MLB 2022 thread

[Dru Edwards]

Opening Day is on Thursday. It almost didn't happen but we're here now.

What teams are you following? What story lines are you following?

[Bob from Brooklyn]

I follow the Walking Wounded, otherwise known as the New York Mets.

[Dru Edwards]

Looks like MLB is allow pitchers/catchers to use an anti-stealing electronic device. I wonder how long before the other team can intercept these signals and use to their advantage... or bring in a blocking signal.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...on-sources-say

[Kerbie]

I've been a Cardinal fan every year of my life that I can remember. I don't see any reason to change now.

I'll enjoy watching the effect Pujols' return might have. Even if his greatest contributions are in the locker room, it'll be worth having him back in the organization. Probably the final seasons for him, Wainwright and Molina. Hope the pitching staff comes together. Should be fun!

[westview]

I'm going to go out on a limb. This is the year Mike Trout and the Angels make the playoffs.
Last year Trout, Anthony Rendon, and Otani played in only 17 games together.
They're all healthy. The Angels invested in veteran pitching and giving their young players an opportunity (Joe Adell, Brandon Marsh, Taylor Ward). I'm tired of hoping.

[mr. beaumont]

Cubs fan, son of a Cubs fan, who is the son of a Cubs fan.

Excited about seeing some new faces. Man I love baseball .

[sayheyjeff]

Very excited that baseball is starting up. Don’t always like the rule changes, but it’s still baseball to me. Re upped for radio broadcasts thru MLB.com and will be tuning in to John Miller and the gang most every day as usual.

Jeff

[Jim Owen]

I think I’ll root for the Redsox this year for a change ;-)

[MrDB]

Get your Cardinal World Series tickets now!

You heard it here first

[Tahitijack]

On paper my pick is the Dodgers. But the game isn't played on paper. It will be a long hot summer filled with injuries and so it might become a matter of which team has the depth to limp across the final days of the season with the lead. Vin Scully once said good pitching stops good hitting. If that's still true I don't see the Dodgers finishing less that first and winning the World Series. San Francisco fans probably disagree.

[jpd]

The injury bug will once again turn San Diego into an also ran.....The inclusion of designated hitter for all leagues is another arrow to the heart of old time baseball

[jpd]

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

I don't see the Dodgers finishing less that first and winning the World Series. San Francisco fans probably disagree.

Dodgers are loaded............SF will not be in it this season!

[brad4d8]

Been a Red Sox fan since the Dodgers left Brooklyn, although Dodgers are still a favorite in the NL. Only rule change I'm not okay with is the "ghost runner" on second in the 10th inning. I'd let them play at least to extras, maybe add the runner in the 12th or 13th.Some interesting changes. Bases are bigger, umpires will be mic'd in order to inform fans why decisions are made or what is causing a delay. Split on the universal DH, would have been happy keeping it or even going to pitchers hitting in both leagues, but won't miss all the NL mostly automatic outs.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Jim Owen

I think I’ll root for the Redsox this year for a change ;-)

lol Jim. So will I. Hopefully I'll be rooting and not cursing although last year was an unexpected surprise, especially the Wild Card game.

[buddyhu]

Interesting opinion article in the NYTimes, in that it shared some statistics that were….revealing:

1. An ordinary national prime-time M.L.B. broadcast, such as ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” attracts some 1.5 million pairs of eyes each week, which is to say, roughly the number that are likely to be watching a heavily censored version of “Goodfellas” on a basic cable movie channel in the same time slot.
2. Even the World Series attracts smaller audiences than the average “Thursday Night Football” broadcast, the dregs of the National Football League’s weekly schedule. In 1975, the World Series had an average of 36 million viewers per game; in 2021, it barely attracted 12 million per game.
3. The average age of a person watching a baseball game on television is 57, and one shudders to think what the comparable figure is for radio broadcasts.
4. Mike Trout’s $426 million contract is effectively being paid by millions of grandparents who just want to tune in to Anderson Cooper or “Antiques Roadshow.” As that audience dies off and younger generations of “cord cutters” take their place, baseball’s revenue will plummet.

I may follow the So Cal teams out of nostalgia, stay loosely aware of the Red Sox so I can converse with friends, and will wait to see if something manages to kindle a rise of interest in the game that was more central to the US population when I was young….