Stoppers usually only have a prime 6-7 year shelf life, at best.

I'm starting to wonder if Rivera has maybe gone past his expiry date.

Of course, if our $100 million third baseman could field a ground ball...........
That one opened the doors. Rivera mighta been out of the inning if he just goes home for the easy out with that one instead of booting the damn thing. That woulda been 2 out, and Ortiz' l'il grounder to first is then out # 3. Final---> 3-2 Yanks and I get to post first.:D

I can see the press conference now. Mariano proclaiming that the Red Sox are his daddy. Wait, wasn't that some other pitcher? I dunno, it all starts to blur together...

The Phone Call

A one act play.

Scene: large, well appointed office. A larger even better appointed elderly gentleman is in his chair behind his desk, back to the stage....

The Gentleman, speaking into a phone: How much longer is he gonna keep me holding, who does he think he...Hello? Hey Randy, how ya doing?...good...great...hey I just wanted to give you a call to ask you not to cash that first check for a coupla weeks...(pulls phone from ear)...whoa cowboy! It's just a joke! Ha-ha-ha-ha....hmmmmmm....wha? well Tino thought it was funny...anyways, everybody fine? Wife...kids...? Good good...great game you pitched Sunday night by the way...speaking of pitching...have you ever considered pitching out of the bullpen, I'm thinking you would do great there as the clo.....hello? Randy??? Hello???!!!!

Curtain closes as the gentleman is seen wiping his brow.

That's the same vision I had - which is why I said gross...and will say it again - gross, gross, gross!

M's looked good for the first day...nice to see Boone crank one on his b-day...

Since this is the off-topic baseball thread, I am going to do some bragging.

For those in the now regarding high school baseball Toledo (Ohio) Start H.S. is one of the top high school baseball programs in the country.

Today our oldest son started his H.S. baseball career at first base for Start H.S.'s freshmen team. Start H.S. defeated Perrysburg H.S. 7-4. Mark, Jr., went 1 for 4, with a double, 1 RBI, 1 run scored and on defense he had 2 assists, 8 putouts and ONE ERROR because he let the ball play him. I am in hog heaven.

MTD, Sr.

Really? Tell me the last time the NL won the World Series. BTW, when was the last time the Braves won the WS?

I'm a NL fan and FWIW, at least we have a team that makes it to the World Series every year. :-) That's pretty big in itself.

I usually try to live in the now, but every once in a while I get kinda nostalgic & spend some time thinking about the past.

Congrats to your son and remember to err is human, forgiveness is something he needs to go to his mother for. :)

...And Sparky, thank your son for me. ;)
mick

The pitchers may not be the greatest hitters, but that requires the managers to manage (that makes the game more interesting.) I would rather watch pitchers hit than some guy who can't catch who gets out of the dugout 4 times a game and hangs on too long. Also pitchers have to be careful who they throw at because they have to get in the box too.

Braves won in 95. Marlins won in 2003. Braves in the postseason every year since 91. Every other time has to wish they were that consistent. 5 WS appearances since 91. Only the Yankees have been better in that department. The NL is still more interesting to watch.

Joe Torre was a better mgr for the '79 Mets or '90 Cards than he was for the '98 Yanks?

No, he just had to work harder with the Mets and Cards. I think I could manage the Yankees and their super-sized payroll to the playoffs. ;) I know it is a tough job, but those guys never have to double switch and there are always plenty of pinch hitters available. It simply isn't as hard to do as the NL.

But based on the WS results since '73 the AL mgrs seem to be a little better at it than the NL mgrs, don't they?

The opening series for each team is done. There are only two undefeated teams -- Cinci and Milwaukee -- and two winless teams -- Mets and Pittsburgh. Interesting that all are in the NL.

I'm a classicist when it comes to baseball. So I prefer the style of play in the NL. I like the running game, the double switch, and that all players have to play defense.

It would interesting for someone to look up how the WS games in the NL parks have gone. Is the NL or the AL better in games without the DH over the last twenty years? I recall that in the Braves/Twins series in 91 as well as the Yankees/Diamondbacks in 01 the home team won every game.
While in one Braves/Yankees series, Atlanta won the first two in NY and then lost the next three at home, plus game 6 in NY.

So who knows?!?!
But I do believe that the Braves are going to do quite well again this year with that pitching staff.