Balta1701

504

Wow, 2nd inning and we're up 3-0. Vazquez v. Baker. Singles by Erstad and AJ, sac fly by Uribe, single by Richar, walk to Gonzalez, 2 RBI single by Owens. Owens 2/2 so far this game.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 09:03 AM) I hope this is sarcastic, because we currently have two of them. Who are we referring to here? Erstad and Podsednik? Because I sure don't consider either of them fast. Owens is the only one I might count in that, but again, his numbers have been excellent the past few weeks.

Oh for crying out loud...

QUOTE(daa84 @ Sep 22, 2007 -> 06:12 AM) the last thing we need is a bunch of speedy players who dont get on base Do we actually have any of those?

QUOTE(beautox @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 07:37 PM) Thats just A's fans dreaming of getting their hands on the rich dodger system; i doubt the dodgers go after blanton, they're rotation is crowded already, and kershaw and elbert will be pushing up pretty soon; and they've got insurance in Stults whos putting up very respectable numbers as a 4/5th. I would be fairly surprised if, after this season, the Dodgers don't try to find at least 1 more starting pitcher this offseason. Penny, Lowe, Billingsly, then a bunch of hurt guys. Schmidt, Wolf (is he even under contract), Loaiza, David Wells (not under contract). Even with the guys coming up, they will probably want another starter. And I believe Lowe is a FA at the end of 08, so there will still be an opening in the near future. As is Loaiza. Not sure about Penny.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 07:58 PM) On Fields, hopefully he can improve in LF defensively in the off-season. But that shouldn't be the end all to be all to determine whether or not he plays there next season. Of course it's a major factor though. It's things like this that really make Anderson's crashing and burning sting. Because if we could have put him out there and had him not be a liability with the bat...his range in CF was so good that he'd make up for some of Josh's shortcomings out there.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 07:18 PM) Hopefully he has a better career than another guy who homered frequently as a rookie and was ROY. It seems the Sox are definitely leaning toward bringing Crede back. Fields really needs to improve in LF to be there full time IMO. There is time for him to get adequate, but does anyone think he can play 2b? No, I don't think he can play 2nd base, and I don't think we need a 2nd baseman anyway. We need a SS.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 04:59 PM) I was trying to like him, I really was. For those who consider, you know, the icky party, I wouldn't rule him out yet. But at least from my perspective I'd say he's running a really sloppy campaign so far. He does not look ready for prime time yet. That could well change before January.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 02:44 PM) Yep. All these BigSqwert and Balta stories are converting me away from Fred Thompson. Well, until he bulldozes a bunch of runways when no one's looking, I'm not thinking he's manly any more, that's for sure!

QUOTE(Texsox @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 10:02 AM) While the explaination is simple, there are huge budget implications. Side bar, who should be fighting this or any war? The White House, Congress, or the Pentagon? We seem to have all three, which if they were all pulling in the same direction would be unbeatable, but it seems as if we have three different directions. Constitutionally, the issue is that they all in fact have a major role. The Congress holds the purse strings, the President is the official Commander in Chief, and the Pentagon is encharged with some level of Presidential power. I think my answer is...there's nothing wrong with some level of separation of powers. Even during the great WWII, the Congress stepped in at several spots where they disagreed with the President, and the President would routinely make policy that his generals would have to follow. During Vietnam, the Congress got heavily involved in ending that debacle. Just as the Constitution puts the 3 major branches of government in conflict with each other, I see no reason why this necessarily has to be a bad thing. Just because one person is the President or one General is put in charge of something doesn't mean he's going to be right about everything. For example; the iraq war. Our system is built on checks and balances. If things are going well, there wouldn't be these sorts of disagreements on this debacle.

Rudy proposes bringing Israel into NATO:

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 08:48 AM) Also we aren't going to achieve energy independence until the crude oil and other stocks run out. We as American's don't have the care to change our lifestyles enough for it to actually matter. We have gone from $1 to $3 gas in shorttime, and we STILL have had an increase in demand. Our behavior tells me that we don't care enough to change. Many, many of the people who know the petroleum market will tell you...it's not when our stocks run out that's the problem...it's when production starts to decline...which may well be in the process of happening right now. It will take us decades to draw the last few drops of oil out of the ground. But there passes a point in the production curve beyond which no matter what demand does...it is simply impossible to draw oil out of the ground faster. Right now, this point has been passed for every country in the world outside of OPEC.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 09:26 AM) That definitely changes the order around. Hunter out on top, Furcal looking a lot better, and younger. Rowand pretty good still. Renteria not as spectacular. Eckstein still sucks. And on this one, I'm going to chime in and actually defend Renteria...because when you only go to 3 years, you're actually depressing his value by including his Godawful 2005 season in Boston. His 2004 and 2006-2007 campaigns in Atlanta have been dominant. If you went to 4 years, he'd look better, if you went with 2 years he'd look better. But then again, that's the game we all play...who's to guarantee that he wasn't just overmatched by AL pitching when he was here, and he wouldn't have the same problem if he came back over.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 21, 2007 -> 07:55 AM) Now those are interesting. Rowand and Hunter would both be the second best performers on the current team. Renteria is very appealing at SS. DeJesus isn't bad, but he is only a sliver better than Owens. Furcal is way lower than I would have thought - I am now starting to think he may not be worth the $13M for one year. And then there is Eckstein, who is below Uribe with worse defense - no thank you. I am sure some people will poke holes and say this or that number should or should not be part of the calculation. You can certainly tweak it and re-compute as you'd like. But I think this measure gets a lot closer to total offensive contribution than OPS, OBP or AVG do. Well, there's one little detail you're not thinking about...career best/worst years. For example...Rowand is clearly having one of the best years of his career. I'm still amazed that I'm the only one @ this site who remembers that he was our favorite guy for the "4th OF" label before Jerry Owens came around and started earning a starting job. Hunter is probably having a career year as well...convenient for another FA to be. Furcal on the other hand is having his worst year in the last 5...and is a Free Agent after 08 (And thus, might have that "have a career year next year" motivation). And Eckstein is still grindy.

QUOTE(gosox41 @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 08:15 PM) How much of the Tigers problems are a tired pitching staff from the extended games last year? Bob If the Tigers are indeed on the same path as us...they'll be fighting for the #1 pick in 09.

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 07:28 PM) GM's do not appear willing to take risks anymore. How good would say a Contrearas and Dye look on a team right now? The economics have really f***ed up baseball on so many different levels. I know hindsite is 20/20 but you put them on any team in the NL and they are odds on favorites to win it. Ned Yost is terrible. I was really hoping that getting Tex might be enough to help turn around the Braves...if for no other reason than it might be enough to encourage other teams to once again start making moves for veterans round the deadline.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 06:52 PM) That's because they decided to rely very, very heavily on Blackwater (and other privates) for security. It was, in essence, their way of avoiding a draft. And now they are adrift, because they elected to put their security in the hands of private firms not under their direct control. And it goes beyond that even. As pointed out on the Colbert Report last night...when a U.S. city found itself under water recently...and the government decided it was totally inept...who did they call? Blackwater.

Ouch, the AP says Stevens is really going down hard.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 04:10 PM) I'm uneasy about State Department employees being protected by a private security firm. In fact the whole private security firm thing leaves me worried. Since this "Ban"...all state department employees, in fact basically every government employee other than the U.S. soldiers...have been issued orders not to leave the Green Zone. Supposedly this even includes people working for the CIA.

An interesting catch in the latest Gallup polling data: The approval ratings for this Congress, a Democratic one, are significantly higher among Republicans than they are amongst Democrats and Independents.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 01:07 PM) I guess it's a foosball player. From the stuff Balta posted in the other thread on this subject: Just noticed that Kyle Brady is really close, off by 1 inch and 4 lb.

9 innings against Greinke and Soria and we manage a double by Owens and a single by Uribe. 3 runs over 8 for Garland. This game took like 2 hours, and Mark wasn't even involved.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Sep 20, 2007 -> 12:56 PM) I fully trust Fathom and his source, but it will be funny (nay, telling) when this stuff doesn't see the light of day. We don't have a name yet, but this time, everything except the name has been published by others, including the NY Daily News and ESPN.

So...has anyone noticed that there's not only a game on, but it's in the 5th inning. Both Garland and Greinke have given up 1 hit and 0 walks through 4. Owens with our only hit; a double.