110 thoughts on “August 23, 2013: Greg”

  1. I have no idea if Chris Herrmann is going to amount to much as a Major League ballplayer, but right now I would rather have him in the lineup everyday that about 6 player on this team.

  2. I'm shocked, shocked that the NFL would put pressure on ESPN and doctors not to cooperate with a PBS special on concussions in the NFL.

    The N.F.L. was not supportive of the documentary. Aiello, the spokesman, said the league declined to make Goodell and other executives available for it. The league allowed the doctors who advise it on concussions to decide for themselves if they wanted to take part.“Frontline” has interviewed several doctors who advise or have advised the league, but Aronson-Rath said three members of the N.F.L.’s head, neck and spine committee had recently agreed to on-camera interviews before canceling them.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/sports/football/nfl-pressure-said-to-prompt-espn-to-quit-film-project.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

  3. Going through transactions, I note that the Astros acquired Japhet Amador. If anyone followed the winter league reports last year, you might remember the name. He's a 26-year-old slugger who's been playing in the Mexican League. I only mention him because he's listed at 6'4", 315 pounds. If he makes it, people are going to notice him.

    1. Tweet from Richard Dreyfuss:

      You read for a part, you feel good about it, you feel confident, then they cast Ben Affleck.

      1. If he can bring half of the awesome that he brought to Daredevil... I don't want to jinx it, but we could have something special, here.

          1. I'm assuming if nothing else I'll be able to understand what he says a lot more often than I could with Bale in the Nolan films.

          1. If a studio wants to spend $43 million so Jennifer Garner can wear revealing skin-tight leather outfits, who am I to say them nay?

      2. With Zack Snyder directing, I don't even know if Daniel Day Lewis as Batman could save the film.

        Mr. Snyder sharing the preferred spelling of my first name, as well as the first initial of my surname, just sunk in with me and I don't like it. Not one bit.

          1. I loathed his adaptation of Watchmen and actually had to stop watching Sucker Punch about 45 minutes in. And I was partly intoxicated while watching SP. I always forget he did the remake of Dawn of the Dead, I'll admit that was pretty well done.

              2. Yes, indeed I did. It was different from the graphic novel, but when has that ever NOT been the case with adaptations?

                The graphic novel has some significant problems, IMO, not the least of which are the very time-bound political critiques and the bizarro stuff in the ending. The film had a few of its own problems, but, for the most part, was very enjoyable and sufficiently true to the spirit of the graphic novel to satisfy me.

                1. I read about the ending of the graphic novel at the depository and decided that I had no desire to ever read the graphic novels.

          2. Yeah, his Dawn of the Dead remake was what really got Linds and me into the genre (I had seen a few others, but that was the first that really caught my eye). It's all been downhill since that.

            1. Same here, really. If I had started with Romero's original, I probably wouldn't have watched another zombie movie.

              1. I like Night of the Living Dead a fair bit, but yeah, Romero's original Dawn is not in my top ten favorites, I don't think*.

                (*admittedly not a list I've actually made)

                1. At the risk of too much non-movie day discussion, I agree about Night of the Living Dead. That movie is why I consider Romero a one-hit-wonder.

    4. If I had my way:
      1. JGL
      2. Michael Gambon
      3. Ciaran Hinds

      In probably unrelated news, one of SiL's very best friends had her second baby yesterday.
      First name: Bruce.
      Middle name: Wayne.
      (Their first, a girl, was named Deedee Ramona [Surname].)

            1. Kid names: maybe they'll have a third!
              Batman: No. I didn't like him in Willow. I don't think he'd be good in an action movie.

    5. My opinion is 'whatever' (just like the last 3 Batmans, Ill end up watching them on DVD) , but its not like Ben Afflack has been making craptastic movies lately.

      1. its not like Ben Afflack has been making craptastic movies lately.

        This is true. The Town and Argo were both fantastic.

        A superhero movie makes me skeptical, though.

      2. That's sort of my opinion. Superman is a boring superhero and combining him with Batman is just gonna make Batman lame too. DC just doesn't have the properties to compete with Marvel, other than Batman. Trying to make the Justice League happen is gonna cost WB a lot of money.

      1. yea, that's a drawback. I wonder what they would do if I brought my own and asked about "corkage"?

        1. I've heard of it being done before. Can't imagine it'd be any different than bringing in your own wine.

    2. Niiiiiice. I hope for a full report. I ate a lot of really great food when I was in California, but I regret not going somewhere really special. Next year.

        2. Double ditto.

          I'm looking forward to Dough-sant at the French Meadow Bakery stand at the Fair. That's pretty much the same.

          1. I won't be taking pictures, but there will be reportage. This is a late 50th birthday celebration. I campaigned for about 3 years for this event this year.

    4. Ooh, yummy. If I had to rate my favorite meals of all time it would be:
      1. The tasting menu at Antico Martini in Venice.
      2. Chili-cheese half-smoke, chili-cheese fries, and a banana milkshake at Ben's Chili Bowl (numerous times).
      3. Sea bass in papillote at Kaupe in Ushuaia.
      4. Turtle soup, souffle potatoes, and trout almondine at Galetoire's.
      5. The annual tasting menu experience at La Belle Vie for our anniversary.

      1. I forgot the honorable mentions for individual foods: the Cochon de Lait at JazzFest (OMFG!!!!), the pork adobo at Cafe Twenty-Eight (now closed, unfortunately), and the maple bacon steak at the Lynn. I'm noticing a trend in those foods...

        1. Galetoires and not the Bouchire? I'm a little bit surprised. (not really). (but maybe a little).

      2. #2 hits mine too.

        Duck Confit at the 700 Club in D.C. and the Gan Ped Yang at Nehramitra Thai (Crystal City)(also multiple times) would make my list too. So... two duck dishes.

        Not sure about the rest.

        1. boy, I'd really have to put some effort into coming up with a "greatest" list.

          I didn't have a lot of "fine dining" experience in childhood. I've had some really great meals in New Orleans, Denver, San Diego, LA, San Francisco, Savannah, DC, and Minneapolis over the years.

          Up on the list of great culinary experiences, whether fine dining or not, would have to be ribs from Big John Hardy's in Austin (he had a branch of his Rochester operation for a few years; my first real 'cue); subs from a shop across from our hotel in Baltimore when we were there in 1976; my first Thai and Vietnamese experiences (both in Minneapolis); some higher-end Greek food in Chicago's Greektown; half-smokes from street vendors in DC; Mozart Cafe in DC; the Red Sea in DC; and my first sushi experience, with The Roommate, in Minneapolis.

          1. Oh! I forgot eating ribs by Mike Mills. That goes to the top of the list. Duh. Silly me.

      3. I was fortunate enough to get the Lumberjack at the Blue Door when it was available, so that is my #1 meal of all time. I still think about it to this day.

        1. I forgot about the Lumberjack. I had that earlier this year, and it was phenomenal. Put it in the honorable mention pile.

            1. I think they do a Burger of the Month and it's in their rotation. It was February or March when I had it.

  6. People wonder why some of us sometimes express disdain for certain parts of the country. And then things like this happen. So sad.

    [hastening to add that eyewitnesses tried to help immediately and many in the community have stepped forward to help the family; but still, sickening and sad]

      1. I don't even have children yet, but every time I clicked 'reply' to that LTE, all that came out was angry rubbish. It's like the dad says, there's no good to come out of this - no lesson, no victory of any type, just sadness.

    2. When I was in college in St. Cloud, two young men who had a self-described obsession with vampires lured another young man into going camping with them along the Mississippi River not far from campus. They beat him to death with sticks of firewood, admittedly just so they could taste his blood. Within a year of that incident, a student rebuffed by a coed coworker stabbed her to death and dumped her body off the balcony of the Newman Center. I don't want to tread into the Forbidden Zone here, but I'll point out that the intentional homicide rate in America is about 400% higher than in this young man's native Australia.

  7. Last night I helped out the girlfriend of this kid while at work. She bought one of everything for their new home, single-handedly getting me to about 250% of my daily goals. I tell ya, kids with money might be dangerous, but in my experience, they're also polite and casual, which is about the polar opposite of what you'd guess from TV.

    The fact that she was dating a ballplayer came up naturally, as she was wearing a Reds tee shirt and I asked, since the Reds have people all over Goodyear for spring training purposes. She mentioned that he's going to AA next year (at 19 years old!) so I was naturally impressed, but boy oh boy, it looks like this kid needs help at the plate.

  9. I just got word that my uncle who has been fighting pancreatic cancer for more than a year died this morning. He'd been in a hospice for the last couple of weeks so it was not unexpected. He was as good a man and as decent a human being as I've ever known, and he's a big part of some wonderful memories from my childhood.

    [Redacted].

    1. sorry to hear that, Twayn, but thanks for sharing. The sharing is part of what makes this a great community.

  10. Thinking about Herrmann having a lot of high-impact late-game at-bats in his relatively few games this season, I thought I would look at WPA rates so far this season. Everything from Fangraphs. I don't understand why the totals don't add up, unless it's a rounding error.

    Batting:
    Top 5, bottom 5 (non-pitcher):

    Player WPA WPA/100 PA;
    Eduardo Escobar 0.57 0.40
    Joe Mauer 1.66 0.33
    Chris Herrmann 0.32 0.30
    Ryan Doumit 0.98 0.23
    Brian Dozier 1.02 0.22
    Jamey Carroll -1.00 -0.49
    Chris Parmelee -1.69 -0.62
    Pedro Florimon -2.20 -0.64
    Aaron Hicks -2.20 -0.70
    Drew Butera -0.04 -1.33

    Pitching (Top 5, bottom 5):

    Player WPA WPA/100 PA;
    Glen Perkins 2.75 1.40
    Brian Duensing 1.24 0.58
    Casey Fien 1.06 0.53
    Andrew Albers 0.36 0.32
    Jared Burton 0.65 0.28
    P.J. Walters -0.69 -0.38
    Pedro Hernandez -0.70 -0.41
    Vance Worley -1.13 -0.48
    Kyle Gibson -1.35 -0.57
    Tyler Robertson -0.07 -1.75

    Total (Top 8, bottom 8):

    Player WPA WPA/100 PA;
    Glen Perkins 2.75 1.40
    Brian Duensing 1.24 0.58
    Casey Fien 1.06 0.53
    Eduardo Escobar 0.57 0.40
    Joe Mauer 1.66 0.33
    Andrew Albers 0.36 0.32
    Chris Herrmann 0.32 0.30
    Jared Burton 0.65 0.28
    Jamey Carroll -1.00 -0.48
    Vance Worley -1.16 -0.49
    Kyle Gibson -1.35 -0.57
    Chris Parmelee -1.69 -0.62
    Pedro Florimon -2.20 -0.64
    Aaron Hicks -2.20 -0.70
    Drew Butera -0.04 -1.33
    Tyler Robertson -0.07 -1.75

    Full Lists:

    Spoiler SelectShow

    2. Huh. There's been something in the back of my head since the All-Star break trying to tell me that the Dunce has been pretty good this year, but I never bothered to look at his stats. I guess I should pay more attention to that something.

      1. Well, he's been good when the leverage has been higher.
        His ERA- is only 97 (where lower than 100 is better).
        His FIP and xFIP are 2.87 and 3.56. (3.91 ERA)
        FIP- and xFIP- are 72 and 89.
        So it looks like FIP likes him more than anyone else.
        BABIP is .350, but 0.37 HR/9. I'm guessing that FIP thinks the BABIP will progress to mean and xFIP buys that but also thinks that HRs will regress.

    1. I'm not sure, but guessing that the Onion may have recently hired a Ph.D. post-modernist.

        1. It's been a long time since I was there, but I think it's a good way to kill an afternoon. Plus you can stop off at John Hardy's for lunch. Now I'm hungry.

    1. especially if he played first base, which is the only other position he's played in the major leagues other than designated hitter.

      Not to nitpick, (okay, I'm nitpicking, it was one game) Mauer played in right field in 2011. Otherwise, I think you completely nailed it- Mauer is too valuable to risk him playing at catcher every day. I think the Twins have done a pretty good job managing his workload the last couple years, and I hope they keep it up.

      1. But so much of his value comes at catcher!

        Socal definitely lays out the arguments, but I still disagree. A few days on the DL for a catcher isn't unusual, and it doesn't mean he'll be there again soon.

        1. A few days on the DL for a catcher isn’t unusual

          Isn't that the whole point? My biggest fear is the extra risk of concussion at catcher. Those things can end your career just like that, such as Corey Koskie. Actually, what would probably be worse is if it didn't end his career but just made him a shell of himself like Morneau. Just good enough to be a major league player but not nearly as good as his salary demands.

          1. But isn't there risk in moving from catcher and having him be a good enough major-league first baseman but not nearly as good as his salary demands?

          2. But there's no reason to suspect he'd be more safe from concussion at 1B or anywhere else. Your cautionary tales are Koskie and Morneau, after all.

              1. Do we know that Minnesotans aren't close enough to being Canadian to be similarly susceptible?

                Spoiler SelectShow

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