EVIL~! alkeiper

Taking the Marlins' recent history out of the equation, it's hard to buy into them given this year's stats alone. They are 12th in the league in ERA, in a pitchers' park. Their staff is 15th out of 16 teams in walking batters. On the offensive side, they rate first in home runs and slugging percentage, but 14th in drawing walks and 12th in OBP. I would assume that their hitting success will wane as their hacking style catches up to them. Unfortunately, the Phillies' staff isn't the type to exploit that, except maybe Moyer on the mound tonight (14 up, 14 down as of this writing).

Chris Coste is away from the team, celebrating the birth of a child. Jayson Werth, who last caught in 2002 with Syracuse, is the team's backup catcher for the time being.

With Met fans in the toilet, Atlanta sinking, and the NL West in the pits, how likely does a Cardinals playoff appearance look?

The camera angles were a nice touch, but I don't think I could've stayed with the game if they'd continued. The only reason I knew Frenchy homered was because Len said so. I saw the ball go off the bat and then I didn't see it again. Was it a kind of technology throwback game? Some stations have done that as a gimmick, advancing the camera as the game goes on. I'd like to see it once.

In the intro video, look fast for Razor Ramon giving the Razor's Edge to a jobber. It's (very) young Matt Hardy.

I checked a couple columns. He still sucks.

If he's walking guys, that's crumbling under pressure. A two-strike home run isn't quite that. It's probably bad pitch selection. That I can understand, Wagner never seemed like the brightest bulb.

So do what do you attest these failures to?

Team scores three runs in three days, must be the closer's fault they suck, right? He made a couple of mistakes. Big deal. If the Mets could score runs properly, they wouldn't be in that position in the first place. Real good attitude Met fans have about their team.

And since I've seen the breakdown now, Wagner was one out away from winning when Mark Reynolds cracked a home run. You throw 97 mph, sometimes a guy will catch up to it. You might note that Tom Gordon gave up four runs just now. Oh well, he's still a good pitcher. See how easy that is?

I'm sure Al will continue to tell us he's a surefire first ballot HOF'er, but this is yet another reason why I think he's worthless. Way to kill the team twice this week you trash talking piece of shit. I eagerly await your list of pitchers who never blew saves.

F'n Jorge Cantu.

Welcome to the pain of my 2005.

Spivey's 55, only thing bad about him seems to be a skin condition.

He was, not a national star but a solid mid-carder for many years. His father was Bull Curry, one of the most notorious heels in wrestling history.

I caught a bit of Rays/Angels on the way home. Christ Rex Hudler is awful. There's nothing worse than a "play the game right" style of color commentator.

I am. I mean, why mouth off now? What does he have to gain by exposure, versus what he has to gain by keeping his mouth shut? Is he doing it for the good of the NBA? I think the smart analysis is that you really need corroboration before you take anything seriously. He is not credible in my eyes.

They did that with Shawn Michaels. I think often it depends on if a dvd exists. Rey Misterio for example already had a documentary on a previous dvd.

Check out the WWWF '79 show to see Jimmy Valiant at ringside, working heel. You also get Luscious Johnny in his active wrestling days.

Yeah, apparently it's much harder to win two straight than to win one of two. Yeah, I meant that it wasn't hard to figure out what series was being referred to. I gotcha. I misunderstood earlier, my apologies.

Here's Buddy Rogers in action.

Video exists. Rogers before the 1980s was THE guy in wrestling. The way people remember Flair now, they remembered Rogers then. The embodiment of the cocky heel, handsome as all hell and built. When Andy Kaufmann wanted to become a wrestler, he watched and emulated Rogers as a child.

Given the way Hogan lost, I think it's apparent he was done. Diesel was just about making his debut here. They could have programmed Diesel vs. Hogan, but I think it wouldn't have worked until the next year. Bret vs. Hogan seemed like the logical choice for Summerslam. A feud vs. Bigelow though could have been fun.

Yeah, apparently it's much harder to win two straight than to win one of two.

It may have been the gimmick. Meltz gave their Crockett Cup match against the Fantastics *****.