Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
Tonight, I read to my kids Gibby's Homer, the first book in the Daddy's Heroes series, written by Tom Garcia and Karun Naga and illustrated by Jenifer J. Donnelly. It was a fun read, and my kids seemed to enjoy it even though Dodger baseball, for the most part, still means the ambivalent prospect of having to sit in a loud stadium for two hours or so.
My daughter found the story exciting, but her favorite part was this:
Tommy loved to eat Italian food, especially pasta.
Same with her!
And can we have some love for my Crimson, who beat the tar out of George W. Bush University today in New Haven, not only destroying their perfect season, but taking the Ivy League title in the process?
"386 - Terry's Bench Coach blog was one of my favorites. It was a shame when that went away."
You, sir, are far too kind. Far too kind.
"That top post is more than four thousand words long. Which makes me suspect Terry A., except I don't think he's old enough."
HA! I thought just yesterday that I should repost the record-holding post (316 words, IIRC). But I wasn't sure anybody remembered the achievement. We're about three weeks from its one year anniversary.
I think you hold the record for longest LUCID comment.
No streakers this year?
I think my record, if indeed it still stands, is for the longest single sentence.
But "lucid" may be giving it too much credit.
http://tinyurl.com/2b5hnb
It would have been more surprising if the Incas had built cantilever bridges. Or bascule bridges.
Maybe that's how you ended up with twins too.
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Strike, you sure you don't have triplets?
Anyway, they can't go wrong with either school.
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I love the artist rendering of both Eckersley and Gibson in Gibby's Homer. I should go out and make some children just so I can read that to them. Speaking of which, any word from Humma re: Spawn Of...?
It took real incompetence to triple post. It took lots of practice to have twins.
An outfield of Rowand, Kemp, and Eithier with Young and Repko as the backups works for me. I personally would keep third open for LaRoche as I still think he is going to be a relatively good everyday major league third baseman. Also, think Young has a bat we could really use, although he reminds me of Antonio Perez for some reason.
So which schools could replace Oregon State?
San Diego State
Colorado Boulder
Utah
BYU
Nevada
New Mexico would be an awesome addition to the conference, but that's probably pushing it in terms of distance.
Oregon State for years was one of the best teams in the conference not named UCLA. They could become good again.
http://tinyurl.com/yocxlb
http://tinyurl.com/2wccnk
Good thing Greg Brock is holed up in a poker game tonight.
Last week, the same writer said USC fans expected too much out of their team and were spoiled.
Of course now, USC has a very good chance of winning the Pac-10 and going to the Rose Bowl.
After Juan Pierre comes the Los Angeles Kings and then why isn't there an NFL team in L.A.
Add the Dodgers to the list of teams pursuing Mike Lowell...
http://tinyurl.com/3bdr69
Ignoring that newspaper would help LA sports fans a lot.
Sometimes I wish we were a small market team.
They have seen A-Rod go back to the Yankees, leaving more money on the table had he just negotiated the extension. And now, teams seem very willing to wait for the arbitration deadline to aproach and see if teams offer it to their marginal free agents before signing them.
Lowell reportedly has a 3 year offer on the table from the Red Sox and I seriously doubt he will get another team to bump that up a year (which he wants so he can go back to Boston).
It even has a librarian in a supporting role.
I wouldn't give up any of the Dodgers best young players for 2 years of Cabrera. I want to work toward a ten year team.
That's about as long a sentence as I can write and stay somewhat coherent.
About the only impact is that BYU doesn't want to play on Sunday. The basketball tournament finishes on a Saturday, so I'm not sure this is a big deal.
It's a Festivus miracle!
Yeah, but what had they done for Uncle Miltie lately?
No religious schools in the Pac-10? What about the Fighting Methodists?
The Mets may bring back Lo Duca after all. And it doesn't seem like any Mets fan likes him.
I stand by my antecedent.
Are you still standing by "appallingly bad management"?
Yes.
But I'm more worried about gpellamjr's disapproval of my pronoun use.
Bugs: It's true, Doc; I'm a rabbit all right. Would you like to shoot me now or wait 'til you get home?
Daffy: Shoot him now! Shoot him now!
Bugs: You keep outta this! He doesn't have to shoot you now!
Daffy: He does so have to shoot me now! [to Elmer] I demand that you shoot me now!
[Elmer raises his gun. As Daffy sticks his tongue out at Bugs, he is shot. Daffy walks back over to Bugs, gunsmoke pouring out of his nostrils]
Daffy: [to Bugs] Let's run through that again.
Bugs: Okay.
Bugs: [deadpan] Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home.
Daffy:[similarly] Shoot him now, shoot him now.
Bugs: [as before] You keep outta this, he doesn't have to shoot you now.
Daffy Duck: [re-animated] Hah! That's it! Hold it right there! [to audience] Pronoun trouble. [to Bugs] It's not "he doesn't have to shoot you now", it's "he doesn't have to shoot me now"
[Pause]
Daffy: [angrily] Well, I say he does have to shoot me now!! [to Elmer] So shoot me now!
[Elmer shoots Daffy again]
We lost our faith.
It would be a great deal...for the Dodgers.
That would be amazing.
I think I shall change my handle to "ColumbusDodger".
As long as I understand what I write, I don't care what others think.
I think I'm going to abandon subject-verb agreement. And the use of the objective case.
I thought it was obvious that "him" referred to Lo Duca.
It seems to favor the Dodgers quite a bit, but it does almost look believable. Pierre might fit Guillen's style, and they (Sox) may not want to spend upwards of $75 million to sign one of the available CF's when they could have Pierre for essentially $6 million a year factoring in Garland's contract.
Jerry Owens, Darin Erstad, Luis Terrero, Brian Anderson, et al.
Sox's hunt for OF is on
>> In addition to landing a center fielder of Hunter's caliber, Williams must retool a horrendous bullpen and possibly acquire an accomplished leadoff hitter. <<
http://tinyurl.com/2dnloz
Yep. The White Sox are the only team in the league for whom 2007 Juan Pierre is an upgrade.
Stranger things have happened. And, as someone may have mentioned, perhaps this was the deal Colletti referred to where the team (Sox) got cold feet?
Bob Gebhard
Dan O'Dowd
Brian Sabean
Jim Hendry
Dave Dombrowski
Who's nuts enough to use their real name?
For fun, can anyone post any other rumors that had the Dodgers coming out on top?
For fun, can anyone post any other rumors that had the Dodgers coming out on top?
Meloan is a small price to pay when you can get rid of Slappy.
Talk in Chicago is the Dodgers are trying to move Pierre to them for Garland and may be willing to include Meloan to get the Sox to take on Pierre's contract. The Sox have been offering Contreras straight up to take on the contract but LA has not yet bitten.
It sounds fake. Why does it sound fake? Because Pierre for Contreras was something I thought up of a couple days ago.
Another possibility, the bait and switch. Broxton for Meloan?
Phil Dawson 51 yard field goal is No Good.
Kick hit crossbars and bounced back.
Play Challenged by Replay Assistant and REVERSED. P.Dawson 51 yard field goal is GOOD.
Yea my bad. I meant dodgers.com message board.
sorry to get your hopes up.
No way.
1. Pierre
2. Contreras at 2/20 and Rowand at 3/45
For Contreras, I wouldn't. For Garland, I probably wouldn't mind. I think he could be above league average next year and 200+ innings of 4.00 ERA or so is worth it.
Plus you would get two draft picks after that.
I think the good people of Baltimore will be quite angry, but the good people of Cleveland will have a win over one of the few sports owners more unpopular than Walter O'Malley ever was in Brooklyn.
Of course, I wouldn't mind it if they just moved Pierre to the bench, but can't see Dodger management doing that.
Today's game = Awesome.
I am surprised that we spend so much time writing about Meloan. The key is that Pierre will be eliminated. THAT is the beauty of it. Never in a million years did I think we could trade him. With Either and Kemp plus a new CF who can play good outfield and has an arm that keeps teams from going 1st to 3rd on a single will help the pitching staff.
I am convinced that eith Either, Kemp or Pierre are going to be traded because I would guess that the Rowand deal is good as done. If it takes Meloan to get rid of Pierre, no problem.
Factor in the cost of a new centerfielder like Rowand or Jones, and it might not be worth it.
I've spent the last 2 years trying to get dads more involved in reading at my kids' school. Hard work sometimes, but every now and then you hear about something like Daddy's heroes and it motivates you a bit more.
And please Ned, don't trade Kemp...please!
If we can get rid of Pierre we should offer Jones a short deal. He has the best defense of the free agent centerfielders and he has pop at least.
Boston Globe article about Miggy the Piggy. Some good quotes from a special assistant to Colletti.
The Dodgers have good young players they could give up like James Loney, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton, Clayton Kershaw, and Andy LaRoche, but they are drawing a line. Cabrera is a heck of a player, but Lajoie is very protective of the Dodgers' young talent.
Terrell Owens begins career in SF, Jeff Garcia magically becomes an incredible QB.
Terrell Owens is traded to Philadelphia, Donovan McNabb magically becomes an incredible QB. Garcia, not so much.
Terrell Owens is traded to Dallas, Tony Romo magically becomes an incredible QB. McNabb, not so much.
anyone else see a pattern here?
More unpopular than Frank McCourt currently is in Vero Beach? :-)
McNabb was good before TO. His numbers just got better, because he actually had a talented wide receiver.
Joe Montana quarterbacked a 49ers team to a Super Bowl win without Jerry Rice on the team.
Dwight Clark + Freddie Solomon < Jerry Rice
But he wasn't an "incredible" QB then.
I'm like a campaign manager.
McNabb was good before and after TO.
TO was not nearly as effective before Romo. Bear in mind he played half of last year with other QBs.
The catch was better than the throw. But either way, it was one play. Big deal.
Don't forget Lazarus dying.
Then I'd skimp on "skill" positions, because once you have a great offensive line, the rest falls into place anyway.
I'm not sure if the defensive line is as important, but if it is, I would follow the same approach.
And coming forth. I'm pretty sure that's on Jesus's Greatest Hits album.
That is actually the Eagles way of building their teams. They try to build the defensive and offensive lines. Then worry about QB, RB, and rest of skill positions.
It definitely makes sense.
The drawback is it's probably not a great way to put butts in the seats. Only fans like Bob watch the offensive line.
Patriots are like that too, but they have to pay attention to linebackers more because they run the 3-4.
I don't watch offensive line play at a football game. Too many years of stat keeping at prep games made me always follow the ball.
A team with an offensive line that had five Jonathan Ogdens and the present Miami Dolphins backfield would be pretty gruesome to watch.
Their offensive line undoubtedly gets the credit for Brady's success. Well, that and the cheating.
I didn't mean you per se, but rather your football equivalent.
And you can go back to the "Otto Graham isn't great" club I suppose. Or the really hard core "Sid Luckman isn't great" and "Sammy Baugh isn't great".
May I play in this debate? Thank you.
1) Joe Montana is the best quarterback of the modern era. I consider the modern era to be any time after "receiver-can-run-free-free-born-free without being harassed" rule changes.
Before that time, Johnny U.
2) According to my informal poll/conversations with San Franciscans, the popularity of Barry Bonds is based on three things...
a) Lots of fairweather fans thanks to Pac-Bell. In other words, the place is full of non-baseball fans. It's a celebrity thing. The fairweather fan doesn't pay attention to the steroid issue and is much more interested in the novelty of attending the ballpark.
b) San Franciscans don't get why their guy is being attacked while 40% of baseball was using the juice. (If I had a dollar for every time I heard the 40% argument, I'd still be at City Lights buying books.)
c) He's their guy. "If he was your guy, you'd be cheering for him, too."
FWIW...
The "he's their guy" is the one I've always believed.
Current players that is.
Yeah, rule 8's just cover the entire board.
180 This may be a rule 8 violation but here goes.
The late Bill Walsh and I had an animated conversation on this very subject. I was a firm believer that John Elway was the best QB for many of the reasons talked about on this thread. Now, when I say "animated conversation" know that I was the one animated, Dick Enberg was the one who was annoyed the conversation was even happening and Walsh was responding to my rambling (I was star struck) in an even-handed, focused manner with a smile on his face that said, "Yes, I hear your point, but..." look.
I'll never forget what he said that not only turned me around but ended the conversation: "Joe Montana gave us the edge at the QB position in every game we played. No one was better prepared, no one made fewer mistakes, no one played harder and I never, ever coached a better athlete. Not many people talk about what a great athlete Joe was--his speed, his jumping ability, his quickness and his strength. John Elway was a great quarterback and I would never apologize for having him on my team. But Montana was just a little bit better than anyone who ever played." And then he grabed my hand and said, "And I really appreciate this conversation."
I like to think he meant that last part.
I think I just broke Rule 13.
The guy couldn't run very fast, couldn't throw very far. If you want to praise his "clutchness" and "magic" and "leadership" and "decision-making ability" and all that jazz, that's one thing.
But the best athlete Walsh ever coached? Come on! Was he a better athlete than Jerry Rice? Was he faster? Stronger? Quicker?
Gimme a break.
I'm starting to realize that I'm supposed to be a responsible adult now.
I'll be off to the local bakery tomorrow looking for a peach pie instead.
That's a little harsh.
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Parity is back today, but the Patriots don't want to co-operate. 12 minutes until Laker Time!
188 is just ridiculous. 'Nuf said.
The correct answer played a game one day later than two other guys.
I've got a 14-month old, and I don't remember the Gibson home run (I was six at the time, and living in Switzerland).
Even so, I think it is a bit unfair to say there has not been a great Dodger moment since then. When times are tough, I think back to my sweet memories of the Spring of '99. A new sheriff in town, some huge FA signings, a new coach, etc. We were widely regarded as the class of the NL.
No matter how bad Dodger baseball gets, I'll always have the Spring of '99. Kevin Malone, thanks for the memories.
I thought you were going to call me when you were in SF...?
Ouch.
Isn't Turiaf hurt?
Didn't Cook used to be a good outside shooter?
I would have thought at least one of the answers were Dodgers, but Ramon Martinez (20 in 1988) ended his career in May 2001. Hershiser mercifully ended hi career in June 2000.
Jose Canseco & Stan Javier both ended their careers on 10/6/01, and Mark McGwire was one day later.
The worst part is that the Lakers extended him.
Also I was referring to participants in the game, so Ramon Martinez wouldn't have counted anyway.
1988, I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.
I agree, but I don't think Greg Brock, Suffering Bruin, et al are "mongrel dogs." :)
They just went for it on 4th & 1 at the 3 yard line, up 35-7 with 9 minutes left in the 3rd. Villains indeed.
I feel sorry for Bills fans, but there is absolutely no reason to feel sympathy or sorrow to Duke fans.
And we helped facilitate this with the Moss trade, which at the time I thought was a good thing.
I'm going to go out on a limb and make him the favorite for league MVP.
And it doesn't help with Moss now over 1,000 yards and 16 TD through less than 10 games. Nice to see that kind of effort the last few year in Oakland!
Not saying the Patriots won't be different, but I seem to recall plenty of other inevitabilities that never inevitabilitized.
Watchmen Babies in V for Vacation.
I remember my friends giving up on the '88 Dodgers, saying they could never beat the A's. Buck up.
Naomi Faye was born Friday, 7 lbs, 20 inches long. She looks like her daddy!
Bride and Spawn are both doing well.
Haven't read the thread, but I hope jasonungar has weighed in and that his family is doing well, too.
225 congratulations mr. humma k!
225 - Congrats!
btw, it's looking like the axe has a good shot at returning to palo alto this year. i'm not looking forward to the big game. cal's season has been arguably crueler than stanford's season last year.
But ...
http://www.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/stories/111807aap.html
I will boo him from my couch.
[boo]
I however do not dislike him as much as D4P dislikes Joe Montana, which is akin to saying that the Yankees only won a lot of World Series despite Joe DiMaggio's contributions.
Congratulations to the HK family.
The #1 UCLA women's soccer squad routed Oklahoma State 4-0.
Athletic Director Eric Taylor was there to offer support.
So you're using the Gary Sheffield standard to judge Jordan Farmar's background?
Joakim Noah would boo you Daniel if given the opportunity.
Do me a favor and tell the Simpsons writers that, also.
yeah, you guys haven't had a good season, but you weren't a hair's breadth from being ranked #1 (not that we were actually THAT good, but still), only to fall into a 6-game death spiral. you guys even beat USC, which is something to feel pretty good about.
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225 - Major congrats on health Spawn, Humma! Enjoy her! Named after Naomi Watts of course...?
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Man, I officially hate the Patriots.
I'm tired, and headed the ball a few too many times in our game tonight, and my ability to type coherent sentences is a bit impaired. And stuff. What was I talking about?
Stanford and UCLA could have mirror seasons in a sense.
Stanford could lose to Cal, but beat Notre Dame and UCLA.
UCLA beat Cal, lost to Notre Dame, and will likely lose to USC unless Osaar Rasshan is taken over the spirit of Norman Dow.
Um. Is that a good thing, or should we be commisserating with her? ;)
Congrats either way, of course!
But they're so sexy to watch - Like the Cobra Kai Imperial Yankees (sponsored by Standard Oil and Microsoft).
A 19-0 season for the Patriots would finally make the 1972 Dolphins shut up.
And many other people would be unhappy and I would take glee in that.
That's the absolute best reason to root for the Pats to go 19-0.
I would gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.
http://tinyurl.com/2g34rh
Both, actually.
In other news, Rosenthal is reporting Luis Castillo back to the Mets for 4/$25m.
The Mets also get a 1st rounder (#18) from the Braves for Glavine signing before the deadline to offer arbitration. The pick could change if the Braves sign another free agent rated higher than Glavine (79.327 out of 100 per Elias), but it's unlikely the budget-conscious Braves would sign a higher ranked (and thus more expensive) player.
Why did the Braves sign Glavine now? Wasn't it a no-brainer that he was coming back anyway? Couldn't they have waited until after December 1 to see if the Mets didn't offer him arbitration? Glavine made $13m in 2007, so he would have cost the Mets at least $10.4m in 2008 (a 20% cut) if he accepted their arbitration offer, so it's plausible that they wouldn't offer him arbitration.
I'm still bitter that the Astros pulled the same thing last year, benefiting the Padres by signing Woody Williams when it was clear he wasn't coming back to San Diego.
You better be watching The Griddle closely tomorrow to find out who will win the AL MVP.
I anticipate a close vote.
SO glad someone else agrees with me. If I have to sit through many more "well, the 72 dolphins are poppin' their champagne bottles right about now!" comments every time the last undefeated loses I'm going to go crazy.
Good man. If you were old enough, you'd probably hate the 80s-90s 49ers more. But given your age, you're doing just fine.
The Patriots should have a loss in the standings. Without it, they get an asterisk. Talk way, 72 Dolphins.
Have you tried tying an onion to your belt?
Nice detour from the world of political correctness
May Naomi have a glorious life.
And she may never learn how you spent three months calling her Spawn of Kavula in a room full of sortof-butnotreally-strangers.
So we'll have two insufferable teams claiming to be the true last undefeated team.
It'll be like trying to decide the real Mississippi delegation to the 1964 Dem Convention in Atlantic City.
With Tom Brady as Fannie Lou Hamer.
.docx is the file association for the new Word '07 based around xml and incompatible with all previous versions of Word. This is true for the entire Office suite and all of the extensions have the additional 'x' added to denote this.
You can either have whoever gave you the original file save it in the old file format or get the compatibility pack from Microsoft to enable the old versions of Word the ability to read the new file format.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924074
http://tinyurl.com/2xp8e3
So we'll have two insufferable teams claiming to be the true last undefeated team.
All the more reason to want New England to lose.
My only wish for the NFL is a good Super Bowl, for once. My preference would be for the Packers to beat the Patriots, with Favre finally winning a title and the Patriots having their unbeaten streak broken in the Super Bowl. This would put a pox on both the Patriots and the Dolphins, since the Patriots would have the longer streak but no Super Bowl that season.
I think Favre already won a title, back in super bowl XXXI, over the Patriots.
279 was an exception.
It's as if they know what the other team's offense is gonna do before they do it...
And it doesn't seem like Belichick is in the mood to let up on anyone this year.
1. Patriots go undefeated up to Super Bowl
2. Rams win remaining 6 games, make playoffs, make it to Super Bowl
3. Rams beat Patriots in Super Bowl, gaining some measure of revenge and ending Patriots undefeated season.
Man oh man, that would be sweet.
Although to be honest, I have violated Rule 11 on a couple of occasions. But nobody caught me.
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