Random Thoughts Thread

[ccap41]

On 10/5/2024 at 7:16 PM, riviera74 said:

The better question is what happens when the NEXT MLB player bets on baseball and what MLB does about it, given that sports betting is now legal and all the professional leagues are intimately involved now (including MLB).

Like Ohtani? His "translator" "stole" from him. 

I would need to see concrete proof to convince me MLB just didn't want this story buried to keep their golden boy playing. 

On 10/5/2024 at 7:16 PM, riviera74 said:

Pete Rose was given a permanent ban, so MLB will never induct him, even posthumously. 

Just for the record, I believe the wording was "lifetime ban". I wouldn't doubt if they eventually put him in. 

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, G. David Felt said:

Love the driveway, should have it all pressure washed in the spring to be nice and clean. I do that with my large driveway, always nice to keep it from being slimy in the spring or fall.

Reminds me of @balthazar Pontiac, I wonder if he ever finished the motor rebuild and got it on the road?

Its a Canadian Pontiac so he wouldnt really approve of it.  Its got a Chevy 409 and Chevy chassis so it may seem like its a cool car, but I bet he'd tell you it aint a 2+2 Catalina 421...   

Edited Monday at 07:39 PM by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

Just for the record, I believe the wording was "lifetime ban". I wouldn't doubt if they eventually put him in. 

Yes. Lifetime ban was the wording. 

Its evil for the MLB to wait until he died to get him inducted so he doesnt see he was inducted.  

I fully understand the lifetime ban. Especially since in 1919 there was a fixin' with the 1919 World Series regarding gambling and purposely losing and all of that.  But...gambling is part of baseball now.  THIS is where I have the problem.  

Insult to injury, their 'here and now-for the time being' golden boy got himself into hot water with this gambling thing, and we will never know if his "translator" put bets for him or he really did "steal" from him...

I wonder what Pete Rose thought of Ohtani's situation.  It must have burned him up reall bad.  I know it made me anger up just a tad and I have no connection to Pete Rose in ANY way.  So he played a couple of games for the Montreal Expos.  He, the MLB and even the Montreal fans barely acknowledged this event even happening.  Try to even see his 4000th hit with the Expos on youtube.  It doesnt exist...   Its barely even mentioned that he hit is 4000th hit with the Expos.  And its not as if such a milestone is an occuring thing.   Only 2 players have reached that plateau.   I just like to see the proper accolades be given to the atheletes that deserve their achievements without the bullshyte moral highground.

PS:  Im not even mad at the Astros for using garbage cans and cameras to steal signs.  Why?  Stealing signs in baseball is PART OF THE GAME.  So they used cameras and garbage cans to hide them...  Its too damn bad they thought of it first with such a clever idea.  Maybe coaches could protect their oh so phoquing precious signs better... 

 

[oldshurst442]

From the movie Naked Gun in 19-phoquing-ninety

 

That makes light of the ridiculousness of keeping signs a secret...

But stealing those signs is every part of the fibre that is baseball...

[riviera74]

5 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

From the movie Naked Gun in 19-phoquing-ninety

 

That makes light of the ridiculousness of keeping signs a secret...

But stealing those signs is every part of the fibre that is baseball...

Some things never change.  But MLB should NOT be involved in sports betting given their Rule 21D.

[oldshurst442]

38 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

Some things never change.  But MLB should NOT be involved in sports betting given their Rule 21D.

I agree 100%.  But not  just MLB not being involved in sports betting.  But ALL sports.  NFL and boxing included.  All kinds of conflicts of interests...  

[ccap41]

20 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

PS:  Im not even mad at the Astros for using garbage cans and cameras to steal signs.  Why?  Stealing signs in baseball is PART OF THE GAME.  So they used cameras and garbage cans to hide them...  Its too damn bad they thought of it first with such a clever idea.  Maybe coaches could protect their oh so phoquing precious signs better... 

I'm fine with an attempt to steal signs. That is part of baseball. My issue is the way they went about it with cameras, video, electronics on player(s). Steal signs with your eyeballs, that's fair. That's part of the game. Putting a camera in centerfield and signaling to the batter what's coming is not fair nor legal. 

20 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Insult to injury, their 'here and now-for the time being' golden boy got himself into hot water with this gambling thing, and we will never know if his "translator" put bets for him or he really did "steal" from him...

I know it means nothing, but it's just a gut feeling. It just REALLY feels like he was the one betting on baseball and his translator took the fall. 

Ohtani is just too internationally big for MLB to let him get caught and ban him. He has to be the #1 money-maker for the league on an individual basis, by a long shot. 

[trinacriabob]

On 10/7/2024 at 7:51 PM, G. David Felt said:

Reminds me of @balthazar Pontiac, I wonder if he ever finished the motor rebuild and got it on the road?

I think a Pontiac colonnade of sorts would work wonders if balthy's holiday stocking were to be stuffed with one.

[Robert Hall]

33 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I think a Pontiac colonnade of sorts would work wonders if balthy's holiday stocking were to be stuffed with one.

Hmm...too new for Balthy, I think.   My favorites of the Colonnade era Pontiacs would be a '73 Grand Am or a '77 Can Am or '77 Grand Prix. 

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I'm fine with an attempt to steal signs. That is part of baseball.

 

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

My issue is the way they went about it with cameras, video, electronics on player(s). Steal signs with your eyeballs, that's fair. That's part of the game. Putting a camera in centerfield and signaling to the batter what's coming is not fair nor legal. 

I definitely understand your position here and that is how most people view it anyhow.  I just dont care about it. I find it comical that the Astros went to those lengths to steal signs. I understand the morality and legality of it, and I would have applauded the MLB if they would have revoked the title from them, but they didnt so I laugh about it instead and say oh well...the Dodgers should have protected their signs better...even not using signs at all. Or use what college ranks use:  the girls and the boys...

And now its even electronical in a smaller package

 

All these scandals against the MLB and I feel more vindicated about how the MLB treated the Expos while they were part of the league and how the MLB allowed them to leave and sour the fanbase.  But at the same time, I want my Expos to come back.  It would be nice to have a love/hate relationship with the MLB again...

Edited 8 hours ago by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

31 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

Hmm...too new for Balthy, I think.   My favorites of the Colonnade era Pontiacs would be a '73 Grand Am or a '77 Can Am or '77 Grand Prix. 

If I would be so bold to talk for him.  

He didnt like Canadian Pontiacs as he viewed those as fake. The ones with Chevrolet chassis and engines that is. And on top of all that, Chevrolet wasnt even high on his GM list either.  

I dont think he enjoyed the Colonnade styling too much. He didnt have a problem with it per se, but yes, one reason was that the Colonnade was too new for him and I think there were some styling elements to them that he deemed didnt flow nicely.

[Robert Hall]

12 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

If I would be so bold to talk for him.  

He didnt like Canadian Pontiacs as he viewed those as fake. The ones with Chevrolet chassis and engines that is. And on top of all that, Chevrolet wasnt even high on his GM list either.  

I dont think he enjoyed the Colonnade styling too much. He didnt have a problem with it per se, but yes, one reason was that the Colonnade was too new for him and I think there were some styling elements to them that he deemed didnt flow nicely.

The bumpers in that generation were kinda awkward...the rear bumpers were ok for '73, but the fronts were huge...I like how the Grand Am and Laguna had the integrated plastic bumpers.   Some of the '73s I like the rear more than the front, like the '73 Cutlass had a great rear but a gawky front, IMO.  The later '76-77 cars w/ the rectangular lights looked better, IMO.

 

[oldshurst442]

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

I know it means nothing, but it's just a gut feeling. It just REALLY feels like he was the one betting on baseball and his translator took the fall. 

Ohtani is just too internationally big for MLB to let him get caught and ban him. He has to be the #1 money-maker for the league on an individual basis, by a long shot. 

I honestly do not know how I feel about all that.  Yeah sure,  Im tad sour about Pete Rose's situation, but he also made his bed...   (Rules are rules) 

(Rules are rules)... but if money (that Ohtani generates for the MLB) dictates their decision making and rug sweeping, then that is what it is.  It aint right, but we dont get to enforce those rules.  We are stuck with this kind of corruption and there is nothing we can do about it. Unless we boycott but that is what Montrealers did and now we dont have a baseball team to cheer for at the MLB level and we have to literarly beg for them (the MLB) to come back...

But then again, maybe just maybe, the story is true about his "translator"  "stealing" money from him... 

Edited 8 hours ago by oldshurst442

[ccap41]

25 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

 

I definitely understand your position here and that is how most people view it anyhow.  I just dont care about it. I find it comical that the Astros went to those lengths to steal signs. I understand the morality and legality of it, and I would have applauded the MLB if they would have revoked the title from them, but they didnt so I laugh about it instead and say oh well...the Dodgers should have protected their signs better...even not using signs at all. Or use what college ranks use:  the girls and the boys...

And now its even electronical in a smaller package

 

All these scandals against the MLB and I feel more vindicated about how the MLB treated the Expos while they were part of the league and how the MLB allowed them to leave and sour the fanbase.  But at the same time, I want my Expos to come back.  It would be nice to have a love/hate relationship with the MLB again...

Because of the Astros, they now allow electronic communication between pitcher/catcher for calling pitches, PitchCom. 

Off all the bad things covid brought upon us, the Astros not having to face live crowds after getting caught cheating, is by far the worst. 

[oldshurst442]

6 minutes ago, Robert Hall said:

The bumpers in that generation were kinda awkward...the rear bumpers were ok for '73, but the fronts were huge...I like how the Grand Am and Laguna had the integrated plastic bumpers.   Some of the '73s I like the rear more than the front, like the '73 Cutlass had a great rear but a gawky front, IMO.  The later '76-77 cars w/ the rectangular lights looked better, IMO.

 

Yeah...

I like the Colonnades and like you said, the earlier ones had a certain style on one element that the later ones screwed up but at the same time, the earlier ones had a nicer style on another element  that the later ones screwed up.  And that would be for all Colonnades across the different brands and models.  

[oldshurst442]

4 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Because of the Astros, they now allow electronic communication between pitcher/catcher for calling pitches, PitchCom. 

I didnt know that.  That is a cool thing to happen.  I didnt even know that electronic communication was not allowed  Hence the camera usage being "frowned" upon...  DUH...

I was fooled into thinking that because in the college ranks they allowed for this, that the MLB approved it at their level but old school mentality and teams didnt want to adopt it.   As you know, I dont follow MLB as closely as I used to. Since the Expos skipped town in 2004.  I do watch NCAA womens college softball with my daughter. Religiously I might add.  

11 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Off all the bad things covid brought upon us, the Astros not having to face live crowds after getting caught cheating, is by far the worst. 

 Many fans feel this way I gather. 

Im in tune with the Houston Astros bashing.  I know it exists. 

The way I sees it though:

The MLB deserves a team like the Houston Astros. 

[trinacriabob]

1 hour ago, Robert Hall said:

Hmm...too new for Balthy, I think.   My favorites of the Colonnade era Pontiacs would be a '73 Grand Am or a '77 Can Am or '77 Grand Prix. 

I was joking.

I think he hates the colonnades and the malaise era.

More '76 or even '75 GP for me. I had trouble with the '77 lights up front (the center lamp in between) and the taillight medallion with the swoopy wedding invitation calligraphy inside it.

I was also sweet on '76 and '75 GLMs for their borrowing from or sharing with the GP (still drool over their fully instrumented dash), but being more manageable in terms of size.

[trinacriabob]

Not so great colonnade years:  1973 and 1974

Not so great next-gen years:  1978, 1979, and 1980.

Consumers had a right to be pissed.  It actually cost more to go from too much (the '77 MC) to too little (the '78 MC), and that's just one example.