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DCAngelsFan

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Everything posted by DCAngelsFan

  1. For Philly, definitely agree, hit the terminal market - but early if there on a weekend - gets insanely crowded. And Jim's for cheesesteak is about the best - but there's so much good food in the market. There's really a lot of good food to be had in Philly - I had some spectacular duck fat fries at a pub there i still dream about Also, the Italian Market, and there's some polish neighborhoods around Port Richmond if you like Polish food. The Passyunk neighborhood is nearer to the ballpark and has lots of good choices for eating / drinking. Plenty of good museums - the Barnes is my favorite, the Mutter is surprisingly good, same for the Magic Gardens (though it'll be blistering hot in July.) Personally, I like Eastern State Pen a lot - reminds me of home Museum of the American Revolution is relatively new, and actually really good - might want to see if they have any events around the date of the visit, but it's a pretty nuanced, and occasionally emotional look at the Revolution. Liberty Bell should take a pass on, but the area around Independence Hall is cool to wander around. Find a beer garden - they're all over in summertime in Center City and environs.
  2. Absolutely. He's been willing to sign a "big name" - but he didn't seem to invest in the nuts and bolts of the operation, almost from day one. More interested in marketing (how long can one ride the laurels of reducing the price of beer from outrageous to slightly-less-outrageous?) than in building an effective operation. We completely withdrew from the international market (and DiPoto screwed up historically badly when we returned - Baldoquin was the international equivalent of the Wells trade and the Hamilton signing), we drafted poorly every year except for one magical year, and as an owner, Arte didn't seem to notice. He's kind of a bit like a Dan Snyder in that sense - he doesn't tinker as much as Danny boy - just he's happy to grab the shiny object at the expense of running the operation right. He's not Angelos-level negligent, but he's not run a tight ship, either. Not really buying the "lack of revenue streams" argument - the financial records Deadspin published a few years back showed Arte is busy paying himself and investors money. Not McCourt level ATM, but still. Speaking of McCourt - after he all-but-demolished the Dodgers, look at their bounce back - they win, and are able to bring up ROY-caliber talent seemingly every year. Arte should be embarrassed. I would be. p.s. also, f&^k Aoki
  3. Phew. My faith in you has been renewed ...
  4. I'm sure they'd be even better if they sold them the morning they were made .... I will allow that it's possible that the ones in the NE are somehow different from the local dunkin', owned by people who'd drop a donut on the floor, brush the dust bunnies and rat fur off, and put it in the bag right in front you - but I'll never find out. My daughter lives there, and loathes them with an unreasonable hatred - prolly 'cause it's full of chowds.
  5. Dunkin' Donuts is an inexplicable "thing" in the Northeast, especially in Mass. There are lines at the drive-thru at dinnertime. I find their coffee weak, and the insistence on them putting cream and sugar in your coffee kinda weird. And their donuts seem stale at birth (the cruller and blueberry aren't bad.) Now, for life-changing donuts ... beilersdonuts.com
  6. I could - but you underestimate my innate laziness I'm sure someone will - some fangraphs contributor will take a stab at quantifying the effect. But my point was that was MLB's job - the report seems to conclude the practice was ineffective, that it was abandoned by the players b/c it was ineffective - and I can believe that. But that seemed to be based entirely on player interviews, who would, of course, downplay the effect - they should have done this analysis themselves.
  7. And worse, admits to it? I'm sure that website has scored him *lots* of dates ... Anyway, as noted the #'s should be doubled (roughly) - no bangs indicate a FB. It would be a *lot* more useful if someone were to collate the data such that "on ab's where pitch signaling was found, player A had an OPS .125 higher than his season average." We know they cheated (and they took it seriously enough that I bet there was more involved than banging on a trash can) - so more importantly, what did the cheating gain them? I think the penalty they received was calibrated to simply trying to cheat - I think MLB should've evaluated the effect of it all - and the punishments based on them successfully cheating.
  8. You're right - wtf was *I* thinking ... Really should give up putting bourbon on my Wheaties ... ... well, let's not get crazy, now ... Might make a little sense if it's cheap enough where you can trade him, bench him, or just outright him the moment he looks cross-eyed at a peanut vendor, like 1/$4m. He could be an insurance policy if Upton and Goodwin aren't ready to play - and relieves the pressure for an early Adell call-up (if we're into service time manipulation - but of course, we're not, right?)
  9. Not actually that far outside the box - mlb.com had an article yesterday suggesting it.
  10. My daughter lost a patient she'd grown close to, a Hep-C patient who was 31 with a young child, for whom treatments like Harvoni came too late. It broke the hearts of her family, husband, child, etc - and broke the heart of my daughter - the patient was apparently a lovely soul, who my daughter couldn't save - she pronounced her, and then broke down in tears. Not every patient of these diseases is contemptible or "deserves it." By the way, she (my daughter, who was attending) was accidentally stuck by a needle by a resident physician, from a patient with HIV *and* Hep C a few years ago. She got lucky - but like the man said, every communicable disease is a threat.
  11. I'd really hate to think that someday, some HOF voter might say "Yeah, Trout was great - but he never got to the post-season - so, I'm a 'no'"
  12. I have a hunch the Dodgers are wishing the council would just shut up, and for precisely that reason ...
  13. And - and I know this is obvious - why Boston wants to move him. They know they have little chance or no interest in signing him to a FA deal. That doesn't mean he wouldn't sign an extension elsewhere - but it would have to be his preferred team - if he has one - at a price that would make him forego a bidding war. A 1% chance. With that knowledge - I probably wouldn't trade Adell for 1 year of Betts straight-up. Now, if we had a solid ace or two fronting the rotation, and we wanted to make a 1-year grab at the brass ring (World Series), my answer might change. But we don't.
  14. I think he's a lock for the Mario Mendoza Dubious Achievements in Baseball Museum. You can find it in the Stuckey's Travel Plaza, Lincoln, NE "Free Pecan Log with every paid adult admission."
  15. Some of the early reports mentioned signaling stolen signs via a wireless device that attached to the skin and vibrated - much more sophisticated than banging on a trash can. Joel Sherman wrote: Was it just someone's imagination? Or was there truth in there? It's well within current technology to have high-resolution telephoto cameras, possibly processed by an AI engine, using some wireless signaling that could communicate to the batter what kind of pitch was called for, and location. In fact according to this 2018 article: https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/11/02/cameras-stealing-signs-pace-play-rob-manfred - there are already cameras specifically placed to steal signs and people to interpret them. (but with 4k broadcast cameras ubiquitous, you could just tap the tv video streams for a less obvious approach.) It all begs the question - what's the purpose of stealing signs if you don't act on it - that is, tell the batter what pitch is coming, to tell a baserunner it's a good pitch to steal on? I think what did Houston in was their lack of sophistication - the audible recorded evidence of the banging trash cans sounds. I'd actually be surprised if some clubs aren't stealing signs and communicating that to their batters using much more sophisticated techniques than a trash can. Looking at you, Dodger blue ...
  16. From the report: Sounds like most / all of them admitted they participated. But Manfred decided not to punish any players for the conduct. Which is sort of contradictory - he said the players organized it and (potentially) benefited from it, but are exempt from punishment. The loss of the draft picks isn't particularly punitive - drafting 30th - to really make it sting, he should've also taken the $5m out of their international bonus pool money over 2 years.
  17. Sadly, I've heard news anchors, and military analysts on all day seemingly seriously considering just that - that the plane was hit by outbound ballistic missiles - for example, the English general that said it was unlikely the plane flew over the ballistic missile launching site at the precise moment they launched, thus knocking it out of the sky. Therefore, it *must* be mechanical failure. Uh, *no* that's not the only two choices .... Failing entirely to consider the possibility that it was, perhaps, an overreaction by an Iranian SAM operator, who thought the 737 was a cruise missile. Someone posted a pic of what certainly appeared to be the blown-off seeker of a 9m331 interceptor, claiming it was found near the crash site. Maybe a hoax, maybe not - I mean, not something you just find in a yard sale. And it really seems far more likely than a mammoth coincidence of an uncontained engine failure on the very day Iranian air defenses were certainly on high-alert, expecting a counter-punch. Sometimes I hear these experts on tv and I just want to punch myself
  18. And before Arte puts pressure on Eppler to "do something" in the last year of his contract, he needs to gaze upon the life-sized (and sneering) mannequins of Vernon Wells, GMJ, and Josh Hamilton that decorate his office, and contemplate what impatience and meddling has done for him in the past. If he doesn't those mannequins, he should - Arte's Haunted House of bad decisions would probably save us all a lot of pain in the future ...
  19. hmm, Smith had career 76.9 WAR, and a 44.2 dWAR over 19 seasons. Simmons has a career 36.9 WAR, and a 27.3 dWAR over 8 seasons. The average HOF SS has 67 WAR. If Simmons can play, say, another 8 seasons, puts up 30+ WAR, and/or 22+ dWAR, he'll have a solid case. It's a stretch - definitely not yet - but a few more years of elite defense, he enters the conversation. Unlikely he does it - but if he stays healthy and in elite form, he has a chance.
  20. I wouldn't use the word "truth" in what's described, but yeah, I see what you're saying. The one thing I don't think they realize is with this rationalizing - what a Toronto fan is hearing is "I really didn't want to come here, but the teams I wanted to play for wouldn't pay me" - not exactly a great way to make friends.
  21. Um, have you noticed a bottle around the house, maybe looks like this?
  22. Right. I'm sure the fact the Yankees offered more than anyone else had nothing to do with it. I'd actually have more respect for these guys if they just said something like "They made me an offer I couldn't refuse." Probably shouldn't say "I gotta feed my kids", tho ...
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