K-Town

Clearly, the players love Dusty.

OK. I couldn't find that article, but I'm sure it's out there somewhere. If they said it's the best stadium to play in, they were probably referring to the fact that it's unique, and has alot of day games (as Jeff Bagwell pointed out), rather than the fact that they think the field and facilities are horrible (which is what they said to Sports Illustrated). There's no doubt that it's a landmark. No, it wouldn't be Wrigley with a jumbotron. Wrigley is what it is, but that doesn't make it comfortable. Not to me, anyway.

Sports Illustrated asked players what their "favorite ballpark" is. Wrigley Field came in third (behind Safeco and Pac Bell). Wrigley also made the "least favorite" list, at 10th. Wrigley was voted as having the "worst quality playing field", and was 2nd for "worst locker room" (behind Fenway). Chicago was easily the favorite city for players to visit, though. I'm pretty amazed at how well St. Louis fared in the "best fans" category. 46% of the players said St. Louis. Next closest was Boston, with 13%. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_online/news/2003/07/01/survey/

I'm pretty sure it was last year that Wrigley was voted favorite stadium to play in amongst the players. So a few bad apples who don't like it are definitely in the majority. And I've found that Wrigley is more comfortable than every other stadium I've been to. And there's really not a bad seat in the house except for the very few that are behind the pole. I'm not sure if it was voted the favorite stadium or not. I thnk that Chicago was voted the favorite town to play in. Here's a quote from Jeff Bagwell: "Wrigley (Chicago) is nice because you get to play a lot of day games and that way we get to go out and find a place to eat a normal dinner." Wrigley is unique. I'm sure that players appreciate the history, and all that. But as far as being a nice place to play a baseball game, I'm not sure. As far as being "comfortable", the other stadiums (besides Wrigley) have cupholders all over the place, roomier seats, tidy and roomy concession and restroom facilities, visible scoreboards and big-screen monitors, viewable from almost anywhere in the park, etc. Call me spoiled, but those are things that I enjoy. As far as "not being a bad seat in the house", that's literally true of the newer stadiums. Again, that's no knock on Wrigley. As far as being historic and having a great atmosphere, it's a great place..... probably the best in baseball. But I wouldn't say it's a "nice" stadium, by today's standards.

The cookie cutter stadiums sucked. To St. Louis' credit, they tried to give theirs a little atmosphere, and make it a comfortable place to watch a game, but I won't miss it. Most of the new stadiums are terrific. I think that the new idea is to build a stadium with the old-time baseball feel, but the modern-day comforts. Wrigley is a landmark. Nobody can deny that. But Chipper's remarks are pretty accurate. It's not a comfortable place to watch a game, and I can see where it would be an uncomfortable place to play, also (for the reasons that Chipper mentioned).

I never mentioned Wood being thrown at by Morris. It was last year. Here's a link to the Game Thread. Apparently the Cards accused the Cubs of stealing signs, and Morris retaliated by throwing at Lee's head. Lee also had some "colorful" things to say during the incident to LaRussa. If Morris was indeed throwing at Derrek Lee's head, then I suspect (and hope) that he heard about it from Larussa. Again, I don't recall the incident. Thanks for providing the link to the game thread.

I've got no problem with Morris throwing behind a hitter, or even throwing AT a hitter. It's throwing at a hitter's head that I have a problem with.

Vlad is probably the guy with the best arm in baseball today, and he throws out an amazing number of runners. He's easily thrown out more runners than any other outfielder on his team. Same goes for Jose Guillen of Washington. In almost every case, the outfielder with the best arm is going to have the most assists. I know that Edmonds has been accused of alot of things. That doesn't change the fact that he's been the best centerfielder in baseball for years, and is still right up there. For that reason, I don't think it's fair to say that he's "overrated".

C-Patterson - I don't recall Morris throwing at Derrek Lee's head. Was it this year? Is there a link? (Because I can provide links of the Morris/Wood incident). I honestly don't recall the Matt Morris / Derrek Lee controversy. IF Morris threw at Wood's head, it may be directly related to Wood throwing at him THREE TIMES in one game. That's why it's appropriate to bring it up, in my opinion. The incidents may be related, but I'd need more specifics on the Derrek Lee incident.

My problem with Edmonds is the hotdogging. He's been accused since he was on the Angels of slowing down on fly balls just so that he can dive and make the highlight reels. I can't stand that. That's my main reason for disliking him. The eyeliner stuff is all just icing on the hate cake. While he's a great centerfielder, I think he's a little overrated defensively because he turns routine fly balls into diving catches. And then ESPN hypes him up for it when guys like Andrew Jones would've been waiting under the ball. Jones is 7 years younger than Edmonds, so he should cover a little more ground. Nontheless, things like range factor, zone rating, etc. tell us that they're pretty even. When Edmonds was 27 (Andruw's current age), Edmonds was FAR better than Jones is now. Edmonds typically throws out more baserunners than Jones, also. They're both great. And I don't disagree that Edmonds can be pretty flashy at times, but his results are seconds to none.

I don't recall Morris EVER throwing behind Kerry Wood. I agree, there's bad blood both ways. I'm not sure what the problem is with Jim Edmonds.

Wood knocked Morris down THREE TIMES, in one game. How many players has he knocked down trying to bunt since that game? You could probably count it on one hand. It was pretty obvious, in the context of that game, what Wood was doing. I actually like Kerry Wood. He might be my favorite Cub (I like the Murton kid too, and Derrek Lee is pretty cool). I just think it's hypocritical to imply that Morris is some sort of "bad guy".

any more responses to this? Carp is there when his team needs him, and will be until the end of the season, barring injury.

Throwing at a guy's head is a good defense? It's a ball. Four of them puts the batter on first base (if you don't end the guy's career, first). Is that what you want? If Morris hadn't quickly hit the dirt, the pitch would have shattered his face. I don't care if you're Nolan Ryan, Kerry Wood, or a 12 year old........... you don't throw at a guy's head under any circumstances.

Whose head did he throw at? Did he hit a player in the head? He missed Lee in the head, and may have thrown at Patterson's head at well. Definitely Lee though, and there's almost no doubt it was intentional. Larussa doesn't tolerate his players throwing at other players' heads, plain and simple. Nor does he tolerate other pitchers throwing at his players' heads. Kerry Wood threw at Morris' head THREE TIMES when Morris was in his most vulerable position (trying to bunt). When Morris came up the first time, Wood threw at him TWICE (the 1st pitch was at his mid-section, as he tried to bunt....... the 2nd pitch was directly at his head, as he tried to bunt again). Morris took the high road when Wood came to bat, and promptly struck him out on 3 pitches. Morris' next at-bat was a replay of the first. He tried to bunt Matheny over, and Wood threw the pitch directly at his head. The Wrigley fans cheered wildly. Morris is the bad guy? As for the earlier post, where someone said that Larussa was laughing in the dugout, I'm going to go so far as to say without reservation that the story is made up. Larussa doesn't laugh with his players in the dugout.

I'm going with the Buena Vista team, from California. I've only seen a few of the teams play, but the California team seems to have quite a bit of pop, and they've got the pitcher (can't remember his name) who struck out 18 batters in 6 innings.

Maybe if the kid learns to take a walk (12 walks and 105 strikeouts in 387 at-bats). His lack of discipline would cause him to be eaten alive at the Major League level, I would think.

Actually, as a Cardinals fan, even I think it would be kinda funny if a Cubs' fan won. :lol: :lol:

Here's what Canseco had to say in his book: As for Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young Award winner, Canseco picks his words carefully. He says he has never seen Clemens do steroids, but he says Clemens said he took "B-12 shots," and Canseco calls that clubhouse code for steroids. According to the Daily News, Canseco writes that he thought Clemens showed classic signs of steroid use, including a sudden improvement late in his career.

Show me the link where it says that Selig mentioned Clemens. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but let's keep things in context here. What was he asked, and what was his response? Until we know that, then the entire thing is prone to interpretation, and has no more substance than any other rumor.

That's cool. Thanks for being reasonable and objective, anyway. Spot starters? How often? Just to minimize innings pitched for a given rotation, or what?

See, I think that the Selig talk is as much of a "rumor" as the steroid talk, until somebody can provide a context for Selig's remarks. What, specifically, was he asked? What was he responding to? Is there a link to the entire conversation, or just the snippet that we've seen already?

If the opportunity presents itself to take a starting pitcher out early (around 100 pitches) b/c the game has been decided, I'd take him out in April, May, June, July, August, Sept., and/or October. There is a clear difference between game that haven't been decided and games that have been. Cruising or not, it is better for the pitcher both in the short and long-term to get him out as early as possible once the game has been decided. There is no such thing as being conditioned to throw 90 to 95 pitches. The body simply doesn't work like a machine. The more you throw while fatigued, the stronger you get, you don't increase a pitcher's stamina extending him to 120. Typically, pitchers start feeling fatigued around 75 pitches (not including warmup and between innings). Based on PCs, Carpenter hasn't likely been abused, it doesn't take away the fact that in the outings mentioned I would've wanted him to be pulled earlier than he was. I can look at Cox, LaRussa, Baker, Gardenhire, Torre, Yost, Manuel, etc. and similar instances, and...? ...... and conclude that you are right, and they are all wrong, I guess? I see what you're saying UK, and I don't necessarily disagree with you. Carpenter could have been pulled an inning earlier in June. Same for Hudson and Smoltz. But I think it's splitting hairs a little. I don't think that Carpenter is going to be out of gas in October because he threw an extra 30 pitches (spread out over 3 starts, or a week and a half), back in June. But yeah, I can see that logically you could take a guy out early. Where would you draw the line? If you're up by 6 runs after 6 innings in a game in early June, and your pitcher has thrown 75 pitches, do you pull him? I don't know, and I'm not implying anything. I'm simply asking your opinion.

I'm not complaining, and it's not my intention to mock others. Have I ever been swayed? Well, I finally conceded in the Clemens/Carpenter thread that Clemens should probably win the Cy Young Award.

There are different types of steroids and there are some that are en vogue with pitchers. They don't bulk your muscle mass up but make your ligaments tighter so that you can snap the ball quicker and easier in your delivery, etc. I learned about them in this mandatory "steroids suck" class that I had to take when I played ball in college. I've never heard of that. That's interesting.