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SSI Hot Seat (top of the inning)

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Hot seat, in which the bleacher bums chat baseball with absolutely no (a) statistical analysis, (b) preparation, (c) accuracy or even (d) undue concern for whether they're completely wrong.

But hey.  We're a lot of things -- fair-weather fans ain't one of 'em.  As Bill James said, "I believe in struggling through the down times, in watching the kids figure things out.  It makes the winning more fun."

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=== Buy a Clue, Dept. ===

Dr. D is as disgusted, and discouraged, as anybody.  Why is it an Act Of blinkin' Congress to score one lousy run?

  • The Darvishes, Fisters, and Verlanders did it, between the lines, with the radar gun
  • The BABIP did it, on the infield dirt, with a splinter off the busted roulette wheel
  • The kids did it, in the Starbucks, with a case of Quad-Shot Lattes
  • The DL did it, in the training room, with a variety of foreign objects (baseballs, fences, and Eric Davis-like CF's)
  • Blaise Pascal did it, under the stands, with the spike-anchor of 2B
  • The weather did it, on the frozen tundra, with a bad case of hypothermic baseballs
  • The assisted-care nurse did it, in Raul Ibanez' room, with a pillow

Without looking up the stats, we can tell yer that the young players are pressing; Kyle Seager is the only one going up there satisfied to sock a solid line drive anywhere the ball's pitched.  We can tell yer that the runs on the board don't reflect the balls in play the last week-plus.  And when Ortiz came out of the bullpen, and pitched badly, he stuck out like a coal pile in a ball room.

It's not logical that this offense should be worse than 2012, much less worse than 2011, but you know that as well as we do.  As for me, I'm just gonna ride it out.

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WBC-san goes to his Greg Maddux impersonation

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Q.  What would make you compare Hisashi Iwakuma in any way to an MLB pitcher with over 100 WAR?

A.   He's reminding me of Greg Maddux in the same way that Chris Sale is reminding me of Randy Johnson.

The opposing pitchers he has just faced, back to back to back, might be the three best in the league right now, and all pitching for ALCS contenders:

  • Justin Verlander, Detroit - W, 2-0 (decision to pen)
  • Yu Darvish, Texas - W, 3-1
  • Chris Sale, Chicago - L, 3-4 (decision to pen)

The only scalp you'd really like to see to added to that would be Felix's.  Maybe Hisashi can figure out a way to pull that one off too.

We won't even count the #2 pitcher for the A's, also defeated by WBC-san this year; you don't put a deer rack on the same wall with your trophies of man-eating tigers and 2,000-lb. wildebeest.

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Q.   Why only two strikeouts today?

The Sims 3 Chicken Coop

EA seems to be going the "splinter" route, from "one huge expansion pack every six months" to "tiny niche expansions every month." I saw the writing on the wall back when Barnacle Bay was released, and I swore to myself that I wouldn't encourage them by buying these exorbitantly priced mini-expansions from their store. But then I heard there was an actual working chicken coop and I kind of lost my mind, so here we are.

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Saving on kid's clothes

If you have kids, you know that clothing them can be expensive. I didn't realize just how expensive until we had our son nearly two years ago. Thankfully, we received so many clothes at his baby shower that I only bought one or two outfits during his first six months. Even since that time, I've spent no more than $150 on clothes for him. The only thing that was truly needed was his winter coat for the past winter; everything else was optional. During a time when clothing sizes change every couple of months, it's necessary to save where you can.

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Party pooper Fox cracks down on Jayne Hats

If you are a Firefly loving knitter, or a knitter with a Firefly fan somewhere in your sphere of influence, you may well have knit a Jayne hat. And if so, Fox wants a word with you, particularly if you're selling the hats online.

"Jayne hats" are the red, orange and gold earflap hats made famous in the Firefly episode where Jayne Cobb received one in the mail (well… the space mail) from his doting mother. These iconic items have since become one of the hottest items for Firefly fans of all ages.

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Debating the merits of fake crab

Fake crab meat has a bad name, and you can kind of see why. Any time you're selling one kind of food which has been colored, flavored and re-textured to seem like another, you're on shaky ground. (I'm thinking of those cracker snack packs, with the salty orange substance in the little tub, and the red plastic stick for spreading it. The package euphemistically describes it as "Cheez.")

But hey, have you seen the price of crab lately?

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Maurer vs Erikkk Pregame

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=== Erikkk vs M's ===

Nobody quite knows what Erikkk will be this year.

Last year, watching him, Dr. D silently dabbed at the corners of his eyes with a tissue.  Gone was the upright, regal delivery and crackling hook.  He was lunging forward like Sid Fernandez, trying to steer the ball into the strike zone, trying to grovel strikes.  He wasn't the same pitcher, not by a long shot.

CARTER CAPPS HURRICANE WARNING

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From 1989-1992 ... actually about July of 1992, as we recall ... Randy Johnson was a mediocre pitcher, but a mediocre pitcher who had unlimited upside.  IIRC, he had a great finish to 1992.

Bill James issued a major storm warning that winter.  That was a pretty good heads-up, considering that it was the Jurassic Era of sabermetrics.  These days, being ahead of the curve means you are 1-2 weeks earlier than everybody else.  Which, as you know, SSI usually is.  We live to serve.

............

We might not be any earlier than you on this one, as far as Carter Capps being about to take over the league.  But we'll nail down a few of the details that may not yet have gone to wide dissemination...

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