Open Thread

Varitek? Really?
Okay, slow news day, so yaaaaa.
By the way, I’ve grown to like FanGraph’s live probabilities. It’s a bit amusing.

Lar July 10, 2008 at 2:46 pm

Varitek? Really?
Okay, I’m bored and slow news day.
I’ve grown to like FanGraph’s live probabilities. Would be amusing during playoff time, I guess.

Lar July 10, 2008 at 2:48 pm

Okay, for two minutes, I refreshed and didn’t see my comment, so thought I lost it, and reposted it.. so err.. okay.
By the way, it was annoying for me to keep clicking “Newer” too – is there an option for “Newest” that takes you to the newest page?

Lar July 10, 2008 at 2:49 pm

No, Lar. Typepad changed their comment interface and now when you click the name of the commenter on the “recent comments” sidebar it only takes you to the beginning of the comment string, not the actual comment itself. It’s insanely frustrating, and a terrible change for Typepad. Nothing we can do about it.

SF July 10, 2008 at 2:51 pm

A YF: Go for Sexson! his range stinks, yeah, he’s 8 feet tall, but that’s about it. Small sample size of lefties. his current year OPS: .696 he’s hitting for a higher average right now, but has sacrificed power in his new open stance

dw (sf) July 10, 2008 at 2:53 pm

Varitek? Really?
Yeah, really! Two hits yesterday, can you believe it?
(or were you referring to, uh, the ASG?)
;-)

SF July 10, 2008 at 2:53 pm

A YF: to answer your question from the other thread…sure, C.C. and Lackey works. I just want C.C. period. C.C., Wang, (could finally be that #2 his is, as opposed to Bobby, who already plays like #2! ZING!) Joba, Hughes and Pettitte/Lackey/Burnettwhoever would be a beautiful thing. Imagine teams actually fearing Yankee pitching???? Yeah, me either.

krueg July 10, 2008 at 3:08 pm

> t’s insanely frustrating, and a terrible change for Typepad. Nothing we can do about it.
To expand on what SF said, we have emailed back and forth with TP customer support to attempt to remove the pagination (they politely said they would consider it), increase the number off comments per page if that wasn’t an option (ibid), and fix the sidebar so it actually takes you to the appropriate comment (they said they were working on it.. must be a humdinger of a problem because that was more than a month ago).
We’re really sorry about these changes that are out of our control that make using the interface so frustrating. Trust us when we say that we take this very seriously and will do everything within our capabilities to rectify the problem. Please email us with suggestions or comments.

attackgerbil July 10, 2008 at 3:09 pm

It’s fine – if you post a comment in a thread, it takes you to the latest page, but that’s probably an awful way to do it.. ;)
Speaking of Fangraphs, I took a look and saw:
2008 Yanks:
Hitting WPA: -1.32
SP WPA: 0.00
Relievers WPA: 4.82
So basically, yes, our bullpen (even if you take out Mo’s godly 2.98 WPA) is actually our strength this year, our SPs keep us in games (is that the right way to look at it?) while our hitting has been awful (no surprise here, since WPA deals mostly with hitting in situations..)
Joba is third on the SP WPA, by the way, after Wang (who’s still first) and AP.
For the Sox,
Hitters: 3.78
SP: 4.64
RP: -0.42
So it seems like the bullpen is indeed a problem, especially if you factor in Paps’ 0.82, which would mean the rest of the bullpen is -1.2 ish.

Lar July 10, 2008 at 3:14 pm

Also for comparison:
Rays:
Hitters: -0.42
SP: 3.46
RP: 6.96
Now that’s a sick bullpen.

Lar July 10, 2008 at 3:17 pm

hey, i love this “open thread” idea.
continuation from the old thread….
krueg- i hear ya. and yes i did see joba’s AB. posada telling him to keep his shoulder back. i also remember last year when melky and cano thought a-rod not knowing he hit a homerun was the funniest thing in the world (and then we had to see them reenact it for weeks on end). you guy’s got a wacky bunch. just hope jason is writing a check to mr. fasano if he gets an AS appearance bonus.

sf rod July 10, 2008 at 3:19 pm

I understand the need for pagination – these games gets *huge* when you really only want to check out say, the last 20 comments. Someone might want to look through them, and pagination is a good solution.
The problem is that it’s really stupid (not to the moderators, TypePad) not to have a “Jump to Newest” link. I mean, how hard can it be? I can literally write that in one minute!
All links take the form of:
http://www.yfsf.org/year/month/title-for-search-engines/comments/page/NUMBER_HERE/#comments
except for the first page, though it can be used as such anyhow.
Substitute NUMBER_HERE with the page number – it’s just the floor of total comments divided by 50 (I think, it’s a magic number anyhow). Plus one. Bam. I should get paid for this.
They already knows/computes how many comments are in a thread – it’s shown in the number, so no reason why they can’t just make that extra link. Grumbles.

Lar July 10, 2008 at 3:23 pm

Incidentally, the YFSF facial hair embargo has been lifted. We have no embargo on back hair, thankfully for some of us.
Not me, of course.

SF July 10, 2008 at 3:26 pm

Lar.. that’s correct; I was writing a comment that described that process (it’s been my workaround for the past two months) but you beat me to it. Yes, 50 is the divisor for the number of comments, dropping the remainder — fifty is the max the TP engine currently allows.

attackgerbil July 10, 2008 at 3:28 pm

Also, there appears to be some caching issues on the server’s side – some posts appear and disappear and reappear..

Lar July 10, 2008 at 3:32 pm

hoping some ajax gets sprinkled in their next rev for dynamic expansion and collapse of long comment threads to reduce load times, but I’m not counting on it. That and one-step mobile browser optimization.

attackgerbil July 10, 2008 at 3:32 pm

Thanks to everyone for not bringing up the “Mariano should start the ASG” debate. At least not in this thread.
WPA? What could a New Deal agency have to do with baseball? (Oh, never mind. It’s weak. Very weak. The end of my vacation week at home has softened my brain.)

I'mBillMcNeal July 10, 2008 at 3:40 pm

hoping some ajax gets sprinkled in their next rev for dynamic expansion and collapse of long comment threads to reduce load times, but I’m not counting on it.
May amambo dogface in the banana patch?
Uh, whuh?
Nerd. Nyaaah nyaaah NERD.

SF July 10, 2008 at 3:41 pm

SF: AWESOME Steve Martin reference. And if you haven’t read his new book, do so. It’s a great read.

I'mBillMcNeal July 10, 2008 at 3:42 pm

IBM:
Call me crazy, but it seems like it might make more symbolic (and practical) sense for Mo to close the All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium, particularly if the AL is winning. Wouldn’t that be completely perfect, Mo icing the ASG in the Bronx to seal a win in the final season of YS? Is this a talk radio suggestion, that he start? It makes no sense at all to me, even considering the “honor” of starting the ASG. The best thing for Mo would be for him to nail down that win, it would be a great moment, far better than him throwing a clean first. We’re not talking about Pedro facing a murderer’s row of nine, we’re talking about a one inning cameo at the beginning of a game. It’s a silly idea, him starting.

SF July 10, 2008 at 3:48 pm

> Nerd. Nyaaah nyaaah NERD.
got my special test.
just wait til tomorrow when I mercilessly tease you, early adopter, with pictures of my shiny new 3G iPhone while you futilely try to pawn your ancient, pricey 1st generation doorstop on ebay…
> Mo
How could anyone not agree that Mo closing the ASG would be a spectacular thing? Would love to see that.

attackgerbil July 10, 2008 at 3:57 pm

How could anyone not agree that Mo closing the ASG would be a spectacular thing?
actually, i would love to see mo pitch a 9 inning complete game in the ASG. now that would be a true honor.

sf rod July 10, 2008 at 4:05 pm

I have a $29.00 phone that can MMS messages. (text message with a ptoto)
iPhone figure that out yet?

LocklandSF July 10, 2008 at 4:42 pm

Peter Abraham, for one, is pushing the idea: http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080706/SPORTS01/807060324/-1/SPORTS
Bob Klapisch pans the idea: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allstar08/columns/story?columnist=klapisch_bob&id=3471345
That column quotes Damon as saying Tito would do it (NFW, Judas), and Cash as saying it’s a horrible idea.
But don’t bother with Eric Wilbur’s Globe blog column, in which he objects to the idea alternately with sound arguments and silly rationalizations.

I'mBillMcNeal July 10, 2008 at 4:46 pm

It’s a cute idea, and a nice conversation topic. But in practicality it’s ridiculous. there are a lot of reasons why, but one one needs to be metioned: If Mo gets hurt, just imagine the anger and rancor that will follow.
Mo being guaranteed that he’ll pitch the last inning? Absolutely. Do it. Do it now.
But start him? Might as well start him at shortstop.

I'mBillMcNeal July 10, 2008 at 4:52 pm

I’m surprised some of these columnists aren’t advocating he pitch the 8th inning. Isn’t that the most important time of the game? Or am I mixing this up with the Joba debate?

Nick-YF July 10, 2008 at 5:09 pm

ag – just came back from lunch. Actually, I got a greasemonkey script for you (and anyone who wants it) that “fixes” this. If you know what greasemonkey is, you’re probably already there, and other than something obvious, I will provide no support mostly because I’m lazy.

Lar July 10, 2008 at 5:09 pm

How sick would it be if Mo comes in and fans three in a row to preserve the inevitable AL victory and gives home field advantage in the WS to the SOX!!!!!!

krueg July 10, 2008 at 5:12 pm

“Actually, I got a greasemonkey script for you (and anyone who wants it) that “fixes” this.”
this is either nerd talk, or very manly talk. In either case, I am lost.

Nick-YF July 10, 2008 at 5:13 pm

Lar, I don’t use FF except for compat testing but I’m interested in the script from a curiosity standpoint for sure. Email it my way if you would please.

Anonymous July 10, 2008 at 5:16 pm

I’m with Nick.

I'mBillMcNeal July 10, 2008 at 5:16 pm

stupid typekey forgot me..
michael -ta- mcmm -tod- net

attackgerbil July 10, 2008 at 5:16 pm

I’m a very manly nerd or nerdly man.. forget which.

attackgerbil July 10, 2008 at 5:17 pm

“Lar, I don’t use FF except for compat testing but I’m interested in the script from a curiosity standpoint for sure.”
This is code for “Jason Varitek? Really?”
I kid because I love.

Nick-YF July 10, 2008 at 5:17 pm

I guess since ag is demanding it, I’ll have to strip out the “auto post Varitek sucks” part of the script!

Lar July 10, 2008 at 5:20 pm

I actually use IE/FF pretty much randomly. Which gets annoying sometimes because I have to log in things multiple times..

Lar July 10, 2008 at 5:21 pm

“I actually use IE/FF pretty much randomly.”
Is this some new statistic I don’t know about?

I'mBillMcNeal July 10, 2008 at 5:33 pm

“michael -ta- mcmm -tod- net”
AG, the spider bots can get these too now, just wanted to warn you.

LocklandSF July 10, 2008 at 5:39 pm

FF really dropped the ball with 3.0, FYI, toms of Java issues among other things, if you haven’t updated yet, don’t.
It’s too bad too, because I’m pretty much president of the FF fan club.

LocklandSF July 10, 2008 at 5:41 pm

Hahah, open thread became nerd thread. I guess we shouldn’t be _that_ open!

Lar July 10, 2008 at 5:45 pm

> the spider bots can get these too now
True. But better than nothing.
I’m a devout OmniWeb user on Mac, but use FF on Linux and Win. IE is strictly for compat testing only.
> open thread became nerd thread
True. But useful. Along those lines, anytime anyone has an idea that would benefit the site (besides barring ag from commenting whilst intoxicated) send me a note. Love new ideas.

attackgerbil July 10, 2008 at 5:51 pm

I’ll have to strip out the “auto post Varitek sucks” part of the script!
Only because it’s boring. It’s the one thing you can say that everyone can agree with! Ot maybe “Lugo sucks” or “Cora sucks” or “Sox’ bullpen sucks.”
Seriously, I need to see how many actual games our pen has cost us this season, versus last year, when it was actually good, and 2003, when it both sucked and was managed by a brain-dead strategist.

Paul SF July 10, 2008 at 6:03 pm

The Brewers’ Corey Hart, who may or may not be wearing his sunglasses tonight, and Evan “He’s So Dreamy” Longoria win the final vote for the All-Star game.
(Unbelievable. Corey Hart has two (yes, 2) “Best Of” Albums.)

I'mBillMcNeal July 10, 2008 at 6:22 pm

“Seriously, I need to see how many actual games our pen has cost us this season, versus last year, when it was actually good”
Who’s significantly different in your pen this year? I’m too lazy to look, but superficially it seems very similar. Just like the Yanks. Except the results couldn’t be more different. That’s bullpens for you.

A YF July 10, 2008 at 6:42 pm