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
Ben Reiter of Sports Illustrated makes the case for the hefty hurler:
The list of major league pitchers who enjoyed extended and successful careers despite carrying some excess meat on their bones is as long as those hurlers are wide. Mickey Lolich, Rick Reuschel, David Wells, Fernando Valenzuela, Sid Fernandez: None of those gents was ever called upon to pose in his Jockeys, the way Jim Palmer once did for a national ad campaign. But each pitched effectively into at least his mid-30s, and between them they accounted for 17 All-Star Game selections, 10 top 5 finishes in the Cy Young balloting, a no-hitter and a perfect game. Then there was the fellow with the 2.28 career ERA who might have been the best of them all had he not discovered early on that he was even more talented with a bat than with a ball. He was a cherubic chap—not as big as he'd become, but no waif either. Went by the nickname the Babe.
Now CC Sabathia is a free agent, and given his age (28) and his résumé, he might be the most coveted pitcher ever to hit the market. Since 2001, when he entered the majors, Sabathia ranks fourth in strikeouts, fifth in wins and eighth in innings pitched. He pitched so well after being traded in July from the Indians to the Brewers—he went 11--2 with a 1.65 ERA—that he finished sixth in the NL MVP voting even though he was a National Leaguer for just half the season. Had he won the award, it would have marked the first time that one league's MVP was twice the size of the other's. (The AL MVP was Boston's diminutive second baseman Dustin Pedroia.) And the pitcher's size, some observers believe, represents a serious problem.
Sabathia is listed at 6'7" and 290 pounds, although one wonders if the scale involved in that measurement was borrowed from an especially disreputable pawn shop. He is a behemoth—only 295-pound reliever Jumbo Brown, who began a 12-year career in 1925, is heavier among pitchers in big league history. Sabathia's bulk has long caused baseball pundits to question his long-term durability, and a subset of Red Sox fans has even begun to express hope that the Yankees (who two weeks ago offered him a six-year, $140 million contract, a record for a pitcher) will sign him, the Sox supporters believing that he'll either break down or eat himself into oblivion. In a recent ESPN the Magazine column in which he listed several reasons why he loves sports, noted Red Sox fan Bill Simmons wrote, "Reason No. 947: The thought of 365-pound CC Sabathia laboring through a 98° game at Yankee Stadium in 2012 with four more years and $105 million remaining on his contract. Please, God. I don't ask for much."
But the message from each of the half-dozen experts contacted for this piece—a group that included doctors, academics and pitching gurus (none of whom know or have personally examined Sabathia)—was uniform: Be careful what you pray for, Mr. Simmons. While signing a pitcher to a free-agent deal always represents a gamble, they concede, the odds that he'll stay healthy aren't lengthened as you move from L to XXXL. In layman's terms, one can effectively be both a pitcher and a belly-itcher. "I'm not aware of any evidence that directly correlates size with injury," says the University of Washington's Dr. Stanley Herring, who is a team physician for the Mariners and the Seahawks. "It's not just size. It's lean body mass, training, conditioning, power, strength, endurance. There are a lot of pitchers who make you want to say, 'Hey, man, put a shirt on—this isn't pretty.' But it's not just what the package looks like; it's what's inside." ...
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My daughter likes to type e-mails to me from my cellphone. Here's what she sent me Wednesday night:
11-26-08, Happy birthday :-) :-( ! Do you see the faces? They mean good news and bad news. The good news is, it's your birthday. The bad news is, you are old. Bye-bye! :-) :-(
Aren't kids great?
Possibly.
Will CC be the highest paid pitcher in MLB history (in real dollar terms)?
Not sure.
Will CC be the best pitcher in MLB history?
Probably not.
I'm still just muddling through this, but wanted to bounce it off the sounding wall that is Dodger Thoughts.
He'd get a 5-year contract from the Dodgers.
Okay, speaking of roly-poly athletes, it's time to bike off some of yesterday's porkitude.
Added weight may cause accleerated wear and tear on the hip joint of the drive leg - Observe Broxton and the way he "drags" his right leg when he walks.
Added weight may cause accelerated wear on the knee and ankle joints of the "landing leg".
Jus' say'in
But that's what I thought about Dick Stockton.
Worst ...
Fake ...
Field ...
Goal ...
Ever ...
Reiter mentions Sid Fernandez. We traded him for two NY Met stiffs. He went on to have a fabulous -- and long -- MLB career. I wonder if Al Campanis peddled him because he was thought to be overweight?
At least we can be sure with respect to these porcine athletes that they are probably not on steroids.
You competitive runners out there have observed the phenomena of heavy guys who finish marathons with respectable times. Some of us have even been lapped by them.
CC and the Ox both throw hard. My uneducated guess is that they would not throw as hard were they lighter.
I don't worry about CC's career longevity. I hope Ned signs him, though that seems unlikely.
5 years/$45 million or 2 years/$36 million?
Maybe the body snatchers have moved again.
Nice one, Forbath!
...What? No? You actually want to win games? What a novel concept.
There is a chance, but I will be hoping beyond hope it is not the case.
At least our punting game is looking good tonight.
There's only one Kevin Craft
One Kevin Craft
There's only one Kevin Craft
http://www.sportsline.com/nba/players/playerpage/307816
We should have put in Prince early in the year.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are toying with the Mavs early.
I think Prince will, though Brehaut is coming in early. I would love if it is him.
2 maybe 3 year deal would be fine in my book.
Oh my, Carp to McGaha for 26 yards......100 yards total offense is now in sight.
ASU offense 0
ASU defense 21 (Thank you Kevin Craft)
ASU ST 3
UCLA 9
Wow Craft. Even Jarrett Lee at LSU thinks this is bad.
UCLA gave up 14 points on interception returns, and the Lakers went on a 23-6 run.
I really hope Rick and someone (I'm guessing not Weis) turn UCLA and ND around. I really enjoy both rivalries, and while I'm still excited for tomorrow and next Saturday, it's not the feeling I'm used to leading up to ND week and UCLA week.
88 - I've got them both on my fantasy team, seems to be that when I have to choose between them, whichever one sits on my team has the great game. If I fall too far behind in the fantasy league, I may sit them both the rest of the season, just in case.
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/mlb/awards/y2008/tyib/index.jsp
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