vivalaultra

Since when is underage male on male seduction not a Republican family value? The ancient Greeks and Romans did it. Mark Foley's just carrying on the tradition of his political ancestors. (I kid, I kid. I love Republicans, really...)

After reading the linked article and a few more, I have comments. The article(s) only mention Clemens and Pettitte in relation to "performance-enhancing drugs". It never mentions the two in relation to steroids or HGH, but does specifically use the word steroids and the term HGH to talk about other players. If the "performance-enhancing drugs" does mean steroids or HGH, I find it odd that the paragraph that mentions Tejada using them didn't also mention Clemens and Pettitte since the two paragraphs were right next to each other. Ergo, I deduce that neither Clemens nor Pettitte are being accused of taking either anabolic steroids or HGH. Of course, during the "Grimsley Era" in New York (99, 2000), there were certain "PED" that weren't on the banned list. If the article's not completely bogus, which it very well might be, I suspect that the "PED" brought up relating to Pettitte and Clemens is either greenies or other uppers or creatin...something like that. Then there's the whole thing that this article might be complete crap. It's very vague when mentioning how the newspaper in question obtained these blacked-out names; attributing everything to "sources". Then there's the "sources" that say that Jason Grimsley was co-erced into agreeing with whatever names the investigators threw out there as using steroids or such. Then there's the fact that Jason Grimsley seems like a scuzzy character in general. Yeah, so I'm not totally buying this. At least not till something more concrete comes up, something more than hearsay. And I'm not just disagreeing with the article because I'm a Clemens and Pettitte fan. I am, but if they were doping, I certainly don't agree with nor support it. O.k. that's my two cents. Later, homies.

Oh yeah, I'm sure that Clemens and Pettitte and probably 99% of ballplayers have taken amphetamines. That wouldn't be shocking. It wouldn't be completely shocking if it came out that Clemens was doping. It would be shocking if Pettitte was. It just doesn't seem in character.

Well, I shall withhold judgment until further details come to light.

Marquis for Cy Young~!!!!!!!!11!!1!!!1!!!!

Well, if the 'Stros pull it out and the Cards lose tomorrow, TLR can't accuse Bobby Cox of dogging it. The 'Stros got 3 unearned runs against Bob Wickman in the top of the 9th and the Bravos came back against Brad Lidge and Dan Wheeler in the bottom to score 2, but the 'Stros hang on to win 5-4, forcing the Cards to start Chris Carpenter tomorrow, so, even if the 'Stros don't make it, the Cards are still gonna have to start Marquis in Game 1. The Cards/Mets would be an, I think, an extremely high-scoring Division Series.

Some GREAT baserunning by Brad Ausmus, Chris Burke, and Orlando Palmiero coupled with some shitty Braves' defense in the 9th inning is keepin' hope alive for another day. 5-2 'Stros. Come on, Santiago Villanueva! ...unless the name of the guy pitching for the Brewers tomorrow is not Santiago Villanueva, in which case...come on whatever your name is!

If the Cards are gonna take the division, they're not going to do it tonite. Andy Pettitte gets the start tonite for the 'Stros instead of Chris Sampson and in the first inning, all 4 batters so far have hit the ball really, really hard against Lance Cormier; Berkman, in particular, who unloaded on one for his 45th of the year.

Well, it was a fun week, but it looks like the Cards are trying to pull their collective head out of their collective ass. At least my boys went down swingin'. I hope for next season Phil Garner learns earlier that Wandy Rodriguez is not a viable fifth starter. I hope that Brad Lidge either gets his shit together or has the ability to sell real estate. And I thought it was funny that ever since the Cards got swept in Houston, the whole city of St. Louis seemed to be acting like the Astros were first place and the Cardinals were second. The funniest moment was at a TLR press conference after their 2nd loss to the Padres when he said about his club, "Hey, we're still in this thing!" Oh well. If this be the last weekend of Astros' baseball, I look forward to 2007.

Well, that was...somewhat original...at least.

If the score holds, I'm gonna send Jeff Cirillo and Ben Sheets glazed hams.

Oh, and here's some excerpts from their instant message conversations. It's in .pdf. foley_excerpts4.pdf

Nah, it's Sampson. It's been announced and everything. It's on record that Chris Sampson is pitching today's game with the Braves, so now Phil can't change it cuz it's all nice and official-like. At least, he better not change it. I think Phil realizes, on the 2nd to last day of the season, that the Astros are in a pennant race. I think the 'Stros have a good chance to win the next two and I think the Cards have a good chance of going 1-1, which would set up a make-up game on Monday between the Cards and the Giants. I'm not confident in the Giants being competitive, especially since 2/3 of their team will have already flown home to spend time with their grandchildren.

It is. The Astros have to win both of the last two games and hope that St. Louis loses at least one. If St. Louis loses one of the next two and the Astros win both of the next two, they'll be back to a half-game behind, and they'll have to play the Giants and then, maybe, in Houston. If the 'Stros win both games and the Cards lose both, the Cards will be .5 game back of the Astros and will have to win the make up game against the Giants to get a playoff game in Houston. There's too many damn scenarios. I just wanna watch Chris Sampson pitch today. I like Chris.

If my Astros don't make it, I'm going Twinkies and Dodgers. Twins in 6.

Berkman was drafted in the 1st round in 1997. He played in High A ball in 97 and split time between AA and AAA in 1998. In 1999, he split time between AAA and the big club. In 2000, he started at AAA but came up about 2 months into the season and hasn't went back since. I'm seeing a very similar career path between Berkman and Scott, Luke. I doubt Luke sees time at AAA again. The quickest ascent through the minors that the Astros ever had was Baggy. He was in the Red Sox system for like...a year and a half before being traded. He never spent any time in the Astros minor league system. I don't think he counts, though. I'm pissed that the Brewers lost. I was counting on them pickin' up tonite and tomorrow's game, with Sheets on the mound. I hope that Villanueva kid can shut em down on Sunday against Carpenter. If the Astros start Chris Sampson tomorrow, they've got a chance. I wish Backe wasn't hurt. I bet he'd throw a fuckin' 1-hitter against the Braves. He's clutch.

JR House didn't do jack-shit when he was with the big club earlier this year. He did hit about .500 in AA and AAA, though. He had a cup of coffee with the Pirates a couple years ago. He was uh...a college football player. I think he has arm problems. I don't think he'll ever amount to much. Charlton Jimerson is early Preston Wilson re-incarnated. He's one tool shy of being a five-tool player. If he can cut down on the strikeouts and make contact, he'll be a keeper. There's a reason he's 28 years old and hasn't been on the big club for any length of time. Hunter Pence is the crown jewel of the Astros farm system. I hope he's more Berkman than Jason Lane. Then there's a couple lower level guys that are supposedly good-Josh Anderson and a few others. The Astros don't really have alot of can't-miss position prospects. They've got some good pitching, though.

No lead is safe with the Cardinals bullpen. It's looking like 1.5 games back with 2 games to go. It's the proverbial nut-cuttin' time.

Yeah...that nevergets old. Neither does "Asstros" or "Lastros". Is there no originality anymore?

Well, I sincerely hope that the Brewers can come back against the Cards tonite...

O.k. I was using a bit of hyperbole, but, seriously...the Yankees haven't not made the postseason in what? Like...12 years? And they've won divisions with teams alot worse than the one they're fielding now. The 'Stros at .5 games back after tonite is looking highly likely. If the 'Stros roll in Atlanta and the Cards continue to suck ass, there might not be a need for Make-Up Monday in the NL Central.

I'm watching it on ESPN. By virtue of that, I'm surprised that Tejada error ball was actually called an error.

Steve Balboni at DH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!11!!!!

Boston started Kyle Snyder for ten games this year. Six starts for Lenny DiNardo. I know I'm reaching here, but perhaps getting Clemens on the roster would have kept the Red Sox in playoff contention. Hmmm....you might be on to something, MiB. It certainly helped Houston. I was just saying how there were certain columnists and such talking about how even if Clemens came back to Houston, they had no shot at the postseason, and, therefore, he should go to Boston of New York. I'm sure he's glad that he picked Houston for more than monetary reasons.

With help from his friends Billy Hall, David Bell, Mike Rivera, and Tony Gwynn Jr., I sincerely hope that he can accomplish this feat, both for him and the city of St. Louis.