Official 2011 MLB Thread: Happy Birds

[Midnyte_Sun]

Texas Loses it's Wagers


Rangers, Cardinals World Series Wagers

When sports clubs from two cities compete, elected officials and other notables begin placing wagers on which team, and city will be victorious. The World Series is no different and this year's contest between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals has a lot of wagers being bandied about between mayors, governors, city councils and even zoos.

Gov. Rick Perry vs. Gov. Jay Nixon

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has bet his Missouri counterpart barbecue and Dr Pepper that the Texas Rangers will beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. If the Rangers lose, Perry will send Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon choice selections from the Salt Lick in Driftwood, Texas, along with Dr Pepper. The soft drink's parent company is based in suburban Dallas. Nixon has put up St. Louis-style toasted ravioli, gourmet prosciutto salami, frozen custard, and Budweiser beer from St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch. In a statement Wednesday, Perry said Nixon was about to discover "you simply can't mess with Texas." Nixon countered that he was looking forward to seeing the Cardinals wrap up their 11th World Series title.

Arlington Mayor vs. St. Louis Mayor

The mayors of Arlington and St. Louis are of course right in the middle of this as well. Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck lost his bet last year when the Giants beat the Rangers 4-1 in the World Series. This year, Cluck hopes to fare better against St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay. Cluck bet some items from Spring Creek Barbecue, Marquez Bakery (Yum) and Olenjack's Grille. He'll even toss in some Nolan Ryan steaks. “It’s always fun to make a friendly wager,” said Mayor Cluck. “It’s a way to show support for our team. We believe the Texas Rangers winning streak will continue to a World Series victory and this year, in addition to some great Texas barbecue, we’re raising the ante with Nolan Ryan steaks.” When the Rangers win, Cluck will receive Pi Pizza, Pappy's barbecue, Park Avenue gooey butter cake, Crown Candy Kitchen chocolate, Schlafly beer and a CD of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. The symphony has been, I am told, considered a bit of good luck for the Cards after playing a couple of postseason performances.

Dallas Zoo vs. St. Louis Zoo

Arlington doesn't have a zoo, so Dallas stepped up and made a wager with St. Louis' zoo. If the Rangers win it all, the CEO of the St. Louis Zoo will shovel 1,000-pounds of animal dung while wearing a Rangers jersey. If the Cardinals win, the executive director of the Dallas Zoo will do the same but in a Cards jersey. Phew. This may be the costliest one of the bunch.


Fort Worth Diocese vs. St. Louis Diocese

Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Fort Worth is betting Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis that the Rangers will come out on top against the Cards. If not, Vann will send barbecue and a, not in a, Stetson hat to Carlson. If the Cardinals win, the Archbishop will send down from St. Louis Schlafly beer, Fitz's root beer, toasted ravioli and a Cardinals baseball cap. The losing side will also make a $10 donation for every run scored in the series. There has to be a joke about cardinals and bishops in here somewhere, right?

Six Flags vs. Six Flags

Finally, Six Flags Over Texas is making a wager with sister park Six Flags Saint Louis. Park presidents Steve Martindale of Arlington and Dave Roemer of St. Louis are pitting the New Texas Giant against the American Thunder in St. Louis. If the Rangers win, the American Thunder taken apart piece by piece and hauled to Texas by hundreds of Budweiser Clydesdales. If the Cardinals win, the New Texas Giant will be packed up, driven to the Mississippi River and pushed upstream toward Missouri. Kidding, but man, would that be a bet or what? OK, seriously now. If the Rangers win, the American Thunder would be renamed the American Ranger for a day, if the Cards win, the New Texas Giant would be renamed the Giant Cardinal for a day. The park presidents will then, of course, don the opposing team's cap and jersey and take a few promotional photographs. Somewhere in here, Six Flags wins.

Rep. Joe Barton vs. Rep. William Clay

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who offices in Arlington, and William Lacy Clay (D-MO) are making a wager. If the Cards win, Barton will send a case of Lone Star beer and BBQ brisket from Spring Creek. If the Rangers win, Clay will send a deep dish pie from Pi Pizza and a case of Budweiser. “St. Louis may have a better baseball pedigree that includes such characters as Dizzy Dean and the Gashouse Gang, but if Rep. Clay thinks his Cardinals are going to beat the Rangers he must be Dizzy,” said Barton. Good one Congressman.

Dallas Mayor vs. St. Louis Mayor

There's no baseball game being played in Dallas, but that didn't stop Mayor Mike Rawlings from getting in on the action. Slay, taking all comers, agreed with Rawlings that the losing side would designate a $1,000 Paul Harris Fellowship to honor a citizen for outstanding community service in partnership with the local Rotary Club. OK, that's pretty cool.

City Council vs. City Council

So, on Wednesday night, we all know the Cardinals won Game 1. That didn't scare the Arlington City Council. Thursday afternoon, long before the Rangers won Game 2, the Arlington City Council offered the St. Louis City Council not only the 0-1 handicap, but Irish nachos from J. Gilligans, El Gabacho's chicken and beef fajitas with all the trimmings, Ventana Grille's triple-chocolate cake, Prince Lebanese's baklava and Twisted Root's Pumpkin Spce Root Beer. The 28-member St. Louis council offered up more Budweiser beer, Imo's pizza, chocolates from Merbs Candies and frozen custard from Ted Drewes.

Link: http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/red-fever/Rangers-Cardinals-World-Series-Wagers-132267813.html

 

[Immortalfire]

I rode the Texas Giant back in July...excellent coaster

 

[cyborg ninja 14]

Most of the sports pundits on ESPN are saying Pujols will stay in St Louis.

That's cool, but you know, that's what they're guessing (and secretly hoping) will happen.

 

[jacobed]

I think Pujols will stay. Winning the World Series solidified that. I think we will take a bit of pay decrease from the contract he wants compared to the one that St. Louis will give him. I hope that works out for him. I've always been a big Pujols fan,

 

[Dr. Evil]

Pujols will stay and everyone in baseball who needs a power hitting first baseman will go after Prince Fielder.

 

[cyborg ninja 14]

Ranger intentional walks in the regular season: 21

Intentional walks in the postseason: 12

 

[Liam_H]

9 of those IBB came against the Cardinals. They issues 41 total walks in the World Series which broke the Marlins record of 40 in 1997.

 

[John McGuirk]

Pujols - 2 WS Rings
Hamilton - 0.

Nuff said...

Comparing the best hitter of the last decade (and the best hitter I've ever seen) to a former drug addict who had a comeback with the Rangers to finally make a name for himself?

 

[Spidey-Bat]

So much for the ****** ratings

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ajbg_39rkJIBHsNk_j6Dv.cRvLYF?slug=ap-worldseries-ratings

NEW YORK (AP)—Game 7 of the World Series between St. Louis and Texas averaged 25.4 million viewers to make it the most-watched ballgame since 2004.

Before that series, in which the Red Sox won their first title in 86 years in four games, the high mark was another Game 7—the 2002 World Series between San Francisco and the Los Angeles Angels.

The Cardinals’ Game 7 win on Friday earned a 14.7 fast national rating, bumping up the overall Series rating to 10.0. That’s 19 percent higher than last season’s series between the Giants and the Rangers.

It also was the highest rated and most watched Friday night telecast on any network since the 2010 Winter Olympics.

 

[Immortalfire]

Cool. So much for the idiots out there who worried about this not being a watched series.

 

[cyborg ninja 14]

Ratings still sorta matter. It means more money for every MLB team.

 

[Darthphere]

Well to be fair, it was a game 7 and game 7's always bring all the boys to the yard.

 

[Poeman]

Yeah not to mention nothing was really on TV on a friday night aside from the game 7

 

[John McGuirk]

Well to be fair, it was a game 7 and game 7's always bring all the boys to the yard.

Damn right.

 

[cyborg ninja 14]

Inflated reliever costs have gone up
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111030&content_id=25847094&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

CC opts out (to little surprise)
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/baseball/mlb/10/30/sabathia.yankees/index.html?sct=mlb_t2_a3&xid=shareFB

 

[The Riddler]

affeldt is solid, but the $5 million option is too much.

while the deal for lopez is an overpay by the giants as well, i like it more, considering it's a bit cheaper and having a lefty killer is an incredible luxury to have and a huge advantage late in games. overall, though, the giants' bullpen looks to be the best in baseball once again.

watching the WS, i couldn't help but appreciate how good the sf pen is; if either team had such a bullpen in the WS, the games would not have had nearly as much drama.

a name i don't hear enough is sergio romo. he's better than brian wilson and is arguably the best reliever in baseball.

 

[cyborg ninja 14]

Yeah, he's the best Romo in sports.

 

[Poeman]

Tony La Russa retires

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/ne...31&content_id=25849368&vkey=news_stl&c_id=stl

Peace out to the baseball mullet...I'd go out on top like this as well. Good for him

 

[Erzengel]

Wow, a little surprised. But yeah, going out on top.

 

[SpideyVille]

Didn't see that coming. But yeah, nice way to walk into the sunset.

 

[Dr. Evil]

What stupid nonsense this is:

http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_sports_bids/1216135948.html

When is the International Baseball Federation going to give up their quest to restore baseball as an Olympic sport? It's stupid that they don't give it up. It's hopeless that they continue the quest, knowing full well what the answer from MLB will be in regards to Olympic participation.

Also, good for TLR to ride off into the sunset, especially after a series like that.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

I thought LaRussa would re-sign, but I can't blame him for wanting to go out on top.

I think Jose Oquendo gets the job, he's usually a managerial candidate for other teams.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Nats retain Davey Johnson as manager. I wonder what its like for him to manage a team that plays in front of 50 fans every home game.

 

[Duke]

Is there any truth that if LaRussa doesn't come back, it'll be the same for Pujols? I heard this last week from one of the commentators on ESPN Radio.

 

[Poeman]

Nats retain Davey Johnson as manager. I wonder what its like for him to manage a team that plays in front of 50 fans every home game.

I'm grateful to be a manager in the major leagues