Wayman Tisdale died this morning.  He had been battling cancer for two yeasr and had a leg amputated last year.  Tisdale is probably the best basketball player The University of Oklahoma has ever produced and was also an accomplished musician after his stint in the NBA. 

Billy Tubbs was once asked how he wins so many road games.  His response was that he never gets on the bus to leave for the game until Wayman does. 

Besides his on-court / stage accomplishments, he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy and was always gracious with his time while in the Oklahoma City area.  He was inducted into the college basketball hall of fame this past year.

cbssportsline

The brother of Red Sox second baseman and American League MVP Dustin Pedroia is facing accusations of child molestation in Yolo County, according to KCRA.com. According to the Woodland Police Department, Brett Pedroia, 30, was taken into custody Jan. 9 on a probable cause warrant for two counts of oral copulation and lewd acts with a child under age 14, all felonies. The alleged victim recently told his parent about the incidents from four years ago, a statement from Woodland police said. Police declined to speak with the Globe last night.

Boston Globe

Yeah, yeah.  I know how you guys feel about the pink and I feel the same but I'll change that soon.  Luckily she missed the OU / FLA game by about 23 hours but I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tim Tebow for allowing her to be born.  Can't wait to warp her mind with Oriole baseball. 

My post is not yet long enough but hopefully this will do.

 Sydney Elizabeth

O's pick Lou Palmisamo from the Brewers and mlbtraderumors mentions they may try to trade him to HOU.  Trades to HOU worked out well for us last year.  Sweet Lou is a Catcher who graduated community college with a business degree, is single, and enjoys italian food (thanks milb.com) 

Here is Lou's MiLB page.

Unfortunately, even with Lous interests listed this fanpost is not long enough.  But I'm about to go to lunch so hopefully this time it will be. 

OK, so I don't know if it is Bradley or if he is a III but he has been signed to a minor league deal per Roch's bloc per mlbtraderumors.  He is 28 years of age with a career record of 17-23 with a 4.69 ERA.  So there's that...

What do you guys think of Hank Blalock?  I know he's hurt all the time but I think the Rangers will probably get rid of him.  I know they want pitchign and we want pitching but I bet he could be had in some round about way. May be 'spensive though. Just a thought.

http://baseballevolution.com/images/dunnh1.bmp

has reportedly been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for three players.  There isn't a lot of information out there yet abou this one.  I just saw the crawler on cbssportsline. 

I'm positive this isn't 75 words long so I'm reaching. 

If you knew the Orioles were going to pick up two guys off the FA list to be who would you rather have? 

Ohh...that was 73 words long.  I've got it now!!!

I know he was a MFY and all but he was a pretty good dude and a fellow Okie.  I'm sure you've already heard but here's an article. 

I'm positive this fanpost is not long enough but I'm going to try and post it anyway.

I was right.  Not yet long enough.  How about now?

Nope.  Oh...Bobby Murcer and Mickey Mantle were from Oklahoma...as was Joe Carter.  How about now?

Thanks for your help and suggestions for our recent trip to Oriole Park.  Thought I'd list a few things that stuck with me from the games.  We watched the Danny C complete game on Wednesday the 2nd and the loss on Thursday the 3rd.

1. Amber Theoharis is hotter in person than on TV.  I'm not really that big of a fan but she looked decent interviewing Danny after the game. 

2.  Clancy rocks...the guy down the 3B line that pounds his chest and yells while peddling beer...not so much.

3.  I saw the biggest rat ever cross the street by the civic center.  I think they may have stopped traffic for him.

4. Black B-Rob jersey t-shirts in a men/women's small or youth large are virtually impossible to find.  I had to talk my wife off the ledge b/c she wanted an official jersey at that point.

5.  The ushers seemed like hard-asses. 

Can't wait for my next trip. 

6.  I forgot...Joey Gaithright can flat out go get it CF.  It's amazing how much ground he covers.  Too bad for the Royals he can't hit for shit.

My wife and I are flying in tomorrow on a quick two day stop before driving on to PA to visit family.  We will be attending the Wednesday and Thursday games.  I asked a while back and saved most of those suggestions but thought I'd ask again just to make sure.  Any suggestions on places to eat and drink around the ballpark that we need to check out?  Nothing too touristy.  We also thought about heading over to Fells Point one night as well.  We are staying at the Marriott by the ballpark I believe. 

Thanks everyone.

 Jason Botts has asked for his trade or release from the Texas Rangers.  I have to admit, I have a small man crush on him.  I think, given a fair shake to hit, he could put up some decent numbers.  He's 27 and the Rangers have called him up and sent him down 4 different times.  Sign him up and let him hit DH for this club!!!  It's not like it would be a stretch for the Rangers to actually miss on someone.

I'm taking my wife to visit family in PA this summer (July 2nd - 8th) and we are going to be in town for the BAL / KC games on the 2nd and 3rd.  We'll drive on to PA the next morning but we will have a couple of days in town.  I need a little help...I hate being a tourist and doing the normal tourist-y things.  So, I'm open to any and all suggestions...especially accomodations (relativlely close to the ballpark), bars, restaurants, and things to do during the day.  We will be back in town on the 7th and leave the evening of the 8th.  So we basically have half a day on the 2nd, all day the 3rd, and half a day on the 8th. 

Thanks.

Vargas was released today by the Milwaukee Brewers.  Any chance the O's would want to be on the hook for his $3.8mil contract for his services?  I'm not sure how many years are left on it.  It seems he pitched pretty well last year but I didn't pull his career stats.  Trax is stealing $3.0mil and I would think Vargas is better than he is.

By the way, I like the new format.  As computer illiterate as I am I can actually link stuff now!

Third installment of "Ben from Phoenix."  Lucky bastard.  I have trouble convincing my wife that we need MLB Extra Innings.  He convinces his to move 1000 miles away so he can watch spring training.

Today the wife and I journeyed to Maryvale Baseball Park in
Phoenix to see the White Sox and Brewers play on St.
Patrick's Day.  The Brewers were ready for the holiday with
festive green hats while the White Sox did nothing as usual.
Maryvale is a nice stadium, but not as big as the others.
We had our best seats of the spring and really had a good
time at the game.

Brewers' Stars:  Prince Fielder started the game and got in
4 ABs.  He is a presence and the crowd quiets down when he
hits.  He hit laser back up the middle, but Javier Vazquez
knocked it down with his glove.  He is lucky he did not
injure himself.  In the fifth he hit a deep shot, but it was
caught by the OF.  He ended up 0-3 with a HBP.  He was hit
by the old Royal closer Mike McDougal.  It was in the eighth
inning and you could tell Fielder was ready to go home after
getting hurt because the very next pitch he took off
stealing and it was a straight steal because Bill Hall was
taking.  It definitely shocked the White Sox, but they still
hosed him by a couple feet.  He's a solid 300 lbs.  It was
fun to see him though.  Mike Cameron hit a 3 run shot off
Vazquez.  It was an impressive hit.

White Sox' Stars:  Javier Vazquez throws the ball very hard.
I was never sold on him, but he obviously has major league
stuff.  He had a very effective slider and he liked to throw
his curveball when he was behind in counts which wasn't
often.  He cruised through 4 2/3 innings, then Josh Fields
made an error and what could have been the inning got
extended into one more hit and then Cameron's bomb.  Vazquez
gave up 4 runs but only 1 earned and he did not walk anyone
while striking out 6.  He is going to give up a lot of
homeruns this year but not because he is bad but because he
throws so hard.  His ball found Gabe Gross's bat in the
first and the ball flew over the wall.  He changed my
impression of him.  The White Sox were split squad today,
but we did get to see Nick Swisher and Josh Fields.  They
both showed us there talents.  They each had sharply hit
doubles.  Swisher looks ready for a big season.  Fields has
the talent, the power, the quick bat, but there were times
he looked unsure of himself.  In the third he was 2-0 on the
count when he got a fastball down the middle that I think he
was taking all the way.  You could tell he was frustrated
for not swinging because the next two pitches he waved his
bat at both and just looked fooled.  The talent is there.

Surprises:  The Brewers bullpen threw shutout baseball for 5
innings.  Guillermo Mota, David Riske, and Mitch Stetter
shut the White Sox down.  The Brewers had a young shortstop
named Alcides Escobar that went 3-5 and showed a solid glove
as well.  The White Sox' young 2B Danny Richar had some
solid ABs.  He only went 1-4, but looked really comfortable.

Disappointments:  Brewers' starting pitcher Carlos
Villanueva did not have a great outing.  He gave up 7 hits
and 4 runs in five innings, but did strikeout 5 and walk
nobody.  His fastball seemed to have pop, but was hittable.
He threw his curveball for strikes consistently which I
assume is difficult to do.  The good news was that all the
damage came in one inning and he pitched well the other
four.  Bill Hall's defense was a little spotty.  I think
moving him around has made him uncomfortable in the field.
Hopefully he can stay at 3B and just continue to get reps.
One other note of disappointment was Brad Eldred.  I
remember him coming up with the Pirates and being labeled
the next Adam Dunn.  When you see him in person you can
understand.  He is a large human, but what an awful day he
had.  The big guy struckout 4 times.  He looked bad at
everyone of him.  What made matters worse was Jerry
Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams were sitting right beside the
White Sox dugout and the big guy had to see them every time
on his walk back to the dugout.  Wouldn't be surprised if
you hear in the next couple days that he gets sent down.

The Brewers are an exciting young team and I think they are
by far thet team to beat in the Central.  In my Cubbie they
have more talent than us.  I like their rotation if
Villanueva can settle down into the 5th spot and either Dave
Bush or Chris Capuano can rebound to even close to their
promise.  I think Gagne is their biggest question mark, but
who cares about that, he is a closer.  Watchout for them in
'08.  As far as the White Sox are concerned, I hate them.
They are going to hit a lot of homeruns though with Swisher,
Fields, Konerko, Dye, and Thome.  That is a tough lineup.
They are still about 3 starters away from competing again in
the tough AL Central.

Tomorrow we are going to travel to Mesa to see our Cubbies
take on the Royals.  May be a Sellers' market for the
scalpers because I think the game is almost sold out.

From the Sun Times, via mlbtraderumors:
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/842384,CST-SPT-brian14.article

Looks like the Cubs have a four player deal on the table for Roberts: Jose Ceda, Cedeno, Gallagher, and Donnie Veal.  The article also says Marquis and Payton could still be added to the mix.

Another edition of "mine friend ben from AZ..."

Today we went back to Surprise to catch another Cubs game
and Beronica has yet to see the Rangers play.  There was an
article yesterday on Cubs.com about Lou saying our regulars
were not getting enough at-bats so I was excited for today.
To my surprise when the lineups were called out Soriano was
the only starter in the lineup.  Go figure.

Cubs' Starts:  Soriano was the only starter, but he
delivered entertainment as he hit a 2 run rocket off of
Eddie Guardado.  Guardado pitched to the next two hitters
and then came off the field lame.  Big shocker there.  Ted
Lilly was the pitcher and he continued to look shaky in the
spring.  He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 4 innings.  He is a
weird guy.  He keeps trying to make every defensive play and
it ends up making the play more difficult for the team.  He
needs to realize he is more valuable to us pitching (which
is debatable of late) as opposed to risking injury on
unnecessary defensive plays.

Rangers' Stars:  I was excited to see Michael Young play as
he has been a favorite of mine for some time.  Mickey would
never trade him to me.  He went 2-3 with a HR in the 5th off
Jose Ascencio.  He has a pretty swing and is similar to a
right handed Todd Helton.  Jason Jennings started the game
and pitched decent.  He struckout four including Soriano.
He did give up 2 runs, but had a decent outing.  Ian Kinsler
hit the ball sharply going 2-2 on the day.  He had a double
and scored twice.  If he can bat leadoff all year, he should
put up some solid fantasy numbers.

Surprises:  Yesterday I also read an article on the Rangers.
It said there have been some rumors that they have been
shopping catcher Gerald Laird.  He must have read it because
he hit two bombs, one off of Lilly and the other off of Bob
Howry one of our better relief pitchers.  He must have been
pissed.  We saw a lot of familiar Redhawks.  Laird, Kinsler,
Jason Botts, Marlon Byrd, Nelson Cruz, and Ramon Vasquez.
Botts and Vasquez both had doubles and represented the 73103
well.  Another surprise was this was Sidney Ponson's first
game since signing with the Rangers and he did not look bad
at all.  He pitched two scoreless innings and only gave up
one hit.  He also struckout Soriano.  You never know with
how shallow our pitching pool is this year.

Disappointments: Mainly Lilly and Lou's lineup.  We did see
Kevin Mench for an at-bat.  He walked and some nostalgic
Ranger fans called him by his old nickname when he played in
Texas before, "Shrek".

I am starting to be genuinely concerned about the Cubs'
rotation.  I like our lineup quite a bit, but if Lilly
continues to be AL Lilly and Dempster makes the top 5 then
we are in for a long year.

A friend of mine recently moved to Phoenix and has been sending out recaps of games/players he watches throughout the spring.  Here is Ben's recap of the Cubs and A's...

Today we traveled down to Phoenix Municipal Stadium to see
the A's and the Cubs.  The Cubs were a split-squad today as
the other half was taking on the D-Backs in Mesa and was a
hot ticket so we decided on this game.  Stadium was pretty
easy to find and a pretty good crowd was on hand.  Little
over 7,000.

Cubs' Stars:  Only one regular starter in the lineup today
and that was Ryan Theriot.  I found out that my wife thought
his name was Ryan "Ontario" this whole time so that may be
his new nickname.  He is one of my favorite Cubs so I am
always glad to see him.  Didn't do much offensively.  Had a
single, but was then caught stealing.

A's Stars:  Many more of these as they had their whole
roster.  It started with the starting pitcher, Rich Harden.
Immensely talented, but has Mark Prior-syndrome or is it Ben
Sheets-syndrome?  Our seats were by the Oakland bullpen so
we got to see him warm up.  I think everyone looks good in
the bullpen because I thought he looked great and was going
to shutdown our lineup of bench players and minor leaguers.
Glad I am not a scout because he got roughed up.  We made
contact with everything he threw.  We torched him for 4 runs
and 7 hits in 3 innings.  They were not quails either.
Everything hit off of him was solid contact.  We can look at
this two ways though from a fantasy standpoint.  Rich Harden
is coming back slowly and working on certain things and not
really caring about results, or we should worry that his
velocity is not back yet and that he may not be ready.  I
definitely moved him down on my personal rankings.  Huston
Street on the other hand was the best pitcher on the field
all day.  He is a tiny guy, but he can bring some pop.  I
can't see him being an Athletic much longer if they are not
competitive which I don't think they will.

Surprises:  The Cubs' bench could be solid this year.  Matt
Murton is just a smart patient hitter.  I hope we hold onto
him because we have a lot of question marks in our outfield.
(Soriano-inj, Pie-inconsistent, Fukudome-Japanese)  Daryle
Ward showed his pop as he hit a towering shot of Harden and
went 3-4 on the day.  I think Alex Cintron was a nice pickup
for as well.  He has had some nice at-bats this spring and
should be good insurance for DeRosa.  All of these players
are fantasy irrelevant unless Murton is traded or starts
playing everyday.  Surprisingly Bobby Crosby was a surprise.
He hit the ball great today.  He went 3-4 with a double and
hit the ball hard all three times.  He played solid defense
except for one wild throw, but it was a tough play and the
hometown scorer did not give him an error even though it
was.  If you are counting on Crosby as your starting SS you
are playing with fire, but as a sleeper he could be a nice
surprise.  Draft with caution.

Disappointments:  Besides Harden maybe Jack Cust.  I was
looking forward to seeing him hit, but unfortunately it was
a letdown.  He struckout looking in the first and then in
the 4th inning on a weird play he leaned forward for some
reason to get out of the way of a pitch which makes no
sense.  Turn your body away and let it hit your back, but he
didn't and the ball hit him on top of his helmet.  If he is
really hurt I feel bad, but it was a soft curveball that hit
him and he went to the ground immediately and laid there.
Totally felt overdramaticized as he laid there for a couple
of moments and then had to leave the game.  Felt pretty
lame, but you never know.  It really had an effect on Sean
Marshall the starting pitcher.  He cruised through the first
three innings and then after that got distracted throwing
two wild pitches and giving up two hits and two runs.
Before that Marshall looked great.  He is my favorite to win
the 5th pitching spot.  At first I was excited about getting
Brian Roberts, but now I think we would be giving up too
much if we lose Marshall, Gallagher and Murton.  I hope
Dempster does not make our rotation.  Two other
disappointments I would say were Joey Devine for the A's and
Jeff Samardzija for the Cubs.  Devine came over in the
Kotsay trade I believe (correct me if I am wrong Jeremy)  He
had good velocity, but was hittable.  I still think he can
make that bullpen and could be a sleeper closer if Street
gets dealt.  It was very cool seeing Samardzija pitch.  I
think he is going to make it to the majors at some point,
but it will not be soon.  He gave up 4 hits in one inning
and allowed 2 runs.  They connected with everything, but he
did show promise when he got Crosby looking.  I have Kurt
Suzuki as a sleeper catcher, but he did not impress today
with an 0-4 day and his pitching staff giving up 13 hits.

This will be the last spring training report for everyone
before the draft so good luck to everyone tomorrow and be
there early so we can move through it.

-Ben

This is a strictly homer comment but Jason Botts goes into the spring battling Nelson Cruz for essentially a DH/4th OF spot for the Strangers.  Both are out of options.  I have had the opportunity to watch Botts play a ton in AAA.  I'd like to see the O's sign him cheap if he gets released and let him man the DH spot full time.  I know we have up-teen DH candidates but so what.  I don't have Botts numbers but I've seen him absolutely unload on some tape measure shots.  And it obviously doesn't take much to hold my attention.

http://www.cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10606967

Looks like Santana goes to the Mets for Carlos Gomez, Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey.

Does this make the M's offer look a little better or worse?

Please, please let me post my diary. No? How about now? Now?  C'mon you bastard!  Holy shit! Just post already!

This isn't anything profound, but a friend of mine that works for the Daily Oklahoman (shittiest but only newspaper around) interviewed Matt Kemp.  It ran in yesterday's paper.  You can find the Q&A here: http://newsok.com/article/keyword/3181390/

Since this post isn't long enough I'll tell you about the shitty weathermen around here.  First, we get tons of ice early last week...hundreds of thousands w/o power and I lost some of my favorite trees.  Then they call for snow last Friday/Saturday.  So, anticipating snow, I stocked up the liquor cabinet and bought a sled.  Not a real sled but this cheap foam thing...good enough.  Long story short...it doesn't snow enough to cover the ground after a week of doomsday 10 inches of snow talk.  Bastards.  

I've been reading this for about a week now and all I've seen is Homer Bailey and Joey Votto plus a prospect for Bedard.  I read where the O's want Jay Bruce included in the deal.  Now, if that is in addition to the other two guys I'm all for it I think.  MiLB recently listed their top 50 prospects and Bruce was #1, Bailey #9, and Votto #34.  You guys think that is enough? or too much to ask for?  

I am about to start my first bowling league...actually...a beer and pizza league before starting my first bowling league this fall.  I like bowling but I'm really joining for the beer, pizza, and awesome shirt.  I need some help coming up with a team name.  I'm new to bowling leagues so didn't want to use something that had been used a lot already.  Anything obscure from Big Lebowski or Kingpin that hasn't been done to death yet?  All ideas welcomed.  Thanks.

I'm posting a few FAs at each position while trying to stay away from short-term guys which is kinda hard.  Their age is in ( ).  

1B/OF - Adam Dunn (28) (13mil club option)
SS - Juan Uribe (29)  (5mil club option)
SS - Cesar Izturis (28) (5.4mil club option)
3B - A-Rod (32) reportedly looking for 12yr/360mil
OF - Milton Bradley (30)
OF - Aaron Rowand (30)
SP - Matt Clement (33)
SP - Jason Jennings (29)
SP - Kyle Lohse (29)
SP - Carlos Silva (29)
SP - Kip Wells (31)
CP - K-Rod (33)
RP - Jeremy Affeldt (29)
RP - Scott Linebrink (31)

I'm not suggesting we should target these guys or anything.  Just a quick look over the list and these guys stood out as not having had a hip replacement recently.  Anyone on here you would like to see in an O's uni for next season?  

I don't know if this is a viable option but I read a clip from the LA Times that said the Dodgers are now willing to trade some of their youth (Matt Kemp/James Loney)for a veteran presence in the lineup.  Wouldn't Tejada fit that role for them?  I wouldn't mind having either one of these kids really.  Although Loney would block the Tex thing at first in '09 but I doubt that would ever happen anyway.  

Is there one reliever on the O's that can get through a f-ing inning w/o walking someone?  That's bullshit.  I would like to see how many walks this pen has given up in comparison to the rest of the league.  Maybe it's just b/c I mostly only watch the O's and only highlights of other teams but for fuck's sake.  I'd rather them be getting their brains beat in b/c they through strikes and the other team hits the ball than b/c they couldn't hit a greyhound bus with a watermelon.  We're in that game yesterday late in the game if there are 4-5 free passes issued by those jackasses from the outfield.  It's complete horseshit.  Get someone up that can at least hit the zone every once in a while.  

I feel better...not much better...but better.  

Ok, I know this is almost blasphemy...but...I switched over to the SD/COL game last night when I saw that Chris Young had left the game after only 2 innings.  Anyhow, I know Amber gets a lot of attention and she's not horrible to look at or anything...but let me tell you...the Rockies got it right...say hello to Charissa Thompson.
[editor's note, by BPinOK] I should probably thank the kind folks at Purple Row for sharing the name and providing the picture.

Visiting from Camden Chat and there are always kind things to be said about the O's sideline reporter, Amber Theoharis.  However, I flipped over to the Rockies/Padres game last night to get the scoop on Chris Young (and check in on Holliday) and if I'm not mistaken the MLB Extra Innings was the COL network.  Could someone please provide the name of the "talented" young lady working the sideline?

When a player (Roberts last night) is at bat with a runner at first it obviously is not an AB with RISP.  But last night Roberts took a pitch or two and then Patterson steals second moving himself into scoring position.  Does this automatically switch the Roberts AB to an AB w/RISP?  If it indeed does switch to an AB w/RISP that doesn't seem quite fair.  What if the count is 0-2 when a runner moves into position?  The hitter is obviously at a disadvantage even at 1-2.  Just curious.  Thanks in advance for your help in clearing this up for me.

Where can I find all of the Jaime Walker quotes to date?  I was trying to tell my Braves fan friend how he should be a Jaime Walker fan but I didn't want to put words in his mouth.  B/c I'm guessing no puts words in Jaime Walker's mouth, boy.

For the love of Jaime Walker...One-line diaries are prohibited on Camden Chat. Give your diary a bit more thought, then give it another shot. If you have nothing to add to your proposed diary, then it probably belongs as a comment under another appropriate thread.
The minimum is 300 characters.
Jaime Walker Endorses the above.

OK...so I know this is random and kind of after the fact but I was gone for most of the weekend.  Reggie Willits attended high school in the tiny town of Ft. Cobb (which merged with Broxton to form Ft. Cobb/Broxton Schools.)  As freshmen in H.S. our respective teams played each other in the baseball playoffs.  I really don't remember him but we were both freshmen.  Anyway, the small schools in Oklahoma that do not play 8-man football play both spring and fall baseball and often those guys play in the summer as well.  There are a ton of college/pro players that come out of these tiny towns.  Towns like Dale, Amber, Ft. Cobb, Fletcher, Eakley, Roff, etc.  

Since it is a slow day I thought I would ask what you guys think about the Cubs youngster Rich Hill?  This isn't a trade question or anything but my friend and I were discussing young pitchers at lunch and his name was brought up.  I know what the box scores say but haven't really been able to watch him play that much.