The Twins did it last night, I'm doing it tomorrow.
63 thoughts on “June 29, 2011: Escape”
I forgot where I read it, but someone suggested that the most All-Star-worthy Twin right now is TC.
This former mascot agrees. How many of those other chumps wear an ice girdle?
Spooky, did you see this from The Hardball Times:
[On this date in 1989] Boise Hawks manager Mal Fichman is ejected, but sneaks back on the field disguised as team mascot Humphrey the Hawk, earning him a one-game suspension.
Ha. That has to be one of the Northwest League's crowning moments.
Yakima appears to be losing the Bears to Vancouver, Washington. I could have sworn they already had a team in this league, but maybe I'm misremembering.
The Twins did it last night, I'm doing it tomorrow
Score six times?
Well, I meant "escape," but I'll run your idea by the Milkmaid posthaste. After all, it's her birthday tomorrow.
After all, it's her birthday tomorrow.
so why should she give you a present?
we're talking about Kelly Wells here.
TJ 2 years ago: "When Nick Punto and Matt Tolbert struggle, they have trouble hitting Miley Cyrus' weight."
From a column in 2008 about Gardy calling a team meeting (and I enjoy this more for what it says about our resident enigma): "Alexi Casilla, asked what he remembered about the meeting, said, 'Nothing. But it worked.'"
In 2005, he explained that Shady McCants "wants to be to poetry what Shaq is to rap. What he needs to understand is the only rhyme scheme we care about is the Slam-Dunk Sonnet."
I also enjoyed his article about the home run race on this date in 1997: "'Mac's not human,' [Jose] Canseco said. 'He doesn't count. Check his blood. Mac's an alien from the future who's come back to show us how to play this game.'"
the only rhyme scheme we care about is the Slam-Dunk Sonnet."
I know this is down-the-rabbit-hole territory, but what the hell is that?
Sorry I missed posting the game log last night. I lost track of the days.
Had grand plans for a post-draft Whangdoodle, but never found the time. Perhaps it will appear later this week... stay tuned.
Waiting with bated breath.
I just got the Rubio banner.
It's been up for all of ten minutes. Another hj creation.
It left me essentially speechless, although I was assuming it was "Hitman".
as i told scarydairy, i thought we needed something for all our female readers.
I hadn't even seen that, but I see it now, for sure.
Well, I'm getting ready this morning to head out on our Great Journey. We're heading to the Great White North to visit my parents in Maple Grove and my sister and her kids, who live in the area. My brother and his wife also will be coming up from Indiana and we'll all be at the July 5 game. A couple days later, we're heading out to the Northwest to Lake Stevens, WA (formerly Everett) to visit the in-laws. This wasn't originally part of the plans, but my MIL is in the hospital with an infection and it sounds like it could be a long recovery, so my wife and boys will be staying there a couple weeks to help out. I can't take that much time off work, so I'll be driving back to SoCal by myself to work and keep the dog company and the rest of the family will be flying home. So, our new car with under 1,800 miles on it will be up to around 7,000 miles when we're all done. My participation here will be erratic, but I'm sure I'll be around. I may even do morning updates. Our first day will be easy, just a six-hour trip to Utah where we will be staying at a vacation condo for a couple days.
Wait, cars can have under 70,000 miles?
Have a safe trip.
1,800 and 7,000 are arbitrary cutoffs, aren't they???!!!
*pokes DK with a stick*
In this case, I'll allow it.
Stay safe, Socal. Have a good trip.
My agency just sent me an audition notice for an indie called Yeah, Me Neither. Sadly, I don't fit any of the open roles. I'll have to wait for Rifding Hokme, I guess.
We're talking Kelly Wells here. It's not the role that should fit you, but the other way around.
Just be open enough, anything should fit.
Maybe you need to stretch your range. You can play a teen heartthrob, right?
For a person my age to get cast in this one, he needs to be either muscular (ahem) or XXXL (not even close). Oh well.
Well, you can either hit the gym or the Red Chairs then. Its your choice.
And GH is offering a free gym!
That's right! Just come pick it up!
Is the fat guy the shlubby, funny pal?
If it is, you should definitely apply for that one. They always end up with the hot chick at the end.
/Conveniently neglects the fact Spooky is married for the sake of a weak joke.
Actually, he's the romantic lead.
I am pleased that I was incorrect.
Certainly, you'd be right 99% of the time. Both leads are meant to be large people in this one (and the female is the top billed, which is also rare). A lot of scripts are written like this, but if a story is good enough to be a studio picture they'll always abandon that as much as they can.
Right. I just hope that they're real characters/people who happen to be fat, rather than, say, Mike & Molly.
Well, I wouldn't hold my breath there. When a casting call asks for fat people, you can bet it's referenced in the script.
My best friend is quite large, and there's always a role for him (he's one of the best actors I've ever met at any level, too) but the pickings for what type of role he plays are always slim.
the pickings for what type of role he plays are always slim.
Holy crap, I swear that was an accident. I would never.
I figured, that's why I jumped in with both feet.
As you may know, the NBA is on the brink of a lockout. The players have offered $500 million in a salary give back. David Stern calls that offer "modest". I generally think that salaries need to be reduced (but also that the owners need to implement better revenue sharing). That the players are already willing to give back a half billion dollars seems to me to be an indication that this deal will get done.
Of course, that's $100 large per year for five years. Still big money, but not as stoopifying as it first sounds. And, as you imply, not all that far off from the owners' proposal.
I like to think about it in terms of dollars per team. $100M/year is about $3.3M per team per year.* That's about what Bogut got for being a 1st-overall draft pick on the rookie scale. To me, that makes it seem like a very real concession, so I think SBG is right, a deal seems likely. Also, I don't know if the owners were in real trouble back in '98, but they appear to be in real trouble now (certainly as opposed to NFL owners, who are not in any trouble whatsoever), so I don't think they in any way want a lockout.
*Similarly, it grates on me a bit to hear the national debt talked about as though it is some totally incomprehensible figure. Yeah, if you take the overall figure, it's got a lot of digits. With roughly 300 million US citizens, the US national debt is about $49K per person. I'm not going to pretend that's a small number, but it's not a number that's completely impossible to fathom. I make this comment only to point out that large numbers can be broken down in ways that make them more meaningful.
I've applied for 3 jobs today, along with two last week. Only 7 more to go.
The Cardinals released Ryan Franklin today. This seems like the type of buy really, really low candidate the Twins should be adding for their bullpen. His ERA looks terrible, but he looks like he's been very unlucky, not unlike Chad Qualis last year.
4.17 xFIP and it doesn't look like his velocity is down all that much (91.2 last year, 91.0 this year). I would be okay with it if the Twins were in the NL.
he's 38 and has a tRA of 8.05 in 27 2/3 innings this year (league avg is 4.02). 9 HR allowed in 133 BF. 24.1 LD%.
all small samples, to be sure. But oy.
on the other hand, small samples. Hard to believe he could continue to be that bad (BABIP of .354, 14.75 pct HR/BIA).
Exactly. If the Twins were in the NL, I would be okay with them taking a flier on him and seeing how he does in some low leverage innings. After running as much video as possible past Anderson and other pitcher experts on the team to ensure it's just SSS. However, since the Twins are in the AL, I don't think he would be any better than what they have.
Living in St. Louis area, I have to say no. (Un)popular opinion here is "good riddance." He's an old Hoey at this point.
I guess the question right now (if the Twins actually considered somebody like that) would be could he be better than Alex Burnett. The thing about Franklin that would concern me beyond his general appearance of unluckiness is he's had some huge spikes this year in HR/FB rate and line drive rate, and a fairly big downturn in ground ball rate. Burnett at least looks pretty good comparatively in the latter two areas, although his HR/FB rate is a contrast in being egregiously small. I guess with relief pitchers you have to ask yourself whether you still believe those will converge towards 10% in their forthcoming small samples, or if you think those rates will keep going. I think in Franklin's case I'd pass (I'd rather give Anthony Slama an actual shot if they end up thinking they need to replace Burnett).
Wife just informed me that she won 2 tickets to the Sunday matchup against the Brewers - seats are in the Target Suite! Provided everything holds, here's a possibility: Greinke v. Blackburn - both coming off terrible outings in the Twins final interleague game until the WS.
You realize this means you need a Can of Corn-related nickname for your wife.
I forgot where I read it, but someone suggested that the most All-Star-worthy Twin right now is TC.
This former mascot agrees. How many of those other chumps wear an ice girdle?
Spooky, did you see this from The Hardball Times:
Ha. That has to be one of the Northwest League's crowning moments.
Yakima appears to be losing the Bears to Vancouver, Washington. I could have sworn they already had a team in this league, but maybe I'm misremembering.
The Twins did it last night, I'm doing it tomorrow
Score six times?
Well, I meant "escape," but I'll run your idea by the Milkmaid posthaste. After all, it's her birthday tomorrow.
After all, it's her birthday tomorrow.
so why should she give you a present?
we're talking about Kelly Wells here.
TJ 2 years ago: "When Nick Punto and Matt Tolbert struggle, they have trouble hitting Miley Cyrus' weight."
From a column in 2008 about Gardy calling a team meeting (and I enjoy this more for what it says about our resident enigma): "Alexi Casilla, asked what he remembered about the meeting, said, 'Nothing. But it worked.'"
In 2005, he explained that Shady McCants "wants to be to poetry what Shaq is to rap. What he needs to understand is the only rhyme scheme we care about is the Slam-Dunk Sonnet."
I also enjoyed his article about the home run race on this date in 1997: "'Mac's not human,' [Jose] Canseco said. 'He doesn't count. Check his blood. Mac's an alien from the future who's come back to show us how to play this game.'"
the only rhyme scheme we care about is the Slam-Dunk Sonnet."
I know this is down-the-rabbit-hole territory, but what the hell is that?
Sorry I missed posting the game log last night. I lost track of the days.
Had grand plans for a post-draft Whangdoodle, but never found the time. Perhaps it will appear later this week... stay tuned.
Waiting with bated breath.
I just got the Rubio banner.
It's been up for all of ten minutes. Another hj creation.
It left me essentially speechless, although I was assuming it was "Hitman".
as i told scarydairy, i thought we needed something for all our female readers.
It left me essentially speechless
this is something i strive for in my work.
we have female readers?
Hi Tricia and Sheenie!
Beth may still be out there somewhere, too.
That reminds me? Is the avatar banner an homage to the Tree of Life Movie poster?
I hadn't even seen that, but I see it now, for sure.
Well, I'm getting ready this morning to head out on our Great Journey. We're heading to the Great White North to visit my parents in Maple Grove and my sister and her kids, who live in the area. My brother and his wife also will be coming up from Indiana and we'll all be at the July 5 game. A couple days later, we're heading out to the Northwest to Lake Stevens, WA (formerly Everett) to visit the in-laws. This wasn't originally part of the plans, but my MIL is in the hospital with an infection and it sounds like it could be a long recovery, so my wife and boys will be staying there a couple weeks to help out. I can't take that much time off work, so I'll be driving back to SoCal by myself to work and keep the dog company and the rest of the family will be flying home. So, our new car with under 1,800 miles on it will be up to around 7,000 miles when we're all done. My participation here will be erratic, but I'm sure I'll be around. I may even do morning updates. Our first day will be easy, just a six-hour trip to Utah where we will be staying at a vacation condo for a couple days.
Wait, cars can have under 70,000 miles?
Have a safe trip.
1,800 and 7,000 are arbitrary cutoffs, aren't they???!!!
*pokes DK with a stick*
In this case, I'll allow it.
Stay safe, Socal. Have a good trip.
My agency just sent me an audition notice for an indie called Yeah, Me Neither. Sadly, I don't fit any of the open roles. I'll have to wait for Rifding Hokme, I guess.
We're talking Kelly Wells here. It's not the role that should fit you, but the other way around.
Just be open enough, anything should fit.
Maybe you need to stretch your range. You can play a teen heartthrob, right?
For a person my age to get cast in this one, he needs to be either muscular (ahem) or XXXL (not even close). Oh well.
Well, you can either hit the gym or the Red Chairs then. Its your choice.
And GH is offering a free gym!
That's right! Just come pick it up!
Is the fat guy the shlubby, funny pal?
If it is, you should definitely apply for that one. They always end up with the hot chick at the end.
/Conveniently neglects the fact Spooky is married for the sake of a weak joke.
Actually, he's the romantic lead.
I am pleased that I was incorrect.
Certainly, you'd be right 99% of the time. Both leads are meant to be large people in this one (and the female is the top billed, which is also rare). A lot of scripts are written like this, but if a story is good enough to be a studio picture they'll always abandon that as much as they can.
Right. I just hope that they're real characters/people who happen to be fat, rather than, say, Mike & Molly.
Well, I wouldn't hold my breath there. When a casting call asks for fat people, you can bet it's referenced in the script.
My best friend is quite large, and there's always a role for him (he's one of the best actors I've ever met at any level, too) but the pickings for what type of role he plays are always slim.
the pickings for what type of role he plays are always slim.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
Holy crap, I swear that was an accident. I would never.
I figured, that's why I jumped in with both feet.
As you may know, the NBA is on the brink of a lockout. The players have offered $500 million in a salary give back. David Stern calls that offer "modest". I generally think that salaries need to be reduced (but also that the owners need to implement better revenue sharing). That the players are already willing to give back a half billion dollars seems to me to be an indication that this deal will get done.
Of course, that's $100 large per year for five years. Still big money, but not as stoopifying as it first sounds. And, as you imply, not all that far off from the owners' proposal.
I like to think about it in terms of dollars per team. $100M/year is about $3.3M per team per year.* That's about what Bogut got for being a 1st-overall draft pick on the rookie scale. To me, that makes it seem like a very real concession, so I think SBG is right, a deal seems likely. Also, I don't know if the owners were in real trouble back in '98, but they appear to be in real trouble now (certainly as opposed to NFL owners, who are not in any trouble whatsoever), so I don't think they in any way want a lockout.
*Similarly, it grates on me a bit to hear the national debt talked about as though it is some totally incomprehensible figure. Yeah, if you take the overall figure, it's got a lot of digits. With roughly 300 million US citizens, the US national debt is about $49K per person. I'm not going to pretend that's a small number, but it's not a number that's completely impossible to fathom. I make this comment only to point out that large numbers can be broken down in ways that make them more meaningful.
I've applied for 3 jobs today, along with two last week. Only 7 more to go.
I especially liked panel 4 of this comic about how to save the Dodgers.
It's got a little something for everyone here.
Poor AJ Ellis.
Spooky, I'm willing to give Survivor another go as long as you keep me and frightwig on separate teams!
Finally a reason to watch the Red Sox (other than when the Twins are playing them) tonight: Ortiz at first and Gonzalez in right field.
The Cardinals released Ryan Franklin today. This seems like the type of buy really, really low candidate the Twins should be adding for their bullpen. His ERA looks terrible, but he looks like he's been very unlucky, not unlike Chad Qualis last year.
4.17 xFIP and it doesn't look like his velocity is down all that much (91.2 last year, 91.0 this year). I would be okay with it if the Twins were in the NL.
he's 38 and has a tRA of 8.05 in 27 2/3 innings this year (league avg is 4.02). 9 HR allowed in 133 BF. 24.1 LD%.
all small samples, to be sure. But oy.
on the other hand, small samples. Hard to believe he could continue to be that bad (BABIP of .354, 14.75 pct HR/BIA).
Exactly. If the Twins were in the NL, I would be okay with them taking a flier on him and seeing how he does in some low leverage innings. After running as much video as possible past Anderson and other pitcher experts on the team to ensure it's just SSS. However, since the Twins are in the AL, I don't think he would be any better than what they have.
Living in St. Louis area, I have to say no. (Un)popular opinion here is "good riddance." He's an old Hoey at this point.
I guess the question right now (if the Twins actually considered somebody like that) would be could he be better than Alex Burnett. The thing about Franklin that would concern me beyond his general appearance of unluckiness is he's had some huge spikes this year in HR/FB rate and line drive rate, and a fairly big downturn in ground ball rate. Burnett at least looks pretty good comparatively in the latter two areas, although his HR/FB rate is a contrast in being egregiously small. I guess with relief pitchers you have to ask yourself whether you still believe those will converge towards 10% in their forthcoming small samples, or if you think those rates will keep going. I think in Franklin's case I'd pass (I'd rather give Anthony Slama an actual shot if they end up thinking they need to replace Burnett).
Wife just informed me that she won 2 tickets to the Sunday matchup against the Brewers - seats are in the Target Suite! Provided everything holds, here's a possibility: Greinke v. Blackburn - both coming off terrible outings in the Twins final interleague game until the WS.
You realize this means you need a Can of Corn-related nickname for your wife.
Submitted for your consideration... the Niblet.
how about "silk"??
"Silk", hmm, I kinda like that (and she would too). Also, I'm definitely going to save "Niblet" for the offspring - already have a Kernel on the way.
I took the plunge and bought the HTC Droid Incredible 2.
Despite the stoopid name, the phone seems cool. Now I just need to take it home and have my son show me how to use it....