Monday, 31. August 2009
Tim Wakefield is back in Boston, Billy Wagner is in, and Brad Penny and John Smoltz are out. Quite the shakeup for the Sox this past week. Brad Penny was recently released by the Red Sox and placed on waivers.
According to John Tomase of the Boston Herald, Brad Penny asked the Red Sox for a release. He felt that his services were no longer of value for the team, and while he had nothing against them, he felt he’d be best pitching somewhere else.
Next week, Penny will be eligible for waivers, and some team will probably take its chances on him. At just 31 years old, he still has the potential to pitch effective baseball, and the change of setting could be good for Penny, who wants to play for a contender.
Like John Smoltz before him, he should run back to the National League where it’s entirely possible he could throw a no-hitter in his first start given the offensive disparity between the leagues. Converting to a closer this off-season might not be a bad idea either.
Penny made $5 million in Boston during the 2009 season. There was potential for him to reach the $8 million mark, but he obviously didn’t perform to expectations.
Penny looked good through the beginning of the season. While his ERA was always somewhat high, he started out with a 6-2 win-loss record that continuously worsened as the season progressed. Many had thought the Sox would ship Penny off once Smoltz returned, but this never happened.
In his last eleven starts since he was 6-2, Penny has only won one game. He had a great month of June, July was a bit worse, and August was even worse, with an 8.31 ERA during the month. His last time on the mound, Penny let up 8 runs in just four innings against the Yankees.
The Braves are now without two of their original starting pitchers, or three if you count the injured Dice-K. The lesson learned: stock up on starting pitchers, you’ll always somehow need them.
For in-depth baseball talk, a great sox forum, a free baseball pick ‘em game, and more, visit RootZoo Sports.
Posted in News by Max Petari -
Monday, 31. August 2009
The purpose of this piece of writing is to point out some of the essential differences between common traditional national lottery games and the world renowned El Gordo lottery.
In a conventional lotto game a player is typically required to select a series of numbers from a specific number range as well as an additional bonus number. For example, in the UK lotto a player has to choose 6 main numbers from 1-49 inclusive and then a further bonus number from the same range. To secure the top prize, a player needs to match all of their six main selected numbers with those numbers drawn. If there is no single ticket matching all the drawn numbers in a given week, the jackpot is rolled forward to the subsequent week growing in size as it does so.
The December El Gordo draw is significantly different in this area; only so many tickets are printed for this draw and because of this, winners are guaranteed in every draw.
The price you have to pay for an entire El Gordo ticket (Billete) is also very different from buying a ticket in a typical lotto game, like the UK National lotto. Purchasing a ticket for a single UK lotto draw costs a UK inhabitant just 1 pound. Elgordo tickets will, on the other hand, set you back 200 Euros each. Owing to the considerable price tag of playing this lottery game, whole tickets are broken down into ten parts (Decimos) costing a more reasonably priced 20 Euros. It is as a result quite common for groups of friends or family members to divide the cost of an entire El Gordo ticket in order to make the game a more workable proposition.
In the UK National lotto a tiny percentage of individuals ever win considerable quantities of money, with the majority left disappointed every week. The El Gordo lotto on the other hand gives that winning feeling to a much larger percentage of individuals. In the 2006 El Gordo lottery draw, 3 million Euros were paid out to each of the 180 winning billetes. In the El Gordo lottery draw held in 2005, the winning number was sold in the town of Vic in Catalonia (population 37,825), whose citizens scooped approximately 500 million Euros.
The Elgordo also delivers significantly enhanced odds of securing a cash payout compared to that of the UK National lotto; with the Elgordo you have a very nice 1 in 6 chance of picking up a cash prize compared to 1 in 52 when partaking in the UK lottery.
When partaking in lotteries such as the UK lotto, extra lottery tickets are made available every time a pound is spent meaning that tickets never run out for any of the weekly draws. The El Gordo is vastly different because only a certain number of tickets are ever printed and once they are all sold no more will become available.
The Elgordo not only creates enormous excitement in its native Spain but now all around the world due to the ever increasing amount of web-based lottery ticket sales agents. It is therefore imperative that you pick up your chosen amount of lotto tickets as soon as they hit the market, to avoid disappointment.
When playing the el gordo de la you have a magnificent 1 in 6 chance of picking up a cash prize compared to 1 in 52 when partaking in the UK National Lotto.
Posted in News by Stephen Whitepaper -