Yankee4Life

Mvp Caribe 2011 Continued Tomateros pitcher Hector Rodriguez helps out his own cause with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth. But then in the same inning he makes the first out of the inning by getting tagged out at third base. Pitcher Nick Singleton of the Mayos then retired the next two Tomateros to end the inning. Ramiro Pena of the Yankees. If you examine the rosters of the Caribe teams you will find some major league players on them. The Tomateros kept the pressure up all game against the Mayos. Here an opposite field single starts the fifth. Another baserunning mistake proves costly to the Tomateros as the leadoff hitter in the sixth inning is out trying to stretch a single into a double.

The next mod reviewed in here is Mvp Caribe 2011 from that extremely talented group of modders over at Mvp Caribe. First before we get started I should go over a few things before you go over there to download this mod. You must be a member of Mvp Caribe to download the mod and anything else over there. Registration is quick and painless and you'll be downloading before you know it. Secondly, I have to report a problem that is currently affecting the Caribe website. If you are using Mozilla Firefox, you can not download this mod. Right now there is a problem with Firefox and their website and I was told by HFLR that they are aware of this problem and working to correct it. You can go there and look around and register there and post, but right now you can't download with Mozilla. Update: I just checked it again before I wrote this and the problem still exists. You can however download the mod right now if you use Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Opera. No problems have been experienced with those browsers. Now that this bit of news is out of the way, the link to download Mvp Caribe 2011 is right here. Please do not install this over an existing mod or a previously installed version of Mvp Caribe. When asked for the password during installation, type this in: www.mvpcaribe.com. Do yourself a big favor and watch the entire Caribe 11 introduction that these guys made. It is impressive. They had someone by the name of Apolo Velez do a narration for them and while I did not understand anything he said, I did make out by the graphic that was posted that he was telling the people that since 2007, the Caribe series has had over 300,000 downloads and the website at Mvp Caribe.com over 31,000 registered users. I don't know who Apolo Velez is but he seemed pretty excited to be associated with Caribe 2011. Maybe Hector can come in here and tell us who this guy is. The rest of the introduction video goes back and forth between game shots and actual Caribe game film. There is also a nice touch in middle that pay homage to Geremi Gonzalez and Jose Lima, two players who played in the Caribbean leagues that have died in recent years. This was a well put together start for this mod. The music included in here is once again an essential part of this mod. From the moment you hear that first upbeat, rhythmic number you just know you are in a Caribe mod. The choice of jukebox music here is brilliant and the walk up music during the game is just as good. The Caribe teams are well represented and there are a lot of throwback uniforms for each team, so there's a lot of choices to be had here. Along with the standard teams there are four special teams. The Estrellas (from Venezuela and Puerto Rico), The Astros (from Mexico and the Dominican Republic), The Los Sin Oficio (a team made up of the creators of Mvp Caribe) and the Leyendes Latinas, which is a team made up of Latin All-Stars such as Juan Marichal, Luis Tiant, Rod Carew and Roberto Clemente, just to name a few. The game that I played that is featured in here was between the Mayos de Navojoa (from Mexico) and the Tomateros de Culiacan (also from Mexico.) I was the Tomateros team and I lost 4 - 0. I hit the ball well off of the Mayos pitcher but it was one of those games when the line drives went right at somebody. It was a fast game and a fun game and I went away thinking that this was the best Mvp Caribe yet. Video: The last out of the game, thanks to Ramiro Pena. Screenshots Welcome to Mvp Caribe 2011 The Tomateros had a rally going in the first but it was stopped cold due to this double play. The impressive looking Overlay for Caribe 2011. The Tomateros first baseman catches a line drive for an out but is not fast enough to tag out the Mayos baserunner, who makes it back safely to first. The Mayos de Navojoa get a lead off double in the fourth but are unable to score.

I won't lie to you Jim. That did help.

Updated to 12-11 ...Jose Reyes is the problem of the Miami Marlins now because he said the Mets showed "no interest in signing him." Say what you want about the Mets but losing this guy to a division rival most likely isn't going to keep them up at nights. They probably figure by the middle of August with that heat down in Florida, Reyes will shut it down and quit for the rest of the season. ...And with the signing of Mark Buehrle the Marlins should have third place clinched next year. ...Albert Pujols takes himself and his bad attitude to Los Angeles for 250 million dollars for the next ten years. For the Angels sake he had better be 31 years old as he says. ...Hey, I wonder if they can move Pujols' statue that is in St. Louis to Anaheim ? St. Louis doesn't need it anymore. ...I bet that no one in St. Louis will have a hard time getting a table in Pujols' restaurant now. And according to this guy it is a good thing Pujols is gone. ...Maybe Lebron James should give Pujols a call to let him know how things are going to be from now on. ...The happiest guy in this Pujols deal isn't even Pujols himself. It's Prince Fielder. Can you all imagine what that guy is going to want just to have him sign his name on a contract? ...Enough of Pujols already. He got more attention in here than he deserved. ...Now that Manny wants to be re-instated I am curious to know how soon he gives Bobby Valentine a call? ...You got to feel bad for Virginia Tech. This week another nut decided to use that university to shoot people for no apparent reason. Virginia Tech is a fine school and always has been but unfortunately now when you first hear the name of the school you associate it with people like this. ...Surfing has to be one of the hardest things in the world to do. I can't even do it on the Playstation. ...You can tell it is a changing world when kids who are waiting in line to see Santa bring their tablets along with him to show him what they want online, pictures and all. ...Grease was on TV the other night. That remains the only musical I can watch all the way through without having a need to grab the remote. ...Lindsay Lohan posed for Playboy? She must have squeezed that in between court dates.

Some pictures from around the Arizona Memorial, March, 2011. The entrance to the Arizona Memorial National Park. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Approaching the Memorial via boat. Ford Island is in the background. Uploaded with ImageShack.us This is the part of the ship where oil still rises to the surface to this day. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Another part of the sunken Arizona that is photographed a lot. In the background of this picture is Pearl City. Uploaded with ImageShack.us I learned something about the Arizona today while doing some reading on it. Did you know that the USS Arizona was in a James Cagney movie? It's a movie called Here Comes The Navy and it was made in 1934. I've never seen it but if Turner Classic Movies ever aired it I'd tune in. This is about the only chance we'd get to see a movie this old on TV and that's on TCM. Old stuff doesn't make it on the air that much unless it's The Wizard of Oz or something like that.

You're right mcoll but you got the time wrong by two hours. The attack started at 7:50 am Hawaii time and that was 1:50 pm on the east coast.

Reviving this thread on the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. Later on I will try to locate some photos I took of the Memorial when I was there in March of this year.

Updated to 12-4 ...The stock from Netflix continues to fall and they have no one to blame but themselves. The only thing these people succeeded in doing was to upset their customers so much that they turned on them as one. Every once in awhile the voice of the consumer is loud and clear. This time it could cost Netflix their company. ...If you needed yet another reason not to live in Alaska, here it is. A recent storm has prevented the residents of the little town of Nome to receive the fuel they require and they are facing the possibility of $9 a gallon gas. If it isn't bad enough they have to live in that hellhole now they have to fork over this much for fuel. ... Casey Anthony (remember her?) was the most searched for person on the internet in 2011. For almost anyone else that wouldn't be so bad but she's too busy to notice because she's still hiding away somewhere from her <ahem> adoring public. ...The hiring of Bobby Valentine as manager of the Boston Red Sox this week overshadowed all other baseball news from the past seven days. Naturally I don't wish him any luck at all, but I just wonder what Dustin Pedroia really thinks of this hiring because he's been acting like he is in charge for years now. ...How long now until the Red Sox are favored to win the division now that Valentine is on board? And if you don't think the Red Sox were covered a lot by ESPN in the past, I can just imagine how bad it is going to be next year when one of the ex-employees is running the show over there. Forget about baseball news because now it's going to be the nightly Red Sox report - only this time it will be a sixty minute show. ...The one thing that gets me about Valentine is that every single time you see him he has that same grin on his face like he saying I just got away with something and you don't know what it is. ...Bernie Williams' name is on the Hall of Fame ballots for the first time. Don't hold your breath, ok Bernie? ...If you were Albert Pujols, would you seriously consider going to the Chicago Cubs? ...Mindy McCready and her son were found hiding in a closet by police because she didn't want to give him back to her mother, who is the kid's legal guardian. Maybe the only reason why the boy went along with her initially was that McCready promised him Roger Clemens' autograph. ...I don't believe any of that nonsense about David Ortiz coming to the New York Yankees. And if this does happen I will be numb for days. ...It happened again and this time it was this unlucky 86 year old woman who was pushed around by the TSA people at the airports. Why does it seem that the TSA treats these old folks like quarterbacks and they are the defensive line? ...Remember Pearl Harbor Day on Wednesday the 7th. And on that same day it is HFLR's birthday, so have a great one Hector. You guys at Mvp Caribe always do a great job.

Oh my God. What's the matter with people? That is awful. :sad:

Updated to 11-27 ...The long arm of the NFL has reached out to EA Sports and has basically ruined a key feature in the video game NFL Blitz. The NFL does not want the latest edition of this game to include late hits. The problem is this is what this video game franchise has been built on and EA Sports predictably showing no backbone, quickly adhered to the NFL's wishes. Why did the NFL do this? Because they've become more safety conscious and they don't want to give people the wrong impression. Apparently the higher ups in the NFL have a hard time with reality and the video game world. ...Well I tried to watch Two and a Half Men. I really did. But it's just not funny. I'd rather watch Red Sox highlights and that's saying something. ...One woman went to great extremes to make sure she had every chance imaginable to get an X-Box on Black Friday. After waiting in line in a Los Angeles Walmart, she went to the electronics department and right before the store brought out the consoles, she pepper sprayed the hell out of everyone. It isn't known if she came away with what she wanted but if she did I wouldn't want to be in line with her when the games go on sale. ...Every year you hear about kooks like this pulling these kind of stunts. Just three years ago a Walmart employee was killed in a stampede of crazy shoppers. And all people do is when they hear what happens on Black Friday is shake their heads and say that's terrible. It's the stores fault for hyping this up so much. God knows what is going to happen in the coming years because people sure as hell aren't getting any smarter. ...By the way, I had a great Black Friday. My head was on the pillow all morning while I was under the covers. And I didn't even have to wait in line. ...Kim Kardashian served meals to the homeless at the Los Angeles Mission on Thanksgiving day and just by coincidence there was a camera crew who just happened to be in the neighborhood at that time to take pictures of her. I was as surprised as the next guy that they were there. ...I've become quite the fan of a website called Bits du Jour. It is a site that has daily deals on many various kinds of software. Each deal lasts only twenty-four hours and if you are interested in a particular program, there's a good chance it will be advertised there for quite a bit of savings. If interested, you can sign up for the daily newsletter that lets you know what the deals of the day are. I've already purchased two programs from them in the past few months and I've saved a lot of money. ...For all of you with Imagecave accounts: Keep waiting. Whatever their problem is they are keeping it to themselves. ...I've been reading a lot of sports books ever since the Yankees did their annual exit from the playoffs and just about everything that I have read about Billy Martin makes me wonder why I thought he was the greatest guy in the world when I was a kid. He couldn't do no wrong back then in my eyes. But if he were alive today I wouldn't walk across the room to get his autograph. ...My wife got all upset when she read this article the other day. She said that lady stole her idea. ...The latest word with the NBA is that they are supposed to begin their season on Christmas Day. And all this time I thought Christmas was a time for celebrating. ...The Yankees re-signed pitcher Freddie Garcia. And I found out about this the old fashioned way. I went to their website. ...Note to DJEagles: Don't get to used to the new logo and uniforms for the Blue Jays. By 2015 they'll change them again. Check out their uniforms on that baseball uniform database. They're always changing them. It's like they can't make up their mind what they want. ...Finally, if you have not seen this video from Macy's that advertised Black Friday, you really missed something. Someone's got a good sense of humor here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpqBmt8yWfs

The bible thumpers are probably too scared to get within 100 miles of the place. I agree. Oh, do I agree. Well I'm not surprised. This guy's done nothing to improve the game. I wouldn't be shocked at all to find out that Nolan Ryan has been whispering in Selig's ear to make this move. This guy is a terrible example of a commissioner. Just think of all the good that Bart Giamatti could have done had he lived. Are you kidding? They don't care who Natalie Wood was. They are too busy text messaging. But she was a real beauty in West Side Story, wasn't she? Hey you never know man, you could be right. Unless we find out otherwise all we have is speculation. This Captain, Dennis Davern, is someone who is not that trustworthy. Again, why wait thirty years?

Updated to 11-20 ...The Florida/Miami/Whatever Marlins have reportedly offered Jose Reyes a six year contract with a lot of money attached to it. Reyes plays shortstop and the problem here is that the Marlins already have a prima donna shortstop on the team already in Hanley Ramirez. After Ramirez heard the rumors of Reyes possibly becoming a Marlin, he came out with a statement telling everyone that "he's the shortstop of the team and no one else is going to play it." I was immediately transported back in time 7 1/2 years when the Yankees acquired Alex Rodriguez from Texas and Captain Selfish said essentially the same thing. ...What a combination those two would make on the Marlins though. Ramirez, who only plays all out when he feels like it and when he doesn't he goes through the motions and Reyes, who just quits on the team when he thinks the time is right. ...Congratulations to Jim Crane, the Houston businessman who just purchased the Houston Astros. His main concern should be how to turn around a ballclub that lost 106 game in 2011. But because of something he had to agree to before Bud Selig gave his final blessing to the transaction, his ballclub will become an American League team in 2103. The traditionalist that I am hates this move. Houston has been in the National League since 1962, starting up in the same year as the New York Mets. They belong there. Bud Selig continues to prove that the changes he makes are moves that really do not have to be made for the good of baseball. ...Don't feel too bad for former Red Sox manager Terry Francona. He continues to prove that he is no fool because he quickly withdrew his name from consideration for the Cubs managerial job. Stating that he wanted to "re-energize" himself before he took on another job as manager, which was the nice way of saying to everyone there is no chance I am going to manage that team. Are you nuts? It should be pointed out that Francona did not say he needed to re-energize himself when he was in consideration to manage the Champion Cardinals. ...Nice to see so far that the Yankees haven't thrown a Brinks truck or two filled with money at some overrated free agent pitcher. On the other hand it's only November 20th. It's still too early for them. ...The latest gossip about the Yankees is that they are interested in pitcher Yu Darvish who just happens to be this year's version of the greatest Japanese pitcher ever. Who knows, one of these days the numbers that these pitchers put up in the states will equal the hype that surrounded them. ...I thought in this country you were supposed to be able to express your opinion freely. But in this politically correct society that we are in that is the furthest from the truth. Take what just happened with Franco Harris. Harris came out recently supporting his former Penn State coach Joe Paterno and said that the University should have backed Paterno during this time instead of firing him. That's it folks. That's all he said. And because of that he lost his job at a place called The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Washington, Pa., a job which required him to be seen by customers to glad-hand them, welcome them to the place and make public appearances representing the racetrack. In other words, a friendly familiar face that the customers can see right before they go into the casino and lose all their money. Well, because of what Harris said, he has this job no longer. It was his opinion. Nothing more and nothing less. If you agree with him, fine. If not, that's fine too. He didn't force his views on anyone. He just told people what he thought. But these days you can not do that. You can only speak out and not worry only when you say things people want to hear. Franco just found this out the hard way and all it cost him was his new job. ...Reading about stuff like this makes me laugh out loud when I hear America described as "the Land of the Free." If they really want to get it right they'd add on "provided you say and think and believe what everyone else does, or else you won't like what happens." Makes me wonder how bad things are going to be fifty or a hundred years from now. ...The Natalie Wood drowning case has been opened up once again after thirty years. The captain of the boat, a Mr. Dennis Davern, claims that Robert Wagner was responsible for Wood's death because of a huge fight the two had and that he initially lied to police during the investigation. Why wait all this time to say he lied? Why be dishonest in the first place? The only thing that is certain from that night thirty years ago is that a woman is dead for no apparent reason. ...I was at a place called the Finger Lakes Casino and Race Track yesterday. That's not exactly how I'd like to spend a Saturday afternoon, but it was interesting. I was watching people that were so absorbed in those machines that they didn't know what was going on around them. One lady was putting twenty dollar bills in a slot like it was nothing. By the way, that is exactly what she won. ...Can't make this stuff up Dept: There's a small town in Texas named Turkey. Reading up on this town from their Wikipedia entry their population, according to the census taken in 2000, is 494. So maybe now eleven years later they have ten or twelve more people. This small town's claim to fame is being the home of a man named Bob Wills. Wills was responsible for introducing something called "Western Swing", which was an offshoot of country-western music. If it were not for Bob Mills, this small town of Turkey would not have had any attention. That is until this week and the quacks who run PETA are responsible for it. PETA informed the town that they would like them to change their name from Turkey, Texas to Tofurkey, Texas for Thanksgiving. No kidding. Because you know, that will stop everyone from coast to coast from having Turkey this thursday. ...Well, with that out of the way I would like to say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in here. Have fun on that one special Thursday of the year where we put away a lot of turkey (and everything else that happens to be on the table) and when we are forced to watch the Dallas Cowboys year after year without fail.

It was an pleasure to play this mod. You did an phenomenal job creating this mod. And I think I may check out this John Holloway book as soon as I finish a series of books I am reading. I'm glad you used the nicknames in the mod You know, it occurred to me that most of these guys, and I'd guess over 97% of them were known only by their nickname. We all know that Cool Papa Bell's name was James, but everyone called him Cool Papa. About the only guys I can recall right now that didn't have nicknames (that I know of) were Oscar Charleston and Josh Gibson. The nicknames really added to the mod. Yes it was. They played some pretty good ball in this league. Don't thank me Dennis. I just wrote the truth. You and everyone that helped you deserve the credit.

Thank you Veesmack for welcoming me back here. Mark has not been here since December of last year. I have been trading e-mails with him during the course of the year but as I said in my post, I have not heard from him since August. So I really do not know what is going on. I miss Mark around here. He was a good friend, probably the best I had on here and we knew each other on another board before we came here. I am older than him but that was never an issue. I learned a lot from him and he was good to have around here and I hope he returns. There is also a lot of people that I wish were still around here. Too many to name right now. Thank you kado, and thank you for coming in here to post. I really appreciate it.

Negro League Mod Continued, final image But it was too much, too little and too late for the Buckeyes as they could get no closer in this game and they lost 9 - 7 to Hilldale. Here is the final play of the game, a grounder to the first baseman and a flip to the pitcher covering. 3 - 1 if you are scoring at home. Game over. Thank you Dennis James.

Negro League Mod Continued Buckeye pitcher Lefty Boone warms up in the bullpen in front of a packed Hilldale crowd. Cleveland slowly begins to rally. After Hilldale made the score 9 - 3, the Buckeyes start their comeback with a double by the Cleveland first baseman. This is him scoring on a single by Sam Jethroe. The throw home was late and score is now 9 - 4. Going into the top of the 8th, it is 9 - 4 Hilldale. Sam Jethroe has just hit a two run inside the park home run to cut the Hilldale lead to 9 - 6. The center field area at Hilldale Park is so deep that you can put a picnic area there, but Jethroe managed to reach it and he scampered around the bases for his home run. Hilldale's relief corps were not that good today. Take this last guy that was out there for him, some guy named Pritchett. He pitched two innings, gave up seven hits, four runs (all earned) including two home runs. The first home run was by Jethroe. The next, one batter later that cut the score to 9 - 7.

Negro League Mod Continued Somehow Allen gets out of the inning with no runs scored. A pop up and two strikeouts do the trick for him. Here he records the second out with an off speed pitch. 4 - 0 Hilldale so far. Bottom of the fifth now and Mr. Crooks Allen has just given up his second home run of the game. True to his word, Dennis has removed all the fireworks from the game and all the other nonsense that goes on after someone hits a round tripper. All you'll hear is the crack of the bat and people cheering as their hometown hero circles the bases. It's the way it should be. And right here is where Crooks Allen of the Cleveland Buckeyes left the game and took a shower. This well placed opposite field double drove home two more runs and at the end of five innings the score stood 7 - 0 Hilldale. Remember when I said earlier that the Buckeyes second baseman saved them at least three runs in the game? Here was where he saved run number three. With two out in the last of the sixth, Hilldale had runners on second and third and he dove and caught this line drive by Biz Mackey to end the inning. This play also jump started Cleveland offense. And if you look close in the stands you will see some famous people taking in the game today. Hilldale pitcher Jesse Winters throws wildly to first base as he try to pick off Suitcase Simpson. Simpson made in all the way to third base and scored on a single. Cleveland also tacked on two more runs to make it 7 - 3 Hilldale.

The next mod reviewed in this thread will be the Negro League Baseball mod by Dennis James. You can download this mod by following this link right here. This mod differs from the Total Classics 1927 MLB/Negro Leagues mod and the Total Classics 1927 Integrated mod that have been released previously. This is a full Negro League mod that features eighteen teams and two All-Star teams which are named the East and West All-Stars. Installation of this mod was a breeze. All you need is a fresh copy of Mvp 05 and the installer does the rest for you. Once you get into the mod the first thing that gets your attention (not counting the excellent start up photos that Dennis included) is the music picked especially for this mod. If you close your eyes while listening to this music you can picture the Negro League players traveling by bus on dusty roads at night in order to get to their next game. The music captures an era long past and it perfectly fits this mod. As stated before, there's eighteen teams in this mod and some of the teams you'll know already. The Birmingham Black Barons are in this as well as the famous Homestead Greys, Kansas City Monarchs and Pittsburgh Crawfords. Ask the casual fan if they can name some teams in the Negro League and chances are they'll name a few of those teams. But look further into this mod and you'll find other teams like the Memphis Red Sox, New York Lincoln Giants, Atlantic City Bacharachs, Cleveland Buckeyes and the Hilldale Daisies. Some people may have heard of a few of these teams but probably not a lot. In the exhibition game that I played I used the Cleveland Buckeyes and the Hilldale Daisies. Before I played this mod tonight I did not know of the existence of a baseball team named the Hilldale Daisies that played in the old Negro Leagues. But later I learned by some research that they played their home games in Darby, Pennsylvania which is west of Philadelphia. This was why I chose them. Because I never heard of them. My game with the visiting Cleveland Buckeyes and the hometown Hilldale Daisies were packed with some famous names and some odd ones too. One thing about the Negro Leagues, they had nicknames down pat. There was a pinch hitter for the Buckeyes named Old 45 Scotland. The starting pitcher for Cleveland was a man named Crooks Allen. I had no idea why he was called that but I'm guessing it was for all the breaking balls he threw. He ran into trouble in the first inning but settled down quickly. Former American League player Harry "Suitcase" Simpson was on the Cleveland club as well as Sam Jethroe, the NL Rookie of the Year in 1950 for the Boston Braves. Judy Johnson was on the roster for Hilldale and from all I heard about this guy he was one of the best. Each team had familiar players that caught your eye but to me the more obscure ones that I never heard of peaked my interest. I mean who the heck was Old 45 Scotland? Why was he called that and where did he come from? A trip to Amazon.com to get a book on the history and players of the Negro Leagues is not out of the question. Dennis James has given us a history lesson disguised as a total conversion mod. Enjoy the trip back to the era of blues and jazz music and some of the best baseball around. I know I sure did. Thank you Dennis and also to everyone who helped him with this. Screenshots Welcome to Negro League Baseball Here is the overlay for the Negro League mod. Stylish and classy. I like the fact that pitch counts were not included in this overlay because back then no one would have known what a pitch count was and if you bothered to explain it to them I would imagine that they'd laugh in your face. This Buckeye second baseman saved the team at least three runs today with his glove. Down 4 - 0 at the time, his diving stab forced out the Daisies runner at second to end the inning. Had he missed the errant throw from the third baseman, two more runs would have scored. Nothing like keeping your eye on the ball as this Hilldale hitter shows here. Also, note the dirty and game used baseball that is being used in this mod. It's just another subtle addition to make this mod as era-correct as possible. For the second time in this game Hilldale has the bases loaded against Crooks Allen. In the first inning they all came in on a grand slam home run. The game is still 4 - 0 at this point and Allen needs to get out of this with as little damage as possible.

Updated to 11-13 ...Nice to be back in here after all this time. I had some technical difficulties which prevented me from coming in here to do my weekly Random Thoughts but they have now been taken care of and we are good to go. ...I want to thank the other people who took some time to come in here and make a few posts. I have always said that the posts by others in here really make this thread go and this just proved my point. Thank you all and please come back any time. ...The NBA still has not played a game yet and not surprisingly at all no one is too upset about it. With the NFL, people were worried. Not with these guys. It's hard to like a league where Lebron James is the marquee player in it. ...Just for laughs go out and find ten people who actually care about this. Ok, ten is too much. Go out and find five people who are all worried about the start of the NBA season. ...I stayed busy though. I finished up my baseball albums and even made a special one for the World Series. All the pictures posted in the month of October were overwhelming because they posted over 100 of them for each game played in the post season. And I covered them all. ...If anyone needs any book recommendations let me guide you towards the new book by Stephen King called 11-22-63. This is the first book by Stephen King that I have ever read in my entire life. I don't care for any horror stuff and I even avoided the movies that were made from his books, with the exception of The Green Mile. Now, I will not go into any detail in the book that you won't find in the description and I won't tell you how it ends. It's a time travel book and the only warning I have for you who decide to get this is this book will not let you go. I kept on saying to myself that I was only going to read one more chapter and go to bed but it never worked out that way. I had to force myself to put this down just so I could get sleep just so I could wake back up and continue reading. If any of you get this, you'll love it. The link for it on Amazon is right here. ...So Jonathan Paplebon is now a Phillie. Now I have to ask myself is this good for the Phillies or good for the Red Sox? ...When I read that the Twins signed Jamey Carroll for seven million dollars over two years I actually had to stop to try and recall exactly who this guy was. He's been with a number of teams. The Expos, Nationals, Rockies, Indians and as of late, the Dodgers. And now this journey man lands in Minnesota with a pretty good contract under his belt. Pretty good for someone who hit .290 with no home runs and a whopping 17 runs batted in in 146 games. Who are the Twins kidding here? ...It would be hard to imagine Albert Pujols in any other uniform than the Cardinals and if he accepts the Marlins offer he'd really look out of place. Pujols has said that he would "listen to God" when it comes to where he plays next. I kind of think that the Good Lord has other things to concern himself with than guiding some overpaid ballplayer to his next place of employment. ...Speaking of the Marlins, do you know what a good paint job is? It's when you spruce up everything around you to make it look a lot better. That's what the Marlins are doing. New stadium, new name, new uniforms. Everything new and improved on the surface. But they are still the Marlins and Jeffery Loria is still going to be running them. If there is one guy who has the ability to ruin everything down there fast, it's this guy. Major League Baseball may have conveniently forgotten what this guy did to baseball in Montreal but the city of Montreal has not. ...For forty-five years Joe Paterno was the head coach at Penn State where he won two National Championships. But now he is only going to be remembered as someone who decided to look the other way. And all it cost him was his job and every ounce of respect that people had for him. ...I'm glad that Jorge Posada is being realistic enough to know that he won't be back with the Yankees next year. He had as much of a chance to be back next year as Graig Nettles did being signed as the back up utility infielder. ...Dennis James churned out another top ten hit with his Negro League Baseball mod. Oh the history included in that mod. Careful now, you might learn something. Thank you Dennis for what you did here. ...On a personal note, I sure miss my friend MarkB not being here. I have no idea what's up with him or what is going on. I heard from him back in August and he said he was getting some things wrapped up that was taking up his time and then he was going to come here again. That's the last I heard from him. I sent him a birthday greeting on the 18th of last month and I heard nothing back. I just hope everything is ok with him.

Updated to 10-9 ...Talk about dodging a huge bullet. Amanda Knox got her conviction overturned after she and her ex-boyfriend decided to get rid of their mutual house guest one night by slashing her throat. Why it was done was never explained. Maybe they wanted more elbow room in the apartment. Knox couldn't get out of Italy fast enough. All she leaves behind is an assortment of questions as to what really happened and a grieving family in England is still looking for answers about their slain daughter. ...I don't know what Knox is going to do when she gets settled again in Seattle but I think it is safe to say she is not going out for an Italian dinner. ...I wonder if Adrian Gonzalez thought it was God's will that the Rays got eliminated by the Texas Rangers last week in their ALDS series? ...Nice going Yanks. You had another outstanding October didn't you? ...I've said it before and I will say it again. I refuse to believe that this Yankee team is a good hitting team because good hitting teams do NOT fold up and die every time they are behind. Get ahead of this team late in a game and it is as good as done because all they'll do is pop up or strike out. ...And now you are done Jorge Posada. Your Yankee career is over. Go home. Thanks for the double plays. Thanks for the popups. Thanks for the strike outs looking. ...Scottybilly I will say it in here like I said it in the shoutbox. I could care less if Sabathia opts out of his contract. The guy is making an insane amount of money right now and if that isn't enough then there is the door. These over rated choke artists lose in the first round again fans are supposed to worry about if one of them is going to leave. Let him go if he wants and take Captain Phony with him. ...Speaking about the Almighty, Captain Phony approves the Chicago White Sox hiring of Robin Ventura as the new White Sox manager. What a collective sigh of relief the entire South Side must have had after finding this out. ...Nice try Roy Oswalt. Trying to blame a squirrel for a pitch you threw and trying to have the pitch thrown out. I predict because of your whining and self entitlement that you have a future as a member of the Boston Red Sox. Attitudes like yours are welcomed and encouraged there. ...It appears that the squirrel from St. Louis got in touch with his relative in Philadelphia because there was another one who ran on the field during game five of the Cardinal-Phillie series. I was half expecting Roy Oswalt to voice a complaint about this one too. ...Makes me wonder what Oswalt would have said had he been on the mound in Cleveland in 2007 when the midges were all over Joba Chamberlain. At least I know who Adrian Gonzalez would have blamed. ...What a job of pitching Chris Carpenter did for the Cardinals especially going against a great pitcher like Roy Halladay. ...Don't look now but all of a sudden the Phillies have questions that have to be answered for next year, just like everyone else. They don't know if first baseman Ryan Howard is going to be ready for the start of the year and when he does come back, how good is he going to be. The Phils need Howard back because above everyone else on that team he knows how to choke up when it matters the most. ...This really makes all the people that were shouting for a Philadelphia and Boston World Series back in March look pretty stupid doesn't it? ...I wonder if Detroit manager Jim Leyland takes Nyquil before the start of every Tiger game? Every time I look at him he seems that he is only a few seconds away from nodding off. ...I have no idea who sings that song that MLB plays to advertise the post season playoff games but I never want to hear it again. Sitting in the stars,a million miles away...etc, etc Please, no more. Get out of my head!! ...To me, TBS does a better job broadcasting and showing the games as compared to FOX. ...Call me old fashioned, whatever you want but I do not like those during the game interviews that FOX started that made its way over to TBS when they interview the managers between innings. Let them do their job and talk to them when the game is over. Somehow I could not imagine them doing this to someone like Billy Martin. ...What's FOX going to come up with next? Interviewing the players as they walk up to the plate? ...Sarah Palin finally stopped playing the will-she-or-won't-she game with everyone by announcing that she will not run for President. Good. Now maybe this woman will go back to Alaska and never return. ...With a nod to David Letterman, here's my top ten list of why Sarah Palin is not going to run: A. When she found out the term of office is four years she decided not to do it because she knew she would have got bored with it after nine months, a year tops. B. She was told that if elected as President she could not have the Presidential office on her tour bus. C. She suddenly realized it was easier for her to stand off to the side and pick at and find fault with anyone who holds an elected position especially after she was told she couldn't throw people in jail that criticized her if she somehow managed to get in the White House. D. She didn't like the Tea Party anyways because she secretly prefers coffee. E. She wanted to go on Dancing with the Stars because if Bristol can do it so can she. F. There's another professional basketball player she has her eyes on. G. She has so many new ideas for books, like a cookbook because that's never been done before. H. She's aching to get back out in the Alaskan wilderness and shoot defenseless animals. I. Her younger daughter Willow is getting older now so she has to get her knocked up and out of the house. J. She can't keep her husband Todd out of Alaska any longer because if he isn't in weather that is not at least 30 below zero he begins to act crazy and starts to profess his love to Katie Couric. ...R.I.P. to Apple founder Steve Jobs. The products that this man introduced to the world changed how people get connected to the world. How many imitations of the popular iPad do we see out on the market now? This is all because people struggled to keep up with this man. Love or hate Apple, that's one thing. Respecting what this man did is another. ...Finally, the loss of Oakland owner Al Davis yesterday really hit me hard. Since I have been a Raider fan all I have known is Al Davis. Al Davis was the Raiders. I'm sure you've heard that line many times today but if you are not a real fan of the Oakland Raiders you won't understand how true that really is. George Steinbrenner last year. Al Davis this year. My two favorite owners. R.I.P. Mr. Davis. :sad:

Then you did something wrong. The instructions I provided are good. Somehow you didn't follow them right.

Absolutely. You won't be the only one. :)

You're lucky that you are able to have such a huge choice of minor league baseball that you can go to.

Well I was thinking that post would make Selig happy because it's all about money and power. And if some fans get screwed in the process, even better.