So over the Holidays, I found at a used-book store the book "9 Innings: The Anatomy of a Baseball Game" by Daniel Okrent.  I finished up the book this morning and wanted to recommend it and throw out there a thread on favorite baseball books.

First of all, here is a link to the book from Amazon:

I was not sure what i was getting when I picked the book up but it was well worth the read.  It details out a rather random game in June 1982 between the Milwaukee Brewers and Baltimore Orioles.  9 Chapters and each Chapter has a portion on the top half and bottom half of the resepctive inning and then in-between background information on either various players or just history of the game.

It is a very interesting read and for som will bring back either memories or in my case was a few years before I really got into baseball but the names and some situations really resonate. 

Of course, at the time Bud Selig is the owner of the Brewers and it talks in great detail about this ownership, hands-on approach, his willingness to either pay more or not pay more for certain players.

Anyway, for anyone that is looking for a good read, I highly recommend this book.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3318132

Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Doug Davis has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, team president Derrick Hall confirmed to The Arizona Republic on Friday.

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Davis

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According to Hall, Davis is planning on making his scheduled start Friday against the Colorado Rockies and will address the media at some point on Friday, too. Davis will make his next few starts before undergoing surgery sometime in the next three weeks.

"We're not sure about the timetable after that," Hall told the newspaper. "We're deeply saddened and concerned for Doug but we're still in the process of collecting facts and applying that to timing."

Davis was 13-12 in 33 starts with a 4.25 ERA as Arizona won the National League West and advanced to the NL Championship Series before losing to the Rockies in four games.

According to the webmd.com Web site, there are 18,000 annual cases of thyroid cancer in the U.S. Most patients are cured or live many years with the disease.

Wish him the best.  Sounds like they caught it early.  The reason I say this is I was watching espn and it stated that he planned to be back playing in one month.

Any Pettite has asked the committee to not have to testify tmorrow.  He does not want to testify against his friend Clemens...interesting..not sure what this means, but why do this?

And why would the committee let this happen, if it does.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/02/11/pettitte.excused/index.html

OKay, some friends and I are looking to go to Yankee Stadium this summer and I went to the Yankees website and individual game tickets are not yet for sale.  You can go to Stubhub and get some but I was wondering if anyone knew when tickets will go on sale via the Teams websites or has stubhub taken over this process?

thanks for the help.

Also, any suggestions on how to get tickets to Yankee stadium and good places to sit or avoid in the stadium (in terms of view, etc).

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3062658

Intereresting.  I guess the pull of the game brought him back for more.  Will be interesting to see how he does there.  Not sure what Cincy is looking for with this hire.  I mean Dusy is not known as a turnaround specialist and unless I am wrong not necessarily great with young players.  I had the impression that he favored vets so will be intesting.

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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/steve_aschburner/09/03/southwest.grades/index.html

Cnnsi is doing articles on the Offseason of various divisions and I saw the one on the Southwest.  Based only on Offseason moves to them it appears Houston has taken great leaps.

Of course in the end the Powers are Dallas and SA.

Everyone wants moves and things to look good but I am very satisfied that we did not break up our core and overhaul things.  

Dirk is back at it with Germany and trying to get his team into the Olympics:

Game 1:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=3003012

Game 2:
http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/news/story?id=3004526

(read down the article it has his numbers and the German team win).

His team is 2-0 thus far.

GO DIRK!

Marc Stien Interview with Dirk:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=stein_marc&page=Nowitzki

Some nice thing in there, noting earthshattering but nonetheless Mavs news.

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One-line diaries are prohibited on Mavs Moneyball. 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.

Okay this is only one sportswriters opinion but in the interest of getting some discussion going here is an article that states that Dirk is not a Cornerstone player:

http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/08/30/summer-of-answers-why-kg-and-dirk-arent-top-ten-cornerston es/

He has players such as Chris Paul above him.

People can say what they want about Dirk but any player that is the focal of one of the top 3 teams in the leauge, the focal player of a team that went to the NBA Finals in the past 2 years, a focal player of  team that if it gets back to the Finals it will be becuase of him then he is a cornerstone player.

Another tough outing today.

He enters the game in the 8th inning with a 3-1 lead and one person on base.  He proceeds to give up a 2-run homer to Tejada to tie the game.

Can't catch a break.  Maybe the idea of not closing really just does not sit well ith him.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2940065

Michael Vick has been indicted in engaging in illegal interstate commerce.

Not sure the implications, especially on football this year (I imagine regardless that it gets dealt with next offseason); however, this cannot be good news.

Any of the lawyer's on this site please explain the implications it would be greatly appreciated.

From espn:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2922500

from Mariners.com:

http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070701&content_id=2060013&vkey=news_s ea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea

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I edited the title so that there is no cnfusion on our Pitcher versus the O's Shortstop.

Continue reading this post »

In today's Cubs/Pads game in the 4th innning.

Young hits Lee up in and around the left shoulder and as Lee is walking towards frist base he yells a few things to Young and Young approaches (camly)...well then Lee throws a punch (that does not connect) and then Young throws a punch (that does not connect) and then everything goes nuts.  Benhes clear...Lee, young, other ejected.

Oh yeah, it is bottom of 4th and neither team has a hit...

Entertaining.

Wow...you think the San Diego front office should ahve done this earlier so they could have maybe kept Wade of Cameron...

Just reported on ESPN...marty fired as San Diego head Coach

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Well we are approximately 1/4 of the way through the NBA Season and I was going through the standings and wanted to complile a list of various teams and where they are now as compared to where we thought they would be.....just a discussion.

Continue reading this post »

per espnnews.

I have no details...but they are sure making a splash.............................................................................................. ....................................................................

.what else to sayl..
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tyring to fill 300 char limit

Per Heyman at cnnsi.  A trade of Rich Harden for Milledge and Hielman...interesting.

I think if Milledge pans out then this is a good trade for the A's.  Harden has potential but carries tons of injury history (okay, one year but still).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/12/06/mets.athletics/index.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/baseball/294724_mbok05.html

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Mariners add Zito to wish list
Oakland ace will be far more expensive than Schmidt

By JOHN HICKEY
P-I REPORTER

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- While the Mariners' spotlight on free-agent pitching has been almost exclusively on Jason Schmidt, it turns out the team is in the mix for free-agent left-handed starter Barry Zito.

Only Zito, 28, has a higher profile than Schmidt, 33, among available free-agent starting pitchers.

Zito has always liked Seattle as a city, confidantes say, and now there are broad hints that the Mariners' interest is strong and getting stronger.

"How could we not be interested in a guy like that?" a club insider asked Monday at the outset of baseball's winter meetings. "When you look at the ages, if the money is equal, you'd want to go with the younger guy."

Of course, the money isn't going to be equal. Schmidt is looking for about $15 million and a four-year deal. The deal agent Scott Boras is trying to get for Zito is for more money and as many as six years.

Boras and Zito met Thursday in Arlington, Texas, with the Rangers' brass. Zito hasn't made a similar call in Seattle -- yet. But he could.

Boras reportedly told the Rangers the Mariners were strong players in the Zito derby. That's unquestionably a negotiating ploy -- Boras is famous for those.

It might also be true. Those around Boras say the main players for Zito's services come from the East Coast -- the Mets and the Yankees -- and from the American League West. The Los Angeles Dodgers were interested but seem to be pulling back.

The Angels are only mildly interested, and the A's, Zito's old team, can't afford him. That leaves Texas and Seattle.

The Rangers and Yankees, and maybe the Mets, are likely to at least think about going six years with Zito, who has one Cy Young Award to his credit.

It's not likely the Mariners would want to go more than four years on a contract for a pitcher, even at Zito's relatively tender age.

So they would still seem to be outsiders. But there may be less interest at six years than Boras wants, and that could thrust Seattle into the mix.

Also, Zito, a Californian to his soul, isn't thought to be wild about living in the Dallas Metroplex, although sufficient money could change his mind.

He's always lived on the West Coast. For the moment, the team on the West Coast with the most interest seems to be Seattle.

He will command huge money, and, in the end, the Mariners may be priced out of the game. Or they may simply do what's been expected and sign Schmidt.

SEXSON AND MANNY (AND BELTRE): The rumor du jour concerning the Mariners had the Giants, Red Sox and Mariners working on a three-team deal.

The Mariners would wind up with Manny Ramirez to play left field, the Giants would get Richie Sexson to play first base and the Red Sox would get closer J.J. Putz and center field prospect Adam Jones, among others. Seattle would, under one scenario, also land starting pitcher Noah Lowry.

It's a tease, no doubt. However, it seems to have only the slimmest chance of happening. Giants general manager Brian Sabean and Mariners GM Bill Bavasi said the Red Sox are asking for so much in exchange for Ramirez that it was more than likely no deal would get done.

The rumor reinforced Bavasi's assertion that as contracts for players zoom higher, players under contract are looking better to teams.

That's why teams calling the Mariners almost always talk about first baseman Sexson (due to get $14 million in 2007) and third baseman Adrian Beltre (due to get $11.5 million).

"There's a lot of interest in Richie and Beltre," Bavasi said. "People look at the (salary) numbers and say, 'those aren't bad numbers.' We get a lot of hits on both guys.

"But we're trying to get better, not worse, and most of the hits would make us worse."

The Mariners talked with several clubs Monday, including Boston.

"We asked what they were trying to do (with Ramirez)," Bavasi said. "We participated. We'll talk again, but that might be the last time."

WOW...don't think it happens..but interesting.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6239412

Royals, Cardinals battle for Batista
Story Tools:        
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Ken Rosenthal / FOXSports.com
Posted: 4 minutes ago    

 The Royals have offered free-agent right-hander Miguel Batista a three-year, $24 million contract, but Batista also is receiving strong interest from the Cardinals, FOXSports.com has learned.

By signing Batista, the Cardinals would protect themselves against the possible loss of one of their two free-agent right-handers, Jeff Suppan and Jeff Weaver.
The Royals, who also are pursuing free-agent right-hander Gil Meche, are seeking a veteran stabilizer for their rotation. Meche is expected to land with the Cubs or Blue Jays.

Hey Adam, first of all before I get into this diary I will say your dedication to this blog and the Rangers is awesome and becuase of it I check this site daily for updates, info, and a chance to chat and see other comments.  Therefore, I only make this suggestion as a way to build even more interest and to make this site better.

As I am sure others here do I check on the other SB sites and one that I really enjoy is athleticsnations (the blog is great the team...yuk)...anyway, one feature they do is they have periodic chats with Billy Beane, GM...I think the blog admin (Blez) does this (not sure if in person or email or phone or what) but anyway have you thought of this and could it be done.  Just a thought, maybe after the offseason activity of during Spring Training.  Not even sure if JD or the Rangers would go for it..but you never know.

When I read your chat with Mrs. Lima this occurred to me.

Just a thought.  

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6226820

 The Aas biggest competition for free-agent catcher Mike Piazza might come from within their own division.

The Rangers have shown steady interest in Piazza, FOXSports.com has learned, envisioning him as lineup protection for Mark Teixeira.
The A's, meanwhile, are pursuing free-agent outfielder Cliff Floyd in addition to Piazza, and could end up signing both players.

Piazza would be the team's primary designated hitter, while Floyd could replace some of the at-bats the A's expect to lose with the likely departure of free-agent outfielder Jay Payton. Floyd also could be a part-time DH - or fill the role full-time if the A's fail to sign Piazza.

Both the A's and Rangers had pursued free-agent designated hitter Frank Thomas, who signed a two-year contract with the Blue Jays.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2663691

Continue reading this post »

has resigned as Hitting Coach in Detriot:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/NEWS99/61103020

Tigers hitting coach Don Slaught resigns; Van Slyke returns
ASSOCIATED PRESS

November 3, 2006

Detroit Tigers hitting coach Don Slaught has resigned for personal reasons, and Andy Van Slyke has agreed to a deal that will bring him back next season as the first base coach for the American League champions.

''The drain of being away from my family and other business interests proved to be too much,'' Slaught said in a statement Friday. ''I love coaching and I enjoyed my time with the players, a special group that got us all to the World Series.''

Slaught said he doesn't want to miss any more time with his wife and four children.

''I understand Don's situation because I was in a similar situation following the 1999 season when I left the Rockies to be with my family in Pittsburgh,'' Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ''Don did a good job for us and we will miss him and wish him all the best.''

Slaught spent 16 years as a catcher in the majors. His one-year stint as the Tigers hitting coach was his first coaching assignment.

Van Slyke was a three-time All-Star during his 13 seasons with St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Van Slyke and Slaught played for Leyland in Pittsburgh.

Apparently, ESPNEWS is reporting that T. Owens taken to hospital and doctors were trying to induce vomiting....don't have any more info...strange story.              

300 charaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaters                                                                                      

Per cnnsi...Truth and Rumors (which just gets its info from newspapers across the US):

The Boston Globe reported the Cubs, Baltimore, Texas and Detroit are interested in the services of free-agent-to-be Luis Gonzalez.
-- Daily Southtown

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/scorecard/09/25/truth.rumors.mlb/index.html

PLEASE NO!  I do not want Gonzo.  Did Gonzo play under buck?  Gosh I hope this does not come to pass.

You ask why, well he is a declining player and has lost his speed, so where does he play, the OF...No...our DH, please Botts is the answer everyday before Gonzo.

Another Win tonight.

So far with Milwaukee.

10.2 IP
1-0, 8 SAVES, 1 Hold
5 hits allowed
12 K's
8 BB

Team Record since trade 10-9.  Co-Co has essentially been involved in all their Wins since the Trade.

Good for him.                                        

Was there some memo sent out by MLB that sportswriters all over the country need to print articles having ballparks talk.  

Here is an article by Espn Page 2 author Jim Caple and his interview with Yankee Stadium....

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/offbase/060816&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4 pos1

Not even sure what to say other than it is better than the one that ran in the local papers on the talk with the "Bad Lending Company" Ballpark in Arlington

With the signing of the Devean George here is Mavs roster (with my minutes of time for each player for the upcoming season):

PG- Terry 20, Harris 26, Johnson 4
SG- Buckner 18, Stackhouse 20, Terry 10
SF- Howard 32, George 14
PF- Nowitzki 36, Croshere 12
C- Diop 24, Dampier 24

12th man Mbenga- No minutes unless foul trouble
13th and 14th- Ager and Pavel- in street clothes until injuries
15th - Pops Bensu - NBDL

Thoughts?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2006/07/stark_mets_rang.html
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