Centerfield

I thought the broadcasting from this weekend's national teams left a lot to be desired. A couple of examples.... Saturday: Joe and Tim were talking about salaries and why people always say the Yankees have "the best team money can buy" but not the Mets. Timmy Mac points out that the Mets have brought in some high profile free agents and traded for big contracts. Hey dumbfucks, the reason they say that about the Yankees and not the Mets is because the Yankees have roughly double the payroll. Idiots. McCarver regarding Enter Sandman: "How can he do that? Rivera had it first! That's a form of plagiarism!" No Timmy. It's not plagiarism. Any idiot knows that. And Billy had it first. Fact-checking guys. Come on. McCarver regarding Wagner: "He needs to throw it to Castro's body, not his glove." Um. Wtf are you talking about Tim? Sunday: Joe Morgan thought Reyes was out at second on Cano's tag. Then they showed the replay again, with Morgan still saying Reyes was out. And then they showed it from another angle, showing clearly that Reyes was safe as Cano missed the tag, leading Morgan to say something along the lines of "Well, it's hard to tell from the replay." And then, as if the cameraman was thinking to himself, "No you dumbshit, look at it again.", they kept showing the replay. Finally Miller came in with the "We're looking at it in slow-motion" disclaimer, but it did little to help the credibility of his partner. Joe Morgan talked about how Jeter was not fooled by Glavine's pitch despite grounding into a double play. As if to challenge the nitwit again, ESPN decides to do a pitch by pitch...the last of which shows Jeter, clearly out in front, lunging for the ball and grounding it weakly to shortstop for the 6-4-3. Morgan doesn't budge, still insisting that Jeter wasn't fooled and Glavine simply "made a good pitch". Jon Miller, on a number of occasions, nearly jumped out of his shoes on routine plays. I thought he was going to blow his top on a routine one-bouncer to Reyes. "LINED TO SHORT!!!! SNARED BY REYES ON A HOP!!!! TO FIRST....OUT!!!!! WOW WAS THERE SOME SPIN ON THAT BALL!!!!!" Meanwhile, they say almost nothing about Nady's decision to throw to third holding Damon at second. It was the type of play that can be a game-saver, but hardly anything was mentioned about it. Morgan also implied that if Matsui was a more experienced second-baseman, he could have turned the DP on Saturday to end the game. I've been over every play in that inning a million times, especially that one. There was nothing Reyes or Matsui could have done to get the out. There were no hesitations, double-clutches, nothing you can second-guess. I have no idea how Morgan can just throw that out there and not justify his position.

http://www.retrosheet.org/newslt18.htm#GetOn

I read this book last year at the urging of a few people who cite it as their favorite book of all time. Holy crap did it suck. Preachy, incredibly idealistic, wordy, LONG, boring...I don't see how anyone can like this book. I think I understood Rand's point...and what she was trying to say about sticking to your values in the face of societal pressures. But I feel like it was the type of point that could have been made in an essay. Maybe even a greeting card. It certainly isn't one that needed to be rehashed over and over throughout the course of an interminable full length novel. In fact, I feel like all she did by telling the story was demonstrate how simplistic it is to think in those terms, and how her ideas are practically useless in the real world. And supposedly Atlas Shrugged is even worse. I can't imagine how this is possible.

Momentum is the next day's starting pitcher.

I saw we start a movement to declare Kansas City a natural rival so we can play them 6 times a year.

May 22, 2006 Kansas City: Just when it looked like things were picking up for them, the Royals have now lost 9 in a row. 10-31 (.244). Yesterday Scott Elarton told the press that he thinks they're not very good. Florida: The Marlins have dropped 7 in a row, including getting shut out by Scott Kazmir on Sunday. They are still ahead of the pace at 11-31 (.262) but remain in striking distance. Pittsburgh: The Pirates have gone a blistering 4-6 in their last 10 raising their win percentage above .300. At 14-30, they are threatening to make this a two-horse race.

I don't see how Julio is "straightened out". On Saturday, he pitched two innings, and gave up two leadoff walks...one of them which came around to be the winning run. Am I the only one that still finds this unacceptable? Or has he set the bar so low that we are just content he's not giving up multiple runs per inning?

I wonder if it's one of those movies that was funny at the time, to a select group of people, but one that is neither universal nor timeless.

I have almost no memory of this movie other than the annoying boss, but I remember really liking it at the time.

I couldn't stop laughing throughout the first half. And I went in thinking I would hate it. When I saw the trailers, I thought it would be annoying and a waste of time. And it was kind of annoying, and certainly a waste of time, but still very funny.Love the "distress signal".

Despite being panned by critics everywhere (and soupcan), I thought this movie wasn't bad at all. In fact, after watching it, I can honestly say I enjoyed it. It is a bit predictable...a bit over the top...and at some points, the plot relies on sheer dumb luck to move it along (a point that is not even acknowledged), but if you're in the mood for a mindless, silly little thriller, you could do worse. Track 3.

I think it's a bad idea to bring up Pelfrey. From all reports that I've heard, including Peter Gammons' garbled one from last night, is that his fastball is good, but that he relies on it too much and needs to develop his breaking pitches. I'd like to see him do that in the minors than get lit up in the bigs.

Glavine 3 Delgado 3 Wagner 3 Wright 1

Did you guys catch Pedro making a "big ears" gesture at Posada in the 8th? Big game, tense situation, and Pedro making fun of the ears of the opposition. I love Pedro. (NTTAWWT)

Never a doubt. SC=100

Heilman 3 Wright 2 Beltran 1 Matsui 1 Nady 1 LoDuca 1 Wagner 1

Rico Brogna, Good Fit for SNY. Yallof: "Tell us Rico, from your experiences, how does winning a game like this feel." Rico: "Um, I played for the mid-90's Mets. We never won any games so I wouldn't know." I paraphrase.

Edgy DC wrote: "The Yankees have never beaten the Mets." --- Dickshot's kid. "Nope. Not in our lifetimes." --- Lundy's kids "Mine either." CF, Jr.

I wonder if cleon is a member of the HARDHATS.

My prediction: Scoreless through 5. In the top of the 6th, MFY's scratch out a run to take a 1-0 lead. Mets load the bases with no one out in the bottom of the sixth. Delgado hits a shot that appears to be headed out of the ballpark. At that instant, the Umpires stop the game, order the ball to stop mid-flight, and we have our first rain delay. Downpour ensues. After an hour, the game is called. MFY's win 1-0.

Do they get this one in?

I agree with Vic. And for me, it's probably even worse because I never rooted for him as a kid, and my greatest exposure to him was as a broadcaster. I hate to say it, but he reminds me of Clemens in a lot of ways.

Oh, I was still calling that the MOFO.

I was counting Overtime as one of the spinoffs, CPF being the other. Is there a third?

Sometimes I think back about all those forum arguments and have trouble believing they actually happened. It all seems so silly now. I mean, it seemed silly then too, but many years removed I can't even remember what the hot topics were. In any case, it seems to have all ended well as MOFO ended up generating two successful spinoffs. Now posters can choose a forum that best suits their tastes.