Major League Baseball

[ACCBiggz]

No, he is off waivers and was very upset that no one even told him they were shopping him, which will not be good for re-negotations.

AOL/TW have killed WCW and Braves Baseball. Ted Turner was a great peice in both successes and they booted him and sinking two high quality ships at once. I'll always be a Braves fan, but I can not support a AOL/TW Ownership anymore.

[GhostMachine]

What the Braves did is SOP to see if there's any actual interest from other teams. I can see why Andruw Jones would be upset about it, but its nothing that hasnt been done to players before and won't be done after him.

As for the Braves, I'm glad they're in a decline right now. I'm in Tennessee, and ALL we get around here is Braves coverage on the news. If it wasn't for WGN on cable, the Braves are the only baseball team we'd get to see play on a regular basis. What networks tend to ignore around here is the fact that not everyone is a Braves fan. I am a Reds fan (and a Cubs fan, too, but a Reds fan first) and am fucking sick of the Braves. Fortunately, the Fox Sports channel has started showing Reds games this year.

(I actually see probably about as many people wearing Reds caps around here as I do Braves caps, and its been like that for a few years - doesn't have a damn thing to do with the hip hop fashion trends toward different sports teams' apparel)

The Reds acquired Todd Hollandsworth. It'll be interesting to see if that helps, but I'm not so sure it will.

[Lowerdeck]

The Red Sox get swept by the Royals.

It's over, Yanks win East and Central runnerup gets the Wild Card.

[Guest Bosstown Boy]

New York (67-45) -

Boston (66-48) 2.0

Chicago (68-46) -

Minnesota (67-48) 1.5

Boston (66-48) 2.0

Over? Hardly.

We were nine back in 2004 at this time in the year.

Nine back.

[gunnar hendershow]

I think it's just a reflex of fans in Boston, and most cities for that matter, to be really pessimistic when it comes to their luck.

[Guest Bosstown Boy]

After today I'm happy to say that we are now only one game back of the Yankees. Here comes the real test though - Tigers, Yankees, White Sox, and a West Coast swing.

Go Sox! (Y)

[reyrey619]

I'm not so worried about the Tigers actually. They have done pretty poorly against the top 3 AL East teams. The 5 game series against the Yankees, however, is pretty much make or break IMO. If the Sox lose 4/5, then I'll probably going into a deep depression and declare the season over, much like I did in 2004, and when we got swept by the Royals

[Lowerdeck]

David Wells wins a game tonight, damn. And up against Justin Verlander.

Edited August 17, 2006 by Lowerdeck

[Ananas]

Jays rumoured to be considering shipping Eric Hinske to Boston. In a related story, fuck Ted Rogers, fuck JP Ricciardi and fuck the Blue Jays. If they had any commitment to success they wouldn't be shipping someone who has had a good year off to your division rivals. Bengie Molina is gone at the end of the year and you just shipped out Schowenweis, stop cutting costs already. For Chrissakes, Rogers made RECORD PROFIT this quarter. Fucking right wing common sense revolution loving motherfuckers are going to kill our chances of ever contending for anything.

[gunnar hendershow]

Hey Beatnik. At least your team isn't run like the Orioles or Royals.

[CISS]

Beatnik was right.

The Boston Red Sox have acquired slugger Eric Hinske in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, a major league source told the Boston Herald on Wednesday.

It was not immediately known what the Red Sox sent the Blue Jays in return for the 2002 AL Rookie of the Year, a left-handed hitter who has played the corner positions in both the infield and outfield.

Hinske, who has become a part-time player this season, was pulled from the Blue Jays' lineup shortly before the start of Wednesday's game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He wasn't told why he was pulled, but was informed he wouldn't play at all Wednesday night.

"That's usually a sign something is probably going to happen," Hinske said. "I'm just kind of waiting around to see what's up and see what happens. That's all I can do."

Hinske has made 53 starts this season and is hitting .264 with 12 homers and 29 RBI in 78 games overall.

"I've been traded twice before," Hinske said. "It's a business. I understand it. I'm fine. Every time you get traded, it means somebody really wants you. It's not a negative thing."

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

[reyrey619]

I like it for the Sox. Decent guy to have off the bench to fill in at 1st and 3rd. Lowell has been injured recently, so it'll be good to give him a rest for a few games without having to play Ortiz at 1st.

[Lowerdeck]

I'm a little surprised to see why Toronto did this move. But, at least Boston gets a decent guy to be on the bench and fill some holes.

[Guest The Legend]

I'm getting worried about my Mets now. Yeah we got the enormous lead but this is not looking like an October-ready team at all, getting dominated by the Phillies 3 games in a row. I know Sanchez' injury without a replacement like Hernandez would put our bullpen at risk, but now I don't know if it was such a good idea to get rid of Xavier Nady. He was a good player to have there in the bottom of the line-up. Hopefully this team gets back on track and starts playing like they did earlier this season.

[gunnar hendershow]

Part of me is feeling the Mets peaked too early and it is the Dodgers who will get out of the NL. I mean, it's too early to tell. If healthy, the Mets are the best NL team for October besides maybe the Cardinals. But momentum can mean so much (Angels, Marlins) in winning October baseball. We've of course got 6 weeks to go. For all we know the Brewers could still win the NL.

[Guest Bosstown Boy]

The whole shabang is wide open right now. The American League isn't narrowed down much at all. The Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox or Tigers could be in the Series. I think the Tigers have the best shot, of course, but any of those four teams have the talent to get hot and run away with a playoff series.

The National League is a cluster of teams, led by a weakening Mets. Pretty much the whole NL Central and West could be in there somewhere via the Wildcard. As we all know, the Wildcard can never be counted out.

[gunnar hendershow]

My sympathy is with all fans of the Red Sox.

And apparently John Gibbons wound up bloody after an incident with his pitcher Ted Lilly. I'd say that now it's clear Gibbons isn't the right kind of manager for the Toronto team and that if they want to avoid the fate of a team who had a similar position with their manager in the 2004-2005 Orioles to find someone new before the whole clubhouse implodes.

[Ananas]

Apparently there's video of Gibby pushing Lilly. I need to see this video.

[The Sultan of Swank]

I need to know something, and I'm almost embarassed to ask seeing as I play ball myself, but what constitutes a walk off. Is it just Bottom of the 9th type idea?

[VerbalPuke]

A walk-off home run is pretty much as you can described it. It has to be in the bottom of the 9th inning or later. It's called such because when the home run is hit the teams walk off the field because the game is over. I guess singles, doubles, and triples can constitute as a "walk-off single/double/triple" as well.

Also, a few things I want to quickly say about the Tigers. I'm impressed that they came back and beat the White Sox in two straight games after floundering against a beatable Texas team. The mark of a good team is one that can rebound and win big games. They have a pretty tough September schedule so they need to continue to keep their distance with the White Sox.

Edited August 23, 2006 by VerbalPuke