Don

then you should probably go into a different line of work, if you don't mind me saying so.

Yeah, technical writing is definitely a gig that leaves a few innocents in the ditch every now and then.

I don't think I'd say Cron plays 1B "pretty well".

It's easy to make fun of Raul but he seems like a genuinely cool dude and I'm sure he is a positive veteran presence on the team.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a phantom injury when guys start coming back. Or I wonder if he'd accept a AAA assignment for a bit just to stick around, if he really believes this team is going somewhere and it's his last shot. Daily ABs could also help get his swing back.

Either way, I hope he remains part of this team this year. I just don't want to see him batting cleanup if he's batting average is .150.

I'm right with you man. I hope he stays with this organization, but I think his playing days are just about done. I'd love to see him stay on as a minor league hitting instructor or manager.

I'm on team Navarro. If Cron had any value on defense and he could play a corner OF spot, it'd be a different story. No doubt that Cron has the higher ceiling, but right now Navarro just provides more overall value.

Don, do you know how the firing squads of old worked? I'm pretty sure only one of the shooters had an actual bullet and the other had blanks so no one had the guilt of killing someone.

I'm probably wrong though

I've heard similar versions of that. I know it'd still bother the hell out of me if there was a one in six (or whatever number) chance that I killed someone.

Yeah, Oberon is basically a cross between Inigo Montoya and The Most Interesting Man in the World guy.

Admittedly, i could see death by firing squad being less painful than death by legal injection. The biggest downside, in my opinion, would be for the people on the firing squad.

Yeah, it seems like Ibanez and Stewart should go. Keep a bench of Green (2B/LF), Cowgill (all OF), McDonald (SS/3B), Navarro (1B and token lefty), and a backup catcher. Also, one of these guys would have to DH each game. If I were running things, that'd be Cowgill once Hamilton and Calhoun get back.

There's some guy who I believe is a well-known TV writer that did this same thing in his 20s... Twice.

From what I can tell, Colorado is basically supplying the whole central US at this point. Which was bound to happen. And as we all know, you can't fight against drugs on the supply side, meaning that will basically be the case from now until forever.

This is the part where I (as per usual) recommend that we offer Dave Duncan a dump truck full of money to be our pitching coach.

Cowgill should DH. Scoscia has actually ignored the stigma of a DH needing to hit HRs in the past, so there's a chance, but he has also been completely oblivious to the fact that a .422 OBP is good and continues to use Ibanez. So Cowgill probably will get benched.

To me it goes Calhoun, Cowgill, Cron, and Ibanez for those two spots. As in Ibanez should never play...

Dead on man.

I did have some form of UM coverage (not an expert on this stuff), but I still paid the $500 deductible. I don't recall all of the details, as I was 19 at the time, but I went back and forth with my insurance and ended up losing out on any reimbursement.

I think we've got to go Pedro Cerrano on this one in the name of protecting our pitchers. We need an intern to leave a bottle of rum and a cigar on Tommy John's doorstep at least once a week.

Had a similar thing happen several years ago in Riverside. A guy didn't see my car, veered into my lane and basically ripped the rear passenger side door off my car. We both pull into a gas station to talk, but he spoke zero English and my Spanish is very rough. I wrote down his name, phone number, and plate number, and copied the info from his insurance card. I also called the police to make a report, but they wouldn't come out because there were no injuries.

In the end, here's what happened: The guy's phone number was fake, and his insurance company was fake. I'm guessing he was illegal. I paid my $500 deductible, and obviously was never reimbursed by the fake insurance company. And seeing as I had absolutely no way of finding this dude, I was left with no recourse. Bottom line, if you want the cops to come for an accident report, just claim you think you saw a handgun in the other person's car.

Why at the expense of Calhoun? Why not at the expense of Cron and Ibanez?

While Cowgill is due for some regression, you can't deny that he's done everything he needed to do to earn his way into the lineup. Cron has hit well so far, but he doesn't bring as much to the table as Cowgill has so far. When Hamilton and Calhoun get back, I'd like to do the 3 outfielders and a DH with Trout, Calhoun, Hamilton, and Cowgill until Cowgill (possibly) cools off. Cron would have to be sent down, but he's basically a one dimensional player. He hits baseballs really hard, but that's it. He's not much of a defender, can't run, and can't play multiple positions.

Awesome. I hope everything goes well and he gets back soon. That being said, I wonder who gets sent down. All I know is that I want to ride this hot start by Cowgill for as long as possible. He's definitely earned his way into the lineup.

Hamilton is super streaky. I'm glad he's doing well so far, but he'll have a couple stretches where he hits .150 for two weeks. It's just the kind of hitter he is. That being said, if those bad stretches are countered by crazy good stretches, it'll be a great year for him.

In the interest of maximizing my enjoyment of this trip, I'm on an overnight bus from Omaha to Chicago right now. Decided to get there a bit early and catch a game at Wrigley on Sunday afternoon before catching my flight out later at night. Super excited.

It's all in the context of this "code" among the players how they view players that take hometown discounts.

 

"But the reason the deal rankled is that there’s a code in baseball, and that code involves not taking an under-market-value contract. Fans might laud Trout opting for personal financial security that also insures he’ll be with his original team for a while. Players, though, cringe, because one contract affects the next, and so on."

That paragraph suggests the writer either ignored or doesn't know how player salaries work. Trout is certainly worth more on the open market, but he wouldn't have hit the open market for a few more years. Therefore, the Angels paying Trout more than they are obligated to, but less than his open-market value, is effectively a long-term discount for the Angels and a huge insurance policy for Trout. I'm sure that 99% of players understand that and have no problem with Trout taking the contract. The Rays have built a great organization with that strategy, while also making several guys under 25 filthy rich.

The video is disabled now.

 

What happened?

It worked fine for me. Basically, Trebek was asking one of the contestants what he would do with his money, and the guy said that he wanted to make a documentary about sweat shop labor, then (jokingly) asked if Trebek knew the eight-year-old that made his suit.

I'm guessing this judge feels black folk would do ok in prison.  Poor folk too.

I wouldn't be shocked by that. It's pretty ignorant to think that people from a rougher background are less affected by the trauma of prison. So, if the judge is that ignorant, I think it's logical to assume that he believes plenty of dumb things.

The town of Puntarenas is shitty. You wouldn't wanna spend any time there, unless you were taking ferry from there to Nicoya Peninsula, which is cool. My wife and I like the little town of Montezuma there.

If you are going to a volcano, go to arenal. The hot springs around there are awesome and la fortuna is a nice base. You can hike, zip line, raft, rappel, lots of things based out of there. Check out Desafio Adventure Company. I've used them multiple times and they are a top notch outfit.

Thanks for all the advice. Just had a call with my fellow travelers (I'm in Omaha, one is in Seattle, two are in San Diego), and we got a lot of stuff booked based on your advice. Two nights in La Fortuna, two nights in a condo in Jaco, and two nights in San Jose. Thanks again man. I'm really excited about this trip.

Sorry if this has been posted before, I did a search and didn't see anything. Because I live in Oklahoma City, I'm blacked out from Rangers, Astros, Royals, and Cardinals games. Does this mean that when the Angels play any of those teams, I won't be able to watch it? Or is it just their home games?

Whenever the Angels play those teams (home or away doesn't matter), you'll have to watch the games on whatever local affiliate is broadcasting it. If you have cable, no big deal. If you don't, just go to a bar.