Warning!! Danger!! Annual Off-topic Baseball Thread '07!! Beware!!

[JugglingReferee]

Hey all.

Does anyone think that Roger Clemens has taken drugs/steroids/??? to lengthen his career?

If so, is he worse than Barry Bonds? Maybe Barry is worse? Same?

[mick]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Hey all.

Does anyone think that Roger Clemens has taken drugs/steroids/??? to lengthen his career?

If so, is he worse than Barry Bonds? Maybe Barry is worse? Same?

I don't think about that.

[JugglingReferee]

A local sports report compared Roger to Barry. They said:

Barry has been with just two teams - certainly journeyman qualities. (Think Ray Bourque or Steve Yzerman.)

But Barry isn't all that great with the media, and went from skinny guy to monster guy, and has links to Balco.

Roger's number have climbed since his 35th birthday, and are almost at the same point from when he was in his early 20s. Plus, he's been pulled out of retirement twice. And he bounces from team to team for whatever reason. ($, which is fine, but does he have any loyalty?)

I liked the story only because I was able to paraphrase it for the sports column that I write.

[mick]

Four days in Beantown.

May 14	at Boston	7:05 p.m.
May 15	at Boston	7:05 p.m.
May 16	at Boston	7:05 p.m.
May 17	at Boston	7:05 p.m.

[Mark Dexter]

7-1 final for the first game.

Hey, Mick, how do you get tables to show up in your posts? I try copying and pasting standings or box scores and get junk.

[mick]

Originally Posted by Mark Dexter

7-1 final for the first game.

Hey, Mick, how do you get tables to show up in your posts? I try copying and pasting standings or box scores and get junk.

Mark,
I only copied and pasted that from USAToday.com.
I'm not smart enough to be clever.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally Posted by mick

Mark,

I'm not smart enough to be clever.

But you're clever enough to be smart......

[ChuckElias]

Originally Posted by ESPN.com

Before Monday night's game, Tigers manager Jim Leyland was asked how he felt about Detroit facing Japanese phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka.

"I don't give a [expletive] about him," Leyland said, according to the Detroit Free Press. "I'm not getting into all that. I could give a [expletive] less. It's another pitcher.

Gee, Skip. How do you feel now? "I was very impressed," he said. "He's the real deal."

Dice-K's first MLB complete game (120+ pitches), but more impressive to me was that he didn't have his one-inning meltdown that he'd been through in previous starts. He seemed mentally sharp for the whole game, which should be a given, but has not always been true in his starts this season.

And hey, at least the Yankees didn't lose last night. 'Course, they didn't play. . .

[ChuckElias]

I already started this off-topic thread that annoys some people, so instead of starting another one, I'll just put it in here.

I met Juulie Downs on Sunday!! She was in NYC with her youngest son and they were going to see the Mets play, so I took Metro-North into the city, grabbed the No. 7 train to Queens (the one made famous by that uber-dolt, John Rocker), and met up with them at Shea.

It was a ton of fun meeting her son and he was a riot to watch, as he got very excited every time the Mets did something right. And the Mets won! Banner day!

[mick]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

I already started this off-topic thread that annoys some people, so instead of starting another one, I'll just put it in here.

I met Juulie Downs on Sunday!! She was in NYC with her youngest son and they were going to see the Mets play, so I took Metro-North into the city, grabbed the No. 7 train to Queens (the one made famous by that uber-dolt, John Rocker), and met up with them at Shea.

It was a ton of fun meeting her son and he was a riot to watch, as he got very excited every time the Mets did something right. And the Mets won! Banner day!

[Mark Dexter]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

I already started this off-topic thread that annoys some people, so instead of starting another one, I'll just put it in here.

I met Juulie Downs on Sunday!! She was in NYC with her youngest son and they were going to see the Mets play, so I took Metro-North into the city, grabbed the No. 7 train to Queens (the one made famous by that uber-dolt, John Rocker), and met up with them at Shea.

It was a ton of fun meeting her son and he was a riot to watch, as he got very excited every time the Mets did something right. And the Mets won! Banner day!

Lucky you. Most of us are only graced with her presence on this message forum.

[mick]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

Gee, Skip. How do you feel now? "I was very impressed," he said. "He's the real deal."

Dice-K's first MLB complete game (120+ pitches), but more impressive to me was that he didn't have his one-inning meltdown that he'd been through in previous starts. He seemed mentally sharp for the whole game, which should be a given, but has not always been true in his starts this season.

And hey, at least the Yankees didn't lose last night. 'Course, they didn't play. . .

[In defense of Leyland]
And how many other stoopid questions were asked before that stoopid question, I wonder.
Leyland is often very succint. Recently, after one of his own players [Bonderman, I think] was injured, Leyland said (paraphrased), "...he's out, next question."

Congratulations to the Red Sox. They bid, bought and got Daisuke Matsuzaka for 6 years for the bargain basement cost of 103,000,000.
They have the pitcher who is 4th in wins, 4th in K and 5th in Innings pitched.
He has the appearance of being a nice person and of being very cool.

Boston
Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
D Matsuzaka (W, 5-2)	9	6	1	1	0	5	4.17

[ChuckElias]

Originally Posted by mick

[In defense of Leyland]
And how many other stoopid questions were asked before that stoopid question, I wonder.

First of all, there are no stupid questions; only stupid people who ask questions.

Second of all, while I respect "succint" , it wasn't really a stupid question. It's the first time the Tigers have faced this high-priced, highly-touted free-agent pitcher. It's not unreasonable to ask the manager if he has any thoughts that might might not come up with a pitcher with whom he's more familiar.

Third of all, saying "I don't give a [bleep]" is probably not an appropriate response for a manager to give, even to a stupid question.

Congratulations to the Red Sox. They bid, bought and got Daisuke Matsuzaka for 6 years for the bargain basement cost of 103,000,000.
They have the pitcher who is 4th in wins, 4th in K and 5th in Innings pitched.

Honestly, I share this sentiment. One of the things that Red Sox fans liked about the Red Sox is that they didn't build a team simply by throwing money at people. That's what the Yankees do. Yeah, so the Yankees had a miserable first half. They'll spend another $80 million at the trading deadline and win the division. It's legal, but it's not particularly sporting if you can simply buy your way to the playoffs every year.

But now, that's exactly what we've done with the Drew and Matsuka signings. Instead of opposing the Yankees, we basically are the Yankees, without all the World Series trophies. If we win another World Series, who's gonna complain, right? But I'll still like the '04 win better, with only 2 big free agents on the team (Manny and Schill).

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

First of all, there are no stupid questions; only stupid people who ask questions.

And there are people who make stupid statements...

Honestly, I share this sentiment. One of the things that Red Sox fans liked about the Red Sox is that they didn't build a team simply by throwing money at people. That's what the Yankees do. Yeah, so the Yankees had a miserable first half.

errrr....17-19 is hardly a half, it's not even a quarter and it's hardly miserable in any event. But as I said... :shrug:

They'll spend another $80 million at the trading deadline and win the division. It's legal, but it's not particularly sporting if you can simply buy your way to the playoffs every year.

I am so tired of hearing this old idiocy it makes my teeth hurt. We're talking about a multibillion dollar per year industry, the teams that go to the playoffs at the MLB level make that much more in revenue. Somehow it's OK for Microsoft to "buy" their way to success in the SW business but in sports, and particularly in baseball, and particularly for the Yankees, it's not "particularly sporting". Oh well, as I said...

btw, there was a time when CBS owned the Yankees and were not willing, as a business entity, to "buy" talent. Those were the glory days of Horace Clark and Fritz Peterson playing at home to crowds of 14, maybe even 15 hundred fans.

But now, that's exactly what we've done with the Drew and Matsuka signings. Instead of opposing the Yankees, we basically are the Yankees, without all the World Series trophies. If we win another World Series, who's gonna complain, right? But I'll still like the '04 win better, with only 2 big free agents on the team (Manny and Schill).

So it's OK to "buy" your championship if you limit yourself to only 2 free agents...

[mick]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

...Second of all, while I respect "succint" , it wasn't really a stupid question. It's the first time the Tigers have faced this high-priced, highly-touted free-agent pitcher. It's not unreasonable to ask the manager if he has any thoughts that might might not come up with a pitcher with whom he's more familiar..

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck.
Do you, personally, have any thoughts that may not come up [about anything] ? Uh, ....Dunno. (only rhetorically offered)
Do you have anythoughts about something you don't know anything about ?
(again, only rhetorically offered)
...Still sounds stoopid to me.

How could Leyland possibly answer that before he sees him pitch against his team ? Was Leyland possiblt, consumed with what he didn't know about the pitcher on his own team, the pitchers he has been shuffling in and out of the minors for 3-4 days ? Was he concerned with what he could control and didn't give a hoot about that which is uncontrollable, unknown, ... and stoopid?