44Fishy

Why don't you ever see catchers who throw left-handed? We had a kid in my high school who was a heckuva athlete and had a cannon for an arm- he was telling me he had to have his lefty catchers mitt custom made- I had been thinking about it and I couldn't come up with a single example of any major-league catcher who threw lefty- I'm assuming most lefties are encouraged to play 1st base- but why not let them play catcher? about the only reason I could imagine would be because most hitters in high school are right-handed, making it more difficult for a lefty catcher to make throws to 2nd & 3rd base-

Bobby V!!!! oh please, Bobby V!!!!

several good points have been made, but here's a couple things that no one has pointed out 1) the economy has really, really hit us hard down here in Tampa. most people are worried about their house being foreclosed on and losing their job, so they aren't spending $ on entertainment, instead they are watching on tv and ratings have spiked 2) I made my first trip to Wrigley this weekend and was reminded of how great it is to watch baseball outdoors in decent weather. Watching baseball outdoors in Florida is miserable (most people were astonished that the Rays were even considering building an open-air stadium earlier this year) and watching ball in a fixed dome is sterile and charmless (I don't know how anyone in Minn does it) 3) Tampa Bay population is very spread out (one of the biggest reasons the Olympic commitee passed on us for 2012, it takes forever to get anywhere). There is a large population in Sarasota to the south, Clearwater to the north (there's no easy way to the interstate from Clearwater) and right there in St Pete. But the largest population and highest overall net worth in the area is in Tampa, which is farther away from the stadium and on top of that, most of Tampa's residential areas are built on to the far north and far east sides of Tampa, putting the stadium even farther away and making it nearly impossible for many people to beat the traffic to get to a game unless they cut out of work early. The Bucs and Lightning stadiums are much closer to a bigger # of people with expendable income. Plus Tampa and Sarasota are both separated from St Pete by water. I know it sounds crazy, but crossing a bridge is a huge mental hurdle for some people in determining how far they are willing to commute for an event or even their job. they need a new retractable dome stadium, built in north St Pete, in what is called the Feather Sound area, 1st exit across the bridge from Tampa and closer for the people in Clearwater

I remember we talked about this at some point last year and he did it again last night- Sheets has an uncanny ability to throw a complete game that would be a shut out, except for giving up only a solo homer, just like last night- We were looking for a good name...The Sheet-Out

"Quite frankly I think I'd rather give Garner a shot than someone with zero experience. At least Garner has proved he can lead a team through tough times and has actually lead a team to the world series as a manager." Not sure which is worse- Yost who can't put together a 2nd half or Garner who can't put together a 1st half.... I like that Kremblas has won with some of these guys- And the title he won with Nashville, wasn't he working the postseason with an empty cupboard after September call-ups took a lot of the talent off his roster? His ability to get the new roster to perform has gotta count for something, too-

"I don't like the deal from Houstons perspective. Wigginton is a guy that IMO is basically a platoon player. " Well, then you haven't been paying attention to the Rays- Wiggy has been their MVP this year- I can't believe they're letting him go-

I'm still waiting for BBTN to somehow get Bobby Valentine back- He was the best on air personality they ever had- As for Who's Now, I can appreciate that the All-Star break is the slowest few days of the year for sportswriters (no football, hockey or basketball stories to fill the void), but this was the biggest piece of garbage I've ever seen-

that's right up there with Moises Alou's superstitious hand urination.....

obviously a great deal of any perfecto is luck and another component is the skill of the pitcher, but I'm surprised there isn't any mention in any of the articles about Rivera calling the game- That has to be a major factor, no?

MLB probably gave Leyland a nudge re: diversity