Let's see if my prediction of Phillies in 5 holds up! Haven't been around all that much, but perhaps the new Banter can lure me back in :)

Still holding out hope.

Hey, Zack, long time no see.

hey zack: a-wella, wella, wella, wella, welcome back! you still in san diego or san fran or san something-or-other?

wow, i even caught the 1st pitch! early gigs are good...

ooh, crawford made a big no-no -- he stopped coming outta the box and then rollins dropped the ball. it cost the rays a leadoff man on...

kaz goes 3 balls on rollins, walks werth, hits utley. here's the awakned Rhino Howard...

wazzup, y'all?

Hey, the blogger formerly known as Jeb here; I always wanted to be a bit more anonymous. I hope this SNY thing works out because I told Steve Lombardi that my password always seemed to get deleted and I finally got frustrated and quit posting at Was Watching.

Technical issue for the bosses -- am I going to have to type my name and email every single time I post (even after logging in)? That would make me a little less likely to be a regular. Sorry but I'm a bit techno-challenged (Creative DVD's notwithstanding, Alex!)

And another question: At the Toaster, we were allowed to cuss (which I particularly did when we'd blow a game in late innings). What's the landscape here on that issue? Will the same rules (which I liked) at the Toaster apply here?

my bad - crawford wouldn't have been the leadoff man on, he's batting second. still, they woulda had a fast baserunner on for the heart of the order.

rhino walks back to the bench; kaz k'd him. 2 out and another RISP wasted by the Phitin's...

Pat The Moose is up...

No, one you're logged in you can leave the fields blank and just comment normally. Your ID should appear just fine. And feel free to speak your mind.

i understand this "reply to this comment" bit, but i'd rather have the #'s to keep the posts in order but to reply to Jeb's Evil Empire post. alex has full editorial control, so i'm guessing we're allowed to curse to our hearts content. if not, that'd really suck and i'd probably have to quit posting comments.

i also really dislike not getting to preview posts before they get sent. i really needed that feature and dig it. i, too, am technologically challenged. i didn't have to sign back in when i came home a little bit ago and came to this site (via the toaster). the comment box was right there and i was set.

RISP REVERSAL. kaz walked burrell and victorino singled in 2. kaz has allowed 8 1st inning runs this PS. and counting...

Another suggestion -- can we number comments? I like that a bit more than hitting "reply to this comment" (is that what people call "nested comments"? Told y'all, I'm not technically-able)

This game is formality.

Excellent! I think I'll like it over here. But I will miss posting on here and looking over to the right and thinking, "Wow I need to read that article on the Cardboard Gods.

I think you're right. By the way, I do like numbered comments because the number is a SIGNAL to go back and look at an early comment. With the nesting (Is it nesting?) it seems like you have to just go back on your own.

Guys, please keep the feedback coming. Just because you don't see a quick change in response, doesn't mean we're not listening. That said, if you change your mind about something (like, say after using them for a while you decide you like nesting comments over numbered ones after all), please update us as to your change of heart.

cliff, i'm glad you're here. i'm trying this "reply to this comment" bit. with this feature, every time there are new comments or i refresh, i'll have to scroll all the way up and figure out what's new. that seems like it'll be a major pain in the rectum when during a big game, or busy thread.

cliff (and alex, if you're reading) -- please be patient with me, as i'll probably have lotsa problems, questions, comments about the new ways over. i'll probably repeat ?'s too, as it takes me awhile to get acclimated w/ technology. damn drummers... : /

phils w/ another RISP hit, but no run scored...

Now that you guys have moved and I'm having to visit "other" websites, I suddenly feel like I've discovered the InternetS

and melky called out diving into 1st. oh wait...

will do. I wonder if there's a way to do nesting and numbered? why did Ken use numbered?

Hah! and Arod pops out to Victorino....

By the way, what is the deal with these all the players in French Foreign Legion hats in this game. I know it's cold, but dammit this is the World Series.

thank you for listening! i have to agree wholeheartedly w/ evil empire about the numbered comments vs. the "nesting" (i'm even more ignorant than jeb about this stuff, as i've never heard of "nesting" before!) i also really dislike army time, though it's better than pacific coast time. since the host is here on the east coast, can't we have regularly times posted w/ an AM/PM?

oh, and of course, if i get used to stuff 'round these parts and learn to even like parts of it (good luck w/ that!), i'll definitely let my change of heart be known...

17 pitches for King Cole after 2...

No idea. Incidentally, if you go back and look at the Toaster-era posts in the archives here, the numbers and the comment links are all still intact (save for last week's, which got lost in the transfer).

the numbers were always cool at ken's place. the whole [134] thing has lived on and it's fun when we try to get to 500 or 1,000 during big games or even 50 or 100 in the early rounds of this years' playoffs. remember the highlighted numbers at the toaster that allowed us to click and go to the referenced post, was a relatively new feature. i think, at first, there was a glitch too, like it would be able to jump the fold if it was closed off. that was a cool thing at the toaster also, of keeping posts in blocks of 50. it kept things nice and neat.

i kinda dig these silly winter hats. then again, i'm always cold. even here in the south... : ~

Ohayo Gozaimasu! damn, take 1 1/2 days off to visit the two-exit stomach flu thrill ride (will spare you any more details) and come back to find the Banter has moved!

agreed with the earlier comments, numebred posts seem better..congrats on the big move up though!

Welcome and thanks. Great to see all you guys here on our first day! Oh, and glad you're feeling better.

jazz tokyo! hey buddy, i knew you'd find us here! : )

i got A Blowin' Session in the mail today! pretty killin'

glad you're feelin' better, man!

speaking of japan, baseball and the toaster -- anyone know what became of Mike Plugh. wasn't he moving back to the states? mlbtraderumors were referencing him quite a bit for japan bb news, but stopped and linked to someone else. hope and he has family are doing well!

Holy Crap. I have tried logging in and getting a password about 2 dozen times since noon. I have finally made it.
You better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone.

Ah, crud. Sorry about the hassle. Were you getting any specific error messages?

Also, if there's anyone out there reading having the same problem, email me (via the link on the right sidebar) and I'll look into it.

...for the times they a-chaaaaaangin'

dylan rules!

indeed! there is a really cool bar near my apartment here called "My Back Pages", walls covered in Dylan and other bluesman posters. owner has about 100 bootleg concert cds and vids behind the bar, you would love it.

not the most exciting WS this one...

so, how long with the archives be able to be accessed at the Toaster? will they eventually get gone there and be relocated to this new address? will there be another Yankees blog at the Toaster to take our place or will there be another team or a void?

yeah, i'll miss checkin' on Cardboard Gods and The Griddle...

It said to check my email earlier this afternoon but nothing ever came to my inbox. I thought it may have been anti-hotmail.. I randomly tried the forgot password option just now and voila, it was sent to me (for the first time). : )

Hey, could someone tell me what this baseball game on FOX is all about? I thought the season ended in September... ;-)

well, i'd rather have this WS than have the Shit Sox in it. at least i can enjoy watching meaningful baseball w/out having my stomach in knots and so much vested in the outcome.

thelarmis, check this site out, may have some info..

http://www.japanball.com/news_list.phtml

Actually, the archives are all here and the actual Archive links on the left go to the archives here. We just have to update the links under "Bronx Banter Interviews" and the like, which Alex and/or I will have to do by hand. I don't know the answers to your other questions.

Was that praise of Joe Maddon a shot at Joe Girardi?

Hey Pena's first hit of the Series!

hey thelarmis, am still getting the hang of the new system here. posted a link on Japanball for you to check abotu mike Pugh, also a post about a Dylan joint nearby, scroll back up and check it out.

Agreed. Although, I've tried to pull for the Rays... I just have a hard time pulling for a team that I've rooted against all year.

watching the game other day am sure i heard McCarver say to Joe Buck "this is not the time for that" after Joe went onandonandonandon about the NFL...first cool thing Tim has said since his WOR Mets days!

Consiparcy Theories abound.

cliff - i'm trying to get a hold of this "nesting"/reply system. i'm noticing there are different shaded boxes for comments - some are shaded blue and indented. i'm guessing all the large white ones are individual comments. outlined boxes w/ indented white ones and blue shading around it are all part of a "conversation thread" w/ folks "replying to this comment..." but, there's a section above that disproves that theory - one of my comments is part of the big outline, but falls after yours that says "comments wont (sic) nest below this level". (the won't thing really should be fixed!) anyway, it seems as though "nesting" doesn't really allow a long conversation - 4 or so comments.

if it's possible to bring back numbered posts and linking them, i think it'd be a prudent move. i'm sure you guys need to allow some time to gather lotsa feedback, etc and discuss. hopefully SNY will be cool with you guys to change stuff around. i haven't checked out the other sites here and frankly, with the exception of WW sometimes, i have zero desire to - so i don't know if all the sites here look uniform; i imagine they do...

rays on the board. i think it's a pretty exciting contest...

thanks Jazz Tokyo! i'll have to scroll back up. see, another reason to go back to the # system. i was just about to reply to a Bama post but see there are quite a few after his and was afraid he'd miss my reply...

hey bama - good to see ya, man! i'm with you and rooting for the Phils. have been all along. i have PA ties, since i'm a Penn State graduate. i don't follow college football, but i think it would be really cool of you to lose a game, so we can move up! or, how bout we both win but texas loses. ...then, you lose so we can win it all. JoePa deserves that! : )

I'm still learning it to. First off, I've already flagged that "wont." Second, when it says "Comments wont nest below this level" that just means it wont indent further, you should be able to continue commenting further in that conversation thread. Besides which, we have control over that max-3 indents thing and can increase it if folks so desire.

Hey Jeb... uh, I mean Evil Empire... how 'bout the Tide? That was a big win against the Vols. I know everyone is starting to talk about the NC, but my main focus is on breaking that streak against Auburn... then I'll worry about the other stuff.

er, "I'm still learning *too*"

i am just seeing what this does.

And here's a test comment to prove my point above.

how do you make a word in bold? can you do italics here?

a frank tanana refrerence! cool.

shit, i'm gonna get ganged up on between you & jeb! GO NITANNY LIONS! : )

Man it's raining pretty bad in Philly . That's no fun for anyone.

Dunno yet. If you figure it out, let me know.

Cripes, He took if off the finger.

see, this is why pitchers shouldn't hit. and now it's raining...

atlee hammacker! i'll never forget watching that ASG when he gave up the grand slam to fred lynn.

Someone needs to teach Hamels that you bunt by making a fist with your top hand and gripping the bat with your thumb in a kind of thumbs-up grip.

well the asterisk trick didn't work - i tried that earlier today. i'm not a very daring guy and i'm pretty terrified of computers and stuff you have to plug in, so i won't be trying too many things. i'm not quite that,um...BOLD! : )

this is why i play acoustic drums and marimba. pick up sticks, hit things. !!!

Or, as I tend to think of it, the Bill Clinton ATM-Card hand gesture

Man wouldn't it be wild if this game turned on Hamels getting hit with that pitch on the bunt? Can you imagine the Philly fans sweating that out right now nursing a 28-year drought?

I blame Bobby Meacham for Hamel's shitty bunting skills. : )

Marimba, aye? My wife and I just got to the SNL Episode in season 2 with Frank Zappa. I then watched the Apostrophe/Over-Nite Sensation Classic Albums episode. His vibraphone player was no joke. (not like any of his musicians were)

it never would have happend if Joba pitched the 8th!

thanks, cliff! i'm sorry for my late reply here. i am really disliking the separate conversation threads. i still haven't made my way up to Jazz Tokyo's links. i dig the continuity of the toaster. just sayin'...

thelarmis, I almost forgot about your Penn State ties. I really hope that Texas loses and we get a shot to play you guys in the BCS title game. That would be like old times (1979 Sugar Bowl). I have always respected Joe Paterno and if we don't win it all, I wouldn't mind seeing him win it.

the hit on hand from the bunt attempt is no doubt A-Rod's fault. i mean, how can it not be?

it's raining hardcore in philly. rain, hit on hand, running bases - i can't imagine Cole having an easy top of the 5th...

kaz at 84 pitches already. 2nd time Kaz loads the bases w/ a walk.

i wonder if boBBy is watching the game. i'm sure he is...

So.....Who was the last team to win the W.S. in a driving rain?

oh, cool! yeah, fuck texas! they're in Austin, right? i toured there a coupla times in the mid-late 90's - great little city! i'd love it if it's PSU & Bama. then again, you have a lot more vested in college football then me, so i'd be cool with a 1-2 punch for us...

will kaz walk in a run?!?!?!?! (<---gotta love the interrobang)

Hey, guys. I just spoke to Alex, we should revert to the old comment format shortly. Hopefully tomorrow.

Sorry for not replying to the above comments, but like others have said, I sorta like the old way of just referencing back to the numbered comments (the numbers also let us keep up with how much activity we have during a game thread). I'm sure I can get used to the new format, but old habits are hard to break. ;-)

For the record, Alex (and the others) I am happy for you guys on the move. Keep up the good work.

I'm out, good night everyone.

What's the scoop on passwords? Mine sort of looked like a code to launch a missile.

Now THAT'S customer service...arigatou, Cliff!

Okay, that was absurd, they have to pull the players off the field.

Nice. I should have refreshed before I posted the comment below...

Don't know, but I'm sure there must be a way you can change your password. I'll inquire for you.

That was only fair that they got rid of Baldelli. That Rollins play was BS.

marimba, is my main instrument! i actually have a concert grand here in my living room! vibes are really hard; i'm more of a 4-mallet Classical concert marimbist. my solo percussion cd should be out in a few months - i'll float you a copy - TONS of marimba on there. only 1 piece with vibes. i might actually be playing a vibraphone solo on a heavy metal cd next year! we'll see...

zappa, is a MAJOR hero of mine. he's a HUGE influence and you'll hear it ALL over the aforementioned percussion cd. i'm not an SNL guy, but i think maybe my brother sent me a youtube link for that some time ago. he bought me that apostrophe/over-nite sensation dvd last year for my birthday (along w/ yankee dvd stuff!). i have pretty much EVERY zappa release. just about - gail keeps releasing stuff from the vault.

the mallet player during that era was Ruth Underwood. she is absolutely UNREAL!!!

Hamels looks fine this inning, but they have to tarp the field.

They should drill that play in spring training. The runner runs right into the dp way too often IMO.

you guys RULE! thanking you : )

I dunno, he came close to getting past the tag, just missed. Didn't Giambi beat that play this year by stopping in the baseline and sliding in ahead of the return throw from first base? I mean, Giambi!

yeah, mine too. i was surprised i couldn't use my own password. then again, i had firefox remember it, so i haven't needed it. i saved the email from Word Press for future reference. if we're allowed to change and personalize our passwords, i'm all for it!

yeah, this game is gonna have to be delayed. hamels was impressive that inning.

i can't believe minnesota's new stadium won't have a retractable roof.

cliff - heads up: i replied to your marimba/vibes/zappa post earlier. sorry it took so long, i didn't realize it was there...

go to profile on your login page. that's where you can change your password.

one thing I don't like about the new format - the narrow middle column where we type comments. Feels a bit claustrophobic. The old format seemed much more expansive.

I also agree with everyone on the numbered comments - glad to hear they'll be back,

Alright, I'm here too. Registering immediately provided an email with login info, but the email zoomed right into the spam folder. Crazy password system, but I'm assuming that will get smoother and more customizable with time.

Nice to see most of the loyalists on board already, and to see a nice lively game thread.

As far as the narrower comments field and the nested comments, it's hard to voice an opinion, since the conversation is pretty casual and people's engagement with the game is low, so I'm not feeling the need to track the progress of every discussion. The real test will be with a Yankee game, or the next big rumored signing or trade in the offseason. :-) I'm testing it hard now, with a 13 inch laptop screen (meaning a lot more scrolling), and it seems manageable so far.

I really miss comment previews, though.

Could not log on. Just testing...

if i had ties to tampa, i'd be infuriated by Kaz and his leadoff walks and overall wildness and high pitch count. this'll be his 95th pitch, 4+ innings...

Agreed. That's really giving up an out.

Oh, and for all of you non-computer folk, bold and italics etc. can be made by using the HTML tags listed below the commenting window. See 'em down there? I'm gong to have to put unnecessary Xs in them for them to show up here, but take out the Xs in the brackets and it goes like this:

bold text here
italic text here

also you can set-off quotes with:

Really... should the outcome of the (maybe) last game of the season be determined by the weather? These players have over 170 games invested in this season. This isn't fair.

yeah, i mentioned the comment previews, as well. it was a great feature! i have a little laptop also. i think my screen is 14". my awesome, Sharp tv/vcr combo from Costco has a massive 13" screen! : )

i don't like the narrow comment field or separate conversation. i think the separate conversation section does lend itself to carrying on a continuous subject, but it's really hard to follow. there are pros and cons to everything and give/take involved, but i think we'll all be happier going back to the old commenting system which cliff & alex are going to be kind enough to once again employ.

hey OYF! : )

Ah fug, that didn't work either.

Okay, here's the deal:

b = bold
i = italics

put the letter in less-than and greater-than signs (< >) and close the code by doing the same, but with a slash in front of the letter in the greater-than and less-than signs.

i'm a tool - where do i find my profile or login page? i had firefox remember my password and when i come to this page, i'm all set to comment...

It's gonna be a tough night for Kazmir.

Nice new place... to change your password click "site admin" in the left top box, then click your name in the upper right. At the bottom will be two boxes to put in a new password - you don't even need the old one if you're logged in.

ignore everything I say

Rain + shoddy umpiring = Kazmir tossing in turning on those cold winter nights.

ugh, i don't think i fit in the "non-computer folk" category, either. i'm more like the "idiot-moron" group, when it comes to this stuff. um...

= is that bold?

man, the asterisk trick sure was easy! : /

shite! the greater/less than signs w/ slashes and "b" in there, didn't even show up! : /

yeah, that walk to burrell was strike 3. 6 walks for the kid. yikes!

Minor annoyance — why when I log in does it take me to the admin section...?

Since I don't have administrative access it's sort of a waste of time - any way for it to automatically take me to the home page?

that means you were close. Here's what you might be doing wrong: no slash in the "open" code in front of the word you want bold. just the one slash in the "close" code after the word.