2011(and beyond!) MLB thread.

[JBlack240]

Well I'm not sure about Bourn being able to beat Harper. Being as it's generally a popularity contest, I don't think he's nearly as widely known as Chipper or even Bryce Harper.

[SheSaidSheSaid]

White Sox right-hander Brian Omogrosso (I'm sure his nickname will be some permutation of 'OMG') enters the game in the 8th in relief of Chris Sale, working with a 19-0 lead. It is the Major League debut for the 28-year old.

Conventional wisdom when giving a pitcher his Major League debut is to give him a soft landing - a game where you're either so far ahead there's no way of blowing it or so far behind it doesn't even matter what the pitcher does. Safe to say it looks like Robin Ventura ascribes to that philosophy

[M_Robbins5]

What I find funny is that this isn't the first time this season that the Rangers have recieved a beatdown of this magnitude.

[SheSaidSheSaid]

Indeed. They're not some unbeatable super team. Though I can't say it'd be a surprise to see them in the Series again.

[clashcityrocker10]

I'm not so sure Harper takes the Final Vote spot for the National League. It wouldn't surprise me to see David Freese win it, given that St. Louis has a ridiculously dedicated fanbase and he was the hero of the team's World Series championship last year. He's not at quite the same level this year (then again, his numbers in the postseason were absurd and unsustainable for a half-season), but it seems like that is never an issue when it comes to fan voting for these things. Harper has raised a lot of hype, to be sure, but not everyone is enamored with him.

[SheSaidSheSaid]

Like him or lump him, Harper is a rockstar. A buzzword. It's not that everybody loves him, but everybody is talking about him.

[M_Robbins5]

Indeed. They're not some unbeatable super team. Though I can't say it'd be a surprise to see them in the Series again.

This makes me sad.
There is however a good chance of that happening.

[JBlack240]

They don't exactly have a ton of competition outside of the Yankees and maybe the Angels?

[M_Robbins5]

The Rangers rotation does seem a little unstable right now. They've been hit by injuries of course the Blue Jays have suffered a lot more in that area, but I think this could affect the Rangers season.

[SheSaidSheSaid]

This makes me sad.
There is however a good chance of that happening.

It wouldn't make me sad, it would make me pissed off. Or, hella motivated to root on the NL like I was last year.

Seriously, Nelson Cruz missing that catch (notice how I don't even remember who hit the ball - was it Freese?) is one of my most cherished baseball moments ever, right up there with the top moments from my own team.