MFY 2K18

[Guest d'Kong76]

Interrupting with two cents here...

I know technically losing the one-game 'playoff' is making the post-season but
c'mon does anyone really feeling like it's making the playoffs? It's artificial nonsense.

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: Interrupting with two cents here... I know technically losing the one-game 'playoff' is making the post-season but c'mon does anyone really feeling like it's making the playoffs? It's artificial nonsense.

it's all artificial nonsense. It's the playoffs, like it or not. Anything can happen in one game, the Yankees got in the same way this year.

[Guest 41Forever]

Centerfield wrote: I really do think that lying comes so second nature to you that you don't realize that you're doing it. I imagine few people in your real life call you out on it.

You twist my words, run down these rabbit holes and insult me. Not going to waste more time on this.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Ceetar wrote: it's all artificial nonsense. It's the playoffs, like it or not.

You say tomAto, I say tomAHto -- Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

It was just two cents. If you wanna puff out your chest and call it
making the playoffs you knock yourself out, champ!

[Benjamin Grimm]

It is making the playoffs, but in the weakest most unsatisfying way.

[Centerfield]

41Forever wrote: Centerfield wrote: I really do think that lying comes so second nature to you that you don't realize that you're doing it. I imagine few people in your real life call you out on it. You twist my words, run down these rabbit holes and insult me. Not going to waste more time on this.

41F, I'm going to level with you here. And I mean this not to be insulting, though I know it it's going to come across this way. I'm sorry about that. But please know that, all of our differences aside, I am not saying this with any ill will.

It seems to me that you reach conclusions that you want to reach, and hold to those conclusions even when evidence suggests otherwise. I think when information presents itself, rather than objectively assess what you are seeing, you discount things that contradict your pre-held beliefs, and give more weight to things that support it. Even if the support is illogical, or suspect. We all do this to a certain extent. It's natural, nobody wants to be wrong. But I think you do this more than the average person.

And I think you do this so naturally, that you honestly believe you are in the right. Now, you do this well. And I think this makes you valuable to a company, or certainly in the field of politics. But I think there is a value in honoring and acknowledging the truth. Even if, or especially if, it means admitting you were wrong.

I'm wrong all the time. I try to admit it when I am. Bill Clinton? Way wrong, for years. I don't like to admit it. But I'd rather admit it, then to try to spin it and make myself sound worse.

I assure you I don't twist your words. This is why I make it a point to quote your language rather than paraphrase. Do you really expect us to believe that what the Yankees did is irrelevant to you? Come on. You just told us you hate the Yankees. You were there celebrating with us in the thread when they lost. I didn't bring you down a rabbit hole. You trapped yourself in your own lie. This happens when you're not honest with us, and honest with yourself.

I get that it's your job to spin. In some ways, my job is to see through the spin. But people in general are pretty sophisticated. I think you'd be surprised to see how few people buy those pivots.

But more importantly, you shouldn't want to pivot. You should want to know the truth. Accept the truth. Then live your life accordingly.

I get that you've picked up on the fact that my issue with you goes beyond baseball. I accept that. I say that the left and right should be more civil to each other but I'm guilty of not practicing what I preach. I apologize for that. But I ask that in return, maybe you do some self reflection.

[Guest 41Forever]

Do you realize that the Yankees have made the playoffs 20 out of the last 24 years?

I'm an optimist. I like to dwell on the positive things. I focus on what I have, not what I think I'm owed. I enjoyed that my team went to the postseason twice in the last four years. What the Yankees did is irrelevant to me. Not a fan - but I like it when they lose! Just my opinion. Don't expect everyone to agree.

I still can't figure out what the big lie is here. Yes, I said I hate the Yankees. (I think we pretty much all did.) I was happy they lost the series to Boston. (Again, we all were.) You were comparing the Yankees' 20 playoff appearances to the Mets' two. Again, the number of times the Yankees have been to the playoffs is irrelevant to my Mets fandom or my appreciation of the Mets' two recent postseason appearances. That's not tied, in any way, to hating the Yankees or enjoying their defeat. That's exactly what I said there.

I get it. You hate the Wilpons and think they can do no right. You don't like me because of who I used to work for and I don't share the same visceral hatred for the baseball team's owners. Can we talk baseball without it turning into personal attacks?

[batmagadanleadoff]

Centerfield wrote: 41F, I'm going to level with you here....

He's a Met shill, just like he's a Republican shill. If the Mets were perennial big spenders, AS THEY SHOULD BE, he'd be writing that large payrolls are the essential way to go, especially for big market baseball teams.

[Centerfield]

41Forever wrote: I get it. You hate the Wilpons and think they can do no right. You don't like me because of who I used to work for and I don't share the same visceral hatred for the baseball team's owners. Can we talk baseball without it turning into personal attacks?

This is where you are mistaken.

Obviously I don't like the Wilpons, but they absolutely can do right. They just don't do right.

The veterans on this board will attest to this. 20 years ago, there was a contingent of posters who blamed the Wilpons for all the troubles of the organization. They painted a picture of the benevolent Nelson Doubleday being handcuffed by the greedy and miserly Fred Wilpon. These posters didn't have anything to back up their claims, and I felt that it was more than a little based on anti-semitism. I fought such characterizations, and asked for backup.

Since then, tons of information has come out. Doubleday may have had his faults, but he did support spending to create a winning ballclub. Fred Wilpon, on the other hand, thinks the Yankee way is "unsustainable". He shuns analytics. He and his son meddle, and scapegoat, and outright lie. In response to this information, I changed my position, and now agree that the Wilpons are a major problem.

If tomorrow they woke up, changed their tune, and started running the organization the right way, I'd support them.

I try to accept information as it presents itself, then base my opinion on people based upon their actions. Not preconceived notions or allegiances.

Similarly, I don't have an issue with you because of who you worked for. I have an issue with you because I've seen you justify atrocious acts for the sake of party. I've seen you lie, and spin, and pivot rather than accepting information, and saying "you know what, this is just not right". I've seen you shirk accountability. We obviously sit on different ends of the political spectrum, but I judge you for your actions, not your party affiliation.

[Guest 41Forever]

Wow. Well, I disagree with everything you said about me and would dispute what you say are my actions. But clearly your mind is made up and I have no interest in arguing with you.

Perhaps we can agree to disagree, focus on baseball and steer clear of insults and personal attacks?

[stevejrogers]

d'Kong76 wrote: Interrupting with two cents here... I know technically losing the one-game 'playoff' is making the post-season but c'mon does anyone really feeling like it's making the playoffs? It's artificial nonsense.

I had a card collecting and program collecting hobby project that included every team that made the postseason, MFYs included, and I included play-in games.

At no point, even if the Reds had won in 1999, would I’ve considered the losers true “Postseason Teams” (sorry MFS62, ‘51 Dodgers aren’t a true posteason squad), but clearly was part of the October stories that I was collecting.

That being said, while the Wild Card Game is an official postseason playoff game, the feeling is still the same.

Almost as if it was a “Play-In/Tie Breaker Game” to a slot in the actual postseason.

[stevejrogers]

FWIW
There is a BIG difference between
98-74
108-54
92-70
100-60
or 87-75 if you want to start with the 108-54 year

and
90-72 and 87-75 being sandwiched in-between 8 seasons of 70 to 79 wins.

You can’t say that the fan experience during the former was the same as the latter.

Ditto with this four year run
88-74
97-66
94-68
82-80, which you could drop in favor of tacking on another 88-74 year at the front end.

[MFS62]

SteveJRogers wrote: At no point, even if the Reds had won in 1999, would I’ve considered the losers true “Postseason Teams” (sorry MFS62, ‘51 Dodgers aren’t a true posteason squad), but clearly was part of the October stories that I was collecting.

Sniff (sob), but, yeah.
Thanks for being kind.
Later

[Centerfield]

41Forever wrote: But clearly your mind is made up and I have no interest in arguing with you.

See, here’s the thing. I just wrote an entire post about how my mind is not made up about anything. How I try to be receptive to information and adjust my opinions on people based upon their actions. Your takeaway was the exact opposite of what I wrote.

You just shrug that off and dismiss it like there’s no changing the mind of that whacko. It’s easier to write me off as some biased lunatic than to consider that I might be on to something.

In a post where you deny shirking accountability, you shirk accountability.

Understand this. I’ve been posting on this board (or some form of it) for 20 years. I’ve disagreed with people, thought some were crazy, thought some were dumb, but I have never seen anyone with so little regard for the truth. I’ve never seen anyone who’s immediate reaction to something wrong is to spin it. To pivot. To cover it up or to find a way to make it seem not so bad.

And be honest with yourself. You like doing that. You think you’re great at spinning. Knowing how to change the discussion. To pivot.

I don’t know why you even try to deny it.

But if it makes you feel better to write me off as a nut job, go ahead.

Back to baseball.

[Frayed Knot]

DeeDee Gregorius is the latest position player to need Tommy John surgery.

[Ceetar]

Frayed Knot wrote: DeeDee Gregorius is the latest position player to need Tommy John surgery.

And they've known about the issue for years.

[Frayed Knot]

They knew he had a partial tear when they acquired him from Arizona four years ago but lots of guys have partials of this or that and can play with it. Tanaka does as well.
Few athletes who have any kind of time under their belts will show a pristine anything once you X-Ray, MRI, or poke and probe enough.

The Yanx think what sent this injury to surgery-land occurred during the Boston series and he did make two bad throws (both short) in that final game.
Unlike Gleyber Torres (who did his on a slide at home) this is on Didi's throwing arm and he plays the position with the longer throw. Torres missed eight months.

[Ceetar]

Sure, but look at the coverage of the Mets when they acquired Cespedes. It's a risk-reward calculation that all teams do.

Or hell, when they acquired J.J. Putz.

[Frayed Knot]

The Yanx, and specifically player rep David Robertson, get called out for bypassing team employees when it came to divvying up post-season money.
A table shows them as awarding 45 full shares, a number that's anywhere between 11 and 23 fewer full shares than the other 2018 playoff teams and 11 fewer than they awarded last season when their
piece of the pie was larger due to getting one round further in.

What interests me most in this piece isn't specifically the number of shares -- although that it has them leaving out "the team’s entire support staff, trainers, clubhouse attendants and BP pitchers" certainly
says something even if we'll never know all the circumstances behind it all -- but the fact that it's the NYDN doing the calling. The 'Snooze' over the last number of years is more often seen as the in-house
magazine of everything pinstriped and here they seem to go out of their way to throw in some nasty wording: "Greedy", "Cheapskates", "Stiffing", etc.

The piece is attributed to 'The Daily News Sports Staff' rather than to any one writer - although Bill Madden's name is mentioned briefly. I wonder if that's so Cashman and the Steinbrenners won't know
who specifically to retaliate against and so that Madden (plus whatever other 'Name' guy is still left over there) can claim not to have all the blood on their hands here.

[nymr83]

Robertson is a free agent though and is the only person called out by name as the instigator - maybe this was meant as a "hit piece" orchestrated against him BY the Yankees brass rather than as an anti-Yankee piece? I wonder how a yankees fan reads it.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, it certainly can be seen as an attempt at clearing the players left behind. But man, who leaves out trainers?

I remember a story, maybe from Ron Darling, that portrayed Rickey Henderson as a peripheral figure's best friend at post-season allocation time. The post-season roster would gather and the rep would go down the list of shuttle-riders, clubbies, groundskeepers, and everybody, and at every name, Rickey would yell, "Full share!"

[nymr83]

Good for Rickey.

[Frayed Knot]

I also forget the exact source but remember hearing that story.
Rickey's point was that this bonus was going to mean a lot more to the lives of the marginal player (or non-player) than the slightly reduced portion due to slicing the pie into more pieces was going to
mean to the established guys. Plus it just looks bad, especially so now that this kind of thing doesn't stay secret these days.