John Lennon In His Own Write
well, it seemed like an Underperformance at the time

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We've no doubt got our share of Denizens who get this reference.  :- )

Back in 1964 there weren't many people who realized that Lennon was a thinker.  The Alfred E. Neumann-esque photo above didn't help a lot.  His little collection of poems and lyrics and whatnot came across as nonsensical or worse.  A few years on, a fairly sizable group of people began to suspect the reality, that John Lennon had a few things to say.

His book had verses like this one:

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“I was bored on the 9th of Octover 1940 when, I believe, the Nasties were still booming us led by Madolf Heatlump (who only had one). Anyway they didn't get me. I attended to varicous schools in Liddypol. And still didn't pass -- much to my Aunties supplies. As a member of the most publified Beatles my (P, G, and R's) records might seem funnier to some of you than this book, but as far as I'm conceived this correction of short writty is the most wonderfoul larf I've every ready."

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:: loses confidence for a moment ::

:: steadies it :: Come to think of it, some people still insist that Lennon's poetry was mostly about mushrooms.  But Dr. D richly enjoys deciphering free association and he enjoys creativity, despite the fact that he has almost none himself.  (Dr. D's own gig is uptake and reassembly, not imagination.)

Anyway, "Nasties" who "boomed" us.  You could write 500 words on that little surrealism and take it in many directions while doing so -- a wonderful "what, me worry" direction, a dark Rohrschach direction, and so forth.

Which is another thing I like about Billy Shroom's shtick.  It's either the fantasy that he's John Lennon speaking from the grave, or else Jerry Dipoto his ownself speaking through a distortion microphone like Arnold in True Lies.  Or if he's an 11-year-old conning us, that would be best of all.  Shroom's last comment and Dr. D's annotations, naturally, give him the last word:

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Well, Throttlemeyer and Griffin and the rest  of the medical staff  ... well, so long.

Throttlemeyer seems to be bemoaning that he is not leading groundhog hunting trips so secret locations somewhere south of Walla Walla.

The renowned griffin is as elusive as the legendary hippo-griff, or is it armo-griff ... or else it is policy to have players out twice as long as the original projections when they get hurt.

Well, someone has to be proactive, not reactive (or at least hunch reactive or a first responder

Well, switching the positions of Bogart and Cerveza might be a start. Saves face for DePoet, and might be better than starting over.

Well, maybe take a poll of the players to see what  they think.

Well, the  Candaleman might be a fun guy, but has not business coaching first  base, but, well, he smiles nice, and Ricky Rizzs really likes him ... but Sammy Davis Jr. would probably be in improvement ... and he had more hits ... and his version of "Candyman" topped the charts.

Well, where is Andy McKay?

Well, my mostest bestest hope remains Mr. Otani.  His team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, had a visit this week from a Mr. Cashman of some team called the Yankettes, but "tampering rules" forbade him from commenting on anyone he watched on the trip.  Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are "evaluating" Mr. Otani, and another half dozen teams or more remain interested, even though he has only pitched one game in the last month plus ... well, he remains my "all in".

Well, I remain fully vested in DePoet, who has had an awful lot of spaghetti to toss. He has taken this team, which can't seem to win when it has to, light years before the last commander, one Zooredneck.

Well, just re-hash for leftovers.

Well, remember:  "Love is a disease, it will get you in the end.  Just when you think it's over, it starts back up again".

zoom

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You're busted Zoom!  You're busted!  If you're eleven years old there is No. Possible. Way. you reference Sammy Davis Jr.  Hey, my mom waited on Sammy once in Vegas. Okayyyyyy.  

Unfortunately you also busted our little fantasy about Dipoto because he also is too late for Sammy.  It's like a pro wrestling fan yelling "it's fake!" and the arena stops and looks at him.  Gauche move, Billy.  Also you missed a center-cut slider on Casey the Candy-Man rizzsing it with love to make ...  :: scowls ::

...

BOGART AND CERVEZA?  :: he stops short :: the bench coach who coulda been in Servais' Seat, easy enough.  Who or what is a Mariner cerveza?  :: thirty seconds later, honestly ::  oh.  You mean flip Tim Bogar and Scott Servais as captain and first mate, the way they might have done originally?  That's quite an idea.  Zoom puts forth the merit that it's not starting over as far as the learning curves about players' skill sets, etc.

Has any manager outside Steinbrenner's Yankees ever accepted such a humbling and kept his head up in the clubhouse after?  If that's feasible then I like the re-set.  New managers come with a lot of advantages attached - they see through blind spots, they have capital to do what they want, and so forth.

...

Rick Griffin:  I've been watchin' baseball for quite some time now, and never heard of anybody putting a metric on the team trainer.  The observation, that Maniger and Paxton and everybody else got double bonus DL time all year, hits with the impact of a freight train.  Well, of a Fiat at the bare minimum.

Actually G-Money (who's into sports medicine) used to wryly smile about the rehab staff quite a bit.  What was his name, Pedagana ...

...

The whole point is that the Mariners have underperformed, as Dipoto reasonably charged in midsummer -- and team health is part of underperformance as the Seahawks' yoga coach will assure you.  Underperformance is systemic.  We haven't talked much about it for some reason.

...

Always brings a smile to think about Otani-san connected to the Mariners.  QUESTION FOR THE 'TANK.  Do the Mariners, post-Yamauchi-san, remain biased towards "special scoreboard" expenditures on NPB stars to any extent?  

...

Andrew Moore looked to me like he did four months' worth of learning since we saw him last .. which mighta been four months ago, I dunno.

√ He took the fastball higher, harder, and cuttier

√ He took the changeup lower

√ He focused on those two pitches to the exclusion of his cruddy slider and curve (granted, both are nibble-worthy)

√ He challenged less (clear evidence of braininess, given that the challengees are MLB silverback gorillas)

And he had the results to show for it.  11 swings and misses in 80 pitches would be good for Chris Sale, much less a Duck or a Cardinal or whatever he is.  With the ladder fastball I insist he's got a ton of Hisashi Iwakuma in him.  I dunno whether Gordon has wavered any on Andrew Moore but he's not going to wind up regretting this one.

Mariners games are more fun viewed through highlight videos.  This one makes a fair-sized vat of soup off of an enthusiastic ladder fastball.  Mariner "condensed games" have reached the point at which they best consist of one pitch.

...

Hey Shroom, thanks to ya.  That was a nice bit of kindling and tinder on a very cold, wet baseball day, bro.  :- )

Blessings and felicitations,

jemanji

Comments

1

I tought he looked like we thought he would look.  He was clearly better than some of his battered starts, but he's a guy who throws it where he wants it.....and for most mortals, there is a learning curve that goes with being an MLB pitcher.  The league adjusted, and he's countered.  That's good stuff.

I was high on him 12 months ago....3 months ago, 2 months ago, 1 month ago....and today.

The dude can throw.

But, like the good Doc, I did notice his up the ladder philosophy with the FB.  He may have missed up more, sort of on purpose, than he did in all his other MLB starts, combined.  I will have to think back and see if I can remember a slurvey offering that waddled across the outer 1/2 with no particular slurve.

He seems to have fixed his stuff, the stuff that got battered for a few go-arounds.

Atta kid!

2

I always forget Keith-O that you bought long and early here.  My memory is worthless.  Don't stop remindin' me wouldja?

That's a really good point you make, and underlined on the video, that he seemed to think "if you're going to miss, miss high" on that pitch.

....

How much do you weight, or not, the fact that Moyer is so taken with him?  More a case of "his kinda pitcher" or you think more a case of true expert insight?

3

Wasn't trying to toot my horn, but just saying that moore is the same guy that excited us, despite 3 or 4 bad outings. 

4

You don't toot your own horn at all :- ) which is why I was sincerely asking you to keep reminding me of the backstory, and updating as to how your views might have adjusted.  Real glad to know you see as much value in him as you did.  We all know that most players have some diappointment waiting for them, first time round, in the big leagues.

Can I ask again, do you put more or less stock in Moyer's liking for the kid?  I "fear" that Moyer just sees himself in Moore, but "hope" that Moyer sees baseball things we don't.

5

A muse. When is underperforming not underperforming? When a team underperforms so consistently for so many years that underperforming becomes the new performance base. In other words, evaluate the talent, then re-evaluate baking in not the expected level of PERFORMANCE but the expected level of UNDERperformance.

Strange logic, but sometimes history makes us draw conclusions that defy standard logic. And there's a TON of history here.

6

Good stuff, Daddy.  I think sports points us in this direction a lot. There is an assumed level of preformance based on a variety of factors, "athleticism" for example.  But we see any number of athletes who "underperform," based on that standard, year after year.

If the DaddyO Rule applies to individuals, why not individual organizations? 

I'm not really sure that this team "underperformed" when you consider the rotational attrition that happened.  Well, if we go 6-16 from here, that is clearly underperforming.  But, beyond that, maybe I'm now factoring in this organizations historic performance.....and reducing the standard that I expect each season.

Way back in March, we talked of the possibility of a WC slot.  Did anybody seriously talk of a divisional championship?  So if a WC is a "possibility," then 81-81 is just as much of one.

Underperforming, or just performing within the accepted normed range?

7

Right Moe. The point does not have it's full force this year because of the uniquely devastating injury situation. But how can one see this year in isolation from the last fifteen? It's always SOMEthing. The front office doesn't step up. The bullpen performs well in years the starters don't, but goes in the tank in years the starters pitch well. The offense tanks when the pitching is good, and the pitching tanks when the offense is good. And even when we do put something good together a poor choice of managers mucks it up, or a meddling GM, or a Figgins, or a September swoon. It's always something. We can never predict in any given year just WHAT is going to be the Mariners' undoing, but history shows us that underperforming IS the norm. How else do you explalin the fact that among all current MLB franchises only the Mariners along with Montreal/Washington have never even BEEN to a World Series?

I am double-minded about this year. In one sense you HAVE to give the team a pass and applaud them for going into early September with a real chance at a Wild Card, a chance that as of September 8th has dropped precipitously. But in another sense IT DOESN'T MATTER why another season out of the playoffs is likely here. If it wasn't injuries it would be something else.

Ah, the good news. My eighteen month-old grandson just got a plastic indoor climber/slide that has been turned into a fort with blankets and boxes. Don't know who's having more fun, him playing or me watching.

8

If it wasn't the staff spurting oil and leaving body parts all over the park, it would have been something else.  Did somebody in the front office, one, two, three decades ago, kick a goat named Murphy out of the park?

It took the Cubbies 71 years to overcome that one.  How many more for us?

10

... I often find myself jumping to reach fruit that is just a branch higher than I can easily grasp.  To enjoy the fruit of his posting often requires reflection and a certain situational awareness that I usually lack.  Nevertheless, the trial of my intellectual slowness sometimes leads to the fruit of insight, which, through the offices of the good BZ, sometimes falls squarely upon my now bruised and juice-covered noggin.  Prod and zoom away Mr. Bill -- we are richer for it.

11

Mike Trout currently has an OBP of .463, is slugging .652, OPS'ing 1.115 and OPS+ing 199.

To give you a fair idea of how good that is, Willie Mays has career bests (not in one year) of .425, .667, 1.078 and 185.  Hank Aaron's bests were .410, .669, 1.079, 194

Trout is decently good.  Appreciate him.

12

For adjusted OPS+ he is running #6 all time:

√ Babe, Teddy Ballgame of course

√ Barry Bonds' super-human records

√ Lou Gehrig and Rogers ".424" Hornsby

Trout's offensive game is running ahead of Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, Henry Aaron, Stan Musial, everybody ... and none* of these other guys played glove-first positions.  Right now there could be an interesting case made for Trout as the finest ballplayer who ever lived.

Trout's stats don't have their old-guy component, of course.  Just saying.  Possible he's the human ballplayer you'd show the Martians.

13

Fair comparisons, young Mantle and Mays.  Maybe DiMaggio, too.   He went 184, 173, 184 at ages  24-26.  

Watched a bit with my 89 year old dad tonight.  Told him that Trout was (right now) Top 10, all-time.  

Will say that longevity counts!  Tony Conigliaro OPS+ed 137, 133, 122, 142 from ages 19-22.  He led the league in HR's at age 20!!!  What might he have been minus the beaning?  Mays and Aaron had peak type years at age 34+.  

But right now Mike Trout is on the very very short list of the greatest players ever.  And he seems to be getting better,  

14

Interesting, Moe and Doc. We definitely are prone to be more in awe of past legends than those who are legends in our own time. It doesn't help that Trout plays for Moreno's Holy Ones.

15

By every account he is a class act.  His numbers need no puffery.  We should eat him up.  Isn't he what sport is supposed to be?  

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