DLD 3-3-33 ... or something
by rubin sierra on Mar 3, 2008 11:34 AM PST
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PrintAlas, the Fanpost editor has stymied all of our top DLD talents. With them on a work stoppage, amateurs like myself step into the void. Alas ...
Bruce Jenkins wrote a column mostly from the Giants' perspective, after the A's 23-5 win on Friday. After attempting to soothe Giants fans' fears by saying they shouldn't give up on Zito yet, he went on to address the general bland-ness of Bay Area managers.
A good way to fall asleep - and I mean completely gone, complete with snoring and drooling - is to listen to Bruce Bochy or Bob Geren, respective managers of the Giants and A's. Don't get me wrong; they're terrific guys. They're just not too lively, and each is presiding over a deathly quiet camp
But boring ain't all bad, Jenkins points out. He asks if you would prefer the camp of Manny Acta's Washington Nationals, whose camp features a guy with an infamous reputation (Elijah Dukes), the sibling of another such infamous guy (Dmitri Young), another guy whose reputation might be headed in that direction (Lastings Milledge) and two guys with all sorts of steroids taint on their reps (Bret Boone and Paul LoDuca). (Characterizations are Jenkins', paraphrased)
The KC Star's Joe Posnanski is no sabermatrician, but he does like to tinker with stats occasionally. In the most two recent entries on his blog, he questions whether teams need a certain number of star players to win, or whether they can cobble together pennants by amassing high quantites of merely above-average players. The funnest part of the column is where he determines who all the star players were in the American League last year.
Boston 8 (Varitek, Youkilis, Pedroia, Lowell, Manny, Ortiz, Beckett, Schilling).
New York 7 (Posada, Cano, Jeter, A-Rod, Matsui, Abreu, Wang).
Cleveland 7 (Martinez, Garko, Peralta, Sizemore, Hafner, Carmona, Sabathia).
Anaheim 6 (Kotchman, Figgins, Anderson, Vlady, Lackey, Escobar)
Detroit 6 (Polanco, Guillen, Granderson, Ordonez, Sheffield, Verlander).
Baltimore 5 (Roberts, Markakis, Tejada, Bedard, Guthrie)
Seattle 4 (Beltre, Ibanez, Suzuki, Guillen).
Minnesota 4 (Mauer, Morneau, Hunter, Santana).
Toronto: 4 (Glaus, Rios, Thomas, Halladay … Burnett just missed).
Tampa Bay 4 (Pena, Crawford, Upton, Kazmir)
Chicago 3 (Thome, Vazquez, Buehrle).
Oakland 2 (Haren, Swisher).
Kansas City 2 (Meche, Bannister)
Texas 1 (Young)
Oh well.
Also, pimping Ray Ratto like I always do: on stadiums selling out their naming rights. The latest is that Wrigley might do so.
Dump away.
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how does michael young make the list
when mark ellis doesn't?
i could make 20 similar comments but i'll start with that one...
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
Posnanski must be honoring the ASG criteria...
apparently the Rangers needed at least one representative here
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
You're upset with the Young?
I have serious qualms with the inclusion of Brian Roberts. (Even Cano is a joke)
No Harden and No Chavez make the A's go, something something...
young 107, ellis 110 ?
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
Except when it's not ...
He mentioned that he allows for some adjustments based on D, base running ... so apparently the four extra stolen bases by Young overcame Ellis' superior OPS+ and exponentially superior D ...
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
Poz has said he's a big Mark Ellis fan in the past
so I'm assuming it was just an oversight on his part.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
oh, right ... Young's a SS ... my bad ...
"It's for your own good. Big strong Devo knows whats best for Poppy" -- Mossback
I love your new avatar
Rubin. Classic.
by Tyler Bleszinski on Mar 3, 2008 12:04 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
moreover
you can also be Ruben Sierra, at the same time
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
Find the last hominy
in the world's largest bowl of Menudo?
Winner of the 2008 "find grover a new sig" contest.
Let's hope it's not the Boston Tea-bag Party
"Evidently, a large number of people said, 'We really need more vermin at the ballpark, Artie.'" - Nick, 10/7/07
Closest guess.
It's actually the sponsored dunking into the world’s biggest cup of tea at the annual "Father Ted" festival on Craggy Island (Inis Mor).
by green star oakland on Mar 3, 2008 8:12 PM PST up reply actions
heh
yeah...kinda sorta
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
BTW, clockwerks and I
have been trading emails about the fAnpOSt composition process, and he has some very helpful fixes and suggestions about posting for folks like me who developed techniques based on the old editor, which was sort of a hybrid. I look forward to trying some of this stuff out again sometime soon, though probably not this week.
Oh, a link, eh? Um, errr, OK...polls are meaningless. Still fun, though.
There is an A in Whimsy.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Mar 3, 2008 12:19 PM PST reply actions
Your link reminds me of
this link I got a kick out of: Marc Stein takes ultimate risk in moving Lakers from Fourth to Third in his NBA Power Rankings
Brainless Automaton #439
by rubin sierra on Mar 3, 2008 12:32 PM PST up reply actions
Browsing the Onion's sports archives...
I found this one hilarious...it's old, but great:
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
uh
whatever, here's the URL:
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/49761
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
SuSlu's Chronicle notes
about the A's participation in a charity event are funny.
Lenny DiNardo, who is known in the A's clubhouse for his chiseled upper body, was induced to do shirtless bare-knuckle pushups on the stage, and he earned $1,300 in tips."I've never seen his pecs look so big," Brown said with a grin. "The chicks were going crazy."
"I can't dance, but I can do pushups," DiNardo said. "The women at my table came up with it, and it was for a good cause. It's not like I wore a bowtie or anything."
DiNardo isn't shy, anyway. He's prone to conducting shirtless TV interviews, earning him clubhouse comparisons to oft-bare-chested actor Matthew McConaughey and prompting Mike Sweeney to give him a nickname that is a more titillating version of "Pecs DiNardo."
Andrew Brown did a retro dance-off with some 10 year olds.
"Don't be an ass!" --Bill King
thank goodness he didn't wear a bowtie
PaulThomas would have called him a fop.
I wasn't thinking about anything. I'll have to try to do that more often. @('.')@
Which one, Brown or DiNardo?
Actually, scratch that. Anyone who wears a bowtie gets called a fop in my book.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
Dump time
Don Banks think the Niners are the new Redskins. Ouch.
Also, it turns out that Daylight Savings Time is a joke. In other news, extensive research shows that the sun rises in the east every morning.
"Evidently, a large number of people said, 'We really need more vermin at the ballpark, Artie.'" - Nick, 10/7/07
My dad had a friend
who grew up in California. He moved to Maryland, and took his date to the beach to watch the sunset...
The A's colors are green and gold.
I hope he was able to convince her to stick around until sunrise...
"Evidently, a large number of people said, 'We really need more vermin at the ballpark, Artie.'" - Nick, 10/7/07
This is just the kind of crisis
that could push you over 20,000 within the next 10 minutes or so!
Brainless Automaton #439
But then, it also sounds like the kind of crisis
That could push you back under 10,000 comments. Maybe you need to build a fortress around the comments you have so far.
Brainless Automaton #439
crosby hurt already
News: Athletics shortstop Bobby Crosby was dropped from the starting lineup for Monday's exhibition game against the Angels due to back spasms. Crosby, who missed the final two months of 2006 with a fractured vertebrae in his back, was working out with the team in the morning when he started experiencing tightness. "His upper back spasmed up a little bit while he was taking grounders," said manager Bob Geren, who spoke with assistant GM David Forst for nearly 10 minutes before talking to reporters. "He's OK. It's no big deal."
President of the Joey Devine fan club as of 1/15/08. Accepting applications for other positions. "He has no equivalent." -Paul DePodesta on Jeremy Brown
i made a fanpost
about this...sorry for the double post
President of the Joey Devine fan club as of 1/15/08. Accepting applications for other positions. "He has no equivalent." -Paul DePodesta on Jeremy Brown
How'd I fail to put this in the initial DLD?
we can surmise one thing about the Oakland Athletics general manager/part owner/Moneyball protagonist. He would last about four hours as an NFL general manager. Tops.
Brainless Automaton #439
Not even fucking close
"It's just that the principles espoused in Moneyball don't really work in an economy where everyone spends like its Oscar Night in Hollywood every year. "
Because the Dan Snyder method is clearly successful. LaVar Arrington and Mark Brunell, just to name two, sure elevated that team into the ranks of mediocrity. And I'm sure this year's biggest spenders so far, the Jets, will take advantage of the acquistions of all these overpaid linemen ($42 mill for Calvin Pace?) to vault themselves into contetion for the title of Most Average Team in the AFC. And New England didn't begin their dynasty by drafting really well and signing a bunch of old linebackers (Brian Cox & Roman Phifer in FA to add to what they already had in Bruschi, Ted Johnson, etc) to short, cheap contracts. And the Eagles didn't make it to four straight NFC Championships by emphasizing locking up in-house talent long-term, avoiding free agency bidding wars, and drafting wisely. And cutting ties with good players too early rather than too late (like in the draft where they befuddled all the wannabe Mel Kipers out there by drafting Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown when they already had a veteran Pro Bowl-caliber starting CB tandem in Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor...well, it turned out that that tandem wasn't long for the team. And as a fan of the team who signed Vincent upon his release (Bills), I can attest that they let him go at JUST the right time). Whenever friends would ask me to identify the NFL team that operated most like the A's, I'd always point to the Eagles. Then they started deviating from their philosophy a little bit by acquiring Owens and Kearse...Samuel this year...they're still perennial contenders, but they were better off when they were operating like the A's.
To top it all off, dude cites Bill Polian (casually, mind you, but still) as the anti-BB. The same Bill Polian who was the architect of the early 90's Bills teams, beloved by yours truly, which were built primarily THROUGH THE DRAFT (did free agency in the NFL even exist yet? Hmm...). Thurman Thomas in the second round, Bruce Smith 1st overall, Jim Kelly in the most famous draft, in any sport, of all time, Andre Reed out of Kutztown State...now he's overseeing the second-most successful franchise in the NFL over the past 7-8 years, and he made a big splash in free agency...when, exactly? Manning, Addai, Harrison, Wayne, Clark, unheralded O-line, Freeney, Keiaho, whichever LB I'm omitting, Sanders--EVERY SINGLE ONE of their best players was acquired through the draft. How about the next most talented team in the league, the Chargers? Rivers, LT, Gates (great find there), starting WRs (one of whom was traded for, but not acquired in FA), Merriman, Phillips, J Williams, Castillo, all 3 #1-caliber CBs--draft picks.
And when Ron Wolf was GM of the Packers and widely regarded as one of the top GMs in the league, what was he primarily known for? Being practically the only guy who actually made trades in the NFL.
So yeah, as usual, Ratto, aka Brainless Automaton #1, is spot on. How did he land this national gig, anyway?
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
oh yeah, one more thing
Thanks to revenue-sharing, the NFL doesn't exactly have any teams that would equate to "small-market" in the MLB, but of the teams that are, say, most likely to relocate to Los Angeles, the Colts and Chargers would likely be numbers one and two, maybe not in that order. The Pats almost moved to Hartford, of all places. Sure, now they're thriving in Foxboro and even beginning work on a Lew Wolff-dream project, developing the surrounding property with a mall and whatnot surrounding the stadium, but that wasn't the case when Roman Phifer was the key signing in free agency.
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
one too many surroundings
...in the vicinity of the stadium...
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
one mistake
Just remembered that LaVar was a top draft pick of the 'Skins (the year they had two of the top three...Samuels turned out to be a good player...LaVar's college teammate Courtney Brown was a bust), not a free agent as I implied. He was, however, the sort of bound-to-be-overpaid, high-profile, big-name underachiever that they would pursue in free agency.
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
ratto: still a complete f*cking moron
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
Ah, perspective
Some ballplayers just, uh, lack it.
In other news, the cattle fat-derived, nanotechnology-assisted, biodegradable motor oil you've been looking for is finally here.
Not good enough
I require my automotive lubricants to be not only petroleum-free, but also vegan.
There is an A in Whimsy.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Mar 3, 2008 2:49 PM PST up reply actions
If threatened, they'll practice Extraordinary Renderition
Just so long as the trains run on time.
It does not sound like a recipe for a functioning democracy, because it isn't. The mayor has held power for 34 years. Contested elections are almost unknown. The last was in 2006, when three outsiders moved into a house just before the deadline and petitioned to stand for city offices. Their electricity was abruptly cut off and their home declared unfit for habitation. The outsiders got ten votes out of 68 cast. That was a surprise: they had expected just eight. Bill Schneider of the Chamber of Commerce says the shenanigans during the election worried him—because of the risk that another regime might take over. "What outsiders miss is that the damn place works well," says Lonnie Kane, who runs a clothing firm with his wife, Karen.
There is an A in Whimsy.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Mar 3, 2008 3:13 PM PST up reply actions
It's like
Lew Wolff's wet dream:
What most strikes business owners is the efficiency of the place. Ben Swett of Windowbox.com, a gardening-supply company, says Vernon's bureaucrats spend just days, or even hours, on a permit application that would take months in the city of Los Angeles.
"Tomorrow it may rain." - Leo Durocher
I bet *they* wouldn't stand in the way of a cure for cancer
There is an A in Whimsy.
by FreeSeatUpgrade on Mar 3, 2008 3:58 PM PST up reply actions
what if a group of outsiders moved in and found the cure?
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
I feel like I've read about this somewhere before
Probably from something written by Mike Davis... City of Quartz, maybe?
Kind of an object lesson in the utility of borders to the people that control them... let through what you want to let through, keep out what you want to keep out, and turn a profit on the gradient between the two.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
no one from my area needs to be told this
Smelly, noisy businesses sustain a wider range of jobs than the cafés and cultural centres that most cities try so hard to lure.
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
what a jaded list of "stars"
Meche and Bannister for the Royals....oh yeah, Super Stars!
I think the definition of a star includes both talent and notoriety, but either way its ridiculous to correlate good teams with star-power. For one, good teams will get more exposure and their above average players will be more likely to win awards like MVP etc, garnering notoriety and becoming "stars."
Secondly, its no secret that you need good players to win games. Isn't it shocking that the teams with the most players that are regarded as well-above average players win the most, wowee!
Hmmm...
You're writing here instead of responding to a comment on your blog?
SO THAT'S HOW IT'S GOING TO BE?!?
WHATEVER!
I am
SO ripping that pic off to use on my friends
Ooo! Piece of candy!
by ChickenStanley on Mar 3, 2008 8:55 PM PST up reply actions
{googles "life before Google"}
I wasn't thinking about anything. I'll have to try to do that more often. @('.')@
LOLsabertoothtigers.com
I wasn't thinking about anything. I'll have to try to do that more often. @('.')@
The Washington Post chimed in
In the beginning -- before Google -- a darkness was upon the land. We stumbled around in libraries. We lifted from the World Book Encyclopedia.
LIBRARIES? Say what?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
More rumblings that the A's are on the lookout for a center fielder: According to a major-league source, Oakland recently inquired about the Dodgers' Juan Pierre.
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
so that's the player the Dodgers haven't been willing...
to part with in the Blanton deal
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
Huh?
This is like George Halas-- if he was still coaching the Bears-- inquiring about Chad Johnson in trade.
Only way that makes sense is as a pure salary dump for the Dodgers.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
Deeeeep breaths.
Good lord, this is worse than the Erstad rumors of last year.
Unless the Dodgers take a large, large portion of his salary, I can't see it happening. Chavy-Pierre doesn't work for me, either, since Chavez is the A's best option at third base for the next few seasons (barring a move), and Pierre would just add to the OF logjam.
Formerly known as hward86.
by BWH on Mar 4, 2008 8:53 AM PST up reply actions
noah lowry
They say baseball's most meaningless numbers appear in spring training, but there's no dismissing Lowry's line: one-plus innings, four runs, nine walks, two wild pitches, three more pitches off the screen (two of them rocketed right back to home plate, preventing baserunners from advancing, or it would have been four wild pitches). That's not mere wildness. That is a set of pitching mechanics in complete breakdown.
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
oops
He raised a few red flags in his first start against the Cubs on Thursday, walking three batters in 11/3 innings, hitting another and hurling two runaway fastballs off the protective screen, but that was nothing compared with Monday.
Lowry didn't give up a hit, but then again, the Rangers didn't have to swing the bat. They batted around in the first inning, and they did so without getting an official at-bat
Lowry threw 50 pitches in all, with 12 strikes
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
Wow
That's not just wild. That's Ankiel-esque.
Perhaps Lowry can solve the Giants' position-player depth issues by converting to outfielder.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
Looks like Zito's K/BB will be overshadowed...
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
Here's a weird stat
We know the A's were working off a short bench for a lot of last year, but A's pinch hitters posted the 12th worst OPS in recorded history last season.
The kicker? It was better than the 2006 mark.
Hopefully with lefty-killers Emil Brown, Mike Sweeney and Donnie Murphy hanging around this year, they can better that mark...
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
so
deciding between letting Kendall bat in the late innings of a close game or using a pinch hitter was about as great of a lose-lose scenario as there ever has been in the history of major league baseball. And I intend no hyperbole there.
To reach here
gliding into old age
the decades gone
without ever meeting one person
truly evil
without ever meeting one person
truly exceptional
without ever meeting one person
truly good
gliding into old age
the decades gone
the mornings are the worst.
by Cutthemullet on Mar 5, 2008 12:46 AM PST up reply actions
To be sure,
because pinch hitters tend to be a. worse than starters, and b. not warmed up properly, it's usually a lose-lose scenario (except when hitting for an NL pitcher).
That said, even by pinch-hitter standards, the A's pinch-hitters were godawful last year.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
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