EVIL~! alkeiper

I will repeat what I said in the other thread. Mayweather outboxes Gatti here and I think he wins fairly easily.

The PC version was crap. I played it and got the same questions the third time through.

Their left fielder is a second baseman hitting .244/.279/.269. They have one hitter on their bench (Ruben Sierra) with a .269 OBP, and another (John Flaherty) with a .241 OBP. They have three or four players on their roster who have no business in the Majors. Their pitching is incredibly thin, as Chien-Ming Wang is succeeding despite mediocre peripherals, and they have no fifth starter right now. If teams won with front line talent only, the Yankees would be alright. But when you get past those first few, the Yankees are absolutely terrible. The trick is that you have to let nine players hit, and if those last few are terrible, they will drag down the team no matter how good the best players are.

When has Maddux choked exactly?

The Yankees are not winning 100 games this year. The way things are going, I doubt they will make the Playoffs as well. The talent is just not there.

Perfect day for an afternoon game, as the Yankees' Honeymoon lasts about 16 hours. Also worth noting that Pavano pitched better than Randy Johnson did yesterday.

The Ramirez trade was bad, but remember a different trade netted the Bucs Jason Bay AND Oliver Perez.

Bill Simmons from espn.com put it this way Al: Would you rather have Karl Malone's career or Robert Horry's? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's not really relevant. The question is whether player A is better than player B. If both players are otherwise equal, then championships might mean something in the discussion. Otherwise, they are a side note.

This is acceptable as its own topic.

Championships are overrated in these matters. If you are a GM, do you evaluate what players to sign based on their skills, or whether or not they won a championship. As we've seen, most players who won championships did so because they benefitted from good teammates. I have yet to see a player win a championship by himself. Championships are nice, but you CAN be a good player without winning it all. Karl Malone, John Stockton, Dominique Wilkins, Reggie Miller, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd. All are (or were) great players, and all never won a championship. A title is a nice accomplishment, but it is not the end-all factor in ABILITY. Basketball statistics can be complicated. It takes more to select the greatest players then sticking your head in the sand and yelling "Championships!"

What is quadruple A <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Quadruple A is a term given to players who are thought to be good enough to merit promotion from AAA, but not good enough to succeed in the majors. Graman is no prospect. He's 27 right now, and his peripherals are good, but not outstanding. Still, he could be an average major league pitcher somewhere. Or of course, if given a shot in relief he could surprise people. The bigger problem is that people like Francesca look at a player's first few major league games, and when that player fails, they assume the player will NEVER succeed in the major leagues. Minor league statistics are every bit as useful as major league statistics in determining future performance if you know how to translate them. Sean Henn started the season at AA, before advancing to AAA. He struck out 34 in 48 innings at Columbus. That is not a strikeout rate that indicates a pitcher ready to succeed in the big leagues. The problem isn't that Henn is a AAAA pitcher, or that he can not handle the pressure. The problem is that he is simply not ready to pitch at the highest level. If I were the Yankees, I would give Graman another shot. They do not need a world beater, just someone who can keep the game close. That the Yankees' defense is terrible does not help matters.

Is there anything going on? I have Comcast Philly, which carries a decent half-hour sports news program, Daily News Live, and of course Phillies, Flyers and Sixers games.

Ugh. I will not watch any ESPN "scripted" programming. I do not watch ESPN because it is "hip" and "cool." I watch ESPN for baseball coverage, because I am a baseball fan. If they do not have baseball coverage, I will watch elsewhere. Local cable sports channels such as Comcast Sports Net and the YES Network provide a surprisingly good alternative, more highlights and discussion, and less fluff. I am well past the age where I felt any need to watch "hip" and "cool" television.

By the same token, what did Kevin Garnett and Allen Iverson win? You argued that Pippen does not rank with those two, when they do not have superior championship credentials. So what makes them better than Pippen?

I don't think he's underestimating the Jordan. THe point is that Jordan won championships when Pippen was on his teams, and wasn't quiote good enough without Pippen. And people forget that Pippen was on the 2000 Portland Trailblazers, who nearly made the Finals.

His ability to hit a fastball already makes him more qualified to play on the Yankees than Tony Womack.

Andy Phillips is the same good reserve player he always is, and really deserves a permanent place on the Yankees. Otherwise, the hitting talent is entirely forgettable. Alex Graman pitched, and has some decent stuff, although he pitched himself into a couple of jams he was lucky to escape from. It is criminal that Colter Bean is still plying his trade at AAA. Colter Bean now has an 11.6 K/9 ratio in his minor league career. I don't care if a player is a soft-tosser, or a sidearmed thrower. You do not accumulate that kind of strikeout capability without some kind of real ability. Bean could help the Yankees right NOW.

Folks, if Gene Lamont is ever hired to manage your baseball team, give them up. Seriously.

I'm going to check out the Columbus/Scranton game tonight and again tomorrow.

Tarver won via unanimous decision.

It's not about strategies as much as some announcers are insufferable fools. I listen to many announcers who almost never insult my intelligence, and do not feel a need to interject themselves into debates on strategies.

I turned the game off when they started playing Toby Keith. I can't stand that ass.

While it is very difficult to determine clutch ability, if in fact it exists, hits in clutch situations do exist. Sean Casey had a ton of those last season.

YESNetwork writer Steven Goldman writes a very good appraisal of the new ballpark... http://www.yesnetwork.com/yankees/pinstripedblog.asp

I figured I would pass this along. David Bell is now the current active leader in bases loaded at bats without a grand slam, with 118. Here is the leaderboard... David Bell, Phi (118) Jason Varitek, Bos (115) Jose Vizcaino, Hou (110) Alex Gonzalez, TB (109) Eric Young, SD (108) Orlando Cabrera, LAA (93) Sean Casey, Cin (80) Desi Relaford, Col (64) Considering Sean Casey is one of the few players who truly seems to come through in the clutch every time, I am surprised to see him on this list.