NorthSideSox72

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 04:51 PM) No more embarrassing than what his son was hitting... Funny, but... he should have been expected to hit like this. The guy barely played in college, he was very NON prospect. But using PED's? That will not go over well. I still think these favor draft picks are a mistake.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 03:20 PM) I had also read that he has a good hard slider, so it's good to get confirmation, as well as a heavy sinking fastball (sits high 80's, touching low 90's) and a change-up with good sinking action. That was from around the time he was drafted. Not sure of how, or if, he has progressed in the last year. That's good to hear, didn't have much data on him previously.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 11:26 AM) I definitely think at the least he can become a younger Lindstrom. That heavy fastball-slider combination is enough for him the crack a ML pen if he keeps his control even close to where it's at now. We're making comps already? Seems a little premature. We know next to nothing about him. QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 12:03 PM) With the injury problems, I am good with his sitting out this fall/winter. Heal up, come back next year ready to go. He's only 19, so it isn't like the clock is ticking or anything. I got the strong impression from a scout that Barnum will indeed be headed to fall instructs. He needs AB's.

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 08:58 AM) Yeah the K/BB (92SO, 6BB for those that haven't looked recently) is outstanding. He gets a lot of ground balls too. Obviously his age for this level is a big drawback, but he's certainly an interesting prospect to watch. Not sure of his velocity for full repertoire of pitches, but the scout at the game I was at in Kanny said his slider was looking very good.

Give it a read, let's hear what you think. Recchia looks for real, and Hawkins has made some adjustments.

QUOTE (scs787 @ Aug 29, 2013 -> 01:09 AM) Could be worth a 2nd opinion but from what I've read it sounds like its the engine...Back to the original question, if it is indeed the engine how does $1840 sound for an engine with 66k on it plus a new belt, plugs, and wires sound? Comes with a 6 months parts and labor warranty. The body on it is still practically flawless, and a diagnostic test showed that the only other thing wrong with it is an egr valve which I believe goes away when putting in the new engine. So with that said, and with money tight wouldn't it make sense to just go with the engine with 66k on it rather than dropping that 1840(or less) on another car with 2x the miles and potentially more problems that I don't know about? Sure sounds like a reasonable price to me for that work. The question is, as you said, is it worth putting that into the car you own? How much is the car worth? And is now a good time to get something better, and put the 1840 towards that? I remember when the engine on my first car blew out. 1986 Subaru GL-10, was 10 years old, had 180k on it, had been in 3 or 4 accidents, and two teenagers learned how to drive in it. The previous oil change, the mechanic showed me the little metal filings in the oil - said the cam shaft or one of a few other parts was likely warped, and would eventually fail. A couple months later, sure enough, driving down the road... bizarre noise from under the hood, followed by black smoke, and a stalled car. Cam shaft apparently "shattered into a million pieces" and rattled around the block. Engine shot. Guy says, well, I can get a nearly-new engine for it, have it shipped, install it, new chain stuff... for about $2,000. I asked him how much the car would be worth then, and he said... about $2,000. I was a month from leaving Ames, going to get a full time job elsewhere, and buying a new car anyway. So I just went without a car for a month or two then bought another car. A Saturn, by the way. I had still owed the mechanic about $250 from a recent repair anyway, so he said he'd just take the car off my hands for the $250 and call it square. He said he could sell off some of the parts.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 04:39 PM) a lack of Schumacher movies would have been cooler Bingo. Robin Williams as The Riddler would have been pretty awesome, if done right. He played the darker side really well in Insomnia and Dead Again, to varying degrees.

Brian Balta handled the Bristol leg of our tour of the minors, and here is his detailed game report. Includes videos of some prospects many have never seen before, so give it a look. Still in the pipe: Winston-Salem game report and videos from 8/24 (goes up tomorrow), Winston-Salem prospect and manager interviews (goes up Friday most likely), and Brian's interviews from Bristol (dates TBD).

There was apparently a bench-clearing in the Great Falls game. Voight took out the other team's catcher on a play at the plate, words were exchanged, benches emptied. Supposedly no punches thrown.

QUOTE (bbilek1 @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 05:29 PM) I see that Barnum is probably too young/raw for the AFL but whatever they can do to keep Barnum playing they should do. He needs all the ABs he can get whatever avenue they come from. He will be in Arizona for fall instructs. Talked with a scout about this very thing, and while he couldn't confirm officially... it was obvious. QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 10:23 PM) Says all you need to know about Thompson, Walker, Jacobs and the young outfield talent the Sox have drafted/collected in recent years. HELP! Sox still have one more open slot to play with on the roster, for a played TBD. Jacobs has to be high on the list of possibilities, so he may yet go. Thompson has already played AFL, and rarely do they send players twice.

QUOTE (winninguglyin83 @ Aug 28, 2013 -> 07:14 AM) nicely done. which guys impressed you the most? In terms of the interviews? Brad Goldberg and Adam Lopez were both very confident, focused, and seemed sharp. Tommy Thompson was hilarious - I actually couldn't put everything in the article because of some... colorful language.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 27, 2013 -> 10:36 AM) Right...but if I am already mandated to own or contract for 20% of my portfolio as renewables, that is a whole lot of green energy consumers I can allocate those mandated renewables to. Yes. If you are mandated 20%, and your consumer demand is 10%, you are good to go. But when the consumer demand level gets close to that 20%, say 18% and rising, you have to adjust. I have no idea what the actual levels are of course.

Semien is a slight surprise to me. With the season he's had, the only argument I can see for sending him is gearing him up for tough stuff so he can be on the squad next year... but I don't know that its necessary. The others all make sense. Barnum barely has a single year of pro ball under his belt and he's a teenager. At least a year from being ready for that, if not 2 or 3. I agree Jacobs would have made sense. Or Winiarski.

Article is up here. Interviews with Tim Anderson, Tyler Danish, Jacob May, Brad Goldberg, Keon Barnum, Adam Lopez, Stew Brase and manager Tommy Thompson. Enjoy.

With all the consternation about Affleck, I can't believe no one has pointed out the obvious: Michael Keaton. Maybe I'm the only one old enough to remember, but when he was named as the "new" Batman in the 80's, everyone's reaction was "Mr. Mom is Batman? Are you kidding me?" Well, turns out the movie was a huge success and people liked him a lot as Wayne/Batman. Not saying it will be just like that here, but... Affleck may surprise you.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 04:30 PM) At this stage of the game, I don't think it is really shaping what the utility is buying/developing. What it might be is a way for them to offset some of the costs for the mandates you mentioned. I just wonder if they are able to use renewable energy required by their RPS directly to market to retail customers, or if that is not allowed.... Not sure about the RPS aspect. But, just like legal mandates, the level of consumer-requested green energy has to play a part in their plans. They can't sell 100 widgets of "green energy" to consumers but only through-put 50 widgets worth to those consumers. If/when the consumer requests start to approach their current level of purchase and/or production, they would have to adjust.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 26, 2013 -> 02:48 PM) As for the second part I bolded, I wonder if this is just a way to offset some of the increased costs due to RPS's? It's probably that and a way to address the fact that some portion of the public wants renewables and is willing to pay more, and the rest who continue to want the lowest possible energy costs, regardless of source. There are complexities there I am sure, for the utility. They have mandates from state and feds and localities to meet, they have a required level based on consumer choice, they may already have a certain amount of ceiling room in terms of purchased alternative energy, etc. So it is likely not a perfect 1:1, I request green energy, ergo ComEd has to buy that much more of it and that much less of the regular stuff. But in the larger sense, it does increase the required amount purchased, in some fashion, to some degree.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 09:14 AM) This has been the golden goose of solar tech for 15 years now. No one in the industry is banking on this happening within the next 5 years. One alternative coming into vogue now is sort of backwards from this - using LESS efficient solar options, but for much less money. Solar shingles are an example of this. Those shingles are not nearly as efficient as true panels, but they are a cheaper alternative, they replace something you already need to replace at some point anyway, and they can turn your whole house into a solar collector.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 05:45 PM) This idea that electric vehicles are running off renewable energy is just a fantasy. Guess when most people currently charge their electric vehicles? Overnight. In fact, utility companies encourage this with special rates for overnight hours for users of electric vehicles. They do this because they need consumption during those hours to keep their base load generation online without incurring imbalance penalties from their control areas. Guess what's not running overnight? Solar plants. While wind tends to increase during the evening, utilities are currently required to carry adequate reserves (fossil fueled generation) in case the wind stops. Add to this equation cheap natural gas and government incentives in renewables dwindling, and you are looking at quite some time before electric cars are doing anything differently than gasoline powered vehicles. On the one hand, it is important to point out that most of the utility-generated electricity still comes from fossil fuels. You are correct that using an electric car doesn't mean you are using 100% green energy. But you are also using a canard here that provides a false choice. First of all, even if on 100% fossil fuels, energy generated at the utility level is far more efficient than in individual gas combustion engines, so the move to an electric car does indeed reduce emissions and use of oil. Second, the utilities can, and slowly do, change over to alternative sources over time. So the more people rely on the grid instead of inefficient vehicular engines, the fast we add more energy capacity and as a percentage, more use of alternatives. Using an electric car, right now, definitely reduces carbon footprint and oil usage. And it will do that more so over time. Though, as you said, it does not mean you are ONLY using green energy. One other note: if people want to, in many or most areas now, you can opt for green energy from your electricity provider. The rate is only slightly higher, at least in my case. That doesn't mean you have a direct pipe to a solar array, but it means you increase the amount of alternative energy the utility has to buy or create, thereby increasing it by some amount with your choice.

From my visit to the Intimidators game Friday, the game story is up. Includes videos (a bunch), analysis, and some interesting nuggests I got from the Sox scout who happened to be sitting next to me. Videos include: pitchers Kyle Hansen (2) and Storm Throne, position players Cleuluis Rondon, Jacob May, Tim Anderson, Jason Coats and Keon Barnum. Give it a read here, and let's hear your thoughts. Prospect interviews will be in a seperate article soon - it was just too much to cram it all into one post.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Aug 25, 2013 -> 12:08 AM) I can't get over an upper 80s fastball from a RHP. That's what concerns me about him. Pretty limited upside for pitchers like that. Definitely a concern. However... 1. The gun in Kanny was a bit inconsistent and inaccurate while I was there. I was using the readings from the scout sitting next to me as a result. The gun is literally being used by hand from the radio booth up high. Just something to keep in mind. 2. He's on limited innings, and they may also be telling him to not worry about velocity. I had at least one guy say that specifically, can't remember if it was Tyler or not though.

A couple thoughts on DeMichele, though I want to save some for the articles... 1. He had just gotten going with the bat when the moved him to SS... and I am sure that had an effect, as he then went into a slump. He's been red-hot in August, and I think he's ready for AA. 2. On defense, he's getting a really bad rap... but in the game I was at, he looked solid, and in fact made one very tough play up the middle.

Great game to be at tonight, W-S. Saw Recchia, Wendelken pitch, DeMichele GS and another HR, got 8 more guys interviewed, took a bunch of video. On the bad side, Hawkins looked outright lost at the plate, and I had to watch Micah get hurt. I did get to see this from a few feet away though: QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 10:18 PM)

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 05:14 PM) Buddy Bell just said Micah Johnson will be sent to Birmingham for their playoffs. Not so sure anymore - just saw him get hurt in the game. Came out, left shoulder injury. Initial word from Ryan Newman (manager) is he is day-to-day.

QUOTE (flavum @ Aug 24, 2013 -> 12:31 PM) Brad Goldberg to W-S. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=2...sp&sid=t487 Heh. Just talked with him last night. He did seem pretty relaxed and confident, maybe this was why.