I'm thinking Duran Duran perhaps perhaps.

http://www.baycreekgolfclub.com/
If you're willing to travel, COMN for some of the east coast's finest golf (Arnold Palmer design) in semi-warm Virginia. Relatively cheap too.

Moving on the floor now babe you're a bird of paradise ...

Cheap golf - check out Tennessee.
There are some incredibly cheap deals, and the golf up in the Smokey Mountains is nice.

Stop it stop it stop it!!!!!! Now "Rio" is lodged in my head like a steel beam....

Hey, here's a fun if maddening trivia question: name five '80s bands whose names consisted of the same two words. I'll give you Duran Duran as a head start.

http://economics.about.com
The first two I can think of are Talk Talk and The The.

Heheheh.. Jordan's been MANILOWED! It is indeed Rio by Duran Duran. Yes, it was in my head this morning. I had to share my pain with the rest of you.

Cheers,

Mike

Gleeman's got part deux of his top 50 prospect list up

Hanson's shoulder problems must be somewhat serious for him to be outrighted. (ie passed through waivers and taken off the 40 man). Fordin's article also confirms that Hanson was outrighted and Harper and Griffin were optioned.

Mr. Mister is another double-name group. And the Alarm was once the Alarm Alarm.

Gleeman's got part deux of his top 50 prospect list up

There's a lot of pitchers on the list (8 to be exact) that haven't pitched much at all above A Ball (40 innings or less).

The The
Duran Duran
Talk Talk

Oh - I missed Moffat's post. Nevermind.

"Healed Hinske ready for 2004"?

hmmm, haven't we seen this before? In honour of Moffatt's eighties hits packs, Fordin must be re-releasing his own Greatest Hits columns, as this is a re-submit from March 3rd. Ahh, March 3rd, those were the days.

http://economics.about.com
hmmm, haven't we seen this before? In honour of Moffatt's eighties hits packs, Fordin must be re-releasing his own Greatest Hits columns, as this is a re-submit from March 3rd. Ahh, March 3rd, those were the days.

I thought I had seen the picture before, but I didn't realize the whole article was a reprint! Nice catch, Shane.

Double-name groups: I should have gotten Mr. Mister, but there's no way I would have gotten Alarm Alarm. Very nice. Most people miss my posts, EddieZosky. There's no shame in that. :)

Cheers,

Mike

The The, Mister Mister, and Talk Talk are all correct. I hadn't thought of Alarm Alarm -- I didn't know that was their original name -- but I think it should count. The fifth one I was thinking of was Lisa Lisa. You may remember her one-hit wonder collaboration with Cult Jam, Head to Toe.

Oh, those '80s....

Correct. Reprint. Part of a larger MLB.com package.

Innocent question: Why, pray tell, are Fordin notes italicized?

If you grant just a teeny bit of leeway, I'd add Soul II Soul and Lisa Lisa (perhaps without the Cult Jam).

Cheers,

http://economics.about.com
Fordin notes italicized?

It's a take-off of those study guides Cliff Notes (U.S.) and Coles Notes (Canada) that help lazy students like me write gawdawful essays on Shakespeare or Margaret Lawrence. A lot of info in a compressed form. Since it's a book, the reference has to be italicized, you see.

Cheers,

Mike

Jordan - Lisa Lisa is a good one. Besides "Head to Toe", she also had a semi-hit with "Lost in Emotion."

On the topic of baseball, why is the Star so obsessed with the Jays' defense? I'm at the point now where the only coverage of the Jays that I trust comes from online sources like this site. We get little coverage of them where I live - I get the games on the DirecTV package, but they barely exist in the world of ESPN - and the Star's coverage seems to be getting worse. Or maybe this latest article is just bothering me too much.

why is the Star so obsessed with the Jays' defense? I'm

They gotta complain about something. The Blue Jays' hitting is terrific, the rotation is revamped, the bullpen is much improved, the manager is in charge and camp's running smoothly. If the defence weren't questionable (and I think it's only questionable on the left side of the infield), they'd presumably be complaining about the groundskeeping....

why is the Star so obsessed with the Jays' defense?

It's a hook or an angle. Unlike the people that visit this site, many people are indifferent to the Jays. Unless the Jays start challenging for a penant then nothing will really change. How many times can you write the Jays are a solid team that will finish somewhere in the middle of the pack. I guess its easier to write negative articles and say you're a hard hitting journalist rather than instructional or illuminative reports on prospects or the strategies of the game.

Which brings me to a question that you guys definately know the answer to. I'm an AL child (at 30) so I still don't fully understand what's going on in the NL double switch. Any comments would be appreciated.

alsiem, it's a crafty way for the manager to avoid the pitcher's spot in the batting order. Let's say #8 is due up next inning for the Cardinals. Larussa needs a pitching change with 2 outs in an inning, so he brings in his intended pinch hitter to play...left field we'll say...in the pitcher's spot of #9 in the order. He then brings the reliever into the #7 spot, the one the LF vacated. So he has entirely skipped the pitcher's spot in the order, and allowed the pitcher to go out for another inning or two. I hope that wasn't too confusing...

Good work, Doc Zarco. The important thing to remember in the double switch is that you have to remove a position player in addition to the pitcher. The defensive replacement hits in the 9-hole, and stays in the game.

By the way, I'm still reeling from the John-Ford Griffin piece, as are you all, I'm sure. But Perkins' article today didn't seem negative at all. It's simply a fact that the Jays would be happy with league-average defence (especially at third, short and left), and the article explains the tradeoff -- our kick-ass offence -- in an honest way.

Understandably, folks' backs are up. But this was nothing even remotely resembling a JFG-style hatchet job.

I read Perkins' lastest the same way I read his piece about the star players not going on ST road trips: Baseball was better when Perkins was a young lad. You see, back in those days, there were no steroids or illegal drugs, all ballplayers were perfect role models for the kids, and you didn't even qualify for the all-star team unless you were a slick-fielding shortstop who knew how to bunt.

OK to summarize:

1) Pinch hitter is placed into the pitcher's slot.
2) New pitcher is placed into order in the position that the Pinch hitter will be playing.

So you could have a pitcher end up batting fourth but you'd do it again before he came up.

I think I'm there. Maybe?

I got it.

You pull the pitcher, & replace with pinch hitter that (let's say)plays third. At the beginning of the next inning, the pinch hitter plays third and the new pitcher is slotted into where the original third baseman would hit.

Who's on first?

http://economics.about.com
But Perkins' article today didn't seem negative at all.

I don't think it was negative, either, but like I said "I think this is likely to be the subject of most of the Star's criticism from now on, no matter how successful the Jays are." I'd expect to see a lot more articles on the topic, and knowing the Star, some of them are going to be outright nasty.

The Star is the same paper that writes angry article after angry article about the evils of child labour and how the minimum wage is insufficient while at the same time hiring 8 year olds to deliver papers for 2 bucks an hour. Should we really take anything they say seriously?

Cheers,

Mike

If you vacate the sports section (which I maintain gives a solid amount of high school sports content all things considered), they've got great municipal coverage. Maybe I'm just not dedicated to the Blue Jays' cause but if they've got to butcher something, let it be sports or A & E, not the real news. Unless you want to consider their coverage of baseball a social injustice, then they're still true to the principles they publish under so should we be overly surprised sports content is partially neglected?

Newspapers in other large markets like the Times, Washington Post, or Boston Globe manage to stay true to their principles without allowing their sports sections to suffer from poor writing or neglect of their teams' issues.

I agree that it's important to provide non-biased coverage of national or international importance, but I don't believe sports coverage has to suffer for doing so.

http://economics.about.com
Agreed. Their municipal stuff is terrific, and is the best part of the Star.

On the other hand, I couldn't disagree with you more when you say their sports content is partially neglected. The Star spends more resources on sports than any other Toronto paper, with the Sun being the only paper (if you can call it that) that is even close. The Star sports section is huge when you compare it to that of say, the National Post.

Their overriding principle is the same as the other newspapers in the Toronto market: To sell newspapers and make money. The Star is pretty successful at doing both.

Cheers,

Mike

Double switches can also be made in the middle (or at the beginning) of the defensive inning . Let's say it's the top of the 9th and your pitcher is schedule to lead of the bottom of the 9th. You can replace the pithcer in the middle of the inning and one of the position players at the same time. Since the changes occur simultaneously, you can slot the position player in the spot that was formerly occupied by the pitcher, and the new pitcher in the slot that the exiting position player occupied in the batting order.

This makes sense if you want better defence at the position immediately, otherwise why not just pinch hit for the pitcher leading off the bottom of the ninth.

The Jays-Twins game is available via Gameday Audio (Minnesota feed). However, the start of the game is delayed.

If the defence weren't questionable (and I think it's only questionable on the left side of the infield)

Going off of nothing tangible, I don't get the sense that Cat or Johnson are anything to brag about.

Said another way, I think when Rios and Gross are regulars the OF defense will be much improved.

But again, I'm just talking based on personal observation.

This makes sense if you want better defence at the position immediately, otherwise why not just pinch hit for the pitcher leading off the bottom of the ninth.

Because you might want to leave the new reliever in for more than just the rest of the inning. A double switch gives the manager more flexibility -- if you don't do it, there's a pitching change, followed by a pinch-hit for the pitcher, followed by yet another immediate pitching change.

Today's game isn't free is it?

Back to the 80's for a second - how about these close call band names:

Sigue Sigue (Sputnik)
Oingo Boingo
Bow wow wow

I got nothin...

http://economics.about.com
What about Was (Not Was)?

Wet Wet Wet!

I agree with Mike D on the Perkins article. I think the defense was not good last year and getting league average defense from this team this year would be a huge victory. I also think that Perkins correctly assessed that this is a trade off for offense that was made intentionally by JP.

In general, I would rate the defense for 2003 and 2004 as follows:

1B - 2003 & 2004 Delgado - average to slighly below average
2B - 2003 & 2004 O-Dog/Berg - O-Dog - well above average; Berg -average
SS - 2003 Bordick - slightly above average
- 2004 Woodward - slightly below average (not as bad as some think)
3B - 2003 & 2004 Hinske - well below average
C - 2003 Myers/Wilson - Myers - below average; Wilson - well below average
- 2004 Myers/Cash - Myers -declining; Cash - average (until play catches up to tools)
LF - 2003 Stewart - below average
- 2004 F-Cat - below average (but better in LF than RF)
CF - 2003 & 2004 Wells - above average
RF - 2003 F-Cat/Johnson - F-Cat well below average; Johnson - slightly below average
- 2004 - Johnson - as above

In sum, in 2003 I think you could only say 2B, SS, CF and maybe 1B played defense at a league average or better level. In 2004, I think you are only guaranteed to get league average or better defense out of 2B and CF with the possibility of getting that out of 1B,C and RF. I think defense is a problem with this team but one that you have to live with if you want (and I think you do) to put the best offense on the field.

With the trend towards larger and larger bullpens (12 pitchers in April is simply absurd), the benches are getting shorter and shorter.

However, if an AL team goes with 14 position players (as it should), it makes sense to me to have a defensive wizard on the team that can come in late in the game as a defensive replacement at any infield position, particularly when you've got a groundballer pitching.

This would be the proper role for someone like Cesar Izturis. I'm sure there are at least a few AAA guys around who are absolutely terrible hitters but can play defence.

http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/audio/mlb_gameday_audio.jsp?GXHC_servergroup=973&GXHC_gx_session_id_=caffe66d889675d8
Yo, Mr. Dudek... The game is underway... The Twins feed is active at Gameday Audio. (COMN)

No this is NOT a free broadcast.

Game Update: 1-1 after 3 complete.

- Noah Hall (LF) homered on the second pitch he saw, leading off against Radke. Werth (CF) and Rios (RF) round out the outfield.
- Rivas doubled over Hinske's head in the 3rd, scoring on a two-out single.
- I'll try to keep the updates coming...
Game Update: 1-1 after 3 complete.

- Noah Hall (LF) homered on the second pitch he saw, leading off against Radke. Werth (CF) and Rios (RF) round out the outfield.
- Rivas doubled over Hinske's head in the 3rd and scored on a two-out single.
- I'll try to keep the updates coming...

I'm seeing double! sorry..

I can't believe we've all forgotten about the Go Go's. My brother and sister-in-law both work at a Southern Ontario Rock station and were only able to get three when I gave them the question. She vows to use it in one of her "Retro Lunch" shows.

Hinske's one-out single in the 4th is erased by Rios's GIDP.

I canceled my Star subscription a while ago and I kind of miss it. There are a lot of things about the paper I like. In particular, there's the video review column in their 'Starweek' TV guide magazine on Saturdays, which is excellent, and is written by Norman Wilner, whose brother is already known to us.

3-up-3-down in the 4th for Doc... Sounds like he's been pretty efficient thus far, inducing plenty of grounders as usual. (Joe Mauer battled him on his first AB though, singling up the middle after 6 pitches). 1-1, top of 5th.

Top of 5th (Douglas pitching for MIN):
- with two away, Woodward walks on a 3-2 pitch
- Werth finds the hole between 3rd and short, moving Woody to 2nd
- Cash lines a single to right, scoring Woody.

2-1, Jays going to the bottom of the 5th

Hinske's one-out single in the 4th is erased by Rios's GIDP.

Looks like Rios is following nicely in the Vernon Wells tradition. That's his second in the last few games.

Justin Miller pitching the 5th:
- leadoff double by Guzman
- Woodward makes a nice play on a grounder for the first out, Guzman to 3rd
- WP by Miller, scoring Guzman (but a "bad play by Cash... trying to back-hand it like an infielder" - Twins play-by-play guy).

2-2 going to the 6th (Miller gave up 2 hard doubles in the inning, his second outing this spring. We should see de los Santos soon. Halladay's line: 4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, I think)

- Jays go quietly 1-2-3 in the top of the 6th

Phelps making all the routine plays so far at 1B today... Miller (working quickly) gets the first two batters out in the bottom of the 6th
- Justin hangs a breaking ball to Lecroy, who doubles
- "He's no ordinary Joe!"... Mauer doubles in Lecroy. 3-2 Twins.
- next batter grounds to Phelps, who throws late to Miller covering first, but Miller throws home to get Mauer out for the conventional 3-1-2 put-out to end the inning. I spoke too fast about Josh!

3-2, going to the 7th

Top of 7th:
- With one out, Woodward walks again, a good sign for the burgeoning zen master.
- Woody's walk is left stranded... to the bottom of 7th we go

de los Santos up for the first time this season (I believe) and k's the first batter looking.

And prompty hits the second batter. I like this guy already.

- de los Santos (WE NEED A NICKNAME, or a short-form at % !) strikes out his first batter on a called-third strike. Quiroz is his battery mate.
- still working out his control porblems, dlS plunks the next batter
- Morneau singles
- Clark (the best defensive 3Bman at camp, IMO) starts the 6-4-3 DP to get Val out of the inning.

I may be incorrect, be doesn't "Santos" mean "Saint" in Spanish? Perhaps we can use this to our advantage? Saint Val? No, that sounds retarded.

Top of the 8th:
- Quiroz lines the first pitch up the middle for a leadoff single
- Emerging closer prospect Jesse Crain's pitching. Interestingly, Crain was born in Toronto, where his father worked for a year. He was lobbied heavily by the folks at Baseball Canada to play for the Canadian qualifying team in Panama, but eventually pitched for team USA. You can bet Morneau and Koskie are letting him hear about it!)
- With one out (and Q running!) Sequea singles.... runners on the corners for Clark
- Howie grounds into a FC, driving in Q. 3-3.
- Rios grounds HARD to short, but Punto can't make the play...Rios is going to cause a lot of infield errors in the bigs!
- Phelps laces one to left, scoring Clark from second. 4-3.
- Gross lines out to RF to end the inning... to bottom of the 8th we go

Adams pitching the bottom of the 8th:
- strikes out the first batter
- Sequea makes a diving stop at 2B, and makes the play for the second out
- Patch gets Lecroy with a slider to retire the side in order

Gotta run, so hopefully someone else (JackF?) can let us know what happens in the 9th...

Sylvain Sylvain Danger Danger

Finally, my "obscure 80s bands" neurons have started firing....

Bases are loaded with none out on a double, bunt single and a walk against Durocher[sic], bottom of the ninth.

That's the winning run on second.

Jays were retired pretty quickly in the first half of this inning if I recall correctly.

Quiroz can't handle a pop up behind home plate, Twins announcers call him "lazy" in getting his mask off and suggest that they're seeing "terrible" catching. Not familiar with these announcers so I won't editorialise, but they also suggested Rios was going to make the team from ST.

Full count to Ojeda with bases still loaded.

Another pop-up, this time the ball happily finding itself in "infield fly" territory. One out, bases still loaded.

Mourneau gets ahead 3-0. Durocher (it seems I spelled it correctly) is allegedly having trouble with mechanics. A close call brings the count to 3-1, and a foul ball fills the count.

There's the walk. Tie game.

Durocher's done.

Cuddyer is now batting against Matos, brings the count to 3-2 on a couple of foul balls. Cuddyer crushes a ball down the third base line but it's called foul. He then hits a fly to center which falls in for a base hit. Punto scores. Game over.

That's what happens when I leave my post before the 9th inning!

Well, Durocher didn't do himself any favours in the battle for the last roster spot(s).

Other notable articles making the rounds:
- SI's John Donovon has Bang for the buck: Ricciardi builds a winner out of Toronto in rough, tough AL East.

A quote from JP:
"At some point, and I think this may be a reality in Toronto -- but I hope it's not -- we may be a club that, if they keep us at $50 million, wins 85 to 90 games year in and year out and doesn't make the playoffs... And that, after a while, would be something that would be hard to swallow. Because if you're that close, you'd like to be able to make that next step. At some point you want to jump up and take the brass ring."

- Mark Newman, MLB.com, looks at the continuing evolution of performance-based baseball evaluation, with references to JP, Law, and Tosca.

The Jays outrighted Talley Haines to Syracuse today, after working out an agreement with T-Bay. That and other notes in Fordin's post-game report.
Does anyone have an idea of what that "agreement" could be?

Just wanted to thank Steve and Jack for the updates on the game. I'm too cheap to pay for it, so it's quite nice.

Thumbs up.

Does anyone have an idea of what that "agreement" could be?

Cold, Hard, Cash (not Kevin)

Probably some of the money they got for Walker.

Now that de lose Santos has thrown...

Yikes... it looks like Fordin has made his submission for Valerio's nickname.

Why has no one remembered the Go-Go's?

All those geek boy fantasies...forgotten!!

The shame of it all....

Hey there, just got back from Florida. I was at this game in Ft. Myers, and I noticed a few things. (Warning: little or no practical baseball knowledge and no playing experience)

Lineup from best recollection:
Hall LF, Hudson, Hinske, Phelps 1B, Rios RF, Gross DH, Werth CF, Quiroz, Woody

Gross is one patient hitter. It seemed like he had a 3-2 count each time up without swinging at anything. Is this good? In his first at bat, the two strikes were perfect pitches to whack all the way to Clearwater.

Doc was on. His changeup is still developing, but at least two at bats (Hunter and Koskie) went like this: Wild swing, foul ball, wild swing.

Woodward won't be on People's 50 Best Looking People or whatever it's called.

The PA announcer was awful. Just imagine saying these words: "Now batting, number 11, Eric Hinske" while being stabbed in the groin with a fork every three seconds.

Joe Mauer was pretty much the only thing Twins fans were talking about. One guy I saw bought a program, looked up Mauer's uni #, then threw it out. A waste of 4 dollars, but so was my hot dog.

Bring on the real ball.