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Actor James Gammon, AKA Lou Brown, Dies at 70

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Gammon also, among many other roles, appeared the TV Series "Nash Bridges", played several voices in The Iron Giant (1999), and played supporting roles in Urban Cowboy (1980), Silverado (1985), and Ironweed (1987).

Mahoning Valley might be taking things a bit too far here...

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Mahoning Valley might be taking things a bit too far here...

Are defensive metrics reliable?

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Colin Wyers at BPro with a very interesting article about some assumptions that have been made in the Sabermetric community concerning defensive stats. How reliable really are stats like UZR and WAR?

Did I miss something? Just came back to my computer to this open on the screen. Bizarre. Did...

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Did I miss something? Just came back to my computer to this open on the screen. Bizarre. Did SEA/LA sign Jamey? Or is this the rarely seen 3-team game? UPDATE: Breaking News! The Mariners signed Jamey this morning. Regardless, ESPN thinks a Cle pitcher was pitching in a M's-Angels game!

Ross Atkins confirms Goedert injury troubles hampered production

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From Tony Lastoria's site "Q: What can we take from Triple-A Columbus third baseman Jared Goedert’s performance so far this year? RA: I think the interesting thing with Jared is that he injured his shoulder [in 2007] at a time when we were moving him through the system at a time similar to how we would be moving him this year. He was outperforming the league and the best hitter in the league at the time. At the time he was having some pain in his shoulder and we were also asking him to play some second base and it compounded and turned into an injury. Whether or not it was second base or the increased throwing it is hard to say, but I think it just took this long to get his swing and confidence back. I think initially what it took was a lot of time working through pain and finding exactly where he could swing the bat without pain, and then getting to the point where he was pain free enough to have the most efficient and productive swing possible. I think it was just the time that it took because he came into spring training [this year] and our hitting coordinator and hitting coaches all said to a man, 'wow, Jared has his swing back". Sure enough, five games into spring training he had several home runs and was having great days and he has just continued that from day one of the season."

Joe Gardner, RHP, Indians(High-A Kinston): 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K One of the biggest breakouts...

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Joe Gardner, RHP, Indians(High-A Kinston): 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K One of the biggest breakouts in the Indians system this year, Gardner's been displaying one of the best sinkers in the minor leagues, a 90-94 mph bowling ball that gets swings and misses as often as in generates groundballs. In 98 innings across Low- and High-A, the big righty has whiffed 111 while giving up just 65 hits, and scouts are wondering how he lasted until the third round of last year's draft.

Goldstein

Is Sabathia delusional? Or is he merely the latest member of the Yankees to "misremember"...

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Is Sabathia delusional? Or is he merely the latest member of the Yankees to "misremember" something? I'll submit that neither is the case. Sabathia, you see, is taking advantage of the opportunity the July 2008 trade that sent him to Milwaukee afforded him to divorce himself from all blame or finger-pointing and to feed off the raw emotions of those who have done little to nothing to understand the Indians' economic position in an unbalanced marketplace. Sabathia says something insipid like, "It's on them," because he'll say anything to avoid looking like the bad guy. And this isn't the first time. Throughout the phantom contract negotiation process before the 2008 season, when it was clear the Indians were as likely to get Sabathia to commit to a long-term deal as they were to throw a dome on Progressive Field, CC would say things like, "Hopefully we can get something done." Because that was a lot easier and less publicly damaging than saying, "The Indians have no chance of offering me the kind of money I feel I'm worth." In the winter before the '08 season, when the Indians offered Sabathia around $18 million a year through 2012 -- the largest offer the franchise has ever come up with for a player -- he didn't so much as sleep on it. He knew he was gone, and he broke off negotiations before they even started in Spring Training. This is the reality. But now, two and a half years later, CC -- which, in this case, stands for Clouded Context -- is selling a fantasy. An alternate universe in which those heinous, loveless Indians owners cast him out of the place he loved. It's baloney.

Castro nails it, while we are left wondering whether Hoynsie is too subservient to put C.C. on the spot, too timid to tell it like it really is, or too dumb to know the difference. (Hat-tip to the DiaTriber.)

O/T Harvey Pekar Obit

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The biggest loss Cleveland has suffered this week