chitownsportsfan

Big Frank had two hits today, an RBI single and a solo HR. That raises his avg to .249, his OBP to .376, and his slugging to .519. Not bad for Big Frank at all! A .895 OPS is nothing to sneeze at, even from the DH position. Although nothing like his dominant best, Frank is proving he does indeed have something left in the tank. Congrats to Frank, he is now only 33 homers away from 500. You want to know stupid the Mariners are? They signed Crazy Carl over Frank and have given him over 290 AB from the DH position. His OPS? .666. Oh s*** that sucks. A platoon of Frank and say Hee Sop Choi could have easily bettered that. Billy Beane does seem to have a leg up on the rest of that division.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 12:32 AM) Look at all the f***ing supporters. Someone please bump the I hate Garland threads. Jon Garland is the new Bill Clinton.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 12:32 AM) I think it is dead arm though because he tends to have a period every year where he struggles because he can't get the ball down. He went through it at about this time last year, had it in June of 04 (although he was up and down a lot that year), and had the same thing in May of 03 (kind of early for dead arm, but it could happen). Once he starts getting the ball down again (hopefully VERY soon), he'll be fine. Thank you. An honest response to an honest question.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Jul 19, 2006 -> 12:17 AM) The ironic thing is, you've replied to this exact post once before . . . + 3 for the rare correct use of "ironic". Thing is though, MB didn't have an ERA of over 4 at the time. Things change. and damnit, no more sorting through my old posts! Those are like, in the history, dude. You need an old post? I can get you an old post dude.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 11:50 PM) BAhahahaha, solid. LOL, f***, maybe I should have just started another media watch.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 11:42 PM) If you dont know then dont worry about it. Thats a really sore spot around here. Cool, I will live in ignorance. QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 11:45 PM) Ha ya, don't worry about. You weren't around when the thread made it's debut but it's probably one of the more famous threads in this site's history. "The Rise and Decline of Mark Buehrle," or something along those lines. I believe it was in early 04 and Mark was struggling and a thread pretty similar to this, about all the innings he's pitched early in his career and so on. That thread lived forever and seemingly got bumped everytime he pitched poorly that season. Oh yea, I do vaquely remember that thread. I was probably just lurking at the time, and well, the drugs man, the drugs. I'm not saying MB is due for some huge fall, however, I think caution is the name of the game for this point on. QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 11:43 PM) Ramon Martinez: injuries Dwight Gooden: Druggy Can't really speak on what happened to the others since they were a bit before my time. I don't think Mark is any of them. I think Mark is a Glavine like pitcher. I agree with this thought, soft tossing lefties that somehow pitch above their "stuff". Hopefully MB can continue to emulate Glavine's career track, although this year has been a detour.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 11:38 PM) Uh oh. This thread looks very familiar. Please enlighten me. Was there a rather infamous thread on this already?

(This thread is pure speculation based off a few facts, I am not suggesting anything other than the possiblity that MB might need some rest, please take everything as speculation until further information comes along or MB just continues to suck. I am very appreciative of MB's talents and am just throwing this out there for thought.) I think this is a legimate question, spurred by the talk of a "dead arm", and MB's general suckitude lately. Here are MB's innings over his career: 2001 - 22 years old - 221.1 IP 2002 - 23 - 239 2003 - 24 - 230.1 2004 - 25 - 245.1 2005 - 26 - 236.2 reg season and 23.1 in playoffs + WS That's a lot of innings already pitched as a 26 year old and 4+ years of over 230 IP is pretty insane in this day and age. Of course, there are more variables that can affect a pitcher's health than just IP--things like pitch counts, delivery, and pitch selection (is he throwing a violent overhand curve, obviously not) can all factor into a "dead arm" or even a more serious problem. Is MB just experiencing a "dead arm" period? I think those of us that have played baseball during a longer season--50 or so games--have probably all experienced a time during spring training or in the middle of season where your arm just does not feel good--you might not have any structural damage--but it sure is harder to throw when your elbow is tight and your tricep area is tingling with every lob into the bucket. There is clearly a difference between pain and injury and MB might just be going through what every seasoned baseball player goes through, but if MB is feeling anything at all--I hope the Sox provide every resource available to get him back on track. Except HGH of course... Is their any structural damage to MB's shoulder and elbow? I certainly hope not. Will MB bounce back? Should he now be on strict pitchcounts? Does he need the "El Duque treatment" of a few weeks off? Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing BMAC spot start for Buehlre a few times this 2nd half, in fact, I think that's a great idea. It will help ease MB's load heading into a likely playoff berth, and BMAC gets to actually see some meaningful innings. I doubt Oz would ever do this, but if I was the manager, I would at least consider it if MB continues to struggle with "a dead arm".

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 11:02 PM) What's big for Garland is he hasn't given up a dong in 9 straight starts. That is actually quite amazing after he was leading the league with 19 given up at one point (he's tied for 7th most with Schilling now). For a while, it looked he was going to double his output from last year. Still, I'm not going to get overly excited until he actually gets his ERA under 5 for the season. That's a pretty stupid reason not to get excited about him right now. He was horrid to begin with, he's been lights out lately, which one should we put more credence in? I'd have to go with the most recent results.

QUOTE(holly wiggins @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 09:58 PM) What a classy guy KW is. Thanks for posting that. He also took a very easy to see shot at Michael Lewis and Moneyball. In Moneyball, Lewis essentially called KW "stupid" for trading with Beane. (note that Beane himself did not say this, a common misconception). In today's interview, KW said, "Well, obviously we'll try not to do anything stupid". I luv it.

That taste isn't there.

Kdub looks like a freaking badass in the pic. My new avy!

QUOTE(My Dixie Normus @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 09:26 PM) If McCarthy is going to ever be a starting pitcher you have to let him pitch to batters from both sides of the plate. With two outs and a six run lead, this would have been a pretty good spot to let him refresh his memory that baseball is played from both sides. I am sick of seeing this guy yanked too early. Ah screw it man. Ozzie has done much to piss me off over the past 4 months. I'm willing to let this pass. BMAC wasn't looking that great out there, he wasn't exactly dominating. Wow, Pods has had a terrible game.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 18, 2006 -> 09:22 PM) lol Matt. Yea, Thornton walked off the mound like a f***ing badass after that K--like he was just toying with him.

I think FG burnt himself out in the WBC. It wasn't exactly like he was blowing it by people last year, but this year has been a steep decline.

Tigers have caught all the breaks so far tonight and are still getting pounded. I like that.

THE RALLY CREDE 2005 IS THE RALLY GARLAND OF 2006! perhaps.

I LOVE THIS TEAM damnit.

COME ON JUAN

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Jul 16, 2006 -> 03:18 PM) I agree, i wouldnt mind seeing Pablo PH here. As the likelihood of a k or Double play is HIGH You can't be serious.

Well, everytime we get runners on with nobody out we seem to start sucking a lemon. Prove me wrong damnit.

come on Iguchi

QUOTE(POPPY_HIDALGO @ Jul 16, 2006 -> 03:13 PM) I'm just stating a fact since everyone seems to think this team can rest on their laurels and everything will be fine. There is a downword trend that everyone can plainly see. They have not been playing good baseball for some time now. Just because they're so far over .500 right now doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. Again, thank you Mr. Obvious. It's called a tautology. It proves NOTHING.

QUOTE(POPPY_HIDALGO @ Jul 16, 2006 -> 03:10 PM) This team really needs to start playing better baseball or else that record is just going to keep getting worse. Those arms are dead tired and I can't see them getting better anytime soon. Evryone is playing like s***. Keep losing and you get closer and closer to that .500 mark. Oh and if you haven't figuered it out yet. The Tigers aren't going anywhere. If I eat 40 pizzas a day and sit on my ass all day, I will gain weight. Seriously man, come fresh or get out.

well, at least Garcia hasn't totally imploded. Sorry, I'm really searching for optimism at this point.