EVIL~! alkeiper

Murton's slugging .367. Young players deserve a shot, but they do not get a free pass. If Murton can't produce, he should not be on the roster. Whether they can replace him with a good player is up for debate. Yankees' 2003 Record: 101-61. Yankees' 2004 Record: 101-61.

A disappointing showing, but I don't think there's really any blame to be handed out. Like I said before, this is NOT a tournament we were expected to dominate. These are extremely tough teams, and let's not forget that Ghana A. were also fighting for their tournament lives and B. beat the Czech Republic as well. Right now U.S. Soccer is middle of the pack. If a bad showing in the 1998 World Cup didn't kill the sport, this one won't either. I think the team needs a change of scenery (Re: Bruce Arena's ouster).

GOAL! Tied 1-1.

It's hard to say we fucked up when we weren't the favorites by any means. People forget that these are three really good teams. Sure losing 3-0 was an embarassment, but we could've played our best and still lost 1-0 or 2-1 easily.

Mexico advances unless Angola scores three goals in the next three minutes.

Usually. It's a dangerous habit to get into though, and I'm not of the belief that the closer usage of the late '70s and early '80s should be repeated. It's a different style nowadays where relievers pitch shorter and harder. I do think the save rule should be abolished. There's no reason to waste a good reliever with a three run lead and the bottom of the order up in the ninth. Meanwhile, closers should almost always appear in tie games.

Based on what though? If there's a pattern of overuse, I haven't seen it.

Who? Rivera or Farnsworth?

It won't be a problem if Angola can't score. The next tiebreaker after goal differential is goals scored, and Mexico leads Angola by four in that department.

In that three inning outing, he threw 25 pitches. He dispatched batters with such efficiency that it made sense for him to pitch three innings. And that 25 pitches is the most he's thrown in any of his last ten outings. He's not piling up a lot of pitches, and quite honestly two innings of work for Rivera is closer to an inning of work for a regular closer. To put this into a little perspective, Kyle Farnsworth threw 33 pitches on Monday in a single inning.

Portugal takes an early 2-0 lead. Mexico has to thank their stars they were up three over Angola in goal differential.

Rivera hadn't pitched since Saturday. He's in his mid 30s and has never really had any serious injury concerns. I know there's a push not to overuse pitchers, but I don't think a two inning outing here and there is really going to cripple anyone.

The Phillies game starts at 3pm. There's no scheduling conflict.

Brandon Backe's an astonishingly overrated pitcher. It's amazing what a handful of postseason starts will do for your reputation.

What's the point? Two soldiers died in a war. These were particularly gruesome apparently, but facts are facts. Is there really anything to debate?

Oh well.

This is some fine drama here.

Worrell had a 4.18 ERA career against the Mets. Rhodes had a 6.86 career against the Yankees in 80 innings coming into this season. Retrosheet has the splits available if anyone cares to look for anyone worse. Let's require a minimum of 50 IP for this exercise. Mariano Rivera struck out in his first official regular season at bat of his career. He was 0 for 3 in World Series play.

Mitch Williams and the Blue Jays comes to mind.

Ryan Howard 7, Yankees 5

Sometime in the mid to late 90s, one of the Apter mags produced an article listing the ten most violent matches in wrestling history. I remember they listed the Sheik & Sabu vs. Onita & Goto, as well as one of the Sheepherders vs. Fantastics barbed wire cage match. Does anyone have a copy, or can otherwise reproduce the list?

Ryan Howard 5, Yankees 3

That's an...interesting deal. Not that Gathright doesn't have value as a defender and a stolen base threat, but the Royals are struggling to find live arms to start games and Howell, recent shoulder soreness be damned, was still a young arm that might have been worth keeping around. Does Gathright go to left, or does he take center field and push DeJesus/Costa out to the corner? I imagine Gathright becomes a fourth outfielder, pushing Kerry Robinson off the club. Personally, I think if a club offers anything of value for any Royals pitcher, it's probably worth accepting.

Ryan Howard just launched a three run shot into the THIRD deck at Citizens Bank Park.

The Devil Rays have dealt OF Joey Gathright to the Royals for pitcher JP Howell.