Y2HH

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 12:53 PM) Except that's not true. And your precious stats confirm that. .230 .283 .361 Actually, they do confirm it. He hits safely less just 23% of the time. What's worse, he gets on base only 28% of the time. He's one of the worst hitters in baseball. Period.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 12:41 PM) Hint: in four AB's most big leaguers are going to make three outs. Ok, for 5 at bats he will be out 4 or 5 times. With 6, he will be out 5 or 6. Most players don't keep scaling down like that...he does. Not to mention, he does it almost every night.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 12:20 PM) You really shouldn't watch games. Just read fangraphs afterward. Its what tells the story. Not what you see on the field. Maybe that's why Sox fans don't attend games much. They are too smart. They realize what you see is false. Its some number someone comes up with that tells the entire story. Forget what you see.... Beckham saving runs. Turning DPs throwing guys out on relays. He isn't replacement level defensively. He's horrible. Fangraphs says so, and they are on the internet so you know its true. You're right. He is horrible, because he's 1/2 of a player. I'm happy for his defense, but that paints an incomplete picture. This is the majors. Not some po-dunk softball league where it doesn't matter how complete of a player you are. Beckham is, to an absurd degree, a black hole in our offense...he's as close to a "free out" as you could be. I wouldn't even complain if he was totally average, or even slightly below average offensively. But it's worse than that. Much worse. I could easily deal with a slightly below offensive player if their defense makes up for it...but he's so below average on offense, it's insane. If he bats 4 times per game...that's around 3 free outs for the other team (or, a totally free inning.) To me, that's unacceptable considering the league we're talking about...which is the majors.

I've read all of your comments and thought about them carefully. ...and Beckham still sucks balls.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 11:12 AM) The ACA, or OBAMACARE as you prefer it, actually does something about arbitrary/fraudulent billing, at least with respect to Medicare. I think insurance companies get the majority of the ire because we absolutely need doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies, but we don't need private insurance companies to have a functional health care system. If we switched to a single-payer, Medicare-for-all type system, then they'd just be an optional thing for people who want supplemental coverage whereas even in a fully nationalized NHS-style system, you still need doctors and hospitals and medicine. That makes them an easy target. In other words, our eyes are on the left hand while they need to be on both. IMO, ignorance of what's actually happening out there isn't an excuse to ignore it. We don't have a single payer system, so none of that matters. We have what we have...and in having that, it means people need to watch all aspects of what goes into the system as a whole, not one single aspect because it's easier that way.

Like many of you, I was a Beckham defender...especially after his debut season...the issue is MLB adapted to Beckham, and Beckham has shown he's unable to adapt in return. It hasn't been a small sample size...it's been three terrible years. It's of my opinion that this team would be better off without him at this point. I'm not a sabermetrics person, so aside from playing devils advocate and bringing up dWAR, the statistic doesn't matter to me. What matters to me is Beckham is a net detriment to this team right now, and has been for a LONG time. Wise has been with the team for what, two weeks? He's already made more of a contribution to the team than Beckham has in 3 years.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 09:48 AM) Only if by "you and a few others on Soxtalk" equates to "everyone who understands and uses defensive metrics" Except for everyone that uses dWAR, you mean.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 09:08 AM) People forget Beckham was a pretty good hitter the second half of 2010 before breaking his thumb. He hit .310 with a .380 OBP and an .877 OPS. As for his negative defensive WAR, there is a flaw in the system if someone wants to say that's gospel. There is absolutely no way he is below replacement level defensively. I think even the biggest haters would agree with that. The statistic disagrees with that, which is the problem. You may not like dWAR, but it's an accepted calculation at the moment...and it says he's a net -0.4 this year.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 09:23 AM) Agreed 100%. There is no way that Gordon's defense has been a net determent to the White Sox this year. So let me get this straight...the accepted defensive statistical calculations are ignorable because you and a few others on Soxtalk say so?

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 09:35 AM) I'll say I've had a pretty good experience with BCBS in Illinois. But dental, however, I'm kinda disappointed about how little that covers for me. Dental insurance is a universal oddity...I'm not really sure what to say about it...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 09:03 AM) And it doesn't seem they adjust for the six months to a year wait for most VA tests and treatments. I like how they also use variance as a test subject to justify the care. Everyone gets equally awful care at the VA, so if that is a win... sure, ok. Anyone who has the option of insurance uses it every single time versus going to the VA. I have never heard anyone do the opposite. My father is retired...Vietnam vet...won't even use the VA...paid for his own insurance as to avoid them until he was of medicare age. That's how awesome the VA is. It also highlights how easy it is to make some things look nice, and others look terrible in these studies. I've had various insurance throughout my life...and anytime I've used it, I've never had a problem doing so.

QUOTE (Jake @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 09:02 AM) I would tell you about my experiences with BCBS, but it sucks so much that I can't afford any preventative care and I can't tend to any nagging ailments because I can't afford to deal with those either. BCBS is a franchise...not all of them are the same. The problem with insurance, as is the problem with anything...is people don't care to know the details...and as they say, the devil is the details. Ask most anyone you know what type of insurance they have, and you'd be lucky if they knew if it was a PPO or an HMO. Most people don't even know the core difference between a PPO/HMO, because having to research that might cut into their reality TV watching time. If by some chance they do happen to know that, ask them what their deductibles/max expense are...or what's covered...odds are they have no idea, because they don't/won't care until it's too late and they suddenly have to care. People are lazy...even when it comes to knowing what their insurance covers. I don't wish to sound like an insurance company shill here, despite full disclosure that I presently work for one. Insurance companies do a lot of things I disagree with, a lot of things the ACA actually corrected for the better. But it takes more than insurance companies to mess this up...the doctors/hospitals/drug companies share a majority of the blame, but haven't been touched. Remember, they're the ones that send the arbitrary and exorbitant bills...but nobody seems to care about that. It's all the insurance companies fault.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 22, 2012 -> 08:26 AM) As I mentioned earlier, his ability to hit high velo fastballs has been an issue for a couple years... but not so much the past couple weeks. The advanced stats won't tell you that, yet. Use your eyes. We'll see if it sticks, but for now, he's made a good adjustment. Also, I find it hilarious when people throw out gourmet offensive stats, but then decides having a "good glove" is meaningless. Defense is a key part of any player's value to a team (except DH's), and that is amplified in the middle infield. Beckham being above average defensively at 2B has definite value to he team. Want proof of the value of defense? Check out how many more UER the Tigers have given up this year than the Sox... then add to that the even more runs given up on lack of range, etc... and you start to realize that the Tigers are giving up probably close to a half run more per game than the Sox just due to defense. And they are 2 games back, despite their talent. Defense matters. Isn't Beckham's defensive WAR actually negative right now? Just checked...he has a -0.3 DWAR. http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/3.../gordon-beckham

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 21, 2012 -> 04:47 PM) Health plan competition improves quality, right? Right??? How can a health plan improve quality? I'm not saying you posed this question, but the people that do are either stupid, or disconnected from reality. A health plan is merely insurance benefits/payments. The only person/persons that can improve quality are the doctors/nurses/hospitals. Insurance companies CANNOT improve quality for a product they don't provide...they merely pay for it.

TL;DR Thread is too long to catch up on now...but... Beckham isn't having a bad second half. He's having a bad 2+ years. And that is that.

It's also awesome for your knees.

http://reason.com/archives/2012/08/20/the-...ly-must-not-win

http://reason.com/archives/2012/08/20/the-...ly-must-not-win

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 17, 2012 -> 08:40 AM) Happy Birthday fellow manipulator of all things L2/L3. access-list southsideirish71 deny ip any any

I know none of you mean it...then again, giving I've gotten 2 3 responses, I should probably feel great! A better than expected turnout! Thanks everyone...well...thanks you TWO THREE! I knew BigSqwert, Balta and the rest of you would snub me. "Y2HH -- the AJ of Soxtalk."

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 15, 2012 -> 09:16 AM) No, don't play that "they all do it" s***. Ryan's been treated as a Very Serious policy wonk with a real plan to reduce the deficit. He's not and he doesn't have one. The criticisms of his plan aren't about unintended or hidden consequences. They're either about the intended consequences and why they're terrible policy or about how the thing just doesn't make any damn sense at all and is filled with magic numbers and unspecified trillions in cuts to make it quasi-workable. They all do, so it's not a "play". For a guy that's been treated as a "very serious" policy wonk, you aren't taking him very seriously...meaning a lot of others aren't either. So you just contradicted your own attempt to refute what I said. Anyway... Back to reality...they DO all do that, so let's have you stop pretending they don't. We get it, you dislike Ryan. The issue is, you're going out of your way to be unfair in all of your criticism about him...and what's worse, you won't even admit it. So, what your telling us all is every idea Ryan proposes in his plans are ALL bad. Every one of them. When you say things like that, don't expect people to listen further.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Aug 15, 2012 -> 08:51 AM) I liked the parts that mocked Ryan's plan for what it is: an incoherent joke. That doesn't mean I have to agree with every alternative policy he proposes. edit: I excerpted part with the means-testing, not sure why you say I only picked the parts I liked? Also plenty of left-leaning economists have been exasperated by Bernanke focusing solely on one part of his dual mandate and not giving a s*** about unemployment so long as he can suppress interest rates. I also didn't excerpt other parts I did like, like this part about the banks: Like most things political, I'm sure his plan has some good points. Taken as a whole, however, it would obviously be terrible...just like every bill/budget/submission by modern congress. The talking points sections of these bills are usually phenomenal, but the other stuff that nobody can understand until it's fought in court years later are the parts to worry about. History is replete with examples of bills passed into law that reform X, and for some reason, Z is granted a ton of "free" money for no reason, when Z had nothing to do with the purpose of the bill in the first place.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 13, 2012 -> 05:54 PM) I guess it had to do with the scene itself. It was a less than dramatic death in my eyes. In all the decades of movie watching I've done, I've never seen a main villain's death just kind of happen and the camera just moves on to other stuff within a second or two. It felt as if one of Bane's unidentifiable henchman just got killed. All in all I loved the film but felt that was a bit odd. It was quite sudden, but not quite as sudden as in The Departed...but still. I understand peoples issue with how sudden it happened, but it wasn't like he died from a teensey-tiny little 9mm bullet...he got blasted with dual 50cals or something insane.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Aug 13, 2012 -> 05:45 PM) hahaha that's NOT semantics at all! nothing has actually BEEN DONE - and the Boston mayor already admitted there's nothing he can do legally to deny a permit! lol Right. Because that's how politics works. Are you actually being serious right now? Because if you are, honestly, open your eyes. Permits can be denied for so many frivolous reasons it'd make your head spin. If they *want* to deny a permit, they not only can, they will. This isn't about that, though. This is about a over the top statement made...did he ever actually intend to deny it or was it just something he said in the heat of the moment? I think it's just something he said on the spot. That's the only question. Because like I said, if they want to deny it, they can. It's actually that easy.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Aug 13, 2012 -> 08:14 AM) She shot him with the same guns she used to shoot a hole into a stack of cars and rubble. What the f*** else do you need to believe that is enough to kill him? Seriously. I was honestly waiting for someone to point this out, because the complaints about how easy he died are absurd. Of all the villains in all the Nolan movies, he's the only one that ever had any sort of upper hand on Batman in any sort of fight sequence. It's easy to nitpick fantasy fiction movies, guys...any of them.