jackie hayes

QUOTE(Antonio Osuna @ Oct 3, 2005 -> 09:09 PM) We beat Wakefield at home this season, but he's given us fits before. And he absolutely is a "big game pitcher" in that he's better when it counts. I dunno. Wakefield's a good pitcher, but I don't see how he can reach in and get that little bit extra. What's he gonna do, make the ball rotate less than not at all? Make the wind swirl more? Add 2 mph to his fastball?

I get the logic, BMac just pitched, so he's unavailable in the short run, okay. But some part of me says that the guy who just owned Boston should be on the team that plays Boston. Just a bit uncomfortable with this.

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Oct 3, 2005 -> 07:35 PM) I just hope that Jose remembers to use all of his pitches. ^^^^^^^^ That. To the extent it matters, I think AJ will know hitters' weaknesses. The pitchers just have to keep doing what they've been doing, no extra study time. You don't want Jose especially trying to get cute.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 1, 2005 -> 05:24 PM) I'm getting the Red Sawx game here. I wouldn't have been mad to get the Sox game, but I don't think I'm mad about this. Our Sox have nothing left to prove this weekend. I'm mad. Wasn't one of the weekend games supposed to be on WGN before Fox and ESPN claimed them? I get to see so few Sox games, anyway. The Sox could make it up to me by going, oh, 11-1 after this weekend. (Y'know, gotta have some suspense.)

Is everyone taking it as a given that Willie's on the roster? Of the last 5 listed, Timo's the only lock. Which is not a happy thought, but anyway, it's old news.

QUOTE(OilCan @ Sep 30, 2005 -> 06:02 PM) Shiner Bocks for everybody!!! I don't say it often, but, Ozzie is right -- it does taste better.

I know he's got Boras as an agent, and I know he's basically unsignable, and I know the Rangers need pitching -- BUT, if you honestly believe Texas will trade Teixeira, after the year he's had and the year Blalock didn't have, not to mention Soriano possibly walking, then I think...you have to think about it a bit longer. Not with this many years of arbitration left. Mench, maybe.

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Sep 13, 2005 -> 10:45 PM) Deja Vu of what? You're right, this situation hasn't exactly happened before. But it's hard to find any article that mentions Ozzie w/o some quote about, 'I make the decisions,' 'If you don't like how I do things in my house, etc.' Everytime there's a question about starting BMac, whatever -- 'I make the decisions'. I don't know Ozzie, and I don't know the situation. But looking at it, I know Marte was late, and suddenly he's done with the Sox. I don't know that lateness was what did it, but I don't find it so hard to imagine. Some people here thought the Sox should ditch Marte to 'send a message' -- why should I be so sure Ozzie 'Master of Every f***ing Domain' Guillen doesn't see it the same way? (The "F-Bomb" not to be aggressive, but just cuz we ARE talking about Ozzie.)

QUOTE(Tony82087 @ Sep 13, 2005 -> 10:32 PM) Oz gets ripped on ALOT(some fair, some not) however, for as much as Ozzie used Marte, there is no way he would put him on the DL or suspend him for the rest of the year in a playoff race for showing up late. I just can't be sure of that. Ozzie keeps reminding everyone that he's in charge, this could be deja vu all over again.

All I can add is that Sprint was okay for me, but I do get much better coverage with Verizon. Areas of the Chicago suburbs where my reception has been weak for years now are very strong. A little pricier, though. Just depends what's important. Also, I've heard Sprint's better for data (maybe just costwise, I don't recall), but I don't have any experience with that.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 12, 2005 -> 04:53 PM) What a mess Lol, understatement of the year:

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Sep 12, 2005 -> 01:05 PM) So we can realize our entire city sucks in sports? More or less. What I mean is, it's a distraction. I love the Bears, but it means less to me than the Sox. So it's something to take my mind off all these playoff worries, that won't worry me as much. I wouldn't say the Sox "suck", though. Though they haven't looked like champions, either.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 12, 2005 -> 03:23 AM) Even though I've ignored the last line by saying a lot tonight (when I probably shouldn't have), great post. Thanks. I don't want to give the impression that I'm asking anyone to stop discussing things. I think of most of these posts as electronic 'nervous chatter', which is natural. All I can say is, thank God football's starting now.

QUOTE(soxhawks @ Sep 11, 2005 -> 11:43 PM) just get to the playoffs and anything can happen That is basically my perspective. It's not even interesting speculating on what could have been done, this is the team. And divying up blame for this play... The only question is where to start. But we still look good for the division, and our offense still could get hot at the right times in October. Just gotta cross your fingers. There isn't much to say at this point.

I'm sick to death of seeing yet another damn Red Sox-Yanks game on national tv. Enough. Show me something else. Who the hell watches all these games? Okay, I was hoping for Sox-Angels, but I would watch Tampa Bay, I swear, just make this stop!!! Then the triple-whammy, McCarver. Trot Nixon's great slide caused the throw to sail. Sure, even when he hadn't reached the bag yet. Christ. /end rant

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 01:01 PM) I didn't save the spreadsheet, but Garcia was something like r=-.3 for ERA and r=-.65 for WHIP and r=-.7 for BAA ... He quite clearly picks up his performance against better teams. Kind of like the 'clutch' debate -- does he pick up his game for good teams, or let it down for bad ones? I'd expect that, if a pitcher is trying hard every game, there would be a positive correlation between the quality of the opponent and era/whip (on average), based on the idea that better teams often have better hitters. Just b/c it's not true for one pitcher (FG) doesn't change that. Actually, my suspicion is that, as FG's correlations are so large in absolute terms, this stat varies widely between pitchers, meaning MB's correlations are not very meaningful.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 10, 2005 -> 02:10 AM) This was brought up in the game thread... Hypothesis: Mark Buehrle beats up on the weak teams, but gets killed by good teams. I plugged his splits into a simple spreadsheet, and ran some correlations. ERA vs. Opponents wins = .297 WHIP vs. Opponents wins = .442 There is some correlation. In fact, he does allow quite a bit more baserunners to good teams. This underwhelms me. You'd expect a positive correlation -- better teams hit any pitcher better -- and I don't know why I should think .3 and .44 are unusually high. It seems more important to ask how much one believes streakiness to be meaningful.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 03:06 AM) I look more towards economic/social policy and other things when I vote. Kinda sorta related. "I vote for President Mubarak because I could not find any candidate more handsome than Hosni Mubarak." Repression takes many forms.

Didn't Gray Davis just compare favorably to Arnold in someone's poll? Arnold's over, it doesn't matter what he spews. You know you're done when the public starts considering how much more dignified was the political career of Jesse Ventura.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 09:44 PM) There is a reason that the Olympic standard is a 2 year ban...so it is in fact possible. It does likely depend a lot on exactly which steroids he took and how much of them he took at the time. But this could also very well be Morse trying to pass off another usage as a leftover and thinking that he had a good way to cover his ass. Okay... I thought the panel that heard his grievance agreed that the test was probably the result of the 'old' usage, based on the test results -- if so, it's not just some random excuse. No? I have no problem w/ changing the penalties, but it's absurd to subject anyone to 3 separate penalties for 1 infraction.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Aug 29, 2005 -> 10:36 PM) Faulk's got that one-in-a-million type elusiveness though, you know? He's one of the best RBs of all time. And I know that 32 is old in RB terms (particularly), but if he's even 80% healthy, he's gotta be a second tier guy at this point in his career. It's also worth noting that he averaged only 14 carries a game last year. Even at his age, if you gave him 20 carries a game, he could rack up some serious yards IMO. But they will conserve him with that "formidable duo" in mind. And you know what? I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he averaged 4.5 yards per carry this year assuming that he's at least 80% healthy, because he'll still make a lot of people miss with that elusiveness. He used to be elusive, but he just didn't make many defenders miss last year. I'm not thinking much about total yardage, only averages, and he hasn't done much in the last couple years. There were a few times last year when he'd make a beautiful cut, make a 1-2 yard play a 5-10 yarder, and you'd think that, finally!, he's back. But then the next game was more of the same. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm betting that he continues to wind down. We'll see. And considering how you apparently do in fantasy leagues, it does seem pointless arguing w/ you, but there it is.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 29, 2005 -> 09:59 PM) He's busted his ass for years... Meaning he tries hard, or he's broken every year?

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Aug 29, 2005 -> 09:32 PM) You think that Steven Jackson is a second tier caliber back? I think that he is made to look better than he actually is due to the fact that they have a damn good O-Line and an absolutely terrific WR core in St. Louis. Therefore, teams don't really focus as much on a Stephen Jackson as they would for a McGahee or somebody like that when trying to come up with a game plan. Damn, has Marshall Faulk fallen that far in the RB rankings? He's old and injuries have taken their toll, but I'd still have to put him in the second tier. I could be completely wrong about that. I gotta say, Faulk was the name that jumped out at me too. All the reasons you think Jackson isn't that good, don't they make Faulk's troubles seem even worse? As for Benson, I'm glad he signed. I had actually come around to thinking he'd just wait out the year. But I don't mind seeing him on the bottom of the depth chart as long as Jones and Peterson are getting it done.

QUOTE(Leonard Zelig @ Aug 28, 2005 -> 04:01 PM) A bikini car wash is always a good idea. But, remember, different girls than the ones mentioned earlier. Don't want to be getting in any trouble, WT.

Good Lord, how desperate is Cincinnati for something epic. This guy's watched The Godfather too many times. Maybe KW kissed O'Brien's hand too? Oh Don Corleobrien... Griffey would help, but wow, is this writer having fun w/ this.