Valadius

The real Carlos Beltran shows up at last.

Somehow, I don't think Pedro would appreciate Lou Piniella as manager...

Dave Roberts has had RBI triples in consecutive innings tonight for the Pads.

Cairo? CAIRO?!?!?!?!?! Welcome to Bizarro World, I guess.

The LIGHTS? Oh boy.

Right... we've got Marlon Anderson on the bench and we send out Cairo.

JAKE-MONSTER!!!!!

WHY IS CAIRO BATTING 2ND?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Barry Bonds hit ANOTHER home run already.

Beltran's been good as of late.

Oh, and I call that position leaderboard project.

Could we see Roberto Hernandez at catcher? All he wants to do before he retires is throw out a baserunner.

Benson 3.5 Jacobs 1.75 Reyes .75 Heilman 1.5 R. Hernandez .75 Floyd 1 Wright .5 Diaz .25

First, I never mentioned Eckstein. Second, this list features a combination of rookies, rising stars, and younger established players taking their game to an even higher level.

Well I personally can't remember a single year in which so many older guys were on their way out, and so many good new players either debuted, asserted themselves as good major leaguers, or rose to superstar status.

It's over - 20-1. Manny Alexander ended up playing in this one for San Diego.

I love that we're all calling him Jake-Monster now. This is the first time I've ever come up with something that stuck. Sorry I missed the game - it's Rush Week here at GW.

I have to mention this: Colorado 20, San Diego 1, Bottom 8. SEAN BURROUGHS is pitching now. Yeah, the third baseman, Jeff's kid. Matt Holliday: 4-5, 2 HR, 8 RBI.

It could be argued, many years from now, that this season, 2005, represented a turning point in the history of Major League Baseball. Some of the old flames are flickering out, and the new generation of big leaguers has begun to assert itself. Here's what I mean, position by position (I might forget somebody, so feel free to mention anybody I might neglect): Catcher: Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez are on the decline. Hell, so is Jorge Posada. On the rise: Victor Martinez, Joe Mauer, Brian McCann, and the Three Molina Brothers. First Base: Jim Thome, Jeff Bagwell, and Phil Nevin come to mind as fading. On the rise: Albert Pujols (MVP?), Derrek Lee, Mark Teixeira, Travis Hafner, Ryan Howard, Lyle Overbay, and (ever so quietly) Prince Fielder. Mike Jacobs? It might take a few years to analyze that one. Second Base: Bret Boone's fallen faster than anybody in recent memory. Joining him are the already retired Roberto Alomar and the shell of Tony Womack. Craig Biggio and Jeff Kent are still holding on, though. On the rise: Alfonso Soriano, Chase Utley, Brian Roberts, Jorge Cantu, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Freel, and Robinson Cano. Shortstop: Barry Larkin retired. Royce Clayton's not the same. Omar Vizquel's in his twilight years. On the rise: Jose Reyes, Michael Young, Felipe Lopez, Jhonny Peralta, J.J. Hardy, Clint Barmes. Third Base: Vinny Castilla only plays well in Colorado. Where have you gone, Mike Lowell? On the rise: David Wright, Chone Figgins, Morgan Ensberg, Aramis Ramirez, Bill Hall, Pedro Feliz, Garrett Atkins. Outfield: Sammy Sosa is done. Steve Finley is done. Barry Bonds is inching toward his final seasons. Bernie Williams is on his way out. On the rise: Jason Bay, Miguel Cabrera, Andruw Jones, Grady Sizemore, Jeff Francoeur, Victor Diaz, Kelly Johnson, Matt Holliday, Emil Brown, Willy Taveras, Jonny Gomes, Nick Swisher, Brad Hawpe. Starting Pitcher: The only thing that can stop Roger Clemens is his commitment, and that shows no signs of slipping. Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson are showing their age, though. Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz have some juice left. Jose Lima, Kevin Brown, Hideo Nomo, Al Leiter, Woody Williams, Jamie Moyer, and Orlando Hernandez are on the way out. On the rise: Dontrelle Willis, Zach Duke, Jake Peavy, John Patterson, Chris Capuano, Felix Hernandez, Mark Prior, Jon Garland, Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Dan Haren, Noah Lowry, Jae Seo, Gustavo Chacin, Jake Westbrook, Scott Kazmir, Jeremy Bonderman, Aaron Heilman, Joe Blanton. Relief Pitcher: Troy Percival's career is likely over. Keith Foulke and Danny Graves blew up this year. It's nearing the end for Trevor Hoffman, Bob Wickman, Ugueth Urbina, Tom Gordon, Roberto Hernandez, Arthur Rhodes, and Chris Hammond. On the rise: Derrick Turnbow, Huston Street, Chad Cordero, Brad Lidge, B.J. Ryan, Francisco Rodriguez, Danys Baez, Brian Fuentes, Joe Nathan, Justin Duchsherer.

I want more games against teams we can beat.

Well, we already improved on last year.

Why does it always have to be us? Why can't the Phillies and the Pirates play each other during the Rivalry Series instead?

Bunning's on the list already.

Jenkins, Drysdale, Bunning On edit: damn you Edgy.

Well at least he's playing now as opposed to not playing.