Thurston Fluff

This is more a general question than one specific to Inman but are all k's equal in the minors? I'd have to think pitching to guys who will chase the 3-2, 88mph fastball, 3" off the plate looks good on paper but in reality it's more telling how poor the hitter's stike zone judgement is than how good the pitcher is. He's a control pitcher with marginal stuff so I'd expect him to be able to strike out a lot of undisiplined, marginaly talented minor league hitters but struggle with the truely talented ones. I think looking at any one stat ging to give a pretty incomplete picture with that type of pitcher.

I heard the D-rays rumor as well. It makes sense for both sides if his being there isn't preventing a young player from getting the playing time he needs. I don't know Tampa's roster well enough to know if that is the caseor not.

Hope everything ends up ok for him, and I think I have an irregular heart rate every time I step on the soccer field. That or I'm horribly out of shape. Or it could just be your American genes reacting to stepping on a soccer field. Best wishes for a normal life to him.

So did Yogi Berra yet everyone understood what he meant. I'm with JJ on this one. I think he means something slightly differant than what he's saying. I think he isn't saying a stikeout is better than a walk if the ball 5" off the plate and unhittable. I think it's more along the lines of why walk on a borderline pitch that could have been hit for extra bases. Or even more improtatnly striking out taking a close pitch in an effort to raise the OBP. I'd be willing to bet his players understands what he means by it.

I want a small(er) dog. I would like a dog with a good temperament and an ability to be around children. I want a dog that trains somewhat easy. I want a dog that has a sense of self cleanliness, that doesn't let itself get caked in crap. I want a dog that doesn't bark at every shadow or noise. The Sheba sounds like the perfect dog for you. You've really done your homework which IMHO is half of the work. Their independance leads to a little stubborness at times but if they are anything like the ones I know they are so treat reactive that it shouldn't be much of a problem. I live in an apartment with a large patio door which has lots of people walking by all the time and he barks at nearly every one of them if i'm not in the room to keep him quiet. If it remains a real problem there are bark collars out there. Some are shock some are spray oriented. The shock ones are not at all cruel like they used to be. They react to the first bark by making a beeping sound. If he barks again it gives him a very light shock meant to be uncomfortable not painful. If he continues to bark it slowly increases the shock until it's strong enough to get his attention. The spray ones just spray them with water when they bark. If it's more an annoyance than anything maybe don't bother. If it's one of those things that could get you evicted or fined then maybe it's time to look into it. For cheaper alternatives try a squirt gun though that doesn't help when they figure out you have to be around to squirt them.

So what happens to all the cows and chickens if everyone stops eating meat? They can't live in the wild and nobody is going to raise them for free. For the record I do eat meat but have some concerns about how meat is processed. I eat free range chicken virtually all of which is locally grown and locally grown pork and beef processed by a small local butcher for the very same reason. It may be harder to be a meat eating hippy but a good burger without the guilt is worth it.

Great choice Sheba's are great. They are kind of like mini Akita's. I've got an akita and have a freind who has a Sheba Inu. Our first Akita was originally a pet shop dog though we got ours from the neighbor who had it tied to a tree for about a year before we convinced him to sell it to us. Take some time to find a breeder though. They can have skin problems like the Akitas do. They are independant though. With a sheba or akita it's best to get them young. Since they are a fairly independant type dog the yonuger they start learning their role in the household the better. Don't expect them to play catch for more than 8 throws or play for hours on end. They tend to have short attention spans but learn quickly and do very well obedience wise. Be careful though as they are not usually great with other dogs or pets. Especially of the same sex. If you get a pup they should be ok with others it grew up with but tend to view animals outside of it's group as toys for it's amuzement. If it's going to be an only child it's best. Great with kids from what I've seen. So is the Akita which is more or less the giant version of the sheba. Sorry for rambleing. I love dogs and you hit one of my favorites.

I understand there's many more good than bad stories as for rescues and humane society animals, I do. I simply have to say that I've been down that path, and don't want to do it again. I have kids, and I have very young nieces that come over. I could choose to not have a dog, and we initially thought to wait at least a few years, but we've all talked and everyone would like to have another dog around the house. This makes a lot of sense about your considerations for where to get a dog. You are so correct in not going the resuce route with kids around. Pound dogs have a little better screening process for temperment but as others have said there are differant levels of competence. Just curious do you have an idea of what breed you're looking at yet? This isn't emphasized often, but I've heard that being able to see the puppies' father can sometimes be considered a yellow flag. If the father is on site, it could be taken as an indicator that the 'breeder' didn't put much effort into choosing a sire for the pups. I've heard that too. I know it can be but not so sure I agree it always is. I think it depends on what purpose the breeder has in being a breeder. Some people breed working dogs. They use their dogs for more than just puppy production. One breeder I know finds a dog that matches a dog he already has buys it then uses both dogs in the field as well as breeding partners. I think it can be a bad omen if the person is just breeding for sale of if they are simply show dogs. Personally I like breeders who breed for working purposes not just for selling. They seem to look for personality characteristics over physical ones. Much the better way to get good purebreds IMO.

The older Springer was an abused dog, and she had some pretty big issues when we got her. She didn't trust anyone and was pretty aggressive at first. She also had/has the propensity to bully smaller dogs. She especially doesn't like little dogs that bark at her. Man you summed up my border collie right there. Amazing dog but she hates when other dogs face bark her and can be quite aggresive with other dogs at times. It's a constant battle. I've read that if a pup gets jumped it has a much higher chance of being aggressive with other dogs.

some consideration should be given to longevity and success in more than one place. Epstein has done a great job with Boston. Then agian he should have. Boston is not all that hard of a job. They have all the resources necessary to be a great franchise. I think the job guys like Melvin did in multiple places or guys like Beane who do so on 1/3 of the budget should get some amount of consideration for the relative success under much more difficult situations. To say Epstin is the top GM after a five year span, in a place where all the resources are there for instant success, is a bit premature. If he does so for another 5 or so years then it would be more impressive. Or had he done so in a place like KC in the same time span then it would be way more impressive.

I doubt there are many people who would advise a pet shop over a breeder. Just make sure you screen them. Equally important as the breeder is the breed of dog. One person's joy is another's horror. I have had luck with the humane society including my present dog who is probably going to go down as the best I've ever owned. I think the key with the humane society is they are fine with mixed breeds since most mixed breeds don't have the assorted health problems of pure bred. If you really don't want to figure out which breed best fits your lifestyle then a mixed breed is the way to go though, as I said, it really is best to take that time. I can see the problem the humane society could have if you wanted a particular breed. They have so few of a particular breed, in a particular area, that it would be hard to screen temperament ect. and still get the right fit. I'm not a fan of rescues for most owners. If you are an experienced dog person with plenty of time to devote to the dog it can be a great option to get a purebred dog without the usual $500+ price tag. The problem with rescue dogs is they usually don't have an accurate health history and many of them were rescued from bad situations. If you are a very experienced owner, who has a lot of time to spend with the dog and are willing to deal with the possible health issues of an unscreened purebred then it can be a great way to get the breed you want. I really don't think getting a rescue dog is a good idea if you have kids. Especially young kids. I really respect rescue people but rescue dogs are not for everyone. I've found this site useful when it comes to quick referencing breed personalities and needs. http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/searchcategories.htm

I remember seeing a show on Ted Nugent a few years back where he hired freinds to take care of the things he was too busy to handle himself. When he went broke he found out those "friends" he hired to manage his day to day stuff did things like hire charter jets to fly everywhere. They spent more than they managed to the point where he went broke. He at least has a job that allows him to keep working to make more. Spree's money making days are pretty much over.

There almost has to be an even number of teams in each league otherwise one team has to be off everyday. It would be a scheduling nightmare. I'm way more fond of the NL so I'd hate to see a switch but I don't think there is any validity to it. The Royals have a long and very good history in the AL despite the recent struggles. Maybe they see how weak the NL central is and figure that would help them. In reality the change would ahve to take place no sooner than 09. By then the Reds could be much improved, and the Cards never stay down long so they missed their opportunity.

If the Brewers are in a pennant race and they should be I don't really think there is any senario where the Brewers would be better off trading Sheets in the middle of the year unless they got something they needed more this year in return. You don't give up a top of the order pitcher when trying to get the playoffs for the first time in a 1/4 century. The risk is too great. It would undoubtably make it harder to get to the playoffs and if you fail you can expect fans to stop showing up the next several years. If they do anything to jeapardize their chances this season I certainly would have a hard time believing they are serious about winning. If that's the case then why should I bother following them? I'd get more satisfaction banging my head agianst a wall. At least I know that pain will stop.

Call me stupid but I don't see the oxymoron. One can have a pattern of bad luck. If one has a random string of injuries and they are all of the bad luck type that is a pattern within the random events. It's not a predictive pattern which might be what JB meant but once a series of events happen then looking back on it a pattern may show itself. Perhaps it's how one defines the word pattern or, like I said, I'm just stupid. I wouldn't expect them to express that publically but at the same time I would hope they wouldn't insult my intelligence with such remarks every February. I don't think it's about insulting someones intelligence as much as using cliche coach speak to avoid any unwanted media storm that usually happens when a manager tries to talk frank. Saying even the obvious in a way that isn't normal coachspeak can cause more trouble than it's worth so why do it?

Even if the "he calls a good game," mantra is overblown, which I disagree with, someone who gets tagged by two organizatons as calling a bad game has to be telling in some way. I'm not saying Kendall is going to be great at it but if he's even average he's an upgrade in that respect. Maybe poor offensive catchers get the rep as a good game caller because people think he must be good at something. That doesn't explain why Estrada, a poor offensive player, was dubbed as a bad game calling catcher. Quite frankly I think he must have really stunk at it not to get even the same chance as someone so woeful as Moeller.

I'm as big a Ned fan as there is here and even I think Ned has to show us he's capable of leading this team to higher levels. I'm not compfrtable with saying it's playoff or bust since there are way too many variables involved. I think this team should be a 85-95 win type team. 85 with a normal amount of injuries and 95 if they stay healthy. . Yost has had 6 years to work with this core, he is blessed with MVP type talent at a couple positions, all-star talent at other positions, two ace arms in the rotation, and at least average MLB ability at pretty much every position. He also has a payroll now pushing $90 million, unheard of 6-7 years ago. Seriously, the excuses are over for Yost -- at least they should be. Yost has not had this core for six years nor was he blessed with MVP type talent for nearly that long. He started with crap and had crap until about 2 years ago. What two allstar arms has he had in the rotation for the last six years? Sheets was on the IR more often than not and YoGa has about 1/2 a season under his belt. Even in the last two years some of that allstar talent has had problems staying on the field.

If a player sucks at all the visable stuff and still keeps a job for several years there has to be a reason for that. Some might think it's a stupid GM but I think it has to do with them having some sort of quality improtant to the position. As far as the pitcher being able to call his own pitch while true it isn't their main job for a reason. Catchers are supposed to know the hitters and call the appropriate pitch to to take advantage of weaknesses or avoid strengths. Pitchers who do know the hitters may be able to do that but it is and always has been part of the catcher's job description. Quite frankly I think the pitcher has enough things to think about keeping his mechanics right, managing the runners on base ect than which pitch in which location should be thrown to which hitter at what time. All the catcher has to do is catch the pitch and occasionally throw to second base. Not that it doesn't take some thought but since everyone in baseball has deemed it the catchers job to know the opposing hitters I'm assuming there is a reason for it.

Just my 2 cents worth here but how a catcher handles a pitching staff has sort of become an aspect of interest with me lately. Catcher, as a position, is a bit of an anomoly in baseball. For the most part all positions share a certain amount of empirical evidence for all to see and debate. Catcher is the one position where stats and visable defense are secondary concerns. Their main job is to handle the pitchers, know the opposing hitters and call the right pitch at the right time. It's been publically stated by both Arizona and Milwaukee that Estrada didn't call the type of game either team wanted him to. So it may be ok for a backup catcher to be light hitting or weak at throwing out runners but it is unforgivable to call a bad game. If he sucks at the main part of his job over a period of several years now it should hardly be surprising he's struggling to get a job.

The AL was clearly the better league the last few years. I think this season will show the NL has caught up quite a bit. Perceptions tend to take longer to change than reality. So expect the AL superiority belief to be around for another year or two.

That assumes there really is a surplus of pitching here. As far as the trade goes it looks as though the Twins are taking a chance that two or more of those guys will turn into relativley high level players down the road vs the relatively sure thing they could have had in either the Boston or Yankee deals. If they end up with average players the Mets will have the better of the deal. If two or more of them play near allstar level then not so much. Either way for the Mets, who are in win now mode, the deal looks to be at worst win win.

Just because Prince is big doesn't mean he's fat. I know his first year in baseball they tested his body fat and he tested out to have the lowest body fat % on the team. I know that was a few years ago as a 19 year old but he was considered fat then as well. I'd like to see what his body fat count is vs. Howard just for kicks.

The funny thing is, I feel like I've hardly posted this off season. I guess it's all relative. Great Russ goes from stat geek to relativity theorist guy. Way to make us all look stupid. I was so happy when I hit 1000 then changed from local user and had to start all over. It sort of took the wind out of my sails.

That is kind of differant with each manager. Some guys like players to have defined roles some like to be more versatile. I'm not sure which way I like better as both have pluses and minuses.

why do we need guys that go multiple innings frequently? Yost doesn't use the pen like that, unless the starter gets blown out early. I think Ned was more or less forced to use the pen the way he did due to the lack of veratility with the majority of those guys. Give him one or two guys that do that and a couple good late inning guys and he'd use them more effectively. My criticism in the use of Villanueva was that they didn't let him go 2 to 3 innings more often, and should have used him in fewer games. I agree with this but I think the problem was they didn't have enough viable options in the middle relief role that Ned sort of used Villy as an all purpose guy. He really absorbed a couple roles in the pen that should be more spead out with the added depth this year.