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Baseball (the talkin' sport)


Tom Strange
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I dont know stRanger---Im in my late season doldrums right at the moment--Im having alot of things going on outside of baseball at the moment (believe it or not..) some of the details for the last few weeks Im not following closely enough to have an informed opinion on....

Im sure I'll regret baseball slackin now when I am stuck in the middle of January--but for now my hands are full elsewhere. If things are as bad as the rumors seem with Beckett, Millwood may be a good pickup.

Im still trying to get to know Mark Kotsay

I found THIS WIKI LINK that lists all his worthwhile career accomplishments

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I get what you all are saying... I've never disputed that... I just want consistency, as much as humanly possible... and it seems worse to me this year...

I don't care if it's a high zone, a low zone or a wide zone... just be consistent with it.

I haven't even started on how sometimes umpires "squeeze" pitchers either... but that happens evey now and then.

(and please don't take all of this personal Lifted... it's not directed at you... unless you've worked some of the stRanger games this year)

HA HA HA HA HA....find me the money for the fees and equipment for Umpire school....then convince me wy an almost 58 year old should give it a try...then maybe I'll make it to those games by the time I turn 70...

In reference to the newly implementd replays, it makes me think on one event involving the team that later became yours...that was, of course, the Washington Senators. Frank Howard used to hit some of the most towering and longest homers in the bigs. I think the only reason they couldnt measure them better is because RFK stadium was so closed up, but some, I swear, were still rising when they hit the upper deck seats. Well I saw him (live) hit a real towering one down the line once, that went over so far above the top of the foul pole that the poor umpire could only give it his best shot at a call. he called it fair and a home run, and i don't need to describe to you how the pitcher erupted. But in that case, I bet that even a replay wouldn't have settled it.

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I have nothing to add to whatever is being talked about--its just good to hear the name Frank Howard again.

I saw him hit some of those amazing towering scrape the sky homeruns that looked they would never come down in his day.

pMLB2-3692109dt.jpg

When I ran into George (Boomer) Scott last year he was like an awestruck child telling me that the hardest ball that he ever saw hit was by him.

He claimed a line drive hit by Howard was hit so hard that it tipped off the shortstops glove and continued to rise then landed high in the second deck of RFK...whether tall tale or true I'll never know-- but Scott's eyes lighting up like an 8 year olds when he was telling it was well worth it...

There are probably guys as big now but when I was 10 Frank Howard looked like a mountain

Edited by mstar1
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Let's see, the Dodgers have lost 7 in a row, and I think are still only 3 games back. It's not the NL Worst for nothing. If they get lucky in AZ this weekend they'll be tied for first.

I don't think those Trolley Dodgers are feeling very lucky these days... they made it 8 in a row and are now 4.5 behind the Dbacks.

Manny didn't do half bad tonight... 4-4-4 and scored two of LAs 3 runs. He had two strikes on him with two outs in the 9th. Instead of being the last out, he doubled... only prolonging the agony.

that's hilarious! ...the only thing it lists is that he's married to Jamie... which is something to be proud of IMO!

(I have some other thoughts about her, but this is a family place after all!)

Yeah, wasn't she just nominated to be Vice-president or something? :biglaugh:

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that's hilarious! ...the only thing it lists is that he's married to Jamie... which is something to be proud of IMO!

(I have some other thoughts about her, but this is a family place after all!)

I'll post one more obligatory photo for the burgeoning Jamie Kotsay Fan Club--

I know this thread is about baseball and that you will be highly interested in her ----um----batting stance---

Jk5.jpg

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Since I'll be seeing the Dodgers-Dbacks next weekend here, it would be nice if the Dodgers weren't eliminated by then so I can at least pretend there's a 'pennant race', so I'm hoping they win a game or two in AZ.

Jamie Kotsay is of course lovely, but looks about as thin as the baseball bat she's swinging. Feed her a couple Fenway Franks.

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There are probably guys as big now but when I was 10 Frank Howard looked like a mountain

I saw Howard bunt his way on once. he was not exactly fleet despit long strides...but since the infielders were playing him on the edge of the outfield grass, he got away with it.

Among other things, he was the spokesman for "Briggs Better FRANKS" I rememebr the jingle and his speal like I just heard it; as I heard it so many times.

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Tom, there's nothing I'd rather do this weekend, than be at Angel Stadium.

Years ago, on a vacation, I saw a game at "the Big 'A'", before they closed it in. The view of the mountains past the outfield was tremendous.

remember, I'm the one that saw those LA angels play during their first year, at Wrigley Field in L.A. That one is quite far back on this long thread by now.

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I'd like to hear the 'Briggs better Franks' jingle.

Where I lived, it was Yogi Berra and Yoo-Hoo, with the cheesiest commercial you ever saw. A b&w photo of Yogi's head on a badly animated body running up a Yankee Stadium flagpole to catch a fly ( by this time, Yogi was playing a lot of left field)

A jingle forever in my head from back then is 'Baseball and Ballantine",played before Yankee games, which was not quite as memorable as 'My beer is Rheingold, the dry beer".

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I'd like to hear the 'Briggs better Franks' jingle.

Don't know how I can get the tune to you, unless you are a glutton for punishment and want me to call you up and sing it for you! of course the words sound dry without the tune. It was a bunch of (presumably) kids singing the jingle, then Frank Howard would come on and give his (unsung) lines.

"Frank goodness, frank goodness, for briggs Better Franks; without them what would little kids do...

They're tasty, they're 'licious, they're mar...vo...lous...

(repeat first line)...

then Howard came on...."This is Frank Howard, and I can tell you, that Briggs starts with quality lean meat...."

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"Frank goodness"-gotta love it

I envy you having seen the Angels play at Wrigley Field. That was real close to the Farmers market , wasn't it ?

The Big A was way cool before they enclosed it. I remember it as games watched on tv in Connecticut at 11 pm, when I should have been in bed for school. The big A outside the the park was great. When they closed it in, with those awful red seats, it became dreary. Especially with most of those red seats empty.

Disney did a great job of renovating, though I still don't get the rock formation in center field.

It's a whole different Angel world now. Hardcore fans who are enjoying the best team in LA. I honestly don't know what is going to help the Dodgers.

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Hey, at least you still have Vin Scully!

Well, whose voice do you think is still imprinted in my mind from listening to all those dodger games in the late 50s???

Unfortunately, the current Dodgers can't bring bak Duke Snider, Don Demeter, the Sherry brothers (the best hitting pitcher brothers baseball has ever seen), Jim Gilliam, and of course in later years, Don and sandy...

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Not a baseball day goes by that I'm not thankful for Vin Scully. One of these days he's not going to be there, and I fear it will be sooner rather than later.

Jeff Kent made no friends a couple of weeks ago , when he dissed Vin, saying he 'talks too much'. Kent was hitting over .400 batting ahead of Manny. My 7 year old granddaughter could tell you he was getting better pitches to hit because of it, but Kent threw a tantrum, contending that no one gives him credit for 'improving his game'. When he heard Vin refer to Manny hitting behind him as an aid, he got indignant. Of course the big question was how Kent was hearing Scully in the first place, while the game was on.

The fan reaction was as expected. You don't disrespect Vin Scully.

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Not a baseball day goes by that I'm not thankful for Vin Scully. One of these days he's not going to be there, and I fear it will be sooner rather than later.

Jeff Kent made no friends a couple of weeks ago , when he dissed Vin, saying he 'talks too much'. Kent was hitting over .400 batting ahead of Manny. My 7 year old granddaughter could tell you he was getting better pitches to hit because of it, but Kent threw a tantrum, contending that no one gives him credit for 'improving his game'. When he heard Vin refer to Manny hitting behind him as an aid, he got indignant. Of course the big question was how Kent was hearing Scully in the first place, while the game was on.

The fan reaction was as expected. You don't disrespect Vin Scully.

I agree completely.

Daren Sutton, one of the two Dbacks TV guys (main guys, others fill in when Grace is doing Fox Saturday games) PLAYFULLY got on Scully's case a few weeks ago... but made it very clear it was only playfully, because, as you said (and SUTTON KNOWS) You do NOT disrespect Vin Scully.

And Sutton and Grace are VERY playful during game broadcasts...

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Jamie Kotsay is of course lovely, but looks about as thin as the baseball bat she's swinging. Feed her a couple Fenway Franks.

IMO she looks just fine in this photo that mstar posted earlier...

jk4.jpg

sure... maybe a couple of franks wouldn't hurt her but she looks just fine to me...!

Here we are again.. leading the LAAofA for the third game... let's see what wondrous work the bullpen can do tonight... amazingly, we've gotten some fairly good starting pitching this series wouldn't you say Hiway?

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speaking of Trolley Dodgers, I sometimes refer to them as the 'Superbas', another early name for them. Especially when they're playing like they have lately.

Manny is unbelievable. Whaddya know-Mstar was right. You would think some of it would rub off on the others. I do think the Superbas have a very good nucleus of players built from within. Martin, Loney, Ethier, Kemp,even DeWitt. They really should be playing better than this.

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speaking of Trolley Dodgers, I sometimes refer to them as the 'Superbas', another early name for them. Especially when they're playing like they have lately.

Manny is unbelievable. Whaddya know-Mstar was right. You would think some of it would rub off on the others. I do think the Superbas have a very good nucleus of players built from within. Martin, Loney, Ethier, Kemp,even DeWitt. They really should be playing better than this.

But then, so should the Dbacks...

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Manny is unbelievable. Whaddya know-Mstar was right.

well whaddaya know---

I think that Manny leaving is one reason Im sort of in a baseball depression and having a hard time getting enthused right now, even though things are going Ok on this end.

Dustin Pedroia had his second straight four hit game after hitting a grand slam earlier this week, and even batted cleanup (not bad for a guy about the size of Wee Willie Keeler speaking of the Superbas) behind Ortiz last night. There were chants of MVP last night..

As good as that all is...im still in Manny withdrawals to some extent. I know the Red Sox have a good record without him, (better than the Superbas do with him) and are probably in a technical sense a better team, but when Manny is in one of his insane hot streaks --its nothing like I have ever seen..and I miss it...

It seems like the NL is having fun with him. I saw a clip from Washington the other day. During that thing the do, the "President's Race".,Teddy Roosevelt came out wearing a blue 'do rag' with dreadlocks sticking out from under it, took a huge early lead, stopped to high five a few fan and then turned around and gave up. The announcer said the he was just "Teddy bein' Teddy..." Manny just laughed in LF

:biglaugh:

No doubt about it--he is fun to watch

a sappy tribute video, one of hundreds made by Sox fans Edited by mstar1
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