EVIL~! alkeiper

Kendrick really sucks tonight. The smoke and mirrors have lost their magic.

Kyle Kendrick is the luckiest f'n pitcher alive. 2 IP, 6 BB, just one earned run.

Wow. The Mets fucked up another double play ball.

The latter.

Here's the deal guys. With the board reset, anyone who was unbanned, registered or had a name changed in the last several weeks was undone. PM or IM one of the staff members and we'll set things back if there's a problem.

Regarding the '49 Cardinals, I think making the playoffs is a prerequisite. Otherwise it just proves that the slow start did them in.

Jerry Crasnick has an article on espn.com about teams who started slow and yet reached the postseason. '05 Astros are good, as were the '07 Rockies (three teams from last year is overkill though). No mention of the 1914 Miracle Braves? It's not like it's an obscure footnote in baseball history.

Six miles to work. If I want to take advantage of public transportation, the closest bus stop to my home is in the same plaza. It's about 35 miles to Scranton when I work the baseball games.

TNT with "This is your life" was one of the strangest wrestling shows I've ever watched.

Here's the catch Czech. Minor league affiliates are not controlled by the parent clubs. The team in New Britain is owned by an entity there, and they have the rights to a AA franchise. Ditto for nearly all minor league clubs (there are exceptions such as Richmond). In order to move teams to those areas near Chicago, the teams there would need to convince an existing AA/AAA club to sell out. Since Rochester for example has held an International League team since the days of Stan Musial, that's unlikely. Proximity to the major league club may be important for the AAA club, otherwise how often do you need to bring in a player from A/AA? Not often. The bigger problem is that if you move around the affiliates due to travel costs, it becomes more expensive to travel among those leagues. It's expensive enough for the Southern League without expanding to run from Huntsville to Gary. For those leagues, longer series (five games instead of four) is already on the docket. The bigger question from me is why worry whether a minor league club is affiliated? Those teams in Schaumburg and Gary are at least as good as most AA clubs. You don't get the prospects, but the quality of play is still good.

Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura haven't been mentioned, but obviously those guys have huge mainstream exposure.

Interesting question. I'm just going to put these in alphabetical order. David Bowie Jeff Buckley Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) Ray Davies (The Kinks) Nick Drake John Lennon Morrissey Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian) Robert Smith Al Yankovic

I find that I avoid lines at the doctor's by scheduling my appointment between 8-9 am. Do your shit while every other lazy asshole is still in bed. Same principle works for Walmart and other stores. Little wait, few rif-raff, no hassle.

Seven instances in 21 at bats. Only two batters got three balls on him, and one of those was a four pitch walk. If you put stock in strikeouts swinging versus missing, all seven Ks were swinging strikeouts.

Alberto Gonzalez got pulled in the seventh inning tonight, often that's a precursor to a call-up. Wonder if Derek Jeter is DL bound. For Reds fans, Homer Bailey looked impressive at times tonight. He struck out seven, hitting 95 mph on his fastball at his best.

He did. I'm glad the O's are starting off well actually. They are a sentimental favorite being somewhat within range yet small market. And almost no city can claim a better heritage of baseball.

The Mets picked right up on last year's ineptitude, turning a double play ball into a two-run error.

Agreed. It's quite a sight out there.

The 8pm Sunday Night start time is static. If a west coast team plays that game, it's 5pm PT, or 6pm MT. The only thing that irks me with Yankee national coverage is that I already have the YES Network. The ESPN game is blacked out, so I end up receiving fewer national games overall as a result.

Agreed.

Another year of baseball is finally here. Who cares if it is too cold to reasonably enjoy the game? April 1, Lehigh Valley @ Reading (exhibition) A cold front threatened this game. While every place in eastern PA got drenched, the rain somehow avoided Reading entirely. We were treated to a 66 degree gametime temperature, fantastic conditions. This game pit the Phillies' top two minor league affiliates against each other to benefit Baseballtown charities. I can not stress enough how terrific a place First Energy Stadium is. The staff puts together a tremendous gameday experience, prices are good, concessions are reasonable. Plus, you can see Jason Donald take a wizz in the dugout! Lehigh Valley won 6-2. April 3-5, Lehigh Valley @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre The first official games for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Less said about the games, the better. As much as Reading puts into their gameday experience, Scranton does the opposite. No promotions, no excitement, barely any information for the fans. And that nice weather? Gone. Saturday was particularly fun. Afternoon game, bound to be a bit warm, right? 41 f'n degrees. And my dumb ass brought a short sleeve shirt. Put on a brave face though. Considered a sweater at the gift shop, but if someone bet me I couldn't make it through the game for $38, I'd take the bet. Next week: Three games at Scranton, against the Louisville Bats.

I just finished up Joe Posnanski's "The Soul of Baseball," his book about traveling with Buck O'Neil. Absolutely splendid, probably the best new baseball book I have read in the last two years.

The Film Room stuff with Brisco is very good. You get a match with Dory Jr., a tag match with Dory Sr. and Paul Jones, and a match against Johnny Valentine.

I don't. Believe me, Chris had very little resembling a career.

Basically he was the youngest brother of Kerry, Kevin Von Erich. He was only about 5'3", had the least athletic ability of the bunch but also the most desire to be a professional wrestler. He had a brief career, was really unable to be a pro wrestler. He was only 21 when he committed suicide.