Hamels wasn't trying to prove a point to Harper. All Hamels did was give Harper his "welcome to the big league" moment. Gary Sheffiled had the same thing happen to him when he was a rookie. Nolan Ryan beaned him and he ran straight to first base. He was expecting to get hit and took it like a man just like Harper. When JT Snow first got called up he was on a tear. When he got his first chance to face Roger Clemens he took a fast ball right over his head. Again, he was expecting it. The difference between Harper and Sheffielld and Snow, was their GMs didn't have to act like a gorilla banging his chest to complain about a pitcher. They realized it's part of the game. They didn't have to coddle their superstars.


Mike Rizzo has been part of the Nationals organization since 2006. In 2007, on two straight pitches John Lannan broke Chase Utley's hand and then hit Ryan Howard. Rueben Amaro, the Phillies GM, didn't go to the media to blast John Lannan and call him "fake tough". If there is anyone who is a douche in this Hamels-Harper fiasco it's Mike Rizzo. He acted like those internet tough guys. Talking shit from a distant because he knows there won't be a reprocussions that he will have to face.[/quote]
the reason hamels hit harper was retaliation for lannon. Cole hamels isn't the pitcher to welcome a prospect to the bigs.

^^^ So, Hamels waited 5 years to retaliate for what Lannan did? At least Harper knew from the time he was 14 he was going to get hit in the back by Hamels.

Teams remember everything. Yeah when hamels got a chance to hit the #1 prospect in the history of baseball e wen ahead and did it . And then only reason he did it was because of the bad blood these teams have had toward each other the past few years. Hamels has been on every one of those teams

Barring a surprise, it looks like Berkman might be hanging it up...reported ACL tear...hate to see him go out this way, given how huge he was last year in the Cards' championship run and the fan favorite he has become in STL...given all the injuries, the shitastic bullpen and the call up of top prospect Matt Adams, we'll now see if Matheny is cut out for his job...tough road ahead with so many bodies on the shelf and the Reds on the rise.

Frog, go gentle on Lemon Dung, err, Demon Lung.

chapman is announced as cincys new closer. see i told you guys.

i think the red sox screwed up big time trading reddick. the guy would be the perfect rightfilder for them and they already had bard who could have easliy been closing. now this kid midlebrooks is about to get screwed and lets be honest. youkillis has been about done for the past year and a half as a hitter. he is not the same guy he was 4 years ago. i think he would be able to salvage his career as a first baseman in the nl. the brewers would be perfect. the red sox need to turn into that team once again that isnt afraid to give young guys a chance. what they have become now is the yankees and you see where those 2 teams are in the division right now. im sure the red sox will somewhat recover. i think the yankees will barely finish .500 though. that is one tough division and once jose bautista wakes up they blue jays lineup is going to be unstoppable. i think they rays will finish second in the diviosn behinfd the rays. i think the orioles barely hold on to 3rd p;lace and the red sox get 4 and the yankees finish last. even yankee fans have given up on the season and that was before yesterdays arod disappointment

Adam Lind demoted to AAA and put on irrevocable waivers. Thank fucking Christ!

the cubs haven't had a lead in 42 innings. wouldn't think that possible in this day....
however, there is a lot of talk about bringing Anthony Rizzo up. he's destroying AAA.

be nice to see a projected future cornerstone.

i heard that last night and it would work out because lahaire can play lf. if both rizzo and lahair continue to hit then you may see soriano finally get released before making his curtain call as the athletics dh

Matt Adams gets the call up in STL, and now possibly Rizzo in the near future in Chicago...Rizzo is arguably more MLB-ready that Adams...wonder how long the Cubs will wait...time for the NL Central to call up the young 'uns.

i heard its pretty much imminent

they'll do the wait until june whatever trick, so his years of service gets pushed back.
LaHair would likely play RF, and i don't see Soriano getting released under any circumstance.
The Cubs will eat a huge portion of his salary to trade him,though.


also: 51 innings without a lead and counting. whee. cubs fever, catch it.

Didn't Rizzo already get a shot at the majors...how does that work, I thought the clock would have already been running as a result? But I read the same thing you said, that they are keeping him down due to service time. Consider me confused.

And I can not wait for the battle of the Rockies vs the Cubs...some one has to win, right?

Scary.

no one wins in that scenario.
also, Cubs leadless streak at 60 innings, chance to be swept by the friggin' Astros tonight.

On the positive side, Travis Wood looked pretty good last night.
Nifty stat? The Cubs have used 5 different catchers already this season, as 3 of them are on the 15 day DL.

^ Speaking of Cubs catchers, what the fuck happened to Soto's hitting ability? Just a flash in the pan or did injuries play a part?

his second season he came in way overweight, and sucked. he's slimmed down some, but still really cant hit very well anymore.
He wasn't a very good minors player, until his final year when he just blew up, and dominated.
Then he was solid his rookie year, and that's it.

my real guess? P.E.D.s followed by too many bongs (he was busted with pot following his rookie year) and too many twinkies.

Watching Zambrano pitch against the Rockies and after one inning his stuff looks really good. Seems like Miami has him rejuvenated.

Spoke too soon, he fell apart in the 4th.

Good for my Rockies, bad for my fantasy team. Hate when that happens.

I noticed Zambrano's WHIP and a few other stats were among the NL leaders last week...can't imagine that will last long, given his recent history...

After the beating the Braves and Dodgers dealt the Cards, San Diego was just what the doctor ordered...they made Wainwright of 2012 look like Wainwright the Cy Young the other night...as a team, the Padres have 16 HRs and are hitting .218...horrific...once Carlos Quentin comes off the DL, they'll likely see a power surge - relatively speaking...30 team HRs by the All-Star break!

Orioles re-up Adam Jones for a believed to be 6 year, $85 million deal.

Painful for me. Drafted by the M's and sent to Baltimore for Eric Bedard. I remember Mullett telling me it was a bad trade at the time, but I'm not a huge prospect guy, so wtf. The M's needed another strong starter that season.

Anyway, thanks Bill Bavasi for that great goddamned deal.

Hideo Nomo got his ass lit up again in Miami tonight. At least the Giants offense is starting to catch some fire. Angel Pagan is one of my favorite players right now. That guy's intensity is consistently off the charts. Brian Sabean stole him and Melky Cabrera in this offseason. If they can sign both of them to sane/respectable deals, they'll really have something there in a year or two. Plus the Zito deal comes off the books pretty soon as well.

Sabean deserved to be fired outright for the Zito contract, yet somehow he's managed to win a World Series and build a very nice team underneath it.

Rooting for the Mets, I can't count the number of players they have traded away only to see them blossom elsewhere. Angel Pagan might be the most recent? Though he wasn't the same player last year where he was often criticized for a lack of focus.

Votto is a machine. Maybe the length of his deal is excessive, but getting to watch him play this weekend has been lots of fun. Nice defense and a great hitter.

And if I didn't know, I'd have thought this current Rox-Reds games was being played in Denver. Its homerun derby, 5 homeruns already in the 3rd inning.

my my losing skids are fun.
Cubs lost their 11th in a row last night... with a walk off HBP? ugh. this guy that replaced Marmol is no damn good either. harumph.

anyway, found this yesterday, and thought it was cool. no, its not MLB, but i've been watching baseball a long-ass time, and i don't think I'd ever seen this until now

http://deadspin.com/5913596/vanderbilt-pulled-off-the-rare-triple-steal

I watched so much baseball this weekend it was boardline pathetic. All that said though, it was a hell of a fun weekend. I did manage getting into the gym every day and seeing a show in-between. I worked the last three Saturdays, so it was good just to vegetate and drink some brews.

As predicted, the NL East is an insanely tough division. I picked DC to get a playoff spot, and they're looking good in the first 1/3rd of the season. A lot of stuff can happen though. Their pitching is rock solid though, in spite of losing the last two closers they've had (and to have Clippard step in, are you kidding me?) and Harper is the real deal. I'm rooting for them to do well, but you'd think at some point Philly wakes up (when Howard and Utley return?). And how about the Mets? They've actually looked really solid the times I've watched them, but it's probably just a matter of time before gravity catches up with them too.

The phillies are done if Halladay is hurt. Utley is done. He's proved that over the past couple of years. The only thing that may save the phillies is wigginton and pence when Howard gets back.