44Fishy

With Clayton Kershaw being one of the favorites for Cy Young and Matt Kemp a possibility for the MVP, it's a real commentary on the state of the rest of the Dodgers organization that they aren't in contention for the playoffs. I was wondering if it's ever happened before- Has there been a team that has taken home both awards, but failed to qualify for the postseason?

Josh Lueke's baggage: Sounds like he got a little Rothlisberger-ish with a woman and got popped for it- IIRC the charges included false imprisonment and sodomy- Short jail sentence, a few months, I think- Pretty major for her, but I don't think it's the type of thing that is going to derail his career- The baggage for the Mariners was that somebody along the chain of command didn't relay that information to the Mariners President (I think) and he was asked about it in an interview and he had no idea and he was pretty ticked off about it- So they looked like either they didn't do their due diligence (doubtful) or that they didn't share the info either because they forgot to or because they were worried the President would veto the deal- One of their longtime scouting directors fell on the sword over the deal, but there's a good chance it was Jack trying to sweep something under the rug- In the team's mass e-mail to fans yesterday, they touted all their big-time prospects by name that fans can look forward to seeing in the years to come, but Lueke's name was absent from the list- I'm not saying he'd be the centerpiece of a deal, he's just a young relief pitcher, but they are definitely motivated to move him and could include him in a package- from NBC's Hardball Talk blog: Granted, maybe Lueke doesn't fit the definition of a "top prospect" by virtue of being a reliever, but he did post a 1.86 ERA and 94/14 K/BB ratio over 63 innings between the Rangers and Mariners organizations this season. Some have even mentioned him as a future closer. The 25-year-old right-hander pitched 12 games with Triple-A Tacoma to end the season, so they'll have to make up their minds pretty soon.

Do you think Jack Z might make a run at him? With the haul they got for Cliff Lee, they have a few pieces to play with, especially the pitcher with the criminal past (Lueke, I think) and I'm sure they would love to get rid of that PR nightmare- That would give the Mariners the flexibility to move Fielder at the deadline like they did with Lee- Then they have more time to let Smoak get ready in the minors-

from NBC's Hardball Talk Could Brewers owner Mark Attanasio end up buying the Dodgers? Craig Calcaterra Sep. 9, 2010, 3:30 PM ET http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/assets_c/2009/09/dodgers%20logo-thumb-155x156-2113.jpg I passed along a bit of gossip some months ago that Frank McCourt would try to sell the Dodgers after the divorce case is said and done. The Dodgers tore me a new one over that -- Frank McCourt is king of kings, they said, and we should look upon his works, ye Mighty, and despair -- but the talk continues. The latest incarnation: FanHouse's Tom Krasovic reports that Brewers owner Mark Attanasio may be interested in buying the Dodgers. He couldn't get any comment from Attanasio, of course, but Attanasio is based in Los Angeles, is viewed as a solid owner and at least one anonymous MLB executive thinks there could be something there. For his part, Krasovic thinks that Selig would love it if Attanasio rescued the Dodgers from the chaos the McCourts have created. Just something to file away for that day when McCourt finally admits that he's in debt up to his eyeballs and has no way out of the woods but to sell the team.

looks like this is a couple days old, but still worth a chuckle... http://www.brewcrewball.com/2010/8/27/1653992/macha-rhapsody http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/530340/bohemian_medium.jpg Is this a real league? Is this just fantasy? Ten games back from the wild card No escape from reality At least we're at home Look up to the dome and see I'm just the manager I need no sympathy Because I'm easy come, easy go Little high, little low Any way the game goes It's all about the batters to me, to me Dougie, I just benched a kid He was serving up grapefruit Wasting pitches, trying to be cute Dougie, his career has just begun But now he's gone and thrown it all away Dougie, ooh Didn't mean to make you cry We've got another game this time tomorrow Carry on, carry on need to work with the batters Too late, game time has come The Pirates are next in lineWish we could play them all the time Goodbye, quiet clubhouse I've got to go Gotta leave you all behind and face the crowd Dougie, oooooooh (Anyway the wind blows) I don't want to lose Sometimes wish I'd never taken this job at all [Guitar Solo] I see a kid saying he's our center fielder Poppycock, Poppycock, you can see how the bench feels Dale Sveum and Randolph, waiting for the handoff, fiends! ( Trevor Hoffman) Kameron Loe (Trevor Hoffman) Kameron LoeTrevor Hoffman six hundred Two more to go-o-o-o-o I'm just the manager nobody loves me He's just the latest one after Nedly Spare me this season, it's a monstrosity Leads come, Leads go, will you let me pitch Loe? Peterson! No, we can not yet use Loe Send in Loe Peterson! No, we can not yet use Loe Send in Loe Peterson! No, we can not yet use Loe Send in Loe (We can not yet use Loe) Send in Loe (We can not yet use Loe) (Never, never, never, never) Send in Loe, o, o, o, o No, no, no, no, no, no, no (Oh Bernie Brewer, Bernie Brewer) Bernie Brewer, let me go The Hall of Fame has a wing put aside for me, for me, for me! So you think you can cheat us and take away our strike zone So you think you can shut us out in our own dome Oh, baby, just one pitch away, baby Just gotta get three out, just gotta get our third out right here [Guitar Solo] (Oooh yeah, Oooh yeah) It's all about the batters Pitching is easy It's all about the batters It's all about the batters to me Any way the game goes...

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/scoring-change-strengthens-mike-leakes-roy-bid.php Can someone explain to me how changing the ruling from Milledge getting a double to it now being an error on Rolen erases 6 earned runs?

I could be wrong, but didn't SI screw up here, too? on their daily update, in the Truth & Rumors section toward the bottom right- The headline link is about Prince & Corey being available, but isn't the picture Sabathia? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/email/siextra/2010/07/30/index.html?xid=siextra_073010

Ok, I hear you that it's a more common scenario than I thought- But I don't really understand the reason why guys like Stanton are not in AAA- Are you saying the reason legit hitting prospects are stashed in AA is the team wants to use the AAA roster for guys with options who can be called up and sent down as needed, whereas they prefer to keep a sure-fire prospect at AA is to provide him with some stability and not mess with his head about being jerked up and down? I thought maybe it had something to do with 40-man rosters- (I'm not even sure if guys in AA can be on the 40-man roster)

from NBC's Hardball Talk blog: Dana Eveland got the start for Pittsburgh, his first since coming over from the Jays in a trade. Not a good day for Eveland, as the AP game story makes clear: Eveland gave up six runs on three hits in five innings. Welcome to Pittsburgh.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gifhttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gifhttp://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/laugh.gif funniest thing I read all day...

I've been hearing about Marlins' prospect Mike Stanton for a while now and just saw he's about to be promoted to the bigs from AA- I remember Villanueva was also in AA before he was brought up a few years ago- I've always wondered why these guys weren't in AAA if they were close to being major league-ready- Is it all about building up their mentality that they can dominate at that level and give them a healthy dose of confidence?

This is from NBC's blog Hardball Talk (which is great, by the way. my apologies if there's a better way to post and credit items from another source) Rickie Weeks: All-Star Thu Apr 22,2010 6:30 PM ET By Matthew Pouliot http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/weeks.jpg We know who the NL's best second baseman is, and Chase Utley doesn't figure to lose his title any year soon. Second in line is an open question. Brandon Phillips is an excellent defender and a solid hitter, albeit one who is miscast as a cleanup man in Cincinnati. Dan Uggla last year reached the 100-home run mark faster than any second baseman in major league history, doing so in his 502nd career game. However, he's a liability defensively who probably belongs at the hot corner. It's possible we're seeing a couple of new All-Star candidates emerge this year. Martin Prado, who overtook Kelly Johnson for a starting job in Atlanta last year, went into Thursday with a .400/.469/.545 line in 55 at-bats. Rickie Weeks has been even better. He's batting .339/.473/.610 after Thursday's 20-0 rout of the Pirates. In 15 games, he's scored 16 runs and knocked in 12. Only Matt Kemp has more runs scored among National Leaguers. Of course, Weeks has always scored runs, even when those whining about his subpar batting averages wanted him removed from the leadoff spot in the Brewers order. In 497 major league games, Weeks has scored 350 times. He's scored 0.163 runs per plate appearance in his career. Let's compare that to the rest of the guys who have spent the bulk of the last five years batting leadoff: Career runs scored per plate appearance Rickie Weeks - 0.163 Johnny Damon - 0.157 Grady Sizemore - 0.152 Rafael Furcal - 0.151 Jose Reyes - 0.150 Ichiro Suzuki - 0.147 Jimmy Rollins - 0.146 Chone Figgins - 0.146 Brian Roberts - 0.143 Juan Pierre - 0.132 If you want to throw Derek Jeter into the mix, he's also at 0.163 in his 608 career games as a leadoff man, but much of that was achieved during a higher-scoring era. In 160 games since he returned to the leadoff spot last year, he's at 0.151, even though he's a better hitter than Weeks batting at the top of a better lineup. Weeks' knack for finding home plate really is remarkable. He hasn't played for particularly strong offenses, and while he has more power than most leadoff men, he doesn't match Sizemore and Rollins in the department. What remains to be seen is whether this will be the year Weeks puts it all together. He was off to a fine .272/.340/.517 start in 37 games last year, only to be undone by the latest in a string of wrist injuries. Weeks averaged just 95 games per season from 2005-09. Weeks also has a poor defensive reputation, though the numbers say he's gotten a lot better and I think most scouts would agree. UZR has him at negative 24.4 runs from 2005-08, but at positive 5.1 runs in 49 games since the beginning on 2009. It's far too early to say that he's now an above average second baseman, but I do believe he's a whole lot better than he was. If Weeks stays healthy, then I fully expect him to be the NL's second-best second baseman this year, even if he ends the year hitting .270 or so. He'll have a nice OBP regardless, and he could well score 110-120 runs. He's also a possibility to hit 20 homers. Maybe Phillips has more upside if he turns in a career season, but I don't think anyone else does.

ESPN has announced the Sunday night schedule for the first half of the season- Date Teams (8 p.m. ET unless noted) April 4 Opening Night: New York Yankees at Boston (ESPN2 HD) April 11 St. Louis at Milwaukee April 18 New York Mets at St. Louis April 25 Atlanta at N.Y. Mets May 2 N.Y. Mets at Philadelphia May 9 N.Y. Yankees at Boston May 16 Philadelphia at Milwaukee May 23 N.Y. Yankees at N.Y. Mets May 30 Texas at Minnesota (ESPN2 HD) June 6-27 TBD July 4 Kansas City at L.A. Angels July 11 Chicago Cubs at L.A. Dodgers July 18 Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs (6 p.m.)

He was the best story the Rays had going when they brought him down here to St Pete last summer- Everybody loved him, brought lots of life to the team- I seem to remember seeing several late innings 'clutch' hits, too-

There has been a lot of speculation about whether Holliday would return to St Louis next year or sign elsewhere as he is a free agent after this season- I sincerely doubt that one play would make the Cards not want to bring him back- But if they lose this series and the public backlash is severe enough and he's labeled as the goat, could you imagine him not wanting to return?

Players go into the baseball HOF as a representative of a particular team right? Like I think Reggie Jackson is depicted as a Yankee, not a member of the A's- And the decision is usually made by the player, right? Is it the same way at Canton? I've always assumed Favre would go in as a Packer- Is it possible he could just really decide to be vindictive and elect to be enshrined as a Viking if he wanted to? Or is that decision made by the HOF officials or the NFL or some group of writers?

"If his season is over, Hart will finish with a .260 batting average, 12 home runs and 48 RBIs. It's a major drop in production from each of the previous two seasons, when Hart hit at least 20 homers and drove in at least 80 runs." How much would you like to look at your stats for RF and see .260/33/76? That's Nelson Cruz- If we had thrown in Hart into the El Caballo deal instead- Or better yet, if we hadn't done the deal at all, and we still had Cruz and got the 2 compensation picks-

http://www.kansascity.com/159/story/1412928.html?storylink=omni_popular Great article about a longshot prospect in the Royals system- couple quotes that made me laugh: Disco Hayes showed up at a Royals tryout back in 2006. He was out in Arizona on money he did not really have to try out for teams that had shown only vague interest - the White Sox, the Padres. Someone mentioned that the Royals were having a tryout camp. An Abbott and Costello skit followed. "Where?" Disco asked. "Surprise," the guy said. "What's the surprise?" Disco asked. "The town," the guy said. "The tryout is going to be in a surprise town?" Disco asked. "Exactly," the guy said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- There's a famous story - or, anyway, famous in Kansas City baseball circles - about the first time Royals manager Jim Frey saw Dan Quisenberry pitch. Quiz had pitched very well in the minor leagues, but nobody really knew why. He threw sidearm then - he would soon throw submarine style - and he threw preposterously slow. As he would say, his slider didn't slide, his curveball didn't curve and his change-up didn't change a thing. Frey watched Quiz throw for a while. Then he stopped the action, walked up to Quiz and held an impromptu interview. "Are you throwing as hard as you can?" Frey asked. Quiz nodded. That was as hard as he could throw. "And is that your curveball?" Frey asked. Quiz nodded again. That was his best curveball. Frey nodded and then gave his summation of Dan Quisenberry's talents. "Holy (BLEEP)!" he muttered, and he walked off.

Every story I read says Wagner projects as a Type A free agent and Boston will get 2 picks- He's pitched in 2 games since being injured for a year, right? Why does he project as a Type A?

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/tuck-sez-bring-your-own-whine-and-brew/

what I noticed last night was when he was in the stretch, he would check the runner and without giving himself enough time to really set himself or even get a good look at his target, he just snapped his head forward as he was starting his move toward home. The results were not strikes. So then he's behind in the count and then everything goes all to hell. They need to work on his mechanics. This looks like a simple fix, but not something that should be worked on at this level. A couple AAA starts now could pay huge dividends later.

I don't live in the local area, so I don't get the Crew on tv often- knowing that MLB Network has been cutting live to cover Hoffman close out games lately, I just flipped it on after following the first 8 innings using GameDay on mlb.com- Sure enough, they had the 9th inning and I got to see that awesome play Kendall made- WOW!!! I can't recall a more risky, more athletic, more amazing play by a catcher- it's so cool that I got to see that live- Thank you MLB Network!

don't read the article first- just watch the embedded youtube video- 1986 Dodgers - The Baseball Boogie http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple%2F090520&sportCat=mlb oh my...

I know I'm 10-12 years late on this topic, but can somebody please explain to me the logic behind the way the divisions and leagues are set up- 16 teams in one league and 14 in the other- 6 teams in the NL Central, 4 teams in the AL West- somebody told me it has something to do with balanced/unbalanced schedules or inter-league play, but it didn't make sense to me- it seems ridiculously unfair that the teams in the NL Central have to beat 5 other teams to get a guaranteed playoff spot when the AL West teams only have to be superior to 3 other teams-

Rickie has not only looked better at the plate and on D, but even his body language is different- It looks like he feels like he belongs in the bigs- used to look like a lost little boy, but he's got a lot of confidence- and after last night's game, we also know that Joe Morgan has not become any less annoying to listen to... btw, obviously it sucked that it was a homer against the Crew, but the camera angle on ESPN last night from right behind the catcher for that first pitch that Soriano tagged looked pretty amazing-

http://i13.tinypic.com/2s9afpw.jpg from a column called "The Straight Dope" by Chicagoan Cecil Adams: "Cubs fans… let's just say history has taught them life is cruel, and that the law of averages is willing to make an exception in their case. Keep this in mind when visiting Wrigley. All around you will be people aware that, based on what has happened over the past century, there's nothing to look forward to in the next one. It will be tempting to rub this in. You'll be sitting there...next to a glum-looking individual in blue, and after a beer or two you'll want to lean over and say, "So, what's it like knowing your team is always going to suck?" Don't do this. Be nice. When the Cubs are at bat, for example, speak appreciatively of their T-ball-level achievements: "Oh, my. That was a well-hit ball. Too bad it was foul." This will endear you to Cubs fans. Setting aside those who get arrested for disorderly conduct, and when you're as drunk as they are it's hard to land a proper punch, you have nothing to fear from these people. Watching the Cubs has given them an attitude of Hindu-like resignation. "