Bruno7481

That, indeed, is the big question for us. We're set with our first four starters for now: Ian Snell had a good year, to be sure. Zach Duke started off shaky but came on strong towards the end of the year. Tom Gorzelany came up mid season and looked good, let's see how he does. Paul Mahalom was shaky all season after a decent showing at the end of '05. Contenders for the 5th spot: Shawn Chacon would seem to be in the lead. Still not sure he'll go North with us, though. There are the three hurtin' former phenoms: Sean Burnett, Bryan Bullington John VanBenshoten. Burnett has a very legit shot to make it, VanB might be pitching long relief and could be the Sixth Starter. Bullington's not quite ready yet, but may very well be starting for us later in the year. Shane Youman, who, if he doesn't make the rotation, could be in the 'Pen. I think there's one or two others I'm not thinking of. If Bullington even makes it to the Major Leagues, that would be a feat. Probably the most "reach" pick ever taken #1 overall. I know finances played a role. But when he was drafted Littlefield made the comment that if he achieves his potential, he COULD be a #3 starter. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a #1 overall selection. I hope he does well, I played against him on a regular basis in high school.

I think the Braves win this deal, considering Thorman could eventually become a better player then LaRouche. And that fact that the Braves get a tough lefty who can be a set-up or closer, is a benefit for the Braves. LaRouche is a good player, but you can always find decent productive first baseman, without giving up a legty reliever as talented as Gonzalez. Pirates did not do bad, but they didn't win this deal. What has Thorman done to show he could eventually be better than what Laroche did last year? Thorman has had a couple good years, but prior to that it would have been a stretch to call him average.

Probably the aforementioned Thorman Looks like a risky proposition by Atlanta. Although his last two seasons have bren pretty good in the minors. Prior to that he was average, at best.

Who are they going to play at 1B? Chipper?

In his latest chat, Jim Callis was speculating very heavily that JS could be signing a baseball only deal in the very near future.

Has this been confirmed? Doesn't really matter to me, but just noticed the home jerseys on Cubs.com do have names.

Sosa hit LHP very well in '05, to the tune of .288/.370/.471/.841 OK, And he was .196/.266/.341/.607 against RHP. That is Neifi-like. It was still 2 years ago. I wish him well, I just don't think it is going to be a successful return

I just don't see this turning out well. He was pretty bad in 2005, and he sat out all of last season. I guess there is no harm in bringing him in for a Spring Training invite, but what can you honeslty expect from a 38 year old (maybe even older) who hasn't played a game in over a year? Declining bat speed was evident in 2004 and 2005, I doubt that has improved with rest.

Dosage adjustment?

Trading Jones would be ignorant.

PSU played a lot of zone, taking away the inside game. IU took the right approach and burned them from three point range.

We'll see, as an IU fan I hope they win. However, they are 0-3 on the road so far this season. Granted, those three road games were Duke, Kentucky, and Ohio State.

I thought IU didn't have an offense? :)

My junior/senior seasons I swung a 34-29. I loved that thing. Could reach anything and was light as a feather. No wonder they outlawed it.

The opposite of that question is what I wondered. Are there really that many HS hitters that hit the ball hard enough for metal bats to be a safety hazard? I played mostly 3rd base in HS(2 years ago) at a reasonably high level of competition and I never saw anything that would give that indication Not much more to add than others have already states, but most definitely. I was a 1b/LHP throughout HS and College and had several balls that could have done some damage. Nothing makes your heart jump any faster than letting go of a pitch and have it immediately come right back at your head. I had several occasions were I just naturally reacted and caught the ball just before it nailed my face.

It is a freaky sight....

There's only 2 ranked teams with 3 losses right now. UNI is the only MVC team with 2 losses and they haven't gotten any hype because they weren't supposed to be at the top and they don't have any marquee wins. Regarding SIU, their 3 losses are all to quality opponents, but who's their best win, Wichita? At this point in the season it's who you beat that gets you put in the Top 25. Take Mizzou for example. As of last week's polls, their two losses were to quality opponents(Purdue and Illinois) and they had shellacked a decent team in Arkansas, but they had a combined 1 vote. They aren't going to get any now if they continue to blow double digit leads at home to Iowa State, but if SIU or any other valley team continues to play well they will move up through attrition. Wichita and Virginia Tech are our best wins. IMO, I think the Valley is qualified enough to have their teams move up the rankings due to playing well and not just because of attrition. At the end of the year, there should easily be 4 teams (SIU, WSU, UNI, MSU) in the tournament and maybe a 5th in Creighton if they can ever get it in gear. But that's not my point. My point is that the MVC has the 2nd highest rated conference in terms of RPI. The RPI has always been a signifant contributer of who makes the tournament, but it seems like the pollsters and the tournament committee seem to ignore the MVC's success. Case in point, Missouri State had the #23 RPI in the land last year and was left out. Do you think that a team from a "power" conference would make the tournament if they had the #23 RPI in the country? Of course. I'm just frustrated that the MVC's success last year, and even greater success up to this point this year, seems to not matter to the people conducting the polls. Most of those teams in the top 25 have played 80% of their games at home while we have already played 10 of 15 games on the road. Teams like ND and UConn have no business being in the top 25. How does ND hold a spot in the top 25 after being crushed by Georgetown? How is UConn easily in the top 25 stilll? Who is their best win this year? Stony Brook? I just find it laughable how people can take these polls seriously with the "big boys" getting all of these votes after playing cupcake schedules up to this point. But at least there's a tournament in college basketball to make up for the pollsters constant biases. Polls are dumb, don't worry about it. Besides, how does SIU get 10 votes in the AP and IU only gets one? Especially since IU beat them. I think SIU is a fine squad and the whole MVC should get more respect, but they proved their worth when it counted in the tourney last year.

Its not necessarilly a velocity issue, you can break a wooden bat on an offspeed pitch. Has more to do with where you hit the ball on the bat more than anything.

If Eli Manning did not have the "Manning" name, he'd just be another Scott Mitchell.

Hoosiers destroying the Spartans....

You can cut a lot of corners with metal bats. As some others have mentioned, you can be jammed, or catch one off the end of the bat but still get a hit due to the power a metal bat generates. In high school, I tried to take BP with a wood bat as much as possible. I felt it made me a better hitter. Wood doesn't lie, you have to hit the ball correctly. I played in college and the conference in which I played was a wood bat conference. I realized form the first day I arrived on campus that I would have to get a lot stronger to improve as a hitter. Balls that I hit well in high school did not get the same result from a wooden bat. I loved it. I prefer the wood bat, even with high school kids I now coach because I truly believe it helps them become better hitters.

please elaborate.... I don't see what was wrong with what he said either... the way I understood it was that Peavy simply told the cop to just go ahead and issue him a ticket for the way he was parked and he'd (Peavy) gladly pay the fine. What's the harm in that? I just think flagrantly breaking the law, especially at an airport in these days is ignorant.

Yeah, because blowing an 18-0 start is totally the fault of the officials. I'm sure Hinrich's layup and the goaltending were part of the 18-0 start. Oh, wait. My only point is this, if you start out like that, you shouldn't even be in that situation to begin with. Lots of things had to go wrong, not just the final minute of the game. Check the post made two down from the one you quoted. Gotcha...didn't see it.

Yeah, because blowing an 18-0 start is totally the fault of the officials. I'm sure Hinrich's layup and the goaltending were part of the 18-0 start. Oh, wait. My only point is this, if you start out like that, you shouldn't even be in that situation to begin with. Lots of things had to go wrong, not just the final minute of the game.

Yeah, because blowing an 18-0 start is totally the fault of the officials.