Balta1701

So according to Raw Story, former Ambassador Peter Galbraith is about to come out with a book on Iraq, and in that book he's going to claim that Bush didn't know that there were even 2 religious sects in Iraq until early 2003.

61 pitches, 34 strikes through 3 innings for Halladay.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:54 PM) Very true, and I'd like to have the 05 Iguchi back as well. I know he's not doing as great of a job moving people over, but his numbers are almost all either identical to or better than last year. Last year 15 home runs, this year 12, last year he hit about .278 or so, this year .288, OPS .778 last year and .774 right now...he's pretty darn close to the same numbers.

QUOTE(JimH @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:49 PM) You need to take a freaking step back from the whining ... for once. Try this on for size ... Garland is a ground ball pitcher, or should be. Halladay is a great righthanded pitcher. Mackowiak has been killing righties to the tune of .342 . They will need offense in this game. Anderson, despite trending upward, is still regularly overmatched by good pitchers, let alone great pitchers. And I am a fan of Anderson. Mackowiak did not throw that big fat 3-2 changeup, Garland did. Even if there's no one on base, it's 1-0, they're still losing and they still need offense. I'm gonna defend Fathom on this one. Mackowiak, while hitting .342, is just as regularly overmatched by good pitching as Anderson. Or when he is not overmatched, he gets 1-2 hits. On the other hand, having Mackowiak in CF gives up a guaranteed 2-3 hits per game that do not occur with Brian Anderson in Center Field. In almost every single game I can remember Mack starting in CF, I can point to a specific fly ball that Anderson would have caught that Mack did not catch which led directly to a run. You and I could argue back and forth about the indirect part, about what pitch you throw to Glaus with a runner on 1st and 2 outs instead of a runner on 1st and 2nd with one out, but since you can't see those, it's beside the point. What is driving us so crazy is that in exchange for 1-2 extra hits, we are giving up 1-2 extra runs. And against a dynamite pitcher like Halladay, every single run we give up makes the game harder to win. Here's the question...so say Glaus still hits that bomb with 1 runner on base and Anderson in CF. Right now, this would be a 2-1 game, and we'd have exactly the same number of outs, and everything else would be the same. How different is that from a 3-1 lead? I'd say it's pretty damn different.

OH. MY. GOD.

QUOTE(fathom @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:47 PM) Halladay has control of his curve now. It's too bad we couldn't capitalize on all the hangers in the 1st inning. Ok...seriously...how many times does Jermaine Dye have to save our asses this season before we give him a free pass? If there's anyone on this team who's earned one, it's JD.

Shame we couldn't have gotten that last inning.

QUOTE(santo=dorf @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:40 PM) Coming into this game, Mack against RHP: .342/.419/.473 Wow, that was a terrible call. Exactly why he should play against them. IN LEFT FIELD.

QUOTE(CYGarland @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:39 PM) yep, especially when 4/5's of your starting staff are having subpar years, and the Manager decides that the Defense must play lackadasical against righties. THANK GOD our offense has come through! Fixed

At some point this game, Mack will get a hit after the game is already decided, thus telling Ozzie that it's still ok to keep playing him, because yeah, he's helping out the offense.

Cleveland up 3 on Detroit. Yankees up 3 on Baltimore. Tampa up one on Boston.

QUOTE(iguchi=dank @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:33 PM) OMG uribe is gonna get b****ed at again Think Ozzie will beach at Mack for not playing defense well enough in CF, just to see how ironic things can get?

Well, there's at least 1 run directly attributable to Mackowiak. And there goes Garland's home run streak.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 04:28 PM) I still think the Angels made a big mistake letting Glaus go. With the number of quality infielders they have on the way up, I don't. Yeah, they didn't get lucky with McPherson, but they still have about 6 guys who can play 4 positions and almost all of them make the minimum.

You know that sinkerball pitcher we have? You know that really slow running 3rd baseman the Jays have, um...come on Jon.

Would Anderson have had that?

31 pitch first inning for Halladay, 17 strikes, 14 balls. 14 of those pitches were thrown to Thome and Konerko. Nice to have them back, that's for sure.

Let's see if Dye can finish off the 345ing of Halladay.

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 08:27 AM) And I hope to God Mack doesn't start in CF, but against a tough righty, I'm betting he will, which of course guarantees that Garland won't be able to pitch a shutout. Ok, I called it...so folks, now's the question...how many runs will Mack being in CF lead directly to (ball dropping leads directly to a run), and how many will it lead indirectly to (i.e. balls dropping that shouldn't leads to Garland tiring earlier because of additional pitches thrown) I'm gonna guess 1 and 2.

QUOTE(bigredrudy @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 01:43 PM) I think these numbers could justify a platoon situation for next year. Podsednik has lost a step or two since the first half of last year. His stealing percentage for stealing second base since the first half of last year is horrendous. I would bet that Mac is faster to first base than is pods and is faster to second. Pod's infield outs are not even close. He seems to have trouble getting started from a stopped position. I have to believe that Mac is a better fielder than Pods but how much better I don't know. Your thoughts and corrections if any How exactly do you run a platoon with 2 lefties?

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 01:07 PM) Correct, he puts them right at 100 or slightly above it, based on who you believe. Hmmm, that's very interesting, ESPN.com updated their Yankees payroll when Abreu was added, but never updated the Astros with Clemens's dolalrs.

QUOTE(bigredrudy @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 01:00 PM) What are his career numbers against lefthanders and righthanders? I would play Mac in left field on a platoon basis if his numbers justified that Mac seems to be a better fielder than Podsednik and has a stronger arm. I can give you his 2003-2005 splits. By Breakdown AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS vs. Left 165 17 38 3 5 1 17 7 2 38 0 1 .230 .269 .327 .596 vs. Right 963 125 256 44 8 31 135 101 11 229 27 7 .266 .340 .425 .765

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 12:49 PM) The Astros' payroll is that high? They're not over $100 million, but they're close, at $92M. The reasons why? Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell, and to a lesser extent guys like Andy Pettitte. QUOTE(atrain081 @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 12:19 PM) It's kind of interesting though, his value is really high right now and he will have that no trade clause. The Braves need to make some changes this offseason to be competitive in the NL East again. The Mets, Phillies, and even Marlins should be really improved by next year. The Bravos still have a real shot at that division next year. The thing that has absolutely killed them this year, beyond injuries, is the disaster that is their bullpen. Losing Farnsworth especially hurt them, which is why they were dealing for relief pitching at the break. That, and a couple of underpeforming/injured starting pitchers, but that bullpen has really been the disaster. Their lineup is in very good shape for next year, IMO. Giles Renteria Jones (with Aybar as a backup) Jones McCann Francoeur Laroche Johnson (coming back from elbow surgery) Their starting rotation: Smoltz Hudson Hampton Thompson Ramirez Doesn't look like the best rotation in history, but it's not too shabby, especially if Hudson ever finds his marbles again. Their bullpen though is their disaster. A couple of reliable guys, or a return by Wickman, and they could make a serious run.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 12:20 PM) He's been playing almost everyday. ESPN says he's playing in 78 games, and we're slightly over 100, no? That's a buttload of games. I don't see how he'd magically revert to his career numbers so suddenly. You know why he might? The reason why is in his splits this year. AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB HBP SO AVG OBP SLG OPS vs. Left 39 3 8 0 0 0 4 2 2 9 .205 .279 .205 .484 vs. Right 146 20 50 8 1 3 11 19 1 27 .342 .419 .473 .892 His numbers look damn good, because his numbers against lefties are terrible, his numbers against righties are freaking great, and he's faced righties almost 4x as many ABs as lefties. Even those numbers out some, and his numbers rapidly go down to his career numbers. Pods only hits. 239 against lefties, and he's still significantly better, even in the OBP. Mack would be ideal in a platoon corner outfield spot if we were to design something like that (actually, with Fields next year, that's not a terrible idea)

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Aug 4, 2006 -> 12:02 PM) WOOHOO! WE ALL WIN! Unless you're making minimum wage. Or very, very wealthy.