Mar
31
Open Thread: Recapping the season preview
ByOver the last month or so, the three of us have broken down and previewed just about every aspect of the 2010 Yankees. It was quite the undertaking but we’re very pleased about how it all turned out. Here’s a link to each post, in case you missed any or just want to go back and relive the magic…
- March 4th: Will Posada continue to defy age?
- March 5th: Robo-Tex
- March 8th: Will the real Robinson Cano please stand up?
- March 9th: Early Season Alex
- March 10th: Can Jeter keep it up?
- March 11th: Sacrificing offense for defense in left (Brett Gardner & Randy Winn)
- March 12th: Banking on another rebound candidate (Curtis Granderson)
- March 15th: Can Swish do it again?
- March 16th: Designated table-setter (Nick Johnson)
- March 17th: Burnett and Sabathia could be even better in ’10
- March 18th: Strength from the back end (Javy Vazquez & Andy Pettitte)
- March 19th: Whose future is now? (Joba Chamberlain & Phil Hughes)
- March 22nd: Breaking Down Aceves
- March 23rd: Set up for success (Damaso Marte, David Robertson & Chan Ho Park)
- March 24th: Greatness in the 9th
- March 25th: The Four Benchman
- March 26th: Managing when the pieces fit
- March 29th: Help from within (farm system)
- March 30th: The Front Office
- March 31st: Settling into the new digs
You can always just search for 2010 Season Preview in the sidebar to find any and all of those posts. Hope you enjoyed them.
Anyway, here’s the open thread for the evening. The Knicks and suddenly hot Nets (three wins in their last four games!) are both in action, but go ahead and talk about whatever you want. Just don’t be a dick.
197 Comments»
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The Tyler Austin Watch
Just don’t be a dick.
(puts shiv back under mattress)
I miss the days when the shiv made more frequent appearances. You were so edgy back then. I think you are getting soft.(And I don’t mean the large sample)
I’ll change my handle appellation next week.
Here’s a dagger: †
Use it well.
stop showing off.
Ouch! OK, then.
It’s the pleats. It’s the pleats in these pants, they create an optical illusion.
It’s very unflattering, in the crotchal region.
Tommie understands, being a similarly large…hearted fellow.
pete:
I’m sorry you took it that way, it was not intentional. I have been having fun with Tommie and Jose with it. I’ll stop since it bothers you.
oh god no haha didn’t mean it like that. i was referring to your seemingly limitless knowledge of how to make cool symbols and do all the crazy formatting stuff that i can’t figure out. and i was joking haha
Wow. And I was sitting here all red-faced, thinking that one of my favorite RAB commenters was pissed at me!
(wipes brow, offers Pete a slightly chewy Pinstripe Curtis Granderson Cream Ale.)
Feel free to ask for assistance any time!
ehh that stuff is like advanced stats for Lohud’s GreenBeret7 (I know…i have a problem)…I just can’t understand it enough to use it effectively. I wish i knew how to cross stuff out though.
That’s an easy one. You need to use the “strike” tag, like this:
<strike>stuff-to-strike-out</strike>
(Hopefully that doesn’t get replaced.)
The idea is, you surround the text you want to change with the word “strike” in brackets; but you have to “close” it by using the “back slash” key–same key as “?”– just inside the second, or “closing”, “strike “tag.
That’s why everyone uses the back-slash in these:
/Lombardi’d
Does that make sense?
lets-seelet’s seeAIEEEE!!!!
You got it!
(slaps pete on the back)
If you look right below the comment box, there’s a list of HTML tags that are acceptable–though I’ve had trouble with the “q” tag.
<b> is for bold text, <i> italicizes text, like this.
Have fun!
Just a fantasy baseball note, league 6 currently has 1 opening with the draft on Friday, so if anyone is still looking for a team there’s an open spot. I forgot the password but the league id is 490945.
The password is riveraveblues.
Rose didn’t sign up for that spot? I told him to sign up for it last night. It was held there, by me, for him specifically.
You know what? F$%& it. If he gets it, he gets it. If not, it’s nobody’s fault but his.
Would you mind if I took it?
Go for it. Enjoy.
I bent over backwards for him; he didn’t take advantage. Tough luck.
Alright cool, just wanted to run it by you first because you held it for him. Also because you brought the shiv.
Rock out with your Swisher out.
I bent over backwards for him; he didn’t take advantage. Tough luck.
I…rrrg…arrg…nggg…
stops fighting it…
I’d say that was very lucky…for you!
That he didn’t take advantage, you know…
Ah, never mind.
Nothing to see here, folks. Move it along…
heh
If not, it’s nobody’s fault but his.
He just wasn’t trying hard enough. If he dedicates himself to getting that fantasy baseball slot, he will get it.
(sorry Rose. Couldn’t help myself)
Clearly, I’m an evil left-wing socialist and my move to give Rose’s spot to VO is unconstitutional treason.
I’m disgusted with all the bribes, backroom deals, and arm twisting over this fantasy baseball spot. It’s finally been given to someone.
May God help us all…
Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks against this flawed fantasy baseball league.
I think I saw somewhere that he posted a comment about not being able to email you for some reason.
He said because tsjc’s facebook was set to private so he couldn’t get the e-mail address. tsjc told Rose he would delete the team he was holding and let Rose then take it after that. He gave him the league info and password. Nothing after that.
Maybe the socialist conspirators shut off his internet?
Ah, ok, I missed the rest of that stuff. Thanks. That sounds unconstitutional, and all that.
John Boehner has already started investigating me for potential treason charges. Michele Bachmann is building a gallows as we speak, with her bare hands..
That spot should have been reserved for SBGL.
HeThey love fantasy baseball.The bitching over trade proposals and vetoes would be insufferable.
“Cant believe u wont trade me Ian Kins for Josh Beckett. Why wouldnt u accept that deal ????
Kins is an avg 2b not much better than Pedroia but Beckett is true ace whats wrong with that deal ????
Maybe if I did lame movie quotes with u Eric youd accept”
… aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, SCENE!
Way too many correct capital letters.
Should’ve been “wouldn” instead of “wouldnt”.
And each sentence makes sense at first read.
Bo-fake-Fail.
I’m giving up Sheets and Ajax for Webb and Marmol. What do you guys think. It’s a risky on my part but the potential is big. Marmol would be my 3rd closer, that is if his control is good this season.
ah crap, wrong place
will Beckett’s extension put the Red Sox over the luxury tax threshold?
But teh small market!!!!11!
No the luxury threshold will raised to accommodate the Red Sox, and their small market franchise.
I believe the luxury tax is $170 million in 2010. I bet an extension would put them over.
i thought it was $175 million
No it is $170 million. John Henry confirmed that they would end up paying it this year. He said “We’ll be over.”
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....ed/?page=2
just wondering: what does everyone think will happen to Lidge this year?
More 2009, less 2008.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports.....3705_x.htm
I don’t know what will happen with Lidge, but it won’t be pretty.
I don’t know what will happen with Lidge, but it won’t be pretty.
“I don’t know where I’ll be then, Doc,” he said… “but I won’t smell too good, that’s for sure.”
On the heels of the “Is Lester an ace or not” convo from the previous thread:
All pitchers’ best two year stretch:
Felix, 2008-2009: 439.1 IP, 146 ERA+, 10.8 WAR
CC, 2007-2008: 494.0 IP, 148 ERA+, 14.6 WAR
Johan, 2004-2005: 459.2 IP, 168 ERA+, 15.3 WAR (ZOMG!!)
Halladay, 2002-2003: 505.1 IP, 151 ERA+, 15.8 WAR (DOUBLE ZOMG!!!)
Verlander, 2008-2009: 441.0 IP, 112 ERA+, 11.6 WAR (almost all his 2009 season, Verlander’s only true “ace” level campaign so far)
Greinke, 2008-2009: 431.2 IP, 159 ERA+, 14.3 WAR (just like Verlander, but both his 2008 and 2009 seasons were slightly better
Lester, 2008-2009: 413.0 IP, 141 ERA+, 11.3 WAR
He’s a notch below them, but not a big notch. Mainly, it’s because he hasn’t shown workhorse-level innings yet.
IMO, he’s far closer to a #1 than to a #2. Maybe he’s a #1A.
He’s a notch below them, but not a big notch. Mainly, it’s because he hasn’t shown workhorse-level innings yet.
This. I’ll take CC over him because of the innings, but they are both aces. Lester is really terrific.
Felix is an ace right? He had a 3.42 xFIP and 3.05 tERA last year. Lester had 3.13 xFIP and 3.30 tERA last year. I would have no problem with someone calling Lester an ace after his campaign last year.
I don’t know what happened to Lester in April/May last year, but, from June on he was absolutely lights out. But yeah, CC>Lester because he gets an extra few outs per start. Doesn’t sound like much, but it keeps less outs for the pen and adds up over the course of the season.
Curt Schilling is a gigantic asshat, but he was dead on when he said that “The first job of an ace is to pitch lots of innings”.
What’s the second, to put ketchup on your sock?
Meanwhile, Josh Beckett’s best two year stretch ever:
2007-2008: 375.0 IP, 129 ERA+, 11.5 WAR (mainly due to his FIP far outstripping his actual ERA)
Meh. #2. Nothing more.
Some food for thought since Beckett has been with the Red Sox:
2006: 5.23 tERA
2007: 2.84 tERA
2008: 4.17 tERA
2009: 4.20 tERA
One of those is not like the others.
That’s interesting, we should investigate.
Let’s get David “Bloodhound” Ortiz on this.
I’ve been saying it for some time — he’s a well above average pitcher, but with the press he gets, you’d think he was Walter Johnson ca.1913.
One CGSHO in the playoffs goes a long way for your reputation — just ask Jack Morris. (Or sorta Andy Pettitte — Game 5 in 1996 gave him the reputation of “big game pitcher” that he hasn’t relinquished)
During the playoffs, I heard some analyst call Andy Pettitte “the best playoff pitcher I ever saw.” I facepalmed. (Lookit me, bein’ all objective and stuff!)
Girardi on MLBN right now.
it just turned into a glorified DirecTV commercial.
need some advice guys…
should i order mlb extra innings or directv’s eastern sports package, which includes yes, nesn and sny.
mlb extra innings obviously gives me every baseball game but having the yes network all the time would certainly be nice. thanks for the advice
What are the prices?
they’re about the same, the yes network is probably about 5 dollars less a month
I like the MLB extra innings package because I sometimes watch other team games. Then again I have cable so I get YES anyways. If you really only watch the Yankees and don’t mind the announcers you mind as well get the cheaper package.
yea that’s what i was leaning towards, thanks for the help
Hope it’s not too late. I have Directv with their full sports package, but because I live in Boston I also get the MLB Extra Innings package to watch the Yankees. Get both, it’s worth it if you like college sports even a bit – I have to make a spreadsheet to help me decide which football games to watch on Saturdays in the fall.
Anybody else watching the McDonald’s high school all american game?
Also, any St. John’s fans here. Thoughts on the Lavin signing? I’m a fan of it.
I like it. Ironically, I think they lucked out that Hewitt didn’t take the job, I bet Lavin can outrecruit him.
I think Willard at Seton Hall is probably a slightly better hire, though. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pirates outrecruit/outperform the Johnnies.
I agree that Lavin is a better hire than Hewitt. I was happy Hewitt turned the job down.
As for Seton Hall, if they out recruit the Johnnies, that would be a sad day. Although, they would just join every other big east team which has managed to take all the best nyc players right out from under us.
It’d surprise me to see SHU field a competitive team anytime soon. They managed to have players committing off-campus robberies without fielding a good team in the process.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....05591.html
/alumnus
Jose, you still there?
I’m an algorithm built into WordPress, so yes.
Do you know about Adobe’s BrowserLab?
I didn’t, but it seems like a good idea. As long as browsers don’t adhere to all the same specifications something like that is useful. Looking at it, it seems like they should add more for the emerging mobile device market. Rendering is terrible for some websites with those things.
https://browserlab.adobe.com/
It’s in open Beta right now, you can use it for free.
There are some rough edges, and you can’t interact with the pages once they load; but it’s incredibly useful when you’re trying to get a bit of CSS working across browsers and you don’t have several PCs and Macs. If you have JavaScript in the page load, it will run.
Another shortcoming is that your site has to be open to the public, there’s no way to authenticate. They have said they are considering adding this capability.
My favorite feature is the side-by-side feature, along with the Onionskin that lets you overlay one browser over another and selectively change the opacity of the top browser.
What do you think of jQuery?
They really need to add authentication support. That is becoming more and more part of websites especially with the advent of social media.
I don’t have any complaints against jQuery. It is free and open source in addition to supporting Ajax which I like for web products more than I should. I definitely think you need a cheat sheet handy for when you are working with jQuery though.
Just so you know this isn’t my field. It is a side interest. I try to be a Renaissance Man.
I try to be a Renaissance Man.
/DeVito’d
Ah, OK, NM then. I thought maybe you built sites for a living.
It’s one of the things I do, along with Windows programming and I.T. Consulting, so I thought…
I still enjoy talking about it even though I don’t get paid for it. Don’t let that stop you from talking about it. Worst case scenario is I don’t know something about the subject.
OK. Though I don’t wanna go to far. Though this is an open thread, it’s still a Baseball open thread, not an HTML one! So we’ll keep it on the minimal side.
Θκ?
Yeah. I was saying more if you ever come across something cool in the future I would be all ears. Just an elaborate discussion probably wouldn’t be the best.
Gotcha.
Feh, the girlfriend is calling, gotta go eat dinner. Later.
I’m an algorithm built into WordPress, so yes.
http://www.impawards.com/1996/.....rspace.jpg (safe)
“God made him simple, science made him a God. Now he wants revenge.”
This movie sounds too terrible to be real, yet it is.
This movie sounds too terrible to be real, yet it is.
http://www.iwatchstuff.com/200.....-secre.jpg (safe)
Sry if this has been mentioned before, but a thought that I had that’s been giving me nightmares ever since:
The Rays trading for Adrian Gonzalez mid-season. Slot either him or Pena into DH for the rest of the season. They have the prospects to pull the deal off, and A-Gon will make it so that the Rays can take the hit of both Pena and Crawford leaving as FA (giving them 4 compensation draft picks, as I assume they’ll both be type A).
If they’re in it mid way, and their young pitching continues to improve, they could really, really, be frightening.
They have the prospects to pull the deal off,
But they wouldn’t trade the prospects needed to pull it off, though. They’d keep the prospects and just try to win with them.
I dunno. They might be willing to trade one of Brignac/Beckham. And they’re MLB pitching staff is so stocked with young talent that some of their good pitching prospects may be expendable as well. The prospects might not have a place to play.
Their MLB team is young, cheap and good. They can afford to trade away some prospects, and their MLB team will STILL be young, cheap, and good in the future.
Sure, but Brignac/Beckham wouldn’t remotely be enough. Hoyer will ask for David Price, minimum, and that’s when Tampa Bay hangs up.
What makes you so sure that’s the case? They could probably put together a nice package without including Price, such as both Brignac and Beckham.
(Not that I’d include both of them, since I don’t buy Jason Bartlett’s star turn at all)
Of course, after all that, I see the Pads have a 2011 club option on Gonzalez — for $5.5M. I bet he’s staying until July 2011.
That’s the main reason. The Pads aren’t super-motivated sellers who have to get something, so they’ll hold out for an ace in waiting.
They refused to do any deal with the Sox unless they coughed up Buchholz. I’m sure they would have demanded either Hughes or Joba from us. They’d ask for Price from the Rays. Maybe they could be talked down into Wade Davis or Jeremy Hellickson, but they’re not moving Gonzalez to the Rays without getting at least one of those potential future aces, no way.
If the Pads were willing to move Gonzalez for Hellickson, I do it so fast Hoyer’s head spins. He doesn’t have the raw stuff of the other two, he’s more of a command/control type.
(Not that the difference between his stuff and theirs is as stark as Joba/Hughes v. IPK, but it’s a dropoff, no question)
Agreed.
If Hellickson fronted the deal, though, it’d have to be probably Hellickson AND Brignac AND Beckham, and probably one more decent lower prospect (Colome? Sweeney?)
Either at DH would be a waste; they’re both top-notch first basemen, so, by extension, they would overpay for Gonzalez’s ability while only using a portion of it.
Which is ok, since Gonzalez could just be Pena’s replacement at the end of the season.
eh Gonzalez’s bat would stand up against just about anyone’s at DH. You’re not “wasting” him by not having him play defense. Sure you’re not maximizing HIS individual value, but the team wouldn’t suffer anything from it, as it would still have a top-notch defensive 1b, regardless, and two bats that would form a more than capable 1b + DH duo
Well the red sox have released one Papelboner off their team. Too bad they won’t screw up the paper work and accidently release the douchier version.
I always wonder why they didn’t try fraud-style trades . . .
*phone rings in anonymous MLB GMs’ office*
“Hello? Oh, Theo, what’s up man? You’ll trade me J. Papelbon for a few guys in the low minors? You’ll pay the salary? Done!”
My favorite was some player with the last name LeBron in the Indians’ minor league system getting caught with steroids and kicked out
So, to the creators of RAB, how did you guys come up with the name River Avenue Blues?
So how did Phil Hughes look today?
And how grounded is Denard Span?
Just watched the highlights on MLB.com . . . Twins are just swinging through 91-92 mph fastballs.
So how did Phil Hughes look today?
Not Chinese.
And how grounded is Denard Span?
Mom was pissed, but thanks to the recent contract extension, I’m sure he bought her a “I’m sorry” Bentley.
Not Chinese.
STILL? #@&*
DFA plz.
Heh, Keith Olbermann just mentioned Denard Span and said, “Why does this seem familiar?”
Yow! He mentioned how Bob Feller was pitching at Comiskey Park, when he was 20, and the batter fouled off a pitch– and it hit Feller’s Mom.
On Mother’s Day.
This is taking small sample sizes to ridiculous proportions. Via MLBTR
“Talks between the Rangers and Red Sox for Mike Lowell have accelerated, reports ESPN’s Gordon Edes. Perhaps the Rangers’ interest picked up after Lowell hit two doubles today.”
John Daniels: I thought he was old and injury prone, but he hit 2 doubles in a spring training game.
Nolan Ryan: Sonuvabitch! Pull the trigger!
maybe it’s an April Fools joke
(I’m gonna fall for SOOOO MANY jokes tomorrow ugh)
It’ll be your Just Desserts for cheating on Pettitte and Mo in your mind.
http://riveraveblues.com/2010/.....ent-818886
Midget Hands.
I would never cheat on those guys (along with Posada, Teixeira, Jeter, A-Rod, Cano, Swisher, Granderson, etc… my Yankee love is true.)
And yet…there is contrary evidence on the other side of that link, Missy. Just look at the Comment it was responding to.
About a certain young…catcher? For a rival A.L. East team?
I just said I heard beautiful choral music, man!
That happens to me frequently, but it usually involves boobs.
Your own?
(laughs maniacally, finally having gotten TSJC back for that T & A comment weeks ago)
Heh.
B-u-s-t-ed!
(Down, Tommie, not that kind of bust.)
It’s a drag HTML has no way of indicating music notes, to get across the carolling way in which I sang that.
ESPN’s Rumor Central (insider), emphasis mine:
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/features/rumors
RPA? Anyone heard of this? Where’s it found? How’s it calculated? It’s not actually on the ESPN stat pages/player profiles, despite it being the apparent brainchild of an ESPN employee.
I’m intrigued, but want to know more info (who gets charged with the runs? How are inherited baserunners handled, etc.).
Ah, nevermind, found more info (also insider):
http://insider.espn.go.com/blo.....st?id=1384
2009 SAVES LEADERS BY RPA
Joe Nathan- .229
Mariano Rivera- .288
Jonathan Papelbon- .288
David Aardsma- .315
Andrew Bailey- .368
Brian Fuentes- .415
Joakim Soria- .468
Bobby Jenks – .481
Frank Francisco – .529
Fernando Rodney- .534
Interesting, yes. I’d love to see something with linear weights and leverage index per appearance, but this is a nice start.
I don’t put any weight in any stat that has Mariano Rivera anywhere other than miles above every other pitcher.
http://cid-e3a022289d65b5c0.sk.....Hammer.gif (safe)
/kinda-kidding’d
I don’t put any weight in any stat that has Mariano Rivera anywhere other than miles above every other pitcher.
/SBGL’d
it’s too bad this blog just doesn’t like Mariano Rivera!
/that guy’d
rivera’s career MR+ is 91038. Not a typo.
Seriously, though, it does look interesting. Have to keep an eye on that one.
Mo knows we could use a more-accurate way of judging relievers than ERA!
12 appearance | 10 appearances
4 runs | 4 runs
10 innings | 12 innings
.333 RPA | .4 RPA
3.6 ERA | 3 ERA
I assumed there were never any base runners when they came in to pitch. They also never left the game with runners on. That test scenario doesn’t pass the smell test.
The whole thing seems very reactionary to how people are using newer stats. They created a metric calculated in a slightly different way from a traditional metric and are trying to pass it as more useful.
Hey all, three of my friends are doing this charity run from Bostin to Austin this summer. yeah boston to austin its nuts i know, but they really need support from everyone that can. Their running for three different charities. Here is their website if anyone can help in anyway it would be much obliged….
http://2000milerun.com/
On ESPN front page:
Jake Peavy showed Chicago he’s the real deal last year. Now he’s prepared to blow everyone away.
It was 20 innings. Twenty. Didn’t Ian Kennedy do the same in his 1st 3 AL starts?
Mike Lowell hit 2 doubles today and proved he was back. 20 innings seems good enough.
To be fair, when someone with an established track record performs well in a relatively short stretch, it’s a lot more reasonable to feel good about that than when a prospect comes up late in the season and performs well in a short stretch, no?
That.
See also: Marte, Damaso.
Oh I was totally kidding on the Kennedy vs. Peavy side. But there are serious questions about Peavy’s ability to be an ace outside of the NL and specifcally Petco. Those questions weren’t answered in 20 innings.
I was trying to think up dumb reasons people wouldn’t vote for certain HOFers and I couldn’t come up with anything for Maddux other than the generically stupid “my childhood idol didn’t get in unanimously so I refuse to vote for anyone, just cuz I’m a dick.” So I need suggestions.
“Only won one title, thus not as much of a winner as Jack Morris”
you know, thanks to this comment, I just noticed Maddux has a losing record in the playoffs. That’ll be the stupid thing people say. Thank you tsjc.
I know dumb like the back of my hand.
Teh intertubes brings it right to my lap everyday. Some of the infamous commenters here help, too.
that’s a very charitable “some” isn’t it. Four names do not equate to plurality
*isn’t it?
gahh
(takes one big swig from DFA/IPA, hiccups)
Oh, SBGL is (are?) far from the only unrepentant moron(s) here.
Nah, they usually use that one when the player hadn’t won one. They’ll probably point to his 11-14 playoff record and say he choked in the playoffs, ignoring the 3.27 postseason ERA.
he somehow went 0-2 in the 1997 ALCS despite a 1.38 ERA (though 2 ER, 7 R!!!!), WHIP of 1, and K/9 of over 11 (K/BB of 4)
ALCS Game 1:
E: K Lofton (1); F McGriff (1) (all 5 FLA runs unearned)
ATL Team 1 for 5 RISP
ATL Team LOB: 7
—————–
ALCS Game 5:
Livan Hernandez: 9 IP, 2 BB, 3 H, 1 R, 15 K
—————–
Baseball is a cruel, cruel bitch of a game.
didn’t Livan have the most ridiculously huge strike zone ever in this history of the world in that game? Like, I think he struck out the last batter of the game on a pitch that the batter totally had to jump out of the way on because it was gonna hit him or something like that, if I recall correctly
Also, Livan was WS MVP despite a 5.27 WS ERA, a 1.829 WHIP, and more walks than strikeouts. Moises Alou (.321/.387/.714/1.101, 3 HR, 9 RBI) still wants that sh-t back.
didn’t Livan have the most ridiculously huge strike zone ever in this history of the world in that game?
It was bigger than his ass.
IIRC, that pitch was at least half-way into the other batter’s box, but same difference.
Never mind, I think I’m thinking of a different game.
Greg Maddux: Not Chinese
He only has one ring? Low K/9? I’m struggling to find real negatives.
it’s probably the only one ring/”bad playoff record” thing
that said, I’m fully expecting him to get in with well over 95% of the vote, as well he should. He’s a highly-regarded pitcher with no personality issues and multiple Cy Youngs. Reminds me a lot of Tom Seaver who IIRC has the closest-to-uninamous vote ever.
He’s a highly-regarded pitcher with no personality issues…
(white)
basically. Boring white dude who also seems like he could be a professor and/or accountant.
if he and arthur rhodes swapped names, you’d be spot on
*for the professor part that is
See I don’t understand the whole unanimous thing. Technically Gehrig was elected unanimously in a special election. Who cares how much of the vote they get. As long as they get in that is all that matters. Personally I think that the exact percentages should be secret. Difference between a 76% and 100% hall of famer is irrelevant.
Jose, the problem is, you’re looking at it rationally. People who make up their own rules about unanimity and first-ballot-worthiness are not operating from a rational viewpoint.
It’s all about “I have this power, so I’m gonna use it”.
Like when people refused to vote Matsui for ROY, because “he’s not a rookie, he played 10 years in Japan”. I’ll bet the same people voted for Ichiro (aside: where can I look this up?)!
People like this, who make up their own rules, should have their voting privileges rescinded.
Thing is, I can totally understand people who wouldn’t vote for Matsui for ROY… if those same people didn’t vote for Ichiro for ROY. And let’s face it, they probably all did.
(Also, Berroa was a pretty good choice. Really.)
See, here’s the thing, though…I don’t understand people who fatuously declare “I know what’s best for baseball…so I’m making up my own rules, and I’m proud of it”. Work to change the damn rules, then. But take your responsibility seriously enough to go under the rules while you’re working to change them.
And it only gets worse when the same boneheads turn around and break their “rule” to vote for another player…on a different team…perhaps a team they…don’t hate? The way they hate the Yankees? If you’re going to protest, don’t vote for anyone, and be consistent. Don’t change your “rule” as soon as another team has an eligible player.
It’s wrong-headedness, on top of arrogance, served over a lack-of-ethics…with a side of childish I-hate-the-Yankees-they-have-too-much-money.
An altogether undigestable meal.
Several reasons:
1. No beard
2. Relied too much on his fielding
3. Losing record in the playoffs
4. Wore glasses sometimes
5. didn’t have “it”.
and by “his” fielding, i mean, literally, HIS fielding. Somebody will make the claim that he was more of a “defensive player” because of his gold gloves. book it.
another really stupid one that people will use, now that I think about it:
6. some years, lost the Cy Young to pitchers on his own team
he rarely grunted, but often farted. He was like a cow in a small suburban lawn not far from a medium-sized, up-and-coming city. He wasn’t really your classic blow-it-by-you reliever…i mean starter…i mean…what the fuck do i mean?
I understood, even if you didn’t!
So I just fantasy drafted last night, what do you guys think
Roto
16 teams
C Jorge Posada
1B Carlos Pena
2B Ian Stewart
3B Chase Headley
SS Troy Tulowitzki (STEAL at 24)
IF Nick Johnson
LF Jason Kubel
CF Matt Kemp
RF Andre Either
OF Josh Willingham
UTIL Orlando Cabrera
BENCH Chris Young (CF)
BENCH Jeff Clement (C, DH)
BENCH Matt Joyce (RF, my last overall pick)
SP Adam Wainwright
SP Josh Johnson
SP Brett Anderson
SP Wade Davis
SP Randy Wolf
BENCH Derek Holland
BENCH Chris Young (the Padre one)
We are using Holds as a stat as well
RP Andrew Bailey
RP Leo Nunez
RP Evan Meek
RP Sergio Romo
I’m giving up Sheets and Ajax for Webb and Marmol. What do you guys think? It’s risky on my part but the potential is big. Marmol would be my 3rd closer, that is if his control is good this season.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/.....ytimesbats
Nice job by Ben and Cliff. I found I agreed more with Ben than Cliff, but who cares. Both made good cases to back up their point of view.
Lombardi, on the other hand, just made no sense whatsoever. Even when he’s a little bit right, the arguments he makes to back up his positions are just pointless and dead wrong. Ugh.
One goof post and I can’t get that damn name off my computer.
Huh so that was you. Are you the one who also makes goof posts on Francesa and others?
You can always tell because he still links TYU.
In my defense, I have a multiple personality disorder.
I AM Mike Francesa at certain points of the day.
Oh I know but there’s others on RAB that link to TYU if I’m not mistaken.
Yeah, Chris, Matty, and Mo all link back to TYU.
Mo is punishing you.
http://cid-e3a022289d65b5c0.sk.....Hammer.gif (safe)
Feel his wrath!
I deserve it.
?? Of course you do!
Mo is never wrong! How dare you imply…
Oh, forget it. I’m too tired to go anywhere with this.
(yawns a jaw-splitter)
Lombardi, on the other hand, just made no sense whatsoever. Even when he’s a little bit right, the arguments he makes to back up his positions are just pointless and dead wrong.
Yeah well did you see Damon’s BA in games the Yankees lost? (I still am not sure what he was trying to say there)
He comes across as a guy who just watches the games and does zero homework. He’s really just like the way most fans are and always have been. I don’t want to kill him, he’s always been nice to me. But you don’t even get a sense that he’s working from a certain philosophy, it’s all just reactive.
I feel sorta bad; I’m sure he’s a nice guy and I don’t want to kill him (and I’m not trying to bait you into saying anything, I’m just saying my POV and I don’t expect you to respond). But he just seems so endlessly pessimistic and critical to the point where his analysis kinda hurts to read. Add to that all the stuff he said about Crawford and well…
He comes across as a guy who just watches the games and does zero homework.
Mr. Diet Coke says Hi.
I’ve got a post coming on that tomorrow. Common fallacy.
what fallacy?
Also, I really don’t know what he was trying to say there, exactly. Is it that Damon was important to the team and that when he didn’t perform as well the team suffered? Of course, it’s silly to say otherwise. But I mean, look at Teixeira’s W-L splits. Look at A-Rod’s.
Bingo. Look at the splits for all the other starters, which I’ll do in my post. Teams hit better in wins than losses, that is why they win. Without context, those numbers are meaningless.
ah. thankee.
Yeesh, look at Pujols. (he slugged .849 and was on base more than 50% of the time in wins. All you can do is laugh nervously.)
I understand that Johnny Damon’s batting average went down when Roy Halladay was pitching, as well. Therefore, the cause of the loss must have been Damon’s lack of production.
Yeah I was in the bring back Johnny camp. Imagine the Yankee lineup being something like…
Jeter
Johnson
Teix
A-Rod
Cano
Posada
Granderson
Swisher
Damon
Or something like that. The defense in LF would still be bad but that lineup is incredible.
But as TSJC said to me Damon to this offense is icing on the icing. Can’t complain really. Unless you SBGL.
It’s hard to argue any team will win more than 103 games, but I honestly believe this team is much better than last year’s edition. Lineup is a bit down, but defensively and in the rotation it’s significantly improved. Maybe they score a few less runs but I think they’ll suppress far more. Rotation, bullpen and defense are all better heading into this year than they were last year.
But as TSJC said to me Damon to this offense is icing on the icing.
(“It’s like icing on the icing” is a registered wordmark of Pinstripe Brewery and tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Mr. Snarky Irrelevant Non Sequitur Jones a/k/a Ridiculous Upside a/k/a Archimedes Torquemada a/k/a The Large Sample Size, 2010. All rights reserved.)
Quick question-
How do you upload pics from a Blackberry Tour phone to a format I can use on WordPress? I went to the stadium today, took a bunch of pix of the old building, surrounding areas and I want to make a weekend post out of it, but I’ve never uploaded pics from my phone to my computer before.
BTW-Wait till you see what it costs to park near the stadium this year. Oooof.
See if this helps:
http://supportforums.blackberr.....C/m-p/6893
Some of that should apply, even if you don’t have a Pearl.
.JPG is a pretty universal format. Doesn’t your ‘berry support it?
Yes, that will definitely get me started. Thanks!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....view033010
“Kemp won a Gold Glove for his season in center field and Ethier, according to one National League scout, ”Plays right field better than Kemp plays center.””
What? Not even close.
Key phrase: “According to one National League scout.”
According to one former high ranking baseball executive, this girl is sexy: http://tinyurl.com/yfwnfuj (sfw)
Hmmm…would that scout perhaps be “Scout X”??
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn.....ski/100228
Maybe Kemp doesn’t grunt and fart enough:
http://riveraveblues.com/2010/.....nks-24426/