Chalupa

I take it you don't care for Hamilton, or is it that you think it's a bad move by the Phillies? I'm just curious as to why. Why would I think signing Hamilton would be a bad move?? Forget for a minute that he will be 32 in May and that his numbers are trending downward. Forget that there are legitimate concerns about his ability to stay on the field and that he has past issues with substance abuse. Forget that Hamilton bats lefty and the Philllies already have two left handed hitters at 3 & 4 in their lineup(Utley & Howard). Forget that Hamilton will get a huge contract and that the Phillies have a ton of money($130 M for 2013) committed to about 8 players(Doc, Hamels, Utley, Howard, Rollins, Lee, Chooch, and Paps) with more pressing needs(3rd base, BP) to fill. Forget all that. The real reason I don't want him on the Phillies?? He's is a streaky hitter. Look the last thing the Phillies need is Josh Hamilton. A team bulging with players in their 30's that can no longer perform at the level of their bloated contracts wants to take on another bloated contract for a bible thumping player in his 30's with all kinds of on/off field issues?? In this town with its crazy fans??? What could possibly go wrong??

Weird rumors flying around the internet that the Phillies are close to signing Josh Hamilton. I might just have to boycott the 2013 season if they do.

I was surprised to hear that Roy was playing again. Hope he is able to regain his old form. Speaking of knee issues... I picked Eric Gordon for my fantasy team thinking he had fully recovered from his knee injury. Dude is a flat out scoring machine when healthy. Now there are conflicting reports on whether he will need microfracture surgery on his knee. Not good.

I imagine the model number is actually DM602. The DM602 is a larger, ported bookshelf speaker. Depending on when he bought them, they could be DM602, DM602 S2 or DM602 S3 (series 2 & series 3). They are pretty good speakers but are a bit bass shy, even with the port. However, I find that B&W speakers are the best speakers out there for acoustic bass, making them perfect for Jazz. You just won't be cranking that bass out of these at any volume. I have an entire home theater set-up with B&W 600 Series 3 speakers, I have DM603 S3's for the front L&R, an LCR600 S3 for a center and DM601 S3's for the surround L&R. They sound very good. I can recommend DM602 S3's but I don't know about S2's or the originals. Kevin Another recommendation for the DM602 S3. Love them. FWIW, I got mine for $500/pair NEW about 5 years ago.

I think you mean Brandon Rush of Golden State http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8589157/brandon-rush-golden-state-warriors-torn-acl-miss-season

0-3 Lakers get some bad news... Nash fractures fibula

I think the NW division doesn't have a totally sucky amongst the bunch, unlike other divisions. The Southwest could be a sleeper, with the Mavs looking stronger-than-expected and the Rockets in a much better position after the Harden trade. The question mark is New Orleans and how much Anthony Davis improves them. Probably enough for mediocrity, but not better. I think the Rockets gave up a lot for Harden. Kevin Martin is a 20ppg scorer and Jeremy Lamb could develop into a stud. + two 1st round picks. Was it too much?? Time will tell. Regardless I don't see the Rockets making the playoffs this season unless there are an astonishing amount of injuries in the West. Maybe not, but I think an at-worst 9th or 10th place finish is likely. That certainly doesn't qualify as "totally sucky." Agree. I probably would have pulled the trigger on that trade. This is a trade for the future. The Rockets now have a pretty good, young backcourt under contract. They can build upon them AND they still have cap room for another max contract even though they signed Harden to big money. Also, apparently Oklahoma & Harden were only a few million apart. I think they should have paid him.

I think the NW division doesn't have a totally sucky amongst the bunch, unlike other divisions. The Southwest could be a sleeper, with the Mavs looking stronger-than-expected and the Rockets in a much better position after the Harden trade. The question mark is New Orleans and how much Anthony Davis improves them. Probably enough for mediocrity, but not better. I think the Rockets gave up a lot for Harden. Kevin Martin is a 20ppg scorer and Jeremy Lamb could develop into a stud. + two 1st round picks. Was it too much?? Time will tell. Regardless I don't see the Rockets making the playoffs this season unless there are an astonishing amount of injuries in the West.

Here's one for you Yanks!! They should have named this Hurricane 'A-Rod.' Then it wouldn't have hit anything. Ba-Da-BING!

You're confusing the term "pennant" with "World Series Winner". The pennant winner goes to the World Series.

Cue Blue Train to admonish the board for discussing the passing of a musician before his death being covered in the press.

The problem with your argument is that it is factually incorrect. Go look up his numbers for August and September. In August he went 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA - his 2nd best month of the season. He had two starts in September and won his first while striking out 9 batters! As to your 2nd point to say that NO ONE expected this team to make the playoffs is, again, wrong. Two out of 8 SI baseball scribes also picked the Nats to make the postseason. http://sportsillustr...2012/index.html 13 writers from ESPN picked them to make the playoffs with two of them picking the Nats to go to the World Series. http://espn.go.com/m...baseball-season Hell I picked them to win the NL East in my first post in this thread. Berigan also thought they had a shot to make the playoffs and possibly win the East.

What second guessing?? I don't understand the furor over Strasburg. We moan and groan when players get concussions in contact sports, and about the need for safety, but when a pitcher rips his arm and has to have it reconstructed, it's a sin to actually care about his long term well being? I don't get it. Heart breaker in last night's game. The Washington closer blew it, simple as that. I'm not criticizing the move to place an innings limit on his arm in order to save his career. That was a good move. The 2nd guessing comes in bc knowing that you are going to place an innings limit on a pitcher would you then want him available for the first six weeks of the season or the last 6 weeks???? I think most baseball fans, at least the ones outside of the DC metro area anyway, think that it would have been better to have Strasburg start the season later and have him ready to pitch into October. Big mistake by the Nats not to plan ahead. And yes they should have known that they had a very good shot at the post season before Strasburg picked up a baseball in spring training. Everyone knew that the Phillies were going to be in trouble w/ Howard scheduled to miss the first half of the season w/ a ruptured achilles.

Wow. 4 runs in the 9th???? Holy crap. What a choke job by Washington's BP. Gonna be a lot of 2nd guessing(justified) on how they managed Strasburg this season.

Whoa just looking over the Cards/Nats box score and saw this... "Gio Gonzalez is the sixth pitcher to walk seven or more batters in five or fewer innings in a postseason game. In the previous five instances, the pitcher's team lost the game."

I don't think they have #5. I believe it's the first two in STL and last 3 in DC. I don't think it's fair to the Division winner in this format. Additionally I think this should be a 7 game series not 5.

Well I for one would like to thank Cliff for letting us all know about John's passing. I only got to see him perform once a few years ago. He still brought it. Thanks for the music.

As for the Rangers...nah, they are still loaded to the gills with talent(Even if a lot of elbows have grenaded themselves) . IF they can/want to trade Profar or Elvis for say, David Price... A rotation with Price, Darvish, Matt Harrison(gee, but I'd like to see him pitching for the Braves, but Tex has been so good for the braves since the trade) Derek Holland, and I'm sure Jim and Al knows much more about the really good arms that are close to being ready...and you know the Rangers will always hit. And you have to have some vets, I seem to recall a certain Phillies team winning it all with a bunch of guys MUCH older than the rangers, and hell, those old shits had to play on that green concrete to boot.. They can't trade Profar. He's the future. I don't think the Rays deal Price for Elvis, either. The Rangers usually do hit but the bats went cold down the stretch and again tonight so their offense has to be of some concern. As to your last point I wouldn't say the 1980 WS Champs were MUCH older. Actually if you compare the starting lineups the 1980 Phillies were younger in all starting positions except SS, C, and 1st base(But Rose @ 39 played a lot younger than Young @ 35). Carlton at 35 and Reed at 37 were the old men of the staff but the rest of those guys were in their 20's. Except for Tug @ 35 who was 3 years younger than Nathan will be. LOL @ the "green concrete" comment. The current Phillies are older then the 1980 Phillies. Yikes. Although I have a feeling Ruben Amaro(AKA Blew Your Tomorrow) will do something about that. Who knows - maybe the Rangers will do what they should have done(fail) back in July and trade Olt for Lee? Now if we could just unload Howard's contract....

Wow. The Orioles won. I feel good for Gentleman Jim Thome. This season the Rangers were in 1st place for 176 days all but for the most important day - the last. They had a 13 game lead over the A's evaporate. And this on the heels of losing two straight World Series including the last one were they were one strike away from winning it all - twice. Brutal. So where do the Rangers go from here?? Go hard after Cliff Lee?? Let Hamilton walk?? Blow up the team?? Remember, this is an old team. Beltre will be 34 in April, Young 36 in 2 weeks, Cruz will be 33 next July, Kinsler 31 in June, Murphy turns 31 in 2 weeks, Hamilton (if they pay him Pujols money to re-sign) will be 32 in May. Add all that to the questions about their pitching staff(not limited to - Lewis coming back after a major injury, Feliz having Tommy John surgery, Nathan turning 38 in November, Dempster & Adams are FAs) and I got to think the window has closed for them as far as the team is presently constructed. Lots of questions in Arlington.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25336303&topic_id=37973554&c_id=mlb

What is that? Is it a re-issue or new old stock?

Armstrong's response

Obituary from the Philly Inquirer

Berigan you forgot to mention that, per the article, Scott won the Cy Young award in 1986 and beat the Mets twice in the playoffs. 306 KOs in one season is pretty darn good, if not great IMHO.

Lance Armstrong will no longer fight doping accusations