MrRain422

The thing is, they spend the money. It's not like the ownership isn't willing to put up the money necessary to field a winning team, they're just not competent at spending that money wisely. This year they had the 7th highest payroll in baseball, ahead of 5 of the 8 playoff teams.

You like him better than Girardi? Or is he just your #1 choice with Girardi certainly gone?

Not their ideal rotation, but that doesn't look all bad. Certainly good enough to win the NL. Anyone think that the next manager of the Nats might be Dusty Baker?

It hurts. They still have a chance, but it certainly doesn't bode well for them that they're playing so poorly at this point in the season. They might have robbed me of seeing a playoff game though, as my tickets are for the second home game, which won't happen if they get swept now that they don't have homefield advantage in the first round. D'oh.

I thought that AGIB was just demos. Still waiting on that final version to come out...

Not really.

Can any one of them really file a lawsuit at this point though? They don't even know for sure that they were implicated. Grimsley has not named them publicly, and thus far they haven't faced any sort of legal problems because of Grimley's supposed statements to the federal investigators. It's just rumors floating around -- not enough for a lawsuit (I wouldn't think).

I'm down for the bar. I already came home from the bar tonight, but I also locked up my fantasy baseball league, and I have my winnings to spend. Hit me up.

These are two most excellent choices. I hope to never hear any again. Let me go on the record now, though, to say that, if I ever commit crimes against my country, that I deserve to be tortured with Billy Joel and Kansas records. Certainly among the worst things ever recorded.

Make History by Thunderbirds Are Now! Their last album, Justamustache was my favorite album of '05. This new one isn't quite as good, but it isn't too far behind. This is one of my favorite bands in the world right now. They're incredibly fun, high energy, tight as all hell.

I know you're going for fairness in saying this, but I think a statement like this gives the guys currently in power way too much credit, and excuses them far too much. There is certainly no doubt that both major parties have quite a bit of curruption in their histories, but statements like this, IMO, imply that both parties are equal in their corruption and at this particular point in history, it's simply not true. The Democrats are certainly spineless, and they definately have some bad guys amongst them, but right now, the Republicans are exponentially worse, and I think sweeping statement

They also aren't promoting YHF anymore.

Getting swept by the Royals to end the season is unacceptable.

Buck O'Neil is the man.

What does Olver Stone mean that we have been set back 10 years? I thought things were comparitively pretty good 10 years ago. Being set back 10 years would be an improvement.

It's true. The press reports what the government spokespeople say. They never comment on how truthful it is. That's not news.

In fairness, the Second Amendment is a lot more ambiguous about how protected that right is than the First Amendment is, especially when you consider the historical circumstances surrounding the creation of the Second Amendment.

Right on.

I'll get in on this: AL MVP: Johan Cy: Johan ROY: Verlander Manager: Leyland will win, but I think Gardenhire might be more deserving Comeback: Thomas NL MVP: I don't buy the argument that the MVP has to come from a good team, so I'd give it to Soriano. Of the playoff (or potential playoff) teams, I'd give it to Pujols, but it will probably go to Howard Cy: Webb ROY: Uggla Manager: Girardi Comeback: Sure, give it to Nomar

Moneyball never argued that.

Just curious who the 5 that you're assuming will come in ahead of them are. I don't follow the NL nearly as closely as the AL, but the only NL players I can think of who will probably come in ahead of him are: Dan Uggla Ryan Zimmerman Cole Hammels (I guess) Prince Fielder (maybe? that's a stretch) Who else? Another Marlins rookie?

Honestly, I'm not sure that his views on religion have been made known very clearly. The Loose Fur album definately shows a disdain for religious dogma, but that's not the same as religion itself.

That was my first thought, too. That's quite a head of hair for a newborn. Anyway, that's a good lookin' baby. Congrats.

Eh, the Gold Glove award is always awarded for questionable reasons. It's usually more of a career achievement award than anything else--nearly every year there are at least 3 or 4 veteran stars who win the award over a new guy who clearly had a better year. As far as the major awards go, it's a pretty big joke. If Sanchez won the Rookie of the Year, I certainly wouldn't argue with it, but I'm sure you understand how only playing part of the year would work against him. It's the same reason that Justin Verlander will probably win in the A.L. over Liriano (who, if he didn't get hurt, would

Wright plays in New York and Cabrera plays in Florida. The extra attention for Wright is pretty obvious. Sanchez's ROTY chances are hurt by the fact that he wasn't in the Majors for the first couple months. That being said, the Marlins still have a great shot at getting the award via Dan Uggla, although apparently Ryan Zimmerman is getting a lot of voters on his side in the last few weeks. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it was probably more exciting to be a Marlins fan in the two years in which they won the World Series. That being said, they exceeded expectations this ye