Gregory Pratt

QUOTE(fathom @ May 18, 2006 -> 09:32 PM) I do know that Chipper has 7 career walkoff homers. Including the one he had a couple of days ago?

QUOTE(SnB @ May 18, 2006 -> 09:07 AM) wow, friday and sunday are both real good pitching matchups. Should be fun Yeah, I love the finesse pitchers and the power pitchers going after each other. Although I think I most love having a rookie face off with Garcia because I think Hill is fixing to get schooled.

It should be a damn good series. Cubs are going to have a large chip on their shoulder. I haven't looked forward to a series this much since we faced the Angels for the first three games this year.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ May 17, 2006 -> 11:37 PM) Ya, Springer is the tough guy for throwing a baseball at a guy with his whole team there to back him up. I guess the Giants weren't in the dugout a few feet away. I would not "freak out." I'd worry for the player, but I wouldn't lose it or be THAT terribly pissed at the opposing pitcher. I would like to backpedal a smidge: I don't typically CALL for shots to the head because I think they're excessive and most people DON'T deserve that, in my view. I probably wouldn't do it pitching, and I HAVE pitched in high school ball. But I don't think it's the worst thing in the world, either, and I don't think it's indefensible. Springer threw at Bonds' knee first, for what it's worth -- at least after the back. Overall, I just think beanballs are a part of the game that shouldn't be taken out.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 17, 2006 -> 11:25 PM) Sure you loved it when AJP got pegged, if that ball was anywhere near his head you wouldn't have. I would feel terrible for almost any player beaned in the head whose career was ruined by it. I would not lose my marbles, however, because the pitcher aimed at the guy's skull. Duck for cover if you're the batter. And, if AJ was beaned and had his career ruined, I'd feel terrible because I love AJ, but I wouldn't throw a fit over it and lost all control about how UNFAIR it was for the pitcher to bean him. Beanball. Hello? Shot to the head. Pitchers pitching AT batters is nothing new, and neither is the practice of aiming at their heads. That's why there's the term "headhunter."

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 17, 2006 -> 11:18 PM) So what happened to JT Snow a few Spring Trainings ago was alright? Beanballs can end careers and cause severe injury, if you fracture your skull somehow I don't think you'll be charging the f***ing mound. It's part of the risk you take in playing the game. Or would it help if I put the F word in between every other f***ing word? QUOTE(Rowand44 @ May 17, 2006 -> 11:21 PM) You have no f***in clue what you're talking about if you think getting hit in the head is part of baseball. Go watch a different sport, cause that is so false. I suppose the beanball hasn't been around in baseball forever, then, and I just made it up. Roger Clemens didn't say he'd bean Hank Aaron, and no one's ever thrown for the head! You guys sure are getting a little overf***INGexcited about this. QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ May 17, 2006 -> 11:20 PM) The beanball has been around for centuries. The mindset that we should forego throwing at players is yet another step in the wussification of baseball. From not pitching to certain hitters (pre-"Holy s***, my steroid advantage is gone" Bonds, Pujols, et al.) just because they can get a HR possibly to looking down at hard slides/take out slides -- hitters everywhere have to abide by fake rules that prevent them from playing as hard as they can and policing on the field, in house style. Pitchers lose an important tool in their arsenal, one that brushes players back from crowding the plate. In the age where hitters get to wear arm gear so large it could have its own Congressman, the ability to pitch inside has been greatly negated. Hitting batters is also a way to police within the game. It sends a message to the other team that certain s*** won't be tolerated. This 'old school' formula has worked for years. Why should pitchers be forced to lose a tool in their arsenal that they and their team believe is necessary and has worked for decades to effectively deal with issues on the field? I said it before and I'll say it again. If Bonds didn't like it, Springer was just 60 feet away. The only reason any of it is different now is that we have the media overanalyzing the issues and shoving them down our throats. I swear, if we had ESPN back in the deadball era, you'd see "Should Cobb Be Suspended for 10 games for going spikes up into a slide? Harold Reynolds and John Kruk parrot the same goddamn opinion for 20 minutes!" While informative for scores, injury reports, trades/roster moves, sports media by and far has become a tool where a relatively minor issue (i.e. Springer throwing at Bonds) gets blown up to gigantic proportions all because Bonds is a cheating, steroid abusing tool. It is just another step towards the 'sanitization' of baseball. Soon enough, the players will be sitting in group therapy talking about their inner children and their feelings instead. Christ, a douchebag who deserved it got hit by a douchebag. That was it. The pitcher isn't saying he is innocent and is willing to serve his impending suspension. End of story. For all those saying that this is going to 'disgrace' baseball -- if baseball can survive gambling scandals like the Black Sox, the events of Pete Rose, numerous fights/beanballs/brawls and numerous racist/dirty players (i.e. Cobb), it sure as Hell can survive just one more plunking.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 17, 2006 -> 11:07 PM) If a Sox hitter got pegged in the head you would be b****ing about it. Not so much, tiger. While it wasn't to the head, my reaction to Pierzynski being beaned was "I love it." I love the beanball. I think it's an important part of baseball. If a Sox hitter is hit, by all means. That's a side of baseball, and a valuable one. Hit someone right back. Or charge the mound. ::shrug::

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ May 17, 2006 -> 10:59 PM) Bonds is a meany so we should throw at his head and take the risk of ending his career. You've got it, mate.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ May 17, 2006 -> 10:52 PM) Ummm... My favorite non-Sox baseball quote. QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ May 17, 2006 -> 10:57 PM) Couldn't have have happened to a bigger asshole. If Bonds really didn't like it, Springer was just 60 feet 6 inches away. What a monstrous thing to say!

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ May 17, 2006 -> 10:46 PM) A beanball is defined as a ball that hits one in the head. Bean = Your head Don't root for beanballs, dude. I've got no problem with pitching to the head, either, if that's what the pitcher wants to do.

Wimpy's story saddens me, and leaves me with a nasty impression of Hawk as I heard that Hawk had been mocking Wimpy for being sexually abused as a child and that that was one of the reasons Wimpy left.

The beanball is a valuable, time-honored baseball tool. People have been beaning forever, and it's a part of the game -- an important part of the game, too, for pitchers to establish dominance and rivalries to ferment. This isn't little league. If you want to say it's "Bush league" to root for beanballs, by all means do so. I was impressed by Springer's being one of the few with the courage to outright throw at Barry. That was obvious and, Rules Being Rules, he does deserve to be suspended. I, however, can't say I didn't cheer it on, because I am a tad of a headhunter. I've no problem with the beanball. If a pitcher is willing to risk an ass kicking and the consequences from the league, by all means throw away. Bonds isn't a little kid, and if someone wants to hurt him, then let them. And I'd feel the same way about, I don't know, Greg Maddux plunking Jim Thome's elbow or lower back. If Maddux is bold enough, let him face his consequences. I don't think it's shameful or a disgrace to bean someone.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 17, 2006 -> 08:21 PM) This guy really has it in for AJ. I love it.

QUOTE(TitoMB345 @ May 17, 2006 -> 07:50 PM) Funny thing is, I gaurentee AJP can't hear him, but we can! I can't see how he couldn't hear him unless he's wearing plugs. That guy is LOUD!

QUOTE(aboz56 @ May 17, 2006 -> 07:49 PM) What's he saying? Not a clue. But his babble is worth a thousand words. Lots of "Hey HEY HEY!" though. Yesterday -- I'm not sure it was him -- there was some asshole heckling the umpire, too.

You guys hear the heckler? He's f***ing hilarious.

Send him down. He just does't have it. He should be in the Minors where he can pitch more often and refine his skills, work on some things and try again sometime later.

QUOTE(YASNY @ May 16, 2006 -> 12:37 PM) Very good point about no elimination games. Win or die trying never really came into play, did it? No, the "die trying" part didn't come into play. The best part did.

If she doesn't want to go, don't try to make her go. I think that's the simplest answer, and probably the best. If she receives it as well as she seems to have received it, by your latest update, then by all means ask her again, but drop it if she doesn't want to go.

QUOTE(SoxFan101 @ May 15, 2006 -> 08:20 PM) So does Timo Perez whats your point? That Timo Perez is the best third baseman in baseball today?

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ May 15, 2006 -> 06:52 PM) If he stays healthy, and that's a huge if, I think he can get to 50 homers. This spring has seemed a lot cooler than normal, so I'm half-expecting to see even more homers throughout the league as the summer progresses. The fact that this thread was created, and also that I'm responding in it, scares the crap out of me. I gotta knock on wood. Why is it a "big if" that he'll stay healthy? I hear a lot of people mention that caveat with Thome, but Thome's entire career has been one of good health, he's with a club that does an excellent job taking care of its own, he does the minimal a player can do (hit) and then sits in the dugout to relax.

I thought the answer was to send him down or bring up Sweeney?

QUOTE(Rex Kickass @ May 14, 2006 -> 06:54 PM) I thought he would have just wiretapped God for clues on where the next lightning strikes will be. He'd "data mine" the phone records of every religious person on Earth because there are THAT MANY Gods, apparently.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ May 14, 2006 -> 12:20 PM) I think it's pretty damn obvious what Javier's problem was yesterday, WIDGER. That f***er just brings out the worst in Vazquez, I know what you're going to say Widger did not catch Javy yesterday that was Pierz!!11 Think about it though Ozzie gets tossed and suddenly Javier gets lit up, coincidence? I think not. I believe Pierz was getting his pitches called from the dugout and once Ozzie got tossed Widger took over the pitch calling. Hence the suckassness displayed by vazquez alst night. Kill Widger. That's pretty bad!

I hate sloppy fielding. Except when it benefits us.