EVIL~! alkeiper

There's a lot of analysis based on speculation and hearsay. There may very well be other incidents factors besides what we've heard regarding Cryme Time's firing.

What the hell happened to Daniel Bard? 78 BBs in 75.3 IP, with 27 wild pitches.

Was there a point to that?

A bit of both. Pena is hitting nearly 25 points higher than his career average. Looking over his rate stats, there's no reason he couldn't have hit 25-35 home runs the last few years but could not earn a full time job. The power is there, but he can easily fall back to hitting .250.

I'd be nice if any caption pictures were funny.

I'm just copying the television listings from ESPN's schedule. It's probably regional Fox or something like that.

A full chapter devoted to the Paris sewer system, though that comes around in the next chapter where you have some idea of what the characters are traveling.

Wasn't me.

MONDAY ESPN2 NY Yankees (Mike Mussina) at Detroit (Justin Verlander) 7pm WEDNESDAY ESPN2 Boston (Josh Beckett) at NY Yankees (Roger Clemens) 7pm SATURDAY FOX Texas (Vicente Padilla) at LA Angels (Kelvim Escobar) 3:55pm Detroit (Justin Verlander) at Oakland (Danny Haren) 3:55pm NY Mets (Brian Lawrence) at Atlanta (Jo-Jo Reyes) 3:55pm SUNDAY ESPN2 Texas at LA Angels 8pm (Starters TBA) A couple big series this week. The Brewers travel to Chicago for a three game series beginning Tuesday. The Mets meet the Phillies for a four game series starting Monday. And of course there is a Yankees/Red Sox series midweek as well. No big head-to-head series this weekend unfortunately, except perhaps the Dodgers/Padres. Standings within Five Games AL Central Cleveland Detroit 2.5 gb AL West LA Angels Seattle 1.5 gb NL Central Chicago Cubs Milwaukee 2 gb St. Louis 2.5 gb NL West Arizona San Diego 2.5 gb AL wild card Seattle NY Yankees 2.5 gb Detroit 4.5 gb NL wild card San Diego Philadelphia 3 gb Colorado 3.5 gb LA Dodgers 4 gb Atlanta 4 gb One last note. The minor league regular season ends on Labor Day or thereabouts. Check out Baseball-Reference.com's Travel section and see if there's a team nearby. Check out the action while you can.

When you lead the division, the status quo is gaining ground, because you've run down the clock.

I love the old school house shows. It's great how Maple Leaf Gardens, Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden all have their unique looks. Maple Leaf has the ramp, Boston has the wooden steps, etc.

Kane Davis is in for the Phils. I saw Davis pitch twice this year, and he exhibited the worst habit of touching his crotch I have ever seen. He'd get the ball, tap his crotch 1-3 times, and pitch.

An advertisement for the AWA dvd after the program promises "13 matches in their entirety." Talk about stretching the truth.

How many years does a manager deserve? What managers do you think will be fired? Depends on the manager. I think too often the manager's performance is directly related to the talent he is given. How is a guy manager of the year one year and a bum the next? I'd say maybe Ned Yost. I can't think of anyone else offhand.

Volstad's K rate is relatively low. I've seen enough finesse guys come up to know they are far from sure things. Aaron Thompson, same problem. Jose Garcia and Sean West haven't even pitched this year. Honestly, I don't see one sure guy coming up.

Which ones? I'm not impressed by Hernandez and Volstad, and NONE of their starters are hitting league average this season.

I was 11, my parents weren't big fans. Baseball wasn't a big deal in my household growing up.

Guilty Pleasures. Chris Michalek, Colter Bean, Dan Giese. All pitchers without blazing fastballs that get results at the AAA level. Michalak throws slower than Jamie Moyer. I think he could have a career as a reliever in the Stu Miller mold if someone got creative. Bean I've mentioned many times. Giese has impeccable control but has never gotten a shot at the Majors. Overrated/underrated I don't know because I don't pay that much attention to the sports media. I think relievers with 98 mph heat are overrated, particularly when they lack control or a secondary pitch. Conventional wisdom used to say that you carried relievers who threw strikes. Underrated guys are players who do a bit of everything well rather than one thing. The three worst run teams are the Orioles, Pirates and Nationals. Teams with neither current success, recent past success, or much farm talent to indicate future success. Managers I'm going to take a pass. There is no current MLB manager I feel deserves to be fired. Jose Mesa, Randy Johnson, Omar Vizquel. Big Unit needs to pack it in because he really has nothing to gain at this point. His legacy is set. The other two are bad players in their 40s. Three best moments. Number one is game seven of the 2001 World Series. Number two is game seven of the 2004 ALCS. Both were high profile Yankee losses. Number three is the Phillies' win in the 1980 NLCS, though I did not see it live. Three worst. Number one is game seven of the 1996 NLCS. I was a big Ozzie Smith fan, and his last game was a 15-0 blowout. The only reason to continue watching was knowing he would never play again. Number two was the 1994 baseball strike. If that happened today I wouldn't sweat it and would opt for minor league ball instead. Number three was Derek Jeter's "home run" in the 1996 ALCS.

It's only annoying if you watch ESPN.

Not a good night for the Phillies' pitching prospects. Carlos Carrasco gave up six runs over four innings, including a grand slam. Scott Mathieson pitched to one batter and left with arm discomfort. Russell Branyan traded to the Cardinals for a player to be named. Good stopgap for the Cards for a month worth of stretch run.

On another note, making my last trip to a regular season minor league game today. Reading Phillies @ Harrisburg Senators, with the Phillies' #1 prospect Carlos Carrasco starting.

I think it's apparent the pitching is a priority. Rowand is a nice player but the Phillies have two players who can cover center field on the club right now (Shane Victorino and Michael Bourn). Given the contract Gary Matthews got last season, Rowand is going to be very expensive.

I never understood the Eckstein hate myself. He gets on base at a reasonable clip. What does it matter that he has no power? Agree or disagree, I think there is no doubt that their absolute worst problem is shortstop.

Everyone knows good tennis isn't played on grass.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/Yaxd Billy Wagner throwing over 40 pitches in a game. As you can see, he had only done it twice in the last five years.