HarleyQuinn

This is my attitude towards the show as well. I remember somebody mentioned an episode "just" in the dollhouse and I'm starting to want to see such an episode. Some of the character interactions are intriguing but the show has been inconsistent (to put it kindly). It does look like next episode, things are going to pick up with but it's at the point where I'm waiting for that good, solid episode. There are hints but you can only hint and hint so long before you start showing. Buffy started out this way, aside from the dialogue, until The Pack/Angel (1.06 and 1.07) hit back to back so I'm hoping this series can do the same. One thing that worries me is that the dialogue seems to want to divert to some pop references while maintaining a "serious" almost genre feel and the dialogue is partly a hindrance to the series as well. It also seems to be lacking the "humor" within it from Firefly/Serenity. The pop culture references in the dialogue last episode almost felt out of context yet were a relief to see and I can't decide if they'll be able to pull that off without going one way or the other. I'm also already sick of the repetitious "Did I fall asleep?" etc. bit

I'm watching it live and following it on the 3D Gameday at MLB.com (really smooth, mainly using it for the pitch count). Surprise at how quickly Volquez got up to 29 pitches and he has a 60 pitch count! Through 2.2 IP he's up to 42 now.

I'll take 9:00 PM (ET)

I think part of the issue with WrestleMania IX was that it was the "peak" of the cartoon gimmicks era and the feuds that were being built weren't captivating enough to carry past the mediocre wrestling. Shawn/Tatanka and Crush/Doink had been feuding for a while but all 4 were just mediocre wrestlers at the time who could go with great wrestlers/great gimmicks (See WM 10 for Shawn and Crush examples). Undertaker and Giant Gonzalez was yet another Taker vs. Big Man feud in that era for him but wasn't as captivating as say, the casket match with Yokozuna angle/build up wise. Bret vs. Yoko was an intriguing match but the post Hogan crap sullied it as did the fact that they essentially did a much better version just a year later at WM 10 while throwing in Luger for a bit of a twist.

Watching Hell's Kitchen and I officially :wub: Carol

Need another power bat... This guy hit 90 RBI last year and still fell this far? Criminal! 1B Ryan Garko

The 1st thing that jumped out at me was the IP increase several guys saw in 2006... I'd say that more IP = greater chance for higher ERA. Tony Armas Jr: Over 150 Miguel Batista: Over 200 Erik Bedard: Over 195 Kelvim Escobar: Over 185 Jeff Francis: Over 195 Byung-Hyun Kim: Over 150 Francisco Liriano: Over 120 Odalis Perez: Over 125

I'm also curious to see their IP stats from season to season... If they pitched say 20-30 more innings (essentially 3-4 more starts at 7 IP per) more than the prior season, then it would stand to reason that their ERA could jump during that time frame with just 2 bad starts. Also if you're including injured players, a guy who throws 40 IP with a higher ERA is vastly different from a guy who throws 180 IP with a higher ERA due to sample size.

Well... there's hidden depth with him staring up at the screen name, walking off the mound... If you wanted a better pic, you could've picked him earlier

Bit of a late sleeper pick here... RP Octavio Dotel

I have a little footstool that I made in high school and I often "pop" the remotes to my hands with a well placed heel stomp for my own self amusement. Even better when you overlaunch and have to react quickly just to snare the remote out of the air before it breaks a window. My "big" achievement in 3rd grade was breaking the school bully's nose. It was 7 on 7 soccer during recess (3rd Graders vs. 4th/5th Graders) and I managed to weave around one guy and wound up... BOOM! Needless to say, I was surprised and confused when I saw the ball ricochet to the side before realizing the guy was on his knees, hands cupping his nose. Of course my friend scored the goal while everybody else stood around, smart fella.

You can take Tampa Willy... I'll take Atlanta Willy and his .313/.373/.391 line, all-time pick be damned! *throws stone in your general direction*

Final Tallies: 12 Over, 18 Under... Although some were a half under (i.e. 72 compared to 72.5) Toronto Blue Jays: Over 79.5 Texas Rangers: Under 73.5 Arizona Diamondbacks: Under 86.5 Atlanta Braves: Over 84.5 Baltimore Orioles: Under 72.5 Boston Red Sox: Under 93.5 Chicago Cubs: Under 91.5 Chicago White Sox: Under 78.5 Cincinnati Reds: Under 80.5 Cleveland Indians: Over 85.5 Colorado Rockies: Over 77.5 Detroit Tigers: Under 81.5 Florida Marlins: Under 76.5 Houston Astros: Over 73.5 Kansas City Royals: Under 75.5 Los Angeles Angels: Over 87.5 Los Angeles Dodgers: Under 82.5 Milwaukee Brewers: Under 80.5 Minnesota Twins: Over 83.5 New York Mets: Under 89.5 New York Yankees: Under 95.5 Oakland Athletics: Over 82.5 Philadelphia Phillies: Over 88.5 Pittsburgh Pirates: Under 69.5 San Diego Padres: Over 71.5 San Francisco Giants: Under 80.5 Seattle Mariners: Over 72.5 St Louis Cardinals: Over 82.5 Tampa Bay Rays: Under 88.5 Washington Nationals: Under 73.5

In terms of methods I like best... it's MLB where almost any fan can instantly recognize a team by its logo on the front of their jersey and hockey is very similar in that it's often team over player (partly to the detriment of marketing). Even within that though, there are still players that "transcend" the team: Derek Jeter, A-Rod, McGwire, Sosa (in the late 90's), Griffey Jr (arguably from 1992-1998), Barry Bonds. This happens more with hitters but pitchers like a Randy Johnson, Clemens, Maddux, or Pedro can also transcend the team and get into the public conscience for a brief amount of time. For me, it's the perfect balance because you're drawn in by the team and still have star players who are more global successes than just products of the team that they're on (i.e. a guy like Chuck Knoblauch being famous just because he's a Yankee as opposed to a Jeter).

Every sport is built around stars and while people talk about the "greatest teams" ever, more people remember names like Jordan, Gretzky, Ruth, and Lombardi. If I were NBA Commish, I'd be pushing the hell out of individual players too. Look at the NHL and the Ovechkin vs. Crosby debate... it's far more money making than Capitals vs. Penguins.

I'm staying in for next year. Almost climbing back to .500!

In

http://itmightbedangerous.blogspot.com/ Stumbled upon Paul Depodesta's blog. Interesting read whereby he explains several of the moves made this spring training including the trades of Matt Bush and Khalil Greene as well as the signing of Cliff Floyd.

Also wasn't as big on this episode, didn't really care for the singer engagement, but I'm actually getting drawn to the neighbor/cop one sided romance storyline *sigh* I find myself not caring much about Echo's week to week "this episode's engagement is ___" but I'm hoping that they start showing some more backstory on some of the characters. Where did the cop come from and WHY? is he so fascinated/obsessed with Dollhouse? I'm also curious about the head lady and just how extensive the whole operation is... it seems that the cop guy's go to was also a doll but it's striking that he's consistent. Does this mean that a character could be imprinted with the same personality over and over so that they would essentially live a life per se?

According Jeff Blair of the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Blue Jays have interest in free agent SS Orlando Cabrera.

I like the signing. He's a little up and down in terms of his control (4.8 BB/9 over the past 3 seasons) but he can strike out any hitter at any given time and makes a good pairing with Soria. Also gives the Royals another guy who is deadly against RHP (0.671 OPS vs. 0.771 LHP in his career).

Just watched the MLB Network crew covering the Baltimore Orioles and Harold Reynolds started talking about how since Cal Ripken Jr left, that the Orioles hadn't been playing the game the right way (i.e. The Oriole Way... whatever that's supposed to mean). Why do announcers talk about players not playing "the right way"? Harold made the point of talking about the SS coming out further when getting the cutoff throw to allow him to throw to the whole field (evidently the current SS is doing it wrong or something). Somebody explain what "the right way" is so I can watch for it because apparently it seems that certain ballplayers, despite having the skill to make it to the Majors, just haven't grasped it over their 10-12 years of playing baseball from little league through the minor leagues.

SP Kyle Lohse

Phillies released Adam Eaton. He earned $15.17 Million the past 2 seasons for a 14-18 record and a 6.11 ERA... ouch.

For those who are curious about who to watch for on the Japan roster... Note: 2008 Stats from official Nippon Site (Translated to English) The Pitchers - Toshiya Suiguchi: 10-8 with a 2.66 ERA and 213 K in 196.0 IP - Tetsuya Utsumi: 12-7 with a 2.73 ERA and 154 K in 184.1 IP - Kyuki Fujikawa: 8-1 with a 0.67 ERA and 90 K in 67.2 IP - Satoshi Komatsu: 15-3 with a 2.51 ERA and 151 K in 172.1 IP - Hikashi Iwasuma: 21-4 with a 1.87 ERA and 159 K in 201.1 IP - Yu Darvish: 16-4 with a 1.88 ERA and 208 K in 200.2 IP The Hitters - Shuichi Murata: Hit .323/.397/.665 (1.062) with 46 HR - Hiroyuki Nakajima: Hit .331/.410/.527 (0.937) with 21 HR and had 55 BB vs. 96 K - Michihiro Ogasawa: Hit .310/.381/.573 (0.954) with 36 HR - Seiichi Uchikawa: Hit .378/.416/.540 (0.956) with 14 HR