Gregory Pratt

Who was the last switch-hitter to win an AL MVP award?

I'm not 100% sure Smoltz will, but he should. I know Maddux and Glavine will.

QUOTE (smalls2598 @ Jun 4, 2008 -> 09:47 AM) Smoltz career may be over... Man, if the Big Three retire this season, they should all go in first-ballot. They should all go in first-ballot anyway.

I got it fixed in the real version. Thanks guys.

I'm going, but I want to know but have limited internet capabilities at the place I'm at so I'm asking the SoxTalk

Hamilton's the first AL player since Rodriguez to win player of the month back to back, as he's won it for April and for May. Keep on hitting, Josh, and God bless you.

You are a great man.

QUOTE (Texsox @ Jun 2, 2008 -> 07:32 AM) This was a no win for the man. Seemed most people wanted him to leave the Church, and when he does, he's called a hypocrite. Some people believe if you even listen to something, you must believe it. Guilt by association. I read every one of Kap's and SS's posts, doesn't mean I agree with them, it just means I respect their generally well stated and thought out opinions. And when they are totally wacked, I laugh. During the course of a week, I bet I hear their short sermons more than if they were Preachers on Sunday. I know I spend more than an hour a week here. Regardless, I am confident that if elected President, he will not be able to destroy "whitey" any more than Jackson destroyed the "n*****s". Anyone who listen to Johnson's tapes will remember he used the "n" word regularly. As with most of the items like this, if you already were not going to vote for him, its yet another reason. If you were, it's no big deal. If you are on the fence, weigh it against everything else. But if you think a white guy of McCain's era doesn't have some of the same, albeit reversed, attitudes about race, I think you are fooling yourself. Everyone here would have to make some changes in their lives to run for President. Johnson spoke in the language of his time and culture. No one cared more for the poor and for minorities than LBJ, and that shows in his legislation.

http://baseballevolution.com/gregory/weekreview9.html Gregory Pratt shaved his beard to a landing strip and porn mustache for at least a couple of days. Fair or Foul? -- The US Border Patrol Agency is advertising behind home plate at major league ballgames, as seen in Cleveland and Tampa. I can't be the only one who sees the irony. Oh yes, the delicious irony. It's The Economy, [bleep!] -- With regard to the terrible 2007 season, I don't think there's a thing you can blame on Ozzie Guillen, as that team was bad and injured and there's little he could have done about that. This season, Guillen's Sox are in first place despite their mediocre offense, but Guillen has had enough of his hitters failing to get the job done after a 2-14 RISP performance on Sunday. "Just be ready because I expect movement Tuesday," he said, according to ChicagoSports.com. "I expect Kenny to do something Tuesday, and if we don’t do anything Tuesday, there are going to be a lot of lineup changes. That’s all I’m going to say about the offense." He went on: "It can be me. It can be [hitting coach] Greg Walker. It can be the players. It could be anybody. I’m sick and tired to watch this thing for a year and a half. I’m not protecting anybody anymore. [bleep] it. If they can’t get it done, Kenny should find someone to get it done. That’s it." I hope so, because I don't want to watch my favorite manager get blamed for a lousy season because his offense is awful, and it's time these guys get called out on it. They Said It -- "Not having Jose Valentin might be the biggest difference between this team and the 2006 team," said one baseball man. "He not only played well. He's a tough guy. He kept other players in line. And he added to the toughness and the winning attitude of that team. You look around that clubhouse now, and there's not one guy like that." Wors[t] Damn Sports Show -- "Best Damn Sports Show Ever" had a special episode ranking baseball players all-time at each position, with special guests Harold Reynolds, Ken Rosenthal, and Rollie Fingers! Honus Wagner was not a candidate at short, which Rosenthal pointed out, but should have walked off the stage for. Rogers Hornsby was left out at second, and Rosenthal said that he didn't think they'd left anyone out. The other omission that stuck in my throat was Ty Cobb being left out of the centerfield picture. For best pitcher, they had Sandy Koufax and Tom Seaver as possibilities, but no Warren Johnson, just Clemens and Maddux in addition. Harold Reynolds chose "Bob Gibson! They changed the mound because of Bob Gibson." Someone mentioned Nolan Ryan, and then someone else asked if they were missing anybody. Cue Rollie Fingers, who said: "Gaylord Perry!" Johnson's The One -- Randy Johnson tied Roger Clemens on the all-time strikeout list, and will almost certainly pass him during his next start. Needless to say, the news made me very happy. Randy's beauty is difficult to put into words that won't send the readers of this column into a seizure. Hemorrhoids -- Carlos Guillen has hemorrhoids. It's worth noting, right? I have a theory that players with hemorrhoids make better fielders than those who don't have hemorrhoids because if they're not fielding, they're DH-ing or on the bench, and it hurts to sit around all that time. That's why we should ban the DH. 500 -- Manny Ramirez hit his five hundredth homerun this week. More exciting is what he said to a reporter recently about his birthday: "36 here. 39 in the Dominican." Manny being Manny! Angels at the Plate -- LAAA had four walkoffs this week. How ridiculous is that? They had one more walkoff than the Dodgers had ESPN games this week, which is equally ridiculous but in the negative sense of the word. "That'll make 'em forget about Jim Edmonds." -- That's what the ESPN announcer said after Rick Ankiel made a good diving catch onto the warning track in St. Louis on Sunday. It reminded me of my favorite Joe DiMaggio/Lefty Gomez story: The Clipper was playing shallow and said, "I'm going to make them forget about the great Tris Speaker." After a triple was hit over his head, Gomez said to him: "Roomie, if you don't back up a little, you're going to make them forget about the great Lefty Gomez!" History of the Week -- The subject of this week's history is Ted Williams' temporary retirement after the 1954 season, and the two different explanations for his comeback in 1955. The first is like something out of a storybook, involving a man named Eddie Mifflin who met Williams at a train station and talked him out of retiring. This is a story that many baseball aficionados are familiar with, and it is certainly a true story. Eddie Mifflin was indeed a real man and a good friend of Ted Williams from that meeting on, but there is another version of events. The news that Williams would retire after the 1954 season was greeted with anger by New England sportswriters, who were upset that he would publish it in a New York newspaper, and precious little attention was given to the retirement itself. Still, "omething seemed fishy from the beginning. Retirement made no sense. Williams obviously still could hit. He was making big money. He liked baseball, and was even a bigger star than when he left. Why quit? The unspoken, unwritten guess was that this all was related to his divorce proceedings. If his income were less, wouldn't the settlement be less to Doris?"* Williams was true to his word and retired at the end of the season, but four days after his divorce was finalized on May ninth of 1955, he returned to Boston. The incident you believe held greater sway is a test of whether or not you're a romantic or a cynic. *Taken from Ted Williams, by Leigh Montville (Great biography, by the way).

I appreciate the praise and am glad we are in agreement.

This is what I wrote on Obama leaving Trinity:

QUOTE (fathom @ May 31, 2008 -> 10:34 AM) I don't think it matters what team he's on....people on here have been saying they think he's off the juice. I haven't seen much of that on public posts.

Quentin's going to the ASG, no worries.

QUOTE (YASNY @ May 29, 2008 -> 03:53 PM) Yes. It happened in 1906.

Let's knock Jackson around and keep on winning

QUOTE (rangercal @ May 29, 2008 -> 01:16 PM) I've never been impressed with sweeney. DLS and Gio were hard to let go for me. But, I was happy before the injury and now this just makes it a lot easier to take. Swisher will come around. When he does, he will be one of our top 3 hitters. I hope so, but I'm actually really worried about him.

The lobbyist talk is ridiculous and hypocritical for reasons detailed here: http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/pos...Dk0MTc5M2I0ZTA=

Bad decision to pitch to him but good job getting him out.

Swisher's been terrible this season because he spent too much time practicing the worm and his six-shooter for those awful White Sox commercials. Man, Quentin has been awesome this season. We definitely won that trade.

The Reds have a mediocre lineup?

It's amazing how small Alexei is. Great play!

Well, he says he didn't figure it out until later, so that's kind of moot.

From here: http://www.slate.com/id/2192185/

Quentin-Hamilton-Bradley

I should have written "ex-pitcher killed by lightning strike," you're right.