Anyone interested in going to the Queens of the Stone Age concert tomorrow night?
w/ Chelsea Wolfe
7:30
Roy Wilkins
$50 - floor
My 'friend' bailed on me yesterday. Despite knowing about the show for more than 2 months, he failed to get coverage at work...nice.
Wish I could.
Busy or can't afford it?
Both.
Monday Starting Pitching Report:
#
Name
W
L
SV
G
GS
IP
K/9
BB/9
HR/9
BABIP
LOB%
GB%
HR/FB
ERA
FIP
xFIP
WAR
1
Phil Hughes
3
1
0
6
6
34.1
7.60
1.57
1.05
.330
66.8 %
32.4 %
8.3 %
4.72
3.57
3.86
0.7
2
Kyle Gibson
3
2
0
5
5
29.0
4.66
4.34
0.00
.310
68.9 %
53.0 %
0.0 %
4.34
3.55
4.80
0.6
3
Kevin Correia
1
3
0
6
6
34.0
3.97
2.12
0.53
.317
51.9 %
42.4 %
3.6 %
6.09
3.81
5.14
0.6
4
Ricky Nolasco
2
3
0
6
6
38.2
4.42
2.33
1.40
.341
69.0 %
48.2 %
11.8 %
5.82
4.94
4.63
0.1
5
Kris Johnson
0
0
0
1
1
4.1
10.38
12.46
0.00
.364
100.0 %
60.0 %
0.0 %
0.00
4.98
5.28
0.0
6
Mike Pelfrey
0
3
0
5
5
23.2
3.80
6.85
1.90
.286
61.9 %
43.7 %
15.2 %
7.99
7.57
6.63
-0.5
They couldn't be as terrible as they were, so we are seeing some positive regression to the mean. If you pretend that Mike Pelfrey (who I'm sure is a great guy) wasn't on this club and you could put your thumb on the column that says "K/9", you might see a not great staff, but not an absolutely terrible one.
It's still early and I think this club still loses 90-95 games, but I'm writing that in pencil and not ink. It might be that certain folks have had their say in the clubhouse to change some thinking about how to play the game. The starting pitching is still going to be a huge vortex of suck, but if they play better on the other side of the ball, well, they might actually hold some people's attention when the weather gets warm.
Honestly, if the team goes 73-89 while playing watchable baseball I'd be thrilled.
If Hughes can keep his xFIP sub-4, that'd be pretty good. (No Twins starter had a sub-4 xFIP last year.) Hopefully Gibson can get some kind of spread going between his strikeouts and walks.
Provided that Pelfrey's groin injury is real, I'm curious how he'll do if he can get healthy again. His xFIP from last year would rank second in the list above.
Sure it does. The Bay Area is a large market. They want a NorCal/SoCal rivalry.
The trade GS really needs to make is for some good health for Andrew Bogut. Who here thinks that Bogut would have made a difference against the Clips?
*raises hand*
Here I always assumed they wanted a LA/LA or NY/No one else rivalry.
Everybody loves the Splash Bros. (I see Sports Illustrated saying that Curry's jersey ranks 5th or so in sales nationally; Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are also in the top ten)
Is the author aware that David Kahn is no longer POBO for the Wolves?
It might be that certain folks have had their say in the clubhouse to change some thinking about how to play the game.
This is interesting idea. Who do you think is saying what?
I certainly have noticed Gardy has made a bit of a sea change.
That's the crazy part and the one that makes me think it isn't necessarily a player doing the talking.
I think all the talking was done when Molitor was added.
Dozier suggested the preparation on the base paths is drastically different from a season ago.
"Tell you what, [Paul Molitor] is doing a heck of a job before games - him and Joe [Vavra] - dissecting pitchers, knowing what counts to steal on, their tendencies and all that kind of stuff. It's been night and day compared to last year," Dozier said.
I definitely agree.
Whatever the case may be, good ball is being played. If you had told me that essentially the same lineup from last year was going to be fourth in the AL in runs and second in walks, I would never have believed it. Some specific change in coaching style has happened.
And its a major change from how the Twins historically do things.
I know nothing about any such thing. But they have Bruno for a second year and Molitar.
Dozier is now tied for the AL lead in SB with 11. He had 14 all last season. He's also fifth in the AL in HRs. He's far and away the leader in the AL in the power/speed number developed by Bill James.
The crazy stat there is he is 11/12 this year, after being 14/21 last year. He's stealing a ton more with far greater success, which is great to see and suggests that the coaching strategy really has been effective.
EDIT: The team stats are also really interesting. Last year, the Twins stole 52 bases and were caught 33 times. This year, they have stole 23 bases and have been caught 4 times. Fundamentals!
They could have been helped by an infusion of Mastroianni last year instead of that injury. Check those stats.
I'm more impressed by his 31 runs scored; you have to be good to do that, AND you have to have some good things happening after you in the lineup as well. Sure we're not a great team, but we're a whole lot more watchable than recent offerings.
Anyone noticed that Joe has crept into the top 20 in BA? And who would have thought the top 3 in batting at this point would be Suzuki/Mauer/Kubel? Yeah, me neither.
Don't look now, but the Twins' primary catcher is leading the team in OPS.
Bored now. Same ol', same ol'.
Not to get all forbiddeny here, but Joel McHale was not funny.
Have at it! ID the AU -- which Twins player (current or former or coach) signs his John Doe thusly:
Another couple years of Blake and CP3 making deep runs into the playoffs while the Lakers struggle with the albatross of Kobe Bryant’s contract will erode some of the Lakers’ edge.
That's kind of fun, but I really find it hard to believe that two years of suckitude by the Lakers undoes 16 championships in the minds of fans. The Lakers get good again and they will reclaim all of their cachet.
Dodgers. Plenty of recent suck, plenty of success. $2 billion. They had a future TV deal propping up the value, so I don't know if the Lakers have something similar other than counting the rings.
My point was that I find it hard to believe that a couple of bad years by the Lakers will somehow allow the Clippers to overcome them in the market. That's simply not going to happen. Silver's point was that other than brand, the Lakers have few advantages over the Clippers. But, that's a biggie.
We really only have two NBA markets in which to test these questions: New York and LA. Everywhere else, teams have exclusivity rights for local cable broadcasts, I think. I.e., local monopolies over certain aspects of the market.
The other prominent examples are from MLB (New York, Chicago, LA, Oakland/SF) and the NFL (NY, Oakland/SF).
So, how loyal are fans to a particular brand in a competitive local market, particularly in the face of a down-trend in quality after a period of success? That's the question at stake here. How would we test?
*switching costs for fans are relatively low: a psychic break, maybe acquisition of some new wardrobe materials. If they were season ticket holders AND there is competition for season tickets (not a problem in most non-NFL markets, I think), then there is a potentially large economic switching cost. But most of the cost would seem to be psychological, in the sense that fans tie their self identities to the brand.
My guess is that the market transition has mostly to do with two phenomena: (a) existing fans of franchise A dropping out of active support; and (b) new entrants into fandom, in favor of franchise B. I would venture to guess that there is relatively little actually switching from support of team A to support of team B.
But certainly, a few years of teh Suck could depress the Lakers' fan base. If coupled with a few years of sustained Clippers excellence, the switch will have happened.
About the only people out here that are completely Clippers fans seem to be those who either hate Kobe Bryant or are complete contrarians who cheer for the Clippers just because so many others cheer for the Lakers. I think the majority of the fan base for the Clippers are Lakers fans that look at the Clippers as the Lakers' little brothers. They're a good distraction when the Lakers aren't playing or are having a rare down year.
We were in San Diego 1988-92. I very acutely remember the hope and disappointment that surrounded Danny Manning (drafted 1988) and Ron Harper (acquired in trade prior to the 1989-90 season). Manning and Harper were going to be stars. And, of course, both promptly blew up their knees.
And then Larry Brown arrived in 1991-92, leading them to a winning record (and a better record than the Lakers that year). One more year and POOF, he was gone and the franchise collapsed again.
The Girl just took the SAT on saturday.
I'm part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Though the organization is a non-profit, The College Board rakes in more than $750 million in annual revenue, according to its latest Form 990, and pays out $191 million in salaries and employee benefits and compensation (the compensation for the College Board’s former president Gaston Caperton was more than $1.4 million in 2011, and nearly two dozen employees made $200,000 or more). “The College Board gives the impression that it’s a low-budget educational institution, but it has its own building across from Lincoln Center and the previous president made $1.5 million,” says Schaffer, who says that the organization made $45 million in SAT revenue alone. The College Board also makes money from other exams like Advanced Placement tests, professional development and college-readiness programs and services and investment income, among other sources.
Students of the Runner family do significantly better skipping the SAT
Looks like I shouldn't settle for $199,000 and need to get to at least $201,000. An extra 100 points!
Mauer not in the lineup today. Fuld batting 2nd with Herrmann in RF and Florimon and his 0 OPS+ at SS. Good thing we have 3 catchers and 3 shortstops. Santana did so well holding down the bench yesterday that Gardy's letting him do it again.
*lays out plank from the side of the ship, prods Gibson forwards with a sword point to the back*
Edit: Has it really been a month since the the previous day-to-day stuff?
the day-to-daytabase?
I can't decide if I want to groan or applaud.
then it worked!
the truth bytes.
The Active Roster on the Twins mlb page list a total of 2 outfielders. They're going to have to cover a lot of ground.
Is that like a PowerPlay, and we have two short-stops?
Liverpool's gotta Liverpool.
Ugh.
Our baby was due yesterday. My cousin's baby was due yesterday too. Last night her baby was active. Today she delivered stillborn. Everything still looks fine for us, but I just want my new child to get here and be safe. And I feel terrible for her. So many emotions right now, none of them great.
Wow. So very sorry to hear this. Best wishes to you and yours, and condolences to your cousin.
Wow, indeed. You and all the family are in our prayers.
Anyone interested in going to the Queens of the Stone Age concert tomorrow night?
w/ Chelsea Wolfe
7:30
Roy Wilkins
$50 - floor
My 'friend' bailed on me yesterday. Despite knowing about the show for more than 2 months, he failed to get coverage at work...nice.
Wish I could.
Busy or can't afford it?
Both.
Monday Starting Pitching Report:
They couldn't be as terrible as they were, so we are seeing some positive regression to the mean. If you pretend that Mike Pelfrey (who I'm sure is a great guy) wasn't on this club and you could put your thumb on the column that says "K/9", you might see a not great staff, but not an absolutely terrible one.
It's still early and I think this club still loses 90-95 games, but I'm writing that in pencil and not ink. It might be that certain folks have had their say in the clubhouse to change some thinking about how to play the game. The starting pitching is still going to be a huge vortex of suck, but if they play better on the other side of the ball, well, they might actually hold some people's attention when the weather gets warm.
Honestly, if the team goes 73-89 while playing watchable baseball I'd be thrilled.
If Hughes can keep his xFIP sub-4, that'd be pretty good. (No Twins starter had a sub-4 xFIP last year.) Hopefully Gibson can get some kind of spread going between his strikeouts and walks.
Provided that Pelfrey's groin injury is real, I'm curious how he'll do if he can get healthy again. His xFIP from last year would rank second in the list above.
The Golden State Warriors only have to make one trade and they'll be pretty good!
Paywall, but it isn't about the Knicks so I'll assume it isn't for Kevin Love.
Here I always assumed they wanted a LA/LA or NY/No one else rivalry.
Everybody loves the Splash Bros. (I see Sports Illustrated saying that Curry's jersey ranks 5th or so in sales nationally; Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are also in the top ten)
It might be that certain folks have had their say in the clubhouse to change some thinking about how to play the game.
This is interesting idea. Who do you think is saying what?
I certainly have noticed Gardy has made a bit of a sea change.
That's the crazy part and the one that makes me think it isn't necessarily a player doing the talking.
I think all the talking was done when Molitor was added.
I definitely agree.
Whatever the case may be, good ball is being played. If you had told me that essentially the same lineup from last year was going to be fourth in the AL in runs and second in walks, I would never have believed it. Some specific change in coaching style has happened.
And its a major change from how the Twins historically do things.
I know nothing about any such thing. But they have Bruno for a second year and Molitar.
Dozier is now tied for the AL lead in SB with 11. He had 14 all last season. He's also fifth in the AL in HRs. He's far and away the leader in the AL in the power/speed number developed by Bill James.
The crazy stat there is he is 11/12 this year, after being 14/21 last year. He's stealing a ton more with far greater success, which is great to see and suggests that the coaching strategy really has been effective.
EDIT: The team stats are also really interesting. Last year, the Twins stole 52 bases and were caught 33 times. This year, they have stole 23 bases and have been caught 4 times. Fundamentals!
They could have been helped by an infusion of Mastroianni last year instead of that injury. Check those stats.
I'm more impressed by his 31 runs scored; you have to be good to do that, AND you have to have some good things happening after you in the lineup as well. Sure we're not a great team, but we're a whole lot more watchable than recent offerings.
Anyone noticed that Joe has crept into the top 20 in BA? And who would have thought the top 3 in batting at this point would be Suzuki/Mauer/Kubel? Yeah, me neither.
Don't look now, but the Twins' primary catcher is leading the team in OPS.
Bored now. Same ol', same ol'.
Not to get all forbiddeny here, but Joel McHale was not funny.
Have at it!
ID the AU -- which Twins player (current or former or coach) signs his John Doe thusly:
Cam Newton?
I thought it was Charlie Morton.
Who else is excited for the return of Louie tonight?
I am. I watched all of season 3 last weekend in preparation.
In which Nate Silver says that the Clippers are worth upwards of $1 billion and that the Lakers are only worth a couple hundred million more than that. Also:
That's kind of fun, but I really find it hard to believe that two years of suckitude by the Lakers undoes 16 championships in the minds of fans. The Lakers get good again and they will reclaim all of their cachet.
Dodgers. Plenty of recent suck, plenty of success. $2 billion. They had a future TV deal propping up the value, so I don't know if the Lakers have something similar other than counting the rings.
My point was that I find it hard to believe that a couple of bad years by the Lakers will somehow allow the Clippers to overcome them in the market. That's simply not going to happen. Silver's point was that other than brand, the Lakers have few advantages over the Clippers. But, that's a biggie.
We really only have two NBA markets in which to test these questions: New York and LA. Everywhere else, teams have exclusivity rights for local cable broadcasts, I think. I.e., local monopolies over certain aspects of the market.
The other prominent examples are from MLB (New York, Chicago, LA, Oakland/SF) and the NFL (NY, Oakland/SF).
So, how loyal are fans to a particular brand in a competitive local market, particularly in the face of a down-trend in quality after a period of success? That's the question at stake here. How would we test?
*switching costs for fans are relatively low: a psychic break, maybe acquisition of some new wardrobe materials. If they were season ticket holders AND there is competition for season tickets (not a problem in most non-NFL markets, I think), then there is a potentially large economic switching cost. But most of the cost would seem to be psychological, in the sense that fans tie their self identities to the brand.
My guess is that the market transition has mostly to do with two phenomena: (a) existing fans of franchise A dropping out of active support; and (b) new entrants into fandom, in favor of franchise B. I would venture to guess that there is relatively little actually switching from support of team A to support of team B.
But certainly, a few years of teh Suck could depress the Lakers' fan base. If coupled with a few years of sustained Clippers excellence, the switch will have happened.
About the only people out here that are completely Clippers fans seem to be those who either hate Kobe Bryant or are complete contrarians who cheer for the Clippers just because so many others cheer for the Lakers. I think the majority of the fan base for the Clippers are Lakers fans that look at the Clippers as the Lakers' little brothers. They're a good distraction when the Lakers aren't playing or are having a rare down year.
We were in San Diego 1988-92. I very acutely remember the hope and disappointment that surrounded Danny Manning (drafted 1988) and Ron Harper (acquired in trade prior to the 1989-90 season). Manning and Harper were going to be stars. And, of course, both promptly blew up their knees.
And then Larry Brown arrived in 1991-92, leading them to a winning record (and a better record than the Lakers that year). One more year and POOF, he was gone and the franchise collapsed again.
The Girl just took the SAT on saturday.
I'm part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Looks like I shouldn't settle for $199,000 and need to get to at least $201,000. An extra 100 points!
Mauer not in the lineup today. Fuld batting 2nd with Herrmann in RF and Florimon and his 0 OPS+ at SS. Good thing we have 3 catchers and 3 shortstops. Santana did so well holding down the bench yesterday that Gardy's letting him do it again.
*lays out plank from the side of the ship, prods Gibson forwards with a sword point to the back*
Oh, that means I get to update the day-to-day table again.
Edit: Has it really been a month since the the previous day-to-day stuff?
the day-to-daytabase?
I can't decide if I want to groan or applaud.
then it worked!
the truth bytes.
The Active Roster on the Twins mlb page list a total of 2 outfielders. They're going to have to cover a lot of ground.
Is that like a PowerPlay, and we have two short-stops?
Liverpool's gotta Liverpool.
Ugh.
Our baby was due yesterday. My cousin's baby was due yesterday too. Last night her baby was active. Today she delivered stillborn. Everything still looks fine for us, but I just want my new child to get here and be safe. And I feel terrible for her. So many emotions right now, none of them great.
Wow. So very sorry to hear this. Best wishes to you and yours, and condolences to your cousin.
Wow, indeed. You and all the family are in our prayers.
Get your history geek on: Congress urged to honor little-known Revolutionary War hero Bernardo de Galvez.
I think Greekhouse wrote tonight's second episode of Louie