vivalaultra 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2007 Former Tigers, Astros, and Indians, and Angels pitcher and former Astros, Mets, Phillies, and most recently Reds pitching coach Vern Ruhle passed away last nite after battling cancer and missing the entire 2006 season because of it. He was 55. For his career, he was 67-88 with a 3.73 ERA. R.I.P., Vern. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted January 21, 2007 Chase Utley signs a 7 year $85 M extension. That's gotta makes the Phils fans happy. Excellent. Utley is in the discussion as far as the top ten players in baseball go. This deal keeps him for four years past free agency. Former Tigers, Astros, and Indians, and Angels pitcher and former Astros, Mets, Phillies, and most recently Reds pitching coach Vern Ruhle passed away last nite after battling cancer and missing the entire 2006 season because of it. He was 55. For his career, he was 67-88 with a 3.73 ERA. R.I.P., Vern. I didn't know Ruhle was in a bad way. That's two members of the 1980 Astros' starting staff gone in three months. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 The Directv Exclusivity of MLB EI Should be announced this week, and MLB and Directv will partner on a 24/7 Baseball Network exclusive to Directv as well that will start in 2009. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mik 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 Any word on how that effects MLB.tv? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
devo 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 From what I've gathered, it doesn't. MLB.tv will work just as it has in years past. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
snuffbox 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 Will Fox Sports still be airing home teams? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarvinisaLunatic 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 The article I read said MLB TV would still be offered but that Broadband is only available to about half of the number of homes that have cable and the picture quality sucks. Im pretty sure whoever was carrying your teams games last year will be where they are this year..unless you're an Os fan like me with the whole switch from Comcast Sports Net to MASN2 (since MASN1 gets the Nats games). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smues Report post Posted January 22, 2007 Fucking exclusivity deal. Thank you DirectTV, now I hate you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KingPK 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 *Switches from Football Mode to Baseball Mode* So....how is that Matsuzaka dude going to do this year? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 PECOTA weighted mean projection: 12-9, 4.01 ERA, 182 IP, 184 H, 51 BB, 162 K, 19 HR, 1.29 WHIP 90 percentile (best case scenerio): 15-7, 3.17 ERA, 205 1/3 IP, 199 H, 52 BB, 191 K, 19 HR, 1.17 WHIP 10 percentile (worst case scenerio): 6-9, 5.93 ERA, 121 1/3 IP, 148 H, 41 BB, 97 K, 16 HR, 1.56 WHIP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smues Report post Posted January 22, 2007 Does that exclusivity deal of death take effect this season, or did I get lucky and it isn't until 2008 or 2009? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 The fun part is that I would not get to see Phillies home broadcasts if I subscribed to DirectTV. I hate this deal, but I was never an extra innings subscriber anyway. This certainly won't entice me to buy DirectTV. I've still got my XMRadio and that gives far less hassles as far as blackouts go. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted January 22, 2007 Introducing the worst baseball article I have ever read! http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader...es/16516447.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the max 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 Introducing the worst baseball article I have ever read! http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader...es/16516447.htm I just read that about five times and cringed more with every word. Bill Conlin is a horse's ass. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 That was a truly hideous article. How does shit like that even get published? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest "Go, Mordecai!" Report post Posted January 23, 2007 Did this guy get turned down by Pitchfork and thus have to write bad gimmick pieces about sports? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bored 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 Soooo Pat Burrell is no Joe DiMaggio. Wow he really does suck then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 I like how he seems to be implying that Pat Burrell would be as good as Joe Dimaggio if he just stopped striking out so much. Where do you even get the inspiration for an article like that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vampiro69 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 Wait.....so Burrell isn't DiMaggio? I must thank the Philadelphia Daily News for breaking that news to me. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the max 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 Max's email: "Wait, so Pat Burrell ISN'T Joe DiMaggio?! Slow news day, eh Bill?" A reply from the great Bill Conlin: "Yeah, but only for you, dimwit." DiMaggio would have had a better comeback, Bill. And he's dead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 I'm sure you're not the first person who emailed him. And just for fun... PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES 2006 STRIKEOUTS SO 1 Ryan Howard 181 2 Chase Utley 132 3 Pat Burrell 131 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 Something fun while I'm digging through stats. Ryan Howard's .313 batting average is the highest single season batting average in history for a hitter with 170+ strikeouts. Only 14 times in baseball history has a batter struck out 150+ times and still hit .300. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Man in Blak 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 Introducing the worst baseball article I have ever read! http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader...es/16516447.htm It's not quite Scoop Jackson's assertion that everybody who criticizes Dusty Baker is a racist, but it's closer than I'd ever prefer to be. Maybe The Worst Article Ever (Non-Racist Division). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Smues Report post Posted January 23, 2007 FJM shredded the article. Joe was also a great hitter who had that 56-game hitting streak in 1941. I, Bill Conlin, will pay any man one million dollars to transport me back to that magical year, when hitters were hitters and racists were violent, unchecked racists. That was my favorite. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
strummer 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 FJM was great in dissecting that article Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 I FJM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted January 23, 2007 From espn.com's poll on managers: Managing a baseball team can be as simple as filling out a lineup card or as complicated as deciding when to execute a double-steal. Managers must decide whether to coddle superstars or scream at them, whether to play smallball or moneyball, when to argue a call and when to let one slide. It's not nearly as easy as it looks. So managers must decide whether or not to pursue players that have undervalued attributes as determined by contracts offered in the current market? Have any members of the BBWA or ESPN even read Moneyball? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
EVIL~! alkeiper 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2007 What amuses me about that poll is that five of the managers have yet to manage a single MLB game! My ballot isn't terribly different from the totals though. I ranked Clint Hurdle dead last for his overuse of smallball in Coors Field. It's not like he's ridden this strategy to a winning season. Phil Garner wins most overrated, Bruce Bochy or Bob Melvin wins most underrated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheech Tremendous 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2007 What amuses me about that poll is that five of the managers have yet to manage a single MLB game! My ballot isn't terribly different from the totals though. I ranked Clint Hurdle dead last for his overuse of smallball in Coors Field. It's not like he's ridden this strategy to a winning season. Phil Garner wins most overrated, Bruce Bochy or Bob Melvin wins most underrated. How did you end up voting on best GMs? I thought the top 10-15 were basically right, but I didn't necessarily agree with the order. I don't rank Kenny Williams or Omar Minaya as high as they ended up, but then again Williams won a World Series a year ago and Minaya was right there last season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest "Go, Mordecai!" Report post Posted January 24, 2007 Kenny Williams had been a bad general manager before 2005, a lucky one during, and an overconfident one after. I don't think he's all that great, but he's probably going to be bulletproof for a few more years. I don't know what made Jim Hendry go from highway robber in 2003 to ultimate numbskull in 2006, but given his recent body of work, he should've been tossed from the top of the Tribune Tower just like Dusty and McFail. Why fire two tiers of management but leave a middle one in? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
