Cup of Coffee

January 7, 2016: Griffey and Piazza

87 Comments

I'm not sure how enshrining two guys a year will work when there's never been such a wealth of talent on the ballot, but this is the only BBWAA we've got.

87 thoughts on “January 7, 2016: Griffey and Piazza”

  1. Was visiting with the LCS* owner last night when the announcement was made. They made a big deal about several players making ~7% or more gains this year, but with 100 voters lopped off the roll, and most of those we reckon as old-timey nay-sayers, the bulk of that increase is probably just a lack of ballots that would have left their names off in the first place.**

    I was also told that with this vote, the HOF has its first #1 draft pick, and its lowest draft pick.

    *Local (baseball) Card Shop

    **and I see we're not the only ones to think that

    1. if you check out Ryan Thibodeaux's spreadsheets, nearly every player also gained votes from voters they didn't get last year. Over 20 voters decided Edgar should be on their ballot this year. It's a combination of both factors for sure. Also, steroid angst is decreasing as well*.

      *Roy Halladay notwithstanding

      1. Yeah, the PED guys might sneak in later after serving their "no first (or second or third or...) ballot for you" punishment.

  2. I know this isn't third thursday movies, but has anyone else watched Making a Murderer?

    Actual Spoiler SelectShow

    2. I binge watched the entire series over about three days during winter break.

      I'm with meat

      Actual Spoiler SelectShow

        1. I'm with both of you.

          I know I would find it fascinating if I watched it, but I'd also be depressed and angry.

      3. I was really into Serial at the beginning, but after 3-4 episodes I really lost my interest in it (even though I eventually finished it), so it makes me hesitant to put any time into Making a Murderer. Though I think it might have been less the subject and more that I just didn't think Serial had enough good material for 12 podcasts.

        1. I'm having trouble imagining them stretching this to 10, and there have been some lulls in the first two episodes, but not so bad that it lost my attention to a gameboy or anything.

          1. Now that I think more about it, another big problem for me was that it was difficult for me to get behind the way that they were presenting the story. It felt like they were telling the story in a way that maximized the twists and turns rather than telling it in the way that was most informative. So eventually it just felt like they were artificially holding back information (whether they were or not) and it kind of grated on me.

            1. This, for me, for Serial, definitely. Probably for Making a Murderer too, but I've leaned into the spoilers there, so there aren't too many twists and turns that I'm interested in, as much as in the specific details.

            2. On the other hand, the investigation was ongoing, and Sarah only had the first half-dozen episodes mapped out. By the end there were fewer twists and turns and it got a hell of a lot more boring.

    4. Binged on it over the holidays.

      'Spoiler' SelectShow

  3. According to Chris Jaffe, today I am exactly as old as Jeff Kent was on the day he injured himself "washing his truck."

      1. One of my brothers is exactly as old today as Roger Daltrey the day Quadrophenia was released.

    2. That's the same one I got about a month ago when I checked.

      Today is... less interesting. (something to do with Phil Collins)

    3. I'm "exactly as old as Tiger Woods was the day his drove his SUV into a bunch of stuff."

  4. The biggest thing I had on my Christmas list was a subscription to the New York Times Crossword Puzzle. I didn't get it, but I did get some cash, so I went ahead and subscribed. Every single puzzle is available for download since 1993. It's definitely a great wind-down activity for me that doesn't involve a screen.

    1. The Sunday Times crossword carried in the local rag was one of the couple reasons I felt bad about cancelling our weekend subscription a few years back. They were the right level of clever challenge, and I loved the diversion.

      1. I only enjoy the Times puzzles. They're clever and they will use pop culture references and proper names. Puzzles that are only dictionary words get boring for me. Thursday through Saturday are ridiculously hard, but I still enjoy them.

  5. I'm just about out of things to say about this Wolves squad, other than that I want Sam Mitchell to go far, far away from this team. They are only guaranteed a few years with both Towns and Wiggins and this one is going to waste.

    1. Let's also not forget that he his continuing to waste the time they have with Rubio. Maybe playing with the team wasting KG rubbed off on him.

  6. Well, we survived Eugene and Francis should be here this afternoon, although she's not expected to be around as long or leave as much water. Eugene was just like Diane in that it was just a steady soaking rain all day by the time he got to us. Junior's baseball game today has already been postponed due to playing conditions (plus rain is supposed to start about an hour or so before the game was scheduled to start).

    1. Is it "Frances" or "Francis"?
      (I see a female pronoun. I can get behind continuing to use female pronouns for all storms and ships etc even if they were given male names.)

          1. That was my error. NWS is calling the last storm Frances, so it looks like they are alternating gender, at least in the case of these three systems.

  7. In the interest of better late than never and to keep the ratio balanced after rpz's latest addition is our "new"* guy.

    * Okay, it's been three weeks. It was a busy first week and then I'm bad about things that are no longer new.

    1. Awwwwwwwww, congrats! I've been wondering about this because I was certain your wife's due date was in December and you hadn't mentioned anything. I feared perhaps she was the most overdue woman ever.

      Also: yeah, three weeks is pretty much ancient in baby terms. He's probably speaking in full sentences by now.

  8. Thought of a scene I would have loved to see in Force Awakens:

    'Spoiler' SelectShow

        1. Of course his cane is a light saber.... Also, he looked pretty beat down as king of chewbacchus.

  9. So, funeral service today for my FiL. Was preceded by a viewing for the family, after which the casket would be closed.

    My 7th-grader niece was the first to see the body. She turns to her father and says "that's not my papa."

    OFFS. The funeral home had brought the wrong body. No, seriously. Not only that, but dressed in his clothes. The idiots had to hustle the body out and do a switch.

    Other than that, it was a beautiful ceremony. My brothers-in-law and the old family rabbi from DC each gave moving eulogies.

    1. That is some undertaker malpractice right there. I don't know how they go about making it right, but it should involve some discomfort on their end.

    3. That's horrifying. The kind of thing you'd put in a comedy script because you'd never ever want to see it happen in real life. Wow.

    4. I hope Marvin had a good sense of humor. That's just absurd. While it will make for an amazing story down the road, it's absolutely inexcusable work by the funeral home in the here and now. I truly don't know what else to say.

      1. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and did not take himself too seriously. But at the same time, he had a very strong moral compass and would have been very firm with anyone who had done something this ridiculous to anyone else.

        I am appalled that any halfway competent funeral home could have let this happen. I mean, they basically had ONE job....

        Thankfully, the ceremony itself was so positive that this eff-up did no lasting damage to the family. I can't say the same for the funeral home. How do you even begin to recover your reputation? I suspect that half of Santa Fe knows by now....

    5. This is something I've seen in a few comedies where I've rolled my eyes and thought, that's too unbelievable to accept, even as a weak plot device.

      Well then.

      I don't know how else to react to this.

    6. Wow. I guess anyone can make a mistake, but that's a doozy. I can't imagine how that could happen.

      Luckily for me, our local funeral home is excellent. A good funeral director can make a huge difference for the family, and is also really helpful to the pastor. It makes my job a lot easier when I know the funeral director is going to take care of what they're supposed to take care of and I can just focus on what I'm supposed to do.

  10. Need some help from our lawyers

    My mother-in-law's cousin passed away last week. They had been close their entire lives. The cousin had no kids, no dependents. Her niece had power of attorney since she got dementia a few years ago. They sold her house, took care of the assisted living bills, etc. Well, mother-in-law learns from the niece yesterday that mother-in-law has been named executor of the will. They have a copy, and they are refusing to get mother-in-law a copy unless she gets a lawyer. They have the read the entire will despite not being the executor, and the executor is being refused a copy unless she gets a lawyer. Is that even legal? Shouldn't the executor be provided a copy?

    We're guessing they're royally pissed that mother-in-law was named executor because they barely knew her, even though mother-in-law did most of the caregiving over the years. And they don't trust her with the will. And they're must be money or something they want. WHAT THE FLYING FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE. She's fucking godamn fucking dead. Don't fight over the fucking stuff. God dammit. Now my mother-in-law has to pay money out of her pocket to keep other assholes from being assholes.

    Does anyone recommend a lawyer?

    1. Hypothetically the estate should pay for the attorney?

      Geographically, where is this? There's a chance I could make a reasonable referral, though not necessarily a huge one.

      1. Minneapolis.

        Sad thing is lawyer fees will take out more of the money this family is trying to get. And to the charities that are in the will

        1. I'm probably less help for Minneapolis recommendations than some of the others around here...

          It is rarely a good thing when people need attorneys. Greed is probably to blame more times than not.

  11. Denard Span is switching coasts after signing with the Giants for 3/$31M. That's a great deal for a 32 yo OF with little power and a recent history of injury problems.

Comments are closed.