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This could use a couple more hours to hammer it out, but that's time I don't have. :( If I sucked bad at explaining something hopefully I'll be able to shore that up in the comments.

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I'm glad you explained what Opening Day was,as I'd feared I'd missed your announcement of a business foray!

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Sports are like religion. For the initiated, no explanation is necessary. The non-initiated wallow in confusion. I used to be at a loss for water-cooler conversation but then I quit my job and that solved that problem.

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ЁЯШВ I have never been drawn to team sports ( except the Olympics for a few decades, now I could care less about that either) as I've never been great at Team Play. I understand it,but chaff when others don't pull their weight...

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It's sort of funny, because as long as I've been alive I've been listening to "old" ballplayers, and almost all of them say the same thing after they get done playing -- they miss the game, but they REALLY miss part of being a team.

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Having an uncensored comment section is kind of like being part of a team, n'est-ce pas?

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Since we are in a libertarian/autist-friendly forum, I will go ahead and say the unspeakable: THE PROBLEM IS ALWAYS OTHER PEOPLE

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Crony Cap. Or Corptocracy

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It all boils down to your popularity in high school.

https://youtu.be/0wP01rZ2DC8?t=64

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Right behind you тАжтАж.

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I wish I knew where I was going. It inevitably involves dealing with other people.

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As an Astros fan I remember the 2004/05 seasons and how fleeting that period of winning was that ended with a sweep in the WSтАжbut this period of winning will never end!! Suck it Yankees!!

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2005, what a wonderful year to be a White Sox fan. Which I am. Which means I havenтАЩt had much to crow over since that season, while you, the Astros fan, have been able to celebrate numerous outstanding seasons.

ChiSox vs Astros tonight for Opening Day!

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Since Biggio hit his 3000th hit in 2007 there were some dark days until 2015. And I remember playing KC in the playoffs and Correa made an error that cost them the series and thinking it would be another 10 years before we made the playoffs againтАжlittle did I know that the тАЬprocessтАЭ was working.

Btw, before the Texans entered the NFL everyone was saying they were the best run expansion franchise in history and they would start winning very quickly and once games started they have very obviously been the worst run franchise and so I donтАЩt believe speculation about тАЬprocessтАЭ until I see results!

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Our 2015 almost ended in Houston. Once we managed to overcome that deficit, there was no stopping us.

Now we're terrible again. :(

Our "process" has us in the playoffs every 30 years or so, with winning seasons roughly two a decade.

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The Royals have those two fairly recent Series, and a championship, to lean on. Still one of the more successful expansion franchises despite the last 30 years.

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Getting less "fairly recent" every year. :( Next year will be the 10-year anniversary of the '14 run.

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IтАЩm a lifelong White Sox fan, but my all-time favorite player is George Brett. Jamie Quirk and Dan Quisenberry are also favorites of mine from that era.

Quisenberry, renowned for his unorthodox submarine throwing motion and productivity as a closer, passed away at the age of 45. How heтАЩs not in the Hall of Fame is beyond me.

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Brett is why I love third base :)

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Same with the Nationals. For the Astros itтАЩs all about drafting and developing players and then payroll managementтАжbecause you donтАЩt want to end up like the Tigers or Angels paying a 36 year old first baseman $30 million a year that can barely run to first base. So we let Correa go in free agency and then his rookie replacement won WS MVP!

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They brought in Abreu, a Chicago fan favorite.

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My problem is the with the 10 year free agent contracts. I think 3 year contracts to over 35 year olds are reasonable. Let the Yankees and Dodgers and Mets take on the those contracts and the Astros and Rays can continue winning by sticking with what has worked so far.

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Not sure what you guys think, but I am dreading the new rules : an enforceable pitch timer, 2 throw-overs, eye contact w/ the batter ? ... Let's see how many games are "walked-off" by judgement calls.

One thing my wife and my late mother agreed upon : Baseball isn't worth enduring unless it rewards the viewer w/ a few minutes of close-ups of HofF'er Jim Palmer

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The Royals game was over in a perfectly acceptable 2:30. The Jays/Cards game was a slugfest but never felt 'draggy'. The Guardians/Mariners game is in the bottom of the 6th after 1:20. (0-0 tie, but still.)

Now it seems like the focus is always on the game, instead of wandering around near the batter's box/pitching rubber. Hopefully this keeps up all year, because I'm very happy as a baseball-watcher.

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SimCom, as a KC Royal fan, I wish you the greatest luck w/ RHP Jordan Lyles. He was a rock for us after the ASG and chewed thru , I think, 180+ innings. The younger, inexperienced starters really looked up to him and was as instrumental to their development as any coach.

Obviously, I am p!$$Ed that the team was too cheap to exercise their option to keep him, instead signing another 1 yr RHSP , K Gibson.

Hope he kicks ass for you all

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He's about to throw his first pitch as a Royal!

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Three weeks ago, I started watching the WBC and just enjoyed the heck out of it except --- the games were just. So. Friggin' Looong. After setting the DVR for 3 hours, and an additional hour, there were games that I missed the last couple AB's for lack of space. Post-season games are always that way ; so, maybe I'll like the timer.

Words I never, ever thought I'd say regarding ANYTHING : i' ll keep an open mind about it

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agree. takes a little getting used to with the eye though, given we've had a 20 year slide into "slow-play"

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I don't hate the pitch timer as much as most, because as a (very old) pitcher, I always felt I had the ability to speed up or slow down the game as I needed.

I'm not a fan of the "only two pickoffs" rule, and I think the hitter should just be able to beat the shift. (LAY DOWN A BUNT!)

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How about "The Bird" Mark Fidrych or "The Mad Hungarian" Al Hrabosky?

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Different era, to be sure, and their wild antics were terrific theater. Loved AlтАЩs facial hair.

Can you imagine where Tom SeaverтАЩs first pitch to Nomar Garciaparra would have gone after the shortstop finally completed his exhaustive pre-swing routine? In the words of Joe Jackson in Field of Dreams, тАЬтАжwatch out for in your ear.тАЭ

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"Loved AlтАЩs facial hair."

How much of sports is about facial hair? How much of it is about recreational hallucinogens? https://youtu.be/yqvlrJQVAP4?t=65

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It says something when sports figures break out of the sports ghetto and become a thing that non-sports people know about. Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Dock Ellis.

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As to the latter, not enough. ;)

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exactly; or cleats up to avoid a double play

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Now we are getting somewhere.

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I love the pitch clock. I think every pitcher should battle like Buehrle.

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If Buehrle can throw quick, everybody can!

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