Am I out of line here, why does Adrien Gonzalez sorta remind me of JD Drew? I cant say I feel this way 100% but the guy is almost like a pacifist in the batters box, not aggressive and I dont see much fire in him. His numbers blow for what he is getting paid thats for dam sure, I find it disgusting that Mike Aviles who wasnt even going to be a starter has more HR's than him...
Am I out of line here, why does Adrien Gonzalez sorta remind me of JD Drew? I cant say I feel this way 100% but the guy is almost like a pacifist in the batters box, not aggressive and I dont see much fire in him. His numbers blow for what he is getting paid thats for dam sure, I find it disgusting that Mike Aviles who wasnt even going to be a starter has more HR's than him... >>
For what its worth I dont blame the Sox Brass for signing Crawford and Agon, their hearts were in the right place and NOBODY would have ever predicted these guys turning into complete and utter waste products.
<< <i>OK, what was it, good hitting or bad pitching by the Marlins. >>
I think the Sox had a string of good luck, seeing-eye hits. There must have been four or five of them that seemingly happened all at once. The baseball gods smiled on them last night.
So, the Sox won 2 games...still 6.5 out and stuck in the mud.
Paul...no way are you out of line with the Agon thing. Red Sox are paying him almost A MILLION DOLLARS A WEEK. What have they gotten in return...mediocraty, much like Drew. His salary is $21.8m per season...4 weeks in a month, 6 months of baseball...do the math. Pathetic performance, given the coin he makes.
On a side note...trip was a horrible bore driving wise. I-65 from Montgomery, AL to Mobile is worse than a root canal. Did ok at the tables and picked up about $500.00. I witnessed some of the worst blackjack playing I'd ever experienced. I chose to play at a $10 table as I was a bit underfunded to play green/black. So, if you understand the game of blackjack, here are some hands that I saw last night and the night before...
doubling a 4-3 into the dealer's 2; splitting 3s against the dealer's 9; doubling A-9 against the dealer's 3; and the top dawg award winning dumbest of the dumba$$ plays belongs to a lady, who actually doubled a 10-3 against the dealer's 4 !!! The dealer was so shocked, she actually asked the lady if she really wanted to make that play, the response was "yes I do". She ponied up another $15, promplty busted and lost her $30...the board was in stunned silence for a few minutes. I am not a snob player, and anybody can play as they wish, but these crackpots were off the chart in terms of stupidity. Many actually asked "what am I supposed to do now?" Geez, get a friggin clue about the game maybe??? After the double 13 into the 4, I colored up in disgust and went over to a favorite slot machine my wife and I play (a Tripple Diamond)...well, I shoved a benji in the maw and after the 7th spin, hit triple-triple-triple bar, which is 1,090 quarters, which is $272.50. It eased the pain of playing with the clueless for a moment.
Cannot tell you how many stood on 14s and 15s, or refused or didn't know to double when they had any combo of 11 at the appropriate time. I tried to explain "surrender" to a lady, but when I got to the part about her having to give up half her bet, you'd think I'd just shot her...response...OH NO, I'm never gonna do that...she had a 16 at the time, dealer has a 10, her, she caught the 5 and that was the end of that.
One guy slid into 3rd base next to me and decides to play his super dooper progressive whiz bang thingy. Starts with a green and works his way up to 4 black...toast and gone. What friggin morons!!!
We're going back July 9th on a charter flight, maybe I'll hang by the pool and just watch the scenery...it was numbing to watch these people toss away hundreds.
Exactly the reasons I dont play Blackjack, I dont know the game well enough to risk my cash not to mention I dont want others to lose money because of me. People tend to be very selfish at casinos and ignorant, the house has enough advantage no need to assist them in breaking it off in other players butts...
I dealt blackjack, craps, roulette, and many other games for my 1st 5 years in the casino business and now wont play table games because of all the dumb players I have seen.
When I return in July, I'll ge playing green...at least you have a shot at having a more intelligent player. Although I've played BJ for a long, long time, this particular trip almost made my jaw drop. Players swilling down the booze, playing horribly and what is most bizarre is laughing about it all. I left out the oriental lady who was chirping like a bird in a bit of a high, squeaky voice, and kept hollering "monkey", "monkey", which is the Asian version for hoping the dealer busts. The smokers just added to the ambience in a negative way...your clothes just reek of smoke, as does your hair when you get back to your room. God only knows how much of that crap went into my lungs.
Paul...here is a website that will more than answer any and all questions you have about any casino game...www.wizardofodds.com. You can click links to play (for fun) a lot of games. You should at least make a copy of a basic strategy chart for the BJ games you might want to play. I would suggest the 6-deck chart. Then, once you have basic strategy locked down, step your game up to card counting by using the "K-O Blackjack method. The K-O stands for Knock Out. If you put in the time and sit at the kitchen table and can count down a deck in a short period of time, with noise around you to similate a casino environment, you can then have a better than fair shot at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. A quick tip...don't let that basic strategy chart overwhelm you...look for like things...for instance, you will see that you should split 2,3, and 7s when the dealer has a 7 or lower. My way of remembering this is very simple...my High School home room # was 237...so, in my mind I just think "237 against a 7". You will see other similarities that will make BJ a pleasant experience for you...another quick example is always split Aces and eights. Go to the Wizard, it's all there. If you need any more help, PM me. Another good website with a ton of great links is BJ21.com.
OK, Red Sox against the Cubs...early game, we'll see how this goes.
Al thanks for the info, Im planning a trip to Foxwoods this Summer, I might throw a few bucks at the game after I read up a bit on it. Im mainly a High Risk High Reward type player, Roullette, Craps and my few obligatory spins at the 100 Dollar Bandits.
BJ21.com also has a ton of great and free info...just scroll down the left panel and click away on the numerous links.
FWIW, if you gotta do the slots, at least drop down to the $5 variety, more spins, or even the $1 ones. Always play max coins. We kinda like double diamond or triple diamond.
Blackjack is easy, you only do one of 4 things, hit, split, double down or stand...that's it.
Yankees soar with 8 wins in a row and now in first place...while the Red Sox remain pitiful and are locked into last place by 7.5 games and under .500 ball. Beckett now on the 15 day DL with an "inflamed shoulder"...WTF is that? Won by a gnat's backside, with Lester giving up 3 runs...I suspect his foul-mouth was in high blower as he walked off the mound. Guy always looks like he hates everybody to me. Then you see the phony Ford commerical and he acts like a choir boy.
The whole team is not cohesive, no spark, no nada. I used to look forward to the games, but now I catch an inning or two and move on to my DVR stuff or something else. They are all paid fabulous salaries to perform and are playing single A ball IMO. No key hits, no anything...looks like they are just going through the motions...Pedroia being the exception.
<< <i>Yankees soar with 8 wins in a row and now in first place...while the Red Sox remain pitiful and are locked into last place by 7.5 games and under .500 ball. Beckett now on the 15 day DL with an "inflamed shoulder"...WTF is that? Won by a gnat's backside, with Lester giving up 3 runs...I suspect his foul-mouth was in high blower as he walked off the mound. Guy always looks like he hates everybody to me. Then you see the phony Ford commerical and he acts like a choir boy.
The whole team is not cohesive, no spark, no nada. I used to look forward to the games, but now I catch an inning or two and move on to my DVR stuff or something else. They are all paid fabulous salaries to perform and are playing single A ball IMO. No key hits, no anything...looks like they are just going through the motions...Pedroia being the exception.
Disappointed and disgusted in Atlanta. >>
Al I like the fact that Lester is PO'ed all the time, thats exactly what I want from these overpriced bums is to be embaressed, angry and feeling like losers. Nothing I hated more than watching a guy like JD Drew and his hum drum attitude, Oh and I now hate it with Agon. Im hoping Crawford will get back to his old self and play like he did with TB, and down the road hopefully Jacoby "Made of Glass" Ellsbury will get back on the field and play like he should. This season is going to be a joke however if the pieces fall in to place NEXT year and these guys get their heads out of their a$$ they could be competitive.
Youkilis is gone to either the Dodgers or Pirates before the All-Star game. Of course hitting 1-21 doesn't help his numbers. Middlebrooks is clearly the future 3rd baseman for the Red Sox.
Deep breath on this one...Daniel Bard to the Cubs for Matt Garza. That is, IF Bard can get back on track. Not sure if I can watch all the spitting Garza does, but at this point we are almost in desperation. Oh, sympathies to Beckett, sure hope that "inflammed" shoulder is getting better...I'll bet a few rounds of golf whilst sucking on John Henry's wallet will soothe it quite nicely. Take Uber-toad with u, he can drive the golf cart...maybe.
AND !!!!! The Japanese Wonder Boy goes back to Japan.
***********************
Yankees win 10 in a row and well positioned into 1st place. Our team...8 back and stuck in the tailpipe.
PS to Aviles...get your head out of your arse...Pedroia makes the double play 99/100 times, he's already in position to make the throw, not F%&K it up and make the team look like clowns.
Not very likely the Cubs would give up Castro. Cub fans would probably have Theo's head on a pike no matter what they got in exchange. That's the downside to dealing with the Cubs, Theo KNOWS ALL ABOUT the Red Sox system and their needs.
Although I wouldn't mind seeing Aviles gone with the Castro pickup.
OH OH...newsflash from the Brookline Golf Club...Beckett sprains back on the 7th tee. Claims he was trying to soothe that inflammed shoulder. Uber-toad ran over 3 ducklings and drove into a frog pond after the 2nd hole while making a sharp turn. Golf cart sank in 3 feet of water. Jenks was seen riding on the back bumper tipping a Coor's beer to Timlin, who was racing along side with JD Loser.
I can see almost anyone going in a trade. Certainly some of the contracts that come with people like Crawford and Gonzalez make them plague-like to other teams. I figure only a few are untouchable:
-Saltalamacchia. He has made himself untouchable with his performance this year. Great work that is being under-appreciated due to the team's overall suck-hood -Middlebrooks. He is the future 3B and needs playing time. -Kalish. He will be taking someone's place in the outfield as a full timer soon enough. -Pedroia. He's not anywhere near his Nomar moment. -Miller. This one probably will have some disagreeing with me, but he's young, cost controlled, lefty, and in relief he's effective. But yeah, he might go in the absolute right trade. -Buccholz. Under contract at a team friendly price, showing signs that he could be a one or a two starter. Why trade him when what comes back might not be worth what was given up? -Felix Dubront. Cheap, effective, lefty, tons of potential.
totally agree that Pedroia should be shut down until he is well (SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE EARLIER!). The year is lost, barring a miracle, so why endanger your franchise player?
Winning 5 in a row and those above losing multiple games at the same time is just what the doctor ordered.
I agree with Barndog, Middlebrooks is a LOCK for 3rd base. The destination ticket just hasn't been printed yet for Youkilis. Hitting a homerun into the centerfield bleachers is no wimpy dinger, that's a blast!!
I believe the trade deadline is July 31st...Youk will be gone by then.
If the Sox can hammer the Braves, and take 2/3 from Toronto, they'll be well positioned for the West Coast trip against Seattle and Oakland, both teams should not be too challenging for the Sox, as they are both under .500 ball.
I'm off to a wedding in Meridian, MS this AM...should be 95 degrees at 4PM, peak heat time. FORCED to wear a shirt and tie, the tie will disappear as soon as the church deal is ovah!!! Five hour drive through Alabama...I'd rather go to the dentist. Back tomorrow.
<< <i>I'm off to a wedding in Meridian, MS this AM...should be 95 degrees at 4PM, peak heat time. FORCED to wear a shirt and tie, the tie will disappear as soon as the church deal is ovah!!! Five hour drive through Alabama...I'd rather go to the dentist. Back tomorrow. . >>
Al hope its a fun time, I hate Shirt and tie events.
Comments
Thanks Paul, maybe some Crown Royal is what I need.
I went to the local casino today instead of watching the dead sox.
I even made some money and was not at all surprised to come home and hear Eck complaining.
I was not even upset.
We will have to do some casino when you come out here.
<< <i>What is the staus of Crawford? >>
he still sucks
Am I out of line here, why does Adrien Gonzalez sorta remind me of JD Drew? I cant say I feel this way 100% but the guy is almost like a pacifist in the batters box, not aggressive and I dont see much fire in him. His numbers blow for what he is getting paid thats for dam sure, I find it disgusting that Mike Aviles who wasnt even going to be a starter has more HR's than him...
<< <i>Ok how bout this.
Am I out of line here, why does Adrien Gonzalez sorta remind me of JD Drew? I cant say I feel this way 100% but the guy is almost like a pacifist in the batters box, not aggressive and I dont see much fire in him. His numbers blow for what he is getting paid thats for dam sure, I find it disgusting that Mike Aviles who wasnt even going to be a starter has more HR's than him... >>
http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2012/06/where_has_adrian_gonzalezs_pow.html
<< <i>OK, what was it, good hitting or bad pitching by the Marlins. >>
I think the Sox had a string of good luck, seeing-eye hits. There must have been four or five of them that seemingly happened all at once. The baseball gods smiled on them last night.
So, the Sox won 2 games...still 6.5 out and stuck in the mud.
Paul...no way are you out of line with the Agon thing. Red Sox are paying him almost A MILLION DOLLARS A WEEK. What have they gotten in return...mediocraty, much like Drew. His salary is $21.8m per season...4 weeks in a month, 6 months of baseball...do the math. Pathetic performance, given the coin he makes.
On a side note...trip was a horrible bore driving wise. I-65 from Montgomery, AL to Mobile is worse than a root canal. Did ok at the tables and picked up about $500.00. I witnessed some of the worst blackjack playing I'd ever experienced. I chose to play at a $10 table as I was a bit underfunded to play green/black. So, if you understand the game of blackjack, here are some hands that I saw last night and the night before...
doubling a 4-3 into the dealer's 2; splitting 3s against the dealer's 9; doubling A-9 against the dealer's 3; and the top dawg award winning dumbest of the dumba$$ plays belongs to a lady, who actually doubled a 10-3 against the dealer's 4 !!! The dealer was so shocked, she actually asked the lady if she really wanted to make that play, the response was "yes I do". She ponied up another $15, promplty busted and lost her $30...the board was in stunned silence for a few minutes. I am not a snob player, and anybody can play as they wish, but these crackpots were off the chart in terms of stupidity. Many actually asked "what am I supposed to do now?" Geez, get a friggin clue about the game maybe??? After the double 13 into the 4, I colored up in disgust and went over to a favorite slot machine my wife and I play (a Tripple Diamond)...well, I shoved a benji in the maw and after the 7th spin, hit triple-triple-triple bar, which is 1,090 quarters, which is $272.50. It eased the pain of playing with the clueless for a moment.
Cannot tell you how many stood on 14s and 15s, or refused or didn't know to double when they had any combo of 11 at the appropriate time. I tried to explain "surrender" to a lady, but when I got to the part about her having to give up half her bet, you'd think I'd just shot her...response...OH NO, I'm never gonna do that...she had a 16 at the time, dealer has a 10, her, she caught the 5 and that was the end of that.
One guy slid into 3rd base next to me and decides to play his super dooper progressive whiz bang thingy. Starts with a green and works his way up to 4 black...toast and gone. What friggin morons!!!
We're going back July 9th on a charter flight, maybe I'll hang by the pool and just watch the scenery...it was numbing to watch these people toss away hundreds.
If you cant play at (at least) a green table stay away from the cheapies as these people will eat you alive. You cant even count cards at
those kind of tables and make money.
Glad you picked up a nickel for your time Al.
Paul...here is a website that will more than answer any and all questions you have about any casino game...www.wizardofodds.com. You can click links to play (for fun) a lot of games. You should at least make a copy of a basic strategy chart for the BJ games you might want to play. I would suggest the 6-deck chart. Then, once you have basic strategy locked down, step your game up to card counting by using the "K-O Blackjack method. The K-O stands for Knock Out. If you put in the time and sit at the kitchen table and can count down a deck in a short period of time, with noise around you to similate a casino environment, you can then have a better than fair shot at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. A quick tip...don't let that basic strategy chart overwhelm you...look for like things...for instance, you will see that you should split 2,3, and 7s when the dealer has a 7 or lower. My way of remembering this is very simple...my High School home room # was 237...so, in my mind I just think "237 against a 7". You will see other similarities that will make BJ a pleasant experience for you...another quick example is always split Aces and eights. Go to the Wizard, it's all there. If you need any more help, PM me. Another good website with a ton of great links is BJ21.com.
OK, Red Sox against the Cubs...early game, we'll see how this goes.
P A T H E T I C
Wizardofodds.com will give you a ton of info.
BJ21.com also has a ton of great and free info...just scroll down the left panel and click away on the numerous links.
FWIW, if you gotta do the slots, at least drop down to the $5 variety, more spins, or even the $1 ones. Always play max coins. We kinda like double diamond or triple diamond.
Blackjack is easy, you only do one of 4 things, hit, split, double down or stand...that's it.
Best,
Al
Squwwk by they did.
Where oh where have all our hitters gone?
Crawford will be back in a few weeks.
That should be interesting.
The whole team is not cohesive, no spark, no nada. I used to look forward to the games, but now I catch an inning or two and move on to my DVR stuff or something else. They are all paid fabulous salaries to perform and are playing single A ball IMO. No key hits, no anything...looks like they are just going through the motions...Pedroia being the exception.
Disappointed and disgusted in Atlanta.
<< <i>Your disgust and disappointment has spread to Albuquerque! >>
And Newburyport!
<< <i>Yankees soar with 8 wins in a row and now in first place...while the Red Sox remain pitiful and are locked into last place by 7.5 games and under .500 ball. Beckett now on the 15 day DL with an "inflamed shoulder"...WTF is that? Won by a gnat's backside, with Lester giving up 3 runs...I suspect his foul-mouth was in high blower as he walked off the mound. Guy always looks like he hates everybody to me. Then you see the phony Ford commerical and he acts like a choir boy.
The whole team is not cohesive, no spark, no nada. I used to look forward to the games, but now I catch an inning or two and move on to my DVR stuff or something else. They are all paid fabulous salaries to perform and are playing single A ball IMO. No key hits, no anything...looks like they are just going through the motions...Pedroia being the exception.
Disappointed and disgusted in Atlanta. >>
Al I like the fact that Lester is PO'ed all the time, thats exactly what I want from these overpriced bums is to be embaressed, angry and feeling like losers. Nothing I hated more than watching a guy like JD Drew and his hum drum attitude, Oh and I now hate it with Agon. Im hoping Crawford will get back to his old self and play like he did with TB, and down the road hopefully Jacoby "Made of Glass" Ellsbury will get back on the field and play like he should. This season is going to be a joke however if the pieces fall in to place NEXT year and these guys get their heads out of their a$$ they could be competitive.
I can hardly wait!
Youkilis is gone to either the Dodgers or Pirates before the All-Star game. Of course hitting 1-21 doesn't help his numbers. Middlebrooks is clearly the future 3rd baseman for the Red Sox.
Deep breath on this one...Daniel Bard to the Cubs for Matt Garza. That is, IF Bard can get back on track. Not sure if I can watch all the spitting Garza does, but at this point we are almost in desperation.
Oh, sympathies to Beckett, sure hope that "inflammed" shoulder is getting better...I'll bet a few rounds of golf whilst sucking on John Henry's wallet will soothe it quite nicely. Take Uber-toad with u, he can drive the golf cart...maybe.
AND !!!!! The Japanese Wonder Boy goes back to Japan.
***********************
Yankees win 10 in a row and well positioned into 1st place. Our team...8 back and stuck in the tailpipe.
PS to Aviles...get your head out of your arse...Pedroia makes the double play 99/100 times, he's already in position to make the throw, not F%&K it up and make the team look like clowns.
That is all.
That would shake the Red sox and the Cubs up.
Money means nothing to either of these teams and its time for Beckett to go.
Although I wouldn't mind seeing Aviles gone with the Castro pickup.
OH OH...newsflash from the Brookline Golf Club...Beckett sprains back on the 7th tee. Claims he was trying to soothe that inflammed shoulder. Uber-toad ran over 3 ducklings and drove into a frog pond after the 2nd hole while making a sharp turn. Golf cart sank in 3 feet of water. Jenks was seen riding on the back bumper tipping a Coor's beer to Timlin, who was racing along side with JD Loser.
Perhaps humor helps.
-Saltalamacchia. He has made himself untouchable with his performance this year. Great work that is being under-appreciated due to the team's overall suck-hood
-Middlebrooks. He is the future 3B and needs playing time.
-Kalish. He will be taking someone's place in the outfield as a full timer soon enough.
-Pedroia. He's not anywhere near his Nomar moment.
-Miller. This one probably will have some disagreeing with me, but he's young, cost controlled, lefty, and in relief he's effective. But yeah, he might go in the absolute right trade.
-Buccholz. Under contract at a team friendly price, showing signs that he could be a one or a two starter. Why trade him when what comes back might not be worth what was given up?
-Felix Dubront. Cheap, effective, lefty, tons of potential.
As I said in the past put him on the disabled list and get him better.
He will not go on it unless management insists on it and we need him later in the year.
Nava LF
Kalish CF
Gonzalez 1B
Ortiz DH
Ross RF
Saltalamacchia C
Youkilis 3B
Aviles SS
Punto 2B
He has a beautiful swing.
I think he will stick with the team this time.
<< <i>look at tonight's lineup. It is comical to believe this team has a shot at anything better than mediocrity
Nava LF
Kalish CF
Gonzalez 1B
Ortiz DH
Ross RF
Saltalamacchia C
Youkilis 3B
Aviles SS
Punto 2B >>
Who would have guessed that lineup would end up scoring 15 runs tonight?
I hope I didn't change the the title too soon on this thread but I just have a good feeling tonight.
I agree with Barndog, Middlebrooks is a LOCK for 3rd base. The destination ticket just hasn't been printed yet for Youkilis. Hitting a homerun into the centerfield bleachers is no wimpy dinger, that's a blast!!
I believe the trade deadline is July 31st...Youk will be gone by then.
If the Sox can hammer the Braves, and take 2/3 from Toronto, they'll be well positioned for the West Coast trip against Seattle and Oakland, both teams should not be too challenging for the Sox, as they are both under .500 ball.
I think these kids will keep them in their game though.
Raining big time in Boston, looks like a washout.
<< <i>Game blacked out on Directv...BUT, showing locally on WPCH, the local Braves station...go figure.
Raining big time in Boston, looks like a washout. >>
Sox bats were rained out. Braves bats showed up
Sox didn't look so hot last night.
I hope he has a great day.
<< <i>I'm off to a wedding in Meridian, MS this AM...should be 95 degrees at 4PM, peak heat time. FORCED to wear a shirt and tie, the tie will disappear as soon as the church deal is ovah!!! Five hour drive through Alabama...I'd rather go to the dentist. Back tomorrow.
. >>