Friday, the 24th

Good morning, everyone. Congrats to Mark Buehrle on the perfect game yesterday and I sure hope you take good care of DeWayne Wise. Let's get right to it today.

YESTERDAY

I went to bed after Haren blew up in the 5th with a -2 from him and was wondering if he was going to be the next entry into the FU Hall of Fame. Honestly, I probably would have pardoned him anyway since he has given me an assload of points over the years. So it was nice to wake up this morning and see that both his pen and his bats (thanks Reynolds) bailed him out and we got a decent 18 out of him. My bats, led by Reynolds and Rollins (remember, I went against my own advice on him) pitched in 32 and the total of 50 was good enough to help me move up over 1000 places to #13,708 in the 2nd half. I still have a ton of work to do, but progress is progress and we never complain about that here. Overall, I am #32, holding of the Dude by a thread.

TODAY

The daily summary shows that a little over half of you were willing to risk it all on the Tigs staff. I wanted to, but the more I thought about it the worse I liked it. I really do have a bad feeling about this one. Kershaw, my boy, was the second most popular with around 20% and the rest was scattered. Most of the popular bats were the same. There will be bat movement today for sure, but not as much as we might have hoped for thanks to the insanely low values ESPN has provided us. Here is my final again...

C: AJ
1B: Miggy
2B: Polanco
3B: Inge
SS: Alexei
LF: Q
CF: Grandy
RF: Dye
DH: Thome
PS: Kershaw

TOMORROW

Weather:
The weather channel changed their baseball layout, so here is what I have for now.
White Sox/Tigers...T-storms
Giants/Rocks...Isolated t-storms

Teams Facing Lefty Starters:
Yanks, A's, Reds, Jays, Rays, Mariners, Indians, 'Stros, Orioles, Royals, Rocks, Giants, Pirates

Teams Facing Rookie Starters:
Brewers vs. Hanson (see "pitchers")
'Stros vs. Niese (0-0 5.91 in 2 starts)
Padres vs. Martin (0-1 11.25 in 1)

Possible Load-ups:
Yanks vs. Gonzalez (1-2 9.33)
Rays vs. Tallet (.377 team BAA)
'Stros vs. Niese (see above)
Rangers vs. Hochevar (5-3 5.09, never faced him)

Bats You May Want To Avoid:
Crosby (2-11 vs. starter)
Inge (3-16, HR)
Rollins (3-18)
Utley (2-13)
Victorino (2-13)
Sizemore (0-13)
Schneider (3-18, HR)
Tatis (2-12, HR)
Youk (4-22)
Lowell (3-17, HR)
Mora (3-20)
Rowand (2-14)

Pitchers:
Please be aware that at this time, the Angels have not decided on a starter.
Cueto (8-6 3.67, 1-2 8.15 July, 1-0 0.00 at ChC)
Lilly has been pulled due to a sore shoulder - no replacement named as of yet
Jackson (7-5 2.52, 1.08 WHIP, 4-1 2.73 home, 1-1 2.66 July, 0-0 3.60 vs. CWS)
Blackburn (8-4 3.44, no f'ing way!)
Bedard (5-2 2.70, 84 K in 80 IP, 2-2 2.54 home, 0-0 3.77 July, 0-0 3.86 vs. Cle)
Hanson (5-0 3.00, 2-0 2.66 road, 0-0 9.00 at Mil)
Gallardo (8-7 3.28, 130 K in 120 IP, 0-3 5.09 July, 1-0 0.00 vs. Atl)
Lester (8-7 3.87, 137 K in 129 IP, 1-1 1.61 July, 2-0 0.00 vs. Bal)
Davis (4-10 3.95, 1-2 7.32 July, vs. Pitt)
Wow! This is a shitty group to choose from. I like either Jackson vs. the Sox at home or Lester over the O's. I think Jackson will have success after the Sox bats get worn out by the DH, but if it gets to the pen.... I generally don't like to go against the O's either, but since I think that the majority will go that way, I will to. I really think the play tomorrow is to go with the top staff and take whatever lumps come my way.

First:
Lee (6-15 vs. good starter)
Howard (4-9, HR)
Pujols (0-2)
Huff (8-25, HR vs. good starter)
Pujols is always tempting, but I think Ryho is the way to go, Loshe being the giveaway.

Second:
Hill (1-2 vs. lefty)
Zo (2-5, HR vs. lefty)
Polanco (8-24, HR)
Pedroia (7-18)
Sanchez (17-34, HR vs. good lefty)
Aaron Hill took good care of me throughout the first half. Let's see if he can do it again as he hits over .300 vs. the hooks.

Third:
Longoria (1-3 vs. lefty)
Figgins (6-10 vs. good starter)
Beltre (4-12 vs. lefty)
Chipper (2-4, HR vs. good starter)
Wright (6-11, HR)
Wright is cold lately and Longo doesn't hitlefties well. It looks like a good time to go back to ARod vs. a crap rookie.

Short:
Theriot (6-17 vs. good starter)
Bartlett (2-4 vs. lefty)
Peralta (5-15 vs. good lefty)
Tulo (3-9 vs. lefty)
None of these impress me in the least. Even though Jeter is hothitting well, Iwill take him agains the lefty.

Left:
Fonzie (4-12, 2HR vs. good starter)
Crawford (4-9 vs. lefty)
Braun (2-3, 2HR vs. good rook)
Sheff (5-13, 3HR)
Bay (3-5, 2HR)
Braun or Bay. Braun or Bay. I think Hanson will be a little better prepared this time, so I will go with Bay vs. a miserable staff.

Center:
Hairston (3-9, HR vs. lefty)
Wells (1-3 vs. lefty)
Upton (2-4 vs. lefty)
Fowler (1-2 vs. lefty)
The only thing that impresses me from this group is the way that Hairston hits lefties. A washed up one like Pettite should be no major challenge.

Right:
Rios (2-3 vs. lefty)
Werth (2-3, HR)
Abreu (4-8 vs. good starter)
Ichiro (5-13 vs. lefty)
Drew (5-14, HR)
Werth = no brainer.

DH:
Cust (3-9, HR vs. lefty)
Lind (1-3 vs. lefty)
Thome (7-10, 2HR vs. good starter)
Griff (3-8, HR vs. lefty)
Hafner (4-13 vs. good lefty)
Nothing impresses. Papi is 5-17 vs. Guthrie. I guess that's enough.

Catcher:
Suzuki (4-7 vs. lefty)
Navarro (4-9 vs. lefty)
Ianetta (4-11, HR vs. lefty)
Torrealba (2-4 vs. lefty)
Benji (5-12)
Hell, they all suck. Mauer by default against the unknown Angel.

FINAL LINEUP

C: Mauer
1B: Ryho
2B: Hill
3B: ARod
SS: Jeter
LF: Bay
CF: Hairston
RF: Werth
DH: Papi
PS: Uncle Lester

STAT CORNER

The Best Day Game Batting Averages (75 AB min.):
Ichiro .458
Ad Jones .407
Prado .364
Beltran .363
Mauer .362
Pujols .358
Guzman .356
Pierre .354
Morgan .349
Youk .344

The Worst Day Game Batting Averages (75 AB min.):
Hardy .114
Andrus .151
C Davis .162
Soto .168
Kendall .168
DeRosa .173
Headley .174
C Pena .176
Fields .177
Cedeno .178


DISCLAIMER

My picks are exactly that, my picks. If you choose to follow my lead, you are welcome to do so at your own risk. Thanks as always for reading, please come again and pass the word.

FU HALL OF FAME

Kerry MF'n Wood (Founder)
Nick MF'n Blackburn (Record Holder at -43)


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