[jbock13]

If he threw one of those to me, I'd be tempted to let my bat "slip" and sling it at the mound.

Then you'd get a baseball thrown at you, and probably worse

[NotAJerry]

If he threw one of those to me, I'd be tempted to let my bat "slip" and sling it at the mound.

Throw the bat at the pitcher on the swing.

[jbock13]

If he threw one of those to me, I'd be tempted to let my bat "slip" and sling it at the mound.

Throw the bat at the pitcher on the swing.

I think he knew what you meant. The question is, why?

[adam42381]

Throw the bat at the pitcher on the swing.

I think he knew what you meant. The question is, why?

This. I believe that attempting to batter someone with a deadly weapon is a bit of an extreme reaction to being thrown a legal pitch that you can't hit. To each their own, I guess.

[LUnpretty11]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/angels-pit ... 10466.html

WTF...is the name of the pitch. Seriously, watch the :30 clip at the bottom of the article.

I actually taught myself how to throw that pitch at the beginning of my senior year. It didn't knuckle all the time (and not nearly as good as Coello's), but would drop a solid 6"-8". Dirty pitch.

[Purple Haize]

Cubs swept the Sox! We own the City. And goes to show how bad baseball is in the Windy City!

[jbock13]

And Mets swept the Yankees. Amazing. The Rays would like to thank the Marlins for, well, being the Marlins and providing us with 4 easy wins.

[NotAJerry]

I'm starting to think the work done by Neal Huntington is finally going to pay off in a winning record for the Pirates. They've got a really solid balance of youth and veterans in the lineup. If their starting pitching holds up, they're going to contend for the playoffs all season.

[flamehunter]

I'm starting to think the work done by Neal Huntington is finally going to pay off in a winning record for the Pirates. They've got a really solid balance of youth and veterans in the lineup. If their starting pitching holds up, they're going to contend for the playoffs all season.

I've been hesitant to say anything, I don't want to jinx them. But you are right. Of course it's not August yet but I am really feeling that this is the year they at least break the losing season streak. What's amazing is that they've won so far with almost no hitting. If the bats get hot they could go on a real tear, although 16 of the last 20 is pretty terrific already. Grilli is amazing out of the pen as closer and the starters have been very consistent so far. the NL Central is off to a great start - for 3 teams anyway. (Sorry Haize)

[BJWilliams]

78 wins to go FH...78 wins to go

[jbock13]

I have a prediction for the Pirates but in exercising my proven power of jinxing teams on this site I will withhold my prediction

[flamehunter]

Well, there you go, I post something and they lose 6-0 to the Reds getting only one hit. Not another word until Game 162 is over.

[Sly Fox]

Have the Astros joined the Texas League yet? No one in Houston seems to care either way.

[NotAJerry]

Have the Astros joined the Texas League yet? No one in Houston seems to care either way.

3 game win streak and not the worst record in MLB, that belongs to Miami.

[jbock13]

Have the Astros joined the Texas League yet? No one in Houston seems to care either way.

They were designated for assignment

[Purple Haize]

Have the Astros joined the Texas League yet? No one in Houston seems to care either way.

They were designated for assignment :I chortle audibly.:

...and a player to be named later

[jbock13]

Anybody see what's going on in Seattle right now? 13 scoreless innings for each side. Then White Sox score 5 in the top, and then the Mariners put up 5 in the bottom of the 14'th. Now we go to the 15'th. Unreal.

[flamehunter]

I'm starting to think the work done by Neal Huntington is finally going to pay off in a winning record for the Pirates. They've got a really solid balance of youth and veterans in the lineup. If their starting pitching holds up, they're going to contend for the playoffs all season.

I've been hesitant to say anything, I don't want to jinx them. But you are right. Of course it's not August yet but I am really feeling that this is the year they at least break the losing season streak. What's amazing is that they've won so far with almost no hitting. If the bats get hot they could go on a real tear, although 16 of the last 20 is pretty terrific already. Grilli is amazing out of the pen as closer and the starters have been very consistent so far. the NL Central is off to a great start - for 3 teams anyway. (Sorry Haize)

Should have kept my mouth shut. Pirates are 1-5 since I posted this. Included are two 1 hit shutouts. Pirates Stink!! Maybe that will help.

[NotAJerry]

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/934 ... replace-it

Solid piece on Grantland about abolishing the MLB draft. I really like the proposed system as a replacement.

[NotAJerry]

I would like to personally thank everyone involved in drafting for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, and Kansas City Royals for allowing the Nationals to have Anthony Rendon just drop into their laps.

[BJWilliams]

eh...drafting players is a crapshoot. If he had dropped to the Nationals and bombed when he got to the show, you would probably be commenting that he was rushed up too soon, questioning the mindset of the front office and giving your "expert opinion" on what they should have done

[NotAJerry]

Nope, I would have commended them for taking the consensus #1 prospect who only dropped because of an ankle injury. Just like I commend them for taking Matt Purke when he slipped to the 3rd round coming off a bad sophomore season after being a monster as a freshman. Just like I commended them for spending over slot, when it was still allowed, to go after HS players with college commitments and get them into the system. Just like when I commended them for going after Yunesky Maya coming out of Cuba even though he's been a tremendous failure at the MLB level.

Their drafting philosophy under Mike Rizzo has been brilliant and I'm not sure why it isn't the one used by most teams.

[jbock13]

Rays. That is all.

[jbock13]

eh...drafting players is a crapshoot. If he had dropped to the Nationals and bombed when he got to the show, you would probably be commenting that he was rushed up too soon, questioning the mindset of the front office and giving your "expert opinion" on what they should have done

Come on Beej you ought to know by now everything the Washington Nationals do is great and brilliant.

[NotAJerry]

Drafting/developing players is a crapshoot if you're not any good at it. If you have an organizational philosophy that actually maximizes both traditional and sabermetric aspects of the game, and owners who are willing to spend, then it's far less of a crapshoot. The last draft for the Nats that was run by Jim Bowden was the 08 draft. The Nats were the last team to have a player from their 08 draft make a MLB roster. Meanwhile, since Rizzo took over in 09 the team has hit on the obvious picks and on several of the not so obvious picks. It would be ridiculous to say that one GM just happens to be better at winning crapshoots than the other.

Look at how Tampa always drafts/develops well and the Royals almost never do. It's not a crapshoot, it's good organizational philosophy versus bad.

Whoops, that's actual analysis of the situation instead of tired, ignorant, easily disproven tripe.