Tom Strange

Honestly, I think no-hitter from the beginning of every ball game I watch...I'm always hoping for something unique or unusual to happen...If my team hasn't gotten a hit by the first time through the order, I start getting impatient and yelling at somebody to get a hit, for pete's sake...

Me too! ...sadly though, it's usually only a one inning thing with the stRangers!

yeah... there's got to be some sort of review process... one of the Ray's pitchers, I think it was Matt Garza, carried a no hitter into the seventh (I think) and the center fielder ran in to make the catch, got there in time and the ball bounced off the side of his glove... it was a tough play, but he had an easy chance to make it... the OFFICIAL scorer ruled it a hit... Garza was furious... a little later another stRanger got a hit but who knows what would have happened? we were told that you can only appeal to the scorer who made the ruling and it stops with him/her...

Kimberly... how thoughtful of you to "care" how people pass their time... what do you "waste your thoughts on"?

Oh... I've read your post in the other thread... I see what you "waste your time on"...

Jamie Kotsay is of course lovely, but looks about as thin as the baseball bat she's swinging. Feed her a couple Fenway Franks.

IMO she looks just fine in this photo that mstar posted earlier...

sure... maybe a couple of franks wouldn't hurt her but she looks just fine to me...!

Here we are again.. leading the LAAofA for the third game... let's see what wondrous work the bullpen can do tonight... amazingly, we've gotten some fairly good starting pitching this series wouldn't you say Hiway?

Psalmie, has your husband ever tried car sales? I know that around here they hire all the time and they're very thankful when they can get someone dependable in there.

Hang in there! ...you're not alone.

Mine said "leader" top and then "motivator"... I think I'll motivate myself to go play golf tomorrow...

Debra Winger was in Wonder Girl?

I know he's often described as "the dufus okie" but even he's smart enough to know that his gravy train will stop if he doesn't "lay low"...

This must be another one of your "older" songs eh GSG?

question: is that a line within the song or the first line?

that's hilarious! ...the only thing it lists is that he's married to Jamie... which is something to be proud of IMO!

(I have some other thoughts about her, but this is a family place after all!)

cool... Hamilton still is putting on a show during BP so if you can get there early for that, do so. He's trailed off a bit which is to be expected I guess. Part of it was when Bradley was out of the lineup for so long and he lost his protection (which did wonders for Marlon Byrd's at bats)... and part of it is that he's never played more than around 90 games in one season before... but he's still a joy to watch... as are a few others on the team.

We almost had ya last night... on the upside, that's two good starts in two outings for McCarthy since coming up (and after his little tutoring session with El Presidente)

starMan: should we be expecting a call from Theo re: Millwood? I just saw where Beckett is headed to Alabama to see the doc and made some rumblings about "his career" being on the line... at least Millwood might buy you guys some time for Beckett to heal...

TBone! you and the lovely Tonto went to see LLAHLB? I almost went to that...

Good map Dave, but (speaking from experience) I'd just stay on I-35 until Dallas... that other way will cost you a few hours (especially the US75 part)... and then, once you get to Dallas (since you like to drive) I'll just ride with you! Of course, we'll have to load up the Legacy with all the beer before we leave...

I had a Subaru once... good car... is the spare tire still under the hood?

Hope you can make it bro! I know that if you can, you will...

yes... but do they have a complimentary breakfast?

tough day at the park for this kid:

http://view.break.com/562764 - Watch more free videos

another one!!!???!!! aren't they supposed to wait a little while between them?

Raf, what's this WAG? I thought we had "cones"...

the model they're showing on the weather here in DFW tonight has it making it to "only" a Cat3 when it hits between New Orleans and Houston... and they're leaning towards Houston... but those things change all the time.

Dave! doncha know you can just hitchhike? yeah... just get out there on I-35 and stick yer thumb out!

I get what you all are saying... I've never disputed that... I just want consistency, as much as humanly possible... and it seems worse to me this year...

I don't care if it's a high zone, a low zone or a wide zone... just be consistent with it.

I haven't even started on how sometimes umpires "squeeze" pitchers either... but that happens evey now and then.

(and please don't take all of this personal Lifted... it's not directed at you... unless you've worked some of the stRanger games this year)

HIWAY: ARE YOU GOING TO GO SEE ROY HOBBS THIS WEEKEND while they're in town for the Angels?

"Breakin'" ???? was that about a bunch of kids spinning around like turtles on their backs?

(not that I've ever done that to a turtle, I saw it in the cartoons)

The thing is that it doesn't "err in anyone's favor" because the calls are so inconsistent...

Pitcher throws the ball and it's called a ball. So the pitcher throws to the same location again, the batter takes it because it was a ball (and it clearly was a ball) and the ump calls it a strike.

In the reverse situation, the pitcher throws a ball and it's called a strike, he goes back to the same location the next pitch or the one after and it's called a ball.

They're very inconsistent... like I said, I'm familiar with adjustments by hitters and pitchers, but that only works when the calls are consistent.

Most of the time the calls are inconsistent on both sides but there have been games where it sure looks like they're calling them loose for one side and tight for the other.

I'm referring to the strike zone... and yes, I notice them erring in our favor as well... I'm not using it as an excuse.

I used to think along the lines that it's OK, the pitchers and hitters will adjust their strike zones to what the ump is calling.

But (at least this year) I've noticed in a vast majority of games (if I had to put a number on it I'd say 70% to 80%) there's no consistency at all and frustration on both the hitters and pitchers parts... they're calling the same pitch differently... at least according to the little laser box (which I am assuming to be 'in a fixed position')

buy one of those small storage sheds from Home Depot or Lowes, tie them and gag them and don't let them out until they're 21...

ask away... there are a lot of folks here who are very successful parents of children who have gone through the teen years (not me, of course)

I do think niKa plans on bringing her kiddos... just bring something that they can entertain themselves with or we'll have to play "tie the kid up and see how long it takes them to escape"...

speaking of our pitching... remember how I told you that sometimes... well, I guess I should say rarely... they act like they know how to pitch?

I know it's against the Royals, but we didn't walk anyone in the series until today in the third inning (of this third game)... and yes, we won the other two...

frustrating...

but the freaking umpires are still inconsistent... and I'm certainly not using that as an excuse for our poor pitching, just stating it.

but there is still time for you to pick up Millwood... oh, and how stRange... Padilla's neck pain has flaired up again so he's been scratched for his start in Disneyland.

I think I'm in love with her starman...

The way those boxes work is that the lasers project a box that is even with the front edge of the plate... heck, they could even probably project a visible box up there... but it ain't gonna happen anyway... so not to worry! uhaul will have to find something else to sponsor...

but I gotta tell ya... these umps gotta get better with their consistency because they're not!

Besides... you can still get Millwood to eat up some innings for you!

(last two outings: 2 complete games, 1 run each)