...who gets the first hit tonight? Does ANYONE get a hit tonight?
127 thoughts on “May 4, 2012: FRIDAY!”
This morning we're having our third batch of hail in a week. None of it major, but still, what's up with that?
Not much hail up here, but we've had 2 pretty good thunderstorms and rain a couple of other the other days. Should be an interesting summer?
We got golf-ball sized hail a couple days ago. My 2-year old enjoyed picking it all up after the storm.
How the hail should I know? See, it never hails in southern California.
But seriously, one thing I really miss about MN is thunderstorms. DC had few and LA even fewer.
I have to admit, those 5½ years I lived in LA, I really missed seasons. I'm still excited by (rain-only) thunderstorms.
We live about 3 houses down from bluffs along the edge of the Mississippi/Missouri river floodplain, and when a storm skirts north of us, the thunder just echoes out there. Love it!
It's sad that I immediately thought you somehow won an award for eliminating members of your own team in a misguided attempt for justice. The trophy in your link makes much more sense.
Hey, I was only involved in the lynching of nibbish. Well, this time, anyway.
Yeah, but you cost the village nibs. That right there earns you LVP.
Actually, and I think I have a comment to this effect in my notes, I'm pretty sure I said something like "good, he doesn't know the show and isn't making funny references anyway" when nibs was killed.
I'm pretty sure nibs cost the village nibs. 😛
His nibs?
Nibs.
Stonehenge-nibs?
Quiet, you. You lynched me this time.
That is one kick-ass trophy. I am jealous.
They are having 4 more of these. So if you can run a decent 5K, you should have a good shot to win one (though I can't guarantee all of the trophies will be raccoons). It seems like this race attracted a somewhat older crowd (which is evident by me taking 4th in my age group). If I had been in the 55-59 age group, I would have missed getting an award by 1:16. Ridiculous!
Funny, because no matter what group I was in I would have missed getting an award by about a mile and a half.
I think I could run three miles in about a half-hour, but the 1500-mile trip to get there probably rules it out for me. Maybe I could find one on E-bay...
My best 5K time ever, a 22:30 in '08, would have been first in my current age bracket in that race (or 3rd in the age bracket I was when I ran that time). Adjusting for age and the fact I stopped running 5Ks in 08, I probably would have been 4th in this race. If I trained I could probably get to sub-23:00 again.
I'd like to think I could get my times down somewhere in that range eventually. I still have quite a bit of weight I could lose, which could help my times considerably. I'm also doing more speed work now than I ever have, which should help my times.
By the time fall rolls around, I hope to be able to run one in under 24:30, which I think should be attainable. However, I probably won't run many in the fall because of my marathon training. I do plan to do the turkey trot in Minneapolis with my mom on Thanksgiving, though.
As much as I try to fight it, if there was any sport my frame was built for it's distance running - 6'1"-6'2" ish, 150-170ish (depending on how hard I've been hitting the gym). My first 5K ever I ran on 4 days notice on a whim and I ran 24:30.
I ran cross country in high school. I have to constantly remind myself that I am not 18 anymore so I don't get too depressed about how much slower I am now. I run a full 2 minutes per mile slower now.
At 2 minutes slower than a high school cross country runner, I'd have to think that you're still keeping a decent pace.
Pretty close to even with you.
I'm 6-1 and 205. That is definitely not a runners build. I think I can drop to 190 and maybe even less than that, but at some point, if I want to get down to a good runner's weight, I'm going to have to lose muscle. My build is certainly more appropriate for rugby than distance running.
I'll pull some sort of "Freaky Friday" with you if you can figure out the science.
I'd totally do it! I love running now and my rugby days are all behind me. Although, with my endurance being as good as it is, now, I'd have to think I'd be a pretty good rugby player these days.
Way past my (horrible) pickup basketball playing days, but I used to love running full court. When I was in halfways decent shape, that's the sort of advantage that can actually make me replacement level.
Nice pace, there, pally.
Not that I'm cheering Mariano Rivera's injury nor am I disputing that he's the greatest relief pitcher of all time or at the very least on the very short list of greatest ones, but amid all the things being said, I will point out this: Rivera has pitched almost two decades in MLB without a significant arm injury and has been paid almost $150,000,000 as a relief pitcher.
I'm pretty sure that every young kid with big league ambitions would accept an ACL tear in his mid forties to have the career that Rivera had and the financial benefits and everything else that went along with it. I know I would have.
Did you see Teix called him the best PITCHER ever?
Maybe the best one-pitch pitcher ever...at least in the running. But not the best pitcher ever.
I agree with Moss.
yea, but still a very impressive resume.
1st among active and 4th all-time in pitching WPA (Trevor Hoffman at 19th is the only other reliever in the top 20); 1st active and second all-time in WHIP; 1st active and all-time in adjusted ERA; 2nd active and 58th all-time in pitching rWAR.
If it's going to happen like that, at least happen doing what I love to do. And shagging I love to do. I mean, if I had to do it over again, I would do it again. No hesitation.
He has needs. He is a man!
Pffffffft, Mickey Mantle used to shag in outfield all the time.
and he was a switch-hitter!!!!1111one1111!!!
[something terrible about his knees giving out]
Wasn't David Cone caught shagging by himself in the Mets' bullpen?
He was gripping his fungo bat.
Shea its not so!
I wish I could read spooky's post in anything other than Buster's voice.
It seems appropriate this week though.
Yea, baby, yea!!!
Not to mention dozens of playoff games and five WS championships.
Also, consider this: the worst team he ever played on went 89-73. (The worst regular season record the Yankees had when he was playing was 87-74, but that was 2000 when they beat the Mets in the WS.) The last time Pittsburgh won at least 87 games was '92, and the most wins they've had in any season since Rivera made the bigs was 78 wins in 1999. The last time the Royals won at least 87 games was 1989. The last time the Expos/Nationals won at least 87 games was '96. The last time the Orioles won at least 87 games was '97. Parity!
Don't blame this on the tabloids or the ravenous New York media. Had these unlikely storylines and undulating fortunes and wacky rhythms visited teams in Salt Lake or Milwaukee or Memphis, it would have warranted just as much coverage.
Ha! Is he kidding his readers, or himself?
I took a day off from here yesterday to clear my head (luckily, things were testy enough at the CdL to more than ruin my day off). This morning, we got some decent news about the Milkmaid's situation that renews hope, too.
Her boss is going to bat for her, citing precedent about older (in some cases, by a lot) employees that have gone through the Executive Management Program, and is saying that legally, they can't block her out of this.
There's still a chance corporate will remain unmoved - and we're finding out that part of the problem is that there's a much older employee from another store that corporate wants to block, so they're attempting to make no exceptions - but if this happens, a new position that starts in August will be offered to my wife that won't be the same in terms of money, but still is a big step up from where we are now.
Office politics are huge at my wife's location (and apparently in her company), so I'm ecstatic about the fact that she has an ally in this.
one of the benefits of being a contractor/consultant is watching a lot of that from the outside. not that it means you're exempt from it, though
May the fourth be with you.
I would have done that for the CoC if yesterday hadn't pulled me so completely off my game.
I'm glad I didn't post here. I was waaaaaaaay off yesterday. It was no fun.
I can tell you from experience that when other things are bothering you, just about the worst thing you can do is come here and taking it out on someone. Just makes one feel like an ass. Not that I ever did that. Sigh.
don't worry, he's got a whole `nother site for that 😉
Yeah, I've learned that the hard way too. I didn't even open the site yesterday.
I meant to make the CoC last night, but it was the furthest thing from my mind. I may just set up a bunch of generic ones in case I need a little more time away.
Well, you missed a good CoC. Wait, that was two days ago now. Never mind. You missed a decent one.
I wouldn't sweat it. It's not like any of us early risers can't put on a fresh pot now and then.
Aye, my offer stands too.
It doesn't help when you wake up on the wrong side of the country, too.
It's GRZ's second birthday today, which is great. Luckily, I have friends geeky enough to point out the Star Wars connection so I never forget it.
Another fun connection - OGZ's birthday is 3/2. My wife's awesome enough to make a simple numerical pattern out of our children's births. I'm not quite sure what that means for our eventual 3rd kid, though.
Yeah, 1/0 is going to be hard to get to. Maybe exactly at midnight of the new year?
Or maybe the next one will be on July 4, which keeps a different pattern going.
July 6th, perhaps? not in order, but generally following the pattern.
I was thinking July 8. both are consistent with the data 🙂
CER's birthday!
Mama R's birthday!
Conjoined twins.
I see that the club didn't lose last night, which is nice.
/Yay semantics!
Sorry to be late with this. I was at work when the CoC went live.
B-R overhauls its WAR calculations. I was wondering why it hadn't been updated a month into the season. Overall, it doesn't seem like much changed numerically speaking. At the bottom of the WAR explanation page is a list of the differences between old (rWAR), new (bWAR I guess), and FanGraphs.
My question is, "What is it good for?"
absolutely nothin'!
say it again!
y'all!
Good God.
Beastie Boys founder Adam "MCA" Yauch is dead at 47 from cancer.
Dang... I had no idea. That's a shame.
Yeah, I didn't even know he was fighting it, since I make no point to visit sites that have a lot of entertainment news.
That's a group I should've seen live when I had the chance...not that I realized there would be no more chances.
I enjoyed Mike D.'s appearance on the Colbert Report a few months ago
I just found out that he commented at Baseball Think Factory from time to time. That's crazy. RIP.
Clete whatshisname DFA'd...some other whatshisname claimed.
Looks like Komatsu has a good SO% and a good BB%, so it wouldn't surprise me if he can hit for average reasonably, but he's got no power, and listed at 175 pounds, he's probably not developing power any time soon. He's played more CF than any other OF spot in the minors, so basically he looks like a pretty traditional 4th OF.
.275/.314/.323 -- Tyner, MLB career
.???/.???/.??? -- Komatsu, MLB career
Tyner's probably not the best comp--Tyner struck out less, walked less, and hit for less power in the minors. Although both were similar in that they had a close to 1:1 SO:BB ratio.
Jason Tyner was a pretty decent fourth OF. Unfortunately, he was a fourth outfielder that was a DH for the Twins. Basically the same reason a lot of people didn't like Nick Punto. He was overexposed and forced into a role he shouldn't have been in.
Yeah, though retrospectively, I think Punto's actually not such a bad SS. You wouldn't be thrilled about starting him, but you could win a WS with him as your SS, too.
Sure, theoretically maybe someone could, although no one actually has yet. (He started all of 6 games for the Cardinals at SS during the season, and zero during the playoffs.)
How many teams ever have 8 position players with better than 1 WAR? Punto's had five seasons now with better than 1 WAR. It's not such a stretch to suppose that a team could win a WS with that sort of player at SS--you just have to be strong elsewhere.
Again, sure. WS winning teams usually have plenty of 1-ish WAR regulars. I just want to make sure you're not picking up this massively annoying recent meme that Punto was some crucially major piece of their winning the World Series, since he was never actually more than a very good utility guy for the Cardinals.
Some people think Punto was critical in any way to that team? I guess the guy is good at generating polarizing opinion. It seems like he gets labelled as just about anything other than what he is, a sometimes useful part of the puzzle.
Also, consider:
.271/.321/.342 -- Ryan Theriot, 2011
.248/.310/.440 -- Juan Uribe, 2010
.334/.406/.465 -- Jeter, 2009
.277/.349/.437 -- Jimmy Rollins, 2008
.237/.294/.349 -- Julio Lugo, 2007
.292/.350/.344 -- David Eckstein, 2006
.252/.301/.412 -- Juan Uribe, 2005
.248/.325/.326 -- Punto, career
Theriot, Lugo, and Eckstein basically all had Punto-esque seasons for WS-winning squads. Uribe's two seasons there aren't exactly MVP-caliber, either.
Just as long as the Twins don't do anything to change the 13-man unit of perfection that is their current pitching staff.
awesome.
ubes, you're turning green again...
It's okay, I just restocked my wardrobe.
A trader to are team!
Apparently, Terry Ryan has taken a dumpster diving class from David Kahn.
re: Last night's "Community"
I hereby call dibs on "Pierce Hawthorne and the Greendale 6" as my new band name. I'm gonna need a singer, 2 guitar players, a drummer, bass player, and keyboardist. I'll be the guy with the tambourine and fish/scraper combo.
*searches StarBurns' urn for a comb*
Paging Buffalo: we should do another NBA post.
IF you guys want to record it I can email you a tutorial.
Check your mail, boss.
Gardy is interviewed on KSTP:
"I laid it on the line and probably hurt some feelings, which that's OK too. We have to play better. We have to get some things done here, and some people aren't living up to what we thought out of spring training, and there's going to be changes. There's no doubt there's going to be changes. We can't continue like this."
"(GM) Terry (Ryan) and I have already talked today. We're going to try to figure things out. He's got to do what he's got to do, but I know I'm accountable. I put this ball club together out of spring training. We thought we took the best players, and right now it's not working out. ... If I'm a fan I'd probably doing the same thing. We're not playing very good baseball, we lost 99 games last year. ... I don't blame people for being upset. ... They can point it at me and I'll take it. I'll wear it all day long. I know the guys are trying, I know my staff's trying. ... If people are fired up at me, I understand."
If people are fired up at me, I understand." FTFY
So what is the ML record for consecutive hitless innings by a team? Is it in sight?? Or what about the Twins record?
If Barriero is to be believed, the record is definitely within reach...16 or 17 innings is thought to be the longest stretch.
Hopefully when the Twins end the hitless streak, it will be like when they ended Buehrle's streak of retired batters that included his perfect game. That was awesome when the Twins exploded for a bunch or runs to rally to beat the White Sox.
Cotto/Mayweather should be good. Doesn't say who'll be working the mike. I love it when Buffer goes into Espanol.
Judging by the view outside my window at the moment, the roof on Safeco Field will be closed tonight. I know you were all dying for an update on that.
Does this make the Twins more or less likely to get a hit tonight?
yes.
Cleared that right up for me, eh?
Just doing my job.
This C's/Hawks game is brutal.
Rondo excepted.
What are you thinking now?
How about that missed Rondo layup? That guy can do so many things so well and then that.
Or that Rondo missed lay up.
Dude misses the rim more that any good player I have ever watched.
KG there to clean up.
At least he hit the rim on that one. Looks like we have one more game going to the last couple of minutes here. Doesn't Omer Asik look like Judge Reinhold?
If Philly wins this series (possible) the Boston Celtics are going to make the Eastern Conference Finals. That is unbelievable.
I think they are that stands between Miami and the Finals.
Denver looks good early.
Really good.
Headline seen on Yahoo: "Get Jessica Biel's Toned Body"
Yes, please.
Having now seen The Avengers I can safely say 'meh'.
I had low expectations before last week, but then noticed it sporting a high imdb and rotten tomatoes scores. I know the internet is prone to hyperbole, but it's as if these forgot Dark Knight was made. Best Superhero Movie and Best Comic Book Movie tagged with The Avengers just makes you loo stupid. I'm not sure it's top ten.
And I like Joss Wheadon, but he did not just create a masterpiece with brilliant dialogue. It's a perfectly good summer flick, and nothing more.
7/10
Perfectly good summer flick is what I'm expecting.
This morning we're having our third batch of hail in a week. None of it major, but still, what's up with that?
Not much hail up here, but we've had 2 pretty good thunderstorms and rain a couple of other the other days. Should be an interesting summer?
We got golf-ball sized hail a couple days ago. My 2-year old enjoyed picking it all up after the storm.
How the hail should I know? See, it never hails in southern California.
But seriously, one thing I really miss about MN is thunderstorms. DC had few and LA even fewer.
I have to admit, those 5½ years I lived in LA, I really missed seasons. I'm still excited by (rain-only) thunderstorms.
We live about 3 houses down from bluffs along the edge of the Mississippi/Missouri river floodplain, and when a storm skirts north of us, the thunder just echoes out there. Love it!
I won a bhiggum trophy last night.
It's sad that I immediately thought you somehow won an award for eliminating members of your own team in a misguided attempt for justice. The trophy in your link makes much more sense.
Hey, I was only involved in the lynching of nibbish. Well, this time, anyway.
Yeah, but you cost the village nibs. That right there earns you LVP.
Actually, and I think I have a comment to this effect in my notes, I'm pretty sure I said something like "good, he doesn't know the show and isn't making funny references anyway" when nibs was killed.
I'm pretty sure nibs cost the village nibs. 😛
His nibs?
Nibs.
Stonehenge-nibs?
Quiet, you. You lynched me this time.
That is one kick-ass trophy. I am jealous.
They are having 4 more of these. So if you can run a decent 5K, you should have a good shot to win one (though I can't guarantee all of the trophies will be raccoons). It seems like this race attracted a somewhat older crowd (which is evident by me taking 4th in my age group). If I had been in the 55-59 age group, I would have missed getting an award by 1:16. Ridiculous!
Funny, because no matter what group I was in I would have missed getting an award by about a mile and a half.
I think I could run three miles in about a half-hour, but the 1500-mile trip to get there probably rules it out for me. Maybe I could find one on E-bay...
My best 5K time ever, a 22:30 in '08, would have been first in my current age bracket in that race (or 3rd in the age bracket I was when I ran that time). Adjusting for age and the fact I stopped running 5Ks in 08, I probably would have been 4th in this race. If I trained I could probably get to sub-23:00 again.
I'd like to think I could get my times down somewhere in that range eventually. I still have quite a bit of weight I could lose, which could help my times considerably. I'm also doing more speed work now than I ever have, which should help my times.
By the time fall rolls around, I hope to be able to run one in under 24:30, which I think should be attainable. However, I probably won't run many in the fall because of my marathon training. I do plan to do the turkey trot in Minneapolis with my mom on Thanksgiving, though.
As much as I try to fight it, if there was any sport my frame was built for it's distance running - 6'1"-6'2" ish, 150-170ish (depending on how hard I've been hitting the gym). My first 5K ever I ran on 4 days notice on a whim and I ran 24:30.
I ran cross country in high school. I have to constantly remind myself that I am not 18 anymore so I don't get too depressed about how much slower I am now. I run a full 2 minutes per mile slower now.
At 2 minutes slower than a high school cross country runner, I'd have to think that you're still keeping a decent pace.
Pretty close to even with you.
I'm 6-1 and 205. That is definitely not a runners build. I think I can drop to 190 and maybe even less than that, but at some point, if I want to get down to a good runner's weight, I'm going to have to lose muscle. My build is certainly more appropriate for rugby than distance running.
I'll pull some sort of "Freaky Friday" with you if you can figure out the science.
I'd totally do it! I love running now and my rugby days are all behind me. Although, with my endurance being as good as it is, now, I'd have to think I'd be a pretty good rugby player these days.
Way past my (horrible) pickup basketball playing days, but I used to love running full court. When I was in halfways decent shape, that's the sort of advantage that can actually make me replacement level.
Nice pace, there, pally.
Not that I'm cheering Mariano Rivera's injury nor am I disputing that he's the greatest relief pitcher of all time or at the very least on the very short list of greatest ones, but amid all the things being said, I will point out this: Rivera has pitched almost two decades in MLB without a significant arm injury and has been paid almost $150,000,000 as a relief pitcher.
I'm pretty sure that every young kid with big league ambitions would accept an ACL tear in his mid forties to have the career that Rivera had and the financial benefits and everything else that went along with it. I know I would have.
Did you see Teix called him the best PITCHER ever?
Maybe the best one-pitch pitcher ever...at least in the running. But not the best pitcher ever.
I agree with Moss.
yea, but still a very impressive resume.
1st among active and 4th all-time in pitching WPA (Trevor Hoffman at 19th is the only other reliever in the top 20); 1st active and second all-time in WHIP; 1st active and all-time in adjusted ERA; 2nd active and 58th all-time in pitching rWAR.
If nothing else, we can get some entertaining quotes out of it:
He has needs. He is a man!
Pffffffft, Mickey Mantle used to shag in outfield all the time.
and he was a switch-hitter!!!!1111one1111!!!
[something terrible about his knees giving out]
Wasn't David Cone caught shagging by himself in the Mets' bullpen?
He was gripping his fungo bat.
Shea its not so!
I wish I could read spooky's post in anything other than Buster's voice.
It seems appropriate this week though.
Yea, baby, yea!!!
Not to mention dozens of playoff games and five WS championships.
Also, consider this: the worst team he ever played on went 89-73. (The worst regular season record the Yankees had when he was playing was 87-74, but that was 2000 when they beat the Mets in the WS.) The last time Pittsburgh won at least 87 games was '92, and the most wins they've had in any season since Rivera made the bigs was 78 wins in 1999. The last time the Royals won at least 87 games was 1989. The last time the Expos/Nationals won at least 87 games was '96. The last time the Orioles won at least 87 games was '97. Parity!
Yeah, right.
Ha! Is he kidding his readers, or himself?
I took a day off from here yesterday to clear my head (luckily, things were testy enough at the CdL to more than ruin my day off). This morning, we got some decent news about the Milkmaid's situation that renews hope, too.
Her boss is going to bat for her, citing precedent about older (in some cases, by a lot) employees that have gone through the Executive Management Program, and is saying that legally, they can't block her out of this.
There's still a chance corporate will remain unmoved - and we're finding out that part of the problem is that there's a much older employee from another store that corporate wants to block, so they're attempting to make no exceptions - but if this happens, a new position that starts in August will be offered to my wife that won't be the same in terms of money, but still is a big step up from where we are now.
Office politics are huge at my wife's location (and apparently in her company), so I'm ecstatic about the fact that she has an ally in this.
one of the benefits of being a contractor/consultant is watching a lot of that from the outside. not that it means you're exempt from it, though
May the fourth be with you.
I would have done that for the CoC if yesterday hadn't pulled me so completely off my game.
I'm glad I didn't post here. I was waaaaaaaay off yesterday. It was no fun.
I can tell you from experience that when other things are bothering you, just about the worst thing you can do is come here and taking it out on someone. Just makes one feel like an ass. Not that I ever did that. Sigh.
don't worry, he's got a whole `nother site for that 😉
Yeah, I've learned that the hard way too. I didn't even open the site yesterday.
I meant to make the CoC last night, but it was the furthest thing from my mind. I may just set up a bunch of generic ones in case I need a little more time away.
Well, you missed a good CoC. Wait, that was two days ago now. Never mind. You missed a decent one.
I wouldn't sweat it. It's not like any of us early risers can't put on a fresh pot now and then.
Aye, my offer stands too.
It doesn't help when you wake up on the wrong side of the country, too.
It's GRZ's second birthday today, which is great. Luckily, I have friends geeky enough to point out the Star Wars connection so I never forget it.
Another fun connection - OGZ's birthday is 3/2. My wife's awesome enough to make a simple numerical pattern out of our children's births. I'm not quite sure what that means for our eventual 3rd kid, though.
Yeah, 1/0 is going to be hard to get to. Maybe exactly at midnight of the new year?
Or maybe the next one will be on July 4, which keeps a different pattern going.
July 6th, perhaps? not in order, but generally following the pattern.
I was thinking July 8. both are consistent with the data 🙂
CER's birthday!
Mama R's birthday!
Conjoined twins.
I see that the club didn't lose last night, which is nice.
/Yay semantics!
Sorry to be late with this. I was at work when the CoC went live.
B-R overhauls its WAR calculations. I was wondering why it hadn't been updated a month into the season. Overall, it doesn't seem like much changed numerically speaking. At the bottom of the WAR explanation page is a list of the differences between old (rWAR), new (bWAR I guess), and FanGraphs.
My question is, "What is it good for?"
absolutely nothin'!
say it again!
y'all!
Good God.
Beastie Boys founder Adam "MCA" Yauch is dead at 47 from cancer.
Dang... I had no idea. That's a shame.
Yeah, I didn't even know he was fighting it, since I make no point to visit sites that have a lot of entertainment news.
That's a group I should've seen live when I had the chance...not that I realized there would be no more chances.
I enjoyed Mike D.'s appearance on the Colbert Report a few months ago
I just found out that he commented at Baseball Think Factory from time to time. That's crazy. RIP.
Clete whatshisname DFA'd...some other whatshisname claimed.
erik komatsu.
also, burroughs cleared waivers, accepted AAAssignment
Looks like Komatsu has a good SO% and a good BB%, so it wouldn't surprise me if he can hit for average reasonably, but he's got no power, and listed at 175 pounds, he's probably not developing power any time soon. He's played more CF than any other OF spot in the minors, so basically he looks like a pretty traditional 4th OF.
.298/.363/.350 -- Tyner, minors
.302/.389/.434 -- Komatsu, minors
.275/.314/.323 -- Tyner, MLB career
.???/.???/.??? -- Komatsu, MLB career
Tyner's probably not the best comp--Tyner struck out less, walked less, and hit for less power in the minors. Although both were similar in that they had a close to 1:1 SO:BB ratio.
Jason Tyner was a pretty decent fourth OF. Unfortunately, he was a fourth outfielder that was a DH for the Twins. Basically the same reason a lot of people didn't like Nick Punto. He was overexposed and forced into a role he shouldn't have been in.
Yeah, though retrospectively, I think Punto's actually not such a bad SS. You wouldn't be thrilled about starting him, but you could win a WS with him as your SS, too.
Sure, theoretically maybe someone could, although no one actually has yet. (He started all of 6 games for the Cardinals at SS during the season, and zero during the playoffs.)
How many teams ever have 8 position players with better than 1 WAR? Punto's had five seasons now with better than 1 WAR. It's not such a stretch to suppose that a team could win a WS with that sort of player at SS--you just have to be strong elsewhere.
Again, sure. WS winning teams usually have plenty of 1-ish WAR regulars. I just want to make sure you're not picking up this massively annoying recent meme that Punto was some crucially major piece of their winning the World Series, since he was never actually more than a very good utility guy for the Cardinals.
Some people think Punto was critical in any way to that team? I guess the guy is good at generating polarizing opinion. It seems like he gets labelled as just about anything other than what he is, a sometimes useful part of the puzzle.
Also, consider:
.271/.321/.342 -- Ryan Theriot, 2011
.248/.310/.440 -- Juan Uribe, 2010
.334/.406/.465 -- Jeter, 2009
.277/.349/.437 -- Jimmy Rollins, 2008
.237/.294/.349 -- Julio Lugo, 2007
.292/.350/.344 -- David Eckstein, 2006
.252/.301/.412 -- Juan Uribe, 2005
.248/.325/.326 -- Punto, career
Theriot, Lugo, and Eckstein basically all had Punto-esque seasons for WS-winning squads. Uribe's two seasons there aren't exactly MVP-caliber, either.
Just as long as the Twins don't do anything to change the 13-man unit of perfection that is their current pitching staff.
awesome.
ubes, you're turning green again...
It's okay, I just restocked my wardrobe.
A trader to are team!
Apparently, Terry Ryan has taken a dumpster diving class from David Kahn.
re: Last night's "Community"
I hereby call dibs on "Pierce Hawthorne and the Greendale 6" as my new band name. I'm gonna need a singer, 2 guitar players, a drummer, bass player, and keyboardist. I'll be the guy with the tambourine and fish/scraper combo.
*searches StarBurns' urn for a comb*
Paging Buffalo: we should do another NBA post.
IF you guys want to record it I can email you a tutorial.
Check your mail, boss.
Gardy is interviewed on KSTP:
If people are fired
up at me, I understand." FTFYSo what is the ML record for consecutive hitless innings by a team? Is it in sight?? Or what about the Twins record?
If Barriero is to be believed, the record is definitely within reach...16 or 17 innings is thought to be the longest stretch.
Hopefully when the Twins end the hitless streak, it will be like when they ended Buehrle's streak of retired batters that included his perfect game. That was awesome when the Twins exploded for a bunch or runs to rally to beat the White Sox.
Cotto/Mayweather should be good. Doesn't say who'll be working the mike. I love it when Buffer goes into Espanol.
Judging by the view outside my window at the moment, the roof on Safeco Field will be closed tonight. I know you were all dying for an update on that.
Does this make the Twins more or less likely to get a hit tonight?
yes.
Cleared that right up for me, eh?
Just doing my job.
This C's/Hawks game is brutal.
Rondo excepted.
What are you thinking now?
How about that missed Rondo layup? That guy can do so many things so well and then that.
Or that Rondo missed lay up.
Dude misses the rim more that any good player I have ever watched.
KG there to clean up.
At least he hit the rim on that one. Looks like we have one more game going to the last couple of minutes here. Doesn't Omer Asik look like Judge Reinhold?
If Philly wins this series (possible) the Boston Celtics are going to make the Eastern Conference Finals. That is unbelievable.
I think they are that stands between Miami and the Finals.
Denver looks good early.
Really good.
Headline seen on Yahoo: "Get Jessica Biel's Toned Body"
Yes, please.
Having now seen The Avengers I can safely say 'meh'.
I had low expectations before last week, but then noticed it sporting a high imdb and rotten tomatoes scores. I know the internet is prone to hyperbole, but it's as if these forgot Dark Knight was made. Best Superhero Movie and Best Comic Book Movie tagged with The Avengers just makes you loo stupid. I'm not sure it's top ten.
And I like Joss Wheadon, but he did not just create a masterpiece with brilliant dialogue. It's a perfectly good summer flick, and nothing more.
7/10
Perfectly good summer flick is what I'm expecting.