Balta1701

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 09:16 AM) OK, well I think that's maybe not a good idea, unless Flowers is a whizz kid at improving defensively in a real hurry. If his bat is ready, its entirely possible he'll make bigger strides defensively and in game-calling at the big league level than he will hanging out at AAA.

Link

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 09:10 AM) But doesnt Alexei take a lot of big wallop swings? Just to consider an extreme transition: if AR wanted to become a slap hitter, I dont know if he'd be able. Other guys could make that transition easier. I could be wrong. He's a slender guy that tries to generate power with the type of swing he's taking. That's AR. All I want from Alexei is him doing exactly what he was doing last year...spraying the ball with authority to all fields and keeping his strikeout numbers low. He does that and he's an excellent #2 hitter. I don't want him bunting; it takes the bat out of the hands of whoever's hitting 3rd. I don't want him focusing on hitting the ball the other way or anything crazy like that. Just hit the damn ball all the time like he did last year, and take a few more pitches/walk a few more times.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 09:07 AM) http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/15/mir...osts/index.html Great article here that gets to the root of the whole issue (lack of incentives to be efficient, encouraging everyone to choose the best available, most expensive options because they are currently subsidized and don't have to pay for the quality). I think he's got the major issues right and it seems like we're actually agreeing with him there...but I think he's totally wrong on the fixes. Basically, his thinking is entirely based around "If people have to pay more for the more expensive treatments they're likely to spend less on health care" which is true, but which neglects the fact that a lot of necessary health care is damned expensive, and no matter what happens or what changes you make, your average consumer is going to find making educated decisions about health care almost impossible. They go with what their doctors or their health care providers recommend.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 08:49 AM) Practicality and efficiency. Anything government or official being in just one language makes government cheaper to run, and it encourages people to have one language they all know so that business can be conducted in a reasonable fashion. The only danger I see with it is, make sure it doesn't restrict someone's ability to continue speaking or knowing other languages. It should only serve to say, this is the language that government business will be conducted in domestically - if you don't know it, it is at your own peril. Do modern, westernized countries that have an official language not provide official government documents in multiple languages? That seems impractical on its own unless their borders are closed to tourists.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 08:52 AM) Sounds like you're referring to plate discipline. When I think "bat control" I think contact ability. There is no question that CQ has better plate discipline than Alexei, but there is also no question that Alexei has pretty good bat control, too. Alexei's plate discipline has improved markedly this year. He just hasn't been hitting the ball with the same authority this year.

QUOTE (forrestg @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 09:38 PM) Ventura, I believe batted number 2 for the sox, wITH tcq hitting the way he did las year we all saw how his short quick swing not only produced home runs but solid singles and doubles when we needed them. Bunting!! AJ? who on this sox team can bunt? Ventura batting 2nd worked because of the monstrous thing wearing #35 hitting behind him. Mauer hitting 2nd works because he has the 2006 AL MVP hitting behind him. In both cases you have a guy who can generate RBI's hitting 2nd, but that's ok because he's also a very good hitter and your best power guy is hitting next. Quentin is our best power and RBI guy when healthy based on last year. He will drive in more runs batting 3rd than 2nd, and this offense will generate more runs with him batting 3rd than 2nd.

QUOTE (beautox @ Jun 15, 2009 -> 03:35 AM) yea they defiantly have the outfield DH and C covered now they just need an infield. I think moving huff and roberts along with their closer would expedite that. Moving their recently extended all star 2b doesn't help them develop a solid IF. Moving Huff would be smarter, although last year was the year to do that.

QUOTE (RME JICO @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 06:30 PM) We have to wait that long? Maybe longer. Depends more on Quentin than anything else at this point.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 05:38 PM) Like, tidal waves cataclysmic? Like fire and brimstone raining from the sky, tsunamis that are kilometers high if it hits the ocean, all plantlife burned away in gigantic wildfires triggered by the flaming debris, 5 year nuclear winter from the airborne debris, all surface animal life dies of starvation, massive earthquakes as the crust readjusts, probably vaporize a good chunk of the oceans temporarily, etc. You don't kill all life because there's still places life can survive. Maybe some ice caps survive and life is protected under them during the nuclear winter. Life survives in caves, or at the bottom of the ocean, places that are protected still exist. On the other hand, you slam Mars in to Earth (this is how we formed the moon) and you literally melt the entire surface of the earth down to a depth of hundreds of kilometers and blow the atmosphere off in to space. The only protected environment there is any spores or bacteria that survive out in space and then return as debris from the blast comes back to the planet over the next few million years.

You do not put a 40 home run guy batting 2nd unless you have 50 home run guy behind him. You want to take advantage of having people on base and you want to create as many opportunities for that to happen as possible.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 05:31 PM) For whatever reason (I don't know why), peanut allergies tend to have much worse reactions than other foods. Like, deadly reactions. The day care/school my kid is in, no peanuts or peanut products are ever allowed in the building. It's because of the type of protein that triggers the allergic reaction. A person with a strong peanut allergy will only need a bare minimum of exposure to that substance to trigger the allergy. Plenty of people have deadly anaphylactic reactions to other things, including foods (shellfish, beestings, various perfuming compounds, whatever) but it's the little amount that triggers the peanut one combined with the number of consumer products that use peanuts or are processed in similar facilities as peanuts that gets everyone's attention. (For example...if you have a sever shellfish or beesting allergy, you don't exactly expect that you'll have a problem buying iced cream).

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 04:59 PM) The only thing that concerns me is the power numbers. If he's really a guy who likes to go to the opposite field, more power to him. Guys like that would make the Sox a lot less frustrating to watch. However, I think Dayan has to develop a slugging% somewhere in the .500s to be a successful offensive 3B. Because he obviously doesn't walk much and his OPS is going to suck if his SLG doesn't make up for his bad OBP. With his frame, it's hard to imagine Viciedo not developing major power.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) What would happen if an asteroid the size of texas hit the planet? It would be a cataclysmic event, but it wouldn't destroy all life. If you want to destroy all life on earth you have to hit it with an object the size of Mars.

Here's another possible:

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 02:32 PM) You haven't seen The Core, have you? Dude, I'm a geologist. We get spend hours drinking and laughing at that. I still think Armageddon takes it by a solid margin on the physics. The geology, that's a different story; the Core takes that just for having a void space in the mantle. Armageddon though has some incredible ones. A "Rogue Comet hitting the asteroid field and dislodging an asteroid the size of texas". There really is no way to get that to work. And there's only 1 asteroid the size of texas in the solar system. And not even bacteria surviving when it hits the earth. And only having to drill to 800 feet. And a "Fault line" existing on an asteroid the size of texas. And the asteroid not being spherical.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 11:50 AM) Strongly disagree. Trade deadline 2010 by the latest. To answer this in more detail...AJ's contract runs through the end of the 2010 season (note to people wanting to deal him - he has a 6 team NTC. I'm betting 1 of those teams is the Giants. Anywho...) AJ isn't likely to be moved before the trade deadline in 2010. He's not worth as much to any other team as he is to us, unless they're really desperate for a catcher. He'll be paid $6.25 million next year, so while he's not ridiculously priced, that is expensive for a .750ish OPS guy in this market. If Flowers is ready...then here's what's likely to happen with him. He'll stay in the minors through September 1, and he'll be added to the 40 man and given a callup in September when the rosters expand. He'll be expected to play some winterball, and he'll have a shot to take the backup/RH catcher role out of ST next year. With AJ under contract they'll be patient and allow him to platoon, to get at bats and adapt to the bigs without being dumped in, and hopefully he'll learn some stuff about the pitching staff and defense from AJ while he's still here. It's possible they could look in to keeping AJ around as a part time player in 2011 if AJ is cheap enough.

QUOTE (3E8 @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 07:19 AM) Viciedo has been adjusting quickly month-by-month April: .221/.232/.286 BB%= 2.4% K%= 24.4% May: .293/.314/.397 BB%= 2.5% K%= 19.0% June: .311/.347/.400 BB%= 6.1% K%= 6.1% Which is exactly what we needed to see from him. Now, we need to start seeing the power numbers.

These "Call player x up right now!" threads bother me.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jun 13, 2009 -> 10:10 PM) Gotta be the worst organization in pro sports. Not even close. Hell, you could argue there are worse organizations in MLB. The Nats are down because they had to be the Expos for a couple years which is going to murder any franchise, and because they had some terrible leadership when they moved to Washington. Their offense right now is one of the better ones in the NL...they have a good ballpark, they have some young guys, and they ought to be on the verge of adding a 102 mph fastball pitcher to lead their rotation. In the NL, they might have a shot at competing next year, esp. if they add a veteran pitcher or two over the offseason.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Jun 14, 2009 -> 09:45 AM) Perry wasn't the problem. I can't see this solving any of their woes. I can come up with one example of a team firing its hitting coach and then catching fire with the bats: Cleveland in 05. Anyone got any better examples?

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Jun 12, 2009 -> 12:29 PM) LOL Flash, thats awesome. Armageddon meets Final Destination would be hilarious. The comet somehow misses earth, then performs a large U-turn and slams into the sun which brushes into earth That would break the Armageddon mark for all-time worst movie Physics.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 13, 2009 -> 08:29 PM) A (unelected) religious figure would take over. This Ayatollah took over from the first one I think in the late 80s. While this is true, it's worth noting what position Khamenei had during Khomenei's stint as Ayatollah: President. It's also worth noting that the last time there was a change, the leadership appears to have stayed in a state of turmoil for years due to the fact that he wasn't actually a religious cleric at the time he was appointed, although Khamenei seems to have been de facto selected by his predecessor. I haven't a clue what sort of succession ideas this one has. If he's willing to rig an election for Ahmadeinejad, then he could well want him in line.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 13, 2009 -> 08:20 PM) Nah, I'd just chalk this up to incompetence and shortsightedness. I really doubt they had a real plan. As an analyst I try not to see things with a pro-Western/US bias (i.e., automatically figuring someone I don't like had to cheat to win) but in this case what happened is pretty obvious. I was skeptical until I saw that graph. The only way that graph actually would realistically happen is if they took all the ballots, shipped them to a central location, and then totally randomized them before counting them.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 13, 2009 -> 07:58 PM) lol, seriously that is just really f***ing lazy. One possibility is that this is actually deliberate...draw Mousavi's supporters out in to the streets where they're vulnerable.