papsrus

BTW, though I don't know him well, as some others here do, I thought of Son of Weizen ... Rolf, today, and I do hope he is all right. Or as all right as one can hope to be under such circumstances. I had a wonderful day with my family today. Hope you all did, too. Peace.

Amen.

yes. thanks aloc! Beautiful images, once again.

Would it be fair to say Reggie had his greatest impact with the Yankees?

Best Holiday wishes to all my fellow Organ-auts. Merry Christmas. Enjoy.

I think some of it is fed by the media. ESPN, for one, is very New York-centric. Example: As soon as the Knicks start reeling off a few wins, suddenly they are an elite team, court-side tickets are going for $50,000 (for the Heat game, no shit) and ESPN is telling us all about the imagined, storied rivalries with the Celtics, the Heat, the Pacers. ... Sorry, but no. Or as they say in Boston, "Say what?" When Milwaukee signs Greinke, it's in the news for a day, then gone. And it's mainly news-worthy to ESPN because the Yankees didn't get him, despite the fact that the Brewers suddenly became a pretty interesting team with him. If the Yankees had signed Greinke, we'd still be hearing about it. There would be footage of him landing in New York, we'd be hearing from his high school coach, and so on.

no go here.

Has anyone linked the Rays to Manny? He has to know he has no chance for anything like a big guaranteed contract, but how could you go wrong with a few million with incentives that bring it up to $5-10 million? The Rays always seem to need a DH, and Manny back in the East could be a monster again, at least for another season. He always hits against the Yankees, and back at Fenway ... If I were certain that the Sox will win the division, I'd be less worried about the Rays improving by getting Manny - give them a chance to challenge the Yanks for the wild card. But since nothing is guaranteed, I should probably prefer that the Rays not sign him. Rays have dismissed any talk of bringing Manny to St. Pete. I tend to believe them simply because what you have now is a AAAA team and Maddon's brain. I think both Maddon and Sternberg kind of like that equation, for different reasons. At this point, Sternberg is basically positioning the team (the payroll) to where he can say, "I'm trying to make this work the right way, developing young talent, but I need a new stadium or this just isn't going to work." Bringing a guy like Manny on board doesn't seem to fit with that plan. I just don't see it because for political reasons, Sternberg may not be interested in trying too hard to draw more fans to the Trop at this point. On the plus side, with the dispersal of Rays players around the league, I'm developing an interest in a whole bunch of new teams now.

Some stuff I learned: Chuck is left handed. He spends a lot of time in the basement. RVG could not possibly have been involved in 'The Maze' recordings. There are many more things yet to be revealed. Thanks for posting the link.

I loved it. The music's not particularly engaging, but the message is right on!

Enjoy.

Huh. I guess the Rangers weren't all that interested, or didn't have the goods? So who's left? Rays were actually able to free up some dollars (even given their drastically reduced payroll) with the Bartlett trade. Rays got relievers Adam Russell and Cesar Ramos and a couple of minor leaguers in return. Padres will also get a player to be determined (which I believe is different from a player to be 'named.') Red Sox are the clear favorites in the East, I think. They'll be hungry, too, after last season.

That's wonderful Allen. Look forward to listening to Mr. Sykes once you've recorded. Maine

They're searching the bargain bins. They just traded Bartlett to the Padres for pitchers Adam Russell and Cesar Ramos. Was a little premature on that Bartlett trade.

Thanks for the rundown. Sounds wonderful. Please do send up a flare when this one and the Mitchell are available.

Oy

Hmm. Well, if the above link doesn't work, try this.

Haven't ordered mine yet. Probably wait until the new year now ... just in case ... After you fellas have had a chance to digest it a bit, I'd love to hear your impressions. (kind of a dumb question, but since I can't listen for myself yet, what the hell)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ZofFKfivI&feature

And what if the 49ers get hot, win the division with a 7-9 record and then go to the Super Bowl?! Then we would have to suffer through yet another "greatest sports story of all time." Bob Costas would wax on. Joe and Jerry would reminisce. But whoever "wins" the West is entitled to a slot in the playoffs and a home game. They'll likely get steamrolled, though. I'm going with Pats vs. Does It Matter? in the Super Bowl.

They're searching the bargain bins. They just traded Bartlett to the Padres for pitchers Adam Russell and Cesar Ramos. They're said to be shopping Garza as well, and Shields. Three GMs have apparently inquired about Garza. Joyce is slotted to take over for Crawford in in left, Zobrist in right. Upton in center. Longoria 3B, Brignac SS, Rodriguez 2B and Johnson 1B should be the infield. They should be reasonably competitive. They're forever young, so they'll still be fun to watch. Bigger question is whether Sternberg can get a commitment for a new ballpark here. If not. ... He's clearly not having a whole lot of fun conducting fire sales.

Yeah. How on earth did Buster Olney and the rest of the New York media miss this? This seems like the least attractive contract offer dollar-wise (from what has been reported), but the most attractive offer from a competitive standpoint -- as in, un-freakin' real rotation; proven championship team; committed management. Kind of makes you wonder if there was a wink and a nod from Phillies management about an eventual move back to the City of Brotherly Love back when Lee was shipped off to Seattle.

Well, it does take more than just money to build a successful franchise (see Chicago Cubs, New York Mets). Nolan Ryan is about as hard-core a baseball man as you'll find, and I'm guessing he knows what he's doing. This one signing isn't going to make or break the Rangers long term. I sure wouldn't bet against him getting what he needs, by hook or by crook. And that'll be fun to watch.

I much prefer the cardinal and its singsong to the more aggressive and loud blue jay, which must have one of the worst caws of any bird.