Thanks to everyone who contributed to my mini-fundraising drive. It’s much appreciated.
MapleStreetPress.com
Braves Annual 2011.
The above is supposed to be shipping now, to be on newsstands start March 1 or thereabouts. I wrote two pieces for it, “A Short Fuse At Short” (I wanted to call it “The Escobar Affair”) and “The Curse of Gene Garber”.
All the player previews, for now anyway, are written. Here’s the schedule:
Feb. 18 George Sherrill
Feb. 21 Scotts Linebrink and Proctor
Feb. 23 Other Pitching Possibilities
Feb. 25 Diory Hernandez
Feb. 28 The Great Backup Centerfielder Debate
Mar. 2 Other Playing Possibilities
http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=14048912
Arrest made in Toomer’s Oaks case.
Bethany, if a lynch mob forms, please post so I can drive down and join.
The Treekiller! The Treekiller!
He’s pissed off both fanbases. Just another idiot who doesnt understand that college football is just a sport. He doesnt represent the Bama fans or the school. What a moron…
He’s a retired Texas State Trooper.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Harvey-Updyke/1239559868
Stu-
Congrats on Vandy’s win last night. Game was lost for Georgia in that five-or-so minute stretch when they got absolutely nothing on the defensive glass. Another big lead frittered away by the Dawgs. Brutal.
Jenkins is epic. I thought Ware/Robinson played solid D on him all night, and he still got his.
So, Sheriff Buford T. Justice is so bored in his retirement that he decided to go nuke some trees.
Still at it… According to DOB, Heyward just pulled a ball over the right-field fence and almost hit Bobby sitting in a golf cart.
Thanks. I really didn’t think we stood much of a chance, going in, and the first 30 minutes of gameplay did nothing to change my mind.
And, yeah, Jenkins is kind of epic. (Ezeli was a beast, too — 10 points, 12 boards, 7 blocks.)
Also from DOB: “Miguel Cabrera arrested on a DUI last night. Ugly start to spring training for Tigres.”
Not only was he arrested, but he resisted as well. Fortunately, there isn’t a game today, so this should all blow over.
/and reached over and drank from a bottle of scotch after he got pulled over in front of the officer.
Reminds me of a Roy Mercer prank call.
This Updyke dude apparently has kids named “Bear” and “Crimson” — this story is all kinds of pitiful.
Can you imagine a 62 year old man doing something this stupid? It seems as if there is no such thing as acting like an adult anymore.
What a pathetic little life he must have.
Ugh – cause of tree death – “A dose of tebuthiuron, commonly known as the herbicide “Spike”.”
From an AP story on ESPN.com about the murder of Dallas Green’s granddaughter in Arizona:
“Green, a senior adviser to Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., lost 478 games in eight years managing Philadelphia, the New York Yankees and New York Mets. Nothing could ever compare to this loss.”
What kind of a nitwit would even think this was an appropriate thing to write? What a ridiculous analogy. There’s no byline so we can only wonder who this guy is. Doesn’t the AP do even the most cursory editing?
Vanderbilt [Baseball] the nation’s real No. 1 | ESPN Insider
Sheffield retires
“I wanted to retire after I played for the Mets,”
^_^
pick a fantasy keeper
player A –
2010 – 210IP 168H 83BB 223K 14W 3.0ERA 1.20WHIP 2.69k/BB
2011 projection – 213IP 168H 97BB 221K 14W 3.13ERA 1.24WHIP 2.28k/bb
player B –
2010 – 215IP 178H 63BB 198K 14W 3.18ERA 1.12WHIP 3.14K/BB
2011projection – 219IP 190H 71BB 207K 15W 3.41ERA 1.19WHIP 2.92K/BB
I’m glad they got the guy who poisoned the trees so swiftly. He’s a moron on countless levels. Don’t worry Spike, I’ll be taking picks of anything I see.
I hope there’s no retaliation from this point on and the two schools can just go back to not liking each other.
On that note, Kiper has the Bills taking Cam Newton with the third pick. Eagerly awaiting him getting thrown to the Pats and Jets right away.
#19 – me too, wont happen though. Seems like vandalism is the thing to do for some of these folks, both Auburn and Bama fans.
Marc, it looks like it was written by a guy named Roy Maaddi. I agree with you. It’s a breathtakingly bad sentence.
For me, it hits that “so bad that it’s funny” sweet spot. The paragraphs are:
quote from bereaved
quote from bereaved
WTF?
quote from bereaved
John Jenkins is a young Rip Hamilton. He’ll play fifteen years in the NBA if he wants to.
———————–
Perhaps when the moron finishes his richly-deserved time in prison, he can help lead the Eagles to the playoffs.
17,
“I know who is in the Hall of Fame,” Sheffield told the newspaper. “A lot of them don’t belong in the Hall of Fame.”
Ugh. What a dirtbag.
Well, he’s right. High Pockets Kelly and Freddie Lindstrom don’t belong in the Hall of Fame.
Sheff’s a better version of Jim Rice. He’ll make it, but it will be a while.
27, maybe, but how can he make it and not Palmeiro? It’s going to be VERY interesting to see what they’ll do with the juicers in the long run. I wouldn’t even bet on Bonds making it first ballot, though he probably should.
Exactly. Eventually all these guys will make it. In 20 years, some of them may have dropped off the ballot, and a new Veterans Committee will have to convene and right the wrongs, bringing in all the fringy guys from the ’80s and ’90s, like they did in the ’50s when they let in all those crappy regulars from the deadball era.
Sheff’s steroid use seems to be relatively small/forgiven in the scale of things because he was repentant and turned States Evidence, rather than finger wagging. The allegations of throwing the ball away in Milwaulkee will hurt him worse, IMO, but he’ll get in.
“Sheff’s a better version of Jim Rice. He’ll make it, but it will be a while.”
Was he as feared as Jim Rice?
These will look good at Citi Field Mets Madoff T-Shirts
Was he as feared as Jim Rice?
If you were a 3rd base coach, hell yes. Every one of them backed way up when he came to the plate. He could handcuff a LF with regularity too.
Except when he was playing for the Braves in October, when he turned into Mark Belanger.
@15
Maybe Bill Pulsipher is an AP writer now?
Fair enough, but so did A Jones, C Jones, and Furcal in both of those series.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/ben_reiter/02/16/eight.to.watch/index.html
Freddie wasn’t International League MVP, was he? I thought he was “Rookie of the Year”.
Dan Johnson was your IL MVP
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/bulls/story/8217899/
I know that most of you loathe the Magic, being Hawks Fans, but do the Magic have a shot without getting a true power forward?
Don’t insult Mark Belanger like that!
He was more like Ray Oyler.
@33,
That was actually intended as a joke because one of the reasons cited by a lot of Boston sportswriters and others for Rice deserving to be in the HOF was that he was such a “feared” hitter over and above his actual numbers.
The Magic will beat the Hawks in the first round and could probably beat the Bulls or Heat, but I don’t see them getting past the Celtics.
Unless one of Garnett, Allen, Pierce or Rondo gets hurt, no one from the East is beating the Celtics this year. (Although this is when it ends.)
@41, oh sure, I got you – but Sheffield really did scare people – plus he had that bat waggle thing. I have never seen a quicker, harder RH bat in person. If you were sitting on the LF side, you’d better have been paying attention. Seemed like none of his HR’s got more than 20 feet of the ground, and left the park still rising.
Frickin’ laser beams.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Free-Harvey-Updike-Updyke/165764793473003
But Auburn is the WORST, right? Right???
@18 – A
Really? Unless their homeruns allowed are incredibly different or their ages are different, I’d go with B.
However, I’d go with the younger one, it being a keeper league.
Now that I’ve looked up the two players, Player A resoundingly. He’s four years younger and has a much better track record. It’s really a slam dunk when you consider everything else.
Rusty’s gut is right.
I’m still reeling at the phrase where Barry Bonds, the best baseball player any of us have ever watched, is “probably” a first ballot HOFer. Bonds is inner circle, move Ruth and Mantle and Williams and Mays around to make room for him ballot. The idea that he’s not “first ballot” is absurd.
As for Sheffield, he’s better than a quarter of the current HOFers, including Jim Rice and Tony Perez. He was an offensive monster for pretty much his entire career. He’s not Bagwell obvious, and I’m not sure he makes the cut for my “small Hall” wing, but by current standards he’s in.
A quarter? Sheffield is better than half the Hall, minimum. He meets 61 percent of HOF standards. Simscores:
1. Mel Ott (875) *
2. Reggie Jackson (864) *
3. Ken Griffey (851)
4. Fred McGriff (850)
5. Mickey Mantle (840) *
6. Billy Williams (837) *
7. Frank Robinson (836) *
8. Frank Thomas (832)
9. Al Kaline (830) *
10. Chipper Jones (822)
Uh… can someone fill me in on the players on 18? I’ve looked at fangraphs and ESPN and can’t find a player with either of those stats.
Bonds was certainly the most successful human science project I’ve ever seen.
It’s time… new poll.
nevermind
I actually screwed up that post at #18. What I had listed for 2010 was actually ESPN’s 2011 projections and the 2011 projection is from Bill James for 2011. Here was actually their 2010 stats
Kershaw – 204IP 160H 81BB 212K 13W 2.91ERA 1.18WHIP 2.62K/BB
2011 ESPN – 210IP 168H 83BB 223K 14W 3.0ERA 1.20WHIP 2.69k/BB
Bill James – 213IP 168H 97BB 221K 14W 3.13ERA 1.24WHIP 2.28k/bb
Hanson – 202IP 182H 56BB 173K 10W 3.33ERA 1.17WHIP 3.09K/BB
2011 ESPN – 215IP 178H 63BB 198K 14W 3.18ERA 1.12WHIP 3.14K/BB
Bill James – 219IP 190H 71BB 207K 15W 3.41ERA 1.19WHIP 2.92K/BB
who do you keep?
Stu — I try not to give ESPN any more of my money than whatever percentage of my cable bill they get, so I couldn’t read that article you linked to. Did it say anything interesting, besides Vandy is really good?
Really excited for this year’s baseball season. Hopefully it’s still nice outside when the home games start next week!
Basically used advanced stats (WAR) to show that, despite being voted behind UCLA, Florida, and TCU in the major polls, VU looks like the team to beat. Which is what lots of folks around West End think, too. 😉
FYI, if you “like” ESPN.com on Facebook, you get free Insider through March 12th…
@56 – Pitching is a crapshoot, but my favorite indicator is K rate.
@56, that’s hilarious, because your Player A stat line is almost spot on for Jon Lester, ignoring Wins and ERA, which I tend to do. Player B is really close to Colby Lewis, so I figured those were your players.
csg A:2010 – 210IP 168H 83BB 223K 14W 3.0ERA 1.20WHIP 2.69k/BB
Lester: 208IP 167H 83BB 225K 1.20WHIP 2.71k/BB
The whipping boy has to be Gonzalez. If McLouth sucks, they’ll replace him with somebody…anybody. If Gonzalez sucks, there is absolutely nowhere else to turn. He will be out there every day even if he’s playing like crap, like Groundhog Day. We’ll all be prisoner.
It probably will end up being AAG. I just hope people remember that the thing he’s best at (fielding) is the thing we most need from that position.
He’s a decent fielder, but I think his true skill is post-strikeout theatrics.
@63
he’s a pretty damned good frowner, too.
The idea that he’s not “first ballot” is absurd.
We’ve had this discussion before, and yes, Bonds would be on my ballot, but still, you and I don’t know how much of his greatness was talent and hard work, and how much was BALCO. Again, the talent and hard work part is probably big enough for him to make it in on the first ballot, but I wouldn’t bet on it. It doesn’t help his case that he was such a douchebag either.