Author Topic: Batter up! The 2003 JD Baseball Thread...  (Read 56576 times)

Offline Nicklab

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Re: Batter up! Baseball's finally back...
« Reply #15 on: May 19, 2003, 09:37 PM »
Well, it looks like that tie is going to last all of one day.  Barring a major rally by the Red Sox, the Yanks are going to win tonight.   ;D
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Offline FX-7

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Re: Batter up! Baseball's finally back...
« Reply #16 on: May 20, 2003, 12:29 PM »
My AStros have kind of slumped lately but are still in contention in the very competitive Central where the Cubbies, Cards, Astros and Reds are all within 3 games :)
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Offline dustrho

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Re: Batter up! Baseball's finally back...
« Reply #17 on: May 20, 2003, 07:59 PM »
Hey, did I happen to mention that I think baseball is a lame sport?

 :P
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: Batter up! Baseball's finally back...
« Reply #18 on: May 20, 2003, 08:14 PM »
Well, now that my Lakers have been waxed out of the playoffs, and our Ducks are just about finished winning the Stanley Cup  ;), I guess it's time to start refocussing my attention on our National Pastime...

The Angels and Dodgers have been medling around the .500 mark all season, so nothing terribly exciting that I've missed so far...  The Dodgers are starting to show signs of life though, mostly due to their resurgent pitching and the resurrection of Kevin Brown.  Nice to finally get something out of his oft-injured butt!  Still a whole LOT of season left though...

Of course Jim must be enjoying things now that his Braves have totally turned it on by going 27-5 over their last 32.   :o  Will "America's Team" ever go away...???   ::)  Please?   :'(

Offline chuckles

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Re: Batter up! Baseball's finally back...
« Reply #19 on: May 20, 2003, 11:21 PM »
Of course Jim must be enjoying things now that his Braves have totally turned it on by going 27-5 over their last 32.   :o  Will "America's Team" ever go away...???   ::)  Please?   :'(

Yeah, 27-5. Not too shabby I gotta say.  8) And just think, this is while Maddux is sitting with a 5+ ERA and Paul Byrd on the DL. Glavine must be kicking himself in the a$$ for leaving.  ::) Looks like it will be his first year since 90 of not making the playoffs.

Offline JediMAC

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #20 on: June 3, 2003, 10:30 PM »
Oh boy... What the hell was this guy thinking?!? One of the most prolific home run hitters in baseball history, and he's running around using a corked bat? For shame. Didn't he realize the risk involved if he was ever found out? Especially in regards to his reputation, which until now has been nearly spotless... Not too tough to realized the potential to get caught here, considering bats break, shatter, and splinter all the time. Unbelievable. There goes his reputation for all time now probably. Like Billy Buckner's gaff in the WS, this is probably what Sosa will now always be remembered for. Idiot.

Looks like he'll have an interesting defense, based on the ESPN story below. Wonder if it'll fly with MLB and the fans...

Here's the story from ESPN.com:

Quote
CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs star Sammy Sosa was ejected in the first inning of Tuesday night's game against Tampa Bay right when umpires found cork in his shattered bat.

ESPN's Harold Reynolds reports -- after talking to a a representative in the Cubs public relations department -- that Sosa will admit in his postgame presser that the bat he used tonight was corked.

Sosa will say the bat is usually used in home run hitting exhibitions but somehow it got mixed in with his game bats. He says he has never used a corked bat in a major league game before tonight.

The Cubs had runners at second and third when Sosa broke his bat with a grounder to second that at first appeared to drive in a run.

But crew chief Tim McClelland gathered with the other three umpires to examine the bat. Cubs manager Dusty Baker came out and the umpires showed the bat to him.

Mark Grudzielanek was sent back to third base, the run was wiped off the board and Sosa was ejected as he stood in the dugout.

Offline TopJedi

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #21 on: June 3, 2003, 10:44 PM »
WOW, I had not heard this story yet......this is really disheartening.

On a side note......FX7, are you from Houston???  I live in New Waverly....about 65 miles north of Houston. A bunch of Houston based Rebelscum members including myself are planning another get together for those of us in the Houston area........shoot me an e-mail if you wanna come hang out with us.Peace, Brian
Brian AKA TopJedi
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Offline Darth Kenobi

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #22 on: June 3, 2003, 11:03 PM »
His excuse will probally get him off the hook as far as his image but I think MLB needs to do something to him.  I think its stuipid to even use a croked bat for homerun expetions since someone may not know that its only for those types of things and give it to you in a real game and you will looked like an idoit, like Sammy is right now.  Likely for him he didn't get caught while trying for the home run record.

Offline MisterPL

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #23 on: June 4, 2003, 09:33 AM »
"Cork inside a wooden bat is thought to help players hit the ball farther and is against baseball rules. Several players have been caught using altered bats in the past, including Albert Belle, Wilton Guerrero, Chris Sabo, Billy Hatcher and Graig Nettles. All were suspended."

He should be suspended, plain and simple. And then he should be forced to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special. Twice.
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Offline JoshEEE

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #24 on: June 4, 2003, 01:06 PM »
I'm more interested in finding out what they find with the boxes of his bats that they confiscated. I mean....if NONE of them are corked, his story might just check out. Or at least be a little easier to swallow.

However, if they find another one....that's when he'll be beyond redemption in most people's eyes, including my own.

You know, it's not like a corked bat will enable you to hit 500 home runs, otherwise, we'd have a LOT more people with that milestone these days.

But it still looks bad, and I have a feeling they're going to make an example of him over the next few weeks.

He already had all the records he could ever hope for.....I don't know why he'd be so stupid as to do something like this on purpose.

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Offline Nicklab

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #25 on: June 4, 2003, 01:18 PM »
The examination of Sammy's bats is definitely important.  But what's more important?  How will Sammy fare in the future?  

If his homerun numbers start to drop off, and he starts hitting a lot of fly balls, or doubles, then it taints a lot if not all of his personal hitting stats.  If he keeps on putting up the same, average number of homers with increased scrutiny, then I can accept this as a mistake.  If not, his career is tainted.
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #26 on: June 4, 2003, 01:42 PM »
I'm more interested in finding out what they find with the boxes of his bats that they confiscated. I mean....if NONE of them are corked, his story might just check out. Or at least be a little easier to swallow.

However, if they find another one....that's when he'll be beyond redemption in most people's eyes, including my own.

Yep, that's exactly the kind of proof that I'm interested in seeing.  Heck, go saw open some of his older bats that are lyin' around in people's personal sports memorabilia collections and find out!  Where's the bat for #300, #400, #500?  Assumedly Cooperstown for the last one.  But I'm sure there's some other recent Sosa bats that have made the rounds on eBay and the like.  Let's test some out and see if he's telling the truth!

Like I said earlier, he'd have to be about the dumbest guy on the planet to take the risk of being exposed for a scandal of this magnitude, at this point in his career when he's probably already a lock for the Hall.  Boy, I hope he's tellin' the truth...

Offline MisterPL

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #27 on: June 4, 2003, 01:50 PM »
Heck, go saw open some of his older bats that are lyin' around in people's personal sports memorabilia collections and find out!

DUDE!!!  :o

Nobody's sawing through a collector's pride & joy! You x-ray it or toss it into an MRI machine. You don't SAW INTO #500!

And I thought you were a collector's collector. SHAME on you, Matt, SHAME.
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Offline JediMAC

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #28 on: June 4, 2003, 02:02 PM »
DUDE!!!  :o

Nobody's sawing through a collector's pride & joy! You x-ray it or toss it into an MRI machine. You don't SAW INTO #500!

And I thought you were a collector's collector. SHAME on you, Matt, SHAME.

I know, I know.  I definitely didn't mean #500 of course, or even the other hundred interval ones either...  But there's a TON of his game used bats in people's collections out there, so I'm sure some crazy sports collector will wind up calling up ESPN's news crew to film him ripping an authenticated Sosa bat open to investigate!

But yeah, you're right John - I guess there's fancier technology out there nowadays that will do the job equally as well, without ruining a good piece of lumber.   ;)  I've just always been a tool guy myself, and thus my excitement over getting to play with a saw...  Regardless, I say line 'em all up, and start X-raying!   8)

Offline dustrho

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Re: Sammy Sosa busted with a CORKED bat!
« Reply #29 on: June 4, 2003, 03:17 PM »
He should be suspended, plain and simple. And then he should be forced to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special. Twice.

He definitely should be suspended from the game.  Maybe even ban him from even getting a chance at making it into the All Star game this season.  You all should know I'm not a baseball fan, but with living in the Chicagoland area I would have to say I'm a Cubs fan (can't stand the White Sox).  Of course Sammy is going to put the blame on someone else about that bat.  It's said that he can't admit to him using the corked bat.

Pretty pathetic on Sammy's part.
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