Redstate Sports

Posted at 8:51am on Apr. 18, 2008 Los Bravos are *keeeeeling* me

By Jeff Emanuel

Seriously. We "finally have a pitching rotation again this year," say those who analyze this sort of thing for a living, and then what happens? Mike Hampton strains his chest warming up for his first game in two years, Tom Glavine pulls his hamstring pitching last week, some guy I've never heard of (with one heck of a strange name -- Jair Jurrjens, is it?) is filling the spot at the back-end of the rotation and losing, and two days ago Tim Hudson gets the old "Posada arm." He was throwing as hard as he could and was inexplicably unable to crack a speed 10mph slower than his usual fastball. They pulled him in the third out of pity.

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Posted at 1:46pm on Mar. 10, 2008 Fantasy Baseball, Anyone?

By Dan McLaughlin

The second annual RedState fantasy baseball league is gearing up. Its a Yahoo autodraft league. Email me if interested and I can send you an invite and/or a writeup on the league rules.

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Posted at 8:33pm on Jan. 17, 2008 Dear WADA

By Neil Stevens

When they stop having to take away gold medals from Olympians, then you have credibilty to bash MLB for not giving you their business.

So until then, keep your anti-American mitts off of real sports.

Sincerely, Neil Stevens

P.S.: Do you have any evidence that storing blood achieves anything, let alone your whole testing regime?

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Posted at 12:05pm on Dec. 13, 2007 Pettitte, Clemens first names leaked.

By docj

And so, it begins...

Clemens, Pettitte named in Mitchell report

Seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens and Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte were the first names to emerge Thursday from the Mitchell report.

Order up a pizza or two, folks - it's going to be a most interesting day.

Oh, and apparently the Evil Empire has finalized a $275M deal with A-Rod. Let's see if he turns-up on the list.

[Update by Darin] The full list is here.

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Posted at 5:19pm on Dec. 5, 2007 Marlins get Tigers entire farm system, 3 dozen baseballs and a used catcher's mask.

By Darin H

Wow quite a big trade, the Marlins get a whole lotta guys and the Tigers get one of the best young hitters and a league average pitcher:

read on

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Posted at 6:45am on Dec. 4, 2007 Marvin Miller: Loudmouthed Schnook

By Neil Stevens

The Veterans Committee at Cooperstown failed to vote in Marvin Miller, the union agitator and leader to blame for much of the labor strife Major League Baseball has suffered from over the years. So of course, he's ranting about it, according to the AP:

"I think it was rigged, but not to keep me out. It was rigged to bring some of these (people) in. It's not a pretty picture," Miller said by telephone after being informed of the results by The Associated Press. "It's demeaning, the whole thing, and I don't mean just to me. It's demeaning to the Hall and demeaning to the people in it."

I think it's fine if he never gets in. The Hall of Fame needs to induct only those people who left a lasting, positive contribution to the sport. Being one of the root causes of many sport-debilitating strikes is not something that should be honored by the sport, not in my view.

Of course, part of what makes this rejection so sweet is that one of Miller's nemeses, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, did get in this year. Ha ha.

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Posted at 10:07pm on Nov. 28, 2007 No surprise.

By docj

A-Rod looks set to go back to the Evil Empire. So, the Yankees are essentially going to have the same team that won 94-games in the regular season last year - only under new management and minus The Rocket™.

Now, the big question, how much is Boston going to make the pinstripers have to pay for Santana? Any guesses?

I'm thinking Becket-money.

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Posted at 9:48am on Nov. 20, 2007 So, when do pitchers and catchers report?

By docj

I hope y'all can forgive me - but being that the other major sport I follow with any regularity is metric football, and I know no one is really hot for a discussion of why the MLS, well, sux - but I need to look forward to the return of baseball - and the NCAA Men's BB Championship - to get me through the loooooooooong winter.

Besides, I have to tell you, with the AL East shaping up to be, essentially, a re-match of 2007 (sorry Toronto, you're looking at 3rd again next year) I am positively jazzed about what the 2008 MLB season has to offer.

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Posted at 7:57pm on Nov. 19, 2007 Baseball news and notes

By Darin H

Quite a bit of happenings in the offseason so far, this is some of the news from the last couple of days:

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Posted at 4:34pm on Nov. 16, 2007 So much for the rules!

By Neil Stevens

Food for thought if we hear people around the league puffing their chests about how Barry Bonds Broke The Rules™, courtesy of the AP:

That provision [of a contract that could give Alex Rodriguez more money from the Yankees if he breaks Barry Bonds' career HR record] must be drafted carefully because of Major League Rule 3 (b) (5), which states no contract shall be approved "if it contains a bonus for playing, pitching or batting skill or if it provides for the payment of a bonus contingent on the standing of the signing club at the end of the championship season."

Even with that, the commissioner's office allowed the Boston Red Sox in 2003 to give Curt Schilling a provision for a $2 million raise in a season following a World Series championship. Boston won the title the following year.

Way to hold yourselves up as the honest ones, guys. In 10 years are we going to hear about how Rodriguez and Schilling should be banned from baseball, because the league "looked the other way" on these contract rules violations?

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Posted at 9:03pm on Nov. 15, 2007 A-Rod to the...

By Darin H

Yankees? Wow, I didn't see that coming. I thought for sure that he would end up in LA either with the Angels or the Dodgers. He's not getting that much of a raise either - $27.5MM/year (about $2MM more). His opt out really hurts the Yankees though since they are out $21 million from the Rangers.

Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees have agreed to the outline of a record $275 million, 10-year contract, a deal that potentially would allow him to earn millions more if he sets the career home-run record.

read on

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Posted at 5:36pm on Nov. 15, 2007 Barry Bonds Indicted

By Darin H

Per CNN.com

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Barry Bonds was indicted Thursday on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, the culmination of a four-year federal investigation into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury looking into steroid use by elite athletes.

The indictment came three months after the 43-year-old Bonds passed Hank Aaron to become baseball's career home run leader. Bonds parted ways with the San Francisco Giants after the season.

While Bonds was chasing Aaron, a grand jury was working behind closed doors to put the finishing touches the long-rumored indictment.

Well, it's not a steroids indictment, but perjury and obstruction.

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Posted at 12:20pm on Oct. 30, 2007 Rumor: Joe Torre to sign with Dodgers UPDATED

By Neil Stevens

Sports Illustrated brings us a report from the White Plains, N.Y. Journal News that by Tuesday, the Dodgers will fire Grady Little and hire Joe Torre.

UPDATE: It's official. Grady Little quit today. Halfway there...

I have to think this is a smart move for the Dodgers to consider. This team collapsed several times this season, once dropping from first to fourth, and then from second in the Wild Card to completely out of contention. It's only how truly bad the Giants were this year that kept the Dodgers from sniffing last place during the bad runs. And when a team is this inconsistent, I have to wonder what's going on with the guys in charge.

Read on...

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Posted at 9:56pm on Oct. 7, 2007 For The Ghost Of Billy Sianis

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Well played, sir.

Well played.

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Posted at 12:54pm on Oct. 5, 2007 Ballgame Over. Yankees Lose.

By Mark Kilmer

As a Yankees fan, I feel obligated to blame last night's loss on A-Rod. After all, he walked twice and left a runner on base.

No, it's a different year, and I never blamed A-Rod personally for a series of collapses which had begun well before he got to New York. Alex Rodriguez is a Yankee. Period. And he's the most exciting one to watch, kind of like a 9th inning-Papi with talent beyond the big swing.

Here's what I saw last evening:

Sabathia could have been beaten last night. The little graphic, if it is to be believed, showed 7 of ten pitches thrown out of the strike zone. Posada swung at every one of them.

The Yanks we wearing the man out.

Wang had one of the worst night's of his career, and when Joe pulled him for OHLENDORF!, the game was there conceded. The TBS guys a little earlier that if Joe had run Damon from third on Shelley Duncan's double, there might have been a different momentum to the game. It would have been tied!

So what? Wang and Russ would have given the game away no matter what.

The most exciting team to which to listen in the second half of the season was New York. The most savage throughout, Cleveland. As I've written before, though I cannot find the link offhand: Cleveland rocks!

If anyone is to blame for this loss, it is me for not shouting at the TV loudly enough. I have my reasons.

That being said, Andy pitches tonight and the ship should be righted.

Kenny Lofton was a Yankee about three years ago.

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