EVIL~! alkeiper

Chicks dig the long ball.

After a dismal start the Phillies' season turned around nicely. As of this writing, the Phils actually own a better record than the New York Yankees. When I mentioned this to a spectator last night, another spectator took the opportunity to note the Phillies had just one World championship. I don't like to get into pissing matches about my team. First off, I'll lose. Second, I don't think a franchise's success is integral to enjoying the game of baseball. When you go to a Yankee game, do you see a bunch of fans smiling despite the losing streak saying, "aww shucks it's ok, we've won so many already." The point is that sustained winning does not seem to buy happiness. What it will get you a larger fanbase, which in my case just makes it more difficult to get good seats for games. Thursday's game took me to Scranton to watch the AAA Yankees play the Ottawa Lynx, the temporary home of the AAA Phillies. Except for RF Ron Calloway and SP Zach Segovia, every player on the Lynx played for the Red Barons last season. Red Barons' paraphernalia was abundant in the stands, but enthusiasm for the visiting team was muted. The Yankees defeated the Lynx 3-1, the difference coming on Shelly Duncan's two-run home run in the first inning. Zach Segovia pitched deep into counts but induced outs. Segovia only struck out one batter but pitched a quality start, allowing three runs in seven innings. Matt Desalvo out pitched him, giving the Yankees six shutout innings. T.J. Beam finally looked like a relief prospect, striking out the side in the eighth inning. Before the games the team shows a video package promoting the team, showing the December press-conference unveiling the logo and assorted quotes and such. One dignitary noted the SWB Yankees could be the biggest thing in minor league baseball this season. When they said that, they obviously had an eye on the bullpen. The Yankees' bullpen includes Ben Kozlowski (6'6", 220), T.J. Beam (6'7", 215), Ron Villone (6'3", 245), and Colter Bean (6'6", 255). Earlier in the game a fan asked Segovia if he had eaten their children, referencing his weight. Segovia is slightly overweight. Chris Britton is a 280 lb. monster. No wonder the Orioles traded him with conditioning issues on their mind.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/mlb_c...k_aaron_with_50

The Reds traded Chris Denorfia to the A's. I like Denorfia but the emergence of Josh Hamilton made him expendable. For a team short on outfield depth, he should be a nice addition.

Stars vs. stars I don't know, but I'm willing to bet the average role/backup player today is far better than the backups of 20-30 years ago. That contributes to the dynasties and stats of guys like Wilt and Russell. They simply never faced the caliber of competition that today's players face. As for the game itself, I think the game becomes more refined, defenses become tougher to break as coaches enjoy modern videotape and strategy. The older leagues benefit in public opinion because you only see the highlights. Players fucked up all the time in the '80s.

'Cause Stone Cold Said So is really a fun piece. It's from mid-97 and covers the period when Austin was an interesting and unique character, rather than the caricature he later became. The end credits were a highlight as most said either "Stone Cold" or "Steve Austin," with a few exceptions. HAIR I'm Bald, Jackass GAFFER I Whipped His Ass Too

No word on Aybar's whereabouts. According to Paul Hagen in the Philadelphia Inquirer, agent Luis Valdez stated his client was dealing with "drinking and drugs." So much for P.R. 101.

Baseball Prospectus produced a Top 100 Prospect List based entirely on Pecota. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6153 This isn't their official prospect list, but it's interesting nonetheless. First time I've seen Carlos Ruiz on a Top 100 list.

That's Bruno Sammartino.

Agreed. The Wrestlemania matches are so widely available that they've become overexposed.

The aggregate ERA for MLB so far this season is 4.11. The AL is at 4.31 and the NL at 3.94. That places offense at its lowest level since 1992. It's still early though and many games were played in unfavorable baseball conditions. Bullpen ERAs across baseball are at 3.78. These too are lower than last year.

Umpire behind the plate for the plate for the Nats/Phillies game is Adrian Johnson. I've seen several players make the bigs from AAA, but this is the first umpire I can recall. May 26th at Lakewood, NJ is Michael Bourn bobblehead day, plus King Kong Bundy is signing autographs. If you can brave the Garden State Parkway, it's worth the trip.

The Phillies agreed. Matt Smith sent to the minors, Fabio Castro brought up.

Reviews seem very positive. From Baseball-reference.com... http://www.baseball-reference.com/travel/u...ts.cgi?id=NPBRY I would absolutely take advantage of the opportunity.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SD...200605220.shtml Sixteen Ks. He lost because the only fly ball he allowed the entire night cleared the outfield wall.

Five consecutive wins and the Phillies are back in business. Four back in the division which is a workable deficit with 142 games left.

As a rule of thumb, prank calls on radio shows are never, ever funny.

I got tickets to Raw June 11th in Wilkes-Barre. It'll be my first live wrestling event in four years.

I think Piper probably belongs in the top ten. I think my first eight (Londos, George, Rogers, Bruno, Andre, Hogan, Austin, Rock) are unassailable. Beyond that, there are about seven guys fighting for two spots. Flair, Rhodes, Piper, Bret Hart, Fred Blassie, Bobo Brazil, maybe Sting or Bill Goldberg.

They've got a point. One on hand you use a character to fight obesity, but on the other hand you slap its image on EVERYTHING. Since I work at Kmart, I see all the stuff firsthand and you'd be amazed how much junk you can merchandise.

This reminds me on something about Abreu. From just an observation standpoint, from all the players you've seen, in your opinion, where does Abreu rank among the best eye in baseball? Out of all the players i've seen bat, he definitely has the best eye i've seen. His at-bats are fun to watch, and when he strikes out swinging, it seems like he just gave away an at-bat. Probably second, behind Barry Bonds. It's funny because when I watched Abreu hit, I was reminded of the famous Bill Klem line (Klem was a HOF umpire). When a young pitcher questioned his calls while pitching to Rogers Hornsby, Klem stated, "young man, when you throw a strike Mr. Hornsby will let you know." I said the same thing jokingly about Abreu. If Abreu thought it was outside, it was.

Matt Smith has now walked 11 batters in four innings. The Ottawa Lynx are in Scranton until tomorrow so there's no better time to send him down. Meanwhile, CJ Henry is hitting .213 in Lakewood, Carlos Monasterios has a 6.75 ERA there, and Jesus Sanchez is in extended Spring Training. I'm not even looking at Bobby Abreu's numbers to see if the Yankees got the better end of that trade.

Wow I don't remember that one. I remember Gary-Chipper-Andruw going back-to-back-to-back that year though. Is that Braves four home runs in 2 days included when they say back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns have happened 5 times in history? It's not, but maybe it should be.

Since the Red Sox hit four straight home runs on Sunday, there have been a few outlets listing the teams who have done it. One interesting note is that JD Drew was part of the festivities twice, joining the Dodgers' four home run explosion last season. A member of SABR noted that the Braves pulled the trick in 2003. Chipper Jones hit a walk-off home run on May 27. The next day, the Braves led off the game with three consecutive home runs by Rafael Furcal, Mark Derosa and Gary Sheffield.

Ted Lilly's certainly been golden so far. His two losses came on scores of 2-1 and 1-0.