Baseball is Here!! MLB 2012!!!!

[Imran Siddiqui]

This year he is.

His slash line in SF is .219/.287/.384. He's been worse than Gregor Blanco.

[snoopy369]

Ouch. That's really interesting, he was normally a top hitter, in the OPS 110+ range, and all of a sudden, 91?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Yeah, esp since San Fran gave up some decent prospects for him. Though, 110 still wouldn't really have made up for Melky's 150ish. Scutaro's 135 helps though.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Reminds me, kind of, of Jason Bay. Hitter going from hitter parks his entire career to a pitchers park and can't adjust - killing everything.

[snoopy369]

While Scutaro goes from Coors Field to SF and ... is insane.

[Imran Siddiqui]

True... so very strange. One does wonder (yes, small sample size for both players), if it is because certain players are made for longer fences - ie, hitters that don't hit many home runs, but take advantage of the extra outfield space to get more hits/doubles.

[snoopy369]

Certainly sounds Scutaro-like. Though Colorado is also a longer-fences park...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Got very quiet among the Detroit faithful .

San Francisco SWEEPS Detroit to win their 2nd World Series in 3 years!! Is this a potential "dynasty"?

If they win next year, they would have to be considered one, right?

[-Jrabbit]

Congrats to the Giants!

[snoopy369]

I don't understand the Giants, frankly. They have some good-but-slightly-erratic pitchers, and some good-but-slightly-erratic hitters, both of whom suddenly are incredible come playoff time. I don't know that they're ever going to be a 'dynasty' because I don't think they're the best team, or even particularly close to being the best team, in baseball. Nobody thought they'd win the series this year, heck, a lot of people thought they wouldn't make the playoffs...

On the other hand, apparently the Tigers need to stop sweeping the ALCS.

[Imran Siddiqui]

They also have Buster Posey. The two years he's had over 400 ABs they've won the World Series .

(Though, seriously, Posey's career so far as been incredible. He's only 25 but has 2 World Series wins and will be the NL MVP this year to go along with his Rookie of the Year)

[Imran Siddiqui]

Interestingly:

This makes two World Series these Giants have won in the past three seasons. And that, too, is a feat for the ages. Over the past 90 years, only three other National League franchises have pulled that off: the 1975-76 edition of the Big Red Machine, the 1963-65 Dodgers and the 1942-44 Cardinals.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8568168/san-francisco-giants-second-world-series-title-three-seasons-rare-accomplishment-mlb

[Guynemer]

**** everything, etc. etc. etc.

[OzzyKP]

I don't understand the Giants, frankly. They have some good-but-slightly-erratic pitchers, and some good-but-slightly-erratic hitters, both of whom suddenly are incredible come playoff time. I don't know that they're ever going to be a 'dynasty' because I don't think they're the best team, or even particularly close to being the best team, in baseball. Nobody thought they'd win the series this year, heck, a lot of people thought they wouldn't make the playoffs...

On the other hand, apparently the Tigers need to stop sweeping the ALCS.

[SlowwHand]

Hot off the presses.

Pascual Perez dead at age 55
Updated: November 1, 2012, 3:29 PM ET
Associated Press

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Former major league pitcher Pascual Perez, who had a troubled 11-season career that included two suspensions for drug use, was killed at his home in the Dominican Republic in an apparent robbery, police said Thursday.

Perez, who last played in the majors for the New York Yankees in 1991, was found with a severe head wound in a town west of the capital, Santo Domingo, and there was evidence at the scene to suggest that whoever killed him had been searching for money, said Joel Valdemiro, a prosecutor who is involved in the investigation.

No one was in custody and authorities did not reveal whether they had any suspects. Police said there were several assailants and that the house in the town of Don Gregorio appeared to have been ransacked.

"It's an act of criminality, unfortunately," Valdemiro said.

Perez's brother Carlos, a former pitcher for the Dodgers, confirmed his death.

Perez's ex-wife Maritza Montero found his body about 8:30 a.m. Thursday and investigators said he appeared to have been slain about eight hours earlier.

The precise cause of death has not been determined but officials said Perez, who had suffered severe kidney problems in recent years, had a fractured skull from a blow to the head.

Perez, 55, played 11 seasons of in the majors and compiled a lifetime record of 67-68 with the Braves, Pirates, Expos and Yankees. But he was in and out of trouble for much of his career.

"We were shocked to hear the news of Pascual Perez' death earlier today," said Braves president John Schuerholz in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during the aftermath of this tragic event. Pascual left his mark with the Braves organization and will always be remembered fondly by Braves fans."

Perez pitched for Atlanta from 1982-85. He was 15-8 in 1983 and 14-8 in 1984.

While playing for the Braves, he was suspended in April 1984 following his Jan. 9 arrest in the Dominican Republic on charges of cocaine possession.

He spent two months in drug rehabilitation in 1989 while with the Expos, after failing to complete rehab programs twice before, and avoided a suspension only by agreeing to accept a minimum one-year suspension if he tested positive for cocaine again.

In March 1992, the commissioner's office suspended him after a failed test the day he arrived for spring training with the Yankees. At the time, he was entering the final season of a three-year, $5.7 million contract. He never returned to major league baseball.