First FR weekly baseball discussion thread.. (oh, THAT Al Al Leiter.....)

[Mrs.Liberty]

Add me to your ping list please,
and,

GO PADRES!

[motzman]

I shot pool with Al lieter's brother (not the brother that's a pitcher) in Baltimore before a Mets/Orioles exibition game in the late nineties. It was the weekend when Princess Di was killed.

I also met Jackie Mason on Saturday...

[Cyclopean Squid]

I agree with you about the Cards. If I were not required to hate them as an Astros fan, they would probably be one of my favorite teams. They have a great line-up and a lot of heart. When Pujols hit the walk-off homer in extra innings against Harville on Friday, a lot of folks in the bar I was in groaned and looked upset. I, on the other hand, merely smiled ruefully and shook my head with resignation. "It's Pujols," I said simply. "Those are the kinds of things he does."

[Allegra]

BTW..you want on the ping list?..Regards to you..and stay safe..

Thanks and yes, I'd like to be on the ping list. I can't keep up with my team like I do when I'm home, but I keep an eye on 'em.

Of course, if by some miracle, the 'Stros make the playoffs again this year, I'll be up in the wee hours trying not to nod off as I listen to the games on Armed Forces Network. ;-)

[Alberta's Child]

I think Albert Pujols is the most awesome hitter/slugger of our generation.

You could be right about that, but he's only been around for four years. Rodriguez put up some very good numbers back in his early years, but he's generally gotten much better since then.

Oddly enough, I don't think of A-Rod as a "slugger" even though he's had six seasons of 40+ home runs and 2 seasons of 50+ home runs in nine full seasons. He's simply a remarkable all-around athlete, and may be the most complete ballplayer in the game today.

[Leroy S. Mort]

Hudson looked sharp to me on Saturday (and benefitted from some terrific defensive play by Furcal et al). He looked like he was really into the game, too. Mike Hampton's control sucked Sunday on his first game back from I/R. Kyle Davies got sent down but Smoltz doesn't look 100% to me, so he may be back imho. Chipper comes back tonite against the Giants.

[oh8eleven]

I think the Yankees are in some serious trouble, not only because of their pitching injuries but because they simply haven't looked very good this year.
Well, wouldn't any team that hasn't looked good this year be in serious trouble? The Giants without Bonds come to mind.

Besides getting their starting pitchers off the DL, the Yanks only need a real center fielder.

[Preachin']

'Oddly enough, I don't think of A-Rod as a "slugger" even though he's had six seasons of 40+ home runs and 2 seasons of 50+ home runs in nine full seasons. He's simply a remarkable all-around athlete, and may be the most complete ballplayer in the game today.'


I can see your general point, but if he stays healthy, plays until he 40, and continues to hit HRs at this rate he'll hit over 800.

It is true that he is definitely an all around great player, but he is a slugger first.

So many of us think of players like Dave Kingman or Boog Powell (both were feast or famine) when it comes to sluggers, but when one comes along who can also hit 40 doubles and score 120 runs it blows our mind.

[Preachin']

Say what you will, but the Yankees (of whom I am no fan) have made up 4 games on the BoSox in their last 10 games.

[TBarnett34]

As a former teammate of his (from the age of 7-14), I can tell ya one thing about one of the rookies...

Don't underestimate Jeff Francouer. :)

I also played with Davies and McCann. They're gonna be a great new face for this team when they've all got permanent spots very soon.

[BlackRazor]

I think the Yankees are in some serious trouble, not only because of their pitching injuries but because they simply haven't looked very good this year.

Yeah, but Boston's pitching doesn't impress me a whole lot, either. And unless Schilling is able to return to the rotation at something close to his old self, I'd say the Yankees' starting pitching has a lot more potential upside than Boston's. They're already ranked in the bottom three in the league in just about ever pitching category, and yet they're right there with the Red Sox. Any improvement at all in the second half and New York should win the division by a fairly comfortable margin. I expect the Yankees will win the division by about 7 games, and Boston will have to fight it out to the bitter end with Minnesota for the wild card.

[Preachin']

"With these teams in the NL East so close in talent, it will come down to managing..."

That's what frustrates me about my Braves.

I love Bobby Cox, and think he runs a class operation, but he has historically not improvised during the playoffs.

You have to play every out in the playoffs like it's your last chance of the year.

Winning 95-100 regular season games is pointless if you can't win a three-game series.

The media in Atlanta are too afraid to discuss Bobby Cox's post-season stats.

One thing that hurts to say is that Bobby Cox has lost ten consecutive games to Joe Torre (8 World Series and 2 all-star games).

Tell me it's not the coaching. In the post-season it definitely is.

[Allegra]

Opine away on whatever interests you...

OK, I have a whine I need to just get out of my system. I've been saying it for several months now, so this will be it:

How could the Astros have let Carlos Beltran get away???

And Jeff Kent??

OK, I feel better now.

[Friend of the Friendless]

Ping Me

[Pharmboy]

Was Yaz the last 3x crown winner? And, who was the last NLer to do it??

[Cyclopean Squid]

How could the Astros have let Carlos Beltran get away???

And Jeff Kent??

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Pharmboy]

Triple Crown

(Answers own question):

Yep--Yaz the last, and the last NLer to do it was Joe Medwick in '37.

[Preachin']

Joe Medwick was the last triple crown winner in the NL (.374, 31 homers, 154 RBI). He did it with the the 1937 Cardinals.