Wednesday June 25th DLD, "The Day the DFA Died"?
First off, since people are complaining about the AN ads:
If you're using Firefox (and, honestly, if you're not you should be) you need two plugins.
Adblock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10
It blocks ads. Lots of them. Which is nice.
Customize Google: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/743
It cleans up the Google interface, mostly targeted towards the search results screen.
These'll fix your "seeing boobies" problem. Which must be hard for you.
Also, while we're on the subject, my absolute favorite Firefox add-on is here (no longer in production, but works for now): http://mozilla.code65536.com/sdag/
Second, as much as I do love me some "DFA Brown" posts, our "friend" Emil is absolutely raking over his last two starts. I know what they say about sample size, but I refuse to believe that this is not a guy who can continue to go 3/5 with 2BB, 1HR, and 5RBI every two games. There is absolutely no reason to believe he's really a platoon player with no power. (Vs. Lefties: .308/.341/.359, which makes for a super-sexy .700 OPS).
What the hell, let him have his roster spot until he goes 0-fer again. He does, after all, still have the most RBIs on the team.
While we're on the baseball subject, maybe the next trade rumor should be Jimmy Rollins. I assume he'd be interested.
Also, Zook 0, Victorino 1 which is about the only negative from last night.
Finally, because I can't resist: Resisted
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comments
Comments
at the risk of taking you at your word, that's crazy talk
(regarding our buddy Emil)
I know what they say about sample size, but I refuse to believe that this is not a guy who can continue to go 3/5 with 2BB, 1HR, and 5RBI every two games.
Let’s see. Assuming he goes 0-fer on the other night he plays, that’s a season line of batting .300 with 162 BB, 81 HR and 405 RBI.
by rebus on Jun 25, 2008 8:01 AM PDT 0 recs
There is NO room on this team
For someone who can only hit 81 HR a year.
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 9:01 AM PDT
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I'd be happy if the team hit 81HR's this year
The Stockton Ports pitching staff is better than the Orioles.
by gdub171 on
Jun 25, 2008 10:09 AM PDT
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Hell is settle for 18 HR's apiece
from Suzuki, Ellis, and Crosby
by A'sfaninNC on
Jun 25, 2008 11:07 AM PDT
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So, what does your fave add-on do, exactly?
Also, “landslide” timed-out for me. For others?
Firefox rocks. Agree with your assessment.
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on Jun 25, 2008 8:05 AM PDT 0 recs
It worked for me, but I suggest nevermoor take it out of his DLD. Too political.
by theblackpearl on
Jun 25, 2008 8:57 AM PDT
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Super Drag and Go
If you drag a link (not to anywhere, but just click/drag/release) it opens in a new tab in the background.
Say you open AN and start browsing through, you just drag and release every Post/FanPost/etc. of interest and when you’re done finding them they’re loaded in the background.
I find myself going nuts when I use other people’s computers and can’t browse through sites that way.
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 9:06 AM PDT
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Is it really so much harder to just do
right-click then “open in new tab”?
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on
Jun 25, 2008 1:40 PM PDT
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the new link dialog box has a specific "open in new window?" checkbox
Personally, I think the default should be “yes” (with the option to not).
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 1:43 PM PDT
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Boo
Usually I want links to open in a new tab, and I do that by middle-clicking. But I find it annoying when links spawn new windows (or tabs) without my having asked for it.
"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.
by andeux on
Jun 25, 2008 1:55 PM PDT
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itchy trigger finger?
A mouseover will show whether it’ll spawn.
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 2:04 PM PDT
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100% agree with Andeux
Except for me it’s right-click, not middle-click.
I hate unrequested new windows.
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on
Jun 25, 2008 2:07 PM PDT
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do y'all have single-click-linking right/middle buttons?
When I right-click on links, in order to actually open (whether in a new window, tab, or otherwise) I have to select the option off the right-click pulldown menu.
Auto-spawn = less work
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 2:09 PM PDT
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Drag and Go is the least work
Which is why I like it. No using the right click menu isn’t super hard, but it certainly takes longer than just dragging the link an inch down.
All I can really say is try it and see if you like it. I guarantee it’s worth every penny.
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 2:13 PM PDT
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For me
left click = open
middle click = open in new tab
right click = brings up menu including choices of new window or new tab
auto-spawn = less choice
"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.
by andeux on
Jun 25, 2008 2:20 PM PDT
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pro-spawn vs pro-choice?
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 2:36 PM PDT
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I'm pro-Spahn
but I was always a big Warren fan…
Florida ain't no place for a self-respecting A's fan.
by Leopold Bloom on
Jun 25, 2008 2:39 PM PDT
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Two buttons on my mouse
both at home and at work.
When I say right-click, yes, I mean the pulldown menu. But “open in new tab” is second on the list, so it’s just a tiny little drag. Less than the one inch nevermoor describes.
I’m not trying to convert anyone to my way, just answering the question.
More generally, I’ve never been one of those speed freaks who wants to save every microsecond of productivity. Even if the computer were instantaneous in everything, I’d still take a few seconds to look out the window, or a few minutes to get up and walk around.
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on
Jun 25, 2008 4:48 PM PDT
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Does a chord-click do anything?
Can’t you can emulate a middle-click by clicking both left and right buttons at the same time?
by calgbear on
Jun 25, 2008 6:21 PM PDT
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At home on the Mac now
Your “chord-click” behaves the same as right-click. If I remember, I’ll try it at work tomorrow. (Mostly just out of curiosity, I’ve never had any desire to emulate a middle-click….)
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on
Jun 25, 2008 10:16 PM PDT
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Weird.
For links that navigate to a different area within the same site, sure – if I’m paging through the Washington Post or something, I don’t want a zillion tabs opening all over the place. But those sorts of links are never set to auto-open new tabs, so it’s really a non-issue.
But links that propel you to a different site? If you’re choosing the “open in new tab” option most of the time, why wouldn’t you want that to be the default behavior? It seems counterintuitive (and illogical) to prefer the default to be the thing you don’t usually do. If it happens to be one of those (exceedingly infrequent, for me) times that you didn’t want the new tab, just close the tab you’re in, and all is well.
In any event, the add-on allows you to differentiate: To open with normal behavior, just click the link. To open in a new tab, drag and drop the link. Plus the drag/drop search function is mildly useful.
by 74mk on
Jun 25, 2008 2:20 PM PDT
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See, I'm just the opposite
When I go to, e.g. sfgate or AN, I tend to read through the index page, middle clicking on articles or diaries in which I am interested, and then read those articles, closing the new tabs as I go. But if I’m reading on article with just a single interesting link to some other site, I tend to finish the original article and then (left) click through to the reference, without any need to open/close an extraneous new tab.
But the point is that the choice is up to me, and is only a single click either way. Why would I want to install an add-on and retrain my fingers just to restore the same functionality that I would have in the first place if people didn’t insist on the “target=blank” nonsense?
"May a nit suck Cajun geese?" wonders Red. No, we see gnu Jack Cust in a yam.
by andeux on
Jun 25, 2008 2:39 PM PDT
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{clicks with middle finger}
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 2:41 PM PDT
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Huh.
For those of us with no middle-click, it’s more annoying: right-click plus another click. Though I suppose [ctrl]+[click] is a bit faster.
1. I’d put my “open new sites in a new tab” behavior at close to 100%.
2. I get really aggravated when I forget to right-click, and accidentally change the page I’m on to the thing I wanted to see in a different tab. This, to me, is far more problematic than very occasionally enduring the affront of a new tab opened against my will.
3. Ergo, default auto-spawn is preferable.
Different strokes, I suppose. We need a poll, clearly.
By the way: If you read a bunch, and tend to flag lots of items to read later, this (no new tab, never fear) is a pretty good tool.
by 74mk on
Jun 25, 2008 3:04 PM PDT
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what's more
If you click on a link without opening a new window, and then go back to the AN page from whence you came, you often default to a previous iteration of the page, and “lose” comments.
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 4:15 PM PDT
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Now THAT is annoying
I wish I could set AN so that it doesn’t mark everything unread unless I tell it to.
For me it comes up not so much when I accidentally leave the page (which I rarely do), but rather when I don’t have time to finish reading a long thread and I want to close it up for later, or (at work) when stupid IE crashes on me.
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on
Jun 25, 2008 5:01 PM PDT
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this whole thread reminds me of a class i had in college
where we learned the “click”, the “click and drag”, the “double click”....ahhh, computers in the early days….(only ten years ago)
There's no crying in baseball!
by gigglingone on
Jun 25, 2008 7:49 PM PDT
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I was thinking it reminded me of high school.
“I like this clique”
“well I like this one”
“well you couldn’t get into any of them you band dork”
“WELL F%#@ YOU”
uhhh..maybe I shouldnt go to the next reunion after all.
"Camelot sure fell apart, didn't it?"-Steve McCatty
by 5Aces on
Jun 26, 2008 8:37 AM PDT
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That sounds familiar
My web-reading habits are about the same as yours, Andeux.
I’d guess that I want a new window about 60% of the time, a new window 5% of the time, and the same window/tab about 35% of the time.
More relevant to my preferences is that I just don’t see what the big deal is between a single click and a click-drag-click. They’re all negligible, so I don’t care. But I hate having to download crap and fuss with my preferences.
If the preference gnomes were to hack my computer in the middle of the night and change it to the behavior that 74mk or nevermoor is recommending and I would have to download a plug-in to switch it back to my way, I wouldn’t do that either. I’d just get used to the new way. Because bottom line, it’s just not worth screwing with it.
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on
Jun 25, 2008 4:58 PM PDT
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But you should resist
both because it’s a no-go area and because the Woofing Gods don’t only follow baseball.
Don't blame me, I voted for Ice Cream
by Englishmajor on Jun 25, 2008 8:07 AM PDT 0 recs
Meh
All that site does is pure statistical compilation. No bias/projection/etc.
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 9:07 AM PDT
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Anybody happen to see the completely ridiculous situation from the Mets game last night?
Talk about an umpire abusing his power, huh?
I mean, the dude came out after Beltran, then bumped into Manuel, then ejected them both.
He had better get suspended.
by mikev on Jun 25, 2008 8:40 AM PDT 0 recs
Eventually, the umps may drive MLB to a technological solution to their over-reaching.
I continue to believe the best ones are consistent, accurate and invisible—three attributes that seem to be in eclipse among the current crop. I do not believe that much of the game’s soul would be lost by going to an automatic balls-n-strikes caller, assuming it’s accurate beyond reproach and the systems are set up so that they are utterly impervious to tampering.
These umps are a tired act.
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on
Jun 25, 2008 8:56 AM PDT
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I think it would be a really really hard adjustment
Since I firmly believe that the majority of marginal breaking balls are called “wrong” by all umpires. As an example, curveballs that start high and break just down enough feel really high and are always called balls. I think the theoretically perfect automated system would “miss” those calls and drive everyone crazy.
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 9:10 AM PDT
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"Bug" or "Feature?"
I say the latter.
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on
Jun 25, 2008 9:45 AM PDT
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Possible.
But pitchers would probably all be pissed when backdoor sliders that miss the plate but hit the glove don’t get called either.
My prediction would be mass hysteria (complete with human sacrifice + dogs and cats living together)
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 10:23 AM PDT
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They need to institute a rule that allows teams to eject umps from a game.
In search of a new signature. Say something funny and you may see your comment here!
by DMOAS on
Jun 25, 2008 9:11 AM PDT
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my ONLY problem with going to any automated system ...
... is the Diebold Effect, where a party on the receiving end of any negative outcome blames les eminence grises for gaming the system to favor the other (more popular/more populous/more Seligulous) team.
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 9:51 AM PDT
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Sunshine = disinfectant?
The publicker the calls are shared in realtimey-ness the better, as the less susceptible to shenanigans.
I wish I felt differently, as I’d rather argue for tradition and “humanity” (for want of a better term for a series of other, related factors), but these umps have exhausted my goodwill.
The meaning of life is not so much 'found,' as it is 'made.' --Opus
by The Dogfather on
Jun 25, 2008 10:00 AM PDT
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I'm assuming that Pitch F/X would not be going away...
making anything along those lines really noticeable.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on
Jun 25, 2008 10:03 AM PDT
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I wasn't clear
I don’t fear actual shenanigans to favor BOS/NYY/CHN, but the litany of fan/blog/podunk-newsman paranoid conspiracy-mongering about the presumed shenanigans.
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 10:50 AM PDT
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Is that any different or any worse than all the conspiracy theories we already see?
Hawk Harrelson is absolutely convinced the umpires are out to screw the Sox. I hear fans talking about it about various teams all the time.
And we did have a situation in the NBA that makes this sort of speculation not totally crazy.
http://bocropleasestopswingingatbadpitches.blogspot.com/
by thejd44 on
Jun 25, 2008 12:33 PM PDT
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Two thoughts
1: Totally egregious. That guy definitely deserves a suspension and to have any post-season appearances taken away.
2: Props to MLB.com for putting (or at least allowing) the video on the front page. I can’t tell if it’s on there b/c it’s most watched, but even in that case they could easily block it NFL style.
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 9:17 AM PDT
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I was watching that game live at the time...
I could not believe the overreaction from the blue…..It was like he wanted to toss Beltran and was just provoking him..was wild.
Bring back Hammer.
by OaktownPower on
Jun 25, 2008 10:05 AM PDT
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Grrrr.
"God doesn't pay attention to your cute little hypotheticals." -- Jeff from LL
by oblique on
Jun 25, 2008 11:30 AM PDT
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Brian Runge is one of the umpires whose name I always remember because he's a jerk (and bad)
I can’t even remember what the original call that made me notice him was, but it was years ago and now whenever I see him I expect bad things.
http://bocropleasestopswingingatbadpitches.blogspot.com/
by thejd44 on
Jun 25, 2008 12:35 PM PDT
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Who was the third Hawaiian last night?
Or did I misunderstand the comment in the game thread?
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on Jun 25, 2008 9:27 AM PDT 0 recs
Oh, so I did misunderstand then.
I thought someone was saying there were three Hawaiians in the game.
I mentioned this on the game thread, but it was just after the new thread opened, so I think most people didn’t see it: Ron Darling and Sid Fernandez were both born in Honolulu. They were both in the Mets rotation for several years in the late 1980s. It seems probable that the Mets played a team some time during that period that had another Hawaiian on it. Whether that counts as three Hawaiians in the game depends on what you mean by “in the game”, since it’s doubtful Darling and Fernandez would ever both pitch in the same game.
"Dispatch knuckleheadedness with Bond-like aplomb." –74mk
by iglew on
Jun 25, 2008 1:47 PM PDT
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I'm just glad Lenn Sakata got his props...
He’s the greatest emergency catcher of all time!
"I'm tying my dog to the railroad track, choo choo train's gonna break his back; We used to call him Spot, but now he's called Splat; That's the kind of person we are... Oh baby won't ya come home with me?"- 'The Dicky & Dino Show' from The Young Ones, 1984
by Gaijin_Suketto on
Jun 26, 2008 5:47 PM PDT
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Nice job
embedding that link – maybe i’ll try it now….
"...in baseball you wear a cap." -- george carlin
by Hot Cup Joe on
Jun 26, 2008 7:33 PM PDT
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Emil's supposed platoon advantage
I haven’t found his minor-league splits, but his MLB splits are totally inconsistent—some years he has a trad platoon advantage, some years he hits both lefties and righties, and some years he has a reverse platoon advantage. I’d love to see someone with better stat chops than myself do a fanpost on it.
All due credit and appreciation to Emil for his HR last night, but I’m just not sure he should be starting even against LHSPs.
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on Jun 25, 2008 9:47 AM PDT 0 recs
one quick thin from his batted ball stats
since 2005, his LD% has dipped and his IFFB% has risen. they’re nearly even this season.
I do think it’s somewhat valuable to have guys up there hacking now and then as a change of pace for the pitcher.
by rebus on
Jun 25, 2008 10:37 AM PDT
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If you want that, why not just tell all your current hitters to swing at the first pitch once a game?
(Note, I don’t think that’s a good strategy either. But at least it would remove the need to explicitly go out and sign a crappy hitter to implement it.)
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on
Jun 25, 2008 10:58 AM PDT
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crappy doesn't necessarily mean impatient
I mean, look at Kendall.
Not that Emil is anything special (or even anything average), but he does present a different batting style. Of course it would be nice if the results were more Vlad than Betancourt, but it can be somewhat useful in close games.
by rebus on
Jun 25, 2008 12:39 PM PDT
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Most impatient hitters suck
Not all, but most. And the ones that don’t, like Torii Hunter, tend to be seriously overvalued.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on
Jun 25, 2008 12:51 PM PDT
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The rule-proving exception, of course, is Vlad
It is very hard to have a respectable OBP without being patient, and for all the Moneyball jokes, OBP did fuel our franchise’s resurgence before everyone else caught on.
by nevermoor on
Jun 25, 2008 12:55 PM PDT
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Luis Castillo sucks
You seem to be proving the point.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on
Jun 25, 2008 1:11 PM PDT
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Wait, did you mean Jose Castillo?
Luis Castillo doesn’t suck (or didn’t, before he got old) but he also isn’t impatient.
Jose Castillo sucks.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on
Jun 25, 2008 1:13 PM PDT
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anticastilloite!
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 1:43 PM PDT
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hey, you're the one who converted to monkeyism for the jokes
by rebus on
Jun 25, 2008 1:44 PM PDT
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nicely done
Can an aging lemur suffer from dementia? @('.')@
by monkeyball on
Jun 25, 2008 1:45 PM PDT
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Christ, what a Castillole
"You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody's crazy."
-Charles Manson
by kaweahkaweah on
Jun 25, 2008 2:12 PM PDT
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I meant Luis.
I’m not sure how he’s been above average this season offensively. Of course Jose Castillo sucks.
by rebus on
Jun 25, 2008 1:45 PM PDT
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oh
the whole idea was that Kendall, L. Castillo are patient, yet below average hitters.
by rebus on
Jun 25, 2008 1:46 PM PDT
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Shrug
In his prime, Castillo was an above-average leadoff hitter. He’s still OK; he hasn’t had a below-average OBP since 1998.
When he was combining above-average OBP with steals and good defense at second base, he was a solid asset. Unfortunately, he has lost a lot of the speed and good defense.
Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.
by PaulThomas on
Jun 25, 2008 2:23 PM PDT
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