Yeah, Coby needs to run into walls more. Like Jim Edmonds, who lost two years to concussions. Or Rick Ankiel, who could've been paralyzed.

And he definitely needs to disregard any chance that he gets injured and start recklessly diving all over the outfield. He might hurt himself, which would hurt the Cardinals, but at least he would satisfy Van Slyke's hunger for stupid, senseless play.

tkihshbt wrote:

Yeah, Coby needs to run into walls more. Like Jim Edmonds, who lost two years to concussions. Or Rick Ankiel, who could've been paralyzed.

And he definitely needs to disregard any chance that he gets injured and start recklessly diving all over the outfield. He might hurt himself, which would hurt the Cardinals, but at least he would satisfy Van Slyke's hunger for stupid, senseless play.

Rec.
Van Slyke has always been a dick. Not surprising to read that he's added "bitter ex-ballplayer" to his repertoire.

artie_fufkin wrote:

"5. Pujols is immensely popular in St. Louis and among Cardinals fans, but there is a bizarre lunatic-fringe element to the fan base that hates Pujols with a feverish passion."

No shit? Are there really people out there who dislike him, or are they just screwing around like I've been?
BTW, my idea for batting McClellan third tonight is solid. I don't care what anyone else says.

No, there really are people out there who dislike Pujols.  Most of them are listeners of Kevin Slaten's radio show.  Slaten has spent most of the past few years bad mouthing Larussa and anyone/anything that he perceives as tied to Larussa.  In Pujols' case, I think most of it has to do with the fact that he occasionally doesn't run out ground balls, watches his home runs and Slaten's perception that Pujols is a selfish, greedy ballplayer. 

If you've never heard Slaten, he's one of those guys on the lunatic fringe who half the time you can't be certain he believes what he says.  But he has a following who call him "King" and who are large enough to keep him employed and he isn't shy about giving them fodder for calling his radio show.  Just don't disagree with him because he'll yell over you, call you an idiot and hang up before you have a chance to explain you reasoning.

I will give Slaten credit for one thing--he probably is the most skilled interviewer on the radio and because he knows his audience loves it, he isn't afraid to ask difficult questions.  I remember an interview he did a couple of years back with Bill DeWitt III regarding Ballpark Village during which I thought DeWitt was going to start crying.

tkihshbt wrote:

Slaten's likes:

Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner
George W. Bush
Kurt Warner

Slaten's dislikes:

Everything else

TK, you forgot the #1 item under Slaten's likes:

Kevin Slaten

Yeah, that's him.  Soon thereafter he was hired by another sports talk station in town, but I think I recently read that he went back to the station that fired him (and that he sued for firing him).

Yes. They got fired in 2007, went to 1380 in 2008, then that station fell apart when 101 came in and now they're back at 590.

They were, but I think the station manager wanted to go in a different direction. Now he's at 101 and they are back on 590, along with Slaten.

There's a Smerlas story that's worth sharing, because he made the mortal mistake of pissing off my wife one day. Background: My wife is the events manager at the Museum of Science in Boston, which is one of the more popular attractions in town. In conjunction with an exhibit about special effects technology in the The Lord of the Rings movie series, the museum sponsored a book-signing by Sean Astin. Apparently, Astin became something of a heartthrob  by playing whatever role he played in LOTR (don't ask me which, because neither the books nor the movies appealed to me). Astin's publisher told my wife to expect about 1,000 people. They got a crowd of 5,000 mostly star struck teenage girls.
So my wife, as head of her department, has the unfortunate task to tell the back half of the line that Astin is only booked for a limited time and they're probably not going to get to meet him. As it is, they're going to be lucky to get to half the line, so all you get is an autograph, a handshake and a quick hello.
About 10 minutes before Astin is supposed to leave, a van pulls up and parks in the fire lane, and a group of what my wife refers to as "the greasiest people I've ever seen" files out and starts marching to the table at which Astin is seated. My wife, who is already in a mood because she's had to be the bad guy and told all these disappointed girls they ought to go home, intercepts the group, tells them there's no way they're going to get to meet Astin, and asks to move their van out of the fire lane.
Smerlas - immediately - plays the "Do you know who I am?" card, to which my exhausted wife says, "Fine. I'll get the cops to ask you to move your vehicle."
She summons the cop who is working the detail, who comes over and says "Hey, Fred Smerlas!" Now my wife doesn't know Fred Smerlas from Fred Flintstone, but she's smart enough to know from the cop's reaction that this situation just got worse.
Incredibly, the cop starts badgering my wife to let the Smerlas family meet Astin. "Come on, don't you want to do a favor for a state cop? ... It never hurts to have a state cop as a friend ..." etc.
Astin overhears the conversation, especially when the cop refers to Smerlas as a member of "the New England Patriots." (Aside: Smerlas as a Patriot an incredible stretch. He only played one or two seasons on bad teams here at the end of his career, and I'd wager 99 percent of the football world associates him with the Bills.)
Thinking he's going to meet Tom Brady or one of the players from the Super Bowl teams, Astin stops signing, gets up from the table and goes to investigate which "Patriot" has entered the building. The Smerlas family envelops a disappointed Astin, who probably has no idea who Fred Smerlas is, either, and starts taking individual photos of each one of them with Astin.
This activity uses up the remaining alloted time, so my wife, who is rightfully pissed at this point, has to tell the end of the line that even though she told them two hours ago they barely made the cut to meet Sean Astin, that they're not going to be able to after all because that ex-football player with all the nose hair over there decided he is more important than they are. Then she told the cop she was going to her office to write a letter to the commander of the Massachusetts state police, and walked away.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (4/13/2011 11:48 am)

tkihshbt wrote:

That's rich. I had never heard the name "Fred Smerlas" before.

I dont know who Sean Astin is.

tkihshbt wrote:

That's rich. I had never heard the name "Fred Smerlas" before.

His distinction is he's one of the few guys from Massachusetts who made it to the NFL, and according to folklore he was a better wrestler than a football player in high school.
He thought about running for U.S. Rep. a couple of years ago, and his politics run somewhere between ultra-conservatism and Fascism. That's pretty much a non-starter in this state, and judging by the reaction Schlling got when he announced he was going to run for Ted Kennedy's seat, we're pretty good about deliniating politics and sports here.

I heard that piece by Van Slyke, and was REALLY happy to hear him come out and talk candidly on the defensive fail that Colby is pulling in Center Field. Watching the game that night I watched him follow up the conversation by turning a single into a double by taking a bad angle, and having to chase the ball back to the warning track.

Points I took note of,
"Center fielders have to abuse their body to field the position. Colby won't sacrifice his body."
"Colby acts as if he's scared of the wall, and you can't do that in Center."
"A 24 year old Andy Van Slyke, or a 24 year old Jim Edmonds makes the two catches that a 24 year old Rasmus can't seem to make. He has all the tools, but won't give his body to the game to make the plays that a centerfielder needs to make. That's okay if you want to play a corner, but in the middle, you have to commit more. Colby won't."

Having read the replies, I guess I'm in the minority here. I don't know the personal history with Van Slyke, but the guy makes some points. Rasmus is hitting well, for certain. In the field, I see a room for improvement, with his angle, hands, and throws. I don't expect him to be perfect, and he's not Chris Duncan out there, but he's not a Gold Glove centerfielder, and there's no reason at all why he shouldn't be.

Last edited by alz (4/13/2011 3:58 pm)

artie_fufkin wrote:

There's a Smerlas story that's worth sharing, because he made the mortal mistake of pissing off my wife one day. . . . Then she told the cop she was going to her office to write a letter to the commander of the Massachusetts state police, and walked away.

I hate stories like that.  It reminds me of Indonesia, where sufficient rank can mean that people sent to jail can let themselves out so long as the media does not witness it . . . much.

Sometimes social justice is not a liberal euphemism for socialism and a world government.

JAKARTA, Indonesia - When Kasiem, a 55-year-old Indonesian woman, was condemned to seven months in prison she decided she would prefer not to serve the sentence. So she hired someone else to go to jail on her behalf.

. . .

The prisoner swap incident was only the latest example of influential or well-off inmates being able to buy their way out or furnish their cells as lavishly as they wish.

Former tax official Gayus Tambunan, who was supposedly being held in custody while standing trial for corruption, was able to leave and return to prison at will.

In November he was spotted at a tennis tournament on the holiday island of Bali, and police said nine officers were suspected of taking bribes ranging from 700 to 7,000 dollars to let him slip in and out of jail.

Businesswoman Artalyta Suryani, convicted in 2009 of bribing prosecutors, was undergoing a laser beauty treatment in prison when she was interrupted by officials from Yudhoyono's Task Force for Legal Mafia Eradication on a snap inspection.

They found her incarcerated in an apartment-style 690-square-foot (64-square-metre) cell complete with air conditioning, a double bed, flat-screen television, refrigerator, private kitchen and bathroom, and a playpen for children.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/01/07/11/fake-indonesian-inmate-exposes-prison-corruption