Hang Time

I have a story to tell, but I just need the time to tell it ...

Comments

[madmac]

1.  the last shall be first

[Bob Timmermann]

2.  I believe Jon's story should be told in the form of a sonnet or an epic poem.

[Ken Arneson]

3.  I am in the same boat, Jon.

[Jim Hitchcock]

4.  2 Jon's Iliad?

[LoneStar7]

5.  Heres an interesting piece from a Met writer, who says Piazza should definitely go in the Hall as a Dodger, and in fact doesn't want him in as a Met..

http://tinyurl.com/465sa3

Note the views expressed in his piece don't express mine hah..

[Marty]

6.  Jon has lots of love. He just doesn't know where to put it.

[Bob Timmermann]

7.  5
I think Paul Lukas is espousing a minority view there.

[Daniel Zappala]

8.  (from the previous thread)

I thought it would be obvious, but I guess I should explain why I would not boo when my home team (the Lakers) is down 20 points in the third quarter. It comes down to this: I am a hopeful fan. If my team is down, I always think they can come back. Even when the other team has a lead that is so big it seems insurmountable, the irrational part of me kicks in and says -- it could happen. I have seen many crazy things in sports, and so I never give up. My team will go on a 44-20 run. My team will score a touchdown, get the onside kick, and get a field goal in 6 seconds. My team will hit four home runs in a row. My team can do anything, if the magic just clicks in. Booing, for me, is tantamount to giving up, to saying my team stinks and they have no chance. By refusing to boo, I am clinging to hope.

[Jim Hitchcock]

9.  BTW, Daniel...after 4 days of 94 degree weather, it's snowed(lightly) in Northern Nevada this morning.

[Marty]

10.  Fans booing their own team doesn't bother me.

People who are bothered by it don't bother me as well.

[Jon Weisman]

11.  Oh, by the way, I want people to pull back on using "Rule 1 violation" in a way that breaks the rule. Here's an example.

Permitted: "Buzz Bissinger just uttered a rule 1 violation."

Not permitted: "Rule 1 violation to you too."

Also, I wasn't able to get online for a huge chunk of time yesterday, but in reviewing the comments, there was some Rule 2 violating going on. Please dial it back - thanks.

[madmac]

12.  8 so your not a practicing boodist

[Eric Stephen]

13.  8
I tend to agree with you, and if booing was an epidemic at Staples I would agree 100%, but last night's booing was short and sweet. It may -- and I stress only may -- have contributed to the immediate comeback (a 14-0 run after the timeout), serving as a bit of a wake-up call to the team.

[bhsportsguy]

14.  In 30 years, Jon will tell this story to his grandchildren, wearing a grey fedora. (with apologies to The Princess Bride)

The Grandchild: A story?
Grandpa Jon: That's right. When I was your age, personalized televisions were called books. And books have stories. Stories were what your great grandfather used to tell me when I was sick so today I'm gonna tell you a story.
The Grandchild: Has it got any sports in it?
Grandpa Jon: Are you kidding? baseball, fighting, torture, revenge, Giants, Padres, pennant races, true love, miracles...
The Grandchild: Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.
Grandpa Jon: Oh, well, thank you very much, very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming.

[Bob Timmermann]

15.  I am not opposed to people who are not bothered by people by who are bothered that some other people are bothered by people who boo.

[Bob Hendley]

16.  15 - That's very big of you.

[Bob Timmermann]

17.  15
Thank you.

You don't realize how long it took me to reread that sentence to make sure that all the clauses were in the right order.

[underdog]

18.  14 - Hah. Incontheivable!

Actually, it is pretty contheivable.

I wonder if Brock will teach Jon's pending story in class one day, in lieu of "Uncle Tom's Cabin."

[Xeifrank]

19.  Any guesses on what Jon's story will be about? I just hope it's not American Idol related. :)
vr, Xei

[Bob Timmermann]

20.  And I wonder if all that time in jail made scareduck mad. You know, mean mad.

[Bob Hendley]

21.  It will probably be some wonderful story about booing that we will all learn something from.

[Howard Fox]

22.  19 an informed source speaking on the condition of anonymity tells me it has to do the the whole Yamagucci/Dancing With the Stars fiasco

[BlueCrew Bruin]

23.  6 Let's just hope he doesn't get his nose broken by a falling frog in the meantime.

[Eric Stephen]

24.  With the title of the post, I'm assuming Reggie Theus will be prominently involved in Jon's story.

[Jim Hitchcock]

25.  0 Actually, Jon's got a second book deal in the works. It's to be a tale of an orphaned seal, and has a working title of `The World According to Arp'.

(ducks)

[LoneStar7]

26.  21 maybe it'll be about saving your breath instead of booing in baseball, because it doesn't seem to do a thing..heres looking at you Andruw

[LogikReader]

27.  Jon, I want to give a hearty thanks to you for recommending Carney's. I had a chance to go to the one in Studio City last night, had the chicagoan and the chili dog, and some fries. I enjoyed the chili dog the best. The chili itself is really good, I think better than Pink's and maybe Tommy's chili.

It's also located near a bunch of other Hot Dog Places.

Caught the tail end of the Lakers game at the Bowling Alley next door... and we still got to the Arclight in plenty of time to see the New Indy film. I got interviewed by Ch 7 guy but it didn't make the air.

[Telemachos]

28.  4 Menin aede, thea,
Suzanneou Russelleus.

[Daniel Zappala]

29.  9 Awesome. We've been getting rain here, but snow up in the ski resorts still. It's not often we get a snow advisory for 12-17 inches of snow in the mountains this late in May. Thankfully, we're looking to have beautiful weather for my hike on Tuesday.

[Kevin Lewis]

30.  15

Is there an extra "by" in the sentence?

[Ken Noe]

31.  I sing of the man with no arm, who, forc'd by fate,
And despite DT's unrelenting hate,
Expell'd and exil'd, left the Wrigley ivy.
Long labors in center then left field, he bore,
And in the doubtful West, before he won
The Dodger realm, and lifted the destined pennant;
His spurned speed restor'd to rites divine,
And settled sure succession in his line,
From whence the race of Dodger fathers come,
And the long glories of Chavez Ravine.

[Jim Hitchcock]

32.  28 Easy for you to say...

[Bob Timmermann]

33.  30
Time to gouge out the eyes again.

[fanerman]

34.  I hope Jon's story involves pirates and treasure hunting.

[underdog]

35.  I've got a new idea for a petition, and this one might actually mean something:

time for MLB to replace those easily shattering maple bats and go back to ash only. I've seen dangerously splintered bats in pretty much every game I've watched this season, and it's only a matter of time before something really tragic happens. Stop cheaping out, Selig!

[Disabled List]

36.  The Studio City Carney's will always hold a special place in my heart. One night when I was 12 years old, I just happened to be in the parking lot there, waiting in a car with a friend listening to the radio, when Kirk Gibson had a particularly memorable at-bat against Dennis Eckersley.

[Daniel Zappala]

37.  30 I noticed too, but I was too nice to point it out.

[underdog]

38.  35 Even Popular Science is weighing in on the issue!
http://tinyurl.com/6z9wqt

[Eric Stephen]

39.  35
I won't sign that, because there's always a chance someone on their cell phone waving their hands to a camera will be impacted by one of the bat shards. I'm still holding out hope for that.

[wronghanded]

40.  35 I play in a wood bat league in San Diego and had a maple shatter in my hands this past weekend. The barrel of the bat spiraled toward the pitcher at a high velocity, who jumped over it (thankfully). The barrel became impaled on the backside of the mound and when I retrieved the broken wood it was as sharp as a knife. Needless to say, I'm going back to ash or birch (a more durable hard wood than maple) despite the fact that my bat died a hero (a JP-espue flair into center).

[ToyCannon]

41.  While I understood nothing of what PD and Tom were discussing in the previous thread I sure enjoyed reading it. I know some of you hate long posts but some people here have something to say that can't be said in a few sentences.

Last nights thread was perfect for me, I gained some knowledge and I laughed, which is basically what I come to DT for.

So Underdog is it safe to say that the Buss family can keep the Lakers?

[ToyCannon]

42.  35
I'm just wondering who will be impaled first, a fan, a player, or a coach?

I'm a little shocked that they have let this go on for so long.

[Eric Stephen]

43.  40
I play in a wood bat league in San Diego

Where in SD?

[wronghanded]

44.  43 North County... Do you play down there? Most of my games are in Vista and Carlsbad.

[Eric Stephen]

45.  44
I don't play, but I've been thinking about it. Softball is more my game though. I'm in UTC area.

[Kevin P]

46.  6 Very nice Magnolia reference. Appreciate it!

[Sagehen]

47.  2 An epic written in Spenserian stanzas would be a nice compromise between the two.

Or perhaps a whole sonnet sequence if you truly wish to tell a story ...

[Sagehen]

48.  31 Needs another 4 lines to be a sonnet

[wronghanded]

49.  45 Nice, I love it down there (I'm living in Irvine now) you should check out the league northcountymsbl.com, they have several different age and skill level leagues with 2 seasons a year Spring and Summer. The summer season will begin in late June and run through October and it costs about $125 plus $5 umpire fees per game. It's a lot of fun and games are on Sundays.

[Bluebleeder87]

50.  8

Well said Zappala, I love it.

[Eric Enders]

51.  "time for MLB to replace those easily shattering maple bats and go back to ash only.... Stop cheaping out, Selig"

Actually, the maple bats are significantly more expensive than the ash ones. And even if they weren't, Selig's frugality would have nothing to do with it. Players pick their bats, not the commissioner. If a player wants an ash bat, he uses one. If a player wants a maple bat, he uses one.

Ash may not be a choice for much longer anyway because there's an invasive insect species which has started killing most of the Northern White Ash trees and they are in danger of becoming extinct at some point in the next 20 years.

Anyhow, I suspect the bat shattering has much more to do with the thinness of the handles than the type of wood. Every year bat handles get a little bit thinner as players want more of the weight in the barrel. What we really need is a minimum thickness for the bat handles. That would solve most of the problem.

[LogikReader]

52.  51

Thank you Eric! I think players are getting spoiled with the heavy barrels, and to think that a bat like that will hold up defies the laws of physics. I'm glad MLB is coming around on this, and we all know Vin has been on the bandwagon for years.

[madmac]

53.  From a recent edition of the relentlessly brilliant parody site/mag, The Onion:

Nomar Garciaparra Tells Wife To Meet Him On Disabled List At 8 p.m.

[wronghanded]

54.  51 My experience has been that ash splinters and maple explodes. I use the model C-243 which is a thin handled, barrel-heavy bat and haven't seen the ash break dangerously yet but it seems like every time I break a maple, the barrel goes flying in a scary direction.

[Eric Enders]

55.  Article about the demise of the white ash tree
http://tinyurl.com/5jtc8f

[Eric Enders]

56.  "My experience has been that ash splinters and maple explodes."

Yeah, that's definitely true. I just think there's a misconception that maple breaks more frequently, which isn't true. It just breaks differently. (And potentially more dangerously.)

[underdog]

57.  51 - Yah, I was just reading about that. My mistake. So why did they switch over to using more maple bats? Was that the players decision? Sounds like Selig is actually concerned about it, though whether he steps in and does something about it is another thing.

Hopefully they won't switch over to endangered redwood or Amazon rainforest wood.

41 "So Underdog is it safe to say that the Buss family can keep the Lakers?" Hmm?

I didn't catch the game til a bit after it ended (via Tivo) so I mostly avoided the previous thread 'til later. :-) But I was a happy camper they came back! Sure, they can keep the Lakers, as long as they stay quietly in the background.

[Eric Enders]

58.  52 Vin always seems to say it's the quality of the wood that's gotten worse, though. Which strikes me as... not well-informed.

[Eric Stephen]

59.  Up on ESPN.com, there's a Jayson Stark piece about all the recent contracts given to pre-FA players (such as Hanley Ramirez, Ryan Braun, etc). Here's a telling quote from Ned Colletti:

"If you know the person, and you know his priorities, and you know what kind of player he is now, and you know what kind of player you project him to be, and all those things are positive, then it's a great idea," the GM said. "But if you have any doubt about any of that, then you're really rolling the dice."

Good thing Colletti is risk averse and has no doubt applied this thinking to his recent FA signings as well.

[stevesaxarm]

60.  I'm going to see Kershaw tonight in Zebulon. I'll try to get some pictures.

[LoneStar7]

61.  30 I saw it as well but didn't want to say anything either : )

[Eric Stephen]

62.  58
I think Vin's wood info guy is the same guy giving him info on Hu's natural position.

[Marty]

63.  Basically, Ned said it's a good strategy unless it isn't.

[wronghanded]

64.  My maple bats have actually been more durable and I think it has to do with the hardness of the wood, ash flexes more so it breaks more often. MLB should look into birch, I have used them a couple of times and found that it has more pop than maple but breaks in a less frightening way.

[fanerman]

65.  53 Link is:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/nomar_garciaparra_tells

[madmac]

66.  63 no, that's not what he said at all

[Eric Enders]

67.  57 Maple supposedly goes further, although nobody really knows if that's actually true. I think what happened is Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs using a maple bat and then everybody else started getting in line.

Hall of Famer Willie Wells was well-known for his hickory bat. I don't know if anybody still makes those.

[Eric Enders]

68.  It turns out that there's a bat company called the Old Hickory Bat Company. But they only make bats from maple and ash.

[Dark Horse]

69.  59-Look, I'm as disgusted by our recent FA signings as well, and I'd certainly like to lock up Martin, Kemp and Billingsley at a bare minimum, but there's nothing egregiously wrong with that quote. It's not a guarantee that every player who starts strong will stay strong, and taking into account a player's work ethic and--that dread word--"make up" is not a hanging offense unto itself.

60-The place sounds even more mythical than the pitcher.

[Bob Timmermann]

70.  Behold Zebulon!

http://tinyurl.com/52u7jp

[bhsportsguy]

71.  I think going 7-7 without Raffy (especially starting 1-5) showed me that this club might be in it for the long haul.

[stevesaxarm]

72.  69-Not nearly the potenital though. http://tinyurl.com/4823ta

$1 beers will do nicely though.

[regfairfield]

73.  59 Giving 39 million to a decent Japanese pitcher: not a risk.

Spending that same money to wrap up Martin or Billingsley for five or six years: risk.

[Eric Stephen]

74.  73
That's the point I was trying to make.

[regfairfield]

75.  74 And I'm agreeing with you.

Also, giving someone the opportunity to go to arbitration and make twice as much: not a risk.

[Howard Fox]

76.  73 or 36 million to a washed up bum of a centerfielder...or 44 million to a track star baseball player wannabe...or 47 million to a has been former #1 starter...

[bhsportsguy]

77.  73 Its all a risk because of guaranteed contracts.

Now, history has shown that if things work out, locking up your own players through arbitration may save you a few bucks down the road. But its still a risk.

[scareduck]

78.  20 - you know, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. Or even slamming the upstairs linen closet doors.

[bhsportsguy]

79.  I do think that we'll learn how the Dodgers will play this out when it comes to Martin's negotiation, no point locking up Broxton, Saito always has going back home in his favor. And even Ethier is probably not going to have good enough counting stats to get a big contract via arbitration.

[scareduck]

80.  WRT maple vs. ash bats: why not allow carbon composite bats with the same deformation and weight density standards as wood? Pitchers probably wouldn't like it because the bats will stay in one piece and thus allow some hits close to the handle, but it would eliminate the javelin attack that seems to happen with increasing regularity these days.

[regfairfield]

81.  77 But it really isn't. Even if Ryan Braun completely flames out today, the Brewers are only out six million a year, which is a lot less damaging than your average mediocre free agent bust.

[Eric Enders]

82.  Why is there no point to locking up Broxton? He certainly is going to become a closer before he hits free agency and will demand a closer's salary on the market.

Or is it just that no relief pitcher is worth locking up?

[fanerman]

83.  Hmm. If the Dodgers have to spend lots of money paying for Martin, Billingsley, Kemp, etc. in arbitration, that means they have less money to spend on high-priced free agent busts!

[Bob Hendley]

84.  60 - Is that near Lizard Lick?

[Xeifrank]

85.  Dodgers are going to have a heck of a lot of players to lock up in the coming years. Not a bad thing if they are good players, but you need to clear as much dead weight as possible. Players making $10-$15 mil per year, signed long term that don't produce due to lack of skills or injuries makes it tough.
vr, Xei

[Bob Timmermann]

86.  72
You can tell Zebulon is truly friendly because the web page has "friendly" written in italics.

[cargill06]

87.  71 i think going 24-21 with penny, lowe having ERA+ of 81 and potentially an above average pitcher coming to fill the #5 spot shows me this team will be in it for the long haul

[Eric Enders]

88.  85 The nice thing about these pre-FA contracts, though, is that only the last year or two generally feature a salary in that range.

[Xeifrank]

89.  87. Would this potentially above average pitcher coming to fill the #5 spot be coming in from the planet Zebulon?
vr, Xei

[bhsportsguy]

90.  81 I think a lot will depend if the player wants that security or wants to maximize his bargaining potential.

I am not disagreeing with you but for instance, I don't see Dave Stewart giving any discounts with Chad and Matt Kemp.

82 I guess what I mean is that Broxton could be signed for maybe something like 15 million for 4 years if you think he'll be closing next year or in 2010. But you can probably wait until 2009 to negotiate an extension.

[underdog]

91.  85. et al - But think of some of the contracts coming off the books after this year. (Okay, there are still a couple of albatross-contracts after that, but...) As fanerman says, and then locking up the young players means less to then blow on free agents. It's win, win!

[LoneStar7]

92.  What major contracts expire after this year?

[Eric Stephen]

93.  90
The discounts will come from the lack of player leverage. The longer the club waits (and I realize it's a two way street, it takes two to tango, and other bad analogies, etc) the more established the player becomes and the higher his baseline salary becomes.

If the Dodgers would have signed Martin in the middle of last season (assuming he'd sign of course), it would have been much cheaper over the life of the contract than if he signed now, especially any free agent years included.

[Eric Stephen]

94.  92
Nomar (although he is still owed $2.5m in bonuses over the next 2 years), Loaiza, Lowe, Kent.

[trainwreck]

95.  Ned, you so crazy.

[LoneStar7]

96.  94 ah thanks, and while im at it, does anyone happen to know what the longest distance is from home to any part of the outfield wall in all of baseball

[Bob Timmermann]

97.  96
In the majors?

[Bob Timmermann]

98.  I think Houston might be the leader in longest distance to home. It's 435 feet out to center at Minute Maid Park.

[Eric Stephen]

99.  Players I would sign today, to lock them up at least through their arb years, if not any free agent years, in order:

1) Martin (arb through 2012)
2) Billingsley (arb through 2012)
3) Broxton (arb through 2011)
4) Kemp (arb through 2012)
5) Loney (arb through 2012)

[fiddlestick]

100.  I'm not in favor of the Dodgers ever locking up young pitchers. If ouryoung pitchers perform well enough to earn a high salary in arbitration, then we should call it a blessing. If they produce well enough and are healthy enough to demand a big deal upon free agency, we should call it a miracle.