Yet Another OOTP6 Dynasty: The Pale Hose

[Vris]

Wow. Now that has to feel real good, considering you were expecting less than nothing from this game. It certainly does feel good to win a game like that, over a division leader no less!

As for player of the game, why not D. Y. for giving you the versatility to actually sit Magpipes and let everyone get involved in this game? Though, Raul had a real good game, as did Backup Catcher, but esteemed Clubhouse Hothead had a large hit late, in pinch hitting duties as well. Everyone came up big as the Pale Hose put a hurting to the Tribe's collective ERA. Congrats on the win.

Now, about those Red Sox, thank god my favorite team is the Braves. Ha! Though I hate to see the Red Sox lose to the Yankees. Ever. The Yankees should be disbanded. I'll stop now...

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by UngratefulDead

Wow.. didn't think you could but those last two games but the Pale Hose always have a few surprises up their sleeve. And you got to flex your managerial muscles. Feel happy about that until this slot rolls around again on the rotation

Yeah, I think it was just dumb luck or something, but a win is a win, and two of 'em is always dandy. Loaiza really is a piece of...work, though.

Originally Posted by Vris

Wow. Now that has to feel real good, considering you were expecting less than nothing from this game. It certainly does feel good to win a game like that, over a division leader no less!

As for player of the game, why not D. Y. for giving you the versatility to actually sit Magpipes and let everyone get involved in this game? Though, Raul had a real good game, as did Backup Catcher, but esteemed Clubhouse Hothead had a large hit late, in pinch hitting duties as well. Everyone came up big as the Pale Hose put a hurting to the Tribe's collective ERA. Congrats on the win.

Now, about those Red Sox, thank god my favorite team is the Braves. Ha! Though I hate to see the Red Sox lose to the Yankees. Ever. The Yankees should be disbanded. I'll stop now...

You know, I didn't even realize it until you said it now, but we did just take 2 out of 3 from a division leader. Even better.

And it really was a team effort...chalk it up to the warm weather making the ball fly, or something.

But you're really a Braves fan? From a guy that's lived in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania? That's certainly different...but it could be worse.

You could be a Mets fan.

[cknox0723]

This would be slightly more interesting if Vris was the typical Bostonian who, like, rooted for Red Sox, but it's sort of interesting nonetheless. Especially because the Red Sox suck. BWAHAHAHA! 1918, baby!

I promise I'll never do that again.

And I'm not even going to mention how INSAAAAAANE that last series was, either. It's time to focus on Boston, our last series before the All-Star Break. They may be 46-40, but we can take 'em.

They really aren't very good, anyway, even if they have won eight of eleven. Well...their pitching's pretty freaking scary, and that's with D. Lowe and A.J. Burnett, solid pitchers both, on the disabled list. Speaking of Burnett, is it just me or have the Marlins had another fire sale? Josh Beckett's a Tribesman (Yes, I know the colors are screwed up. I blame Markus, of course. Let's blame Markus for everything!!11!), Burnett's in Beantown...and Mike Redmond's a Cub. Next thing you know, Miami will be hit by a hurricane or something.

You know, I just typed all of that and didn't really say anything? Well, anything of substance, at least. I'm trying to dance around the issue -- the issue of the Boston pitching staff, which is quite good. Well, Danys Baez has an ERA near seven, and the back end of the rotation is looking a little shoddy with all the injuries, but...

Pedro has an ERA of 1.68, right in line with what he's done the last couple of years (in the game, of course -- because he's awful this year! HA! gah...sorry). Nasty little sub-1.00 WHIP, too. Luis Rivera would approve. Bronson Arroyo, who we'll see in the first game, has been a strike throwing machine this year - just 16 walks in 78 innings, and so he's got a career best 3.23 ERA. B.K. Kim's worked out about as well as he actually has, which is to say not well at all. At least he's giving the Sox league-average innings in this reality, though. That Other Martinez Guy, Anastacio, the rookie that we clubbed around a few weeks ago, he's toting a lofty 2.25 ERA through six starts. I still pick Jon Rauch amongst 27 year old rookies. Timmy Wakefield's around, too. I hope we face him - I love the floater.

The 'pen's just nasty, from Keith Foulke to Scott Williamson to J.C. Romero to Bartolome Fortunato. There's not a weak link in that group. Baez has pitched about more like Joan, but it's not a big deal when you've got a quartet that rivals Emerson's Strings. And Colter Bean rounds out the relief corps. A knuckleballer and a sidearmer. If it wasn't the Red Sox, I could almost like these guys.

The lineup makes me like them, but only because we'll face it. It's an ugly, ugly group. You have Bill Mueller, Nomar Garciaparra (ha!), and the two-headed titan of Michel Hernandez and Vance Wilson behind the plate (hitting a combined .360!), but there is nothing else. Scott Spiezio is the new J.T. Snow at first, I guess, but the rest of the lineup is just putrid. Behold...

PLAYER		AVG	OBP	SLG
R. Alomar	.198	.283	.261
M. Ramirez	.239	.329	.343
J. Damon	.244	.308	.385
K. Millar	.240	.272	.410

That's ugly - indescribably so. That's worse than Juan Uribe-ugly.

Oh, and that second guy there? Check the name again...

Yes, yes, that is Manny Ramirez, believe it or not. The other names have explanations tied to them - Alomar's ancient, Damon probably has his hair down to his ankles at this point, making it kind of tough to hit, and Millar's plate discipline has gone into the toilet along with his batting average.

But Manny? His OPS was an even 1000 last season. He hit .307 in April. Since then, he's 46 for 218, which is a .211 clip. I can't explain it, but I like it. A lot.

Anyhow, those are the Other Sox, in a clam shell. $87 million buys a pretty good pitching staff, but by virtue of Fenway turning into the old Polo Grounds, or something like that, the team's not going to hit enough to make up six games in the wild card race, even if it is only July. Oh well...not as if Sox fans aren't familiar with waiting 'til next year.

[Vris]

All right. I can't sit here and take that anymore. I might be a Braves fan, but the Red Sox are my hometown team dammit! 1918 my ass, you Spank-Mes fan! God I hate the Yankees, and their fans.

But looking at that group, it is pretty sad. Good thing Pedro is a God in this game (cause that what he is in real life. HA!11!) And lets not get into Nomar, please. Touchy subject in my house. My brother is still holding a grudge.

Anyways, take 'em Craig. You can handle this group.

[UngratefulDead]

I find that Pedro is one of the pitchers captured best by OOTP. He always seems to post insane ERAs and a high winning percentage even in his off seasons.

[cknox0723]

chortle...Spank-Mes...Red Sux...too bad we're just the Pale Hose.

(Ah, and the best part about Pedro's dominance is that we don't face him this series, it doesn't look like. )

OK, let's play some ball...

Lest we (and by we, I don't mean anyone, really) get some undue confidence in Jon Garland based on his halfway-decent last start, I just got a glimpse of his component ERA. It's 6.08. That's why he's called Jon Moo, I think. Blech,

Bronson Arroyo, on the other hand, has a component ERA three and a half runs lower, at 2.50. Their actual ERA's are about a run apart, but I'll leave it up to the statheadzz to figure out what that means, if anything at all.

Arroyo's got an awful interesting name for a white boy from Florida. I'll have to look that one up, too. He's also a free agent after this season. Make a mental note of that - it might come into play in a few months.

OK, on to the....oooooh. Fenway Park sure is purrty. It's only a silly picture, but the shadows and the tint of the Monster and....

Ah, enough! I sound like a Son of Sam Horn, or something. Perhaps also mesmerized by the ballpark, like a bunch of green greenhorns, we go down in order in the top of the first. We're going to lose by sixty-five runs today.

Wait...I forgot. It must be the socks, because neither one of us can hit. Garland pitches a perfect first, too, capping off the inning by freezing Manny Ramirez with a, um, hellacious curveball. Hellacious, I tell you.

Joey Borchard gets the first hit of the ballgame, a one-out single in the top of the second. Arroyo throws a fit over this, walking Ramon Vazquez on four pitches to push a runner in scoring position. (Remember, too, that Arroyo doesn't walk anyone...) Enrique Wilson, Relief Ace comes up and smacks a double into that dingy corner in right, and we've got ourselves a one-zip lead. Jason "The Mime" LaRue steps up and continues both his and the team's hot hitting with a double into the left-field corner. Jon Garland, whose competence at the plate marves Al Leiter's, hits a high pop fly to center for the second out, but Julio Lugo takes a couple pitches way out of the strike zone (like, in the Framingham district), and hits Arroyo's third pitch of the at-bat on the nose, right back through the box for our fourth hit of the inning. It plates LaRue for the fourth run, and though D.Y. grounds out and we don't get a "BIG inning!" from the announcer, I'm pleased as punch. What kind of expression is that, anyway? Punch? Like Kool-Aid?

Garland does his best to give it back in the bottom half, falling behind every hitter, but the incompetence of the Boston lineup wins out, and they don't get a man past first. The heart of our order tries to show off in the third, going for the long ball (chicks dig the long ball, you know), but doing that typical Pale Hose thing and hitting a bunch of fly balls instead.

Jonny Moo Quest allows but a walk in the bottom of the third. Where has my replacement-level punching bag gone?

The offense continues to sleepwalk, and Garland loses his no-hitter when Manny Ramirez and his mighty .238 average jump up to .240 with a line drive single to center. Congratulations, Boston - you've broken up a Jon Garland no-hitter in the fourth inning. That's something to tell the grandkids!

Garland, of course, responds by loading up the bases (doesn't that always happen?), but the fairy dust that's been sprinkled on Vance Wilson dissipates and he whiffs, and Alf grounds out to second to leave the Other Sox with nothing but a big goose egg. Choke on it.

Garland walks on five pitches to begin the fifth. I wonder if Bronson Arroyo is pitching with his left arm. A sacrifice by Julio Lugo does nothing but waste an out as D.Y. and Maggs go down with a whimper, and I'm left to ponder the utility of game winning RBI.

Arroyo leads off the fifth with a double off of the Monstah. Oh, Zeus. Two batters later, Bill Mueller singles to center, and that idiot Borchard's throw home is late, giving Mueller and his Macaroni an extra base. Garland falls behind Manny Ramirez, and his third pitch is his typical straight as an arrow fastball that gets roped to left for another hit. And that communist Dmitri tries to throw Mueller out at the plate...and he fails, like the communist he is. Now the tying run's at the plate, and sure enough, Nomar singles to left. Never before have I been so glad to see an outfielder just lob the ball back in as I was upon D.Y.'s toss.

But our lead's all but gone, and after a walk and Scott Spiezio single, it's a tie game. Mike Gallo comes in, but Vance Wilson, the devil that he is, swats his first pitch over the Monster. Two outs later, it's done, but they get the "BIG inning" tag. It's 7-4. ####.

But that's just the wakeup call our bats need, as Brad Fullmer starts the sixth with a line drive single to left and then...we go down in order. Yeah. Where's the snooze button?

Mike Gallo, who's about as faceless as they come, kind of, sort-of redeems himself with a one-two-three sixth, but we go down without a peep in the seventh and I know then that we're done. Sure enough, both sides trade zeroes the rest of the way, and we're left with a pretty demoralizing loss. Let's just pretend that Garland gave up seven in the first, OK?

CHW 4 BOS 7

WP: B. Arroyo (7-5) - 7.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 5 K (worst part - he only threw 98 pitches...we scored 4 runs off of him in one inning, but he still worked into the eighth)
LP: J. Garland (3-7) - 4.1 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 3 K (he'll be a free agent after this season, which makes this line a little less gag-worthy)
S: K. Foulke (19) - they were up three - does it really matter?

Game Ball Goes To... Akinori Otsuka, who hasn't given up a run in over a month, literally. Two scoreless innings. The offense, including Enrique Wilson and Jason LaRue, can go right and piss off. And tomorrow's going to be even more fun. What do I mean by that? You'll see soon enough...

[cknox0723]

I'm not very musically inclined, so if there's no such thing as B-minor, I apologize to the budding Strausses and DeBussies.

But I wanted to toss in a little minor league update here on everyone's favorite pitching prospects, both of whom have made their AA debuts.

Ray Butner's first taste of Birmingham was as sour as grapes. After 15 scoreless innings and 10 saves in single-A, he allowed three walks and a game-winning two-run single with two outs in the ninth to get his saddled with his first professional loss. His second appearance was much better, though - a scoreless inning, a strikeout, and a save. He walked two, which is perplexing, but he's a flamethrower. He's The Next Relief Ace. It'll come, and now he's got a save at the AA level a month after being drafted.

Speaking of a month after being drafted...Chris Scarborough is a beast. His AA debut was today, the same day as Jon Garland's disaster at the major league level. But this line saves it.

IP - 7.1
H - 4
R - 1
BB - 1
K - 9

And the win. Welcome to AA, Maine's Finest Fisherman. At this rate, he'll be making the disastrous outings of Jon Garland a distant memory by this time next year.

Ah, one more thing. There's a poll which y'all might be interested in. Sadly, it's not a "Hot or Not", but it's close.

I'm going to let that run for a day or two, so until then, I'll rummage around for random facts to toss in here so it doesn't just lie dormant.

So how about them Pale Hose?

[cknox0723]

The WILD THING! And if you call now and send in a low, low donation of $3.99 a month, next time we might even end up with an actual pitcher!

In a matchup that I find fascinating, Rick Ankiel will oppose Tim Wakefield. A contrast of styles, of people, of pitchers...it's an allegory, damn it. Like Plato and his caves, it's an allegory.

Wakefield gets Hacktastic Julio to top a floater and bounce to third, and both D.Y. and Maggs go down on strikes. Watch, after a poll and a couple of days and all of that, we're going to lose 25-0.

However, Rick Ankiel's first pitch of the game is within both batter's boxes, and Johnny Damon, blinded by his hair, hacks away and grounds out to second. Bill Mueller takes a fastball for a fast strike. What is going on here? The next pitch is a looping breaking ball, and Mueller lashes at it, roping a line drive -- right at Julio Lugo.

However, Wild Thing takes a moment to stop and reflect after that, and it's a bad horror movie after that. Manny Ramirez draws a free pass (oh boy, here it comes), and Kevin Millar gets a fat changeup on an 0-2 count and he rips it to the opposite field to put runners at the corners. But Scott Spiezio is one of the many in this lineup that can't hit, and he hits a comebacker. What do you know? Ankiel got through an inning!

Wakefield strikes out Brad Fullmer to start the second, and then Joe Borchard swings at a floater in the dirt on a full count. Pissed off, because, you know, the guy's throwing sixty friggin miles an hour, I tell Pasqua, the third base coach, to tell Ramon Vazquez to bunt. Of course, he fails, since he stopped hitting once the calendar turned to June, and he swings through a 2-2 fastball to strike out. Jeezum crow.

Vance Wilson, that possessed devil, bloops a single to begin the bottom of the second, but the bottom of the Red Sox order's coming. Even Rick Ankiel can get these guys out, right? I mean, half of 'em are hitting .200, aren't they?

Well, someone named Hanley Ramirez hits a slow ground ball down the third base line, which Enrique converts into an out at first through means unknown. Robby Alomar grounds to first for the second out, bringing up the pitcher. And Ankiel gets a 2-2 count on Wakefield...and throws a 55-foot two-seamer that gets past LaRue, allowing Vance to prance home. Damn. On the next pitch, Ankiel scorches a heater past Wake, and we can still see the forest from the trees. It's only the second inning. Never mind that we're being no-hit.

Enrique falls into a 1-2 rut to commence the third, and I'm pleased as punch when he just manages to hit a ground ball to short on the next floater. Hanley Ramirez bobbles it, and then I'm even more pleased than punch. Orange juice, perhaps, or iced tea. I don't know. Jason LaRue takes a couple of knucklers out of the strike zone and on 2-0, the way he's been hitting, he's got the green light. Wakefield goes with his "fastball", and LaRue crushes it...but right at Billy Mueller. Luckily, he bobbles the ball a bit, and the Other Sox only get the force at second. Ankiel, the "pitcher", draws a walk, and we're in business.

Except Julio Lugo, that dastardly fellow, is due up. He lets a couple of wobblers pass and the count's 2-0. But does the count even matter when Julio Lugo's up? Sure enough, he swings at the next pitch as it hits him. ####, what is wrong with him?

OK, I lied. He did get hit by a pitch, but I guess he checked his swing. Barely. But I've never seen that. I think I'm going to go start a new thread in the Discussions forum... (never again will I do that...)

Oh...bases loaded, one out for D.Y. And Wakefield falls behind two-oh, and if we weren't talking about a bunch of overpaid prima donnas, everybody would be jumping off the bench and pounding the, um, ground. As it is, I'm the only one doing that. Well, me and Juan Uribe, I guess.

And D.Y. hits a ground ball right to Bill Mueller -- 5-4-3 double play.

I fully expect everyone on our side to pack it in right then and there, and Alf leads off with a hard single to right, only serving to spell more doom. After a fielder's choice and a fly ball off the bat of the Struggling Manny (sounds like a magician), we only need one more out, and though Kevin Millar knocks a hit to right for the second time, Scott Spiezio grounds out, in the books as a 3-1 out. After all of that in three innings, we're still only down 1-0.

But we've got the heart of the order coming up, and we loaded the bases last inning! So what do we do?

Not. Take. The. Bat. Off. Our. Shoulder.

RF Magglio Ordonez:
Strikes out looking.

1B Brad Fullmer:
Strikes out looking.

CF Joe Borchard:
Strikes out looking.

####! ####! This is Tim Freaking Wakefield, not Hoyt Freaking Wilhelm, Phil Freaking Niekro, or John Freaking Mabry! Four innings, and we don't have any hits!

And Ankiel, who's unsurprisingly up around 50 pitches already, could blow it at this point and I wouldn't blame him. Instead, he strikes out Vance Wilson on three pitches, fans Hanley Ramirez on four, and gets The Alomarian State of Decay to line one right to Julio Lugo. I can feel it turning around. Here it goes...

Ramon Vazquez draws a walk to start the fifth. Oh, is he ever going to start running. Start the carousel, baby, start the carousel!

Oh. He can't get a good jump, as Enrique takes strike one. The pitcher throws a knuckleball, fer chrissake! Well, it was just one pitch...

"There are no outs.
The count is 0 and 1...
Wakefield looks to first, hesitates and works...
knuckleball...
Vazquez doesn't get a good jump.
the pitch is a strike...

It's a flipping knuckleball!!11!

Mercifully, a few pitches later, Enrique hits the ball about five feet, but it at least serves to move R-Vaz into scoring position. If he'd hit into a double play...

Of course, The Mime strikes out, bringing up the pitcher with two outs. But Wild Thing's not just a pitcher, damn it...he's two hundred and ten pounds of uncaged fury! He can hit a little, too, and he smacks a floater right back up the middle and through the infield for a base hit. Tie game! Good bye, no-hitter! Good bye, shut out! And Hacktastic Julio ropes a single! Open up the floodgates...

D.Y. gets a high knuckler on 0-1, and as a guy that used to throw the ball, let me tell you that any time the pitch is above the waist, it'll get creamed. Even the slumping D.Y.'s all over it, and he whacks the little white pill into the left field corner. Ankiel scores. Lugo scores from first. D.Y. gets two, and we're actually winning. Maggs falls into a two-strike pit, though, and he's struggled so much recently, both today and in the last couple of weeks, that I resign myself to trying to figure out a way to protect this two-run lead. Instead, Maggs finds a new routine -- fouling a pitch or two off, taking one out of the strike zone, and repeating until he's worked the count full. Eventually, Wakefield hangs one, and Ordonez clubs it in the general direction of the Monster. It's another double, it scores D.Y., and now we're up three. Even Brad Fullmer gets into the act, but he hits a shot right at, and actually off of, Tim Wakefield, and the pitcher's able to knock it down and toss it to first. And yet again, we're denied of the "BIG inning!" tag, but at least we got Wakefield's pitch count up!!11!

Chad Allen comes up for the pitcher's slot in the bottom of the fifth, and Ankiel passes him over. Oh no. But Johnny Damon follows with a bunt. Quoi? Even if it does get a runner in scoring position, you're down three. That makes as much sense as bunting in the first inning. (Hi Dusty!) And sure enough, the stat-savvy gods frown down on Mr. Francona's behavior, helping Julio Lugo make a backhanded stop of a hard-hit Bill Mueller shot to get out number two and forcing Kevin Millar's swing just a few inches up so he tops a fat pitch right back to Ankiel, ending the inning. The newest Disney blockbuster...Statheadzz In The Infield Grass?

Bartolome Fortunato may have a great name, but after he sets us down in the sixth, I'm just left wondering how he would have fit that in the 'Name' blank on his elementary school math tests. The Other Sox have a bunch of sort-of hitters up in the bottom of the sixth (i.e. the bottom of their lineup), and most of 'em seem to struggle plenty against southpaws, so I leave Ankiel to it. I fret a bit when Scott Spiezio, of all people, leads off with a line drive single to center, but Ankiel sets down Prancing Vance Wilson, Manly Hanley Ramirez, and Nod and Bobby Alomar in order.
It's 4-1 entering the seventh, and Ankiel, hitting .750, is due to lead off. Sure, he can rake, but I won't be tempted. I send Frank Thomas up to hit and while he, Hacktastic Julio, and D.Y. find new, intriguing ways to waste outs, I stare into space, pondering the newfound reality that is this parallel universe. Rick Ankiel. Rick. Ankiel. Wow.

P.J. Bevis is the man on the spot after the Boston substitute for Cotton-Eyed Joe, and he gets an out on a pop-up on the infield, an out on a ground ball on the infield, and the third and final out on a pop-up to the outfield.

Danys "6.80" Baez comes in to face the heart of the order, and by inning's end, he's morphed into Danys "6.64" Baez. No big deal. Six more outs.

I leave Bevis out for the bottom of the eighth with the typical thinking that I'll pull him once someone gets on base. He induces M-Ram to strike out a ground ball right at Brad Fullmer for out number one, but Kevin Millar laces a single over Hacktastic Julio's head and for once, I stick to my word. On comes Kiko Calero, but Nomar Garciaparra, in the Kirk Gibson role (no, not Kurt Russell), bloops a single and suddenly I want to go hide behind Miguel Olivo in the corner of the dugout. Instead, I watch Vance Wilson rap a hard ground ball right at Brad Fullmer. 3-6-3. Double play. Inning over, thanks to the modern day Jack Fournier!

Sensing our opportunity to put the game away, Terry Francona throws his rook down and leaves Baez out to get blasted. R-Vaz leads off with a double into the left-center field nook. Enrique Wilson, Relief Ace follows with a single to right that plates Vazquez, and when the Other Sox can't decide where they want to throw the ball, Enrique takes second, too, sliding in under a late relay. Too bad that doesn't count as a stolen base. Jason LaRue, the pinch-hitting Raul Gonzalez, and Hacktastic Julio go down in order to strand Enrique. I've got a nagging little feeling about that...

But Mike Gallo, who will never have a nickname, gets the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth on four pitches. From there, it's a matter of time, and about four minutes later, time runs out as D.Y. camps under a Michel Hernandez fly ball to end the ballgame. Um, way to go, guys!



CHW 5 BOS 1

WP: R. Ankiel (1-3) - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 95 pitches
LP: T. Wakefield (1-2) - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 9 K

Game Ball Goes To... We were no-hit through four innings, and you know who kept us in the game? We scored four in the fifth, and you know who helped us keep the lead?

P.J. Bevis. My man.

Oh...and Rick Ankiel. Wild Thing. Un-freaking-believable. Democracy is truly the noblest export. No hanging chads, hanging curveballs, or hanging nails in this game. Wow.

So, who wants to set the lineup for the next game?

[Goodsox]

What a game for the Wild Thing!!! Wow, I wanted to see him pitch, but I never expected such a great outing Good job.

[UngratefulDead]

So... does this give Wild Thing another start? Or are you not going to push your luck...

[Vris]

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!! (and keeping with the theme) Does that mean Wild Thing gets a permanent spot in the rotation? If so, does that push Schizo Jorge into the 'pen, or even worse (better?), a spot on the farm?

Just a well played game, minus the whole, getting no hit through four with a knuckleballer on the mound thing. It feels so good when everyone starts hitting at the same time. Keeps the BA respectable.

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by Vris

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!! (and keeping with the theme) Does that mean Wild Thing gets a permanent spot in the rotation? If so, does that push Schizo Jorge into the 'pen, or even worse (better?), a spot on the farm?

Just a well played game, minus the whole, getting no hit through four with a knuckleballer on the mound thing. It feels so good when everyone starts hitting at the same time. Keeps the BA respectable.

Ah...eh...I...yes. No. We can't possibly have Rick Ankiel in the rotation based on one start...can we?

I don't know -- it was a damned good start. But if anything, I think I'd kick Jon Garland out of the rotation. I mean, he hasn't had a good start all year, and at least DePaula was good in April.

Thanks for the compliment. I thought it was a dandy little win, too, although at this point almost any win is a dandy little one.

EDIT: Somehow, I didn't see the previous two comments. I blame my crappy eyesight. And yet, it's more of the same -- I just don't know. Is Ankiel really any good? I mean, great start, but after all that, his ERA's just barely under 10. And yet...Jon Garland's really isn't that much worse. Something to think about over the All-Star Break...one more game to go.

[Vris]

Craig, a little Off Topic here, but I noticed that were posting in Off Topic. How dare you stray away from the plight of the Pale Hose to post off-topic-ly.

Scary place, Off Topic is, isn't it?

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by Vris

Craig, a little Off Topic here, but I noticed that were posting in Off Topic. How dare you stray away from the plight of the Pale Hose to post off-topic-ly.

Scary place, Off Topic is, isn't it?

It's a bloody zoo in there.

But as my disastrous, train-wrecked thread in Discussions proved today, OT's not the only zoo. If I learned anything today, it's that I'm best left to hunker down in here. Sheesh.

[Goodsox]

Originally Posted by cknox0723

It's a bloody zoo in there.

But as my disastrous, train-wrecked thread in Discussions proved today, OT's not the only zoo. If I learned anything today, it's that I'm best left to hunker down in here. Sheesh.

Yeah, look what you started with your "rude", "idiotic" post Those people in there are so damn uptight. They defend the game as if it was their children Good luck in the next Pale Hose game!

[cknox0723]

Originally Posted by Goodsox

Yeah, look what you started with your "rude", "idiotic" post Those people in there are so damn uptight. They defend the game as if it was their children Good luck in the next Pale Hose game!

Heh. Thanks. I appreciate it. I hope to have the last game of the first half (!) up some time today.

And then the real fun starts.

[cknox0723]

...when I figure that's it's necessary to mention that I had some New England clam chowder for lunch today. It was, indeed, tomato-less. And, much to my surprise, it was actually pretty good.

Go figure -- I move further from New England only to be introduced to its fine cuisine. And oddly enough, there's also a Chicago-style pizzeria here.

That's a tie-in, I think, so there you have it. But if that's not enough, the next post will be a little more on topic...