Random FF Thoughts

[leftypower]

***because the baseball boards are vacant.***

“Greg Maddux could throw a baseball through a life-saver if you asked him to.” - Joe Morgan

Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters.
310 of them saw a 3-0 count.
Of which 177 were intentional walks.

That’s 0.0065% “wild” 3-0 counts in his career.

I’d love to know who is second on this list.

One of the greatest EVER. ......

 

[SmokingMonkey]

But he still couldn't strike out Tony Gwynn!

 

[leftypower]

But he still couldn't strike out Tony Gwynn!

Oh yeah, he did have his number. .... but he had most pitchers

 

[TKOSpikes]

But he still couldn't strike out Tony Gwynn!

Oh yeah, he did have his number. .... but he had most pitchers

Tony Gwynn had 9186 at bats.
He struck out 434 times.
Maddux struck him out three times.
Gwynn struck out three times in one game only once (1986 vs Bob Welch).
Nolan Ryan struck him out nine times which is the most by one pitcher, but Gwynn still batted .306 against him.

Legend

 

[TKOSpikes]

Tony Gwynn had 9186 at bats.
He struck out 434 times.
Maddux struck him out three times.
Gwynn struck out three times in one game only once (1986 vs Bob Welch).
Nolan Ryan struck him out nine times which is the most by one pitcher, but Gwynn still batted .306 against him.

Legend

Mark Reynolds struck out 434 times in two seasons (‘09 and 2010), in 1077 at bats.

 

[Barilko]

i was lucky enough to see Gwynn get his 3000 hit at the Big Owe in Montreal

also saw Pete Rose get his 4000 at the Big Owe while in his brief stint with the Expos

 

[wilwhite]

i was lucky enough to see Gwynn get his 3000 hit at the Big Owe in Montreal

also saw Pete Rose get his 4000 at the Big Owe while in his brief stint with the Expos

Rotten luck that a work stoppage killed baseball in Montreal. They were having a franchise-changing season.

And Maddux and Gwynn were both masterful workmen. And I'll never forget Maddux staying in there in a game late in his career despite getting pummeled in order to eat innings and save the rest of the staff. Not a lot of guys would have done that, being all worried about their stats.

 

[Barilko]

Nice to know that a well schooled gentleman such as yourself sees the truth..

so much media in the U S of A doesn't see the big picture of the failure in the market


average game MTL Season National Season Average

1979	Stade Olympique	26,277	2,102,173	1,764,868
1980	Stade Olympique	27,261	2,208,175	1,760,340
1981	Stade Olympique (strike shortened)	28,418	1,534,564	1,039,866
1982	Stade Olympique	28,621	2,318,292	1,792,285
1983	Stade Olympique	28,65	2,320,651	1,795,774

if cost sharing came quicker not to forget the Canadian $ hurts oh too much

there was/is a major fan base here and trust me the Stadium sucks it could have been bigger with a real ball park

 

[wilwhite]

That stadium could have happened if '94 had played out. Bummer.

 

[SmokingMonkey]

First legit season that the HR record was being threatened too, with Matt Williams, Griffey Jr, and Frank Thomas all smashing before the strike

 

[averagejoe]

Pete Rose doesn't deserve his punishment.
There, I said it.

 

[Barilko]

i agree of course you may spot me around town in my Expos number 14

actually @averagejoe if ya ever saw one at Wrigley you might have seen me before ya ever (virtually) met me

 

[averagejoe]

i agree of course you may spot me around town in my Expos number 14

actually @averagejoe if ya ever saw one at Wrigley you might have seen me before ya ever (virtually) met me

As you know, I have sworn off baseball long ago.
But believe it or not, I actually went to a Cubs game early in the 2016 season (only because my niece arranged it).
Before that game, it was a White Sox game - organist Nancy Faust's last game in 2010.
Prior to 2010, I have no idea when my last baseball game was? Was probably decades? Like the 80's.

 

[Chef99]

The "Pro Bowl". People actually pay to watch this?

I'd much rather watch the "Puppy Bowl".

Far more entertaining, and free.

 

[Bandit]

Maddux and Gwynn were by far my two favorite players of the era. Never got to see Gwynn in person but saw Maddux a few times in Atlanta. It was fun just to watch him in the bullpen since the catcher never had to move his glove. In 1999 we went to see the Cardinals and Braves because my brother and I were both McGwire fans as well and McGwire hit a grand slam off of Maddux that day even though we weren't rooting for that it was pretty cool. Watching McGwire take batting practice during that time was a site to see. He hit one high off the scoreboard beyond the left center bleachers in Atlanta that dented it, which was the farthest ball I've ever seen hit. Maddux was such a pleasure to watch pitch a game as he was just so efficient. As Crash Davis said, "strike outs are fascist, throw some ground balls they're more democratic." The 76 pitch complete game was a masterpiece to watch and he had so many of those games. There was just something so awesome to see him get two strikes on a left handed hitter and watch him run that sinker that started off the plate inside back over the inside corner. They knew it was coming, but still couldn't make themselves swing at it. He gets so much credit for being a ground ball pitcher which he should, but he's still 10th all time on the strikeouts list with 3371. And for those of us that watched him pitch a lot, you could tell after the first two or three hitters if it was going to be a good day or a bad day for him, because if he couldn't locate correctly and kicked the dirt it was going to be a long day. It didn't happen often but most of the time it seemed to happen in day games as his day game record was just terrible compared to his night game record. Late in Maddux's career once he went to the Dodgers, I bought the baseball package just so I could record every one of his starts and hear Vin Scully do the game. Gwynn was just a master to watch hit. We really didn't even get to see too many of his games live because he was on the west coast and most of the time the Padres weren't very good. But watching him on Sportscenter every night was worth it. 19 straight years of hitting .300 or better including five straight of over .350 in his age 33-37 seasons. And only 434 strikeouts in over 10,000 career plate appearances. Loved it that he got to the World Series in 1998 and even though it was past his prime, he destroyed Yankee pitching in that World Series hitting .500 (even though the Padres still got swept).

I still love the game of baseball, but I don't think I'll ever be as invested in the players as I was in that era because those were the first guys that I followed their careers from start to finish and I started rooting for them when I was a kid. Once you're older it's just not the same. My Dad always loved baseball too and I could never figure out why he wasn't as invested in the game as me and Scott were when we were growing up, but now I realize that it's different once your heroes of youth retire.

Funny story from when we were young though as me and Scott had TV's in our room and we were watching the games in our rooms. Dad always went to bed around 10:30 so he never got to see the ends of games and when the Sid Bream scored the winning run in the 1991 NLCS off of Francisco Cabrera's pinch hit single, me and Scott started screaming so loud that we woke Mom and Dad up. That's still probably the best sports memory I have of a single play.

 

[SmokingMonkey]

I got to see Sosa hit 3 HRs in a 5-3 victory over Brewers at Wrigley and McGwire hit 3 HRs in a 10-5 victory over the Diamondbacks during the HR race, which I believe included a grand slam.

Even as a kid I could tell that Wrigley was a dump, it still is even though they've slapped some lipstick on it the last 10yrs

 

[obxyankeefan]

Maddux and Gwynn were by far my two favorite players of the era. Never got to see Gwynn in person but saw Maddux a few times in Atlanta. It was fun just to watch him in the bullpen since the catcher never had to move his glove. In 1999 we went to see the Cardinals and Braves because my brother and I were both McGwire fans as well and McGwire hit a grand slam off of Maddux that day even though we weren't rooting for that it was pretty cool. Watching McGwire take batting practice during that time was a site to see. He hit one high off the scoreboard beyond the left center bleachers in Atlanta that dented it, which was the farthest ball I've ever seen hit. Maddux was such a pleasure to watch pitch a game as he was just so efficient. As Crash Davis said, "strike outs are fascist, throw some ground balls they're more democratic." The 76 pitch complete game was a masterpiece to watch and he had so many of those games. There was just something so awesome to see him get two strikes on a left handed hitter and watch him run that sinker that started off the plate inside back over the inside corner. They knew it was coming, but still couldn't make themselves swing at it. He gets so much credit for being a ground ball pitcher which he should, but he's still 10th all time on the strikeouts list with 3371. And for those of us that watched him pitch a lot, you could tell after the first two or three hitters if it was going to be a good day or a bad day for him, because if he couldn't locate correctly and kicked the dirt it was going to be a long day. It didn't happen often but most of the time it seemed to happen in day games as his day game record was just terrible compared to his night game record. Late in Maddux's career once he went to the Dodgers, I bought the baseball package just so I could record every one of his starts and hear Vin Scully do the game. Gwynn was just a master to watch hit. We really didn't even get to see too many of his games live because he was on the west coast and most of the time the Padres weren't very good. But watching him on Sportscenter every night was worth it. 19 straight years of hitting .300 or better including five straight of over .350 in his age 33-37 seasons. And only 434 strikeouts in over 10,000 career plate appearances. Loved it that he got to the World Series in 1998 and even though it was past his prime, he destroyed Yankee pitching in that World Series hitting .500 (even though the Padres still got swept).

I still love the game of baseball, but I don't think I'll ever be as invested in the players as I was in that era because those were the first guys that I followed their careers from start to finish and I started rooting for them when I was a kid. Once you're older it's just not the same. My Dad always loved baseball too and I could never figure out why he wasn't as invested in the game as me and Scott were when we were growing up, but now I realize that it's different once your heroes of youth retire.

Funny story from when we were young though as me and Scott had TV's in our room and we were watching the games in our rooms. Dad always went to bed around 10:30 so he never got to see the ends of games and when the Sid Bream scored the winning run in the 1991 NLCS off of Francisco Cabrera's pinch hit single, me and Scott started screaming so loud that we woke Mom and Dad up. That's still probably the best sports memory I have of a single play.

Worst memory for me. I was getting ready for work and called my dad that day. He had called the stadium in Pittsburgh and had bought two tickets to game 1 of the WS. If Pittsburgh wins I was going to the WS. I remember being on the line at Ford cussing up a storm while most of the people working around me were cheering on Sid Bream.

 

[Bandit]

Worst memory for me. I was getting ready for work and called my dad that day. He had called the stadium in Pittsburgh and had bought two tickets to game 1 of the WS. If Pittsburgh wins I was going to the WS. I remember being on the line at Ford cussing up a storm while most of the people working around me were cheering on Sid Bream.

That sucks. I can see how that would be a bad memory.

 

[TREFF]

Baseball talk...infinitely better than Hockey talk

 

[leftypower]

Funny story from when we were young though as me and Scott had TV's in our room and we were watching the games in our rooms. Dad always went to bed around 10:30 so he never got to see the ends of games and when the Sid Bream scored the winning run in the 1991 NLCS off of Francisco Cabrera's pinch hit single, me and Scott started screaming so loud that we woke Mom and Dad up. That's still probably the best sports memory I have of a single play.

I still remember that night - - got up and watched reruns of that play. It was almost painful to watch Bream lumbering around the bases in what felt an eternity. ...... I was almost surprised they sent him. But we were all Braves fans at that time so it was a pleasure.