big game II: the game just got bigger

that's a really good one

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/streamers.jpg

ok this kinda stuff is gonna be endlessly faascinating

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/oceania/standings/round1.html

Good News!

Tiny by Jeff on Apr 5, 2009 5:56 PM PDT in Good News Comment 10 comments

That asshole Travis Metcalf got DFA'd by the Rangers.

After he goes home and packs up all his things I hope someone steals his luggage.

we both love frank deford so here

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102837901

In a front-page article in The New York Times, architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff expressed "disappointment" on behalf of "students of architecture," because the Mets' and Yankees' new baseball parks don't embrace the modern but, instead, celebrate a "nostalgic vision."

Speaking for students of baseball, I'm sorry, but in constructing some things, the trick is not to run away from nostalgia but simply to monkey around with it and try to gussy it up a bit. Architecturally, baseball parks are like mousetraps. No one has found a way to build a better one than the Orioles did in 1992, when they gave Camden Yards to a grateful world. All of the 18 major league fields and scores of minor league parks built since then have been wise enough to follow that pretty model. Well, yes, the new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium is a little grander — gold lettering on limestone, with something of a mausoleum aspect to its massive front palisade — but then, the Yankees are as nostalgic as everybody else in baseball. It's just that Yankee nostalgia deals with the majestic instead of the lovely.

People simply feel more affection for ball yards than they do for other sports' stadiums and arenas. Madison Square Garden, for all its fame, is merely an address, not a home. And a place like Gillette Stadium may be a cathedral to New England Patriots fans, just as Old Trafford is to Manchester United fans, but linear football stadiums — of both varieties — and the cereal boxes that accommodate basketball and ice hockey are pretty much just so many efficient people containers. Ball yards are quirky and idiosyncratic living things, because the architecture is part and parcel of the outfield itself — all the better that that's in utter counterpoint to the infield, that diamond of inviolate geometry.

In a subversive way, ballparks even sort of divert attention from the game itself. Football and basketball and soccer and hockey fans probably pay more attention to the action, but baseball fans are more engaged by the whole experience. It's rather like how some people go to restaurants primarily for the food, others just as much for the ambience. If football fans act more like baseball fans, it's when they're outside the stadium, tailgating. Baseball parks are sort of made for interior tailgating.

Well, two more major league parks — in Minneapolis and Miami — are coming. May we hope that they are wonderfully up-to-date with the toilets and the concession stands and the escalators and all that stuff, and horribly nostalgic with the architecture and the atmosphere.

Commentator Frank Deford reports from member station WSHU in Fairfield, Conn.

not like we needed more proof that jason giambi sucks, but here:

After seven innings against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, Jason Giambi had to tell A's manager Bob Geren his tank was running on empty. Giambi, 38, already had legged out an infield single and sprinted after a foul ball that landed just out of his sliding reach.

"I told Bobby, '(The legs) are dead'," Giambi said.

In the A's home-opener on Friday night, Giambi ran all the way to third after he hit a slow ground ball to pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith, whose errant throw went past first base and down the right field line.

"This is way too much running for me," Giambi said. "This is a little out of control for me. This is way too much running this early in the year."

i love east coast baseball fans. mets fans at the first night in the new park:

They booed the introductions of the governor, David Paterson, the speaker of the New York state assembly, Sheldon Silver, and baseball commissioner Bud Selig, while mixing in a few cheers with the catcalls for the mayor, Michael Bloomberg. They gave a mock cheer to Mets left fielder Daniel Murphy, whose dropped fly ball had cost the Mets and Johan Santana (13 whiffs) a win the day before, when he made a routine catch...

the commentary on the soccer game i'm watching sounds like two russian guys in a bar

is there a punchline?

we might need a russian translator for that :(

jose reyes of the mets about jackie robinson, and then about himself. i like the pluck!

It’s unbelievable,” Reyes said. “Imagine a guy stealing home 19 times? After you did it the first time, everybody is aware. So he stole 18 more times. There’s something amazing about that. There’s something that’s hard to believe.”

“Maybe, one day soon, I’ll try it,” Reyes said. “I want to try, but they always talk to me about it. When Carlos Delgado is hitting, the third baseman is almost playing at shortstop. That’s why I can take a huge lead there. I’m going to try and do it. Sooner or later, you’re going to see me.”

If Reyes is on third when Delgado is batting, he salivates as the third baseman relocates about 40 feet to the left to play Delgado to pull. With each step the third baseman takes, Reyes wanders closer to the plate. Reyes says he knows some methodical left-handed pitchers that he feels he can steal home against.

“I’m going to try and do it,” Reyes said. “At least once, you’re going to see me do it.”

Cleveland scores 14 runs in second against Yankees

NEW YORK (AP)—Asdrubal Cabrera hit his first career grand slam and drove in five runs Saturday as the Cleveland Indians scored 14 runs in the second inning, the biggest inning ever against the New York Yankees.

It was the most runs by a major league team in an inning since the Boston Red Sox scored 14 in the first against the Florida Marlins on June 27, 2003, at Fenway Park, according to STATS LLC. Cleveland tied its franchise record set in the first inning on June 18, 1950, against the Philadelphia Athletics.

The 14 runs and 13 hits amassed by the Indians were the most allowed by the Yankees in an inning.

Shin-Soo Choo delivered the first big blow, hitting a three-run homer off Chien-Ming Wang to give Cleveland a 3-2 lead. Cabrera singled in a run, Mark DeRosa had a two-run double and Victor Martinez an RBI single before Wang was replaced by Anthony Claggett, who was making his major league debut after being recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before the game.

Jhonny Peralta doubled in two more runs and Cabrera hit a drive to right on a 3-1 pitch for his first homer of the year. Sizemore followed Cabrera’s shot with his fourth homer to make it 14-2 as the crowd at the new Yankee Stadium booed loudly.

The fans started chanting “We want Swisher!” for the second time in the series as Claggett struck out Mark DeRosa for the final out. Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher pitched a scoreless inning during a blowout loss at Tampa Bay on Monday.

Wang and Claggett combined to throw 69 pitches during the half-inning, which lasted 37 minutes.

Cleveland was ahead 15-2 after three innings.

betancourt booted two the other day in the space of an inning and hacks at everything in sight at the plate. the bloggers have started calling for him to be gone. jeff, on yuni being in today's lineup:

After an offday of speculation, Yuni's in the lineup tonight, so if Wakamatsu's sending a message, it's a vote of confidence instead of a threat. My hope is that the two have talked behind closed doors and this is the beginning of a probationary period of sorts for our delightfully spherical little shortstop

http://cdn2.sbnation.com/imported_assets/142856/marinersflowchart.jpg
Yellow border: Drafted

Red border: International/Amateur Free Agent signing

Black border: Originally signed to minor league contract

Green border: Free Agent signing

Teal border: Traded for

Purple border: Rule 5 guy

Filled in blue means still in the organization, filled in white means no longer with the org. The original Griffey is some sort of hybrid.

dreyer:

Don Wakamatsu has tightened up the dress code on the airplane and Ken Griffey Jr. has been less than happy with the tie policy. Well, he got his revenge today.

When we arrived at the airport, the coaches and staff got on the plane first. About 10 minutes later, the team boarded. Wak, as is the custom for the manager, sits in the first seat. Jr was the first player to step into the airplane. He was wearing a nice dark suit and a tie. A white tie with a smiling Don Wakamatsu in his uniform silk screened on the bottom of it. The rest of the team followed in the same ties.

:)

shannon drayer is great. she's got a blog now. this post is very much worth reading
http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=374&sid=160440

some of these are really pretty awesome. be sure to scroll down and look at the last one
http://www.thebesteleven.com/2009/04/look-alikes-tvs-lost-with-mls-and-wps.html

yeah, really worth. made me cry.

(x-post, not the hurley look-alike)

don't need to read this, really. i just like the title
Yankees Tiring of Flopping Wang?

another one i liked recently, this one golf
Gay In Comfort Zone At Hilton Head

leaks from a new arod book. first is the haha:

Roberts broke the story that A-Rod failed a steroid test in 2003. Yankees teammates, Roberts writes, nicknamed Rodriguez "Bitch Tits" in 2005 because he put on 15 pounds in the offseason that resulted in round pectorals, a condition called gynecomastia that can be caused by anabolic steroids.

and now the this guy is a fucking fuck section:

Other allegations in Roberts' book, according to the Daily News:

• A-Rod "pitch tipped" when he played for the Rangers by letting opponents at the plate know which pitch was coming in lopsided games. A-Rod expected players he helped would reciprocate when he was having an off night and needed to get his batting average up.

• A-Rod's off-the-field antics including his poker habit; his divorce from his wife, Cynthia, his relationship with Madonna and his other affairs are detailed.

• A-Rod was hated at Hooters, where he tipped the minimum 15 percent.

officially now a fucking fuck won't karl be happy to know

want this
http://www.seattleteams.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=CLASSICBAR-SEA!RUFF

and this sorta
http://www.seattleteams.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=VIVAELSOUNDERS!WHOAR

http://www.seattleteams.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=IVOTEDSOUND!WHOAR

did you buy it

will

how cute is shannon drayer, blogging about our mariners:

I don't know if I have ever explained this before but whenever anyone asks if the travel is tough, I answer, actually, the home part is tougher. Don't get me wrong, I love to be home, but when I am home, especially if it is for a short homestand, I find I spend all my time catching up from the last road trip and getting ready for the next. When I am on the road, I have already taken care of everything before I left. Make sense?

<3 her

i like anomalies even lil ones
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=290505120

this is pretty god damn cute
http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2009/5/13/873849/favor-lineup-optimization

yes yes

daaang
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd118/embarchie/98f5b1416e969a08c883367c4850d3df-ge.jpg
Supporters of Caracas FC celebrate with fire the victory of their team against Deportivo Cuenca of Ecuador in their 2009 Libertadores Cup football match at Olimpico Stadium in Caracas on May 12, 2009. Caracas FC won 4-0. AFP

oh my god.

ken's has some aerosol deoderant on clearance. we could pick some up for the next sounders game?

wanna learn something about a breaking ball?

<3<3<3 jeff sullivan:

I'm beginning to think the reason there's been a rift in the clubhouse between Ichiro and the rest of the Mariners is because Ichiro isn't retarded.

now watching mariners v angels

aww lucky!

what a fast game btw

hope they can hold it down

they did!!!

nice work marinaros

yeah, that was pretty fun

maybe when you're watching them they'll win. then it WOULD be fun

so they'll win one more time (tomorrow)?

bad shape if they're relying on me!!

well yeah this team is terrible. they'll take what they can get