EVIL~! alkeiper

Last week sometime.

Keep 'em coming Bruiser. I love reading these old news bits.

Lack of passion, Heenan says as much in his autobiography.

Honus Wagner is unquestionably #1. His .542 slugging percentage in 1908 would be very good in today's era. When you consider the entire league slugged .318, it makes it every bit as dominant a performance as Babe Ruth 15 years later. No shortstop ever led the league in as many batting categories as Wagner, even A-Rod if you give him credit for his years at third base.

Which Rumble?

Texas bullrope matches have always been pinfall/submission.

I think it's safe to say Ryan Howard is back. Less than two weeks after the All-Star game, he leads Prince Fielder in OBP, slugging, RBIs, OPS, and is just three behind in home runs. This is why we shouldn't pick All Stars based on half a season.

Why does their attendence go down in the playoffs? That's not a good trend. Playoff games do not have the benefit of advance promotion and sales. Part of selling attendance for regular season games is groups, both in attendance and in party boxes. Minor league baseball has the same problem. Unless the playoffs are particularly important (the big four), fans don't tune in to them. The higher numbers relative to regular season attentance the last few years is encouraging.

Kyle Drabek is having Tommy John surgery.

David Smith of Retrosheet.org wrote a wonderful piece in this year's Baseball Research Journal. In response to a similar comment by Tim McCarver in the playoffs, Smith looked at play-by-play from 1974-2002. Historically 43.4% of leadoff walks lead to a run-scoring inning. Leadoff singles? 43.3%. It makes no difference whether the hitter reaches by walk or safe hit (except for extra base hits).

Wasn't Stephen Drew the highest rated player of that draft?

Hmm, wrong thread. Oh well.

Sports chat tonight 10-11 ET in the TSM chatroom. Or non-sports stuff if the urge strikes.

Mod Al will chat live from 10-11pm ET!

It's a lumber term.

The Yankees have called Shelly Duncan to the majors, making him their starting DH. Duncan already holds the Scranton single season home run record with 25 bombs. He's slugging .577 on the year. With his numbers and the Yankees' dearth of talent at first, it's worth a shot. I think pitchers will eventually exploit Duncan's long swing in the bigs, but we'll see.

Already happened on a few occasions, I believe Moondog Spot was the most recent. Iron Mike DiBiase (Ted's father) was another.

Dunn doesn't need to be a .300 hitter. You don't find a player of Dunn's power often. He does not ground into double plays often and is an unusually good baserunner for a player of his type. There is a tendency to look at a bad team and blame the best player. It's often misleading and the worst thing the team can do is trade the player for pennies on the dollar.

I saw that coming, because all the sudden they kept talking up Horowitz's losing streak on tv. I thought the upset was coming the previous show actually.

The 1978 Yankees had Thurman Munson die the next season.

Going to be an interesting couple of days in Scranton. Jeff Karstens starts rehab on Sunday, followed by Phil Hughes on Monday. I'll be at both games. Erubiel Durazo is also playing for the AAA Yankees.

Lou Pinella said Izturis was traded to a place where he'd get some playing time. So where does Izturis fit in with Pittsburgh? Utility infielder?

If you take Victorino by himself with no consideration to his teammates, he is most valuable as a center fielder. There are two reasons for this. One, it is easier to land a bigger bat in a corner than it is at center field. Second, Victorino's range is OUTSTANDING. Phillies fans have seen the arm. I watched Victorino play center field on a regular basis in 2005, and I believe he can cover more ground in center field. Aaron Rowand is a free agent after the season. Gary Matthews at 31 had a very good season and got a $40 million contract. Rowand is two years younger and is having a better offensive season. That'll be worth maybe $12 million a year? If the Phillies already have someone who can capably play center, why not spend the money elsewhere where you need it? Third base is a gaping black hole with no players remotely capable of carrying the load in the minors. Right now with no free agents or trades, here is the Phils 2008 lineup. C: Carlos Ruiz 1B: Ryan Howard 2B: Chase Utley SS: Jimmy Rollins 3B: Wes Helms/Greg Dobbs LF: Pat Burrell CF: Shane Victorino RF: Michael Bourn

To the Reds fans, the worst thing you can do when you're 16 games under .500 is to sell the farm to build a bullpen. To do what, protect non-existant leads? Norris Hopper is a 28 year old rookie with a .337 career slugging percentage in the minors. Ryan Freel is 31, recovering from injury and has a career .379 slugging percentage. Keppinger hits for high averages but he's a singles hitter. Josh Hamilton can not play center field long term. Ken Griffey turns 38 next year. What you are left with is a lineup with no power, and no stars. The desire of the Reds to trade Adam Dunn is maddening as well.

I've seen nothing announced but Saunders would seem like the logical choice.