edited to remove redundancies...

Quick Jeff Francouer update (I know you can’t get enough of him.) It’s 6:51. He’s still asleep.

What is he thinking? He should be up at 6 running stairs. Slacker.

I dunno what he's thinking, but I'm picturing Francouer as a real life Truman Burbank; living in an electronic fishbowl, his doings constantly on view to billions across the globe.

living in an electronic fishbowl, his doings constantly on view to billions across the globe.

The product placement in Truman's world was significantly more subtle than that of Jeff's blog.

I mentioned this in the Lounge, but no one responded, so I'll try here. When I saw the All-Star Game rosters, I was kind of underwhelmed by the OFers. But to be honest, I don't pay that much attention to the non-NY teams, so I may be missing things. So who are the best OFers out there these days?

You guys will be happy to know that I chose a Pavement-themed station on Pandora today. It has its moments.

When I saw the All-Star Game rosters, I was kind of underwhelmed by the OFers. But to be honest, I don't pay that much attention to the non-NY teams, so I may be missing things. So who are the best OFers out there these days?

This is quick-and-dirty (or lazy-and-unwashed, whatever) but the OF this year isn't a hugely inspiring bunch. There's only fourteen batting title qualifiers who have played 60% of their time in the OF and have an OPS+ over 125. And some of those guys (Ibanez, Beltran) have missed serious amounts of time.

Jeff Francoeur doesn't sleep. He dribbles to second.

News from South of the Border: End of the line for Bill Pulsipher? Is Generation K done?

6/15/2009
Pericos de Puebla dio de alta y activó en el roster Mauricio Lara, quien llegó en cambio definitivo de Tigres y al dominicano Marino Salas quien fue firmado como agente libre, ocupando el lugar de William Thomas Pulsipher quien fue dado de baja.

The Puebla Parrots activated Mauritius Lara, who arrived at the final change and Marino Salas, who was signed as a free agent, taking the place of William Thomas Pulsipher, who was released.

The National League, for whatever reason, has lost a lot of All-Star OFs in the past couple of years. The starting OF in 2007 was Griffey (gone to the other league), Beltran (injured), and Bonds (disappeared). The backups were Matt Holliday (gone to the other league), Aaron Rowand and Carlos Lee. So that's only two guys left who could be on the team this year, although Rowand wouldn't have been a bad pick.

The Primate All-Star Roster has been expanded to 33.

Even disabled with a sports hernia, Josh Hamilton is better than any other living outfielder. Maybe especially disabled with a sports hernia, which at least humanizes him.

update on the cubs sale - reportedly finalized

I saw that on Marketwatch, DK. I haven't really been following that story and had no idea those guys owned Ameritrade.

Mauritius Lara

I thought he had gone the way of the dodo.

At first, I thought it was really cool that there was a guy named Mauritius. Was thinking about his brothers Comoros and Seychelles. Then I realized that was a translation mishap and his name was actually Mauricio. That's considerably less awesome.

The Royals have not one, but two non-pitchers on their roster that have negative OPS+. Tug Hulett (-62) only has 14 PAs, but Tony Pena Jr. (-34) has 46 PAs.

Worst OPS+, non pitchers, min. 46 PAs
1. -54 - Tom Nieto MIN 1988
3. -40 - Ed Connolly BOS 1931
3. -37 – Chuck Scrivener DET 1977
4. -37 - Wally Millies PHI 1940
5. -34 – Tony Pena Jr. KCR 2009

Eighteen players with negative OPS+ have managed to get 100 PAs in a season:

Ed Connolly 1931 BOS (-40 in 100 PAs)
John Dodge 1912 PHI (-23 in 102 PAs)
Mike Laga 1988 STL (-12 in 102 PAs)
Ben Egan 1915 CLE (-12 in 132 PAs)
Ace Parker 1937 PHA (-11 in 100 PAs)
Frank O’Rourke 1912 BSN (-11 in 216 PAs)
Pickles Dilhoefe 1917 CHC (-10 in 104 PAs)
Ted Kazanski 1954 PHI (-9 in 110 PAs)
Tom Egan 1974 CAL (-6 in 109 PAs)
Dave Shean 1919 BOS (-5 in 110 PAs)
Johnnie LeMaster 1985 SFG/CLE/PIT (-4 in 103 PAs)
Bill McKechnie 1913 BSN/NYY (-4 in 129 PAs)
Bill Bergen 1911 BRO (-4 in 250 PAs)
Grover Land 1911 CLE (-3 in 112 PAs)
Kevin Cash 2003 TOR (-2 in 117 PAs)
Brandon Larson 2003 CIN (-2 in 104 PAs)
Rich Gedman 1991 STL (-2 in 100 PAs)
Andy Anderson 1949 SLB (-2 in 152 PAs)

BBRef doesn't show the Egans as being related, which is too bad, because that would be quite the lineage.

Does anyone else get really annoyed that the conventional wisdom states that the all-star spot "deserves" to go to the guy who has the best numbers at the time the voting takes place and the final selections are made? First of all, the voting takes place over months, second of all, it's an ALL-STAR game, not a "THIS GUY HAD A HOT FIRST HALF" game. Take someone like Teixeira, who traditionally has a monster second half. No number after the first two weeks of July should ever be taken into consideration in an all-star pick?

Put more succinctly, it's an exhibition for the fans. Can't we find a spot for fricking A-Rod or C.C. Sabathia?

it's why I'm happy about Tim Wakefield. Yeah, he's got a 4.20 ERA or whatever, but he's been good for a long long long time. Use the ten wins as an excuse and put him out there.

Ted Kazanski 1954 PHI

also known as the 'Uniform Bomber'.

Hmm, so looking over that list, if you were picking the best players in baseball by position (& leaving Manny out of it to avoid arguments), you'd probably have Ryan Braun in LF, Carlos Beltran in CF, and Jermaine Dye in RF. (The infield would be Mauer, Pujols, Utley (or maybe Pedroia), HanRam, and A-Rod, I think we can agree.)

I largely agree, WJ, but I think it's kind of cool to see oddball all-stars like Jeff Zimmerman, Jason Dickson, and Danny Kolb. I think we'd lose a fun part of the All-Star Game if they just took the best ballplayers regardless of first-half stats.

I don't know about "really annoyed," WJ, but I know that if I were going to the AS game, I'd be there to see Pujols, A-Rod, Halladay, etc. and not some career plugger that's fluked out a good two months at the right time.

But it's just the AS game, and I'm not going to it, so I don't really care.

The only real annoying thing is when a player retires and they count his number of AS games as a way of evaluating him. Seemingly forgetting the process that leads to being at the ASG in the first place.

The only real annoying thing is when a player retires and they count his number of AS games as a way of evaluating him. Seemingly forgetting the process that leads to being at the ASG in the first place.

Surely you can't be implying that 6-time All Star Sandy Alomar Jr. might not have been deserving of the honor on all six occasions?

I dunno. The "real" stars get MVPs, endorsement deals, HOF votes or entry. Not to mention a number of ASG appearances. So, if a guy has a bad first half and some other guy, who will never get any of those bigger awards, has a hot first half, I like seeing them get recognition.

I don't really much care either way, but just deciding that one guy will be his league's rep for 15 straight years seems boring to me. If nothing else, if he's having a bad first half, he'd probably like the break.

Does anyone else get really annoyed that the conventional wisdom states that the all-star spot "deserves" to go to the guy who has the best numbers at the time the voting takes place and the final selections are made? First of all, the voting takes place over months, second of all, it's an ALL-STAR game, not a "THIS GUY HAD A HOT FIRST HALF" game. Take someone like Teixeira, who traditionally has a monster second half. No number after the first two weeks of July should ever be taken into consideration in an all-star pick?

Yea, I usually vote for a mix of guys that have been awesome for years and are having good, maybe not great seasons (Jetah) and guys that have had just sensational first halves that you cannot ignore (Ibanez).But if push comes to shove, I'll probably go with the established guy.

despite my recent absence...if it's an All-Star dugout, I absolutely belong in here.

Does anyone else get really annoyed that the conventional wisdom states that the all-star spot "deserves" to go to the guy who has the best numbers at the time the voting takes place and the final selections are made?

yes and no. I mean if a guy is having a hot first half that is clearly a very good half then I have no problem with putting him in, especially if the guy is a player that has been around for a while as a regular and just never been good enough for the all star game. I personally do look at second half of last season and to a lesser extent if the player is a potential hofer, but I can see different views from any choices the fans have, as long as the guy is still a good player. I hate the concept of putting a guy in the all star game because he used to be great and the fans love him still.

Mike Lynch on Facebook...

deeply saddened by the news of Gene Carney's passing. He was a great writer and a good friend. He will be missed.

Don't suppose anyone's noticed who's sneaked up to a .770 OPS, after going .333/.397/.515 the last 4 weeks.

Although I'm sure He's noticed.

That's the Black Sox guy, isn't it? Carney, I mean. I have no idea who Lynch is.

I have no idea who Lynch is.

Mike Lynch is a member here.

He's one of the main guys at Seamheads.

I'm still looking for a Three-Finger Carney link.

Gene Carney's blog; the last entry is 15 June of this year. Gene was a very energetic and generous writer/researcher, and I hope that reports of his death are exaggerated.

Just posted the Seamheads link on Two-Finger...

Ted Kazanski 1954 PHI

also known as the 'Uniform Bomber'.

I laughed.

ba transactions are (finally) up.

Don't suppose anyone's noticed who's sneaked up to a .770 OPS, after going .333/.397/.515 the last 4 weeks.

You should've waited until Wieters had a 777 OPS.