Wanna talk regular season MLB, do it here

[Easy Mac]

I figure soccer has a thread, the NHL has a thread, so why not pro baseball.

It would be nice to consolidate a thread with some general discussion, and then when Bonds head explodes he can get his own thread.

First things first. Who's the rookie to watch for your team?

I got Adam LaRoche. I saw him play last year in AA and he was pretty damn good. They say he'll be a Grace type first baseman, but he could develop his line drive power into home run power. He has to be an improvement over Fick.

Can't wait for the real season to begin tomorrow night.

[k0ruptr]

Joe Borchard - chisox, he should be up playing Center right now, hes better then rowand in center, and can provide a nice bat hopefully.

[Z²+]

Pirates:

CF Tike Redman
Tied for most hits in all of baseball over the final two months of last season. If he can get on base, the Buccos might actually score a run or two.

[k0ruptr]

if they score the runs for kip wells, he could win 20.

[Vince]

RHP David Aardsma

He could be pretty good...some scouts have pegged him as top 5 ML Closer material in a few years. I think he won't have much of an impact, but he'll be our best rook.

Oh yeah, I like the Giants :)

[Crapshoot]

I think Aardsma should have been converted to a starter this year- rather than wasting him in the pen...

[Z²+]

if they score the runs for kip wells, he could win 20.

That's my hope. I heard today during the telecast that seven games last year, he left with the lead, and the bullpen blew it for him. I hope to keep him long term. Give me Wells over Benson anyday, and twice on gameday.

[k0ruptr]

he was awesome last year. just no support, plus crappy bullpen

[Z²+]

Well the bullpen still scares me. Jose Mesa? Cripes, he makes me long for Mike Williams.

I'm intruiged by a few of the young hitters...Bay is projected as a 20/20 guy, Craig Wilson can hit 20 or 25 with enough AB's, Kendall can hit .300 if he's around all year, I'm hoping Redman can bat .300 with a fair amount of walks...the platoon at second between rookies Bobby Hill and Jose Castillo look promising...if Raul Mondesi and Randall Simon can provide some marginal assistance, I'm somewhat optimistic. The rotation looks solid though. Wells, Fogg, Benson, and two young kids, Oliver Perez and Ryan Vogelson, with tons of upside. Again, optimistic.

And by optimistic, I of course mean contending for .500.

[Scholes]

Joe Mauer's first MLB game tonight... #1 prospect in the majors. He didn't swing in his first 8 pitches seen... walked and struck out. Looked solid after that though, 2-3, run scored, two walks, good defensively as well.

He looks like the most disciplined hitter on the Twins at twenty years old. (The Twins struck out 14 times tonight in 11 innings.) Still got the win though, on a Shannon Stewart walk off 3-run dinger.

[Ksyrup]

Shannon Stewart for MVP!!! Quick, someone get Jayson Stark on the phone so we can get the campaign off to an early start!!!

[samifan24]

Man I saw Mauer play in AA ball last summer and he was amazing. The guy can flat out hit. I think he'll be ROY. He is an amazing all-around player. I'll definately be watching him closely this season.

[bbor]

I'm pretty sure baseball season does'nt start till the hockey play-offs are over :)

[Easy Mac]

So does that mean baseball will be year round for the next few years since there will be no hockey?

[Ksyrup]

Man I saw Mauer play in AA ball last summer and he was amazing. The guy can flat out hit. I think he'll be ROY. He is an amazing all-around player. I'll definately be watching him closely this season.
I wish him luck, and that's despite the fact that because of him, we've had to endure 3 more years of Chris Rix than we should have...:mad:

[Desnudo]

Yankees suck. That is all.

[bbor]

So does that mean baseball will be year round for the next few years since there will be no hockey?


Bite your tongue :)

[Z²+]

So does that mean baseball will be year round for the next few years since there will be no hockey?

Cross your fingers :)

[Easy Mac]

Yankees suck. That is all.
O'Doyle rules!

[Mr. Sparkle]

Couple of things I've noticed. Johnny Damon should have played Jeebus, but my nod is to the aforementioned Craig Wilson for sweetest hair. Padres will be better, but they're still the Pads. My Giants scare me. I love them to death, but I just have this feeling that it will be a long season, especially if Schmidt doesn't bounce all the way back. Neifi Perez....worst. player. ever. Barry Bonds....simply. amazing. As for rooks, can't wait to see Mauer play, Khalil Greene and Crosby could be studs, do not want to see Edwin Jackson face my team, and Ryan Wagner (although technically not a rookie) will be a lights out closer down the line. Indians will be a team to watch, and I have this feeling that the Cubs will underachieve all year and miss the playoffs. Oh, and I LOVE BASEBALL!!!!!! Can't wait to make it to a game.

[Bearcat729]

Ryan Wagner (although technically not a rookie) will be a lights out closer down the line. Oh, and I LOVE BASEBALL!!!!!! Can't wait to make it to a game.


God I wish the Reds could develop a starting pitcher.

[nfg22]

Joe Mauer's first MLB game tonight... #1 prospect in the majors. He didn't swing in his first 8 pitches seen... walked and struck out. Looked solid after that though, 2-3, run scored, two walks, good defensively as well.

He looks like the most disciplined hitter on the Twins at twenty years old. (The Twins struck out 14 times tonight in 11 innings.) Still got the win though, on a Shannon Stewart walk off 3-run dinger.

Went to the game, One thing to say, take Matt Lecroi the DH out and put in Mornou(sp) Justin that is. He struck out almost every time. JC looked solid as did Nathan, only holes in pitching was Radke. I think Twins could take the division. Mauer looks stellar. Jaque Jones made a great throw from deep right to the home plate without a bounce, Stewart made a homerun but he also let one bounce off his glove and go for a homer.

[stevew]

Why couldnt Jose Mesa close out games last year for Philly, but does it so well for the Buccos? I guess its early.

And now that Im moving back towards Pittsburgh this summer, it sucks that this is the only time Philly visits all year :(. I was really psyched.

[Z²+]

Why couldnt Jose Mesa close out games last year for Philly, but does it so well for the Buccos? I guess its early.
.

It's still early alright. I'd rather have Hernandez, Worrell, or Wagner instead of Mesa. 0 confidence.

It is a shame cross state rivals like the Pirates and Phillies only play one home and home a year. Do I really need to see the Brewers come into PNC Park 38 times this year? I'm all for a divisional schedule, but I'd love a little more balance.

Welcome back to Pittsburgh btw.

[cody8200]

Well the Cubs win didnt look too pretty but it got done. On the other hand the bullpen looked great. They held Wood's 1 run lead (up until they added 2 more runs in the 8th) quite well. Seeing Corey Patterson hit a homerun on the 4th pitch of the game brightened my spirits about him and later seeing him try to make a diving catch reassured me his leg is alright.

[stevew]

It's still early alright. I'd rather have Hernandez, Worrell, or Wagner instead of Mesa. 0 confidence.

It is a shame cross state rivals like the Pirates and Phillies only play one home and home a year. Do I really need to see the Brewers come into PNC Park 38 times this year? I'm all for a divisional schedule, but I'd love a little more balance.

Welcome back to Pittsburgh btw.

Well its not "totally" Pittsburgh....Mercer County :) At least I get both the Steelers games and the Browns games every sunday due to the 2 sets of local channels. Now I dont have to watch the fucking dolphins every week(fricking CBS).

[stevew]

Dola~
Instead of having my batteries to throw at both Mesa and JD Drew, I guess I'll be chucking them at just JD.




*note* Id never actually throw batteries.

[sterlingice]

The Royals have a pair of guys but neither are rookies technically (their only rookies are the 10th or 11th guy in the pen and a Rule V guy who is literally the 25th guy, only a speed and defense sub).

People are expecting huge things from Jeremy Affeldt since he solved the blister problem. Last year, after the All-Star break he had a 2.20 ERA with a 40:12 K:BB ratio in 41.0 IPs and a WHIP of 0.98.

The other one who could sneak up on people is Jimmy Gobble who was the crown jewel of the Royals organization until Zach Greinke has his tremendous season last year. He's only 22 and went 4-5 with a 4.61 and 1.35 in 9 starts last season after being called up when pretty much everyone was hurt. Double digit wins would not be a surprise.

SI

[Mr. Sparkle]

God I wish the Reds could develop a starting pitcher.

Whats the status on Claussen, the guy they got from the Yanks last year? I remember he had Tommy John surgery a couple years ago, but he seemed to be bouncing back quite nicely. Is he in their rotation this year? I always thought he had promise.

[Bearcat729]

Whats the status on Claussen, the guy they got from the Yanks last year? I remember he had Tommy John surgery a couple years ago, but he seemed to be bouncing back quite nicely. Is he in their rotation this year? I always thought he had promise.


He had a bad spring so they optioned him to AAA.

[Radii]

Cubs 1-0. Cards and Astros 0-1. So far so good. Great to see Patterson have a good game, he's such a huge key for the Cubs this year.

[Buccaneer]

Peavy has a 4-hit shutout going in the 5th on the road against the Dodgers. Pads leading 4-0.

[Bearcat729]

I love the MLB extra innings package. I can watch real baseball...too bad it's only a free preview and I can't afford a whole season

[mckerney]

Got back from the Twins game just a litte bit ago. A good game though it did run a bit long.

[Vince]

Giants have been scrappy in both wins...if we can continue to have players like Neifi Perez (are you kidding me?) step up when Bonds isn't getting it done, we'll be really strong.

What worries me (really worries me) is that both starts have ended up shaky...sure, they held it together, but today Tomko had something like 50 pitches through two innings...the Giants threw over 200 pitches today. That's going to absolutely kill us if it continues.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I too enjoyed the Giants' scrappy wins, but I would prefer not to see many more in that fashion. As for Neifi, I fear he used up all his good games for the season. If there's one thing I cannot stand in this world, it's watching a San Francisco Giants game and seeing Neifi Perez as our starting shortstop. Quite simply, that ain't right.

[Sharpieman]

Joe Borchard - chisox, he should be up playing Center right now, hes better then rowand in center, and can provide a nice bat hopefully.
Yea Stanford alum...he was a pretty good Football player too.

[Sharpieman]

I too enjoyed the Giants' scrappy wins, but I would prefer not to see many more in that fashion. As for Neifi, I fear he used up all his good games for the season. If there's one thing I cannot stand in this world, it's watching a San Francisco Giants game and seeing Neifi Perez as our starting shortstop. Quite simply, that ain't right.
A win is a win. And whats wrong with Perez? The guy goes 4-4 and makes some solid plays in the infield and you talk about how he sucks? You should be happy that he did so good.

[k0ruptr]

for sure.

[Mr. Sparkle]

...And whats wrong with Perez? The guy goes 4-4 and makes some solid plays in the infield and you talk about how he sucks? You should be happy that he did so good.

Of course I'm happy he did good, but that doesn't mean that I want to see him out there on an everyday basis, especially given the amount of money he makes. We signed Deivi Cruz, who has a career OPS of about 10 points lower than Neifi and an average of about 5 points lower, to a minor league contract. Neifi, on the other hand, makes in the neighborhood of $2 million dollars. Everyone has their games, and if Neifi has a season of good games, I will be more than happy to admit I was wrong. All I am saying is do not be surprised if he regresses to his career mean, and if he does, he should not be our best option at shortstop. Unfortunately, he is right now, and I don't think that will cut it.

[Chief Rum]

Woohoo! Angels off and rolling!

Big winners today, 10-5, and it was 10-1 int he eighth inning before long relievers Shields and Gregg got a little loose with the finish.

Two dingers for Glaus, who looks like he's back. Guerrerro gets a two-run double in his first game. Eckstein looks like the rally-starter he was two seasons ago. Everyone but Salmon and Guillen had a hit.

And Bartolo Colon was fine in his debut, allowing one unearned run in five-plus innings, to go with five strikeouts. Loved it when he got out of a first-inning rally brought on by two freakish bloop hits by getting the venerable Edgar Martinez looking on a sneaky low fastball.

Keep it up, Halos!

CR

[Bearcat729]

How does Sosa swing at a pitch 2 miles off the plate like that?

Wagner is good, but I still wish the Reds developed starting pitching like they develop relief pitching.

[nfg22]

Got back from the Twins game just a litte bit ago. A good game though it did run a bit long.

Where in Minn do you live? By the way did Santana look good while he pitched or no? Because We ae gunna need him to step up while Lohse and Radke suck it up.

[k0ruptr]

mauer torn meniscus in knee. that sucks for him, and lecroy left with an injury tonight too. man sucks bad for the twins.

[nfg22]

mauer torn meniscus in knee. that sucks for him, and lecroy left with an injury tonight too. man sucks bad for the twins.

Yah that does suck. Mauer will be back in a month that surgery isnt too bad. Lecroy struck out every other at bat so I dont think it will hurt too bad just have mouneou play the DH and Blanco play catcher.

[stevew]

Did Pat Burrell find his hitting stroke? 5 hits in 2 games. Last year he only had 14 hits in the whole month of May.

[JeeberD]

Rocket is The Man.

Go Astros!

[Ksyrup]

I can't believe that Vlad Guerrero has been in the majors since 1996 and STILL needs a translator! How about putting in a little effort to learn some basic English so that you can at least speak to the media?!

He definitely chose wisely - NY would NOT have been a good fit for him.

[Butter]

How does Sosa swing at a pitch 2 miles off the plate like that?

Because he's Sosa. If you can fool him with anything that looks like it might be near the plate, he'll swing. Especially in pressure situations.

[Honolulu_Blue]

3-0! Sweep!

From worst to first, baby!

Go Tigers!

[sterlingice]

Because he's Sosa. If you can fool him with anything that looks like it might be near the plate, he'll swing. Especially in pressure situations.
Yeah, but when you watch Shawn Dunston in those situations for years, you gain a fonder appreciation for anyone who's not him.

SI

[MizzouRah]

Cards - Diamondbacks game.. if we don't have any SP, we'll hit the long ball!

Pujols - BANG!
Sanders - BANG!
Lankford - BANG!
Rolen - BANG!
Sanders - BANG! BANG!

:)


Todd

[Bearcat729]

^
Still behind Cincinnati in the standings.



(I know it will change but I have to have a chance to brag)

[Neuqua]

Cubs beat Braves in a 15 inning beauty.

Go Hollandsworth!

[Suicane75]

Tony Womack is tearing the cover off of the ball so far. Super pickup for the Cards.

[Ksyrup]

Detroit is the only undefeated team left in baseball. Let's end the season now.

[Suicane75]

Some great bits of information form Jason Starks column on ESPN.com,

1. How different has this start been for this team? Before Opening Day, the Tigers hadn't spent a single day over .500 since April 9, 2001 (a span so long, Barry Bonds hit 163 home runs in between).

2. And before Thursday, they hadn't been four games over .500 since the final day of the 1993 season -- which takes in a mind-boggling 1,557 games. That was so long ago, Pudge Rodriguez got 1,570 hits in between -- which is more than all but 15 other catchers since 1900 got in their whole careers.

3. That three-game sweep in Toronto lifted the Tigers into undisputed possession of first place. And it had been a while since that happened, too -- since June 23, 1993, to be exact. Greg Maddux won almost 200 games (187) in that humongous interim.

4. In 11 seasons as a Brave, Greg Maddux never hit the first batter he faced in any season. But he did it Wednesday, in his first season back with the Cubs. Coincidentally, he also did it to kick off his last season as a Cub, when he plunked Lenny Dykstra -- and broke Dykstra's hand.

5. By beating the Yankees twice in their first three games this year, the Rays actually found themselves ahead of the Yanks in the standings for two whole days. Loyal reader David Hallstrom reports that before this year, the Devil Rays had led the Yankees in the standings for exactly 14 days in team history -- 10 of them in the first two weeks in the life of the franchise, the other four from April 1-4, 2002.

[MizzouRah]

Tony Womack is tearing the cover off of the ball so far. Super pickup for the Cards.
Yes, he's been quite an acquisition!


Todd

[Crapshoot]

Tony Womack is tearing the cover off of the ball so far. Super pickup for the Cards.

That's about as likely to happen anymore as my impending nuptials with Jennifer Love Hewitt.

[k0ruptr]

buehrle pitched a jem today, and yanks went down again! YAY

[Aesyrqwe]

another good day for sox hitting! :)

GO CREDE!

[MizzouRah]

Cards win!!

Way to go Matty Mo!!


Todd

[Ksyrup]

Best part of the early baseball season? Stats like this:


"Grant Roberts gave up four runs in an inning today, lowering his ERA from 67.50 to 48.00."

[Buccaneer]

Pads look good, except for their bullpen which sucks.

[JeeberD]

Astros 10
Cards 5

Word.

:)

[GoldenEagle]

Astros 10
Cards 5

Word.

:)
I hate you. Check your PMs.

[JeeberD]

Damn, another start and another dominating game for Clemens.

And I hope I didn't just jinx him by posting this...

[MizzouRah]

Damn, another start and another dominating game for Clemens.

And I hope I didn't just jinx him by posting this...
Wow, I can't stand him, but again wow.


Todd

[Aesyrqwe]

White sox win 12-5 despite Loaiza giving up 4 homeruns.. wow. 3 solo shots by KC today..

GO SOX!

-Aes-
(Supporter of Crede's Crew)

[k0ruptr]

GO WHITESOX!!@!

[JeeberD]

Astros sweep the Cards!

Teehee... :) :D

[MizzouRah]

Astros sweep the Cards!

Teehee... :) :D
Welcome to St. Louis, Colorado. Bye Bye, Houston.


Todd

[MizzouRah]

Note to LaRussa:

Marlon Anderson CANNOT play LF!! He can hit, but he can't play LF!!!!!!!

SHeesh...


Todd

[k0ruptr]

Loaiza throws a complete game 2 hit shutout today. and clemens throws another gem, hot damn i love this game.

[Chief Rum]

Loaiza has been the unwanted man in my fantasy leagues because no one thinks he can do it again. Well, I don't think he can either, but I knew he was better than some of the guys being drafted, even if he wasn't as good as last year. So I am doing well with getting him late in drafts and off the waiver wire.

CR

[JeeberD]

Damn, another start and another dominating game for Clemens.


Same thing, different day. The man is baffling the NL so far...

Edit: And he got an RBI as well!!!

[k0ruptr]

ARGHH!! just watched the whitesox game again, and man the thomas hamstring injury looked bad. he could be done for a few weeks :( man his eye at the plate was comin on again this year, 2nd in the league in walks.

guillen:

"I don't think it's that bad," Guillen said. "He said he felt something pop. We need him, so we'll see how it is day to day."

tore it up, im sure of it

could be a couple months

[haji1]

Dodgers sweep Giants. Man Bonds looks like he will get Ruth this year.

[Vince]

:mad: He can't do it all himself! The damn double plays killed us in that series. Grrr...

[Easy Mac]

eh, Lamar is having a shit year

<table width="772" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <tbody><tr bgcolor="#aaaaa4" align="right"><td align="left">YEAR</td> <td>G</td> <td>AB</td> <td>R</td> <td>H</td> <td>2B</td> <td>3B</td> <td>HR</td> <td>RBI</td> <td>BB</td> <td>SO</td> <td>SB</td> <td>CS</td> <td>BA</td> <td>OBP</td> <td>SLG</td> <td>OPS</td> </tr> <tr bgcolor="#ccccc4" align="right"> <td align="left">2004</td> <td>11</td> <td>34</td> <td>11</td> <td>17</td> <td>5</td> <td>0</td> <td>7</td> <td>16</td> <td>13</td> <td>3</td> <td>0</td> <td>0</td> <td>.500</td> <td>.638</td> <td>1.265</td> <td>1.903</td></tr></tbody> </table>

[Huckleberry]

Larry Walker found a dead body on his property.

Of course, he was riding an ATV on the mountainous terrain while nursing his groin injury that has him on the DL. Groin must not be too bad.

[SackAttack]

Only a 1.903 OPS? He needs to retire.

Although, as I told my Dad a few hours ago, Bonds can hit all the homers he wants, as long as the Giants lose. Best of both worlds.

[JeeberD]

Good lord, for a second I read that as "Larry Walker found dead on his property." Freaked the shit out of me...

[SackAttack]

If Colorado management gets word of his ATV escapades, that's still a possibility.

[sterlingice]

"Larry Walker found dead on property, Dan O' Dowd brought in for questioning"

SI

[Sharpieman]

Son of a ^(*&% I went to the Giants game today and they dropped another to LA. Thats a sweep. Bonds hit 2 homers though.

[MizzouRah]

Astros sweep the Cards!

Teehee... :) :D
Cardinals WIN!!

:D


Todd

[Scholes]

Bonds went yard again on the *only* pitch he saw of the game... (I guess the game isn't over yet, 8th inning right now)...

Anyone else here think he might hit .400 this season??

He's got a better chance than anyone.

[Easy Mac]

I was kind of hoping he would get stuck on 666 for a while so those who think he's the devil would have proof.

[Sharpieman]

8 homers in 7 games. Incredible. Too bad the G's don't have anyone else other than Bonds, Durham and Grissom to drive in runs. Looks like its going to be a long season.

[IMetTrentGreen]

surprise, surprise, the angels and mariners both blow. a's/twins/red sox/yankees again

[k0ruptr]

doub the twins will be there again, that bullpen has no chance towards the end of the season

[kingfc22]

What's the over/under on Double Plays hit into by the Giants in tonights game. I'm going to say 3. :(

[IMetTrentGreen]

eh, i choose minnesota by default. who knows who makes it out of that crap factory division

[mckerney]

doub the twins will be there again, that bullpen has no chance towards the end of the season

They may not have to two main guys they relied on last year, though their bullpen should still be sufficient, especially if a guy like Jesse Crain is ready to come up at some point in the season.

Romaro looks to be back in his form of two years ago, Rincon should give them decent innings, Nathan should be able to turn out a solid year at closer for them, and a guy like Roa could be this years journeyman to turn out a decent year and never be heard from again (ala Tony Fiore).

They've been playing without four starters recently and are 9-4. I don't see why they won't at least be in contention near the end of the year, especially in the Central.

[Vince]

What's the over/under on Double Plays hit into by the Giants in tonights game. I'm going to say 3. :(
I hate double plays. A lot.

[k0ruptr]

if randy johnson doesnt get out of this jam (bases loaded 1 out) then im gonna stick a trout in his #@%

[k0ruptr]

I hate you randy. or brenly, randy is too old to be having 125 pitch counts in the 7th

[JeeberD]

Cardinals WIN!!


Gak!

Not again... :(

[MizzouRah]

Gak!

Not again... :(
Yes, again!!


Todd

[JeeberD]

Tim Redding needs to go back down to AAA. We want Carlos Hernandez!!!

[MizzouRah]

SWEEEEEEEPPPPP!!!!! Houston stinks!!!! :D

:) :D ;)


GO CARDS!


Todd

[WSUCougar]

Gotta love that! I called that squeeze, by the way. When Luna took that long look down at Oquendo, I knew it. :D

[MizzouRah]

Gotta love that! I called that squeeze, by the way. When Luna took that long look down at Oquendo, I knew it. :D
My dad called me on the phone and said, LaRussa should squeeze here. :)


Todd

[JeeberD]

Bleh... :(

[sterlingice]

This thread needed a bump and what better to talk about than the worst team in the AL, tho I suppose Toronto and Seattle took that mantle from them after their losses tonight.

First two weeks, they couldn't get a good start (except for one from Gobble). When your starters have an ERA in the 9, you're going to lose a lot of games. Still, they managed to go 4-2 before losing 6 straight.

Now, it's the hitting that's deserted them. They're 1 for 13 with the bases loaded including 0 or 2 last night when they had the bases loaded with 0 out, only needing 1 to tie and failing to get a run home with a ground out resulting in a throw home and a double play to end the game.

And, to top it all off, injuries have hit the team hard with starting middle infielders Angel Berroa and Desi Relaford on the DL and Mike Sweeney missing 5 games to injury and Juan Gonzalez missing his second straight game with the flu. And, from tonight's recap: "Gobble became the third Royals pitcher in five games to leave with an injury. Darrell May left his start Saturday in the sixth with a strained left groin, and Kevin Appier departed in the second inning Friday with a strained right forearm. Appier will be out four to six weeks." Fortunately, Gobble was just cramping and he won't miss a start which is good since the Royals are down to 3 starting pitchers as it is (Gobble, Anderson, Affeldt). All they need now is for Affeldt's blisters to show back up and it will have been a perfect month.

They've found every way to lose possible, first with awful starting pitching, then with the bullpen blowing games they have rallied in, and now it's killed their hitting. Not only that, but they're only 1-7 on the road and are heading to New York, Boston, and Toronto starting Friday.

Fortunately, not all news is bad. Chan Ho is pitching against them tomorrow, Mike Sweeney came back yesterday, Juan Gonzalez should be available this weekend, and Desi and Angel are expected to the join them on the road trip. And, as much as I want to cover my head when he enters a game (makes it fun, like Mitch Williams when he was closing for the Cubs), here's a sight for sore eyes, getting his first save today, hopefully restoring some semblance of order to the pen:

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20040429/capt.kxs1004290325.rangers_royals_kxs10.jpg

SI

[JeeberD]

Fuckin' Astros. How do you lose to the Pirates?

[Sharpieman]

I wish we could just fast forward to the middle of the season, so Sabean could make a great trade and Merkin Valdez could be our 4th or 5th starter.

[SackAttack]

Phenomenal defensive game from Milton Bradley tonight. I am just astounded on a nightly basis by what he brings to this team, whether it's delivering a timely hit, making productive outs when he DOES make outs, and playing just balls-to-the-wall defense out there in center. What a turnaround for this Dodger team.

[MizzouRah]

The Cardinals can't win at home! Oh how I dislike the Phillies!!


Todd

[Ksyrup]

How 'bout them Tigers? I know they'll likely fall back under .500 by June at the latest, but if they can stay anywhere near .500 for the season...wow.

The Angels look a bit shaky to me. Colon is still...Colon, Ramon Ortiz needs a new place to work, Donnelly still isn't back from that freak broken nose/persistent bleeding thing, and Ben Weber looks absolutely lost out there. I guess their offense is still intact, but I just don't think they've got the pitching.

[Butter]

Reds blow a 2 run 9th inning lead Tues. night, and a 9-0 lead last night. Beat that for misery, chumps!

[Ksyrup]

Bonds went 1-3 with 2 intentional walks...and lowered his OBP!

[henry296]

Sack,

Are you having a change in heart about the trade for Bradley?

Todd

[Chief Rum]

I'm going to try something for a while, and seeif I can keep up with it (and see if anyone is going to bother to respond).

Every day, I check out the box scores to see who is doing well and who is not. I read the game recaps, too, as well as ongoing baseball news. All of this is done via paper (I just can't get excited about hunting this stuff down on the Internet, especially with better things to do at home), so the following commentary is for yesterday's games (Wednesday, April 28). Still, I will see if I can do something like this every day, to keep the discussion flowing.

I don't think I know anything more than the average baseball fan, BTW, so don't be expecting any visionary discussions. It's just me talking out of my ass. ;)

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28

I'll start with the locals...

Tigers 10, Angels 2

Ugly one for the Halos last night. Bartolo Colon was all over the place. He allowed as many earned runs in this one alone (seven) as he had in his previous four starts altogether.

Have to admit this Tigers team doesn't look half bad. No, they are still going to falter, IMO, in the long run. Their pitching is just too young and really, not very talented, to make a run. But they have a nice, if under appreciated group of hitters, and they seem to have really taken to Trammell's gutsy attitude.

More bad news for the Halos. Garrett Anderson went on the DL with some sort of back ache that he thinks may be related to a shoulder injury that put him out for half of spring training. Angels are crossing their fingers.

David Eckstein, though, seems to be fine. He hurt his hamstring Tuesday night and said at one point that night he couldn't even sit up. But a night's rest and he says his hamstring came out fine. He was held out of Wednesday night's game as a precautionary measure.

Wedneday night notwithstanding, I have to like the Angels' offense. They look dominating at times, like on Tuesday, when they scored ten on Detroit, or last Friday, when they put 12 on the A's and Zito (in pretty much his worst start ever). If their starting pitching starts to be consistent, wow...

Mike Maroth, Wednesday night's winner, looked like a good-natured, easy-going guy in the dugout. Seems a good one to root for. Fun fact of the night was that he got his third win tonight, but last year, didn't get even his second win until June.

Fantasy nuts, something to watch for. Chone Figgins continues to make stuff happen on the basepaths. He has seven bases stolen in seven tries now in limited action, and guess who will be playing a lot of centerfield while GA is on the DL?

White Sox 9, Indians 8

The Windy City lived up to its name and won a game for the Sox. 33-mph winds helped confuse Indian 1B Ben Broussard on a Paul Konerko pop up, leading to an error which helped prolong a five-run winning rally in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday.

Scott Schoenweiss started for the Sox. I can't believe a team would start him, but he's been doing it all year (and not been too bad).

Sox have three ninth-inning comeback wins and five home wins in its final at bat. Reminds me of the 2002 Angels, except no one believes the Sox will keep it up (well, they'll be in the mix in the AL Central, but who wouldn't be?).

Of course, no one but Angels fans thought the Angels would keep it up either. Schoenweiss was on that team. Maybe...naaaawwwww...

Anybody else waiting for Ron Belliard to wake up to the real world? .425 and 11 doubles already? Yeah, he'll keep that up (until I pick him in my fantasy league anyway).

Am I the only one who actually likes a lot of the Indians young hitting talent (or inexperienced where not so young)? Broussard, Hafner, Blake, Gerut, Belliard...some good, young bats. Too bad their pen sucks donkey balls.

Yankees 5, Athletics 1

I love seeing the A's lose. I will probably start off every A's loss this way. :)

Been getting a lot of A's love losing the past few days, since they have lost five in a row now--yup, a full turn of the rotation, with all Big Three going.

Funniest story of this game? Derek Jeter being 0-for-32 now. I caught his last at bat on ESPN last night, and the announcer was gushing about the great Yankees fans giving him a standing ovation when he came up, in support of him and signifying respect and other Yankee BS. The announcer, of course, failed to talk about this when Jeter was soundly booed after grounding out to third. Stupid homer New York announcers. ;)

I'm not surprised the Yankees have struggled this year. I said from the beginning their pitching wouldn't hold up. Actually, their pitching has been pretty good. It's their hitting that hasn't done well. You know they will come around, though, on offense, and I still think their pitching staff is just waiting to implode (they actually started a guy last week I had never heard of, and that's hard to do, especially for the Yankees; Brewers, sure, Yankees? WTF?)

Contreras had his first good night of pitching this year (I think). Mark Mulder wasn't so good (for him). Nice timing for the Yanks.

I can't say enough about Jorge Posada. He's just playing great ball right now. It helps I have him on two of ym three fantasy teams. Go Jorge.

After Posada (.302), only three Yank regulars are hitting above .250 and ARod is just barely above (.253).

A's have offense problems. Their five game losing streak shows that. They were bad against the Angels last weekend, and sucked last night. They did score a lot Tuesday, but they gave up too many runs in that one (Yankee comeback). Jermaine is still a nice hitter, and I'll bite that they brought in some "professional" hitters in Kielty and Kotsay, but seriously, these are the guys that are supposed to replace Tejada or even Hernandez? I mean, ole betaen up Karro sis a regular, for cryin' out loud!

More Derek ".161" Jeter fun. Even the AP writer is stroking his pud. The wire writer put in this quote from Jeter after his oh-fer streak continued:

"Pitchers aren't going to feel sorry for you. You've just got to go out and keep swinging. It's a funny game sometimes. You just try to help the team in other ways."

The writer goes on to describe a "slick" double play Jeter was a part of to end the eighth. I shit you not, three of the five paragraphs in the wire service story were about Jeter, in a game the Yanks clearly won without him. I have no problem with Jeter, seems like a real good guy. Just sick of the constant media man-love.

Orioles 3, Mariners 1

I love it when the M's lose. ;)

Man, are they off to a bad start or what? I thgought the Angels swept that first series because they're good, now I am wondering if they swept it because the M's suck.

It's way too early to dismiss them, though, of course. Their pitching has been atrocious so far, and that's their best part. It's like a mirror image of last year, where everyone was doing great except Freddie Garcia, the former ace on the rise. Now Garcia is great (and getting no run support), and everyone else sucks.

I have Moyer and Pineiro and Garcia in various forms on my three fantasy teams. That sucks. I got Moyer by accident (don't ask...).

Hey, dawgfan, whatdya think of Speez now? He's one of the few guys doing well. Nice to see an ex-Angel done good.

M's lost a close one Wednesday when Garcia wasn't pitching. That's a first. Moyer was the game's best pitcher. Unfortunately he was followed by the game's worst in Shigetoshi Hasegawa, who gave up the difference int he eighth.

From the second through the seventh, the O's got just one hit. Moyer deserved better.

I can't figure out if the O's are any good. Lovfe the offense, but too manhy guys are playing over their heads. They will fall. And the pitching has too much youth to keep it up, IMO. Ponson is the only truly proven guy, and he's a #3 pitcher on a good team.

Can you believe Javy Lopez perhaps has been slumping a bit and he's hitting .377? I can't believe he hit over .500 for two or three weeks.

Royals 5, Rangers 3

Wow, anyone catch the whole Ken Harvey deal? Get this. He hits a ball out of the ballpark off of Kenny Rogers, on the first pitch. One ump ruled the foul line shot fair, but he was overruled by the other umps after Buck Showalter argued the call. Even Harvey didn't think it was fair. So what does Harvey do? Belts the very next pitch from Rogers over the left field fence--and in clear fair territory--for what turned out to be the difference in the ball game.

I hate the Royals' starting pitching. It bugs the hell out of me that they throw out an old Appier (pre-injury), former Japan League star Darrell May (also pre-injury) and Brian Anderson (whom they just wish was injured) and tell their fans that's a rotation. I realize that is the reality of today's small market world, but, ouch, this team has a solid offense that could do some stuff with some quality pitching (and some health).

So it was nice to see young Jimmy Gobble do well, and Mike MacDougal return (fantasy nuts: you can drop Leskanic now). Gobble and Affeldt are the jey to that rotation.

The Rangers are a nice, early season story, especially when HFP's fave pitcher ain't going.

Still, it's just stunning to see the numbers this lineup has put up. Remember the Yanks' lineup? Their second best hitter right now is Sheffield (.284). The worst starter int he Rangers' lineup Wednesday night was Herb Perry (.286). Holy shit...

...BTW, you all know they won't keep it up, right? Rangers are a very good offensive team, even without ARod, but this is 1927 Yankees good. That they ain't.

Note: not counting Brian Jordan, since he just played in his first game (and is hitting .000).

Red Sox 6, Devil Rays 0

I'm not a big Red Sox fan, but I view them as the lesser of two evils. It was nice to see them sweep the Yanks, and take three of four the weekend before.

I picked the Red Sox to win the World Series in our prediction thread, so I have some rep on the line with this one. Of course, I just hope they'll lose to the Angels at some point.

Schilling was amazing last night, even after getting pegged on the foot by a comebacker. He pitched seven-plus of shutout innings, struck out eight and allowed just five hits. Even against the offensively-slumping D-Rays, that's pretty good, and that's not even accounting he's 37 now. The D'Backs should have moved the unit and kept Schilling.

I'm happy to see Mueller hitting .278. Why? Because there is no way that no-hack talent should have a batting title on his resume. He's a dedcent enough player, but no more. I avoided him like the plague in my fantasy drafts.

Imagine what the Sox can do when they get Nomar back.

You know what's wrong with the Rays? Paul Abbott is starting and Mark Hendricksen is in the pen. Of course, Hendricksen has a 6.75 ERA and Abbott a 3.20 ERA, even after a just average outing Wednesday night, so what do I know?

Twins 9, Bluejays 5

For a team with a lot of injury problems this year, the Twins sure do seem to be scoring a lot. They lost Torii Hunter for most of the first month, and also lost LeCroy and Mauer int he first week, and yet they just keep coming with unexpected contributions from guys like Lew Ford and Henry Blanco. Go figure.

They did it again Wednesday night, scoring four runs after allowing the Bluejays to tie it up with four of their own in the top of the eighth.

And they aren't even using star young hitting talents like Cuddyer, Restovich and Morneau, the next round of great hitters (with Mauer) due to come out of the Twins' system.

The offense has been so good, the Twins have the most wins in the AL in the early going, with 14. Of course, a lot of those came against the AL Central, but I digress.

Now if only they could produce some pitchers. Lohse just sucks. Can't believe he is still starting for them (or got the opportunity in the first place, at least not right now). Lohse was awful Wednesday night. Santana, the expected ace, has also been pretty bad. I forget how Radke is doing, but I don't think he wowed me (or I would remember).

The Twins are getting great production from their pen with Fultz, Rincon, Romero and Nathan. I never would have guessed Nathan would be the choice at closer over Romero or the departed Huardado, but he's done well.

The Jays are hitting much better. In case you didn't notice they were absolutely awful to start the year. The whole team was in this great funk. Only the Expos could compare. They're just now starting to come out of it. Only two regulars have broken into .300 territory, and one of them had to go 8-for-8 in the last two games (Chris Woodward) to get there.

I think I read a couple days ago that a dominating performance by Lilly was the first win by any pitcher in the Jays' rotation not named Halladay. Ouch.

Well, that's the AL. This took longer than I thought, although part of that is simply because it's the first one. I have to catch up on almost a month of baseball. :)

I'll see if I can get the NL up later tonight.

CR

[sterlingice]

Not to deter you because the writeups are fun. But a suggestion to lessen the workload so that you keep with it longer. Maybe do each series on, say, Thurs/Fridays and Mon/Sundays. Keep a little text file with a couple of notes from each game. Either that, or maybe pick 5 games a day to do something about. It looks like you're pretty well read baseball-wise so we won't get the same Yankees/Red Sox crap every day like ESPN. Contrary to what the national sports media would have you believe, interesting stuff happens in a San Diego-Pittsburgh game. They just don't care to write about it. Man, come summer this would be fun to do if I ever had time...

SI

[Chief Rum]

Not to deter you because the writeups are fun. But a suggestion to lessen the workload so that you keep with it longer. Maybe do each series on, say, Thurs/Fridays and Mon/Sundays. Keep a little text file with a couple of notes from each game. Either that, or maybe pick 5 games a day to do something about. It looks like you're pretty well read baseball-wise so we won't get the same Yankees/Red Sox crap every day like ESPN. Contrary to what the national sports media would have you believe, interesting stuff happens in a San Diego-Pittsburgh game. They just don't care to write about it. Man, come summer this would be fun to do if I ever had time...

SI

Good suggestion. That might be the way to go. I'll see how far I get this way, and if I start to lag (I probably will), I can always switch to a series by series look.

Every game is baseball. You're right that some of the news media seems to forget that at times. It takes a part time first baseman beating an athletic Milwaukee meat with a bat, for instance, to get coverage of Pittsburgh.

CR

[SFL Cat]

The Florida Marlins are making me start to like baseball again...a little.

[Bearcat729]

Reds blow a 2 run 9th inning lead Tues. night, and a 9-0 lead last night. Beat that for misery, chumps!


And you expect anything less of the Reds?


I knew they would fall back to earth, but damn I was hoping that they would make this season interesting.

[Chief Rum]

All right, time for the NL. :)

Dodgers 3, Mets 2

I can't believe the Dodgers are in first, but in the NL West, I guess anything can happen. If they keep it up and the Angels stay at or near the top of the AL West, it will likely fuel unrealistic optimism for the first ever true Freeway Series, which will be exciting around here but interest no one outside of SoCal.

After last night's action. Gagne and Mota are both over a 2 ERA and Driefort is under 3. The world is about to end.

Interesting little fact in the paper. The Dodgers are 7-0 in one-run games this year, and 95-67 since Jim Tracy took over in 2001. I have a feeling that has a lot to do with Gagne. This is probably well known among baseball fans, but if you want to win a bar bet, ask someone to guess when Gagne last blew a save. If he says 2002, he is wrong. He blew the 2003 All Star game when he gave up a homerun to Texas's Hank Blalock. In regular season stats, though, Gagne's string of perfection continues (got his sixth of the season last night).

It was really nice to see Mike Piazza hit the homer to tie Carlton Fisk for the all time lead among catchers Tuesday night--at Dodger Stadium, where he is still both loved and hated and is something like the Prodigal Son yet to return. Piazza himself said he liked hitting it at Dodger Stadium.

I like what I have seen from Kazuo Matsui so far. He has been the kind of player I expected him to be (but with less power).

I swear I have been scoffing at Karim Garcia as a legit power outfielder since this season began, because of numerous stupid assumtpions: 1) He came up with the Dodgers with Roger Cedeno, another outfielder who played with the Mets and who had perhaps the power of a peanut; 2) Garcia never did much while with the Dodgers and subsequently disappeared from my radar; and 3) I frankly didn't bother to pay attention to his stats in recent years.

Fact is, Garcia has hit 88 homers in 1567 career at bats, or about 30 a season, if you think of 500 at bats as a season (and that is a light one, too). I guess I need to change my vision of him.

Paul Lo Duca is hitting .420 and is the king of starting off hot. I am waiting for the inevitable fall, with accompanying lack of power. Still, my brother and his fiancee, both diehard Dodgers' fans (I am the black sheep Angel fan in a Dodgers family), insist he added around 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason. I haven't looked close enough to tell personally, but, even as biased fans, that's just the type of thing they wouldn't make up. I guess we'll see in July.

Speaking of starting off hot, what's up with Adrian Beltre? This guy finally hitting on his talent? He never starts off hot and sort of sneaks up on ya at the end of the season, underachieving all the while. He already has seven homeruns and 18 RBIs this year, after hitting a tater Wdnesday.

Everyone has knocked on Milton Bradley for his attitude, but that guy has been pretty good both in the clubhouse and on the field so far this year. Misunderstood or a ticking time bomb?

Despite losing, Steve Trachsel pitched pretty well last night and has been a solid pitcher for the Mets for three years now. Does that seem strange to anyone else? I still think of him as that scattershot nutball from early in his career, when he was as inconsistent with his behavior as he was on the mound.

The Mets suck at offense this year. Look it up.

Cubs 4, Diamondbacks 3

How much does it suck to be Steve Finley? The guy clubs three homeruns, but the three spots in front of him (Sadler, Gonzalez and Sexson, with Baerga pinchhitting for Sexson at the end) go a collective 1-for-14 with three strikeouts. The three Finley solo shots were all the offense the D'Backs produced against Greg Maddux and the Cubs' pen.

Maddux hasn't been all that good this season, so far, but he's doing better than before. He allowed two earned runs in six innings of work, both courtesy of Finley, of course.

The hero of the game was Cubs' shortstop Alex Gonzalez (S, I think), who broke out from being 1-for-10 in the series by hitting the first pitch by Matt mantei over tyhe fence in the ninth. Borowski was also better than he's been and sealed up the game with his fifth save.

Any other Borowski doubters out there? Personally, I think Hawkins might be a better choice, but, of course, he's the guy who allowed Finley's game-tying homer in the eighth. But he does have a 2.70 ERA.

Can you believe the Cubs are 13-8 without Mark Prior? Wow.

Of course, they have been hitting the crap out f the ball> Did you check tthem out of the weekend? I don't have the papers right here, but I know the Cubs scored around 35 runs or so in five games over the past week, prior to Monday's game (they actually lost the last two big to the Unit and Brandon Webb, but those guys were both on).

The Cubs starters don't have particularly great numbers, so obviously this recent offensive play followed a stretch where they must have been winning on pitching. Aramis Ramirez is on a great run. He is hitting .310 and has 19 RBI. Corey Patterson remains a personal favorite of mine--I think he's capable of big things and have him on a couple of my fantasy squads. Still, he isn't really killing the ball, andneither is Sosa yet. Derrek Lee, so far, is looking more like the raw end of the deal, with Hee Seop Choi doing well in Florida.

Anyone catch Clement's almost-no-no on Saturday? Wow, he was really on. It muist be great to have dominating pitchers like Wood and Prior and Clement in the same rotation, but then, that's why everyone and their mother was picking the Cubbies to do well, right?

It was a pretty crappy night for the D'Backs, who might lose Sexson for a while. In the eighth inning, Sexson strained his shoulder on a string. Early medical exams came back negative, but the fear is there is something more to it. That would really suck for Arizona, because Sexson is hitting the crap out of the ball. He's tied for the league-lead in homeruns so far this year. I just knew he was going to kick ass, too (but soimehow managed to miss out on him in fantasy drafts each time :( ).

An injury to Sexson only adds to the woes for Arizona, which has also lost Alomar with a broken hand and seen another lineup cog in Hillenbrand suck his way out of a regular spot in the lineup. And last night, Daigle started for them. Diagle. Alexander? Too much hockey on the brain. I think I have actually heard of this guy, but point is, even after allowing a solid three earned runs in seven innings Wednesday night, he's still sporting an 8.55 ERA. Numbers like that don't help a team with possible offensive problems (side note: it should be noted the D'Backs absolutely throttled the Cubs in the previous two games of the series, but much of that was Sexson driven).

Two Arizona guys to keep an eye on. Chad Tracy and Matt Kata. Tracy is a well-regarded rookie whom has basically forced Hillenbrand into a platoon-reserve role. He should be seeing some serious playing time, and has the talent to play. Kata by all reports doesn't have the talent to play, or not that I have heard, but he just keeps hitting. He's Alomar's replacement, though, so when Spitting Roberto comes back in June or whatever, expect Kata to drop back to the bench.

Speaking of hitting beyond his ability, the guy I don't get is Alex Cintron. This guy never hit anywhere near .300 in all of his minor league years, but something must have turned the lkight on when he got to Ball One, becuase he hit .300-plus last year and was off to a good start again this year.

Isn't it about time the D'Backs gave up on the reclamation project that is Matt Mantei? When he isn't inconsistent and wild, he's on the DL. He gave up Gonzalez's go ahead shot in Wednesday's game.

Lots to say about this series, I guess. :)

Padres 5, Expos 4

The Padres have been playing pretty well, but what does it mean when it's against the Expos? Heck, the Padres are responsible for 1/29 of the Expos' payroll (along with everyone else), after revenues at least (that's a low number in case you haven't paid any attention to baseball since 1995). They could probably order them to lay down their bats and gloves. In fact, Expos games should only count as half-wins.

How bad is this team? It's sad really, because they still have a lot of young talent. Not talent that should be playing much in the bigs right now, but there it is. Losing Vlad and Javy just really hurt this franchise. Those guys really anchored what was left of a fan and talent base in Montreal.

The Expos were practically desparate for runs so fare this season. They had a string snapped last week in which they scored three or less runs in their first 13 or 14 games, or something like that. They just finished losing eight in a row, and now they are back to three in a row on the down end.

It can't help that arguably their two best hitters in carl Everett and Nick Johnson are also out with injuries. I should know--I have Johnson on a fantasy team and I keep waiting for the bastard to finally heel up and return to satisfy the sleeper status I attached to him in the offseason. One guy I am watching: Zach Day. Lots of talent there. He broke their last streak, I believe, and he's a kid on the rise.

Livan Hernandez has also been pitching well. Too bad he gets no run support.

The Padres are playing well, and right now, look as good as any to challenge for the NL West. Eaton has been very solid, as has Peavey. Lawrence--well, okay, not everyone is doing well. Someone needs to wake that guy up.

What's the deal with Khalil Greene? Everyone's pick for NL ROY preseason isn't really doing all that well, but I keep seeing his name, becuase he seems to come up with the right hits at the right time. Greene's eighth inning triple won the game for the Pads.

It looks like Brian Giles is finally starting to pickup. This time last week he was in jeter-land, but now he's back at mendoza and has a couple homeruns to his credit.

Speaking of homeruns, someone let Sean Burroughs know he can occasionally hit something beside soft liners over middle infielders' heads (dad?), and Mark Loretta, you have no actual talent, so when is this streak of good play going back over a full season now gonna stop?

Giants 10, Braves 7

You know, I was looking over Barry's career numbers the other day, and something someone said in the recent ugly Barry thread clicked. It was mentioned how his numbers, outside of that freakish 2000, aren't out of line with his career numbers. And that poster was right, I'm afraid. The guy was pretty much likely to get 35-45 homeruns anywhere from 1993 on, and what a coincidence, that's about when the balls started flying out of the yard, too (thank you, Coloroado Rockies). No power numbers he has put up outisde of 2000 are really all that out of whack from his year-to-year production. His walks have increased, of course, but given his monstrous displays of power and his experience, it makes sense that would happen.

With only one atypical season, I am forced to ask myself if it is so easy t peg steroids on the guy for one outstanding year, when you have guys like Brady Anderson in baseball history? I don't know. Hell, I think Barry has even made a concerted effort to be more "human" since 2000, in his behavior and approach to the game. I still hate the SOB, though. :)

The other night, Barry walked twice, after being walked three times Monday night. He was also walked twice on Wednesday. His quote: "I'm bored." Well, no shit, sherlock.

Last week, a Dodger announcer not named Scully (it must have been Monday then) was wondering why pitchers don't peg him inside. Yeah, I know he's got that wheelhouse there, but with the way he stands on the plate, you would think it was about time all the pitchers in the league got fed up and started giving him the "back off or in your ear" multiple choice exam.

Of course, why should they change? They're beating Bonds and the Giants anyway. While Bonds racks up the basepath miles, his team is racking up the L's. That team just has very little offense outside of Barry.

Of course, having said that, it should be noted the Giants pounded out ten runs against the Braves on Wednesday, and Barry did not get a homerun.

Memo to Alou...Tomko sucks. So does most of the rest of your rotation. It's like Schmidt and then half of the time, Reuter, and pray for Barry (doesn't have the same zing as Spahn and Sain and pray for rain, does it?).

I don't care what all the homer Bay Area posters on this board say, this team is not all that good this year. I'm still trying to figure out why first base defense is so important that J.T. Snow and his lackluster bat is still starting. I mean shortstop or catcher is one thing, but first base?

BTW, I could use a good catcher. Can someone tell me if Johnny Estrada is really this good, or is he just waiting for me to pick him up to return to a .239 average with little to no power?

Also, why are the Braves so good against the Marlisn,a nd how come Horacio Ramirez keeps pitching well, and no one ever talks about him? It's a conspiracy.

Pirates 4, Astros 2

The Pirates won becuase of two guys who have done well in the past breaking out of season-commencing slumps. Mondesi is hitting .315 this eyar, but he was 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position when he hit a two-run double to prvide the difference in this one Wednesday night. Talk about anti-clutch (or pure luck, depending on your point of view). The other guy was Josh Fogg, who used to be a little favorite of mine to pick up when I needed little known pitching help. Problem is he has outright sucked this year. Allowing two runs in seven innings got him down to a 10.69 ERA, holy crap.

It isn't easy to cool off the Astros. It's like someone turned back the biological clocks on Bagwell and Biggio. They are playing like they are ten years younger. And Richard Hidalgo has been eating his Wheaties. That guys has been plastered across the 'Stros box scores since the beginning of the year.

Now, if Miller was pitching more consistent or Pettitte wasn't hurt, the Astros might actually be in first. Pettitte started today (or was scheduled to), although I haven't checked yet to see how he did. Clemens has been wowing everyone, but I think that's a well-reported fact. Oswalt has also been good, even betetr than the past couple years, but did someone surgically attach Al Leiter's arm to Oswalt's shoulder? How's this guy only getting one K in seven innings of work?

Back on the Pirates, they have one of my favorite little success stories in Craig Wilson. He's a fantasy dream. Plays three positions and he hits well. One of the positions is catcher. All the fantasy mags had him pegged and they were right.

Brewers 10, Reds 9

What can I say that hasn't already been said? You know you're in losers-ville when you give up a nine-run lead. Shoot, I just wouldn't even show up the next day if that happened. Did the Reds show up today?

I read recently that the Reds have the worst starting pitching in major league baseball int he past ten seasons. I don't know, that seems kinda rough, but they aren't doing well. It's amazing to me that Graves is among save leaders, because he has been needed so much apparently.

Of course, it goes to show the offense, led by Casey and Dunn, hasn't been too bad to put Graves in that situation. It sure as heck hasn't been Griffey or Kearns. Kearns sucked the big one to start off and now he's got a broken arm. Griffey is healthy--go figure--but he has been ice cold since he got off toa semi-decent start. I'm bummed about that--every year I draft the guy to at least one fantasy team, hoping he will return to superstardom. The bastard.

The Reds gained back Brandon Larson today, but then pout Jason LaRue on the DL. They just can't win.

As for the Brewers, well, they can't win, either, except when the are playing the Reds and when Sheets is pitching. Ben Sheets is been throwing the ball really well. Of course, someone already noticed this and has picked him up in all three of my fantasy leagues. Damn.

I had a good feeling about Scott Posednik, and he has been proving to be great. I love it when I'm right. He gots on base and hits for avergae, he shoots the gaps, and he he's a pitcher's running nightmare. With Sexson gone, he's just about the only thing to worry about, unless you think Chad Moeller is going to keep putting up cycles or Overbay is going to suddenly turn into Cecil Cooper.

Wednesday, Matt Kinney started. Isn't he a reliever? I'm too tired to research that, but it seemed weird to me. Over the weekend, some guy named Saenz (Chris, I think, not Omelda) came up from AA and pitched seven or eight innings of shutout ball, with a strikeout per inning. Then after the game, they sent him back down to AA. Hello! Milwaukee? You in there? You see, this is why the Brew Crew sucks (well, that and the Seligs and the lack of anything resembling money).

My favorite player in the league? It might be Brooks Kieschnick. You guys seen this one? He's a reliever who is doing phenomenal so far this season (1.80 ERA), and he's also their best pinch hitter. How about that? You see Kieschnick used to be a D-Ray farmhand. I found him when he was loaned out to the Angels' AAA to get PT and he absolutely killed the ball for us down there. I wondered who he was and ever since then I have been following him. Despite the fact everywhere he had gone in the minors, Kieschnick hit, he never seemed to get a chance at regular time, not even with the D'Rays.

Kieschnick was a 1B, folks. Not a pitcher. Apparently, someone figured out he has a good arm (or he pitched somewhere in his murky past). So they converted him and he took to it. But he still knows how to hit. He's probably one of the best hitting pitchers in the league.

So there's my Kieschnick story.

Phillies 6, Cards 3

Man, how many games were in the National league Wednesday? (Don't say "eight, duh", I already know the answer).

I should go straight from this article to dropping Brett Myers' ass. He's a solid, young pitcher ont he rise for the Phils whom you probably noticed enjoyed a decent season last year.

Problem is, he has completely sucked ass this year, and after giving up three runs and eight hits in four innings Wednesday night, he said if he doesn't start pitching better, they should give his starts to Ryan Madson, the guy who came in and pitched four innings of one-hit shutout ball to preserve the win Myers almost blew. Sheesh, Brett, at least fight for it, you big pusswad.

The Cards' hitters have been phenomenal this year. Anyone see that plastering they put on the Stros and poor Tim Redding last week? Everyone got into the act. Sanders hit a homerun, Rolen hit a homerun. Pujols got on base. Edmonds hit a grand slam. Wow. And the offense just keeps chugging along. Someoen new is always stepping up. Pujols is probably the best hitter in baseball. Rolen has been the best hitter of 2004 so far. There are no zeroes in the lineup.

So why are they .500? Folks, meet their pitching. Even Matt Morris sucks. I don't get it. Is this where formerly good pitchers go to die? Maybe we can call it the Curse of Rick Ankiel. I remember when it seemed like every Tom, Dick and Harry they threw out there (Osborne, Hermanson, Stephenson, Simontacchi, that crap guy we Angels traded Edmonds for) was like gold on the mound. What the heck happened?

Anyone buy into the magazines' huff and puff about Burrell being a suckass, because how crappy he did last year? I didn't buy it, and now he's a key part of two of my teams. I don't know why people think talent just goes away (heck, it's why I just keep drafting Griffey, and tried to get Berkman, too).

Anyone think that maybe Abreu and Burrell are actually the same player, but just alter egos of one another? It seems like one is always playing bad when the other is doing good. In fact, are they reall ythe same person, play acting "good ballplayer, bad ballplayer"? I mean, we never see them at the same time when the Phillies are hitting, because one guy never gets on--he's back ont he bench with his 89th pop up of th eyear before the other guy comes out on the on-deck cricle. As for the field thing, i think the Phillies' new stadium has a fancy mirror system. Byrd can cover left field from center anyway.

Florida 9, Rockies 4

Man, how about them Marlins?

Beckett has been unhittable (well, excpet when he's hittable, well you know what I mean, he's still a kid and prone to inconsistency). Willis wins his games both at the mound and at the bat.

Mike Lowell continues to test my true and firm belief he is a single shitter with some gap power (he hit three homeruns in a game? What?). Miguel Cabrera is just 20? Why did the Cubs give up on Choi so fast? Really, this is a very good ballclub. Frankly, I am wondering right now why I picked the Phillies ahead of them.

As for Colorado, I just want to know two things. Who the hell is Aaron Miles, and how come Joe Kennedy is so good in the thin air?

That's the NL. I'll be at Dodger Stadium Friday night for Eric Gagne Bobblehead Doll night. That should be fun. Gagne will add symmetry to my current Bobblehead collection, which currently features five Lakers' Bobbleheads from Carl's Jr and a Garrett Anderson Bobblehead that looks frighteningly like Candyman (hence, my personal nickname for GA).

That's assuming the kid I take the Gagne Bobblehead away from doesn't scream for security.

CR

[Easy Mac]

To your Estrada question, he led the IL in AAA in hitting last year.

And Ramirez was our best pitcher last season (Ortiz won more put was inconsistent).

[Butter]

Brooks Kieschnick is a good pinch hitter in the same way that Rob Deer was a good home run hitter.

[WSUCougar]

they should give his starts to Ryan Madson, the guy who came in and pitched four innings of one-hit shutout ball to preserve the win Myers almost blew. The Redbirds made that string bean (6-6, 190) look like Maddux in his prime. Unhittable with his change-up.

Sanders hit a homerunI am so glad they signed Sanders (which I'd been saying last year). The guy is a perfect fit. He even steals bases!

that crap guy we Angels traded Edmonds forYou mean the immortal Kent Bottenfield? I always though he looked like a pro bowler.

The bullpen is what's killing us. The starters are actually faring pretty well. Lincoln has been strong (until his third inning of work the other night), but the rest are spotty. The thing that kills me - ALWAYS kills me - is relievers that come in and can't throw strikes. Blink and they're in the hole, 2-0. GOD!

Now come the Cubbies...

[SackAttack]

Todd,

I'm starting to feel better about it, yes, but my ultimate feeling is still dependent upon:

a) Bradley continuing to do this all year, and
b) who the PTBNL ultimately is. I'm hearing it's not a top 5, so if that's true, then yeah, I'm happy with the trade.

[ISiddiqui]

Mike Lowell continues to test my true and firm belief he is a single shitter with some gap power

;) Sorry, just had to. Anyway, one wonders when the Marlins will deal Lowell so that Cabrera can take over his normal position. Or will they continue the experiment of Cabrera in the OF. I guess he hasn't been that horrible.

--

Btw, kind of strange how no one has really been looking at Tom Glavine's turn around. Last year he was pilloried for going to NY and being washed up. So far this year? 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Though his K/9 isn't very good and may point towards a fluky April, but who knows.

[Young Drachma]

The Marlins have their stadium vote today, to determine the state's share of their new park. If the plan goes through, apparently they'll change their name to the Miami Marlins.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1792907&partnersite=espn

[HornedFrog Purple]

The Rangers are a nice, early season story, especially when HFP's fave pitcher ain't going.

Still, it's just stunning to see the numbers this lineup has put up. Remember the Yanks' lineup? Their second best hitter right now is Sheffield (.284). The worst starter int he Rangers' lineup Wednesday night was Herb Perry (.286). Holy shit...

...BTW, you all know they won't keep it up, right? Rangers are a very good offensive team, even without ARod, but this is 1927 Yankees good. That they ain't.

Note: not counting Brian Jordan, since he just played in his first game (and is hitting .000).

I would just like to say that the beginning of May is coming and the Rangers aren't for all practical purposes eliminated yet. This start has surpassed any expectations I had for this team.

About the offense, i would not worry about that, they are hitting about 85 points lower on the road last time I checked. But the fun thing to watch with them is it is small ball and manufacturing runs. Rudy Jaramillo is a miracle worker. This guy can teach anyone to hit.

The starting pitching has done great with the exception of the worst pitcher to ever play in the major leagues, but I hold my breath until June and July when the heat down here not only historically kills them but the ball jumps even more at the Ballpark. I really like how our bullpen is doing too.

[MizzouRah]

What a game! The Cubbies walk in the winning run!!


Todd

[sterlingice]

Any other Borowski doubters out there? Personally, I think Hawkins might be a better choice, but, of course, he's the guy who allowed Finley's game-tying homer in the eighth. But he does have a 2.70 ERA. I'm with you, Chief. Then again, it took me about 2 years to warm to Eric Gagne, too. So just consider me tough to win over with closers. There are about 10 quality guys and 3 or 4 are hurt at any given time it seems. Then there are another 7-10 who suck but keep getting closing jobs (Mr Benitez, Mr Koch, I'm looking in your direction). Then there are the young and unproven ones. If I'm drafting for a fantasy draft or building a team in real life, if you can't have one of the top guys, go for the young and unproven group rather than the crappy "name" guys.

Anyone catch Clement's almost-no-no on Saturday? Wow, he was really on. It muist be great to have dominating pitchers like Wood and Prior and Clement in the same rotation, but then, that's why everyone and their mother was picking the Cubbies to do well, right? I love how if you're on ESPN and "in the know", you have to claim Clement has the best stuff. While that may be true (it isn't), he's not nearly the same caliber of pitcher as Wood or even Prior. And last I checked, baseball games were not the MLB equivalent of Punt, Pass, and Kick but the total package.

The Padres are playing well, and right now, look as good as any to challenge for the NL West. Eaton has been very solid, as has Peavey. Lawrence--well, okay, not everyone is doing well. Someone needs to wake that guy up. Speaking of good, young arms, what's up with Brian Lawrence? In 2001-2002, he was the next big thing. Now he's the forgotten one among all their nice young pitching and out-of-place David Wells. I'm waiting for his arm to break down so he can Tommy John it, get back on track, and go back to having a nice career. The only thing I can gather is that he's suffering from the 70IP per year breakdown rule when he went from 120 to 210 IPs.

Any other Borowski doubters out there? Personally, I think Hawkins might be a better choice, but, of course, he's the guy who allowed Finley's game-tying homer in the eighth. But he does have a 2.70 ERA. I'm with you, Chief. Then again, it took me about 2 years to warm to Eric Gagne, too. So just consider me tough to win over with closers. There are about 10 quality guys and 3 or 4 are hurt at any given time it seems. Then there are another 7-10 who suck but keep getting closing jobs (Mr Benitez, Mr Koch, I'm looking in your direction). Then there are the young and unproven ones. If I'm drafting for a fantasy draft or building a team in real life, if you can't have one of the top guys, go for the young and unproven group rather than the crappy "name" guys.

Anyone catch Clement's almost-no-no on Saturday? Wow, he was really on. It muist be great to have dominating pitchers like Wood and Prior and Clement in the same rotation, but then, that's why everyone and their mother was picking the Cubbies to do well, right? I love how if you're on ESPN and "in the know", you have to claim Clement has the best stuff. While that may be true (it isn't), he's not nearly the same caliber of pitcher as Wood or even Prior. And last I checked, baseball games were not the MLB equivalent of Punt, Pass, and Kick but the total package.

The Padres are playing well, and right now, look as good as any to challenge for the NL West. Eaton has been very solid, as has Peavey. Lawrence--well, okay, not everyone is doing well. Someone needs to wake that guy up. Speaking of good, young arms, what's up with Brian Lawrence? In 2001-2002, he was the next big thing. Now he's the forgotten one among all their nice young pitching and out-of-place David Wells. I'm waiting for his arm to break down so he can Tommy John it, get back on track, and go back to having a nice career.

Also, why are the Braves so good against the Marlisn,a nd how come Horacio Ramirez keeps pitching well, and no one ever talks about him? It's a conspiracy. Last year he was on everyone's fantasy sleeper list, mainly because he was the #5 in Atlanta. Still, to be the #5 in Atlanta up until the last season or two, you had to be a damn good prospect with as much as they developed in their system.





My favorite player in the league? It might be Brooks Kieschnick. You guys seen this one? He's a reliever who is doing phenomenal so far this season (1.80 ERA), and he's also their best pinch hitter. How about that? You see Kieschnick used to be a D-Ray farmhand. I found him when he was loaned out to the Angels' AAA to get PT and he absolutely killed the ball for us down there. I wondered who he was and ever since then I have been following him. Despite the fact everywhere he had gone in the minors, Kieschnick hit, he never seemed to get a chance at regular time, not even with the D'Rays.

Kieschnick was a 1B, folks. Not a pitcher. Apparently, someone figured out he has a good arm (or he pitched somewhere in his murky past). So they converted him and he took to it. But he still knows how to hit. He's probably one of the best hitting pitchers in the league.
To call him a pitcher is generous. I remember him in college at Texas, and he was all pitcher (had a couple of stellar years for the Longhorns). First round pick of the Cubs at least 10 years ago and they converted him to a hitter since he also hit about .400 in college. Unfortunately, he couldn't hit that well and has been wandering around in the minor leagues ever since.

So why are they .500? Folks, meet their pitching. Even Matt Morris sucks. I don't get it. Is this where formerly good pitchers go to die? Maybe we can call it the Curse of Rick Ankiel. I remember when it seemed like every Tom, Dick and Harry they threw out there (Osborne, Hermanson, Stephenson, Simontacchi, that crap guy we Angels traded Edmonds for) was like gold on the mound. What the heck happened? I swore Donovan Osborne was going to be the next big thing. Oops. He had absolutely filthy stuff when I saw him pitch his first couple of seasons but then he blew his arm out, still came back for a couple of seasons, but then blew his arm out again and that was that...

I should go straight from this article to dropping Brett Myers' ass. He's a solid, young pitcher ont he rise for the Phils whom you probably noticed enjoyed a decent season last year.

Problem is, he has completely sucked ass this year, and after giving up three runs and eight hits in four innings Wednesday night, he said if he doesn't start pitching better, they should give his starts to Ryan Madson, the guy who came in and pitched four innings of one-hit shutout ball to preserve the win Myers almost blew. Sheesh, Brett, at least fight for it, you big pusswad. Speaking of blowing arms out, he's a prime candidate as he jumped about 150 IPs in one season. He'll be coming to an operating table near you very soon.

SI

[Buccaneer]

Can someone post the full article about the Pads from here? http://proxy.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=1792810

[SFL Cat]

The Marlins have their stadium vote today, to determine the state's share of their new park. If the plan goes through, apparently they'll change their name to the Miami Marlins.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1792907&partnersite=espn

I'm still of the opinion, I'll believe it when I see it. The proposed Orange Bowl site for the new stadium is just awful IMHO. Most of the Marlins' fanbase is in Broward and Palm Beach County, well north of Miami-Dade. No one I've talked to really wants to deal with the traffic nightmare of going to see games down in Miami -- although I'm sure there are a few hardcore fans who would anyway. I have no clue how they think they can build a new domed ball-park for $350 million, especially in light of all the infra-structure upgrades that will be necessary and the fact that part of the package would include funds for updating the Orange Bowl.

Best place for a new stadium would be somewhere near Pro-Player -- where the Marlins are playing now. Nice central location for everyone, and a little more accessible traffic-wise.

[Buccaneer]

Guess who leads the MLB in wins as of right now?

[MizzouRah]

Guess who leads the MLB in wins as of right now?
I'll tell you who's NOT!

Woody Williams.

Hmmm... Roger Clemens at (5-0)?


Todd

[Buccaneer]

I'll tell you who's NOT!

Woody Williams.

Hmmm... Roger Clemens at (5-0)?


Todd
Sorry, I meant team wins.

[SFL Cat]

Despite the early season celebrations (ding dong New York is dead), has anyone noticed that the Yankees have won 5 straight and are now only 2.5 behind the RedSox (who have lost their last two)?

[Crapshoot]

Todd,

I'm starting to feel better about it, yes, but my ultimate feeling is still dependent upon:

a) Bradley continuing to do this all year, and
b) who the PTBNL ultimately is. I'm hearing it's not a top 5, so if that's true, then yeah, I'm happy with the trade.

Rumor has it being Andy Brown (acquired from Atlanta in the Sheff deal) or Joel Hanrahan- both decent arms.

[Crapshoot]

;) Sorry, just had to. Anyway, one wonders when the Marlins will deal Lowell so that Cabrera can take over his normal position. Or will they continue the experiment of Cabrera in the OF. I guess he hasn't been that horrible.

--

Btw, kind of strange how no one has really been looking at Tom Glavine's turn around. Last year he was pilloried for going to NY and being washed up. So far this year? 3-1 with a 1.64 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Though his K/9 isn't very good and may point towards a fluky April, but who knows.


I call it the "Holy shit my CF can catcH" effect- going from the worst (Cedeno) to the best (Cameron) may have something to do with that..

[SackAttack]

Rumor has it being Andy Brown (acquired from Atlanta in the Sheff deal) or Joel Hanrahan- both decent arms.

I'd be okay with either of them. Hanrahan is good, but he's not one of our top arms. Brown I know nothing about, but again, I find it unlikely that he'd be up there with Miller and Jackson, or I would have heard of him by now. :D

[Crapshoot]

Actually, Hanrahan was considered the top prospect before the emergence of those 2 last year. That being said, TINSTAAPP still applies- especially for Miller. If the Dodgers get one consistent all-star pitcher out of the 4, they've been lucky.

[MizzouRah]

GO CARDS!!

Another great game vs the Cubbies. Is there a criteria to be a pitcher on the Cubs teams? "If you can't throw at least 95mph, Dusty doesn't want you". :)

I guess Merker kills that slogan, but man do they have some arms.


Todd

[WSUCougar]

Cards 1, Cubs 0 in 10 innings. Sweet scoreless pitcher's duel between Morris and Zambrano. Lots of late opportunities for both teams, but the Cards bring one home with Rolen's bases-loaded single. We're now up 2-1 in the 4-game series.

Lots of tension and electricity in this rivalry, moreso even than usual. Lots of blue in Busch Stadium.

[Neuqua]

No doubt a great game between the Cubbies and Cardinals. Too bad someone had to lose.

Here's hoping we can split the series tomorrow.

[MizzouRah]

No doubt a great game between the Cubbies and Cardinals. Too bad someone had to lose.

Here's hoping we can split the series tomorrow.
Are you kidding me? It's awesome the Cubs lost!! :D :p


Todd

[Radii]

F the cubs bullpen, but that play by Hawkins in the 9th was golden. If he hadn't walked in the winning run in game 1 I might be happy with him this series.

[Cards4ever]

Any of you St Louisians want to buy a extra ticket for the May 13th game against the Marlins? I'm coming down that weekend and have 4 tickets, but only need 3. They are in the 200 level just to the left of home plate in row 2.

[dawgfan]

Hey, dawgfan, whatdya think of Speez now? He's one of the few guys doing well. Nice to see an ex-Angel done good.

I like him. I was always happy with the Spiezio signing in general, as it seemed highly likely he'd outperform Cirillo at the plate. My concern was what were the M's losing defensively, not just with Spiezio but with Aurilia at SS, Winn replacing Cameron in CF and Ibanez replacing Winn in LF. Spiezio has done reasonably well at 3B, probably a little better than I expected, but the other moves are going as badly as I feared. Ibanez has been terrific as a hitter so far, but he's no great shakes as a fielder and Winn, while a decent LF, pales in comparison to Mike Cameron as a CF.

As to the M's in general, I don't know what to think. It appears last year wasn't a fluke for Olerud but perhaps the beginning of the end for him as a productive hitter. Boonie is pressing with the rest of the offense struggling, but I suspect he'll still finish the season around .280 with 30+ bombs. Aurilia is what he is - an aging guy with some pop but definitely not the Aurilia that hit 37 HR's. Ben Davis is a mess and probably needs a change of scenery and a chance to play everyday with no pressure on him.

Ichiro is really the biggest issue though. As pointed out in this column (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/170961_locke28.html) last week, Ichiro has been a markedly different player over his last 1.5 seasons, losing 50 points off his batting average an on-base percentage and notching half as many stolen bases. The Ichiro that was such a force his rookie season may be gone forever, a victim of better scouting reports and his own stubbornness. The M's worked with Ichiro to change his approach at the plate somewhat this Spring, asking him to take more pitches and work the count in his favor and draw more walks. Great concept, but I question whether it's a practical one; by the time most players reach 30, their batting habits are fully ingrained. Combine that with the success Ichiro has had in the past and his fanatical obsession with getting 200 hits, and it seems unlikely that this desire for a more patient Ichiro will bear fruit. We'll see, but unless he can adjust his approach in some way, he's gone from being a very good player to one who's just somewhat above average. As he goes, so has gone the M's offense since he arrived, and that hasn't changed this season - he's having his worst season yet, and the M's suffered their worst April ever.

The pitching has been a major disappointment as well; outside of Freddie, who has non unexpectadly picked up his game in his contract year, the staff has struggled. I'm not too worried about Moyer - unless he has some kind of nagging injury that he's not talking about, I suspect he's just run through a patch of bad luck. I'm much more concerned about Joel Pineiro; according to some scouts, he's lost 5 MPH off his fastball, and he's been getting hammered. There's always been some whispers of scouts wondering if he could handle the workload of being a frontline starter. The one silver lining with Pineiro is that his strikeout rate is very good. Gil Meche is another guy with very good stuff but a lot of concerns about his health. His biggest issue right now is gaining better command of his fastball - if he can do that and stay healthy, he'll be a #1 or #2 starter.

The bullpen has been so-so, partly because of overuse due to the starters doing poorly, partly because of Soriano's injury absence and partly just luck. As good as Hasegawa was last season, it was a big aberration from his career norms, and not surprisingly he's had poor luck so far this season. I expect he'll settle down into his usual self, with a mid-3 ERA. Everyday Eddie has been very good, and once Soriano returns with full arm strength back the bullpen should again become a strength.

The M's have dug themselves a hole to start the season, but I expect them to climb back to .500 by the All-Star break (if not sooner); if not, then it's time to start the rebuilding process. We'll have a better idea of which way they'll go by the end of May.

[Buccaneer]

and the M's suffered their worst April ever.

I would say that the M's 1978 April record was the worst ever, followed by 1977 and 1983. :)

[MizzouRah]

Any of you St Louisians want to buy a extra ticket for the May 13th game against the Marlins? I'm coming down that weekend and have 4 tickets, but only need 3. They are in the 200 level just to the left of home plate in row 2.
I'm going to the game and it's a day game against the Braves. Hopefully you're just wrong with the team. If you'll be there - we'll have to meet up!

Didn't we try this a long time ago?? :D

Let me know!


Todd

[Cards4ever]

I'm going to the game and it's a day game against the Braves. Hopefully you're just wrong with the team. If you'll be there - we'll have to meet up!

Didn't we try this a long time ago?? :D

Let me know!


Todd

Yes we did, and YOU didn't show up! :D

And, Yes, I'm wrong about the date, I'm coming into STL on the 13th and going to the game on the 14th against the Marlins.

[MizzouRah]

Yes we did, and YOU didn't show up! :D

And, Yes, I'm wrong about the date, I'm coming into STL on the 13th and going to the game on the 14th against the Marlins.
Darn! I'll be at the May 13th game. Give me a call if you have some time.

email me: [email protected]


Todd

[dawgfan]

I would say that the M's 1978 April record was the worst ever, followed by 1977 and 1983. :)

Yeah OK, you got me. For most of April the M's were off to their worst start ever, but apparently they won enough games near the end of the month to avoid their worst April ever.

It is the worst April for the M's in terms of living up to expectations...

[Neuqua]

Cubs split the series!

And was anyone else laughing their butts off when both Maddux and Marquis each stole a base today?

[Crapshoot]

I dont think anyone could reasonable have expected the Mariners to finish anyplace other than 3rd this season. Ichiro is perhaps the most overrated player outside of NY- a good, not great player who wasn't one of the 20 best when he won the MVP. Signing IBanez ( a product of Coors Field East) to replace Cameron smacked of extreme stupidity- as was the idea of assembling of a team that the AARP would vote as its symbol (at least offensively).

[Easy Mac]

Cubs split the series!

And was anyone else laughing their butts off when both Maddux and Marquis each stole a base today?
Former Braves... they can run now that they're free of Ned Yost/Pat Corrales/whoever else tells players not to run.

[dawgfan]

I dont think anyone could reasonable have expected the Mariners to finish anyplace other than 3rd this season.

There's quite a few reasonable reasons why this could have been expected, actually:

- Last season they finished just 3 games back of the A's for the division title, and based on runs scored vs. runs allowed they should've won the division;

- Their off-season transactions seemed to be a wash - they lost some fielding but gained hitting, while the A's seemed to lose ground losing Tejada. The Angels definitely improved, but they had more ground to cover based on last year's results;

- Everyone knows the lineup is old and could've been expected to decline, but the majority of the starting rotation and key parts of the bullpen are young and could've been expected to improve.

Ichiro is perhaps the most overrated player outside of NY...

No argument with that part given how he's performed the last 1.5 seasons.

... - a good, not great player who wasn't one of the 20 best when he won the MVP.

This is an overstatement; based soley on OPS your point might be true, but OPS doesn't weight OBP as high as it should and he was quite good in that category in 2001, and his baserunning and defensive skills of course aren't taken into account at all by that measure.

Signing IBanez ( a product of Coors Field East) to replace Cameron smacked of extreme stupidity...

Raul Ibanez splits while at KC:
.881 OPS at Home
.799 OPS on Road

Raul was obviously better at home, but he was a decent hitter on the road. There's also the implicit assumption that Raul will not be able to hit as well at home at Safeco as he did at Kaufman; I'm not sure this is true. While we all know about overall ballpark effects, what is far less studied is the breakdown of exactly how a ballpark affects hitting, and which kinds of hitters are affected in what way. It is the Mariner's contention that hitting to right field is favored at Safeco, while hitting to left field is difficult, due to prevailing wind patterns and ballpark dimensions. I don't know if this is true or not, but it's worth studying; I do know that (in an admittedly small sample size) Raul has hit very well at Safeco.

[Chief Rum]

Aadik, I agree with you in that I thought and think that the M's finish third at best, but I wouldn't go so far as to see it's inconceivable they would go above third. dawgfan and I have had this discussion before and generally agreed to disagree. He likes to think last year is the actual measure of my Angels' talent, for instance, and choosing to completely ignore a ton of injuries last year by the Angels that obviously affect results, and also completely ignoring that essentially the same team won the world championship the year before that. ;)

That said, given the obvious potential issues of the Angels' injury problems and starting pitching issues, and the A's offensive and bullpen issues, it's far from a sure thing the M's would finish in third. I think they took a step back in most of their offseason dealings as well, but what dawgfan said a few posts ago is essentially true--the main reason they're doing bad is that their starting pitching has pitched far worse than its track record in the past would indicate it should be doing.

Of course, maybe now the M's will end up in fourth with the Rangers playing the way they are. Well, no, I'm still not a believer in the Rangers' ultimate success. Sorry Rangers fans.

CR

[vex]

Rangers up 9-0 going into the 9th against the lowly D-Rays after an 8 run 1st inning.

EDIT: Make that the final as well. Complete game shutout, with only 4 hits given up by Kenny Rogers.

[Chief Rum]

Rangers up 9-0 going into the 9th against the lowly D-Rays after an 8 run 1st inning.

Yup, they're pretty much hotter than hot right now. Talk to me in September, though. I'll gladly eat crow then if they're still leading the division then. :)

You don't really think they are going to continue to have seven regulars hitting over .300 and even .350 for the rest of the year, do you?

CR

[vex]

Yup, they're pretty much hotter than hot right now. Talk to me in September, though. I'll gladly eat crow then if they're still leading the division then. :)

You don't really think they are going to continue to have seven regulars hitting over .300 and even .350 for the rest of the year, do you?

CR

Sure:):cool: :D

[Bearcat729]

Who had May or hamstring in the when will Ken Griffey Jr get injured pool?

[dawgfan]

Aadik, I agree with you in that I thought and think that the M's finish third at best, but I wouldn't go so far as to see it's inconceivable they would go above third. dawgfan and I have had this discussion before and generally agreed to disagree. He likes to think last year is the actual measure of my Angels' talent, for instance, and choosing to completely ignore a ton of injuries last year by the Angels that obviously affect results, and also completely ignoring that essentially the same team won the world championship the year before that. ;)

We're not going to have this argument again are we? As I stated numerous times, the Angels have had many of their core players for the last 4 seasons, and in only 1 of those seasons have they had a winning record. Whatever the reasons for this, the end result doesn't change. Now, maybe the Angels made a leap forward in 2002 and were exceptionally unlucky in 2003 with injuries and other issues. Could be. Still, injuries are part of the game - they're a reason why a team might not have done better, but you can't discount them when projecting forward. Players that have been injured in the past have to be assumed to be injury risks in the future. Plus, all teams have to deal with injuries to some extent or another; some teams have enough depth on their roster and in their system to overcome injuries. I don't think these are unreasonable ways of looking at the baseline from which the Angels built upon in adding Vlad, Colon and Escobar.

All that said, I've always maitained the Angels have to be viewed as an AL West title contender. I just wasn't willing to believe they were the slam-dunk choice.

[SackAttack]

Actually, Hanrahan was considered the top prospect before the emergence of those 2 last year. That being said, TINSTAAPP still applies- especially for Miller. If the Dodgers get one consistent all-star pitcher out of the 4, they've been lucky.

"Was" and "is" aren't the same thing. The Dodgers have drafted quite a few high-ceiling arms in the last decade, and very few have panned out, relatively speaking. Miller looks good, but he's having shoulder issues. Jackson will eventually be awesome in the majors. Hanrahan I have high hopes for, but he's been in the system a few years already, I think.

There's some other kids who look good who got drafted under Evans, but they're still in the low minors.

[Chief Rum]

And I never said they were a slam dunk choice either. I just said I thought they would end up winning out by a single digit lead (and not necessarily by nine games either).

I also have never said injuries weren't a part of it, but you seem fond of equating an injury-riddled season as equating to the team's true talent. The Angels aren't an injury-riddled good team that fell to 75 wins because of it, but a 75-win talent team from the start. That is the supposition you have been making and I say again that's BS. Yes, injuries are a part of the game, but that doesn't have anything to do with the talent level of this squad. The talent level was the same in 2003 as it was in 2002, and to that, they added four very good players. So your "lots of ground to make up" doesn't hold as much water, does it?

BTW, the Angelsa have already had more than their share of injury problems this season, and yet, we're still doing good now, aren't we? ;)

Sheesh...all I am asking for is a fair reprsentation of the talent this team has. You speak out of both ends of your mouth, saying they will contend for the division title this year, but makign them sound like talentless hacks last year out of the other end of your mouth. The core of this team is the same as last year's, for all intents and purposes.

CR

[sterlingice]

Joe Posnanski is maybe my favorite sports writer. Whitlock can look stupid on his own but he looks clueless and outclassed when next to Posnanski when both have columns on the front page of the Kansas City Star. He's better than anyone I read in the Houston Chronicle (or Post when it existed). And I'd actually rather read his column over pretty much any ESPN guys I like (Rob Neyer, Jayson Stark) or the folks over at BP (tho, they do write some wonderful articles over there).

So, now, tho I've badly oversold him, this is still a great article. Sure it's an anti-Yankees article, but rather than just the run-of-the-mill whining, it conveys the sense of indisidious fear to anyone whose club doesn't reside in the Bronx. Rather than Carlos Beltran, just insert the name Joe Mauer or whoever your team's favorite prospect or young player is. It'll just kindof make you sick to the stomach more than anything.

Linky (http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/baseball/mlb/kansas_city_royals/8575181.htm) You have to sign up for the KCStar website to read this, it's free but takes a couple of minutes like most sites.

Yankees fans think Beltran will be theirs

JOE POSNANSKI

<!-- begin body-content --> NEW YORK — Yankees fans watched him. They watched him with greedy eyes. They watched him hit a line shot down the right-field line and then cruise around second base like Michael Andretti taking turn three at the Indianapolis 500.

They watched him crack a long fly ball that hooked just foul and smashed off the upper-deck façade. They watched him chase line drives into the gap, gliding as smoothly as, dare ye blaspheme here at the grand cathedral of baseball, DiMaggio himself.

Oh, Yankees fans watched him all right.

“Daddy,” you could hear them saying, sounding an awful lot like Veruca Salt from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” “Daddy, I want my own Carlos Beltran.”

Yankees fans are the most spoiled fans in all of sports. Nobody is close. They make Paris Hilton look like a monk. They make the Kennedys look like the Swiss Family Robinson. Then, it's been that way for a long time. The Yankees have won 39 American League pennants. They have won 26 World Series championships. Colonel Ruppert, who owned the Yankees during the Babe Ruth years, was asked once to describe the perfect day at the ballpark. He said, “When the Yankees score eight runs in the first and slowly pull away.”

Yes, Yankees fans have long been spoiled by success. But now success is not enough for them. Championships are not enough. A $180 million team (fully loaded with 62 All-Star appearances, 16 Gold Gloves, two MVP awards, two World Series MVP awards, three batting titles, two ERA titles) is not enough.

No, they want to knock you down, kick sand in your face and steal your girl.

They want Carlos Beltran.

“I heard some fans say, ‘Hey, you know, you can come play here next year,' ” Beltran says. “I told them I want to play in a place where I'll be comfortable. They said, ‘We'll give you a lot of money. You'll be very comfortable.' ”

It's fairly discouraging. The Yankees swept Kansas City over the weekend. The Royals never really came close to winning one of the three games. They were beaten down Friday. They were embarrassed Saturday.

Then Sunday, just a few hours after Royals manager Tony Peña guaranteed that his team will win the American League Central, his team lost a rather bland 4-2 game. It didn't feel like baseball. It was like watching an accountant total up numbers. Jason Giambi ($12.4 million) set it up with an upper-deck home run. Hideki Matsui ($7 million) clinched it by singling in Jorge Posada ($9 million). Derek Jeter ($18.6 million) and Alex Rodriguez ($22 million) cheered.

And as always, Mariano Rivera ($10.8 million) closed the door.

Through it all, though, the most exciting player on the field was Carlos Beltran. He is that in every park he plays. These days he just seems to burst out of the scene, as if he's playing in 3-D. He does everything. He makes diving catches. He hits long home runs from both sides of the plate. He steals bases at will.

Stats Inc. lists dozens of statistics, and Beltran is among the leaders in just about every one. He leads the American League in important sounding statistics like secondary average (which attempts to measure all the secondary variables not included in batting average) and power/speed number (which attempts to measure, uh, power and speed) and runs created (which attempts to measure how many, you know, runs were, like created).

Beyond the numbers, he's just plain thrilling to watch. At any moment, he might steal a home run or steal third or throw out a runner or hit a triple or blast a home run. It's like anything you want, anything you love about baseball, this guy can do.

And, as every Royals fan knows, this is his last go-around in a Kansas City uniform. These days, Beltran does not even talk about the possibility of coming back next year. His talent is simply too big, his market value too high, his agent too determined. At the moment, Beltran is on pace to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases and score 150 runs and so on. He probably won't do all that. But he will do plenty. And as everyone has known for two years, the Royals can't afford him.

“I don't know where I will play,” he says. “It depends. Obviously, there's the business side. And I want to play on a team that can win — I want to play in pennant races. And like I said, I want to play on a team where I can be comfortable.”

Well, New York has two out of three. The Yankees will undoubtedly make the biggest money offer. The team of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Bernie Williams does not have a center fielder. They will offer Staten Island.

And, of course, the Yankees offers a chance to play for a winner. As long as George's green is accepted in all 50 states, the Yanks will win.

But comfort? Beltran is not so sure. He is a sensitive guy. He admits that. And this is no city for sensitive center fielders. Beltran says he likes playing in Yankee Stadium more now than he did three or four years ago, but that's because three or four years ago he would have sooner played baseball in shark-infested waters. Hey, sharks don't yell the stuff those people in the Yankee Stadium bleachers yell.

“I used to look back at them and get mad,” he says. “But I don't do that anymore. I just ignore them. I don't mind it as much as I did.”

So, he doesn't know. Los Angeles might be a better fit for him. Or Atlanta. Or Seattle. Or Miami. Shoot, there are a lot of places, and he's not thinking about all that right now.

“That's the business side of the game,” he says. “I've learned not to think about that side. I play baseball. That's what I do. All of that will work itself out later.”

In the meantime, Yankee fans are already penciling him into next year's lineup. Some have figured out that the Royals are out of it (“Hey, Mac, did you even know the Royals were still playing in Kansas City?”) and are penciling him into this year's lineup. The newspapers throw his name into stories. Some baseball insiders are calling Beltran to the Yanks a done deal.

Sunday, when the Royals' lineup was read off by the public-address announcer, nobody had any reaction except when Beltran's name was announced. Then there was a definite buzz. This is what it's like with the Yankees these days. They don't want to just beat the Royals. They want to buy the Royals. At least the best part. And they just might.

It's hard to watch. This Royals season so far has been a fiasco on many levels — Sunday, their record officially dropped to the worst in the American League. But the hardest part is watching Beltran on his farewell tour. It would not be so bad if the Royals could get into contention. Then, at least, we could watch him play under the bright lights.

But if this season just keeps spiraling downward, and the Royals keep losing, and fans stop coming out, and people stop caring, then it will be sad to watch Beltran steal his bases, hit his home runs, make his great catches, all for nothing.

Then, next year, when the Royals come back to Yankee Stadium, he might be out there in center field, wearing pinstripes, making $16 million or $17 million, hanging with A-Rod and Jeter. It could happen. He might even hit the home run that beats the Royals. And then these spoiled Yankees fans will chant his name. They will ask for a curtain call. They will cheer him wildly. They will treat him as if he's one of their own.

And then, no doubt, they will start watching Angel Berroa very closely.

SI

<!-- end body-content -->

[Neuqua]

Yeesh, now that's depressing.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Yup, they're pretty much hotter than hot right now. Talk to me in September, though. I'll gladly eat crow then if they're still leading the division then. :)

You don't really think they are going to continue to have seven regulars hitting over .300 and even .350 for the rest of the year, do you?

CR

That's not the entire story. They won't keep hitting like this, but they are getting pitching also and the bullpen has been pretty solid so far. If they keep averaging 3 quality starts out of 5 and Chan Ho breaks a leg, you just never know.

June-August is when the pitching usually gets shelled around here because of the heat in fatigue and the ball jumps like crazy here. There were more homeruns hit here than in any other park last season and that includes Coors Field.

[Francis_Cole]

if anyone is interested (and it hasn't alreayd been mentioned :D), on mlb.com there seems to be free video highlights of nearly incident in a game. Click to get a wrap-up of a game and you will find most of the stats are linked to a video. So for example in rangers recent ripping of tampa bay click on SO next to kenny rogers and you see all his strikeouts from that game. COOL :D

[Ksyrup]

I always get a chuckle (then I get annoyed) at the repeated instances where a journalist or commentator will extrapolate someone's stats from the first few games of the season, and talk about what a guy is "on pace" to do for the whole season. And, of course, none of it means much, even when the sample size gets a bit larger - like 4 weeks. Still, it's mind-boggling what Barry Bonds has done so far - yes, it's only 4 weeks, but still...


"Through the first four weeks of the season, Bonds was on pace to hit .463 with 62 home runs, 137 runs batted in and 274 walks (137 intentional)..."

[dawgfan]

Jesus Christ you're hypersensitive about the Angels. Here's the deal:

And I never said they were a slam dunk choice either. I just said I thought they would end up winning out by a single digit lead (and not necessarily by nine games either).

My point about them being a slam-dunk choice wasn't a reaction to your assessment, it was a reaction to the general predictions in the media (ESPN, etc) I was seeing before the season started that the Angels were obvious favorites in the AL West. I disagreed slightly, in the sense I thought they were co-favorites with the A's and M's.

I also have never said injuries weren't a part of it, but you seem fond of equating an injury-riddled season as equating to the team's true talent. The Angels aren't an injury-riddled good team that fell to 75 wins because of it, but a 75-win talent team from the start. That is the supposition you have been making and I say again that's BS. Yes, injuries are a part of the game, but that doesn't have anything to do with the talent level of this squad. The talent level was the same in 2003 as it was in 2002, and to that, they added four very good players. So your "lots of ground to make up" doesn't hold as much water, does it?

Chief, I generally respect your posts, but the assumptions you're making about me and the way you're misreading my posts is really pissing me off.

Injuries happen in sports. Can we agree on this fact? When evaluating a team's performance and attempting to predict future performance, injuries have to be taken into account. Not just as a way of trying to explain past performance, but also making some presumptions about the likelihood of them happening in the future and affecting future performance. You can look at the Reds for example and say if Ken Griffey Jr. is healthy they have a certain amount of talent. That said, how likely is he to remain healthy the entire season. The same thing can be applied to any team. Add in any number of other factors - off-field personal issues that might affect a player that the public never knows about; salary drives and contract concerns; clubhouse issues; and on and on. Some years everything seems to go right for a team, and some years things just collapse; it's not all a question of talent, and to make predictions assuming everything goes rosy is overly optimistic.

Yes, the Angels suffered a bit more than might be considered normal from injuries last season - Glaus and Erstand missed about half the season each (a little more for Erstad, a little less for Glaus); Eckstein missed about a quarter of the season. Sele and Appier missed a bit of time from the rotation, and Percival missed a bit of time in the bullpen I believe. These things undoubtably were a big reason the Angels didn't match their success of 2002. If you assume that all the Angels players stay healthy this season, of course you would expect them to play better.

Your key misinterpretation here is equating my assumption of 'base-level' performance with a question of "True talent". 'True talent' is a big part of how a team performs, but there are other factors as well, as noted above. If you want to accurately predict future performance, you can't ignore injuries. The fact the Angels had a lot of injuries in 2003 doesn't necessarily mean they won't have a similar number of injuries in 2004 - when players have an injury history, there's an increased risk that they'll continue to have injury problems. It's obviously not 100% sure, or even necessarily 50% sure, but it's a factor that has to be considered.

If you look at the 2002 and 2003 rosters of the Angels, they're nearly identical; one team finished with 99 wins, the other with 77. Did they lose 22 games more in 2003 simply because of injuries, or is it possible that other factors were at play? A number of players suffered declines in their performance from 2002 to 2003: Adam Kennedy, Darrin Erstad, David Eckstein, Tim Salmon, the entire starting rotation. Were all of these declines injury-related? Can we expect that injuries might not continue to affect some of these players? Is it possible that some of these guys had career years in 2002 and aren't likely to match that level of performance?

You assume that since I don't share your position that the base-line expectations for the Angels should match the 2002 season of 99 wins that I must think the team is really the 2003 level of 77 wins. This is an incorrect assumption on your part. I think the baseline level of the Angels is somewhere inbetween, essentially splitting the difference to around 88 wins. The fact that many of the core players on the Angels were also around in 2000 and 2001 and those teams had 82 and 75 wins reinforces this belief for me. 88 wins is a good ballclub, and adding Vlad, Colon and Escobar definitely helped.

BTW, the Angelsa have already had more than their share of injury problems this season, and yet, we're still doing good now, aren't we? ;)

So far so good. Cross your fingers Garrett isn't out too long and that Vlad's back and legs holds up.

Sheesh...all I am asking for is a fair reprsentation of the talent this team has. You speak out of both ends of your mouth, saying they will contend for the division title this year, but makign them sound like talentless hacks last year out of the other end of your mouth. The core of this team is the same as last year's, for all intents and purposes.

I've done nothing but give a fair representation of the Angels based on the information I have. And please point out to me where I've described the Angels as talentless hacks. I don't appreciate the gross mischaracterization you're making and the leap you make from that mischaracterization to saying I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth.

[Chief Rum]

The irony of all this is that it started (in this thread at least) when I defended your M's against Aadik and the assertion they couldn't finish anywhere but third, you realize that?

Look, I am sorry if I have mischaracterized your opinions, but you have to admit you spend a lot of time talking about 77, 82 and 75 wins in three of the last four years, and I don't recall you ever equating the baseline talent of the Angels to anything other than that in any of your previous posts. Yes, you said they would contend for the title this year with the A's and M's, but everything you wrote, including what you have in here, implied they added talent to a 77-win team and it was from that base you were working on.

Now, you're saying their actual talent is somewhere in the 80s. To me, that makes the addition of four key players even more likely to prove the winning difference. That difference in likely win total is a lot smaller for a team in the mid-80s than in the mid-70s, but you have said the Angels are working from a mid-70s level squad. It is this form of approach from you to which I refer when I say you are speaking out of both sides of your mouth. Sorry if that irks you, but that's just the way it reads to me. Hiding it qualifications doesn't make it look any different.

Not that it matters any, but the Angels also lost Brad Fullmer for half the year, Molina for a month, and Eckstein and Washburn were operating at proably 80-90% effectiuveness for pretty much the entire year. Just to get a full accounting of the injuries the Angels had last season (for the most part, you had it right).

With regard to your opinion, I have merely been trying to get you to admit the Angels have better than 77-win talent. You have said they have talent in the 80s (pre-free agent acquisitions), and if it matters at all to you, I do think that is a fair consideration of their talent. The shame is, for all your railing in your post about me pissing you off and misreading you, I can't recall a single instance prior to this where you equated the Angels' talent-level with anything but roughly some average of the three poorer years in the past four, generally ignoring the fourth year as a fluke.

BTW, you did see my lengthy post in the last discussion about the Angels' "career years" from 2002, right? You should probably look it up. It was pretty comprehensive and showed the Angels didn't have quite the all-around career year as you apparently think.

I'm glad you see the Angels of the past talent-level as somewhere in the 80s. To me, that is an improvement in your stance you didn't have before, or that you never spoke of. And I am fine with that. My issue was with the representation they were much worse than that, something you spent numerous posts recounting.

Chief Rum

[IMetTrentGreen]

both of you be quiet. the a's will take the division and neither team will even make the playoffs

anahiem treaded water, despite what all the shiny new players would ahve you believe. they are still an 85-90 win team. oakland will take it by a few games

any team with eckstein-kennedy-erstad in its infield will not be going anywhere anytime soon. erstand just outright blows, now that they took all his value (defense in cf) away, kennedy is merely alright, and eck is avg. at best. glaus has been palying well, we'll see where that goes. vlad is vlad, guillen is overrated and a leauge avg. corner outfielder except for 4 months last year, and anderson is almost top notch when he's not hurt. washburn and colon are good, not great, rest are not.

this team will take them as far as their bullpen can carry them

as far as the mariners, their outfield defense has alwasy been. by far, the best in the league. mike cameron was jsut as important to that team as anyone else. ibanez is a lifetime .270 hitter outside kaufman, their infield is old and broken, their pitching is falling apart every year, and there isn't much in the minors for them

texas has just as much a shot as anyone else at finishing in 2nd

[SackAttack]

So they mention LA as a possible fit for Beltran, and while I don't deny that I'd love to see him in Dodger blue (c'mon, is there a team out there that *wouldn't* want him?), I do have to wonder...just where exactly is it they plan to shoehorn him in? Ditch Encarnacion, put Beltran in right, and have the "outfield of centerfielders" that Pat Gillick once said was his ideal? Drop Roberts after the season he's been having so far, and put Bradley or Beltran in left?

Before we acquired Bradley, picking up Beltran would've made sense. Now, as much as I'd love to have him and what he and Bradley together could do for this offense...I don't see a logical spot for him, shy of ditching Encarnacion.

[dawgfan]

The irony of all this is that it started (in this thread at least) when I defended your M's against Aadik and the assertion they couldn't finish anywhere but third, you realize that?

I wouldn't have responded at all except for the part where you mischaracterized my opinions.

Look, I am sorry if I have mischaracterized your opinions, but you have to admit you spend a lot of time talking about 77, 82 and 75 wins in three of the last four years, and I don't recall you ever equating the baseline talent of the Angels to anything other than that in any of your previous posts.

You didn't look hard enough then. Check that thread again and you'll find in my 4th post the following quote:

I suspect the true level of ability of Anaheim was better than they showed last year, and not quite as good as they showed in 2002. If you split the difference that's 88 wins - a good team.

You'll also find that I didn't ignore the Angels injuries in 2003 when discussing their performance:

Look, I understand Anaheim had a lot of injuries last season...

From another post of mine in that thread:

I didn't say, nor was I trying to imply that the other 3 seasons were indicative of the Angels being bad - merely that when used as comparison to the 2002 season, it seemed to suggest that the 2002 team was a bit of an aberration.

I think I made it pretty clear that I did not think the Angels were a 77-win team.

Yes, you said they would contend for the title this year with the A's and M's, but everything you wrote, including what you have in here, implied they added talent to a 77-win team and it was from that base you were working on.

Now, you're saying their actual talent is somewhere in the 80s. To me, that makes the addition of four key players even more likely to prove the winning difference. That difference in likely win total is a lot smaller for a team in the mid-80s than in the mid-70s, but you have said the Angels are working from a mid-70s level squad. It is this form of approach from you to which I refer when I say you are speaking out of both sides of your mouth. Sorry if that irks you, but that's just the way it reads to me. Hiding it qualifications doesn't make it look any different.

As you can see from the quotes above, this interpretation of what I said is incorrect - hence my being upset at being mischaracterized and described as talking out of both sides of my mouth.

[dawgfan]

So they mention LA as a possible fit for Beltran, and while I don't deny that I'd love to see him in Dodger blue (c'mon, is there a team out there that *wouldn't* want him?), I do have to wonder...just where exactly is it they plan to shoehorn him in? Ditch Encarnacion, put Beltran in right, and have the "outfield of centerfielders" that Pat Gillick once said was his ideal? Drop Roberts after the season he's been having so far, and put Bradley or Beltran in left?

Before we acquired Bradley, picking up Beltran would've made sense. Now, as much as I'd love to have him and what he and Bradley together could do for this offense...I don't see a logical spot for him, shy of ditching Encarnacion.

With a guy like Carlos Beltran, you make room for him. Encarnacion is a decent player, but he's not much more than slightly above league average as an OF in terms of batting. Beltran is emerging in that level of star player just below Barry Bonds - if you can sign him, you do it and figure out the lineup later.

If it were me, I'd have Betran and Bradley as everyday guys, and as long as Roberts is getting on-base and stealing a ton of bases at a high percentage, he stays in the lineup. Encarnacion would be the 4th OF or trade bait; if Werth comes back healthy and shows signs of improvement, I'd trade Encarnacion, unless Roberts starts reverting back to his pre-2004 performance. Even with no power he's valuable as a .380 OBP guy; not so much at .350 and not much at all at .330.

[Chief Rum]

As you can see from the quotes above, this interpretation of what I said is incorrect - hence my being upset at being mischaracterized and described as talking out of both sides of my mouth.

I apologize then for not seeing this and for mischaracterizing your opinions.

If you don't mind my saying so, your general tone when speaking about the Angels, to me at least, belie these quotes from another thread. Please understand that I am may just be reading the tone wrong, since the Internet is at best an imperfect communication method, but my sense of your opinion is still that the Angels have somewhat of a mountain to climb from last year to be a part of the division race this year. It has been on that point that I have largely disagreed with you.

If you believe the Angels are truly an 80's level win team (and I believe you do), than it would work better to not operate froma baseline-seventies win team, as I sense you have been doing when expressing your opinions about this year's divisional race. If that is not your intent, once again I apologize, but to me your general tone and the descriptives you choose give me much more of an impression of the Angels coming from afar, rather than the rather rosier picture you have put from the quotes above.

Once again, sorry for mischaracterizing your opinions.

CR

[WSUCougar]

And so peace once again reigned in the AL West.

;)

[JonInMiddleGA]

If you get a chance, I'd say it's worth catching the David Wells-hits-Marcus Giles highlight that's almost sure to make Baseball Tonight & maybe Sportscenter. Wells goes into his motion, knocks his cap off, it lands on his shoulder, falls into Wells' face, he releases the pitch & which promptly plunks Giles on the forearm/ribcage.

Worth seeing because a) I don't think I've ever seen a pitch thrown by someone wearing their cap on their face & b) Wells had the presence of mind to realize that he couldn't stop the delivery without balking home the tying run. (Giles on the other hand got plunked because he let up on the play without being sure time was called).

Incidentally, Wells led off the following inning with a bunt single. This is the guy who my 6 y/o noted at the beginning of the game "doesn't look much like a ballplayer, does he?" ;)

[sterlingice]

Yesterday, Allard Baird said that if Zach Greinke does well in his next three starts in Omaha, he's going to be up in KC, almost certain to stay. So, in about two and a half weeks, one of the best pitching prospects in all of the minors is going to hit your fantasy waiver wire. Worth a look, especially in deep leagues.

SI

[Buccaneer]

Help me out here, Jon. I read the description of the Pads win and it talked about the Wells/Giles thing. Where the hell was Giles playing to have gotten plunked by Wells? Don't tell me RF because I won't believe that.

[SackAttack]

Marcus Giles, Bucc. Not Brian Giles.

[Buccaneer]

Sorry, my mistake.

[JeeberD]

How about that Roger Clemens..? :)

[Cards4ever]

How about that Roger Clemens..? :)

How about that Carlos Silva?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Help me out here, Jon. I read the description of the Pads win and it talked about the Wells/Giles thing. Where the hell was Giles playing to have gotten plunked by Wells? Don't tell me RF because I won't believe that.
SackAttack already got it, it was Brian's brother Marcus.

It's been a family affair during the series. It actually added to the scene last night too, since having both brothers playing meant there was plenty of family on hand. Kinda interesting to see M.Giles parents react when he got hit.

[Cecil Fielder]

damn, no highlight of the HBP on mlb.com, but those free highlights are pretty damn cool!

[rkmsuf]

I can't wait until this gets off the ground...although seems like it's been a lengthly construction

http://www.mannyramirez.com/

[Desnudo]

This is the monthly update. Yankees still suck. That is all.

[Chief Rum]

Man, this is frustrating. Yes, the Angels keep winning, but how long can they keep it up with all these injuries?

Baseball fans probably know who we have already lost. GA is on the DL with a mysterious back ailment that is as yet undiagnosed and reportedly has yet to really improve. He could be out for a while. Brendan Donnelly, last year's top setup man in baseball, is just now finalyl getting back into shape after breaking his nose in spring training and having a weird stretch of nosebleeds and surgeries resulting from that. He could be back with the Angels in Baltimore next weekend. Tim Salmon developed some knee tendinitis after he had to play in the field for a few games to help alleviate pain in Guerrero's knees. He has been on the DL for a week now, and might not be back for a couple weeks. David Eckstein missed a week with a hamstring injury last week, and Troy Glaus still hasn't returned to the field since jamming his shoulder in Minnesota, although fortunately he has been able to DH (as you guys p[robably know since he has been hitting the crap out of the ball).

To that list, the Angels have apparently lost Darin Erstad and Jose Guillen now. Erstad pulled up short with what appeared to be a bad hamstring injury while running to home plate Saturday night. We won't know the extent of the injury for a couple days, but he appears certainly headed to the DL for an extended stay. And now I just watched as Guillen slid into second on a double and appeared to hurt either his knee or ankle, and in a manner that suggests he will be gone for a while as well. :(

The Angels are getting by with guys like Chone Figgins, Shane Halter, Jeff DeVanon and Kevin Gregg. They are also now counting on key roles by recently called up Robb Quinlan and a super prospect in Casey Kotchman, called up from AA this morning--but probably realistically a year away in actual readiness.

Injuries suck. :(

(And I haven't even mentioned Guerrerro's on-again, off-again knees, Kelvin Escobar's split-nail finger that cost him a start recently, or the fact Bengie Molina was lost for the first two weeks or so because of recurring hamstring problems and spring training soreness).

I guess it could be worse. We have still been winning. Of course, now we go to Yankee Stadium.

CR

[ISiddiqui]

a good, not great player who wasn't one of the 20 best when he won the MVP.

I also think you are overstating things. Going by Win Shares, Ichiro was the 4th best player in the American League in 2001... and only finished 2 Win Shares behind the leader, Jason Giambi. Add to that, Ichiro had the highest WS on a team that won 116 games (Boone finished 4 behind Ichiro), and I'd say he deserved it.

[MizzouRah]

We beat the Expos!


Todd

[Ksyrup]

Thought I'd ressurrect this thread to post the following. Maybe we need a separate "trade deadline" thread for rumors?

These were back-to-back items on rotoworld.com, about 3-4 hours apart...


According to the New York Times, the Red Sox are talking with the Cubs about a Nomar Garciaparra deal that would bring them the prospects necessary to pry Randy Johnson away from the Diamondbacks.
There's also another version of the rumor going around with the White Sox instead of the Cubs, but this makes quite a bit more sense. Although the Red Sox could certainly use the Big Unit, giving up Garciaparra for the right to pay a soon-to-be 41-year-old pitcher $16.5 million next year doesn't seem like a great idea to us. Since they'd be practically handing Pedro Martinez to the Yankees, anything less than a World Series victory would be quite the setback for the organization.


It appears that Randy Johnson wouldn't mind pitching for the Yankees, but he doubts New York has the prospects to satisfy Arizona in a trade.
Of course, the Bronx Bombers could trade Jon Lieber for another team's prospects, and then flip them to the Diamondbacks in order to secure the 40-year-old star. As for other possible destinations for Johnson; the tall left-hander did not seem all that keen about joining the Red Sox. He still has a rocky relationship with former teammate and current Boston pitcher Curt Schilling. The Angels and Dodgers have not been aggressive in their pursuit of the five-time Cy Young award winner, and the Mets although anxious to acquire Johnson, may not be a strong enough World Series contender to do so. Stay tuned.

[IMetTrentGreen]

man my post on 5/4 was teh balls. didnt see this jose-guillen-is-actually-good thing coming though

[Ksyrup]

What's the deal with Big Unit and Schilling? I never heard that they didn't get along, even when the Schilling trade talks were being discussed. However, as part of the Big Unit trade sweepstakes, I've read in a couple of places (including the one above) that they don't get along. I also read that Schilling tried unsuccessfully to reach RJ by cell phone, and RJ told the press "that's why I change my phone numbers."

What's the "story behind the story?" Ego issues?

[Ksyrup]

First Aurilia, now Olerud?


There is a very good chance that John Olerud will be designated for assignment before tonight's game.
There have been no takers for Olerud in trade talks, and the Mariners want to take a look at minor-leauge cult hero Bucky Jacobsen. Olerud, who has been a major disappointment this season hitting just .245 and driving in only 22 runs, could resurface with the Giants. San Francisco tried to acquire him earlier in the season, but Olerud apparently would not agree to waive his no-trade clause to go there. Perhaps he may now feel differently. Of course, the 35-year-old first baseman may choose to retire, something he has allegedly thought about the past few months.

[rkmsuf]

What's the deal with Big Unit and Schilling? I never heard that they didn't get along, even when the Schilling trade talks were being discussed. However, as part of the Big Unit trade sweepstakes, I've read in a couple of places (including the one above) that they don't get along. I also read that Schilling tried unsuccessfully to reach RJ by cell phone, and RJ told the press "that's why I change my phone numbers."

What's the "story behind the story?" Ego issues?

I don't think it is they don't get along personally; the wives and families are reportedly close. The issue is Johnson tired of how he and Schilling were constantly lumped together and I'm sure part of it is ego since they didn't win until Schilling got there. Johnson's got the Cys and numbers but you'll hear that Schilling is a winner or the D-backs won with Schilling.

I'd bet this is less than an issue than is being reported but I can see how he'd want to not revisit the Randy, Curt show and be more of "the guy".

[General Mike]

It appears that Randy Johnson wouldn't mind pitching for the Yankees, but he doubts New York has the prospects to satisfy Arizona in a trade.
Of course, the Bronx Bombers could trade Jon Lieber for another team's prospects, and then flip them to the Diamondbacks in order to secure the 40-year-old star. As for other possible destinations for Johnson; the tall left-hander did not seem all that keen about joining the Red Sox. He still has a rocky relationship with former teammate and current Boston pitcher Curt Schilling. The Angels and Dodgers have not been aggressive in their pursuit of the five-time Cy Young award winner, and the Mets although anxious to acquire Johnson, may not be a strong enough World Series contender to do so. Stay tuned.

Who the hell is gonna give the Yankees prospects for Lieber? :rolleyes:

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing.

[pennywisesb]

Who the hell is gonna give the Yankees prospects for Lieber? :rolleyes:

:D

Good call, I don't see this happening either, especially enough talent that would make the Diamondbacks interested in dealing Johnson.

[Ksyrup]

Mark Prior left in the 2nd inning with elbow discomfort. Uh-oh.

[Buccaneer]

It seems a given that the Pads will get Steve Finley back. That would be neat for this year's pennant run.

[General Mike]

Kenny Williams makes another trade...

Veteran outfielder leaves Expos

Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Carl Everett rejoined the Chicago White Sox on Sunday when the switch-hitting outfielder was traded from the Montreal Expos for minor league pitchers Jon Rauch and Gary Majewski.

With slugger Frank Thomas on the disabled list and right fielder Magglio Ordonez slowed by a sore knee, the White Sox were looking for a versatile player with some pop. When healthy, Everett can provide that.

"He will help on offense and make the lineup stronger," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said in Oakland before his team played the Athletics. "Without Frank we need a guy like him."

Chicago, which entered the day leading Minnesota by a half-game in the AL Central, also receives about $800,000 as part of the deal. Everett is expected to join the White Sox in time for Monday night's game at Texas.

"I only want to wish him well," Montreal manager Frank Robinson said. "It's good for him. I think he will help the White Sox down the stretch. He'll be playing for a team that has a shot at winning."

The 33-year-old Everett played the final 73 games of last season for Chicago. He started 2003 with the Rangers, then was sent to the White Sox on July 1. He batted .301 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI with Chicago. The two-time All-Star signed a $7.5 million, two-year contract with Montreal in December.

"I went over there last year to do the same thing," Everett said before he left Turner Field, where the Expos were playing the Atlanta Braves. "I really enjoyed the teammates here in Montreal. I'm just getting to know them and now I'm leaving."

This season, the injury-plagued Everett has a .252 average, with two homers and 14 RBI in 39 games for the last-place Expos. He missed 30 games with an injured shoulder early, then hurt his ankle while on a minor league rehabilitation assignment.

When he returned to the lineup, he aggravated his ankle injury and went back on the disabled list.

"I'm actually getting healthier, so that's the whole key," Everett said. "I think this team would probably have been a little different if the eighth game of the season, I didn't have the shoulder injury.

"I'm disappointed in that area, that I couldn't help the team physically and on the field."

Thomas is expected to miss about eight weeks with a stress fracture in his left ankle. Ordonez came off the disabled list last week after missing 36 games, but he has only been able to play as a designated hitter since his return.

The 6-foot-11 Rauch, the tallest player in major league history, was 6-3 with a 3.11 ERA at Triple-A Charlotte. He went 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA in two starts for the White Sox this season.

Majewski was 3-3 with a 3.19 ERA and a team-high 14 saves at Charlotte.

"I guess they did what they thought was best for the team," Montreal second baseman Jose Vidro said. "We were not winning. They can get some young guys they think they can develop."

[General Mike]

Dola -

Here is the link: hXXp://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1842097

[sterlingice]

I don't know much about Majewski, but he had pretty good numbers at Charlotte and with Rauch, looks like the Expos made out pretty good again.

SI

[Crapshoot]

Note to self: Take Matt Herges out behind the shed, and do an Old Yeller to him. A 3 run lead, blown again ?

[Ksyrup]

Herges got bailed out last night. Although to be fair, the second hit should have been caught by Grissom, but he broke back on it and it fell in front of him.

Speaking of the Giants/DBacks game last night, I had a laugh-out-loud moment listening to the spin the DBacks' announcer put on the rehab start by Oscar Villareal in Triple A. Villareal pitched 1 inning, giving up 4 hits and 4 runs. While acknowledging it wasn't an encouraging performance, the announcer did mention that 18 of his 26 pitches were thrown for strikes, which was a good sign. Yes, but when you throw 26 pitches in 1 inning, and half of them are tatooed (batted balls count as strikes), that's NOT a good sign.

Man, that made me laugh out loud when he said that. I'm sure Roger Clemens had a great strike-to-ball ratio in the All-Star Game as well...

[sterlingice]

<tt>An exchange between a friend (name removed) and myself on AIM last night.

[09 August 2004::22:00] sterlingice: tho there's good news. i think tonight's starting pitcher isstarting to remember that "Brian Anderson" wasn't Cherokee for "one who redefines the levels of suck" before this season
[09 August 2004::22:02]: Aww shit! a 4 run 9th
[09 August 2004::22:02]: shit shit shit
[09 August 2004::22:05] sterlingice: im sure there's some joke with the phrases "bullpen" and "chinese suit" in there that could describe the game but they just aren't coming to me at the moment

So, uh, yeah, the Royals are still sucking.

But my real purpose for this is to ask CR "Who is Robb Quinlan?" I noticed he has a 20-something game hitting streak and I've never heard of him before. But I suppose if you have a guy with a 20 game hitting streak, you don't really have to worry too much about the loss of Glaus or calling up Dallas McPherson.

SI
</tt></pre>

[Chief Rum]

First of all, let me say I am so sorry for you as a Royals fan, and for all Royals fans. That series, especially the last two games, were abominable. You guys played well enough to win, and really should have. We have done that to two teams in the last couple weeks now, as two weekends ago we won three of four from Seattle, pulling every game seemingly out of a hat at the end of the game (and our loss was in extra innings).

As for Quinlan, he's a guy we're very excited about, of course, although, yes, he is a bit of a surprise.

The fact is Quinlan has talent and has showed it, but I think the whole organization and its fans kinda forgot about him. A couple years ago, while we were winning a championship, Quinlan was dominating AAA for us. The problem was that, with GA, Erstad and Salmon in the OF, we didn't need an OF (his original position was RF). So he didn't get much of a chance to make the 2003 team. He continued to play well at AAA and wait for his chance. He ended up getting some at bats last year in the second half (not enough to remove his rookie status, though) when a bunch of regulars got hurt.

The offseason signings of Gullien and Guerrero, of course, put Quinlan back behind a top outfield, though, so he was in limbo again. He started this season off at AAA, and again, bounced up and down between AAA and the big club this year because of injury. Finally, Scioscia noticed he wasn't embarassing himself at the plate or in the field at 3B (a position he learned just this past spring). So Sciosc started getting him more stars. Round about the All Star break, Quinlan just took off. He's been hitting ever since.

Obviously, I hope it continues, and Quinlan should be better known than he is (at least among Angels fan), but he's obviously not this good (or I can't imagine he is). But then no one thought Chone Figgins was anything last year either, and look how solid he has been.

He will hit a cold stretch, and then we'll see what Quinlan really is. I think he is a .290-.300 hitter with 20-30 HR potential (30 in his very good years, he doesn't have top power, just good). Gotta love the hit streak, though--hope he keeps it up.

I still don't know that anyone has yet envisioned a real future for Quinlan. Even now, he's living off of borrowed time, but I can't see Sciosc pulling him if he keeps this up.

CR

[Buccaneer]

Anyone wonder why the Pads can challenge (and eventually surpass) the Cubs for the Wild Card slot?

Take a look at what happens most games...


B Neal (H, 3) 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5-5 1.80

S Linebrink (H, 24) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5-4 1.76

A Otsuka (H, 25) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 8-5 2.10

T Hoffman (S, 30) 1 2 1 1 1 0 1 30-18 2.59


Great setup and closer, night after night. If only the Pads could hit more consistently.

[Buccaneer]

After a tough home stand going 2-4, it's nice for the Pads to go into New York and take 4 in convincing fashion. Only 4.5 back.

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/0804/31notes.html

Wait until New York Mets fans hear the name of Chipper Jones' third son.

Shea Logan Jones was born Monday morning at Northside Hospital. The boy was named after the Mets' stadium in Queens, where dad is routinely greeted with derisive chants of "Lar-ry, Lar-ry" from fans every time his name is announced.

"The name was going to be Shea, whether it was a boy or girl," Jones said, smiling. "I love playing there. Check the numbers."

Jones has batted .314 with 17 homers and 41 RBIs in 66 games at Shea Stadium, his most homers at any stadium outside Atlanta. He had several back-breaking hits against the Mets at Shea during the NL East race in 1999, his MVP season.

Shea Logan measured 21 inches and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Jones reported the baby and mom, Sharon, were doing fine at Northside Hospital. It's the couple's second child.

He joins Larry Wayne III, who's 4. Chipper also has another son, Matthew, who's 6.

Jones was excused from the start of Monday's game to be with his wife when labor was induced. He got to the ballpark in the fifth inning and pinch-hit in the seventh, striking out to end the inning.

He was on deck when Andruw Jones singled to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

With one game remaining in August, Jones is tied for his single-month career highs in home runs (11) and RBIs (29). He's batting .340 for the month.

[Logan]

http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/0804/31notes.html

Wait until New York Mets fans hear the name of Chipper Jones' third son.

Shea Logan Jones was born Monday morning at Northside Hospital. The boy was named after the Mets' stadium in Queens, where dad is routinely greeted with derisive chants of "Lar-ry, Lar-ry" from fans every time his name is announced.

"The name was going to be Shea, whether it was a boy or girl," Jones said, smiling. "I love playing there. Check the numbers."

Jones has batted .314 with 17 homers and 41 RBIs in 66 games at Shea Stadium, his most homers at any stadium outside Atlanta. He had several back-breaking hits against the Mets at Shea during the NL East race in 1999, his MVP season.

Shea Logan measured 21 inches and weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces. Jones reported the baby and mom, Sharon, were doing fine at Northside Hospital. It's the couple's second child.

He joins Larry Wayne III, who's 4. Chipper also has another son, Matthew, who's 6.

Jones was excused from the start of Monday's game to be with his wife when labor was induced. He got to the ballpark in the fifth inning and pinch-hit in the seventh, striking out to end the inning.

He was on deck when Andruw Jones singled to drive in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

With one game remaining in August, Jones is tied for his single-month career highs in home runs (11) and RBIs (29). He's batting .340 for the month.

Damn it...I hate Chipper. But this is more proof as to why "Logan" is the greatest name ever...

EDIT: My mother is 110% convinced that I am the driving force behind "Logan" reaching the top 20 in popularity among boys. She swears that I have to be the first in NJ named that.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wait'll you see the Phillies/Braves highlights from tonight (Thursday) -- Jason Michaels goes back to the wall trying to reel in a Charles Thomas drive ... ball hits hit glove, falls toward the ground, he swats at in ... and flips it right into the bleachers for a home run.

[JonInMiddleGA]

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/0904/10furcal.html
Braves' Furcal charged with DUI

By MIKE MORRIS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/10/04

Atlanta Braves shortstop Rafael Furcal was arrested Friday morning in Atlanta on charges of driving under the influence, authorities said.

Furcal was booked into the Atlanta city jail at 6:25 a.m., charged with DUI, speeding and reckless driving, jail officials said.

It wasn't immediately known how fast Furcal was driving, or where in the city the arrest occurred.

This is the 26-year-old shortstop's second DUI arrest. He was arrested in Cobb County for DUI in 2000.

[sterlingice]

Dude! You're making $3.7M a year. Get a freakin' driver.

SI

[sterlingice]

A hearty "screw you" to the AP writer:

The right-hander, known for his smug arrogance, got a talking-to from plate umpire Doug Eddings in the fifth.
Greinke threw Bernie Williams (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=4695) an inside pitch on 3-2 and started walking toward the dugout after Eddings called ball four. The veteran umpire pulled off his mask and went straight to the mound for a few words with the rookie. What the hell? How is a 20yo rookie who isn't Jose Lima known for his on field antics? What a load of crap. I'm not saying the kid isn't a little aloof but jeez, he has to have people like, I dunno, Affeldt go on beer runs for him because he can't legally buy it despite being a millionaire.

Clearly the writer wasn't watching the game. Anyone know why Mike Mussina magically regained his stuff tonight? Because it was a Roger Clemensian or Pedro Martinezian strike zone.

The Yanks were strutting around as usual. At least twice already, and I only started watching in the 3rd, they tried to walk to 1st before ball four was called, only to have a strike called. Well, Bernie Williams had done this on the 3-0 pitch but Greinke got the call to make it 3-1. Bernie glares at Eddings after the 3-1 pitch gets called a strike. Then Greinke throws a pitch that was a strike at the knees right were one of the previous pitches had been called a strike and he started heading off the mound, thinking he had gotten the K.

Well, the ump, not to be upstaged on a night when he wanted both teams to hate him and be the center of attention, walks out toward the mound. What kind of crap is that? I've watched baseball for over 20 years and never have I seen an ump make step one towards the mound except in two situations: a player was thrown at or a pitcher says something to an ump. Neither happened in this case and he was just wanting to show up the young pitcher.

Greinke then loses his composure somewhat (tho you wouldn't know it to look at him), gets uncharacteristically wild, wild in the zone for a hit, walking a batter, and then surrendering a double to break the scoreless tie.
Sure, it just seems like a meaningless game, as the Royals are on their way to losing 100. But, still, c'mon, the season isn't over and if every team not in the race should just fold, why don't the Royals, Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Expos, et al, just forfeit their remaining games and we only watch the contenders. it would have been nice for Greinke to square his record at 9-9 and give him a real shot the first of hopefully many double digit win seasons.

So, the AP writer takes a swipe at Greinke over a situation where the ump broke baseball protocol. Nice job.

SI

[Bad-example]

Just read on ESPN that Khalil Greene is finished for the year with a broken finger. :(

[IMetTrentGreen]

angels were comign on. too little too late it looks like