All I can say is I'm tired of hearing that song and/or Lee Greenwood's atrocious "Proud To Be An American" when I'm at the ballpark. "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" should be it. Period.
AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 12:23 AM on September 03
His Wikipedia page has already been edited to reflect the name change.
posted by AaronGNP at 02:19 AM on August 31
Yeah, I gotta agree that using the argument that the DH is keeping good hitting pitchers from coming to the forefront, is misguided. http://www.bb-ref.com/pi/shareit/HZPr Since 1900, Not one single pitcher, with at least 96% of the time played at pitcher, has had an OPS+ above 94 (minimum 200 career plate appearance). People don't want to see 1/9th of the plate appearances being wasted on nearly automatic outs. The "strategy" involved in a pitcher replacement or even the double switch is, at best, elementary. But regardless of my opinion on the DH, I'd fully agree that the imbalance in the league's divisional setup is much more worthy of repair. My suggestion: Each league goes back to two divisions, with the division winners and two wild cards being chosen, regardless of division. Fixes the intraleague imbalance, but also keeps the wildcard intact (since it isn't going away) and keeps the scheduling easy. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 09:45 PM on May 13
It's not going to happen, but I'd love to see him sign with the Twins and play at the Metrodome. Fuk u dome indeed. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 02:42 PM on December 11
Carter gets in. 2nd in TDs, 6th in Recieving yards. How does he not get in? AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 02:55 PM on December 06
Sounds like they are going to sell it afterall: http://s210975194.onlinehome.us/blog/?p=49
posted by AaronGNP at 05:29 PM on December 04
It's not necessarily about head to head matchups, didn't mean to give that impression. A better way to phrase it is this. If you've got 30 teams, and only one of them has a closer (or more specifically a shut-down reliever), this study does not prove that the non-closer teams aren't at a disadvantage. It merely proves that if all teams have closers, they are no better off than if no teams have closers, which really doesn't say a damn thing about the efficacy of closers. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 07:48 PM on November 05
One thing that is neglected is that if both teams are using specialists in the late innings, sure there may not be a large difference in winning percentages, but if one team is, and another is not, it's possible that the team with the specialist has a better chance of completing the win. By looking at an era when teams had no closers and at an era when all teams have closers proves nothing. For there to be proof that having a closer doesn't increase your odds, you'd have to at a matchup level of how teams with closers did against teams without closers, and I believe the usage of closers has been pretty consistent throughout the league, throughout the years (IE there wasn't a year when Team X had a secret weapon closer, as teams tend to copy other successful formulas).
posted by AaronGNP at 07:05 PM on November 05
IMO, the compensation should be based on the market value of the free agent. After May 1st, they can tabulate how much all of the free agents signed for and the top 20% (based on total guaranteed contract worth, divided by years) are A's and the next 20% (or 40?) are B's. Basing the A's and B's off of some secret, arbitrary, stat-based formula is just stupid. Basing it off of salary assures that the small market teams that can't afford players are being compensated, and that mid-market teams can sign marginal players to low contracts without losing the farm (team). AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 12:09 PM on November 02
jojomfd1: Baby steps, baby steps. If I had only started Braylon Edwards... AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 04:21 PM on September 17
I think in general, on the offfensive side, a good O-line, top to bottom, will make mediocre RBs and QBs look great, and a bad O-Line will make great RBs and QBs look mediocre. So IMHO, the O-Line is the most important. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 04:19 PM on September 17
The guy making the accusations against OJ now wants the charges dropped. I've never trusted sports memorabilia dealers, seems like a shady lot. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 04:16 PM on September 17
This is a real headscratcher. I mean, I'm in the boat that says an manager's importance is overestimated, but does anyone really think he'll make it all the way through the 2012 season? AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 04:11 PM on September 17
Aww man, they didn't even mention the Macon Whoopie. Ugh, just thinking about that name makes me die a little bit inside. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 04:09 PM on September 17
I must agree, was fun, until it started spazzing out. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 04:08 PM on September 17
Would this ball really have netted that big of a windfall? I mean, it's only 500. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 04:07 PM on September 17
The Ducks are a team of thugs, and that's that. Five games worth of suspensions, during the playoffs (Two for Pronger and Three for May against the Wild) is unbelievable. If the Ducks hold on and win the series, it will be a sad indictment of how little control the league has over it's image as a "dirty" league.
posted by AaronGNP at 10:12 PM on June 03
Would be better if the fans in attendance could make the managerial descisions. That would prevent non-fans from ruining the game.
posted by AaronGNP at 05:01 PM on September 01
Look at the 1800s when it was normal to have 400 IP a season. Most of those guys didn't last much past 10 years. Here's a good example of what I'm talking about. At this point, it would take a ton of historical studies to find out whether these old timers quit because of a tired arm, lack of pay, etc, and we'd be debating for the sake of debating. But of course, that's probably what you're interested in. Ye must believe in bp, lest ye be called a heretic. AGNP
posted by AaronGNP at 08:54 PM on August 09
Sure, except for the parts you made up, which is all of them. Bah.... For every Fidrych and Koufax, there is a Spahn and a Blyleven to counter it. If may not balance out cash-wise, but it balances out Inning-wise. Guys who are prone to injury are going to get injured, whether it's in 1 year, 5 years or 10. You're still putting the arm through a ton of abuse. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with pitch counts, five man rotation or any of that. But don't tell me you end up getting more productivity out of the player. Look at the guys with 3000+ IP. 9 of the 128 are active, and Kenny Rogers will hit 3000 real soon. Of the guys with 2000-3000 IP, Pedro Martinez should hit 3000 in a two years (assuming they are injury free), Livan Hernandez in 5 or so years. Mike Hampton might hit 3000, assuming his pitch-count protected arm has life after Tommy John surgery. Wakefield, Trachsel, Lieber and Sele will probably only hit 3000 IP if they pitch into their 40s. 11 guys out of the most recent generation will hit 3000 IP... Not significantly better, percentage-wise, than previous decades. My point being that babying players hasn't kept them injury free, and hasn't really extended their careers, inning-wise. It may be more humane though :)
posted by AaronGNP at 08:14 PM on August 09
I think pitchers are going to have arm problems regardless of how much you work them. Do you want 20 years of a lighter workload, or 10 years with twice the workload? It all evens out for the player (number-wise), it's just that their career is shortened significantly.
posted by AaronGNP at 04:51 PM on August 09
No doubt daddisamm, the O-line is the part of the Vikes Offense that is failing. When Birk missed time last season also happened to be a time that the Vikes lost a bunch of games. Birk's prescence is missed, the the O-line is just *THAT* bad. Plus I have little confidence for Steve Loney, the offensive coordinator.
posted by AaronGNP at 11:17 AM on September 19
In my book, as of right now, Buehrle is the Cy Young, but Santana is definitely not out of the race, considering how poorly the Sox have been playing and how dominant Santana has been after the all-star break for the past 3 years (27-2 in 248 IPs with a 1.96 ERA). Rivera and Nathan don't belong in this conversation. A.*
posted by AaronGNP at 11:19 AM on August 24
Legendary Wrestler linked to slaying of 97 year old man
I think Hulk Hogan actually demonstrated this on a reporter once, caused him to pass out and bust his head open, and he later sued the Hulk for several million.
It was actually Richard Belzer (better known as Munch from Law & Order SVU).
Here's the video, but be warned, the quality is pretty much crap.
As far as the title goes, I think calling this unfortunate event a "slaying" is a bit of hyperbole.
Gagne pushed an elderly patient down, and elderly patient suffered a broken hip. Elderly patient ends up dying due to complications of the broken hip. Both suffered dementia. It's a terrible thing to have happened, but hardly a "slaying".