EVIL~! alkeiper

I don't think so. The 2006 Minnesota Twins won the division on the last day of the season without being in first all year. Correct. The 2006 Twins were in first place only once, following the final game of the season. I give extra credit to the 1951 New York Giants, who NEVER led the league during the season. Pitchers' fielding is such a difficult thing to judge. Could either of those pitchers have been better than Bucky Walters, who played third base as well in the Majors? Greg Maddux probably couldn't play third base. Better double check your oven, just in case.

If you want a free agent, you have to go the extra mile. Why should Rivera choose the Yankees if another team is offering him a similar offer? A team perhaps that doesn't appear to have a complete asshole as an owner. Dennis Eckersley and Hoyt Wilhelm were both effective closers at the age of 41. Hank Steinbrenner might think speaking the truth makes him a great owner, and fans might agree with what he says. But it will sure as hell backfire when it means no one wants to work for you.

The only thing that doesn't fit is why Boras is settling a free agent case VERY early in the game. This is a guy who waits until the 11th hour on his draft holdouts.

I do think this is unfair. When Bonds was on the stand, he had the choice of either perjury or admitting a crime. He should not have been given the question in the first place. I know the fifth amendment is an admission of guilt in the court of public opinion, but I don't know why players don't invoke it in front of these juries and committees.

Cawthon lists Santana/Valentine, Jumping Bomb Angels/Glamour Girls, Butch Reed/Hillbilly Jim and Hart Foundation/British Bulldogs. I haven't watched myself yet, likely this weekend.

The Yankees not reaching/winning the World Series is more an indication that baseball is highly competitive. It's not like playing a video game or something where you accumulate enough points and you advance to the next level. There are 13 other teams in the American League, each doing what they can to improve their own teams. A team that keeps its entire 25 man roster will ALWAYS decline the next season. (I don't think there's ever been a team that has had zero roster turnover). As far as the current Yankees, their finishes would logically indicate that they're the 2-4th best team in the league over the last four seasons. To say not reaching first is failure is shortsighted, and the idea that your players are worthless because they only finished so high is laughable. (Not directing this at anyone in the board in particular.) The Yankees scored 968 runs last season. Using runs created, Rodriguez was responsible for about 160 of them. That is quite a bit of production to replace. And then you figure that every Yankees starter is likely to decline with the exceptions of Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera. Of course it makes me wonder how much good it will do the Yankees to pay over $50 million a season JUST to keep their current team intact. Think about that for a moment. Any rational team would say, "this is ridiculous, we need to restock with younger and cheaper players." Posada is one thing because the catching market is weak. But how much have they needed Rivera the last few seasons? They go weeks without save situations. I really get the feeling this team is going to crash and burn one of these years. Especially if one or more of their pitching prospect trinity goes down.

Sometime you'll have to explain how acquiring good players hurts your team.

Another Survivor Series comment. It's fun to think that Jerry Lawler's entire team is still in the promotion, 12 years later. Hunter Hearst-Helmsley, King Mabel (Big Daddy V), Issac Yankem (Kane) and of course Lawler himself. Mr. Perfect informs Vince that Hunter prefers to be referred to as "Triple H."

The womens' Survivor Series match was fun, but there were 3-4 moves there at least that were awfully sloppy.

They did tape the ECW Arena events. Some of them are interesting but others REALLY benefited from television editing.

There you go. The WCW shows are never very popular anyway, if the "most watched shows" list on my menus is any indication. For old school WCW stuff, you're better off consulting tape dealers.

I function fine on 6 hours. I've been told that went I sleep, I absolutely don't move.

And vice versa.

I figure the only piece the Phils' offense needs at this point is a lefty outfield bat. Possible candidates: Geoff Jenkins, Cliff Floyd, Shawn Green, Brad Wilkerson, Trot Nixon I like the idea of a Shawn Green/Jayson Werth platoon.

I'd have my doubts that NWA house show footage is in top shape, they probably only kept the portions they repeated on television. And did those clips even have original commentary? ECW used fan cams often. Their house shows are close to unwatchable in a three hour format.

Roddy Piper vs. Mr. T from Wrestlemania 2 AGAIN. I swear, that is one of the worst matches in the history of wrestling, and they've aired it twice this year. Steve Williams/Terry Gordy vs. Steiner Brothers. There's a bit where Rick Steiner goes for the pin, but is not the legal man. They brawl to the outside, and Gary Capetta is crouched in the corner by the guardrail, apparently on a phone. I can just imagine him calling his wife from ringside or something.

Stated or not, it's probably a hidden factor with most voters. Dan Haren stunk when I watched him live, and that's always in the back of my mind. Same with J.A. Happ.

It actually sounds like this voter put in far more thought than most voters. He recognized the team bias in win totals, looked at quality starts and probably some other statistics. The bolded part is incidental information. Most voters look at wins or RBIs and have done with it.

I've got one that fits the bill. Talked to my friend James today. He tells me he was the king of mercy when he worked at Split Rock Resort. (It's a game where you knuckle-lock with the other person and get them to cry uncle). Only lost three times. The first two times were mundane. One day he beats some co-workers, and one suggests that he challenge Gene in the lounge. Gene Snisky. I'm told the encounter lasted as long as three seconds by some accounts.

I might surprise you a bit on this one. I think global warming is 90% myth. I can't see how you can begin to prove a link between environmental observations and man-made conditions. There is clearly not a large enough sample of meteorological data to track mass climate change to begin with. And to top it off, I somehow have not found breathing more difficult in my 25 years of existance.

I would not hesitate to give up any pitcher for Santana. If Lester reaches the peak of his potential, he's still not Santana.

I like Baltimore. Touristy parts I've been to, at least. Haven't ventured too far outside on my visits there. Didn't want to end up in a real life version of The Wire. Course the enjoyable times I've had in Baltimore don't mean I want to read Marvin's musings on their sports teams. I will say though (just to add something mildly baseball related to the post) that the Os have slowly come to overtake The Devil Rays as the AL East's most inept organization. Agreed about the city. The shame is that NO city in the world supported a non-MLB team like Baltimore did. It's one of the great baseball cities, and they deserve better.

Why sweat the years? He might make an expensive backup, but he's a franchise guy at this point.

Rivera's ERA was 2.26 after May 1. Take out the last game he pitched and it's 1.87. Rivera's peripherals were actually better this year than last year.

By the way, baseball-reference.com added yet another cool feature. You can search minor league leaderboards for only current minor league free agents. http://minors.baseball-reference.com/bat_l...nt&sort=OPS Think Brad Correll looks good? He's a corner outfielder, playing A ball at 26, in an extreme hitters' league, in an extreme hitters' park. Put him in the majors and he wouldn't outhit Tomas Perez. For subscribers of the Play Index, you can get searches for major league free agents. The convenient aspect of that is you can come up with three year totals for players in seconds. For example, all free agent hitters from 2005-07. http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/YVmM