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Got a clip? Haven't seen it since the day of the game. By recollection, he was not in the runners lane. The rule is both feet must be in the runner's lane to be free from the umpire's judgement. He doesn't need to be looking back to intentionally interfere. The throw will be coming from just in front of home plate. You can run inside the line knowing where the throw is coming from and assure your body gets in the way. Joe West saw it that way, and so did I.

Welcome to the AL, Damaso. EDIT: When pronounced right, does that sound like "dumb *******"?

I'd call it better than "OK". His big mistake was the cookie to Anderson. Quinlan's triple was on slider on the black outside and was the result of a seriously goofy looking swing - I'm skeptical he could repeat that result given 10 tries. Other than that, the other problems have been the result of Cora and his cement shoes.

Are you kidding me? On that excuse me swing? Can't beat luck.

Cookie there to Cora. But, you can do that with Cora.

I think I did give him credit. I said he's good. Now you get an assignment. Watch the Angel's catcher's glove next inning. Tell me if it moves to receive the ball.

It does. Still, nothing, not even this game, sucks as much as BOY's posts, so we've got that going for us.

What's up with the hack attack tonight? Lackey's good, but he's not on. Mathis' glove is moving a shitload.

4 K's on the curve. Why do they swing if they know it's coming?

They didn't show his face in the Figgins AB, so I didn't get to have the same homoerotic fantasy. Needless to say, he threw 3 different pitches for the first 3, and from behind there was no hesitation.

Since you can see it, how is he tipping it off? The hitters aren't right on everything. They are on his FB when he misses location. This is why I called him ClAAAy. He needs to refine his FB command in Pawtuckett, where wins/losses don't really matter.

Ok, fess up, you read an article where mechanics were mentioned, right?

s***** pitch there, ClAAAy.

Cora? If it's possible, fall to the 3B side Clay. That way you might be able to field some of the balls not hit right at the statue.

Don't know, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I'd stand pat with Kemp and Youk. Kemp would be a boon for the future of the team. He's 23 and putting up an .813 with 12 dingers and 23 steals in Dodger Stadium. He could approach 30/30 in Fenway with fabulous D to boot.

Ahh ,the tried and true, "Watch the games!", comment. This is from page 1 of the Idiot's Guide to Arguing About Performance Analysis When You are Too Stupid to Understand It book. Ok, so let's clear up what you are saying. The problem is we didn't watch the games last year. It was obvious to anyone who did that Lester, while walking the ballpark, was head and shoulders better than Buchholz, who threw a no-no. It was obvious to anyone who watched, that Jacoby Ellsbury was a run-of-the-mill CF when nobody could get him out or keep him from swiping bags in September and October. I mean, you certainly thought Lester was better than Buchholz last year after watching the games, right? And, here's the kicker. Bowden doesn't have the knockout stuff according to you? We know how much you love the minor leagues, Gom. Clearly, this appraisal was done when you went and WATCHED HIM PITCH, right? Didn't think so.

This will be a tough one to sell considering you scoff at those of us who follow the minor leagues. In short, I think this is a complete fabrication.

Uh, Pat the Bat would put up better numbers than Manny is capable of right now. His home park is a bandbox, but he tends to take the ball out to LF when he goes deep. Fenway, best I can tell, is pretty good for RH pull hitters.

Not only is Fenway unlikely to hurt his home numbers due to handedness and park configuration, but his primary road parks will become more hitter friendly. By ESPN's park factors, which appear to be calculated per season, not as 3 year aggregates. In the past 3 complete seasons, the AL East road parks for the Sox averaged a 10th place finish in HR factor. Of the 12 seasons (3 years, 4 teams), 6 were in the top-10. The NL West road parks for Holliday averaged a 17th place finish, with only 2 seasons in the top-10.

The Pirates have horrible management? Yeah, 15 straight losing seasons would be a good indicator that they are a bit deficient at putting a winning mix together. However, look at their last two big trades prior to this one, both executed under the same ownership. Oliver Perez (2-10, 6.63) & Roberto Hernandez (2.93 in 43 relief IP) to the Mets for Xavier Nady (.264/.329/.487) - For an older, but performing well at the time, RP and struggling young starter who had one big breakout season, they get an established COF with decent power. Mike Gonzalez (2.17, 24 SV in 54 IP) & Brent Lillibridge (light hitting CF-type prospect) to the Braves for Adam LaRoche (.285/.354/.561 with 32 HR) & Jamie Romak (.247/.369/.471 with 16 HR as a 20 y/o in A-ball) They had already established a market value for Nady in 2006, and to their benefit, Nady had improved, going .278/.330/.476 with 20 HR in 2007, and was hitting .330/.383/.535 with 13 HR before the deadline in 2008. The market value was something greater than a young pitcher who had already had a breakout season and a good MRP. They had already established a market value for a good LH closer, and to their benefit, there were no concerns about injury with Marte like there were for Gonzalez. The market value was an all-star level CIF (I consider the prospects a wash and throw-ins to the deal). By the calculus established by the Pirates themselves, Nady and Marte were worth a promising young starter who had already broken out at the MLB level, a decent MRP, and an all-star level corner infielder. What did they get in return? Three AAAA fodder pitchers and a headcase 19 y/o COF with no power. Not making any accusations, but there's meat on the bone if one wants to talk suspicious behavior there.