scenario

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 23, 2008 -> 08:41 PM) Brief review of what I heard about tonight's game: Owens was fantastic, including a great diving catch. Fields oppo field homer wasn't hit far. He's hit the ball hard the last few days though. Broadway was decent, but isn't a MLB starter. Wasserman was filthy, and Egbert's motion was weird, but not very good stuff. Who's telling you that Broadway isn't an MLB starter? Whoever it is, I think they're wrong.

Josh Fields 3-5 so far tonight. That raises his average to .294 on the season. Jerry Owens 2-2 with 3 walks. Raises his average to .333

Johnny Lowe with a great start for Kanny 5 innings; 0 runs on 2 hits; 7 K's and 2 BBs Jose Martinez 4-4 tonight Kanny winning 7-0 in the 7th.

Charlotte @ Durham Haeger pitching Birmingham @ West Tennessee Carlos Torres pitching Potomac @ Winston-Salem Zaleski started Kannapolis @ Greensboro JLo pitching

Wang got pounded last time out.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 22, 2008 -> 10:03 AM) Somebody PLEASE explain to me how it matters? If a large national sports publication puts out a power ranking, it seems reasonable to assume that the thinking behind it should have some semblance of logic. And if it doesn't, it seems reasonable to question it. That's all I was doing. Trying to find the logic behind a team losing 7 of its last 10 games and going UP in a power ranking. Compounded by the fact that they are 4.5 games behind us in the standings, but 4 slots above us in the power ranking. Seems pretty ridiculous. Doesn't it?

Miguel Negron went 4 for 5 in the Barons game last night. His second 4 hit game in the last week.

Somebody PLEASE explain to me how the Indians moved up from #4 to #3 on that same list in the last week... while the Sox are ranked 7th. The Tribe is 7-12. They have lost 7 of their last 10 games They have the lowest batting average of any team in the AL. They are last in slugging in the AL. Their team ERA is 11th out of 14. But... they are 3rd in the Power Rankings this week. LOL. The author must be from Cleveland.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 21, 2008 -> 12:40 AM) Hard to hit a guy who's never in the zone. Gotta admit though... his 5 inning; 11 strikeout; and only two walk outing this week is pretty intriguing. And on the season so far (3 starts)... 19 strikeouts and only 3 walks in 13 2/3 innings.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Apr 21, 2008 -> 08:06 AM) I do worry about the run scoring aspect however. This team has 3 regulars hitting above .250. Yeah, but the team has 6 players with OBPs over .350 And OBP is, statistically, a better predictor of runs than batting average. When it comes to predicting runs, OBP is 1st; SLG is 2nd. As long as the Sox are doing well in those two areas, batting average is much less important.

Here's a list of all pitchers since 1998 with: - A minimum of 1000 innings pitched - An ERA less than 4.00 since 4/1/98 They are ranked by ERA. http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/Com...K=0&MinWP=0 It's a pretty select list. Most qualified as aces at some point of their careers. Bottom Line: It's tough to say that someone with 1000+ innings and a career ERA under 4.00 is not an ace. # Player ERA 1 Pedro Martinez 2.72 2 John Smoltz 3.02 3 Kevin Brown 3.08 4 Randy Johnson 3.08 5 Roy Oswalt 3.13 6 Brandon Webb 3.19 7 Johan Santana 3.22 8 Jake Peavy 3.25 9 Roger Clemens 3.38 10 Carlos Zambrano 3.40 11 Greg Maddux 3.49 12 Tim Hudson 3.51 13 Curt Schilling 3.51 14 Tom Glavine 3.61 15 Roy Halladay 3.62 16 Kerry Wood 3.67 17 Al Leiter 3.68 18 Barry Zito 3.68 19 Derek Lowe 3.70 20 Jason Schmidt 3.74 21 Josh Beckett 3.76 22 Ben Sheets 3.76 23 Dontrelle Willis 3.80 24 A.J. Burnett 3.82 25 John Lackey 3.82 26 Mark Buehrle 3.83 27 Mike Mussina 3.86 28 Brad Penny 3.88 29 Andy Pettitte 3.92 30 Kevin Millwood 3.95 31 C.C. Sabathia 3.95

You mean newly 30 year old outfielder. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/W/Dewayne-Wise.shtml Check out his numbers on the link. Not alot to get excited about. Career minor leaguer.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Apr 20, 2008 -> 07:01 PM) Isn't this Nanita's third season at Birmingham? It would seem he's destined for this years Leo Daigle award. Regarding Logan Johnson, thank goodness for Kanny he's hitting like he is because the rest of the team has been pretty slow out of the gate. Gallagher is coming around, I think he'll be alright and hopefully Martinez too. Likely a lot of the hitters who moved up a level will adjust to the level by the second half... and that pitchers are just ahead of the hitters at this point. Greg Paiml came on like gangbusters at the end of last season. Unbelievably hot the last month and a half of last year. It will be interesting to see if he pulls a repeat. (Interesting sidenote: when he was growing up, he was a batboy for the Birmingham Barons.) IMO, Christian Marrero is the best hitter on the team. Just waiting for him to kick in. Ditto Gallagher who started slow last year and then came on very strong.

Charlotte rained out. Birmingham loses 3-2 despite a solid outing for McCulloch. 6 innings; 2 runs on 4-hits; 4 strikeouts; 4 walks Interesting stat: 12 groundballs and only 1 flyball Nanita continues his hot hitting for the Barons. 3-4 raising his average to .339 What's gotten into this guy? Winston-Salem won 3-2. Poreda a no-decision. 5 1/3; 2 runs; 8 hits; 4 strikeouts; no walks 8 groundouts; 3 flyouts Kannapolis lost 4-2. Anthony Carter went 5 innings Gave up 2 runs on 5 hits; 3 K's; 1 BB He got a no-decision. Left with the game tied. Logan Johnson with 2 hits raising his average to .340

QUOTE (max power @ Apr 20, 2008 -> 10:21 AM) No he didn't. Either way he wasn't going to get that money. How are you missing that point? I am not apologizing for him. Yes you ARE apologizing for him. You're making it look like the big bad Blue Jays did this to him and he had no part in this bad ending. Beeeeep. Frank screwed himself by being a selfish non-team player who ran his mouth in the media. Then he walked away rather than congratulating his team mates after a win. Any body who runs a business and has an employee like that realizes that it's a potential cancer situation - so you find ways to cut and run. If Frank hadn't run his mouth, and acted like a baby, he'd still be on the team. He would have had more chances to hit. And if he started hitting, they would have played him often enough to get the option. So, for the potentially millions of dollars he is going to lose in this deal, he has no one to blame but himself.

QUOTE (max power @ Apr 20, 2008 -> 10:13 AM) What are you talking about? His mouth didn't cost him any money. They were going to bench him to ensure he didn't get that option. He didn't have a choice. The team cuts a guy the day after he goes public about being unhappy and critizes management, and you want to suggest that he didn't have anything to do with it? Oh please. Quit apologizing for him. It's not like it's the first time Frank has played out an issue in the media.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Apr 20, 2008 -> 09:39 AM) So am I correct in saying that Jays are eating like $8 million now to avoid paying his option next year? Yep. That... and not letting an unhappy player issue fester into a bigger clubhouse problem. Lessons learned from the Shea Hillenbrand situation. Sometimes it's better to cut your losses. Frank screwed himself by playing this out through the media.

The Sox and their 4 minor league teams combined for a total of 4 runs tonight???

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 04:17 PM) Ely facing Wieters. My brother's at the game, so I'll have a full recap later tonight. Man, I'm jealous. That would be a fun game to be at. I look to hearing what he has to say.

Wieters got a hit in the first inning, but Ely struck out 2 and got out of the inning without giving up a run.

Charlotte @ Richmond Ohka pitching Birmingham @ West Tennessee Clayton Richard pitching Game Notes (pdf) Frederick @ Winston-Salem John Ely pitching against Jake Arrieta Greensboro @ Kannapolis Jason Rice pitching Game Notes (pdf)

Did the Cubs throw the 1918 Series? Were they the inspiration for the 1919 WhiteSox? http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Anr4...n&type=lgns

QUOTE (danman31 @ Apr 19, 2008 -> 12:06 PM) He's not in the Carolina League. He's in the South Atlantic League. I would argue that major conference college baseball is on par with Low-A ball in a lot of ways. There isn't the same depth in college, but the best of the best dominate A ball right out of school. In his 2nd season he should be doing well in Low A or he truly is a non-prospect. Yeah, I meant South Atlantic League, not Carolina. And no doubt, a talented player should perform well in low-A ball if he's really a prospect. But to dominate the way he has... come on. Plus, this really is his first season. He was a late signee and only pitched 6 innings in 2007. And if turns out he is a 'best of the best' type player... and we got him in the 23rd round... even if he was paid over slot... Kudos to the Sox for a coup.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 18, 2008 -> 10:45 PM) Get yourself a BAC of .158 and I'm sure you can think of a reason or two. LOL. Yeah. Amazing the things that sound like good ideas when your drunk. A bad day on the mound... a high BAC... and a baseball bat in your hands. Sounds like a recipe for a night in jail.

My point was that there is alot of talent all about the same age as Shirek in the Carolina League. I don't think his experience at Nebraska explains why he's dominating this year. The reason he's dominating is because he's throwing an incredible number of strikes (22K's/3BB's) and not walking people. Nothing in his backround suggested that would happen. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/C...ie-Shirek.shtml Hopefully it's the result of development that will allow him to continue to harness the powerful arm he has.