yeah.. don't know why I typed trade.. maybe it's lack of sleep or something ;)

he's not a superstar or anything but he looks like he could be solid. especially on a team that is overachieving like the Rays. They'll need a steady contributor to stay on a winning track... now if Boston could only acquire Kasmir..

I don't have any criticisms for Longoria right now. He's been young for his level at every stop and usually excelled. He could be a very good player.

Speaking of young players getting locked up, the Brew Crew just signed Braun for 8 years, $45M. Moving him to LF was a good idea and he's done well there. He still needs to learn some plate discipline but this should be a good deal and they'll have control over what would have been his first 2 years of free agency.

I may be giving them too many breaks, but they have been incredibly beat up lately. The freakin plague that went through the clubhouse, then a bunch of nagging injuries (seriously, they were on their 8th choice for an outfielder last night) and playing something like 29 games in 30 days. Shoot, they were playing without their freakin manager for the whole Balt. series. I know most teams have to deal with a lot of this, but I do feel like the ship will be righted and they will get some good pitching and timely hitting, and hopefully keep half the team off the DL (for crying out loud, Buckholtz is seriously on the DL for a fingernail?!)

No matter how I look at this, I can't see how it's a bad move. Braun is for sure a journeyman player (barring injury) meaning that he'll be around for a long time. He may not reach the potential that a lot of Brewers fans see in him (but what do they know? They're generally drunk and stuffed full of cheese), but they've got one outfield position locked down for the longterm. He may not be a perenial All-Star, but he'll be good. The gravy comes if he IS a perenial All-Star.

As for my Cubbies, I'm not counting on anything right now. We need to see if there's going to be a June Swoon or not this year, but the big bats are looking good right now. I was at the game yesterday (rooftop at 1044 Waveland) and Edmonds looks like he still has something in the tank. He's not an every day player right now, but he'll platoon well.

Your Cubbies beat my DBacks pretty well last weekend. That really sucked. At least we had the Rockies to beat up on this week. After this sweep we are 8-1 against them this season.

Webb is now 9-0. Sick.

Justin Upton, the kid is unbelievable. He got buzzed near the head by a couple of pitches by Fuentes and then with a 3-0 count he . He's got crazy power, amazing speed, and

He doesn't turn 21 until the end of August and he has a .932 OPS right now. FWIW, if the DBacks don't lock him up and buy out some free agency years he will hit the FA market at 26 years and 2 months. The problem with most free agents is that they are past their prime. He'll be at the start of his peak years.

I'm looking forward to the interleague games, I wonder if Melvin will use Micah Owings as the DH when he isn't pitching.

Only 2.5 games out in mid-May.

Orioles magic, baby!

<div><object width="420" height="336"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x5fece&v3=1&related=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x5fece&v3=1&related=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="336" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always"></embed></object><br /><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5fece_orioles-magic-2008_sport">Orioles Magic 2008</a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/gatecitycanes">gatecitycanes</a></i></div>

(Kevin Millar is the freakin' man.)

What, no manny high 5?

Holy crap is that high on the unintentional comedy scale. Freakin hilarious! The whole thing is gayer than French soccer, yet they somehow managed to get the guys to take it seriously enough to get together to film it. priceless.

It's actually from the team; they're playing it after wins now.

And the song is a classic song made back in 1979 (the original Orioles Magic year). It gives me chills whenever I hear it.

Wow, it's like The Superbowl Shuffle, only the suck factor is dialed way up.

Crazy that not only did one person think it was a great idea, but a whole bunch of other people said, "you know, that IS a great idea."

Well, because it WAS a great idea.

Some of you guys just don't want to have any fun in baseball, do you? :p

My friend, as long as the Baltimore Orioles are around, we will have fun in baseball. (apparently at their expense, but nevertheless...):p :p :D

Looking at batting averages, runs and home run tallies..... does anyone find it coincidental that all seem to be way way down this year?

The pitching is not that much better yet right now it seems to be dominant.

I think the steroids or lack thereof are starting to truly show.

Hitters age, numbers go down but not this many so fast.

Only problem with this way of thinking is that it presupposes that it is only the hitters who are (were) juicing. Tons of the PED users were pitchers, so you could say it should have evened out...
I wonder if it has more to do with the recent lack of expansion. After the most recent expansion, I think the pitching got a little more diluted than the hitting and now it may be recovering. Who knows. We could get to the end of the season and the numbers could be the same anyway.

MLB batting splits:

2008:
2007:
We aren't through May yet, but the numbers aren't that far behind last year.

There was discussion last year about the power numbers and whether it was steroids (the lack thereof) or the weather. The numbers then went up through the summer.

I would bet that the same thing happens this year. The cold usually has an effect early in the year.

Yup, and these seasons seem to start earlier every year. WHen games are getting snowed out, that should be a pretty clear sign. (BTW, did I hear correctly that MN's new stadium is open air?)

The college football one and the baseball one are jumbled up in my head (I worked on GL-only wraps for both - didn't get either), but I know one of them is. I just don't know which.

Ok, I stopped being lazy and looked it up myself.
http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/b...park_model.jsp
Yup, it's open, no retractable roof or anything. Would someone like to explain this one to me. The Red Sox schedule frequently features a beginning of the season road trip for the first week or so, because the Boston weather in the early part of the season sucks, I can only imagine what it is like in MN at that time of year. Didn't the last of the snow just melt?

Ryan Braun is a BEAST

155 career games, 45 homeruns, 128 rbi, .313 average. RIDICULOUS.

Good for Lester. It's nice when the average guys do great things.

No need to be jealous, just because the Red Sox have more no-hitters in the last nine months than the D-backs have in their history. He's still young and inconsistent, but this shows why the Red Sox were reluctant to give him and Buchholtz up to get Santana. Besides, the dude's only been in remission from CANCER for a year. That's pretty good in my book. That Royals team has actually been pretty hot and had the reigning player of the week on it too, so you can't even dis him there.

Lester did what he should have been doing all along. He actually established a fastball. Kid has major problems with that. 2 more no-no's and the Sox will tie the Dodgers for most ever. I'd say there's a good chance.

Oh and we can't really forget Varitek in this either.. caught 4 no hitters.. that's quite the accomplishment.

When I said average I didn't mean it as a knock against him. It's just that when you think of no-no's you think of the dominant aces. Nolan, Johnson, etc. Guys that pile up the strikeouts.

I will take back a little bit of it though. Lester is only 24. The fact that he has been able to put up league average numbers at young ages is great. He could probably have some very good peak years.

This certainly puts him in a select group of pitchers. Most of best pitchers of this generation (Clemens, Glavine, Maddox, Schilling) never got one.

Catchers can have a LOT to do with it.

didn't mean to jump on you for the 'average' thing. it is weird how anabel sanchez can get one but schilling and pedro can't. so much is luck. what isn't luck is that Varitek caught 4 of them, tha dude takes his job seriously!

I remember the Sanchez game, that was against the DBacks. At least Sanchez had a really good year in 2006.

Jose Jimenez threw one against the DBacks in a year when he had an ERA of 5.85. That one was against Randy Johnson, he lost 1-0, going the distance and striking out 14. Talk about a mismatch. That's why we play the games.

My opinion of Lester has changed since watching him toss the 8 innings of no hit ball against the Jays (which they should have let him finish), then his no hitter last night. He definately throws better when he is working quickly.

Working quickly can go hand in hand with pitching a great game. If you are throwing well, you get in a rhythm.

plus you keep the defense interested and on their toes, which comes in handy.

I have always preferred pitching duels over slugfests. It just seems that there is a lot less hitting and run production going on this year. It also seems that a lot of "older" guys are falling apart and deteriorating so much faster.

I think we are finding out who was on steroids and who wasn't.

I dunno pan.. I think we have to wait a couple of years to really see what's going on. That will give a better barometer of the situation. Old guys fall apart easily. They can have a good year and just not have the stuff the next. That's just how it works sometimes.

Hmmm. Cubs have the best record in the NL. And tied for second in the MLB. Interesting. We have hitting AND pitching. I don't know the last time I saw that. Sorriano and Fukodome seem to be on opposite schedules so when one is hitting, the other isn't. If they ever get going together, it's going to be interesting. If we could get Sorriano to tighten up on some of his mental errors, I'd feel a lot better. I'd feel even better if Wood got completely on track in his closer role since he's been inconsistent at best.

For the record, it's May and the historical June Swoon has yet to start. We'll see what happens when they have to start playing in the heat of the day, every day. The real story in the NL Central is how long the Cardinals can keep going without major injury. Because as soon as that starts to happen, they'll slide back down the flagpole. They're not a particularly deep team this year.

I keep waiting for the cubs to implode. Wood will get an injury .. soriano.. well.. we all know that story. Fukidome, can he last the entire season?

No point in making a new thread for this, but to make a long story short.

I was in Cincy this past weekend to see the Braves and Reds play. Bruce hit career HR #1 walkoff shot in 10th inning, Griffey Jr. hit career #599

I put pics up, but for whatever damn reason no one in the baseball league can see them. Here is the url does it work for anyone on here and if no what error do you get.

http://picasaweb.google.com/MontanaX...ey=SBD-DcySbKc

I can see them. Some great actions shots. And a great shot of the back of someone's head.... :)

I know!!!

dude pissed me off, just as they rolled the 598 to 599 he stood up, I was PISSED!!!!

I can see them from here. Nice pics.

OMG Pedro is back!

Geez, he comes back and the bats just spontaneously combust.

I do feel bad for Zito, though. Nobody deserves to get beat up like that.

great shots, how is GAB?

So what do you think of Bruce the real thing or just a fluke?

Last night Joba proved, well, nothing about himself since he's got a career ahead of him, but he did prove that management is rushing him.

And my Cubs need more consistent pitching. The bullpen is one of the best around, but we need consistently better starting pitching if we're going to keep the train rolling.

By the way, Pittsburgh is over .500 against the NL once you subtract all their loses to the Cubs.

The yanks are fucking up so nicely by making Joba a starter. I for one love it. It's so funny how they are trying to be the Red Sox and it's blowing up in their face.

It is kind of delightful. Sometimes if I listen hard enough I can hear Yankee players cracking under the pressure that management is putting on them. We'll see if Joba has the mental makeup to survive the inevitable failures and develop a third and fourth pitch so he can try to go at least five or six innings. I personally am a little dubious that he can, but we'll see.
Oh yeah, and I hope that last night was a positive sign for what Red Sox fans can expect from the team while Big Papi is on the DL. The can't replace him, but decent starting pitching, speed on the bases and timely hitting should be a good stopgap.
On another note, if Manny can get to around 525 homers or so by the end of this year, it seems like he as a reasonable shot at 600. That would only be about 25 a year for three years after that or 35 or so for a couple of years. Given his consistency over the years, either seems reasonable, which I might not have said a few years ago.

It's not really the yankees players that I hear cracking under the pressure as much as I hear it coming from boss jr and Girardi. I can almost bet the yanks wished they had kept Torre. He may not be the best, but damn if he didn't know how to manage a team like that and handle the media. Joba, hasn't been stretched out and he hasn't had to face big opponents yet. Will he develop more pitches.. my money is on no. If he does, and he does take over for Rivera, then he'll be lethal.. but I have a feeling they've fucked the kids career before it's even begun.

As far as Manny goes. He's already a HOF player. I'd like to see him get 600, but I wish people would realize just how much of a great hitter he really is. He's probably one of the top 5 right handed hitters of all time. That is way more than how many home runs you hit.

Top 5 of ALL TIME? Big stretch there, considering some of the stats out there already.

I'll give him top 5 current players, but he's no George Brett. Or Hank Aaron. Or Willie Mays. Or Rogers Hornsby. Or even Pujols (the motherfucker).

There's DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Medwick, Vlad Guerrero, Kiki Culyer, Kirby Puckett, Jeter, Nomar, Clemente.....

Definitely one of the top 5 current players? Ever? He needs to play a lot more than 3 more years. He needs at least 5 at his current production to even be considered.

Manny is 10th for career OPS+. Five of the top 10 are lefties. He takes a hit because of his defense but he's a lot better than he's given credit for. He also excels at the catch-high5-assist play.

That right there is pricless. Just about the only defensive play he excels at, but priceless.

Actually, he's tied for 25th all-time in OPS+, with 11 lefties and a switch-hitter ahead of him. But there are also righties there that I would not put ahead of him, like Pete Browning and Dave Orr (who spent most of their careers in the American Association, they playe dso long ago) and Mark McGwire.

That leaves Pujols, Frank Thomas, Dick Allen, DiMaggio, Mays, Aaron, Foxx, Hank Greenberg and Hornsby.

So he's at least top-ten.

Hornsby, Pujols, Foxx, DiMaggio and Greenberg are the only ones from that group ahead in batting average; and Hornsby, Pujols, Foxx, Thomas and Greenberg are the only ones ahead in OBP. Only Aaron, Mays, Foxx and Thomas are ahead in home runs.

So, I think you could make a legitamite arguement right now that he (and Pujols) are top-five among right-handed hitters. A few more years and there should be little doubt.

(I think I'm one of three Orioles fans that actually LIKES Manny Ramirez :lol: :bowdown:)

I am glad to see that you enjoy Manny Ramirez. Even though his fielding can at times drive fans crazy, you have to respect that he generally plays the game with a certain childlike enjoyment and is one of the most prodigious hitters of his time.
After a brief review of some stats, courtesy of baseball-reference.com manny's numbers do stack up pretty favorably with some of the best in the game. In a couple of areas, he may be ranked in the 20's, but he can jump up several spots by the end of the year because people are all clustered up.
Here are a couple stats, for example:

RankPlayer (age)Extra-Base HitsBats 1.Hank Aaron+ 1477R 29.Manny Ramirez (36)1005R
Manny 15th for Righties, 2 active players ahead of him (Griffey, Thomas)


RankPlayer (age)Slugging %Bats 1.Babe Ruth+* .6898L 8.Manny Ramirez (36).5910R
Manny 4th for righties (Bonds and Pujols ahead)

RankPlayer (age)OPSBats 1.Babe Ruth+* 1.1638L 10.Manny Ramirez (36).9994R
Manny 5th for righties (Bonds and Pujols)


RankPlayer (age)Home RunsBats 1.Barry Bonds* (43)762L 24.Manny Ramirez (36)502R
Manny 14th for righties, he will likely never catch A-Rod, and may not get to Griff, if he stays healthy. Of course 4 of the top ten are known PED guys.


RankPlayer (age)RBIBats 1.Hank Aaron+ 2297R 25.Manny Ramirez (36)1643R
Manny about 15th for righties

RankPlayer (age)At Bats per Home RunBats 1.Mark McGwire 10.60R 10.Manny Ramirez (36)14.50R
Many is 6th for righties

After this review, I would probably say that assuming his career goes for a few more productive years he will be one of the top 5 righthanded hitters ever, but he may not be there quite yet (top ten?). His consistency has been remarkable, and he has a high career average for a slugger.
His high-5's per outfield assist is right up there as well.

I think what amazes me the most about Manny is his ability to get on base when the count is not in his favor. A pitcher can get 2 strikes on the man and he'll find a way to get on base. He has an amazing ability to adjust at the plate that I really haven't seen before.

I say he's top 5 already. Stats say he needs a few more years.. so eventually we'll both be right ;) I've always enjoyed Manny being Manny (for the most part) He has fun out there.. he enjoys what he does. This year is almost a little slice of heaven with his new outlook and desire. Who cares if it's a contract year, the man has always been fun to watch and hopefully we'll get to see him end his career in Boston.

Amen, brother.
His ability to "spoil" pitchers pitches when he is down in the count until he can get one to drive is pretty uncanny His new outlook (i.e.contract year) is refreshing, but his hitting has always been there.

You're right, I meant to write OPS, not OPS+

That's what I figured :)

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200806052844179

Coco Crisp attempting to kill Akinori Iwamura with a take-out slide on a STOLEN BASE. (Wednesday)

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200806052847841

Coco Crisp charging the mound after being hit on the hip by James Shields. (Thursday)

Seeing those videos, and hearing his post-game comments on BBTN and Sportscenter, he will be lucky to be only suspended for ten games. Complete lack of remorse. May have killed his trade value out of his moronic prick-ness.

And of course, Jacoby Ellsbury gets hurt later in the game. And the Orioles come in to Fenway next week. Suddenly I feel better about that :lol:

Photo of the moment:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...o/0b6f7804.jpg

I'm sure he didn't expect to run into a pitcher's fist while charging the mound. Too bad I can't find pics of Jonny Gomes wailing on him after Navarro took him down.

EDIT: Found one.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...o/186f6268.jpg

What was sup with Manny getting tangled up with Youkilis later in the game?

Actually, it looked like CoCo did expect Shields to throw something. He dodged it so cleanly it was almost sad. CoCo is just pissed because he can't secure a starting position. And yeah.. fucking Ellsbury gets injured.. it's ok because I really doubt MLB will suspend CoCo for that long. Shields was aggressive the whole game, there's always bad blood between these two teams and it really wasn't as bad as it looked. That hog Gomes can't throw a punch if his dick depended on it. They were weak.

As far as the Manny and Youk situation.. who the fuck knows. This is the one time that I don't like Manny being Manny but I can forgive him as long as his hammy is ok and he's back soon.

You forgot the part that Coco was responding to the second baseman (actually not iwamora) putting his knee down trying to injure coco on the previous sb attempt, which was probably out of frustration because they couldn't catch him stealing on a pitch out.
I didn't think that his comments were too out of line, but he was a bit more forthcoming than players often are in that circumstance. I particularly liked when he called the Rays "little girls" because they were scratching him and trying to claw his eyes and pull his hair on the bottom of the pile. He actually gave credit to shields for not throwing at his head, and to navarro.
He and shields will probably get like 5 games or so each, which will be only one game to shields because he's a pitcher. The people who should get the biggest suspensions are people like gomes, who came throwing all kinds of punches like usual (he's the one who charged in from right field, think it was against the Yankees) and got into it. In my opinion the Rays were completely bush (like always) and couldn't just let it be about the pitcher and the batter. Rather than trying to break it up, they escalated the situation This actually goes to the manager before that, as well.
Oh, btw, I don't think it's considered classy to revel in other teams players getting hurt (ellsbury).

Yeah, pretty much everyone (commentators and players) siad the manny youk thing was a non issue, and was generally something that just wasn't caught on camera but happens a lot on every team. Youk was probably just pissed that manny was bitching about his hammies, when youk was supposed to have an off day but ended up playing a position he's never even played before for the whole game.

1) It was the shortstop, Bartlett.

2) How is putting your knee down in front of the base attempting to injure him? I heard it as Coco being pissed at Bartlett for breaking some goofy "unwritten rule".

It is some sort of unwritten rule that whoever is covering second on a throw from the catcher doesn't put their knee in front of the bag, because when guys slide in headfirst they can break their fingers on the knee. Hence coco going in hard, feet first on the next slide to send a message, put you knee down and the next time it will be spikes, not fingers that get there first. All of that stuff is pretty much accepted practice, but the manager Maddon got his panties in a twist and began the verbal crap between him and coco, which led to the beanball and the mound charge (which are pretty much also relatively accepted--get hit, charge the mound, whatever) The biggest issue was all of the cheap shots that the Rays players took after coco was subdued and they were "protecting their pitcher." Never mind the fact that Shields is 6'4" 215 and Coco is about 6' 180 and Shields didn't look like he needed much protecting, jumping in 6 on 1 was completely bush league. That team is full of losers with bad attitudes, so it isn't really surprising, I guess.

Maybe Coco shouldn't have, you know, charged the damn mound if he couldn't take the consequences.

And he's the one that didn't go in "spikes up", but "cannonball into the knees and groin with intent to injure".

You really shouldn't be defending him here. He has no excuse.

First, if you protect the bag from the runner with any part of your body, ask any catcher, 3b, 2b, ss who has ever played the game. Bartlett was playing ball the way he should be. To say "well he may break fingers".... is the equivelant to saying, "spikes first at your knee". Both are the WRONG attitude. It should be "let's play ball the way it should be played hard and earn our money".

Ty Cobb used to sharpen his spikes before every game so when he stole a base if someone tried to get in his way they got a message. Pete Rose when he started in the majors and played 2b would almost be like a catcher guarding the plate.

Secondly, throwing at someone's hip is far from a "beanball".

Thirdly, YES the field position players run out and protect their pitcher.

I remember as a kid watching Johnny Carson, he had on Yogi Berra. Johnny asked Yogi about the brawls in baseball..... Yogi said this (paraphrased) "You ever watch a baseball brawl, we hit like women. We go ut and pile up and swing with stiff arms, we don't want to truly hurt anyone, because we have to play those guys again and if we hurt one of them this game..... they'll hurt one of us next game."

Have you watched the brawl? Sheilds missed his punch on Coco quite easily. Some of it was for show, some to say "don't fuck with me". The brawl afterward..... come on that was far from a street fight. Was Coco seriously injured?

Come on, now. For the love of God brawls and this stuff has always been a part of baseball's charm for many of us. Crying over it and saying "they started it".... is petty little league bullshit.

First, the only player who routinely blocks, or should block the base is the catcher. Look at any play at second, good technique when receiving a throw from the catcher is to straddle the bag so that when you receive the baseball you do not have to reach back to tag the runner. There is no coach in the world who will tell you to block the bag with your knee. It is bad etiquette and bad technique. Watch the plays at second, you almost never see it. Besides, Joe Maddon got completely bent out of shape when something similar happened to his player (against the Yankees).
Second, although beanball is usually throwing at a batter's head, intentionally plunking a hitter still escalates the situation.
Third, you and Yogi are right that most basebrawls are usually purse-swingers, this however was not. Crawford, Gomes, etc were going in there with a definite attempt to injure and swing as hard as they could at a defenseless guy (who was in a chokehold, by the way). If you saw that at a bar you would call them a bunch of pussies for jumping in six on one. Besides, you protect your pitcher by separating the parties. Seriously, their pitcher is a hulking 6'4", and Coco is the second smallest guy on the roster, how much protecting did he really need.
The bottom line is that the Rays have a vast inferiority complex and have sucked for so long that they have bad blood with a lot of teams, especially the Yankees and Sox, who they play 18 times a year, and consistently lose to. Add in a bunch of players with bad attitudes and discipline problems (Gomes, Upton) and you get a team of punks.
Coco would have been better off not charging the mound, but, it was Maddon's fault for escalating the situation. He has to act like a manager, not a child in that circumstance.

Wow.

All I have to say is if you have issues with base blocking or the very rare brawl, you need to find a new sport.

You want to chance stealing a base? You take that risk.
You want to lose your temper, get fined, suspended and rush the pitcher? Expect his ass to be backed up by his teammates.

Its part of the damn game.

Baseball has been pussy'fied enough as it is, don't make it any worse.

Yes it has, all about the money now. Don't get that uniform dirty.....

It's easy to say that when it isn't your $10 million per year at risk. Owners AND players have a lot at stake.

Congratulations to Mr. Griffey on hitting HR #600. Hitting that many is an accomplishment in itself, it's even more amazing considering the unfortunate injuries he suffered that probably could've had him chasing Aaron's record.

No, but it's my money that buys the tickets, the merchandise, the cable channel to watch the game.

In the end, I'd rather see players go out there and give it their all every day.... than to watch them afraid to dive because they might get hurt. I want to see the pitchers be able to brush batters back, instead of a warning to both benches and fear of ejection. I want to see players willing to take a chance ad make a game turning play.

Players today have guaranteed contracts, they make more in 1 year than the average fan will in a lifetime..... so why worry? They don't have to give it 100% any more. They get that big 5 yr contract.... play ok ball for 3 1/2 years then may go out play a bit harder for that next big payday. It's actually sad to watch anymore.

Give me in their primes the Pete Rose's, Mike Hargrove's, Mike Schmidt's, Phil Neikro's, Tom Seaver's, Steve Carlton's or a team full of young kids that want to be there and show every game how much being there matters to them. I'll take a team like that over any Boston, NY, Cleveland, St.Louis, Texas, and so on's roster any damn day. They may not win, but at least you know day in and day out they gave all they had.

And the greatest part is..... he did it without steroids or growth hormone.

Well that and he did part of it in a Cincy uniform.

How many injuries can one team take without a hit in the pocketbook? How many does it take before you stop buying tickets? How many years of not winning a championship because of this can a franchise take? There's a fine line.. some ride that line and some stay far away.. I think it's always been that way.

How long can your team afford players that won't push themselves?

And I am not saying go out there and injure yourself, but go out and give 100%.... if a player feels giving 100% may cause injury, he doesn't deserve his pay or to even be in the game. And owners/GMs/managers that don't push their players to give 100% deserve fired or to sell the team. And the fans who don't want to see their players give 100% deserve high paid losers and teams that go nowhere.

I would watch the Indians and Reds no matter what as long the players give 100%. But we get high paid bums, that get the big money and don't even try (like Cleveland has now, pitching excluded except for the bum CC), they still don't challenge the division because they won't give 100% every day and aren't even worth a free ticket.

DAMN YOU BILLY WAGNER!:angry:

God damned Indians and Reds

Now's when we see what the Cubs are made of, I guess. Theriot should be ok in left defensively, but I know we'll miss Sorriano's bat.

I'll have a report after the game today. I'll be on a rooftop if anyone's looking for me. I'll be the drunk guy in the blue shirt.

I see players give 100% all the time. To be honest, I don't think there's much difference between the way the players play today and the way they supposedly played back in the day. The only difference is you've gotten older and jealous of the money they make. I'll agree that salaries are way too inflated, but there's still a majority of players that love the game and give it all they have. Just because they don't look like a madman running the bases like Pete doesn't mean they aren't giving their all.

It's funny you talk so much shit about Cleveland. Really.. what's so bad about them? All teams have a bad year no matter what talent they have.. shit, look at Detroit and the Yanks. Loaded with talent but nothing to show for it. I may talk shit about Boston when they are down, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't go watch them play. If anything is wrong with the game, it's fans that expect too much. I think we forget ballplayers are human just like the rest of us.


now for the cubbies.. I said I was waiting for self destruct mode to kick in.. and it may have just started. :D

Have you been watching the Indians this year? Have you been listening to the beat reporters or reading their articles? You do that then we'll talk about 100% or not.

Jealousy and m age have nothing to do with how I view baseball today. Hell, a few years (maybe a decade ago), Sandy Alomar decked his brother Robbie in the locker room and asked "why you no play baseball hard". It was covered here for quite awhile.

The thing about baseball that people forget is that the players are just better. It's easier to them. They start younger, they are better prepared mentally, physically and emotionally. When you have those things in your favor things become easy and it's often times easy to think that the players aren't trying hard. I'm not saying that some players are slack, but I think as a whole, the players really do try.

Pan, you always talk shit about CC. Do you think he's not giving it 100%? There is no reason for him not to give 100%. Isn't he the strikeout leader in the majors? (I could be wrong on that) Shit, look at Beckett, he's not having as great a season as last year, but fuck if he isn't trying. I just think it's too easy to look at a team who quite frankly overperformed the prior year (yes your Indians) and think they aren't giving it 100% just because they are struggling a bit this year. Shit, most people think the Rays have never tried but I have to say they always have. The only difference this year is they have a dedicated front office and some better talent.

Ah, at the end of the day you still won...

If you look back when I started really talking shit on CC this season his game got better. Why break that? Besides when he leaves for more money it's easier to see the guy you dislike walk. And yes, CC sucks at games that are truly important.

As for the Indians.... I'll take the beat reporters who are with them every day and what they report over what you believe to be the problem. Yes, they had career years last season, but the huge drop is more than just them coming back to Earth.

True, but of all the nights to blow a save, why this one? You had to have watched that game. It was the best night of Mike Pelfrey's young career. He pitched eight shuthout innings. He even had a hit. Pelfrey never gets a hit. The fans were chanting his name. They gave him a standing ovation when he took to the mound in 9th inning to go for a complete game. Knowing how badly he struggled and how close he was to being sent down to the minors in his last start, even the most cynical Mets would say it was magical.

...and then with one hanging slider Billy Wagner took it all away.

Willie kept saying that, Wright kept saying that, and Minaya kept saying that, but that blown save deflated the place like I haven't seen since the 06 NLCS. I was so disgusted that I didn't even bother to watch extra innings and missed Beltran's walkoff home run.

But it's not the end of the world, a win is a win, but you gotta admit, that bullpen has the potential to kill this team more than their inconsistent hitting or starting rotation.

P.S. He's just committed his third straight blown save.

The way it happened yesterday made it harder. Reynolds should have been on 1st with a hit by pitch, then he drills it.

Did it again today. Wow. This game can tear you apart. Wow, we pulled it out. The DBacks needed a series win here really badly.

Do you see why I hate this Mets bullpen?

Walk off beaning. I fucking LOVE it.

Team of destiny, baby, team of destiny.

Come on boys. There are some nice, warm seats on the bandwagon. Get on now so that you can mock those that aren't on it later.

lol, Wagner is having a hell of a time right now. He was crusing along having a great first two months and these last three games have been hell for him.

The Red Sox have quietly battled a slew of injuries and distractions and have the best record in the league. They will need to get more consistent pitching from their middle relief (like pretty much everyone) but they have been getting pretty good starting pitching and have Paplebon at the end. JD Drew has been exceptional in Big Papi's place, and the runnin' red sox are putting pressure on teams when they get on base for pretty much the first time in their history.
Of course there are many areas for improvement (lugo's still pretty suspect, Pedroia has cooled off, Timlin does not inspire confidence, and Okijima cannot seem to pitch against the Orioles) but they have scored the most runs in the AL, while playing at a more or less sustainable pace. Simply have to play better on the road, though. Interleague will be interesting as well, I'm expecting a couple odd lineups the way things are going.

The Red Sox should get things situated after the break. Pedroia hopefully doesn't have the roty curse and I've always said Lugo was suspect. Timlin.. well go ahead and say goodbye after this year. He has to be done. Once the pitching gets their arms rested up and the injuries (hopefully) subside, it should be more playoff success for the team.

And yeah.. hats off to J.D. he's really stepped up in Papi's absence.

Trot Nixon comes to New York. Red Sox fans, did Minaya do the right thing?

I miss Trot being on the Indians.

Sure he was a pretty poor hitter, but he brought a lot more than just his hitting to the club.

to be honest, I don't know who he is replacing, but if you are putting Trot in your starting lineup it smacks of desperation. trot will always give 100 percent but I donbt know what he has left in the tank. he's been in AAA all year, so you'll know he will appreciate every chance he gets.

He's a stopgap because they're short on outfielders. Angel Pagan (shoulder), Ryan Church (concussion), and Moises Alou (calf) are still on the DL and there's no word when any of them are expected to make a return to the lineup.

So far it looks like he's delivering.

BTW, I think it's BS the way they keep stringing Willie along like this. The Mets should either fire him now (and give up on any hope of making it to the playoffs for at least a couple of years) or publicly commit to him for at least the remainder of the season. This is the same kind of nonsense the Yankees played with Torre and they had the nerve to act disappointed when he told them to stuff their offer and walked out the door.

This is what I have to wake up to. Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson, and first-base coach Tom Nieto fired last night. By last night, I mean 3 am, eastern time.
:shakehead:

The way the Mets handled this is just downright disgusting. I'm sure they had their minds made up about Randolph before he even boarded the plane. Why'd they even bother to let him make the trip? The way they handled this whole situation makes me wonder if Isiah Thomas is lurking around in the background somewhere.

This is simply an embarrassment the way the Mets front office handled this situation. They might as well finish what they started and ship everybody out, because they've just kissed their chances of even a wild card spot goodbye.

That was all around bad form. If I'm Willie Randolph, I'm motivated to find a new job and stick it to the Mets every chance I get. A team I managed would have warnings issued in the first few innings of a series against the Mets.

Then again, I am a vindictive sonovabitch in real life.

I'm now fully convinced the Mets front office is like working for the mob

Minaya's a funny man, he said he told Willie he'd give him a head's up about his job status. Lemme guess, this is how it went down:

Minaya: Willie, I gotta break the bad news to you, the guys up top want to fire you.
Willie: Oh man, so when is it going to happen?
Minaya: Now.

Willie? Won't see him around no more.

he'll be back as a bench coach somewhere soon, then maybe back in a less intense town like Kansas City or something. Love how it seems like being completely batshit crazy is a job requirement for owners/front office personnel in New York these days (see Steinbrenner, George and Hank; Minaya, Omar; and Thomas, Isiah...).

That whole Mets front office is full of backstabbers. They might have Minaya convinced that firing Willie was the only way to save his job, but it's clear that he has his own folks angling to push him out the door too. Don't be surprised if Minaya gets fired at the end of the season, despite how the Mets finish it out.

Switch pitcher vs. Switch hitter, game of cat-and-mouse of pitcher and batter trying to pick sides.

C.C. Sabathia hits a home run? What is this world coming to?

In the last week, the Cubs have been swept by the Rays (but were close in all 3 games) and swept the White Sox at Wrigley (and killed them in 2 games). I'm not quite sure what to think, at least until Sean Marshall has his first start later this week.

That Ryan Dempster's something, isn't he? I just wish Ramirez was a friendlier guy. He'd be an absolute hero if he'd just smile and make an effort every once in a while.

I'm still shocked that C.C. could swing a bat like that. I never knew he had it in him.

I'll tell you what to think

storybook season is over pal ;)

When did you turn into host?

The worst thing that ever happened to Red Sox fans was winning in '04. The next worst thing was winning last year. It made them all uppity. I might have to hold my nose and start rooting for the Skankies just to bring you guys down a peg.

now now.. you wouldn't want to go to that extreme would you?? You would never be able to watch that stench out of you..

I'm not uppity.. I'm just tired of hearing all this hype about the cubbies and how they'll win it.. then they choke and yada yada. At least those of us who follow Boston still hold our breath when there's a 10 run advantage in our favor and we only said "well, there's always next year" just to try and ease the pain again. If any fans are uppity..it's those cubbies fans... but they'll never be as uppity as those goddamn skankee fans.

Trust me, all other baseball fans consider the three of you all to be equal in unbearable uppity-ness :lol: