the pinjockey

BTW, what the hell got into Cory Lidle today? 16 Ks in 35 IP going into today, 10 Ks in 7 IP today? If Wolf has it turned around (solid outing last time) and they move Madson into Padilla's spot, I am really liking the rotation as long as Lidle remains decent.

Come on now, be serious. He did it in the 8th inning. Where are the 9th inning, walk off grand slams off Eric Gagne that all clutch hitters get? That is what I need to be seeing from him.

Pfft, Shane Victorino > Kelly Shoppach God that just looks so wrong. Looks like the Phils might have lucked out on that Rule 5 pick.

Nope Why, you want a Thome figurine?

Yeah, I just got that email from them about that promotion. I might consider it. I found 17 games was to much last year from where I live, but I might do 7 games. If Schilling pitches does he get booed for not being a Phil or cheered because he was begging to be a Phil a couple offseasons ago?

I don't have a problem with Polanco at 2B as long as 1B is open for him to slide into. And Pratt was just mentioned because I copied the whole chunk of order. Perez has some more pop in his bat against lefties, Utley has the edge in OBP against lefties over the last three years however. But I do not see the point of getting Perez in the lineup when Utley has been right with Abreu as the best hitters over the last month. Also, if Utley is going to be the 2B of the future you have to start letting him see some lefties otherwise his numbers will never improve. Also, I am really not a fan of getting the guy in the lineup the day after he complains. After all the bitching Polanco did to get in the lineup at the beginning of the season, they are really starting to get a just complain about your time and you'll get in a game attitude.

Send that message Cholly, complain about the lineup and we'll be sure to get you in the next game. from today's order: 2. P Polanco 2B 7. T Perez, 1B 8. T Pratt, C 9. C Lidle, P They are facing a lefty again, but that was addressed last week as to why Perez is still shit compared to Utley against LHP.

Reading the article again I also enjoyed this quote from Peanuthead -"He understands that I HAVE to play," Polanco said. "But he doesn't understand why he doesn't play more." Nice to know that apparently a line of .316/.253 (honestly, how the hell do you slug .253?!?)/.569 is enough to make Polanco think he absolutely has to be in the lineup.

Amusing article from the Philly Daily News as Tomas "Career .303/.358/.661" Perez is now complaining about playing time. Who the hell does Tomas Perez think he is? He can't hit worth shit and if he didn't hit people in the face with pies he would already be released. I bolded the scary part as I am worried they steal some ABs from Utley against LHs by playing Perez at 1B, while Thome is out to appease the important offensive juggernaut that is Tomassssssss Perezzzzzzzz.

IIRC, if you have Comcast digital cable, in the OnDemand section under Cable Favorites, then Premium Sample, they have a preview for Showtime and I think the fight is there. I have to watch it some time in the next couple days.

Ditto God damn work actually keeping me busy for once and keeping me away from this thread and making a call earlier.

It took all of one day for Manuel to prove my point about Offerman's hit yesterday being bad in the long run. That had to be the worst umpired game I have seen in a while (and it was terrible both ways). Anything that was within 8 inches of the outside corner was called a strike. Shame for Myers to go down like that, but still an impressive outing. And a tough SOB taking a line drive off the head and not even flinching.

Ok, that appears to be the case so I rescind everything until the Fire Ed Wade part. Another excellent game by Lieber, continuing to add to the amusement of the Yankee's struggles. Bitch time though, again Tomas Perez starts at 1B ahead of Utley and please explain how Jose Offerman is used as a PH over Howard and Utley against a RHP. I don't care if it worked this time, it is still idiotic thinking and it working this once will probably cost them in the future when he is willing to do it again because it worked once.

Well I knew that Ed Wade was incompetent but I did not realize that he is a piece of shit as well. Link That is in-fucking-excusable that Worrell calls Wed. and asks to be put on the DL because he has issues and Wade does not immediately tell Manuel (according to ESPN he found out about Worrell's issues this morning). Then Manuel, without the knowledge, puts Worrell into a pressure situation where he fails thus making the problems worse I would imagine. That is a god damn disgrace that Wade would do that to Worrell, no matter what you think of Tim on the mound right now no one deserves that. Fuck, fire Wade immediately.

There is nothing they can do though. Burrell and Thome's contracts make them untradeable without eating at least 50% of the contract (and there is about .0001% of ownership allowing that to happen) and Abreu does not need to be going anywhere. The problems on this team are expensive problems making them completely stuck. The one change that needs to happen immediately, though, is Bell taking a couple weeks off and going with Polanco at 3B. There is no excuse for how little that has been done so far. Of course with Bell hitting in the 5 hole today I don't think ole Cholly is going to go that route. On a side note, DNL was hi-freaking-larious today. John Marzano was running down the Phillies problems and he mentions an "abyss" in CF (Michaels and Lofton are 1 and 2 in OBP on the team) and again blows off Abreu by dropping in the whole "you never know what you are going to get" along with the classic "well Abreu hits .300 but when does he get those hits. Not in the 9th" (that one might have been Barkan actually but the point is the same). The team is doing bad enough that they don't have to make up problems to create discussion.

Dude.. I was in an XFL fantasy league. On Sandbox? I was in one on there and won with the draft players I heard of method, so I ended up with Avery and Maddox.

BWAHAHAHAHA, they never even use Pratt as a pinch hitter unless it becomes a 12 inning game. I would have a heart attack if they used him as a starter based on the matchups.

Nice that Chase Utley is out of the lineup tonight, as they are facing a lefty, with the 1B spot being taken by the mighty Tomasssssss Perezzzzzzzz. It is amazing that they continue to harp on how he struggles against lefties, but never play him against them. How the hell is he supposed to get better at it if he never sees them. I can buy benching Utley against lefties in a Polanco/Utley platoon since Polanco can produce, but Perez flat out blows. There is no reasonable arguement that it is worth benching Utley to get Perez's bat in the lineup. God damn this team is frustrating.

Thank god they pulled Lieber as 79 pitches is obviously his limit. Seriously, is having Offerman up with David Bell on 2nd and 2 outs in a tie freaking game worth pulling Lieber when there have only been 2 good arms in the bullpen this year (and you don't even use Madson)?

It is not just 2 weeks every four yers. I believe they want a two year commitment from the players now (I assume they want the exact same team for the Worlds and then the next year's olympics). Throw in the travel and practices and you have lost the entire off-season. So if a player signs on to go to the Olympics they would end up playing 3 full NBA seasons and 2 full summer tourneys without a break. So to blow it off as 2 weeks every four years is just absurd. That said, I don't agree with the idea of paying for the Olympics. If you don't want to play I have no problem with that at all, but I just don't like the idea of paying for these games.

Here you go, the $100,000 they just fined Van Gundy, give it to Mikan. Problem solved, as it shows that fine money goes to decent purposes as opposed to the league's pocket and Mikan obviously gets help.

How dare they offer a mediocre TE a lousy 2 mil? The disgrace of it all. And the players wonder why they don't get sympathy from fans. Note to Bubba: If you can make the average of the top 10 TEs take it and run before you get arrested for stealing.

Just to clarify a little, I don't have a problem with a player asking to renegotiate. If the team is willing to give them a new deal then more power to them. My problem comes when they play the "woe is me, I am going to get hosed" card.

There are two general disagreements I have with this thought process: First , the player's union allowed non-guaranteed contracts to become part of the business. So I can't sympathize with them over this. They know what they are getting when they sign. Second , the idea that they will be screwed out of money on the backend is wrong, IMO, because those years are often tacked on with the understanding they are a sham. It is a win-win, as these extra years get tacked on so the signing bonus can be spread out by the team, but with big numbers so the agents and players can puff out their chests and say "look at what I am getting paid/getting my client". So I don't buy it when players and agents cry about not getting those years when everyone and their mother knows those years don't really exist.

Forrest Griffin is going to make his debut at UFC 53 against Bill Mahood. link Looks like more of the Canadian invasion of UFC.