Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Friday, October 02, 2009

Dick Pole gets the shaft


Really, he did. The Reds pitching staff wasn't that bad.

(hat tip to Mrs. Shyster for the headline. Seriously)
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 8:49pm (6) Comments

Shawn Chacon: a gambler on the lam!


Ed Wade chuckles:

Authorities now have an arrest warrant for former major league pitcher Shawn Chacon as a result of his alleged failure to pay Caesars Palace $150,000 in gambling markers.

The 31-year-old Chacon — a onetime All-Star whose up-and-down career as a big league pitcher ended abruptly last year following a physical confrontation with the general manager of the Houston Astros — is facing a felony charge of passing three bad $50,000 checks in March, according to a copy of a criminal complaint obtained by the Sun . . . Gary Thompson, a spokesman for Harrah’s Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace, said the company does not comment on pending litigation.

Pending litigation? Jesus, first Chicago can't bribe anyone anymore, and now Vegas casinos are litigating this kind of business instead of breaking legs in private like God and Meyer Lansky intended. The whole damn world is going to hell in a handbasket if you ask me.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:10pm (7) Comments

My Morning in Exile


I don't know what to think about Chicago not getting the Olympics. Is it that Chicagoans don't bribe people anymore or that they're simply not good at it anymore? And to be honest, I'm not sure which of those two things would make me more sad:

  • Hatin': you're doing it wrong.


  • Somebody wake up Cito Gaston and tell him that he's lost the confidence of his team. Wait, forget it. He looks so peaceful like that.


  • When people ask me why I don't believe in God, I tell them "because if there was a God, he wouldn't ensure lifetime employment to Brian Sabean while really good GMs like Kevin Towers are left to dangle."


  • I tend not to put a lot of faith in "OMG, baseball is teh broken!" arguments, but when the Nats are among the most profitable teams going, some things should probably be changed.


  • The Mets aren't hitting a lot of home runs at home, so someone has the idea to move the plate forward ten feet. They're not hitting a lot of home runs on the road either, so whaddaya gonna do about that?

  • If you read only one article that contains the phrase "spraying tiny pieces of frozen head around the room" today, make sure it's this one!


    • If the experts are right, the U.S. TV rights for the 2016 games just got cheaper, which means NBC will have more money on hand than it had planned to have. If you'll excuse me, I have to go ask someone for a raise.
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 12:20pm (8) Comments

    Three Cheers for IIATMS!


    Jason, hitting the bigtime:

    It's About The Money, Stupid has been selected by Rob Neyer and ESPN to be a charter member of what will be a new blog network on ESPN.com known as ESPN.com's SweetSpot Blog Network! IIATMS has the distinct honor of being the sole blog representing the New York Yankees in this network throughout the 2009 Playoffs, and hopefully into 2010 and beyond.

    There are still some technical things to be worked out as far as look and feel (I think he's going to be available via a pulldown menu at ESPN, but he'll correct me if I'm wrong). The network is set to officially launch on Monday, October 5th.

    Congrats, Jason!
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 6:32am (18) Comments

    And That Happened


    Twins 8, Tigers 3: You say the Tigers all but put it away yesterday? Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that the Twins, here, were only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.

    Nationals 2, Braves 1: Of course with all dead, well, with all dead there's usually only one thing you can do. And now that the Rockies have clinched the Wild Card, we're simply going through the Braves' clothes looking for loose change. Tommy Hanson is some loose change. He didn't win, but seven innings of one-run, nine strikeout ball probably clinched the Rookie of the Year award. More generally speaking, I'm proud of my team for not mailing in the last month of the season like so many of us out here in Braves Land thought they would. Last winter I said this team was really shooting for 2010. Based on how 2009 is ending, 2010 looks pretty good right now.

    Rockies 9, Brewers 2: Congratulations Colorado. After the horrendous start to the season and the canning of Clint Hurdle, I don't think anyone gave them a snowball's chance, but here they are with the wild card. Well, for now anyway. If they sweep the flaccid Dodgers this weekend, they win the west. If you're Colorado, do you try to make that happen, or do you try to rest regulars over the weekend and hope to get back at the Dodgers in the NLCS?

    Cardinals 13, Reds 0: Somebody obviously rubbed Chris Carpenter's balls down properly! Five innings, zero runs, a grand slam and a two run double. In an effort to extend his campaign of accusation and gamesmanship, however, La Russa protested the outcome of the game. Always keep 'em guessing. That's Tony's motto.

    Red Sox 3, Indians 0: If I were Eric Wedge I'd play this garbage 100% straight. Hold a team meeting before tonight's game. Give serious sounding quotes to the media suggesting that I was still passionately interested in the development of this team. Play it up so much that someone would feel obligated to subtly remind me that I was fired already. As for Boston, it had to be nice to see such a strong start from Lester after last week's comebacker. The next time we'll see him is Game 1 against the Angels.

    Astros 5, Phillies 3: Cliff Lee was shaky last night. And down the stretch in general, going 2-4 with a 6.13 ERA in his past seven starts. I guess he's the Game 1 starter, though who the start will come against is still to be decided.

    Orioles 3, Rays 2: "From the tracks on his arms, large caliber wound, proximity to a heroin market... I'd say it was a heated dispute about the symbolism of red and blue in 18th-century French romantic poetry." Yeah, I know they won. They still get a H:LOTS quote.

    Rangers 11, Angels 3: After questions swirled regarding Kevin Millwood's health and whether the Rangers should allow his option to vest, he comes out and wins his last three starts. This one was a ten strikeout, 122-pitch complete game, and as the Rangers enter the offseason, the question of who the veteran anchor of the rotation is going to be has suddenly disappeared. As for the Angels, this was merely a tuneup. John Lackey only threw 40 pitches, and he'll start Game 1 against the Red Sox.

    Mariners 4, Athletics 2: A two-run single for Mike Sweeney in the fifth puts Seattle over the top. Given that he's at the end of a one-year contract, it could be Sweeney's last moment of glory in the big leagues.

    Giants 7, Diamondbacks 3: A day of curtain calls. Rich Aurilia played in what is almost certainly his last home game for the Giants and Randy Johnson pitched the ninth inning. I suppose, theoretically, he can pitch over the weekend in San Diego, but his presence on the active roster is less about helping the team right now than it is about going out with his boots on as opposed to the DL. If I'm Bruce Bochy I let the Big Unit finish his career high-fiving his catcher and teammates.

    Pirates vs. Cubs: Postponed: It's harder to lose 100 games if you only play 161!
    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:30am (23) Comments