Frayed Knot

Maine's almost as much of a chore to watch as Ollie.

Nationals, Chapter 2 That's the one starring Marsha Mason, right? The Nats are maintaining a positive record thing with smoke and mirrors by winning a ton of close games. Clippard and Capps have been good (although Clippard has been dancing between raindrops lately w/lots of baserunners) but also have more combined appearances than Nieve & Feliciano. Which isn't to say they're not a legitimately better team these days. I think their plan is to hope Clip & Capps hold out until last year's #10 pick Drew Storen is ready and Livan maintains his ridiculous pace until Strasburg comes up (June 8 v Pittsburgh is the betting favorite).

I'm guessing that that's a 'Bereavement List' deal then. I think that's a 3 day minimum to 7 day max thing?

Wright was right about that pitch (Davis in the next AB not so much) but I suspect his blow-up had as much to do with the mounting pile of strikeouts he's had recently as it did with that specific one. The boy's got to be getting frustrated at this point.

Edgy DC wrote: This famous note was passed from Potter Stewart to Harry Blackmun. I think Stewart was rooting for the Reds. Was Blackmun pulling the other way? Stewart was a Cincinatti native who was, indeed, a big Reds fan. Blackmun, a Minnesota area native, was a big baseball fan but I don't know of any specific Met fandom. Bob Woodward related the story about how, during an important SC hearing, Stewart was having his clerks feed him notes on the ongoing NLCS game, first every half-inning and later for each batter. When Agnew - unrelated to the court matter at hand - resigned that very afternoon, the following note, a classic of legal brevity, read 'Kranepool flies to left / Agnew resigns'. I had never seen a copy of the above note which obviously changed hands moments later. Blackmun later authored the SC opinion that upheld the sport's reserve clause, doing so in a flowery essay which included the listings of dozens of his favorite players from over the years while several of the other justices made sure that theirs were added as well. Unfortunately, while the piece was long on fandom it had virtually nothing to do with any kind of rationale behind the legal aberration of the clause. In the end it pretty much just recited names, cited the 1920's era SC decision which first granted the exemption as precedent, and indicated that any change to that would need to come from Congress.

HahnSolo wrote: Aunalilia Barajas. 9 vowels in her name (including 6 As). Some kind of Met kid record? It would be the record even if we signed Jarrod Saltalamacchia (8 w/6 As)

The decision isn't left entirely up to him although the HoF committee (not MLB) will shirley consider his opinion. And, in this case, I don't know why they wouldn't honor it. After all, he did spend more time with the Mets than with the Dodgers: 8 seasons to 7; 3,941 PAs to 3,017; 1,028 Hits to 896; 220 HRs to 177; etc.

Santana - 2.5 Rodriguez - 1.2 Takahashi - 0.8 Blanco - 2.3 Pagan - 1.5 Bay - 1.0 Tatis - 0.3 Mejia - 0.4

I always find it odd when the 2nd or 3rd oldest son is the one who gets his father's name. Usually that happens right off the bat or not at all.

Blanco popular right now.

Pelfrey - 2.8 Barajas - 3.0 Davis - 3.0 Bay - 0.4 Nieve - 0.2 Castillo - 0.4 Reyes - 0.2

The further lesson to be learned is to shit-can the fireworks - unless it's like a game-ending thing. I suspect the problem is that the smoke from those things sometimes hangs over the OF for a while (it did in Cincy the other day for example) and so the stadium flunkies are probably under instructions to shoot them off at the first possible second so that by the time the trot and high-fives are over the air has cleared in time for the next batter. The Pirates, in effect, fucked up their own player all because they don't think a HR by itself is enough to celebrate.

Would have sucked to lose that HR to the high fence ... and we almost did.

IN ROD WE TRUST

The problem with Blastings there is that the Pirate stadium set off the fireworks which tricked him into thinking it was a HR. He was hustling until the pyrotechnics went off.

Or, when the HR hitters stop trying to hit HRs the base-stealers will quit trying to steal ... and HR hitters never stop trying to hit HRs.

Things not going well Mr. Holt. He was the third of the three first-round draft picks (#33 overall - behind Ike Davis at #17 & Reese Havens at #22) in the 2008 draft although he initially got off to the quickest pro start of the trio. This week, however, he's on BA's 'Not-so-Hot' list: Brad Holt, rhp, Mets -- It's gone from bad to worse for Holt at Double-A Binghamton. The 23-year-old began the season on the disabled list with a wrist injury and has worked on a strict pitch count since his return on April 24. In his three starts on the year, Holt has allowed nine runs in 4 1/3 innings (18.69 ERA) with batters going 11-for-21 (.524). The good news for Holt, such as it is: Of those 11 hits, nine of them were singles. After tearing through short-season Brooklyn and high Class A St. Lucie on his way to the Double-A, he has hit a serious wall in the Eastern League since making his debut there last June. In 14 starts for Binghamton, which he's made between trips to the DL, Holt has gone 3-8, 7.07 with a 1.85 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Nymr83 wrote: You'd have to say that this is a pretty brutal line for Kiko Calero: 1.1 IP; 7 ER; 8 H; 1 HR; 1 K -- but 0 BB so, y'know, it's not ALL bad 6 more runs today in 1/3 of an inning. NOT READY What, just because his ERA over the last two outings is a shade over 70.0 ?

If it's inconclusive, then err on the side of caution and run down your perps. Or get cowboys with lassos. See, here I think you're onto something. Each stadium/team should have its own method of running down escaped fans. The lasso thing is great but they should only handle it that way in Texas. Some guy busts out of the gate on horseback and you'll be roped and tied within 10 seconds or your next run is free. Of course if you do get snagged your problems have just begun. "Heat up the branding iron, Rusty" - In Philly after they catch a guy they then bring a drunk out of the stands to throw up on him. A specially marked ticket makes a different patron each game into that night's designated drunk. Talk about your win-win situations - one guy runs onto the field and TWO guys get to talk about their experiences at work the next day! That's if either of them remember it. - In Miami the Marlins should have a big-ass fishing pole manned by some character out of a Hemingway novel at the ready to reel 'em in. Harpoons could work also I suppose. - Minnesota should use a pair of Scandinavian looking babe twins and just entice the guy out of his romp. Then the cops will stomp on his ass while he's distracted and slobbering. - Milwaukee cops should just hit the guy in the face with a snow shovel, I'm sure there are plenty of those around. - San Diego could do the same thing only with a surf board. - In San Fran the Giants won't do anything because the city council would have long ago declared the city to be a illegal fan haven. - They won't do anything in Toronto either because they're too polite to do otherwise. - Yanqui fans will, of course, throw batteries at the perp ... car batteries. Plus, you can pick them up right outside the stadium, and cheap, often with wires still attached. - Baltimore cops will just catch them the usual way but prevent further incidents with two words: Crabs, Testicles - Atlanta could reinstate Chief Nok-a-homa who would then have the option to turn the dude into a soprano with what the locals there call: 'Tomahawk Justice'

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Among the items found in the Times Square bomber's apt. " a "well-worn" Mets cap. Were he a YLDB, no doubt his effort would have been successful. Too cheap-assed to pay for quality fuses and the like.

There was a death from a taser in Virginia recently (like in the last few weeks) and I believe the article on that one referenced one other in the same town or county a year or so before that. It just seemed unnecessary in this case. I'm all for dopes getting arrested; I just don't see where every arrest requires the perp being tased first.