The Man in Blak

TLR's infatuation with batting Ryan Ludwick second whenever a lefty is on the mound has got to stop.

I'm loathe to even discuss this with you, considering the lengths that you go to maintain an apologetic stance for Vick, but this is an absolute riot. Kobe Bryant isn't "gangsta" enough? Is that what you really think this is about? People assuming guilt for Michael Vick not because federal investigators were raiding his house, but because he has cornrows? If this is really all about persecution of an anti-establishment image, have you considered the possibility that Vick has earned that reputation through his actions in the past (flipping off fans, getting stopped for "hidden compartments" in water bottles)? Don't you think that Jason Williams (racist, homophobic statements) and Eminem (homophobic statements, songs about making his wife BLEED BITCH BLEEEEEED) make for poor examples of "unfairly persecuted" public figures?

Well, that's kind of the point. Nobody has been forthcoming about this information in the past, for fear of punishment. By seeing Giambi walk away from cooperation unscathed, so to speak, offenders may be more enticed to come forward.

I don't know if the Cardinals can catch Chicago and Milwaukee, but it sure looks like they're trying to catch us. What in the world happened to the Brewers' pitching staff?

What in the fuck.

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I agree with much of this, but I think it's worth emphasizing the fact that the DH provides American League teams with one more everyday player in the lineup, which means more of an immediate ROI for free agent money spent in the AL than in the NL, where the same money may be spent on more volatile resources (pitching). Without having to account for a larger bench & bullpen for substitutions (as a result of the DH), AL teams are free to distribute more money towards higher quality everyday players. Also, I think the DH is an injustice against the very fabric of our country, but I think it's worth keeping in the All-Star Game, just to give managers some options and to allow one more everyday player the opportunity of starting in the game.

Rick Ankiel has been called up by the Cardinals today and will be playing right field tonight, batting second. Holy crap.

Aaron admitted in his biography that he tried a greenie once in the middle of a slump, but there's no proof (or even allegations, really) of any prolonged use through his career. There's really no comparison there with Bonds, who has admitted use - please forgive me if I don't buy the explanation that Bonds thought it was "flaxseed oil" - and is alleged to have been a walking medicine cabinet throughout his late career peak.

1. There's no might. He did. That's it. There's no ambiguity here. 2. It was against federal law, which supersedes baseball policy. Not to nick pick, but he never failed a drug test so there is no PROOF that he actually did anything more than what he said. Well, not exactly. Yes, you can. He testified before a grand jury that he used the "cream" and the "clear" substances given to him by Greg Anderson, designer drugs created by BALCO. There are multiple statements made by Victor Conte and other BALCO executives throughout the investigation that Bonds was also receiving steroids from Anderson, as well as other performance enhancers. If you want to question the morality of leaking the grand jury testimony to the public, go right ahead. But don't question the facts presented by the testimony itself. What does this have to do with anything? The controversy surrounding Bonds focuses on his intake of substances that were banned by federal law - there's a federal investigation that's still ongoing, for christ's sake. You're not willing to accept admission through grand jury testimony as proof that Bonds used illegal supplements, but you're willing to cast accusations on the previous record holder, simply because "people used amphetamines back then"? All while making blanket assumptions that everybody has cheated, presumably just because Jose Canseco or Jim Bouton said so? I don't think there's much of a point in trying to deny the numbers - Barry Bonds has hit more home runs throughout his career than anybody else in MLB history. But every event in history has a context, a story behind the words or numbers. And the story that will follow Barry Bonds is that he has hit more home runs than anybody else in MLB history while playing in one of the more fertile offensive periods in the game's history, with the assistance of illegal performance enhancing drugs. No amount of statistical adjustments or fanatical wishcasting can erase the numbers, but that doesn't mean that the accomplishment has to be celebrated, in my opinion.

I certainly wouldn't be offended if a pitcher did that in baseball today, but that's far from the established view, for whatever reason. One theory is that the advent of free agency in baseball has deterred from very "competitive" behavior like this, due to the potential likelihood of one day being on the same team as the guy that you almost cracked in the head with a 90 mph fastball.

The tone of the article is absurd, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that Bonds enjoys a competitive advantage with the body armor that other players don't have. (The rules on body armor have change to prevent others from using a similar type of arm brace, but Bonds was somehow grandfathered into the policy by MLB.) You won't catch me asserting that 75-100 home runs are directly attributable to "the apparatus", but to deny that it doesn't have an impact on the way pitchers approach him seems a bit naive to me.

That's 40 career interceptions, not 20. He was on the 1970's NFL All-Decade team, a seven-time Pro Bowler, and five time All-Pro. Roger Staubach once explained that he believed the term "shutdown corner" came from describing Wehrli.

Maybe it's just his favorite adverb.

He was a Type A free agent last year, according to USA Today's transcript of the Elias rankings, so the potential is certainly there. What's infuriating is that they already have a cheaper (and, arguably, defensively superior) version of Eckstein sitting down in Memphis right now. Hell, they could even snag their old buddy Hector Luna back from Cleveland, since they designated him for assignment earlier this week. There are options there.

I really like the Pineiro deal with Boston, especially if the cash considerations that came with him allow us some additional flexibility for other deals (Percival, Encarnacion). I'm less enthused about the fact that the Cardinals turned away an offer from the Padres for Eckstein, but I guess I can take solace in the fact that he's likely a Type A free agent after this season, right? Right?

Lohse has a career ERA of 1.40 (in three starts) against the Phillies, so perhaps Gillick saw the best of what he had to offer. You think J.D. Durbin is a better bet going forward?

Supposedly it's true. SOSH crashed right after the announcement, so I don't have any other info yet. In the immortal words of Butch Stearns- "I'm not so sure about that..." SOSH just deleted the post and closed the thread. SOSH? What was it, Eric Gagne for Manny Delcarmen? Craig Hansen? Rich Garces?

I think there's a general realization throughout baseball that: 1. There's a benefit of keeping your star players, even if you know you have no chance in hell of signing them when they become eligible for free agency, because of the draft pick compensation system. 2. The free agent market is absolutely insane, especially if you're a middle market club and, as a consequence of #1, there's no point in dishing out your prized All-Star for a couple of B-/C+ prospects if you can simply hold onto said star player and pull back some valuable (and cheap) draft picks. A lot of traditionally-minded folks shower Moneyball with venom, but I don't think it's a coincidence that we've seen more of a focus around these points in recent years, since That Book was published.

And now Rosenthal's reporting that the Braves are closing in on Octavio Dotel in addition to the Teixeira deal. Good grief.

Rotoworld is speculating that 19-year-old fireballer Neftali Feliz is the other pitching prospect in the Teixeira deal. TINSTAAPP, as always, but he's striking out close to ten batters per nine in rookie ball so far this year and probably has as much upside as any other pitching prospect in their system. I think it's a good deal for both clubs, though the Braves could have just as easily job-shared Saltalamacchia and McCann between C/1B and probably had a brighter long-term outlook. You can't really get better than Teixeira as a mid-season pickup in this market and Atlanta does have plenty of motivation for taking their shot this year, with Andruw on his way out and the rest of the core (Chipper and Smoltz, specifically) getting older.

Tell me about it. It's pretty entertaining to get a chili dog, a chicken plank, and hush puppies. Count Missouri for the LJS/A&W combination as well - there were even two of them that I knew of, at one point, but the largest one off of I-44 (right next to the KFC/Rib Crib combo) shut down a couple of years ago. Had a "drive-in" like Sonic and everything. Strange establishment. There's a Pizza Hut / WingStreet combo that's muscling into my hometown in Kansas as well. I think Yum Franchises! just throws the various brands in a hat and picks out two whenever they want to build a new restaurant.

I'm not really a fan of Loaded myself, but I wouldn't have any problems ranking it ahead of any of Reed's solo work (though, I freely admit, I haven't heard much of the latter). Gene, did you ever get a chance to take White Light / White Heat for a spin?

It's probably "embraced" because it's actually good. Nobody would assert that "Promiscuous" is a brave journey into higher thought, but the production techniques make it a damn good dance song. And, regardless of how intellectually vapid you may feel hip-hop/dance may be, it's not really that unreasonable to hold the idea that an excellent song in one genre is better than a warm-as-piss take on another genre.

Pixies: Surfer Rosa Doolittle Trompe Le Monde Come On Pilgrim Bossanova Surfer Rosa and Doolittle are awfully close, but I'll side with their more abrasive go-round, "No. 13 Baby" be damned.