Frayed Knot

I was in and out of this game so can't comment on all the goings-on, but I didn't have a problem with Girardi's machinations in the 9th. Once you start the inning by giving up single + triple there's only so much you can do. Walking Longoria was a no-brainer and seeing as how Mariano isn't prone to walks walking the 2nd guy is OK too. Then given how many squibbers he gives up you can certainly make an argument for the 5th infielder. The Madden deal with the bunt is a whole different deal. That he did it with two strikes was even more off the wall. The best part was Zobrist's triple. That's the kind of pitch that, in MR's prime, would have moved just a couple more inches inside and blowed-up the bat of a left-hander into many pieces. But pitches don't tend to move as much when you're 41 y/o and that, as much as a few lost mph, is the difference between great and ordinary.

Shields now trying to give it all back: Walks, WPs, two runs in and bases loaded ... but Granderson Ks 4-2 middle of the 2nd

Ceetar wrote: I don't like how Jeff arranged those clouds out there. Looks too cluttered.

Source: Beam Him Up To The Bigs. So how long do you think it's gonna take for the James T. Kirk puns to die.....cos I;m not sure I can live in a world where I'm exposed to them on a daily basis. That's why I refer to him as the "Dutch Treat" , because he makes opponents pay. I like that one.

It's NEW-en-hice That Nieu beginning is classic Dutch spelling, after that it isn't too hard and I believe the whole thing roughly translates to Newhouse Maybe he'll look for a place in Haarlem

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DATETEAMSTARTERvsTEAMSTARTER3/28MARINERSFelix HernandezA�sBrandon McCarthy4/4CARDINALSKyle LohseMARLINSJosh Johnson4/5RED SOXJon LesterTIGERSJustin Verlander4/5BRAVESTommy HansonMETSJohan Santana4/5PHILLIESRoy HalladayPIRATESErik Bedard4/5MARLINS2nd GameREDSJohnny Cueto4/5NATIONALSSteven StrasburgCUBSRyan Dempster4/5BLUE JAYS=#0000FF]Ricky RomeroINDIANSJustin Masterson4/5DODGERSClayton KershawPADRESEdison Volquez4/6CARDINALS2nd GameBREWERSYovani Gallardo4/6WHITE SOXJohn DanksRANGERSColby Lewis4/6TWINSCarl PavanoORIOLES=#0000FF]Jake Arrieta 4/6YANKEESCC SabathiaRAYSJames Sheilds4/6ROCKIESJeremy GuthrieASTROSWandy Rodriguez4/6GIANTSTim LincecumD�BACKSIan Kennedy4/6ROYALSBruce ChenAngelsJered Weaver

Santana - 2.8 Ramirez - 0.4 Rauch - 0.6 Byrdak - 0.7 Francisco - 0.7 Wright - 2.0 Murphy - 1.2 Thole - 1.0 Torres - 0.4 Hairston - 0.2

Is she pregnant with Mr. Met's love child? I think I read about her while on the supermarket check-out line.

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If there are enough bodies left around here and enough interest to do KTEs for the year this would be a good time to divvy them up. I�ve long thought the best way is for one person to do all the series for a particular team or teams. That would mean six each if you choose an NLEast squad although the first one is the only one that really requires much work. After that you can just crib off your earlier report plus give updates on whatever has changed since their last visit and, in the case of FMan, come up with new cock jokes. So, can scare up 9 volunteers (or more?) to grab at least one team if not two? Our opponents for the year: - 6 series each: PHI, ATL, WASH, FLA - 3 series: Reds - 2 series Cubs, Pirates, Astros, Cardinals, Brewers, Dodgers, Giants, Padres, DBacks, Rockies, Yanx - 1 series only: Blue Jays, Rays, Orioles No one should grab more than one NL East team just because of the volume entailed. We also like to give preferences to local knowledge so the Brewers are reserved for TransMonk if he wants them, our west coast correspondents get first crack at the California teams if they want in, and one of both of the DC area guys get dibs on the Natinals. And I guess I�ve assigned myself Atlanta, but other than that the rest are up for grabs.

metsmarathon wrote: i'm so confused. that was just a ONE-game series against the cards? wtf?! tonight the fish play the reds in cincinnati? did anyone else know about this? the metsies don't have any 1-gamers this year, do they? (i just checked and couldn't find anything) do either the fish or the cards? The idea is that recent tradition has had the Champs kick off the following season a day before the rest of the crew. Now usually that was at home and it was the Sunday Night ESPN game but seeing as how they shifted the whole sked starting last year (to start and end during mid-week instead of weekends) that kind of went out the window. So what they did was to figure since everyone is down in Florida anyway might as well combine the Cards getting the opening day to themselves (except, y'know, for that whole Japan series stuff) with a celebration of Miami's new crib. IOW, no, there are NOT one-game series planned for everyone, this was just a special case. Cards actually continue on the road and get their home celebration/ring ceremony thing a week from Friday.

Maxwell was so far off my radar I had to go look him up. Very thin ML resume where he hasn't played since briefly in 2010. Minor league numbers don't look so bad but, of course, that's the minor leagues. Maybe they should into picking him up but that doesn't mean you throw him into the NY lineup right away. Baxter was Terry's only LF bat off the bench today and that will be the case on most days unless Turner is starting for Murphy or something goofy like that. That all points to Loewen as the likely beneficiary of the Torres injury unless they really want a 'true' CF out there instead of Hairston and think Dekker and/or Nieuwenhuis are ready to handle a month or more on a more or less everyday basis. I think it'll be Loewen.

Lundy wrote: I don't post much here anymore, but I still check in from time to time. It was a great, almost perfect day weatherwise for a baseball game. It was good to meet up with Metfairy and KC and D-Dad. Got to meet some new faces as well. Whoa, a blast from the past!

Edgy DC wrote: I didn't see Ronny in there. Double switch? I say Frank. If two guys debut on defense simultaneously, we go with their defensive position number, right? Frankie Frank touched the ball prior to Cedeno fielding the grounder and/or batting - so I say it's FF.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Did the Marlins tip their hand? Is that David Wright, Andy Warhol style, in a Marlins cap on the scoreboard? I'm pretty sure that's [crossout]Mike[/crossout] Giancarlo Stanton.

John Lannan has acknowledged that he's asked the Nats for a trade following his demotion. His biggest problem here, in addition to the part where he has no leverage to make a trade happen, is that he's making $5mil this year which is a lot for a team to pay and give up players for just to get a back of the rotation starter. But I can see why he wants out. Sure he could get called back due to an injury or someone faltering; but Strasberg, Zimmermann, and Gonzalez can falter all they want and they're not going to get bumped out of a spot in the rotation anytime soon. Which leaves just Detwiler or Edwin Jackson as guys to replace and Jackson makes even more money than him and he just lost the ST battle to Detwiler. Plus by the time someone does need replacing, CM Wang will probably be healthy and the team's first choice. I don't see the Mets as a player here.

Ladies and gentlemen, your last place Miami Marlins!

TAMPA, Fla. -- Mets starter Jon Niese has agreed to a five-year, $25.5 million extension, with team options for 2017 and 2018 that could push the total value to $46 million ... the deal was not official pending a physical. Team Doctors to Jeff & Fred: "Uh, we recommend against doing this deal because it seems that the patient's nose has shrunk since his last check-up. We're not quite sure what this means but it could indicate something serious."

Ceetar wrote: Anyone want me to search out/photograph/graffiti anything at Citi tomorrow? Yeah, if you could click a shot when Murphy lines one off Hanson's cranium for a two-run double that would be great.

'The Fish Tank' gets its official opening tonight as the Cardinals get rewarded for their championship by starting their season on the road in Miami. It's the lone game today (7:00 ESPN) before the rest of the league starts tomorrow or Friday.

In a sign of the improvement of their staff, John Lannan (who I believe started opening day twice for this club) now finds himself nudged out of the rotation as he's been assigned to the minors in favor of Ross Detwiler as their 5th starter Both LF/1B Michael Morse and closer Drew Storen will begin the season on the DL

Not that he was scheduled to pitch in this series anyway, but Tim Hudson will start the year on the DL for Atlanta

AND ANDY PETTITTE IS PITCHING NOW!!!!!

A more realistic option that could happen to minor league players and other hopefuls would be the growth of independent minor leagues, something which would give them a real option if they didn't like the team or placement of their draft status. The problem with them now is that they're so marginalized that the true capitalism of their pay scales aren't going to make anyone want to chuck the current system.