Cup of Coffee

August 13, 2012: Spread too Thin

52 Comments

At work, I'm now the guy who's worked in so many departments that the walkie is constantly abuzz with people seeking my help. It's satisfying, but wow, does it get tiring.

52 thoughts on “August 13, 2012: Spread too Thin”

  1. httpv://youtu.be/FQNlCDKm7s0

    If the Pine Leaf Boys make it to a venue near you I'd highly suggest you go. This was from a battle of the cajun bands night in a barn somewhere between Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Yeah, they're playing in a wrestling ring.

  2. Stop me if you've heard this before but I'm going out on a huge limb here and declare publicly that Tiger Woods isn't going to break Jack's record for Major wins. Tiger turns 38 over the winter and his play this weekend proves he doesn't have the ability anymore to play 4 rounds of golf and consistently beat today's younger golfers. Will Tiger ever win another Major? Sure, maybe even pull a second one out of his ass like Jack did at age 46. But no way does he win 5 majors.

    1. Yes. His run was unparalleled, and anyone who tries to make an argument that he didn't the greatest peak ever is deluding themselves (I happen to think he's probably just number one in general, but I suppose that's at least more open for debate than the other statement). I think I can safely say that he's done as a dominator, though. I agree with your assessment for his future. I think he'll probably pull one out, but there's only four of these things a year, and I don't think there's any way he can get lucky or consistent enough to even win three, much less five.

      In fact, if the over/under were set at one and a half, I think I might take the under at this point.

      1. Just remember that Jack had 18 major wins, 19 second place finishes, and 7 third place finishes for a grand total of 46 top three finishes in majors.

        1. He had nowhere near the peak that Woods had, but like I said, the quality of their respective careers is debateable, at least. I'd give the edge to Woods, because of quality of competition and unheard of level he played at for 11 or 12 years.

          1. Over a period of 12 years from 1970-1981, Nicklaus had 41 (of 48) top ten finishes in majors, including 10 wins and 7 second place finishes.

            In Tiger's best 12 year span, he had 31 of 48 top ten finishes, including 13 wins and 6 second place finishes.

            Tiger did win 7 of 11 majors from 1999-2002, so that period of time is unmatched by Jack, but over 11 or 12 years, the peaks of Jack and Tiger are very comparable. Tiger had a couple more wins, but Jack was more consistently in contention.

            1. Tiger made the cut in 142 consecutive tournaments, against the highest competition the game has ever seen (the fact that Nicklaus had 105 at one time is shocking enough, pretty much everyone on the 'most consecutive cuts made' list played a hundred years ago, when the level of play was much lower). He played the final day in every tournament he played for 7 straight years. His victory at the 2000 U.S. Open has to be considered the most dominant major tournament ever played.

              Both were ridiculous golfers, and this is fun if for no other reason than it gives a person a chance to look at just how amazing they were, I just give the edge to Tiger.

  3. Chris Parmelee is now hitting .360/.471/.703 in 208 PAs for Rochester. I have a hard time imagining the Twins not being able to find him a place to play everyday in the lineup next year.

    1. I have a hard time imagining the Twins not being able to find him a place to play everyday in the lineup this year, but apparently Gardy couldn't do it.

      1. Where would he play? Until and unless they trade the Mountie, there's no real room for him as a regular. Too bad he hits lefty.

        1. He can play first sometimes to let Morneau have a day off or DH. He can play right field sometimes. He can DH sometimes. This is a team that has given 49 outfield/DH starts to Ryan Doumit, 25 outfield starts to Darin Mastroianni, 9 outfield starts to Erik Komatsu, and 7 outfield starts to Clete Thomas. I think a good manager could find a way to get Chris Parmelee regular big-league at-bats.

          1. Yes, he can "play" right field. There is no reason to have started Komatsu or Thomas over Parmelee, but Mastoianni is a RH and Doumit a SH, and we need righties in the lineup right now.

            1. Also, Mastroianni does get the occasional start, but most would consider him a defensive replacement (and a very good one, at that). Doumit has been a solidly above average hitter, and will be with the team for the foreseeable future, so eliminating his at bats doesn't make a lot of sense, either, as he has more value to the team when he's not simply "backup catcher".

              I would guess that the team will try to alleviate this by trading Span or Revere, but I've grown to love the outfield defense as she stands.

              1. I would guess that the team will try to alleviate this by trading Span or Revere

                Or Morneau. Thinking of Parmelee as an outfielder is wrong. He's a poor man's Morneau.

                2. I'm not saying Parmelee should be an outfielder forever. I'm saying he can play there some now to get some big league at-bats. It wouldn't be the first time a young player was asked to play out of position for a while to get some big league playing time. Ryan Doumit's not an outfielder, either, and he's substantially older, yet the Twins have found playing time for him out there.

                  You've got a team that's going nowhere, and yet you can't find playing time for a guy with an OPS of over a thousand in AAA? Come on.

      1. This, plus Diamond, Plouffe and Revere, although Revere emergence wasn't the surprise the other three have been.

        1. Diamond's ERA is unsustainable, but what he's doing in terms of peripherals is in line with what he did in the minors. For instance, he had slightly better peripherals in the minors than Nick Blackburn and now he's pitching slightly better than Blackburn did at age 25-26. Meanwhile, Billy Bullock still can't find the strike zone.

    1. he was on my fantasy team seven straight years, so yeah I was over him a while ago. Amani Toomer as well. That dude never got me enough points, despite drafting him six straight seasons.

        1. the one thing you could say about ochocinco's career was, "well, at least he's pretty much stayed out of trouble."

            1. You see I was going to say that I always liked Chad because while he loved the spotlight, he didn't seem like quite as big a jerk as TO, etc. I went and looked up this news story, and I'm glad I didn't. Sigh.

              1. I had always defended him as such in the past. Unfortunate.

                Eh, I regret nothing, any discussion of an athlete's actions carries the disclaimer that we know nothing about what they are like except for what the TV shows us for a few hours a week.

  5. Lucy and I went to Crave for dinner on Saturday night in downtown MPLS. We had a reservation, but decided to sit on the rooftop, as it was a beautiful night outside. We found out when we got up there that the menu wasn't the same as in the regular part of the restaurant, but that was okay... we wanted to enjoy the weather. Just as our food arrived, and it was pretty good, three dudes sat down right by us and started smoking. I was not pleased with this. At all. I didn't say anything, but is this legal? Must be, (update: yes, it is) because pretty soon, two other people were smoking very close to us.

    Suffice it to say, we will not be eating on the rooftop there again.

    2. Restaurants are tough businesses. Most of them want to accomodate as many customers as they can but state law makes it hard to accomodate smokers in this state for at least half the year. I guess I just always assume that outdoor seating areas are really there to accomodate the smokers first and everyone else second. It's not an easy balance for them to strike. Did you mention to a manager that they might want to post a notice on the rooftop that smoking is permitted? That way everyone going up there would know the ground rules and could make their seating decisions accordingly.

      1. I didn't say anything. Now, though, I know. In the future, I will ask about smoking on any outdoor seating, for sure.

  6. Nishi Down, Plouffe up.
    Couldn't have played the guy once at home for my son, eh?

    I'm extra-bummed that I missed the pregame signing event. I knew that existed, but it felt like it might be too much trouble, so I didn't even ask where to do it. (I didn't know it would be Nishi, then hoped I'd at least never find out if it was Nishi. I feel like a bad Dad, even though I bought HPR a Nishi Shirsey, and the kids got to run the bases. Now I'm hoping Nishi's still with the club next season, and will sign things (for cash) at Twinsfest.)

    Has anyone taken their kids to that? What time does it start and end? (I'm hoping someone tells me it was 10:30-11:30, because we didn't get there until about 11:30.)

    1. I got a feeling that once he's a teenager, HPR and I are going to have to drive cross-country to get Chuck James and Nishi signatures.

  7. So, after the Sunday games, kids under 14 are allowed to run the bases. I was told to show up behind section 131 after the 8th inning. Stopped first by the Fan Services window behind 112 for AJR's "First Game" certificate. (Wish I'd've known about those for HPR and CER, too.)

    Then got to 131, where there was already a line. Got in place, and we took turns watching the game over the railing. Then, when HPR and CER were watching, in the 10th the line started moving, and I didn't know where CER was exactly. Little freakout, she had gone to a stairs for a better view.

    Where were we moving to? Into ramps down into TF bowels. So, I've got three kids, sugared out, out of water, and we don't know how long the game is or what the score was. I assumed they moved us into the bowels so that, had it gone any more innings, us parents didn't start a mutiny and rush the field with our children. It was long, hot, and boring. Someone near us had a smart phone but didn't seem to understand baseball.

    So, asking the kids afterwards their favorite part of the game... running the bases was the top pick of all 3. Worth it, I guess.

    1. I'm grumbling a lot, it was fun, quite so. But I'm very tired: taking three including a toddler is a lot more work than taking two older than five, especially when I wasn't sure if it'd get hotter or cooler, so I packed jackets and shorts. At least HPR and CER are big enough to get concessions and hit the restrooms on their own (using the buddy system), so we didn't have to take all bags and the toddler for each concession.

    1. On The Daily Mail's story on the ending ceremony, the top-rated comment comes from an American, "Critch" from Missouri, who wrote: "You're Great Britain for a reason, excellent Olympics....congratulations." That sentiment was "liked" 3,513 times by the story's readers.

      I thought you were linking to a news story. My bad.

    1. Say what you will about the wisdom of sleeping in a dumpster. But all in all, Gilpatrick came out looking less foolish than his drinking buddy who decided to drive home. Gilpatrick notes that his friend, while not sustaining any life-threatening injuries, was involved in a three-car accident.

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