JC

Does anyone else think that the fabric of time/space tears when Dunn takes a big hack? He is a freaking behemoth.

Todd's 8th on the team for having runners on while at bat. It's also rare for him to have a man on 3d (13 AB's). However, he is also 8th in RBI's per runner on base in front of him. Best for position players in plating runners - Lee, Ramirez, Barrett, Neifi!, Blanco, Hollandworth, THEN Walker). Lets not forget the time spent on the DL as a contributing factor.

Mrs. Griffey.

Come on. No need to characterize it is whining. Lets keep it civil.

Can someone describe the crowd reaction CPatt has received?

69 pitches through 4 innings for Prior. That is with no walks, but he has gotten 6 Ks which contribute to the total. Still, its a bit inefficient for my taste.

So, does Casey own Prior today free and clear, or is he just leasing?

On Sportsline, all 9 sections of the Hot/Cold graphic is cold for Nomar. :x

They went to some trouble to bring back Gabe Kapler. I don't think they would prefer Burnitz over Kapler at all.

Why would any real playoff contender want Burnitz? Most of us didn't want him last spring. Bunt hit for Patterson. Now Henry "Hank" Blanco up. I like Blanco. left handed power bat off the bench...Boston, White Sox, St Louis and Houston all could use him....i'm not saying we'd get anything useful for him, but clearing the spot in RF would be worth the trade... I just don't see the same value in him as you do. St. Louis basically restricts itself to only one home run or nothing type of hitter on their team per year. They have that in Reggie Sanders, but he's DL'ed. I think the Red Sox and White Sox don't need a lefty power hitter off the bench, and Houston wouldn't pay him the nearly $600,000 he's owed for the rest of the year. Burnitz just isn't that good to me. I agree. Burnitz has been available at the deadline a couple years, now. Except for Hendry, I haven't heard word one about any interest teams have in him. Has he had success as a PH bat off the bench? I don't know. Regardless, if where there is smoke there is fire, where there is no smoke, I dare say there is no fire.

A two out, run scoring single? :sunny: | | | | \/ Dog's butt

I think the whole team is nearing implosion. It's Murphy's law out there. I dont' know if its Murphy's Law as much as simply the Law of Averages. Players are returning to their career norms. The level that some were playing above those norms, such as Neifi and Burnitz along with Lee, to an extent, have caused this exaggerated drop. So I suppose that eventually they will start playing flawless defense for a while? That has been a big part of their losing streak, and it is definitely not explained by the law of averages. They aren't a great fielding team, but they are way better than this. My disappointment in Burnitz is directed at his rather poor effort at the plate rather than his fielding error. Poor fielding alone isn't the cause of this streak. Rather efforts like Burnitz 5 for his last 40 something at the plate has more to do with it.

Slim. He isn't that valuable. Hendry is about the only guy that has chased him over the last two years. Along with the Pirates, that is. What does that tell you?

I think the whole team is nearing implosion. It's Murphy's law out there. I dont' know if its Murphy's Law as much as simply the Law of Averages. Players are returning to their career norms. The level that some were playing above those norms, such as Neifi and Burnitz along with Lee, to an extent, have caused this exaggerated drop.

I'm disappointed that Burnitz is turning into exactly the player I expected the Cubs were getting. I was content in being wrong when he was playing very well.

LOL! From Sportsline: http://images.sportsline.com/images/baseball/mlb/players/60x80/181966.jpg

I wonder if his shoulder is right. But, then again, his strike zone is entirely different right now than when he was locked in. Remembering how he stopped hitting late last year, could his early (though extended) surge brought on an earlier season downfall?

Why would any fan be against a salary cap? It would provide a much, much greater guarantee of competitive balance and help fix the costs for the average fan of attending ballgames.

It reinforces that Williams is nothing special.

It indeed is significant looking at the big picture. Hendry overpaid for Remlinger. He went after the oldest guy in the lefty set-up man pool and thought he was setting the market. In fact, the lefties to sign later that offseason, e.g. Chris Hammond, Mike Stanton, to name a couple, never signed contracts as wealthy as that signed by Remlinger. The bloated contract he signed him to forces him to pay someone to take him if he wants anything in return (such as a mediocre minor leaguer). It was a bad contract from start to finish. EDIT: Chris Hammond is two months older than Remlinger.

Putting a player in "position forhim to succeed" is just another contradiction by Baker. What happened to the major leagues not being the place to develop players? If Murton is on the team, it means that management thinks he is good enough to contribute. For God's sake, give the kid his credit. He is helping the team succeed, or is at least doing his part toward success. Rather, just say, "I don't want him playing against right handers because my Old Man's Book of Baseball Truisms says rookie righties can't hit righties." The fact that he came from AA isn't important. The league is full of players jumping levels. Murton has demonstrated his ability. Now, its up to Dusty to stop worrying about Hollandsworth, Macias, and Burnitz's feelings, and play the better OFer.

Hendry sure has thrown cash around this year to get players to play elsewhere. $16m to Baltimore. About $2M to San Fran. A couple million to Alou. Now, some pocket change to Boston... That might be close to Tampa Bay's payroll.

Heaven help us if he strikes out in his first at-bat. I know what you mean, (and don't take this personally as it isn't meant to be directed at you) but I've grown incredibly tired of handling these players, this team, and the organization as a whole with kid gloves. To hell with the faith we give them that they will turn things around. To hell with management chastizing the paying public who come to see an inferior product. And, to hell with overly sensitive organizational members who let every minute thing off the field infect their play within the lines. These are professionals for Christ's sake! They should worry moreso about carrying themselves as such and not sucking rather than the reaction of the crowd. I haven't been particularly vocal in these arguments regarding booing vs. not booing, but I'm just sick of the debate. It overshadows the fact that these players aren't playing to their potential. Focusing on the reactions of the fans is turning into red herring. So freaking what if they boo? Get the job done first, then worry about those fickle fans that will boo with a first AB K, but cheer when you hit a 3 run homer. Stop giving Dusty a free pass on Murton in press conferences. Why not insist that he explain whatever emorphous plan he has. Ask about Cedeno not getting consecutive starts. Ask Hendry why the team has interest in a one foot in his professional grave Marquis Grissom. This organization has abused its fan with inept play, poor strategy, and decisions barren of foresight. I could care less what fans do, I'm more interested in results on the field.

Yes it is. Hap-Ki-Do is a discipline that you may actually have use for as well. As an example, I got mugged by three Moroccans in the Netherlands once (disclaimer: two were women, but that didn't stop them from kicking me in the head after they knocked me off my bike). It came in plenty handy.

I'm glad you included this because I was going to do the same. The original post didn't do justice to Stone's feelings about Aramis. I think Stone's commentary continues to be spot on. That said, I'm not going to get into another Stone debate.