Si, motherFKer ← FREE KRAUT!

Si, motherFKer 83

  1. Maury Brown thinks MLB will get an expanded-playoff deal done this week
  2. Holy crap, Albert Belle looks old
  3. I’ve never [seen?] anybody do the moonwalk in spikes.
  4. McCarthy #1, Bartolo #2, and … {facepalm}

    Forst said the team will explore the free agent and trade market for third base options in light of Scott Sizemore’s season-ending knee injury. That doesn’t mean that Josh Donaldson or someone else currently on the team can’t win the job. “This is definitely an opportunity for (Donaldson),” Forst said. “At the same time, we have to do our due diligence and see what else is out there on the market to make sure we give Bob the best team we possibly can.”

  5. Awesome

83 thoughts on “Si, motherFKer

  1. FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 28,2012 10:54 am

    3. “You don’t have to worry about me unless you’re a criminal or a communist.” Luke Scott.

    Or unless you’re Kenyan-born, presumably.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  2. nevermoor Feb 28,2012 11:12 am

    4: No comment.

    make sure we give Bob the best team we possibly can

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  3. stranahanahan Feb 28,2012 11:16 am

    Damn, Kenny Lofton looks the same as he did in ’94.

    • FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 28,2012 11:20 am || Up

      I bet he can still dunk.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
    • monkeyball Feb 28,2012 11:26 am || Up

      One of my favorite players of all time. I was also a big Albert Belle fan.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • DFA Feb 28,2012 3:43 pm || Up

        This. Favorite non A’s player nominee.

        In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
  4. andeux Feb 28,2012 11:20 am

    4. Even if you take the view that wins in the next year or two don’t matter at all, looking at trade options at 3B is not at all a bad idea. The system still has basically no infield prospects, and Weeks, Pennington, and Sizemore (once he recovers) are all adequate but not exactly superstars.
    On the other hand, he mentions the free agent market, which at this point in the year consists of over the hill veterans who no one else thought were worth even a major league contract. So maybe the facepalm is justified.

    TINSTAAFK
    • monkeyball Feb 28,2012 11:25 am || Up

      If they’re looking for prospects in AA or below, yeah, sign me up! I don’t think there’s any chance that’s what they’re looking for.

      you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
      • andeux Feb 28,2012 11:31 am || Up

        We’ve all had this argument before, but that’s just way too restrictive. A player can be major-league ready now, and still be an asset when the A’s finally try to compete in … whenever the hell the current target date is.

        TINSTAAFK
        • monkeyball Feb 28,2012 11:35 am || Up

          Sure — that’s what we got (sorta-kinda) in the Sizemore acquisition. I’m not opposed to a buy-low/other-team-doesn’t-know-what-they’ve-got deal like that. But if we’re trading, Iunno, say, Devine + Donaldson to the Slegna for Collapso …

          you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
          • andeux Feb 28,2012 2:26 pm || Up

            Along the kinda like Sizemore lines, someone at BTF suggests Matt Carpenter. Good OBP, blocked by Freese (and Descalso, I guess) in St Louis, Sickels gives him a B-.
            No idea what he would cost (anyone?) but seems like exactly the kind of player who would be worth giving a shot to.

            TINSTAAFK
            • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 2:52 pm || Up

              Give ’em Donaldson!

              "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
            • aardvark Feb 28,2012 9:54 pm || Up

              Matt Carpenter is someone I would like to see the A’s go after. The Cardinals don’t seem to value him, so maybe he would be cheap.

    • DFA Feb 28,2012 3:51 pm || Up

      Yordy would be the exception.

      In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
      • PaulThomas Feb 28,2012 8:23 pm || Up

        To what?

        • FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 28,2012 8:58 pm || Up

          Y being able to count as a vowel.

          "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
        • DFA Feb 28,2012 11:25 pm || Up

          No infield prospects.

          In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
          • PaulThomas Feb 29,2012 10:08 pm || Up

            I beg to differ. He looks absolutely terrible at this point– grade C prospect, really. Not someone I’d bother to imagine contributing to a major league roster.

            • DFA Mar 1,2012 3:48 pm || Up

              He doesn’t look good but the scouting reports are still good.

              In play, run(s)! Talk dirty to me gamecast, talk dirty. - Nevermoor
  5. AV Feb 28,2012 11:33 am

    1.

    The format would see two teams in each league play a one game sudden death play-in that day after the regular season ended.

    which two teams? wildcard and wildcard runner up?

    *i’m* AV. alex vause. put this loon in psych before she hurts someone.
    • colin Feb 28,2012 11:39 am || Up

      Yeah, that’s right. It seems like this change is pretty much inevitable after the most recent CBA. The question is whether it will be implemented in time for this season, or not until 2013.

      • AV Feb 28,2012 11:48 am || Up

        well, good luck to all the runaway wildcards of the future, so that they don’t feel cheated when a team behind by several games makes it to the playoffs on one day’s work over them.

        *i’m* AV. alex vause. put this loon in psych before she hurts someone.
        • dmoas Feb 28,2012 6:06 pm || Up

          Meh, if you’re not good enough to be in first place in your own division, that you shouldn’t be treated the same as someone who is. In it’s current structure, there’s absolutely no reason to win the division. Besides, the odds of anyone *truly* running away with the wild card lead is pretty slim, though I wouldn’t be opposed to a rule that said if you have more than an X game lead you get an automatic berth in the playoffs as the wild card team.

          • Glorious Mundy Feb 28,2012 6:09 pm || Up

            It would have sort of sucked for the 102-win 2001 A’s to have to play a 1-game playoff against the 85-win Twins (although it couldn’t have turned out worse than the way it actually played out). That’s got to be a very unusual disparity though.

            • dmoas Feb 28,2012 6:41 pm || Up

              At least we’d be put out of our misery earlier.

    • FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 28,2012 11:48 am || Up

      I like this idea, in part because I do want wild card teams to have a heavier post-season burden than they currently do, but mostly because of the guaranteed one game drama.

      "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
      • TJ Feb 28,2012 1:32 pm || Up

        I agree with this sentiment. I also like the possibility of increased divisional rivalry in cases where two teams with good records will still be pushing for the divisional berth at the end of the season.

        • AV Feb 28,2012 1:49 pm || Up

          but! it’s totally arbitrary and not fair!

          (well, crap, the team names are going to maybe skew the following questions but, think abstractly here people!) 2010, AL wildcard, the yankees beat boston by 6 games, fair and square over a 162 race. but what you’re saying is y’all want them to play one more where the yankees obviously need to throw their best pitcher (and mess up their playoffs rotation) and where boston has a chance of flukeing in even if the other team has already proven to be better? so, what does this mean to who goes to the playoffs? the wildcard has a funny name and structure, but it does award the 4 best team records in the league—the only thing “wild” about it is that you don’t know what division the 4th team is gonna come from. why should the wildcard team be burdened? it’s still the 4th best overall, not some last-minute add. it usually gets seeded to play the 1st, right? burden enough and totally par for bracket competitions. and think about when the wild card makes things even fairer by awarding a 3rd-best overall team when the 1st or 2nd are in their division. but this new play-in (??) (ridiculous name!) might mean that the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th best teams overall go to the playoffs… on a one-game deal. not right. not fair.

          as to the excitement of a one-game decision at the end of a tied 162, well that’s exciting because it is fair all the way down the road and they still need to decide it. it’s awesomely exciting. i love it. but it’s gotta happen naturally. isn’t it going to actually rob the excitement of such unique situations if they happen every year no matter what?

          *i’m* AV. alex vause. put this loon in psych before she hurts someone.
          • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 1:53 pm || Up

            Yeah, but what about the team that won their divison, but has to play the Yankees’ best on a level playing field anyway?

            "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
            • AV Feb 28,2012 2:13 pm || Up

              i’m down with a handicap on the yankees. every pitch, every game, every year. fair is fair, after all.

              but (in case you weren’t actually snarkin’ as i suspect you were) like i said, never mind the team names. this tries to (i mean, is this what it’s trying to do?) level the playing field by allowing one middle-top team one more chance in, whereas what i’d be hoping for is to level the playing field by having more teams in the middle and top all the time.

              this is going toward letting selig or his survivor say, “see how equal things are? all sorts of teams are making it into the playoffs!” but that’s juking the stats. teams will be making it in who have no business being in. might even make it easier for the other teams to eliminate this weaker link and perpetuate who continuously wins it all.

              *i’m* AV. alex vause. put this loon in psych before she hurts someone.
              • colin Feb 28,2012 2:23 pm || Up

                My feeling is that the playoffs are already structured in such a way to add randomness to the result of the baseball season. There’s not much harm (and there is increased excitement) in adding a little more.

                It also discourages tanking in the situation where two teams are battling to see who will be division winner and who will be wildcard — now the teams have much stronger incentive to try to win the division. The related downside is that you lose the suspense of a situation where two teams are battling for one wild card spot. I’m not sure which scenario is more common.

          • TJ Feb 28,2012 4:03 pm || Up

            the wildcard has a funny name and structure, but it does award the 4 best team records in the league

            That’s not true. There are plenty of instances of divisional winners with worse records than the 4th best record in the league. Some of them have even gone on to win the World Series (2006 Cards, 83-win “juggernaut”).

            Really the entire idea of a playoff is arbitrary. I think the new rules add to the drama without compromising the sanctity of the results in any meaningful way.

            • AV Feb 28,2012 5:31 pm || Up

              ok, fair enough. but that one’s hard to think about because the cards would have been in the playoffs wildcard or not. so the wildcard team wasn’t best 4, but it did help bring in an 88-winner into the mix… kinda evens it out a little?

              *i’m* AV. alex vause. put this loon in psych before she hurts someone.
          • MikeV Feb 28,2012 4:11 pm || Up

            Yeah but think of what happens if Tampa wins the East — this way we STILL might get the Yankees and Red Sox into the playoffs!

            And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

            Thanks, and go As.

            • gonealookin Feb 28,2012 4:30 pm || Up

              In the last 4 years the AL East would have had both wild cards 3 times.

              In 2002 3 of the 4 AL West teams might have made the postseason. The A’s won the division, the Angels were the wild card and the Mariners and Red Sox with 93 wins each would have had to play off for the second wild card.

              The A’s would have been the second AL wild card in both 1999 and 2004.

              What I discovered Blew. My. Mind. -- Pat Boone
          • FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 28,2012 4:37 pm || Up

            I’m still old school enough to think that the division winners deserve a big post-season advantage, regardless of which teams won the most games. While I like what the wildcard has added, I think the current configuration makes their post-season path too easy. They should have an extra hurdle, and a one (or three) game playoff adds that.

            "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
            • monkeyball Feb 28,2012 4:46 pm || Up

              you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
              • Tutu-late Feb 28,2012 4:47 pm || Up

                He looks like he is ready to explode.

                • dmoas Feb 28,2012 6:10 pm || Up

                  Or shared a piece of gum with Violet Beauregarde.

            • dmoas Feb 28,2012 6:08 pm || Up

              Agreed on all counts.

  6. monkeyball Feb 28,2012 11:40 am

    This is a great find. God, Krauthammer is a psychotic nut.

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • ptbnl Feb 28,2012 11:45 am || Up

      But the Berenstain Bears do indeed suck mightily.

      If this is His will, He's a son of a bitch.
      • monkeyball Feb 28,2012 12:46 pm || Up

        That they do.

        you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • Glorious Mundy Feb 28,2012 11:47 am || Up

      Fantasic:

      The raging offense of the Berenstains is the post-feminist Papa Bear, the Alan Alda of grizzlies, a wimp so passive and fumbling he makes Dagwood Bumstead look like Batman.

  7. monkeyball Feb 28,2012 12:47 pm
    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  8. monkeyball Feb 28,2012 12:47 pm

    This just gets better and better!

    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  9. monkeyball Feb 28,2012 12:55 pm
    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
    • MikeV Feb 28,2012 1:03 pm || Up

      Si, motherFKer

      And I have to say: mikev is one of my favorite people on here -slusser.

      Thanks, and go As.

  10. JamesV Feb 28,2012 12:59 pm

    This is the best thing ever. I’m dying here.

    • colin Feb 28,2012 1:28 pm || Up

      This one actually looks legit (not saying that it necessarily is), unlike the usual animal-dubstep videos, which just edit the video until it’s in time with the music.

      • JamesV Feb 28,2012 5:37 pm || Up

        It does, then I saw another video that was the same thing set to another song, so one of them is fake.

        Still funny.

    • sslinger Feb 28,2012 1:30 pm || Up

      That is pretty awesome. So, do you think the parrot was doing that to the music, or they just filmed the parrot doing its thing and found music that works with it?

      • JamesV Feb 28,2012 5:37 pm || Up

        I’m pretty sure it was dubbed over whatever the original thing was.

  11. nevermoor Feb 28,2012 1:26 pm

    Rail guns?

    Si, motherFKer

    "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
    • colin Feb 28,2012 1:31 pm || Up

      Is there any real advantage to shooting things that way, as opposed to the usual gunpowder/some other explosive method? I’ve always assumed that the main difference is that rail guns are cooler and more sci-fi.

      • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 1:33 pm || Up

        No idea, though the article suggests they’d be getting huge range increases if they can develop the right battery (caveats aplenty). But rail guns ARE cooler.

        "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
        • colin Feb 28,2012 1:45 pm || Up

          I guess the one fundamental difference I can think of is if there is some speed limit such that, when the projectile reaches that limit, the shock waves from an explosion are no longer catching up to it, so they can’t add any more energy.

          More likely it’s the practical issue — a conventional gun would require too much explosives, be too heavy to keep from blowing apart, etc.

          • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 1:55 pm || Up

            I make no claim to being able to swim in the FKing physics shark tank we’ve got here, but it would also seem to me that it’s better to have a battery on your ship than a ton of gunpowder from a defense against explosion perspective.

            "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
            • colin Feb 28,2012 2:06 pm || Up

              That’s fair, but I don’t really think it’s the reason behind rail gun technology. We’ve been making the questionable decision to put lots of gunpowder on boats for hundreds of years now.

              • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 2:56 pm || Up

                Yeah, but we didn’t really have any alternative once gunpowder outpaced archery. There’s probably also a recruiting advantage to rail guns (join the Navy. Shoot a fucking railgun!).

                I also think we might as well go all the way and invent mechs.

                "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
                • Future Ed Feb 28,2012 3:06 pm || Up

                  Aren’t super good batteries what stands between us and cheap electric cars or tiny phones or wireless transmission of enrergy and all sorts of cool stuff?

                  Why not invest in making things go boom, which is cool, in a way that will aid future development?

                  I have $5. No I don\'t.
                • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 3:38 pm || Up

                  Excatly.

                  "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
                • monkeyball Feb 28,2012 3:43 pm || Up

                  I think we should invent rail guns that only target low-density housing.

                  you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
                • andeux Feb 28,2012 3:56 pm || Up

                  and make them run on non-standard gauge track so they’re twice as expensive.

                  TINSTAAFK
              • doctorK Feb 28,2012 3:01 pm || Up

                Yep

      • elcroata Feb 28,2012 11:05 pm || Up

        Duh, it’s electricity, the clean energy – they are obviously trying to save the Earth

        Because survival is insufficient
  12. Englishmajor Feb 28,2012 3:54 pm

    Well, the plumber finally came. Apparently it’s something to do with the sump pump, which doesn’t make sense to me because I wouldn’t think that sewage could come out of there, but it’s his craft, not mine.

    • Tutu-late Feb 28,2012 4:18 pm || Up

      Unfortunately, if the dwelling’s system is below the public hookup, it must be pumped up. This is done all the time in commercial settings, while rarer in domestic dwellings( for precisely this reason)

      • Englishmajor Feb 28,2012 4:25 pm || Up

        Okay, that makes a bit more sense. This cottage is really quite ramshackle…I’m sure if my landlord started costing out all the stuff that ought to be done, he’d decide to tear it down instead.

        • Tutu-late Feb 28,2012 4:29 pm || Up

          Yeah, it has to do with that whole “gravity” thingy. We just can’t seem to get around it. Sorry to hear you are going through this.

      • FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 28,2012 4:40 pm || Up

        Also, if your sump pump empties into the sewer system that’s illegal unto itself (at least it is in Oakland and Berkeley). Storm runoff/water table rising isn’t supposed to burden the sewage system. That’s why proper sump configurations usually empty into the street gutter.

        "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
        • Tutu-late Feb 28,2012 4:45 pm || Up

          I believe the plumber is referring to the sump pump the the sewer system. It usually includes a grinder that reduces the solids into liquid form to help in the pumping process( much like a disposal). The sewage goes into a tank, and then ground/pumped into the utility system. This is different from a basement sump pump.

  13. bear88 Feb 28,2012 4:16 pm

    If cable news is any indication, which often hints around the election results based on exit polls they won’t tell us about, Santorum has a real shot in Michigan.

    • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 4:31 pm || Up

      Yeah, the predictions I’ve seen are that he splits/wins today but loses overall due to early ballots

      "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
      • bear88 Feb 28,2012 4:36 pm || Up

        Romney will win Arizona. The real question is Michigan. A close win, which is best Romney can do, isn’t a very good outcome but it’s survivable. A loss in Michigan would be very, very bad for Romney.

        • nevermoor Feb 28,2012 4:39 pm || Up

          Right. I was just talking MI. AZ is one they’ll call 30 seconds after the polls close

          "There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want"
  14. monkeyball Feb 28,2012 4:47 pm
    you better hope to God you don't show up in this little community, because you'll wish you had never come
  15. FreeSeatUpgrade Feb 28,2012 8:24 pm

    Cal football fans don’t remember Joe Ayoob fondly I don’t imagine. But maybe he just didn’t have enough time to find where his true talents lie.

    "Kraut will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no kraut."
  16. Glorious Mundy Feb 28,2012 10:02 pm

    Slusser:

    Yoenis Céspedes’ visa issues appear to be resolved, The Chronicle has learned, and the Cuban outfielder, signed to a four-year, $36 million deal before camp opened, is likely to arrive at Phoenix Muni this weekend.

    The A’s have not been able to make Céspedes’ deal official until he takes a physical, and it is unclear when he might debut in a Cactus League game.

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