Very good baseball game on ESPN2 right now.
 

It looks like Nebraska vs Texas.

I'm not sure if it's live or when it's from, but it's the 16th inning and it's tied 3-3.

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Im just watching because of the inning.

Other than that, college baseball sucks.

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I agree.

The pitchers are inexperienced and not as accurate as AAA or pro ones. Not as much fun.

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Do they still use aluminum bats? That's hella lame.

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Of course they do.

That's why you hear that clanging sound. That ain't wood son.

And Nebraska wins. 4-3, after 16 long innings.

Re: Very good baseball game on ESPN2 right now.
 

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Im just watching because of the inning.

Other than that, college baseball sucks.

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Agreed. Why is college basketball so much more fun?

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The pitchers are inexperienced and not as accurate as AAA or pro ones.

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And a wild pitch ends the game. Frikkin noobs.

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Im just watching because of the inning.

Other than that, college baseball sucks.

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Agreed. Why is college basketball so much more fun?

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Because D1 college basketball tournament teams are only one step down from the pros, and they try harder than the pros do.

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And because college basketball is popular all around the country, whereas you don't hear anything about college baseball in most parts (i.e. NE).

Also, single-elimination playoffs/tournaments are always +EV.

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The game was live btw (I watched the first couple innings of it).

Game 2 of the series is on ESPN Saturday afternoon.



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The pitchers are inexperienced and not as accurate as AAA or pro ones.

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This may come as a surprise to you but AAA ball-players ARE pros.

Ask any minor-leaguer what they think their chances of making it to the "pros" are and they will at least THINK "well...I'm already a pro" even if they don't say so directly.

They will assume you mean 'major league' when you say 'pro' because so many people make that mistake.
But EVERY minor-league ball-player already considers himself to be a pro and it is noticed when that distinction is not made.
Other minor-leaguers will politely make the correction and say that they are already pro and they hope that if they keep working hard that they might be able to make it to the major-leagues one day (or something like that).



The observation that college-pitchers aren't as good as AAA pitchers is completely idiotic.
It's roughly the equivilent of saying "those D-3 football players aren't as good as the New England Patriots."


If they had a 90mph fastball they would have been more likely to be in the minor-leagues (probably at the single-A level) already. Although there are some good pitchers in college-ball....many talented prospects get drafted out of high-school or after a couple of years of college ball.


in the 16th inning of a college game you are likely to get pretty deep into a team's bullpen.
I'm sure there were a couple of soph's and/or freshmen in that game who will almost definitely never play professionally (meaning they will not be good enough to get drafted or get a shot at the single-A level in any organization).



I agree about the aluminum bat thing in college-ball.
That 'clink' of the bat drives me nuts.

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And because college basketball is popular all around the country, whereas you don't hear anything about college baseball in most parts (i.e. NE).

Also, single-elimination playoffs/tournaments are always +EV.

[/ QUOTE ]

True, those are +EV, but this is not to say that multi-game playoffs are -EV. The Division Series, the Championship Series, and the World Series all pwn.

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You're right. I should not have said pro. I should have said major-league.

I go to Syracuse Skychiefs(Toronto's AAA affiliate) games during the summer, and most of the players are very very good. But I would say that at most 5 people on the roster have a chance at making it in the major leagues. By making it I mean remaining for 2 full seasons, not just being called up every now and then.

I didn't mean to construe that AAA players are bad. Heck, the Indianapolis AAA hit up Curt Schiling for lots of runs this week. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] So either they're pretty good hitters, or Curt Schilling really really sucks. I wish it was the latter, but it's probably the former.

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[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And because college basketball is popular all around the country, whereas you don't hear anything about college baseball in most parts (i.e. NE).

Also, single-elimination playoffs/tournaments are always +EV.

[/ QUOTE ]

True, those are +EV, but this is not to say that multi-game playoffs are -EV. The Division Series, the Championship Series, and the World Series all pwn.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course.

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Yeah. Baseball playoffs are definitely better suited to multi-game series than single-game elimination ones, because of the starting pitching aspect, and for other reasons as well, but mostly that one imo.

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Additionally....I think college-basketball would still be popular if they used a 2-out-of-3 or 3-out-of-5 format somehow.


I blame the aluminum bat more than the non-single-elim post-season format that used.



College baseball is often played in freaking cold weather so that cuts down on the crowd potential.....and it really is kinda long and boring to watch for the most part (both live or on TV).

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I think that would be awful if college basketball were played with a bunch of series.

I much prefer the single-game elimination aspect that the NCAA tourney offers. There would be a lot fewer upsets if we went down that path. Kansas would surely get the best of Bucknell in a best of 3 or 5 series.

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I went to a UCONN vs. ND game last year at UCONN with my last school, and the pitcher from ND was really good. The game was still wicked boring though.

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I was ranting obviously.
Just a pet-peeve of mine.


I was a radio play-by-play broadcaster of single-A minor-league baseball for 10 years so it's something I take a bit more personally I guess.



I think 5-7 AAA players making it as 'regular' major-leaguers is roughly correct.
But almost all of them will at least get some sort of shot. Once you make it up to AAA there is a high likelyhood of getting at least a month or so at the big-league level.


It really depends on what you count as 'regular' though.

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Yeah I had heard on here that you used to broadcast those games. That's pretty cool, getting paid to broadcast a great game like baseball. Did you do any other sports?

Also, I haven't been able to find any info on this, but maybe you know. How much do AAA players get paid, roughly? I've heard that they get paid really low salaries(like 40-50k) considering the hard work that is an entire minor league season

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[ QUOTE ]
I think that would be awful if college basketball were played with a bunch of series.

I much prefer the single-game elimination aspect that the NCAA tourney offers. There would be a lot fewer upsets if we went down that path. Kansas would surely get the best of Bucknell in a best of 3 or 5 series.

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Vermont would still beat Syracuse, don't worry about that.

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I agree it would be stupid if college-hoopes did this...but it would still make for better viewing (live and TV) then college baseball does.


I'm honestly not so sure about Kansas vs. Bucknell 3 out of 5.
Kansas was REALLY reeling heading into the tourney.

bucknell's chances would not have been as strong in a 3-out-of-5 format obviously....but I still think there would be upsets out there.

Just my own views on how the public is ALWAYS surprised at the number of mid-majors that pull off 'upsets'.

some of those teams with 25-6 records are pretty damn good...and some fo the 5th and 6th place teams from the power conferences don't exactly blow me away
....even though Bucknell would not go 25-6 in the ACC obviously....whereas Maryland would clearly clean-up in whatever conference Buncknell is in I still think the difference between some of those teams is not as great as is often assumed.

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Vermont would not have taken Syracuse 3 out of 5. SU had their worst game of the season that Friday night. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

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I have broadcast all of the 4 major sports at various times.


I don't know how much AAA ball-players make. Remember though that they are only 'working' for 6 months.

The average 'salary' might be $4k/mth or something...but even a 1 or 2 week call-up to the major leagues since you get the major-league minimum ($170k/season perhaps?) for as long as you are up there.
So it is still going to be dependant on how much major-league time they get to spend.


They don't get a pay-check in the off-season (unless they are playing winter-ball in Puerto Rico or Venezuela or something).


Single-A ball-players make around $1500/mth I think during the season. Maybe less for short-season A and rookie-ball.


But some of the players had some decent signing-bonuses.
A first-rounder like Damian Rolls or Bubba Crosby would have signed for $800k-$1.5mil or so perhaps (although I don't know what a 25th overall pick would sign for these days because I haven't kept up with it).
Yet these guys still get their same $1500/mth paycheck when they were at single-A (or whatever it is).
And Crosby is probably making the major-league minimum salary I suspect...and I don't even know where Damian Rolls is currently...possibly triple-A.


A 35th rounder who maybe signed for $5k or $10k or so is going to be reliant on his $25/day meal-money (on the road) and $1500/mth paycheck just to get by. A 1st rounder who signed for $1mil will be driving a MUCH nicer car and will not be as reliant on the paycheck obviously.


One year with the Dodgers single-A we had a couple of guys called-up for 2 or 3 days to play in the annual Hall of Fame exhibition game in Cooperstown that weekend. They choose two teams to play it every August and that year it was the Dodgers and Padres....both teams called-up minor-leaguers to play in it because they wanted to rest some fo the major-leaguers.
Adrian Beltre and Onan Masaoka (pitcher) were called-up from our team.

Not only did they love the experience of getting a quick shot at a higher level....they also said that the $3,000 or so that they got for 2 or 3 days up there came in pretty handy too.

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Great post man. Thanks.

Hey, that Adrian Beltre sure sounds familiar. I wonder why? [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Hehe, I remember when we had Carlos Delgado playing here in Syracuse back in the early 90s. That was great. And El Duque pitched a rehab start here last year when Columbus came to play Syracuse. It's great to go to see the games when the big names come and sub, but it's just as great to see it when there are no major leaguers rehabbing.

I like how I can sit in the third row for only $7, and get autographs after the game from players. It's great.

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Beltre was single-A player of the year in 1997 and nobody was surprised. Everyone was expecting him to be the best player at that level that year.
he was freaking 18 (everyone thought he was 19 at the time though).
On opening day that year he hit what is still possibly the longest HR I saw at the minor-league level.


He probably signed for $5k or so as a 16 y.o. (or 15-year-old...uh-oh) out of the DR. By 1997 everyone pretty much KNEW he would be making millions in the bigs....but until then he was trying to survive on his measly minor-league check.
He obviously had Hall-of-Fame potential at the time (and still does...he's only 25).

Didn't even have a car at that time.
He would ride his bicycle back and forth...or sometimes get a ride with someone after a rain-out...but still sometimes would have to bike home 2 or 3 miles in a thunderstorm.


I'm a big fan of minor-league baseball of course.
Might take the GF and her brother to the Memphis Redbirds game tomorrow night. Supposed to be nice weather. Her brother is a big baseball fan...meanwhile she doesn't know the difference between a home-run and a strike-out (she grew up in a country that doesn't have baseball).


I actually don't miss baseball or the broadcasting bit as much as I would have thought. I don't even keep up with the local announcers or how the teams are doing that much.

Wouldn't be opposed to getting back into it at some point but it's a lot of work (albeit fun work) and a LOT of travel (not always fun travel).
poker is fun too...and so is having some actual freedom.

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I go to college outside of Rochester(which is pretty close to Syracuse), and grew up in Syracuse of course.

I remember hearing talk about Mike Mussina was pitching for the Rochester Red Wings 15 years ago. I was just a little kid then but everyone was talking about how great a pitcher he was. I'm sure the same was said about Cal back when he was here.

They're a Twins affiliate now, but they used to be the AAA club for the Orioles, but originally they were a Cardinal affiliate.

My friend told me a story of his grandpa going to a Red Wings game and meeting Stan Musial. He said that his grandpa told him that he just KNEW Stan was going to be big from watching him play then.

Great story.

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Older friend of mine from Ohio grew up in Rochester and went to a lot of games there.

They had the longest running affiliation in baseball when ties were severed between them and the Orioles.


That's really a solid area for sports...and obviously a solid area for sportscasting (syracuse is the top university of sportscasting talent).


Matt Park is the play-by-play guy for the Ornagemen now and just a couple years ago he was doing PBP for the West Tenn Diamond Jazz double-A baseball team in Jackson, TN.

Bob Mcgilligot (something like that) was PBP for the Chiefs and Crunch last I knew....got a gig with the Colubmus blue Jackets I think....but obviously didn't get to call many NHL games this year.


I called college hockey for Miami (Ohio) and we played a holiday invite tourney in Syracuse (the SIT) one year (99 or so I think with Niagara, Colgate and St. Lawrence).

That was the worst broadcast set-up I have EVER been a part of in hockey.
Reasonable arena for the fans (nothing special...but it's okay)...Onadonga War Memorial I think right??

but that press-box is just freaking scary. I'm only 5'6" and even I was almost hitting my head on various angled ceilings and nails coming out of the wall and crap like that.


My last year in baseball was 2002 with the Elmira Pioneers in the Northeast League obviously not too far from you.

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man yo am i drunk as hell. but listen, i used to live near rochester and i loved going to the redwings games at silve stadium. that place ruled as a kid. then they built frontier field and i was just not feelin it. its a nice ballpark and all but it just doesn't have the atmospher that silver had. rochester represent.

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Yeah the SI Newhouse school at SU is just great for broadcasting. Costas and Albert are the two big names that went there.


I know Matt Park. He's a great guy. He's our "Voice of the Orange". Whenever I'm in town and an SU football or basketball game is on, I always tune to 95x to listen to him do the play by play. He also hosts "Inside Syracuse football".

Yeah you're right, it's the War Memorial. That place is pretty busted. Old building though, so that's why.

The Syracuse Crunch(AHL team) play their hockey games there.

And yeah I'm definitely familiar with the Elmira team. They play in the Can-Am if I'm not mistaken. The Jackals are very strong in that league. They're like the Yankees of it I guess. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

So I guess you lived in Elmira when you were doing the broadcasting there?

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Remembering from my days in the Florida State League and the record-books.
Musial led the FSL in ERA when he was with Daytona Beach. Something like 1947 or so perhaps??
Yup...he was a pitcher then.
Kind of pulled a Babe ruth on them I guess (went from pitcher to slugger).


It's fairly easy to say "Just knew he was going to be great when I saw him then."
ALL the scouting reports were SUPER high on Beltre so that one was easy.

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The Jackals just recently started up in the UHL (in 2001 or 2002 I guess).
Maybe they transferred leagues...haven't kept up with it.
They played teams like Port Huron (MICH), Rockford (ILL), Quad Cities (Iowa) as well as some other teams a little bit closer that I can't specifically remember currently.
I only went to a couple hockey games while there.

Only lived in Elmira for one spring-summer and that was it.


The Pioneers play in a neighborhood park called dunn Field. nice, old ballpark. I liked the atmosphere there (and I'm really picky when it comes to whether or not I like a minor-league baseball stadium).
Not much to like about the city of Elmira though. Pretty boring.

At the time the league included Adirondack, Albany, Brockton, Pittsfield, Quebec, New Jersey (Montclair St campus) and Allentown.
League has changed a lot since then (adding Bangor and Lynn and somewhere else too I think).


Quebec may be my favorite minor-league stadium and atmosphere ever (narrowly beating out Daytona Beach).

Both are probably more like the old stadium in Rochester (which I have never been to).

I like the newer, retro-style stadiums too in the minor-leagues....but not nearly as much as the genuinely old ones like Quebec and Daytona.
the restrooms are too small and are reaslly dirty...and the seats aren't exactly constructed at all the right angles (and the press-boxes really suck too)...but nothing beats the atmosphere of the old ballparks.

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Good stuff.

Have you ever been to P&C Stadium where the Skychiefs play? It's really a good stadium. Right outside the city and very clean. And the tickets are cheaper than here in Rochester.

Season tickets can be had for like 250.

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Haven't been to that stadium.

Drove past the baseball stadium in Buffalo though. That's about it.

At AAA I haven't been to too many stadiums.

Indianapolis (the old stadium that was used in the filming of Eight Men Out...easily my favorite)
Memphis
Toledo
Richmond
Iowa
Louisville (the old one....doubled as the football stadium for U of L)




Speaking of just KNOWING someone is going to make it when you meet them....that's EXACTLY the feeling I got when meeting Matt Park at the Baseball Meetings one year.

I haven't even heard him on the air....but just meeting him I was fairly certain he was solid (and I think most announcers suck).

he's not in the bigs obviously....but calling D-1 football and hoops for a major university is good enough for me.

And he may still have some 'moving up' left in him. Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

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I went to this game, well got there in the middle of the 8th. Huskers were down 3-2 in the bottom of the eigth with a man on and no outs, I'm fairly sure the ump called a questionable balk which saved us an out and we ended up driving the guy home for the tying run. Pretty unexciting from here on out, me and my buddy did end up watching the eventual game blowing pitcher in the bullpen in the 14th or 15th inning and he looked pretty lazy, but what the hell do we know. All three of his only pitches were off the plate or much worse. After the game the Texas players gave their longhorn \--/ wave to the crowd, I was about 30 feet away and yelled out "You lost" and then gave them the upside down horns and pointed to the scoreboard, that's when one player decided to flip me off. Fun game except it got pretty cold, too bad I have to miss Saturday's game but I'll probably end up going to the one on Sunday. Hopefully we can go at least 2-1 for the series and move up rankings a little bit, we've had a pretty weak schedule so far.

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triple A makes 1800 a month. if you are a 40 man player you make a little more.

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league min is 300K now and A ball makes 1200 a month which is actually a pay increase this year.

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wow i played in the northeast league when i got released, its called the can-am league now.

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What team did you play for man?

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actually university of nebraska, after that the yankees and then i was traded to the royals and just got released this spring training.

best spring training i have ever had too...8ip 0er 6h 9k 0bb

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That's awesome man.

You're not joking right?