Frayed Knot

="Edgy DC"]By the way, with Mauer a free agent after this year After next year - he's signed thru 2010 ]Speaking of long-term solutions at catcher, Geovany Soto has sure turned into a pumpkin, hasn't he? Odd especially in that he was already 25 by the time of his breakout season and you'd think that was just a guy finding it and therefore be the least likely type to backslide. Cubs everywhere are either not hitting or not healthy (Ramirez)

In his 4 full seasons, Joe Mauer has already won 2 batting titles, twice posted .400+ OBAs, won two silver sluggers, a gold glove at a premium defensive position, placed 4th & 6th in MVP voting, been named to 2 All-Star games ... and he just turned 26. The one "knock" up to this point has been the relatively low power for a 6' 5" 220+ dude - peaking at 13 HRs in 2006, making that the only time he's hit double digits. But so far this year he's already hit 11 and had nearly half of his hits go for extra-bases while hitting .429 and on-basing over .500. Oh yeah, and he missed all of April so all that's in just 84 ABs. His BA, OBA & SLG would all easily lead the league if he had enough ABs to qualify. All that attached to a gold glove catcher is a full-fledged monster. The Twins took some hits back in 2001 for "going cheap" and picking Mauer #1 out of a local high school while passing on "sure thing" Mark Prior from USC (taken #2 by the Cubs) but I think they're OK with that decision in retrospect. Now all we have to get him to do is stop having his team tank every time they face the Yanx.

plus the back, something which may or may not have been caused by the aforementioned hammy situation. Then there was the tail end of his first partial/call-up season when he rolled his ankle on a (feet-first!) slide and missed the final month. Other than those it's just been a few games here or there for minor boo-boos.

Castro - 1.0 Feliciano - 0.2 Sheffield - 1.0 Wright - 0.7 Reed - 0.7 Castillo - 0.7 Beltran - 0.7

Maine - 3.7 Putz - 0.3 Rodriguez - 0.4 Sheffield - 2.5 Beltran - 1.0 Wright - 0.7 Castillo - 0.8 Pagan - 0.6

Hernandez - 4.6 Sheffield - 2.1 Castillo - 0.7 Santos - 0.7 RMartinez - 0.7 Pagan - 0.7 Wright - 0.5

And Helms strikes out so the Phils hang on, both to the game and to their 1/2 game lead in the east.

Lidge gets Hermida on a groundout but a run scores. 2 outs but the Marlins have the tying runs in scoring position. Ex-Philly Wes Helms up

Phillies leading 5-0 into the 9th ... but now it's 5-2, and it's gotten so bad that they're even going to bring Lidge into the game!!!!! And he walks the first batter to load the bases ... stay tuned

Ramon picking 'em and Livan's dealin'

Both Reyes & Church can be back-dated somewhat so it could be more like a 10 or 11 day DL for either. Other M*A*S*H notes: Carlos Beltran has a bone briuse of the right tibia. He received a cortisone shot and expects to sit out until Friday (meaning misses two games) ... He suggested that's better news than a potentially more serious diagnosis. And Alex Cora plans to return from the disabled list on June 2 (week from today) when he's eligible ... and expects to wait until after the season to undergo surgery. Cora devised a splint for his right thumb and tested it throwing Tuesday from 70 feet and it was passable. He doesn't think he could be an everyday player with the injury, but he can play with the torn right thumb ligament on a part-time basis, he suggested. He batted without wearing the splint. ** both from Adam Rubin's blog at NYDN

Even with Reyes out Castillo can't find his way into the leadoff position. Makes one wonder if that ST experiment ever had any possibility of happening.

="Gwreck":zumgybc4]Valdez AAA stats this year: .198-0-6. .263 OBP, .207 SLG in 121 ABs.[/quote:zumgybc4] Well then I hope he can field!! Frayed Knot May 26 2009 04:54 PM Both Reyes & Church can be back-dated somewhat so it could be more like a 10 or 11 day DL for either. Other M*A*S*H notes: Carlos Beltran has a bone briuse of the right tibia. He received a cortisone shot and expects to sit out until Friday (meaning misses two games) ... He suggested that's better news than a potentially more serious diagnosis. And Alex Cora plans to return from the disabled list on June 2 (week from today) when he's eligible ... and expects to wait until after the season to undergo surgery. Cora devised a splint for his right thumb and tested it throwing Tuesday from 70 feet and it was passable. He doesn't think he could be an everyday player with the injury, but he can play with the torn right thumb ligament on a part-time basis, he suggested. He batted without wearing the splint. ** both from Adam Rubin's blog at NYDN Ashie62 May 26 2009 05:39 PM Is Brian Schneider around...DFA when healthy traded for utility IF of dubious quality? bmfc1 May 26 2009 06:28 PM Wrong thread. cooby May 26 2009 07:10 PM I don't recall reyes ever being on the DL before OlerudOwned May 26 2009 07:16 PM ="cooby":3ekxmg7f]I don't recall reyes ever being on the DL before[/quote:3ekxmg7f] I remember when the hot air heads were all freaked out because he was apparently too injury prone to be a star, trade him, blah blah blah. Edgy DC May 26 2009 07:16 PM His second season, 2004, he spent most of the year on the DL. LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr May 26 2009 09:22 PM ="Edgy DC":283tk9um]His second season, 2004, he spent most of the year on the DL.[/quote:283tk9um] Hammies. Frayed Knot May 27 2009 07:07 AM plus the back, something which may or may not have been caused by the aforementioned hammy situation. Then there was the tail end of his first partial/call-up season when he rolled his ankle on a (feet-first!) slide and missed the final month. Other than those it's just been a few games here or there for minor boo-boos. Edgy DC May 27 2009 07:15 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 27 2009 07:17 AM Remember the biomechanical tinkering of trying to get him to adopt a new running style? Did the sore back lead to the new running style or vice versa? Benjamin Grimm May 27 2009 07:17 AM My concern is that, although Jose has proven to be pretty durable, maybe 2004 tells us that when he is hurt, he's slow to recover. I seem to recall that he kept being "almost" ready, but it took forever for him to actually return. Triple Dee May 27 2009 07:32 AM Those were the bad old days before the Mets team doctors were fired (I'm not talking about David Altchek who was re-hired but Andrew Rokito and his pals from NYU). If I recall correctly, they misdiagnosed a fracture on Mike DeJean's foot, didn't pick up Victor Zambrano's elbow ailment, among other things. soupcan May 27 2009 07:45 AM Remember that my kids get their hair cut by this chick who was doing/dating one of the Mets trainers? I forget his name but she eventually married the guy. Anyhoo, his contract was not renewed this year and she told my wife last week that that's the reason for the rash of injuries. She said that her hubby totally focused on stretching and strengthening the lower bodies. I mean its a bit of a stretch to say that this guy's absence is the direct cause but.... Reyes - legs, Church - legs, Beltran - legs, Perez - legs... Edgy DC May 27 2009 08:37 AM It's not that crazy when I recall their pre-game warmups in previous years were obsessively focused on the legs. Not that I've seen a single Met game this year, but in prior years I'd got see them play the Nats and the Nat fans would routinely crack wise about how obessessed (and homoerotic) the Mets leg-stretching seemed to be. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 27 2009 08:40 AM The legs are so important. In golf, they're very, People don't realize How important legs are in golf, Or in baseball, And football, definitely. Track. O, in track. All-important. Jumping. Soccer. Is there anything, What? Is there anything where the legs Are not the most important? Edgy DC May 27 2009 08:43 AM May 28, 1991, seventh inning, Roger Clemens pitching to Jesse Barfield soupcan May 27 2009 09:25 AM I'm lost. John Cougar Lunchbucket May 27 2009 09:26 AM "The Poetry of Phil Rizzuto" soupcan May 27 2009 09:28 AM Ah. I thought you and Edgy were somehow running with the whole homoerotic stretching thing.

="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]="Frayed Knot"]]*$451.00 versus $492.50 over 9 pairs of seats-- or just over 2 dollars cheaper per ticket. Is it possible to know what the face value is for all those seats. All Promenade Infield-- a mix of value (2 @ $15), bronze (2 @ $20) and silver (5 @ $30). Also, forgot to carry ones-- ah, the perils of quickie math-- so add 100 to both sides (551, 592). So - if I have this straight - that's 2 pairs of seats at $15/per seat = $60 total plus 2 pairs @ $20/per = 80 plus 5 pairs @ $30/per = 300 = total face $440 which would have cost $592 (an approx 34% increase!?!) to buy from the Mets but were instead bought over the secondary market for $551

Yeah, except that he's a good pitcher so they'd never score for him and he'd lose the games no matter how he pitched. Of they'd score lots for him, I forget how it works.

Zubas? (sp?) I'm so out of it I'm not even aware of stuff that once was fashionable.

]*$451.00 versus $492.50 over 9 pairs of seats-- or just over 2 dollars cheaper per ticket. Is it possible to know what the face value is for all those seats.

="Edgy DC"]Revenue sharing is based on exceeding the preset salary threshhold, isn't it? Two separate things. Luxury tax is based on exceeding salary thresholds. Revenue sharing is based on various income lines and, yes, this all could be about that in the same way that's what luxury suites are all about. They're treated as rent rather than ticket sales and therefore aren't subject to the same cut of the gate as one Joe Sixpack buys. ]But owners kcertainly now enough not to let themselves get swindled by each other, no? Not necessarily. In the NFL - where ticket and broadcast money is all split nearly evenly - they were the first to rush into the luxury suite business (and demanding stadiums that accommodated them) and did so for the sole purpose of getting revenue they didn't have to share. Ditto PSLs.

I think it is deceptive. Maybe not to the extent of illegal-deceptive - although if it isn't it's certainly close. It's one thing if certain ways of obtaining a $20 ticket involve extra fees, but if EVERY way of getting it involves a fee then it's not really a $20 ticket is it?

'The Hardball Times' did a whole article on this sort of thing[/url:33eeiyl1] a week or so back. The Mets are one of the worst offenders of this practice - though hardly the only one. It all seems so stupid to me. I'd just raise the prices and do away with the hidden fees but I guess this "allows" them to advertise prices as being lower than they actually are: 'See, a family of four can come to the park for less than X'. But saying that some seat is $20 is deceptive if there's no actual way of getting said seat for $20 So 'shipping and handling' charges - or whatever they want to call it - have no basis in reality to what it actually costs to ship or handle (hence the self-print price) it's merely a cost they're adding on simply because they feel they can.

- Not good days in Tampa recently Sunday sees them lose 2B Akinori Iwamura for the season w/a knee injury Then on Monday they hand last year's playoff star David Price a 10-0 lead in his first start of the year and he can't make it out of the 4th inning (over 100 pitches at that point). But still they take a 10-2 lead into the 8th and a 10-4 lead into the 9th ... then the roof falls in. * Cleveland 9th, Dale Thayer pitching: G. Sizemore - Walks V. Martinez - Pop-out 3B J. Peralta - Single to LF; Sizemore to 2B Randy Choate replaces Dale Thayer S. Choo - Reaches on E6; Sizemore Scores; Peralta to 3B; Choo to 2B Grant Balfour replaces Randy Choate M. DeRosa - Lineout 3B R. Garko - Home Run; Peralta Scores; Choo Scores; Garko Scores A. Cabrera pinch hits for Matt LaPorta - Walk Jason Isringhausen replaces Grant Balfour B. Francisco - Walk; Cabrera to 2B J. Carroll - Walk; Cabrera to 3B; Francisco to 2B G. Sizemore - Walk; Cabrera Scores; Francisco to 3B; Carroll to 2B V. Martinez - Single to CF; Francisco Scores; Carroll Scores; - and everybody else does the jump-dance at home plate So, yeah, that is, depending on how you want to look at it, a blown 10 run lead, or a blown 8 run lead after 7, or a 6 run lead after 8, or even a blown 5 run lead after two were out in the 9th ... to a last place club!! Hey, at least they didn't bat their pitcher this game. Oh yeah, and they signed manager Joe Madden to a three-year contract extension this weekend. - Not quite as dramatic but the Padres won their 10th straight despite being down 7-1 in Arizona after 7. They follow up getting 5 runs in the 8th by tacking on 1 in the 9th and then 2 in the 10th. - On the other side of the coin, the Brews pushed across a run in the 10th to break a scoreless tie vs the Cards. Both Milwaukee's Yovani Gallardo & StL's Chris Carpenter carried no-hitters thru 5; Carpenter took a perfect game into the 7th; and both had dueling 2-hitters thru 8. An error, FC,and Bill Hall's single won it in the 10th for the suddenly hot Brew Crew (15-5 over their last 20 despite being swept in Minnesota) It was Carpenter's 4th game of the year and just his 2nd since opening week. - and speaking of Brewers: Mike Cameron hit his 250th career HR and became the 20th player with 250+ HRs & SBs (291) - The Cubs, meanwhile, have lost 8 straight

That ruling was the first thing I thought of as soon as I heard that name was one of those on the short-list.

]The baby in the sun is not creepy. And it's from Teletubbies. Being from Teletubbies makes it the definition of creepy.

Edgy & Seawolf up for the homestand GFaFiF & bmfc1 on deck

Round 1 goes to the AL although closer so far than in recent years: 22-20 AL Sweeps Rangers over Astros Twins over Brewers (NOW Minnesota decides to get tough?) NL Sweeps Atlanta over Toronto AL wins 2-1 Orioles over Nationals ChiSox over Pirates Angels over Dodgers Mariners over Giants Rays over Marlins NL wins 2-1 Mets over Red Sox Rockies over Tigers Phils over Yanx DBacks over A's Cards over Royals Reds over Indians