Dan Gould

I saw something on CNN about this. Its legit, and part of the reason for the collapse was an underground river, so the 18 inches of rain weakened the ground underneath which didn't go down to bedrock and the whole thing collapsed.

This ought to go viral. Check out angry midget Rays fan vs fat Red Sox fan (I swear it isn't me):

The thing is he is way too terrible way too consistently to close for a decent team. He'd do well for a crappy team with no expectations but just look at his record - seven or eight losses a season, eight or nine blown saves a season. Obviously some of those end up being "double-counted" but my point really is that anyone who watched him blow up the Cubs' chances last year saw a guy whose best pitches are usually hittable.

I'd say last night's game was a good reminder why the Jays will ultimately have a hard time hanging with the big dogs in the AL East: Kevin Gregg and his 4.50 ERA as closer. This guy epitomizes the argument that a "save" is a terrible stat and why even mediocre pitchers can amass saves just by the statistical likelihood of any major league pitcher getting three outs before allowing 1-3 runs. The guy flat out sucks and no contending team should want him as a closer. Not that the loss bothers me, in fact since Toronto is in front of Boston we need them to start losing and now is as good a time as any. And with the Yankees breathing down the Rays' neck, I'd rather see the Rays hold on anyway.

David Ortiz in May: 10 home runs (first time he's hit 10 in a month since August 2006) First time since 2004 any Red Sox player hit .350+ with 25+ RBI and 10 or more home runs in a month (that was also Ortiz, and before that, only Nomar had done it, in 1999). I know he had a ridiculous BABIP but it would be nice if he keeps it up for a while longer before he falls back to Earth a bit. So long as he doesn't have any lengthy slumps I think he'll prove that rumors of his demise are somewhat exaggerated. And you're going to see Mike Lowell depart pretty soon, I am guessing. The Angels lost their 1B, and the Rangers are supposed to still be interested. And while Lowell could be a force off the bench for PH duties, its not the best use of a roster spot, a PH and fill-in 1B/DH (who has to be run for too).

It never makes sense to swing Teix around at Yankee Stadium so he can luck into a little league dimension homer. Do you ever see a pitching change to let a Yankee switch-hitter hit from the left side at home? Especially in the last year and a half?

He tried to get Teix to chase and went to 3-0. The only intentional ball was the last one. At that point isn't it sort of a "pick your poison" position? :rolleyes:

Yeah, and those pigs will be piloting space transports before we hear the Grant Green/Gene Harris session.

Its all pipes!

Clearly some do and some don't, because some really emphasize how safe they are. So why not go with one of the safe ones? You might also consider one of those hair-traps for the drain to prevent future problems.

I wish I could believe that but the only way that can happen is if Lackey starts pitching like a an 82.5 million dollar ace. Lester and Buchholz have been outstanding (and its really exciting to see Buchholz start to realize all of his potential - with him and Lester they could get by fine with Lackey and Beckett as 3/4). But Beckett is being pushed back because his back isn't 100% and they could see that it was effecting his arm slot, and of course on top of that he's flat out stunk to date. So they are left with Dice and Wake, and they are what they are: they may occasionally dominate but you better have your bullpen ready to pitch the last four innings whenever they are scheduled. And that's a crusher long-term (I'm wondering when they'll use an off-day to make a switch so that its not Dice and Wake in succession). So Lackey has got to step it up and pitch like he's supposed to and if Beckett gets healthy and finds his mojo, then yeah, I think the pitching could be good enough. But right now all we've got is Lester (expected) and Buchholz (pleasant surprise). And Papi, of course. Last year he hit number 11 forty days later, and I am guessing his BA is about 70 points above this date last year. Would be real interesting if he hits 35-40 homers and 120 RBIs. Could they really shove him out the door then? Especially knowing that Cashman would jump at the chance to let him take aim at the Little League dimensions?

Hard to believe that the Doin the Thing engagement only produced the released tracks. That's one of my favorite live recordings.

Yeah, I owned the first one, got the other as a CDR from Bill iirc. Not sure why I thought the first one was a WP and not a PJ.

I had the World Pacific debut (I think it was WP, not PJ), it was sold in the great purge. Was there more than one on Bock's labels?

At the risk of really making it political, how about a culture that mutilates young girl's genitals to ensure chastity and minimize or eliminate sexual pleasure?

With the plan - and the Google search box in his browser.

I like Monty just fine but I wouldn't be the former GHF if I didn't say that I wish Ray had brought Gene out of retirement sooner so that those Ray & Monty recordings might be Ray & Gene instead.

So is it OK if I say "then there is still hope for a tie"?

Well with the White Sox finally beating the Rays, the East just got tighter all the way around, and its time to find out whether or not the Jays could be for real, as they host the Rays for three starting Monday. Did I see that the Jays have hit 50 homers in May and there are twenty teams without 50 homers all season? Can that be right? One advantage to being fourth in the division is that when two teams in front play each other, you got a chance to move up on someone every night, especially if you're in a soft stretch of your schedule. And I knew it was a long shot for the Indians but 3-0 looked awfully sweet in the seventh. But you can't rely on the worst of the worse to help you out. I still say that Masterson will be a valuable guy. Even if its as a weapon out of the bullpen, he's better than he's shown in Cleveland, and games like this one show how tough it is to get W's with no support.

Don't know the floor but I recall very recently Brownie mentioned going to the office - I assume this one - and saying that it was one divided room or a two-room office. Definitely not occupying a floor let alone more than one. How's that for an even quicker response?

Would be welcome as I think that's the best of his Impulse recordings.

The only stat that has trended down for Joba is ERA+: 1221 (his brief 2007 run) 171 90 72 His WHIP is actually down from last year's performance as a starter, his H/9 is the same as last year, walk rate down a full walk and lower than it was in 2008, SO rate the best since 2007 and his Walk to Strikeout ratio is a very healthy 3.38, better than any other season except his first. In fact, the worst thing you can say about Joba is that in almost the exact same number of innings, in 2007 he was dominant, and in 2010, not so much. Can you say "small sample size"? His 2007 stats and his 2009 stats represent 7% of his major league innings. Honestly, your concern should not be on his state-of-mind or how going back and forth from the pen to the rotation presumably "messed him up". The long-term threat to his career is the violent pitching motion and stiff front leg.

Interesting stats about Joba: Yes, he now has three losses and an ERA climbing toward 6. OTOH, that was the first inherited runner allowed to score, and also his first Blown Save (I don't know how many Holds he has). Basically you can say that he's screwed the pooch (and the team) three times. Aside from that, how much damage has he done? Only one Blown Save and inherited runners scored only in this game. Maybe he's come in when its close and the team is losing and he's blown it up - that wouldn't show up in the stats - but aside from that I don't see as he should have worn out his welcome in NY. Yeah, some tough stats, not a guy who is lights out all the time. Doesn't mean he won't regain that form. Long term, I'd rather have him than Bard. ('cepting the fact that Bard has some class on the mound of course)