South Side

So I'm the one who brought AJ into a thread about Adam Dunn? Responding to a previous post is not hijacking, hijacking is attempting to change the topic of the thread (which was done by someone else, not me). I made my comment brief and without insult to the Cubs or the poster. I don't post often here, but every post I have made has been respectful, on topic, and not insulting to the Cubs. And my "opinion" about blocking the plate (or any base) without the ball is not "opinion", it is chapter and verse from the MLB rulebook, which was backed up 100% by the disciplinary actions of MLB. I will not respond to this thread in any manner in the future, so no one will need to be concerned about it being "hijacked". You may resume Dunn and Miller discussions.

I enjoyed his mild spike of the ball in Dunn's direction afterwards. note to AJ - - that is when colliding with the catcher is appropriate. you know, when the catcher actually has the ball or the ball is somewhere near the plate. And note to MB: that is when blocking the plate is appropriate. You know, when the catcher actually has the ball or the ball is somewhere near the plate.

ESPN is reporting that Carlos Lee now plays for your new favorite team (and you'll need to remove the Mench picture, he's now a Brewer).

FWIW, you'll need to think about that possibility quickly, they play tonight at 7 pm.

FWIW, Liriano is now officially an All Star. Contreras bailed after throwing 120 pitches on Sunday, Guillen named Liriano as his replacement.

You're right, it's about having the best performing players from each league play in the game. I love Mark, but he has had a mediocre year by his standards and Liriano/Verlander/Schilling/Mussina should have made it past him. Definitely agree that Schilling or Mussina should have been on the team before MB. I think you can somewhat blame 2002 for that one. Schilling is starting on Sunday, and Mussina has been semi injured (I think his next start was scheduled for Sunday also, but may not happen). Both would be limited to one inning. Buehrle is starting tonight, and could easily go six or seven if the game went extra innings. Of course, Ozzie could ask Boston to skip Schilling on Sunday, but for some reason I don't think that would fly.... Detroit has also been concerned about how many innings Verlander has pitched, and even scratched his last start (which would have been Sunday also). I also agree that the best performing players should be there. But I don't think that putting a rookie with very limited experience (and NONE in any type of pressure situation) helps the league win. And if you increase the sample size by including his four starts last September (a couple of them against good teams) his stats don't even warrant it (14 ER in 22.2 innings last Sept). Players should earn the honor on the field, not based on media projections.

We're talking about a Major League All Star game here, not the Futures Game. With only nine starts under his belt, he hasn't proven anything yet. He still has the next twenty ASG's ahead of him. BTW, would you have voted for Hafner if he had only been on Cleveland's starting lineup for seven weeks? Don't think so. (Although your Hafner vote certainly makes sense, I can't argue against it). The All Star Game isn't about potential.

If you're comparing his stats to other major league pitchers, it absolutely matters that he never had to start against Chicago, NY, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit or Toronto. Its a huge advantage. And every team he faces hasn't seen him yet, which gives him a huge advantage. Note that the only team he started against twice, Seattle, beat him the second time they saw him. He allowed 9 baserunners in 6 innings (and three runs), striking out only three. I'm not saying Liriano won't be a great pitcher, its quite likely. I'm just saying he should at least prove he can pitch well against the premier teams over a period of time greater than seven weeks. He has not done so yet. The history books are full of pitchers who achieve greatness over a seven week period. Most aren't All Stars.

From what I read, the final ballot is selected by MLB from the pool of players who received the most votes on the player's ballots, but did not make the team. Statistically, AJP is the second best starting offensive catcher in the AL, by any measure, and is having a better season than the fan's choice. He was also on the 2002 AL AS team, selected by Joe Torre, during a lesser season than he is having now. I agree Hafner and Liriano should be on the ballot, but why the assumption that Liriano should be on the team? Liriano wasn't even a starting pitcher until seven weeks ago, and so far has only started against three teams in his own league- Seattle, Baltimore and LA Angels, all of which are at the bottom of the AL in offense. Throw in his NL starts, and he's only pitched against one team with an above average offense. I agree he will probably be an All Star in the future, but why not let him actually pitch around the league once or twice to prove it first?

Doesn't always work that way---last year Red Sox fan boards were getting out the vote for Podsednik...to keep out Jeter.

There is no excuse for what Ozzie said. It was pure stupidity. But I do recall lots of baseball boards (including this one) posting the picture of Ozzie and his son kissing on the lips, with lots of commentary about how funny it was (also degrading to homosexuals). I don't recall anyone comparing those posters to John Rocker. And I'll bet a high percentage of those ripping on Guillen have used the exact same slur about someone, sometime in the past.

I've heard this one too, but it doesn't pass the smell test- The trainer claims it happened during an exhibition game in Arizona (and I think we all know about the integrity of the SF training staff). He claims that AJP took a ball to the nuts. When he went out to see if he was OK, AJP kneed him in the nuts. At home plate, in front of thousands of people. Yet the story went unreported until the day Pierzynski signed with the White Sox (10 months later). One writer claimed it happened when all the beat writers weren't looking, therefore it went unreported. Of course, thousands of witnesses saw and said nothing either. And no member of either team mentioned it to any writers when it happened. Right. And no, I don't want to marry him. I just don't want to see the game woosified to the point where players who play hard are ripped on for it. And that's exactly where we are headed with this. The pitchers in SF had all kinds of problems with AJP. Apparently he wouldn't go over opposing batters with them. There were all sorts of comments about him not being a good teammate, etc.. Brett Tomko was the Giants pitcher who had a problem with Pierzynski, and went to the newspapers with it (allegedly without discussing with AJP first). Interestingly, originally Ken Williams was not going to consider signing Pierzynski, based on Tomko's comments. He changed his mind after being convinced by the newly acquired Dustin Hermanson (also from SF of course) that the problems were Tomko's, and not the opinion of the pitching staff, which caused Williams to talk to a few other former teammates who backed up Hermanson.

I've heard this one too, but it doesn't pass the smell test- The trainer claims it happened during an exhibition game in Arizona (and I think we all know about the integrity of the SF training staff). He claims that AJP took a ball to the nuts. When he went out to see if he was OK, AJP kneed him in the nuts. At home plate, in front of thousands of people. Yet the story went unreported until the day Pierzynski signed with the White Sox (10 months later). One writer claimed it happened when all the beat writers weren't looking, therefore it went unreported. Of course, thousands of witnesses saw and said nothing either. And no member of either team mentioned it to any writers when it happened. Right. And no, I don't want to marry him. I just don't want to see the game woosified to the point where players who play hard are ripped on for it. And that's exactly where we are headed with this.

OK-I've got to ask the question- What has AJP done during his career that is so bad that he is being compared to John Rocker? As far as I can tell- He has a big mouth. That's a given. But until this weekend, I've never read a quote from him ripping on a teammate, or even a competitor. And his criticism of Barrett has been relatively mild, given the seriousness of the situation. He's never said anything racist, homophobic or even mildly insulting. Someone took a picture of him doing shots at a bar with two good looking women. He is apparently the only MLB player to do shots with women in a bar? And of course, we have to assume they had sex afterward? He's a "clubhouse cancer". Nothing negative was ever said by his Minn teammates-ever. Gardenhire goes out of his way to make positive comments. Ortiz is quoted today saying what a great teammate AJP was to him. The team won consistently while he was there. It appears the only clubhouse he didn't get along in was SF's which is notoriously disfunctional. Since he became a starter in 2001, his teams have won 3 division titles, one pennant and one WS. How much of a cancer can he be? He got punched in the face by Barrett after a clean play, one that AJP has been on the other end of many times. He doesn't fight, get thrown out of games, treat fans or meda poorly. No arrests, domestic batteries, DUI, drug allegations. If the umpires are annoyed by his mouth, they sure don't show it. Someone help me here, I must be missing something. How can merely having a big mouth (without using it to trash others) put anyone on a public enemy list?

Have you read the first page of posts on "Baseball Discussions?" We're practially carrying torches and pichforks. Absolutely, I'm actually agreeing with most of you here. Going back to the original post I was disagreeing with, I just don't think its a good idea to throw the injury thing in the face of Sox fans. Its not a valid excuse, nor a valid way to discredit what the Sox have accomplished the last year and a third.