wade

Ok now that I understand. But, the posters hating the guy because he had a drug problem. That is ridiculous. Actually, I still don't understand that. I have a hard time not giving a crap about someone because they "put themselves in that situation". Addicts are not people that consciously say "wooo, I'm gonna do me some drugs or alcohol and party it up and waste all my good fortune that has come my way." They are sick, and it's nice to see ANYONE who has had problems with addiction break it. I don't care how much talent they wasted, how easy they had it growing up, any of it. The world would be a better place if fewer people were afflicted with the sickness that is addiction. Just because I can knock back some beers and not have a problem doesn't mean I'm going to think someone who becomes an alcoholic is just a weaker individual than I am, unworthy of my support.

Somebody from the team has to make it!

I'm not pulling for him, thats for sure. What a waste. [thread hijack] I agree. I'm not going to expend energy rooting for someone who has failed without the assistance of others! I don't understand why people who have abused drugs, done time, or--pick the infraction--, deserve our support. He's to blame for his problems and he has to earn some credibility. Lost in the shuffle of this "feel good story" are the guys who succeed without succumbing to pressure or those who don't get a second chance. The guy is lucky to be in this position.[/thread hijack] Yes he his, and I'm sure he knows that. If he stays straight and lives up to his potential, it's still a good story. Battling an addiction is about as difficult as anything anyone can ever do. He should not be forever condemned for making stupid mistakes with drugs at a young age. Why is this a good story? I can see someone battling back from a devastating injury, cancer, or after an unprovoked attack that took them away from the game, but this? No, using crack was his fault. BTW, I'm not advocating condemnation. If he proves he is clean there's nothing to talk about but he hasn't earned universal respect, praise, or support. There are plenty of young people who don't throw away years of their life because of drug abuse. Also, let's not characterize this as youthful transgressions, this guy was married with children. Instead of adequately supporting his family he was terrorizing them--so much so that his wife kicked him out of the house!!! I don't hear enough praise for those who do the right thing the first time around. They don't get the limelight. Now Hamilton is viewed as a symbol of strength and perseverance? Not in my world. You're not only advocating condemnation, but you are wholeheartedly engaging in it. :D

I'm not pulling for him, thats for sure. What a waste. Did he not follow step 9 and apologize to you for something? Nope...just don't feel bad for a coke head that wasted a ton of his talents while others would dream for such ability and chance to play in baseball. I also find it funny that if Hamilton was black, he would be labled as just some "thug", rather than some poor soul fighting his addiction. (FWIW I am white). So people didn't pull for Doc Gooden to come back from all his problems and give him second chances because he's black? I dream of the ability too, but I find it hard to be unsympathetic just because I haven't had the misfortune of dealing with some serious problems myself. I recall Gooden taking alot more heat in the media. He took heat, but he also had about eleventeen combacks and failures. And, although I think it's a shame that he wasted his talent, I still wouldn't mind hearing that he was straight.

I'm not pulling for him, thats for sure. What a waste. Did he not follow step 9 and apologize to you for something? Nope...just don't feel bad for a coke head that wasted a ton of his talents while others would dream for such ability and chance to play in baseball. I also find it funny that if Hamilton was black, he would be labled as just some "thug", rather than some poor soul fighting his addiction. (FWIW I am white). So people didn't pull for Doc Gooden to come back from all his problems and give him second chances because he's black? I dream of the ability too, but I find it hard to be unsympathetic just because I haven't had the misfortune of dealing with some serious problems myself.

I'm not pulling for him, thats for sure. What a waste. [thread hijack] I agree. I'm not going to expend energy rooting for someone who has failed without the assistance of others! I don't understand why people who have abused drugs, done time, or--pick the infraction--, deserve our support. He's to blame for his problems and he has to earn some credibility. Lost in the shuffle of this "feel good story" are the guys who succeed without succumbing to pressure or those who don't get a second chance. The guy is lucky to be in this position.[/thread hijack] It doesn't take a whole lot of energy for me to hope that people can kick an addiction that could lead to theirs or someone else's death.

I'm not pulling for him, thats for sure. What a waste. Did he not follow step 9 and apologize to you for something?

Hamilton is a good story this year, but it's hindsight to say anyone knew he'd be this good after having not played, let alone be able to stay off the coke. I hope he keeps his life together. You gotta pull for people that battle an addiction.

Just what I was thinking. The Reds have big threats from the left side. As long as Lilly doesn't have some crazy Mike Remlinger-type-reverse-splits going on it should be a plus.

nevermind, these are sold.

When I was doing what I could thru virtual waiting, I got two tickets to the 4/21 cubs/cards game. I was pretty sure i wouldn't be able to go and now I know I won't. After toying with ebay I'll just see if anyone here wants to buy them. All I want is to recoop cash- my order for the two cost about 95 bucks- so I'd be happy with that. They are section 404, row 2 (this is from memory, i can check at home if anyone's interested) lemme know here or via pm- wade

I read somewhere that Naron was watching the baserunners and didn't see where the ball went. Once he saw Edwin walking back to the dugout with bat in hand he wondered why he was coming from home plate area so he watched the replay and saw that he didn't leave the box. I think it's something to be upset about as a manager, certainly.

Now two steals for Dunn today.

Why aren't you flipping to the reds game during commercials?

Am I nuts, or does Sheets look like Stiffler from "American Pie"?

LOL that was halarious. god is on his side this year his right hand side.

Adam Dunn just stole a base because even though he is really big and strong, he is also really fast.

Adam Dunn hits homers off peoples' gloves.

This is about as silly as the "Aramis didn't report until the day he was due" uproar. Is it good when players show up early? Yeah. Is it horrible if they show up on time? I don't think so.

It would be pretty awesome for my fantasy team if here were to become eligible at catcher.

How long before the last word in the title of this thread is edited to "season"?

I'm guessing they're gonna go with Durbin for a little while... Yeah, I got that from the blurb. :D But, Miller's on about the same track and talent as Verlander, so I just wonder if they'll look and say, "wow, this worked last year" and try again. Of course, they may also be leary because of Verlander, he has been slow to bounce back from last year's career high load. And that's with skipping a few of his starts last year, too.

I wonder how tempting it will be to bring up Miller.

If Dunn runs into the wall, Great American Ballpark will move 10 feet and he'll have a nice chuckle.

What about those comments make him soft? Did you hear him accepting responsibliity and saying that he has more work to do to get where he needs to be? No, he was trying to make a veiled point with his repeated use of the word "employee". What has he shown you in the past almost half decade to make you think that he has an ounce of mental toughness? I saw him challenge a steroid-addled monster in San Francisco once. That's gotta be worth two, maybe three ounces right there.