EVIL~! alkeiper

Sorry gang. I put a damper on steroid threads earlier until we hear an actual announcements on new players.

I was taking a shot more at ESPN's "efforts" to broadcast the games.

I watched OLN because of the Tour De France coverage. Hopefully they will provide the NHL with the respectable coverage they deserve, and not hamstring the league by bashing its popularity at every opportunity.

Bobby Abreu's two run double scores the only two runs of the game and gives us sole possession of the wild card. Of course, it's all empty numbers.

The Yankees don't have to fuck up. Toronto's good enough to make a run on their own. And while we're looking at the standings, the Twins have pulled to within 4 games of the wild card with their four game winning streak.

And before anyone thinks this is some insane reciting of obscure baseball facts, I am just repeating this information from a copy of the Sporting News Record Book. It is nothing I knew beforehand.

The Orioles streak is the longest in American League history.

The peripherals don't lie. That's how we can predict Leiter's bad season despite his 3.21 ERA last year.

Small is smoke and mirrors. There's no reason I would expect him to be any better than Al Leiter.

Fun Royals note. If they lose today, they would need to win every game the rest of the year to reach .500.

Yes, the 1961 Phillies hold the modern record. Worth noting that they came one win away from the National League pennant just three years later. The 1899 Cleveland Spiders lost 24 straight, and the 1889 Louisville Colonels of the American Association lost 26 consecutive games.

Two games at most. Anyone who thinks the Royals, bad as they are, can't win a single game against Oakland, Boston or New York is kidding themselves. Even the pathetic Cleveland Spiders didn't lose 30 straight.

Exactly.

Ok. Who here wants to start the pity party? Anyone?

Decent performance from Jon Papelbon. I saw him pitch last week at Scranton and he looked highly impressive. The Sox have a good prospect on their hands.

Just like old times.

Also, the Giants' Randy Winn hit for the cycle against the Reds tonight.

Yeah it's the Royals and all, but their lineup isn't all that terrible. Only the bottom third sports below-average batting average. It is their pitching that makes them truly awful. And having said that, holy god is Felix a stud.

Why? It's just empty numbers. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Did you catch Abreu pulling up when running on a 3-2 count in Tuesday's game, leading to him getting thrown out at 2nd when the pitch turned out to be a strike instead of a ball? The dude doesn't do himself any favors with stuff like that. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I didn't, since Abreu reached base twice in Tuesday's game, both with two outs. The second was an RBI single. Both times Burrell flied out.

So we can start the OaO spiders thread now?

Dodgers were close to .500 in the strike year but well above in 1995. I think the strike year was a little disceiving as a shorter season tends to allow extremes in these kind of things. CanadianChris already pointed out the '73 Mets. The 1987 Minnesota Twins were the worst team record-wise to win a World Championship, going 85-77 in the regular season.

Griffey would be nice, but if the Cubs claimed him, they'd be on the hook for his entire contract. It's not worth a desperation wild card run. The Cubs would be better off chasing Johnny Damon or Juan Pierre in the offseason.

Yankees/Dodgers used to be as big a rivalry as any in baseball. It's died down since the Tommy Lasorda era ended, but there's over 60 years of history involved.

Destrade does a spanish language show on XM as well.

They have Ripken, so they need the Orioles in there. They really should have used the Phillies or Nationals instead of the Angels. As for the Oakland Stadium, Mt. Davis ruined the Coliseum anyway, so anything else is an improvement.