Derwood

I believe the original intent of the rule was to prevent pitchers from blatantly deceiving baserunners. However, it's gone far beyond that. Like you mentioned, there are little things that really cause no harm but are called as balks, such as moving the ball from your glove to your pitching hand while on the rubber. Hell, I believe that if you get blown off the mound by a strong gust of wind while in the set position, you will be called for a balk, even though everyone knows there was no intent to deceive the runner. Or dropping the ball while on the rubber. I remember that happened to Wood a few times because when he looks in for the sign, he spins the ball around in his hand behind him. How is dropping the baseball deceiving the base runners (in that situation)?

I can honestly say that I had never heard of Dontrelle Willis until he hit the scene in Florida. I don't even remember the name at the time of the trade, and I had no idea who he was (compared to other names in the farm system who were closer to the majors)

I hate balks. I mean, yes, you should have a rule where the pitcher can't "fake out" the batter or base runners, but then why is that a tiny little flinch gets called a balk, but a fake pickoff throw, or the infamous "third to first double fake" is legal? Isn't that trying to fake out base runners? Is the little flinch more distracting?

Wow, they are actually showing this game here in PA. Then again, PIT is on monday night...

I think this is a year that Hendry can't afford to sit back and wait for the dust to settle before making a move. He needs to agressively pursue the players he wants and get them signed early. I'll be severly disappointed if we leave the winter meetings without a significant signing or trade

C'mon UCLA! If Cal loses, that will make 3 top 10 teams losing (with OSU and Tennessee), meaning Penn State could crack the top 10 this week!

I have to go to work at 3am, and I'm not going anywhere NEAR downtown State College tonight. Last night there were about 20 horse mounted police for crowd control......the night BEFORE the game! In 55 degree weather with pouring rain! Tonight it's going to be mayhem! My sister just called. She's still in the stadium. Evidently a lot of the student section ended up on the field, but they're not going after the goalposts, just partying it up. I usually drive down Beaver Ave. to get to work (I live off of W. College, I deliver for the CDT, which is out by the mall) but the cops will be lucky to keep the kids off the streets tonight. I don't want to miss work because I'm stuck in a sea of drunken sophomores. EDIT: OSU and PSU combined for fewer points and fewer yards than Wisconsin, who lost to Northwestern. This game had 27 points and around 450 yards combined, the NU/WISC game had 99 points and 1000+ yards. Crazy.

I have to go to work at 3am, and I'm not going anywhere NEAR downtown State College tonight. Last night there were about 20 horse mounted police for crowd control......the night BEFORE the game! In 55 degree weather with pouring rain! Tonight it's going to be mayhem!

Looks like Minnesota is going to beat Michigan. Top 25 is a curse if you're a Big Ten team...

Penn State thanks you Wildcats

Northwestern trying their best to lose this one

I love this thread. There are people who, should the White Sox not lose another game and sweep their way to the championship, will STILL call it all dumb luck. At least accept the fact that they've won games. No one has lucked their way into 102 wins. You call El Duque's pitching in the 6th inning in Game 3 luck? Listen, if the Sox were mediocre with Maggs, Lee, etc., but are good without them, then getting rid of them = good move. The Cubs tried the same thing in getting rid of Sosa/Alou, but it didn't work out. Why? Different managers, and a huge difference in injuries. The Sox staff remained intact for nearly the entire season, while the Cubs predictably got banged up. If the Cubs had stayed healthy and made the playoffs, would we be calling it dumb luck, as "swapping Alou and Sosa for Hollandsworth and Burnitz is just dumb"?

Not only did Chris Burman basically root for Boston all day today in Game 3 of the ALDS, but the entire broadcast was skewed heavily towards Boston. And now the front page of ESPN.com.....does it have a photo of the victory celebration for the White Sox? Nope. It has a picture of Johnny Damon. Rick Sutcliffe even said something to the effect of "I know we're paid to be impartial commentators, but you have to be cheering for Graffanino in this situation" (I could have the player wrong, but still...) Heck, if the Yankees lose to the Angels, will Sportscenter even bother covering the playoffs anymore?

And I bet they add McCarthy now for the 7 game ALCS

You'll hardly notice the Red Sox bias from him....... :roll: I was just jumping on to say the same thing. Could he be rooting for the Red Sox any more? Good lord. And ESPN in general is really skewing this telecast towards Boston. The mid game highlight package was "Chicago lead early, blah, blah but look at these Boston HOMERS! WOW! Oh, and they are losing again, but HOW ABOUT MANNY AND PAPI?"

They ARE in colorado. That schedule only shows home dates for the Rockies. It would be "at CHC" if it was at Wrigley.

In fairness, the Braves started out with Jordan and Mondesi in the OF, Perez at Catcher, Franco at 1st.....it wasn't like they planned on this being their post season lineup. It just turned out that way.

Came over from Boston in the Nomar deal. Former 1st round pick

A decent enough recap. Boy, everyone sure loves Pawelek. :-) I love how they say that the Cubs were awesome at every level, only then to explain that the organization was under .500 as a whole. So.....the Southern League was awesome and everything else was.....?

"Fung eez weening and weening eez fung"

Uh Oh! You said the "T" word. Now we're on the list for sure. Last year I was going on a business trip and my wife packed my suitcase. I check in, check my bag and go all the way through security. I'm talking laptop out of the briefcase, putting my shoes back on and I hear, "Northwest passenger Tom XXXXXX please return to the check in counter." I grumble, put my shoes back on, repack my briefcase and go back. Get to the counter and the guys asks me to unlock my bag. I tell him it isn't locked. He says okay, and I go my merry way. Back through security, laptop out, shoes off and I hear, "Northwest passenger Tom XXXXXX please return to the check in counter." Back out, to the counter. Guys asks if it is my bag, I say yes. "Did you pack it?" "No, my wife did." "Did you know you have a FAA banned substance in your bag?" "No, what" He lifts up a can of spray starch. "Aerosol cans are banned on airline flights sir." "Okay, just throw it away." "I can't do that. We have to turn it over to the FAA. Please go fill out these forms." (Name, address, SS, etc.) "I'm sorry, I didn't know. Won't happen again." "If it does, as a repeat offender you may be subject to up to 3 years in prison and a $50,000 fine." "Yes sir." And that's how I became the spray starch terrorist. The really annoying thing is that my wife no better than to think I'm going to use spray starch anyway. Oh well, at least I made my flight - it was delayed. It's nice to know you can count on Northwest for something. My Mom's bag was searched when they did the "wipe" test on the handles. Turns out she was using lotion that had glycerin in it, it got on the suitcase (naturally) and that gets the Feds' dander up.

They probably know that their manager is terrible in the post season. Almost anyone can win consistently with the players he has been given over the years, as the Braves have arguably the best advanced scouting and player development personnel in the league. But Cox makes some terrible game situations (ie pitching around Berkman to get to Ensberg). Some say Cox is underrated, I say he's overrated.

I would root for the Sox. Why not? If you're getting crap from Sox fans, you're hanging out with the wrong people :wink:

A freshman who is on the team this year? Probably Derrick Williams or Justin King.

I believe the NY-Penn League is short-season A ball, so the Cubs would have to move out of the NWL and Boise to get a team in that league. The Cubs have already pulled out of Lansing - their low-A ball team moved to Peoria. Gotcha, thanks. Well I've never been to Boise, but I could probably guess that State College has as much to offer! Plus we're closer to West Tenn and Daytona!