DuWayne Steurer

SRV was the greatest blues guy of his generation, hands down. Being a guitar player myself for 25 years now, his style influenced me greatly.

It says "DAVE BUSH OUTRIGHTED" atop the forum, and I gotta be honest, that's really really misleading at this point.

Macha seems to be a relatively sound strategist, and mildly creative. He uses a power guy in the 2 spot. He uses his closer for 4+ out saves. He uses his loogy for a full inning on occasion (such as last night) He plays lefty righty splits. He doesn't make the Ned Yost-like managerial moves that just make you say "HUH?!?!?!" I don't like the way he's flip flopped Braun and Fielder, and occasionally has a 300-ish OBP guy hitting 2nd (Escobar, Gomez), but those moments aren't enough for me to seriously question his baseball acumen. I think most people's biggest beef with Macha is that the guy doesn't outwardly display any passion, and that he doesn't order retaliatory beanballs.

If this question were asked before we moved to the NL, easy answer for me. When I was a kid, the Crew was my favorite AL team, and a distant 2nd, but my favorite NL team was the Cubs. (Now, I was a Cubs fan because one of my older brothers was drafted by them quite a long time ago) Now, I can honestly say I hate the Cubs, their fans, and their stadium with every fiber of my being. I can't see myself just 'picking' another team. My sports loyalties have always been deeply ingrained in the state. I like the Brewers, Bucks, Packers, and Badgers. I follow Marquette, UW Green Bay, and UWM for college basketball as well. I follow UW hockey. I just can't see myself rooting for an out of state team that I arbitrarily choose.

I have said this in a subtle way, and then last week in a not so subtle way. I told the person that's pestering the crap out of me today last week that "This isn't really a hobby for me, I don't really like messing around with this stuff when I'm not at work". So today he texts me "My computer isn't worken" I text back "I'm at work right now, and I'm busy the rest of the day, I really can't help you" I get a reply "Please, I really need your help with this" And then 5 minutes later, he calls me and leaves a voice mail that "this is really important, call me asap" Ok, first of all, I'M AT WORK. Secondly, you're not using this computer in a business application. WHATVER is wrong with it, it can WAIT. I have received 14 texts from this person today, and I've only replied to a few of them to let him know I'm at work, and then later on that I'm busy, and don't have time to deal with it.

Because I work on computers for a living, my family automatically assumes I am now 24 X 7 FREE tech support. I don't ask my mechanic brother to fix my car for free. I dont' ask my carpet cleaner brother to clean my carpets for free. Why do they expect me to not only be able to do it NOW, but to do something that would likely cost them a pretty penny at a PC repair shop, for free?

I don't think he is delusional or anything like that. 1.) He uses the term "I think" -- As a top athlete, I would expect anyone fighting for a job needs to have the attitude that they are the greatest thing since Cool Whip. Gomez has struggled, and any sort of defeatist or perhaps even negative realist attitude isn't going to help him break through. 2.) He recognizes Cain has played well, and has given him props. 3.) He claims to be the best CF (not hitting necessarily), and I think that may very well be true. This is all fine and well, but he could easily say "I know this hasn't been the season I expected from myself, but I'm going to go out there and prove that I deserve the playing time". Corey Hart was pretty matter of fact about his spring being nothing but complete suck. When an athlete scuffles, there's nothing wrong with saying 'this week/month/season has been tough, but I know I'm capable of much more than what my numbers show'.

Bad parents. I recently (just a few days ago) called 911 when I saw a pair of toddlers/young kids in a car with doors closed and windows rolled up. The cops arrived as the lady was coming out of the store, and she had the nerve to freak out on me because all she was doing was "taking the cart back". The lady was NOT IN SIGHT for at least 3 minutes while I waited for the cops. When it's 90 degrees out, that's too long. When your toddler kids are alone, that's too long. Pet peeve #2 related to parents. Referring to taking care of your own kids as BABYSITTING. "Hey, let's go grab a few beers and watch the game at the pub". "Nope, I gotta babysit tonight, the wife is closing" NO. It's not babysitting when it's YOUR children. It's called BEING A PARENT. If you refer to taking care of your kids as BABYSITTING it's obviously more of a chore for you than you'd like it to be. Don't have more.

I thought a few minutes about adding the Pirates to my list, but instead of hating them, I can only feel pity, as well as some mild loathing towards them. I was at a Brewers/Pirates tilt at MP last year, and had a pair of Pirates fans sitting behind me, and they were discussing the state of the franchise, and I swear, listening to how depressed they were about their team, made me just feel really bad for them.

Gomez might have more potential, but Gwynn comes closer to maximizing what he has. Gwynn can take a walk, and if he hits even .250, he'll at least OBP .335 or so. Gomez is faster, and is a superior defender. He also has a better arm, but it's so inaccurate (he just uncorks every throw, whether or not he has to) that having a stronger arm, at least in my opinion, doesn't really matter much. Gwynn recognizes his shortcomings, and does what he can with his physical tools. If Gwynn could put up numbers similar to last year (.270 BA with a .350 OBP) that alone makes him vastly more valuable than Gomez, who's never even touched .300. I realize Gomez has more potential, but in my opinion, the chance of him ever reaching his true ability is less than 10%. I'd rather have Gwynn on the roster, in a reserve role.

1 A, 1B, and 1C. CUBS. I can't stand the fans, the players, the dump, er, I mean stadium, or anything about this team. 2. Cardinals. They used to be further down my list, but their whole "we play the game the right way' thing, coupled with their fans seemingly being 'better' fans than other teams fans really has pushed them close to the top for me. 3. Yankees. Yes, I'm still going to hate the Yankees for their reckless spending.

it might be harsh, but in a baseball sense, it might be true. The "If I hit .260 that's not a bad year" comment really points out that Gomez really doesn't have a clue about what offensive value really is. His OBP would STILL be awful, and he doesn't slug enough to make an ounce of difference. A .300 OBP with a .400 SLG is crap, and that's what I'd project him at if he hit .260. Which he won't.

I'd like to know what circumstances warranted walking this guy on purpose 25 different times. It's not like you're going to 'work around' this dude to get to the pitcher. If so, that's just an awful strategy.

I keep reading and hearing about Gomez's physical gifts and tools, but that means precisely squat if the guy can't discipline himself at the plate. In baseball more than ANY OTHER sport, a guy can get away without being an extraordinary athlete if he's got a great eye, quick wrists, and fantastic coordination. David Ortiz, David Wells, Prince Fielder, heck, even Benny Sheets are examples of guys that would never get mistaken for pro athletes if you didn't know any better. But physical tools in baseball, again, more than any other sport, don't mean a thing if you don't have the *baseball* acumen to put them to use. Personally, I have seen nothing from Gomez this year (regression, if anything) that would suggest to me that he's on the verge of 'getting it' and busting out and becoming something more than an albatross on offense.

The ball was changed in 1920. That's generally considered the beginning of the 'live ball' era. The NL OPS in 1920 was .679. In 1921, it was .736 (dispelling the notion that 'the average player was Craig Counsell during Ruth's era), with a lowest league OPS of .724 during the decade. The NL OPS this year? .727. Hmmm............ This all culminated with the NL OPS-ing *808*! during the 1930 season, with the AL OPS-ing a *measly* .772. It's widely accepted that the ball was doctored in 1930 to boost sagging attendance (Hack Wilson's 56 HR 191 RBI campaign, every Cardinals starter hit at least .303!) and in 1931 they went back to the 'regular' ball to get offense back in line, but we never saw a complete drop of offensive production to the dead ball era levels again. A few other points, more antecdotal evidence than anything though. Most players, (as someone else pointed out) didn't go for homeruns, because hitting them with a dead ball in HUGE parks was near impossible. When a HR happened, it was an accident, plain and simple. Making long fly outs was a bad way to play station to station baseball, so that's why most guys didn't try to hit homeruns like Ruth did. Now here again, is heresay, but I read a newspaper article about Ty Cobb once upon a when, where shortly into the 1925 season, a reporter asked him about Babe Ruth, the new fascination with the longball, and how it was changing the game of baseball. Cobb said "hitting homeruns isn't anything special, any fat*** can hit a homerun, it takes real hitting TALENT to hit .400, and I'll prove it" Supposedly, he went on to hit 5 homeruns in the next 2 days, and then only hit 7 more the rest of the year. Baseball Reference's home run log definitely bears this out, as his HR log shows he hit 3 bombs on May 5th, and two more on the 6th. It doesn't prove he was trying to hit them for some show or vendetta, but at least the information is able to be backed up. Again, the stadiums were monstrous, several of them would be the biggest parks in play today, even putting pitchers parks like PETCO and such to shame for the depth. Ruth changed the fundamental way that the game was played. I can see why some people would make an argument that Ruth today wouldn't be as good as Pujols, or Pujols back in the day would have been better than Ruth. Neither can be proven right or wrong, and that's what makes these debates all the more fun.

Ruth literally changed the way the game was played. Let's take OPS+ out of the equation. Ruth .342/.474/*.690/1.164 Pujols .332/.426./.624/1.050 This is before Pujols will have had his end of year "declining" statistics figured in. Pros and cons Ruth didn't have to play against black players, but the league was also only half the size it is now. Ruth didn't have anywhere close to the same medical and training and facility advancements that Pujols does now. Ruth had to travel by train, meaning west games (St. Louis, Chicago) were LONG trips. The big capper for me, is that the stadiums back then were for the most part, HUGE. In the AL, Griffith, Yankee, Shibe, and Comiskey were massive, massive parks. Yankee was only 296 down the right field line, but it instantly swung out, and it's over 400 to RC. Cleveland's League Park was also, simply huge. You put the players of today in those parks, and you're going to depress homerun totals by a good 15-20% I'd wager, if not more. For every pro for Ruth, there's a con.

Don't have to have seen him play to know that a *207* OPS+ is flat out stupid. I don't care that Ruth didn't play against everyone, he produced more than twice as many runs as the average offensive player in his era. Nobody else can come close to that claim.

Babe Ruth. 1B - Gehrig 2B - Hornsby SS - Wagner 3B - Schmidt LF - Williams CF- Cobb RF - Ruth C - Bench P - Walter Johnson

From the ESPN.com story............. The area had been trampled down by spectators and was well outside where traditional fairway bunkers would reside. But Whistling Straits is anything but a traditional course. Bunkers dot the property, hence the rule that was posted in the locker room and handed to every player prior to the tournament. It read: "All areas of the course that were designed and built as sand bunkers will be played as bunkers (hazards), whether or not they have been raked. This will mean that many bunkers positioned outside of the ropes, as well some areas of bunkers inside the ropes, close to the rope line, will likely include numerous footprints, heel prints and tire tracks during the play of the Championship. Such irregularities of surface are a part of the game and no free relief will be available from these conditions."

Golf, more than ANY other sport, has an honor system in place in which most golfers would report a violation that they themselves commited even if nobody saw it. Whether or not one agrees with the rule, it needed to be enforced. Johnson knew it, and I strongly suspect had the official not said anything, Johnson would have narced on himself anyways. And to the claim that this will turn off 'millions of casual viewers'? I strongly doubt that.

Now that he's on the Red Sox, does Billy Hall have the winner quality that he didn't have in Milwaukee?

Wow, where do you keep such a huge tortoise? My brother used to try to keep turtles he caught as pets but he would always have to let them go after a week or two because they got restless being in enclosed spaces (even if it was a pen in the yard).She's not full grown. Right now she's bout the size of a platter, maybe 18" long. She's outside a lot right now, I think over the winter I'm going to put a kiddie pool in the basement, with a heat lamp and whatnot for her. I only took her in because the previous owner didn't really know how to take care of a tortoise, grossly over fed it, gave it way too much calcium, and it grew so fast that it's shell split. Right now I don't even like picking her up, her shell is still pretty thin, but at least it's healing. I don't know if this is a long-term pet, and if it is, I'll have to consider housing for a tortoise that could likely get up to 125 pounds by the time it's 15 years old.

I have 3 pets right now, and I'll try to post some pics later. Argo, a 2 1/2 year old snow white Shiba-Inu. He's pretty much both the most awesome dog ever, and most deviously naughty. Ivan, a russian tortoise (ya ya, I know) and Layla, a sulcata (African spur thigh tortoise)

Wow. Wow. I. <3 Brandon. Phillips.

Yeah, no matter how you slice it, this season has been a disappointing one. I don't think too many people figured we were legit contenders going in, but it's still a downer when you come out of the gate ultra flat, and never get back into it. As for what I want to see between now and the end of the season.......... 1.) Some serious AB's for Cain. I'd like to see the guy get 150 plate appearances. Not that that's enough to draw conclusions on, but let's see what the kid can do. 2.) Lucroy and Escobar finish strong. 3.) Not that personal accomplishements mean much, but I don't see any reason to not give Hoffman the opportunity to get his 600 saves.