I've done four bonfires since I got to Minnesota, which is four more total than what I did from 2008-2016 previously. Are they just a huge thing here?
27 thoughts on “May 22, 2016: Bonfire”
Yes. Which is surprising since it usually involves speaking to a neighbor.
I'm pretty sure my neighbor two doors down has been burning tires for his bonfire the last three nights.
Usually when a neighbor or two realize events have been happening in the neighborhood that people are unaware of, it's time for a bonfire so everyone can get caught up again.
"Wait, little Susie is getting married?! I'll clean off the driveway... "
Firepit is awesome.
Consider also the presence of sufficient amounts of wood to support them and the decreased risk of conflagration relative to the Southwest.
Cottonwoods are constantly gifting you with firewood.
Also: I burn a lot of buckthorn, garlic mustard, woodbine.
I rarely invite neighbors.
CChhrriiss HHeerrrrrrrrmmaannnn slash line with the Dbacks (77 PA): .290/.342 /.609 (!!!)/.951 OPS+ 145 bWAR 1.2
Kurt Suzuki slash line with the Twins (90 PA) : .213 /.270 /.313 /.582 OPS+ 61 bWAR -0.2
Although getting a breathing human being in return for Herrmann was probably the right move, this kind of hurts. Plus Herrmann can play centerfield!!11!
I think Suzuki's slugging percentage deserves exclamation marks too
Mauer is at .361
Ed Rosario was sent down at .330
Dozier is playing everyday at .327
Ed Escobar went on the DL sitting at .289
So Kurt's SLG number doesn't really stand out. π₯
We're quite big on the bonfires. One of the things I will miss most about our house is the Friday night bonfires with our awesome neighbors.
A bullpen session tentatively scheduled for Monday has been canceled after the three-time all-star continued to feel discomfort in his ailing left shoulder during a long-toss session Thursday.
Lost in all the grumbles the past week is that Glen Perkins was couldn't throw harder than 87 all Spring and everyone insisted nothing was wrong.
If a new front office is Priority #1, a new training staff has to be pretty close to Priority #2.
Brandon Nimmo (son of some high school friends) continues to progress through the Mets minor league system. He started the year with AAA Las Vegas (nice for his folks in Wyoming who can go see him play much more often). So far this year he's slashing .278/.354/.396/.750 in 144 AB and he's ranked as the Mets' #4 prospect. It would be nice if he got a cup of coffee come September.
Thanks to everyone for their kind words and well wishes. I'm extremely lucky to have a group of friends like y'all. Talk to you in two weeks. Voy a EspaΓ±a con mi esposa nueva.
Belated felicitations, Mags. Enjoy your trip, newlyweds!
Mrs. Hayes & I took our honeymoon in Seattle. I bought a TomTom GPS unit for the trip (this was before we had smartphones), which may have (I exaggerate only slightly) saved our marriage. For certain reasons I'm a pretty intense driver, and I don't handle poor navigation particularly well. Mrs.. Hayes' sense of direction isn't great, so we'd make a poor rally team. That GPS eliminated many terse exchanges and made the trip run much smoother.
to eliminate need for pitchers to throw four balls in order to issue an intentional walk.
Whoa.
Don't read the comments.
I don't see how this is going to work. Fewer strikes means more balls. A smaller strike zone could just lead to more walks and more hits. More walks and more hits means more offense, which means longer games.
I also agree 100% with the idea that pitchers should still be required to throw pitches to issue an intentional walk. In addition to everything the author mentioned, I think there's a real possibility that throwing the pitches for the intentional walk messes with how well they throw their next pitch.
Eh, the games might end up being a little longer on average, but I'm not particularly bothered by that. It's a return to a strike zone that tends to be more balanced between pitchers and batters. That's a good thing.
You might not mind the longer games, but their motivation for the change is to speed up games. I'm not against taking away the low strike, but doing it to shorten games seems stupid. If you want to move the games along, you have to do something that benefits the pitching and/or defense, or just plain make people move quicker.
I'd say their motivation for the strike zone change is to fix the strike zone. The motivation for the IBB change might be to speed up the game. But those are different things.
Big Papi is retiring.
That's the part I didn't get. How do they think a smaller strike zone is going to speed up games? That makes no sense at all.
non-pitched IBB also lowers pitch count, giving Bert and Morris even larger lawns to have to keep off
Yes. Which is surprising since it usually involves speaking to a neighbor.
I'm pretty sure my neighbor two doors down has been burning tires for his bonfire the last three nights.
Usually when a neighbor or two realize events have been happening in the neighborhood that people are unaware of, it's time for a bonfire so everyone can get caught up again.
"Wait, little Susie is getting married?! I'll clean off the driveway... "
Firepit is awesome.
Consider also the presence of sufficient amounts of wood to support them and the decreased risk of conflagration relative to the Southwest.
Cottonwoods are constantly gifting you with firewood.
Also: I burn a lot of buckthorn, garlic mustard, woodbine.
I rarely invite neighbors.
CChhrriiss HHeerrrrrrrrmmaannnn slash line with the Dbacks (77 PA): .290/.342 /.609 (!!!)/.951 OPS+ 145 bWAR 1.2
Kurt Suzuki slash line with the Twins (90 PA) : .213 /.270 /.313 /.582 OPS+ 61 bWAR -0.2
Although getting a breathing human being in return for Herrmann was probably the right move, this kind of hurts. Plus Herrmann can play centerfield!!11!
I think Suzuki's slugging percentage deserves exclamation marks too
Mauer is at .361
Ed Rosario was sent down at .330
Dozier is playing everyday at .327
Ed Escobar went on the DL sitting at .289
So Kurt's SLG number doesn't really stand out. π₯
We're quite big on the bonfires. One of the things I will miss most about our house is the Friday night bonfires with our awesome neighbors.
Pouring one out for Glen Perkins
(per Berardino)
Lost in all the grumbles the past week is that Glen Perkins was couldn't throw harder than 87 all Spring and everyone insisted nothing was wrong.
If a new front office is Priority #1, a new training staff has to be pretty close to Priority #2.
Brandon Nimmo (son of some high school friends) continues to progress through the Mets minor league system. He started the year with AAA Las Vegas (nice for his folks in Wyoming who can go see him play much more often). So far this year he's slashing .278/.354/.396/.750 in 144 AB and he's ranked as the Mets' #4 prospect. It would be nice if he got a cup of coffee come September.
Thanks to everyone for their kind words and well wishes. I'm extremely lucky to have a group of friends like y'all. Talk to you in two weeks. Voy a EspaΓ±a con mi esposa nueva.
Belated felicitations, Mags. Enjoy your trip, newlyweds!
Mrs. Hayes & I took our honeymoon in Seattle. I bought a TomTom GPS unit for the trip (this was before we had smartphones), which may have (I exaggerate only slightly) saved our marriage. For certain reasons I'm a pretty intense driver, and I don't handle poor navigation particularly well. Mrs.. Hayes' sense of direction isn't great, so we'd make a poor rally team. That GPS eliminated many terse exchanges and made the trip run much smoother.
ICYMI: Cliff Corcoran published a good piece on potential changes to the strike zone in 2017.
Whoa.
Don't read the comments.
I don't see how this is going to work. Fewer strikes means more balls. A smaller strike zone could just lead to more walks and more hits. More walks and more hits means more offense, which means longer games.
I also agree 100% with the idea that pitchers should still be required to throw pitches to issue an intentional walk. In addition to everything the author mentioned, I think there's a real possibility that throwing the pitches for the intentional walk messes with how well they throw their next pitch.
Eh, the games might end up being a little longer on average, but I'm not particularly bothered by that. It's a return to a strike zone that tends to be more balanced between pitchers and batters. That's a good thing.
You might not mind the longer games, but their motivation for the change is to speed up games. I'm not against taking away the low strike, but doing it to shorten games seems stupid. If you want to move the games along, you have to do something that benefits the pitching and/or defense, or just plain make people move quicker.
I'd say their motivation for the strike zone change is to fix the strike zone. The motivation for the IBB change might be to speed up the game. But those are different things.
Big Papi is retiring.
That's the part I didn't get. How do they think a smaller strike zone is going to speed up games? That makes no sense at all.
non-pitched IBB also lowers pitch count, giving Bert and Morris even larger lawns to have to keep off