vivalaultra

Hey, Allister, I was going to reply in your blog, but I thought I'd do it here instead. I was just wondering what made you put Berkman 5th in your NL MVP voting? And below Miguel Cabrera, too? Sure Cabrera had a good year, and so did Pujols, Howard, etc., but Lance Berkman set a new career high in HRs and RBI (a new franchise record in RBI) and had almost 70 more RBI than Craig Biggio, 2nd on the team. Obviously, the Astros were a terrible offensive club, but, at least in my opinion, having 46 homeruns and 137 RBI on the worst offensive team in the NL should get you the MVP. The Cards, for the most part, weren't a great offensive club, and the Phillies were slightly above average at best, but I'd much rather have Chris Duncan and Scott Rolen or Chase Utley and Pat "The Bat" batting around me in the lineup than some combination of Craig Biggio, Morgan Ensberg, Jason Lane, or Aubrey Huff. I did see that you had Roy O as the Cy Young. You're a smart man, Albert. And I completely forget that Kenji Jojhima existed.

So is the new hitting coach gonna teach David Ortiz to ground the ball to the right side to move the runner over to third? I thought that's why he hated being in Minnesota.

The Sawx ditched both their hitting and pitching coaches. I'm not sure if this is a good move or a bad move.

Hey, humanoid, I'm the biggest Astros' shill on the board and I don't even think Garner should be in the top 7 in Manager of the Year. Why'd you give him 3rd? I picked Wang because I don't wanna incur Yankee wrath, and he did win 19 games and only allowed 12 homeruns in over 200 innings. I think that's a pretty good year...

I mean...I've used a pillow...and maybe a stuffed gorilla once or twice...but never a bed. I sleep on a couch, anyway.

I like the new Oldham, especially the backing vocals. I found Sings Greatest Palace Music to be alternatingly funny and wonderful and offputting and boring. I think alot of diehard Oldham fans disliked it because the re-interpretations of the songs were so strikingly different from the originals and, in some places, it almost seemed like he was making a mockery of his past catalogue. However, I thought that sometimes it worked, mostly because there is an element of humor to alot of BPB and Will Oldham songs. And any song that has a "ducks quacking" sound effect is great. And the version of "Agnes, Queen of Sorrow" on Sings Greatest Palace Music is excellent.

Yom...Kip...poor? It sounds so fake.

AL MVP 1. Johan Santana MIN 2. Derek Jeter NYY 3. David Ortiz BOS 4. Joe Mauer MIN 5. Justin Morneau MIN 6. Jermaine Dye CWS 7. Frank Thomas OAK 8. Travis Hafner CLE 9. Jim Thome CWS 10. Grady Sizemore CLE NL MVP 1. Lance "Big Puma" Berkman HOU 2. Albert Pujols STL 3. Ryan Howard PHI 4. Alfonso Soriano WAS 5. Carlos Beltran NYM 6. NOMAH~! LAD 7. Miguel Cabrera FLA 8. Chase Utley PHI 9. Freddy Sanchez PIT 10. Trevor Hoffman SD AL Cy Young 1. Johan Santana MIN 2. Justin Verlander DET 3. Chien-Ming Wang NYY NL Cy Young 1. Roy Oswalt HOU 2. Brandon Webb ARI 3. Chris Carpenter STL AL Manager of the Year 1. Jim Leyland DET 2. Ron Gardenhire MIN 3. Joe Torre NYY NL Manager of the Year 1. Joe Girardi FLA 2. Grady Little LAD 3. Willie Randolph NYM AL Rookie of the Year 1. Justin Verlander DET 2. Francisco Liriano MIN 3. Jonathon Papelbon BOS NL Rookie of the Year 1. Ryan Zimmerman WAS 2. Hanley Ramirez FLA 3. Luke Scott HOU

Pads in 4! Goooooo Woody!!!

It's been done before actually. I'm not sure why we didn't keep it going. 2003: http://forums.thesmartmarks.com/index.php?...c=41974&hl= O.k. Who was the yahoo that threw a vote Jeriome Robertson's way for NL ROY in 2003? I wasn't around then, so it wasn't me. Ah...Jeriome Robertson...best thing the 'Stros ever did with him was trade him for Willy Taveras and Luke Scott.

Hot diggity damn, Al! Is there nothing that you don't think of?

Now that the regular season's over, when do we start arguing over who's going to win awards and such? I'm of the mind that the last couple weeks puts Oswalt at the head of the Cy Young class...unless they give it to Trevor Hoffman, which they might.

The new article... I don't see...how federal law was not violated.

The best Nilsson cover I've ever heard was when Will Oldham busted out with "I can't liiiiiiiivvvvvveeeee if liiiiivviiiiin' is withoooouuuut yoooooooooooooou" in the middle of uh...I forget what song of his it is, but it was sublime.

If Wandy Rodriguez sniffs the 72 degree air in MMP, be it in the rotation, bullpen, or in the stands, I riot. I imagine that the rotation'll be something like... Oswalt Pettitte Woody Sampson Hirsh At least until Roger Clemen's un-un-un-un retirement.

Hey, CV, who gives a shit what naiwf thinks? He's already proven himself to be a complete jackass and completely unable to string together anything resembling an intelligent or somewhat original comeback. Just picture him as a spoiled, 12 year-old rich kid with too much time on his hands. Clemens isn't a Yankee. So what? Clemens came back from retirement. So what? Everybody makes a big deal out Clemens and his potential retirements. So what? He's the best pitcher of this generation, possibly ever. People SHOULD make a big deal out of it. If people don't like him, they don't like him. Who cares? Once naiwf gets 347 career victories, I might be interested in his pithy attempts at insulting my home state, but until then, he's just another random jackass in a long line of random jackasses that inhabit the world wide web. In something baseball related-I certainly hope that Chris Sampson's work this year has earned him a spot in the Astros rotation next year. I think he'd be a good #2 guy. He's got good control, keeps the ball down well, and isn't afraid of attacking the strikezone, unlike some of the other highly-thought of rookie pitchers the Astros have thrown out there the last two years. And he's got a cool goatee thing going on.

And you can tell who takes baseball WAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY too seriously, too.

If the Cubs were smart, they'd take a shot on Astros' bench coach Cecil Cooper. Coop would whip 'em into shape. The 'Stros are like...10-0 in games managed by Cooper. And he's non-caucasian, so there wouldn't be scandal, but the Cubs aren't smart.

The only place that Dusty Baker is going tomorrow is to Denny's for the Grand Slam Slugger breakfast before tucking himself in for a long winter's nap so he's refreshed and ready to lead the Cubs back to glory in 2007-to 5th place!!!!!

You can't spell "Roger Clemens' re-re-re-retirement" without "R-O-G-E-R-C-L-E-M-E-N-S"!!!

Well, with the Astros out now, it'll certainly give lots more time to pleasure myself... ...by learning how to build birdhouses! Who doesn't love birdhouses? Yeah, it was fun, and they gave it a shot. Let's see what they can do in naught-seven.

To: St. Louis Cardinals 1 National League Central Title Love: The Houston Astros

It's gonna fuckin' suck if the 'Stros can't get anything going today (down 3-0 in the bottom of the 5th) and the Cards get lit up today and back into the playoffs.

The Walkmen are OK. I saw them at Austin City Limits in 05 and bought a shirt saying "Sometimes I like to listen to The Walkmen". That about sums up how I feel about them. Sometimes I like to listen to em, but sometimes I don't. "The Rat" is, indeed, awesome. I don't see a point to covering an entire album...especially if you're not going to make it very different from the original. And why Harry Nilsson? Does the world need more interpretations of Harry Nilsson songs?