AcmeBaseball

2003-05-13T04:08:00.000-04:00

Jack's Back! Jack McKeon was named manager of the Florida Marlins, replacing Jeff Torborg! Perhaps the best move the front office could have made. I think Jack is a great fit for this ballclub in that Jack's six stints as an MLB manager have always come by way of a firing, so he's familiar with what it takes to become acquainted with the organization and more importantly the players.

2003-05-06T23:54:00.000-04:00

Austin Goes Again He doesn't get the win (or loss) or a "quality start", but he didn't do too bad: 5 1/3IP 6H 2R 2ER 1BB 3SO 1HR ************************ Austin did this against an explosive Cardinal's lineup after having shut down a ferocious Colorado homefield advantage a few days earlier. Now if he can only get to the point that he can consistently go 6+ innings. The main

2003-05-06T01:35:00.000-04:00

Get On Your Horse It's hard to believe a month plus has gone by, so I wanted to put something a little special up. How do you measure efficiency or abuse? How would you use your ace? Would you keep him well rested? Or do you have a favorite "horse" in your pen? You know the one

2003-05-06T00:54:00.000-04:00

Crack That WHIP ! Man, wouldn't you love to have these guys on your squad all together!! Check out the LA bullpen, they're performing some similar feats... American League Mussina NYY 0.89 Loaiza CWS 0.91 Wells NYY 0.91 National League Prior CHC 0.93 Vazquez MON 0.96 Williams STL 0.97 Mussina is 6-0; Loaiza is 5-1; and Wells is 4-0. Wow,

2003-05-01T21:16:00.000-04:00

Assorted Tidbits Randy Johnson had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to remove pieces of loose cartilage...OUCH!! It's being reported that he'll be out 3-6 weeks, which I believe will be longer because of his age. The Associated Press quoted the head physician as saying that the 3 week time frame was "overly optimistic." However, he has a world class work ethic and a strong desire to

2003-04-29T01:30:00.000-04:00

Is It True?!? The "baseball gods" have truly smiled upon us by bringing us this news! Now that you've had a chance to check that out....HIP HIP, HOORAY...HIP HIP, HOORAY!! Sorry couldn't

2003-04-22T06:24:00.000-04:00

A picture is worth a thousand words? This one is worth at least two thousand!

2003-04-21T03:58:00.000-04:00

A Changing of the Guard I realize I've tried to stay away from archaic measurements, but this is probably the most telling set of numbers to support (at this time) that we are beginning to witness an inevitable "changing of the guard": ERA National League 1 Woody Williams

2003-04-16T03:14:00.000-04:00

What is, is not!?! Wow. What else can one really say about all that's happened over the last 2 weeks in the world of baseball? Good golly, you've got injuries, falling dynasties, pitching 'aces' impersonating 'deuces', team turn-arounds and so on!! I know my

2003-04-03T20:22:00.000-05:00

Rules Changes I don't know about you, but when MLB changes a rule I want to know about it. The problem with this is that not all rules changes are widely publicized; some are -- some aren't! I found this page at Fantasy Baseball Cafe and it succinctly

2003-04-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

A Tale of Two Shortstops Two highly publicized shortstops made news today. First, Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez became the youngest player ever to hit his 300th career homerun besting Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx by

2003-04-02T03:02:00.000-05:00

Draft Day Bliss A few weeks ago I wrote (A Winter of Discontent) and bitched about not being able to participate in a Scoresheet league that I've been a part of for a few years, because it dissolved. I am now happy to announce that I am a proud owner of a team with a newly formed Scoresheet league. This league was facilitated by Baseball Prospectus and our draft, held this past saturday,

2003-04-01T01:26:00.000-05:00

Day One! What an Opening Day, this one came and went leaving us with many surprises and excitement. I almost felt like it was September again, almost. Let's take a look at the major news: * Derek Jeter is now on the DL, suffering a dislocated left-shoulder when making a head-first slide into third, only to collide with the shin guard of catcher Ken Huckaby. * Orioles and Indians play

2003-03-31T13:46:00.000-05:00

"Acme Stuff" That's right, we proudly present "Acme Stuff" for your enjoyment! I'm trying to get rid of that darned banner at the top and would love to be able to have the site pay for it's bandwidth usage to post pictures. So, take a gander at the links on the left and find the one for our online store. Thanks for your patronage and support!

2003-03-14T17:32:00.000-05:00

McGraw with Brain Tumors That fiery reliever, master of the screwball, Tug McGraw is suffering from brain tumors. Personally, I find this disturbing, as it seems like it was only yesterday that I saw him getting "pumped up" by hollering, running,

2003-03-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

Cust's Last Stand Finally after 2+ seasons of hearing how the perfect position for Jack Cust would be DH, it finally happened. He was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for first basemen/outfielder Chris Richard and cash. He

2003-03-11T03:54:00.000-05:00

Too Little, Too Late I always hate it when the death of some pseudo-celebrity finally brings about public reaction for a change, but this Ephedra situation is really snowballing out of

2003-03-10T18:00:00.000-05:00

Saint Steinbrenner? I just read that the Yankees will fine David Wells $100,000 for the hoopla that his "tell all" book has produced. It's funny how Steinbrenner worries about the 'integrity' of the Yankees as a team in the public's eyes, but doesn't worry about his own indiscretions. With that being said, I have to applaud the latest of Steinbrenner's "saintly" moves. Wells' book is a

2003-03-07T19:17:00.000-05:00

Springtime Catnip The days are getting longer (Spring Equinox is only 2 weeks away). Ken Griffey Jr. hits three dingers in one game. Frank Robinson and the Expos looking at 1st place in the NL East. Dreifort throws with NO pain for his first outting. The Sammy Sosa show

2003-03-07T02:33:00.000-05:00

Genuine Pitch Apathy. Maybe that's why I haven't written here lately. Maybe. I've asked myself, as of late, why I worked so hard to participate in a fantasy league. Negativity seems to be the rule of the day for me on this site...apathy I forgot why I labored each year over hundreds of players' stats; and made spreadsheets and lists until my ears bled. I haven't even started for this year.

2003-02-27T21:57:00.000-05:00

What are they thinking? ...or, are they? Major League Baseball announced Bud Selig's edict that ephedra is now banned in the minor leagues. While he is powerless to spread that to the majors, he should strongly urge the player's union to take some stance on the situation, now. The union, however, is said to be waiting on the toxicology report from Steve Bechler's death. When will the

2003-02-27T01:59:00.000-05:00

Clarification... On several occasions recently, I've mentioned my participation in, then not participating in and finally participating again in a fantasy baseball league. To clarify, yes I am participating, but just found this out. The league I originally belonged to dissolved. A new one tried to make it off the ground. It sputtered and died. Now, I'm happy to announce my participation

2003-02-27T00:34:00.000-05:00

To Pay Or Not To Pay? The Sporting News has now gone to a subscription service for their fantasy coverage. The unfortunate aspect of this is what content remains can be found anywhere. This gives me virtually no reason to even visit the site unless I subscribe. Yes, you can still get the standings, scores and all of the other staples of the game, but I visited to check out the "expert

2003-02-25T06:18:00.000-05:00

Military Maneuvers To those of you in the military, who find themselves abroad, be safe and come back soon. If any of you would like to see something specific from/about the world of baseball appear on the site such as (but not limited to) your favorite team, player, etcetera;

2003-02-25T05:47:00.000-05:00

One Big Positive! I really don't know how I could've forgotten...Acme Baseball has a whole new look!! After much deliberation, I decided to progress and depart from all of the beginner HTML apparatus and trappings. If nothing more, it's a lot more appealing to the eye. That green background just had to go! It did look

2003-02-25T05:25:00.000-05:00

Everything & Nothing maybe something, maybe... Negativity. This week's batch includes: No to Darren Baker in the dugout, during a game for quite some time. Positive: Colangelo requires all Arizona players, except the starting pitcher, to sign autographs 10 minutes prior to all night home games. No hits for the Yank's

2003-02-13T03:33:00.000-05:00

Baseball & Dave Barry? Pardon me if you happen to dislike Dave Barry, but I ran across this yesterday and found it funny. It is simply Dave's response to the news that an organization is actually spending time and money to find and restore the piano that Babe Ruth supposedly "threw" into a New England pond in the winter of 1918. I had read many articles detailing the excursion and found

2003-02-13T02:48:00.000-05:00

Running Legend Hits Wall I always find it sad when a true legend of the game doesn't know when to hang it up. Hanging it up could take on many levels depending on the legend. I could talk about Barry Larkin, but today I'll talk about Ricky Henderson. I've seen the story about Ricky hitting the A's up for a minor league contract with all of the major media outlets, but I'm surprised that

2003-02-13T00:51:00.000-05:00

A Winter of Discontent Wow, only 6 days have lapsed this time! I've been busy tweaking my commercial site and getting ready for my fantasy draft. I found out today, however, that there will be no draft this year. My league has dissolved. The reasons: one owner cited economic hardship -- he was laid off, understandable. The others: apathy. Here are their offerings... ...sorry to see

2003-02-07T21:19:00.000-05:00

Schott again! I would imagine that most baseball fans have already heard about Marge being on the warpath again and I for one think it's great. "Czar" Selig doesn't agree. According to the article from ESPN, that I hope you just read, Selig believes Marge's lawsuit will bring negative publicity to the team, city and brand spanking new stadium. I say, "So what?!" Bud "Czar" Selig, Major

2003-02-05T20:57:00.000-05:00

Vindicated, in Theory. Many moons ago I spouted off about baseball PR, kids and game times, not to mention ticket prices. The point of this is that Jayson Stark, over at ESPN, wrote about possible rules changes based upon talking to many in baseball and number 20 was: "A prominent GM who prefers not to get fined says it's time for all weekend games to be played in the afternoon, to make

2003-02-04T00:10:00.000-05:00

Midsummer Classic, Classic Again? Very Well Could Be... Greetings and salutations my dear readers, I'm back!! At least in some limited capacity. I've been working night and day to put together a commercial site because the bills just keep rolling in, my apologies to those of you who were beginning (or have begun) to suffer from withdraw. Here's my peace offering to you: In an effort to

2003-01-12T02:02:00.000-05:00

Boston Makes News Again I will assume that everyone has already heard about Boston deciding to go with "the closer by committee" approach. So I won't rehash the decision here, but I will offer that this has Bill James written all over it. During the last season he and several other experts experimented with this approach and more for the sake of analysis for those hoards of fantasy owners

2003-01-06T02:53:00.000-05:00

Red Sox, freethinkers? Boston is going against the grain again, somewhat. I came across this snippet about them on The Sporting News' site: The Red Sox are reshaping their minor league pitching policies and will sound out Mike Marshall, a pitching consultant and an original thinker who was one of baseball's most durable relievers. In 1974, Iron Mike appeared in 106 games for the Dodgers;

2003-01-04T20:13:00.000-05:00

More Collusion Info I mentioned yesterday that collusion is NOT happening in baseball and offered some common sense reasons as to why, but if you need numbers and statistical analysis to see what I see then point your browser to Baseball Prospectus' Nate Silver and his in-depth look at the subject.

2003-01-04T00:54:00.000-05:00

Collusion Among Owners?? I came across this Associated Press article on ESPN's baseball site concerning collusion and couldn't help but laugh and scratch my head. Take the time to read it first.... Puhhhlease! I would like to assume that players, agents and union officials have noticed what has gone on in the world over the last 18 months or so, but apparently this not the case. First

2002-12-26T22:37:00.000-05:00

American Free Agents Not Good Enough?? I hope all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, screw the gifts!! I won't be making any entries for the next few days so tinker with all of the wonderful interactive features of the site until I return, have fun and please give me some feedback. Without further ado, here's my take for the day! Good old "Gotta trim the payroll"

2002-12-21T03:01:00.000-05:00

Kevin Millwood for Johnny Estrada?? What's next, Roger Clemens for the Phanatic?!?! Did Ed Wade hold a gun to John Schuerholz's head? It had to have gone down that way. I've been a fan for almost 40 years and I've never seen a more lopsided trade. Don't get me wrong, I too have watched Estrada progress, but he's not as valuable as Kevin Millwood. The Phillies just became the overwhelming

2002-12-20T04:04:00.000-05:00

Where to begin? First a brief apology, I have been remiss in my posting of relevant information, but many years worth of accumulated junk has kept me busy in an attempt to change residences. I anticipate things being more fluid after January 10th of 2003. Please, hang in there!! Oh, I've decided to start aligning my postings to the left. If you have any feedback I'd love to hear from you.

2002-12-18T01:59:00.000-05:00

ACME HAS DONE IT AGAIN! We now have polls, a guestbook and more... I know this isn't baseball, but here at Acme we're pretty excited about all the new interactive features! Check them out and let your friends know about all the improvements. More postings about baseball, the only reason this site is here, tomorrow!! Enjoy and let me know what you think!!

2002-12-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

YET ANOTHER COG TURNS... Here at Acme Baseball, the machine may slow, but it never stops! I'm now able to offer you a trivia/site update/breaking info newsletter. For now it will be a once or twice a month offering. If it should ever become more than that, you will be notified in advance. For those of you worried about all the other evil trappings of newletters and email you may, of

2002-12-17T00:06:00.000-05:00

As Promised...A Comment Server!! Let me know what YOU think! I said I'd bring it and I've brought it! You'll find the ability to leave comments on any of the site's postings. Just find the link next to my name (Ray) and the date of entry. It's called "Shout Out." It's simple to use. Just click the link and a pop-up will appear and away you go! I hope to be able to start conversations

2002-12-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

Ahhh, those Winter Meetings Since my last posting, an outrageous 5 days ago, many trades/signings have been made and I'd like to highlight a few. 1) Rey Ordonez is, finally, no longer a gaping hole in the Mets lineup. He will now represent a not so gaping hole in the Devil Rays' lineup. Supposedly Pinella supported this with some hogwash about how best to help a young pitching staff and

2002-12-11T17:29:00.000-05:00

Interesting Stuff... All I can say is, wow! Between the possible reinstatement of Rose and the Expo's "firesale" this off season is really starting to get interesting. There are many teams that could be in the hunt for what the Expo's have to offer. As far as Rose goes, let's just say the fans will have a reason to try another year of being a fan. See ya tomorrow!

2002-12-10T12:58:00.000-05:00

"EGG ON MY FACE" Apparently, I spoke to soon with the 'Rose posting' so without further ado I turn your attention to this article on ESPN's site. This will teach me to open my mouth without checking things out!

2002-12-10T01:41:00.000-05:00

?? Pete Rose...Philadelphia's Ambassador ?? I've thought about Pete Rose often over the years and told myself when I started this site I wouldn't waste people's time with a rehash of what has already been over-analyzed. BUT....as I scoured the internet this evening I came across The Sporting News' Ken Rosenthal's column about Larry Bowa and this paragraph, particularly the first sentence,

2002-12-08T23:07:00.000-05:00

Free Agent Update There have been a slue of free agent re-signings and even more have been offered arbitration. Among the resignings are: Jamie Moyer(SEA), Steve Finley(ARI), Jeff Fassero(STL), Shane Reynolds(HOU), Dan Plesac(PHI), Darren Holmes(ATL) and Steve Trachsel(NYM). There have been two actual signings with Ray Durham and Marquis Grissom going to San Francisco. I like the Durham

2002-12-08T18:32:00.000-05:00

He Never Ceases To Amaze, The Boss I believe most fans probably saw the articles about Steinbrenner slashing certain medical coverages for his employees and even letting a few go and swearing them to secrecy about the incident. Given these types tactics why, oh why would Steinbrenner allow a 2 year, $5 million contract on one Chris Hammond?!? Now he did do one helluva a job for Atlanta's

2002-12-07T10:09:00.000-05:00

More Free Agent Signings, Er, Make That Re-signings Olerud signed with the Mariners for 2 years and many millions. He more than hinted at his retirement at the end of the contract. Good for the Mariners; bad for baseball, both the money and the retirement. Frank Thomas squeezed a year out of the White Sox. Let's hope Frank can get back to his former level of play. Jimmy Haynes got a

2002-12-06T16:50:00.000-05:00

"Stick A Fork In'em, They're Done" Who could I be talking about? None other than the Atlanta Braves! Schuerholz did what he had to do according to the 'purse strings' involved here. I'm sure he wanted to resign Glavine (he was signed by the Mets for over $30 million and 3 years with a 4th vested), but used common sense in the number of years offered. They did offer him the money that the

2002-12-05T20:09:00.000-05:00

Glavine signs with Mets Well folks it's official...Tom Glavine is now a very wealthy member of the New York Mets!! He raked them over the coals for 3 years and $30 million, wow! Apparently, the Mets' front office didn't learn it's lessons during the last off season. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of Tom Glavine and have the utmost respect for what he brings to the table, however! At

2002-12-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

The Free Agent Frenzy Has Begun....or has it? Jim Thome in Philadelphia? He's there!! I think this trade makes the Phillies a contender. The length and size of the contract may bite the Phillies in the long run, but they really had no choice going into a new ballpark with the need of putting butts in the seats. Not to mention his presence in that lineup of young talent on the rise. This

2002-12-04T09:20:00.000-05:00

Alright, We're Finally Running!! This is officially the first posting to Acme Baseball!! Can you feel the excitement? I sure can; I've been wanting to do this for a long time. First the formalities, I'm Ray and I'm glad to make your acquaintance. I will be your humble scribe for all things baseball. Welcome, one and all! Now for the nitty-gritty...I do this because I love the game and

2002-12-04T08:55:00.000-05:00

Alright We're Up And Running!!!! Hello everyone!! This is the first official post to Acme Baseball and I'd like to welcome those who grace us with their presence. Welcome, one and all! I'm glad to make your acquaintance I am Ray, your humble scribe of all things baseball.

2002-12-04T07:56:00.000-05:00

Acme Baseball ACME BASEBALL Welcome To The Machine Watch your step, we’re always leaving parts lying around!” This is just one fan’s rambling musings. I’m not an expert. No one pays me to do this. I am not affiliated with any team, organization or other body that has dealings with Major League Baseball. I repeat, this is just one fan’s rambling musings. Enjoy it for what it is and