Baseball

Catorce

Cruijff's Heir
Xander Bogaerts, my fellow countryman, making an impact at Red Sox at such a young age. Really hope he can develop himself into one of the big guys in the MLB. Oh and of course, David Ortiz. What a legend.
 

SirXavi

The Engineer
Congratulations to any Chicago Cubs fans here. You can all die in peace now lol.

2f4399f235b0d8ecde6c7385967d88f5.gif
 

snowy

New member
My all-time fav! Ichi the Wizard
any fans here from Japan? Just started my Nihongo lessons. Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu :wave:
 

snowy

New member
lol ichaban sukina manga dochi?
Going to KL in 2 weeks so should really focus on Malay but I'm really into Japanese atm.

Just read Ich finished the year batting .291 with an on-base percentage of .354 :)

Marlins extended his contract for 2017 with option to renew. Hope he plays till his 50 hehe cho sugoi!!!
 
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Messi983

Senior Member
Anyone following MLB here?

Manny Machado has signed with San Diego Padres for 10 years/$300M while Bryce Harper is going to Philadelphia (13 years, $330M) which is the largest deal in U.S. professional leagues history ($5M more than Giancarlo Stanton's contract with the Marlins in 2014).

I'm wondering how much Mike Trout will get. He's a free agent in two years though LAA will try to do anything to extend him before.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
I'm wondering how much Mike Trout will get. He's a free agent in two years though LAA will try to do anything to extend him before.

The Los Angeles Angels and star outfielder Mike Trout have agreed to a 12-year contract, the club announced Wednesday evening.

The club did not immediately disclose the terms of the deal, but MLB.com reported that Trout's new contract adds 10 years to his current deal, which is set to expire following the 2020 Major League Baseball season. The total contract is worth $426.5 million, the largest deal in North American sports history.


10 years, $360m in "new money". TBF I've expected him to get even more...


Also, Ichiro has retired. One of the best ever. Thanks for everything, legend. :cool::worthy:


[youtube]T8gg2NolekM[/youtube]




[tw]1108804646720679939[/tw]

:worthy:


20 incredible facts about Ichiro's career
 

LMTR14

New member
can't figure out baseball. basic principle of hitting and running is clear, but everything that goes beyond that is a complete mystery to me (esp the scoring system and who has to pass to whom). and that is after I watched a complete baseball anime!

only us sport that isn't total nonsense in my opinion. (can't take handegg or hoopball or iced hokey serious at all)
 

Messi983

Senior Member
can't figure out baseball. basic principle of hitting and running is clear, but everything that goes beyond that is a complete mystery to me (esp the scoring system and who has to pass to whom). and that is after I watched a complete baseball anime!

only us sport that isn't total nonsense in my opinion. (can't take handegg or hoopball or iced hokey serious at all)

It's not really that complicated.

I assume you know baseball game is composed of 9 innings (could go to extra innings if the game is tied after 9 innings), at least in MLB (there are 6 or 7 inning games in some minor and other leagues).

Further every inning consists of top and bottom inning. In top inning it's always home team pitching (and fielding/playing defense) and away team batting - trying to score runs. In the bottom inning it's reversed.

Every team has 9 players/starters -a pitcher, a catcher, 4 infielders (1st, 2nd and 3rd baseman and a shortstop that is usually positioned between 2nd and 3rd base) and 3 outfielders. When it comes to hitting a pitcher is replaced in the lineup by Designated hitter in the American League. In the National League pitchers are hitting too so this is the biggest difference between both leagues.


You probably also know that offense gets credited with a run every time a runner gets to the "home plate". If there is one runner already on base and his team-mate hits a home-run they get two runs. If bases are loaded you get a grand slam (4 runs) with a home-run. Won't go into more details here because I think this is already clear to you but if you have other questions you can ask.


On the other hand every pitcher needs to eliminate/retire three batters (get 3 outs) to end the inning and there are different ways to do that.

1. with a strike-out (3 strikes) - when it happens it's denoted by K or a backwards K.

2. with a ground-out - the ball is put on the ground in infield and one of the defensive players (could also be a pitcher) needs to throw it to the first base before a batter/runner gets there to get an out. If there is already a runner on base a fielder can try to throw him out before he advances to 2nd (with throwing to 2nd baseman), 3rd base or even prevent him to score a run. His decision where to throw can depend on a lot of factors (game score/situation, how good fielder he is, how fast is a runner,...). Fielders can also make double plays (eliminate two runners at once), for example when the ball is hit close to the shortstop or 3rd baseman and he throws it to the 2nd baseman (before a runner gets there) and then he throws it to the 1st base before a hitter gets there. There are also triple plays when defense can retire 3 players at once but those are very rare (in average around 5 in a season) and usually attractive to see when they actually happen.

3. with a fly-ball to the outfield when one of the outfielders catch the ball without touching the ground. Now if a team already has one or more players on base he/they can try to advance (if they have less than 2 outs otherwise it's the end of the inning) but he risks getting thrown out if outfielder has a strong arm and and throws the ball to whichever base a runner is going to first. In this case defense can get 2 outs - one "automatic" for a hitter and second for a runner. When there is a runner on 3rd base and a team (offense in this case) has less than 2 outs they can also make a sac fly - they give up one out but a runner score if the ball is hit deep enough in outfield. Important thing here is that a base runner can only start to run to the home base when outfielder catches the ball.

4. pop-out - when the ball is hit very high in the air but stays in infield so it's usually very easy for fielders to catch for an out.


Now to the "count" (balls-strikes)

As mentioned above if there is no hit or an out a pitcher needs to throw 3 strikes (pitches in a strike-zone or "swing and miss"- when a hitter tries to hit but miss the ball, even if it's outside the zone) to get a strike-out

On the other hand, if he doesn't get a hit or an out a batter needs to have 4 balls (bad pitches outside the zone) to get a walk (usually denoted by BB - base on balls) and he goes to the 1st base.

Numbers of balls are always written first (on the left) and number of strikes on the right.

3-2 count is also known as a full count.


Here is a good picture where you can see basically all that's important.

awQhP2a.png




And a simplified score-board on the stadium with number of runs scored in each inning, number of total runs (R), total hits (H) and errors (E) for both teams. Number of runs is the most (and well, I would say the only) important stat. :)

2008-all-star-game.jpg



Where it could get a bit complicated when you start to watch the baseball (it was for me at least) are foul-balls which are batted balls in a foul-territory (outside of the playing field, could also go into the stands). Foul ball is a dead ball unless it was a bunt into the foul ground.

Here is a description from wiki what happens to the count with foul balls.

A strike is issued for the batter if he had fewer than two strikes. If the batter already has two strikes against him when he hits a foul ball, a strike is not issued unless the ball was bunted to become a foul ball, in which case a third strike is issued and a strikeout recorded for the batter and pitcher.

In other words, there could be 5, 10 or even more foul-balls in one at bat and the count won't change if there are already two strikes on the count.


Hopefully I helped you to understand the game a bit better but feel free to ask if you have more questions.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
Shohei Ohtani has signed a 10 years, $700m contract with the Dodgers.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan (X link), “most of” Ohtani’s salary will be deferred, as suggested by Ohtani himself. The intent is so that the Dodgers can continue to spend and add talent while somewhat lowering the luxury tax hit. Regardless of how the $700MM is eventually parceled out over the coming years or decades, the 29-year-old Ohtani will be bringing in the single largest contract ever given to a professional athlete, topping the $674MM deal that soccer legend Lionel Messi signed with FC Barcelona for the 2017-21 La Liga seasons.
 

Fati_Future_BallonDor

Well-known member
Shohei Ohtani has signed a 10 years, $700m contract with the Dodgers.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan (X link), “most of” Ohtani’s salary will be deferred, as suggested by Ohtani himself. The intent is so that the Dodgers can continue to spend and add talent while somewhat lowering the luxury tax hit. Regardless of how the $700MM is eventually parceled out over the coming years or decades, the 29-year-old Ohtani will be bringing in the single largest contract ever given to a professional athlete, topping the $674MM deal that soccer legend Lionel Messi signed with FC Barcelona for the 2017-21 La Liga seasons.

you also watch baseball but no EURO/WCs?? youre crazy dude :ROFLMAO:
 

Messi983

Senior Member
you also watch baseball but no EURO/WCs?? youre crazy dude :ROFLMAO:

Didn't say I don't watch Euro/WC but that they're boring and I don't really care about them before late KO stages.

Baseball is fun. Especially in hot July/August evenings when not much sport is going on. Can also listen to the game in the background on computer when lurking on internet or playing games. Often watch start of the game (first 2-3 innings), then do other stuff before watching 8th and 9th inning more seriously again if it's a close game. Anyway, I usually only follow my team and even them mostly on weekends or when playing in "normal" time. Don't wake up in the middle of the night to watch unless very important games in September.

Also like following free agency and see how much money teams throw at the players and sometimes wish I was one of them. :lol:
 

JustZanetti4

Active member
My ex crossfit coach is one of the GOATS of Croatian baseball. I always tell him he should have a wikipedia page with his CV.
 

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