I think it's crap that "America's National Pastime" opens it's season half a world away in Japan. Did any Americans with a normal schedule get to see any of the game? NO!

Opening day should be in Cincinnati as it's always been, not in Japan!

Agreed!

With Cincinnati playing and loosing to the Cardinals!!!

We need a MLB team here in Portland / Vancouver.

Hopefully the next Portland mayor will fight a little harder for it.

Hopefully the next Portland mayor will fight a little harder for it.

The next mayor could fight till his eyes fell out of his head and it isn't going to happen.

Yeah, that's probably true, but we can still hope!

"We need a MLB team here in Portland / Vancouver. "

Now here's something we both agree on. Here's an interesting bunch of opening day stats. I like the part about
fans at the Polo Grounds hurling snowballs.

I bet seeing a live game in Japan is a trip.

Cardinals win the 2008 World Series.

You heard it here first!

Agreed, Opening day should have been here in the U.S. What I believe to be even more ridiculous is now the Sox are coming back here to finish the exhibition season. What the..... I also hope for and believe we will get a team here but it may take 10-20 years.

"I bet seeing a live game in Japan is a trip."

Dude!
You are so right!!
The fans are rabid.
Much more like attending College game.

But you can't get a hot dog.

Nothing against the Japanese, but I think their brand of baseball and their fans are lame.

Why?

Their stadiums and fields are lame, I don't like all the noise the fans create, and the style of baseball is just not as good as the American game. Baseball in Japan is clearly second rate to that of America.

Hmmmm.
I did not get any of those impressions..
The fans do sing their team songs, and wave giant flags, and just get way into it.

I thought that was cool.
I'm not sure what you mean by style of baseball. Seemed like baseball to me..

As far as second rate?
Sure.. Their biggest stars come over here, so in a way it's kind of like a farm league.

The ball players that play over here are among the biggest stars in the society.

I don't like all the noise the fans create...

I went to a Twins game once when I was in Minneapolis.

It was so loud in the stadium that even shouting as loud as you could to the person next to you it was difficult to hear.

Unbelievably loud! It was so loud that it really wasn't fun.

When I say noise, I'm speaking of noisemakers, not clapping or yelling.

Oh yeah. A lot of Asians love those kinds of things! That's not a racist statement ok? I've lived near Asian neighbors in my past. If they have close ties to their relatives abroad, a lot of the culture ends up showing here in the US.

Anyway, their overseas culture in this is often very different in terms of game playing, allowing all sorts of goofy stuff that really makes the fans a bigger part of it than I think we are used to! They like to really participate on a lot of levels. There seem to be fewer inhibitions at times when we have significant ones too.

It's generally very entertaining stuff, IMHO.

I can only imagine a game in Japan! Would be just nuts! (and more power to them too)

No freaking Hot Dogs is just a crime though! Total crime.

That triggered a nice Junior Baseball Memory.

We got into trouble on our Junior Baseball team for using those things! We had the hand clappers and spinners. Somebody started it with a load of them from a dollar store. Didn't take long for most of the parents to really get into it!

Head Ump took it for about an inning or two and just went off!

Put it right on the line:

Bag them up, or get out! Our choice!

Well, we put the things away, but for one or two die-hards not quite willing to give them totally up. They make a bit of noise, get the look, wait, do it again, hilarious!

I watched with morbid interest all game long.

The looks we got from that guy were just great. If you've ever been an Umpire for a kiddie baseball game, it's not always easy. Our guy was a damn good sport that day.

[we won that game too]

At one point, it was "serious ball". Yeah, 13 year olds are serious! So, we got serious. I think that's part of the cultural divide. Serious ball means getting involved at every level, everybody all the time. How we do that is quite different!

Anyway, next game, we got the kids to make noise. Not with noise makers, but with chants, yelling, pounding, whatever they were into.

Basically, a batch of highly motivated kids can make an absolutely astounding amount of noise in their dugout! We had no idea...

After that incident, the little noise makers were permitted for most times, but for key moments where the pitcher needed to concentrate.

The "cease fire" on dugout noise was honored for the rest of the season, but for the last State final play off game. We let them go at it huge. They needed the release and say what you want, but there is a positive energy element that does impact the game.

At one point, it was loud enough to fill a park! I've this picture in my mind... walking back after a quickie munchie run, seeing Dogwood tree seeds floating in the air, hearing the bursts of intense cheering and motivation from our kids echoing off the buildings, the nice sound of the ball being hit, just perfect that day. Perfect.

Heh...

Noisemakers aren't exclusive to the Asian culture. You see plenty at any Blazer game. I can minimally tolerate them at a Blazer game, but when at a baseball game, you are outdoors and there's something very un-natural and un-baseball about noisemakers in a baseball stadium. I want enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and to hear the organ and the play by play announcer, not people banging on shit and screaming like they're at a Beatles concert.

I have grown up with Portland Beavers. Even the venture into the Portland Mavericks was still decent baseball to me.

My dad would take my brother and I to games and we got to see some future MLB players including Lou Piniella.

Through some networking with an uncle of mine two Portland Beavers players came over for my brothers 10th birthday to our house. We shared a meal with them, threw a baseball in the street for a while and then went and saw them play that evening. Talk about a cool experience for a couple of kids.

I love baseball but I'm partial to the AAA level here in town. I could live with a MLB but then you lose out on the coziness of PGE Park with all those empty seats for the businessman's special.

Of course you are right Vitalogy. And I agree too. There is a quiet tension in Baseball that cannot be appreciated with the noise like that.

PGE Park is pretty great. My fave is watching soccer games in the beer garden. More than a few balls come flying in! Great stuff.

Don't like all the noise those fans create?

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?

That is sacrilege!

One of the things that drives me the most nuts about fans in the Northwest in general is that they sit on their hands and wait for something to happen ... and get honestly irate at those of us who show some emotion at the game. If someone is swearing and acting like a big boob, especially around kids, that's one thing. But standing up and cheering and making some noise? THAT'S WHY WE'RE THERE!!!!

The difference between fans at games around here, and at games in other areas of the country, is amazing. You go to a Mariners game here, and people are just kind of sitting there waiting for the action. I've been to baseball games in Chicago and Milwaukee and there was much more of a buzz in the air, some excitement, and the fans are much more passionate. That's how it SHOULD be! Walking through the parking lot of Miller Park three hours before first pitch, on a sticky July afternoon, with tens of thousands of people tailgating with brats and steaks on the grill, the beer flowing ... and that translating into great fans at the game ... or the fans lining up along Waveland Avenue hoping to catch souvenirs from the Cubs taking BP at Wrigley Field ... and that is what it's all about!

There of course are notable exceptions here. Autzen Stadium is an absolutely amazing atmosphere come Saturdays in the fall. Qwest Field, it doesn't get any louder than that. The Rose Garden is an amazing place to be when the Lakers are in town. Why can't we have that for ALL of these games? The fact that I can go to a game at Safeco when the Yankees are in town and see more Yankee fans than Mariner fans, that's disturbing.

Get up, stand up, and MAKE SOME DAMN NOISE! Have a pulse at the games!

I love baseball. I agree that the season should start in a traditional matchup in a traditional ballpark. We live in a big world with big money, and they drive the team bus now, even across the water.

I also know baseball inside out, and frankly, no mayor is going to bring a major league team to Portland. Even if Johnny Pesky was our mayor, it would not happen. We were a pawn in a corporate shell game folks, so get real, pick a team to root for and put your heart into it.

I am not a whiny carpetbagger who misses his old team. I moved to Portland in 1975 from Boston while the Red Sox were making a run at the World Series, and yet, I still love the Beavers. As a student of the game, I know full well that greatness exists at the AAA level. I have enjoyed seeing All-Stars and Hall of Fame players in our beloved stadium. So, either support the Bevos, get on the train and catch a Mariners game, or buy a better cable package.

Finally, Japanese baseball has a rich heritage and long tradition. If you do not like it, fine, but it would do you good to know a little something about it before you made sweeping generalizations about their brand of horsehide and hickory. Short of flying over for a few innings, you could read a book like "Sayonara Home Run!" or visit one of the many websites dedicated to their game.

Play ball!

W is a fan, and has a good arm for his age, so I guess that is the tiny part of him I can admire. You might enjoy the first pitch at the brand new ballpark in Washington.

The shrub was a nervous twitchy guy when he came to the booth a few innings later. He seemed a bit bummed out when he began his inning and a half with Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Morgan, and broadcast legend, Jon Miller. They spent their time cheering him up like a couple of doting uncles.

For most replays, the ESPN crew edited out the audio blood lust from the assembled horde and either boosted the music and voiceover, or edited in cheers from the game. When you have to pity a President on television at a sporting event, that is just sad on so many levels.

More cheers than boos, by a lot.

I watched last night while W was in the booth. It's too bad he's so wrong on so many things, because in a way you just want to like the guy. What a shame.

NY Yankee Payrod Rodriguez makes more money than the entire Florida Marlins roster!

Story

He produces more RBI's, Homeruns and puts more butts in the seats and the Marlins too.

Alex Rodriguez is more of an egomaniac than the entire Marlins organization combined, except the schmuck who owns 'em, Jeffrey "Firesale" Loria. Of the three All-Star shortstops that cut their teeth in Seattle, I still would rather have kept Omar than Guillen or A-Roid.

Trix, of your first three assertions, only one is correct:

2007 Florida RBI: 749
2007 A-Rod RBI: 156

2007 Florida HR: 201
2007 A-Rod HR: 54

2007 Florida Attendance: 1,370,511
2007 A-Rod Attendance: 1,423,694*

However, your point is well taken since he pounds the Marlins in other areas:

2007 Florida BA: .267
2007 A-Rod BA: .314

2007 Florida OBP: .336
2007 A-Rod OBP: .422

2007 Florida SLG: .448
2007 A-Rod SLG: .645

2007 Florida playoff AB: 0
2007 A-Rod playoff AB: 15

2007 Florida playoff SO: 0
2007 A-Rod playoff SO: 6

* 4,271,083 was divided by four to reflect the draw of twice as many diehard fans for their franchise shortstop, Derek Jeter, and the solid quarter who came to see the whole team and feel firsthand that intangible mystique in the house that Ruth built.

Little I like the work you put into that.

A-Rod wins!!!!

I just found out last night that I have tickets to see the Hiroshima Carp play the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants next Saturday!

Hot Damn I'm excited!