Balta1701

(ESPN.com chat)

So, since I don't see one yet...here's today's game thread...in yet another attempt to get my first ever thread win. Javier Vazquez on the mound. Jenks scheduled for 2 innings today according to Coop. Pods supposedly was still going to play today despite the tweak yesterday, hope he'll come out in good shape & is still in the lineup.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:34 AM) Plus while their offense is good, it's not quite elite. I wouldn't even say that it was as good as the Sox's offense for most of this decade back when we had Maggs, C Lee, and a healthy Frank. Considering that their starting pitching isn't much better than ours was (arguably it's worse), that's not a good thing. Their pen is a bit better, but if Wickman goes down or sucks, that's a serious problem for them. On the other hand, I half agree with you here. The Indians offense isn't quite elite yet, but it certainly has the potential to be elite. It was the #4 offense in the AL Last year, but was only like 60 runs or so ahead of us (a healthy Thome replacing Everett would more than have done that for us last year.) Running up and down the list you have a ton of left handed power in Hafner (who should hit 40 this year), Martinez who gives you good production from the catcher's spot, you've got Sizemore in the outfield, Peralta in the infield...all of whom give good production at spots that are sometimes less productive. A couple of their key guys struggled out of the gate last year (Martinez, Boone). If Sizemore, Peralta, and Hafner keep improving, and they're able to bring up either Garko or Marte and get good production out of them whenever they do show up...that team could really be raking.

QUOTE(He_Gawn @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:40 AM) I dont see s*** anywhere on this yet.... Anyone have a link? ESPN.com front page.

Who?

QUOTE(LVSoxFan @ Mar 28, 2006 -> 10:05 AM) B) The debate rages about how the Indians will be. Well first of all, they were the best damn team in baseball 2nd half last year, period. It was only by the grace of God, a dropped fly ball in K.C. and Joe Crede that it wasn't them crusing to the World Series and not us. That said, I'd say we've got two contenders for the AL Central besides us, and Cleveland is pissed. I'm sure they're going to love watching the ring ceremony at the Cell, in person. I would not count them out either. Sure they got rid of Coco Crisp (bad idea), but their pitching is awesome. And so is their manager.Here is where I think you're very much wrong. Their Pitching was good last year, not great. Their bullpen was great. But their starting pitching has almost certainly taken a step backwards this year with the loss of Millwood and Elarton, and it's hard for me to say that the guys they got as replacements (Johnson from Detroit, who we kill IIRC, and old crafty vet Paul Byrd) simply aren't at the same level. On top of that, they lost Howry from their bullpen, and don't have an obvious contender to back up Wickman if his health issues, which held him to 66 appearances in 2002, 2003, and 2004 combined crop back up. The Indians Pitching staff will only take a step forward if everyone does the same as they did last year, but Lee and Sabathia take big steps forwards, and that looks very doubtful to me. You're right on Oakland, but I think the Angels are going to find themselves in some deep trouble this year, as I'm not sure that even their GM knows what their plan for the future is. They have young guys that they don't know what to do with, they keep spending money on veterans who are blocking the young guys, and they're relying on even more risky guys in their pitching staff (Escobar, Colon) than the A's are IMO.

The insurance claim on Bagwell's shoulder has been denied. Runelvys Hernandez Will start the season on the DL. King Felix was scrubbed from a start for precautionary reasons. Christian Guzman is 1 of 4 Nationals who will start the season on teh DL.

The man in question was released from prison yesterday, and immediately disappeared. Thus far it seems no one knows where he was taken or who has him, but thus far it seems there's no reason to assume he is dead - in other words, he could be in coalition hands. The Italian government may offer him amnesty.

Group of Retired Generals and admirals (who already have submitted a brief to the court arguing against the military tribunals the Court is about to discuss) has submitted a letter asking Scalia to recuse himself from that case.

John McCain once referred to Jerry Falwell as an "Agent of Intolerence". He also said "we embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community. But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders." John McCain will be the graduation speaker at Falwell's Liberty University this year. Thank God he's not Pandering to their self-appointed leaders.

LAT Neither one of them has had a good spring, but both could be options if desperate times occur.

There's a rumor floating around that Calipari will be announced shortly. TIFWIW.

QUOTE(SuperSteve @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 08:33 PM) I could see it being like it was with Juan a few seasons ago... he just comes out and keeps hitting, forcing himself into the lineup. The thing with Tadahito is, he just does so much right. Even if he is not hitting, he helps the team. I have a hard time seeing Ozzie sit him for extended periods. Jermaine Dye had a good 2 months last year where he was absolutely terrible, and ozzie didn't Pull him. Iguchi has even more time than that. Guaranteed. If he's below the Mendoza line at the AS Break, we'll talk.

QUOTE(Flash Tizzle @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 08:17 PM) I invited anyone willing to browse through their comments section and locate such quotations matching the criticism seen in Podsednik’s box. Not merely the "lously regular comment," but ANYTHING which insults a player. Ok, so Gagne wouldn't be a lousy regular as I referenced in my post--he'll still be a far shadow of his old self. Where was Rotoworld to call Gagne a medicore pitcher when he was hitting high 80's several weeks ago? Gagne is still in the low 90's according to the LATimes by the way, like 1 pitch at 94, and the rest at 92 or below. I still say that Pods having a bit of a growing tweak is exactly what we should expect right now, since he's basically just startin ST, and he's probably going as much all out as he can be right now.

QUOTE(jphat007 @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 07:53 PM) Anybody know a site that includes the number of infield hits a player has? Fangraphs.com, whatever the Hell that is.

Can we at least note that the guy with the bit of a tweak was the guy who still hasn't gotten himself completely into playing shape, and hopefully this is just another of those cases of guys having to get back in shape while trying to go at full speed and winding up feeling sore?

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 06:01 PM) I know what you meant. What I can't see is somebody giving us anything outside of a box of popcorn for the guy. A whole Box? Man, I'm walkin' away.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 05:22 PM) Damn, they like the AL West this year. I don't know if they Angels or A's have enough punch in their offense to win the whole thing. Their pitching will have to carry their respective teams, so we'll see how that works out. The A's I can agree with them on...if people stay healthy, that team is damn loaded. But they are counting on a lot of guys who hit the DL last year...Crosby, Harden, Bradley, Thomas, etc. The Angels...the only way I see them really making a run is if their young guys are immediate studs (Kotchman, Mathis) and Garret Anderson is healtheir than he has seemed thus far.

Well, it's at least nice to see a ton of teams picking us in the Central. Nice to know that Rob Neyer isn't making his mistake of being the only 1 to pick us (correctly) to win the AL Central last year. And he's picking the Dodgers? H.Christ man. I understand how people think the Twins and Indians could make a run in the Central, the one I just can't see this year though is the Angels.

QUOTE(hi8is @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 03:41 PM) hey... i didnt know that hes got 4 round trippers in the last 2 days... it would be horrible if you got shot in the face. Mr. Cheney?

He needs a water cooler to punch in order to warm up.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Mar 27, 2006 -> 03:29 PM) No question about it. And I agree with YASNY and WCSox. Canseco, McGriff and Gonzalez aren't gonna make it. s***, Andre Dawson ain't gonna make it, and that guy was an incredible player IMO. The one guy that I'm confused about is Albert Belle. He is undoubtedly a Hall Of Famer on paper, but with all of the off-the-field nonsense, I just don't know. Talk about legendary slugging numbers. God freakin' damn was he good. Albert Belle had some damn good seasons, but it's also worth noting that his career was short-circuited by injuries even before Thomas's. He didn't even get to 400 home runs, and if those career milestones mean anything, that's a big mark against him.

Man, those 2 teams REALLY do not like each other for some reason. Open Bets: distance traveled by Ortiz's bat during his next bat flip in Tampa. I'm going to go with 14 meters.

Tom Delay's concealed handgun permit has been revoked.

Personally, I think it's a much bigger deal that Scalia seems to have already made his decision on a case the Supreme Court hasn't yet heard, something which surely would seem to require a recusal (which of course, will never happen).