I think it would definitely be cool, but I wouldn’t “freak out” about meeting him or any other athlete. I’m in my last year at UF, so I was here for Tim Tebow’s last 2 years. I saw the guy all around campus, all the time. For the most part people left him alone, but sometimes some guy would go up to him all excited, stuttering, giddy, etc. To me it’s just creepy…even with professional athletes…in my eyes, they’re just dudes like you and me, who happen to be really good at something that’s entertaining. I would certainly take the opportunity to do it and brag about it, but I don’t think I’d treat them any differently than I treat most people I see every day.
To add, it’s funny her “evidence” is the Jays better play at home. You mean they play much better in their home park??? They must be cheating!!!
A recurring man in white sitting in the stands? I thought those were called season ticket holders…
[quote]therajraj wrote:
To add, it’s funny her “evidence” is the Jays better play at home. You mean they play much better in their home park??? They must be cheating!!!
A recurring man in white sitting in the stands? I thought those were called season ticket holders…[/quote]
I’ve read of others who have heard similar things about the Jays
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
To add, it’s funny her “evidence” is the Jays better play at home. You mean they play much better in their home park??? They must be cheating!!!
A recurring man in white sitting in the stands? I thought those were called season ticket holders…[/quote]
I’ve read of others who have heard similar things about the Jays[/quote]
Please share.
Joe Girardi has complained in the past about the Jays stealing signs. You know what I think is going on? They may have gotten good at stealing signs on the field and because of it are getting accused of stealing signs using someone in the stands.
And honestly it doesn’t fully make sense:
"The next day, the players who had seen the man in white headed to the field early. One stood in the batter’s box while another stood on the mound. From the batter’s box, it was clear the man in white had been perfectly positioned just above the pitcher’s head so that the batter would not need to move his own head, or even alter his gaze, in order to see his signal. ‘It’s premeditated,’ said one of the AL players, “as if the guy was a sniper trying to find the best position to make a shot.”
The spot above the pitcher’s head is occupied by 2 fucking closed off black tarp sections. It’s not possible for the batter to receive these so-called signs without having to ‘even alter his gaze’
And I don’t understand, the Jays must be fucking terrible at cheating seeing how they’re 28-27 this year. Never mind that their team OPS at home (.770) is a whopping 11 points higher than the .759 OPS visitors to the Rogers Centre have put up. Clearly, these intrepid reporters have got this sizzling loaf of story locked down: chickenshit anonymous shitbag relievers claim they saw a man in white signalling pitches at the Rogers Centre to Jays hitters, so… case closed, right?
And it’s probably why Jose Bautista is such a piece of shit hitter on the road, compared to when he’s getting all those signals from the “man in white.” A 1.030 OPS outside Rogers Centre and just 17 of his 33 home runs?
Please tell me you aren’t serious?
Keith Law, an ESPN scout who I respect (and who worked in the Jays’ front office a few years back and prob still has connections) said he heard about it on twitter. He apparently talked about it on his podcast today (Baseball Today) but I haven’t listened yet.
To be honest - I don’t care one way or the other. I’m just saying don’t dismiss it right away until you hear from a few different sources.
I have to agree with Rajraj on this one, to a certain extent.
IF the Blue Jays are stealing signs from the outfield via someone in the stands, well, that’s TOTAL bullshit on their part and they should be fined into oblivion for it. It’s completely chickenshit for them to do so and to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is what’s going on. They DO have an abnormally large discrepancy between hitting performance on the road and at home.
BUT, I’ve heard this accusation made before and for over a year now. At some point the rest of the teams in the AL have to understand that IF this is going on it is THEIR responsibility to combat it during the game. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me for more than a year and shame on me.
I also think it’s pretty low-class for some of these so-called pundits to get on the air and even insinuate that THIS is the reason for Jose Bautista’s recent success. It may very well be A reason for it, but until there is definitive proof that this is the case, I think people should leave that one alone.
Make of this what you will: Blue Jays Caught Stealing Signs? But by Whom? | Steal of Home
I also agree that I don’t really care if their players are stealing signs. Nor do I think it’s the reason for Bautista being good.
[quote]eeu743 wrote:
I think it would definitely be cool, but I wouldn’t “freak out” about meeting him or any other athlete. I’m in my last year at UF, so I was here for Tim Tebow’s last 2 years. I saw the guy all around campus, all the time. For the most part people left him alone, but sometimes some guy would go up to him all excited, stuttering, giddy, etc. To me it’s just creepy…even with professional athletes…in my eyes, they’re just dudes like you and me, who happen to be really good at something that’s entertaining. I would certainly take the opportunity to do it and brag about it, but I don’t think I’d treat them any differently than I treat most people I see every day.[/quote]
I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of famous people over the years (Snoop Dogg, Shaq, Shawn Estes, Tulowitzki, Tully Banta-Cain [although I knew those two before they were famous], Will Clark, Lon Simmons, Black Thought from The Roots, Nas and Richard Patrick).
It’s always pretty cool, mostly because you can tell your friends that you had a beer with Black Thought or got to have an actual conversation with Shaq. And if you just act like they’re normal people like everyone else, the ones who aren’t super egotistical and full of themselves (Shaq, Richard Patrick, Black Thought) really appreciate it and the ones that ARE overly-pretentious (Nas, specifically) don’t like it at all and it’s kind of a way to bring them down to Earth a bit.
Lincecum strikes me as the former type and not the latter. Either way, I can’t believe that Rajraj wouldn’t love a chance to bat off ANY Major League pitcher, let alone a two-time Cy Young winner, 4-time All Star and current World Series Champion who also happens to be perhaps the most recognizable player in the game, aside from The Motherfucking Beard, of course.
^ Nah the most recognizable player in the game will be a Yankee, Red Sox or a Phillies player.
Lincecum isn’t even in the same realm of recognizability as Derek Jeter.
Another thing the GM pointed out at the press conference:
In the age we live in there should be tons of evidence seeing how there are literally cameras everywhere. Where is the evidence? If they were doing it for even 1/3 of the home games it should be obvious.
Lastly, It should be pretty easy to spot too, since it’s basically impossible to pickup signs from 400 feet away without binoculars. Show me proof of a guy using binoculars that is relaying signals I’d love to see it.
Oh and lets not forget Justin Verlander no-hit the Jays at Rogers Centre earlier this season. What happened there?
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I just don’t care about meeting any professional athlete/celebrity. Especially not going to waste time trying to win a contest to meet one.
[/quote]
Raise your hand if you think cool raj would pee himself if he met someone like Lincecum[/quote]
If I were in the same location as him like say a bar I would say hi and maybe snap a picture. But I don’t worship these guys, I just enjoy watching them play.
[/quote]
Obviously you’re passionate about the game, perhaps more so than 90% of the people who participate in this thread (although I’m now beginning to seriously doubt the accuracy of that “statistic”). So wouldn’t you love the opportunity to meet someone like Lincecum, if for no other reason than to talk baseball with him? Wouldn’t you love the opportunity to ask him things that only a Major Leaguer could really answer?
Of course you would.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I just don’t care about meeting any professional athlete/celebrity. Especially not going to waste time trying to win a contest to meet one.
[/quote]
Raise your hand if you think cool raj would pee himself if he met someone like Lincecum[/quote]
If I were in the same location as him like say a bar I would say hi and maybe snap a picture. But I don’t worship these guys, I just enjoy watching them play.
[/quote]
Obviously you’re passionate about the game, perhaps more so than 90% of the people who participate in this thread (although I’m now beginning to seriously doubt the accuracy of that “statistic”). So wouldn’t you love the opportunity to meet someone like Lincecum, if for no other reason than to talk baseball with him? Wouldn’t you love the opportunity to ask him things that only a Major Leaguer could really answer?
Of course you would.[/quote]
I think what’s being misunderstood is the effort to which I would put into meeting these players. Last year the Jays had a “Flashback Fridays” where a former Blue Jays player (mainly from the Championship teams) would sign autographs before the game for a couple hours on Friday home games. Yes I think it would be cool to meet Roberto Alomar, but I wouldn’t stand in line for 2 hours to meet him. Just like I wouldn’t waste time making a video to win a contest to meet Lincecum.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]scj119 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I just don’t care about meeting any professional athlete/celebrity. Especially not going to waste time trying to win a contest to meet one.
[/quote]
Raise your hand if you think cool raj would pee himself if he met someone like Lincecum[/quote]
If I were in the same location as him like say a bar I would say hi and maybe snap a picture. But I don’t worship these guys, I just enjoy watching them play.
[/quote]
Obviously you’re passionate about the game, perhaps more so than 90% of the people who participate in this thread (although I’m now beginning to seriously doubt the accuracy of that “statistic”). So wouldn’t you love the opportunity to meet someone like Lincecum, if for no other reason than to talk baseball with him? Wouldn’t you love the opportunity to ask him things that only a Major Leaguer could really answer?
Of course you would.[/quote]
I think what’s being misunderstood is the effort to which I would put into meeting these players. Last year the Jays had a “Flashback Fridays” where a former Blue Jays player (mainly from the Championship teams) would sign autographs before the game for a couple hours on Friday home games. Yes I think it would be cool to meet Roberto Alomar, but I wouldn’t stand in line for 2 hours to meet him. Just like I wouldn’t waste time making a video to win a contest to meet Lincecum.
[/quote]
And yet…you’ll spend countless hours arguing with me about baseball on this site. I feel so special now, rajraj. You’ve made my day.
Bret Lawrie just hit a grandslam
[quote]scj119 wrote:
Every day, I look at Adam Dunn’s stats and am completely astounded at his falloff. It has to be the biggest single season dropoff in MLB history.
I LOVED watching him play in Washington. Dude is a cool guy too. Sad.[/quote]
Eh. Check out some of the stat differences after the mitchell report was released and drug testing started.
Pudge’s numbers are absurd as well. Dunn never had a decent batting avg. so basically it’s just a power drought. Which can happen easily when the batspeed slows down with age or whatever else.
He should be on the bench though. At the least not bat 4th
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Bret Lawrie just hit a grandslam[/quote]
Is he still batting ninth? If so, I know he’s new and all, but wtf? He’s got a couple homers already doesn’t he? Why bury him? I’m guessing he’s already moving up in the order, or will be soon.
So I’m watching the Giants get the shit kicked out of them by the Pirates (again) at work today and I started thinking. There are a lot of really good players in the league, obviously. But then there are guys at each position who I really like because I like their “game”, the way they play or what they bring to their team or their position. Now, these guys are all pretty good players, but they aren’t all the best at their position and some aren’t even in the top 5 or 10 at their position. But I like the way they play.
So it got me thinking. If you guys could field a team of 8 position players, a right-handed and left-handed starting pitcher and a closer (or any reliever, for that matter) who would you pick for your team, given the above criteria. I understand that this may end up looking like an All-Star Team, but that’s not really what I’m talking about. What 8 hitters and 3 pitchers would you want on your team based strictly on how they go about their business, the intangibles they bring, leadership qualities and versatility? Not necessarily the best at each position, but just good BALLPLAYERS. For instance, Barry Bonds (were he active) would NEVER make this team, even though I’m obviously a die-hard Giants fan.
I’ll list mine shortly. I have to step out for a few minutes but when I get back I’ll post my team. Perhaps a quick sentence or two explaining each pick. I think this could be interesting.
[quote]eeu743 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Bret Lawrie just hit a grandslam[/quote]
Is he still batting ninth? If so, I know he’s new and all, but wtf? He’s got a couple homers already doesn’t he? Why bury him? I’m guessing he’s already moving up in the order, or will be soon.[/quote]
Nah, there’s no reason to, they’re not making a playoff push and he already has a lot of pressure put on him by the fans.
They moved Rasmus down and now he’s batting .400 in his last 15ABs. Would you move him up to?
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
So I’m watching the Giants get the shit kicked out of them by the Pirates (again) at work today and I started thinking. There are a lot of really good players in the league, obviously. But then there are guys at each position who I really like because I like their “game”, the way they play or what they bring to their team or their position. Now, these guys are all pretty good players, but they aren’t all the best at their position and some aren’t even in the top 5 or 10 at their position. But I like the way they play.
So it got me thinking. If you guys could field a team of 8 position players, a right-handed and left-handed starting pitcher and a closer (or any reliever, for that matter) who would you pick for your team, given the above criteria. I understand that this may end up looking like an All-Star Team, but that’s not really what I’m talking about. What 8 hitters and 3 pitchers would you want on your team based strictly on how they go about their business, the intangibles they bring, leadership qualities and versatility? Not necessarily the best at each position, but just good BALLPLAYERS. For instance, Barry Bonds (were he active) would NEVER make this team, even though I’m obviously a die-hard Giants fan.
I’ll list mine shortly. I have to step out for a few minutes but when I get back I’ll post my team. Perhaps a quick sentence or two explaining each pick. I think this could be interesting.[/quote]
Interesting idea and although I love Bonds (as DBCooper is well aware), I do agree that in terms of a teammate or intangibles, he would most definitely not make the team.
I think it might be interesting if people even just give one player on said team.
One of my picks would be Nick Swisher. Not an amazing player by any means, but is a great player on the field and a great person off of it. I don’t know a ton about him, but everything I’ve seen (including game day pieces, on the field performance, and off the field activities) has made him seem like a straight up good guy.