Don

Beginning to think the umps just hate this new system and are just like, “fuck it, we ain’t changing shit”

The broadcast last night was terrible production work, sending Vasgersian and Gubi a delayed feed so all the calls were way out of sync with play. Also by not being at the park Vasgersian was making several incorrect calls on fly balls, not being able to see ball flight off the bat. 
This is not a criticism of his play calling but the horrible circumstances created by the Angels in their choice of not sending their crews to the ballpark and thinking remote would suffice. 

Turner’s gonna cost something like 7/220-230. Heck, that might be low.

Ste-fan-ic… Ste-fan-ic

From the people who brought you The Wire: 
 

Just some Dodger fan/MLB writer who has no problem throwing insults/jokes at others but the moment they come for her she plays the victim card for sympathy.
 
 

The left wing nutters are a problem, and they contribute to people like Trump making statements like he did. This is the problem with our discourse today, simple minded people like Kotchman feel that they need to choose between ‘the world is ending’ and ‘everything is fine.’ Neither one of those positions is even remotely defensible.

It's #2 behind The King's Speech winning in 2010

I actually feel like this deserves its own thread. But that's just me.

Anybody watch the first episode of Winning Time? I watched it last night. Looks like it's gonna be awesome.

This is honestly the part that baffles me. Like it's one thing to fuck up supplies and logistics if you're attacked by another entity by surprise, but during a PLANNED invasion? That's either wild incompetence, pure apathy, or intentional sabotage at a leadership/planning level. And it isn't an "unprepared for modern warfare" thing either. Military leaders have been successfully planning invasions/military campaigns for, you know, a few millenniums at this point. And having the stuff needed to operate as a functional fighting force is the most basic, crucial of all the planning tasks in a situation like this. If the leadership of the military seriously couldn't see any of these issues coming, then that's like profoundly embarrassing. It honestly makes me think that the leadership either really doesn't give a shit, or that they've been cooking the books on supply/logistics capabilities for a long time, and those chickens are finally coming home to roost. Given what I know about late-Soviet era Russia, I'd suspect the latter, but who knows.

This is honestly the part that baffles me. Like it's one thing to fuck up supplies and logistics if you're attacked by another entity by surprise, but during a PLANNED invasion? That's either wild incompetence, pure apathy, or intentional sabotage at a leadership/planning level. And it isn't an "unprepared for modern warfare" thing either. Military leaders have been successfully planning invasions/military campaigns for, you know, a few millenniums at this point. And having the stuff needed to operate as a functional fighting force is the most basic, crucial of all the planning tasks in a situation like this. If the leadership of the military seriously couldn't see any of these issues coming, then that's like profoundly embarrassing. It honestly makes me think that the leadership either really doesn't give a shit, or that they've been cooking the books on supply/logistics capabilities for a long time, and those chickens are finally coming home to roost. Given what I know about late-Soviet era Russia, I'd suspect the latter, but who knows.

You're welcome.

This is honestly the part that baffles me. Like it's one thing to fuck up supplies and logistics if you're attacked by another entity by surprise, but during a PLANNED invasion? That's either wild incompetence, pure apathy, or intentional sabotage at a leadership/planning level. And it isn't an "unprepared for modern warfare" thing either. Military leaders have been successfully planning invasions/military campaigns for, you know, a few millenniums at this point. And having the stuff needed to operate as a functional fighting force is the most basic, crucial of all the planning tasks in a situation like this. If the leadership of the military seriously couldn't see any of these issues coming, then that's like profoundly embarrassing. It honestly makes me think that the leadership either really doesn't give a shit, or that they've been cooking the books on supply/logistics capabilities for a long time, and those chickens are finally coming home to roost. Given what I know about late-Soviet era Russia, I'd suspect the latter, but who knows.

FIFY

He's gonna play in June. Says he likes to start the season slow.

Theyve always been overrated.
They have a large Army. But its not very well trained (by western standards). They have some impressive equipment. (In small numbers). And they expected Ukraines govt to flee, so the public would shrug and say "whatever". (They didnt).
 
Russia is still very dangerous. And they havent used "everything" yet.
 
But they ran short on gas and supplies week 1.... thats pretty hilarious... especially when theyre fighting literally right next door.
 
Essentially, the money for the military goes to 1. Superweapons 2. Corruption. So most of their combat power exists on paper, only.
Think the Angels here.... Trout and Ohtani, no pitching or pen. Thats Russia with nukes and some impressive Fighter aircraft.... when their tanks are literally Pujols, 70s and 80s vintage, with not near enough trucks to supply them in the field.
 
Ive seen people arguing that its different than Iraq / Afghanistan, because Ukraine is an actual Army.
 
This is true... to a point. But Russia is losing people daily to Ukrainian militia, mostly. The difference being, western equipment (Ukraine) has time and time again shown itself better than Soviet / Russian equipment.
Russia, by all estimates, has lost more people in 3 weeks than we did in Iraq / Afghanistan combined. Vastly more equipment.
Again, to those downplaying the Iraqis and Afghanis, fine. 
Lets make it fair then, and do 30 years. Desert Storm. Somalia. Bosnia. Kosovo. Afghanistan. Iraq. Libya. Syria.
 
Then just do 3 weeks of Russia in Ukraine.
 
And all the countries I listed were supplied by the Soviets / Russians...
And if thats still not fair, then lets do Israel vs the whole middle east, then.
 
 
The Russian govt has known since Desert Storm the tech gap was huge. Thats why theyre so in love with nukes. But they lied to their people for 2 decades, bragging about weapons that dont actually exist. And they fell for their own BS.... and we're seeing the results.
 
One more Ill add here. Anyone remember about 4 years ago, when that Russian merc group "Wagner" tried to rush a platoon of Marines, with a single SF detachment in Syria? Literally like 50 Americans at an outpost, vs like 200 Russian and Syrian troops, with Tanks?
 
And the score was like Americans 200 to 0? Because those Marines knew how to work a radio, and employ combined arms?
 
 
In short. Russia has the firepower to overwhelm a peer adversary with numbers, especially artillery. They havent modernized to fight a 2000s adversary. And what Ukraine lacks in numbers of airplanes and tanks, they make up for with western anti-tank weapons, communications, and intel.
 
 
 
 
 
Russia can still "beat" Ukraine's Army. But they lost already, 2 weeks ago. And with the sanctions, and the whole world united, Russia is done for at least a decade at this point.
But Putin cant quit....

This is our best bullpen on paper since 2014.

Don't get me wrong, I like the signing, but this is the sort of move that's really helpful for a team that is already good for 90-ish wins. For us, it's just a decent pickup that probably doesn't change the overall success of the team much.

Don't get me wrong, I like the signing, but this is the sort of move that's really helpful for a team that is already good for 90-ish wins. For us, it's just a decent pickup that probably doesn't change the overall success of the team much.

Don't get me wrong, I like the signing, but this is the sort of move that's really helpful for a team that is already good for 90-ish wins. For us, it's just a decent pickup that probably doesn't change the overall success of the team much.

Don't get me wrong, I like the signing, but this is the sort of move that's really helpful for a team that is already good for 90-ish wins. For us, it's just a decent pickup that probably doesn't change the overall success of the team much.

He’s essentially just replacing Gosselin. Type of guy you can plug in when someone needs a day off, and is hopefully just league average instead of what we got from guys like Wong last year. Decent move to fill a real need, albeit a small one.