a700hitter

Why don't you make some more unsubstantiated accusations. I refrain from name-caling or personal insults until someone insults me. As for insulting Duffy, I don't really think he cares about my remarks, unless he posts here. Players, owners, writers, and announcers are fair game, because they don't post here. Posters should be refraining from personal attacks against each other. Please try to argue your points in a rational or logical manner. If you can't do that, at least try to be funny. If you can't do either, don't bother me.

How did Riske do?

If you disagree with me, please disagree with the content of my posts. I don't recall insulting you on this thread, so back off on your personal insults. Your attempt at personaility profiling or amateur pschology or whatever insult you blathered above is way off the mark. As for playing organized ball, I have played organized baseball into my early 20's, and I have been playing softball in two or more leagues at a time for the past 25 years. I have been beaned, played with broken toes and fingers and with a separated shoulder. I don't play in old men leagues. I play in inner-city leagues where the average age of the players is in the 20's, except for my team where the Avg age is considerably older. We finish in the top two or three of our division every year, and we have won our share of championships. So spare me your condescending BS, Mr. Jock. Do you still play at a competitive level? As for Curt saying that he should have gotten out of the way, big deal. Drysdale used to go up to players on opposing teams before the game and poke them in the ribs and say "would you like one right here today." Mantle and Mays told how intimidating that was, because they knew that Drysdale would make good on it. I guess he was just a jerk too. If you have anything to say in response, please limit it to the post and refrain from the name-calling. Only jerks make personal attacks.

Retirement or the biggest pay day, and someone will offer him a big pay day as the season progresses.

In that instant where you realize that the ball might hit you in the head it is scary as hell. Being hit in the head can run the gamut from a life-threatening injury to barely a tick where the batter stays in the game. The Duffy HBP was not a tick, but it was a glancing blow. In a ST game it was enough to take him out of the game for precautionary reasons, but it was a glancing blow. He was moving away from the ball as it hit him and it did not him flush at all. It was a non-event, except for the possible retaliation when the Pirates face the Sox again. I don't know why we let the Yankee fans on these Boards stir us up over a non-issue. There was clearly no intent to head-hunt. There was no horrific injury. It is just part of the game. If you play the game long enough, it is likely to happen to you, or at the very least a near miss, which is every bit as frightening to the batter. Was Curt supposed to express concern or something? Forget about that. Pitchers that use intimidation as part of their repertoire will never express remorse or concern. If they drill you intentionally or by accident, they ask for a new ball and rub it up for the next batter. That's just the way it is.

Yes, but not by a 90 mph pitch, and I have not been hit by a car either, but I could tell that it would be worse to go under the wheels than to get hit a glancing blow by the side of the vehicle.

It was a big non-event. Very few people in the crowd registered much concern. It's been the post-mortem that has created any incident.

Then he must have a pencil neck that was inadequate to absorb the shock without rattling his brain. Whether something is a glancing blow has nothing to do with the velocity of the projectile. It has to do with the angle of the impact. The ball did not hit Duffy flush. It hit him in a glancing manner.

I agree that you can't have everything. You are never going to have two-way stars on the bench. I just think that the composition of the 2004 bench was interesting, because it was a highly specialized bench. They were definitely not all-round good players, but the had certain star quality skills that were very useful. I don't think that you can build such a bench to get through an entire season, but for the post -season it is a very useful bench. I am surprised that more teams don't try to build specialized benches for the post-season.

Chacon's outing was like Guidry in his prime compared to Jared Wright's outing on Monday. In three innings, he gave up 8 runs on 11 hits with 1 Walk and no K's to the Pirates with no DH. That has to be one of the worst ST pitching lines that I have ever seen.

I was standing less than 90 feet from home plate when he got hit. He should have gotten out of the way. It was a glancing blow that was not really a big deal. Duffy must have an eggshell skull if he got a concussion.

They can't steal bases at the rate Roberts can.

In his 3rd AB on Monday he hit an absolute bullet that the SS made a great short-hop pick going to one knee and turning a DP. He hit a very solid double on Sunday in his last AB.

He's the real deal. Great range, hands, footwork --the whole package.

He can't pitch inside anymore because he would get lit up. He doesn't have the juice to make a mistake inside and get away with it.

Curt wants intimidation to be a bigger part of his game. Incidents like this will not go unnoticed. Being a jerk will help him in this instance.

It was nice to have a defensive replacement off the bench that was truly gold-glove caliber. It was also nice to have Robert's speed of the bench. They were top quality weapons on the bench. Not too many teams have those kind of weapons for late inning situations. The Sox didn't replace those capabilities in 2005 and they won't have it when the season starts in 2006.

He has looked good in his ABs even though he hasn't gotten results.

Leiter-esque but scoreless.

4 walks in 3 innings. Great outing! I would be very encouraged.

Then why did they go? As for the comments about winning a World Championship, my recollection is that ARod doesn't have one of those. He may have to settle for a WBC championship. As for the WBC being meaningless, IMO it probably has a lot of meaning to the US team. I think they would be personally embarrassed to lose the first true World tournament for the Great American Pastime. BTW Not too many Yankees with rings anymore. I count PD, Posada and Mo. Damon and Myers have Red Sox rings. Pavano and Sheffield have Marlin rings. Not much Yankee winning tradition left on the roster.

He could throw around the leather. The only downside to him playing SS was that when Nomar came back it made it obvious how much Nomar had slipped defensively. Nomar had to be uncomfortable watching Pokey night after night making plays look routine that Nomar knew he had no chance of making.

He looked real good in the first 2 innings, and that's probably how he will be used in the early part of the season--- as a late inning bridge to Foulke on the days that Timlin needs a break. The third inning would not have amounted to much if the starting 2nd baseman and SS were in the game. The starters easily would have turned the DP on that one ball. Gonzalez is money. He does everything right in the field.

Reports are that he threw very nicely yesterday in a minor league outing.

I'll admit that statistical analysis has its place in building a major league roster, but its reliability is highest when used with major league players. There is little validity to statistical measures applied at the minor league level, and that validity decreases exponentially as you go down the levels of the minor leagues, because there is no way of telling if a player will develop at a fast or slow rate or if he will develop at all.