Hater's Ball

A lot has happened since I last posted

2010-11-28T14:51:00.002-06:00

I got divorced, went through some bad times. And now I'm on the upswing.

I guess this will turn more into a dating blog, since its pretty ridiculous to experience.

I have had some hilarious experiences and I figured it would be therapeutic to start talking about these dates.

Some of them are funny-good, some of them are funny bad. They're all funny in some way though.

From the girl I went on a date with who abhorred any and all physical contact...put that in your profile miss...

More Thoughts About the Euro 2012 draw

2010-02-08T13:35:00.003-06:00

And my rationale for my picks.

Group A: Winner Germany, Runner-Up Turkey:

I selected Germany to win the Group. I don't think I really need to explain that selection. The strongest team in the group by far and every other country will likely be fighting for a runner up spot in that group.

I picked Turkey to finish second and that was a gut pick. But look out for Belgium as a potential dark horse.

Group B: Winner Russia, Runner-Up Ireland:

I feel that Russia is really on an upswing and they'll qualify easily. A strong system, a great coach and talent playing all over the world is a recipe for success.

I feel Ireland's near miss (we'll politely call it that) at qualifying for the World Cup will galvanize them to qualify for this tournament. Slovakia will be the strongest contenders for that runner up spot.

Group C: Winner Italy, Runner-Up Serbia:

Italy isn't my favorite team in the world but besides their wonderful food, and stunningly friendly people and gorgeous women is a team that just constantly gets results. The last time they failed to qualify was the 1992 Euro Championships.

Serbia is my runner-up pick but this Group is difficult to predict. Northern Ireland is likely to qualify but they are this thorn in the side of bigger countries. They'll steal points from teams expecting an easy three points. That's not even mentioning Slovenia.

Group D: Winner France, Runner-Up Romania:

France might be in their last hurrah but it's not over for them just yet. They'll win this group handily. Yes, I went there. Bosnia is right up there though to pip Romania for the runner up spot.

Group E: Winner Netherlands, Runner-up Sweden:

This is probably the worst group of them all. Netherlands should qualify easily and I believe Sweden will pick up enough points to win the best runner up spot and automatically qualify.

Group F: Winner Greece, Runner-up Israel

I know this pick is a little controversial but I don't see Croatia qualifying, Greece always seems to get it done and I believe Israel will get the runner up spot. This time they'll perform and actually get the points they should get. They might even win the group.

Group H: Winner Portugal, Runner-up Denmark.

Probably the worst group of them all. Portugal should win in dominating fashion. No best runner-up here.

Group I: Winner Spain, Runner-up Scotland.

I think the Czechs are on their way out of the elite club in world football. Spain should win and Scotland should finish second.

What are your thoughts?

The Euro 2012 Draw

2010-02-07T13:29:00.003-06:00

Group A:

Germany First
Turkey Second
Austria
Belgium
Kazakhstan
Azerbaijan

Group B:

Russia First
Slovakia
Rep. of Ireland Second-in a surprise over Slovakia
Macedonia
Armenia
Andorra

Group C:

Italy First
Serbia Second
Northern Ireland
Slovenia
Estonia
Faroe Islands

Group D:

France-First
Romania-Second
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Belarus
Albania
Luxembourg

Group E:

Netherlands-First
Sweden-Second. Top Runner-Up
Finland
Hungary
Moldova
San Marino

Group F:

Croatia
Greece-Second
Israel- I expect Israel to finally break their long duck and qualify first.
Latvia
Georgia
Malta

Group G:

England-First
Switzerland-Second
Bulgaria
Wales
Montenegro

Group H:

Portugal-First
Denmark-Second
Norway
Cyprus
Iceland

Group I:

Spain-First
Czech Republic
Scotland-Second
Lithuania
Liechtenstein

Teams in bold are the teams I expect to finish 1st or 2nd in the group.

8 of the runner-ups will play in a home and home playoff. The top runner up will automatically qualify.

The Joe Mauer Situation

2009-12-24T12:35:00.002-06:00

There's a storm brewing in Minneapolis as the collective fears of the Minnesota Twins fanbase are already latching onto the Doomsday Scenario: Joe Mauer in Pinstripes in 2011.

Joe Mauer is the best catcher in the game and that's not up for debate.

The debate? That's the conversation that rages over what the Twins will have to do to extend Mauer long term and is it really worth it.

It sounds crazy right? Most fans will argue that Joe Mauer is worth a large long term extension and that it is a fact not an opinion. He's the hometown son made good. The best catcher in the game and one of the best players in the game regardless of position.

But there are paranoid fans wondering and whispering..."what it's going to take" to ink Mauer to a long term deal. Can the Twins really afford to give him what he is worth? What will it do the roster construction of the team if a large portion of the payroll is tied up between two men: Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

Can the Twins survive that kind of contract? Can they survive a career ending injury to Mauer if they do give him a long term deal? Those kinds of contracts to frugal franchises can be anchors wrapped around the neck if they go bad.

So what do the Twins do? Faced with the backlash of seeing Joe Mauer returning to Target Field wearing the accursed Yankee gear how can they do anything but re-sign Mauer.

But for Mauer what does he do? Does he leave tens of millions on the table and re-sign with the Twins with an offer that leaves the Twins competitive? Does he take the best offer he can and sign with the Yankees knowing that they can absorb the contract with the greatest of ease and still be competitive?

What's best for him? And what's best for the Twins?

I can't answer those queries, but I can posit them for the Twins fanbase and for Joe Mauer. Maybe they'll have the answers.

It's been a long time, but I think I will get back to posting from time to time

2009-02-15T21:07:00.003-06:00

One of the things that has really interested me when it comes to sports is the publicly financed ballpark issue. Many of the professional stadiums are either built with public funds or heavily renovated with public financing.

This comes on the heels of the news that the Florida Marlins stadium proposal failed.

The factoid that intrigues me the most is many owners say that they need a new ballpark to remain competitive. They need a new ballpark to keep payroll the same or increase it. But no city ever gets that promise in writing and I wonder if the promise could even be enforceable in court. It's even more appropriate when we look at this debacle in South Florida.

The Florida Marlins state they desperately need a new stadium. They cite their poor attendance figures, while ignoring the fact that the team is run by the ultimate miser, Mr. Jeffrey Loria. They also ignore the fact that South Florida doesn't really care all that much about baseball. They have finished in the bottom three for attendance almost every season save for 1997 when Wayne Huizenga spent boatloads to buy a title and then promptly disbanded the team.

They finished 15 out of 16 teams in the NL for attendance the year they won the World Series. South Florida is hot, muggy and rains frequently. Plus it's Miami and people have better things to do than attend baseball games. Even if you got the Miami residents a roof to protect them from the elements, I don't know if they'd come. And the best part is the Marlins play at least 9-10 games a season against the Mets and you would think with the huge NY ex-pats population down there, they'd increase the attendance figures drastically. The one game against the Mets that broke 30k was the home opener.

The Marlins fanbase is small but loyal. But I don't think a significantly larger sum of persons will attend games if they build a new stadium. Even if the cash-strapped area/county/city doles out a dime, it will be a dime too much. The Marlins owner can afford to build his own stadium, he just doesn't want to.

You could see the conversation going something like this:

Owner: We promise to spend money and field a competent team.
City: We build you a stadium you can afford yourself.
Owner: yes, but I'll spend money, ignore the fact that I never have before.
City: Can we get that promise in writing?
Owner: No.
City: So why else should we build you a stadium that is even partially financed by the city?
Owner: OMG BASEBALL
City: Every dollar we give you for the stadium you'll just pocket for yourselves. You won't improve the team much, and even if the team just needs to spend 30 million to field a very good team, you wouldn't do it. No deal.
Owner: But baseball?
City: Dude, this is Miami. We'll go to the club. Move your team to Portland.

It's been a while, but I thought I would do a reader post for once.

2007-10-08T19:44:00.000-06:00

In major league baseball, who is your favorite player on your least favorite team?

And why.

Jewish Apatosaurus

2007-07-25T16:05:00.000-06:00

Again, Shawn Green isn’t slow. He’s actually quite fast. He’s just got the reaction speed of a Dinosaur to a Giant Life-Ending Meteor.

Shawn Green as a Apatosaurus.

Giant Meteor in the sky.

Shawn Green blinks.

Giant Meteor gets closer.

Shawn Green chews on tree.

Meteor gets even closer.

Shawn Green poops.

Meteor hits.

Jewish Apatosaurus dies.

Jewish Apatosaurus gets scared.

fin.

Something I came up with on Metsgeek.

What grinds my gears

2007-02-13T21:08:00.001-06:00

A lack of sports etiquette at sporting events. Those d-bags who get up during play and block your view, especially the ones who fricken stand in front of you and start talking to a friend. This past weekend I had to yell at two losers who stood up right in between me and the view of play, completely blocking the view of half of our section, and having a goddam conversation! I had to yell at them, "YOU ARE NOT INVISIBLE." And they still didn't move. Fricken jerks.

IT IS NOT AN INTERMISSION. TALK DURING INTERMISSION OR GO UP OUT OF THE WAY OF PEOPLE AND CONDUCT YOUR CONVERSATION WITHOUT BLOCKING ANYONE'S VIEW, ***-HATS.

This happens for baseball, every place I have been, hockey at BU, hockey at MN, hockey at SCSU, every where.

People arriving late for sporting events, and going to their seats while play is going on. Either show up on time, or wait until a stoppage in play, or if you absolutely must be impatient, go to your seat when play is at the other end. I also hate the people who walk down all the way, then realize their seat is on the wrong side and make the entire row of people get up, often during play, to get to their seats. I hate those people. Look at your ticket before you go down the long staircase, talk to the usher, I don't care. Don't expect me to want to get up, inconvenience an entire row, AND inconvenience all the fricken people behind us who are getting their view blocked. And then don't whine when I say wait until the play goes by, and tell me you spent your money to come to the game. You spent your money to see the game, but that doesn't give you the right to block the view of the other people who came to the game and paid their money too.

Then the people who get up to wave. Who the hell are you? A loser? I thought so. Stop waving at the camera, or being on your cell phone and waving. Yes, your wife is pretending not to know you, and she wasn't even doing that when you painted half your body red and yellow for your son's little league game and that time when you dressed as a Klingon and tried to eat live maggots with chopsticks.

The worst part is that the guys that do it are in the best seats in the house. Instead of thanking God for the once in a lifetime experience of sitting in the best seats in the house, and just watching the game with a view better than that on TV, they're fricken waving like a numbskull.

Melky and Hughes versus Milledge and Pelfrey

2007-02-13T14:58:00.000-06:00

Gov'Nah.

Hughes is a superior prospect to Pelfrey according to many, so I will say Hughes > Pelfrey, maybe even a substantial difference. However, Cabrera was never a high-caliber prospect and I don't know if his bat can carry him as a corner outfielder.

We'll see if Cabrera can replicate his success, but I'm wary of a guy who posts a .751 OPS in his first full major league season and his stats in the minors showed no sort of ability to hit .751 at the major league level. The highest he hit at the Minor league level (in a decent sample size) was 779 in Tampa.

The problem isn't with his glove, FRAA rates Melky very well, but his bat is just not good enough to warrant a starting corner outfielder spot on the Yankees. The Yankees would be well suited to sell high on Melky, because he might fall back to Earth in 07.

Milledge is still a superior prospect to Cabrera. While he only hit .690 in his first taste of the Show, his minor league statistics show much more upside than Cabrera. Before Cabera's 2006 Norfolk stint, he showed no signs of having a major league caliber at-bat. Could Cabrera build on this success and be a legitimate starter in the majors? Of course. But I'm still skeptical of Cabrera's long term value, while I believe Milledge, if given enough time in the corner outfield, can be a solid player at the major league level, maybe even an all-star.

They're both around 22, so they're both young (Milledge is 8 months younger and will be 22 on 4/5), and people can argue about Milledge's mental makeup because he had troubles in the locker room versus Melky being a model citizen according to the media.

In conclusion, Milledge > Melky, and Hughes > Pelfrey. The reason I would trade Milledge is because the most value for him is playing him in CF, where he is best used. His lower SLG %(if the power never shows) will not hurt him as a CF, but would as a RF or LF. A common misconception is that it is easy to make a transition to a corner outfield slot from CF. Yes, you still have all the range that allowed you to play solid defense in CF, but in CF you can see the ball much better and judge it. You don't have to deal with the ball changing direction on you unexpectedly, because looking at the ball dead on you have a much easier time reacting to the ball changing direction. CF is the easiest position to play in the majors if you have the range for it. It's also easier on your knees, because the cuts are easier to make. You also don't have to deal with foul territory.

I believe the comparison of both pairs of prospects is a wash. It really depends on what the trading partner needs. Many teams in baseball crave a strong defense CF that can hit with an .800 OPS. Both pitchers are in the upper echelon of pitching prospects and both possess the upside of being a #1 and #2 in the major leagues, something every team in the league can use more of. While Hughes might be the best pitching prospect in baseball, the difference between he and Pelfrey is not so large that a team wouldn't love to have Pelfrey in their system.

With Melky and Milledge, it's also a matter of perception. Do you want the player who showed little to no Major League worthiness in the minors, then exploded in his Age 22 season at AAA(relative to his previous seasons) or do you want the guy who showed his worthiness of being a top prospect all throughout the minors and then struggled his first time up, playing a position he had never played before?

The arguments can be made that you want the sure thing with Melky over the potential of Milledge. It's all up to you.

England versus Spain(68th minute onward)

2007-02-08T10:12:00.001-06:00

Pesky word limits for posts.

Joey Barton is warming up. I guess McClaren doesn’t really understand the concept of friendlies, but he really doesn’t really understand even the most basic concepts of football, so that isn’t too surprising.

Brilliant goal out of nothing by Spain’s Ineista. The exact opposite of what England has been doing, taking something and making nothing out of it. I doubt England will score, McClaren has shown that he likes losing 1-0 more than 2-0 than scoring himself.

Nice pass by Lampard. I can compliment him when he does something positive, it’s just so rare to be able to say something positive about him. And way off by Phil Neville.

You have six subs McClaren, you’ve only used one, fricken pick some people who might score.

Carragher? Richards? Why not Richards to replace the invisible Phil Neville who is only visible when it’s a negative contribution to England’s chances to win? Why not put on more attack minded players? Why not have Barry replace Neville and put up another attacker? We gain nothing by only losing by one compared to losing by two!

Look everyone, England can play the long ball strategy. Wait…that hasn’t worked for us in how many games?

Wait…Jermaine Defoe was healthy enough to play in this game and you started Crouch over him? I hate you McSven. I hate you so much.

Lampard dispossessed again, 69th minute.

Blatant foul by Navarro on Crouch, should have been a penalty. That’s two blatant penalties England should have gotten in this game. 70th minute.

Wait…and he replaces SWP? :face meet palm:

Well, at least Downing on for P-Neville. Fabregas on for Villa…wait…Fabregas was available and you didn’t start him? Or replace one of the Spanish midfielders who played so terribly? Aragones is almost as stupid as McSven.

Barton on for Lampard. Apparently 79 minutes of watching Lampard suck was enough for McSven.

82: Ok, Barton took that guy out, but it was awesome. If that was in the box and happened to an England player play would be waved on.

83: Defoe might have done something with it but it took a cruel bounce.

85-86, England spends an entire minute passing behind their half way line, then passing to each other around the halfway line, and doing little to nothing to score. This would be perfectly acceptable if the scores were reversed. But this isn’t a tournament and England does not go through with a 0-1 result and get nothing for losing 1-0 compared to 2-0. Try and score a goal dammit!
87: Wow. Crouch gets fouled outside the box and is called for the foul. Apparently looking like a baby giraffe is a foulable offense.

87-90: England pretending they’re not losing.

Two minutes of added time

91: That’s what Crouch does best, the announcer exclaims. Yes, looking terrible, he’s great at that.

And that's that, another terrible loss for McSven and the boos came raining down on England as they left the pitch. Well deserved boos.

England versus Spain

2007-02-07T22:07:00.000-06:00

How the hell does Dyer not score in the second minute? He put it in the only place Casillas could make the save.

England dominated the first 5-6 minutes and could have 2-3 goals but were absolutely terrible in the final buildup.

What the hell? Phil Neville? Why not Micah Richards?

Crouch has looked awful. If you cannot control passes put right on your foot, you don't deserve to start in the Premiership let alone start for ENGLAND.

I have no idea why England would sometimes pass to themselves with head passes in the middle of the pitch, especially in a build up it is stupid unless the pass is perfect. Since their passes weren't perfect, chest the ball down and use your feet.

If Crouch isn't going to get any calls, show any ability to use his feet, then what good is he? If the rules are called correctly by the referee he should draw about a half dozen penalties with the way he is man-handled in the box. He is constantly fouled whenever he is in the penalty area.

Dyer's run in the 16th minute was beautiful, until he passed the ball to SWP, who coughed it up, almost instantly.

Spain 17 minutes in has looked absolutely shite. And then there's Morientes missing an absolute sitter in the 18 minute. There's the Morientes we know and hate, Liverpool! How he missed there was astounding. That chance came out of nothing.

England does not have many defenders who are strong passers besides Gary Neville and Ashley Cole, so any midfielder who passes back to the defenders should be fined until they realize that unless used to milk time off of the clock, is absolutely stupid. You have strong attack minded players and great defenders, and the best stamina of all the countries in the world, and you should PLAY ACCORDINGLY. Attack, attack, attack. Stop letting up. I know it might not be the English way, but this team is built to play a 3-4-3 and attack attack attack. Every time England should have taken the game to Spain they patiently passed back, and refused to take advantage of Spain's pathetic, disjointed defending.

Lampard gets taken out, no call in the 21st, 22nd, absolutely awful tackle and there should have been a yellow and a free kick outside the box.
Crouch gets called for a foul in the 23rd, Crouchy don't you know if you commit the blatant fouls you get called for them, but they can basically sexually assault you and get away with it? God Crouch, if you can't use your head well, what the hell are you there for?

30th minute, first real contribution by Lampard besides being fouled and not getting the free kick back in the 21st-22nd.

Nice move by Silva in the 32nd to hit Neville in the face. Good composure not to get mad about it, Rooney would have eaten Silva. And what the hell Crouch is having all of his giant jersey pulled and has to jump on the Spanish guy to even make an attempt for the ball.

Stop fouling Crouch. This is the point in time as the manager that Crouch is subbed for, completely useless. I also sub for Lampard here. Well, I wouldn't have even named Lampard to the squad, he's that pitiful in an England shirt.

I think I've figured out SWP's place for England. Any time they are winning, we sic Hargreaves and SWP on the opposing team and have them harass constantly. Without more playing time I can't see any other use for SWP, he's been ridiculously rusty.

Ah, the 36th minute, where Lampard takes all day, eventually stops, then tries a long pass to Crouch.

1. Why Crouch?
2. Why no pressure on Spain when they have looked like teenage boys on their first date with the village bicycle? How does McClaren not DEMAND the team attack? We could have 5-6 goals by now with how lost the Spanish defense looks.

And Crouch misses again, because he is terrible, a PERFECT pass by Gerrard. Well, perfect except he thought Crouch didn't suck and passed him the ball. Come on Crouch, you at least have to hit the net there. If you passed it Dyer would have had a tap-in, but you went for all the glory yourself, and looked like a chump.

And Lampard tries a head pass at the halfway line again. What the hell. Stop doing that. Unless you are a world class header, use your feet, because you coughed up the ball again doing it that way.

I like SWP, I really do, but what the hell is he trying to do when he boxes out like a basketball player to try and protect the ball? The Spanish guy just knocked you down!

And another backpass in the 42nd. Spain must be giggling at this display of offense from England.

43rd, SWP tries the box out method again, gets easily dispossessed, and Spain takes possession in England's third.

Villa should have gotten a yellow in the 45th for shooting after the whistle into Foster. That made no sense to me for him to do that, but no call.

A crazy dive by a Spanish player on a challenge from G-Neville, but you know, he could take lessens from Christiano Ronaldo, that was very embellished. The challenge was awkward, but he clearly had made the choice to dive even before contact was made.

Second Half. Torres on for Morientes. I have no idea why Morientes started over Torres, but I do know Torres couldn't have missed that sitter any worse than Morientes. Gareth Barry on for Gerrard, yes, let's replace one of the few people who looks somewhat competent out there, and leave on Lampard.

Nice pass in the 47th, but Spain couldn't get to the end of the cross and it's a goal kick.

SWP earns a corner, but he should have done more with it, he should have shot the ball as soon as it was passed to it, but waited and let the defender deflect it out. 48th.

Gareth Barry skies it, sorry Barry we already have a Frank Lampard to do that for me.

Nice pass to Lampard in the 48th, but an even better tackle by Spain. But again, we're attacking here.

Oh look, 49th minute and there's passing backwards, followed by Spain taking possession. Shocking. Stop playing negative f-ing football, England.

Crouch with a contribution that wasn't negative. Took until almost the 50th minute, but that's ok. We're still waiting for half the England team to do something positive.

Yikes, 52nd minute and the Spanish player tries his best Crouch impression. And then a nice dive hoping for a penalty. Dude, this is a friendly, don't be a puta.

Lampard tries to run past someone, brilliant idea Frank. Easily dispossessed.

That was no attempt to get the ball in the 55th, and a foul on Dyer in the box. Absolutely luck-driven defending by Spain. He got Dyer and not the ball, and somehow that's not a foul and a penalty? **** Is this referee from Argentina?

Yech. Gary Neville, that was a terrible attempt at goal.

Great keep in by Rio in the 67th minute. Sick move to get there and keep the ball in play.

Ah, and Lampard coughs it up again. Shocking I say, 68th minute.

Nice shot by Spain in the 68th, but right on target and Foster makes a nice save.

This is the first time England has not dictated play, and it's more than 2/3rds of the way through the game. England has dominated, and while that is not saying much, England has nothing to show for Spain's lacklustre performance.

Thoughts about RF for next season

2006-12-07T16:49:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of blame levied at Shawn Green, and a lot of Mets fans don't think he is the answer in RF next season. Some of us have even advocated waiving Green and eating his entire salary. Some have thought that Green should be traded in a straight salary dump so we don't have to pay his whole salary while getting a roster spot back.

The facts are clear. The Mets have 4 other outfielders who I project to play better than Green next season.

Carlos Beltran, of course, Moises Alou(even in a 100 games or so), Endy Chavez(who will put up great defensive numbers), and even Ben Johnson.
The problem with Green is that if he used to use performance enhancing drugs, he stopped using them. It's also might be that he's older, but he's nosedived since 2002, 2003 was his Age 30 season, not necessarily in his prime, but certainly within the time frame of the usual prime for a positional player.

With his rapidly declining defensive skills, and his bat going the way of the 10 Lost Tribes, Shawn Green has lost his right to command a starting spot in most starting lineups, especially one as good as the Mets'.

With his negative defensive values, and his league average bat, he's no longer a fit for the Mets, especially in a starting role.

Thankfully, Willie Randolph isn't handing the starting job right to Green, and surprisingly he's looking at Lastings Milledge to fight Green for the job at Spring Training. It's a refreshing tactic in this day and age when a manager might actually give the job to whoever the best player is instead of giving it to the established guy.

There are two ways to look at this, one that Willie is making these comments as a tactic to dispel the rumors that the Mets have come to believe Lastings won't be a star, and therefore the comments pronounce Lastings won't come cheap and has a place in the Mets future. The second, is that he legitimately wants to give Lastings a real chance to win the job and consign Green to the bench, or another team.

The fact of the matter is that RF is the only question mark for the Mets, the only position where the player currently projected to start is going to perform under league average or right around it.

For most teams, that's acceptable, having a weak link. Maybe for the Royals or the Pirates, but not for the Mets, especially when he hits .257/.327/.440 lifetime (.767 OPS) against lefties. Especially playing a position that requires a strong arm(which he lacks) and less than adequate range.

So no matter how nice Green is, he's not a righty, he can't hit for the power that he needs to play a corner OF slot, and he doesn't have range.

No one is saying he's a terrible player. He's just not good enough to start for the Mets and there's nothing personal about it. People look to his postseason performance as an indicator to give him a job for next year. Nothing could prove that he doesn't deserve the job more.

He hit .313/.405/.406 in the playoffs. He had three extra base hits. So, 7/10 hits were singles. All together, it means he hit singles and he walked. Which is great, except the fact that he's a corner outfielder. We need power from that position, and an OPS not around 800, if we're getting subpar defense.

So respect the possibility that the Mets would be stronger without Green than with him.

Addition, by subtraction, by addition(of Ben Johnson.)

Something that amused me greatly.

2006-12-07T15:50:00.000-06:00

Tom O'Brien left Boston College to become the head football coach at North Carolina State, replacing the departing Chuck D'Amato.

It's never a good sign for a new hire for your school when his former school's fanbase is happy to see you go.

Fire Tob!

Not only did they have their own website, they couldn't even spring for firetomobrien.com

Somewhere some guy named Tob is fearing for his job.

Note: I am exceptionally pleased with the "Mission Accomplished!" banner on the site.

Beltran wins NL Win Shares, wins nothing but my heart.

2006-11-27T11:43:00.000-06:00

Forgot to Mention, but Beltran won Win Shares, and finished fourth.

I'm still pissed about that.

And how the hell did Justin Morneau win MVP? He was the third best player on his own team.

He was a run producer, all right, driving in RBIs and leading the team in HRs, but Mauer hit better...AS A CATCHER.

Mauer hit .360!! with RISP.

If I want an MVP award, I'll have to be second best in the best player contest

2006-11-20T15:49:00.000-06:00

Or 5th, or 6th best.

So Ryan Howard won the NL MVP beating out Albert Pujols, and somehow Lance Berkman beat out Carlos Beltran for third.

Player A. BA .331 OBP .431 SLUG .671 OPS 1.102 49 HR 137 RBI
83 XBH VORP: 85.4
Player B. BA .313 OBP .425 SLUG .659 OPS 1.084 58 HR 149 RBI
84 XBH VORP: 81.5

Player A: 12.9 WARP3
Player B: 9.4 WARP3

You look at every statistic and something stands out. Player A is superior to Player B, ending up with 9 less HRs, 12 less RBIs, and dominating every other statistic. Hell, even 9 HR down, he ended up with only one less XBH.

He also did it in 70 less plate appearances.

Did I mention Player A's team barely made the playoffs, due to him carrying the team, where Player B's team batted the 14th best position player ahead of him(which led to significantly more RBI chances) but still didn't lead his team to the playoffs?

Did I mention Player A had 131 less strikeouts?

Did I mention Player A hit .397 with RISP, while Player B hit .256 with RISP.

Well now let's name our players. Player B, of course, is Ryan Howard, the winner *gag* of the NL MVP. Player A, is Albert Pujols, the superior player in just about every way, besides HRs and RBIs.

Parental Control? Who lets their mom pick their dates?

2006-11-18T11:07:00.000-06:00

So there is this show, called Parental Control, where the parents think the boyfriend/girlfriend of their son/daughter is worthless, and needs to go. So each parent gets to choose one guy for their daughter to go on dates with. The parents watch the dates with the SO of their daughter, and then after going on both dates, the daughter chooses between staying with her boyfriend, or choosing one of the two new guys.

It's a weird show, you have a relationship with someone...but you're going on dates with other people. It seems to me like I would just dump my girlfriend if she wanted to go on dates with other people. I mean, what if this guy went on dates with girls if they weren't on a show? Wouldn't she be pissed and dump him?

It doesn't make very much sense to me. Plus parents are already sticking their noses in our love lives enough, especially when they don't like the person, is it really worth it to get on MTV to let your parents choose people to go on dates with you? Yech.

Alright, alright, enough of that, I'm not going to stick to MTV-related shiznit, it's a god awful channel anyways.

On the baseball note, the Mets signed Damion Easley to fulfill that role Chris Woodward had last season. Woodward can't be all that upset, he got close to being on a World Series team and made little to no contribution to the team getting there. He seemed like a helluva nice guy though, so I hope he catches on somewhere.

There are also rumors that the Mets are looking to sign Alou. Besides the fact that he's played on average 110 games the last two seasons, that would be a good signing for the Mets, especially if they can dump Green's worthless butt, I don't care if the Mets need to cut him, but he needs to not take up a roster spot when the season begins.

Metsgeek Post

2006-11-16T19:57:00.001-06:00

A post I made on www.metsgeek.com

I too said wins and losses are overrated. I hear these talking heads like John F. Kruk saying “wins and losses are the most important stat for a pitcher.” WRONG. The most important stat for a TEAM is wins and losses.

But a pitcher can(especially in the AL) only contribute 50% of the win. All he can do is prevent runs as best as he can. If he gives 1 run and he loses, who does the fault go to? The offense. Who gets the negative mark statistically? Him, he gets an extra 1 in the loss column.

Wins and losses is a statistic that is no longer pertinent to the modern pitcher. As someone else pointed out, you pitch great for 6-7 innings and the next 2-3 guys have to get you the win, unlike before when pitchers threw CGs all the time.

Now wins and losses are taken out of the pitcher’s hand for almost 1/3 of the game. The offense might not show up, the defense might let you down(hey, if you give up 1 unearned run, you still get a L as the pitcher, not an UE-L), the relievers might blow the win.

So many other factors go into a pitcher’s wins and losses that today it is a statistic that talks more about luck than skill. It means you pitched well enough for 6-7 innings and you got some run support, the relievers held the lead, and the defense didn’t make too many errors, so that you were able to see a W go up next to your name after the game finishes.

Are wins and losses important as a pitching statistic? Sometimes. But more often than not, a pitcher’s luck, good or bad, makes his W-L record hard to quantify. A WHIP, an ERA, all these statistics aren’t perfect. If your defense has bad range, you give up more hits, leading to more “earned” runs and a higher WHIP.

No statistic, at least, the ones most people know about, looks at what the pitcher did, and quantifies it into his contribution to the game. Fielders make mistakes, or bail out pitchers with great plays, runners make boneheaded plays and get doubled off, etc etc. Even umpires miss calls.

But Wins and Losses, they’re out of the pitcher’s control for the most part, as soon as his team comes up to bat for the first time. The pitcher must depend on his team to score runs to win.

Some wins are earned by pitchers, carrying their teams moribund offenses, and some wins are gift-wrapped with 10 run explosions from the pitcher’s offenses. Some losses are earned when the pitcher gets lit up, but just as many as lost because the pitcher’s offense is on vacation, making sand angels.

John Kruk: Real Man of Genius

2006-04-11T09:02:00.000-06:00

And John Kruk has actually said something intelligent on Baseball Tonight.

While John predicted 30 wins for Randy Johnson last season, he singlehandedly redeemed himself by rescuing a pathetic Baseball Tonight, and supporting Johan Santana as the best left-handed pitcher in the majors.

I have no idea how Steve Phillips decided that Cliff Lee was his pick. Maybe he looked at win totals and said, screw it, he's the bomb. I guess he ignored Cliff Lee's 1.22 WHIP. Well, as the GM of my favorite team, he often ignored a lot of things. How this man was kept on while the Mets let Bobby Valentine go is beyond me.

How this man even got a job in baseball is beyond me.
So after Steve Phillips picks Cliff Lee, Reynolds picks Randy Johnson,(unfortunately, this wasn't two years ago) and John Kruk rescues the show and picks Johan Santana.

Yes, Johan has had a couple of bad starts to begin the season, but he's the dominant left-hander in baseball, and should have back-to-back Cy Young awards on his mantle.

John Kruk saying something smart is like Hussein saying something compassionate.

Savor this moment John Kruk, savor it.