iamshack

QUOTE (Tex @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 07:08 PM) Actually Franklin was on par with Washington in that respect. It was Franklin's suggestion of a two house system that saved the Constitutional Convention when they could not find a compromise that the small and large states could agree upon. Franklin was one of a few, like Washington, that everyone would listen to. Franklin was widely respected indeed, and he accomplished as much as anyone might in a lifetime. But in terms of who was considered the obvious choice for leader of our country, it was no contest. When it came time to choose who should be President, Washington was the clear choice. For that reason, I'd choose Washington. In terms of who left the biggest mark on our country and the world, I agree though, you could choose any one of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and Hamilton, and probably not go wrong with any of them.

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Nov 3, 2011 -> 07:22 AM) The Eagles spread has always seemed high this season. I think people believe in the "Dream Team" hype and always bet them, so they have to move the spread in their favor. They were like 3 or 4 point favorites at Buffalo, when it was obvious which team was playing better. Of course the Bills won. And when you consider the Bears have always played pretty well against Vick, they beat a Vick-led Eagles team (and this same offense) last season fairly solidly, and they are coming off two straight wins of their own as well as a bye, 8 points is too high. IMO, it should be Eagles -4.5.

It might have been a case of who do we have to put where to get them all to join the staff. McEwing was already with the Organization. Probably was easier to sway him to take the 3rd base coaching job than it would have been to get Parent to leave his managerial job in the Phillies system. So they give Parent the more "important" job to sway him to leave his old role.

Happy Birthday, my good friend. Enjoy your day!

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 10:22 PM) I can't imagine how hard a person would have to punch in order to cause another person to bleed from the top of their skull. Haha...

QUOTE (SOXOBAMA @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 10:28 PM) Cards has asked the Sox for permission to interview McEwing. So wait...we hire the guy to be 3rd base coach, and now the Cardinals are interviewing him for their managerial opening? How could the White Sox possibly wish to promote such an unexperienced guy!!! This would be the shortest tenure as a White Sox coach ever...

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 01:12 PM) They built new Yankee Stadium as close to old Yankee Stadium as they could, and old Yankee Stadium was generally pretty good to lefties because of the deep gap in LCF. There's the LF foul pole that's a bit of a pain, but you really have to hook it to get it in there. It's always seemed to me to be righties that struggle. Doesn't take much other than a quick flick of the hips/wrists for a LH to put one into the upper deck in RF. A LHP can avoid that pretty well. One would think since lefties generally hit righthanded pitchers better, that it would indeed be righthanded pitchers that struggle more, not lefties. In particular, lefthanded batters have a .560 OPS off CJ for his career.

Bears +8 right now. I might have to actually bet them.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 05:53 PM) Hogwash. Scott Merkin is easily the best. In fact, I can give you the headliner for his next five articles: "Adam Dunn is out to prove the critics wrong; has plenty left in the tank." "Alex Rios to be the next Matt Kemp?" "Jake Peavy's heart and soul finally ready to wreak havoc on AL Central foes." "Gordon Beckham says his spirit is alive and kicking." "Ozzie did it his second year, why not Robin in '12?" You forgot "Morel poised to repeat hot September."

QUOTE (Kalapse @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 06:16 PM) You are absolutely right, I am an idiot. 0.960 Konerko 0.898 Quentin 0.889 De Aza 0.861 Ramirez 0.810 Pierre 0.655 Rios 0.632 Flower 0.627 Beckham 0.605 Pierzynski 0.595 Morel 0.557 Lillibridge 0.552 Viciedo 0.549 Dunn 0.448 Vizquel 0.373 Teahen Now can you divide this by plate appearances or something to account for inequities in that regard?

QUOTE (chw42 @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 06:05 PM) I honestly don't see how (Runs + RBI - Home Runs)/Games is useful in player evaluations. Sorry if I think that way... I'm not saying you should apologize for however you think. I'm saying sabermeticians don't need to be so snarky about their methods when plenty of times their data has been proven inaccuate/incomplete/inconclusive itself.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 02:46 PM) The greatest thing about Compliance is that it isn't as immediate of a thing as the trading. It can be done as needed instead of RIGHTf***INGNOW. Yeah, I specifically asked if I would have to work trading hours if I was doing the compliance work. He said I could do it at home if I wanted to. So that was a big plus.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 12:47 PM) Congrats! I'm sure it will be a move for the better, and parts of it do sound pretty interesting, except for the compliance part . Yeah, the compliance thing could be awful, but it is probably a really good opportunity to have. That kind of experience is always going to be in demand. Plus, he's telling me when I am working on the compliance stuff I can do it whenever and wherever I want, which is a big plus for me.

I just accepted a promotion from my Day Of Trading position to a Day Ahead position where I will also be tasked with setting up a compliance desk, as well as exploring potential revenue sources for the power and fuels group of our company. A bit scary for me since I am giving up my crazy schedule (which included several 2 week vacations a year), and switching to a normal day schedule, and going from a boss I really liked to one I can't always figure out, but it was one of those things where you just kind of have to take it for the opportunity you are being provided despite not knowing exactly where it might lead. Got a 20% raise and a 33% bump in my bonus compensation structure. Yay me.

I think he is suggesting that his unemployment would net more than what he would make without a base salary at his current job.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 09:26 AM) Yes, we're all in agreement that you'd rather have the guy knock in the run. Jake said a walk with RISP and two outs is useless. No. A K or a popup is useless. But what we're not all in agreement on is why a most-likely walk is necessarily better than your best hitter taking a walk and bringing up your next hitter, who in all likelihood, creates a significant dropoff in expected results...

QUOTE (chw42 @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 12:16 AM) Runs produced...oh god. He's right in that you don't always look to take a walk, but come on... See, this condescending attitude is what pisses me off about sabr advocates. It's always thumbing your nose at anything that doesn't abide strictly by some incredibly general set of data, despite the fact that there are always scenarios that the data is simply not specific enough to address.

QUOTE (zirc @ Nov 2, 2011 -> 03:33 AM) It's a false equivalency. If you take ball four you have a 100% chance of getting on base and not making an out, but if you swing (and managed to make contact) you've only got around a 30% chance of getting on base and not making an out. But you're forgetting the fact that while there is a 100% that batter will reach base if he takes ball 4, there may be a significant drop off from him (Jayson Bay in 2006) to the next hitter. Once the next hitter comes up, he has the same s***ty odds of getting on base as any other hitter, and what are the odds the pitcher is going to walk two batters in a row? You guys can espouse the OBP all you want, but the question is not just about taking a walk versus swinging away...obviously if you knew every batter had an equal chance of reaching base or driving in runs, the question is answered much more easily, but it simply is not. I'd like to see someone actually account for that.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 06:24 PM) Damn that's ridiculous, will it get me laid?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 05:13 PM) Swing at good pitches, take bad pitches. That never changes. The situation can dictate how you define a good or bad pitch, but there are no wins in swinging at pitches outside of your zone, no matter who you are or who is on base. Your zone is not necessarily the same as the strike zone though, correct?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 03:38 PM) Oh god. Dude, really? The value of the walk is not JUST getting on base, it's having the plate discipline to only swing at good pitches. You want a case study on this? Watch 35 yo Paul Konerko hit. Bat speed diminished, and it doesn't matter because he never swings at anything except the pitch he wants to hit. The only time he ever even swings at a breaking ball is when it hangs or when it fools him. The idea behind the 'Moneyball' approach is to not make stupid outs by swinging at bad pitches just because you're Jason Bay and there's a man on third. Guess what? I'll take a walk over a broken bad drippler or a K in absolutely every situation. If you show you're willing to take your base, the pitcher has no choice but to throw you strikes, and THAT's when guys mash. Unfortunately that's not the question at hand. The question is whether you would take a walk over swinging at a very hittable pitch just in or off the plate with a runner on third and one or two outs. No one is espousing swinging wildly at s***ty pitches. Not sure where you got that idea from his comments.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 04:23 PM) I barely drive my jeep at all in the summer, almost every place I go is on my bike. You can get a nice used bike for cheap (I got mine on craigslist) and it pays off in spades. Parking is especially great. What did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

QUOTE (klaus kinski @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 03:10 PM) Sounds like that's why he's there over Big Frank. Being ready to hit-I like it Say what you want about Hurt, but insulting his approach to hitting is not going to get anyone very far.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Oct 31, 2011 -> 11:35 PM) via Sweet Dee Now my bill is probably going to go up $10 more a month.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Nov 1, 2011 -> 02:26 PM) 50+ MPG My scooter gets 90-100 mpg Yeah, being in Vegas, I almost would consider getting a used truck or something for the dogs and then using a bike for my main source of transport.