2006 MLB Thread

[Dan Gould]

That all sounds very encouraging, Conrad, except for this truism:

After getting swept, I'd much rather go home than have to try to right the ship on the road.

Its also true that in these interleague series, the Braves have killed us. Maybe its my pessimistic nature but I bet they still manage to drop two of three in Hotlanta.

[Dan Gould]

Dan,

Don't forget, Small went 10-0 last year. I really think the $1.5 million was paid to say thanks for your help then as much as it was paid hoping he would be effective now. Rarely is lightning caught once in a bottle, much less twice.

Indeed, Dave, he was designated for assignment today. The Yanks hope he'll clear waivers and can be outrighted to Columbus, but with the pitching situation in the majors today, I can't imagine he'd make it through.

What would be funny would be if the Sox put in a claim (they certainly need starters, with Wells down and likely out and Clement on the DL for the first time in his career). If I remember correctly, since he hasn't been released, anyone putting in a claim has to be willing to pay his salary. Maybe that will keep some teams from grabbing him .... I tell you what, I'd get a bigger kick out of Small pitching for the Sox, if the Yanks were paying most of his salary.

[Neal Pomea]

Awesome come from behind victory for the Nationals over the Yankees on Fox today. 2-2 early going. Then the Yanks went ahead 9-2 in the fifth. Then the Nationals chipped away and won against Rivera 11-9.

[Dan Gould]

Awesome come from behind victory for the Nationals over the Yankees on Fox today. 2-2 early going. Then the Yanks went ahead 9-2 in the fifth. Then the Nationals chipped away and won against Rivera 11-9.

Finally, after several impossible wins by the Yanks, the baseball Gods pissed on them.

'bout damn time.

[BERIGAN]

That all sounds very encouraging, Conrad, except for this truism:

After getting swept, I'd much rather go home than have to try to right the ship on the road.

Its also true that in these interleague series, the Braves have killed us. Maybe its my pessimistic nature but I bet they still manage to drop two of three in Hotlanta.

Well, Dan...what say you now?????? I shoulda bet you your bank account Vs. mine. I'd be rich!(well, a little richer )

The Braves are by far the worst team in baseball right now. We are basically tied for last, and the Marlins are playing great ball right now, so we will be deep in last place before the end of the week.

Many a fan on the local Blogs think Bobby Cox has just plain lost it, and I am starting to agree. He kept running a "closer" out there with an E.R.A., oh I don't know....35 times higher than your closer's!!!! Cox said he was going to start Wilson Betamit 4-5 times a week, after going 3 for 4 on the 10th( And since he was about the hottest hitter on the team)then used him as a pinch hitter only in 4 of the next 5 games! He keeps platooning when it isn't working at all. Adam LaRoche is 3rd on the team in RBI's even though he doesn't face lefties. So, he sits on the bench and Brian Jordan plays, who is hitting .214, and has 1 RBI in his last 10 games! And keeps playing! Brian McCann is hitting .352, but is sitting on the bench against righties, so 39 Year old Todd Pratt (and his .156 BA) can play!!!! Makes sense, don't it?

Jeff Francoeur is hitting .243, and has played every game this year. When a reporter asked Cox if he maybe needed a day off, Cox said, Nah, he would be shocked if Francoueur came in and wasn't full of energy! Gee Bobby, don't ya think one day off might help him mentally? Cox has pitched 39 year old John Smoltz on 3 days rest twice this year. I am sure his elbow that he has had 4 surgeries on needs that kind of wear and tear.

Marcus Giles Is NOT a leadoff hitter, and his .241 BA proves it. But does Bobby try anyone else at leadoff? Of course not, he just keeps beating that dead horse, and hoping it will magically get up. Ryan Langerhans is a truly gifted left fielder, but he can't hit. But that doesn't mean he will get benched, and Matt Diaz will get a chance to sink or swim, Platoons have worked in the past. He has gone from being a great manager to an idiot in less than a year.(Or did starting former reliever Lance Cormier with a 6.10 ERA against the Red Sox seem like genius?)

Oh, and John Schuerholz has not made a single move! No trades, no releases, nothing! I know the team is for sale, but you could try to trade Giles for some relief pitching. Chipper Jones restructured his contract to free up some money for relievers during the off-season, nothing happened. It was just assumed that the Braves would then trade for one during the season....nope. Time-Warner just got to pocket the money before selling the team, the joke's on you Chipper.

I have said the Braves needed to have a .500 season for a few years now. Fans needed to be reminded that a team can't always win the division, and the owners, and management needed to be reminded that it was more important to get deep into the playoffs than to just win the division. Well, when less than 10,000 show up to the games for the rest of the season, perhaps the message will finally get thru to them.

Just sad to see the team go so bad so fast, and Cox and Schuerholz not even reacting. Poor John Smoltz, he will pitch his heart out today, only to lose 2-0. He won't get to 200 wins, and a HOF caliber pitcher won't get enough votes for the HOF. Maybe the Tigers will trade for him....

[Dan Gould]

That all sounds very encouraging, Conrad, except for this truism:

After getting swept, I'd much rather go home than have to try to right the ship on the road.

Its also true that in these interleague series, the Braves have killed us. Maybe its my pessimistic nature but I bet they still manage to drop two of three in Hotlanta.

Well, Dan...what say you now?????? I shoulda bet you your bank account Vs. mine. I'd be rich!(well, a little richer )

When you're right, you're right!

Right now my pet peeve is WTBS - I really wanted to see Friday's game, with the 22 year old rookie starting for the second time, but of course there's no broadcast. So I looked at the TBS website - is it my imagination, or have they cut way back on broadcasts this year? It looked like they manage about three broadcasts a month!

[BERIGAN]

.....

Right now my pet peeve is WTBS - I really wanted to see Friday's game, with the 22 year old rookie starting for the second time, but of course there's no broadcast. So I looked at the TBS website - is it my imagination, or have they cut way back on broadcasts this year? It looked like they manage about three broadcasts a month!

Dan, they started cutting back on their braves games last year. If I remember correctly, they didn't start broadcasting games on TV regularly last year til June, and fans were really pissed. They really wanted to push censored, commerical filled re-runs of Sex and the City instead. I guess they just don't want to be thought of as a sports channel anymore. The remaining games were on Turner South, where at least folks here could hear Chip and Skip, Pete and Don Sutton, but no more....found this on the web.

Atlanta Braves' fans may have noticed that the TV crew they have long been comfortable with is missing about half the time.

When Fox Cable Networks recently bought Turner South which will televise 58 Braves' games this year they decided to go with their broadcasting crew of Bob Rathburn and Jeff Torborg instead of veterans Skip and Chip Carey, Joe Simpson, Don Sutton and Pete Van Wieren.

Carey and company will still do all the radio work and the 70 games televised by TBS but were passed over in favor of Rathburn and Torborg for all Fox games.

With Fox Sports South showing 25 games per season and the addition of the Turner South games, that means the Carey group that have been together in one way or another for nearly 30 years will now be on TV in less than half of the Braves' games.

Ad to that , the Radio games used to be on 50,000 Watt WSB are on weak little WGST and 96 Rock(Meaning they piss off folks listening all over the south on AM and rock fans on FM) In a few years, folks are going to scratch their heads wondering why there don't seem to be nearly as many braves fans all over the country as there once was. (By the by, I am not a bandwagon Braves fan, I started rooting for them in 1984 along with the Cubs once I got cable)

Edited June 18, 2006 by BERIGAN

[BERIGAN]

Oh, it also looks like that the NL is really the AAA, and the junior circuit is the major Leagues.

[Dan Gould]

Thanks for the "relief", Conrad!

Seriously, though, you have my sympathy. Its always sad to see a proud franchise fall apart.

[Dan Gould]

.....

Right now my pet peeve is WTBS - I really wanted to see Friday's game, with the 22 year old rookie starting for the second time, but of course there's no broadcast. So I looked at the TBS website - is it my imagination, or have they cut way back on broadcasts this year? It looked like they manage about three broadcasts a month!

Dan, they started cutting back on their braves games last year. If I remember correctly, they didn't start broadcasting games on TV regularly last year til June, and fans were really pissed.

OK, but how come two games against the Devil Rays are broadcast this weekend, but none of the Red Sox series?

The least they can manage is give a little more thought to what games to broadcast.

[BERIGAN]

Very sorry to hear this. Peter is my all time favorite baseball reporter, he has never lost his passion for the game....

Peter Gammons suffers brain aneurysm, in surgeryESPN.com

Longtime ESPN Baseball analyst Peter Gammons suffered an aneurysm in his brain Tuesday morning near his home on Cape Cod, Mass. He was airlifted to a Boston hospital, where he is currently undergoing surgery.

AP

Gammons was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Gammons, 61, is probably the best-known baseball writer of his generation, first with the Boston Globe, beginning in 1969, then for Sports Illustrated, before joining ESPN in 1990.

In 2004, he was honored with J.G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing during the 2005 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y. He was selected in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

He started his career as a reporter for the Boston Globe in 1969 and wrote a very popular weekly Sunday baseball column for many years. He has also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the National Hockey League, college basketball and Major League Baseball (1976-78, 1986-90).

In 1986, upon his return to Sports Illustrated as a senior writer following a second stay at the Globe, he wrote numerous stories covering some of baseball's most important news events, as well as authoring "Inside Baseball," Sports Illustrated's weekly baseball notebook.

Gammons primarily serves as a studio analyst for ESPN's Baseball Tonight, but he also does regular spots for SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio and contributes to ESPN The Magazine. He is a columnist and writes a popular Weblog for ESPN.com.

Gammons is also the author of "Beyond the Sixth Game", a look at free agency.

Born April 9, 1945, Gammons is a native of Boston, raised in nearby Groton, Mass. He attended the University of North Carolina and is married to his wife, Gloria.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2502295

[PHILLYQ]

Very sorry to hear this. Peter is my all time favorite baseball reporter, he has never lost his passion for the game....

Peter Gammons suffers brain aneurysm, in surgeryESPN.com

Longtime ESPN Baseball analyst Peter Gammons suffered an aneurysm in his brain Tuesday morning near his home on Cape Cod, Mass. He was airlifted to a Boston hospital, where he is currently undergoing surgery.

AP

Gammons was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Gammons, 61, is probably the best-known baseball writer of his generation, first with the Boston Globe, beginning in 1969, then for Sports Illustrated, before joining ESPN in 1990.

In 2004, he was honored with J.G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing during the 2005 Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y. He was selected in balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

He started his career as a reporter for the Boston Globe in 1969 and wrote a very popular weekly Sunday baseball column for many years. He has also worked for Sports Illustrated covering the National Hockey League, college basketball and Major League Baseball (1976-78, 1986-90).

In 1986, upon his return to Sports Illustrated as a senior writer following a second stay at the Globe, he wrote numerous stories covering some of baseball's most important news events, as well as authoring "Inside Baseball," Sports Illustrated's weekly baseball notebook.

Gammons primarily serves as a studio analyst for ESPN's Baseball Tonight, but he also does regular spots for SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio and contributes to ESPN The Magazine. He is a columnist and writes a popular Weblog for ESPN.com.

Gammons is also the author of "Beyond the Sixth Game", a look at free agency.

Born April 9, 1945, Gammons is a native of Boston, raised in nearby Groton, Mass. He attended the University of North Carolina and is married to his wife, Gloria.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2502295

I hope this was caught at an early stage. Someone I know had an aneurysm that was caught early and after a few months was back to normal.

[GregK]

Many a fan on the local Blogs think Bobby Cox has just plain lost it, and I am starting to agree. He kept running a "closer" out there with an E.R.A., oh I don't know....35 times higher than your closer's!!!! Cox said he was going to start Wilson Betamit 4-5 times a week, after going 3 for 4 on the 10th( And since he was about the hottest hitter on the team)then used him as a pinch hitter only in 4 of the next 5 games! He keeps platooning when it isn't working at all. Adam LaRoche is 3rd on the team in RBI's even though he doesn't face lefties. So, he sits on the bench and Brian Jordan plays, who is hitting .214, and has 1 RBI in his last 10 games! And keeps playing! Brian McCann is hitting .352, but is sitting on the bench against righties, so 39 Year old Todd Pratt (and his .156 BA) can play!!!! Makes sense, don't it?

Jeff Francoeur is hitting .243, and has played every game this year. When a reporter asked Cox if he maybe needed a day off, Cox said, Nah, he would be shocked if Francoueur came in and wasn't full of energy! Gee Bobby, don't ya think one day off might help him mentally? Cox has pitched 39 year old John Smoltz on 3 days rest twice this year. I am sure his elbow that he has had 4 surgeries on needs that kind of wear and tear.

Marcus Giles Is NOT a leadoff hitter, and his .241 BA proves it. But does Bobby try anyone else at leadoff? Of course not, he just keeps beating that dead horse, and hoping it will magically get up. Ryan Langerhans is a truly gifted left fielder, but he can't hit. But that doesn't mean he will get benched, and Matt Diaz will get a chance to sink or swim, Platoons have worked in the past. He has gone from being a great manager to an idiot in less than a year.(Or did starting former reliever Lance Cormier with a 6.10 ERA against the Red Sox seem like genius?)

Oh, and John Schuerholz has not made a single move! No trades, no releases, nothing! I know the team is for sale, but you could try to trade Giles for some relief pitching. Chipper Jones restructured his contract to free up some money for relievers during the off-season, nothing happened. It was just assumed that the Braves would then trade for one during the season....nope. Time-Warner just got to pocket the money before selling the team, the joke's on you Chipper.

At least you avoided the wildly inaccurate "It's because Mazzone left" excuse that I hear everywhere else. He's doing wonders with that Oriole staff, isn't he? The problem is that they should have used the money they threw at Renteria for a closer (and they did try for Wagner, Hoffman and Wickman) and stuck Betemit at short instead. It is now time to trade Giles and Hudson (what happened to him???), maybe Laroche too, play McCann and Diaz full time, maybe try Chipper at first base and see if Sosa can close games until they can get someone else. And Bobby does have an annoying tendency to stick with the overrated veterans (like Jordan, Keith Lockhart, etc) when he has much better, younger options. I can understand the loyalty, and the value the veterans can bring to playoff games, but I have gotten sick of seeing Jordan or whoever else come up in the inevitable Game 5 elimination game with the Braves down by three in the 7th or 8th with two out and a runner on and weakly pull one to the first baseman on the second pitch.

[tatifan]

As a long-suffering Phillies phan, I'm amazed at the tear they've been on over the past couple of weeks, after their trademark slow start. I'm sure the other shoe will fall sooner or later, but they seem be picking each other up amazingly.......

I wrote this on May 15.........should have kept my mouth tightly closed for chrissakes!! Oh, and I'm living in Houston, so I don't have to worry about holding my breath until the Astros score a run while Clemens is on the mound.......right?

[chris olivarez]

I'll be thinking good thoughts for Peter Gammons I always looked forward to his reports on ESPN.

[Big Al]

Egad! Rangers swept by the Giants, and currently in the middle of a five-game losing streak! Looks like the June swoon has begun its annual descent! And just when I was getting over the Mavs losing!

[Dan Gould]

And speaking of sweeps, can anyone believe the hot one the Red Sox are on?!

Don't want to jinx them, but if they can win in Miami tonite, the wife and I will watch them go for #14 and maybe #15 Saturday and Sunday at Pro Player. That would tie the club record.

Edited June 30, 2006 by Dan Gould

[Soulstation1]

dan

u going to the game?

[Dan Gould]

Yes. I thought my post made it clear we have tickets for Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. We'll see Wakefield and the super rookie, Jon Lester. Unfortunately that Indians reject goes for us tonite against D-Train, so I am almost expecting the winning streak to come to an end.

[Soulstation1]

the MF beatdowns continue

the tribe loses on a walk off grand slam

we are almost 20 games behind........

[Big Al]

the MF beatdowns continue

the tribe loses on a walk off grand slam

we are almost 20 games behind........

Man, that had to hurt: being up 7-0 going into the bottom of the 8th and then losing that way..... OUCH!

[Dan Gould]

the MF beatdowns continue

the tribe loses on a walk off grand slam

we are almost 20 games behind........

Just take care of the Yanks next week, OK?

[MartyJazz]

the MF beatdowns continue

the tribe loses on a walk off grand slam

we are almost 20 games behind........

Just take care of the Yanks next week, OK?

The Sox really did a number on the Mets. They're still in a fog obviously. What other explanation could there be for Yankee relievers to shut them out allowing only one hit over the last five innings for a 2-0 victory?

I did enjoy watching Dontrelle handcuff the Sox last night. Gotta give the Marlins a lot of credit. They decimate their team after each of their two World Series championships and they always come back with good young talent and a great competitive spirit.

[Dan Gould]

the MF beatdowns continue

the tribe loses on a walk off grand slam

we are almost 20 games behind........

Just take care of the Yanks next week, OK?

The Sox really did a number on the Mets. They're still in a fog obviously. What other explanation could there be for Yankee relievers to shut them out allowing only one hit over the last five innings for a 2-0 victory?

I did enjoy watching Dontrelle handcuff the Sox last night. Gotta give the Marlins a lot of credit. They decimate their team after each of their two World Series championships and they always come back with good young talent and a great competitive spirit.

Well, its obvious that they got good young talent after this decimation, but last time they decimated the team, they lost what, 115 games? I wasn't at all surprised at the loss last night, with Dontrelle on the mound, Papi on the bench, and that awful Cleveland pitcher getting the start.

[kulu se mama]

how about them redlegs.

that was one of the most exciting games i have seen in a long time.

of course i only saw the last 2 innings.

9 runs in the 8th and 9th after being down 7 - 0, and a walk off grand slam to boot.

almost makes me forgive them for trading frank robinson for being an "old 30."