tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58641912011-04-21T21:02:15.565-07:00fast as a coatethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comBlogger5841100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-35544078322513329682007-06-15T14:37:00.000-07:002007-06-15T14:50:48.440-07:00

under the radar AL all-star hittersc: joe buck, royalsone of the few bright spots for KC this year, buck ranks 3rd in OPS (.906) for catchers behind perenial sluggers jorge posada and victor martinez. his 10 homers trail only martinez for the position. unfortunately for royals fans (and inexplicably), kansas city refuses to fully hand him the starting role.stat to watch: buck has a .357 OBP and

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-14477745535203572772007-04-03T11:14:00.000-07:002007-04-03T11:18:16.943-07:00

al westa'shittingrarely is a team's success this dependent on a lack of injuries - oakland doesn't have one hitter in the lineup that i am confindent will get 600 pa's. losing frank thomas will severly impact things, and spring injuries to mark kotsay and dan johnson complicate matters further. keeping travis buck is interesting (albeit probably a bit too soon), and their bench is very solid.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-70222497881688008802007-04-01T19:00:00.000-07:002007-04-01T19:05:07.537-07:00

al centralchisoxhittingwhile any lineup with paul konerko, jim thome and jermaine dye stacked in the middle appears strong, it hurts that the team's worst hitter (either podsednik, who projects -2.3 VORP or erstad, at a whopping -19.6) will likely bat leadoff. it likely hurts worse that after dye, none of last 4 hitters project at OBP over .320.pitchingwhile the rotation used to be a major

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-65630945274464796282007-03-30T15:24:00.000-07:002007-03-30T15:25:46.135-07:00

al eastyankshittingnew york has the best offense in the majors, even with doug minky taking ab's that should go to josh phelps. i question the decision to go with wil nieves as jorge's backup, especially with mike rivera recently clearing waivers in milwaukee. but really, that's just nitpicking.pitchingwith possible injuries to pettite, wang and 5th starter jeff karstens, the randy johnson

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-86215528743064149442007-03-30T11:29:00.000-07:002007-03-30T11:34:24.897-07:00

ok, so i've been reaaaallly lazy in keeping up with my in depth previews, so i'll try to quickly get to each division before opening daynl centralst louishittingafter the pujols-edmonds-rolen core, there is a big drop off in the lineup. adam kennedy brings some stability to the keystone, but depending on chris duncan and preston wilson (with encarnacion's injury) in the corners is suspect.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-61953651398843945592007-03-12T10:30:00.000-07:002007-03-12T10:40:50.950-07:00

nl west predictionsd-backsdodgerspadresrockiesgiantsi think arizona is by far the head of the class here (and likely the entire national league), and it seems the trend of the nl west being very balanced is fading. both the dodgers and padres will contend for the wildcard but the lack of depth in the rotation will limit the dads to 3rd place.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-37492911387565581342007-03-12T10:28:00.000-07:002007-03-12T12:33:36.888-07:00

giants expecations:with a lineup this old, the only possible expectation is to win now.lineup:san francisco made no attempt to make an aging lineup any younger this winter, and actually made it older. rich aurilia is penciled in at 1b, where he'll platoon with mark sweeney. like aurlia, ray durham had a great 2006, but repeat performances are unlikely. the free swinging pedro feliz has no

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-12137149716727805582007-03-09T13:25:00.000-08:002007-03-09T13:26:57.022-08:00

padresexpectations:win the nl west (geez that’s getting old)lineup:san diego’s infield appears solid but is chock full of question marks. will adrian gonzalez build on last season’s breakout, or revert to prospect bust status? will joining his brother end marcus giles slide? will khalil greene show any signs of reverting to the form he showed as a rook? will kevin kouzmanoff’s be able to

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-83710697992410837692007-03-08T12:31:00.000-08:002007-03-08T12:36:42.891-08:00

dodgersexpecations:win the nl west (are we sensing a trend here yet?)lineup:in wilson betemit, rafael furcal, jeff kent and nomar, los angeles has a nice offensive infield . the issue here is that the right side is aging and injury prone, and betemit, better suited as a SS or 2b, may not bring the pop desired from the hot corner. this winter, to atone for losing jd drew and kenny lofton, the

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-18689822308797195932007-03-07T14:14:00.000-08:002007-03-07T14:31:51.437-08:00

rockiesexpectations:compete for the postseason while rebuilding. no small task.lineup:in todd helton, garrett atkins, matt holiday and brad hawpe, the rockies have one of the best middles of the order in the national league. i could nitpick and say that they should shift those four guys from 3-4-5-6 in the order to 2-3-4-5 to compensate for helton's declining power, but the real issue with

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-70914800515308488162007-03-07T09:36:00.000-08:002007-03-07T09:37:56.935-08:00

i'm skipping the nl central for now, and thus we're on to the national league west!d-backsexpectations:win the nl westlineup:arizona has very quietly used it's well-stocked farm system to build a very young but talented major league offense. chris young will start in center, pushing a solid platoon of eric byrnes (.961 OPS vs lhp in 06) and jeff davanon to LF (.878 OPS vs rhp). carlos quentin (RF

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-64618986692192070422007-03-07T09:33:00.000-08:002007-03-07T11:57:28.146-08:00

spring training recapthe enjoyment of 2 days watching brew crew spring training games spontaneously turned things into a 3 day jaunt. we saw milwaukee take on the giants, the angels, and the chisox. here are some thoughts from a fantastic weekend in phoenix.-getting really close to the action for such a cheap price is simply awesome. maryville park, the brewers home in arizona, is a good place to

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-59952405751770899762007-03-02T09:46:00.000-08:002007-03-02T09:54:38.757-08:00

nl east predictionsso that does it folks. the nl east is wrapped up. here's how i see it panning out:philliesmetsbravesmarlinsnatsi wouldn't be surprised if the mets make a move to get some starting pitching and overtake the phils, but until that happens philadelphia's rotation is just too strong for me to knock them down a peg.next week we'll move on to the NL central (ahren has been doing some

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-71451748741990974702007-03-02T09:43:00.000-08:002007-03-02T09:46:16.817-08:00

nationalsexpectations:none. and that might even be too high.lineup:the nats have 3 true highlights in their lineup (ryan zimmerman, austin kearns, and nick johnson), one of which (johnson) will yet again be missing an undisclosed amount of time. instead of giving kory casto some AB’s at 1b, they went out and signed dmitri young and tony batista to (i guess) platoon there while johnson recovers.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-4328168542358918752007-03-02T08:55:00.000-08:002007-03-02T08:58:45.707-08:00

ouchno word yet on what repercussions i'll face when the new mexico desperados find out that's how i hurt my shoulder...

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-78473688867065210862007-03-01T14:03:00.000-08:002007-03-01T14:05:06.422-08:00

marlinsexpectations:to keep seeing the young guys improve.lineup:the fish boast a very strong offensive infield, and it seems their overall performance will be consistent with last year’s. hanley ramirez and miguel cabrera make up a tremendous left side, and where i expect dan uggla to slip a bit (2006 seems like a bit of anamoly in his career) i see mike jacobs making a bit of an improvement (

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-45369960424762342012007-03-01T13:22:00.000-08:002007-03-01T13:27:21.833-08:00

bravosexpectations:a return to the playoffs after missing last year for the first time since the 1900’s.lineup:the braves will open the year with a brand new right side of the infield after losing laroche and the littler giles in the offseason. i love the craig wilson signing to hedge the bet that scott thorman can hold down the job at 1b. atlanta obviously seems willing to give thorman the job

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-24242958923307569042007-02-28T14:17:00.000-08:002007-02-28T14:38:42.539-08:00

jonesing for baseball at near crack-whore level, i got an early kick off to the season yesterday afternoon. at 3pm ahren and i left the office for the spacious confines of isotopes stadium, home of the marlins AAA squad and the university of new mexico lobos. the lobos were hosting texas tech, and despite the wind we were in for quite a D-1 treat. the hometown nine blew a big lead, and the red

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1169225535196821312007-01-19T08:15:00.000-08:002007-01-19T09:04:59.566-08:00

hot to trotthe other day at the office ahren and i were talking about how it was odd that trot nixon hadn't signed yet. we talked about how it was likely he was waiting for a multi-year deal, a la aubrey huff. we even discussed the relative value of huff and nixon, trying to figure out if 150 games of huff (and 12 games of replacement level player) were more valuable than 100 games of nixon (

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1168019703810392942007-01-05T08:35:00.000-08:002007-01-05T11:53:41.696-08:00

nothing says welcome back quite like a little hot stove. so without further ado, here's my take on the big unit trade.the yanks get:luis vizcainothis 32 year old reliever had a very nice 2006 for the d-backs, posting a whip of 1.22 and a BAA of only .215. in general, vizcaino's strength is his ability to miss bats - his k/9 over the past 4 seasons: 8.86, 7.88, 5.53, 9.92, with 2005 being a bit

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1152310727237016922006-07-07T15:12:00.000-07:002006-07-07T15:18:47.240-07:00

friday mlb notes, reduxi dug the following out of my july 2004 archives, something i wrote after the mlb all-star game that year. i'm putting it up here again, because i still think they could expand from the homerun derby to showcase other ridiculous talents these guys have, and i want people on my bandwagon. feel free to add some events - something like "minor league bat-to-umpire toss" would

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1152310080849732252006-07-07T14:21:00.000-07:002006-07-07T15:26:27.630-07:00

friday mlb notes -is there possibly a happier person in the world right now than aaron guiel? consistenly buried in the minors by the hapless royals, he gets a chance to play in the bronx in a penant race. as a yankee fan, i am very pleased with this waiver claim. i definitely like him over bubba crosby (at least offensively), and i think he can be a more than adequate 5th outfielder next

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1151441945780168962006-06-27T13:35:00.000-07:002006-06-27T13:59:56.473-07:00

10 things i learned or re-learned on my trip back east last week (1st non-baseball post in 3 months!)1. any diner with a purple neon sign reading "EAT HEAVY" and a menu containing the phrase "feed your head" will have excellent country fried steak.2. in the bustling metropolis of pelham, new hampshire, when you see 3 cop cars and an ambulance converged at a street corner, do not expect to see

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1150828907467487752006-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:002006-06-20T11:41:47.503-07:00

tuesday mlb notes-maybe the cubs should start hoping all their regulars get hit with 10-game suspensions for fighting. in michael barrett's absence, henry blanco, widely known as having offensive skills as terrible as his haircut, has started the last 4 games and hit .600 (9-15) with 3 homers. this coming from a guy who amassed a total of 3 hits in all of april and may, when he racked up a

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1150485649062286282006-06-16T11:29:00.000-07:002006-06-16T12:27:22.923-07:00

friday mlb notes-it seems the sox have remedied this somewhat in the last 2 days, but when coco crisp returned from the dl they inexplicably bumped youkilis from leadoff (where he had posted a .956 ops and an obp well over .400) to the bottom of the order. this left them with crisp (.324 obp) and loretta (.338 obp) to hit 1-2. wednesday francona wised up and re-inserted youkilis as the leadoff

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1150232436293044502006-06-13T13:25:00.000-07:002006-06-13T14:05:51.403-07:00

tuesday mlb notes-milwaukee is definitely a popular pick to have a stronghold on the nl central in the near future, but let's not overlook the pirates. if they would have the guts to just sit burnitz indefinitely, their lineup could look something like this (player followed by age, obp, slg, eqa).freddy sanchez (3b), 28, .376, .483, .289sean casey (1b), 31, .402, .548, .311jason bay (lf), 27,

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1149871737963653152006-06-09T09:35:00.000-07:002006-06-12T08:50:31.450-07:00

friday mlb notes (late edition)i was only in the office for maybe an hour on friday, due somewhat to another desperados win thursday nite and the ensuing celebration of ahren's near perfect game. hence the late edition.-to say the rockies had a rough road trip to end may would be a colassal understatement. in the first 5 games the scored 4 total runs, never posting more than 1 in any game. in

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1149611463138036472006-06-06T08:58:00.000-07:002006-06-06T09:31:11.946-07:00

tuesday mlb notes-i know alfonso soriano is having a phenomenal year, and there is some merit to getting him some extra ab's over the course of the season. but aren't his .628 slugging and 21 jacks being a bit wasted with him hitting in front of the pitcher? it would seemingly be better to hit vidro (.391 obp, .436 slg) leadoff, and you could even consider marlon byrd (.347 obp, .354 slg) there

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1149283819483417322006-06-02T14:06:00.000-07:002006-06-02T14:43:27.996-07:00

friday's mlb notes-the twins offense as a whole continues to struggle, but it isn't having an adverse effect on joe mauer. the twinkies backstop capped off a fantastic may (.386/.432/.554) with an 11 game hitting streak, hitting .512 (22-43) in that span. i haven't heard who was named the al's player of the month in may, but there's no doubt he was in the running. -after scoring 7 runs in the

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1149105767615880492006-05-31T12:22:00.000-07:002006-05-31T13:06:21.890-07:00

tuesday mlb notes, late editionwith the off day monday, today is basically like a tuesday...-has gary matthews jr. finally figured out how to hit at age 31? it looks like this will be the first year he'll ever get > 500 ab's and he's off to a great start, amassing 26 extra base hits thus far (including 18 doubles, good for 2nd in the al behind mike lowell and the green monster). i would love to

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1148676658256123942006-05-26T13:16:00.000-07:002006-05-26T13:58:34.800-07:00

friday mlb notesthis won't be too long, as we're heading to the pecos wilderness to camp this weekend in a few minutes (72 beers for 3 people should be enough, right?).-there are only 10 players in the majors thus far in 2006 that have a bb/ab rate above .2 (meaning the player draws at least one walk for roughly every 6 pa's) AND a bb/k rate over 1 (meaning more walks than punchouts). i'll list

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1148425051426619562006-05-23T15:19:00.000-07:002006-05-23T15:58:54.806-07:00

tuesday's mlb notesmy apologies for no post on friday. i was busy throwing my father-in-law a surpirse 60th birthday party in minneapolis. we rented out a vfw. classic. anyway, onto the notes.-has anyone else completely forgot that raffy and slammin sammy are out of baseball? are you telling me the red sox couldn't use palmeiro over jt snow? sammy may be another issue entirely, but there

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1147816855656109702006-05-16T14:37:00.000-07:002006-05-17T08:43:59.756-07:00

tuesday mlb notes-there's not much going right in kansas city these days. the royals have precisely zero regulars with an obp over .350, and things have gotten so bad they are using kerry robinson in the outfield. their opponents ops is almost .150 points higher than their own (.834 to .691), and kc's best starter is (gasp) scott elarton. he has as many wins this year as mark gubicza.the lone

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1147466886208246552006-05-12T12:24:00.000-07:002006-05-12T14:23:26.936-07:00

friday mlb notes-the padres offense is rather abysmal, with only 3 hitters posting an above average eqa (giles, greene, roberts). but in the crapshoot of a division they play in, the dads will probably be in the mix of things til september because of a relatively strong rotation (top 4 in that group have whip's under 1.30). my question is how long they will continue to start (yo) adrian

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1147205314513664942006-05-09T12:29:00.000-07:002006-05-09T14:13:11.310-07:00

tuesday mlb notes-best 3 benches in the american league:1. torontothey have hinske (.806 ops) as their 5th outfielder, and he can play both corner if positions. their back up catcher was the starter the past two years (greg zaun) and has posted an .889 ops thus far in 2006. not to mention the fantastic platoon in lf (cat and johnson), always giving them 1 more good bat off the bench no matter

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1146846276975152222006-05-05T08:42:00.000-07:002006-05-05T09:26:12.890-07:00

cinco de mayo mlb notes-how far have the minnesota twins fallen? luis castillo, the guy with as much power as glass joe, is leading the team in slugging at a .425 clip. sure, he doesn't lead the team in isolated power, but still. the twinkies are miserable. designated "hitter" rondell white, minny's cleanup hitter for most of the season thus far, has only 2 extra base hits, both doubles, and

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1146682693684807752006-05-03T11:02:00.000-07:002006-05-03T12:02:11.453-07:00

tuesday mlb notes late edition-as of tuesday, 3 teams whose win total is greater than their eye-balled expected win total:boston: a 15-11 record despite scoring less runs (124) than they've given up (130) giving them a run differential per game (RDPG) of -.23. their hitters have posted an ops of .771 and their pitchers have allowed an ops of .754. all this should point to a record ~ .500, not

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1146250186252837052006-04-28T10:06:00.000-07:002006-04-28T11:49:46.386-07:00

friday mlb notesthis is gonna be short, since i'm actually busy at work today.-who says coors inflates statistics? cory sullivan - at coors: .244 obp, .220 slg. on road: .490, .783brad hawpe - home: .392, .372. road: .452, .976.garrett atkins - home: .395, .525. road: .469, .595.jason smith - home: .304, .238. road: .519, .870.i guess there's good reason the rockies are 7-3 on the road and 8

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1146001635147855692006-04-25T13:56:00.000-07:002006-04-26T07:20:15.696-07:00

tuesday mlb notes-i was catching the phils-rockies game last nite (on fsn mountain - great channel) when ryan howard stepped up with runners on. before he knocked in a run with a single, they flashed his stats and the fact that he had 5 jacks but only 9 rbi's seemed like a low rbi:hr ratio to me. surely that must mean the guys in front of him just aren't getting on, right? so today i looked at

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1145637375755011952006-04-21T08:55:00.000-07:002006-04-21T14:16:52.646-07:00

friday mlb notes-don't look now, but former mets outcast ty wigginton has bopped 6 homeruns already. veterans typically go to tampa as a last resort and many have been unsuccessful at re-starting their career there (see: mcgriff, fred; martinez, tino; et al). and sure it's early, but wigginton's bat speed looks good and he's been a nice surprise for the d-rays. -on tuesday, bill mueller walked

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1145399274956301452006-04-18T14:20:00.000-07:002006-04-18T15:48:19.416-07:00

tuesday mlb notes-did anyone see that play by vizquel on sunday nite? text book take the feed from second, turn and fire to third. he caught cody ross rounding the bag expecting a double play. just a thing of beauty.-there has been a lot more hype and way more stories discussing the ability of jeff francoeur, but don't overlook ryan langerhans in the bravos lineup. he didn't have the

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1145035694063783922006-04-14T09:44:00.000-07:002006-04-14T10:42:11.993-07:00

friday mlb notes-i was following this on the internet (and so can't confirm it) but doug davis was throwing roughly 80% sliders yesterday. that seems like an awful lot.-jason isringhausen is really off to a bad start, and his struggles continued yesterday in allowing what turned out to be the game-winning homerun in the top of the 11th. in response tony larusa has said he wants to use izzy in "

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1144793689246710602006-04-11T14:37:00.000-07:002006-04-11T15:15:14.690-07:00

tuesday mlb noteswho's hot (besides the weird new analyst on 24, who's also the great-granddaughter of the ny football giants founder)chris shelton. went 1-8 in the last 2 games, dropping his average to, uh, .536. 5 jacks and 10 ribs in week 1. now if he could only get a better picture for his espn profile.ramon hernandez. started the year 5-5 and has kept rolling. hitting a robust .632 in 7

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1144769653010907792006-04-11T08:13:00.000-07:002006-04-11T08:34:13.100-07:00

we're not gonna protest! we're not gonna protest!i would like to get some reader opinion on a few hot issues in the news of late:(1) the illegal immigration debate here in the statesi don't claim to know a lot about our immigration laws, or even about what the hell everyone is yelling about, so i don't hold a strong opinion. but it seems ludicrous to me that people out there are trying to say

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1144449231728159002006-04-07T14:54:00.000-07:002006-04-07T15:40:00.720-07:00

end of the week mlb notes-much fanfare has been made about detroit's offensive outburst enroute to starting the year 3-0. while this has been impressive, the tigers performance on the mound during this intial trio of games must not be overlooked. in just under 18 innings, their starters have yet to allow a walk. in fact, their starters went to 3 ball counts just 7 times in that span (which is

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1144169975704524152006-04-04T09:11:00.000-07:002006-04-04T10:12:45.843-07:00

opening day ---> best day of the yearwhat a great day yesterday was. i couldn't smell the freshly cut grass from my office (in fact my carpet smells a little rank), but you can bet i was soaking in the action as best as possible. here are some tidbits i picked up:-oliver perez was downright filthy. obviously that's evident by looking at the box score - 9 k's in 5 1/3 is never too shabby. but

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1144084777761534902006-04-03T10:18:00.000-07:002006-04-03T10:19:45.970-07:00

wowespn's new gamecast is pretty awesome. i can't link it directly, but check it out through the scoreboard.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1143834537575201832006-03-31T11:39:00.000-08:002006-03-31T11:50:42.250-08:00

no yelling on the bustwo things i'm sick of hearing about this week:(1) the duke lacrosse team scandal. holy shitballs, give it a rest. at this point what the fuck are all those students protesting? not one player has been charged with a crime. and despite this glaring fact, the team has been suspended. so much for innocent until proven guilty. i could understand a protest if the whole team

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1143832699051957152006-03-31T10:56:00.000-08:002006-04-03T07:06:28.546-07:00

2006 mlb previewchisox-tribe is just over 48 hours away and i'm chomping at the bit. without further ado, here are my predictions:al nyy - best lineup in baseball and an 8-man rotation that can handle injuries.bos - too many if's on their staff and lineup to overtake the yanks.tor - much improved, but not good enough to overcome an injury to halladay or burnett.tam - if you plan to take ab's

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1143154672161221242006-03-23T14:31:00.000-08:002006-03-23T14:59:16.240-08:00

they'd be better off trading for 33 pounds of meati spent a good portion of yesterday thinking about the arroyo-pena trade over on slack, but there's another one brewing that i just don't get. the orioles and cubs are considering a trade of luis matos and todd walker. seriously, who the fuck is running these organizations? here's what this trade would mean for each team:baltimore - they get

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1143152745726085192006-03-23T13:29:00.000-08:002006-03-23T14:30:15.993-08:00

don't call it a comebacki suppose now that the dust has settled a bit, i can get back to posting. the last 6 weeks have seen me travel to houston (twice), colorado, and reno. here are some things i picked up in that span:i learned that if i had to sum up houston (or whatever town nasa officially resides in), i would need only 4 words: churches, metallica, strip malls. also, i was there for two

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1139855091524187682006-02-13T10:21:00.000-08:002006-02-13T10:24:51.536-08:00

what's more startling?(a) netflix treats it's costumers differently based on renting patterns, or(b) the picture in that article? (when did corey feldman grow a mustache, change his name to manuel villanueva and start renting 20 movies a month?)

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1139607441499747162006-02-10T12:55:00.000-08:002006-02-10T13:43:31.216-08:00

ground rules >>> quittin' time?i have established an unwritten rule at work (this of course only pertains to me): no work related duties other than reading/sending email can be done before 3pm mst. i don't exactly know when i instituted this rule, but i do know i've been holding steadfast to it for the past few days. yesterday i left work at 2pm mst, so draw your own conclusions about my

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1139328353131147352006-02-07T07:50:00.000-08:002006-02-07T08:05:53.180-08:00

mo money mo problems mo lina signing: so good or no good?zaunsalary: ~$1milage: turns 35 in 200605 warp: 3.305 obp: .355 (career obp .342)05 slg: .373 (career slg .375)05 RAR (fielding runs above replacement): 1805 RAA (fielding runs above average): -405 Rate2 (100 is average): 9705 caught stealing: 21/93 = 23%molinasalary: $5 milage: turns 32 in 200605 warp: 3.505 obp: .336 (career obp .308)05

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1139006886200022582006-02-03T14:40:00.000-08:002006-02-03T14:49:25.503-08:00

chatty cakesin case you didn't see it, espn had a chat session today with the sports guy and then klosterman (1 hour each). i never read those chats, but since chuckie k would be on i made an exception. there were some other page 2 folks on after that dynamic duo, but do yourself a favor and read the first two hours worth here. my favorite exchange:Larry (Tampa, FL): Why has Troy Polumalu not

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1138817100369645022006-02-01T09:56:00.000-08:002006-02-01T14:52:11.043-08:00

state of the onioni hate the state of the union. it's not that i find it unimportant or boring (though a case could certainly be made for both), but that i despise the tv coverage of it. is it really necessary for all 4 major networks to air this? couldn't they just agree to rotate so abc, cbs, nbc, and fox can each get it once every 4 years? that way at least i could watch scrubs 3 out of

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1138815944636602132006-02-01T09:28:00.000-08:002006-02-01T09:45:44.736-08:00

questions for the nl eastnym: they sure made a lot of offseason noise. but was their improvement as big as everyone is making it out to be? sure, they upgraded big time at first and closer. but their outfield is worse, and la duca is declining fast. not to mention they did nothing to improve their staff (i think it's worse than last year in fact)...phi: this team did absolutely nothing to

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1138380241454918412006-01-27T08:34:00.000-08:002006-01-27T08:44:02.586-08:00

more than 5 questions for the al westoak: i love the big hurt signing. besides the obvious, it allows payton (somewhat better against lefties) and swisher (tons better against rhp) to platoon in left (which could work as nicely as the lofton-michaels 05 platoon). if their staff can stay healthy, this is clearly the team to beat out west, no? sea: in 05 they had 80% of their staff had era's

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1138205078667890232006-01-25T07:59:00.000-08:002006-01-25T08:04:44.060-08:00

a couple of linksthe next letterman? heeeeeeere's stewie!also, for you baseball fans who dabble in the poker: a buddy of mine from high school tipped me off that the guy who developed the PECOTA system for bp is a 2+2er (goes by nate the great or something).

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1138127193691959942006-01-24T10:14:00.000-08:002006-01-24T10:26:33.743-08:00

5 questions for the al centralchisox: will thome's plate discipline rub off or will these guys continue to hack away?cle: have they done enough this offseason to keep up with chicago? i like the perez signing (to platoon with broussard), but can they finish more than a distant second?*minn: do mauer and morneau make the leap, or is this the year they finish 4th? det: welcome to the

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1138121802292598422006-01-24T08:21:00.000-08:002006-01-24T08:59:14.860-08:00

this ain't rick james' thunderbirdfriday nite nina and i went to an nba developmental league game. we have our own team in town - the albuquerque thunderbirds. five things i really liked about this:1. for $25 a ticket, we had the best seats you could get. at an nba game, these tickets would've cost, i dunno, three grand. and yes, i'm ignoring the fact that for $15, you could've sat literally

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1137712497425803742006-01-19T15:09:00.000-08:002006-01-19T15:18:03.913-08:00

the obfor those of you who remember fondly when i used to put together that rag known as oscar's bicycle, here's the last issue, dated september 2004. this one never got mailed out, as i planned to just start publishing it online. but really it just became the 9th and final issue of my beloved "magazine". i'd like to say there'll be a comeback, but i said that in january 05 and look how that

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1137712078994871252006-01-19T14:38:00.000-08:002006-01-19T15:08:11.056-08:00

5 questions for the al eastnyy: is posada going to use those trade rumors as motivation or continue his decline?bos: rumor has it you need 9 players on the field every day. are you sure you want alex cora and adam stern to be 2 of them?bal: do you think the lopez/hernandez thing is going to work out behind the dish? lopez seems like he will sulk and underproduce if he's not the everyday

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1137694439333309672006-01-19T10:09:00.000-08:002006-01-19T10:13:59.350-08:00

t-minus 4 minutesnasa is launching a rocket to jupiter. you can watch it here (just click on "watch video"). the launch window is from ~1:10pm est to ~3:10pm est. as of now the projected take off is 1:30pm est. is harland williams on board?

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1137616333042176682006-01-18T11:54:00.000-08:002006-01-18T13:20:39.020-08:00

the price is wrong bitchsomehow this same schedule has worked out each of the last few weeks: a party on friday with some boozing and game playing (including this gem: shout about tv. one downside - it can only be played 3 times), some poker on saturday (either at 2am or 3pm), and beer/wings/football-watching at a bar on sunday. those things alone can make for some snappy weekends.but it's what

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1137192704864858402006-01-13T14:51:00.000-08:002006-01-13T14:51:44.876-08:00

a rose by any other nametoday nina's office had some sort of volleyball/team building event. naturally she wanted to name her team something completely ridiculous, and offerend up "the volley lama" as a suggestion. she said her teammates were not amused, which is not that surprising (most of them are the type of folks whose favorite movie is van helsing). some of them didn't even get it.nina

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1135282895455942582005-12-22T12:19:00.000-08:002005-12-22T12:21:35.480-08:00

holiday salutationsok peeps, i'm out. have a happy festivus (or whatever you celebrate). hope you all enjoy your respective airing of the grievances. i'll be back on the flip side (of the calendar). until then, be good.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1135271345805248042005-12-22T08:55:00.000-08:002005-12-22T09:09:05.856-08:00

free agentssince i'll be leaving this afternoon for dc (just in time for day 1 of the new "pat my balls" TSA policy) and most likely won't blog until the new year, i have to get a rash of posts out today. so i know there's a lot of time for moves to be made, and maybe due to the frenetic nature of this offseason i'm just constantly expecting more more more, but there are a lot of interesting

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1135270118624271912005-12-22T08:37:00.000-08:002005-12-22T08:49:25.523-08:00

it's cold as a......witch's tit in here. a few weeks ago, i got a new office. it has a window and i don't have to share it with anyone, two upgrades from my last one. the best benefit, unlike every other office in the area, is that the door has no window. this makes for a prime crossword/sudoku-doing environment. the only downside is that it is freezing in here. cold enough where people

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1135188825181505362005-12-21T09:39:00.000-08:002005-12-21T10:13:45.790-08:00

nobody fucks with the jesusWWJDD? sign with the yanks evidently. and while he certainly is the best available cf out there, and i'm not completely down on the signing, here are 5 things i don't like about it:(1) the assumption jd will leadoff. jeter's a better leadoff hitter, no? shouldn't damon hit 2nd? (2) damon's arm. waaaaay worse than bernie's, or my sister's.(3) damon makes more than

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1134662587548855452005-12-15T07:56:00.000-08:002005-12-15T08:06:50.383-08:00

libertee shirtsalways on the lookout for quality t-shirts, i stumbled upon a site that had some funny libertarian ones. i don't wear my politics on my sleeve (literally) enough to buy one, but i thought these were funny:jefferson is my homeboythe ted kennedy driving schoolreal rebels don't support centralized state authority (with the classic pic of che)i really don't like that they have kid

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1134501074211242902005-12-13T11:06:00.000-08:002005-12-13T11:11:36.143-08:00

doin' it to (not for) the childrencontinuing the double standard? i guess we won't know until the woman's trial, but imagine what whould happen if a man had said "she was no victim" in regards to his 14 year old wife.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1134495104707002132005-12-13T08:43:00.000-08:002005-12-13T09:33:27.556-08:00

jug-jugga-jug-jugga-jugthis past saturday, nina and i went to see the transiberian orchestra. we don't go to many live shows, so i can't really say my opinion holds much/any water. but i was pretty amazed. by both the music (especially the keyboard players, the guitarists, and the insane violinist) and the lady two seats in front of us who was head banging furiously for literally 3 hours. the

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1134403990079345432005-12-12T07:59:00.000-08:002005-12-12T09:16:50.356-08:00

black outs are faaaantastic (much like these sexy pink-orange-black heat unis)lots of crazy football games to go with my eggnog and amaretto (god i love christmans) yesterday, including a drama-filled classic between kc and the boys which (for the first time all season) wasn't televised here. instead they went with a meaningless broncos-ravens game (that was about as entertaining as watching, in

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1134155008704336632005-12-09T10:49:00.000-08:002005-12-09T11:05:32.026-08:00

jolly green bullshitwhen reading a review on cnn of ang lee's new movie "brokeback mountain," i came across the following:"Lee is one of the most respected directors working today. His films include "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Sense and Sensibility" and "The Hulk.""(singing) one of these things is not like the other, one of the things is not the same. seriously, the hulk?? if you're

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133981445388469412005-12-07T10:43:00.000-08:002005-12-07T10:50:45.390-08:00

why didn't oj think of this?so saddam didn't show up in court today. apparently he thinks you can boycott trials. i don't really understand how this can possibly happen, and it's a bad sign for the iraqi court system if he isn't marched in there in shackles pronto. imagine if jeffry dahmer, after two days of hearing testimony, declared "i don't really like where the evidence is going, so i'm

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133980559879944802005-12-07T10:08:00.000-08:002005-12-07T14:12:04.273-08:00

juan gonethankfully, juan pierre is out of the picture for the yanks. questionable move for the cubs unless they think they can unload pierre when felix pie is ready to start 07, but i digress. my question today on the bombers' cf quagmire (giggity giggity) is why they are not at least showing marginal interest in signing brad wilkerson. no, he's not a great defensive cf. but he's only 28,

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133820765678122012005-12-05T14:10:00.000-08:002005-12-05T14:12:45.690-08:00

they're mad, and they're just not gonna take it anymorethe trial is obviously no laughing matter (with the exception of the fact that a former u.s. attorney general is working on saddam's defense team), but this picture is just plain funny. enter captions in the comments.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133557010456764782005-12-02T12:51:00.000-08:002005-12-02T12:56:50.466-08:00

no, i think you had 2 50's and went straight to the 70'sfrom a reason piece on recent congressional "decency" (read: censorship) debates:"The most disturbing speaker at Tuesday's hearing was the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin. "You can always turn the television off and, of course, block the channels you don't want," he observed. "But why should you have to?"

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133476958160025472005-12-01T14:38:00.000-08:002005-12-01T14:45:08.580-08:00

the office reduxi don't see the office (carrell's version) as much as i'd like, but there's one episode where a lady comes in to sell purses. i remember thinking that shit would never happen, but today a purse lady came to my work. she spread out the purses and scarfs all over the conference room and was causing quite a hubub. then, just like in the episode, the one young single guy in our

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133376746643121212005-11-30T10:34:00.000-08:002005-11-30T14:28:12.573-08:00

put me in coach...i can play centerfield*honestly, who will be the next terrible name to be thrown in the yank's cf hat? it's getting to the point that i wouldn't be surprised to hear a "yanks seek tike redman" rumor. for fuck's sake, DON'T SIGN JOEY GAITHRIGHT. my dad told me last night the bombers are looking at jason michaels. i suppose i could live with a crosby-michaels platoon (or even

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133288698107590572005-11-29T10:22:00.000-08:002005-11-29T10:29:57.476-08:00

the scroll (the scroll), the buttons (the buttons), scrollin so smooth like the butta on the muffinsi got this email earlier today:Some of you may have noticed that our new fountain was spraying water to the point that it caused an icing of the area around the fountain. The spraying was caused by an inconsiderate person who stuffed a parking ticket into the top of the fountain, which, in turn,

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1133218413982160372005-11-28T14:43:00.000-08:002005-11-28T14:53:33.996-08:00

three phrases i need to hear more of:1. hanky-panky. as in "hey baby, how bout a little hanky panky?" this has become my default wife-seducing line. success varies, i might add.2. drain the weasel. as in, "i had 4 beers then sat in traffic for 45 minutes. man did i have to drain the weasel." i've only actually known one person to ever say this, but more people need to start.3. sand in

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1132680078187867942005-11-22T08:53:00.000-08:002005-11-22T09:22:57.286-08:00

5 questions1. given that the department of education can't even solve the problems in k-12, why are they spending even one cent or minute worrying about the state of higher education? and why does the federal government want to stick it's nose in college business anyway? it's even more obvious in higher learning (public colleges) that the onus falls on the state (hence the term "state school")

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1132614394408898852005-11-21T14:41:00.000-08:002005-11-21T15:09:47.800-08:00

lost in translationso seattle signed the japanese catcher that a few teams were ga-ga over. it's not surprising, especially given the crop of available catchers (see roy's indepth analysis here). i've read repeatedly that multiple teams were scared by the fact that he speaks no english, since catchers have to do a lot of communicating with pitchers. are you kidding me? that's their biggest

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1132246676020085902005-11-17T08:49:00.000-08:002005-11-17T08:59:15.726-08:00

i just realized......that james lipton looks like patches o'houlihan. unfortunately, though, i don't think when lipton sees some terrible acting he says it's like watching a bunch of retards trying to hump a doorknob.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1132171602655945322005-11-16T12:02:00.000-08:002005-11-16T12:06:42.670-08:00

hmmmmin today's sport's guy column about the fiasco larry brown and the knicks are in, he utters this:"You never think of New York as a basketball city, but that's what it is. No sports team in the past 35 years meant more to New York than those Bradley-Frazier teams."wha??? admittedly i wasn't alive during that era, but what about that certain '96-01 dynasty?

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1132088823120602332005-11-15T12:45:00.000-08:002005-11-15T13:08:48.173-08:00

some linksi didn't know a country could sue a person, but that's what kazakhstan is doing to ali g. i'm sure trey parker and matt stone are now fearing a lawsuit from the entire continent of asia.i don't know the last time a "professional" has gone 3-11 with his weekly picks, but that is indeed what happened to the sports guy this past weekend. ouch. i wonder what percentage of american males

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1131643605674094282005-11-10T09:01:00.000-08:002005-11-10T09:28:14.520-08:00

the nba's got nuttin on this mutten!so the nba is back. yippee! last week or whenever the season started i had no idea the preseason was even over. just like my (so far successful) attempt to follow the nfl more closely this season, i think i'll do the same with the nba. i don't think it'll happen, and by december i'll probably skip over a suns-magic game in favor of gillmore girls reruns (i

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1131464564478439972005-11-08T07:39:00.000-08:002005-11-08T07:44:30.373-08:00

leisurely offseasonmost mlb-ers like to take it easy for the first few weeks of the offseason - maybe a little beach vacation, some hunting or fishing, a few rounds of golf. well, thanks to uggie urbina, we can now add trying to hack apart your employees and light them on fire. geez. this guy's starting to catch up to raul mondesi in the off-field distraction department.

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1131032951829635182005-11-03T07:34:00.000-08:002005-11-03T07:51:52.683-08:00

sorry my assshort time yankee matt lawton was suspended for steroid use today. this is not exactly like raffy testing positive or anything, but i think this quote from lawton is hilarious:"I made a terrible and foolish mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life...I take full responsibility for my actions and did not appeal my suspension. I apologize to the fans, the game, my family and

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1130955311444664932005-11-02T09:37:00.000-08:002005-11-02T10:37:46.586-08:00

like night and day, literallylast halloween nina and i helped plan and attended the craziest party we've been to since college - three floors of decadence, a liquor luge that all but destroyed the floor of the upstairs/ceiling of the main level, rick james' thunderbird parked on the lawn, unbelievable costumes, nina throwing up in a bird bath, party-goers leaping into the bushes from the porch

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1130799237945724082005-10-31T14:47:00.000-08:002005-10-31T14:54:26.500-08:00

good turn bet or take the free card?i have AsKs at the button. 1 limp to me, i raise, a blind calls, limper calls.3 players to the flop 6 6s qsbet, call, i raise. call, callturn: ragcheck, check, i bet. call, call.river: rag.check, check, check. i lose to queen little. on the turn, i guess i was hoping to get q-crap to fold, but i was also opening myself up to a check-raise (which i

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1130430160065351812005-10-27T08:35:00.000-07:002005-10-27T09:25:03.443-07:00

game 4 notes-really late start time last nite. what was it, ~8:45pm est? that's simply ridiculous. first pitch should never be later than 8pm est. -why not go ahead and give jose vizcaino a start at short? it's pretty clear you need offense, and vizcaino can't be any worse at the plate than everett's been.-brandon backe's curve is nasty as can be. that's the pitch he struck out 5 straight

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1130346762164091332005-10-26T09:39:00.000-07:002005-10-26T10:25:24.246-07:00

game 3 notes (by inning)1st-there's only one word to describe oswalt's pitch sequence to podsednik (98 mph on the outer black followed up by 73 mph bender on inner black): unfair.-man do i hate the decision to have tavares bunt. the guy's actually hitting like a major leaguer for once and you take the bat out of his hands. 2nd-5th chisox baserunning mistake of the series. an easy one to

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1130343313689843572005-10-26T08:48:00.000-07:002005-10-26T09:15:25.433-07:00

and so it beginspeople in florida are already complaining about the lack of post-wilma aid. like this piece detailed last week, bush has set a simply terrifying precedent with his aid guarantees to katrina victims. i'm not saying katrina wasn't handled poorly, but just giving people lots of money isn't going to change that (although clearly bush is hoping it will make them overlook his

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1130257575198655392005-10-25T09:23:00.000-07:002005-10-25T09:26:15.203-07:00

JJ in late positionif you have pocket jacks in late position and there are 5 limpers in front of you, do you like a call or a raise? i've read cases for both, but i tend to just limp if there are more than 4 callers in front. thoughts?

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1130169638650244862005-10-24T08:11:00.000-07:002005-10-24T09:04:25.386-07:00

world series notes-last nite's was just a phenomenal world series game. i really hope houston takes at least 2 in houston so that we can see a full 7 game series. -for a "fundamental" team, the chisox are making way too many mistakes on the basepaths. i've counted 4 in 2 games thus far: dye breaking too early on a steal, rowand turning a run scoring double into a station-to-station single,

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1129929563623845122005-10-21T13:57:00.000-07:002005-10-21T14:26:47.446-07:00

quick ws previewokay, so both teams have dominant starting rotations but even with backe i have to give a slight edge to houston. their guys have pitched in a lot more big games than the chisox counterparts. besides the obvious of never throwing in the postseason until this year, in going 7-1 thus far the chicago staff has yet to deal with a back against the wall scenario. i also give the edge

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5864191.post-1129837514477450642005-10-20T12:38:00.000-07:002005-10-20T12:47:40.260-07:00

questionable playso i had this poker hand last nite:i was in the small blind with A7s and there were 5 players in after the BB checked.flop:A 8 7 rainbow.it was caller central at this table, so i bet out hoping to enlarge the pot and planning to checkraise the turn. but of the other four players, only 1 stayed. i checked the turn (another 7), but it checked through. then i (obviously) had to

ethanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01564786736435907085noreply@blogger.com