simonzelotes

Just to clarify for our audience at home, I meant that Brandon Webb's been phenomenal .... Thanks for getting the tixx....I'll pick up some pistachios....

Torre did a lot of that himself in his playing days with St. Louis...He wasn't a full time catcher, but would often switch between catcher, third base and first base...

Here, I is...Nice pic there, mstar---'tho you look like one of those guys that should be selling contraband near the ballpark... Yeah, that balk was a wierd call--but the right one...Wierd things can and do happen...Hank Aaron wouldn't have had to wait a whole season to break' the Babe's record if he hadn't called time in a particular game...I forget what year it was, but it seems Hammerin' Hank was at the plate and called for time...The plate ump granted timeout, but too late for the pitcher to stop his delivery...Hank evidently liked the pitch so much that he swung at it and deposited it into the bleachers for an apparent homerun--only to have the homer nullified by the plate ump because a timeout had been requested and granted, thereby making it a dead play... Seems like some of the teams are cooling off a bit and the season is starting to play itself out...D-backs were the last to get a hiccup and lost three out of four and some of the hot bats have cooled off...Rocky and I are going to see Brandon Webb go for his eighth straight win on Thursday...He's been phenominal... Cubs are starting to play like the Cubs I grew up loving---avoiding a seven game losing streak by sandwiching a 19-5 victory amid all those one run losses...When you're down by two runs and you're on third and the tying run is on base behind you, what are you doing getting thrown out at the plate on a pitch that got away?...They say Kosuke "We don't want no stinkin' dome" Fukudome has really helped bring patience to the Cub hitters--taking walks and looking for good fastballs to hit, etc. ...'Course they tend to go back to their old trigger-happy ways late in the game when they got the pitcher on the ropes... But it's a long season---another 4/5ths still to go...Pitchers are more and more becoming better hitters, led of course by Micah Owings...Bob Brenly likes to talk about how somehow, between Little League, where your best pitcher is also your homerun leader and best athlete in general, and the Majors, the pitcher often becomes totally useless as a hitter...Even in highschool, they practice the designated hitter and pitchers don't get to work on hitting skills---hoping to be drafted into the AL, I guess...Nice to see Roy Holliday throw four straight complete games...

Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs on winning their 10,000th game, a ten inning affair against Hap's Colorado Rockies...Of course, the winning pitcher in this milestone game was none other than Kerry Wood---who earned the victory by coming in to pitch in the 9th, blowing the save, then being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the tenth, who ended up scoring the winning run... Meanwhile, Greg Maddux pitches seven innings of 4-hit shutout ball, issuing no walks in a 75 pitch thing of beauty, and is denied his 350th victory when Trevor Hoffman blows the save in the 9th... Only in baseball....

I no longer have my Corps Vet t-shirt but I do have a Camaro t-shirt...

Good pic there, mstar... Outside of going to one spring training game with Rock, I've seen one other game on the telly, and that's been it so far...I think I need to relax a little more...

Go Cats!...Minor League baseball is pretty cool, actually...Speaking of pitchers arms falling off, I was watching the game on ESPN last year when Glavine won his 300th...It got me thinking, and I could be wrong, but it seems like there's actually been a proportionate increase in 300 game winners since the 5-man rotation...

Thanks, man...Well,we are getting close to Spring Training, and 'tho I normally don't get into the business end of things, either, I do look forward to the Hope that Spring springs eternally for all the Cubbie fans and the rest of the baseball crowd...Sometimes one wonders if the powers that be in Cubs camp don't want the team to succeed---it only adds to their mystique...Who knows?...Cubs win the World Series, peace is reached in the Middle East, cures for cancer and AIDS are discovered, Jimmy Hoffa is found alive, the budget is balanced and wives and girlfriends voluntarily give blo jobs even when they're not drunk---It could upset the great balance of things as we know them...

Loved that pic of "Three fingers" Brown's pitching hand, Mstar...And he pitched before the famed Wrigley Field was built and Martin Luther King led those "We shall overcome" marches... They had an article in the biz section of yesterday's Arizona Republic (or Repugnic, as Rocky so affectionately calls it) about some of the complications of the sale of the Chicago Cubs...Seems the current owner wants to sell the team and the stadium separately to bring in more $$$, but it also complicates the sale, as not owning the stadium would take some control away from the new team owners...What I don't get, is with all the games sold out,national and regional cable televising and not a whole lot of money spent on the stadium in the last century or so, the team is supposedly losing money???...I mean, if teams like Kansas City, Pittsburgh or Cincinatti, whom nobody cares about outside of their local markets can stay afloat, how can the Cubs, who are to baseball what the Catholic Church is to religion, lose money????...Sure, Wrigley Field is still named Wrigley Field, and not Cialis Park or Playtex Stadium, so they're not making money on naming rights, and they still have the least amount of billboard advertising in the majors, but I would think all the cable revenue would more than make up for that...

Thanks, Mstar...I live right down the street here from the New England Pats fan club headquarters,here in Phoenix...A place called The Vine, where Rocky and I have had lunch quite a few times... The place was really a' rockin' and a rollin' all weekend...I passed it by last night, about a half hour after the game was over and it, of course, was emptier than a Mogen-David bottle outside a soup kitchen...It's really disheartening to be right there on the cusp of destiny---in fact, all time greatness--only to have it shattered in one quarter of football...I couldn't help but feel bad for all those fans, who were no longer there---on their way home and wishing football had never been invented...Not to rub it in, but this has got to be one of the toughest team losses, disappointments, that sports has seen for sometime...Thank God for baseball...

One has to salute the Pats as the greatest team to not win a championship---which of course is little consolation...18-1 is a great season, unless the "1" is your last game...People usually forget the Superbowl loser rather quickly, but in the Patriots case,they'll be talked about for a long time... I have a question for anybody who understands how reviewing calls via instant replay works...When the Pats punted in the third quarter on 4th and 2, Belichek threw in the red flag, challenging, and winning that their were 12 Giants on the field...He was correct, of course, but how can you reverse a non-call?...Lots of infractions happen in the course of a game that are not called by the refs---holding, pass interference, face masks etal...If the ref misses a 'grabbing the facemask' penalty, the coach can't ask for a replay and get the refs to call the penalty after the replay....So, how can the ref be allowed to call 'too many men', when he missed it the first time, but caught it in the replay booth?....

That reminds me of something that's been eating at me for years, Tom... Does "Love Potion Number Nine" start with : I took my troubles down to Madam Rue You know that gypsy with the gold tattoo" or "I took my troubles down to Madam Ruth You know that gypsy with the gold capped tooth" ?

Happy B-day stRangeman...I wanted to extend my greetings here because this is page 162 of the baseball thread,and beings how there's 162 games in a regular baseball season,I wanted to be sure and say something on this page... Goddammit, this is the start of page 163...I'm sure this means the Cubs won't win the World Series this year...

So, evidently, you want to keep in line with the greasespot cafe's objective to "tell the other side of the story"....as opposed to telling the whole story...'Horray for you'...So is this a closed poll?...Those not abused need not participate...Can we still read the thread?...How about offer up a comment?... Why not stretch the definition of abuse,as you seem intent on doing, so we can all participate and no one feels left out?....Then the poll can be titled "How I was abused by the way: let me count thy ways"...Maybe one by one we can all declare ourselves perpertrators or victims of the most scandalous,evilest, seed-of-the-serpent-est empire that ever walked the earth...We can all denounce every waking moment of our way years as being totally worthless,...wasted days and wasted nights, followed by months and years of wandering o' so aimlessly,until we saw the light when greasespot came into our lives...Then we can have a nice community of victims--holding hands,hugging and crying on eachother's shoulders---waiting for that newbie to come along so that we can rescue him or her into our fold... I know that this is just one little poll, and you're right, it won't be a true measure of abuse or percentages, regardless of what answers are put in there..To tell you the truth, I don't hardly participate in polls, anyway...Furthermore, I usually stay away from these abuse topics---at least I did the first four or five hundred times I've seen them come up in the 'about the way' category...But, I've got time invested in GSC like anybody else here, and I also have about 15 years invested in twi...I won't say to somebody who was a sexual abuse victim at the hands of a man of God "I feel your pain", because I can't, and won't, feel their pain...But I can offer up words of sympathy,hope and encouragement...I have found hope and encouragement to be more helpful than sympathy...Maybe not everybody agrees,but it's what I do best... But, I suppose, this thread can go the way of the many others---if you can't say something nasty, don't say anything at all...After all,what could possibly be cathartic about opposing perspectives?...I don't consider myself anybody's healer here,but I do consider a few as friends...Sometimes, I think of the words of Jesus,when he was being crucified, regarding his killers: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do"...I know,I know---those rat bastards in the way that perpertrated the abuse knew exactly what they were doing...Does it really make all that much difference,now?... BTW, the poll shows that there were two abuse and four attempts by VP or LCM...The rest were by other way leadership and seven were counseled to have abortions,but not specifically who did the counseling...While that's certainly too many, my follow-up question would be where do the victims go from here?...

Wouldn't the poll be more representative of the community if one of the answers was "I was never sexually abused while in the way"?...

Thanks for posting that,Miller...I'm still waiting for Danny to put up some pictures of his '55 pickup somewhere... Is that guy from your neck of the woods?...There was a guy from Minnie who at one time expressed interest in a '60 squarebird I've been "working on" for 20 or so years...I go to the Barret-Jackson auctions most every year,and even though everything sold there is a little too high falutant for me, they say that drooling and dreaming is good for the soul... I don't think the car will bring a million dollars...It's a beautiful restoration and all,but this particular Italien was unveiled after the T-Bird was really enjoying it's glory years...Had it been a Mustang bodied concept car,...an idea that sparked a whole generation of Mustangs,he may get his million...I was at the B/J auction when one of the concept cars brought 3.5 mil. It was a '53 Oldsmobile convertible---but not just any Oldsmobile---it was the car that GM used as a take-off to begin mass-producing the Corvette...A concept car that breeds a successful production car will bring in much more than a car whose idea was scrapped...

Well, you have to tip your hat and salute the Pats...They've had a bullseye on their back since about half way through the season...Other than the Ravens game, where a little bit of luck helped them out(stopped on fourth and 1 in the waning moments,only to have the play nullified by their own false start penalty),they have met every challenged tossed their way...They're a great team,exciting to watch,and I'm glad I was around to witness their historical season...

Growing up a Packer fan in the '60's (who is that Lombardi trophy named after again,Tom ),I admit,I got uneasy when pro football dynasties begin to emerge...I hated it when the Dolphins went 17-0 (the Pack never did), when Joe Montana got more rings than Bart Starr, and frankly, I can't stand to see that scowling s.o.b., Belichek's face on the Patriot sidelines...But,like they say,you have to give the devil his due...If the Pats win the Super Bowl,this will be what,they're 4th in the last seven years?... I almost feel like Belichek,Brady and co. were bound and determined to end all arguments and put on the field the best football team ever assembled in one season...For all the championships won by the Starrs,the Bradshaws and the Montanas,they never really held individual records like a Marino or a Manning...And regardless of what players and coaches say about "we just want to win the championship this year",quite simply,I think Brady wants to put to rest that he's a greater quarterback than Payton Manning,and that Bill Belichek is one of the greatest football coaches of all time...Fans like numbers and stats,and the Pats are giving them to us in barrelfuls this year...If the Pats complete their undefeated Super Bowl mission,and years from now you line them up with the great championship teams of all time,I don't see any other team even coming close,...stastically speaking,of course...

Thanks for the Christmas wishes mStar....Speaking of 'roids. they must slip 'em into every bowl of New England clam chowder eaten by your professional athletes out there ...What the heck is going on?...Bosox win the World Series,Pats are 15-0, Brady, Moss and co. are breaking every significant offensive record in the books and the Celts are 22-3???....HELLO-O-O- sports gods!! There are two hundred million something sports fans who DON'T live in Boston who would love to have something to cheer about this year!....These have really got to be the glory years for New Englander sports fans..I wonder if there has ever been a year when one city swept all three of the major sports championships...Anyway,enjoy the ride and feliz navidad....

Thank you all very much...It's been a good birhtday...

Nika,I wish only good things for you and mom...Keep a smile in your heart.... John Henry,....I think you are a very Just man....you are always welcome at the ex-way...

I thought it was a double,but Holliday didn't reach down at all to try and cut it off...Definitely not a webgem...

Well,Rocky you kinda got my curiosity going so I checked with a place called Clem's Baseball and it looks like seven baseball teams currently play under a dome or retractable roof...They are: Arizona, Milwaukee,Florida,Toronto,Minnesota,Seattle and Houston...According to ol' Clem,the defunct Montreal Expos also played in a domed stadium...Pittsburgh,San Diego and the rest either play under a "roof", "roofette" or are "open stadiums"...I guess a roof and a roofette cover some or all of the seating areas but leave the field open to the elements...As a roofer,you'd think a fella like me would know the difference between a "roof" and a "roofette", but all I can think of is that a roofette is a girl roof...I've never had a customer call me to come and fix their roofette,...not yette,anyways... Btw,you made a point last week about the stadium scoreboard not showing the replay of a questionable call at Chase field....I think you'll find that it's standard fare for MLB to not show close plays to the home town crowd---I believe the umpires union lobbied for that...Otherwise,the hometown scoreboard operator might only choose to replay calls that went against the hometown team and whip the fans into a lather against the umpires...

Well,it's pretty obvious why you need a roof in Arizona---every day sunny and 115 degrees during baseball season...The only other covered stadiums I can think of are in Minneapolis,Toronto and Seattle...I'm not sure what their weather issues are prompting an indoor baseball park...But I think most fans enjoy baseball as an outdoor summertime activity---something that should be played in an open air field rather than an indoor arena...One problem is that the baseball season,like football season keeps getting longer and longer and the popst season goes on nearly into November... I think it's about time to pull the Injuns starting pitcher....He hasn't had an easy inning yet...

Who was that Senator's guy that pitched a complete 16 inning game and struck out 21 batters?...Gawd,he musta thrown 200 pitches that game...When the Expos moved to Washington,I wish they would have used the Senators name instead of the Nationals...