I will pick Infante to the ASG...but you will blow me first (TWiB 7/5 - 7/11)

[Mattdotcom]

Second week in a row my ESPN station is carrying ESPN News in place of the Monday night game. No idea what's going on with that. I actually got to see the first inning this time before they cut away.

It means the game is on another channel like FSN or something. Happens to me every time the Braves play on ESPN.

 

[devo]

With Beltran's return looming the question rises as to how to alleviate the Mets' oncoming outfielder logjam. My solution? Ship Frenchy off to the White Sox. Despite his staggering mediocrity he'd still represent a significant upgrade over Juan Pierre, and in return the Mets can get one of the relievers they so desperately need (Matt Thornton, preferably, since Putz would be a bit much to ask for and his reception given last year's performance would likely be somewhere below lukewarm) and lower their payroll somewhat.

I'm not sure how feasible this scenario is, though. Have White Sox fans fallen for Pierre the way Dodgers fans did, to the point where it would create an uproar if he were benched?

I like Devo as a poster so I don't want to jump on him. But I can't envision the White Sox trading Thornton. He may be the best lefty reliever in the game.

Fair enough. I failed to go beyond this season in looking at his stats so I was unaware of how good he's been over the past couple years, so yeah, I undervalued him somewhat.

Oh, and this gem just occurred during the Mets/Reds game. Bases loaded with Scott Rolen up, Pelfrey's pitch comes inside and nearly hits him on a check-swing - home plate umpire mistakenly thinks it hit the bat so Rolen's called out on the foul tip. Baker comes out to argue so the umps get together and reverse the call the other direction, saying that the ball hit Rolen after all, which is also completely wrong. This is better than instant replay how?

And of course that opens the floodgates, leading to a six-run Reds inning that features a Corky Miller RBI double (!) and a Travis Wood RBI Triple (!!!). Fuck.

the umpiring has been terrible this year. If I were you I'd be more pissed that they had Brandon Phillips picked off earlier that inning but the ump called him safe. On the replay it looked like the ball hit Rolen in the arm before deflecting into the catchers glove. But, I could see why a Mets player or fan would be pissed over a 1st base ump helping decide a call.

The play on Phillips didn't bother me as much 'cause it was close and the first base umpire didn't get a great view of the tag. The reason the thing with Rolen annoys me is because the umps got together and overturned a wrong decision to make another wrong decision.

 

[Star Ocean 2]

Are the Rays getting a new stadium in the near future?

Yes. In Portland.

 

[Smues]

It's hilarious listening to Braves fans/employees defending the Infante pick. I'm listening to the Atlanta Baseball Talk podcast right now and not surprisingly they think it's a great move. Powell and Sutton took it to another level yesterday with the rationalization that (and I'm paraphrasing here) "Charlie Manuel doesn't just look at stats and say 'this guy has better stats than this guy.' Joey Votto may have the stats, but if the team is down in the 9th with men on and 1 out, he needs the guy most likely to put the ball in play, and maybe Infante is that guy."

I'm as big of a Braves homer as anybody but come on. And of course we're also encouraged to vote Wagner over Votto. Homerism is so fun.

 

[still fly]

The NL should just forfeit the All-Star Game. What a fucking horrible roster, and the sad thing is that it could easily be better.

 

[Smues]

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The Houston Astros placed infielder Geoff Blum on the 15-day disabled list with a right elbow injury and recalled outfielder Jason Bourgeois from Triple-A Round Rock.
Blum felt his elbow pop while putting on his shirt following Thursday night's game. The team elected to put him on the DL on Sunday.
Bourgeois had been optioned to Round Rock on Friday to make room on the roster for shortstop Angel Sanchez, who was acquired from Boston.

Shirts are complicated.

 

[alkeiper]

The NL should just forfeit the All-Star Game. What a fucking horrible roster, and the sad thing is that it could easily be better.

It makes me nervous because this is the same person partially responsible for the Phillies roster construction.

I wonder if Frank Wren has called Ruben Amaro and offered Omar Infante yet.

 

[Smues]

I've been teasing a friend of mine that's a Mariners fan that we'd give them Omar Infante for Cliff Lee. All-star for an all-star so it's a fair trade! He still remembers the Soriano for Rameriz trade so he doesn't appreciate my sense of humor.

 

[Master Thrasher]

The NL should just forfeit the All-Star Game. What a fucking horrible roster, and the sad thing is that it could easily be better.

It makes me nervous because this is the same person partially responsible for the Phillies roster construction.

I wonder if Frank Wren has called Ruben Amaro and offered Omar Infante yet.

Ed Wade is very interested in a three way trade.

 

[jimmy no nose]

Confirmed for the HR Derby so far:

Robinson Cano
Corey Hart
Miguel Cabrera
David Ortiz
Vernon Wells
Matt Holliday

Waiting on two more NL hitters to actually accept the invite.

 

[still fly]

I want Andre Ethier to do this. Too bad about his pinkie.

 

[Dobbs3K]

Yovani Gallardo officially going on the DL, which pretty much puts the final nail in the coffin on the Brewers' season (if it wasn't there already).

I really hope they sell off some guys like Fielder and Hart, and plan for next season. No fake contention runs like last season.

 

[Smartly Pretty]

Johan Santana: "If you want something done, you have to do it yourself"

 

[devo]

Johan Santana caps off a twelve-pitch at-bat by turning on a fastball and smacking it into the right-field foul pole for his first career home run. That was pretty cool.

 

[Master Thrasher]

Can we have Santana? The Phillies have one hit through seven and are down 3-2.

 

[Czech]

I thought you were an Angels fan.

 

[devo]

Johan Santana just completed his seventh career complete game shutout, allowing just three hits and three walks while striking out five over 113 pitches.

Man, when Santana's on, he's just so much fun to watch.

 

[6foot9]

a fan fell out of the stands at the rangers game and landed on fans below apparently. I didn't actually see it, but they haven't stopped talking about how the guy is apparently ok at a local hospital. They are also saying that 4 of the fans he landed on got treated at the stadium, but are also going to be ok.

 

[MFer]

Miguel Cabrera is currently leading the AL in the Triple Crown categories (tied for 1st in RBI). Obviously, we still have a long way to go, but it would be sweet to see it happen for the first time in over 40 years (there's a couple others in contention for the Triple Crown as well). Hopefully the Derby doesn't screw him up.

 

[still fly]

Rangers fan falls from stands - tv doesnt show actual fall - rangers vs indians

video of Ranger broadcast with mention of fan falling.

 

[alkeiper]

I think it's time to blow up the whole All Star game process and start over. There's such a myriad of problems that I don't know where to start.

-The game counts. This is in response to the tie game in Milwaukee in 2002. The problem is that the solution doesn't address what happens if the game AGAIN ends in a tie. If it rains, are we going to reschedule it in September?

-The rosters are ridiculously bloated. Who needs 34 players to play a game? 13 pitchers?! A f'n utility infielder on each roster? (And yet each team has two catchers. When MLB teams carried 15 position players and 10 pitchers, even then they usually carried a third catcher.)

-It's supposed to be a team of guys having great first halves. But the voting starts in mid-April. How the heck are you supposed to identify the best players when you're looking at data sets at 75 different points in the season?

-Player voting. It's not the players that are the problem. It's that when their choice and the fans' choice agrees, the second vote getter on the players' ballot makes the roster. This is illogical. And it means when there is a logical choice for a starter, the 10% of the stupid people get to pick a player.

-Middle relievers. I'll forgive Arthur Rhodes, he had a long career and he's a truly good pitcher. But Evan Meek is not all-star worthy no matter how low his ERA is.

I'd like to see a simpler system in place. 25 man rosters. Fans pick the starters (including separate left/center/right outfielders and a starting pitcher). Manage the game like a real game. Two players from each position and nine pitchers. No team representation rule. And if the game ends tied after 10, it's over. Nothing wrong with an exhibition game.

 

[NoCalMike]

I've been an A's fan since I started following baseball, but it is getting harder to follow the sport when I am supposed to be excited about a near .500 record at the all star break because it shows "signs of improvement"

I understand the building and/or rebuilding process, and that whatever team I happen to like can't be good every season, but it is just a hard reality check as a fan of a small market club, when I see the Yankees(and some others) come to town and just put up 6 runs like it's expected on our pitcher who has been lights out lately, while the A's struggle to get more than a single run on most nights.

Maybe because the season is long and there are so many games played, it exacerbates the feeling. How easy would it be just to bury all my A's clothing in the back of the closet and just start rooting for a team I know is going to compete every single season, and is a shoe in to win it all every so many years simply by virtue of the organization they play for.

Of course this pales in comparison as to how it feels once the A's finally do get a good team and I know they basically need to win a championship within 2-3 seasons or every decent player will be liquidated for "future prospects"

I dunno if MLB will ever change and adapt the way other sports have, to try and give some chance for every team to compete year in and year out......I can always hope...

 

[Gert]

And in my first momemt of "I need to get away from the CPU before I throw the monitor"... the Cards have given up 6 runs in the 9th, and the Rockies have runners at the corners tied at 9.

 

[still fly]

You could be a Giants fan Mike. It could be a lot worse.

 

[wnyxmcneal]

And if the game ends tied after 10, it's over. Nothing wrong with an exhibition game.

I didn't care about the other stuff, because really, it's the All-Star Game but this a bad idea and the fans will shit all over it. There are no ties in baseball and there shouldn't be a tie in the All Star Game.

Also, home field in the WS has got to go.

 

[Gert]

AND a 3 run HR to end it......just F'n lovely.

 

[Smues]

No ties. Let pitchers be re-used or do a homerun derby or something, let there be some kind of a winner.

But fuck a bunch of THIS ONE COUNTS. Home field should go to the team with the better record, it's not that complicated. (unless your name is Bud Selig)

 

[Gert]

But Smues, the MLB and the cities have to set up hotel reservations WAAAAAAY ahead of time. (I hate that argument most of all of Bud's BS excuses)

 

[Psycho Penguin]

and NoCalMike sums up why I stopped caring about baseball years ago.

 

[LuckyLopez]

I can see doing away with the WS home field advantage thing. Its iffy at best. Not that making it random was the way either, and I'm not sure winning percentage is especially "fair" either, but whatever. No one will cry if it goes and a lot of people who bitch about it will move on to the next thing.

The other stuff? I just don't see what the fuss is about. I think Ryan Howard and Omar Infante on the team are ridiculous and Charlie Manuel should be taken to task for it, but what does it matter in the grand scheme of things? Does the "every team gets represented" rule result in some undeserving dudes getting the bid? Yeah sure. Does it REALLY matter? Is whatever theoretical damage it causes really worse than that theoretical 6-year-old Pirates fan who loves that one of his favorite players got the call and he can root for him? Its an exhibition game. So if you don't like it, if you think the rosters are stupid, if you think its managed stupidly... just don't watch. What's the big deal? Even the part that matters barely REALLY matters. Lets face it, odds are your team ain't making the World Series. That holds true whether your a Yankee, Red Sox, Phillies, or Pirates fan. So while we could probably change that and make it truly and 100% an exhibition, its not like this is some sort of game you just HAVE to watch as a fan because its so much part of the story of the season.

I just never got why people get so up in arms, well before the WS Home Field thing gave them a genuine thing to complain about. Its NOT a regular game. It won't be managed like one. Its a silly exhibition. We're baseball fans which means we're miserable shits who argue about anything and everything and will never be content so it gives us some more to go back and forth about during the dog days of the season. And if you don't like that? Then can't you just zone out for a couple of weeks and take 3 days off from baseball? I never got why people felt the need to remind you at every turn how much they hated the All Star game.

And that's not directed at you al. It was just a general rant.