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Either this .jpg is a representation of Jack Zduriencik's minor league system, or of Archimedes' electrical generator in reverse - Dr. D 

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=== Men Who Advanced Their Fields ===

Some of my favorite ancient scientific experiments...

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Eureka.  Archimedes was asked by a king to determine whether a crown was returned to him as 24K gold, or whether the smith had cheated him.  Archimedes was not to melt down or harm the crown in any way.  A puzzle that, in ancient times, not one Mensa member in a million could have solved.

Sitting in his bathtub, he realized that he could measure the volume of irregular objects through water displacement.  He could then weigh the crown against equal weight of gold in air, and then check both for displacement.

I have a friend who, today, in 2011. works on genetic mapping.  He's smart.  He is not smart enough to figure out things like that.  Neither am I.  Just because you work on amazing 21st-century technology doesn't mean that you are a greater scientist than Archimedes.

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By the way, Archimedes' "water screw" was slightly revised to develop hydro-electric generators, since you can turn the screw the other way by dropping water into it.  ... It was used in the Netherlands to reclaim land below sea level.  ... it's used in sewage treatment plants because it copes well with solid/liquid mixtures (which may be a parable for blogs that defend low payrolls).  ... they're used in fish hatcheries because they are so gentle on fish.  .. it's used as an agricultural conveyor.  ... etc.

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What is the "water displacement" of Ichiro's contribution to the Mariners, as opposed to Randy Johnson's?  Thanks to James' RC/27 concept, his Runs per Win concept, his Win Shares paradigm and those who followed him by re-casting these as WAR ...

We know the general displacement of both Mariners' contributions:

• 10 wins in 3.5 years - Unit, stage 1 (1989-1992)
• 36 wins in 5.0 years - Unit, stage 2 (1993-1998)
• 53 wins in 11 years - Ichiro (2001-2011)

It is true that the Unit had four Mariner seasons of immense impact, which made it easier to create contenders around him in those years.  But Ichiro has had three seasons of 6+ wins also.

They used to argue about this kind of thing.  Eternally.  Now the arguments are often no longer possible, because resolved.

Because the Unit left Seattle halfway through his career, it has turned out that Ichiro displaced considerably more Mariner contribution than Randy Johnson did for us.  Eureka!

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