Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jon's other site:
Screen Jam
TV and more ...
1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with
A hint of the domestic issues that drew Don Mattingly away from his hitting coach position with the Dodgers revealed themselves this weekend when his estranged wife, Kim, was arrested on charges of public intoxication and disorderly conduct, according to Kate Braser of the Evansville Courier-Press. I wish each of them both the best in trying to recover from their troubles.
On a lighter note, there's something about Charley Kerfeld scouting Odalis Perez that just amuses me, for reasons I can't rightly explain.
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Update: Daily News columnist Dennis McCarthy is borrowing Tony Jackson's blog to write about his trip to Dodger Fantasy Baseball Camp in Vero Beach.
The rookies — that would be me — were sent to the batting cages while the veterans — the 87 out of 117 guys and one woman attending this last scheduled Dodgers Fantasy Camp in Vero Beach, Fla. — stood around and had a good laugh grading us so we could be put on their teams.
I tanked it big time. In 20 pitches, I whiffed 15 times and hit five meek foul balls.
"Nice going, rook," said Bernie Silverman, a 71-year-old retired optometrist from Sherman Oaks. ...
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A fun story comes from Al Doyle at Baseball Analysts on 19-game winners in baseball.
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Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times learns that Bill James is launching a new website this month. In James' words:
The basic idea for the site is that I wanted to have a place where I could communicate directly with my readers, to publish articles and get feedback from the audience in real time. It isn't a blog, as I understand the term, because I think blogs are essentially opinion-driven, as opposed to research-driven. Not trying to limit what you can do in a blog; I'm sure there are blogs of all types. Anyway, what I do is, I find a question, I do research, I write it up, which is what I have always done; I don't really traffic in opinion very much. I do write some "columns," as opposed to articles, and columns are opinion pieces.
But a site, to be most useful to a reader, to really become a part of the reader's life, needs something new all the time, something happening every day. To create that "something happening all the time," we have created a lot of "information packages" that of course will be automatically updated.
How to do that? Well, obviously there is no point in telling the readers the things that they already know, so we have gone through a years-long process of trying to identify everything there is about baseball that we don't know, that the reader doesn't have any way of finding out. Then we created "profiles"—I guess there are 30 or 40 of them now, and will be more—which contain all kinds of information about the teams and the players that you don't have any other way of knowing, at least now; of course other people will rip us off, and the same information will be appearing on other sites in a matter of months.
We'll also do games, and I do hope to have 25 or 30 other writers writing there eventually. But it is hard to get that process moving before there is money coming in, and so far, it's all been money going out.
http://www.gaslampball.com/story/2008/1/21/114241/735
vr, Xei
Jayson Werth? I don't get it.
I like how we rate as their number one hated team but most Dodgers fans could care less about the Padres until Sept.
http://pfs76.blogspot.com/2005/03/why-i-dislike-jayson-werth.html
And by the way, "the smell of Dodger Stadium"?
I'm not sure it makes more sense than my guess.
That is great, hats off to Werth.
I was going to say something about the writer but I figured Jon wouldn't like me to do that. I guess if you felt the same way he really was a jerk.
Strange because I've been to a few Petco games and their crowds are churchlike. I guess I need to check out the bleachers so I can stir up some emotion.
>>1. Dodgers - Oh Dodgers, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways. One, your smug dirtbag fans. Two, the smell of your ballpark. Three, your drunk violent fans. Four, Los Angeles. Five, beachballs. Six, forcing Jayson Werth on us. Seven, Eric Gagne. Eight, your "rivalry" with the Giants that forces your followers to remind Padres fans that there's no rivalry with the Padres, even though we've owned your team since the 90s and we don't want a rivalry with your consistently bottom half of the standings team anyway. Nine, the way your upper management sabotaged the Padres for the first 16 years of our existence. I could go on and on. <<
Oh, please do. Sigh.
Year Dodgers Padres
2001 3rd 4th
2002 3rd 5th
2003 2nd 5th
2004 1st 3rd
2005 4th 1st
2006 1st 1st
2007 4th 3rd
Both teams seem to be on the same level over the last 7 years. Luckily for the them the Giants will allow them to snag a few of those 4th place finishes while we fight for 1-3 with the Diamondbacks and Rockies as we end this decade.
1. 1972 Miami Dolphins - Darren Rovel of CNBC said that Mercury Morris makes about $50K at card shows and appearances due to his being a member of that team. Sure the coach and quarterback do okay and Larry Csonka has been visible for many years after his playing days but players like Morris are able to get a few bucks by schilling the fact that they play on the only undefeated team in NFL history.
2. Anti-Bill Simmons folks (or just those annoyed with Boston). Bill Simmons of ESPN.com has also done well hawking his Bostoness over the last 5-7 years but this loss probably halts the momentum of Boston going for all three major sports titles in the same year.
3. New Yorkers.
4. Anyone who heeded my advice of betting the Giants on moneyline (3.5-4 to 1) and parlaying with the under. (if only I made that bet myself).
5. Fox Network.
6. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw who did not want to have Tom Brady join their club.
7. Raider fans who still think Brady fumbled.
he had a parlay with the Giants +12 and the under, and he bet hard on the Giants to win the money line.
I just want to know why he didn't call me before he placed the bets
that said, i had no money on the game.
30 #7 could not be more true!
http://tinyurl.com/3xkhhz
And isn't 2008 the 20th anniversary of the last Laker/Celtic finals...?
Not quite. The last Lakers/Celtic finals was 1987, a year ago... Magic Hook shot... oh yea
I meant the 20th anniversary was a year ago
Any thoughts out there, I'll chime in later.
Wasn't able to make your live chat but did read the transcript. How did the test go in real time? Is it Oscar ready?
I wish Scarlett Johansson would call me, and not in a recorded voice - directly.
he had a parlay with the Giants +12 and the under, and he bet hard on the Giants to win the money line.
I just want to know why he didn't call me before he placed the bets
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