MLB 2015

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Is this the curse of the babe?

Toronto Blue Jays at the top of the AL East standings.  They've been doing a lot of strategic trading and are driving for the pennant.

"Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets."
      -- Damn Yankees.
 

[SimCoug 5,976]

I remember watching the '93 Blue Jays with Joe Carter, Roberto Alomar, Paul Molitor and John Olerud (go cougs!).  Wonder if these Jays can pull it off again.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

If it hadn't been for the strike the next year, it might have been a three-peat.  However, after that the team scattered.  They seem to be getting their act together again.

[Larks2242 251]

But my Braves won in 95 and owned the decade, so I am happy with the way things panned out.

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

This season was a total wash for Tigers fans.  Too many injuries, the club house seems to be a mess, and management is all being shuffled around.  Oh well, there's always next year.  I don't mind the Blue Jays, though.  If they win, that'd be alright with me.  I'm pretty sure they traded to get a Tiger, too.  Were they the ones we traded Cespedes to?

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Jay's win 11th straight game today.

Jays fever running high across the country.

[CapTon 592]

Go Pirates! I doubt that we'll move past the first round of the playoffs, but a season over .500 is good enough for me since it's only happened 3 times in the last 20 years.

[Mr Saturn64 742]

I will forever cling to my Phillies, no matter how it actually goes (although they've come back in recent days).  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

As a former denizen of Toronto, I tend of pretty much follow the Jays as a kind of background task.  They are getting into the foreground lately.  The other background task I have in sports is the Toronto Maple Loafs (er. Leafs).

[SimCoug 5,976]

They seem to be getting their act together again.

I wish the same could be said for Seattle... ever since the brilliance of 2001 they have reverted back to their normal selves.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I wonder if it has ever occurred to anyone, besides me, that the league is too big?  There are too many teams with the result that the best players are scattered across the whole league which results in rather mediocre performance across the board.  Pretty much the same thing has happened to Hockey as well.  Expansion of the leagues has maybe enriched the owners and a few players, but overall the qualify of these sports at the professional level has gone down from the 'good old days'.  Big is not always good.

I can't say anything about professional basketball because I have stopped following it altogether, but I suspect they have the same problems.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

How about those Jays?

It might well be pennant time here in the frozen north.

[Sabretooth78 808]

I used to hate on the Blue Jays for no reason other than that they were my brother's favorite team...foolish sibling stuff.  Now I don't care - and when I do I direct it towards the Red Socks and Dodgers.  As my local AAA team is part of the Jays' system (how great was that to dump the Mets a few years ago?), I say "go Jays".

I wonder if it has ever occurred to anyone, besides me, that the league is too big?  There are too many teams with the result that the best players are scattered across the whole league which results in rather mediocre performance across the board.  Pretty much the same thing has happened to Hockey as well.  Expansion of the leagues has maybe enriched the owners and a few players, but overall the qualify of these sports at the professional level has gone down from the 'good old days'.  Big is not always good.

I recall that being a major part of the discussion back in the mid-late 90s after the Marlins and Rockies entered the fold.  Quite a dilution of talent, especially in terms of pitching.  They've only added more teams since, so I can't imagine the situation has had enough time to correct itself.  It probably hasn't even reached a new equilibrium yet - you'd expect that to take at least a generation?  I haven't really paid much attention to it in almost 10 years to really be able to know.

Speaking of leagues which have undeniably overexpanded (and into lousy markets to boot), NHL hockey has continued to suffer from this phenomenon.  Mr. Gary "Work Stoppage" Bettman seems to think that expanding into markets that don't care and then focusing all your marketing efforts on say 5 individual players (you know who they are) who overwhelming odds are don't play for "your" team is a solid strategy.  Ehh, I can't even remember the last time I actually paid to go to a game; I usually find my way to 1 or 2 per season.

But my Braves won in 95 and owned the decade, so I am happy with the way things panned out.

This Yankees fan and I would suppose the subject Toronto fans as well might want to ask for clarification on your definition of "ownership" - especially seeing as our teams beat said Braves 3x in that decade in their collective bookending of it.  It would be as though I claimed the Buffalo Bills owned the NFL in the early 90s...as opposed to just being proud of following something that more and more increasingly looks to become an impossible standard to repeat. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Alas, after Alan Eagleson defecated all over professional hockey, they get a corporate geek like Bettman who is more interested in the bottom line than the sport.

[Larks2242 251]

 

But my Braves won in 95 and owned the decade, so I am happy with the way things panned out.

This Yankees fan and I would suppose the subject Toronto fans as well might want to ask for clarification on your definition of "ownership" - especially seeing as our teams beat said Braves 3x in that decade in their collective bookending of it.  It would be as though I claimed the Buffalo Bills owned the NFL in the early 90s...as opposed to just being proud of following something that more and more increasingly looks to become an impossible standard to repeat. 

I would say cliching the division every single year from 1991 to 2005 14 years straight (since 94 does not qualify as a played season) and making the World Series 1991. 1992. 1995, 1996 and 1999, And Winning the WS in 1995 qualifies as "Owning the era".

 

Not to mention these are historic streaks not seen ever before in history.

  Edited August 27, 2015 by Larks2242  

[blade2k5 1,523]

 

But my Braves won in 95 and owned the decade, so I am happy with the way things panned out.

This Yankees fan and I would suppose the subject Toronto fans as well might want to ask for clarification on your definition of "ownership" - especially seeing as our teams beat said Braves 3x in that decade in their collective bookending of it.  It would be as though I claimed the Buffalo Bills owned the NFL in the early 90s...as opposed to just being proud of following something that more and more increasingly looks to become an impossible standard to repeat. 

I would say cliching the division every single year from 1991 to 2005 14 years straight (since 94 does not qualify as a played season) and making the World Series 1991. 1992. 1995, 1996 and 1999, And Winning the WS in 1995 qualifies as "Owning the era".

 

Not to mention these are historic streaks not seen ever before in history.

But my Braves won in 95 and owned the decade, so I am happy with the way things panned out.

But only one single WS Title in all of those 14 years.  Not all that impressive in reality.

[Larks2242 251]

Oh of course, Winning the division 14 years in a row and making the playoffs when no wildcard teams even existed is so easy, No other team has done it in history so of course it is not impressive.  

[Sabretooth78 808]

Between 1947 and 1962 (18 seasons), the Yankees won 15 pennants (CLE won 2 and CHI won 1) and 10 titles, before divisions even existed.  They've also played every NL pennant winner in the World Series at some point except the Astros and Rockies.  I can also be reasonably assured that no other team will so much as approach them in either WS championships or pennants during my lifetime (excepting perhaps the Montreal Canadiens if we're talking about the whole of North American pro sports).

It's all relative.  Remember that nobody else cares if it wasn't a championship. Ask Dan Marino and Warren Moon. 

[blade2k5 1,523]

Oh of course, Winning the division 14 years in a row and making the playoffs when no wildcard teams even existed is so easy, No other team has done it in history so of course it is not impressive.  

It wasn't.  Only one single, solitary championship out of all those 14 divisional title is not impressive at all no matter how you try to spin it, but if that's good enough for you, you have low expectations.

 

Between 1947 and 1962 (18 seasons), the Yankees won 15 pennants (CLE won 2 and CHI won 1) and 10 titles, before divisions even existed.  They've also played every NL pennant winner in the World Series at some point except the Astros and Rockies.  I can also be reasonably assured that no other team will so much as approach them in either WS championships or pennants during my lifetime (excepting perhaps the Montreal Canadiens if we're talking about the whole of North American pro sports).

It's all relative.  Remember that nobody else cares if it wasn't a championship. Ask Dan Marino and Warren Moon. 

The Yankees at least won more than one championship ( which means when they got to the big dance, they won more often than lost), unlike the Braves.   And haven't the Canadians already passed or tied the Yankees in number of championships?  I know the Yanks have at least 26 or 27.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

The Jay's have had only two WS wins (back to back).  Let's see what they are up to today:  Building the front office.

Change to happen at the end of the season.  Will heads roll?

[Sabretooth78 808]

The Jays were looking impressive for a while (2 in not so many years of existence) but they've been pretty lean overall since.  I wouldn't mind seeing some new blood at or near the top.  It's too bad the 1994 season was lost; I was rooting for the Expos that year.

 The Yankees at least won more than one championship ( which means when they got to the big dance, they won more often than lost), unlike the Braves.   And haven't the Canadians already passed or tied the Yankees in number of championships?  I know the Yanks have at least 26 or 27.

The Habs stand at 24 IIRC but haven't won since 1993.  They were a bit ahead until the Yanks hit their dominance in the late 90s.  Who knows where they'd be now if they hadn't pissed away 1965-1992 (with the exception of a brief revival in the late 70s).  Well, you can't win them all.  And it actually does get a bit boring (or maybe I just never cared enough).

  Edited August 31, 2015 by Sabretooth78  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Cleveland stopped after six.

The surprising Jays might just be the team to beat this year.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

New York Yankees falter.

Maybe Lola doesn't always get what she wants, eh?

If that reference is a little obscure for some, I refer to the Broadway musical "Damn Yankees".

  Edited September 13, 2015 by A Nonny Moose  
Historical Note.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Jay's in playoffs.

It's been a long dry spell.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Rangers had a better then expected Season and are still in 1st place in the AL west.

not too shabby considering after april they were projected to lose 100+ games

 

[Duke87 1,070]

Meanwhile the Cubs have guaranteed themselves a spot in the NL Wild Card game. Further demonstrating that the existence of such is a farce since the Cubs are not supposed to be in the postseason.

[blade2k5 1,523]

Dodgers begin their choking ways before the playoffs, should be one and done in the playoffs.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Jays finished the season 5 games in front of the Yankees.

[SimCoug 5,976]

A Jays-Cubs WS would be fun... I'd be even more tickled if the Yankees missed out on the wild card spot 

[NMUSpidey 3,956]

I'm now a bitter Tigers fan, so I hope everyone loses the World Series.