That Pena plays for Maddon’s team makes the pick look pretty bad, I must admit. Kinsler (despite not hitting well of late) would have been just as logical a pick, or if you just wanted a hitter, Adam Lind.
They select All-Stars in so many different ways now I’ve no idea how any given reserve got there (or, for that matter, starter; was Aaron Hill picked by Joe Maddon? The players? A fan poll?)
Great line score for Jason Bay today. Three walks, hit by pitches twice. He saw 20 pitches total, 17 of them balls. Five trips to first base without an official at bat.
There was some talk in spring training about the Royals being serious contenders this year. Um, I still ain’t seein’ it.
Can you imagine Inge representing the Tigers in the Home Run Derby? He hit no 20 and 21 today.
The Angels drank the Yankees’ milkshake this weekend.
Thank God San Diego figured out how to score some runs today. For some reason, 7 games in front of the Giants feels significantly better than 6 games.
Do you folks think the Giants are going to be able to keep up the pace they’ve been on lately for the remainder of the season? Is their pitching just that good?
Jeez, if he was gonna pick another 1st baseman, why not Seattle’s Russell Branyan with his 22 HR? As I understood it, one reason Branyan got snubbed in the first place was the fact there were already two 1st basemen on the team.
And Seattle took 3 of 4 from Texas 
As much as I hate to admit it, I was actually rooting for the Yankees this weekend.
I like this stat: Mariners go into the break with a 46-42 record, compared to 37-58 last year.
They are the only team currently, I believe, to have 3 former Cy Youngs on their starting staff, although one of them is currently on the DL. Another starter pitched a no-no and the fifth was going to the All-Star game. I think they have the pedigree to pitch this well.
Why not Jose Lopez? He’s a 2B and he leads the M’s in RBI. He’s been an All Star before. Actually, Branayan has been better and he’s never made it. I voted for Kinsler over Inge for the final spot. I wish he had made it, but his manager said he needed the rest.
The Mariners have a negative run differential, so they’ve been lucky, but they lead the AL in team ERA, so that explains the luck.
Yeah, I noticed the run differential. They had an extended stretch of games where they often scored only 0 or 1 run, and lost most of those games where they only scored 1 (obviously, they lost all of those in which they scored 0 runs 
), but conversely they’ve also had a ton of 1-run wins. I think that run differential will turn around by the end of the season, now that the bats are coming around and the pitching is continuing to be stellar. Compare the 2007season, when they also had a huge negative run differential, most of which I lay squarely on the shoulders of pitcher Jeff Weaver. I can’t remember how many times he got the M’s into an 8- to 10-run hole by the 2nd inning. Of course, in 2007 they also had a winning record, despite Weaver, until the last week of August, at which point they completely collapsed. Which is one reason I’m trying to not get too excited yet.
But speaking of team ERA, I noticed today that the M’s have two starters, Hernandez and Washburn, in the top 5 in the league for ERA. They both have ERAs under 3.00.
Today’s game was one of those that illustrates the sometimes unfair way the “winning pitcher” is determined. Erik Bedard left the game with a 3-1 lead and was replaced by Miguel Batista, who promptly gave up a game-tying home run. The M’s got the lead back in the bottom of the inning, making Batista the winning pitcher.
Dunn’s only good at the two most important things a hitter can do, maybe the only two important things a hitter can do. He sucks.
Time Lincecum is starting the All-Star Game! Good job kid, now don’t go out drinking tonight.
I never understood why it took so long for Hudson to get signed. He’s a well-above average hitter, plays good defense, and the fans really seem to like him. I don’t remember him holding out for a big contract or anything. What the hell?
No - there wasn’t any talk of them being serious contenders. What you probably heard was them being the response when someone was asked, “Is there any team out there that could pull off what the Rays did last year?” That being not “be serious contenders” but rather “have a lot of young talent ready to make the next step and come out of nowhere as dark horse contenders”. The Royals still never fit that bill because what the Rays did was so extremely hard for an organization to do (unless you’re the Marlins, of course). But you can’t say “nope - no one” because that’s not what you say in an interview because it kills the conversation.
They certainly had the pieces to surprise, but not to contend.
Here are Adam Dunn’s career splits. Please point to where this would be the case.
I have a question…
As a personality flaw I am way too concerned over what people think of me (even on a message board when I am, for the most part, anonymous). I can’t help it, it just happens. Because of that I ask this really really dumb question.
I am not the biggest baseball fan in the world. I never really cared about it until about a year ago when my life was very very bad, and I needed some type of distraction. As frequenters of this thread will know I am a fan of the Milwaukee Brewers so I pay attention to them more than most of the rest of baseball. My question is this…
Does it annoy the rest of the thread readers that people (namely me) only come in to laud/complain about their team and seem to ignore the whole of baseball?
Granted it’s easy to see my username think “another Brewer line” and skip it, so it might not be that much of a hassle…but the socially awkward part of me just thinks things like “the rest of the board must not like me cuz I only talk about one team”.
How close to the truth am I?
Not to worry. I think you’ve just described the majority of baseball fans. Sure, some folks really study the game and know all about players on other teams. But, I would bet that most baseball fans follow their team, maybe know a couple of players from other teams, and go with that. That certainly describes me. I pop in, make some bland comment about the Cards, and go about my day. You’re a Brewers man; FoisGrasIsEvil is a Reds man; I’m a Cards man. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all in good fun. We’re not debating Mid-East peace or anything. It’s a pleasant little diversion. I certainly don’t look down on anyone for being solely focused on their home team*. We all have other lives to lead and other leisure activities we want to devote time to.
unless that team is the Yankees or Red Sox*
just kidding*
***mostly
Nah, I only ever come in here to talk about the Mariners. Really, until the playoffs roll around I really don’t feel the need to concern myself too much with how/what other teams are doing, outside of how they directly impact what the Mariners are doing. And even then, I really only think as far as “Did Boston beat the Angels today, thereby improving the Mariners’ place in the AL West standings?”
I became a much bigger baseball fan over the past few years as I’m able to follow more teams. I installed satellite radio in my car in 2005, allowing me to listen to every game live. Then, last year I got the MLB online package allowing me to watch most games. That’s been great this year as the D-backs have been horrible. I’ve been able to follow other teams. I lived in Dallas for a few years, so I’ve usually followed the Rangers. I also play in several fantasy baseball leagues, so I’m generally on top of what’s going on.
Ignoring the fact that Pena is on Maddon’s team, Branyan went into Sunday’s game having gone 17 of his last 88 with 33 Ks. Pena is a MUCH better ball player, and a defensive reserve to boot.
That’s the way it starts. You pay attention to one team, get to know their players, their strengths and weaknesses, you follow their progress through the season… and along the way, you notice things about the other teams they play against. Or you hear their players get compared to other players on other teams. Or their players get traded to other teams, and you keep half an eye on how they’re doing. And eventually, after many seasons, you start knowing quite a few things about the rest of baseball.
No. At least, not in your case, since you don’t dominate the thread. I’m glad there’s someone here keeping me up on how the Brewers (and Cubs, and Reds, and the rest of the major league teams, especially in the NL Central) are doing.
Some quick and useless Hall of Fame facts:
State with most HOFers (born): NY - 27
Second most: CA - 20
That makes sense. But what’s odd is that while Alabama claims 12 plaquers, it’s neighbor, Mississippi, only can boast of one (Cool Papa Bell.)
Pretty far off. I tend to read everyone’s posts in these threads, and it’s good to get specific team fan reports. There are a lot of games being played, and you can’t watch all of them. Plus, where else are you going to talk about the Brewers? It’s not like a separate thread would generate enough interest just for the Brewers.
Though I suppose a Kansas City Royals thread would delete itself…