caulfield12

And about 20+ GM's missed on picking Mike Trout, too. It happens. Sale had frame/durability/mechanics concerns, whether he could stand up to being a starter long-haul, and signability issues as well. Lots of factors at play. By Evan Grant/Blogger egrant@dallasnews.com 11:31 pm on July 3, 2012 | PermalinkCHICAGO – Scatterblogging while wondering whatever happened to Fred Manrique: • Where do you start on RHP Roy Oswalt’s outing?It was ugly beyond belief. Three homers to the first five batters. 13 hits for the second consecutive start (becoming the first MLB pitcher to allow 13 or more hits in consecutive starts since Livan Hernandez did it for Minnesota in 2008). Balls hit so hard that they left dents and divots all over the stadium. Oswalt said he tried to work the corners of the strike zone more than he had in his first two starts, but found out quickly that home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor wasn’t going to give him the edges. “I had to get on the same page,” Oswalt said. “I didn’t want to walk guys.” The thought here is if Oswalt gave up on the strike zone, he gave up awfully early. Potentially more plausible theory: He is still adjusting to life against AL lineups. Leave the ball in the middle of the plate and you will get punished badly in the AL; leave it on the inner or outer third and you are still likely to get hit. It requires really quality strikes and it may take Oswalt a couple of more outings to refine his command in order to do it. • RHP Yoshinori Tateyama was overmatched again, which is becoming a common theme when he pitches. But to ask him to pitch long relief is miscasting the guy. He’s fairly successful, actually quite successful, against right-handed hitters (or he had been until Tuesday). He should never be allowed to face lefties. He faced two of them on Tuesday, walking Adam Dunn intentionally and giving up a three-run, no-doubt homer to A.J. Pierzynski. He’s given up 12 homers in his big league career, 11 of them to lefties in just 95 at-bats. He should not face lefties. And to pitch long relief requires facing lefties. • At the start of this season, 2B Ian Kinsler looked like a Gold Glove caliber fielder. He played the position aggressively and with a purpose. That has drifted somewhat in the last month. Kinsler made his 12th error – and it was a doozy – on Tuesday. That surpasses his 2011 total for the season. And seven of Kinsler’s errors have come since June 1. I’m thinking going to the All-Star Game isn’t what he needs as much as a four-day mental break. The error didn’t change the outcome of the game (the Rangers were already trailing 9-0), but it was a sloppy play in which he simply bobbled a routine ground ball with two outs in the fifth. The White Sox went on to score seven more runs in the inning. • DH Michael Young is now in 0-for-13 slump after going hitless in four at-bats Tuesday. His batting average has dropped to a season-low .266. He looked like he was starting to come out of his funk a week ago. He looked funky as ever on Tuesday. • Looking for a bright spot? Best I can offer is this: SS Elvis Andrus doubled home two runs to keep the game from becoming one of the worst shutout losses in baseball in the last 90 years. He also extended his hitting streak to 10 games. That’s about all I’ve got, unless you want to get vindictive. If so, the Angels lost, failing to gain ground, and starter Dan Haren admitted that he’s got a back problem. He will be checked out in California later this week. • Enjoy your Fourth. If you happen to stumble across 1776 on cable somewhere, watch it. One of my favorite, if not all-time favorite, movies/plays. And the casting: William Daniels (from St. Elsewhere and Boy Meets World among others) as John Adams; Ken “The White Shadow” Howard as Thomas Jefferson. Brilliance. And have a Hebrew National for me.

George Clooney is likeable. Should he be the manager of the Marlins? He also handles interviews quite nicely, and has actually done lots of worthwhile volunteer work around the world.

QUOTE (flavum @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 10:38 PM) Mauer homer. 8-6 Twins That Twins offense isn't a pushover at all. Plouffe and Willingham have been monsters, quietly. Revere is really improving as well. But pitching, pitching, pitching.

That Alex Williams who plays 1B for Bristol (when Barnum's out) looks like a freaking middle linebacker for Ohio State or Michigan.

Tigers on the ropes after being ahead 3-1 and then tying it again at 6-6. Lots of bullpen issues for the Tigers. Mauer and Willingham have been playing extremely well. Plouffe and Revere, too. But pitching, yikes. Mauer just hit his 5th homer. 8-6 Minnesota, Twins still hitting in the top of the 9th. Benoit pulled...really struggling.

30,000+ tonight Should be even better after the offensive blitzkrieg and 4th of July/Fireworks Show tmrw.

Bobby Jenks released by the Red Sox. Greg is okay?

Danks had a cortisone shot yesterday. Still no word on a possible return or prognosis.

Then you end up with someone like that Rosie Victoria's Secret whatever her name is ruining Transformers.... It's one thing to be HOT, it's quite another to be able to act. Jessica Alba was, or used to be SUPER hot, but she still never was a very good actress. Or Jeter's ex, Minka Kelly. Dunst and Stone are much more talented. I just saw this one and while I do prefer the first 2 Maguire/Dunst versions, this one was definitely good, too. Not great, but very good. Worth watching, for sure. It did feel, after only 10 years, like too much of a reimagining of the version we had only a decade ago.

Besides KW, Merkin/Rongey and Paddy, where did the idea that he could be a frontline starter come from? Just based on his control?

Nobody saw the midnight Spider-Man show? Ebert gave it a pretty positive review, said it was the 2nd best of the four most recent ones, behind the #2 Maguire/Dunst/Raimi one (Doc Ock).

For those of you who go to games regularly, has there been any type of "Sale Effect" yet for games he starts?

Phase 3. Skip Spring. Go directly to Summer. Don't pass go. Heat wave will limit the attendance to how many this week, especially the Thursday game?

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jul 2, 2012 -> 05:49 PM) Don't want the 75 million dollar 2-pitch pitcher coming back less than 100%. He needs to be healthy for the 2 pitches to work effectively, specifically spotting the 92mph fastball on the outer half, never daring to throw it inside to good hitters or really any hitters for that matter.. I need him healthy enough to walk 3-6 batters per game consistently too. $65 million, but what another $10 million when it's just pocket change or walking around money for the Sox?

QUOTE (pittshoganerkoff @ Jul 3, 2012 -> 05:09 AM) By that logic, it's pretty obvious that the Royals will make the playoffs. A team should be in or near first place and above .500 to be considered obvious playoff teams. That's not equally obvious? I'm not sure even Greg believes the Royals will finish in first, only that they'll beat up the White Sox (especially at USCF) and finish ahead of us in the standings.

Zach Stewart actually pitched pretty well against Charlotte, from what I heard. Still has that velocity issue, although Jake's convinced he's okay at 88-91 MPH as a starter (if he can get the sinking/pitchfx movement). Mitchell with another o-fer, although he did have 2 walks and 2 runs scored. Down to .255 now.

The Indians need to add another bat, especially with Chisenhall out now. Good that we got Youk when we did or we would have had to up the ante in a bidding war between the two teams. They've still got Hannahan though. Will come down to healthy/"good" Hafner, another OF bat (maybe Quentin, Soriano or a healthy Sizemore, yeah, that's unlikely)....Santana needs to pull his head out of his a-- and live up to his immense potential. That Indians' rotation is still short. Same problem with the Royals (for about 15-20 years).

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Jun 29, 2012 -> 07:42 PM) I've seen him and I'd have to say the White Sox were sold a bill of goods. Wouldn't you say it is pretty likely he hasn't been healthy all season long and was trying to pitch through it? Hence, the diminished K numbers and giving up tons of hits/IP. It's pretty clear his stuff just hasn't been there....the numbers from 2011 compared to 2012 aren't even remotely similar, except the BB/9 ratio. His velocity has been in the 89-92 range this season, compared to the numbers we heard when he was acquired, which were more in the 91-94 range.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/story-of-migu...1sT1Ufgabs5nYcB

Yeah, I wrote a 501c3 way back in 1996...but haven't done it as much recently.

Please don't hit Josh Hamilton. It's probably Marty's plan that we sign him as a free agent after we've traded Viciedo/N.Jones/Mitchell for Greinke.

I would have thought Ozzie Smith in the early point of his career had some really low batting averages as an All-Star, maybe 240's or 250's? 230's?

If you want to see a really good movie about the end of the world, Melancholia is it. Just for the Kirsten Dunst scenes...however, be warned, not exactly a feel good or date movie, unless you've just joined a "end of the world" cult and perhaps believe that December will bring the final curtain down (see Mayan Calendar). And Greg, the other reason Rock of Ages wasn't good was because Julianne Hough also can't sing. The major problem with that movie (in a way, reminiscent of his Frank TJ Mackey character in MAGNOLIA) is that Cruise's character is probably the most interesting in the film, and yet is essentially a supporting actor. When you know exactly how the main two characters will end and don't care one way or the other (just like her prior movies Footloose and Burlesque), well, that's not a good element going in favor of the film having success. Jeff, Who Lives At Home.....worth watching, although definitely kind of a "one note" character for Segel, who needs to expand his repertoire before he becomes a ten year older version of Michael Cena. The Five-Year Engagement wasn't good either, although he's definitely one of the most "in demand" actors these days in terms of being in almost every other movie that comes out. And Ed Helms was a lot less annoying in Cedar Rapids than in this one, where he has zero redeeming characteristics to his name.

It's the curse of Sirotka/Santos.

I'm being a little ambitious to start this now, since I have a new two year contract in China to teach through 2014. Do any of you work in non-profit/501c3/charitable organizations? What are some really good ones that you would recommend in the Chicago area? Is the environment or climate for fundraising/grantwriting getting better (compared to 2008/09) or is it still tough to get money from corporations compared to most of the 90's, at least up until 1998/2001/02/08?