EVIL~! alkeiper

As an aside, you can post silly topics in Chocolate Socket, but not here.

I just watched the Yankees/Tigers highlights. At least three of those hits Mussina gave up should have been outs. Considering the Tigers only scored one run with less than two outs, that's important. What the Yankees really need is better defense.

I don't. I've gone to over 40 games this year at five levels, and at no point did I think to myself, "god, this game would be so much better if Barry Bonds never existed." If you're going the steroids route, steroids existed long before Bonds and will continue long after he retires. Why do we have steroids? Because of the pressure and rewards to win sports. And why does that exist? Because sports are professional and not amateur.

A couple days off from work gave me an opportunity to catch a ballgame. Much of the local Eastern League was on the road, leaving Reading as the only local minor league team in town. Checking the Majors, I noticed the Phillies and Orioles both played home games. Running the choices by my friend, we agreed that Baltimore was a solid option as I have been to the other parks already this season. For a bit of background, I have been to Baltimore a couple times, but never to the ballpark. The last time was July of 2001. Knowing we were staying in the Inner Harbor, I bought tickets to two baseball games. Unfortunately Baltimore had an underground train wreck, and the games were wiped out for the duration of my vacation. Camden Yards is easy to get to, given that I-83 ends right at the Inner Harbor with minimal traffic to boot. Parking is it's usual adventure in an unfamiliar area but not too bad. Honestly, Camden is probably the most crowd-friendly ballpark I have ever been to. Bringing in outside food and drink is NOT prohibited like it is in seemingly every professional ballpark (note to Eastern and New-York Penn Leagues: league rules my ass). Walk in and of course you're greeted by the Eutaw Street promenade, the area behind the right field wall and in front of the B&O Warehouse. Leaving that building intact is the most brilliant move any park designer has done. The area of course has it's various stands including Boog's Bar-b-que. Arrive early and you can meet Boog Powell himself, as I did. Powell was nice enough to sign my ticket stub, and is approachable and gregarious. Boog and Eutaw Street are a couple of the features copied by Citizens Bank Park (Bull's Bar-b-Que and Ashburn Alley). We sat about ten rows from the field on the first base side. What is the advantage of watching two second-division teams on a Wednesday? Sparse crowds give you a better opportunity for good seats. The seating isn't quite as comfortable as in Philadelphia but that is expected. The O's took a three-run lead early in the game, scoring one in the first and two in the third. O's fans in our section seemed lukewarm towards Miguel Tejada due to his contract and production. That is what you get with a big contract. You pay for the first years of production with the last years. Jarrod Saltalamacchia kicked off the scoring with a two-run single in the fourth, and Ramon Vazquez followed up with a three-run home run. Vazquez's home run was a no-doubter, and really Cabrera's only serious mistake of the night. This was the first game of a doubleheader, which is very important to know when evaluating this game. Saltalamacchia led off the sixth inning with a home run, and Trembley responded by pulling Cabrera with 96 pitches thrown, 62 for strikes. In came Brian Burres, holding a 4.45 ERA at the time. Whatever went wrong with Burres who knows? He gave up a single to Vazquez, who advanced on a wild pitch. Catalanotto walked. Ian Kinsler failed a sacrifice bunt. Michael Young singled on a line drive, loading the bases. O's fans rode the outfielders for not diving for the balls. What they miss is if they dive and miss, it's a triple. I'll come back to this however. Marlon Byrd hit a grand slam to put the game effectively out of reach, 10-3. If I have a thrill outside of the 30 spot, it's seeing Byrd come up big. The Phillies never gave Byrd a fair shot after his poor 2004 season. After a strikeout, five straight singles, the last four on line drives. Three runs scored on those, at which point Trembley pulled Burres in favor of Rob Bell. Bell is the mop-up man, and recovering from Steve Blass disease (the same ailment that Rick Ankiel suffered as a pitcher). Bell gave up one more RBI single and got the last out on a fly ball. The Rangers went in order in the seventh. At this point, the O's fans were waiting for the second game. I don't need to bore you with the full details of the eighth and ninth, you can check the play-by-play if you want. In the eighth the fans were cheering for a mercy rule. At the ninth when Ramon Vazquez homered again to make it thirty, the fans cheered heartily. I think everyone realized at that point they were in the midst of a historic game, not just a mere blowout. This all came about because manager Trembley wanted to save his relievers for game two. After the Rangers hung six in the ninth, there was no reliever warming up behind Shuey. You can question not using a prime reliever or at least an outfielder, but it was just one game in the end. I made the observation that this was Baltimore's "rope a dope" strategy to win game two. The Rangers got a three spot early and the O's tied it in the third. As an aside, I saw game two pitcher Garrett Olson pitch last year with Bowie, and earlier this year with Norfolk. It was 10pm after the third, and we departed. With six innings to go, there was no reason to try and stick it out with a three-hour drive home ahead. Overall, Camden Yards is a wonderful ballpark. The only complaint you can make is that the amenities aren't quite on par with the newest parks. That's nit-picking. Even the concourses are larger and easier to navigate than Citizens Bank Park. No reason not to get to Camden at least once.

I love the sudden Phillies love. If there's one thing that never fails to amuse me in sports talk world, it's that future predictions are based solely on the most recent performance. Yes, Chase Utley is back and hitting. We also beat up on the Mets' worst starter. There is a long way to go yet. As an aside, it amazes me that the Phillies have the fourth best record in the NL. God bless parity.

At least Jim Ross tries to put over a bad match, and has his own little code of saying it sucks. Those commentators are openly making fun of the match and exposing the business.

Nice to see the mascots in Philly. Reggy! wasn't nearly as offensive as Birdzerk. And Mr. Met~!

Honestly, how often do you NEED to locate the U.S. on a World Map? For all those times you get lost in Guatemala and can't find your way home?

No and no. The Mets are !#$^&ed. They won't win again the rest of the season. Or until the Phillies' bullpen comes in, whatever comes first.

Tal's got the hill named after him so he's a credible name to fill the gap for the Stros. Randy Smith was scouting director for the San Diego Padres from 1989-91. The best players they drafted in those years were Tim Worrell, Jay Powell and Joey Hamilton. Smith took over the Detroit Tigers in October '95, following a 60-84 season. He took a fourth place team and led them to a franchise record for losses in a season. Given a five-year rebuilding project, Randy managed to build a 55-106 team in 2002 and set the building blocks for the 2003 fiasco in the process. He has shown no ability to build a winning team and if the Astros hire him, it will be disaster for the Astros and their fans.

The only time I've said baseball this entire thread is in the topic title or when referencing an organization with that word in the title. And the last sentence.

You're right, the Cardinals can't possibly win a World Series. For the record, I think the Diamondbacks are worse than any contender except St. Louis. The Phillies, that's a riot. But none of that matters until we actually get to the postseason.

Phillies/Mets are a six game difference. A sweep puts the Phils within two, anything else cuts it to no more than four. The Mets right now are given a 94% shot at the division by Baseball Prospectus. I'm sorry Phillies fans, but this one is done barring a major beatdown this week.

Which really makes me wonder why they felt they needed Eric Gagne in the first place.

Can someone give me a quick rundown of results?

Somehow I got the same impression.

It'll take dual 7 game winning and losing streaks. Not happening.

Remember the Braves have Teixeria next season as well.

The Phils are now 7 back in their division. Unless they sweep the Mets this week that ship has sailed. The wild card is rapidly slipping away, though a win today would bring them back within two. I just don't feel they have the arms to win this year. And I'll start next week's topic later this afternoon. The weekly topic should be done by someone who contributes to the thread after the initial post.

Updates for NEXT week include... -Maple Leaf Gardens from 9/22/85. Main event is Ricky Steamboat vs. the Magnificent Muraco in a Lumberjack match -WCW Collision in Korea -WWE One Night Stand 2007 -WWE Global Warfare '93. This was a Coliseum Video release. -The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA The Hall of Famer appears to be the Iron Sheik. The shorties include a Steven Regal vs. Belfast Bruiser matchup.

What's wrong with Zagurski? I saw him in Reading, seemed like a jovial guy, thought he was the ballboy for a bit. You can't hate a kid like that. That said, I can't see how this team can possibly compete. The rotation currently consists of a 44 year old ace, a Cincinnati reject, two rookies and a contest winner.

The Patriot was a Global/USWA talent who was getting a big push in a big company. He was a legit wrestler and not just a WWE creation, as he used that gimmick for at least 6-7 years.

26 for 50 to be exact.

Yeah, but I'm not certain that was specifically a no-DQ match. It was at Starrcade '86, by the way. Agreed. Saw Dudleys vs. Three Minute Warning/Rico at a house show. It was a perfect formula six-man except with a table spot at the end.