EVIL~! alkeiper

Tonight half the league will wear #42 in honor of Jackie Robinson. Cute, but it's going to make things a real pain in the ass to watch from center field.

I doubt much is cataloged. This is not exclusive to WWE or wrestling locker rooms, it is a pretty standard staple of professional sports.

Hey guys. In case you're not regular baseball-reference.com readers, wanted to make you all aware of their new branch. Hockey-Reference.com

Here's a list I put together of World Champions with the longest combined days as champ. I probably missed some things here and there, but it's a pretty good indication. 1. Verne Gagne (4,690 days) 2. Bruno Sammartino (4,040) 3. Lou Thesz (3,749) 4. Ric Flair (3,744) 5. Hulk Hogan (3,362) 6. Nick Bockwinkel (2,990) 7. Bob Backlund (2,138) 8. Harley Race (1,801) 9. Dory Funk Jr. (1,563) 10. Dan Severn (1,559) If you don't buy the NWA title in the '90s as legit, next is Pat O'Connor for holding both the NWA and AWA titles at the same time. Gene Kiniski with 1,159 days is the next legit champion on the list.

Yeah, the Allentown park is new. There are some great features. $6 lawn seating beyond the outfield, an entirely open concourse that allows you to see the game from the concession areas. Attendance is low all over the northeast. April just isn't a good time for attendance, with colder weather and kids still in school. Things pick up June-August when group sales really kick in.

I won't bore with my minor league adventures, but let me say that Coca-Cola Park in Allentown is the best minor league park I have ever been to. Outstanding on every level.

"Our executive producer is Bill Webb...."

From last week's thread. I'd say any baseball game. It's more enjoyable to see the Phillies, but one of the most fun experiences of my life was watching the Orioles/Rangers live.

Some of you guys really miss the general point. In the first inning, Jose Molina went out to the mound three times to talk to Phil Hughes during the same at bat with Jason Varitek. That is inexcusable. There is no reason the teams can not play the same style, but have MLB crack down and say, "quit wasting time and play baseball."

It is, if you ignore non-baseball related programming. I want to see my team win, but I want to be entertained in the process. The Phillies lost today, but that was a highly entertaining game. This type of game makes you go to bed and hope your team won in the boxscore the next morning.

National Games MONDAY Boston @ Cleveland, ESPN 7pm ET WEDNESDAY Boston @ NY Yankees, ESPN2 7pm ET SATURDAY Fox Baseball, Check Local Listings SUNDAY LA Dodgers @ Atlanta, TBS 1pm ET NY Mets @ Philadelphia, ESPN 8pm ET There you go Smues, Braves are back on TBS for an encore. Odd scheduling as the Red Sox go to Cleveland for two games, and then the Yankees again for two before going home to face the Texas Rangers. Question here for Yankees/Red Sox fans only. What is your view of the rivalry now, in 2008?

It's nothing to do with the teams playing or the hyped rivalry. This is just slow, boring, plodding baseball. If I were a fan of either team, I'd be upset at the nature of the games. There is no reason to make the fans sit through this. Baseball can be so much better.

Serious suggestion. Yankees/Red Sox games should be scheduled for seven innings.

No wonder these games take forever. Jose Molina went out to talk to Phil Hughes three times in ONE at bat!

I made quite a few changes, mostly trying to maximize my bench by filling roles and weaknesses rather than having the best players. Kent Tekulve claims the closer's role.

A couple of points where that game was won/lost. Utley missing a home run by five feet, Lee's ground ball snag, the Phillies blowing a double play, etc.

Tough loss for the Phils, but good game.

Phillies are battling the Cubs, tied at 5-5 in the ninth. The Cubs have burned all their position players at this point. The Phillies are working shorthanded, as Jimmy Rollins is not yet DL bound but has not played a defensive inning since Tuesday. Shane Victorino hit the DL, replaced by Chris Snelling who will likely join him within a week. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are now 0-11. I'll get my first chance to check out that new park tomorrow, and then the Phillies live on Tuesday.

I think records are meaningless at this stage. How often do you look at the L10 column in the newspaper and take that as an accurate gauge of team quality? Yet that's what is happening here. Aww..you're hurting my feelins Al. The Marlins and Os both have the same record. so do Arizona and St Louis' hot starts not count then either? Only in the sense that Arizona has a 2.5 game handicap on the division.

I think records are meaningless at this stage. How often do you look at the L10 column in the newspaper and take that as an accurate gauge of team quality? Yet that's what is happening here.

There's been quite a bit of news. Jordan Schafer suspended for PED use. Scott Spiezio released by the Braves, possibly for showing up drunk to a AAA game. Derek Jeter is hurt, Jimmy Rollins is hurt, Dontrelle Willis is hurt. We've had two Red Sox/Yankees games and it only sparked a bit of discussion about Chien-Ming Wang. It's quite odd.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs are now 0-10. Jesus.

It's not pre-empted because it's Yankees/Sox, it's pre-empted because it's another four hour game.

No Cubs/Phillies game tonight. When UPN/WB joined up, my cable company dropped UPN 57. Sometimes they air the games on the local cable company channel, but tonight they have the AAA IronPigs feed.

Dominant is simply the ability to collect outs over an extended period of time. If we look at ERAs from 2006-08 (I used a minimum 300 IP), the top five are Santana, Webb, Peavy, Chris Young and John Smoltz. That's reasonable, though Young benefits from his home park. People forget about Smoltz for some reason. Chien-Ming Wang ranks 15th, between Fausto Carmona and Cole Hamels. (That's a bit misleading, Carmona is hurt by his awful relief stint in '06 and Hamels pitches in a tough park.) He's easily in the top 15-20 though, and if you consider an ace one of the top 30 starters, he's an easy pick. The concern is that starters with a low K/9 rate rarely last. My theory is that pitchers who pitch to contact falter because if the batter can make contact, the next step is to adjust and hammer the pitch.