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gnatto sez,
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doc, im not seeing a thumbs up option anywhere.
The other thing that would be nice is being able to click on the comments number at the bottom of the posts and when it loads it goes straight to the top of the comments rather than the top of the article, and in the article if you click that same comments number it takes you down to the top of the comments....
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The thumbs-up option, is top left in any comment, or is the editor the only one who is seeing this at the moment? Thusly:
I think (hope) next is the feature that turns a comment "green" for a certain number of recommendations. Personally I am very strong on this feedback loop on an interactive website. ... even if 10-15 guys are going through clicking on comments they agree with, it gives a nice sense of what the community trend is on a given issue.
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"Would be nice to click on the comments number at the bottom of the posts ..." :: taps chin :: Oh, you mean when you're in the carousel. Ya, that would ideally take you directly to the comments area; that's standard and I'm sure the admins have this in their Change Request bin. :- )
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So. With any change in format, there is an "automatic sales resistance" because the old familiar format was easy for the mind to process. Going from old to new is like going from QWERTY to DVORAK; of course DVORAK is going to draw scowls in the first few days ....
That said, I can't even remember what the old format was now. LOL. We have a nice carousel up top to scan articles -- I like the look and feel of it, think it's very appealing -- and then there's a HUGE Shout Box area for you feebs who think that's the best part of SSI. The look of the top page reflects the personality of the users' habits. Perhaps in the comments box below you'll be kind enough to put some "second stage" feedback as to the new platform?
One of my own fave upgrades is that when you hit the "Active Threads" button, you get a big fat threaded menu with usernames and titles nested, most recent convo's at the top, which was wayyyy too much info to cram into a fraction of the sidebar.
Also, does everybody use the Single Column Shout Box or do some amigos use the multi-column?
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THIRD ORDER THINKING
McClendon likes Kyle Seager #2 because "he's a good fastball pull hitter." Tony La Russa did this with Dave Henderson behind Rickey Henderson; Hendu was all about fastballs, and Rickey got him lots of fastballs. Hendu had 130 OPS+ scores in 1990-91, at ages 31-32, the two years he hit behind Rickey; he was a career 100-105 hitter all his other years.
We sabes do not believe much in "ideal #2 hitters," but this is definitely an asterisk to it. That's a manager's job, to create "UP" seasons for his players, as McClendon did with the relievers last year. You can sometimes do this by putting a fastball hitter behind guys with high OBP's.
To which you can confidently say, "Where's the guy with a high OBP? Wouldn't that be the 5 slot, behind Cano and Cruz?" and you'd be right.
We sabes prefer Kyle Seager #2 because --- > you pile your best hitters into the high slots, getting them more AB's. The M's are doing this and, perhaps not coincidentally, they've had 30 days as one of the top 6-8 offenses in baseball.
What I like is that the enemy SP comes under IMMEDIATE pressure -- sometimes this might rattle him and cause a night where he's out of rhythm. As opposed to throwing the guy an easy 0 on, 2 out situation to start the game. With bases empty and 2 out, your average return is like 0.2 runs, so you might as well say that you're spotting the enemy SP a free inning. This puts him in a rocking chair for the night.
First-order thinking: get a baserunner #1, and then get a bat-control guy #2 so you can hit and run.
Second-order (sabe) thinking: Lineup protection doesn't exist because we can't measure it. Get your best hitters to the top of the lineup.
Third-order thinking: Disrupt enemy pitching in the first inning, which may frequently lead to bad nights for the other SP although you'll never be able to measure the effect.
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Seager now has 57 career games at #2, with 250 plate appearances, and is hitting .295/.365/.480 there. Better than at any other spot. This year he's got 14 games there, batting .295/.350/.500. Correlation doesn't apply causation; another way to put that is to remember that the rooster's crowing doesn't make the sun come up. Seager might have gotten hot a month ago, and then been put into the #2 slot.
But it LOOKS to Dr. D like Seager flourishes in the 2 spot, perhaps because they pitch to him there. That leaves Robinson Cano (#4 right now) as the guy "without protection," the guy who protects HIMSELF by not swinging at balls. Not sure that you want to slide the better pitches to Seager rather than Cruz/Cano, but ... we've got a real-world return here. This batting order has been ripping it up.
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PROGNOSIS
Mike Montgomery has proved human, getting rocked in 2 of the last 3 games, but --- > he is allowed growing pains. Last time out, he walked 5 and fanned only 2. But Dr. D warned you that the lad's mechanics are suspect.
So sue him. He's got an extremely diverse arsenal, his change speed game is unquestionably plus, and his makeup is right where you want it to be. We sent the Yankee$ a kid named Tino Martinez one time; the Yankee$ thought and thought and decided to send us Sterling Hitchcock rather than Andy Pettitte. Purely on the basis of makeup; "Hitchcock gives up a homer and blames his catcher. Pettitte scowls and figures out what he needs to do better."
Monty got swatted around by the Tigers and Angels, but in between was the 9-strikeout (all swinging) performance at New York. You knew he was a rookie, no? On any given night he has either shot himself in the foot, or made the best lineups in baseball look helpless. Earl Weaver watched a baseball game by starting with the question, "How are the two starters THROWING tonight?" The first 6-8 pitches for either SP can be fun to study.
BABVA,
Dr Detecto
