Web Jim Edmonds

Are we entering an age of more focus on defense, and less on power hitting? I think we are. Here are my 2 reasons: 1. The steroid era is over. Or so they tell us. But I can't think of anyone in baseball that could hit 60 homeruns. Maybe Howard, maybe Fielder, but most likely neither of them top 50...ever. Bonds, Sosa, and Big Mac are all gone. It also just feels like, though I haven't looked up the numbers on this, that there were fewer 25-30 HR guys last season than in, say, 2001. 2. Defense is cheaper, and with the economy as it it, that matters. Moneyball made a huge impact on how rosters are made. GMs are out looking for value where other teams missed it. Look, for instance, at the Rays recently. Their bullpen is a reclamation project. Their first baseman was someone that the Tigers gave up on. One of their starters can't dent bread with his fastball. Another was given up on by another organization probably because he threw too many fastballs. On a smaller level, you can even watch Madden position his players in pretty bizarre defensive shapes for each and every batter. It's almost as if they have no "regular" position. 2.5. Last season's league average ERA was down. One year does not constitute a trend, and it had been as low as it was last season in some other seasons in the last 15 years, but I still think it might be something. We'll have to wait another two or three years to find out. Anyway, what are your thoughts?

4.1IP today Vs the Nats. 7ER 3K's and 3BB's for a 9.31ERA. 12 Million smackers a year. I remember how Rick Ankiel sort of....lost his pitching skills and never got it back. The same has seem to have happened to Ollie, even though he's not throwing pitches to the back stop. He's 100% healthy, what is the problem and is there any chance of Ollie turning this around? And Part 2 to the question, what would you like to see happen if you team had Ollie? (edit: more explicative thread title --1992)

She was awsome during the Pam Anderson roast. RIP Maude.

Besides sit down restaraunts and the ones you and your buddy grill, what is your favorite "classic" burger? Here are a few popular ones: Steak N Shake Steak Burger Rally Burger Big Mac Red Robins 5 Alarm Cheddar Burger Whopper/Double Whopper Wendy's Classic Single White Castles Mini Burger Fuddruckers Ultimate Burger JackNTheBox Grilled Sourdough Burger Fat Burger QuarterPounder/Double Quarterpounder Cal Jr's/Hardees Cheesesteak Burger Sonic Doublestack Bacon Burger 5 Guys Double Cheese Burger WhatABurger In&Outs Allstar Burger Other In St. Louis, Steak & Shake burgers has to take it hands down. Been eatin them burgers for 15 years now, havent put 'em down and probably never will.

If you could write a letter to yourself at age 16 and send it back in time, what would it say? I'll go ahead and get things started... Dear 16 year old WJE, Hi, it's yourself from the future. Don't worry, I'm not writing to warn you that you got hooked on drugs or crap like that. I do want to tip you off about a few things, though. First-- Real soon you're going to be looking for a new car. Your brother will be getting his liscense pretty quickly, which means he gets to inherit the [edited for language] you drive now. A guy you work with, John, no not long hair creepy John, but going grey weird John, will offer to sell you his convertable. Don't be seduced by the shiny wheels and stereo that makes a nice "boom" sound. You'll quickly learn that Lebaron's don't have the best track record when it comes to transmissions, and this will kickoff your streak of three cars in three years. Buy something else and save yourself cash in the long run. Second-- Don't EVER date the friend of Jeff's girlfriend! Long story short, through her you'll meet another girl that you'll date, and that just turns into a huge mess. If that's not reason enough, there's always the fact that shortly before you break up, she thinks it's funny to come up and fart on you while you're watching TV. Third-- Don't believe everything you've been told about drinking. Yes, do wait until you're of legal age, but don't think that one drink will cause you to go crazy. Next year you will be going to Germany. You will be of legal age to drink over there. Make sure you have a few beers, especially when you go to the little "Oktoberfest-type" event, or when you take a tour of a brewery, or ESPECIALLY when you visit the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. Don't go crazy, but come on and live a little. Finally-- Know how you've always had a passing interest in photography? Make it more than that. Dump the crappy video production classes, you're going to get out of that as your major in college after a year or so anyways. Instead, sign up for as many photography classes as you can. Save some money from your crappy job (it seems fun now, but wait a year), and buy yourself a decent starter kit. Trust me here. (edit: language --1992)

I was on my way to 7-11 to get some beers for todays games, when the wife asked me to get her some peanut M&Ms and a Code Red Mountain Dew. Thats the third time she's asked me to get her that combo in about 2 weeks. So that got me thinking, what are some of your favorite food and drink combo's? 1. Hooters mild wings with cold Bud Ice 2. Hooney Roasted peanuts with cold Bud Ice 3. Steak and Cheese subway sandwich with Fruit Punk 4. Oreo Cookies with cold milk 5. Buffalo Ranch Doritos with A&W Root Bear, (or cold Bud Ice) any others?

Sorry bout that. You know how it is with A-Rod, seems like everything he does is analyzed and discussed to some degree or another. My bad though, I'll remember to keep it quality next time.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3475674

By late August their pitching will be Wainwright, Carpenter and Loshe (latest Dave Duncan project) up front. The 4th and 5th spots wont matter much because Pinero, Looper and Boggs are already "failing" and Wellehmer can go more than 5 innings. I wouldnt anticipate a dramatic relaps, but a slight improvement. But then again all this dime store paper analysis doesnt often live up to on-the-field play.

Just my own thoughts so take it with a grain of salt. I didnt get any of this from any "insider info" or anything along those lines. C. Sabathia to the Brewers for Matt LaPorta and Taylor Green Jason Bay to the Rays for Wade Davis, Desmond Jennings and Jeremy Hellickson Matt Holliday to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp, James McDonald, Andrew Lambo and Xavier Paul Erik Bedard to the Phillies for Carlos Carrasco, Adrian Cardenas and Drew Carpenter A.J. Burnett to the Cubs for Tyler Colvin and Ronny Cedeno Xavier Nady to the Angels for Sean Rodriguez and Hank Conger Brian Fuentes to the Red Sox for Jed Lowrie Jim Johnson to the Cardinals for Anthoney Reyes.

Just my own thoughts so take it with a grain of salt. I didnt get any of this from any "insider info" or anything along those lines. C. Sabathia to the Brewers for Matt LaPorta and Taylor Green Jason Bay to the Rays for Wade Davis, Desmond Jennings and Jeremy Hellickson Matt Holliday to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp, James McDonald, Andrew Lambo and Xavier Paul Erik Bedard to the Phillies for Carlos Carrasco, Adrian Cardenas and Drew Carpenter A.J. Burnett to the Cubs for Tyler Colvin and Ronny Cedeno Xavier Nady to the Angels for Sean Rodriguez and Hank Conger Brian Fuentes to the Red Sox for Jed Lowrie Jim Johnson to the Cardinals for Anthoney Reyes.

I told wifey I was going to 7-11 and she asked for a Code Red Mountain Dew and some Peanut M&M's. It was about the third time she's had this combo in about two weeks - so that got me thinking. What are some of your favorite food and drink combos? 1. Honey Roasted peanuts and Bud Ice. 2. Buffalo Ranch Doritos and Code Red Mountian Dew. (wifey got the code red from me. 3. Steak and Chese Subway Sandwich and Fruit Punch. 4. Hooters mild chicken wings and Long Island Ice Tea. 5. White Castle cheeseburgers with a chocolate shake. Lets have some others.

You know, no one who Ive talked about this with has ever brought up the difference in pay, and Ive never thought about it. You know why I never thought about it? Because the arguments usually go something like this: "The Indians are going to win the world series, im telling you. They have a good, young, hungry group of players and ...well..and they're just going to win it." "The Yankees are simply to old man! Look at all their players...they are like all over 34. No one they compute this year with the DRays!" "The Braves need to look at getting younger in the outfield. If that doesnt happen, they dont stand a chance." "Yes I know Ludwick and Cabrera have similar numbers but Miggy is younger, therefore he is better." You see, no one ever bothered to talk about the fact that youth, or the younger player is better to have, which is essentially what you're saying. The argument is simply that the younger player is better. If you're talking about saving 10's of millions of dollars then thats one thing, and no one ever argues the point like that. I even wonder if they've even thought about it like this because they sure as hell never mentioned it! LOL So thank you for the insight. And in no way am I talking about the Brewers. I somehow got the feeling from your response that you felt the need to defend the Brewers as if you thought I was "shining a light" on them and I wasnt. Not at all.

I've always had a problem trying to quantify why so much emphasis is put on "youth" when it comes to the game. Obviously I see why its better to have Hanley Ramirez playing SS for you rather than Omar Visquel right now, but some people when arguing youth seem to argue it the "wrong way" as far I can tell. Looks at it this way; why is a 22 year old CFer batting .290/.384/.560 with a 10 FRAA better than a 32 year old CFer batting .290/.384/.560 with a 10 FRAA? Even more confusing than that, often times the argue is made that the 22 yeard .290/.384/.560 CFer is better than a .313/.388/.584 32 year old CFer. It not about how young a player is, its about how valuable his play is. Whats the use of having a young stud who's hitting way below average? By the time the guy's hitting is producing the adequate value to the team, he's not that young anymore. Some players pay immediate dividends when they are really young like Hanley, Jose Reyes, and others we could name, but they are the exceptions, not the norms. Of the top 10 OPS+ batters last year, only Upton was under 27 in the AL. In the NL, three of the top 10 were 27 or under, but after that, in the next 20, 13 of the players were 28 and older. The numbers were similar in the AL. Youth has its advantages, the only one that counts being that you have the chance to have the player when he's consistently providing his max value to the club, at which point history and statistics shows us that the player wont be so young. So is it better to have that 21 year old right now than it is to have that 29 year old right now? The 29 year old is doing right now what the 21 year old is going to perhaps be able to do years later, so why is that better? Thats just the way I see it any, I'd appreciate different points of views on the subject.

Im going to guess sheets of paper?

Got some good riddles or brain teasers? Post them hear. Solve a riddle and then post one of your own. There are 3 guys stranded in a jungle. 2 of them weigh 150 pounds, one of them weighs 200 pounds. They have to cross a river and they see a small boat. It can hold 300 pounds without sinking. How do all of them get across?