Quincy

Though a good thing for a pitcher & team to be able to do, I don't recall running across any study that showed a strong tendency of high team pitching strikeouts as being key to winning. I'm guessing WHIP would be stronger, but last I read the best measure still seems to be some multiplicative combination of (batting) OBP & SLG as being the best predictors (not OPS, as one of the 2 is slightly more important - I think OBP but I'm not positive.) Truth is I'm not the quant freak I used to be (hey, I got a life!, or a better semblance of one), so I've likely missed a few studies in the past few years. Not telling you anything you don't know, but the low K rate on the Yankee staff reflects the patchwork rotation they've had. Also Wang is a highly unusual pitcher in that his numbers shout out there's no way for continued success, but the reality of trying to hit the "heavy ball" of his that results in DPs is another matter. Still, the guy looks like a candidate for a Scott Erickson fade-away when he hits his 30s, if not sooner. The August onwards numbers will improve if they get Hughes back and otherwise don't suffer more damage to the staff. I wouldn't want to be betting against injuries at this point, though maybe they've used their allotment up.

Oh now you've done it. I'm going to burst out laughing if I see them use that shot again. Though that'd take a Game 6...(crosses fingers.)

I've been saying it as Row-key for about 25 years. After one of his '07 shows popped up on the Dime I was talking about it with a friend who referred to him as Rocky. I just assumed I was right , but after Googling around it looks like Rocky is correct. You can call him Row-key, you can call him Rocky, whatever, he wails. I suppose you can file his odd spelling with Elvis Presley's middle name Aron, which dropped the extra "a." Although that's an odd one as later on Elvis sought to change the spelling to be more "biblical," and discovered that state records (but not birth) already had his name spelled "Aaron."

Hope it's a great birthday!

Hi-ooooooooooooooo! Happy Birthday

Oh yeah, I'm lucky if I see him 2 or 3 times a year, but I swear at least once year I see a homer from one of those 2 locations you mention. It seems like he uses a bigger bat like some guys used in the '70s, though I don't know if that's really the case. His at bats are a treasure (unless it's against the Mariners ) to watch and exciting as hell, just as Reggie's, Willie's (take your pick of the Willies)...I always thought "Bam Bam" (from the Flintstones) would be a good nickname, as he's such a primal hitter, and it seems like he's hitting the ball with a club.

Since becoming a full-time player in 1998 at the age of 22 his worst batting average is .307 in 2001. His 2nd worst average is .316. Wow!, especially as his SLG% is .584 lifetime. Most similar batters thru age 30 are Willie Mays (910 similarity score), Duke Snider (902) and Frank Robinson (878.) Pretty good company there. He's always an electric at bat.

Aye carumba! That's some seriously fatigued groin to do that! The magic phrase is good for 16,800 hits on Google btw. Maybe I watched too much Earl last tv season, but I'm starting to get concerned karma is gonna get me for making fun of his injury. If it takes him 3 seconds to scratch his ass that's $5 and change. Gee, he makes minumum wage really fast. Or will once he's on the roster.

I remember reading as a kid that Cape Buffalo were not to be messed with. But damn! King of the beast my ass! I half expected the lonley croc to catch one of those flyin' lions.

The weekend ended the same way it began in the NL West, a 3 way tie between the Dodgers, Padres & D-backs. All playing a bit over .580 too, so the Braves have to keep it up to be in play for the wild card (if they can't win the east.) A very good and somewhat overlooked race.

The Jazz In Paris release Mr. Blues Pour Flirter might be available cheap as Dusty Groove. (Just checked, sorry it's not there, but Froogle shows it available at other places, though not at the usual cheap price that JIP releases are usually found.) It includes Rene Thomas on guitar. I'm also fond of the OJC Portrait Of Sonny Criss.

Oh well, there's probably room, and their fans are so happy right now they won't mind.

Well put Patrick. Damn right you should enjoy this & it deserves respect. LeBron went from great fantasy player to great player these past few days. Although I appreciated what LeBron was doing in the NBA at the age of, well, is a Jr. or Sr.?, I really didn't expect the next step to happen this year. And not during this series vs. experienced Detroit. You know, you lose this series, talk about who needs to be added to help, and talk about whether maybe next year they can compete for the title in the weak East. That was the schedule. And really, I think most figured that the Cavs wouldn't be in the finals next year either, and then we could all talk about how maybe LeBron should be on the Knicks & save them, cause he needs to be on the bigger stage. Blah blah blah. This is really a terrific thing. I know my interest in the Finals increased by leaps & bound. Even if reality may be hard, (cliche warning), GS vs DAL and CLE vs. DET shows "why we play them." Hell, even DET vs LA was supposed to automatic, so you might as well believe in your team. Congrats to Soulstation1, Patrick & Holy Ghost and any other Cavs fan. May your hangover be mild this morning. (And yes, it happened last night.)

Who you callin' "little" punk? Another Saturday Fox broadcast of a Red Sox-Yankee game, another Yankee injury. A pretty scary collision at 1st as (cut & paste his name) Mientkiewicz reached for an offline throw and had his head & neck jarred as Lowell (thru no fault of his own) was running thru. Lowell even paused for a second as he knew Mientkiewicz was hurt before (and I'm guessing here) he heard his coach encourage him to go on to 2nd. A nasty snap and a cart was brought in to take him off the field. Pitchers & 1st baseman are dropping like Canseco handled flies.

WOW! I never would have thought y'all would be in the Finals so soon in The King's reign. Congrats Cavs fans, man it must be absolutely crazy there! Don't know what the record is for worst shooting percentage is for a playoff series, but Tayshaun shot 16 for 66 (24%) for the series. Ouch!

That was someone else as I didn't see the rehab start. Roger just seems like a groin guy to me. Phew...I guess it's just that kind of year. Not that I can recall this kind of year happening in quite this way to any team. Man! For the fans it must feel like their very own groin pull. Sorry, I mean "fatigue." (I mean wtf?, try using "groin fatigue" in a sentence and not have it sound silly.) There are just too many zeros for me to calculate that now as I'm suffering from brain fatigue.

Hmm. I saw Frisell with the string section mentioned in the Nonesuch project in the early '06. It didn't always click, but they produced both dreamy ethereal pieces (that would bore non-fans ) along with what almost sounded like early Pink Floyd song believe it or not. I hadn't realized that he added players later on, though it shouldn't surprise me as Frisell mixes it up continually. Also relatedly last week I saw Ron Miles play with various University of Oregon students, playing both some of his own songs along with student compositioins. A piece entitled "Bunny Gumdrops" by David Swigart was jaw-dropping great. Some of those kids can really play, and Mr. Miles is a very classy & giving fellow. It was nice to finally see him play, as I have a couple of his leader sides, and it was for the ridiculous low price of $7 for "civilians," even less for students.

Very believable. Woo-hoo, I feel like I've just placed a win-place-show bet on the Belmont! (Now watch Wang or Hughes muss it up.) Though the neck cramp crack is funny, I'm going with the good ole groin as the most likely Clemens injury. (Not that your specific injury picks were in order.) Looks like we're both wrong on the order, but I got the Rocket's injury right. (Nah nah nah nah nah nah. ) Clemens is scratched from Monday's start. Right groin injury. Quoted as "fatigue in the right groin." Phrasing is everything. What a year for the Yanks. Dan, do you have a supply of voodoo dolls that you're not telling us about? -Edited to change a "q" to a "g" in fatigue.

Oh it's certainly not a common thing to do, but there are some players who didn't see what the big deal was. Barry Bonds (yeah, I know) says "That's Toronto's fault. Catch the ball. Get over it." Ozzie Guillen "I don't blame him, I would have done it too." Who's more "old school" than Tommy Lasorda? "He's allowed to say 'I got it. I got it,'" said former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who recalled a similar play when he was with Triple-A Montreal in the late 1950s or 1960. "I was coaching first base in Miami _ two outs in the top of the ninth inning. We were losing by one run. We had a guy on second base," Lasorda recalled. "There was a foul ball. Gene Oliver was going over to catch it. I said, 'I got it! I got it!' He pulled back and the ball dropped. He's screaming at me. And the next pitch a guy hit a home run, and we won the game." It depends on the manager, but it used to be that players had words that weren't like "I got it" or "mine" so as to not have this type of thing happen. Too much crying in baseball nowadays.

I thought it was great! It's not much different than a 2nd baseman or SS pretending to get a throw from the OF hoping the runner will slide into 2nd rather than continue on to 3rd. Or maybe it is, but I didn't think ARod had this in him. What next, will he try the hidden ball trick?

Hey, Nate Archibald was NOT forgettable. OK, everybody else on the team was. But Tiny was the coolest. Oh he was amazing! (Note to self - see if any highlights on youtube) And Sam Lacey a strong long time guy for ya (as I remember, though truth is I didn't see many King games on TV.) It's just the playoff habit (now broken) didn't take off until they moved. As you have the arena, I'd think eventually you'll have a team whether you want it or not. Hey, maybe University of Florida will move, now that 4 players & a coach left.

You must still be a kid, as they used to have one. The KC/Omaha Kings. Then again, they were kinda forgettable.

When the New Orleans...(not Jazz, they moved to Utah) Hornets! (who moved from Charlotte, since replaced by the Bobcats) played in Oklahoma City due to Hurricane Katrina fans bought lots of tickets. The Hornets have returned to N.O., but now you have a city that has fresh meat...I mean proven supportive fans. Any city that doesn't show proper appreciation (build me a stadium & you pay!) will threaten to go there. The NBA is the only game in Sacramento, Portland, Salt Lake, San Antonio to name 4. It works well for them.

Peavy has been lights out. Glad he's been able to put it all together. In other news from the west, the earring is back.

Trot Nixon returns to Fenway too. He's playing as expected over there, killing (to a degree) RHP and getting killed by LHP, but adding some needed depth & hustle. I'd be curious if the Boston press does "value for the dollar" comparisons of his season vs. Drew.