EVIL~! alkeiper

Probably signing Tom Gordon via free agency.

Does that make Al Jolsen in black face a tribute to African American culture? There is a point where lines are crossed.

Despite all the gut-reactions here, I do think there is some need to cut out the most egregious examples. Not all references to Native Americans should be cut, but calling yourselves something like the "Redmen" is over the line.

When Julio stops producing. Or dies of old age. Whatever comes first. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> LaRoche is fourth on the team in games and at bats. The Braves have a nice platoon going, and if Julio's putting up even better numbers, there's nothing wrong with that.

Watching the Braves/Reds on TBS. It's amazing what the Braves organization has done over the last 15 years. No organization has enjoyed as much success bringing up young talent. This year they've produced Jeff Francouer, and rather than having him sit in favor of washed up veterans like Raul Mondesi, the Braves jettisoned the dead weight and Bobby Cox plays him. The Braves bring in young players one or two at a time, trust them to produce, and the on-field results are clear. And what's truly scary about it all is that no team in their division looks better going forward over the next few seasons.

There's a full thread devoted to Mazzilli.

Here's a stray thought... What if the Yankee fans had gotten their wish and Giambi's contract had been voided, leaving Giambi mashing like this for another team? Can you imagine the hang-wringing and mashing of teeth in the Bronx as Tino Martinez produced another 0-4? I would've paid to see that, in retrospect.

He's from the Dominican Republic, and if his arm hasn't fallen off at his age, it never will.

Pick up a baseball register and look at all the names. If they haven't been suspended, they're clean. Not that difficult. And this is the last steroids thread I'm allowing. Anything after this gets closed.

I wouldn't expect great numbers. Most of Andruw Jones' value is in his defense. That he has any offense makes him all the much better.

It's funny. No one expected this team to be in first place for any length of time. Most thought they were somewhere around .500 before the season. So everything's exactly as we expected, and Mazzilli gets fired.

It's all just empty numbers anyway.

Because I have no interest in turning every game and every player I see into my own personal witchhunt. If they're caught and suspended, so be it. But if not, you can't keep hanging it around.

I don't see how they could persue a perjury charge. A positive test in May is not proof that Palmeiro took steroids before he testified before Congress.

Burrell's untradeable due to his contract. Rollins is tradeable, but then you've just opened a hole at shortstop, where there is nothing in the farm system. Howard's tradeable, but what would be an acceptable trade? I doubt the Phillies fans would have welcomed a Kip Wells. I think the trading deadline has become overblown in general. It builds up false hopes and anguish in fans when in reality there's an impact trade maybe every few years. The Phillies have some internal options such as Eude Brito, Aquilino Lopez and Gavin Floyd on the pitching staff, and Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz amongst position players. The Phillies just acquired Aquilino Lopez via waivers, and I honestly believe he's better than any reliever traded by the deadline.

Like I said, it could be worse. There are things that annoy me with the big club, but our record in the draft has improved substantially the last 10 years. Remember Carlton Loewer, Wayne Gomes and Tyler Green?

I don't like the Phillies' leadership, but it could be worse. It's middle of the pack right now. I have seen somne absolute boobs win world championships lately though, so who knows? I do wish they'd send more qulity players to Scranton.

I'll calm down and respond to this... I believe the Phillies have seen an ace-mentality out of Brett Myers as he climbed the minors. He certainly has a bulldog mentality about him. In any case, Myers' improvement is real, and he's probably at least a number 2. Besides, all the ace means is that he starts game one in the Playoffs. Otherwise, it doesn't mean much. There was not much the Phillies could do at the deadline. There are few premium pitchers available this offseason, and Ryan Howard was not going to net AJ Burnett, nor would the Marlins trade him to a division rival. So the option is either to make a desperation trade (Kip Wells for Ryan Howard perhaps), or stay the course and wait for better opportunities. Gavin Floyd has shown improvements, and Cole Hamels is dominant if healthy. Then we have Ryan Madson who deserves an opportunity to start. That's a quad of pretty good pitchers, and none of them reach free agency until at least 2008. If two develop into solid starters, the team is in good shape. I won't say the Phillies are run perfectly. They aren't, and Charlie Manuel can't manage his way out of a paper bag. But I see a few hints of optimism for this team. A group of talented young players, and regardless of what you might think about Abreu, he's certainly not a detriment.

Why, did I say something to indicate that I missed it? "Hollow numbers." Do you even comprehend what a statistic is? How do you not accumulate vastly impressive stats while not benefitting your club? Does Abreu stand at the plate in non-clutch situations and say "Hmm, I think I'll get a hit to spite all of these stupid fans and pad my numbers?" This defeatest attitude from the Philly fans is absolutely ridiculous. "Waa waa, the Phillies suck!!" You can't win every fucking game. Like being one of the top four teams in baseball is some sort of entitlement. It's not. It is something you earn. And when you don't win, you don't go out on some bitch-fest about how your best player sucks and how much of a fucking idiot you are for listening to Howard Eskin. You hold your head up and wait until next year. Why? Because it's a GAME. Philly fans whine because none of their teams have won in over twenty years. I may regret this later, but I'm going to go ahead and say it. They can all kiss my ass. If your sports team not winning is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you, consider yourself blessed. In the meantime, if you are not going to appreciate the sport, get the fuck out of the stadium and give the real fan a better place to watch a game, because you sure as hell don't deserve it. Ok, now that I have that out of the way, back to Abreu. I'm not going to debate this, because it is a complete waste of time. You are a waste of my time for producing two stupid, ignorant posts that I've already wasted twenty minutes of my life responding to.

That is true as well. Franklin himself did his part to make sure they hit MORE home runs. But the point is that many of the suspended players were pitchers, and many pitchers either are or certainly did take steroids. Many assume that steroids have contributed to this era of high offense, but let's not pretend that they hitting towering home runs off of beacons of clean and fair play 60 feet away.

It's impossible to say. How many MORE could Giambi have hit if he didn't have to hit juiced pitchers like Ryan Franklin? There is no sure way of determining the effects of steroids on the statistics. But that's all a side issue. The issue here is whether Giambi can perform at this level while clean. I think that it could be legitimate, with the disclaimer that this IS a hot streak after all, and he is bound to regress.

We have steroid testing now. If the tests turn up illegal substances in Giambi's system, so be it. But if the tests come clean, we can not still automatically assume Giambi is juicing. Whatever the effects of steroids, they were not the sole source of Giambi's skill at the plate from 1999-03. He certainly has some natural ability, and we might expect that from time to time. Moreover, I would wonder how a steroid could make such an impact in just two months. Remember, Tino Martinez had a similar streak of homer hitting in May. Ultimately though, I think we need to wait and see how this plays out.

So we have a drug that is not illegal, and was not banned by Major League Baseball until mid-2002. If this was all Palmeiro took, does it change his career outlook? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Stop making excuses Al. You'll go to bat for anyone just to make sure your favorite game isn't tarnished. Motherfucker had 3 years to stop taking it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You know what? You're right.

Guys like this are exactly the type of people I want in my fantasy league. One season is barely enough to get a handle on a player's ability, let alone a month. The idea that a slump indicates a complete lack of ability is so stupid that it barely dignifies a response. It takes a real fraud to steal 30 bases, walk 100 times, drive in 100 runs, hit .300, etc. As for Padilla, he's not that good. He's had a run of success because he stopped walking everybody, and he's gotten hit lucky. He's not as bad as he was earlier this year, but he is not going to keep up his post-All star ERA. What the Phillies really need is a bat off the bench. If Thome does not return soon, the team should consider calling up either Jim Rushford or Shane Victorino. There's no reason a team with Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley up the middle needs three utility infielders. And if you've lost so much faith in Mike Lieberthal that you won't let him hit with the game on the line, take the plunge and see what Carlos Ruiz can do in the majors.

So we have a drug that is not illegal, and was not banned by Major League Baseball until mid-2002. If this was all Palmeiro took, does it change his career outlook?