The 2023 Running Baseball Thread

2023: Two HRs in Game 3 of NLDS

 

I hate the Chop, but the Philly fans doing it is tremendous trolling.

 

I would very, very much like to take in a postseason game in Philly. Electric.

 

Drove one of the goddies to Boston to visit Tufts and Brandeis. After the Tufts tour we ate lunch at AK's which is a short walk from the Brandeis campus.

What's great about AK's is that they use a slice of pizza as the apostrophe; and their wings are huge and excellent.

A large group of high school kids from Chicopee showed up about the same time to eat 15-20 pizzas. They had just finished a class trip to experience a Holocaust exhibit at Brandeis.

One of the students wore an Andre Dawson jersey ca. the Marlins years.



If there was an opening I would have asked the kid why he's wearing the jersey of a Hall of Famer who retired 28 years ago.

Code:

                                                                                                        
Year     Tm    G    PA   AB    R    H  2B 3B  HR  RBI  SB  CS  BB   SO   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS OPS+      Awards
1976    MON   24    92   85    9   20   4  1   0    7   1   2   5   13 .235 .278 .306 .584               63
1977    MON  139   566  525   64  148  26  9  19   65  21   7  34   93 .282 .326 .474 .800  116       RoY-1
1978    MON  157   660  609   84  154  24  8  25   72  28  11  30  128 .253 .299 .442 .740              107
1979    MON  155   684  639   90  176  24 12  25   92  35  10  27  115 .275 .309 .468 .777  111      MVP-24
1980    MON  151   638  577   96  178  41  7  17   87  34   9  44   69 .308 .358 .492 .850  136   MVP-7GGSS
1981    MON  103   441  394   71  119  21  3  24   64  26   4  35   50 .302 .365 .553 .918  157 ASMVP-2GGSS
1982    MON  148   660  608  107  183  37  7  23   83  39  10  34   96 .301 .343 .498 .841  132  ASMVP-21GG
1983    MON  159   698  633  104  189  36 10  32  113  25  11  38   81 .299 .338 .539 .877  141 ASMVP-2GGSS
1984    MON  138   583  533   73  132  23  6  17   86  13   5  41   80 .248 .301 .409 .710  102          GG
1985    MON  139   570  529   65  135  27  2  23   91  13   4  29   92 .255 .295 .444 .739  109          GG
1986    MON  130   546  496   65  141  32  2  20   78  18  12  37   79 .284 .338 .478 .815              123
1987    CHC  153   662  621   90  178  24  2  49  137  11   3  32  103 .287 .328 .568 .896  130 ASMVP-1GGSS
1988    CHC  157   640  591   78  179  31  8  24   79  12   4  37   73 .303 .344 .504 .849  137  ASMVP-15GG
1989    CHC  118   459  416   62  105  18  6  21   77   8   5  35   62 .252 .307 .476 .783  114          AS
1990    CHC  147   581  529   72  164  28  5  27  100  16   2  42   65 .310 .358 .535 .893  135    ASMVP-19
1991    CHC  149   596  563   69  153  21  4  31  104   4   5  22   80 .272 .302 .488 .790  116    ASMVP-14
1992    CHC  143   582  542   60  150  27  2  22   90   6   2  30   70 .277 .316 .456 .772              114
1993    BOS  121   498  461   44  126  29  1  13   67   2   1  17   49 .273 .313 .425 .738               92
1994    BOS   75   306  292   34   70  18  0  16   48   2   2   9   53 .240 .271 .466 .737               83
1995    FLA   79   246  226   30   58  10  3   8   37   0   0   9   45 .257 .305 .434 .739               93
1996    FLA   42    61   58    6   16   2  0   2   14   0   0   2   13 .276 .311 .414 .725               92

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/11/2023.

 

I said he was overrated, or at least there was a perception that he might be.
He was a phenom, then perceived as kind of a dick who was biding his time until he could cash in with free agency. He had his own teammate try to choke him in the dugout for not running out a flyball. He Borosed his way out of Washington and the Nationals won the World Series the year he left. When he left Washington, there was as much of a "good riddance" sentiment as there was any sense that the team was worse off with him gone.
He won the MVP in 2021 for a Phillies team that finished 82-80 (and his first was for a Nationals team with a similar record), and was hurt for a chunk of 2022.
He was the classic "Yeah, he's a great talent but what has he ever really done?" guy. I think as recently as 2021-22 there was a sense the Phillies would never win anything with him and the massive contract would be an albatross around the franchise's neck for a decade.

And then the 2022 playoffs happened and all of that vanished in an instant. He's putting the old reputation well into the rearview mirror with this postseason. He's become what he always could've and should've been, which is something much more than just a great talent marking time. He's becoming a generational talent, a fucking legend in a town that respects that, and a genuine team leader. If the Phillies win a World Series with him, it'll raise that reputation tenfold.
He's transformed himself completely, and it seems like it's happened in the span of less than two years.

 

Is there anyone on this board who roots for the Astros? Maybe I simply belong to the wrong Facebook baseball groups, but I have grown to despise Astros and Braves fans and actively want their teams to lose.

 

Fuck those cheating cheaters.

 

Makes me pine for the days of the defunct StraightCashHomey.net. To this day I can't see a weird, random jersey like that without shedding a tear for that site.

Couple of years ago I hit the goofball jersey Holy Grail at the Mississippi state fair, at a booth that was offering NFL jerseys as prizes for some game or other. Keep in mind that this is from October 2021:

 

I couldn’t love this post any more.

 

That site is so cool.
I’d love to find a powder blue Royals Buddy Biancalana jersey.

 

I wonder if Cowser is the metaphorical car driven off the lot. Went 7-for-61 in a brief stint in Birdland. I have a suspicion he'd be more valuable if he hadn't been promoted yet.