David,<br><br>The Phrillie Self-Implosion Machine has about as much of a chance of winning the Wild-Card as the Devil Rays have in winning the AL East.<br><br>Must be rough being a fan of the city with the worst sports teams in history.
<br><br>Take care,<br><br>Deacon<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 8/11/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">David Williams</b> <<a href="mailto:davidwilliams365@hotmail.com">davidwilliams365@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:
</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I think I'd have to agree with Deacon on this one. The chief responsibility<br>of any leadoff hitter is to get on base, no matter what. You put your team
<br>in a hole by being impatient at the plate, swinging for the fences (unless<br>you're Ryan Howard), or, in this case, pandering to a potential no-no. This<br>applies specially to rubber matches, in which small ball (i.e
. bunts, sac<br>bunts, sac flys, stolen bases, smart base-running) usually provides the<br>margin for winning or losing. Kudos to Zobrist for his hustle and game<br>focus, especially on a team with sub-500 record playing in a division buried
<br>by the likes of Toronto, Boston and the Yankees. A quick disclaimer: I<br>might feel a bit different and sympathize more with Scott than I currently<br>do if Zobrist did the same things against the Phillies. Not so much that he
<br>would've ruined a no-hitter (I've already seen one), but b/c the Phil's are<br>in the wild-card hunt, and they need EVERY win. Apart from 3-game series<br>against the Mets, Philadelphia's remaining schedule doesn't include one team
<br>with a record currently over .500. GO PHIL'S!!!<br><br><br>>From: "Deacon James" <<a href="mailto:deaconblues42@gmail.com">deaconblues42@gmail.com</a>><br>>To: Vision2020 <<a href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">
vision2020@moscow.com</a>><br>>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Poor Sportsmanship<br>>Date: Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:59:45 -0700<br>><br>>Scott,<br>><br>>Suspension? That's taking unwritten rules a bit far, don't you think?
<br>><br>>Initially, I felt it was cheap as well. However, it was the beginning of<br>>the<br>>6th inning in a 1-0 game. A no-hitter through 5 is nothing. Hardly a week<br>>goes by without a pitcher achieving that.
<br>><br>>I think the argument stands if the D-Rays were down by 5 in the 8th; at<br>>that<br>>point the game would be out of hand. In a one run game just over<br>>half-spent,<br>>you can't fault Zobrist at all. In my opinion, he was doing whatever he
<br>>could to get on base, and he ought to be applauded.<br>><br>>Take care,<br>><br>>Deacon<br>><br>>On 8/11/06, Scott Dredge <<a href="mailto:sdredge@yahoo.com">sdredge@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>><br>>>At the M's game on Wednesday, Jarrod Washburn was pitching beautifully and<br>>>had a no-hitter going until the 6th inning when Tampa Bay's Ben Zobrist<br>>>lead<br>>>off the 6th inning with a bunt single. In my opinion this was UNETHICAL
<br>>>and<br>>>Zobrist should be suspended for at least one game by the Tampa Bay manager<br>>>if not the league commisioner. Alternatively, the M's official scorer<br>>>should have initially ruled the play an error on Adrian Beltre in order to
<br>>>keep the no-hitter intact and the scorer could have later changed the play<br>>>to a hit once the Devil Rays actually produced a legitimate hit.<br>>><br>>><br>>><a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Ag6F94JwmxUZLdr6UuPHWrUn0bYF?gid=260809112">
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap;_ylt=Ag6F94JwmxUZLdr6UuPHWrUn0bYF?gid=260809112</a><br>>><br>>>-Scott<br>>><br>>>=======================================================<br>>> List services made available by First Step Internet,
<br>>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>>> <a href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</a><br>>> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com
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<br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>> <a href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</a><br>> mailto:<a href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">Vision2020@moscow.com
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