come on, he's no hanley ramirez, if you're reading Carl, work on that power a little more.

page 3

[Edited on May 30, 2009 at 6:55 PM. Reason : ~]

5/30/2009 6:49:50 PM

The Natinals seriously have a chance to be the worst team in baseball history. I didn't really notice their suck up close until this week but they are truly dreadful.

And for fuck's sake they will have played the Phillies 13 times already tomorrow! I know it all equals out but it'd be nice to play 1/3 of your schedule against that shit to get off to a good start...

5/30/2009 7:56:44 PM

they have a couple good hitters but their pitching is god awful...i think they've blown over half of their save opportunities

5/30/2009 8:02:03 PM

^^maybe it means the Nats aren't that bad but they've played the Phillies and Mets so many times already and the record reflects that

5/30/2009 10:27:16 PM

Hey guys did you know that Boston tweaked its lineup and avoided getting swept by the Jays today? Apparently it's important, because it's on ESPN's front page!!!

...

Goddamn. Could this shit get any more fucking annoying...

5/31/2009 10:13:34 PM

it could get a lot more annoying, don't jinx it

5/31/2009 11:55:22 PM

It looks like Michael Bourn might've just gotten his testicles shattered

6/1/2009 10:06:17 PM

are you serious adrian gonzalez?

6/3/2009 12:04:17 AM

Ichiro has a 26 game hit streak going

He might keep it up a while longer too, since he also leads the majors in infield hits

6/3/2009 12:13:28 AM

Saw this about Ortiz:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4231945

And all I could think about was this:

6/5/2009 12:00:02 AM

...just about to comment about that -

"are you SURE you weren't using steroids?"

-or-

"we're paying you HOW much again?"

gay assed red sox...

6/5/2009 12:16:56 AM

Zumaya just hit 103 mph

6/7/2009 3:43:20 PM

Mark Reynolds with the 3-run homer in the top of the 18th inning

6/7/2009 9:41:45 PM

can the nationals just hold open tryouts every night where a different person gets a shot to close. maybe like american idol, but baseball.

6/8/2009 12:52:07 AM

is josh hamelton still leading the league in homeruns and rbi's?

6/8/2009 11:40:30 AM

fun fact:

With 34 steals so far this year, Carl Crawford has more steals than 15 different teams. He has more than 2x the steals that the entire Braves or Brewers have.

6/8/2009 1:06:26 PM

if anyone saw puny pappi (aka big floppy, big sloppy, fat steroid queen) get thrown out by 25 feet, they'll know why the stolen base is an antiquated art.

it is true that a stolen base can rile up a small ball team. but seriously, giving away one run is not the end of the world when the long ball can provide oodles of runs.

the earl weaver strategy still holds.

6/8/2009 3:12:20 PM

Quote :

"if anyone saw puny pappi (aka big floppy, big sloppy, fat steroid queen) get thrown out by 25 feet, they'll know why the stolen base is an antiquated art. "

Explain yourself, Joe Morgan.

6/8/2009 3:14:43 PM

i really just don't like big floppy. however, i do think that the stolen base is not a necessity. while it may have a place in close games and obviously some players have the "green light" at all times, the risk reward is definately lowered (in my humble opinion) by the long ball. teams like the yankees, and as much as i hate to admit it, the roid sux can beat you down without swiping a bag. texas is doing it too.

i admit that the hit and run, sacrifice bunt, taking the "extra" base are all integral parts of the game, but the stolen base seems an unnecessary risk when the reward for waiting for the big inning can be much more rewarding.

6/8/2009 3:25:03 PM

Quote :

"teams like the yankees, and as much as i hate to admit it, the roid sux can beat you down without swiping a bag. texas is doing it too."

I'm sure there's a higher correlation between home runs hit and winning percentage than there is between stolen bases and winning percentage, I'm not going to argue that. But I will point out that the teams you named have three of the top six stolen base totals in the AL.

Anyway, I mostly agree that base stealing isn't all that important.

6/8/2009 3:39:35 PM

while not as important in directly impacting a game as home runs, i think moving a runner into scoring position with 2 outs or eliminating a double play force situation is pretty damn important

while guys like howard and burrell helped blast the phillies to a title last year, guys like victorino and rollins were also important players in their WS run

also, going back to Joel Zumaya for a minute, not only did he hit 103 mph, he proceeded to hit 101 three consecutive pitches after that...although those 4 pitches resulted in a 4 pitch walk

does strassburg / straussberg / whatever the fuck the dude's name is whose been clocked at 103...does he have good control?

[Edited on June 8, 2009 at 5:44 PM. Reason : .]

6/8/2009 5:40:16 PM

Rockies sweep a four game set vs. the Cardinals in St. Louis, outscoring them 33-9, hahaha.

^Well, he averaged over 2 strikeouts per inning, no clue on walks though. The Red Sox have a middle reliever who was hitting 100 regularly (Bard?) but he only came up for a bit I think - he played with Miller at UNC...



[Edited on June 8, 2009 at 5:49 PM. Reason : d]

6/8/2009 5:44:44 PM

I want one guy on my team who can consistently steal a base when I need it in those situations, and he doesn't even have to be a starter (Dave Roberts, Joey Gaithright, Tom Goodwin, etc)...I think pinchrunning is often mismanaged in end game situations

I want 3-4 guys on my team that are going to hit 25+ home runs...speed is optional here; I'd take smart baserunning and slower speed (Pujols, Larry Walker) over faster dumbasses

6/8/2009 5:44:59 PM

Quote :

"Larry Walker"

i'd rather have a fast dumbass than a retired canadian

but seriously, would you rather have a guy like carl crawford who is gonna hit 10 homeruns a year and steal 70 bags, but bat .310 or a guy like adam dunn who can hit 50 homers while batting .250 and might steal like 2 bases, MAYBE

[Edited on June 8, 2009 at 5:47 PM. Reason : .]

6/8/2009 5:46:08 PM

oh shit I thought he was still playing !

6/8/2009 5:46:44 PM

Quote :

"Pujols"

i, too, would prefer to have arguably the best hitter in the majors on my team

6/8/2009 5:47:50 PM

Did you see that 2 RBI sac fly he had last night ?

Rockies guy made a diving catch at the fence and took his time getting up and the guy from second tagged up and made it all the way home

the rich get richer

6/8/2009 5:50:39 PM

haha Walker hasn't played in like 4 years.

^That was crazy, it was good baserunning/coaching, not a lazy outfielder. Dude laid out and was hurt.


[Edited on June 8, 2009 at 5:52 PM. Reason : s]

6/8/2009 5:50:47 PM

nah thats pretty impressive though...i remember mauer did that one time

if those were their only runs though, i guess Ubaldo had another good game

6/8/2009 5:53:15 PM

Rockies pitching is enigmatic.

Speaking of speed/Rockies, seeing Dexter Fowler in person is laughable. He's 6'4" and 165 pounds max. Skinniest non-pitcher I've ever seen - probably what a lot of guys looked like pre-roids.

6/8/2009 5:58:51 PM

even if you swipe 50 bags, you will not score on each one. Hitting 50 homers is a guarantee of scoring 50 runs. A power hitter who hits 40 homers and 40 doubles will score many more runs than a singles hitter with 10 homeruns and 40 stolen bases. There are obviously exceptions, but there is much more value in a guy who can slug .750 with a .400 OB% over a guy who runs fast.

6/9/2009 9:00:18 AM

case in point: on 08JUN2009, carl crawford had ZERO stolen bases despite being on against the yankees a few times.

The Yankees hit four homeruns and won

/stolen bases in the major leagues

6/9/2009 12:56:28 PM

I'm sold

6/9/2009 1:12:37 PM

Well of course SB won't be as important in NYS. Any routine pop up to RF turns in to a HR in that disgrace of a ballpark. Why would you risk taking a guy off the base paths when any Juan Pierre clone could hit 25 HRs in a season...

In a real ballpark and with baseball played the way is supposed to be played (read: no DH), though, SB (and more to the point, small ball) can still be valuable.

This is probably the one thing that I disagree with James and Beane about.

[Edited on June 9, 2009 at 1:37 PM. Reason : dont get me started on the DH. It's fucking June 8th and the Red Sox have ZERO sacs this year]

6/9/2009 1:36:12 PM

Pettitte has one of the best pickoff moves in the majors, no surprise Crawford had no steals.

But what do many opposing pitchers do when guys like Pujols and A-Rod come to bat? They walk them so they don't hit homeruns.

Good luck walking Crawford and keeping him on 1st if you're not Pettitte.

Also holler at Jayson Werth and Jacoby Ellsbury when they're stealing home this season

[Edited on June 9, 2009 at 1:42 PM. Reason : .]

6/9/2009 1:37:59 PM

^^let's not forget about the nexus of the gods, stenchway park, home of the roidsux and their "300" foot deep wall in left field. the original band box

and shea stadium, another grand park built directly on top of a runway. the worst of the NL cookie cutter stadiums

and finally, Citi Field, where your team can also play for 47 years with 2 world titles. make it look like ebbets field, yet another dump where the yankees routinely romped the opposition.

as for the DH, raise the mound 6 more inches and i'm sure there would be a compromise as the pitcher would again have the advantage. it sure is fun watching the eigth place hitter at a whopping .225 followed up by the pitcher with his one career home run and .093 batting average. I could never watch a game with such ferver as when there are two incapable hand jobs hitting in the last two spots.

[Edited on June 9, 2009 at 1:45 PM. Reason : .]

6/9/2009 1:44:04 PM

yankees yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6/9/2009 1:49:12 PM

Fenway never played as pathetically as NYS is playing. Come on, it's a joke. Johnny Damon is turning in to a 30 HR guy all of a sudden even at his age? Jeez...

And one positive about the DH, I guess, is that it's fun to watch David Ortiz's donkey ass try throw on a glove and throw his 250 pounds around the infield 8-10 times a year.

Being an AL manager has got to be the most brain dead job in the world. Should I bunt? Call a hit and run? Actually put on any kind of play whatsoever? Nah, we'll wait for our fat shit DH to come up and try and bash one.

6/9/2009 1:49:12 PM

double

[Edited on June 9, 2009 at 1:49 PM. Reason : x]

6/9/2009 1:49:40 PM

It's gonna be fun when the Yankees don't make the playoffs again this year...

6/9/2009 1:51:21 PM

why would you play small ball? You have a person that hits. that's it. they get paid to hit. the designated hitter. not designated bunter, hit and run artist, fail at grounding out to the right side oaf. the designated hitter.

instead of making all sorts of stupid double switches and such nonsense, american league managers must make shrewder pitching decisions based upon the prowess of the designated hitter. the national league, lmao

6/9/2009 1:56:05 PM

No consequences to any pitching changes...since they don't hit, I can manage my pitching staff and lineup as separate entities.

Unless you're Joe Maddon and pencil two 3B's into your lineup, its pretty much just sit there and scratch your balls until your starter starts getting tired or getting lit up

6/9/2009 2:02:29 PM

Joe Maddon sucks as a manager. Somebody should fire his ass.

6/9/2009 3:23:04 PM

What's a DH?

6/9/2009 3:42:50 PM

Quote :

"american league managers must make shrewder pitching decisions based upon the prowess of the designated hitter"

come on, the extent of that is probably looking at career averages against and righty vs. lefty. not really that difficult

6/9/2009 4:04:10 PM

where is the national league managerial genius? do i want my pitcher to: strike out, ground out weakly to the pitcher, or should I burn 3 players (one of them a pitcher) and do a double switch?

national league "baseball" haha

6/9/2009 4:14:12 PM

You might be the first person to ever suggest that lineup and pitching management is more difficult in the AL.

6/9/2009 4:17:20 PM

c'mon, it is pretty fun to watch jeremy reed come in and strike out for john maine in the bottom of the fifth with runners on the corners and two outs. it takes skill to put reed in there!


[Edited on June 9, 2009 at 4:22 PM. Reason : .]

6/9/2009 4:18:16 PM

^^^ well actually, yes those are all things an NL manager has to think about, plus factoring in strategies if the game goes extra innings. does he let the reliever hit, or use a bench guy. i really don't see how this can be argued

6/9/2009 4:21:45 PM

i will give national league managers this: they have been successful at not winning as many world series as the american league. they have obviously had a committee meeting about how to make decisions to lose world series and recent all star games. thus, their decisions have been spot on on how to make the junior circuit their master.

i think the DH plays such a pivitol role because you don't have to worry about pinch hitting for a weaker player and allows you to concentrate your pitching. while their may not be as many decisions for an american league manager, they are still pulling the strings, but in a different fashion. pitchers hitting may be fun when carlos zambrano is batting or when pedro martinez (finally! hopefully) gets his comeupance (and he has a lower winning % than whitey ford again ftw), but otherwise NOBODY WANTS TO SEE A WEAK GROUNDER TO SECOND WHERE THE PITCHER DOESN'T EVEN RUN DOWN THE LINE.

[Edited on June 9, 2009 at 4:23 PM. Reason : possessive pronouns]

6/9/2009 4:22:37 PM