iamshack

From the article I was referring to: SI Vault

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 09:45 PM) Their starters ERA was 4.54 last year and 3.95 in 2009. That's considered the same? Balta...I assume you mean 3.95 in 08'. I am saying the actual pitchers were the same. Secondly, you cannot forsee a situation wherein a worse defense would cause the same pitchers' ERA's to increase? Edit: So as you can see in my post below, I was a bit off in my memory - SI did not predict the demise of the Rays in 09'; rather they explained their rise in 08'. However, the point remains the same. It wasn't their pitching that improved - it was their defense.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 09:50 PM) It will be interesting to see how he works his walks. Is he a guy that just takes a lot of pitches, ala Nick Swisher, who also takes a lot of strikes, or is he a guy with a real eye for the zone. I remember reading in some of the scouting reports that he did take pitches to his own detriment at times.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 09:09 PM) It was their bullpen that really served them well in 08. The defense this past year was still very good with a full year of Crawford, Upton, and Gross/Kapler/Zobrist in the OF. Zobrist also played a great 2B. Bartlett had an off year and Longoria had a great year. Pena was below average though. So I think it's their bullpen that let them down last year. Balfour wasn't as good, Wheeler didn't repeat 08. Howell had a decent year though. SI pointed out that their staff was basically the same in 08' than it had been the year before, however. I'd have to review the article, but I am pretty certain it argued it wasn't the bullpen at all, but rather, the defense.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 09:07 PM) It can be hard for a single woman to trust a new man who has not been in their family. She is used to being independent. Because of that, she may be unwilling to bend to meet you "halfway." If you want to succeed in joining their family, you have to be willing to be the one to change your life in order to fit into their family schedule. Don't overdo the getting friendly with the kids thing; just be there as often as possible for her. Eventually, she will realize that she not only wants you around, she needs you around; and she misses you when you aren't around. Oh trust me, I have already made soooo many changes... I definitely am the one making adjustments to fit into their schedule. I try to respond to the kids when they seem to be looking for my attention. Definitely not going to be the one forcing the issue. Things are going well, and she has already mentioned things to me about us making a good family, etc., but I know the difficult part comes when I actually have to start playing an active role. I guess I can worry about that when the times comes though...

SI actually ran an article before last season on the Mariner's emphasis on defense as well. I remember thinking, damn, I should be the over on the M's, as the number was only 74-75 or so. Nice to see a follow-up piece. I believe that article actually called out the reason for the Rays success in 08', which was defense and not so much pitching, as everyone was claiming. Also accurately predicted a fall-off by them in 09'.

QUOTE (knightni @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 08:52 PM) I'm sure that you don't want my relationship advice, but I'll tell you a little of my experience. I've been with two different women who had children. The first, actually said, "You love my son more than you love me." - which kind of surprised me since I was just trying to blend in with her family situation. It seemed like she thought there was some sort of competition for my love and attention and she felt like she was losing. After awhile, she starting treating me like her child instead of her boyfriend, so that didn't work out. The second, kept her children and life at one arm's length, and our relationship (if you wanted to call it that) at another. Even though we were together five years, I was never really allowed into her family life. I was the "get away" guy. When she wanted to get away from her life, we went out and did stuff. I never had the chance to get progress in the relationship to propose an engagement/marriage situation. I personally have mixed feelings about dating women in family situations, because it's never really worked for me. But, I'm sure you'll have better luck than I. Jeremy, that's why I asked for advice, so I could hear from people in similar positons - your experience is appreciated. What would your advice be?

Thanks a lot fellas; really appreciate the well-wishes!

Ok fellas, figured I would pose another question for those of you that might be in the same boat as I am finding myself in here... So I am dating a woman with two children, a boy (9) and a girl (7). My mother was a single mother for a while when my brother and I were kids, and then she remarried, so I have some experience on the other side of this equation. But I was just looking for some general advice from those of you who may have dated someone with children before or even ended up marriying someone with children that are not your own. I do pretty well with her kids...her son likes me quite a bit and her daughter draws me pictures all the time, so I must be doing something right, but I think that's because I stay out of their business just enough to seem like the nice guy all the time. I am starting to realize though that at some point I will have to actually take part in decisions that affect them and that is when I will not always be able to be distant enough to remain the nice guy. So any general pointers would be appreciated. No big deal, just bored on a slow weekday in February...

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 07:10 PM) B&B and ARX How the f*** Tony does a strip set starting with 45 at the end is beyond me. I could barely do 10lbs at the end. Hah, he is insane. He even is cheating a bit by rocking his body. And you can tell the other guy, Danny or whatever his name is, is just like f' you Tony, you showoff piece of s***. Had an easy yoga day today. Although I must say that routine does wonders for one's ass.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 02:44 AM) I guess I'll tell John Calipari he better watch his ass then. Who would seem more dangerous to you with a twitter account? Calipari or Ozzie?

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Feb 25, 2010 -> 02:25 AM) This has gotten way more attention than it should have by the media. It isn't THAT big of a deal, especially with other strong personalities (Ocho Cinco, Shaq just to name a couple) who use twitter. You don't see the distinction between player and coach though? I think the media senses the possibility of much bigger stories because of the status of Oz as a manager and not a player.

Teahen: "It's official - We've got jerseys and everything."

QUOTE (gatnom @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 10:33 PM) Instead of going off on another tangent about whether or not you think a DH matters, I'm just going to reply to the bold part because that was part of the point of my original post. Who cares? Who actually cares whether or not our DH is good enough to supplant Quentin as the "key" to our offense? I'm not arguing that Johnny Damon would be more important to us than Carlos Quentin. I'm not arguing that any DH would be more important to us than any other part of our offense. I am just tired of seeing people write off the fact that we have people being penciled into positions that they do not belong because it isn't the most important part of our line up. Was Dewayne Wise any less of a hole because he played on the same team as the "key" to our offense? To expand on your point, there is a big danger in continually saying position after position will not "make or break" this offense. These things add up; they are often the difference between mediocrity and success.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 09:27 PM) Well, you can through every single players statistics and find at least a game or two that a big hit of theirs gave the team the win or one good play helped preserve a victory. I just want to make sure I get this right: you would be satisfied with the contributions of an individual Sox player that hit .225 with an OBP below .300 over only 90 games as long as his defense was good? Something about that strikes me as odd considering his 2004 season was statistically better, yet I remember vividly many, many Sox fans trying to run him out of town before the '05 season. Then people should have also been satisfied with Juan Uribe's contributions the last couple of Sox seasons, yet it sure didn't sound like they were. I'm assuming that you were also satisfied with Brian Anderson's 2006? I agree. It's a lot easier to put up with unacceptable performance/production when it's not your player. Crede did nothing but set back the Twins more in their quest for a longterm competent third baseman for the first time since Corie Koskie departed.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 09:55 PM) Yeah, I was. I wanted to turn it up a notch since I've been doing plyo for so long. Not sure if I didnt stretch correctly or what. It hurts from my hammy down to my heel. I'm still going to do B+B and prob swamp S+A for friday instead of legs and back. Yeah, just spend the time getting ripped with B & B and CST and take it easy on that hammy....maybe some light spinning for cardio?

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 09:46 PM) So in the middle of jump knee tucks tonight I felt my hamstring pop and it immediately tightened up. I initially thought I tore it, but it's loosened up quite a bit since it happened. Hopefully its just a strain. Def out of commission on plyo and legs for a little while. That sucks, Rock. I hope you weren't trying to jump around like Frogboy Dominick...

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 09:23 PM) so yeah, it's a recovery week for me, but i missed a Back and Biceps workout in there, so i did it tonight and kicked the s*** out of it - and myself at the same time. my forearms always feel like rocks half way through. and the pullups... just non-existent. but glad i did it instead of just skipping it. I did B & B tonight too and loved it...this is by far my favorite workout...and at the end I rocked out like 40 fast pushups and even a couple one-armed pushups...hit some crazy energy boost in the last 10 minutes....

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 04:02 PM) I have not heard of this. Can you give me details? Check the Environment thread.

QUOTE (Soxy @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 10:17 AM) Great Dane/lab mix. But they really need to watch out for my evil little cairn/boston terrier mix. Awww! I grew up with a harlequin GD....always have a special place in my heart for their clumsy hugeness!

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 06:47 AM) Is she still willing to take care of that for you when it happens? Nicely played.

QUOTE (MEANS @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 07:10 AM) pretty sure he's been on there for some time now, this isn't new news Did you check his acct? It pretty much says today was his first day on there.

Been stuck at work tonight; really enjoyed the women's curling - Canada v. Great Britain...

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 24, 2010 -> 01:34 AM) I'm loving this guy. Ozzie better invite him to the BBQ Let's all tweet Ozzie and tell him to invite Mark to the BBQ.

I don't like it then. Look what happened to Liney and Fields once they professed their faith. Just produce on the diamond and be a good person. The rest usually finds a way to work itself out.