This Week in Baseball

[Jericholic82 0]

why would one get suspended for that? I suppose it's considered "gambling" but shouldnt Penny get in trouble as well then? I wonder if it was whole milk or lowfat?

 

 

Anyhow Yanks win 6-2 to take 3 of 4 at least. The pitching has been a whole lot better recently (outside of Randy and Mooses one ining troubles). I really wish they would figure out what to do about CF. Either way they are in need of revamping in the off-season. I think the boss realizes that. Even if they did what appears to be impossible this year and manage a pennant or world championship, they still need to do some house-cleaning.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

why would one get suspended for that? I suppose it's considered "gambling" but shouldnt Penny get in trouble as well then? I wonder if it was whole milk or lowfat?

 

It's a Marlins' decision and not one from MLB. Individual teams have much more freedom and leeway in suspending players and personnel than does the league.

 

I'm headed up to the Pawtucket/Scranton game tonight. It will be my first opportunity to see the Greek God of Walks in person. It is also Gavin Floyd's last home start of the season.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Also, I'm surprised no one mentioned the fun pitching matchup in New York. Chacin vs. Chacon. You don't see that kind of stuff often.

[Jericholic82 0]

Also, I'm surprised no one mentioned the fun pitching matchup in New York.  Chacin vs. Chacon.  You don't see that kind of stuff often.

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Yea I got a kick out of that one Al

[Gert T 0]

Any more out of Pittsburgh about the fight yesterday? Is it confirmed that punches were thrown? Maybe Duncan was embarassed his staff gave up 10 runs against the Pirates.

[CanadianChris 0]

Also, I'm surprised no one mentioned the fun pitching matchup in New York.  Chacin vs. Chacon.  You don't see that kind of stuff often.

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I saw that, but my eyes were playing tricks on me and I saw Chacon vs. Chacon, wondering when the Jays called up this Chacon fellow.

[CanadianChris 0]

Any more out of Pittsburgh about the fight yesterday? Is it confirmed that punches were thrown? Maybe Duncan was embarassed his staff gave up 10 runs against the Pirates.

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All reports are indicating there was just pushing and shoving, no punches.

[KingPK 0]

I thought I saw the Pirates hitting coach throw a punch at the Cards pitching coach, which was what triggered the whole thing.

 

Joy, the Royals are knocking Schilling around while Lima's shutting the bats down. That's reassuring.

[Damaramu 0]

I'm just groaning everytime I see Wells and Schilling pitching. I know it doesn't always happen but something in my head just goes "Well you'd better hit the ball well b/c these guys are going to give up runs."

[KingPK 0]

Yup, time to just let Schill prepare for '06 instead of trying to suck as much out of a guy who's at 65% at best and will probably only hurt the team in the postseason rather than help.

[CanadianChris 0]

A Chicago-Anaheim ALCS is looking more and more likely every day.

[cabbageboy 0]

Given the way the White Sox have played of late, I don't think they get passed the first round. It'll be like 2000 for them all over.

 

I can't help but think the Angels might win the AL. Everyone else is just all over the place, they might take it by default.

[Guest Smues]

Sidney Ponson got arrested for a DUI thursday morning. Man what a winner this guy is. At least he didn't punch a judge this time. Yet.

[devo 0]

Mets pull out a 3-1 victory tonight and sweep the Diamondbacks in Arizona.

 

I'm incredibly happy about this. They're within 1 1/2 games of the Phillies thanks to this four-game road sweep, which hopefully signifies a change in the Mets' lousy road play before this series. I didn't even expect them to win this series, much less sweep it.

 

[Damaramu 0]

Yup, time to just let Schill prepare for '06 instead of trying to suck as much out of a guy who's at 65% at best and will probably only hurt the team in the postseason rather than help.

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Well I don't like David Wells period and I never have.

But when I see either of these guys no matter how good they are pitching I just know that they're going to get lit up in an inning any moment now. It was like Pedro against the Yankees.

"Ok he's pitched a no-hitter.....the grand-slam is coming somewhere in here..."

[The Czech Republic 0]

A Chicago-Anaheim ALCS is looking more and more likely every day.

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Oh great, that's like the Marty Jannetty vs. Jim Neidhart of baseball matchups. And even worse, they're capital smallball offenders, so you can bet we'll be hearing about productive outs! Blah.

[CanadianChris 0]

The latest useless poll on ESPN.com asked who the greatest pitcher of the 1980s was, presumably as a follow-up to Dwight Gooden's arrest yesterday. Here were the results as of 9 am ET:

 

Ryan 53.1%

Clemens 23.9%

Gooden 12.6%

Morris 8.8%

Stieb 1.4%

 

Ridiculous. Internet polls are so stupid. Ryan is probably no better than fourth out of 5 in reality. Is there a player out there who has more of an illusion surrounding his career than Nolan Ryan?

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Aramis Ramirez hits the DL and Ronny Cedeno is recalled to ride the pine. I don't think I'll even bother watching today's game. Seeing a left side of the infield featuring Jose Macias and Neifi Perez is too depressing, especially against a contender.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I'm seeing now that NOMAR is going to be playing third for the first time in his career. This could be interesting.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

A Chicago-Anaheim ALCS is looking more and more likely every day.

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Oh great, that's like the Marty Jannetty vs. Jim Neidhart of baseball matchups. And even worse, they're capital smallball offenders, so you can bet we'll be hearing about productive outs! Blah.

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At least in that scenario they MADE it there, which is more than I can say for the North Siders...

[Guest Fishyswa]

"Ridiculous. Internet polls are so stupid. Ryan is probably no better than fourth out of 5 in reality. Is there a player out there who has more of an illusion surrounding his career than Nolan Ryan?"

 

I've looked over some of his stats and really he just has a LOT of numbers. What exactly made him so mediocre? Growing up as a kid there was no one above Ryan in our minds.

[CanadianChris 0]

I've looked over some of his stats and really he just has a LOT of numbers. What exactly made him so mediocre? Growing up as a kid there was no one above Ryan in our minds.

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I never said he was mediocre. 300+ wins and 5,714 strikeouts would disprove that fairly quickly.

 

In the eighties, though, he really only had two excellent seasons -- 1981 (11-5, 1.69, a no-hitter, 140 K in a strike-shortened year) and 1987 (2.96 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 270 K, despite a very hard-luck 8-16 record). He never won more than 16 games in a year. His ERA was consistently around the league average, besides the two seasons I mentioned. And he had no top-3 Cy Young award finishes. Yet he's one of the three best pitchers that decade? Two of the guys I would throw into the discussion, Bret Saberhagen and Orel Hershiser, aren't even on the list!

 

As for having a lot of numbers...well, when you pitch for 27 seasons, you're going to rack up a lot of numbers. He should have had a lot more than 324 wins for being such a great pitcher. Plus you have to look at some other numbers he racked up, like the all-time walk record (by over 960!!), or the fact that he has 3 of the 9 total 180+ walk seasons since 1900.

[Guest Brian]

or the fact that he has 3 of the 9 total 180+ walk seasons since 1900.

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Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth have three each of the other six.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

A Chicago-Anaheim ALCS is looking more and more likely every day.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh great, that's like the Marty Jannetty vs. Jim Neidhart of baseball matchups. And even worse, they're capital smallball offenders, so you can bet we'll be hearing about productive outs! Blah.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

At least in that scenario they MADE it there, which is more than I can say for the North Siders...

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Ah, always the opportunist for taking the cheapshot.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Yeah the Jannetty comment was designed to be a compliment....

[Guest Fishyswa]

"I never said he was mediocre. 300+ wins and 5,714 strikeouts would disprove that fairly quickly.

 

In the eighties, though, he really only had two excellent seasons -- 1981 (11-5, 1.69, a no-hitter, 140 K in a strike-shortened year) and 1987 (2.96 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 270 K, despite a very hard-luck 8-16 record). He never won more than 16 games in a year. His ERA was consistently around the league average, besides the two seasons I mentioned. And he had no top-3 Cy Young award finishes. Yet he's one of the three best pitchers that decade? Two of the guys I would throw into the discussion, Bret Saberhagen and Orel Hershiser, aren't even on the list!

 

As for having a lot of numbers...well, when you pitch for 27 seasons, you're going to rack up a lot of numbers. He should have had a lot more than 324 wins for being such a great pitcher. Plus you have to look at some other numbers he racked up, like the all-time walk record (by over 960!!), or the fact that he has 3 of the 9 total 180+ walk seasons since 1900."

 

 

Mediocre was my word, his numbers look like the product of just hanging around forever when you look back on them. I just couldn't understand why he became such a name in the first place, aside from the "fastest pitch ever" from a while back. Growing up mid-80's early 90's he was still, around the neighborhood, considered the greatest pitcher ever.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Gary Anderson/Morten Andersen are considered two of the greatest kickers in NFL history. They played for 20+ years. It's easy to compile all those stats when you play for as long as they did. Same thing with Nolan Ryan, who I DO consider one of the best (You don't get 5,000 strikeouts with no talent).

[Guest Brian]

Hard thrower, no hitters, longevity, strikeouts all tend to get a lot of notice.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Yeah the Jannetty comment was designed to be a compliment....

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But what did any of it have to do with the Cubs besides Czech being one of their fans?

[Mik 0]

Jeff Conine owes Jason Vargas a steak dinner, tonight. He totally blew that play in the outfield, costing Vargas three earned runs. I came home from work and the Marlins were up 7-0. Now it's 7-5... they better not lose this one.