I wonder what gave it away? Maybe the crash. Or the fact that it was an ambulance.

News item: Woman charged with stealing city ambulance from South Side hospital

Shamelessly Recycling

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before, why else would it be on my hard drive?

Dusty Baker Teaches Hitting

When Idiotic Baseball Broadcasters Attack

Buck Martinez and Chip Caray wax idiotic on the perils of taking pitches. Is it a requirement of an "old school" guy like Martinez to dump on Moneyball during every broadcast? It must be in their contracts. "Moneyball bad...taking pitches bad...must be aggressive...I am a zombie..." Of course, he has probably never the read the book. At least he didn't say Billy Beane wrote it (like Joe Morgan). Alas, the reason for Toronto's turnaround this year? The hitters are being aggressive, therefore their batting averages have gone up. "Right here you don't want Lyle Overbay to walk because he can't steal a base, you want him to hit a double." Er, Buck, can't we say that about any hitter? Isn't a runner on 2nd ALWAYS better than a runner on 1st? Oh, i forgot, a player with speed ALWAYS steals 2nd base, so i guess it's okay if those guys walk. What if a pitcher isn't throwing strikes like Matsuzaka today? You still swing at pitches out of the strike zone, like Rolen and Snider did to end the inning with runners on 1st and 3rd.

Chip's brilliant interjection: the winner of the game isn't the team with the higher on base percentage, it's the team that scores the most runs. Thanks Chip...and you are A MORON. The poster child for nepotism (though still following in his MORONIC relatives' footsteps). Let's see, yes, there is no correlation between base runners and runs scored. That's what these two idiots are saying. It's all about CLUTCH-HITTING! Well, let's look at the runs leaders in the AL. Texas and Boston. You know what category they also lead the league in? On base percentage (2nd and 1st). They also rank 3rd and 1st in walks, respectively. What team is last in the AL in runs and OBP? The Moneyball team itself, Oakland! (Maybe Billy Beane should re-read the book he wrote.) I'm going to go way out on a limb here: teams with more base runners score more runs. Go ahead, call me crazy. I also believe in evolution and global warming.

Perhaps Toronto's W-L record under Gaston is more related to allowing the fewest runs in the league and not being "aggressive at the plate."

~

I agree

And make it China's too, so shoddy work like the sign above can be avoided...

About which PARCers manager is ESPN's Chad Ford (not) talking?

By the way, is ___ _______ the most fun GM in the league? The guy is working on roughly 150 trade proposals as we speak. He has no qualms about calling up a team and saying, "How about Travis Outlaw and Sergio Rodriguez for Dwyane Wade." He won't blink an eye.

[insert your own funny response here]

Funny, FUNNY stuff:

Reds manager Dusty Baker has already decided he doesn't like Joey Votto's approach at the plate. The approach that led to a .321/.360/.548 line and 17 RBI in 84 at-bats following his callup last season. "He needs to swing some more," Baker said. "I talked to him about that. Strikeouts aren't the only criteria. I'd like to see him more aggressive." Baker doesn't want Votto, Adam Dunn or anyone else taking called third strikes. "I really, really hate the called third strike," Baker said. "I hate that. You're guess and you ain't ready to hit." That Scott Hatteberg rarely strikes out makes Votto a particularly risky pick this year.

Hatteberg also takes a lot of pitches though. Dusty might be driven insane. Anyone seen Randall Simon lately?

gotta love the aggressiveness (cont'd)

So you got yer best hitter at the plate and one out...could have runners on 1st and 2nd...naturally, this being the Cubs, you want to give an out away...

Bottom 3rd: Chi Cubs
- T. Lilly singled to shortstop
- R. Theriot grounded into fielder's choice, T. Lilly out at second
- C. Floyd singled to right, R. Theriot out at third
- D. Lee grounded into fielder's choice, C. Floyd out at second

doing the little things

Erstad reached on a catcher's interference in the 1st tonight.

You gotta love the aggressiveness.

Ozzie probably creamed his pants.