caliber66

So have all the spiders that have bitten me over my lifetime intended to kill and eat me? I will kill any cricket that I can find within earshot of me when I am trying to sleep, and my conscience is clear on that count. I have no problem killing earwigs, silverfishes, centipedes and mosquitoes on sight, but I try to be more gentle with other arthropods.

I don't know why you would want to do that, considering Ringo wrote and played most of the Beatles' bass lines.

You mean Guillaume Wagne?[/internet thievery]

Huh?

Are you having a bad day?

Debby Boone - "You Light Up My Life"

Jeff does actually post here occasionally.

"N" for nferior.

I feel the same way about Adrian Beltre playing third base without a cup as I feel about Coco Crisp charging the mound after being hit on the glute.

Just coming in to say let's agree to disagree.

I'm just saying that the other things I mentioned are used by players trying to get an edge. Intentionally hitting players is part of baseball, and it's not going away. I don't like it, and that's fine. Last I checked, intentionally throwing at batters is against the rules.

I am certain (enough) that the Boston pitchers intended to throw inside. I would bet my life that Junichi Tazawa did not intentionally hit Miguel Cabrera with a 0-2 pitch barely off the plate with two on and nobody out in the first inning of his first Major League start. It is certainly possible, however unlikely, that Brad Penney intentionally hit Miguel Cabrera with another pitch that was barely off the plate as he was leading off the fourth inning of a game Boston was leading 4-0. Maybe he was pissed about Placido Polanco showboating about his bloop single the previous inning. Again, both p

BigRay posted a new thread this week in JAF.

Well, that's the point. Cabrera crowded the plate and got hit twice by inside, but not egregious - and certainly not intentional - pitches. Youkilis got hit by pitches directed at the middle of his back. The Cabrera HBPs were not "retaliation". I really don't care that much either way about the elbow pads, but I agree that they make batters more likely to crowd the plate. And I agree that something needs to be done about it - either correctly call the pitches that strike batters who are out of position or fail to make an attempt to avoid the pitch, or ban the pads on otherwise healthy player

Is the proposed government plan a single-payer system, or an option to HMOs/private health insurance that many people cannot afford? As I understand it, under the government plan you would have the option of choosing between the government option and one less likely to decide your great uncle Chuck is unfit to live.

Who should hire the person who decides whether or not you have your care withheld? The profit-driven millionaire who runs your HMO?

I still don't have a problem with batters wearing protective gear on their elbows. If they get hit, they get hit, and if they get hit while their elbow is over the plate, call it a strike. If it's inside, but they fail to make an attempt to get out of the way, call it a ball. Catchers wear gear to protect them from pitched balls. Batters wear helmets for the same reason. What does it hurt to allow them to protect their arms as well as their heads (and ankles)?

Well, I don't really have a problem with players wearing protective gear (especially those who tend to foul the ball off their feet a lot because that shit HURTS), but again, I don't see any need for pitchers to "protect" hitters who wear protective gear because they tend to get hit a lot due to the way they choose to address the plate. I also don't really see what is so much more manly about throwing a ball 90 MPH at someone from 60 feet away than meeting the pitcher at the mound to discuss your differences. I think both are stupid.

Yeah, but it seems to me that it doesn't work that way much in the NL either. Generally if it's a batter getting hit on one team, the other team is going to take out another batter, not the pitcher. I have no evidence to back up this claim, however.

bumpity Still one manager needed.

Not trying to resurrect yesterday's discussion (not re: Tuesday's specific incident, anyway), but the "pitchers hitting as a deterrent to HBP" angle doesn't hold up, really. There's no discernible difference in HBP rates between the two leagues, and as we know, pitchers only bat in one league. AL, HBPs per game: 2009 - .32 2008 - .36 2007 - .36 2006 - .35 2005 - .36 2004 - .40 NL, HBPs per game: 2009 - .34 2008 - .33 2007 - .36 2006 - .40 2005 - .38 2004 - .36 Now, if you're suggesting that pitchers should hit because at least then the right person might be targeted for retaliation, then

According to the A.P., Les Paul died today at 94. Waiting on a link.

How many points is it worth in baseball?

I don't understand the question, and I think I've explained my thoughts on this situation, and intentional HBPs in general, pretty well.