EVIL~! alkeiper

Kobe worries me, because if he's convicted, he's done as far as putting up numbers for your team. And at #7, there are still a number of star players available.

I am looking forward to Mr. J's pick. Will he pick Kobe?

Yes, I wonder who he'll pick.....

Does this league allow rookies such as Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony to be drafted? I've seen a few Sandbox leagues where players with no NBA experience couldn't be drafted.

San Francisco @ Florida 4pm ESPN2 Kirk Rueter (10-5) vs. Mark Redman (14-9) The series moves to Florida for game 3, tied at one game apeace. These are the games the Marlins need to win. They've got an 80s Cardinals type of team. Play in a big pitcher's park, and build with speed. The Marlins may need to win both games in Pro Player to win, because I'm not sure they can beat Jason Schmidt in Pac Bell Park. Atlanta @ Chicago Cubs 8pm ESPN Greg Maddux (16-11) vs. Mark Prior (18-6) So I guess fox can't be bothered with the postseason? It's better this way. ESPN's presentation is more professional. Their announcers are shit sometimes, but otherwise the programs are top notch. As for the game, Mark Prior is the future, and he's pitching at home. Greg Maddux will need all of his experience to win this one.

I'm watching it. This is the first afternoon I've had off so I can watch the playoffs.

I've never seen a replay where Giambi was safe. Of course, I don't think sliding would have necessarily made him safe either. And I'm surprised no one brings up the last time the Red Sox were down 2-0 in a division series.

I should add that Jimmie Foxx is a different case. He only missed one year, and he hit 8 home runs the year before. I can't see him getting any more than 15 that year he missed.

He likely could have. Williams lowest home run total in the two years before and after the war was 32. Credit him with those, and he's got 96 more. You can probably assume he'd hit 35-40 more home runs during the Korean War, and at that point, 630 begins to look conservative.

It sounds like "Dave's World" which was based on humor columnist Dave Barry, and actually moderately successful. Problem is, Kornheiser is not Dave Barry (and who is?).

Why? Hank Aaron hit his last 22 home runs while DHing for the Milwaukee Brewers. As for Jimmie Foxx, perhaps an injury affected him. Also note that he missed 1943 entirely. Chances are he was called into military service.

The Blue Jays will look like that a few years down the road as well.

I'm actually rarely at the Vet (and of course never again). You'll generally see me more at the Red Barons game, cheering on the Phillies farm talent.

I think so. We have a month. If we can run a round every two-three days, we shouldn't have a problem. I'm not good with set times with my schedule, but I can always drop in the college computer lab for 5 minutes and make a pick.

To add. You can give up as many runs as you want and still theoretically win. You can't win a damned thing if you don't score any. Baseball is simple. 50% hitting. 50% pitching/defense. Good teams have both.

The A's have scored 5 runs twice as well. Its not like their hitting isn't good.

51-33 with a 3.15 ERA career at Wrigley. Most of that likely comes from his days as a Cub. And its 11-3 against the Cubs. Problem with Maddux is that his K rate has taken a hit the last two years.

Finally? I've been refuting baseball's old and tired cliches for years now.

So why couldn't Atlanta win in the postseason? Weren't they built on pitching?

Thursday I could only make it here after 8:30 Eastern.

Boston @ Oakland 4pm ESPN Tim Wakefield vs. Barry Zito Wow. 4 hours and 37 minutes of baseball, and the Athletics edge the Red Sox in a thriller. It's fashionable to say the Sox bullpen blew it, but 2 runs in 5 innings isn't a catastrophe. What's interesting is pulling Byung Hyun Kim before the final out. Situational lefties suck. Half the time they don't work anyway, and they just take a good pitcher out of the game. Kim has had his postseason meltdowns, but he also gathers a heck of alot of strikeouts. The pitcher who really killed the Sox was Derek Lowe. 4 BBs in less than 2 innings? Terrible. So now we have game 2, barely 1/2 a day later. The bullpens are spent. No way the A's can pitch Keith Foulke tonight. It comes down to the starters, Wakefield and Zito. Its no contest. Wakefield needs to have the game of his life to win this one for the Sox. Minnesota @ New York 8pm fox Brad Radke vs. Andy Pettitte The Yankees have lost six of their last seven postseason games. Just more proof that large market teams cannot compete in today's enviroment, I'm afraid. In fact, no team in the top 5 of payroll has won a playoff series since the Yankees beat the Mariners in the 2001 ALCS. Oh yeah, the game. The Yankees are pitching a lefty in Yankee Stadium. Pettitte should keep the Yankees in the game. Just hope that the bats show up.

I'm in.

I watched the Phillies broadcast of that, so I didn't get Sutcliffe, thank god. Just read an espn chat of the man, and you'll see what kind of analyst he is.

Florida @ San Francisco Brad Penny (14-10) vs. Sidney Ponson (17-12) 4pm, ESPN Sidney Ponson earned a decision in 29 of his 31 starts. How often does that happen? The Giants shut out the Marlins yesterday, thanks to the dominance of Jason Schmidt. Tonight the Giants don't have Schmidt, making their task a little more difficult. Still, Ponson is adequate, and they have home field advantage. Chicago Cubs @ Atlanta Carlos Zambrano (14-11) vs. Mike Hampton (14-8) 8pm, ESPN If one more ballpark plays "Day-O", I'm going to go insane. Why do they insist on playing it? Do players rally around it? Gary Sheffield comes to the plate, hears that sweet sound, and gets psyched? The Cubs pulled off a great win yesterday. A win tonight, and they go to Chicago up 2-0. Cue flashbacks of 1984. Boston @ Oakland Pedro Martinez (14-4) vs. Tim Hudson (16-7) 10pm, ESPN So let me get this straight. The Cubs/Braves game airs at 8 on ESPN. The Red Sox/A's ALSO airs on ESPN, at 10pm? Someone's getting screwed, and I fear it will be the fans. Its a shame, because this game is as good of a pitching matchup as you'll see all postseason. No favorites here, so just sit back and enjoy what should be a highly competitive contest.

How great is it really to accomplish a division series record when the division series has only been around since 1995?