EVIL~! alkeiper

For me, it depends on the location. I know some McDonalds that are impecably run, and some that are hit-or-miss as to whether they can even get you through the drive through in less than 10 minutes. Cleanliness standards vary.

My question is. Does Al even pay attention to anything in the Sports Folder but Baseball? Yes, I spot check threads. I always read through NBA threads, and I have interests beyond baseball. I don't often slag through football threads, but on occasion that a poster has a complaint, I check into it.

It was his constant bitching about almost EVERYTHING the Yankees did. A rumor comes up about Eric Milton, and he goes off. A report comes out that the Yankees initial offer to Carlos Beltran was ONLY $13.5 million/year, and he comes the bitch train. That he cheered for the Yankees had nothing to do with his banning. He was simply intolerable, and ultimately contributed nothing to the discussion.

Done.

Muggy asked me to post this, since he is having login issues at the moment.

Oops. Fixed the typo.

For what its worth, here are the players I would give a vote for, if I held a ballot... Wade Boggs Ryne Sandberg Andre Dawson Bert Blyleven Alan Trammell Gosse Gossage We had a topic about this in July, and I mentioned the first five, and I am adding Gossage. Wade Boggs is obvious. I did a Keltner List on Sandberg here. I've always stumped for him and will continue to do so. I also covered Alan Trammell here. Blyleven won 287 games, mostly for bad teams. He did however win two championships, and retired #3 on the All-Time strikeout list. He also compiled a 5-1 record in postseason play. Andre Dawson was very similar to Carlos Beltran in his prime. Playing in Montreal robbed him of the media attention he deserves. Finally, if you are ever going to elect a closer, Gossage is your man.

Easy. When JFK Jr.'s plane went down, I laughed.

Sandy Alomar. His offense took a turn for the worse last year, and at 38, that is not a good sign. I guess the idea is to take defense over offense at catcher, which would be nice if Alomar weren't so injury prone. But the market's not much better after Alomar anyway. Thumbs in the middle.

He did, barely... http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/SaliSe00.htm

I keep forgetting about Karsay.

There's two ways of looking at it. If by defense you mean pitching and fielding, then no, its a 50/50 split. If it is an individual player, then almost always his offense is more important than his defense. What Moneyball states is that the A's feel they can attach a real value to defense, and judge their roster decisions accordingly. So instead of simply saying "Rey Ordonez is an invaluable defender," they make real judgements on defense, the same way you might judge offense.

I find it very interesting that a team that espouses a new philosophy can have entire books written about them, and yet still completely talk out of their ass when writing about them. This is honestly a bunch of crap. The idea of Moneyball is NOT simply to acquire low cost players. Nor is it to assemble a killer offense. The idea is to find players who have been undervalued by the market, and avoid seeking skills which contribute little to winning baseball games. If Eric Chavez or Jason Kendall is worth the money, it is worth paying them. If the ideal is to assemble a pitching staff, then that is how you win baseball games. The Oakland Athletics won 91 games last year, missing the playoffs by a single win. Had they not lost Mark Ellis to injury, its quite probable they could have won the division (which not many people predicted). Is the offense mediocre? It's middle of the pack. But that is not a failure of Moneyball. Could Mr. Baker have produced a better offense without Moneyball types, on a budget? I highly doubt it. Of course the Oakland A's will have their shortcomings. They are a small market team. The idea that they will dominate with their strategies is nonsense. Their goal is to compete, and given their fifth straight season of ninety wins, they have done an admireable job of it. As for Mr. Baker, perhaps he can go back to inflaming Moneyball and Bill James by writing more shit about how the Blue Jays are racists. His anti-intelligence rants on the Blue Jays border on maddening, and it is clear he holds an agenda against Billy Beane, Bill James, and their ilk. Perhaps if he did his time researching, instead of blathering with the good ole boys network, he might learn a thing or two. Instead, I'll just quote the final paragraph of Moneyball...

Felix Rodriguez is an acceptable, above average bullpen arm. He'll give you a 3-3.5 ERA and eat up innings. His only concern was his $5 Million contract, but that doesn't effect his on field performance. I am happy about the trade. Lofton isn't a world beater anymore, but the Phillies suffered at center last season. Byrd slumped badly, and Michaels' defense was a stretch. This move shores up the only real hole in the lineup, and leaves us with a solid reserve outfielder. The bullpen has Wagner and Worrell, so we didn't really need another right handed setup man. Another nice little side benefit is that it saves the club nearly $2 Million. The Yankees did fairly well out of all this, as they now have a bullpen of Rivera, Gordon, Quantrill, Rodriguez and Stanton. If Jorge DePaula comes back, they're set. The only problem is that the move leaves them without a safety net in center field.

You forgot homeritis.

Simon and Jones are from Curacao, a colony of the Netherlands. Ponson is from Aruba, another colony.

Platoon combinations I want to see.... Jose Lima and Rafael Palmeiro

With Hudson and Leiter, I think its one or the other. I think a more pressing concern is the bench and bullpen. After Benitez, the Marlins' pen was truly awful. They need to add bench depth as well. Right now, they don't have a single good hitter outside of their starting lineup.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bb/2927860 Ok gang. I know you all have good joke stored up. Let's hear them. ANd maybe next time, Jose Lima will learn to heed Jimmy Dugan's advice.

The problem is the deal with still leave the Yankees with only one reliable reliever, and a rotation of Johnson, Mussina, Brown, Sturtze, and Chien-Ming Wang.

The Dominican Republic can make the U.S. in front line talent, but our country has absolutely incredible depth.

While the Mattingly Yankees never won a pennant, they did win two division titles, and twice won ninety games. Mattingly is hurt because had a very short peak. The Yankees never won the division with Mattingly (except for the strike year). They did win 90 games three times ('83, '85, '86). I confused 1995 as a division title. They did make the playoffs though.

So did I, except they were tears of joy. in 01, the Yankees hadn't become the Evil Empire yet had they? Do you geniouly hate the Yankees, or were you just sick of them winning? A little of both. I respect the players themselves. I do not begrudge the Yankees' methods, as I think they accomplished their budget fairly. They run a smart management. I just can't stand the team.

Well, if Stark's statement on what the Diamondbacks wanted is true, then the Yankees were right to turn down the deal.

So did I, except they were tears of joy.