Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 25, 2006 12:32:21 GMT -5
Jim Thome will miss the big weekend series against the Twins wiht his raspy hamstring. He's thinking it may only be "a few days" but with his vaunted injury history, this could be a long-term problem for the palehose that may lead to a short-term playoff push.
Last Edit: Sept 19, 2006 10:05:09 GMT -5 by $heriff Tom
Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 25, 2006 12:43:08 GMT -5
Brewer hurler Tomo Ohka drove in a career high 4 runs while going 2-2 during his teams winning effort yesterday....while batting lefthanded for the first time in his major league career. Could we be seeing the unleashing of a monster?
If he can play the infield, I'd trade Nick Green for him.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -Frank Zappa
Treat yourself to an encounter with brilliance ... read my blog! 9nine9.wordpress.com/
I'm biting this take from Jim Rome....but anyone else notice the quiet, yet tremendous season Jermaine Dye is putting together?
He's in top 6 in all major offensive categories. Neither Jeter nor Ortiz can say that.
"You gotta love this Jim. I got fried chicken, sprinkles of hot sauce on it, Tahiti Treat fruit punch, just got finished gettin' cut up by the barber, goin' right to the photo shoot...I mean, how player is that, man?" -- Delonte West
Post by cactusjames on Aug 25, 2006 15:11:07 GMT -5
I agree. I said that right before the All Star break. But it seems all anyon cares about is the Tigers, Mets, the wild card race and how many times A rod blows it. Too bad he'll be coming in third or fourth in the MVP voteing.
CHEERS: For Twins centerfielder Torii Hunter. Concerned about the dwindling number of black kids playing baseball, he's trying to organize a grass-roots effort to get more African-American youth involved.
To help bring attention to the issue, he attended a breakfast yesterday morning in Williamsport, home of the Little League World Series, along with Orioles reliever LaTroy Hawkins.
JEERS: For Red Sox leftfielder Manny Ramirez. The Providence Journal reported - and nobody specifically denied - that Ramirez had to be talked into playing in a crucial game against the Yankees Saturday because he was miffed by an official scorer's call that cost him a hit Friday night.
Ramirez then took himself out in the fourth inning of Monday's game against the Yankees, claiming that he had a hamstring cramp.
He also reportedly refused to be in a team picture last weekend.
Funny thing about that - seems as though a lot of black ball players are of the Latin variety as of late. It's funny, when my girlfriend sees a black ballplayer she doesn't recognize on whatever game I watching at the time, she asks, "Is he one of ours?" - meaning is he an American Born African-American.
Anyway, good for Hawkins and Hunter - good solid cause in my book. I'm a "baseball guy" and I'll defend the game in comparisons to the NBA and the NFL any day, and I'm all for generating interest in the sport amongst ANY demographic. .
"You gotta love this Jim. I got fried chicken, sprinkles of hot sauce on it, Tahiti Treat fruit punch, just got finished gettin' cut up by the barber, goin' right to the photo shoot...I mean, how player is that, man?" -- Delonte West
Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 26, 2006 11:51:01 GMT -5
Quite simply blacks are not playing baseball. Black neighborhoods are full of basketball courts and not baseball fields. And hey, I am not knocking them, but the interest in baseball is not there. How many blacks do you see around the baseball Stadiums, sitting there as fans? Ballplaying has also decreased amongst the whites. In 10 years the game is going to be run by the Latino Nation.
There are a heap of good African-American players in the minors however, so we will see a bit of an influx. But they will continue to make up around 15% of the major leagues for the forseeable future. Its funny, I was leafing through a book of cards I had from the 1981 season, and there were a heap of black ballplayers. Time and demographics have changed things.
If you were looking through 1981 cards, you probably also saw a heap of afros like this:
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -Frank Zappa
Treat yourself to an encounter with brilliance ... read my blog! 9nine9.wordpress.com/
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -Frank Zappa
Treat yourself to an encounter with brilliance ... read my blog! 9nine9.wordpress.com/
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -Frank Zappa
Treat yourself to an encounter with brilliance ... read my blog! 9nine9.wordpress.com/
Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 28, 2006 11:31:02 GMT -5
Got the Mutts game on the radio here at work, and Howie Rose just said that the air-conditioning unit in the visitors dressing room at Shea is the old air-conditioning unit from the press room......at the POLO GROUNDS.
And he added that its a monster, and it works in excellent fashion, and the visitors clubhouse is always "freezing."
Hey Balls, what do you think of the Marlins/Red Sox trade now? Beckett showed 03 was a flash in the pan and Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez are helping the Marlins fight for the postseason.
Throw in the fact that the sox are paying for Lowell, and you got yourself a deal any Yankee fan would love. LOL!!
It's looking great for the Marlins in the short term at least. Doesn't mean that it was a fair deal at the time and that it wasn't 100 percent motivated on salary dumping. I HOPE that Beckett's arm falls off. It's way too soon to tell for certain if Beckett is going to pitch like this from now on, or this is just a bad year. For now though, I'll admit the Marlins did better than expected.
It did look pretty bad on paper, but Beckett was always shakey and came to a pesky division and the AL above all. Did I know he would fall apart? Somewhat. Even though my fantasy draft was terrible, I avoided him because I had a feeling he would be average at best, and he has been.
Ramirea will be one of those pesky guys who you don't want to see on base if you're the opposition, and Sanchez will be a decent arm in an already solid young rotation. If Jesus Delgado turns itno anything it will look like a lop-sided trade for the Marlins. LOL!!!
I just wish the Blue Jays would win so the Sox could fall to third.
It was still a good trade at the time for Boston. It's not like these prospects are lighting up the league. But they are very solid MLB players who are contributing to a team and turning one great player into 2 or 3 good ones usually will improve you.
That said, what's making this trade bad for Boston isn't what they gave up. It's that Beckett just sucks. An ERA of 5.21 is atrocious. Not worth adding to your team for free.
If Beckett pitched like the guy he was supposed to be, it would have been the ripoff it should have been. But then again, if your aunt had balls, she'd be your uncle.
Yeah, too bad good ole Joe Girardi, no matter where the Marlins finish this season, will be ..um..FIRED! Apparently he's twice as bad as Showalter in terms of micromanaging the team, not good news for those who someday want Girardi to take over for Torre. Jw
Yeah, Loria was in the stands next to the Florida dugout and he started bitching to the home plate umpire over a call and Girardi walked to the top step and told him to shut the fuck up
Post by $heriff Tom on Aug 29, 2006 10:26:32 GMT -5
Girardi was always hated by his teammates. Apparently he was an ass-kisser of the highest order. One of the more unpopular players in baseball during his tenure. I even read that the majority of the Yankee clubhouse steered clear of him, as they thought he was a dick.
Success or no, micromanaging style or no, you do need a modicum of PEOPLE SKILLS and from all accounts those are sorely lacking when it comes to Joey G.
I think the need for a micromanager would depend on the type of ballclub you have. A young team needs that more. I have to give him credit for getting that team near .500 and in the wildcard hunt. Maybe that has to do more with the crappy NL, but still doesn't change that this team shouldn't be a .500 ballclub.