Like the little boy said to his mommy at the playground.....

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

WHERE's THE SLIDE???

Hello all my FM Baseball brethren. It's good to be back in the Land Of Lincoln after spending two weeks up der in Twinkie Land. I have to ask all you prognosticators out there...WHERE's THE SLIDE? I thought you all said that while I was gone the Sox would start the slide down the AL Central. The only sliding I can see is the Twinkies to third behind the Injuns and soon to be fourth behind the Kitties if they don't turn around. They have also slid further out of the wild card spot at 7 games. So I axe you, who's sliding and who's gliding?

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD....YES!

[CNY Tim]

Welcome back Windy... Coming off a decent homestand here 4-3 against the two better teams in the NL the Marlins and the Braves. Now it's off to Milwaukee and Chicago. Larry Walker's return is not looking good right now. Molina should be back soon. Tony LaRussa will be looking to get the rotation an extra day off during the next stint of 30 games in 31 days so possibly a bull pen start in Milwaukee either that or they will call Kevin Jarvis up from AAA so they can give the starting rotation an extra day off for the series against the cubbies. Eckstein's walk off grand slam was the icing on the cake.

[lots of luck]

Dear Management,

Can't we ban this guy, or at least tell him to shape up.

Look at how much better the topics were over the past two weeks. There were actual discussions occuring. I don't want to have to wade through the pi$$ing matches to get to some content.

[CNY Tim]

When anyone crosses the line I will let them know. I am not going to blast good old fashioned gloating., Windy knows if they have to face the A's in the post season there done. LOL

I can't blame Windy at all I mean your talking alot of seasons of pent up Twins domination and second half collapses. I know where Windy's coming from I am a Cleveland Browns fan so I can relate a little. As long as things don't get personal I will allow it.

[genegodawa]

Tim,

Nice addition Eckstein turns out to be. I really thought they would miss Renteria and Womack this year. Walker being out will definitely hurt their chances the rest of the way, but at least they can coast a little, just watch out for those Astros. And get Marquis out of there-isn't he like 1-7 lately?

I think the A's are the only team to have the ChiSox number so for sure they won't want to face them. Ban Windy? No Way. I would consider banning anyone who complains about freedom of speech though. Lots of luck on that one.

Nyuk, nyuk.

[CNY Tim]

Gene - Yep Eckstein has been something special and he has a ring as well as Renteria. Since were 9-2 against the Stros this season we are more concerned with your cubbies this weekend. I watched the cubbies and mets last night, sorry about the sweep. I wish we had Haren back from Oakland he's been on a heck of a run I think he's won his last 7 or 8 starts, I miss Danny... Yep Marquis has had a tough stretch as of late also we have not hit for him either so I can't fault Jason totally. His quest for trying to be to perfect and not challenging guys leaves him open throwing something over the plate when you fall behind alot in the count. He's miserable against his former club anyway. I hope he works it out for his sake or they will probably turn him into another outfielder like Ankiel, like Rick, Jason can hit. Either way he will be out of the post season mix I believe. 4 starters is enough. But you know Walt has surprised us before with some after dead line trade deals so you never know whom we may rent the rest of the way.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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Hello all my FM Baseball brethren. It's good to be back in the Land Of Lincoln after spending two weeks up der in Twinkie Land.

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Welcome back Windy!

Not bragging about the fishing? Better Luck next year?

Oh there was a small problem with the camper you rented up here in Twinkie land, I guess your damage deposit BOUNCED and there going to need some money to fix the Camper trailer. It seems every time they looked over at the trailer, well here is a video the trailer park owner sent us.

What the heck was going in der trailer?....

[genegodawa]

Pier,

Windy posted his trip report on the Cass Lake forum BUT never even mentioned the trailer issue!

[CNY Tim]

Windy - Hey when your done getting that money order off for the camper damage what's the skinny on you guys trying to get Griffey? are you guys close?

[buzzsaw]

Windy kinda deserves to boast, as much as it pains me to say so! The White Sox whipped some arse this year and therefore he can brag/boast or whatever about his teams "regular season" performance. I have already set my sights on the two wins the Vikings will get against the Bears this fall as well as the AL playoffs when the Chi-sox choke like a Hollywood hooker.

[crappieflop1212]

Well I have to come clean and say the Twins blow. I sure hope the sox have to face Oakland in the alds. Seems they have a tough time with Oakland. Congrats Windy.

[fishyguy]

I agree it is painful to say, but it looks like the fat lady is singing for our Twinks as Guillen has finally led the blind squirrels to the nut, that is the division crown. I have my doubts that the pitching staff other than Buerhle has the guile to hold up in a pressure packed series.

[rundrave]

Stick a fork in the twins, their done baby!

On June 8, the Twins were a season-high 13 games over .500 (35-22) and trailed the Chicago White Sox by four games in the American League Central Division. Since then, Minnesota is 22-33 and has slipped to third place, 15 1/2 games behind Chicago, and now the indians.

I have given up all hope for even the wild card. They dont want to field a competitive team, so I am not going to bother to watch or listen.

I would like to say thanks to ESPN for the world series cover prediction/curse.

[genegodawa]

Curse? You want a curse? I got a billy-goat I could loan you.

[CNY Tim]

or Steve Bartman :^)

[genegodawa]

A goat by any other name is still a goat.

[CNY Tim]

Nice game by the rookie starter for the Cardinals last night.

Anthony Reyes 6 1/3 I.P., 5 K's, 2 hits and 2 runs. Not to shabby for the youngster that use to pitch at USC with Mark Prior. Tony should slot this guy in Marquis spot in the rotation and move Marquis to outfield like Ankiel,. Marquis had a pinch hit single last night. Jason can't pitch but he can flat out hit....

Anybody catch David Wright's one handed grab at 3rd for the Mets? Play of the year consideration there.

Kansas City is a freaking mess to blow a 5 run lead like that.... I am surprised Buddy didn't have a coronary right there on the bench...

Gene - Is Dusty about to get axed? I hear rumblings?

[Eric Wettschreck]

Painfully, with my tail between my legs I have to say congrats Windy and the Sox. No, I'm not giving up totally on the Twins, but with like less than 50 games left the Twins would have to win 40 to contend.

Not going to happen.

[genegodawa]

Tim,

I don't think Dusty cares about the axe with all the money he's making. And he knows he can't hit for them or pitch for them so all that's left is a few decisions on when to pull a guy or pinch hit and to try to keep their spirits up and build comraderie or boost the players' confidence (which we know didn't work with Hawkins).

I am so surprised they keep firing managers when they still have contract time left. I wish my boss would axe me and still pay me for 3 more years. But I guess it all runs downhill, and there is yet to be an owner that gets axed and players rarely do so it ends up to be the fault of the man in the middle.

All I can say is at least this time we had a "name" manager, not some hopeful like for many past years goneby.

Even then, you gotta have the horses.

[CNY Tim]

Chicago beat writers are really laying it to Dusty and I agree with you Gene it's not all his fault. I wonder what they'd say about Dusty if the Cubs swept the Cards this weekend?

Should be a good 4 games. I'll tell you who has been showing life and that's been the Reds of recent. If they had some starting pitching they would be pretty decent.

Windy needs Griffey and I want him out of our division.

[rundrave]

I think alot of blame should fall on Dusty Baker, its not all his fault, but maybe if he didnt leave Prior and Wood and his other ACE pitchers out on the mound every single outing. It seemed like when they made that big playoff push a couple years back he beat those guys to death and it always seemed like that either pitched too many innings or threw like 140+ pitches each outing. Now they are banged up for it, and those young arms werent able to carry the load. Something had to give, looks like it was a couple arms.

A good bullpen may have helped but their closers were always getting hurt too.

Just the way the cookie crumbles for the Cubs I guess.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Hey Lots of Luck,

Why don't you take another sip of Stoly and return to your gulag in Minsk. As Paul McCartney said, "I'm back in the USSR, you don't know how lucky you are, boy." Wow, I'm glad that the rest of my FM brethren are not burning any crosses on my lawn. I see that most of you know the score exactly. I get to crow for the rest of the regular season, just like you did for the past 3 years and then it is time to put up or shut up. If my beloved Pale Hose tank in the first round, I will provide the marshmallows and weinies for the roasting of Pale Hose. If they continue on then it is game on. If they take it all, you guys can say that it is only one year, compared to the Twinks. I can gloat some more and then we can all move to the football forum where I will defend my lovable losers...DA BEARS! And you can bash each other about the Packers and Vi-Queens! It's all in good fun, except for Lots of Luck who is keeping warm by burning his copy of the Constitution in the fire. In the immortal words of Sgt. Hulka in Stripe, "Lighten up, Francis".

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD....YES!

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Oh God,

Here comes the slide, the Sox just lost to the Yankees. The only real team they have played this year. I feel a slide coming on...Oh Wait a Minute, The Sox just beat the Yanks the next two games to win the series....NEVER MIND!

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD...YES!

[CNY Tim]

Windy nice work there against the Yanks... Great pitching defeats good hitting everytime. Rowand is fantastic, that little guy flat out can cover centerfield, gold glove candidate undoubtably. Now you get to bring the Palo show to a hot Red Sox team. Lets see how the Red Sox perform against some serious pitching, good tester should be another good series. Enjoy your night off Windy...

[buzzsaw]

Quote:

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If they take it all, you guys can say that it is only one year, compared to the Twinks.

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Your squad would get full credit! They could be for real, I mean they are playing great consistant ball and have done so all year (hence the consistant statement) If I were in your shoes, I'd be excited about the playoffs... you don't have much to lose... nobody picked them to be there at the beginning of the year anyways... I know the expectations have grown......... anyways if you make the playoffs you know what they say... a chip and a chair! Anything can happen. If you take it easy on us sad Twins fans (oh wait we've moved on to the Vikings season) we might even cheer for your Sox to win a playoff series, of course a World Series would be out of the question. Wrong forum here but, what are your Bears going to do this year? They still have a decent to good defense and picked up Muhammed and drafted Benson... another year for Grossman to learn the playbook.... hmmm are you thinking Division title?? Playoff wins?? perhaps a flashback to '86. Slap some wisdom down on us optimistic Viking fans.