liveforoctober

Ha, good find with the Sowers picture. I want Bill Hall to bust out in the worst way... can someone make this happen?

Confirmed. The infamous Rich Becker with a home run in that game... http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN199907010.shtml

I concur. It makes you want to go give Yount and Molitor a big hug, doesn't it?

I'm not a big hidden stats guy... so BABIP and Vortex and vulcan and chimpanzee and all of these stats that people keep pulling out of the air don't mean anything to me... but I do know that JJ Hardy has a hit A LOT of baseballs very hard this year and they all seem to end up in someone's glove. Counsell had a little spell at the beginning of the year of the same thing and I felt terrible for him... but it seems like Hardy has been in that curse all season...

Everything that you have all said about Glavine and his performance possibly and/or even probably not being significantly better than Dillard/Wright/McClung etc... is probably true. However, IF he would be willing to come here and IF he would be willing to take a similar salary/contract that he had in Atlanta (cheap!) ... I would take him over those other choices in a heartbeat. Trevor Hoffman has been a godsend as a closer this year... but I believe he has had so many more positive effects on the bullpen beyond his 9th innings. DiFelice, Villa, Coffee and the whole crew are absolutely soaking in everything that guy does. They are better for just been around a guy who has been successful... I could see Glavine being the same for the young guys in our rotation. Manny Parra is at a pretty fickle point right now. His confidence has to be shot and it's going to come to a point soon where doubt creeps in. There's only so much Castro and Macha can say to him to try to make him to turn it around... but if a HOF lefty like Glavine suddenly showed up, how could watching him pitch and prepare not be a positive thing for someone (Parra) who figures to be a big piece of our future? Yo and Bush would benefit as well. Listen, if Glavine doesn't want to play here, or if he wants too much money... cool. We will be fine. But if both parties believe it is a fit, Glavine proves he is healthy, and the need, via an injury or player performance, is there... I can't see how adding a pitching coach who can also post a 4-4.5 ERA and pitch > .500 would be a negative thing. I guess what I'm saying is if all else is equal, I just think Glavine has something to offer that the in house fellas (McClung, Dillard, Wright, etc) can't...

I'm taking McCutchen as well. The Pirates are going to let him do whatever he wants... and I can see him going to Pat Listach route and stealing 50 bases in the 2nd half to win the award. Gamel has a chance if he proves he belongs and starts hitting, he should get everyday at bats.

As long as it is all aimed at me I'm ok with it. Plus, most of them are being condescending for the wrong reason... so it is more funny to me than insulting at this point. I understand as a general rule though we should leave it out of discussions. Meanwhile, I still think we should talk to him to see if there is mutual interest. If we obtain a serious rotation injury I'd much rather have him than any of our AAA options (Dillard is the only one you could convince me on) ...

I would also argue that most big league pitchers who turn 40 are not Tom Glavine. I don't mean that to sound snide either... but as a guy who never has relied on power to be effective... he has to prove he is healthy ... but I'm not sure the age thing is as big a factor with him as trends say for others.

His 2009 salary was to be $1 million dollars... the same as Counsell. Would you rather let Parra work out his troubles in the bullpen while Chase Wright starts or Tom Glavine? Our bullpen has been the best part of our team this year, and I think that has as much to do with Hoffman's non pitching influence as it does his 9th innings. Could Glavine could have that effect on Parra and Bush? We'd be improving at least 2 spots in our rotation He has to prove he is healthy of course, and I understand he is old, but he is only a year and a half removed from being 13-8 with a sub 4.5 ERA which is better than 3 of our current starting pitchers... and 2 1/2 years removed from 15-7 with a sub 4 ERA.

Not sure if this is the proper place to put this... but here goes. I hope all of you will follow suit as Mr. Attanasio will surely read this. *winks* I, stage name LiveforOctober, with hand on bible, do solemnly swear to attend AT LEAST two additional Tom Glavine home starts and AT LEAST two more additional home games than those games I was already planning on attending. With friends coming with me, concessions, parking, and merchandise... I can promise A MINIMUM of an additional $400 in revenue out of our collective pockets if you are able to sign Tom Glavine. Sincerely, LiveforOctober

Not sure if this is the proper place to put this... but here goes. I hope all of you will follow suit as Mr. Attanasio will surely read this. *winks* I, stage name LiveforOctober, with hand on bible, do solemnly swear to attend AT LEAST two additional Tom Glavine home starts and AT LEAST two more additional home games than those games I was already planning on attending. With friends coming with me, concessions, parking, and merchandise... I can promise A MINIMUM of an additional $400 in revenue out of our collective pockets if you are able to sign Tom Glavine. Sincerely, LiveforOctober

Irish coffee?

I loved seeing how emotional Bill Hall was after that hit. He sprinted straight into the dugout, gave Macha a high five and started screaming as he entered the tunnel. You could also tell he was emotional when he was talking to Telly Hughes. Good for him. I guess it just proved that he still cares deeply?

Bill Hall.... way to shove it in our faces... I love you.

It tells you how bad Hall has been when before the first pitch is thrown to him ... Rock says ... "Man, a wild pitch would look great right about now"... Come on Billy...

Now is the time... come on fellas.

So this is what Craig Counsell would look like if he hit the weight room huh? *post at-bat edit* ... I like him already. That was arguably the best at-bat against Carpenter all day.

Here comes the Cat!

Alright Rook... let's have an at-bat here.

If Hart's spot comes up against Carpenter this inning... we better see Gerut.

Thurston was in McGahee's shorts pre-pitch... I think Macha was just rolling the dice that Carpenter was going to throw a decent pitch to bunt... and we could catch the Cardinals in a weird defensive set-up... it definitely back-fired.

Macha definitely out-thought himself right there...

Thanks Craig.

I don't think we can stress enough that Carpenter is perfect through 5...

DiFelice made the roster because of his spring. So we still have hope that one will carry...