Desipio Message Board

Quote from: Oleg on August 27, 2009, 11:27:34 AM
Can someone explain the whole "shut the fuck and play ball" thing?  Is he not playing because he's answering reporters' questions?  Are you people just annoyed with him, and instead of changing your behavior (perhaps stop reading about him), you expect him to change who he is?  Would your criticism be any different if he didn't talk to reporters (would he then become an asshole who doesn't care)?  Does this mean none of you will be sending him a Christmas card?

Answers to these questions and more...on the next episode of Soap.

Quote from: Oleg on August 27, 2009, 11:27:34 AM
Can someone explain the whole "shut the fuck and play ball" thing?  Is he not playing because he's answering reporters' questions?  Are you people just annoyed with him, and instead of changing your behavior (perhaps stop reading about him), you expect him to change who he is?  Would your criticism be any different if he didn't talk to reporters (would he then become an asshole who doesn't care)?  Does this mean none of you will be sending him a Christmas card?

Answers to these questions and more...on the next episode of Soap.

Quote from: Oleg on August 27, 2009, 11:27:34 AM
Can someone explain the whole "shut the fuck and play ball" thing?  Is he not playing because he's answering reporters' questions?  Are you people just annoyed with him, and instead of changing your behavior (perhaps stop reading about him), you expect him to change who he is?  Would your criticism be any different if he didn't talk to reporters (would he then become an asshole who doesn't care)?  Does this mean none of you will be sending him a Christmas card?

Answers to these questions and more...on the next episode of Soap.

Quote from: Oleg on August 27, 2009, 11:27:34 AM
Can someone explain the whole "shut the fuck and play ball" thing?  Is he not playing because he's answering reporters' questions?  Are you people just annoyed with him, and instead of changing your behavior (perhaps stop reading about him), you expect him to change who he is?  Would your criticism be any different if he didn't talk to reporters (would he then become an asshole who doesn't care)?  Does this mean none of you will be sending him a Christmas card?

Answers to these questions and more...on the next episode of Soap.

Quote from: Oleg on August 27, 2009, 11:27:34 AM
Can someone explain the whole "shut the fuck and play ball" thing?  Is he not playing because he's answering reporters' questions?  Are you people just annoyed with him, and instead of changing your behavior (perhaps stop reading about him), you expect him to change who he is?  Would your criticism be any different if he didn't talk to reporters (would he then become an asshole who doesn't care)?  Does this mean none of you will be sending him a Christmas card?

Answers to these questions and more...on the next episode of Soap.

Quote from: Fork on August 25, 2009, 07:38:42 AM

Quote from: Dr. Nguyen Van Falk on August 24, 2009, 10:36:20 PM

http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2009/08/barack-obama-show-us-your-penis.html

Quotehoosiermama:
The only other thing that hit me was that Sinclair said BO was not circumcised. When my son was born in a hospital that was done as a matter of routine without even consulting us. Would the same be for Hawaii? OTOH People born at home or in some other cultures are not circumcised.

thecodont:
A relative of mine was born (in a hospital) a couple of years after BO's alleged birth date. He was circumcised also (as a matter of routine, not according to any family request).

afraidfortherepublic:
My son was born in June of 1961 in a hospital in CA, and the nurses released us because of miscommunication in a day and a half before the circumcision was done. We had to go back to the doctor's office to have it done a week later, and the doctor was NOT HAPPY. My second son was born in the same hospital 4 years later. I don't remember them asking me about it. Routine procedure for little boys.

hoosiermama:
Wish we had someone to make a phone call to the hospitols in HI and ask if they routinely do circumcism and when that practice started.

MHGinTN:
You might want to make that call to a Canadian hospital ...

MHGinTN:
No...it would have been in Kenya....not Canada.

Natural Born 54
I am having a vision of a court room scene. The judge turns to O sitting in the witness chair to his left and says "I am sorry, Mr. President, but I am going to have to ask you to stand and drop trou ....."

hoosiermama:
More than likely an exam from a court appointed DR. :~)
Humiliating either way....caught by his own private parts....er something like that.

It might be just as easy to check the mouths of posters around here for evidence of undisturbed foreskin.

(Clinton's jock is The Clenis. What are we calling Barack's totemic un-cut dongus?)

What has any of this got to do with my shoulder surgery?

I've actually had a circumcision once or twice so I know about what it takes to rehab. Barry will probably miss two--at most, three--starts and be back on the mound in two weeks.

Quote from: Canadouche on August 21, 2009, 07:58:50 AM

Quote from: R-V on August 21, 2009, 07:44:49 AM
Kurt, I hope the real life version of you isn't as much of an insufferable pile of douche as the internet version of you. You can't win your argument on the merits, so you resort to ridiculous strawmen and overly pedantic bullshit, and you clearly think that both are edgy and amusing. But your retorts are actually so painfully unfunny and wrong they make the internet version of me want to blow my brains out for having read them.

Yes, but is Megan Fox the hottest girl ever or is she only the hottest girl in this thread?

Definitely the hottest girl in this thread. If her tits give 15 more years of hypothetical production at those levels, she's got a case for "ever."

Quote from: Canadouche on August 20, 2009, 11:19:53 PM
So you think that Fukudome is Hall of Fame caliber.  My question is this: is he the greatest player of all time, or only the greatest Cub?

Greatest player of all time isn't highly likely. I'm just saying that, given the extremely improbable assumptions of the thought experiment that you proposed, Fukudome ranges from at minimum being a borderline HOFer in terms of RC to being among the elite. As of right now, he's probably not even top 100. But, since he's getting 15-20 seasons of production at his peak level, he should be in the HOF. Yes, I know. It's a retarded thought experiment. I didn't create it. Some other douche was responsible.

Quote
I apologize for only "liking" Fukudome and thinking he was merely a "better than bad, but way, way less than great" player.

You should be. He's "better than good, but probably not quite great."

QuoteI understand now why he might be seen as being worth every penny of the $12.5 million the Cubs are paying him.

Great. I'm glad that you understand that now. However, I'm still going to post the rest of this...

Quote
You're probably right, though, about RC (or wRC) not really working as being the end-all, be-all way of measuring a hitter's success.  Looking at the list of players who would fall in line somewhere above or below what Fukudome's projected output would be, it's kind of hard to believe that even you, ChuckD, would think players like Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Harold Baines, Luis Gonzalez, Larry Walker, Rusty Staub, and a handful of others are Hall of Fame material.

Again, these are the confines of your own hypothetical. Of the six players you listed, most were defensive liabilities who were stashed at positions on the right left side of the defensive spectrum to limit the consequences. All offer pretty poor comparisons since Fukudome would be playing 20 years of above average defense at a premium position. Gonzalez is the one real exception, although he's likely to receive around the same level of support as Dwight Evans (who should be in the HOF).

At 15 years, Fukudome's RC would be 1627. Of players who have RC greater than or equal to this, 56/64 have been inducted in to the HOF. Those eight unsuccessful include Mark McGwire, Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, and Pete Rose. Dawson and Raines will almost certainly get in. McGwire and Rose aren't really applicable due to other circumstances. Adjusting, that results in a 58/62 success rate, or about 93.5%. At 20 years of hypothetical production, he's a lock for induction unless he hypothetically gambles on baseball.

QuoteThen again, on a somewhat unrelated note, considering that you don't really trust the "irrational BBWAA" to make the right choices, it doesn't exactly make sense to use the numbers of the "average HOFer" as a gauge for Fukudome's hypothetical comparative success.

Do you ever read what you type? It doesn't make sense. You claimed Fukudome isn't worthy of the HOF assuming 15-20 years of present level production. Who do you want me to compare Fukudome to if not said HOFers?

Quote
Or perhaps they should open the floodgates a little and be more receptive of non-traditionally successful players getting into the Hall.  I've always supported a "The More the Merrier" approach in that regard.

Um, okay? I really couldn't care less who the HOF lets in. Let in Mickey Morandini for all I care.

Quote
Anyway, did I mention that I actually like Fukudome?

Yeah, but you also mentioned that you molest children and we all know you flip-flopped on that too. Flip-flopper.

Quote
Are you seriously arguing with me for not liking him enough?

No. I'm arguing that given 15-20 years of hypothetical production, Fukudome's a HOFer. Christ, are you ever dense.

Quote from: Canadouche on August 20, 2009, 10:00:44 PM

Quote from: ChuckD on August 20, 2009, 09:43:51 PM

Quote from: Canadouche on August 20, 2009, 09:35:55 PM
I think we'd all agree that if Fukudome had 15-20 seasons just like this one he wouldn't be banging down the door of the Hall of Fame.

ORLY?

You know many .272 career hitters with less than 200 career homeruns, 3000 hits, and defense just shy of Gold Glove caliber running around Cooperstown right now?*

(*that weren't voted in by a Veterans Committee)

Aside: Fangraphs rocks and certainly points out how a player like Fooky might be underrated ... but has anybody ever noticed that, according to that site, Theriot is defensively a Top 10 shortstop (and 3rd best in the NL) and is overall the 6th most valuable in all of baseball?  Does that make him great too?

If he posted 20 more seasons at his current rate, he'd rank 20th all-time among Hall of Famers in terms of runs created (using the simplified OBP*SLG*PA formula) with 2091. That would place him right ahead of George Brett (2089) and a little behind Al Kaline (2093). But I guess the BBWAA shares your irrational infatuation with counting stats, so perhaps you're right.

Edit: Certainly, there are better ways of proving you wrong. Runs Created isn't without its faults. I guess I could go on, but the fact that you are analyzing player production with BA, HR, RBI and "Gold Glove caliber" as your metrics of choice indicate that any additional time would be a waste. I was nice and didn't count his home run tonight which would just prove you even more wrong. Even at 15 years of current production, he'd wind up with an RC of 1568. That would place him slightly above the average HOFer (1560). However, it should be noted that said average HOFer averages 18 seasons, so Fukudome's current production soundly outpaces that of the average inductee.

Quote from: Canadouche on August 20, 2009, 09:35:55 PM
I think we'd all agree that if Fukudome had 15-20 seasons just like this one he wouldn't be banging down the door of the Hall of Fame.

ORLY?

Quote from: PenFoe on August 20, 2009, 06:36:36 PM

Quote from: Canadouche on August 20, 2009, 06:33:59 PM

Quote from: Pre on August 20, 2009, 06:06:49 PM

Quote from: Canadouche on August 20, 2009, 05:16:20 PM
I'd go as far as to say "good" if not bordering on "very good," perhaps even "mostly awesome," but great?

I admit to being wrong.

In my original reply I had a really shitty comment about how I was sure you'd
backtrack from your ridiculous "way, way less than "great"" comment and try
and make this a semantic argument about adjectives and how I would rather
you go fuck yourself than try and regroup your idiocy.  Then I took it out because
I thought it was overly mean spirited.

I was wrong to remove that.  Fuck off and die.

I won't fuck off and die but I will happily wait with baited breath while you try to justify your opinion that a guy who will never bat higher than .280 or hit more than 15 homeruns -- or for that matter drive in more than 80 RBI at the very most -- is "great" enough to justify a 14 million dollar a year contract.  Maybe only when compared with how terrible Bradley has been this year.  Think about it.  He's the center field equivalent of Mark Grace, hopefully without the compulsive Dubbs-like desire to bang fat chicks during the long months when he can't get his AVG over .200.  (Three times in his illustrious 11 months-so-far of playing baseball.)  

And I was being polite.  He's nowhere near mostly awesome.  But he is better than bad.

Did he lead a decade in hits?

I didn't think so.

He'll never fare well in the Triple Crown categories.

QuoteChuck D, I'll put up my baseball experience/knowledge against yours, any day, anywhere.

Slow down, big guy. I'll just admit that you have a larger penis. I haven't umpired high school baseball or listened to the SCORE on my drive to work or whatever it is that you claim as your ethos. Obviously I don't have any real world experience about playing baseball the right way. I'm just going off what the linear regressions say.

QuoteI don't come on this site to bash other commenters with some knee-jerk heckling just for the sake of riling somebody up. But if you call me ignorant, then I'm going to yap back.

Okay. But a spade's a spade. Feel free to yap back, I guess.

Milton Bradley's a good player who happens to be receiving more money than his production this down year warrants. You'd do well to remember that when the Cubs cut Theriot the $18mm/3 deal that his inflated production is worth. If next year Bradley reverts to career norms considering the progression due to age, he'll earn his check.

Quote from: Dave B on August 20, 2009, 03:33:12 PM
And his Bnmj8KHodf is down .231%. For fuck's sake, I'm sure you can pull up any number of these obscure stats to prove whatever point it is you want.

This is why you're ignorant. Also, didn't you just a few posts up say that "the stats don't lie"?

Quote
Bottom line: from the beginning, my point with Theriot is that he is a decent enough SS at 500K in this line-up that Cubs' management decided to put on the table. They've paid a shitload of money to the corner outfielders, corner infielders, and and starting rotation. You can't just go to the Shortstop Store and pull a Cal Ripken or Robin Yount off the shelf. And with all of the no-trade contracts and a shortage of bargaining chips at the minor league level, you just can't go out and trade for Hanley Ramirez.

Fair enough. I don't really mind Theriot, but by all means, continue to beat that Strawman.

Quote
Get on Geo Soto for coming back from his Rookie of the Year fat and stoned.

Or for turning back in to the pumpkin we always thought he was?

Quote
Get on Fukudome and Bradley.

lol no

QuotePlace the blame on injuries that have landed 3/5 of the rotation on the DL for at least 25 days apiece.

Consider them blamed! BLAME!@

QuoteGet on Soriano.

Okay, just don't tell Chuck or my real, non-Canadian girlfriend.

QuoteBitch about the Four Horsemen they've had to play at second base. And get all over the shitfest known as the bullpen.

Truth.

QuoteBut as John Hart said on WGN Radio last night, Theriot and D-Lee have been the only consistent good things about this offense the whole season. 

This, additionally, is why you're ignorant.

Quote from: Dave B on August 20, 2009, 12:50:56 PM
"Unabashed ignorance"? Because I think that Milton Bradley's failure to come close to his offensive performance of 2008 (or many of his other years where he actually played 100 games) is a contributing factor in the Cubs' dismal 2009 season?

Yes. Baseball, at it's most fundamental, is about getting on base (or, preventing the other team from doing so). As you well know, Bradley has been better at getting on base than any other Cub this year. That's not a good thing. That's a great thing. Yet, due to the persistent but antiquated notion that a corner outfielder needs to hit home runs, he's getting flak because his slugging percentage is down or he's not driving in runs or something. Admittedly, the decrease in power is slightly disappointing, but it's not completely unexpected. True, his ISO (SLG% - AVG) on the year falls below his career average. That's unfortunate, no doubt.

However, most people (including yourself, apparently) had unrealistic expectations for him based upon the aberrant production he put up last year. As IrishYeti (shockingly) noted earlier, Bradley was one of the luckiest hitters in baseball last year. This year, using the same model described in Yeti's article, Bradley's predicted BABIP is about .322. As of now, it's at .315, suggesting that his extremely lucky 2008 has gave way to a slightly unlucky 2009. But, he's adjusted by being patient, not forcing anything, and taking what opposing pitchers are giving to him. That's a very smart move on his part. I don't want to go sort through the game logs, but I seem to recall (based upon watching games with my eyes) that Bradley was pressing a bit early on in the year and trying to put the ball in play when he could've been taking walks.

QuoteBecause I think that someone who got paid what he did should put some better offensive numbers other than OBP or draw walks?

Yes. Why do you care what the Cubs are paying him or any other baseball player for that matter? The market pays whatever the highest bidding team will bear. Hendry paid a premium price for the 2008 Milton Bradley when Bradley's career numbers suggested that something between the 2006/2007 version of Milton Bradley was the more probably commodity.

QuoteI wasn't a Bradley-basher to start with, but it's pretty obvious that he hasn't had close to the year they were expecting when they signed him.

And how. But is it Bradley's fault that Hendry expected him to have another career season?

For example: If I were to wager $100 that IrishYeti will make posts as enlightened as he has in this thread today for the next week. Whose fault is it when Yeti reverts to shitposting in Mom's Basement per usual?

Similarly, is it Bradley's fault that Piniella is a stalwart who made a similar mistake by looking at the inflated counting stats (hint hint) and penciled him in to a lineup spot that wasn't a good fit for Bradley's skill set? And is it Bradley's fault that Piniella refused to move him when it was exceedingly apparent that the middle of the order wasn't a good fit?

QuoteHis injuries and offensive slump at mid-season forced the Cubs to play some lesser player in the OF in his absence/benching.

Slumps happen. Injuries happen. In fact, injuries were to be expected considering the clause included in Bradley's contract.

But, hell, this game's fun. Let's play it anyway with two players with whom we are intimately familiar (not that intimately!).

Between April 15 and June 17 (about one third of the season), Theriot had a slash line of .262/.316/.410/.725. During that time, he was hitting almost exclusively in the two spot. He had a lot of plate appearances. The Cubs went 24-29. What does that prove? Nothing, really. Theriot had a shitty two months and it coincided with a crappy stretch for the Cubs. Bradley went .258/.340/.406/.747 over the same stretch for what it's worth. Obviously, Bradley was the weak link in the chain. Let's rip him.

Bottom line, Bradley's Offensive Win% for this year (OWn%, a nerdy statistic that estimates the winning percentage for a hypothetical lineup comprised of the player in question) is .574. A winning percentage of .574 would result in a record of 93-69. So, even with the slump and the uncharacteristically awful year, Milton has the 11th best OWn% among starting right fielders. For comparison's sake, Theriot's OWn% is .526 for an estimated record of 85-77 (that's pretty good for a shortstop, by the way). Considering Theriot's above average defense (also shocking, I know), he's pretty good as far as shortstops go. Just don't tell the rest of these guys.

cntd...

Quote from: MikeC on August 20, 2009, 12:01:06 PM
I know people that have used the VA system, my own dad used it. Slow, lousy, and incompetent help is the general consensus. Waiting for the government to approve procedures took too damn long when they could go to a private physician and get it done in days.

You're an ignorant slut, MikeC.

QuoteIn the latest independent survey, 81 percent of VHA hospital patients express satisfaction with the care they receive, compared to 77 percent of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

That's it. DaveB must be behind "Steve Stone's" Twitter account. Or, maybe Steve Stone is behind this DaveB account and this is all an act. Either way, whoever is behind this "DaveB" character is making my brain hurt from the  unabashed ignorance.

Quote from: R-V on August 20, 2009, 09:16:26 AM
Shocking.

QuoteRidge was never invited to sit in on National Security Council meetings; was "blindsided" by the FBI in morning Oval Office meetings because the agency withheld critical information from him; found his urgings to block Michael Brown from being named head of the emergency agency blamed for the Hurricane Katrina disaster ignored; and was pushed to raise the security alert on the eve of President Bush's re-election, something he saw as politically motivated and worth resigning over.

I'm not discounting the 'sell books with provocative stuff' angle here, but if the last part is true, wow. And Ridge is a shmuck for keeping that to himself until now.

I've always been a little bit fuzzy on the definition of "irony." Ridge's new book includes a provocative claim that criticizes the Bush administration's use of the terror alert for political gains. Said book is to be released on September 1st giving Ridge a solid week and a half to grab some free airtime as a guest on cable news show stories about the upcoming anniversary of September 11th. All the while, ostensibly, he would be promoting his newly-released memoir.

Manipulating the public's fear of future terrorist attacks for political gain? Unacceptable.

Capitalizing on his former position as the Director of Homeland Security to discuss a past terrorist attack for personal gain? Acceptable.

I don't know if that's irony, but either way: Fuck Tom Ridge.

Quote from: Eli on August 19, 2009, 05:21:56 PM

Quote from: Dave B on August 19, 2009, 04:27:05 PM
Since Theriot is the root of all that is wrong with this team, replacing him with a guy who's been sent to the minors by a third-place team is BRILLIANT!!!

Quote from: R-V on August 19, 2009, 04:36:05 PM
Are you related to Theriot?

This.

Hardy has struggled this year, but he put up an OPS above .800 over the course of 1,300 plate appearances in 2007 and 2008 in his age 24 and 25 seasons (including 50 homers during those two years; it could take Theriot 15 seasons to hit 50 homers).  He's three years younger than Theriot.  He can actually field and throw like a real major-league shortstop.  Hardy is much better at baseball than Theriot and it's not close.

Holy crap, I need a new shtick.

Theriot has heart. You can't put a price on that. Plus, he was the starting shortstop for two NL Central championships. That's two plus priceless. How many starting gigs on an NL Central championship baseball club has J.J. Hardy had? Add those up, Poindexter.


Zero.

I got sidetracked and forgot to mention that the Grover picture was one of the results of this Google Image Search page.

Because, seriously.