Rob

I'm thinking it wont matter who is #1 on the Cubs' board. I think the odds of somebody outside the group of Price, Brackman, and Weiters going in the first two picks is virtually nil. Basically, it comes down to who is #1 on KC's board, as I feel very confident TB will take Price with #1.

There is absolutely nothing I hate more in baseball than the hit and run. Quick baseball lesson from "The Book on The Book" by Bill Felber. "In each category, we begin by calculating the manager's success percentage...The next step is to compare that success percentage to the league average... " Moving some decimals around, you come up with a number that looks like win%, where the average manager must have .500. All these numbers taken from the 2003 season. Sacrifice Bunts: Macha - .448 Piniella - .442 Steal: Macha - .553 Piniella - .551 Hit-and-Run: Piniella - .637 Macha - .616 "Given Macha's evident abilities at both the steal and hit-and-run, what would be the effect on run production of A's management unleashing him? Let's assume each success nets a base and each failure costs on (at twice the penalty in terms of run production). If Macha had used both tactics at the frequency of the league average (130 steal attempts and 72 hit-and-run attempts) wih no performance decline on the part of either himself or his runners, the A's would gain seven-tenths of one run over the course of the season." As you can see, Piniella rates out slightly above Macha in terms of success, and I'm sure he probably attempted many times more steals and hit-and-runs than league average. Based on what Macha would have gained, I'd say it'd be a stretch to say Piniella gained 4-5 runs over the course of the entire season, in what would be rated as a very good season of managing. It's a very risky play, and it only takes Lou being wrong 6-8 times more over the course of the season to drive it into negative territory. In other words, unless Lou is absolutely sure it's the perfect thing to do, it's a pretty horrible idea.

I'm real pleased with Izturis's plate discipline to this point, though. And please God, allow Fox to stay behind the plate.

Lou's pulling out the hit and run a lot... I'm not a big fan of that.

Same here. I realize now I love Pat and Ron, but I prefer it when I'm listening to them while watching the broadcast. Pat and Ron are entertaining but Ron is a bad broadcaster. He usually sounds lost Ron is not technically proficient as a broadcaster, no. But I'd say his enthusiasm and emotion certainly saves him from being "bad."

Same here. I realize now I love Pat and Ron, but I prefer it when I'm listening to them while watching the broadcast.

It's still early, but it appears that Perry has changed this team's approach. Lee doubles off the wall over Hall, but Theriot slips and holds at third. Runners on third and second, no one out. I'm still leaning towards the "the hitters are ahead of the pitchers in the spring" school of thought. Does anybody know how our raw walk total compares to other squads?

So, Pat ate a lot of potatoes this inning or something?

He was trying to escape. :lol: "Uh... uh... I don't..." "We'll make it a quick half inning"

I'm fairly certain the Cubs don't actually have to pay if he files for free agency.

That's great news.

Bud Selig standing up for Ron... I actually respect the man now.

Just more proof that Fox is making Barrett look like Bench... I was hooting and hollering until I realized it should be a relatively common occurance.

It's about the amount of time it takes you to type it behind mine. I love XM.

Is the game on 720? That's what the title of the thread says. I'm listening to it on XM178.

First time I've heard Ron and Pat since September... I love it! :D

Oh, does anybody know what the deal is with Kinkade and the HPB? Is he alright?

I think he still is based off his signing bonus...

Dang I am good at timing. I've been playing Metal Gear Solid 2 most of the afternoon, and timed it so that I'd beat it just in time to watch the ending before the game comes on.

According to the broadcast schedule, this will also be on XM178.

I'm always on 1680x1050. I could never drop any lower... I'm on 1600x1200 until I buy myself a fancy new monitor. With all the time I'm putting in and my hopeful revenue later in the year as a result, I'm hoping to buy a fancy new rig with a super high-def 30" monitor for development. Or maybe a dual 24" Who knows...maybe a dual 30" :D I'm working off a 24 and a 20. I would looooove to be running dual 30s though. But yeah, you really need to ditch the full-screen junk. Widescreen is the new god. As soon as I have the $$$, I'll do it. But until then, bills are taking a higher priority. Bah, humbug!

I'm always on 1680x1050. I could never drop any lower... I'm on 1600x1200 until I buy myself a fancy new monitor. With all the time I'm putting in and my hopeful revenue later in the year as a result, I'm hoping to buy a fancy new rig with a super high-def 30" monitor for development. Or maybe a dual 24" Who knows...maybe a dual 30" :D I'm working off a 24 and a 20. I would looooove to be running dual 30s though. But yeah, you really need to ditch the full-screen junk. Widescreen is the new god.

I'd say we should try to trade them Miller, but I doubt they'd be willing to give anything up for a replacement for half a month or so.

I was in the same boat. I thought he made the announcement right after the end of the season. Maybe that was just a "leaning" statement to a reporter, and he's finally made it official?

I'm always on 1680x1050. I could never drop any lower...