79 thoughts on “September 23, 2017: Ideal Day”

  1. Now that I think about it more, I would rather face the Yankees in a one-game playoff than a full series. Seems odds would be better to win and less demoralizing for a loss, being a coin flip and all.

        1. Would we play Cleveland next? I thought they wouldn't pit teams together from the same division in the first round, regardless of the records.

          I would care if we got killed, but it would make it more tolerable, certainly.

          1. Yes. They did away with the divisional requirement when the fifth postseason team was added. You can see this in 2015. The two wildcard teams came out of the NL Central and the winner played the Cardinals because they had the best record. Same thing happened in 2013 but for both leagues this time.

  2. Tragic number update. Oakland eliminated!

    Tor -- 1
    Bal -- 2
    TB -- 4
    Sea -- 4
    KC -- 5
    Tex -- 6
    LAAAA -- 6

    1. You have to love a guy like Buxton with all that raw talent who seems pretty eager to maximize it through performance analysis and disciplined training.

      1. Not to slag on Torii, but can you imagine him doing anything like this if he was given similar info? This really just makes me like Buxton all the more.

        1. Maybe. He's from the era of denigrating baseball stats. It's like asking what Ruth would do today. Are we transporting Ruth from age 18 or age 0?

          1. I meant more in a proud "this Stat is telling me I'm not awesome" way. Less of a trust of statistics, more in a "there is room for improvement" way.

          2. I'm not so sure. There is a nice minority of players embracing stats now that I think the millennial players will give it some thought. Certainly the scouts are paying more attention now, and that's going to make college players think twice.

  4. Some notes from Atteberry postgame yesterday:

    • Twins are 4-0 in games that Joe goes 0-5. Not like I want that to happen or anything
    • Scooter Gennett is only the second person to have a 4-HR game and four GS in the same season. The other was Mr. Gehrig
    • Three GS were hit yesterday. Ryan Goins hit one, plus pulled off a great hidden ball trick on Todd Frazier as well.

  5. new deck installed. The only thing left on the home repair project is new rails for a kitchen drawer. Oh, and paying off the home equity loan.

    have I mentioned that the Mrs got rear-ended last week? The other guy's fault, but it probably will result in her beemer getting totaled. She is pissed. We had another 100k at least left on the car (it was due for its first 100k maintenance plus some other work, so at least this happened BEFORE we sunk $2k into maintenance and repairs).

    Oh, and I am scheduling ankle surgery, which will involve debridement at a minimum and possible repair on an ankle tendon.

    Everything Is Awesome.

        1. It's what happens when you purchase EARLY in a bull market and hold on for 17 years in order to weather the downturn and survive into the recovery.

          1. but really, if you want to spend $20k on top of the insurance settlement to cut out and repair stucco, repaint the exterior, replace all your windows and repair floor and wall damage due to stucco failure, let me know. 🙂

      1. I've had problems with both Achilles for the past couple years. I finally got some wraps that are helping, but I fear it's eventually going to result in going under the knife. I'm trying to resist as much as possible because it'll mess up a curling season.

      2. I am in that twilight between not looking forward to it and wanting to hurry up and get it done. Nonstop pain since February is undesirable.

        On the bright side, I don't need hip replacements!

  6. Billy Hamilton's 2017 slash line: .250/.300/.334.634
    Billy Hamilton's career slash line: .248/.298/.334/.632

    is this who he is? He is 26 so maybe there is some room for improvement at the plate (number suggest he is a good defensive player). Would you have Billy Hamilton on your team?

    3. Having an obp and a slg nearly the same is pretty consistent with his minor league track record. He was worth almost 3 bwar last year, but is only going to be around 1 this year, so unless he started walking once in awhile I'm not sure he'd be worth the defense.

      But yeah, it's awesome having the better version already.

    1. If texas makes it into the wildcard I'll never hear the end of it from a colleague, and that's not a good thing. Have I mentioned hating all things texan?

  13. I just traded for Torii in my OOTP league (heading into 1997). While it's nice to have a long-term CFer in my organization (first time I've had a good, young CFer since Reggie Smith about 20 years ago), the real purpose was to freedup a rotation spot for Radke!

    1. Mrs. Twayn is making her awesome potato soup (secret recipe is bacon grease) and I was thinking I'd grill some pork chops to go with it. A Caesar salad, crusty French bread with Kerrygold Irish butter. Pairing it with a New Glarus Staghorn Oktoberfest, but the wife will probably work on the big bottle of Pinot Grigio she opened last night.

    2. Basic roast chicken and root vegetables with a salad here.

      And, carnitas for tomorrow.

      Of course that assumes I can get my kids to stop fighting for long enough to get to the store. Ugh.

      1. I looked at whole chickens at the store, on sale for $1 per lb. And then I reminded myself that Costco sells whole, roasted chickens for $5.99. I can't beat that.

        1. Well when I got to the store, they didn't have any whole chickens. How does a grocery store not have chickens?

          So, grilled salmon it is. Oh, well.

        2. And I agree for price I'm all for the costco roast chicken, but it just isn't nearly as good as what I can make at home. Crispy skin always wins.

          2. we use the Costco chicken as pulled meat for indian / taco / soup / roast n salad / pizza on the grill etc.. We roast our own to have roasted chicken for dinner. (hard to beat the Costco price...)

                1. Pan fry in butter and olive oil with a little salt, pepper, and maybe some rosemary. Great on crackers or straight up.

    3. I can play this game. We're making lamb dick (Dr. Chop's name for lamb and beef kebab) served with pita, lettuce, veg, and yogurt dipping sauce.


        1. 1 1⁄2 lb. ground lamb
          6 tbsp. grated onion
          2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
          4 tbsp. dried ground aleppo pepper or paprika
          1 tbsp. kosher salt
          2 tsp. ground cumin
          2 tsp. dried oregano leaves
          2 tsp. dried mint leaves, crumbled with your fingers
          1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
          Instructions
          Combine lamb and onion in a large bowl; set aside. Heat oil in a 10" skillet over medium-high heat. Add aleppo pepper, salt, cumin, oregano, mint, and pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Pour the spice mixture over the reserved lamb mixture and mix thoroughly with your hands.
          Divide lamb mixture into 4 portions and roll each into a thin cylinder about 10" long and 1" thick. Slide a flat metal skewer (see page 100) into each cylinder and press the meat around the skewer. Transfer skewers to a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up.
          Meanwhile, build a medium-hot fire in a charcoal grill or heat a gas grill to medium-high (alternatively, heat broiler and position rack 7" from heating element). Grill or broil the kebabs, turning once, until browned and nicely charred on the outside and medium on the inside, about 4 minutes per side.

          A bit salty, so I'd cut back on the salt.. (also 1LBS lamb 1/2LBS beef). I really recommend keeping an eye on doneness as ours were a tad over, but it was a new recipe / technique so I'm claiming a win. This'll be going into the rotation for sure.

    5. The socca turned out great, although the Mrs thought it was too salty (probably the za'atar I added at the end). Salmon was overcooked for me, which was just right for her.

      And our supersweet 100s are finally starting to be more productive.

        1. Apparently, Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 second-round draft pick.

          That's pretty modest, frankly. But I don't see how it makes OKC enough better to be a contender in the West.

          OKC already traded away Oladipo and Sabonis for Paul George. Kanter was their third-leading scorer last year and provided an interesting one-two punch with Adams at the 5.

          5: Adams, Nick Collison, Dakari Johnson
          4: Melo, Patrick Patterson
          3: George, Jerami Grant, Kyle Singler
          2: Roberson, Terrance Ferguson, Alex Abrines
          1: Westbrook, Raymond Felton

          that's not exactly a terrible lineup. But it's not one to strike a whole lot of fear into the hearts of GSW, San Antonio, Houston, Portland, or Denver.

  16. Chilling on the deck while waiting on the grill, I removed some of the healthiest, biggest tomato hornworm I've seen from a tomato and a pepper plant. They learned how to fly a lot earlier than they thought they would. Can't believe she didn't mention them to me earlier.

    1. Raúl Alcántara owned a 9.20 ERA in 14.2 innings this year and owned a 8.05 career ERA going into this start.

      He picked a good time to throw five scoreless innings.

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