4 chats this morning, 3 of them, i shot blanks. But then, tuna got the first blow in chat #4 with:

Angie (Wayne): Jerry, Do you think Jeter's lack of performance is related to the acquisition of A-Rod, Can Jeter not perform when he's not the media darling of NY?

Jerry Crasnick: (11:07 AM ET ) Angie,

You never know what's inside a guy's head. I know Harold Reynolds thinks his hands are dinged up and that's affecting him. Jeter's the kind of guy who'll just go out and play and not use injuries as an excuse. I have a hard time believing he's struggling because of A-Rod, but he might be hesitant to come out of the lineup because he knows there'll be a huge push for Torre to play A-Rod at short.

[angie's my grandmother btw]

Not to be outdone, i came back with:

James (Australia): If i was going to go to a game solely to heckle players, where should I go? I've had some success in the left field bleachers of yankee stadium, but I want to take my show on the road. Are minor league games too easy? Seems like it would be shooting fish in a barrel.

Jerry Crasnick: (11:15 AM ET ) James,

Since you're planning to come all the way from Australia, I figure you deserve a response. I think Pittsburgh or Montreal would be your best bets, since the stands are generally empty and your voice could more easily be heard. But please, keep the heckling clean and family-oriented.

tuna blew my mind with this one. I couldn't believe how he got inside pj's head and was actually "thinking like him." I later found out that tuna just pasted the paragraph i wrote in my blog about dunn. BTW, take a look at the town PJ is from:

Peter (Neocon): How good will Adam Dunn be this year? Too often, batters are so afraid of striking out that they choke up with two strikes and just try and make contact. That often results in lazy grounders. Adam Dunn is NOT like that. He controls the strike zone, and takes and rakes. Is his approach worth the extra strikeouts?

Jerry Crasnick: (11:26 AM ET ) Peter,

The word in spring training was that the Reds told Chris Chambliss to work with Dunn exclusively and weren't going to clutter up his head with advice from 12 different people. It sure seems to be working so far. If Dunn can hit 40 homers and knock in 120 runs, I think they can live with 150 strikeouts. Thing is, he's second in the National League in walks behind Bonds right now.


I have to pat myself on the back for this question from Maria. Does everyone get the inside joke?

Maria (Caldwell): Can a healthy Nick Johnson and Carl Everett save the struggling Expos? Or is this franchise doomed to go the way of the dinosaur and just fade into extinction?

Jerry Crasnick: (11:35 AM ET ) Maria,

Nick Johnson is really frustrating to watch. It looks like he's going to be one of those guys who's always hurt. I thought Carl Everett was a good pickup, but he just caught a bad break with an injury. The Expos have really overachieved in recent years with limited resources. It's time for baseball to resolve that situation and sell the team. It's not fair to the players, the Montreal fans or the people running the team.


finally, i threw in a "real" question just so i can get people talking about my fantasy guys:

Kenneth (Atlanta): Is john thomson the best kept secret in baseball? If you translate his coors induced numbers from last year to pitcher friendly turner field, it looks like he will be solid. Not to mention the best pitching coach in the game.

Jerry Crasnick: (11:47 AM ET ) Kenneth,

He's definitely suffered from pitching in Denver and Texas, two graveyards for pitchers. I know the scouts have liked his stuff over the years. It looks like another astute move by John Schuerholz.


btw, Neyer is on at 1 pm. I hate to let the cat out of the bag, but tuna came up with what may be the greatest question of all time:

cheeser50: George (Crawford) What's the deal with the suicide squeeze, is it a lost art? Managers don't seem to have a lot of faith that their suicider will make contact.