Gregory Pratt

I sat down about two weeks ago to write an article about the 2008 race and why I believe the conventional wisdom is all wrong. This, that I am about to paste, is the article that I wish to share with SoxTalk. I am willing to answer any Qs, if anyone has any, but of course in posting this I open it for discussion by you all and not necessarily by me. http://officeoftheindependentblogger.com/2...y-be-president/

From here: http://baseballevolution.com/gregory/odeclemens.html There's nothing lonelier than to be a lost Rocket in space, alone knowing that there are many others hiding on the surface who could join you and spare you the miserable solitude but don't because they're afraid of being caught in an asteroid field and so they leave you to your weightlessness. You didn't want to be alone, when you decided to fly off the earth, so you asked around for company before takeoff, but no one would come with you. Your best friend didn't want to invade the sky for fear of angering God; your wife didn't want to let go of gravity; you'd burnt your bridges with Mike Piazza; so you asked Barry Bonds, and he declined: he doesn't fly with white people. You knew better than to ask other hitters, who are notorious for keeping the secrets of their successes to themselves and who you have built a twenty four year sixty foot six inch separation from. You turned to other pitchers. Pedro Martinez was a no, claiming a preference for mother Earth; Greg Maddux was busy playing catch with his children; Randy Johnson was laid up in the Arizona desert, and you certainly weren't going to take anyone less than you into the sky because mere men can't handle the pressures a Rocket can. So you left the Earth alone. You made a stop in the stratosphere, where fallen stars are swallowed, wondering if anyone had survived the trip into space but knowing that no one had ever returned. Prospects are bleak. At first you didn't find much in this exile, but when you thought all hope lost you stumbled on a group of old ballplayers, tossing rocks made of cloud underhand and hitting them with door handles from the jets they were flown in on; they ran around the bases with singles and doubles and triples not seen since a more Earthly era. Your heart skipped a beat. You called out "I'm taking a trip into space! Who wants to join me?" Shoeless Joe Jackson turned away from you, thought you foolish for taking the trip voluntarily when all you could ever want was on Earth. "Baseball ain't fun on the moon, ah've been!" he shouted and Buck Weaver turned you away too: "I've been begging to return to Earth too long to leave this spot for some place colder than any place I've ever been." Just when you thought all hope was gone Pete Rose came, and offered to be with you for a price, promising to whistle the star spangled banner and the pledge of allegiance and take me out to the ballgame for your amusement, pledging cracker jacks and intensity and dollars. "What the hell" you said, "it's company," and you took off but halfway to the moon you lost your way; you were already growing tired of Rose's song and dance, so when he bet that he could find your way back if you'd hold him at the door you took him up on it and let him go into space. You cut your losses and then epiphany: "is this what will happen to me?" As you are hit by asteroids hurled by force of Bob Feller, Walter Johnson or Pete Alexander you can't help but feel alone, like a batter facing the great headhunter of his era, overmatched, like nature were exacting its revenge upon you. As Houston advises you to take the beatings now, and how to take the beatings, you start to wonder whether or not you would be better off at home except it is too late now: you are lost in space with no clue how to get back home. The separation between you and the world is greater than it was before, in those times when you appeared to be an immortal from space but you are now a mere mortal in space alone in a field of asteroids you willingly walked into.

http://baseballevolution.com/gregory/baseballfriends.html

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Mar 4, 2008 -> 11:10 AM) Based on early reviews this team is in much better position to sustain an injury than last season. I really hope I never have to watch a talentless player like Andy Gonzalez again. Outside of Buerhle, Vazquez and possibly AJ we could replace any player on this team and in some cases be a more rounded ball club becasue of it. We don't have any true replacements for Thome.

QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 10:17 AM) Umm, you dont have to promise that. We all know I was just saying because it seemed like people really believe this Wrestlemania match will be special but I don't think it will be. It's a way to get people to buy tickets with hopes of saying, 'I was at Flair's last match!' ... Mayweather should be allowed to run his mouth like he does off WWE. McMahon, what happened? We used to be all about letting guys amp up their personalities and Money May has been toned down, probably not by his own choice.

I believe the Mitchell Report has 600 different articles it cites that mentioned the ballooning problem

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...8/corpas/1.html

Absolutely. He was a great man.

QUOTE(knightni @ Feb 27, 2008 -> 06:16 PM) Yes, it was deemed a Filibuster-worthy thread topic and was moved. I had, and have, no objections to that.

Peter Gammons gets ripped a lot. I like him very much, for what it's worth. But his memory, and editors, let him down in his latest Angels article.

The "club" was a baseball bat, according to the NYT, and they are facing, at minimum, eight to twenty eight years but a grand jury could charge them with more things. I'm just worried about the girl, and I'm going to send that family a card as soon as I can find a hospital or mailing address. Edit: other sources say they face 75-100 "if convicted of all charges" so I don't know what, exactly, they're facing now. Whatever it is, I hope it's...justice. And I posted this in SLAM but it's in the Filibuster, so I commented but I mean this to be as non-political as possible.

I prefer Tex, because I think he's better overall and he didn't have that lousy year last year, but what says you? Specifically, I am going to trade Hafner for Tex. OR should I try and deal him for Pena? The other guy is interested in such a deal but I'm not sure he'd do it, once he looked at the numbers.

Umm, this isn't going to be Ric Flair's last match. I promise he'll be back and wrestling until the day he dies.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writ...mpton.comeback/ Hope he gets his want. Because I'm rooting for the Braves and because he's really working unlike, say, a Carl Pavano.

I would advise All not to overlook the fact that this team has been playing without anything resembling heart or effort since late 2006. Not everyone but plenty of players. And jogging to first has been a problem since 2004, as DA notes. Talent is a problem with this team, but so are the mental and emotional aspects of the game.

There have been, to my eyes at least, players half-assing it since late 2006, though. But that's just how it looks to me and that, good or bad a player may be, is unacceptable.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Feb 20, 2008 -> 07:20 AM) Met Bevington when he was managing in the Texas-Louisiana Independent League. May have been the Central professional League by then. Had dinner with him. Seemed really nice. When he called to the waitress I wanted to say, you don't have one warming up. You should've. Would've been funny.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/26/disabl...eref=rss_latest those are the kinds of people who should never be let out of prison

Yeah, but what do you think in comparison to Kemp, who I think is much better and will be much better but who might not get full playing time?

I really did, and do, get tired of seeing players dog it, so it'll be nice if they don't.

I have enough Ks. He's a guy who'll win games for me and give me innings.

This is my pitching staff: Johan Santana (NYM - SP) 10 22 219.0 15 13 1 0 235 0 3.33 Erik Bedard (Sea - SP) 31 33 182.0 13 5 1 0 221 0 3.16 Joba Chamberlain (NYY - RP) 142 462 24.0 2 0 0 1 34 8 0.38 Chad Billingsley (LAD - SP,RP) 144 131 147.0 12 5 1 0 141 3 3.31 Cole Hamels (Phi - SP) 50 52 183.1 15 5 2 0 177 0 3.39 John Lackey (LAA - SP) 59 41 224.0 19 9 2 0 179 0 3.01 Dan Haren (Ari - SP) 60 48 222.2 15 9 0 0 192 0 3.07 Matt Cain (SF - SP) 127 173 200.0 7 16 1 0 163 0 3.65 Tim Hudson (Atl - SP) 161 95 224.1 16 10 1 0 132 0 3.33 Brad Penny (LAD - SP) 129 101 208.0 16 4 0 0 135 0 3.03 Chien-Ming Wang (NYY - SP) I am adding Joe Nathan and Lincecum, for Chamberlain and Pence. Overall, what says you?

Am in a small league. Six teams. C Víctor Martínez (Cle - C,1B) 169/562 78 25 114 0 76 .301 .879 1B Travis Hafner (Cle - 1B) 145/545 80 24 100 1 115 .266 .836 2B Chase Utley (Phi - 2B) 176/530 104 22 103 9 89 .332 .976 3B Chipper Jones (Atl - 3B) 173/513 108 29 102 5 75 .337 1.029 SS Rafael Furcal (LAD - SS) 157/581 87 6 47 25 68 .270 .688 OF Vladimir Guerrero (LAA - OF) 186/574 89 27 125 2 62 .324 .95 OF Adam Dunn (Cin - OF) 138/522 101 40 106 9 165 .264 .94 OF Chris Young (Ari - OF) 135/569 85 32 68 27 141 .237 .762 Util Matt Kemp (LAD - OF) 100/292 47 10 42 10 66 .342 .894 BN Hunter Pence (Hou - OF) Am going to pick up Lincecum. Do I drop Pence or Kemp? I've chosen to drop Pence, because I'm banking on the fact that Kemp is simply better, but then I worry that the Dodgers will platoon Kemp. What do I do?

Like clockwork, my man.

I hope they win the World Series. Them or Milwaukee. Or Atlanta. Or the White Sox. I think they'll win the division, but Milwaukee has a good chance at it for sure. /Reinsdorf OR Kenny -- one or the other, I forget -- said they'd like to see the Cubs win it, if not the White Sox, after 05, so please spare me any "OMG!"zzZZzzzzZZzzzz