The Voice of Reason

Anyone think Sosa or Clemens was one of the players Grimsley named? Excerpt from Smokinggun. http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/nolte1.html Pitcher Spills Steroid, Speed Secrets Diamondback Jason Grimsley's home raided in federal drug probe JUNE 7--Federal agents yesterday raided the Arizona home of a journeyman baseball pitcher who reportedly admitted using performance enhancing drugs and gave investigators the names of current and former major leaguers who have also juiced. Jason Grimsley, an Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher, began cooperating with probers after he accepted a $3200 shipment of human growth hormone at his Scottsdale residence on April 19 (the HGH was delivered to Grimsley, 38, by an undercover postal inspector). After a week's cooperation, Grimsley's lawyer stopped his chats with the government team, which included Internal Revenue Service agent Jeff Novitzky, who has headed the steroid investigation of Barry Bonds and other clients of San Francisco's BALCO laboratory. Below you'll find a copy of Novitzky's search warrant affidavit for Grimsley's home, which was unsealed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix. During his brief cooperation, Grimsley fingered several fellow athletes (whose names were redacted from the affidavit), spoke about the prevalence of amphetamines in baseball clubhouses, and claimed that "Latin players" were a major source of speed in the big leagues. He also said players on California-based teams would go to Mexico and score amphetamines. Grimsley's remarkable admissions span about seven pages in the Novitzky affidavit. Grimsley, a 15-year veteran, has played for seven teams, including the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians. His teammates have included Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, and Roger Clemens. (20 pages)

Possibly because it's still a work in process. Valid point. The "Pre-and-postgame Bar and Restaurant Scene" ranking could improve after "Ballpark Village" is created as long as they do it right. Can't wait to go the park and visit the "Build-a-Bear" workshop and craft my very own Fredbird doll. :wink:

Interesting. They rank the new Busch below Wrigley Field (just barely) and just sixth among the new "retro" parks.

Q: Is it wrong that my level of desperation has reached Sammy Sosa levels? A: Yes. Note no team has expressed an interest in Mr. Sosa because of his diminished skills and baggage. Beside the Cubs are enough of a circus without the return of the Gladiator. Q: I wonder if Sammy would return as a part time player for a chunk of change. No way, his ego is too big to settle for part-time player status.

I told you so: The Cubs should fire Dusty and hire Jim Leyland.

Apparently A.J. has higher poll numbers than George Bush. According to a Sports Illustrated players poll, Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski earned the most votes for the question, "Which major-leaguer would you most like to see get beaned?'' With 18 percent, Pierzynski edged out the San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds (14 percent) and the New York Mets' Pedro Martinez (6 percent). According to the magazine, Pierzynski drew more than 42 percent of the votes in the AL Central.

"Hey AJ, you are such a jerk, Mike North likes you." "One small punch by Barrett, one giant blow for every team in baseball." "What does AJ stand for, Arrogant Jackass?" "Hey AJ who are the young girls in the pictures, your kids babysitters?" "Would you like me to send your wife a copy of the pictures for her scrapbook, I'd be happy to"

I wish the biggest problem the Cubs had was a clash of egos between their current manager and one of their former hall of fame players.

So much for going 12 - 5 into the Sox series.

Sammy's last three years in baseball he averaged 121 games. Admittedly, some of that can be attributed to age and his corked bat suspension. Others may speculate on other reasons (I won't). In checking the facts, you are indeed correct that Sammy was durable "before he got old" - aren't we all :wink:

Somehow I just don't see this Gladiator going on the DL and missing 20 games due to a sneeze-related injury. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/jeffgordon/story/254820590ABB5A26862571710058A538?OpenDocument

A better example utilizing a much better manager than Dusty - Jim Leyland. “Jim has a vision of the way baseball should be played and has a terrific ability to adjust his vision to tailor it to what he has,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “He certainly has them playing at a high level and they’ve got a lot of ingredients you look for in a championship-caliber team.” “What was good about him going off on us was the timing,” said third baseman Brandon Inge. “He did it early, and not in the middle or late in the season when it might’ve been too late. He didn’t like what he saw, he let us know it very clearly, and we’ve responded.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12644057/

After today's "performance" it may take more than Rusch. We may have to throw in Neifi.

Got to respect a player than can play through pain. Albert Pujols has an aching back. “It’s bothering me, it’s bothering me a lot,” Pujols said. “There’s nothing you can do right now. “It’s either sit down for 15 days and let it heal or keep going with pain, and that’s what I’m doing pretty much, playing with pain.” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12722288/

soccer10k wrote Because they are a public corporation with a Board of Directors that has a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders (not Cubs fans) to increase revenues and the value of the Tribune Corporation's stock price. It's naive to think the Board would be happier with a winning team than a profitable division. Like any corporation, the Tribune will only invest the minimum amount in their product (the Cubs) that they feel is required to maximize their return (i.e., keep Wrigley Field full, TV ratings high, etc.) on their investment.

Looks like it's going to be his last season with the Cardinals. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/5057CBA1809283B186257165001A41B5?OpenDocument

He said he feels about 60% right now. He messed up his back. Maybe if he quit hitting so many homeruns his back wouldn't hurt so much and Cub fans would think he's classier.

Excerpts from Dayn Perry's view:

Case closed. http://www.sportspickle.com/features/volume5/2006-0503-pujols.html

Ever consider the fact that people might be pulling your chain regarding the age of Pujols? BTW, isn't acne a sign of steroid use? :wink:

Isn't it a bit of stretch (even for a Cardinal fan) to compare Pujols to Jesus Christ? :? Granted there age (both over 30) are similar but . . .

Edmonds' reply: "Half of our team wears a halfshirt under their jersey, including #5, #27, and #26. You should try it someday and wear it under your McDonald's uniform." So everyone that doesn't wear a half undershirt works at McDonalds? I think not. Edmonds is a pompous, condesending jerk.

well first, I don't think Sammy's actions were in the same class as Pujols', and I've never been the biggest Sammy Sosa fan. and second, Sandberg would take a look at the ball, then flick his bat away in a very cocky manner when he knew he got one. I haven't seen the development of this thread, but these are things in the class of Pujol's walk 1/3 of the way down the first base line and pointing to the sky after crossing the plate, as opposed to showing up Perez. I agree. Sammy's over-the-top antics were much worse than anything Pujols has done. I don't recall Ryno ever flipping his bat, showing up another player, showing off, having any altercations with his teammates or having a reputation as anything other than the consumate team player. Can you supply a link to dispute this or back up the "cocky" claim?

Why? Did the "We are Family" Championship Pirate team of the late 70's and their fans feel sorry for the inept Cubs teams of that era? I think not.

It seems somewhat hypocritical (at least to me) for Cubs fans who worshipped at the altar of Sammy for so many years and loved the homer hops, the right field charge and the heart taps and kissing for the camera to jump all over Pujols for one incident. The class act that is Ryne Sandberg said it best in his Hall of Fame speech when he opined that the team should be a player's priority not his individual stats, desire to show up the other team or need for fan adulation.