Hot Stove Thread 2011-2012

[JSngry]

Yeah, but if you've been there to close up the joint, there's a helluva difference between 1 PM the next day & 7 PM the next day...

[Tim McG]

Yeah, but if you've been there to close up the joint, there's a helluva difference between 1 PM the next day & 7 PM the next day...

True dat.

Not That I have any personal experience in that area, mind you

[JSngry]

No of course not...neither do I... :ph34r:

[PHILLYQ]

Yeah, but if you've been there to close up the joint, there's a helluva difference between 1 PM the next day & 7 PM the next day...

How many hangover homers? How many while still drunk from the night before? He also missed a good part of a season supposedly with syphilis. Add in the prodigious quantities of food and he HAD to be amazingly talented to hit like he did! After a night of chasing hookers, drinking and immense amounts of food it's a miracle he got out of bed!

[Tim McG]

Yeah, but if you've been there to close up the joint, there's a helluva difference between 1 PM the next day & 7 PM the next day...

How many hangover homers? How many while still drunk from the night before? He also missed a good part of a season supposedly with syphilis. Add in the prodigious quantities of food and he HAD to be amazingly talented to hit like he did! After a night of chasing hookers, drinking and immense amounts of food it's a miracle he got out of bed!

No.

The pitching was half-assed or mediocre at best.

Besides, with an illegal bat like that, he could have been blind, stupid drunk and still whack the ball out of the park.

[JETman]

Hitting during any era will always be commensurate with the pitching of that era. Ruth just happened to stand out. As much as I hate to say this (being a member of the NY Yankees lifetime haters club), he was extraordinary and definitely amongst the best the game has ever seen.

[Tim McG]

Hitting during any era will always be commensurate with the pitching of that era. Ruth just happened to stand out. As much as I hate to say this (being a member of the NY Yankees lifetime haters club), he was extraordinary and definitely amongst the best the game has ever seen.

In the 1920's, I agree.

[Dan Gould]

You're proving your ignorance, Tim. Not in the least being your statement that Bonds' bat was somehow "illegal".

OPS = On-Base Plus Slugging

OPS+ = OPS normalized for era.

That is to say, that Ruth's OPS+ includes an adjustment for the fact that his career started in the dead-ball era. And it adjusts for the prevalence of run-scoring in his era.

It allows for a comparison for players who played in different parts of the last 110 years or so.

All-Time Career OPS+ Rankings

Ruth: 206

Williams: 190

Bonds: 181

[JETman]

Ah oh!:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/report-josh-hamilton-had-relapse-alcohol-025323964.html

[JSngry]

Yeah, the story broke here early yesterday evening and spread like wildfire. Still waiting for the full story to emerge (at first it was that he was in the club with Ian Kinsler, now it's that Ian was there to try to get him to go home), but it doesn't look like there's any way that something of some degree of bad didn't happen.

This is why you're always "recovering" and never really "recovered".

Let's hear it for ginger ale.

[JETman]

Here's hoping he can keep on keeping on!

[Tim McG]

You're proving your ignorance, Tim. Not in the least being your statement that Bonds' bat was somehow "illegal".

OPS = On-Base Plus Slugging

OPS+ = OPS normalized for era.

That is to say, that Ruth's OPS+ includes an adjustment for the fact that his career started in the dead-ball era. And it adjusts for the prevalence of run-scoring in his era.

It allows for a comparison for players who played in different parts of the last 110 years or so.

All-Time Career OPS+ Rankings

Ruth: 206

Williams: 190

Bonds: 181

Numbers crunching again, Dan?

So baseball players were exactly the same back in the early 20th Century as they are today? C'mon, Dan. That isn't true and you know it. Hell, the game isn't the same either.

[Chalupa]

HAHAHAHA!

Nationals announce plan to "Take Back the Park" from the Philles fans.

[JSngry]

HAHAHAHA!

Nationals announce plan to "Take Back the Park" from the Philles fans.

The last time I went to a Rangers-Red Sox game, I had the same urge...

[Chalupa]

There's actually a simple solution for the Nats to getting rid of the Phillies fans. Start winning. Seriously. The Mets fans used to do the same thing to us and it stopped when the Phillies started beating the Mets. The solution the Nats GM is trying won't work in today's age of legalized scalping(hello Stub Hub? Ebay?) He's just creating a secondary market for the tix.

And I think the Nats are going to be really good this season. Love the additions of Edwin Jackson and Gio Gonzales. If Bryce Harper lives up to the hype and Strasburg and Werth can regain their old forms they could take the NL East and who knows how much more. They are close, very close. So for their GM to do this "take back" stuff, it's just nonsense.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/scenes-from-a-philly-invasion-of-nats-park/2011/05/30/AGu6GzEH_blog.html

[Tim McG]

Hey, Jim.

What's going on with Josh Hamilton? Is he seeking help? Addiction, it seems, has taken its toll once again.

[JSngry]

He drank in public one night, didn't binge (at least not that has come out)/go on a multi-day bender, knows he did wrong, admitted it publicly (the press conference was yesterday), and the rest...nobody knows. It's being kept private, as it should be.

It's troubling, to be sure, but the good news is that he seems to be using his support network and did not is careen/is not careening out of control. The bad news is that this is always going to be a problem for him, for the rest of his life.

[Tim McG]

He drank in public one night, didn't binge (at least not that has come out)/go on a multi-day bender, knows he did wrong, admitted it publicly (the press conference was yesterday), and the rest...nobody knows. It's being kept private, as it should be.

It's troubling, to be sure, but the good news is that he seems to be using his support network and did not is careen/is not careening out of control. The bad news is that this is always going to be a problem for him, for the rest of his life.

I really hope so, Jim.

TBH, I sincerely wish the best for him.

[Dave James]

Speaking of support systems, I heard that Ian Kinsler actually showed up at the bar. In these kinds of unfortunate situations, your teammates absolutely have to have your back. Kudos to Kinsler for his willingness to get involved.

[JSngry]

Ian went to the bar, got Josh in his car (so I guess he wasn't too trashed) and made Josh promise him that he was going home and staying home. Josh promised, and that was that, only Josh went back out after while (another troubling thing...). In the press conference, he admitted lying to his teammate.

There appears to be a very deep bond between Ian & Josh, so I'm not expecting "damage", at least not now. I think all the organization and most (probably/hopefully) know what they're dealing with. And that includes Josh.

These current Rangers have, to this point, been one of the more tightly-knit teams in pro sports today. It's a big part of why I've gotten so into supporting them. This incident will just be another test, one which they will all survive and learn from. Hopefully.

And yes, at some point there will be more. That's just the nature of the beast.

Edited February 5, 2012 by JSngry

[Tim McG]

February 14- Voluntary reporting day for pitchers and cathers.

February 24- Full squad reports.

:excited:

[Dan Gould]

February 24th: the start of my vacation from Red Sox baseball. I had my reasons at the end of last year but now they are only more compelling not to give a shit about them. In addition to Bobby F-ing Valentine as the media-hogging manager, you've got:

Aceves and his nine lifetime major league starts in the fifth spot and Daniel Bard and his zero lifetime major league starts in the fourth spot.

A host of nothings waiting in the wings for the inevitable failure of those two as starters: Aaron F-ing Cook? Vicente Padilla and his head-hunting ways?

Jed Lowrie AND Marco Scutaro traded away, leaving two lifetime scrubs to share a key position like SS (Mike Aviles and Nick Punto, if you need actual names).

This team will be hard pressed to hold off Toronto and if the Orioles hadn't traded away Guthrie, maybe the Orioles too, and I for one will not waste a minute on them.

[JSngry]

Nothing says "don't care" like a passionate expression of disgust!

[Dan Gould]

So very true.

Funny thing is that the loss of Papelbon doesn't bother me in the least. Melancon and Bailey should be fine and when Bard and Ace go back to the bullpen, they'd actually have a really strong bullpen.

But no team does anything with only three starters and no shortstop. And as asshat manager can't change that, he can only annoy me.

Too bad its going to take Theo some time with the Cubs. I should just take the year off from the game. And I probably will.

[Brad]

Aside from the other issues you mentioned, has Valentine done anything to "hog" headlines. I haven't heard of it but then I don't follow the Red Sox. The little I'd heard is that he had tried to visit each player.