Who’s your favorite enemy?

[ChipTait]

Like I told my buddy who is a Red Sox fan, “I finally get to root for Mookie Betts!”  I also used to really admire Pedroia, who I considered a true pest when he played against the O’s.

[Redskins Rick]

Geeze, how can I forget little Yaz?

[drjohnnyfeva]

Back in the day....... Thurmon Munson.

Today, Manny Machado.  I'm still salty about having to part with him.  Love to watch him play.  Will not enjoy watching him play us. 

[DrungoHazewood]

18 hours ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Angels still have the worst record in the AL.  Just proving that baseball is the ultimate team sport.

Are there other sports remotely comparable to baseball in that sense?  Are there superstar football players who basically never played in the postseason? The 1930 Yankees had seven Hall of Famers in their primes, including Ruth and Gehrig, and finished 16 games out of first.  The Cubs of Banks, Santo, Billy Williams, didn't just not make the postseason, most of the time they didn't even contend.  I love it when a complete underdog takes down a $200M team, like in 2012, but sometimes you get the feeling everything is just kind of random.

Oh, and as for the original question I don't like any Yanks or Red Sox until they've retired or gone to other organizations.

[Philip]

11 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Are there other sports remotely comparable to baseball in that sense?  Are there superstar football players who basically never played in the postseason? The 1930 Yankees had seven Hall of Famers in their primes, including Ruth and Gehrig, and finished 16 games out of first.  The Cubs of Banks, Santo, Billy Williams, didn't just not make the postseason, most of the time they didn't even contend.  I love it when a complete underdog takes down a $200M team, like in 2012, but sometimes you get the feeling everything is just kind of random.

Oh, and as for the original question I don't like any Yanks or Red Sox until they've retired or gone to other organizations.

Baseball is the truest team sport. The best pitcher whoever lived can only pitch, The best hitter ever only comes to plate once in nine, the best centerfielder ever can only play one position. And it’s not just the nine on the field, it’s the organization being able to plug-in other capable replacements when the inevitable injury happens.
That is why I am happy with Mike, and reluctant to complain about his moves. He’s doing his best to remake every aspect of the organization, and that is really a big deal.

[Redskins Rick]

40 minutes ago, Philip said:

Baseball is the truest team sport. The best pitcher whoever lived can only pitch, The best hitter ever only comes to plate once in nine, the best centerfielder ever can only play one position. And it’s not just the nine on the field, it’s the organization being able to plug-in other capable replacements when the inevitable injury happens.
That is why I am happy with Mike, and reluctant to complain about his moves. He’s doing his best to remake every aspect of the organization, and that is really a big deal.

I agree with everything you wrote, after your first sentence.

I could make a strong case, about football being a true team sport. The Qb depends on his OL to give the WRs time to get down the field, especially his guys on his blind side.

The intended target needs the other targets to act well and draw some defenders their way. Running backs depend on guys blocking and opening up holes for yardage.

You can talk defense schemes and its all teamwork there too.

3rd and long, and you depend on your nickel or dime package to defend against the pass.

[Can_of_corn]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Are there other sports remotely comparable to baseball in that sense?  Are there superstar football players who basically never played in the postseason? The 1930 Yankees had seven Hall of Famers in their primes, including Ruth and Gehrig, and finished 16 games out of first.  The Cubs of Banks, Santo, Billy Williams, didn't just not make the postseason, most of the time they didn't even contend.  I love it when a complete underdog takes down a $200M team, like in 2012, but sometimes you get the feeling everything is just kind of random.

Oh, and as for the original question I don't like any Yanks or Red Sox until they've retired or gone to other organizations.

Barry Sanders played in two playoff games, both in 1991.

[Philip]

18 minutes ago, Redskins Rick said:

I agree with everything you wrote, after your first sentence.

I could make a strong case, about football being a true team sport. The Qb depends on his OL to give the WRs time to get down the field, especially his guys on his blind side.

The intended target needs the other targets to act well and draw some defenders their way. Running backs depend on guys blocking and opening up holes for yardage.

You can talk defense schemes and its all teamwork there too.

3rd and long, and you depend on your nickel or dime package to defend against the pass.

Yes that is completely true, and in many ways George carlin is right when he compared the football to the military, but a great quarterback adapts to the limitations of his team. He has terrible wide receivers, so he runs, and vice versa. If he has a bad defensive line, he works on being very fast, and so on. The point is that he can- to an extent- compensate for the weaknesses of his team, But in baseball the only way to upgrade leftfield is to get another left fielder.

Edited August 25, 2020 by Philip

[DrungoHazewood]

1 hour ago, Philip said:

Baseball is the truest team sport. The best pitcher whoever lived can only pitch, The best hitter ever only comes to plate once in nine, the best centerfielder ever can only play one position. And it’s not just the nine on the field, it’s the organization being able to plug-in other capable replacements when the inevitable injury happens.
That is why I am happy with Mike, and reluctant to complain about his moves. He’s doing his best to remake every aspect of the organization, and that is really a big deal.

It's a blessing and a curse.  It's hard to sell people on getting really invested in big players and big personalities and watching all the time when even the best players don't guarantee your team is any good.

[Philip]

4 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

It's a blessing and a curse.  It's hard to sell people on getting really invested in big players and big personalities and watching all the time when even the best players don't guarantee your team is any good.

I really think baseball is more about the team than about the individual players. The individual players all come and go, but the team remains the same.

I miss Manny and Nate Mclouth and Caleb But the team is the team and I watch the team.

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, Can_of_corn said:

Barry Sanders played in two playoff games, both in 1991.

Played in 6. Only was on winning team once  

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandBa00/gamelog/post/

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, eddie83 said:

Played in 6. Only was on winning team once  

 

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandBa00/gamelog/post/

Sorry, don't know how what I looked up said different.

 

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Sorry, don't know how what I looked up said different.

 

No problem. I know he got tired of never winning anything. I was at his his last game. Meaningless game in Baltimore to end the 98 season. Of course nobody knew it at the time. 

[Redskins Rick]

58 minutes ago, Philip said:

Yes that is completely true, and in many ways George carlin is right when he compared the football to the military, but a great quarterback adapts to the limitations of his team. He has terrible wide receivers, so he runs, and vice versa. If he has a bad defensive line, he works on being very fast, and so on. The point is that he can- to an extent- compensate for the weaknesses of his team, But in baseball the only way to upgrade leftfield is to get another left fielder.

is your RB is weak, then you replace him, if your kicker cant kick worth a crap, then you replace him.

Bradshaw was a decent but not great QB, he had fantastic people around him, and they won 5 SBs.

 

[makoman]

Just now, Redskins Rick said:

is your RB is weak, then you replace him, if your kicker cant kick worth a crap, then you replace him.

Bradshaw was a decent but not great QB, he had fantastic people around him, and they won 5 SBs.

 

Yeah, I don't really get the point of their argument. All of the team sports are extensively influenced by the team. Even in basketball, which I think is regarded as the most superstar-centric of them all, Jordan won nothing until he got better teammates, same with LeBron. The NFL is incredibly team reliant. I don't get why we have to try and elevate baseball as somehow different. In fact, I think the starting pitcher probably has the most influence of any individual in sports over the outcome of a single game, the only problem is you can't use him every day.