EVIL~! alkeiper

That Pirates/Astros 18 inning game from May this season used I think 46 players. You're correct.

I haven't checked, but I have to think the 43 players combined used by the Reds and Phillies last night is a new MLB record.

Yet ANOTHER intentional walk. Aaron Fultz will bat with no outs and the bases loaded.

Bottom of the 14th. The Reds are using tomorrow night's starter against Dellucci, Utley and Howard. After that Aaron Fultz is due up.

I'd be more worried about Griffey if his season OPS were higher than .782. He's just not a superstar anymore.

And now Eric Milton is hitting for the Reds. I hope managers love these rosters because it's absolute shit for the fans.

I've complained about the use of the 13 man pitching staff before. This game is a prime example. We have eight pitchers available, leaving just four bench players. Here's the problem. 1. Pat Burrell requires a defensive replacement. Manager Charlie Manuel exacerbates the problem by double switching and putting the pitcher in the fifth slot, behind Ryan Howard. 2. With just Danny Sandoval left, the Reds intentionally walk Ryan Howard into the ninth inning. Sandoval grounds into the DP on the first pitch. 3. 12th inning. The Reds intentionally walk Ryan Howard again, moving the winning run into scoring position. With no bench players left, the Phils are forced to use Randy Wolf as a pinch hitter. The Phils again fail to score. So the Phils have eight relievers. All it's done tonight is take the bat out of their best hitter's hands. You need bench players.

Ed Wade was a common sight at Red Barons games. I've also seen John Vuckovich and Dallas Green there from time to time. Phils vs. Ryan Franklin. There's no reason we should lose this game.

Win shares is great for evaluating offense but not as accurate when it comes to defense. It's difficult to evaluate great fielders within the system. It's almost entirely a subjective argument, so let me just point out that Ozzie was one of just two NL shortstops with an above average OPS+ (the other was Hubie Brooks).

Verlander and Verlander. Verlander could win the Cy Young, but I doubt he will. My vote goes for Johan Santana.

Pat Gillick in a radio interview today stated the need to get guys who "get on base." Well gee Pat, where could we find such a player?

Depends on what you mean by offensive. If you mean purely by offensive contributions, Morneau trumps Mauer. If you mean best position player (combining offense and defense), Mauer comes up slightly ahead.

No love for Ozzie Smith? How do you think the Cards finished second in ERA yet 10th in strikeouts?

It's not a matter of ignoring his offensive ability. It's recognizing that other players bring abilities to the table that David Ortiz does not. Compare Ortiz to Joe Mauer for example. According to runs created, Ortiz has created 93 runs compared to 80 for Joe Mauer. That's an edge of 13 runs. Now, Ortiz does not play defense, and thus does not take away any runs on the other side of the game. Mauer has thrown out 16 baserunners, which has saved somewhere around 10 runs for his club. Mauer has also made 16 assists otherwise. That does a hell of a lot to overtake the gap in offense. Clutch ability? The clutch hits are nice, but production in the first inning counts just as much as production in the ninth inning. Mauer contributes just as much to his team's offense as the best hitters in the league, the only difference being that Mauer's hits don't lead off Sportscenter every day.

I've been doing a lot of preparation for the Phillies' prospect list, but I'm holding off the final project until the end of the season on the basis that with a month left in the minors, why rush it out? Cardenas is off to a great start, no doubt. But we're talking about 132 at bats in the Gulf Coast League, about as far away from the majors as you can get. So it's tricky. There's a few other draftees that might be worth a look, such as Jason Donald and D'Arby Myers. It is very difficult to evaluate any of them with never having seen them play and not having a scout's eye to begin with. Based on some numbers and my intuition, this is where I would rank the Phillies' HITTING prospects. 1. Michael Bourn, CF 2. Carlos Ruiz, C 3. Greg Golson, CF 4. CJ Henry, SS 5. Brad Harman, SS 6. Jason Jaramillo, C 7. Adrian Cardenas, SS 8. Brennan King, 3B 9. Jason Donald, SS 10. Hector Made, 2B The short season guys like Michael Durant, Tim Kennelly, Lou Marson, etc. get the short end of the stick on this one. Carlos Ruiz has no more development room. He'll provide league average production and plus defense. But he's also a sure thing. Golson's recent hitting streak gives him some leeway. While Henry's struggled he at least hasn't flatlined. He's got a reasonably good batting eye. Harman's outhitting both Golson and Henry at the same age and is a good glove man. Jaramillo's good enough to reach the majors as a backup at least. Brennan King's probably a surprise. His MLE shows a slugging percentage of .427, and I figure he's got a tiny bit of room left to develop into a passable option. That's not much, but this is a weak crop. On the pitching front, Gio Gonzalez will likely remain no. 1 assuming Scott Mathieson makes the decision easy by exceeding the rookie requirement for innings pitched. The big question is where to rank Kyle Drabek.

With Independant Lieberman and the Democratic nominee running, isn't it more likely that the Republican nominee wins the Senate seat outright?

Does your college offer weight/strength training as a fitness course? I took Strength Training last semester for one credit and it did me a world of good.

They play until they have the required teams left, with seedings determined by head to head matchups. 17 words. Oh...ok, then....thanks. Yeah... That's the best you're going to get. MLB's tiebreaker scenarios are hard to find and on some occasions they don't even exist! What happens is that a team will not get excluded from the playoffs based solely on a tiebreaker. If there's a tie for playoff spots, teams will play single elimination games. If there's a tie for the NL West/WC, head-to-head matchups determine the division champs, assuming both teams make the playoffs otherwise.

That's what worries me. We can live in a country where any form of personal convenience is disallowed but as long as we don't get blown up, we win. I on't feel my personal liberties have been threatened. But at some point, we have to step back and realize that winning a war against terrorism is not simply a matter of survival. We haven't lost civilian lives to terrorism in five years, but we're paying twice as much for gasoline. A small band of Islamic fundamendalists have done much to stretch our resources thin, more so than they really should have any ability to.

They play until they have the required teams left, with seedings determined by head to head matchups. 17 words.

Tigers/Twins has been a tremendous game so far. Brandon Inge hit a two run homer in the seventh to put the Tigers ahead, and Justin Morneau followed with a two run shot of his own the next inning. Morneau is now the first Twin to hit 30 home runs since 1987.

This practically paid for itself the first game. The Tigers interviewed Jason Grilli during the fourth inning and his fellow relievers spent the entire time dousing him with soft drinks and otherwise trying to distract him.

That connection to Bill Clinton is the worst comparison I've seen a writer make in quite sometime. Again, this is poor. I mean, how about the 1890s Baltimore Orioles? How about Babe Ruth and his corked bat? How about suspicions that cyclists doped in the 1920s? There's a ton of stuff to go into if you're going to take the historical route. Poor, poor effort.

Last night I drove down to Reading for the Phillies/BaySox game, and I had an opportunity to watch Gio Gonzalez pitch. Sometimes the statistics don't tell you everything about the player. Other times they're dead on. Gonzalez is one of those pitchers who appear exactly as the stats would have you believe. Gonzalez has absolutely fantastic stuff. His control wavers however, as he's walked about 4.5 batters per nine innings. Even though he walked just one batter in his start, he started the game by working all three batters in the first inning to full counts. The control problems are probably the root cause of his home run rate as well. He'll work a batter to a 2-0 or 3-0 count, has to groove a fastball, and with Reading being a good hitters' park, the results are devistating. Gonzalez is just 20 though, and there are few pitchers his age that are better. He's got plenty of time to progress, and if his control comes around he's going to be a good one. Jeremy Slayden vs. Josh Kroeger The Phillies' farm system is so devoid of hitting that any hitter with a pulse garners attention. Jeremy Slayden is such a case. Slayden was drafted out of college last season and is currently enjoying a fine season at Low A Lakewood, hitting .301/.370/.511. (This is the standard Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Slugging Pct. line.) Meanwhile, Josh Kroeger is having an awful season at AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, hitting just .223/.262/.348. Kroeger is entirely off the radar at this point. Both are corner outfielders. Slayden has better raw stats, but it is MUCH easier to hit Low A pitching than to hit AAA pitching. The catch is that both players are almost the same age. Slayden was born in July of 1982, and Kroeger in August of the same year. Slayden is actually older despite playing in a league three levels lower. We have a little tool handy called MLEs (Major League Equivalencies). MLEs take a player's current statistics and adjust them to a Major League context. Most minor leaguers look awful but that's ok. If they were good enough to be in the majors they would be in the majors (for the most part). This allows us to directly compare Kroeger and Slayden. They're the same age and they play the same position. Who's better? MLES Slayden: .206/.249/.350 Kroeger: .199/.232/.310 Slayden comes out ahead, even with the difference in levels. The point is however that we need to keep things in perspective. Slayden's having a nice year but he's 23 and a LONG way from the majors.

I'll be able to respond in greater detail later. Jeter's problem is that table setters are always underrated in relation to RBI men. I bash Jeter often, but the fact is that he's fifth in the league in OBP. He plays a key defensive position, and he's 24 for 27 in stolen base attempts. He at least belongs in the discussion. As an aside, ESPN.com has a poll asking about Ortiz's HOF chances. 68% or so responded that they think he will eventually make the Hall. I hope fans are as kind when Edgar Martinez becomes eligible.