Baseball thread No. 8 - play nice

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

There's a great picture of Jered Weaver in this week's SI (the one with the feature on T.O., which is a waste of space, but I digress).

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

That's the truth.

I heard a Yankee fan on the radio today say, "I wish I had Alfonso Soriano instead of Alex Rodriguez because Soriano made things happen."

And, it's true. Soriano made things happen. He could go 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and a stolen base or 0-for-4 and three ghastly errors.

Here's what it comes down to: Captain Jeter, Mr. Leadership, hasn't once told the media and fans to back off ARod. Why? Jeter enjoys the evisceration of Alex Rodriguez. He's still pissed about the Esquire interview from years ago. Jeter has thrown his support behind Giambi, so it's understandable if the first baseman struggles. ARod struggles and he's a bum.

Like all athletes, ARod and Jeter are image-conscious. Only difference is, Jeter's a phony.

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I was at the Big House In Flushing for today's game.

Here's one reason that the Cubs are 4,000 games behind the rest of the National League.

Runners on first (Carlos Beltran) and third (Jose Reyes), two outs and Carlos Delgado at bat. Scott Eyre threw over to first at least three times. Why in the name of Ryne Sandberg would the Cubs be concerned about Carlos Beltran at first base? The winning run was standing at third.

Much like the New York Islanders, the Cubs are hopeless. Hopeless.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Great post.

Anyone who thinks the 1996 ALCS ruined Armando Benitez--and that he would otherwise have had the mental strength to handle anything remotely close to a pressure situation--is certifiably insane.

One great year closing in front of flies in Florida does not make up for innumerable meltdowns in huge spots for the Orioles and Mets.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

But you couldn't touch him in the pressure cooker of Olympic Stadium in mid-May.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

WWHD (What Would Hawk Do?)

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

You and me both. Would it be too much to ask for the White Sox AND the Yankees to miss the playoffs? I might be greedy asking for that, but it's reasonable to see it happening at this point. And I would love it.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

That's a big difference between White Sox and Twins fans. Before the most recent Tigers-Sox series, White Sox fans would infiltrate the Tigers message board and start talking trash, even tho they weren't in a great position to be doing so.

Now, on the eve of another big series, Tigers-Twins, I have yet to see a negative Twins fan posting on there. Instead, there's been more Good luck in the series, should be a great series type of posts.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Hey now, Oz has already said he could get behind the Tigers. No stealing him for the Twins, zeke.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

I'll all about the AL Central (sans Sox) ... Tigers-Twins ALCS, baby. At that point, I'm behind whoever moves on to the World Series.

And zeke, I'll be more than happy to take you up on the Grain Belt and fried (fill in the blank).

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

This is apropos of nothing, but I'm rooting for the A.L. Central to keep the Yankees out of the playoffs.

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Some opinions would be appreciated, for a trade I'm trying to push through in my roto league is being vetoed hard-core by the other owners. And yes, having to vote for trades in a roto league does seem to suck balls.

Anyhoo, I offered up Eckstein, Saito and Clemens for Stephen Drew, Chris Young and Linebrink.

Now, Clemens is going to retire after this season whereas I think Young is a keeper for next year, and several years. He has 21 W/QS and a 3.64 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with 111 K's. Clemens has 7 starts and only 6 W/QS. His ERA is 2-something and he has 31 K's in 40 innings.

Saito has 7 saves, but he's not exactly Mariano Rivera, probably not a keeper for next year. Linebrink is a nice set-up man with a good ERA and decent K numbers, but probably not a keeper, either.

Eckstein is a .300 hitter with adequate total bases and runs scored, while Drew is one of the top prospects who has 6 hits (including 2 doubles, one triple) in 20 at-bats. He's a definitely keeper for the future.

My team is in 7th place (out of 10) and the team with which I want to trade is in 1st place. That's where I feel the rub is, because other owners think I'm helping pad his team. I think it's a fair trade for him this season, and for me for the future.

Am I wrong on this?

 

Re: Insult-free baseball thread VIII

Maier begat Tino which begat a hostile NY situation that he didn't have the constitution for.

Way to toss the first insult, as usual, you ... .