RobertR

The problem with Gwynn is, where's the room for growth? The guy has zero power and you probably can count the number of useful hitters with zero power on one hand. Juan Pierre, even if he is grossly overpaid, and Luis Castillo are the only two that readily spring to mind. It's not like pitchers didn't figure him out last year, bust him inside with hard stuff and watch him weakly ground out to second. It's not like Gross is irreplaceable, but he had useful skills that the Brewers can use and which aren't supplied by Gwynn, Kapler, Rivera, or Counsell. Having someone on the bench that can potentially take a RHP deep is a useful thing for a team to have, especially a playoff contending team with little margin for error. At some point in the season Braun is going to need a day off, presumably against a righty, and are the Brewers going to just stick Gwynn in the #4 spot? I do suspect that Brad Nelson is going to find his way on the team in some capacity now that he's hitting again. And, if so, that takes a good chunk of my objections away. That said, he's not on the team yet as there's a hole on the team that needs filling in. Robert

When the heck did Tony Gwynn ever get good for more than a handful of ABs? And Gabe Kapler could turn back into a pumpkin at any minute. Seriously, go check his numbers in Boston. The idea of Gwynn and Kapler as depth, especially in case of injury to a corner outfielder, scares the heck out of me. Especially since the case for Gwynn being able to contribute offensively this year is based on 7 whole ABs. If the Brewers go out and acquire someone to hold down 4th outfielder that's better than Gross, fine. But in the absence of a real replacement, the Brewers will have a weaker bench, exasperated by carrying too many pitchers. Robert

Josh Butler is a good prospect. The issue of talent for talent is good. That said, the Brewers are short a lefthanded bat now. A lefthanded bat that can take a walk, on a team with an awful OBP, and provide a little bit of power as they now have zero power on the bench from the left side. There are going to be times this year when the Brewers are going to have to send Counsell to the plate against a righty when they really need a HR late in the game, and there's going to be a lot of squawking about it when it happens. I'm willing to place a friendly wager that at the end of the year, Gabe Gross has a significantly higher OPS than Tony Gwynn. If the plan is to go with Kapler and Gwynn as the backup outfielders, Melvin needs another plan. Robert

Nope, not up for Best Foreign Film. I don't recall their being a rule, but Life is Beautiful and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon were up for both in the not too distant past. Robert

My well overdue revisiting of the 1985 films. Best Picture Out of Africa The Color Purple Kiss of the Spider Woman Prizzi's Honor Witness HM: Ran, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Brazil, Runaway Train, Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, After Hours, Tampopo, Shoah, Cocoon, and the trinity of Commando, Rambo First Blood Part II, and Rocky IV (which singlehandedly won the Cold War) My Pick of Nominees: Witness My Pick Overall: Ran Thoughts: The Oscars are far from infallible, which is one of the points of this topic, but often you can at least understand the thought process of the time. This year was a flat out trainwreck. I suspect that what were touted as the two leading contenders of the time, Out of Africa and The Color Purple, wouldn't even be nominated today. Out of Africa isn't the worst movie to win Best Picture, but it's decidedly below average and despite significant source material it turns out to be about nothing more than a tepid romance between pretty people against pretty scenery. I don't remember anyone raving about it at the time and it would be o.k. in a weak year, but there's at least three films in the honorable mentions list that I consider masterpieces, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Brazil, and Ran. I'm completely flummoxed how Ran didn't get a nomination, even assuming that the Academy is xenophobic considering the roles George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola played in Kagemusha that ultimately got Ran made. Nor all the money Hollywood had made by remaking Kurosawa's film. Not to mention it's based on Shakespeare. It's a gorgous masterpiece by the elderly and near blind director that could stand alongside The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ikiru, High and Low, and Yojimbo. Ran was proclaimed a masterpiece at the time and history has done nothing to diminish it. Not to mention, we were in the midst of a Kurosawa renaissance as he had also written the screenplay for Runaway Train. Worse yet, Kurosawa was actually nominated for Director and didn't win. Did the Academy even watch those films? Best Actor William Hurt - Kiss of the Spider Woman James Garner - Murphy's Romance Jack Nicholson - Prizzi's Honor Jon Voight - Runaway Train Harrison Ford - Witness HM: Jeff Daniels - The Purple Rose of Cairo, Raul Julia - Kiss of the Spider Woman, Tatsuya Nakadai - Ran, Jonathan Pryce - Brazil, Paul Reubens - Pee Wee's Big Adventure My Pick: Jon Voight - Runaway Train Thoughts: At least the acting categories weren't an embarrassment. I'd have favored Jeff Daniels at least getting a nomination, probably over James Garner, but nothing really egrigious about the nominees or winner. That said, I'm a big fan of Runaway Train and Jon Voight's performance which straddles the line between human and animal is a very big reason why. Best Actress Geraldine Page - The Trip to Bountiful Anne Bancroft - Agnes of God Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple Meryl Streep - Out of Africa Jessica Lange - Sweet Dreams HM: Mia Farrow - The Purple Rose of Cairo, Kathleen Turner - Prizzi's Honor, Sally Field - Murphy's Romance, Kelly McGillis - Witness, Cher - Mask Thoughts: I haven't seen The Trip to Bountiful but I remember it being well regarded at the time and I've no real reason to second guess that decision. It wasn't a bad crop of nominees in respect to all of them being true featured lead roles which is often a rarity. Best Supporting Actor Don Ameche - Cocoon Robert Loggia - Jagged Edge Klaus Maria Brandauer - Out of Africa William Hickey - Prizzi's Honor Eric Roberts - Runaway Train HM: Robert DeNiro - Brazil, Christopher Lloyd - Back to the Future, Danny Glover - The Color Purple, Eric Stoltz - Mask My Pick: Klaus Maria Brandauer - Out of Africa Thoughts: I don't feel strongly about any of the nominees. I don't mind that Ameche capped his comeback, really started by Trading Places, with an Oscar win. I am fond of Klaus Maria Brandauer's performance though which injected life and unpredictability into a rather bland film. Best Supporting Actress Anjelica Huston - Prizzi's Honor Meg Tilly - Agnes of God Margaret Avery - The Color Purple Oprah Winfrey - The Color Purple Amy Madigan - Twice in a Lifetime HM: Rebecca De Mornay - Runaway Train, Mieko Harada - Ran My pick: Anjelica Huston - Prizzi's Honor Thoughts: I'll go with the Academy here. At the very least it's a memorable role and I'd suspect that Huston would win again if the awards were held today. Mieko Harada is a terrific villain in Ran and a nomination would not have been out of line. I suppose Out of Africa fits in with The English Patient and Titanic, romances filmed against gorgeous backgrounds that were popular at the time. Time hasn't been kind to any of them. What's really amazing is that all the stars were aligned for stepping out of the Hollywood box and honoring a truly great film and the Academy completely blew it. At least 1986 turned out to be a significantly better year. Robert

I'm slightly surprised that there's been no discussion of this yet. I haven't read David McCullough's book although I know it by reputation. For the most part, I think this is a terrific look at the founding of America approached from a very human and personal point of view. I think more attention was paid to the brutality of a guy getting tarred and feathered, for just doing his job no less, than to any of the revolutionary battles or battle strategy. Not to mention, I wasn't exactly expecting a sex scene involving a founding father. Laura Linney is excellent, but the anchor of the series is Paul Giamatti. I'm appreciative of the fact that they don't try to turn him into a saint, but someone who can be quite vain and fussy and wrong on an issue. Overall it's a positive look, but it's a warts and all look. In the bigger picture, I like how they're showing how precarious the founding of America was and how the ideal was different than the reality. Robert

Thanks guys for reminding me to watch Inland Empire. One of these years someone has to talk Lynch into adapting a Philip K. Dick book. Videodrome is a movie that makes my brain hurt. Thematically I get it and I think it's very creepy and effective, but the plot leaves me confused. Or at least it did last time I watched it, which was some time ago. Robert

I don't think it was researched in any way, but 20 errors probably translates into around 10 runs saved and that seems about right. In any event, it's a lot better than when someone asserts that a guy saves a run a game with his glove, which is ludicrous. Robert

It depends on what his expectations are. His thought process could very well be, if the team is good, I made a good decision and if the team is bad, I'll get traded to a contender in a pennant race eventually. Heck, there's a decent chance he could be the team's All Star representative. Robert

I'd be tempted to go with "Deus Ex Machina". Robert

The major difference is that Bonds was not just an ordinary member of the team, but one of the all time greats who made them lots of money, won MVPs, and made them a perennial pennant contender. It's like the Brewers removing all signs of Robin Yount or Paul Molitor from the stadium. Yount might be the more appropriate example since Bonds isn't playing for another team. And, frankly, it says more about the team's ownership than Bonds. Robert

The Shawshank Redemption, when we see that the Pacific is as blue as Red imagined it. It gets me, every time. Robert

I'd think that the concensus would be that Wieters is the top catching prospect in baseball. Obviously, he's not going anywhere. Saltalamacchia is still a good prospect, but his bat only projects to be special if he can stick at catcher and there are doubts about that. Robert

Where's this confidence in Narveson coming from? Because he was good in some meaningless spring training games? I think people are underestimating just how bad some of these replacement pitchers can be and how damaging they can be to teams. It's not uncommon for replacements to come up and post ERAs of 6 or 7. I mean, yeah, it's hard to get really upset over Claudio Vargas but you know what you're getting out of him, 6 slow innings of about 5 ERA-ish per start. We don't know if Narveson or Jackson can even manage that. Robert

I think there has to be more to it than "Vargas makes too much money to be a long reliever". I don't want to say the money is irrelevant, but three of the Brewers' starters make right around the minimum, so who cares if the #5 or #7 starter makes $3 million? I do think it's clear that Melvin misjudged the market for his depth. Still, if the Brewers were going to lose two pitchers from their depth, for whatever reasons, it could have been a lot worse than Capuano and Vargas. Robert

I do note that they don't claim that you'll hear every pitch of every game. Some first games on a piggybacked schedule are bound to run longer than expected. It occurs to me that Friday nights are the likeliest to be affected. The Sunday ESPN game and, usually, an afternoon game on Saturday for at least one major market, are staples of the schedule. But, it occurs to me that the schedulers are likely to make sure that one of the LA teams and/or one of the Oak/SF teams will be in town on a weekend when the other team is out of town. Same for the NY and Chicago teams. Robert

Unless everybody is playing at night on the East Coast (i.e. never), it's not that difficult to juggle the schedule. Worst case scenario is you just piggyback a West Coast game after an East Coast game. Robert

I think the bigger question is, why did Rowand sign with the Giants? It wasn't a mystery what the team was facing. I do suspect that Rowand will be flipped at the deadline, either in 2008 or 2009. His contract really isn't that bad and they might be able to get something for him/ship some dead weight out with him. I don't see the Giants doing anything at least until Villalona makes it to MLB. Robert

All Doug said was that he hadn't talked to the Red Sox. He didn't say whether Gord Ash had talked to the Red Sox or not. Of the three, I like Bush's peripherals and stuff the best. He's been durable and I just figure he's going to break out one of these years. Robert

O.k., I'm behind schedule. On to 1984. Best Picture Amadeus The Killing Fields A Passage to India Places in the Heart A Soldier's Story Other Notables: The Natural, Broadway Danny Rose, Ghost Busters, Romancing the Stone, Once Upon a Time in America, This is Spinal Tap, Blood Simple, The Terminator, Splash, The Cotton Club, The River, Stop Making Sense My Pick of Nominees: Amadeus My Pick Overall: I'd flip a coin between Ghost Busters and Once Upon a Time in America Thoughts: It's hard to remember but Amadeus beating The Killing Fields was considered an upset. As it is, Amadeus stands as one of the strongest winners of the decade. I like the movie a heck of a lot and don't begrudge it its win. I have to admit that I haven't seen the other four movies, but history indicates that while they may be good films, they're not particularly culturally important films. Once Upon a Time in America was released in butchered form, much like the fight with Brazil, and the cut version sank like a stone while video saved one of the best gangster movies ever. It must be said that 1984 was a great year for comedies. Ghost Busters and This is Spinal Tap being two of the most significant comedies of the whole decade all time. Toss in a B science fiction film by James Cameron featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the debut of the Coens, and the greatest concert film ever, imo, and the Best Picture nominees weren't at all representative of the diversity of the year. Ghost Busters, in particular, really marked Bill Murray's ascent to stardom, featured a particularly witty script that dealt with bureacracy and entrepeneurism, among other things, and had a great change of pace role for Sigourney Weaver. Not to mention throwing a ton of special effects into a comedy was unheard of in those days. Best Actor F. Murray Abraham - Amadeus Tom Hulce - Amadeus Sam Waterston - The Killing Fields Jeff Bridges - Starman Albert Finney - Under the Volcano Other Notables: Eddie Murphy - Beverly Hills Cop, Robert Redford - The Natural, Michael Douglas - Romancing the Stone, Bill Murray - Ghost Busters, Steve Martin - All of Me, Robert DeNiro - Once Upon a Time in America My Pick: F. Murray Abraham - Amadeus Thoughts: I have no problem with F. Murray Abraham as Salieri winning the Oscar. A fine choice. The lack of a comedy nomination in a year of great comedies is more troubling. Eddie Murphy saves a lackluster script, Bill Murray's deadpan make Ghost Busters sing, and Steve Martin has some great bits of physical comedy in All of Me. I suppose Jeff Bridges's nomination is somewhat in that vein, but it's again a nomination crop that misses out on what was really special about that year. Best Actress Sally Field - Places in the Heart Vanessa Redgrave - The Bostonians Jessica Lange - Country Judy Davis - A Passage to India Sissy Spacek - The River Other notables: Diane Keaton - Mrs. Soffel, Kathleen Turner - Romancing the Stone, Lily Tomlin - All of Me, Mia Farrow - Broadway Danny Rose, Molly Ringwald - Sixteen Candles My Pick: I haven't seen enough of these performances to judge. Thoughts: While I've only seen two of these performances, Kathleen Turner and Lily Tomlin, I do have some thoughts. At least Sally Field went out and gave one of the more memorable Oscar speeches ever. Good chance she'd win again if the voting was held today. I haven't seen The Bostonians, but it's notable that it was the first Merchant/Ivory film. And that would turn out to be a near perennial, peaking with Howard's End and Remains of the Day. It's also worth noting that John Hughes starts to make waves as a filmmaker. Best Supporting Actor Haing S. Ngor - The Killing Fields Ralph Richardson - Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes Pat Morita - The Karate Kid John Malkovich - Places in the Heart Adolph Caesar - A Soldier's Story Other Notables: James Woods - Once Upon a Time in America, M. Emmet Walsh - Blood Simple, Rick Moranis - Ghost Busters, Wilfred Brimley - The Natural, Richard Crenna - The Flamingo Kid, John Candy - Splash My Pick: James Woods - Once Upon a Time in America Thoughts: I think I've only seen The Karate Kid of the nominated performances. I've no doubt the performances are good, but they all strike me as sort of unimaginative. I've no doubt that James Woods was hurt by the dreadful initial cut of Once Upon a Time in America, but there's a really strong performance there that's stood up to time. M. Emmet Walsh also just embodies the Coens' vision of a villain. Either one would have been fine choices. Best Supporting Actress Peggy Ashcroft - A Passage to India Glenn Close - The Natural Lindsay Crouse - Places in the Heart Geraldine Page - The Pope of Greenwich Village Christine Lahti - Swing Shift Other notables: Sigourney Weaver - Ghost Busters, Melanie Griffith - Body Double, Kim Basinger - The Natural My Pick: Pass, haven't seen enough. Thoughts: I never knew 1984 was such a blindspot for me. I really would push for a Sigourney Weaver nomination today as she totally went against type and displayed comedic timing that I didn't know she had. FWIW, I mentioned Once Upon a Time in America before, but Swing Shift also was released in butchered state and there's rumored to be a much superior longer cut bootleg version floating around out there. Anyone here see that? Overall, I don't have many problems with the winners, but the nominations themselves are a mess where the Academy's tendency to be classy and meaningful ended up missing some of the truly greatest movies of the decade, just in less reputable genres. Too bad. Also, Frankenweenie by Tim Burton should have gotten a live action short nomination. Next time: Akira Kurosawa's Ran is eligible and I ask the Academy ? Robert

The Rays will be fine in 2009. But, they also need guys to pitch in April and May 2008. I suspect that they'll stand pat with Edwin Jackson and Andy Sonnanstine holding down the 4th and 5th slots in the rotation to start the year, with Price coming up in a couple of months. Considering that Jackson really hasn't done anything, a reasonably priced veteran that can eat some innings and be flipped at the deadline might be attractive. And guys that don't appear to fit into their future plans like John Jaso and Fernando Perez might be of interest. Or not, it really depends on how aggressive the Rays want to be this year. Robert

I'm not going to be able to add much for modern films, although I have an undying love for Groundhog Day. While I'm at it, for true classics, I recommend trying Buster Keaton. In addition to the comedy bits, the stunts are great and stand up to this day. And there's something to be said for the old fashioned way of doing something like a train crash. Film a real train crashing. There's a free public domain site of Buster Keaton's films here. Robert

Freaks is an amazingly creepy and messed up film. Robert

I really like the costumes they've developed for the movie version of Watchmen. Right on the line between seriousness and satire, like they should be. Robert

Yeah, shut out is probably the wrong word choice. They really missed an opportunity to honor a great director there though and it would have looked good in retrospect. And then there's Kurosawa and Ran, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll get to 1984 this week. Robert