Frayed Knot

"Hi, I'm Steve Trachsel and I'll be putting your leadoff runners on base today"

]The Jewish Star Does that mean he's got a six-pointed head?

Not the greatest swings by Wright - but he/I'll take the two knocks and 3 ribeyes. P.S. this is shaping up as one long-ass game.

Actor/Simpon's voiceover man Hank Azaria participating in 'The World Series of Poker' wearing a Mets cap.Poker, for actors and other celebs, is the new cocaine.

btw, the BoSox have the worst record in MLB during the month of August. And consider that in light of Seattle losing 11 straight at one point.

TransMonk wrote: We thought about the fact that we would be departing directly from the game and what kind of baggage we would have. Since we'll only be gone over 2 nights and we can't take many toiletries on airplanes these days anyway, we are each only taking a change of clothes and little else. My wife has a large purse that is as big as a tote bag and I'll bring a knapsack. Hopefully we won't have much trouble getting them in the park if we let security ruffle through it. Another alternative - which may or may not be practical depending on your personal logistics - would be to stash your gear at a LaGuardia locker early in the day before going to the game (it's not much further from your hotel than Shea is). That way you'll avoid any problems with bags at the park and avoid having to go back to the hotel before heading for the plane. Heck, without bags you can practically walk to the airport. P.S. Avoid Tommy Glavine's cab driver.

Just the fact that we're NOT hearing a bunch of things at this point in the negotiation process is a good sign IMO. If nothing else it means that the owners' side isn't running around threatening; 'we'll accept nothing less than a hard salary cap and are prepared to break the union if we don't get it!!!!' ... or something along those lines. The rev-sharing / lux-tax agreements from the last CBA seem to be working well while not putting the anchor on salaries that players always fear. I suspect that the owners will try to extend and probably even strengthen those this time around - which will certainly meet with some resistance but avoids the whole philosophical stand-off that's marred these things since the early '70s.

I liked what Terry Francona (who, btw, also has a host of physical maladies) had to say about Youkilis's less than gym-rat quality body; 'I've seen the guy in the shower and, believe me, he ain't the Greek God of anything'

I turned on the BoSox game briefly last night (from Oakland at 10PM - lost 9-zip) and: - they're pitching some guy I'd never heard of - Papi's out and Manny's out ... not to mention long-term out-ees Nixon, Varitek & Wakefield, or even Lester who was just added to the DL - they had a brand new callup at 2nd - Youkilis was in the OF They're basically a freakin mess right now. A far cry from "the best team in baseball" tag they were getting during that 15 game or so run where they were steamrolling everyone including us. The Yanx went out west, lost 4 of 6 to Seattle and Anaheim ... and increased their lead

The current CBA expires this winter (I believe) so, yes, the June 2007 drat would be affected by whatever they decide.

They had actually agreed to eliminate the compensation arrangement during the negotiations that produced the current CBA -- but then when it came to making the tentative agreement final they realized that the two sides couldn't agree to what they thought they had agreed to and wound up dropping the whole thing. It always seemed to me that the compensation arrangement was working well enough, but it's not like dropping it is going to come as a surprise to the clubs.

Here's your main difference: Greenberg ABs = 5,193 Green = 6,106 + whatever he's had this season That's two+ seasons more ABs and Green is still the better part of a year away (maybe more) from equaling this somewhat trivial "record". I think I can live with this without feeling that it's been tainted by HR inflation.

That single was maybe the strangest call I've ever seen - essentially for being the schoolyard-type compromise that Greg talks about. 1) Calling it foul makes it a dead ball which affects everything afterward: runners stop running, fielders stop chasing, ballgirl picks the thing up, yyybbb That's why the NFL sticks to its "whistle was blown" explanation. It drives football fans nuts but it's chaos any other way since the genie can't be put back into the bottle. 2) On what basis did they base the reversal? I guess the 3rd base ump doesn't actually see it but figures he needs to call something so gives it his best guess. But at what point does he decide to seek help after the fact? Not that I minded the result but I don't like the process. It reminds me of the type of "split-the-baby" calls that the NFL refs make all the time when they're winging it because they can't figure out what else to do. Declaring it to be a single because ... well because it pisses off each side only a little bit instead of one side totally (would have been a double if called correctly from the start, but a foul ball had they stuck to their first instinct) just reeks of making it up as you go along.

Maine - 2.5 LoDuca - 1.2 Delgado - 1.6 Reyes - 1.2 Chavez - 1.0 Wright - 0.5 Beltran - 0.5 RHernandez - 0.7 Mota - 0.4 Wagner - 0.4

="metirish"]How many players won rookie of the year and the following year got MVP? Fred Lynn won both in the same year - for the '75 BoSox 2 more hits for Endy - both of LHPs

Well, Greenberg came up in the '30s which was a pretty inflated era of offense itself. Green's impending breaking of the record owes itself to WWII and Hank's missed near 4 years as much as anything.

Apparently we ain't got a deal. Green lights for everyone!!

Tell the Philly announcers that we'll promise to stop running just as soon as Ryan Howard promises to stop hitting grand slams.

Dan Bern's gotta whole buncha guys for you And somewhere in the distance, an orchestra shows its face With Natalie on the oboe, Ty on double bass John plays the viola, Slik the tenor sax James he blows harmonica in vanilla skin-tight slacks Hugo oozes alto sax, Ivory the trombone Masuda squawks the trumpet, Andre xylophone Ron he shreds the violin. in a green Italian suit Mike talks on the telephone on a tape with an endless loop Geoff he blows the clarinet with an old-time rockin' feel Charlie dings the triangle, Dave the glockenspiel Chris puffs on the tuba, H a big bass drum Alfonso throbs the cello like he would a woman, with his thumb And high up on the podium in tails with his baton poised Banksy leads the orchestra in a glorious, awful noise And on a float of dripping oil paint the orchestra, it played Kissing the whole universe in the Thanksgiving Day Parade -- Thanksgiving Day Parade

Low P/PA guys are a little over 3 per, while high guys average near 4.5 So figure that it's around 3.75 - although the high guys might get more ABs than the low ones meaning that the overall weighted avg wouldn't necc be at the midpoint of the high & low. Prolly a shade under 4 is my guess.

Shawn Green is 17 HRs away from matching Hank Greenberg's record for lifetime Jewish HR hitters. P.S. Green's grandfather changed the family name to Green from ... Greenberg.

The 'SC' rating started in the old-old forum where there were a sizable number of participants who wouldn't know sarcasm if it knocked on their door and smacked them upside the head.

I don't miss Marlon Anderson all that much. Yeah, he was a nice bench player and all, but not all that unique and therefore very replaceable. Guys like him are hardly make or break types for winning teams. Now, granted Endy is a bit of a different story as he's a career backup (and near washout) who's suddenly playing like a legit starter. But he's also got 3 HRs in about the same number of ABs that Cliff & Nady had(about 25 total?) and he's not going to be a CFer on this team as long as Beltran is young enough to roam out there. So while I'd like to keep him and - seeing as how I don't believe he's yet reached FA status yet (unlike Marlon) - they should be able to retain him if they choose, he'd also make for some decent trade bait for someone desperate for a reasonably cheap CFer.

I think the sport of raquetball peaked around the 1982-1985 range. Not something you hear a whole lot about these days.

So you're saying that the rain and no Maine has plainly been a pain?