Ruckdad

JAson Hirsh is done for the year with a broken leg - Buchholz hasn't done much for the Rockies and Willy T is on the DL with a leg problem. Jsut playing devil's advocate here. I liked the trade when he did it, but it has definitely blown up in his face.

He's actually pitched fairly well his last few starts. Not $6.5 million good, but better than he had been. Look for Gutierrrez to get his first start and possibly Patton to come up to pitch on Saturday. Ownership may not want to bring Patton up yet though, it would start his major league service time and make him arbitration eligible one year earlier.

I think the novelty of football at Lamar would carry them through the first season and maybe even the second season. By the third season, there would have to be some progress towards fielding a consistently winning team. Recruiting local kids can only get you so far wihtout results. Now I agree that there is a lot of local talent in the Golden Triangle area, but the main focus has to be in winning - no matter where the recruits actually reside o rplayed high school ball.

There were a couple other honest ones as well. Jose Canseco - of course I think he may have gone from honesty to dishonesty in an entirely different direction that Bonds, Sheffield, McGwire, etc., and Ken Caminiti who was pretty much the first guy to admit to steroid use and comment on how pervasive it was in the game.

So if the school is not dropping tennis - what does this mean for football?

[Hidden Content] Davis has compiled a sparkling 231-70 (.767) in eight years as a head coach. Aug. 16, 2007 BEAUMONT - Greg Davis, who has won three NAIA national championships and is a three-time NAIA national coach of the year recipient, has been named men's tennis coach at Lamar University, announced Athletics Director Billy Tubbs. Davis brings a wealth of coaching experience and a great deal of success. In eight seasons as a head coach, Davis has compiled a sparkling 231-70 (.767) record. "I really like taking programs and building them," said Davis. "I believe this situation is ripe for improvement. Lamar has a history and tradition as a quality program, and I hope to build on that. "This is a very positive situation. In talking with coach (Billy) Tubbs and coach (Ron) Wesbrooks, I think the community is ready to get behind the program and we can take it to the next level. We have a good group of returning players from last season and, with the incoming freshman class, I believe the sky is the limit." Davis comes to Lamar after a highly successful five-year stint (2002-07) as the women's tennis coach at the University of Louisville, posting a 99-48 (.673) record. The 2005-06 Cardinals were ranked as high as No. 50 by the Intercollegiate Coaches Association poll and their 23-7 mark was a school record for wins in a single season. That also capped off the most successful four-year period in Cardinals tennis history with 87 wins. While at Louisville, Davis was elected to serve on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Operating Committee for Division I Women's Tennis and was a member of the NCAA Southeast Regional Advisory Committee. Prior to Louisville, Davis was the head men's and women's coach at the University of Auburn at Montgomery (1999-2002). He led the UAM women's team to two NAIA national championships in 2000 and 2001 and a national runner-up finish in 2002. Five of his female student-athletes earned All-America honors. His 2002 women's squad was named an ITA Academic All-American team. The UAM men's team won the 2002 NAIA national championship with five of his players being named All-America. In three season at UAM, Davis had 15 women and 13 men named as NAIA All-Americans. The UAM men's team posted a 68-12 (.850) record and the women's team compiled a 64-10 (.865) ledger. Davis' success at UAM did not go unnoticed as he was named the 2002 ITA and NAIA men's tennis coach of the year and the NAIA women's tennis coach of the year in 2000 and 2001. He was also named NAIA Region XIII men's tennis coach of the year in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and the NAIA Region XII women's tennis coach of the year in 2000. In addition, he was the Georgia Alabama Carolina Conference men's coach of the year in 2000 and 2002. Davis went to UAM after a one-year stint as the assistant men's coach at Northwestern University (1998-99). While at the Big 10 school, he helped lead the Wildcats to the 1999 NCAA Tournament and a No. 32 ranking. The Wildcats had a NCAA singles championship qualifier and two players ranked in the top 30 nationally. From 1996-98, Davis was the assistant men's coach at Wake Forest University. As part of his duties, he served as the Tournament Director for the ACC Indoor Tennis Championships. Wake Forest qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history during his tenure and was ranked as high at No. 55 in 1998. Davis was the assistant men's coach at Rice University from 1994-96 where the Owls were ranked as high as No. 43 in the nation. A successful player in his own right, Davis was ranked No. 3 in Alabama in 30 and over doubles in 1999. As a collegiate player, Davis was team captain and played No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles for IUPUI. While at Kankakee Community College, he was team captain and qualified for the NJCAA nationals in singles and doubles in 1991. Davis earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Indiana University-Indianapolis in 1994. He achieved United States Professional Tennis Association Certification in 1994.

I heard a report on the radio this morning that this is an unprecedented feat. For a team not to sign a pick in the first four rounds of the first year player draft is ridiculous. The Astros will be looked at as a laughing stock of an organization for this. Other organizations around the league already had questions about Purpura, this just adds flame to the fire. He needs to go!

I voted for Biggio, but there are a lot of other marginal guys that I really appreciated that played with the Astros through the years. Casey Candele, Tim Bogar, Bill Spiers, Alan Ashby, Eric Yielding, Jim Deshaies, Charley Kerfield. I think that Lary Anderson should get some run for perhaps making his largest contribution to the franchise by leaving in the Jeff Bagwell trade.

American League - A-Rod National League - Ryan Howard

Standing room only, but I'll be there. After he announced his retirement they sold out in less than 24 hours. Now you have to buy the flex plan or get them from a broker.

That was a good pitch that Lidge threw Braun - Give the kid credit for going down there and getting it. but I agree that Lidge should have been traded before the dead line. As for Lane - there is no one else on this roster that can play centerfield. ANd, this team is going nowhere in a hurry, and I think this is Lane's very last chance to show he can do anything. So far he hasn't. When Pence is ready, look for Lane to be a spot starter and then released in the off season. Ausmus will finish out the year and either retire or come back next year as a backup catcher.

Now I'm not a tax lawyer, but I don't see how the IRS could even place a value on the ball until he has actually sold it. The ball is only worth what a willing buyer and willing seller agree that it is worth. I have no problem with the IRS taxing him after the sale, or even on the fair market value of the ball after he caught it - Like $8.99 or whatever a ball costs these days. Until we know what the fair market calue of the ball is there is no basis in the ball.

I will say one thing about Ruth. In 1927, arguably his greatest year offensively he hit 60 homers, batted .356 and slugged .772 with an OPS of 1.248 - that's ridiculous. Ruth had three or four years that almost mirror those numbers. And lots of people make the argument that Ruth wasn't playing against Latin American or African American players. Well he was also facing better competition than Bonds faces. In Ruth's heyday, there were only 16 teams in the bigs - 8 in each league. So Ruth wasn't facing 5th starters like Wandy Rodriguez, Clay Hensley or Joe Blow outof AAA - he was facing the best arms in the game night in and night out. And he used up four or five years in boston pitching and didn't bat hardly at all. Plus the first few years he was in New York the team played in the Polo Grounds which was cavernous (490' to Centerfield). Babe Ruth was the greatest ball player that ever lived, hands down.

Just got himself in the record books too, gave up #755 to Bonds on Saturday night.

I saw this on Barstool Sports. The ending was totally wrong. No way VAughn blows cheese by Roy Hobbs.!

I think the Rangers came out of both of their trades pretty well, especially if Saltalamacchia can stay as the catcher.

Don't expect anything good. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if it just ends up being cash.

Padres get Ensberg and cash Astros get a player to be named later. BAsically the Astros have to help with Ensberg's salary, and the teams can agree later on the player the Astros get.

According to 790 The Sports Animal Morgan Ensberg has been traded to the San Diego Padres. No word on any other particulars. As soon as I hear, I will post.

He was on the radio her in Houston yesterday - And he is a standup guy. He took full responsibility for the way he has played, didn't blame the injury for it and thanked the Astros for the opportunity he had. He even cracked jokes about himself. I hope he gets picked up and can have a good run again.

They will get nothing for Ensberg and like it. Why would any GM trade anything for him when they know he is going to be released a few days later. Just sign him off the open market at a reduced rate and go from there. And the Giants aren't going anywhere, and I certainly wouldn't expect anyone to offer him a multi year deal. He'll sign with a team like the Angels or Indians for bench help and end up winning the WS.

I'm not sure what to make of this deal. I almost would have preferred they had gotten a couple minor league guys instead. Wiggington hasn't reallly shown me very much and he's already 29. He's really not young. I do believe he is an upgrade and is on the books for two more years, so we'll just have to see. I hope they aren't finished.

What really scares me is that they are starting to play well and if they win the series against the Padres, do Timmy P and Uncle Drayton think they are back in the race and not consider themselves sellers. I hope they see this season for what it is and realize they are out of the race and make some trades and restock the farm system.

I can't believe we are even having this arguement. He is a career 282 hitter with almost 300 HR at catcher and second base. He will likely end this season in the top 5 ALL-TIME in doubles. There are only seven guys in the history of baseball with 3000 hits and 400 steals - five of them are in the HOF - the other two are Rickey Henderson and Craig Biggio. He is a seven time all-star, at two different positions, a 4 time gold glove winner and Bill James said he was the second greatest player of the 90s. (I think that's high, but he'd be in the Top 5. For people that really WATCH baseball, and not just look at stats, they alll know that Craig Biggio is legit, and was productive up until this past year.

What quality players did they lose out on? don't forget the fact that the Biggio/Bagwell era is the most successful in the history of the franchise!