MLB 2022: The Long and Winding Thread

Most Ws by a manager without a WS win.

 

I'd like to think that if I ever get a ball at a game at this point, that this is what I would do. Find a kid and give it to him or her. Whenever I go to a game anymore I try to take a look around where I'm seated and see if there are any kids who seem into the game and the experience. I'd give them the ball.

 

It is also a testament to how hard it is to win a World Series. His best chance was in 2002 and he has come close, but was edged out every time. He has to be HOF. You can argue he screwed up Game 6 in 02 but so much is out of a manager's hands. But it is incredible he has 2000 wins and no titles.

 

Maybe this has been debunked, but Dusty sure ruined the careers of some starting pitchers. But, again, maybe that's an old narrative and Mark Prior's collision with Marcus Giles is what really screwed him up.

 

I think I've posted this before, as a Dodger fan I should love Dusty, but I can't. Between managing the hated Giants, basically claiming victory in 2002 when he handed the ball to Russ Ortiz when pulling him in Game 6, the wristbands and his multiple postseason flameouts, I root against him. The final straw was taking the Astros job and becoming an apologist, bringing a victim's mentality instead of owning the cheating and moving on.

I know these all have more to do with me than him, but I hope he never gets a World Series.

 

Done it several times over the years. I have no reason to need a baseball, a free T-shirt or a diecast racecar, but it could make some kid's experience a life-long memory.

 

Terry Francona has an outside shot at 2,000, but that shortened season in 2020 hurt his chances a lot.

 

He already does high-decible screaming for pop-ups to shortstop. So yeah, the future is sublime.

 

I've thought about this, too. I envision myself pretending to fumble or juggle the ball and drop it right into the hands of a kid, so he/she could feel they actually got the ball themselves. Probably won't happen.

I got really close in a game at Phoenix a few years ago. I never go for foul balls, but I was sitting on the aisle and one ricocheted from a section over and landed on the steps next to my seat. I delayed a second (too long) to go for it, then reached down to grab it just as a guy came charging down the aisle. He barreled into me and I was about an inch from tumbling down the steps. Bastard.

When a group of us went to San Francisco during Bonds' home run chase, I told everybody, "We are not going to catch a Bonds home run ball, but if one of us somehow does, the others must immediately become body guards because lots of people will try to take the ball away from you."

I've never caught a ball in the stands. I caught two in the Dodger Stadium press box.

 

Alex Wood is pitching a great game, and Dodgers hitters are taking some incredible pitches that lesser men would whiff on.

 

Surprised this hasn't been posted yet. Bymgarner eventually got tossed.