Cup of Coffee

May 1, 2012: The Cusp

88 Comments

The verbal commitment was made yesterday, but today we should be finding out that the Milkmaid's getting a promotion that will nearly double her salary and take us to Tennessee, West Virginia, Washington, Hawai'i or Chicago. I don't care where we go - we'll be out of debt in no time and will finally be free to live our lives.

88 thoughts on “May 1, 2012: The Cusp”

  1. Wowsers. That sounds like a big change, but it also sounds like good news. Best wishes to you.

  2. I will echo Jeff's wowzers (but with a 'z' instead) and best wishes. Chicago would be cool. Then you'd be able to join the WGOM Snappers Game Caucus.

  5. Not to change the topic to potentially bad news, but what is up with the show? Where would it shoot?

    1. Good news: it's still on. Money transfers have begun.

      Bad news unless she ends up in the Washington location: it shoots in Eastern Washington.

        2. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains. The stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

      2. So it's Washington State? Seattlish?
        No matter where her job lands you, all other locations are functionally as remote as Phoenix.

        I'm excited to hear that the show's still on. I want a reason to watch TV again.

            1. No, it's obviously western. I'm just saying that if that's where she ends up, I'll see them every weekend. If it's any of the other options, it's a Skype world.

      3. One could argue that if she ends up in West Virginia the fact that it shoots in Eastern Washington is a good thing.

  6. That sounds like a pretty great promotion to me. Hopefully wherever you end up moving is cool. One of my very good friends lives in Charleston, WV, and he says it's pretty cool there.

    1. My 2nd most serious relationship was with a woman from Charleston and if we had stayed together I probably would be living there as she was involved in some sort of family business. Being the capital and having some colleges provides Charleston with a different vibe than the rest of the state.

      Hmm, I haven't thought about that woman for many years, maybe I should go facebook stalk her.....

    2. Given that most of what I "know" about West Virginia comes from listening to the Greaseman back in the late 1980s, I have a somewhat different impression. I would be shocked -- SHOCKED -- to learn that that impression was misplaced.

        1. some of the stereotypes are true.

          West Virginia has the highest rate of tooth loss in the country, with a third of residents 35 or younger having lost at least six permanent teeth.

          36 percent of WV seniors 65+ have no natural teeth (2010 data; the 2004 data says 42.8 pct), compared to 17 percent nationwide (2004 weighted state average was 22.1 pct).

          1. I actually just found out that Stone Mountain, Georgia is on the table, and that the east coast locations are more likely than the west.

        3. I can only speak for Tennessee, but I hate it. (Memphis, anyway. Nashville was actually not that bad.)

            1. Well, I'm not really a jazz guy and I didn't have time to find good bbq (though the Flying Saucer there was good, especially the hot southern waitresses wearing skimpy skirts), so take my comments with a grain of salt.

    1. Ooh. Nice use of the theme. I'll be emailing her this one. Well, I'll be emailing her all of them, but especially this one.

    2. And that's why it would have been nice to grab Inge. Gardy must have been watching the Mariners game last night where the Mariners--despite having 3 catchers on the roster anyway--had to forfeit the DH in extras because Miguel Olivo got hurt, John Jaso had already been taken out of the game, leaving only Jesus Montero (who was DH'ing) to come in at catcher. Of course, despite losing the DH, the Mariners weren't forced to send a pitcher to the plate. Nevertheless, the whole episode likely sent shivers down Gardy's spine.

        1. hey, i was at that game. i didn't know that part about the DH rule at the time, so i was very confused.

        1. Gardy hit a pretty respectable .232 for a utility infielder. Playing in Shea also hurt him, bb-ref park/era-adjusts his average to .241. I'll run Butera up the pole with you any day, though. .178, even over just 409 PA, is brutal.

      2. Wait. He's heading to Anaheim. To play for the Twins.

        Ugh. You know what this means, right? Mauer is unavailable.

        1. Actually I thought that Doumit and Mauer are the only two who can play one of three positions: DH, 1st, Catcher. Thus Gardy needs a catcher.

          1. Not that I'm really advocating it, but Burroughs and Parmelee should also be able to play 1st base. I think what you're getting at might be the main reason behind the move. Even if you have, say:

            C - Doumit
            1B - Mauer
            DH - Parmelee

            If something happens to Mauer (who doesn't seem to be totally unavailable, but it'd be nice to take him out if you need to), then you have to have Burroughs play first (very little experience there) or lose the DH to put Parmelee at 1st. With Butera around, you can put Butera at C and shift Doumit to 1B without losing the DH. Ideally, someone like Clete Thomas would have figured out by this point in his career that he's a utility guy and would have learned how to play first base, but I guess not.

            On some level, the Twins are being completely ridiculous. We know Morneau won't be available, and with 13 pitchers, that means they are down to 11 position players. That means they are essentially playing with a 2-man bench unless they promote a position player and demote a pitcher, in which case they will have a vast and expansive 3-man bench!

            1. Since Butera is going to join the team, someone has to be leaving. Either Morneau will be put on the DL or another roster move will be made. But, while there will be three position players available, it will effectively be only two.

              1. all our problems solved:

                zammanMay 1, 1212:00 pm

                Number one, move Mauer from behind the plate. Put him at first, right field, DH but not behind the plate. He cannot throw anyone out anymore and is more valuable when he is healthy. Two, Justin thanks but it is time to move on. Third and most important - Get rid of the coaching staff. Out pitchers cannot pitch, out fielders have trouble with FUNDAMENTALS!!! stressed for this year, and our hitters could not hit off a tee. Get some coaches that can do something with what they have.

        2. I would say it means that Mauer is only available to DH or he can't run all out, so Gardy wants to be able to PH for him in the later innings. Or at least that is what I hope it means. It could also mean he is unavailable for the next few days, but not enough to DL.

          1. Isn't it simpler to ascribe this to Morneau's unavailability? As discussed above, with Morneau out, the bench is stuipdly short.

            1. Yea, but Morneau's unavailability is a bit less Gardy-critical than the (temporary) loss of a catcher. So I'd say it's the interaction of the two events that drove us back into Drew's arms.

    4. The real disappointment is that Towles isn't heading up. At this point, we know what Butters will give us, but J.R. has at least a little upside left.

      1. I'm actually in full agreement with this. I'd like to give Towles a shot. It's hard to imagine he'd be worse than Butters. I mean, I prefered STEVE HOLM! and Rene Rivera to Butters last year, so the bar isn't exactly all that high.

      2. From a personnel management standpoint, it'd be a little hard to promote Towles over Butera right now. Towles is .111/.200/.222 as Butera's backup in Rochester. Butera's .279/.319/.419 so far this season (which would be his best season ever if it held up for an entire year), so Towles isn't going to suddenly leap-frog Butera when a spot on the major league roster opens up.

        I agree that Towles has some intriguing minor league numbers (at least compared to Butera), but there could be a fair amount of PCL inflation behind his minor league career line. I guess his major league numbers have been less bad than Butera's, but not by a whole lot. Maybe with Butera (hopefully) sitting on Minnesota's bench, Towles can impress at Rochester and force the issue.

    1. Checking just starting lineups, I get 29-26 with Anthony starting and 22-25 with Stoudemire starting.

      1. But if you're going to build around Anthony, you take advantage of who he is. You don't pair him with a score-first power forward whose athleticism and effort seem to magically leave him when he's not getting touches offensively.

        I love that. Embrace the Black Hole. Replace talent with guys who like to stand around, out of Melo's way. Because, you know, he's one of the Unstoppable Forces in the league.

        1. I also liked the line about how Melo plays defense when he's getting his touches on offense. Presumably this means he gets back on defense after taking long jumpers, whereas he loafs back when not taking shots?

          1. It's all very beautiful.

            Last night:

            'Melo: 12-26, 6-9, 30 pts, 50.1 TS% <== Volume, low efficiency scorer, but a lot better than game 1!!! LBJ, Wade, Bosh: 26-48, 12-18, 65 pts, 58.1 TS% <== You win with this LBJ had kind of an off night, but guess what, he didn't use 30 possessions.

    2. By my count, they went 7-4 when Anthony got 0 minutes. 8-4 when he had less than 20 minutes. With Stoudamire getting 0 minutes, they went 14-5. Could be bad luck, could be that they chose the wrong guys to build around.

  14. A Justin Morneau update:

    9.6% BB% -- April
    9.8% BB% -- Career

    .229 ISOp -- April
    .218 ISOp -- Career

    22.9% SO% -- April
    15.2% SO% -- Career

    .255 BABIP -- April
    .292 BABIP -- Career

    21.8% LD% -- April
    18.8% LD% -- Career

    .230 AVG -- April
    .280 AVG -- Career

    So, his lower average can at least be partly explained by a few more strikeouts, but overall it looks like he had a pretty good April. Hopefully his wrist checks out fine and he can get back after it. If he keeps up that sort of line drive rate, you'd expect his BABIP to tick up towards his career average.

  16. Finally, good news for the Whole Milk family!

    Yes, it did take me forever to come up with that, and I semi-plagiarized Ben Thietje, but I think it was worth it.

  17. James Harden and Kevin Durant "Take a Super Model to Work."
    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7hPAgN3hP8&feature=player_embedded

  18. I say this is a push

    Minnesota Twins ‏ @Twins
    #Twins designate IF Sean Burroughs for release or assignment to make room for C Drew Butera on 25-man roster.

    1. They let a position player go? I mean, I know Burroughs is hardly a compelling player, but are some of the pitchers dying to play in the field or something? Gardy might have to give up the DH simply because he's out of healthy position players. FFS, they have a two-man bench tonight, which may as well be a one-man bench since there's no good reason to play Butera unless it's an emergency.

        1. That picture does bear an eerie similarity to my physical reaction when I read this news.

      2. And in the end, Morneau will end up missing 14 days instead of going on the 15-day DL.

  20. Thanks, everyone. Today there was an HR emergency at their distribution center, so the definitive word didn't happen. Essentially, she's waiting to find out if she even needs to go through the interview process; those in charge have been able to watch the candidates closely and there's really no competition, as far as they see. We could still have the rug pulled out from under us, but it's starting to look unlikely.

    1. I wasn't around earlier, but cheers! I hope you get the location you're secretly hoping for (Hawaii?).

    2. I saw the phrase "HR emergency" and thought "home run emergency". Which would fit the Twins, of course.

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