I was wondering what his response would be. Outright lying appears to be his strategy of choice. It’s not a bad move, very Republican; indignant dishonesty.
Boston designates Smoltz for assignment.
I don’t know the rules well enough – if he does go to Triple AAA, does he have to clear waivers first? Somebody’s got to have use for him, right? I really hope the guy doesn’t have to go out this way. Except for his debut against the Nats this year (where we pasted him), I haven’t seen Smoltz’s work this year (not my league). Does anybody think he’s still got enough to come back with a rejuvanated style?
–Cliffy
Pretty tight game between the Orioles and the Jays today.
Baltimore’s young rookie Chris Tillman made a good start, giving up only 2 runs over six and two-thirds innings. Toronto got a good performance in long relief from Brian Tallet, who came in during the fifth (after the starter, Cecil, injured his knee fielding a bunt) and went five innings without allowing a run.
I know the Orioles were going to lose soon as i saw Danys Baez walking out to the mound. He’s been fucking awful recently, especially in tight situations. Sure enough, three straight hits win it for the Jays in the 10th.
On a related note, although i’ve been watching him all year, i’m still amazed at how fast Adam Jones is out in center. The Jays hit a couple of shots today that looked for all the world like doubles to the gap, but Jones just covered the ground like he was on wheels and made the plays.
So now that it’s been revealed by both MLB and the union that there were people on the list that never tested for PEDS, instead of “manning up” and admitting that maybe Big Papi isn’t guilty, you instead ADD a libelous comment about him?
Due to your anti-Sox bias and your lack of maturity to admit when you’re wrong, you might want to avoid any controversial topics in the future dealing with the Red Sox.
Yes. But it won’t happen. He’s done.
Can’t put him in the bullpen, either - since his shoulder surgery, he takes all day to warm up.
Who are you?
When you designate a player, he is immediately removed from the roster allowing the club to fill the spot right away. The club then has a week (technically 10 days, but it’s takes a few days for waivers).
Most teams don’t release someone right away, because they can be put on waivers,hoping someone will pick them up and they could get a break on the salary. The team would still be responsible for most of the remaining contract minus the pro rated minimum of the new team.
If a payer clears waivers, he can sent to the minors if he’s less than a 5 year veteran (he has to consent if he has 5 or more years of Major League experience). Keep in mind that unless the player has a 2 way contract, the team still has to pay him his contract salary. I know also there a limit to how many times you can be sent down, but I’m too lazy to Google.
And then of course, you can get lucky and someone will trade for him and take his salary with him. (the 5/10 rule is still applicable)
Hope this helps
Hopefully we’ll see him in five years in Cooperstown, but I don’t know if the BBWAA is smart enough to see past the seemingly ordinary W-L record.
I’m tired of hearing about Josh Hamilton’s ‘relapse.’ Getting drunk one night has nothing to do with how poorly he’s played this year.
Unless it’s more than one night…
However, we know he’s had an injury in his abdominal muscles. That will screw up your swing real good. You can swing a bat with a hangover but it’s hard to swing a bat when your abdominal muscle’s torn.
Giants & Reds…Friday night, the Giants bullpen blows a win for Lincecum, giving up 7 runs in the last 2 innings. At one point the Reds had scored 5 runs on 3 walks, 3 errors and a bunt single.
Yesterday I was at the ballpark, and saw 3 plays I usually only see in Little League (I’m a LL umpire and see lots of weird shit):
Molina gets rung up on a strike 3 (tip), where the ball went bat-dirt-glove. Catcher throws down to 3B. Molina asks the plate ump if he would mind getting help, and surprisingly he did. First base ump says yes, the ball did hit the dirt, and Molina gets back in the box.
Aaron Rowand hit a foul pop up down the 1B line. He runs it out (to his credit), and plows right over the Reds pitcher who was coming over to make the catch. Time, that’s interference, batter’s out. I don’t think I’ve seen interference called in a MLB game since A-rod swatted the ball out of a first baseman’s glove in the playoffs.
And just for good measure, the Reds threw a ball into the dugout trying to double off a Giants runner – 2 base award.
You don’t think they’ll *remember *Smoltz having been one of the top *closers *in the game for several years? Really? Add his save count, or even half of it, to his wins as a starter, his ERA and his postseason performances, and there’s no question. He’s in. The writers aren’t that dumb.
It would be great to see Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine all go in together, but the timing doesn’t quite match up. Hmm, has there ever been a rotation with 3 Hall members in it? I can’t think of one.
So, Giants - Reds. Reds are very bad, and in a bad road streak. Giants have one of the bet home records in baseball. In the 3 game series, the Giants will be sending out the 2 best pitchers in the NL, Lincecum & Cain. Reds are toast, right? Wrong…
Today, the only 2 runs the Giants score are when Pablo Sandoval, 2nd in the NL with a .332 average, hits into double plays with nobody out and a runner on 3rd. Twice.
I hate this game. Is it football season yet?
I hope you’re right, but yes, I think they’ll forget, at least for awhile. Why did it take so long for Goose Gossage to get in?
Players who did many things really well don’t tend to do quite as well as you would expect, as opposed to players who did one thing really, really well.
Not really. The 1933 Cardinals had FOUR future Hall of Famers start games: Dizzy Dean, Jesse Haines, Dazzy Vance, and Burleigh Grimes. The 1934 Cardinals had three Hall of Famers start games - Dizzy Dean, Burleigh Grimes, and Jesse Haines. But in both years, only Dean was a full time starter all year. The other guys were all at the end of the line. So they never really had a “rotation” that included all those guys.
Lots of teams have had TWO Hall of Famers in the rotation, though. The early Giants had McGinnity and Mathewson; the 1927 Yankees had Herb Pennock and Waite Hoyt, and then a few years later the Yankees had Pennock and Lefty Gomez. The Cardinals in the late 60s had Gibson and Carlton, and boy, that had to be a tough road trip. “Well, boys, today we’re facing the right hander who throws a thousand miles an hour and wants to kill you. Tomorrow it’s the lefty who throws a million miles an hour with a slider that will rip your soul out of your body. Try to keep your eye on the ball.”
Since this is one of the rare bright spots the Reds have shown since late June, I can only empathize, and also give you some Nelson Muntz love:
HA-HA!
The consensus among sports commentators lately has been very positive on Smoltz’s hall of fame chances, which makes me very happy. He’s been my favorite pitcher since I started following baseball and he deserves to get in. Seeing him go to Boston this year was painful.
Speaking of which, however, it’s really a beautiful thing when your team falls behind in a game and you know they’re going to come back to win anyway. The Yankees wrapped up a couple of beautiful games and closed out a sweep of Boston, and they’re now up 6.5 a little past the two-thirds mark of the season. 
I just saw the game on TV. Homers from A-Rod, Damon and Teixeira. 31 scoreless innings for the Sox. Whoo-hoo!
True on both. It looks very good for Smoltz going into the hall. He might miss first ballot but it won’t take long after that. The Yanks completing another August Sweep of Boston was great. The fact the offense picked up Coke was great. Boston could be entering one of their classic August collapses. Good news for Texas and Tampa if true.
The Nats just put together an eight-game winning streak. It is now all but impossible for them to approach the putrescence of the '62 Mets and, if they can somehow play .500 ball for the rest of the season they’ll slide in under a hundred losses. I don’t think that’s feasible, but that it’s even something worth fantasizing about given this team’s first half is a real testament to how Riggleman has turned the team around. I don’t think Acta was a bad manager, but I think his taciturn style will have more success with a team that isn’t quite so close to the edge on a daily basis. For one thing, Riggleman seems much more willing to make line-up changes depending on who’s hot. Acta never liked to do that because he thought – not unreasonably – that this gives no opportunity for guys to work themselves out of a slump, while making people nervous that they’re one error or K from riding the pine. But when you’ve lost a billion games in a row, ISTM that you’d like to see your coaching staff try to experiment to change things up instead of just crossing their fingers.
–Cliffy
The Jays just let Alex Rios go on waivers. In the press conference announcing the move, JP Ricciardi said that he things Rios will be an All-Star one day. And he let him go for nothing.
Am I way off-base here, or does this move make no sense whatsoever?