MLB

[Harry Lime]

Sweeping the champs. Way to be, Crew.

[philpritchard]

So Dickey had two crappy starts, one good start, and was 6 innings into a dominant start against the White Sox when he left with a back injury. Son of a bitch.

[vegman]

So Dickey had two crappy starts, one good start, and was 6 innings into a dominant start against the White Sox when he left with a back injury. Son of a bitch.

That sucks. I really like and respect Dickey. In other news, D'Arnaud has a foot fracture and most likely won't be seen in Queens for a while. Great trade both ways.

[vegman]

Matt Harvey was really impressive going against the Nats last night. I love tbe fact that pitching seems to be making a huge comeback in MLB.

[The Argonaut]

2012's most efficient team, in terms of dollars spent per win, was the Oakland A's. Boston was the least efficient.

[Electromatic]

Dear new owner of the Cubs, the only reason anyone attends your games at all is because of your falling down stadium that happens to be in a phenominal area in the city of Chicago.

Move the Cubs you moron. You have a AAA team without the stadium. You do need to redo the stadium.... emphasis on YOU.

[Chris_H_2]

Dear new owner of the Cubs, the only reason anyone attends your games at all is because of your falling down stadium that happens to be in a phenominal area in the city of Chicago.

Move the Cubs you moron. You have a AAA team without the stadium. You do need to redo the stadium.... emphasis on YOU.

Pretend you're the Cubs' owner. Your ballpark is 100 years old and in bad shape. In fact, the concrete is crumbling, you cannot offer modern amenities, the concourse is impassible, you can't add seats, you can't add boxes, you can't add advertising, you can't add signage, and you can't do anything without City approval because your ballpark has been landmarked. You want to renovate. But renovations cost money.

You first ask the City to refund a portion of the "entertainment tax" which each fan pays with each ticket he or she purchases, but the City refuses because it does not want the bad optics of a taxpayer-funded stadium, even though the Illinois Sports Authority renovated Soldier Field on the taxpayer dime and actually paid to build U.S. Cellular (and certain private, for-profit businesses (e.g., a bar)) around it, all because the owner of the team to the south is best friends with Bud Selig and the former mayor of the City is a White Sox fan and was from the neighborhood in which U.S. Cellular sits. So you say "fine, I will fund the $500 million in improvements on my own, but the only thing I would like is the ability to generate added revenue through advertising in the stadium." But the owners of the rooftops across the street from your stadium are protesting and threatening to sue because the new signage will block their views of inside your stadium, and they won't be able to generate as much money from your product. And the alderman in whose ward Wrigley sits favors the rooftop owners.

Then when you propose additional night games because you can generate more money through ticket sales because more people can attend during the evening after work than during the day (and more than half of your home games occur during the day by City ordinance), the Lakeview Neighborhood Association, which is supposed to represent all homeowners and businesses around Wrigley, objects because night games will lead to less parking spaces in their neighborhood. And the alderman sides with the Association.

So, in a nutshell:
- you own a ballpark that singlehandedly is responsible for (i) the money that neighboring businesses generate, and (ii) the high property values of the homeowners in the neighborhood;
- you want to renovate that ballpark with your own money;
- you want to raise money with your own product but the neighbors won't let you;
- you can't renovate that ballpark without City approval;
- no other MLB owner has the limitations that you do; and
- when you throw your hands up and say "I give up," people rip you for being a short-sighted, money hungry whore of an owner (the horror) that only cares about money and not wins.

I don't blame Ricketts one bit. Fuck the rooftop owners. Fuck the Lakeview Neighborhood Association. Fuck Alderman Tunney. And fuck the City. I say move. Watch peoples' home values plummet. Watch all the bars and restaurants close. Watch the tax revenue to the City decrease. Fuck them. I'd rather have a WS title in a ballpark that's modern and nice in a suburb than in that toilet anyway.

[End of rant]

[Electromatic]

Good Points, my emphasis is more on the no public money for stadiums period, but yeah, there are some extraneous circumstances here.

Obviously it's about 50 years past time to rebuild Wrigley Field.

I just think you lose about 80 to 95% of what the Cubs franchise is right now to move from that spot even with a new modern stadium. you might as well be at another corporate named stadium on the south side at that point.

Chicago is a very, very strange city politically.

I don't think the Cubs are moving for a second, but I also don't think they can remain in that building outside of 5 years either.

As far as the rooftop owners, screw em, they've raised tons of revenue for years without paying into the product.

[@SkitchP]

Guys, this is my favorite tweet probably ever.

[philpritchard]

Scary, scary stuff in Tampa Bay tonight as JA Happ took a line drive off the head. He was taken off the field and to the hospital on a stretcher. That was a horrible thing to watch. Hope he's ok.

[Chris_H_2]

If the Indians end up sneaking into the playoffs as a wild card by one game, every Indians fan (all 873 of them that show up for games) should be forced to give Angel Hernandez a handy or something.

[numbers]

You can all go back and see that I had Cleveland in the World Series this year.

[MadTIGERmaN]

The Astro's have a shot at being one of the worst teams of all time...
the Angels, only have 1 more win, and are a game and a half ahead of the Astro's at this time

considering the expections of the Angels... this has to be one of the biggest disappointing teams of all time after a 6 weeks of any season...

[Norah]

this has to be one of the biggest disappointing teams of all time

[@SkitchP]

this has to be one of the biggest disappointing teams of all time

Genius

[Joesanity]

If the Indians end up sneaking into the playoffs as a wild card by one game, every Indians fan (all 873 of them that show up for games) should be forced to give Angel Hernandez a handy or something.

Don't worry. This is a team that still throws Ubaldo out there every fifth day. And Scott Kazmir.

[MadTIGERmaN]

Alex Cobbs pitching line tonight

He became the first pitcher in MLB history to fan 13 batters without making it through five innings. Cobb surrendered three runs on five hits and a pair of walks over 4 2/3 innings in the game, while also issuing a balk, hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch. He generated an absolutely astounding 23 swings and misses on the evening, 21 of them coming on his changeup. He's been extremely impressive in the early going, and will head into Thursday's start against the Red Sox with a 4-2 record, 3.09 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 46/10 K/BB ratio over 46 2/3 innings. from Rotoworld.com

and pulled because of a pitch count lol

[Norah]

this has to be one of the biggest disappointing teams of all time

Genius

[MadTIGERmaN]

this, sure was a bad week to be an umpire...

[@SkitchP]

this, sure was a bad week to be an umpire...

this, sure was an odd place to put a comma...