almagest

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 08:08 PM) It might have been misguided, but his teammates will love him for it, and he didn't screw around with scrubs, he went after some big guns. It probably makes more sense, because they have a better chance of getting on base anyway.I think his teammates will be more upset that Porcello got himself tossed out of a game after 15 pitches, burned out the Tigers bullpen, and will be suspended for a couple games at least. They know they're in a pennant race, and something like this can really hurt.

QUOTE (GoSox05 @ Aug 11, 2009 -> 09:46 AM) I was at a game back in 93' with a couple of my cousins. There was two girls sitting behind us, some how George Bell must have seen the one girl and sent someone to the stands to give her a note. It had like his phone number on it and mentioned something about meeting him after the game. We didn't know if was real, but the girl replied to the note and we could see the dude go into the dugout and give the note to Bell. It was really weird. You left out the most important part of the story... was she hot?

QUOTE (greg775 @ Aug 8, 2009 -> 10:46 PM) I'm done with the thread. He's not atrocious; he's just not. I'm really enjoying my World Series DVD tonight as I sip a Bud. I especially love the part where Jermaine is hoisting his MVP trophy. Not bad for an an atrocious outfielder. Man he really sucks. He won the MVP because of defense? Dude, face it, Dye is a great hitter but is bad defensively. Bringing up his offensive prowess from 4 years ago isn't going to change that. DH-ing Dye is the right move.

QUOTE (Wedge @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 12:49 PM) He was mocking the media for rushing to conclusions. The post was ironic since it was a rushed conclusion based on one game.Exactly. QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 5, 2009 -> 03:17 PM) I got it. My point in reply is; when you're getting basically 10 starts from a guy, if you want good return on him, they all need to be pretty darn good.I agree, and this is another reason why the media shouldn't have fallen all over themselves to praise this trade so quickly. Washburn having a couple bad starts could really hurt their playoff chances in a tight race.

The great Jarrod Washburn wasn't so great today. Looks like the media praise for this deal was perhaps a bit short-sighted.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 31, 2009 -> 01:15 PM) How is Comerica not a pitcher's park as well?Safeco is 16th in baseball with 0.980 runs allowed (1 being the average). Amazingly, Comerica is 14th, with 1.025 runs allowed, ahead of Safeco and even US Cellular somehow. Link. Also, Seattle apparently has a very good defensive outfield, which Detroit does not. That will hurt Washburn as well.

Interesting take on the Washburn trade from Beyond the Box Score.

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 30, 2009 -> 04:18 PM) Vaginitis is a south park reference. Overexaggerated might be the wrong way to describe. It seems to me he just doesn't have a high pain tolerance. Based on what?

QUOTE (CWSOX45 @ Jul 29, 2009 -> 09:19 PM) It's been like this for the past 3 seasons. I've never seen a full team trying to pull every pitch. It's so simple it's ridiculous. Look at how good of a hitter Aj was in Minnesota, what did he do? He went opposite field on a regular basis. Konerko in his prime? Opposite field power. This team has no approach at the plate, it's lift and pull, and it's the same old story. Enough already. AJ's hitting .300. Konerko's hitting .285 with 20 hr.

I'm guessing that Guillen figures Wise needs at least 5 at-bats to get a hit, since he's hitting

QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 10:13 AM) As pointed out just now, he lied in 2007. How do we know he still isn't lying?We don't. But he's only listed as buying shipments from Radonsky in 2003, which corroborates with the story he's telling.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 09:16 AM) Oh spare me the bulls***. The "I did it for my family" thing actually makes me totally lose respect for the guy. What about every other guy out there who is a father playing baseball who made the conscious decision to do things right and not take PEDs because they want their kids to look up to them and respect them not only as a breadwinner, but as a example of the type of person who you want your kids to become. What about those fathers that people like Jim Parque knocked out of the game by taking their places because they cheated to get an extra edge? How does he feel about taking food out of their mouths? Spare me the self-pity and the artificial tears. A lot of fathers face the choice of lying/cheating/stealing for their kids every day, under dire circumstances. Its not like his kids were going to starve. He did it to try to win the lottery, not to save his destitute family.He actually says the realization that his priorities were not focused on his family helped him stop his brief usage of steroids. I don't see how this equates to "doing it for his family". QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 09:20 AM) So basically he wants his cake and he wants to eat it too. Gets to bypass players more deserving who were clean. Gets the big contract. And gets it all absolved because he admitted he did it. Color me unimpressed.Did you bother reading the article? Because he didn't get a big contract because of steroids, at all. He never got a big contract. He used them as a last chance to resurrect his career. QUOTE (BearSox @ Jul 23, 2009 -> 10:09 AM) After you take away taxes, he earned plenty of money by the time his arm fell off. Unless he squandered all of his money, he should have been able to have a nice nest egg where he could have easily gotten by for a while, while he looked for a new job to support his family with. I think Jim is full of crap. "Getting by for a while" when you have a family doesn't work. That money disappears practically overnight. It looks like Jim used most of his money wisely, anyway, since he was able to open a baseball academy.

I'll be there!

QUOTE (SnB @ Jul 18, 2009 -> 09:23 AM) this is the first time in myabe 7 years i'm not picking up NCAA. I haven't been overly impressed w/ any of their next gen versions. I'll probably buy madden this year because the last madden I have is 04 I believe. Things had to improve a ton in those 6 years? right? right? right ea?If '09 is any indication, no.

The quizzes, dear god, the quizzes. Why do so many people want me to know which character on "Real Housewives of New Jersey" they are? I wish I could send live, hate-filled bees to these people via the internet.

The Blackberry Storm has both functions as well, and with the recent firmware update, has become a really nice phone. You lose wi-fi, but Verizon's 3G network is leaps and bounds better than AT&Ts, so you don't mind it as much. The Iphone still has the best software support, though.

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jul 14, 2009 -> 11:36 AM) Teahen's one of the nicest players on the Royals...not sure why anyone would want to heckle him or someone like Mike Sweeney.Well, I could see heckling Sweeney, if only because you could call him Mike's Weenie. That's too good to pass up.

Recently got a PS3; been playing Mortal Kombat 2, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix, MLB '09: The Show, and Madden '09. Madden confuses the s*** out of me -- the last Madden I played with regularity was '05, and it seems like this one has no goal other than to be as needlessly complicated as possible. I play Madden to run backwards 20 yards and hurl up random passes, a la Rex Grossman. I don't play it to use the damn right analog stick for everything in the game. Also been playing a lot of Final Fantasy 4: The After on Wii, and very much looking forward to picking up Blazblue on PS3 when the standard edition comes out at the end of the month. Maybe King of Fighters 12 when that comes out, too. I love me some 2D fighters.

I just noticed this. Thanks guys! Scored a retro red white and blue jersey with the SOX logo across the front for the big 27.

I'd give it to Gadget.

Good read about those Nasty Nats.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jul 7, 2009 -> 10:21 PM) You've explained to me why the D-Backs would want Brandon Allen. Now, please, explain to me how Tony Pena is a max return.He's been an above-average reliever for 3 of the 4 years he's been in the majors (the one year he wasn't was his rookie year at the age of 24), posting an ERA+ of 144, 106, and 107. He has a very good arm and will likely replace Dotel next year, freeing up money for other players. He's only 27, and under team control for a while. Now, please tell me what's so good about Brandon Allen? He's had exactly one year (2008) where he produced numbers you'd expect from a good 1B prospect (for comparison, Ryan Howard never hit below .270 in the minors, and never had lower than a .460 SLG.) His 2007 campaign was decent, but unspectacular (~.820 OPS), especially for a 1B. This year, he wasn't showing the power that got him on the map in 2008, even with an excellent offensive team offering protection, and was horrid in 53 AB in Charlotte, with absolutely no power (.358 SLG in a bandbox). Again, I liked Allen, but he's SEVERELY overrated on this message board.

I'm almost certain we got good value for Allen in this trade, and I liked him a lot. Conor Jackson is hitting .182/.264/.253/.516 this year, and was solid but unspectacular the past 2 years. Chad Tracy and Tony Clark aren't doing anything, either (.206 and .175 avg respectively), so the DBacks have no good option at first base right now. They don't have anything worthwhile in the minors at 1B either, AFAIK. Allen fills a big hole for them, meaning we're probably seeing the max return for Allen at this point in his career. I don't have a problem with that.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Jul 6, 2009 -> 03:39 PM) Halladay's average fastball last season and this season has been 92.7. He hits 95 multiple times a game. The real point is throughout the whole thread halladay has been vastly underrated... and unfinished products in a middle of the pack farm system have been equally overrated. I love it. What do you think is a fair deal on our part, and what do you think the Blue Jays would ask for?

QUOTE (Nunnigan @ Jul 2, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) My weirdest flight wasnt as bad as that, but it was real embarrasing. Two years ago, my family and I were flying back from Phoenix. Halfway through the flight, I woke up from a nap and noticed some 40+ year old lady was sitting right next to me, hitting on me. Before you even say "What's the problem?" she was absolutley plastered, smelling of alcohol and about 20 years older than me. She was very flirtatious and very touchy-feeley. Approaching Chicago, late at night, she told me that she wanted to see the city lights because she's never seen them before. I told her if she wanted to switch seats since I had the window seat, but she said she was fine sitting where she was. At any time the plane flew over city, no matter how big or small, she would always lean over and ask me if that was Chicago. Getting fed up, I signaled to my brother and mom, who were sitting in the seats across the asile, to bring over a flight attendant. All they did was laugh at what I had to put up with. As the plane was making its decent into O'Hare is when it really started to get awkward. Like you all know, you have to remain seated, with your seatbelts fastened, while the plane makes its decent, this lady however ignored such rules. The flight attendants have to remind her several times to fasten her seat belt, until finally there was an argument between the lady and the attendants. She was removed from the seats next to me, and the attendants apologized to me for over serving her, and for her actions. When the plane landed, everyone on the plane was laughing and joking around with me for all that I had to put up with. This was perhaps one of the most embarrasing moments of my life. I still don't understand what the problem was, especially if it was Kathy Griffin.