The Baseball Thread 2007

[Big Al]

The Rangers are now officially the worst team in baseball.

Like my son said: hey, at least they accomplished SOMETHING.

[Patrick]

For awhile there, John Hart was such a genius in Cleveland.

[Dan Gould]

The Rangers are now officially the worst team in baseball.

Like my son said: hey, at least they accomplished SOMETHING.

And signing Mark Redman - is that rubbing salt in the wound or what?

[Big Al]

The Rangers are now officially the worst team in baseball.

Like my son said: hey, at least they accomplished SOMETHING.

And signing Mark Redman - is that rubbing salt in the wound or what?

Who says John hart still isn't making the decisions around here?

Just when I think the season can't get any worse............

[Quincy]

while the rest of you talk about bonds and dice-k and all things roger clemens and whatever else the mainstream sports media feeds you, peavy again registered 7 innings of shut out baseball which of course receives no notice since it doesnt occur on the east coast or on either the yankees or redsox. cy young here we come...

Peavy has been lights out. Glad he's been able to put it all together.

In other news from the west, the earring is back.

[trane_fanatic]

Did anybody see the Rog's bizzare rant on ESPN last night? Hmm... guilty conscience?

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/reds...s_ready/?page=2

...

"Clemens became a little animated in response to a couple of questions, one of which had to do with the perception that he's a mercenary.

"If I worried about what people thought and said, I would have had trouble staying in this game for as long as I have," he said. "Comments that people make that are not in the know don't affect me one bit. They do affect my family.

"It doesn't pertain to anything I'm trying to do right now. When I did the press conference in New York, I think I stated fairly clearly, if you were paying attention, the different comments that were made by certain teammates that I've worked with here and won championships with here, I heard them loud and clear."

Clemens ended his press conference by pounding the table and walking off when he was asked by a local reporter about some of the negative things that have been written about his comeback. In reality, there hasn't been a lot of negative press, but it seemed to strike a chord with Clemens.

"If you want to be negative, be negative -- I'm not a negative person," he said. "You be negative as much as you want. If I stink and I don't pitch well out there, I know I stink. I don't need you tell me that.

"I have pride in what I do. I'll pull my heart out and set it right there for you to see it. I got that from my mother, so if you want to write and these other people want to write negative . . . everything has to be negative these days.

"I've always been positive in my life. It won't end. I don't want to be around negative people. So I won't associate myself with those people. So if it makes you feel good to write negative stuff, then go ahead, but you've never been in the arena.

"People read your column and associate things with me that are not true. I'll answer it as honestly as I can so that 10-year-old, when he reads about it, won't assume things. You can tell how passionate I am about it. OK?"

[Chalupa]

With last night's loss, the Phils magic number is down to 18.

[Dan Gould]

Another pretty exciting game in Fenway last night. Regardless of whether the Indians pitching lined up right, the performance of Schilling and Beckett to shut them down was extremely impressive, especially when you consider that Schilling had stunk or been mediocre for several starts in a row but suddenly regained his split from "'97-'98" with a couple of mechanical adjustments, and then Beckett comes off the DL after another finger problem and allows one hit through 6 innings before giving up a couple in the 7th.

If those two guys are back and dealing, I could see this team ripping through interleague play, simply because against the NL West, those offenses won't be able to do much at all, while the Sox offense will squeak out the runs needed. Yes, even against the Great Peavy.

And don't forget, the Sox go for the sweep tonite with Dice-K against Byrd, 7 PM on ESPN.

[Dan Gould]

Giants take the day off...they can't lose today.

Unfortunately, they had to play last night and had to send Benitez out to try to get the save in the 12th.

Did anyone have any doubt after he balked in the tying run that the game would end with a Delgado blast?

Benitez is the crappiest big name/high paid "closer" I've ever seen.

[zen archer]

Another pretty exciting game in Fenway last night. Regardless of whether the Indians pitching lined up right, the performance of Schilling and Beckett to shut them down was extremely impressive, especially when you consider that Schilling had stunk or been mediocre for several starts in a row but suddenly regained his split from "'97-'98" with a couple of mechanical adjustments, and then Beckett comes off the DL after another finger problem and allows one hit through 6 innings before giving up a couple in the 7th.

If those two guys are back and dealing, I could see this team ripping through interleague play, simply because against the NL West, those offenses won't be able to do much at all, while the Sox offense will squeak out the runs needed. Yes, even against the Great Peavy.

And don't forget, the Sox go for the sweep tonite with Dice-K against Byrd, 7 PM on ESPN.

and a 14 and a half game lead on the yankees !!!!!

[Dan Gould]

and a 14 and a half game lead on the yankees !!!!!

Speaking of which, an encouraging reminder from Steve Buckley of the Herald:

The Red Sox have a 14-game lead over the Yankees. And these Sox don’t have a third baseman playing with bone chips in his elbow. And those Yankees don’t have an ace named Guidry.

[Chalupa]

The Phillies' magic number is down to 18 17.

[Dan Gould]

The Phillies' magic number is down to 18 17.

What magic number is that? They are eight games back of first, 5 back of the wild card. Their elimination number is 104 in the wild card, 103 in the division according to MLB.

Meanwhile I know I shouldn't be greedy and you all are sick of hearing about the Sox but I am MF-ing pissed about the way they've let the Tribe embarass them tonite. Bases loaded with the top of the order coming up, down four and they can't plate a fucking run? Jesus Christ. And to top that off, Dice-K getting pounded without the slightest advantage of not being seen before.

Edit for being an idiot.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Dan Gould

[Chalupa]

The Phillies' magic number is down to 18 17.

What magic number is that? They are eight games back of first, 5 back of the wild card. Their elimination number is 104 in the wild card, 103 in the division according to MLB.

http://www.countdownto10000.com/

[Big Al]

The Phillies' magic number is down to 18 17.

What magic number is that? They are eight games back of first, 5 back of the wild card. Their elimination number is 104 in the wild card, 103 in the division according to MLB.

<Edited cuz J.H. Deeley beat me to it>

I could insert a Rangers joke here, but that would be too easy.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Big Al

[Dan Gould]

Oh.

Well, good luck with all that.

[Patrick]

Meanwhile I know I shouldn't be greedy and you all are sick of hearing about the Sox but I am MF-ing pissed about the way they've let the Tribe embarass them tonite. Bases loaded with the top of the order coming up, down four and they can't plate a fucking run? Jesus Christ. And to top that off, Dice-K getting pounded without the slightest advantage of not being seen before.

Yes. You shouldn't be greedy or pissed--life is short and your team is having a great season. So they lost one game to the team with the second best record in the league (and only 3.5 behind beloved Bosox). Tribe couldn't plate some runs in the earlier games. Way too unrealistic (and greedy) to expect to sweep everybody. Show a little grace, and smile that Schilling and Beckett had great starts, and your team is still on a roll. Nothing to worry about in May. And no real "message" was sent with this series--just a good 2 out of 3 for the Red Sox. Now take care of pinstripe business.

Byrd gets the win without walking anybody so his wins/walks differential expands to 6 - 3 = 3. Is Dice K's pitch count often this high?

Any chance we can switch to completely ignoring the Yankees for awhile, or at least give them the same amount of attention as other last place ballclubs (okay I admit that is a pleasant thought)? Or maybe give the Orioles or Blue Jays the same amount of attention? I know, unlikely.

[Tim McG]

Giants take the day off...they can't lose today.

Unfortunately, they had to play last night and had to send Benitez out to try to get the save in the 12th.

Did anyone have any doubt after he balked in the tying run that the game would end with a Delgado blast?

Benitez is the crappiest big name/high paid "closer" I've ever seen.

Armando "fucking" Benitez is a tragedy on two legs.

Thank goodness he didn't pitch tonight and the Gigantes actually post a win.

Gonna be a looooong season.

Grrrrr

Edited May 31, 2007 by GoodSpeak

[donald byrd 4 EVA]

you guys should see if rod beck is available to come out of retirement. it would probably be an improvement over benitez.

[Noj]

Look for A-Rod to get some chin music from a Toronto pitcher in the next game.

[Big Al]

Armando "fucking" Benitez is a tragedy on two legs.

Thank goodness he didn't pitch tonight and the Gigantes actually post a win.

Gonna be a looooong season.

Grrrrr

Ahhhh, quit yer whining. At least you're closer to .500 than my stink-hole of a team. You guys are even closer to .500 than my sentimental faves, the Cubs.

I bet Tom Hicks is looking for a way to take Benitez off your hands. And before anyone says, "Only a fool would do such a thing," remember who we're talking about here.

That's right: you read it here first.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Big Al

[BERIGAN]

Armando "fucking" Benitez is a tragedy on two legs.

Thank goodness he didn't pitch tonight and the Gigantes actually post a win.

Gonna be a looooong season.

Grrrrr

Ahhhh, quit yer whining. At least you're closer to .500 than my stink-hole of a team. You guys are even closer to .500 than my sentimental faves, the Cubs.

I bet Tom Hicks is looking for a way to take Benitez off your hands. And before anyone says, "Only a fool would do such a thing," remember who we're talking about here.

That's right: you read it here first.

I saw the end of that game(cuz it ran into, and over baseball tonight that I recorded, GRRR!) and Benitez clearly has arm problems. 88, 89 mph to start, all the way up to 91??? Come on!!!

[Dan Gould]

Meanwhile I know I shouldn't be greedy and you all are sick of hearing about the Sox but I am MF-ing pissed about the way they've let the Tribe embarass them tonite. Bases loaded with the top of the order coming up, down four and they can't plate a fucking run? Jesus Christ. And to top that off, Dice-K getting pounded without the slightest advantage of not being seen before.

Yes. You shouldn't be greedy or pissed--life is short and your team is having a great season. So they lost one game to the team with the second best record in the league (and only 3.5 behind beloved Bosox). Tribe couldn't plate some runs in the earlier games. Way too unrealistic (and greedy) to expect to sweep everybody. Show a little grace, and smile that Schilling and Beckett had great starts, and your team is still on a roll. Nothing to worry about in May. And no real "message" was sent with this series--just a good 2 out of 3 for the Red Sox. Now take care of pinstripe business.

Byrd gets the win without walking anybody so his wins/walks differential expands to 6 - 3 = 3. Is Dice K's pitch count often this high?

It all comes back to the feeling that is always in the pit of the stomach of a Red Sox fan that anything can happen, that they can find another way to torture you. That's why I keep telling my wife that every game matters, and that there is no way we will waltz into the post season never having a lead smaller than 10+ games the rest of the year. The worm can turn at any time, and any night the Sox lose and the Yanks win isn't a good night.

And to lose with Dice on the mound with a two run lead in the fifth is even more annoying. Byrd may have an impressive stat to his credit, but I see that the last time it happened over a full season was in the 90s for Bret Saberhagen. Is Byrd a Bret Saberhagen? At 88-74 with a career ERA+ of 106 vs 167-117 and 126, I don't think so. I wouldn't look for Byrd to turn out to be anything more than a league average pitcher (maybe with a few wins more due to his offense) but being around the plate with mediocre stuff (lifetime K/9=5) probably won't get by when the summer warms up and balls start flying out of stadiums. The Tribe needs Cliff Lee to be the number three, not Byrd. And I say that regardless of whether Byrd keeps his win total over his walk total.

As for Dice-K he was obviously not right. 100+ pitches gets him through seven almost every time, and with a helluva lot better results, too.

[Dan Gould]

Look for A-Rod to get some chin music from a Toronto pitcher in the next game.

I just found out what happened. Funny how A-Rod says he said "Ha!" and the Blue Jays say he said "Mine!" Considering A-Rod's claim that he was just swinging his arms when he played slapsie maxie with Arroyo, its easy to believe that he did indeed yell "Mine" but either way, its just another reason why other major leaguers can't stand him.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Dan Gould

[Soulstation1]

the tribe slapped around the bosox