Cheech Tremendous

Supposedly he had never heard of Pirates of the Caribbean or Johnny Depp's character and was completely confused by Burchill's gimmick.

2002 WCF is the worst officiating that I can ever remember. It was just ridiculously one sided after the Kings got the early lead in the series. Game 6 was particularly egregious.

Seems like a bad move for the Chargers. I know that Marty's teams have a tendency to have a meltdown in the playoffs, but the guy is still an excellent coach. He's won everywhere. The Chargers were 14-2 last year and have generally exceeded expectations during his tenure. I don't see any homerun coaching candidates out there for a quick fix.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2763552 Marty Schottenheimer gets canned.

I was friends with a guy in O-Town. You know what? They still sucked. Wow. Really? Were you friends with Jacob, Ashley, Dan, the Mexican one, or the other guy? I guess calling us friends might be pushing it, but I knew Ashley Angel pretty well in high school.

I was friends with a guy in O-Town. You know what? They still sucked.

Why were they doing a tribute to the Eagles in the first place? I heard James Brown only got one song.

I turned on the Pro Bowl for a little bit the other day and VINCE YOUNG was playing quarterback. I had to rub my eyes a few times when I saw that one. So by the time the game rolls around, do they just start inviting anyone who'll show up? Young was okay for a rookie, but Pro Bowler?

I've already voted, but here are some suggestions: 1906, 1929 or 1930 Chicago Cubs 1954 Cleveland Indians 1946 St. Louis Cardinals 1899 Cleveland Spiders

That was my bad. I didn't realize that Moises was still putting up a .900 OPS. For some reason I was thinking he had dove off a cliff the past few years. Maybe it's all the urine on his hands. By the way, the point still stands that Milledge is going to be way good. The Mets will really regret trading him if they get back anything less than premium talent.

2004 Boston Red Sox That's the homer pick. I'll be back with some more interesting ones later for suggestions. I may have to consult with the Historical Baseball Abstract.

Looking through 2007 PECOTA projections, here are the top 5 lineups in baseball based on equivalent average. The rankings are based on the mean projection for the expected starters of each squad. 1. New York Yankees 2. Boston Red Sox 3. Cleveland Indians 4. New York Mets 5. Philadelphia Phillies The Cubs, Rangers and Twins all fall in that meaty 10-15 range, where I would have expected them to be without even looking at the numbers. Good research there, Mr. Shea!

Jeez, who the fuck is John Shea and why does he feel compelled to write about baseball? And why does his shit get placed on ESPN's website? He has an article up right now on the best lineups in baseball (not even going to provide a link... the article isn't worth your time). Anyways, here's how he ranks the top lineups: 1. Mets - He said that the addition of Moises Alou puts them over the top because he can take at-bats away from Lastings Milledge. Superb idea there Shea. Yes, the Mets do have a great offense but it's because they have Reyes, Beltran, Wright and Delgado (and soon Milledge). Alou means nothing. 2. Cubs - He says that they added Soriano to solve their on-base problems. Does he know that Soriano has a career OBP of .325? He's a good hitter but that offense will still be pedestrian until they can get Eric Patterson, Felix Pie and Matt Murton playing regularly and find a way to get some guys on base. 3. Yankees - No argument here, except for the fact that they are the best offense in baseball, not third. 4. Indians - Yeah, they are good too. 5. Twins - The Twins have nothing on offense outside of Mauer and Morneau, and they both had breakout seasons last year that they might not recreate. They are a top 15-20 offense at best. Cuddyer and Punto are not two guys I'd hang my hat on to carry an offense. 6. Rangers - He said that Sosa will bring some extra power to that offense. No, he won't. The Rangers look good because they play in the ultimate hitter's paradise. That offense is pretty standard. And to top it all all off, he gives the Red Sox the "Cold Plate Special"! Yes, the team that was second in OBP last year in the enire majors and scored 820 runs. The same offense that added JD Drew and Julio Lugo, two premier hitters, at positions where they got no offense last year. Real smart, John Shea.

Karma's a bitch. The Bulls should call up Memphis and see if they'll take PJ Brown's contract, Tyrus Thomas and a future draft pick for Pau Gasol. He just sounds like the wrong guy for that Chicago team, especially with Skiles as coach.

I can understand the point of being a contrarian, but a 23 year old hitter who draws only 18 walks in an entire season is going to find himself in a lot of trouble in the future. He had an OBP of .365, but batted .342. There's no way he can sustain that unless he learns to take a pitch now and again. He could find himself with an OBP of around .300 if he doesn't keep those batted balls falling for hits. After Cano came back from injury, post all-star game, he batted .365/.380/.635 with an OPS over 1.000 in 211 at bats. That's insane, even if he doesn't walk a lot. He's like the new Rod Carew. On the season he had a .342/.365/.525 line with an OPS of .890. Compared to Utley who had a .309/.370/.527 line with an OPS of .906 and a significantly higher one at home, which is a great hitters ballpark. If Utley is better, which he may be, it's not by much. Considering Cano had a monster 2nd half, and has done nothing but improve since coming up last year, including getting more walks, i'll take Cano. You've sort of inadvertently proved my point with that stats you've provided. His game is totally batting average dependent, which is a) usually not sustainable and b) really not sustainable if you can't draw a walk. Maybe he's a freak that defies all convention (like Wang is turning out to be) but I wouldn't bet on it. If he can get the rest of his game to come around, he'll be a valuable commodity for the Yankees.

Those guys were free agents in a year when teams were awash in cash and desperate for pitching. Arroyo was still under team control for a couple of seasons. It just seemed unncessary to give him $12.5 mil/year when he's had one good season. Let him do it again and then lock him up.

I can't remember any dunk that Richardson did. That's not to say that he isn't a great dunker but I don't remember anything memorable that he has done. Nothing interesting has happened in the contest since the late 80s (except maybe the year Vince Carter won it). The new guys may be more athletic and creative, but they are just doing extensions of things we've been seeing over and over again for the last twenty years. I say just bury the thing instead of running out a pale imitation every year. I mean does anyone give two shits about the dunk contest anymore?

I'm not sure Soriano has ever "played" second base despite what it said on the scorecard. I know he never played 2nd base very well. I just needed a second baseman for my lineup, and he use to play the position. I liked having a guy that could get the stolen bases. I already knew that he had a low OBP but I was willing to sacrificing it for the SB's. But as Al pointed out in his post, Soriano is not particularly good at stealing bases. By the way, I'm not trying to pick on you. It's just fun for discussion.

I'm not sure Soriano has ever "played" second base despite what it said on the scorecard.

Hogan saying he's done with WWE and going to TNA is secret code for "Hey Vince I want more money to work Mania."

Where can I find said movies?

I can understand the point of being a contrarian, but a 23 year old hitter who draws only 18 walks in an entire season is going to find himself in a lot of trouble in the future. He had an OBP of .365, but batted .342. There's no way he can sustain that unless he learns to take a pitch now and again. He could find himself with an OBP of around .300 if he doesn't keep those batted balls falling for hits.

Hogan to TNA rumors? It must me Wrestlemania time.

Well they say deaths always happen in threes.

I'm more interested in finding out the reasons why people didn't pick Utley at second. I was going to say Yankee homers, but I noticed that there were votes for Soriano and Durham as well. Who knows? Those guys aren't even in the same ballpark as Utley, as far as I'm concerned.