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Well now, home entertainment was my baby's wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
I tied it to the top of my Japanese car
I came home and I pointed it out into the stars
A message came back from the great beyond
There's fifty-seven channels and nothin' on


That song's almost twenty years old - nowadays it's more 857 channels and nothin' on. And it takes five minutes to scroll through the listings to find that out. And is there some law that says "The Matrix" must be broadcast every day? Is this some subtle way of preparing us for our eventual future, as pod people?

And lately "Star Wars" every where I turn. "The Return of the Empire" and "The Jedi Strike Back" and "Attack of the Phantom" and "Revenge of the Clones." (Hey, whatever.) George Lucas' inimitable dialogue does always happily reminds me of the peerless work done by Dude Studios, which has transformed the saga into short flash animations, with the dialogue presented in thought balloons, and all of it revolving around the word "dude." Giving us such great lines as:

Use the force, dude!

You will bring the dudes to me!

And my own personal favourite:

The force is strong with this dude.

Which brings me, by the usual comodious vicus of recirculation, to Eric Hinske. (There being little new with the Blue Jays, thought I'd take note of an alum.) Anyway, the Dude is doing just fine - he's cooled off a bit in the past few days, but he's still sporting a nifty enough .292/.382/.625 line.

And Tampa is on my mind for another reason. As you may or may not have heard, the Blue Jays recently released their veteran DH, a fellow named Frank Thomas (no, not the one who hit 34 homers for the original Mets, the other one.). And the Devil Fishies apparently have some interest. Which strikes me strangely.

Here are the hitting stats for AL designated hitters:

PLAYER         TEAM   AB   R   H  2B  3B  HR RBI  SB CS  BB  SO   BA    OBP   SLG    OPS

Hideki Matsui NYY 30 2 10 1 0 2 7 0 0 0 2 .333 .375 .567 .942
Milton Bradley TEX 37 4 12 3 0 0 1 0 1 10 5 .324 .458 .405 .864
Jonny Gomes TAM 33 4 9 3 0 1 4 1 1 5 6 .273 .400 .455 .855
Jorge Posada NYY 28 6 8 3 0 1 4 0 0 2 7 .286 .333 .500 .833
Jack Cust OAK 19 5 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 7 9 .211 .444 .368 .813
Billy Butler KAN 58 4 19 4 0 0 6 0 0 4 7 .328 .365 .397 .762
Aubrey Huff BAL 59 9 14 5 0 2 14 2 0 7 12 .237 .318 .424 .742
Travis Hafner CLE 66 9 15 2 0 3 12 0 1 8 17 .227 .329 .394 .723
Jim Thome CHW 58 10 10 3 0 4 13 0 0 8 16 .172 .284 .431 .715
Jason Kubel MIN 40 6 10 1 0 2 5 0 0 1 7 .250 .268 .425 .693
Mike Sweeney OAK 50 7 14 3 0 0 3 0 0 5 1 .280 .351 .340 .691
Craig Monroe MIN 25 2 6 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 9 .240 .321 .360 .681
Gary Sheffield DET 52 6 10 3 0 1 2 2 0 12 10 .192 .364 .308 .671
Jose Vidro SEA 67 11 15 2 0 2 10 1 0 7 8 .224 .297 .343 .641
Frank Thomas TOR 60 7 10 1 0 3 11 0 0 11 13 .167 .306 .333 .639
Garret Anderson LAA 29 5 6 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 6 .207 .281 .276 .557
David Ortiz BOS 71 10 10 0 0 2 10 0 0 9 14 .141 .247 .225 .472

You would not think, would you, that Tampa would be the team sniffing around after Big Frank. Joe Maddon must really, really have a low opinion of Johnny Gomes. Go figure.

It's a 12:30 game this afternoon, and then off on the road for nine games in Tampa Bay, Kansas City, and Boston. Got to play them, might as well win them.


--- (In memory of Danny Federici. The aurora is rising behind us.)
21 April 2008: The Force is Strong With This Dude | 24 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
John Northey - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 09:51 AM EDT (#183155) #
 For a good laugh Griffen today had the line regarding Frank Thomas - "Yes, he reached base 100 times on walks and hit-by-pitch, but most times that was just clogging the basepaths."

We knew someone would say it and Griffen was the #1 candidate.  Just is funny to see.

FYI: He also lists Thomas as the biggest free agent bust in Toronto history.  Nice view of history guy.  He even lists Erik Hanson (3 year's 13-20 record ERA+'s of 92, 58 and 74 his 3 seasons).  Totally forgets Dizzy Daley (10 games, 5 IP, 3 ER for $3.7 million over 2 years when that was a lot of money).  Typical to put on 3 guys from JP's era on the top 5 along with Myers (who was decent for 1/2 a season then dumped).  Others were Koskie and AJ.
Mike Green - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 09:51 AM EDT (#183156) #
I am guessing that the Rays would be interested in Thomas on a platoon basis.  Gomes can play right-field, and Cliff Floyd is out. 

Usage, not performance, is the real issue.  NFH's bet with Robert should be about whether Thomas signs with another team and gets 500 PAs this year.

Mick Doherty - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 10:36 AM EDT (#183160) #
I saw the headline and thought we were getting an Eric Hinske thread!
Pistol - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 11:39 AM EDT (#183166) #
And of course, clogging the bases is a myth.  Funny that I ran across this today from this interview.
Mike D - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 11:56 AM EDT (#183168) #
Steve Phillips thought Seattle made the most sense, followed by Oakland and possibly Baltimore.
Jonathan - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 12:11 PM EDT (#183171) #
I'm sure the Jays felt this way too, but any team that considers the Big Hurt for '08 will not just be looking at his ability to play vs. LHPs.  If the dude can't play against RHPs as well, he is finished because he has no field value and will surely be a cantankerous cancer sitting on the bench for 2/3s of all starts.  People seem to think he has something left in the tank.  I don't see it as this issue, its more a matter of what he offers/has left not fitting with the dynamics of a 25 man roster where each team is already a motley of corner OF/1B types that can't play on the field. 

He's done.

robertdudek - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 12:14 PM EDT (#183172) #
Frank Thomas is the same player now that he was when the Jays signed him.
Magpie - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 12:29 PM EDT (#183174) #
Frank Thomas is the same player now that he was when the Jays signed him.

Only if he lives outside the same space-time continuum the rest of us humans inhabit. He will be 40 years old next month; many, many players have gone right off the baseball cliff at roughly this point in their lives. Even Hall of Famers.

That doesn't mean Thomas is one of them -  I myself think its more likely than not that  there's something left. But he's 18 months older than he was when the Blue Jays signed him, at an age when 18 months represented a significant chunk of his useful remaining life as a baseball player.
Magpie - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 12:31 PM EDT (#183176) #
Whoa. Miss Universe Canada just threw out the first pitch.

Down, boy. Down!

Rob - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 12:35 PM EDT (#183177) #
Knowing this game wasn't on TV, I turned on 570 News in hopes they'd forgo their usual...well, whatever they have on 570 News in favour of the ballgame. The first words I hear quickly nail that coffin shut:

"Howdy! Well, they've allowed me to set up shop here in Sault Ste. Marie..."
Paul D - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 12:40 PM EDT (#183179) #

 

Today's game is on the radio in Toronto.

HollywoodHartman - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 12:41 PM EDT (#183180) #
It's on 399 for all you Ontario Rogers subscribers.
robertdudek - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 01:03 PM EDT (#183182) #
Of course Thomas would be expected to hit a little less at 40 than 38. The point I was making is that he was a one-dimensional slugger two years, just as he is today. Power and walks decline less than other offensive numbers as a player ages. So Thomas doesn't look at all like a prime candidate for a precipitous decline, because the skills that typically decline quickly with age, are things that Thomas never had in the first place.



John Northey - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 01:48 PM EDT (#183189) #
The big key with the big hurt is will he hit well enough vs LHP to make up for his poor RHP hitting?  Because as we all just saw he will not accept a platoon slot and he will insist on batting cleanup or 3rd or, at the worst, 5th or he will sulk.

Thomas would be behind Bonds on my list of guys to sign if I ran a MLB team.  Both carry baggage but Thomas' will affect the lineup choices day in day out while Bonds will be media based rather than team based (for the most part). 

Thomas - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 02:59 PM EDT (#183193) #
BP has an article on the Thomas move today and, no surprise, they don't like it at all. Sheehan writes:

Back all the way up to New Year’s. At that point, the Blue Jays had Adam Lind, Reed Johnson, and Frank Thomas. Now, with Lind in Triple-A, they have Shannon Stewart, Matt Stairs, and Joe Inglett, and they're spending an additional $4 million on Stairs and Stewart.

Leigh - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 05:20 PM EDT (#183197) #
BP has an article on the Thomas move today and, no surprise, they don't like it at all.

And of course Sheehan threw in the Obligatory Ricky Romero Jab:  If Ricciardi’s goal was to shift focus from the Troy Tulowitzki decision, he’s there.

Would Sheehan write something like, "in retrospect, perhaps the Cubs ought to have immediately called up Matt Murton when Soriano went on the disabled list.  If Hendry's goal was to shift focus from the fact that he chose Mark Pawelek in the 2005 draft when he could have chosen Clay Buchholz, he's there."?  Of course not.

The thing is:  I basically agree with Sheehan's assessment of the Thomas stuff.  There is more than enough evidence to impugn  the Thomas release without the mean-spirited and irrelevant jab.
brent - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 05:58 PM EDT (#183202) #

game 19- WPA heroes Eckstein (5) * (1), Camp, McDonald, Carlson (3)      Letdowns Wells (6), Burnett (4), Zaun (4), Barajas (4)

game 20- WPA hero Overbay (3),        Letdowns Marcum, Stewart (2), Rios (4), Hill (6), Eckstein (6)

* is WPA over .300 or below -.300   

IceCreamJonsey - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 05:59 PM EDT (#183203) #

The Jays are offering up some excuses for why they released their DH, but does Rod Barajas in the fifth slot sound like improvement to you?

Haha, wow. Yeah, Joe, the plan is to get Barajas the work he needs at DH the rest of the way. Looking at the box score today, I'd also like to see an article on the permanent switch of Rios in right for Inglett. That doesn't sound like an improvement to me, either.

ramone - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 06:18 PM EDT (#183207) #
Well some good news today, Lind is playing in Syracuse today, already 1 for 1, a first inning single lined into center for an RBI.  Also Snider is DH in New Hampshire tonight, I'm guessing just while Rolen is DH in Dunedin.
ramone - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 07:02 PM EDT (#183209) #
Well, Scott Rolen is not playing at all today, he was supposed to play Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and be revaluated, he was pinch hit for yesterday, I'm thinking all did not go well yesterday.
Pistol - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 10:16 PM EDT (#183224) #
There is more than enough evidence to impugn  the Thomas release without the mean-spirited and irrelevant jab.

But then it wouldn't be a Sheehan article. 

I said a year or two ago (or maybe longer) that it seemed like Ricciardi ran over Sheehan's dog the way he writes about the Jays.  At this point I don't even bother with his columns anymore.
ayjackson - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 10:41 PM EDT (#183225) #

Pistol,

Any early looks at the Draft on the brew, or just the usual pre-draft fare come late-May?

Ryan Day - Monday, April 21 2008 @ 11:00 PM EDT (#183226) #
Sheehan's timing is a bit off, too, since Tulowitzki has been only marginally more useful than Ricky Romero thus far this season. The guy's got a lower OBP than John McDonald his is hitting for less power than David Eckstein.

Not that he won't turn it around, but come on.

Shane - Tuesday, April 22 2008 @ 12:49 AM EDT (#183228) #

I said a year or two ago (or maybe longer) that it seemed like Ricciardi ran over Sheehan's dog the way he writes about the Jays.  At this point I don't even bother with his columns anymore.

Ya, Sheenan is randomly picking on the Blue Jays. It would appear based on the attendance of  BattersBox the last many years that it's BaseballProspectus that is keeping the Blue Jays where they are and not the fact that the Blue Jays are keeping themselves right where they are. Hardly anyone is a fan of the Blue Jays direction the last many years -- in all it's multitude of ways -- and how dare the son of gun Sheehan to say that, when it seemed like everyone here was thinking the same things, but instead of continuously posting it over and over for what two, three, four years now, choose to post rarely or not at all anymore -- and rightfully so. That's not because of Joe Sheehan, that's because of Blue Jays managment isn't it? If i'm wrong here, give me hell. If anything, Sheehan/Prospectus have stayed on point here since '05. And Dudek has been echoing it in regards to the Thomas situation. The head from the body has been adrift in many ways, and how do you praise an executive for that or defend him?

21 April 2008: The Force is Strong With This Dude | 24 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.