Grapesoda2525 said:

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Unfortunately

That Yordan Alvarez kid with the Astros is tearing things up right now. They called him up not too long ago and nobody has been able to get him out yet.

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He is batting .343, so actually people ARE getting him out.

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That Astros team will never get weaker if they continue to have a deep farm.

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What bizarre timing...the Astros are on a 5 game losing streak, and you panic they are not getting weaker.

He is off to a fantastic start. Before we confirm him to the Hall of Fame, let's see him get a season... maybe 2. Might be a little early to award the Astros the World Series. You know... 5 game losing streak, and all...

DallasAg 94 said:

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Grapesoda2525 said:

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Unfortunately

That Yordan Alvarez kid with the Astros is tearing things up right now. They called him up not too long ago and nobody has been able to get him out yet.

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He is batting .343, so actually people ARE getting him out.

Quote:

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That Astros team will never get weaker if they continue to have a deep farm.

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What bizarre timing...the Astros are on a 5 game losing streak, and you panic they are not getting weaker.

He is off to a fantastic start. Before we confirm him to the Hall of Fame, let's see him get a season... maybe 2. Might be a little early to award the Astros the World Series. You know... 5 game losing streak, and all...

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No doubt...

The Twinkies, Dodgers, or Yankees could all beat the Astros in my opinion. Everytime those Jack azzes win the World Series, it makes it tougher for us to compete with them tho. They're on a 5 game losing streak, but still have one of the best records in the game in spite of that. As for the .343, you'd be ecstatic if a little 2nd baseman on our team was hitting at that clip.

People were saying that same thing about the rangers not to long ago when our farm was loaded and we were making those nice Playoff runs.

PatAg said:

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94chem said:

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PatAg said:

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There are media seriously questioning Mike Young's number being retired. I don't get it at all, I think it's crazy it hadn't already happened

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Sure, but he's not ahead of Jim Sundberg, Juan Gonzalez, or Rafael Palmeiro. And he's not much ahead of Buddy Bell, Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton, Toby Harrah, and Ruben Sierra. He'd be about even with Elvis Andrus if Elvis retired today, maybe slightly ahead.

Edit to say that people forget how good Sundberg was because of Pudge being one of the 3 greatest catchers of all time.

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You're out of your mind.

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That was constructive.

Here's an interesting part of Evan grants mailbag today.

EG reply :

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The Rangers do not have any intention of moving Gallo back to first base. At least for now. He's not been told to do any work at first base during his rehab assignment in the Arizona Rookie League.

If the Rangers choose to send Ronald Guzman back to the minors, which I think is a strong possibility, I think first base would become the domain of Danny Santana. That is, unless the Rangers decide to play Santana regularly at second base and sit Rougned Odor. Under that scenario, Logan Forsythe could play fairly regularly at first. You could technically play Forsythe at second and Santana at first, but I think the other way around is the better defensive alignment.

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I've given up on seeing Odor go down to the minors based on his performance, but it might make sense for the rangers to send the condor down to work on his bat. I know his defense is really great, but the guy just hasn't been hitting this year.

If our minor league hitting instructors can do with the Condor what they did with Calhoun, it would be well worth Guzman's and the Ranger's time to do it. Granted, Calhoun is a more natural hitter, but I like Guzman and think it would be a good use of his time to get some time in the minors.

Fuzzy Dunlop said:

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If our minor league hitting instructors can do with the Condor what they did with Calhoun, it would be well worth Guzman's and the Ranger's time to do it. Granted, Calhoun is a more natural hitter, but I like Guzman and think it would be a good use of his time to get some time in the minors.

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I agree with you completely. The big difference between odor and Guzman is odor's contract. They're both underperforming, but the rangers have a lot more leverage to take the "send him down and let him develop more" approach with condor. I'm not giving up on Guzman tho. If his bat comes around, it would be great to have him out there.

The move would make sense if they really are trying to get the wildcard.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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I've given up on seeing Odor go down to the minors based on his performance, but it might make sense for the rangers to send the condor down to work on his bat. I know his defense is really great, but the guy just hasn't been hitting this year.

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Unfortunately there is no chance Odor goes to the minors now that he has 5 years of service time. He can veto and option without the risk of losing money. The only choices now are bench, trade, or hope he turns it around soon.

Don't worry, he will hit a homenrun every now and then and strut around like he is hot *****
That should make you feel better about his contract and every other aspect of his performance

Odor bugs me as much as anybody else. That being said, the only things contractually that can be done with him is:

1. DFA him and eat about $40 MM
2. Trade him only after agreeing to pick up perhaps $30 MM of his contract
3. Let him try to play out of it.

Odor has no special pull over anyone in the front office nor is he a favorite of some kind. Those are the ONLY three options short of hiring a hitman on him.

Since the Rangers are building for the future, choice #3 is the only viable choice for right now.

Of course, those who just want to ***** and moan about him will not reply to this factual assessment of the club's options for Odor. They'll just make wild accusations about the front office and some kind of love they have for Odor.

Random Notes:

If you take out Minor's first start of the year (opening day) he has a 2.06 era

We have only lost one series since the Astros swept us back in mid May.

In the next month, we will have 7 games against the Astros, 3 against Central leading Twins, and 3 games against 1WC Tampa. We will know exactly where we stand for the trade deadline by July 21st.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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No doubt...

The Twinkies, Dodgers, or Yankees could all beat the Astros in my opinion. Everytime those Jack azzes win the World Series, it makes it tougher for us to compete with them tho. They're on a 5 game losing streak, but still have one of the best records in the game in spite of that. As for the .343, you'd be ecstatic if a little 2nd baseman on our team was hitting at that clip.

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It will come down to deciding if we have enough ... or can get enough... to compete with the Dodgers or Yankees.

As I mentioned, I had suggested the Rangers make a trade for a SP, to at least let others in the League start to think where they are in the playoff picture. As it is, the Yankees made that move and now the rest of the AL has to decide if it is worth investing in 2019, or riding out where they are.

NYY are clearly the team to beat, as of now. Their weakness clearly remains SP

Minnesota is unconvincing. They are not a threat to improve dramatically and will be who they are, IMO.

Perez' last 4 outings: 19.0 IP, 7.58 ERA. Opponents are hitting .296, during those games. Odorizzi has struggled his last 2 outings, giving up 4ER in each.

Berrios is the main bright spot. Pineda is gving up 4.76 ERA for the season. He is looking much better than his ERA suggests...

Dodgers are a different story.

If Chavez can fill the 5th SP role, we can remain in position for the 2nd WC. At this point, I think he is our best option for what I think JD is willing to do. Which is to NOT trade prospects... and NOT take on payroll. Internal candidates are our only option and we don't have anyone ready.

DallasAg 94 said:

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Grapesoda2525 said:

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No doubt...

The Twinkies, Dodgers, or Yankees could all beat the Astros in my opinion. Everytime those Jack azzes win the World Series, it makes it tougher for us to compete with them tho. They're on a 5 game losing streak, but still have one of the best records in the game in spite of that. As for the .343, you'd be ecstatic if a little 2nd baseman on our team was hitting at that clip.

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It will come down to deciding if we have enough ... or can get enough... to compete with the Dodgers or Yankees.

As I mentioned, I had suggested the Rangers make a trade for a SP, to at least let others in the League start to think where they are in the playoff picture. As it is, the Yankees made that move and now the rest of the AL has to decide if it is worth investing in 2019, or riding out where they are.

NYY are clearly the team to beat, as of now. Their weakness clearly remains SP

Minnesota is unconvincing. They are not a threat to improve dramatically and will be who they are, IMO.

Perez' last 4 outings: 19.0 IP, 7.58 ERA. Opponents are hitting .296, during those games. Odorizzi has struggled his last 2 outings, giving up 4ER in each.

Berrios is the main bright spot. Pineda is gving up 4.76 ERA for the season. He is looking much better than his ERA suggests...

Dodgers are a different story.

If Chavez can fill the 5th SP role, we can remain in position for the 2nd WC. At this point, I think he is our best option for what I think JD is willing to do. Which is to NOT trade prospects... and NOT take on payroll. Internal candidates are our only option and we don't have anyone ready.

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I can't do it as of yet. I can't write off the Twinkies. They're still the best lineup in Major League Baseball. The main thing I look at to judge that is runs scored, and they're currently winning that category by about +15 runs.

I briefly looked through the Astros thread last night because the Yankees were throttling them. I was surprised to learn that they were disappointed their team didn't try to get Encarnacion. I figured they had all of their holes filled, especially with Alvarez tearing it up and springer due back soon. I was hoping springer would miss our 7 games coming up with the Astros in July, but looks like he'll be back by then to hit leadoff homeruns.

As for the Dodgers, I wouldn't even think about them unless you reach the World Series. Chavez better hold up or we're back to square one. I think he can be a decent starter. I still think we can't stand pat tho, JD has to make an external move or two ( even if it's small) to help the team and encourage them to fight for the wildcard if that is indeed the goal.

Texas Rangers lineup for June 21, 2019 against the Chicago White Sox: starting pitchers are Ariel Jurado for the Rangers and Reynaldo Lopez for the White Sox.
Texas starts a three game set against the White Sox, the final three games in the grueling 21 games in 20 day set that the team is finishing out.
The lineup:
Choo LF
Santana CF
Elvis SS
Mazara RF
Calhoun DH
Cabrera 3B
Odor 2B
Guzman 1B
Federowicz C
Game time is 7:05 p.m.

wbt5845 said:

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Odor bugs me as much as anybody else. That being said, the only things contractually that can be done with him is:

1. DFA him and eat about $40 MM
2. Trade him only after agreeing to pick up perhaps $30 MM of his contract
3. Let him try to play out of it.

Odor has no special pull over anyone in the front office nor is he a favorite of some kind. Those are the ONLY three options short of hiring a hitman on him.

Since the Rangers are building for the future, choice #3 is the only viable choice for right now.

Of course, those who just want to ***** and moan about him will not reply to this factual assessment of the club's options for Odor. They'll just make wild accusations about the front office and some kind of love they have for Odor.

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Option 4 is to bench him.

1 won't happen because the owners are cheapskates. They've showed that the last few years.

2 wont happen because I don't see a team out there who would be excited to acquire him.

3 shouldn't happen because it's highly unlikely he will break out of it at the major league level.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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wbt5845 said:

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Odor bugs me as much as anybody else. That being said, the only things contractually that can be done with him is:

1. DFA him and eat about $40 MM
2. Trade him only after agreeing to pick up perhaps $30 MM of his contract
3. Let him try to play out of it.

Odor has no special pull over anyone in the front office nor is he a favorite of some kind. Those are the ONLY three options short of hiring a hitman on him.

Since the Rangers are building for the future, choice #3 is the only viable choice for right now.

Of course, those who just want to ***** and moan about him will not reply to this factual assessment of the club's options for Odor. They'll just make wild accusations about the front office and some kind of love they have for Odor.

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Option 4 is to bench him.

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That's the equivalent of Option 1

wbt5845 said:

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Grapesoda2525 said:

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wbt5845 said:

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Odor bugs me as much as anybody else. That being said, the only things contractually that can be done with him is:

1. DFA him and eat about $40 MM
2. Trade him only after agreeing to pick up perhaps $30 MM of his contract
3. Let him try to play out of it.

Odor has no special pull over anyone in the front office nor is he a favorite of some kind. Those are the ONLY three options short of hiring a hitman on him.

Since the Rangers are building for the future, choice #3 is the only viable choice for right now.

Of course, those who just want to ***** and moan about him will not reply to this factual assessment of the club's options for Odor. They'll just make wild accusations about the front office and some kind of love they have for Odor.

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Option 4 is to bench him.

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That's the equivalent of Option 1

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Option 5... the dreaded and mysterious injury that lands him on the IL and a "rehab" assignment, which he finds out from the press.

wbt5845 said:

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Grapesoda2525 said:

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wbt5845 said:

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Odor bugs me as much as anybody else. That being said, the only things contractually that can be done with him is:

1. DFA him and eat about $40 MM
2. Trade him only after agreeing to pick up perhaps $30 MM of his contract
3. Let him try to play out of it.

Odor has no special pull over anyone in the front office nor is he a favorite of some kind. Those are the ONLY three options short of hiring a hitman on him.

Since the Rangers are building for the future, choice #3 is the only viable choice for right now.

Of course, those who just want to ***** and moan about him will not reply to this factual assessment of the club's options for Odor. They'll just make wild accusations about the front office and some kind of love they have for Odor.

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Option 4 is to bench him.

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That's the equivalent of Option 1

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Yep. The investment was already made. The money has already been guaranteed. We've seen that he can perform, so either get nothing from the remainder of his contract or hope you get a winning lottery ticket and he pulls out of this.

LOL at MLB. Hothead, multiple offender Machado gets one game, MLB looks and feels stupid, then drops the hammer on Cabrera. Bull***** Torre must have fallen off the wagon

The thing being overlooked by some in Odor debate, is if you have other players who can produce and keep developing, you stop blocking them with Odor. At some point, you just have to eat the contract you gave him to make the team better

DannyDuberstein said:

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LOL at MLB. Hothead, multiple offender Machado gets one game, MLB looks and feels stupid, then drops the hammer on Cabrera. Bull***** Torre must have fallen off the wagon

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Asdrubal Cabrera threw equipment at the umpire. And hit the umpire with the equipment. And did it from the bench after the head coach had come out and was speaking with the umpire.

I know it was harmless batting gloves. Machado probably should have gotten more punishment for his tantrum and tossing a bat. But, of course Cabrera got the hammer.

I'm shocked! An Oakland A's starting pitcher finally got in trouble! I remember when people thought Bartolo with the A's was dirty AF. He had to have been on something, his performance was way too good given his age and his physical condition.

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Oakland A's starter Frankie Montas has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance, sources tell ESPN. This had been a breakout season for Montas, who is 9-2 with 2.70 ERA and 97 Ks vs. just 21 walks in 90 innings.

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This helps the rangers for sure. The rays current struggles and the A's losing their best starter? Even if the Red Sox surge ahead, the #2 spot could be wide open.

It was definitely stupid and deserves something but I don't think he intended it to hit him and it was batting gloves that were tossed. Machado chucked his bat full force. It's a total joke that that got one game and this gets four. Especially since they tried to say Machado bumped the ump.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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I'm shocked! An Oakland A's starting pitcher finally got in trouble! I remember when people thought Bartolo with the A's was dirty AF. He had to have been on something, his performance was way too good given his age and his physical condition.

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Oakland A's starter Frankie Montas has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance, sources tell ESPN. This had been a breakout season for Montas, who is 9-2 with 2.70 ERA and 97 Ks vs. just 21 walks in 90 innings.

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This helps the rangers for sure. The rays current struggles and the A's losing their best starter? Even if the Red Sox surge ahead, the #2 spot could be wide open.

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One of the Yankees / Rays figures to have wc #1 spot. We would be battling Boston for wc #2. And the Indians.

Ranger #007 said:

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It was definitely stupid and deserves something but I don't think he intended it to hit him and it was batting gloves that were tossed. Machado chucked his bat full force. It's a total joke that that got one game and this gets four. Especially since they tried to say Machado bumped the ump.

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Agreed. Tossing batting gloves compared to Machado's actions pale in comparison.

And I say that thinking the umpire statement they released about Machado was an overreaction, but if that gets one game I don't see how you justify four for Cabrera.

KT 90 said:

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One of the Yankees / Rays figures to have wc #1 spot. We would be battling Boston for wc #2. And the Indians.

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Surprisingly, the Yankees are now 4.5 games ahead of Tampa. NYY have won 6 straight and TB has lost 4 straight. I think the Yankees are well on their way to distancing themselves from TB and Boston.

I think the Yankees are vulnerable in a series, because their SP is suspect, but over the remainder of the season, can anyone keep up with them?

DallasAg 94 said:

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KT 90 said:

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One of the Yankees / Rays figures to have wc #1 spot. We would be battling Boston for wc #2. And the Indians.

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Surprisingly, the Yankees are now 4.5 games ahead of Tampa. NYY have won 6 straight and TB has lost 4 straight. I think the Yankees are well on their way to distancing themselves from TB and Boston.

I think the Yankees are vulnerable in a series, because their SP is suspect, but over the remainder of the season, can anyone keep up with them?

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Ok wow. Good call, hadn't really checked the standings lately and thought TB was still pretty close to the Yankees. Maybe I shouldn't be conceding to them just yet

And I think the Yankees will go all in for more pitching. Either by trading prospects, taking on salary, or trading a bat once everyone is healthy and ready to play. Or a combination of the above. They'll go get somebody to fortify the rotation.

KT 90 said:

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DallasAg 94 said:

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KT 90 said:

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One of the Yankees / Rays figures to have wc #1 spot. We would be battling Boston for wc #2. And the Indians.

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Surprisingly, the Yankees are now 4.5 games ahead of Tampa. NYY have won 6 straight and TB has lost 4 straight. I think the Yankees are well on their way to distancing themselves from TB and Boston.

I think the Yankees are vulnerable in a series, because their SP is suspect, but over the remainder of the season, can anyone keep up with them?

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Ok wow. Good call, hadn't really checked the standings lately and thought TB was still pretty close to the Yankees. Maybe I shouldn't be conceding to them just yet

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And what does it do to a player under team control, when it is announced that the team could play 50% of their games in Montreal?

The only thing I would change is more pitch
Ing. You fellas are forgetting what great chemistry this team has and changing it would be a huge mistake.

KT 90 said:

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And I think the Yankees will go all in for more pitching. Either by trading prospects, taking on salary, or trading a bat once everyone is healthy and ready to play. Or a combination of the above. They'll go get somebody to fortify the rotation.

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I agree.

The don't have the SP to be a WC team. They don't have a SP you'd feel comfortable with in a 1-and-Done. I would put Minor up against any SP they have.

Even in a series, putting up Minor against Tanaka in Games 1 & 4.
I'd put Lance Lynn up against Sabathia or Paxton in Games 2 & 5.

505' blast by Mazara

When the Ballpark first opened, there was a large sign on the roof of the porch that said, "Hit it here, win a free suit". I thought I remembered that sign indicating it was 500 ft.

I never thought I'd see a 500' homer in there because I know nobody could hit it to the top of the roof.

Maybe I'm not remembering that sign correctly.