EVIL~! alkeiper

I know where you are going with this. Some people follow more than one team. Perhaps they have a favorite player on another team, or children that root for a different team, or whatever situation. Alot of times, they're not hardcore fans of one particular team, and they have a casual interest in a few teams. There are many reasons.

With that offense, they really just need someone to eat up innings.

Five strategies that almost never fail (to drive me up the wall)..... 1. Bunting a runner from 2nd to 3rd. 2. Intentionally walking a batter with two outs Exception: potential walk-off run is on base 3. Repeatably switching pitchers mid-inning in order to gain platoon advantages. 4. Keeping good pitchers in the bullpen and using sub-obtimum pitchers to start. Ryan Madsen's too valuable in the pen. Let's start Brian Powell!! What good is a bullpen when you have no hope of getting a lead in the first place? 5. Using lesser relievers in tie games because its not a "save situation."

Is that a region cover? I could've sworn I saw some Phillie on the cover today. As for Herges, presumably the best includes Antonio Alfonseca, Rocky Biddle and Mike Williams. "How to use fancy save totals to disguise the fact that you pitch like a complete piece of crap."

I wouldn't be so quick to break the streak anyway. On at least one occasion, Jim Tracy has declined to bring Gagne in a tight spot, with some surmising that the streak is affecting his usage pattern. Chipper Jones has returned to 3B. Good for his HOF chances.

So the Yankees will intentionally suck until the 9th inning?

And the Arizona Cardinals could have kept David Boston. I maintain MLB's system is the best one out there, because its the only one where teams are rewarded for developing their own players. In baseball, teams retain control of their talent for six years. That is what keeps competitive balance alive in baseball. It's a tremendously successful system, and I'm surprised no other league emulates it. It could be ideal for hockey, which unlike the NFL, has franchise-controlled minor league teams.

I hope Michael Redd makes the squad. He's a very good player, yet tremendously underrated, and the Olympics could give him the boost he needs.

Its nothing to do with Unions here. Its just a matter of what you can afford. If you are getting hosed because you are paying too much in player contracts, you are either A. Financially incompetant, or B. Lying out your ass about your teams finances. Why would you offer X Money in contracts when your revenue won't reach that? And since its all around the NHL, the salary scale should reflect that. I'm no expert on the NHL. I'd just like to see a reliable, independant assessment of the NHL's financial issues before I buy into their woes.

Tries hard my ass. He sits on his ass all day and waits for Mario to show up.

Putting the '80 US Hockey team on the list at all is nonsense. Think about this, if they were the greatest Olympic hockey team of the last 25 years, why was it such a goddamned shock when they won?

Here's the thing. Instead of a salary cap, why don't the owners simply offer contracts in range of what they are able to pay?

Its still early. Ballparks are still collecting ballots, and of course not all of the internet vote is in yet. I'd say there's a good chance Young or Tejada grab shortstop at this point.

It just determines what team MLB sends you offers from. Mostly its tickets and other events.

I've been plugging the '39 Yankees as one of the best for awhile now. Five regulars posted .400+ OBPs. And if you think that's scary, just imagine how good they would have been had Gehrig not fell ill.

Some good players near the end who never won a title. Excepting players like Bagwell and Biggio who are on teams that could win it already. Rafael Palmeiro Larry Walker Edgar Martinez John Franco

I see pitchers as starters, closers, and everything else is middle relief.

I would've actually moved Bagwell up in the order, perhaps to the two slot. His .390 OBP is quite useful, even with his slugging percentage down. From Justice's article..... If he thinks Burke is going to match Kent's production, he's nuts. Dotel's pitched outstanding this year, striking out 46 in just 31 innings. Billy Wagner spent a month on the DL. I'm not saying Dotel is better than Wagner, but its silly to suggest that trade screwed the Astros. Brad Lidge and Dan Miceli don't count? Lidge is the best middle reliever in the National League right now. He wants to give more at bats to Mike Lamb? He's hitting way over his head. Talk about a useless bitch-fest. The Astros currently have the second-best run differential in the National League. There's nothing wrong with them, beyond the usual mid-season issues that every club encounters.

Sometimes the ballot collecting process is inconsistant, and some players look like they have more votes than they really do, because not all the ballots have arrived. Not all teams send their batches in at the same time. These early totals can be misleading.

It wasn't even a mound. It was a box, and pitchers took a running start.

After the MLB fiasco, I don't give the leagues themselves a shred of credibility.

Is there any place where one might find good analysis of the NHL's profits and losses?

Any reason Grant Hill is not on the list?

Its weird. The Phillies game is in its second rain delay. I live 90 miles North, and we've had no rain whatsoever.

The Phillies game is official.