ILX Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball League 2003 -- Part 4: ...going...

Here, let me open a tag:

< bnw wrath >

Snooker? I hardly knew her!

Benching Prior + starting Danny Graves in the same week!

2 of my players are on the reality DL. What am I supposed to do? I put one of them on the yahoo! fantasy "DL" but it didn't open a roster spot for me, I don't think. What good is having a "DL" spot? I am already aware the player is on the reality DL, THANK YOU.

Sincerely,

New York Newbie

When it asks you which player of yours to drop when adding the new guy (which it always does, regardless), there should be a choice "empty". Pick that one.

Thank you. I tried that but it did not let me! Perhaps the problem is that I have 2 players on the DL? I am very worried about my team.

Sincerely,

Worried in Midtown

I read about the remedial fielding exercises Ankiel does to practice fundamentals on one of his many fan sites. Like the coach will roll the ball. Poor lil guy. :(

And if you can get Alfie for JT Snow in addition to swapping Green for Gagne, that would be a big ol' steal. Closers ain't nothin' but upstars & charlatans - treat them as such. (& gimme some - I need saves.)

Zito
Washburn
Beckett
Ishii
Lidle
Gagne
Worrell
Mantei
Macdougal

Zambonies = smoke & mirrors!

13 games pitched
1 win
4 saves
17 KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKs
10.13 ERA
2.40 WHIP
1 roofie / sexual assault allegation

come and get 'im.

I need Prior to get a W and 6 K more than Jake Peavy tonight. Me:Zambonies::Brian Wilson:Lennon-McCartney. I am obsessed.

I hope I can hang onto 9th for a while. It just seems like the right "fit."

Here is the league top 10 as of yesterday:

alfonso soriano
gary sheffield
mike mussina
alex rodriguez
carlos delgado
carl everett
eric gagne
todd helton
javier vasquez
esteban loiza

congrats you guys, y'all are kicking my ass.

My justification for this trade: I need more team speed, I need more roster flexibility, it changes my starting OF from Sosa / Berkman / Beltran to Sosa / Berkman / Wells (which is just fine w/ me), and I get rid of A) Fat Elvis and B) a dope-headed gamer that's content to suffer through hamstring pulls & turf toe & brain damage just to show how tough he is.

See, that opinion I respect. The fuckclowns in my league (who're saying the same exact thing) get NO LOVE from me.

Boring roster booshit:

Old starting lineup -
C - LoDuca
1B - Delgado
2B - Vidro
SS - Rollins
3B - fucking Glaus
OF - Sosa
OF - Beltran
OF - fucking Berkman
Util - Durazo

New starting lineup is the same, except for switching Jimenez for Glaus & Vernon Wells for Berkman. Also, if I need SBs, I can slide Cameron in for a game or two. (Also also - my league doesn't do average - we do OPB & SLG. Right on.) Jiminez is batting 2ndish for a killer lineup; Glaus is batting 5th in a lineup of stiffs where Garrett Anderson steals all his RBI opportunities. And Glaus couldn't run before he got hurt. And Berkman ... well, Berkman can just suck it.

U&K question: am I trying to justify this trade w/ you fine folks, or am I trying to justify this trade to myself? Hmmm.

The REAL impetus for this trade is the dumbest reason possible - I wanted to make a change. My team, as it stood, was pissing me off. Team chemistry blah blah. I need Felicity to come online and repost her Unassailable Baseball Truths.

Also, Detroit Tigers en fuego!!!!

that walks don't count toward total bases for pitchers? wtf?

i don't know james... i'm statwatching right now and worrell put a guy on with a BB and yet his TB is zero. i'll try to find the yahoo! definition of TB.

Six HRs for me tonight! My roster meddling can't bring down this team!

Pitch, Juan Cru-- oops -- save, Mike DeJean, save!

:_( for Nen. At least I don't lose any saves since Worrell won't be setting up (but dammit I need HOLDS).

he's #1 in SBs and tied for last in CS... AMAZING!

http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/photos/allsport/jun98/Vcoleman.jpg

http://www.futurelooks.com/db_data/db_images/id95_images/tcmp7.jpg

JIM THOME HAS BEEN CAUGHT STEALING THREE TIMES THIS YEAR.

The Pockets are looking into possible ties that Thome may have had with Halliburton.

Au-au-au-aurilia?

Cubs: Who wants first place? You?
Houston: Um, not really.
S. Louis: Well if nobody else does . . . oh wait, nevermind.
Cubs: Whatever.

Hey, someone break up the Tigers!!! 4 in a row!!! They better save some of them wins for later in the season.

NBA, NHL playoffs; White Sox/Oakland on my Fox affiliate, and a good Yankees/Mariners game on ESPN.

Shit, I should go to a sports bar or something.

FELIPE ALOU
Jose Cruz, Jr.
Ray Durham
Damian Moss for Russ Ortiz
edgardo alfonzo

I have been as surprised as anyone at the Giants' success. Fluke? Enjoy it while it lasts? See you in September?

Thoughts/feelings?

dusty baker - manager
russ ortiz - top of the rotation pitcher
3 outfielders! - kenny lofton, reggie sanders, tsuyoshi shinjo
2 infielders! - david bell, jeff kent

it's a different team, a lot of leadership is gone from last year, a lot of heart (bell, sanders).

following your logic: look at the angels who are basically the same World Championship team... last place a half-game up on the Rangers for the AL Central basement, 3 games below .500.

(Also 'almost wins' may be a better motivational factor then 'did win' if you believe in that bull plop.)

Basically, I just think the Giants made a bunch of lateral moves. I never thought much of Ortiz to begin with. ANd I thought gygax and co disliked Baker, so an upgrade there. I'm sure it is heartening though to see the "chemistry" come together seamlessly.

Holy crap, all of those moves have been for the better - most of those hitting dingbats they lost were only good for 0fers (and supbar OF defense, excepting Shinjo, and his deftness w/ the leather does NOT justify his awful T-ball style hitting success *cough* or those awful sweatbands), and while Kent was a bonafide offensive stud, his clubhouse / off-field shenanigans (w/ Bonds and w/ asphalt) probably won't be missed one bit.

They swap Ortiz for Moss, which is a bit of a wash, tho Moss is younger, and has better facial hair, so advantage Giants there as well. Edgardo has been a bust so far (and I don't know if he'll really snap back to those days when he was a minor god), but wowowow Durham is the man! A legitimate leadoff hitter (that is, someone that gets on base more than once every three games) who's no slouch around the bag turning two & stuff. Nenn shmenn - FRod & Worell are more than capable enough of picking up the slack, & Joe Nathan's emergence as this year's Chris Hammond is huuuuuge. Might come back to bite them in the ass later this year, but that all depends on Felipe managing the bullpen well, AND no one paying heed to the "you NEED a closer" nonsense. And, of course, Junior Cruz "putting it all together" gives the Giants a solid top 5 (well, 4 of 5 when Edgardo is swinging at slop tickling the dirt). Don't forget they shucked Livan, too, which leaves them w/ a rotation of (if I recall correctly) Schmidt, Moss, Ainsworth, Foppert, and Reuter. Nothing but upside for these folks.

So, yeah - Sabean = genius for once.

TRADE UPDATE: Berkman w/ 4 RBIs, Glaus w/ a homer. Yep.

I did see that Boone has been hitting the ball very well lately, though! We like to keep up on our former players.

So far obviously, things have fallen into place well -- bullpen's* holding, but Ainsworth or Moss need to start throwing complete games with Schmidt once in a while to give Nathan (HE'S MINE FOLX) & Co some rest. The offense has gotten away with sparse yet timely hitting only because the pitching has bailed them out.

*FRod is an unmystery now. He just tries to bring hot hot heat, can't locate it very well, and BLAMMO. Double/triple/HR every other appearance, the bum. And now with Nen gone, while we do have a bregt junkthrowing closer, we've lost a bregt junkthrowing setup man.

What's up with that new nickname, AW? 2001 Mariners more like it.

< / trash >

4 HR's before the day even gets started. I just vaulted from 4th to 2nd place.

< / trash >

Yeah, I got bored with my team name. I wish I could change it to "Felicity Says the 2001 Mariners More Like It" but it's too many characters.

BUT IT HELPS

That's right. Wade Boggs, just keep on keep eating chicken. And Yanc3y, just . . um . . . just keep doing what you're doing.

Felicity's a wise woman, Yancey!

Anyway, I should jet. This one's going into extras.

Raposa's over there too???

that's classic about your cousin. i love the strap he creatively employs to keep his glasses snug.

sorry this wasn't baseball related.

On a typical day I start 7 relievers. Who needs starting pitching?

J'adore le Grand Chat!

Aaron W, do you have any stock/lottery/racing tips?

Hot: Mark Teixara
Not: Erubiel Durazo

general update:

Hot & Hott: http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/photo/ph_play_mugshot_119608.jpg

A-Rod -> 0 for 4.

ARG.

(I lost Patterson's HR and Pujols grand salami :(

It's been fun sharing the strikeout lead with you but get ready to hand over the Krown tonight. I might even go over to ESPNZone to watch. We can celebrate!

felicity

W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR HBP BB SO

YTD 4 1 1.65 7 7 1 1 0 -- 49.0 35 13 9 0 3 12 52

send me a line. would hate to see you leave the league.

I, of course, hope you will stay in the league -- who else with I talk White $ox ba$eball with?

could you resend it please?

Damn, I'm crushed.

(Actually, there's nothing to talk about; they stink)

Maggs stole a base the other day but the pitching is bad. Who is their pitching coach?

incidentally, we both lack a closing pitchers.

i have one (1) extra ticket to the SFO-MON game tonight 7:15PST.

did you know that you are trading away the player who just yesterday tied the record for most SBs by a Canadian-born player?

but more importantly, Vlad's arm. I don't know how many have you seen him in person... He has one of the greatest arms I've ever seen. In the last few years I've seen him throw the hardest most accurate throws I can remember. He threw two last night during a late inning Giants rally... both were from mid-right and both were right on target.

Offensively, we all know his stats blah blah blah... but I just wanted to put in a word for his D.

so raposa, how you feeling about dealing berkman? (i'm sorry, that's cheap)

Yeah, Dave, you gotta consult the Brane Trust before future decisions.

On a positive note, my ILB lineup is doing yardwork, as Karl Ravech might say. And can I express much gratitude for He Who Is Yahweh for raining on Matt Clement's Home Run Derby this weekend? You my dog, G - word to your homefry skillet.

Thing is, Yanc3y, I think I was subconsciously trying to make my team worse in order to make this year a challenge (sez he who traded A-Rod last year & finished 6th). And I'm the COMMISSIONER of that league, too. What kind of Seligy precedent am I setting by making boner moves like that? I shd change my team name to Camallard Bonifaird.

I know I know... I'm just saying. Now I know why Steinbrenner is such a quack.

Oh, I know -- it's because he's never ON base to begin with.

but isringhausen on the DL (pull down menu position). then pick up a reliever (kelvim? *gulp*).

Anybody want Chipper? In trade for somebody? I'm not too impressed with his performance this season, and I've always hated his snivelling "Larry" ways.

Yanc3, make me an offer.

SteelFan Honored

http://profess.baseball.sportsline.com/images/news/positive14.jpg

May 13, 2003
Travis McDermott
Narragansett Electric

Despite a 4-8 record and declining attendence, the U.S. Steel PBL franchise has not forgotten their fans. In a special ceremony today at the U.S. Steel front office, "#1 fan" Jim Burger received an honorary position in the hectic GM's office.

Says Burger in his halting, additional-chromosome cadence, "This is a real hon-or. I've always loved the Steel. GO STEEL."

Burger has been a fixture at U.S. Steel's home ballgames from the very beginning of the franchise. He can often be seen on the stadium's "MongoVision" display, doing his "SteelDance."

Although his coworkers at the Passaic, NJ, Wendy's tell a different story, most Steel season ticket holders say Burger is a nice guy. His coworkers tell tales of the many fights Burger has been involved in.

Oftentimes the fights will start when a Wendy's patron will say something derrogatory to Burger, usually shouting in his face, "US STEEL SUCKS!"

Burger generally responds to such insults, says coworker Kyle Carney, "by going totally apeshit. He's like a ferret with ADD on speed when that happens. I remember this one time he pinned a guy underneath some of those cheap plastic tables on the patio. He was jumping up and down on the table, making all these, like, animal noises, and his face was all red and shit like that. This guy who used to work here, Ken, he totally freaked when 'the Burger' would wig out. I guess he was afraid the kid would bite him or something. I mean, I never saw him bite anyone, but this one time he did blow his nose in a guy's hair after the guy said he thought the Zambonies could beat U.S. Steel in a playoff game."

But Burger's antics, while troublesome for some of his coworkers, only endear him to the U.S. Steel faithful. Twice during the 2002 season, unruly Murderaz Row fans charged into the U.S. Steel outfield. The MongoVision screen immediately showed a graphic of a gorilla bending the bars of his cage and escaping.

The words, "Unleash the Tard" scrolled across the bottom of the screen. Thousands chanted "Unleash the Tard!" and finally Jim Burger leapt onto the field from over the home dugout, and chased down the fans. One of them he jmped onto from behind, mauled, and licked the face of. The other, slightly faster, attempted to outrun Burger and climb into the left field bleachers. The Steel fans, like spectators at a Roman gladatorial contest, pushed the poor white trash back onto the field, where Burger was ready to tear them apart.

Said one fan who was at the game, "It was really insane, they like, I dunno, sicked this totally wacked-out retard on the guy. It was really scary. That Burger dude looks normal, you know, for a Mongoloid, but when he wears that uniform and gets all frothy at the mouth, I'm totally afraid of him."

Some sources indicate that U.S. Steel's promotions department is considering "Jim Burger bobblehead doll night" for mid-June. Stay tuned.

Is your league full of 12 year olds?

Newark's Hernandez Facing the Music
Travis McDermott
Narragansett Electric

http://profess.baseball.sportsline.com/images/news/ed%20duque%20muggin.jpg

Newark Yankees' tough luck starter Orlando Hernandez suffered a humiliating defeat yesterday at the hands of the glorified AAA club that plays in Florida. El Duque threw only 56 pitches before getting the hook. In the span of only one and two-thirds innings, he gave up 8 runs, all earned, and the confidence of his manager, Tough Luck Sully.

"I think he probably was a little shaken up because of the double homicide he committed." Noted Phil Zone ace Roger Clemens. "That can really put a fire in a man's gut, you know, like twisting your fist into a barrell of rice in the offseason. I do that. My kids, their names all begin with K, becuase of my strikeouts."

His teammates were less dissmissive of the commuter rail incident.

"Man, that is so messed up." Said slugger, league BB leader, and regular steroid user Barry Bonds. "My back hurts a lot, so I have to have a barkolounger in the locker room. It's not that I think I'm special, it's just, well, Willie Mays is my godfather. If Willie Mays were El Duque's godfather, ok, then he push a couple of people in front of a train. They were living in Jersey, right? So they were basically asking for that."

Other teammates took a very tough line with El Duque, like 3B Mike Lowell, who noted, "Like myself, El Duque has often played way, way above his actual talent level. Sometimes you get upset when you realize that you're not all that skilled, or that you're nearing forty. But you can't just lash out at people like this, it's just plain wrong, like a two-headed baby. Ever seen one of those?"

Orlando Hernandez himself could not comment because he speaks fucking gibberish.

I agree it takes a "special" sense of humor but I myself am retarded and still find it funny. (Actually I do have a first cousin who has Down's Syndrome.) The joke is how terrible US Steel is.

I guess I am just a bad person because this is also comic genius.

awesome, not only do they make fun of retarded people, they make fun of Spanish speakers too!

And Politte and all his saves is MINE MINE MINE!!! MUHAHAHAHAHA.

Or we could all just stand around pitying people and thinking how much their lives suck.

"It wasn't the prettiest game as far as me pitching," Prior said. "I made some mistakes. I'm fortunate the offense picked me up."

Prior is such a f*ck-up. What does he think he's doing out there, only striking out 11 in 6 innings and giving up 4 runs including 2 homers? He's going to be the ruin of my team.

what's fucked about the prior situation is that even though they were up big dusty didn't pull him -- i think he threw 347 pitches! help him ice that arm, f!

bonds hit a 420 foot double (only in Pac Bell?) last night. it had so much top spin that when it hit the back wall it "popped up". how many batters can "top"/hit-"over" a ball and still line drive it 420 feet?

he's hurt again too. i can tell. limp limp limp. :-(

poor larry, so misunderstood (does he really get a discount at hooters?)

OK, so y'all had your shots @ me for the vaguely questionable trade (which is vaguely kinda funny, coming from some folks that were wrasslin' over Craig Counsell, but I'm not one to talk, so never mind me trying to come up w/ some fancy smack talk to counter all this sparkling wit on display). But, y'know, things would've worked out just fine regarding this move this week except -

- Glaus decided to step it up a notch (AND STEAL A BASE TOO YOU HAMSTRUNG GIMP)
- Berkman decides to drive in runs FINALLY
- Sosa decided to stub his toe on some industrial-strength concrete
- Delgado decided to hit 3 HRs the first 2 days this week, & then mail in a 0-for-15 @ the end (& thank you, too, Vernon)
- my best 2 pitchers decide to drop trou & poo on the mound against teams whose bats should be poo-covered (hey, Vincente, it's called a strike; TRY THROWING ONE)
- my team decides to take today off and finish the week by going THREE FOR THIRTY

See, for you folks new to the league, I have made many a questionable trade / waiver maneuver (involving players such as Pat Burrell, Jason Kendall, Andruw Jones, Jason Varitek, Kevin Milwood, and, oh yeah, Alex "Godlike" Rodriguez). (Any of you folks that are chomping @ the bit to name some of my other boner moves - hi, Adam & Jay My Roommate - feel free to rip open those old wounds, too.) Some might think I'm stupid & don't know baseball from freebasing - on the contrary.

I'm actually freeing these players from the chains that bind them to my awful, awful mojo. Were it not for my selflessness, all of these star players would either lose limbs while opening childproof caps or get killed by a dunebuggy in Botswana or get shot down by stray ICBM missles somewhere in the Painted Desert or catch scurvy. What I mean is I have the luck of a guy walking over a broken mirror w/ a black cat humping his leg underneath a ladder on Friday the 13th.

So, please, don't think I'm a doofus just because I traded away 200ish RBIs & runs & approximately 70 HRs. (Oh, man, I'm about to cry.)

For the record, I'm hoping that Jiminez cashes in on his "better than Soriano" press that followed him around as a Yankee farmhand, and Cameron can put up decent production numbers if he learns to parlay his plate discipline into more base hits (tho, yes, I dropped him & his .230 average last year on someone else's roster after trading for him because his 0-for-4s really gave me a headache). And I do hope they'll give me a little bit more speed. Plus it allows me to play Vernon Wells full-time, just in case he has any more 5-for-5 games in his bat. Yes, giving up Glaus & Berkman might've been a bit much (cough), but that's what happens when I make trade offers right after waking up & before my morning bowl of Fiber One. But, c'mon, Berkman, stop w/ the pussyfooting and hit the ball, you big butterball you. As for Glaus - he's a good kid & all (gotta love them gamers), but I really can't stand the Anaheim Angels - I blame Rex Hudler & his kiss-ass broadcast partner for that. (I love the Rally Monkey, tho.)

And, yes, in case you were wondering, I would probably fire myself if I wasn't so tight w/ the owner.

errr... no.

Yeah, even I was horrified when he went out there again in the 6th. I can understand letting him finish 5 to get the win but he was way over 105 even before the 6th. They had Guthrie warming up in the 5th and were winning by like 11-4 -- WTF, Dusty? (Although I was secretly hoping Guthrie would pitch them into a save opp for Alf.)

how many batters can "top"/hit-"over" a ball and still line drive it 420 feet?

Bonds is superhuman, that's all there is.

Is it my imagination or does Raffy Palmeiro have a really unusually slow swing? It's a sweet, swing, definitely, but compared to Bonds' swing (which is incredibly short) it looks like it takes seconds.

http://www.homeruncards.com/imagesrc/palmeirotp.jpg

All I remember from my baseball-card collecting years was always winding up with a bunch of Billy Beanes.

Haha my like 18 Ken Griffey Jr. rookie cards are worth less than they were when I was 11, unsurprisingly.

Has everyone heard the story that Ryne Sandberg made the Cubs trade Palmeiro and is it true?

Mmmmmm, Kirby Puckett in a washcloth... *eyes glaze*

I love the This Is Sports Center with the Rally Monkey. It's poignant.

http://www.pserie.psu.edu/athletics/baseball/images/baseballl-tomlawless.gif

Bad trading precedent: At the tender age of 17, I gave my best bud my UD Griffer RC for an UD Sandy Alomar Jr. RC, & some RCs featuring greats such as Todd Zeile, Greg Vaughn, & ERIC ANTHONY.

Stop me before I trade again.

Also (tho I think this only pertains to the lovely and vivacious Ms. Redwell) Baseball Prospectus has HACKING MASS updates! My team is #221 (of 927) - stupid JT Snow & Marlon Anderson and MICHAEL F*CKING T*CKER!

Tonight in Philly, it's KKKKKKKKKevin Millwood, looking good through 4 IP (9K, 3H, 0.00 ERA) vs. Brandon Webb (1K, 3H, 0.00) also through 4 IP.

Cross your fingers folx.

*marches Desi Relaford to OF, confiscates Torii Hunter's glove, bat and shoes*

*glares at Juan Acevedo on way to locker room*

Next time, we should really count pitcher's fielding because he also has 3 errors, which have saved him several earned runs.

If only we could also borrow the rain-making magic of Jose Belle Has Posse's Matt "In" Clement's rainout weather every time one of my pitchers started a game by giving up 11 runs. DaveR, how did you do that?

When will Jason Is"heevercomingofftheDL?"ringhausen coming back? Who will be the next pitcher afflicted with the mysterious Marlinitis or Dave Duncan's Syndrome?

how does 12th place feel?

eek, my 10th grade english instructor would be sooooo ashamed.

Transactions  View All  
Date    Player                       Type   From To 
May 14  Redman, Mark DL (SP-Fla)     add    Free Agents Kings of Oblivion 
May 14  Belle, Albert DL (RF-Bal)    drop   Kings of Oblivion Waivers 
May 14  Belle, Albert DL (RF-Bal)    add    Free Agents Kings of Oblivion 
May 14  Stephenson, Garrett (SP-StL) drop   Kings of Oblivion 

Kings of DL

And it's nice to see that Albert DOES have a posse. Everytime I see his name pop up in the Transactions ledger, my heart swells as if I was pegged in the chest by one of his bleacher-bound throws of retribution. Sigh. I can see him flex his bicep and flip off the opposing dugout as if it were happening right in front of me...

"gygax! made it to the 10th grade!?!?!?!"

-- felicity (felicityredwel...), May 8th, 2003. (later)

AARGH MY NIGHTMARES HAVE BECOME REALITY

*sobbing, pulls trigger*

I'm glad I'm in Pocket Town where at least I can be free.

He started out flaming and so earned the honor of becoming the team mascot, but now Kevin Millar has fallen into a slump -- and some hot water.

MT manager Leee "The Peee" sez, "Right now, in 10th place, I don't think anyone's safe [on the team]. If other managers are killing their own players, mercy killings or whatever, and some of my players here, with higher expectations, not to mention visibility. I mean, look at what happened to Billy Mueller..." He did not elaborate further.

Millar, purportedly in hiding (as is his bat currently), could not be reached for comment.

a total of 260 pitches across his last 2 starts = kerry wooDL

reminds me of aaron's baseball blog brouhaha [sorry if i'm late on this still playing catch up]

"The Braves have one 67 games that Smoltz has appeared in."

Yanc3, paws off my strikeout crown!

jk sorry, I was on the phone when I typed that. homonyms are your friends.

Is Carl Everett the AL MVP?

http://shop.usps.com/images/03_ohio37_d.jpg

*whistles, twiddles thumbs*

http://www.autographsplus.com/photos/barney131.jpg

12th place is MINE!

it seems players who are solely DH get PENALIZED for being AL chumps (ie, not being eligible for fielding%/error stats)... compare edgar martinez' last week to aaron boone's.

Tonight: Showers and thundershowers early, then mainly cloudy after midnight with light rain possible. Low 52F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

:-(

http://www.globalnetexec.com/windmill.gif

is it a long trip back to pocketville?

There were so many meltdowns in my pitching staff that I thought the NRC was going to step in. (ba-dum)

(sorry)

(h, i got on fr1endst3r last night... watch out)

Torii!
What are you good for?
Absolutely nothing!
Sit on the bench!

http://espn.go.com/mlb/s/2003/0515/1554407.html

Best quote:
"For as long as I've been around this game, there have always been guys who have strayed from the norm," said Jerry Reuss, the I-Cubs pitching coach and a veteran of 22 major league seasons. "Then there are the guys that take it to a whole new level: Jay Johnstone. Mark Fidrych. Guys like that. Living in your own personal trailer park behind center field? This qualifies him in that group. I've never seen anything like it."

Hats off to CDK player of the week K-Rod, whose wins per inning ratio for the week is about 2 W/ 4.2 IP.

Someone will have to earn his way off the bench.

Careful with the bat, Spooneybaby! No room on the DL for you until next week.

I'm pretty sure there have been injuries on a couple non-TLR teams. Might have to look that one up though.

This is very disturbing.

The Montreal Expos almost came unglued after the early ejection of starter Zach Day.

Pinch-hitter Henry Mateo hit a two-run single in the 10th inning and Montreal overcame Day's ejection for having glue on his finger as the Expos beat the Colorado Rockies 6-4 on Saturday.

Pitchers like Phil Niekro and Gaylord Perry were notorious for using foreign objects to doctor baseballs in the 1970s and 80s, but Day had a more innocent reason for having goop on his hand: to cover up a blister.

Day developed the blister on his right middle finger in the first two innings and used the glue to cover it up before heading out to pitch the third.

Big mistake.

Under rule 8.02 (b), a pitcher is automatically ejected if he is found with any foreign substance on his fingers.

``We don't really believe the kid thought he was cheating, but that has nothing to do with it,'' home plate umpire Bill Miller said. ``He had a foreign substance on his person and that means he is in violation of this rule.''

The great glue experiment didn't last long.

After opening the third by walking Ronnie Belliard, Day tried to peel the glue off because it was bothering him. He couldn't get it, so trainer Ron McClain came out to the mound to help him.

Miller and second base umpire Joe West noticed what they were doing and told manager Frank Robinson that they would have to report Day to the league. Umpires then met at the mound and determined Day should be ejected.

Day stayed in the background with a dejected look on his face while Robinson and pitching coach Randy St. Claire argued his case to no avail. Day then walked slowly to the dugout after Robinson called for Claudio Vargas from the bullpen.

``It was too slick, I couldn't feel the ball,'' Day said. ``I was trying to get it off. I was just trying to prevent the blister from getting worse. I wasn't trying to do anything.''

What we need around here are more fish. Welcome Allen Levrault. Farewell, Juan Acevedo, and please take your beach balls with you.

Come to think of it, I sat a few rows back from TLR at Spring Training and got a bit of a sunburn on my shoulder. Hm.

net gain today = +17 points

Favorite Baseball Stuff
Team: SF Giants
Ballplayer - All Time: Willie Mays
Ballplayers - Current: Barry Bonds, Vladimir Guerrero, Scott Radinsky (minor)
Manager: Jim Leyland
Book: 8 Men Out
Annuals: Baseball Prospectus
Writers: Peter Gammons, Henry Schulman, Rich Draper
Movie: The Bad News Bears or Experiment In Terror
Announcers: Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper
Ballpark: PacBell Park
Playing Experience: Little League, retired due to poor eyesight.
Positions Played: Center Field.
Ball Parks Visited: The Qwurph (Quaalcom/Jack Murphy), Dodger Stadium, Candlestick, Oakland Coliseum, Pac Bell Park
Best Game attended: Giants vs. St. Louis, 10/14/02, Game 5, Giants come from behind to win the pennant and head to the World Series.
Best Current Position Player: Barry Bonds
Best Current Pitcher: Curt Schilling
Areas of Interest (baseball): Sabermetrics/stats, National League, hit and run, defense, pitchers who can slug
Favorite Quote (baseball): “I knew we were in for a long season when we lined up for the national anthem on opening day and one of my players said 'Every time I hear that song I have a bad game'."
- Jim Leyland

Team: Boston Red Sox (woo!) in my heart, Oakland A's (woo woo!) in my brain, Toronto Blue Jays (woo WOO woo!) in my spleen

Ballplayer - All Time: Kevin Maas & Oscar Azocar (for chuckles), Roger Clemens & Ellis Burks & Mike Greenwell (for nostalgia)

Ballplayers - Current: Pedro, Vlad, Mike Fetters & Ben Weber (pre-pitch)

Manager: Stump Merrill (pre-Buck & Torre Yankee skipper, back when George's fingerprints were all over the franchise) / Joe Morgan (the old rocking-chair ayep guy from the late 80s / early 90s that was wandering in the Red Sox dugout)

Book: um ... Baseball Prospectus?

Annuals: um ... Baseball Prospectus?

Writers: um ... anyone that writes for Baseball Prospectus? (That Bill James, he's good, too.)

Movie: Bull Durham

Announcers: Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper (tho Sean McDonough and Jerry Remy are 1A) (and the guy doing the Ranger games for Fox is 1B)

Ballpark: Pac Bell Park / Fenway Park

Playing Experience: Little League, from T-Ball to the "minors"; retired due to being forced into playing & complete ineptitude - one season, I played "right field" w/ the 'rents & grand-'rents behind the fence and got one infield hit that was probably scored an error. The laughter of some HS kids in the hall scared me out of trying out for the HS team, those bastards.

Positions Played: "Right Field", "Catcher"

Ball Parks Visited: Fenway (I'm in love), Yankee Stadium (makes me break out into a rash), Shea Stadium (visited = drive around for 2+ hours looking for parking as Edmonds goes deep twice & Piazza wins the game on an 8th inning homer)

Best Game Attended: Sometime in 1990, @ Fenway. SRO for tbe Blue Jays & the Red Sox, w/ the Sox making a semi-improbable run for the division title. Clemens comes back from the DL (hamstring tweak - shocking, yes) & pitches 6 scoreless innings. Someone hit a homer for the Sox - might've been Tom Brunansky. Good times.

Oh, but that Yankees/Red Sox game last year, where the Sox made a valiant comeback only to lose on a nubber w/ the bases loaded in the 10th, or that Yankees/Giants game where Bonds crushed the ball into the RF upper deck & this heckler was mercilessly taunting Shinjo - those were good times, too.

Best Current Position Player (& he who should be reigning AL MVP): Alex Rodriguez

Best Current Pitcher: if you're looking for 6-7 innings of unbelievable quality, Pedro; if you're looking to gamble a bit, Mussina; if you want to annihilate the other team, Randy Johnson (w/ that Cub centaur guy itching to assume the position); if you want it done quick & easy, Maddux or Mulder.

Areas of Interest (baseball): Statistical accumulation (w/ a slllight lean towards the OPS-type thing), the stunnning popularity of the fake-to-first/fake-to-third maneuver, high pitch counts (and the shitheads that love them), "the little things" (catchers nonchalanting pitches, baserunners not looking the right way, hitters diving into inside pitches, hitting where they ain't, not being able to count to three TROT NIXON), morons sliding into 1st base to show their "hustle", moron broadcasters praising such "hustle" REX HUDLER while bemoaning "statheads" JIM KAAT, how managers justify the guys warming their benches (cf. 2K3 Yankees VS 2K3 Red Sox), necrophilia (cf. Dusty Baker & Eric Karros, Steve Phillips & the 1993 American League All-Star Team), how the mind of Jimy Williams works, jokes about the "bullpen by committee" because they're REAL funny now that they're pitching well(ish).

Favorite Quote (baseball) (in lieu of finding something from this thread) (and I paraphrase): "My backup shortstop is in Rochester" - Earl Weaver

Team: Red Sox of course, St. Louis Cards as my default back-up.

Ballplayer - All Time: Ozzie Smith, Brooks Robinson, Ted Williams.

Ballplayers - Current: Manny Ramirez, Bagwell, Vlad, Matt Morris.
Manager: Joe Morgan and his Morgan Magic.

Book: The Art of Hitting - Ted Williams

Annuals: n/a

Writers:Gammons, Sean McAdam
Movie: The Natural, Field of Dreams, The Sandlot

Announcers: Jerry Remy and the Dynamic Don Orsillo

Ballpark: Fenway

Playing Experience: I've been playing some form of organized baseball since I was 5. So that makes 23 years. Attended baseball camp every year from 5 through 13 yrs old. Rich Gedman was my catching instructor. Played tee-ball, little league, senior league, high school ball. Currently play in a mens league here. .298, 5 hrs, 30 rbi, 0 steals.

Positions Played: Started as a catcher because I was the fat kid. Eventually moved to third base because I became more fleet of foot as I got older and I lost weight. Still play third base and dh.

Ball Parks Visited: Fenway, visiting Camden Yards in August.

Best Game Attended: I've been to too many, I was at one when Tom Seaver pitched and something happened that was memorable....

Best Current Position Player : A-Rod, Soriano.

Best Current Pitcher: Pedro, come one who else?

Areas of Interest (baseball): Fantasy, double play execution.

Favorite Quote (baseball) : No quotes, but I once read a hilarious story of Ritchie Sexson getting his ass beat in a bar. He was wearing a head to toe white suit and apparently his nose exploded.

wise move to bench fossum. it's ugly out there.

get yourself a cubbie pitcher, those guys know how to keep the ERA down.

"From each according to his ability, to each a piece of the AOk's"

The SBs and CSs is indeed pretty impressive... I think it's cuz I'm getting the SBs from lots of players. And who knew Pudge, with his 80 career SBs over 12 years, was gonna be such a demon on the bases this year!

f-rod = done. last year he blamed his 2nd half-meltdown on a finger injury that never healed. what's he gonna come up with this time?

Carlos Baerga, BTW, runs like Elmer Fudd.

I'd like to thank the many years of playing Yahoo! Fantasy sports games for my success this season.

Cuda Pride!
May 21, 2003
Travis McDermott
Narragansett Electric

http://profess.baseball.sportsline.com/images/news/cudafan.jpg
Douglas Shaftoe displays his 2001 Championship ring

Douglas Shaftoe is a Lighthouse Point Barracuda fan, and he's damn proud of it. Whether it's his vanity license plate "CUDAFAN" or his first base line season tickets, Doug is an avid supporter of the Barracudas.

Some friends say that his love of the team borders on obsession. His ex-wife, Margaret Shaftoe, is one of those friends. "Doug was never the same after the 2001 season. Before that, sure, he loved the Cudas. He'd get all dressed up with all this crazy tropical garb and go out to mow the lawn or whatever, but it was just in fun. But after the big trade with 80's Metal, when the Cudas really 'turned on the jets' -- that's the way Doug says it -- well, after that he just got kinda creepy. He bought Barracuda lingerie he wanted me to wear, and I just wasn't into all that. And what was even stranger, when I finally caved and wore it for a special night, he insisted on calling me 'Derek Jeter'."

His former fishing buddy, Abe Froman, agrees. "Oh yea, Shaft went off the deep end after the championship season. Last year, with the Cudas pretty much depositing the season in the toilet, Doug took to staying in bed all day. I guess it was depression. I call it being a loser. We don't talk much anymore, me and Doug. This one time I invited him fishing down off the keys with some buddies, and he said he couldn't, because there was a lot of talk on the Lighthouse Point radio station about a deal that would bring Mendoza back to town. Freaking Mendoza! All because he was on the team when they won. Jesus H. Freakshow."

But Douglas Shaftoe is proud of his Cudas. The day they sent Derek Jeter off to Joe Morgan's Old School Afro, Doug took his framed Jeter "signature series" poster and burned it in the backlot of his West Palm Beach home. Neighbors say Doug was shouting as the poster burned. "He's a traitor now, an enemy of the team. May his soul burn forever in the deep pits of Joe Morgan's Goddamned Hair!"

The final straw in Douglas's increasingly difficult marriage to Margaret was when, on their 35th wedding anniversary, Doug decided not to take the cruise vacation that Margaret had been talking about for years.

"I told her, an opportunity has come up." Says Shaftoe. "You see, [former Cudas 1B Doug] Mientkiewicz had gotten himself into some financial difficulty. An old buddy of mine who works at one of the big banks downtown had a meeting with him, and basically had to tell Mientkiewicz that the bank couldn't re-fi his house, since it was already borrowed against to the hilt. Apparently Doug likes to play the ponies and so forth, but what happened is, I called him, and for a bargain price of $69,500 I bought his 2001 championship ring. Now I wear it at every game! He gets to continue losing money to gamblers, and I get to parade around as a Champion!

"Of course, Margaret was a bitch about the whole thing. It was all 'our cruise' this and 'you son of a bitch' that. Next thing I knew, she was gone, and it was CudaTime!"

Doug has no regrets about the demise of his 35 year marriage. "We had a good run. I'm in a rebuilding phase now, just like the Cudas. Around the Casa De Shaftoe, it's equal parts Cuda baseball, boat drinks with those little umbrellas, and lesbian porn. I get by."

You can only start 2 of the following 3 players:

Rich Aurilia (vs. Batista, away at ARZ) -- Last wk = .393, 1.094, 2 HRs, 8 Rs, 4 RBIs

Orlando Cabrera (vs. Pavano, away at FLA) -- Last Wk = .348, .918, 3 Rs, 3 RBIs, 1 SB

Edgar Martinez (vs. Asencio, home at SEA) -- Last Wk = .318, 1.180, 3 HRs, 3 Rs, 9 RBIs

Thank you for your time. Answers must be provided by 3:30 PST.

I heart Cuda ba$eball.

BUT, he's fucking losing 2-0 thanks to the inept Dodgers!

Easy: dropped third strike.

BTW I think I posted that message about an hour ago, but ILX went into one of its crap-out sessions (I guess the hamsters fell off the treadmill again).

Anyway, it's now through 5, and he only has 10 K's. :( Looks like no record-breaking performance, but still pretty hot.

110 pitches thrown, doubt he even comes out for the 7th.

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/spo/fan/bcap25.gif

the management of the Pocket Town A & W think Thome works there?

Hmm, is the parent company of Pocket Baseball Yum Foods?

You've all given me hope in Jim Oneforfourme and I thank you.

I found this on the INTerNet. I figure he'll fit in very nicely on the Tigers (who have actually been winning games lately! Come on guys... you're never gonna land Lebron James if you keep this up!).

That quote makes it sound like Alex Sanchez is five. Or a dog.

i giggled.

Managerial decision of the day... do I bench Derek Lowe for the game against the Yankees tonight? He's been awful away from home and the Yanks seem to have snapped out of it last night.... my mind sez no, but my heart sez yes!!

Oh no, Percival down with Bo Jackson type disease! Who Is Killing the Great Closers of Baseball?

Jason Schmidt is a big stud. I want to have like 10,000 of his babies.

H/AB = 5/13 (.385)
BB = 3
OBP = (.500)
HR = 3
3B = 1
2B = 1
SLG = (1.308)
OPS = (1.808)
R = 6
RBI = 7

He's a 3rd baseman, but he's been PH-ing and playing LF in Bonds' absence. Granted, a lot of this slugging took place at Coors, but Alfonzo continues to be less than mediocre.

CIN's Jeff Austin gives up back to back to back HRs to Furcal, DeRossa and Sheffield to start the game. He gets 2 outs before giving up a single to Fick. Up comes Javy Lopez who goes long.

6 runs on 4 HRs in the bottom of the 1st all to Austin. He gets pulled and they put in Jeff Hamilton who ends the inning.

Patterson pitches smoothly through the 2nd, well, except for ANOTHER HR from Furcal.

now it's the 3rd... no more long ball:

-J. Lopez doubled to deep left, R. Fick scored
-R. Ortiz singled to right, J. Lopez scored, V. Castilla to third, V. Castilla scored, R. Ortiz to second
-G. Sheffield doubled to left, R. Ortiz scored, R. Furcal to third
-C. Jones grounded out to first, R. Furcal scored, G. Sheffield to third

11-0 after three innings.

You can look but you can't touch... unless you open up your wallet.

(OK - second best hitter, behind Kearns.)

I was wondering what happened to felicity, I expected her to comment about her boy Prior who was rocking and rolling until two out in the 8th.

The funniest thing about that Cinci game will be waiting to see if Boone brings in a position player to pitch.

but yeah, Schmidt lasted longer. he's always been hittable but he looked good through 9, throwing 94-96 mph (152-155km/h) well into a triple digit pitch count.

Santiago = best season ever at 38 years old?! It's looking that way.

Also, help me differentiate between Casey Fossum and Jessy Foppert. I always get those two mixed up.

I can't believe I put Ricky Stone on my team and he throws at Pujols' head. What a jackass. I hate when my homerism and ILB wishes conflict.

Despite all this I'm in 8th place and should be manager of the year.

Aaron W. is running away with a 40 point advantage. He leads the league in Runs, Stolen Bases and Batting Average and is in the top 3 in RBI, Caught Stealing, OnBase%+Slugging, Wins, and ERA. His stars: Carlos Delgado and Barry Bonds on offense, Hideo Nomo and Shawn Chacon in pitching.

In second and leading the league in ERA and WHIP, skinny pups led by pitchers Kevin Brown, Matt Morris, and offensive leader Richie Sexson.

Third and fourth are held by The Lurkers and Joey "Albert" Belle Has A Posse, both with well-balanced teams.

Top 10 Players overall and respective owners:

#1. Alfonso Soriano (Zambonies)
#2. Gary Sheffield (0-fers)
#3. Carlos Delgado (Aaron Ws A-OKs)
#4. Mike Mussina (The Lurkers)
#5. Eric Gagne (Doo-Dooettes)
#6. Albert Pujols (Millar Time)
#7. Carl Everett (many turgid corpses)
#8. Mark Prior (ChicksDigKs)
#9. Bret Boone (Disco Avengers)
#10. Rafael Furcal (Millar Time)

In other news, looks like Mo Vaughn's career is over.

here's a good article from the WP (w/ DIPS talk, you stat geeks):

Evaluation By Numbers Is Beginning To Add Up

By Thomas Boswell
Thursday, May 29, 2003; Page D01

For nearly 25 years, there's been a huge food fight in baseball. The argument was basic: How do you evaluate a player?

On one side were general managers, scouts and managers. For the most part, they evaluated players the old-fashioned way -- with their eyes, stopwatches and radar guns and by looking at statistics which were popularized in the 19th century.

Their mind-set was always, "How fast does he run? How hard does he throw? What's his batting average? Does he look like a major leaguer should look?"

On the other side -- led by statistical gurus such as Bill James and Pete Palmer, and assisted by countless lesser "seamheads" (including, at times, me) -- were the geeks, the outsiders, mere fans, who thought they knew better.

The default setting of those who talked about Runs Created, Adjusted Production or Total Average was, "What's his on-base percentage? What's his slugging average? Forget steals and defense. Does he draw lots of walks?"

Guess what: "Revenge of the Nerds" may be playing in a ballpark near you.

Many of us never thought this day would come. Now, with the best-selling success of "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis, sophisticated statistical analysis has finally become a publicly acknowledged part of baseball's mainstream. As Lewis has chronicled, the methods used by the Oakland Athletics in recent years have succeeded so suddenly and so well that, after reading "Moneyball," many an owner -- especially poorer ones -- will have to ask, "Why aren't we doing it this way?"

A few years ago, Oakland General Manager Billy Beane bought the whole New School stat-analysis worldview, inspired by James's popular "Baseball Abstract" but expanded by many people over many years. Beane's 100-win low-budget A's have been constructed almost entirely on academic ideas that are heresy to traditionalists.

In Beane's world, the stats always rule. If they dictate that you replace Jason Giambi (lost to free agency) with obscure Scott Hatteberg, so be it. If numbers say that an unwanted Class AAA submarine pitcher named Chad Bradford will be a star, then you trade for him. Without ever seeing him. And if those stats say spend a No. 1 draft pick on an overweight college catcher nobody else wants, then do it and ignore the laughter. In Oakland, scouts are de-emphasized. Drafting high school kids, who have few valid stats to analyze, is almost verboten. And fresh-out-of-college whizzes with computers run the A's in cyberspace.

Just as important, Beane's disciples or imitators are now in complete control of the Boston Red Sox (for whom James is a consultant) and the Toronto Blue Jays -- the Red Sox lead the American League East and the Blue Jays are three games back. The virus has spread. The genie is out of the lamp. There's no turning back now.

Forward-thinking individuals in baseball understood many of the new statistical models long ago, but they were never in control of a franchise. Often they had to hide their knowledge as though it were shameful. In 1985, when Davey Johnson managed the Mets, he had Palmer's stat classic "The Hidden Game of Baseball" on his bookshelf. However, when he mentioned "Professor Ernshaw Cook's theory of favorable chance deviation," I knew he was a fellow "sabermetric" subversive.

What's different now is that one person -- Beane -- has been allowed to build an entire organization using the tools that some, like Johnson, knew existed long ago. A handful of tenets are at the core of what Beane is doing. Though some of the math is hard, the conclusions aren't. His "secrets" may be alarmingly easy to copy.

• Analyze all hitters through on-base percentage. Getting on base, while making the fewest outs, is the heart of offense. Walks are wonderful. Hitters who know the strike zone drive pitchers crazy. High on-base hitters usually take many pitches, foul off two-strike pitches and, as a result, exhaust the pitch limits of most quality starters. Result: Crummy relievers enter the game and get waxed. Even in a three-game series, the high on-base team wins a war of pitching attrition. The Yankees teams of Joe Torre have used this theory in recent years. The Red Sox do now.

• Slugging percentage is the only other vital offensive statistic. Power matters. Combine on-base and slugging averages, with much more emphasis on the former, and you'll automatically build a high-scoring lineup. Hard as it is to believe, many high on-base average players come cheap. Walks are boring. Nobody comes to see, or pays big salaries to, walkers. (So, Beane grabs 'em easily.) As for batting average, ignore it. Irrelevant. Forget stolen bases, too. Until your success rate is over 70 percent, attempting to steal is, mathematically speaking, a waste of time.

• A superstar, such as Giambi, can be replaced -- at reasonable cost -- in pieces. When the A's lost Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and DH Olmedo Saenz after '01, they added David Justice, Hatteberg and Jeremy Giambi. The combined on-base percentage and slugging percentage of the three new players roughly equaled the comparable statistics of the three lost players. Jason Giambi wasn't missed.

• Any decent pitcher can be turned into a star closer because any solid pitcher should be able to pitch one inning when he always enters with the bases empty. Once you create such an overrated star, you immediately trade him at peak value. Then just develop a new closer since it's so easy to do. Repeat as needed.

• To evaluate pitchers, use the breakthrough DIPS theory of stat man Voros McCracken that's been invented in the last three years. DIPS stands for "defense independent pitching statistic." It's a stunner. Nobody believed it at first, but now most serious stat geeks accept it. Once a batter hits a pitch, it's very close to pure luck whether it gets caught or not. From one season to another, for example, Greg Maddux's ERA may fluctuate by 1.5 runs even though he pitches identically. One season a lot of hits find holes. The next, they don't.

So, to learn how good a pitcher is, McCracken measures only his strikeouts, walks and home runs, because those stats are unconnected to his defense. (Nobody has to field a walk, a strikeout or a home run.) This method unearths radically underrated pitchers who had poor ERAs or bad winning percentages simply because they were unlucky. Buy 'em cheap. Then wait for their luck to turn.

There's a lot more skinny from this realm of what was once statistical mystery. But now the Blue Jays and Red Sox -- with their A's-cloned GMs -- know it, too. Billy has spilled the Beanes to Lewis. Pretty soon, thanks to "Moneyball," the whole sport will catch up to the curve -- the learning curve, that is. And it's about time.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company

Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!

(Note: I actually typed the first 8 "thank you"s before Alt-V'ing because I'm SO F*CKING HAPPY! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!)

Now, if only they could dredge up better bullpen fodder besides RUDY F*CKING SEANEZ. (If Garces was El Guapo, is Seanez El Guano or something?)

I'd say something to gygax! regarding Mueller & Edgardo, but I already jinxed the Gints bullpen, so I'll shut up.

Anyway, I think this is a great trade for Boston - and Kim should totally start; he oughta baffle the AL for at least a little while. And I'm all for the new breed of younger GMs. But let's not anoint these guys geniuses. Last time I checked neither Boston nor Oakland has won jack shit. I heard the interview with Michael Lewis on "fresh air" (wow, fresh air and the Post?! Yay for the PR machine!), and it was certainly interesting and entertaining (I'm planning to pick up Moneyball; as much because I dug Liar's Poker as anything), but still I wonder if it wouldn't be prudent to hold off on the hagiographies until these guys, you know, grab the brass ring.

how healthy is Kim and will he stay healthy?

I'm all for waiting until they win before handing out accolades, but while both Riccardi & Epstein need more time to work their mojo (& Theo's the only 1 of the 3 that actually has a fat bankroll to work with), Beane's been fantastic given what he's had to work with (payroll-wise), and for him to fashion a perrenial contender without much moolah might earn him (& his staff) that "genius" cap. Though a li'l luck has to be taken into account, too - how often does a team manage to get 3 starters as great as you-know-who w/out injuries or other li'l gremlins wrecking plans?

Gygax!, from what I know, the only problem w/ Kim is his ankle. If that's his only problem, it's all good.

Hopefully Kim stays in the rotation, I need Lyon's saves, now my one bright spot.

And I've heard an ex-A's scout gripe about how Beane lusted over Ariel Prieto over Todd Helton in the '95 draft.

But this doesn't matter. What matters is ESPN comparing Shea to Kim re: success against the Yankees. Nimrods.

PS - I NEED SAVES!