Homage to Thomas Hawk

This photo was inspired by one of my favorite photos by Thomas Hawk. You can see it here.

Holiday Lights

The Embarcadero Center is only lit up during the holidays. Frankly, I wish they'd just leave them on year-round because they really add to the skyline. I went out to Treasure Island last weekend to take a few of these shots. This one turned out the best.

SF International Auto Show

Dawning of a New Day

Downtown

Downtown, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

The view from the 28th Floor of the AAA building in the Civic Center area of San Francisco

iPhone Bill as big as a phone book

There's a seperate clip where she actually mentions that the total bill is $274, including activation charges, taxes, etc. What created this huge bill is all the detail for the text messages she sent, which she says she averages about 35 thousand, THOUSAND, text messages a month. WTF??? At what point do you decide to never call anyone and just text them a conversation? That's an absurd amount of texting, I'm sorry. She's a blogger, and she doesn't use the internet? I just don't understand how that even happens. That's an average of over 1,000 text messages a day. how does she have time to do anything else?

The video is actually pretty good, and makes a decent point to switch to an ebill. I personally try and ebill as many bills as I can, and even with Sprint, I have them ebill me the summarized, not the detailed bill. For me, the more I can pay online the better off I am. I use a service called Checkfree that manages about a third of my bills. I wish it could handle more, but it requires the vendor to sign up with them, and not all companies have (PG&E being the one I'd like to add the most). I haven't written an actual check in a really long time, because even if I need to send a check, I go to my online banking and have them issue the check. It's been so long, that the last time I tried to write a check, I grab checks from a closed account. Doh!!

Someone to Watch Over Me

Someone to Watch Over Me, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Kelley and I were rewarded with this spectacular view on an early morning hike of Diamond Head in Oahu. Luckily we were still on California time, so getting up at 6am was no big deal for us. The hike looked more intimidating than it really was, and we made in to the top in about 25 minutes. The hike itself was very interesting with great views of the crater, the lighthouse, and some interesting stairways and tunnels. I highly recommend going early in the morning though. By the time we got back to the car a little after 8am, it was already in the mid-80s and climbing, not to mention the tourbuses starting dumping lots of people off at the trailhead. It's also a hike I'd probably do again when we go back, though there's also the Makapuu lighthouse hike I'd like to get to, which we cancelled after a long day of driving the North Shore and snorkeling at Sharks Cove.

Fireworks Flower

Fireworks Flower, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

The wife and I went to Treasure Island to watch the fireworks last night. Big Mistake. Far too many people, and far too windy. You think I would have learned from the KFOG show that the wind pretty much screws you no matter what you do. This shot was nearly perfect. A little better framing, and no squiggles would have been great. But seeing as the front page of the Chronicle today had a shot that was a squiggly too, I guess I didn't do that bad. The biggest regret I had last night was not making sure the car was filled up with gas as we sat in traffic for nearly ninety minutes (yes 9-0) trying to get off the island. We ended up going into the city to get gas, then headed back to Berkeley. All told it took us about 2 hours to get home which is about 10 miles away. I will never, ever again go to TI to shoot the fireworks ever again. I'll stick to the Berkeley Marina, especially since I couldn't get a nice background like I could at KFOG.

Ocean's 13

As George Clooney has said, this is definitely the one they should have made last time. Still not nearly as good as the original. Decent action and some memorable lines. The best line is when is Matt Damon refers to Ellen Barkin as a "cougar" then says "what? I read about it in Maxim magazine." Hilarious. What I like about the Oceans movies is that they don't try to pretend to be anything they're not. It's a caper movie, pure and simple. There's always a twist at the end, but it's not a real shocker, and most people probably can figure it out. It's a fun movie, some laughs, a little action, and thoroughly enjoyable. If you're looking for a good summer movie, I'd recommend this one.

Cramer on Conan

I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Cramer is seriously demented, and Conan plays it perfectly.

Hockey Monkey

Kelley and I really liked this new show on Fox called "The Loop". We thought it was cancelled, but low and behold, two new episodes showed up on our TiVo this past week. WooHoo!! The show's pretty funny, and the cast is great. It's moved up the board to keep company with the likes of Entourage and How I Met Your Mother.

Anyways, the theme song is this great little ditty by a band called the Zambonis. Have a listen and add "The Loop" to your TiVo season pass!

The iPhone

Apparently NBC has realized their programming sucks, so they've started publishing NBC clips on Youtube instead of asking them to be taken down. This one seems appropriate given the hype of the shortly to be released iPhone. I haven't found SNL to be particlarly funny in years, but lately I've found they'll have one or two sketches a week that are pretty funny.

#747

#747, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Barry hits number 747 while I'm hanging out at Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island. Some Giants fan I am! AT&T Park is the blown out light mass to the left of the bridge. I also have this one in a vertical orientaion, which I think I like a little better. It will eventually be up on maltphoto.com

Black and White

Untitled, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Took this on a weekend trip to Point Reyes. I like it in Black and White, but I'm struggling for a title. Any suggestions?

KFOG KaBoom

KFOG KaBoom, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Kelley and I went over to Treasure Island on Saturday to watch the fireworks. We stopped at Trader Vics along the way for dinner and drinks then headed out a little more than an hour before the show to scope out good viewing locations. We found one up at the top of Yerba Beuna Island with a great view of the Bay Bridge. We decided against it, though as you can see from Canbalci's shot here, it was still a great spot to view the fireworks. We may go there next year.

So instead, we headed back down to Treasure Island and set up near the pier that juts into the water. The wind made it pretty cold, but we both brought hats, so it wasn't that bad. The fireworks were spectacular, as well as the soundtrack, but my photos were only so so. This one came out the best, as most of them had squiggles resulting from camera shake as the wind blew.

I learned a few lessons about photography this weekend, most notably, that once you take the memory card out to download your shots, make sure you put one back in. We went for a hike on Sunday morning, but my memory card was in the card reader, not in the camera. I also learned to double check my ISO settings. I was handholding some shots and upped the ISO to 800, but forgot to set it back down to 100, so I think some shots could have been salvaged, but instead they were blown out. All in all, a decent photo weekend. I converted this shot to black and white and have an 8x10 coming so I can frame it.

The Ex

Here's the trailer to Zach Braff's latest movie. I wasn't a big fan of The Last Kiss, as I think seeing the original ruined it a little for me. This looks pretty funny, so I'm excited to see it.

Pier 28

Pier 28, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

Taken on our walk from Market Street to AT&T Park on the 6th. Beautiful blue sky, thought the contrast was nice. Used a circular polarizer to get the really deep blue.

HIMYM - Barney & Marshall sing "Confrontation"

Never thought Les Mis was particularly funny, but this is just hilarious ...

Vegas, Baby!!

Blue Swirl, originally uploaded by Maltphoto.

KM and I took a passed due trip out to Sin City with a couple friends this past weekend. It was the first time we had been out there together in 5 years, despite each of us having been many times without the other. We had a great trip, managed to leave with my wallet a little heavier than when we arrived, and had some great food.

We flew in Friday morning, checked into the hotel and spent the afternoon wandering around Mandalay Bay and wandered over to the MGM after lunch. Friday night was a fabulous dinner at Aquaknox at the Venetian. Everything was delicious, from the Oysters and steamed clams down to the John Dory and the "Smore's" dessert. We later headed back to the hotel, met up with CJ and CW, then headed down to the craps tables. 2 hours and $300 more, and we called it a night around 4am.

Worst Opening Pitch Ever

Thanks to Jeff Erickson of rotowire for pointing this out. The look on Eric Davis' face is priceless.

My Latest Baseball Draft

Overview: It's a 12 team, 5x5 hosted on Sportsline, I had the 11th pick (WHIP It Good). I've never drafted with these guys before, but everyone is a member at the same website, so I knew most everyone's plan before going in. Draft for scarcity (ie Middle infielders) and counting stats, and worry about pitching in the later rounds.

My own Critique: I screwed the pooch, I think, by taking Carpenter and Oswalt in the 3rd and 4th rounds. Its something I usually don't do, but given my choices at Short, and knowing I'd be able to get Barfield for my 2B, I gambled that Bill Hall might make it back to me in the 5th. I was dead wrong and scrapped all my plans at that point. I have some serious issues at 1st and in the OF, but otherwise I feel pretty good about how I picked through the scraps.

I think I ended up with a pretty decent team, but take a look and let me know what I SHOULD have done instead of what I DID do. I'm interested to hear your opinions!

Draft Results
Round 1
1	Frozen Ropes	Albert Pujols (1B STL)
2	Unforgiven	Jose B. Reyes (SS NYM)
3	Substandard Deviants	Alfonso Soriano (OF CHC)
4	ScurvyDogs	Chase Utley (2B PHI)
5	Sox	Johan Santana (P MIN)
6	Mark Stanley	Alex Rodriguez (3B NYY)
7	Mizzle Wizzle	Miguel M. Cabrera (3B FLA)
8	Tom Kephart	David Ortiz (U BOS)
9	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Ryan Howard (1B PHI)
10	KenaleiZdurg	Carlos Beltran (OF NYM)
11	WHIP It Good	Carl Crawford (OF TB)
12	Got Beer	Derek Jeter (SS NYY)
Round 2
13	Got Beer	Mark Teixeira (1B TEX)
14	WHIP It Good	David Wright (3B NYM)
15	KenaleiZdurg	Vladimir Guerrero (OF ANA)
16	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Travis Hafner (U CLE)
17	Tom Kephart	Matt Holliday (OF COL)
18	Mizzle Wizzle	Ichiro Suzuki (OF SEA)
19	Mark Stanley	Manny Ramirez (OF BOS)
20	Sox	Grady Sizemore (OF CLE)
21	ScurvyDogs	Hanley Ramirez (SS FLA)
22	Substandard Deviants	Jimmy Rollins (SS PHI)
23	Unforgiven	Lance Berkman (1B HOU)
24	Frozen Ropes	Aramis Ramirez (3B CHC)
Round 3
25	Frozen Ropes	Rafael Furcal (SS LA)
26	Unforgiven	Bobby Abreu (OF NYY)
27	Substandard Deviants	Carlos N. Lee (OF HOU)
28	ScurvyDogs	Andruw Jones (OF ATL)
29	Sox	Derrek Lee (1B CHC)
30	Mark Stanley	Miguel Tejada (SS BAL)
31	Mizzle Wizzle	Michael Young (SS TEX)
32	Tom Kephart	Paul Konerko (1B CHW)
33	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Jason Bay (OF PIT)
34	KenaleiZdurg	Justin Morneau (1B MIN)
35	WHIP It Good	Chris Carpenter (P STL)
36	Got Beer	Francisco Rodriguez (P ANA)
Round 4
37	Got Beer	Garrett Atkins (3B COL)
38	WHIP It Good	Roy Oswalt (P HOU)
39	KenaleiZdurg	Brian Roberts (2B BAL)
40	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Juan Pierre (OF LA)
41	Tom Kephart	Vernon Wells (OF TOR)
42	Mizzle Wizzle	Robinson Cano (2B NYY)
43	Mark Stanley	Joe Mauer (C MIN)
44	Sox	Jake Peavy (P SD)
45	ScurvyDogs	Billy Wagner (P NYM)
46	Substandard Deviants	Bill Hall (SS MIL)
47	Unforgiven	Jermaine Dye (OF CHW)
48	Frozen Ropes	Joe Nathan (P MIN)
Round 5
49	Frozen Ropes	B.J. Ryan (P TOR)
50	Unforgiven	Mariano Rivera (P NYY)
51	Substandard Deviants	Prince Fielder (1B MIL)
52	ScurvyDogs	Carlos Delgado (1B NYM)
53	Sox	Jonathan Papelbon (P BOS)
54	Mark Stanley	Todd Helton (1B COL)
55	Mizzle Wizzle	Hideki Matsui (OF NYY)
56	Tom Kephart	Carlos Guillen (SS DET)
57	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Huston Street (P OAK)
58	KenaleiZdurg	Johnny Damon (OF NYY)
59	WHIP It Good	Victor J. Martinez (C CLE)
60	Got Beer	J.J. Putz (P SEA)
Round 6
61	Got Beer	Brian McCann (C ATL)
62	WHIP It Good	Ryan Zimmerman (3B WAS)
63	KenaleiZdurg	Francisco Cordero (P MIL)
64	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Ben Sheets (P MIL)
65	Tom Kephart	Torii Hunter (OF MIN)
66	Mizzle Wizzle	Bobby Jenks (P CHW)
67	Mark Stanley	Adam Dunn (OF CIN)
68	Sox	Daisuke Matsuzaka (P BOS)
69	ScurvyDogs	Brandon Webb (P ARI)
70	Substandard Deviants	Chad Cordero (P WAS)
71	Unforgiven	Roy Halladay (P TOR)
72	Frozen Ropes	Jim Thome (U CHW)
Round 7
73	Frozen Ropes	Mike Cameron (OF SD)
74	Unforgiven	Corey Patterson (OF BAL)
75	Substandard Deviants	Jeremy Bonderman (P DET)
76	ScurvyDogs	Richie Sexson (1B SEA)
77	Sox	Felipe Lopez (SS WAS)
78	Mark Stanley	Carlos Zambrano (P CHC)
79	Mizzle Wizzle	Alex Rios (OF TOR)
80	Tom Kephart	Felix Hernandez (P SEA)
81	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Chone Figgins (OF ANA)
82	KenaleiZdurg	Julio Lugo (SS BOS)
83	WHIP It Good	Josh Barfield (2B CLE)
84	Got Beer	Howie Kendrick (2B ANA)
Round 8
85	Got Beer	Cole Hamels (P PHI)
86	WHIP It Good	Gary Sheffield (OF DET)
87	KenaleiZdurg	Trevor Hoffman (P SD)
88	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Edgar Renteria (SS ATL)
89	Tom Kephart	Ian Kinsler (2B TEX)
90	Mizzle Wizzle	Delmon Young (OF TB)
91	Mark Stanley	Brad Lidge (P HOU)
92	Sox	John Lackey (P ANA)
93	ScurvyDogs	Coco Crisp (OF BOS)
94	Substandard Deviants	Alex Gordon (3B KC)
95	Unforgiven	Troy Glaus (3B TOR)
96	Frozen Ropes	Aubrey Huff (1B BAL)
Round 9
97	Frozen Ropes	Brett Myers (P PHI)
98	Unforgiven	Aaron Harang (P CIN)
99	Substandard Deviants	Chris Ray (P BAL)
100	ScurvyDogs	Tom Gordon (P PHI)
101	Sox	Scott Rolen (3B STL)
102	Mark Stanley	Rickie Weeks (2B MIL)
103	Mizzle Wizzle	Adrian Gonzalez (1B SD)
104	Tom Kephart	Edwin Encarnacion (3B CIN)
105	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Adam A. LaRoche (1B PIT)
106	KenaleiZdurg	Jeff Kent (2B LA)
107	WHIP It Good	Freddy Sanchez (3B PIT)
108	Got Beer	Scott Kazmir (P TB)
Round 10
109	Got Beer	Dan Haren (P OAK)
110	WHIP It Good	Jose Valverde (P ARI)
111	KenaleiZdurg	Jason Giambi (1B NYY)
112	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Nick Swisher (OF OAK)
113	Tom Kephart	Michael Barrett (C CHC)
114	Mizzle Wizzle	Erik Bedard (P BAL)
115	Mark Stanley	Rich Harden (P OAK)
116	Sox	Curt Schilling (P BOS)
117	ScurvyDogs	Matt Cain (P SF)
118	Substandard Deviants	Willy Taveras (OF COL)
119	Unforgiven	John Smoltz (P ATL)
120	Frozen Ropes	Chris B. Young (OF ARI)
Round 11
121	Frozen Ropes	Josh Beckett (P BOS)
122	Unforgiven	Lyle Overbay (1B TOR)
123	Substandard Deviants	Jason Schmidt (P LA)
124	ScurvyDogs	Rocco Baldelli (OF TB)
125	Sox	Stephen O. Drew (SS ARI)
126	Mark Stanley	Brandon Phillips (2B CIN)
127	Mizzle Wizzle	Ramon Hernandez (C BAL)
128	Tom Kephart	Mike Piazza (C OAK)
129	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Orlando Cabrera (SS ANA)
130	KenaleiZdurg	C.C. Sabathia (P CLE)
131	WHIP It Good	Dan Uggla (2B FLA)
132	Got Beer	Josh Willingham (OF FLA)
Round 12
133	Got Beer	J.D. Drew (OF BOS)
134	WHIP It Good	Brian Fuentes (P COL)
135	KenaleiZdurg	Jorge Posada (C NYY)
136	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Takashi Saito (P LA)
137	Tom Kephart	Michael Cuddyer (OF MIN)
138	Mizzle Wizzle	Dave Bush (P MIL)
139	Mark Stanley	Jason Isringhausen (P STL)
140	Sox	Adrian Beltre (3B SEA)
141	ScurvyDogs	Frank Thomas (U TOR)
142	Substandard Deviants	Jered Weaver (P ANA)
143	Unforgiven	Kenji Johjima (C SEA)
144	Frozen Ropes	Ivan Rodriguez (C DET)
Round 13
145	Frozen Ropes	Orlando Hudson (2B ARI)
146	Unforgiven	Tadahito Iguchi (2B CHW)
147	Substandard Deviants	Eric Gagne (P TEX)
148	ScurvyDogs	Chris R. Young (P SD)
149	Sox	Russell Martin (C LA)
150	Mark Stanley	Chipper Jones (3B ATL)
151	Mizzle Wizzle	Octavio Dotel (P KC)
152	Tom Kephart	A.J. Burnett (P TOR)
153	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Brad Hawpe (OF COL)
154	KenaleiZdurg	Nick Markakis (OF BAL)
155	WHIP It Good	Conor Jackson (1B ARI)
156	Got Beer	Mark Teahen (3B KC)
Round 14
157	Got Beer	Magglio Ordonez (OF DET)
158	WHIP It Good	Ryan Dempster (P CHC)
159	KenaleiZdurg	Morgan Ensberg (3B HOU)
160	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Mike Mussina (P NYY)
161	Tom Kephart	Ray Durham (2B SF)
162	Mizzle Wizzle	Ty Wigginton (1B TB)
163	Mark Stanley	Pat Burrell (OF PHI)
164	Sox	Bob Wickman (P ATL)
165	ScurvyDogs	Scott Olsen (P FLA)
166	Substandard Deviants	Carlos Quentin (OF ARI)
167	Unforgiven	Javier Vazquez (P CHW)
168	Frozen Ropes	Jeff Francoeur (OF ATL)
Round 15
169	Frozen Ropes	Bronson Arroyo (P CIN)
170	Unforgiven	Akinori Otsuka (P TEX)
171	Substandard Deviants	Ryan P. Freel (OF CIN)
172	ScurvyDogs	Ian Snell (P PIT)
173	Sox	Raul Ibanez (OF SEA)
174	Mark Stanley	Justin Verlander (P DET)
175	Mizzle Wizzle	Andy Pettitte (P NYY)
176	Tom Kephart	Joe Crede (3B CHW)
177	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Randy Johnson (P ARI)
178	KenaleiZdurg	Dave Roberts (OF SF)
179	WHIP It Good	Adam Wainwright (P STL)
180	Got Beer	Luis Castillo (2B MIN)
Round 16
181	Got Beer	Ryan Shealy (1B KC)
182	WHIP It Good	Barry Zito (P SF)
183	KenaleiZdurg	Kelvim Escobar (P ANA)
184	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Jorge Julio (P FLA)
185	Tom Kephart	John Patterson (P WAS)
186	Mizzle Wizzle	Anthony Reyes (P STL)
187	Mark Stanley	Joe Borowski (P CLE)
188	Sox	Barry Bonds (OF SF)
189	ScurvyDogs	Aaron Rowand (OF PHI)
190	Substandard Deviants	Rich Hill (P CHC)
191	Unforgiven	Salomon Torres (P PIT)
192	Frozen Ropes	Scott Podsednik (OF CHW)
Round 17
193	Frozen Ropes	Todd Jones (P DET)
194	Unforgiven	Rich Aurilia (3B SF)
195	Substandard Deviants	Boof Bonser (P MIN)
196	ScurvyDogs	Craig Monroe (OF DET)
197	Sox	Austin Kearns (OF WAS)
198	Mark Stanley	Dontrelle Willis (P FLA)
199	Mizzle Wizzle	Tim Hudson (P ATL)
200	Tom Kephart	Moises Alou (OF NYM)
201	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	A.J. Pierzynski (C CHW)
202	KenaleiZdurg	Nomar Garciaparra (1B LA)
203	WHIP It Good	Eric Byrnes (OF ARI)
204	Got Beer	Derek Lowe (P LA)
Round 18
205	Got Beer	Joel Zumaya (P DET)
206	WHIP It Good	Khalil Greene (SS SD)
207	KenaleiZdurg	Ted Lilly (P CHC)
208	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Armando Benitez (P SF)
209	Tom Kephart	James Shields (P TB)
210	Mizzle Wizzle	Adam Loewen (P BAL)
211	Mark Stanley	Dustin Hermanson (P CIN)
212	Sox	B.J. Upton (3B TB)
213	ScurvyDogs	Chad Tracy (3B ARI)
214	Substandard Deviants	Ervin Santana (P ANA)
215	Unforgiven	Kevin Millwood (P TEX)
216	Frozen Ropes	Chris Capuano (P MIL)
Round 19
217	Frozen Ropes	Placido Polanco (2B DET)
218	Unforgiven	Chris Burke (2B HOU)
219	Substandard Deviants	Marcus Giles (2B SD)
220	ScurvyDogs	Kelly Johnson (2B ATL)
221	Sox	Kenny Lofton (OF TEX)
222	Mark Stanley	Chris Duffy (OF PIT)
223	Mizzle Wizzle	Jonathan Broxton (P LA)
224	Tom Kephart	Greg Maddux (P SD)
225	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Eric Chavez (3B OAK)
226	KenaleiZdurg	Chuck H. James (P ATL)
227	WHIP It Good	Gary Matthews (OF ANA)
228	Got Beer	Jason Kubel (OF MIN)
Round 20
229	Got Beer	Brad Penny (P LA)
230	WHIP It Good	Casey Kotchman (1B ANA)
231	KenaleiZdurg	Randy Wolf (P LA)
232	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Pedro Martinez (P NYM)
233	Tom Kephart	Nate Robertson (P DET)
234	Mizzle Wizzle	Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B SD)
235	Mark Stanley	Brian Giles (OF SD)
236	Sox	Tom Glavine (P NYM)
237	ScurvyDogs	Vicente Padilla (P TEX)
238	Substandard Deviants	Mike Jacobs (1B FLA)
239	Unforgiven	Scot Shields (P ANA)
240	Frozen Ropes	Adam Eaton (P PHI)
Round 21
241	Frozen Ropes	David DeJesus (OF KC)
242	Unforgiven	Corey C. Hart (OF MIL)
243	Substandard Deviants	Matt Murton (OF CHC)
244	ScurvyDogs	Daniel Cabrera (P BAL)
245	Sox	Jacque Jones (OF CHC)
246	Mark Stanley	Gerald Laird (C TEX)
247	Mizzle Wizzle	Hank Blalock (3B TEX)
248	Tom Kephart	Tom S. Gorzelanny (P PIT)
249	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Claudio Vargas (P MIL)
250	KenaleiZdurg	Dan Wheeler (P HOU)
251	WHIP It Good	Shane Victorino (OF PHI)
252	Got Beer	David Dellucci (OF CLE)
Round 22
253	Got Beer	Bob Howry (P CHC)
254	WHIP It Good	Scott Linebrink (P SD)
255	KenaleiZdurg	Jose A. Contreras (P CHW)
256	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Bengie Molina (C SF)
257	Tom Kephart	Anibal Sanchez (P FLA)
258	Mizzle Wizzle	Ryan Church (OF WAS)
259	Mark Stanley	Curtis Granderson (OF DET)
260	Sox	Jason Varitek (C BOS)
261	ScurvyDogs	Johnny Estrada (C MIL)
262	Substandard Deviants	Chris Iannetta (C COL)
263	Unforgiven	Paul Lo Duca (C NYM)
264	Frozen Ropes	Mike Napoli (C ANA)
Round 23
265	Frozen Ropes	Doug Davis (P ARI)
266	Unforgiven	Shea Hillenbrand (1B ANA)
267	Substandard Deviants	Chris Duncan (OF STL)
268	ScurvyDogs	Josh Bard (C SD)
269	Sox	Jake Westbrook (P CLE)
270	Mark Stanley	Freddy An. Garcia (P PHI)
271	Mizzle Wizzle	David Ross (C CIN)
272	Tom Kephart	Rafael Soriano (P ATL)
273	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Jorge L. Cantu (2B TB)
274	KenaleiZdurg	Jason Kendall (C OAK)
275	WHIP It Good	Ronny Paulino (C PIT)
276	Got Beer	Gregg Zaun (C TOR)
Round 24
277	Got Beer	Zach Duke (P PIT)
278	WHIP It Good	Jason Jennings (P HOU)
279	KenaleiZdurg	Jose Guillen (OF SEA)
280	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Chien-Ming Wang (P NYY)
281	Tom Kephart	Wes Helms (3B PHI)
282	Mizzle Wizzle	Troy Tulowitzki (SS COL)
283	Mark Stanley	Pat Neshek (P MIN)
284	Sox	Jose Lopez (2B SEA)
285	ScurvyDogs	Bobby Crosby (SS OAK)
286	Substandard Deviants	Jonny J. Gomes (U TB)
287	Unforgiven	Mark DeRosa (2B CHC)
288	Frozen Ropes	Brandon McCarthy (P TEX)
Round 25
289	Frozen Ropes	Ken Griffey (OF CIN)
290	Unforgiven	Jeremy Hermida (OF FLA)
291	Substandard Deviants	Rod Barajas (C PHI)
292	ScurvyDogs	Melvin Mora (3B BAL)
293	Sox	Kevin Youkilis (1B BOS)
294	Mark Stanley	Mike Pelfrey (P NYM)
295	Mizzle Wizzle	Matt Garza (P MIN)
296	Tom Kephart	Brad B. Wilkerson (OF TEX)
297	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Nelson R. Cruz (OF TEX)
298	KenaleiZdurg	Al Reyes (P TB)
299	WHIP It Good	Clay Hensley (P SD)
300	Got Beer	Dan Johnson (1B OAK)
Round 26
301	Got Beer	Justin Duchscherer (P OAK)
302	WHIP It Good	Jim Edmonds (OF STL)
303	KenaleiZdurg	Zack Greinke (P KC)
304	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Chad Billingsley (P LA)
305	Tom Kephart	Ryan Theriot (2B CHC)
306	Mizzle Wizzle	Erick Aybar (SS ANA)
307	Mark Stanley	Cliff Lee (P CLE)
308	Sox	John Maine (P NYM)
309	ScurvyDogs	Milton Bradley (OF OAK)
310	Substandard Deviants	Matt D. Capps (P PIT)
311	Unforgiven	Oliver Perez (P NYM)
312	Frozen Ropes	Kei Igawa (P NYY)
Round 27
313	Frozen Ropes	Jay Gibbons (OF BAL)
314	Unforgiven	Mark Prior (P CHC)
315	Substandard Deviants	Sammy Sosa (OF TEX)
316	ScurvyDogs	Wily Mo Pena (OF BOS)
317	Sox	Mike Gonzalez (P ATL)
318	Mark Stanley	Nick Punto (3B MIN)
319	Mizzle Wizzle	Homer Bailey (P CIN)
320	Tom Kephart	Tim Lincecum (P SF)
321	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	Wade Miller (P CHC)
322	KenaleiZdurg	Kip Wells (P STL)
323	WHIP It Good	Bartolo Colon (P ANA)
324	Got Beer	Luke Scott (OF HOU)
Round 28
325	Got Beer	Fernando Rodney (P DET)
326	WHIP It Good	Scott Hairston (OF ARI)
327	KenaleiZdurg	Orlando Hernandez (P NYM)
328	Kerosenedan's Hot Tamales	John Danks (P CHW)
329	Tom Kephart	Jeremy Sowers (P CLE)
330	Mizzle Wizzle	Adam Lind (OF TOR)
331	Mark Stanley	Garret Anderson (OF ANA)
332	Sox	Casey Blake (OF CLE)
333	ScurvyDogs	Shawn Hill (P WAS)
334	Substandard Deviants	James Loney (1B LA)
335	Unforgiven	Jhonny Peralta (SS CLE)
336	Frozen Ropes	Omar Vizquel (SS SF)

Top young hurlers always seem to top people’s wishlists during draft season. Last year was an explosion of young pitchers making an impact in the majors. The amount of talent that was successful was unparalleled to previous years. Justin Verlander, Francisco Liriano, Jered Weaver, Cole Hamels and a bunch of other young arms help determined the winners of many fantasy leagues last year. Now, a year later, how will these guys survive the sophomore slump? It’s anyone guess, but a significant portion of these guys along with a bunch of younger “veterans” saw a significant increase in innings pitched. Will it lead to an injury this year? Will it contribute to a “sophomore slump”? It’s one factor out of many, but one that can be an indicator to a poorer performance the following year.

From 2004 to 2005 there were 15 starting pitchers under the ageof 30 who saw an increase of innings pitched of a least 40. Of those, seven had decreases in value in 2006. Of those seven, four of those had what wouldbe considered significant decreases in value. Here are the four pitchers who appear to be the most effected by significant workload increases:

Pitcher	Age	Tm	05 increase	06 $ Change
Patterson,John	28	WAS	100.1	$(14)
Chacon,Shawn	28	PIT	88.1	$(12)
Seo,Jae	29	TAM	71.8	$(14)
Towers,Josh	29	TOR	56.1	$(23)

Patterson, the TGR poster-child in 2005 for sleeper pitchers, spent most of the season on the DL managing only 8 starts. The other three posted promising seasons in2005, but were major disappointments in 2006, even though the expectations werenot as high as Patterson. 25% of thepitchers who saw workload increases in 2005, disappointed in 2006, while almost50% actually saw a decrease in value. While this is only one years worth of data, thetrend also exists in 2003 and in 2004. Some names from those years? How about Mark Prior, Brad Penny, Eric Milton, and Byung Yung Kim? All promising arms, all ran into into injury issues the year after a significant increase ininnings.

The pool of players to watch in 2007 is exactly the same size, 15. The major difference is that the numbers of increased innings pitched is significantly higher this year., and the names and pedigrees are significantly higher. Francisco Liriano has already succumbed to Tommy John surgery, but that may have more to do with his jump from 156 innings in 2004 to 192 innings in 2005 (all in the minors),as he only ended up pitching 123 innings last year. Does this mean we’ll see more injuries this year? Maybe, maybenot. But the following pitchers do bear watching and perhaps discounting their value based on this increased workload.

pitcher	Age	Tm	06 Incr/(Decr)
Weaver,Jered	24	LAA	124.0
Cook,Aaron	27	COL	104.1
Hamels,Cole	22	PHI	113.1
Jennings,Jason	28	COL	90.0
Olsen,Scott	22	FLA	80.0
Halladay,Roy	29	TOR	78.8
Sanchez,Anibal	22	FLA	64.5
Marshall,Sean	24	CHC	53.4
Padilla,Vicente	29	TEX	53.0
Armas Jr.,Tony	28	WAS	52.9
Hensley,Clay	27	SD	49.7
Bedard,Erik	27	BAL	47.9
Verlander,Justin	23	DET	47.6
Madson,Ryan	26	PHI	47.1
Meche,Gil	28	SEA	43.1

Some of the pitchers experienced injuries in 2005 (Cook, Hamels, Jennings,Olsen, Halladay, Padilla, Armas,Bedard,) so they should already have some discountbuilt into their prices to account for the injury history. Should this preclude them from the list?Probably not, since only one season separates them from a major injury, and coming back too quickly can hinder one’sperformance. Two of these pitchersmoved from relief to starting (Hensley, Madson)though they were both starters in the minors, so perhaps the effects ofincreased innings may not effect them as much, thoughpast history shows that’s not always the case.

The remaining players definitely bear watching and one is alreadyshowing warning signs of more trouble ahead.

• Jered Weaver is experiencing issues with biceps tendonitis and, in fact, started his off-season workouts a couple weeks later to rest his shoulder.
• Cole Hamels, with his history of injuries, definitely bears watching, though he’s hit the ground running this spring, along with a few other of the pitchers on this list.
• Anibel Sanchez doesn’t have a history of arm problems, but has moved up through the ranks fairly quickly. His no-hitter last year is what’s really put him on the map, but his strikeout rate dropped after his promotion and his walk rate rose. Hopefully, missing AAA ball won’t delay his growth, but the Marlins have burned through more than their share of pitchers in the past
• Sean Marshall was pressed into duties after injuries to various Cubs starters (surprise!), and didn’t do well. He racked up a bunch of innings, but hit the wall later in the season, and is now experiencing “fatigue” in his pitching shoulder. He’s expected to start the season in the minors, so hopefully, they’ll baby him a little more.
• Justin Verlander burst onto the scene last year with teammate Joel Zumaya. Both were starters in the minors, but Verlander was shut down at the end of 2005 because of a shoulder issue. He earned a spot in the rotation in 2006 and after all was said and done ended up pitching 70 more innings than the previous year when you include the playoff run. Verlander, like Weaver, took extra time off in the offseason to rest, so he’s behind in getting ready for the season, and his spring stats have shown it. Don’t be surprised if he gets off to a slow start this year.
• Gil Meche parlayed his 11-8 record with a 4.48 ERA and 1.43 WHIP into a $55 million deal with the Royals. If only we could all turn mediocrity into huge pay raises. Moving to the Royals certainly doesn’t make him a target of many fantasy owners this year, and certainly don’t expect the huge increase in innings to get this guy to the next level. In fact, he might even fade away into obscurity.

Hopefully, this article doesn’tsteer you completely away from these guys, but ideally it will readjust yourexpectations for some of them and prevent you from overpaying or overdrafting them. While these pitchers carry risk, sometimes taking on risk is the onlyway to be the last one standing at the end of the year.