January 2008 Archives

Once upon a time, in a remote Himalayan theocracy, an old ruler once wise and powerful had spiraled into grave illness. His decisions were proving odder and odder, and the people, mostly poor farmers who scratched out sustenance from the...
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Second in a series co-produced by El Lefty Malo and The Bistro Hugo, where the hot stove is more than a figure of speech. (Part 1 is here.) I’ll come right out and say it: Eating within the Maysian confines...
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Our network partner MLB Trade Rumors says USA Today has the scoop: Johan Santana will be a Met if New York can work out an extension. If true, and if Orioles’ owner Peter Angelos approves the Erik Bedard trade, we might...
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Now that Kevin Frandsen has flexed his muscles and scared Pedro Feliz all the way to Philadelphia (for reportedly less money than the Giants offered), we’re one step closer to this lineup come March 31: LF Roberts/Davis3B FrandsenRF WinnC MolinaCF...
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Ladies and gentlemen, senoras y senores, I give you Pedro Feliz, the newest Philadephia Philly. When was the last time you felt this relieved?And a quick quiz. Fill in the blanks in the following paragraph: The team's recent drafts have...
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If I were a codefreak I would write a program to crawl the Web and capture all the mentions of the San Francisco Giants’ ability to compete in their division. Then I would command my program to gather all the...
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Before I get into this, I owe an apology to a reader. In the comments a few days ago, I questioned the motives of Hank, aka GiantsFan9, who had posted elsewhere an email from the Giants sales team about a new...
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Perhaps that title should be in the form of a question, but Henry Schulman reports that Brian Sabean is ready to move on: "We made a two-year offer, which he rejected. We've pretty much moved on from there." He also...
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That’s British for “tidbits,” kids. Don’t get too excited.  * The good folks at Bay City Ball have used MLB’s new f/x pitch data — computerized thingamabobbies that track every single pitch thrown during the season — to break down Barry...
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Apparently the Giants will be more aggressive scouting players in the Far East. I know this because some guy named Lefty asked MLB.com’s Chris Haft to put the question to Giants’ executives. Here’s how it shook out in Haft’s latest...
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It seems the Mitchell-reported conduct of our local baseball brass has caught the eye of politicians. When Selig appeared before the House committee last week, he was confronted with Sabean and Magowan’s reported behavior — stonewalling then-trainer Stan Conte’s concerns about...
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Brad Hennessey avoided arbitration with a $1.6 million contract. Up next: Chulk (asking for $975K) and Correia ($1.3 M). Should they get it? Discuss. ...
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PM UPDATE: Some movement among third-base puzzle pieces. The Brewers don’t want Pedro Feliz. Joe Crede signed a one-year deal with Chicago to avoid arbitration (though he could still be trade bait). The fewer the teams interested in Feliz, the more likely he’ll...
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Once again, El Lefty Malo brings you the best of baseball and technology. We’ve vaulted into the year 2002 by adding nested comments, which, like the Astrodome, will always be cutting-edge stuff no matter how many roof panels cave in. And...
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P.M. UPDATE: I’ve put aside Foer’s Extremely Loud in favor of Bill Buford’s Heat, which a friend lent me for a limited time. The author takes a year off to work full-time for free in Mario Batali’s kitchen at Babbo,...
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As the stoned DJ on side three of Sandinista!* says: OK, OK, we're back.Cross-country travel with La Monkeypants, a full work schedule, entertaining in-laws and recycling a cold around my neo-nuclear family: I was up to my ears in alligators...
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Question: Which general manager can take a young, competitive team, trade its two most likeable, affordable young stars for unproven prospects, and come out smelling like a genius? The answer is certainly not Brian Sabean. But Sabes's mirror image, Billy Beane,...
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As we like to say over at The Bistro Hugo, when you come to a fork in the road, eat what’s on the end of it. Ladies and germs, señoras y señores, we have come to that fork. As we...
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Feliz año nuevo a todos. Speaking of Feliz, let’s talk about the Giants’ options at team-building between now and the start of spring training. The big scary elephant in the room is obviously our dearest Pedro. At the outset of...
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