Thursday, the 28th

It looks like it was a little slow here last night with about 170 views. We can’t be going backwards already, can we? I haven’t even started with the add-on’s yet. Guest posting, weather links, etc. are all coming soon. As usual, thanks for reading though, and please come again. We should cross 1000 views today, but 1100 would be better. All suggestions/critiques are welcome as well.

YESTERDAY

Last night was the third good one in a row as we put up another 65 points. How about the EL Cheapo Especial Ben Francisco? 13 points and very little overhead! Cano and Tex also went yard. Hamilton, Pence, Tejada and Blalock (DNP)) shorted me and only combined for 3 points. Dicks. In the pitching category, Johan bested Jake 26-12 and the final result is a jump to #80 overall and only a 22 point deficit to the Leaderboard. Not bad, not bad. On top of all that, Carlos Zabbrano threw the nutty of the year so far. Classic Z. Check it out here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/sportsminute
The blonde is a hot one too, but needs to take it easy on the botox.

TODAY

Let’s review the final lineup and hope that the weather does not jack everything up:

C – Mauer
1B – Pena
2B – Roberts
3B – Longoria
SS – Zobrist (El Cheapo Especial)
LF – Pierre
CF – Jones
RF – Mags
DH – Ortiz (yeah)
PS – Haren of the Desert

I don’t like it too much but with a limited schedule, it’s the best I could come up with. I would be happy to just tread water today.

TOMORROW – DOUBLE HEADER ALERT!

Oakland visits Arlington and the Rangers for two tomorrow! As we all know, a DH can be both the best and worst part of this game. It can make or break a week and sometimes a month for you. The key here is to be smart and to try to find the hidden gem. There is one in every DH (Nick Green in April), and most of the big shots will have pretty much the same lineup. I will not spend too much time with bat stats on the other games as I will load up heavily on the DH, but will list a few options for you. The big key is picking the proper staff. I’ll come back to this in a minute……

Weather - Tigers/O’s 50%, Nats/Phils 50%, Fish/Mets 60%. I don’t see anything to worry about at this time.

Teams facing Lefties – The Dodgers, Baltimore, Cleveland, the Yankees, Philly, Washington, the Mets, KC, the Angels and Texas in one of the two

Teams facing rookies –
Detroit - Bergeson's given at least 3 runs in his last 6 starts and has never gone more than 6 IP
Philly – Detwiler has had 2 starts, 11 IP, 3 ER
The Mets – West went 5IP and gave up 2 earned vs. Tampa last week

Pitcher (to DH or not to DH) –
Billingsley – is 2-2 3.51 ERA in May, 2-0 1.63 road ERA, 69 K in 67 IP
Oakland X 2 – No chance in Hell
Texas X 2 (Hunter and Feldman) – Damn, I want to. I really want to. The A’s are 25th or lower in runs, home runs, average and OBP. Then again, its Texas. Their bullpen has a 4.99 ERA and a .277 BAA. What’s worse is that these starters offer nothing of value.
Willis – not just yet
Lee – is 1-3 1.75 ERA at home, .287 BAA, facing the Yankees
Cueto – at least 7 IP in last 7 starts, 3-0 1.35 road ERA, at Milwaukee
Jurrjens – very low K’s, 1 bad start all year, 2-1 1.30 on road, .368 BAA
I will have to think this one over for most of the day. you know what? I don'treally like these options. Go big or go home. Rangers.

First – Tex (8-20, HR), Berkman (5-8, HR), Millar (13-30 4HR), AGonz (4-10), Giambi X 2, Davis x 2. When Davis hits it, he hits it hard. Late change, though. Giambi.

Second – Sanchez (9-15), Uggla (7-19), Kinsler X 2. This is an easy one.

Third – Aroid (5-13, 2HR), Young X 2. Survey says? Young

Short – Peralta (5-11 2 HR), Jeter (9-23), Tejada (8-11), Andrus X 2, Cabrera X 2. OC willget more at bats.

Left – Pierre (4-9 amd .552 vs. L), Quentin (3-5, 2HR), Holliday X 2. Holliday is the only choice.

Center – McLouth (7-13), Hamilton X 2. No brainer.

Right – Ross (5-12), Ichiro (24-77, HR), Cruz X 2. Cruz for me as he has had a really good week.

DH – Kubel (7-12, HR), Thome (7-18, 3HR), Blalock X 2, Cust X 2. I want to go with Jack, but he is a little banged up and hopes tobe back in the lineup tomorrow. Hank the Tank it is.

C – Mauer (4-11), Kendall, AJ (6-16), Salty X 2, Suzuki X 2. I doubt Salty plays two here, and I have the money for Mauer.

FINAL LINEUP

C - Mauer
1B - Giambi x2
2B - Kinsler x2
3B - Young x2
SS - Cabrera x2
LF - Holliday x2
CF - Hamilton x2
RF - Cruz x2
DH - Blalock x2
PS - Texas x2

You may be one of those that thinks I am crazy for picking threee bats against my PS. The bottom line with this neverending argument is that if, at the end of the day, Giambi has 8 points and Davis had 4, I made the right pick. Who my pitcher is has nothing to do with it. It makes it a little more annoying to decide who to root for, but that's about it. I fully expect the Rangers to give upsome runs. I just hope that when they do, I have the guys that drive them in.



STAT CORNER

The top 5 and bottom 5 teams in runs scored:
1. Tampa Bay 281 30. Seattle 180
2. LA Dodgers 276 29. San Fran 182
3. Yankees 266 28. San Diego 188
4. Cleveland 261 27. White Sox 189
5. Toronto 257 26. Houston 193


Top and bottom 5 home run parks year to date (HR per game):
1. Yankee Stadium 3.78 30. Turner (Atl) 0.87
2. Ameriquest (TEX) 3.00 29. AT&T (SF) 1.00
3. Citizens Bank(Phi) 3.00 28. PNC (Pitt) 1.33
4. Camden (Balt) 2.72 27. Petco (SD) 1.43
5. Chase Field(Zona) 2.52 26. Kauffman (KC) 1.44


DISCLAIMER

My picks are my picks. I do not tell people who to put on their team. If you choose to follow my lead, do so at your own risk. Thanks for reading, please come again, feel free to comment and…….

FU Kerry Wood