lostfan

I could have SWORN Melky Cabrera got traded to the Brewers or somebody like that. Am I out of my mind? Was it another Yankee?

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 04:20 PM) ugh Barney Frank... Yeah, kinda similar to whenever a black politician goes off on a rant about how such-and-such is racist - even if what they say is true, it just doesn't help anything to be bringing it up like that. His comment isn't going to do anything besides provoke random arguments. Did we really need him to tell us that anyway?

lol Tex, where'd you get that?

I'd say the problem was with the managing, not the quality of play.

QUOTE (qwerty @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 03:19 PM) I cannot believe you of all people forgot his 4.380 strike out to walk ratio... good for #1 in the modern era. I think that's actually the best ever, not just this ear. That's just a ridiculous ratio, even a 3:1 ratio means you're probably one of the top pitchers in the league.

And also, while I guess it wasn't an official rule change, they told officials to penalize defensive players who lunge at the QB from the ground in an effort to make a tackle. "Tom Brady Rule." They could've just given QBs red jerseys and flags on their hips.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 11:32 AM) Probably. Does this now explain the "homophobe" comment about Scalia? Well, I was reading that article (also, this just in: fire is hot, water is wet, and the sky is blue) and it said "The lawmaker, who is gay..." I was like wtf, how did I not already know that?

So, am I the last person on Earth to know that Barney Frank is openly gay?

QUOTE (BaseballNick @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 09:19 AM) I don't think so. I would put a lot of guys from his own era ahead of him. In no particular order: John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux, Johan Santana, and maybe Mike Mussina. Curt Schilling was very good, but certainly not one of the best ever - not even close. I wouldn't say the best ever either, but his fully body of work is definitely worthy of recognition.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 07:14 AM) I see lostfan's point here and agree with him regarding a lot of companies. Some of the products the company is built around are still under development, though they are usually touted as the Next Big Thing, likely to change the (insert field of your choice) industry forever, so the sales reps are urged to "get in on the ground floor", etc. Complete smoke and mirrors about a product that is usually very average to subpar or doesn't even really exist yet. It's a logical outgrowth of good salesmanship I guess - the ability to sell someone anything, even if in some cases it's nothing at all. ^^^ e.g. Tahitian Noni (just a google search already raises a couple of red flags)

QUOTE (jamesdiego @ Mar 25, 2009 -> 02:55 AM) When we moved him to leadoff there was 8 games left. He had the same amount of at bats in those 8 games as the previous 8 games before leading off. So that theory that he fell apart because of more opportunities doesn't work. Well I would look at Swisher, after he got done with leadoff he was a shell of himself with his .210 average. It was his first to time lead off in his career and I think it's safe to say it had a big effect. After the trade Ozzie publicly apologized for putting him in that situation, so he obviously feels the same. With Wise, I believe it was similar. He batted .288 before being moved to leadoff, and .080 after. He put a big donut in Minny 0-12, but It wasn't like anyone else lighting it up in that horrible series. If you take out that weekend that he batted leadoff, he hits .254 for September & .273 for the year. It wasn't terrible as the group think here makes it out to be. And don't forget the .286 in the playoffs. So yea, he's probably a fourth outfielder on most teams, but not this one. And not behind Anderson. In 05 we had a damn efficient offense because there wasn't a major weakness in the lineup. That was when even Uribe was still decent. And we already have Paulie to mope around and feel sorry for himself when he's not hitting on this team. I've noticed that Brian likes to imitate that crap. But hey, if he hits at least .255-.260 with 15-20 hrs, I'd be happy with him. I just don't think he could. I don't think he's ever going to do that if he's spot-starting. Last year I noticed he was squatting in his batting stance and was getting decent PAs, then as he got less starts, over the season, he gradually reverted to his long swing. He's just going to keep doing that. As for Wise, I would be shocked if he hit over .250 over the course of a season.

QUOTE (santo=dorf @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 11:20 PM) I've heard of people getting ticketed for LEGALLY turning right on a red, and how someone else could be driving the car but the car's registration's holder will be the one to receive the ticket. Get rid of them. I can't imagine what they cost and how many tickets have to be "written" just to pay them back. Yup. My wife got one in Baltimore, they sent it to me since I'm the co-signer. When you look at the ticket it's TOTALLY obvious she was making a legal right turn, now she has to waste her time going to traffic court so it can be thrown out.

lol exactly. It's easy revenue for the city. And I copied Duke's post in that because what ends up happening is people speed through yellow lights late because they KNOW they're about to get nailed with a red light camera due to being stuck in the intersection through no fault of their own and they end up getting in accidents. DC's street layout is already horrible enough as it is (imagine the major intersections in Chicago had NO turn arrows anywhere but were still heavy with traffic, and were laid out in an illogical, confusing pattern) without that extra factor in it.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 10:13 PM) There are a number of these where it is physically impossible to avoid getting a ticket if you get an unlucky yellow light. QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 10:17 PM) My fear is that they are being used as revenue sources, rather than deterrents. In my area, they seem to be turning up in area that dont have a lot of accidents, but are high traffic areas... interesting. See: Washington, DC

So, because Tom Brady got his knee destroyed, now there is a rule against defenders on the ground tackling QBs low. I'd love to know how defenders are expected to take the QB down now? The Force?

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 04:08 PM) You need to invest money,time and effort. Most people do not want to invest time and effort so they end up losing their money in the end. MLM is legit and definitely takes advantage of people who are looking to get rich quick (not sure who should be at fault here) . Just like anything else, you need to throw some time and effort at it too, or it will not work. Even though I am not in MLM, I would advise to take a crack at it only if you would treat it like a legitimite business. I can never see myself ever doing it because I do not want to call everyone I know with the same opportunity. MLM is legit. The expectations of some, and their tactics and reasons for doing it are not though. They started losing my attention when they'd say "you don't have to sell things if you don't want to." What? Why? Everyone I know who sells or has sold stuff like Tupperware and Mary Kay tries to sell that stuff. So you're telling me I can just sit on my ass, call people, get money from them, and start raking in an extra 2K a month? The company might not be a ponzi scheme, but doing it like that is.

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 05:02 PM) That 3.46 ERA is almost a full run below the league average for his career, he had a 127 career ERA+, and in 12 of his final 13 seasons (some cut short by injuries or what have you), he had an ERA+ of 118 or better. Four top 4 finishes in the Cy Young, three top 2 finishes in the Cy Young, career WHIP of 1.14 over 3200 innings, 20 shutouts, three 20 win seasons. Curt Schilling was one of the 5 or 10 best pitchers of the past 10-15 years. I don't know how you don't get into the Hall of Fame when you are among the elite for that long of a period of time. ^^

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 04:56 PM) Only 216 wins hurts, over 3,000 K's definitely helps, the 3.46 ERA is kind of on the border. I agree his postseason success probably puts him over the top. Personally, I would love to see him get denied simply because of how big of a Dbag he is. Curt Schilling is like the poster child for why wins for a pitcher shouldn't really be used as a metric, even over a whole career. Playing for those bad Phillies teams all those years hurt his win totals. Besides, any extrapolation from those numbers about him "not being a winner" or what have you should be trumped by his postseason success. There, he was nails.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 03:53 PM) It's not a Ponzi Scheme. It is called MLM (google it) The people who get off their ass and make it work can make some good bank off it. Unfortunately, most Americans have a strong employee state of mind and have a hard time with independent ventures. Most of us need a boss on our ass. I was going to put MLM in the title but I figured nobody would open the thread if I did. Anyway, yeah, I know that MLM as an idea is legit (I'm pretty sure that's Amway's business model isn't it, Mary Kay, etc.?) and I do know people who actually make decent money doing it, but when the focus is entirely on getting new people to invest more capital, I don't trust it. You have to actually sell a product which in the presentations I mentioned was barely emphasized.

They're pretty easy to spot. The way it's happened for me so far is a friend will call/electronically contact me with a business idea that they say is working well for them, that they're excited about, or whatever. I come over to their house, or look at a presentation, and the presenter will spend some time preaching about financial independence. Step 2 is talking about some great product and how it's going to take off, step 3 is how I can get in early and make it work for me. Step 4: "All right, to get started, we just need 500 dollars." Step 5 is to go make this business pitch to all your friends, and once they sign up, you start making money. Riiiight. So how is this not a ponzi scheme? Since there is a product involved that actually exists, even though you never see it, or you never know anyone who's bought it, it's legit. So hurry up and get out there and make your money (while there are still people out there who haven't signed up for it and you're the last guy holding the bag)! The first time someone tried to convince me to do it (Tahitian Noni) I just was leery of it because it sounded too good to be true so I just never called back. The next time (Pre-paid Legal Services) I recognized the same format, and I thought it was pretty shady that the whole thing was focused on me getting more people to sign up, and anything involving the actual product was just sort of a bonus, if it was even mentioned at all.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 03:05 PM) 1. Getz 2. Alexei 9. Centerfielder That's my exact thought. I really really don't want any of the CFs on this team leading off, platoon or not. But I think I'd want either Alexei or Getz there for their contact ability. Neither is ideal - although Getz could be eventually - but that's the best fit from this roster IMO.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 03:24 PM) Hey they stole that line of thought from me a month ago! That's why I posted it

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 01:48 PM) We need to make a no mention of Erstad rule on here. I got a sick feeling when I saw his name. Haha I understand. I didn't write it the first time because I vomited on my keyboard when I had my finger over the E key. But I figured you guys should have to suffer with me.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 01:35 PM) Ozzie said in 2006 he didn't care what Anderson hit, he was only concerned with his defense. He was playing great defense and not hitting, when that extended through June, and everyone but Dye stopped hitting and offense from CF was needed, BA rode pine. Its not easy coming up with a world champion taking one its most popular players' place, and BA was a bit immature anyway. Yeah, like I was saying in my last post, if he had shown the maturity he's showing now at the beginning of '07 when they needed it from him, the org. might not have felt the need to put us through the torture of Darin Erstad that year.

QUOTE (Stan Bahnsen @ Mar 24, 2009 -> 01:32 PM) Tossed to the wolves?? I think not. He had the low-pressure 9-hole slot on a team with plenty of offense elsewhere. He stunk it up at the plate, plain and simple. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for giving him another shot, but let's not be revisionist on his 2006. 2006, especially the first 3 months, was a situation he created mostly by himself. 2007 was the year he got shafted but instead of sucking it up he pouted about it and made his situation worse. His head is in the right place now, but if his attitude adjustment had happened a year earlier, he might've gotten that shot he's been looking for.