Time To Update ANcillary Terms?
by Nico on Aug 6, 2009 7:49 PM PDT
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PrintRecently -- and by recently I mean in the past 5 days to 18 months or so -- it's been in the back of my mind that the ANcillary Terms are not current, and are in need of some TLGMC (Tender Loving Gropy-Molesty Care). I thought I'd get the ball rolling to the backstop with a fanpost where readers can:
1. Suggest new terms that need to be added, complete with accompanying definitions/explanations/links.
2. Suggest existing terms that may be obsolete, and thus may be candidates for removal to make way for the newest additions.
3. Volunteer to spearhead this project, which might mean compiling data from this fanpost and emailing it to me for formatting and publication.
4. Discuss any other ideas or requests related to "ANcillary Terms."
Go!
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When I looked at some of these nicknames
I felt like the GM in the movie “Major League” when he gets the list of players the crazy owner wants to bring in and ends up saying “and this guy is dead”. The only thing I wonder about is it worth the effort to update this stuff since the A’s roster tends to change by the hour?
Things I would keep
A’s Nicknames:
Cupcakes = Joe Blanton
MaEl = Mark Ellis, Krypton-style
Magical little elf (see also “Man-candy”) = Marco Scutaro
Rival’s Nicknames:
Spicoli = Jered Weaver for his remarkable likeness to the Ridgemont Times character of that name.
Colonel Saunders = Angels pitcher Joe Saunders
Common (non-statistical) acronyms
DLD = Daily Link Dump
FITZ = “Fearless In The Zone” (Zito’s favorite)
LOOGY = Left-handed One Out Guy
NRAF = Non-Resident A’s Fan (pronounced “EN-raf” by popular demand)
QOTM = Quote Of The Month
Applied Creativity (some of which refer to or create recurring themes)
Adventures of Diego Chavez (Apricot’s comics)
Brokeback Stadium (by monkeyball)
ANtics (louismg’s comics)
Poetic Interludes (by monkeyball)
Everything Else
Cindi = AsGirl’s explanation: Cindi is a teenage girl who happens to be one of the many people living in Nico’s head… And please don’t commit the cardinal sin of calling her CINDY. It’s CINDI, with a heart over the SECOND i, except for on Fridays.
Jennifer’s basement = Jennifer’s explanation: This goes way back to the days of AN v.1. I don’t remember what exactly started it, but I decided to build “Superplayer”, a combination of the best parts of everyone in the AL. I kept the players locked in my basement until I could clone them. The basement was said to be guarded by Mo Vaughn and my granny. Things snowballed from there.
Klown = Refers to any feat performed by Bobby Kielty (eg. Klown Power, Klobbering Klown), in homage to his Ronnie Mac persona.
Man-candy = Usually Venezuelan, ie. Marco Scutaro.
Unicorns = Sorry, you gotta read the whole thread to get the full effect.
WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!!! = Game thread cry of anguish when something goes wrong or people start sounding overly hysterical/negative.
Dating girls is like starting pitching depth, you think you have a good full rotation, even too many starters, then in an instant as soon as you trade your depth away injuries decimate your rotation and you are forced to start Sidney Ponson.
by designatedforassignment on Aug 6, 2009 8:19 PM PDT reply actions
Basically everything else is too dated/isn't used anymore or is about player that haven't been on the team in a long time
I would like to nominate “If you don’t think x I hate you and think you’re stupid” to the list
Also I would be willing to format things and make it all html spiffy if no one else will.
Dating girls is like starting pitching depth, you think you have a good full rotation, even too many starters, then in an instant as soon as you trade your depth away injuries decimate your rotation and you are forced to start Sidney Ponson.
by designatedforassignment on Aug 6, 2009 8:21 PM PDT up reply actions
We can't have ANcillary Terms without
Slingblade = John Lackey for his inability to keep his mouth closed and his resemblance to Billy Bob asking for some “french fried taters”
I like that one but i haven't heard it in years and years.
Dating girls is like starting pitching depth, you think you have a good full rotation, even too many starters, then in an instant as soon as you trade your depth away injuries decimate your rotation and you are forced to start Sidney Ponson.
by designatedforassignment on Aug 6, 2009 8:27 PM PDT up reply actions
Apparently Slingblade is a reference to the mentally ill which means we should cut it out.
News to me.
Dating girls is like starting pitching depth, you think you have a good full rotation, even too many starters, then in an instant as soon as you trade your depth away injuries decimate your rotation and you are forced to start Sidney Ponson.
by designatedforassignment on Aug 9, 2009 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions
Copyedit
If man-candy is “usually” Venezuelan, that means it might not be, which means Marco is one example but not the only one. In that case, you mean “e.g.,” not “i.e.”
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Those are just copied and pasted.
Dating girls is like starting pitching depth, you think you have a good full rotation, even too many starters, then in an instant as soon as you trade your depth away injuries decimate your rotation and you are forced to start Sidney Ponson.
by designatedforassignment on Aug 6, 2009 9:16 PM PDT up reply actions
Well, then I guess I want to edit the previous author then.
I wonder is some of the ones you list are obsolete, too. You know, like Scutaro and Kielty. They’ve been gone a while.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
That would be me, and I meant i.e., in that it "usually" referred to Marco, who is Venezuelan.
Actually, he’s Italian/Spanish, but let’s not nitpick.
Prithee, be not perturbed by yon third bagger.
Oh, I get it now.
That actually makes sense. I didn’t read it that way originally.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
I still don't know if it's ie. or i.e., though... LOL
Prithee, be not perturbed by yon third bagger.
Single period is never right.
Most stylebooks will say two periods with commas on both sides, and I would consider that proper, but I have no problem with no periods in casual use.
Stands for “id est” = “it is”. E.g. is “exempli gratia” = “example given”.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Poppy will rejoice when...
…she sees that in the final updated product, the “Unicorn” entry spells out the fact that the Unicorn of lore is NOT Mark Ellis himself.
Prithee, be not perturbed by yon third bagger.
This is true -- it is his magical steed
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
What's the common thread here?
They’re no longer with the team.
WHY don’t we have a picture of her with CROSBY yet?
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
I only just now realized it's two separate outings
She really did love that pose, and drink (midori sour?)
The best photo is of her and Mr. Kennedy (RIP). Her attempt to lick face, DENIED.
I'm a happy seal
by SwisherThresher on Aug 6, 2009 9:08 PM PDT up reply actions
How could I forget that one?
I’ll even make it a little bigger for him.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
"Hi, see this ring on my finger? Let me give you a closer look."
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
I looked up "drunk chick fail" in the dictionary
and this picture was there…
I don't always blog. But when I do, I prefer AN. Stay thirsty my friends.
We need a hall of fame for pictures
and this needs to be entry #1. Love, love, love this picture.
There's no crying in baseball!
Are we sure that FLG and Pam
are two separate peoples?
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 7, 2009 12:34 PM PDT up reply actions
Is that what you said to Joe Kennedy?
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Something else I meant to mention in the post:
Might this link be the place to add a section explaining, or linking to explanation of, statistical acronyms (WAR, UZR, tRA, etc.)? I know folks have requested that from time to time and I wonder if we could be efficient by dedicating a section of ANcillary Terms to “Statcronyms.”
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
This is a great idea, I would be willing to write a statistical primer.
I would think however that it would do best as a stand alone section.
Dating girls is like starting pitching depth, you think you have a good full rotation, even too many starters, then in an instant as soon as you trade your depth away injuries decimate your rotation and you are forced to start Sidney Ponson.
by designatedforassignment on Aug 6, 2009 8:51 PM PDT up reply actions
Yeah, it may be just as easy to make a third link, i.e.,
Community Guidelines
ANcillary Terms
Statcronyms Made Easy (or Metrics Gone Wild, or VORP For Dummies)
in which case it may as well be a stand alone; but if for any reason that doesn’t work, SB Nation PlatFormat-wise, then I was thinking it could at least be its own large section within the ANcillary Terms.
DFA, if you want to start working on a “statistical primer” I’m sure we’ll want to add it somewhere as soon as one is ready. I think it would be a great addition to the front page linkformation.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Well Ill work on it
im like 2k words into my thoughts on the holliday trade right now so ill finish that first and then work on the stats after. Ill try not to make it ridiculously long.
Dating girls is like starting pitching depth, you think you have a good full rotation, even too many starters, then in an instant as soon as you trade your depth away injuries decimate your rotation and you are forced to start Sidney Ponson.
by designatedforassignment on Aug 6, 2009 9:22 PM PDT up reply actions
Thanks for volunteering, DFA, you'd be great.
I would recommend, though, that the stat glossary be written as if the target audience is someone who wants to know basically what the stat is and what it measures, but isn’t a stat-geek. (Presumably all the stat-geeks already know what it is.) So don’t get too wonky spelling out the formula and that sort of thing. There are other glossaries that do that anyway.
What I would recommend:
1. What does it stand for.
2. Basically, what does it measure (eg, pitching skill, hitting skill, defensive skill)
3. A sense of how the number is scaled. Is a higher number better or worse? What is considered good? Does it mirror a familiar stat like ERA? Is it scaled so that 100 is average? etc.
4. Briefly, how it differs from similar stats that measure the same thing — corrects for park, is defense-independent, etc.
5. Maybe a brief note about whether the stat is well-established or new and experimental.
I would recommend against letting any entry get too long. I think the main purpose would be if someone is reading along and sees that, for example, Marco Scutaro’s UZR=8, and thinks “uh, what is UZR, and is 8 good or bad?” We just want to see that it measures defensive skill and 8 is OK but not great (or whatever), not the whole history and philosophy of UZR and how it is calculated.
If there’s further discussion elsewhere, you could add a “more info” link for each stat.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
by iglew on Aug 6, 2009 9:27 PM PDT up reply actions 4 recs
These are all great points.
Perhaps a short (a sentence or two, no more) explanation of how the stat is calculated or put together would be useful, provided it doesn’t get too complicated or detailed. It might help the casual/non-stat-geek reader get a little more of a handle on the stat itself.
I agree -- a link to the more technical stuff
would be key, rather than giving all that explanation in your summary.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Totally agree and rec'd
and thanks DFA for volunteering. :)
"I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it" ~ Mae West
I would also group together all of the old STATurday posts under one link.
This would make them much easier to find and accessible to everyone, especially newbies who arrived here after that series ended and may not know of their existence. These posts, while slightly dated, are pretty invaluable as a crash course into sabermetric analysis.
"We were shit, pathetic," Guillen growled early in spring training. "We hit too many home runs."
That's a great idea,
but might require an admin to move them to a separate section of the site or something (to be all under one link). I had wanted to get all of FSU’s “Peanutball” chapters under one link, but have no idea exactly how that would’ve been done.
Prithee, be not perturbed by yon third bagger.
hi. i'm pretty new to AN and sabermetrics in general
do any of these “staturday posts” have the formula for wOBA? i’ve been looking everywhere (well, wikipedia and google) and have been pretty unsuccessful. and where can i find them?
thx
Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!!
Welcome!
If you look at this link, in the first paragraph they have three other links to wOBA related explanations. Might be helpful, hopefully.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
And...
if you look at this link, you will see a duck-billed platypus. Might be helpful, too.
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 8, 2009 10:10 PM PDT up reply actions
will he be able to stick at 3b?
or will he eventually be moved over to a 1b/dh role. lol
Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!!
Love his wOBA, but can the A's afford the bill?
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
thx dude
pretty good stuff. definitely understand it a lot better, even though some of that math terminology went right over my head!! (granted, im just a junior in highschool..)
Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind is made up!!
plus,
hey, duck-billed platypus.
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 9, 2009 9:36 AM PDT up reply actions
I think MLB.com's stat glossary is pretty good for basic abbreviations,
so maybe include a link to that? It spells out what the acronyms stand for, and what they mean. At least the more “traditional” ones…
Prithee, be not perturbed by yon third bagger.
As a new poster here this season - I would agree that this is an excellent idea.
There are also the possibility to post to other resources? Wiki has a pretty extensive listing of baseball terms which may not include the stats terms…..
"I never blame myself when I'm not hitting. I just blame the bat, and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn't my fault that I'm not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?" Yogi Berra
by BERRYJO on Aug 7, 2009 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions
Um, Khalil Green looks WAY more like Spicoli than Jered Weaver.
Also, I’m thinking there should be an entry for TWSS. Perhaps also for “GYMNASTICS!”
"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."
most certainly he does. so much, he became mentally ill, unfortunatley
alaska A residing in northern Idaho.
definitely gymnastics.
I still don’t know what that means.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
or TWSL
<that’s what she licked> for face lick girl
slegnA for the Southern Calif AL team
by OaklandSi on Aug 7, 2009 2:11 AM PDT via mobile reply actions
If only there was a way to block this comment...
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson
Because I hate it, that's all
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson
Am I the only one who pronounces "slegnA"
as if it were Italian? It just looks Italian. Like no wood or something.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Maybe it would mean "bad wood"
But I’ve always pronounced it sleg-nA.
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
TWSS
It just looks Italian. Like no wood or something.
A B -3X = Swedish girls like chocolate @('.')@
Le Freak?
C’est chic.
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 7, 2009 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions
Kraut is never free.
There’s always something attached to the kraut.
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 7, 2009 4:05 PM PDT up reply actions
Why, I should come between them, of course.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Saags related indigestion?
Or, what I like to refer to as the “Atomic hots?”
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson
that's a delicious problem to have.
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 7, 2009 8:28 PM PDT up reply actions
I think these should be added
IMO (In My Opinion) IMHO (In My Humble Opinion).
I vote slegna NOT be included but I understand that some people like it.
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
IMO and IMHO aren't really AN-specific terms though
I also wouldn’t include Slegna.
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
Again
When FF and I agree on something, we’re right. End of discussion.
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson
(about the LAAA name, don't care either way about the other two)
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want" -Bill Watterson
I think it's also one of the signs of
…well, let’s just say some bad shit’s about to jump off.
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 7, 2009 12:37 PM PDT up reply actions
(I think I sold him that...)
Twitter went down today--if only there were some short, shallow, self-indulgent way to express my horror.-Stephen Colbert
by Leopold Bloom on Aug 7, 2009 1:10 PM PDT up reply actions
Granted, some other non-AN terms are in the common acronyms list so those could work too
Last of the Ninth - Photography Site / jamesvenes.com - Blog
One ANer's dead meme is another's hallowed tradition.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
Or verbal tic
"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s
These fricking fleas are talking now?
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Also
Pamcakes.
Pamcakes MUST be added.
"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."
I was updating the original diary for over a year, basically anytime someone said “that should be added to the ANcillary Terms” because a new running joke had been born. At first, I emailed a few of those updates to Blez (but they weren’t added to the “Terms”), and I gave a link to my updated diary anytime I saw someone ask “how did that joke get started, anyway?”. I gave up on updating it when I realized that the move to the new platform a couple of years ago had sort of broken all the links within the original diary AND within the “ANcillary Terms” (the links now only go to a diary wherever a comment/term first appeared, but I had originally HTML’d each link to go directly to the comment itself).
I called the original diary “AN Co-op Glossary” because we all built it and contributed to it. But, in addition to having all those semi-broken links, it’s gotten really badly outdated because no one who cares has had the access (or time) to refresh it as needed. So, yeah, I’ve made no secret of my hatred of the “Terms” — partly because I did try to make the allusions and descriptions of links funny & entertaining, so I felt like it was a little bit “mine” in that regard (writers who enjoy seeing something you’ve written get taken away and misused, raise your hands)… but mostly because its original intent was to be something the community could keep fresh.
That being said, THANK YOU for tossing this out there, Nico. I do remember that we talked about this briefly during the offseason, and that I’m the one who got too busy and dropped that conversation. Whoever takes it on… please just keep it fresh.
And did I mention stop calling Mark Ellis a unicorn?
Prithee, be not perturbed by yon third bagger.
I, for one, refrained from calling him that.
Kinda like my own terms, I guess.
I'm here to talk about the past.
MyHairIsATourist
For Maicier Izturis?
They say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing all the time!
I like it better without the A.
My hair is tourist.
"Go ahead and overachieve, you scrappy Brett-Favre-colored walk-takers." —Rev Halofan
That's the best trade I've seen posted on here in a while.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Some nicknames that should be added
For Adam Kennedy I have 3
AK, AK47 & Big Slick
For Santiago Casilla
Gasoline
I had Old Man Winter for Springer but thankfully we don’t have to add that now.
PREPAREDNESS_Because those goddamn zombies aren’t going to kill themselves
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