Recent Comments by AaronGNP

Hank Steinbrenner Hammers Revenue Sharing

If he doesn't want to pay for a team in Kansas City, perhaps he won't mind another team in New York?

posted by AaronGNP at 11:28 AM on February 23, 2011

Miguel Cabrera swigs from a bottle of scotch in front of a cop; gets arrested for DUI

I can't feel sorry for him. Fact is he's rich as hell, and even if he wants to be HOF, Mantle-level alcoholic, he has the cash to pay for a cab and not drive drunk. Hell, he could buy a limo and a driver, 24/7/365 and never even have to drive.

posted by AaronGNP at 12:26 PM on February 17, 2011

Adding Rushing to Quarterback Rating

Passer rating is a pretty meaningless statistic as it is. Compared to many stats in baseball, there does not appear to be any rhyme or reason on how things are combined and the ratio in which they are combined. The modifications he's suggesting are even more stupid. Just because you can combine two statistics mathematically, doesn't mean you should, nor does it mean that it will have any actual value.

Heck, using this formula, any running back who makes one pass attempt is going to have a stupid high rating.

While I appreciate the effort, the results are less than meaningful, because it doesn't include carries in the denominator.

posted by AaronGNP at 08:03 AM on November 26, 2010

Legendary Tigers/Reds Manager Sparky Anderson dies at 76

76?!

I had the exact same thought. Even though I'm too young to have seen him on WKRP, I vividly remember his 1986 Topps card (the same year I became aware of professional baseball), and I thought he must have been the oldest manager ever.

R.I.P.

posted by AaronGNP at 04:35 PM on November 04, 2010

'Black Power' Olympic Saluter To Sell Gold Medal

Agreed. I don't understand what the big deal (about it being for money) is, aside from pride. I don't think it should surprise many that a black Olympian from the 60s was unable to cash in on their success like today's Olympians are able to. If he's living meagerly, 250k+ would go a long way. I would even guess that this will end up going for way more than 250k.

posted by AaronGNP at 03:01 PM on October 14, 2010

Giants accuse Rockies of cheating

Correct, the team supplied ballboy/ballgirl/clubhouse attendant fetches the balls from the humidor and provides them to the ump. While balls will get reused and lost in the shuffle, it's not impossible to imagine a scenario where balls are refreshed with non-humidor treated balls, specifically when the Rockies are up to bat. Of course this would mean someone is cheating and deserves to be punished.

I actually find it to be really bizarre that the league doesn't control all of the balls in all of the ballparks. If humidity of the environment that the balls are stored in effect the flight of the ball that much, there's nothing to say that something similar isn't happening elsewhere around the league.

posted by AaronGNP at 01:16 PM on September 27, 2010

Mets Call Up Knuckleballer R. A. Dickey

Not to be a turd, but I don't see why this is noteworthy. Dickey has been bouncing between AAA and the majors for several years now, including stints with the Twins, Mariners and aforementioned Rangers. Just because the Mets (a New York team) calls him up doesn't make it anymore noteworthy than when the Mariners or Twins did in each of the past two seasons.

posted by AaronGNP at 02:39 PM on May 20, 2010

Referee controversy ripples around NHL

Burrows is a cheap-shot artist, so I'm not going to shed any tears over him getting "jobbed" by the refs. He may have not deserved it in these instances, but lord knows he's gotten awawy with crap in the past.

That being said, Auger should be punished, and probably shouldn't get to keep his job.

posted by AaronGNP at 12:33 PM on January 13, 2010

A Solution to the Late Season Lay Down?

Or they could just do a split season, first half gets four playoff spots per conference, second half gets four, and any that had repeat winners could go to wildcards based on entire season record. Repeat winners would get first dibs on homefield advantage.

*shrug*

Seems kind of like a solution for where no problem exists.

posted by AaronGNP at 02:38 PM on January 04, 2010

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".

posted by AaronGNP at 01:06 PM on February 27, 2009

Fan Ejected From Yankee Stadium For Bathroom Break During 'God Bless America'

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, 2008

The Return of Ocho Cinco

His Wikipedia page has already been edited to reflect the name change.

posted by AaronGNP at 02:19 AM on August 31, 2008

It's time to pitch the DH.

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, 2008

Fukudome, The New Greatest Name in Baseball?

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, 2007

Modern era semi-finalists for Hall of fame

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, 2007

1898 Obscene Language Baseball Document

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, 2007

Myth Of The Closer

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, 2007

Myth Of The Closer

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, 2007

AL Elias player rankings released

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, 2007

Browns Trade Newly Benched QB Frye to Seahawks

jojomfd1: Baby steps, baby steps. If I had only started Braylon Edwards... AGNP

posted by AaronGNP at 04:21 PM on September 17, 2007

Most Valuable Position

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, 2007

The Juice is back

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, 2007

Last place White Sox extend manager Ozzie Guillen's contract through the 2012 season.

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, 2007

The top 10 worst sports team names

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, 2007

Match wits against Peyton Manning

I must agree, was fun, until it started spazzing out. AGNP

posted by AaronGNP at 04:08 PM on September 17, 2007

Man catches historic home run ball and...does what?!

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, 2007

Pronger elbows way to Game Four suspension

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, 2007

Carpe the Per Diem

Already up to $109... awesome. AGNP

posted by AaronGNP at 07:53 AM on October 20, 2006

"It's 'Bull Durham'-meets-fantasy-sports come to life."

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, 2006

First rule with pitchers is: Handle with care

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, 2006

First rule with pitchers is: Handle with care

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, 2006

First rule with pitchers is: Handle with care

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, 2006

Coordinator First In Line for Vikings' Blame

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, 2005

So far, the awards go to...

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, 2005