....errrrrr....never mind

Inadvertent post...my mistake...let's get the thread going again...

Aw, c'mon; I left the door wide open for you. :D

Discretion is the better part of being a pu......@@@..$$$%%@%@%#.... carrier lost.........@..&@%%^^^^...

You really need to get rid of that 28K dial-up modem.

It might get blown up. Along with Dan.:D

Got me one of them 56K jobbies a few weeks ago...that thing is FAST!

(interesting sidenote...just as everyday there are fewer and fewer people alive who lived through WW2 every day there are fewer and fewer people alive who know WTF "carrier lost" means...maybe we should write a book?)

Geeze, I even remember punch cards.

How old does that make me?!? :eek:

Pretty old.

Hey - where's the game?
 

It's Tuesday night and I went to turn on the game and there's isn't one!!! Oh yeah - the series only lasted four games. HAHAHAHAHA!!! :D

Heck - there are kids as old as TWO DAYS OLD who have never seen a Boston World Series victory in their lives. :D

Well I hope everyone had a great afternoon as I did...free taco then I went to Hooters <strike>real quick</strike>.

I tried to get the lady at Taco Bell to give me about 10. I told her my family was coming and we were pressed for time...but it didn't work. Rats!

They also wouldn't give me a soft shell taco. It was hard shell only. :(

Oh well, you get what you pay for.

btw how long were the lines? I didn't go check, didn't want to have a long wait.

My wife picked up tacos with the kids, and she said the drive-thru wasn't any longer than normal.

well, shoot. Don't tell my son and granddaughter. They really wanted to go, and I convinced them it wasn't worth the wait.

I promise I won't say anything. ;)

Some locations may have been busier than others, so you might still be off the hook.

Actually, not bad. I didn't wait very long. I believe the promo only lasted from 2-5pm, local time.

Along those same lines, turns out somebody has actually offered A-Rod the $35 million contract he wanted -- seriously:

ESPN reported this morning that Boras had actually gotten the letter and that the offer was for $35 million. Great move by the Mud Hens.

Corporal Klinger would be proud.

Gee, would Rodgriguez be willing to move to, say, shortstop?

...or maybe Hackensack?

Oooooo, that could get interesting!!

Please. I just ate.

Iceberg lettuce?

Baconator

Torre switches coasts, will manage Dodgers

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10446090

Sox exercise the option on Tavarez. Ugh. :(

Maybe he's the one who knows how to turn a table into text in MS Word?

Video Professor is useful after all!

http://www.coggan.com/image-files/bt...-professor.jpg

Nope, that's me! (Well, now it is; thanks to Jim.) Although I (and maybe even Jim) would gladly take Taverez's option money.

BTW, how 'bout them Patriots!!

Absolutely. Tell you what - I'll just take the standard 30% agent's fee.

Hey! Wrong thread!

Besides, you New Englanders are allowed only so much euphoria in a single year's time.

They're as classy as their fans.

Did anyone see Brady whining to the Referee for pass interference calls?

Saw it, but unlike Eli, Brady doesn't seem to complain very much, so I have a tendency to believe him. My FF QB is Drew Brees, and I'm glad he's back. :)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Andy Pettitte declined his $16 million option with the New York Yankees, still uncertain whether he wants to pitch next season.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7413470?MSNHPHMA

My all-time favorite QB is Jim McMahon, followed by Rudy Bukich and Sid Luckman.

Johnny
Bobby
Tobin
Y.A.
Fran
:)

Wow the Yankees are willing to spend 16 million on this guy! That is why the salaries in baseball are so inflated. His ERA was over four last season. :(

Sox re-sign Schilling for $8 million, plus incentives. Sounds like it's only a 1-year deal. Still working with Lowell. I hope Theo gets that done.

The Braves are looking to bring Glavine back to Atlanta.

Kinda like Maddux going back to Chicago?

NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees and Jorge Posada agreed Monday night to a $52.4 million, four-year contract that keeps the catcher off the free-agent market.

Hey, mick - it looks like the Tigers and Cubs are trading more players again: Jacque Jones for Omar Infante. I wouldn't think the Cubs needed another infielder, but it looks as though he's a good utility player. Jacque will be a good backup, left-handed bat in the Tiger's outfield as well.

Infante can bat around .300, and can play in or out. Should be good in a league where they play real baseball and the managers actually have to think about pinch hitting and batting orders. :)

AL managers have to think about pinch hitting and batter orders too. Unfortunately, NL managers and the fans have to sit and watch the pitcher (more often than not) strike out 2 or 3 times a game. :)

Just heard on ESPN radio that Sabathia won the AL Cy Young. I'm pretty sure that Beckett had more wins (maybe only one more), but I guess Sabathia threw significantly more innings, and obviously, the voting takes place before the playoffs start.

I would've loved to see it go to Beckett, since he was clearly the best pitcher on the best team, but I can understand the choice of Sabathia.

I voted for Wang.

...But is there an at bat more exciting than a pitcher jacking one? :)

Never. It's very exciting to see a pitcher get even a solid hit, but what are the odds? I'll take my chances on an slugger who can't play the field every day, but can jack one just like everyone else. :D

So, why not have 18 players? You can have players that are defensive specialists that play in the field, and different players (the ones that can jack 'em) that bat? Offense and defense - kinda like football?

Or, you can have a baseball team, the ones that have to be able to play offense and defense. :)

I'm all for having players that can play both offense and defense. My opinion is that the majority of pitchers can't play offense, their position in the batting order is a waste of time and for the most part, a big yawn.

So, with 2 outs and bases loaded, you look forward to the pitcher coming to the plate? Or is a David Ortiz, Travis Haffner, Jason Giambi, etc. a more exciting option. It's been tested for 35 years and is still standing.

Too easy. At least 20 Larry Craig jokes come to mind. ;)

BTW - the Craig joke by Leno last week was an award winner.

Well, half-standing. (Or is that half-baked? ;))

If it is that good of an idea, why isn't it used in both leagues?

Granted, I'm an old fuddy-duddy. I would rather see the decision making process still involved about rather to leave the pitcher in because they're still pitching well, or take them out for a pinch-hitter because the team is behind. What about the double-switch to put that left-handed bat in for later in the game? Or, should the pitcher stay in and sacrafice the runners along? There are so many additional sub-plots involved; I guess I prefer those instead of the simplicity of offense/defense.

Last week while the writers were working?
Can you share the joke? :)

Leno said that due to the drought in the South, the Atlanta airport announced they were reducing the amount of water used in the restroom toilets. This would shorten the flush time. Or, as Senator Larry Craig calls it, speed dating. :D

Pitchers Bat ???
 

Why pitchers are worthless when they pick up a bat.
Nate Silver
Posted Wednesday, April 28, 2004, at 2:38 PM ET

If you think his ERA is low, wait till you see his OPS
The Chicago Cubs won the NL Central last year because of their dominant pitching staff. The team's top four starters—Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano, and Matt Clement—combined for 59 wins and a 3.19 ERA, far better numbers than those put up by the best four from the second-place Houston Astros. But the dominance didn't end on the mound. The 2003 Cubs had the best-hitting pitching staff in baseball: Prior, Wood, et al., accounted for about 24 more runs at the plate than the weak-swinging Houston pitchers. Analysts, using a statistic called Marginal Lineup Value, figure that those 24 extra runs are worth roughly two wins—just enough for the Cubs to sneak past the Astros and win the Central by one game.

Don't be misled, though. In modern-day baseball, being the "best-hitting pitcher" is like being the world's fastest snail. Last year's stat line for the Cubs staff: a combined .201 batting average, .220 on-base percentage, and .302 slugging percentage. These are the numbers that give the Cubs such an advantage over the competition?

Pitcher hitting wasn't always so putrid. In the 1870s, the average pitcher had an OPS (on base percentage plus slugging percentage) equal to 84 percent of the OPS of an average position player. By the 1920s, it had slipped to 66 percent; in the 1950s, 58 percent. By the 1970s, things had gotten so ugly—52 percent—that a restraining order (the designated-hitter rule) mandated that American League hurlers must stay 60 feet from home plate at all times. In the 31 years since the advent of the DH, things have gotten only worse: In the aughts, pitchers are managing an OPS of .365, just 47 percent of that of everyday players.

Starting pitchers didn't always have the ninth spot in the batting order on permanent lockdown. In pro baseball's early days, the pitcher was often the best hitter on his team. Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward both pitched and played shortstop in his 17-year career, compiling a .275 career batting average. Then there was the portly Boston hurler named George Ruth who won the American League's home-run crown in 1918—a year in which he also compiled 13 wins and a 2.22 ERA. Wes Ferrell hit 38 home runs primarily as a starting pitcher in the 1930s; Don Drysdale socked 29 in the '50s and '60s; today's active homer leader among pitchers, Atlanta's Mike Hampton, has just 12 in his 12-year career.

But the decline in pitchers' hitting skills during the past 100 years isn't yet more evidence of the insidious abandonment of baseball fundamentals. Rather, the inability of pitchers to succeed against their kin is the most powerful evidence that today's players are more skilled than their ancestors. Pitching and hitting are both so difficult now that specialization is a must—it's almost impossible for any one person to perform both tasks competently.

As the game gets tougher, the pool of two-way players dwindles. In Little League, the best player usually pitches and plays shortstop. The same is true, to a lesser extent, in high school, where raw athletic skill is more likely to prevail over specific, learned abilities: The cleanup hitter might not only be the pitcher, but also the point guard and the starting quarterback. A few collegiate stars—Dave Winfield, Mark Kotsay, John Olerud, and Mark McGwire, for instance—star on the mound and at the plate each year. But when pro teams get their hands on a rare pitcher-hitter combo, they usually make him focus on the batter's box. Instead of John Montgomery Wards and Babe Ruths, all we have now is a novelty item like reliever/pinch-hitter Brooks Kieschnick, who maintains his spot on the Brewers' roster because he can both pitch and hit at an only-slightly-below-average level.

It may be a given that most major-league pitchers are hopeless at the plate, but that doesn't mean their pathetic flailing doesn't matter—just ask the Cubs and the Astros. Last season, the gap between the Cubs and the Reds, the worst-hitting staff in the majors, was 34 runs, or about three-and–a-half wins. The gap between 2003's best- and worst-hitting pitchers, Atlanta's Russ Ortiz and Florida's Mark Redman, was 18 runs, or just less than two wins. Over a career, the difference can be much bigger: The hopeless Sandy Koufax was worth 115 runs (or 12 wins) less than his Dodger teammate Don Drysdale.

So, how should NL teams go about building a staff of top-notch hitters—or at minimum, limit the awfulness of their pitchers' at-bats? One idea is to require pitching prospects to come to the plate in the minor leagues, even in leagues that allow a designated hitter. Teams could also force pitchers to take batting practice more regularly. But there are costs to both of these remedies. Having a pitching prospect hit in the minors would deny playing time to a hitting prospect whose development at the plate is far more important to the big club's future; teams go to great lengths to keep their prized arms healthy, and the first time that a multimillion-dollar arm is hurt during a freak batting-practice incident would surely be the last.

Coaxing marginal improvements out of the meekest of the meek will get you only so far. The only guaranteed way to solve your pitchers' hitting woes is to latch on to the small subset of pitchers with a proven ability to knock the cover off the ball. Dontrelle Willis, the exuberant Marlins star who already has three wins and six base hits this season, hit better than .600 his senior year of high school. The Cubs' Prior mashed four home runs in his sophomore year at USC.

If you can't find a pitcher who can hit, you can always look for a hitter who can pitch. Three seasons ago, the Pirates made Kent State senior John VanBenschoten the eighth pick in the amateur draft. Though Van Benschoten had just been named a first-team All-American as a hitter—he hit .440 with a .984 slugging average his senior season—the kid also threw a 93 mph fastball and a hard-breaking slider. VanBenschoten is now a starting pitcher—a pretty good one, in fact—with the Nashville Sounds, the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate. But unlike erstwhile two-way players like Winfield and McGwire whose pitching skills erode from disuse, VanBenschoten will still work on his swing occasionally. If the right-hander starts piling up home runs along with wins, the Pirates might be tempted to stick him in the outfield every day. After all, Babe Ruth would never have hit 714 home runs if the Red Sox hadn't put him in the outfield.

After doing a little fact-bhecking, it turns out the Cy Young vote wasn't even close.

My fan-colored glasses got in the way. I think Beckett will be satisfied with his post-season accomplishments, even without the regular season award.

I think I asked this last year, but with all the free agent talk, it makes me wonder again. We always hear that this player or that player has filed for free agency. But what happens if your contract expires and you don't file for free agency? Are you not allowed to negotiate or sign a new contract for some length of time? After all, you're no longer under contract to any team. I would think that would be the definition of "free agent".

This doesn't have anything to do with my previous post, so I'll give its own. I'm sorry to be a fuddy-duddy, but I really find the Larry Craig jokes to be tiresome at best. I can't dictate what anybody posts, but maybe we could let that particular theme die an undignified death? It's not even remotely funny. If the charges are true, it's not funny, it's very very sad. And if the charges are NOT true, then a man's life has been ruined for nothing.

That's pretty funny.

Not as funny as the Larry Craig mess...but pretty funny.

CC Sabathia is a career .297 hitter. True, that's only 37 AB's over a 6 year career, but still.

I imagine that when he becomes a free agent, NL teams will get into a bidding war for a #9 hitter like that. :)

In 22 seasons, for Cleveland, St. Louis and Boston, Denton True Young batted .210 with 18 home runs.

More A-rod gossip

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/15/sp...5yanks.html?hp

btw Chuck, this link is 118% guaranteed free of Larry Craig jokes...so enjoy!

Sox and A's are sbheduled to kick off the 2008 season in Japan on March 25 and 26. I can understand why they'd send the Sox (Dice-K and Okijima), but I hate the travel involved.

Are you going with ?
I'm not going, so it doesn't bother me, even a little.

If it's that bad of an idea, why has it been around so long?

I understand being a traditionalist and can appreciate your preference. My preference is just different. So, to each his own.

BTW, you still hitting a wood driver off the tee? :)

Nope.

And I'm not using a different person to hit my drives for me; I have to drive and putt all by myself. :)

:D <i></i>

Looks like A-Rod has his tail between his legs.

Are there odds yet on wheter Boras gets fired?

Boras gets a lot of money for his players.
He's shopping around for mo money for Kenney Rogers [43, P, DET].

Except for ARod. My guess is his stunts will have cost ARod money in the end. Apparently, he's only serving in an advisory capacity on this one.

What else do agents do but act in an advisory capacity?:confused:

He coulda went to LA for all I care. Great stats but he gags when push comes to shove. I'd rather have Lowell.

Speaking of Mike Lowell......the rumor in the NY papers today is that the Yankees will sign A-Wad and still go after Lowell. The idea is to sign him even if they have to overpay him and then put him at first base. Sounds like a plan.

As opposed to doing the actual negotiating.

Heard Andruw Jones might be headed to Baseball Heaven...

Wrigley Field?

No, that's Baseball Haven. The retirement community for formerly great players.

Geeze, that's gonna leave a mark...

You mean like Lou Brock?

(Ouch! Hey, that one left a mark too...)

No - Brock was not emblematic of the Cubs getting players past their prime, but getting rid of them before their prime.

<font size = "1">Psst...Mark, that's what I meant.</font size>

Or, you could look at Greg Maddux as a classic case of both. :D

Hey! (Yet another mark...)

At least the Cubs have pennants, as old as they are.

So, there. :p

Hey, we just got one this year. Just 'cause we got swept by the Evil Empire Jr doesn't mean we lose our pennant. I read the rules, I know how it works.

World Series pennant?

Obviously not... :p

While you guys are screwing around with your petty fan bullsh1t a true American hero is on his way to jail...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...x.html?cnn=yes

No, you just said pennant. We got a NL pennant.
:D

Boras deserves everything in the end that he could possibly get. And more.

Uh oh! Mr. PotatoHead is heading to the slammer.

This one could be interesting. So could the Mitchell Report be also if he tries a whitewash.

Uh, oh...another body-part reference...

(Btw, I agree.)

Shut up, beaver.

Thank you, Eddie Haskell.

Yep, they've got a deal in place.


<TABLE class=yspcontent cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=974 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class="" vAlign=top width=720>A-Rod and Yankees have outline of $275 million, 10-year deal

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=7><SPACER type="block" width="1" height="1"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>A-Rod and Yankees have outline of $275 million, 10-year deal
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER type="block" width="1" height="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><STYLE type=text/css> td.yspwidearticlebody { font-size: 13.5px; }</STYLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspwidearticlebody>By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
November 15, 2007
<TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 8px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ysptblbdr2><TABLE class=yspwhitebg cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
NEW YORK (AP) -- Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees have agreed to the outline of a $275 million, 10-year contract, a deal that potentially would allow him to earn millions more if he sets the career home-run record.
The amount of the guaranteed money was revealed by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn't been finalized. A-Rod met Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., with the Steinbrenner brothers but the parameters of the deal were set in place last weekend.
"Yeah, I could say that," Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said. "The meeting was a final get-together. He wanted to make sure myself and my brother knew that he was sincere and serious."
The Yankees still must draft the agreement with Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Nails on a chalk board.

Who is that? Barry, who?

I wonder if he's going to charge the press who attend his conferences like he charges little kids for autographs?

What's the over/under on Bonds's jail time?

Ask Pete Rose.

Mariano Rivera is balking on a three-year, $45 million offer from the New York Yankees, and the sides have reached an impasse in talks that have revived the closer's call to seriously pursue other offers, Newsday reported Thursday.
<!-- begin player card -->
<!-- end player card -->


Rivera is holding out for a fourth year guaranteed, but the Yankees aren't interested in allowing an extra year to be worked into the contract given the reliever's age, the newspaper reported.

=====================================

The Atlanta Braves offered Tom Glavine a contract Friday, the first attempt to reunite the free agent left-hander with the franchise he broke into the majors with 20 years ago.
<!-- begin player card -->
Glavine's agent, Gregg Clifton, said Friday that Glavine would take less money to join the Braves. Clifton did not reveal terms of the contract. It is believed to be a one-year deal.


"Now, our intention is to prepare a counter-offer that we will give them by tonight," Clifton said.

Sad day in Cincy. Joe Nuxhall, who became famous as the youngest major leaguer ever, but became a legend as a Reds broadcaster, died yesterday after battling cancer.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?...mlb&id=3113405

Rogers fires agent Boras

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...19/1004/SPORTS

:)

A-Rod may have done something similar.


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspsctnhdln>Report: Buffett advised A-Rod to go around Boras
</TD></TR><TR><TD height=7><SPACER height="1" width="1" type="block"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><STYLE type=text/css> td.yspwidearticlebody { font-size: 13.5px; }</STYLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=yspwidearticlebody>November 17, 2007
<TABLE style="PADDING-LEFT: 8px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=ysptblbdr2><TABLE class=yspwhitebg cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
NEW YORK (AP) -- Warren Buffett advised Alex Rodriguez to approach the New York Yankees and go around agent Scott Boras, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
The newspaper cited a person familiar with the matter, whom it did not identify.
"A-Rod really loves being a Yankee," Buffett was quoted as saying. He wouldn't comment on the substance of any discussions with the player.
The two became friends several years ago.
Rodriguez, on Boras' advise, opted out of the final three seasons of his record $252 million, 10-year contract on Oct. 28. The Yankees had said many times that if he opted out, they wouldn't negotiate because they would lose $21.3 million from Texas for the final three seasons that was agreed to at the time of the 2004 trade, money to offset the $72 million New York owed from 2008-10.
<TABLE cellPadding=1 align=left border=0 hspace="10" vspace="5"><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE class=ad_slug_table cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SCRIPT language=javascript>if(window.yzq_d==null)window.y zq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['UfYRENGDJGw-']='&U=13bpthsgq%2fN%3dUfYRENGDJGw-%2fC%3d621586.11804746.12265027.1414694%2fD%3dLREC %2fB%3d5017911';</SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=eOlzpEWTW...%2fB%3d5017911</NOSCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Upset with developments after he opted out, Rodriguez contacted Buffett, and the investor told him to approach the Yankees without his agent, the Journal said.
After speaking with Buffet, Rodriguez contacted a managing director at Goldman Sachs that he knew, John Mallory, who then got in touch with Gerald Cardinale, a Goldman Sachs managing director who has worked with the Yankees and their YES Network. With the assistance of the two Goldman executives, Rodriguez and the Yankees negotiated a $275 million, 10-year contract that is in the process of being finalized. "This year was a magical season," Rodriguez told MLB.com. "The way things went, we came up a little short at the end. But other than that, I'm happy with the way the year went. My wife and I finally feel like we're New Yorkers."
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>