cabiness42

Scott Carroll will pitch his first MLB inning after 639 minor league innings. I wonder what the record is for most innings pitched in the minors before the first inning pitched in MLB.

It is the secondary game for MLBN, which means you will only get it if you are in the home market for one of the two teams in the primary game, which is Reds/Braves. Fortunately for me, I am in the Reds home market so I will get this game. Sox are not scheduled to be the primary MLBN game through at least the end of May.

Viciedo has 6 walks already and Alexei has 5. Whether it be Abreu, Steverson, or somebody else, there is clear change in these two.

There is a big difference between coming to MLB from Japan than coming to MLB from Cuba or anywhere else.

Amazing story in this week's SI about the old show "Sportswriters on TV". Anybody else remember that show? I remember them saying things and discussing topics that would never fly in today's ultra PC world.

I think Abreu is going to cost me a couple hundred bucks, because I may have to buy MLBEI just to watch him hit.

It will be one of three things: Gillaspie to DL L Garcia to Charlotte Semien to Charlotte

I would be watching this one if I could, but since I can't, I'll watch the Hawks.

Even the ZIP Code containing CITI Field is 53-25 Yankees. The ZIP Code containing O.co Coliseum is 59-18 Giants. At least the Sox are over 50% in their own ZIP code.

They have to IBB Flowers here, right?

I'll buy the pitching half of that equation, but not the hitting half. Going into today, the Sox were hitting .267/.347/.478 with 2 out and RISP. AL average is .208/.302/.327. It's not looking good, but Detroit's bullpen is really, really bad. A 3 run deficit is not insurmountable, even with Beckham and Danks in the lineup.

Wait, we want Beckham to go away and we want Semien to go away. Who plays 2B?

Yeah, the 2-out runs are frustrating, but if you tell me that a pitcher starting at Detroit is going to get through 6 innings with 3 runs, 7 hits, and no walks, you'd take that 11 times out of 10.

Only one run to show for it, but the Sox have made Scherzer throw 96 pitches in 5 innings so that could lead to profit in the late innings. Tigers bullpen ERA is last in the AL (yes, even worse than Sox).

Now compare that map to the MLB blackout map and you can see why there is a problem: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mlb-blackou...-in-the-courts/

So never in October then.

Part of my family on my mother's side are Lions fans. Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be the same without seeing the Lions lose.

I realize that we all hate Beckham and all love Semien, but Marcus is hitting .234/.280/.394 and has 28 strikeouts against only 6 walks. I do think that some time in AAA would be good for him. It also allows him to play SS every day.

"This is your birthday song. It isn't very long."

Wait, how will this work with TV? If the Lions and Cowboys both host NFC teams, those would both be FOX games. EDIT: espn.com is showing the Bears-Lions game as a CBS game. I guess the networks cut some sort of deal.

Where are you getting your figures for those years? Every place I have looked has 3 games at Wrigley in 1935 and 4 in 1945. OK, I think we're saying the same thing. I'm saying they went 1-2 as in 1 win with 2 losses, and you are saying they went 1-3 as in 1 win in three games.

That is true. The Cubs' 1918 WS games were played at Comiskey--not sure why. In 1929, 1932, and 1938, the Cubs went 0-2 at Wrigley. In 1935 they went 1-2. In 1945 they went 1-3. Also don't forget that the Bears won 4 NFL Championship games at Wrigley (plus one at Chicago Stadium!)

Network/affiliate agreements give the affiliates local programming for an hour on Saturday, so you can't do 12/3:30/7 CT. It would eliminate that hour which would cost the networks a lot of money, and while the 11am CT starts may have an impact on attendance and atmosphere at the games, it doesn't negatively impact ratings nearly enough to the point of making the networks consider taking that hour from affiliates. The second game has to end by 7 ET/6 CT. There's no getting around that as long as a broadcast network is involved in the TV deal.

I don't see that getting changed. 3:30 ET is the ideal time to be the second game in the Eastern Time Zone and the first game in the Pacific Time Zone. Also, local ABC stations own the 7-8pm time slot, so anytime games run later than 7:00, the network starts losing money. The best solution is to implement rule changes that get games down to a 3:15 average length. Then you can have the games at 12:30 and 3:45 instead of 12:00 and 3:30.