Random baseball shit
 

Please, if you have a heart, go to MLB.com and vote Francisco Liriano for AL Final Vote to be named to the AL All-Star Team. He's currently in second place.

When voting, consider that Liriano has been the best pitcher in baseball the last 2 months. Consider that he is doing it in his rookie year. Consider that he is the only starter in baseball with a sub-2.00 ERA. But most importantly, consider who will take his spot if you choose not to vote:

http://www.geocities.com/ajpierzynski/images/AJ.jpg

THIS FUCKING ASSHOLE!

Look into your heart. Don't let A.J. fucking Pierzynski grace the roster of the AL's best. Don't let his stupid fucking manager get his wish and have AJ on the team.

Go and vote. Now. Multiple times.

http://www.mlb.com/

You only have till 6 eastern BTW :mad:

awwww.

Is it going to suck that much to have one of the best catchers in the league in the All Star Game? Better luck for Liriano next year.

AJ - 5/28 .326/.371/.446

Yeah i voted for him not long after the last man vote started, went for Nomah in the NL:y:

It's going to be AJ and Nomar. And all will be right with the world.

Then someone will drop out of the ASG and then Crede will get the call (should be starting anyway... fucking popularity contest).

i voted for pronk

So did I...but I'll probably throw in a vote for Liriano just cause.

And LOL @ Pusszynski being "one of the best Catchers in the league." The guy is terrible and a piece of shit to boot.

<font color=goldenrod>I didn't vote Liriano. The kid's awesome, but I want the NL to actually have a fighting chance. Definately didn't vote AJ either. Too many White Sox already as is. I voted Ramon Hernandez, who probably won't even play if he's put on the team.

Besides which, Ozzie should be punished for not taking Liriano to begin with. What the fuck is wrong with him. :| The only way I could question him further is if he lets Mark Redman play in the game.</font>

3-run game winning home run anyone?

lol...okay?

Make all the "Pusszynski" and "he got pwned by Barrett" comments you want... last time I checked... he punked your entire fanbase last weekend.

And cry all you want about him winning the 30th man, he'll be there next Tuesday and he'll play. Simple as that.

We got Pods voted in last year (over Jeter I may add) and we'll get AJ in this year.

Only because Guillen has a HUGE hard on for him...which you obviously do too.

Ozzie didn't pick him to be in the 30th man thing, that was the MLB.

Yah we know Joey Slugs, tragedy happens and Spodwinklesk getting voted in over Jeter was one of them.

Then New Yorkers should of voted more.

Yah congrats on your future White Sox All star game trivia question there.

I think its pretty funny how you were pissed off about it being a "popularity contest" and now you're endorsing it because it went your way.

The popularity contest is for the starters.

What i wanna know is why the hell is home-field advantage still decided by the all-star result?

It's just...insane!

However you wanna justify it to yourself is cool with me.

Pissed that "your" team only has one guy going?

So Slugs, back to the question at hand here....


Why should A.J. be voted in and not Liriano?

AJ Pierzynski being one of the top catchers in the game? Outside of his batting average he is merely average.

AJ has 28 RBIs. 16 MLB catchers are above him, three are tied with him. Seven AL catchers are above him.

AJ has five home runs. 22 MLB catchers have more than him, three are tied with him. 13 of those above him are from the AL.

AJ has an OPS of 816. Five MLB catchers have more than him, and ALL FIVE are from the AL.

The pecking order for AL catchers should go as follows:
1. Joe Mauer (MIN) .391 6 43
2. Victor Martinez (CLE) .307 11 56
3. Ramon Hernandez (BAL) .274 15 59
4. Jorge Posada (NYY) .307 11 45
5. Kenji Johjima (SEA) .294 10 41
6. Ivan Rodriguez (DET) .306 7 39
7. Jason Varitek (BOS) .244 9 40
8. AJ Pierzynski (CWS) .326 5 28

AJ doesn't hold water when it comes to being a deserving All Star this year. He is the same as he was on the Twins for so many years, he is a very solid player who hits well late in the lineup, but has relatively nothing to show for it but average. He is not deserving of an All Star bid this year.

I'm glad your "pecking order" is opinion based.

AJ's in the lead right now, that alone answers the question.

How can you justify that AJ is more deserving of the All Star game than Victor Martinez or Ramon Hernandez? A few more hits and about half as many RBIs? The All Star game is already flawed by the voting system, which prevented a lot of deserving guys from making the rosters to begin with. Even if the rosters were set right from the start, Pierzynski still wouldn't be on the team.

Justify why AJ is more deserving than all-but two of the guys I listed and maybe you can change my mind.

So your answer is "because"

A no nonsense get-it-done (and one of the reasons the pitching staff was so dominant last season) top 5 catcher on the best team in baseball.

That is all I have to say.

Ivan Rodriguez isn't even in the vote silly

Tigers may have the best record, but they are 1-5 against the White Sox this year.

As I said, the best team in baseball.

AL Team ERA
1. Detroit Tigers 3.52
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4.15
3. Oakland Athletics 4.18
4. Minnesota Twins 4.34
5. New York Yankees 4.39
5. Chicago White Sox 4.39

OK. I'm done here.

Slugs, don't you claim to be heavy into sabermetrics? The whole point of sabermetrics was to look at baseball in a different way, different from the traditional attitudes and beliefs held by baseball people. The reason James started writing was because of attitudes like yours. "He's a no nonsense get-it-done guy." What the fuck does that mean? Is there a measure or statistic you use to quantify his lack of nonsense? What does he get done? If "it" refers to getting on base, hitting for extra bases, and creating runs (things you should use to measure a player's value), then there are at least three catchers in the American League who get "it" done better.

Joe Mauer .459 OBP, .544 SLG, 29 XBH
Ramón Hernández .334 OBP, .497 SLG, 35 XBH
Jorge Posada .402 OBP, .489 SLG, 23 XBH
A.J. Pierzynski .371 OBP, .446 SLG, 22 XBH

So now we're awarding people all-star berths for what they did last season? I'm pretty sure the 2006 All-Star Team is to award those who have been the best players in 2006, not 2005. If A.J. is so great at handling the staff, why does Jon Garland suck so much this year? Even if Pierzynski is so great at handling the staff, that makes him all-star worthy?

Who cares what team he plays on? This is the AL vs. NL, not the White Sox vs. NL (although that's how Ozzie would like it). What team he plays on should not be a factor in deciding if he's all-star worthy because the all-star game is about individuals. Are Scott Kazmir's numbers any less impressive because the Devil Rays are shit? Please.

The ONLY reason you voted for Pierzynski is because he's a White Sox, and you know it.

Don't even give me that "that's how Ozzie would like it" shit. No one bitched and moaned when Torre would do that every year.

But you are right, I am big into Sabermetrics and the only reason I voted for AJ is because he is on the Sox. He's a major pain in the ass, but atleast he's our pain in the ass.

I did

That makes one. :lol:

I gave Liriano and Young @ 20 votes each.

Ozzie called all his gay friends that he met at Madonna concerts and told them to stuff the ballot box for AJ :(

Santana and Lirano might bring a title to the Twins one day if they stay together and healthy.

Voted for Liriano and Mr. Nomar Garciapara

AJ and Nomar ended up getting it. Liriano could get on if a pitcher drops out, but last I heard if any player at ANY position drops out, Ozzie is bringing Joe Crede

Smart move :y:

So does that mean that Magglio is already replacing Manny?

I thought Crede should have made the team ahead of Glaus anyway, but what can you do I guess.

ROFL

7 White Sox going this year. The year that they took away the vote from the fans was the year that the NL All Star team was the entire Cincinnatti Reds lineup. I hope they take away the fan's vote again, but that will never happen.

Hi, Red Sox fan here :wave:

Wow, Liriano didn't make it?

I change my vote for biggest robbery.

National League fans knows whats up.

NOMAAAAAAAAAAAA :cool:

I can't believe AJ Pierfuckingzysnki got it ahead of Liriano...Above average catcher over rookie phenom pitcher

HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

suckers.

What's funnier is that Liriano is so much better than all of Chicago's "5 potential 20-game winners" it's ridiculous

Say what you want.... The White Sox are defending champs and Liriano's Twins are fading. I could care less who he's better than right now. Arguement is over... AJ's in, Liriano's out.

The White Sox winning the 2005 World Series has exactly what to do with Liriano vs. Pierzynski in 2006? And I guess it's Liriano's fault the Twins are fading when he starts every 5th game.

You know Liriano is better than AJ and all 5 of your starters so what is your point? "The Whie Sox won the World Series last year" is not an acceptable answer

Better than all 5 of our starters? Based on what? At the moment stats?

Please. When the game is on the line I'd take one of our guys over some flash in the pan rookie anyday.

I've have this arguement when he has about 5 years of wear and tear under his belt.

Punch AJ

Yeah, most of the time we do base stuff on current stats.

The Minnesota Twins won the World Series in 1987

Ugh at the end of the day, who would rather see AJ (i wish i could punch him) possibly catch for an inning and take one at-bat, or Liriano show his stuff?

Hard to argue with that logic.

Liriano would pitch for what? MAYBE an inning? AJ could have the chance of being a late inning defensive replacement and maybe go on to get a game winning hit. Might even make him MVP. Who knows.

Really doesn't matter anymore does it?

Liriano is the best pitcher in the majors right now, thats why it does matter that he is not in the All Star game. How it even came down to a "last man" vote is ridiculous, so what if he hasn't made 15 starts? He has 9 (pretty sure its 9) wins with an ERA under 2.

Good thing Mark Buehrle and his 4.02 ERA made it though, cuz I know I can't name five pitchers in the American League right now that deserved the spot more than him...

You'll never hear me say that Buehrle should be on the All Star roster this year.

lol I like the argument of what his role will be in the game. He'll probably only pitch an inning so he doesn't deserve it. We should probably invite Sandy Alomar Jr. to the all-star game, he's been the best pinch hitter in the game. Also Scott Sauerbeck is just deadly against lefties

Maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe. Why's a maybe for AJ so different to a maybe for Liriano?

AJ could be a late inning defensive replacement sure, but then Liriano could come in with no outs, bases loaded and Albert Pujols at the plate, pitch a perfect inning with 3K's and then bring Ted Williams back from the dead, its all maybes at the end of the day

Irrelevant

Liriano > Pierzynski, thats all that matters. The All-Star team is selected based on which players have had the strongest first-halves, not on who you think will have a bigger impact on the game

That argument fell flat on Slugs the first time what makes you think it'll work a second time:p

To be fair the all star is always going to be a popularity contest, being able to vote up to 25 times doesn't help, i personally only vote once but i can imagine a lot of fanatical supporters do it all 25 times.

The only reason Liriano isn't there is because he's a Twin imo, not enough exposure, if he was on sunday night baseball every few weeks and people were seeing what he does for real, he'd be there, as it is AJ was on an historic world series winning team and plays in Southern California, nuf said

Chicago isn't quite Southern California but yeah. Playing in SoCal would actually hurt him because according to ESPN no teams west of the Mississippi exist

I was thinking about Vlad Guerrero at the same time for some reason and i managed to put AJ in an Angels uniform in my head :|

Chicago is the third biggest media market in the US though, so if they get some people behind AJ then he's got a good shot at getting in. What is kind of surprising though, it was obviously going to come down to a race between Liriano and AJ, but I swear nobody liked AJ outside of South Side Chicago and Minnesota. Obviously the people in Minnesota are voting for their current player rather than the former, so who else is voting for AJ?

Casual fans, they don't know who Liriano is and they remember A.J. for the Josh Paul incident/Michael Barrett incident

MLB needs to make up its mind and admit that the All Star game doesn't matter. I think they overreacted when the game ended in a tie a few years ago. "This one counts!" Shut the fuck up, no it doesnt. You let fans vote for the starters, most fans are going to vote for their favorite players, not some player they've probably heard little about playing thousands miles away even if that player is better. I think the entire roster should be selected by allowing every major league player to vote, I feel that'd be pretty fair and I cannot see players voting for dudes from their own team since I doubt most players are really that "tight" anyways (due to the constant roster turnover) And even if guys where voting with a biased view, I think they'd be in the minority so the right guy would still make it the majority of the time.

Listening to nationl radio, and they where dogging on Manny Ramirez. Understandable from the stand point that he was the top vote getter and should play, seeing how they don't feel he is really injuried (Neither do I) but then they were stressing the point about how he needs to be there to help his team win because the "this game counts." If this game counts then why is Ivan Rodriquez the starting catcher for the American League? Why isn't Liriano on the pitching staff? MLB needs to drop this "This Game Counts!!!" bullshit and just let it be known to pitchers that just because you made the team doesn't automatically mean you'll get a chance to pitch, or maybe carry an extra pitcher or something to avoid what happened a few years ago. The "This game counts" thing isn't even a fix to the problem from before, they could still very easily run out of pitchers if the game is tied so it is completely useless.

Barry Bonds

I think the players voting would be better, but still not that great. I do think guys would vote for their teammates though, they don't exactly have the free time to look at stats that we do and they know their guys a lot better than the guys they play once every few weeks.

There isn't really a good way to pick the teams, unless they put The Miz in charge, then they'd be flawless

Like I said, no teams west of the Mississippi. They care about Bonds, not the team he's on. What team is he on anyway?

There was something that I was reading at one point, don't know where, but it was talking about the results of the players vote. The example they showed was that in the AL third base category, Troy Glaus and Eric Chavez were voted top and A-Rod third. Not implying anything because I don't really know, but just an example if you want to make a case for players voting.

I think the All Star is cool, but really the only sport where its garaunteed to produce fireworks is in the NBA...generally

I dunno, I hear this a lot from people on who live on the West Coast but I hear a n awful lot about the Oakland A's and how they were projected to win 100 games this seasons.

lol an awful lot. They were a trendy pick pre-season and Harold Reynolds picked Bobby Crosby for MVP, but that's it, and you know it. They're still the last team to get their games shown on SportsCenter regardless of how good or bad they're playing. Also, I'm sure you're aware that they're by far the most injured team in baseball. No? That's because ESPN never talks about them, the Rangers, the Dbacks, the Dodgers, or anyone else. They should the game highlight and thats it.

So far they have missed significant time from:

Huston Street
Justin Duchscherer
Rich Harden
Eric Chavez
Frank Thomas
Mark Ellis
Joe Kennedy
Milton Bradley
Esteban Loaiza
Jay Witasick

But I'm sure most teams in baseball would still be over .500 having played with less than 75% of their team the first half of the year

Well according to Michael Smith, the Yankees have been the most impressive team up to this point because of how they overcame the injury and Randy Johnson sucking problems. So there goes your argument The Miz.

I don't believe it until I hear it from Skip Bayless

I dunno, its not like the A's are all over ESPN but I don't think the bias is as bad as people make it out to be. I've heard plenty about the A's being injuried but I think I've actaully seen more about how their offense isn't where it should be yet they are still in first.

What I haven't heard about in relation to the A's tho is how Bradley is acting. Still a shithead or did he "turn it around?"

I dunno how the Yankees are the most impressive team because even with the injuries look at the top of the line up: Damon, Jeter, A-Rod and Giambi

To be fair considering we've only had 2 consistent starters in Mussina and Wang, our bullpen has not been entirely solid (besides the obvious) and Sheff, Matsui and Cano are all injured...And A-Rod had that massive slump...I'd settle for 3 games back, especially considerin how good and well rounded a team Boston are:y:

But if it were an east coast team, the coverage would be immense. Remember when they won like 80% of their games for that 2 month stretch last year? Went from 15 below .500 to 15 above .500? Yeah it was a story, but it was still always behind "Fact or Fiction: Manny asking for a trade is just 'Manny being Manny'" and all that bullshit. Imagine if an east coast team did that. Their games would be the first highlight and would be followed by 10 minutes of analysis of every minute detail of the team. The fact is that with the exception of Barry Bonds, NO West Coast baseball story gets Yankees/Red Sox coverage, but if the stories happened on the east coast they would be huge.

For example:
Mauer leading the league in BA almost at .400 (2006)
Oakland going from 15 under to 15 over (2005)
Gagne's ridiculous saves record (2004)
Ichiro's hit record (2004)
Texas threatening all types of offensive team records (2005)
AL West coming down to the last series of the year betwween Oakland/LAAA (2004/2005)

Imagine if any of these things happened to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Baltimore, etc. Yeah these things got coverage, but was never "the big story" even when it should've been because it took place out west.

Is it all just a remnant from the fact that baseball was first popularised in and spread from the north-east primarily?

I dunno, i might be wrong on that but yknow. plus the north-east whilst having a huge population and a lot of teams is not exactly a vast geographical area, especially when you're comparing it to the 'West' or the West coast.

lol Bradley never did anything. He is just a regular L.A. black kid but guys like that never play in MLB so the fans couldn't except him being himself. What did he do, throw some baseballs on the field and call Jeff Kent a racist? Wow what a shithead. The media wants him and every other player to play the Sammy Sosa "Baseball been very good to me" bullshit but Bradley KEEPS IT REAL. When keepin' it real goes wrong :(

Bradley is fine now because Oakland is probably the easiest place for a player to play, the media doesn't care about the team and the clubhouse has always been considered the most "laid-back" in baseball. A's have taken in several guys who were supposedly "team cancers" (Bradley, Jose Guillen) and there's never been any kind of problem.

Also Bradley won the award for most time and money donated to the community of any Dodger player in 2005, and has a program called "Bradley's Youth" where he meets kids before games. LA Times left out a few details

He's still more well-behaved than 80% of the NBA

Haha, i just typed out a huge reply and hit that faggy little button on the mouse that goes back:rant:

But yeah, i was making a point about the NE and its teams in general being steeped in far more baseball history than the West. Plus bear in mind the Giants and Dodgers spending the first halves of their existence firmly planted in New York, the NY Jews probably still hold a grudge for them moving away all those years ago:p

I'll add to Miz's arguement of an east coast bias -

After Boston won the world series they seemed to have a game on ESPN atleast once a week. The White Sox have had 3 so far this year (including Opening Night when they were the only team playing).

You would think that no matter who the world champs are, they deserve a much bigger spotlight.

Agreed, but the Red Sox are the Red Sox, the only team with (debateably) more general buzz around them are the Yankees, both are coincidently East Coast. Remember a few years back when it was nothing but St Louis? Every goddamnit week! Atlanta before that, they got loads of airtime! Neither are remotely east coast

True, a lot of those probably would recieve a lot more coverage (some listed did receieve a lot tho, especially Ichiro's hit record) if those teams/players played on the East Coast but I think it also has something to do with the number of fans team have and shit like that as well. I haven't heard much about the Florida Marlins rookie pitcher Johnson or 2nd basemen Ugga and they are located on the east coast as well.

They're nice rookies but aren't doing anything out of this world.

That's the same thing people said when I ranted about this a while back...but when you say "East Coast Bias" it generally refers to the New England/New York/Pennsylvania area in my opinion. Four of the top ten markets are in that area (New York, Boston, D.C., Philly).

I would say that Atlanta and Miami, the other major (technically) east coast teams are just as left out at the teams in Texas and the other secondary places. Basketball is kind of skewed because New York has an awful basketball team and nobody likes the Nets, but if the Heat didn't have Wade and Shaq and won the NBA title, you wouldn't hear about them either. But news about the Knicks is about 100 hours to 1 compared to news about the Atlanta Hawks, who are all but the same team.

NE you have Boston, Yanks, Mets, O's, Phillies, Pirates and Nats all in a (relatively) small geographic location in the far NorthEast corner of the US, it just so happens that NY is the most culturally and financially important city in the world and its media is incredibly influential etc etc etc, there's loadsa factors, its not MLB dictating things. Out West you have the Pads, Dodgers, A's, Angels, Giants and Seattle all strewn our over a thousand odd miles of coastline, i guess there's just not the same concentration of people, teams etc there as there is in the NE.

Most financially important city in the world? Hardly.

Well...Yes it is quite frankly

Another East Coast bias. Chicago is a far more important financial center.

Lol, you really do think the world orbits around Chi-town don't you?

The New York financial district and stock exchange is the busiest and most important in the Western economy and thus the world, END OF

Chicago is probably 3rd behind LA as far as the US goes and definitely not as important as Tokyo or London

Can't really say I've ever heard that the East Coast biased has some effect on Chicago - like Chicago is located in Oregon or something. It is only one time zone away and I hear plenty about the Cubs. Probably because the Cubs where recently named the 4th most popular major league team. They talk about teams that casual fans enjoy hearing about, since the majority of fans aren't diehards.

I think its pretty funny how heavily the bias is talked about on here, its obviously there but you kind have to expect a little bit when ESPN is located in Connecticut/all the big markets in the Northeast/time differences. I really don't think it is as bad as people make it out to be tho, then when you point out a situation where the bias has no effect that, for some reason doesn't count. Like Barry Bonds, the LA Lakers, the NFL constantly trying to get another team in LA even though 2 teams already failed there, College football (Uproar over Utah, USC football, Texas - I am sure the excuse for that is because college football isn't big in the Northeast, BC has only won their last 5 bowl games and finished in the top 25 the last few seasons)

I guess you guys don't remember the 49ers vs the Cowboys rivilary either, but that probably doesn't count either because the Cowboys are Americans team or something.

I do not think the world orbits around Chicago, but I do want people to get there facts straight.

The NYSE might be the "most known" exchange but it is not the end-all-be-all.

Chicago hosts the world's largest and busiest trading floor, the biggest NASDAQ pit, the world's only currency exchange, the world's largest and busiest options exchange, and host to the headquarters of 8 of the top 10 biggest trading firms in the world.

Yes... there is even an East Coast bias in the financial world.

The reason you hear alot about the Cubs (or why the Cubs are so popular) is because their games are shown on a national network.

The only team in sports that can claim that.