This ****ing bullpen drives me nuts.

Is he the new Trevor Hoffman? :p

Gorman should have knocked that down (Edmond does) but Gallegos is still ass.

I hate watching Montgomery throw 6 scoreless and walk away with the ND

Gorman or Dejong, pick your poison. I’d rather see the kid get some experience then watch Dejong go 0-100.

Gorman's defense is what it is, I just wish he'd cut down on the Ks.

Holy shit glad I didn't turn that off

That was one for the ages. MLB teams 0-817 this year when trailing by 4 or more in the 9th. 1-817 now.

Great comeback win. Tommy E. is the man!

I turned it off and went to bed as soon as Voit hit the HR. :banghead:

I have to watch it through the bally sports app on my firestick.

I was just too damn lazy to flip it over to HDMI1 so I could watch something else. Then Donovan hit that dude in the face with the hopper and so I watched to see if he'd be bleeding. The Goldy got on base and I decided it might be worth hanging around for.

same after the Voit HR I gave up. Came back later to see if Pujols was going to get an AB. Stayed once Goldy got on because with this team, ya never know.

I have to admit, I would have turned it off had a Cardinals win not been the final leg of my parlay. I had a $25 live bet free bet I should have plunked down once the scored the first run in the 9th.

@jeffpassan Breaking: MLB's competition committee has voted to implement a pitch clock, larger bases and ban defensive shifts starting in 2023, sources tell @jeffpassan.

15-second clock with bases empty, 20 with runners on; and two fielders on each side of 2B bag, both feet on the dirt.

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And the pussification of America continues.

These are the best hitters in the game. They have had at least 5 years to learn how to hit a baseball through a wide open side of the infield. WTF is the issue?

Only conclusion has to be that MLB wants home runs not singles.

I know some guys who make the same argument - "well why not make them call out the pitch while they're at it!?!"

And when I ask them how the shift helps the entertainment value of the game, they don't really have an answer. Just that it helps teams win and therefore should be legal.

My counter is that EVERY sport has rules designed to maintain competitive appeal. It's stuff like illegal formation or illegal man downfield in the NFL. Prohibitions on certain kinds of defenses in hockey and basketball. Or hell, goaltending in basketball; afterall, if you have a guy tall enough to swat a ball away on its way down, why shouldn't you be allowed to do that?

Eliminating the shift will make the game more entertaining. It will create renewed emphasis on speed, defense and contact. It's a GOOD thing for the product on the field.

I just cannot understand the opposition to it unless it's just the idea that baseball should be a free for all out there and whatever it takes to win is fine. Spitballs, sign stealing, all of it. So long as everyone's on a level playing field, why not?

I can't get there. This will improve the game. The shift blows.

You fix the shift by learning to tap a ball the other way.

I get that baseball has changed the height of the mound, and made other various rules modifications over the years but seems to me they are making up for the players inability to adapt. :shrug:

Its along the lines of the fact players simply cant bunt anymore when needed. Basic shit.

In the end will the shift being gone even be noticeable watching afterwards?

Nah but it probably annoys me because its irritating watching players fail to adapt to it.

The pitch clock is a waste of time as well just like the 3 batter minimum. Games aren't noticeably shorter.

While I am at it, I also loathe the ghost runner in extra innings as well.

Get off my lawn! :cuss:

Guys throw too damn hard. You can't just go up there looking to poke balls opposite field because then they'll start to come inside on you and knock the ball out of your hands. And with the rise of mid/high 90s heat as well as gyroscopic sliders and shit like that, it's become **** near impossible to hit.

Yeah - these are the best hitters in the world and they're STILL getting absolutely strafed by the endless array of guys throwing 98. I mean you have 6th and 7th inning relievers like Scott Effross throwing shit so vile it would've made heads spin even 15 years ago.

We can't keep pretending like pitching isn't getting too far ahead of hitting. These guys are learning about pitch tunneling and spin mirroring. Or sequencing/arsenals based on the above. And there just IS no counter for it. Pitchers learning how to make their pitches look the same until they're 8 feet away from the plate and then dart in 3 different directions just isn't something that can be countered.

Honestly, I'd move the damn mound back as well. The game has tilted so far away from hitting that it doesn't make any sense to try to play small ball. Because odds are you're not stringing 3 hits together against any pitcher that executes. So if you're just waiting for the guy to make a mistake, you just swing hard and hope you hit it. It's cranking the risk/reward knob in your favor.

It's not that complicated - this isn't the sport your dad watched. Hell, it's not the sport your dog watched. This game has changed a ton in the last decade.

See my next response - it isn't that simple. They'll throw 98 mph sinkers that blow your bat apart if you try that. Or a slider at your back foot. Guys like Jeff Suppan going out there and getting by at 91 are an endangered species. Those are guys you can wait on and drive the other way - but they also aren't the kind of guys you NEED to do that against.

And when that little oppo single requires 2 guys behind you to ALSO execute for even a single run to score - the odds just don't support doing it. Not when wave after wave of fireballs are coming their way.

Players just CAN'T adapt to what pitchers have learned through things like pitchtrax. Pitchers are the proactive party in this scenario and there are things that they have learned to do that hitters simply cannot counter. The game begins with the guy on the mound. As Wainwright said during his warmups "I can be a little late when I'm at home - they can't start the game without me". And when those guys on the mound are starting to get insurmountable advantages, it's time to change things up.

What it SHOULD do more than anything is allow truer swings. Which requires pitchers to be more careful with how they approach an AB. It could mean that hitters get back to the old school 'drive it up the middle' approach that they had to get away from when teams started shifting middle/pull. And that's a good thing because now they can stay balanced and in the middle of their timing instead of trying to cheat ahead (or behind if they want to go oppo). Now you're looking at fewer poorly hit balls because they can take an ordinary hack and be rewarded.

Again - how does the shift IMPROVE the game? I can give you ways eliminating it will make the product more entertaining. How does keeping it in there do it? I've tried to come up with a way. I'm a purist at heart and am generally anti-change in sports. But I cannot in any way come up with a makeable argument in favor of the shifts impact on the entertainment value of baseball.

I am curious if many/any teams will have the stones to essentially run a 2 OFer formation. I don't think I've seen any rules against OF shifts. So let's say a lefty pull hitter is up. You can't shift on the IF, so what do you do?

Well you take your LFer and put him in short RF. You put your CFer with a bit of a cheat into LF and have your RFer abandon the line a bit and play straight behind the 2bman.

I don't think I'd do it because I've seen too many balls mis-hit the opposite direction and that's a triple the second it finds grass, maybe even an inside the park.

But it's a counter that someone's gonna try at some point.

Shifts are gay but the rest is Manfred trying to turn the game into zoomerball frfr nocap

Too soon.

I'm assuming they shot down the pick off limit since I haven't read anything about it. That's the only rule where I sat there and said, "Who the **** made up this shit?"

Interesting tidbit I heard tonight. Apparently the 11 man committee who decides rule changes has 4 players as reps and all 4 voted against the pitch clock and eliminating the shift.

Frankly I figured players would vote to eliminate it.

To be honest I’ve hated the shift since teams started using it but it’s annoyed me the couldn’t adjust. I guess I’ll just have to go with what you said it’s just not that simple since evidence proves that theory out.

But that’s odd they voted against it.

Oh yea and JFC guys pull your heads out of your asses and stop losing to shit teams.

Slumps happen in baseball. Slumping against shit teams sucks ass though.

#696 today.

22 games to reach 700. HR every 4 games is doable the way he’s seeing the ball.

Albert hits 697, passes A-Roid for sole possession of 4th place.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">PUJOLS IS IN SOLE POSSESION OF 4TH ALL-TIME! <a href="https://t.co/UMj2W6wjRp">pic.twitter.com/UMj2W6wjRp</a></p>&mdash; St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1569056111374012416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Albert Pujols is all class 🙏❤️ <br><br>(h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/jmjones?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jmjones</a>) <a href="https://t.co/7DuZvVBfyq">pic.twitter.com/7DuZvVBfyq</a></p>&mdash; ESPN (@espn) <a href="https://twitter.com/espn/status/1569335285422428160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Arenado :eek:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All we can say is WOW 🤯 <a href="https://t.co/7hDYzwRctz">pic.twitter.com/7hDYzwRctz</a></p>&mdash; St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1570955281470992384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Albert with Big Mac Land distance for #698

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Albert leaves NO DOUBT! <a href="https://t.co/lj7hUlIxQj">pic.twitter.com/lj7hUlIxQj</a></p>&mdash; St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1570963097032216576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Immaculate inning is pretty cool too

Alright, at the game tonight, and that Helsley entrance has to be the coolest ****ing thing I've seen on a baseball field.

I love Max because he’s a Chiefs homer. ESPN made him apologize on the air for his comments.

I though DJ laid it out earlier in this thread about why Pujols has found his swing in the 2nd half.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">And now <a href="https://twitter.com/maxkellerman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@maxkellerman</a> on his show &quot;This Just In&quot;, claiming that Albert Pujols must have improved his game somehow all of the sudden. &quot;Bartender I&#39;ll have whatever he is having.&quot; He continues to say &quot;He must be practicing more now, more than he did the last 10 years&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCARDS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STLCARDS</a> <a href="https://t.co/jbX1jshe0A">pic.twitter.com/jbX1jshe0A</a></p>&mdash; That&#39;s A Winner Podcast (@ThatsAWinnerPod) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThatsAWinnerPod/status/1569391771146244096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 12, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Double win yesterday albeit the last game was anti-offense.

8 up with 15 to go is a great place to be.

Pujols is 2 home runs from 700. 1 HR every 7.5 games is doable ratio.

Blake Snell throwing a no hitter through 6 1/3

And Albert Pujols breaks up the no hitter

I realize players take their foot off the gas during the season. 162 games cant be played at WS level. They had very little chance at a bye and they can cruise to the division title but....... When you cant score a couple of runs in a couple of weeks and the playoffs start in a couple of weeks, can they just turn it on like a light switch?

The last 3 innings they showed a little bit. Which tells me that maybe Snell was just dialed in.

They were taking some much better swings in the 7th-9th innings. Really they should've gotten a run across at some point in there. Sending Paul DeJong out there to die was bizarre, though. Guy has 2 hits in the last 6 weeks; maybe he's not the guy you want there.

...if it wasn't ripped off from Trevor Hoffman. Yes...

Meaningless when he can take it and transform it into something much better

Put some non-prescription "Ricky Vaughn" glasses on him and then use Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" for walk in music.

I am Iron Man
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?

You should rip off Josh Hancock and drive yourself into a dump truck. You are the most miserable mother****er I have ever interacted with.

Snell was definitely dialed in...that looked like 2018 Snell (sub 1.00 whip and 5.6 hits per 9). Not that he has been awful other years, but hitting locations with his nasty stuff hasn't been there as consistently as 2018. Last night looked different.

Padres already have a 1-0 insurmountable lead

Good god you're pathetic ROFL I will continue just to hear you bitch

WE SCORED!!!

I still can't believe that decision. I felt like Jackie Kennedy watching LBJ getting sworn in on Air Force One with her husband's brains on her jacket. I'm sure I had the same look on my face.

They literally could have pulled 25 people in the stands who would have had a better chance of getting on base there.

Did I hear right? 32 innings and only 1 earned run before today? With 2 MVP touted players on the team? That has to be some kind of record skid.

If anyone tries to argue that WAR is a dispositive statistic, point them Paul DeJong's way.

In no world is that guy an above replacement level player. Yet he's a .5 WAR guy in limited run this year. And he's been ****ing LOST for 80% of the season. He makes bad Matt Carpenter look like Lou Gehrig out there. He's taken very possibly the worst 'full' season worth of ABs I've ever seen.

But not according to baseball reference!!

Before today they were 12 for their last 104 , thats hitting .115 as a team for the kids at home and an unreal .077 WRISP.

Nice work today coming back with a big win.

My hope for this road trip was 3-3 split. Still possible, but unlikely.

That was an ugly offensive slump. Hopefully they are coming out of it.

Yankees fans are insufferable.

699 & 700 both in one night

Of course he had to do it on Apple TV game and piss off the majority of St. Louis

MLB should've found a way to flex this out.

Dan McLaughlin was the Cardinals broadcaster from his rookie year. He deserved this call. And instead some hack Apple TV noob will be the voice we hear for 50 years.

I don't even like Danny Mac but he just had history stolen from him. This was rough.

I know it would be blacked out in STL, but it being on appleTV makes it a nogo for MLB.tv too? I guess that makes me feel a little better about missing it...

Apple wouldn't budge on Yankees/Red Sox. FOX and ESPN tried.

**** Danny Mac.

Shannon should’ve been on the call and out of retirement. (He’s also why Dan has a job).

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Mr. 700, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlbertPujols?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlbertPujols</a>! <a href="https://t.co/ccQ4DQcXV0">pic.twitter.com/ccQ4DQcXV0</a></p>&mdash; St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cardinals/status/1573520104838598663?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

:clap:

No one in here thought he was going to hit 21 homers this year. What a day to go out.

He’s been off the charts since the ASG break.


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He didn't do it against my Pirates.

Season goal achieved.

Sid Bream.

Amazing, never dreamed it. Now go win it all one last time.

I am hard-wired to hate the Cardinals and all things St. Louis. But this is pretty awesome. I never thought I'd see a non-juiced 700 in my lifetime.

I ****ing hate the streaming ecosystem so much.

The FIRST, BIGGEST ad on Amazon Prime last night during the NFL game was for The Rescue - dramatic version of the Thai cave rescue. Great. Maybe I'll watch it. No idiot, you watch too many movies. You can't just watch things you want to watch. Or even pay for them. It's on mother****ing Disney ****ing Plus. **** YOU **** YOU **** YOU

I would literally pay $10 to watch the ****ing thing. But I'm not signing up for Disney ****ing Plus

This is exactly like when CDs first came out and you couldn't get the Beatles for like five years.

Had a nice slide.

Now the mlb can go back to not giving a shit about pujols.

Better player than jeter or big papi yet they’re going to send him off with a garbage bag. Those guys had a full year retirement tour. Pujols is hitting career milestones and he still gets less attention than judge or ohtani. ****ing hate the medias coastal bias.

I don't possibly see how you can hate Danny Mac. He's not a showboat or attention whore. He's a classic announcer. Hate that he didn't get the call. So happy for Pujols! He made the difference in a big series that can help shift the bad momentum the Cards are going through right now before the playoffs. In a related note, MLB is terrible with marketing.

ROFL

They had a love fest for them. Pujols gets shit. Here's one of the numbers from the manual scoreboard that we picked up off the ground. Sorry, we didn't even bother to get it framed.

I went to a Yankees Red Sox game to see Jeter play his final year in NY and that MFer scratched himself. I'll forever hate him for that. And David Ortiz is a roided out prick so f him too.

I'll never understand how in the steroid era of guys not getting into the HoF for using, that a guy like David Ortiz who actually did fail a drug test the year prior to the ban became a first ballot HoFer. That shit is just an absolute joke.

Been saying this for years. ESPN east coast bias is one hell of a drug

I got the #700 notification on my phone. Went to MLB Channel and ESPN to see the highlights. Nothing. More focus on Judge and random games.

I was lucky enough to not be doing anything last night and was watching the game on my iPad laying in bed. Wife asked if I wanted to watch a movie and I said nope Pujols was hitting in the 2 spot against a lefty. That was fun. I had ear buds in watching the game while she watched a show and I scared the shit out of her twice.

Get this, watching Apple TV on a 2 year old iPad and the graphic on the top left was cut off on the screen. Seriously Apple?