Patrick425

I logged into my account the other day and noticed that the "pending charges" were no longer there.

Grapefruit League blows. Rain outs and teams completely spread out. Ditto. Every park in AZ is withing 45 minutes of one another. We follow the Brewers wherever they travel in AZ. Also, games are much cheaper in AZ. Went to Disney World last year and one of our plans was to catch a ST game. Checked 3 or 4 different parks that were close to Orlando and we decided not to go after seeing what the prices were. It was $20 or $30 just to sit on the outfield berm (usually no more than $10 in AZ)! If the Brewers ever move to FL, our days of going to ST will probably end.

Now the latest is that they are looking at Peoria: http://www.springtrainingonline.com/milwaukee-brewers-eying-new-peoria-spring-home/

Several people mentioned speeding up the game in this thread. Well, it looks like they are actually going to be taking a look at this, but it's not the new commissioner that initiated this, it's Selig. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mlb-creates-committee-to-speed-up-the-pace-of-games-163804051.html

They just delayed the start of the home game on Saturday due to the delay that the metal detectors were causing. Which seemed unnecessary. When we got to our seats about 10 or 15 minutes before the original game time there were just as many people in the stadium at that time that we normally see for a Saturday sell out crowd. Also they didn't delay Sunday's game and I doubt there will be any further delays due to detectors (this year or next year). I think that since it was the first sell out game using the new detectors they were being overly cautious. Our line to get in behind home plate didn't seem to move much slower than the lines did before they installed the detectors. edit: Just a side note - they use to delay large crowd games in the 70's and 80's County Stadium due to traffic backups. I always wondered why they stopped doing that. I'm guessing it's because there is more TV timing issues that they have to deal with now than they did back then (when every game was not televised).

They just delayed the start of the home game on Saturday due to the delay that the metal detectors were causing. Which seemed unnecessary. When we got to our seats about 10 or 15 minutes before the original game time there were just as many people in the stadium at that time that we normally see for a Saturday sell out crowd. Also they didn't delay Sunday's game and I doubt there will be any further delays due to detectors (this year or next year). I think that since it was the first sell out game using the new detectors they were being overly cautious. Our line to get in behind home plate didn't seem to move much slower than the lines did before they installed the detectors.

It's all about tradeoffs I guess. Why inconvience everyone to partially alleviate a mostly non-existent threat? Does anyone here not feel safe going to Miller Park? Do they suddenly feel safer with the metal detectors there? I just don't see how anyone can justifiy that. If someone feels they need a metal dector at Miller Park, then I would think they would not feel safe going to any of the malls or the movie theaters that don't have metal detectors. Either you need metal detectors everywhere or you don't need them just at Miller park. So are you saying that they should wait until some tragic event happens in a stadium before they take extra security measures? One day there is a shooting inside a stadium and then everyone starts asking,"Why didn't they have metal detectors?" Wouldn't you rather they be proactive than reactive? The detectors are really not causing any significant delays or inconveniences.

For most tax payers using a program like Turbo tax, H&R Block, or Tax Cut will help you not overpay taxes. It's only if you have some unusual financial conditions that you have to make sure you are not missing anything (own rental property, had a large amount of medical expenses, sold a valuable painting, etc). The bigger issue is making sure you don't get caught with some large, unexpected tax bill at the end of the year because you didn't have enough taxes withheld from your paycheck.

I'm with you 100% Dead Simmons. Also, there are still some paying fans at these games...correct? I don't think anyone wants to pay to see a game full of non-prospect type fillers. I understand giving regulars rest and wanting to avoid injury if you are a team in that situation, but I have a problem with teams who pretty much treat these games like spring training games and maybe only play 3 or 4 regulars for 7 innings.

If you think your combined married income will move you into a higher tax bracket than what is currently being withheld from your pay separately, then you could possibly end up with an unpleasant tax bill when you are doing your taxes. My wife and I found that out the hard way several years ago. The solution to this seems like it would be to file separately. However, as someone pointed out, there are pros and cons to this and usually this does not end up in lower taxes (because there are certain credits and deductions that you lose out on filing separately). The more common solution is to increase your tax withholding on your pay so that you don't end up paying a big bill at the end of year. Also, I know people enjoy getting big tax refunds...but it really is a horrible idea to count on it or plan your deductions so you get a big refund. If you find you are getting big refunds every year, the better plan is to adjust your withholding to get more pay every paycheck and use that money to pay off debt or save for retirement/college. Why give the government a free loan? Ideally you want to be as close to even at tax time as possible (maybe even owe a little).

To me, Lucroy has definitely been the most consistent. I know people hate the word "clutch" on this board. You can call it what you want, but it feels like the Brewers can never get that two out base hit when they need it. Their LOB numbers over the last month have been crazy. Seems like they are leaving 10+ guys on base every game. Call it clutch, bad luck, whatever..it's all the same..it sucks. I have had such roller coaster thoughts about Gomez since he has joined the Brewers. He's energetic, plays with tons of enthusiasm and you gotta love all that, but right now it is so frustrating to watch him. Regardless of whether or not people think bunting was the right call in his first extra inning AB last night, he failed at it. If he succeeds and Scooter then hits that double, Brewers win. Then his next AB, he tries bunting with bases loaded and 2 outs??? That's just mind boggling. Stealing 3rd with 2 outs the other night ended up working out, but was so stupid. I have absolutely no confidence in him with a 1-2 or 0-2 count. I feel like the next pitch could be anywhere from the top of his head to the top of his feet and anywhere within 2 feet of the plate and he's going to take a wild, ugly swing at it.

If you have steady paychecks for the same approximate amount, it will stabilize. If your paychecks vary quite a bit (even by a couple hundred bucks) you may get those big swings still. It's based on predicted income for the year on a per check basis (check amount x26, if you're paid bi weekly) not total annual income so far divided by the remaining weeks and retroactively calculated for your approximate tax bracket. Hmm..ok. I guess I was not sure in regards to that part..whether it took YTD or just the current paycheck to make the estimated annual pay. I could be wrong, but I think different payroll systems may handle that differently.

Yes, it should, unless your pay varies wildly from paycheck to paycheck.

Generally employers will tax bonuses at a higher rate to prevent a tax "surprise" to employees when they are doing their taxes. This is especially true if the bonus is at the end of the year and the employees are salaried or make a steady wage throughout the year. Tax systems generally do not take this unknown year end bonus into account when calculating taxes throughout the year, so essentially all of the bonus is tacked on to the "predicted" annual pay that was used for all paychecks up to that point and should be taxed at the taxpayers highest tax bracket.

It sounds like your pay from week to week or paycheck to paycheck varies alot. Each paycheck you are basically taxed on your "predicted" year end tax bracket. The current marginal rates are 10% up to about $9,000, 15% from $9,000 to $37,000, 25% from $37,000 to $90,000 and so on (all these numbers are rounded). When you get taxed on your paycheck, they don't take out 10% the first part of the year and then 15% later when your total pay goes over $9,000 and so on. Instead they "predict" what your year end taxes will be based on your YTD pay and prorate it along your paycheck. Example: Assuming you get paid every other week: - First paycheck is $307. This would amount to about $8,000 annually, so you would be taxed at 10%. (not taking into account personal exemptions which would lower your taxes). - Next paycheck is $550. Now your predicted annual pay (based on your total pay year to date) is $11,141. So now they are going to prorate the taxes on your check. Part of your check (about $444) will be taxed at 10% and the remainder (about $106) will be taxed at 15%. So yes, if your pay fluctuates alot from paycheck to paycheck, the tax rates are going to fluctuate as well. Edit: Also, another question is if you are basing the percentage on your gross pay. Some deductions on paychecks are done before taxes (Employee tax deferred payments to a retirement plan, payments to an HSA account or for health premiums, etc). These deductions should be subtracted from gross pay before calculating your tax rate for an individual paycheck. If some of these deductions are not present on every paycheck that could cause fluctuations as well.

Certain areas are more controllable than others. Are you saying that just because someone can get attacked in a less controllable environment like the parking lot (you can't really put up metal detectors in a parking lot), MLB should not try to add security within a stadium? Should all public buildings allow people to enter with guns since even if they didn't allow it, someone could get shot on the sidewalk outside the building anyways? Edit: In regards to Brian Stow, I don't think any metal weapons were used against him...correct? The Metal Detectors are not there as an absolute protection against any kind of violence that could happen within the stadium. They are there as an extra layer of security to help prevent someone from bringing a weapon inside. Again, I don't subscribe to the theory that just because you can't control everything you don't try to control some things (the things that are easier to control) and I have no problem standing in line an extra 5 or 10 minutes to have that extra security. Btw, this could also help prevent after-game violence as anyone wishing to use a weapon in the parking lot would need to go to their car first to retrieve the weapon.

Someone should remind Reynolds there is only 1 out

Yeah..I'm not really getting all the venom towards RRR on this one. That should have been a scoreless inning.

Carpenter kept running and scored But he was called out. Why would he throw home? Exactly!? If the rule is really the way Schroeder and BA are describing it then that's stupid. The fielder shouldn't have to assume that the call might be wrong.

Amen! I think last night the Brewers had a base runner in each of the 1st 6 innings and yet, after 6 innings, Wainwright was barely above 60 pitches. I realize Wainright throws strikes but it's not just when Wainright pitches. I'm guessing that in most of the Brewer games this year our pitchers averaged more pitches per inning than the opposing pitcher. Aggressiveness can pay off sometimes, but I think in the long run it hurts you at the plate. It's really frustrating to watch at times. I know that they keep track of the average pitches per at bat each hitter sees. I'm not sure how or where to look that up (I'm guessing on baseball-reference somewhere), but I would guess that Lucroy leads the rest of the team in this category (among players with regular playing time) by a mile. He has also been the most consistent offensive performer on the team. Edit - Ok, a quick search on baseball-reference and I found the results: Name PA Pit Pit/PA Mark Reynolds 430 1737 4.04 Jonathan Lucroy 616 2367 3.84 League Average 3.8 Khris Davis 532 2010 3.78 Ryan Braun 536 1912 3.57 Carlos Gomez 605 2152 3.56 Jean Segura 530 1838 3.47 Scooter Gennett*456 1560 3.42 Aramis Ramirez 496 1697 3.42 Team Total 5711 20802 3.64 Sorry, kind of hard to read (Not sure how to embed something copied from excel into a post). However, it appears that Lucroy is actually below Reynolds (who really is not an everyday player). I'm surprised that Ramirez is last. Only Lucroy and Reynolds are above the league average.

I also thought the same thing about Roenicke last night, but isn't there an automatic fine that goes with getting tossed from a game?

Agreed...but A) I like this forecast better than one that says it's going to be colder and wetter. I'd like to think that if they are wrong it will only be that it's a normal winter and not the complete opposite of what they predict and B) my initial point was that I'll put more stock (even if it's still a small amount of "stock") into this prediction than that of the Farmer's Almanac.

I was going by this Nov-Jan long term prediction map on the NOAA website. I realize updated maps are due out tomorrow, but unless there is some new data that came about over the last 30 days, this seems to be suggesting they think it's going to be warmer. Am I reading this wrong somehow? http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead03/off03_temp.gif Edit: Also, below is the precipitation forecast for Dec, Jan, & Feb which seems to suggest they think it will be drier than normal: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/lead04/off04_prcp.gif

Well, surely only hitters were using, & not pitchers, right? Well, PEDs may help a pitcher throw harder, but it really would do nothing to help movement of off speed pitches or location of any pitch. Major leaguers are very capable of hitting poorly located fast balls. There are numerous fly balls caught just a few feet form the wall every year (every day of the season actually). It stands to reason that if hitters have a little extra "help", then many of those balls are going to travel the extra 5-10 feet needed to make it over the wall.

Sorry to be the one to start this thread already in September. However, I have been involved in some casual conversations about how Winter is right around the corner and it seems like every time one of these conversations starts someone brings up that the Farmers Almanac is calling for another cold and snowy Winter. I then point out that this is contrast to what the National Weather Service is predicting (from what I can see from the forecast maps on their site, they appear to predicting a warmer than average Winter for WI). I then sometimes get the "they can't predict what it's going to be like 10 minutes from now" rebuttal. So yeah, they will take the word of Farmers Almanac that uses things like planetary alignment to make weather predictions and has been shown to be no more accurate than just making a guess, and at the same time totally dismiss the thoughts of people who have degrees in meteorology and are paid to study the weather. *Sigh* So, I'm curious about the thoughts of Brewerfan's own weather expert, owbc, regarding the upcoming winter in Wisconsin?