TruffleShuffle

the marlins

mcnutt is already getting knocked around - double, single, double :( burgess has another home run for daytona, his 6th. he might be another guy who could use the sink or swim treatment at a higher level.

the point remains that any tournament-style playoff does not necessarily determine the best team in the sport. if you want to do that, just take the best regular season record, adjust for opponent strength, and award the #1 team the championship.

that's a lot of stats. RsBi are just a consequence of who's on base (except for home runs). hit a triple with the bases loaded, 3 RsBI. hit a triple with the bases empty, 0.

yes, but what is dugan fife up to?

snip i assume you watched the game, correct? oh this was kind of funny/dirty: http://yfrog.com/47hycvz I have seen both sequences in full, several times. And watched it again as I am typing this. Carcillo took a little shove near the crease, and Miller gave him a shove/swing. He didn't get hit in the face, Carcillo faked it, and then pretended to be knocked out/flopped, before collapsing into the crease. As for Richards, you cannot seriously think popping an elbow that high is simply "bracing" himself. he got hit in the face by miller and the other guy also grabbed him about the head. carcillo was called for roughing; he didn't do anything during that play that would justify a roughing call. if you think he was faking it, then you call him for diving. you can't call a player for something he didn't do. i should clarify on richards that he did peek over his shoulder and get his elbow up, and he hit kaleta in the face, so a penalty was justified there. but 5 minutes was a terrible call. if that's 5 minutes then every elbowing penalty should be automatic 5 minutes. and part of the frustration is the fact that kunitz' flying elbow, an attempt to injure if there ever was one, is assessed as a two minute minor while richards gets 5. you might as well just not have rules if you're going to apply them so arbitrarily.

http://www.labsafety.com/images/xl/Smith-and-Wesson-Magnum-LSS-_i_3WLL9_AS01.jpg i assume you watched the game, correct? oh this was kind of funny/dirty: http://yfrog.com/47hycvz

only if you're jumping on it because he's one of the younger players in his league and has shown excellent hitting skills and defensive ability, not because he's been hot for two weeks.

Given how weak the AA bullpen has been, I'd think it won't be too long or too hard for him to get the promotion. I admit I was pretty surprised he returned to A. That said, the guy has been on an improvement trajectory, at least when we compare 2008 - 09/10 - now. Maybe the improvement from 09 to 10 wasn't that much (although his ERA did drop a bunch, while he was being promoted to Daytona, and his K-rate rose some too.) 2008: 29/35/59 walks/innings/K's 2009: 45/97/117 2010: 29/64/97 2011: 1/9/14 thus far Basically his walk rate has gone from horrific-bad-bad-good (thus far). It's too early to know if it's sustainable, but this could be the first year where his walk/inning ratio is much more favorable than 1/2, which is pretty bad even if way better than his rookie year. If he can get the walks down, or keep them down as he's done so far this month, then he's going to go places. Who knows, maybe he was challenged last year and this that he needed to reduce those walks to go to AA, and now he's finally able to do that? a walk rate of around 4 (2009/2010) is not a big deal if you can strike out anywhere from 11 to 13 guys per 9 IP and keep your hits down (as he does).

wouldn't mind seeing jackson at AAA not too far from now, just to see some crafty junkballers. he seems to be handling AA without much difficulty, and his greatest weakness - striking out - is not going to be "fixed" at AA (or probably anywhere, given his patient approach - you take the K's with the walks and power). beliveau needs to be at AA. i don't think anyone in the cub organization seems to be high on him, but he just strikes people out and doesn't give up many hits. at least give him a shot at a higher level.

in tonight's action, dan carcillo gets repeatedly punched in the face by ryan miller and another sabre player, which results in coincidental minors. then mike richards braces himself for a check from patrick kaleta, clips him with an elbow, and gets a 5 minute major. maybe the nba isn't the only north american sports league that's rigged? :-k and in related news, this is only a two minute minor:

i guess the padres figure since they can't hit for power at all, they might as well just try to steal every time they get on base.

:x

he's fine against LH batters but against RH batters it's bombs away.

lake and ha had doubles in the bottom of the first for daytona, and burgess hit his fifth home run. now if only burgess would start developing some other tools.

i wonder if he's getting tired of the mendoza line.

K. Fukudome rf D. Barney 2b S. Castro ss A. Ramirez 3b C. Pena 1b A. Soriano lf G. Soto c R. Johnson cf J. Russell p

maybe the tyra banks show has an ironclad contract.

a GOOD righty, too! not one of these carlos silva righties.

no, he is really really terrible.

i loved the look on gregerson's face, like he couldn't believe that an effective relief pitcher like him could give up a walkoff home run to a hitter as bad as reed johnson.

time to watch the cubs flail at borderline strikes that the padres have been laying off because the ump has a small strike zone.

would that mound visit be a bad time for riggins to advise samardzija that he should've gone to the nfl instead?

has greg maddux been pitching this game? the padres are just running at will.

samardzija would actually be pretty good if he could throw the ball where he aims it.