MiddleCoastBias

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 25, 2011 -> 09:22 AM) I thought there was no way this was getting played either. Glad to see the W for sure. I thought the same. Did the grounds crew go around and scoop up all of the baseball-sized hail? Or does it melt quickly? See the images of the field covered in 'baseballs' game me the impression that this was getting called.

Ken_Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal #Padres Class AAA infielder Alex Cintron retires. Agent Burton Rocks says desire was there, but past surgeries affected him physically. #MLB 4 minutes ago

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 24, 2011 -> 01:45 PM) But falling back to Earth can still be good enough for a playoff spot in a terrible division. Obviously I'm not saying we don't need to play well but it is something to think about- there is a precedent that suggests the Indians will stumble and finish closer to how everyone expected them to play. With the exception of last night, it looks like the bats have been heating up in the last two weeks and we could be poised to make this interesting in the next two weeks.

Three teams have ever started a season 30-15 or better following a year of 90 or more losses. Those three teams are the '51 Sox, '01 Twins, and the Indians this year. Following their hot starts, both the '51 Sox and '01 regressed to their mean- Sox finished 81-73 for 4th in the AL, Twins finished 85-77 for 2nd in the Central. This is all wrapping up the 'talent discussion' that others have said (that Cleveland is doing this largely with the same team as last year and they are not a team of top prospects like they Rays were)- we all agree the Indians are playing far outside of expectations; if history is any indicator from similar teams, they will come back to earth.

QUOTE (Art Vandelay @ May 24, 2011 -> 11:33 AM) I am going in today to sign my offer letter and get the background check started and also complete the drug test. It's been a long 14 months but I'm finally back!

At this point, I guess Beckham really can claim to be a .400 hitter because none of the references can agree on his stats

QUOTE (whitesoxfan99 @ May 24, 2011 -> 12:26 AM) It sure as hell wouldn't take much to be better than Transformers 2. That was easily one of the worst movie going experiences I have ever had and I've seen a lot of bad movies. I refuse to watch another movie directed by Michael Bay after that piece of crap. Totally agree. I saw this with some buddies after we had been drinking, and eve 'drunk me' thought it was bad. I decided I had to go back for a sober viewing later and it just confirmed my opinion. Having said that, I'll probably still see Transformers 3 (when I can download it)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 24, 2011 -> 08:21 AM) The Service guy is wearing plain clothes, a hat, and has glasses tucked into his shirt, he's sitting right behind W. Can you imagine the ribbing that Agent would get for being 'the guy that let the Bush's get hit with a baseball/have AJ fall in their laps'? Related, I wonder what the Agent would have done had AJ actually fallen into W's lap.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 24, 2011 -> 08:29 AM) I keep telling myself this and waiting for games where he strikes out fewer than 3 times... That appendectomy really threw him off his game, he was swinging the bat really well to start the season, then poof, gonezo. I was thinking this same thing yesterday but then I remembered Matt Holliday who was rushed in for an emergency appendectomy- and he seems to be hitting just fine.

I was actually wondering about his improved walk rate this morning. I know back in '08 many people accepted that he was just never going to 'learn' how to take a walk, very similar to how people think about Viciedo right now. What has helped Alexei with his patience, and does anyone think Viciedo can make the turn as well?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 23, 2011 -> 12:42 PM) It sounded like the weather was really bad. I read someone else say that the Rangers got diverted to Little Rock for the same reason. Missouri was hit with major storms yesterday. SW Missouri had a tornado 1 mile wide.

QUOTE (T R U @ May 23, 2011 -> 02:36 AM) Does anyone else collect just authentic MLB hat? I collect the '47 Twins collection for Sox hats (they fit the most comfortably). So far I have 8 from various years and alternates.

Whoo! That was close! Way to cover.

Huge K, Crain. I like this stat Merk just tweeted: Crain's inherited runners for 2011: 15. Inherited runners scored: 4.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 22, 2011 -> 02:50 PM) We're not going to actually DFA him...but you can pick people up off the scrap heap for the league minimum who will perform better than him. No one's trading anything for him. Speaking of which, Pods just signed with the Phillies to a minor-league deal, per Ken Rosenthal.

QUOTE (SpainSOXfan09 @ May 22, 2011 -> 02:46 PM) Great Ozzie, another one of your hair brain schemes backfiring. Dunn is horrible at the plate so far this year and we all know he is a defensive liability at first and what do you do? Put him out there and he misses on a sharp grounder Paulie would have scooped up. Ozzie is so damn hard headed it is incredible. Dunn with a nice play in response.

Boom, sexy play by Alexei.

Wow, helluva throw to the plate, that was close.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 22, 2011 -> 02:14 PM) Cmon Edwin, pitch around the errors.

QUOTE (Capn12 @ May 22, 2011 -> 01:50 PM) Most of the guys are looking locked in on Kuroda today. Then, there is our $14 million albatross... Don't worry, he's going deep in the 5th. It's coming.

Baseball is fun again!

QUOTE (Heads22 @ May 22, 2011 -> 01:06 PM) Intro needs more Humber. But otherwise, damn, that video is good. First time I've seen it this year- freaking love it.

Juan Pierre - LF Alexei Ramirez - SS Dunn - 1B Paul Konerko - DH A.J. Pierzynski - C Alex Rios - CF Omar Vizquel - 3B Lillibridge - RF Gordon Beckham - 2B No Q, Lillibridge gets rewarded with the start.

I used to have a phone that would allow me to send a text to 10 recipients manually so I would send the same text using that number listed 10 times, and then just kept resending it. Realistically, I could shoot out 50 texts to the contest number in a minute or so and I imagine other people do that as well- I say send your texts right away. Full disclosure- I won that gift card way too many times

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