EVIL~! alkeiper

After this pick let's establish a time limit of 12 hours for a pick.

Every time I've seen him come up in pressure situations on a big stage he's sucked. He may be having a great year but that situation was custom-made for failure. There is a lot of luck to pitching but when I've seen Lidge implode in the past it's been because his stuff was flat and getting a lot of the plate, and that's not bad luck, it's bad pitching. Honestly, can someone cite an example besides the Pujols home run? He had a bad season the next year overall. He has a 2.52 ERA in the postseason though, in 25 innings. Had he gotten Pujols out, he would have tied Dennis Eckersley's record for saving all four games in a series win. Lidge does not have this tendency to blow up. He gave up a huge home run in a single game and any fault since has been tied to that hit, true or not.

Another blogger did a mock NBA draft from the board, inserting himself into the spot of one of the participants. I decided to do the same thing with the wrestling draft in the General Wrestling folder. One twist, instead of taking a spot I am simply going to take a pick at the end of each round, picking last each time. Let's see how this goes. 1: "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. Wrestling's top heel in the 1950s into the '60s. An iconic figure for fans of that era, and a top draw. 2. Bruno Sammartino. Too popular to be ignored, despite relative lack of working ability. 3. Magnum T.A. Extremely popular babyface attraction. 4. Nick Bockwinkel. Top heel, both as a talker and a worker. 5. Classy Fred Blassie. A tremendous heel in his day, an outstanding talker as well. 6. Lou Thesz. 7. Bobo Brazil. 8. Mil Mascaras. A top babyface whose aerial offense could excite the crowd. 9. Jim Londos. A handsome undersized greek would make a tremendous babyface. 10. Killer Kowalski. 11. Mr. Fuji & Toru Tanaka. The beginning of a tag team division. 12. Billy Robinson. The worker/shooter of the promotion. 13. Ken Patera. Undrafted after 400+ picks? Get on the ball people! 14. Johnny Valentine. 15. The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello & Roy Heffernan) 16. Antonino Rocca & Miguel Perez. A popular, main event, ethnic tag team. 17. Red Bastien. Top worker and face in the early 70s. Could occasionally team with Robinson. 18. Doug Somers & Buddy Rose. 19. Whipper Billy Watson. One of the biggest stars in Canadian wrestling history. 20. Jimmy & Johnny Valiant. 21. Don Leo Jonathan. Large, agile heel. 21 picks in, that looks like an extremely stacked promotion. Not a great workrate promotion, but most of these guys are no slouches in the ring and they know how to work a crowd. I'll fill in picks as they happen and later on unveil a fantasy wrestling card. Three more picks. 22. Mr. Wrestling II. Popular performer in Georgia in the 1970s. 23. Superstar Bill Dundee. 24. Jay Youngblood. Great young babyface, passed before his time.

The MSG '79 show has "Bad News" Allen Coage, with hair!

It must be great to rely on the media and mass opinion rather than watch the games. Lidge has not blown a save this season, has a 1.13 ERA and has yet to allow a home run this season. I think one thing people need to realize is that there is a great deal of luck involved in pitching. The key is whether a pitcher is getting trounced, or whether he's having balls fall through. Ask yourself, if a fielder were right there on a ground ball or a fly ball, would it be a remarkable hit? Likewise, a pitcher getting by on hard drives snared by fielders isn't having the best of days. Lidge gave up two hits and a walk, but they weren't peppering him all over the field. If he gave up hits to the gap, that's another thing. Similarly, Cook gave up four hits and three walks. A couple of those hits were seeing eye grounders though and one was a soft fly ball. Two of the walks were intentional. Only the double was really a hard hit by the opposition.

Morneau was safe. Easily the best All-Star game since 1994.

What the fuck do you need a Red Bull for when you're out of the game and off tomorrow?

Curiously, if they used Sherrill for his last out they would hit the limit in the middle of the 18th. Jeter, fraternization with the fans mid-game is prohibited by MLB rule. Wait, that's a rule? So what's Kazmir's pitch count? Three innings. Any pitch count is self-imposed. Fuck people who go to the ballpark to drink. Seriously.

Curiously, if they used Sherrill for his last out they would hit the limit in the middle of the 18th. Jeter, fraternization with the fans mid-game is prohibited by MLB rule.

It's a DH game. How likely is he to need the bench?

The tag followed Pujols as he slipped off the bag though, so he'd be out regardless.

Yeah, hit up TSMBaseball on AIM, or ask me for an invite. I'll give it a shot for awhile.

Listed start time is 8pm. Anyone want to take bets on when the game actually begins? My money is on 8:38.

Wanted to add a couple quick notes about the games themselves yesterday. -Steve Susdorf went 4-6 with three doubles, raising his average to .412 in his first five games. Susdorf was one of the outfielders for NCAA champs Fresno St. I get the feeling he's Lakewood bound before long. -Travis D'Arnaud looks like a very strong catching prospect in the near future. He's praised for his catching skills, and he's hitting .348 so far in 25 games. (It's a half season league so they just kicked off in late June.) It strikes me though that he really looks like a kid yet. -No comments on the pitchers, Williamsport does not display radar readings and I don't have the type of scouting eye to spots things this far from the Majors. -The NY-Penn League is a different experience but it is a lot of fun. Everyone is very approachable.

I'm going to name my team the Giants. We need at least one team with that name. The Giants select Bill Skowron. Skowron made the All-Star game in five consecutive seasons for the Yankees, starting the game four times.

Nope, didn't even watch it. Real baseball in Williamsport was a much better option. To Spiff, the Cubs actually had 12 ex-Phillies that season.

The Knight of Kennett Square, Herb Pennock. Pennock twice won 20+ games for the Yankees, three times leading the league in fewest walks per nine innings. He went 5-0 in World Series play. In his post-baseball career, he was the GM of the Phillies who helped build the Whiz Kids.

My PYBO finally showed up today.

Has anyone seen the Baseball America midseason Top 25? I can only find the top five. Edit: Found it. Their new top 25: 1. Clayton Kershaw, lhp, 20, Dodgers (AA) 2. David Price, lhp, 22, Rays (AA) 3. Matt Wieters, c, 22, Orioles (AA) 4. Colby Rasmus, of, 21, Cardinals (AAA) 5. Jason Heyward, of, 19, Braves (LoA) 6. Cameron Maybin, of, 21, Marlins (AA) 7. Matt LaPorta, of, 23, Indians (AA) 8. Rick Porcello, rhp, 19, Tigers (HiA) 9. Andrew McCutchen, of, 21, Pirates (AAA) 10. Travis Snider, of, 20, Blue Jays (AA) 11. Chris Tillman, rhp, 20, Orioles (AA) 12. Neftali Feliz, rhp, 20, Rangers (AA) 13. Trevor Cahill, rhp, 20, Athletics (AA) 14. Austin Jackson, of, 21, Yankees (AA) 15. Dexter Fowler, of, 22, Rockies (AA) 16. Brett Anderson, lhp, 20, Athletics (AA) 17. Michael Bowden, rhp, 21, Red Sox (AA) 18. Jarrod Parker, rhp, 19, D'backs (LoA) 19. Tim Alderson, rhp, 19, Giants (HiA) 20. Mat Gamel, 3b, 22, Brewers (AA) 21. Wade Davis, rhp, 22, Rays (AA) 22. Jeremy Hellickson, rhp, 21, Rays (AA) 23. Mike Moustakas, 3b, 19, Royals (LoA) 24. Fernando Martinez, of, 19, Mets (AA) 25. Madison Bumgarner, lhp, 18, Giants (LoA) Just missing the cut: Lars Anderson, 1b, Red Sox; Adrian Cardenas, 2b, Phillies; Alcides Escobar, ss, Brewers; Michael Saunders, of, Mariners; Max Scherzer, rhp, Diamondbacks.

Good pick on Murcer. Elston Howard next pick made nine consecutive All-Star squads, won an MVP award in 1963 and collected two Gold Gloves. Howard struggled to establish himself, not earning the starting job until he was 31 thanks to the presence of Yogi Berra. Once he did though, he enjoyed 4-5 great seasons.

Often the best piece of news you can get as a fan is that the game the day before your's was rained out. Doubleheader in Williamsport tomorrow between the Crosscutters (Phillies) and the Oneonta Tigers.

Smues, you'll need to take one of these names. Mutuals Yankees Giants Cubans (or Cuban Giants) Lincoln Giants Bacharach Giants Black Yankees Mets (or Metropolitans) Superbas Robins Atlantics Bridegrooms The last four are Brooklyn names. I did not get to write about my last three picks yet. Joe Gordon was the Yankees' second baseman from 1938-46. He made the All-Star game every season except his rookie year. Three times in his Yankee career he drove in 100+ runs, and three times he reached the top ten in MVP balloting, winning the award outright in 1942. In his Yankee career he hit .271/.358/.467. His counting totals are hurt a bit by missing two years due to World War II. He is a contemporary of Red Sox HOF second baseman Bobby Doerr, and often considered the better player. I did not realize until now that Gordon was actually the second baseman on the Indians' 1948 title team. It is fitting that I took Allie Reynolds next. When the Yankees traded Gordon after an off season, they received Reynolds in return. Reynolds is one of the most famous swingmen in baseball history, filling both starting and relief roles for Casey Stengel, who never used a traditional rotation. Reynolds not only collected an excellent 131-60 record with the Yanks, he also saved 41 games. In the World Series, Reynolds had a 7-2 record with another 4 saves to his credit. His strikeout totals are not superficially impressive but he played in a low strikeout era; he frequently finished in the top ten and led the league in 1952. He finished second and third in consecutive years in MVP balloting in the 1950s. With my club, he will take a regular turn in the rotation. Phil Rizzuto fills the need both for a shortstop and leadoff hitter. His .351 career OBP and 149 stolen bases make him a fine candidate for the role. Again, those stolen base totals are not impressive but he finished top ten eight times in that category. Teams just rarely ran in his era. The dropoff here at shortstop between Rizzuto and the next player is pretty significant, IMO.

I found that mildly amusing, but flaming is inappropriate.

I'll be around tonight if CC picks.

What a shame. For a couple years, Murcer was an elite player.