Angels Never Die

Has there been a good GM that was a pitcher?

Blaming players is such a cop out.

You are clearly not a mentally well person. I blame the song.

I guess this all depends on what Pujols' definition of "can't compete" is.

What happened to secret ballots, Chuck? What kind of shitty ass democracy are you running here?

I don't really think that much of Blanton, but it's one game. There should be a moratorium on grand conclusions until at least a month into the season.

but but, lefty vs lefty.

It should be the same for both leagues.

Yeah, I like Burr and have agreed with a lot of things he has had to say on gender issues.

I have no problem acknowledging general differences between the sexes, assuming these differences are established scientifically, and not based on ideological dogma. Yes, males are generally physically stronger than females, but that doesn't justify socially prescribed gender roles of men automatically being protectors, and women automatically being in need of protection by men. At the basis of chivalry isn't just "men are strong, women are weak," but also "women are valuable, men are disposable." These attitudes harm both men and women, there's no place in a progressive egalitarian society for these antiquated and sexist attitudes to exist.

I can't believe we still live in a society where men are expected to protect women. If they're truly equal and they're truly adults, they should be expected to protect themselves as much as a man is.

MLB needs to start allowing some copyrighted video to be posted on youtube like the NBA. It's like they don't want people to be interested in baseball or something.

Sexist chivalrous BS.

I think it's obvious that Weaver's ability has always been about his control and deception more than anything else, but his velocity is still important, as is his speed differential (which is probably most important, you don't want him throwing 85 mph fastballs and 80 mph changeups.) I've considered his velocity drop as more of a conscious choice with him rather than a decline in physical ability. His delivery has become less extreme over time and I think he gained a lot of arm speed from his big turn that he doesn't have as much any more. I don't know if I like the Maddux comarison though because while Weaver is very good at setting up hitters and he has good control, he doesn't have the elite control that Maddux had in his prime.

I can't wait for newspapers to die.

His velocity dropped a lot last year, so if there's a trend, it's not starting this year.

And yet Gardner is healthy. Life's a trade-off.

Seems a bit much for someone they have a replacement for, but I'm probably just thinking it's worse because of that awful Kinsler extension.

It's not that different really. Think of how many men got recruited based off the emotions following the Pearl Harbor attack, and then got sent to fight Germans who had nothing to do with it. The difference really is that you think the war against Germany was a just cause and Iraq wasn't, but they both got duped. The vast majority of military engagements in our history have not been about national defense, they've been about politics and resources, and think how many people enlisted on the pretense of fighting for freedom and honor and all those other lies. They all fell for it just like this guy did. Anyone who thought that enlisting meant they can control where they get sent off to is a sucker. The US government gives you some pay, benefits, and training, and then you become their indentured servant, subject to all the BS ulterior motives the US government is prone to have. If you sign up to be an indentured servant for the military, and they're meeting all the agreements in the contract you signed, then you have no right to complain about how you are used.

I understand exactly where his resentment comes from and my response is to that. You don't get to pick and choose who you fight in the military, you go where the US government says to go and fight who they say to fight. You don't get to pick who your enemy is just because that's the pretense you signed with, that's not how the military works. When you sign up, you're theirs, you're a human machine at their discretion.

Is he implying that the US military used propaganda and false pretenses to recruit people to join? Wow, that's a crime of epic proportions, a crime that you've only seen since...well, since there's been recruitment offices. Yeah, he's generally right in his criticism of the war, but I don't feel sorry for someone who feels special because he happened to be tricked by 9/11 rather than some other source of emotional manipulation. He signed up to be a perpetual order-taking machine, a four-year indentured servant to the US government, and now he's indignant that his deployment didn't live up to his standards and expectations? If the US was interested in living up to that, they wouldn't make you sign 4 year commitments. It's sad that he's dying, it's sad that they go to schools to manipulate kids into throwing themselves in front of bullets, but he fell for the oldest trick in the book. Nothing about the way he was recruited, or about the Iraq War were exceptions to how the US goverment typically operates.

It's going to be the same religion regardless of the demographics of the pope. Jeez, people are so easily duped by the drama of this crap.

I'm impressed that they actually got Trout to fit in the frame.

I wonder if switch hitters are statistically more likely to be balanced against lefty's and righty's than single-handed hitters are, because if they're not, then that would seem like you're just adding unnecessary work.

You mean when a team has a need for an outfielder they don't immediately think of Vernon Wells as the solution? I just don't get it.