Tom Strange

I was able to get four out of five... guess I'm just not that good of a fan... but I was just guessing because I wasn't sure when the hall opened... While I was checking I did find out that today 8/18, is Roberto Clemente's birthday... so... happening day Roberto! I had your baseball glove during all of my little league and pony league years... oh.. and now the stRangers ARE going to move Blalock to first when he comes off the DL and to keep Chris Davis' bat in the lineup he'll move across the field to third...

my first thought is that it's not the same as Robinson... his number is retired with the NYY isn't it? ...that's enough for me.

Mosh... get thee to the BBQ! dave... you too! just head south on I35 and give me a call when you get to DFW, we'll pool from there!

yeah... we got shutout last night... that's two games in a row.. Garza was very sharp for the Rays and Millwood (fresh off of the DL, second time for the right groin) was fine for his first 70 pitches... then the home runs started jumping out of the park... why they left him in any longer I don't know, he only had one rehab start at AA (for less than 50 pitches I think)... anyway... starman, are you sure that box is set up like you say? Ours is done by two cameras set up on either side of the plate, shooting the front edge of the plate and then run through a computer... now, the perspective they show you is from the center field camera but it's pretty accurate (I think) and at the very least it's consistent... WHICH THE UMPIRES ARE NOT. I used to be with you on the 'hitters and pitchers making adjustments' thing, but there's been way too much inconsistency with every crew that's been through here... and even in those games we played at Fenway... one pitch would be called a ball, the next pitch would almost be in the very same place and it would be called a strike... it happened a number of times in every game... no consistency by the umpire. I would like them to use "the box" and use replay for home run disputes but keep the umps for everything else... Anyway... I forgot to add this 'sour note' the other day... Padilla has been the strongest starter we've got but as with "Manny being Manny" we have "Padilla being Padilla"... and what I mean by that is (with too much regularity) he comes up with a 'sore neck' like he did the other night when he's facing a strong team in a park he might not necessarily like... I'll bet a bazillion dollars there was no 'sore neck'... but then there's no way to prove that is there? And another thing... IS DICE-K ALWAYS SO "BUSH"??? ...what the he!! was he doing going head hunting on Kinsler with an 8 run lead? that's Krap...

...I probably should've added "not that it would make much difference to our pitchers"! just heard that our ERA for the three games in Beantown was over 17, no big surprise there though... maybe we should've let Drew pitch, or Clay Council... Geisha, just found out that Byrd had listed the stRangers as one of his eight in his 'no trade'... that's why they weren't in the discussion

I just wish they'd use that little box to call balls and strikes...

keyreck bfh.. your turn

Some folks are born made to wave the flag Ooh they're red, white and blue

I'm just mad about Saffron

dealing limb swine ?????

hey! maybe GSG will cook something up in the lab for us!

well.. it's gotta weigh heavy on the position players minds, it's the elephant in the room, but you don't hear them complain about it... they'll answer questions if asked but they don't point fingers... OK, so Hunter was just out of college at this time last year and started the year in low A, he's been to Fenway and thrown one good inning... he'll be back (hopefully)... now you get the MadDog again who was an outfielder in the Angels farm system in '06... maybe he can go two innings! Can we ask Drew if he'll pitch? ...and besides, DiceK has an ERA of 7 against us so maybe we can score some as well... maybe not as many as y'all, but some... :) It's just so hard to catch those balls when they're bouncing off of that big green wall...

I didn't realize it but Veritek did something that no one else has done this year... nailed Kinsler (we don't count that one in the All Star 'exhibition' where the replay showed he was safe!)

yeah.. our chances don't look good... but I know they'll try... heck, Salty is playing with a fracture in his foot and Michael has had a broken ring finger for about three weeks now... but they'll try... this kid pitching for us tonight brings high heat but I don't think that will matter much to Papi or Youkilis... they'll probably be drooling on the way to home plate...

OK... must pack earplugs... (if dooj is going to sing)... TBone: I'm sure there will be plenty of snacks to eat out on the table beforehand...

oh we took some pitchers... and we have quite a few "very promising" ones working their way up... but this guy was too good to pass up (and the best on the board when it was our turn)... he really is a Tex starter kit including going to college in Georgia! ...the only reason you won't see him up here in 2 years is if "Crush" Davis is still going strong (who got called up in June and won July rookie of the month honors)... you can watch him bat tonight since Roy went to be with his wife...

just heard that 8 out of the top 11 draft picks are still unsigned (most of them at the front of the line) with less than 36 hours left to sign them... I know our pick, Smoat, who is a Texeira starter kit hasn't signed at number 11 because he's waiting to see what the others are going to get... it's frustrating... heck, any of us would probably pay them to let us play (back then when we thought we could play)... and each of these guys is probably going to get at least a million dollar signing bonus (and probably a lot more) and they're waiting to see... to make sure they don't settle for too little???

yeah... I don't know how that schedule thing works either... but it does seem that we play an unbalanced number of road games in the first half and home games in the second... to me, it would make more sense if we played more home games against the northern teams early since we usually have pretty good weather at that time... it makes no sense to me that we're traveling to the northern cities in April (and early May) where the temps are in the 40s and 50s and it's in the 70s and 80s here... and of course the northern teams could travel to each other so that they'd have some at home... plus, as I said earlier, I don't know whether it's a blessing or a curse to have these long homestands in August and September... it really seems to drain them...

sounds like Millwood... he hasn't really panned out here like we thought he would when we got him... I hope we're at least sniffing around on Washburn, he eats innings, even though his ERA is somewhere around 4.50 (which would probably translate to 5 here) he'd still have the lowest on the staff... we should be able to get him for something from the minors (as long as it's not a pitcher... one of the contributing factors to us getting into this position was that Millwood and Padilla were supposed to be 'bridge' signings that got us through until our young pitching was ready... but now Danks, Volquez, Gallaraga and Young are all somewhere else and pitching fairly well... that was Hick's influence... hopefully with El Presidente (apparently) in charge we'll follow a different path and not trade them away... we've got some serious (very) young talent but at that level all a pitcher can have is potential... if A and AA ball pitchers all fullfilled their potential there wouldn't be such a premium every year in free agency... (and no, Nolan never was our or anyone elses pitching coach, just a very successful minor league team owner)

so... starman... did you find yourself saying (like in 'Butch Cassidy')... "who are these guys!!" the Nation that I saw on TV didn't look too happy there in the top of the ninth until that DP...! Lester pitched a good game. Good pitching usually beats good hitting. Now tomorrow... Hunter started in A ball this year, is 0-1 with a 10.61 ERA, against DiceK who is 13-2, with a 2.90 ERA could be a repeat of either of the first two games... which aint too good for my boys...

The reason Hamilton left the game is because his wife just went into labor... so he's out for tomorrow as well... where are his priorities!

starman... I told you not to run on Roy (or any of the others)... Lester seems to be rolling along pretty well... I told you we would've given you Laird for him! ...and to think, he was almost a stRanger! (in the arod deal)

I don't know... I think he's good, but he's best when he's a complimentary pitcher and we don't have anything for him to compliment... (that's just a guess) I don't know how he got through waivers either... I haven't noticed anything any worse than what Youkilis has been putting up there ...except for maybe Salty's wild throw to second (which is why I wanted Theo to take him rather than Laird)

Hank is a different kind of Steinbrenner isn't he? Well... that's a better start than last night's game...

yeah... I thought about adding "not that it makes much difference" in parenthesis after that note! we'll see what Mendoza brings... sometimes his splitter is very effective, sometimes not... one thing I do know though... they won't count themselves "out" until they've made 27 outs!