iamshack

Fangraphs - Freddy Bloody Garcia Interesting stuff from fangraphs. I'm not smart enough to articulate everything this article is stating, but apparently, Sweaty Freddy gets about as much out of his talent as any other starting pitcher in the league...and this is not a new thing for him, but rather, something he has done for the majority of his career.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Dec 29, 2009 -> 03:11 PM) Supposedly the Cardinals already offered Holliday something like 5/$80, right in the range you're talking about, and they're refusing to negotiate against themselves by bidding again. Yeah, the Mets did the same and apparently Bay blinked first. Bay wanted 5 years, but the Mets refused to go more than 4.

QUOTE (Whitewashed in '05 @ Dec 28, 2009 -> 12:14 AM) So I've got a PS3 and barely play games on it. It seems like I buy a game, play it for a couple weeks and then abandon it. Buy another one, same thing. It's like I've lost interest in playing games yet still like them... it's weird and hard to explain. This ever happen to anyone? I am really similar, only worse. I might get 2-3 games a year and play them for a few weeks and then not play again for months and months. A few games I played a lot were Uncharted, Oblivion, and Dead Space. Then I stopped playing almost entirely. I bought NHL 09' and played it for like an hour. I bought Resistance of Man on sale for like $30 and it's been sitting here, unopened, since before Christmas last year. I like games, but I need to be in a certain mood to play them, and once I get out of that mood, it is very difficult for me to get back in it. Maybe I am just growing out of it? I do watch a crapload of blu ray on the PS3 though, so at least I don't feel too badly about it going to waste.

From what I have read and some A's fans I have talked to, the A's are very concerned that Carter can only hit fastballs. Apparently he struggles a lot with breaking stuff and he'll only see more of that when he makes the jump to the big club. It will definitely be interesting to follow his progress.

I was a cable subscriber for several years before finally being able to take the plunge into DirecTV just this fall. I moved to Las Vegas about 18 months ago, and so it is imperative for me to have access to all White Sox and Bears games on television. I signed up for DirecTV mainly so I wouldn't have to go to the sports book for non-nationally televised Bears games this season. My experience thus far has been very good. The guide screen is the best in the business IMO. There are more HD channels available. As Balta stated, the NFL package is available. When I was getting the DirecTV installed, the installers told me DirecTV is by far the best option available. They were not DirecTV installers, but instead, a third party installation company that installs DirecTV, cable, Dish Network, etc. They said the picture quality, the channel options, HD options, etc., all make DirecTV the way to go. The main con is the On Demand. Cable's On Demand system is far more developed. But my guess is this advantage will not last much longer.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Dec 28, 2009 -> 10:55 AM) Watched a lot of stuff on netflix instant watch over the past week... Food Inc: Very good documentary on food. A must see. Quarantine: Surprisingly solid horror film. Barry Lyndon: Finally got around to seeing it. Very long but fantastic. Best in Show: Seen this one quite a few times already and love it. Screened it for my daughter who's never seen it before. Garden State: Awesome. The Wackness: Pretty meh although I liked the soundtrack and Ben Kinglsey's character. Also, have tickets for Avatar at Navy Pier Imax tonight. Have fun at Avatar tonight. You're going to be blown away. I really liked Quarantine as well, but it seems as though it is hit or miss. I thought it was one of the better horror movies to come out in recent years. My best friend, who will sit through Jason vs Freddy and a whole host of other crappy selections, couldn't even get through Quarantine before simply turning it off because he was not entertained in the least.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Dec 28, 2009 -> 01:48 PM) By now you likely have seen targetview, but if not, it's rather cool. http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/10/6...argetview-graph Cool stuff as always, Qwerty. My Man (In my best Denzel Washington impression)!

QUOTE (SockMe @ Dec 27, 2009 -> 09:42 PM) Scout.com's White Sox message Boards. Not a lot of people but but its almost like a close knit family as there are about 15-20 regulars. Sign up and post! There's always room for more! I used to be a regular over there...actually, that is where both Scenario and myself migrated from when we came here.

QUOTE (scenario @ Dec 28, 2009 -> 11:03 AM) UZR is a very useful stat. The 'problem' IMO is people using UZR in situations where it isn't appropriate. For example... using 1-year UZR (alone) to compare the supposed defensive abilities of two players is ridiculous. There is simply too much variability in year-to-year UZR values to make that type of analysis meaningful. Well, if you have been reading and learning from Ozzieball and Qwerty here, it seems that using UZR for one year is not a great method of assessing a player's defensive ability, but instead, his value. It seems to me that UZR measures the value each player had at his position, rather than what type of ability he has. A guy such as Ben Zobrist may have had more defensive value at 2b this season than Chase Utley, and yet, Utley still may have more ability. From what I understand, you would want to compare several years of UZR numbers before you start building a profile for ability. I agree with you though, there are some really radical departures (and arrivals) from year-to-year when it comes to UZR in regards to certain players. The best thing is probably to look at the numbers over a 3-5 year period before you start getting a fair idea of a player's defensive ability.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 27, 2009 -> 02:09 PM) Does it really matter where TSN or Phil Rogers ranks them? No need to get worked up over it. Especially Rogers....no one should ever get worked up over that guy...

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Dec 27, 2009 -> 10:04 AM) I love this board like a wife (even though I'm never in life getting married). Jason and Co. do an amazing job here. With that said, I like to frequent other message boards with regularity. I think it's good to get another fanbase's perspective on things. I like http://www.orioleshangout.com/, http://www.motownsports.com/forums/, http://www.philaphans.com/, http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?. These are 4 of the best message boards out there. Like us, they're very in tune and dedicated to their teams. I know it's popular to despise Red Sox fans. But they're supremely knowledgeable and they know a s***load about Sabermetrics. I've learned a great deal from this board. Just wondering who from this great board visits other boards. I really like the Hangout too!

QUOTE (Brian @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 05:32 PM) The movie isn't that great. The last 40 minutes save it. Up until then, it seems the audience is left in the dark about what Holmes is doing. Yeah, I agree. I thought Downey was very good, but I thought the movie left a lot left to be desired. Mildly entertaining, but I found myself wanting it to end after only an hour or so. Kind of a disappointment, to be honest.

QUOTE (1977 sox fan @ Dec 27, 2009 -> 08:24 AM) for chapman ? i didn't know that No, for Maya.

Happy Birthday Qwerty!

QUOTE (zenryan @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 03:54 PM) So it's Pacman's fault the fight wont happen because he doesnt want do have random drug tests before the fight? 1. Olympic style drug testing isnt mandatory in pro boxing. 2. As stated before, Pacman has agreed to do 3 blood tests for this fight. If Mayweather's camp is really concerned with PED's, then the 3 blood tests should be enough. Why should Pacman cave to every demand from Mayweather? I never expeceted this fight to happened because Floyd is too concerned with being undefeated. Mayweather thought he could accuse Pacman of drug use in hopes to play mind games and if Pacman didnt agree to them, Floyd's camp will just throw out claims and use that as a reason not to fight. Problem is, anyone with half a brain is seeing right thru this ploy and will blame Mayweather for not fighting. They are?? I've heard plenty of commentators question why Pacquiao refuses to just undergo the testing...

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 12:42 AM) sounding more and more like the fight aint gonna happen. Pacquiao is now saying he is gonna sue Mayweather and his promotion company for defamation for accusing him of using PEDs. They are starting to make plans to still stage a Pacquiao fight on March 13, but vs. Paulie Malignaggi Now take this with a grain of salt, fellas, as I know nothing very little about boxing. But Pacquiao is inviting the speculation himself by refusing to go through the Olympic-style testing, and then turning around and accusing Mayweather of defamation? He's bringing it on himself... Has his camp come up with a legitimate reason to not undergo the Olympic-style testing (and not this "it could affect his performance" nonsense)?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Dec 26, 2009 -> 12:22 AM) Total White Sox: The complete guide to the Wold Champion Franchise a deep fryer a gray hooded sweatshirt 1/2 gal Bacardi rum Down Home Cookin with The Neeleys I am very jealous! I love the Neeley's!

I think one of the biggest strengths of UZR and sabrmetrics in general, is assessing the things that occur on a baseball field that are most difficult to assess with the naked eye. Outfield defense is one of those. I think human nature and the way we watch baseball games on television makes outfield defense more difficult to assess because we witness a player running at what appears to be full speed, and professional outfielders usually catch the balls they get to. Because television producers like to zoom-in on the action, the viewer does not usually get a great sense of the route an outfielder takes to reach (or not reach) the ball. Therefore, most plays in the outfield are either balls that are caught or not caught, and I think many of us naturally seem to think balls that were not caught were hits, and would not have been caught by most any outfielder. What UZR does is point out which outfielders are poor because they take bad routes or don't get to balls that they should, and therefore it measures something that we as fans watching on television have a really difficult time quantifying ourselves. I think that's why Mr. Rongey and some others will claim that the outfield defense didn't cost us much, because in their minds, maybe even subconsciously, they are not remembering all the balls that guys like Dye/Pods/Q should have caught but didn't ever get to. But if you watch enough Mariners games, you'll see a much higher level of balls reached than in our outfield.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 05:07 PM) Agreed. I dunno, it's not as if Pac is so much more powerful than Floyd that Floyd couldn't handle himself. I'd actually be rooting or Floyd in this fight, which is why I'm wondering what's the real reason for him wanting blood samples. Well isn't it obvious? Floyd's camp is suspicious that Pac has used HGH in the past...

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 04:21 PM) It was "got it". It was very condescending and you know it. It was meant to make me look like my opinion is stupid, which it may be, but is it your place, especially as a moderator to point it out, with the only evidence being its different than yours? Its just about every post I make anymore, and its getting old. Besides, being thought of as less of a football coach than Bill Cowher isn't exactly that big of a knock. Shanahan didn't win without Elway. That's a fact. He didn't draft him. I prefer Cowher, but I actually before a few current assistants to either. DA, you're actually quite condescending to me in many of your posts. I thought it was just the relationship we shared. My apologies for upsetting you. I will make every effort to be more considerate in the future.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 04:07 PM) Excuse, me? I didn't respond to your post, unless you changed your name to Brian. Give it a rest. Its not like I'm the only person in the world who thinks Cowher is head and shoulders above Shanahan. Give it a rest man or just ban me. DA, why are you allowed to voice your opinion, but I am not allowed to voice mine? I posted the stuff about Shanahan being interested in the Bears job last night/this morning. I am on record as supporting him numerous times throughout this thread. Are you accusing me of purposefully forming my opinions simply to contradict your own? If you haven't noticed, my freaking avatar has Shanahan and Cutler in it. Do you really think I am making this position up to tick you off? You claimed he was just a sexy name, but Cowher was somehow different. I questioned that. How is that being unfair to you in any way?

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 02:51 PM) Why is my opinion any worse than yours, and why do you make stupid comments after every one of my posts? Mike Shanahan inherited John Elway. Cowher has a higher winning pct anyway. I supposed if you are an NBA fan you would be doing cartwheels if the team you follow hired Jerry Krause to be the GM. He has 6 titles. Excuse me? I didn't say your opinion was worse than anyone else's opinion. Are you seriously whining that I am disagreeing with you? If I recall correctly, you responded to my post, did you not? Then you managed to compare two coaches with extremely similar coaching profiles, claiming one was a "sexy name" while the other was not, without bothering to make any distinction. Shanahan inherited Elway, who had never won a Super Bowl title previously, and won two Super Bowls with him, at a very advanced age, why? Because Shanahan gave him a running game finally with his zone-blocking scheme? You are honestly going to hold it against Shanahan that he won 2 Super Bowls with Elway because Elway was there first? Edit: Sorry, you responded to a post that was related to my post.

QUOTE (SouthsideDon48 @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 03:45 PM) The numbers are the numbers? The only reason why someone like Crede has numbers that look good is because Crede only played in 90 games last year, a fact that a lot of people seem to ignore. Read the post I was responding to, please.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 02:02 PM) Shanahan had a crappy team and lost his job with Cutler playing like a Pro Bowler. Sure he's a sexy name, but bringing him would be setting everyone up for dissappointment, like bringing in Orlando Pace. Cowher is a guy I would love the Bears to get, but more than Lovie would have to go to make it happen. No matter who they bring in, if they don't upgrade the talent level, the team is not going to be very good. Ok, so wait, Cowher was the coach in Pittsburgh for 13 years before he won a Super Bowl, but he is a guy you like, while Shanahan won 2 Super Bowls in Denver, but he is just a sexy name. Got it.

QUOTE (JPN366 @ Dec 25, 2009 -> 10:24 AM) Isn't that a sex toy? Yeah, now you just need a Slap Chop...