- 08:45 AM
- 11/21/24
Is it fun playing the victim? Cause you do it really well. I fail to follow your non sequitur. Please elaborate. There are no victims in this scenario, as far as I can tell, so I'll assume the above is an attempt at condescension. However, they should NEVER be allowed to forget that all it took was the slightest whiff of ARod wearing their uniform for them to chase their most beloved player out of town. Nomar who? Which led to their first world series victory since 1918. How could I ever forget THAT? Post hoc, ergo proctor hoc
posted by crank at 06:47 AM on October 04, 2005
The write-up is crap. "Yanks angry at Showalter?" I realize that's the headline ESPN used, but that's no excuse... ARod's quote: "There's a code of honor when so much is on the line," Rodriguez told the New York Daily News. "You hope people do the right thing. But you can't control what people do." Ooooh! He's really seething! Too bad his talk of a 'code of honor' isn't much different from Ozzie Guillen's statement that he 'owed it to the Yankees and Red Sox' to play his starters against the Indians in the final series. Who knows, had he not done so, the Red Sox may not have even won the wild card. Clearly, ARod bashing is fashionable these days, especially among Sox fans. However, they should NEVER be allowed to forget that all it took was the slightest whiff of ARod wearing their uniform for them to chase their most beloved player out of town. Nomar who? But let's see if Torre can contain himself when asked of Showalter's actions: "It's surprising," Torre told The New York Times. "If his team was in the playoffs, I could understand it a little bit more. It's just surprising he pulled them so soon." Wow! All the hate in the world contained in just a few lines! But wait, there's more! Cashman really lets Showalter have it: "If we had won one more game, we wouldn't have to be worried about what anybody else did," Cashman told The Times. Wow. Just wow. I hope these two don't run into eachother when the Yankees and Rangers face off next season!
posted by crank at 10:44 PM on October 03, 2005
David Wells predicted a World Series win about a month ago, so it's guaranteed, right?
posted by crank at 08:45 AM on October 02, 2005
A lot of Boston fans have expended a lot of 1's and 0's about how 'intangibles' and 'clutch' don't exist (look at any thread focusing on Jeter), but now all of a sudden, among Ortiz's main qualifications for MVP are that he has 'intangibles' and is 'clutch.'
posted by crank at 02:25 PM on September 24, 2005
If there were a "Best Offensive Player" I wouldn't have a problem giving it to him. How can he truely be the most valuable player if he doesn't help his team win on the defensive side? There are guys who have comparable or better Triple Crown category numbers AND provide Gold Glove quality (or damn close) defense. Everyone else in the running has to deal with the stress and fatigue of playing their position everyday in addition to concentrating on their offensive performance.
posted by crank at 11:51 AM on September 24, 2005
Make up your own mind about what you see, but do ask yourself what would have happened had Gary Sheffield been involved? Yawn. This is a pretty weak 'controversy.' Sportseconomist can't even admit he was wrong.
posted by crank at 05:28 PM on August 10, 2005
Thanks for that link, goddam. I now have an even greater appreciation for Matsui!
posted by crank at 06:14 PM on August 05, 2005
YEAH! They're lucky they ain't speaking German!
posted by crank at 01:33 PM on July 24, 2005
The Sox are historically losers, no matter what their payroll is. They are the Bad News Bears of the majors, and America (Hanks et al) has discovered them and is eating them up and rightly so. Come on, do you really think a Brewers or a Royals fan thinks there's any difference between the Red Sox and the Yankees? Are they still eating up the Queer Eye promos, donut commercials, and bloody sock references? Damon could never wear his hair like that in Steinbrenner's clubhouse. Flock of Seagulls had cool hair too!
posted by crank at 09:43 AM on July 17, 2005
I have a sinking feeling Leiter is going to get lit-up.
posted by crank at 06:02 PM on July 16, 2005
Trading a set-up man having a sub-par year for two relievers having an even crappier year does not make sense. Even if you argue that May was brought in to be a situational lefty, it still doesn't make much sense. Quantrill had been designated for assignment, so NY had to either trade him or cut him. The trade with SD was just a slop swap, hoping to get someone, anyone, who could give a few decent innings instead of cutting him loose and getting nothing out of it. Quantrill was shot. He couldn't throw strikes. When you walk batters and give up more hits than innings pitched your worth as a set-up man is zero. His struggles go back to July or August of last season.
posted by crank at 05:58 PM on July 16, 2005
Stunning. Last night's Schilling loss was a tough pill to swallow coming out of the all star break, narrowing the lead in the AL East with Baltimore still playing strong. But for the Sox to recover by beat the snot out of the Yankees again, with an identical, historical score mere weeks apart... I'd have a hard time hanging my hat on a rout of Tim Redding and Darrell May... Plus, how do you account for them coming back this afternoon and knocking out Clement after 2 & 2/3?
posted by crank at 04:24 PM on July 16, 2005
Slightly off topic, but can anyone tell me why the Yanks traded Quantrill for Tim Redding and Darrell May? Because he stinks. 5.53 ERA, 57 hits in 40 innings pitched.
posted by crank at 04:16 PM on July 16, 2005
"Pay Rickey," is Rickey's column from the great, fake Baseball Tonite blog. I wanted to call this column “Pay Rickey,” because that’s what people need to do. Pay Rickey. If Tony Gwynn was making a comeback, people would pay Tony. People love Tony Gwynn. People hate Rickey. They say, “Tony Gwynn gave 110%.” Rickey gave 140%! They say, “Tony Gwynn was a five-tool player.” Rickey is a six-tool player! Here are some other players that Rickey Henderson is better than: Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners: People say Ichiro is the next Rickey Henderson. Ichiro has 157 stolen bases. Rickey Henderson has 1406. Therefore, Rickey is exactly nine times as great as Ichiro. People say Rickey is egotistical. Rickey never wore a jersey that said “Rickey”! And Ichiro cheats. He starts running before he swings. Even though Rickey is a lefty, he's so confident in his baserunning abilities that he actually bats right-handed.
posted by crank at 08:05 AM on May 12, 2005
Well, at least Yankee fans can take solace in the fact that Baltimore, not Boston, looks like the favorite to take the AL East.... At least so far...
posted by crank at 10:34 AM on May 05, 2005
But the slump is over, right? One big inning (doing the math, that's about 1/1458th of a season), and all is well again in Spankeeland. The fatal error in your assesment is that your extrapolating from the first 12 games to the rest of the season. Every team will go through a collective slump this season. Better to get it out of the way early, no?
posted by crank at 09:05 AM on April 19, 2005
People are starving in Africa and we're here talking about baseball on the internet?
posted by crank at 08:13 PM on April 17, 2005
i saw no mullet, and/or handlebar mustache to qualify this guy as white trash, Handlebar mustache? Did he and his barbershop quartet buddies ride to the game on their high wheelers?
posted by crank at 09:43 PM on April 15, 2005
I saw this, and I'll be goddamned if I wouldn't have jumped out of the stands and tackled Sheffield. No, I'm willing to bet you woulda shit your pants if Sheffield glanced your way. Intentionally or not, Sheffield WAS hit in the mouth while fielding the ball. He shoved the guy, threw the ball back, and for a split second looked like he was going to knock the guy out, but he didn't. Big deal. It's not a relfection upon "Redsox Nation" or whatever to call the fan an idiot. Even Johnny Damon backed-up Sheffield...
posted by crank at 09:40 AM on April 15, 2005
Maybe they should not only shake hands before the game, but not keep score as well. Losing is a tough experience and feelings can get hurt. Also, fans should be ejected for audibly cheering/rooting for their team. No need to show the other guy up.
posted by crank at 07:59 AM on March 25, 2005
Darko has a ring. Who is Darko the next one of? Tree Rollins?
posted by crank at 10:10 AM on February 19, 2005
So who's cap will he wear in the Hall of Fame? "GoldenPalace.com"
posted by crank at 07:57 PM on January 22, 2005
I look forward to lots of shots during games of Anna Benson and Pedro's little friend Norman sitting together in the stands.
posted by crank at 09:20 AM on January 20, 2005
Looking at that SI cover with Joe Namath I have the say I didn't know it's possible for someone to get that tan. He's radioactive.
posted by crank at 06:53 PM on January 18, 2005
I can't think of anyone who adds less to their broadcast team than Tony Siragusa. Was anyone else annoyed as hell when he wouldn't stop singing 'She Bangs' during some American Idol promo within Saturday's broadcast? OT: Did the commercial breaks during the Pats/Colts game seem longer than usual to anyone else?
posted by crank at 01:49 PM on January 17, 2005
I remember when Herman Moore at 6'4" was still an oddity. Some have said that the taller receivers are guys who were at some point in their development poached from basketball programs. Instead of being middling basketball players they've become incredible wideouts. Seems like it might make sense to snag a few D Backs from the same talent pool... Really, what's a cornerback if not a wide receiver with bad hands?
posted by crank at 01:46 PM on January 14, 2005
Steinbrenner loves headcases: -Eric Plunk -Strawberry -Canseco -Sierra (he seems to have made a complete recovery) -Clemens -Brown -Teh Unit Why, George, why do you insist on runnin' with these bad boys who are only gonna break your heart?
posted by crank at 08:35 PM on January 10, 2005
I honestly was expecting something much, much worse. When Moss walked over to the padded goalpost after scoring the TD I half thought he was about to pull some kind of pre-positioned prop from under the padding. The fake moon was more childish, more immature than arrogant or self-aggrandizing (when compared to other post-TD antics) and for that reason I actually found myself chuckling a bit. I've never really liked Moss, but I don't feel the need to pretend this is some kind of 'new low' for the NFL.
posted by crank at 08:54 PM on January 09, 2005
I have to admit I found Joe Buck's rightous indignation more annoying than Moss' moon.
posted by crank at 07:24 PM on January 09, 2005
The funny thing is that while there's definitely a Bonds 73rd homer ball and a McGwire 70th homer ball, there really is no single Red Sox WS win baseball. They used dozens on balls in any single game. The one Mientkiewicz has just happens to be the one that was in play when the final out was recorded. What's the difference if they just took any one of the 40 or 50 balls used in the final game and said 'this is the one that we won the series with'?
posted by crank at 01:12 PM on January 07, 2005
He's coming off a career year so chances are now that he's finally arrived in NY he'll put up good numbers, but not Randy-Johnson-good numbers or his skills will begin to quickly erode.
posted by crank at 05:09 PM on December 31, 2004
But they're always there, year after year buying the best free agent on the market. A minor point, but neither ARod or Johnson were free agents. NY gave up an all-star second baseman for the former and a quality starter and prospects for the latter.
posted by crank at 03:11 PM on December 31, 2004
I found the almost immediate mention of a steroid induced heart attack out of place simply because as a 300 pound man in his 40s a heart attack brought on by cardiovascual disease wouldn't exactly be unexpected.
posted by crank at 02:04 PM on December 28, 2004
As far as Schilling goes, has he ever let an opinion go unspoken? Has he ever told a reporter "No comment."? Somehow he manages to get under the skin of some of his teammates no matter where he plays.
posted by crank at 08:42 AM on December 18, 2004
A confusing time to be a Mets fan. The ownership wouldn't go out and make a play for Vlad because of his back, wouldn't trade injury-prone Reyes for Soriano, but they'll give Pedro a four year deal? Any Sox fans wanna weigh in on the Arroyo to Florida for AJ Burnett rumor?
posted by crank at 08:27 PM on December 13, 2004
Well thanks, but I'll decline your advice lrod. I still maintain that ny can make their starting rotation better without giving Pedro $60 million.
posted by crank at 10:20 PM on November 25, 2004
It's not really about relaod v. rebuild as much as it is about making the better decision. Steinbrenner has to get it out of his head that signing Pedro will somehow 'hurt' the Redsox. In reality it'll just leave them with more cash to go out and get Pavano. Whether they get Pavano, Martinez or neither, the rest of the NY roster won't change much... The fact that the Mets haven't expressed an interest in Pavano should be taken as a sign by all the GMs of other teams that they should sign him at all cost.
posted by crank at 11:32 AM on November 25, 2004
I wouldn't put Pavano on the same level as Pedro yet either. The thing is I wouldn't feel comfortable giving Pedro 4 years/$60 million. Pavano's best years are ahead of him, and while Pedro is hardly washed up, his best years are behind him. The Yankees need to get younger (Kevin Brown), more reliable (Vasquez, Brown) starting pitching to take some stress off their bullpen.
posted by crank at 09:29 AM on November 25, 2004
I hope Steinbrenner eventually get it in his head that Pavano would be the better option at this point in their respective careers.
posted by crank at 08:59 PM on November 24, 2004
taupe- that's cool.
I guess this thread is officially dead now.
posted by crank at 12:34 PM on November 24, 2004
And by the way taupe, this comment: Okay, you're in a heated emotional situation in which somebody essentially threw a punch at you not a minute ago, and you're trying, in whatever (perhaps half-assed) way, to stay out of the rest of things. Then something thrown at you hits you with force. In a split second you're supposed to identify the missile and place it in its proper responsible context of potential threats?
and its implied defense of Artest's purely emotional, decidedly non-judicious, response to the beer thrown at him flies in the face of your criticism of the 'typical american' facts-be-damned straw man you've constructed.
If fact, I'd argue it has much in common with the "we need to invade Iraq before more of our buildings get knocked down" crowd....
posted by crank at 10:25 PM on November 22, 2004
Saying "there's an error I see being committed by people who do X, and that error also underpins the greater and more monstrous doing of Y"
There was scant to no evidence that supported the administration's case for the current Middle East adventure. Artest and Jackson did what they did in front of millions of people. Your comparison of the case for war with Iraq, which called for one to trust George Bush, with the formation of an opinion (as you yourself have done in your FPP) regarding the events of Friday night, which call for us to trust our own eyes, fall flat. It's a patently ridiculous, intellectually dishonest comparison.
Do you deny that anyone in this thread (other than, I suppose, me) has indulged in knee-jerk lynch-mobbery of one stripe or another vis-a-vis this whole thing with the guys in the place?
Where is the lynch mob?
Where are the calls for Artest to be drawn and quartered?
People have given their impressions of the incident, and their opinions of what his punishment should be, little else.
They may not live up to some artificial 'standard' that you've decided to foist us upon us.
Too bad. David Stern issued his suspensions yesterday, before whatever legal proceeding you seem to think will occur has taken place.
Are Stern's suspensions out of order?
Was he privy to some secret cache of information that the rest of us are not?
No he was not.
Do Stern's suspensions meet your standard?
If they do, why? If they don't, is Stern somehow responsible for genocide in Sudan by virtue of the fact that he failed to meet your standard?
It's been much worse in hives of muppetry like ESPN's Sports Nation discussion boards, and probably in just about any sports discussion site other than SportsFilter.
Then why are you talking about it here?
posted by crank at 10:07 PM on November 22, 2004
It's this willingness to assume, from often sloppy, superficial and lazy observation, that one knows the underlying facts of a situation with sufficient completeness to justify indulging one's urges towards self-righteousness, that prompted my comment about the "typical American" that offended rcade so very, very much. That it's better to feel justified than to be justified is, for just one example, why at least a hundred thousand people are dead and a good hunk of southwest Asia is going to be a big version of Beirut for the next fifty years or so. A centuries-old tradition of anti-intellectualism underpinned it, talk radio fueled it, an election certified it, and now nothing can fucking stop it. Do you wonder why I might be sore about it?
Hope you wore safety goggles while grinding that axe.
What a joke.
Why haven't you employed those vaunted critical reasoning skills you claim to possess towards the realization that there isn't a 'typical American' and what you've written above has absolutely zero to do with all of us, whom you've never met?
It makes you look like the kind of intellectually clumsy fool you're trying to critique.
Now excuse me, I've gotta go stuff my face with Big Macs and clean my assault rifles.
I just know them UN black helicopters is coming back and I's aiming to be ready for them this time!
posted by crank at 06:56 PM on November 22, 2004
A player never, ever, EVER has a reason to go charging into the stands. Really. What if the player's wife is at the game and a fan punched her? Or is a player's daugher child was at the game and a fan threw a battery at her? I thought so.
That has nothing to do with what happened in Detroit.
Artest angrily ran up to an innocent person and put his hands on him, knocked him down.
His demeanor was very threatening.
How do you know the guys who punched Artest in the stands weren't this innocent man's brothers or friends?
At this point their actions might be self defense.
They have NO IDEA what Artest is going to do next- he's already attacked the guy.
posted by crank at 05:03 PM on November 21, 2004
Don't relief pitchers take worse (spit, batteries) while warming up in the bullpen?
posted by crank at 03:42 PM on November 21, 2004
In a split second you're supposed to identify the missile and place it in its proper responsible context of potential threats?
"I've either been shot in the face or had a beer thrown at me! I won't know till the lab results get back..." Artest is lacking in critical-thinking skills, but not that badly.
posted by crank at 04:31 PM on November 20, 2004
Who even knows if the guy Artest attacked was the one who threw the beer at him? Anyway, looks like that idiot will get a month off to promote his rap album after all....
posted by crank at 10:57 AM on November 20, 2004
ball-washings from Yankee fans blinded by partisanship As opposed to impartial Boston fans? Maybe since all these guys who have, you know, actually played professional baseball tend to think he's pretty good sould count for something? What motivation do opposing coaches and managers have to vote for Jeter if they don't think he really deserves it? Might UN black helicopters be involved?
posted by crank at 08:39 AM on November 03, 2004
Short night for Brown and Coolio Arroyo. Should be a lot of runs scored in these middle innings by both teams.
posted by crank at 08:37 PM on October 16, 2004
Crank, is that really what those clowns said? Oh, well maybe not quite THAT bad, but close. They were just so repetitive. They talked about Schilling's ankle, to the exclusion of other topics, for an entire inning. I'd love to see a guy from YES and a guy from NESN call a game together- guys who could offer more insight than what I get from just reading the paper (which is about what Buck and McCarver offer)..
posted by crank at 10:43 PM on October 13, 2004
McCarver: "Well the Yankees were up 8 to 0 and now they're up 8 to 5." Buck: "Right. Eight minus five is three. One, two , three runs, that the difference in this game, folks." McCarver: "You know, they scored five runs to pull within three runs. They're within three runs because the Yankees have eight runs. Eight minus five is three." Leiter: "The knuckle, um, ah, curve mumble mumble mumble like I myself mumble mumble when I'm on the, um, mound. mumble mumble." McCarver: "Can you imagine if the Red Sox score three more runs? According to my calculations this game would be about tied." Buck: "Well, Tim let's see. Five plus three... Well I have to agree, good point, if they do score three more runs we will have a tied ball game on our hands, folks."
posted by crank at 05:29 PM on October 13, 2004
Yes, Republicans have endured the occasional sporting shame. George W. Bush traded Sammy Sosa. The real owners never let him and his symbolic, ultra-minority share in the Rangers anywhere near the decision-making apparatus of the business.
posted by crank at 09:00 AM on September 19, 2004
I saw a bio about Lee on tv a few years ago where he said he originally resented being called 'spaceman.' He said "I'm from the earth. The space program was just a way for companies to sell teflon." or something to that effect. Interesting guy. They showed footage of him pitching with a long, scraggily looking beard. It looked like Aqualung was on the mound. "Fisk hated Munson, Munson hated Fisk, and everyone hated Bill Lee."
posted by crank at 02:20 PM on August 20, 2004
Kay tends to excitedly say, "It's hit deeeeeeeep to left center field!" Then the outfielder will make the catch 25 feet in front of the warning track... O'Neill always gives him a hard time about these odd calls, among other things.
posted by crank at 07:45 AM on August 04, 2004
As far as I know McCarver is on Fox or CBS, but for sure he's not on YES... They have Ken Singleton, Jim Kaat, Bobby Murcer. Michael Kay does the play-by-play.
posted by crank at 05:20 PM on August 03, 2004
Oh, and since landing Terry Adams a week or so ago and Meintkiewicz today the Red Sox are now two steps closer to having an 'all goatee' roster...
posted by crank at 06:02 PM on July 31, 2004
The Loaiza deal is the one that makes me shake my head. When the pressure is on, that guy is usually off. Well I guess it's a wash considering how bad Contreras has been. Maybe things will workout better for him in the less intense atmosphere of Chicago... It was looking like nothing was really gonna happen before the deadline. Then yesterday's Dodgers/Florida deal went down. The Mets go for broke and land Benson and Zambrano, dealing their previously untouchable prospect Scott Kazmir. Throw in these latest developments and its turned out to be a pretty interesting week even if the biggest, most anticipated transaction didn't actually happen...
posted by crank at 05:53 PM on July 31, 2004
On other non-Big Unit trade news: Yankees send Contreras and cash to the White Sox for Esteban Loaiza.
posted by crank at 05:03 PM on July 31, 2004
Sure, except Anaheim would have to put a gun to Arizona's head before they'd even consider that offer... Then why is Arizona asking for prospects if they wouldn't consider either of those young players as part of a deal? They didn't really want Posada. They don't want a 34 year-old catcher who makes $9 million a year...
posted by crank at 11:18 AM on July 29, 2004
Yanks angry at Showalter for pulling stars vs. Angels
Well, you don't like the way the article was titled, and out of no where go on a rant about red sox fans hating arod. Would you have been happy if I had edited espn's headline to something like "arod slightly perturbed"? The headline didn't match the content of the article. The reaction to any quote is colored by the context in which it is framed. ESPN wanted clicks, and they got them by headlining the article the way they did. One line calling-out Sox fans for their irrational hatred of ARod is a 'rant?' I'm sorry, no. You guys loved him then. What happened? He even offered to take a pay cut for you. Do Sox fans at least still think he's cute?