RAYS IN FIRST PLACE AT HALF-WAY MARK

If anyone had told you that at the beginning of the season, you'd have laughed at them. But it's true and they are giving every indication of being in this thing for the duration of the campaign.

Rocco Baldelli may add something to the roster in the stretch, but if Gabe Gross keeps coming through in the clutch as he has, why bother?

They really need the bullpen to remain healthy and the Rays have some young arms in the minors yo offer pitching depth if needed later in the season.

The Cubs and the White Sox maintain Windy City hopes of an all Chicago Series.

The Mets and Yankees seem poised to fall off the pace in their respective divisions and given the Mets treatment of Willie Randolph, I'll root for that to happen.

The Twins and Tigers are showing signs of life in the AL Central as are the Brewers in the NL Central Division. The Indians seem to be trying to figure out whether to pack it in for this season (trade C.C.) or hang in there for the long haul (keep C.C.).

In the AL West, the Angels and A's will battle into September, I'm not sure if Texas has the pitching to join them. In the NL West, the division of apathy, whoever can strng together an 8-10 game winning streak should be able to hold off the also-rans. look for the D-Backs to right the ship eventually.

WHAT'S THE GIANTS PROBLEM??

ZITO WHEN ASKED HOW MANY FANS IN THE STANDS HE THOUGHT COULD THROW HARDER THAN HIM - AFTER EXCLUDING ALL THE MALE FANS


Starting Pitchers:
Lincecum........7-1
Sanchez.........7-4
Cain............4-5

Zito............3-11
Correia.........1-5
Misch...........0-3

So, that's 18-10 (.643 record or 104 win per season pace) when the first three guys are pitching. But, 4-19 when the other two slots trot out to the bump.

Theoretically, with two guys who could just pitch .500 or 11-12, and the Giants record could be 29-22 instead of 22-29. The bullpen is 12-15, figure them for .500 record in their decisions, with a better 4-5 combo.

So you could go from 29-22 starter plus 13-14 relievers = 42-36 record.
Instead of 22-29 plus 12-15 = 34-44 record, an 8 game swing.

Arizona leads the division at 40-39 as we speak.

I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying.

Two guys at the bottom of your rotation have to improve from horse-shit to average MLB quality. That's the difference between contention and also ran status. AMAZING!!

GIANTS ROOKIE - ALEX HINSHAW

1 month ago: San Francisco Giants pitcher Alex Hinshaw makes his major league debut and throws against Houston Astros' Michael Bourn during the eighth inning of their baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, May 15, 2008. Houston won the game 8-7.


Maybe it's just me but does this guy look like a left-handed version of Tim Lincecum?

Hinshaw has that sort of wiry build that Lincecum brings, so maybe I'm just looking for lightning to strike twice. He's a 6-4, 190 left-hander from San Diego State and was the Giants 15th round pick in 2005. Generally, his K/IP number is over 1.0 and his WHIP is ~1.0. He had 50 K's and allowed 22 H and 19 BB in 41.1 IP in Class AA ball this year with a .155 AVG against so he appeared to dominate hitters there.
We'll have to see if that translates to the bigs.

In the real world, the Giants rotation would be Cain, Lincecum, Sanchez, Correia and Hinshaw. But since the Giants management does not have the stones that the Tigers and Jim Leyland have demonstrated, we get the Big Zit in the rotation every fifth day.

The Tigers, by contrast, were willing to send an effective, out of shape Dontrelle Willis down to Class-A ball instead continuing to let him stink up the joint at the major league level.

I'd rather see the kids play at this point, just so we have an idea of what the future holds. A decision needs to be made on Noah Lowry once he comes off the DL as well. Lowry was frequently mentioned in trade discussions, that may change once he comes back unless he can show anything near his old form.

There are a plethora of prospects for the Giants who either are around or past 25 years old, some of whom are still toiling in AA ball. The team really needs to find out what these guys can do, it's time to fish or cut bait. We'll take a look at some of these guys and the overall state of the Giants farm system in the weeks to come.

A major deal or free-agent signing is doubtful in the next couple of years given the Giants current roster, the farm system is the only way this team will advance.

Durham, Winn, Aurilia maybe Molina in a year or so should be out, the fruits of the last couple of drafts, needs to be mixed in.
------------------------------
RAYS UPDATE:

I found the statistical breakdown I was looking for the other day when I asked if the Rays were for real. The Rays record vs. the presumptive AL contenders are as follows:

BOS 3-6
NYY 5-5
LAA 4-2
OAK 2-1
CWS 4-3
MIN 1-1

That's 19-18 overall, they have not played CLE or DET to date. Add in 8-3 vs. BAL, 5-1 vs. TOR and 4-2 vs. TEX and you have a pretty good record vs. their peers.

CUBS & WHITE SOX - PREVIEW OF 2008 WORLD SERIES?

Not so fast my Windy City brethren, what about those Rays from Tampa that ran through both teams like a runaway freight train?

The Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs at the Trop this week after having taken three of four from the Chicago White Sox earlier in the season. Both the Cubs and White Sox are in first place in their respective divisions. The Cubs had the best record in baseball at the time of the Rays series. The Rays have also played the Red Sox and Yankees, the networks favored children, on better than even terms.

So the question that is beginning to develop is "How serious a contender is this Rays team?" Can a rotation of Kazmir, Garza, Shields, Sonanstine and Jackson continue to carry this team through the dog days of July and August, and into the white-hot heat of a September pennant chase?

They are winning the close games, the mark of a strong bullpen and generally a versatile offense that can score runs in a variety of ways. They are better than .500 against every division in the American League, demonstrating dominance across the board against the other contenders.

They generally play the Yankees very well, which will be important as they try to hold them off down the stretch. The only concern at this point may be the home/road splits. The are playing extremely well at the Trop, but they need to bring the road record closer to .500 to close the deal.

I think they will be able to do this as the season progresses primarily because after the All-Star break some team will begin to pack it in somewhat (Royals, Mariners, etc.) and the Rays should be able to pick up some momentum there.

The longer this team hangs around, the longer these younger guys who have not been beaten down by the Rays prior tradition of not being competitive are allowed to see themselves atop the division and in the pennant/wild card chase, the harder it's going to be to knock them out down the stretch.

The Rays youthful exuberance and energy, I believe, will trump the Red Sox, Yankees and Angels experience. As long as the testing for amphetamines is as serious as we've been led to believe.

Good to see the old St. Petersburg Pelicans uniforms from the Senior Professional Baseball Association used as throwback uniforms. The league, which I believe was patterned after the Senior Golf tour, was a good idea that never quite caught on.
But I do remember going to a couple of the games at Al Lang Field and it was a lot of fun.

Go RAYS. My favorite team in that league that uses the goofy DH.

GOTTA LOVE ESPN'S RICK REILLY

This is former Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly's latest submission to ESPN, his new employer. The WWLIS committed millions to lure this guy over, read the excerpt below and see if you can't guess where I believe they should have committed a few extra dollars.
--------------------
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3450245

You've heard of Kill the Ump, Lynch the Ump, and Strangle the Ump, right? Well, get ready for the latest thing—Bean the Ump.

It happened on May 31 in the Georgia high school Class AAA championship game. Stephens County was losing to Cartersville 9-1 early, partly because nine straight SCHS batters had struck out. The last ring-up so hacked off superstar shortstop Ethan Martin—who had just been drafted 15th overall by the Dodgers—that he threw his helmet in protest. But that figured. Martin and his brother, Cody, who was pitching, reportedly had been complaining about balls and strikes the entire game.

So now it's the bottom of the fourth, with Ethan playing short and Cody on the mound. The catcher is Matt Hill. There are no outs. The count is 0-1. Cody winds up and flings a very high, very hard fastball. Hill comes out of his squat, puts his glove up to catch it, then does a very funny thing.

He doesn't.
--------------------------
Did you get it?

Well, maybe it's because your reading a blog, written by someone who is probably typing away from his Mom's basement. No thanks, I have my own basement.

In my opinion, ESPN and/or the esteemed Mr. Reilly ought to seriously consider allocating more of the company funds to proof readers and maybe a fact checker or two.

PARAGRAPH 2, LINE 1:
It happened on May 31 in the Georgia high school Class AAA championship game.

Check, that's true, it's so true. OMG this guy is so good. He's all over this.

MIDDLE OF SAME PARAGRAPH:
The last ring-up so hacked off superstar shortstop Ethan Martin—who had just been drafted 15th overall by the Dodgers—



Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, stop the presses, Stop the F$%^king presses!!!!

Hey dingbat, most baseball fans know the MLB Draft is in June. ESPN covered it and everything. So how could this hot-shot SS have been already drafted in a game held on May 31st, when the draft was not held until early June??

Explain that one to me hot-shot. Explain it to me like I'm a six-year old. Did this kid have one of those flux, capacitor, DeLorean cars from Back to the Future or something?




What is wrong with you people at ESPN!!! This is amateurish work at best. Why I wouldn't wipe my blog with this crap. This is shoddy journalism that I wouldn't expect from a blogger.
---------------------------
I'm firing off a letter to the folks at ESPN and Mr. Reilly as we speak.

It reads as follows:

Interesting that you would choose a story that has
been all over the blogosphere (mine included) for your
first choice with ESPN.

Aren't you afraid of the backlash from Costas and his
crowd?

Also, on a minor point, the SS had not been drafted
yet. The game occurred May 31st, I believe and the
draft was early June.

Not that the kid wasn't aware that he was likely to be
a high draftee and this may have been in factor in his
attitude about being "rung up".

I can imagine he gave him a ration of his "don't you
know me, I'm a potential first-rounder" smack that may
charm the local teenage girls, but really doesn't sway
too many umpires that I know of.


Now, if someone would proof-read my work and check all relevant facts, this is a go people. I think our work is done here. AND DON'T FORGET TO RUN THE SPELL-CHECK BEFORE YOU LEAVE.

THE REST OF THE GIANTS 2008 HAUL

The top of this draft looks like it could provide solid help for the G-men quickly. Buster Posey should make a near immediate impact behind the plate. If Conor Gillespie can approach the Bill Mueller comparisons, that would make most Giant fans very happy. If the system is able to squeeze out one solid starter from the combination of Crawford and Kieschnick, then this draft goes from very good to GREAT.

The farm system is helped even further by the report that the Giants signed 16 year old Rafael Rodriguez as a free agent. He has been compared to "Vladimir Guerrero because of his size and power with the bat" according to one ESPN report.

He would immediately join 18 year old phenom Angel Villalona at or near the top of the Giants prospect list.


HERE'S THE OTHER DRAFTEES:

Conor Gillaspie, 3B Wichita State University

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2008/index.jsp?mc=gillaspie

After a strong Cape season, Gillaspie has followed up with an excellent junior campaign. He's a terrific hitter and has been over .400 for most of the year. His lack of power makes it hard to profile him anywhere other than as a Bill Mueller-type third baseman. There are worse things to be, of course, and a team that values what Gillaspie can do will surely take him.

Roger Kieschnick, OF Texas Tech University

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2008/index.jsp?mc=kieschnick

Kieschnick is a potential five-tool corner outfielder who could hit for power and steal a few bases. He plays a fearless outfield, getting to plenty of balls and showing off a good arm at times. The one knock is an issue with his mechanics at the plate that concerns some about his hitting ability at the next level. Still, an aggressive college outfielder -- in a weak class of outfielders -- who has those tools should get plenty of interest.

Brandon Crawford, SS UCLA

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2008/index.jsp?mc=crawford

After his first two seasons at UCLA, Crawford seemed poised to be one of the top collegiate middle infielders in the class. But a rough Cape season appears to have carried over and he's lost some confidence in his game, both at the plate and in the field. Some added thickness to his lower half has taken away a little of his quickness, though he's still a solid shortstop. If he can right himself, he's the kind of player who usually sees himself go off the board within the first couple of rounds.

OUR NATION MOURNS - BUSTER POSEY HAS BEEN ELIMINATED FROM THE CWS

I STILL <3 BUSTER POSEY


It is with great sadness that our nation receives the news that the collegiate career of Buster Posey has tragically come to an end with today's loss to the Miami Hurricanes in Omaha.

What makes this disaster even more senseless is this--IT DID NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN. The Florida State coaching staff will have to live with the shameful fact that they had the ultimate weapon at their disposal--LOCKED AND LOADED--and yet, chose not to use it with their season on the line against their most hated rival.

Listen, everyone knows that Posey played nine positions in one seven inning game against Savannah State, causing the panty-waists at ESPN to utter their disdain for the FSU program.

Remember this rant?


What was stopping Coach Martin, who is greatly respected, from handing in a lineup composed of Buster Posey playing every position on the field AT THE SAME TIME!!!

Especially in this game of games. You had him warmed up to the task by playing all nine positions over a seven-inning stretch in the tune-up against Savannah State. Why not turn him loose now?

I realize this approach has only happened one time in baseball history, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Remember this episode, boys and girls?

THE CLASSIC ALL-BUGS BUNNY BASEBALL LINEUP EPISODE:


It can only be the fear of public outcry and possible reprisals against the university that stopped them. But I ask you, Seminole Nation, is this the Florida State University you grew to know and love? The same Seminole Nation which most of the rest of the nation grew up to know and dislike with a passion?

When has the FSU program let public outcries like the PTI-style rant stop them in the past in their quest to over-hype FSU athletes. This is the program that uber-hyped J.D. Drew after he hit like a 900-foot home run one time. And who can forget the time Marshall MacDougall hit like ten home runs against Maryland once.

What they forgot to mention in the media hype was that J.D. Drew hit his home run with 120 MPH plus hurricane force winds at this back and that the game Marshall MacDougall hit his home runs, the game was played at a local Little League field, after Maryland's on-campus baseball field was overrun by angry Terrapins. But who cares? Both events happened. FSU won both games. And if they had to rub an occasional opponents face in the turf in pursuit of Garland and Gold glory, well tough titties, right?

Florida State is the same university that allowed Deon Sanders to engage in glorious fits of self-aggrandizement and spasmodic touchdown dances with body parts gyrating like a Dice-K gyroball. You can't tell me that most, if not all of America--including the knuckleheads on PTI--did not completely enjoy that era.

Can you just imagine a lineup of nine copies of Buster Posey and the baseball havoc such a lineup would wreck? They would theoretically defeat a lineup of every human being, living or dead, with the possible exception of a lineup consisting of nine Mike Ditka's.

To attempt to find out if our theoretical lineup would prevail, we used the famous Sagarin number to estimate what carnage such a lineup would produce. The Sagarin number essentially tells you how many runs per game would be scored by a lineup that consisted of nine copies of the same player.


THE SAGARIN NUMBER COMPUTATION:
25 * (SLG *OBA) / (1- AVG)

Using Buster Posey's Season Numbers as of June 16th:

Player........... AVG....SLG....OBA
Buster Posey......463___.879___.566

SUCH A LINEUP WOULD PRODUCE APPROXIMATELY 23 RUNS PER GAME.

INSTEAD OF LOSING 7-5 TO MIAMI, CLEARLY FSU WINS BY 23-2.

WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND CHOOSES TO LOSE 7-5 WHEN THEY CAN WIN 23-2??

And with Buster Posey pitching just his average game, which is all that would be required with a line-up of nine other Buster Posey's providing more than adequate run support, the all-Buster Posey team would have easily:

a) Defeated the Miami Hurricanes
b) Defeated the other college boy teams currently in Omaha
c) treated Erin Andrews to the weekend of her wildest dreams (no Rick Sutcliffe, you're not in them)
and
d) whet the nation's appetite for the all-Buster Posey vs. all-Mike Ditka team which would be held on pay-per-view the proceeds of which would
e) retire the National Debt with enough coin leftover to
f) fund national health care for everyone, including illegal aliens, visiting aliens, E.T. and
g) cure climate change

So as you can see, the FSU coaching staff has committed a blunder of near biblical proportions by not listening to the FSU sports marketing machine.

But FSU has not committed nearly as big a blunder as the Baseball Hall of Fame. No, I'm not talking about Pete Rose again. But seriously, how can the Baseball HOF, in good conscience, allow the Abbott and Costello comedy routine to enter the hallowed Hall, and continue to keep out the classic Bugs Bunny episode?

Baseball Fans of the World, it's time to rise up and end this injustice. Tell the Hall it's time to right this wrong. Send them cards, letters, e-mails and faxes until they scream Uncle. It's the right thing to do.

MLB SEASON REVIEW - NEAR HALF-WAY MARK

WILL THE WORLD SERIES VISIT WRIGLEY FIELD THIS SEASON??

A few surprises so far as we near the mid-season point. On the positive side, why not lead-off with the Rays who are playing at a 90-95 win pace? This should be enough to put them in the playoffs for the first time in team history. That qualifies them as the biggest positive surprise in baseball so far.

Next, as strange as this sounds, even though I picked the Cubs to win their division and advance to/win the World Series, their best record in baseball status qualifies them as the next biggest positive surprise.

Not to be outdone, the South side Chicago entrant, the White Sox, leading the AL Central has to put them at or near the top of the positive surprises this season as well. A Chicago vs. Chicago World Series would certainly be a great match up. But, there's a long way to go.

The other positive also-rans so far would have to be the Cardinals, the A's in the AL West, and the Astros.

OK, the Giants too. By using some form of twisted, convoluted logic, since they are not on a 100+ loss pace, are currently in third place in their division, they have some credibility to claim themselves as a positive surprise. This does seem like damning the team with faint praise though, does it not? Also, the fact that they are in third place in their division says more about the fortunes of the Padres and the Rockies this season than the Giants......

Which provides a smooth transition to the negative surprises this season.

The Rockies and the Padres, by virtue of their being behind the Giants in the standings, have got to be the front-runners. You don't see anyone else struggling behind the Royals or the Pirates or the Nationals now, do you? So who else should I pick?

Maybe from amongst the Tigers, the Indians and the Brewers? Fair enough, but only on the basis of their pre-season expectations. And in fairness, all three of these would be contenders have started to show signs of life lately, especially the Tigers.

How about the New Yorkers, with both the Mutts and the Yankees treading water around the .500 mark? Perhaps, but I'm not sure either of these two have or had much more to give then that. They seem to be right about where you would have expected them to be.

Give the salary and the expectation level, how long will it be before either of these two teams start making serious roster moves? My guess is the All-Star break, plus or minus a couple of games.
------------------------
In fairness, I had the Cubs and D-Backs as Division winners :) along with the Mutts :(, with the Brewers in the Wild Card spot. Hey, two for four so far.

In the AL, we had the Angels and Red Sox as Division winners :), with the Tigers :(, and the Indians as the Wild Card, damn White Sox. Again, two for four.

ISN'T THIS JUST DELICIOUS - U.S. SENATE CAN'T RUN A MEAT MARKET

SEEMS LIKE WE'RE WILLING TO FALL FOR THE SAME TRICKS OVER AND OVER AND OVER

The story reminds me of a quote by former Oakland A's third-baseman Sal Bando made in June 1974, after a disappointing loss. Bando said that A's manager Alvin Dark "couldn't manage a meat market."

And this is somewhat frightening to me because by my calculations, it seems like we're destined to get a President who was once a U.S. Senator, no matter what happens from now to November.

It seems the Senate apparently cannot run a simple restaurant and catering business. Something I'm sure many people on Main Street, USA are able to do on a daily basis.

Yet, we the people (Charlie Brown), are willing to turn over important pieces of our lives (health care, energy policy, environment) for these these Senators and Congressman (Lucy) to control (hold the football). And then we'll act surprised, like the aforementioned blockhead Mr. C. Brown, when we end up flat on our collective backs again.

These are the same folks who want to take over the management of health-care in this country. The same folks that want to confiscate "windfall profits" from the oil companies, presumably to micro-manage our nation's transition from carbon-based fuels to cleaner sources. Both are major tasks that would make them responsible for large chunks of our overall economy and our futures. And as we see from the story, they can't even run a restaurant and catering business profitably. Remarkable.

At least the House of Representatives seems to have understood how to get things done right a long time ago. Which makes sense because in terms of composition and personalities, the House is made up of folks who are closer to the people then the know-it-all, prima-donnas in the Senate. Real people that have run real businesses and achieved results in the real world know how to get things done, they know how things work. Senators clearly don't and they historically have made piss-poor Presidents. God help us.
-------------------------
Story in the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060801765.html

Year after year, decade upon decade, the U.S. Senate's
network of restaurants has lost staggering amounts of
money -- more than $18 million since 1993, according
to one report, and an estimated $2 million this year
alone, according to another.

The financial condition of the world's most exclusive
dining hall and its affiliated Capitol Hill
restaurants, cafeterias and coffee shops has become so
dire that, without a $250,000 subsidy from taxpayers,
the Senate won't make payroll next month.

The embarrassment of the Senate food service
struggling like some neighborhood pizza joint has
quietly sparked change previously unthinkable for
Democrats. Last week, in a late-night voice vote, the
Senate agreed to privatize the operation of its food
service, a decision that would, for the first time,
put it under the control of a contractor and all but
guarantee lower wages and benefits for the outfit's
new hires.

-----------------------------------
I suppose one of the fortunate things is that these neophytes can't seem to accomplish their way out of a wet paper bag. It didn't seem to matter which debate--mainly the Democratic side with Barry, Hillary and Michael J. Fox (when he was still in the race)--but in listening to these knuckle heads speak about the economy or world events, it always seemed like I was watching folks running for student council President instead of President of the United States, the leader of the free-world.


---------------------------------------
Apparently, even though the Dems have a majority in both houses and a presumptive President on the way, they can't get much in the way of their stated agenda accomplished.

STRIKE ONE IS THIS NEWS FROM NEWSDAY.COM ON JUNE 11TH:
http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/wednesday/news/ny-bzoil115722131jun11,0,42350.story

Big oil companies dodged an attempt yesterday to levy
a windfall profits tax and take away tax breaks in
response to record gas prices.

GOP senators shoved aside the Democratic proposal,
arguing that punishing Big Oil would do more harm than
good and won't lower the $4-plus-a-gallon-price of
gasoline that is sending economic waves across the
country.

The bill would have imposed a 25 percent tax on any
"unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil
companies - Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and
ConocoPhilips and Dutch-based Royal Dutch Shell plc
and British-based BP plc - which together made about
$36 billion during the first three months of the year.
It also would have rescinded tax breaks expected to
save the firms $17 billion over the next 10 years.

-----------------------------------------------
Then today after failing to push through the “windfall profits” tax on oil companies, they figured they would try to help the unemployed.

And all they really seemed to accomplish was another swing and a miss for STRIKE TWO.

According to the New York Times, "The House on Wednesday narrowly defeated a plan to provide added unemployment aid for Americans whose benefits are running out after Republicans, bolstered by a White House veto threat, opposed the measure,"

"As part of an escalating Congressional fight over economic issues, a Democratic plan to provide an additional 13 weeks of benefits to Americans out of jobs -- or another 26 weeks in states where unemployment exceeds 6 percent -- fell 3 votes short of approval in a 279-to-144 vote."

I guess it seems like we''re destined for more gridlock and incompetence no matter who gets elected. I don't know when we'll learn not to get fooled by the same old rhetoric, the same old games.

We should just throw all the bums out and start over. I'm not sure what the bums average is with an 0-2 count, but it can;t be good.

I (HEART) BUSTER POSEY??

OMG, have you seen this guy?
The Giants first round draft-pick?
OMG, He's like totally awesome.

CHECK OUT HIS VIDEO ON MINORLEAGUEBASEBALL.COM
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/draft_report/y2008/index.jsp?mc=posey

He plays for the the Florida State Seminoles.
And they're going to OMAHA.
That's like the World Series for college players, dude.
So he's playing in the College World Series.
And Buster's not his for-real name, it's like a nickname, but it's kind of cool.
And he's like 6-2, 200 lbs, OMG. 6-2.....

And he plays all nine positions on the field.
Which, like, pisses off Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon.
Which, incidentally, is another reason to like him, OMG.

SEE PTI RANT - I USED TO LIKE THIS SHOW - BUT NOT ANYMORE



These guys are just jealous because they can't play nine positions
like Buster Posey can
And they're not 6-2 and 200 lbs.
like Buster Posey is
And they're not in the College World Series.
like Buster Posey is....

So, I think I (heart) Buster Posey, already, and technically, he's not even a Giant.
OMG, do you think he likes us???
I hope so.
I hope we sign him.
I heard he wants $12 million dollars, just to sign.
OMG, I think we should give him like, $12 hundred million dollars.

I hear that, he was going to be the very first pick, by the Devil Rays, but they didn't have $12 million dollars, do they tried to find someone who would work cheaper.
WAY TO GO DEVIL RAYS!!!!
THEY'RE SO STUPID!!!!

It's weird, when I see FSU play now and Posey comes to bat, it's like this song becomes the soundtrack in my head:



I hope that doesn't make me GAY!!
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I mean, we are talking about Buster Posey, right?
I think my wife is getting angry and jealous already.
Or maybe that "Why don't you just change your name to Mrs. Buster Posey?" crack was meant to be a joke.
Or maybe I am mentioning his name a bit too much.

OMG, I wasn't always this mental, but being a Giant fan lately is killing me.

It used to be so easy. I mean we always had a superstar player to hold onto. So even though we weren't winning World Series--which is the whole point of playing, I'm told--we could always point to that one guy and say "yeah, but we have (fill in the blank)". And now we don't have that guy anymore. Let's review:

GIANTS HISTORY OF STARDOM IN MY SPORTS FANATIC LIFETIME:
1965-71 Willie Mays
1972-74 Bobby Bonds
1975-76 Bobby Murcer (traded for Bonds-WTF were they thinking-drinking?)
1977-84 Jack Clark
1985 Jeffrey Leonard (One Flap Down)
1986-93 Will "The Thrill" Clark
1993-07 Barry Bonds
2008 NOTHING, NADA, BUPKUS

If you look at it, this is only the third year in the last FORTY TWO or FORTY THREE YEARS I've been a fan, that we didn't have a bona-fide, every-day player as a hitting star.

OK, so maybe I'm on the rebound as a fan. Feeling like a middle-aged, newly-minted divorcee, thrust back into the dating pool, after the Bonds years. Maybe I don't know how to act anymore, or what to look for. Am I being to easy, or should I play hard to get?

I don't know any of THE RULES anymore. This sucks, life is SO HARD.

Oh, don't get me wrong, Aaron Rowand is so cute and bless his heart, he'd run through a wall for you. He's going to make some fan REALLY, REALLY happy someday. But he doesn't scare anybody with his bat. And neither does Bengie Molina. And I need a super-star who carries a big bat....wait a minute, let me re-phrase that....Aw hell, you know what I mean.

You know, from 1965 to 1971, we had Willie Mays. As a fan, how would you like to be walking down the street with that on your arm, huh? The ultimate shut-up to the other teams front-running fans. Those were great years. We were all so happy.

Then Willie left, he had to go to New York. He didn't really want to go and we didn't want to let him go either, but Horace Stoneham was drunk one night or had some financial problems or something and like a really evil step-dad, he sold Willie to the Mets....3,000 miles away....so we couldn't see him anymore. And all we got was some cash and Charlie Williams, a two-bit pitcher in return. CHARLIE WILLIAMS!!! I can't be seen with a Charlie Williams. And the cash part just made being a Giant fan feel dirty or something. Selling our best players for money to the rich teams, like we were a bunch of two-bit whores.

But we did have Bobby Bonds. The next Willie Mays, we were told. And boy did he look it...at first. I mean he could run and throw and hit and field pretty much like Willie.
And did you see the body on that guy?
OMG, dude was chiseled.
And this was before baseball dudes were supposed to be chiseled.
But you always got the feeling something was wrong. Maybe we were in denial and somewhat on the rebound then as well... still not quite over Willie....so we didn't quite see the signs....or we ignored them in the name of convenience....Like when you were dating that hot chick and you kinda sensed she was psycho....but the SEX was wild so you ignored the fact that you just might wake up some morning with a screwdriver driven into your neck or a hatchet embedded in your skull.

So eventually, Bobby had to go too....to another team, the Yankees....for Bobby Murcer.....Tell me that wasn't humiliating? But Bobby was never the same as when he was with us. Which is a form of redemption, but it still was painful to see him struggle.

And all we got back was Bobby Murcer. Bobby Freaking Murcer. Don't get me wrong, great guy and OMG he tried so hard to please, but he brought his over-inflated 30 HR per year stats, hitting half the time into the short porch in RF that was Yankee Stadium, into real-man sized ballparks and the guy couldn't break 10-15 homers per season. Qu'elle disappointment!!!!!

Life was messed up then, we were kind of confused. The only thing we had to hold onto was the pitching staff. We had Montefusco and D'Acquisto and Halicki. But damn it boys, these guys were pitchers.
Who's the guy we're going to root for every day?
Where was the big stick in the lineup?
This was the team of Mays and McCovey.
Hell, we might have settled for another Jim Ray Hart.

1975 and 76 were some pretty sorry years to be a Giant fan, I can tell you that. Much like today.

Then along came Jack Clark. The way he hit, they called him "Jack the Ripper". Now that's the kind of guy, with the kind of nickname, that you could just wrap your arms around and hold onto for a few years.
And all was well from 1977-1984...
With Jack....

But then Jack left. I'm not sure where Jack went. But I do remember he had some good years with the Cardinals, and that was nice. We were actually kind of happy for him really. But when he went to the Dodgers, and I knew he wasn't coming back. Good riddance.....we couldn't take him back after he'd been with THEM!!!

So in 1985, we had a brief but productive fling with Jeffrey Leonard, who took us to the playoffs.....titillated us with his "One flap down" home-run trot...and then he was gone....quicker than a one night stand really.....But it was OK.... Really, it was. Because he was just keeping the seat warm for the new kid.

Will "The Thrill" Clark came to the big club from Mississippi State, to take us through the 80's and into the 90's. From 1986 to 1993, with that sweet-swinging Cajun, all was right again as a fan.
Will sure gave us some good years, boy...
he could really hit.....
but once he started to lose it...
he just didn't fit in amongst cosmopolitan San Francisco anymore....
Somehow his Cajun, tobacco-spittin' ways stood out like a sore thumb....
Funny, didn't seem so weird when he was hitting well.....
And so....The Thrill...was soon gone....

Once again, we tried to to find the ultimate hitting machine. And we did, in Pittsburgh, toiling for the Pirates, but longing to come home and make his name with the Giants....BARRY LAMAR BONDS.

So briefly in 1993, we actually had Barry Bonds and Will Clark in the same lineup. Can you believe it? BARRY BONDS AND WILL CLARK. At the same time.
But you knew it couldn't last....
It's like a three-some with you and two red-hot, super-models.....
who used to be gymnasts.....
great while it lasted, but you knew it wasn't going to last for long...
something had to give.....
So old Will had to go play for Texas and later, the Cardinals.
He never really looked the same in those uniforms as he did when he was with us though.
He really didn't hit that well, either.
Seemed kind of old and used up.
HEHEHEHEHE.

The last fifteen years (has it really been fifteen years?) were some of the best years a Giant fan ever had, in spite of what the outside world tried to make us think.

A World Series appearance, a near decade long dominance of the Dodgers.
Oh yes, that was such sweet icing on the cake.
Everything but a World Series Championship, I suppose.
And so, as Giants fans, we keep looking...

You see, something about being a Giants player...
there's a history of greatness....
A legacy to uphold and build upon.

Which brings us back to Draft Day and Buster Posey.

Do you think Buster Posey will fit into this legacy?

Apparently his college coach thinks so, this from FSU coach Martin on Poseys' chances of making it in the bigs:

"I've never been so sure of something in my life," Martin Jr. said. "He is a classic inside-out hitter, a Derek Jeter type, who really gets inside the ball and makes a lot of solid contact. That's what I tell people, he's Jason Varitek behind the plate and he's Derek Jeter as a hitter, and I really believe that."

HOLY HOT HANNAH!!!! PART JASON VARITEK, PART DEREK JETER????

CUE THE MUSIC FELLAS, I'M CONVINCED!!!!

WAS THIS UMP SET UP?? - FOLLOW UP

A fellow umpire/referee sent me a follow up to our recent post located here:
http://slavieboy.blogspot.com/2008/06/you-make-call-was-this-ump-set-up.html

According to WSBRadio.com in Atlanta:
http://wsbradio.com/news/060208baseballthrow.html

Updated 6:00pm 6/5/08

(WSB Radio) -- The umpire who was hit during a championship baseball game in Stephens County is cautiously reacting to the incident. David Scott told Channel Two Action News, "It came as a surprise, disbelief more than anything. I'd say the video pretty much speaks for itself. Other than that, I really don't have anything to say about it. I'm currently under a doctor's care and still waiting for all the results to be evaluated."

Scott's attorney says they're waiting for that medical evaluation to determine if they will take any legal action.

Earlier this week, the Georgia High School Association levied a $1,000 fine against the Stephens County high school and put the school's athletics program on severe warning status.

Stephens County Principal David Friend called the punishment "fair" and said he was very disappointed in his players’ behavior in the championship game.

The catcher in the incident, Matt Hill, had been invited to walk on for the Gordon College baseball team. The coach of that team has since rescinded the offer.
--------------------------------------------
So the lesson learned is that actions do have consequences. The school was sanctioned by the state association, as they should be. Hopefully, the school levies some sort of sanction on the coach. There's generally a reason why things slide this far and if there was good consistent leadership all season long, I'm confident something like this would not have happened.

The catcher is, for the time being, sanctioned as far as loss of a scholarship. He may be able to recover and land on his feet at another school. For now, the kids, the parents, the school system all have to hope the umpire recovers, shakes it off and decides not to let what happened between the lines spill over into a courtroom.

If he has serious injuries, at the very least, they have to hope that his insurance overs him lock, stock and barrel. I would bet in this case, as in most cases of this type, if the kids just stepped up and apologized and said they just got caught up in the heat of the moment and made a dumb decision, the case would not escalate any further.

TRIPLE CROWN POST-MORTEM

This picture of Secretariat now seems like it epitomizes not only his superiority over his competition, but also the amount of time that has lapsed between Triple Crown winners. In the initial disappointment over Big Brown's defeat yesterday, I fear it may also be a metaphor for how long a wait it may be before we see another one.

Maybe we were spoiled that not only Secretariat, but Affirmed and Seattle Slew, all were Triple Crown winners from the 70's. We also saw quality horses in the "hidden Triple Crown" winners. Sham finished second to Secretariat in all three legs of the Triple Crown and Alydar managed to challenge Affirmed and finish second in all three races as well. In another year, perhaps we'd also be talking about those two horses.

In hindsight, it's obviously a greater challenge to win all three legs than the number of winners from each era would have you believe. A horse has to almost win the equivalent of a sprint, a middle distance race and a distance race in five weeks. He also has to stay healthy and injury-free in order to train for the disparate courses while competitor barns can sit back and train challengers who are geared to each individual race distance. They can virtually tag-team the Triple Crown challenger, while that horse has to run, ready or not.

Imagine a track star trying to win the 100 meter dash, the 880 meters, and the mile in five weeks. Perhaps not an equivalent analogy, but it's the best I can come up with. Or a Triple Crown winner in baseball. There's a reason why we haven't seen one of those in a long time as well.

It did appear yesterday as if the grind, or maybe the injury, or getting jostled in traffic, finally caught up to Big Red. He didn't seem to want to run when his jockey asked, for whatever reason. He fought him a bit for the first time.

Unfortunately, you can't ask the horse "WTF happened?". Also, unfortunate that prior to the race you couldn't get the trainer Dutrow to STFU. Maybe I'm old school, but I got a sick feeling whenever this gas bag "guaranteed" victory. It's one thing to have confidence in your undefeated horse. It's another thing to seemingly rub your opponents face in it.

The other "Oh No!!" moment was when the ABC commentator mentioned during the post parade that Big Red seemed so cool that he hadn't even broken a sweat. It was 90+ heat combined with near 90 humidity, your gas bag trainer looked like someone turned a fire-hose on him he was sweating so much and the horse that needed to be ready to go hadn't broken a sweat? Maybe I don't know enough about getting race horses warmed up, but that seemed to be a red-flag that the horse was not ready to run.

Know I know how the old Brooklyn Dodger fans and Chicago Cubs fans feel.

"Wait 'til next year."

WILL BIG BROWN BE THIS GENERATIONS BIG RED?

We'll soon find out, in one respect he is now one step closer with the news that his most worthy challenger, Casino Drive, has been scratched.

Big Red is now in a Belmont field that seemingly has only one remaining threat to win in Dennis of Cork. When Secretariat blistered through the 1973 Belmont field, only Sham was considered worthy enough to upset the Triple Crown express.

What Secretariat did as far as winning the Triple Crown in and of itself was not so surprising, it was the way he did it. Winning the Derby over Sham, with the phenomenal performance of successfully faster quarter times and and the under 2 minute total race time, whetted people's appetite.

In the Preakness, he goes from fourth to first in the blink of an eye, while rounding a turn, an astounding feat of acceleration past his peers.

In the weeks leading up to the Belmont Stakes, Secretariat appears on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated, achieving rock star status and setting the stage for the Belmont Stakes.

With the entire horse racing world and most of the rest of the sports viewing public now engaged, Secretariat stands ready to make his immortal run to history.

Now understand that, normally the phrase "and down the stretch they come", with any number of horses thundering down the homestretch vying for victory, is about as spine-tingling, hair on the back of your neck standing, awe-inspiring phrase as we have in sports.

But literally no sports call, short of the call of Bobby Thompson's home-run to culminate the "Miracle of Coogan's Bluff", can makes me to this day stand steadfastly still--a body-trembling, jaw-dropping paralysis--filled with a combination of emotion and inspiration, quite like the following track announcers call that brings Secretariat down the back stretch and into horse racing immortality:

“Secretariat is widening now, he is moving like a tremendous machine! Secretariat by twelve. Secretariat by fourteen lengths on the turn....Secretariat is all alone, he’s out there almost a sixteenth of a mile in front of the other horses.....He is into the stretch, he leads the field by eighteen lengths....Secretariat has opened to a twenty-two length lead. He is going to be the next Triple Crown winner! Here comes Secretariat to the wire! An unbelievable, an amazing performance! He hits the finish, twenty-five lengths!”



Secretariat gave us a chance to turn away somewhat from some of the "more important" events of the day.

We had virtually wrapped up our involvement in Vietnam and some of the emotional scars that divided our involvement in that war were still open and raw.

We had President Nixon in office and the Watergate scandal was developing as a daily distraction.

We had what would later form the so-called misery index of high unemployment, high inflation and high interest rates combined with low self esteem, low national pride and lower expectations for the future. Our leaders seemed clueless to find solutions to our nations problems.

Sound familiar? Sound like history repeating?

But for a couple of weeks at least--in a way that sports does as well as any past time in this country can do in a positive way--Secretariat provided an uplifting backdrop to temporarily escape from some of the madness going on in our lives.

And he gave us a chance to hope and dream again, when for a time it seemed like we had forgotten how to nestle into dreams without waking up to our real-life nightmare.

Well maybe today, Big Brown has his chance to be this generations "Big Red"--to do for this country's sports viewing public what Secretariat did for our generation 35 years ago--provide hope and inspiration. It's a tall order, but we really didn't expect Secretariat to do that for us.

But that's one of the reasons why they run the races and play the games...and it's one of the reasons why we watch...because you never really know in advance when you're going to witness history in the making.

Go Big Brown, rise up and make history.....

MLB DRAFT - POST MORTEM

More than any other year in the 10+ years that I've been following the draft, it seems as if there was a much greater emphasis on college players over HS players than ever before.

Whether this is a residual effect of the current crop of "Moneyball" GM's making their marks on teams scouting department or just an attempt to shift developmental costs from their own minor league systems to the colleges, I'm not sure. Time will tell.

From an economic standpoint, it makes some good common sense. A lot of these guys can take 2-3 years to develop and mature (student-athletes are eligible for the draft after HS in 2 years if enrolled in a junior college and 3 years if enrolled in a four year program).

For hitters, there seems to be no downside. The pros are a little more leery about trusting premium HS pitching arms to the whims of college coaches however. We'll have to see if the numbers reflected this year were just an anomaly or a trend that continues. More and more, the college game is being televised on cable packages, so some of these guys are coming into the pros with a more developed reputation than in the past as well.

The other trend I do like about the draft is the compensation picks for losing free-agents. I think it has helped the smaller market teams recover and rebuild faster than ever before.

I would suggest one more enhancement to the draft, we can call it The Slavik Plan for Competitive Balance, and that is to instead of simply tying the draft order to the teams prior year record, a formula is developed that also includes the teams prior year payroll as well. In this way, if in any given year the Yankees or the Sawks fall off the cliff due to injuries to key players, and finish with the worst record in baseball, they would in no way draft first. No more Brian Taylor to the Yankees, although that one didn't work out to well.

There may have to be some sort of horse-trading with the players union on this, since it's tied to salary, but I think if you added a minimum team salary that teams would have to surpass, then this would compress the team's together even further in terms of competition on the field.

At least the small market teams would have some measure of hope of catching lightning in a bottle with their younger talent versus the large market teams more established veteran talent.

I'm sure the agents would continue to "game" the system with outrageous salary demands to drive their clients to the desired team, but you could add some sort of "loss of future draft picks" provision for going over slot guidelines.

Anyway it's worth a try. We'll have to see what develops down the road.
------------------------------------------
UPDATE ON GIANTS DRAFT-PICKS FROM:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/06/SPON114Q8C.DTL&feed=rss.giants

Great to see Giants, A's picks giving it the ol' college try
Bruce Jenkins, San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, June 7, 2008

Posey, the Florida State catcher chosen fifth overall by the Giants on Thursday, is almost too good to be true. He's an exceptionally well-mannered kid who only wants to talk about his teammates. He's a dean's-list student with a near-perfect GPA and a long-term future in finance. When you learn that he has excelled as a catcher, shortstop and pitcher in college, you're not surprised that in a game against Savannah State last month, he played all nine positions, looking comfortable with every switch.

"I'll tell anybody that will listen," said Mike Martin, who has coached the Seminoles for 29 years. "He's Jason Varitek behind the plate and he's Derek Jeter as a hitter. I really believe he's that good."

Baseball America recently rated Posey as the No. 2 pure hitter in college ball. Its No. 3 choice was Gillaspie, the Wichita State third baseman taken by San Francisco as the 37th overall selection. A left-handed hitter batting out of a low crouch, hands back, the bat pointing straight up, he's the picture of balance. He drilled a dead-pull single to right early in the game, then wisely played to the conditions (wind blowing out to left) for a three-run, opposite-field homer in the sixth

SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM.....

Congrats to Barack Obama for his historic victory. It would have been historic either way it turned out on the Dems side, since Hillary was seeking to pave the way for women.

If you read the following it illustrates somewhat the feelings I have about the upcoming elections, which is as follows:

1) Even though Barack positions himself as the agent of "change" and McCain fancies himself the leader of "straight talk", I get the feeling that no matter who prevails we will get neither true change nor much in the way of straight talk.

2) Either way the wind blows, we are going to get some measure of change, Bush is not up for re-election and he can't pull a Putin and position himself as the puppeteer. We can at least thank God for that fact. The problem is that there is less turnover in our Senate and House of Representatives than in the Soviet Politburo. At least they no when to throw the bums out.

"The contrasts could not be more stark: an African-American Democrat versus a white Republican," reports The Christian Science Monitor. "The latter old enough to be the father of the former. One with no military experience, the other with a long Navy career punctuated by a harrowing period of captivity in a Hanoi prison camp. One with a soaring rhetorical style that can light up a sports arena, the other more comfortable in the back-and-forth banter of a town-hall meeting."

Both candidates have to get out and make political hay by creating a perceived crisis in the minds of the electorate. Once that is done they will make the argument that in fact, they are better equipped to solve than the other candidate. That's all. And it's amazing how much better things will get in the country once they are in office.

So my forecast is, five more months of cloudy skies, no sign of better weather on the political landscape until mid-November at the earliest.

In "Our Collectivist Candidates," David Boaz, Cato executive vice president and author of The Politics of Freedom, writes: "Barack Obama urged graduates of Connecticut's Wesleyan University to devote themselves to 'collective service.' This is not an unusual theme for a commencement address. But it was interesting how long he went on discussing various kinds of nonprofit activism without ever mentioning the virtues of commerce or of individual achievement. ... John McCain also denounces 'self-indulgence' and insists that Americans serve 'a national purpose that is greater than our individual interests.

"Messrs. Obama and McCain are telling us Americans that our normal lives are not good enough, that pursuing our own happiness is 'self-indulgence,' that building a business is 'chasing after our money culture,' that working to provide a better life for our families is a 'narrow concern.' They're wrong. Every human life counts. Your life counts. You have a right to live it as you choose, to follow your bliss. You have a right to seek satisfaction in accomplishment. And if you chase after the almighty dollar, you just might find that you are led, as if by an invisible hand, to do things that improve the lives of others."

COCOA CRISP IS A LITTLE PUNK ASSED BITCH

THIS IS A CARRY-OVER FROM WHEN CRISP GOES IN HARD AGAINST IWAMURA

He goes in hard against Rays 2B Akinori Iwamura, when he's actually pissed off at Rays SS Jason Bartlett for blocking the base earlier in the game.

Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon felt Crisp "intentionally" tried to hurt Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura with a hard slide when he was caught stealing.

Crisp said he was upset with shortstop Jason Bartlett, not Iwamura, after Bartlett put his knee down in front of the bag on Crisp's successful steal in the sixth Wednesday, saying he sprained his left thumb on a headfirst slide.

Ouch!!! He hurt his little thumb did he? Awwww poor little Cocoa Puff. He hurt his itty, bitty little thumb and his mommy is not around to kiss it and make it better. Go find your sister Cream of Wheat and see if maybe she can put a little sugar on it, baby.

So anyway, instead of being patient and picking his spot to get even with Barrett, or having one of his pitchers send Mr. Bartlett a "message" concealed inside a pitch, he takes liberties with the most passive Ray on the team.

And then acts surprised when James Shields does the right thing by protecting his guy. It's not like Acki can go in hard against the Sawks CF now can they?

My man Jonny Gomes apparently lands a couple on Crisp's sorry ass noggin after he and Shields exchange shadow punches. My new Rays hero.



This just goes to show that the Rays are for real. The Yanks and the Sawks best beware and are on notice. The fact that they are expending their energy on the Rays shows that they've arrived on the scene.

Hopefully, this will provide a boost for the Rays down the road.

This is just another reason for me to hate the Sawks. And most everything else Boston lately.

This is really going to make the NBA Finals tough on us here.

Let's see, Celtics or Kobe?
Celtics or Kobe?

I don't know, I'm going to have to get back to you on that one.

GIANTS COME OUT OF THE DRAFT WITH QUITE A HAUL

The Giants seem to have adopted the draft strategy I was looking for the last couple of years and applied it this year in spades. Six college players, two of them pitchers that could help this sad sack of a team within the next two years.

That should buy them some time for the younger HS players drafted over the last couple of years to develop properly without the pressure of being rushed.

Although, after further review, maybe the Giants weren't as much trend-setter as trend-followers. The Draft favored the colleges through the first six rounds. Of the 202 players selected Thursday, 134 were collegiate selections, according to MLB.com.

But wait a minute, the Giants selected 100% collegians, so maybe they are relatively smarter than the league overall....Nah, look at their record this year.

CAPSULES FROM MLB.COM

5 Posey, Gerald Florida St U C R/R 6'01" 205 1987-03-27 JR Comments: College catchers who can stay at the position and can hit are always a hot commodity and Posey will be no exception. He's got a great approach with the bat and has a little power. As a converted shortstop, he's still a little raw behind the plate, but all the tools are there for him to be just fine and help ensure he gets drafted fairly early.

37 Gillaspie, Conor Wichita St U 3B L/R 6'01" 19
Comments: After a strong Cape season, Gillaspie has followed up with an excellent junior campaign. He's a terrific hitter and has been over .400 for most of the year. His lack of power makes it hard to profile him anywhere other than as a Bill Mueller-type third baseman. There are worse things to be, of course, and a team that values what Gillaspie can do will surely take him.

82 Kieschnick, Roger Texas Tech U RF L/R 6'03" 215
Comments: Kieschnick is a potential five-tool corner outfielder who could hit for power and steal a few bases. He plays a fearless outfield, getting to plenty of balls and showing off a good arm at times. The one knock is an issue with his mechanics at the plate that concerns some about his hitting ability at the next level. Still, an aggressive college outfielder -- in a weak class of outfielders -- who has those tools should get plenty of interest.

117 Crawford, Brandon UC Los Angeles SS L/R 6'02" 200
Comments: After his first two seasons at UCLA, Crawford seemed poised to be one of the top collegiate middle infielders in the class. But a rough Cape season appears to have carried over and he's lost some confidence in his game, both at the plate and in the field. Some added thickness to his lower half has taken away a little of his quickness, though he's still a solid shortstop. If he can right himself, he's the kind of player who usually sees himself go off the board within the first couple of rounds.

147 Quirarte, Edwin Cal St Northridge RHP R/R 6'02" 200
180 Surkamp, Eric North Carolina St U LHP L/L 6'05" 220

MLB DRAFT - LIVE

1. RAYS - The Rays as expected pick Tim Beckham, Griffin HS with the first pick. MLB.com has him at 6 foot even but I've seen him listed at 6-2 as well. A five-tool prospect to add to the Rays collection of premium prospects. Buster Posey's bonus demands may have priced him away from the Rays, but drafting a catcher this high might have been a bit of a risk.

2. PIRATES - The Pirates, also as expected, select Pedro Alvarez SB from Vanderbilt. A 6-2,210 power hitter from the left side, has the best chance to make an immediate impact with the bat. A broken hamate bone in his wrist is a slight concern as will be his expected bonus demands, but the Pirates could use his bat soon.

The Royals are on the clock....Posey might be the move here.

3. ROYALS - Royals build for the future with Florida prep 1B Eric Hosmer 6-4, 215, he might have been the best HS bat available.

Orioles are on the clock now...they have been looking at the college pitchers Brian Matusz and Aaron Crow. If it's a coin flip between the two, I would take the lefty.

4. ORIOLES - The Orioles take LHP Brian Matusz from University of San Diego. He's 6-4,200 has good velocity and four solid pitches. Sound like you can't go wrong there. Too bad he didn't last one more pick.

The Giants are now on the clock....One of the college pitchers Crow or Tanner Scheppers from Fresno State would look good here. Justin Smoak a power hitting 1b from South Carolina might help soon as well.

5. GIANTS - The Giants surprise a bit by taking Buster Posey from Florida State. 6-1,205 good defense behind the plate and a solid bat. A little raw, but athletic behind the plate, his bat should have him ready for the bigs in short order.

The Marlins are on the clock....the buzz is they like prep catcher Kyle Skipworth from California and possibly local product 18 Yonder Alonzao from the Univ of Miami.

6. FLORIDA - Marlins pick Kyle Skipworth 6-3,195 C from Patriot HS, (CA) Good arm, good bat. Good pick for the future.

The Reds are on the clock...tough read on the Reds could be Smoak, could be Crow, could be one of the IF's Gordon Beckham from UGA or Brett Lawrie IF from Canada.

7. REDS - Yonder Alonzo from Univ of Miami. 6-2,215 power hitting lefty bat.

The White Sox are on the clock...will be interesting to see if the go for the bat (Smoak) or the pitcher (Crow or Scheppers).

8. WHITE SOX - Sox surprise a bit with Univ. of Georgia SS Gordon Beckham. 6-0,185 decent bat, not a toolsy guy, just a player. Could move to 2B down the road.

The Nationals are on the clock....Tough read on them as well, pitching is an obvious need.

9. NATIONALS - Aaron Crow RHP from Missouri. 6-2,205. Played well in the Cape Cod League, might be the top college pitcher in the draft. Three plus pitches and a power arm, he should rise fast.

Houston is on the clock....can use some power bats, Smoak 1B or Brett Wallace 3B are possibilities.

10. ASTROS - A bit os a surprise, Jason Castro C Stanford 6-3, 215. A good enough lefty bat fills a need for the Astros.

Rangers are on the clock.....looking for pitching possibly a closer maybe Scheppers or Shooter Hunt from Tulane (best name in the draft).

11. RANGERS - surprise, Justin Smoak switch-hitting 1B from Univ. of South Carolina 6-4, 215 with good power.

Oakland A's are on the clock.....Brett Wallace or Conor Gillespie, the college 3B or Aaron Hicks, the prep CF from CA are on the radar.

12. A'S - Jemile Weeks 2B from the Univ. of Miami. A 5-10,175 solid pick, Brother of Brewers Rickie Weeks, not the same type of bat speed or power. Switch-hitter good bat, might move to the OF down the road.

Cardinals are on the clock....LHP Christian Friedrich from Eastern Kentucky is on their board as well as RHP Ryan Perry from Arizona.

13. CARDINALS - 3B/1B Brett Wallace from Arizona State. 6-3, 235 power bat. Might not have the glove for 1B. He'll have to hit to move Pujols off the position. Good plate discipline, seemd like a fit for the high-OBP A's.

Twins are on the clock....they could take one of the HS athletes still on the board like Hicks, Lawrie or HS pitchers Ethan Martin and Tim Melville.

14. TWINS - Aaron Hicks RHP/OF from Wilson HS in Long Beach (CA). Great tools as on OF, can pitch as well reaching 95 and cruising in the low 90's. Was picked as an everyday player, so he should project well to the OF for the twins.

The Dodgers are on the clock now...were rumored to be high on Hicks, just selected, may settle for Casey Kelly the SS_RHP out of Sarasota, FL.

15. DODGERS - Etan Martin 3B/RHP from Stephens HS (GA). Could be a college QB prospect. Mid 90's fastball. Interesting pick.

Milwaukee is on the clock....normnally go for the high ceiling guys (Kelly) could also look at the college closers as a need pick.

16. BREWERS - Brett Lawrie C/3B from B.C Canada at 5-11,200, showed power late in a high profile tournament to elevate up the boards late.

Blue Jays are on the clock...Brett Wallace was rumored to be on their wish list, maybe a Connor Gillespie 3B Wichita State as next best available??

17. BLUE JAYS - David Cooper 1B Cal Berkley 6-1,210 LH hitting with legit power. Not much with the glove.

18. METS - Isaac Davis 1B 6-4,215 from Arizna State. Another 6-4,215 LH hitting power guy. Son of ex-major leauger Ron Davis.

Cubs are on the clock....still a lot of pitching on the board.

19. CUBS - Andrew Cashner RHP from TCU a real power arm, projects as a closer. 6-5,190 mid 90's FB with a power slider.

Mariners are on the clock.....were rumored to be high on Cashner, maybe Shooter Hunt here?

20. MARINERS - Joshua Fields RHP Univ. of Georgia legit closer prospect.6-0, 180 but brings heat. 2nd rounder by the Braves last year.

Tigers are on the clock....rumored to like the power arm 100+ of Gerri Cole HS pitcher from CA.

21. TIGERS - RHP Ryan Perry from Univ. of Arizona 98MPH FB and a good slider. 6-4, 200 closer prospect.

Mets are back on the clock...pitching in this spot?

22. METS - Wow!!! Reese Havens SS from Univ. South Carolia. Will move off SS with the Mets due to the presence of Jose Reyes, maybe 2B??

Padres are on the clock...rumored to like Havens who just came off the board and possibly Shooter Hunt as a closer?? Lefty Christain Friedrich would be a good value pick here as well.

23. PADRES - Allan Dykstra 1B from Wake Forest. A 6-5,240 power hitting 1B. Seems like ther have been quite a few of those in this draft.

Phillies are on the clock...they tend to like toolsy prep players, maybe Casey Kelly here or Zach Collier from CA.

24. PHILLIES - Anthony Hewitt SS 6-1,195 from Salisbury School (CT), might be the highest rated pure athlete in the draft, good arm, athleticism could move him to the OF. The bat is a major question mark that will determine if this big-risk turns into a big-reward.

Rockies are on the clock....

25. ROCKIES - Christian Friedrich LHP Eastern Kentucky good K-BB ratio, dominated his level. 6-3,210 lbs. he may have been the 2nd best LHP in the college ranks.

Diamondbacks are on the clock....closers are off the board which is what they were rumored to be interested in.

26. ARIZONA - LHP Daniel Shlereth from Univ. of Arizona, son of ESPN and former NFL'er Mark Shlereth. A mid-90's FB and a power slider should put him on the fast-track to the bigs. Maybe a bit of a reach.

Twins are back on the clock....athletes r' us for the Twinkees.

27. TWINS - OUCH!! RHP Carlos Gutierrez 6-3,205 RHP from Univ. of Miami, the biggest reach of the first round so far, plus he's hurt. What are the Twinkees thinking? You can't tell me this guy would not have been there a couple of rounds down the road. This has to be a budgetary pick, with two first-rounders, there must have been birds chirping in the Twins war room, CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP.

On a side note this is now beginning to look like an NFL draft with two University of Miami (The-U) players picked so far.

Yankees are on the clock....

28. YANKEES - Gerrit Cole RHP from Luthean HS (CA) huge power arm, 100+ MPH with signability concerns (Boras client) at 6-3,200 he projects as a huge power pitcher down the road.

Indians are on the clock...

29. INDIANS - Lonnie Chisenall 6-1,200 SS with character issues (burglary charge) from Pitt(NC) CC via Univ. of South Carolina. Might be the second biggst surprise in the round. He could have been available to them later.

30. RED SOX - Casey Kelly SS/RHP Sarasota HS 6-3,195 one of the premier athletes in the prep ranks. QB prospect with Tennessee. Raw as a pitcher anbd the bat is the big question mark as a SS, but a premium pick here for the Sox. Son of ex-major leaguer Pat Kelly.
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That concludes the first round. The compensation round begins in about 15 minutes.

Surprises/Prospects still on the board:

Tim Melville RHP Holt HS (MO)
Shooter Hunt RHP Tulane
Zach Collier OF Chino Hills HS (CA)
Brett DeVall LHP Niceville HS (FL)
Alex Mayer RHP Greensburg HS (IN)
Conor Gillespie 3B Wichita State
Jake Odrizzi RHP Highland HS (IL)
Tanner Scheppers RHP Fresno State
Isaac Galloway OF Los Oros HS (CA)
Roger Kieschnick OF Texas Tech
Adrian Nieto C American Heritage HS (FL)
Jordan Danks OF Texas
Ross Seaton RHP Second Baptist HS (TX)
Daniel Webb RHP Heath HS (KY)
Chris Carpenter RHP Kent State
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31. TWINS - Shooter Hunt, RHP Tulane
32. BREWERS - Jacob Odirizzi, RHP Highland HS (IL)
33. METS - Bradley Holt RHP UNC-Wilimigton
34. PHILLIES - Zach Collier OF Chino Hills HS (CA)
35. BREWERS - Evan Frederickson LHP Univ. San Francisco
36. ROYALS - Michael Montgomery LHP Hart HS (CA)
37. GIANTS - Connor Gillespie 3B Wichita State (YEAH!!!)
38. ASTROS - Jordan Lyles RHP Hartsville HS (SC)
39. CARDINALS - Michael Lynn RHP Univ Mississippi
40. BRAVES - Brett DeVall LHP Niceville HS (FL)
41. CUBS - Ryan Flaherty SS Vanderbilt
42. PADRES - Jeff Decker OF Sunrise Mountain HS (AZ)
43. ARIZONA - Wade Miley LHP SE Louisiana
44. YANKEES - Jeremy Bleich LHP Stanford U
45. RED SOX - Brian Price RHP Rice University
46. PADRES - John Forsythe 3B Univ. Arkansas Fayetteville

That concludes the First Round and the Compensation Round.

I like the Giants first two picks, this might have been the approach they should have been taking in the last couple of years, Posey and Gillespie could help the big club relatively quickly.

THIS IS WHY THE NFL DOESN'T HAVE A "STEROID PROBLEM"

I'm not saying anything, I'm just saying.

Clearly, the NFL does a better job of "whitewashing" or "cleaning it's dirty laundry" than any other major sport.

No problem here sports fans, nothing to look at. Move along, man. Move along.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3427526

Convicted steroids dealer who gave names to NFL found dead
ESPN.com news services

Updated: June 5, 2008, 1:57 PM ET

PLANO, Texas -- A convicted steroids dealer who recently met with NFL security officials and gave them names of players he said bought steroids from him has been found dead in his home.

Just after midnight on Thursday, Plano police made a welfare check and found 35-year-old David Jacobs and 30-year-old Amanda Jo Earhart-Savell dead. Both had been shot.

Officer Rick McDonald, a police spokesman, said the officers were making a welfare check after relatives of Earhart-Savell expressed concern about her whereabouts.

He says Plano detectives aren't releasing information about whether the deaths were a double homicide or a murder-suicide, whether a weapon was found near the bodies, or any other details.

Men in ski masks and jackets marked "police" were seen entering the home late Thursday morning, according to the Dallas Morning News.

MLB DRAFT UPDATE - RAYS TO PICK GRIFFIN

The St. Petersburg Times is reporting this morning that Tim Beckham SS from Griffin HS (GA) will be selected with Rays first pick.

Beckham is 6-0, 188 SS who hit .500 this season. He is regarded by scouts as a five-tool prospect with great athleticism. He fits in well with the Rays organizational philosophy of drafting high-ceiling high school players with lots of upside and letting them develop.

RAYS ARE ON THE CLOCK - MLB DRAFT PREVIEW

The Rays, hopefully for the last time in a long time, hold the first pick in the MLB Draft tomorrow. The latest buzz has them focusing their attentions on FSU C Buster Posey and Griffin HS (GA) SS Tim Beckham with the choice.

Pedro Alvarez 3B-1B from Vanderbilt should be the second pick to Pittsburgh regardless of who the Rays select. He appears to be the bat most ready to produce on the major league level, something the Pirates desperately need.

After that University of Georgia SS Gordon Beckham and collegiate pitchers Aaron Crow RHP University of Missouri and Brian Matusz LHP from University of San Diego appear to be the most coveted players.

1ST ROUND DRAFT ORDER
1. TB
2. PIT
3. KC
4. BAL
5. SF
6. FLA
7. CIN
8. CWS
9. WAS
10. HOU
11. TEX
12. OAK
13. STL
14. MIN
15. LAD
16. MIL
17. TOR
18. NYM (Type A Comp pick for Tom Glavine)
19. CHC
20. SEA
21. DET
22. NYM
23. SD
24. PHI
25. COL
26. ARI
27. MIN (Type A Comp Pick for Torri Hunter)
28. NYY
29. CLE
30. BOS

SUPPLEMENTAL FIRST ROUND PICKS:
31. MIN (Torri Hunter)
32. MIL (Francisco Cordero)
33. NYM (Glavine)
34. PHI (Aaron Rowand)
35. MIL (Scott Linebrink)
36. KC (Daid Riske)
37. SF (Pedro Feliz)
38. HOU (Trevor Miller
39. STL (Troy Percival)
40. ATL (Ron Mahay)
41. CHC (Jason Kendal)
42. SD (Doug Brocail)
43. ARI (Livan Hernandez)
44. NYY (Luis Vizcaino)
45. BOS (Eric Gagne)
46. SD (Mike Cameron)