ThunderBolt

Two great offensive attacks. Who will draw first blood?

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 08:47 PM) of course, this is what I want. To push up to around .500 and float around there being vaguely competitive only to lose the division by 8-10 games but be able to say we had another winning record. I have a sick feeling that we're going to do just this.

Rios has such a sweet swing. I even enjoy watching him fly out.

HE GAWN.

Gavin is a stone cold ass-kicker tonight.

Jones will not be winning Comeback Player of the Year, this year.

Hahahaa, Gavin's "injury" was that he swallowed his gum during his follow through.

Nice, quick inning from Gavin.

Beckham somehow looks worse on national TV.

Ted Lilly is clearly happy that AJ is still here.

Yeah, Gavin is fine.

Uh-oh, Herm sighting.

Matchup of two great curve balls.

TCU clinches and is going to go to Omaha. A part of me really wants UCLA to go on so we can see a Purke-Cole matchup.

I'm not pleased to see AJ in there. Though there's still a chance something can be worked out during the game, i won't get my hopes up. Otherwise, Let's kick some Cubs ass!

That's a fantastic post, Kalapse. Nice work.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 02:14 PM) Phegley has basically no shot of ever being a major leaguer Oh, i know. He's very sick and when he's not sick he's very bad. I just added him in for dramatic effect. We need to give Flowers a shot.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 01:49 PM) Any chance AJ comes back next year on a cheap two year deal to split C/DH duties with Flowers? AJ is not going to come back here to split duties with Tyler Flowers. He's not the mentoring type. I suspect if we resign AJ, Tyler will be traded. And then we can all cross our fingers that Phegley or Miguel Gonzalez meets the Ozzie stamp of approval.

Even if the power doesn’t completely translate, you’ve still got a guy with a better approach to the plate then AJ, more power, and the actual ability to throw out base runners. If we’re not going to reward people who perform in the minors, because we’re afraid of failure, we might as well abolish the minor league system. There’s no argument here.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 01:35 PM) Do we know which Sox pitcher will face Strasburg next weekend? It looks like Floyd or Danks.

Hafner hits a 99 MPH fastball tailing in out to RF.

QUOTE (South Side Fireworks Man @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 01:24 PM) LOL! That reminds me of the time in I think 2006 when Ross Gload was finally recalled after publicly stating his disappointment of being left in AAA even though he was hitting well down there. He comes in as a pinch hitter and on the first pitch hits a ball deep to the opposite field which was caught on the warning track in LF. Hawk announcing the game comments, "Well, I guess that's a home run in Charlotte." Anyway, hitting in a band box in Charlotte against AAA pitching is not quite the same as hitting at the Cell against Major League pitching. Here are the dimensions for Knight Stadium in Charlotte: Left Field — 326 feet Center Field — 400 feet Right Field — 325 feet Here are the ones for the CELL: Left Field - 330 feet (101 m) Left-Center - 375 feet (114 m) Center Field - 400 feet (122 m) Right-Center - 375 feet (114 m) Right Field - 335 feet (102 m) Backstop - 60 feet (18 m) Outfield Wall Height - 8 feet (2 m) That combined 14 feet from all sides of the field, is not going to kill his power.

If the Nats get Wang and Detwiler back and actually look for a RF on the market, they could stick around in this division for a bit.

QUOTE (daggins @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 12:52 PM) Most of what i've heard about Flowers is that he is slow and awkward behind the plate due to his size. Haven't heard anything about his game calling but he does have a strong arm. Read this article: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...sp&c_id=cws Some choice sections: The best way [to get to know a new player] is to sit back and watch and see what he does -- how he moves, how he receives, his footwork and all that," said Orton. "When he came over, people were saying he was a little rough defensively, but I tried to put that out of my mind so I could see for myself and not have any preconceived judgments "My first impression was, 'Wow, this kid has good hands!" Orton said. "And that's big for me, because you can work to get better with that, but a kid has to have good hands to start with to be able to catch in the big leagues." "I watched him as we did our drills, plays at the plate, blocking balls in the dirt, footwork drills," Orton said. "And he was so athletic in all those areas that I knew at that point it was just going to be minor adjustments and working with him about the 'other' side of catching, handling the pitching staff." And: "The more I see him catch, the more I'm impressed with his demeanor with the pitching staff, and in fact I'm jealous in a way that I didn't have that same demeanor when I caught," said Orton, who spent five seasons in the big leagues. "He's really involved with them and has a good feel for pitchers' different personalities. He seems to work well with all of them."

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 13, 2010 -> 12:57 PM) agreed! Flowers is hitting for huge power this season...a HR every 14.5 ABs I don't think that matters to a lot of people. There's a mentality that if you weren't here in 2005, you have nothing to offer this organization in the future..