112 thoughts on “July 26, 2013: Lost Day”

  1. That's so crappy. GRZ is at the stage where she always misses us, and tells us as soon as possible. Yesterday, she informed me that she missed me (when she was at my MIL's house), and she loves me very much. This was followed promptly by her informing me that she doesn't want me to go to work (today), because she'll miss me again! So I definitely feel your pain.

    1. Yeah, I remember the days of the girls begging me not to go to work. That was rough, since at the time I had a strong natural aversion to the place.

  2. My daughter does not like to talk on the telephone. When my wife hands the phone to her, she hangs it up. Facetime works better, she will talk to me if she can see me. But, I have not talked to her much in the past three days. Five more to go and I'll be home for two weeks. I've gotten used to this, but it would be easier if she would talk on the phone.

    1. on the flipside, jane was gone all week and just got back last night. the boy was perfect for me the whole week. seriously, almost no problems at all, and even started some good habits i've been trying to start for awhile. all of that is crashing down.

      1. Similar thing in my house this week (not the habits part, the wife gone part), though my wife won't be home until today and Kernel is finally starting to act up a little (misses her momma I'm sure).

      2. Oof. Mr. NaCl and I both traveled a bit this spring, and it seemed like the jalapeno was easier when one of us was gone than when we were both home.

    2. The girls get bored of the phone quickly, though it was worse a few years back. Facetime, yeah. They'll talk forever, and just show me things around my mom's house, like they did this morning. My mom laughed and asked me if I was getting bored, and I responded, truthfully, that there was nothing I'd rather do than have my kids take me on an iPad tour of a place I've been to many times.

          2. When I was in Russia last year, I called Mrs. Hayes on FaceTime. She was ecstatic - it was the longest we'd been apart since we were married. Technology can be pretty cool.

  3. I just have to say something. Media types are speculating that A-Rod might be facing a lifetime ban. On what freaking basis are they saying this? There is a collectively bargained policy that includes a third offense that is one season. He's never been suspended before! He might accept a longer ban (than 50 games for a first time offense) in return for some privacy regarding what MLB knows, but a lifetime ban? The Yanks owe him > $100 million! If that's me, I fight like hell for that $100 million and you know what? Baseball won't be able to suspend him.

    Spoiler SelectShow

    2. Just as long as the Yankees don't get out of the contract, that's what I've been saying.

    3. I wonder if A-Rod was laying down bets on baseball games. Remember, two years ago he was investigated for allegedly taking part in illegal poker games. Because I also don't see how MLB could level a lifetime ban for using PEDs under the current Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program for a first offense. That said, A-Rod did test positive for steroid use in 2003, before the JDPTP was adopted. MLB may try to count that as a first offense because technically steroids were banned then.

      1. If he had been betting on baseball, I'm sure the Yankees would have let us know about it by now.

      1. “Here’s something that will get people talking tweeting about my article!”

        FTFY.

  4. I didn't realize El Tri lost to Panama on Wednesday night. That brings a big smile to my face. Birds of War vs. Panama on Sunday afternoon (4/3PM Central) on FOX in the Gold Cup Final.

    1. I also did not realize that. The only problem with Mexico's struggles is that it hurts the US (and CONCACAF's rankings) meaning we'll get pooled with all the Asian/African countries and get a harder World Cup draw.

    2. having both my computer and PS3 hooked up to the TV already takes care of a good portion of this, however if we ever got a second TV i'd definitely look into this.

    3. Interesting. I might consider that instead of the Roku we've been considering. What's the connector on that thing? HDMI?

          1. The Roku also has way more options right now. The ChromeCast will get more support quickly, but I'm not sure MLBAM or HBO will support it for a long time.

      3. Yes. A Youtube video embedded on the Google store site for the Google Chromecast shows it being plugged into a TV's HDMI port. I'd consider it if I had a better computer, but videos too often jump around on my computer. Our Roku does a great job displaying video.

        1. this might be an avenue for us to take better advantage of The Boy's subscription to Netflix, currently only available via the game-playing thingamajig (technical term) connected to our downstairs tv and (allegedly, according to The Boy) through our PC, also downstairs.

    5. I ordered it day one, pretty much as soon as it was announced. Between having a subscription to Google Play Music and having a lot of family pictures on dropbox, I think it'll be worth the effective $16 paid.

      1. I'm pretty sure that we did this tour once upon a time. Five years in San Diego, I would have hoped so....

      2. CH - not really. I did a 2-week outboard engine "C" School at NAB Coronado, but that was the extent of my time on the west coast and my only weekend was spent visiting my sister in SanFran. I selected orders to Bremerton/Everett and Pearl and the Navy sent me to my final choice...armpit Portsmouth, VA.

        1. Boy, does that sound familiar. Our choice of duty stations following my first MOS school was pretty sweet - HQ 4th Marine Division (pre-Katrina New Orleans), MCAS Iwakuni, and others I don't remember. I had finished third in the class, so I had a pretty good pool to pick from. The guy who became my best friend and I chose to stick around for another MOS instead. We wound up finishing first and second in our class, so we picked two battalions in the same regiment at Camp Pendleton as our duty stations. In the infinite wisdom of the Corps, the duty stations offered after we picked up an additional MOS were mostly awful - several for 29 Palms, and plenty of others in the Carolinas.

  7. I just saw that Henry Blanco and Drew Butera both appeared in last night's Twins game.

    *WORLDS COLLIDE*

    2. I saw them in person! At the game, I wanted to blame Correia's performance on Herrmann for not being Joe Mauer. Then I definitely blamed Drew Butera for the loss, as he made the last out and the rest of the order would certainly have found a way to come up with 6 runs without making another out.

        1. True, but you also provided a very cogent explanation of the rule and what everyone should have done. I enjoyed it.

        1. what the commenters are failing to understand is that the runners didn't do what they were "supposed" to because the umps didn't shout "INFIELD FLY!" for the runners to react to, like you were saying should have happened.

    4. To play devil's advocate (also not having seen the play), I would not expect the batter to get thrown out at first base on an infield fly. That is in part why the rule is structured such that you need to have runners on 1st and 2nd (and potentially 3rd) rather than just on 1st--a fielder dropping an infield fly with just a runner on first base should really only be able to get one out.

      1. Friere was quite close to the ball. It didn't go up high, but he was under it easily and it was obvious he intentionally didn't catch it, which is why I keep reading about how smart he was despite the fact he threw to the wrong base. My reaction was that it would have been an error if he actually tried to catch it and didn't get an out. Also, if he did catch it, no one would have commented on him making a nice play or anything like that. That all sounds like "ordinary effort" to me, and it really wasn't borderline. The problem was that it wasn't in the air very long and I think the umps just are used to having more time to make the call and didn't react in time. Barrett even told the PiPress that the ball had enough arc to be called, but Friere wasn't "camped underneath it," which isn't in the rulebook.

  9. Just to show where I got my info on Sano that we discussed yesterday (I would have shown it if I had remembered):

    1. I wonder if upon return to the dugout, he told his teammates that he was "el acuerdo verdad".

    2. This isn't a first time for him. This was from last year:

      In the second game, Sano stroked a double and a homer and drew a walk. His league-leading eighth longball came with one out in the top of the ninth and broke a 3-3 tie.

      "I saw a curve come out of his hands early," Sano said, referring to reliever Carmine Giardina. "It was up and outside. I saw it break middle-away, I stayed back on it and hit it pretty far."

      Both benches cleared after the homer -- reportedly in response to Sano's celebration -- but no punches were thrown.

      "My emotions were a bit high in reaction to the home run," Sano said. "It was an intense moment in the game and I got a little emotional. Everyone got back in the dugout without any punches or shoving. The coaches and umpires did a good job keeping things under control."

      Sano played the next day after this, but the Twins may have sat him down and said "Don't do it again." I can understand the Twins being upset about something like this that could start a brawl involving several top prospects.

      1. as a general rule, baseball players (like many other team-sport athletes) are children, emotionally. That goes for everyone involved in this kind of stuff.

        1. as a general rule, baseball players (like many other team-sport athletes people their age) are children, emotionally.

          FTFY

      2. I've thought about this, and although I personally don't care about ballplayers having attitude, I also don't care about the organization trying to rein in Sano's attitude as long as they're not telling him to hit everything the other way (which it seems like they're not so far, so good).

    3. This seems like the sort of thing that has probably happened many times in the course of minor league baseball history--the immaturity and the benching--but is just more visible now in the information age.

    4. According to Reusse, Sano's homer came off former Rock Cat Bobby Lanigan, whom Sano had gotten into a loud argument with when they were teammates. Manager Jeff Smith confronted Sano about the celebration, and Sano basically told him he could do what he wants. This all happened in front of Terry Ryan, so not good. This could be a lengthy benching.

      2. I've heard that TR is basically the most humorless and least flexible person on the planet. And he reportedly has a very long memory. Sounds like Sano really stepped in it there.

        Also, Reusse is spot on. The Twins' lack of diversity in the organization is almost absurd.

        1. This is even more interesting when you consider that two of the Twins' greatest position players are Zonian-Panamanian and Cuban, and (arguably) its greatest pitcher is Venezuelan.

          1. I wonder if those of South American and Caribbean descent are less likely to want to settle down and get coaching jobs in the great white cold north? That thought may be totally without basis, but it crossed my mind.

      3. On a side note, IIRC both times Sano was over the top on his HR celebration, it came after the opponents pissed him off. I do like how he answers with HRs.

    1. The graphic above, by my fellow Deadspinner Reuben Fischer-Baum, shows the correlation between winning percentage—or points, in the case of the possibly nonexistent NHL—and SportsCenter mentions for teams across the four major leagues.* Our focus here is on just what about a team attracted the attention of SportsCenter's all-seeing eyebeams over the course of a normal season. Our conclusion is that there was a reasonably strong correlation between winning percentage and SportsCenter mentions. It was statistically significant for all leagues except the NHL.

      Uhhhh. How, exactly, did they get that "except the NHL" from the regression results presented in the first set of graphs?

    2. So...being a good athlete made Tiger Woods a bully. Even for armchair psychology, this is pretty poor.

      1. Remember how he bullied that guy when he won the U.S. Open playing on one leg over an 18 hole playoff? That was the height of cowardice.

    3. Silly me, I always thought the color red symbolized sexual fervor. Did I mention yesterday that the only thing we like better than putting celebrities on pedestals is knocking the pedestals out from under celebrities?

  15. Another example as to why Patrick Reusse is the greatest:

    1. And then you get moronic stuff like this:

      Presuming Mauer babies are OK, a very bad PR move for Joe not to be in Seattle on Saturday. Mauer bashers live for times like this.— Patrick Reusse (@1500ESPN_Reusse) July 26, 2013

      I took at least three weeks off for each of my boys. Joe takes four games off and is bashed for it. Actually, he was being bashed for taking 1 game off.

      1. I took two weeks off. I wonder if there's a time limit players can take for paternity leave?

        1. The max paternity leave is three days, but they can be put on a restricted list and just not get paid, which is what Mauer is doing. By law, everyone has at least 12 weeks they can take off without pay and not lose their job or be punished by their work.

        2. I am going to take two weeks off this time (though the second week will be working from home. This country sucks with paternity leave) same as I did last time. Coincidentally, I will be starting that time off Monday because they decided to induce her tonight because she became pre-eclamptic. Here's to hoping all goes ok tonight.

            1. Yeah, it sorta caught us by surprise today. She's had the gestational hypertension thing going on again, but it got away from her this time. She's 35 weeks, so he's at least pretty much at term, which is good. There'll be a brief stay in the NICU, though.

              EDIT: Its been a little stressfull, which I'm sure most of you can imagine.

                1. Thanks guys. In our case, the NICU is just a requirement of the hospital for premies. We don't have any reason to expect he will have any major issues, so it shouldn't be as stressful as other reasons for babies to be in there.

                  Most of my stress is from the fact that its all of a sudden happening now and we aren't even close to having his room ready. We did luck out on having someone willing and able to take the trinket tonight, though.

                  2. Best of luck to the frugal family! If it's any consolation, we didn't manage to have the room ready before the baby came either time.

      3. I cant believe this is even a discussion point. If Mauer wants to stay an extra day instead of flying to Seattle and back for 1 game, he can do that. I think he has earned enough capital.

  16. so, Day 4 of the Great Pickle Experiment. The first taste-test. Verdict: yumm.

    I skimmed off a bit of white scum from both jars (mold, or just lactobacillus plaque?). The aroma from the jars was fresh, briney and pickle-y. I wish I'd remembered the garlic, and definitely will put some mustard seed in next time as well. But they got a nice sour tang and still have plenty crunch. I put one jar in the fridge and left one out for additional room-temp fermentation. Will do a pictorial tomorrow.

    1. Can't wait to see the evidence. My pickles from last year were tasty but most certainly not crunchy.

    1. I had to google that, but yeah- that looks like one of those things that you have to do, but hate doing.

  18. If you ever want to know what it's like hiking for two days in the pouring rain, give me a call.

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