EVIL~! alkeiper

Man, that trivia question is way too obvious.

Ok. I've had some time to look at the issue. I'm taking BPro's VORP projections, because they're a good, round number to use, and they are calculated objectively. Tigers vs. Bonds-less Giants LINEUP No question, Detroit smokes the Giants here. Edges at catcher, first base, shortstop, left field, and right field. Only Durham is appreciably better at his position. And none of this is including Dmitri Young. BENCH Key bench players are seen as Craig Monroe and Yolvit Torrealba. However, none of the other Giants' reserves are very good. Tigers win out again. ROTATION This is where the Giants beat the Tigers. Jason Schmidt is eons better than any of the Tigers' starters. Remove Schmidt however, and it is closer. But the Giants would still edge the Tigers. BULLPEN A slight edge to the Giants. I included Nen in the equation. Remove him and it is nearly even. Looking at the totals, the Tigers edge the Giants when you include Dmitri Young, but the Giants win when you don't. Bringing the DH to the table, I would think that either team would have the edge depending on whether the DH is in use. I would say that the Tigers are certainly in the Giants league if the Giants were without Bonds.

Phillies win 4-2.

Chad Bentz warming up for the Expos, but I don't know if he'll get in the game. Bentz is a Jim Abbott-type in that he has a deformed right hand.

What we need is a floating Earl Weaver, explaining why the hit-and-run is a bad play.

If Phil McCarver can't properly comprehend the game, why should I trust whatever the hell graphic fox is using?

As for Bonds, there are a few things worth considering. One, his power spike occured almost instantly as Pac Bell Park opened. Is it possible that the park is responsible? In 2001 and 2003, he slugged about 100 points higher at home than on the road. That's quite odd for what is considered an extreme pitchers' park. Hypothesis: The Giants built a park with caters to Bonds' strength. Also, after Bonds' 2001 season, he saw his intentional walks nearly double. Take away his intentional walks, and his walk totals match what he produced in the 90s. Hypothesis: Bonds' continued success is due to pitchers not challenging him. One year power spikes are not unheard of. Aaron slugged .643 at the age of 39, after slugging .514 the year before.

I'll get to the Bonds' comment shortly. I'm looking over some numbers. Yes, but center field was nearly 500 feet (the area which is now monument park was in play), so I don't hold that against him. As well, when he hit 29 home runs in 1919, Fenway Park was perhaps the toughest hitters' park in baseball. Note that outside of Ruth, the entire TEAM hit 4 home runs. That's insane. He COULD, but remember that he's still not even halfway there. Baseball players are sometimes unpredictable as they age. We don't know what path Rodriguez's career will take. For all we know, Bonds might not even make it.

3 RBIs for Burrell so far, matching last year's total. Well not quite, but he looks alot better this season.

I call bullshit as well. Every game is important to a real baseball fan. Within the context of a pennant race? Not really. But each game has meaning.

Anyone else not watching the Red Sox/Yankees especially? I'll check in, but my attention is on the Phillies/Expos.

Corked bats.

What's their next plan? Call up the ticket office, giggle, and hang up? Its seriously juvenile.

First off, the Tigers lost 119 games because their offense was 100 runs lower than anyone in the league. For the pitching staff, they've gained Jason Johnson and Ugueth Urbina. I'll do a full comparison between the Tigers and Bonds-less Giants after work. As for the Giants, Schmidt is injured, as is Nen. Kirk Rueter walked more batters than he struck out last year. He's a few starts away from falling off a cliff. They have BRETT TOMKO and DUSTIN HERMANSON in their rotation, and Neifi Perez is a STARTER. That team is all Bonds right now.

Figures. I was going to come out with a single season home run chart, with asteriks next to every single name. Including Ruth's.

Two reasons...... 1. Ozzie's defense was much better. Ordonez made spectacular plays. Ozzie made EVERY play. 2. Ozzie was not as bad a hitter as people think, while Ordonez is outright terrible. Ozzie owns a career .337 OBP, while Ordonez's is .291. Ordonez plays in a MUCH better era for hitters, and Ozzie smokes him.

I hate Bud Seilg. Every "improvement" he has made to baseball is a complete joke. He's threatened cities with contraction if they don't build publicly financed ballparks. The cities that did build new ballparks were fed a pack of lies about their team's chances of competing. He is constantly lying about the finances of the game in order to grab more money for himself and his greedy owners. I missed something. What exactly has Bud done to favor the players' union. Moreover, what unsuitable demands has the players' union made, apart from the drug testing issue?

Ah yes. Both would've undoubtably thrived in their new parks. I think the Red Sox got the better end of that non-deal, because Williams was four years younger than Dimaggio. More importantly, Dimaggio retired in '51, while the Sox got nine more years out of Williams. That brings a scary thought. The 1950s Yankees, with Mantle AND Ted Williams in the outfield. Damn.

I agree. Its a dangerous move to disallow something because you don't like it, when there's nothing I'm aware of in the rulebook that allows them to do it. You have to keep stats by the book, even if you don't like it.

If Bonds were to get injured, they would. Obviously, this list is based ONLY on games already played and is NOT a prediction of future performance. I think its kind of silly to base a list off of one week though.

Which deal was that? If you're referring to Ruth, that was Harry Frazee's deal.

Ugh. Yet ANOTHER reason to hate Fox Sports. If they're going to do this, I demand equal time for the talking baseball to explain why the sacrifice bunt is such an idiotic play, and why sabermetrics are the wave of the future. Something kids can USE. I never really gave a crap what a slider did.

Don't worry Rant. Next week's issue will contain an extra dose of Bavasi-bashing, just for you.

The Cincinnati/Philadelphia game will be replayed on Monday, June 14th. No other makeup dates have been announced.

The expansion or the argument?