The 2012 MLB Thread

[Miroir Noir]

I love that Frank McCourt is going to end up making millions upon millions after it's all said and done. What a cluster. I'm glad that this is over and I am pleased to see one of baseball's great franchises back in basic functional order.

[nosurprises12]

Great news about the sale; I'm glad all that shit is over with.

Did they keep the parking lots at 2B (I fucking hope)?!

From http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/s...hnson-group-2b:

As part of the agreement, the Dodgers said McCourt and "certain affiliates of the purchasers" would acquire the land surrounding Dodger Stadium, including its parking lots, for $150 million. Sources with knowledge of the situation told ESPNLosAngeles.com's Tony Jackson that means the group will purchase half the Dodger Stadium parking lots, which were deemed to have a total value of $300 million, with McCourt keeping the other half. The source said it has yet to be determined how that relationship will work and whether the new ownership group still will be forced to lease the McCourt-owned half of the lots.

[GeezrRckr]

Ugh. I want that scumbag to be 100% divorced from the Dodgers forever. This remaining tie is going to come back and bite Magic and his friends....watch. This cunt is holding on as tightly as he can just so he can (eventually) spite MLB, the Dodgers and, ultimately, the entire city of LA.

Or, maybe he'll choke on a peanut and we'll be free at last.

[Gribbz]

I'm glad that this is over and I am pleased to see one of baseball's great franchises back in basic functional order.

It's definitely good for baseball when the Dodgers are relevant.

[nahuatldream]

I saw comments on various postings asking which parking lots the Dodgers own, and which McCourt owns. Ridiculous. McCourt needs to just be out completely. Hopefully that will happen soon as well. This is a great first step.

[paulb]

What an opening day game for Seattle. Ichiro 4-5, King Felix 8IP 1 ER 6K.... should be fun to watch.

[Grandma]

I really hope karma comes back like a sewer gator to bite McCourts dick off whenever he sits down to take his next piss, he dodged it by light years this time. I could give a cats ass about the dodgers. I've actually had a dreams of them being relocated by force to Anchorage and folding after their first season, it was beautiful, but no scrooge that retarded should be allowed to have control of a major league baseball team.

[TomAz]

This is a horrible deal for anyone but Frank McCourt. Magic's group significantly overpaid. They're going to be devoting every $ of whatever TV deal they wind up with in paying off the $2 billion instead of investing in good baseball players.


Frank McCourt is laughing has ass off now.

[Miroir Noir]

The McCourt era really was unbelievable when you sit down and review it in its totality.

This is particularly unforgivable:

The far bigger shame was the evisceration of the Dodgers' international budget. The team that signed and developed standout prospects like Fernando Valenzuela, Pedro and Ramon Martinez, and Adrian Beltre fell to dead-last in baseball in 2010, spending a paltry $314,000 on international signings. It got even uglier last year, with the Dodgers spending a mere $177,000 (the next-stingiest team, the White Sox, doled out more than four times that much).

As referenced by Keri in the article above, The Collected Sins of the Frank & Jamie McCourt Era.

A particularly hilarious sin:

Paid Vladimir Shpunt, an elderly Russian self-proclaimed “faith healer” who knew little about baseball, approximately $600k to send the team ”V Energy” from his home in Boston. Yes, that’s a thing which really happened.

[lehorne]

the amount of Padres drafted in yesterday's fantasy league is an indicator of the lack of talent on the squad. But "let's play team ball!". Again.

[fikus222]

My Father and I just got tickets to this coming Monday's preseason game between the A's and Giants at AT&T Park. This will be our first game of the year, yeah buddy!!!

[GolfWang]

I'm going to the Diamondbacks home opener vs. the Giants with my Dad. I'm really excited even though I'm not a fan of either team. Should be a really fun way to kick off the season.

[Gribbz]

I should be there too.

[Gribbz]

I watched Catching Hell again. Still incredibly sad (for all parties involved).

EDIT* Confession: I almost teared up when Bartman leaned over to the people sitting next to him and said: "Do you think I did anything wrong?"

I hope he comes out of hiding one day and forgives Chicago.

[theklein25]

He has to forgive Chicago? Doesn't Chicago have to forgive him lol

It's a great documentary nonetheless

[Gribbz]

He has to forgive Chicago? Doesn't Chicago have to forgive him lol

I honestly don't know how you can say this after seeing the documentary...

Did you watch it in its entirety?

[Miroir Noir]

The Bartman incident has always struck me as similar to the Buckner thing in that everyone in the team's paranoid, self-masochistic fanbase seems to conveniently forget that cursed or not, they lost the next game too.

[theklein25]

Yeah I've seen it. There's so much that went on for one incident that I can see how people choose a side.
He shouldn't have been listening to the game on the radio because that 6 second delay really screwed things up.
But he seems like a genuine person who had good things going, and really didn't hurt anyone.
You can say he cost them the game, but really that error by Gonzalez was worse.
People just have the instinct to blame something and use it as scapegoat.
The death threats and all that were a little over the top.

[theklein25]

The Bartman incident has always struck me as similar to the Buckner thing in that everyone in the team's paranoid, self-masochistic fanbase seems to conveniently forget that cursed or not, they lost the next game too.

so true

[Gribbz]

The Bartman incident has always struck me as similar to the Buckner thing in that everyone in the team's paranoid, self-masocistic fanbase seems to conveniently forget that cursed or not, they lost the next game too.

Exactly. The Bartman incident almost ruined the man's life... the Cubs choking isn't a new phenomenon.

[theklein25]

Also there were multiple fans reaching out, and they interview that one guy who was so close to grabbing the ball as well. That's the part that irritated me, someone was gonna get that ball regardless.

[Gribbz]

Also, I completely understand the fans' initially reaction. I probably would have yelled "asshole!" too at first. It's the actions following that were completely despicable.

[theklein25]

I'd probably yell too, but that's as far as I go. I don't care enough to wanna kill someone. That shit just got crazy once everyone at the stadium knew who did it.
The impostor calling ESPN was hilarious though

[Miroir Noir]

The Giants sign Cain to a huge extension.

[Gribbz]

That's a lot of money. It had to be done though. The Giants' pitching is their only strength, really.

Also, Ubaldo Jimenez has been suspended 5 games for his actions yesterday against the Rockies.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/77...roy-tulowitzki

[Grandma]

!!!

[bucketofpower]

As a Cubs fan, I'm with you Gribble. Everyone forgets that Alex Gonzalez boots the double play ball and place all the blame on Bartman. Stomach-churning indeed, and you can't help but feel for him.

Opening day Friday! I'll be at the Dbacks/Giants game with muh pops in the left field bleachers!

[buddy]

MLB Extra Innings free trial April 5th-15th

[fikus222]

Had fun at the ball park last night. A win with Posey, Wilson and the smell of Garlic on the Bay.

[TomAz]

That's a lot of money. It had to be done though. The Giants' pitching is their only strength, really.

I don't have a problem with the money, but man the Giants took a risk signing a pitcher to a deal that long.