Frayed Knot

This actor appeared in just five feature films in his career but all five were nominated for Best Picture Oscars (three won) - name the actor, and the pictures while you're at it.

Combined list. A few things were changed around from the above pre-lists. Main snag was that I omitted Maine earlier (now I 'Remembered the Maine'), otherwise I just swapped a few guys a step or two higher or lower. 30 - Wright 29 - Santana 28 - Beltran 27 - Castillo 26 - Murphy 25 - Feliciano 24 - Francoeur 23 - Rodriguez 22 - Pagan 21 - Pelfrey 20 - Tatis 19 - Sheffield 18 - Santos 17 - Stokes 16 - Reyes 15 - Redding 14 - L. Hernandez 13 - Maine 12 - Figueroa 11 - Cora 10 - Delgado 9 - Church 8 - Parnell 7 - Misch 6 - S. Green 5 - Schneider 4 - Nieve 3 - Dessens 2 - Thole 1 - Reed As always, both list and creator are open to questions, suggestions, insults, IQ tests, etc.

Pitchers: * Santana - Even with the injury-shortened year it’s no contest All others tie for last -- but, since we have to place them in some kind of order .... * Feliciano - Seems weird to put a specialist this high, but he had lower WHiP & ERA totals than just about everyone else and, unless someone else wants to correct me, I don’t remember him being too bad on the inherited runners situation * Rodriguez - Yeah, I know, but at least he had half a good year. Same number of hits and HRs allowed as Feliciano and in fewer innings but double the number of walks and half again as many runs allowed * Pelfrey - Had some good games here and there while leading the team in innings pitched * Stokes - Geez, the walks allowed by this staff was frightening * Redding - Better than Livan * L. Hernandez - Not as good as Redding * Figueroa - A little of this, a little of that * Parnell - Was great for a while, then lost his control, then was horrid as a starter * Misch - Some decent relief outings plus a fine start or two * S. Green - Hit a few more batters why doncha? Good stuff but I wonder sometimes if he knows where it’s going * Nieve - Looked good for a time and then (say it with me people) got injured * Dessens - Actually did OK during the brief time he was out there * Rounding out the rest: Takahashi - Niese - Putz - Perez * Out of the running -- Broadway, Stoner, Fossum, Switzer, O’Day, Wagner

After Sullivan. I put them together like that because the two were virtual statistical twins vying for the same role; one could call them the Suck and Suck-A of backup OFers. Sullivan's near-freakish capacity for triples and the fact that he was awarded the starting job for a while instead of Reed gave him the edge.

As I suspected coming in to this, this season is going to produce a real wide variety of answers with certain players ranking near the top of some lists and sinking to the bottom of others. When we get a few more responses and some sort of consensus starts to emerge it’ll be a good spot for folks to make an argument for their choices - particularly in those spots where they vary from the pack. I haven’t concocted the full list yet, but I’ll start by sorting through the hitters * Wright - even in a down power year he was still out there everyday and put up .307/.390 BA/OBA with 52 XBHs and by far the most Runs Created on the team * Beltran - despite missing a huge chunk of the season and only coming back when things were virtually over, he was the best (and only) all-around offensive threat while he was in * Castillo - one of only three full-timers, his high OBA and middle IF glove partially makes up for the total lack of slugging * Murphy - leading this team in HRs is like being the best ice hockey player in Peru, but playing almost everyday and knocking 53 XBHs helped to obscure the low OBA. He loses out to Castillo due to his early failure in LF * Francoeur - despite the concerns about his future here it was a good half-season * Pagan - next among the fill-ins. His ridiculous triples total actually shoved his slugging above everyone except Francoeur and his ‘D’ would have pushed him higher if not for the atrocious base-running * Tatis - beats out Sheffield due to better durability and despite the seemingly endless string of rally-killing GiDPs * Sheffield - best thing about him was the bang for the buck we got * Santos - nice find and seemed to get a bunch of big hits along the way but mostly shined mainly as compared to the rest of the backstops * Reyes - wins the SS competition despite only half the ABs of the backup * Cora - this is what back-up short-stops look like folks * Church - the slugging we saw for half of 2008 never came back * Delgado - was going great for the first 100 ABs, then didn’t get any more * Sullivan - Reed - Cory wins the competition of virtually identical slappy 5th OFers * Thole - promising first 50 ABs * Castro - that 8 of his 20 hits were for XBs is the only reason for him getting this high * Schneider - just never hit * A. Hernandez - looked better than the last time we saw him * out of the running - F. Martinez, Valdez Evans, R. Martinez, Berroa, Brown, Anderson

Of course if you decided to pass on every potential 18 y/o star jock with an inflated sense of self-worth the list of potential picks suddenly goes way down. Hard to know whether this guy is actually a bigger dick than your run of the mill HS draft pick or just the one of the bunch who didn't sign here and whose - once private but now suddenly available - comments to his equally dorky buddies we happen to be reading.

Except that, at worst, he would have been $1mil down the drain and not $127mil. Much smaller bullet.

Woody resorts to playing the hopelessly optimistic, mid-western dork from his 'Cheers' days. A bit grisly at times but otherwise an above-average flick.

This is one of those flicks where I'm listening to the debut of the sequel being trumpeted as if it was the follow-up to 'Born to Run' even though I have absolutely no memory of the original even existing. The Johnny Depp pirate movie series was the same way.

From BA: Jenrry Mejia signed with the Mets two and a half years ago in relative anonymity. His $16,500 signing bonus looks like a clearance-aisle price today for the organization�s No. 1 prospect, a power-armed righthander who reached Double-A in June before just turning 20 last month. Pitching for Surprise yesterday after missing his last scheduled start due to illness, Mejia touched 96 mph with his fastball once, otherwise ranging from 90-95 mph and mostly sitting 92-95 (he�s been clocked as high as 98 mph in previous outings here in the AFL and during the minor league season). His fastball is a swing-and-miss offering, not just because of its velocity but because of its outstanding movement. Mejia generates tremendous cutting action on his fastball, and he�ll also put some sink on his heater as well. Between the velocity and movement, Mejia has a pitch he can use as an out pitch or to induce grounders�71 percent of his outs on balls in play were groundouts during the minor league season. �It has a lot of power�it gets on you quick,� said Surprise pitching coach Tom Phelps, the Yankees� Double-A pitching coach at Trenton during the 2009 minor league season. �He has a fastball that will cut, and he also has a fastball that will sink. As long as he keeps it down in the zone, he gets a lot of ground balls and a lot of early outs and quick innings. The big thing for him is controlling it in the zone and not getting behind hitters and walking hitters.� Mejia did a good job limiting free passes during the regular season with high Class A St. Lucie, where he had a 1.97 ERA in 50 1/3 innings and walked 2.9 batters per nine innings. His walk rate increased to 4.7 per nine in 44 1/3 innings upon his promotion to Double-A Binghamton, an increase partly due to better competition but also likely because six of his 10 Double-A starts came in August and September when he was returning from a strained right middle finger. The shakiness with his command has carried over to the AFL. He�s allowed 11 walks in 11 1/3 innings and has an 11.91 ERA through five starts. Mejia did allow five runs yesterday, though one was unearned. Two other runs scored after Mejia left the game with two outs and runners on second and third in the fourth inning, when White Sox outfielder Jordan Danks hit a groundball single off Mets righthander Josh Stinson to bring home the runners. Aside from improved command, scouts want to see more consistency from Mejia�s offspeed pitches. His 78-82 mph curveball showed flashes of tight spin and sharp downward bite at times, but he also threw some slurvy ones as well. Mejia didn�t show much of his high-80s changeup, but it�s a projectable offering, too. �When he just throws it and doesn�t try to overthrow it, he�s got a good curveball,� Phelps said. �It looks like his heater, he�s got good deception and it�s got some quick break to it. Also his better secondary pitch is his changeup. His changeup has a lot of depth, has real good arm speed and looks like his fastball. He�s got the pitches to complement (his fastball), it�s just a matter of him being able to control it in the zone and keeping it down in the zone.�

I didn't really have a problem with the cool chick digs the shy dork plot line. I mean, yeah, like she'd ever give me the time of day but there was enough damage going on elsewhere in her life that wanting to hang with a "normal" guy made it at least a plausible device. In all it started a bit slow but I got into it. Like Sharpie said, nice little flick. Probably wasn't more popular due to lack of the Apatow-ness now expected from teen romance flicks. I looked up Margarita Levieva (the one who played 'Lisa P') on IMDB because ... well, because why not!?! born: 1985 St Petersburg, Russia. A member of the Russian Olympic Rhythmic Gymnastic team - although attended HS in New Jersey.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: My complaint about it was that it in order to become a movie about immigrants, they had to jam a lot of baseball life experiences into a slim timeframe. In reality, Sugar's experience probably plays out over a period of years and not months. I was thinking, this kid showed enough promise to come back or the least be assigned to a lower league no matter what and probably should have. But I understand, it would have taken too much time to play out. Not sure what was so time-condensed. He was about 19/20 y/o during the movie and it was implied that he was and had been in the Dominican League when we join the story. Starting out in America at the low-A level at his age would be logical. Whether he'd get frustrated and/or burned out enough to chuck it all after less than one season is, I suppose, questionable but I didn't see that as unreasonable. 'Bridgetown' was a stand-in for Davenport, Iowa - not that they tried all that hard to disguise it. You could see a sign that said Davenport in the background of one scene and 'The Swing' is the real Midwest League team in 'Quad Cities' (Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island). That bridge in the background of the stadium is one that crosses the Mississippi. Liked the Spanish language version of 'Hallelujah'

Have not heard of this guy before - but he gets the only NYM mention in BA's top 20 Appy Lg prospects list # 9 -- Cesar Puello, OF, Kingsport (Mets) B-T: R-R Ht.: 6-2 Wt.: 195 Age: 18 Signed: Dominican Republic '07 With the caveat that there are questions about his makeup, Puello's potential for five major league average tools affords him the benefit of the doubt for now. Signed by the Mets for $400,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2007, he's a strong athlete with a solid 6-foot-2, 195-pound build and loose actions. He stole 15 bases in 20 attempts this season, and his plus speed rates as his best present tool. Puello starts with an unconventional stance�one manager likened it to him sitting in a chair�but he has a pure, righthanded line-drive stroke. The ball comes off his bat well, and he already has natural power to left field. As he learns to use the opposite field, he'll be more effective at the plate. An aggressive player by nature, Puello showed an undisciplined approach at the plate, and some league observers questioned his maturity. His mindset works well in right field, where Puello charges balls with abandon and likes to show off his plus arm. AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG 196 37 58 10 0 5 23 10 51 15 5 .296 .373 .423

John Sickels (during a review of corner IFers taken in the 2008 draft): The 22nd overall pick out of Arizona State, Ike Davis was supposed to be less polished than college teammate Wallace, but more athletic and with better physical projection. Mets fans were frightened when Davis hit just .256/.326/.316 with zero homers in his 58-game pro debut in the New York-Penn League, but he erased those doubts in 2009 with a strong campaign. He hit .288/.376/.486 in 59 games for St. Lucie in the Florida State League, then .309/.386/.565 in 55 games for Binghamton in the Double-A Eastern League, combining for a .298/.381/.524 mark with 20 homers, 31 doubles, 57 walks, and 112 strikeouts in 429 at-bats. He has work to do against lefties, hitting just .242/.301/.371 against them this year compared to .323/.414/.586 against right-handers. Other than that, his season was very strong and he should be ready to help sometime next year.

So it probably shouldn't take the death of Jim Carroll to make me sit up and realize that I never got around to seeing (or reading for that matter) 'Basketball Diaries', but it is. All of which leads me to the question; is it worth seeing?

Edgy DC wrote: That strikeout rate still makes me dubious about throwing him in the Mets lineup in 2010. Yeah. He's a guy with barely 200 ABs above A-ball and only 1+ season overall as a pro. I'd say mid-season next year is borderline realistic/optimistic.

And from their on-line Q & A: Q: Does Ike Davis have a chance to be a everyday 1b or even a allstar? A: Definitely. I watched him take BP for Team USA before they left for the World Cup (I believe they're on MLB Network right now) and he showed more raw power than anyone else there, including Justin Smoak and Pedro Alvarez. It's not a simple swing, but he's produced this year and there's plenty of raw power there.

And Kirk Nieuenhuis gets on the year-end 'Hot Sheet' list as part of their fast-risers entry: 'The Helium Watch' Age: 22 Why He's Here: .282/.364/.479 (145-for-514), 17 HR, 38 2B, 6 3B, 73 RBIs, 99 R, 57 BB, 127 SO, 17-for-22 SB The Scoop: After hitting a combined three home runs in June and July, Nieuwenhuis began pulling the ball for power in August. The results: he batted .345/.406/.647 with six homers and 13 doubles in 27 games, earning a promotion to Double-A for the final week. Had it not been for this offensive explosion, Nieuwenhuis would likely still be regarded as an obscure '08 third-rounder with a hard-to-pronounce name. (Kirk's father assures us it's NEW-en-hice.) But that assault on Florida State League pitching catapulted him to a No. 1 ranking among league batters in doubles (35), slugging (.467), extra-base hits (56) and runs scored (91). He finished third with 16 home runs. A physical, lefty-swinging center fielder, Nieuwenhuis will have to reign in the strikeouts as he advances, but it's an encouraging full-season debut for an NAIA product who bypassed low Class A.

Ike winds up #18 on BA's season-ending 'Prospect Hot Sheet' Note that this is not necessarily the same thing as being in the top 20 prospects in all baseball. 'Hot Sheet' is more like a list of this year's best selling albums rather than a prediction of which one's will still be getting played 10 years from now and it doesn't include a bunch of just-released records either as many of them haven't had time to rack up sales yet. Still, it's a good showing for a kid many were quick to write off 2 months into his pro career. Age: 22 Why He's Here: .298/.381/.524 (128-for-429), 20 HR, 31 2B, 3 3B, 71 RBIs, 58 R, 57 BB, 112 SO, 0-for-2 SB The Scoop: Davis overcame a startlingly slow start as a pro (.260/.330/.338 without a home run through his first 312 plate appearances) to assert himself as a top first base prospect. (He played two games in right field, too, in preparation for the World Cup.) And if spending half a season with Binghamton, the worst team in the minors, had any ill effects, it was not apparent in Davis' performance. He hit significantly better in Double-A than he had in high Class A (.951 OPS vs. .863), and from April 28, the date of his first pro homer, to the end of the season he batted .303/.388/.551 in 415 PAs. One of five college first basemen taken in the '08 draft's first round�a group that includes Yonder Alonso, David Cooper, Allan Dykstra and Justin Smoak�Davis this season led the quintet in average, home runs, RBIs, OPS (.906) and isolated power (.226). The power came at a cost: He also averaged the most strikeouts per at-bat (26 percent) and posted the lowest walk-to-strikeout ratio (.48), indicating areas for improvement.

I plan to see this movie next week and then immediately start a brand new thread to discuss it.

3rd week in a row on BA's 'Hot Sheet' (#4 this time) Also a note in there on a small swing change that might have triggered his recent hitting surge. (plus this gives me a chance to experiment with the new color system) Why He's Here: =#BF0000].452/.514/.774 (14-for-31), 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 4 BB, 10 SO, 1-for-1 SB The Scoop: =#BF0000]Nieuwenhuis has to be upset that the season is ending, because at this rate of improvement, he'd be flirting with hitting .400 by mid-November. He was plugging along with a solid but unspectacular season until August arrived. Since then, he's hit .363 with 15 doubles, three triples and eight home runs�he had 10 home runs heading into August. What's the explanation? One possible reason for the hot streak is a new approach. Nieuwenhuis had showed opposite-field power early in the season, but he was vulnerable to being pitching inside. But the St. Lucie staff worked on cleaning up his swing. Now he's able to turn on inside fastballs, taking a vulnerability and turning it into a strength.

I saw this not long after it first came out. It was well done and a good look into the circus that surrounded the whole fight - particularly after the fight was delayed for a time following Foreman being cut while sparring. And of course the film is mostly about Ali as everything around him always is. What struck me while I watched it was every once in a while getting a particular angle of the younger, buffer and still hair on his head Foreman and catching myself saying; 'hey, that looks kind of like George Foreman'. Of course it was the same guy as the present-day smiling, pitchman with the quick wit and sunny disposition, but the earlier incarnation was so different that you almost had to remind yourself that they were [u:107zkav2]not[/u:107zkav2] two different people.

And we're movin' on up (movin' on up) ...

Two weeks in a row as #2 on BA's 'Hot List' for Kirk Nieuwenhuis -- including a pronunciation lesson Why He's Here: .444/.500/.815 (12-for-27), 1 HR, 5 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBIs, 5 R, 3 BB, 6 SO The Scoop: Pronounced NEW-en-hice, the Mets' 6-foot-3 center field prospect has been just short of unstoppable in August. He's gone 34-for-101 (.337) with 18 extra-base hits (six homers) and a 10-to-19 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 24 games. Florida State League MVP voters probably will look elsewhere because of Nieuwenhuis' .270 average and 113 strikeouts, but the '08 third-round pick leads the circuit with 32 doubles, 86 runs scored 53 extra-base hits. A strong finish could result in the home run and slugging crowns, too. Not much has gone right for the Mets this season, but the development of Nieuwenhuis, who projects to be an average center fielder, has been a pleasant surprise

Just for kicks I looked up a couple of guys who I knew were college draftees to see what age they were when playing in High-A ball. No real method here, just the first few guys that jumped into my head: Teixeira - was 21 y/o the whole season playing at A+ ball, or just about 1/2 season younger than Nieuwenhuis Pedroia - turned 21 during his year, or almost a full year younger Chase Utley was 22 the entire season, ~ 1/2 year older Jacoby Ellsbury - turned 23 mid-year ~ 1 year older Ryan Howard - 23 the whole season, ~ 1-1/2 years older Kevin Youkilis - 23 also, ~ 1-1/2 years older than Nieuwenhuis Three of those guys were 1st round picks: Teixeira (5th overall), Utley (15th), and Ellsbury (23rd). One was 2nd round - Pedroia Nieuwenhuis was 3rd round Howard was 5th - Youkilis was 8th