SB Nation User Blog: The Balls of Summer

Baseball Movie Thread

The Balls of Summer — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:32:30 -0000

I may have posted one of these in previous years, but since it's an off day, it seems like good discussion.

Let's hear your top five baseball movies. Mine are the following:

Bull Durham
Major League
A League of Their Own
The Rookie
Eight Men Out

The Sabes Record

The Balls of Summer — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:47:03 -0000

Presented without comment, the Sabean record since the end of the 2002 World Series. These transactions aren't in perfect order. Please comment on any omissions.

2003 Season

Signs Felipe Alou
Signs Ray Durham
Signs Edgardo Alfonzo
Signs Jose Cruz Jr.
Signs Marquis Grissom
Signs Neifi Perez
Signs Kirk Rueter to a contract extension
Trades Russ Ortiz for Damian Moss and Merkin Valdez
Trades Livan Hernandez and Edwards Guzman for Jim Brower and Matt Blank
Trades Damian Moss, Kurt Ainsworth and Ryan Hannaman for Sidney Ponson
Trades Clay Hensley for Matt Herges
Claims Dustin Hermanson off waivers
Claims Jeffrey Hammonds off waivers
Trades Greg Bruso for Eric Young

2004 Season

Trades Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano for A.J. Pierzynski
Re-signs J.T. Snow
Claims Deivi Cruz off waivers
Signs Michael Tucker
Trades J.T. Thomas for Dustan Mohr
Signs Brett Tomko
Re-signs Jeffrey Hammonds
Signs Tyler Walker
Trades Carlos Villanueva and Glenn Woolard for Wayne Franklin and Leo Estrella
Trades Felix Rodriguez for Ricky Ledee
Trades Josh Habel for Dave Burba

2005 Season

Releases A.J. Pierzynski
Signs Mike Matheny
Signs Omar Vizquel
Signs Moises Alou
Signs Armando Benitez
Signs Jeff Fassero
Signs Pedro Feliz to a contract extension
Re-signs Jason Christensen
Trades Jerome Williams and David Aardsma for LaTroy Hawkins
Trades Jesse Foppert and Yorvit Torrealba for Randy Winn
Trades Deivi Cruz for Benjamin Cox
Trades Michael Tucker for Kelvin Pichardo

2006 Season

Trades LaTroy Hawkins for Steve Kline
Signs Matt Morris
Signs Tim Worrell
Signs Jose Vizcaino
Signs Randy Winn to a contract extension
Signs Jamey Wright
Trades Edgardo Alfonzo for Steve Finley
Signs Mark Sweeney
Signs Todd Greene
Trades Tyler Walker for Carlos Hines

Anybody listen to the wrap last night

The Balls of Summer — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 17:14:00 -0000

It was hilarious! Miller picked Armando for his player of the game, talked about how in the last week or so, him and Armando had become quite close.

The whole time, Kruk is pissing his pants laughing.

More Lowry Love

The Balls of Summer — Tue, 09 May 2006 20:00:16 -0000

Man that was nice last night. Am I the only one that thinks that Noah is going to have a Cy Young caliber season?

Last night, he came out and didn't have his best stuff. But he battled and made pitches when it counted and only gave up 2 runs through 5 innings. Then he found his good stuff and finished the 6th and 7th with 19 pitches.

He's got a killer changeup, a plus curveball and a deceptively quick fastball. He works just as well out of the stretch as the windup, and he gets plenty of swing throughs.

I'm starting to feel optimistic!

Omar and Mesa

The Balls of Summer — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 17:41:18 -0000

The more I think about this, the more pissed off I get. Mesa should have been tossed immediately, and he should be facing a suspension. MLB should have stepped in long ago and told him that the next time he nails Vizquel, he's facing a 30 game suspension.

I can't believe that you can vow to hit a guy every time you face him, proceed to do so every time, and not face any repercussions.

Special Request

The Balls of Summer — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 18:02:49 -0000

In my day job, I work for the American Cancer Society in Reno, NV. We have an event coming up on April 1st that includes a silent auction and I was wondering (hoping) that some of you might have some connections for potential silent auction items. Primarily, I am looking for connections in the Bay Area or other parts of California in lodging and entertainment. For example, I would be looking for a package like, "One night stay and opera tickets in San Francisco," or something similar.

If you have any ideas or connections and would be willing to help me out, let me know here or e-mail me. Of course, it goes without saying that if someone had a priceless piece of sports memorablilia that they would like to donate, such as a signed Johnny LeMaster baseball, we would be happy to auction that off as well. All of the donations would go to the American Cancer Society, which you can learn more about at www.cancer.org.

Thanks for your help!

HOF gives Will the finger

The Balls of Summer — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 19:37:47 -0000

http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/news/2006/060110b.htm

I know there is considerable debate over whether Clark is a Hall of Famer, but 4.4 percent?

That's bullshit.

My problem with this offseason

The Balls of Summer — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 23:10:17 -0000

This offseason has been playing out much different than anyone expected. There is an active trade market and unexpected names are being moved to unexpected teams. Yet our mullethead General Manager is operating as if nothing has changed. He's still pursuing low risk-low reward strategies and not taking any chances.

Apparently, all it took to get Sean Casey at 5 mill next year is a mediocre arm. Sabes wants nothing to do with it.
Apparently, all it took to get Mark Redman is another mediocre arm. Sabes wants nothing to do with it.
Apparently, middle relievers are worth 4-5 million per year now. Of course, Sabes has a reliever signed to a one year, 5 mill contract and he trades him for a lefty specialist that no one wants.

Get off the bench Brian! You can't score from the dugout!

Offseason trade proposals

The Balls of Summer — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 18:39:36 -0000

Here are some proposals that I thought up. Feel free to add your own and comment on these.

Jason Schmidt for Carlos Delgado.

Edgardo Alfonzo, Craig Whitaker and Merkin Valdez for Jim Thome and cash.

Alfonzo, Valdez, Eddy Martinez-Esteve and Brian Burres for Adam Dunn and Eric Milton.

Edgardo Alfonzo for Mike Lowell.

Alfonzo and Valdez for Jeff Bagwell.

Valdez for Lyle Overbay.

Valdez and Burres for Aubrey Huff.

Comment away!

The Rest of the Season

The Balls of Summer — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 16:03:12 -0000

Ok, I'm sure no one wants to talk about it. But we're in a pennant race! As I figure it, if the Giants win all of their remaining series (2 out of 3 against the Nats, Rox and Snakes and 3 out of 4 against the Pads), and the Padres lose all of their remaining series (1 out of 3 against the Dodgers and Snakes, 1 out of 4 against the Rox and Giants), then the two teams will finish with identical 78-84 records. Sure it's embarrassing, but who cares! We now have the team we expected to have at the beginning of the year. Let's see if they could have been good.