a700hitter

Phillies declined options on Oswalt and Lidge. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/24/phillies-decline-2012-options-on-roy-oswalt-and-brad-lidge/related/

Not pure crapola, but a missed opportunity. Those opportunities don't come along every season. When they come along, they need to be seized. The 2008 Sox were a much better team than the Rays. They never should have lost the division to them. They underperformed.

Done. I can see that you won't last long.

The 2008 Red Sox lost the Division to a vastly inferior Rays team costing them home field advantage in the playoffs and ultimately costing them back to back titles.

Average pitch count is not the issue. Francona seemed to be obsessed with getting starters to 100 pitches resulting in the frustrating frequency of starters giving up 7 runs. It seemed to me that Crack Head Washington would pull starters earlier in games when they weren't pitching well. Plus, he had a better bull pen so he could go to it earlier. I don't think average pitch count shows much. I think Ryan's influence regarding pitch count may be reflected in those games where the starters went 115+ pitches. The overall average isn't a good measure if managers like Tito are leaving pitches in to get to 100 pitches regardless of the number of runs surrendered.

Texas had 10 complete games Boston had 2 complete games

Every once in a while the MLB Channel replays the World Series clinching game in 1965 pitched by Koufax. I think there are some good shots from behind the pitcher, but the broadcast is in Balck and White.

Koufax had been racking up seasons of 300+ innings. Add to that the fact that the Dodgers were in the World Series in 1965 and 66 and he was pitching on 2 days rest sometimes. His elbow was hurting pretty bad, but he never had any structural damage. Some Doctor told him that he was developing arthritis in his elbow. Koufax quickly retired saying that he had to think about life after baseball and he didn't want a crippled arm. He retired at age 30. It was a huge shock to the sports world. I believe that if the money was as huge back then as it is now that he would have continued to pitch. He was making $125k which was huge money for the time, taking into consideration inflation and the devalued dollar, it was still chump change compared to today's salaries. He got a job immediately on network broadcasting and probably was making pretty close to what he made as a player without the health risks. He never did have any arthritis problems with his elbow post retirement. I read and heard stories that he would go to Dodgers Spring Training and throw BP into his mid-late 50's throwing in the mid to high 80's and no one could hit him.

The Mets will not even contact his agent.

You were never named by name, but lumped in with millions of others.

It was a clever way for him to work me in.

Did you noticed that he thanked me?

Salty hit .235 with a .288 OBP and he k's one-third of his plate appearances. He is at the top of the league in swings and misses. He's a terrible catcher. He can't catch the ball, block the plate or throw. That's baggage.

Here's a to do list for Ben:My sugesstions in [ ]

The Angels are after the Rays' GM. We should be getting this guy.

It's official. Compensation to be announced on Tuesday.

When we first got Lackey, I joked about his stupid horse face, but after two seasons of him it's obvious that he is just a horses ass.

He's not going to establish any respect if he has to convene a committee to answer very simple straightforward questions. Would the answer have been the same if the question had been whether cigarette smoking would be permitted in the clubhouse? I doubt it. The question about drinking isn't any more complex than a question about cigarettes. The answer should have been that drinking during a game is inappropriate and will not be tolerated. Period. Instead, he weasel worded his answer and he looks like a weak spineless weasel. People here are so used to being apologists for the FO that they can't see things with any perspective.

Ron "Crackhead" Washington