CUBBIES!

TIGERS!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I don't know how the CUBS could lose a game this year. I'm sure a umpire will screw them a few dozen times that cause us an L or 7.

My annual predection of the NL Central.....NAILED it the last 2 years! Scoreboard B#ghes!

drum Roll please from last to 1st.

6th place St Louis Cardinals 42-120
*There is a better chance LaRussa gets more DUI's than wins after they open up 5 -39 going into memorial day

5th place Pittsburgh Pirates 78-84
*at least they get to rely on about a dozen wins against the red birds

4th place Milwaukee Brewers 79-83
*time to start over no pitching but do get to play the redbirds 15 times

3th place Houston Astros 80-82
* will flirt with playing .450 ball all season but they get to play the red birds so will float around .500 all year.

2nd place Cincinnati Reds 85-73
* Good arms little ball park get to play cardinals should be worth 14 wins.


1st PLACE CHICAGO CUBS 133-29
* I can't imagine any team in the Central getting more than 3 wins off of the CUBS, like I said a homer Umpire will probably squeeze one of our most superior arms on the road here or there. The cubs may actually lose 20 of their last 30 before the play-offs while they try out some of their rookie ballers from Mesa in fall call-ups.

CUBS WORLDS SERIES! BEEEEEEEEEEELIEVE IT!!!! :D

I was waiting for you Kev...

BTW, what does CI mean in Roman numerals?

Good to see that Cubs fans' delusions are still strong.

Cubs will win the Central, and again get swept in the first round...

OR, the arms of Zambrano, Dempster and Harden fall off in June.

Hey YANKEE FAN your boy sure has a pretty mouth...he's kissing himself I think he just confirmed himself Ghey-Rod

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/eonline/20090318/capt.381032239f78954285b9210b64b40fff.jpg

<font color="orange"> O R I O L E S ! </font>

the FO finally has the birds straightened up and flying right. look for big things in 2010.

Opening day is less than a week away. That means KMack has about 6 more days of hope left before realizing it will never happen for the cubs.

Check it ...
Last year Cubs couldn't do without me
Hey Cubs fan! Tell me how my A&amp;&amp; taste.

For the 1st time ever in live draft history I got exactly everyone I wanted for my Fantasy Baseball team. Every time it was my turn to draft my guy was available...HOW FREAKIN LUCKY! Check out my squad it's unbelievable. I'm guaranteed to win!

C
Kenji Johjima
(Sea - C)

1B
Travis Ishikawa
(SF - 1B)

2B
Kazuo Matsui
(Hou - 2B)
3B
David Wright
(NYM - 3B)

SS
Stephen Drew
(Ari - SS)

OF
Ichiro Suzuki
(Sea - OF)

OF
Hideki Matsui
(NYY - OF)

OF
Shin-Soo Choo
(Cle - OF)

Util
Kosuke Fukudome
(ChC - OF)

BN
Akinori Iwamura
(TB - 2B)

SP
Tim Lincecum
(SF - SP)

SP
Daisuke Matsuzaka
(Bos - SP)

RP
Hong-Chih Kuo
(LAD - SP,RP)

RP
Takashi Saito
(Bos - RP)

P
Chien-Ming Wang
(NYY - SP)

P
Hiroki Kuroda
(LAD - SP)

P
Kenshin Kawakami
(Atl - SP)

BN
Hideki Okajima
(Bos - RP)

BN
Koji Uehara
(Bal - SP)

a lot of asian flavor there. must be a big fantasy league. are you really that high up on chien ming wang? the teaminconsistent was about to drop him.

the 5x champ teaminconsistent's line up is stout as well in a 16 team league with (unfortunately) no bench spots. pitching is stacked.

C ramon hernandez
1b carlos pena
2b dustin pedroia
3b alex gordon
ss stephen drew
lf ryan braun
cf chris young
rf matt kemp

sp josh beckett
sp matt garza
sp erik bedard
sp chien-ming wang
rp jonathan papelbon
rp joakim soria

That will be about a million strikeouts from your outfield.

That will be about a million strikeouts from your outfield.


And numerous injuries for that pitching staff.

NL East - Mets
NL Central - Cards
NL West - Dodgers
NL Wild Card - Cubs
NL Cy Yound - Zambrano
NL MVP - El Hombre
NL Playoffs - Cubs Defeat Mets, Cards Defeat Dadgers, Cards defeat Cubs

AL East - Red Sox
AL central - Indians
AL West - Angels
AL Wild Card - Yankees
AL Cy Young - Felix Hernandez
AL MVP - Grady Sizemore
AL Playoffs - Red Sox Defeat Indians, Yankees Defeat Angels, Yankees Defeat Red Sox

World Series - Cardinals Defeat Yankees

General predictions about the only division that matters

Cubs will underperform, but could still take it. Lilly will regress. Dumpster will regress. marmol can't even take over the closer's role. Harden will dominate, when he actually pitches. milton Bradley will return to his old form.

The Cards will be as expected. Meaning they will be mediocre.

Brew Crew. Haven't followed them, but if they still have Yost they will also underperform. If he was canned as he should have been, this will finally be their year.

Reds. Everyone's darling team every year and every year the same suck.

Pirates. No need for discussion.

Astros. Better than expected. Probably second behind the Cubbies or Brew Crew.

General predictions about the only division that matters

Cubs will underperform, but could still take it. Lilly will regress. Dumpster will regress. marmol can't even take over the closer's role. Harden will dominate, when he actually pitches. milton Bradley will return to his old form.

The Cards will be as expected. Meaning they will be mediocre.

Brew Crew. Haven't followed them, but if they still have Yost they will also underperform. If he was canned as he should have been, this will finally be their year.

Reds. Everyone's darling team every year and every year the same suck.

Pirates. No need for discussion.

Astros. Better than expected. Probably second behind the Cubbies or Brew Crew.


James I'll bet you $50 the Cards finish ahead of the Astros. Astros will be horrible.

1st Base - Advantage Cards both defense and offense
2nd Base - Push Cards advantage offense (Shumaker) and Astros advantage defense
Short Stop - Offensively a push, both teams could be good or bad at this position. Defense advantage Cards (Greene)
3rd - Advantage Cards, even with Glaus out the Cardinals backups are superior to the Astros starters, the STL backups may be event better than Glaus.
Outfield - Advantage Cards both offense and defense. STL will boasts one of the best outfields, both defensivly and offensively this year. Colby Rasmus will be a candidate for ROY based on his defense.
Cather - Advantage Cards both offense and defnese. Molina is the best defensive cathcer going right now and his offense finally caught up last year.
Starting Pitching - Advantage Cardinals. Even if Carpenter doesn't start 30 games the Cards and still better than Astros although Oswalt is the best pitcher on either team. Love the wizard!
Relief - Advantage Cards, Dave Duncan is a miricle worker.
Coaching - Advantage Cards, Larussa is the best in the business.
Front Office - Advantage Cards. The Astros have one of the worst owners in all of baseball. What a morron!

I predict the astors finish under .500, the cards will probably finish with 96 wins.

$50 between the Cards and Astros. Sure.

how about another on whether the Cards win 90?

$50 between the Cards and Astros. Sure.

how about another on whether the Cards win 90?


I am 100% confident the cards will have a better record than the stros.
I am only 75% confident they'll get to 90 games so I can't take that bet.

The Brew Crew is going back towards the bottom this year...all their arms are gone. Capuano is their ace...YIKES!

Betting on the Cards or the Stros is like betting on which fart will stink the worst, sure one will finish ahead of the other but they both STINK!

Here's to year 101 of the Cubs' dominance.

Time to put my neck on the chopping block as well:

NL West: Dodgers (though nothing out here inspires much confidence yet)
NL Central: Cubs (all that money should buy something)
NL East: Phillies
NL Wildcard: Mets

AL West: Angels (A's could make things interesting but they'll probably trade all the quality players by the end of July)
AL Central: Indians
AL East: BoSox
AL Wildcard: Tampa Bay

NL Playoffs: Dodgers over Phils, Cubs over Mets, Dodgers over Cubs (again Kevin)

AL Playoffs: Angels over Tampa Bay, BoSox over Tribe, BoSox over Angels

World Series: BoSox over Dodgers

The astute reader would notice a certain $200 million gorilla missing in all of this. I remain unconvinced that the Yankees have a team that can prevail. Teixeira was a great add, and CC should give them some good years before the buffet table takes its toll, but the whole doesn't add up to me. Relief? Mariano isn't getting younger and who will get to him anyway? Boston is the deepest in baseball and Tampa Bay plays correctly and has immense young talent.

Besides, there's nothing more glorious than the sounds of silence in the Bronx come October.

NL Central only:

Cubs (only to be swept again in the first round)
Cards (but not a serious WC contender -- the East is loaded)
Brewers
Reds
Astros (they're going to be bad -- Oswalt may demand a trade this year)
Pirates


Of course, I still think the Cubs rotation has a chance to set a record for DL days.

AL East
Yankees - Rays (WC) - Sox - Jays - O's
**note: The Sox entire second half against Rays/Yanks? ALL on the road.

AL Central
White Sox - Tigers - Indians - Twins - Royals
**note: The Twins are looking at an injury riddled season, that sucks.

AL West
Athletics - Angels - Mariners - Rangers
**Picking the A's over the Angels feels upsetish, but I like them.


NL East
Mets - Phillies (WC) - Braves - Marlins - Nationals
**Phillies go further in the playoffs.

NL Central
Cubs - Reds - Cardinals - Astros - Brewers - Pirates
**I like the Reds a lot... in 2010.

NL West
Dodgers - Giants - Padres - Diamondbacks - Rockies
**Giants are going to surprise a lot of inattentive people.

<font color="orange">first place baby! </font>

<font color="blue">YANKEES SUCK </font>

how bout dem o's?

YANKEES SUCK, GET OUT THE BROOMS!

All I can say is, of the 10 or so games I've watched so far this year,I've seen more horrendous ball/strike calls than ever before. Gonna be a long year...

sheesh

$50 between the Cards and Astros. Sure.

how about another on whether the Cards win 90?



How bout them Astros!!!

$50 between the Cards and Astros. Sure.

how about another on whether the Cards win 90?



Season is 10% complete.

Cards are 11-5
Astros are 6-10

At this pace the Cards will finish with 110-52 record.
At this pace the Atros will finish with a 60-102 record.

Most losses ever for an Astros team is 97.
Fewest wins ever for an Astros team is 61.

This could be a record setting year for the Stros!

April ends with the Cardinals having the best record in baseball ... SWEET!

And Zambrano heads to the DL.

If you had May 5th in the pool, congrats...

Manny got caught. That won't help the Dodgers.

Did anyone catch the act by the Astros a cuople of days ago. Cooper (the manager) submitted one line up card to the ups and posted a different one in the dugout which caused the Astros to bat out of order. Bourne singled in the place where Kaz should have been hitting, singled, and then Kaz was called out and Bourne had to re-hit. It was hilarious! Then the manager didn't even come out to explain anything as his player was getting noticably upset as the umps tried to explain what happened.

AHHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

P.S. The Cards just swept the Cubs :)

Matt Wieters to make debut against Detroit on Friday. I thinks I shall be watching, I'm curious about this so-called super prospect. He'll be facing Dontrelle Willis by the looks of things. He went 4-4 against AAA Toledo and Jeremy Bonderman (rehabbing, 7ip/2er) the other day.

I am 100% confident the cards will have a better record than the stros.
I am only 75% confident they'll get to 90 games so I can't take that bet.

Update ...

Season is 44% complete.

Cards are 40-32
Astros are 32-36.

At this pace the Cards will finish with a 90-72 record.
At this pace the Astros will finish with a 72-90 record.

Tigers at 42-33 and on pace for 90+ wins this year. RESTORE THE ROAR!

...and the Cub's quest for 101 years of demonstrated skill proceeds apace. 36-37 today.

"Wrigley Field is just a bar." - Ozzie Guillen

My kids were discussing this morning how lame it was when Getz was credited for stealing home on Sunday when Zambrano threw it about 15 feet outside.

And you've got Bradley for the fireworks for two more after this one.

We saw them (lose) in San Diego a month ago. My sons also noted during the Cubs bp that they had a bunch of short guys.

I'm off to score the Inland Empire 66ers game this morning. No more Manny. Dodgers seem to have done okay in the meanwhile.

Not sure how many saw this one but the Cards rookie Colby Rasmus hit a walk off last night. The kid is the real deal. He plays gold glove caliber defense, is blazing fast, and hits for power. He's a star in the making. Of course it always helps to be hitting in front of El Hombre.

For all you Blue lovers and haters out there, my three with Mr. Dodger on Sunday evening:

Dang, check out his boiler!

Funiest thing ever was him falling on his ***** at the all star game trying to avoid that flyign bat.

$50 between the Cards and Astros. Sure.

I'll take the $50 whenever you get a chance :)

Nothing is settled until October

Nothing is settled until October

Spoken like Larussa!

For all you Blue lovers and haters out there, my three with Mr. Dodger on Sunday evening:

Great pic for the kids, I'm going to have to dig up my pic when I got to meet the greatest ball player from Oklahoma, the Mick, Mickey Mantle.

On another note, As sorry as the CUBS have been this year, and they have been PITIFUL!!! I'm not quite ready to count them out...their schedule coming in is so weak. Other than 3 games with the red birds, the rest of the schedule are with the bottom feeders of the NL, 8 games with the Pirates, 4 w/ reds, 3 w/ Mets, 3 w/D-Backs, 6 with the Brew Crew and they may be able to help their own cause with 4 against the Giants at the end of month, of course they are in SF, so I'm not really completely counting them as wins. The Ants & Rocks have a tough schedule coming in. I'm more concerned with the Braves than the other two, we are only 5 games back in the L column.

If they did get in, this would be the year they won it, when they are absolutely horrible and don't have high expectations.

Man, the Redbirds just have to go 500 down the stretch to reach 90 and with 29 left to play at this current pace, well, that'd be 100 in the win column. Go Cards!

Great pic for the kids, I'm going to have to dig up my pic when I got to meet the greatest ball player from Oklahoma, the Mick, Mickey Mantle.

On another note, As sorry as the CUBS have been this year, and they have been PITIFUL!!! I'm not quite ready to count them out...their schedule coming in is so weak. Other than 3 games with the red birds, the rest of the schedule are with the bottom feeders of the NL, 8 games with the Pirates, 4 w/ reds, 3 w/ Mets, 3 w/D-Backs, 6 with the Brew Crew and they may be able to help their own cause with 4 against the Giants at the end of month, of course they are in SF, so I'm not really completely counting them as wins. The Ants & Rocks have a tough schedule coming in. I'm more concerned with the Braves than the other two, we are only 5 games back in the L column.

If they did get in, this would be the year they won it, when they are absolutely horrible and don't have high expectations.

The Cubs have a 0% chance of making the playoffs. They are beaten down. Sweet Lou looks like a beaten down and defeated man. This is not their year.

http://www.cubssuckclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/cubs-suck-100-yearc-celebrating.jpg

$50 between the Cards and Astros. Sure.



Cards magic number to finish better than the Stros is 2. :)

Oops! So much for the Bradley experiment...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4492590&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

About 2 years too late on this one :D.

Now if they can just fire their GM Wade and their Ownr they might be somewhere.

Nothing wrong with Wade. Not much with the owner, either, as I have witnessed much worse. Coop, however, was in above his head.

Cooper would have had to have been super
by Jon Heyman's

Astros management had a very high opinion of the team, much higher than anyone else. And that ultimately spelled the end for manager Cecil Cooper.

Cooper was one game over .500 in his nearly two-year tenure for the Astros, which seems about right since they have appeared -- at least to outsiders -- to be a fairly mediocre team. Cooper ultimately didn't appear all that popular with Astros management or players, so it's probably just as well they get a new man who will undoubtedly also be expected to deliver a lot more than is humanly possible.

Upon firing Cooper, Astros GM Ed Wade said he would "review every facet" of the organization. But apparently no one's reviewing Wade, whose streak as a non-playoff GM is now into its second decade.

Cooper himself predicted the Astros would win 90 games, which seemed preposterous during a spring training in which the Astros were easily the worst team in baseball. But Cooper probably understood by then that his bosses overrated the team, and he had no choice but to play along.

Realistically, this was probably a .500 team from start to finish. So Cooper did no better or worse than should have been expected. Yet in the end, even his well-known rapport with commissioner Bud Selig didn't help him in Houston, and he's gone.

Did anyone hear about the situation in Seattle this weekend? At the start of the game, their color guy predicted a just up rookie would get his first homer on his second at bat, 3 and 1 count, fast ball, into the second deck.

Pow, the call was 100% correct. Legends are made...

Look at the Phillies and tell me Wade is a bum. Much of their present success is Wade's handiwork. The line about his non-playoff streak is pretty lame given what he built at Philly.

For the Astros, he has done nothing wrong. Everyone knew that with years of terrible drafts, the Astros could at most hope to tread water, regardless of what any GM could do. Bourn for Lidge was brilliant. Getting Tejada for a bunch of mediocrity has given Astro fans a chance to watch an all-star during the off years. The Valverde trade worked. Most importantly, he has turned around the scouting department and increased the Latin and Asian presence. In short, he is laying a strong foundation for the future, much like he did at Philly.

Look at the Phillies and tell me Wade is a bum. Much of their present success is Wade's handiwork. The line about his non-playoff streak is pretty lame given what he built at Philly.

For the Astros, he has done nothing wrong. Everyone knew that with years of terrible drafts, the Astros could at most hope to tread water, regardless of what any GM could do. Bourn for Lidge was brilliant. Getting Tejada for a bunch of mediocrity has given Astro fans a chance to watch an all-star during the off years. The Valverde trade worked. Most importantly, he has turned around the scouting department and increased the Latin and Asian presence. In short, he is laying a strong foundation for the future, much like he did at Philly.

All good points. I hope you are right for your sake.

Frickin' unbelievable game! It's October baseball, and it's on. What a way to start.

Detroit fans might want to ask their 150 million dollar man to lay off the sauce around playoff time before they've clinched. It might simplify things...

3-0, bye-bye. Now we won't have to hear you guys yak on about the Cards and Cubbies until next spring at least.

p.s. I do have Albert for MVP and Wainright for the Cy Young. They had great seasons and deserve the NL awards.

3-0, bye-bye. Now we won't have to hear you guys yak on about the Cards and Cubbies until next spring at least.

p.s. I do have Albert for MVP and Wainright for the Cy Young. They had great seasons and deserve the NL awards.

Dream on.

News flash: the Cubbies are officially bankrupt and the Cards need to spend more time on the scrotum catch next spring; it cost em bigtime.

Dream on.

News flash: the Cubbies are officially bankrupt and the Cards need to spend more time on the scrotum catch next spring; it cost em bigtime.

3-0, bye-bye. Now we won't have to hear you guys yak on about the Cards and Cubbies until next spring at least.

p.s. I do have Albert for MVP and Wainright for the Cy Young. They had great seasons and deserve the NL awards.

Are they still playing baseball? I thought it was College Football season. Go Hawks!

Go Phillies!

Cubs off to a fine start, giving up two touchdowns and the safety. Zman starts the year as a trivia answer, giving up young Mr. Heyward's first jack in his first MLB at-bat. I think Zambrano's ERA is somewhere between 54.00 and his weight.

In the meantime, in the midwest, that Pujols guy is pretty good. Elbow didn't look like it was limiting him much.

How long before we hear from Kevin? 102 and the count continues...

And the Pittsburgh Pirates are 1-0! :) :) :)

Every year, I start out with high hopes...which are dashed within about 3 weeks. :(

Cubs off to a fine start, giving up two touchdowns and the safety. Zman starts the year as a trivia answer, giving up young Mr. Heyward's first jack in his first MLB at-bat. I think Zambrano's ERA is somewhere between 54.00 and his weight.

In the meantime, in the midwest, that Pujols guy is pretty good. Elbow didn't look like it was limiting him much.

How long before we hear from Kevin? 102 and the count continues...

Cubs looked TERRIBLE yesterday. Cards looked AMAZING. The world is right!

Cubs Schmubs. Wrong side of town. You have to see Buehrle's defensive play in the Sox 6-0 whitewash of Cleveland. You will not see a better, or crazier, defensive play. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100405&content_id=9091930&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Cubs Schmubs. Wrong side of town. You have to see Buehrle's defensive play in the Sox 6-0 whitewash of Cleveland. You will not see a better, or crazier, defensive play. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100405&content_id=9091930&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

WOW :eek:

$50 between the Cards and Astros. Sure.

how about another on whether the Cards win 90?

James care to serve as my personal ATM this year?

Another $50 on who has the better record, card or stros?

Let Go Bucs...two games above .500!!! Probably the highest above they'll be all year.

OMG the STROS are terrible. Clearly the worst team in baseball. James? Any thoughts?

OMG the STROS are terrible. Clearly the worst team in baseball. James? Any thoughts?

They aren't the worst; they just took a series from the cubbies. :)

They will finish mid-pack in the central.

Berkman looked good Sunday at the Dell, 3-4 2dubs 1 hr pulled in top 7--and the O's are the worst team in Baseball

They aren't the worst; they just took a series from the cubbies. :)

They will finish mid-pack in the central.

Good point James. I was watching SportsCenter and they said, "The Astros lost 7 of their frist 8 games but somehow they've got a chance to win a series ... AGAINST THE CUBS!" AND THEY DID. Cubs are bad too.

On a positive note, the Cardinals look great this year. Their pitching is off the hook. I am concerned about their lack of clutch hitting with runners on base, they are relying on the HR too much.

Nice $18million set-up man the Cubbies just found...

Nice $18million set-up man the Cubbies just found...

I laughed so hard when I read that.

KMACK WHERE U @?

And the Pittsburgh Pirates are 1-0! :) :) :)

Every year, I start out with high hopes...which are dashed within about 3 weeks. :(

Well, just as I predicted: after losing nailbiters like this one (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=300422123) and this one (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=300426108), the Pirates are already in last place. 20-0! Seriously?

A nineteenth consecutive losing season, here we come. :(

The bucs suck.....but they've got a great ballpark! :)

Padres are playing pretty good right now. Wouldn't have had them in sole possession of first this late in the season, that's for sure.

Well, just as I predicted: after losing nailbiters like this one (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=300422123) and this one (http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=300426108), the Pirates are already in last place. 20-0! Seriously?

A nineteenth consecutive losing season, here we come. :(


Finally a team\Fan to make a Cub FAN feel better about their situation...........

June 1, 2010 ... Houston Astros are the worst team in the NL w/ a .333 winning percentage! :D

June 1, 2010 ... Houston Astros are the worst team in the NL w/ a .333 winning percentage! :D

Finally a team\Fan to make a Pirates FAN feel better about their situation...........

Finally a team\Fan to make a Pirates FAN feel better about their situation...........

At least the Pirates have a sweet yard w/o a hill in center field.

That siad for lenght of time being a loser, I think the Pirates take the cake (unless you want to factor the Cubs 100+ years of futility into the mix).

Bender ... you out there ... check out my new shirt i just got!

For those not in the know this refers to the ultimate of all utility men, Jose Oquendo who played every position in the bigs! He also had the single best fielding season ever by a 2nd basemen playing 150+ games in 1990 (still Ryno won the gold glove, yes I am still bitter about that!) committing only 3 errors!

Ubaldo Jiminez

A reason to pay attention to the Nats every fifth day...

35 pitches at 98mph or more is sick. No walks. Wow.

a reason to pay attention to the nats every fifth day...

35 pitches at 98mph or more is sick. No walks. Wow.

dude is a freak!

11 straight losses for the Bucs...I don't think they could even beat a AAA team right now.

Time to tune out again...and with no more basketball or hockey and with the first regular season NFL game still almost 3 months away it's such a depressing time of year for sports...thank goodness for the World Cup!

Anyone see his latest? Is he still AWOL? Worst pitcher signing in recent memory. He got a lot more $ than Chan Ho Mistake. Clearly the Cubbies will want to get rid of him - will anyone be stupid enough to bite either now or later?

Manny is alleged to be doing rehab (that sounds right on multiple levels) with our Inland Empire 66ers this weekend. I'm scorekeeping Sunday and Monday and we'll see if the lemmings come out like they did last year and fill the coffers fully enough to pay for all the season's lax nights.

Wonder if he'll pay for the post-game spread this time...

Dallas Braden (209) will be pitching a rehab assignment in Stockton for the Ports this Thursday night. I wanna go.

Did anyone watch that yawner last night. My American Leaguers finally lost one. Bummer!

Manny is alleged to be doing rehab (that sounds right on multiple levels) with our Inland Empire 66ers this weekend. I'm scorekeeping Sunday and Monday and we'll see if the lemmings come out like they did last year and fill the coffers fully enough to pay for all the season's lax nights.

Wonder if he'll pay for the post-game spread this time...

You get to see a lot of those games in the cal league south? Sounds like fun.

I've been following Lancaster for two years now that they are the Astros affiliate. The league seems like a pitcher's nightmare. Last night, the box had 40 mph winds for the game. How does a pitcher keep his balance, or a fielder track a ball in those conditions. I take it Lancaster and the LA area are two very distinct places weather wise.

Scott, I saw your boys blow a big lead at Coors a couple of weeks ago. You need a shortstop. It was a helluva game. Lots of Cards fans. Of course, I was a Rockies fan for a day.

Scott, I saw your boys blow a big lead at Coors a couple of weeks ago. You need a shortstop. It was a helluva game. Lots of Cards fans. Of course, I was a Rockies fan for a day. No doubt, SS has been a sore spot for us all year. At least they took 2 of 3 from the stros though.

You get to see a lot of those games in the cal league south? Sounds like fun.

I've been following Lancaster for two years now that they are the Astros affiliate. The league seems like a pitcher's nightmare. Last night, the box had 40 mph winds for the game. How does a pitcher keep his balance, or a fielder track a ball in those conditions. I take it Lancaster and the LA area are two very distinct places weather wise.

I'm lucky and do get to see a lot of games. Mostly it as one of the official scorekeepers for the Inland Empire 66ers, my 8th season as such. Only about fifteen minutes from the house. Get between 25-30 games that way, which is a lot of fun for me given the focus it requires. Other perks: the best seat in the house, a lot of great baseball talk with others who know and love the game and a fair amount of beer money. And my sons get to come all the time, who are growing up playing and loving it too. It's real easy to talk the beloved into tons of games when it costs nothing and even pays!

Lancaster is at around 3000ft. above sea level and gets a lot of desert wind. There and High Desert (the Mariners Cal League affiliate) can wind up being arena baseball on any given night. Those fields play very differently than Rancho (5 minutes from the Innova HQ), Lake Elsinore and Inland Empire, which are far more pitcher friendly.

As to underscore your point, we went up to the High Desert game last night with a couple of the boys' friends and watched a crazy game. High Desert's field is below street level to mitigate against the obvious. Nevertheless, final line: Inland Empire 17 runs, 20 hits, no errors; High Desert 11 runs, 19 hits, 1 error. Though the wind was strong and blowing out, the pitchers on both sides sucked in a mop up game. Most of the hitting was legit, though a couple went further than they might have otherwise.

My 13 year old also caught his first ball clean (they ballhawk dozens), a Scott Van Slyke - Andy's kid - lazer at around 330' just foul in right field. Crowd went nuts, he was kudo'd by the bullpen, and Van Slyke was stoked to tell him "great catch" and sign it later.

I do love the minors.

Sounds like a great side job.

Congrats to the kid on the catch. I still hope for that chance at my age. :)

Finally got to go to my first game at Wrigley Field last week - first game after the All Star Break. Phillies score two in the top of the first - I'm thinking Oh No - but the balls were flying out that night. When I left to catch the Red Line back to downtown in the 8th, the Cubs were up 12-2! Found out the next day that the Phillies tried to make things interesting - the final score ended up being 12-6.

Speaking of interesting, my adopted hometown Rangers had a fun one last night! Not only a walk-off HR in the 14th inning, but also had a pitcher take a line drive to the noggin! Ouch!

Finally got to go to my first game at Wrigley Field last week - first game after the All Star Break. Phillies score two in the top of the first - I'm thinking Oh No - but the balls were flying out that night. When I left to catch the Red Line back to downtown in the 8th, the Cubs were up 12-2! Found out the next day that the Phillies tried to make things interesting - the final score ended up being 12-6.

Nobody here cares about the Cubs. :eek:

Agreed. Nobody cares about teams in the minor circuit!

Pirates futility paves way for 'lost generation' (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_691930.html)

:(

Pirates futility paves way for 'lost generation' (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/pirates/s_691930.html)

:(

Cards just swept the Pirates. Jeff, I feel for you, the Pirates are TERRIBLE. Their infield has no range. I remember when they where good ... Sid Bream, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, etc. And those painters hats ... where are those?

Cards just swept the Pirates. Jeff, I feel for you, the Pirates are TERRIBLE. Their infield has no range. I remember when they where good ... Sid Bream, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, etc. And those painters hats ... where are those?

I feel for Pirates fans, and I also feel for Cards fans who watched their team get taken to the woodshed by the Astros. :)

Btw, the Cubbie flag is now flying below the Astros'.

Brew Crew taking it to the Cubbies. Too bad neither team is going anywhere.

Astros swept the Brewers in the series before. Look out, they have some pitching down there.

whooo hoooo! thanks, pittsburgh for helping the O's out of last place in the MLB. WE'RE #29!!!

O's are 8-1 under showalter. we should have hired him 13 yrs ago.

Baseball officially died on Monday night (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/10/baseball-officially-died-on-monday-night/1)

Wow, this really puts things in perspective. Last night's MNF football game was absolutely painful to watch - just pathetic from so many angles - and yet it still beat out the ALCS baseball game in TV ratings 7.2 - 6.5. :eek:

I just want the Series to go 7 games. I'm pretty neutral on who wins. Just give lots more games, OK???? Please???

Good pitching beats good hitting.

Great pitching wins World Series rings. Looks like the post-Bonds era Giants have chosen well. One more to go...

Have you watched Lincecum most of his career? I only see him sporadically.

The loss of velocity in his fastball. Usually up in the zone with it. His secondary stuff is great, and his fastball plays a little faster due to his deception, but he doesn't look nearly as scary as he used to (in my limited observations). Am I off here?

Have seen him since his days in the minors. He's an awfully good pitcher (as opposed to thrower), all the more impressive given his age. Your dead right about his use of secondary pitches, which he uses at all times when his game is on.

The fastball velocity question will remain a live one until/unless he regains it, but then he was hitting legit mid-90s for a couple of years which made him nearly unhittable given the whole package. Getting the late round up out here gave me plenty of chances to watch him lose 2-1 or 1-0 regularly the last two years, often complete games. I'd put him up there with Felix and (an in-form) Greinke as among the best starters at making batters look bad, often.

There are mutterings about some back issues which will only become clearer with time. Apparently he has finally started doing stretching and conditioning seriously given some of his strains. Early on he was legendary for his nearly immediate startups without much warming up. A bit Griffeyesque... But natural talent can only last so long given the rigors of the game.

His motion is, as they say about him, freakish. First time I saw it I wondered about his long-term durability, but there are "experts" out there who think his mechanics work very well. That much torque from a small-framed guy is counter-intuitive. Again, time will tell.

Tonight is as big a stage as it gets. He won't be afraid. Him vs. Lee is a great matchup, and hopefully better baseball than Game #1 was.

Timmy performed tonight when it mattered most. It's never bigger nor better than what he just accomplished. A ring and two Cys; that's a great career and he's got plenty left.

Great baseball, which many didn't bother to watch.

Hats off to the Rangers, who performed very well and lost in a series of arms, as it should be. They have a bright future if they continue down the road they have started. The Angels have some chasing to do.

Time to get the chatter going.

For tradition's sake I will start with the following, a simple koan almost:

CIII

Hey Cubs fans, what does the above mean?

Bill, I got to watch the Giants twice. Huff is one bad outfielder. Braunesque.

Scott and Tony, the Cards will blow this year.

Kevin, what is the over/under for Cubbie wins? 115?

Bill, I got to watch the Giants twice. Huff is one bad outfielder. Braunesque.

Scott and Tony, the Cards will blow this year.

Kevin, what is the over/under for Cubbie wins? 115?

HAHAHAHA too funny.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-passan_pirates_braves_blown_call_replay_072711

http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/670132/HomeTag2.gif.opt.gif

Safe, Braves win

Go Rangers!

Wow. Game 6 was one heck of an exciting ball game!

Go Rangers!

Game 6 was a hell of a baseball game!!! It ain"t over till it's over....As a lifelong Cardinals fan, I'm glad my heart didn't blow up during game 6. Great baseball game IMO!!!
Now I got to have a heart attack in game 7....****!!!

WOW! Doesn't get much more exciting than that!

Now if they could just catch and throw baseballs...