a700hitter

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/07/mlb_suspends_or.html I think Ortiz should appeal to try to get this reduced.

An excellent observation.

Theo, Get your checkbook and go get Beltran. If you use the John Henry's jet, you can probably wrap the deal up in 3 hours door to door.

With 78 hits half way into the season, I am not so sure. His decline has been on a steep trajectory the last two seasons. There is no guarantee that he has two years left in him. Look at Robbie Alomar's last two seasons. He aged in dog years at the end.

Oh Emmz, I didn't characterize him as classless. I said that he had done nothing for me to believe that he had any more class than any other player. I do stand by my statement that taking the ball from the fan was a "weak classless act". It is my opinion, based on his public actions, that he is a thin-skinned narcissist. I don't think that is too harsh. It's not like I called him a racist 30 years after he died,and I did say that it was just my opinion. I realize that DJ will probably never have dinner with me if he reads my post, but I'll have to take that risk. As for the All Star game, I think his excuse for not going was really weak. The fans had elected him based almost entirely on sentiment. He should have had enough class to show up and acknowledge the sentiment. It is a showcase for the fans and ultimately he owes everything he has achieved to the fans.

Bingo. You hit the nail on the head. I always realized it was phony BS, but I didn't realize the motivation for it. That need to condescend extends beyond the fans into the NY Press. Michael Kay has stated publicly that he got physically ill watching the 2004 Red Sox celebrate at Yankee Stadium, because of their long hair and beards. I guess they just weren't classy enough for him. Members of the Yankee organization wanted to turn out the lights on the celebration. The Boss refused to do so, because he said that they had earned the right to celebrate. He ordered them to leave the lights on until the last player left the field. That was a classy move.

The Derek Jeter has class stuff makes me laugh. I guess never saying anything remotely interesting or controversial and spouting one hackneyed cliche after another equates to class for lots of people. Maybe its because he doesn't spit like Garza, launch nose rockets like Boomer Wells, or lick himself like Mike Pelfrey. None of this equates to class for me. I have been saying that he is a me first prima dona for many years. He has never been able to take the slightest of criticisms or slights, and up until the last year or two he has been followed by a fawning press that has sucked his cock. When ARod gave an interview when he was with the Rangers and he said that when you play the Yankees you are more concerned with getting Tino and O'Neill out than Jeter, Jeter cut him off for good despite ARod's apologies. When the Yankees negotiated with Jeter in the press this offseason, again the precious one was tremendously offended, and the stupid Yankees overpaid him tremendously. Despite an unwarranted contract, Jeter was still upset. I was happy to hear one radio station skewer Jeter for being a narcissistic punk yesterday. The program is a national show. I heard it in NY. They were all over for Jeter for two reasons. The first reason was for his pussified excuse for not going to the All Star game. He's not on the DL. He claimed to be emotionally and physically exhausted from his quest for 3,000 hits. He was so exhausted that he couldn't make the trip to tip his cap to the fans that elected him as a starter. I remember when Ortiz went to an All Star game when he was injured. Manny made up a bull s*** excuse at the time. Ortiz told the press that he told Manny that he had to show some love to the fans. That's class. Staying home to nurse your exhausted psyche is pussy crap. (Sorry for my choice of word-- no offense to women intended). Speaking of disregarding the fans, the other thing that he got skewered for by that radio show was accepting the ball from the fan who caught it. Most ball players don't have their memorabilia on display in their homes. Paul O'Neil jokes that he thinks his silver slugger for his batting championship is under a couch in his basement. They don't need memorabilia. They lived it. That ball represented a lottery of sorts to the every day Joe Fan that caught it. Jeter took this thing of great monetary value (estimates put it at $500k) and gave the fan nothing in return except for some autographed stuff. The Yankees had to step up to provide some value in the form of tickets etc. I agree with the people on that radio show-- taking the ball was a weak classless act of a narcissist. Many of you may not agree with me, but that's my opinion. He has no more class than any other player. Was he a great player? Yes, and I say was, because he no longer is a great player. Is he a Hall of Fame player? Yes without question. But the "classy" description. .. ? I'm not buying. BTW-- I don't think he gets to the top 10 in all time hits. Looking at his performance for the last two seasons, I think he is very close to the end.

Our pitching would do just fine against the Phillies as long as we have Beckett, Lester and Buchholz in the rotation. The Philly offense is overirated. We will need another bat to be competitive against Philly pitching, because Ortiz will have to sit for 4 games.

The Mets are not in rebuilding mode. They are more likely in dismantling mode.

The Yankees apparently turned down a deal for KRod. http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/13/report-yankees-rejected-francisco-rodriguez-deal/related

Carl Crawford is ahead of Derek Jeter's hit pace at the same age. When viewed in the appropriate context, Crawford is in some very rare company.

Their financial woes are not a secret. They will lose a controlling interest in the Mets for $1 if they cannot repay $200 million in two years.

He's making less than Agon, and they are very different types of players. It's very difficult to have a basis for comparison.

I think it will take very little in the way of prospect talent to land Beltran. If someone offers to eat the entire salary, that team will get him. The Wilpons have no thought of building for the future right now. They are in survival mode.

The issue that I have with this is that the man is dead and has no ability to "clear" himself of accusations being made against him-- often by people born after he had died. There is very tangible and extensive evidence of his philanthropic and charitable works, but some people would rather besmirch his legacy with very questionable evidence. He left the world a better place as the result of his life.

You don't need to worry about it. The Yankees will be watching the Series from their couches.

PTBNL for KRod. I told you all that Beltran was not going to cost us top prospects.

Spitball, you know your Red Sox history. Thanks for filling in the gaps. I don't like mob mentality condemnation of people without knowledge of all the facts. Yawkey was by all accounts a hard drinker, and some of his drinking buddies were the unsavory sort. He was close friends with Ty Cobb until Cobb almost beat him to death in a drunken rage. After that Yawkey decided to come back east and he bought the Red Sox. I never heard a negative story about him from anyone who knew the man, and his philanthropic and charitable contributions speak for themselves. Higgins was a despicable character who was not promoted to GM but rather put in the GM role so as to remove him from the dugout and the public. Yawkey almost never fired anyone. Higgins was a figure head as GM. Dick O'Connell was already in the organization and he was calling the shots even though he did not have the official title. African American players were being brought into the organization and Higgins had nothing to do with it. After Higgins left the Red Sox, he got convicted of vehicular manslaughter while drunk. He served some time and died of a heart attack almost immediately after his release in his 50's.

With no home field advantage in the World Series, we are going to need another bat.

George Burns?

Home field advantage is in the hands of a crack head.