1. Larry MacPhail tries to kidnap you but ends up stealing your ashtray instead.
2. A porcupine falls on your head.
3. Nasal maggots from snorting Smarties.
Let’s be careful out there.
1. Larry MacPhail tries to kidnap you but ends up stealing your ashtray instead.
2. A porcupine falls on your head.
3. Nasal maggots from snorting Smarties.
Let’s be careful out there.
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Any of you have Kaiser? What has your experience been like? The plan Blue Shield switched me to is now an “EPO” with extremely limited provider network, so I’m considering Kaiser as a comparably priced alternative.
I know people that like their kaiser in the eastbay.
When I had kaiser in the city, it was fine.
I have Kaiser. No issues with it.
Thanks, and go As.
Same. I switched recently and have only used them once so far, but the experience was a fine one.
I’ve actually never gone elsewhere. I’ve always had Kaiser my whole life, and I’ve never had a problem ever.
Thanks, and go As.
I like the idea of insurance, primary care, and specialists all being under one roof and coordinated so there is less bureaucracy for patients to navigate on our own.
In practice, I’ve been healthy and not really needed anything beyond a routine checkup, so it’s hard to judge.
as a former kaiser now blueshielder, i hate it that every time i have an issue i have to figure out where to go in the first place, whether they’re in the plan, if they’re open on a holiday, getting a rec in alameda to go have a procedure done in walnut creek, etc… and have defaulted into making an urgent care facility my primary doctor. i miss one-roof. but i’m particularly lazy when it comes to that kind of stuff and could see how a better hustler could make pick-n-choose providers work for her better.
we just found out that blue shield auto switched us to a high-deductible HSA. it was kind of a bummer yesterday when mrs AV went to get a prescription filled and had to pay for the whole thing. yeah, we’re in the market again…
unfortunately, we’re perfectly compatible in this sense. meaning, she’s no less lazy than i am about this and $100 says we’ll be in the same situation next time you remind me. hell, we got auto switched in the first place because we got the notice and just let the deadline expire. also because the letter didn’t detail what kind of program we’d get switched to and thought it’d at least be of the same type and of similar coverage. whatever… “health.” “insurance.”
yup.
I think you got switched to the same blue shield plan I did. Worse coverage and now a limited EPO network. I’m strongly leaning towards Kaiser especially with the info I’m getting here from you kind folks.
Thanks for all your info, people!
For those who are young, healthy and have enough income to max out their annual HSA contribution, I think a high-deductible plan with HSA compatibility is a great option. The above-the-line deduction for the HSA helps out a lot at tax time, you can withdraw the money tax-free any time you need it for qualified medical expenses, and anything left over at age 65 basically becomes a deductible IRA. You do need to max out the annual HSA contribution to take full advantage. I put mine in an S&P 500 fund so obviously that’s worked well over the last few years; of course you can put it in an FDIC-insured bank account and earn your 0.25%.
I have my new Obamacare plan up and running and for this year at least am going with the HSA-qualified high deductible plan. Yeah, providers are all over the place; the doctor’s office is in Carson City, I had blood drawn yesterday at a strip-mall storefront in Minden and any specialists would be in Reno, but that’s been the deal with a lot of things since I left the Bay Area.
My family hit the HDHP jackpot in 2012 with almost half a million in billed medical services that we were only out of pocket for about $12K. Thanks to me being in the hospital Jan. 1-2, my son’s major injury/surgery/hospitalization a few months later was “free.”
Holy cow!
Not that I would recommend that anyone EVER meet a $4,500 deductible by January 2nd, of course…
I get why people resent government “mandates” but your story makes me continue to ask the question, “Who are these people who don’t want health insurance?” Without it, it sounds like your options would be (a) take on crushing debt that would force you into bankruptcy or (b) not fully treat your son’s issues which would leave him handicapped/disabled for the rest of his life, if not pushing up the daisies by now. Possibly some combination of both (a) and (b) once the hospitals knew you wouldn’t be able to pay.
An HDHP works if you either don’t go to the doctor at all or have expenses that exceed the deductible by a good margin. With a $5000 deductible, having a single $4000 procedure in that year kinda sucks. Obamacare-compliant policies do limit out-of-pocket expense to $6350 this year so at least there’s a ceiling.
this.
I never use my insurance. Its good. I have had crap insurance (blue shield something that had an HSA). was bleeding money for SLF’s and the children’s routine stuff.
I’ve had the opposite experience; I pay a little extra each month to have Blue Shield HMO rather than the default Kaiser plan my employer offers. For my family, the ability to choose specific health providers and specialists with whom my wife and kids have existing relationships is worth it.
If it was just me and if I was starting from scratch Kaiser would work, but if you have specialized needs Kaiser can limit your options really quickly.
my problem is more money than care. I can’t speak to these issues.
Just switched to Kaiser this year and that is my concern. Lil Miss Aces is hopping mad that she can’t go to her Dr. anymore, but the difference in price was enough that I needed to pull the trigger. I had hesitated the ast 2 years, but it came down to the fact that for a family that basically geets a physical and then goes in to urgent care 1-2x for flu or something it doesnt make a huge difference. I’m the only one that needs to go in on a regular basis and unless they all of a sudden tell me I need some wierd surgery I dont care who writes my script.
It can unless you don’t have relationships with specialists already. I mean, if you don’t have someone your kids have been going to that is a specialist then you really aren’t any worse off in kiaser afaikt
From what I’ve heard, some locations are A+ and others are… less so. And if your local is bad, you’re just plain screwed.
From a policy perspective, though, I very much hope that places like Kaiser are the future, since they provide perfectly good care for a LOT less.
We had to move to Kaiser a couple of years back, and though the transition away from our existing doctors was sad (for Lily especially) overall the experience has been fine, and having everything under one roof is a big plus.
I switched from Anthem to Kaiser almost four years ago and I love Kaiser to bits.
When I was in Blue Shield I was theoretically on the patient rolls of one of the best primary care docs at UCSF….except that I never saw her, since she was always doing research or on a lecture tour or something better than routine patient care. So I ended up with a different nurse-practitioner or resident every time. That was okay, they were all good, but the office staff and setup sucked so hard it wasn’t worth it. I could never get through to an appointment person or a nurse on the first try, I had to leave a message, then they had to call me back and leave a message, then I had to call them back, etc. What did it for me was being made to come in to the office to have my self-diagnosis of plantar fasciitis confirmed after I discussed it with a nurse on the phone. Waited 3 weeks for the appointment, parked in horrible Mt Zion ramp, limped painfully across the street and down the block to the clinic, stood in line, etc. Finally saw resident who said “Yes, you have plantar fasciitis,” and handed me a badly Xeroxed version of the same advice I had already found online and a prescription for custom orthotics. Yay! Then I called the orthotics department and left a message, they called me back, I called them back, etc. Finally I got through to someone who told me my plan didn’t cover custom orthotics.
With Kaiser I do almost everything online – choosing docs, making and changing appointments, refilling Rx, emailing for advice. I’ve been able to get onto the patient rolls of the most senior docs when I wanted, and those are the people I see. The most I’ve ever paid at a time is $100 for an ER visit one of the times that my late lamented cat bit me. When I had my tiny bit of cancer I think my total out-of-pocket for biopsy, outpatient surgery, and six weeks of radiation was about $70.
The annoying thing about Kaiser, and of course it’s a good thing really, is that their computerized system will cause everyone you see, from your doctor to the vendor at the espresso cart in the lobby, to nag you relentlessly about any recommended test you haven’t complied with.
Thanks so much–great info!
I had a really good kaiser plan with my last union gig. I only used the plan a couple of times
I had my eardrum perforated circa 2:15 AM Saturday night, got an urgent care appointment around 1pm the next day (a sunday) with a doctor that didn’t think it was anything and saw a specialist on Tuesday. Great care by the specialist.
Had a lypoma (fatty tumor) removed a year ago in an outpatient thing. It didn’t scar up right, but they were very pleasant. They originally didn’t want to remove it but I said that since my family has a long cancer history, I wanted them to at least take a look at it and they did.
Its kinda a pain in the ass to get STD tests on the regular there. That would be my one complaint.
Thank you all for this great info. I feel much more comfortable making the switch now. I have zero allegiance to any of my current doctors, so it sounds like it might really be a decent move.
I can’t speak for the East Bay, but I’ve spent my working life avoiding Redwood City Kaiser like the plague (and therefore maybe also avoiding actual plague). Maybe I’ve just been here too long and their services have been upgraded… probably… but I’ve had a lot of friends tell me scary childbirth and ER stories, some scary “primary doctor missed something really obvious” stories, inattentive inpatient nurse stories. Not for a while, though. And they are finally upgrading their 1000-year-old facilities, so if I ever do have to choose them, it might be less scary.
Tickets for individual games go on sale Friday at 9:00 AM, at the actual Box Office as well as online.
By the way, if anyone has not yet gotten Opening Day tickets (which have been on sale since December) you should probably move quickly, the remaining selection is slim.
I’ve got mine. Can’t GO, but I’ve got my tickets. :(
WHY ARE PEOPLE SNORTING SMARTIES???
(don’t they make pixie sticks anymore?)
In my Christmas stocking as a joke gift I got a pack of candy cigarettes, which I thought had been banned from production.
i think the actual ban is that you can’t make tobacco cigs have candy flavors. menthol was grandfathered in.
What you say is true, but at the time of passage it was also reported, erroneously as it turned out, that the legislation also banned candy cigarettes. Some states and municipalities have banned them, much to the consternation of the misanthropic old coot behind candycigarettes.org.
thank god thank god thank god
what is in store for Michel Ynoa
Should we double down on Ynoas?
pre-WC injury report (what are we, about 4.5 months out?):
neymar our for about a month after last week’s ankle tweak. not so bad. the brazilian team coordinator even went as far as saying the rest will do him good because he’ll get more rest and arrive to the WC more whole. (polyanna!)
falcao on the other hand… ouch. one of those sideways knees things. happened today and there’s no medical report yet.
Ugh. That defender might want to steer clear of Colombia for a while.
i can’t figure out who he is, but i don’t think he’s got travel plans anyway. not to latin america in any soccer capacity, anyway. chasselay is a B team, maybe amateur — if i understood what i just read in 5 seconds about how france organizes its leagues.
Well, poop. ACL tear.
Apparently the opponent plays in the fourth tier of French soccer, and basically is amateur. What the hell Falcao was doing in that game I do not know.
motherfuck. i was really looking forward to seeing him.
Oviedo out with a possibly career-ending double-fracture of the left leg.
horrible.
the word on kun’s right hamstring injury wednesday is: out for a month.
holland’s strootman, out with a torn knee ligament.
I just got this email today and figured I’d pass it on in case any of you folks want to represent FK at the BlogFest and do what I did last year.
Adam Loberstein
1:10 PM (8 hours ago)
Just wanted to give you a heads up that we’ll again be hosting a BlogFest as part of A’s FanFest on Saturday, February 8. The event will offer panel-style interview sessions with A’s manager Bob Melvin, assistant GM David Forst and a couple of A’s players.
To be considered to cover BlogFest, please apply at http://www.oaklandathletics.com/blogfest by this Sunday, January 26 at 5 p.m. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Adam
KAY!
yay!
Say hey!
“hey!”
Oh Kay!!!
We don’t want Blogfest. We want Kay!
I’m currently in therapy. My therapist advises me to avoid (non-vital) things that trigger my anger and depressive responses. So, I kinda need to stay away from things like arguing with people online and playoff-bound sports teams whose seasons will most likely end in disappointment and send me spiraling into months-long depression.
I hope y’all have a fun season and enjoy the good times together, online and at the Coliseum.
Update: My antidepressant kicked in, and all of a sudden, my emotional coping mechanisms became a LOT more effective. It’s refreshing not to have little things send me spiraling off into bad moods or anxiety attacks or anger.
I miss a lot of you cats, and I think I’m going to try to come around once in a while. I still don’t know how I feel about baseball. I know I don’t want to wake up sad in the morning after having had a bad dream about the A’s losing the ALDS again.
Drugs aren’t always bad mmmkkkk…
I started some meds late last year and it really cleared my head. I had some good changes at work at the same time so it was like a near 180 in my attitude. And it made me look back and realize I was probably depressed for a lot longer than I ever thought I was.
A lot of cats miss you too and as always, the more the merrier.
My excitement for this season is definitely muted compared to last year. The stench of game 4 is not something that’s easily washed off.
Thanks for the update – good to hear you’re doing better.
You’re missed.
Seconded
I hope you’ll come around sometimes!
Hi Kay!
Hey, Kay!
We should def. send someone if there is interest.
Can I be the FK representative via skype from the south pole?
That would be very cool!
Yes. Frigid even.
“Question here from the #1 most read Athletics blog in Antarctica…”
But seriously, I don’t really want to expend the effort necessary to make this work.
Has the Blue Ribbon committee considered Ross Island as a potential location for a new stadium? It has the largest media market on the continent, convenient access by cargo plane *or* icebreaker, and the ballpark experience would include beautiful views of Mt. Erebus. Post game dining options include the McMurdo galley and *three* bars. Plus, it would be a welcome boost to the local economy, which consists only of the McMurdo store (plus the store at Scott base, if you are willing to walk a couple miles). Finally, the penguin rookeries at Arrival Heights represent an untapped source for a new generation of MLB fans.
But I’ve heard the penguins won’t approve anything that requires public funding.
Yeah, but the real issue is that the Arctic Santa Sleighers have T-Rights for the South Continent.
There is nothing but public funding down here. I figure that’s why Bud Selig would like it.
legal:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d11/vc21201.htm
regarding (d), because it says highway and then sidewalk with nothing inbetween, does that mean streets are OK to ride without (ridiculous amounts of) bicycle lights and reflectors? or does the term highway include city streets?
the term includes streets.
damn you law-explaining man!
where does the second one come from?
—
if you’re trying to shame me for the fist one, i’ve been ashamed since the second i hit post. i said “amounts.” that’s clearly a “numbers/quantity” situation.
I was quoting me… unfortunately formating bit me.
what about the reflectors? is the biker at fault if they don’t have pedal reflectors?
i honestly believe that you can be at fault with lights and without. and that you can be *not* at fault with lights and without. just depends on whose fault it is.
meaning, it’s more about how you ride than about the lights. and personally, knowing that i’m not seen keeps me from assuming that i am, so i ride accordingly. like there are these stupid blind malicious metal boxes trying to kill me and it’s my job to look out for them and stay out of their way. poor lady, and hella lit-up experienced rider, but i bet she thought the truck could see her.
and i’m not saying she shouldn’t have lights on. i just mean it’s a cheap law as written.
I think the onus should be on the rider to make sure they’re visible, doesn’t necessarily matter hw that’s accomplished so long as it’s done. But once that’s done then whatever happens, as you said, it’s all about who’s actual fault it is. But if you’re not visible, the rest of what you do doesn’t really matter.
small quibble: I think the onus should be on the rider to make sure they’re
visiblesafe, doesn’t necessarily matter hw that’s accomplished so long as it’s done.bigger quibble: if you’re not visible,
the rest of what you do doesn’t really matterthe rest of what you do matters more, in fact, only what you do matters.it’s just different wording to basically agree that yes, the onus is on the rider (which i gladly accept).
Where you in a traffic altercation?
not since that one and only time a motorized vehicle has come in contact with my body or my bike, last summer, in broad daylight, while i was in the crosswalk with the light, and he jumped the gun thinking his red was over, but he didn’t know it wasn’t because he was busy texting when he put his foot on the gas, which i guess police officers in their cruisers are allowed to do, because he just rolled down the window, asked if i was ok (we were unharmed, the bike and i, just a bump and some afterflavor nervous shakes), and kept going. meanwhile all the people at the bus stop were yelling at me to get a get out of jail card from it, but i just let it go. i remember his face though, should i ever meet him again.
but no, i was just looking at that law because i heard about a guy in emeryville who got a ticket for riding a doubletall. the law says you have to be able to put your foot down on the ground (c) and the question was whether the law said you had to be in the saddle while doing this, or if a quick dismount counted, because the law is ambiguous as to what “safely stopping” and “supporting” mean.
My version was more legally, but yours is quite right in terms of survivally.
Sure. But the problem is that the law only matters when someone has failed to make sure they’re safe. So that standard doesn’t really help.
I should have qualified that as “my version was more what it SHOULD be legally.” The law, especially these sorts, rarely are simple or straightforward.
I’m pickin’ up good vibrations… it must be Gary Burton’s 71st birthday today. Grab this unissued, immaculately-recorded-and-played set from 1974 — featuring the equally-as-virtuosic Pat Metheny early on in his esteemed career — and join me in the celebration of one of Earth’s greatest living musicians and teachers.
This is neither new, nor am I (nor Mr. Neyer) worried that this is going to happen.
I was under the impression that Portland falls within the Mariners’ territorial rights, which would make putting a team there roughly as difficult as putting one in San Jose even apart from the economic and political issues Neyer points to.
Certainly, Portland is within their TV territory, but I haven’t seen anything that it is within some sort of territorial rights similar to what is in the Bay Area, nor have I seen it discussed previously with respect to any “Baseball in Portland” article.
I feel like I’ve seen it mentioned before, but possibly by someone who was confusing blackout zones with territorial rights.
Each club’s exclusive “operating territory” is defined, usually along county lines, in the MLB Constitution. For the Mariners, it’s King County WA only. The A’s have Alameda and Contra Costa Counties; the Giants have San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Marin and “with respect to all Major League Clubs, Santa Clara County…shall also be included”. Yes, in all cases the exclusive “operating territory” is much smaller than the television territory, which is shared by as many as six teams (hello, Las Vegas).
Nope. Just TV. They’re similar to the Orioles with D.C. But I also don’t think it would require them appeasing the M’s in any way. They’re just not physically close enough. But one thing they forgot was back when the Expos were looking for a new home, they create a fund for a potential stadium, so there’s that. Not that it’ll happen anytime soon. Like most other potential new places, there probably a good 10+ years out.
In the spirit of New Things to Worry About, I bet nobody was expecting to be attacked by an abandoned cruise ship full of cannibal rats!
No problem (since this thing is headed to the UK, I assume the Royal Navy would take the lead in dealing with it).
the pacific is probably giants’s territory. ’cause look at all those splash hits!
honest question: are they missing that badly, or do those shots that land less than halfway there finish the task underwater?
It took them a while to get the range dialed in. They only have a 25 mm gun on those cutters. A navy destroyer would’ve hit that thing with a 5″ gun with much more effect. The shots that landed short died right there (Steven Spielberg be damned!).
forgot to post this yesterday
If JediLeroy is around, I am in the preliminary stages of planning my summer. I may go to OC the 2nd week of june. I notice the A’s are in town the 9-11.
If you are there maybe a FK-up.
(DFA too)
i support that
That’s about when we will have moved (the company is letting me work from home/commute until the school year is finished). If we’re down there, I’d be all for that.
surf’s up!
so stoked to hear people talk about glassy bowls and gnarly channels.
say, siri seems to have gained a bit of a gum-smacking attitude, if not accent, after the release of OS 10.9 mavericks… coincidence?
over the falls! (ie, wipeout.)
They’re showing the gnarliest wipeouts of the day right now. Day-um!
i believe by day-um you mean duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.
wait. did you just edit? where’d those skis come from?
actually, where are these photos from?
i want to see that guy (i don’t know any names anymore. WHERE’S KELLY SLATER?) in the first semi (i think), or the set before that. he was at the top of the wave, decided to back out, leaned backwards, but the wave said nuh-huh, and the lip pushed him back over the drop. i want to see if he was goofy footing and facing shore or if i’m remembering it wrong.
Yes, switched to a slightly more dramatic shot of same wipeout. From http://www.sfgate.com/other/slideshow/Mavericks-2014-78420.php.
they just showed it. regular foot.
The names that stick with me are the nicknames. So I’m rooting for Skindog.
Skindog not actually in final. So I guess that leaves Grant “Twiggy” Baker. But Shane Dorian rode the most awesome wave in the semis so maybe I’m rotting for him.
Rotting Durian?
Contest admin missed a great chance by not giving him the Gray jersey.
i’m rooting for anyone near 40. so twiggy and shane? wouldn’t be sad for any californian who wins.
best name of the day has left: rusty long.
The finals start at 1:30. Locals are making a strong show, will have at least 3 of the 6 finals berths. Waves have been fantastic. I did not know that most of the guys now wear quick-inflation lifevests under their wetsuits.
Finals will have three locals, one guy from San Clemente, one from Hawaii, one South African.
i realize the wind’s bad, but i love that combed back spray waves get from the breeze.
it’s one of the oddities of surf contests though, that the final heats are always in worse conditions just because of the afternoon timing after you get through the beginning heats. but if they’re choppier, they seem to be getting a little bigger right now.
did you see that guy pearl? ouch. i didn’t know about the inflatables either. good innovation. i know i’ve been in the washing machine a few times just waiting till it lets me up. horrible feeling. and those were 4-footers max, none of this 40-foot stuff.
and i’m glad they’ve stopped launching from jetskis anymore.
Yeah, Dollar, started bouncing on a crazy steep drop and had no hope. I’ve been washing machined for like maybe 40 seconds max, probably less (and felt like an eternity). Without the inflatable he could’ve been down for a couple minutes easy.
Jet skis suck. Eddie wouldn’t tow. That said, the waves people can only get via tow-in at places like Jaws are amazing to see.
Seemed like the big waves suddenly crapped out about halfway through the finals. I’m not stoked.
Yeah, AV had it right, waves nowhere near as good later in the day. In the early heats there were huge ridable sets every few minutes. In the semis still plenty of good waves, then quickly faded. Victory for Twiggy on the strength of two good rides really early in the finals hour.
not a very competitive final. grant’s throwaway score was better than any of the other surfers’ best waves that heat. surprised that dorian’s second wave was scored so low (looked fun to me! don’t they score on how fun it looks?). and that sealed it. he needed a 10 there just to keep pace.
#12
Also BA has their A’s top ten out today.
McKinney very quietly got off to a nice start as a pro hitter. Only nine games in Vermont, but a .964 OPS is good to see from an 18 year old. I’m looking forward to seeing some scouting reports on this kid.
But he turned 19 in August, which makes him old and his ISO in rookie ball was less than 100. I have absolutely no faith in him being any good. I would trade him ASAP
Can’t trade him until after the draft, right? If you’re right about him, he’ll probably already have flamed out by then.
This makes me sad. Basically one A- guy and then it goes right into a bunch of C prospects.
that’s looking thin.
Not that I know anything about prospects
It’s very thin. On the other hand, the top guy is the best prospect we’ve had since, who, Brett Anderson? Carlos Gonzalez? Rich Harden? Eric Chavez??
BA had Anderson #7 and Cahill #11 in 2009.
Carlos Pena #5 in 2002.
Chavez #3 in 1999.
Ben Grieve #1 in 1998.
Clearly their motivation metric needs improvement.
Thin in the upper minors, although SP Tanner Peters is a sleeper I like who’ll (most likely) start at AA. He reminds me of Straily; not going to be an Ace but could peak as a #3. Muncy is NOT merely a product of the Cal League, I think he’ll hit enough that when you factor the glove he projects to an above-average 1B.
There’s a lot of upside in the low minors. A year from now the system could look a lot stronger thanks to internal developement.
Or not.
Also a couple of relievers (Dull and Healy) with crazy-good K rates who could rise fast like Doolittle did.
It’s not unrealistic to project Dull and Healy making the majors by midseason this year, which makes the spending spree on a glut of relievers that more confusing.
Johnson, Gregerson et al. should be eminently flippable by midseason if room needs to be made.
But for what? Half of Jemile Weeks and Seth Smith?
mid year hauls for relievers are usually better than postseason ones
Well Joe Thatcher, Scott Downs, Jesse Crain, Marc Rzepdsfafhwski, K-Rod, and Matt Thornton were some of the relievers traded at the deadline last year for Ian Kennedy, Juan Herrera, Cory Rasmus, PTBNL or cash, Nick Delmonico, and Brandon Jacobs.
I suppose Ian Kennedy is a little interesting but everyone else is basically about as good or worse than Smith and Weeks.
both nick delmoncio and brandon jacobs are also more interesting than weeks
also crain was hurt. Krod is an asshole.
rzepdsjfal;kjfdslkjfsal had a mid 4 ERA and <2 K/BB ratio when traded
Jose Veras got two high upside former international bonus babies
I really don’t think there’s an argument to be made that the prospects you mentioned, seeing as none of them are close to being top 100 types, are significantly different in value than Weeks, who’s made the majors, had success, and still has upside, or Smith, who’s more sure of some value but with limited upside. Of course, YMMV.
Weeks had 1 good year fueled by BABIP. I think as a fringe defensive player who is 26, he neither has the offensive or defensive skills to stick as a bench player. Even the Os don’t seem very high on him.
That being said Smith does have some value.
the 2013 reliever trade class was less valued than in the past. I don’t think that is permenant
Yo DFA the A’s are having “Josh Donaldson Diorama Bobblehead” day on April 19. Plan your travel accordingly.
That guy’ll never amount to anything
Root Beer Float Day is a night game (July 23). And the very next day is a 12:30 start! This is an outrage.
it’s called cross-promotioning… (you need to bring your fleece blanket from the april 5th, 1pm game.)
They did this last year also, making it the first RBF day I’d missed in like 8 years. So stupid.
ZIPS thinks Mike Trout will once again not suck this year (No. 1 comp: Mickey Mantle). Luckily, it doesn’t think much of the rest of their roster.
Fangraphs recently did a piece on how he’s better than ~20 teams’ entire OFs
Caught myself daydreaming in the shower this morning about an alternate reality in which Callaspo’s little flare in Game 4 fell in and two runs scored. It’s sad enough that I was having that little fantasy in January. Even sadder that my immediate reaction to it was “I bet the bullpen still blows it.”
if i didn’t know any better, i’d say you just prose-filked standing in the shower thinking.
standing in the shower thinking
about what makes two runs.
a scrub or an unexpected hero,
i’m thinking about a flare hit,
the ways it coulda made the season
or depress me 4 months later.
the water hits my neck,
and i bet the bullpen still blows it,
standing in the shower thinking.
not gonna filk it. don’t have the talent
10 more years! 10 more years! Not the sort of move you’d make if you thought San Jose was happening.
Or it could be the sort of thing you’d do IF you thought SJ was happening. It’d take that long to run through SCOTUS a couple of times. Just another thing to keep people talking, guessing, blah blah blahing. Until you have MLB, a city (any city) AND Wolff talking about the same site to build a new stadium on, I’m not sure there’s anything to be excited about. Well, aside for the likelihood of the A’s being nearby for a while which is a pretty nice deal.
Ooooh. Just thought of another nice bonus. If the A’s make that kind of commitment and the Raiders don’t get in the way with their quest to tear it down and rebuild, they may be more inclined to do a little sprucing up.
If they did actually put in modern scoreboards/video boards, you’d think they could mount them at (in) the ends of the third deck rather than putting them above the top of the original bowl, so they’d be more in the fans’ line of vision. Especially since the Raiders are tarping off the ends of the third deck now.
This. Fix the plumbing, get better food vendors, couple of scoreboards, and face the concrete (murals anyone?)- done.
Most commonly in the publicly-owned stadium industry, it is the tenants pay for stuff like that, so a 10 year lease extension could well include a new scoreboard on the A’s dime.
My understanding is the tenant pays but takes it out of the lease?
Better (or at least different) food vendors are happening this year.
really? cool
Aramark is gone.
[Stomps feet, huzzahs!]
Wow, we may even be able to get a decent cup of coffee during day games now.
That’s always a step in the right direction.
beyond
rudy fail.
here‘s the nutty part though.
you think the food is going to be that much better?
not better than the english beat at bimbo’s tomorrow night.
Awesome. Or should I say ranking.
Grr…I went to a website that said they were here at Fulton 55 tonight. Then last night at like 6 I found out it was actually that night and was already sold out. Them and Lets Go Bowling would have been a great start to the year in concerts.
sorry. i just found out yesterday and there were tickets left. right now trying to decide which checkerboard socks i should wear.
The new concessionaire is Ovations, “part of the Comcast Spectacor Family of Companies”. Sure, one step in the right direction, then three steps in the wrong direction?
what a positively informative internet web site.
Spectacor has gotten freakin huge in the arena management biz in a fairly short time. Pretty impressive. No idea if the Ovations food is any good, though I do know that they kicked Aramark’s ass in the RFP process.
I think we have them at the Grizzlies park here, and it is nothing to write home about. Now I imagine for MLB they would up the game a bit.
I have a deep-seated hatred for Aramark.
They’ll give you a four hour window during which, at some point, you will be able to buy food.
Down from 6!
Only matters for me when I’m on the value deck, since otherwise it’s usually Saags.
As long as they don’t touch Saags, pretty much anything they do will be a welcome effort in my mind.
I imagine both sides would have a trivial buyout after 2017, symbolic because it will be the A’s 50th season in Oakland.
I hope they stick with the the current set up for 10 years.
So, I started following newballpark on twitter a few days ago, but he never fails to piss me off, I was hoping for a good source of links at least…
He comes across as such an SJ homer/ Oakland hater, what gives?
His site gives me ‘brain hives’, so I stopped looking a while ago and was hoping twitter might be a good alternative, but the ‘unfollow’ is now eminent.
The site is much more palatable if you skip the parrot chorus of idiot comments (not directed at any FKers who comment there). His articles give good info because he does good research, but you have to filter it through his bias. More or less the same technique I use to read the Wall Street Journal or dailykos, say.
The Twitter feed is reduction to the lowest common denominator, and his thin skin shows through.
Great advice to avoid the comments, I’ll try that out.
I’d say that’s a fairly accurate assessment. I think the bias is overstated, but definitely there (at least on the site, I can’t speak to the twatter). And a lot of the comments… yeah… I don’t know why I still read and/or comment, but the banal redundancy there is almost as tiring as the situation itself.
I agree, ML’s Twitter is outright trolling a lot of the time now which is a shame – really detracts from the sound research he’s done on the blog.
Giant gas cloud with massive black hole: Astronomers go goatse.
Leo Meyer?
Much more interesting – watch for the supernova in M82 that will become visible in a week or so, before fading away over the following couple of weeks.
To find it, extend the line from the bottom left to top right corner of the dipper part of the big dipper as far again, and that’ll get you there.
supernova?
supernova.
supernova
You’d have to try really hard to find a less super Nova than that vintage, from the pit of the suck era. A far more superNova.
Better still. Supernova.
I think my grandma had one. with those cloth tires.
(not that model)
Super Nova
I read about that, sounds pretty cool. Don’t see that every day!
i’m not really into talking about phone apps, but skyview free is awesome. my favorite part is the spent rocket/satellite bodies floating everywhere. i wonder if they’ll have ephemeral events like these. but even if not, it can help us find NGC3077, NGC3031, and D UMA, if that’s around where you’re saying this supernova will be.
The supernova is in M82 (NGC 3034).
Missed it by that much.
well, they look that close on the app. in space, they’re probably at least a hundred miles apart…
would you believe… hundreds?
Fun trivia: the old catalogues (like Messier’s) were created as lists of things that could be mistaken for, but weren’t, comets.
—the ’60 falcon
—the ’61 edsel
—the ’65 galaxie 500
LOL
Nice
And NGC 3031 and 3077 are member of the same group of galaxies as M82, so it’s not just superficial/line-of-sight proximity.
Tomorrow I plan to win a shit load of money so I can buy a dream home in another state. Also, I plan to look sexy as hell and eat a lot of food. If you never hear from me again, I’ve moved on.
noted.
kick ass tomorrow
Get Lucky!
Rock the happiest birthday!
Early list of Super Bowl prop bets. Hey, there are even some to hold you soccer fans’ interest, for example:
Can I have £5,000?
What for?
I still owe Dave for that body he stashed last May.
Can you provide documentary evidence of the debt?
{flips through Polaroids}
It’s still January 25th… you didn’t think I forgot about Etta James birthday, did you? Nor did I forget to load you up with not one, not two, but three sets of Etta blowing the respective roofs off three distinct venues… including New Year’s Eve 1982 in our very own Oakland Arena with — yes, this is not a misprint — The Grateful Dead.
I hadn’t been hooked up with the Dead yet in 1982, although I was a student at Berkeley at the time. I heard that NYE set (which was at the Kaiser/Oakland Aud) just within the last few weeks on the Grateful Dead channel on XM and found Etta’s performance an insufferable exercise in narcissism. Had to turn it off about 2/3 of the way through the set.
Other than that Mrs. Kennedy, how was the motorcade? I thought it was fun and they all sounded like they were having a blast.
Of the many venues I saw the Dead play, the Kaiser was easily my favorite.
That’s the third Kaiser in this grill. Has to be a record!
We’re on a roll!
Hee!
can anyone recommended a good steel mill strike?
It’s ridiculous how much stuff is named after Kaiser. In addition to the ones already named, in Oakland alone there’s the Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park Uptown (that’s where that hideous Remember Them statue is) and the Kaiser Center, the curved-front office building along the lake (where Henry J himself once lived in the penthouse).
Nobody ever mistook this for a Comet:
And the guitarist.
Not to mention Kaiser High School in Hawaii Kai.
Dam it, there sure are a lot of Kaiser references, way more than things named “Bechtel”.
fk up for those so inclined.
Feb 13, valentines day eve.
Ezra Klein and friends to Vox Media.
was written that poorly.
Proud home of Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias…and Reverend Halofan and Nico.
New thing to worry about: apparently, Michael Bay has an assload of new movies coming out this year.
It looks like he’s mostly taking on a producer role though. One can rest a little easier knowing he’s not personally directing around 7 “movies”/TV series.
Yeah, not sure that’ll matter if he gets his hands too deep on them.
This is my concern. There are certain names that, if associated with a movie, put said movie on my “no watch” list. Michael Bay is one such name.
Adam Sandler
Will Ferrell
I used to like Will Ferrell. For me, it’s mostly action film guys, like Jason Statham or Vin Diesel.
Adam Sandler, Will Ferrel, Waylan Brother (any brother), and Ang Lee are on mine. I can enjoy a Michael Bay film, albeit they’re very rare and seldom theater worthy. There are a number of actors on my list too including the ones mentioned in general.
I avoid Uwe Boll, Adam Sandler, Rick Berman, the majority of Nicholas Cage’s stuff, Damon Lindelof, and the recent work of Lucas and Coppola.
Off the top of my head anyhow.
Paging PDX-I’ll be in Portland Weds-Friday. Drop me a note if you are available at any point during that time. bfeldman (at) eccentric .org
Just sent e-mail.
Clay Davenport projects the A’s to narrowly win the division again.
Yay! Someone has faith!
I’m gonna go all Bill Simmons and say I prefer it when “nobody believes in us.”
I’m counting on the Ewing Theory potential of not having Brett Anderson.
Except no one’s writing us off.
He projects 723 runs scored, which is tied with Boston and behind only Texas. I assume the projections take home park into account, so our offense is going to rule?
I noticed the same thing. I downloaded the hitter projection, but I’m not sure how to open it and maintain proper formatting.
We scored 767 and 713 the last two years, so it seems pretty reasonable.
Boston scored 853 last year, but a lot of regression does seem likely.
As well as the 4th least runs allowed, that’s pretty nice, looks like only TB and Det have better RDs.
I like the Texas-Blahstan play-in game.
We don’t have a lot of weaknesses though I would like an upgrade for Vogt who’s currently slated to be the LH catcher.
I’m also concerned about Parker needing TJS though I suppose Milone isn’t too big of a downgrade.
Replacing 2013 Parker with 2012 Milone would be acceptable.
I’m still trying to figure out what it is people like about Parker, not to say that he’s bad, but I don’t see much that puts him above any of our other starters. He’d be my #3/ #4 if I were making the roster.
I kind of feel like when Parker is on he looks like an ace. I’m not saying he is or that he’s that on that often. It’s more visual than statistical which is to say he’s more eye candy ace rather than actual talent.
DAT CHANGEUP
Sure, but Straily has a sick slider, and Griffin a beautiful rainbow of a curve, both had more value last season.
He’s had the most ‘prospect hype’ of them all, obviously I’m hoping Parker is more 2012 than 2013.
It’s pretty crazy how deep the back end of our rotation is, nothing stellar, but each one shines brightly at times.
Here’s hoping they figure out how to keep them in the park this season.
the world can stop spinning for all i care. whole foods now sells records. and i’m ready for the vinyl solution.
(if you can’t stand slow sites, but do OK with cliché-leant writing, alt link to get the gist.)
I don’t need a cure
I don’t need a cure
I don’t need a cure
I need a vinyl solution.
dammit. I typed that comment then accidentally clicked out
definite a top-ten tune in the list: best songs ever (that the songwriter really should have done 1% more homework on before calling it done and putting it down on tape ’cause now i can’t play it anywhere other than quietly in my bedroom with the doors closed lest the neighbors think i’m a nazi or something).
I had a pere ubu phase senior year of hs
class of ’97?
(a guess based on when the pere ubu box set came out. that’s all.)
2004… some random kids from debate introduced it to me after a petrodollars filibuster.
[takes out calculator] wow. i have no math intuition at all.
why is MikeV selling all this stuff?
San Ramon is too $$ for me.
Thanks, and go As.
R.I.P. the father of American folk music: Pete Seeger passed away yesterday at 94.
Wow, Pete Seeger was a massive talent, a true pioneer. When I was a teen I saw him in concert with Arlo Gurthie, early 80’s, and Pete taught me that the very best live musicians perform with their audiences, not just to them.
I can’t say he inspired me to my profession, but this is a good kick in the ass when things get tough:
Rob Neyer is leaving BLezNation
Thanks, and go As.
You don’t say.
fitness.
Thanks, and go As.
Bwhahaha!
Would you have freedom from Wage slavery,
Then join in the grand Industrial band;
Would you from mis’ry and hunger be free,
Then come, do your share, like a man.
(Chorus)
There is pow’r there is pow’r in a band of workingmen,
When they stand hand in hand,
That’s a pow’r, that’s a pow’r
That must rule in every land—
One Industrial Union Grand.”>Would you have freedom from Wage slavery,
Then join in the grand Industrial band;
Would you from mis’ry and hunger be free,
Then come, do your share, like a man.
(Chorus)
There is pow’r there is pow’r in a band of workingmen,
When they stand hand in hand,
That’s a pow’r, that’s a pow’r
That must rule in every land—
One Industrial Union Grand.
Thanks for the ear worm.
looks like these union guys are goldbricking the link repair job. maybe hire a scab next?
Go U! NU!
While I’m totally in favor of this. I wonder how well that works when everyone who would be part of this would be gone within 4 years.
hee
Funny, Northwestern is not the first school I would have thought of as a hotbed of union activity. Also what dmoas said…such movements usually rely on a few dedicated firebrands, hard to sustain with that kind of turnover rate. But enough about NU’s offense…
ASVD, jerk.
I figure that this is part of Mr. Colter’s post-graduation plan, since any thought about getting drafted disappeared after Week 6. Way to create your own job!
It does seem like you could get continued presence from many college athletes who don’t get drafted in their respective sports. I hope this goes somewhere.
This is fucking amazing and gives me hope.
did nobody read my link from an hour earlier than that?
No linky in posty
ah. that explains it
runtime error
In related news, VW’s Tennessee plant is going through a labor dispute involving organization. Oddly, VW is apparently backing the UAW’s efforts to organize the plant, but some workers and Republicans are resisting.
Huh. How does that make sense?
Which part?
Company backing it while employees being against it.
Company backs it because they want to set up German-style work councils, which apparently may be illegal without union participation. Workers opposed to it because Southerners are brainwashed to believe that unions are bad.
The workers are not opposed to it. The GOP politicians in Tennesse and elsewhere in the south are.
There are definitely a sizable number of workers opposed to it. Both sides claim they’d win a vote on unionizing.
The anti side says that they only have 30% on a petition. Thats hardly enough to claim that they would win a vote. Usually, there is 50% fall offs from peition to voting. At least thats how we treat our numbers when we go to union election.
Ok. I just went based on a quote in the article I linked. I haven’t done any other research into it.
20% of people would oppose getting a free gold lingot because it was too heavy.
Dude. Do you know what that shit would do to my back?
lingot? What is that, some sort of slang? And why’s it free? You must have done something to it. I don’t like it and I don’t want it.
It’s a typo/error, he means: ingot.
thought it sounds like part lingo and part argot for ingot, lingot is good as gold.
whoa. m-w went paywall…
free.
Sounds fishy.
NSTAAFD.
Not Sure This Aphasic Acronym Fully Deciphers?
No Such Thing As A Free Definition.
ah.
Only rare/rarely used words are behind their paywall. Which is stupid when it comes to words since finding definitions for free on the interwebz is entirely too easy.
Is that short for lil’ ingot? I would like that to be the case
Yes yes. ‘Twas a joke
And in fairness, it turns out, while (possibly) archaic, in his current spelling, DFA wasn’t wrong.
actually I meant lingot
Yeah, but 47% take free stuff the government takes from hard-working Americans and gives to those freeloaders.
I didn’t realize 47% of the country worked on Wall Street.
Not 47% of the population, just 47% of our collective ego.
Maybe only 47% of YOUR collective ego. I’m fking ALL IN BABY!!!
All in? Or all win?
Yes.
I think this is an underestimate
Because if your management isn’t completely dicks there are advantages to management of having a union.
In VW’s case it was the only plant that didn’t have a German corpratist union with work councils.
goal of the century. same dance, different angle. watch fenwick — second uncalled handball of the game?
that was from a movie?
the shot at the end makes me think it’s from a talk show. the voiceover says, let’s watch what brazilian TV made for us.
The poor defense there is astounding.
Thanks, and go As.
nobody thought he’d run in a straight line toward the goal and shoot?
This being the Azteca I’m betting the English lungs were starting to burn. Either way, an Italian would have hacked him down at some point in that run.
only if diego didn’t 4:50 first…
(2:50 is pretty rad though.)
I forget sometimes how fun he was to watch. No one compares, really.
Ronaldinho
Thanks, and go As.
He was pretty fun. Still is when he’s standing over a dead ball.
There was just something about Diego though. His size and shape, his insane confidence that he could do anything with the ball, the possibly coke-driven mania of his play. He was something else.
Fun piece comparing the BBC and Radio Argentina calls of this goal. Radio Argentina wins forever:
only thing missing is what ta-ta-ta means. short for está, está, está. something like [the goal] is there, it’s there, it’s there, or it’s done, it’s done, it’s done.
also: http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/just_plain_stupid/Simpsons_Explain_Soccer/#302049
Holds it. Holds it! HOLDS IT!!!!
Until just now, I never realized that the names of the players in that Simpsons bit (Arriaga, Arriaga II, and Barriaga) were probably inspired by the name Burruchaga.
also also, i hate watching soccer in english because of something like the vince factor. especially when i have the game on but am doing something else, cooking, folding laundry, or watching a second soccer game.
nobody says goal when it happens. it takes up to a minute sometimes for someone to actually say the word, and forget about it having any emotional impact. at best, you get a “and there it is” …. silence … “a magnificent finish.” in spanish, i can be doing anything else and just by the rising pitch of the voice i can tell if there’s a goal imminent so i look up, and/or have no doubt that a goal just happened because GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL.
this BBC call even. it has the emotion, true. but he doesn’t say goal for a while. (yeah, i can piece it that “puts it away” is a goal, but i don’t want to piece it, i want it on a platter.)
There is nothing quite like the game soccer being called by a spanish speaker. So much rhythm, tempo, and then the ecstatic release klaxon, pretty amazing stuff, sadly, usually waaaay to fast for me to understand more than 50%.
I get this, but I also reject it. For me, anyway, soccer is not a good “listening” sport like baseball is. I couldn’t imagine doing yardwork or something with a match on in the background, but baseball is perfect for just such a thing.
English (well, US) announcers shouldn’t be trying to be like their foreign counterparts. They need to figure out their own way of calling a match, just like the MLS shouldn’t be trying to be like La Liga or EPL. It needs to grow on its own and become a legit product by itself.
Thanks, and go As.
slightly self-fulfilling perhaps? soccer isn’t a listening sport for you because the announcers you get don’t call it well. / soccer is a listening sport for me because the announcers i get give me what i need to see it.
think of a buancast versus a KK game. is baseball an automatic “listening” sport, or do certain announcers know how to help you see it, and listeners know how to hear it too. (i realize the slower pace and static positioning helps baseball a lot.)
totally agree it should develop on its own for its own audience and times. that’s why spanish-called soccer works for me: it developed during radio days, that tradition carried into TV.
since soccer in the US wasn’t even invented until HD TV came out, it’s more of a visual medium.
and i’m not saying the US announcers should call it visually. i’m saying that when announcers call it visually it gives me the ability to do other things and still be into the game. otherwise sunday 8pm would roll around and you’d find me in the same position i was at 10am on the couch, only starving and festering in a pool of my own waste.
We call that NFL Weekend.
Thanks, and go As.
I’m just gonna put this here, without comment.
you are opening a window, though, right?
With me around, it’s best to just go ahead and leave a window open.
Addison Russell is doing a live chat on ESPN at noon. Klaw ranked him #3 overall.
Klaw on Russell:
That, or Punto/Sogard are capable enough defensively that Lowrie could play 2B anyway.
I think I’d be massively surprised if Russell plays in Oakland this year.
Thanks, and go As.
Massively? Does that mean you’ll shit yourself if it happens? SURPRISE!!
(sorry, totally not you, but I’m beginning to get bugged by the misuse of that word and you’re nowhere near alone in it nor do/should you really give a shit either)
intrigued. explain the correct use?
“forming or consisting of a large mass.” It’s basically grown to add the meaning of “big.”
Once again, blame the Brits.
Really? I thought it was the damn ‘Murcans.
ety seems to say it always carried a meaning of corporeal size. then the brits added a shading toward numerous.
i think i’m about to coin a word: meh-tonym.
Something that annoys one, like a pet peeve, but is really not a deal, let alone a big one?
a metonym that’s so close to the word it refers to that the difference is negligible.
i could see how in a more scientific sense you don’t want to substitute mass and size, but in a figurative case like this, where the definitions are kinda intertwined anyway… it’s a little meh.
especially since we have to assume mike didn’t mean massive all along. for all we know, his surprise could be of a great figurative mass. just like a bummer can be heavy.
Is this usage of massive really an example of meh-tonym? I think of it more as meh-taphor or maybe catachr-eh-sis.
i like this unpronounceable cata word, but it seems to rely on no other term being available. rabbit hole leads us to meh-talepsis via farfetched (because not always true) casual relationship between things that have more mass being bigger.
two things are for sure. FSU’s use of “massive black hole” is indisputable. and metalepsis would be an awesome hairband name.
The first is only indisputable until FSU has a bowel movement.
found a good one for you just now, reading a manuscript for a cookbook. the sentence is about chez panisse having a “massive kitchen.” you’d object because a kitchen is an empty space. i objected because the chez panisse kitchen isn’t that big. the author said it’s because there’re so many cooks, they are amassed, and the metonym is kitchen to stand for staff: a massive kitchen!
but hey, at least your pet peeve isn’t guiding the next wave of techy progress. i’ve recently become more and more irked by people who don’t answer the question you ask, but the question they think you meant to ask (and force you to ask it again, but with your polite patience is wearing thinner)… as in:
you’re running an informal survey among your co-workers to see if an issue is prevalent enough that you need to make an FAQ or something about it (posting the solution you already know)…
Q: is anybody having trouble with such and such?
A: try unplugging the this or that.
Q: so you had that problem?
A: hey, i’m just trying to help you troubleshoot.
Q: DID YOU HAVE THAT PROBLEM? HINT: IT’S A YES OR NO QUESTION.
A: you’re such an asshole…
i don’t know if it had a specific name, but i took it as a form of secondguessing. now it’s called contextual knowledge. GRRRRR!
I run into “contextual knowledge”-based informal survey answers all the time… rather, I used to run into it all the time and I still would, except that now I preface my question with something like “I’m taking a poll.”
So you have to fight stupid by combating it with qualifying.
a-ha! no wonder my asking if i’m an asshole and hoping people answered with their computer woes didn’t work.
I could make a case for a kitchen having mass since it is actually an object so that one doesn’t bother me aside from if it’s not actually big they’re assholes for calling it that. So I’d fall more in line with your objection. As to the other thing. Yes, absolutely. I don’t get it too often, but it is rather frustrating. I mean in the case you describe, it’s like “HELLO! Is it or is it NOT just me or is it actual a prevalent issue?” You want to help diagnosis it, great. But answer the fking question first.
Thanks, and go As.
Really? That sounds like way more time than it should have been worth.
Nah I just found that picture and though it was funny and wanted an excuse to post it somewhere.
Thanks, and go As.
Oh. Well in that case, glad I can help. It’s… rather awesome btw.
yeah I actually chuckled a little bit when i saw it.
Thanks, and go As.
Have you actually seen Skins?
I would be surprised, but not massively surprised. If he is truly crushing AA and Punto/Sogard are struggling, I think we’ll see him.
I guess stranger things have happened, but they haven’t really promoted any position players very aggressively to the bigs recently
Thanks, and go As.
They haven’t, but they also haven’t had anyone like this recently. The last time we had a prospect this good and this young was 20-year-old Eric Chavez in 1998. He made it to the majors that September, and probably would have been up earlier had the team been in a pennant race.
Agreed, but one must ask, when was the last time they had someone who could make an impact at a positional weakness and were in contention?
Rickey!
*checks 1979 A’s record*
I retract that.
Perhaps the team believes that Lowrie’s 3.6 WAR last year means SS isn’t a weakness.
Thanks, and go As.
SS isn’t a weakness, but 2B sort of is, and a Russell promotion (assuming readiness) or a Drew signing would solve that weakness just the same.
What GM said, plus, can we really rely on/ expect another 662 PA’s from Lowrie?
His highest total in MLB was 384 and that’s going back to 08′.
One reason why I don’t think Sogard/ Callaspo/ Punto traffic jam is a bad thing.
I think we should have traded him this offseason for Shelby Miller
I don’t think the Cards would have done that. Like at all. 1 year of Lowrie for 5 of Miller?
They could probably considering they were talking about doing it for Asdrubal who is also on a one year.
I’d be very surprised if he is starting by mid-year, but a late-season call up for a cup of coffee doesn’t seem that remote.
Also, based on what we saw from Sogard at SS last year (which admittedly wasn’t that many innings), I didn’t understand why he and Lowrie weren’t swapped defensively. Sogard’s range is better, and his arm seemed fine.
Very thorough answer.
Smart kid, this Russell:
Rickey: “Rickey is the greatest there ever was.”
Addison: “Well… yeah, that just makes sense.”
My question: Have you visited Berkeley yet? They’ve already named two streets after you!”
Obviously it’d be cool if he turned into the next Tulowitski, but I’d settle for the next JJ Hardy or Lowrie with defensive ability.
Texas picks up Figeroa.
Is it just me or do they have a fetish for our dregs?
There has to be some explanation for giving Adam Rosales a guaranteed $750K in an offseason deal.
You have to wonder if they do that just for the benefit of getting inside information about their rivals.
Yeah, I have the same suspicions, but is it worth a roster spot?
If you figure the inside information is worth about 1 WAR, probably. How you’d figure that, FK if I know.
I am curious if players sign some kind of non-disclosure clause in their contract, we are talking about million dollars and proprietary information, esp when it come to training methods etc.
Doubt it. And I doubt that information is particularly relevant either. It’s not like he has any say on anything going on within the inner circle of the team.
Organizational philosophies perhaps? I can’t think of that much that would be useful for baseball. It’s not like being able to steal plays for football or something
OK, Pedro, what pitch was it that Trout hit 579 feet? can you not do that one?
Supersub, goofy smile, It’s worth it
Nope, they do, Rosie aside, who actually has some value, I almost wonder if it’s solely to get scouting reports and insider info on the team.
Beat me by two minutes. Dayum.
As soon as they sign the contract, Daniels leans across the table, grabs them by the lapels, and snarls “now tell me, how the fuck are they doing this?”
Heh!
Seems like they’d be better off hiring some of the A’s scouts. I seriously doubt that Rosie or Figueroa can tell them anything they don’t already know.
Is the twitter thing broken again?
Lemme guess Arneson. ;)
good guess
Looks like SJ is in full on freak out now that Wolff is pursuing longer contracts w/ the Coli.
Legal FK’ers how long does this litigation take to file roughly, same rumblings as when they initially lost?
It strikes me as a real longshot that a fed court would agree to fast track a case which, in order to succeed, would ultimately require the Supreme Court to overturn its precedent.
GP, so just bluster than.
I’d estimate, in the best of outcomes for SJ, what, 2 years to go through the state. Another 2 years for SCOTUS to rule on standing, another 2 years for the state to decide the merits, another 2 years for another SCOTUS ruling? So what, another 8 years? Seems a 5 – 10 year extension would be prudent.
omg I am SO over this crap.
Just do SOMETHING. Jesus.
Thanks, and go As.
IKR, Selig is leaving soon…
Maybe then we’ll see something that isn’t bluster, a longshot, or a false start
Get the popcorn, supposedly all hell is supposed to break loose. I chuckle at this Baer quote:
Quantum leap, eh? So infinitesimally small?
Your grammar policing is getting massively tiresome.
The next time we see Bud, he’s really going to be Scott Bakula?
I don’t see why not.
Poor Scott.
ik,r?
“Sam, Ziggy says there is a 8.57% chance that the blue ribbon committee will make a decision if you can get the toilets to overflow…”
“Oh boy…”
Doubt this has anything to do with the lease. Like FSU, I think it’s a long shot anyway, but I doubt it has anything to do with SCOTUS. If they honestly felt it needed overruling they’d almost want to get it in their hands to toss it up to SCOTUS. But really, forgetting about issues of standing and various little bits like that, what about this situation really merits a speedy run. Nothing.
Another day, another birthday of an underappreciated and pioneering artist. When any modern electronic musician uses a sequencer, they may not know it but they have the Peter Baumanns of the world to thank for the arpeggiation. Join me on the blog for a sweet little mixtape of the man’s deepest tracks from the dawn of electronica and techno, and all that other stuff we take for granted.
yes.
you rule, btw, for having MP3 versions alongside.
I am attempting to pull down the mp3 version over the satellite because there is no way that it’ll handle 450 MB.
And I succeeded. TDRS FTW! Going to listen now…
It’s a good one. I’ve played it like 5 times in 2 days. It goes by real fast, always the sign of a good mixtape.
I started doing that cuz my friend in Atlanta is sort of FLAC-challenged.
Also I did in no way peg you as an enthusiast of this kind of music and I’m loving that you dig it :)
Niiiice.
cool, I didn’t know all you guys dug the T-Dream scene. Not what I thought you’d like but awesome… it’s a really good CD I made and those records are so long gone out of print right now.
I’m a huge fan of early elektronische musik, as well as deutsche prog.
You’d like this remaster series my pal in the UK is doing of all these ridiculous full sets of Can, from 1972-77, of tapes personally recorded by Irmin Schmidt. I have like 14 of them!
so this is really rad
Today’s blog post may be a few hours late, but that’s only cuz I decided to do it at 4 pm this afternoon. Look for Part II of the Phil Flood tomorrow (featuring entirely different Phils, of course), but for now let’s say Happy 63rd Birthday to the bearded gent pictured here…
Oh hey look a big announcement concerning the drought. Oh hey look giant fire on the hills behind my house.
In keeping with FKs new post-a-week trend, I’ll put a new one up tonight or tomorrow. I’m also going to un-sticky the two ticket posts on the front page (can always revive them later as needed).
Given the infrequency of (a) posts, and (b) some folks visits, I thought it was useful having the front row seat post stickied since it’s ongoing.
No worries, restored.
Damn it, Jim. You’re always fucking shit up.
sure, un sticky them the day I tell my friend to look at the Season ticket post…
Tell him to come back, quick!
something tells me he won’t look for a while.
The second installment of our Phil Flood throws a birthday bash for not one but two, Mssrs. Manzanera and Glass. Get thee to the blog and you’ll certainly find a treat or two to get the weekend off on the right Phil.
“Eric Sogard”
Heh heh. I guess Nerd Power would be a lousy dog name.
Also, Aw!
Awwwwww!
“Dear Lego Company, make more Lego girl people and let them go on adventures and have fun ok!?!”
nice!
A seven year old can see problems adults can’t (or won’t) see.
Can’t. Adults have been conditioned to think differently in a way that destroys creative thought.
But even when you tell people that something is a problem, a lot of them willfully refuse to recognize it as a problem.
Ego. They’ve been taught that being wrong is a bad thing. Therefore they blatantly ignore anything that might make them think you’re being critical of them. Especially polite, constructive criticism. Or a cute note from a little girl.
Southern reaction when you criticize the Confederacy. Oh my god.
Oof. I have no doubts of that.
Great. Now I have “Girls just wanna have fun” stuck in my head.
Which is too bad, because Lego especially used to get it.
It’s Fusion February (a subsidiary of Black History Month), so everybody blog out with yer cogs out to this impeccably-recorded Return to Forever concert from precisely 39 trips around the sun ago. If you don’t, Stanley Clarke will come to your home, set up his amplifier at the curb, plug into the streetlight and demolish your house.
Born 2/6/1945. Died 5/11/1981. Lives: forever.
It’s Round One of two consecutive Progtastic birthday posts… commencing with the progenitor of two-handed tapping himself, Monsieur Hackett! Prog DOES rhyme with blog, you know.
Part Deux of the 2014 G-men birthday soiree features a PG rating… but be warned that this does not mean there are not plenty of adult situations on offer. Included in these are 2 CDs worth of B-sides, outtakes and assorted weird tracks, many of which have never even made it to CD as of yet. We have our ways, and the people out there with $12,000 turntables sure help.