M.L.B. Thread.

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This thread can be used to have conversations about anything that has to do with baseball. From free agents, trades, news, in season, spring training, history, baseball movies, Hall of Fame, who do you think should be in the Hall of Fame, favorite team and players and we can't forget baseball cards. After all baseball is Amerca's favorite past time.

[Seb]

so what? i'm not in amarica ;D

[Gilby Admirer]

I can tell....if you were you'd know how to spell it ;D

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SparkyTheDrunk said:

who do you think is the best player in baseball? I say bonds, anyone want to disagree?

I disagree that Barry Bonds is not the best player in M.L.B. right now. I have to think about this one. It's not like 20 or 30 years ago when you had one players control the whole game. Barry Bonds is a great player but, they are better players because they are much younger than he is and they show there love for the game and that is the best part.

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SparkyTheDrunk said:

who is better than bonds right now??

I say all these players are better than Barry Bonds right now, Jason Giambi, Alfonso Soriano, Torii Hunter, Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Larry Walker. I would have said a year or two ago Larry Walker because he has the only shot at hitting the for the Triple Crown but, now I would have to say it is Jason Giambi.

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News in M.L.B from 12-24-02 to 12-30-02.

A meeting between Hall of Famers and commissioner Bud Selig to discuss Pete Rose was postponed at the request of baseball officials. But it will be scheduled to happen in the next few weeks.

Looks like Roger Clemens will get his 300th win as a Yankee because he agreed to a $10.1 million one year contract and probably will retire after next season. It's sad to see the great ones go.

Ramiro Mendoza agreed with Boston on a two year deal for $6.5 million.

Mets agreed with Rey Sanchez on a deal.

Yankees agreed with pitcher Jose Contreras on a four year deal for $32 million.

Cinergy Field, former Riverfront Stadium, that was home to the Reds was demolished. It had some great times with Pete Rose and the Big Red Machine. The Reds will open their new ballpark March 28 with an exhibition game against the Cleveland Indians. The Reds season opener is March 31 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Let just holp Pete Roses can be there on both great days. Other things about the old park were In one of the NFL's coldest games, Jan. 10, 1982, the Bengals overcame a wind chill of 59 degrees below zero to beat the San Diego Charges 27-7 in the AFC championship game, advancing to their first Super Bowl. It was alos home to Hank Aaron 714 homerun and he also hit the first homerun ever in the park when it open.

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News in M.L.B from 12-31-02 to 1-7-03.

Dwight Gooden was arrested for driving with suspended license. He has been retired since March 2001 after 16 seasons.

Gary Carter and Eddie Murray where elected to Hall of Fame.

Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett get's a divorce after 16 years.

Not to much news in M.LB. this pasted week. But before you know it the 2003 season will start.

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News in M.L.B from 1-8-03 to 1-19-03.

JD Drew signs one-year deal with Cardinals for $3.7 million.

Phillies signs Kevin Millwood to a one year deal for $9.9 million.

The Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame nominated Pete Rose. Pete Rose did play one year with the Expos and got his 4,000th hit with the them.

The Whitesoxs got Bartolo Colon in a three-way trade with the Montreal Expos and the New York Yankees. The Yankees traded El Duque to the Expos. This traded kept Boston from getting Colon.

The Twins signs Torii Hunter to a four year deal for $32 million.

Some players that have retired in the last few weeks,
Randy Velarde, Todd Stottlemyre, Tim Raines, Andy Benes, Travis Fryman, and Darren Lewis. These were some great players M.L.B. lost. Tim Raines might make it to the Hall Of Fame one day.

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News in M.L.B from 1-20-03 to 2-2-03.

Devil Rays sign Lee Stevens and Bob Wells. Wells collected a career-high 12 wins in 1996 with Seattle, where he was managed by Piniella.

The Florida Marlins sing Ivan Rodriguez for a one year deal for $10 million.

The Yankees sing Jon Lieber to a two year for $3.5 million deal.

The Kansas City Royals sing James Baldwin.

The Giants sing Ruben Rivera to a one year deal.

One time Yankee Graeme Lloyd sing with the New York Mets just like Mike Stanton did a few weeks before.

Ruben Sierra sing a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.

The Minnesota Twins sing Mike Fetters.

Yankees sign Juan Acevedo to minor league deal.

Source close to the Yankees are saying that Jeff Weaver hold the 5th spot in the rotation. The 1st to 4th spots will be Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, and David Wells (my not be in this order).

San Francisco Giants sing Andres Galarraga. He could serve as a backup to J.T. Snow and a righthanded bat off the bench.

Pete Rose will be inducted into Williams Hall.

Ken Caminiti and one time M.V.P has an warrant out for his arrest because he violated probation by using cocaine.

Chicago White Sox will rename Comiskey Park to U.S. Cellular Field.

The Houston Astros sing Craig Biggio for a one year deal for $4 million.

The Twins hire Paul Molitor as minor league coordinator. Also agreed on a two year extension on their working agreement with Double A team New Britain.

The Twins sing Jacque Jones to a two year deal for $7.1 million.

Rickey Henderson agent Jeff Borris said, "Toward the end of spring training, I'm going to call (A's GM) Billy Beane for an enormous favor in the event I don't have anything else. I'll ask him to sign Rickey to a minor-league contract and let Rickey prove to himself and the rest of the world that he can still play."
I holp Henderson does come back for another year and next year also.

Bartolo Colon and Buehrle could start 25 of the White Sox's first 55 games. It might be a bad move come September.

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News in M.L.B from 2-3-03 to 2-16-03.

Mets agree to contracts with Cerda, Duncan, Yates.

Ball Parks
In the 1971 movie A Clockwork Orange, the film's lead character, Alex, beaten and left for dead by former friends, finds himself stumbling across London's back roads on a rainy, windy night searching desperately for the warmth and comfort of home.

He soon finds what he believes is his safe haven. But Alex is in for a rude awakening when he discovers that this "home" is not his home. Instead, it's the home of a widower whose wife had been the victim of a little "ultraviolence" dished out by Alex and his gang of thugs years before -- and Joe the Lodger is out for revenge. Soon, Alex discovers that this is not the safe and cozy home he remembers from his youth and decides he'd have been better off staying on the road.

Ah, home. Nothing like it. Unless of course you're poor 'ol Alex -- or a pitcher trying to earn a living at Coors Field. Or a righthanded hitter trying to hit the ball out of Comerica Park or struggling to stay above the Mendoza line at Qualcomm Stadium.

A home field can be a friend or a foe to any pitcher or hitter. Great hitters can hit anywhere -- Jason Giambi at Network Associates Coliseum, Barry Bonds at Pac Bell, Shawn Green at Dodger Stadium. And Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez could be effective even at Coors Field. But these superstars are more the exception than the rule. Here are the top three ball parks for hitting.

Coors Field
Runs Home Runs AVG
+5.21 (1) +1.39 (1) +63 (1)

Enron Field (as of press time)
Runs Home Runs AVG
+1.58 (2) +0.60 (3) +9 (5)

Kauffman Stadium
Runs Home Runs AVG
+.83 (4) +0.09 (9) +18 (2)

Top three ball parks for picthing

Pacific Bell Park
Runs Home Runs AVG
-1.99 (30) -1.15 (30) -21 (29)

Qualcomm Stadium
Runs Home Runs AVG
-1.65 (29) -0.38 (26) -21 (29)

Dodger Stadium
Runs Home Runs AVG
-1.40 (28) -0.08 (15) -16 (26)

One time Mets manager Bobby Valentine was be hired by ESPN.

New York Yankees Mondesi not bothered by trade talk he said. He is reportedly on the trading block with the Pittsburgh Pirates fequently mentioned as a likely destination. Mondesi said, "If they trade me to another big league team, there's no problem." "It would be difficult if they traded me to a football or basketball team because I don't know how to play that."

The Montreal Expos renewed their one-year lease at Olympic Stadium for the upcoming baseball season. The Expos, owned by the 29 major league teams and up for sale, will play 59 of their 81 home games in Montreal and the remaining 22 home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Olympic Stadium has been home to the Expos since 1977. Montreal's home record last season was 49-32, the best since going 50-31 in 1996.

Nick Johnson said he is happy to still be wearing pinstripes.

David Justice announced his retirement after 14 seasons. He appeared in the playoffs in all but 3 seasons. He also won two World Series.

San Francisco's Pac Bell Park in running for 2005 All-Star game.

One time Tigers star Jack Morris joins broadcast team for this year.

Ken Griffey Jr. will report to Reds spring training camp at 100 percent health Reds say.

Rickey looking for a job. free agent Rickey Henderson showed up at the Athletics' FanFest and told fans he hoped Oakland had room for him on the roster. "I'm looking for a job, and I'm hoping in my heart (A's general manager) Billy Beane calls me and gives me an opportunity to make the club," Henderson said. Henderson also contacted Beane on Friday, but the the GM is reluctant to give him a contract because he's not a good fit and probably wouldn't make the team. I holp he get's on a team.

Orlando Hernandez and the Montreal Expos agreed to a one-year contract for $4.1 million.

Terry Adams agreed to a $2.9 million deal with the Phillies for one year.

Mets sign veteran IF Jay Bell to minor league contract.

Orioles sign Rick Helling to a minor league contract.

The New York Mets sign one time New York Yankee David Cone to minor league contract. Cone sat out last season.

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News in M.L.B from 2-17-03 to 2-23-03.

A's sign Ron Gant to minor league contract.

Rondell White was the ninth player in nine years to open the season as the New York Yankees' left fielder, and the team's streak is likely to reach 10 following the signing of Hideki Matsui. White isn't sure where he fits in with the 2003 Yankees. He just wants to put the 2002 season behind him.

New York Mets sing Osborne to minor league contract.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sing Jesus Colome to a one year deal.


Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker is withholding judgment about how his new team looks this spring. "I'm not disappointed at all,'' Baker said Sunday. "I expect a lot. I'm not overly pleased, and I'm not disappointed. I tend to be a perfectionist, but I realize you're going to make mistakes.''

Baker admitted that he's still trying to learn names. He signed with the Cubs last November after 10 years as manager of the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs will face Baker's former team Thursday in their spring training opener.


Spivey signs two year contract with the Diamondbacks for two years.

Bechler, 23, of the Orioles died last Monday from heatstroke. In his preliminary autopsy report, the Broward County chief medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper, linked Bechler's death to the use of Xenadrine RFA-1, a diet supplement that contains ephedra.

Sign up for free Fantasy Baseball before the season starts. I would not sign up for the one you have to pay for. Here is a link if you want to join one,

baseball.fantasysports.yahoo.com/

This is not the only Fantasy Baseball on the web.

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News in M.L.B from 2-24-03 to 3-3-03.

Wells could face discipline from Yankees because of his new book.

Dusty Baker now has an autograph to go with the bat Felipe Alou gave him 35 years ago.
The Chicago Cubs manager was just 18 when he went to a workout at Dodger Stadium for the Atlanta Braves, who'd just drafted him. Alou, already in the majors with the Braves, gave Baker one of his bats to use.
``Felipe is the guy who gave me my first professional bat, with his name on it,'' Baker said.


The Cincinnati Reds sold more than 100,000 tickets Saturday to 80 regular-season games and two exhibitions at new Great American Ball Park.

Reds chief operating officer John Allen said it marked the largest sales day for single-game tickets in the franchise's history.
The 42,256 seats for the Reds' opener, on March 31 against Pittsburgh, sold out in an hour last Saturday.
The June 5 game against the Yankees already is sold out, and fewer than 2,000 tickets remain for the first two games of that series, scheduled June 3 and June 4.

Fewer than 11,000 tickets remain for the exhibition series against the Cleveland Indians on March 28 and March 29. Those will be the first two games played in the Reds' new stadium.
The first day that single-game tickets went on sale last year, the Reds sold only 17,500 tickets to games scheduled after opening day. That's great news for a city that is trying to turn things around. [ok]


Dodgers renew Gagne's contract for $550,000.

Brownlie agree to terms with the Cubs for about $2.5 million.

The Colorado Rockies renewed the contracts of five players Sunday, including NL Rookie of the Year Jason Jennings.
The Rockies also signed shortstop Juan Uribe, outfielder Ben Petrick and pitchers Shawn Chacon and Brian Fuentes.

Colby Lewis signed a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers.

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News in M.L.B from 3-4-03 to 3-10-03

Top All-Star tickets remain $175.

The Baltimore Sun reports the Orioles are interested in acquiring Ken Griffey, Jr. from the Reds.

Former pitcher Jimmy Key has not ruled out becoming a fulltime coach sometime in the future. Key's name has surfaced in the past as a potential replacement for New York Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, who might retire after the season.

Key went 186-117 during a 15-year major league career. He appeared in 470 games, including 389 starts. The four-time All Star played for three teams, including the Yankees from 1993 to 1996.


Twins pitcher Eric Milton could be sidelined six months now because of his surgically repaired left knee.

Phil Nevin will undergo surgery and will miss the whole 2003 season.

New York Yankee David Wells agrees to $100,000 fine for book. The team wanted a fine with six figures, which is among the highest ever for a baseball player, but lower than the penalties imposed on Keith Hernandez, Dave Parker and Joaquin Andujar, who agreed to give up 10 percent of their 1987 salaries after the Pittsburgh drug trials.

St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols agrees to $900,000, one-year contract.

The Toronto Blue Jays are hoping for more financial help from commissioner Bud Selig this season to help compensate for the weak Canadian dollar.

Joe Torre is still taking a wait-and-see approach before making him the Yankees' fifth starter. It can be anyone of these three guys Jeff Weaver, Jose Contreras and Sterling Hitchcock.

News For M.L.B Fans In D.C.

D.C. officials prepare bid for major league baseball. The nation's capital's bid to bring back major league baseball after an absence of more than 30 years will focus on the city itself.

District of Columbia officials have been working on the plan for months in preparation for a March 20 presentation to baseball officials. Baseball owners plan to relocate the financially struggling Montreal Expos as early as the 2004 season.

The city must be the main selling point in the presentation, because baseball officials will select a location first, then an owner, said Bobby Goldwater, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission. Officials want to build a $400 million stadium and are considering two sites within blocks of the U.S. Capitol.

Other possible locations are the site of Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, where the Washington Senators last played in 1971, and a spot near the Washington Navy Yard. ``We have sites that meet the criteria for baseball and we have sites that meet the vision for the city,'' said D.C. planning director Andrew Altman.

All four sites are located near freeways and existing or planned stations on the Metrorail subway system. They are also in economically depressed areas that officials are slated for redevelopment.

If Washington gets the Expos, they would play in RFK Stadium for three to four years while a new stadium is built. Construction of the stadium would create up to 3,400 jobs and a payroll of $80 million over four years, said Eric Price, deputy mayor for planning and economic development.

A major league franchise would generate $140 million annually for the local economy, Price said. About 70 percent of the money for the stadium project -- $28 million a year -- would be generated from taxes on tickets, parking concessions and possibly taxing player salaries. That could be supplemented by reviving an arena tax, Price said.

``We do view this an investment for the city, and one of our main goals is the additional economic benefit that we hope that it will bring,'' he said.

Opening day is just 14 days away.

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News in M.L.B from 3-11-03 to 3-17-03

Mark Quinn was release by the Royals.

Cone in the running for fifth rotation spot for the Mets.

Out-of-town baseball games coming to Internet. About 1,000 major league baseball games will be broadcast on the Internet this season, though live feeds of hometown teams will be blacked out locally to preserve television rights.
Major league baseball has already sold full audio feeds and video highlights online for two years, and various sports have run limited trials for Internet video. Tuesday's announcement marks the first time a major sports league is offering Internet video for an entire season.

Packages will cost $79.95 for the season, $14.95 a month or $2.95 for an individual game. Nine spring-training games will be available for free. The service will feature about 45 games a week, nearly half the schedule. It requires high-speed broadband access and Windows or Macintosh versions of RealNetworks' free media player. The feeds will come from television and will include the home team's commentary and ads.
In addition to blocking teams' games locally, major league baseball will not make any games available online during national TV broadcasts -- Wednesday and Sunday evenings on ESPN and Saturday afternoons on Fox. Also Games that had been webcast live will be available to hometown fans 90 minutes after they end. They estimates 20,000 to 50,000 fans will sign up this year, ``but if you fast forward ahead to 10 years from now, who knows?''


Angels say contraction talk doesn't concern them. The Angels were one of several teams considered for contraction.

Minnesota Twins agreed to terms with free agent lefthander Kenny Rogers on a one-year contract.


New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza started a bench-clearing brawl Wednesday night when he charged the mound after being hit by a pitch from Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Guillermo Mota.
Piazza and Mota had a shoving match last year in spring training after the pitcher hit Piazza in the hip with a pitch. He waited until Mota was coming off the field in the eighth inning and grabbed him by the jersey.
This time, Mota's first pitch to Piazza in the sixth inning was inside, and his second hit Piazza in the back of the shoulder. M.L.B suspend Piazza and Mota both for five games.

M.L.B. hopes to decide Expos' future by All-Star break.

Reds sign Agbayani to minor deal.


M.L.B. considering playing in Europe in 2004. The commissioner's office has started discussing a plan to move regular-season games to Europe in July 2004.
Italy, France, the Netherlands and England are among the candidates, according to Paul Archey, a senior vice president of Major League Baseball International.

Baseball has been aggressively expanding its presence outside the United States and Canada, playing season openers in Monterrey, Mexico (1999), Tokyo (2000 and this year) and San Juan, Puerto Rico (2001). The Montreal Expos will play 22 ``home'' games this season in San Juan.
Looking ahead, baseball already is considering having the New York Yankees and Hideki Matsui play their 2004 opener in Japan, with Tampa Bay, Toronto and Baltimore among the possibilities for the opponent.

Planning for Europe is in the early stages. Commissioner Bud Selig has not yet given the go-ahead, although he's excited about the possibilities of taking the game all over the world.
``We need to do more of it and we need to do more of it on a regular basis,'' Selig said in Phoenix. ``We're going to step up the internationalization of the game and go a lot of places. We have a lot of clubs anxious to go wherever we're going.''
Archey said a date just before the All-Star break would work best, with just after the break a possibility. Moving games to Europe at the start of the season would be difficult because of concerns about cold weather and rain.

``Italy is probably the front-runner because they have one of the strongest fan bases and they have facilities,'' Archey said.

Ballparks are available in Florence and Palermo, and a soccer stadium in Rome could be converted to baseball, according to Archey. In France, he said a new ballpark is under construction outside Paris, but it might not be ready in time.
A cricket or soccer ground could be converted in England, but the possibility of rainouts is a negative factor. The Netherlands hosts a big baseball tournament each summer in Haarlem.

``I could make the case that we need to play regular-season games in Europe, and there are markets that are sophisticated enough to distinguish between regular-season and spring-training games,'' said Tim Brosnan, executive vice president in the commissioner's office.

Kenny Lofton made his Pirates' debut Monday.

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News in M.L.B from 3-18-03 to 3-24-03

Boston Red Sox traded pitching prospect Javier Lopez to the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named.

Luis Gonzalez and the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to a $30 million, three-year contract extension.


The New York Yankees took a step toward clearing up their crowded outfield and filled a hole for the San Diego Padres on Wednesday. The Yankees sent left fielder Rondell White to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Bubba Trammell and minor league lefthander Mark Phillips.

White has been mentioned in trade rumors since December, when the Yankees signed Japanese star outfielder Hideki Matsui. Matsui is expected to play in left field alongside center fielder Bernie Williams and right fielder Raul Mondesi.


M.L.B. will ame a decision this week on All-Star game deciding World Series home-field.

M.L.B. officials will examine the potential impact on the Baltimore Orioles of a move to the Washington area by the Montreal Expos. Groups from Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia are trying to lure the team. The Orioles' ballpark is 40 miles from downtown Washington.

Devil Rays release Greg Vaughn. I think someone will pick him up. He once hit 50 homeruns in 1998.

Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamonbacks agrees to $33 million, two-year extension.

The Montreal Expos reunited Livan Hernandez with his half-brother Orlando they get in a trade with Chicago and New York. The Expos also received backup catcher Edwards Guzman and cash considerations and sent righthander Jim Brower to the West Coast.

Opening day is just five days and about 20 hours away!