To follow up on the comment here.  If you love Jack, read on...

UPDATE - Only one hour into this and already you have pledged $95!  Thank you all!

UPDATE II - $140 already!  At this rate we'll have enough for a bronze statue!

 UPDATE III - Lisa has kindly set up a paypal account to donate to, click here to make a donation, we are already at $150!!! 

UPDATE IV - We are around $250 now!

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OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD.  MLB.TV IS NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUR IPHONE FOR £10.  FOR THE WHOLE SEASON.  THIS IS GONNA CHANGE/RUIN MY LIFE.  MLB.COM

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H/T to Fangraphs.

Now obviously this is a very small sample size, however as a team our UZR is currently 5.7, and UZR/150 27.8 - and who could disagree after some of the plays that have been made so far?  Yesterday was poor, but that has been the exception rather than the rule [as opposed to last year].

Individual UZR for Mariners can be found here.

Some individual UZR ... Chavez UZR is already 1.0.  Guti on 1.8.  Mega SSS, but it's cool.  And this is without Ichiro.  Once the Dreikasierbund conveens, there will be NO GAP. 

There is a known issue with mlb.tv and dual monitors. This is caused by a security issue in Flash which means that the browser always has to be 'on top' meaning that you can't browse and have full screen flash on your second monitor.

The main drawback of this is that you can't watch the game on your TV whilst reading the game thread - which is UNACCEPTABLE.

There is an unofficial fix for this which I found here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwH_-C2-93E This short YouTube video has a hack/fix for windows that makes the 2nd display stay in full screen. Beware it's ultra nerdy since it involves a hex editor and modifying one of the Flash Player .dll files. I just made the changes as indicated in the video and it works. Plus I have the most recent Flash player installed - 10.0.22.87 EDIT - Note this appears to work only if you are watching the games using Mozilla Firefox. Tested using Internet Explorer 8 and still snaps out of Fullscreen - probably using a different set of dlls.

There are lots on free Hex editors around and they are very easy to use.

I have tried the hack and it works, however my widescreen TV would not 'snap' into a full screen view on the second screen unlike when I close the lid on my laptop.

Obviously this is a great benefit. Just remember that this does not work in IE.

And because you can log in twice with your mlb.tv account, this means that you can watch two games at once in [almost] full view:

If anyone has a fix for getting the second monitor to be full screen as well I would be most grateful!

I'm due a phone upgrade.  I currently have a Blackberry Curve however I want my new phone to have fast internet access, full HTML browser and if possible a QWERTY keyboard and the ability to stream mlb.tv.  If there is no phone at the moment that does these things, should I wait for the new Iphone [if one is indeed due soon?] or is there an other phone that I should wait for?

And some filler; The last three books I have bought are:

- Baseball Prospectus 2009

- The Yankee Years

- Odd Man Out [arrived this morning].

What are your's???

It should be out today [of course I have no way of checking because they don't sell the game in Europe - thank God for region free gaming] and my copy boarded its plane yesterday.  Now I play the waiting game.

I wouldn't usually start a diary about a game, but I believe this game is so awesome as to actually warrent one.  I'd love to know what your first reaction is to the retail version, and some screenshots would also be cool to put me on until my copy arrives next week.

I know it's sad but the feature I am looking forward to most is being able to insert your own walk-up/warming-up/crown noises.  Sunshine lollipops + Thunderstruck will be the first two I put it, and also me screaming FUCK WILSON BETEMIT.

I don't know whether it is possible or not, but a LL online league could be a possibility if enough of us buy the game?  Would anyone be interested in that?

Jim Bowden has resigned as general manager of the Washington Nationals on Sunday morning.

"It is an emotional decision that saddens me, but one that I feel is in the best interests of two of the things I love most -- baseball and the Washington Nationals," Bowden said in a written statement.

Though he was under fire for his possible, though denied, connection to the alleged skimming of bonuses of Latin American players, he has maintained his innocence.

 

"My resignation is based upon my realization that my ability to properly represent the Washington Nationals has been compromised because of false allegations contained in the press. I am disappointed by the media reports regarding investigations into any of my professional activities. There have been no charges made, and there has been no indication that parties have found any wrongdoing on my part."

In a separate statement, Nationals president Stan Kasten thanked Bowden for his tenure with the club.

"We greatly respect and admire the decision made today by Jim Bowden. He showed characteristic poise and maturity, and demonstrated his selfless love for the game and the Washington Nationals.

"We all believe it is imperative that we honor the integrity of the game and that fans be able to concentrate their attention and affections on the game and players on the field. Jim has maintained his innocence, but recognized that he had become a distraction, and with great grace determined to do what was best for the team and his players."

Bowden was with the Nationals from 2004-2009. The team never finished over .500 during his tenure, their best season was in 2005, when they went 81-81.

 

Nationals Pravda

Let's hope that their new GM hates drafting young phenom pitchers whose names begin with the letter "S".

I think it's a positive sign that the new M's front office has decided to sign some quality fielders to roam Safeco.  As a Fangraphs whore it seems that pretty much the whole offseason has been geared towards preaching the quantitative benefits that superior defenders bring to overall team win values.  It is also true that defence seems to be underrated by some [but not all] organisations, which for an organisation that seems to be ditching payroll, is a smart advantage to go exploit.

However, I have real concerns as to how our mainstream fanbase will react to these players in the outfield.  With the exception of Ichiro neither Chavez or Gutz is projected to hit for a league wOBA.  My fears are that the casual fan will ignore the difficult to quantify defensive benefits of our new arrivals and instead focus on their disappointing [for LF/CF] production at the plate, particularly Chavez who will undoubtedly be compared against his immobile but good hitting predecessor in LF.

We all know how the average fan treated Mike Cameron, who I see as similar to our two new recruits.  I foresee a lot of pressure turning on the new front office from the fanbase and the local media if we start badly - and a growing discontent that we aren't wheeling out Griffey's and his 600+ HR hitting wheelchair to patrol centre field.  And if Griffey remains unsigned through the start of the season, well, can GMZ remain strong enough in the face of fan pressure to resist the calls to 'let Griffey retire an M'?

Fans are dumb, but they pay the bills.  If we get off to a bad start and attendance drops, then the pressure will be hard to resist for bringing Griffey back.  If GMZ can resist this then I think I will be even more impressed than anything he has done as a Mariner so far, and that's saying something.

Thoughts?

Long time no speak folks.

I will be arriving in NYC on Wednesday for the beginning of my annual baseball pilgrimage.  Before you accuse me of being bonkers for dropping £1000+ on following The Race To Strasburg, please bare in mind that I booked this holiday months before the season started.  If I knew now just how shit we really would be, then I wouldn't have bothered.

I still haven't booked any tickets for the games, so that leaves me quite flexible: are there any 'must do' things in the NY state area that I should put on my agenda?  I was thinking about maybe getting the train over to Boston for the day/getting a coach to Cooperstown.  Anything else I should consider?

Also, who is scheduled to be pitching for both sides in the Mets series?

After moving flats I have been without a net connection, which in this country basically means baseball isolation.  I guess I picked a good week for it eh?

I have been able to follow Jeff's writeups on my blackberry every morning [that picture essay for the Beltre game recap was incredible and was just what I needed to perk me up at 7am on a cold morning] however I have been totally out of the loop with all other news.

Has anything been said about getting rid of Bavasi/McLaren or making any trades?  Or has this season basically been declared a write-off? 

Speedy replies welcome as this internet cafe closes soon!