I met him down when he was playing in the minors for the PawSox (still have a signed ball that he signed for me along with the rest of the team - btw he was huge even then), and he always struck me as a very classy guy. I wish him all the best.

It drives me a little crazy the national TV games are always Mets/Yankees/Red Sox games. Yesterday FOX had the Phillies/Mets game, and today ESPN has the same damn thing. Mix it up a little you bastards.

i think tomorrows ESPN game will cheer you up

Yes it does. :rolleyes:

Actually I found a schedule showing all the national TV games for the year. Over the next month they do slip in a couple of Cubs games and Angels games. I never see Cubs game on WGN. :mad:

I don't care if the Astros are on national TV, I want to see other teams. I would like to see the Devil Rays for crying out loud. I have never seen a Devil Ray game.

When did Frank Thomas play for the Pawsox?

idk...i was a tiny lil kid. Maybe he was playing for the opposing team that night?

regardless...the point stands. He was HUGE. And he was a class act. *eyeing the ball* go frank go!

I'm having a tough time figuring out how he could have played there.

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballp...nk_Thomas_1968

And he does not appear on the PawSox all-time roster, so that's probably out anyway.

Did the White Sox (or for some odd reason their AA Birmingham affiliate) ever play an exhibition game there maybe?

Or maybe a rehab assignment.

could be.

idk...all I know is I was watching the game and I have a ball with a whole bunch of players autographs (both teams maybe?) and frank thomas is defiantely on the ball.

I don't know...now you all are screwing with my memory. Cape League maybe? But I know that the ball exists, and that I have it in my hand, and it was THE frank thomas (he is sort of...distinctive looking)

Wait a minute, something just hit me.
Your profile says you were born October 5, 79
Frank Thomas wasn't even drafted until 1989, was in the majors by 1990.

Now maybe you think of being 10 as being "a tiny lil kid" but ...

edit to add ... Cape League appears to be the answer.
http://www.capecodbaseball.org/
Frank Thomas Orleans '88

double edit ... their web site is kind of screwy, go to the homepage & then to the archives, then to the alumni in the majors. Also on the Orleans 88 team was J.T. Snow

yep...i think of 10 as a "tiny lil kid" - at least as far as knowing what teams I was watching and where I was - my memories don't go that far back

yes - it likely was a cape league then - orleans vs. somebody close to where we were staying, or we drove down

there really is nothing like cape league ball - I should try to take in a game or two this year. It's so...pure.

The Astros are using all their offensive power tonight. Up 7-2 in the third inning. Oswalt might have a quality start finally as well, although no sure thing there yet.

FOFC has caught DaddyTorgo in the most pointless lie of all time.

Just admit that you were looking for some street cred and we'll all move on.

;)

actually i'll grab the ball and shoot the picture of the autograph (and see if i can find J.T. Snow on there as well) and upload it if you want.

I call bullshit

now you're going to make me grab the ball and shoot the picture, eh?

Yes, yes we are. Make sure you place today's newspaper in the background and write "FU FOFC" on it.

there you can see Frank Thomas on top (#35) and I believe J. Snow (J.T. Snow? #23 on the bottom)

is that a lava lamp?

The random dude you found a picture of on the internet has hairy forearms.

yes it is. I'm ghetto. I have two...one green and one red. Relics that i've never gotten rid of.

haha :D

i'm a hairy hairy dude

I think you need to hold up your picture of Pumpy and take a picture for us to believe you.

I don't have an autographed pumpy-pic.

I have autographed pics from something like 85% of the ST-universe though.

want to see my shatner-autograph? or my nimoy-autograph? patrick stewart?

or for Jon - my Ric Flair autograph?? :D

hmmm

the Daddy Torgo I had beers with was Pakastani

I gotta say I really didn't see the official '08 baseball thread going down this road.

hahah

very funny

What?! I thought everyone at FOFC got one?

Oh oh... scared now :eek:

And it looks like Jesse Levis in the middle.

I thought Jerry Lewis. Frank Thomas and Snow are both pretty old.

Good eye.

Check out the "L" section in this working list of Cape Cod alums

Speaking of Jesse Levis, here is a fairly recent story:

http://sportswrap.berecruited.com/20...t-of-children/

Yup, same Jesse Levis.

Y'all are going to make me hunt down my Jeff Cirillo/Scott Karl/Mike Matheny autographed El Paso Diablos ball... ;)

no we're not

Remind me again why they put Smoltz in the bullpen for 4 years?

Typical Angels game against the Sox. They are there for the taking, starting some kid I have never even heard of, and we build up a 5-1 lead. How do we blow it? Stupid managerial decisions, bad plate discipline and a bullpen that is good everywhere except at Fenway, of course.

Gawd I hate playing these guys in Boston.

After the Tigers game tonight Jim Leyland announced Carlos Guillen was moving to third and Miguel Cabrera was moving to first base.

Cause right after surgery his arm may have fallen off ;).

8 of the Cubs starters today have an OBP of higher than .400

Cubs become the 2nd team in baseball history to reach 10,000 wins with a come from behind 10th inning victory in Colorado tonight.

This season has been fun to watch. :)

Sorry, Maddux..no 350th win for you. Molina takes Hoffman yard to tie it at 1!

Jesus Christ Heilman, can he be any worse so far. Another late inning grand slam. Fuck

All right, I'm going to post something like this before every visit to Fenway. :)

Wow, Reed Johnson just made the best catch I have ever seen live. (well live on tv.)

Stay tuned to Sportscenter...

Screw you Eckstein, how can you drop a ball from the pitcher??

Can we please have John McDonald play SS as the regular? Not only do I not care if he hits .100 because his defense will be fantastic, I'm kind of scared that Eckstein is going to break himself in two trying to make the throw to first.

Finally the Royals pull out a win.

Of course to rain slightly on the happiness of the win for me, Nunez blows it and loses Grienke the win I could've greatly used for my fantasy team. Grienke still looking great, and nice to see the offense actually going a bit in 2 out of the last 3.

And I saw it live at the ballpark. That catch, unfortunately, was amazing. However, the good guys won. :)

Great game.

I like Rolen. The rest of the Jays are garbage (not including pitchers).

I was really happy we got Rolen, he's one of my favourite players IRL and I never liked Glaus. I hope Riccardi is cleaning out his office. He's garbage, too.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Batter calls time, ump grants it as Lincecum starts his pitching motion. Lincecum stops his pitching motion, is called for a balk and the go-ahead run scores from third. Bochy is ejected (even though he looked like he was falling asleep while arguing with the ump).

Bottom of the ninth, you're down 3-2. 2 Outs, man on 2nd Base, Freddie Lewis and his .329/.412/.541 line are up (all leading the team). Obviously, the right move is to pinch hit with Dan Ortmeier and his .258/.361/.355 line.

WHAT THE FREAKING HELL.

Oh, just in case someone questions the move -- Fuentes (Lefty) was pitching.

Lewis vs. Lefties for his career: .306/.390/.389

Ron Wotus, you're an idiot.

Good game for Zimmerman. Hopefully this is the signal that his slump is over.

I think this is a pretty early part of the season for me to take a break from the Jays already, but their offense is just bleh. At least when I watch. I hate seeing good pitching being wasted. :(

Not even a cards fan, but this is pretty cool:
ST. LOUIS -- Eight years ago, the Cardinals set a franchise record with 17 April wins, thanks in large part to pitching phenom Rick Ankiel. On Wednesday, they broke that record, thanks in large part to hitting phenom Rick Ankiel.

The Cubs are about to tie their record for wins this month too. Beating up on the Brewers, 18-5 in the 8th.

And suddenly the early season enthusiasm begins to fade. Right on schedule.

DBacks finish the month 20-8. Their 20th win came on a get-away game where a pitcher (Micah Owings) pinch-hit for a reliever in the 6th and tied the game with a 2-run HR. When it's going good, it's going good. ;)

Nationals: 6 of the last 8, including a 2 game sweep of the braves and a series win against the Cubs.

Greinke dominating Texas...

No, even though he took the loss it was still a very strong outing. He took the loss today because Kansas City is missing its offense. Sidney Ponson? Come on...

Buzzie Bavasi passed away.


http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/new...=.jsp&c_id=mlb


Good read on someone who was very influential in baseball for a long time, including the integration of African-Americans into baseball.

7 of 9 for the Nats!

Rick Ankiel continues to amaze, this time with his arm:

http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/med...00805072655396

Stay hurt Nomar

He's more accurate throwing from the outfield than he is from 60 feet, 6 inches............

Is there a better guy to listen to do a ballgame then Vin Scully?

Paging Seattle's offense... Paging Seattle's offense...

*crickets*

That's what I thought.

Honestly, their offense was the biggest reason I wondered why all the dumbass experts out there picked them to win the AL West. Their offense was pedestrian last year, and they lost their best power hitter to free agency and traded away their best hitting prospect. I was pretty certain Seattle's offense would be around 8th or 9th in the AL at best, in runs scored (a spot or two down from last year), and maybe more.

The rotation, when healthy and clicking, can be terrific, but there were way too many questions on that lineup to predict a postseason visit (which may still happen, but still, not looking good right now).

Coming from a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan....nope.

I didn't think their offence would be outstanding, but this is almost laughable. At least offence is the easy thing to add come the offseason. The pitching has been outstanding although Felix is struggling a little.

When you use Willie Bloomqvist as a pinch hitter when the tying run is at the plate it shows that you have no bench. At all.

When you're Richie Sexson and you're 6'8" and you charge the mound, what do you do? You throw your helmet, of course.

Hey... be easy on Sexson. I think that was the first time he made contact with something thrown at him or thrown by him in weeks...

Word.

Jim Edmonds released today by the Padres. An expected move since early this week, but sad for a Cardinals fan nonetheless.

Shameless plug for my blog here: http://www.pitchershiteighth.com/200...e-jim-edmonds/

why would a pitcher need to shit eighth?

Because that's his spot in the order. Any more questions?

That Lance Berkman...he's so hot right now.

Here's his last six games.

2/4 1RBI
4/5 1 HR 4 RBI
5/5 1 RBI
2/3 1 HR 1 RBI
2/3
3/4 1 HR 2 RBI

Six games, 18/24 (.750 BA), 3 HR, 9 RBI...that's rather red hot.

You know, I respect Vin Scully. I don't really like him, but he's damned good. That being said, I do put him second to Jon Miller.

Vernon Wells out for 6-8 weeks, Jeremey Accardo on the DL, joining BOTH shortstops. Hello last place Blue Jays. The thing that really sucks about this is that Ricciardi will be able to trot out the injury excuse again. Sigh.

Go Jays!

FIRE JP!

That's because you're a low-class heathen who would rather have hamburger every day than steak on Sunday.

What I say, I say out of love. :)

He loses me as a fan with his retarded barking "safe" call.

Yup. Except I kinda like the guy. Still, Jon Miller is beyond perfection for me.

We can't buy good weather for a game, I swear. This is my 3rd game this year, fourth for a guy I go with, and we can't get good weather. The first game we went to, we spent the 3rd thru 9th in the concourse the whole game since it was in the 40s and raining. He went that weekend and it snowed earlier that day before the game. Then we go a couple of weeks later, and it was 40 at game time and the temp dropped from there with gusty winds so it was bitterly cold.

Tonight, 63 at game time but threatening clouds. Sure, not bad- and it's umbrella day so not a bad thing if it rains... Right up until the 1st inning 3 run homer by the Orioles followed by the 1:52 rain delay. By then, it's dropped into the low 50s with a wind in the 20s with gusts up to 50s and a cold mist that falls the rest of the game with the temperature. So you couldn't really keep your umbrella open because it would get destroyed by the wind but it was cold and damp and extremely windy. Just not pleasant at all. By the end of the game, there were maybe 2000 fans in the seats.



SI

+2

Congrats to Greg Maddux, my favorite pitcher of all time, for his 350th win.

+1

As for there only being 2k fans at the game SI, I've never understood why people don't migrate down for better seats. Does security still bounce people out even if there's hardly a crowd?

Any chance the promotion that day was the first 2,000 fans through the gates received Royals umbrellas?

At the start of the game, there was an announced attendance of 15K (MLB claims sold tickets, not turnstile numbers) and, looking at the crowd, most of them actually made it there to claim their umbrellas.

By the end of the game, yeah, pretty much everyone moved down to the lower deck. We were down in section 102 or 104, right behind home plate. There were maybe 100 people in the upper deck but we didn't decide to move down until around the 6th or 7th. It was one of those things where we had stayed in our seats for hours to keep them dry so we didn't necessarily want to give them up.

I did get a fun souvenir, tho. In the pregame warmups, some of the people in our section went to the front of the upper deck, good naturedly taunting two of the Orioles (I didn't catch who they were) who were playing long toss to see if they could throw their warmup ball into the upper deck. The player missed on his first try so he overcompensated and threw it extra hard on the second try and it made the 4th row, where I caught it on the fly right at my seat :)

Here's a picture of the rain:



SI

Actually, yeah, that was the promotion. As one of my friends put it yesterday when I told him we were going to the game but there was a good chance of a rain out: "Take that, irony!"

SI

Scary, Buc. That's another thing we have in common. Maddux is definitely my favorite. We'll never see another like him in any lifetime. He had that stretch in the 90s where he was absolutely insane (a 79 pitch complete game, what?!?)

I've already gone down the best pitcher of all time road and I think there are easy arguments to be made as to how he was better than Clemens (and that's without using the word "steroids"). He has the numbers to back it up, depending on how you frame the argument, which, in the end, is how these things are "decided".

SI

Dusty shows off his managerial skills in the 9th inning today...

Turned it off...what happened?

From what I saw, Dusty made a double switch in the bottom of the 8th, then in the top of the 9th one of the guys he switched batted out of turn, Dusty comes out to get the ruling explained to him, then the correct hitter comes up and singles, then Dusty comes out two more times to get the ruling explained to him.

Bannister with a great outing today. 8 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K with 110 pitches.

SI

You know, as Cringer noted, given the wonderful timing of the umbrella promotion with the rain out, this is actually an incredible picture that would be very difficult to reproduce. lmao funny, too.

BTW, this just in: the Angels scored on the Rays today. Congratulations, guys!

(maybe tomorrow you can win the game...)