Cup of Coffee

June 4, 2013: Homesick

52 Comments

Last night, Sour Cream made it until about 10:15 on her first overnight away from the house. I was surprised the little one lasted even that long. Luckily, the friend lives in our complex, so collecting her was a snap.

52 thoughts on “June 4, 2013: Homesick”

  1. that Game 7 last night was a serious let-down.

    Indy really needs another shooter to open things up down low. I wonder where they could find an All Star-caliber player....

    also, DJ Augustin has to be one of the weakest backup PGs in the league. Maybe the new GM in Sactown could rob Indy blind find a win-win trade to move JIMMER! He'd be PERFECT in Indiana. (I jest, but he might actually be a good fit as a Steve Kerr-like spot up shooter off the bench)

  2. So, uh... I know a guy with a BP premium subscription. He sent me a copy of an article asking "Who would you rather have, Sano or Buxton?"

    Survey of 20 people (GM's, scouts, etc.), and it wasn't even close.

    Spoiler SelectShow

    The last line of the story got me very excited:

    I look forward to the new wave of well rounded toolsheds that come complete with baseball instincts and feel that could one day consume the major-league landscape, the Profars, the Taverases, the Yeliches, the Correas, and the future face of that movement, Byron Buxton.

    Other choice quotes:
    “Sano could change the fortunes of a team, Buxton could change the fortunes of the league."
    “Buxton is the best player I have ever scouted in the minors..”
    “I’d take Buxton, but its weird because I just got through telling a story about a Sano batting practice display that still sends chills up my spine. I’d give my firstborn to get Sano into this org. I wonder what I would have to give up to get Buxton?”

    1. Okay, I'm just trying to get my head around the idea of referring to people as "well rounded toolsheds."

    4. Not to be Mr. Cold Shower here, but if you look up scouting reports on young Delmon Young, you see some incredible stuff, too. I'd love for Buxton to be all that, and he's done very well so far, but I'm going to wait and see.

        1. I'm sure Mr. Buxton will be finishing the season with the Twins as they cap off their incredible run going 133-29.

        2. Trout also was drafted as a 17-yr-old. Both Trout and Buxton started their first full season at Cedar Rapids. Trout started the next year at AA and skipped AAA to go to the majors in July where he struggled. He started the next season in AAA and was called up for good at the end of April.

      2. I agree... We're not exactly discussing the HOF here. Or even the Twins HOF. But we've got 2 of the best prospects in the game, which is some exciting stuff.

      3. I agree its good to temper enthusiasm in the wake of the _elm_n era, but at least with Buxton, I think most of us have seen video of him playing and know he does not, in fact, wear roller skates.

        2. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Buxton can't be a good player, or even a great player. I'm just saying that he's still in Class A, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.

      4. Sano is a better comp for Delmon than Buxton. Both Sano and Delmon always had a bunch of strikeouts. Delmon consistently had better batting averages but Sano has consistently walked more. Delmon hit for a ton of power his first two seasons but then it just stopped when he got to AAA. Trout had a .979 OPS at Cedar Rapids in his first full season with a 52/46 K/BB rate. Buxton currently has a .980 OPS at Cedar Rapids in his first full season with a 40/36 K/BB rate.

      5. If you truly wanted to be Mr. Cold Shower, you could remind everyone that both of them aren't pitchers.

      6. You're going to wait and see about Buxton ... and predict the Twins will win every game for the balance of the season? I think it's perfectly reasonable to be excited about Buxton. Frankly, it was perfectly reasonable for Rays fans to be excited about Delmon. Buxton's already obviously a better fielder than Delmon was, which gives him both more potential and more room for error when it comes to offense.

        I think it's unfair to point to Delmon as an example of how scouts are over-enthusiastic about prospects. I think it's amazing how good scouts are at their jobs by and large. Mauer was every bit as good as promised. For that matter, Mark Prior was as good as promised. Steven Strasburg's career xFIP is 2.75--which makes it 0.75 lower than Johan Santana's xFIP. It also makes Strasburg's career xFIP better than any one individual season that Santana's had. Bryce Harper is living up to all his hype. Mike Trout is great. Predicting the future is a difficult business, but scouts are pretty good at it by and large.

        Look at last year's All-Star starting lineup:

        Carlos Gonzalez -- International Free Agent
        Melky Cabrera -- International Free Agent
        Ryan Braun -- 1st round, 5th overall
        Joey Votto -- 2nd round
        Carlos Beltran -- 2nd round
        Buster Posey -- 1st round, 5th overall
        Pablo Sandoval -- International Free Agent
        Dan Uggla -- 11th round
        Rafael Furcal -- International Free Agent
        Matt Cain -- 1st round, 25th overall

        Derek Jeter -- 1st round, 6th overall
        Robinson "Rhymes with Sano" Cano -- International Free Agent
        Josh Hamilton -- 1st round, 1st overall
        Jose Bautista -- 20th round
        Prince Fielder -- 1st round, 7th overall
        Adrian Beltre -- International Free Agent
        David Ortiz -- International Free Agent
        Mike Napoli -- 17th round
        Curtis Granderson -- 3rd round
        Justin Verlander -- 1st round, 2nd overall

        To recap:

        7 International free agents
        7 1st round draft picks
        2 2nd round draft picks
        1 3rd round draft pick
        3 Others

        So that's 3 of 20 All-Stars who weren't really highly rated by scouts before they signed a professional contract.

        How can I not be excited about Buxton? His numbers look great, he was selected above all but one of the players in his draft class, and scouts still rave about him after he's entered the minors. If I can't get excited about Buxton, I don't know who I could be excited about in the minors.

        1. You’re going to wait and see about Buxton … and predict the Twins will win every game for the balance of the season?

          Well, that's my point. We can afford to be patient. We don't need him!

    5. “Sano could change the fortunes of a team, Buxton could change the fortunes of the league.”

      sounds like Roy Smalley describing Pedro Florimon

  3. so, the Alma Mater's Division of Student Life (back in my day, it was the Dean of Students' office, and we liked it!), is holding a "puppy palooza" puppy petting event on friday, during finals week. I'm paying for my kid to be happy????

    1. I go to the casino in Nekoosa ever couple of weeks. Had no idea such a dinky little town produced a first round MLB pick. Clearly it didn't produce an MLB player.

    2. The Twins didn't have much patience for Brandt

      That goes for all of us, amiright?

  5. I will be leaving soon to go to Bismarck for United Methodist Annual Conference, which will last until Saturday. Assuming the internets work in North Dakota, Minor Details and Happy Birthday should continue as normal.

      1. I'm in Bismarck now and am staying in the Ramkota Hotel, if you have time and would like to look me up.

  6. Anybody here who follows Goofer (or other Big Ten hoops) have a scouting report on Maurice Cheek from Indiana (Magoo, maybe)? He just transferred to GW for his senior season. I understand he's been decimated by injuries, but I'm curious to know what sort of upside there is.

    1. I watched both Hoosier games against the Gophers (and several others this season) but I didn't remember this guy at all. Turns out he only played 3 minutes total in those two games. So, sorry; as a Gopher fan I can't say anything about him.

      1. I think he was in the doghouse last season coming off some injuries. Apparently a few years ago he was a pretty good player before his knees went south.

      1. Heh, it's actually Maurice Creek. I guess I was thinking wishfully.

  7. Bird watching: besides the usual robins and grackles and mourning doves I saw a blue heron sitting in one of the ponds at the gulf course. it flew away before I could get close enough for a decent pic, but it was beautiful.
    maybe someone can help me, because I cant seem to get a track on it, but I saw a bird that looked like a chipping sparrow but it big, like robin sized. it was perched on the baseball field fence and I could get close to it, but didnt have my phone to snap a pic.

    1. Did the non-chippy have that distinct cap?
      You're down Madelia way, right? (I do Occam's Razor bird IDs. Location is important.)

      1. yep Madelia
        it had that cap and it was reddish brown, but like I said, it was too big to be a chipping sparrow, unless it was a mutant

        1. I've got some very bad possibilities:
          Cactus Wren: approx right size, sorta sparrow-colored, had rufous-brown cap. However: only found in the Southwestern deserets.

          Brown Thrasher: Rufous cap, but also full rufus back. Striped belly. Bigger than Robin. Doesn't seem likely to hang out at ballpark.

          Female Red-winged blackbird. Almost the right size. Right place. Likely. Coloring iffy. Females are sparrow-like, and have a light eyebrow like chippy, but their crown isn't the reddish-brown.

    2. I got Blue Herons flying over my house every 15 minutes or so. We're just up the river bank from what's supposedly one of the largest heron rookeries on this section of the Mississippi. (Moreso now that the North Mpls tornado from two years ago destroyed one down that way.) They all build their nests together, but then take turns caring for the chicks and flying out to ponds and swampland etc for feeding. So I call those flying over to be commuters.

  8. word to Jeff A: here's an opportunity to expand the horizons of your ministry!

    Last summer, the American Bar Association called for government programs to subsidize lawyers who live and work in rural communities. The first state to act was South Dakota, which passed a law in March to assist the recruitment of attorneys in rural areas.

    Sixty-five percent of South Dakota's attorneys live in just four of the state's 46 counties. Under the new law, South Dakota counties can provide five years of incentive pay to attorneys who settle within their boundaries. The annual subsidy rate is $12,000.

    2. Thanks, but I was aware of it. In fact, one of the people on the state committee to do this lives in beautiful downtown Gettysburg.

  9. The Mookie Blaylock story is pretty sad.

    Blaylock, driving south of Atlanta, lost control of his SUV, crossed the median and struck a van driven by Frankie Murphy. His wife, Monica, 43, was killed, and he suffered a broken ankle.

    Mosley said the Murphys have five children, ages 3 to 15. The family had just moved to Georgia from Mississippi.

    Authorities are checking whether Blaylock, 46, has had previous charges of driving with a suspended license. If he has four in five years, that misdemeanor could be upgraded to a felony.

    His family has said he has a history of seizures.

    1. As someone whose license was once suspended because of a seizure, I can empathize with everyone involved. It was extremely frustrating to lose my driving privileges for six months (thankfully, I was in college, so I was rarely driving anyway), and I was tempted to drive a few times because I hadn't had any problems.

Comments are closed.