EVIL~! alkeiper

No, because the Cubs have a better record of runs scored and runs allowed. I am not pulling this out of my ass. This is based on 125+ YEARS of data. There is a strong correlation between runs scored and allowed, and wins and losses. Pull your head out of the sand.

Actually the Reds only have 4 pitchers with an ERA over 5 and one of them was released. John Reidling has a .042 ERA in 22 IP. Graves, Wilson and Van Poppel are all pitching in the 3 ERA range and that's pretty good considering Van Poppel was thrown into a starter position. Lidle is a little ify but he just threw a complete game shutout. Harang is inconsistent but he's still really young. Acevedo is the same way but he does have 45 Ks before this game started. So really the pitching staff isn't doing that badly at this point in the season. If they're not doing so badly, why do they keep allowing runs?

Hell, I've had enough trouble actually reading the recaps. Some of Teke's are damned long. Good stuff though.

18 months old or not, her taste in music is UNACCEPTABLE! I noticed last night while playing an interleague game against the Giants that if you rename the white power LFer of the Giants to "Barry Bonds" they'll call him "Bonds" when he comes to the plate. I thought that was a nice touch. Its still a markout moment to hear "Kuiper" in a video game. The name sounds exactly the same as mine.

Isn't it somewhat silly to point to the Reds' pitching as a success when they are 12th in the league in runs allowed?

You most certainly CAN use those stats. The Reds thus far have played like a .500 team, with a better record to show for it. That is not to say they cannot get better, but if they continue to play like they have played, they are a .500 team.

Luck. That's not a flame, just an assessment of their runs scored and allowed. No team has outperformed their stats by as many wins, and this stuff levels out.

I'm referring to a perfect game. You can have a perfect game and an error, as long as no one reaches base.

I've got a few tricks up my sleeve to keep payroll down in the second season. Four man rotation, platooning, etc.

Trade Proposal: David Bell (he can play second) to the Yankees for Dioner Navarro. There you have it Yankees. Don't let your pennant hopes go down to preserve an A-ball catcher.

Seasn Casey leads Albert Pujols by 23 points in OPS. Casey is playing way over his head, while Pujols is hitting in line with his career stats. Come July, the Casey over Pujols argument is going to look very silly.

I don't see why everyone thinks its Utley vs. Polanco. Career stats for prospective Phillies infielders...... Utley 251/323/433 Bell 252/314/395 Rollins 261/316/389 Polanco 291/336/398 Bench either Bell or Rollins. Polanco can play their positions well, so move Polanco into one of those slots, and keep Utley at 2B.

Combine playing with odd travel times, long hours practicing and honing your skills, the hot summer sun, and that you play 162 games and get more than one day off at a time ONCE in six months.

Baseball's such a long season, with so many players, that it is very difficult for a single injury to completely kill a team's playoff hopes. The best example I could imagine is Babe Ruth '25.

The weird thing is I don't own Abreu in a single league.

There's a famous story about young Don Kessinger playing every day for the Cubs in 1969. He faded badly down the stretch, contributing to the Cubs' collapse. Also, Delgado is helped by playing in a Canadian dome. When you play every day in a place like Houston or St. Louis, its more difficult.

I got him before the injury, just because I knew he HAD to get a chance eventually.

Yes. On a technicality, you CAN have an error, if the runner does not reach base. For example, if a fielder drops a foul pop-up, but the batter is retired later in the at bat.

Fatigue. For most players, if you run them out every day, their performance will suffer.

I'm assuming he would've left Pedro in as well.

When Bobby Abreu gets an MVP vote, then he'll have received recognition. Until then, he's criminally underrated.

Rafael Betancourt. 25 Ks, 1 BB. Oliver Perez. 49Ks, 12 BBs. 2.96 ERA. Bobby Abreu. 299/409/611. 11 HRs. 7 SBs, 0 CS. Lance Berkman. 336/494/603.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=kruk/040521 Let me break some of this down..... Older pitchers as a group are not dominating. Clemens is. Moyer, Maddux, Wells fall into the middle of the pack. Most pitchers their age are retired. Lovely. Kruk never pitched, by the way. Pitching is an unnatural motion, which puts strain on the arm. Youth baseball is littered with pitchers felled by arm injuries. Here's the problem. Everyone cites Nolan Ryan, Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, etc. But for every one of those guys, there are hundreds of pitchers brought down by arm injuries. By subjecting talent to an exhausting regiment, we declare success because a handful succeeded? That's nonsense. Teams have too much riding on their players. It's called the dead-ball era, jackass. Teams scored a handful of runs a game, and pitching was easier. Most simply lobbed the ball across the plate, unless they had runners on base. Its insane. Why are analysists so out of touch with reality allowed to write columns and appear on television?

From where I sit, Overbay is getting plenty of attention. Most of the guys mentioned here are just hitters on hot streaks.

My proudest moment was my TKO of Tyson in round 3.