A Boy Named Seo

Had fun in the league this year, but a few things I didn't get. One, why so many active offensive dudes? Looks like the idea was going for a realistic 25-man roster, but 4 outfielders and 2 utility is pretty softball-ish. I don't know if that's the default way fantasy baseball is done, but 4 infielders, (edit here), 1 catcher, 3 outfielders, and one Util (DH) would seem more realistic to me, be more restrictive, and would present tougher choices requiring more brain power from all of us. Pitching's a little tougher, but I think the setup now is pretty good. The IP cap makes you really figure out what stats you want to go after. Second, why the long period for waiver transactions to be finalized? Wouldn't 24 or even 48 hours be more than sufficient? Same with the trade veto thing. Is it even needed? And if so, why 3 days? Regardless, it was cool playing and I wish my all-NL team would've come through for me. Bah. Signed, Curmudgeonly in California.

OlerudOwned wrote: Keith Hernandez and Kurt Vonnegut being neighbors. Wow. How'd that come up?

I'm just joshin', man. It's me who needs to get laid.

Radio dudes said that was a mammoth home run by Pee-Hands.

Steve, we need to get you laid.

I missed all that. Pujols is a grade-A cock.

I know the Mets don't go crazy with the September call-ups, but I wouldn't mind seeing Muniz's stay in N.O. be just a layover on the way to NY. I think they could really use him. Either way, this is the highest spot on the organization ladder he's been to, so I'm happy for him.

I'll give Sandy Jr. a shot.

Edgy DC wrote: Yeah. Hanging in a New York hotel beating the wet frigid weather with some girl. That must've sucked. I think I made that sound better than it was. There was a hotel and a girl, but the two never met. A nice night, but the outcome of the game made it sting a little that I skipped it.

Gwreck wrote: Suck It, Hoffman. Disagreed with Randolph's strategy in the 9th but it sure worked out ok. I would hit for DiFelice. Wouldn't have bunted. Would've had Anderson hit away there. Then would've used Green to hit in the pitcher's spot. ]I wonder if JD is starting to warm to Castillo. We talked about it a little in the middle innings. He's really come up big in several spots now. I really like the effort I see from him; how much fun he has; that he and Reyes have taken a shine to each other; etc. (A Boy Named Seo was a no-show. Hope the weather didn't keep him away). Fun game, but I still worry about our 'pen. Pedro, come back soon! Sorry I missed you guys. I was in NJ with a few friends and the weather made the other 3 I was supposed to go with change plans. I went to the city and got a hotel and hung out with a girl instead and got text messages all night about the wonderful game I was missing. Serves me right.

I'll be there Tuesday for the Pads if anyone's in the house and wants to meet for a frosty beverage of some type. I'll try and peek back here tomorrow in the day sometime, but I've had no interwebs most of my trip. Peace out.

Wow. I need on the blood pressure meds.

Thanks, G.

Edgy, I know you've put this out before, but what do the blue and orange frames mean? Is it something we could leave as a key on the bottom of the table? This team looks a lot different than it did on page 1.

Totally catch phrases. Maybe they're not unique baseball phrases, but each has his own signature way of delivering them.

Even with that debacle, his peripherals are pretty good (34 hits in 34.1 IP, 28 K, 8 BB). My gripe with Schoeneweis was that Willie kept running him out to get battered by righties when historically he's not been that good at getting them out. His splits this year against lefties were awesome and still are (12 hits in 17.2, .194 BAA). Righties kill him, though. It seems Willie wanted him to be more than a LOOGY but maybe that's all he is.

Very cool story. That book's been in my on-deck pile for over a year, but it's off the shelf next.

Sosa's living dangerously.

Nice. McCarver gives an almost apologetic disclaimer before he recites statistics illustrating that lead-off walks are bad.

Jose Reyes passed himself, huh. That almost made her crappy joke funny, pun intended.

It's just been a month since we got our asses kicked in LA, so this will be pretty brief. The Dodgers are a hot team, winning 5 of 6 out of the break, and they come in at 54-41, a one game lead over the Padres in the West. 1B James Loney was called up right before we played them last month. He's asserted himself at first hitting .367/.427/.561, pushing Nomar over to third. He's 14-28 against lefties, so I don't foresee any sharing of duties with Nomar this weekend. Andre Ethier's been playing great in right, but his platoon partner Matt Kemp is playing even better. With Glavine and Ollie going, we'll probably see Kemp start twice. All-Star Russell Martin is still kicking ass and just tied the club record for stolen bases by a catcher with his 17th. The Dodgers pitching staff has hit more injuries and they've adjusted by moving Chad Billingsley to the rotation and giving the crappy Brett Tomko another go. We'll miss Billingsley (who's in for Randy Wolf), but we'll see Tomko on Friday. Matchups (note the late Friday night start time): Thursday 7:10PT, Glavine vs. Derek Lowe (8-8, 3.05 ERA) Friday 7:40PT, Ollie vs. Brett Tomko (2-7, 5.88 ERA) Saturday 12:55PT, Sosa vs. Brad Penny (11-1, 2.33 ERA) Sunday 1:10PT, El Duque vs. Mark Hendrickson (4-5, 4.54 ERA) Lowe's been great this year and we saw how good Penny was last month. I think that Brad Penny for Paul Lo Duca trade is working out pretty well for LA. Hendrickson's the tall former basketballer who came over from Tampa Bay last year. He was great both in the rotation and pen this year, posting career best K numbers, but he's coming back down to earth recently. Um, go for the split? Play ball.

An average BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) is around .290, so these guys have been really pretty awesome or really pretty lucky. If lucky, these dudes are going to seem a lot more hittable as those numbers revert some. Top 10 NL Pitchers in Batting Average on Balls in Play, minimum 60 innings (per ESPN), littered with your New York Mets: RankPlayerBABIP1Orlando Hernandez - NYM.2162Jason Bergmann - WASH.2323Oliver Perez - NYM.2354Jorge Sosa -NYM.2405Rich Hill - CHI.2426Jason Marquis - CHI.2437John Maine - NYM.2458Chris Young - SD.2459Carlos Villanueva - MIL.24610Jason Hirsh - COL.248

Career high 11 K's in 8 shutout innings last night, his 1-0 gem saved by Carlos Muniz. Kevin Mulvey and his cartoon superhero chin:

Maybe the best quote off all-time. Shawn Green on getting a new hitting coach (NYTimes 7/15/07): ]�A lot of the job is being a rah-rah guy. We all know how to hit or else we wouldn�t be here. Sometimes all we want is to be held and told that everything�s going to be all right.�

Gary Sheffield: Expert on things you stick in your butt.