EVIL~! alkeiper

The problem beyond the case is that it's an unnamed source reporting speculation. It may have happened, we don't know. It's hardly fact.

I got a PM about some of the speculation. I can't stop it, but really you guys need to be reasonable. All you have are a few rumors and secondhand accounts. You can't base much off of that. The whole story will come out before long, and much of this may look silly.

You can view the Sox' call of the play via the front page of their website. Look for the "Guillen gets ejected" link. Man Hawk and Co. flat out blew that call.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...2&cset=true

Honestly, I think they wanted to put the title on Benoit. Since he missed the show, Nitro is a transitional champion. I wouldn't be surprised to see Benoit win the title within two weeks.

While I think the Mets have worse luck, not having any no-hitters yet, the Jays have had something like 9 no-hit bids broken up in the 9th. Seems pretty high for a 30 year history. Didn't Halladay almost get a no hitter in his MLB Debut? Second start. Bobby Higginson hit a home run with two outs. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TO...199809270.shtml Time of Game: 1:45. Wow.

I think Nitro getting the belt is just a hotshot. Benoit wins the belt Tuesday.

Definately underrated. Not mentioned as a great announcer but I've always liked his work when I've heard it.

http://www.ncaa-baseball.com/ Lafayette is the local whipping boy this time around. Since I have the college sports channels I'm looking forward to seeing more regional games live.

I guarantee nobody in power in WWE has any clue Dusty blew by there in 2000. They bothered to put an ECW match on Dusty's dvd, so someone noticed.

The Garcia trade was a win for the Sox because Garcia's likely out until his contract expires. Gio Gonzalez is the real prize of that deal and he's pitching well in AA.

Since this is a popular area of discussion, I thought I'd like to throw out some of my ideas for improving the All-Star game and the process around it. I would have done this in the commissioner thread but it's not really integral to the health of the sport. Still, it is fun and enlivens debate. 1. 25 man rosters It's 2003. The National League leads the American League 6-4. Brendan Donnelly pitches to Preston Wilson? Nothing harms an All-Star game more than legitimate stars leaving mid-game so we can see the third-best players at each position bat against the best middle relievers the game has to offer. Each manager should manage his roster like a real game. Nine starters, six reserves, ten pitchers. Ideally eight of those pitchers should be starters. Closers look better because they didn't have to start. Play the best guys all game unless they're older, or there is a strategic advantage to the move. 2. End the Representation Rule This is really 1a. If you're going to limit the rosters, you have to do this. If we still have 32 man rosters though, I would keep it. 3. The manager picks the reserves As you might know, many reserves are currently selected by MLB players. The way this works is that players receive All-Star ballots like the fans do. The players fill out the ballots and return them. If the players' selection differs from the fans', that selection makes the squad. If the selections are different, the second highest vote-getter amongst the players makes it. This is illogical. This has nothing to do with the players' ability to make intelligent decisions. Rather, the idea is to place decision making in the hands of a single entity who can then exercise flexibility as needed. The current process is too rigid. 4. Divide outfield voting Pick three outfielders. This can lead to a scenario where you have three left fielders starting the game. Center field is a more demanding defensive position than the corners. A right fielder requires a better arm than a left fielder. The ballot should reflect this. 5. Allow fans to choose a starting pitcher Why not? The nature of the voting wouldn't give you as good a choice as the manager's (because the fans start voting in mid-April), but you would likely get a respectable pitcher, probably the previous year's Cy Young award winner. The most deserving pitcher would still make the squad. If he comes in the third instead of the first, I could live with that. 6. Apply the Designated Hitter at all games It's an exhibition. The pitcher bats maybe 1% of the time as it is. This would end the problems every other year of trying to vote American League DH's among first basemen. 7. Establish an Innings limit Again, it's an exhibition. If you establish beforehand that a game will last twelve innings and no more, fans would not get ups in arms as they would for a sudden end. The rule would allow one to three extra innings (10 might be a better limit and is common for Spring Training exhibitions), and would allow managers to better manage their pitching staffs. 8. The game doesn't count Currently the game decides home field advantage. Yet it is still played like an exhibition. If you really needed to win a game, you would hang your closer for two innings, never sit your starters, etc. It runs into several conflicts of interest and more importantly, the fans have not responded with increased enthusiasm. It's time to put the idea to rest. 9. Shorten the Home Run Derby Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa made the Home Run Derby an event. The problem is that the Derby has gone from entertainment to a three and a half hour endurance contest. Not for the players, but for the viewers. Subject the fans to the Derby and then the game, and you're asking them to commit seven hours to baseball programming over two consecutive nights. Your hardcore fan will do it, but that is too much for the casual fan. Give the players five outs a round instead of ten. 10. Cut back on Commercialism I can live with outfield advertisements. But the entire evening should not be an infomercial for Century 21 and Mastercard.

Like I said at another board, these people are not so much genuinely concerned stockholders as much as they are being obstructionists because they don't like a wrestling angle. They need to grow up.

If you watched the Dusty Rhodes dvd, the Rhodes vs. Dibiase/Virgil match is from that card.

Not the best outing as Clippard walked five in five innings, striking out two. Both starters really had trouble throwing strikes out there.

You don't need a hard rule. The real problem is that Pittsburgh got the All-Star game primarily to boost season ticket sales. That shouldn't happen.

Aaron Rowand's a free agent this year and I imagine Yankee fans would like the guy who made a great showing in that White Sox series a few years ago. Of course he's having a big year so he might score a Gary Matthews contract. Thank god the Phillies can slide Shane Victorino over and avoid overpaying him. As for Maroth, really his stuff is fringe so I'm not sure he's a tremendous upgrade for the Cardinals. While Igawa starts for the Yankees, I'll see Tyler Clippard's return to Scranton. I saw Igawa's first AAA start and to say he pitched well is a reach. It took him about 100 pitches to get through five innings and he worked deep counts to too many hitters. They're playing Syracuse, staring SAL FASANO!!

I only advocate ending the rule along with cutting back the roster. 16 teams with a 25 man roster just isn't feasible. If the rosters are at 25, then I see no problem maintaining the rule. I would only hope they give it to the best player and not just a middle reliever. I agree with the starters' rule. Agreed. St. Louis hasn't hosted the game since '66, which boggles me.

What about the AWA. Isn't Jerry Lawler eligible for the match?

And like Ripken, Tejada posts his lowest OPS's in September. Consecutive game streaks are not worth the physical exertion.

Next week.

Mine just indicated she wants to join the Army. Does that count?

Try-outs. They had two dark matches featuring Chris Benoit around the same time.

Public Enemy's last ECW match was the appropriately named House Party '96 in January. Oddly, they won their sendoff.