Frayed Knot

# of HRs Jake Arrieta has allowed since the ASB = 2 (15 starts) # of HRs Jake Arrieta [u:1jr69fih]has HIT[/u:1jr69fih] since the ASB = 2

2B - Altuve RF - Springer SS - Correa LF - Rasmus DH - Gattis CF - Gomez 3B - Valbuena 1B - Carter C - Castro P - Keuchel CF - Gardner LF - Young RF - Beltran CH - Rodriguez C - McCann 3B - Headley 1B - Bird 2B - Refsnyder SS - Gregorius P - Tanaka I figured Young over either Gardner or Ellsbury. He's killing LHPs this year (not last year though). Was thinking maybe JR Murphy instead of McCann, Murphy actually the better hitter overall in 2nd half and esp vs LHPs, but they went with the [crossout:y3v17kr8]vet[/crossout:y3v17kr8] money

batmagadanleadoff wrote: This is hardly news. I mean, cigarettes are legal ferchrissakes. Food manufacturers are allowed to put High Fructose Corn Syrup in the things we eat. I have no idea what cigarettes and high-fructose corn syrup have to do with this discussion. As I said, I'm not particularly interested in whether gambling restrictions are tightened or loosened, I'm just against the selective legality of it all and the hypocrisy that comes with it. The analogies, if you want to bring smokes or calories into it, would be if cigarettes were banned for contributing to poor health but cigars remained legal under some vague notion notion that it's a more high-class habit even though no sane person could argue anything other than they're just different forms of smoking. This type of quasi-ban would not only kill the cigarette industry obviously (or, more accurately, drive it underground as is the case now with most non-fantasy sports gambling) but it would be a big boon to cigar makers who would then work to keep that arrangement as the status quo because of how much it works for their own benefit. Or if the makers/distributers of some foods were allowed to include high-fructose corn syrup while other were prohibited from doing so and instead were forced into more costly (and probably unsubsidized) substitutes to the detriment of their profits, market share, and ability to compete with the favored class. And again it would be a case of only sort of banning what is said to be bad for us while still allowing it for privileged segments of a supposedly free and open market. That the sports leagues and individual teams are in bed with the fantasy outfits is both unfortunate but also more or less inevitable because of this favored status bestowed on them convinces the leagues that they might as well join them and get what they see as side benefits to their existence (increased fan interest in more games - or at least stats within games) since they couldn't beat them even if they wanted to try.

Gilmartin - 2.0 Stauffer - 1.3 Familia - 0.2 Nieuwenhuis - 1.5 Johnson - 1.0

The Braves' 97 losses this year was the most for them since 1990 (also 97). That was the year Bobby Cox took over mid-season as manager and the 4th of four straight 90+ loss seasons (92, 106, 97, 97). It was also the 2nd full season for John Smoltz, the 3rd for Tom Glavine, the 1st for David Justice, saw the debut of Steve Avery, and the drafting of Larry Jones. The following season was their 'worst to first' year. Just sayin'

But, hey, you won (tied) at '25 Questions'

And just to clarify some stuff from before: - I don't gamble, on anything -- not even scratch-off tickets or office football pools -- but nor am I an anti-gambling crusader so how much of this stuff is legal or not is really of little concern to me. But it's the seemingly random selectivity and hypocritical nature of what gets declared legal and what remains banned, and, maybe more importantly, WHO gets to run gambling operations and who doesn't that needs to be fixed. In the case of these fantasy leagues, it's the fact that they're legal and unregulated while potentially competing forms of gambling are either illegal and/or highly regulated gives them a virtual license to print money (including insider dealings ... wow, whoda thunk that?!?) because of some odd definition finagling. It's like the worst form of crony capitalism -- your business isn't just favored, it's competition proof -- only with questionable legalities and unregulated rules thrown in. Those who remember OTB in NY should remember that it was one of the most corrupt -- and therefore politically popular -- arms of city and county governments ever invented. It was a virtual monopoly on legal gambling at the time and it acted as such. To be tabbed to run the local OTB chapter was considered the plum job in all of political patronage. And we haven't even gotten into Indian casinos yet.

d'Kong76 wrote: Lefty Specialist wrote: And I don't like that Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots, and Jerry Jones, owner of the Cowboys, are major investors in Fan Duel. Something's just a little off about that. I didn't know this, that's messed up. Hell, MLB is invested in one or the other.

Among the other political issues we're NOT having open and honest debates about, this nation's long and mostly hypocritical stance* towards gambling is yet another one.' This fantasy stuff slides by because it's been tabbed as a game of skill rather than chance so it's technically not gambling (yet poker receives no such waiver) which not only gives it the stamp of approval but does so while keeping many possible sources of competition strictly NOT legal. But it certainly does resemble gambling in that most of the winning is done by a small handful of essentially professional players who are at liberty to play and bankroll multiple 'games' per day with the idea that one or more will hit. Meanwhile the minnows dipping their toes into the water, or the ones who are conned by the commercials that make it seem like every entrant is a winner, are merely funneling their dough to the sharks which makes both the pros and the ones running the games very happy. * many state & local governments were and are quite anti-gambling except when it comes to the forms over which they long held monopolistic control: lotteries, racetracks, etc.

Lefty Specialist wrote: Supposedly Cal Ripken's in the running. That'd be enormously dumb, so I hope they do it. Tough to believe that they'd replace a 1st time manager with another first timer - especially Ripken who's Baltimore's guy more than Washington's but would be almost as tough to fire in Washington. The thinking is that Rizzo has to pay for an experienced guy ... but who knows.

Ceetar wrote: Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy MD wrote: God, I can only imagine how many pharmaceuticals they're going to shoot into him in the hopes that he can cowboy the team into the bracket. His statement contained a note about 'looking forward to helping my teammates next year'. A minimum 30-day program apparently. Gotta figure that something big must have happened recently to trigger the thinking that this needed to be taken care of NOW!!!! think he's talking about Tanaka? In which case, Toradol for sure. Oh yeah, gotcha. Tanaka's been pitching (mostly) all along. His velocity is down from pre-injury but has been compensating elsewhere and is the example of how sometimes is IS possible to go the rest & rehab route for partially torn elbow ligaments. He will give up his share of HRs though and hit HRs is about all the Houston offense does.

Edgy MD wrote: God, I can only imagine how many pharmaceuticals they're going to shoot into him in the hopes that he can cowboy the team into the bracket. His statement contained a note about 'looking forward to helping my teammates next year'. A minimum 30-day program apparently. Gotta figure that something big must have happened recently to trigger the thinking that this needed to be taken care of NOW!!!!

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Cc Sabathia to rehab facility. .. out of postseason Alcohol apparently.

Girardi's problem is that his best vs-LHP bat this season is the ancient ARod who's had a much rougher 2nd half than 1st: .153 in Aug, .224 (tho 7 HRs) in Sept after hitting nearly .300 from May-July The other was Teixeira but he's not available McCann isn't a splits guy but he's also had the [u:heqvbcoz]worst BA in baseball[/u:heqvbcoz] (source: Kurkjian last night) since the ASB, something like .199 So that leaves the erratic Chris Young, the switchie (and recently hot) Beltran, the switchie Headley (3 HRs 2nd half), and probably young Rob Refsnyder at 2B as guys to lean on vs a LHP like Keuchel Good luck with that Joe.

dinosaur jesus wrote: But walks per 9 is a traditionally a finesse pitcher category. Yes, but MLB is (practically) devoid of finesse pitchers these days.

Astros - rooting like hell for them tomorrow, but seeing them represent the AL in the WS would still be a bit weird. Plus I don't think they're ready yet. Yanx - need you ask? I want them eliminated by the 3rd inning on Tuesday Rangers - were supposed to be prepping for next year then suddenly caught fire. Royals - defending AL champs are a fun team to watch (speed & defense) though the pen isn't what it was last year and Cueto hasn't been what they hoped Blue Jays - biggest hitting team in all of MLB, now with more David Price. Biggest drawback is four games of indoor baseball on turf. No particular preference here other than the ABY choice (anyone but Yanx). If I had to put them in order I might go with Royals, Rangers, Jays, Astros, MFY

Time of Game stats for 2015 are in. According to BB-Ref, the average 9 inning game this season was 3:00, down from 3:07 in 2014, even though scoring was up somewhat [R/g down 0.2; Shutout% down .57% SLGA up 19 points]. Manfred made some remarks last week about how he wasn't going to be satisfied with just that progress and that they'd continue to look at various other solutions; he mentioned things like the possibility of capping mound visits (Yay!!), or requiring incoming pitchers to face at least two batters (not so Yay). What they wind up doing (or not) remains to be seen but I at least like the idea that he didn't just say; "There, mission accomplished". My personal observation was that the tightened up pace early in the season slackened off somewhat as it got towards the end. This showed up in both longer game times and the between innings gaps. And while September games are often longer due to 59 man bullpens and the like, things seemed to be trending longer even before that although I have no specific data to back that up. NL games continue to be quicker than AL

And the final outcome of our season-long quiz: Several questions came right down to the final week, or even the final game. Others were almost over by the time the season started. QUESTIONRESULTSRESULTSGRANDY LEADS TEAM in HRs21 of 24 = NO’NO’ wins by a single HRMEJIA LEADS TEAM in SAVES18 of 24 = YES’NO’ - tough to lead the team with ZeroGEE to STAY on TEAM ALL SEASON16 of 24 = YES’NO’COLON ON ROSTER ALL SEASON16 of 24 = NO’YES’d’ARNAUD ON ROSTER ALL SEASON22 of 24 = YES’YES’RECKER ON ROSTER ALL SEASON16 of 24 = NO‘NO’MUPRHY ON ROSTER ALL SEASON12 said YES, 12 said NO‘YES’TEJADA ON ROSTER ALL SEASON16 of 24 = NO‘YES'NIESE ON ROSTER ALL SEASON24 of 24 = YES’YES’COLLINS IN CHARGE ALL SEASON23 of 24 = YES‘YES’DUDA OVER/UNDER 29.5 HRs11 of 24 = OVER’UNDER’ - got to 27CUDDYER OVER/UNDER 119.5 Games Started16 of 24 = OVER’UNDER’ - final tally was 92MEJIA OVER/UNDER 19.5 Saves15 of 24 = OVERas ’UNDER’ one can getFLORES OVER/UNDER 449.5 PAs18 of 24 = OVER’OVER' - 510COLON OVER/UNDER 17.5 Starts14 of 24 = OVER’OVER’ - finishes with 31 (plus 2 relief appearances)WRIGHT OVER/UNDER 21.5 HRs19 of 24 = OVERway ’UNDER’ with 5NIEUWENHUIS OVER/UNDER 199.5 PAs9 of 24 = OVER’UNDER’ - 117SYNDERGAARD OVER/UNDER 19.5 Starts2 of 24 = OVER’OVER’ with 24MATZ OVER/UNDER 9.5 Starts4 of 24 = OVER’UNDER’ with 7NIMMO OVER/UNDER 49.5 PAs6 of 24 = OVER’UNDER’ - noneMURPHY or HERRERA: More PAs22 of 24 = MURPH’MURPHY’ in a routNIEUWENHUIS or MAYBERRY: More PAs15 of 24 = MAYBERRYMAYBERRY wins by TWO (119-117)d’ARNAUD or PLAWECKI: More PAs24 of 24 = d’ARNAUD’d’ARNAUD’ wins by 7 - taking the lead only in the final weekPARNELL or FAMILIA: More Saves15 of 24 = FAMILIA’FAMILIA’ - No lo contendreGILMARTIN or LEATHERSICH: More IPs18 of 24 = GILMARTIN’GILMARTIN’ - 50 to 17 As for the votes: - the consensus got 16-1/2 of the 25 questions correct (the question as to whether Murph would be on the team the entire year was split 12-12) As for the individual votes, we had a triple winner and double losers 19 correct - Nymr83; 86 Dreamer; Lefty Specialist 18 correct - 17 correct - Trans Monk; Han Solo; Ben Grimm; Dinosaur Jesus; 16 correct - Sharpie; bmfc1; LWFS; Edgy; 15 correct - Ashie62; Kong; met marathon; 14 correct - Zvon; MFS '62; GWreck; Frayed Knot; Seawolf 13 correct - Vic Sage; Met Guy in Michigan 12 correct - Ceetar 11 correct - DW Photography; John Cougar Lunchbucket

So it's quite good (IMO of course) Scott does manage to retain the story and some of the humor. Quite Apollo 13-ish in that (not giving away any secrets here) it's essentially a space rescue flick flipping between outer space and Mission Control back on Earth. I don't think it matches A-13 (I've watched that thing maybe 20 times plus remember the actual event and I still get choked up every time the ship re-establishes communication following re-entry) but it's good enough on it's own. Damon as Mark Watney is required to carry the film through about 85% of it and is up to the task - not always easy to do when you've got no one to talk to but yourself much of the time. But he does and the movie follows the book for the most part. They actually clean up the language a bit in the movie (probably to make it more family friendly). Kristen Wiig's NASA pr flack for instance doesn't get to be as coarse as she was in the book and a couple of the other supporting parts aren't as fully drawn out as they could be. And some of the more science-y tricks Watney pulls are reduced for time and the final rescue mission is punched up to a more adventurous (and less believable) conclusion. And speaking of conclusions they could have done without the 10 minute or so coda at the end. But those are essentially all minor quibbles for a fun ride. Saw it in 3D - which wasn't the intention but there was a mix-up about starting times so it was either that or wait an hour. It was my first encounter with 3D which I consider to be mostly a gimmick. Kind of got used to it partway in but I still would have preferred to see it 'straight' despite a few moments where a particular scene looks kinda cool.

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Was he also known as "Vinegar Bend"? That's the one!

Speaking of Wilmers, can anyone name the only other Wilmer in NYM history?

Momentum is real. Except for when it's not.

And it's official, we're headed to LA for the game on Friday. Time of game TBD Houston is about to wrap things up in Arizona (although maybe shouldn't say that in light of the Rangers collapse earlier today). The win will put them one game in back of Texas and one game ahead of LAA IOW, they clinch at least a tie for the WC and could still win the division. The worst they could do is play on Monday to determine their status going forward. Also, with the Yanx losing twice today, the Astros could still steal the #1 WC slot and host the game on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh getting all they can handle from woeful Cincy. They needed extras to win last night but lost to the Reds today while the Cubbies were winning vs Milwaukee. That race down to one game with one to play and the Cubs holding the tie-breaker - so the home-field for the WC play-in game could flip-flop based on tomorrow's results.

Know your Dodger fans. Peeking in on tonight's game, the fans at Chavez Ravine seem to be doing a thing where they hold up their lighted cell phones like they're asking for a concert encore or something. Maybe it's what they do when their hurler has two strikes on a batter, I dunno, just turned it on ... but it seems like a very LA kind of thing to do. 2-1 Dodgers in the 6th