Electron Blue

you mean the ol' soup strainer? http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:EjXNrVNdsREJ::http://southdakotapolitics.blogs.com/south_dakota_politics/images/2007/04/02/nedflanders.jpg

If you've got more great baseball pics, I'd love to see them, OMC. Where did you find all those -- probably just all over the place? The Ruth/Harding one and Mantle/Cobb ones are pretty hilarious.

Without knowing Matsui's tone, in making his remark, I'd guess there's nothing wrong with Greenberg's comment. I mean, really, his point would be that Matsui -- not an english speaker -- is coming down on someone trying to "brisge the gap" or in some way, be more diverse. But really, I doubt anyone was too serious.

cool - a seventh inning stretch I'm actually half-excited to see (not including former ballplayers - those are always cool).

We can be annoyed by the negative circumstances all we want . . . but gems like that, especially the rare CG, are cool. Great job, Demp.

Wink for the cameras, baby! Wink for the cameras!

whew. don't need to worry bout them baserunners now.

:shock: He thinks he's hitting 3.640/3.640/5.230 !!!!

I'd call it "Crasnick moderate Cubs/Sox fan pissing match"

Ever get the feeling that these we're assuming pro athletes have the reasoning abilities of a 2nd grader? Dempster can't accept an off day, Soriano must lead-off or he'll fail, Sosa can't change his spot in the lineup or in the batters' box, "Closer's mentality," etc. Obviously, players are a superstitious, routine-oriented bunch of guys, but are we not giving them enough credit as rational people?

Is he a FA after 08 or 09, can't quite tell? Seems he's probably a FA after 08, which would make the rumor a bit more valid, I suppose. In fact, it would be the face-saving move to unload him for a couple prospects to replace the ones you gave to have-then-lose to begin with.

could a three way involving the orioles net us . . . maybe brian roberts? ;) seriously though, teams don't tend to give up on big name acquisitions too quickly (even if the hesitance is just to save face). What's the M's reasoning. (maybe I should read the article :D . . . on my way now)

Well he can certainly talk the talk to the owners. Whether they give him a chance, and whether he can back it up, is another story. But those are some well-crafted soundbites there; good job, Cuban.

From a broadcasting standpoint, I agree 100%. As a fan though, you have to appreciate his genuine enthusiasm and love for the Cubs. I'm not looking for a great broadcaster in the color man. Harry was the same as Ron. He was a horrible announcer, but he was well loved because it was like one of us was in the booth. He got excited when something great happened and he got pissed when something terrible happened. I didn't like Santo when I first heard him call games on WGN, but he really grew on me. I think he wants this team to win more than all of us combined and I love that. Brenly is boring and unfunny, despite countless attempts at humor. Kaspar may be OK with a different partner, but I doubt it. I didn't like Caray either. I heard some broadcasts of him way back when he first started with the Cubs and earlier, and I was shocked at how good he used to be. We got him at the end of his career when he was way past his prime. I wish you could have heard Harry Caray doing Cardinals games with Jack Buck back in the fifties. You simply would not believe it was the same person. In the 50's, Harry Caray was the quintessential baseball announcer. The guy who came to the CUBS in '82 was a bad caricature of that announcer who then began to degenerate into buffoonery. While I was never a big fan of Harry's during his years with the CUBS, I have to give him credit where it's due. His enthusiasm for baseball in general and the CUBS in particular was genuine and unparalleled. I don't believe the braintrust at WGN ever considered that hiring Harry Caray would be a good thing because of Caray's great broadcasting talent and knowledge of the game, but rather, because he could stir up the fans like few others ever have, and they could use that to sell their product. The same argument, to a lesser degree, can be made about Ron Santo. From that perspective, selling the CUBS, there was no greater success that Harry Caray. Ten years after his passing we still have a caricature of his likeness on display in the ballpark, there's a statue of him outside the ballpark, and we still have guest celebrities doing his 7th inning stretch bit. Best hire ever. Kudos to WGN. It's nice to see someone criticize Harry -- like so many have -- yet still understand the perspective of the whole thing. Harry was after my time (in age and cubfanhood), but I know the legend and I know Ron Santo -- and the similarities help me understand both the legend of Harry and the complex love/hate of Ron Santo in the booth among Cubs fans.

i'm not listening to them . . . but sounds about right. your pitcher's throwing a gem, , it's against maybe the best team in the majors, and it's a friday night

:?: Never heard that one before. What, more specifically, do you mean?

Generally, I did too. It usually preceded some fair criticism of the team/player out there (contrary to some viewers' perceptions that he didn't do it much). The overuse of that exact phrasing was slightly annoying, though. All-in-all, I'm with Brenly. I really think he's solid -- which is becoming the new "Very Good" in broadcasting, it seems. He's especially good with Kasper, I think.

I know he shouldn't win the vote, but as a Murton fan, I'm disappointed to not even see him as an option. Poor guy.

Bill Hahn is basically Rob Corddry in a pornstache

If this sort of discussion has a take-home message, the bolded is probably it, IMO.

my girlfriend (IheartMBnDL) got 1/2 of her questions answered. Unfortunately, not the higher priority one:

Without a macias or neifi or izturis in the lineup -- and especially on non-Zambrano starts -- I don't think we gain much over the traditional lineup.

Once again? Z had 5 starts last year coming off a high pitch count (120 or more) 4 of them were quality starts. 9 innings, 1 run 8 innings, 1 run 7 innings, 3 runs 6 2/3 innings, 0 runs 5 innings, 6 runs for a total ERA of 2.77 after a high pitch count last year, which is quite a bit better than his ERA for the season last year. Taking a quick look through game logs from previous seasons (when Z was over 120 with some regularity) it does not look like Z was noticeably worse coming off high pitch counts than any other time. i could have sworn someone once posted z's stats after big pitch counts and they weren't pretty. perhaps i misremembered. maybe you're thinking of Z's number in starts after getting extra rest. I believe those are pretty bad . . .

Well we are 16 games over .500 so I think anyone who complains constantly or says something like what's above might want to take the results into account. The above statement would mean that at least 24 other managers would have us more than 16 games above .500. Has Lou made mistakes of course and I'm mad when they happen but I don't constantly criticize a guy who has winning. Charlie Manuel, Clint Hurdle, Grady Little, Phil Garner, etc. All horrendous managers who took their teams to the playoffs. Dusty Baker.

Um, the phrase is "moo point" No, it's "moot point" http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moot_point If this was an inside joke or something else that went over my head, forgive me. No, it's moo point. Duh. Like a cow's opinion. It doesn't matter. beautiful The rare Friends reference on NSBB. not common, but it'll be there for you when you need it.