I haven't been to a lot of minor league parks, but I have been to the Orlando ballpark where the Braves minor league team plays, and where the Braves have their Spring Training. If that park doesn't win Minor League Ball Park of the Year every year, there must be some amazing parks out there.

The Orlando park is part of Disney's Wide World of Sports complex and is first-rate from a fan's standpoint. I've never taken a ballpark tour of it, but I can't imagine that the players' and coaches' areas are cramped or unpleasant in any way.

My dad lives just outside Orlando and we usually go to one Braves Spring Training game a year, although we didn't get to do it this year. :( I'm never there for Father's Day, but it's a nice substitute.

Wang looked pretty good.

Wakefield was good enough to win.

Cubbies will get the worse end of that fight, once the suspensions are announced, I think.

DJ, uh, wha' happened?!?!

And Dan, thanks for the call! :p

Sorry, I took the weekend off to get my hair done.

You needed the whole weekend for your one hair? :D

Ouch.

That's gonna leave a mark.

When you only have 1 you take very good care of it.

Dan <b>now</b> has a whole new crop up there. A veritable plethora, it may be said.

http://www.deadbrain.com/news/articl...01_01_3858.php

Now I'm also beginning to understand why Dan said you make his hair stand up on end, Chuckie. I wouldn't be showering with him at camp any more, if I were you.:eek:

Best line: "While it is a bit hard to style this type of hair, it's better than being a bald loser."

He doesn't go to camp anymore. He won't even meet me for lunch when I'm at camp in his own backyard. I will NOT be ignored!!!
http://www.radicalgeorgiamoderate.or...attraction.jpg

First of all, I didn't realize that anybody would actually lock the old thread, but that's fine.

Second of all, I think that last year's thread holds the record for most replies on the forum. This year's thread is well on its way to breaking that record. Right now, this thread has 34 pages (if you have it set to 15 posts/page). Last year, it took us until August to reach 34 pages; and that included a whole bunch of World Cup posts (which included, of course, Tony's soccer hotties).

I'm just so proud of you guys.

Did someone say something?

:p <font></font>

Quote:
<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 ChuckElias
Lock the old thread, baby, it's OPENING DAY!!!
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Hmmm. <II>

If it'll make you feel better, Slappy, print this out, frame it and post it over your desk.

http://www.es-emb.com/Going%20Bald1.jpg.

I resemble that remark.

MTD, Sr.

Ok, I'm officially jealous.

Oh, wait, you're talking about the thing with a skull inside?...Never mind.

Anyway, back to our originally scheduled program. Sam Perlozzo of the O's is the first manager casualty this season; not entirely unexpected. Who is the pick for the next one to go?

Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR
C Schilling 4.1 10 6 6 2 0 1

Ugh. One-hitter last week. Clobbered this week. I know he's like 62 years old, but I can't figure him out. Sox still have a couple innings to catch up (he said with false hopes).

Mick's crew, on the other hand, is looking good tonight, up 9-5 in D.C.

Tidbit:
Mike Maroth takes his own bats with him to National League fields.
Bonderman, and I am guessing other pitchers, have to beg a position player for a bat to swing.
Maroth is batting .250. Tonight he doubled in three AB. :)

Yabut at least he's not batting .500 on the season!

An absolutely terrific outting by Josh Beckett last night in Atlanta (where I'll be on Aug 17!!). Six scoreless innings, really good velocity and seemed to have great location. He's having a great first half, obviously, with 10 wins already. He also contributed an RBI double, which was a rope that Andruw Jones couldn't get to. Jones is really struggling lately, too, going 0-for-his-last-18.

Big Papi hit a homer last night, Veritek had a big hit (maybe coming out of a slump), Manny had a big hit and a big catch in left, and Coco Crisp had an amazing catch in center. The bullpen pitched in when Beckett had to leave after a rain delay. Just a real team effort. Fun to watch.

Aaaaaaand. . . The Yankees drop one in Colorado. Mussina pitched ok, 3 runs in 6 innings, but the offense couldn't get going. Colorado's Willy Taveras hit his 21st bunt single of the season. That leads the majors. Every position player for the Rockies had a hit, except for the shortstop. Jorge Posada played at first base for the first time in 6 years. His thoughts on the subject: "I didn't get a ground ball, thank God." :D

Orioles are saying that they're interested in Joe Girardi as manager. I heard that it was likely that Girardi would turn down any job this year (since he's still being paid by the Marlins) and see if Torre steps down after the season.

And in other news.....

The MRI done on Schilling shows that his shoulder is fine. The diagnosis is that basically he just sucks.

Have they done an MRI on his mouth?

The Yankees are grooming Mattingly.

And Sammy faces his former team for the first time ever in his career last night, and proceeds to strike out three times and fly out to shallow left.

He had several good years with the Cubs, but I really hope he doesn't hit the milestone #600 against them. Maybe he can wait long enough to hit it at Boston next weekend?

Sean Casey, Tiger F3, known as "The Mayor" because he keeps everyone happy, hit his first home run of the year last night. When he got back to the dugout he had to face an "obligatory" lack of acknowledgement from his teammates who acted like he had never even left the dugout and gone up to bat. :)

I've seen that done before, and it's funny to watch the expression of the hitter. How did Casey react?

I didn't see that part, but I can only imagine that he was chuckling.

I couldn't see the Sox or Yankees game at dinner last night - why was Posada playing 1B?

Dang, it looks like the chances of watching Cub players fighting each other may be going away.

It's being reported the Cubs have traded Michael Barrett to the Padres for a backup catcher and minor-league outfielder.

Interleague game with no DH. Mike Mussina doesn't like Posada catching him any more; he likes Wil Nieves, the back-up catcher. The Yankees wanted to keep Posada's hot bat in the line-up, so they threw him in at first. They were thinking of trying the same thing with Johnny Damon too. Every time Damon plays cf anymore, he gets hurt.

How can Damon hurt the arm he doesn't have? :D

That's why first base is perfect for him...

Everytime Damon plays an outfield position, he hurts something. The latest is his ribcage. His best position is permanent DH. That also helps by getting Giambi off the field.:)

Did you notice the Yankees started winning about the same time that Giambi went down? He can't play 1B and he just clogs up the offense unless he homers.And for only 20mil a year too......

Yup - that's why, as much as I dislike Giambi, I'm hoping he doesn't get suspended.

Missed reading that story. Gotta agree with it.

I can't see him getting suspended.

What's more interesting is what Selig is gonna do when all the names come out from the arrests of the Mets clubhouse man. And those names will come out......

I'd bet that there's more than a few sets of clenched MLB butt cheeks around right now.

Pumpkinhead hits his 600th. homerun. And against the Cubbies too.

Only 148 behind Mr. Potatohead now.......

And in related news, BALCO stock gained 123 points on the NYSE.

Cynical? <i>Moi?</i>

No, you're not cynical.
You are keeping track, Fanboy.

¿Seiscientos? ¿Balco? ¿Que? :D

Last night was a repeat of Tuesday night for the Sox and Yankees. Sox win handily, Yanks can't get the bats going. That gives the Sox a double-digit cushion in the division again.

<i>Que sera sera</i> is what Giambi is singing this morning. What a farce that whole 'roid probe is. You turn it over a guy that works for a ballclub(Boston) and has a vested interest in not finding anything wrong, give him absolutely no investigative powers at all, don't even allow him to question any of the 1200 or so active players on current MLB rosters, and then expect a detailed report from him.

Cynical? <i>Moi?</i> :rolleyes:

Whitewash City coming up, sports fans.

Another good one in Denver. Yanks down 4-2 in the 6th. Man, I love my XM. :D

4-3 now....

Think they'll ever get satellite tv up there in the boonies?

You mean in Denver? :confused:

You're in Denver?:confused:

No, the bridge under which I live is in the heart of downtown, metropolitan, thoroughly modern Springfield, MA -- which has access to satellite TV.

Doesn't your thoroughly modern Springfield satellite tv system get YES or FOX regional sports? Has the Dish Network made it up there yet?

Probably. But I'm too cheap to pay for it. Besides, who wants to watch Mike and the Mad Dog? :confused: Final now, by the way. 4-3 Rockies. So sad. Yankees fall back to .500 after an amazing run over the last 2 weeks.

You'll pay for radio, but not tv?

You're wierd.

I think it was May 31st that Gary Sheffield threw a bat handle.
He has not been suspended yet. Has anyone heard anything about that? :)

If it takes that long to decide, how flagrant could it have been?

From SI.com on June 1:

It's an East Coast vs. West Coast kind of thing, I guess. Congrats to the UNC Tarheels, who fought their way through the losers' bracket of the College World Series to reach the finals in a rematch of last year's finals against Oregon St. This is only the second time in the 61-year history of the event that the finals will be played by the same two teams in consecutive years.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2912564

Tony will probably be watching. Maybe Juulie will, too.

I would if I had ESPN. Maybe I'll find a friend's house to go to.

Mike Maroth was a good Tiger. Good luck in St. Louis.

Repairing the mound
 

I found it it to be quite interesting when the Atlana Grounds crew cam out and fixed the mound.

Scrape, add mud, chop mud, tamp mud. :)

And the Tarheels finished in 2nd. place for the 2nd. year.

And you got nuthin for him, Mick. I liked Maroth a lot and they gave him away for a player to named later, who will probably end up being a AA minor leaguer. What do the Tigers know that the rest of us don't know? I do know that Kenny Rogers came off the DL, but there wasn't some end-of-the-bench player that could've been sent back to the minors? Wow.

In happier news, the Red Sox won and the Yankees lost yesterday. That drops NY to third in the division and gives the Sox an 11 game lead. Beckett was sensational for the Sox, going 8 innings, and Jason Veritek had a triple and a homer, which gave the Sox a little breathing room.

Mussina threw 104 pitches in only 5 innings, and Clemens threw an inning of relief for the first time (in the regular season) since 1984, giving up a run of his own.

Clemens could've signed with Houston, of course, where Craig Biggio is closing in on 3,000 hits. Biggio had 3 hits yesterday, including one that drove in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning. Of course, the reason they played extra innings was that the Astros' bullpen give up 6 runs in the 8th and 9th innings. Ouch.

Ken Griffey, Jr returns to Seattle and received tremendous ovations from the Seattle fans. He hits a couple homers, passing Mark McGwire for 7th place on the all-time list, but the M's win anyway. Some Putz got the save for Seattle.

And the Cubbies beat the White Sox. Ozzie got tossed and the Sox GM is starting to lose patience. Cubbies are en fuego! Well, as hot as a team can be when they're 4 games under .500; but they are in second place in the division.

All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend of baseball. I didn't get to see much of it on Saturday, b/c of my daughter's birthday party. But what I saw on Fri and Sun was a lotta fun.

And Oregon State was under .500 (10-14) and finished 6th in their conference this season. Too bad, I was pulling for UNC.

1) Let's see. Maroth was 5-2 this year but had a terrible ERA of 5.06. Lifetime, his career MLB won/loss record is 50-62 with an ERA of 4.81. He ain't the second coming of Cy Young, Chuckie. Detroit had 7 starters. He was the logical one to go.

2) You couldn't wait to get at the old computer this morning and post that, could you? I bet you set the alarm early just to git up for that.

3) How come Dan and I weren't invited?

Well, to use a popular colloquialism, the TarHeels got Beaver-whipped.

Ok, I don't follow the Tigers as closely as I should and didn't realize his overall W-L record. But they couldn't use him in the bullpen? There wasn't a scrub that could've been sent down? They didn't even bother to figure out who they'd get in return for him? They just said adios. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Come on. Both games were over before 8 pm eastern time last night. If I'd been that eager, I would've done it last night. But I did happen to get up early this morning (stupid neighbor's car alarm), so I figured I'd post.

Dan's probation officer said he can't be around 12-year-old girls anymore and you'd just scare 'em.

1) I think that what's telling is that Detroit couldn't really get anything for him from any other MLB club than the Redbirds. He must have been offered around both leagues, with no real takers. Whatever the Tigers got from St. Louis was probably the best deal out there.

2) Ooooooo......if Dan ever gets someone to read that to him, and then they explain it to him also, you're in deep doodoo, Mister. And as for me, believe it or not, I am truly beloved by small children and other dumb animals.

Even I like JR.

Hey...wait a minute...

Maroth didn't meet the power specs of the pitching staff and, thus, he wasn't going to be a starter with Miller coming up.
If it's me I have Fernando Rodney going away.

Tigers appreciated Maroth and sent him to the Champs, who need a starter.
And, since Leyland and LaRussa are buddies, neither team will be hurt.

Any time the Cubs sweep the Cardinals or White Sox, it's a pretty fun weekend of baseball. Did you see the play that Ozzie argued and got tossed? I was having dinner at a restaraunt (should've been Chili's, right, Bob?) and didn't get to hear what was happening. I probably need to go over to the baseball side to read more about it, but I'll admit it didn't make sense to me, and it went entirely in the Cubs' favor. Runners on 1st and second, no one out. DeRosa hits a line shot over the right fielder's head that bounces off the wall. The throw comes back in, and by the time the play ends, 2 Cub runners have been caught and tagged out in rundowns, and no runs scored. Well, the umpires get together for about an hour and a half to discuss the play, and after it's over, put all the runners back on base, so it's now bases loaded and no one out, instead of a runner on second and 2 out. Of course, now there's another hour and a half discussion trying to explain it to Ozzie; I was actually surprised he got tossed because he didn't look like he was out of control. But I could read the umpire's lips, and I kept seeing, "But that's the rule!". It ending up having to do with an obstruction call at second base on the lead runner, and since that runner was the first to be tagged out, all other play(s) didn't happen. It was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime plays.

Chuck - tell your daughter Happy Birthday from all of us. Did you give pony rides for the kids?

:eek: Oy vey.

Ok, maybe slightly off-topic, but, after all, it is baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286632,00.html

I may not watch the contest this year. Unless I find out one of our esteemed members has entered...

Verrrrry interesting....
...But schtupit.

http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/upl...tte-780579.jpg

btw...I understand the same ailment sidelined Linda Lovelace for 3 weeks way back when...(am I allowed to say that?)

Would she be eligible for Workers Compensation?

I think her employers decided to not fight it and swallow the cost.

Of course, kudos to the Oregon State Beavers for their repeat performance in winning the NCAA World Series.

GO BEAVS!!!!

Good news, bad news.

Bad news is that the Red Sox lost in Seattle.

Good news is that Steve Phillips just announced on ESPN that the Yankees are definitely going to miss the playoffs. You guys must be devastated.

[from detnews.com]

"Throwing barely over 80 mph, he got Jose Reyes and others to take several awkward swings. Maroth helped himself by catching a pair of runners leaning the wrong way and picking them off first.
Maroth neatly slapped a single in a bunt situation -- injured teammate David Eckstein offered his bat before the game -- put down a sacrifice bunt and stole his first base in the majors. Maroth also did something equally rare, drawing applause from Mets fans when he exited during a double switch."

<!-- EDITORIAL: end body of the story --><!-- ALL: end main story well --><!-- EDITORIAL: begin list of other articles in section -->

Well, the Cubs had one of those games again. They had an 8-3 lead going into the top of the 9th against Colorado. I was going to switch it off, but something told me to keep watching. The Rockies proceed to get a single, walk, double, single, single, and 3-run HR to take the lead 9-8, and there's still no outs. That's when a fan runs out on the field and charges right for Howry. The fan gets tackled by a security guard close to the mound, and according to Howry is saying, "What are you doing?!" Howry's answer is, "I'm trying to give up home runs, what do you think?" Howry then gets out of the inning, and the Cubs come back and score 2 on Soriano's bases-loaded single with 2 outs.

Nothin' beats fun at the ol' ballpark.

Mets home to Red Sox in an 80s Playoff game
 

Apparently this is a famous game or something.

And I know some of you are BoSox fans (not sure who though). I do not know if there are any Mets fans here.

Anyways: here ya go.

That's just amazing! I can only guess that the creator is a very knowledgable computer programmer and was able to open the code of the Nintendo game and program in the sequence. I would love to know exactly how he did it.

It seems, when on the subject of the fan voting results for all-stars and how Tiger players are getting recognized, Jim Leyland offered:

"Well, to be honest with you I just think that it is all kind of (ticking) me off if you want to know the truth," Leyland said. "Everyone is going to find out that I'm not such a good manager. I have eight All-Stars on my team." - detnews.com

As a Ranger fan, I rarely look at the standings past mid April. Who are some of the division leaders?

Jeez, DJ, your M's are killing me! Dice-K pitches outstanding ball for 8 innings and the offense can't score any runs. 3 game sweep. UGH! Manny and Papi combined to go 0-fer-10. Ouch. Veritek threw in an 0-fer-4 for good measure. :(

Some? Here's all of them:

AL East: Red Sox by 9 games over Toronto
AL Central: Detroit by a half game over Cleveland
AL West: LA Angels of Anaheim :rolleyes: by 5 over Seattle

NL East: Mets by 3.5 over Philly and Atlanta
NL Central: Milwaukee by 7.5 over the Cubbies
NL West: San Diego and Arizona are tied, a half game in front of the Dodgers.

Aggie, your Rangers are 16 games out. But as I noted in last year's thread, the last two teams to have fired Buck Showalter have won the World Series the very next year (Yankees did it with Torre, Diamondbacks did it with Bochy as manager). So take heart, your Rangers will upset my Red Sox in the ALCS and win the World Series. :)

We're finally over the 500 mark! W00t!

Rangers are certainly having their way with Detroit.

Especially last night - Detroit didn't even bother to take the field from what I understand. ;)

And further, they rescheduled the game for September so they may have time to get in a little more fielding and bullpen work. :cool:

I'm not sure Detroit needs the work as much as some other teams, though.

Last night sure made us old guys feel good - there were 7 pitchers scheduled to start who were over the age of 40: Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Clemens, Moyer, Williams, and Rogers. Only Mother Nature kept Kenny Rogers from getting to start.

Don't feel bad. Two different leagues are having their way with the Yankees.

Factoid:

The Chef just lined one to Jack City.
386 ' in 3.5 sec = 75.2 mph

Emeril Lagasse? Bobby Flay?

Frank Thomas?

Ahhhh...gotta love a week like this! School's finally out for the summer, nice weather around here, and we sweep the BoSox...life is good right now!

:)
Quite a few Tiger fans wearing #3 Chefs' hats at Comerica.

Sheffield?

We may have made a mistake there. We mighta got rid of the wrong 'roid monster. How about Giambi for Sheffield? Sound like a deal?

...And Kevin Durant tonight ? :)

You might want to check your calculations, Mick. I'm guessing the 386' distance is as the crow flies. Since most homeruns will travel in a parabolic arc, the ball actually travelled further than 386 feet and was going faster than 75.2 MPH.

- Mr. Annoying Ex-Physics Teacher Guy

BATTERS BA SLG OBA G AB R H TB 2B 3B HR RBI
Sheffield .289 .523 .398 74 277 67 80 145 12 1 17 50

Giambi .262 .436 .380 45 149 19 39 65 5 0 7 23

Close call.

I've seen some of Sheffield's home runs - there may not have been any arc.

Just a personal preference, but I'd take Sheffield over Giambi. He can do more things.....like run, catch a ball......

Good call, but then it bounced.
My calculations were correct. Just weren't enough of them. :)

Wow. The end of June and we're ONLY 16 out. I figured mid-20s by now.

I do think things have improved with the Rangers lately. I don't know if thats actual improving play or everyone else blowing Texas off because they're so far out of it. I also think the closest to the World Series the Rangers will get is for their players to order the special WS New Era caps of the actual teams in the Series. By then, I'll be fully engrossed in football.

Red Sox and Yankees both won by identical scores (2-1) at home last night. Toronto lost again last night, so the Sox lead is back to double digits in the division. DJ's M's have won 6 straight and are within 5 of the division lead. And the Cubbies overcome a 5 run first-inning deficit with a walk-off homer to win their 7th straight.

Here's a mildly interesting tidbit. After Philly lost (twice) yesterday, the franchise's overall record is 8,805-9,994, putting them on the inevitable pace to become the first professional sports franchise in history to lose 10,000 contests. In a stretch from 1938-1942, the Phillies finished no fewer than 50 games out of first place in each year. In '42, they finished 42-109, leaving them 62.5 out of first.

When told of the team's historically bad overall record, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel reportedly said, "Well, 180 wins and we break even." Math whiz, he ain't. :)

Here's something that I didn't know, not being a betting man.....

In the Yankees game on Thursday night, the game was suspended for rain just after the Yankees went ahead 8-6 in the top of the eighth inning. They'll finish the game in a month or so, picking the game up at the point that it was suspended. But....according to the Las Vegas books, the Yankees already have lost the game. It doesn't matter if the Yankees end up winning the game when it's finished either; anybody that bet on the Yankees has already lost their bets. Apparently Vegas doesn't recognize suspended games. They go by the old rule that was taken out years ago...i.e. if the game is stopped, the score reverts back to the end of the last full inning that was played. That made the final score, according to the books, as being a 6-4 win for Baltimore. Apparently the bookies do this because they don't want to hold onto and track the bets for any period of time.

Wierd, eh?

And mildly more interesting than the post before yours.