83 thoughts on “April 15, 2014: Yeah I’m the Taxman”

  3. The peperoncino was kind enough to wake for a feeding during last night's lunar eclipse so that I could get a good look at it. Shortly after that, the jalapeno (age 3.5) wet through his overnight pull-up, so I figured he might as well see it too. He was groggy but did seem to recognize he was seeing something unusual. Woo?

    1. I was up but it was rainy here in the Capital. So no dice on the mini Mars [Or giant Mars in our view].

      1. The Mars thing is not a big deal. Unless you have a large telescope, you won't notice a difference between two weeks ago and last night and two weeks from now.

          1. Well, media has been playing up all the great "events" in the sky during a single evening, and what they consider an event is just something that happens all the time and isn't really an observable highlight.

            One that I did notice coming up that I'd like to (try remember to) see is where three of Jupiter's moons happen to line up vertically to one side of the planet.

  4. Miss SBG has been recovering her sleep for a couple of weeks from our cruise. It has been a chore to drag her out of bed. This morning, however, she was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

  5. All this talk reminds me that the Father Knows Best column has fallen into a state of neglect. Anyone interested? I'll throw my own name in, but can't do it this month. If anyone in particular wants to jump in for the 17th (or the 24th would be fine too), please let me below.

    April 24: Can of Corn
    May 15/22: spookymilk
    June 19:
    July 17:
    August 21:
    September 18:
    October 16:
    November 20:
    December 18:

    If you've done it before, who cares. We'd love to hear from you again. As always, I'll try to send a timely reminder.

    1. I'd like to write something. I'm not a father, but I'm about to be [in Junish] an uncle. So have have some thoughts on the whole process, although it won't be my own child. So if people don't think it'll be crazy I'm willing to throw my hat in the ring.

        1. I know you're being snarky, but I'd never claim to know the first thing about parenting. This is one of the many reasons J & I aren't having children.

          2. To be clear: I didn't read it as snarky. I have some thoughts. And I am willing to share them.

            2. to be clear, I was totally being snarky, but (and?) didn't mean anything by it other than the joak. I welcome perspectives from all angles. That's part of what makes this place fun.

    2. I'll take a slot--I've had something on my mind. (And it's not even related to sleep!)

      IIRC, Beau and Philo both expressed interest in taking part this year as well.

      1. I think I handled January-ish duties, and then volunteered to be the back of the line among whoever else signed up. I'm happy to resume that position. Just tack me on for whatever month is missing when we're done here.

      2. CoC wants April. Spooky wants April. At this rate I'm gonna have to fill in for May, ain't I?

    5. Heh, Father Knows Best. I'm finding myself in a bit of an awkward situation related to divorce, sharing custody, and blended families. I don't know that I'll have gained enough experience to get in on this schedule, but I'll probably have a book to write in a couple of years.

      2. Aye to what hj said. One of the things we've done with the FKB series is to open it up to either a column about your experience or a column looking for advice.

    6. If anyone has a month preference, let me know. I'm just going to go in order of volunteering after all the schedule requests are filled.

      2. I don't really know what I would write right now but if you have extra spaces a few months down the road, you can pencil me in. I can figure something out.

    7. I've got August music video duties, might be a good month for parenting commentary as well. I have a couple topics I can throw out there if a slot is available.

  6. somehow, it seems appropriate that tax day coincides with Passover week. Belated happy Passover to all of you whose first born survived.

    2. The slaughtered spring lamb is good for more than just decorating the door, too! Mmmm...lamb.

  7. Does anyone like the new transfer rule? Even ignoring what the previous rule was, it seems like a poorly constructed rule. As far as I understand it, an outfielder could catch the ball, jog with it for 10 steps, and then lose it on the transfer...and the correct interpretation under the new rule would be that there was no catch, the batter is not out, and runners are free to advance at their own peril.

    I know there have been some iffy transfers at second base over the years, but did anyone ever really have a problem with the way the old transfer rule worked on any other part of the field? The new rule just seems to introduce an odd randomness into the game that doesn't much have to do with skill.

      1. I would guess that they would change something in the interpretation before it got to the point of outfielders turning double plays by intentionally dropping the ball, but if you were, say, Ron Washington and you wanted the rule to be changed, that's probably the best way to force baseball's hand on this.

        Some of those examples really showed how stupid the rule is. Do we really want to take a nice catch like Elliot Johnson's out of the game?

        Also, I didn't watch many spring training games, because spring training, but how did no one realize this was such a stupid rule before the season started and it was easier to change the rule?

        1. I think "because spring training" is exactly the reason it wasn't figured out sooner.

          1. It happened at least a couple of times in spring training. I remember that Lloyd McClendon, following the Josh Hamilton game referenced above, specifically told the press after the game that he knew to challenge the play because of a similar play in spring training. You'd think that an organization generally so averse to change would be a little more careful about beta testing their rules.

    2. Fully agree, If the outfielder has control of the ball, it should be a catch, regardless of whether it's in his glove or in his hand.

      1. The transfer discussion is interesting (to be sure) but I really appreciated his thoughts on the DH. To excerpt:

        Mike Matheny let Trevor Rosenthal bat with the winning run in scoring position in the 10th inning on Friday.

        Matheny, though, had few bench options: It was basically Pete Kozma or bust, and those are pretty much the same thing. So he let his pitcher bat, and not only did that pitcher make the final out of the inning, but he also allowed the Cubs to score three times in the following frame, losing the game.

        That situation is one of several very good reasons that the NL needs to adopt the DH, already, but it’s also an indictment of the way too many teams think about their rosters. The norm these days is to carry just a few weak bench players, while loading your bullpen with seven one-inning arms. That paradigm robs the game of nuance and of overall quality.

        Maybe the Twins believe they're in the NL?

          1. It's frustrating that so many managers worship platooning for relievers but are mostly whatever about platooning batters

          2. I was in physical attendance at Sunday's A's-Mariners game. Kazmir left after 6 innings (due to triceps tightness, apparently), and Robinson Cano was due up first in the 7th, with the game tied 0-0. What did the A's do? They brought in a lefty reliever just to face Cano (which he did successfully), and then they switched to a righty reliever. There really, really, should be arule that if you are replacing a pitcher who successfully retired the last hitter, the pitcher gets something like 3 warm-up pitches to get a feel for the mound, but in no way is he considered to be warming up his arm, because it was an entirely pre-conceived move and if you're going to pull that shit, you should have your pitchers ready to go.

              1. I don't think it would "just" incentivize "injuries" to pitchers. Sure you could get away with it now and then, but if you do it all the time, it'd be obvious. You could also require that pitchers coming out of the game with an injury have to sit out four games.

                1. sorry, I was imprecise. I meant "just" as in "it would lead to" that behavior. Not that it would be the only effect. Any rule designed to speed up the game will itself be "gamed" by managers if they have a desire to do so.

                  1. The thing is, I don't think that managers care about slowing the game down. They want to get to see their wife at night as much as we do. They do care about winning, and they think that exploiting platoon match-ups by using the hell out of their bullpen is a way for them to win. I think most of the time they do know what the plan is far enough in advance that the relievers can warm up enough that they only need three pitches on the official mound.

                    I mean, even if the game slows down every now and then through gaming of some rule, because a manager is having trouble making up his mind, that's a lot better than the current situation where the game is always slowed down on every mid-inning pitching change no matter what.

          1. While I'm not against bigger rosters from a competitive standpoint (at least until someone convinces me otherwise), I just fear managers will just Larussa it up more.

  8. The Donald making noises about buying the Bills. Will they change their name to the "Dollar Bills"? Will they ditch their current logo for a "$"? Will the name "TRUMP" be painted in the end zone or will it just say "$PAY DIRT$"?

      1. will it still be "straight cash, homey" with the arrival of Michael Sam in the league?

    1. So far, Twins announcers (radio and TV together) get the highest percentage of A's and the lowest percentage of F's. They're probably helped by being compared to Chicago and Cleveland announcers. I detest both crews.

    1. Near North Sioux City, where I used to live, although I don't know any of the families involved.

    1. I'd read this story back when it happened and it enraged me. Reading this version of events made me sick to my stomach. Absolutely disgusting.

  14. So wasn't sure if I had a virus, slow Internet connex, WGOM-slow, etc. Spinning-wheel-deal on the Mac.

    I went over to Goog's Chrome and there the WGOM is cooking with gas. So it's not you'se guys...

    I must've downloaded something with Safari or such. Reinstall-time (or switch to Chrome/Firefox).

  15. I cant believe the kids are playing softball and a golf meet today. I could still see my breath at 3pm.
    But I suppose if it aint raining (or snowing) you gotta play.

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