What does the guarantee involve, I wonder. Hopefully the trainer eating the poop instead of the dog.
Comment posted byDannyon May 9, 2008 at 4:14 pm (#687258)
Yeah Zod, you should have used Daisy Dukes and passed yourself off as a Dukes of Hazzard fan.
Comment posted byKneel Before Zod!on May 9, 2008 at 4:14 pm (#687259)
it’s not my boss — it’s these goddamn network administrator nazis. they periodically send out company emails telling people not to use the internet and even no internet radio (which i use from 9-5).
Comment posted byKneel Before Zod!on May 9, 2008 at 4:15 pm (#687260)
one of my family’s dogs rolls in and eats poop at every
possible opportunity
Comment posted bySimonson May 9, 2008 at 4:15 pm (#687261)
Step into my office, Zoddy
Zod’s output is in decline :(
Comment posted byDepon May 9, 2008 at 4:15 pm (#687262)
lets google jailbait again!
oh wait.
lets not.
Comment posted bySimonson May 9, 2008 at 4:15 pm (#687263)
Oil at $126+ now
Comment posted byLunkwill Fookon May 9, 2008 at 4:16 pm (#687264)
I think America needs to just own up to the fact that the internet is GOING to be used for person needs and, in fact, helps keep workers sane.
Enough with this BULLSH## of “internet use for work purposes only”. GIVE IT UP, YOU FACISTS.
Comment posted byDepon May 9, 2008 at 4:16 pm (#687265)
what the hell, why do i feel like crap all of a sudden.
my body hates me now for my 18-29 lifestyle. not fair.
Comment posted bySimonson May 9, 2008 at 4:16 pm (#687266)
Seriously guys, they had better get the game in tonight. If not we’re talking about a 72-hour stretch with no baseball. What the feek am I supposed to do instead? Read a book? Think? Get some fresh air? Talk to my wife? These options are not working for me.
Comment posted byKneel Before Zod!on May 9, 2008 at 4:16 pm (#687267)
i honestly dont know what i would say if i were ever confronted
about my internet usage. the only defense i have is that
i get all my work done. of course this means that i could
do so much more if i actually worked the whole day.
Comment posted byKneel Before Zod!on May 9, 2008 at 4:17 pm (#687268)
What the feek am I supposed to do instead? Read a book? Think? Get some fresh air? Talk to my wife? These options are not working for me.
lol
Comment posted byDepon May 9, 2008 at 4:18 pm (#687269)
its not like they’re gonna pay you more for that increased output
maybe long-term but very very slowly.
f em. do what ya gotta do to keep them off your back, but no more ;)
I DEFINITELY rid myself of Sosa before Show, though.
To be perfectly honest, I don’t think its an either or scenario. I think getting rid of one entails getting rid of the other. They are both too specialized and mediocre as all-around relievers to last in a pen where the one does not exist to help clean up the other’s mess. Even Smith, IMO, has a better potential of breaking the specialist label with his changeup than either Show or Sosa do.
Comment posted byKneel Before Zod!on May 9, 2008 at 4:19 pm (#687271)
f em. do what ya gotta do to keep them off your back, but no more ;)
worrddddd
Comment posted byDepon May 9, 2008 at 4:20 pm (#687272)
Baseball at breaking point over maple bats
By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports 13 hours, 59 minutes ago

Someone’s going to die at a baseball stadium soon.
Might be a player. Could be an umpire. Possibly even a fan.
It almost was a coach.
The scar on Don Long’s left cheek still puffs around the edges, fresh enough that it looks like a misplaced zipper instead of the mark of someone who lived too hard. Like every scar, this one has a story, and it involves a piece of shattered wood, about two pounds heavy, that tomahawked 30 feet before slicing through his face.
Nate McLouth thought he just missed the sweet spot of the bat. It was April 15, the eighth inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates were getting pummeled at Dodger Stadium. Long, the Pirates’ hitting coach, milled about the dugout until he heard McLouth hammer Esteban Loaiza’s 0-2 pitch. Long looked up and tracked the ball down the right-field line. He had no idea baseball’s greatest weapon was headed right at him, and that had he been positioned an inch to the left or right, he might not be here to talk about it.
About two or three times a game. players swinging bats made of maple wood end up with kindling in their hands while the barrel – blunt and thick on one end, splintered and sharp on the other – flies every which direction. Pitchers and middle infielders stand in the greatest line of fire and do their best acrobat imitations to avoid the remnants. On occasion, the shard will land in the stands and harm a fan. And sometimes, as it did in the case of Long, it will wind up in the dugout.
“Didn’t see it at all,” Long said. “It just hit me. I backed up. I saw the blood coming out on the card I keep and on my shoes.”
The Pirates’ training staff rushed Long into the clubhouse to stop the bleeding. The bat sliced through the muscle in his cheek, catching nerves in its wake. A piece broke off and lodged under his skin. A doctor needed to remove the stray wood before he could sew 10 stitches.
When McLouth ended up on second base, he wondered why so many people were scurrying around the dugout. He ran to first with three inches of wood in his hands. He couldn’t find the other 30 or so, when it occurred to him: the ruckus was over his bat, the maple that was barely seen in baseball before 2001, when Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs using one. Now, about 50 percent of players use maple.
“They’re great,” McLouth said, “except for that.”
The incidents keep happening, and following Mike Coolbaugh’s death last season when a batted ball struck him in the neck while he was coaching first base in a minor league game, neither Major League Baseball nor the MLB Players Association can afford to wait for another tragedy when it could take preventative measures. Were officials from either party to meet with Long and see his face, they would understand the issue must be resolved immediately.
“When I blow my nose out of this side,” Long said, “I have to look in the mirror and make sure nothing’s hanging there because I can’t really feel what’s happening.
“Could’ve been a lot worse. Could’ve hit me in the eye.”
Long tried to smile. The right side of his mouth perked up. The left side didn’t move.
In 2005, alarmed by the increasing number of broken bats, baseball gave $109,000 to a man named Jim Sherwood and asked him to compare maple bats with the ash ones that used to be the norm. Sherwood runs the Baseball Research Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, and the conclusion of the study did not jibe with the hundreds of players who swear maple leads to better performance.
“We found that the batted-ball speeds were essentially the same for the two woods,” Sherwood said. “Maple has no advantage in getting a longer hit over an ash bat.”
The study also found something evident to anyone watching baseball: Ash bats crack while maple bats snap.
Even so, something about the maple bats caused a frenzy. Sam Holman, who started the Original Maple Bat company out of Canada to give players an alternative to the softer ash, supplied Bonds with his first maple in 1999. Word spread, and soon Sam Bats, as they’re called, showed up across baseball. Chuck Schupp, the director of professional sales at Hillerich & Bradsby, the parent company for Louisville Slugger, saw the abundance of Sam Bats in clubhouses and urged his company to join the maple fray. More than 20 bat makers now are licensed to sell maple bats for about $65 a pop, compared to $45 for ash bats, and the demand isn’t lessening.
“I feel like they’re harder,” McLouth said. “Whether or not that’s scientifically true, I’m not sure. But psychologically, I feel like they are.”
Players love their bats irrationally. Ichiro Suzuki keeps his in a silver case. Kosuke Fukudome weighs his to the gram. Jeff Cirillo slept with his. Some talk to them, kiss them, massage them. Anything to keep them happy.
So when in 2006 MLB broached the issue of maple bats during the collective-bargaining negotiations, it did not go well. The union wasn’t receptive to a unilateral ban and didn’t budge at the thought of at least imposing specifications to lessen the likelihood of breakage.
MLB scoffed at putting nets in front of the seats closest to the field, as the NHL did after a stray puck struck and killed 13-year-old Brittanie Cecil. The discussions went nowhere quickly, and it ended with them agreeing to table the issue until a later date. Both sides spent the next year focusing on the Mitchell Report, and only after the Long incident did they revisit it.
“We have provisions in the agreement,” union leader Don Fehr said Thursday by phone. “There will be a committee that will be put together and meet on it. We’ll look at it in good faith.”
Said Rob Manfred, MLB’s lead labor counsel, in a statement through a spokesman: “Baseball is aware of the bat issue. We have done scientific research in the area. We brought the issue to the bargaining table in 2006 and we are embarking on a detailed consideration of the issue with the union in the context of the Safety and Health Advisory Committee.”
When that happens, the thickening of the bat handle seems the likeliest compromise. Sherwood said the study showed that as the size of the handle increases, the potential for broken bats decreases. Players might object to thicker handles because they add weight, and every 10th of an ounce counts.
An outright ban is unlikely to muster union support, and it would be a logistical nightmare: Schupp said Hillerich & Bradsby would need at least 18 months to fill the orders of ash bats for all their clients.
Though, as one union source noted, after long struggles the players agreed to add earflaps onto helmets and ban amphetamines. If MLB is insistent enough, and perhaps willing to sacrifice something in return, the players might agree to forgo maple.
“I do not anticipate players will jump up and down and say, ‘You can take our bats away right away,’ ” the union source said. “If that’s backlash, I do expect some, yeah. Players may say, ‘Aren’t there other things you can do first?’ ”
Yes, though sources said MLB, while not sold on an outright ban, will push for one. The day after Long was hit, officials received video of the McLouth at-bat from multiple angles. One particularly gruesome shot came from a field-level camera pointed toward the dugout.
That afternoon, MLB officials contacted the union to set up a meeting to discuss maple bats.
All last season, Jorge Posada encouraged New York Yankees teammate Doug Mientkiewicz to switch from maple to ash. Mientkiewicz was tired of his bats breaking.
“They blow up constantly,” said Mientkiewicz, a first baseman now with the Pirates.
He had seen his bats shatter and heard stories, like the one where Eric Byrnes, angry after a bad at-bat, slammed his maple into the ground and saw its shrapnel hit catcher Miguel Olivo in the head.
Outspoken voices are beginning to emerge. Pirates manager John Russell and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon have called them “dangerous,” and Mientkiewicz said it was “amazing” that one hasn’t struck and injured a player.
“It’s going to take somebody getting severely hurt to think about a change,” Mientkiewicz said. “Anybody who thinks I’m overreacting should go look at our hitting coach’s face. It was spooky. It was really spooky.”
Doctors predict the nerves in Long’s face will regenerate and he’ll be able to smile again. He’s not calling for an outright ban on maple, either, because he understands how particular and superstitious players can be.
Look at McLouth. A 26-year-old who hadn’t finished a season with more than 329 at-bats, he ranks fourth in the National League in slugging percentage and is on target to make his first All-Star appearance.
No one would blame him for not changing his underwear, let alone the tool he uses to get his hits.
“I’m thinking about maybe trying ash again,” said McLouth, sitting in the clubhouse at Nationals Park last week, holding his maple bat, flexing his wrists, taking quarter swings.
“I mean, just thinking about it. Because I swear, ever since I broke the bat that day in Dodger Stadium, it seems like, as a team, we’ve broken three or four bats a day.”
That afternoon, against the Nationals, on the third pitch of the game, McLouth’s bat split. The bat boy ran out to retrieve the refuse, returned from the dugout with a new one and handed it to McLouth, who walked back to home plate with his weapon of choice.
Comment posted bySquadron Nyeon May 9, 2008 at 4:29 pm (#687291)
spreadsheets are so nineties
Comment posted byDepon May 9, 2008 at 4:30 pm (#687292)
a minor league pitcher once got a bat shard in his neck/shoulder.
it was an ML pitcher doing a rehab start me thinks
some guy on texas. the video was freaky
Comment posted byDepon May 9, 2008 at 4:30 pm (#687293)
spreadsheets are so nineties
hahahahaha, come onnnnnnnnnnnn. leave me beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ;)
Comment posted bySimonson May 9, 2008 at 4:31 pm (#687294)
LEAVE CHOCOLATE RAIN GUY ALONE! I’M SERIOUS!!
Comment posted byDepon May 9, 2008 at 4:32 pm (#687295)
lol simons
Comment posted byKneel Before Zod!on May 9, 2008 at 4:32 pm (#687296)
The Mets have made 115 pitching changes this season, second most in the major leagues behind the Braves, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
…it’s a telling stat, because, in addition, they have also thrown the second fewest innings of any bullpen…which means, Willie Randolph is essentially going wild with the one-and-done scenario…use a guy, then use another guy, then use another guy…etc…
Also according to Elias, the Mets have been outscored by 28 runs during the seventh and eighth innings, tying them with the Padres for the worst run differential in those innings in the majors.
…basically, given the above two bits of info, if you’re a Mets fan, you hate the last few innings of baseball right now…
Comment posted byKneel Before Zod!on May 9, 2008 at 4:36 pm (#687300)
The Mets have activated C Ramon Castro from the disabled list and Designated C Raul Casanova for assignment.
…welcome back, hippo…
Comment posted byConfusedon May 9, 2008 at 5:35 pm (#687333)
* SS Jose Reyes
* 2B Luis Castillo
* 3B David Wright
* CF Carlos Beltran
* RF Ryan Church
* LF Moises Alou
* 1B Carlos Delgado
* C Brian Schneider
* P Mike Pelfrey
Comment posted byConfusedon May 9, 2008 at 5:43 pm (#687334)
Weather update: Your favorite rain song?
“Raindrops keep falling on my Head.”
“Singing in the rain.”
“Rain (Beatles)”
Any others?
You should have time to think of some because it’s pouring. The tarp is on the field. They still want to play, but don’t bet on it starting on time.
This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 5:35 pm by John Delcos.
Comment posted byConfusedon May 9, 2008 at 5:44 pm (#687335)
NOTES: This is the first time since 1995 Delgado has hit as low as seventh in the batting order. … Back-up catcher Ramon Castro was activated from the disabled list and Raul Casanova was designated for assignment. … Matt Wise is in New York with the team, but a decision hasn’t been made on when he will be activated.
Comment posted byJohn Petersonon May 9, 2008 at 6:03 pm (#687336)
The Mets are so close to DFAing Sosa. It will be a huge triumph if they do. I will have drink and do a little dance. If not I will tear out my hair, wear sackcloth and sit in the dust and ashes of a remote hermitage for a year.
Comment posted bySimonson May 9, 2008 at 6:05 pm (#687337)
“Rain (Beatles)”
first song to have backward lyrics in it
Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Who’ll Stop the Rain are good, the Ramones covered the first one pretty good, pretty good
the Madonna song Rain not so much
Comment posted byFutureon May 9, 2008 at 6:14 pm (#687339)
Casanova was actually playing pretty well for us.
I hope Castro is ready to play a couple of days a week. Schneider still looks to be shrugging off that injury.
Comment posted bySimonson May 9, 2008 at 6:16 pm (#687340)
The Mets are so close to DFAing Sosa. It will be a huge triumph if they do. I will have drink and do a little dance. If not I will tear out my hair, wear sackcloth and sit in the dust and ashes of a remote hermitage for a year.
If I were John I’d be looking into that hermitage reservation
Comment posted bySquadron Nyeon May 9, 2008 at 6:38 pm (#687342)
John Delcos May 9th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
If I had to choose between Endy Chavez and Angel Pagan to clear a roster spot for Matt Wise, it would be Chavez. I think Pagan is a better player. Personally, I think Chavez is living off that catch.-JD
Google Mail has really gone off the deep end with these ads
What does the guarantee involve, I wonder. Hopefully the trainer eating the poop instead of the dog.
Yeah Zod, you should have used Daisy Dukes and passed yourself off as a Dukes of Hazzard fan.
it’s not my boss — it’s these goddamn network administrator nazis. they periodically send out company emails telling people not to use the internet and even no internet radio (which i use from 9-5).
one of my family’s dogs rolls in and eats poop at every
possible opportunity
Step into my office, Zoddy
Zod’s output is in decline :(
lets google jailbait again!
oh wait.
lets not.
Oil at $126+ now
I think America needs to just own up to the fact that the internet is GOING to be used for person needs and, in fact, helps keep workers sane.
Enough with this BULLSH## of “internet use for work purposes only”. GIVE IT UP, YOU FACISTS.
what the hell, why do i feel like crap all of a sudden.
my body hates me now for my 18-29 lifestyle. not fair.
Seriously guys, they had better get the game in tonight. If not we’re talking about a 72-hour stretch with no baseball. What the feek am I supposed to do instead? Read a book? Think? Get some fresh air? Talk to my wife? These options are not working for me.
i honestly dont know what i would say if i were ever confronted
about my internet usage. the only defense i have is that
i get all my work done. of course this means that i could
do so much more if i actually worked the whole day.
lol
its not like they’re gonna pay you more for that increased output
maybe long-term but very very slowly.
f em. do what ya gotta do to keep them off your back, but no more ;)
To be perfectly honest, I don’t think its an either or scenario. I think getting rid of one entails getting rid of the other. They are both too specialized and mediocre as all-around relievers to last in a pen where the one does not exist to help clean up the other’s mess. Even Smith, IMO, has a better potential of breaking the specialist label with his changeup than either Show or Sosa do.
worrddddd
does this look right to you guys
sigh
Dep needs a week away from the stress of consulting work, NYC fumes and seeing posts from DL
hahahaha, you all our lucky it cut off.
it goes on forrrrrrrrrrrrrever
LOL
5/25 baby. I’m gone for a week to the sunny bahamas. This place better still be standing upon my return!!!! ;)
you lost me after the equal sign there
its a fun pension formula, years of service, % of pay and some other crap
I think you should just cut to the chase and point out that the PBGC is going belly up any day now
Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac too.
Oh and Sallie Mae while we’re at it.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMED!!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!
the fuck did everyone go all of a sudden?
::sniffs underarm, wrinkles brow::
hahahahaha, i actually worked on the FannieMae lawsuit for a long time.
thank god that just ended.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you guys suck!!
boooooooooooooooooooo
*squirt* BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
boo.
ha, that formula is right. woot
uno mas
uno mas
b.
…
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
boooo?
bob A booey!
spreadsheets are so nineties
a minor league pitcher once got a bat shard in his neck/shoulder.
it was an ML pitcher doing a rehab start me thinks
some guy on texas. the video was freaky
hahahahaha, come onnnnnnnnnnnn. leave me beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ;)
LEAVE CHOCOLATE RAIN GUY ALONE! I’M SERIOUS!!
lol simons
more politics…
http://www.johnedwardsisgood.com/images/708_MM_for_JEIG_Website.jpg
I will leave yous with this statt.
David Wright is 0-for-22 this year against RHs when he puts in play a fastball 92 MPH or above.
He is 11-for-36 against all other RH fastballs put in play.
What Guys Really Think About in Class
nsfw?
TV
PG
DLS
hahahahah, i draw S’s like that sometimes. in that kids notebook. hysterical
Per MC Lite:
hay guise!
http://bornholz.typepad.com/blog/Bild%202.png
zod = dep before the fall
hahahaha, oh yea, i forgot to release V 2.0 today
next week.
they’re will be times when that side of me comes back. i got a different handle for that now. i’m sure zod can figure it out
David Wright’s batspeed is slowing down.
DoIreallyneedtoboop?
nice read. glanville’s Op-Ed’s have been awesome
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/opinion/09glanville.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
That video is hilarious, especially the part where he’s trying to figure out if his fart will be silent.
Hey all.
Glanville has been great reading. Really smart and insightful reading.
this is probably an nc-17 video for nudity (male), and other (a lot of other) gross stuff.
another guy stuck in an elevator.
yo doc.
I will never look at anything that I’m told has a rooster in it. NEVER! (except PrOn!)
that’s so l33t of you
baby toss from tower and lives.
pg
Confused, that video is awesome.
7|-|4|\||< j00Z
COCK A DOODLE DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ooops wrong BQ, that was supposed to be:
7|-|4|\||< j00Z
NOOB!
lulz
Hahahah holy sh## he just has to miss that tarp ONCE.
pHU(|< 0PhPh
dep, we should watch a game and mainline some beer soon
so you can cancel on me again?????
oh snap.
(absolutely yo)
woot. and i am done.
thank the lords of kobol
now some BS checking only remains. mush on!
lol, i smoked right when i woke up that day and was like, “hmmm, staying home today might not be bad.”
\/\/|-|47 1Z uR |>r0b13/\/\ ??????
‘/0U 4R3 /\/\’/ pR0BL3/\/\!
later guise
I’ve been there brother! no worries.
Let me know when you wanna and if you wanna do a bar or a house and we’ll make plans.
adios zodder
I’m out too. Sorry to abandon you, Deppers.
be good lunky. ha, thanks yo. no worries, i’ll get my work done and get outta here now!!! ;)
* SS Jose Reyes
* 2B Luis Castillo
* 3B David Wright
* CF Carlos Beltran
* RF Ryan Church
* LF Moises Alou
* 1B Carlos Delgado
* C Brian Schneider
* P Mike Pelfrey
The Mets are so close to DFAing Sosa. It will be a huge triumph if they do. I will have drink and do a little dance. If not I will tear out my hair, wear sackcloth and sit in the dust and ashes of a remote hermitage for a year.
first song to have backward lyrics in it
Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Who’ll Stop the Rain are good, the Ramones covered the first one pretty good, pretty good
the Madonna song Rain not so much
Casanova was actually playing pretty well for us.
I hope Castro is ready to play a couple of days a week. Schneider still looks to be shrugging off that injury.
If I were John I’d be looking into that hermitage reservation
John Delcos May 9th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
If I had to choose between Endy Chavez and Angel Pagan to clear a roster spot for Matt Wise, it would be Chavez. I think Pagan is a better player. Personally, I think Chavez is living off that catch.-JD