Jake

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 10:43 AM) I don't agree that they're "absolutely" meaningless, but like all stats they fail to take into account unquantifiable variables, like weather, field condition, the speed at which a ball is traveling, defensive positioning (good coaching) and minor injuries that probably contribute a lot more to defensive range than even a 3-year average statistic will ever be able to measure. Like you, I prefer the eye test when it comes to defense. But there must be some validity to UZR since it seems to be used more and more in professional evaluation. Actually, they do try to take into account those unquantifiable variables. This is why...well, it uses the "eye test" QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 11:43 AM) Aren't eyes used for defensive metrics? Yes ... as wite so nicely tells us below QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 02:01 PM) http://www.fangraphs.com/library/defense/uzr/ No, UZR doesn't use the eye test at all, other than the fact that it's determined by people who watch every single play. It's all based willy nilly on numbers. So yeah, you're wrong on multiple levels.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Apr 21, 2014 -> 12:35 AM) Why, exactly? Only hitters can talk trash? Pitchers should just take it all day long. Eh, this happens in all sports. Maybe in baseball more, but I think that's because of how the game is set up. Act like a clown, someone's going to have an issue with it, and I'm fine with that. Go play the damn game. I probably should say that they should never talk trash about the triple they just gave up. The trouble with talking s*** as a pitcher is that even when you suck, you're successful the vast majority of ABs. You can't get all high and mighty over getting a guy out.

I figured Melo would be joining us

Can't score in the fourth quarter, but can't use Boozer for scoring because that's against the "Boozer can't play in fourth quarter" rule

Cole is an idiot and should be blamed for that whole ordeal. Pitchers should never talk trash and you never b**** at a guy for admiring a non-home run; he's already been punished by looking like an idiot. Looks like Russell Martin was a little too eager to prove he could fight somebody too. Tempers aside, though, Gomez looks a lot like a guy who is juiced up

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 20, 2014 -> 02:55 PM) Davidson can't handle Zach Stewart You see this a lot when guys are sent down that shouldn't be. Competition loses its edge. He'll have to get refocused and realize even if he might not have had more to prove a few months ago, he does now

Johnson looked like s*** all day. Wouldn't shock me if he's hurt. I would have gotten him out of there too.

Disclaimer: this is an acquaintance (really!) who had this experience, but I wasn't sure how to react to it. Neither were they. Friend buys something on eBay that retails for ~$275 and gets it for about $200. Sweet deal! It arrives at the door a day later in an Amazon Prime box. They can tell from the invoice that the seller just purchased it on Amazon for around $285 and shipped it straight to friend. The PayPal payment my friend made was sent to a Chinese person (in China), who went by a different name than the eBay username suggested. My first reaction was that this product was purchased with a stolen credit card. It could be something else, like perhaps a person trying to get money out of their Amazon gift card. Of course, it seems like there would be better ways to do that via gift card marketplaces or by selling things on eBay that weren't niche products like this was. What does a person do when they suspect this going on?

QUOTE (ROC Sox Fan @ Apr 19, 2014 -> 10:47 PM) Worst hitter in the majors. The DH makes a mockery of the game! /green

https://maps.google.ca/maps?ll=42.409538,-8...sic&dg=ntvo

DT is much, much better than S on the Bears right now.

As I feared, I just don't think this team has it.

My first reaction was that it wasn't a penalty, but now with a better look at it I see that it's a penalty but I wouldn't call it "dirty." More like "you must penalize this so that players actively avoid this kind of hit in the future"

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 19, 2014 -> 01:35 AM) Jake, with all due respect, how could you read that sentence and not realize I'm a Sox fan? That sentence doesn't come close to indicating I am a Royals fan. Now that you say it, the "we" could indeed have referred to the Sox.

The whole point HH is making is that the reason making changes to the questions is so difficult is because they are ensuring that the new data will be useful and that they'll understand how the change in the question will affect the results compared to the old wording/question/etc.

Rodon is such a vastly better prospect in almost every regard. If he can be had, I'll have him.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 10:50 PM) It was also big for my fantasy team (yeah I know nobody cares). s***, just remembered that applies to me too.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Apr 15, 2014 -> 01:36 PM) Did some quick "research". The Twitter pic was not posted (uploaded) by USAirways. The link actually takes you to tweet by someone else that contains the pic. So, it looks like someone copied the URL and accidentally pasted it in the tweet. I wonder if they meant to report the tweet and accidentally posted the URL instead. I'm guessing they were going to "report" it to their buddy and didn't realize their clipboard still had that link and not the support link they usually paste on Twitter

I was a proponent of Semien starting in AAA to start the year and I'm still not totally against it. Overall, he's slightly exceeded my expectations. K rate is high, too high, though. It will be very important to see where that goes in the coming weeks. He had half the K rate in AA last year. You don't cut your K rate in half in the big leagues. With that said, this is a small sample so it may not be the case that he's truly a 28% K% player right now. On the other hand, we may see 2-4 weeks of Semien getting absolutely devastated at the plate too. Given how little success he's had above AA (including AFL), I don't feel any real degree of certainty that a counter-adjustment from the league couldn't turn him into a barely serviceable offensive player. You never see those kinds of things coming, either.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 12, 2014 -> 12:35 AM) Chen got rocked in 3 2/3 innings tonight vs. Minnie. Can KC keep a guy in the rotation just cause he beats the White Sox? Guthrie is slightly better than Chen. KC isn't gonna contend. If we can stay .500, big if, we can be in this race. Did you switch teams on us, greg?

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 14, 2014 -> 06:14 PM) Is this the thread where I state that Gillaspie is a better fit as the 3rd baseman of the Sox for the next 5 years than Davidson is? Gillaspie isn't great, but he provides some solid offense as a lefty hitter in a lineup stacked with righties in the middle of the order. Conor fits approximately 1000x better if he can just learn to play 2B and/or corner OF. LH Keppinger, basically

When I lived in Memphis, I remember hearing that part of the reason the city's crime rate looked so bad was because they reported absolutely everything. They found that doing so, while continuing to make the crime problem look serious, made it much easier to reduce serial offenses and to anticipate police needs.

Finally avenging the Everett deal!

TBH, I'm not super optimistic about our chances. Having seen a time pretty damn similar to this win a SC gives me plenty of hope, but I would not be at all shocked to see us just lay an egg. As far as Nashville goes, it's a pretty nice place. As a person who has lived in TN for a while, I've learned to hate it based on the fact that every person who lives in/is from Nashville thinks they are from the best place in the world and certainly better than anyone else's place.

Anyone know why Beckham was pulled after 1 AB yesterday?