105 thoughts on “February 2, 2012: Phil”

  2. Hey, I just got an e-mail from Fausto Carmona, looking for help:

    I am from Portugal I have been diagnosed with cancer. It has defiled all
    forms of medical treatment, and right now I have only about a few months to
    live, according to medical experts. I have not particularly lived my life
    so well, as I never really cared for anyone (not even myself) but my
    business.

    Something tells me that this isn't the real Fausto. (Or even the fake Fausto.)

    If I get a Phishing/Spam mail from Leo Nuñez, I'll know that somehow they've been able to micro-targeting me.
    I'll read an e-mail from a baseball player's name any time.

    This is the best fake e-mail I've received since I got five in a row where the text was like a surrealist stream-of-consiousness rant, with just a touch of Dada. I was hoping for those to continue, I wanted to print them out nicely and frame them. It was almost like unsolicited art.

    1. On Kawara would send telegrams to famous artists, critics, and celebrities with text like, "I'm still alive", "I am not going to commit suicide don't worry", and "I am not going to commit suicide worry". I always got a kick out of his art practice.

        1. I deleted it, but there was more good stuff. He needed my help because as he was dying his selfish wife is planning to marry his financial planner. He would send me pictures of his selfish family when I responded to him. Basically, he wanted to give me the money out of spite for his wife, so she wouldn't see any of it.

  4. Holy crap. Dr. Chop got the call from New Orleans. Holy. . . Crap.

    Wow. I'm thrilled at the idea of moving the hell out of west texas and into civilization, but this also gives me the whole WTF do we do now? We have to sell, or rent out, a house, and find a new place to live, move, and then I have to find gainful employment. The college Dr. Chop would be working for has already intimated that they'll help me out, but there'll be nothing in writing. Holy. Crap. She still has a campus interview in Florida (Ft. Myers.... I told her not to leave town without Joe's signature) left to do, and two other job prospects. Wow.

    9. Great news, Congratulations! Just wait until Sheenie and Dread Pirate find out - you'll have houseguests in no time.

        1. Fantastic. I'll remind Sheenie about the hotel situation (she said she had a couple of ideas but never wrote them down for me).

          1. No need on that front. I'll be crashing downtown at some corporate chain (somewhere off Canal near the shareton)

            1. Ok, gotcha. I'll send you the parade details and address when I learn more. If any other citizens happy to be in New Orleans for St. Patrick's day, you're also welcome to join the party.

    1. He was still there? I just assumed he'd been fired three or four questionable personnel decisions ago.

  6. Beyond the Box Score has been running a series on each club's window to win, using current contract obligations, depth charts, and John Sickles' prospect rankings as data points for some interesting infographics. The Twins are featured in today's installment. The graphic really underscored for me the upheaval the rotation is likely to experience beginning next season, what with only one current starter under contract for 2013.

      1. Since the Twins drafted Mauer, they've only had one pick in the top 15 (Hicks). My impression of the top grades is that if you weren't a very top draft pick, it's hard to improve your grade a whole lot because even if you perform, the graders can always point to the same limitations that kept you from being drafted higher in the first place. For instance, what was Morneau's highest grade? What was Baker's highest grade? What was Span's highest grade? etc. It just feels like we don't have a lot of context for these grades because they never get quoted once a player makes the major leagues. ("Stepping to the plate is Denard Span, hitting .310. As you can see from the graphic on the screen, Span's grades consistently improved* as he moved through the minor leagues...")

        *I'm sure that's not the case.

    2. Side note: That is one hard to read graphic. Not everyone likes to squint at a nine point font.

      Side note 2: Some of his contract stuff is off. Revere is at 0.167 days of contract time (per B-R), meaning he will be at 1.167 for 2013, 2.167 for 2014, ..., and 5.167 for 2017.

      I think it's safe to assume that unless his arm falls off, Baker will be back next year. Pavano and Marquis are likely gone. That leaves Liriano as a possibility for returning. He'll be a free agent, but there might not be much demand for him.

      Gibson's injury is really unfortunate, but he'll likely pitch half a season or more with the Twins in 2013. Hendriks could be an option as early as this year, which is nice. That means Baker and Blackburn as full season starters, Hendriks as a likely full season starter, and Gibson as a half season starter for ~3 "full-time starters" that year. I don't see the situation changing much, so the Twins could have a revolving door of free agent pitchers for several years to come.

      1. Or they could draft a stud college pitcher with the 2nd overall pick this summer and rush him to the majors.

        2. Or maybe they'll pass on a stud college pitcher in favor of a HS player at a premium defensive position and everyone will call them cheapskates.

  7. Sorry I don't have my own scan to show (yet) but here's my latest NCIS proposal to WGOM Citizens:

    Identify the play on Trevor's 2012 Topps card. And nice of Topps to show him on his own card, unlike having Butera on his 2011 Topps Update card 😛

      3. The May 19 game (started at 3:35 PM), in the fourth inning Sweeney reached on a walk, and was forced out on the 2B-SS-1B double play. That looks like the best candidate, but I haven't gone through the other game play-by-plays yet.

          1. Yep, I think that's got to be the game. Looks to me like Plouffe is playing SS for sure, which also limits it to the first two games.

  8. Edwin Jackson signed with the Nationals. They're now going to try to trade John Lannan. Unfortunately, I could see the Twins as more likely to trade for Lannan than to sign E-Jax as an FA.

    1. He's getting one year for around $10 million. That seems like a very good deal. The Natinals are going to have a pretty great rotation next year. Strasburg, Gonzalez, Zimmerman, Jackson, Wang. Wow.

  9. Phil saw his shadow today, apparently. Am I being Captain Obvious when I suggest that the first day of spring is about six weeks away?

  10. interesting notes in the 'Today in Weather History' on the Minneapolis NOAA page

    1996: State record low temperature set in Minnesota. With numerous media folk present, the low dipped to -60 three miles south of Tower. Governor Arne Carlson cancelled school statewide due to the cold.
    ...
    1927: Spring-like temperatures on Groundhog's day. Tracy is 57 and Fairmont reaches 56

    so it can be freakishly cold (I remember that 1996 morning because I was delivering the morning papers. I had so many layers on I could barely raise my arm) or springlike warm (according to my thermometer, its 45 degrees right now. crazy)

    1. I remember that. I was working at KARE and we had a crew up north with the weather observer from Tower. I think we had a crew in International Falls, too, but they missed the record by one or two degrees. The coldest actual temperature I can remember was -30 when I was in college and the wind chill made it close to -50. We made engine heaters out of garbage can lids and charcoal and slipped them under the engine compartment to get our cars warm enough to start.

      1. My freshman year at Carleton, we had a scheduled football recruiting weekend canceled due to inclement weather. I believe the actual temp was -60 F, with windchill taking it down to the neighborhood of -100.

        I used the Smokey Joe a couple of times to keep my engine block from freezing solid. I also remember removing the battery from a roommate's car to keep in the dorm overnight once. Not sure why we thought that would work, but we did.

        1. A friend of the family from Russia says that people in Moscow bring their car batteries in overnight all the time in the winter.

    2. i remember that. one of the few days we had school cancelled due to inclement weather in minneapolis (stupid snow plow army).

      last year today was also the BIG BAD CHICAGO BLIZZARD (pfft). on NPR this morning, they were asking for listeners to send in their "where were you when" memories, which produced this response from me.

      if anything, it made this memorable byline:

  11. Man, this has been a banner day for the Slaughterhouse. First the job in NO, then I was invited to participate in an exhibition in Albuquerque, and now I'm wrapping up the details of doing a guest lecture at UTSA. To top it off, today is the first day of my 33rd season. I'm pretty stoked.

    2. Maybe you can have a day like this over and over again. After all, there is precedent for it.

  12. Kevin Love = awesome (twitter)

    DanaWessel Dana Wessel
    Kevin Love on his beard: "David Kahn doesn't like it so I'll keep it."

    1. That is an excellent reason for doing anything. Probably why the Wolves didn't offer him that fifth year, too.

  13. I mentioned in the Wolves thread last night that GW lost to Xavier (David West is a douche!) by one point after missing three lay-ups in the final 10 seconds. Just saw this picture of one of the layups (with no foul called).

  14. I want to step gingerly here because of proximity to the Forbidden Zone, but does anyone else think that the Susan G. Komen/Planned Parenthood controversy will mean the end of pink bats on Mothers Day? This has to be a nightmare for the MLB PR department.

    1. In trying to avoid the FZ implications here, I would be kind of surprised if they stopped the pink bats on Mothers Day. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has done many a shady deed prior to this recent issue with PP. They have a ton of clout, and I'd be surprised if this caused that large of a change. I'd be in support of them not giving the proceeds to SGK. Maybe give the funds to another cancer research group? Though, heh, they'd likely get sued over the pink bats if they kept those.

      1. Yeah, the problem is that no matter what they decide, continue the SGK partnership or not, somebody's not going to like the decision. For MLB it seems like a lose-lose scenario.

        2. I agree with that. Which makes it odd that SGK put its supporters in this position. Oh well, I hope cancer research doesn't suffer and hopefully this doesn't become a big issue for MLB.

    2. I've complained to Sheenie (2-time walker) several times about SGK and she has gradually come to see my point of view about its ubiquitous involvement with everything possible. Haven't asked her about the latest flare-up...

      1. There's a film about them, Pink Ribbons, Inc., which opens this week in Canada (and I assume soon here?) based on a book of the same name. I was very interested in seeing it before this, but definitely need to now.

        1. I know someone who used to be involved with them. She told me a lot of things I probably shouldn't share, but...if you can benefit a different cancer research foundation, you should.

  15. pretty chippy wild/avs game so far. looks like it's been minnesota v. mags the past couple days (pacers i understand, but the avs?).

    2. First hockey game I ever saw on TV was 1996 Stanley Cup Finals game between Colorado and Florida. For whatever reason, I picked the Avs and I've been with them ever since.

    1. I had to quit a bunch of things, and I don't envy his position of battling his demons while being one of the highest-profile sluggers in the majors. I too hope he can get it together.

    2. I'm not into judging the individual, but I'll be happy to judge those who'll attempt to capitalize from his problems.

    4. I'm not a fan of the "no-tolerance" policy either. I don't think I've ever met an addict who was motivated by a no-tolerance policy. "We know you have this huge problem that you hate and embarrasses you at times. But if you ever make a mistake, we will never work with you again, no matter how hard you're trying."

  17. special to Rhu-ru and other card collectors: Grampa S sent me a box of "junk", which included a stack of football cards from the early 1970s and three baseball cards from the Topps Cereal Series 1st Annual Collector's Edition (plus the "checklist" card) from 1984:

    No. 28 of 33: Gary Carter
    No. 25 of 33: Dan Quisenberry

    and the Pièce de résistance

    No. 17 of 33: Rod Carew

    All are in mint condition. Any value?

    Don't ask me how I got these. I was in college at the time. Maybe the old man pulled them from his Corn Flakes boxes.

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