DLD 3/13/07 Ides of March Wait Nearly Finished

by mikeA on Mar 13, 2007 9:46 AM PDT Comment 46 comments

Tonight is the first (locally) televised game of the spring, so you can finally put away your winter knitting. I'd say the game is probably more significant than the NCAA play-in game. If you don't believe me that the game is on tv, here is a boring link.

Ok, my professor just asked an 80-person class how many people have played Warcraft, and no one raised their hand. Liars.

Moving on, some Chron. headline writer titled SuSlu's Crosby-returns-and-looks-good article Crosby Gets Crackin' in Hitting Session. I suspect that headline writer does not follow the A's. Geren claimed that he was "letting it go from the first swing." Also, he was beaned in the back and fouled a ball off his foot. But our favorite iron man was undeterred:

"Everything went right. I feel good," Crosby said. "My timing is better than I expected."

All right, I think I got some good mileage out of that link.

Youtube is being sued for $1 billion. They will settle in a a year or so, and start filtering content from TV, so enjoy it while it lasts. No word on whether Dan Johnson is a party to the lawsuit.

Kids pretend fun zone: Imagine your own "start dumping" type finale.

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I think Volvo should sue YouTube

for letting Nate n Al (or whatever their names were) exploit their fine vehicle by ghostriding it to keep the A's in Oaktown.

"robots with way too much intelligence, this chick, a healthy Eric Gagne..." ~cutthemullet

by LAXile on Mar 13, 2007 9:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

What? What do you mean?

I've never heard of that. I sure wish someone would post a diary about it...

"Everyone knows about it, but nobody's heard of it. Oh, it exists." ~ Dan Johnson

by Poppy on Mar 13, 2007 12:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did you hear we signed......

Oh never mind.

by theblackpearl on Mar 13, 2007 12:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

CROZ

"Crosby said he felt like he had a month's worth of action in his 10 at-bats against minor-leaguer Jeff Gray: He was hit in the back with a curveball; he had to dive out of the way of another pitch; he fouled a ball off his foot; and he hit the bill of Gray's cap on one of his hits."

There's just no way he plays 120+ games. He's got the VOODOO.

by Colorado Fan on Mar 13, 2007 9:51 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

At least he gave as good as he got.

And connected with one. That's new.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Mar 13, 2007 10:28 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just... wow

"We are a complete freak show." -- Billy Beane

by day-to-day on Mar 13, 2007 11:42 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Obiviously

All the Warcraft kids we're skipping class.

"I'd like to reference a brilliant post from Left Coast Lumber today" - notsellingjeans

by methodrampage on Mar 13, 2007 9:58 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Viacom are idiots.

If not for YouTube, Stephen Colbert wouldn't be nearly as huge as he is at the moment.

In fact, when Viacom demanded YouTube take down all Comedy Central programming, CC went ahead and made it available for free on their own site, because they 'get it' that free samples of a great product are great publicity.

Google should just buy Viacom and be done with it.

"Kotsay is 31... Kotsay's back is 127." - Jeepers

by Ozzz on Mar 13, 2007 10:30 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

No kidding.

Here's Neva Chonin's take on that.

by sslinger on Mar 13, 2007 10:37 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

OH MY GOD!!

Baseball on TV tonight!! AH!! And I didn't set the TiVo! GAH!

Live baseball, on TV!! I think I may cry!

The Giants Website says the game will be on FSN! Woo!!

"We don't rebuild in Oakland, man," Swisher cackles. "We re-load."

by BobbyCrosbysGirl on Mar 13, 2007 10:51 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh boy

thanks for the heads up, I'll be watching this one tonight.

"[Frank's] a big battler. He's the mother of battleships."

-Nick Swisher

by kaweahkaweah on Mar 13, 2007 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with Rotoworld about Komine.

I said it in the game thread yesterday as well, but it's far too early to send him down, with how poorly Kennedy is pitching. Komine, Windsor, and Halsey should still all be in consideration for that spot, even if Kennedy remains the de facto leader.

"Look its either batman or batman and robin not robin w/o batman robin isn't sh@#."--cchefz71

by jeepers on Mar 13, 2007 10:53 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

So any chance

that this game will be on a station I can find all the way in Colorado? I would go crazy with joy.

Question: Why in the world do Danny and Noah ALWAYS pitch against each other? Is it destiny or something?

Another question: I saw Nebraska's diary, but does anyone else have pics from the video game challenge?

I like life. It's something to do.

by Squeaky on Mar 13, 2007 11:10 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Colorado

I have Direct TV w/ the "Sports Pack", and I receive FSN Bay Area - Channel 654 (I believe). It costs about $10/month.

You can probably call Comcast, Dish Network, or Direct TV to subscribe to "Sports Pack", then cancel the next day. I believe they pro-rate.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/packPr...

by Colorado Fan on Mar 13, 2007 11:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Judging from your comment

Ok, my professor just asked an 80-person class how many people have played Warcraft, and no one raised their hand. Liars.

I'd say that the reason no one raised their hands was because they wern't paying attention... because they were playing WoW in class...

by Zonis on Mar 13, 2007 11:30 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Some A's content on ESPN.com

Health of Harden, Crosby critical to A's success. Gee, no shit.

A's Spring Training stats! Finally, it's somewhere.

ESPN.com = Men cops.

by Philip Christy on Mar 13, 2007 11:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Mario Ramos is still alive?

by Zonis on Mar 13, 2007 12:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lotsa Neyer H8:

Neyer AL West interview. He picks Texas, LAAA, Oak, Sea, which is reasonable enough. Texas is not "booked" yet though.

Reaction:
HH. Diarist/notable pundit Matt Welch is a smart guy. Not sure why he posts over there...

LL. Neyer's assertion that Michael Young is the best player in the division is pretty silly, but Jeff's list of players who are better (including Crosby, Jose Lopez, Maicer Izturis, and "possibly" Kotsay) is sillier yet.

by mikeA on Mar 13, 2007 11:55 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

a silly list

but michael young is the most overrated player in the AL West.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Mar 13, 2007 12:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i wrote that before i clicked the link

"Dave mentioned this a few days ago, but Michael Young is a pretty good choice for being the most overrated player in baseball. You might say that Derek Jeter deserves the title, but where they're both horribly godawful defensive shortstops, at least Jeter can hit; Young's coming off a .268 EqA, while Jeter was at .309 last season. Young's a career .276/.317/.413 hitter away from Ameriquest..."

i think he just convinced me, all of baseball not just AL West.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Mar 13, 2007 12:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Damn

Do all Halo's Heaven users just take all the negativity in their lives and aim it at anyone who says anything slightly negative about the Angels? Those guys talk a lot of shit. What the hell is wrong with them? They really hate Rob Neyer. While he's often wrong, I appreciate what he's trying to do.

by Philip Christy on Mar 13, 2007 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

moths:lamp::jackasses:Rev Halofan

by mikeA on Mar 13, 2007 12:20 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

well

mattwelch makes a good point about napoli and kotchmann. certainly napoli is better than average, i'm just amazed the angels realize this since he hit like .230 last year.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Mar 13, 2007 12:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You underestimate

just how bad Mike Young is at playing shortstop. It almost completely kills whatever positive value he might actually have.

And I wasn't kidding about that list. Given a choice, I would think long and hard about taking each and every one of those players over Young.

Lookout Landing

by JeffS on Mar 13, 2007 12:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

GMJ and mark kotsay?

dude. mark kotsay.

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Mar 13, 2007 12:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, GMJ and Mark Kotsay.

They're both kind of on the fence (Kotsay moreso), but they approximate what I believe to be Young's true offensive ability, and they play decent to good defense at an important position, while Young costs his team 10-15 runs a season at his.

Lookout Landing

by JeffS on Mar 13, 2007 12:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Could be

I don't have a great sense of his fielding, or how to weigh that against his offense. Interesting note: his #2 comp at age 29 is Jose Vidro. And all the other comps kinda suck, without looking at defense. Maybe you're right...

by mikeA on Mar 13, 2007 12:32 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

So....

Instead of complaining that you have a shitty hitter as DH, you should say "well, he's as good as Michael Young, and he's not costing us any runs on D! And Fruto has a funny name!"

by mikeA on Mar 13, 2007 12:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Young to 2B

Young may be a horrible defensive SS but he's defense wouldn't be noticed as much if was allowed to stay at 2B. I think Young's value would increase a lot with a move back to the 2 bag.

"I'd like to reference a brilliant post from Left Coast Lumber today" - notsellingjeans

by methodrampage on Mar 13, 2007 2:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He doesn't look all that bad

Last season his ZR and OOZ rate were actually pretty good, and while he's been bad to mediocre in seasons past, I'm not sure your characterization of his defence isn't too harsh. He strikes me as an all around mediocre player. That makes it a very bad contract, and it makes him a very overrated player, but there's a difference between overrated and below average.

by MrIncognito on Mar 13, 2007 4:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, sort of.

Derek Jeter is a guy who's both overrated and very good.

Mike Young, however, is overrated and positively mediocre. He's maybe 10-15 runs above average at the plate, but his defense is about - 10, and that's being nice. Play-by-play metrics consistently rank him at or near the bottom for his position on an annual basis. At short, he really is a problem.

Lookout Landing

by JeffS on Mar 13, 2007 7:24 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Holy crap, I didn't hear about this

The Warriors end the Mavericks' 17-game win streak. Really? The Golden State Warriors? That's just wonderful.

by Philip Christy on Mar 13, 2007 12:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Golden State Warriors:

A worst nostril agreed
A world agent resistor
Adore resistant growl
Rosette arrow sling ad

by Philip Christy on Mar 13, 2007 12:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

4 straight wins vs. Dallas

by mikeA on Mar 13, 2007 12:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That game was fun to watch.

"Everyone knows about it, but nobody's heard of it. Oh, it exists." ~ Dan Johnson

by Poppy on Mar 13, 2007 12:57 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Warcraft

By asking who had played "Warcraft" they probably thought he meant the original RTS Warcraft and not the now everywhere World of Warcraft game.

by apilgrim on Mar 13, 2007 12:36 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't know anything about Warcraft

except that everyone in my freshman dorm played it in 2001.

by mikeA on Mar 13, 2007 12:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

dboysick writes about

Jerry Crasnick writing about our boys

link

"San Jose A's of Fremont" is unseemly

by ArakSOT on Mar 13, 2007 1:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Here's a related article

http://www.athleticsnation.com/comme...

by Philip Christy on Mar 13, 2007 1:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ryan Goleski thought

Perhaps part of Goleski's struggles is that his wrist is still bothering him? If that is the case, the A's have an excuse to keep him and put him on the DL to start the season. Since he has a bad chance of making the team anyways, its worth a shot right?

by Zonis on Mar 13, 2007 2:06 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Ryan, your not hitting because your wrist hurts

right.

No Coach my wrist is just fine

CROSBY!!! POP UP DRILLS WITH THE LEFT FIELDER!!!!!

Goleski to 60 Day DL, undetermined injuries.

by theblackpearl on Mar 13, 2007 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

lol

"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King

by batgirl on Mar 13, 2007 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Must-see-TV

link

Call it the metaphysician's take on MoneyBall. Both astrology and baseball are statistical and mathematical disciplines. But no one has ever before applied the power of astrological analysis to baseball statistics in an effort to gain that added analytical edge.
When picking players for Fantasy drafts, every statistic for each player is analyzed by every fan website with the exception of one: The players zodiac chart. Simply using a player's birthdate, Reverend Halofan can make eerily accurate predictions on how a player will perform in the upcoming season, as well as the likelihood of injuries and slumps.

Emphasis mine.

Stat Wonk Futurist

by salb918 on Mar 13, 2007 8:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

so the rev is miss cleo?

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Mar 13, 2007 9:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs