Let's see, I'm either going to the zoo, or going to subscribe to National Geographic. Which will it be? ...
From: Joanna Re.: Added bats giving spark to Giants offense
Pandas do not eat eucalyptus leaves, they eat bamboo. You are thinking about koala bears.
Damn those bears! They're so confusing. Their habits, their lifestyles, what they eat. ...
From: Robert B. Re.: Rift around Rasmus could rip apart Cards
Tony La Russa has been a good manager for the Cardinals, but the time has come for him to retire. He no longer relates to the younger players and they are the Cardinals future. Tony is the past.
Tony, or TLR as they call him in St. Louis, will continue to manage. Either in St. Louis next year or elsewhere. You know why? Among other reasons, he's only 139 wins away from passing John McGraw and moving into second place all-time on the manager's wins list. He'll still be more than 1,000 wins behind Connie Mack, but don't underestimate him trying to stick around long enough to make a run at that, too. Impossible as it may be.
From: Mike D.
You are doing a good job of creating a story out of very little. Albert Pujols was under the impression that Colby made the comments this past weekend. You guys in the media claim he made them to the Cards GM John Mozeliak two months ago. Rasmus denies this, as does Mozeliak. So you are making this look like a huge problem for the Cardinals and it is simply not the case.
Rasmus and Mozeliak denied the trade requests. La Russa said they happened. Hmmm ... do you see the problem here?
From: Bob R. Re.: Manny's Hollywood start in LA ends with a whimper
In your column today about Manny's stay in L.A., you used the following quote: "Everything has it's time", general manager Ned Colletti said. "It was time for us. It was time for him."
You used the word "it's" as a possessive. Really? You really don't know that the proper form would have been "its"? Don't you proofread your work? Please take some pride in the words you use and don't contribute to the dumbing down of American readers. Thank you.
I think the Kardashians are more responsible than me for the dumbing down of America (and its readers). But, touché.
From: Gene C. Re.: There's value in call-ups, but a better way to do it
If baseball needs your input, I'm sure they will give you a call.
Actually, it will give me a call. Baseball is an it. Careful, here, you're going to anger the guy just above you.
From: Bob F.
This is the second article I've seen this week on CBSSports.com, so apparently someone there thinks this is very important. This issue seems to be only looked at as it may factor in to helping decide a playoff race. OK, maybe once in a great, great while it does make a BIG difference. I really don't think I care enough to go digging. But what I would suggest to you is to look at this from the side of ALL baseball fans.
First, come playoff time, most want to see the stars play. Sounds pretty straightforward, but come August, players start to get banged up. Pitchers start to get sore armed. If a manager of a championship team feels he can afford to rest a few players by letting minor leaguers play, then why not? Come October the starters will be more likely to be ready to play. Isn't that what we all want? We want the Series to be best teams with the best players? I know I do.
Secondly, think of all the teams that have been eliminated by this time of the year. I'm sure it was much worse in baseball's past, when there were no divisions ... but when a team falls way behind the leader, what's to keep the fans coming to the park? Hot dogs and beer? They get to forget about the pennant races and focus on the new faces that hopefully will make their favorite team better next year.
I'll throw in another reason. For those players in cities that have been eliminated, it's a chance for kids to come up and get MLB experience without some of the pressure.
Nobody's arguing against September call-ups. In the right situation, they're great. All I'm suggesting is managers list a 25-man roster each night, and that's who can play. Maybe if three hot prospects aren't eligible tonight, the skipper makes them eligible tomorrow night. Your points are well-taken and very lucid. Under this system, a team can still carry 35 players in September. It's just that not all of them would play every night.
From: John B.
Hi Mr. Miller, or if you prefer Scott, judging from your avatar photograph, it suggests you may well be 20 years my junior, or do you have a secret cream or elixir (wink). The issue of September call-ups is on my mind. ...
Sounds like elixir is on your mind. And I don't have any answers.
From: Andy W.
No, the reason the Yankees are doing so well is they BOUGHT a world series in 2009. This team would not be where it is without Sabathia and Texiera. The Yankees did not get criticized enough for their success in 2009. Their actions have turned baseball into a joke of the sport. Look, the Rays were not much worse statistically in 2009. The Yankees just took the division from them by spending $500 million. This is not a sport.
Ahem, you must not have read my column when the Yankees won the World Series last year. Here it is.
From: Randy Re.: Weekend Buzz: Phillies' arms in position to carry the team
Scott,
I love the fact that you have focused on the Phillies pitching being the key to their success while their position players battle through a series of injuries. But look how they really screwed up. They could have had Cliff Lee for the entire season for a bargain price of $9 million dollars. Second, they would be a monster if they had kept J.A. Happ who was their No. 2 starter last year and coming back from injury, he is rock solid making $470,000 a year. Only an idiot would include Happ in the deal to get Oswalt and the Phillies had other players to package to satisfy the Astros demands. The Phillies GM, in conjunction with their entire front office blew it in a season where they would have had two No. 1s and a solid No. 2 for the rest of the season.
That's all well and good. But you know what? If Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are healthy and productive, I like a Roytation fronted by Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt in October a lot more than the one you're discussing.
From: Boy Howdy Re.: Votto's personal breakthrough leads to breakout season
As a former sports reporter and feature writer, I am moved to commend you for good story, well-written. It's tough when the assigned or desired subject of feature is a fellow such as Joey Votto, who clearly keeps his boundaries tight and doesn't want to talk. A pro knows how to work around that and produce the exact story required. Good work.
'Preciate the kind words, but Votto's a pro, too. Talking may not be his thing, but he was gracious enough to sit down with me for 15 or 20 minutes and give thoughtful answers.
From: Jonathan S. Re. Never-say-die Reds stand tall after West Coast trip
Thank you, Scott. It is nice to see some focus on the Reds and their resilient character.
Nice to see the Reds rewarding their very good fans with a good season.
From: T. Gring Re. Short Hops: Liars, liars, Fish on fire
Dan Le Batard, who has a sports radio show in Miami and professes to be a journalist for the sports pages of the Miami Herald, has been an accessory to this swindle by the Marlins because for the whole time, years, Dave Samson is invited to this radio show and given an endless forum to tell the endless lies. And Mr. Lebatard, who says he is trained and graduated in journalism, has fronted and played the gig all along to the lies told by Dave Samson in his often and vociferous incursions in the 790 AM sports radio show hosted by LeBatard. The two of them are giggling buddies while they perpetrated all the lies to the community. The citizens of Dade County and Miami were prohibited by one single judge to vote on this stadium, and so it was stuffed and swindled all together.
But Mr. Lebatard and his station, instead of playing the journalists they say they are, have been a willing accessory to this crime. Dave Samson and LeBatard have a weekly orgy of giggles for the past few years, much like teenagers, while the Marlins have been lying to the community. Their favorite thing was to review Samson's favorite movies for the audience and all of this while they were perpetrating the eventual swindle and lies to a community that is in real bad economic straits. The Marlins during a time of horrible economy for this area and with their full intent to deceive and steal public funds have committed a swindle as grave as that perpetrated by Bernie Madoff because the city of Miami will be paying for this forever and ever as teachers and public service employees are terminated while the Loria's take their sacks of money back to their Palm Beach bunkers.
I've heard Samson reviews movies weekly. And I would studiously avoid his recommendations if I were in the listening audience.
From: Joe
Thanks for putting some national sunshine on this atrocity that has been going on here for 10 years. Loria tried the same scam in Montreal! My only correction is that it's not the taxpayers of South Florida, just those in Dade County. The rest of us in South Florida let it be known to the state government to leave us out. Dade County is a Banana Republic.
Think I've either read that (Carl Hiaasen) or heard it in song (Jimmy Buffett).
From: Paul D.
"Baseball sleuths are working overtime to ferret out the source of the leak -- baseball's version of Scooter Libby." No, sir, you are wrong, and you have wronged Scooter Libby unjustly. You are reaching for Richard Armitage, who leaked the identity of Valerie Plame to Robert Novak. Libby was convicted of lying while he was put under the microscope of an investigation that had the full attention of the national media.
Remarkably, Colin Powell, who knew this, remained quiet while Libby twisted in the wind, spending a small fortune defending himself. And yet he is the one you make the butt of a joke. It's sad that public service in this country exacts such a high cost. It's sadder still that lazy columnists looking for a punch line perpetuate an injustice. You owe him an apology, and you ought to correct your column. Whether he was truly guilty of lying under oath, I cannot say, but he was not, as you imply in your column, the source of the notorious Plame.
For the record, yes, my memory is faulty and Mr. Paul D is correct: It was Armitage who was the source of the leak. There was nothing lazy about it, it was a simple mistake with no malice intended. Glad to set the record straight.
From: Phil
Scott,
If you're going to needlessly inject politics into your articles on baseball, at least bother to get your facts straight and say Rick Armitage, instead of Scooter Libby. I realize the media prefers a haphazard standard of getting facts straight when it comes to bashing conservatives, but still. I'd prefer, however, that you just go the route of staying out of politics. One line can make me roll my eyes, ruin a story, and make me close-out of my browser.
Never realized I'd become acquainted with so many members of a Scooter fan club in which the "Scooter" didn't refer to, say, Marco Scutaro.
From: James
You're a moron. You know nothing about pitching and playing baseball. I guess Rob Dibble was wrong because he doesn't know anything about pitching, just like Nolan Ryan.
You wrote this defending Dibble before Stephen Strasburg learned he needed season-ending Tommy John ligament transfer surgery. But I noticed you never wrote back afterward to admit Dibble is the dope I said he was. Now who's the moron? And why does something tell me I'll never hear from you again?
