Texas

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=== PRO ===

Most baseball teams should be in the pennant race ... on Opening Day.  Baseball is for kids.  It is not for postgrad students, and for sure it should not be co-opt'ed by postgrad students.

This entire discussion about Prince Fielder is fundamentally idiotic.  You have home town fans weeping and wailing that their home team might try to win.  

This is an idiotic situation.  

*See comments - not the arguments for and against Fielder, and not the arguments that winning could be done better without Fielder.  But many hometown fans argue -- in March -- that "the Mariners shouldn't be pretending to be in a race they're not really in," and to the extent that they're right, the overarch'ing system is idiotic.  :- )

The 5th playoff team remedies this situation.  It is indisputable that, with the 5th team, you will have many fewer home town fans begging, in December, that their home teams try to lose in the coming year.  QED.

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=== CON ===

The argument from the best baseball analysts is that  --- > the old Wild Card team, the #4 team, usually had a better record than some division winner had.

The #5 team usually is a considerably weaker team than the #4 team, or so it is asserted.

Dr. D grants that this is one of the stronger arguments against a 2nd Wild Card.  If you wish to make sure that no "weakie" teams get into the postseason, "embarrassing" baseball, then you would avoid the 2nd Wild Card.

It's got some traction.  I could see some dubious #5 teams making the WC playoff.  (But lemme say that if the 1996, Junior-ARod-Edgar Mariners are the squirrelliest team we're going to see, that's all right with me.)

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Took my first look at what the Shot-Callers are saying.  Was quite surprised at how serious the groundswell is.

Not surprising at all that Bud Selig -- the man who cried for mercy for 20 years in Milwaukee -- would sympathize with the poor l'il baseball fan in Seattle.  Was a little surprised, though, that he slammed down the uncompromising demands that he did.

Was even more surprised to grok that the 30 owners have a clear consensus on it.

And the most surprised that the union is going to rubber-stamp it, without trying to lever the concept into side payments to its advantage.

So, it's 2013 or even very possibly 2012.  

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Q.  Is there any way to tell how good Texas will be in 2012?

A.  They racked up the 2011 bling with pitching, more so than with hitting.  Their ERA+ was 118.  The Rangers and Yankees were miiiiiiiiillles ahead of the only other two excellent pitching staffs, those being in Oakland and Anaheim.

All 5 of the Rangers' starters went 29-34 games, with great ERAs+ as a group.  And every single reliever was great.

If all five Rangers' starters are all unconscious in 2012, sure, you're talking about a +150 differential again, because their offense will hit.  But you go through that B-Ref.com almanac and you see pitching staffs drop off Y2.   

Could Colby Lewis and Alexi Ogando have sore arms, and Matt Harrison have an off year?  Happens all the time.

... and pardon the thread re-boot.  But chat threads can get fishing-reel-snargled with you guys.  All y'all's "comments" are more like Articles of the Week and by the time they interweave back and forth about 200 times, Jonah Hill his ownself would be confused...

Also please pardon the fact that statements are re-phrased as questions.  If you think I'm barging in here, check me in the line at an Old Country sometime.

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Q Malcontent:  Is that a reasonable scenario, the 1H 2012 in which Zduriencik has imported a 3B?!  Can you see it happen?

PTI Jemanji:  Yes.

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=== #3 Timothy Gallwey Dept. ===

Sports psychology is all about --- > convincing yourself that you can win.

Put me in the back yard, playing 3-on-3 with the local junior high kids, and I've got no problem shooting 80%, 90%.  The positive visualization is absolute and it is more than skin deep.

However, put me in a strange YMCA in Tacoma, playing against the brothers, and if I miss my first couple, I might shoot 3-for-21.  Why is that?  They're the same shots.  

Fear of failure, self-doubt, embarrassment.