Gregory Pratt

Will Boras allow Kenny to meet alone with Alex Rodriguez this time?

QUOTE(WCSox @ Sep 14, 2007 -> 06:08 PM) If few fans outside of SF care when one of greatest to every play the game (Barry) breaks Aaron's HR record, I'd say that the owners have ample interest in cleaning up the game. Ummm, no. They don't want to give up the longball and the league definitely doesn't want its biggest stars testing positive.

Awhile ago, I posted an old quote from the commemorative SI edition of the World Series victory (he talked about his team in Montreal, writing a report on the team and only mentioning four players because nobody else "knows how to play the game"). Here's an interesting one, from the Tribune's post-Series book: Last year I wasn't managing. I was just changing pitchers. That's it. I feel like a manager this year. I feel like I have a better chance to do a lot of different things. I have the ammunition to do it and the players to do it. Wonder what he'll say about this year's team -- from July of 06 now -- in time. He doesn't have many options with this lineup, that's for sure. A bunch of fundamentally retarded players (who can't lay down a bunt, for one, or hit the other way) with little speed and weak baserunning instincts?

That is weird.

If I'm misreading him, fine, but it very much seems like he's complaining -- why isn't it censored? Oh, they're the ones who showed Lovelace sucking dick. I'm just saying, Yo, it's HBO. You pay for it. You have a good idea what you're getting. Are you seriously complaining that HBO is not censored?

QUOTE(LosMediasBlancas @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 12:52 PM) How about the scene with the younger couple?? You saw his sack and half his cock as she rode him. Haha, who cares? Get over it. It's HBO. You pay for HBO. (Not you, specifically. The Wurld.) Why would it be censored? Pick up the Bible Channel if you've got such a problem with HBO.

I'm calling baseball's bluff: they don't care and have no interest in suspending the game's biggest stars.

Right. I don't think the league will insist on it, though. They'll bicker and compromise on something that makes it so that you can fail a test but no one will ever know.

The Union probably won't allow tests.

The White Sox won't blow anyone out of the water for Alex Rodriguez and he probably won't be coming here. That's about the long and short of it.

Hit it tomorrow, Thome. I'm taking the kids and they'd love it.

QUOTE(Yossarian @ Sep 14, 2007 -> 12:05 PM) Then you love incessant cloudiness. You're right about Pittsburgh. A unique city, with a quirky personality and a great sports tradition going way back. There are probably more great athletes in more sports from SW PA than any other part of the country. The names and the numbers are astounding. Yeah. Interesting stuff. Great, great city. And I left my heart in Pittsburgh.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 14, 2007 -> 10:37 AM) There's no question in my mind, JS is the best GM in the game, maybe the best ever. But I don't think he could win for a sustained period in Pittsburgh the way the game is right now. He probably could build the team to go on a little run, but once his young guys start earning money and are eligible to be FA, he's going to lose them, unlike in Atlanta. He's not going to be able to bring in Greg Maddux. The game is a lot different now. In 1990, I believe the year JS left KC, the Royals had the highest payroll in baseball. The game is so different. I'm not entirely sure that's true about the Royals and payroll. I know he publicly chastised the Yankees for spending money and got a letter from Steinbrenner about it. But yeah, you really can't sustain a run in Pittsburgh unless something significant changes in Pittsburgh. I do think, though, that once you start winning in Pittsburgh, the people will come, and if you coupled that with the owner opening his wallet a good deal, you could have a great franchise with the right man. That's true just about anywhere but Pittsburgh is definitely a baseball city -- not saying baseball's the predominant sport, not at all as the Steelers are and always will be king, but the people will absolutely turn out for Pirate games if they're not being fed garbage. I hope that day comes. I love Pittsburgh.

David Ortiz is a funny guy. I like him, he's so friendly and loveable, but I'd be shocked if the Twins were that wrong on a player.

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 08:22 PM) All you have to do is look at the power numbers for guys like Javy Lopez, Richard Hidalgo, Morgan Ensberg, etc. I'm not saying those guys were on steroids/HGH.....but it's very, very suspicious. Just making sure you weren't talking about Schuerholz. Has Berkman been as bad as he's looked everytime I see him this year?

QUOTE(fathom @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 08:12 PM) The Astros and Braves are two teams that sure seemed to benefit from performance enhancing drugs over the last decade. Every team benefited. And if you're making specific allegations, you should follow up.

Astros are terrible.

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Sep 12, 2007 -> 11:54 AM) Wow, apparently that one went completely over your head. "Swing and a miss..." Half a month between responses?

Is Dillon soft?

QUOTE(Jenks Heat @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 12:50 PM) Who did Shurholtz replace in Atlanta? The economics of the game have changed in that there are teams that will never really compete. The poster children for this, Oakland and Minnesota seem to be falling by the wayside. 1989 and 2007 are not comparable when it comes to discussing the abilitiy of a franchise. Deep pockets helped Shurholtz keep the franchise on top as did three pitchers for Beane. Now that these things have passed, their abilities to GM need to be displayed again. I do not believe Saben, Theo and Cashman are good GM's because they can fail on a decision and there are no long term ramifications. The poster boy for this Jim Hendry. I really believe Dave Dombroski (a Chicago White Sox product) is the best GM of the last 20 years. Dombroski is a great GM, no doubt about that. I don't place him over Schuerholz but he is definitely a top tier General Manager. And while it's true that, yes, the Braves had a good payroll in the 90s, it decreased in the 2000s and they kept winning until the last two years. Besides that, they always won with coaching, scouting and developing, so it wasn't like a Yankees situation where every GM has 100million to play with. Good points all around, though. I don't rate Epstein or Cashman as particularly good GMs, either.

I love it. How many months would we give players to get clean before we start keeping negative tests locked in a drawer somewhere?

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 12:14 PM) Terry Ryan with 0 money> KW with largest payroll. Terry Ryan with largest payroll> godzilla Maybe. But does he have a ring?

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Sep 13, 2007 -> 09:49 AM) He's a smart guy. He's going to wait for an opportunity that includes a legitimate chance to win. While being a GM is probably his goal, a couple years with his hands tied in Pittsburgh won't help him. He'd probably wind up getting canned and never getting another opportunity. Okay, this is the last time I talk about Schuerholz unless the Braves and specifically the Braves offseason is mentioned -- but when Schuerholz was with the Royals and they were a classy, well-respected organization with a recent world title win, he wasn't particularly happy due to a change in ownership so he was chatting with friends about what franchises in baseball had a great deal of potential if only someone came in and fixed them. Atlanta was the main one they mentioned, with Texas the other, and then he spoke to the man doing the hiring who said, "s***, you're interested in leaving for Atlanta? Why? That place blows!" and he said, "I think I can turn it around." He did. Kind of cool. I sort of wish Rick Hahn would leave for Pittsburgh and make that the next powerhouse. The Pirates are a good franchise with a great history and a beautiful ballpark in a lovely city, so I hope they eventually have an owner and management that are capable and willing to win. I've just always thought that the idea of leaving a good situation for a shaky one was one of the more interesting aspects of Schuerholz' move to Atlanta. But yeah, it's nice to have Hahn around. Would suck if he or Terry Ryan wound up on the northside of Chicago, though.

Oh yeah. I wonder what he could do with a little money.

I didn't like Rivera much either but I agree that Grossman is a mental midget who collapses under pressure.