Teufelhunde

I'm pretty good friends with farily prominent NHL hockey player. He's had a house down the shore just 2 doors away from mine for some time now. Over the years I've met a whole bunch of his teammates and friends and with the exception of only a few, they're all really chill guys, not at all prima donnas or full of themselves. Maybe it's the setting, I don't know, but I've met other pro athletes, though briefly and in a public forum, and most of them seemed to be arrogant douche bags.

I've met a bunch. Most are assholes. exception: Marquis Grissom and Wayne Gretzky.

Hockey players seem to be pretty grounded, especially compared to other sports.

Totally.

 

I'm not exactly clamoring for the days when we had the Jeremy Shockeys and Plaxico Burresses of the world making one big play just to fuck up our victory two plays later with fifth-grade antics. I want to actually be able to root for our players without feeling dirty about it.

Not only that, but he's not a real #1 receiver...but you can be damn sure he's gonna want #1 money, probably why the eagles haven't signed him. Add to that all his douchebag antics and I don't want him anywhere near this team.

gee ya think? i don't know if you've been following the bonds trial but a procession of guys came through and admitted freely taking.

 

both giambis, marvin bernard (who sucked anyway!), etc.

I wish they all would. Tons of guys were juicing back then, many I'm sure still are today - I'd have a lot more respect for them if they'd just come clean instead of continually denying it. What people don't seem to understand is that you still have to work your ass off when you're taking steroids. They just give you the stamina and recovery time beyond that of normal humans so you can work out more and more and more. It's not just some magic pill you can pop and become superman.

Mets will be a lot better this year...probably not gonna be in direction contention for the division with the Phils and Braves, but they're not going to be doormats either. That title belongs to the Nats.

you're right. nationals have no pitching. no pitching. when livan "likes his money " hernandez is your opening day starter, you have no pitching.

But they've got a 126 million dollar man out there in right field who's never had 100 RBIs or hit .300 and has only been relevant for about 3 years now. I always liked Werth and didn't blame him for going after the big contract, but he's done nothing but run his mouth and talk shit since he signed that contract, I hope enjoys the view from the basement of the NL East for the next 7 years.

And just like that - Castillo is once again unemployed...but still making 6 mil.

You've been dropping like flies.

 

Curse of slappy.

Hell, they were dropping like flies before he even showed up to camp (a day late).

No guarantee he's even on the team come opening day, they have until to decide...besides, the Mets are the ones paying him so technially the curse is still on you fellas.

Might as well shoot for the moon, right, Teuf? LOL. I'm really excited about the Mets' lineup, even without Beltran. The starting pitching worries me a bit, though. Not having Johan is going to hurt, so I'm hoping they can hang around near the top of the division until Johan comes back and if he can be the Johan everyone expects him to be, then we will have a tough team.

 

With the Phillies, yeah, they are going to be really tough. I just don't know about Oswalt, Blanton, and Hamels. I think Halladay is going to be a horse as usual. I think Lee will probably be very, very good as usual. But the other three, I think there is potential for things to fall apart. Hamels has a troubling injury history, Blanton is basically just an innings eater, and Oswalt I think this may be the year he starts to break down. You never know... but if the championship was decided on paper they wouldn't have to play... and the Phillies would win it all. But they didn't make it to the World Series last year, though, and they Halladay, Hamels, and Oswalt.

A lot of people around here seem to think a WS championship is in the bag already since the Lee signing, I know better than to think like that. Halladay is Halladay - dominant most of the time, but of course he's going to have a few stinkers here and there. Same with Lee, so long as he stays healthy. Oswalt has had some back issues, but he was lights out after he got traded here last season. Hamels bounced back nicely last year after a lousy 2009...hasn't had any significant injuries in the last few years and was outstanding in the second half of the season last year. His record definitely didn't reflect how well he pitched. And I think Blanton is one of the most underappreciated pitchers on any staff. He's not going to put up Hallday-like numbers, but he gives you a chance to win every game. He's been their most consistent pitcher besides Doc this spring too.

Bottom line though, none of this matters if the bats can't come out of the funk they were in last season. Doesn't matter how great the pitching is, how many 1-0 or 2-1 games can you really depend on winning? Postseason is a whole different animal though, good pitching beats good hitting and the hot team beats the good team - both of which the Giants proved last year in their run...same as the Phils did in 08.

haven't you heard about utley? big hole in the lineup with him and werth gone.

Outlook isn't good on Utley, especially considering that the surgery he might need isn't 100% guaranteed to fix the problem. But it's not a done deal that he's gonna be out all season just yet. Werth isn't quite as big a loss as people are thinking though, he's never hit .300 and never had 100 RBIs - not to mention he finished dead last in the NL in average with RISP last season. Losing his defense, especially that arm, is gonna hurt the most I think.

Before I get blasted... I think the Phillies are going to have some trouble. That rotation is sick on paper. But Oswalt and Halladay are both 33, and Cliff Lee is 32. Blanton sucks anyways. The bullpen is already a question mark because Lidge is going to start the season on the DL, as is Utley (a Beltran situation), and Werth is gone. I'm going on record right now that they won't have the best starting 5 in the National League when it is said and done. Plus I really do think with Emaus taking over at 2B, Thole taking over at catcher, and a full season of Bay and Davis, and the Mets are going to have a dynamite hitting lineup.

 

I am prepared for your ridicule.

That's some high hopes you've got there, jim.

I'd be very concerned about giving him a big contract.

 

He didn't do much while he was with the Dodgers, yet comes to the Launching Pad at Citizens Bank Park and lights it up.

He had a series of misdiagnoses on his wrist while in LA...once he finally got the right diagnosis he got the right treatment and was able to perform. His home/away splits favor CBP, but not overwhelmingly.

My link

I've got a bad (to me obviously) feeling that SF takes game one...I think they'll get out of this weekend with 1 win and I don't think we'll see a repeat performance from Oswalt like his last outing, and for whatever reason the Giants have had success against Halladay.

Thank you, I don't think the Giants can beat Philly with their bats asleep like they are now. Philly in 6

Fortunately for you guys the Phils aren't exactly swinging hot sticks either...still overall, I think our lineup matches up better with your rotation than vice versa...Phitins in 6 sounds good to me.

Should be a good series either way.

As long as Mitch Williams isn't doing the closing for them you should be fine.

 

C. Wagon

Fuckin Joe Carter.

With those three starting pitchers I don't see how they dont' win it just filling out the line up card.

 

C. Wagon

It's hard to argue a case for any starting 3 better than Halladay Oswalt and Hamels, but as a lifelong Phillies fan I've come to know that the only thing that can be expected from them is disappointment...call me cautiously optimistic.

I will be truly shocked if this team makes it out of the first round.

Have they really been playing that bad? I was really hoping for a yanks-phils rematch in the world series...not to get ahead of myself here, but the phils are really looking good heading into the playoffs.

seems like their philosophy was to get to him early in the count. if he gets 0-2 on you, you can go grab some pine. chances are he wants to try to jump ahead with a curve or slider. that might be the best pitch to hit.

 

it's funny, giants have faced him 3 times and each game they've scored 5 runs off him.

Baseball's a weird game like that. Some teams just beat pitchers no matter what. Some pitchers just beat teams no matter what...Jamie Moyer for instance, he's good for a 5 spot any time he takes the mound, but for some reason he always shuts down the Marlins.

giants own that scrub.

They definitely had his number that day. I didn't actually see that game, were the Giants just locked in or was Halladay serving up meatballs?

I went down to the game yesterday, even though the score didn't show it I thought Pelfrey still pitched pretty well. Mets still look pretty good though, should be a fun season. I'll tell ya though, Halladay is just a pleasure to watch, that guy is sick.

of course now we have to see Sean Lee twice a year.

As a Penn State fan, it absolutely fucking kills me that he's gonna be in a Cowboys uniform.

It'll be a sin if they don't sign Werth. He may not have super star status, but he's way better than an average player that make things work. Sort of like a Paul O'Neil.

 

What gets me about the Phills is they have a tremendous fan base on both sides of the Delaware. And, if you don't mind me making a pun, you people really are fanatics (Obnoxious, too, when you're winning ). But you need to win to keep selling those tickets. Why not spend the money to extend their first ever dynasty?

I know, I'd love to see Werth stay, I just feel like some team is gonna offer him a huge contract and I doubt the Phillies will match it. I hear you on the money thing though, it wasn't too long ago that selling 1 million tickets was considered a good year - they sold over 3 million this year before the season even started. The money is there for sure, I wouldn't mind seeing them throw some more of it around.

AL East

 

Yanks- Catching and OF concerns, but pitching pretty damn good on paper.

Sox- helped themselves too much with Lackey. Hernandez will be harder to keep in the line up without benching Veritak.

Rays-Come back team, but not enough

O's- pitching?

Jays- pitching?

 

AL Central

 

Twins

Tigers

Indians

WSox

 

AL West

 

M's- Pitching

Rangers- Young guys more experienced. Could easily flip with M's and surprise everyone.

Angels- Lost too much even for Scoscia. Figs, Vlad, Lackey, Jr.

A's???

 

Wild card- RSox

 

NL East

 

Phillies- Cheap bastards should have kept Lee. Assholes

Mets- All the bad luck they had last year could mean they're set for the decade. Cheap bastards should have spent more on OF. Assholes2

Braves- Bobby Cox

Marlins-

Wash-

 

NL Central

 

Cards

 

NL West

 

Dodgers

Giants- Cheap bastards should have bought some hitting. Assholes3

 

Wild Card- Mets

 

WS- Yanks>Cards

Dealing Lee had less to do with money and a lot more to do with an effort to replenish the Phils farm system. Although I think I would have rather just seen them blow their load and go for the gusto the next few years by giving both Lee and Werth (who will probably walk after this season) contracts, I understand the decision from their perspective.

I'm really not all that impressed with Cowher...took him 15 years to win the big one, and the Steelers really didn't win that game, the refs handed it to them.

Yeah, but Myers isn't very good.

He was 7-2 with a 1.80 ERA in the second half of last season after he unfucked himself down in the minors for a while. Think what you want about him, but he'd be a consistent ace if he wasn't such a headcase. Came into camp 30 pounds lighter and he's in a contract year - expect big things from him.