Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
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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
T.J. Simers of the Times went out to North Carolina to catch up with former Dodger manager Grady Little. It's a straightforward column, bereft of Simers' usual shtick, and though it doesn't shed a whole lot of light on Little's departure from Los Angeles other than to suggest it was on his own terms, it leaves you feeling that Little is better off where he is now.
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After throwing his first warmup pitch to the backstop, Takashi Saito made a successful Spring Training debut today, writes Kevin Baxter of the Times: 10 pitches, six strikes, three groundouts.
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Anyone got a favorite? I haven't watched much basketball at all this year.
Is Grady the Anti-Bowa?
Grady gave us the best that he had to give and I wish him well.
It was a good idea if they had left more time or had a timeout left.
"Number 27 is very strong!" he gushed. "Number 27 hits the ball with the stick and is very good!"
Less than ten seconds to go, Illinois player rebounds missed shot. On his way down, he's inadvertently poked in the eye by Minnesota player. There's only very light contact, actually very little contact at all except for the stray finger which happens to graze the guy in the eyeball. It incapacitates the Illinois player for a few moments, and he falls to the floor and rolls around with the ball.
After the guy is rolling around on the ground, the ref blows the whistle, but calls neither a foul nor a travel. It's got to be one or the other, right? Anyway, after five minutes of discussion, they call neither a foul NOR a travel, but randomly award the ball out of bounds to Illinois. If they ever identified what call was made, I'm not aware of it. I don't think it was an alternating possession.
Is there some rule I'm missing that covers this situation?
Announcing crew said winning two in one day had never been done in the modern era.
And they did it on the floor of arch-rival Georgia Tech, after the SEC improvised Plan B and moved the tourney there following the tornadoes and such.
This probably all happened due to Georgia's extra motivation stemming from Bob saying here last night just to move Kentucky on, since Georgia had a losing record.
And on top of that, now they won't ship Bob a bushel of Georgia peaches as planned. They had hoped to convert him to the wonders of their state fruit. Now it looks like Bob won't achieve their goal for him to become point person for Georgia peach advertising...
I don't know if it's just that the bad officials crawl out of the woodwork this time of year, or what. Actually, it may be that conferences can't always get the best officials for their tournaments. During the regular season, a top-notch official might be hired to work an SEC game on Tuesday, a Big East game on Wednesday, and an ACC game on Thursday. During the conference tournaments these more desirable refs are only available to one conference, which means the other conferences have to reach deeper into the pool of referees to find people to work their tournaments.
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/y2007/gd.html?2008_03_16_sdnmlb_lanmlb_1
Including Kouzmanoff.
Btw, I just watched King of Kong for the second time, first time on DVD, and was making mental notes about "who would play who in the feature film version of the story" when I saw in a new postscript that they are actually working on that very thing. Ah well.
Now back to something less competitive than videogaming, that is, baseball.
Rudy Seanez might not have enough time to be ready by opening day but he is ahead of Yhency already. Is it possible we can see Chan Ho as the long guy out of the pen?
I think Kuo has locked up the second lefty job with Myers last two outings being so very, very ugly. That and he's out of options so we have to keep him and Loaiza has the number 5 slot nailed down.
Bullpen looks like:
Saito
Broxton
Proctor
Kuo
Beimel
Seanez if ready
Park has a real shot to remain with the big club.
Does Greg Jones stand a chance?
"His fastball is average in the 87-89 range, but he mixes with a slider and changeup. All his pitches are average, but his location is sharp, and he is fearless on the mound...Grade C"
COME ON!
I saw good buddy Juan was 0 for 4 (again) while Andre had three hits.
March 31, 2008: Ethier, Jones and Kemp start on Opening Day.
That, or Gibson's home run. It's a toss up for me, really.
I'm just being realistic.
As for tonight's game, why did the Padres' mascot make the trip but the Dodgers' mascot had to stay behind and manage the split squad in Florida?
You see, a team with no power has less use for its outs, so it will give them away indiscriminately.
Oh, and Bison!
I don't get it myself. Brett Butler was a good bunter, he could control the bat and could get a ball to die going up the third base line.
Our Mr. Slappy hasn't impressed me with anything other than his sacrifice bunts. He also seems to pop up bunts more often than he should if he's the best in the game.
vr, Xei
I accuse you of slandering me on Tony Jackson's blog.
I need to find a new straw man.
That's like catching Eliot Spitzer patronizing "The Emperor's Club".
Also, what are the odds that Kennedy and Lyons get left in China?
Kennedy and Lyons are in a studio in the U.S.
"But while his fastball is just in the 86-87 range now, he retains an excellent curveball and changeup combination, along with stellar command...Grade C+"
It could have been Murray Chotiner.
Vasgersian doesn't know what the traffic between L.A. and San Diego can be like on a weekend.
The bunt, on the other hand, has it's place, but it's a much more situational thing than a jump shot in basketball.
My kids are sleeping though and the wife isn't feeling well. I'm stuck in the room. In fact, I'm turning in now. Good night gents. 15 days and 14 and a half hours to go....
I only try to make references relevant to Andrew Shimmin.
I'm stuck with Lyons and Kennedy. San Diego's municipal pension system is pretty messed up though. That's why they've gone through a few mayors recently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDg7kWgs5e0
Since the Titans don't play home games at the Honda Center, they can play in Anaheim.
"Who can't go where?
Charlotte (East), Arizona State (West), Detroit Mercy (Midwest), Houston and Rice (South) cannot be placed in their respective regions if they are selected and/or qualify for the 2008 NCAA field. Each school is hosting or co-hosting a regional final this season. Colorado State (Denver), Creighton (Omaha), Georgetown (D.C.), UALR (Little Rock), North Carolina State (Raleigh) and South Florida (Tampa) are subregional hosts and would also be bracketed away from their respective sites."
http://tinyurl.com/35r39x
And do Kennedy and Lyons know that the Chinese have been playing baseball much longer than the Taiwanese?
It's more complete too.
I remember back in the day when schools got to play tournament games at home. The unnameds had a long winning streak in Tucson that was bracketed on one end by a loss in the NCAA Tournament to a certain Texas institution of higher learning.
Apparently I can.
I'll go back to the pointless historical anecdotes.
Man, I really wish Kennedy and Lyons were in China
For your viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic9xTkcJ8YY
"I don't want these teams in general to forget who subsidizes a lot of them, and it's the Yankees, the Red Sox, Dodgers, Mets," he said to The New York Post. "I would prefer if teams want to target the Yankees that they at least start giving some of that revenue sharing and luxury tax money back. From an owner's point of view, that's my point."
"A sleeper relief prospect, Freiri is a Colombian signed as a free agent in '05. He has a fastball in the 90-93 range, and a killer slider...If he continues to sharpen his command, he could help out in the Padres bullepn surprisingly quickly...Grade C+"
Was Kevin O'Neil one of Lute Olson's assistants then?
I saw Jeep Jackson play in high school. He led Gardena High to an upset win over my high school, Kennedy, in the City section semifinals. I think that was my junior year.
Didn't Jackson pass away soon after leaving UTEP?
Andre Ethier, a forgotten man.
Andre Ethier, a forgotten man.
It was my junior year of high school and it was in the quarterfinals. Jackson scored 29 points, 23 in the first half, and his teammate Ontario Jackson scored 30 points.
Gardena High, then called the Mohicans, won 82-77.
Ontario Johnson, for those not caring at home.
UCLA could get an interesting second round matchup against Kansas State. A Michael Beasley-Kevin Love showdown!
followed by an 8.
One out to go.
Padres 6, Dodgers 3.
For me the night is still young though. Time to watch Margot at the Wedding - a film ignored by movie-goers, averagely-reviewed by critics, but still written by the guy who made one of my favorite movies of the last five years.
Here's my take, with the teams listed in order from best to worst within each seed:
#1 Seeds: Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA, Big 12 Winner
#2 Seeds: Tennessee, Big 12 Loser, Duke, Georgetown
#3 Seeds: Wisconsin, Stanford, Louisville, ?
The last ? could be any number of teams including Pitt, Drake, Clemson, Purdue, UConn, Notre Dame.
I also feel obliged to point out that Texas has, by far, the best wins on its resume of any team in the country. Nobody else is even in the same ballpark. The only reason they're not in line for the #1 overall seed is losses to relatively weak Missouri and Texas Tech.
If that scenario were true, I am not sure K State would get past BYU.
I would love any bracket where UCLA gets to play Duke. Kyle Singler vs Kevin Love!
I think Texas could live with that.
No matter how the bracket comes out I am picking the Bruins to win it all. I am staying with my pre-season pick.
I think you worry too much about John Calipari's idiotic ramblings. He's been doing it for a long time. Among basketball coaches, Calipari likely ranks pretty low in the IQ department.
I hate him more because he runs the dirtiest program in college basketball. And on top of that he says a lot of dumb things. You should shut up when you run such a dirty program.
COUGHBilly DonovanCOUGH
I got his name backwards. It is William Wesley. Here is an article GQ wrote about him, but it is long. http://tinyurl.com/2b5wgk
He basically delivered them Chris Douglas-Roberts, Derrick Rose, and will deliver them Tyreke Evans.
He and Bozeman are two active coaches who have been caught red-handed giving large cash payments to recruits. That's leagues ahead of anything Donovan or Calipari have done (or at least been caught doing).
He's the Phillip Fulmer of college hoops.
NPUT.
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