Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jon's other site:
Screen Jam
TV and more ...
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
Santa brought some Dodger prospects (here rated by John Sickels at Minor League Ball).
A continued happy holidays, everyone.
As a regular lurker and only occasional poster, allow me to wish everyone here a very Merry Christmas. My following of the Dodgers, now almost fify years strong, has been enhanced by your comments and community.
if it's the dodgers, then surely that must've just been an oversight rather than an intentional slight. surely....
McDonald made tremendous strides during the '07 season, but it's hard to believe that BA thought so little of him before the season.
Oh..Merry Christmas...!
I love seeing some of our best commentators over there too, giving some fine insights on our guys, and Logan White's drafts... Peace.
http://tinyurl.com/2uzmc9
I've been very fortunate to have two kids, who both enjoy singing, so I've heard lots of these sorts of renditions live over the years. My daughter happens to be in one of the choirs represented here, too. Enjoy.
Seriously, great list. I can't think of a better Xmas present than the secure knowledge that the Dodgers are hip-deep in prospects.
Okay, I can think of a few but I'm just sayin'...
Hopefully this time next year the Doyars have an '08 NLCS trophy on the mantle next to the Tree!
That's not something I figure would spark a jihad in the average person.
It was the arrival of many Yankee fans of the loutish variety (such as inhabit the many mlb.com message boards, you know the type) to Sickels' blog when his Yankee list appeared immediately following his Red Sox list that went over the top in incivility and seem to have precipitated a mini nervous breakdown on Sickels' part. I'm pleased to note that, so far, Dodger fans have behaved themselves nicely, although there was one post from some other team's supporters that slipped.
I find that beyond weird. But at least I understand what was going on.
That was hilarious, "spark a jihad". I am now the "crazy guy" at work for laughing out loud at my pc.
Merry Christmas everyone, especially to my fellow peons who have the misfortune of working today.
My best present of the day, you ask? Well a 10 game mini plan for 2008. See ya'll on opening day!
http://www.classical89.org/
Merry Christmas everyone.
Live and learn.
St. Louis, that's God's Country! Say hi to my brother!
Merry Xmas everyone!
The only other club that must pay the competitive-balance tax, as it is formally known, is the World Series champion Boston Red Sox, who owe $6.06 million.
As for me, I'm debating making it out to see "Control," the new Ian Curtis/ Joy Division documentary or staying at home to enjoy the Lakers play the Suns.
I really can't decide.
pretty sure it's sickels' wife who is warning the world to be civil, whatever that means.
12
agreed. anybody unrelated to the named parties who feels genuine emotion over the "rating" of a player needs to assess what is or isn't important in their lives... or knock it off. either way, it's whack.
merry christmas to all.
Yes, I do...far too much. I will be back on after the new year. User name is "Lyle Hutz"
COD4 is probably the best multi player game I have ever played on Xbox live.
if you don't catch it on t.v. you can also see it on there website.
I think it's VH1 OR VH1Classic (not sure) hey Vishal how did you get your nick? (pretty cool, always liked it)
It's a shame I don't show them here.
two top drafted players missing
Josh Wall (2nd rounder)- Don't write him off yet. He made strides last year and still has a ton of projection left in him.
Preston Mattingly (Supp 1st)- I realize his last season was absolutely horrible, but players as raw as Mattingly need more than one year before any judgment can be made. He still has the tools to succeed and shoot himself up prospect lists.
http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2007/12/25/luxury-doesnt-pay-for-the-yankees/
Have a great Boxing day everyone!
The Zappala Family Orchestra, now appearing at the Hollywood Bowl.
This will be repeated next week. Except I won't be working on January 2.
I'm going to go out tomorrow and perhaps see if there are hungry peasants and bring them flesh and wine and pine logs. Then we'll dine together.
Everybody will be happy and sing about it years later.
And PPT presentations. Lots and lots of them.
I am a temp, so I have no idea when I work again, but I will be spending this weekend drinking copious amounts of alcohol.
Yeah, like you won't wondering what is Dan Guerrero doing and who will be wearing various types of "Adidas" hats next season at the Rose Bowl?
I have become numb to UCLA football coaching search.
Didn't you read about my dream involving Al Golden and Dan Guerrero asking me to bring some ice cream to a reception for him?
No matter the coach, it's a new day. And with it comes hope.
Though I think we can all assume Rick Neuheisel is the next coach.
http://tinyurl.com/386plu
Being tiger food is not a good way to spend Christmas.
The only reason Nate writes so well is that Santa Margarita education.
You probably got Lutrell and Rhodes, right?
I only remember because a Jared Hughes discussion a few years ago on another board and under a different name somehow prompted a very short SM-email, as I recall.
Clayton Kershaw A-
Andy LaRoche A-
Scott Elbert B+
James Loney B+
Chin-Lung Hu B
Jonathan Meloan B
Blake DeWitt B
Preston Mattingly B-
Tony Abreu C+
Josh Bell C+
Ivan DeJesus C+
Cory Dunlap C+
Kyle Orr C+
Delwyn Young C+
Brian Akin C
Mark Alexander C
Matt Berezay C
Justin Fuller C
Zach Hammes C
Casy Hoorelbeke C
Eric Hull C
Bridger Hunt C
Stephen Johnson C
B.J.Lamura C
Brent Leach C
Andrew Locke C
James McDonald C
Greg Miller C
Bryan Morris C
Justin Orenduff C
Xavier Paul C
Anthony Raglani C
Ryan Rogowski C
Eric Stults C
I believe his wife went all through town collecting money to make up the deficit in the building and loan. Mr. Martini busted open his jukebox and Mr. Gower collected on all his charge accounts too.
MR GOWER CABLED YOU NEED CASH STOP
MY OFFICE INSTRUCTED TO ADVANCE YOU UP TO TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS STOP
HEE-HAW AND MERRY CHRISTMAS SAM WAINWRIGHT
Best of luck. I'll send good thoughts and prayers.
Come on by the library, Marty. I've got leftover apple/blackberry pie.
Weird. Some friends of ours brought over a pie this weekend, and it was.....wait for it.....apple/blackberry.
I demand an investigation.
Drive down Flower very slowly and I'll throw a slice in your open car window.
Where did you find dzzrtRatt's actual story, dkminnick? I have to say that his comment and link got me very intrigued, too. I don't know why others think that it's a suitable topic for mockery (67, 68 - though I see that Ratt's own blog back on 12/22/2006 was about the Capra film, so it could be that long-time friends in the know here are making an in-joke), and I'm sorry if that's going to make him less inclined to tell us more. I couldn't find any links back to more about whatever was happening to him then. Refusal to divulge a source, or something completely different?
It's a complicated story and I think D4P and I were just in the holiday mood.
Neither he nor I know details.
I am working this week too so I will leave it to Greg Brock to tell us who is going to win the NCAA basketball championship via PSIII.
dzzrtRatt provided a link to his blog. You can look up articles in the newspaper under his real name.
It's not a real mystery, although the later machinations of legal appeals is.
http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2007/12/26/prior-chooses-san-diego/
The Padres are still more likely to dip down into their 6th, 7th and beyond starters through the 2008 season than the Dodgers.
In 2004, a company I worked for came under the scrutiny of the LA Times, the city controller and eventually the U.S. Attorneys' office. The investigation started as "pay for play," and then evolved into my company's billing practices with respect to city of LA clients, of which we had a few. It was a combination of things that created the circumstance, especially the upcoming mayoral election, but there were also a number of personalities involved. My office, and the company's relationship with that office were "toxic." From the moment I started working there the dysfunction was apparent, but I persevered, foolishly.
To make a long story short, the US Attorneys needed a "win," and my company needed scapegoats to avoid going the Arthur Anderson route, i.e. indictment leading to immediate dissolution of the company. So, rather than fighting what were ridiculous charges -- which was their first plan, and for which there was ample evidence to work with -- the company decided to concede everything the government was saying, so long as all the alleged misdeeds could be blamed on a small handful of people all in Los Angeles. I was one of those people. And then, basically, "I fought the law and law won." I did not agree to plead guilty to a felony in return for lenient treatment because I wasn't guilty, and I wasn't willing to say I was. Not that it would have changed my decision, but I went into the trial naively believing the government had to "prove" its case. In reality, the prosecutors' job is to sway the jury using whatever works. I was convicted in May 2006.
This slow process had reached a point in late 2006 where sentencing was imminent shortly after the holidays.
Now, fast-forward a year, and my case and my sentence are on appeal, with the appellate court having ruled in June that I would not have to serve my sentence pending appeal. Under federal law, the vast majority of federal convicts must wait out the appeal process in prison, even non-violent and "white-collar" cases, so it was a massive relief plus a good legal augury for the ultimate outcome that the appellate judges decided to keep me out.
So, besides the egg-nog, what motivated me to post that probably too-personal comment was realizing how nice it was to spend Christmas with members of my extended family, and not feel like I was weeks away from a year away from home. My wife, my son, my parents and my siblings were able to enjoy the holiday without that anxiety, and I realized what a difference that made. Freedom is wonderful.
I think that's generally true for defense attorneys as well. Neither side is interested in "the truth" or "justice" per se, but rather with "winning".
The thing is that cases often turn on the credibility of the witnesses and the believability of each side's version of what happened. Unless you have that rare "open and shut" case, you are never going to know what exactly happened and unlike TV/Movies, you don't get to see the crime take place so you know that right person is being convicted.
Good luck to you dzzzRatt and I hope that you will always be able to breathe the air of freedom.
And this is kind of off-topic, but what is it about Petco that makes it such a pitcher's park? Is it just the huge outfield dimensions? I'm still coming up to speed on some of the sabermetric-y stuff, and I've yet to see (from a reliable source, such as you people) what types of dimensions actually contribute to different park factors.
Petco's park factors will probably in the near future deter a player like Andruw Jones signing with them for a short term deal because of its affect on offense but then again, Petco is perfect for ptichers like Wolf and Prior who are looking for one-year turnarounds.
Its only for 1yr/1mil.
This is the type of deal that only has upside with the Padres. If he sucks, its only 1yr 1mil down the drain. Plus, he's easy to bench. If he's good, all the better.
Prior was a much much better deal than Kuroda IMO. Lower risk, greater upside.
Peavy
Young
Maddux
Prior
Wolf/Germano/Hensley
Any takers that Prior will have a lower ERA+ than Kuroda this year?
Why does justice have to be so unjust? If there is doubt about a person's guilt, then they shouldn't be in jail. Maybe we need an awful lot more jury instruction? Or maybe we just need to let selected professors run the world.
I am just saying that rarely is there evidence beyond the testimony of witnesses and that is certainly not something that is a sure thing for any side.
You cant judge players based on quantity over quality.
Bc Prior pitching, say 120 innings of 115 ERA+ is more valuable than Kuroda pitching 180 innings of 90 ERA+.
I will say this right now, if Kuroda pitches 180+ IP for the Dodgers next year, I would consider that a success almost regardless of what his record and ERA turns out to be.
So now, guys with lesser records than Karl Dorrell are pulling out of the UCLA coaching search.
He left the Dodgers back when I didn't have nearly the online resources I have today to get the scoop on why he never surfaced as another GM or GM Candidate around the league.
Why did he never get another GM job? Did he choose to take his career a different direction, or was he flawed in some way I never understood?
I guess I am not Edgar Cayce.
I think the comparison to Kuroda was used because, one, Kuroda has not shown that he can pitch in MLB yet, he is making 12 times per year that two, Prior is guaranteed and he is signed for 3 years thus potentially blocking cheaper alternatives in the Dodger system.
Also, they both will likely fill out the bottom of the rotation so there is that comparison too.
I hope so.
I am already trying to think of who our starters should be next year. I am having my most trouble with the offensive line. Think the younger Tevaga will be a starter next year?
Yeah, they have nothing to lose since it's not like one million is going to break them, but I'd say there's at least a 90 percent chance the Padres get nothing for their investment.
I do think Sonny could start, but a lot depends on who is the coach and what offense they run.
I think the league might have taken a few days off for Christmas, also he is hitting .333 from the left side so it appears that his ankle must be feeling better.
yeah If you want to bet that Kuroda has more innings pitched than Prior and Wolf combined.I'll take Kuroda Prior was on the juice I played with guys from SC at that time most of them were juiced.
Enron was too high-profile to let Lay and Skilling get away, but in a less high-profile case, they would have been considered too difficult to prosecute; too much risk of the government losing. Instead, DOJ would have made deals with them to help assure convictions against lower-down officers. It's all about what they can "win," and usually they don't even try unless the game is as rigged as possible in their favor. That's why someone who pleads guilty to a crime gets probation, while someone who pursues their right to a trial will get a long sentence -- for the same crime. The message being sent (in case you're missing it) is: Do what your government tells you to do, or else.
Honestly, Claire always seemed to me like the one guy who was all earnestness but had no idea how to fix the Dodgers. He was of a piece with the late O'Malley Dodgers — at sea with respect to both free agency and building the farm — and that kind of record isn't going to get you a second chance.
All that said, I don't go back to school for another two weeks and all my friends back here at home are at work, so making comparisons between the two certainly has some entertainment value. I like the idea of using VORP to compare Prior and Kuroda, but only as a starting point. Should Prior, as expected, go down with injury early in the season then his innings and slot in the rotation will probably be taken over by Justin Germano, assuming Germano isn't already taking over for an injured Wolf (or even Tall Chris Young), in which case Clay Hensley would probably step into Prior's role... unless Hensley is injured again. Given this uncertainty, let's just call Prior's replacement pitcher Germensley for now. Anyway, if we then combine Prior's VORP with that of Germensley for the innings that are being taken over for Prior, and compare it to Kuroda's VORP over the season, and assuming the inning counts are similar because we are not expecting Kuroda to be get injured, I think that would get us closer to measuring which signing was better.
Other things that might want to be taken into account is the fact that Prior/Germensley will take up two spots on the 25 and 40 man rosters whereas Kuroda will only take one, and the opportunity cost of the money spent on Kuroda compared to what was spent on Prior/Germensley. There are probably more, but those are the only ones that come to mind at the moment.
And to think I got DirectTV just for this reason, well not really but read the spin on this announcement.
"We have taken this extraordinary step because it is in the best interest of our fans," commissioner Roger Goodell said.
"What we have seen for the past year is a ery strong consumer demand for NFL Network. We appreciate CBS and NBC delivering the NFL Network telecast on Saturday night to the broad audience that deserves to see this potentially historic game. Our commitment to the NFL Network is stronger than ever."
It warms my heart on a difficult day at work.
"Short Chris Young" is 6'3"!
Everyone goes to the library on the day after Christmas.
You'd be surprised.
Check out two books at the regular price, check out a third for free...?
Waiting for the GM to put his foot in his mouth (at the level of fireable offense) doesn't strike me as a career option for most people.
Best of luck with your case, by the way. I sympathize. I once spent an anxious three years dealing with lawyers and courts because my eighty year old grandfather cursed a local constable one day who had come to cite him for some old cars parked in his backyard.
Ah, The South.
I hated the Bad Boy Pistons at the time, but now I look back on them with appreciation.
1970s Broad Street Bullies
1970s Raiders
1980s 49ers
Bad Boy Pistons
late '80s-early '90s Miami Hurricanes
early '90s UNLV basketball
mid-'90s Cowboys
'98-'07 Yankees
Shaq-Kobe Lakers
'04-'07 Red Sox
'07 Patriots
Notre Dame football - forever
Duke basketball - last 20 years
http://tinyurl.com/2e9bz7
I tend to hate teams forever, not just for eras.
49ers
Cowboys
Duke
Patriots
Yankees and Red Sox are tied (I mostly hate the Red Sox because of their fans)
Notre Dame
I love Lakers and Raiders and do not hate those other teams.
Shaq & Kobe weren't hateful til their last season together, in which they became so hateful it spoiled any appreciation for what they had done previously.
What's to hate about the 49ers? They were a wonderful team; entertaining, stylish, interesting, tough. What's hateful is what the Yorks have done to them. It's possible to hate a bad team, isn't it?
I voted for the 'Canes. There's just something illegitimate about Florida college football, and the Hurricanes embodied it.
First, no one brings up Game 5 where Webber got a call at the end of the game that Kings won at the end of the game and that the Kings lost Game 7 at home in overtime. Somehow the calls in Game 6 were so bad, it convinced everyone that the Lakers were pre-destined to win the series.
That all being said, I can understand why the Lakers are one of those teams that you love to hate. But its always better to be one of those teams (as long as you are winning) than not.
The Raiders however are just hated but the reasons are in the past like Al Davis's offensive schemes.
I'm not sure the internets are big enough for my response.
No need to limit the Patriots to '07 either.
I guess I'll have to with the Ken Caminity Padres....it would get ugly at Dodger Stadium when they came to town, and they beat us a lot....I hated that team.....
To me the 49ers are Dick Nolan coaching John Brodie and Ken Willard.
They were mostly harmless.
Now, the Fran Tarkenton era Vikings are another matter. They don't exist on the "Dead to Me" list as they have transcended that. They are all condemned to the lowest circles of hell.
Even Fred Cox.
How can you hate San Francisco but not the 49ers? Come on! Let the hate spill over!
The Rams lost me after they moved to Anaheim. I was casting about for a new team when the Niners came along with "The Catch" which defeated my most hated team of that era, the Cowboys.
I latched onto the Raiders when they moved to LA and enjoyed their Super Bowl season. But with the move back to Oakland, the scales fell from my eyes. Al Davis was a treacherous skunk, a creepy thug. I despise the Raiders with the heat of 10,000 suns, and will do so until Davis is in in the ground. That man should experience no further joy in life. My feelings on that actually started during the Marcus Allen benching period. It was bad enough that a great runner like that was being subjected to a career blackout. It was worse that Davis corrupted his coaches into going along with it, even though it meant the team was significantly weaker, including lying to the press on a daily basis about why they weren't playing him. When else has something like that happened? It goes beyond the parameters of sports fandom. It was creepy and disgusting.
This is a rhetorical question only and not meant to insult the Raiders' many fans here; but how can anyone be a Raider fan given that history? Knowing that Davis will fire a coach or bench a pro-bowl level player for reasons that are so irrational, personal and vindictive?
Teams I could hate but don't.
Big Red Machine (1974-1979 Reds)
Reggie's Yankees (1977-1981)
Dr. J's Sixers (1977-1983)
Bird's Celtics (1979-1987)
Recent Padre Teams (2004-Present)
The Giants (on general principles)
The Padres certainly don't come close to what those top 4 rivals accomplished, I feel that those 4 teams were worthy rivals and that to lose to them was not the end all (Both local teams did win against them though)
The Padres and Giants are weird because the hate was always more towards my team than the other way around, though the Padres games at Dodger Stadium are getting more intense each time I go. The Giants will not be the same if Barry is no longer playing for them.
Cross-town hates
USC (okay the recent version has brought them up to an annoyance level)
Angels (I can't due to childhood memories)(the announcers, that's another story)
Clippers (nope, first team I ever bought season tickets)
Poor Tom Mack.
I am a Raider fan and I do not like Al Davis. There are things to like about Al, but I was not alive during the Raiders heyday so I do not have the attachment to him that other Raider fans do.
I want him to go away, so we can be run like a normal franchise.
Prior is a perfect signing for a team that already has five usable starters, preferably with a #5 who can easily be replaced. Prior's only value for 2008 is for the second half of the year, so all he can be is an injury/ineffectiveness replacement or trade bait. A smarter signing would have been to include a team option that kicks in at 120 IP or something.
"And when he tried to steal our sunlight, he crossed that line between everyday villainy and cartoonish super-villainy."
"How was the game, honey?"
"Not bad. The Raiders lost, but I beat up a guy and put him in the hospital."
"I'd say that's a pretty good day, dear."
"Yeah, but last week, I killed a guy."
"Oh well, there's always next Sunday, hon'. Your dinner's warming in the oven."
"Great, I'm hungry. What're we having?"
"I strangled a goat."
"Did you save the blood?"
See: 99 , 130
This movie is terrible in so many ways.
That statement ranks close to the top of "Most Out of Blue" comment here.
It is on HBO right now lol.
I just tend to agree with you on a lot of movies and television shows and I remembered you said you really liked this movie.
I stand by my previous statement.
just catching up with the thread, wow DzzrtRatt I really hope things work out for you.
Somewhere, Greg Brock is crying curled into the fetal position.
Bob Field is going to make a defensive coordinator head coach of UCLA or die trying.
Actually, I think the new football coach will be Valerie Kondos Field in a Hillary Clinton-like accession to power.
Very disappointed.
Where are all the Central Michigan grads?
I hear that the choreography she does for Sea World involves a series of crisply executed, short dance moves.
http://tinyurl.com/2bu2gw
http://youtube.com/watch?v=TwUegUaePy8
Going back to the discussion on how Baseball America ranks James McDonald, BA has a 2008 preview of LA's top 10 prospects available here:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/265295.html
McDonald is ranked 7th this year. Although they don't talk about him specifically in this article, they have given him the title of "Best Curveball" and "Best Control" in the Dodgers' system in the "Tools" section of the article.
As an aside, this is my first post on here. I was directed to this site a few days ago (from where, I can't recall), and am enjoying it. I even posted about dodgerthoughts on my blog after reading the Spring Training article last week. I am not a Dodgers fan, but my Dad is, and our entire family loves following minor-league baseball in general, especially in the Southern League and Florida State League. We live in Jacksonville and thus get to see a lot of Suns games--well, actually, we just started a year or two ago. We're autograph hounds too, and our collection has gotten pretty big after only a little time.
Nice talking baseball with y'all. Happy Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Where would The Griddle be without 'em...?
"Dreamgirls" is a fine movie if you like fictionalized history and good acting. The music was lousy to wretched except for the showstopper "I'm Telling You I'm Not Going." And that was the big problem with the movie, really. There was nowhere to go from there but down. However, Eddie Murphy was great and should have won the bla bla bla awards.
That's awesome. I am writing about this in my blog right now. I recorded bits of some games last year, but lost most of it when my computer crashed last year. In fact, the only bit that I may have saved could be this Home Run from young Blake Dewitt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hQrR4MFyPE
We were very excited the week that Kershaw got called up, but there wasn't that same enthusiasm for McDonald. We didn't have any of his Baseball cards, and there wasn't any mention of him in the "Green Bible" (BA Prospect Handbook, as talked about in previous post and post #3). Check out my recent post on McDonald and dodgerthoughts here:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-aR.3pW00d6La91k_wR0Obts9?p=272
Thank you for your time and space--not trying to advertise--just fascinated by the prospect discussions.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The following directory includes some of the best young players (25 and under) in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. Some new players may be excluded because they lack a performance record to inform the categories and skill projections.
The directory is in development, and we are actively working to improve accuracy and completeness. For information on other organizations, please click the team's link in the right sidebar of this page.
http://firstinning.com/prospects/la/
How many days till pitchers and catchers? Anyone? Is it getting near 60?
Please stay during the season. Minor league baseball talk is very bountiful once the season starts and it would be awesome to have someone here who sees some of the prospects on a weekly basis.
Report for
When you register and login, you can visit this page and view daily updates for all your favorite major league and minor league players
154 There is a circle of hell where;
1) all LA Ram fans must spend eternity watching Chuck Knox go for a field goal on the goal line only to have it blocked;
2)where they must watch Pat Haden's tiny hands unable to clench a football in the pouring rain, and
3)where they will be forced to repeatedly watch Tom Mack never move an inch, yet be called for offsides.
In that circle of hell, you must also watch all of Georgia Frontiere's wedding videos.
My relationship with the team is like a horrific country song, where the dog has driven off in the pickup and it still burns when I whizz or whatever... Bottom line: I hate 'em bad because of Georgia and John Shaw and St. Stinking Louis (which uses bagoodles of tax money to pay off Frontiere and the Wal Mart clown who co-owns the team)... yet I cannot prevent myself from looking at the tiny type part of the sports page every Monday to find out how many yards Isaac Bruce or whoever got in yesterday's loss... I once sat in the Coliseum in a 3-hour-long borderline tropical downpour to watch George Foreman plow up the grass YET AGAIN and keep the Rams out of the Super Bowl YET AGAIN even though the Rams, that year, had finally won enough games to secure home field advanage and, as such, the better weather. Wore a garbage liner instead of a jacket during all that because my dad, brain surgeon that he is, convinced my mom we didn't need coats. Pretty fun, now that I think about it.
how many doubles does d. young have to hit to get a B-plus from Prof. Sickels? i predict delwyn becomes a borderline all star, somewhere between jacques jones and, say, merle haggard.
moment of silence.
for those who remember:
http://tinyurl.com/28a29u
during his radio show. They were really good friends.
Healy would mention times Nahan was seen
eating whatever buffet the local teams were
serving during press conferences, While sounds of pigs rushing to a trough could be heard in the background, Jim Healy would read off a list of all the entrees and desserts that were being served. The sports press freeloaders Healy called them or the "loaders" for short. Nahan would be singled out among all of them.
Then he would play the belch sound followed by a toilet flushing. Just classic.
For those who remember fondly.
I still have nightmares of her thanking the city of St. Louis after the Superbowl for their support...
Please, let's never bring her up again.
Clayton Kershaw LHP N/A A- A
Andy LaRoche 3B B+ A- A-
James McDonald RHP -- C B+
Chin-Lung Hu SS B B B
Jonathan Meloan RHP C+ B B
Delwyn Young OF B- C+ B-
Chris Withrow RHP N/A N/A B-
Scott Elbert LHP B+ B+ C+
Blake DeWitt 3B B+ B- C+
Andrew Lambo 1B N/A N/A C+
Pedro Baez 3B N/A N/A C+
Josh Bell 3B C C+ C+
Ivan DeJesus SS C+ C+ C+
James Adkins LHP N/A N/A C+
Xavier Paul OF -- C C+
Justin Orenduff RHP B C C+
Austin Gallagher 3B N/A N/A C
Jamie Hoffman OF -- -- C
Jamie Pedroza SS N/A N/A C
Ramon Troncoso RHP -- -- C
The other cool thing is that fans can submit video of prospects and upload them to the site. That is where I got the idea for the Blake Dewitt vid--although the one I uploaded to firstinning.com is not nearly as good as the original on youtube.
My most hated team in the 70's was the Vikings because their victories over my beloved LA Rams always had "questionable calls" that went the Vikings way in eveery game.
1970 - A piling on penalty against the Rams was called even though the running back of the Vikings was still moving for extra yards in the snow, the penalty extended a drive that led to the eventual winning points in a 23-20 Viking Victory.
1974 - The infamous Tom Mack "off sides" call when he never moved but either Page or Eller that did jump prematurely, convinced the refs that Mack moved, Rams were forced back into trying to pass into the end zone, it was intercepted and Rams lost 14-10.
1976 - Again in the frigid Viking weather - pre-best record when they just rotated who got home field. Before settling for the ill-fated field goal attempt that was blocked and run for a touchdown, Ron Jessie on an end-around clearly had half his body over the end zone line for an apparant touchdown but the refs "holding the bribe money in their fat wallets" called him down at the half foot line. The ten to 14 point swing early in the game was the difference. Vikings 24- Rams 13. Then of course the downpour in LA the next year that we lost in the Coliseum mudbog 14-7. At least when the Rams lost to the Cowboys in the 70's playoffs, it was convincing. No excuses, they just kicked our butts. So yeah, I hated Tarkenton and the Vikings.
1. Jay Bruce, of, Reds
2. Clay Buchholz, rhp, Red Sox
3. Joba Chamberlain, rhp, Yankees
4. Evan Longoria, 3b, Rays
5. Clayton Kershaw, lhp, Dodgers
6. Mike Moustakas, ss, Royals
7. Colby Rasmus, of, Cardinals
8. Cameron Maybin, of, Marlins
9. Travis Snider, of, Blue Jays
10. Homer Bailey, rhp, Reds
but man, sure makes the morning at work seem like mooooe-lasses...
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/8084
I also think that Maybin is to high on that list.
The Rose Bowl draws nigh.
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