MLB 2014 season thread

That was ugly. Probably a season-ender.

 

And it was the other knee from last year.

Speaking of injuries, Verlander left his start today with "shoulder soreness." MRI tomorrow:

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24656717/tigers-justin-verlander-leaves-start-with-shoulder-issue

EDIT: I see UPChip referenced Verlander on the last page.

 

The Kansas City Royals are in first place.

 

Derek Jeter is a better player than Honus Wagner was, posits Baseball Prospectus' Steven Goldman, all the while going on a long tangent about nutrition in the late 19th century:

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/8/12/5991109/derek-jeter-honus-wagner-yankees-pirates-in-final-battle

It's quite fascinating, really.

 

I think the MRI he's receiving today will soften some of the Tiger fans' venom.

 

Justin Bieber>Mozart.

I can't wait until Goldman explains how little Johnny in the 5th grade is smarter than Einstein because of integration, blu-ray, vitamins and the internet. The inability to comprehend legitimate and illegitimate or just erroneous league quality issues is strikingly juvenile.

 

The simplest tests show the premise Jeter was better than Wagner is erroneous to the point of ridiculousness. One doesn't even have to use numbers. Wagner was regarded as the greatest and then one of two greatest (Cobb) players of his time during his time. Jeter, while seen as one of the best players of his time, was never in the conversation for THE best.

 

More Jeter bullshit by the media to cloud several good pennant races.

 

For about 10 years, Wagner was easily the best hitter for average, best slugger, and best base stealer in all of baseball. And due to his versatility, he was arguably the best defense player as well.

He led the league in WAR 11 times, slugging 6 times, doubles 7 times, batting avg 8 times, RBI 5 times, OPS+ 6 times, and SB 5 times.

 

If you guys would actually read the linked piece, he takes all that into account. He doesn't ding Wagner as much as he does the level of his competition.

Wagner might have/probably would have succeeded in today's time, but you cannot ignore that Wagner's competition was all white, didn't throw as hard (or as many different varieties of breaking balls) and was born and raised in a time where much of the country was malnourished.

(As for the timing, it was written because Jeter just passed Wagner in career hits).

 

Eh, he's right, but it's meaningless. If you took prime Honus Wagner out of a time machine and put him into a modern MLB season, he'd be a much weaker player than he was in his day. Just like the fastest sprinter of 1890 would get housed today.

But who cares?

 

I think baseball is the one sport where people actually think there's a debate.