HickeyWorld, where Zito is always desirable, Penny is always available, and the M’s can trade Reed for Haren.

It’s Hickey’s World, but hopefully he’s the only guy who has to live in it.

The tendinitis in his left hamstring, which was diagnosed this week [Sept 14], may have been lingering since July. It has robbed him of his power.

John Hickey is seriously advocating trading for Barry Zito? In what world could that possibly even make sense?

You think that since an actor can read a line different ways that means that the words themselves have no meaning?

But why would I care what an actor would mean? I was talking about what Raul meant. He chose to say something and chose a specific way to say it.

Does a photograph mean nothing because someone could turn it pink with photoshop?

And putting all that aside… you rely on actors to tell you what something means? Because if you don’t then who cares how they interpret it? And if you do, then… ouch.

For your second point… That would be lovely if I got to make the decision. You seem to be confusing what the organization should do and what I, as a fan, should discuss. I don’t have anything to do with the former, and the latter shouldn’t really concern you, I wouldn’t think.

I don’t know why exactly, but I am under the impression that Balantien is more like Lopez/Johjima than Guillen. A matter of degree? Probably.

I agree that the player has to come clean, and, given the quotes Joser dug up, it sounds like Raul was not entirely forthcoming, which of course screws the team and the fans. On the other hand, it sounds like it was brutally clear in the depths of his slump that his mechanics were impaired. Why, oh why, would McLaren keep sending him up there? Since when is swinging the bat repeatedly the best way to heal a shoulder injury, and if it is, isn’t the place to do that in Tacoma on a rehab stint?

What exactly was your point? You don’t think different words mean different things?

The point is that any competent actor (and a lot of incompetent ones) could take the exact quote you got and give two entirely different readings from them. One of them would match your interpretation, one would be entirely different. The statement that you’re so very sure about is, at best, an ambiguous one.

Another point is that folks are spending an awful lot of time over interpreting what a player means when that meaning is irrelevant–you may massage his ego, but you move him to where he will do the best for the team. Just like you place or cast an actor, who have rather large egos themselves, to where the production will do best—you just don’t spend a lot of time worrying about how he’ll take it.