jacksonianmarch

nothing like getting all amped up about your season opener then find out it is a 4:45AM eastern standard time and that there is a week inbetween game 2 and game 3.

probably because he was labelled by the media as a Pedro beater when he was in TB. I still remember the game where he hit a homer and then pedro plunked gerald williams and he charged.

Thing is, the only squealy ********** I despise is schilling. Just for being an outgoing ******* and sticking it to us in 2 series for two different teams. Other than that, you wont find too much hate from us yankee fans. Actually, old school yankee fans hate the orioles when they were nasty in 60s-70s. Maybe, Pedro when he tried to injure Soriano and Jeter. Maybe Varitek for fighting with ARod, but those are single moments. I dont hate any others, but that slimy prick Schilling.

Derek Lowe has one tenth the makeup of this kid. Lowe got rattled. Wang wont.

The tables that I put on the Jets game are reversed. The Pats are now the underdogs. The longers the Chargers leave them in the game, the better chance for the pats. The Pats are the kinda team that lets you shoot your wad and then emotionally steals the game away with a winning (yet unspectacular) style of play. The Chargers will drive down the field seemingly untouched in their first drive. Then the Pats will slowly take over the game. I see a Pats win, by one point, on a Gostkowski FG (the new Vinatieri).

or ORS, it could just be that the entire yankees staff benefitted from being home vs away (4.88 away 3.96 home). Or maybe that every single team in the AL benefits from the home away splits except for Detroit. Minnesota was 3.4-4.5. Detroit was the only team to benefit on the road (3.9-3.7). Even his 4.3ERA on the road would put him in a top 3 category as a starter anyway. I think you are reading a bit into things, potentially wishfully. Been there though, lol.

Also, as far as pitchers and where people ranked them, Papelbon was never ranked very highly by the scouting orgs while Lester was. I would assume BA and the like would have to disagree with their previous posting, but who's counting. The fact is, John Sickles created a new yankees top 15. Sanchez fit in as the #3, behind Hughes and Tabata. Whelan, Ohlendorf, Gonzalez, and Jackson were 11-15 in the deep yankee farm. All are grouped into the 2007 ETA category.

The Yankees have anywhere from the #3-5 farm system in all of baseball and the deepest pitching farm to boot (bottom 3rd in offensive players). The sox sit in the #11 range across the board with one of the weaker pitching farms you will find. The Yankees not only closed the gap, but grabbed hold and jumped past them. Plus if you want to consider prospects in the majors, consider Wang as the #2 CY guy and Cano as the All star 2b, and Melky vs Paps as all star and the rest being okay as rookies and I think you are rather even in the pros. The sox system has no pitching ready for the bigs without rushing anyone. The predicament arises as well with the lack of a major league bullpen to any degree and you have the vortex that created Hansen and MDC's collapse last yr. Hansen should have gone to A ball out of college in 05. He should have been in AA last yr and should be in AAA this yr (like a certain other closer in the yankee system, JB Cox). MDC went from a poor single A showing in 04 to a major league debut in 05. MDC should be setting up Hansen in Pawtucket this yr. Instead, Hansen is likely to be closing for a short while in AAA and will eventually be called up when the pile of dogshit they acquired for the pen shows its true stuff. Gom, after years of the yankees just completely raping their farm, they are doing things right. We have rushed exactly one player in the past few yrs (melky in 05), and he ended up getting set straight last yr. We have had some of the best pitching talent in our minors, and with all of our pitching woes, we easily could have rushed them. Last season, when Chacon sucked and Wright was nothing more than a 4 inning pitcher, we could easily have called on Hughes or Clippard. When Farns went down or Sturtze got hurt, we easily could have rushed Cox to the majors. But we didnt. We filled the need from what we had an kept the kids way from the majors. It has been to their benefit. We essentially have gone into every season with all spots filled and if they blew up, we'd go outside the org. Well now, the kids are ready. The time has come, and we didnt rush them. Now we have a spot for them too. For the sox, the pen is incomplete. Pineiro is a horrible choice for closer. Donnelly is declining, Romero is awful, Timlin exploded last yr, and Tavares out of the pen was useless. MDC might be ready to step up, Hansen is not. What happens if May comes and Donnelly's and JC's era total 2 touchdowns with the extra points? They rush Cox and Bard up to the majors or bring up the perpetually screwed up Hansen. This will continue to vortex of ruining players. The only guy they got right was Papelbon. He dominated at all levels and made the jump from AA-AAA-MLB in a year. Lester had misleading stats and should have never been called up last yr for his own good (1.46 WHIP and greater than a half a walk per inning in AAA). Granted, the cancer would have been found regardless, but this kid's development needed fine tuning. Something that rushing him through a lackluster AAA season was not gonna get him. Overall Gom, the sox are creating a perpetual void for their relief prospects to fall into. Fill the pen with s***. Be surprised when the s*** stinks. Rush kids past valuable developmental levels. Be surprised when they turn to s***. Draft more rookie relievers. Lather, Rinse, Repeat. Finally, the yankees did something right with highly regarded prospects. Hopefully it works. But it wont be on the ownership if they dont.

the YES gun was slow for most of the yr. Randy's first season, he was being clocked slow compared to stadium readings. Last yr, his gun was slow too. I am not saying he was throwing 100 or anything, just saying the guns are not overinflated, if anything, they underinflate.

different reasoning. Hughes is a once in a generation talent for an organization. Santana can be had for $$ in 2 yrs. I'd rather have both.

a700 is nuts, but never replying to him? Nah, cmon now. He's a good guy.

Jim Callis' take

pedastool? Is that a stool that like to diddle kids?

and Giambroids and Brownroids contracted anal syphilis over there.

2 seasons ago, Wang had a 1-0 gem against Nate Robertson vs the Tigers. I just came in from the pool and watched the game. The score was 0-0. I saw this Taiwanese kid throw sinkers 96-98-98-97-98 and I nearly s*** myself. I have seen him touch 98 since. He typically sits in the 93-95 range but can touch 98.

that is pretty much correct.

Webbs sinker is more downward and is thrown at a slower velocity. Wangs sinker is nearly a screwball, biting back on righty hitters while diving and is consistently mid 90s- topping out at 98 last season. A 98mph sinker that can break from outside edge to down and in? Nobody in baseball can do that but Wang. Also, Webb's secondary pitches are developed far past Wang's. That is why he K's so many. Wang has an MLB average change and slider while having a plus plus sinker. Webb, I believe has a plus breaking ball and changeup.

The Yankees were blaming their poor start on the trip to Japan. Mussina and Brown certainly were upset.

fine with me.

Thanks VA!

Elbow surgery has become a right of passage for pitchers these days and most of the time you actually come back throwing harder than you did pre-injury. Shoulder surgery, on the other hand, is a deathknell for your career for the most part. Clement returning to his previous level of performance would be a miracle right now.

Randy turns 44 next season, so Keith Law, undershooting the age by 2 yrs is convenient. That late season back injury is bogus as well, as his production improved down the stretch rather than being "felled by a back injury." 2 nice conveniences that Keith Law kinda messed up.

McGwire, Rice and Gossage should be in.

There have been two articles talking about the twins being VERY upset with the Zito deal. And then you see the no trade article above. You do the math. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070106/SPORTS0101/701060336/1007/SPORTS http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/columnists/charley_walters/16387625.htm