2007 MLB Season (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

Joe Morgan is not a good analyst. He makes too many mistakes with some of his comments that are simply wrong. I'm not saying this is the case with Papelbon, but in general. However, I feel the same way about most of ESPN Baseball personnel. ESPN does a much better job with football.




Crawdaddy

 

[Walter C]

With the way the Phillies keep wasting opportunities to score runs, they deserve to be booed. It drives me insane the way they have second and third with nobody out, and the Phils manage to get the worst possible outs (pop-ups, double play, or striking out).

I have dealt with some obnoxious Yankee fans, who don't take kindly if you say something bad about Steinbrenner.

 

[Robert Crawford]

As much distaste I had with Steinbrenner over the last 34 years or so, I'm glad he owns the Yankees and over the years, I've met several fans of other teams that wished he owned their team.

It's kind of ironic hearing somebody from Philly, calling other fans obnoxious.

 

[Shane Martin]

Raider fan now needs to call Yankee fan obnoxious

It's not just the Phillies though. It's Philly in general. All of their sports teams deal with their fans. It's not just a baseball thing they haven't figured out yet. Personally I think there is some karma going on there.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I am a Raiders and Yankees fan so color me obnoxious.

 

[Walter C]

Talk about the 2 most infamous owners in sports.

I will say this about Steinbrenner, he does spend money wisely for the most part, unlike Peter Angelos (who can't seem to get it right lately).

The karma thing must be the Curse of Billy Penn. Philly haven't had a championship since 1983, and none while I was a sports fan (which I became in 1989).

I wonder... did the Yankees get good and have that dynasty in the 90's, because of the way Steinbrenner was portrayed on Seinfeld and got told off by George Costanza?

 

[Shane Martin]

And, Add Jerry Jones to that list

The one element I respect the most about Steinbrenner and Jones is they spend the money to win. They want to win. They aren't satisfied with 2nd place.

 

[Marvin]

Can you imagine if Steinbrenner owned the Twins that he would have agreed to "contract" the team out of existence for a big payout as "small market" billionaire Pohlad agreed to a few years ago?

 

[Scott_J]

From the "Surprising it took a week into the season for this to happen" department:

Mike Hampton is out for the year with a shoulder injury. His recovery time is expected to be 6-9 months.

That goes right up there with Kerry Wood's DL stint at the top of the "this is news why?" list.

 

[Shane Martin]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2832278

Chris Young gets 4 yr 14 million dollar extension from the Padres. Pretty cheap deal considering.

 

[David_Jr]

While Steinbrenner is free to spend as much as he wants, Jones is constrained by the salary cap in the NFL. In baseball it has been proven over and over that money does not buy championships necessarily. Money can however ensure that a team will at least be competitive. Smart spending and a good farm system usually produce good results. While the Yankees have been able to feild an all-star at every position for a number of years now, they have only won six championships in the last 30 something years that George has owned the team even though they have outspent every other team in baseball by a wide margin. I am a fan of the cross-town rival Mets who have been spending a fair amount over the last few years themselves, however I cringe every time they make an over 30 free agent acquisition because most of them end up being a bust or literally busted. The Yankees have run into this a few times too. I much prefer to see the farm developed to bring up exciting players and despise the "win now" mentallity that often prevails in front offices. As a Met fan I have become accustomed to seeing the young talent we developed turn into stars on other teams and the veterans we traded for break down before my eyes. Bottom line is that not every team is free to spend the way the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox can and we do need the Royals and Brewers, etc, in the league so that the money teams have someone to play. Right?

What Steinbrenner has done is turn a team that he bought for 10 mil into a billion dollar enterprise, which is smart business. Time will tell whether baseball is better for it or not I suppose.

Here's hoping for a competitive 07 season. Good luck guys.

 

[Shane Martin]

David,
Steinbrenner has been either changed or convinced by Cashman to go the opposite route which you prefer.

While Jones is restricted by the cap, he isn't afraid and hasn't been afraid to spend big money. He spent mucho dinero back when a salary cap didn't exist which of course put them into salary cap hell.

Bottom line I don't think either of of them(Steinbrenner or Jones) are good at being a GM

 

[Shane Martin]

The Dice K - Ichiro matchup was pretty electric last night but Ichiro's team won the battle. King Felix was un-hittable last night. His slider was insane.

 

[Mike Frezon]

That was quite a game.

On many nights the Sox offense could have made those three runs hold up and gotten Matsuzaka a win.

But, Hernandez had some wicked stuff. For a guy with "just" two outstanding pitches (although the few times he threw his curve it looked awfully good, too), Hernandez was over-whelming.

A performance like that makes me wonder if maybe Papelbon isn't being wasted in the closer's role...

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I think Steinbrenner has hurt baseball.

 

[Shane Martin]

his stuff was nearly Nolan Ryan esque. His fastball isn't quite there but it's still very powerful. They just need to make sure this guy doesn't overdo it because he might turn into another Kerry Wood.

 

[Robert Crawford]

That's why baseball is breaking attendance records, had a different WS winner each year since 2001, and are rolling in cash.




Crawdaddy

 

[Mike Frezon]

Knock on wood.

Oh. Wait. It was a knock on Wood.

 

[Jason Seaver]

It looks like the Sox have had Bill James have a sit-down with Terry Francona about when the best time to use your best reliever is. I'll bet half the teams in baseball would have held their "closer" until the ninth, maybe coughing up the lead. It's a pity that this is considered unorthodox strategy now.

 

[Brian Perry]

Lou Piniella had his first mini-meltdown with the media after today's loss, and it was hilarious. He called out both Zambrano and Ohman, which to me is refreshing after enduring four years of Dusty's excuses. (Though it was a bit disappointing the other day to hear Lou blame the cold weather for the Cubs' offense being in deep freeze.)

And today the other shoe finally dropped, with Mark Prior going on the DL with shoulder problems. Not that anyone cares anymore...