TarzanJoeWallis

To piggyback on what Serena said, Lewin also mentioned that DeRosa used to try to be Chipper Jones at the plate. Once he stopped doing that, and started to emulate Young instead, he turned things around.

One of the strangest nights of my life happened with Joe Niekro. My dad was a well-known newspaper man in the city where I grew up in central Indiana. One night during the winter he got a call at home and was told by someone that Joe Niekro was at their house and that he was invited to come over and interview him. My dad took me with him and we went over to the house. Joe was a very friendly guy, and he had a gorgeous blonde girlfriend with him, and a heavy, obnoxious male friend. I'm guessing the girlfriend was about 30 or so. After a while, the obnoxious guy says to the girlfriend while pointing at me, "Sit on his lap and let him feel what a great Texas a-- feels like." So, she comes over and sits on my lap--and stays there for the next hour or so. She would keep kissing me on the cheek and moving her nose up near my ear. All the while, Joe just kept talking to my dad. We were all sitting around the same kitchen table, and while I was digging the attention from this gorgeous woman, I was also a little uneasy. I could tell my dad was a little uneasy about it too. After they finished talking, we were getting ready to leave when they wanted to take a group photo. The woman got behind me in the picture and rubbed my butt the whole time. As we were heading home, Dad talked about what an odd night it was, and said how much he disliked how the woman was acting around me. At the time--as a 15-year-old--I thought it was great. Now, as a 40-year-old, I wonder what the hell was wrong with her. Ironically, my dad also died of an aneurysm. His death came eight years ago at the age of 64.

I think it is a major promotion. I used to work in Minor League Baseball, and the whole intent of anyone on the baseball side--players, coaching staff, trainers--is to get to the big leagues. Plus, a lot of third base coaches are given consideration for Major League managing jobs.

IIRC, it was Sosa for Soriano, Nick Johnson, Ricky Ledee, and I think Ted Lilly. Just imagine if we had pulled that off. Yeah, just imagine--you'd be plenty upset. Sosa almost got the team in the playoffs in 01, and he was our biggest bat in the 03 run. He also put up some mighty fine numbers in 02 and wasn't bad in 04 even, at least until the last month and a half or so. Meanwhile, Soriano has been hot and cold, Nick Johnson is always hurt, Ricky Ledee is a deadbeat, and Ted Lilly is a dime-a-dozen #4 starter. Sometimes, the best trades are the ones not made after all.... Nick Johnson wasn't involved. The other player was Jake Westbrook. I believe the Cubs actually preferred Jimenez to Soriano but he had an injury (car accident?). Jackson Melian was being mentioned as a 5th but the Yanks were against giving up 5. Okay, now here's how I remember it...Soriano, Melian, Drew Henson, and Alex Gramen (I think that is his name...a left-handed pitcher).

I was working for the Reno Silver Sox of the California League when Bochy was manager of the Riverside Red Wave. It was around 1992 or so and his back had been bothering him all year, but the final game of the season it went out on him and he had to lie on his back on the visiting clubhouse floor in Reno the whole game. I basically took care of him by running to the drug store, getting him food, etc. He had been a good guy all year whenever I had to deal with him, but he was especially cool that day. I was impressed with how friendly he was in spite of the obvious pain. Doesn't mean he'd be a good manager for the Cubs, but he was a good guy that year, especially that day.

I'm really generalizing here, and I apologize for that ahead of time, but when there were rumors of the Cubs being interested in Soriano last year, many here hated it and said it was a typical Jim Hendry move for a tools guy with terrible plate discipline, etc. Now the Sox are maybe getting him (and I like the move for them if they do), and many are saying how stupid the Cubs are for not doing something like this. It seems like many of us want it both ways. We want to complain when the Cubs are rumored to like someone and say how stupid they are for doing so, then complain when some other teams gets the exact same guy and say the Cubs are stupid for not getting him.

Jamie Moyer Nomar So does Gail Fischer. :lol: Did Gail Fischer and Corey have a fling or something that I missed?

Me too. In 1984 my sister had an aneurysm at 36 years of age. The doctors had to do brain surgery after the swelling got so bad. Two days later she was declared brain dead and we took her off of the respirator and she passed away. Hopefully the medical technology is better today than it was 21 years ago and Mr. Gammons can make a full recovery. I'll say a prayer for you Pete. Sadly, many of us are in the same club. My dad had a brain aneurysm eight years ago and never regained conciousness. He died eight days later. People can recover though, and hopefully Peter and his family will be one with a happy ending.

I'm not sure the GM's between Santo and Ramirez would agree! Bill. Madlock. Thank you! It drives me crazy that so many say the Cubs haven't had a third baseman since Santo (until Ramirez). Bill Madlock won two batting titles for the Cubs! Why do so many forget his contributions? It is not his fault they were too cheap to keep him!

Sorry to get off topic here, but whenever I see a thread about trades, it makes me think of Hoops. What happened to him? I haven't seen a post from him in a long time.

I got to know Steve Howe a little bit when I worked in minor league baseball in the early 90's. I worked in the California League in Reno, Nevada, and he pitched for Salinas. Reno and Salinas were both without affiliates, and we often had ex-major league players who were trying to make comebacks. Steve wanted to pitch for us, but we thought the temptations of Reno would be too great so we passed. After he joined Salinas though, he would always stop by the office to see how we were doing. He always remembered my name and was really a very friendly guy. But, make no mistake, he had his demons. He was honest about his failings and worked hard to overcome them. I don't know if he ever did. He was definitely a Type-A personality. He was very passionate about everything he did. He bacame a born-again Christian when I knew him and he would lead the Salinas chapel services. He would pound his fist in his hand and preach in an old fashioned fire-and-brimstone manner. He did everything at 100 mph. He did waste his talent. He admitted that. And, I wouldn't be shocked to hear that he never did beat his demons. But, he was a nice guy, and I'm sorry to hear the news.

I was a ten-year-old kid in Central Indiana who didn't have cable television. So, my dad and I would often sit in his car in the driveway listening to the Cubs because we could pick up WGN better on that radio than any others. I often would go sit in his car alone and listen, which is what I was doing that day. Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau described the scene for me and I went in and told my dad right away. I also remember seeing Monday on The Mike Douglas Show shortly thereafter talking about the incident.

They probably stole it from me cause I say No doubt all the time. It's called compensation. When someone has to tell you how honest they are, you can bet they're dirty. And when someone keeps saying no doubt about it, you can bet they are full of doubts. I HAVE NO SELF ESTEEM! ladies find me very unattractive and have no sexual interest in me No doubt about it.

my grandfather swears that he heard dizzy dean say it. If any of the stories are true, I'm guessing it is the one about Dizzy.

Anyway, I wish I would have heard this live, but I guess one of Harry's most memorable quotes was this: The WGN camera focused on a young couple sitting under a blanket on a cold day in the bleachers. Harry commented "They have a system worked out. He kisses her on the strikes, and she kisses him on the balls." Uproarious laughter could be heard as everyone in the booth busted up. Harry finally realized what he said, simply replied "Oh" and went back to announcing the game. First, let me say that while the above is cute, I'm pretty confident it is only urban legend. In fact, the person who is famous for supposedly saying it is Dizzy Dean. My guess is he never really said it either. Now, two Harry stories.... When I was a senior in high school (1983 season) I worked at our high school radio station and was able to get press passes for a game in Cincy against the Reds. Being young and dumb, I didn't hesitate to walk directly into the broadcast booths about 30 minutes before the game to say hello to the radio guys (Milo Hamilton, Vince Lloyd, and Lou Boudreau--Vince and Lou were extremely friendly) and the TV guys (Harry and Steve--Harry wasn't in there, and Steve was gone because of his mom's funeral). There was a director of some sort sitting in the TV booth and I asked him how I could get a note to Harry to say hello to my grandpa watching at home. He said to just write something up and bring it back. I borrowed a piece of paper and pen from new Dodgers GM Ned Coletti, and wrote my note. I went back to the booth, and Harry was sitting there, filling out his score book. He looked up at me, put his pen down, and turned to face me. He looked me right in the eye as I explained I'd like him to say hello to my grandpa, took my note and was very friendly. He said hello to him in the third inning. On a more somber note, Harry died Valentines of 1998. My dad really liked Harry and was very sad at his passing. I remember watching the replay of Harry's funeral on TV with my dad a few days later. About that same time, the Cubs announced when they were going to honor Harry during the season, and it happened to be the game we had already ordered on line. My dad was very glad about that. Less than a month later, my dad died unexpectedly too. The tickets for the game arrived in the mail the day he died. The game was later in the summer (I think July) and I left my dad's seat empty that day. I was also at opening day that year and it was very emotional when the crowd started chanting Harry's name and then Dutchie sang. It had only been three weeks since my dad's death, and the whole thing was very emotional. I'm glad I was there. Thanks for indulging me with two long stories!

I'm not sure yet how I feel about this trade if it happens, but why do so many people act like Prior has only had freak injuries? Yes, he got hit by the line drive last season and had the collision with Marcus Giles three seasons ago, but two years ago he missed half of the season with arm and achilles problems, and if I recall correctly, he had more troubles last year in spring training. Those setbacks were not freak injuries. I don't know the rules for posting links to ESPN Insider information, so I won't, but there is a link on that site right now of Peter Gammons and Steve Phillips from ESPN Radio a few days ago. I know many people here don't think much of either, but both essentially say the trade will not happen because Tejada and Bedard are too much to give up for Prior. Gammons said the Orioles consider Tejada and Bedard "certainties," and that Prior is an "uncertainty" because of his health history.

Maddux has been in the league long enough that any trade involving him requires his consultation and approval. That's not correct. The veteran trade rule is for 5 and 10 guys--at least 10 years in the league, with at least the last five with the same club. I believe Maddux may have a NTC, but it is because he negotiated for it, not because of the amount of time he has been in the league.

The board is on the DL :) Does this mean the board will soon be pitching in a simulated game?

ESPN.com is now reporting it: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2235175

Me? No, apparently not. It is an old joke on the board. There was a picture of a Cards fan holding a sign saying something to the effect, "Get a clue Morans!" Since then moron has been spelled moran by a lot of people as a light hearted salute to that picture.