Baseball '04

I think I might have to be a Cubs fan. The Yankees are obviously beyond the pail and the Red Sox are turning out to be almost as bad. If I've got my Baseball rivalries straight this will also allow me to bait John C when St Louis fail again.

AFAICT winning fantasy baseball requires one to have an encyclopedic knowledge of Kansas City middle relief and the like and requires an April to October commitment.

NFL is the best of the fantasy variants.

Matthew

My Sox didn’t really do too much during the off-season. Losing Colon will probably hurt the most. Hopefully, some of the youngsters will step up this year. Also, Konerko needs to get back in his groove and start hitting the ball.
Every year after Cubs have a winning season and make the playoffs, they follow up with a losing record. Both teams have almost all of their games on TV through either WGN or their local (new) sports channel. I can watch a lot of baseball if either team is doing well. I’m not sure how happy this will make the new fiancé!

John Litwin

The best moves my Dodgers made were getting new ownership and a new front office. I can only hope that they acquire the Beane-ball philosophy.

It may be Beane-ball indeed. Dodgers transactions the past week:

Apr 4 Milton Bradley traded from Cleveland
(for OF Franklin Gutierrez, 3-player deal)
Apr 4 Joe Thurston sent to minors
Apr 4 Milton Bradley called up from minors
Apr 3 Aaron Looper traded from Seattle
(w/P Ryan Ketchner for IF Jolbert Cabrera)
Apr 3 Olmedo Saenz purchased from minors
Apr 3 Edwin Jackson sent to minors
Apr 3 Chin-Feng Chen sent to minors
Apr 3 Jose Lima purchased from minors
Apr 3 Jason Romano traded to Tampa Bay
(for IF Antonio Perez)
Apr 3 Wilkin Ruan designated for assignment
Apr 3 Antonio Perez traded from Tampa Bay
(for OF Jason Romano)
Apr 3 Jose Hernandez purchased from minors
Apr 3 Jolbert Cabrera traded to Seattle
(for Ps Aaron Looper and Ryan Ketchner)
Apr 3 Koyie Hill sent to minors
Apr 1 Steve Colyer traded to Detroit
(with player to be named for OF Cody Ross)
Apr 1 Cody Ross traded from Detroit
(for LHP Steve Colyer, player to be named)

Of course they lost their opener today.

My predictions are based more on what I would like to see happen than anything that could be regarded as actual informed opinion.

American League

East : Yankees

Enough hitting to edge the Red Sox.

Central : Twins

((((Joe Mauer))))

West : Angels

Factoid: Bartolo Cooon is 5ft 11 but weighs in at a reported 240lb. Hurrah for fat people in sports!

Wild Card : Red Sox

After narrowly losing out to Yankees they will be itching for revenge in the post sesason.

National League

East : Phillies

Hopefully a new era of the Braves not being very good is upon us.

Central : Cubs

Sammy will have a career year.

West : Giants

This years NL West Champion is brought to you by Eli Lilly

Wild Card : Astros

Pettite and Clemens both win 20 games.

World Series : Red Sox over Cubs in 7

Pitching wins in October.

My predictions (note I don't closely follow baseball until late June/ early July):

NL East- Atlanta
NL Central- St. Louis
NL West- Arizona
NL WC- Chicago

AL East- New York
AL Central- Kansas City
AL West- Anaheim
AL WC- Oakland

WS: Angels over Cubs

I just might have to tune into some of the Bosox-Yanks series this weekend. I'm curious to see how nasty a tone they'll set for the rest of the season.

[EDIT: Or not. I see that Wakefield's on the mound tonight. <YAWN>]

Pitchers are somewhat behind the batters in redbirdland.

NL East- Atlanta
NL Central- <takes deep breath> Astros
NL West- Dodgers
NL WC- <really asphysxiating now> Chicago

AL East- New York
AL Central- Twins
AL West- A's
AL WC- Red Sox

John

Baesball's like rounders for boys isn't it ?

Fritz Von Secondrow²



N.B. Hey Ludwig, I trust yer still hangin on in there old son ?

For Matthew Robinson, Giants/Barry Bonds fan, from me, Dodgers fan:



It was also nice to see the Bosox sweep the Yanks.

PS- Fritz, I'm still breathin' cuz.

I like Barry because of his surly attitude. Sports heroes should be psychologically flawed (A-Rod is just too sensible for me).

John C however is a *huge* fan of the big man and claims he is the best player ever (better than Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, etc) -- or rather he was the best player ever in his pre-juiced all round hitter, base stealer outfielder guise.

But beyond that I am no particular fan of him or the Giants. In fact I am still struggling to find a team to support and am sticking with the armchair fan's ploy of just picking someone to cheer for in each game.

Of course I do hate the Yankees though.

Matthew

Matthew,

If you hate the Yankees a lot, you're actually a Red Sox fan. You just don't know it yet.

Except that if there were no Yankees I suspect I'd hate the Red Sox.

I have rooted for both the Marlins and the Diamondbacks in recent seasons but neither team has left a lasting impression.

Cubs maybe? They have that desparate air of tragedy about them that I rather like in Sports teams and Sammy is fab.

Matthew

Funny, I feel the same way about the Red Sox. In fact I'm indifferent about them unless they're playing the Yankees.

The Cubs certainly have a lot of charm, plus they're in the more entertaining NL. Detroit has a similar charm plus they now have Pudge. Milwaukee ("The Brew Crew") of course has many ties to beer, so that's an obvious option too.

Nice to see the Red Sox sweep the Yankees this weekend. Pedro's big head of hair hasn't slowed him down a bit.

Also, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" had a funny bit, something like:

"During the off-season, the Red Sox and Yankees entered a bidding war over phenom Alex Rodriguez. In the end, though, the Yankees were able to offer something the Red Sox couldn't- a boyfriend!"
<fem photo of Derek Jeter hugging A-Rod appears behind newscaster>

These are completely non-PC, but I got a chuckle because hardcore jocks and sports addicts tend to be such vocal homophobes (in my experiences):

http://www.thebrushback.com/Archives/gay_full.htm
http://www.thebrushback.com/Archives/jeter_full.htm

The following made me laugh. Especially as the Iggles traded up in the first round to get Arkansas OT Shawn Andrews who weighs anything from 340 to 400lbs depending on sticky bun consumption.

Matthew

Fat Fuck Has Tremendous Upside

AUSTIN, TX--Roy McCardell, fat fuck from the University of Texas, has tremendous upside, scouts reported Saturday. The 393-pound defensive lineman is said to be a potential run stuffer if he could only improve his mobility. He currently runs a 40 yard dash in just under 10 minutes.
“McCardell is basically immobile right now, but he does have some serious upside,” said one NFC scout, who witnessed McCardell’s workout at the combine. “If he could learn to move slightly to the left or right, and stand erect for more than one play at a time, he could make someone a great situational defender, especially in the 3-4.”
McCardell must work on his footwork and coordination before he becomes a serious candidate, but run-stuffers are so highly valued that he has a “real good chance” of making an NFL roster next season. For now, McCardell has been instructed to gain a few more pounds so he can become more of a fat disgusting shit.

Barry is clearly the best player in baseball over the past 30-40 years. Compare his stats with Willie Mays ( a God) ...better OBP, Slugging,HRs, will catch WM in Ribbies, lesser career average, nowhere near as good fielder, comparable base runner. In his youth he was clearly 5 tool player and regular 30- 30 man. He is a giant of the game.

NL central is the toughest division in football.

John
er baseball

[This message was edited by John C on Tue 27 April 2004 at 13:57.]

But Barry will have an asterisks next to his name in the history books.

Regardless, he'll be forgotten once A-Rod's 35 or 40.

What a series between Cubs/Cards! 4 game sell out in May (> 180,000 attendence) and just about everything including pouring rain in 40oC at Busch stadium. The Zambrano/Morris match up seems to have been fantastic. Rather worrying that the cursed ones have Prior to come back into the rotation though(Yikes).

John
(tries to rise from football gloom)

Perfect

Randy Johnson has just thrown a perfect game- zeros across the scoreboard! He's the oldest player to do so, and it's just the 17th perfect game in baseball history. Amazing!

Just watched the highlights, fabulous.Closest I ever came watching live was Greg Maddux who was perfect into 7 before going on to 3 hitter.

John

(In Boston)

Although The Big Unit will never be "perfect" until he grows back the finest mullet in all of Christendom.

Matthew

The more I hear about his performance, the more I'm in awe. He was still throwing around 98 mph in the final inning, and went to a 3-ball count on only 1 batter the entire game!

Let's have a look...

AL:
Yankees
Chisox
Oakland

NL:
Florida
St. Louis (they can't buy a win at home)
Dodgers ( ) - San Diego

I'm betting none of the current NL leaders win their divisions.