RME JICO

As a Lefty hitter (thanks to both of my brothers being Lefthanded) and all the other kids batting righty, the other kids never wanted to switch fields for just one batter, so I agreed to hit the opposite way. That really helped me improve my game in later years. Opposite field hitting is almost a lost art. Other times we had to all impersonate a certain players pitching style or batting stance. That was always fun. I remember doing Fernando Valenzuela alot. Now as I drive by the same fields I played on, rarely do I see them being used. I guess there are more entertaining things to do from their perspective (XBox, etc), but the kids today don't know what they are missing.

"Rickey Henderson makes his rounds around the field prior to the White Sox game against the Tigers. Seen here with pitcher Mark Buehrle who is trying to figure out if old baseball players really do eat baseballs."

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Aug 4, 2008 -> 11:12 AM) BTW this is my 2005 post... i love that number! Never post again with that username. Create a GreatScott83 so the number is preserved forever.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 4, 2008 -> 09:23 AM) Lynn Nolan Ryan. Is that so Robin doesn't get put in a head lock and punched in the face?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jul 29, 2008 -> 08:54 PM) Steroids didn't exist in baseball in the 1970's and 1980's? Well, I'd like you to prove that one. Isn't that exactly when it actually became widely available?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 02:40 PM) I said maybe because you don't know if the Sox will offer him arbitration. If he does get offered arbitration I can see him being on less than a type B FA and I wouldn't be shocked to see him as a Type A (I expect a strong finish to the season for Griff). As of October 1st he was a Type A, but I don't know how much that has changed since this list came out, and how switching leagues will affect the ranking: RANK PLAYER 1 Matt Holliday 97.079 A 2 Albert Pujols 96.667 A 3 Carlos Lee 90.337 A 4 Ryan Howard 88.667 A 5 Brad Hawpe 87.191 A 6 Carlos Beltran 85.393 A 7 Lance Berkman 84.000 A 8 Alfonso Soriano 83.371 A 9 Todd Helton 83.333 A 10 Mark Teixeira 82.000 A 11 Moises Alou 80.899 A 12 Aaron Rowand 80.449 A 13 Jason Bay 78.090 A 14 Adam Dunn 77.303 A 15t Pat Burrell 76.404 A 15t Josh Willingham 76.404 A 17 Barry Bonds 75.955 A 18 Brian Giles 73.258 A 19t Milton Bradley 72.809 A 19t Ken Griffey Jr. 72.809 A 21 Austin Kearns 72.135 A 22 Prince Fielder 72.000 A 23t Adrian Gonzalez 71.333 A 23t Derrek Lee 71.333 A 25 Eric Byrnes 70.562 B 26 Jeff Francoeur 69.888 B http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl...-complete_N.htm

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 01:38 PM) Good morning and welcome to the "Manny to the Dodgers" thread! That is what you get for multiple tabs open at the same time. I almost did it twice, posting about the Pirates in the Griffey thread.

So B-Mac and Cunningham for Danks and Griffey. I'll take it.

I thought the Pirates would get more.

DC: http://www.soxtalk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=66531

QUOTE (JFields27 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 01:21 PM) So its a three way deal again? Florida became the odd team out, interesting Boston-LAD-Pitt and Bay goes to Boston Yeah, supposedly Florida pissed everyone else off and was taken out of the deal.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/base...ex.html?eref=T1 From Rotoworld:

QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 02:00 PM) Pretty sure Palmeiro and Sosa played together in their last years. I think he means clean players.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 01:56 PM) Mays had retired by the time McCovey hit #500. I glanced at the 500 homer list, and I don't think it has ever been done. and almost 4 active players on the roster with over 300 HRs each: Jr - 608, Thome - 526, Dye -288 , Konerko - 285 That is over 1,700 HRs between those 4.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Jul 31, 2008 -> 06:44 AM) btw someone on the redszone message board said griffey was seen saying goodbyes to the guys in cincy...so take that fwiw I'm in El Paso, TX and they said on the local sports radio that Griffey has already agreed, but is pending a physical. 2 minor leaguers, one is a PTBNL. FWIW.

KW is trying to put a team together with the most combined career HRs.

This is a nice deal for the Angels, but it is not like their offense was that great to begin with. 19th in the MLB in runs? 23rd in OPS? Not very impressive. Tex will help, but it seems like their record is somewhat misleading. 65-40, yet they only have a +39 run differential. Something has to give.

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Jul 25, 2008 -> 01:45 PM) I think as long as he doesn't spend the rest of the season on the DL and finishes with an OPS somewhere around .800 he should be a type B free agent. With how poor his defense has been and how his numbers have nose dived his small chance of becoming a Type A is all but gone. He would have to jump up 10 spots in order to be in the top 20%. There is no way he makes it since it is 2B, SS, and 3B: RANK PLAYER 1 Michael Young 89.286 A 2 Miguel Tejada 87.500 A 3 Robinson Cano 85.714 A 4 Derek Jeter 85.119 A 5 Mike Lowell 84.857 A 6 Alex Rodriguez 84.000 A 7 Placido Polanco 81.746 A 8 Brian Roberts 80.159 A 9 Orlando Cabrera 79.464 A 10 Jhonny Peralta 77.381 A 11 Adrian Beltre 76.000 A 12 Carlos Guillen 74.405 A 13 Troy Glaus 74.286 A 14 Melvin Mora 73.714 A 15 Casey Blake 72.571 B 16 Mark Ellis 72.222 B 17 Ian Kinsler 69.841 B 18 Aaron Hill 67.460 B 19 Yuniesky Betancourt 66.964 B 20 Aubrey Huff 65.143 B 21 Mark Grudzielanek 64.286 B 22 Eric Chavez 64.000 B 23 Juan Uribe 61.905 B 24 Joe Crede 61.143 B 25 Jose Lopez 61.111 B

QUOTE (joesaiditstrue @ Jul 25, 2008 -> 06:01 AM) on pace to a 92-70 season, assuming we play .570 ball the rest of the way, our schedule couldn't possibly be any worse for the rest of the year from what it's already been. this next 10 games could arguably be the last 'difficult' part of our schedule for the rest of the year For Detroit to get to 92 wins, they would have to win 66% of their remaining games with 33 home games left. Minnesota needs to win 61% of their remaining games and only have 28 home games remaining. Using Home/Away Win %, here is how the season would play out: Chicago Home 35-16 - 30 * 69% 21-9 Away 22-27 - 32 * 45% 14-18 35-27 Remaining 57-43 Current 92-70 Total Minnesota Home 34-19 - 28 * 64% 18-10 Away 21-27 - 33 * 44% 15-18 33-28 Remaining 55-46 Current 88-74 Total Detroit Home 28-20 - 33 * 58% 19-14 Away 24-29 - 28 * 45% 13-15 32-29 Remaining 52-49 Current 84-78 Total

We are also 2nd to last in the AL in steals. All that means is that we are a slow team. To note, we are 4th in the MLB in OPS, and 2nd in ERA. Boston is the only other team in the top 5 in both of those categories. How many GIDP has our opponents hit into?

OPS AB Runs Hits RBI 2B HR BB SO HBP CQ .930 358 70 100 76 17 26 46 59 14 JH . 904 397 61 121 98 22 22 39 71 2 Besides having a higher BA, the only other major offensive categories that Hamilton has a lead in is Hits, RBI, and 2B. If you take into account that he also has 39 more AB's than CQ, those numbers become much closer. This year, multiple teams have 2 or more candidates in the running, which may make the race more wide open than normal. (CHW - Quentin/Dye, BOS - Ramirez/Youkilis/Drew, TEX - Hamilton/Bradley/Kinsler).

QUOTE (tommy @ Jul 22, 2008 -> 03:20 PM) Probably not a smoke screen, I bet we will not see any changes. People were saying the same thing in 05', and KW went out and got an impact bat (Blum).

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 16, 2008 -> 08:35 PM) So, God would be one of us. Just a stranger on a bus. Trying to make his way home (from the Sox game). I was waiting for it.

Mark has the ability to become the iron man of pitchers with consecutive seasons with at least 200IP and 10+ wins. He is currently working on his 8th straight season. Maddux had 14 straight seasons with that criteria. So if Buehrle goes 15 years with 200IP and 10+ wins, does that help his case enough if he doesn't reach 300 wins?

QUOTE (shipps @ Jul 15, 2008 -> 11:47 AM) Ask Jamie Moyer if he thinks he has a shot. What does Moyer have to do with Buehrle? He has been an All-Star once in 22 years. Moyer had 700IP and 34 wins at age 29, Buehrle has over 1500IP and 100+ wins. No comparison.