It's baseball season

“This should have gone on the photo thread.”

“And then there was Doc "I'd rather spend a year in jail than go through rehab" Gooden.”

“OK”

“Doc got a year and a day. And a day, what's up with that?”

“I think Felonies need to be more than a year.”

“Los Gigantes just rang up 6 runs on the Atlanta Barfs in the 3rd - an ill-advised intentional walk to Barry was part of the show....”

“*Yawn*

Anybody know when the season starts? I'm getting tired of watching the St. Loser Cruds take batting practice in Criminally Bunkum Park.”

“I forgot to check - is Rollins' streak still alive?!”

“Nope, he took a collar last night. I knew he would fairly early on. It's harder to carry a streak from one season to the next in my mind.

But is was fun both last season and going into this one.”

“One of the Dodgers ran awkwardly, having trouble stepping on first base.

Phillies commentator Larry Anderson said, "First base hasn't moved in more than a hundred years."”

“So, having made a deal all spring about having to get off to a good start, the Phutiles head for Hotlanta with a flashy 1-5 record. I'll bet that will impress the hell out of Bobby Cox and company.”

“Somebody quick call Bobby Cox's wife and tell her to spend the night at her sister's place. The Braids are losing their second in a row to the Phutiles.”

“Beisebol beeena vera vera good to Barra Bongs.”

“Moises Alou did some damage the other night. In the first inning, Willie Randolph had Tom Glavine walk Bonds intentionally. So Alou came up and whacked a 3-run homer. Did he learn anything? Nope. Late in the game, with the bullpen-weak Gigantes clinging to a 4-2 lead, he had Bonds walked again with runners at the corners. Alou whacked a 2-run single to chase Glavine. Five ribbies after 2 IBBs - nice!!”

“The next guy up getting a timely hit is the best way to counter an intentional walk. That batter has to feel just a little bit insulted, as though they expect him to strike out on three outside pitches or something. So you have to know he's going to dig in and make ya pay.

Of course, now that Barry's not taking the steroids he wasn't taking when he was not aware he wasn't taking them, why walk him? Implausible deniability!”

“Yeah, not sure why walking a guy hitting below the Mendoza line is a good idea anyway....”

“Especially when he hasn't said he's not taking steroids.”

“Barroid Bonds.”

“Barry Bongs”

“Bottom o' the 9th pinch hit homer yesterday to tie it up. That's 3 dingers in 5 games for those of you keeping track. Lost in the 11th, though....
last edited: 4/27/06 11:25:49 AM”

“Looks like managers will continue to waggle four fingers to the catcher.”

“On a different note, my neighbor is the head coach of one of our 2 public high schools' teams. They beat the cross-town rival yesterday, and the kid pitched a no-hitter! The coach's son is one of the stars of the team, too, as the #1 catcher.”

“Three to zip, and only 713.”

“How is Rowand working out for the Phils. Geo?”

“The Phillies have been playing better, but the team with the best record in the NL is still in front of them. The Phillies have a pitcher down on the farm in Scranton who’s looking very good.”

“Cole Hamels - "In three starts, the young southpaw has allowed just 10 hits in 23 innings, and whiffed 36 against one walk."

Yep, that's pretty good even for the minors.

Rowand is doing pretty well.”

“Indeed, Aaron is a Philly type of player. He has no compunctions about crashing into the wall to make a catch - a refreshing thing after Kenny (I ain't crashing into the wall) Lofton.

Cole Hamels is developing and will probably be up with the team by mid-season, unless the starting rotation has really settled in by then.

Brett Myers is also slowly establishing himself and could be a true ace by sometime late in the season.

Tom Gordon has been lights out and nothing short of amazing. He will be ready if needed and could close all three games if called upon.

As for Billy Watzizname, I hope he pitches as well against the Phillies as he did last season against the Astros. The b*tch cost us the post season!

You'll probably hear footsteps all season long, conk, coming from fellas wearing red and white. Then again, maybe we'll be hearing footsteps from time to time. Either way, three nights of fun begin Tuesday.”

“About Hamels performance yesterday:

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/sports/14526863.htm”

“How 'bout them Tigers!!!”

“The Tigers have moved to SF???”

“When you're married to a Michigander, you root for the Tigers whereever you are!!!”

“Must be fun when they visit the A's.”

“Th White Sox are still better!

MOOOOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“How could you root for a team named after an article of clothing? What's next, the Louisville Beige Jox?”

“The Phutiles used to be the Worcester Brown Stockings. Getting named for misspelled female race horses was a decided improvement.

I can't imagine being a Brown Stockings fan. Some Philly wag would have nicknamed them the Dirty Sox. Makes one wonder about folks in Worcester, who, after all, just changed the colors of the sox they root for.”

“No baseball games tonight for me. The Mutts and Billy Watzizname come to town tomorrow night. Yeehaw! Folks are thinking of going to the park and hanging out above the visitors bullpen. I figure there's probably not going to be much chance of getting within shouting distance.”

“A fan did us all proud. Yelled at Billy "The Rat" Wagner: "We missed the playoffs by one game, and it's totally your fault."

For anybody who missed it, The Rat has been spouting off about the Phillies and their fans. Two saves he blew against the Astros last year pretty much accounts for the one game deficit for the Wild Card.”

“Of course, if they'd been ahead by more runs, they'd have won those games....






Barry robbed last night by a nice over-the-fence grab in dead center by some dude (sorry, can't remember his name). Schmidt pitched his second CG in a row, though, so we came out ahead 6-1....”

“You've forgotten the name of speedy Juan Pierre???”

“Ha! I knew Geo would be keeping a close eye on All Things Barry!!”

“Juan Pierre is a heckuva player. The Crumbs got him from the Merlins. At least he's out of our division!

There was an interesting discussion about Barry Bums on XM Radio yesterday. There is a large amount of irony involved in all this, but the central fact comes down to a guy who most likely did steroids chasing what was once a hallowed record. It does not help that Barry acts surly toward the press, and by extension, the fans.

Funny, but some commentators were putting a rap on Philly fans for their reaction to Barry, but Barry said it was nothing compared to Dodger Stadium.

Hell, he shoulda played a game in Brooklyn!”

“I still have mixed feelings about all this steroid stuff. I saw Regina Jacobs at a track workout a few weeks ago and felt like going up to her and calling her a cheater, since she got booted out of track for steroids. So I don't like people cheating. But it's not like Bonds (if he did cheat - while it seems likely, there hasn't been anything proven; aren't we supposed to presume innocence in this country?) is the only one who has cheated or is cheating. If his home runs should be taken away if it's proven that he took steroids, what about the fly ball outs he made batting against pitchers who were on steroids? Should those be converted to home runs? What about Willie Mays's home runs when he was on "greenies"? Why is Hank Aaron so supportive of Barry? Was he taking something during some of his 755 HRs? I don't know if I'd go as far as some people who say these guys are professional entertainers, so who cares what they take, but there is some truth to that. Plus, why are we comparing Barry's 700+ homers to Babe Ruth's anyway, when baseball was so different then than it is today? Heck, it was different in Hammerin' Hank's day, too. Did Aaron have to bat against pitchers who train year 'round, lifting weights, never pitching more than some limited number of pitches a week? Did Bonds ever have to bat against a more elite number of pitchers because of fewer teams in MLB back in the 60's? Way too many questions to just condemn one guy when nothing's been proven (yet) anyway.”

“Unless you assume that the ballooning of his head very quickly is some kind of natural reaction to getting intentionally walked, the man is on roids.

I've heard all the arguments about roids not making you hit home runs - that you still need hand-eye coordination, yadda yadda.

But Mark MacGwire was quite obviously on something as well - if not steroids, then andro must have some sort of punch.

I don't think they will take home runs away from anybody, although I believe they should. Same thing for pitchers who were on roids and broke any records of note. But they've pretty much conceded that taking homers away is just not practical.

Sports is supposed to be about natural ability. Some people drank alcohol, which ended up robbing them of ability. Some developed other conditions or ailments that robbed them of ability. But ability in sports goes to the healthy and conditioned.

As for pitchers' conditioning, I think it's been pretty well stated that pitchers of yore threw better and longer than pitchers of today. Plus, the mound was higher and the fences farther away. Even in Aaron's time this was true. There were a whole lot more complete games by pitchers who were not only good, but who routinely plunked hitters who hit home runs. Bob Gibson would as soon knock you on your ass as give you something hittable. Don Drysdale's rep as a head hunter is well established. And hitters didn't charge the mound in those days. They dusted themselves off and tried to get a hit - that was the payback if you could do it.

Barry will pass The Babe's mark, and you are correct. It will be no reflection of Babe. I doubt he will be in the game long enough to catch Aaron. His physical ability is deteriorating at an alarming rate - again a likely reflection of steroid use.”

“Cole Hamels was called up to The Show just today. Just announced. He'll pitch Friday in Cincy. Speculation is that Madsen will get bumped back to the pen.”

“Glad the Phillies got that out of their system last night!”

“anyone sippin' the Detroit Tiger Kool-Aid?

Contenders or Pretenders?”

“The Phillies should not meddle with their pitching staff. I like it just the way it is.”

“Oh this is going to be such a fun season conk.”