DM

Answer:

Consistently outplaying Arod over his career and wearing pinstripes.

MARIANO RIVERA

Had 24 straight postseason saves until he gave up the blooper vs Arizona and ruined my boyhood dream of seeing the Yankees clinch a game 7 world series in person. I drove all night to got to that game and came within 1 out and 2 stikes.

DAMM bringing in the infield.

Mariano consistently the best of Class his entire career.

Consistently outplaying Arod over his career? What the HELL have you been smoking Maximus? Arod has 3x the power Jeter does and does EVERYTHING ELSE as well or better.

Lancer, the point was that short series results are flukish. Even total losers can have great performances. And some of the greatest players to ever lace them up can suck eggs. Stats over 10,000 at bats are a helluva lot more meaningful.

rivera has in fact been a GREAT closer-- no doubt. Pretty hard to compare a great closer with one of the all time great ss/3rd tho.

Lancer, I would post the stats of the series, but I already did.... Selective memory only holds when then others share the same foggy vision of reality... sorry.

Now to real questions

What the hell happened to Helton, Thome, Manny R., etc, etc this year... What happened to mister consistency Garret Anderson???

Don Marco wrote:

Lancer, I would post the stats of the series, but I already did.... Selective memory only holds when then others share the same foggy vision of reality... sorry.

Don Marco, I just posted Arod's pitiful performance in games 5,6,&7. I got these stats from an internet baseball statistical website. When confronted with uncomfortable evidence you
claim that I am suffering from 'selective memory' and 'foggy vision'.

Buggering the truth with your lies then and sounding knowledgable is far more important than the truth. The public can check on Arod's performance in last year's 5,6, & 7 versus Boston and determine which one of us is blowing hot air.

Porker
You are the one smoking something
I said Rivera not Jeter.

Rivera has ALWAYS been at the top of his class and has MANY BIG saves and wins.

All Arod has is stats but has NEVER came up big in A BIG GAME.

BTW I will always chose Jeter over AROD no matter what.

Amazing how AROD SuPPOSEDLY does everything better yet Jeter plays ShortStop and AROD is regulated to third.

Until AROD earns his salary with the Yankees I will not applaud him. He needs to make the All Star team, do well there keep his stats up the rest of the year, and get the yankees in the playoffs, win the playoffs and then win the World Series.

Then AROD will be one of the greatest players ever and finally have lived up to his hype and bloated salary.

Remember I am a die hard Yankee fan since 7 years old and have always loved them thorugh thick and thin.

Porker wrote:

Lancer, the point was that short series results are flukish. Even total losers can have great performances. And some of the greatest players to ever lace them up can suck eggs. Stats over 10,000 at bats are a helluva lot more meaningful.

Porker, I totally agree with what you have written here. MY point was that the truly great superstars are the ones that come up big in big game situations.

If I were to pick two all time teams to play against one another I would pick great players who came up big in big game situations (meaning the post season). Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez would not be on these teams in spite of their great statistics.

These guys in the spotlight (post season play), particularly Bonds were non factors and Arod in games 5,6,&7 which were the biggest games of his life was a non factor. Love away and dream away though. I guess it feels good to be an adoring fan. I reserve that for the great ones.

Porker, you never answered my question about your age, but I bet you never saw Koufax, or Gibson, or Mays or Mantle or yes Clemente play. Clemente and Mays had 12 golden gloves but as great an outfielder as Mays was I prefer because of his canon arm.

Bonds when he throws from the outfield can dribble a ball into the infield after about four bounces on the outfield grass. He throws like a girl. How could this clown ever win a golden glove? Yet he has. The quality of the game is gone because of the lack of personal integrity of most of the players. There are a few exceptions.

Lancer-- point is the entire yank team sucked it up during those games, not one person. I suppose Jeter earned his salary those games? Ohhh funny how you like to slam someone leading the AL is several cats as a bloat, but don't say boo about half of their folks making huge cash and who are truly worth shit (ala Giambi).

Intelligence is looking at the big picture, not selecting a snapshot and saying "u see-- I told u"... I posted the stats on the entire ALCS and the stats on ARODs post season career already... perhaps u need to read a little more.

The biggest games in Arod's life so far were games 5,6,and 7 in the ALCS against Boston and he choked and that is all I have to say about that.

Giambi minus the steroids is no longer a stud. No surprise there. Jeter has been a proven clutch performer in former championship years and you can't be a hero every year.

You just reek with inteligence and thanks for your definition.

BTW Lancer, Bonds had few post season at bats in his prime. With the Pirates, he was still young and never actually made it to the World Series. His last post season with the Giants is quite possibly the best post season numbers in one year anyone has ever seen. Simply spectacular. Also realize in his last couple of post season prior to the year they played the Angels.....they walk him plenty of times, making each at bat that much more crucial. In addition, Bonds hasnt had too many studs surrounding him in the order. The year they played the Angels, he put that team on his back and carried them the entire post season.

DM,

As a true Yankee fan.

I will go ahead and say it.

I was never for getting Giambi.
I thought it was a waste of money when they did and aside from a few key hits, he was just as much a disappointment as I predicted. Now that he is off steriods he is way overpaid.

I always said Tino Martinez was clutch and loved by Yankee fans. Last month at his age he showed he was still clutch.

Tino actually is near the all time playoff stat leaders in multiple cats... He's had the good fortune of playing in many many playoff games and made the most of it.

Tino ain't getting shown any love tho-- riding the pine off and on and making 2.7 mil.

I don't hear anyone talking about:

moose's 19 mil salary (at least arod does have some #s)

kevin brown making nearly 16 MIL!!!! He's lucky to be playin in the majors...

giambi making close to 14 mil, another minor league wonder...

b. williams making 13 mil-- he's a role player now and ready for retirement... has been.

sheffy at 11.5 is a bargain-- relatively speakin...

mariano at 10 mil another bargain

pavano at 9 mill-- hey he did have a decent season last year, why not?

the list is never ending...

Lancer, check your underwear-- something may indeed "reek"

Lancer, since your a tad miopic, here's your numbers:

ARODs combined post season stats throughout career:

.330 .395 .583 (avg, obp, slg)

Now for your hero Jeter:
.306 .380 .456 (great $#s, but sorry, ARODs post season #s well exceed his)

so who has better "big game" stats?

Ohh ya-- I forgot-- games 4,5,6...

I'm not sure if you ever played a sport, but the ONLY game of IMPORTANCE (as a player) is today's game.

Thome's had slow starts before and has been hurt. If healthy he, Helton and Manny are LOCKS to post amazing numbers before the year's over. Unless there's something we should know about re: 'juicing' with them... Sucks that that should even be brought up.

After a big game today Garrett A. is on pace to have exactly the same year he always had. Don't know what you're referring to with him, DM. Now Steve Finley, of the Angels, on the other hand... Glad I dumped him before this year.

Yup my bad, I meant to say my other guy I was expecting to bounce-- Preston Wilson-- I've been expecting big things since he headed to Colo... I'm still waiting...

Don Marco,

If my underwear does reek I am sure it is the result of your idiocy.

How many times has Jeter come up with clutch hits and defensive plays in the postseason? So many times.

Also Blazers, as a Pirate, Bonds choked and there is no other term for it. His youth then is an excuse for his mediocrity? Please, his ego is the only consistency in his life. Hubris is his downfall and he is not worthy to carry Willie Mays' toothbrush.

What did Bonds do in game seven against the Angels? Did he respond like a champ or a chump? I know the answer to this one so please don't blow anymore smoke up my ass.

You guys are really devoid of discernment in judging greatness.

Does anyone know how to figure on base percentage ? Shouldn`t it be - hits + walks divide by at-bats ? I tried this but it`s not the same as the stats i see posted in papers.

Hits + walks = total number of times a player gets on base, right ? At-bats is the total number of times a player gets to the plate, right, what could i be missing ? Thanks for any help.

It's actually a fairly complicated formula, times reaching base (hits+walks+hit-by-pitch) divided by total plate appearances (at bats + walks + hit by pitch + sac + sac flies). The simple way to approximate is add hits + walks and divide by at bats + walks.

Lancer, you have a very bizarre way of defining greatness. One game or three games or 5 games does not a career make. Your constant harping on it makes you sound like a crazy man.

Porker,

Bill Austin who was the offensive coordinator of the Great Green Bay Packers under Vince Lombardi defined greatness as the ability of a gifted athlete to come up big in big games.

I thought at the time he hit the nail on the head. A super definition that even a child could remember. Hmmm. Gee I am terrified of the definition of greatness that you and Don Marco could come up with.

DM

Sorry. I did not want Kevin Brown at that price and I predicted his worthlessness as well.

Bernie earned his paycheck many times over. He can retire being one of the great Yankees. POrker and I had this discussion last year I think.

BTW,
Jeter is my hero as well and his super catch vs Detroit was voted a top play of the week last week.

You're right, what the hell was I thinking? Timmy Smith kicks the hell out of Barry Sanders in the greatness department...

5 years after trading 5 keepers for an at the time injured Kerry Wood, I finally cut bait with the biggest fantasy baseball TEASE I've ever owned. And I think I got a whopper of a deal, trading Kerry and Derrick Turnbow for Scott Rolen, Luis Gonzalez and Kip Wells. My pitching has been dominant all season without any help from the guys I'm getting rid of (Thanks to guys like Jon Garland and Todd Jones), and I need hitting baaaaaad. I need batting avg. most, though, and those guys probably aren't the best answers in that regard. But I'm damned frickin' tired of Kerry Wood mixing starts like today's (dominant for 6 IP in a no decision) with trips to the DL. Now somebody else can worry about his ass!

Scott Rolen is on the DL as well and you can be sure they will nurse him back slowly with how dominate that team is in that division.

Rolen is off the DL but the torn labrum is scary, that is the injury that robbed sean green of his power its still not that bad of a deal , but if you ba is in the shitter deal your guys with bad avg it will be more productive than trading for good avg guys

'04 was a fluke for rolen. Back to earth injury or not.

he didnt really over achieve though, rbi and batting avg were higher than normal, sbs down , it wasnt a beltre-esque season

My season is languishing in 3rd place coulda/woulda/shoulda 1stplace=freeticket2Asiaduringhighseason dreams. Rolen's headed for more I GOTS A SORE PUSSY (and oh, btw, my team's got he best record in the NL by a good 10 games!) surgery.

Right now I'm praying that my offense kicks ass for the next 2 weeks like it has this week and I can pull off a miracle comeback and take 2nd. Bottom line: If I had taken Lyle Overbay or Sean STINKIN' Casey within 50 picks after I picked PINCHE PEDAZO DE MIERDA Phil Nevin, I'd be neck-deep in the standings right now. SUCKS that 1 mistake at such a dime-a-dozen position can fuck ip an otherwise pretty damned charmed season (smoltz/burnett/t.jones/f.lopez/garland/griffey/freel).

Oh, and of course, I drafted Jason Ellison ahead of the en FUEGO jhonny peralta in our midseason rookie draft.

Since I have noew dropped from 1st to FIFTH in K's since I traded Smoltz4Sheffield in an effort to make up much needed O-fensive ground (with niggling success ) My season is now officially over with a 3rd place finish.

Now on to more important questions: T. Henry v. C. Brown v. M. Moore v. TJ Duckett... My football season hangs in the balance...

I think brown has the most upside, but the downside risk is pretty high...

Well, for better or for worse, I have Henry (lame keeper, but better than Drew Bennett. Yeah, the last several weeks of last year were pretty sad!). I can either hedge my bet and draft Brown or Duckett in Rd. 1 of our rookie/FA/non-keeper draft, and still probably still get Moore in rd. 2. I'm REALLY praying that Larry Johnson drops a couple spots below the big 4 rookie backs so I can grab HIM (keeper league), but I doubt that'll happen.

RB's are such a concern for me because I always end up at crap there w/ decent players at other positions. And because people horde even crappy RB's in my league.

I get to take a trip to the USA next week for the express purpose of buying a football tout mag for this season. Ooh aah...

I have my draft for Football in Vegas this weekend at the MGM Grand. Glad my league has balance in statistics so that the person with the best team wins. I have a friend that is in a touchdown heavy league which is an absolute joke. Goaline RB's were getting more points than high end receivers and some QB's. Yards, catches, etc etc..it should all be included with touchdowns being the most important but not everything.

well entering my draft for this year, begins in 5 min. Looks like I have 12th pick in a 12 man league. Not a bad position, I hate being 1 or 2.

SP went fast for not much talent (imho) and much better talent was on the board so I picked accordingly. I managed to grap some RPs later on tho for whip, era, saves at least.

crawford, abreu, rollins, helton, mauer, e. chavez, c. cordero, beckett, brian, roberts, isringhausen, armando benetiz, flash gordon, wickman, baldelli, garret anderson, ervin santana, kenny rogers, jeff weaver, brad penny, alex rios.

That is the earliest Fantasy Baseball draft I have ever heard of. Mine isnt for another two weeks.

DM

Now there's a lineup that would kick ass in this year's Little League World Series.

lol-- more than likely your spot on.

We shall see.

DM, Helton in round 4 is a steal. Looks like a weak auto-draft yahoo league. You certainly grabbed a bunch of closers, for whatever that's worth. Better hope you can trade them for value once you've run away with saves. Your outfield options after Crawford are gambles. You should have picked more OF earlier on when you were chasing mediocre/injury prone closers. Your SP's are pretty lame for yahoo leagues, but the good news is that starters are easily added off the waiver wire when some sleeper gets hot.

DM, that's not a bad team, but not a particularly good one either. The only great value pick was Helton. Better hope the injury risks you picked (half your draft, IMO) stay healthy and that you're always on the cutting edge on waiver pickups for this year's studs.

MY keeper league draft is this weekend, one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year in the Porker empire. Can't compare to last year, though, as I was actually able to attend the draft in So Cal and then have dinner with Epi and Woodway before hopping a plane to Bangkok. On my birthday...

Our keeper league is dynasty-esque, as we keep 15 out of a 35 man roster and the draft is usually focused on rookies that weren't eligible last year at mid-season. My big decisions this year is deciding between guys like Prince Fielder and Matt Cain and possibly randomly available 2nd-tier closers. Truly a geeky situation.

porker, I agree on all counts. It was a 12 person draft with all present. The run was for SP and OF, so I ended up choosing IF, which I'm very happy with. My OFs have soem potential, but they haven't been producing as of late, it's a bit of a calculated gamble. I am not high on many SP, but Beckett in the 8th could turn out quite nicely. Then again, he ain't much for longetivity

Time's running out for us to form a CH "PORKER'S GONNA WHIP YOUR ASS TO FUND 2006 mongering" League for this year. Is there really NO interest? After I raped numerous culos in the football league, I shouldn't be surprised... Scared-ass punks.

lol-- sure fire up a league, i'm in.

How's this for geekdom? My entire money league season hinges on Chris Reitsma of Atlanta excelling as a closer for Atlanta this year. Of course the best I can hope for is 2nd place in any event, as the #1 squad in my keeper league is LOADED from 1-15, and he's smarter than even yours truly.

my 15 team league draft was brutal and much more difficult this time around as it is usually 13. I had the 8th pick which is tough. I really am looking at potential with this team and hope that potential comes to fruition early. Understand that my league has triples and doubles as well so thats what I was considering when drafting.

C- Bengie Molina
1B- Prince Fielder
2B-Robinson Cano
SS-Jimmie Rollins
3B-Brandon Inge
OF-
Jason Bay
Carlos Lee
Jeff Francouer
Aaron Rowand(small Philly park)

SP:
Chris Carpenter
Rich Harden
Haren A's
Jeremy Bonderman
Cabrera Orioles

Closer: Gonzalez Pirates(sleeper pick)

Blazers, so you took Bay #8 overall, Carpenter 23rd, then Rollins/Lee/Harden in rds. 3-4-5? I'd say you reached (slightly) in rd. 1, but Bay's a solid alternative to the usual Lee/Big Papi/Manny types that would wank in your scoring system for lack of AB's. The only loser I see on that squad is Cabrera. He's a sleeper for guys that are desperate for K's, IMO. I'd much rather have a solid whip guy like BRadke or Lieber.

how's the league coming pork?

Carpenter was #8 as pitchers are more valuable than everyday players as pitchers and batting categories are 50% of the points each and their are obviously less pitchers. I took Bay #23 as most really dont think of him as a superstar yet although he is perfect for our league as he fills all the stats. Two different publications listed Bay 4rth overall. I picked Haren in the 7th round which I believe will be a huge steal and Francouer in the 9th.

DM, I haven't heard from anyone else besides what's posted here, so looks like I'll have to make hard cash in a real league instead of amateur money here. Scared ass bitches!

Oh, another thing after my draft from last night... I need Rogelio Clemenza to get his fat ass on the field tout de suite!

6th place after 5 1/2 weeks of season... Decent hitting, horrible pitching (Depending on Burnett and Clemens has burned me big time). I haven't been this down this far into a season in a long, long time. We have a mid-season draft where we can draft recently eligible rookies. If Cole Hamels burns from the very first note as expected, starting this Friday, I may be smart tanking for the next 3-4 weeks to get in line to draft his ass in my keeper league and hope that he, Clemens, and Burnett can lift me back into contention for 2nd place. 2nd prize right now would be Verlander. He's a great young pitcher, but not likely to save my season, or anything.

1st place? That was over before the season even began. Our annual winner currently has 59 offensive points (12 team 5x5) and his team is like a who's who of hitters, and if the guy ever gets Prior and Gagne back, he's gonna be the greatest team in the history of the league.

Gotta love the yahoo leagues. One group of scared pinheads has vetoed every trade in the league this year. I've been burned twice now. My rant re: willy nilly trade vetoes on yahoo fantasy baseball pinhead board. MY version of spitting in the wind:

I understand the principle behind vetoing trades, but some jackasses just do it out of sheer spite. All it takes is a small, silent minority and, voila, no trades all year. I like yahoo leagues, but damn, stuff like this is annoying.

Example one: In FEBRUARY had a trade of M. Rivera for L. Berkman vetoed. In the draft a week earlier, Rivera went 36th overall, Berkman went 35th. Isn't that THE definition of an even trade? But some butthead pops off "Hitters are ALWAYS undervalued compared to pitchers. The trade is a JOKE". I'm sure others thought it was a "joke" on the other side. GRRRRR!

Latest example (not ONE trade in the league so far): My OF's are Gomes, Holliday, Guerrero, Sizemore, Hawpe and Ordonez. I already have Thome and Helton for 1B/UT, meaning that THREE of those guys sit EVERY day. As you might imagine, my starting pitching needs a little help. So I offer Hawpe for Tim Hudson, who despite Hawpe's awesome start and Hudson's poor one, still lags behind Hudson in the yahoo overall rankings. And Hudson's not even in the top 25-30 SP's. The other guy is happy to do it. VETOED. WTF is up with THAT? WHICH side is getting screwed there?

Again, gotta love the yahoo leagues.

I hear ya pork. The only trades i've seen vetoed in my yahoo leagues is in a private league and all were grossly imbalanced and I had to push the veto button myself. Really, it is the only way to protect against cheating and folks doubling up teams.

As for your trades, they appear well balanced and the Rivera for Berkman was a very interesting trade.

re: my lineup posted-- I'm holding my own in 2nd. I picked up uggla, arroyo (cin), W. Rodríguez (hou), and gagne all on waivers since the beginning on the year and all are kicking some butt. Meanwhile helton, crawford, and abreu better start picking it up.