Cup of Coffee

May 3, 2017: Go Cubs Go!

57 Comments

My boss got tickets to the Cubs game tonight from his boss and asked if I wanted to come, to which I agreed. However, I don't think either of us really want to go.

57 thoughts on “May 3, 2017: Go Cubs Go!”

  1. Ervin Santana, Twins

    The lessons learned at the end of last season have paid off for Santana, who has been the game’s dominant pitcher, with an 0.77 ERA. Elias research shows he’s the only pitcher to begin a season with five straight starts allowing no more than one run and four hits, since the mound moved to 60 feet, 6 inches in 1893. This might not be a fluke. Santana had a 2.41 ERA in his last 18 starts in 2016.

    Make that six.

      1. Results

        <th aria-label="RankThis is a count of the rows from top to bottom.It is recalculated following the sorting of a column." data-stat="ranker" scope="col" data-tip="RankThis is a count of the rows from top to bottom.It is recalculated following the sorting of a column." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">Rk
        <th aria-label="Player NameBold can mean player is active for this teamor player has appeared in MLB* means LHP or LHB,# means switch hitter,+ can mean HOFer." data-stat="player" scope="col" data-tip="Player NameBold can mean player is active for this teamor player has appeared in MLB* means LHP or LHB,# means switch hitter,+ can mean HOFer." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">Name
        Strk Start
        End
        Games
        W
        L
        CG
        <th aria-label="Shutouts" data-stat="SHO" scope="col" data-tip="ShutoutsNo runs allowed and a complete game." style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">SHO
        IP
        H
        R
        ER
        BB
        SO
        HR
        <th aria-label="Earned Run Average" data-stat="earned_run_avg" scope="col" data-tip="9 * ER / IPFor recent years, leaders need 1 IPper team game played.Bold indicates lowest ERA using current statsGold means awarded ERA title at end of year." data-filter="1" data-name="Earned Run Average" style="background-color: #ddd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">ERA
        HBP
        Tm

        1Ervin Santana2017-04-032017-05-026501141.01633133320.660MIN
        2Zack Greinke2015-06-182015-07-196400043.2190044200.001LAD
        3Ted Lilly2011-09-172012-04-256500040.12043133000.672LAD
        4Bob Feller1946-07-241946-08-136414350.21622244700.360CLE

        Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool UsedGenerated 5/3/2017.

          1. Use the CSV export option along with the "SR Table" button. Like this:

            [sr]
Rk,Name,Strk Start,End,Games,W,L,GS,CG,SHO,GF,SV,IP,H,R,ER,BB,SO,HR,ERA,HBP,WP,BK,Tm
1,Ervin Santana\santaer01,2017-04-03,2017-05-02,6,5,0,6,1,1,0,0,41.0,16,3,3,13,33,2,0.66,0,1,0,MIN
2,Zack Greinke\greinza01,2015-06-18,2015-07-19,6,4,0,6,0,0,0,0,43.2,19,0,0,4,42,0,0.00,1,1,0,LAD
3,Ted Lilly\lillyte01,2011-09-17,2012-04-25,6,5,0,6,0,0,0,0,40.1,20,4,3,13,30,0,0.67,2,0,0,LAD
4,Bob Feller\fellebo01,1946-07-24,1946-08-13,6,4,1,6,4,3,0,0,50.2,16,2,2,24,47,0,0.36,0,0,0,CLE
[/sr]
            Rk Name Strk Start End Games W L GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA HBP WP BK Tm
            1 Ervin Santana\santaer01 2017-04-03 2017-05-02 6 5 0 6 1 1 0 0 41.0 16 3 3 13 33 2 0.66 0 1 0 MIN
            2 Zack Greinke\greinza01 2015-06-18 2015-07-19 6 4 0 6 0 0 0 0 43.2 19 0 0 4 42 0 0.00 1 1 0 LAD
            3 Ted Lilly\lillyte01 2011-09-17 2012-04-25 6 5 0 6 0 0 0 0 40.1 20 4 3 13 30 0 0.67 2 0 0 LAD
            4 Bob Feller\fellebo01 1946-07-24 1946-08-13 6 4 1 6 4 3 0 0 50.2 16 2 2 24 47 0 0.36 0 0 0 CLE

          2. I think there's something funny going on here, because didn't Drysdale have 6 consecutive complete game shutouts?

    2. Also if Erv just allows one earned run in the next 11 innings pitched, he will have one nice ERA.

    2. Yup. Always cream if I've got it. And a sprinkle of brown sugar and then finish under the broiler. Small steps, but the difference is amazing.

        1. Interesting. Brown seems to make a big deal of the stale bread, but as the article Pepper linked to observes, it's really just a question of how long you soak it.

    3. I put together a batch of these on Saturday night and prepared them Sunday morning. I don't have a Belgian style iron, but the standard depth worked just fine. They were yeasty, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Only variation on the recipe was a tsp of vanilla extract.
      Awesomeness.

    1. I was pretty sure it was gonna be:

      'Spoiler' SelectShow

      1. Straightedge (but faking it) teenage AMR got a lot of ideas how to fake people out.
        Same site makes it sound like it should be illegal to sell pacifiers or glowsticks to teenagers, as they're "drug paraphernalia".

  5. Not saving it for movie day:
    I watched the new Maria Bamford special, Old Baby on NetFlix last night.
    I don't think I've ever been so amazed by standup before. Can someone be a virtuosa of standup? If so, it's her, in this.
    I laughed so hard even though I was trying to be quiet as EAR had fallen asleep before I started it.
    It reminds me that I never finished Lady Dynamite.

    1. There's a youtube trailer but it really doesn't capture the performance.
      I don't know how one could, though. I was hoping there was just a longer clip or two from the show.
      I kindof want to watch it again tonight.

      1. Here's a clip of her on Colbert using some of the jokes (but not extending them, due to the venue).
        I haven't watched the CK. I was really disappointed with the latest Gaffigan special.
        I've watched most of the first of two new Dave Chapelle specials on NetFlix, which was quite good, but not "can't wait for movie day" good like Old Baby.

        1. CK's is not his best, but I enjoyed it.

          I don't expect much from Gaffigan, but he's easy and comfortable and I usually giggle quite a bit. His last special was just terrible. I think I found two jokes funny.

          1. I like Jim Gaffigan, but I really dislike his "act like a judgmental audience member" shtick. That got old quick, and it really only worked when he was an unknown. I find it interferes with his authentic voice and other material, which I think is fantastic, and with which I often identify quite naturally.

            1. He will even mock that shtick, but he keeps doing it anyway. I agree it was kind of funny in his first special, but I find that the best comedians don't go back to old jokes, like, ever.

              1. I don't consider that an old "joke" -- that was/is part of his standup. To his credit, he doesn't use it as much, but it's still trademark Gaffigan and he still uses it to his advantage.

      2. I felt like the birbiglia wasn't that bad. He's still got some good stuff. The new Amy schumer was the worst stand up I've seen in a long time.

        1. Oh god. Amy's was just dreadful. Speaking of comedians doing the same jokes over and over, Amy needs to stop with the self slut-shaming stuff.

        2. It made me wonder if I had ever found her funny, or if it was just received knowledge that she was funny.
          (Which was the case for CK... I'd heard of him long before I'd heard anything from him, but I didn't watch much standup* so I'd never watched anything of his, maybe a few clips on youtube.
          I'm not trying to say CK's not funny, just that I'd accepted he was funny before I had any chance to know it. )
          EAR asked me why I was watching that even though it stunk and I said I wanted to see if it went anywhere.

          Somewhere, I guess SelectShow
          Milktoast, but is it still FZ? SelectShow

          *Oh, the days before NetFlix, when I stayed on the internet until tired.

          1. I think she was in the right place at the right time with a line of jokes that were both shocking and thought provoking. She hasn't done too much with the material since other than repackaging the joke format for movies.

            1. Her sketch comedy show works better as its more creative. But yeah. I liked the shock stuff on Last Comic Standing and there's been little growth outside the occasional solid sketch since

    3. I'll have to check that out.

      I know spooky has mentioned it before, but Neil Brendan's 3 Mics special is must watch. It's about as high of a concept as I've seen in stand-up and is both hilarious and heart breakingly poignant.

      And speaking of stand up, we've got tickets to see Patton Oswalt on the 31st in Madison. This will be my first big time comedy show and I'm pretty excited for it.

      1. Honestly, 3 Mics wasn't as good as I hoped. I heard a Fresh Air (radio shows are italicized, right?) interview that kind of spoiled all of the poignant moments, and after that the mic changing was just kind of distracting. Glad he put himself out there, though. For his sake at least.

    1. I think it was a good call to go back to the full band. I loved the last two albums but I like the change.

  8. The Twins rank second to last in the AL in strikeouts, and second in walks. The team batting average of .245 is just two points above league average, but they have the third best OBP in the league at .334, good for an OPS+ of 107. Somebody's been eating plate discipline for breakfast.

  9. Since my birthday, Byron Buxton's hitting line is .304/.467/.435/.901, and Miguel Sano's is .452/.528/.903/1.431.

    1. Since your birthday, Miguel Sano had ceased to be human and become a God tasked with destroying baseballs.

      1. What can I say except you're welcome
        For the runs that I've batted in
        Hey it's okay, it's okay
        You're welcome
        I'll just hit it over the fence once again.

  10. While I like outfielders being aggressive on fly balls/line drives since outs are so much more important than giving up an extra base or 2, Kepler really had no chance on that and made a poor decision there. Should have been just a single.

Comments are closed.