caulfield12

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Apr 4, 2012 -> 06:25 PM) Baseball doesn't have a face. The face of this team will be an inanimate metal sculpture with 25-30 sets of fingerprints on it in October. Only the people who know and appreciate the game and love it would recognize that. And the fans also. All of the blue collar steel workers who take their family of 4 to the game on half price Mondays after a sweaty, grueling, and particularly laborious day at work for minimal pay can appreciate the game. You know, the no bull Chicago tough people who consider -12 degree weather accompanied by snow falling sideways to be shirtless driving weather because their chest hair will insulate them can appreciate the game and be it's face. If you put ketchup on your hot dog kindly give it to them so they can throw it to the ground for the dogs and raccoons. But really, Kenny is 1a Paulie is 1b. Tell that to Jeffrey Loria, they picked Guillen specifically for this reason, the Hispanic market in South Florida, his time coaching with McKeon and Ozzie's already won the "Face of the Franchise" poll in the Miami Herald over any of the players (Hanley, Reyes, Stanton, Josh Johnson). It's telling that Ventura has received zero votes so far, yet Ozzie beats out four superstars in Miami, the ultimate celeb/superstar-driven city after LA and maybe New York.

They're going to end up moving that CF fence in from 418 to closer to 400. They did the same thing at CitiField, I think. Stanton's already lost one homer tonight, and hit another to deep center. This game might have been interesting had the ageless Omar Infante stayed on the bag and tagged out Berkman at 2B when he was trying to stretch it to a double. Freese continuing his clutch, 2-out RBI string from last year's postseason.

Date and target of Ozzie Guillen's first in-season beef May 12, Jeffrey Loria***April 4, The leaping marlins on the home run feature at the new Miami stadium April 27, Carlos Zambrano Bigger number: Ichiro hits or Adam Dunn strikeouts Tie, 199 Ichiro, 201-199 Ichiro, 202-154 Most offensive Tweeter Oney Guillen***Ozzie's first cousin, twice removed***Jose Canseco Sox picked 5th twice, and 4th once, yikes, oh well....nothing new this offseason. Dunn dark-horse candidate for most homers, Addison Reed for AL ROY http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Aj.g...dictions_040412

QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Apr 4, 2012 -> 08:31 AM) Cast aside those wicked and ungrateful, for theirs my kingdom is not. Their families have been spared the dishonour of begging for scraps off my table and as a result have grown fat and complacent in their capricious lives. They bask in the warmth of my kindness, the warmth of ten thousand suns. Forthwith, refresh their old posts with those eager to harvest thine crops for their hands will be the tools used to rebuild thine kingdom. Some of those teams (especially on the 25-30 list) are teams that have been pointed to as either rebuilding, or have shed so much salary that they may as well be. A highly ranked farm system must be tended to properly, but even then, it will only be one of the ingredients needed for big league success. It has has been demonstrated over the years that while it certainly makes things easier, it isn't a requirement for winning- In fact, some of the teams with the best farm systems have notably been in the picture but were unable to finish the job. Or haven't been in the picture at all. Please, don't make me think of that horrid movie, YOUR HIGHNESS, again!!! I have a relatively small aspiration for the next 12 months. If we're at least 10 places higher than the Chicago Cubs coming into 2013, something positive will have to have happened.

Marlins Park, which followed the model set in Houston, is the only retractable-roof sports venue in the state and one of fewer than 50 in the world. The roof has three panels — the two lower panels span 530 feet and the upper panel spans 566 feet — that role along rails similar to a train. To close, the roof slides east. When it’s open, it rests above the West Plaza, which is the size of 3 1/2 football fields and serves as an entertainment area with music and other activities before and after games. High efficiency Driven by 76 high-efficiency electric motors, the roof is considered one of the fastest, sliding along at 39 feet per minute, thanks to 44 transporters with 96 total wheels. It uses less than $10 worth of electricity to open and close and takes roughly 13 minutes to open and close. The roof mechanization system is designed to travel about 2,000 miles throughout its life — a flight from Miami to Denver or a little more than four round trips to Havana. Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/04/2730...l#storylink=cpy

Found this in an old article about "Face of the Franchise," which named Guillen and Buehrle. Pretty hilarious. Mark Buehrle is the face of the White Sox ... for the time being. However, anybody who holds this title is only keeping the seat warm for Aaron Rowand, if he returns next year. He is to Sox fans what Ditka was to the SNL Superfans. Even while Jim Thome hit 42 homers in 2006, fans deplored the trade on every call-in show, online forum, letter to the editor, etc. It doesn't matter how Thome hits; as far as Sox fans are concerned, a lineup of nine miniature Rowands would go 162-0. He'd be the first outfielder credited with saves, because he wouldn't let any rocket shots allowed by Sox relievers to drop. He'd heal banged-up teammates by running into them, full-bore. Don't ask me how. Buehrle shares a lot of the same qualities, and re-signing with the Sox and bypassing the open market means more to Sox fans than he knows. But if Rowand returns, he'll take back the belt, no question. Made me return to the days of Rowand, Crede and even Brian Anderson worship. I wouldn't be surprised if casual baseball fans still thought of Ozzie Guillen more than anyone else with the Sox. Maybe it would be more interesting if it was "who do you think it will be in 2017?" but then you'd just be guessing between names like Viciedo, Sale, Beckham, Morel, Molina, etc.

THE "FACE" OF THE MIAMI MARLINS IS...: ESPN named the "face" of every MLB franchise and for the Marlins it was manager Ozzie Guillen. ("Sounds like a poll!," I thought to myself. The timing is right, with the Marlins hosting the Yankees Sunday and again last night at the new ballpark prior to Wednesday's historic Opening Day). I can see the choice of Guillen but for me the current face of the franchise probably is Hanley Ramirez. How about for you? Use your own definition of what the "face of a franchise" even means. Is it always the biggest star? Is it the person who best represents the team? Is longevity a factor? For me it is the person who comes to mind first when you think "Marlins." And for me the face of a franchise demands a national perspective, not just local. What would a baseball fan in New York, Lawrence (KS) or California say? Then again I'm more interested in what Marlins fans think. The list is alphabetical, and apologies for initially having "Mike" Stanton instead of Giancarlo. Old habits, ya know? Vote and say why. Read more here: http://blogs.herald.com/random_evidence/20...l#storylink=cpy

Too bad we can't market Thornton as a closer unless his FB is back in the mid 90's again.

Back to playing Lillibridge more in the OF again to get some AB's. Something of a homecoming for Humber and Dunn, their families must have accounted for 1/5th the attendance Tuesday night.

Jayson Werth will be 38 when his deal expires, you have to put that one right up there with one of the potentially worst.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-001343182.html http://www.avclub.com/chicago/articles/exc...rtman-in,71830/

There's the patented Beckham RCF liner. The pitch before, had his typical troubles with the high fastball he can't seem to lay off or get on top of (few can). Morel not having one of his better days. Nationals sent down John Lannan, that's a pretty big surprise, especially with Chien Min Wang on the DL.

If Jones can just keep his walk rate down, he could really be something. Of course, you could say that with 90% of power bullpen arms, but his secondary pitches have been impressive, as he has 19 K's in just over 10 innings pitched now. Struck out the side, not exactly economical with his pitches and working fast (same problem with Sale), but it is his first time pitching in a big league stadium. You can also see his three pitches that he used when he was starting. 93-97 MPH straight fastball, 85-87 MPH power curve/slurve and then an 83-85 MPH change-up. He's going to get a lot of K's with that off-speed stuff if he can get ahead in counts.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 07:23 PM) Paulie says Dunn what Dunn says mine was 75 feet longer and that he supplied all the power. Patented Alex Rios 6-4-3 GIDP to dampen my enthusiasm for 2012, lol. I have a feeling that Ventura won't stick with Rios for months and months. He's already moved him down in the line-up from his original projection of Rios as a 3rd hitter. Things are workable if Dunn and Beckham hits, because either Fukudome or Lillibridge could get hot and carry the team for 2-3 weeks.

430 foot homer by Adam Dunn almost to straightaway CF over the grassy berm. BTW, our old friend Jack Cust was released by the Astros. Problem is that he has the same issue as Dan Johnson/Conor Jackson as far as having a place on the roster as currently comprised. Hopefully that happens a lot this season, back-to-back homers with Konerko. That's Paulie's first of the spring, right? Or 2nd?

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 07:09 PM) That hit could've been caught 3 times. DeAza's lucky that the pitcher deflected it or he would been out at 1st. Not that it matters now anyway. Ventura apparently won't name his closer until Friday, if he does it then. Chris Sale quietly finding his rhythm. Most AZ/FL games have a lot more excitement than this one....but that's what happens when you have a small crowd in a big major league stadium. Nothing was worse than 5,000 or so fans in the old Cleveland Memorial stadium on the lake. That was like going to a funeral in the 1980's. Interesting, the Astros will have 1960's, 70's, 80's, 90's, 00's and 10's themed fireworks throughout the season, to go along with the 50 year anniversary of the team and some of the guest appearances from former stars. Good idea, not to be so repetitive/redundant.

Rare 1-4-3 DP when the runner (Ramirez) was going on the pitch. Supposedly this Rhiner Cruz guy (Rule 5 pick) can throw 100 MPH but we haven't seen it yet. Just had a thought of who Morel reminds me of, the actor Edward Burns, a little bit.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 06:55 PM) it was an infield single. As soon as the ball squirted past Altuve into short RCF, it's a play 90-95% of MLB runners have to score on because the fielder's running away from the plate to retrieve the ball and having to turn around and plant/throw back to the plate with no momentum.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Apr 3, 2012 -> 06:42 PM) Nice hustle by Dayan to score that second run That, and he has to be running with 2 outs anyway.

Lucas Harrell made the Astros as the 5th starter over Livan Hernandez. This has to be the most unrecognizable MLB team in recent history, outside of Carlos Lee. Three K's in a row now for Chris Sale, seeming to get the feel for that change-up.

Wow, there's absolutely nobody there. No surprise, Sale's throwing 93-94 instead of 95-98, but he obviously has to pace himself more as a starter. The key's always going to be that slider. Seems he was throwing a lot of off-speed stuff that inning. Chris can't throw 15-25 pitches per inning or it will tax the pen. Great play by Alexei Ramirez or the damage would have been worse than 1 run. Made a diving stop and them threw out the runner from the seat of his pants with a one hop throw. Viciedo's finally up to .200 for the spring.

It basically summarizes where the major league team is at the end of the preceding year, and I would suppose gives a boost to those teams who made significant offseasons additions like the Marlins. "They were able to turn Jose Contreras into a useful pitcher for a couple of seasons." You think? He was only the most dominant pitcher in baseball from July/August 2005 through May of 2006, when he got injured, and perhaps the most important key to their World Series title on the pitching staff. "Williams also should have shown more patience with Javier Vazquez and Nick Swisher — both of whom were shipped out for virtually no return." Getting back Lillibridge and Flowers (if he manages to become the full-time starting catcher) wasn't bad at all, because there was no way he was going to stay on the 2009 team. In many ways, it was just a salary dump. If they want to complain about specific deals, it should be trading for Teahen, extending him, trading Hudson/Holmberg for Edwin Jackson, then dumping Teahen and Edwin Jackson for practically nothing.

So do Rios and Dunn.

"They're getting paid a lot of money to perform," Guillen said. "If they cannot play, somebody will play. They make the lineup. I write it down, and [bench coach] Joey Cora prints it. That's what we do here. If you play good, you make the lineup. If you do not play good, somebody will make the lineup. We'll put in somebody else. This is not an easy job." Had to chuckle about that line. As far as Yankees' fans, you have all the transplanted Northerners who retire in FL, PLUS the fact that the Yankees have always made their spring training home in the state as well as the fact that the Steinbrenner family is from Tampa. Lots of ties to the region. Yankees will always be the biggest draw on the road in MLB, for the foreseeable future.

Probably in 2004 when Takatsu slinging 67 MPH frisbees was the last time the bullpen velocity was down a bit... Yeah, we all remember Nick Masset was supposed to be another high 90's guy when he came over with the Rangers. And ironically, MacDougal and Aardsma (til he got injured) righted their careers after their time on the SouthSide. Bullpens are SO hit and miss, although if you stockpile a bunch of talented arms, odds are something positive's gonna happen eventually down there.