the pitch clock is counting down to the MLB 2023 REGULAR SEASON THREAD

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F64vP_QWQAAvCdG?format=jpg&name=small

that is fuckin wild.

I love the shorter games...Yordan Alvarez is obviously not up there with Betts, Acuna, and Judge as the game's best player, but I would say he's more or less their equal as a hitter.

shorter games + rule changes to emphasize run manufacturing vs. the long ball are the big reasons i'm getting back into baseball

also leaning into the fact that citifield is only a 20 min walk from where i live!

Is the Citi Field food game as good as the hype says

long ball still rules unfortunately as far as i can tell. strikeouts too. If someone actually gets on base there is a little more action in the basepaths though…

i had the worst chicken sandwich of my life at the sweet chick - shame on me for not going to fuku. same price! there seemed to more choices than coors field. but it's all fried stuff. good beers if you know where to look.

shake shack has a citi-exclusive burger that's just fried onions and BBQ sauce on top of a regular shackburger, i think.

i had wondered if the increased pace had led to lower batting averages, because there are so few qualified hitters who've reached .300, but that trend seems to have started prior to this season. but maybe it has, i haven't checked the overall MLB trends, only the individual season leaders.

xp tysm for this genuine reply, I was kind of making a joke about this tweet

When I’m not dancing on the dugout, I’m enjoying the BEST food in baseball! Vote for @CitiField in USA Today’s 10Best Stadium Food poll!

🍔👉 https://t.co/r4sm1sys7G pic.twitter.com/TpDHURz5JT

— Mrs. Met (@mrsmet) August 15, 2023

yeah that poll was posted all around the local queens blogs. i guess i'm fortunate that my two teams (mets and phillies) have the #1 and #2 ranked stadiums for food. somebody pointed out to me that it was heresy to have your two teams be cross-divisional to which i say eh, at least it's not the phils and the braves.

i hope you never find the r/baseball post about which mascots have the highest rule 34 content on the web (the tweet is a hint).

Oh trust me I read about that in the replies and I was both upset and not even remotely surprised

gyac, Citi Field also has Flushing right next door, which is home to some of NYC’s best Chinese food. Would gladly take you for a feast if you ever come over for a game.

This is so kind and yeah I’m pretty likely to come to NY! Assume vegetarians covered, I will return the favour if you’re ever in London!

The Chinese like their pork but we can make it work ;)

flushing is where i live and it's not just chinese food, but also korean food. for vegetarian you're better off going to manhattan though, somewhere like spicy moon, or one of the buddhist vegetarian places. flushing does have the temple canteen, one of the best dosas in nyc.

afaict there is exactly one bar in flushing that supports the mets, it's an irish pub and i've been too afraid to step in.

Doesn’t surprise me. My dad told me a great story about going to some rough Irish pub in the Bronx in the 70s. It started off with “So when I went in I noticed all the furniture was nailed to the floor,” and ended with him wearing a bloody shirt trying (and failing) to get a cab.

From google reviews:

Old bartender (Johnny) MUST retire. He charged me twice for my drinks, forgot that I paid. Nearly jumped over the bar to make me pay twice!
Gave me and the locals wrong drinks orders, wrong amounts of change...consistently forgot what he was doing. The locals are very good people. Get this guy some help!

It wasn’t until I got a Szechuan cookbook that I confirmed why dry stir-fried string beans tasted so good. The little bits were pork.

it's days like these that i curse the chinese for inventing a way with pork.

dry fried string beans also taste good because although the traditional preparation is to toast them in a pan with little to no oil (hence the name 'dry fry') until browned, in restaurant preparation they are deep-fried in oil.

To move back slightly in the direction of ball…

Mark Canha on Pete Alonso (via The Show with @Joelsherman1 and @JonHeyman):

“He feels like such a New York guy, he really embraces that role…he’s so all-in on the Mets. I loved playing with Pete. Saying that he’s a problem in the clubhouse couldn’t be further from the truth. I… pic.twitter.com/yDurI6C1Fj

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 26, 2023

Im gonna assume it’s pham and no one likes him so

Also I am watching my 20th (?) game featuring the Rockies of the year and can tell you without embarrassment that Nolan Jones is A Guy.

from what i've seen pete's got great body language on the field, he seemed genuinely contrite when he tossed that guy's first hit into the stands by accident. maybe the worst you can say about him is that it's a contract year and maybe he's hitting for his own stats and not the team?

his walk-on music is absolutely awful though. at least nimmo has an excuse via being a corn-fed deeply christian dude from wyoming

1⃣8⃣ outfield assists for Nolan Jones!

Jones has broken the Rockies franchise record for outfield assists in a single season.#Rockies x @ShaneCompany pic.twitter.com/ga5RtJ5pIM

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) September 26, 2023

xp he is a big dumb guy who loves to mash, nothing wrong with that

Music taste yeah, but he did go to a boys’ Jesuit school in Tampa so that’s a lot going on

i don't think anybody had pete's current walk-up song listed online until this month. it's this, he's been using it all summer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4tSE2w53ts

Man’s taste is all over the place huh

https://elitesportsny.com/2020/02/21/new-york-mets-1b-pete-alonso-warms-up-to-notorious-big-video/

He gives off huge “still uses a minidisc player” vibes

This will be the first playoffs in 30 years NOT to include the Yankees, Red Sox or Cardinals.

I love how the Shane Company is tagged in that Rockies tweet.

rip brooks robinson. one of my childhood favs

oh whoops, i see there's already discussion in the obituaries thread. i'm new to ILB if ya can't tell

Thrillwaukee are the NL Central champs baby

https://x.com/mandybell02/status/1707194348792643913?s=46&t=M1iUYIko789Hcw9duHEiDQ

What a moment. José Ramírez blocked the top of the steps to the dugout after the handshake line so Tito had to stay on the field and receive a longer ovation from the crowd. Then the rest of the team circled him and kept him out in front of a roaring crowd even longer. pic.twitter.com/vI1etqTkae

— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) September 28, 2023

congrats to the padres for winning a game in extra innings

Francisco Lindor now has his first 30-30 season. Homered three times in the doubleheader against the Marlins yesterday.

200 K's for senga too

Yeah he’s done really well this year after an admittedly shaky start.

in case you have any searches you wanna run:

For the next 24 hours, @Stathead is FREE.

If you haven’t used it before, I highly recommend messing around with it today. It’s one of the coolest — and most useful — sports tools you can find. https://t.co/QBslvjx76x pic.twitter.com/omZRoNCkv9

— Brent Maguire (@bmags94) September 28, 2023

I've had mixed emotions the past two nights, wanting the barves to steamroll everyone but also wanting CHC to reach the playoffs. Now that the only reg season question I have will be answered on Saturday with Strider's last start, I'll root for the Cubs tonight and for them to sweep MIL.

that's odd I was just thinking how cool it would be if the Brewers swept the Cubs

heh

This seems pretty fucking grim

Major League Baseball is investigating after Houston pitcher Hector Neris allegedly used a homophobic slur to taunt the Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez on Wednesday night, multiple MLB sources told The Seattle Times.

Mariners third baseman Eugenio Suarez, in the on-deck circle at T-Mobile Park when the incident occurred, told The Times he heard Neris use the slur during an unusual sequence. Neris struck out Rodriguez, then demonstrably walked toward Rodriguez near home plate and shouted at him in Spanish.

…
The 22-year-old Rodriguez, speaking publicly about the incident for the first time Thursday afternoon, said he did not want to disclose the nature of Neris’ comments.

Privately, multiple sources close to Rodriguez said the Mariners’ star center fielder had confirmed Suarez’s account.

Rodriguez and Neris were teammates on the Dominican Republic team during the World Baseball Classic this spring, and Rodriguez said he had previously considered Neris, 34, a friend.

The Astros public relations staff released a statement attributed to Neris on Thursday in which the pitcher apologized for his actions but denied that he used a homophobic slur.

what's happening in citifield right now - the marlins took the lead in the top of the 9th but because the rain delay started before the top of the 9th was over, those runs don't count and if the game gets called mets win? which eliminates the padres? it's going to rain for the next 24 hours in nyc?

padres are hopeless; it's more a matter of where the cubs stand

i'm so invested in whether this game is suspended and resumed on monday, or called, and if called, whether it'd be called for the mets

I haven't really had my eyes on the Mariners at all this year, but just put the game on and I am happy to report that Julio Rodriguez is the real deal and very much still that dude. Hope they can make it!

Lets actually go JP Crawford! Late season Mariners are legit!

Signed camera lens and a "lets fucking go" on live TV. "we have to apologise for our good friend JP Crawford... .BUT, he does kind of have a point". Lol commentators, have to appreciate it. Forgot they had an Aussie bloke commentating! lets go Dbacks give it to those stros

Yeah why are we pretending the Padres have an actual chance here