MrRain422

It's really amazing how many awesome rookie pitchers there are in the AL this year: Francisco Liriano Jonathan Papelbon (or was he up in the bigs for too long last year to be eligible for ROY?) Justin Verlander Jered Weaver What a group, eh? I think that Liriano gets it right now, but if Weaver continues to roll as he has, a good argument will exist for him as well. I don't know that there's really a formal definition for MVP, and consequently there's a huge argument ever year about whether one guy who is more important to his team deserves it more to another guy who had a better year. P

I don't know about "sure fire MVP", but there are several guys who are having the type of season that would put a player in contention for the MVP most seasons. Among those: David Ortiz Travis Hafner Jim Thome Vernon Wells Carl Crawford Justin Morneau Grady Sizemore Jermaine Dye Miguel Tejada Francisco Liriano Johan Santana A few others too...I'm not saying that they're all in equal contention (obviously Tejada, Morneau, Crawford, etc. aren't going to win it with the seasons that Ortiz, Hafner, etc. are having), but those guys are all having the type of season that will usually get their n

Papelbon is probably the best closer in the AL East, but to be the league MVP, a closer has to do some pretty amazing things. I mean, compare a closer (generally 1 inning per appearance, and not appearing in every game) to a solid starter (6-9 innings per appearance) or position player (generally a full game, every game). In order for that one inning every couple games to make that pitcher the MVP, it would have to be one of the all time greatest performances for a reliever over the course of a season. It's happened before, but it's rare, and in order for it to happen this year, there would

ESPN Fires Harold Reynolds It's a start. Hopefully Steve Phillips is next.

I think that if Mike MacDougal is actually healthy, then he's a pretty good pick up for the Sox. Obviously not a cure all for their problems, but I wouldn't underestimate his impact either. He's a very good pitcher. Alomar is a joke though. Sort of makes me really really happy.

Pitchfork is not allowing re-entry. :-/

Sandy Alomar, Jr.? Yikes.

Today I made my 2006 Comerica Park debut before hitting the road back to Chicago. Fun times. The Tigers had quite a first inning, and with the exception of one bad inning, pretty much cruised from there on out. Zumaya was pretty amazing to see up close like that. His stuff is filthy.

There are some guys who were indisputably horrible clubhouse guys (and much lesser players than A-Rod) who have won championships.

Inge is worthless in a trade. If you could trade him and a prospect for A-Rod, and the Yanks would pick up some of A-Rod's salary, then of course you make the trade. Obviously you'd have to be careful not to give up too much of your future, but if you're in position to make a World Series run, and especially for a team like the Tigers who are not in that position very often, then you have to make the trade. Especially considering that A-Rod's history of poor postseason performance is mostly made up and antecdotal. He certainly had a bad ALDS last year, but overall he's actually been ver

Randy Johnson hasn't led the Yanks to a championship, and in fact has been largely disappointing in the regular season since joining the Yankees, too. But how much criticism does he receive from those fans? Also, how long do those earlier championships count for the other players? Do past championships forever get you a free pass for all future play? I understand that the fans want a championship, I just don't understand why A-Rod gets all the blame, when he's the largest reason that they keep making the playoffs to begin with.

He's still the best player on the team. Not having his best season, but from one season to the next, there aren't too many other guys in baseball who I'd take over A-Rod. I hate the guy, but he's clearly one of the best players in the game. I've never understood why so much blame for the Yankees failure to win a championship in the last few years has been placed on A-Rod. As if he was the only one playing these last few seasons. He won the friggin' MVP award last year, and he clearly deserved it. And yet lots of fans talk about him as if he sucks. The reason the Yanks haven't won in

I was just about to comment on how fucking stupid that stolen base attempt was by the Jays, but then Vernon Wells hit a homerun so it sort of became a moot point.

you got it right

http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php Click on "Imagining the Tenth Dimension" and watch the Flash thing. I'd never really understood it this way before. Awesome.

TIGERS!

In fairness to that idiot, Monroe is awfully streaky, and when he's bad, he's real bad. Thames has surpassed Monroe by a long shot. If the Tigers somehow manage to snag Abreu, Monroe is the one to be benched.

I think if I were Mike Tyson, I'd want to see some fucking blood tests before I fought him. Of course Mike Tyson is way crazier than me, so he probably wouldn't.

Apparently Tommy Morrison now claims that he doesn't have HIV, and that his test had been a false positive. I don't know if this is true or not, but considering the amount of blood involved in a heavyweight boxing match, who would actually step into the ring with this guy at this point? That being said, if Morrison comes back, I'll be watching. Anyone else?

Seems like an odd choice to be his very first veto.

It's a rumor floating around a fantasy baseball message board that I read occassionally. The poster claims that it comes from a credible source, but who knows. I know that I did read somewhere about a month ago (I think SI.com but I'm not certain) that the Braves wanted Linebrink, but I can't verify for certain what sort of offer they've made.

Supposedly the Braves have offered Betemit for Scott Linebrink.

On the way out of the Cubs game tonight, I saw a bus hit a cop car.

Thank you for that. I look forward to reading it after I head home from work.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, regular season success is success. Sure, the big goal is to win the World Series, but I don't see why so many people are so eager to blow off regular season success as if it's meaningless.