Balta1701

QUOTE (hawkubes @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 11:08 AM) Does anybody remember last year's ALDS? I'd prefer to forget it too, but Dewayne Wise hit a double, a homerun and drove in 5 runs. Anderson came to the plate 5 times, struck out 4 of them, and failed to get a hit. I know it was only a couple of games, but I can't remember Anderson being clutch in any capacity. I get sick to my stomach when Anderson comes up with RISP of a close game, and I don't think I could endure a whole season of it with him in there every day. With Crede gone, the Sox are gonna need other guys to step up in clutch situations. I think a lot of people have forgotten just how dismal Anderson is in these situations. The stats actually kind of disagree with you, at least for the regular season, and yes I know it's a hell of a small sample size. Close and Late last year Anderson hit 8/27, good for a .296 average. If you go through his stats on B-R, he's actually quite a bit better when the game is close than when the game is wide open. In what B-R defines as "High leverage" situations, he hit .300 with a .797 OPS. Fascinatingly, he hit 5 home runs in the 5th inning last year, and had no more than 1 HR in any other inning. 1.640 OPS in the 5th inning. Don't pitch to Brian Anderson in the 5th inning.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 11:07 AM) Forget the last 8 years. GWB screwed the pooch hard on this. It's one of his biggest mistakes. Hell, it's one of the biggest mistakes of the Republican party EVER. There is no party that stands for this and I contend that if there were, AND THEY ACTUALLY DID IT and not just talk crap, they would do really well as a party. One way I might agree with you is if the Republican party went truly populist in the smaller-government sense. Right now, the big thing that both parties do is serve the corporate world and their lobbyists at the expense of everyone else. It's just that sometimes the lobbyists are different...unions don't exactly get much success lobbying the Republicans, oil companies the Dems...both sides are pretty much owned by Wall Street...which fascinates me especially now that the federal government owns wall street. If it was smaller government built in no small part by kicking the money changers out of the temple, I could see that being interesting. But I could see either party being wildly successful if they adopted the us against them philosophy enough to actually work on behalf of everyone who isn't a lobbyist rather than saying that they will do so and then forgetting about that the next time a banking deregulation bill comes forward. But then again, I have no way of knowing whether or not people would actually agree with me or if its just my circle that seems to think that and I'm just projecting that widely.

In response to SF#'s, I've found it to be more effective to make sure I have some variety in most meals especially at dinner. If you load up on one particular type of product too much, then you tend to wind up deficient in some nutrient or another, and your body winds up needing additional intake to cover it. Mixing stuff up can be healthy as well. My usual weekday breakfast is a bowl of cereal w Milk, something high fiber/multigrain (whatever I can get on sale, adds some variety from week to week), with some orange juice and a cup of coffee. Lunch...maybe a little less variety. I'll usually have an apple and a banana, sometimes substituting another piece of fruit if something is on sale, along with a yogurt or a small protein bar (again, whatever's on sale. Man I'm good at grocery shopping.) I mix in 2 cups of unsweetened tea, at least 1 of which is green tea, during the day, to keep hydrated and because it helps keep appetite under control. I'll also space things out so that I'm not crying in hunger pains at any point in the afternoon. I'll usually eat until I'm full with dinner. The one thing I avoid here is fast food, and the thing I always try to do is make sure there's a couple servings of vegetables mixed in. Fair amount of pastas, rice, tried out some lentils this week, stews, whatever. Like having some variety. Do have to avoid over-doing it at dinner though, my stomach has always been bigger than what my body needs. I'll snack some, typically on Sundays (guacamole works quite well for me), but I typically don't wake up early enough to eat breakfast that day so I just have a larger lunch. I've felt like the key thing for me in losing the weight I'd put on was adding in the fruit at lunch. That really seemed to make a difference when I got on that. It makes sure I get a couple servings of fruit a day. Once I got to the point that I was building muscle and my weight was holding steady I started adding in some extra yogurt or protein bars to add a little more of that substance to my diet.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:33 AM) I think inconsistency is correct. They will score 10 or 11 runs one day and get 1 or 2 the next few. Older guys, home run guys and a very inconsistent leadoff man with a rookie batting second will only add to that. Getz will be good, but he is a rookie and at times is going to struggle. If Getz could fill the Piranha role of hitting around .290+, putting up a .350+ OBP, and just being an all around pest for the other team, that would go a long way to making us a more consistent offense. I'm still of the thought that Getz + Alexei is a good 1-2 combination...if Getz can hit for a solid average. Getting that kind of performance from Getz out of the leadoff spot and then having a guy like Alexei who no matter what is going to put the ball in play in the 2 spot is one of those techniques that can generate an extra run on a day when the power is lacking.

If this passes, it'll just open up the slippery slope to people marrying corn.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:26 AM) Seriously, if that kind of "party" existed, they would wipe out the entire government - that's change we can believe in. I think the bas*** crazies on both sides are ruining America. I'll take issue with this by saying that you're looking at it from your side, from the right. Because you're on that side, everything done that is slightly to the left looks like it's bas*** (I really don't know what profanity that was supposed to be) crazy. I think that privatizing medicare is a terrible idea, but for someone on your side, you might think that's a decidedly smart move and it's bas*** crazy not to do so. It's the fallacy that the entire media loves to make...taking one's personal views or the views of the group of people you spend time with and saying "oh if only someone would do act x, it would reveal that the whole world actually agrees with us."

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:24 AM) And I will also contend you have a choice. If you don't like your doctor's wait time, change your doctor. You really think our insurance was going to allow that? We tried. Especially for any sort of specialist or scan, we had 1 place to go and that was it. But thankfully there was no bureaucrat making the decisions for us. That'd be awful.

QUOTE (Jenks Heat @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:23 AM) I said this before and I will say it all season. This team is going to struggle to score runs. I also think Getz will lead off by the end of April and Anderson will be in center. The Wise thing is just to ease him in as it will be a situation where "he can't be any worse than what we have". I don't think this team will struggle to score runs in total. There's just too much power 2-8 for that to happen unless a lot of guys get hurt. I think this team could push 240+ home runs easily. I do think this team will be inconsistent in scoring runs, and we'll see a lot of games where we run up the score with 5 or so long balls and then other games where the only run(s) we put up are whatever Quentin knocks in on his home run in the 8th inning that day.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:18 AM) mods, I think a great idea for a thread in this subsection would be recipe suggestions. Feel free to start up the thread.

I found this budget commentary interesting.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:05 AM) With the hitters we have from #2 to #9, what difference will it really make to put BA and Wise in the leadoff spot? It has the potential to seriously cut down on our run generation from the 2-4 slots. You're almost better off hitting Quentin 5th because that way people will be on base for his 74 home runs.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 10:02 AM) And you don't think it will get worse? It has to because now you will throw that many more people into the system. So, your solution to the health care problems in this country are to keep people from using the health care system because otherwise waits will get too long. Get rid of 15-20% of the population and we fix everything. Like I said, best system in the world!

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 09:46 AM) Nah, Bannistery and Hovecher both got sent down. It's Ponson then HoRam. The Royals bullpen is slightly stronger this year then last year, but their back end of the rotation is unforgivable. That doesn't mean it will last. And there's significant benefits for small market teams to keep guys like that in the minors a little longer so that the team gets an extra year of arbitration eligibility. It's budgetary hardball, nothing else.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 09:25 AM) Seriously, that was my first thought. Isn't that just about the main complaint, that it would take forever to get an appointment? So how's that different from now, where I can't get a doctor to take a glance at a flaming blister on my foot that makes me limp for 5 minutes for 6 weeks? For all the complaints I had about the military's healthcare system, if I was sick or otherwise in pain, I'd get seen within a few hours or at the latest that next morning, not weeks later. My wife has had to wait over a month repeatedly for appointments for things causing a Hell of a lot of pain. And that was while she was insured. Now we just kind of live with those things.

Let me see...things that totally came out of somewhere between no where and almost no where in pitching staffs in the AL Central last season: 1. Justin Verlander imploding 2. Cliff Lee going from barely making the team to winning the Cy Young 3. Fausto Carmona going from barely missing the Cy Young to barely making the team 4. 18 wins from Gavin Floyd, dominant season from John Danks 5. Greinke and Meche stepping up big time. The Royals bullpen starting to come together (Soria) You might have predicted some of those, but really, who saw more than 1 or 2? The only constants in this division are Mark Buerhle, Bobby Jenks, and anyone who pitches for the Twins. I'm just going to shut up and watch the games. I have no idea how this division will turn out. Any team in that pool could have the best starting rotation in there. Cleveland could have 2 Cy Young winners or could have the worst 1-5 in baseball. The Royals could keep growing or could fall apart. Colon and Contreras could struggle and Danks and Floyd could have lots-of-innings related setbacks, or every one in that rotation could win 15 games. Justin Verlander could have an ERA under 3 or over 5.

It's indictment day!

Whatever the general consensus winds up being, unless it's Minnesota...I predict the results will be the exact opposite. Because this is baseball, and that's how it goes.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Apr 2, 2009 -> 08:50 AM) Speaking of which, I have athlete's foot right now and it feels like my foot is on fire. I call the doctor since the OTC stuff isn't working fast enough and they are talking about May 14. LOL. Are all doctors this full of s***? I'll be damned if I have to go to an urgent care center and pay a 50 dollar deductible. Best health care system in the world! And yes, getting in to a doctor in 2 weeks is still fairly lucky.

QUOTE (MurcieOne @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 11:41 PM) I hope Cutler goes to Washington so I can close this thread... I can't keep doing this to myself. Then we can open the Jason Campbell to the Bears thread.

So wait, it's not just Wise, it's an Anderson/Wise CF Platoon where they're both going to be leading off? Interestingly, Wise did walk more times per PA than Alexei last year. By quite a bit. But Brian Anderson alternating at leadoff?

QUOTE (BearSox @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 07:12 PM) I'd definitely take him in Charlotte just for the pure depth and to make our affiliate better. He can potentially be a callup in case of an injury, and in Charlotte he can switch between playing 1B, 3B, and DH. If he can't make it as a part time player with the Marlins I have trouble believing he can do better than a AAA team anywhere else right now.

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Apr 1, 2009 -> 06:49 PM) Well, to that all I can say is well said. But I ask, why is that ok? Why do we accept it? I blame alcohol.

Really? A vastly record setting 240k?

This is a complicated point but it's a key one. A key part of Timmy's strategy for how to deal with the financial debacle is his "Stress Test", where he's applying a projection of the future economic straits to the banks and asking if they have enough funds to weather the worst case scenario. If they don't, then they're in major trouble. If they do, then they just need some temporary help. The government has been kind enough to make available the data they're using for their worst case scenario stress tests. Keep in mind, those numbers are barely a month old. In addition, today a NGO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), released new numbers for its projections for U.S. growth over the next few quarters. They're in this graph. The red bars are the NGO numbers. The Blue bars are Geithner's "Worst Case Scenario" from his stress test, the thing that it should be unthinkable for the banks to have to survive. You can find full data at the included link and more images, including bigger, legible ones. The key thing to take away here...the OECD estimate for economic performance over the next 2 years is either the same as or significantly worse than Geithner's worst case scenario that the banks have to survive. A number of people have suggested that Geithner's stress test isn't stressy enough. If the OECD is right, then the Treasury Department is seriously underestimating the funds that the major banks will need to survive. And Geithner's plans for how much money the banks need to be able to raise without the government stepping in and taking control are based entirely on those stress tests. If one were so inclined, one might suspect that they were deliberately weakening their "Stress Test" so as to avoid having them give genuine rationalizations for nationalizing the banks, and instead they're just hoping that we'll get lucky and grow our way above the bottom line.

It doesn't look good if you don't contract out with the lowest bidder.