EVIL~! alkeiper

Cubs and Cardinals doing their best to make this interesting. Its interesting to note that if the Cards actually tie the game, Hawkins is not charged with a blown save. God bless the save rule.

The new column is up. Check it out here.

Perhaps he's wondering why Scott Rolen > Barry Bonds on their ballots. I've got a full 10 spot ballot coming up on the column, and I place Rolen third, behind Bonds and Abreu.

Obviously you never saw Mitch Williams pitch.

What looked like a pitchers' duel has quickly turned into a Cubs' 4-0 lead.

Looking forward to tonight's Cubs-Cardinals game. Kerry Wood makes his long-awaited return.

If I were to pick a Comeback player, it would have to be Ray Lankford. Here's a guy who was absolutely considered DONE. He didn't play organized ball at any level last season. This year, he's hitting 266/365/435, and building his case as one of St. Louis's all time greats.

The Cardinals are now eight games up in the Central. They're clearly the NL's most dominant team, and its going to take a major collapse to lose the division. The rest of the Central is playing for the Wild Card at this point.

Its also a matter that if you were to make true judgements on how memorable a moment was, they would invaritably get grouped by sport. For example, your MLB and NFL moments would run near the top, followed by NBA, collegiate sports, NHL, boxing, and so on. You'd have two weeks of nothing but football highlights. I think ESPN mixes it up to create variety.

I'm beginning to think numbering these entries was really just a random process.

Well, Anderson did have a World Series and a division title with the Tigers. Every manager on this list won at least three league championships. There's got to be a cut-off somewhere, and Sparky did win the NL manager poll. So there's some consolation. As for winningest team of the decade, it doesn't really mean anything. Move the time-frame forward a year, and the winningest team from 1980-89 is the New York Yankees.

Jake Westbrook makes the All-Star squad. The Indians have got to be the worst team ever to send five players to an All-Star game.

Jesus, you have the internet. Look it up for yourself. The celebrity game airs at 10 eastern, right after the Home Run Derby.

How exactly is Greinke struggling? He's 1-6 because his team is averaging 1.33 runs per game when he starts. He's got a 3.86 ERA, along with 39 strikeouts and just 12 walks in 56 innings. And he's 20! This kid is a bonafide superstar in the making.

I watched that home run. The pitch was several inches below the strike zone, and Chase Utley golfed it out of the park. It wasn't due to any great failure on Smoltz's part.

Felix Hernandez is a great talent. John Sickels rated him a B+ prospect, and this season he's struck out 126 batters in 115 innings, with just 30 walks. It looks like only injuries can stop him.

Meanwhile, I have three starters (Clemens, Johnson, Sheets) who can easily fill out an NL Cy Young ballot.

Now the managers conspire to piss me off. Dusty Baker bunts, and Tony LaRussa starts his left/right bullshit.

Its because you put your stock in recent results and ERAs, without closely regarding past history and peripherals. Its important not to base decisions on a handful of games.

Honestly, lineup positioning means very little past the first inning, and given what Pena has to work with, I think Allard Baird is more to blame.

It makes sense to play the matchups with hitters, especially with an obvious situation like this. The platoon differential is real. There's a big difference between what a hitter will hit versus lefties and versus righties. David Ortiz loses over 200 points of slugging percentage when he faces lefties. Last year his OBP vs. lefties was .260. Todd Walker is a career 251/298/352 hitter versus lefties, and Grudzielanek is 293/344/409 versus lefties. Dusty did exactly the same thing I would have done.

Yes, you can find the game at 4 Eastern, on ESPN2.

Its really tiresome listening to announcers discuss how much of a hitters' park Citizens Bank Park is. Yes, the park surrenders alot of home runs. But the park is just about average in terms of runs scored.

The MLB Futures game is tomorrow at 4pm. I was going to run a preview of the players involved, but mlb.com has one up, and I don't think I could do any better. Check out your favorite team's players, and keep an eye out for them tomorrow.

I don't mind the wave, but I resent anyone trying to take away my right to keep my ass firmly planted in the seat.