Comet PanSTARRS (C/2016 R2) continues to put on a show, looking like a speeding pickup on a gravel road
From the Paper of Record:
Last week, John Fogerty fired up Facebook and made a complaint. Why on earth is this new Taraji P. Henson shoot-em-up using the name of the song he wrote? Indeed, “Proud Mary,” which stars Ms. Henson as a hit woman in Boston, shares its title with the 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival hit that Mr. Fogerty wrote — probably the best-known song about anybody named Mary.
these are quibbles. The movie review is a MUST READ.
There’s nothing legally wrong going on here, though. Screen Gems, the Sony imprint that produced and released the movie, paid for use of the song, whose rights don’t belong to Mr. Fogerty. But the incompetence really is something. Or maybe it’s the obviousness. Maybe it’s the inevitability. The whole movie seems to exist just for this sequence. Even if I’d paid just to see Ms. Henson mow down gangs of goons (and I probably did pay only for that), I didn’t get my money’s worth. It’s like I bought a can that said “peaches,” got peaches in the can, but the can was rusty, so the peaches were, too.
pretentious pablum -- they could have paid me a whole lot less for "not that good", although they'd have to pay me a bit more to go and see it, too
Sawchik's piece implies to me the Twins need to "go big". They aren't going to join the Super Teams, but they're right on the bubble for wild card teams and need to stay at the top of that heap.
There’s no reason the Twins shouldn’t be thought of as the AL’s equivalent of the Cardinals, other than they’ve never had owners that wanted to make a real commitment to that kind of long-term success in a medium market for any sustained period.
I agree. They can't compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers but they can be in that next tier. They have all the ingredients - great ballpark, midsize city, good local economy...
But don't have the TV deal for it. I recall the Cardinals bring in a lot more money for their TV deal than the Twins.
I'm just gonna put it out here that the extra $15 million TV deal isn't what's keeping them from being the Cardinals. It's the more than $90 million being pocketed every year.
I'm pretty sure its not having THE BEST FANS EVAR!
I'm certainly not going to defend this, but:
Cardinals avg. 2017 home attendance: 42,567 (capacity: 45,700)
Twins avg. 2017 home attendance: 25,324 (capacity: 39,504)
You also need to consider their records. If you put a crappy product out there for 10 strsight years, the blame shouldn't go to customers.
Yeah, but they still GO! And complain like heck about the managing, or the closer, or whatever. I'm constantly fending them off and reminding them that I don't give a d@mn because I'm a Twins fan and don't care about "minor league baseball".
What really gets me is when they complain about this that or the other thing even in a good year, and I check their record against the MN product and roll my eyes.
I never lived in the Twin Cities, so I have nothing to compare it with, but here there is
always someone one I know (neighbors, church, etc) that was at yesterday's game.
When was ge last time the Carxinals were bad? Tgey get no credit for supporting a good team.
The last year the Cardinals were below .500 was 2007 (78-84). The season before that they won only 83 games, but also the World Series. The only other time they’ve been below .500 in the last 20 years was 1999 (75-86). The last time the Cards lost 90+ games was 1990 (70-92). In the last fifty years, they’ve lost 90+ games just three times (1990, 1978, & 1976). The last time they lost 100 or more games was 1908 (49-105).
And they won 100+ three times since 1999. That losing year they still had a lot of people attend the game: 3.2 million, an attendance record. I'm guessing some dude hitting everything out of the park helped.
Tgey get no credit for supporting a good team.
It's all about the expectations. Yanqui fans complain when they aren't in the World Series as is their birthright. Cardinals fans complain when they aren't contenders for a division title at least, I'm sure.
That said, they've sustained both competitive teams and high attendance for a long time.
Cardinals have won 90+ games in 5 of the last 10 seasons, 10 of the last 20. They made the playoffs in 6 of 10, 12 of 20, and the World Series 2 of 10, 4 of 20.
Their last WS winning season (2011) was also their worst attendance season since 2003 (which was the ONLY year in the last 20 when they drew fewer than 3 million).
The Twins have not drawn 3 million since 2011, the start of their run of misery. Their weak attendance in the 2002-2004 run of division titles (under 2 million each year) is hard to explain (except with reference to fan alienation about the contraction threats).
A handful of years ago I noticed that the Cardinals have never - in their history - finished last.
To Philos’ point, from the second link sean shared above:
“There’s a lot of speculation always on local revenues,” St. Peter told the Pioneer Press. “I would just tell you that there’s more that goes into it than just television revenues. Television gets a lot of focus, but we outperform our market in a lot of metrics. At the end of the day, I’m more focused on the total local revenue, not just the television bucket.”
How did you get the $152.9 million? I see player expenses but it seems you added operating income. The player expenses itself is 49% or revenue while the Cardinals are at 56%. Ryan was quoted previously at 50-52%* for payroll. 56% puts them at $139 million for player expenses. Cot's has the Twins starting at a $108 million payroll so that's about $20 million in overhead. Keeping the same overhead means their payroll would only go up about $10 million.
I want them to be the AL version of the Cardinals and think they can, but they're going to need to outspend the MLB norm in the near-term to do that.
* And the MLB average now is below 40%.
I foolishly read "operating income" as "operating expenses." Oops.
It might well be that they need to outspend the MLB norm, but I have no problem making that suggestion. Players are getting less in baseball than any other sport (as a percentage of revenue). The Pohlads are among the wealthiest owners in baseball. No reasonable argument to be made against spending more if winning is the goal.
Having missed their window to be competitive in Target Field thanks to BS, clearly the Pohlads need a new ballpark to get to the level of spending that allows them to repeatedly wash out of the ALDS.
@TwinsPrez @Twins
Having missed their window to be competitive in Target Field thanks to BS,
uh, what? 😉
2018 Topps series one checklists are starting to come out (goes on sale 1/31) and new Twins to have autographs will be Aaron Slegers and Zack Granite. And a whole lot of Sano :/
If the Twins really want Twins Fest to be super exciting, they'd hush hush sign Yu Darvish, fly him to Minneapolis, and make the surprise announcement to the crowd.
@TwinsPrez @Twins
Via MLBTR, more detail on Kitty’s new special assistant gig with the Twins:
He joins Twins legends Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Tom Kelly and Kent Hrbek in a role that will see him “engage in various Twins community and business initiatives both in Minnesota as well as Southwest Florida,” per the Twins’ press release announcing the hiring.
So, hopefully more meet & greet with the swells than putting him on the air on the regular.
Johan Santana has been elected to the #MNTwins HOF. Induction will be 8/4. Rod Carew called him to deliver the happy news.
Johan currently has appeared on 1.5% of public HoF ballots. Vizquel is sitting at 30.5%, McGriff has 18.3%, and even Billy Wagner has 10.7%.
I can't get too worked up about that. Vizquel has an outside chance of eventually making it based on old school perceptions of defense. Neither McGriff nor Wagner is getting in.
Johan was great for a handful of years. He doesn't have the cachet of Koufax. No ringz.
If Johan can't even muster 5% on voting for a Hall of Fame that includes Jack Morris, then being a Hall of Famer is meaningless.
see Brown, Kevin (below).
Of pitchers in the Expansion Era (1961 to present) that have at least 50 rWAR, Clayton Kershaw is the only active pitcher in the top 10 in ERA+. He is the only one that is currently active. Who are the next 10 on that list? (3 are tied for 9th and none are active). Only 5 are in the Hall of Fame.
Pedro
Clemens
Johan
Big Unit
Maddux
Halladay
Bob (Not Kyle) Gibson
Seaver
Schilling
Kevin Brown
Clemens will get in eventually, as will Schilling, and probably Halladay.
The top 5 rWAR pitchers NOT in the HOF are Clemens (139.4, 3rd all-time), Mussina (82.7, 24th), Schilling (80.7, 26th), Jim McCormick (75.5, 27th), and Kevin Brown (68.5, 31st). Then come Reuschel (68.2, 34th), Tiant (66.1, 40th), Halladay (65.6, 41st), Tommy John (62.3, 48th) and Bobby Matthews (62.2, 49th).
I don't see how one can make a decent case for Johan, who had a very short effective career, without first going through Moose, Brown, and Halladay.
Moose's 4 ballot appearances so far: 20.3 pct, 24.6 pct, 43.0 pct, 51.8 pct. Looks like he's on path for making it, but it could take Blyleven-type time at the Major League level. His problem is apparent: not much Black Ink (15, HOF average is 40), but lots of Grey Ink (250, HOF average is 185). Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
Brown had one appearance on the ballot (2011, only 2.1 pct). He might be the best comp to Johan -- had a couple DOMINANT seasons (5-year stretch with rWARs of 8.0, 7.0, 8.6, 6.2, 7.2, robbed of a Cy Young in 1996), but not a long enough period of greatness to convince voters to take him seriously (he's well below HOF averages on JAWS and rWAR7 for pitchers).
I don't think I'd vote for any of them. I think Johan should have at least the votes of, say, Wagner, but I don't really think he has that compelling of a case.
I was picking up some beer today and walked past a cart full of bombers marked "closeout" for $3.99. I grabbed a bottle of Bruery Terreux Saison Rue.
Oh mama, I kind of think I got away with Robbery.
Oooohhh, I had one of those!
...for a different price...
Likewise. Delicious.
Bruery is pretty awesome.
The best part of this is the clip of Michael Strahan jumping up and down on-set between Howie and Jimmy. Thanks to Greekhouse for the link on Bookface.
Comet PanSTARRS (C/2016 R2) continues to put on a show, looking like a speeding pickup on a gravel road
From the Paper of Record:
really?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGr6B6Rp4PU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylbRDXKSauQ
these are quibbles. The movie review is a MUST READ.
pretentious pablum -- they could have paid me a whole lot less for "not that good", although they'd have to pay me a bit more to go and see it, too
Well posted, brotha.
Jeff Sullivan is polling Fangraphs’ readers’ opinions on the billionaire who run their favorite laundromat: What Do You Think of Your Team’s Ownership?
While you’re there, check out Travis’ Sawchik’s piece, The Twins Reside in No Man’s Land, and the high quality conversation Sullivan & his Effectively Wild co-host Ben Lindbergh had with Jeff Passan on baseball’s increasingly unbalanced economics , simmering labor unrest, & asking better questions.
Sawchik's piece implies to me the Twins need to "go big". They aren't going to join the Super Teams, but they're right on the bubble for wild card teams and need to stay at the top of that heap.
There’s no reason the Twins shouldn’t be thought of as the AL’s equivalent of the Cardinals, other than they’ve never had owners that wanted to make a real commitment to that kind of long-term success in a medium market for any sustained period.
I agree. They can't compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers but they can be in that next tier. They have all the ingredients - great ballpark, midsize city, good local economy...
But don't have the TV deal for it. I recall the Cardinals bring in a lot more money for their TV deal than the Twins.
Cardinals:
Twins:
Dude. https://www.forbes.com/teams/minnesota-twins/
Annual revenue = $249 million.
Annual expenditures (payroll and operating) = $152.9 million.
I'm just gonna put it out here that the extra $15 million TV deal isn't what's keeping them from being the Cardinals. It's the more than $90 million being pocketed every year.
I'm pretty sure its not having THE BEST FANS EVAR!
I'm certainly not going to defend this, but:
Cardinals avg. 2017 home attendance: 42,567 (capacity: 45,700)
Twins avg. 2017 home attendance: 25,324 (capacity: 39,504)
You also need to consider their records. If you put a crappy product out there for 10 strsight years, the blame shouldn't go to customers.
Yeah, but they still GO! And complain like heck about the managing, or the closer, or whatever. I'm constantly fending them off and reminding them that I don't give a d@mn because I'm a Twins fan and don't care about "minor league baseball".
What really gets me is when they complain about this that or the other thing even in a good year, and I check their record against the MN product and roll my eyes.
I never lived in the Twin Cities, so I have nothing to compare it with, but here there is
always someone one I know (neighbors, church, etc) that was at yesterday's game.
When was ge last time the Carxinals were bad? Tgey get no credit for supporting a good team.
The last year the Cardinals were below .500 was 2007 (78-84). The season before that they won only 83 games, but also the World Series. The only other time they’ve been below .500 in the last 20 years was 1999 (75-86). The last time the Cards lost 90+ games was 1990 (70-92). In the last fifty years, they’ve lost 90+ games just three times (1990, 1978, & 1976). The last time they lost 100 or more games was 1908 (49-105).
And they won 100+ three times since 1999. That losing year they still had a lot of people attend the game: 3.2 million, an attendance record. I'm guessing some dude hitting everything out of the park helped.
It's all about the expectations. Yanqui fans complain when they aren't in the World Series as is their birthright. Cardinals fans complain when they aren't contenders for a division title at least, I'm sure.
That said, they've sustained both competitive teams and high attendance for a long time.
Cardinals have won 90+ games in 5 of the last 10 seasons, 10 of the last 20. They made the playoffs in 6 of 10, 12 of 20, and the World Series 2 of 10, 4 of 20.
Their last WS winning season (2011) was also their worst attendance season since 2003 (which was the ONLY year in the last 20 when they drew fewer than 3 million).
The Twins have not drawn 3 million since 2011, the start of their run of misery. Their weak attendance in the 2002-2004 run of division titles (under 2 million each year) is hard to explain (except with reference to fan alienation about the contraction threats).
A handful of years ago I noticed that the Cardinals have never - in their history - finished last.
To Philos’ point, from the second link sean shared above:
How did you get the $152.9 million? I see player expenses but it seems you added operating income. The player expenses itself is 49% or revenue while the Cardinals are at 56%. Ryan was quoted previously at 50-52%* for payroll. 56% puts them at $139 million for player expenses. Cot's has the Twins starting at a $108 million payroll so that's about $20 million in overhead. Keeping the same overhead means their payroll would only go up about $10 million.
I want them to be the AL version of the Cardinals and think they can, but they're going to need to outspend the MLB norm in the near-term to do that.
* And the MLB average now is below 40%.
I foolishly read "operating income" as "operating expenses." Oops.
It might well be that they need to outspend the MLB norm, but I have no problem making that suggestion. Players are getting less in baseball than any other sport (as a percentage of revenue). The Pohlads are among the wealthiest owners in baseball. No reasonable argument to be made against spending more if winning is the goal.
Having missed their window to be competitive in Target Field thanks to BS, clearly the Pohlads need a new ballpark to get to the level of spending that allows them to repeatedly wash out of the ALDS.
@TwinsPrez @Twins
uh, what? 😉
2018 Topps series one checklists are starting to come out (goes on sale 1/31) and new Twins to have autographs will be Aaron Slegers and Zack Granite. And a whole lot of Sano :/
If the Twins really want Twins Fest to be super exciting, they'd hush hush sign Yu Darvish, fly him to Minneapolis, and make the surprise announcement to the crowd.
@TwinsPrez @Twins
Via MLBTR, more detail on Kitty’s new special assistant gig with the Twins:
So, hopefully more meet & greet with the swells than putting him on the air on the regular.
Johan currently has appeared on 1.5% of public HoF ballots. Vizquel is sitting at 30.5%, McGriff has 18.3%, and even Billy Wagner has 10.7%.
I can't get too worked up about that. Vizquel has an outside chance of eventually making it based on old school perceptions of defense. Neither McGriff nor Wagner is getting in.
Johan was great for a handful of years. He doesn't have the cachet of Koufax. No ringz.
If Johan can't even muster 5% on voting for a Hall of Fame that includes Jack Morris, then being a Hall of Famer is meaningless.
see Brown, Kevin (below).
Of pitchers in the Expansion Era (1961 to present) that have at least 50 rWAR, Clayton Kershaw is the only active pitcher in the top 10 in ERA+. He is the only one that is currently active. Who are the next 10 on that list? (3 are tied for 9th and none are active). Only 5 are in the Hall of Fame.
Clemens will get in eventually, as will Schilling, and probably Halladay.
The top 5 rWAR pitchers NOT in the HOF are Clemens (139.4, 3rd all-time), Mussina (82.7, 24th), Schilling (80.7, 26th), Jim McCormick (75.5, 27th), and Kevin Brown (68.5, 31st). Then come Reuschel (68.2, 34th), Tiant (66.1, 40th), Halladay (65.6, 41st), Tommy John (62.3, 48th) and Bobby Matthews (62.2, 49th).
I don't see how one can make a decent case for Johan, who had a very short effective career, without first going through Moose, Brown, and Halladay.
Moose's 4 ballot appearances so far: 20.3 pct, 24.6 pct, 43.0 pct, 51.8 pct. Looks like he's on path for making it, but it could take Blyleven-type time at the Major League level. His problem is apparent: not much Black Ink (15, HOF average is 40), but lots of Grey Ink (250, HOF average is 185). Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
Brown had one appearance on the ballot (2011, only 2.1 pct). He might be the best comp to Johan -- had a couple DOMINANT seasons (5-year stretch with rWARs of 8.0, 7.0, 8.6, 6.2, 7.2, robbed of a Cy Young in 1996), but not a long enough period of greatness to convince voters to take him seriously (he's well below HOF averages on JAWS and rWAR7 for pitchers).
I don't think I'd vote for any of them. I think Johan should have at least the votes of, say, Wagner, but I don't really think he has that compelling of a case.
I was picking up some beer today and walked past a cart full of bombers marked "closeout" for $3.99. I grabbed a bottle of Bruery Terreux Saison Rue.
Oh mama, I kind of think I got away with Robbery.
Oooohhh, I had one of those!
...for a different price...
Likewise. Delicious.
Bruery is pretty awesome.
The best part of this is the clip of Michael Strahan jumping up and down on-set between Howie and Jimmy. Thanks to Greekhouse for the link on Bookface.