Blog for 2X2L: SB Nation

2X2L

joined Mar 13, 2008 last login Oct 15, 2009 posts 28 comments 4981

In the middle '70s, on a radio just like this one, I tuned around the AM dial and also to Armed Forces Radio on shortwave to listen to broadcasts of baseball games. I lived in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area, and in addition to the New York stations at night I could pick up the Red Sox from their Hartford affiliate, WTIC, the Orioles from Baltimore on WBAL, the Indians on WWWE, and — but only occasionally because WABC's signal was so strong and conditions normally didn't allow it — the Tigers from Detroit on WJR. Those signals, fading in and fading out, allowed me to follow my favorite team, the Kansas City Royals, through most of their eastern swings.

I settled in Northern California in the late '80s, and although I still follow the Royals on satellite radio and the Internet I became a Giants fan as well. And as it happens that the tendency to choose a non-local team to root for is even stronger in the next generation of my family — my sons' primary rooting interests are for teams in the English Premiere League.

The origin of my SB Nation user name is this line of dialogue from The Mercury Theatre radio production of War Of The Worlds.

website: http://homepage.mac.com/kcalhoun/2X2L.html

RSSUser Blog

BtB Power Rankings, or We're No. 22!

Now with data through the end of the regular season, here the Royals are ranked ahead of the Orioles and 7 NL teams including one that remained in Wild Card contention through late September. And the relative ranking of the Royals and Giants raises a number of questions about the methodology.

2 months ago 2X2L 67 comments 1 recs

Hillman: People don’t want to take the time to learn.

It’s challenging because most of the time, our local media and even our fan base, they don’t want to hear about the process. They don’t want to be educated on the process. But it is a process. ...People don’t want to take the time to learn, because we’re not bred that way, culturally. It was an easier sell in the other culture, in Japan, because they’re very used to processes. And they don’t care how long it takes, as long as you get it set to last.

Not a parody of Hillman but the real thing; cookierojas73 quoted this gem in another thread and I thought it deserved its own FanShot with a link

2 months ago 2X2L 50 comments 0 recs

Italian group claims to debunk Shroud of Turin

Interesting report on the activities of the Italian Committee for Checking Claims on the Paranormal. Having obtained its results on the Shroud, the Committee now turns its attention to claims of visitations of St. Willie the Outfielder.

2 months ago 2X2L 12 comments 0 recs

Royals firsts in New York

First game in Yankee Stadium: June 9, 1969 - Royals 7, Yankees 1
First time 2X2L pays attention to the Royals: August 17, 1971 - the Mets are in LA so I'm listening to the Yanks on the radio
First game in renovated Yankee Stadium: April 23, 1976 - Royals 3, Yankees 2
First Royals game I see in person: July 6, 1976 - Royals 3, Yankees 1
First game in the new Yankee Stadium: September 28, 2009

2 months ago 2X2L 9 comments 0 recs

So, it’s one of those things where you just have to go out there and relax and just have fun. My thing is that I always have a smile on my face, because I’m blessed in this game. God has blessed me with the talent to play baseball and I want to show kids that it’s a game. It is a game, and it’s fun out there. It’s definitely a big business, but overall it’s a game that we’ve been playing since we were three or four years old. - DDJ

BP says: 87% smile opportunity conversion rate

2 months ago 2X2L 5 comments 1 recs

Selecting players based on possibilities, and not probabilities, makes you the Kansas City Royals. – Dave Cameron

byword n : a word or phrase used proverbially

3 months ago 2X2L 0 comments 2 recs

Gil Meche’s fastball

"Assuming he gets healthy, Meche may still have problems if hitters lay off his fastball, if this survey is any indication."

3 months ago 2X2L 0 comments 0 recs

Many of you pointed out to me that one of the big reasons that Trey Hillman left Greinke in after taking a shot off the elbow was so that he would be eligible for the win. Greinke's already the AL Cy Young favorite even with "just" 14 wins, so 13 wouldn't look that different. The logic for leaving him in is short-sighted, in that the award does nothing aside from offering the Royals some bright spot in an otherwise dark season. Greinke threw a short pen session on Saturday, and while there was still some bruising on the joint, there doesn't appear to be any real damage or reason to keep him from making his next scheduled start tomorrow against the Red Sox. With three more scheduled starts, Greinke will be bumping up against the 230-inning mark, one that always seemed to be an issue for another Royal, Kevin Appier. That Appier shows up high on Greinke's PECOTA comparables list should make some Royals fans nod, and others shudder.

Will Carroll's Under The Knife column at BP, "Milestone Madness?"

3 months ago 2X2L 16 comments 0 recs

What went wrong

Missed this article over the weekend at Circling the Bases.

Bloggers, let this stand as a caution: some calamities are just too massive to cover in 5 paragraphs. Lest you leave yourself open to comments such as, "Let's not forget the defense!!" if you need 6 paragraphs, or 10, do not stint.

Network Bar