Oh, I agree...I just love it that this bad call actually went in the M's favor!! And against the Yankers - couldn't have come at a better time...

It also helped that Farnsworth hasn't pitched an inning without giving up a run since about....oh..... 2005. You almost wish that he'd come down with Carl Pavano disease too until his contract runs out. And it's still early, but Mo is starting to look like he's no Mo.

Farnsworth was very productive with the Braves before the d@mn Yankees came and lured him away with lots of $. Serves both of them right.

He was only with Atlanta for the last half of a year. He was a pick-up from Detroit to try and get them into the playoffs. He had a 4.40 ERA that part year with Atlanta. That sureasheck ain't Hall of Fame numbers. Atlanta was then smart enough not to go after him big-time.

Farnsworth was with the Cubs for the first 6 years of his career. "Nuff said.:rolleyes:

I don't get it. :confused:

Anyway, Kyle's always had no problems with the muscles in his arm; he's been consistently in the 90's with his fastball and has a wicked slider. The problem has been the muscle between his ears.

One of my favorite Farnsworth stories involves him and one of the "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" singers. As you probably know, they still have guest singers come in every game to sing the song during the 7th-inning stretch, in honor of Harry Carey. One game, the guest singer was Shania Twain, and she came down to the locker room before the game to meet the players. Kyle decided he was going to make an impression on her, so he physically picks her up, and proceeds to carry her around the locker room. I thought I read she wasn't entirely impressed with the move.

You gotta love the attempt, though. Me, I would've just sat there and drooled.

I'm picturing Timothy ["Meat"]Robbins in Bull Durham. :)

The problem is that the ball is usually coming back at him faster than he can throw it. His fast ball is fast but straight. He doesn't scare anybody.

You can picture Tim Robbins.

I'm over here picturing Susan Sarandon. :)

But, yes, there are some similarities.

That's where the muscle between his ears comes in - he's still thinking he get by on speed alone. Maybe that worked in HS and college, but in the majors. If he just perfected his off-speed stuff, it wouldn't matter how straight the fast ball was, it would blow by hitters looking off-speed.

I'm a Yankees fan and I was talking to my older son last night (he lives in Tumwater and is a Mariner fan) about that particular play and he said the ump was right -- it's OK to be tagged 2 feet short of the bag and not be out if you are playing the Yankees. :D

That works.
Clears it U.P. for me. :)

Tit-for-tat, Rocky.
Mariners just became a victim at the plate for the last out of their 4th.
Safe by 12" ? Nope, out.

First time EVER that the Cubbies have won a 1-0 game at home, where the only run was scored on a lead-off HR! EVER! 19,000+ games. Pitcher only gave up 3 hits on top of that. Pretty good night at Wrigley.

19,000+ games *total*?

Or 19,000+ games that the Cubs won at home?

I had heard the same stat, and assumed it was over 19,000+ total games played at Wrigley. However, if we assume a 162-game schedule, and 81 games played at home, per year, that comes out to 234 years to get to 19,000 total games! (And that's not even taking into account the schedules were less than 162 games/yr. going back a ways.) I'll have to see if I can get that stat verified.

The night before, the game went 15 innings and over 4 1/2 hours, and every pitcher on the staff was used except Marquis, Hill, Zambrano and Guzman (all starters). Zambrano even went to the bullpen in case he was needed. Considering the staff needed the rest, you couldn't script it any better to have the starter throw a complete-game shutout the next night, and only take 2 hours to do it.

And for those that are thinking it, it wasn't 234 years since the last WS win, either. :p

Good point, I didn't think of throwing that obvious fact at he-who-does-not-exist. Yeahbut how about the next one? ;)

I didn't give it a second thought until you asked the question. Once I started doing the math, I realized that figure has to be wrong. Maybe the ESPN guy was intentionally pulling my leg and I fell for it.

But don't forget all those playoff games.

Ouch, that's gonna hurt in the morning

Come to think of it, that's where I heard it this morning. And, come to think of it, didn't he also make some comment about a player earning a billion dollars, or something like that? So, maybe there was some leg-pulling going on, along with the real facts. But the part about a lead-off HR being the winning and only run in a game does sound pretty rare.

http://www.annezelenka.com/images/crying_baby.gif

Thanks alot, mick.

I believe I said I liked it when those calls went in our favor, not the other way around...didn't like that one at all!

But Baek pitched well last night...

He was Mr. Cool out there.:)

Upon further review, according to Wikipedia, the Chicago franchise's overall win-loss record is 9747-9398 (.532). That's over 19,000 games. It includes Chicago White Stockings games from the old National Association.

Uh, oh! Twins are coming.
Tigers have won 9 and lost won of last 10.
Thanks, Jeff ! :)

<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=black12bold colSpan=8>http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_...rts-square.gif Pitching</TD></TR><TR class=section_medium><TD class=black12bold align=middle colSpan=8>Seattle</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12bold width="30%">Name</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">IP</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">H</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">R</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">ER</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">BB</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">SO</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">ERA</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc colSpan=8 height=1>http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black11>J Weaver</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>5</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>10</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>6</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>6</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>0</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>2</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>14.32</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

So half of those games were at wrigley.

And half of the games at wrigley (let's say) the Cubs won.

So this is the first time out of 5000 games that the Cubs won at home where they won by a score of 1-0 and the only run was off a lead off home run. Not nearly as remarkable.

We can whittle the odds down a little further: how many of those 5000 games did the Cubs win by a score of 1-0 at home? I'm guessing 1000 at the very, very most. So now your 19000+ to 1 shot becomes at best a 1000 to 1 shot. Still worth noting, kinda I guess...I wonder, as comparison, how many times the Cubs won 1-0 on a walkoff HR? Or on a HR with 1 out in the bottom of the 5th...or....? IOW what's the odds that any baseball game is won by the home team where the only run scored is by a solo HR? I would have to guess, oh...let's say...I dunno...maybe 1000 to 1, at the very most. Especially over the last 30 yrs or so with lowered mounds, practical elimination of the beanball, juiced balls and juiced players.

So maybe it's not such a big deal afterall.

Not even. Wrigley wasn't built until 1914, and that win-loss record goes back to 1885 or so. So there were almost 30 years of home games played outside of Wrigley Field.

No sh1t, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Ya know, I like statistics, but some of the stuff that gets pulled up by computers nowadays is a bit much. BA during Wednesday night games played under a full moon, OBP with runners named "Bob" in scoring position, so on and so forth.

Tonight on ESPN they gave the figure as 7,168 games at Wrigley and this was the first time a 1-0 score was the result of a 1st inning homerun.

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. http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/fr...smiley-013.gif

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. :p

Oh, my!
 

Four days in Beantown. :eek:
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="15%">May 14 </TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="40%">at Boston
</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="30%">7:05 p.m. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="15%">May 15 </TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="40%">at Boston
</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="30%">7:05 p.m. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="15%">May 16 </TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="40%">at Boston
</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="30%">7:05 p.m. </TD></TR><TR><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="15%">May 17 </TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="40%">at Boston
</TD><TD style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fcebe2" width="30%">7:05 p.m. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

7-1 final for the first game. :D

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.

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

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. . .

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!

:) <iiiiiiii>

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

[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.

<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=section_medium><TD class=black12bold align=middle colSpan=8>Boston</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12bold width="30%">Name</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">IP</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">H</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">R</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">ER</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">BB</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">SO</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">ERA</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc colSpan=8 height=1>http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black11>D Matsuzaka (W, 5-2) </TD><TD class=black11 align=right>9</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>6</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>1</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>1</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>0</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>5</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>4.17</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

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.

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).

And there are people who make stupid statements...
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: 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.
So it's OK to "buy" your championship if you limit yourself to only 2 free agents...

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? ;)

You know, when I say something stupidly obvious, like Wrigley wasn't built until 1914, your rapier wit retorts with "No sh1t". So what do I get to say when you say something that stupidly obvious? I'm not talking about this season; it was a general comment about how the Yankees do business. Obviously, the season isn't half over. The Yankees haven't even played a quarter of their schedule. But when they do have a miserable season, that's the attitude the fans have. No big deal, just go throw $80 mil at the problem.

You might want to go see a dentist. The reason you hear it so much is that it's true.

Come on. Completely different business models. Microsoft would be perfectly happy to put all of its competitors out of business. They'd still make a ton of money. If the Yankees put all of their competitors out of business, they'd be out of business, too.

The overall health of MLB depends in part on healthy franchises. If franchises in 20 cities never have a shot at the playoffs, fans stay away and the franchise suffers. Competitive balance improves the overall health of a sports league, generally. The NFL gives some evidence for that. Apples and volleyballs. If the Sox and Yankees are allowed to harm the competitive balance of the league simply by spending $100 million more per year than anybody else monopolize the best talent, it's not a good thing, IMHO.

Um, hasn't he ever watched tape? :confused: Have the Tigers fired their entire scouting staff? :confused:

Leyland obviously has done some prep for Dice-K. (If he hasn't, then he's not as good a manager as everyone thought.) It's not stupid to ask him about that.

errr....wha?
http://www.ornl.gov/info/reporter/no2/confused.jpg Well, no they wouldn't. As an example, Bill Gates actually used his own money to pull Apple off their deathbed prior to the iPod success. Microsoft spends a lot of money partnering with or buying other companies, in part or in whole. This is identical to the sports model, which is a union of separate but entirely dependant entities. The Red Sox is not a business competitor of the Yankees. They are a partner. You might have a point if there weren't a thing called revenue sharing whereby the smaller market teams participate in the revenue generating power of the larger market teams. See, they are business partners, not competitors.

Your questions to me fall in the "same" category.
My answer is, "Um, how would I know what he knows ?" :)

"I'm not getting into all that." - Jim Leyland.

Your guys got things evened up, Mick. They did a nice job of handling the knuckler. As bad a start as Wake got off to last season, that's how good he's been so far this year. I'm happy for him, b/c last year couldn't have been any fun at all for him.

I don't have any confidence in Tavarez at all tonight (or ever, really), especially against Maroth.

Chuck,
There's nothing flashy about Mike Maroth that I can see.
He's a nice person that moves the ball around. Red Sox hitters could have a field day if Maroth shakes off Pudge like Verlander did last night, ... only a couple times though. ;)

I still really like Coco Crisp.
Nice throw by Manny last night. Will that be it for the year? :)

Portland, OR
 

The Portland Beavers minor league team has a bobblehead promotion on.

Wow.

My favorite is still the Benedict Arnold bobblehead that the CT Defenders gave out last year. It's still the only two-faced bobblehead I've ever seen!

Hey mick - I might actually wear a Tiger's hat this weekend. ;)

(I'm just giddy since the Cubs didn't blow a 9th-inning lead today.)

Attaboy, M&M !

Andrew Miller from 2006 North Carolina is pitching tonight. His first MLB start.
He's very looooong. :)

First MLB start, eh?

He won't be nervous or anything, will he?

(Btw, nice color choices on the lettering above.)

Da Bears. :)

Well, Mick, I'm sorry it was at your expense, but that was a pretty nice series for the Sox. 3 out of 4 (thanks to a right fielder who was willing to stick the landing on a great catch) and a 9.5 game lead in the AL East BR (before Roger). I'll be pulling for the Tigers to make that ground back up against the Cards. They look pretty terrible right now, so you should whup 'em.

Since the Sox got rained out tonight, here's an interesting factoid. Joe Sewell played shortstop, mainly for the Indians, for 14 seasons. He struck out only 113 times in his career. He holds the record for most consecutive games without striking out (115 in 1929) and for fewest strikeouts in a season (4, in 1925 and again in 1929).

I spent about 15 minutes looking online, but couldn't who had the fewest strikeouts last year. I'm pretty sure it was more than 4, though.

Chuck, I thought it was a good series, too.
Split first two and then the Sox won 2-1 and 4-2. The two Detroit back-up starters did a pretty good job, but the Red Sox pitchers pretty much owned the Tiger hitters.
YU.P. got away with one from the Champs tonight. I'm glad they don't have Jeff Weaver.
Wait....; the score indicates thay may have gotten him back. :)

Couple of AL pitchers come to mind immediately. :p

You're such a smart-dexter. :D

Good call, Chuck. :)

Is that the Yankee pitcher that just broke his finger yesterday ?

Hey wait a minute.

I posted this same picture a couple of months ago, but I recall the kid wearing a soccer jersey.

Photoshop is a wonderul thing.

Thanks, I'll be right back

Dan:

Put an Ohio State jersey on the boy. Then it will go perfectly with the following joke:

$100 two tickets to the Ohio State-Michigan game

$5: program

$20: hotdogs and pop

$300: replica Archie Griffin OSU jersey

(insert picture here): Teaching your son how to salute the Wolverines as they enter Ohio Stadium, PRICELESS.

MTD, Sr.

How have we gone more than a week with no posts on the baseball page?

McCovey Cove regulars await chance to paddle for history

Interesting story by ESPN.com's Wojciechowski - no matter how you feel about Bonds's home run total.

It's camp season? I just got back myself Sunday night, just before midnight. I met "btaylor" (Ben) down there. Always nice to put a face to the name.

So what's been going on since I left? A quick look at the standings shows. . . hmmmmm, this is interesting. . . :D

Hmmmm.....As an A's fan, how about that Dan Haren? 2 or less ER given upin his last 7 starts......

Unfortunately, Don, most of the A's games start after I go to bed. Looks like they need some help, though. They're treading water at .500. Of course, that still puts them miles ahead of. . .

So, why do I still hear conversations about Joe Torre getting fired? Is there a serious possibility of this? It doesn't seem to me that the Yankees' woes are his doing, and all the silly TV monkeys say he shouldn't be fired and won't be fired. But they keep talking about it. Is that b/c they're just silly TV monkeys? Or is there any real reason to think that his job is in trouble?

Well, it certainly isn't Torre's fault that the Yankees.....well.....suck. They had no pitching for 6 weeks or so. And then their hitters died. They're full value for their present record. But, the way of the world is that the manager gets the blame. NY isn't Oz. Torre got booed at home the other day.

I just got new contacts a few months back, so I don't think it's a vision problem on this end.

<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=section_medium><TD class=black12bold align=middle colSpan=9>Detroit</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12bold width="20%">Name</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">AB</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">R</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">H</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">RBI</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">BB</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">SO</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">LOB</TD><TD class=black12bold align=right width="10%">AVG</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc colSpan=9 height=1>http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black11></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc colSpan=9 height=1>http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black11></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD><TD class=black11 align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc colSpan=9 height=1>http://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gif</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black11>G Sheffield DH</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>4</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>2</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>3</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>5</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>0</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>0</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>1</TD><TD class=black11 align=right>.265</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Yeah, Mick. The Tiggers have been in a mini-slide, I guess, but if Sheff can turn things on for a while, you guys should be in good shape. Mags is the AL leader in RBIs. I'm happy for him, personally. I'm glad he's healthy again. He went through a rough patch there at the end of his time in Chicago.

The Yanks are now 14.5 games out of first in the division. The largest deficit ever overcome to win a division was 14 games (which the Yankees did against the Sox, of course). And just to rub their noses in it, the Jays stole home against Pettitte last night. It was NY's 5th straight loss; they're 3-7 in their last 10. Ouch. The good news is that they're "only" 8.5 out of the wild card. :D

The Brewers are 3-7 in their last 10, as well, but they still have a 5.5 game lead over Pittsburgh. Of course, nobody else in the division is over .500 right now.

Tigers will visit Cleveland this weekend and may even be swept.
the Detroit bullpen has been severely weakened with Zumaya and Rodney still out and, for some reason (it must be simply be numbers) Jose Mesa keeps showin' and blowin'.

PITCHERS W- L ERA BA
Mesa 1- 1 10.13 .333

LOL! At the whole division!

He did it again today.

<TABLE class=yspwhitebg cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=560 border=0><TBODY><TR class=yspsctbg><TD class=ysptblhdr colSpan=10 height=19>Oakland</TD></TR><TR class=ysptblthbody2 align=right><TD width="32%" height=18> </TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="7%">IP</TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="7%">H</TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="7%">R</TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="7%">ER</TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="7%">BB</TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="7%">K</TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="7%">HR</TD><TD class=yspdetailttl width="19%" colSpan=2>Season ERA </TD></TR><TR class=ysprow1 align=right><TD align=left>D. Haren (W, 6-2)</TD><TD>8.0</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1.64</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


It's not even August yet when the A's get really hot.

The Brewers are 12-15 since May 1 and have actually extended their division lead by a game and a half. The Astros have lost 10 straight and are still a game ahead of the Reds, who were at .500 on May 1 (13-13) and are now 21-33. I guess you're right about the LOL; not a strong division.

Did anybody else think A-Rod's baserunning tactic was a little bush last night?

Which one?

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6869974

(btw...I'm sure there must be some naive, innocent and child-like soul who agrees with you so the answer to your question is obviously yes.)

Apart from the blonde with the big gabonzas......the one in the picture who is taller laying down on her back than she is standing up......which also brings up the question of whether she is actually physically <b>able</b> to lay down on her stomach.......anyhooooo......back to our regular programming........yup, that was kind of a bush move on A-Rod's part imo. He may be ducking fastballs the next time they meet the Jays.

Methinks the Yankees have got too old too soon. Both Damon and Giambi look like they're done. I blame the increased steroid testing for that.:D Our right-fielder should go back to Philly. And other than the fact that they're getting basically nothing out of their first base combination, back-up catcher and their utility infielder........

They're full value for their current record. Can they turn it around? Who knows?

c'mon, they've turned it around! as of today they have a 1 game winning streak!

geeze, have some faith...

btw, do you think a-rod's production will go up or down now that he has 1 less woman in his life to worry about (except for the soon to be arriving divorce case...but that's tomorrow's problem)

Well, they do have the talent. They have to have their key people stay, or get, healthy imo. They're an old ball club, over-all.They might be better off to sit Damon down for a while until his foot heals a little. Giambi? There has to be somebody somewhere stoopid enough in the league to take him off our hands. I though the Angels were interested for a while, but that's kinda too much to hope for. He's a one-dimensional player, but unfortunately his one dimension ain't near as good as <i>Papi</i> Ortiz' is.

Re:A-Rod-- a better question is whether he'll ever become a clutch hitter. Or fielder. He'll always end up with great stats, but.....

She's cuter than Derek Jeter . . . :eek:

Haven't seen good video of exactly what happened, but A-Rod has a bit of a history of going bush league. (See: 2004 ALCS)

Question for the baseball umps around here - assuming he did shout "I got it" or something similarly specific to baseball, would there be any grounds for penalizing the runner? It doesn't seem to fall under any of the 7.09 definitions of interference, but is there some other rule (other than 9.01(c) :p ) that would cover this? Maybe Rule 2's definition of interference?

(Emphasis mine)

Is he now Mr. April?

April: 33 for 93 (.355 BA) 14 Homers, 34 RBI and an .882 SLG.
May: 24 for 102 (.235 BA) 5 homers, 11 RBI and SLG of .422.

From what I've read, there's no specific rule against it. It's frowned upon under certain circumstances, but not others. Iow, you can file it under the old "unwritten baseball rule". Maybe.

Yo, Mick.......

Did you catch Sheffield last night? He got thrown out for throwing a bat stub at the plate ump.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...14/1048/SPORTS

I found the video over on ESPN. I couldn't figure out how to link directly; on the videos on the right, go to MLB and the Tiger highlights are on page 2.
http://espn.go.com
Sheff actually looked back at the ump when he threw the broken bat stub. Methinks he could be sitting out a game or two for this one.

I was watching the game when it happened, seemed like he said something that the plate ump overheard. Sheff just looked frustrated after the broken bat pop and the stub throw was just in anger. It did not seem directed toward any player. What was more fun was watching Pudge try to keep him from attacking said ump. Likely one of the few people who could hold him back.

He got thrown out for directing it at the umpire. From the film clip and the way he looked back at the ump while throwing it, that appeared like a logical conclusion to me.

+

I finally got a look at it near the 15 minute mark on Sportcenter.
Only saw it once, but I thought he threw it to his right and he may have possibly noticed that it bounced, which caused him to follow the bounce with his eyes toward the ump.
Sheffield jogged off toward the dugout and then got tossed.
I think the handle took a bad bounce, and though it didn't look to me as being intentionally directed, I think the ump had to toss him, accident or not.

Tit-fot-tat. Player throws something, then ump gets to throw something.

Sheffields' body language moving toward the dugout, like McDyess, just standing around, didn't show me anything seriously malicious.
Umps and Officials had to make both ejections.

or even three! ;)

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...v=ap&type=lgns


NEW YORK (AP) -- Detroit designated hitter Gary Sheffield and San Diego catcher Josh Bard were suspended for three games each by the commissioner's office Friday for confrontations with umpires the previous night.
Both players filed appeals, meaning they cannot be penalized until after hearings and decisions on the appeals. <TABLE cellPadding=1 align=left border=0 vspace="5" hspace="10"><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['1egyANGDJHk-']='&U=13bktk851%2fN%3d1egyANGDJHk-%2fC%3d580331.10287066.11377764.1806201%2fD%3dLREC %2fB%3d4610393';</SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=pg2.0EWTW...%2fB%3d4610393</NOSCRIPT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Sheffield was penalized for "aggressive actions directed at umpire Greg Gibson" at Cleveland, according to Bob Watson, baseball's vice president for discipline. Gibson ejected Sheffield in the fifth inning after the slugger argued a strike call, then broke his bat on a groundout and threw away the piece of wood still in his hands.

If Sheffield gets three games, I'll be surprised.
By the way, he has already struck out tiwce tonight.
[Ooh, C-Mo just jacked one. !]

Further to the above, after viewing the replays, San Diego and Bard admitted that the umpires made the correct call in reversing the home run.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270531123

Here's another good one from today for all the Cubbies' fans.....

Click on the video on the right of this link and watch Carlos Zambrano pick a fight in the dugout with his own catcher, Michael Barrett.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270601116

Zambrano busted up Barrett so badly that he had to be hospitalized.

Lou Piniella has to be wondering whatinthehell he's got himself into......

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2890628

Hell - even Torre says that what A-Rod did was crud.

Methinks A-Rod might be wearing a thicker helmet during his first AB on July 16.

Interesting. Wonder how long until Torre says it would have been better if Whitey Ford never scuffed the ball, Reggie Jackson didn't hip check Bill Russell's throw into right field and Jason Giambi never injected those illegal drugs into himself. Might be nice if he gave his opinion of Peter Rose ending Ray Fosse career too.

Or his sports betting habits. :D