Quincy

By this point surely there have been match ups where both teams have been stripped of wins due to bad behavior. So the only right thing to do is strip the money away from the NCAA and give it back to the people who bought the tickets.

Sophomore jinx? The curse on all young hitters, hell, all "hitters" this franchise has. (Can we please get a steroid/human growth hormone exemption? Think of it like the golf handicap system). I dunno. It's just endless sadness this time of year for so many running. Not that it's sadness from thinking the M's would contend - that was never in the picture. But the hope that the kids would grow a little and that at least one or two of them would prove to be something to build on. Or become good enough to trade away for crap in a couple of years. I used to wonder if because Ichiro was such a fit fellow if he'd age better than your average aging star but obviously that's not the case. Jay Buhner was asked if Ichiro should be re-signed and he said "he'd vomit if he was." We're scheduled to see Paps' team play at Safeco in mid-August but I can't see myself paying for anything other than a cheap seat or heavily discounted, as the M's being on the field means all tickets should be 1/2 price (unless Felix pitches).

Cliff reads this forum. He knows he owes you. Speaking of Lee's "many places I've been," any chance you want Justin Smoak back?

Unicomp sells Model M keyboards with USB. That's about as old school as one can get.

Mac here w/ Lion. At least at 4:30 PM PDT they did not play immediately. I waited almost 3 minutes and all of the sudden it started playing in the middle of the sample. You can then "rewind" to hear the whole thing. So I think they're just slow to load. In the past I've occasionally had difficulty playing their samples irrespective of the OS.

Did I say just the 2nd half matters? And actually both Cain & Dickey were terrific in the 2nd half last year, though if you're of the mindset that wins are the be all for measuring pitcher effectiveness there's no need to continue on. Meanwhile it's almost like 2004 never happened in Boston.

So does this mean that the 2nd half of the season never matters? You'd wouldn't have cut a little slack for Roger Maris for the '62 All-Star game seeing as he hit 61 the season before? If only the 1st half of the year matters then no one has ever stolen 100 bases, no one knocks in 100 RBi, no one wins 20 games. It's not just the 1st half of this year that counts. Again, I'd have preferred Dickey, but the idea that only the 1st half of a season matters in All-Star consideration isn't something I agree with.

The last time the All-Star Game was in Kansas City a Giant outfielder was MVP. Bobby Bonds. No, I do not memorize All-Star Game outcomes, but with the 1974 Topps set when you flipped over the All-Stars by position cards it formed a b&w photo of him.

I think LaRussa's comment about "Cain having the better career" may refer to 1990 when LaRussa was managing the AL side in that game. The NL started Jack Armstrong who had a great 1st half of the season. Armstrong didn't do diddley squat for the rest of his career. While knuckleballers are famous for their careers taking a longer to get going it's not unreasonable to wonder if Dickey has just had a fluke 1st half. It doesn't help that 2 of his last 3 outings were terrible. That said I would have picked Dickey to start, but oh well, at least after this game we won't have LaRussa to kick around anymore.

Yadier is on bereavement leave as his grandfather died. So NL will just have 2 catchers, however the rules allow Posey to return to the game if Ruiz is injured. If Posey were to become injured as well Bud Selig will catch.

He says it's a nod to Cain's better career. Also Ruiz will warm up Dickey in the pen so he'll at least see a few butterflies beforehand. Not saying to this defend him, just fleshing out the details. The latter I think is sound enough, as the last time a knuckleballer pitched in the All-Star game it was an adventure. The All-Star game seems to offend more people than it honors.

Touchdown in Oregon! And it appears the outer packing box is a Mosaic too. The booklet damage isn't bad at all as the back cover took the brunt of it. The few drops on a page here & there on the inside just add character. A lot to dig into and digest. Looking forward to it. Thanks Clifford!

Some newspaper reporter (remember them?) did a quick bit of research and found that in many (most) parts of the city and suburbs, the people dropping off the phone books didn't have a no-drop off list on them and scoffed at the idea they would bother to consult one. So I suspect you'll still end up with the phone books for the near term at least. Oh I'm sure it will happen. But it was a delight a few months ago to see neighbors with them on their porches but not on mine. Oregon is the least religious state in the lower 48 but if recycling was declared one we'd be near the top, so maybe the phone delivery folks here have more incentive not to offend.

Took care of that one last year. Opt out of dumb phonebook deliveries.

He only got a 2 year deal so he can't afford to be lazy for long. Of course if he rebounds to old self next year, the cynics will feel very satisfied.

12 titles are going to be reissued in Japan on July 25th. Remastered in mono and true stereo, the first time for many regarding the latter. It's not known yet if or when these will be released in the US too. Also a note to the "Friends Is My Favorite Beach Boys Album Club" that it is not included in this batch. There may be another batch to come.

I loved Animal House so much I moved to where it was shot. Okay, it just worked out that way. Team America has 2 of my favorite movie songs ever, America Fuck Yeah! and Montage, not to mention the best puppet sex ever. And the way Matt Damon (puppet form of course) says his name nearly killed me from laughing so hard. Severely underrated movie.

Four Hall of Famers played in that game, not too bad for a first game. You missed one as thanks to the Vets Committee Nellie Fox got in. (He was camouflaged by playing at 3rd). It's kind of odd how the Astros had 2 Hall Of Famers at 2nd yet both of their primes were elsewhere. Biggio will fix that.

We both saw Bobby Bonds and Jim Kaat in our first day of in person attendance. 5-10-1980 Dodgers vs. Cardinals. Mom hated baseball, dad wasn't from the US, so I got a late start!

Up - how's the Patterson session? Maybe if it is still around by the time I get my tax refund ... I would say more mellow than greasy. It helps add a bit of variety to the box.

True, but it seems like it was done almost as a favor to sub until Ryan Howard was ready, then off he goes. And he won't have to move his stuff very far either.

Thank you so much! First time I've ever been quick enough on the "o" to win something. Sorry Mr. Peterson as I know the disappointment. This means the joy of the hunt continues though.

My favorite is Burnt Weeny Sandwich which for some reason isn't listed in the first dozen. it's there: http://www.amazon.com/Burnt-Weeny-Sandwich-Frank-Zappa/dp/B008BDZOZ4/ref=pd_sim_m_3 , one of my favorite FZ albums too. However, the '95 edition sounds just fine to me. Ah thanks, I was basing my reply on a thread a few weeks ago on a another board about the release list. That's good to see! I agree the '95 sounds fine so I don't see getting it again. Well, unless there are reports that it sounds like fairy dust sprinkled about the ears or some fabulous unimaginable glorious improvement as I do so love the album.

Crosses fingers and PM sent.

I have him on my fantasy team. He wasn't even drafted. Nerk nerk nerk. If you mean an RBI seasonal leader with the worst average, you can probably figure it out. Think back to when the mound was higher & ERAs lower. A big boned fella who played up north. The Killer, Harmon Killebrew hit .243 in 1962 leading the AL with 126 RBI. Cecil Fielder hit .244 for the Tigers in '92 with 124. But if you want really a really low bat batting averages by a guy who knocked in over 100, Tony Armas is probably your man. In 1983 for the Red Sox he hit 36 HR, knocked in 107 while batting .207. No wonder Red Sox fans are so batty. Though he never had the high RBI totals, for HR power & low batting average, I'm sure a bunch of us here immediately thought of Rob Deer.