Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - QPOTD: The Pangramatic Posse

Thanks to Dilbert empathizer Jonny German, who clearly knows my prediliction for Personal Anagrams and Anagramatics, along with the ubiquitous "Baseball's Hall of Names" teams -- we have a mind-bending ...

Quirky Puzzle of the Day: What's the smallest collection of players you can name whose first and last names cover all the letters of the alphabet? (Full names and nicknames are fine.)

Example: For instance, Douglas Mientkiewicz and Xavier Nady are a nice start, leaving you hunting for a combination that covers b-f-g-p-q. So there's our first answer: Minky, Nady, Biff Pocoroba and Guillermo Quiroz. Thats four. Can anyone beat that? Bonus points to anyone who can at least tie the total of four while using Ed Ott as one of them.

And of course, keep those Make Your Own Roundup links and comments coming!

- King George of the Bronx doesn't want Derek and Alex to be friends any more. Write your own punchline.

- The Mets signed relievers Scott Stewart and Eric Junge and infielder Jed Hansen -- but really, Dave Stewart pitching, Carl Jung psychoanlyzing and Hansen singing "MMMets Bop" probably wouldn't do it for these guys.

- I'm ashamed to admit I got this nugget from the latest Jayson Stark I'm So Clever I Can Call Myself Useless column, but it's kinda cool given the variety of Ranges, Twins and Expos fans around here; see if you can answer before hitting the link: Who's the only player in history who has played for all three franchises to pass through Washington? (HINT: "Hello ... Jerry.")

Posted by Mick Doherty on Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:10 PM EST.

QPOTD: The Pangramatic Posse | 123 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

_sweat - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:30 AM EST (#1832) #

/shakes fist: Newman!! (Al)

_Tyler - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 02:43 AM EST (#1833) #

For instance, Douglas Meintkeiwicz and Xavier Nady are a nice start, leaving you hunting for a combination that covers b-f-g-p-q. So there's our first answer: Minky, Nady, Biff Pocoroba and Guillermo Quiroz.

Has J been dropped from the alphabet in order to get down to a 25 letter roster? What about H? Am I missing the point here?

By the way, there has never been an athlete go to seed quicker than Al Newman. If he's not 350 these days, I'm Barry Bonds.

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:34 AM EST (#1834) #

I knew I shouldn't have trusted Jonny's alphabetic skills.
Hello ... German.

_Jonny German - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:55 AM EST (#1835) #

Was ist das den? Ich habe ja kein ahnung!

_Max Parkinson - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:57 AM EST (#1836) #

I'll start with 4, (except I have all 26 letters, hee hee)

Doug(las) Mientkiewicz
Xavier Hernandez
Dan Quisenberry
Jeff Pfeffer

_Matthew E - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:46 AM EST (#1837) #

It was my intention to do this without using Mientkiewicz, but he's just so useful.

Doug Mientkiewicz
Javier Vazquez
Scipio Spinx
Bill Fahey

_Chuck Van Den C - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:02 AM EST (#1838) #

Not sure if these have been posted, but here are Tango Tiger's "Marcel" forecasts for 2005 (taken from the Hardball Times web site)...

Zaun 252/339/381
Quiroz 265/336/417
Hillenbrand 291/343/457
Hinske 259/342/430
Crozier 258/342/433
Hudson 273/341/431
Menechino 251/352/410
Adams 285/357/477 (oddly, just 214 AB)
Koskie 268/372/457
Wells 292/349/502
Rios 292/353/412 (just 5 HR)
Catalanotto 286/352/437
Johnson 279/341/404
Gross 253/341/394

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:03 AM EST (#1839) #

Isn't it Scipio Spinks? (Turns out, yup, it is.)

So yer short an "x." Coming from me,the alphabetically challenged, that might not mean much, but still ... 25-for-26 is very Gagne-ian.

_Matthew E - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:04 AM EST (#1840) #

Well, cripes.

_Chuck Van Den C - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:07 AM EST (#1841) #

Oops... I overstated the OBP by double-counting the IBB's.

Zaun 252/325/381
Quiroz 265/320/417
Hillenbrand 291/323/457
Hinske 259/335/430
Crozier 258/332/433
Hudson 273/330/431
Menechino 251/336/410
Adams 285/343/477
Koskie 268/356/457
Wells 292/340/502
Rios 292/344/412
Catalanotto 286/333/437
Johnson 279/313/404
Gross 253/332/394

Dave Till - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:19 AM EST (#1842) #

Not sure if these have been posted, but here are Tango Tiger's "Marcel" forecasts for 2005 (taken from the Hardball Times web site)...

The on-base percentages are startlingly consistent.

Hillenbrand .343
Hinske .342
Crozier .342
Hudson .341
Sparky .341
Gross .341
Going Going .339
GQ .336

There's another cluster slightly higher up:
Adams .357
Rios .353
Menechino .352
Cat .352
V-Dub .349

Oh, well. At least nobody is under .336, which has got to be a good thing.

An A-to-Z list composed entirely of relatively short surnames:
Sax
Gwosdz
Jackson
Aquino
Roof
Hubbell
Peavy (Jake Peavy, a San Diego pitcher)
Tam

Dave Till - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:20 AM EST (#1843) #

The on-base percentages are startlingly consistent.

Oops, that's what I get for waiting too long to post. :-)

A low of .313 sounds more realistic.

_Paul D - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:20 AM EST (#1844) #

Interesting that he has Crozier and Hinske with the same production.

Those are somewhat scary projections though, i'm hoping that as a team the Jays can outproduce that.

Aside: The past few days I've found it impossible not to type www.batterxbox.ca instead of battersbox. I don't know hwy.

Pistol - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:32 AM EST (#1845) #

Interesting that he has Crozier and Hinske with the same production.

And Hudson for that matter. I'm not sure if that says more about Hudson or Hinske & Crozier.

This team is really in trouble if Russ Adams is second on the team in SLG.

_Blue in SK - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:34 AM EST (#1846) #

Just thought I would throw this out there.

With the Jays being nudged towards a defense & pitching team, does it make sense for JP to consider trading for Mike Cameron? He still has 2 years left on a 3 year, $19M contract - which is reasonable by today's market.

His defense is outstanding, he has some pop, good OBP and he could potentially lead off the batting order.

This would move VW to either corner OF position, Cat to DH, Sparky the 4th OF and Hillenbrand to 1st. And, Hinske is moved to the Mets with a shiny new prospect (perhaps Gross). Our OF defense would be outstanding.

Yeah, the Mets don't need a 3rd baseman they have David Wright but he's a rookie and who knows if he's ready for primetime. Or, they can flip Eric to another team (Reds?)

The Rockies have offered up Preston Wilson in a straight across deal for Cameron, but he's owed $12.5M this year and battled injuries all last year.

Think VW would buy in? Thoughts?

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:38 AM EST (#1847) #

I think the Mets would laugh at that proposal, even if the prospect offered was David Bush ... they didn't exactly take great care of Mr. Kazmir, did they?

Maybe Lilly and Gross would get Cameron and they might take Hinske as a throw-in, but do you really want to do that?

_Paul D - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:40 AM EST (#1848) #

The problem with any trade proposal involving Hinske is that... no one wants Hinske. You'd have to take back a terrible contract. The only hope the Jays have for trading Hinske is that he has a fantastic start to the season and/or the Tigers realize that they don't have a third basemen.

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:42 AM EST (#1849) #

Right, Paul ... and if Hinske IS hitting .411 with 10 homers on May 15 and is traded, imagine the whining and caterwauling that will go on here after the Jays trade "their best hitter."

_Matthew E - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:46 AM EST (#1850) #

This is why I say the Jays need Hinske to put his game back together. It's the only outcome to the Hinske story that doesn't suck.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:47 AM EST (#1851) #

http://proxy.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=1980522
The past few days I've found it impossible not to type www.batterxbox.ca instead of battersbox.

You mean you don't have it bookmarked?

For those amongst us who have ESPN Insider access, Rob Neyer is listing the 10 teams who did the least to improve themeselves this off-season.COMN

I don't have ESPN Insider, so all I know is that Neyer's own Royals are one of his ten. So who would the others be?

We can either guess Neyer's picks, or we can make our own! Let's play!

I say... well, I say Neyer's a smart guy and he'll agree with me anyway, so I say the 10 teams who did the least to help themselves are:

The first four look pretty easy to me:

Chicago Cubs
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals

After that...

Philadelphia Phillies
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins
Cleveland Indians
Toronto Blue Jays
Washington Nationals

OK, let's argue. And if anyone knows who Neyer's ten are, that would be interesting.

_Four Seamer - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:51 AM EST (#1852) #

For what it's worth, Kieran indicated on another thread that the Jays are not on Neyer's list.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:55 AM EST (#1853) #

they have David Wright but he's a rookie and who knows if he's ready for primetime.

Pos	Player	Ag	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG
3B	David Wright	21	69	263	41	77	17	1	14	40	14	40	.293	.332	.525

I'd say he passed the audition. He's not ready; he's arrived.

_MatO - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:09 PM EST (#1854) #

Interesting paragraph from BP below. I guess we mis-interpreted the potential pay-cut Delgado could have been offered in arbitration. I don't think it changes a thing but the info may be useful for future reference.

The maximum-cut rule does not apply for free agents in arbitration. The Collective Bargaining Agreement specifically states that the maximum salary reduction rule is inapplicable in free-agent arbitration cases. To clarify, when Joe Sheehan wrote that that Toronto wouldn't risk going to arbitration with Carlos Delgado because of the 80% salary rule, he had his facts wrong. The rule didn't apply to Delgado because of his free-agent status.

Gitz - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:13 PM EST (#1855) #

Neyer's bottom ten (presented in the order in which they appeared in the column, but Neyer did not rank them), courtesy of my "salary" with ESPN.com . . .

Kansas City
Oakland
Colorado
Texas
San Diego
Chicago
Detroit
Chicago(no, not a typo)
Pittsburgh
Tampa Bay

Craig B - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:16 PM EST (#1856) #

Four as well:

John Bale
Mark Grudzielanek
Mox McQuery
Steve Filipowicz

_Jacko - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:16 PM EST (#1857) #

The Tigers seem happy enough to hand the job to Brandon Inge. With their infield set as Inge/Guillen/Vina/Pena, I guess Infante becomes the subersub, backing up all three infield positions?

However, if the Tigers called up and offered Hinske for Chris Shelton, I'm sure JP would say yes. In fact, he would probably be willing to throw in some cash to sweeten the deal.

What other teams could use a 3B?

Cincinati: Is F-Lop really the answer?
Dodgers: If Werth is a no-go, they could trade for a 3B shift Valentin to the OF.
Pittsburgh: I have no idea who their starting 3B is going to be.
CWS: How about a straight-up trade for Crede?

It's hard to believe, but there's teams out there that could actually be helped by Hinske...

jc

_Matthew E - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:17 PM EST (#1858) #

Okay, back for another go. I wonder if it's possible to do this in three names?

Xavier Hernandez
Jamie Quirk
Floyd Wooldridge
Putsy Caballero

Gitz - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:17 PM EST (#1859) #

Magpie, we don't give grades around here, but if we did ... well, let's just say it would have to be a GENEROUS curve to bail you out. I don't know how Houston isn't on Neyer's list, so I'm giving you partial credit on that one.

_Matthew E - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:25 PM EST (#1860) #

Mox McQuery, huh? Tell the truth; had you ever heard of him before? (I hadn't heard of Floyd Wooldridge.)

_Jacko - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:34 PM EST (#1861) #

The maximum-cut rule does not apply for free agents in arbitration. The Collective Bargaining Agreement specifically states that the maximum salary reduction rule is inapplicable in free-agent arbitration cases. To clarify, when Joe Sheehan wrote that that Toronto wouldn't risk going to arbitration with Carlos Delgado because of the 80% salary rule, he had his facts wrong. The rule didn't apply to Delgado because of his free-agent status.

Ok, so they would not have been forced to offer him 14.8 MM.

So let's assume that the Jays did offer him arbitration, and the market spoke and decided Carlos was worth 3/30? He very well might have decided to go to arbitration, and gotten himself an award of 12MM. Which would have sucked up most of the Jays' remaining budget.

I suppose the question is this. What is preferable?

Delgado + Gross + cheapRetreadLeftHandedReliever

or

Koskie + Hillenbrand + Schoeneweis

Of course, timing is everything. If Delgado had taken his time figuring out if he was going to decline, the Jays may have ended up losing out on Koskie _and_ Delgado. Which then would have left them scrambling to find someone to play 1B.

Hindsight is 20/20, but it might have been a good idea to offer Delgado arbitration...

jc

_DeMarco - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:34 PM EST (#1862) #

With their infield set as Inge/Guillen/Vina/Pena, I guess Infante becomes the subersub

I believe Vina will miss 2005 (or most of it?) because of his injury.

_DeMarco - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:36 PM EST (#1863) #

From rotoworld.com:

"According to his agent, the chances of Fernando Vina "coming back and playing this season are very, very slim."
Agent Sam Levinson said Vina has a torn patella tendon. "It is a very difficult problem to deal with that is not necessarily repaired by an operation. The very last resort is surgery because of the risk, with no guaranteed outcome. You must give it every chance to heal, non-operatively," Levinson said. "Unfortunately, Fernando is not making any progress." The Tigers should collect insurance on the $3 million Vina is still owed if he misses the season. All in all, this contract hasn't turned out as badly as we thought it would. "

_Marc - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:36 PM EST (#1864) #

http://www.washnationals.blogspot.com
What other teams could use a 3B?

Cincinati: Is F-Lop really the answer?
Dodgers: If Werth is a no-go, they could trade for a 3B shift Valentin to the OF.
Pittsburgh: I have no idea who their starting 3B is going to be.
CWS: How about a straight-up trade for Crede?

Cincinnati has Randa. LA received the rights to negotiate with a Japanese third baseman and also have Antonio Perez who could play third and out-produce Hinkse. Pittsburg has Wigginton. And the WSox are not going to give up on low-paid, promising Crede.

Craig B - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:40 PM EST (#1865) #

Matthew gets bonus points for using Putsy Caballero. So far, I've used the shortest name anyone's used (John Bale).

And I have an even shorter name:

Steve Wojciechowski
Abner Dalrymple
Guillermo Quiroz
Andy Fox

_Jonny German - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:43 PM EST (#1866) #

Neyer must be giving Houston a whole lot of credit for re-signing Clemens...

Trades made by Houston this offseason: Uh, none.
Players signed to Major League contracts: John Franco.
Gone: Carlos Beltran, Jeff Kent, Wade Miller.

Wow.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:49 PM EST (#1867) #

a GENEROUS curve to bail you out.

I don't think a partial credit is enough...

_#2JBrumfield - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:52 PM EST (#1868) #

I don't believe this has been mentioned yet but the Syracuse SkyChiefs will have a new alternate uniform in 2005. Marty Pevey was modelling it during the team's Hot Stove event.

Click here to go to www.skychiefs.com

I like the cap and the colours but I really don't like the lettering on the jersey. However, my "personal fashion critic" Mrs. Brumfield gives it a thumbs up. We should have a poll here, who agrees with me on the jersey :).

I also wonder if they'll go back to being just the Chiefs. The First Nations people would be up in arms.

Craig B - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 12:59 PM EST (#1869) #

Neyer must be giving Houston a whole lot of credit for re-signing Clemens...

Let's just say I ain't picking the Astros for any World Series wins this year. Ahem.

Let's not forget their 36-year-old #1 catcher, 37-year-old first baseman, and 39-year-old leftfielder. And their two primary bench players are 36 and 37. And their young players aren't that young, except for Burke, Hernandez and Taveras. The Astros should be the oldest team in baseball.

_Marc - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 01:05 PM EST (#1870) #

http://www.washnationals.blogspot.com
The Astros should be the oldest team in baseball.

Older than the Yankess... oh my god... I see another trade brewing for Steinbrenner... he likes to be No. 1 at everything. Or perhaps he'll just bring Jesse Orosco out of retirement. Rickey Henderson is still a free agent; he could probably play a better centrefield than Bernie Williams.

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 01:13 PM EST (#1871) #

Gitz, which Chigago is that on Neyer's list?

I think we need a clarification on what he means by "helped themselves the least." Through inactivity? Through bad movement? Through losses?

These are very different reasons, not to mention the fact that "helped themselves the least" is very different from "hurt themselves the most."

Gitz - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 01:25 PM EST (#1872) #

From Neyer himself. (Well, I'm the one who cut-and-pasted, but he wrote the words.)

Just to be clear, I am not considering any season beyond 2005, nor am I considering the cost/benefit of signing this player or that one. Rather, I'm concerned only with how the additions and subtractions figure to affect the standings this year. Signing a free agent counts, even if he's just re-signing; losing a free agent does not count. Trades count, both ways (coming and going).

Both Chicago teams made the cut, Mick. That's why there are two Chicagos listed above, and with the qualification that the second one was not a typo.

_Jonny German - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 01:31 PM EST (#1873) #

An all-Jay pangram:

Guillermo Quiroz
Alexis Rios
John-Ford Griffin
Spike Lundberg
Dustin McGowan
Jamie Vermilyea

Least used letter in the Blue Jay alphabet? I think it's tie between X and Q, with just 3 players each.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 01:40 PM EST (#1874) #

The Astros should be the oldest team in baseball.

Gosh. What about the Bombers? Let's see:

C Ausmus 36 - Posada 33
1B Bagwell 37 - Martinez 36
2b Burke 25 - Womack 35
SS Everett 28 - Jeter 31
3B Ensberg 29 - Rodriguez 29
RF Berkman 29 - Sheffield 36
CF Lane 28 - Williams 36
LF Biggio 39 - Matsui 31
INF Vizcaino 37 - Giambi 34
OF Palmeiro 36 - Sierra 39
SP Clemens 42 - Johnson 41
SP Oswalt 27 - Mussina 36
SP Pettitte 33 - Pavano 29
SP Backe 27 - Wright 29
SP Hernandez 25 - Brown 40
CL Lidge 28 - Rivera 35
RE Gallo 28 - Quantrill 36
RE Harville 28 - Gordon 37

Nah. The Yankees are older.

Of course, most of the Astros good players are old guys, but Oswalt and Lidge count for something.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 01:50 PM EST (#1875) #

Signing a free agent counts, even if he's just re-signing; losing a free agent does not count.

That does change the terms a little bit. And I suppose I can see the logic - the Jays failure to sign Delgado is like their failure to sign Beltre. We don't hold it against them when you judge their offseason. Houston does get marks for Clemens, and the Twins get credit for re-signing Brad Radke, which is really the only useful thing they've done as far as I can see.

I thought about the White Sox myself - I've been thinking about the White Sox lately - I think they will be worse, but they do have a chance to be better. (Duh.) They will definitely be a different kind of team this year. If they hadn't signed Iguchi I think I would have included them. What Williams has done this winter has a chance of working out. Not that it will, necessarily.

_DeMarco - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 02:45 PM EST (#1876) #

As far as Jays go, you almost use the entire alphabet on Tony Fernandez's real name:

Octavio Antonio Fernandez Castro

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 02:52 PM EST (#1877) #

That's perfectly legal, DeMarco. Toss in Guillermo Antonio Quiroz (What's with the Antonios?) and you're most of the way there.

_Dr. Zarco - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:14 PM EST (#1878) #

Too bad basketball names don't count, as Dikembe Mutombo's full name of:

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacque Wamutombo

would help things along quite nicely. Only need to fill in F, G, H, Q, R, S (wow...), V, X, Y, Z. Hmmm, on second look, it just repeats a lot of letters, and doesn't contribute many helpful letters like Z, Q, or X. Eh, he's worthless.

_Pete Warren - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:25 PM EST (#1879) #

I was just thinking ahead to Opening Day 2005 and wondered who the Rays will choose to be their starter against Doc?

Gerry - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:31 PM EST (#1880) #

I was just thinking ahead to Opening Day 2005 and wondered who the Rays will choose to be their starter against Doc?

Hey! Don't disturb the Pangramatic Posse when they are at work.

What's with the Antonios?

I thought it was the Spaniards that colonized the Caribbean, maybe it was the Italians?

_Pete Warren - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:36 PM EST (#1881) #

Okay?

Gerry - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:44 PM EST (#1882) #

Pete:

It cannot be Mark Hendrickson, if it is get ready for a long season by the bay.

I would not give it to Kazmir, he is a rookie, although Lou can do strange things.

Doug Waechter or Rob Bell, come on get serious.

OK, Dewon Brazleton by a process of elimination.

Not much depth there, is there?

Named For Hank - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:50 PM EST (#1883) #

Maybe it'll be that guy who yells at Hinske -- they could give him a contract and move him from the seats to the mound.

_Smirnoff - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:53 PM EST (#1884) #

Nice work, Demarco. That was a great suggestion.

_H winfield Teut - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:55 PM EST (#1885) #

With all the anagram, my favorite Trivia question, what is the Only Letter never used in either a coaches or a players first and last initials?

_Pete Warren - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 03:56 PM EST (#1886) #

Haha no there is not, Gerry my friend. Brazelton showed promise last season, but its pretty obvious the Devil Rays are going to stink for the 8th year in a row. Even with all of their young talent on the field or in the minors.

Another couple of questions. Has there been any JaysTalk on the Fan recently? I can't really take too much of Swirsky, but Mike Hogan likes to talk baseball. Any Mike Wilner either?

Finally, Spring Training is less than a month away and we have no television play by play man for RSN. Hmm?

Gerry - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:06 PM EST (#1887) #

The Fan has been full of Superbowl talk, Rafer Alston talk, and "this is the latest last chance to save the hockey season" talk.

I reckon by the middle of next week the Superbowl talk will be done, and the Hockey season should be cancelled, leaving a window for more lockout talk and some baseball. Wilner is heading to Florida, I assume for March 1, so there should be lots of ball talk starting then.

Mike Wilner....are you out there?....give us some hope!

_Rob - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:08 PM EST (#1888) #

Speaking of baseball on the FAN, Buck Martinez will be on with McCown today. He didn't say when; I just heard it now.

_Ryan Lind - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:11 PM EST (#1889) #

As far as old teams go, what about the Giants?

C Ausmus 36 - Posada 33 - Matheny 34
1B Bagwell 37 - Martinez 36 - Snow 36
2b Burke 25 - Womack 35 - Durham 33
SS Everett 28 - Jeter 31 - Vizquel 37
3B Ensberg 29 - Rodriguez 29 - Alfonzo 31
RF Berkman 29 - Sheffield 36 - Alou 38
CF Lane 28 - Williams 36 - Grissom 37
LF Biggio 39 - Matsui 31 - Bonds 40
INF Vizcaino 37 - Giambi 34 - Cruz 32
OF Palmeiro 36 - Sierra 39 - Tucker 33
SP Clemens 42 - Johnson 41 - Schmidt 32
SP Oswalt 27 - Mussina 36 - Rueter 34
SP Pettitte 33 - Pavano 29 - Tomko 31
SP Backe 27 - Wright 29 - Williams 23
SP Hernandez 25 - Brown 40 - Hermanson 32
CL Lidge 28 - Rivera 35 - Benitez 32
RE Gallo 28 - Quantrill 36 - Brower 32
RE Harville 28 - Gordon 37 - Herges 34

_Pete Warren - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:15 PM EST (#1890) #

Well good, I'm glad I haven't been listening to the damned Fan then.

But yes you're right Gerry the baseball talk will definitley fire up in the next few weeks.

Opening Day 2005 at the Dome should be a sellout. No, a real sell out where every seat is full? Right. Not like the last couple announced sellouts in there, where the upper deck was still half empty. I figure with the defending champ BoSox in, the new look SkyDome (and the excitement from the Jays actually owning it) and the overflow of the Red Sox Nation (wherever they may roam), it should be a every seat taken event at the dome.

_DeMarco - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:20 PM EST (#1891) #

Finally, Spring Training is less than a month away

I'm about 90% sure I will attend a Jays spring training game this year.

_Jacko - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:31 PM EST (#1892) #

Cincinnati has Randa. LA received the rights to negotiate with a Japanese third baseman and also have Antonio Perez who could play third and out-produce Hinkse. Pittsburg has Wigginton. And the WSox are not going to give up on low-paid, promising Crede

Oh, I didn't know Cincinati signed Randa.

Who's playing 3B for KC this year?

So Infante will probably play 2B for the Tigers next year. If they decide Inge is better suited to be a supersub than a 3B, they could still possibly be interested in Hinske...

Named For Hank - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:39 PM EST (#1893) #

Hey, who has a schedule handy? How long is it until the All-Star break?

_Rob - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:43 PM EST (#1894) #

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=tor&m=7&y=2005
NFH, COMN. All Star Game is Tuesday, July 12.

_6-4-3 - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:45 PM EST (#1895) #

5 months and 11 days, or 162 days.

Only 161 days until the hillarious idea of a home run derby at Comerica takes place.

_Vernons Biggest - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:52 PM EST (#1896) #

the overflow of the Red Sox Nation

There will be Red Sox fans there but not that many as in the past for a few reasons:

-It's not Opening Day for either team (not like 2003 vs. Yankees).
-With exception to the $2 game, Red Sox fans weren't plentiful in April last year.
-Alot of Red Sox fans come in the summer to do a Red Sox/summer vacation. Cold, early Aprils in Canada aren't too appetizing for a vacation.

I predict a sell-out by mostly Jays fans and about 3000-5000 Sox fans.

_Tyler - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 04:55 PM EST (#1897) #

I'm pretty sure that there won't be a sellout. The start time pisses me off though-what's with these afternoon starts during the week? I've heard rumours that it might get moved to the evening if the Leafs aren't playing; hopefully that's true.

Named For Hank - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:00 PM EST (#1898) #

http://www.battersbox.ca/archives/00002748.shtml
Only 161 days until the hillarious idea of a home run derby at Comerica takes place.

That means 161 days until Robert Dudek has to buy his Shea Hillenbrand jersey. COMN.

_Four Seamer - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:08 PM EST (#1899) #

_Four Seamer - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:08 PM EST (#1900) #

_Vernons Biggest - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:22 PM EST (#1901) #

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=tor&m=4&y=2005
Start time as of today has not been changed and it is at 3:15. COMN for the schedule.

_Vernons Biggest - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:24 PM EST (#1902) #

The start time pisses me off though-what's with these afternoon starts during the week?

Well, at least its an improvement over last year (Monday at 1:00 compared to Friday at 3:15).

_James W - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:46 PM EST (#1903) #

Buck Martinez is on the FAN now.

_Rob - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:46 PM EST (#1904) #

Buck's on the FAN now.

_Pete Warren - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:49 PM EST (#1905) #

What the hell is wrong with the afternoon start anyway? Thats when opening day should be anyway. Its tradition!

_Four Seamer - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:51 PM EST (#1906) #

Uh, I'm an idiot. I'm looking at the wrong ticket. But I'm with Pete. Anything to get out of work early on a Friday afternoon is fine with me...

_Rob - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 05:58 PM EST (#1907) #

What the hell is wrong with the afternoon start anyway? Thats when opening day should be anyway. Its tradition!

Yeah, the Yankees' Opening Day this past year was an afternoon start...if you watched it in Djibouti. Actually, the Blue Jays were the only AL East team to have their Opening Day in the afternoon. It should be in the afternoon, you're right.

Side note: McCown's co-host -- Elliot something, the HNIC guy -- never pronounces "Ricciardi" right. Ever.

_groove - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:00 PM EST (#1908) #

The alphebatized Jays--

I'm using the names as listed by default in baseball-reference. So far I have been unable to find 4 jays to cover every letter- but i have found three quaduplets where they cover 25 of the letters...

Aquilino Lopez, Felix Heredia, Steve Bowling, Jimmy Key -- all but C
Aquilino Lopez, Junior Felix, Steve Bowling, Mickey Mahler -- all but D
Juan Beniquez, Felix Heredia, Mickey Weston, Dave Parker -- all but G

Some stats for all 459 Bluejays players names:
9 have a Q.
11 have an X.
Next least popular are Z=41, F=49, P=57
Yeah P.
I will report back shortly if I can actually find a set of 4.

_groove - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:08 PM EST (#1909) #

The players with the most consonants:

Clayton Andrews and Dave Lemanczyk have 9. A whole bunch are tied at 8.

The players with the least consonants:

Luis Leal with 2.
Nino Espinosa, Manuel Lee, Luis Sojo, Bob File, Al Leiter, Al Oliver among those with 3.

Players with all 5 vowels:
Aquilino Lopez
Edwin Hurtado
Jacob Brumfield
Joey McLaughlin
Julio Mosquera
Miguel Cairo
Raul Mondesi

_Rob - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:22 PM EST (#1910) #

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2005/01/c9443.html
COMN -- Why are the Jays holding a press conference tomorrow at the Dome? FieldTurf? Whatever it is, it's at 11:00.

_Paul D - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:26 PM EST (#1911) #

You mean you don't have it bookmarked?

I did, and then in an attempt to delete some spyware I deleted some files that appear to be important, and now I get a strange message whenever I open Firefox and can't access any past webpages on it, or submit data to any website. I also can't open my outlook.

So, the lesson is, don't delete files if you don't kn ow what you're doing!
:)
Although I imagine most people already know that.

_Eric - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:26 PM EST (#1912) #

Who's playing 3B for KC this year?

Mark Teahen, and they have Chris Truby if they feel Teahen's not quite ready yet.

_Vernons Biggest - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:32 PM EST (#1913) #

Why are the Jays holding a press conference tomorrow at the Dome?

It's to announce the official completion of the sale of SkyDome. FieldTurf and Scoreboards may also be included in this conference.

_6-4-3 - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:39 PM EST (#1914) #

COMN -- Why are the Jays holding a press conference tomorrow at the Dome? FieldTurf? Whatever it is, it's at 11:00.

Actually, given the last press conference, I think we've found the next Blue Jay.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 06:43 PM EST (#1915) #

in an attempt to delete some spyware I deleted some files that appear to be important

OH, we all know that feeling... :-)

I'm wondering if re-installing Firefox might fix that. (Of course, my ultimate solution to all computer problems is the Scorched-Earth-Policy. I reformat the hard drive, and reinstall everything. Like every four or five months, and I've got it down to an art by now.)

Depends on how long you've been using Firefox, but upon installation it does ask if you want to import your old bookmarks from Internet Explorer. Which obviously won't do you any good if you didn't have any, but I would think it should at least get your browser working normally again.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 07:11 PM EST (#1916) #

John Sickels has done his last column ESPN (COMN), and I'm starting to run out of people to read over there.

But this looks promising:

A daily weblog called MinorLeagueBall.com will be operational in about two weeks. The free site will feature daily updates along with news and analysis about minor league players from Sickels.

_Greg - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 07:27 PM EST (#1917) #

Dave Berg to the Red Sox!

Those bastard large-market teams, stealing all our best players

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 07:51 PM EST (#1918) #

Finally, someone to fill Nomar's shoes.

_BCMike - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 07:54 PM EST (#1919) #

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article.jsp?content=20050201_184917_6120
COMN, for Marty York's speculation on the news conference.

New name for the Skydome and the possiblity of a budget increase.

_Ron - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:02 PM EST (#1920) #

The source is Marty York so I take it with a grain of salt. But if he is indeed accurate of his report with JP getting a bigger budget, wouldn't that have been more useful earlier in the off-season, so the Jays could have re-signed Delgado?

Why announce a bigger budget less than 3 weeks before spring training when all the big name FA's are already gone. The Ownership/Front Office knew they were going to puchase the stadium this off-season, and they also knew the Yanks and Red Sox would be big spenders again. Why did the lightbulb go off this late in the off-season?

_sweat - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:21 PM EST (#1921) #

Ron, maybe JP asked Rogers not to come through with the increase until after Carlos was signed by someone else. I think JP new all along that Carlos was not gonna give a home town discount, and that much money is obviously too much for one guy, even with an increased budget. Maybe this makes the Blue Jays a team that can absorb a little more payroll and maybe add payroll and a key minor leaguer in the right deal.

_groove - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:24 PM EST (#1922) #

The alphabetized Jays-- conclusion

I am going to declare that there are no sets of 4 players that cover every letter in the alphabet. I have no proof - but my greedy algorithm with backtracking has found nothing. You are welcome to search for an answer if you wish. Just keep in mind that there are 1825357626 different possible groupings, and I've only looked at about the top 100000 candidates.

If someone can let me know of a list of all players (over any era) i can run my algorithm to see if there are any groups of 3 that cover every letter.

_Ron - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:25 PM EST (#1923) #

Why would JP wait until Delgado signed with somebody else? The Jays didn't offer him abitration which basically already sealed the deal he wouldn't be back. Heck I could take it one step further and say the Jays brass already knew Delgado wouldn't be back before the off-season even started.

It doesn't make any sense.

_Magpie - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:32 PM EST (#1924) #

Dave Berg to the Red Sox

That's OK, we've got Hillenbrand.

But let us remember the at bat against Guardado last July...

_John Northey - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:53 PM EST (#1925) #

I suspect the payroll jump will be for 2006, with more cash available for 2005 if the Jays need it mid-season. It will be dressed up as being something Rogers couldn't afford to do until they offically owned the stadium, plus with the costs of the park this year they couldn't add more costs in 2005 without knowing it would be enough to push the team over the top.

_Joseph Krengel - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:55 PM EST (#1926) #

http://www.canadasdebate.com
I think Yorke was suggesting that the budget would be increased in COMING years, not this year. In all fairness, Rogers is probably going to sink about $30 million into the Jays this year in addition to the operating budget, so I can forgive them for not allowing for a budget increase of any large scale until 2006; especially since the Jays quite simply aren't ready to get a return on that investment (i.e. making the playoffs) this year.

_Lefty - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 08:55 PM EST (#1927) #

The source is Marty York so I take it with a grain of salt. But if he is indeed accurate of his report with JP getting a bigger budget, wouldn't that have been more useful earlier in the off-season, so the Jays could have re-signed Delgado?

Why wouldn't a little Blue Jay birdy drop a line to "Rogers Sportsnet" with good news.

I agree with you though, it seems a little disingenuous to announce more money now. The cynic in me says that seasons tickets are not increasing and advertizers are laughing their heads off when Blue Jays promotions are calling to re-up.

However, the optimistic sliver in me says that at least Rogers may have heard. (Thankyou RG et al) At the end of the day though a budget increase will be seen as good news and offer the average fan some hope. And really thats all the fans want, some hope. If they are competitive the fans will rightfully ask for more and that can be dealt with then.

If Rogers gives a fairly significant budget increase -$75 million - then I will be very happy. This figure was actully promoted by Robert Dudek last August or so.

Yesterday I linked the free agents signed and salary list on the daily QOTD thread. With what the Jays have now and what was available you could have built a very high quality club. For not doing something this offseason shame, but a fickle baseball fan such as me ... I can soon forget.

We shall soon see.

_Lefty - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:06 PM EST (#1928) #

In all fairness, Rogers is probably going to sink about $30 million into the Jays this year in addition to the operating budget,

With all due respect I wouldn't describe buying the Skydome and ancillary improvements for $30 million as "sink about $30 million into the Jays ...."

I'd more likely decribe that as shrewdly investing. What did the Skydome cost again? Half a billion or so? Cripes if skydome was imploded the land would probably come close to cost recovery.

_Moffatt - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:11 PM EST (#1929) #

Although the Jays own the dome, they don't own the land the Dome sits on. They lease it from Canada Lands Co. for approx 600K a year.

_Lefty - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:13 PM EST (#1930) #

Thanks for the clarification Moffatt.

_Moffatt - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:21 PM EST (#1931) #

No worries. I had the same reaction you did when I heard they were getting it for 25M. I thought "that's a steal!!! The land has to be worth that much alone!!"

So I did some checking up on it. Turns out it's on a 99-year lease, so whoever owns the Skydome will be paying rent until 2088 or so. :)

_Lefty - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:30 PM EST (#1932) #

I guess though, 600k a year is a pretty good price for a 99 yr. lease. That must have been the Feds largest contribution to the subsidization of the project perhaps.

_Tyler - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 09:53 PM EST (#1933) #

Ron, maybe JP asked Rogers not to come through with the increase until after Carlos was signed by someone else. I think JP new all along that Carlos was not gonna give a home town discount, and that much money is obviously too much for one guy, even with an increased budget.

Why would a team publicly announce their budget? If you do that, doesn't it just invite people to try and squeeze more out of you, knowing that you've got it to spend anyway?

_Tom L - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:00 PM EST (#1934) #

If this report on the budget increase is accurate it will represent the best news of the offseason. This potential budget increase will hopefully be occuring at the right time, considering the aging Boston and New York lineups.

I look forward to tommorrows annoucement, and the continued transformation of the Toronto organization.

Mike Green - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:14 PM EST (#1935) #

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/story?id=297903
Apparently the party atmosphere at the Caribbean World Series starts even before the teams arrive, and this can cause a little disruption. COMN.

We're thinking of you, Jabonoso, as we shiver.

Gerry - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:20 PM EST (#1936) #

So.......

Rogers Field
Rogers Dome
Rogers Stadium
Rogers Park
Rogers Yard
Rogers Sinkhole

I vote for Rogers Field.

I also guess the payroll will increase to $60 mil, Ted's not that generous.

Named For Hank - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:23 PM EST (#1937) #

I ponied up 50 big ones and now it's the Namedforhankatorium.

_Paul D - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:27 PM EST (#1938) #

I'm wondering if re-installing Firefox might fix that.

Yeah, that's my plan. I'm not really worried about firefox, i'm more upset about losing access to Outlook. I had all my addresses and stuff in there. So as to stop the tech talk here, does anyone know a site where I could try to figure this out?

As for the Skydome, I vote for:

Rogers presents the Rogers Skydome at Rogers Field.

_Mick - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:30 PM EST (#1939) #

I think the Cheer Club should step it up next year and try to convince everyone that the dome is named for Canadian baseball hero Steve Rogers.

_John Northey - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:31 PM EST (#1940) #

Rogers Stadium is my bet. Then it is generic enough to be used for the 1,001 events that go on when the Jays are not playing. Rogers Field sounds limited to sports that use grass. Rogers Stadium sounds like a place you can hold monster truck events, trade shows, etc. The Rogers Dome is possible but too 70/80's when all domes were called xxx Dome (Metrodome, Astrodome, etc.)

_Jobu - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:41 PM EST (#1941) #

http://www.bluejayscheerclub.com
I think the Cheer Club should step it up next year and try to convince everyone that the dome is named for Canadian baseball hero Steve Rogers.

Done and done. Now for a clever sign too say so.

_Braby21 - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 10:53 PM EST (#1942) #

Rogers Park would be cool, that's what I'm hoping for.

There's no way that its Rogers Dome, they want to get rid of the SkyDome name, why just change 1/2 of it?

Marty did say..."But don't expect the new name to include the word SkyDome. Rogers wants to drop that name entirely."

Hopefully he's right b/c I hate the Dome name, and hopefully he's right b/c an increase in the budget would be the best Baseball news I've heard in a long time.

I'm glad that they didn't increase the budget for this off season, I'd much rather let some young guys mature a bit more and make good money/baseball decisions with the extra money. I would NOT want them to just overspend for older free agents, and waste the money.

_forest fest - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:09 PM EST (#1943) #

Given the concrete involed in Skydome (enough to build a sidewalk from it's location to St-Louis) the images created with the names Rogers "Field" or 'Park" are hardly appropriate....

How about...Rogers Rock...or Rogers Behemoth or something along those lines

_Jobu - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:10 PM EST (#1944) #

http://www.bluejayscheerclub.com
How about...Rogers Rock...or Rogers Behemoth or something along those lines

Lets just call if Fragglerock and have the first concesions in the MLB to manned entirely by muppets.

_jer - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:33 PM EST (#1945) #

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/10791456.htm
Philly prospect Cole Hamels was injured in an ugly ulteraction outside a Clearwater bar. Along for the ride were two Jays minor leaguers:

According to Clearwater police, the fight occurred about 2 a.m. Saturday as Hamels and four friends, two Phillies minor leaguers and two Toronto Blue Jays minor-leaguers, left a club called Razzels, on Gulf to Bay Boulevard. "We got attacked from behind," Hamels said. "Some of the guys who did it were really drunk. We were just trying to protect ourselves.

COMN

_jer - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:34 PM EST (#1946) #

"altercation"

_Joseph Krengel - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:35 PM EST (#1947) #

http://www.canadasdebate.com
With all due respect I wouldn't describe buying the Skydome and ancillary improvements for $30 million as "sink about $30 million into the Jays ...."

I'd more likely decribe that as shrewdly investing. What did the Skydome cost again? Half a billion or so? Cripes if skydome was imploded the land would probably come close to cost recovery.

This is all true, but the fact remains that in addition to spending $53 million in operating expenses for the Jays, Rogers is also outlaying about $30 million extra dollars this year. I'm no huge fan of the Rogers organization (they've dicked me around with internet service like you wouldn't believe), but they are spending at least $80 on the team this year; and that is not an unsubstantial outlay.

I guess "Dome of the Rock" would be an inappropriate name too, huh?

_Joseph Krengel - Tuesday, February 01 2005 @ 11:42 PM EST (#1948) #

http://www.canadasdebate.com
Also, is it just me or does it look like Vernon has a nose-piercing in his photo on the Jays page?

Toronto Blue Jays

_Moffatt - Wednesday, February 02 2005 @ 08:26 AM EST (#1949) #

Rogers presents the Rogers Skydome at Rogers Field.

That's a mouthful!

My vote goes to "The Rogerarium"

_Matthew E - Wednesday, February 02 2005 @ 09:20 AM EST (#1950) #

Rogers presents the Rogers Skydome at Rogers Field.

...of Anaheim.

Gerry - Wednesday, February 02 2005 @ 09:57 AM EST (#1951) #

BA has a draft preview up, for subscribers. BA has the Jays selecting Tyler Greene, a shortstop from Georgia Tech who was the top prospect in the Cape Cod league last year.

Craig B - Wednesday, February 02 2005 @ 11:18 PM EST (#1952) #

BA has the Jays selecting Tyler Greene, a shortstop from Georgia Tech who was the top prospect in the Cape Cod league last year

Greene's a pretty good pro prospect, despite the ribbing I seem to feel the need to give him. He's hit well with wood (less so, oddly enough, with metal) and everyone agrees he can pick it.

I'd be surprised if the Jays went with another shortstop, but stranger things have happened. If they do go with a position player, I'm betting they will look more for an outfielder, possibly not a college guy.

I think they will be much more inclined to take a college pitcher.

_Dean - Thursday, February 03 2005 @ 05:32 PM EST (#1953) #

Allan Simpson clarified the ranking today in the draft chat saying that BA did not take into consideration which team was drafting. I guess it was their pre-season Top 30.

_Dean - Thursday, February 03 2005 @ 05:55 PM EST (#1954) #

Further to your post Craig, it would not concern me if the Jays took another SS. They are usually the best athlete on a team and appear to be able to make the transition to another position without too much difficulty.
Right now I would like Gordon to slide to the Jays. Other than Upton there does not appear to be any prep guys worth taking at this time, although Wells was considered a reach when he was drafted.
Pelfrey and Hochevar would look pretty good right noww too.

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