66 thoughts on “November 4, 2013: Midnight Release”

  1. Speaking of the paper of record, there's a lengthy article about A-rod and MLB this morning.

    In the nine months since Mr. Rodriguez and more than a dozen other players were linked to a South Florida anti-aging clinic that is believed to have distributed banned substances to professional athletes, baseball officials and the Yankee third baseman have engaged in a cloak-and-dagger struggle surpassing anything the sport has seen

  2. So...all in all, a pretty good weekend for MN Sports Fans, no?

    Fri: Wolves 100, Thunder 81
    Wild 4, Canadiens 3

    Sat: Gophers 42, Hoosiers 39

    Sun: Wolves 109, Knicks 100
    Wild 4, Devils 0

    -and-

    Vikings 23, Cowboys 27

      1. Agreed. I was at the game on Friday night - he had a couple of awesome saves and, from what I can recall, the 3 he gave up were on some pretty tough shots.

      2. I wonder if the Wild are confident enough in Kuemper as a backup to Harding that they will trade Backstrom

        1. I have no idea - doesn't seem like Kuemper's seen much time between the pipes up here and I don't follow their Iowa affiliate enough to know how they like him.

        2. I don't think so. Harding only played in five games last year and it's only been a year since his diagnosis. I think the Wild will probably ride the hot/healthy goalie through this year and next. Backstrom and Harding combined only make a little north of $6 million per year.

    2. Especially for those of us that would like to see the Vikings become 4th fiddle in the state, despite their upcoming Super Bowl victory.

        1. I could totally see them bolting town after construction on the new stadium starts. That would be so Vikings/NFL-esque.

            1. I was thinking there'd be some language inserted that required the city to reimburse them for lost revenues due to moving to LA for the 5 years after that.

              1. Probably have to pay for moving expenses, too.
                And offset any negative tax impact from playing at the new site, full amount for the first five years, and then declining pro rata for the next 20.
                And also have to licensing rights for all of the Vikings logos built into the new ugly stadium.

        2. Just 4th?
          Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers, Scioscia's Misfits, Trojans, Buins, Kings, Hollywood Stars, Paparazzi, Probably some Soccer teams...

  3. So, let me get this straight:

    The A's can't move to San Jose because that's the San Francisco Giants' territory. However, MLB is threatening to move the A's home games to San Francisco's AT&T Park if the Oakland Coliseum Authority doesn't renew the A's's lease.

    Yeah, makes total sense.

    1. Funny. I had the Buffalucy Blucy yesterday for lunch. Also, fish tacos! Didn't bother to eat dinner:

      We soak bleu and cheddar cheeses in our very own buffalo sauce and cram it inside this monster. We slow cook chicken in more sauce, pull it, and pile it on top..add some bleu cheese crumbles, chunks of celery and wa la! Buffalo perfection!

    2. I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone characterize a bratwurst-on-bun as a sandwich, but I wonder if anyone writing for Slate has ever bothered to visit Wisconsin. My nomination for Wisconsin's best sandwich is the White House: sliced turkey breast and ham on open-faced rye or white toast, smothered in Mornay sauce, topped with a couple slices of bacon and some grated Parmesean or Asiago, then broiled.

    3. I'm sure they exist, but I've never heard of someone eating a "pheasant sandwich". Eating pheasant, yes, but not a pheasant sandwich.

    2. By my count, this will mark the 4th football team he's been kicked off of. What in the world would the NFL possibly have to gain by keeping him around? And how does a guy like that get on a "leadership council"?

    4. I find it hard to believe none of the Dolphins coaches or front office people knew this was going on until now.

  6. Wrist update. It turns out that the PA who read my X-ray read it wrong last night. My fracture is on the outside and not the inside of the wrist. It is a stable fracture, meaning (a) no surgery and (b) no limitation on motion, except as for pain limitations.

    So, yes, broken wrist but not that bad. It's more painful today, it's pretty swollen, and typing with it is a little more uncomfortable than I'd like, but I'll survive.

      1. Yes. The doctor told me that if she were going to pick a wrist fracture to suffer, this is the one she'd take.

    2. Sorry to hear about the injury, Stick. Rest, ice, compression and elevation. You'll be back doing toe loops in no time.

      1. Oh that I would be so limited.

        I get what you mean though, he can't finish in traffic at the hoop. If you remember, he used to get stuffed all the time. Now he can just shuffle the ball off to Pekasaurus and collect an assist in those situations.

          1. You are probably right. In the freak world of NBA players, Love is somewhat limited in that he's a super elite athlete instead of a superduper elite athlete.

            These first three games, man. Love looks like every bit the guy he was two years ago and then some. I can barely contain my excitement.

    1. In order for Miller to be elected, he needs 12 votes from the panel of 16. There are four executives on it and I'm dubious any of them will vote for Miller. The remaining 12 are: Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Whitey Herzog, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Phil Niekro, Frank Robinson, Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau), Bruce Jenkins (San Francisco Chronicle), Jack O’Connell (BBWAA), and Jim Reeves (retired, Fort Worth Star-Telegram). The players and historians (last four) seem likely to vote for Miller. I'm not sure about Herzog and Lasorda.

      1. Herzog was a GM as well as a manager and he HATED HATED HATED dealing with agents. I remember when I was doing my agent research (that Sean Forman incorporated into BRef) finding a bunch of articles from Herzog's time with the Angels (early 90s) in which he just screamed bloody murder about free agency. IIRC, he thought he had a shot at signing Bobby Bonilla, but went crazy when the Mets made their big offer. I don't know how much he'll support Miller.

        My ballot:
        Miller
        Steinbrenner (sort of fitting for him to go in with Miller as Miller's biggest beneficiary)
        Cox
        Simmons
        maybe Torre

        My vote against LaRussa is a protest vote that if the mediots won't elect Bonds/Clemens, etc., then I wouldn't vote for the biggest enabler of them all.

        1. Committee members in both 2010 and now:
          Whitey Herzog, Frank Robinson, Andy MacPhail, Jerry Reinsdorf (hugely anti-union)

          Committee members only in 2010:
          Johnny Bench, Eddie Murray, Jim Palmer, Tony Perez, Ryne Sandberg, Ozzie Smith, Bill Giles, David Glass, Bob Elliott, Tim Kurkjian, Ross Newhan, and Tom Verducci

          Committee members only now:
          Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Phil Niekro, Paul Beeston, Dave Montgomery, Steve Hirdt, Bruce Jenkins, Jack O’Connell and Jim Reeves

          Of the four carry-overs, Reinsdorf is an absolute lock to oppose Miller. Robinson is pretty much an absolute lock to support Miller. Who knows about the other two. Miller rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, so there could be a deep-seated anti-Miller grudge held by the MacPhail family dating back fifty years.

    2. No Lou Whitaker?! That's a travesty.

      Mark down Miller, Torre, LaRussa, Cox, and Simmons (12th highest career bWAR, 10th highest JAWS among catchers) for my ballot.

    1. A left handed DH who can't hit lefties? He probably takes ABs away from Arcia, right? Then, no.

        1. You're assuming they bring back Morneau, I guess. I wouldn't mind a cheap deal if Morneau wasn't back and they stuck Kubel or Arcia at first base and made sure they went through TK's school in spring training. Of course, I'm imagining Gardy having enough sense to platoon one of them with Plouffe at first with Sano taking over third base at least by June.

          1. Of course, I'm imagining Gardy having enough sense to platoon one of them

            Here's where it all falls apart.

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