papsrus

Sonnanstine throws complete-game 3-hitter vs. ChiSox on Saturday night ... nice rebound for Rays from Friday's debacle. And the Rays lock up their third-baseman of the future, Longoria, for the long term -- good move! Some wishy-washy commentary on the airwaves about whether the Rays got a steal with the deal, which I think pays him around $400k - 500k each of the first three years ... but that's not all that unusual for an unproven young player just entering the league, I don't think. He's going to make some decent guaranteed coin later on in the contract. Key play Saturday: Gomes escapes a rundown trying to steal second with two outs in the second inning. Rays go on to score three runs in the inning. ... woo-hoo! Looking for Edwin Jackson to bounce back Sunday ... we'll see.

Amazing. Congrats. You're a lucky man. (and I had no idea you doubled as an OR doctor!)

The sound samples have my attention. ... Thanks for the heads-up.

Right on. Have a good one!

Copy, paste

Yep, pound sign here as well.

That was one wacky game. Thirty total hits. Four hours. ... man. Wang never did find the plate. But Giambi looks like he may be coming around slowly. Yankees lineup is suddenly looking better than it was a week ago. But they are still an aging and very average defense. On balance, Red Sox have the better defense, better mix of youth and experience, more solid lineup, better starting pitching, better pen, better manager. Drew's off to a monster start and Casey is looking like a brilliant move. I just think the Yankees aren't going to be able to sustain over the long haul. ... hoping anyways. Rays on a three-game skid after dropping a close one in Minneapolis. Bah!

Only beginning to? I laugh in your face. ..... BASTIDS!

Hmm. Frustrating, I'm sure. You'd think they would have given you some specifics about what was going to happen (or not happen) beforehand.

He was trying to teach you! ... The streetlight was his deity, come to comfort him each evening. This does indeed indicate spiritual awareness. Well, at least you came to the right conclusion ...

It does seem like there are a lot of injuries early this season. Borowski placed on DL today.

Nice to see the old paps up there in the top 10. They are smart and pretty easy to train.

That ... was a painful loss for the Tribe. Was toggling between that game and the Rays game last night. Manny's got one sweet swing. And can we get some warm weather going here?! It's even chilly in Fla. now, damnit!

That is a wonderful photo. Such good detail. Thanks for sharing it.

From today's NY Times: Housing Woes in U.S. Spread Around Globe By MARK LANDLER Published: April 14, 2008 DUBLIN — The collapse of the housing bubble in the United States is mutating into a global phenomenon, with real estate prices swooning from the Irish countryside and the Spanish coast to Baltic seaports and even parts of northern India. This synchronized global slowdown, which has become increasingly stark in recent months, is hobbling economic growth worldwide, affecting not just homes but jobs as well. In Ireland, Spain, Britain and elsewhere, housing markets that soared over the last decade are falling back to earth. Property analysts predict that some countries, like this one, will face an even more wrenching adjustment than that of the United States, including the possibility that the downturn could become a wholesale collapse. To some extent, the world’s problems are a result of American contagion. As home financing and credit tightens in response to the crisis that began in the subprime mortgage market, analysts worry that other countries could suffer the mortgage defaults and foreclosures that have afflicted California, Florida and other states. Citing the reverberations of the American housing bust and credit squeeze, the International Monetary Fund last Wednesday cut its forecast for global economic growth this year and warned that the malaise could extend into 2009. Continued here

Had the exact same thoughts. Yankees again looked pretty average last night. And is it just me or was it was starting to get a wee bit frustrating watching Dice K nibble around off the edges of the plate for five innings. Morgan was right -- with a 6-run lead, keep it low and make 'em hit the damn ball. They're not hitting anyways. In the end, I guess it worked, but geez. I'm not sure what else he could have done, but bad move putting Pasada in the game defensively late. Second base was there for the taking after that.

Yes, TBS dropped the Braves to show us more of those rare Red Sux (last week, and probably 90% of the rest of their Sunday games) and this week the Cubs, two teams you simply CAN'T see anywhere else. Why don't they just give up baseball altogether and show Raymond 24 hours a day? I seem to have some foggy memory of all this having to do with the whole superstation thing and TBS was somehow being "required" to broaden their baseball coverage. (ie: they didn't drop the Braves voluntarily). ... Could be wrong, but there was some deal like that involved, I believe. (glad to clarify things a bit ... )

Former Rice star and first-round pick Jeff Niemann (at 6-foot-9!!) wins his major league debut after a shaky first inning. Nice breaking ball to go with the fastball. Rays at .500 with the Yankees coming to town. And after an 11-0 loss to the White Sox, the Tigers are pretty much officially a train wreck.

Sorry to hear about your dog, Dan. One thing about this community that has always impressed me is the willingness of members to chip in for a good cause. Knowing how expensive serious care for pets can get (and very quickly, as you point out) I'd suggest this may be just such a case. There's really no choice. You'll pay whatever it takes, I'm sure. But $20 a pop from members here could go a long way toward getting old Coltrane up and running again. ... Just a thought.

I love it!

Here's hoping! I'll be watching Sunday night. I like the fight I saw from the Rays tonight (with a big assist from an imploding Baltimore pen). ... Still, two bombs from Pena and five players with multiple hits. O's were coming off a double-header, so once they fell behind by 3 in the 8th, they pretty much conceded, opting to save the rest of the bullpen. Sarfate had real trouble finding the plate in the 8th. Heat right down the middle on one pitch, the next two a foot or more off the plate. Pretty shaky. And Crawford gets his 1,000th hit. This club seems to have matured from last season -- showing good aggressiveness at the plate while still being smart. Pena taking ball four on a full count with the bases loaded in the 8th to push the go-ahead run home was a good example of that.

I guess using the same logic, you need to give credit to Bush for the high values of real estate in the past....

LINK

Picked up a used copy of this yesterday while out and about: Very nice.