Posts Tagged ‘baseball’

Unfinished Business Under the Fedora: The Democrats Media Masters, J-Lo and Biology, Female Doctors Everywhere, Yockey in Iowa and Mookie over LA

Posted: February 6, 2020 by datechguy in Always look at the bright side of Trump, American Success Stories, baseball, culture, elections, entertainment, News/opinion, politics, primaries, Sports, under the fedora
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Often events overtake thoughts on items so here are a few things I would have liked to have gotten out from Under My Fedora a bit earlier.

Don Surber, one of the must reads on the net notes that the media have a lot to answer for in terms of the results of impeachment and he’s right in the sense that the media kept pushing all this forward in the belief that it would hurt the president That some in the Democrat leadership and others in the field knew this to be the case was not enough to stop them.

For years I’ve thought the media was at the Democrats beck and call, now I’m wondering if it’s the other way around.

There was a lot of fuss about J-Lo’s performance at the Superbowl and the whole Pole Dancing business, I think life might be a lot easier if we all acknowledged two basic things.

Men like women and are biologically designed to desire them, the more sexually provocative they are the more noticeable they become to men’s eyes. That the actual norm, and it is the cultural restraints that our friends off the left from religion to chivalry that teaches a man to be a gentlemanly and show restraint and to respect the “no” when a woman gives it

Women are also biologically designed to rival each other for said notice of men and said biology and rivalry does not end when a woman is in her 50’s. and when you spend a lifetime making a living off the “male gaze” you certainly aren’t going to let a younger woman outdo you in that measure.

Those same civilizing impulses that acted upon men also acted upon women to be very selective when using that biological power which gives power to a women to improve a man to the point where he is a suitable mate. When our culture abandoned those civilizing tools they abandoned those restraints which ironically is what has actually objectified women.

The sooner these things facts that have centuries of experience developing the better off we will be as a society.

If you missed Doctor Who this week as I have for the last several years you would have found that the 1st female Doctor (played by Jodie Whitaker) was joined by the 1st Black Female Doctor (played by Jo Martin).

There are many issues with this development, from the rewriting of the Doctor Who Canon of fifty plus years to the fact that they will need to take a further woke step to satisfy the Social Justice Warriors whose demands can never be fully me met shall we see the 1st trans woman doctor played by Jessica Yaniv later this season perhaps?

But the issue that is biggest for the current Doctor Who franchise is that according to my oldest son who is still occasionally watching the series not only was the 1st black female Doctor (played by Jo Martin) clearly recognizable as “the doctor” in terms of tone and character unlike the 1st female doctor (played by Jodie Whitaker) to my son, a lifelong Doctor who man fan but she apparently the 1st black female Doctor (played by Jo Martin) completely out acted the 1st female Doctor (played by Jodie Whitaker) to the point where it was according to my son the wrong person was the 1st female Doctor and it wasn’t close.

Oh and for the record the 1st female doctor was in fact Joanna Lumley

FYI My apologies to the good folks at Nerdrotic for stealing his “1st female / Black female Doctor” meme.

Completely missed this tidbit from Stacy McCain concerning old friend Cynthia Yockey. Ten years ago I met the Conservative Lesbian at CPAC and she told me of how she had been rejected and marginalized by gay friend while embraced by conservatives.

Cynthia ten years later:

Speaking of conservatives, my friend Cynthia Yockey caucused for Trump last night. Yes, there was a Republican caucus in Iowa, which Trump obviously won. Cynthia reports that (a) she was drafted to be a delegate to the county GOP convention in March, (b) elected to the platform committee, (c) her plank on transgender issues was unanimously adopted, and (d) “the passionate nominating speech for Trump that opened our caucus was given by an immigrant from India who became a citizen in 2008.”

I’m very happy for Cynthia who is a fine person but I’m even happier for the Iowa GOP & the President who are damn lucky to have her.

Finally in the Midst of all this political news the Boston Red Sox have Traded Away Mookie Betts arguably next to Mike Trout the best outfielder/player in the game along with Starter David Price for a pair of young players. For myself I would have waited till May to see if we had a chance to contend but given that Betts didn’t want to resign here getting something for a guy who hits for power & average, steals bases, has a rocket arm and incredible outfield range is a lot better than getting nothing for him, not to mention the huge savings from getting rid of David Price’s contract.

As for the Dodgers I don’t care if every team in the league has a complete list of every sign you have, if you can’t win the series with the addition of Price still a good pitcher and Betts to that already formidable team you’re just never going to do it and if you can sign Mookie to a long term deal than your team might truly become a Dynasty.

Either way enjoy it, he’s a pleasure to watch.

Raise the Mound back to 1968 levels and Make Sign Stealing Legal in MLB

Posted: January 15, 2020 by datechguy in baseball, Sports
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You knew what was coming, but so what?

a MLB hitter on facing pitcher Walter Johnson

With Democrat debates, Presidential rallies and impeachment going on, not to mention the turmoil in Iran I’ve decided it’s time for this blog to get back to a subject that really matters.

Baseball!

It’s been a busy week for MLB as the league has assessed still penalties on both AJ Hinch and Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow resulting in not only the Astros throwing them under the bus but in the Boston Red Sox deciding to part ways with World Series winning manager Alex Cora after only two years for his part before MLB even went after him.

Now I don’t have a problem with these penalties in principle as I’m a bit of a rules lawyer, if the rules say something they should be enforced ( I still think calling George Brett out in the pine tar game was the right call) but i’m also of the opinion that the rules on sign stealing are pretty stupid.

Sign stealing has been a part of the game since the day signs were and has been practiced with varying success by every team and the idea that sign stealing done one way (with no electronic help) is legal but sign stealing WITH electronic help is not frankly isn’t practical in a world of iPhones, I watches, instant replay and challenges.

So I propose a simple solution that will not only solve this dilemma but will do something that major league baseball is desperate to achieve, speed up the game.

  1. Make all forms of sign stealing legal
  2. Raise the mound back to the 1968 level

Getting rid of all restriction on sign stealing will have a liberating effect on all these teams that are doing their best to steal signs (and let’s not pretend they aren’t) by bringing this strategy out in the open you make it a more interesting part of the game and force a pitcher, catcher and coach to be more creative in their pitch calling.

Now you might argue that this will give an even greater advantage to batters in an age of lousy pitching and you’d be right, and that’s why it’s so necessary to add the second part of the equation to the plan, raising the pitchers mound.

Baseball’s panic move to lower the mound after the year of the pitcher (1968) was an action borne out of fear and did nothing to prevent the decline of the games popularity in relation to football, what it instead did was make offense easier at a time when you were increasing the number of pitchers in the game by 20% meaning that pitchers who would not have made a major league roster five years ago were not only pitching to the likes of Carl Yastrzemski , Hank Aaron Harmon Killebrew and Pete Rose but were doing it from a smaller mound.

50 years later we have smaller parks but 6 more teams meaning that there are 60 more pitchers who would not have been considered major league quality now pitching in those parks. It’s time to give the pitchers back an edge. Sure you might have a couple of Bob Gibsons emerge with microscopic ERA’s Max Scherzer instantly comes to mind but you would also give those other guys who frankly aren’t worth stealing signs against an actual shot at getting people out and speeding up the game.

Since the lack of a clock is a defining part of baseball the only way to make the game faster is to make outs easier. Raising the mound will do and doing so in conjunction with allowing all forms of sign stealing, including electronic ones will do so without overcompensating in favor of the pitcher.

And it will save everyone a whole lot of trouble.

SABLE/GERBL All Time League Leaders

Posted: January 10, 2020 by datechguy in dynasty baseball, gaming, online gaming
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As you might remember I’m currently running two Pursue the Pennant online leagues. The former is about half way done, the later about a quarter of the way into their 154 game season.

Here are the Current Leaders all time great team league as of Wednesday

  • Batting
  • AL Dimaggio NYY .380 Goslin Wash .353 Powell Balt .337
  • NL Jones NYM .366 Hodges Bkyn .358 Hornsby Cubs .358
  • On Base
  • AL Dimaggio NYY .447 Powell Balt .443 Williams Bos .443
  • NL Hodges Bkyn .459 Jones NYM .452, Robinson Bkyn .440
  • Slugging
  • AL DiMaggio NYY .700 Simmons Phil .650 Powell Bal .620
  • NL Hornsby Cubs .687 Mays SF .629 Hodges .618
  • On Base+ Slugging
  • AL DiMaggio NYY 1.148 Powell Bal 1.063 Williams Bos 1.039
  • NL Hornsby Cubs 1.123 Hodges Bkyn 1.077 Wilson Cubs 1.006
  • Runs
  • AL Dimaggio NYY 86 Selkirk NYY 70 Keller NYY 69
  • NL Mays SF 82 Robinson Bkyn 78 Cuyler Cubs 76
  • Hits
  • AL DiMaggio NYY Simmons Phil 128 Goslin Wash 113
  • NL Hornsby Cubs 120 Hodges Bkyn 111 Wilson Cubs 107
  • Doubles
  • AL Greenberg Det 39 Simmons Phil Judge Wash 26
  • NL Grimm Cubs 26 Hodges Bkyn Marion StL McMillian Cubs 25
  • Triples
  • AL Rice Wash 16 Matthews Wash Miller Phil 11
  • NL Hopp Stl 14 Burton Mil Amoros Bkyn Slaughter StL Cuyler Cubs 8
  • Home Runs
  • AL Powell Bal DiMaggio NYY 25 Simmons Phil 22
  • NL Mays SF 28 Hornsby Cubs 27 Aaron Mil 26
  • RBI
  • AL DiMaggio NYY 91 Doerr Bos 84 Greenberg Det Simmons Phil 81
  • NL Hornsby Cubs 95 Wilson Cubs 82 Mays SF 81
  • Stolen Bases
  • AL Rice Wash 9 Campaneris Oak 6 Belanger Balt North Oak Fisher Wash 4
  • NL Wills LA 39 Cuyler Cubs 33 Mays SF 8
  • Walks
  • AL Williams Bos 82 Bishop Phil 75 Selkirk NYY White Det 72
  • NL Robinson Bkyn 64 Hodges Bkyn 55 Matthews Mil Snider Bkyn 54

Pitching

  • ERA
  • AL McNally Bal 2.95 Blue Oak 3.00 Gomez NYY 3.06
  • NL Cooper StL 1.87 Seaver NYM 2.23 Conley Mil 2.31
  • Wins
  • AL Hunter Oak 12 Blue Oak McNally Balt Grove Phil 11
  • NL Drysdale LAD 12 Spahn Mil 11 Seaver NYM Newcombe Bkyn 10
  • Losses
  • Zachary Wash 11 Blue Moon Odom Oak 10 Rowe Det Fischer Det Walberg Phil 9
  • Johnson Pit 12 Osteen LAD Malone Cubs 11
  • Saves
  • AL Klinger Bos 16 Fingers Oak 12 Mossi Cle 10
  • NL McMahon Mil 13 Miller SF 11 Gusti Pit 10
  • Blown Saves
  • AL Narleski Cle 5 Richert Balt Shores Phil 4
  • NL McMahon Mil 6 McGraw Mets 5 Bolin SF Roebuck Bkyn Jonnard Cubs 4
  • Innings Pitched
  • AL Wynn Cle 143 Ruffing NYY 142.1 Blue Oak 141
  • NL Drysdale LAD 146.1 Seaver Mets 145 Cooper Stl 134.2
  • Strikeouts
  • AL Grove Phil 108 Earnshaw Phil 104 Johnson 103
  • NL Koufax LAD 171 Seaver NYM 120 Koosman NYM 114
  • K per 9 inn
  • AL Earnshaw Phil 7.87 Grove 7.01 Johnson Wash 6.92
  • NL Koufax LAD 11.57 Koosman NYM 7.81 Podres Bkyn 7.62
  • Walks per 9 inn
  • AL Hughson Bos 1.40 Hardin Bal 1.42 McNally Bal 2.57
  • NL Newcombe Bkyn 1.31 Burdette Mil 1.45 Koufax LAD 1.49
  • Batting Avg against
  • AL Blue Oak .195 Feller Cle .213 Hunter Oak .215
  • NL Seaver NYM .174 Cooper StL .187 Conley Mil .203
  • WHIP
  • AL Hughson Bos 1.08 McNally Bal 1.13 Hunter Oak Feller Cle 1.17
  • NL Seaver NYM 0.90 Koufax LAD 0.94 Cooper NL 0.97
  • HR per 9 Inn
  • Earnshaw Phil Lemon Cle 0.45 Gomez NYY 0.48
  • Conley Mil 0.29 Pierce SF 0.47 Spahn Mil 0.48

Baseball and Game-Playing

Posted: November 5, 2019 by julietteochieng in media, News/opinion, Sports, Uncategorized
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Boston Red Sox 2018 World Series Championship ring that I’m sure Peter likes seeing again.

by baldilocks

Yesterday, a goodly portion of the Washington Nationals visited the White House in celebration of their victory in the 2019 World Series and at least two of the players were pummeled on Twitter for openly being fans of President Trump. I’m sure the two players will console themselves with that beautiful ring they get to wear.

In contrast, there were several players who skipped the White House visit. I didn’t notice much talk about them. But, of course it was their choice to make.

It’s a safe bet, however, that the latter received a digital pat on the back from the usual suspects. We know that it’s a safe bet because we have some comparative information. 

[R]etired Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady turned down Obama’s invitation to come to the White House and were met with strong criticism from media.

Thomas’s decision not to visit the White House in 2012 was widely criticized. U.S. News & World Report writer Susan Milligan headlined a story on the incident that said his decision was not brave, “it was just rude.” ESPN writer Joe McDonald wrote that Thomas chose to put himself above the team through his decision not to attend.

“When the president of the United States invites you and all your teammates to the White House to honor your Stanley Cup championship, you go and represent the team,” McDonald wrote.

Emphasis mine.

Hahahahahahaha!

Of course, we know that this only applies when the president is a Democrat and it double applied in the lone case in which the president was of African descent.

And then there is a whole other category of rules for Orange Man Bad.

If I were a team owner, I’d make it mandatory (in the contract) for all players and coaches to attend a White House gathering in the wake of a championship victory – unless there’s a life or death emergency — regardless of who the president is. That or get fined/traded.

But I guess that’s why I’m just a broke blogger.

Juliette Akinyi Ochieng has been blogging since 2003 as baldilocks. Her older blog is here.  She published her first novel, Tale of the Tigers: Love is Not a Game in 2012.

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