Farny Could Fly Higher than an Eagle cause he was the wind beneath my wings... Goodbye Farny, you shall be missed. [Shedding Tears]

The Angels trade for Mark Teixeira yesterday was for the most part unilaterally approved. And why wouldn't it be? Teixeira is a beast, he instantaneously becomes the Angels best hitter (Yes, he's better than Vlad now). He immediately gives them punch in the middle of their lineup that they've needed ever since Troy Glaus left his HGH driven prime. And all they had to give up was Casey Kotchman a good but not great 1B in the start of his prime and minor league pitcher Steve Marek who is being turned into a reliever in the minor leagues. And yet, somehow someway some people (Doug Gottlieb) are not a fan of this trade.

Ok so let's analyze this piece by piece. The Angels have the best team in baseball right now, they have the best record and they have as good a chance as any to win the world series. But their strength is pitching, they are currently 19th in the league in runs scored. They needed to add a bat and they needed power. Would it have been nice to add Teixeira and not delete Kotchman? Sure, but the you have to give the Braves something. Regardless, there is no debating that the Angels are better for the remainder of 08 than if they kept Kotchman.

Next, the fear that Teixeira leaves and you lose out on the future of Kotchman for a rental player. A) Teixeira will certainly be a Tier A Free Agent and thus if he leaves the Angels will be receiving a first round pick as well as a 1st round sandwich pick. Kotchman himself was the 13th overall pick in the draft so the Angels will be receiving two picks in close proximity to #13. Secondly the Angels, have a potential future first baseman in the minors in Kendry Morales. Both Kotchman and Morales are 25 and while Morales has not been on the fast track to the majors he is an excellent prospect and potentially the equivalent or better than Kotchman. Since starting his minor league career Morales has never finished a minor league season hitting below .300. Last year during his call up with the Angels he hit .294 in 119 at bats. This year in the minors he's hitting .324. He's their easy replacement for Kotchman if Teixeira does in fact leave via free agency.

This trade is hands down a no brainer for the Angels. Could Kotchman be a solid 1B for a long time in baseball? Sure. Will he ever be an elite hitter? Highly doubtful. So the Angels did what they should, upgraded majorly in a season in an attempt to win a world series. In the offseason attempt to sign Teixeira and if his asking price is too much then simply settle for the 2 first round picks and slotting of Morales as the every day first baseman. It was the easy and correct decision.

The WGC Bridgestone (formerly NEC) Invitational has a 9 year history. In those 9 years it could have been summed up in one word, Tiger. The first three WGC NEC Invitationals were won by whom? Tiger. The last three WGC Bridgestone tournaments were won by whom? Tiger.

So congrats to all of those 75 players playing in the tournament starting tomorrow. You actually have a chance to win the grand prize of an 8 million dollar purse. It must feel good to actually have a chance.

So I haven't done the Friday Video Blowout in awhile, most of it was due to laziness. Anyway, are people more in favor of sporadic videos being posted that I enjoy during the week? Or the typical 10 video blowout on friday?

Carl Pavano of course who made his first rehab start for the RiverDogs last night. He's gonna be great in September.


Sorry, I just had to make myself laugh.

"To say you can count on them right now, given that neither have pitched in minor league games yet, would be an overstatement," Cashman said. (Hughes also pitched last night.)

Bringing Ron Artest into Houston certainly sounds like a good decision in basketball terms. The Rockets gave up Bobby Jackson (2008 version not the 2002 version), Donte Green and their 2009 draft pick (which will certainly be in the high teens if not the 20s). In return they receive a stellar defender with ferocious intensity and someone on the offensive end who could easily drop 17 points a game. But what about the ole chemistry?

Shane Battier seems like a slightly poor mans sane version of Ron Artest. He defends hard and is serviceable on the offensive end all while being a model citizen. How exactly is he going to deal with being on the court/losing playing time due to Artests arrival? For Yao Ming and T-Mac they certainly will welcome the added talent, but they both are soft and a little introverted, quite the opposite of Ronny Ron. How exactly will they become good teams with Artest? Can you even for a second imagine Artest and Yao conversing?

The Rockets certainly had to take the chance. They gave up no important pieces and now have a tri-fecta of all star caliber players with significant role players. It gives them the opportunity to contend and possibly win the West. But they certainly are taking a big chance with team chemistry and then again everything for the Rockets still comes down to Yao and T-Mac being unable to play in the postseason every year because they are amongst the most fragile players in the league. So, if both go down like any other year, this trade will end up being all for naught. But at least for the moment the Rockets are now arguably the most intriguing watch in the NBA.

Somehow I'm 25 years old am an avid sports fan, have watched the Indy 500 for what surely amounts to at least 1 complete race and yet I never learned of the ridiculousness of the Brickyard Crossing until this past weekend. There are tons of unique golf courses in this world, and yet surely a golf course which includes 4 holes within the infield of arguably the most storied race track in America is in its own odd class. Hopefully, if I ever end up near Indianapolis I will be able to play this very weird but notable course.

You're 4-6 in your last 10 and your 2.5 games out of the division. You need something extra, you need a spark. You have a solid rotation but you need that stud, the pitcher who is going to dominate. And it just so happens you have him stashed away in the minor leagues dominating hitters in every start. So, you leave him there of course.

Seriously, there is nothing more baffling then what the Twins are doing to Francisco Liriano. Coming into this season he could have been considered their most important player, a potential ace on a team clearly lacking one. But he struggled mightily in regaining his stuff post Tommy John surgery so he was rightly sent down to the minors. And he has found his stuff. He's had his stuff for awhile now throwing together 5 terrific starts in a row before having a mediocre start last night. And yet, even with his agent complaining about the franchise, he's sat there in Rochester waiting for the call. A call that is being blocked by 5 pitchers that couldn't hold his jock right now all the while the Twins brass is saying that there is no room for him.

1. Livan Hernandez - 5.38 ERA is bad, but a WHIP of 1.60 and an opposing batting average of .336 is down right terrible. The batting average against of .336 is the worst in all of MLB for qualified pitchers. Why is this man still starting? How in the world is he better than Liriano right now? Why because he has 10 wins? Sir Sidney has 6, does it not mean they both suck?

2. Nick Blackburn - He has a 3.69 ERA and has pitched well, but when he suited up against the Yankee pin stripes in a big spot he was sitting on the bench 6 runs down after 1.2 innings. Do you honestly think he's coming up big in an important spot?

3. Kevin Slowey - Slow is the accurate depiction. He's a finesse pitcher.

4. Scott Baker - Baker has pitched well for the Twins this year and has a 3.36 ERA. But does he have dominating playoff ace stuff? No.

5. Glenn Perkins - Perkins has pitched well for a Rookie with a 4.08 ERA but again the stuff obviously isn't there. With 46 Ks in 90+ innings its obvious he isn't dominating.

How can the Twins seriously say with a straight face that Liriano can not replace any of those pitchers? What the hell are they waiting for? Are they waiting to fall out of the race? Are they waiting to trade one of the youngsters? The time is now, make the move before its too late. And stop being ridiculously cheap based on service time.

Note: If the Twins really can't find a place in the rotation for him, I'm sure a certain team in the Bronx could find a spot for him if pressed into the situation.

If you watched any of the Yanks Sox games over the weekend than you most certainly have learned that the Yanks parted ways with 4 players in order to acquire Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady. And if you have watched this analyzed by anybody on FOX or ESPN you would have gathered that the Yankees just went to Pittsburgh punched the Pirates brass in the face and stole two players. Color me a little less impressed by the Yankees.

Sure if you look at the statline for Xavier Nady this year it looks great. The Yanks needed a corner outfielder and they needed a right hand bat. Nady is both and was hitting .330 for the Pirates. What's better than that? How about a player with some sort of historical track record both in the regular season or in the postseason. He's hit 20 home runs in a season just once, and he's 29 so he's not exactly young. He's had 3 postseason at bats in his entire career. He hit .264 for the Mets in 06 before they jettisoned him in another deal that was vastly criticized by people not named me. I'm not going to jump to conclusions after a single weekend, but Nady was completely useless in two games against the Sox, both in the field and at the plate. Hopefully I'm wrong I just think Nady is highly highly overrated by mostly everybody.

As for Damaso Marte it's nice that the Yanks bolstered their bullpen and added the missing lefty, but a starting pitcher would have been better. Surpsingly the bullpen has been the Yankees strength and while Marte is certainly a welcomed contributor he wasn't necessarily needed. Hopefully he's used as more than just a left handed specialist and if he is just used as a specialist let's hope that his splits resemble 07 (.094 average against lefties) more than 08 (.250 average against lefties).

Now here comes the other end of the deal. The initial report of what the Yankees were giving up was wrong. Instead of Phil Coke and George Kontos, two players I've never heard of, the Yanks gave up Jeff Karstens (a potential 5th starter) and Daniel McCutchen who has been tearing up the minor leagues. Currently McCutchen has 8 wins and an ERA of 3.14 in splits between Double-A and Triple-A. He's a potential MLB contributor. Ohlendorf has solid stuff and has the potential to become a solid contributor to a staff. And finally Tabata was once regarded as the single best prospect in the Yankees organization and while belittled a bit this year he's still 20 he still has potential and he definitely had more value in January of this year.

I'm not saying the Yankees shouldn't have done the deal, given the market, their injuries and their position in the race they needed to take action and this move filled two of the voids. I just don't think its the enormous win for the Yankees as everybody else seems to think and perhaps the singular reason is that I just don't think Xavier Nady is that good.

The weekly waste has been absent for awhile, but I think we can all agree that these two are a unanimous selection for the waste of the summer and should be removed from the Northeast entirely and potentially the entire planet. If they happened to be castrated chances are the Earth would instantly become a more enjoyable place.

In one off season the New Orleans Saints have gone out and picked up not the former most popular player for not one but two New York teams. In 2005 both Jonathan Vilma and Jeremy Shockey had their peak seasons. Shockey had 891 recieving yards and a career high 7 touchdown receptions making him the toast of the town and selling lots and lots of jerseys. Meanwhile, Vilma was making every single tackle in the last year of the Herman Edwards era and was the only worthwhile player on the entire roster and was certainly my favorite Jet. Now three years later both found themselves unwanted in the Big Apple and both found themselves shifted to the Bayou.

So what's going to happen to these former Broadway heroes in 2008? Well, chances are they both shall turn into beasts. For Shockey he enters a squad that's been missing one thing, a tight end. With Colston, Bush, and Deuce Shockey will be seeing limited double teams and could potentially have a career year. And for Vilma, well he's actually going to be utilized the way he should have been utilized for the Jets. In the 4-3 scheme in the middle running down every single tackle to be made on the field. I honestly expect both to make the Pro Bowl. And I fully expect the Saints to win the NFC South this year and contend with whichever NFC East squad is left standing for the NFCs Superbowl representation. And at the center of it will be the two former New Yorkers who were once upon a time the fan favorites for both franchises.

Seriously If You Like or Hate Tom Brady Go Here. If you don't fall on either end of that spectrum you probably aren't human and can't laugh so nevermind.

So Wachovia goes and loses 8.86 Billion (With a B) dollars in the second quarter. So how are they going to turn it around and make up those losses? By advertising here at SimonOnSports of course. I generate Billions of grains of Rice (perhaps only millions or maybe like 5 full shaped grains) so its certainly a sound strategy.

FARNY

Kyle Farnsworth has been a continuous joke on this here website and the bane of many Yankee fans since his arrival in the Bronx. I shivered when the Yanks drafted a kid 'comparable to Farny' and a frighteningly said that he was the Player to Eye for the Yanks this season especially if they moved Joba into the rotation. And despite a very shaky start to the season, and his penchant for the walk, Farny seemed to find his groove once he regained the 8th inning role. And now? He's not giving up hits. Just how little hits is he giving up? In his last 10 appearances (9 innings) Farny hasn't given up a single hit.

This is Farny, the man whom when Joe Girardi talked about having confidence in at the start of the season was laughed at by all Yankee fans. Now I'm still overly pessimistic and would expect him to get wrecked in a big spot in September or the postseason or hell this weekend against the So but still 9 innings no hits is pretty damn surprising.

EDWAR

Now Edwar on the other hand is a confusing case. I can never put my hands on whether or not I think he's good, lucky or about the blow up. Last year he had outings when he looked great, but he had way more outings which he got rocked which sums up the 8.14 season ending ERA. This year the solid outings are coming in bunches, but when he gets hit he seems to get hit well. He's come in 32 games and has only been scored on in 5, 3 of which were 2 runs or more.

Now Edwar, still be used in middle relief, is on fire. In his last 7 appearances (9 1/3 innings) Edwar, like Farny, has not given up a hit. Unlike Farny he's limited his walks to 2. So the question is what is Edwar? Is he the dominant reliever he's been most of this year? Or is he the guy getting rocked in a few starts this year and a lot of starts last year.

Feel Like Your Knowledge of College Graduates is Solid? Try more of What College Did I Go To?.

MLB Editions: Closers, Third Base, Second Base, First Base, Short Stop

Golf: PGA Edition

One would think that every kid in America playing basketball dreamed of playing for Olympiakos at some point. Or not. So why is it that Josh Childress decided that he wanted to flee America, the NBA, and more specifically the Hawks for Greece. And in the prime of his career to boot.

For the Hawks Childress was a solid but unspectacular player who probably needed to work on his jump shot. He certainly wasn't the star of their squad and thanks to the NBA's controlling rules he was a restricted free agent in Atlanta, meaning if he signed in the NBA chances are good the Hawks would have matched the deal given that it wouldn't have been too much money. So in essence Josh Childress didn't want to play for the Hawks so badly (or he liked 1+ million dollars more a year and European Vacations) that he was willing to forego 3 years in his prime in the NBA.

Woo the Hawks suck.

Try the Yankee Fielder Edition

This man to the right is Alfredo Aceves. He's mexican, and was signed by the Yankees from the Mexican league. And for those reasons we can excuse him for the outfit the girl under his arm is wearing (he was working the pin stripes at least). Soon enough Mr. Aceves will be throwing in the Yankees bullpen. Why? Because he's tooling on every level of the minors.

At a Mexican 25 (translation somewhere between 25 and 40) he's no youngin', so there's no reason to increase development. At single A Tampa in 8 starts he threw 47 innings to the tune of a 2.11 ERA with 37 Ks. At AA Trenton in 7 starts he threw 50 innings to the tune of a 1.8 ERA with 35 Ks. And now in AAA he's entered 4 games (1 start) and has thrown 11 innings to the tune of a 1.64 ERA with 15 Ks. Last night he even had Mr. Cashman in attendance last night watching his performance.

So are you ready for a little extra latin flavor in the pen?

Favre wants out... Pennington wants out. Packers don't want Favre in the division. Jets aren't in the division. Packers want a Rodgers to start, but could use a veteran backup. Jets don't want Pennington to start but don't really want Clemens to start either. So....

PENNINGTON FOR FAVRE!!!! Get it done. Hell the Jets could even throw in a 5th rounder. And best yet, Favre won't even have to stop wearing green.

It's a WIN FOR ALL PENNINGTON FOR FAVRE!!!

Try the Yankee Pitcher Edition

I posted a Quiz Up at EC that got linked by hot clicks. Go take it.

Pointing to the camera celebrating as Jay Feely shanks his field goal attempt while I'm in attendance with one buddy wearing a Largent jersey and one buddy wearing a Shockey jersey. In the end the epic Giants fail was encapsulated in "Shockey Swallows" chants and tears of infinite sadness.


Perhaps this could be the first jersey to lead the bonfire.

In the recent past the one thing that you noticed was the abundance of Jeremy Shockey jerseys. They've had some good players in the past 5-10 years including Barber, Strahan and Toomer and yet the Shockey jerseys completely dominated the crowd. For what reason? In some cases you would see entire families all decked out in Shockey Jerseys as if no one else played on the team. I have no idea, he was never the best player on the team and he often underachieved and he was consistently an annoying loudmouth. But I guess he won over the fans. Perhaps, it was the effort level or the whiteness or the massive American flag tattoo. Whatever it was, he sure had a vice grip on the Giants jersey sales.

But now, of course he has become expendable. He got injured the Giants won the Superbowl without him and everyone began to question whether or not the Giants were better without him. And with the emergence of Kevin Boss it just pushed his need off the edge. And thus the Giants eventually made a deal with the Saints to part ways with Shockey.

So what to do with the hundreds of thousands of Shockey jerseys around the tri-state area. How about a jersey bon-fire in jersey? Who's in?

I wonder if on the back of the shirt it said screw Britain. Or said, Independent since 1776. What's with the green portion of the shirt?

In the end the pink pants just weren't enough. After a ton of rain throughout the tournament the outfits worn by all the golfers were tame and boring in comparison to the colorful array that comprised the Masters. But then there was the shining star of the ridiculous, Ian Poulter, on Sunday at the British Open flaunting pastel pink pants. And not only was he flaunting the only colored pants in contention he was flaunting them at the top of the leaderboard. He was tied for the lead with Paddy Irishman, and was chilling on the 17th green with an Eagle putt to come.

And then in a flash his chances were gone. The dreaded three putt came and the Eagle putt and the chance for sole possession of the lead, became a one stroke deficit as Paddy Irishman drained his own birdie putt. Poulter Pink Pants managed to garner one more fist pump on the 18th when he saved par and put a little pressure back on Paddy Irishman to play at least +1 golf on his final 6 holes. But alas, Paddy Irishman did not want drama, he did not want to watch Poulter Pink Pants play any more holes. He wanted to land his 2nd shot on the 17th green like Poulter Pink Pants. But rather than 3-putting he desired to drain the birdie and kill all suspense.

It's too bad, a man that looks that ridiculous should be given a better chance on the final day. Especially when Paddy Irishman brings the snooze to golf outfits.

Black Pocket Woods

I've never heard of Chris Wood and well why should I, he's an amateur and a Brit one at that. Yet, perhaps inspired with his partnering with Poulter Pink Pants, he brought out the equally ridiculous. Some sort of puke green/yellow colored pants with ludicrous looking black pockets. And what happened? He came in a tie for 5th. Yet, again a good result for the fashion flare, but never the top prize.

Shark's a Snoozer

For all that was cool about the Shark pushing himself into the final pairing and with a 2 stroke lead to boot, his performance on sunday was miserable. First off he owns his own damn stupid fashion line and he comes with cream pants and a black sweater, boring. And then he goes out and shoots a 77 thus eliminating any kind of drama on the final 5 holes.

Where Are the Good Players

Ernie, Phil and Vajay all eliminated themselves from contention on day 1. Hey, newsflash jackasses, but Tiger wasn't there. You know, the guy that wins majors all the time. Perhaps this would have been a good tournament to play well at. Or not. And it wasn't just them. Sergio and Retief were still in contention coming into the weekend and both shat the bed completely. KJ Choi dropped a deuce in his pants on Saturday. Spiderman, followed up his -5 with a +8.

My Predictions = Bogus

Contender Picks: Ernie Els (T7), Justin Rose (T70), Camilo Villegas (T39), Lee Westwood (T67)

Els shot an 80 in the first round to jump out of contention. Rose shot an 82 on saturday to plummet out of contention. Villegas shot a 79 on saturday to eliminate his -5 on friday. And Westwood shot a 78 on saturday and never shot better than +3.

Miss the Cut Picks: Fatty Phil (T17), Tom Watson (Missed Cut), Rory Sabbatini (Missed Cut)

Fatty Phil shot a 68 on friday to make the cut by a stroke. Watson and Rory both stunk it up on the weekdays to miss out.

Winner (or Total Loser): Sergio (T51)

Sergio was still in it at +5 going into the weekend, wasn't completely out of it sitting at even par for the day and +9 for the tournament heading into the back nine on sunday. And then he bogeyed or double bogeyed each of the next five holes and topped it off with a bogey on the 18th to finish +8 for the day and +17 for the tourney. Loser.

Apparently a bunch of rain and miserable weather means that everybody needs to wear very boring outfits, unless they are Asian. Than they have ridiculous looking sweaters.

DL3 Sporting The Always Boring All Black
Leonard Is Also Trying Out for New Zealand's Rugby Team (What's with the Winter Hats)

Um Colored Sleeves Aren't Completely Miserable

Yay for Cardigan Sweaters, Atleast They are Semi Interesting

I have No Idea What the Hell that Design Means

The Asians apparently are the only Fashion Saving Grace

Is he Going Fishing After This?

Is that a Giant Zipper on his Pant Leg?

Even Poulter Brings the Boring? What's Up?

There's a lot of reasons why the Mets are on a 10 game winning streak. The pitching is actually stepping up, from the starters to the bullpen everybody is pitching better for Jerry than they did for Willie. Additionally their key hitters Reyes, Wright and Beltran are hitting at a high level as well as a re-emergence of Carlos Delgado as a viable major leaguers. Of the reasons the Mets have won 10 in a row none is more shocking than the play of Fernando Tatis. Tatis has only been on an active roster once since 2003.

Tatis started the month of July hitting .253 on the season with 1 homer in minimal playing time. Now getting consistent playing time for the Mets, he's hit 4 home runs this month and has boosted his average .53 points to .306. In addition Tatis hascome up with clutch hits for the Mets, big time hits that won games. Last night in the come back victory Tatis finished 3-4 with a home run and 3 RBI.

So, what am I getting at here? This is a fluke. There's a reason he hasn't played in the league consistently for the past 5 years. He isn't good. Soon enough he will stop hitting, the Mets pitchers will cool and the Mets will rejoin earth. It's only a matter of time.

Spiderman used super strength, super agility, web slinging ability and of course his Spider Sense to shoot a -5 under today.

Does (Pat) Golfer Yani Tseng play on the PGA or LPGA tour? Can you tell from this photo?

Yo Mlbz,

I hear all this crap on the TV all the time about how Barry can't get no job about how he gettin blackballed. People don't want to sign Barry cause he a clubhouse cancer, he take roids and he brings distractions. You know what I feel for Barry, he the best ever

Carl says where's the love for Carl? Carl is raking in the Atlantic League this year. Carl was raking in the Atlantic League last year too. And yet Carl can't get no love from nobody. You think Carl can't hit homers for some crap team? You think Carl ain't better than Fernando Tatis? Carl's already on Long Island, Carl could certainly play in Queens.

You know what else? Carl's got a mustache. You want to sign Carl's stache.

Carl hittin .359 with 14 homers and 49 rbi in 63 games. Carl a leader. Carl will rake in the playoffs. Sign Carl.

Carl

A limited time offer, get your Marcus Camby former defensive player of the Year for the low low low price of flopping 2nd round picks. Comes with sweaty headbands, tattoos and zero nba titles.

(Note I worte this on my blackberry so it's format is crap and it's spelling is worse than the norm, which is of course normally bad.)

Personally, I'm a green jacket guy first but after that the allure of
the history of the Links courses is second to none. Without tiger this
year I foresee a Sunday field which is entirely foreign dominated.

4 People to Watch to Contend
Obvious - Ernie Els - Ernie is amongst the favorites for the tourney and the reson being is he always plays well on the links course. If he's not in one of the final pairings on Sunday I would be very surprised.

A Little More Foreign Blood - Lee Westwood - he was right there at the us open but couldn't quite surpass tiger or rocco on the back 9. But back home and without tiger it might be time for westwood to lift up a major trophy.

The return to first glory - Justin Rose - as a 17 year old rose finished 4th at this course. Since then there have been many valleys but never has he had as solid a year as he has had this far. Perhaps this course provides the symmetry to get rose his first major.

A little Latin love - Camilo Villegas - to spread out the foreign love we shall travel to south America. Andres Romero has been stellar the past two opens but perhaps its camillos time to be the opens Latin lover.

3 People Who Might Surpisingly Miss the Cut

The out of shape - Fatty Phil - phils got all the talent in the world
yet he typically sucks it up at the isles. Combined with tiger being absent I could foresee Phil coming up really short.

The elder statesman - Tom Watson - he's still around playing the links courses and he's continually made cuts here but eventually good things come to an end.

Big Mouth - Rory Sabbatini - I think. I'm just going to predict Rory to miss the cut in every major this arson because I find him so annoying.

2 People to Root For this Weekend

The Criminally Out of Shape - John daly - nothing is more fun than watching fatty John falt roll up the fairway smoking a cig as his belly hangs well ove his belt. He enters the open having played terribly all year but perhaps he won't entirely suck.

The hot streak - Kenny Perry - nothing is more fun than watching a hot golfer keep it up. And no one is hotter than Kenny Perry so it will be fun to watch him on Sunday to see if he can keep it up... Oh wait nevermind he decided to play a crap tourney in Milwaukee rather than the open.

1 Winner - A Little Spanish Flavor - Sergio Garcia

I go with Sergio way too much because I feel like eventually he will get it done. Then he winds up choking on Sunday snd yet I never learn my lesson. But here's why I'm going with El Nino, when did he win the TPC? When tiger wasnt playing of course. So of course he will win his first major when tiger is chilling with his daughter.

I think I did a Solid Job of Drafting and Would Prefer Not to lose in the 1st round.

So Ya Vote.

Let's have fun with the current DL and build a pitcher who has injuries absolutely everywhere.

Good ole loudmouth Papelbon shot off yesterday and said that if he was the manager of the team than he would be closer. Way to be modest. Regardless of the obvious disrespect to Mariano, he hasn't even been a top 3 closer in the AL this year.

Mariano is 23 for 23 in save opportunities, and is 4.3 with a 1.06 ERA.

K-Rod is 38-41 in save opportunities and is 0-2 with a 2.36 ERA.

Joe Nathan is 27 for 29 in save opportunities and is 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA.

And finally Papelbon is 28 for 32 in save opportunities and is 3-3 with a 2.42 ERA.

Furthermore, Papelbon went on to say he deserved the role because of the Sox World Series victory. Mo does have 4 rings and K-Rod was the best pitcher on the Angels when they won the World Series, so that point is pretty mute as well.

Regardless, it's pretty apparent that Mo will be in the game in the 9th inning, however I'm sure if Terry Francona really really wanted to fuel the fire of the rivalry there would be no better way than throwing out Mo in the 6th inning in relief and closing with PapelBoner.

For years upon years the relevance of home field advantage in has been diminished by both the media and the public. It's a baseball game it's all about how your starting pitcher performs. Well, this year it is evident just how important home field advantage has been. Only two teams are better on the road than at home (San Fran and LAA) and two teams are the same amount over .500 on the road and at home (Phillies & Cards) the remainder of the 26 teams are all better at home. Some squads are ridiculously better at home. The Red Sox are 36-11 at home while 21-29 on the road, the Rays are 36-14 at home while 19-25 on the road and the Cubs are 37-12 at home and 20-26 at home.

Of course records aren't the only differences between the home and road splits. The Cardinals currently have the best average on the road at .279. Meanwhile eight teams are hitting .280 or better at home including three above .300. Teams have averaged 16 more total runs, 3 more homers, 15 more rbi, and + .046 OPS at home this season.

And of course why would the pitching be any different. The Angels have the best ERA on the road at 3.45. Ten teams in baseball have an ERA of 3.44 or better at home. The Rays are the biggest extreme with a league leading ERA of 2.82 at home while ranking in at 23rd on the road at 4.93. The league has a .10 better WHIP and .18 better K/9 rate at home.

If there's one lesson to be learned here, it's that perhaps this year more than the All Star Game truly does matter.

LA Angels (57-38): Stay consistent and healthy and the division will easily be there's.

Chicago Cubs (57-38): Keep Zambrano and Harden healthy and pitching.

Boston (57-40): Get Ortiz healthy and ready to go in October.

Tampa Bay (55-39): Don't be cheap, go out an acquire a veteran who can help lead them into their first postseason.

Chicago Sox (54-40): Maintain the hot pitching of youngsters Floyd and Danks.

Minnesota (53-42): Get Delmon Young to hit some friggin homers.

St. Louis (53-43): Find an impact arm to compete with the Sabathia & Harden pick ups.

Milwaukee (52-43): Back of the rotation consistency to win more than twice per 5 games.

Philadelphia (52-44): Add a front line starter to help fend off the Mets and take the division.

Oakland (51-44): Someone get Gallagher and Murton to fully replace what Harden meant to the roster.

NY Mets (51-44): Continue the current hot starting and relief pitching into the 2nd half as well as adding a solid corner outfielder.

NY Yankees (50-45): Find some kind of consistency in both the rotation and the lineup.

Florida (50-45): Get Scott Olsen and Josh Johnson to start pitching like major league studs.

Texas (50-46): Attempt to pawn off assets like Monopoly for some pitching prospects.

Detroit (47-47): Get Gary Sheffield to stop gobbling

Toronto (47-48): Find someone to dump Burnett's miserable contract on.

Arizona (47-48): Sign Barry Bonds so that there's at least a tad bit of credibility in the lineup.

LA Dodgers (46-49): Get Nomar healthy and productive to add some sort of pop to their infield.

Baltimore (45-48): Play the spoiler role in the division.

Cincinnati (46-50): Trade away Dunn and Griffey to bring back a few reliable players.

Atlanta (45-50): Get some return on Teixeira's impeding free agent status.

Pittsburgh (44-50): Sell off Bay and Nady to the highest bidders and secure some prospects for the future.

Houston (44-51): Shut down Oswalt and figure out how to get him back to the old pitcher in 2009.

Kansas City (43-53): Um, get some scouts that don't suck dong.

Cleveland (41-53): Get Fausto back on track in the 2nd half and ready to take the ace in 09.

San Francisco (40-55): Improve Matt Cain's consistency to give a powerful 1-2 punch in 2009.

Colorado (39-57): Find out whether or not Bucholz or Corpas is the closer of the future after getting as much as possible for Fuentes.

Seattle (37-58): Sell off every asset possible and start fresh.

San Diego (37-58): Get Chase Headley in the lineup every day to see if he is a viable middle of the order player.

Washington (36-60): Get Milledge and Zimmerman on track to attempt to get some kind of stable presence in the 09 lineup.

Hi I'm Rick Reilly.

I work for ESPN now and they put me on television instead of just leaving me in print. You might notice me from my appearance helping Berman and Joe Morgan announce the home run derby. Yes, I was attempting to make a lot of jokes and be Mr. Funny Guy. Yes, I acted like a complete ass and my joke about Mark McGwire was more played out than Omar Vizquel. Additionally, how astute was my observation that there were only white guys in the home run derby and my follow up of another not so funny joke.

If you're wondering I did in fact get the majority of my broadcasting lessons from Dennis Miller. Next time, I will attempt to make at least one joke funny. I promise.

Thanks,
Rick

So to do a quick sum up of my predictions from the Spring, which of course are unsurprisingly pitiful essentially in the AL I have two teams pace close to accurate. The Red Sox and the Royals are both on a pace to win about 1 more game than I predicted. In the NL I was close on the Brewers, Phillies and Astros who I are on pace to win basically the amount that I specified. Other than those 4 teams it's a shit show.

The absolute biggest disaster is of course Seattle who at their pace might be able to play 2 full seasons before they reach 92 wins. The White Sox, Rays, Twins and As I all expected to be under .500 and currently they hold the 3rd-6th best records in the AL. Detroit's first month doomed them from what I thought would end up being the best record in the league. And finally Cleveland is surprisingly miserable while Baltimore is surprisingly not completely miserable.

In the NL the Cardinals have shocked with the 2nd best record in the league while the Padres and Rockies have both been ridiculously bad. Meanwhile I was actually close to predicting the Reds and Nats coming with in 6 games of their current pace.

All in all I did a much much better job in the NL, and by much better I mean not the complete disaster that was my AL predictions. If you can follow the below table the first column is what I predicted the teams record to rank in their league, the 2nd is what they currently rank, the third is how many wins I predicted, the 4th is their current pace to finish at, and finally the last is the difference between the predicted and the pace.

P	C	Team	Wins (Pred)	Wins (Pace)	Difference
6	1	L.A. Angels	90	97.2	-7.2
2	2	Boston	94	95.19587629	-1.195876289
9	3	Tampa Bay	79	94.78723404	-15.78723404
8	4	Chi. White Sox	80	93.06382979	-13.06382979
10	5	Minnesota	73	90.37894737	-17.37894737
13	6	Oakland	68	86.96842105	-18.96842105
3	7	N.Y. Yankees	93	85.26315789	7.736842105
12	8	Texas	70	84.375	-14.375
1	9	Detroit	96	81	15
7	10	Toronto	82	80.14736842	1.852631579
14	11	Baltimore	59	78.38709677	-19.38709677
11	12	Kansas City	71	72.5625	-1.5625
4	13	Cleveland	91	70.65957447	20.34042553
5	14	Seattle	91	63.09473684	27.90526316
		Team	Wins (P)	Wins (Pace)	Difference
2	1	Chi. Cubs	90	97.2	-7.2
11	2	St. Louis	76	89.4375	-13.4375
3	3	Milwaukee	89	88.67368421	0.326315789
4	4	Philadelphia	89	87.75	1.25
1	5	N.Y. Mets	94	86.96842105	7.031578947
12	6	Florida	75	85.26315789	-10.26315789
5	7	Arizona	89	80.14736842	8.852631579
6	8	L.A. Dodgers	88	78.44210526	9.557894737
13	9	Cincinnati	74	77.625	-3.625
8	10	Atlanta	87	76.73684211	10.26315789
14	11	Pittsburgh	67	75.82978723	-8.829787234
10	12	Houston	77	75.03157895	1.968421053
16	13	San Francisco	59	68.21052632	-9.210526316
7	14	Colorado	88	65.8125	22.1875
9	15	San Diego	85	63.09473684	21.90526316
15	16	Washington	66	60.75	5.25

Unlike Sportscenter, Time Shall not be wasted on this site posting about rumors surrounding a player who consistently can't make up his mind about whether to play. Shall actual news break, say he is released, traded or attends camp opinions may be voiced at that time. Thank You...

LA Angels (57-38): Pitching, Pitching, Pitching has the Angels tied for the best record in baseball.

Chicago Cubs (57-38): The Cubs are also tied for the best record, their reason though is that they never ever lose at Wrigley.

Boston (57-40): The youth pitching is once again paying off major dividends for the Sox who behind JD Drew have regained the AL East lead despite the absence of Papi.

Tampa Bay (55-39): If the Rays played all their games at the Trop they would probably be 30 games over .500.

Chicago Sox (54-40): Anybody who said that they saw Carlos Quentin having 70 rbi at the break to help the ChiSox to first place is a liar.

Minnesota (53-42): The Twinkies have gotten solid pitching from a bunch of youngsters and should be bringing Liriano up to increase the push to the division.

St. Louis (53-43): Ludwick and Ankiel both have 20 homers getting the Cardinals to a spot where they probably shouldn't be.

Milwaukee (52-43): CC has already shown his worth in one 1 week, with him and Sheets leading the rotation the Brewers look to be in the hunt for both the Wild Card and the division.

Philadelphia (52-44): After Cole Hamels there's a big gap in the starting rotation that needs to be addressed.

Oakland (51-44): Selling off pitchers despite being 7 games above .500 seems like giving up to me.

NY Mets (51-44): A 9 game winning streak to close out the first half of the season certainly makes the future look brighter.

NY Yankees (50-45): For some reason despite having all stars at every position the Yankees get shut out a lot.

Florida (50-45): Hanley Ramirez is a golden god who can be stopped by no one.

Texas (50-46): Check that, Josh Hamilton is a platinum god who can be stopped by no one.

Detroit (47-47): Dug themselves out of a hole when their bats finally started to heat up, poised for a second half explosion.

Toronto (47-48): The Blue Jays have been terribly inconsistent despite Roy Halladay being a beast.

Arizona (47-48): Starting the NL Western theme the reason the Diamondbacks are under .500 is because they don't have any good hitters.

LA Dodgers (46-49): Rafael Furcal has been a massive kick in the junk to both my fantasy team and the Dodgers who really really really need him in the lineup to score runs.

Baltimore (45-48): Um, I really have no idea how the Orioles are only slightly below .500 this season and I'm guessing they don't either.

Cincinnati (46-50): Edinson Volquez's dominating season has been balanced out by Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Haraang's poor seasons.

Atlanta (45-50): Injuries to the starting rotation and bullpen and an inability to win on the road has plagued the Braves this year.

Pittsburgh (44-50): Snell and Gorzy were both solid last season, this year they both have ERAs well above 6.

Houston (44-51): The questionable starting rotation has not been helped by #1 starters Roy Oswalt's inconsistencies.

Kansas City (43-53): The Royals don't have the worst record in their division which has to be seen as a big positive in KC.

Cleveland (41-53): Victor Martinez and Travis Hafner were terrible disappointments this season, and that was before both got placed on the DL.

San Francisco (40-55): When Fred Lewis, Randy Winn, and Aaron Rowand are your best hitters, you know you're not going to score many runs.

Colorado (39-57): The magical run that was slaughtered by the Red Sox, has remained dead this season.

Seattle (37-58): If anything could go wrong in Seattle, it has.

San Diego (37-58): Once again, hitting is entirely optional for the fathers.

Washington (36-60): A lineup as bad as the Giants and Padres, except with no starting pitching either.

Everyone needs something to keep them occupied on Friday afternoons so the Friday Video Blowout was born. Spend your next few minutes, laughing, crying of laughter, pissing your self, whatever, but mostly wasting your companies time.

Videos In Order Courtesy of AA #1, TBL, AA, COED Mag, SB, SB *2, HHR, G-Mask, Deadspin


I wonder what he thinks about Red Mustaches?


Perhaps he was inspired by Shaq and went with "Tell me how my shoe tastes"


You laugh now, but when his daughter is chugging beers at age 5 see if its funny then.


Well that was dumb.


Highly Doubtful


Wow their parents must be so proud.

So you're a new D1 school you went 0-for the season in hoops and you want to find a conference to play in. Sooooo naturally you join the Big West and sign up for a non stop series of cross country flights to the wonderful Dakotas, as well as Texas, Utah and California. Genius.

The Public Rejects G and instead votes for Desperate Housewife. Make G sad. Very sad.

All He needs is to choose from one of the many fine mustache options below.


Or he can go with the Bonds rookie mustache.


Just choose one Barry and instantaneously teams will be begging for your services.

The Big Sexy, Joe Blown Save Borowski, and even Jack's brother Rick Bauer had their heads lopped off today by the Guilotin.

Screw the All Star Game let's put together a roster from those that have been utter disappointments this season.

C: Carlos Ruiz - With a lot of bad awful terrible catchers out there, Ruiz takes the cake this season. He's hitting .206 with only 2 home runs in the band box in Philly.
1B: Todd Helton - His power #s have been in a steady decline for awhile but now he's not even hitting for average, registering in at .266 so far this season.
2B: Freddy Sanchez - The former batting champ is now hitting .226 with a .253 on base % and a .307 slugging %. Ouch.
3B: Geoff Blum - Not that surprisingly Geoff Blum hasn't been very good. He's hitting .219 for the Stros.
SS: Omar Vizquel - Old Man River has been basically the worst hitter in baseball history.
OF: Eric Byrnes - Captain hussle, has not been hustling too much with multiple trips to the DL and only 4 steals and 6 homers to his name.
OF: Andruw Jones - Whatever has happenned to ole Andruw Jones. No longer a beast, he's now a player fans are grateful to have on the DL and not on the field.
OF: Corey Patterson - Somehow still on the roster despite an OPS of .562, but mercifully relegated out of the Reds starting lineup.

Bench: J.R. Towles - Basically you can pick out any bad catcher for the backup position but Towles was the rookie de jour coming into this season and well he's hitting .152.
Bench: Felipe Lopez - A utility man of awful this season. He's mixed time at SS and 2B and is
Bench: Troy Tulowitzki - While not spending massive amounts of time on the DL, Tulowitzki is hitting under .170.
Bench: Khalil Greene - Hitting .222 on a team that needs hitting more than any other in the league.
Bench: Michael Bourn - His massive amount of steals be damned, the guy has an OPS of .571.
Bench: Wily Mo Pena - Wily Mo is having a major major power outage this year with only 2 homers while hitting .210.

SP: Barry Zito - Who wouldn't want to pay 200+ million for 12 pre-all star break losses.
SP: Brett Myers - So bad that the Phillies decided to send him to the minors to get straightened out.
SP: Ian Snell - Looking like an emerging young star after last season, Snell has an ERA of 5.88 before landing on the DL.
SP: Brad Penny - Formerly an All Star game starter, Penny has an ERA well above 5 and is now on the DL.
SP: Mark Hendrickson - The opening day starter for the Marlins now sits with a bunch of losses and an ERA above 6.
SP: Tom Gorzelanny - Gorzo was terrific at times last season. This year he has 7 losses and an ERA above 6.
RP: Guillermo Mota - Former Steroid User Guillermo Mota has been so bad the last month he's gone from closer to be to ERA above 6.
RP: Scott Proctor - The former Yankee who was abused by Torre, is now abused once again in LA where he has called himself out for being so terrible.
RP: Luis Vizcaino - He was a Type B free agent, meaning the Yankees got a draft pick for letting him go. Now he has an ERA above 9 for the Rockies.
RP: Manny Corpas - Corpas went from looking like Mariano in the postseason last year to out of the closers job in a flash.
CL: Eric Gagne - Continued his miserable performances with the Red Sox last year with Milwaukee this year.

Screw the All Star Game let's put together a roster from those that have been utter disappointments this season.

C: Victor Martinez - He's supposed to be the best hitting catcher in the league. Instead he doesn't have a single home run this season and has been on the DL for about a month now.
1B: - Paul Konerko - Despite Paul Konerko's miserable .213 average the White Sox still find themselves in first place.
2B: - Asdrubal Cabrera - Last season Cabrera came up and solidified the Indians middle infield, this year he couldn't even hit close to .200 before being demoted.
3B: Jack Hannahan - Not much has been made in the media about the absence of Eric Chavez for most of the year, but his replacement for the A's has been piss poor hitting .222 with only 3 homers.
SS: Edgar Renteria - Renteria was supposed to be another key acquisition for the Tigers, yet it hasn't quite worked out yet as Edgar barely has an on base % above .300 to go along with his .326 Slugging %.
OF: Franklin Gutierrez - It's no wonder the Indians are in sell mode when you look at how many players they have on the All Crap roster. Gutierrez 200+ at bats and has an on base % of .265. Ugh.
OF: David Dellucci - Dellucci also has 200+ at bats this season for the Indians and he too has an on base % below .300 and an average below .225.
OF: Johnny Gomes - He's nothing more than a platoon outfielder for the Rays but he should really be nothing more than a platoon player for their AAA affiliation. He's hitting .186 with only 6 homers.
DH: Travis Hafner - Pronk used to be a consistent beast at the plate. This year he's hitting .217 with only 4 home runs and now finds himself on the DL.

Bench: Kenji Johjima - I was gonna go with V-tek, but Johjima has actually been worse, he has well over 200 at bats and has yet to score 20 runs.
Bench: Daric Barton - The rookie has not been the answer for the A's. In 267 at bats Barton is hitting .225 with only 3 homers.
Bench: Juan Uribe - No longer starting but still getting marginal playing time for the White Sox, Uribe has managed only a .206 average this season.
Bench: Craig Monroe - He has 140+ at bats for the Twins and is hitting a massive .211. Woo go Craig.
Bench: Shannon Stewart - Stewart has never been a masher and he certainly isn't this year with a .303 slugging %, but he used to at least have speed. This year he only has 3 stolen bases.

SP: Jeremy Sowers - The Youngster for the Indians has started 8 games this season and is 0-5 with a 7+ ERA.
SP: Steve Trashbag - He was brought back to the Orioles for a little veteran leadership, but he was designated for assignment in early June after posting a 8+ ERA.
SP: Carlos Silva - Um, why did he get a solid contract? He's never been really good and he's been atrocious with a 5.59 ERA thus far this season.
SP: Phil Hughes - Supposedly the best prospect in baseball Hughes had an ERA of 9 before landing himself on the DL for which he might remain the entirety of the season.
SP: Ian Kennedy - The 2nd Yankees youngster recorded an ERA well above 7 in 9 outings and has yet to manage a victory.
SP: Boof Bonser - The man with the funny name has been relegated from the rotation after posting an ERA well over 6.
RP: Jimmy Gobble - Gobble has come into 29 games from the pen and has an ERA above 7 for the Royals.
RP: Mike Timlin - I guess when you're about 90 you should be losing a little zip on the fastball and Timlin is with his 6+ ERA.
RP: Ross Ohlendorf - One more Yankee 'prospect' that has been a disappointment thus far this season.
RP: JJ Putz - JJ was supposed to be amongst the elite closers. Instead he's been on and off the DL and only has 7 saves.
CL: Joe Borowski - He wasn't very good last year when he recorded a ton of saves but he's been absolutely brutal this season with a 7.56 ERA and only 6 saves.

I thought this was a solid way to reinvigorate my audience of 3. Show videos of people getting hit in the groin.

Courtesy of People, AA, AA *2,

I'm back from my vacation, so let's get the party rolling...

1. Southerners love to pollute. Why when the rest of America is concerned with keeping shit green should Southerners give a crap. Hell no, there will be no recycling and no emission testing in Bama.

2. Beaches in Mississippi and Bama suck just as badly as beaches in Connecticut. Sure the waters warmer but again Southerners like to pollute more, so why would they have fucking trash cans on their beach when they can just leave the trash right there on the sand. Thanks Biloxi.

3. No one likes UAB, my lovely girlfriend is working at Champs Sports Medicine at St. Vincents in Birmingham (home of James Andrews) and its literally on University Blvd. blocks away from UAB. Yet, the entire time I was down there I didn't see a single piece of UAB Apparel, rather all Bama and Auburn stuff. Hell the gift shop in the hospital only had Bama and Auburn stuff.

4. Birmingham likes murders. There were 5 this past weekend. Woo, excitement.

5. 18 Wheelers can drive 95 miles per hour in a straight line no problem.

6. There isn't nearly enough Cajun & Barbecue food in the North. I'll take Jambalaya, Crawfish Etouffee, or a pulled pork sandwhich over the boring shit we have up here any day.

7. Massive Confederate flags flying on the side of the Highway are so cool.

8. Other than Bourbon St. I can't say that I thought there were a ton of things to do in New Orleans. I did think that eating beignets (essentially fried dough with massive amounts of sugar) was a must. And we did enjoy going to a Plantation.

9. All the tours of New Orleans include exclusive looks of the devastation of Katrina. So it takes you to where the buildings are all run down. (Not like you have to go very far). I guess anything for a buck.

10. Normally I'm a straight beer man. But on Bourbon Street it's a must to pound at least one Hurricane, Daiquiri, and Hand Grenade.

11. Being in New Orleans during the Essence Festival made me quite the minority.

I'm headed down to Birmingham Bama to visit the lady tonight and probably won't have anything here until next Wednesday. As for this week, well the jobo decided to have me work aloto this week so as you can see this place hasn't gotten the love it deserves.

Anyway I'm off the Nawlins for the weekend, so let's hope I come back with atleast a few brain cells.

"Asante's a great player, so it hurts not to have a guy like that. But then again, it's part of the business of the game," Welker said. "He chose money over championships, and that's the way it goes sometimes."

Just a quick reminder to Mr. Welker that he in fact does not have any championships and Asante does and that the Patriots in fact are not the Superbowl champion. So sure Asante may have left solely for the money and sure the Patriots are probably better, but just shut up.