ROCK CATS: As mentioned in the NPL home page news item, the Cats are hitting and pitching great. Year-to-Date, they have the highest BA at .293 and the lowest ERA with a 3.36. Here’s an odd fact…. Derrek Lee leads all of MLB in Average with a .394 mark. But in NPL hitting points, he’s actually 4th on his own Rock Cats team behind Reyes, Bonds and Holliday. Of course, those three are batting .352, .329 and .374 respectively. If you want to purchase one of those Rock Cats game jerseys as pictured on the CBS Sportsline NPL site, the cost is $295.99, payable to “Jonathan Stasko.”
LOCKHORNS: The LH also has good stats in hits and pitches and it’s been a big boost to get the kind of production that Yo-Adrian Gonzalez (round 21) and John Maine (round 23) have provided. Lance Berkman, one of the many MLB players off to a slow start, belted out 41 points for a .429 BA for the week. Harv considered dropping Chone Figgins because of his 1 for 21 start, as he was fresh off the DL. But Harv then said he’s not the type of owner to make quick judgments on players!!
BIG TRAIN: Have you heard that commercial? “How do you stop a Train?” Good question. Cliff Lee, coming back from injury is permitted to go the distance for a CG-Win. Since it was on the West Coast, a nice bonus to wake up to for Bob. At this early stage, the BT leads in Complete Games with 4. What’s the definition of “Bitter Sweet” for Bob? How about having his two Milwaukee sluggers Prince Fielder and JJ Hardy rack up big points in the week, although most of the damage was done against the Pittsburgh Buccos. In talking about the Train’s surge upward, Tony may have put it best…. “This actually got started last year at the All-Star Break.”
OWLS: If one team seems to be locked into their current position (4th), it’s the Birds. A-Rod continues to lead all hitters, while Adam Dunn is 10th. Former Lockhorn Shane Victorino had a big week with 42 points. That was good for 2nd best among Week # 5 hitters. Chris Capuano had a shut-out going but Brew-Crew manager Ned Yost only permitted him to pitch 8 innings, and this week they add Carlos (not Jose) Silva to the staff. And…. The Jason Kendall HR watch continues!
69’ERS: Back on the Niners squad is Brett Myers, only this time in the position of Closer. The 69 team continues to quietly move up in the standings. After Period 3, they were in 9th place. Of course, right now the gap between 5th and 9th is only 57 points. Piff had everyone scratching their heads on Wednesday with the pick-up of Anthony Lerew. Not that he isn't a good choice; it was just that no one seemed to know about him. But don’t under estimate the Niner owner. On Wednesday down at the office, Piff was no doubt looking at Free Agents like he was Jim Garrison studying the Zapruder Film. And speaking of film….. while in Altoona for the Bowling Tournament last weekend, Piff spotted Erik Estrada – former TV Star of C.H.I.P.S.
KOOPERSTOWN KIDS: I have just seen that one of my Wednesday Night pitcher DROPS – Jose Contreras, tossed a Complete Game Shut-Out today (Thursday). Don’t ya just hate when that happens!! I’m trying to hang in there with a number of Sub-Mendoza line guys. And a couple of people wanted to know why I didn’t take ANDY LaRoche, to go along with Adam? Geez, what am I, a masochist? Here’s another odd fact…. The Kids lead the NPL in strike out totals for their hitters, while on the pitching side my staff is in last place in K's obtained. Gee, why do I look this stuff up??
ALABAMA SLAMMERS: Hey, did you notice that the Slams changed their team Logo on the website? Looks like a tribute to former Slammer and Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile. Al said that the Slammer Baseball Organ-i-zation has never seemed to be the same since that 2002 tragedy. But grabbing perhaps the most anticipated pitching call-up of the season, the AS grabbed 22 year old former Washington Huskie Tim Lincecum of the G-Men. Because of his small stature, some have been making comparisons to Roy Oswalt. But the MLB scouts have given Lincecum their own pet nickname. It's "Seabiscuit." If you know the story, that would be considered a compliment. And the Ryan Doumit FA pick of a week ago could turn out to be a stellar one. Could he be this years Freddy Sanchez?????
H - BOMBERS: The Bombs are showing great patience with pick-ups this year. Got a trophy, no need to panic I guess... And Big O has to wonder what's going on... Rivera is grabbed by the Bombs and immediately gets two Saves in one day!! New addition Andre Ethier hit a cool .388 in his first week for the HB's. Currently in 8th, but with a bunch of teams grouped together, they're right in the thick of it. Remember a couple of weeks ago when the Pirates had their first "Pups in the Park" day? Could this be Bailey Schoming down at PNC Park? Or, perhaps Deuce Jones?
BULLDOGS: Tony & Ed have to be glad to get all those points from Closer Francisco Cordero. Right now he leads all NPL pitchers in points scored on the year with 173. But his manager Ned Yost (there's that name again) has through Wednesday pitched him for SIX freakin days in a row!! On the season he has 15 Saves and 23 K's and his arm is scheduled to fall off on June 4th of this year. But the big news in Bulldog camp is the Roger Clemens pick-up under the new "Rock Cat Rule." A hotly debated issue by the boys down at the BMC. In the lunch room, Dogs Co-Owner Tony sits behind the table explaining the merits to co-workers Al and Big Daddy, while Dog teammate Eddie looks over his shoulder. Eddie says "I got your back, T."
And then, T&E want the Slammers to know that this coming week, they are looking at Bryan Bullington as Rock Cat Rule pick #2!! Meanwhile, back to Clemens...... With him re-joining Andy Pettitte AGAIN, does anyone else think that this situation is the Brokeback Mountain of major league baseball????
PITTSBURGH O's: Another week, a couple of more guys to the DL for the hard luck, injury riddled O's..... But the good news is that Junior seems to be back on track as he hit for 36 points and a .392 average for the period, and even though a Cleve Indian pitcher went to the injury list, Larry was fortunate to be able to pick up a quality replacement from the same team.
MISCELLANEOUS STUFF:
JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA:
You may have seen this name recently. The call up by the Braves. A highly touted Catching prospect. He's known for the 14 letters in his last name, which is now a new record for longest last name in MLB history. But here's a little know fact about "Salty" that you may or may not be aware of...... The 22 year old is married to a woman who is 10 years his senior. No big deal, I agree.... However, she was also a former high school teacher of his!! That's kinda creepy...
HAROLD REYNOLDS:
Remember how Harold was fired by ESPN? H.R. is still out of work and is suing the nationwide leader over this. He won round 1. Connecticut State Court has approved his motion for discovery. ESPN is now forced to turn over all personnel files, documents, etc. on Harold by May 18th. If you recall the original event, Reynolds was fired for Sexual Harassment of female employees at the station.
Come on now....... Our boy Harold wouldn't do anything like that, now would he??????
THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION:
4 seems to be a big number this week. For example..... American Idol was at their Final 4. Then, tough luck as the Aretha Franklin lookin' chick with the last name of Jones got the boot. Dancing With The Stars is at their Final 4 and I tell you what....... Speed Skater Apolo Anton Ohno seems like a pretty cool dude, and I just KNOW that Laila Ali would kick Oscar De La Hoya's ass. And The Bachelor (Officer & A Gentleman) was down to the Final 4 space cadets until Andy finally dumped that head case Amber from the list....... But, as much as I know you all care about those particular shows, lets move on.......... With 4 episodes left in it's final season, it's.......
THE SOPRANOS - May 6, 2007. "Walk Like A Man."
A couple of observations......
- Was A.J. ever referred to as "Tony Soprano Jr." before?? Seemed to be a little bit of a power trip for him.
- Did you also say.... "Oh shit" when Christopher tossed Little Paulie Germani out the 2nd floor window? Holy crap!!
- Was it great or what when Paulie Walnuts was doing donuts and driving over shrubs on Christopher's $50,000 landscape job?
- Were you surprised when Chris turned and blew away JT Dolan? But think about it... If you recall, a couple of episodes ago, Christopher did tell JT never to get "snippy" with him again.
- Seems like the Middle-East guys - the FBI - the terrorist thing, may have something to do with the final ending. And Agent Harris is a cool customer. How about when he ripped on Phil Leotardo's integrity as a thug, knowing that Tony would buy into that.
- And lastly....... Check out the picture above in this posting. Christopher wearing the track suit. Who wears stuff like that in 2007?????
Catch yins later.....
