A Boy Named Seo

I couple of Mike Cameron tidbits... Last night in San Diego he was calling off Brian Giles who either didn't hear him or was himself trying to call Cameron off. They both continued charging towards the ball and it looked dicey again for a minute before Giles finally pulled off, falling backwards and Cameron peeled towards the outfield wall, avoiding contact and still making the basket catch. 1) Glad no one was hurt and 2) he's still sweet to watch. The other thing was he hit the crap out of the ball and missed the cycle by just the single. Here was a thing I read on Yahoo! today: ]"Jun 14 The Associated Press' Bernie Wilson reports San Diego Padres OF Mike Cameron needed just a single to complete the cycle Tuesday, June 13, and saw a 3-0 pitch that looked good, but he opted to respect the game. "You can't swing 3-0 when you're up by eight runs or whatever. It's a good way to get yourself hurt the next day," Cameron said."

What up with Abreu? He seems to freak out when he gets close to the wall. Moreso than most other guys. Anyone recall if he smacked into one sometime?

Cue circus music...

Ryan Howard is not the best, young baserunner in baseball.

Matt Kemp with 2 more homers for the Dodgers. That's 6 in 41 AB's.

Julia stylin' in blue cap as she throws out the first pitch May 29th:Looks like a circle-change grip...But she lets fly a two-seamer...

Got this one at the library after getting Willets' thumbs up. I'm only a quarter of the way through or so, but already very interesting, shocking, and sometimes sad. The author acknowledges when the truth doesn't seem attainable when it comes to certain events pertaining to Lincoln's mental health, possible causes for his depression, and even speculation about his sexuality. Instead of attempting to make up a truth based on facts or events that paint a partial picture, he does a good job of presenting all of the information and putting forth a few theories that may explain things that happened. In other words, he doesn't try to re-write history, just give us all the information he has.He uses accounts from Lincoln himself in letters to friends and co-workers, Lincoln's personal writings, and accounts from people who knew him well. He cross-references these accounts with medical information, both from Lincoln's time as well as now, to try to depict what Lincoln might have been going through and how he might have been (mis) diagnosed or (mis) treated.So far seems like an important look at a side of this President that most people don't know about, and an enlightening look at depression, which I think a lot of people deal with directly or indirectly all the time, but may not know much about.ABNS sez thumbs up.

Eli Marrerro would be the third Cuban-born Met on the 25. Will he stick or head to Norfolk? Will Milledge be around a while?

17 going on 70 maybe.

Agreed on the hobbies. Power-walking and line dancing? How old is he? 70?

Some more info on sidewinding "Bazooka" Joe Smith out of Wright St.: 2005: Tied for 49th in the national rankings in saves with eighth�tied for the Horizon League lead with eight saves�led the team in appearances (29), saves (8) and ERA (1.10)�made 29 appearances out of the bull-pen�stuck out three in a scoreless inning of work against Evansville in the Ace�s Diamond Classic�picked up two saves at Duke, striking out three batters in 2.1 innings�struck out two batters in two innings of work in the second game of a double-header against Akron� struck out three batters in an inning of work at Arizona State�struck out five batters in two appearances against UW-Milwaukee� threw a season high three innings against Cleveland State in the Horizon League Tournament, striking out three and allowing no runs, picking up his only win of the season� recorded at least one strikeout in 26 of 29 outings�allowed 18 hits in 32.2 innings of work�also had saves against UIC, Cleveland State, picked up two saves in series with Akron and Ball State. 2004: Made 20 appearances out of the bullpen�tied for seventh in the conference with 20 appearances�led the team with a 2.75 ERA�recorded first career save against Cleveland State, pitching one with one strikeout�threw four shut-out innings against Miami, fanning four...collected his first collegian win at Toledo striking out one in two innings of work�threw three scoreless innings and struck out six in collected his second win of the season�threw scoreless innings against Oakland, Cleveland State, Ohio State, Dayton, and Butler�fanned five in four innings of work against UW-Milwaukee�was a late season addition to the North Adams Steeplecats of the New England College Baseball League�made three appearances, pitching 6.1 innings striking out three batters. High School: Lettered three years for the Barons�sat out senior season due to arm surgery�All-Fort Ancient Valley Conference honoree as a junior as well as all-city and all-district�also lettered three years in basketball, where he averaged 20.3 points and 6.7 rebounds. Personal: Born Joseph Michael Smith on March 22, 1984�son of Mike and Lee Smith.

Third pick o' the day (#124 overall) is 6' 8", 230 lb. righty John Holdzkom out of Salt Lake CC. Big freaking kid. Edit: Big John's SLCC profile: John comes to Salt Lake from Rancho Cucamonga High School with an impressive resume being drafted in the 15th round to the Mariners. He is listing as one of the Nations�s best pitching prospects; possessing a fast ball upwards of 96 mph. John is looking forward to being a part of the successful program at SLCC. Most influential person: Brian Dilley; he�s a great guy Hobbies: power-walking, line-dancing, making the world a better place

The Mets second pick (#94 overall) is Joe Smith, RHP, Wright St. Smith is 6' 2", 205 and the MLB.com comments are as follows: A sidearming reliever, he actually increased his velocity when he began dropping down. He now can throw in the low 90's with a good slider and change.

Dodgers select SS Preston Mattingly from Evansville, IN. Wonder if he's got "the mustache" too?

1st round done and no Pedro Beato yet, despite claims that he should be a mid-to-late first rounder. Remember this #1 overall from a couple years ago? We took Humber with the third pick, and Jared Weaver went 12th. He's already getting guys out on the MLB level for the Angels.

Ghost from draft day past... MLB "only" has a recommended bonus structure now. Back then they'd send a henchman to your home and tell you to sign. I like the way this article was written. Kinda folksy.

]I thought Nomar had been pencilled in at first all along since Opening Day? He was. He just started the season on the DL with a strained ribcage muscle or something.

Muniz was just named to the FSL All-Star Team. His numbers don't exactly scream All-Star, so I'm suspecting his 11 saves has a lot to do with it. He's 2-2 with a 4.05 ERA (1.65 WHIP). He's given up 20 hits in 20 innings, striking out 17 and walking 13. I did a Google search for "Carlos Muniz" images and came up with some hits and some misses. Not my Carlos Muniz: My Carlos Muniz:

Followed the UMD link to find out a little more about this 2-time Met, and started Googling to see if I could find a picture of him when I stumbled across this article from SportsPool.com that states he was born James Charles and later changed his name to Gosger. UMD and BBR show his given name as James Charles Gosger, which makes me think the SportsPool is wrong on the name change thing. I searched around and couldn't find anything else on it. FWIW, the SportsPool website kind of reads like it was written by Horace P. Osterdonk (no offense, Horace). Jim got a cup of coffee in '69 and was traded in the offseason, but was reacquired in '73. If that ain't nice, then I don't know what is. James Charles Gosger as a Pilot:

]I was surprised and a bit disturbed by the display. I was surprised, too, but in a good way. Why were you disturbed? If the guns in the picture above were pointed at the Giants dugout or the pitcher or something, I could understand peeps feathers getting ruffled. But a player exchaning fives with the fans between innings after a huge play, I think is rare and exciting and makes for a fun time at the park for the crowd. It's geniune fan interaction and I think it breaks down the somewhat impersonal barrier you see between fan and player nowadays. I don't remember seeing a player do that before, but it feels kinda old school like the high socks.

I thought his enthusiasm was fun and funny, but don't know why anyone would get upset by it. Why is slappin' fives with the fans in right any more offensive to the other team than if he would have taken a curtain call?

KTE - Los Angeles Dodgers Though much has been made of the Dodgers recent Red Soxinization at the hands of owner and Bostonian Frank McCourt (the rumor DodgerBlues.com uncovered about the creation of the Blue Monster in LA has thus far been unfounded), the surging Dodgers of the last few weeks have been riding the backs of as many former Las Vegas 51�s and reclamation projects off the free agent scrap heap as they have former Boston Red Sox. The Blue Monster Let�s first take a look at a snapshot of the Dodger offense on Opening Day versus the club today, two and a half months later (this thing�s already changed like 8 times since I started it). OPENING DAYTODAY1B Olmedo Saenz1B Nomar Garciaparra2B Jeff Kent2B Willy Aybar / Ramon Martinez3B Bill Mueller3B Saenz / Joel GuzmanSS Rafael FurcalSS Rafael FurcalC Dioner NavarroC Russell MartinLF Jose Cruz, Jr.LF Cruz, Jr. / Andre EthierCF Jason RepkoCF Kenny Lofton / Matt KempRF JD DrewRF JD Drew That�s a lot of damn new people. Dodge that trolley! Okay, it doesn�t take a rocket surgeon to know that injuries can hurt a ballclub. But for the Dodgers, they�ve had a slew of them and have so far mastered the injury merry-go-round, getting guys healthy who have catapulted them (Nomar, Furcal), avoiding injuries to key guys who are injury-prone (Drew, Brad Penny), and sustaining or even improving at positions where injuries have hit (Martin, Aaron Sele, and the kids in the outfield). From Opening Day to now, the Dodgers have had trips to the DL for Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Kenny Lofton, Jeff Kent, Bill Mueller, Dioner Navarro, Yhency Brazoban, and more, devastating for most teams, and yet here in early June, they miraculously find themselves just 1.5 games out of first, and on pace for over 90 wins, and somehow leading the NL in hits, runs, RBI, BA, and OBP. The pitching has been almost as good, as they�re so far third-best in ERA and OPS allowed, and fourth-best in WHIP. So who the hell are all these people kicking ass for the Dodgers then? Good question. Despite pleas from the fans (and even Vin Scully!) to Frank McCourt to put names back on the uniforms, the Dodgers have resisted, and with all the personnel movement this year, some names on the back of the uni�s would be pretty helpful. With this in mind, I�ll give you a run-down of the new-look Dodgers with an MBTN-inspired uniform number trailing each name. The bottom of the rotation has changed a few times, with Seo (#26) and the Benson Bunch�s own Odalis Perez (#45) taking turns being ineffective and getting demoted to the pen. The Dodgers have also plugged in vet Aaron Sele (# 41), with surprisingly positive results so far (3-0, 2.20 ERA). The offense and the bully have seen the most new faces, with the offense being invaded and energized by some of the best prospects in the Dodger organization. Leading the way is their most recent call-up, outfielder Matt Kemp (#27). Kemp is a freakish 22-year old, 6�4�, 230-pound, right-hand hitting monster, who hit 18 combined homers two years ago at different A-ball levels, hit .306/.349/.569 with 27 homers last year at high-A Vero Beach, and was hitting .327 with 7 homers, 34 RBI, and 11 steals at AA Jacksonville before the Dodgers called him up last week. He�s homered 3 times so far in 20 AB�s, and is currently sitting pretty with a 1.191 OPS. Look out for this kid. Another young outfielder the Dodgers feature is Andre Ethier (#15), formerly one of Oakland�s top prospects. He was acquired in the offseason for Mad Milt Bradley. Ethier, a sweet-swinging lefty, already has 7 multi-hit games (including a 5-hit performance against Anaheim on May 19), and is currently hitting .300/.367/.525. At one point Dioner Navarro (#30) was regarded as one of the top catching prospects in baseball (maybe partly because he was Yankee property), but the Dodgers always held converted third baseman Russell Martin (# 55) in just as high a regard. Navarro underwhelmed the Dodgers with his defense and finally hit the DL with a wrist injury, and LA inserted the 23-year old Martin in behind the dish. The pitchers (and Grady Little) love his defensive ability and game-calling, and he�s flourished offensively, hitting .268/.358/.427. Dioner may be looking at AAA Vegas, baby, when he gets healthy. Shifting from third to second for the injured and mustachioed Jeff Kent (# 12), is switch-hitting, 23-year old Dominican Willy Aybar (# 49). Not unlike Edgy's 11-year old boy-wonder Edgar Alfonzo, prospect website The Baseball Cube reports that Aybar stole 32 bases as a 13-year old 10 long years ago for the Tigers in the Gulf Coast League! Now as a grizzled veteran in his early 20�s, Aybar�s filled in admirably (.318/.430/.470) for the injured Bill Mueller (# 14) at third. Willy�s the brother of the Angels Erick Aybar, and may or may not be related to former Met and fellow Dominican Manny Aybar. Maybe the most heralded of the bunch is 21-year old Joel Guzman (# 64). Baseball Cube lists him at 6�4�, 190-lbs and Dodgers.com lists him as 6�6�, 250-lbs! BA ranked him as the Dodgers #1 prospect in 2005 as a shortstop, but with Rafael Furcal (# 15) signed long-term, the Dodgers have moved him to the outfield, though against the Mets, he should see time at third base. Two years ago he hit a total of 23 homers splitting time at A and AA ball, and hit .287/.351/.475 with 16 homers, 75 RBI, and 31 doubles in 442 AB�s at AA Jacksonville last season. This year for the AAA 51�s, he was hitting .291 with 6 homers. I�ve babbled enough about the �O�, so you get just a quick overview of the remade bullpen. Eric Gagne (# 38) � Just back off the DL. Reassumes his closer position. Danys Baez (#10) � Was inconsistent as interim closer when Gagne was hurt. Returns to the set-up guy role. Takashi Saito (# 44) � 36-year old Japanese righty (in the Iriki mold minus the steroids), has been fantastic for LA, going 3-2, 3 saves, 2.33 ERA, pitching 27 IP, giving up only 18 hits, and putting up an impressive 33/7 K/BB ratio. The bully is rounded out by the hard-throwing, aristocratically named Jonathan Broxton (# 51) (0.93 ERA, 26 K, 9 BB in 19.1 IP), the left-handed and ridiculously numbered Joe Beimel (# 97) (2-0, 1.89 ERA), and Korean lefty Hong-Chih Kuo (#56) was just called up replacing former Met Tim Hamulack (# 47). The Pitching Matchups Monday, June 5, 10:10 ET Alay Soler vs. Brett Tomko (# 35, 5-3, 4.38 ERA) Tomko�s the 33-year old ex- Red, Giant, Padre, and some other teams, too, I�m sure. He�s been rocked his last 3 starts, so hopefully we can pile on. ... Tuesday, June 6, 10:10 ET Pedro Martinez vs. Derek Lowe (#23, 4-3, 2.68 ERA) A couple of 2004 World Champion Red Sox going against one another. Lowe�s having a great year so far and has allowed just one earned run in his last 20 IP. ... Wednesday, June 7, 10:10 ET Tom Glavine vs. Odalis Perez (# 45, 4-1, 6.05 ERA) Seo�s sucking has allowed Odalis to escape from his banished bullpen role and get back into the rotation. His ERA was over 3 runs lower in the pen (6.90 versus 3.12), but he was still hit hard giving up 13 hits in just 8.2 IP. We need to pound his rotund ass Wednesday night. (If anyone knows how to find current Met numbers against these guys, I�d like to see them). The Ex-Men Ex-Mets: Just Jae. Ex-Dodgers: Pedro (for Delino DeShields, ouch!), Duaner, Lo Duca, and Valentin. Ex-Sox: Bradford, Pedro, Darren Oliver, Cliff Floyd, Derek Lowe, Aaron Sele, and of course, Nomar. That�s a wicked lot of ex-Sox! Who�s Hot Nomar Effing Garciaparra. .369/.428/.624. 6 homers, 18 doubles, 38 RBI. Nomar�s back and has been a steal at $6 mils this year. Penny�s been dominant, but we�ll fortunately miss him. Matt Kemp�s homered in 3 straight games, and Rafael Furcal hit .311 with 14 RBI in May to bring his BA up to .260. Who�s Not Seo�s had his ass handed to him his last 3 outings and JD Drew went from .306/.404/.506 in April to .256/.356/.478 in May. The �Everybody Hurts� Injury Report Jeff Kent, 15-day DL (wrist) Bill Mueller, 15-day DL (knee) Jason Repko, 15-day DL (ankle) Dioner Navarro, 15-day DL (wrist) Ricky Ledee, 15-day DL (groin) Cesar Izturis, 60-day DL (elbow) Yhency Brazoban, 60-day DL (elbow) Required Reading to KTE courtesy of people who really KTE Dodger Thoughts � Informative and insightful. Dodger Blues � One of my favorite baseball sites on the net. apmorris will be representing the CPF on Tuesday and Wednesday, ambler will probably be out there, too, if he�s still a CA guy, and I�m going to try to sneak my 4-year old Godson away from his Angel-loving family to show him some National League ball. LGM! Edit: Missed a couple of guys in my table, fixed some links, etc.

Good topic! 1) The best hitting pitcher. Gooden 2) The best hitting pitcher who nonetheless didn't look good up there. Sid Fernandez (my memory tells me he could hit a little, but my memory is often crappy) 3) The worst hitting pitcher. Leiter (my memory knows he couldn't hit at all) 4) The worst hitting pitcher who nonetheless looked like he should be able to handle himself up there. Jeff D'Amico (looked intimidating on the mound and at the dish, but wasn't as scary once he started actually playing) 5) The best bunting pitcher. Glavine 6) The worst bunting pitcher. Frank Viola? 7) The best hitting relief pitcher. Darren Oliver 8) The slugging guy who didn't hit much but was a threat to connect for a homer. Mike Hampton 9) The best baserunning pitcher. Gooden 10) The pitcher who you thoughtwas a better hitter than a pitcher. Mr. Koo

It looks like Koosman only got 4 votes (0.90%) in 1991 and was dropped form the ballot. Sutton started out with 259 votes in his first eligible year, and got in with 386 votes (81.61%) in his fifth year.

Drake has to be the cool, designer shirt-wearing, Fender Stratocaster-wielding, smirk that makes the 14-year old girls swoon, young Jason Bateman look-alike, no? Not the poor, chubby, bowl-haircutted, disheveled flannel-wearing, no-more-than-friends-to-the-girls, goofy, sidekick Josh, right?