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Official MLB Thread - 2006 Season

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Man, Mirabelli is a douchebag

Towers: 'These guys don't miss (Mirabelli)'

By Tim Sullivan
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 19, 2006
LOS ANGELES – Doug Mirabelli won't be getting a Christmas card from Padres General Manager Kevin Towers, but maybe he should.

The cranky catcher who was traded to Boston on May 1 after a .182 April is one of the central characters of the Padres' season.

To get him, the Padres traded their popular and productive second baseman, Mark Loretta, to the Boston Red Sox. To get rid of him, Towers was able to extort Josh Bard and Cla Meredith from the Red Sox. Bard has hit .319 for the Padres. Meredith has five wins in six decisions and a 0.82 ERA.

Mirabelli, meanwhile, has raised his batting average, to .183.

“He called (Dave) Roberts (when Mirabelli was traded) and said, 'I guess I'm getting called back to the big leagues,' ” Towers said before Monday's game with the Dodgers. “I'm glad I didn't hear that. . . . I don't miss him. These guys don't miss him.”

Acquired as a stop-gap starting catcher after the Padres lost Ramon Hernandez to free agency, Mirabelli was quickly relegated to a reserve role upon the signing of Mike Piazza.

Mirabelli did not handle this as well as he does Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. Towers says he received more calls from Mirabelli than from any other player during his tenure, and that the complaints were ceaseless.

“He was (upset) when we got Piazza,” Towers said. “ . . . He was (upset) because Rob Bowen was hitting in a group with Piazza and it should have been him. . . .

“The Sunday before the trade, Mirabelli was calling my phone like 5-6 in the morning. I finally get to (Petco) Park . . . I get into the clubhouse and he says, 'KT, can we have some private time?' ”

When they were alone, Towers said, Mirabelli told him the Padres might want to start Bowen behind the plate against the Dodgers that day, “because I'm not focused on the game.”

“I said, 'What?' ” Towers recalled. “He said, 'My boys, the (Red) Sox have been calling me. I got to tell you, it's all I watch on TV; all I think about is the Red Sox. Do me a favor and you guys a favor (and make a deal).”

Bard was then leading the major leagues with 10 passed balls, unable to come to grips with Wakefield's knuckleball. The Red Sox were desperate to bring Mirabelli back to Boston. But the last thing Towers wanted to do was accommodate a player whom he considered a pain.

“I said, 'You're (expletive) catching today,' ” Towers said. “ 'Theo (Epstein) ain't paying you. I'm paying you.' . . . Then in the worst way, I wanted to trade him to the Yankees. In the worst way.”

:lol :lol :lol
 
Joe said:
In recent years, the costumes have ranged from Hooters girls (Nick Johnson and Alfonso Soriano) to pimps (Jose Contreras and Hideki Matsui) to Elvis Presley (Andy Phillips and Scott Proctor). Last year, Chien-Ming Wang and Robinson Cano were outfitted in cheerleader uniforms, complete with their names on the back of the shirt.

This year's winner? George Steinbrenner.

The seven players -- Beam, Melky Cabrera, Jose Veras, Sean Henn, Andy Cannizaro, Jeff Karstens and Kevin Thompson -- were dressed in blue blazers, white turtleneck shirts and gray dress slacks. The outfits were topped off by gray-haired wigs and aviator sunglasses.

“All I want to know is, where’s my golf cart to the bus?” reliever T. J. Beam said.



there better be pictures

Could only find two pictures and both were of Melky....but I did find a pimp Matsui from 2003.

pimpsui.sized.jpg
 
rc213 said:
O-M-G-!

BEST $8 I HAVE EVER SPENT IN MY LIFE!

OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!OMG!

Holy shit, did you get to go to the game?! I'm jealous as HELL if you did!! I gotta get a video of the 4 at bats in their natural order.. I can't even imagine what it was like to see happen live (on TV or in person). So amazing -- good article here: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/colum...&id=2594127&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

That Matsui picture is funny every time. :lol WOO, thanks Kuro -- can't wait to watch em! :D :D
 
Julio Franco playing 3rd,batting cleanup? Apparently Willie wasn't kidding when he said he was going to have the guys rest today. The whole lineup looks like a rebuilding Mets team.
Poor Glavine.:lol
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
yankees can't clinch tonight can they? the most they can is clinch a tie right?

No, they can clinch because they won the season series, so a tie goes to them.



Can't wait for the White Sox to lose tonight. **** you, Minnesota, you won't win the division! Enjoy your shitty Wildcard!


=(
 
Eminem said:
No, they can clinch because they won the season series, so a tie goes to them.



Can't wait for the White Sox to lose tonight. **** you, Minnesota, you won't win the division! Enjoy your shitty Wildcard!


=(


no, i mean they'll clinch a tie tonight right and then tomnorrow a win or sawx loss clinches it for us, right?
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
no, i mean they'll clinch a tie tonight right and then tomnorrow a win or sawx loss clinches it for us, right?

If they win tonight and the Red Sox lose, they'll clinch. It's impossible to clinch a tie with the Red Sox because the Yankees won the season series. The tiebreaker goes to who won the season series, which the Yankees won. So they wouldn't have to wait for another Sox loss/Yankees win.

At least, that's what I heard on the radio today.
 
evil solrac v3.0 said:
no, i mean they'll clinch a tie tonight right and then tomnorrow a win or sawx loss clinches it for us, right?

Kay just said no, we would not clinch.

But he's kay lol
 
The worst part of using the "B-Team" is it looks like Glavine is going to get tagged with the loss tonight, despite pitching a gem. Tommy deserves more.
 
Eminem said:
If they win tonight and the Red Sox lose, they'll clinch. It's impossible to clinch a tie with the Red Sox because the Yankees won the season series. The tiebreaker goes to who won the season series, which the Yankees won. So they wouldn't have to wait for another Sox loss/Yankees win.

Presumably, the second place team in the AL East will not get the wildcard - so, the tiebreaker would be meaningless - in case of a tie, they'd do a one-game playoff. So I think the Yankees *would* clinch a tie tonight if they win and Boston loses (except in the unlikely [impossible?] scenario both the Yankees and Red Sox finish with better records than the second-place Central team).

I think that's right.
 
Link said:
B-Team gets it done.

Yeah that's good that Glavine didn't get the loss. I mean the guy is striving for 300 wins afterall.

The team looked so different today, where it sorta gave off a spring training vibe. So what do you think-is Milledge Mets property or do you see him traded in the off season? I dunno what to think anymore.
 
i hope the Tigers choke and fall out. I think the ChiSox and Twins would make for a more interesing playoffs. the Tigers young pitching + hacker lineup smells like an easy playoff loss...then again they might play the A's, who are destined to never make it past the 1st round...something would have to give.
 
Chi-Sox are the best team in the majors if the pitchers are going good. Yankees lineup is just as good but they don't have clutch power hitters like Chicago.

Interesting playoffs? I just want the Yankees to win with A-Rod getting WS MVP :D

PS: I would have to say Morneau is the AL MVP. Jeter is just another hitter in the Yankees lineup...
 
Cloudy said:
Chi-Sox are the best team in the majors if the pitchers are going good.

Funny how they started off great, sucked shit for the middle half of the season, and then turned it on again the last quarter.

**** YOU FREDDY GARCIA AND JAVY VAZQUEZ. ****ing assholes. Play like shit until it's too late. ****ing dickheads. At least Garland started pitching his ass off right after the all-star break and didn't wait until ****ing mid-August. Buehrle and Contreras have at least been consistantly mediocre. You ****ing cocks decide to pitch like ****ing aces when there are 20 games left in the season.

**** you both.

sorry, had to vent.
 
Angelus said:
Yeah that's good that Glavine didn't get the loss. I mean the guy is striving for 300 wins afterall.

The team looked so different today, where it sorta gave off a spring training vibe. So what do you think-is Milledge Mets property or do you see him traded in the off season? I dunno what to think anymore.
I'm in the camp that he's still not quite ready for the Big Leagues. He needs some more time in the minors to refine his game. That said, it would be short-sighted to trade him unless it's for a real blockbuster deal. (I'd have traded him in a second if it meant getting Oswalt.)

Let's say next year we have Beltran, Green, and Floyd (assuming he's resigned), and Chavez off the bench (they better resign him), you'd want a right-handed bat in your lineup that can play the outfield, in which case he becomes fairly valuable to have around.
 
Time for my playoff predictions (fair and balanced).

NL

Mets
Cards
Padres
Dodgers*

AL

Yanks
Twins
A's
Tigers*

*Wildcards

Mets beat Dodgers, Cards beat Padres.

Yanks beat Tigers, Twins beat A's

Mets beat Cards in NLCS.

Twins beat Yanks in ALCS.

Mets beat Twins to win first WS in 20 years.

Sorry my fellow Yankee bros, but I have to call 'em like I see 'em. The Twins killed the Yanks in their current form without Johan Santana starting. The Mets are a no-brainer to make the WS. Mets ultimately have too much offense for the Twinkies.
 
Wellington said:
Time for my playoff predictions (fair and balanced).

NL

Mets
Cards
Padres
Dodgers*

AL

Yanks
Twins
A's
Tigers*

*Wildcards

Mets beat Dodgers, Cards beat Padres.

Yanks beat Tigers, Twins beat A's

Mets beat Cards in NLCS.

Twins beat Yanks in ALCS.

Mets beat Twins to win first WS in 20 years.

Sorry my fellow Yankee bros, but I have to call 'em like I see 'em. The Twins killed the Yanks in their current form without Johan Santana starting. The Mets are a no-brainer to make the WS. Mets ultimately have too much offense for the Twinkies.

Dodgers aint making it to the playoffs, give the Padres the N.L. West Title and the Wildcard to the Phillies. Grady Little is a goddamn moron when it comes to managing the bullpen.
 
Twins won't get to the WS. Outside of Santana they have no starting pitching. Thier bullpen won't mean dick when they come in down a few runs. Yankees are the best AL play-off team.
 
I approve of the crowd leaving early tonight, How much do the Dodgers think the fans can handle. Bombko went from a decent 7th inning relief pitcher to straight up garbage real quick. =X
 
Eminem said:
Twins won't get to the WS. Outside of Santana they have no starting pitching. Thier bullpen won't mean dick when they come in down a few runs. Yankees are the best AL play-off team.

The Yankees have a bunch of arsonists in their pen, Rivera is hurting, and Proctor's arm is due to fly off any day. If it comes down to pen versus pen, I'll take the Twins.
 
HOLY MOTHER OF GOD Marlon Anderson IS ON A TEAR! :lol We could've had won some of those game we lost had Little recognized earlier that Ethier has hit the wall hard.



OH SHIT Little brings in GIO to give back some runs!

9th Inning down by 4 Again! Get ready people Back to Back to Back to Back part deux!!!
 
Dr. Strangelove said:
The Yankees have a bunch of arsonists in their pen, Rivera is hurting, and Proctor's arm is due to fly off any day. If it comes down to pen versus pen, I'll take the Twins.

Still, the Yankees have a great offense. Minnesota doesn't have that. Like I said, the Minnesota pen is great, but they lack starting pitching. When Santana isn't pitching, a team like the Yankees will kill Minnesota pitching, and while NY starters aren't great, they have the offense to cover them. Minnesota doesn't have that luxery.
 
Eminem said:
Still, the Yankees have a great offense. Minnesota doesn't have that. Like I said, the Minnesota pen is great, but they lack starting pitching. When Santana isn't pitching, a team like the Yankees will kill Minnesota pitching, and while NY starters aren't great, they have the offense to cover them. Minnesota doesn't have that luxery.
spoken like a true ozzie disciple.
 
Eminem said:
Still, the Yankees have a great offense. Minnesota doesn't have that. Like I said, the Minnesota pen is great, but they lack starting pitching. When Santana isn't pitching, a team like the Yankees will kill Minnesota pitching, and while NY starters aren't great, they have the offense to cover them. Minnesota doesn't have that luxery.

But in a 3 game series the Yankees just lost to the Twins 8-1 and 10-1. This is all after the trade deadline, so they had Abreu, Wilson, et al. I don't think Matsui and Sheff will make that huge a difference.
 
Wellington said:
But in a 3 game series the Yankees just lost to the Twins 8-1 and 10-1. This is all after the trade deadline, so they had Abreu, Wilson, et al. I don't think Matsui and Sheff will make that huge a difference.

Uh, the Yankees won the 10-1 and 8-1 games.
 
Cloudy said:
Can someone tell me why Jeter is even the MVP of his own team?

Is this a joke? Did somebody just list Arod as a canidate for MVP of the 2006 Yankees? :lol

This year on the Yankees Jeter is:

#2 in Runs (1 behind Damon for 1st)
#1 in Hits by 30+
#2 in Doubles (2 behind Cano for 1st)
#2 in Triples
#5 in HRs
#3 in RBI
#2 in Total Bases (1 behind Arod for 1st)
#1 in Stolen Bases
#2 in On Base %
#7 in Slugging %
#1 in Batting Average

Honestly I don't see how you can make a case that he's not the Yankees MVP. Other than Abreu and Giambi hitting a couple big HRs he's the only option. Arod other than a HR against the Braves has done pratically nothing. He leads all 3rd basemen in errors and Giambi constantly has to be taken out because his defense sucks. Jeter isn't great at defense but at least he isn't designated to the DH spot so that Nick Green can play defense for him.
 
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