Posted on 04/17/2006 3:26:58 PM PDT by .cnI redruM
Several Baseball/Beisbol related questions?
1) Where's Ken5050? He's usually the man on these b-ball discussion threads.
2) CNN's Power Ratings ask the annual question about the Braves. Why do the buzzards always start to circle. Yes, their BP once again sux. Is this the year they cough it up?
3) On a related note. If the Braves cough it up, is it because The Mets are for real? They're 9-2, as of this addition of the CNN/SI power ratings.
4) Bonds? Relevant? Worth bothering with? If so, let's start a meaningless office pool. How many games does Bonds successfully play in this season? Post answers below.
5) Here's an interesting and perhaps obnoxious thought. An awful lot of people drank Yankee and Blue Jay flaved Coolaid and wrote of the Red Sox like a John F. Kerry Presidential aspiration. Are they dead? Or have the Yankees laughed to soon?
Hardball Ping!
The BoSox won yet another one run game today.
Bonds will play around 50 games, will see that his steroids Grand Jury is proceeding (there's smoke there too) and his elbow truly IS swollen due to bone chips. He'll have surgery and retire.
The Braves are the Braves. It's nice to see Jeff Francoeur (I have Langerhans in a few leagues as well) come back amongst the living.
The Mets are as real as they can get. They need another starting pitcher (A Bronson Arroyo type would be perfect but Cincy won't give him up).
Maybe it is flowers blooming and trees leafing out that make us feel that the world is coming to life again ... NAH! Its those magic words PLAy BALL and the sound of the bat hitting the ball ...
It's getting to be stupid to throw him a strike.
I definitely would not want to have to pitch to Albert! Wasn't he somthing like a 12th round draft choice? That just shows how much he has grown since then. Albert leads the NL with 8 HRs in this young baseball season.Sorry. Gotta go ... tonight's Cardinals game is about to begin ... LOL
Heh! Two run HR by Albert ... already! What a ball player. He has really been working hard on his fielding, as well ...
Wouldn't MLB love it if he broke Bond's single season HR record.
That would be so good for the game.
Don't misunderstand, I am not condemning Bonds [yet] ... but, regardless of how he comes out of this, Bonds and his accomplishments will always have the blemish of suspicion of steroid use.
You have to think that at some point managers are going to tell their pitchers to just put him on first and deal take their chances with Rolen.
Can you add me to the new ping list?
The Braves have a lot of issues, not least of which are starting pitching (I think they'll follow Smoltz's lead and settle down), Chipper being hurt, and the white-hot Mets. They may not have their division in a headlock this season.
Bonds is still a dangerous hitter, and should be respected by opposing pitchers, but he's not the threat he once was. The new Bonds is Pujols, as he has been proving for years. The man is a phenom and I have the greatest respect for him as a person and as a player. That said, I must legally hate him because I am an Astros fan.
The Yanks may do well, but they have severe pitching woes. Also their bats are, excuse the pun, hit or miss. They can win blowouts but seem to have trouble in tight games. They have to fix that. The Blue Jays are also a force, but I pick the Red Sox to win the division. As long as Beckett and Schilling are both locked in, and Papelbon keeps turning in performances like he has, I see them as an early favorite.
More later ... gotta slip out of baseball mode into a more traditional role ... and go fix supper for the other resident baseball fan ... {smile}
Albert hit another one today. He's locked in. In my opinion the best player currently in the game, and although it's early in his career I will say one of the best ever. I can honestly say that no hitter scares me more. I still have bad memories of him ruining NLCS game 5. Lidge has never been quite the same, but if anyone can bounce back, Lidge can. He's added some new pitches so hopefully if there's a rematch it ends differently this time.
Twins take 2 of 3 from the Yankees. Maybe if our 'designated hitter'(Rondell White) wasn't hitting 0.085 we coulda swept 'em.
See ya in the minors, Rondell.
The 'Stros really wanted to get Rondell. After that deal fell through, we signed Preston Wilson. So far he has been a solid contributor and has made some great plays. He's doing well in Houston. I'm sure Rondell will turn around eventually.
Not sure what his problem is.
But when your DH is the worst hitter on the team a change will be made soon.
Today's Sox game could very easily be one of the best games of the year. After tying the game 4 times, they were down by a run with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 9th inning, when Youkilis beat out an infield hit by a fraction of a second. Then, Mark Loretta, who only hit 3 HRs in 2005, hit the game winning HR.
Go Loretta!
"Where's The FR Baseball Thread??"
Uh, it struck out?
I agree completely. He seems totally committed at all times to becoming an even better ball player. He arrives at the park early for practice and [it is reported], even during games he will go in to watch videos of himself so he can see what he is doing "wrong" ... so he can correct it next time he comes up. He seems to be very methodical.Albert has real potential for a long, outstanding career. Frankly, he is a joy to watch ... and I would enjoy watching him even if he were not [God forbid!] a Cardinal. I felt the same way about Derek Jeter when he was playing well ... even though the Yankees were always my least favorite team ... until the Braves came along ...
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