BearSox

I was so close to Veteran status too before my ps3 took a powder. I had won 10 out of my last 11 (vs. mainly vets and a couple guys who were close to vet status), was 2-3 games away from vet status, and was all ready for a Saturday filled with MLB The Show online... So sad! I am sick at pitching, but like you, my hitting leaves something to be desired. However, I have been getting better recently and have been raising my average and averaged around 3-5 runs a game in my hot streak. Also, I realized I don't K a lot, maybe 5 times a game at the most. My lineup was pretty solid... 1. Pods, CF (the majority of the time I led off the game with a bunt single) 2. Ramirez, SS 3. Fields, LF (I purposely put Fields here because I like to waste my first inning and get easy outs just in case I face an ass who quits if he gives up a run in the first, and he's a good hitter in the game) 4. Thome, DH 5. Konerko, 1B 6. Dye, RF 7. Pierzynski, 3B (he's really good defensively at 3B in the game, but lacks range) 8. Castro, C 9. Beckham/Getz, 2B

I'm thinking about doing some manual fixes that I find online... since my warranty is already expired, it shouldn't matter if I break the warranty seal, right?

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) He's basically an obvious platoon guy. Has a .823 OPS against righties and only a .505 OPS against lefties. So you'd hope a guy like BA could platoon with him, but BA hits lefties worse (which has been a constant struggle for him throughout his career). Depending on the price, I'd still look into it though. BA was solid in a platoon role last year. Well, looking at the splits, the numbers aren't all that great but he showed a lot of pop vs. lefties with 8 homers in 80 AB's. I could live with a platoon of Ankiel and BA in CF until Danks is ready.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jun 20, 2009 -> 01:49 PM) I still say some of you are in a dream world regarding Jose. He's not going to bring anything decent in return. I give him credit for his performance of late. But No GM is going to give up anything but crap for him. At this point, I wouldn't mind a trade or two but Jose isn't going to bring us squat. Look at the Brewers rotation. You telling me they wouldn't love to get Contreras? If Contreras keeps pitching like he has, hell, even like he did last night, we'll be able to get something for him. The Brewers could really use a pitcher like Contreras and they might be willing to give up struggling prospect Jeremy Jeffress.

f*** you gamestop, why in f*** did I pay 70 bucks for a PRP that only lasted a year??? What the f*** was I thinking??? f*** YOU GAMESTOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If we could get a couple top prospects for Jenks, you do it. Jenks will be looking for a whole lot of money, he's an injury risk, and his stuff has been getting less effective. Also, there have been plenty of reports that say Houton Street is more valuable than Matt Holliday right now. And I'd say Jenks could bring more back than Street can.

It's officially dead. Now, the decision is to spend 150 to get a refurbished one or get a 360 for college and wait to one day play ps3 once again. :( RIP 60 GB PS3... 12/27/06 - 6/20/09 However, I might have found some good news... I have a receipt from my original purchase and it turns out I did purchase a product return plan. However, I have no idea how long it lasts. If it last 3 years or longer, I think I might be safe. However, if it is less than 3 years, FML.

Not to impressed with what I saw of Gamel. I like him, but he isn't a guy I'd be buying high on.

I think my PS3 died... I searched the problem online and it's called the yellow light of death Looks like I will now be ps3-less cause I think my warranty is out and sony wants 150 bucks to replace it

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 09:12 PM) I don't believe that Alaska is out of the cold. Perhaps you should check out the Baja Peninsula/Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. There are some awesome beaches, nice little towns, and outside of a motor race, it's pretty quiet on the coast. I said out in the cold, not out of the cold

I say wait to see how the whole on the verge of bankruptcy thing pans out first.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 09:01 PM) Paulie belted a hard FB, that alone should tell us he's okay to turn and rip a pitch. Last year when he was in his funk he'd have had no shot at hitting that type of pitch (even though it was a cookie the velocity would have killed his thumb). It didn't matter if that fastball was 150 mph, it wouldn't hurt. There's something special about hitting a ball on the sweet spot of the bat, you don't feel a thing.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 10:18 PM) Why can't we just say that he's a Boras client with an expiring contract who hasn't been very good this season? The Boras client thing shouldn't be a big issue as Ankiel isn't gonna be receiving a big payday. Holliday, etc., yeah, it's a bigger issue. But right now, especially with this economy, Boras clients like Ankiel won't be breaking the bank... and like you said, he isn't having a great season.

QUOTE (scenario @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 10:11 PM) So... help me out here. I'm willing to be influenced. What do you know about his pitch recognition, strike-zone management, and hand-eye coordination? Where do you get that information from? And how many times have you actually seen him play? I'm sorry, but I absolutely hate this argument. Most of us have seen very little of him, and everything is based on stats, scouting reports, and shot clips or a game or two in ST we saw them in. It's mainly opinion at this point. You disagree, fine, I really don't care. However, it'd make a lot more sense if you went with an argument involving stats, referencing scouting reports, and the little you have seen of him. The argument saying "how many times have you actually seen him play" is crap unless your JPN and have seen about half of his games this year.

Does anyone in Obama's administration pay taxes? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/us/19mar..._r=2&ref=us

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 09:32 PM) Why the Hell would we want to rely on private insurers who's goals have nothing to do with the quality of care and have everything to do with maximizing their profits? Yeah, like Politicians really care about the people..... NOT. I'm sorry, but I'll trust private insurers over most politicians.

Um, how about... 1.) Extremely long wait times 2.) Immense costs 3.) Rationed care 4.) Why in hell should we have to rely on politicians for our health care? And according to studies, nationalizing healthcare will increase our depth by at least 1 trillion dollars and reduce the number of uncovered people from 46 to 39. Yeah, I'll pass.

Some place out in the cold and secluded where I can mind my own business and don't have to worry about anyone else or any undesirables in the area. Maybe somewhere in Alaska in the middle of nowhere in a nice log cabin.

At this point, who cares? There's MUCH bigger issues the media needs to be covering.

Yeah, cause a single payer system has worked in so many countries, and England was a great example!

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 05:28 PM) Jerry Owens has very good range in the outfield. He was a +11 in Plus/Minus in 2007 in center field, which made him one of the leaders that year among all center fielders. So it's not only UZR saying he's a good outfielder. Sabermetric defensive stats make sense a lot of the time. Sure, we all think that Brian Anderson is god in center field (including myself), but are we there to watch every single play of every single team other than the White Sox? Obviously, no. That's how Plus/Minus is calculated. They watch every single play of the season and give players a rating. UZR is somewhat similar, it just has a lot of different variables in it. Most of the time, UZR and Plus/Minus correlate a lot. I like to think that Plus/Minus is a great system and if it's a great system and UZR usually shows the same results, then UZR is also a trustworthy stat. I would use Plus/Minus more often, but UZR updates every day. I need to pay to see Plus/Minus and it comes out after the season is pretty much over. If you're wondering what factors go into UZR - look here. Jerry Owens was one of the worst defensive outfielders I've seen, and no stat is gonna convince me other wise.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 07:23 PM) Offer to send Linebrink back to the NL. Tell him it's easier there. Linebrink for Ankiel anyone? If they took on the rest of Linebrink's contract, hell yes.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 02:24 PM) Saying that the Reds have been brutal offensively is being too kind. Willy Taveras is 1 for his last 46? WTF? I don't know what the hell is wrong with Jay Bruce. Other than Brandon Phillips, there's nobody doing a thing for them offensively. Laynce Nix has been money for them this season (although by looking at his stats, he's seemed to have really cooled down in the past month).

QUOTE (GreatScott82 @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 03:45 PM) Yep. Beckham is starting to find his rythm out there. I've actually been more and more impressed by Getz also. If those 2 could all of a sudden start getting on base we could be a dangerous team in the 2nd half- esspecially with the way our starting pitching is going. (wow, never thought i'd say that) Getz has been coming up with big hit after big hit lately.

QUOTE (beck72 @ Jun 19, 2009 -> 04:19 PM) Lately, I've heard Hawk and Stoney dog Alexei, saying how he plays deep in the hole even in double play situations, that he runs across the bag out of control, etc. Hawk mentioned yesterday that "In my 40 years of baseball, I've never seen a guy play that deep of SS". Kind of exasperated. I'm just saying. Alexei just doesn't have much baseball IQ or he's not focusing on the game for some reason. What really pissed me off yesterday was how he completely bailed at 2B because he was scared of getting hit and dropped the feed. No harm was done that inning, but come on, show some balls, stay in there, and get the out. That could have been a very costly mistake, but Floyd got around it. Also, what's up with him lobbing the ball every time to 1B? He's come very close to throwing away a lot of balls the past year. Oh, and he has absolutely no communication with the other infielders and even the outfielders. Was it yesterday where we had the play at 3B and Alexei cut the ball off for some reason? And then you got those shallow fly balls where he doesn't back away when the CF calls him off. And offensively, it seems like the 20+ homers he hit last year got him in a bad habit. His approach last year was awesome, he got up there looking to hit and hit the ball hard somewhere. This year, all he is doing is swinging from his heels and trying to drop some bombs into the bleachers. It's very frustrating when a player that talented is playing well below his capabilities.