NYY are more like chelsea. All the money but nothing to show for it.
Actually NYY are more like chelsea.� All the money but nothing to show for it.
26 World Series titles compared to Chelsea's 3 would suggest otherwise. The Yankees are by FAR the most successful team in American baseball, although I'm not a fan by any stretch of imagination.
And I agree with Frankie, I've been to a few Mets games at the Shea Stadium when I was in NY a couple of years back, it is very good fun.
Point taken. Was refering to more recently. no title since 2000. Thier roster salary is over $208m for this year alone. Next team is only $130m.
you would expect to win a lot more title (esp recently) with those figures.
Point taken. Was refering to more recently. no title since 2000.� Thier roster salary is over $208m for this year alone.� Next team is only $130m.
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you would expect to win a lot more title (esp recently) with those figures.
Can't disagree with that. Their main problem is spending all this money on hitters (most notably paying A-Rod sh*tloads) and having a pretty average pitching line-up, especially their starters.
Imagine if the football players and rugby players here had to play a 162 game season?? Kinda brings it into perspective especially with the over worked rugby players. Sliding into a plate wearing cleats can do more damage than being on the bottom of a ruck.
Blue Jays fan ever since my sister emmigrated to Toronto way back in about 1987.
Lonegunmen2008-04-30 15:05:22
Imagine if the football players and rugby players here had to play a 162 game season?? Kinda brings it into perspective especially with the over worked rugby players. Sliding into a plate wearing cleats can do more damage than being on the bottom of a ruck.
Blue Jays fan ever since my sister emmigrated to Toronto way back in about 1987.
Yer but they have roids to help them out
Not every baseball player is on the juice though........and they still manage to play the 162 games a season.
never mind the players, that's a sh*tload of fixtures to watch - how does any work ever get done in the garden? and/or how does anyone ever stay married? 
I love the game, huge fan. Late 90's I lived in Chicago for a while and got along to Wrigley and Comiskey, eventually becoming a Cubs fan. I was at one of the '99 hit offs between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, great atmosphere.
What I like most about the game is the history, it's second only to football in my book. The Babe, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Joe Di Maggio, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Pete Rose, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, they roll off the tongue like Tom Finney, Stan Matthews, Nat Lofthouse do.
Don't forget Yogi Berra.
That's just it, the list goes on. Shoeless Joe Jackson, Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, Ted Williams. And some great names over the years. Forget Forbes Phillipson-Masters (Southampton and Plymouth) Giles Stile (Brighton) and Linvoy Primus (Pompey) how about High Pockets Kelly, Pee Wee Reese, Zak Wheat, Grover Cleveland Alexander or Rollie Fingers.
Charlie Sheen
Bit of a Mariners fan because of family connections (my great unlce moved their several decades back and I now have something like 30 relatives in Washington and Arizona). Watched the Yankees and the Indians yesterday. Some great Baseball movies out there, though baseketball takes the cake for anything baseball-related.
Critical_Lemon2008-04-30 18:48:49
I love the game, huge fan. Late 90's I lived in Chicago for a while and got along to Wrigley and Comiskey, eventually becoming a Cubs fan. I was at one of the '99 hit offs between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, great atmosphere.
What I like most about the game is the history, it's second only to football in my book. The Babe, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Joe Di Maggio, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Pete Rose, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, they roll off the tongue like Tom Finney, Stan Matthews, Nat Lofthouse do.
Are you allowed to mention Pete Rose in the same sentence? "Bet" you're not!!
I'm a huge fan of the New York Mets ever since i saw them play the Atlanta braves in 2006 @ Shea Stadium. The atmosphere was pretty crazy for a 15,000 crowd and the entertainment was pretty amazing..
The sh*t we gave Chipper Jones that night and Andruw Jones was gold, couldn't believe it when chipper looked back and gave us a thumbs up at the end of the game.
The sh*t we gave Chipper Jones that night and Andruw Jones was gold, couldn't believe it when chipper looked back and gave us a thumbs up at the end of the game.
I love the game, huge fan. Late 90's I lived in Chicago for a while and got along to Wrigley and Comiskey, eventually becoming a Cubs fan. I was at one of the '99 hit offs between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, great atmosphere.
What I like most about the game is the history, it's second only to football in my book. The Babe, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Joe Di Maggio, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby, Pete Rose, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, they roll off the tongue like Tom Finney, Stan Matthews, Nat Lofthouse do.
Are you allowed to mention Pete Rose in the same sentence? "Bet" you're not!!
I also mentioned Shoeless Joe a bit later, I'm not one to stand on ceremony. And besides, Shoeless was innocent.
I'm a huge fan of the New York Mets ever since i saw them play the Atlanta braves in 2006 @ Shea Stadium. The atmosphere was pretty crazy for a 15,000 crowd and the entertainment was pretty amazing..
The sh*t we gave Chipper Jones that night and Andruw Jones was gold, couldn't believe it when chipper looked back and gave us a thumbs up at the end of the game.
The sh*t we gave Chipper Jones that night and Andruw Jones was gold, couldn't believe it when chipper looked back and gave us a thumbs up at the end of the game.
Andruw Jones deserves all the crap you can throw on account of his being unable to even spell his own name.
Best name in baseball today, in fact, in the world today, is Coco Crisp of the Red Sox. Even though there is an Eskimo who lives in Mangere called Arson Silkyknickers Sik-Sik . (This is 100% true, his wife, believe it or not, is a nurse. That's right, Nurse Sik-sik.)
Anyway, I digress, Coco Crisp is way funnier.
Very true and Field of dreams is one of my favourite flicks. I've one a bit of digging about Shoeless joe etc and it's quite a fascinating story. You're quite correct, he didn't go with the bribe but played to the best of his ability
Field Of Dreams is fantastic, as is the book the movie is based on, called Shoeless Joe.
Other baseball movies worth seeing are The Babe (with John Goodman as George Herman) and Costner's For Love Of The Game. Also, Tommy Lee Jones playing Ty Cobb in the simply entitled Cobb.
TheJam2008-05-01 07:29:06
jam, we both enjoyed the same flicks. Ty Cobb was a real prick too. Discovery ran a series of historical documentaries on the history of baseball about 6 years ago which were brilliant IMHO.
Imagine if the football players and rugby players here had to play a 162 game season?? Kinda brings it into perspective especially with the over worked rugby players. Sliding into a plate wearing cleats can do more damage than being on the bottom of a ruck.
Blue Jays fan ever since my sister emmigrated to Toronto way back in about 1987.
wow hold up LG. besides the pitchers whose shoulders and arms are worked pretty hard, no one else in baseball really does much sustained activity. a sprint here and there is about it. so much different to 90 minutes of running around in football or bashing into each other for 80 minutes in rugby. there is no way someone could play 160 games of rugby a year, you couldnt do it. football isnt so bad cause if you're fit running around isnt such a big ask, in rugby though it takes a few days to get over the soreness after a game which would increase at the top level due to the intensity.
so much more draining and a huge difference in fitness and conditioning required. have a look at baseball players half of them couldnt run round the outfield without stoppping for a rest.
Fair points Rod. Although I'd like to point out that football requires a bit more than 90 minutes of running. It is a contact sport after all.
I'm a huge fan of the New York Mets ever since i saw them play the Atlanta braves in 2006 @ Shea Stadium. The atmosphere was pretty crazy for a 15,000 crowd and the entertainment was pretty amazing..The sh*t we gave Chipper Jones that night and Andruw Jones was gold, couldn't believe it when chipper looked back and gave us a thumbs up at the end of the game.
�
Andruw Jones deserves all the crap you can throw on account of his being unable to even spell his own name.
Best name in baseball today, in fact, in the world today, is Coco Crisp of the Red Sox. Even though there is an Eskimo who lives in Mangere called Arson Silkyknickers Sik-Sik . (This is 100% true, his wife, believe it or not, is a nurse. That's right, Nurse Sik-sik.)
Anyway, I digress, Coco Crisp is�way funnier.
Actually, that's an interesting story. His real name is Covelli Crisp, but his grandma nicknamed him Coco from very early on. The nickname stuck, and I heard recently that he actually has now legally changed his name to Coco.
My favourite name from the current players is Odalis Perez. Just sounds so cool.
It does suprise me that the winning percentages are so low in baseball. You don't see a team winning game after game to record 70% or higher winning percentages for a season. Like what you see for Manure or Chelski or the Melbourne storm. For example in 2007 the higher winning percetnage was only 59% for boston and Clevalnd. Why is that? Is it to do with Pitching rotations?
It does suprise me that the winning percentages are so low in baseball.� You don't see a team winning game after game to record 70% or higher winning percentages for a season.��Like what you see for Manure or Chelski or the Melbourne storm. For example in 2007 the�higher winning percetnage was only 59% for boston and Clevalnd.� Why is that?� Is it to do with Pitching rotations?
A lot of factors really. It's much more difficult to keep playing at a high level for 162 games a season than 38, especially mentally. You also play pretty much every day, so dropping a game here and there over the course of a baseball season doesn't have the same implications as in football. The season is so long that the main thing is to keep in touch until September, when the pressure gets really on. Add to that fluctuations in form, injuries, and other factors that affect all sports, and you get the kind of percentages you're talking about.
[QUOTE=SmOkEy!!]
Anyway, I digress, Coco Crisp is way funnier.
Actually, that's an interesting story. His real name is Covelli Crisp, but his grandma nicknamed him Coco from very early on. The nickname stuck, and I heard recently that he actually has now legally changed his name to Coco.
My favourite name from the current players is Odalis Perez. Just sounds so cool.
Yes, he has changed his name. Which is even worse, he has chosen to be called Coco Crisp, rather than having the dubious privilege festooned upon him by his knit-you-own-yoghurt hippie parents or something.
If you ask me, he's angling for a cereal company to use his name so that he can get some cash, a bit like the chocolate company did with the Baby Ruth bar (and claimed it was named after a manager's daughter so they didn't have to pay The Sultan a cent in royalties).
Life sucks, especially in America.
[QUOTE=SmOkEy!!]
Anyway, I digress, Coco Crisp is way funnier.
Actually, that's an interesting story. His real name is Covelli Crisp, but his grandma nicknamed him Coco from very early on. The nickname stuck, and I heard recently that he actually has now legally changed his name to Coco.
My favourite name from the current players is Odalis Perez. Just sounds so cool.
My favourite cool baseball name is/was Ryne Sandberg, former 2nd sackman for the Cubbies. Ryne is a way cool name, miles better than "Derek" anyhow. Mind you, so is Cyril...
Is anyone else excited about the baseball season??
ESPN showing a game today, but can't remember which one.
I can't get excited this early into a 160 something game season.
They had Minny and Red Sox on this morning.
Yeah. Always love a first game at a new field, lot's of behinds the scene fillers.
and they had a win for the first game at Target Field
San Diego had a good game, 17 runs!
Yep, love watching Baseball. The challenge berween batter and pitcher can be like a game of chess, each trying to outsmart the other.
it is still the best sport to watch with a hangover - 4 hours lying on the couch with very little happening. You can even have a snooze for half an hour and you don't feel like you've missed anything.
Mets appear to have had a terrible start to the season.
Love it. It's like cricket, but interesting! 
it is still the best sport to watch with a hangover
*shakes head*
Test match cricket
*nods*