Dan Gould

Anyone remember Lindsay Lohan's illiterate message when Robert Altman died? Well, check out Alyssa Milano's MLB Blog and you'll realize that she really did listen and learn during those tutoring sessions, and not only that, she didn't date baseball players cuz she loves jocks. She loves baseball, too.

Go ahead, accuse away, jackass. You see, there is a MOUNTAIN of evidence that your hero used steroids. On the other hand, the evidence on other players ranges from "totally lacking" to "a BALCO client like Bonds". See how it works? You use your God-given intellect to evaluate the evidence presented. Just like Bonds is "GUILTY GUILTY GUILTY!" Just like you are STUPID STUPID STUPID!"

Gut check time for Cleveland, eh Patrick?

You mean without Merv, the world would have never known Deney Terrio?

Gagne is juicing. No way in hell he could throw 72 saves without being on steroids. Dumbest f-ing thing you've ever written, and that is really saying something. How can a STREAK be dependent on steroid use? Probably the same way you said steroids helped Bonds' HR streak the year he hit 73. Can't have it both ways, big fella. Do you fucking understand the meaning of the word "streak"? Hint: it doesn't meet "really good season". It means doing the same thing, day after day, appearance after appearance, without fail. Gagne converted 70-odd save opportunities in a row. Bonds, the admitted steroid cheater, didn't hit home runs in 73 straight games. And have you had a look at Gagne's physique? He's always been a pudgy guy, the complete opposite of a steroid guzzling workout fiend like your hero. I swear every time you open your mouth you exceed by leaps and bounds the stupidity you spewed the last time.

Gagne is juicing. No way in hell he could throw 72 saves without being on steroids. Then he blew out his arm because the tendons couldn't hold the muscle mass. 'Roid rage is his middle name, fer crissakes. I think we need to call in the Grand Jury for a full-scale shame investigation....sure hope he has an angry ex-girlfriend or a hat size change. That'll seal the deal. Oh, I know! Maybe we can get one of those pretend reporters from the yellow journalism king, Hearst Corporation, to trump up some almost true charges! Yeah...that'll convince 'em! Asterisk, bay-bee. Oh...no wait! Gagne is white. Damn. What was I thinking? Carry on. GoodSpeak, are you saying McGuire is black then??? http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof07/news/story?id=2725461 Old news, Berigan. McGuire and Sosa both got a free pass from the press and from the public. Palmeiri, too. You don't see them getting hounded by the snakes in the media. Apples and oranges, my friend. Yeah, that's why McGuire hit 580+ homers yet only got 25% of the HoF vote. Dumb ass.

Gagne is juicing. No way in hell he could throw 72 saves without being on steroids. Dumbest f-ing thing you've ever written, and that is really saying something. How can a STREAK be dependent on steroid use?

Gagne is juicing. No way in hell he could throw 72 saves without being on steroids. Then he blew out his arm because the tendons couldn't hold the muscle mass. 'Roid rage is his middle name, fer crissakes. I think we need to call in the Grand Jury for a full-scale shame investigation....sure hope he has an angry ex-girlfriend or a hat size change. That'll seal the deal. Oh, I know! Maybe we can get one of those pretend reporters from the yellow journalism king, Hearst Corporation, to trump up some almost true charges! Yeah...that'll convince 'em! Asterisk, bay-bee. More from the dumbest fuck on the planet. Did steroids help him throw the nasty hook or the 60 mph changeup, dumb ass?

Noted Red Sox apologist Steve Berthiaume was all over J.D. Drew's fielding of a ball(I think he was late jump on the ball???) did it look that way to you? I "Tivoed" that baseball tonight, but didn't get thru all of it... I didn't think he was late, the ball was dropping fast but with a three run lead he didn't just play the carom cleanly and went for it instead. Since it looked like he had a shot at catching it, the runner at second only would have advanced to third and it would have been first and third, 5-3. So yeah, Drew takes some blame, too.

"Hipsippy Blues" and "Soul Station". And the liners mention that there are plans for an all-Mobley date, too bad it never came to fruition.

We've gone over it and over it and over it, but I just came across this article http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hruby/060512 and even if you quibble with the numbers, its discussion of how steroid use translates into more home runs is unimpeachable.

While I am not as much of a Spaulding fan as many people (not big on flutes, and not big on that mix of hard bop/slightly out styles, there is a Muse release called Blues Nexus that is quite enjoyable. An excellent setlist includes a couple of Hank Mobley tunes and other hard bop and bop standards. A quick search on Amazon shows that there are plenty of copies available through Amazon Marketplace starting at under $3. Hard to go wrong for that price ...

Well Gagne certainly isn't supposed to be the weak link, he's supposed to lighten the load on Okajima and sub for Papelbon when necessary. But the fact is he was on a terrible streak before the trade and frankly I have to wonder about his physical state after playing so little for two seasons. As for Carmona, I noticed that he has a very mediocre ERA in night games, nearly 5.00. Is that fluky or something to worry about if the Tribe makes the playoffs?

Anything new by Houston Person is an automatic "buy" for me so thanks for the heads up. Too bad the Jazz Depot website doesn't have any sound samples up though.

"pwn" has really expanded beyond its original geek-boy origin. When things aren't going well for the Yankees I check out their MLB discussion board and the only time I've seen that used is there, sort of as an obnoxious "QED".

Clem, Understand that the walking is meant more as something to help my wife rather than as my sole physical activity. Given the state of her knees, if she's going to start moving, there are going to be limits. In terms of the tennis, the work with the pro is very taxing, and believe it or not, a hundred balls in the machine set on "random oscillation" is also highly aerobic and challenging, more so than just hitting with someone because there are built-in breaks when you go pick up the balls to start again. Do that for an hour and a half and its a very taxing routine. Now, with the legs, there are no injuries to report. It happened as I said - a normal 45 minute stepper session got cut short because my quads started aching .... and that simply continued to be the case until I got frustrated and stopped completely. It was really unfortunate because the stepper was the perfect device for me, so long as I had good music on the stereo and something to look at on TV, I could go forever, and when I first started doing it the weight came off like you wouldn't believe. I just keep hoping that if I ease into it steadily, my legs will come back. As for the diet, yeah its kinda bland - but then again I've been discovering some rather unpleasant truths about my once "iron stomach" so I'm not sure I really care to spice things up at this point in my life.

What the hell have you given us, Al??? Gagne has yet to have a single, solitary scoreless inning since he joined the team, and last night he transformed what would have been a thrilling comeback win (down 1-0 to Bedard with two outs in the eighth, a team with terrible hitting in "close and late" situations pushes across 5 runs) into a fucking disastrous loss. :excited:

Well thanks everybody for the commentary and advice. Regarding exercise: I do feel that this is the biggest thing lacking as far as the two sides of the coin go. When I last exercised regularly (had a stairmaster at home) I lost a huge amount of weight and kept it off. Then one day it was like I hit a wall, and my previously strong legs that had no problem going 45 minutes or even an hour on the stepper suddenly would start cramping and barking at me much earlier and before I knew it, I'd pretty much stopped using it. At the same time I lost contact with my last tennis partner and that went by the wayside as well and I was into full sedentary stasis except for the occasional relatively short-term adoption of a walking regimen (I've never been a runner in the first place) or finding a short-lived tennis partner. Now, since April or so, I've been playing tennis once a week with a pro but my legs remain a problem. Basically my calves start protesting within minutes and while they eventually loosen up and settle down, my legs still ache and I'm still left requiring more breaks than I did when I was younger. I do own a tennis ball machine and keep planning to use it twice a week in between lessons in hopes of getting my legs in shape. Now my wife on the other hand has remained fully sedentary for a while now, and to complicate matters, she has had a knee injury that has her rather hobbled lately. On the positive side, her partner has a degree in exercise physiology/sports medicine and wants to help her by getting a dual gym membership. Cost is a factor but I think she should do it as soon as possible. We've discussed, and plan to take up soon, a morning walking regimen with the dogs, and I also have previously bought - but not used regularly enough - a set of resistance bands. I've done enough strength training in the past to not look like a weakling, it would be nice to get those muscles defined again. On The Eating Side: I think that one of the biggest challenges for me is the fact that I am working from the house now and so I have access to snacks whenever I feel like it. Aside from that, its difficult to point out obvious problems in my diet. I do 99% of the cooking and we rotate between pasta, chicken, pork and steak. So if steak and pasta are the problem, its not like we are eating that much of it. Side dishes are usually salad, steamed green beans (with margarine and onion or garlic powder, salt and pepper), and baked or smashed potatoes. The one item my wife has agreed to do away with is one of her comfort foods, and that would be tater tots. We liven things up with the occasional stir fry, Onion or Black Bean soup (my specialties) or lasagna, chicken soup or chicken pot pie (my wife). We do plan to increase the veggie quotient with asparagus and sweet potatoes instead of Idaho. Junk food is not an issue for me, though my wife sometimes gives into temptation when she is running around for work between her two offices or when she has to go meet a client. Actually, a bigger problem for her according to her partner (and I totally agree) is that her approach to dieting has been all wrong. She may eat nothing for breakfast and something very small for lunch (she brings in microwavable soup) and then goes home for dinner. He has been telling her that she's put her body into a state of near starvation in which the body doesn't know when its next meal is coming and therefore is holding on to her fat stores and seeking to add more. Thanks again to everyone who posted.

This is the kind of episode which seems likely to turn up in the film... Agreed but the problem I suspect will be that a Hollywood biopic is more likely to portray his problems to have been a result of drug use/abuse rather than one of mental illness. I have virtually no hope that this film will accurately portray Monk and find it surprising that its even being considered. Wasn't it Monk who was said to be capable of going weeks without speaking? What would Hollywood do with a character like that? The only thing that made Ray watchable was the performance by Jamie Foxx. I fully expect that a movie about Monk will be equally loose with the facts but not have nearly as sympathetic a portrayal at its center.

Well Patrick, I hope they straighten things out starting tonight, if only for three games. I like the matchups especially with Westbrook having put together a couple of good starts since he got hammered by Boston. How do the Indians do in terms of wearing down starters by taking walks and extending at bats? The sooner they get into the soft underbelly of that bullpen, the better off they'll be. We definitely need the Indians to have Carmona pitch well tonight, since the Sox get Bedard tonight. He was scheduled to go on Saturday but by moving him up, the Yanks won't miss him next week, so I am not really complaining. I just think we'd have a better shot if it was Beckett opposing him.

Let's forget about Bonds' career "record" and consider the likelihood of a 37 year old man hitting 73 homers in one season. This author did it, and the results beggar the imagination: http://kermittheblog.wordpress.com/2007/05...od-to-uh-barry/

That is certainly true. I was checking the Coolstandings site and realized that not a single, solitary NL team is projected to win 90 games! Has that ever happened before? I just checked Baseball Prospectus' Postseason Odds page and their simulation only has the Mets breaking 90 wins and all the other so-called "contenders" in the 85-87 win range. Its one thing to have the odd Cardinal team or NL West winner coming in with a super low win total, but if it turns out that none of these teams can win 90 games (which is only a .555 winning percentage) then I'd have to say that parity has gone too far. Or that the NL SUCKS.

Is it OK if I drink soda instead?

I was thinking that the Diamondbacks can't maintain their winning ways due to their anomalous run differential of -30+. But this article in the Hardball Times suggests that there is ample precedent for teams to sustain such surprising results. Good news for D-Back fans, bad news for the rest of the NL West?