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Call to the bullpen for ... LHP Peter Mark Roget

sometimes ya just Got No Words

.

The word "Thesaurus" comes from an old Latin word meaning "storehouse" or "treasure."  In 1852, Dr. Peter Roget published a treasury of "English words and phrases," apparently to be used as a toolbox for writers.  

Treasury?!  The single most, um, embarrassing thing a writer could admit -- much more embarrassing than admitting plagiarism, which implies that you're beating the system --  is that he needed a thesaurus to find convincing words.  

... Donny Osmond, when he was a kid, cheerfully admitted that he used a thesaurus to come up with song lyrics, and he was forever done as a Serious Artist.  Totally insincere, don'tcha know.

The Artist Formerly Known as Dr. D has no dignity left to protect, so he'll tap the left sleeve and call Roget out of the bloggy bullpen to give him the last three innings off.  Peter Roget, a LOOGY, takes his eight warmup tosses and then, unlike M's starters, goes to his own bloggy strengths ...

LHP Roget stretches, comes sidearm from first base, :ahem:

..........

EMBARRASSING implies an external distress that causes a person to become suddenly self-conscious:  

embarrassing failure of memory inauspiciously marked my first appearance as an actor>  


embarrassing than the Mariners'; a long series of disillusionments had called into question Seattle's competence>

........

MORTIFYING carries the connotation of a severe and vexing embarrassment, often with the idea of subduing one's vitality or will: 

mortified by her children's atrocious manners>

mortified to debate whether the "AAAAstros" were the worst lineup in modern history, only to suffer through 16 runs on Tuesday and 15 more base hits on Wednesday>

mortifyingly ironic "Astros About to Crater Seattle" post in the left sidebar>

..........

A HUMILIATING occurrence is extremely destructive to one's self-respect or dignity.  It comes from an Greek word that means to lie very low, such as a "humble" river that drops below sea level:

humiliated for not having the “right” clothes because everyone is wearing a school uniform>

humiliating for Mariner fans to express pre-season confidence in their "blue chip prospects">

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

DEMEANING is any situation which greatly lowers one's status or reputation:


demeaning comments on women athletes>

 

demeaning for the incumbent Mariner players to be far outplayed by Angels castoffs>

 

..........

 

UNSETTLING can express embarrassment, but more frequently conveys the idea of upsetting, disturbing, or discomposing:

 

images of the war; the unsettling task of picking out a coffin and making the other funeral arrangements for his father>

 


unsettling realization that the ballclub's 6 highest OPS figures were supplied by offseason retreads, and the club's 5 lowest OPS figures were posted by its "franchise core" players>

 

unsettling to watch Blake "Blister" Fister's mortifying impotence against even the #37 team in major league baseball>

 

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

 

Good effort, lefty.  Hit the showers.  We'll get you a chance in a tight ballgame next time...

 

No matter what happens next, we've got to acknowledge that the Astros series was a low point in Seattle baseball history.

 

The Times, Prospect Insider, and other places are calmly reminding us that you've got to go until at least mid-May before reacting too strongly.  They're right, of course.

 

Think of the Angels.  They've got Trout, Hamilton, and Pujols, and they're 2-6.  Their ace has a broken arm, and he was clocking 85 MPH before he broke it.  

 

Their #2 pitcher is fading fast -- walks going up, ability to throw cutters going down.  (Both of these fading pitchers JUST SIGNED their long-term deals.)  Their #3 pitcher, Blanton, just struck out 0 batters in his second start, after giving up 3 gopher balls in his first game.

 

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

 

If it's me, Danny Hultzen makes Blake Beavan's next start, but the TNT just ruled that out of bounds -- that's the kind of thing only Bill Bavasi and Mike Hargrove would do, sez Ryan.  Hm.  Is that accurate?  Would calling up Danny Hultzen be worthy of ridicule?

 

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

 

Objectively speaking, the M's are fine.  See you at the ballpark for the Supreme Court.

 

Come on you Gooners,

Dr D

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