Things Smackie Thinks You Need to Know...

vansmack wrote:

atomicfront wrote:

vansmack wrote:

vansmack wrote:
I hope every pitcher does what Ryan Dempster just did to A-Rod.  Baseball has a history of self-policing and those that care enough should continue to drill him.

Dempster suspended 5 games, fined for plucking A-Rod

What did we learn here?

Dempster is a loser. 

While that might be true, I don't know him personally.

What we learned here is he needs to be more accurate.  If he hits him with the first pitch and not the fourth pitch, he doesn't get suspended nor does he get fined.

Well maybe that is true.

So he loses money being suspended for games he wouldn't pitch anyway. (4 of the 5 games)  I think that is funny. 

vansmack wrote:

vansmack wrote:
I hope every pitcher does what Ryan Dempster just did to A-Rod.  Baseball has a history of self-policing and those that care enough should continue to drill him.

Dempster suspended 5 games, fined for plucking A-Rod

What did we learn here?

we learned that Dempster didn't take his ninja training seriously.

so i'm 4 months late to this party, but i finally got a Galaxy S4.  wow, what a phone.  the screen is ridiculous.  i haven't figured out all the "air movement" stuff, and i'm still generally getting used to it… but wow.

in other news: things smackie already knows but doesn't mind being reminded of

Let's know if are still using those hand gestures next week ;)

Me I'm totally on board with my HTC one

Yeah… I agree. I used the hand gestures for about a day and then found them annoying.

The hovering over email one is kind of useful though for work as I get boat loads of email all day and it's nice to get a quick preview.

Venerable wrote:
we learned that Dempster didn't take his ninja training seriously.

This is true.  A Ninja doesn't miss with a baseball or a star.

The debate between the HTC One and he GS4 is an interesting one.  They're both great phones, but I agree with Kosmo here - I'm in the HTC One camp, but really you can't go wrong with either.  The front speakers, metal casing and it's camera tricks are what puts the HTC One ahead for me, though it suffers from serious software problems, most notably the menu button.

I'm really liking the new Moto X, if nothing else but for the Bluetooth safe screen unlock.  That will be a reliable app soon enough though.  If you haven't seen it, whenever your device is connected to a bluetooth device that you deem safe, it turns off the lockscreen.  Brilliant.

I went to the Microsoft store this weekend to take a look at the Nokia Lumia 1020 and while I like the concept, I think I'm looking more at what Sony is planning on doing with the lens than I am with the Nokia solution.

Also, this happened this morning:

   

The Pirates with their first winning season since "that night in 1992"


Things might be looking up for Smackie….

vansmack wrote:
The Pirates with their first winning season since "that night in 1992"


Things might be looking up for Smackie….

I was at that game… still one of my most vivid sports memories.

Yada wrote:
I was at that game… still one of my most vivid sports memories.

I was inconsolable for days.

This week, to mark the 170th anniversary of the appearance of the first issue of The Economist on September 2nd 1843, this blog will answer some of the more frequently asked questions about The Economist itself.

Why does The Economist call itself a newspaper?
Is The Economist left- or right-wing?
How does The Economist choose what to cover?
Why are The Economist?s writers anonymous?
Where do The Economist?s unusual names come from?

that's awesome.  the economist is one of the only news outlets i read these days.

and, as always, i love sharing this whenever it's mentioned.

Now if they could just find him some pitching….

Mike Trout is ending the debate
September, 10, 2013

By Buster Olney

Mike Trout was loved by front-office types last year. But this year, the players also see it.
Before the season, Mike Trout talked about wanting to be more patient at the plate, about drawing more walks, because in his first full season in the big leagues he had shown some impatience and, naturally, he wanted to get better.

Well, a year later, Trout has increased his walk total – by about 50 percent. He is on pace to draw 102 walks this season, as well as 203 hits, 78 extra-base hits, 110 runs, 95 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.

A longtime player was asked last week about the MVP vote in the American League. ?Trout?s going to win it, isn?t he?? he responded. ?There isn?t really any question about it – he?s the best player in baseball.?

? Trout currently leads the AL in hits with 179.
? He leads the league in walks with 90.
? He leads in runs with 97.
? He?s tied for fifth in doubles with 37.
? He?s third in OPS at 1.009.
? He is also running away from everybody else in WAR, in the way that he did last year.

Last year, the drumbeat of the Trout-for-MVP discussion was led by talent evaluators who work in street clothes – the general managers, the assistant general managers, the scouts. But this year, you hear it more and more from players. They view Trout as occupying a very special and distinct place in the sport.

Most players I?ve spoken this summer with think Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter, and Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher.

But the best overall player? The folks in front offices still can?t believe there?s a debate about this, given Trout?s staggering preeminence in the statistical evaluations they compile. Now, more and more players are agreeing with them, in Trout?s second full year in the big leagues.

Don't be ridiculous..nobody on such a losing team should ever win the MVP.

the MVP award does not go to the "best player"…it goes to the most valuable player..to be valuable your team has to actually be doing something..

vansmack wrote:
Now if they could just find him some pitching….

Mike Trout is ending the debate
September, 10, 2013

By Buster Olney

Mike Trout was loved by front-office types last year. But this year, the players also see it.
Before the season, Mike Trout talked about wanting to be more patient at the plate, about drawing more walks, because in his first full season in the big leagues he had shown some impatience and, naturally, he wanted to get better.

Well, a year later, Trout has increased his walk total – by about 50 percent. He is on pace to draw 102 walks this season, as well as 203 hits, 78 extra-base hits, 110 runs, 95 RBIs and 36 stolen bases.

A longtime player was asked last week about the MVP vote in the American League. ?Trout?s going to win it, isn?t he?? he responded. ?There isn?t really any question about it – he?s the best player in baseball.?

? Trout currently leads the AL in hits with 179.
? He leads the league in walks with 90.
? He leads in runs with 97.
? He?s tied for fifth in doubles with 37.
? He?s third in OPS at 1.009.
? He is also running away from everybody else in WAR, in the way that he did last year.

Last year, the drumbeat of the Trout-for-MVP discussion was led by talent evaluators who work in street clothes – the general managers, the assistant general managers, the scouts. But this year, you hear it more and more from players. They view Trout as occupying a very special and distinct place in the sport.

Most players I?ve spoken this summer with think Miguel Cabrera is the best hitter, and Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher.

But the best overall player? The folks in front offices still can?t believe there?s a debate about this, given Trout?s staggering preeminence in the statistical evaluations they compile. Now, more and more players are agreeing with them, in Trout?s second full year in the big leagues.

If Cabrera was a white guy from middle America who played in LA and Trout was a Hispanic guy with a loose grasp of English who played in Detroit, absolutely no one on earth would be making this argument. The Trout for MVP over Cabrera argument is simply baseball's "this is still the 1950s" mindset masquerading as avant garde stats.

Yada wrote:
[font=Verdana]CUTCH!!![/font]

You will get no argument from me.

Julian, wrote:If Cabrera was a white guy from middle America who played in LA and Trout was a Hispanic guy with a loose grasp of English who played in Detroit, absolutely no one on earth would be making this argument. The Trout for MVP over Cabrera argument is simply baseball's "this is still the 1950s" mindset masquerading as avant garde stats.

So it's their names?  Or is it because Trout's from New Jersey?

Because there is a white guy playing in LA(ish) and a Hispanic guy playing in Detroit, and there's still an argument.

hutch wrote:
the MVP award does not go to the "best player"…it goes to the most valuable player..to be valuable your team has to actually be doing something..

For the record, I don't think Trout wins it this year either (that was Buster Olney's post, and I am not Buster Olney), but I still think Trout's the best player in baseball.

Cabrera, Cutch, Scherzer and Kershaw. I'm tipping Fernandez for ROY in the NL over Puig (backlash) and I don't think they should award an AL ROY this year.