EuroLeague

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by theasfl

I commend you for your completed project, twas entertaining. I also hate OOTP for putting Teixiera in right.

Thanks, I've enjoyed it. It's been a nice diversion from EuroLeague, and I hope to be able to do it in two (game) years time in Japan.
And it will be good to see how the Cubans (especially Cespedes and Gourriel) do in MLB next year.


As for Teixeira in right - well that was the US manager's fault, he'd played all six of his outfielders either in the starting lineup, including the projected RF starter Jonny Gomes as the DH, or as substitutes in the batting order, so it was Tex who got the call to play out of position.
Although what was really cool was although Teixeira started the inning in right, it was only after the two outs that three men in a row hit into right field straight to Mark (or over the fence on the third time), almost as if the computer knew he could be a weak link.
Whilst I doubt that it was that clever, it was pretty cool to add in the writeup.



One more thing, I want to get your opinions on what I should do with the Athletics - keep them in Oakland with a new stadium, or move to Vancouver?

Where will they go - you decide! (Maybe I should do a poll?)

[theasfl]

being the American...keep them in America.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by theasfl

being the American...keep them in America.

Thanks theasfl for your opinion, but I've changed my mind.
I'm going to keep the A's in Oakland for the 2008 season (like will happen IRL), and hopefully by the time I complete the next (game) year they will have made up their mind where they are going.

I'm really sorry for wasting your time, dude - however you should be getting to know me by now. I do occasionally make these impulse moves, that I then quickly change.

So to confirm - the A's to stay in Oakland in game in 2008.

[Sdpm100]

One last apology to my botched relocation. It is all my fault, and the reason is because for the second time I thought we were starting 2009 after the BWC, but because it was starting the year it is of course still 2008.
Because 2009 is the year when six teams get new parks (Minnesota, Florida, Washington, Portland, and both New York teams), and I keep getting confused over the year I'm in.

Also the EuroLeague website is back up - and updated for the 2008 season!


Where will the Cubans go?

February 29, 2008 – MLB.com offseason recap
With Spring Training camps in Arizona and Florida already open, the free agency period reached its conclusion last night. So here at MLB.com lets take a look back at all the offseason issues that have affected each team.

Nov. 23, 2007 – The Oakland Athletics announce they are staying at the Coliseum for one more season, and whilst sites in Oakland, Fremont, and San Jose are still on the table to build a new ballpark, a move to Vancouver and BC Place is still a possibility in 2009.

Jan. 24 – The amateur draft saw last year’s expansion side Montréal Expos pick first, selecting 18-year-old third baseman Bill Tepper. Fellow 2007 expansion club, the newly renamed Portland TimberJax, took Daniel “Cougar” McClaran, a 21-year-old first baseman with the second pick; whilst the Seattle Mariners took 18-year-old Dominican rightfielder Jose Garcia with pick three.

Jan. 29 – Free agency opened with top Cuban stars including Yoennis Cespedes and Yuliesky Gourriel high on team’s wish lists.

Jan. 30 – The Florida Marlins take a big chance on 31-year-old Craig Monroe – inking the rightfielder on a 3-year, $9 million contract. Although he posted a batting average of .286 in Camden Yards, up 21 points from 2006, in two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Monroe played in a total of only 186 games possibly suggesting he is not an every day man in the line-up.
Shortstop Khalil Greene went from Washington to Kansas City, and Ben Broussard left his first club Cleveland, signing a two-year deal with San Diego.

Jan. 31 – All-Star second baseman Juan Uribe shocks the City of Angels by signing an $18 million, 3-year contract with the Dodgers, leaving cross-town rival Angels.
The “D-Train” rolls into Houston as Dontrelle Willis signs for five years with the ‘Stros (from Arizona), whilst the first of the Cuban defectors first baseman Joan Carlos Pedroso joins the San Francisco Giants.
Also another star of the 2005 champion White Sox departs Chi-Town, catcher AJ Pierzynski changes his sock colour by joining Boston.

Feb. 1 – One major move today sees Canadian leftfielder Jason Bay join AJ Pierzynski on the road out of Chicago. 29-year-old Bay, who batted .301 in US Cellular Field in ’07, signed a $12 million, 3-year deal with Toronto.
In “Cuba Watch”, catcher Eriel Sanchez signs with Portland.

Feb. 2 – The biggest contract awarded to a player so far goes to rightfield slugger Bobby Abreu, who signs on a 4-year, $33.6 million contract to leave Philly after 10 years and join the Minnesota Twins.
Despite breaking his foot late in the year, third baseman Felipe Lopez joins the New York Mets for $17 million. The Mets are desperate to move into their new stadium next year as World Series champions, especially after streaking away in the regular season last year, before falling early in the playoffs.

Feb. 3 – First they get Abreu, now the Minnesota Twins look to increase their big bomb threat by signing Mark Teixeira from the Los Angeles Angels for $16 million –
“Tex” hit 24 homers and drove in 82 RBI in Angel Stadium in ’07.
The Angels though were quick to bolster their infield, although not at Teixeira’s position, by signing 2B Jayson Werth today.

Feb. 4 – The two biggest moves involved Cubans. Philly signed starting pitcher Yunieski Maya in a $7 million, 2-year contract, before Portland trumped the Phils by signing rightfielder Osmani Urrutia in a $24.6 million contract through 2011.
Canuck third baseman Matt Rogelstad, whose stock rose even further at the Baseball World Cup entered MLB by signing with the Tigers.

Feb. 5 – Shortstop Michael Young signed the biggest yearly contract to date with the Kansas City Royals. The 31-year-old who batted a great .326 with his first team, the Texas Rangers in ’07, went on to win a Gold Glove at shortstop, and the Royals saw more than enough to snap up Young for $31 million over three years.
Another player leaving his first home is former Blue Jays third baseman Eric Hinske who joined the Bo-Sox for three years ($14 million).

Feb. 6 – The Portland TimberJax pick up Cuban import 3B Michel Enriquez for two years at a total of $11.4 million. Meanwhile, the White Sox may have spurned members of their batting line-up this offseason, but they’ve picked up closer Jose Valverde today for three years. Dominican Valverde picked up his 100th career save with the cross-town rival Cubs in late ’07.

Feb. 9 – As the week wound down, Friday proved the blockbuster deal day with five players signing contracts worth over $5 million a year.
Cuban starting pitcher Yadel Marti was the biggest signing – with the Diamondbacks paying a little over $21 million a year over seven years for the 6’ 2” right hander.
Fellow Cubans Alexei Ramirez and Yoandy Garlobo also got paid big today. 26-year-old Ramirez joined Montréal for three years at $10.4 mil, whilst DH-CF Yoandy Garlobo went to Minnesota for $6.5 million through 2011.
And if it wasn’t the Cubans, it was the Japanese – Hideki Matsui became the third big name player to go cross-town in free agency, joining Juan Uribe in leaving Dodger Stadium for Angel Stadium and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels had to pay Matsui $7.5 million a year to prise him away from other suitors.
The last of the day’s big earners was Venezuelan shortstop Cesar Izturis, who signed for a little over $5.2 million a year with St. Louis, becoming the latest big name to leave the Dodgers, where he batted .335 in 621 at-bats in 2007.

Feb. 10 – No big name signings, but in “Cuba Watch” the Yankees signed first baseman Leslie Anderson, 25, to a 2-year contract.

Feb. 11 – Yet another player leaves the Los Angeles Dodgers, this time pitcher Odalis Perez. He goes to Toronto with his role undetermined – whilst he’s listed as a starting pitcher, and started 17 games last year, he also was used in relief in a further 34 games finishing 8-5, with 6 saves and a 3.41 ERA.
Two more pitchers found their pockets burning with an extra $3.3 million this year. 21-year-old Cuban starter Yadier Pedroso joined Jose Valverde with the White Sox, whilst the most surprising move saw reliever Kyle Lohse pick up a possible $10 million over three years from San Diego, two years after last playing in the majors with Washington who released the 29-year-old.

Feb. 12 - $22.5 million over four years sees DH Travis Hafner, who hit 23 homers in Cleveland, move to Baltimore.

Feb. 13 – Korean Seung-Yeop Lee makes the leap from the Japanese league to MLB by signing with the Washington Nationals for $52 million. The three-year deal sees the 31-year-old first baseman already become one of the game’s highest paid players – even without playing a single game.
And just two days after the Padres picked up a player who hasn’t played in the majors in two years, the Royals do the same for even more dough, signing 33-year-old starting pitcher Kris Benson on a six year contract worth $6.75 million a year.

Feb. 15 – The big Cuban players start to fall to their new teams with starting pitcher Yulieski Gonzalez earning nearly $48 million from the San Francisco Giants.

Feb. 16 – Another Cuban who will earn $12 million a year (but only for three years, not four like Gonzalez), 22-year-old centerfield starlet Yoennis Cespedes signs with the White Sox. Meanwhile, division rivals Kansas City resign Mike Sweeney to a 5-year, $46 million contract. 34-year-old Sweeney has been a part of the Kauffman Stadium infield for all of his 12 seasons in the majors, batting .301, hitting 249 homers and driving in 951 runs.
A lesser light, but still an impressive starting pitcher from Cuba, Danny Betancourt joins the Nationals.

Feb. 18 – After Cespedes, Yuliesky Gourriel was the young Cuban batter that all 32 teams coveted more than anyone else. In the end the 23-year-old second base phenom, who can also play third base, signed a three-year, $56.4 million contract with the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Also today, 34-year-old Mike Lowell left the Florida Marlins to join Baltimore for a little over $10 million – Lowell played nine seasons in Miami, and although he will join the Orioles expecting him to play every day, his batting average crashed under the .250 mark for the first time in his career, although he did still drive in 83 runs and hit 15 homeruns.

Feb. 20 – The Oakland Athletics go on a spending spree, signing reliever Braden Looper to add to their bullpen as they look to go one better than their AL championship in 2007, and 31-year-old centerfielder Reed Johnson from Pittsburgh, who inked a 3-year, $20 million contract to play in the competitive AL West. It was surprising that the Pirates let the veteran leave – he had a good year with the bat, batting .324 in mainly a substitute role.

Feb. 21 – Two years after leaving Shea Stadium, shortstop Jose Reyes will return to Queens and move with the team into their new stadium next year, as he rejoins the New York Mets for three years ($5.65 million a year).

Feb. 22 – The final big transfer of the free agent period saw the final Cuban star on offer, leftfielder Frederich Cepeda join the Expos. Montréal certainly had to pay a king’s ransom to get the 27-year-old – offering a 6-year contract that will earn Cepeda $117 million!

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

Thanks theasfl for your opinion, but I've changed my mind.
I'm going to keep the A's in Oakland for the 2008 season (like will happen IRL), and hopefully by the time I complete the next (game) year they will have made up their mind where they are going.

I'm really sorry for wasting your time, dude - however you should be getting to know me by now. I do occasionally make these impulse moves, that I then quickly change.

So to confirm - the A's to stay in Oakland in game in 2008.

so youre doing what I suggested...?

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

One last apology to my botched relocation. It is all my fault, and the reason is because for the second time I thought we were starting 2009 after the BWC, but because it was starting the year it is of course still 2008.
Because 2009 is the year when six teams get new parks (Minnesota, Florida, Washington, Portland, and both New York teams), and I keep getting confused over the year I'm in.

Also the EuroLeague website is back up - and updated for the 2008 season!


Where will the Cubans go?

February 29, 2008 – MLB.com offseason recap
With Spring Training camps in Arizona and Florida already open, the free agency period reached its conclusion last night. So here at MLB.com lets take a look back at all the offseason issues that have affected each team.

Nov. 23, 2007 – The Oakland Athletics announce they are staying at the Coliseum for one more season, and whilst sites in Oakland, Fremont, and San Jose are still on the table to build a new ballpark, a move to Vancouver and BC Place is still a possibility in 2009.

Jan. 24 – The amateur draft saw last year’s expansion side Montréal Expos pick first, selecting 18-year-old third baseman Bill Tepper. Fellow 2007 expansion club, the Portland Beavers, took Daniel “Cougar” McClaran, a 21-year-old first baseman with the second pick; whilst the Seattle Mariners took 18-year-old Dominican rightfielder Jose Garcia with pick three.

Jan. 29 – Free agency opened with top Cuban stars including Yoennis Cespedes and Yuliesky Gourriel high on team’s wish lists.

Jan. 30 – The Florida Marlins take a big chance on 31-year-old Craig Monroe – inking the rightfielder on a 3-year, $9 million contract. Although he posted a batting average of .286 in Camden Yards, up 21 points from 2006, in two seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Monroe played in a total of only 186 games possibly suggesting he is not an every day man in the line-up.
Shortstop Khalil Greene went from Washington to Kansas City, and Ben Broussard left his first club Cleveland, signing a two-year deal with San Diego.

Jan. 31 – All-Star second baseman Juan Uribe shocks the City of Angels by signing an $18 million, 3-year contract with the Dodgers, leaving cross-town rival Angels.
The “D-Train” rolls into Houston as Dontrelle Willis signs for five years with the ‘Stros (from Arizona), whilst the first of the Cuban defectors first baseman Joan Carlos Pedroso joins the San Francisco Giants.
Also another star of the 2005 champion White Sox departs Chi-Town, catcher AJ Pierzynski changes his sock colour by joining Boston.

Feb. 1 – One major move today sees Canadian leftfielder Jason Bay join AJ Pierzynski on the road out of Chicago. 29-year-old Bay, who batted .301 in US Cellular Field in ’07, signed a $12 million, 3-year deal with Toronto.
In “Cuba Watch”, catcher Eriel Sanchez signs with Portland.

Feb. 2 – The biggest contract awarded to a player so far goes to rightfield slugger Bobby Abreu, who signs on a 4-year, $33.6 million contract to leave Philly after 10 years and join the Minnesota Twins.
Despite breaking his foot late in the year, third baseman Felipe Lopez joins the New York Mets for $17 million. The Mets are desperate to move into their new stadium next year as World Series champions, especially after streaking away in the regular season last year, before falling early in the playoffs.

Feb. 3 – First they get Abreu, now the Minnesota Twins look to increase their big bomb threat by signing Mark Teixeira from the Los Angeles Angels for $16 million –
“Tex” hit 24 homers and drove in 82 RBI in Angel Stadium in ’07.
The Angels though were quick to bolster their infield, although not at Teixeira’s position, by signing 2B Jayson Werth today.

Feb. 4 – The two biggest moves involved Cubans. Philly signed starting pitcher Yunieski Maya in a $7 million, 2-year contract, before Portland trumped the Phils by signing rightfielder Osmani Urrutia in a $24.6 million contract through 2011.
Canuck third baseman Matt Rogelstad, whose stock rose even further at the Baseball World Cup entered MLB by signing with the Tigers.

Feb. 5 – Shortstop Michael Young signed the biggest yearly contract to date with the Kansas City Royals. The 31-year-old who batted a great .326 with his first team, the Texas Rangers in ’07, went on to win a Gold Glove at shortstop, and the Royals saw more than enough to snap up Young for $31 million over three years.
Another player leaving his first home is former Blue Jays third baseman Eric Hinske who joined the Bo-Sox for three years ($14 million).

Feb. 6 – The Portland Beavers pick up Cuban import 3B Michel Enriquez for two years at a total of $11.4 million. Meanwhile, the White Sox may have spurned members of their batting line-up this offseason, but they’ve picked up closer Jose Valverde today for three years. Dominican Valverde picked up his 100th career save with the cross-town rival Cubs in late ’07.

Feb. 9 – As the week wound down, Friday proved the blockbuster deal day with five players signing contracts worth over $5 million a year.
Cuban starting pitcher Yadel Marti was the biggest signing – with the Diamondbacks paying a little over $21 million a year over seven years for the 6’ 2” right hander.
Fellow Cubans Alexei Ramirez and Yoandy Garlobo also got paid big today. 26-year-old Ramirez joined Montréal for three years at $10.4 mil, whilst DH-CF Yoandy Garlobo went to Minnesota for $6.5 million through 2011.
And if it wasn’t the Cubans, it was the Japanese – Hideki Matsui became the third big name player to go cross-town in free agency, joining Juan Uribe in leaving Dodger Stadium for Angel Stadium and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels had to pay Matsui $7.5 million a year to prise him away from other suitors.
The last of the day’s big earners was Venezuelan shortstop Cesar Izturis, who signed for a little over $5.2 million a year with St. Louis, becoming the latest big name to leave the Dodgers, where he batted .335 in 621 at-bats in 2007.

Feb. 10 – No big name signings, but in “Cuba Watch” the Yankees signed first baseman Leslie Anderson, 25, to a 2-year contract.

Feb. 11 – Yet another player leaves the Los Angeles Dodgers, this time pitcher Odalis Perez. He goes to Toronto with his role undetermined – whilst he’s listed as a starting pitcher, and started 17 games last year, he also was used in relief in a further 34 games finishing 8-5, with 6 saves and a 3.41 ERA.
Two more pitchers found their pockets burning with an extra $3.3 million this year. 21-year-old Cuban starter Yadier Pedroso joined Jose Valverde with the White Sox, whilst the most surprising move saw reliever Kyle Lohse pick up a possible $10 million over three years from San Diego, two years after last playing in the majors with Washington who released the 29-year-old.

Feb. 12 - $22.5 million over four years sees DH Travis Hafner, who hit 23 homers in Cleveland, move to Baltimore.

Feb. 13 – Korean Seung-Yeop Lee makes the leap from the Japanese league to MLB by signing with the Washington Nationals for $52 million. The three-year deal sees the 31-year-old first baseman already become one of the game’s highest paid players – even without playing a single game.
And just two days after the Padres picked up a player who hasn’t played in the majors in two years, the Royals do the same for even more dough, signing 33-year-old starting pitcher Kris Benson on a six year contract worth $6.75 million a year.

Feb. 15 – The big Cuban players start to fall to their new teams with starting pitcher Yulieski Gonzalez earning nearly $48 million from the San Francisco Giants.

Feb. 16 – Another Cuban who will earn $12 million a year (but only for three years, not four like Gonzalez), 22-year-old centerfield starlet Yoennis Cespedes signs with the White Sox. Meanwhile, division rivals Kansas City resign Mike Sweeney to a 5-year, $46 million contract. 34-year-old Sweeney has been a part of the Kauffman Stadium infield for all of his 12 seasons in the majors, batting .301, hitting 249 homers and driving in 951 runs.
A lesser light, but still an impressive starting pitcher from Cuba, Danny Betancourt joins the Nationals.

Feb. 18 – After Cespedes, Yuliesky Gourriel was the young Cuban batter that all 32 teams coveted more than anyone else. In the end the 23-year-old second base phenom, who can also play third base, signed a three-year, $56.4 million contract with the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Also today, 34-year-old Mike Lowell left the Florida Marlins to join Baltimore for a little over $10 million – Lowell played nine seasons in Miami, and although he will join the Orioles expecting him to play every day, his batting average crashed under the .250 mark for the first time in his career, although he did still drive in 83 runs and hit 15 homeruns.

Feb. 20 – The Oakland Athletics go on a spending spree, signing reliever Braden Looper to add to their bullpen as they look to go one better than their AL championship in 2007, and 31-year-old centerfielder Reed Johnson from Pittsburgh, who inked a 3-year, $20 million contract to play in the competitive AL West. It was surprising that the Pirates let the veteran leave – he had a good year with the bat, batting .324 in mainly a substitute role.

Feb. 21 – Two years after leaving Shea Stadium, shortstop Jose Reyes will return to Queens and move with the team into their new stadium next year, as he rejoins the New York Mets for three years ($5.65 million a year).

Feb. 22 – The final big transfer of the free agent period saw the final Cuban star on offer, leftfielder Frederich Cepeda join the Expos. Montréal certainly had to pay a king’s ransom to get the 27-year-old – offering a 6-year contract that will earn Cepeda $117 million!

3 things:

1) damn Marlins
2) S.Y. Lee to the majors...brilliant.
3) Gourriel to the defending champs...? booo

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by theasfl

so youre doing what I suggested...?

Yeah, but not because of you , but because I got the year mixed up. (and yeah, I'm a dope )

But seriously, a stadium will take about 2 1/2 to 3 years to build so that would leave it 2009 at the earliest IRL the A's would move. So let's wait and see if they decide IRL where they are going during the next sim season.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by theasfl

3 things:

1) damn Marlins

Here's your 2008 Florida Marlins!!!

LINEUP VS RHP				LINEUP VS LHP
1) L Jeremy Hermida RF 			1) L Chavez CF
2) R Brett Carroll 3B 			2) L Mauer C
3) L Carlos Delgado 1B 			3) L Delgado 1B 
4) L Joe Mauer C  			4) R Craig Monroe LF (!!!)
5) L Endy Chavez CF 			5) L Hermida RF 
6) R Jason Romano 2B 			6) R Carroll 3B 
7) L Kevin Melillo SS 			7) R Romano 2B 
8) L Garret Anderson LF 		8) L Melillo SS 
9)  					9)  
 
 
Starting Rotation			Bullpen
1) R John Riedling			Lance Carter
2) R Ben Howard				Shawn Camp
3) R Trevor Hutchinson			David Lee
4) L Josh Stewart			Mike McNutt
5) R Jacob Marceaux 			Guillermo Mota
					Lincoln Holdzkom

					Closer
					Todd Jones (40 in April)

2) S.Y. Lee to the majors...brilliant.

He's going to bat three in the Nationals line-up to start the year.

3) Gourriel to the defending champs...? booo

Come on! He's looking to WIN straight away. And he will be the leadoff hitter with the Cards - whether that will affect his performance we will have to wait and see.

So not only will the performances of S-Y Lee and the Cubans, and not to forget Matt Rogelstad, who will to start only be facing right handers in Detroit, but also the AL Central which I think is going to be interesting - especially between the White Sox, who drop Pierzynski and Bay, but pick up a closer in Valverde, and the young Cuban star Yoennis Cespedes, and the Twins, who are looking to send off the Metrodome with a sea of homeruns.

[Sdpm100]

2007-08 EuroLeague Off-Season Update

Liga del Sol 2008

First Round Group Stage
Group A		W	L	Pct.	GB
Milan		3	1	.750	-
Paris		3	1	.750	-
St. Petersburg	2	2	.500	1
Kyiv		1	3	.250	2
Manchester	1	3	.250	2

Group B		W	L	Pct.	GB
Dublin		3	1	.750	-
Copenhagen	3	1	.750	-
Düsseldorf	2	2	.500	1
Prague		1	3	.250	2
Berlin		1	3	.250	2

Group C		W	L	Pct.	GB
Amsterdam	4	0	1.000	-
Stockholm	3	1	.750	1
Rome		1	3	.250	3
Madrid		1	3	.250	3
Moscow		1	3	.250	3

Group D		W	L	Pct.	GB
London		4	0	1.000	-
Zürich		3	1	.750	1
Rotterdam	2	2	.500	2
Barcelona	1	3	.250	3
Cologne		0	4	.000	4

Quarterfinals
Milan 3, Copenhagen 2
Dublin 5, Paris 4 (10 innings)
Zürich 10, Amsterdam 2
London 7, Stockholm 1

Semifinals
Milan 11, London 5
Zürich 9, Dublin 3

Final
Zürich 12, Milan 6

Free Agency
Feb. 24 – The Prague Bohemians sign 33-year-old starting pitcher Michal Morillo to a $40 million, 4-year contract. The former Cologne Jester went 14-6 in 2006, but dropped 30 points on ERA in falling to 8-10 last year.

Feb. 25 – Prague’s fellow expansion mate, the St. Petersburg Horsemen also brought in a starter to help out the rotation. They signed Paul Hinz, 27, from Kyiv, where the righty went a woeful 3-9, with 8 no decisions, although his ERA actually improved year-on-year by 90 points to 3.21, which may say more about the Capitals offence than him – so the $21 million they spent on a 3-year contract may turn out wiser than the stats might suggest.

Feb. 26 – Two days after losing Morillo from their rotation, the Cologne Jesters reloaded by signing Milan’s Stanley Miltenberger, a one time all-star who with a better squad would improve on only one .500 season, in a $32 million contract over the next three years.

Feb. 27 – Former Amsterdam shortstop Dana Piercy left the organization when he signed with the Milan Cubs for $8.5 million over two years. The 34-year-old American batted .262, but only drove in 26 runs in 313 at bats.

Mar. 7 – Another Pirate left the Dutch giants as catcher Jerry Truss joined the Madrid Gatos for nearly $22 million through 2010. Truss was unlucky he had to share time with local star Maikel Benner, who will now have that role full time at Pirate Park.

Mar. 9 – Incredibly leftfielder Otis Curley was prized away from the Atlantic League champion Paris Patriots, joining St. Petersburg on a blockbuster $74.7 million, 7-year deal.
Curley batted .317 after returning to Parc Île-de-France last year after joining the Dublin in ’06, and was a major contributor in their run to the AL pennant – batting .300 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBI in the postseason, but the Patriots fans will no longer be able to see the 30-year-old American.

Mar. 18 – Manuel Camarena moves from the Cats across to the CL and the Jesters for $38 million for four years, a year after the second base Spaniard hit 20 homers in Madrid and was selected for the All-Star Game.

Full list of FA moves and all 20 team rosters at euroleague-baseball.com!

[theasfl]

nice to see Amsterdam at 4-0 and Hermida develop into a leadoff guy

[canadiancreed]

damn Canada dies in the clutch.

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by canadiancreed

damn Canada dies in the clutch.

Oh sorry, did I wake you up?

[Sdpm100]

MLB 2008 (EuroLeague Extra)
I'll do this every fortnight (game time) if that's okay. Tell me if it's not.

Review 1 (30th March to 13th April)
Opening Night – Sunday 30th March
Gourriel stars in debut as champion Cardinals win season opener against Cubs, 11-4
ST. LOUIS – Cuban import Yuliesky Gourriel showed how good he is by hitting a leadoff triple against Josh Beckett. He was driven in by Cesar Izturis, and although the Cubs pitched around Albert Pujols (1-for-3, 2 walks), they’ve now got another heavy hitting star in Gourriel – with the second baseman clubbing a two run homer off reliever Brandon Villafuente, to end a six run fifth inning where starter Beckett was yanked after giving up eight runs in total on ten hits over 4⅓ innings.
Gourriel went 3-for-5, and is probably going to join Pujols as the Cardinals fans’ favourites.
Jody Gerut also went yard for the Cards and picked up 5 RBI on another 3-for-5 day, and Adam Wainwright started out like he ended last year, pitching seven innings and allowing just one run on seven hits, whilst striking out four.
Aaron Rowand’s three run blast in the 8th was no solace for the Cubbies, who are looking up to their rivals who finished 12 games ahead of them in the NL Central in 2007.

Friday 4th April
Barajas slams a hat-trick of homers, whilst Enriquez uncorks for the cycle
ARLINGTON, TX – Rod Barajas took out all his aggression on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitchers today, slamming three homeruns.
The 32-year-old Rangers catcher wowed the Ameriquest Field crowd, overcoming a blustery wind coming in from right, to hit his first homerun in the 1st off starter John Lackey, as Texas scored six runs following a top half of the frame where the Angels scored four of their own.
Lackey picked up only one out before being yanked after giving up six runs, but Barajas was not done yet. He hit his second homer off Dusty Bergman in the 3rd inning to left-center, before he faced Jorge Julio in the 6th inning and pounded the ball over the left field fence for homerun number three.
In his fourth and final at bat he doubled off Nate Bland to finish 4-for-4 (1 BB), with four runs and 7 RBI. Texas went on to beat Los Angeles 14-8.

Meanwhile in St. Petersburg, Cuban third baseman Michel Enriquez has had an awesome first week in the majors, and he topped it off by hitting for the cycle in Portland’s 5-4 win over Tampa Bay.
He hit a single first time up, and after reaching on a fielding error in his second at bat, a double; he hit his first career homer in the 6th off Justin Lehr.
But it got better; in the 8th Enriquez hit a two out pitch from Scott Williamson into the right field corner, and as Enriquez slid into third base the enormity of what he had done hit him – he had hit for a cycle in just his 5th major league game.
And even though TB was trailing, the Tropicana Field crowd rose to salute one of the great Cuban batters finally being able to show it off in the big leagues.

Sunday 13th April
Marlins close in on unwanted record; routed 10-2 by NY Mets
MIAMI – A new stadium on the horizon, but futility is even closer for the Florida Marlins. Pretty much everyone knew they were going to struggle, but to drop their first 12 games?
After two straight 12 run debacles to start the season against the aforementioned Mets, it could still have been so much different in Game 3 of the year.
That Thursday day game at Shea went 17 innings and 6 hours 10 minutes, before Carlos Lee hit a walk-off homer to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 17th, to send Florida to 0-3 with a 3-1 loss.
A sweep at home by Montréal (who started 6-0, the longest unbeaten start this season) was followed by another three game sweep in Washington, one of those on another extra inning loss, this time on Dustan Mohr’s walk-off blast in the 10th inning in the series closer.
They followed that one run loss by losing their 10th straight in an 8-7 loss at home to New York, before the bruised pitching staff gave up 19 runs in the weekend double to slip to 0-12.

The Marlins stay in Dolphins Stadium for a three game visit by the Atlanta Braves, knowing that if they get sweeped again, Thursday’s game with Atlanta will mean Florida will have surpassed the Chicago Cubs’ National League record for a winless start, 0-14 in 1997.

The Marlins are batting just .216 as a team and they have an ERA of 7.11 – both league worst marks.
Luckily for Marlins fans, the worst ever start in the major leagues looks to be beyond even this team – that was of course a 0-21 start by the American League’s Baltimore Orioles in 1988.

Standings

American League
East		W	L	Central		W	L	West		W	L
New York	7	5	Chicago		8	4	Oakland		10	3
Baltimore	8	6	Minnesota	7	5	Portland	7	6
Toronto		7	6	Detroit		6	6	Los Angeles	6	7
Boston		5	7	Milwaukee	6	6	Seattle		6	7
Tampa Bay	3	10	Cleveland	5	7	Texas		5	7
				Kansas City	4	8

National League
East		W	L	Central		W	L	West		W	L
New York	11	1	St. Louis	8	4	Colorado	7	6
Montréal	7	5	Chicago		8	5	San Francisco	7	6
Philadelphia	7	5	Houston		7	5	Los Angeles	6	7
Washington	6	6	Pittsburgh	8	6	Arizona		4	8
Atlanta		5	7	Cincinnati	5	8	San Diego	4	9
Florida		0	12

[Sdpm100]

Friday Night Baseball 1: Moscow Warriors @ Berlin Bears
Opening night saw the defending EuroLeague champion Berlin Bears host the Moscow Warriors in an all CL North encounter.
Micheal Hunter, 9-7 last year, started for the Bears, whilst Thomas Cabot, who had a 2.84 ERA on a poor Warriors outfit in 2007 took the ball for Moscow.

And Berlin got the party started in the 1st inning when they took the lead on Harrison Lane’s sac-fly which scored Mark Martin over at third to make it 1-0.
But Moscow weren’t ready to be the bystanders at this party, and snagged the lead when Hunter gave up his first hits of the night in the 4th.
After walking Alexander Lauterbach, Gerardo Leyva got the first base hit for Moscow when singling into right. Young first baseman Myron Longfellow grounded into a double play next up, but Ramon Caruso lived up to his nickname as he “Air”-ed it out of the ballpark, into the right field stands to give the Warriors the 2-1 lead.

But back came Berlin in the bottom of the 4th, with Harrison Lane’s solo blast to right off Cabot tying the ballgame up at 2-2.
Scoreless 5th and 6th kept the score tied into Moscow broke out and hit two homers in the 7th to take a winning lead.
Caruso led off with a single to left, and was driven in by next man up Artemiy Artamonov hitting a deep bomb to left, 389 feet, to put Moscow up 4-2.
Then after two groundouts, Viacheslav Vasilyev also unloaded on Hunter’s fastball, the centerfielder smashing one over the leftfield wall to make it 5-2 Warriors.
22-year-old draft pick Matthew Roye was awesome on debut for Moscow, retiring the five Berlin batters he faced in the 7th and 8th, before Pavel Akishev retired the Bears batters 1-2-3 in the 9th, and picking up the save when Jordon Eslinger was last man out on a fly-ball to shallow left-center.

Box Score

Moscow 5, Berlin 2
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	 	R	H	E
Moscow (1-0)		0	0	0	2	0	0	3	0	0	 	5	6	1
Berlin (0-1)		1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	 	2	3	0
W - Thomas Cabot (1-0, 2.84)
L - Micheal Hunter (0-1, 6.43)
S - Pavel Akishev (1)

HR - MOS: Artemiy Artamonov (1), Ramon Caruso (1), Viacheslav Vasilyev (1); BER: Harrison Lane (1)

Around EuroLeague Today
London overcame four fielding errors to defeat Amsterdam 7-5, with shortstop Burl Poulson hitting a three run homer in the 1st.
Prague gave up just one run and still lost in their inaugural game, as Kyiv’s Artem Palamarchuk hit a walk-off homerun for the game’s only score with one out in the 9th, whilst fellow expansion mate, the St. Petersburg Horsemen gave up a glorious chance against Copenhagen to lose their opener. They lead the Chill 5-0 in the middle of the 5th, before the CL North runners-up from last year rallied to victory with the winning runs coming on Arthur Buskirk’s two run homer in the 8th inning, his second HR of the evening, to win 7-5.

[Sdpm100]

Breaking News
April 19 – Tomorrow’s game sees farewell to two of the Gladiators’ stars
ROME – Two of the Rome Gladiators’ young stars will be looking to end their EuroLeague careers with an emotional victory on Sunday, before leaving for the major leagues. Leftfielder James McElroy and catcher Ryan Teixeira signed contracts last night with the Chicago White Sox, the 2005 World Series champions, and will leave for the Windy City after playing in what should be a packed Gladiators Colosseum for the game against local rivals, the Milan Cubs.
28-year-old McElroy was selected three times to the Continental League All-Star team, won the Home Run Derby in all three years of EuroLeague, and finally won the Batter of the Year award last year after hitting 30 dingers and driving in 80 RBI.
But the big prize ultimately eluded him, but not for the want of trying, and “The Dude” will leave Gladiators fans with plenty of great memories.

Fellow American, 23-year-old catcher Ryan Teixeira also will join with the White Sox, who are looking to develop him into their long term starter. “Ry-Tex” hit the league’s first ever three homerun game back in 2006, got picked to the same All-Star roster as McElroy in that year, and although he had a bout of the “sophomore slump” last year, most EuroLeague analysts tipped Ryan to still become a star.
And now he’ll get the chance to be a star in Chi-Town, with all of us in EuroLeague sure that both players will become stars, and wishing them the best of luck in MLB!

[Sdpm100]

EuroLeague Report 2008 Week 1 – April 14-20
McElroy and Teixeira leave Gladiators in final game defeat
Sunday’s afternoon game between the Rome Gladiators and Milan Cubs was always going to be highly anticipated by the Gladiators’ fans – the Cubs are their local rivals after all.
Instead it became an emotional one as two of their American stars, James McElroy and Ryan Teixeira, left the club for MLB and the Chicago White Sox.
And anyone hoping the pair would give the fans one final glorious game were encouraged in the 1st, when with two on and two out, Ry-Tex pounded a James Johnston slider into left for a single, which scored Frederick Borror from third and gave Rome a 1-0 lead.
In the end it was Rome’s starter Oscar Porcaro who was going to be the party pooper, spraying the ball around in the 2nd and giving up three batted in runs to leave Milan in the box seat.

But in the 3rd, the fans’ other hero delivered. After getting the leadoff runner out, Johnston allowed a base hit into the gap in left-center. The Italian shortstop then stole second, and with McElroy on base, adrenalin pumping around his body, he uncorked on a fastball – the ball went back, all the way over the wall in left-center for The Dude’s second homerun of the year, and his 82nd career blast in a Gladiators uniform.
Whilst he tried to control his emotions, James couldn’t do it when he got an extended curtain call from his adoring fans, as both he and Ryan did after the game.

The game itself turned in the 5th inning, when Derrick Mosca hit a two run homer to right to help a four run inning for the Cubs to put them up 7-3.
Both teams tacked on one run to make it 8-4, but with two outs in the 9th there was one last moment for the fans to remember their star leftfielder.

After Borror and Schiavetti groundout to second, Francisco Martinez relieved reliever Aaron Rios. And maybe Milan’s manager Giampiero Faraone got a bit caught up in the emotional day, as Martinez was to face McElroy, the last chance, up first.
On a 3-1 pitch, it surely wasn’t going to be end of his EuroLeague career with a walk was it? No it was not.
Instead Martinez offered up a fastball over the plate, seemingly hoping McElroy would club this one out of the park for one last time. And although he got good contact, and with the crowd willing the ball out, it fell just short of the right field wall, and although he rounded first for a double, it wasn’t quite what the home fans wanted.

But no matter, they both got a second standing ovation from the crowd, and here at ELR we will be keeping a keen eye on them in the Windy City over the next few months.

Standings

Atlantic League
North		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Dublin		3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
London		3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
Manchester	2	1	.667	1.0	L1	2-1
Rotterdam	1	2	.333	2.0	W1	1-2
Amsterdam	0	3	.000	3.0	L3	0-3

South		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Barcelona	2	1	.667	-	W1	2-1
Düsseldorf	2	1	.667	-	L1	2-1
Madrid		1	2	.333	1.0	W1	1-2
Paris		1	2	.333	1.0	L1	1-2
Cologne		0	3	.000	2.0	L3	0-3

Continental League
North		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Copenhagen	3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
Moscow		2	1	.667	1.0	L1	2-1
Stockholm	2	1	.667	1.0	L1	2-1
Berlin		1	2	.333	2.0	W1	1-2
St. Petersburg	0	3	.000	3.0	L3	0-3

South		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Kyiv		3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
Milan		2	1	.667	1.0	W2	2-1
Rome		1	2	.333	2.0	L2	1-2
Zürich		1	2	.333	2.0	W1	1-2
Prague		0	3	.000	3.0	L3	0-3

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

MLB 2008 (EuroLeague Extra)
I'll do this every fortnight (game time) if that's okay. Tell me if it's not.

Review 1 (30th March to 13th April)
Opening Night – Sunday 30th March
Gourriel stars in debut as champion Cardinals win season opener against Cubs, 11-4
ST. LOUIS – Cuban import Yuliesky Gourriel showed how good he is by hitting a leadoff triple against Josh Beckett. He was driven in by Cesar Izturis, and although the Cubs pitched around Albert Pujols (1-for-3, 2 walks), they’ve now got another heavy hitting star in Gourriel – with the second baseman clubbing a two run homer off reliever Brandon Villafuente, to end a six run fifth inning where starter Beckett was yanked after giving up eight runs in total on ten hits over 4⅓ innings.
Gourriel went 3-for-5, and is probably going to join Pujols as the Cardinals fans’ favourites.
Jody Gerut also went yard for the Cards and picked up 5 RBI on another 3-for-5 day, and Adam Wainwright started out like he ended last year, pitching seven innings and allowing just one run on seven hits, whilst striking out four.
Aaron Rowand’s three run blast in the 8th was no solace for the Cubbies, who are looking up to their rivals who finished 12 games ahead of them in the NL Central in 2007.

Friday 4th April
Barajas slams a hat-trick of homers, whilst Enriquez uncorks for the cycle
ARLINGTON, TX – Rod Barajas took out all his aggression on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitchers today, slamming three homeruns.
The 32-year-old Rangers catcher wowed the Ameriquest Field crowd, overcoming a blustery wind coming in from right, to hit his first homerun in the 1st off starter John Lackey, as Texas scored six runs following a top half of the frame where the Angels scored four of their own.
Lackey picked up only one out before being yanked after giving up six runs, but Barajas was not done yet. He hit his second homer off Dusty Bergman in the 3rd inning to left-center, before he faced Jorge Julio in the 6th inning and pounded the ball over the left field fence for homerun number three.
In his fourth and final at bat he doubled off Nate Bland to finish 4-for-4 (1 BB), with four runs and 7 RBI. Texas went on to beat Los Angeles 14-8.

Meanwhile in St. Petersburg, Cuban third baseman Michel Enriquez has had an awesome first week in the majors, and he topped it off by hitting for the cycle in Portland’s 5-4 win over Tampa Bay.
He hit a single first time up, and after reaching on a fielding error in his second at bat, a double; he hit his first career homer in the 6th off Justin Lehr.
But it got better; in the 8th Enriquez hit a two out pitch from Scott Williamson into the right field corner, and as Enriquez slid into third base the enormity of what he had done hit him – he had hit for a cycle in just his 5th major league game.
And even though TB was trailing, the Tropicana Field crowd rose to salute one of the great Cuban batters finally being able to show it off in the big leagues.

Sunday 13th April
Marlins close in on unwanted record; routed 10-2 by NY Mets
MIAMI – A new stadium on the horizon, but futility is even closer for the Florida Marlins. Pretty much everyone knew they were going to struggle, but to drop their first 12 games?
After two straight 12 run debacles to start the season against the aforementioned Mets, it could still have been so much different in Game 3 of the year.
That Thursday day game at Shea went 17 innings and 6 hours 10 minutes, before Carlos Lee hit a walk-off homer to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 17th, to send Florida to 0-3 with a 3-1 loss.
A sweep at home by Montréal (who started 6-0, the longest unbeaten start this season) was followed by another three game sweep in Washington, one of those on another extra inning loss, this time on Dustan Mohr’s walk-off blast in the 10th inning in the series closer.
They followed that one run loss by losing their 10th straight in an 8-7 loss at home to New York, before the bruised pitching staff gave up 19 runs in the weekend double to slip to 0-12.

The Marlins stay in Dolphins Stadium for a three game visit by the Atlanta Braves, knowing that if they get sweeped again, Thursday’s game with Atlanta will mean Florida will have surpassed the Chicago Cubs’ National League record for a winless start, 0-14 in 1997.

The Marlins are batting just .216 as a team and they have an ERA of 7.11 – both league worst marks.
Luckily for Marlins fans, the worst ever start in the major leagues looks to be beyond even this team – that was of course a 0-21 start by the American League’s Baltimore Orioles in 1988.

Standings

American League
East		W	L	Central		W	L	West		W	L
New York	7	5	Chicago		8	4	Oakland		10	3
Baltimore	8	6	Minnesota	7	5	Portland	7	6
Toronto		7	6	Detroit		6	6	Los Angeles	6	7
Boston		5	7	Milwaukee	6	6	Seattle		6	7
Tampa Bay	3	10	Cleveland	5	7	Texas		5	7
				Kansas City	4	8

National League
East		W	L	Central		W	L	West		W	L
New York	11	1	St. Louis	8	4	Colorado	7	6
Montréal	7	5	Chicago		8	5	San Francisco	7	6
Philadelphia	7	5	Houston		7	5	Los Angeles	6	7
Washington	6	6	Pittsburgh	8	6	Arizona		4	8
Atlanta		5	7	Cincinnati	5	8	San Diego	4	9
Florida		0	12

the Marlins start out 0-12, holy hell.

[theasfl]

Originally Posted by Sdpm100

EuroLeague Report 2008 Week 1 – April 14-20
McElroy and Teixeira leave Gladiators in final game defeat
Sunday’s afternoon game between the Rome Gladiators and Milan Cubs was always going to be highly anticipated by the Gladiators’ fans – the Cubs are their local rivals after all.
Instead it became an emotional one as two of their American stars, James McElroy and Ryan Teixeira, left the club for MLB and the Chicago White Sox.
And anyone hoping the pair would give the fans one final glorious game were encouraged in the 1st, when with two on and two out, Ry-Tex pounded a James Johnston slider into left for a single, which scored Frederick Borror from third and gave Rome a 1-0 lead.
In the end it was Rome’s starter Oscar Porcaro who was going to be the party pooper, spraying the ball around in the 2nd and giving up three batted in runs to leave Milan in the box seat.

But in the 3rd, the fans’ other hero delivered. After getting the leadoff runner out, Johnston allowed a base hit into the gap in left-center. The Italian shortstop then stole second, and with McElroy on base, adrenalin pumping around his body, he uncorked on a fastball – the ball went back, all the way over the wall in left-center for The Dude’s second homerun of the year, and his 82nd career blast in a Gladiators uniform.
Whilst he tried to control his emotions, James couldn’t do it when he got an extended curtain call from his adoring fans, as both he and Ryan did after the game.

The game itself turned in the 5th inning, when Derrick Mosca hit a two run homer to right to help a four run inning for the Cubs to put them up 7-3.
Both teams tacked on one run to make it 8-4, but with two outs in the 9th there was one last moment for the fans to remember their star leftfielder.

After Borror and Schiavetti groundout to second, Francisco Martinez relieved reliever Aaron Rios. And maybe Milan’s manager Giampiero Faraone got a bit caught up in the emotional day, as Martinez was to face McElroy, the last chance, up first.
On a 3-1 pitch, it surely wasn’t going to be end of his EuroLeague career with a walk was it? No it was not.
Instead Martinez offered up a fastball over the plate, seemingly hoping McElroy would club this one out of the park for one last time. And although he got good contact, and with the crowd willing the ball out, it fell just short of the right field wall, and although he rounded first for a double, it wasn’t quite what the home fans wanted.

But no matter, they both got a second standing ovation from the crowd, and here at ELR we will be keeping a keen eye on them in the Windy City over the next few months.

Standings

Atlantic League
North		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Dublin		3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
London		3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
Manchester	2	1	.667	1.0	L1	2-1
Rotterdam	1	2	.333	2.0	W1	1-2
Amsterdam	0	3	.000	3.0	L3	0-3

South		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Barcelona	2	1	.667	-	W1	2-1
Düsseldorf	2	1	.667	-	L1	2-1
Madrid		1	2	.333	1.0	W1	1-2
Paris		1	2	.333	1.0	L1	1-2
Cologne		0	3	.000	2.0	L3	0-3

Continental League
North		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Copenhagen	3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
Moscow		2	1	.667	1.0	L1	2-1
Stockholm	2	1	.667	1.0	L1	2-1
Berlin		1	2	.333	2.0	W1	1-2
St. Petersburg	0	3	.000	3.0	L3	0-3

South		W	L	Pct.	GB	Streak	Last10
Kyiv		3	0	1.000	-	W3	3-0
Milan		2	1	.667	1.0	W2	2-1
Rome		1	2	.333	2.0	L2	1-2
Zürich		1	2	.333	2.0	W1	1-2
Prague		0	3	.000	3.0	L3	0-3

Amsterdam 0-3 too, just cause I become busy doesnt mean all my teams need to lose

[Sdpm100]

Originally Posted by theasfl

the Marlins start out 0-12, holy hell.

They went on to break the NL record for a winless start...

But did they go on and "beat" the ML record...?

[Sdpm100]

MLB Review 2 (14th to 27th April)
Sunday 20th April
Two run ninth inning ends 17 game losing streak for Marlins
NEW YORK – Jeremy Hermida finally stopped the bleeding. His double off the wall in centerfield scored Joe Mauer and Kevin Melillo with one man out in the 9th inning, gave Florida (1-17) a 5-4 comeback win over the New York Mets (16-2).

The 16 game differential between the pair is the largest involving a winless team in major league history, and the Mets had won eight games over the Marlins before today.

A 10-2 loss to Atlanta on Thursday broke the NL record for a winless start, an 0-14 mark by the Chicago Cubs in 1997, although the major league’s worst start, 0-21 by the 1988 Baltimore Orioles of the American League was looming large.
And when Victor Diaz homered in the 5th to make it 4-0, the Marlins looked favourites to beat that record.
But Garret Anderson replied in kind with a two run blast in the 6th, before Derrick Bissonette hit a two out single to score Melillo in the 7th to make it 4-3.
And Hermida became Florida’s hero when he hit Tim McNabb to the wall to make it 5-4, before Todd Jones closed it out by getting Lyle Overbay to fly-out with a runner on third to save the win for the Marlins.

Tuesday 22nd April
Ry-Tex drives in three on debut, Chi-Sox down Tribe 7-2
CHICAGO – One game in, and the White Sox fans have a new hero to cheer.
Catcher Ryan Teixeira, acquired from EuroLeague’s Rome Gladiators at the weekend, filled the big shoes AJ Pierzynski left with an imposing performance, throwing out a runner and hitting 2-for-3, with 3 RBI, including a 2 run single in the 2nd that turned out to be the game winning hit.

Eric Munson had driven in Cuban starlet Yoennis Cespedes to give the Sox a 1-0 lead in the 1st, but it was to be 23-year-old Teixeira’s night. His second inning single brought home both Paul Konerko and Brad Fullmer to give Chicago a 3-0 lead.

Ryan then picked up his third RBI of the night on a sac-fly in the 6th, that also saw a 2-run blast from Konerko off Indians starter Andrew Brown, his 4th of the year, which also scored fellow signing from Rome, James McElroy, who led off the inning with a walk.
He then finished his day off by hitting a double off Tomo Ohka in the 8th, before shortstop Rafael Furcal drove him in to make it 7-2, which was the final.

Ry-Tex was unsurprisingly delighted with his opening day performance, saying, “I just wanted to show to these great fans what I could bring to the table, and I had a great game. But the team also backed me up real good, getting into positions so I was able to hit freely, and the crowd… man, they were so good to me. To hear them (the fans) chanting my name sent chills down my spine.”

His friend McElroy went 0-for-2 (1 K), but drew two walks, including the one in the 6th where he was driven in on Konerko’s homer.

Saturday 26th April
Reds outlast Dodgers 3-0 in 16
LOS ANGELES – Eric Milton and Edwin Jackson started off the pitching duel that turned into a battle for the batters on each team.
Scoreless through 15 innings, both teams were on their sixth pitcher of the night, and LA’s sixth Orlando Rodriguez gave up the shutout in the top of the 16th.
After fanning Sean Casey for out number two, with runners on first and second, Rich Aurilia finally broke up the 0-0 tie by driving in Marcus Roepke on a single to center.

That 1-0 lead became 3-0 when Cincy pitcher Billy Sylvester showed his batting skills, for tonight at least, by pounding a double down the left field line, scoring Kit Pellow from third, and Aurilia all the way round from first.

Even then the Dodgers nearly came back in the bottom of the 16th, but Miguel Saladin picked up the final out and the save, when JD Drew lined out to second baseman Eric Crozier with the bases loaded.

Standings

American League
East		W	L	Central		W	L	West		W	L
Baltimore	15	11	Chicago		15	9	Oakland		16	9
Boston		13	12	Cleveland	13	12	Los Angeles	13	12
New York	12	12	Kansas City	13	12	Portland	12	14
Toronto		12	13	Detroit		12	13	Texas		11	13
Tampa Bay	10	15	Minnesota	11	14	Seattle		11	14
				Milwaukee	10	14

National League
East		W	L	Central		W	L	West		W	L
New York	18	6	St. Louis	17	8	Arizona		13	12
Montréal	15	9	Pittsburgh	15	11	San Francisco	13	12
Atlanta		14	10	Chicago		12	13	Los Angeles	12	13
Washington	11	13	Houston		12	13	Colorado	11	14
Philadelphia	10	14	Cincinnati	10	16	San Diego	11	14
Florida		4	20

League Leaders

American League				National League
Batting Average
Jason Perry (OAK)	.389		Ty Wigginton (MTL)	.452
Jason Phillips (KC)	.388		Scott Rolen (STL)	.411
Eric Hinske (BOS)	.380		Carlos Beltran (NYM)	.396
Leslie Anderson (NYY)	.376		Albert Pujols (STL)	.394
Wily Mo Pena (SEA)	.376		Todd Linden (SF)	.388

Homeruns
Alex Rodriguez (NYY)	7		Seung-Yeop Lee (WAS)	9
Prince Fielder (MIL)	6		Scott Rolen (STL)	8
Jonny Gomes (TB)	6		Carlos Beltran (NYM)	7
Vladimir Guerrero (LAA)	6		Pat Burrell (PHI)	7
Jeff Inglin (BAL)	6		Adam Dunn (PIT)		7

RBI
Jason Perry (OAK)	25		Scott Rolen (STL)	30
Raul Tablado (TOR)	25		Corey Patterson (PHI)	26
Jason Bay (TOR)		22		Carlos Lee (NYM)	25
Carlos Pena (TOR)	22		Seung-Yeop Lee (WAS)	24
Rod Barajas (TEX)	21		3 players tied on	23

Wins
Scott Chiasson (OAK)	5		Ted Lilly (COL)		4
Nikolas Lubisch (CHW)	4		Oliver Perez (PIT)	4
Jorge Sosa (BAL)	4		TJ Tucker (STL)		4
Many players tied on	3		Billy Wagner (NYM)	4
					Dontrelle Willis (HOU)	4
					Carlos Zambrano (SD)	4

ERA
Nikolas Lubisch (CHW)	0.90		Michael Wuertz (MTL)	1.37
Brandon Webb (TB)	1.98		Ted Lilly (COL)		1.55
Andrew Good (DET)	2.21		Adam Bass (ARI)		2.34
Matt Garza (MIN)	2.43		Nick Webber (HOU)	2.36
Denny Bautista (KC)	2.59		Zach Duke (PIT)		2.43
					Brett Strickland (COL)	2.43

Saves
Juan Rincon (DET)	8		Alfredo Simon (SF)	8
Nate Bump (POR)		7		Eric Gagne (SD)		7
Jose Valverde (CHW)	7		Tyler Johnson (STL)	6
Richard Salazar (BAL)	6		Scott Linebrink (MTL)	5
Keith Stamler (MIL)	6		Russ Rohlicek (CHC)	5
					Bud Smith (ARI)		5