TruffleShuffle

sabathia doesn't have that problem, he just eats the donut.

like 90% of the league has this problem. i hate it. i'd rather see a guy pitch to contact or throw close balls on an 0-2 count than throw the classic face-high fastball or 58-foot slider that only about 3 major leaguers would ever swing at.

season over

gidp plz

the brewers, with sabathia on the mound, getting swept by dusty baker's reds... that would be awesome

cubs are hitting like .370 when putting the first pitch of the AB in play.

so basically carlos marmol's terrible stretch has been the equivalent of your $10M closer's entire season.

blanco against anyone is uggggh. soto can't play every game.

Holy overreaction, Batman. Neither Lilly nor Marquis even come remotely close to "brutal." Both have winning records and ERAs of around 4.50 (Marquis slightly below, Lilly a little higher). Both have some starts that are stinkers, but neither has numbers out of line for a 4th or 5th starter.Seriously? You are using W-L record as an evaulation of a pitcher? Is that still allowed? he also used ERA, neither of theirs' are bad. a sane person realizes that jason marquis and ted lilly have not been brutal. They have been pretty close, and while they may hack it as #4 or #5 starters on alot of teams, a great team(aka...this team) should aim higher. If Rich Hill can revert back to his 2007 self, I much rather have him as the # 4 starter. everyone would prefer last year's hill to marquis. but take a look around the league - who would you consider a great team? red sox: #4 - tim wakefield... okay yes he's got a 3.60 ERA, 1.177 WHIP and 120 ERA+ this year, but he's basically been a league-average pitcher the four years before this one. #5 - clay buchholz - 5.70 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 76 ERA+ (since has been injured and replaced by justin masterton) tampa bay: #4 - andy sonnanstine... 4.58 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 90 ERA+ #5 - edwin jackson... 3.93 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 105 ERA+ angels: #4 - jered weaver... 4.03 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 103 ERA+ #5 - jon garland... 4.20 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 98 ERA+ i mean, look back at some really good teams. 2004 yankees? won 101 games; jose contreras had a 5.64 ERA and javier vasquez was at 4.91. 2004 red sox? derek lowe had a 5.42 ERA and tim wakefield was, as mentioned, league-average. the idea that the starting rotations of great teams are filled with #1-#2 types, with maybe a good #3 in there too, is a fallacy.

i think your attitude is pretty condescending... it smacks of "the pirates suck so why get excited?" they don't have much to celebrate, but they've had some nice come-from-behind wins this year, and this was a great win that anyone should be excited about. and yes, the pirates' fan base is pretty apathetic right now, but remember how sparse the cubs' crowds got in 2006 when they were terrible? that was the second losing season in a row; the pirates have had 15, and the organization frequently gives away its best players (thanks for aramis btw) because they're a small market team. also, they say "raise the jolly roger" after every win.

i support this idea.

livan hernandez is on pace to give up almost 300 hits :shock: :shock: that's not good.

zambrano produces offense from a position that normally gets next to no offense, so those 54 ABs have been more valuable than 54 ABs of, say, a LF producing an .833 OPS. VORP: Zambrano: 36.8 pitching + 10.1 hitting = 46.9 Dempster: 27.6 pitching + 1.9 hitting = 29.5 Lee: 27.8 Soto: 27.1 ARam: 26.3 lee being ahead of soto and aram seems a little weird to me, though.

Holy overreaction, Batman. Neither Lilly nor Marquis even come remotely close to "brutal." Both have winning records and ERAs of around 4.50 (Marquis slightly below, Lilly a little higher). Both have some starts that are stinkers, but neither has numbers out of line for a 4th or 5th starter.Seriously? You are using W-L record as an evaulation of a pitcher? Is that still allowed? he also used ERA, neither of theirs' are bad. a sane person realizes that jason marquis and ted lilly have not been brutal.

can't take a joke annnnnnnnnnnnnd it's official, no sense of humor

If there's one thing about baseball, it's that "emotional" wins or losses are quickly forgotten by the next game. the starting pitcher is the most important factor in any given baseball game, and he doesn't participate in the game before the one that he pitches. so really, there's no momentum for him, so if he throws well, they'll probably win.

oh also, the handicap system at the penn state white course pisses me off to no end. the "easiest" hole on the course is a 180 yard par 3, which i've probably played 30 times and parred maybe 2 or 3 times. i think they do their handicap system based on all players - so if you're like my roommate and you shoot a 150, of course you're going to do better on a par 3 than a par 5, since it's much shorter and most of the time you're making lousy contact. but i probably average about a 4.25-4.5 on that par 3, but some of the easier par 5's on the course i probably average about 5.5. i am virtually worthless on long par 3's - long being anything over about 170. if it's farther than 170, then i have to hit a 5 iron - and my low irons are terrible - or try to hit a three-quarters 5 wood, which i'm also really lousy at. i can hit my 5 wood great with a full swing, but it goes like 210, and most of the longer par 3's are in the 180-190 range.

Its easy to learn. Hard to get any good at. Don't be discouraged by shooting 120+ if you have never played before. if you've never played before, i'll be amazed if you shoot under 120. hell i was on the golf team in high school and averaged like a 58 for 9 holes my freshman year, and that was playing almost every day. i also had a tremendous slice though, and 5 of the 9 holes had OB on the right side :x by senior year i was down to a 41 average, though. also, i need to get my clubs regripped. i just bought a house, so a new set golf clubs are not really an excusable expenditure at this point.

his first 6 years were really awesome, but he's struggled this year. maybe it's hard for those small-frame guys to pitch for a long time.

izzy has to be about done, right? i don't know what situation the cards can use him in. and chris perez looks a lot like farnsworth to me. very fast fastball, but it's also very straight, and he doesn't have much of a secondary arsenal.

i live in a pittsburgh market... i'm pretty sure they've been silent for the past 10 years just to dump it all into this game. usually they're as quiet as hawk when the white sox are losing. http://www.fangraphs.com/lgraphs/280712123_Cardinals_Pirates_92665875_lbig.png

cubs gain a game on both teams!!! http://75.125.185.66/forums/images/smilies/aah.gifhttp://75.125.185.66/forums/images/smilies/aah.gifhttp://75.125.185.66/forums/images/smilies/aah.gifhttp://75.125.185.66/forums/images/smilies/aah.gifhttp://75.125.185.66/forums/images/smilies/aah.gifhttp://75.125.185.66/forums/images/smilies/aah.gif

the pirates tv announcers have never, ever made as much noise as they did just now. HAHA

i would still like to know why the hell chavez is in the game for laroche

i liked it better when troy glaus had declining production and got hurt all the time.