Shef's latest excuse
 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...=si_topstories

"Last time I checked, I paid for the bat, I can throw it any way I want. How should I throw it?"

:rolleyes:

I can't wait to hear about the great MLB conspiracy that he's gonna expose.:D

The Yankees just own Wakefield. He's 0-3 against them this year and he's something like 1-9 in his last 10 starts against them. (And before Dan mentions it, how could anybody forget Aaron Dextering Boone?) Wake started off strong, but the knuckler hasn't been as effective recently.

The next couple should be fun.

Hey - I'm okay with my name being used as a stand-in, but not for the likes of Aaron --- Boone and Bucky --- Dent!!!

Bud Selig is a robot controlled by Martians?

Your BoSox got a break last night. JD Drew pulled a hamstring. :D

I don't know who's the bigger waste of roster space- Drew or Giambi. Both teams improve when they're hurt.

Roger Clemens' contract waits another week to begin due to groin muscle fatigue.

Maybe A-rod can give him some home remedies?

What home remedy? Kiss it better?

Byw, have you seen the pictures of A-Rod's sweetie pie on the net? Plastic Woman!

From the baseball forum, this is probably one of the more memorable minor league ejections around. This is just the highlights. Apparently, this clown's act actually lasted 20 minutes or so.

http://www.cnn.com/video/player/play...raves.mgr.wdef

Rough weekend for Lou.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270602116

I kind of liked it. I liked the grenade. I also liked the drawing of the enlarged home plate in the dirt. How many games will this guy be suspended? Would it have been any longer if the resin bag "grenade" had actually hit the ump?

Anyway, Yanks blew 3 separate leads yesterday. What a shame. :D The real shame is Mientkiewicz. I hope he's not hurt too bad. He's never been a great player, but he played an important role for the Sox in '04 and did it without complaining about his playing time. I thought Lowell's shoulder block on Cano was unnecessary and probably out of line. If Cano hadn't made the play at first, I think the out probably would've been awarded anyway.

But the collision with Mientkiewicz just seemed to be bad luck. He had to reach back in an unusual position to field the throw and it took him right into Lowell's path. I hope the concussion doesnt have any lingering effects.

20 minutes? That is a heckuva long time to put up with a tirade like that. I guess it depends on what direction the umps are getting from their league on ejections like that, but I'd be thinking of finding the local cops after a few minutes and saying "Get this dickhead outa here".

The play by Lowell at 1B was strictly an accident. Mientkiewicz initiated the contact imo trying to make the play. The one at 2B on Cano was really no different than A-Rod's elbow last week on the dp. The Yanks were full value again for their loss. I got home just in time to see them implode. Three walks, 2 errors by Jeter, nobody covers third on a fly ball and Abreau got wall-shy....all in one inning.

I see where they've got Damon taking fielding practice at 1B now, with the idea of making him a DH/1B. That's something that they shoulda done a long time ago imo. He just can't physically handle an outfield spot anymore. Iirc, one of our most distinguished posters (me) suggested that when we got him. With any luck, Giambi will be out for the year too.

I realize it's part of the game, but I think that's one of the reasons I couldn't be a baseball ump. After someone's ejected, they're given pretty much free reign until they leave.

If I were commish, my solution would be a 1 game suspension for every minute the ejectee stuck around.

What is Nate's ERA for tonight.
 

Top of 2nd: Detroit 0 ; Rangers 6

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=black12>Bottom of the 1st
Hit: Hairston Jr. hits a single to 3B. 0 out.
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12>Play: Young walks. J Hairston Jr. to second. 0 out.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12>Play: Teixeira walks. M Young to second. J Hairston Jr. to third. 0 out.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12>Run scored: 1 run, single by Sammy Sosa. Jerry Hairston Jr. scores from 3rd.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12>Run scored: 4 runs, grand slam by Victor Diaz (8). Michael Young scores from 3rd, Mark Teixeira scores from 2nd, Sammy Sosa scores from 1st.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12>Hit: Byrd hits a triple to CF. 0 out.</TD></TR><TR><TD class=black12>Pitching Change: (P) Robertson replaced by (P) Grilli

YU.P. Byrd scored, too
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Well, the good news is that his ERA for the day is undefined.

The bad news is that his ERA for the season is going to take a nice jump upwards.

The worse news is that, when you analyze the game using calculus, his ERA approaches infinity. :eek:

Here's his line:

<TABLE class=yspwhitebg cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=560 border=0><TBODY><TR class=yspsctbg><TD class=ysptblhdr colSpan=10 height=19></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>N. Robertson (L, 4-6)</TD><TD>0.0</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>5.07</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Sox are on a bit of a mini-slide, losing 3 in a row now. They're 3-8 over their last 3 visits to Oakland. Tampa Bay gave up 6 runs in the bottom of the 9th to lose, and let the Yankees out of the cellar at the same time. All around, a bad night. :(

Here are some highlights of ESPN's predictions for the month of June (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...sportCat=mlb):

June 9: Looking to address the decreasing number of young black players in baseball, commissioner Bud Selig shows how much marketing savvy he has by releasing a rap album called "The Great Sport Of Baseball Is Really Quite Dope, Yo" under the name MC Selig.

June 12: Cubs fans begin lining up outside Wrigley Field hours before the gates open for a game against the Mariners in the hope of being one of the first 10,000 inside the stadium who will receive a free signed Kerry Wood MRI printout.

June 16: Roger Clemens pitches his first game of the season and then promptly announces a four-day retirement to end when his spot in the rotation comes up again.

June 22: Tony La Russa passes out during the eighth inning of a tight game against the Phillies, thereby allowing his left-handed reliever to stay in the game and pitch to two right-handed batters. Upon learning what he allowed to happen upon waking up, La Russa vows to never drink again.

June 24: Red Sox players play a prank on David Ortiz, telling him Terry Francona has penciled him into the lineup at first base and that he has to go buy a glove and learn how to field and catch before the 1:05 p.m. first pitch.

June 29: White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen releases his first book: "Ozzie Guillen's Spanish-To-English-Sailor Dictionary."

June 30: Standout Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman fields his first ground ball of the year against the Pirates, marking the first time all season Washington's pitchers didn't have a pitch hit for a home run or at least to the warning track.

Those three got a chance......

How about adding:

June 31: Manny spotted running out a ground ball.

Two more weeks and we'll be a half game ahead....

Seems right on target.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Maybe the next time a Boston pitcher takes a no-hit bid into the ninth inning, he'll listen to catcher Jason Varitek. Curt Schilling came within one out of his first career no-hitter Thursday, losing his bid when Shannon Stewart lined a clean single to right field after Schilling shook off his catcher. Schilling finished with a one-hitter as the Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 1-0.

Boston
IP H R ER BB K HR Season ERA
C. Schilling (W, 6-2) 9.0 1 0 0 0 4 0 3.49

Okay, the talking heads are all yapping about Schilling shaking off his catcher, but what I haven't seen mentioned is how bad Julio Lugo would have felt had his fifth inning error spoiled a perfect game. :eek:

Yo, Chuckie......

Hear that?

It's the theme from Jaws.........:D

To paraphrase Matt Damon on the Letterman show -- 9 more days like that, and you'll be in second place. Congrats.

And in 10 days?

The key was Giambi getting hurt. Seriously.

Matt Damon...? oh yeah, the actor...right. Got it.

btw I read on TMZ that when Paris Hilton gets out of jail she expects NY to be under 5 games out of first.

I would trust Paris Hiltons' baseball wisdom before Matt Damon's. I've seen her handle a bat and balls.

I've only heard rumors about Damon's balls-handling ability.

LOL.......can't beat that logic.

Ok, no Sox last night. So while I wait for the Rockies to roll into Boston, here's a little trivia question. Everybody knows that the Yankees retired the number 3 in honor of Babe Ruth. But Ruth was not wearing that number when he hit his historic 60th HR of the 1927 season.

What number was Babe Ruth wearing when he set the single season record for HRs in 1927?

Off the top of my head.....he wasn't wearing any number. None of the Yankees players wore numbers. Numbers were introduced on Yankees players some time after that season. Starters were given numbers according to their usual position in the batting order. Ruth got #3 because he batted third.

How'd I do?

No number.

Next...

You beat me.

Probably because one of your grand daughters stiched on the first number back in '29...I think '29.

1) Why wouldn't I?:confused:

2) <i><b>"Stiched"</b></i>? That's enough to make me rech. That's what too much govoning does to you.

he " " on my keyboard mus be broken.

Yeah, it was too easy. I had heard that, but forgotten until today when I read that the numbers were introduced in '29 on the Yankees. Other teams had used them much earlier (the Reds in 1888; the Indians in '16), but it never caught on until the Yankees did it.

Aw, shi , ha 's oo bad.

But your keyboard substituted spaces for the "t"? :D :D

Ha ! <iiiii>

Something you wear on your head?

(Having he same problem as I am, eh?)

Apparently not. :)

Man, his compu er repair people are fas !

Yep, i 's a semi-smar keyboard.

Like i 's opera or.

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/la...smiley-014.gif <iiiii>

Damn! hough I had fixed i !

(btw...shu up)

I see - your computer people are fast, but not good.

Kinda like the Yankees. (See how I can bring things back on-topic...)

I figured ou he problem. Tou'll like his one!

urns ou mt "T" ket is broken oo. Whenever I press i a " " pops up. Like his, wa ch: t.

I 's ju t a tpo. Funnt, eh?

(I'll email a dead squirrel to the firs one who figures i ou !)

Y?

No, that's my question to this whole thing: Y?

(I hope I didn't really figure it out, because I don't want nothin' bad happining to Chuck...)

Tou win!!

Be back in a few minu es....here Chuck...here Chuckie Chuckie...I have a nice surprise for tou...

I is an opera otr?

Are you sure you didn' mean i s?

- Mis er Grammar Guy

Damni - my compu er, oo, now - mus be a virus or some hing.

Last week I live-trapped a red squirrel that couldn't hold his breath.

:eek:

I hope it wasn't Chuck!

I'm no expert on colors, but Chuck looks greyish-tan to me.

http://fark.pbwiki.com/f/Squirrel-Original.jpg

Yo, mick......

Verlander's got a no-hitter going after 8.

And it's against the Brewers, which also makes makes it useful.

He's still got it going after nine.

I wonder how long he can keep it going...

112 pitches, 12 K, 4 BB, 0 H
And one cream pie. :)

Richly deserved! I was working some summer league and didn't hear about it until the 8th inning. Got to hear the end, thanks to XM!!

Sox won tonight, with Papelbon pitching a perfect 9th. Yanks are up on Arizona, but it's still early.

That satellite delay is rough. "Early" is the bottom of the 7th.

btw, I have XM in my new car. Pretty nice.

Any country music fans on here? If so, I apologize in advance if I offend any of you.

I'm watching the Cubs/Mariners game, and Kelly Pickler was the guest singer of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". She sounded great, but I noticed a hesitation in the middle of the song. After the song, she was interviewed by the television crew the next half inning, and she admitted almost singing, "Buy me some peanuts and Apple Jacks...". She asked if Apple Jacks were the cereal, and the announcers chuckled and said yes, and they don't sell many Apple Jacks at the park.

A few moments later, you see her looking through some binoculars and saying something like, "This is just so awesome!", so the announcer asks if she's looking at the bleachers. She says no, and asks, "That's the outfield, right?" I think she then says something about having seen an infield before, because she's been to a race. My eyes glazed over at that point.

She's got a great voice, and she's easy on the eyes, but she sure knows how to perpetuate those blonde and southern stereotypes.

Catch this smooth move on Sport Center.
 

"The best play belonged to shortstop Neifi Perez in the eighth. After Bill Hall walked for the third time, Gabe Gross hit a hard grounder up the middle. Perez skidded to his left to glove it, but the force of the ball knocked him over.
Perez managed to flip the ball to second baseman Placido Polanco, who completed the inning-ending double play. Verlander pumped his fist near the mound and was one of the first to congratulate Perez in the dugout." - USAToday.com

Yankees move above .500 for the first time in a long time. Believe they are 4 back in the wildcard race and 8.5 back for the division title. Things are definitely looking up.

Yep, they're definitely looking up. Up at the Sox in the standings.

Hey, rocky - looks like we got a series-deciding game today? It's actually been kinda fun seeing who actually plays for the Mariners. I don't normally get to see any of them because you guys are like, 5 hours behind the rest of the country.

Is the catcher somehow related to the guy that invented these?:
http://www.bulkcandystore.com/images...bees_movie.jpg

I'm not sure it's such a good idea for a Cubs fan to be making cracks about another team's catcher. . .

This was sad to hear, tho. From ESPN.com:

...or about other teams being closer to the bottom than the top 3 weeks before the fourth of July.

Oh, yea?! Well, my catcher can beat up your catcher. And, if that doesn't work, I'll just send in Zambrano...

I had not heard about that - that's too bad. I didn't get a chance to see last night's game, as I was out getting dusty on a softball field. Cliff Floyd had to leave the Cubs for a few days earlier this week because his father is very ill. It's things like this that should remind us that there are more important things than sports.

That just proves the NL Central is more balanced than the AL East.

<font size =-2>(Yea, I know - balanced as in, "ALL BAD".)</font size>

Second base?

Literally?

No, pitcher.

Literally.

Slow pitch?

Yep.

Slower is better, right?

Do you play with the rule that if the batter knocks over the pitcher's beer can he gets an extra base?

Unfortunately not. The park district doesn't allow beer at the fields. :(

However, I believe if any player knocks over the umpire's water bottle, it's an automatic ejection.

Better than what? Faster?

Try not to take this too hard, but a slow-pitch softball pitcher is really not what is usually regarded as being the epitome and apex of athletic achievement. It actually requires about the the same athletic skill as...say...having a dump.

Now, second base however.....with people standing on you, sliding into you, kicking you, etc..... that might be more fitting to your actual skill level(and experience).

No, he can get killed instead for doing that in most slowpitch games.

Ouch

Crikey, that's gonna hurt in the morning...

Ha !
So, one of the Ms is for mat?

Unfortunately, it must take some skill level because no one else on our team has the ability to throw strikes without walking 5 people first.

I will agree it's not that hard, though. Maybe it says more about the talent level of the rest of our team... :eek:

(Even though we are well above .500 for the season. That's still better than the Yankees.)

Is this one of them co-ed thingys with wimmen on the team too?

They throw funny.

Heck, no. Our leagues use "real" strike zones. I dispise the mat, both as a pitcher and umpire; it takes away some of the pitcher's advantage if they have to hit a "spot" on the ground rather than trying to get that 6' high pitch past the back shoulder of the batter.

Yea, you noticed that too? I also noticed they look different...

Nope, this is all guys. No wimmen allowed (except for the occasional wimmen umpire). Oh, and of course, the wives and girlfriends that show up in the stands.

That's unfortunate. The mat always spoke highly of you. However there was some mention of that night together in the dugout...just the two of you...in the dark....:eek:

Fixed it for ya.....

Huh. The mat always left me feeling kinda flat.

Back to baseball.
 

One of our lads from U.P. here will be umpiring a game this Friday in Grand Rapids (West Michigan Whitecaps) where Kenny Rogers (Detroit Tigers Ace) will be pitching.

Go Hammer ! :)

Mick wants us to git back to <i>beisbol</i>.....and I always listen to Mick. The man is like a father to me.

Did anybody see that Houston reliever go all Zambrano last night?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=270613118

Maybe the trainers should start handing out Prozac instead of 'roids.

Bondy is 6-0, Verlander is 7-2 with a no-no and hits 102 mph in the 9th.
I doubt Kenny will get the "ace" label back anytime soon!!
We sure do need him soon though!

http://www.sodamnfunny.com/Animation...guinsdance.gif
Just because......

Does your team(s) (including the chubbies) have 26 world championships?

Championships are so yesterday.

That's what I keep telling those BoSox fanboys.......:)

Thanks, mick.

Btw, do beer-drinking championships count?

Does that mean Mick is like a great-grandfather to me?

<font size =-2>(Mick - feel free to send me one of my smilies back)</font size>

Big crowd for Yooper Ump.
 

"A sellout crowd of 10,537 at Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park greeted Rogers with a loud ovation after he emerged from the dugout to begin warming up." - detnews.com

Hammer had the dish. :)

"Fifth Third Ballpark"???? Can't they make up their minds as to what street it's on? :confused:

The real Fifth Third Field is in Toledo, Ohio, and is the home of the two-time defending Governor's Trophy (International League) Champion, the world famous Toledo MudHens.

MTD, Sr.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by mick
"A sellout crowd of 10,537 at Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park greeted Rogers with a loud ovation after he emerged from the dugout to begin warming up." - detnews.com

Hammer had the dish. :)

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

:)
That makes sense, MTD, Sr.
Toledo's is a triple-A whole field, while the Grand Rapids place is just a Double-A ballpark in a park.

That still doesn't explain how it got that goofy name. Were they building ballparks in groups of three and this was the fifth time they did it? :confused:

The Cincinnati-based company (Number two in the midwest! Seventy billion in assets!) was formed in 1906 from the merger of the Fifth National Bank and the Third National Bank.
Fifth Third Bank helped build some ballparks, ... or fields.
...I guess....:)

Good ol' simpler times when banks were numbered.

The Dayton (Ohio) Dragons (Reds) and the West Michigan (Tigers) both play in the Class A Midwest League and they both play in Fifth Third Field and Fifth Third Ball Park respectively, BUT the MudHens' (Tigers) Fifth Third Field, the real Fifth Third Field, was named Minor League Ball Park of the Year, the year it opened in 2002.

MTD, Sr.