For anyone who has every played DnD, whether on pen and paper or computers, or even medieval fantasy role playing games, Gary Gygax passed over away today in Milwaukee.

I never liked his vision of DnD, back in 1st edition days, but still, he was the founder. The father of Mordenkainen and Melf.

RIP.

So, to anyone who has played RPGs, favourite RPG games? PNP or PC would do.

Favourite DnD classes?

by Dan Szmborski are up here.

I didn't see them in any of the Haren diaries, though I might have missed them.

Haren: 120 ERA+.

Connor Robertson: 98 ERA+

Brett Anderson: 83 ERA+

Greg Smith: 85 ERA+

Poll

Beane sucks?

29%

Beane sucks 11!!11!!

23 votes

24%

Beane: genius

19 votes

46%

Meh. Fair trade

37 votes

79 votes | Poll has closed

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Dan Szymborski has released his ZIPS projections for the A's in 2007.

He gets in some nice snark at the Beane bashers:

And Jack Cust, who strikes out way too much to ever hit major league pitching and who statheads don't realize won't ever hit in the majors, was made mincemeat out of by AL hurlers to the tune of finishing 8th in the AL in OPS+.

Speaking of Cust:

Name                     P  Age   AVG   OBP   SLG   G  AB   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI  BB   K SB CS
Jack Cust*               dh  29  .264  .394  .470 135 428  65 113 22  0 22  70  92 154  0  1

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Since I haven't seen this anywhere on AN, from Rosenthal:

The Braves have a major announcement scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.

It's expected that longtime GM John Schuerholz is stepping down and being replaced by his assistant, Frank Wren.

Schuerholz took over as GM in 1990 and the team won 14 straight division titles before struggling the past two seasons.  

According to WFAA.

The Rangers will step outside the organization for the "fresh perspective" general manager Jon Daniels said he wants to bring to the clubhouse.

Two baseball sources said Sunday night that the club had hired Oakland third base coach Ron Washington. He could be officially introduced as Buck Showalter's successor as early as this afternoon. Showalter was dismissed Oct. 4.

Washington met for the third time with Rangers officials Sunday. This time the meeting included owner Tom Hicks. Hicks did not confirm nor deny the hiring of Washington, who has spent the last 11 years on the Oakland staff, but he did acknowledge he was impressed by the meeting.

According to Ken Rosenthal, Billy Beane has good things to say about Trey Hillman.

"I've heard nothing but great things about him," A's general manager Billy Beane says. "And I've heard it from a lot of people I really respect, all coming from different angles, none of whom are connected to each other."

Rosenthal also says Beane is confident that Frank Thomas will return.

Beane remains confident of re-signing designated hitter Frank Thomas to a two-year deal; he said he has been in contact with Thomas' agent, Arn Tellem, over the last few days. "Each time we talk there is some type of progress toward resolution," Beane says. "Something like this, given his year, does not get done right away. I don't think they're being unreasonable. I don't think they think we're being unreasonable. The desire for both of us is to get something done."

For anyone who's already sick of this, I apologise. For those[editor's note, by rfloh] [spelling] who're not, here's more reaction to pine-tar boy.

TLR says he doesn't believe that it was dirt.

Jon Heyman says it was certainly pine tar, and gets the opinion of a bullpen coach on the reasons and methods for the use of pine tar and other "foreign" substances.

"The pine tar blends in nicely with the glove if it's the right color. I'd check which gloves he was using which inning. You just get it in your hand and rub it up. The pine tar allows the index finger and thumb to apply more pressure on the ball. With Rogers and his curveball, he needs more pressure on his thumb. It also helps the ball move a little extra. If the ball is fractionally heavier on one side, it will move more.

"But the predominant reason to use the pine tar is for the grip and to apply the necessary pressure to throw your pitches. The ball was coming out of his hand pretty good. It's good for the splitter, the cutter, the slider and the curveball.

"Rogers isn't a very hard thrower. He depends on movement. It can even help with the changeup. The hard thing about throwing a splitter is controlling it. If you apply pine tar to the middle finger and index finger it allows you to grip it better and gain more control. But pine tar is very visible. That's why you have to be careful. A lot of times you have to wipe it off between innings with alcohol. It comes right off with alcohol.

"He definitely was using pine tar. It can cake with pine tar and rosin. Maybe after the second inning, he went back to the shaving cream and added moisture. I'd say he was either hiding it better or he went back to the shaving cream or suntan lotion.

The bullpen coach also speculates why TLR was reticient.

"I bet Tony La Russa's pitchers are mad at him for saying anything, because a lot of guys do it, and I'd be surprise if there's a whole staff of guys who don't do it. In fact, I'd say a majority of guys use one of the three -- shaving cream, suntan lotion or pine tar.

PAGING Sal, Jacob Luft says Rogers cheating is no big deal. He is even impressed that Rogers managed to get away with it for so long, in the ALCS for example. To his credit, he doesn't distinguish between this and corked bats, AAS. To him, it's all somewhat acceptable.

If anything, I'm impressed that Rogers has been getting away with doctoring the ball for this long.

...

This isn't the first time in recent years that this facet of the game has come to conflict with our society's newfound and complete intolerance for cheaters and liars of any sort. (Maybe this is all fallout from the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Who knows?) I was stunned at how much the corked bat incident damaged Sammy Sosa's image; allegations of something else ruined whatever was left. Speaking of which, has Rafael Palmeiro even come out of his bunker yet? Palmeiro's biggest sin wasn't taking the stuff, it was lying to us about it

Ken Rosenthal speculates on why TLR was so reticient, and sounds pissed off, he usually is never this snarky

FOX cameras detect a brown splotch on the left hand of Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers in the first inning. And Cardinals manager Tony La Russa goes nuts.

La Russa asks plate umpire Alfonso Marquez to inspect Rogers for a foreign substance. Marquez determines that the substance is pine tar. Rogers is ejected and suspended for the rest of the Series.

Truth! Justice! The American Way!

If only it were that simple. La Russa might have improved the Cardinals' chances if he had gone after Rogers, who washed his hands and pitched eight brilliant innings in Game 2 to help the Tigers tie the Series, one game each.

But the solution might only have been temporary -- for the Cardinals, the World Series and Major League Baseball.

As usual in baseball, the question is not whether one player is cheating; it's how many others are engaging in similar hijinks.

Heaven forbid that anyone follow the actual rules.

Ken Rosenthal gives a good recap of what happened. And ends with a snarky comment about Rogers.

At 41 years, 11 months and 12 days, Rogers became the oldest starting pitcher to win a World Series game. He is just the second pitcher to make three starts without allowing a run in a single postseason; Christy Mathewson had three complete-game shutouts against the A's in the 1905 Series.

"I'm no Christy Mathewson, that's for sure," Rogers said.

The validity of that statement, at least, was confirmed by FOXSports.com.

According to well-placed sources, Christy washed his hands.

Jayson Stark wonders why Rogers was so defensive

So Marquez never mentioned that humongous clump of dirt? "No."

All righty then. So that's the end of it. Right? A clump of dirt happened to appear on his pitching hand, and he wiped it off, and then went back to being Sandy Koufax.

Or maybe not.

Because his own manager, Mr. Jim Leyland, said the umpires "made Kenny wash his hands." And Steve Palermo, an MLB umpiring supervisor, reported that Marquez "asked Kenny to remove that dirt, so there wouldn't be any question as far as that controversy."

Great. Took care of that controversy stuff in no time flat, didn't they? Cleared it right up.

So this should be the point where we should be moving on to talk about Rogers' sensational evening on the old pitcher's mound, right? Nope. Sorry. Not quite yet.

Because if Rogers was so darned innocent, how come he was trying so hard to deny everything except his pitch count?

ESPN says that Rogers had a similar substace on his hand when he pitched against the A's, and provides the opinions of some former pitchers.

"I've heard [pine tar] is used for the grip," former Cy Young winner Rick Sutcliffe told ESPN The Magazine's Amy K. Nelson. "But that's what the rosin bag is supposed to be used for. When it's hot out and you're sweating, the rosin bag is there to help give you more grip, the same effect, and give it a tacky substance. But tonight the rosin bag isn't going to be much help with the cold weather.

"The pine tar, I'm told, can give the ball more rotation. It's useless for the fastball, but with the breaking pitches it can help with the movement and spin."

A former major league pitcher offered his take on what a foreign substance can do to alter a pitcher's performance.

"When your hands get cold, you can't put spin on the ball, because the ball slips out of your hands," the pitcher said. "It also changes your release point. It changes the release point because the ball wants to come out of your hands sooner so it makes the ball go high, with less spin. So it's higher in the strike zone, or not even a strike, and with less movement. But once you use something that's a little stickier, like pine tar or chewing tobacco and gum, or hair gel, anything that makes your hand look sticky or feel sticky, it brings your release point back to normal. It also puts the same spin on the ball because you have a better grip.

"The problem is there's different substances that don't have a color to them and also don't wear off after awhile. Because when you throw more than 10-15 pitches in an inning, certain things start to wear away, and all of a sudden you're throwing your most important pitches with your least amount of stuff."

Dave Newhouse continues his quixotic and idiotic campaign for Dusty as the manager of the A's.

Apparently, Dusty should be the manager because he has "presence". But then so does Sweet Lou.

That's why I'm backing Dusty Baker as the A's next manager. He has the presence to stand up to anybody. If he can manage Barry Bonds, who hardly considered him a buddy at the time, he can manage anybody.

Baker is a man's man, very popular with his players, a proven manager with a 103-win season, four playoff appearances and one World Series. Since I first supported Baker a few days ago, I've received a torrent of criticism from readers who perceive Baker as Atilla the Hun with a lineup card.

Baker led the Chicago Cubs to their first back-to-back winning seasons in 30-plus years, but he is being blamed for the team's downfall, even though the Cubbies haven't won a World Series since 1908.

That lovable, inept organization hasn't gotten anything right since Tinker to Evers to Chance. All its failures seem to have landed on Baker. Cubs fans now have Lou Piniella to kick around.

In non-baseball news, according to this article all men will have big willies

Blokes will be chuffed to learn their willies will get bigger -- and women's boobs will become more pert.

<points>, <laughs>.

British ministers are planning to impose controls on the YouTube website to try to end the broadcasting of indiscriminate violence.

Why are Americans behind the Brits in tilting at windmills?

Christina Kahrl of BPro, writing for the New York Sun blames Macha for the beating suffered by the A's.

When a starter doesn't have it early on in a postseason start, a manager doesn't have the same freedom to wait and see if he'll get himself ironed out. At this time of year, there are few tomorrows, and nobody gets a trophy for saving for tomorrow something that you really need today. Could Macha have helped himself by getting his starting pitchers out of the game earlier than he did? Robertson has struggled against righthanded hitters, who have collectively slugged .473 against him; he's owned lefties. Macha knew that, but instead of plugging in lefty killer Bobby Kielty (.325/.358/.611), he went with regular Mark Kotsay -- a left-handed hitter with a .293 OBP against lefties this year So now the A's are down two games. Tigers' Game 4 starter Jeremy Bonderman has allowed lefties to hit .284/.350/.472, while holding righties to .235/.275/.341 -- will Macha continue to concede massive platoon disadvantages, or will he take a risk? At this point, he has little left to lose that isn't already slipping through his fingers.

Jon Heyman of SI says Zumaya is expected to be able to pitch :(

The charmed Tigers got some more good news when Joel Zumaya's wrist injury turned out to be less painful than first feared. They are now saying they expect him to pitch more in the ALCS.

Mets vs. Dodgers.

John Maine vs Derek Lowe, 2-1 Mets, 5th inning

Mets scored with homeruns by Delgado and Floyd, the Dodgers on a double by Marlon Anderson.

Yankees vs. Tigers.

Mike Mussina vs. Justin Verlander

And of course ARod vs. His Jeteriness.

Can Verlander do better than Nate Robertson?

for AN.

Thank you to baseballgirl
for making wish that I can write like her when I grow up.

Thank you to jennifer
for being a bitch :)

Thank you to Poppy
for being a voice of sanity (you suck. Loiaza roolz !!!1!1!1 :) )

Thank you to Grover
for being a ray of warm and fuzzy sunshine.

Thank you to Milton Bradley
for being a Tired Act and for going after Ron Kulpa.

Thank you to Ken Macha
for practicing Karate and for stopping Milton from going after Ron Kulpa.

Thank you to Bobby Crosby
for being HAWT.

Thank you to Marcu Scutaro
for being HAWTer and a better player than Crosby.

Thank you to Eric Chavez
for not winning the MVP again this year.

Thank you to Frank Thomas
for reminding everyone that you're one of the best hitters ever.

Thank you to Jason Kendall
for being overpaid.

Thank you to Kiko Calero
for being better than Mark Mulder.

Thank you to Danny Haren
for also being better than Mark Mulder.

Thank you to Mike Scioscia
for getting your team to do the little things and play the right way.

Thank you to HH
for, <barf>...

Thank you to the Seattle Mariners
for being the A's bitches.

Thank you to the Mariners fans
for being so nice and kind about your team being the A's bitches.

Thank you to Richard I the Brokenharden
for coming back in time for the playoffs.

Thank you to Billy Beane
for "we're all about defense. No soft ball teams here".

Thank you to AN
for being such a great community.

Thank you to all the A's players
for a wonderful season, no matter what happens in the playoffs.

Ken Rosenthal gets snarky about Esteban in assesing this offseason's crop of free agent proven veteran pitchers.

Andre Ethier no longer looks like the 1st ballot HOFer that Bill Plaschke touted him as.

A prolonged September slump in which he is batting .128 with no home runs and one run batted in has relegated Ethier to a second-stringer recently, with Marlon Anderson getting the majority of starts in left field.

"I don't know if I'm going to be here next year or not," said Ethier, who before Friday was batting .314 overall with 11 homers and 54 RBIs and remained in the running for National League rookie of the year. "It's pretty obvious by the way the last couple of weeks have been going."

General Manager Ned Colletti appeared stunned when informed of Ethier's comments, saying, "I plan to have him here. He's got a long, good future ahead of him in L.A."

Ethier's OPS: 854, BABIP: 366

Milton's OPS: 803, BABIP: 307

According to Jon Heyman friends say aspiring actor Zito prefers SoCal, N.Y.

Boras as usual talks his client up:

The Oswalt contract is certainly relevant to what a premium player is worth when he's a year away from free agency. It's not a free agent value.

Ok.

Boras wants >$90 million.

reminds me of Kevin Brown's in 1998.

And responds the an anonymous Mets executive's assertion that Zito is no Oswalt

One had a big arm, and the other is a dominant control pitcher,'' Boras said. "I guess it's like a Nolan Ryan vs. Greg Maddux debate.

So, Zito "leadoff walk" is Ryan? Or Maddux?

Zito as an actor

There are seven TV appearances listed on a Web site I found. In six of them, he plays himself, while in the seventh, an episode of JAG, he plays a Navy pitcher. Apparently, he's a victim of typecasting.

Donovan rates the contenders' bullpens.

Dayn Perry gives props to the small market A's and Twins.

Nothing really new there, that A's fans aren't aware of; much of what Perry writes in the column is
familiar stuff that he has written before in his columns, books.

The Yankee Way: Throw 'Em Under the Bus.

You have to love baseball, and you have to love Alex Rodriguez for holding his tongue. Just imagine the rich quotes he could have given in response! Giambi is so obviously lacking in the credibility one needs to attack someone else in this way it's not even worth going into. Others provide nearly equally ripe targets. Wouldn't you love to hear Rodriguez say something like, "Well, skip's right, I haven't been pulling my share of the load, and I'm going to have to pull a lot more in the playoffs when all our relievers give up a bunch of runs because he burns through them all every year even though everyone knows he's doing it"?

Jon Heyman on SI believes that Ken Macha is
underrated

Two GMs suggested he might deserve Manager of the Year. "Oakland's prepared. They approach at-bats consistently. They're just tough,'' said one GM, who didn't want his name mentioned because his own team isn't quite as tough.

I'm curious; Is this consistent approach to at bats prevalent throughout the whole organisation,
including the minors?

John Sickels has a Prospect Retro on Milton Bradley.

ChadBrafordWannabe on Baseball Think Factory analyses Francescco Liriano's mechanics.

Should A's fans ask him to do an analysis of Harden? Maybe supply him with videos of Harden?

Peter Gammons considers himself 'One of the luckiest people on the earth'.

Vote for Frank Thomas as Comeback Player of the Year.