Word Brad.

Brutal weeks happen in baseball. It was disgusting to watch, but now that they have made up two games in two days, it’s kind of hard to say they’re out of it. You know, being a game back with a five-game series coming up this weekend (and I gots tickets to Saturday!).

And even if they go 2-3 against the Yanks, they’re still not out of it.

Christ, didn’t the White Sox go 11-16 or something recently?

Stick another fork in the Cardinals, who just got swept by the Pirates.

I think Mitch Albom is the king of Dumb-Ass Sports Punditry (actually, I’m pissed at him for writing a column mocking Star Wars fans a few years ago; I considered the fact that mockery was coming from a man, until he finally wrote a successful book, who made his living by writing about kids games played by adults; which reminds me, the only true sports are boxing, race care driving and bull fighting).

I officially put a fork in the Giants last night. Yeah, I know, hope, she dies slowly. But I decided this morning that for the rest of the season, I’m gonna root for the Reds in the NL and the Red Sox in the AL – even though they let Johnny Damon, who looks a LOT like me, go. So let’s get it on!!

mikey

ack, insert “to be quite ironic” before semicolon in the above

It’s actually pretty sad that, Fox Sports aside, sports reporting is generally the most honest stuff we get. Can anyone imagine if Tom Delay got the same scrutiny as Maurice Clarett? When sports figures screw up, the media hounds them to death. When politicos screw up, they get shows on Fox News.

Since the Cubs were DOA this year, I like the Reds to take the NL Central. Of course, it doesn’t matter since the Mets are taking the whole league. If the White Sox don’t make it, I gotta root for Detroit. The Yankees in the playoffs is as tired as the Braves.

The Yankees in the playoffs is as tired as the Braves.

Amen to that.

I’d take a pause to gloat over the woes of those despicable Red Sox if my precious Blue Jays weren’t in an even more desperate position. You know what’s sad? The Jays are going to have a better record than 2 or 3 of the NL teams making the playoffs, and probably the AL West team, and still have nothing to show for it. That’s what happens when you have to compete with the bloated, unholy bankrolls of New York, Chicago, and Boston. At this point, I’m rooting for Detroit.

A Brad sports post with no reference to Papi? (OK, no direct reference?)

Looks like that 12-step program is working out. I think our boy’s going to be allllllright.

Dayn’s really good, and a friend; and I think Rosenthal is good (though he may not be entirely human what with his seemingly robotic ability to post a column, like, every 20 minutes), but yeah, this article is stupid, Brad.

Still, for gold standard of baseball pundit stupidity, read Baseball Prospectus’s archives from, say, 2002 to 2004. What a bunch of sneering assholes they were. It’s like the Commentary of sports journalism.

It’s actually pretty sad that, Fox Sports aside, sports reporting is generally the most honest stuff we get.

To take that in a slightly different direction, I remember someone, somewhere (Attaturk?) remarking on something similar fairly recently; when ESPN.com did a three part series on the death of Pat Tillman (1, 2, 3), it was better and more critical journalism than you’d normally find in most “serious” media.

Keep in mind that Keith Olbermann started as a sports journalist.

To take that in a slightly different direction, I remember someone, somewhere (Attaturk?) remarking on something similar fairly recently; when ESPN.com did a three part series on the death of Pat Tillman (1, 2, 3), it was better and more critical journalism than you’d normally find in most “serious� media.

Yep. WaPo deserves credit for starting the ball rolling.

Keep in mind that Keith Olbermann started as a sports journalist.

And the best investigative journalism outside of Sy Hersh this year has been the CHRONICLE’S reporting on Balco.

The Jays are going to have a better record than 2 or 3 of the NL teams making the playoffs, and probably the AL West team, and still have nothing to show for it. That’s what happens when you have to compete with the bloated, unholy bankrolls of New York, Chicago, and Boston.

It’s also what you get when you get 20 games per year against the D-Rays and Orioles. There are no teams in the AL West as bad as those two teams.

Dayn’s really good, and a friend;

Wha-huh?!?! Libertarian Dayn Perry and Retardo are friends? Having personally met Dayn a few times, I can attest to him being a pretty good guy, although one of those times we were all so drunk at the end of the night that he could have been a total asshole and I wouldn’t have remembered. But I’m shocked, given his position (or at least former position) on steroids, and all of his other baggage, that you consider him a friend. Then again, he comes off as a real prince compared to some of your other BTF foes.

It’s also what you get when you get 20 games per year against the D-Rays and Orioles. There are no teams in the AL West as bad as those two teams.

There are also no two teams in the AL West as good (or financially endowed) as NY and Boston. Toronto gets 20 games against them too. I sincerely doubt the Rangers and the Mariners would be approaching .500 on the season if they had to swim with those sharks.

MLB playoffs ought to mimic the NHL, with 8 teams from each league making it to the finals and facing off as determined by seeding. And if anyone wants to gripe about the season dragging on too long, I’d happily concede 25 or so regular season games to make time.

That’s why I only read Jose Melendez and Bill Simmons.

I loathe Bill Simmons.

words cannot properly express my loathing.

Wha-huh?!?! Libertarian Dayn Perry and Retardo are friends? Having personally met Dayn a few times, I can attest to him being a pretty good guy, although one of those times we were all so drunk at the end of the night that he could have been a total asshole and I wouldn’t have remembered. But I’m shocked, given his position (or at least former position) on steroids, and all of his other baggage, that you consider him a friend. Then again, he comes off as a real prince compared to some of your other BTF foes.

Aww, c’mon, Shreds. You have a terrible position on steroids and I still like you! Hell, Assparrot has a terrible position on steroids *and* likes Barry Bonds, and I think he’s okay too. Everybody has their depravities. 😀

Dayn and I were always able to argue fairly civilly, sorta like me and David Jones. And they’ve come around quite a bit politically. No, there’s only one real all-around scumbag on that site, and we both know who that god-awful human being is.

Speaking of whom, I really wish he’d start blogging again so I could thrash him here. The rat bastard.

I loathe Bill Simmons.

words cannot properly express my loathing.

Seconded. His fanboys usually say to such criticism “But…but…it’s how buddies talk about sports, it’s just he writes it down”. Well, if any of my friends starting dropping stale Pearl Jam references in to the conversation (see also: Chuck “Farking Awful” Klosterman), they’d get a punch in the arm, a STFU and a glare. Just because asshats like Simmons grew up on Nick sat Night doesn’t mean they need to inflict their tedious irony on the rest of us.

Oh, and fuck the Sawx AND the Stankees, who, it should be noted, are OWNED by the Angels (who have the only winning record against NY apart from Seattle in the last five years or so). I turned on Sports Center last night to get the scores and there was a feature about what a great weekend Mike Lowell was having. The dolts in Bristol are convinced that the rest of the country gives a damn about those two dreary teams as they do.

Speaking of Dayn or speaking of Assparrot?

Oh, and speaking of steroids – I trust all those who whine and moan about steroids in baseball will be boycotting the upcoming NFL season … given that, like, every single person who has ever donned a football helmet professionally was or is on steroids (including that donkey who kicked field goals in the ’70s).

Hmmm? Nah, the awful human being I was talking about, and whom Shreds alluded to, was neither you nor Dayn.

I am so happy to hear that other people hate Bill Simmons as much as I do. Also, I don’t hate him nearly as much, but Peter King sucks as well. The only thing you learn from his column is that he consumes about two pounds of caffeine a day and that Tom Brady is soooo dreamy.

No, there’s only one real all-around scumbag on that site, and we both know who that god-awful human being is.

RossCW? 🙂

All kidding aside, though, RossCW was a total dick.

Assparrot — I dont care about football. Also, the “roid monsters” in football dont set records that anyone cares about. Nor do legions of illiterate panglossian hacks try to convince the world that “steroid monster” linebacker “X” of 2006 is just light years of talent ahead of, say, Jack Fucking Lambert.

Hah aww man. I loved RossCW. You have to admit his politics were decent at least.

I havent posted there in a long time, since BL got kicked out. It’s probably a glibertarian playground again. Hell, and with BL and Ross both gone, Voros might even come back. Ugh.

Just because asshats like Simmons grew up on Nick sat Night doesn’t mean they need to inflict their tedious irony on the rest of us.

word. When your sports to “pop culture” ratio is about 1:50, it is time to reevaluate. Or get an editor.

Plus, his low-grade, unconscious sexism just drives me batty. Try some reflection, you incompetant, privileged moron.
I swear that guy is one bad latte away from Gregg Easterbrook territory.

Since we are trashing sports columnists, how about a word for the good one:. King Kauffman is just abou the only reason outsde of Peter Dauo to read Salon.

And, sadly, that’s about it. Most sports columnists range for the mildly tolerable (giys like Simmons and Stark) to the downright awful.

Junior Seau just retired. That poor bastard. Almost an entire career with the same team, 12 straight Pro Bowls, practically a shoo-in for Canton and now that nobody wants him San Diego’s getting competitive.

The breaks.

Hah aww man. I loved RossCW. You have to admit his politics were decent at least.

The problem was you could write a five paragraph argument, and Ross would pick out some miniscule unimportant sliver of a sentence where there might be debate, and all of the sudden, that was the only argument that mattered. 50 posts later you were arguing something stupid that had no relevant connection to the original point. It was maddening. And he would do it constantly. And no matter what the argument was, he had to be the contrarian.

Seriously, he was a dick.

Sorry, Retardo, we’re gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. The whole steroids panic is bullshit. Every major league hitter has the power to hit the ball out of the park. The ONLY possible thing that juice does for ML ballplayers has a LOT more to do with longevity than with strength. The ability to come back from workouts and injuries more quickly. Home runs, RBIs and hits come from practiced skills and hand-eye coordination. The contribution to records made by steroids, HGH and other Performance Enhancers is minimal. How many home runs do you really think Arnold Schwartzeneger could hit?

It was more a case of staying even with the others. Science is going to make a contribution to big-money sports, might as well start trying to figure out how to make it work, not how to ban it. Banning it only leads to some players having an advantage. Hell, didn’t you read “Ball Four?”. Bouton said back in, what, ’63, that if you offered a ML pitcher a pill that could guarantee him 20 wins but take ten years off his life, he’d take it every time?

Jeez, it ain’t even ABOUT steroids. The quality of play we’re seeing now, and thru the playoffs, is directly related to the lack of greenies, not juice. Having a 162 game season and testing for amphetamines is stupid and cruel. Speed pills have been a part of Baseball for decades. It does NOBODY any good, not the players, not the owners, not the fans, nobody, to prevent the use of greenies….

mikey

Having a 162 game season and testing for amphetamines is stupid and cruel.

Hear hear. Keeping in mind the players are spending six months off and on airplanes and in and out of hotel rooms. You try staying fresh and sharp under those conditions without a little North Dallas Forty-style help!

Gotta disagree with you, Mikey. The best seasons ever compiled by a major league hitter, in terms of OPS+ (which is league and park adjusted):

1. Barry Bonds, 2002 (age 37)
2. Barry Bonds, 2001 (age 36)
3. Barry Bonds, 2004 (age 39)

Bonds’ best non-roid season was in 1993, at age 28. That’s tied for 36th all time. Now, either Barry Bonds figured out how to play baseball a hell of a lot better all of a sudden at age 37, or the ‘roids were giving him a huge boost. The performance of a major league hitter should not spike at age 36.

Can’t argue. Dood, I don’t DENY the existence or use of steroids. I just say they don’t matter. OPS is a stathead number. The day HoF membership is based on stats, fuck it man, I’m gonna learn the rules of soccer. Look at Bonds in ’04. There’s vids. How much of that was strength? I mean, sure, he was bulked up. But that plate discipline? That ability to see, select and center HIS pitch? The MoFo got maybe, what, TWO pitches per game to hit? Man, don’t let the juice freakout make you miss that incredible performance. Give anybody south of Pujols the same juice and tell ’em to do the same thing. In REAL GAMES! Sorry, unless he was taking something I’m not familiar with (actually, he was – HGH is what makes your head huge), I ain’t gonna buy it. Not at that level. Now maybe he would have been injured at that age without the juice. Fair argument. But maybe he WOULDN’T! Look, my friend, you’re gonna get “doping” at the genome level in THIS generation. Again, banning it ain’t gonna work. When will people learn the lesson of prohibition? You’ve got to find a way to INCORPORATE science into sport or you’re doomed to this tail – chase…

mikey

sorry mikey – I know you are a Giants fan and all, but I have to go with JK47 on this. and I am an O’s fan from birth. Remember Brady Anderson? 1996 is looking a little suspicious, no?

1992 21
1993 13
1994 12
1995 16
1996 50
1997 18
1998 18
1999 24
2000 19

Bonds was a great player even before the ‘roids, and the numbers he put up in those ‘roid glory years are beyond ridiculous. Here’s his formula for success:

1. Bulk up to NFL linebacker size by taking megadoses of HGH
2. Wear enormous protective device on right arm
3. Stand .0000001 inches away from home plate
4. Take anything not directly over the plate; this works well because pitchers don’t like to throw strikes to Barry Bonds On Steroids
5. Jerk everything else over the wall in RF

I didn’t find it a lot of fun to watch, to be honest.

Assparrot — I dont care about football. Also, the “roid monsters� in football dont set records that anyone cares about.

True that. Lots of people care about baseball records. Let me just throw out some numbers: 56. .406. 714. 191. 511. 110. 60. 67. 4189. 177. 36. 59.

Most students of baseball will be able to immediately fit the record to most or all of the above numbers.* Without a doubt, baseball is about records. And the aura around the numbers above demonstrate just how sacred and cherished those records are.

But, Retardo, you know the great thing about the above records? They’re all that much more remarkable than modern records, because all were set before 1947, when the integration of African Americans in baseball made it a whole lot easier to perform magnificent feats on the field of play … because, you know, the competition became so much more diluted after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

Why imagine if Ted Williams got to face Satchel Paige several times in 1941! He probably would have hit .500!

Or if Walter Johnson had taken the mound late in his career against lineups featuring such easy outs as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard … is there any doubt he would have added another dozen shutouts to his career record?!?

Why, the real shame isn’t that Barry Bonds is ‘roiding his way to the career home run record … it’s that Babe Ruth got robbed of, like, the hundreds more homers he would have hit if only he didn’t have to play in only day games (when it’s so much harder to see the ball than at night) … and didn’t get to lick his chops at the sight of a modern closer in the ninth inning … and, most tragically, didn’t get to compete against all the crappy Black and Latino players that destroyed the talent level in the sport long after the Babe retired.

* For those who aren’t students of baseball:
56 – DiMaggio’s record hitting streak (1941).
.406 – Last .400 batting average over a season in baseball, by Ted Williams (1941)
714 – Career HR record held by Babe Ruth (1914-1935) until broken by Hank Aaron
191 – Single-season RBI record, by Hack Wilson (1930)
511 – Record for career pitching victories, by Cy Young (1890-1911)
110 – Most career pitching shutouts, by Walter Johnson (1907-1927)
60 – Single-season HR record, by Babe Ruth (1927) until broken by Roger Maris
67 – Single-season doubles record, by Earl Webb (1931)
4189 – Most career hits, by Ty Cobb (1905-1928) until broken by Pete Rose
36 – Single-season triples record, by Chief Wilson (1912)
59 – Single-season pitching victories record, by ‘Old Hoss’ Radbourn (1884)

I didn’t find it a lot of fun to watch, to be honest.

JK. Were you ever in the phone (PacBell Park) in 2000, ’01 or ’02? It wasn’t just Bonds. It was Aurelia. It was Nen, coming out in the 9th to “Smoke on the Water”. It was “Who Let the Dogs Out”. Dammit, man, it WAS fun. It was heady stuff. New park, superstar Left Fielder, every fan plugged into what was happening. Hey Brad, sound familiar? Sure, we fell seven outs short, but I was THERE, goddamit, and it was FUN!! And folks, isn’t that the whole idea? Just what the fuck are you buying when you walk in a stadium?

mikey

Almost forgot my favorite. Benito. Crazy-ass knife fighter at catcher. Too old, never had the damn skills, he had the grit to hold the damn team together and do what have to be the greatest, funniest post-game interviews in history…

mikey

little known fact: my high school was named after Walter Johnson.

Just what the fuck are you buying when you walk in a stadium?

at PacBell? a $10 beer.

Neerp. *Many* $10.00 beers…

mikey

36 – Single-season triples record, by Chief Wilson (1912)

This has less to do with integration and more to do with ballpark construction.

Sure, we fell seven outs short

Five. And what a sweet, sweet comeback that was.

Oh, and FYI, the Vladi G posts are me, Retardo. I’m in the process of slowly changing handles on political blogs, and apparently what’s saved here is different than what’s saved on my work computer. I fully expect an expose by Pattycakes to out me.

Oh, and FYI, the Vladi G posts are me, Retardo.

Well, not “me, Retardo”. Me, (addressed to) Retardo. Sorry for the confusion.

Sure, we fell seven outs short

Five. And what a sweet, sweet comeback that was.

Dammit. I want to be able to know what that’s like. In Januarry of ’82, I went into San Francisco. Didn’t know jack diddley about football. But the forty niners won the superbowl and I wanted to know what that was about. Know what? It was FUN, dammiit. Fun…

mikey

Re Bill Simmons: Yes, the low-grade unconscious sexism is bothersome, and his relentless adoration of Pearl Jam and Springsteen marks him as one of those people who think they like music but actually don’t.

(Sidebar: I have an upstairs neighbor, half of a couple in their 50s, who twice a month or so, usually on a Saturday afternoon, digs about an inch deep into his CD collection and blasts out a two-hour set of his very favorites at what must be about 135 dB. I couldn’t hear it any more clearly if the speakers were in my mouth. This would be problematic if I liked his taste, but as it happens what he really goes for is Eric Clapton circa 1988, CSN circa 1988, Sinatra, one particularly maddening song seemingly by Robert Palmer I’ve never heard anywhere else, plus the very very most famous R & B of the late 50s-early 60s. I mention all this solely because in 2030 Bill Simmons’s downstairs neighbor will be experiencing something analogous [or would be if there was a chance in hell that Bill Simmons will be living anywhere but the suburbs at age 55].)

And despite all the stuff about the Red Sox, his lack of Bill James/Baseball Prospectus training means that on some crucial level he just doesn’t get a lot of how baseball works. And I’d be perfectly happy if he never wrote the words “Las” or “Vegas” ever again.

All that said, I like him. On the NFL, very mainstream movies, TV, and a lot of other stuff I’m not overly invested in, he’s generally pretty funny. Even on baseball he’s definitely an extremely observant–practically vigilant–viewer, and despite his essentially antistats perspective he manages to notice a lot of important stuff that most sportswriters never get to. And on the NBA he’s the best writer alive. I can totally see why some people find him irritating, but at his very worst he’s still part of the solution, not the problem.

Dammit. I want to be able to know what that’s like.

I still cry a little bit when I watch the DVD. And I felt the tears welling up a couple of time while recently reading a book about the history of the Angels.

Dang! I leave town for a few days and KC finally wins a game or two. Win or lose, watching the TBones (http://www.tbonesbaseball.com/) is a lot more entertaining.

on the NBA he’s the best writer alive.

I just read this out loud and my husband is lying here twitching. and sputtering.

“In Dec. Bill Simmons wrote a column trashing Kobe for leaving a game where scored 63 points in 3 quarters, saying Kobe blew it, he would never get another chance. That January Kobe scored 82 points in one game. Simmons responded by defending his December column as still being accurate. Bill S. knows less about the NBA than any other subject and obviously has nude pictures of ESPN brass.” – Kathleen’s husband.

He made me type that.

Mr. BB – I did like your comment, and the neighbor story totally made me laugh. To each his own – I am glad Simmons has some fans who are funny and articulate. 🙂

We are just awaiting the Yankees annual late season pitching meltdown. Sadly it usually happens in the playoffs which would be bad news for the Sox.

Oh well, at least we can look forward to A-Rod’s playoff Flopapalooza.

Mikey, at least you have one of the best mano a mano moments in recent sports history: Bob Costas or soemeon asking Bonds about the then phenom KRod an getting Back “I’ll jack one over the wall next time.” and damned if he didn’t, I swear that was the most remarkable playoff run I’ve ever seen, never thought one man could carry a team like that in baseball (offensively at least).
Happiness is both Boston and New York missing the playoffs (though, the effin’ Jays, more specifically Joe Carter caused one of my childhood traumas– fuck you Joe, Wild Thing Forever! :).

Simmons has his monets but he’s definitely lost a step since moving to L.A., as for his sexism, I hope your not refering to the WNBA shots he takes, because honestly they’re pretty true– its boring and over promoted.

er moments not Monets, though one could make the argument that– never mind.

The WNBA remark was made while fully acknowledging that things like Title IX are right and justifed, professional sports on the other hand must meet another standard.

If we had lost to any Tigers other than the 2006 Tiger’s, i’d be pissed.

For now, this is par for the course, with extra slugging.

Another Angels fan here (since 1974, to fend off bandwagon hopper accusations). The thing I loved about the 2002 WS win more than anything was the storyline was so clear: the collective (the anonymous, hard working Angels who never said DIE) v. the individiual (Mr. Roids). As a socialist, that was pretty cool.

Um, I’m coming close to the territory that Roy @ Alicublog mocks when it o comes to wingnuts and movies and Top 50 Conservative Rock Songs Evah.

The only bummer about 2002: the fucking Rally Monkey.

One more Bill Simmons thing: he lives here in Los Angeles. Another Least Coaster that moved here and clogs up the freeways. I bet he he sits at the Coffee Bean on Beverly and works on a script. Bastard.

Kathleen: It seems like your husband and I may not find much common ground on this Simmons/NBA thing. I went back and reread the two Kobe columns, and I’m not seeing the problem: In the first one Simmons says Kobe was crazy not to go for 80 against the Mavs when he could, as it was the kind of thing that can redefine a player, etc (yeah, he hammered a little too hard on the he’ll-never-get-a-chance-like-that-again angle, but that’s a genuine occupational hazard), and in the second one he essentially says, see? Kobe scored 80 and, sure enough, he redefined himself (i.e., as something besides [as Simmons puts it] “selfish gunner who destroyed a potential dynasty”). (And he did; this redefinition, unfortunately, lasted only through halftime of Game Seven against the Suns.) So what exactly was Simmons’s crime here?

I also totally give Simmons credit for trying to keep alive Kobe’s attempt to nickname himself “Mamba.”

The thing I loved about the 2002 WS win more than anything was the storyline was so clear: the collective (the anonymous, hard working Angels who never said DIE) v. the individiual (Mr. Roids). As a socialist, that was pretty cool.

Fuck that noise. I mean, if you’re an Angels fan, fine, you get some leeway in blowing that kind of smoke out of your ass … but if you’re a disinterested observer … please. Spare us.

I’ll just counter with the fact that Giants management didn’t blackmail SF taxpayers to get a publicly funded stadium built … they built it themselves, unlike every other rapacious band of monopolists who run pro sports franchises throughout the United States.

So put that in your socialist narrative and smoke it.

I can’t believe nobody mentioned Skip Bayless. He is the most obnoxious sportswriter in the history of the world. Dude has had some mad Botox injections too.

The less said about Skip Bayless the better things are in the world.

I’d take a pause to gloat over the woes of those despicable Red Sox if my precious Blue Jays weren’t in an even more desperate position.

FINALLY, another Jays fan up in this piece.

And the original post is typical baseball press. If the Yankees lose a few games to a shit team, they have to “look inside themselves” and “regroup” behind their Lord and Savior, Derek Jeter, and maybe get some “better pitching performances” from such diamond luminaries as Kyle Farnsworth, Jaret Wright and Ron Villone.

However, if the Red Sox drop a few games to a shit team, they are “done” and “cooked” and “Manny’s too much of a flake.” Let’s not forget what team was “cooked” in the 2004 ALCS.

In closing, fuck the fucking Yankees.

That’s what happens when you have to compete with the bloated, unholy bankrolls of New York, Chicago, and Boston. At this point, I’m rooting for Detroit.

Detroit is owned by Mike Illitch, the founder of the Little Caesar’s pizza chain. He’s got rather a lot of money, too.

REDS! REDS! REDS! REDS! REDS!

It’s actually pretty sad that, Fox Sports aside, sports reporting is generally the most honest stuff we get.

Hunter Thompson said something along the lines that the box scores are the only objective information in the newspaper.

King Kauffman is just abou the only reason outsde of Peter Dauo to read Salon.

And Tom Tomorrow, Keith Knight and Ruben Bolling. Although you can find their cartoons elsewhere.

I’ll just counter with the fact that Giants management didn’t blackmail SF taxpayers to get a publicly funded stadium built … they built it themselves, unlike every other rapacious band of monopolists who run pro sports franchises throughout the United States.

So put that in your socialist narrative and smoke it.

Um … pwned?

As long as we’re extolling the virtues of socialist baseball, the Detroit Tigers strive resolutely to defeat the bourgeois East Coasters, smiting them with the solidarity of 25 hands forged as a single hammer. And yes, Mr. Illich has a lot of “dough”; he turned the Red Wings into the Yankees of hockey, going out and signing other teams’ stars just because they had the best record in the NHL but got knocked out in the first round of the Cup again. They changed the rules just to keep him from stockpiling mid-range stars by throwing wads of money at them. And now, he expects to get it done with the re-re-retread Hasek.

This has less to do with integration and more to do with ballpark construction.

Vladi G/Seitz – that’s true. Also, the pitching records have more to do with the usage of pitchers then versus now. But the deeper point remains – that for all the hullabaloo about steroids and records these days, we ought to be at least as critical of records set before integration (I think we ought to be way more critical, in fact …)

[i]Nor do legions of illiterate panglossian hacks try to convince the world that “steroid monster� linebacker “X� of 2006 is just light years of talent ahead of, say, Jack Fucking Lambert.[/i]

The irony of this is that Jack Lambert was one of the pioneer steroid monsters. Dude was about a buck 80 when he played in college, and magically added 55 pounds of muscle in short order upon coming to Pittsburgh, the steroid capital of the world in the 1970’s (incidentally, Pittsburgh was also the cocaine and greenie capital of the world on the baseball side. The 1979 Pirates were more drug addled than Bodie Miller the night before a race).

The Steelers dynasty of the 70’s was built on drafting small, fast players who transformed into large, fast players under the watchful eye of the Pittsburgh trainers.

If the Reds promote Homer Bailey and put him in the rotation, they can win it all. Bailey, Harang, and Arroyo, backed by that offense, can win a short series. Without him, they will be lucky to make the playoffs, and have little shot once there. I mean hell, we all know he is going to be in the rotation next year, why not just call him up now?

Except for one thing.

Building a ballpark like the frigging Polo Grounds with the centerfield wall set at 424 feet never gave anyone a tumor.

Why am I an Orioles fan? Who the hell knows. Poor life choice made when I was younger.

I havent posted there in a long time, since BL got kicked out.

Whoa, I just saw this line, so I’m just now responding, but if Backlasher’s been kicked out, they have a funny way of enforcing it. He was all over the Cancer Kid Intentional Walk thread yesterday and the day before.

Fuck that noise. I mean, if you’re an Angels fan, fine, you get some leeway in blowing that kind of smoke out of your ass … but if you’re a disinterested observer … please. Spare us.

So put that in your socialist narrative and smoke it.

Um, great rant that I agree with re: funding of ballparks (it’s why the NFL isn’t here, because the city refuses to pony up any money to build a stadium/rebuild the Coliseum) but I guess the fact that I was mocking myself for that by adding in that bit about Roy @ Alicublog didn’t register. I actually read that kind of nonsense on some Angels boards at the time and I mocked and scorned it just as heartily as you did. It’s just a fucking baseball game……

BL was banned for a total of 31 days and reinstated. Yesterday, JC, crispy, Jeff K. and Bernal Diaz were all banned. All have been reinstated except Jeff K.

Is assparrot a Primate?

What were these people all banned for? Man, Furtado’s a real dick. Shutting down on topic threads, banning people left and right. What the hell?

Shortly after you finished your last post, Jim closed the LL thread for comments and the Lupica thread (which was discussing the middle east) for comments. Many of the Lupica patrons went to an Arod thread and continued the Middle East Discussion and some others started a Star Wars discussion. Jim then deleted that thread.

In the lounge, Jeff K. indicated he was moving the Star Wars discussion to a thread that had been posted with no activety, and he responded there. In the lounge, crispy warned him that he would get banned. Jeff protested it was not a violation of the TOS. Shortly thereafter Jeff K. was banned and remains banned from the lounge. JC made a joke about Jim looking for a Pravda write up. Jim posted that posters lacked perspective. Shortly thereafter, Bernal, crispy and JC were all banned, but reinstated this AM. I am not aware of anything else they might have done. The only known word from administration was that the posters lacked perspective and needed to cool off. Anything more you will have to get from the sources themselves or Jim.

Wow. I hate to be the type who always talks about how great things were in the old days, but man, Furtado’s gone nuts.

I knew those threads had been closed, but I did not know that the discussion had moved on. And I’m really never in the lounge anymore, so I have no idea what goes on there.

Henry Holland – sorry for being all snarly, and for not picking up on the self mockery. Glad we agree!

Demogenes, cool. I just hate that whole George Will “baseball tells us deep myththings about the American character” school of writing; Bob Costas is another big offender. Sure, it does on some level: baseball was popular in a more rural-oriented time, football is more popular in an urban one etc. But they inflate a simple game, well simple except when you have to explain the infield fly rule, a simple game to give it all this heavy depth and meaning. I don’t think it can support that, to be honest.

As for stadiums and taxpayers, don’t get me started. They’re a scam, pure and simple. Study after study has shown they don’t really drive an economy in a particular area, which is always the big selling point. Escpecially for football stadiums, they’re often in suburbs and people come to the game, watch it and then go home. There was actually talk of, when Frank “Boston Carpetbagger” McCourt took over, of razing Dodger Stadium and building condos and shit on the land (current estimated value: $1 billion) and building a baseball stadium near Staples Center. That died a quick death when people realized that 81 times a year, the hideous traffic on the downtown surface streets would be even worse. A football stadium was mooted there, but AEG (owners of Staples) dropped out as soon as the city said “No city money”.

The situation with Los Angeles and the NFL just infuriates me. First the Rams abandoned their traditional –OK, traditional since they moved from Cleveland in 1950!– fan base near downtown to move to *shudder* OC. They helped transform the fine Anaheim Stadium in to a monstrosity, horrible for both football AND baseball. They made some horrible personnel moves (i.e. letting Eric Dickerson go to the Colts), the attendance dropped off and Georgia Frontiere couldn’t wait to high tail it St. Louis. With the Raiders, Al Davis, end of story.

If the NFL wants back in to Los Angeles, they’re going to have to pay for everything–either build a new stadium in –wait for it– Anaheim, next to Anaheim Stadium or completely raze the Coliseum except for the peristyle end with the Olympic torch. It’s going to cost, at minimum, $800 million, not to mention the cost of either relocating a current team or starting an expansion team (which will never fly here–only the Lakers and USC football get the luxury of sucking and still drawing well). At best, the city will pay for some road work and freeway work but even that is bitterly opposed. They could have helped the Rams out back in the 70’s to either find a new place or refurbish the Coliseum, but they punted, as it were.

Um, yeah, er, the Red Sox suck. 🙂