I was wondering why ESPN was showing the batting practice. :eek: I thought there was supposed to be a game on at that time. :confused:

Astros and Cubbies on tonight on Fox Sports Houston. I wonder if they both will find a way to lose?

I would like to point out for the record, this 13th day of April, 2011, neither the Orioles nor the Nats are in last place in their respective Divisions. So far, it's a good yr.......and while we're hoping for the best, we understand it's way too early yet.

Now, if both teams could only get some fannies in the seats...... :(

Stop stealing M&M Guy's punch lines.

This just in......
 

In response to Kobe Bryant's recent homopathic slur and allegations that the NBE administers different penalties for superstars versus the scrubbies, the NBE head office issued a press release today condemning Kobe's actions. They also announced that as a result of Kobe's heinous actions, the Lakers' Steve Blake would be suspended for 5 games and fined $50,000(which will go to a charity of Kobe's choosing).

It's true, it's true......

Blake would not be fined because the camera (nor half the people in the league) no that he is on the Lakers. ;)

Peace

Since this thread is for all things baseball, I thought I'd just mention something you may find interesting about something from the past. I think I may have mentioned this before, but here goes anyway.

I'm sure you all are somewhat familiar with the name "Jim Bouton". Besides being an accomplished author of a book that "exposed" baseball, he was a very successful MLB pitcher, winning World Series games for the Yankees. However, when he was in HS (the same HS I attended, but about eight years earlier than me) he was not the #1 pitcher in the HS baseball team rotation. He was #2. The guy who was ahead of him was another guy whose name may be familiar to you - Jerry Colangelo. Yep - the guy who became a front office leader and franchise owner was rated as a better pitcher back in HS. I went through HS with Jerry's younger sister and I met him a few times back then. I also met Bouton a few years ago when he was doing some promotions for the minor league baseball team here in Portland - the Mavericks.

Anyway - I just thought I'd throw that in. Oh yeah - when I was a kid playing park district baseball (my town didn't have "official" Little League), White Sox third baseman Pete Ward once came to our ballpark to do a demonstration on hitting. I was one of the kids chosen to pitch to him. He hit one of my pitches so far out of the park, it landed across the highway and hit a pump at a gas station, breaking the glass on the meter. It must have traveled well over 450 feet. No wonder I played shortstop.

Mr. Jurassic, Sir......
 

Why would you possibly post this OT basketball story in a n OT baseball thread in the basketball forum. I just don't get it? :p

Where are the monitors? This has got to stop!

Johnny Damon is now on pace for a 40 HR-120 RBI season. Not bad for a .222 hitter.

Good thing you got this thread back on track so quickly. I just hope grune wasn't holding his breath....

This might be the choke of the young season. KC pitcher has a perfect game through 5 innings. In the 6th he balks twice and gives up 4 runs, to lose the game.

Document hints Chicago Cubs threw 1918 World Series to Boston Red Sox - ESPN Chicago

Cubs threw 1918 World Series?

Yes, it's true that no team that started 0-6 has ever won the World Series, and it's true that the Sox are still last in the division at 8-11, but they've now won 3 in a row -- and on the road! The last time through the rotation, the starting pitching has looked great. And the bats might be waking up (although Crawford is struggling). With the O's taking a dive, the Jays being the Jays, the Rays hoping that 82-year-old Johnny Damon will carry their offense for the whole year, and Mariano blowing saves. . . it's not looking too bad for the Red Sox!

3 more RBI for the old man today, as Price won his 3rd straight & Farnsworth got his 5th save. Garza throw-in Fuld did well again, too.

Bye-bye Anaheim.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U1qn1EEgbC...1600/broom.jpg

Four straight. Even Lackey looks great. We're finally warming up. . .

Bye bye baseball
 

No, I'm not alluding to a home run. What I'm referring to is that for the first time since 1902, the town of Portland, Oregon will not have a professional baseball team. We have had either a AAA or a class A pro team here every season since then. Not this season. In fact, the baseball stadium has been converted into a soccer stadium to accommodate the new MLS team in town.

Of course we can still watch on cable as we get a lot of Mariners games (who cares?), plus all the games on espn, TNT and on WGN from Chicago, so we can keep up with the White Sox and the Scrubs, but it's not the same as going out to the park and eating peanuts and cracker jack.

A 108 year old tradition bites the dust.

And in other sporting news, Ohio State just met the requirements to have their football program join the SEC.

My Condolences ...
 

I have always enjoyed minor league baseball here in Connecticut. The West Haven Yankees back in the 1970's. Later, the Bristol Red Sox, who became the New Britain Red Sox, who became the New Britain Rock Cats (Twins). I can't imagine going through a whole summer without taking in a few minor league games. Can't beat the prices.

Wait for it... :D

We have AAA baseball in Reno. I enjoy it immensely, but I'd rather have MLS. In fact, I'm headed to Portland this weekend to watch the RSL/Timbers game. I hear that the stadium is wonderful. Saw the first home game on ESPN about 10 days ago. Great crowd!

Tray la la!! Tray la la!! The Cleveland Indians win again! :D

MTD, Sr.

Red Sox lose after 7+ hours (including rain delays) and 13 innings, finishing after 2 a.m. They just can't seem to put together a decent string of games.

On the plus side, the Bruins are up 3 games to none on the Flyers. Which means the Flyers will win the series 4-3 in OT in Game 7 :(

Oh sure, go ahead and reveal their secret strategy! :D

On the plus side: http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/7466/chiefwahoo.jpg

The Phillies (behind their 13-5 four starting "aces") and the Indians are both 20-9 this morning.

The Red Sox played until 2:45AM EDT, used Dice-K in relief for the first time in his career, and he lost. Tough one all around. I gave up on that game at 1AM CDT and I'm glad I did since it still had another 45 minutes to run.

As are the Sharks and I'm afraid of the same thing happening to them. :eek:

One can only hope. Here I thought Buffalo had a great goalkeep, Thomas is even more amazing. Go Flyers!

Sorry to include this in the AOBT 2011, but it ain't baseball season until hockey's done.

Now it's baseball season :mad:

The Bruins look really good.

I think the Rays hitting coach is sick. Matt Joyce is tearing it up.

Sox win yesterday, breaking a horrible string of losses. The good news is that at least they're not in last place anymore.

Couple of no-hitters this past week that nobody's commented on. I think that makes 8 since the start of last season. Hmmmm, any connection to better PED testing?

The bad news for all of you is that John Henry (primary owner of the Red Sox) recently purchased the Liverpool Reds of the English Premier League. So now you may have to put up with an occasional soccer reference. For example, today, Liverpool plays Fulham and if they win (which I think they will), they have a very good shot of making the Europa League international tournament next year. Go Reds!

I've had the same thought. More no-hitters in the past season + 2 months than in the previous 5 years, so the hitters must be weaker.

But remember: probably half of the juicers were pitchers like Clemens who used it to recover faster. So if there's less juicing ("if"), it's probably affecting pitchers as much as hitters.

I think it's just a statistical bleep. Did you know that if you flip a coin 100+ times, it's 50-50 that you'll have a string of nine in a row that are the same (heads or tails)? Sometimes stuff just happens.

As I was saying... Sharks now up 3-2.

Seattle just cut Milton Bradley, eating his $12 mil contract in the process.

Hmmmmm, he'd fit in real well with the BoSox methinks.

Don't be surprised if the Raiders pick him up.

This guy has been nothing but trouble wherever he's gone. And, it is NEVER his fault. Imagine that.

And now (wait for it), the Sharks are up, over & done at 4-2.

Huh? :confused:

Did you miss the 3rd period of Game 6? Yes, the Sharks were ahead, but the Red Wings came back and won that game to tie the series at 3 and force a Game 7.

The Sharks won Game 7 (3-2) and the series (4-3) earlier tonight.

Welpe was giving a series update after Game 5 (3 games to 2), and Lcubed was giving us a scoring update from last night's game (4 goals to 2).

But the real reason I'm posting is to goad JR into an appearance now that my woeful Sox are limping into Yankee Mausoleum, I mean, Stadium tonight; and to bemoan Dan's complete disappearance from this yearly thread.

And after a 1-8 start, the Rays are ahead of both of them in the standings.

Guess I got that wrong, since the final score of last night's game was 3-2.

You've got an awful big Florida bias for just having moved down there a week and a half ago! Next thing, you'll probably be rooting for the Lightning over the Bruins. Traitor!

Aren't many things worse to call a fella than a "Bruins Fan". I was a Montreal Expos fan till they got yanked away. Didn't follow it [baseball] a lick till I moved two years ago. And outside of the Rays and who they are playing, I really don't follow it very closely now, either.

Hey, what the heck... Hockey is OFF TOPIC in this OFF TOPIC BASEBALL thread.

Correct, hence my confusion by Lcubed's post and my response.

Me Bad!!
 

I was actually referring to the was the end of the series. I had a typo. I should have said 4 games to 3. I overlooked the date and time on Welpe's original post.
:o:o

Ok, back to baseball, then. Sox took the first game of the series from the Yanks last night. Pap didn't even blow the save. He looks terrible, tho. Bard struggled, too, which is more worrying to me, since he's the presumptive closer next season (or later this season if Papelbon implodes).

Posada adds a sad chapter to the final phase of his career.
Another example of an aging player the Yankees kept too long.

Of course, with the salary that the NYY elevated him to no one else can afford to take him off their hands!

It's also another chapter in the "hard line" approach the Yankees are taking in dealing with its "core four". Did anybody read Cashman's comments after the game? He pretty much went right at Posada, saying that he wasn't hurt, he spent an hour trying to convince him to play, and saying that suspending or fining him wasn't out of the question. This kind of treatment is reminiscent of how Cashman dealt with Jeter during the off-season in contract negotiations. It's like he's purposely telling everybody, "We know we have to keep them b/c of what they mean to the franchise, but we don't really want to".

Aside from that sideshow, how about Beckett? He was fantastic, and Ellsbury is on fire, which is unbelievable. That was a fun game to watch. Anybody see/hear Sarah Silverman in the booth with Buck and McCarver? The funniest part was McCarver literally trying to make himself disappear. He was so uncomfortable with her there, it was hysterical. At the end of the inning, Buck said to her, "Thanks for not testing out 7 second delay". :D

Where's Mark, Sr?
 

No comment about the 16 May Indians massive beat down of the Royals 19-1?

Shocked I tell ya! Shocked I am!!

PS - Nationals don't score that many runs most WEEKS! :(

Well, they are 6-2 vs. KC, so they only get 10 more against them.

Watch out Chuck, Tampa Bay is going to give the Bruins a hard time out east.

Meanwhile, the Sharks squeeze out the series against the Red Wings and pee away a lead against Vancouver in game one. Hopefully this isn't a repeat of the Western Conference Finals from last year. :eek:

On a minor league hockey note, the Houston Aeros went up 2-0 on the Hamilton Bulldogs on Sunday.



Oh and in baseball news, the Giants are 7-3 for their last 10 games and swept both the Rockies and the Diamondbacks. They also went 1-1 against the Cubs after the Cubs ended the series early for fears of being eliminated from the playoffs.

Playoffs?

I had the pleasure of watching them score 10 in the 4th inning, including a 3-run double by Hafner and a 3-run homer.

That's what happens when you get the weekend off due to rain.

On a sadder note, Harmon Killebrew passed away earlier today at age 74.

One of the good guys......
 

I remember attending a game at the ole RFK Stadium here in DC, Twins (of the Oliva, Carew, and Killebrew days) vs the Senators (of the Frank Howard days).

Good memories of my youth.

I saw him in 1968 at Fenway Park. I know that Gary Bell pitched for Boston, and that the Red Sox won 4-2. Loved the Frank Howard Nestle's Quik commercial.

Found it: http://www.baseball-reference.com/bo...96807060.shtml

<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Sy7luN3SbNc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sox got rained out last night, but over the weekend they swept the Yankees to get to .500. Possibly the best news of the series is that Lackey has been put on the DL.

It looks like the guy in the Quick commercial who watches Frank Howard's home run fly away is Ted Williams! :eek:

Is it true that his nickname is "Shellackey"?

Sox win a 1-0 rain soaked pitcher's duel. Buckholz was great through 7, Bard looked great picking up the win in the 8th, and Papelbon was his usual self in getting a nerve-wracking save.

So for my midwestern friends, what's going on with Pujols? Is it the contract thing, or is there a physical problem?

Corrections......
 

Nats put up 17 last night.....against the Orioles! (Previous high runs in one game for the yr was 8. They scored 12 runs in the past five games!) :rolleyes:

I would like to NOW point out for the record, this 21st day of May 2011, both the Orioles and the Nats are in last place.

As for fannies in the seats, this "I-95 Series" put 24,400 in the seats last night in Balt. Not good. Should be better today with the nice weather......

Reds @ Indians today is a sellout. First of those in a while.

Great play last night: rookie Carrera, in his first big-league at-bat, very first pitch, drops a 2-out bunt down the first base line and outruns the fielder, driving in the winning run.

Previously, the Reds' starter had a no-hitter going through 5 1/3, then gave up a hit, then a run, then 2 more, and couldn't get another out. Ouch!

I like Rick Manning's prescient comment, "he's quick down the line."

Featured | Must C Clutch: Carrera drops a go-ahead bunt in debut - Video | indians.com: Multimedia

That's the part that impressed me the most when I saw the highlight. The last attempted 2-out bunt I remember in a big spot was when Otis Nixon made the last out of the '92 World Series trying bunt with 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd. Ouch.

On the plus side, the Sox have now won 7 in a row, are over .500 and only a half game out of first. Watch them tonight to see ugly throwback uniforms. (I haven't seen them yet, but the broadcasters on last night's game were making fun of them.)

Maybe White Sox shorts?:D
http://old.boneyardmedia.com/wp-cont...eline_1976.jpg

Amazing how an eight-run 8th inning can bring that to a halt so quickly. ;)

Sox finally do some real damage against Cleveland today, winning big to stay a half game back, behind the Yankees, who also won. No division leader is really building too much of a lead at this point.

Pujols finally hit a home run, but then didn't want to talk to anybody about it. What's up with that?

And what is going on with the Twins???? 16-32? They supposedly got healthy and were supposed to be the favorites in the division. But they have to be done at this point.

But, at least the Lightning won.

Hotbed Of Ice Hockey ???
 

All those kids who grew up playing hockey on the ice covered ponds of Tampa Bay must be very excited.

(Looking through the archives. . . Oh, here we go. . . Dust it off. . .)

Shut up.

Well...the Sharks are out after what was probably a fitting end to their season with a serious garbage goal for Vancouver. In better news, the Aeros are on their way to the Calder Cup finals against the Binghamton Senators. I'm going to Game 1 Friday Night. :cool:

(What this means is that soon, I'll stop hijacking this thread to talk about hockey. Not sure that Gapper can promise the same though...)

So is this the thread where a fella can come look for baseball news?

Is back-to-back games with 14 runs scored by the Sox enough baseball for ya??

Guess I am going with the Dirkster. As much as I don't care for Cuban, Rick Carlisle played at UMaine, even if it was only his freshman year, so that outweighs it for me.

After an absolutely abysmal start, the Red Sox are in first place for the first time this season, after beating the Tigers again last night (sorry, Mick :( ) despite Papelbon once again giving up a run in the 9th.

Hmmm, I seem to be the only one still checking on this thread. I'm just happy the Sox finally won one last night, after getting down 4-0 in the 1st inning. Still a game behind the Yankees ( who lost to the Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim).

I'm surprised that the Indians haven't generated more posts. They have the best record in the AL, and are only one win behind the best record in the majors. They have the biggest divisional lead at this point, despite getting crushed by Texas last night.

Even DJ's Mariners are only a game an a half out in the West. It's been a pretty interesting season so far. Even without a single comment about the phrase "ARod's steroid mule. . ."

Mr. Elias, Sir,

I "check" on the thread often. However, unfortunately, I live in N VA and with both the O's and Nats in last place, I seldom have much to brag/talk about.

Although, the Nats did win three in a row this week - two against the Phils. We've got good pitching and very little hitting. If Werth settles in, Zimmerman comes back, and Morse and Espinosa continue to develop we could actually have a nice, young nucleus. Then when "our boy" Bryce Harper comes up (hitting .430 in the minors) and hopefully Strassburg can be part of his former self, we may actually be competitive. But, until then, I'll reserve comment on my home team! ;)

Good part is, I can get tix to either team as a walk-up anytime! :o

Varitek and Pap both ejected during a wild 9th inning meltdown by the Sox today. http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/ba...lt-explode.gif

Albert the Great
 

Hopefully, Mr Pujols has turned the corner on his season with his 2 HRs last night. The second one was a walk off shot in the bottom of the 12th to beat (wait for it) ---------- the Cubbies!!!!!!!!

He just did it again!!
 

Today it was a 9th inning walk off HR to beat the Cubbies and to complete the weekend sweep!!!

HR was in the bottom of the 10th...

Mea Culpa!
 

Oops!!! That shows were my focus was - SWEEP the Cubbies!! I saw it live on TV, and I still got the wrong inning.

Wait! You are bragging about sweeping the Cubs?

Sox take the first game of the series with the Yankees, thanks to a big first inning and a 2-run shot from Papi. Lester didn't pitch great, but was good enough to hold onto the lead.

Papelbon picks up his 200th career save, and like the previous 199, he made everybody sweat it out, giving up a run to make it closer than it should've been. Sure was nice to K ARod for the last out, tho. :)

That brings the Sox into a tie for the division lead with the Yankees. I know Dan would say not to talk about the standings until after the All-Star break, but after Boston's miserable start, I'm pretty amazed to see them atop the division.

Since nobody wants to gloat with me about the Sox beating the Yankees, or give the Bruins some props for an amazing game on Monday (including a nifty check by goalie Tim Thomas, of all people), here's a completely gratuitous squirrel picture:

http://icanhascheezburger.files.word...in-ur-nuts.jpg

Looks like all the Joba-rules in New York couldn't save that pitcher's arm. According to the latest report, Joba is now done for the season and headed for Tommy John surgery. Unfortunate, as I don't wish to see any player suffer an injury, especially one which can be career-ending. (Note: insert a thought hoping for a full recovery for Posey here.)

That said, this negative which befell a Yankee made me think of JR. I hope that he is doing ok. I haven't seen a post from him on the forum for some time now.

The Carlton Fisk Curse ???
 

Yeah, but why can't we beat the White Sox?

Yep - like fur sur, dude!
 

Yes, of course. No matter what the records of the 2 teams, it always nice to sweep'em.

Different city, same result. First the Yankees, now the Jays:

http://boinc.berkeley.edu/w/images/t...m_icon.svg.png
They're looking REALLY good, even if it is only June (as Dan would no doubt remind me).

The Mariners even look good, over .500 and only a game and a half behind Texas. But what has happened to Cleveland???

Depends whom you ask. The skeptics say the Tribe is exhibiting its underlying weak pitching. The faithful point out that even championship teams have stretches of .200 ball.

The difference is that this season they hit their stretch of .200 after 2 months of .750 ball.

Frankly, if the Yankees sweep them tonight, I would be surprised if JR didn't make an appearance in order to gloat.

Even if the they can't complete the sweep, this story should get JR to pop up:

Chicago Cubs place Kerry Wood on DL (blister); activate Jeff Baker - ESPN Chicago

Kerry Wood back to the DL. :)

Sox are off tonight, so for now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my Bruins can make the 4-0 lead hold up and force a huge Game 7.

No gloating for JR: Tribe wins 1-0. :)

Being on the DL has extended his career.

So I guess nobody's contributing to the thread this year. :( Because if any Yankees fans were regulars here (Dan, Jurassic. . .), this would surely have been mentioned. (Insert "Airplane" joke here.)

Against the Rangers on June 15, all 4 Yankee infielders (Teixeira, Cano, Pena, Nunez) hit home runs. It's only the second time in franchise history that this has happened -- the other time being in 1939! Texas Rangers vs. New York Yankees - Recap - June 15, 2011 - ESPN

Meanwhile, Cleveland has fallen down and they can't up, giving up a 7 game lead in their division (and the best record in the AL) within about 3 weeks. That best record is now held by my Sox for the time being; whose game today, by the way, was moved from 1 pm to a night game so it wouldn't interfere with the rolling rally for the STANLEY CUP CHAMPION BOSTON BRUINS!!!!

Chuck:

As a native of Youngstown, Ohio (exactly half way between Cleveland and Pittsburgh on the Ohio Turnpike) I have been a New York Yankees fan first, a Cleveland Indians fan second, and a Pittsburgh Pirates fan third. Thanks to division play it is much easier for me to root for both the Yankees and Indians because they can both win the division.

Last night was a good night because the Yankees and Indians both won :D, BUT the dreaded Red Sox won also :mad:.

Have a good weekend and Father's Day!

MTD, Sr.

Hey, I'm still here.....because I actually have something to talk about, finally!

How bout those Washington Nationals? Winners of eight in a row and in third place (read, not in the basement!) They're 4-0 since Ryan Zimmerman came off the DL.

This last week they have been fun to watch as this young team is finally, finally playing up to their potential. Not hitting for avg as a team yet, but they pitch pretty well and ride the long ball. The manager has been batting the pitcher in the eighth spot during this streak and having their normal number three hitter (Jason Werth) lead off. Hey, they're winning......

Playing the O's during "Beltway Series," there are even 35,000 in the seats this weekend which is great for us.

With the US Open also in town, and the weather relatively nice, it's actually a good sports weekend for your Nation's Capital!

Fascinating tidbit of the day.

Red Sox give up the first unearned leadoff homerun in 40 years.

Cardinals - Ouch !!
 

Your Nats certainly took care of my Cards when they were in town. The losses were due more to the fact that I wasn't able to attend this year. :rolleyes: Not so much!! However, I like to see the Nats doing well.

Yahooooooo - my pick for the US Open is Mr. McIlroy!! However, he ain't won nuthin yet. And, neither have I.

The Tribe has resumed their winning ways thanks to Pirates pitching, with (just) 2 in a row. Apparently the wins in this streak must all be earned with a score of 5-1 ;)