marlin2266

Agreed - great post. Speed is typically more prominent in losing teams - without researching it, I'd be willing to say more than 50% of the last 20 SB leaders were on losing teams. You also have to look at the pitches thrown while JP is on base. It's intuitively obvious that he would encorage fastballs (which are easier to handle and make a play on a stealing JP, as well as being perfect fodder for good ML hitters like Luis and Pudge). But I'm not sure if the fastball bias is more prominent if JP is on 2B vs. 1B.

Nope - that was LF. I'm talking the other way......

How soon we forget..... John Henry floated the idea to build a small, expandable stadium (25K seats at first) with his own money and boy did he get it from all sides. He probably didn't even check with MLB before he said it, as they would veto such an idea out-of-hand. As to Bobby Maduro, I was there the weekend before it was torn down & got some good pics. It was Memorial Day 2001, and as I drove up to BMS, WQAM announced that Bolesy had been fired. So the 2 intertwine in my mind. BMS was a great little ballpark - I saw Mantle & Maris there in the 60s. It had a cantilevered half-roof - I once saw a guy throw a rope up over the rafters and pull himself up hand-over-hand. What memories........

Seeing Sammy hit it 484 today made me wonder - Has there ever been an upper deck shot to right in JRS? If so, who, when etc...

I betcha Boog (& DVH) call the game right off the monitor more often than they might admit. Obviously for replays, but sometimes you can tell they do it during live action.

The teal wall is now covered with Indian ads - from the LF fair pole all the way past the 434 sign in deep center. It's not pretty, but (of course) it's all about the benjamins.

Only reason I can think of for 1:05 Sunday starts is that it's "get-away" day. Neither Lins nor opponent-du-jour want to fly out late Sunday nite. Also, 1:05 sells more a/c club seats. Any other ideas why? I agree - 1:05 is insane for the fans in the sun.

2nite - IF Box Sat - TBA Sun - Publix Zone (gotta luv that a/c)

Alpha Centauri has arrived (at last). Go get 'em this weekend, DTrain!

Piazza

Brad Penny swapped with Rich Dubee a couple years ago - 31 for 28. I don't remember why.... Also, Cliff Floyd switched from 15 to 30 in 1999 or 2000 - I think it had to do with his goal to be a 30/30 man. Another tid-bit - since many venezuelan shortstops wear 13, John Boles offered to give SeaBass his 13, but SB didn't care or want to do it.

Start using Castro and Foxy. Package Red & Mordy for the Juan Gone deal. That is all.

a player selected to the NL allstar squad gets traded to AL before the game? Has this ever happened?

Any xtra Houghs out there? I'll take an error version. I can offer a Dempster in trade, straight up. Post your email if interested.

This just in - Castillo has been selected to replace the injured Marcus Giles for the game Tuesday! Source - Jon Scambi WQAM

I worry a little bit about this. Mike has a minor groin pull, and the competition may not be a good idea. I hope they offer him the spot, and if he is not 100% in his own eyes, he turns it down.

Heads up! Adelphia South has switched PAX from cable channel 35 to 19.

Last column published Friday - can it really take him this long to put a negative spin on the UU deal?

"On New Year's Eve every year, the Marlins make the choice to return to PPS for the year following the next. i.e. New Year's Eve 2002 take option for 2004" Better hope Anthonty Carter's agent isn'r responsible for the phone call.

On a dreary New York day in the late 60s, the mighty Yankees drew a "crowd" of 312 fans. (Pre-George, of course).

Credit mlb.com On the mound: Kevin Brown, scratched as the Tuesday night starter with a strained lower abdominal muscle, threw a bullpen session and seems to indicate he will be able to make his Sunday start. The former Padre threw the session in the Padres bullpen, with David Ross doing the catching, and Ross said Brown was very impressive. "The big question is his mobility, moving off the mound, fielding his position, fielding bunts," said manager Jim Tracy

At the River site, the water would be over the RF wall (just like Pac Bell). MLB requires RF to be on South side of any ballpark.

Oops - no - it's Mikey's evil twin - Pete Sampras!

I typed in the wrong validation code on purpose to see what would happen, and received no message that my vote was not counted.

An underpublicized reason Bicentenniel failed a few years ago is that the Port of Miami raised holy hell about it. They claimed that trucking to/from the port would be impaired by 81 home baseball dates (on top of 41 home Heat dates). Also, driving in there is pretty hard, and MetroRail is too far west for most casual fans. I vote for Miami Arena - the rail drops right there at the Arena station.