halomatt

this is absolutely true. I deposited some cash in my accounts while the lender was working on the loan and they got a little peeved at me and said that I would have to explain where the money came from. They said the underwriter is very particular and that I would have to have a letter for EVERY deposit and/or withdrawals that seemed out of the ordinary. My lender also wanted to make sure that I refrained from using my credit for almost everything. Any use of credit that was deemed too large would have an effect.

I just purchased a new home. Lived in it for six weeks now and it was a BITCH trying to get the loan. I had to jump through all kinds of hoops. My now ex-wife and I ran into loan default issues (like many) and she was still in "our" home. The unfortunate part is that she wasn't paying the line of credit loan. These of course showed up on my credit and SEVERELY affected my creditworthiness. My credit scores from the three reporting agencies were all over the place and collectively they were too low for a conventional loan. So I had to go the FHA route with lifetime PMI. The mortgage company is now working on helping me get my credit fixed and they say within six months, if the credit looks good, I can refinance to get out of the PMI.

Just looking at the pics up thread, they appear to have an arc from one to the other. Kinda like an outfield where one is in left field and the other is in right. Or perhaps structural landmarks that define the entrance to the stadium. Team stores and kidz zone and Angels Museum in the two hangars. Along with bars and restaraunts of course!

How close are they together? Integrate them into the stadium facade, perhaps? Keep the historical value and it can integrate nicely with a modern stadium.

This article really pissed me off, both as a taxpayer and as a teacher. The worst part is that it appears legal. The idiotic school board should be kicked out on their asses. That they could allow such mismanagement of funds is appalling. Really, the contract is devilishly brilliant. He paid for the service time and the district REIMBURSED HIM FOR IT! That's ridiculous. 9% raise annually? My first thought is that it is obscene. My second thought was that I need to get into the administration side of education, cause it ain't going away!

Don't be so obtuse!

Getting straight prospects could allow the Angels to get the pieces to go out and get Price from Tampa Bay.

The money sounds outrageous until I remembered that all teams received television money this year. It seems clear that the salaries thus far are reflecting the extra. I think MLB and the Union should have raised the Competitive Balance Tax to reflect this. The small market or "poor" teams will cry about it, but with teams like the Marlins and Astros hoarding cash, their opinions carry little weight.

This trade is shortsighted. It seems to signify a lack of understanding of advanced metrics and relative value. It's a bit embarrassing, really. That said, I really, really hope that Freese can rebound next year.

I believe that DiPoto should trade whoever brings back the most in young pitching. Whether it's Trumbo, Bourjous, Kedrick, Calhoun, Aybar, Shuck or whomever, DiPoto needs to be able to entice teams to give up what we need. For example, I highly doubt that teams aren't aware that Trumbo's OBP is very low and thus, creates outs. All of the power is nice, but many teams can't justify all of the outs. He would need to be traded with another body to get what the team needs. Unfortunately, the Angels can't keep the status quo and some of these players will have to be traded. It's too bad, cause I am partial to the local kids like Trumbo and Conger. Selfish homerism, I admit, but fair trades should hurt both sides.

Totally agree. I'm just not sure that he's a coach that can do the job. What evidence do we have that he can be successful? I'd think he will have to work his way up like most coaches.

I predict he will be back. It's too hard to quantify logical reasons that this failure is his fault. I believe he should be back next year.

Yes on Kershaw. No on Hanley. Guy's often hurt. Declining productivity due to injury is not worth the money.

Re-sign Vargas. Resign Blanton. Try to make a trade to get a young starting pitcher with upside. Everybody currently on the team should be in play, excluding Trout. Re-work the bullpen. Try and sign some "dependable" bullpen guys. (We all know about the wild variances in performances with relievers year-to-year.) Keep Scioscia, Butcher, DiPoto.

As for Darvish, the Rangers had been on to him for a few years and had done the legwork in the Japanese market. That is more the fault of the previous organizational philosophy. As for Hamilton, well, that was Arte's mistake. He wanted Hamilton. The data on both those guys had been available for some time. It was well-known that Darvish had the requisite skills to succeed in the majors unlike other, older Japanese pitchers. As for Hamilton, well, he's always had plate discipline issues and has always been a free swinger, trusting to his talent. I'm not really sure why this is always about assigning blame. Sometimes the situation just...IS. I really believe that it's been a poor year all around and I'm not sure that even with the same lineup next year, the results won't be wildly different. Of course, if Hanson and Blanton are part of the rotation, then it may end up the same.

I too think Pujols should have the surgery. It would give him seven months to rest/rehabilitate the foot and the knee while also giving him time to build up leg strength so he doesn't have to be an upper body hitter. Course, I also think that if he does, this team is finished and they might as well trade off as many valuable pieces as possible and try to bring as much young talent back as well. Apparently, there aren't many position players out there that might be available. Sounds like a seller's market to me.

True. It seems to me the offense got better when we got better hitters. I was one of the 30% who voted that he be retained, mostly out of spite for angry curmudgeons and the like. In all seriousness, I find it difficult to quantify the manager's effect, either positive or negative on their team. As soon as there is more than anecdotal, highly subjective evidence that he is a poor manager, I might change my mind. In my opinion, anything else is simply ranting for the sake of being heard. This team is performing poorly and the only real evidence I can find points squarely to the pitching staff and the defensive malaise. In the larger scope of things, it could just be "one of those years."

Your riotous, vigilante-esque behavior is reprehensible, sir! The mere thought of you marauding through the lush, manicured boulevards is offensive! My respect for you is dropping faster than a Joe Blanton fastball leaving Safeco Field. Carry on, then.

I agree with this. It's important to know what limitations of a statistic exist and, therefore, what it's exact purpose is. A poorly defined statistic will not pass the valid or reliable checks. For example, ERA is becoming more and more of a useless statistic because of many, uncontrolled variables that "muddy the waters" of just what an "Earned Run" is and who "allows" that earned run to exist. Also, I'm not sure anyone who wants to be taken seriously by the community they are speaking to would "make up" a statistic. Any researcher worth his/her salt would take great pains to make sure their statistic is both reliable and valid. To do otherwise would risk discrediting their work by the larger community.

isn't rWAR just Baseball Reference's version and fWAR Fangraphs's version? That's what I thought. I read somewhere that Trout's fielding numbers are down because he is not getting those "over-the-fence takeaways" that he was getting last year. My understanding is that both systems give more defensive credit for those catches. In Bourjos's case he probably has not played enough to escape SSS issues, but also he may not have made enough of "those" catches to I crease his value. I like WAR as a catch all but the subjectivity of the defenseive measurement does give pause for thought and critique.

Didn't Tim Salmon have the same surgery where they sliced the muscle? And wasn't he limited to DH the next year because of complications? Also Pujols may not be able to prepare for the next season cause he will be on crutches for much of the off season. Sooo... He will be the DH for 2014.

I'm an eighth grade language arts teacher at a year-round school. My team teachers and I conduct a civil war simulation with our students every year. On our final day, the students, as part of their language arts and history finals, take place in a day-long simulation in which the students, who have been learning about the life of a "common soldier" for about six weeks, must construct an authentic (for eighth grade) civil war campsite, perform a skit in which they discuss the potential outcomes of the Battle of Gettysburg, their personal beliefs and reasons for joining the war, and their faith and trust in their leaders, and perform, in their groups a pass and review parade march with marching song that reflects their groups beliefs and reasons for enlisting. Lastly, they reenact Pickett's Charge as a class with someone (me) reading a script. The "charge" is actually a game of battle tag. The students tag each other and then exchange battle cards and they must do what the card says. It's a ton of work and fundraising, but it's a great way of teaching something significant to the kids.

I don't really understand the actuator. I get how an internal combustion engine works and how it creates the energy for propulsion. If he takes out the belt or chain how does energy get transferred to the driveline? In the video, he says that "section" of the engine is now empty. What am I missing here? Can anyone help me out?

Me too. I think it's been fantastic. It's cut scenes are very well done and the writing is pretty sophisticated. For a game. I'm loving it.

The last part: youre probably right. Many current teams still put "contact hitters" or whatever in the two hole. Again, according to Law, this is somwhat new thinking although the evidence used is based on historical data.