And oh yeah, he's been staked to a 10-1 lead, and so far through 4 innings, he's given up a homer and struck out 3. Can we please quit trading/giving away pitchers for other teams? I mean, Chris Young, John Danks, Edinson Volquez, and now Galarraga. When we get some young pitching to come up through our system, we need to keep them, not just give them away for whatever reason (at least with Volquez we got a quality player in return, but we didn't get anything useful for the rest of those), and maybe take a chance on a young guy for once?

A guy who had EQAs of .310 and .291 the last 2 years is available for the taking? Jon Daniels, if you don't do this, I will lose all respect for you and punch you.

I'm serious, we need to go pick him up and how. I don't care how mediocre his season so far has been, he's been completely mistreated by the Astros because they can't seem to recognize that batting average has little to do with how good you are offensively.

He just set "our lineup" referring to the Mets on Baseball Tonight! OH NOES!

Yeah, probably just a Freudian slip, when you say one thing but mean your mother.

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Mench: .218/.243/.297
Nix: .229/.250/.343

Wow.

GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!
GO RED RAIDERS!

We've lost 3 games in a row to the fucking Devil Rays. Obviously, with Oakland continuing to find ways to be flukishly good, are we boned?

Ask not for whom the boner bones; it bones for thee.

Oh Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law

Law man has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my
home

The jig is up, the news is out

They finally found me

The renegade who had it made

Retrieved for a bounty

Never more to go astray

This'll be the end today

Of the wanted man

Oh Mama, I've been years on the lam and had a high price on my
head

Lawman said 'Get him dead or alive' and it's for sure he'll see
me dead

Dear Mama I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all
alone

Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very
long

The jig is up, the news is out

They finally found me

The renegade who had it made

Retrieved for a bounty

Never more to go astray

The judge'll have revenge today

On the wanted man

Oh Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law

Law man has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my
home

The jig is up, the news is out

They finally found me

The renegade who had it made

Retrieved for a bounty

Never more to go astray

This'll be the end today

Of the wanted man

Put the Mariners against anyone except the AL West, and it's like 2001 all over again...DAMN IT, WHY CAN'T YOU STUPID MARINERS BEAT SOMEONE IN YOUR OWN GODDAMNED DIVISION!

THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!
THIS MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!!!

Because then THIS happens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGKC-YBb06M

phil collins hates the 300 character limit. 300 CHARACTERS MUST DIE
al franken hates the 300 character limit. 300 CHARACTERS MUST DIE
bob dole hates the 300 character limit. 300 CHARACTERS MUST DIE
edinson volquez hates the 300 character limit. 300 CHARACTERS MUST FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HELL ITS REAL NAME IS, ANYWAYS...LIKE YOU SHOULDN'T KNOW THAT ALREADY

Catcher ERA:
Laird: 4.56
Popup: 4.74

I don't know if that really means anything, and I'm sure that some more research could be done to try and check the validity of those numbers beyond possibly being a coincidence, but hey, just throwing it out there as something for the "Barajas Sucks" crowd.

Which I consider myself a part of.

The K and BB rates worry me right now, but he's getting over 70% ground balls. And the K and BB rates are going to get better over time. Basically, he's the nastymaker.

.SRETCARAHC 003 SI MUMINIM EHt .TOHS REHTONA TI EVIG NEHT ,THGUOHT EROM TIB A YRAID RUOY EVIg .LLAb RATs ENOl NO DETIBIHORP ERA SEIRAID ENIL-ENo

Hope is here. Join the Marlins Bandwagon. Only 5.5 games out of the Wild Card!

YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN
YOU WILL JOIN

Hey, this is carterman from sister site Lone Star Ball, and I just have a simple question: Does Scott Kazmir warm up to "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin (obviously)? If he doesn't, that's a crime against humanity.

HUMANITY. Do you really want one of your players to be commiting crimes against humanity? No, you don't. Unless you're some godless killing machine. And I don't think bears can use computers...yet.

HR Counter:

Tex: 12
Adrian Gonzalez: 18

DAMN IT!

taco-line tacos are tacos on taco Star taco. Give taco diary taco bit taco thought, taco give taco another taco. If taco have taco to taco to taco proposed tacos, then taco probably tacos as a taco  another taco burrito.

The minimum is 300 tacos.

The Colorado Rockies lead the NL in starting pitcher's ERA.

I'll let that sink in.

There.

I hope you're still alive. Hope that wasn't too shocking to you. Because that sounds silly to say that, but...it's true.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/aggregate?statType=pitching&group=8&seasonType=2&typ e=type1&sort=ERA&split=127&season=2006

RA Dickey's AAA numbers:
60.1 IP, 75 H, 45 R, 41 ER, 11 HR, 27 BB, 15 K

...holy crap!

One-line diaries are vomited on Lone Star Ball. Give your diary a bit more cheeseburgers, then give it another toboggan. If you have squirrels to add to your proposed albatross, then it probably belongs as a qwyjibo under another appropriate Stephen Hawking.

The minimum is 300 pesos.

But thanks to a Mark Kotsay leadoff double, he missed the El Perfecto.

This is what, the second time this year the A's were no-hit after getting a leadoff hit?

One-line diaries are prohibited on Lone Star Ball. 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.

Hey, new user here, I post mostly over at Lone Star Ball (and for the record, I'm glad to see that MLB doesn't discriminate against the sight-impaired in hiring umpires), but after I saw an article on MiLB.com about Adam Cowart pitching 5.1 perfect innings for Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, I'm just wondering if anyone's actually seen him pitch yet, and if he still has that wacky delivery he's got. I saw him pitch against Texas Tech earlier this year, and his delivery was just plain wacky - he spreads his legs out, squats down a bit and slings the pitch towards the plate from a sidearm/submarine angle. It's like nothing else I've ever really seen, and I hope he makes it to the majors simply because it's just so interesting. His stuff apparently isn't all that great (which is why he was a 35th round pick, obviously), but hey, if he can stick in the majors (likely as a ROOGY given the delivery, I'm sure), I'm going to make sure to keep an an eye on him, unless his delivery's been reworked since turning pro, which takes all the fun out of it, now doesn't it?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=rotowire-eredeaverentownespit&prov=rotowire&type=lgns

Who the hell is Jeff Weaver sleeping with to keep his rotation spot? Also, where do I sign up to get millions of dollars to be a mediocre pitcher for the Angels?

300 character limit? What a great idea...FOR ME TO POOP ON!

Who's leading the team in relief WPA (win percentage added)?

Antonio Alfonseca. El Pulpo. The guy who isn't even on our team any more. Say what you will about Akinori Otsuka, but when he fails, he's done it in spectacular fashion (The Posada and Ortiz walkoffs to turn leads into losses are going to hurt your WPA, for sure).

Kids, this is why situational stats are not good indicators of overall performance. Clearly, Akinori Otsuka has had a much better season than Six-Fingers McGee.

http://www.fangraphs.com/winss.aspx?team=Rangers

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=1281&position=B

Look at the HR/FB (Home Runs per Flyballs) % - it's way down this season as oppposed to the past couple of seasons. That just tells me that barring anything physically different, Tex just isn't hitting his flyballs out far enough, or in the right spots to get homers, like the ball he hit that almost went out that Tommy Murphy had to jump up and catch. That % should regress back to what he's done previously (assuming something's changed physically that he can't hit as many homers for whatever reason), so I'm not too worried that he'll break out of the homer slump eventually.

Despite hitting a grand slam, he still had a WPA of -5.3 for the game - meaning that Rod Barajas' situational contributions to the game managed to decrease our expected chances of winning by 5.3%.

Isn't he great?

Well, in Everquest 2, that is.

During the Red Sox vs. Yankees series on June 5, 6, and 7th, a belligerent bad guy named Curt Schilling will appear in game to challenge all comers that check out the free trial. Every time a player manages to bean Curt Shilling and knock him out of the game, Sony Online Entertainment will donate $5 (up to $10,000) to the ALS Association which was founded to help spearhead the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis which is commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Now then, the ultimate showdown: Curt Schilling's EQ2 character vs. Curt Schilling, "belligerent bad guy". As if there's any other type of bad guy?

http://www.northernleague.com/transactions/

"(05/01/06) Assigned the contract of RHP Nigel Thatch (Rookie) to Fullerton of the Golden Baseball League in exchange for 1 pallet (60 cases) of Budweiser beer."

Bonus points if you know who Nigel Thatch is. (The answer, encoded in ROT13: Ur jnf Yrba sebz gur Ohqjrvfre pbzzrepvnyf)

I'd still rather see Otsuka as the closer. For starters, Otsuka's getting his chance and I don't think it'd be fair to him to give him a job, and assuming he doesn't melt down at it, take it away because the previous guy looks semi-decent allof a sudden. But HOWEVA, [/Stephen A. Smith] I think that if Buck uses Coco as more of a relief ace type in important situations, not just an automatic 9th inning guy, we could get the most value out of him as well as Otsuka. That, and I picked up Otsuka in my fantasy league, and I obviously would love to keep getting free saves from him :0)

Of course, we ARE talking about Buck here, so I fully expect to see Coco back in the closer role once his ERA gets to below 9 or so, and more playing time for Mark "Da Dumpster" DeRosa. If I'm Da Dumpster, I'd make sure I'm never alone, as you never know who might club you in the kneecaps with a lead pipe in order to get playing time.

He's got 1 BB so far, as opposed to 10 last April. I'm not worried about the strikeouts, hell, he had 27 last April, he's just a high-strikeout guy. I just want to see him taking pitches, trying to draw good hitters counts, not necessarily trying to just plain make contact. Of course, maybe he's just not seeing the ball well, and it's only the kind of slump that will pass over with time...

...we hope. I know I still do.