Rocky

I thought it had to do with fueling automobiles...?

Something having to do with A rod, or A-Rod, or something like that.

New York who? Posted on Wed, Feb. 18, 2004 With addition of Maddux, Cubs' rotation could be best of all-time By PHIL ROGERS Chicago Tribune CHICAGO - Gentlemen, start your superlatives. But first, pause for a little perspective. If Greg Maddux had signed with another team, it would be easy to describe him as a great pitcher on the way down. After all, Mad Dog was dogged in Game 3 of the Division Series at Wrigley Field, but it was Mark Prior who was the truth. Maddux's earned-run average was 3.96 last season, the highest since his rookie season in 1987. Because of concerns about his back and legs, the 37-year-old Maddux has become a six-inning pitcher, rather than a workhorse. Like Tom Glavine, his strike zone seems to have shrunk since Major League Baseball introduced the controversial QuesTec system, which will be in use for the first time at both Chicago ballparks in 2004. These are facts that might be encouraging to baseball fans reading the St. Louis Post-Dispatch or the Houston Chronicle. But you're not doing that, are you? So we'll spare readers the cynicism. The most important side of the Maddux coin is that the Cubs just landed themselves a future Hall of Famer who has averaged 17.4 victories over the last five seasons. He joins a rotation that includes two aces and two others with sometimes electrifying stuff. He is replacing Shawn Estes, whose 5.73 ERA over 28 starts kept the Cubs from 90-plus victories a year ago. With Maddux in Estes' spot - not to mention Juan Cruz in the wings as starter No. 6 - the over-under on victories for the 2004 Cubs should be elevated from about 92 to 95. The Cubs once again should be favored to win not just the National League Central but also the pennant, a distinction they lost after Houston added Roger Clemens to its unexpected signing of Andy Pettitte. Just how good could this Cubs rotation be? If Prior, Kerry Wood, Maddux, Matt Clement and Carlos Zambrano all are healthy enough to make 30 starts - Zambrano's the most questionable after excessive wear - it could be one of the best starting staffs ever, perhaps the greatest in the era of the five-man rotation. Going way back when, Cleveland's combination of Bob Feller, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon and Mike Garcia was tough to beat. Ditto the Yankees of the same era, built around Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Ed Lopat. The Dodgers in 1966 had Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen and Don Sutton. Baltimore got 20 victories apiece from Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson in 1971. Oakland had a tremendous core in Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman in the early `70s, but Blue Moon Odom was an erratic No. 4. With expansion and the evolution of the fifth starter, there's nothing trickier for modern executives than building a rotation that's powerful at the beginning and strong at the end. The Big Red Machine almost had run its course when Tom Seaver arrived as ace. The Mets had some great staffs in the Dwight Gooden era but they weren't as strong at either the front of the rotation (Gooden, Ron Darling and David Cone) or the back (Rick Aguilera, Bob Ojeda and Sid Fernandez) as this Cubs team could be. Atlanta had three great arms to count on from 1993 through `99, when the Maddux-Glavine-John Smoltz trio was in its prime, and found promising No. 4 starters in Steve Avery and Kevin Millwood, but those two never overlapped. Only in `98, when Millwood won 17 games while Denny Neagle won 16, could manager Bobby Cox feel as good about all five men in his rotation as Dusty Baker should this morning. When your toughest question is what to do with a pitcher like Cruz, who when he's on has better stuff than Maddux, you can't wait for Opening Day to arrive. Now that the winter is over, it's guaranteed to be an agonizingly long spring training for Baker, general manager Jim Hendry and Cubs fans, who will knock wood every time someone mentions how good this rotation will be if all five starters remain healthy. Houston fans know the feeling. With Roy Oswalt, Wade Miller, Pettitte, Clemens, Tim Redding and Jeriome Robertson or Carlos Hernandez, the Astros' rotation figures to be almost as good. But only one of these two teams has a 23-year-old with the Tiger Woods gene (Prior). And it's the same team that has a Hall of Famer who has won at least 15 games in every year since 1988 (Maddux). Clemens loves the camera and the camera loves him, yet he has won 15 games or more in only four of the last 11 seasons. Pettitte has won 15 in six of his nine. With Maddux in the mix, there's no debating whether the Cubs hold an edge over the Astros - and maybe every single starting rotation in the last 30 years. The question is whether they can be better than the 1998 Braves, who had five starters win 16-20 games for a team that won 106.

You want WARM? When California falls in, I have some oceanfront property along what's now the Colorado River... hachacha!

I'd report them for violating the Federal Do Not Call List Laws.

And here I thought you could help me with the technical name of that figure of speech.

And please don't forget that EVERYthing worthy of complaining about in America is the Democrats' fault.

Wouldn't that be any of us who disagree with them? :D-->

I believe the item in question was proposed legislation and/or state constitution amendment on same-sex marriage. What I saw on CNN (the pinkos!) :D--> was that debate on the issue has been cut off until something happens next month. I don't know any specifics of proposals and/or status of pending consensus.

Hopefully I won't offend anyone but I love The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. and Bill Maher's new show on HBO. And I got to meet Mary Steenburgen (one of the actors in Joan of Arcadia) whose father worked for the same railroad my grandfather did in Northern Arkansas... I met her when she and her husband (John Becker/Sam Malone/ Ted Danson) came to the phoenix area for the now ended campaign of Wes Clark.

Happy Birthday and many more.

I thought that was the essence of the problem in the first place? :D-->

Hey Excie... I was hoping that you would accept my nomination (for you) to run for President of the United States. And perhaps Igotout will be your Vice-Pres... either him or Rev. Tuttle. See www.americancandidate.com

San Francisco's Gay Weddings Continue Mon Feb 16,10:53 AM ET By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - Dozens of same-sex couples lined up outside City Hall in heavy rain early Monday, waiting for city offices to open so they could join more than 1,700 other gay and lesbian couples who have exchanged vows in the last few days. Despite miserable weather and the Presidents Day holiday, many couples camped out throughout the night. Though City Hall was scheduled to open at 10 a.m., City Assessor Mabel Teng said she would try to open her office earlier because of the demand. Teng said many of the city workers who helped process the marriage licenses throughout the holiday weekend were volunteering their time. "I am just very honored to be involved in this significant and history-making event," Teng said Monday morning. "I'm so proud to be part of it." Since San Francisco officials began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on Thursday, hundreds of gays and lesbians have wed — many rushing to California from across the country. While hundreds of same-sex marriages kept City Hall offices buzzing through the weekend, conservative activists promised a relentless legal challenge. The Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund sued to block the same-sex unions, and San Francisco Superior Court Judge James L. Warren has scheduled a hearing Tuesday in the case. A second legal challenge filed by a California group is also scheduled for a court hearing Tuesday. Briefs were due Monday. More than 1,700 marriage licenses have been issued to same-sex couples since Thursday. Although some may choose to wait before actually getting married, hundreds have already gone before city officials to exchange vows and be declared "spouses for life," often in ceremonies scattered around the interior of the ornate City Hall. New Mayor Gavin Newsom touched off the wedding spree by ordering officials to issue licenses to same-sex couples, declaring that he was merely ensuring equal treatment of gays and lesbians. Newsom later officiated personally at the weddings of his chief of staff and policy director, both of whom married their longtime partners. Critics have pointed to a ballot initiative approved by California voters in 2000 that says the state will only recognize marriages between a man and woman. Randy Thomasson, the director of the Campaign for California Families, one of the groups challenging the marriages in court, said last week that Newsom "can't play God." On Sunday, a small group of protesters stood across the street from City Hall holding signs protesting same-sex unions. But the critics seemed to make little difference to most of the people inside the building, where the mood was both busy and joyous. Many clerks and sheriff's deputies volunteered their time to work over the weekend. Rich Walker and Brad Chilcoat, who have owned a home together in San Francisco for the last three and a half years, exchanged their vows at the top of City Hall's grand staircase, and said later that the city's recognition of their union added special meaning. "It's official. It's official," Walker said, displaying the marriage certificate stamped with both their names. The certificate, Chilcoat said, "moves us from second-class citizens to equal status." Walker, 50, and Chilcoat, 41, walked out of City Hall arm-in-arm, cheered by the crowds of people waiting outside

Craig who? Some Toledo Mud Hen wannabe?

Al, What stats are you presenting? I see some words, and some numbers, but not enough explanation to know either the context in which they were gathered, nor what they are intended to show. Now, thanks for the clarification (meaning had been added at a later time to your post, obviously). Now, help us understand what the message is... since there are more behavior related categories than just homosexuality. [This message was edited by Rocky on February 16, 2004 at 14:38.]

speaking of same sex marriage, has anyone been following the municipal goings on this weekend in San Francisco? A veritable boom for the airlines industry. Same sex couple are flocking to SF to stand in line (more than 500 long) around the SF city hall to get marriage licenses today... before the lawsuits challenging the municipal practice can be heard tomorrow (when the courts open).

That reminds me of one of the Dback's slogans for the 2001 World Series... It'll take more than 9 Yanks to beat our Johnson! (Randy Johnson).

Let's play Wacky races... see who Wacky visits next! Happy Happy sweet Wacky!

Is that where the Yankees train?

indeed we do tommyS... pitchers/catchers report for the Dbacks next weekend

evil tv = Fox News Channel, unfair and way out of balance.

I did the same search a few days earlier and got the same results. I sent email both to Imus's producer and to the broadcast news channel address. I received response from both with a name at Broadcast News to talk to, with a (non toll-free) phone number to call, and an invitation from the guy Friday afternoon to call him. So I replied that I would do so on Monday. I asked one simple question: what is the selection criteria? Since I have free longdistance calling on my cell phone, I will call him on Monday and see what they say... I suspect the same thing that ckeer and some others have, that the money is the main criterion. This reminds me of something I've seen in ads for automobiles and electric utilities before. Have you ever heard of J.D. Power and Associates? I've seen the name in ads claiming that "according to J.D. Power and Associates, customers say __________ has excellent customer service" Now, the reason this got my attention is because I knew it was bovine feces. I had long time experience with the customer service function of the particular utility and knew they were consistently discourteous and hostile to customers. When it became more than just a one time occurance, and I saw this JD Power endorsement for a variety of items/companies, I suspected that said endorsement was nothing more than a purchased use of the name of a company I had no idea what kind of research they did to come up with their conclusions. That's what this sounds like to me.

Just be careful when Tom says he wants to hold your ha-a-a-and!

Well, I had lunch with Simon... no new tattoos that he mentioned, but I'm thinking about getting an eagle on the side of my lower leg, almost on the calf... sure was a nice sunny lunch time, we even ate outdoors, at a patio table at the establishment of choice for the day. It was also good to talk to fellowshipper on the phone, while at Simon's house... sure would be good for more of us to get together. btw, TommyStranger, Simon's not the one who fell off of a roof, that was MacMarine (Jeff Mackey in NC), who is hopefully still fully recovered thereof.