Frayed Knot

Fuck the PotG rules, I'm giving all 10 Beers to Ayala if he gets Werth here.

Ho-Hum

If we hold on to this game I'm giving all my beer to Easley, Smith and whoever gets the next three outs. Meanwhile, Wright, Feliciano and Sanchez OWE beer.

I've either lost track of what you're talking about or I never understood it in the first place.

Short men in the pen = 4 batters, 1 retired SSDD

Jeezus Krist Pedro!!!!

Can't you just see a guy late in the game trying to get on via catcher's interference ... and then explaining in the post-game; 'Hey, I needed it for my cycle!'

And that's what ARod did an inning or so ago in da Bronx -- only he GiDP'd w/the sacks loaded when they were down by a few

Let's go David, don't blow this one or they'll start comparing you to ARod (how's that for motivation?)

Less meaningful than what -- a series of tie-breaking procedures which arbitrarily favor one statistical variation over another?

We're gonna regret not scoring in that inning: 2 on with 3, 4, 5 coming up. This is now a battle of bullpens and we're almost unarmed in that kind of matchup.

NFL tiebreakers exist for convenience sake. There's simply no room in their tightly scripted schedule for an extra game. So if that means that there are 5 seperate 9-7 teams and only room for two in the playoff scheme then three of them have to be eliminated. And if the elimination process is meaningful (initial tie-breakers) then that's good, and if it's silly and arbitrary then that's tough. If there's a MLB tie for a playoff spot I want a game!

It's a one-game playoff only to determine playoffs or not. But if the loser of a tied division will be the WC team then the head-to-head winner gets declared to Division Winner.

HahnSolo wrote: ="AG/DC"]Well it's only happening for disputed homers, so who are you arguing with? Once you add it, eventually its role will expand. If there is replay, even only for disputed HRs, then we have another Denkinger incident in the late innings of a deciding WS game--one that is not changed--all of a sudden the calls will come in for replay on close plays on the basepaths. Yup. Also, the implementation and initial uses of these things never goes as smoothly as imagined.

]Without looking I'd guess he puts up below average numbers for a first baseman Ranked by OPS he's smack in the middle (7th) of the 13 NL 1st baseman who qualify with enough ABs - Behind Pujols, Berkman, Teixeira, Fielder, A. Gonzalez, & Conor Jackson - Ahead of Derrick Lee, LaRoche, Votto, Loney, Howard & Jacobs

Just to get back to the Murphy discussion, prospect guru John Sickels reprinted his pre-season analysis: Murphy was drafted in the 13th round in �06, from the University of Jacksonville. He�s received little attention, but he was very successful in college, and he performed fairly well last year in the Florida State League, posting a +8 percent OPS, not great but safely above average. A line drive hitter, he�s not a walk machine, but he controls the zone well and doesn�t strike out much. His defense at third base is average, but he should be able to remain at the position if he continues to hit. Murphy will need to show more power at higher levels, which may require some tinkering with his swing to add more loft. I do think he�s a sleeper though. I don't really think this adds much to the 'scouts vs stats' debate. I don't consider Sickels to be firmly on either side plus it's not like the two are mutually exclusive to start with. But based on the pedestrian draft spot and small sample size prior to this year I'd be surprised if anyone from either the computer nerd or the tobacco chewers camps were raising the roof over him. He then then adds a follow-up based on this season to date: Murphy showed that additional power this year, hitting .315/.379/.493 in Double-A, posting an OPS of +17 percent compared to the Eastern League context, much improved compared to '07. I think he's been a bit over his head with the Mets and will settle down as a .280+ hitter, but with an above average on-base percentage and at least moderate power. An infielder in the minors, he's playing left field in the majors, and has proven to be an excellent defensive outfielder, at least statistically, already posting a +6 mark according to the Fielding Bible, and a 117 rate mark according to Baseball Prospectus. So is Murphy a fluke? Yes and no. He won't hit .350 in a full season, and I don't think he will be a big-time classic power-hitting corner outfielder. However, he does a lot of things genuinely well, gets on base, has some pop in his bat, looks really good defensively in the outfield, and could play in the infield if needed. I like the way he controls the strike zone; his BB/K/AB ratio is excellent and projects very well for his future. This is an example of a guy who was a polished college player who has been able to take his game ot the next level. He's fun to root for, and the Mets should get good use out of him over the coming seasons. A bit optimistic on the defensive end if you ask me.

Smith - 0.5 Stokes - 0.8 Schneider - 1.8 Church - 1.0 Reyes - 0.9

Smith - 0.4 Ayala - 0.6 Beltran - 3.0 Wright - 1.0 Evans - 1.0 Tatis - 1.0 Perez - 1.0

Pelfrey - 5.2 Delgado - 2.8 Reyes - 1.0

Phillies complete the 4-game sweep with a 13-hit shutout!!

Dodgers leave two more on in the 8th. They now have 11 hits plus a coupla walks and are being shut out thru 8. Shitheads.

Well several of the losses were ugly (are they ever pretty?) but, when you add it all up, we successfully made the doughnuts, reaching the hoped-for 11-4 mark during this streatch. Mon 8/11 - Pitt - L Tues - Wash - W Wed - Wash - W Thurs - Wash - W Fri - Pitt - W Sat - Pitt - W Sun - Pitt - W Mon - 8/19 - @ Pitt - L Tues - Atl - W Wed - Atl - W Thrus - Atl - W Fri - Hous - W Sat - Hous - L Sun - Hous - L Mon - Hous - W and, yes, I'm fucking with fate by counting this one as a win with two outs still to go but I'm just a live dangerously kind of guy.

Now if we could just get the Dodgers to quit leaving runners all over the bases. Kent alone has stranded a small army.

Rockin' Doc wrote: After scanning through the first set of rankings it's Curtis Granderson at #16 that is a surprise to me. His ranking seems awfully high to me. Maybe I just don't fully appreciate his abilities. Think of Granderson as the OFer version of Reyes: good BA (walks more often) plus lots of 2Bs & 3Bs with medium HR power all packaged with a good glove at a premium defensive position. He's 2-1/2 years older and wasn't as good as early and so is more likely to already be at or near his peak, but the skills are pretty similar and so is the 'fun factor' watching him.

Oh fuck me!! Dodgers load the bags with no one out (1B - 1B - BB) and promptly hit into a 5-2 (force-tag) DP and now fly out to end the inning.