MDXS

I hope everyone's watching this game. Hoffman just blew it in the 13th. Tie game. Holliday on 3rd, after tripling in the tying run (making up for his misplay earlier and clinching the batting title). No outs. And now they are intentionally walking Helton. Amazing stuff.EDIT: ...and it's over. Amazing show by the Rockies.

I'm rooting Red Sox of course, but I voted Rockies. They're a good story, have some exciting players, and have to be considered the underdog (especially since they aren't even in yet).

Thanks! I like it when my observations/predictions pan out...especially when they're good for the Sox. Man, he had a really good year. Good times.On NESN a second ago: "Man, Papelbon's got to put on some pants....well at least he took the twelve pack holder off his head. That's a step in the right direction."

Ack...I turned off the postgame show when the Orioles were down 3 going into the ninth. Ah well. Watching now. Youkilis looks hammered.Wooo!

Or how about the Rockies winning 8 in a row to get into the mix?

Good thing Ryan is an idiot. We've got the best run differential in baseball and have the opportunity to rest some key players right now.

He doesn't have the arm for it. I'd be cool with possibly moving Manny and sticking Ellsbury in left. Of course, things aren't as simple as that.Drew is unmovable right now. Not such a terrible thing. He'll rebound nicely next year. My feeling is that his poor performance is not a sharp decline in skills, but that he's the type of player who needs some time to make certain adjustments. Playing in Boston and in the AL combined with some family issues has had a greater effect on him than we typically see. We may be seeing the start of this. He's had a good month....OPS well over 1.000. Yet, all

It's great to see him back and doing so well. I root harder for him than just about anyone else...and certainly more than everyone not on the Sox.

The Sox-Yanks game is three and a half hours old.We're still in the bottom of the sixth.

Well, he won seven straight batting titles in Japan and then came here and won the MVP in his first season. Whatever they translate to, I'm going to say they're good enough.I don't think playing in Japan his whole career would give him a good shot. After all, this guy isn't in.

Yeah, it's all about how those are handled. Minor league stats and years served aren't considered when it comes time to vote, but the Japanese league is played at a higher level than the Minors. Negro leaguers are in the Hall of Fame - many never played in the majors - but that's a whole different situation. I think what it comes down to for me is that a Hall of Fame without Ichiro seems a bit off. If he's a couple of years short, give him the benefit of the doubt. If he had access to the Majors when he was playing in Japan, he would have played at this same high level.

Pretty much my take too. I'd waive the 10 years of major league experience rule since he dominated a decent league for years before coming over.

He's got a shockingly good chance of getting to 3,000 hits for a guy that didn't play his first major league game until he was 27.Hypothetical question. Say his career ended tomorrow. Do you put him in the Hall of Fame?

I can't remember if I thought so for a decent reason of if I was just looking for someone on the other team to focus my drunk rage upon to get the rowdiness started. He was the guy who just happened to catch my negative attention for some reason or other. Perhaps he scowled at some children...or spit on one. I don't know. Come to think of it, we pregamed before the contest. Nothing like showing up drunk to dollar beer night.

Yeah, I definitely think the voters will eat up the Wright 30-30 thing if he gets there. And since we're talking about Carlos Pena too, Baseball Reference's stat of the day (real cool stuff...everyone should go) tells us that he just set the Devil Rays' record for RBI in a game, already had the Rays' season home run record, and has been traded or released 5 times. Good stuff.And Jesus, Ankiel just had a 2 HR, 7 RBI game...awesome.

Daric Barton's a dick. I thoroughly enjoyed ripping on him for 9 innings at a Sidewinders/Rivercats game on a thirsty Thursday. I, along with 4 friends, were especially thirsty and lucky that there was enough room on Daric's dugout to hold the 50 or so cups we had to put somewhere. When the Rivercats were up 14-6 after 6 and a half and blew it, man, did I get a fuzzy feeling. After all, there were only like 100 people left and my group was responsible for willing the Sidewinders to sweet, sweet victory.

Well, not just that he's having a good season, but that he's been around for years never really doing all that much and then ZANG! Monster season out of nowhere. Ankiel is of course another that springs to mind. Even though the pitcher becoming a hitter thing happens just about never we all knew that Ankiel was very talented and he's had success at the major league level before (even if it was for pitching).Ordonez is having quite the year as well. I forget where I read it, but I recently heard a story that one day he walked into the clubhouse maybe a month or so into the season...already hitt

We could use a catch-all thread....so here it is. I'll begin.Carlos Pena's got to be the biggest what the **** of the year, right?

Almost as nasty as the changeup.Tito, before his debut - "I don't care if he throws a no-hitter, he's going back to Pawtucket."Edit: nah, the curve is filthier.

wooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

I think they've been better on a rate basis, but not by so much that it overtakes the innings differential between Matsuzaka and the others. WARP1 reflects this:Matsuzaka: 6.7 wins (WARP1) in 176 innings. Bannister: 5.9 wins in 140 innings.Guthrie: 4.7 wins in 153 innings. I'm not saying this in any way proves that Matsuzaka should get the award, but I don't think it reasonable to cast him off without debate. Anyway, that's probably a debate for another thread. On topic: Bannister's had a kick-ass year.

Since you listed Okajima, I guess you have no qualms with a Japanese player winning the ROY. That said, Matsuzaka should be in the discussion. He's got the whole AL rookie field out-WARPed and out-VORPed. Lot of good choices in the AL though. Neshek, Guthrie, and Bannister aren't getting the attention they deserve. Every graphic I've seen recently (either FOX or ESPN) list Willits and Delmon Young while ignoring those guys who are having better seasons.

Yeah, he digs Fenway....hitting about .370 there this year.

There's reason behind starting with 2006. It was the date used in the link analyzing win shares that I posted earlier. That article, while somewhat flawed makes an important point. Regardless of your feelings on win shares, a substantial amount of talent migrated from the National League to the American League in the 2005-2006 offseason. Following that, the American League flat out dominated. It is very improbable that the American League went 60 games over 500 over 250 games if they aren't significantly better. This dominance must color our perception of the current state of the leagues for a

I agree that the using the All-Star game won't tell us everything about which league is better (though I don't think it's because of who is filling the bottoms of the rosters). A continued streak of excellence would suggest that league is better (like the NL in the 60's), but that doesn't prove anything. The natural rivalries are a pain. Playing the Braves year in and year out was no fun for a long time. However, I don't see how this would impact the records. If the good teams are beating up on the weak teams in another league, that just leaves the converse to occur. I'm not sure what you're g