metirish

] ST. LOUIS -- Dominican veteran Julio Franco will be among the major leaguers traveling to Japan next week, but not as a player. "Julio is going to Japan as a consultant and ambassador and may cooperate as hitting coach but, technically, he will not be part of the coaching team," players union chief operating officer Gene Orza told ESPNdeportes.com on Thursday.

Good point FK, Omar said as much when he signed Julio that he wanted him as a coach when he finished playing,course franco says he wants to play past 50 so it might be a few years.

Portland apparently attracts a lot of young runaways and the like.

I think we can conclude that it's a major problem in this Country...

I'm sure Yancy is out back working on it Val...

quote] Pelfrey has own October Met rookie rises in Fall League BY ADAM RUBIN DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER MESA, Ariz. - The night of Steve Trachsel's short-lived outing in St. Louis during Game 3 of the NLCS, Mike Pelfrey also took the mound. The 2005 first-round pick, who once figured to be a contributor to the Mets' postseason, instead was tossing a scoreless inning against the Peoria Saguaros at Hohokam Park in his Arizona Fall League debut. Of course, he still had one eye on the television throughout the Mets' playoff run. "When we didn't have a game, when we weren't playing, then we were watching on TV at home," said Pelfrey, who is living with Mets farmhands and Mesa Solar Sox teammates Bobby Malek and Blake McGinley during the AFL season. Pelfrey took extra pleasure from Oliver Perez's and John Maine's postseason performances - particularly Maine's, as a fellow rookie. He called Maine after the Mets' elimination to offer congratulations on his showing. Maine, a teammate of Pelfrey's at Triple-A Norfolk and with the Mets during in '06, went 1-0 with a 2.63 ERA in three October starts, including a huge Game6 win in the NLCS, when he tossed 5-1/3 scoreless innings against eventual-champion St. Louis with the Mets facing elimination. "The main thing is they went out and they put the team in position to win," Pelfrey said. "Especially when it's a younger guy, and he's contributing, you feel awesome." As he watched, Pelfrey couldn't help but feel that maybe he could have been part of the Mets' first postseason in six years. He went 2-1 with a 5.48 ERA in four major-league starts. But he suffered a lat muscle strain late in the season with Triple-A Norfolk and made only one appearance with the Tides after Aug. 6. His back was still sore when he returned to the Mets on Sept. 13, and Pelfrey never made any appearances the rest of the season. He still labels the injury 90%. "If I didn't get hurt I thought there was a possibility I could have been there throwing," Pelfrey said. "Everything happens for a reason. Now I'm working on things and trying to get better so the next time they're in the postseason I'm there." In September, Pelfrey worked with Rick Peterson on a slider. The pitching coach instructed him to stop throwing the curveball he brought from Wichita State, which actually resembled a slurve. The curveball ranged from 78-82 mph, while the slider is thrown harder. "It looks like a fastball and then has late movement," Pelfrey said. "I'm throwing it more and more, and I think it's going to be a better pitch for me in the long run. So far I've been throwing it in the game a lot and I'm getting more consistent with it. I think it will be there for that extra pitch. Peterson said for my game - my fastball and my changeup - I needed something that looks kind of the same that goes the opposite direction (away from righties)." Pelfrey remains a work in progress, though he can foresee a scenario in which he joins Maine and Perez in the '07 rotation out of spring training, while Pedro Martinez recovers from rotator-cuff surgery. He walked 12 in 21-1/3 innings with the Mets. On Friday, in an AFL all-star game, he loaded the bases in the first inning with none out. Then he struck out three straight prospects swinging - Cleveland's Kevin Kouzmanoff, Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury and St. Louis' Amaury Marti - while relying on his fastball. "I'm just really trying to go out here and get better so in spring training I put them in a tough spot where they say, 'Hey, we don't want to send you to Triple-A' - or wherever they're going to send me," Pelfrey said. "I just want to go out there and prove that I belong, that I can pitch at that level, and get the opportunity." FREE: Jose Valentin and Michael Tucker filed for free agency yesterday, joining Cliff Floyd, Orlando Hernandez, Ricky Ledee, Steve Trachsel and Chris Woodward on the list of Mets who have submitted their paperwork. Originally published on October 30, 2006

Ok just for the heck of it..here is my projected starting rotation for next season. 1-Glavine 2 - Matsuzaka 3 - O Hernandez 4 - Maine 5 - Perez/Bannister # 5 will be decided during spring training.

Having Perez and Maine as our projected 4 and 5 guys next season is just fine by me...who's number 1 and 2...I'm sure Omar will figure that out...

It's official,this WS had the worst TV ratings ever...seems to me that every year is the worst ever...

The more I read about Pujols the more I dislike the guy...

Matsui claims "it's a good slider"...

Yeah the defence is atrocious...there is some who think that there is no such thing as a gyro pitch....including H Matsui. ] Matsuzaka: Man with a mystery pitch By PETER ABRAHAM THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: October 29, 2006) t sounds like the plot of a comic book. A Japanese scientist, working in secret, uses a supercomputer to develop a new pitch that is virtually unhittable. One player masters it and becomes so dominant that the Yankees pay nearly $100 million to bring him to America. Only this urban legend just might be true. The scientist is named Ryutaro Himeno, the pitch is called the gyroball, and by the end of next month, Daisuke Matsuzaka could well be in pinstripes. Don't believe it? Go to YouTube.com and see for yourself. At last count, there were five videos on the popular Internet site purporting to show the gyroball. In each grainy clip, Matsuzaka unleashes a pitch that starts high in the strike zone, then dives for the inside corner. The ball seems to spiral like a football, yet doesn't have the familiar loop of a curveball. It instead takes a left turn as it reaches the plate. The hapless batter either looks at the pitch in disbelief, bat left on his shoulder, or swings and misses by 2 feet. Himeno consulted with a former player, Kaz Tezuka, to develop the gyroball four years ago. They wrote a book that described how a pitcher, using precise motions with his hips and shoulders, could throw the miracle pitch. Double-spin mechanics is the rough translation of their theory. There are dissenters, and they have impeccable credentials. Yale professor emeritus Robert Adair, author of "The Physics of Baseball,'' has studied the gyroball and determined that throwing a baseball in a spiral would have no bearing on its trajectory. "The pitch would seem to be useless in baseball,'' Adair said. "It might be useful as a changeup, but I rather doubt it.'' Adair also did not believe the pitch was new, comparing it to a "googly'' in cricket. Hideki Matsui, the Yankees' outfielder and a former star in Japan, has heard reports of the gyroball but doesn't believe it exists. "No, no, just a story,'' he said. "It's a good slider.'' Japanese pitchers, Matsui explained, throw a variety of breaking pitches. The gyroball is merely a variation. Matsuzaka himself claims not to throw a gyroball, but always with a smile as though he is in on the joke. When he pitched for Japan in the World Baseball Classic last March, Matsuzaka said he was working on the pitch. Whatever he is throwing, Matsuzaka is clearly onto something. A 26-year-old right-hander, Matsuzaka was 17-5 with a 2.13 ERA for the Seibu Lions this season. In 186 1/3 innings, he allowed only 138 hits and struck out 200. Matsuzaka was 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in the WBC and was named MVP after allowing one run in four innings against Cuba in the championship game. Trey Hillman, manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters, believes Matsuzaka could be a No. 1 starter. "He has a 95-mph fastball and he gets tough with men on base,'' Hillman said. "He won't back down and he has a lot of discipline. You wouldn't be taking a big chance if you signed him.'' Seibu has "posted'' Matsuzaka, meaning that any team in the Major Leagues can submit a sealed bid to obtain his rights for 30 days. That process could start tomorrow now that the Japan Series is over. The winning bid for Matsuzaka will likely be in excess of $20 million. The Yankees, Mets, Mariners, Red Sox, Dodgers and Tigers are expected to be among the bidders. Matsuzaka is said to favor the Mariners, but the Yankees have tried to negate that by hiring one of his friends, former Seibu teammate Shoichi Kida, as a scout. Assistant general manager Jean Afterman has been to Japan several times in recent months to gather information on Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka has retained Scott Boras as his agent. Given his history with pitchers, Boras will seek a four-year contract worth at least $55 million. All told, it could take $80 million to bring Matsuzaka to America � more than the entire payroll of 15 teams last season. It's a lot. But it would bring an ace in return and perhaps a pitch you have to see to believe. For a YouTube.com link of a video showing Matsuzaka pitching, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sboi0EWp8ao

I think we are stuck with the way things are...owners would never agree to 154 game sked,I remember the extra WC thing getting some pub a few years ago but not recently..

] Add a 2nd Wild Card team, make the 2 Wild Card winners face off in a loser-goes-home 1-game playoff, then start the DS. This puts a premium on winning the division and challenges the WC winner by making them burn an xtra starter before facing the top finisher. If they win in that arrangement they've earned it. IIRC Al Leiter was an adovate for that....

Lads this fella has some nasty stuff this one claims to show his gyro ball

] Monday Night Football, I had to sit through interviews with Hank Williams Jr. and Emmitt Smith (who talked about DANCING WITH THE FUCKIN' STARS). Yes and we missed a few plays on the field because of it...but did they ever claim that Brad Garrett is a comiic great?

I wish FOX would stop bombarding the viewer with promo after promo for it's shows,but with the kind of money they pay for baseball I suppose they see sports events as the perfect come on,today while watching the Giants game I was told that comic GREAT Brad Garrett has a new show on FOX.....

Anderson looks about 15 in that pic,Mann looks like Miquel Cairo.

Cool that you are thinking about kids out here,not that baseball gives a fillders fuck about them,

Seo, with you living in Long Beach aren't the start times fine with you...5:19 kick off in Cali,the ALL-Star game should never decide who has home field advantage...but Selig loves it so i don't see that changing....I'm surprised the Union didn't try to get that changed.

I think turning back the clock has him all discombobulated.

] Nice to know I wasted my fucking morning hours on shit that no one fucking appreciates. This is hilarious stuff.

I have great faith in Peterson..i think he can turn Wood into what he should be..a 20 game winner...

I really could not care if none came back...I like Cliff but he seems finished,El Duque might be worth another look....

No one puts Cooby in a corner....