SB Nation User Blog: Jjjsixsix

What did GoG stand for again?

Jjjsixsix — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:31:45 -0000

I was looking back through my fanposts (nee diaries) on AN, just for old times sake, and apparently, all I've been good for are draft day threads and research, GoG scores, win expectation charts, and two DLDs.

I'll start with something which has to do with these current Athletics. It originates in a note from my 2006 Draft Day thread:

Trevor Cahill, RHP, Vista HS, Vista, CA. Could be a signability issue, since he's committed to Dartmouth, and that scholarship is worth a lot of money, plus an education.

However you lean on the Cahill debate, you must agree that has worked out well for us so far, hasn't it?

Meanwhile, tomorrow's (or today's) starting pitcher for the Arizona State Sun Devils against my USC Trojans is also on that list:

Michael Leake, RHP, Fallbrook (CA) HS. I think he finished 10-1, with a bunch of Ks, or something. Info is really scarce on him.

I'll know plenty more about his stuff tomorrow, but apparently he's a first round talent now. Maybe he's the guy that the signability issue should have been attached to. (And apparently he's really good. Has a 1.something ERA so far for ASU, and goes both ways, and that ASU lineup is ridiculous.)

---

This is not a draft retrospective. This might just be a peek back into my history with AN, which I'm told began officially on April 11, 2005 after a few months of lurking, when I was assigned the UID of 1887, and proceeded into a brave new world.

---

I can't say I've been following the A's too closely since I've been in LA. I know more about USC baseball than I do A's baseball at this point in the spring. Hell, I probably know more about USC women's rowing at this point. I couldn't name the rotation at this point, I couldn't give you a starting lineup, and I probably still think Crosby is going to start Opening Day, perhaps along with Chavvy. (oh... wait. Those are still possibilities?)

---

I still have a file somewhere deep in my backups called aliensANgame.xls, last modified September 15, 2005, the first season I was on AN. I don't know what any of the numbers mean anymore, or how to work the excel spreadsheet, or what VORG (value over replacement guesser?) means and how it was calculated. It apparently was a large operation, over 4 spreadsheets, with "averages" and more advanced statistics, all clumped into one file, for the purpose of ... I don't know, you tell me? 143 different people participated at some point, 40 of whom qualified for the title at the end of the year. The winner was HangMan (or perhaps easyraider), who I don't recall seeing on the site for years now. I don't think Alien made the switch to the new AN/SBNation either. What does this vignette have to do about? Nothing, I suppose. Maybe just a longing for the past, a wish for a time where I wasn't working about 20 hours a week over 20 units of class, neither of which is really daunting in the grand scheme of things. And I never did get the results for series #19 and series #22, so I guess, 3 1/2 years after the fact, we can officially call that the final standings. (and if you're wondering, this was the first GoG of 2006, of which I don't have stats for. The community became far two large for a two person operation by then... and this was 3 years ago.)

Maybe I just wrote all that because I just, for the first time, read the goodbye Monkeyball thread, and I yearn for the days of GoGs again, just without the work. And if you were wondering, it was a lot of work. If you really want the spreadsheet, I can send it to you. I can't explain it anymore.

---

The other thing I did was a direct ripoff of Lookout Landing: win expectancy charts. I don't know why I did them, but at the time, FanGraphs didn't exist to give you a simple little thing that everyone could access. As a result, stuff like this, which to be honest, was kind of amazing. Poor Bob Wickman. And seriously, when was the last time you saw "Kendall" printed that big, or "Kielty HR" in ... well, any capacity? And not only that, Jason Kendall did TWO good things on that fateful July day. (This one is still my favourite. September 4, 2002. The graph does not match how you felt that day, I guarantee it.)

I didn't do this very often, and I never intended to make it a regular feature or anything, so it never became one. It was just a fun thing to do, so I did it, and I had the time back during high school summers, so I could do it. Suffice to say, I don't anymore. It's possible that I'm writing this for me, not the community - no, I am writing this for me, not the community - and maybe I'm just unsure of what the future holds for me and just want to harken back to the past.

---

The days of FIRE MACHA NOW are over. The days of Barry Zito area code ERA trackers are over. Well, actually, they might not be, but still. I'll be honest, I miss the old AN. That's why I'm writing this. But I promise, there is a point beyond that.

---

I think AN would make a fascinating study for the growth and evolution of an online community, through the people involved, the legitimacy and clout of the operation, the little features and how they are received, how it is governed, etc. I haven't studied anything on the growth of online communities, but I have a feeling most are much the same, but the Web2.0eyness of AN and a relatively long Web2.0 history are interesting.

---

Maybe I'm not in tune with AN anymore. I'll be honest: all I read now are game threads, and even then, it is quite rare. I'll lurk once in a while; if I want to talk MLB, I'll come here. I don't read the DLDs anymore, however fun they may be. The last DLD I did was June 24, 2006. It seems forever ago. This is my first fanpost, or whatever it's called now that they're not called diaries. I'll probably need to go back and edit this because I don't know the difference between an intro paragraph and an entry body, and it's just perplexing.

Maybe you're reading this and thinking that I'm just trying to shove in your face that I've been here for four years and I had an ID number in the 1800s, and signed up some few thousand people before you, and thus, I'm better than you. I promise you, that is not the case. In reality, I'm just as new as you, at least to this iteration of the community.

---

I'll admit, this has the smackings of a meta-thread. Maybe it is one.
I'll end with this: all communities have a hard time at some point. No community is perfect: wounds take time to heal, conflict takes time to resolve, or perhaps will never be resolved. Community changes. It changes incessantly: hourly, weekly, monthly, yearly. If, like (with few exceptions) we wish for, and there is a parade in downtown Oakland come October, the community will change with success; with barren times, the community also changes, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad. Strong communities will overcome challenges, whether internal or external. AN is, I hope and believe, strong enough to overcome.

We may not talk about kRaZeE bAnNiNg WaNdS and lemurconkers anymore, and Jay Witasick in a tube top and jokes about height may no longer be understood by most of the community, but new inside jokes are spawned all the time, and although I'm no longer privvy to them, someone is, and someone will respond, and it will grow. The community is still alive - just evolving and changing all the time. If the community is still alive, it can and it will overcome, move past the struggles, and continue to grow.

---

The light at the end of the dark tunnel can be seen. Baseball: the kind played outside of Arizona and Florida, without the ping of aluminium, the kind with wood bats, playing perhaps through falling snowflakes in the North, or at legendary stadiums of hated traditional powers, or perhaps just at home, the Coliseum, where trough urinals await - it is baseball, Oakland Athletics baseball, that brings this community together. Allow it to do so, so we can enjoy the successes and wallow in the failures of the season together, and hope that there are many more successes than failures over the course of 2009.

---

If you've gotten all the way down here and actually read it all, or any of it, really thank you. I'm not sure why you did it, and I'm not why I wrote all this, but I felt like writing. But truly, I appreciate it.

This took me about 3 1/2 hours to write. As a college student, I promise you there were lots more things I could have done those 3 1/2 hours. And yet, it was strangely cathartic, and it's fun to just write. Maybe you don't find it appropriate for a post, or maybe you just didn't want me to go on and on about me, myself, and I, and if you're reading this so far down, it's unlikely that you didn't want to read it, but if you found me elitist, annoying, self-centred, or just a boring writer, I'm sorry.

---

... and now to say something completely different and off the wall: Dedeaux Field down here at SC has trough urinals, just like the Coliseum. I've begun equating trough urinals to baseball. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but they are one and the same.

Before I say other dumb things, this is the real end.
Let's Go Oakland!

Draft, Day 2.

Jjjsixsix — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:00:30 -0000

so we all know about the first round picks, if not... go back to the main page...

now about the rest of them...
(6) 210. - Scott Hodsdon, Azusa Pacific, RHP, Sr.
(7) 240. - Lance Sewell, SDSU, LHP, Jr.
(8) 270. - Daniel Schlereth, Arizona, LHP, Jr.
(9) 300. - Eric Berger, Arizona, LHP, So.
(10) 330. - Daniel Hamblin, Arkansas, 1B, Sr. (we picked him last year...)
(11) 360. - Michael Richard, Prarie View A&M, SS, Sr.
(12) 390. - Gary Brown, Diamond Bar (CA) HS, CF
(13) 420. - Justin Friend, Oklahoma State, RHP, Jr.
(14) 450. - Jordan Smith, Texas Tech, C, Jr.
(15) 480. - Brad Hertzler, Maine, LHP, Jr.
(16) 510. - Brett Lysander, Sonoma State, RHP, Jr.
(17) 540. - Stephen Hunt, Jesuit HS (Tampa, FL), LHP
(18) 570. - Matt Ray, Middle Tennessee State, SS, Sr.
(19) 600. - Michael Napoleon, Iowa, C, Jr.
(20) 630. - Daniel Wentzell, George Fox Univ, RF, Sr.
(21) 660. - Stephen Portlier, Oklahoma, RHP, So.
(22) 690. - Aaron Jenkins, Northern Iowa, LHP, Jr.
(23) 720. - James Pruitt, U Montevallo, OF, Sr.
(24) 750. - Raymond Rodriguez, PR BB Academy, RF
(25) 780. - Jareck West, Delta State, CF, Jr.

I'm done... if someone want's to fill the next about 15 picks, go ahead... ~~the A's probably won't go 50 picks again.~~ (and I'm wrong... figures, considering how many college juniors the A's took.)

By the way, HollywoodOz has done an awesome job nabbing info on everyone at NFTN.

If you want to dig up more info on this, go ahead. I don't have time like in past years, so I'll just throw this up here...

A Day at Fenway

Jjjsixsix — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 03:58:56 -0000

If you read this on the livejournal group, it's the same exact thing. AN swallowed my two previous postings.

So, I went to Fenway Park today. Went at 12 for a 2 o'clock game to get the ticket that I had left for myself at will call. It was baking, 91 at first pitch, and staying at 93. No wind anywhere. I was out past the overhang in right field, so basically, it just plain sucked. I went through about 6 bottles of liquid (I only brought 4...), and I only had 1 Fenway Frank. It's funny, you know the thing's four bucks, and it pisses you off that it's four bucks, but you just have to have one. Just a tad funky, I think. Saw an A's win, had awesome seats, you'll see where later, but yeah. Great game, except for the heat. Felt like I died several times over, or something. It was insane.

Some random Fenway points:

3rd inning: Beachball hits me in face. Beachballs?! I thought they only did that in Anaheim. It was a bit annoying, and kind of disrupting.
6th inning: Wally, the mascot, who isn't as cool as Stomper, came up to me, and shot me (and my scorecard) with a water gun. Didn't do a lot of damage, but it was funny. I just kind of looked at him, looked at the scoreboard, and shrugged. He then went away.
8th inning: Top: Wave came. It sucked. People were actually getting into it too, never mind that it was a 5-1 game at the time. To be fair, Tavarez was taking it really slowly on the mound, and it was really hard to pay attention to the game. It was weird, because the bleachers started chanting "Let's go Red Sox," but then the wave came and the cheer died. Bottom: What's with Sweet Caroline? As far as I can tell, it has nothing to do with either Boston or baseball... I guess this article explains it, though. Kind of funky.

Banner on Yawkey Way.

Gate A, where will call tickets are...

These are all from my seat:

Someone made a Lego Fenway:

They can never get Swish's name right (nor is the lineup even close):

Manny running onto... wait, that's just Brandon Buckley.

There he is... and remind me again why they love it?

During the game:

Huston warming up for a game he didn't get into:

The end.

Scorecards (with notes...):

Sorry if the pictures go out of service. They shouldn't, they're small enough.

Link Dizzump, June 24th: Why Gnats?

Jjjsixsix — Sat, 24 Jun 2006 19:19:20 -0000

Game Recaps:
Giants, Bonds limp off with loss (San Jose Mercury)
A's run past Giants in 9th Bonds gets rare steal, but Benitez fails again (Oakland Tribune)
A's way is one way (San Francisco Chronicle)
Swisher sends A's past Giants in opener (oaklandathletics.com)
AP story

Injuries? What injuries?
Thomas: expects to be back on Friday; has returned to Oakland after spending a few days at home in Vegas. Took BP yesterday. (source)
Duchscherer: returned and owned.
Witasick: suffering from tendinitis in his recently sprained left ankle; undergoing shockwave treatment. Witasick on shockwave treatments: "That's gotta be the equivalent of giving birth out of your ankle." (same source)
Bradley: won't swing a bat until next week (source)
Kennedy: long toss on flat ground yesterday, will see how he feels today
Ellis: some hitting work and BP; thumb has improved according to x-rays; not far from rehab? (source)

Supposedly, the jerseys from yesterday were autographed and are to be auctioned off, but I can't find confirmation on it. Anyone care to get Benitez's?

In case you didn't know, Barry Zito is being sued by WHAM!BAM!GashouseGangStanTheManThankYouMa'am-
ManRaybAnNeDManRamBamBamSpamLand'O'LakesCan-
CandyCornHolioJeffFlakes Construction Co.

Other random stuff:
The English and Germans fight in Stuttgart
Ozzie Guillen still doesn't like the media
Aaron Harang threw ANOTHER shutout
Steve Moore whacker Bertuzzi traded to Miami, where apparently, they play hockey
They are no longer the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, making Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California look more ridiculous

Daily Link Dump, 14Jun: Life, the Universe, and Larry Davis

Jjjsixsix — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 10:39:08 -0000

So, how does one do this?

Game Recaps?
MLB.com/Oakland
Chron
Trib

Injury Reports? Duchsch erer and Kennedy Of note in the first article: He hasn't felt this good in a long, long time, according to Larry Davis. That means it's probably not true, right? Hopefully, of course, it is.

I found this when I searched "Oakland Tribune" on Google News... Trouble from the Gnat camp.
"It's a bunch of [junk]," he said. "This [deleted] team is not going to be good like this. If it doesn't change, it's going to be [messed] up. . . . It's like we never do something right. They only want to put you down on the ground, make you feel dirty and make you feel bad." - Armando Benitez
The joys of KNBR, or at least, the negative aspect of it. There's some other flowery language in that article as well.

Meanwhile, out here: La New Bears are struggling to maintain the lead they've built up. Yes, it's the CPBL, where the outfielders get worse jumps than Eric Byrnes, sometimes even going the wrong way, diving, and missing. It hurts to watch. (In case you care, La New signed Chen Chin-feng, the former Dodger, last season.)

Here's a Catfish Stew link, since I read it. Gives light on the Zito situation, and what Billy might do.

In two completely different stories from Saint Louis, Ankiel's return is delayed, and... well, we know about Pujols' trainer already.

And this post from over half a year ago still holds true.

Are the footballs in Germany behaving like knuckleballs?

Some advertiser needs a lesson in scoreboard reading.

To conclude, I'd like to thank AN on keeping me updated on all things Oakland A's while I'm halfway across the globe. It's hard being an NRAF.

And the DLD is being posted at 18:38, or 3:38PST. I supposed I could wait another 5 1/2 hours and post tomorrow's DLD?

That said, have fun with the thread. I won't be here to control it... I'll be asleep. And I didn't do that bad, did I?

Draft Open Thread Day 1 - 2

Jjjsixsix — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 19:26:19 -0000

Bumped to front page to continue Draft Day Madness '06 - louismg

We need a new one. We got the first to thread.

A's picks so far:

Trevor Cahill, RHP, Vista HS, Vista, CA. Could be a signability issue, since he's committed to Dartmouth, and that scholarship is worth a lot of money, plus an education.
Matt Sulentic, SS-OF, Hillcrest HS, Dallas, TX. He's a hitting monster, with crazy stats, and with a BA approaching 600 an OBP over 700, with 19 jacks.
Chad Lee, LHP, Barton Co JC, Great Bend, KS. He's from OK. Coming back from an ACL injury just last year. Plus fastball and a good curve. Health questions abound. Stats not all too good this year.
Jermaine Mitchell, CF, UNC-Greensboro. I refer you to that. The MLB radio guys didn't know about him, and DraftTracker gives no info. Hit 397/493/568/1061. 24/30 on steals, so is fast.
Andrew Bailey, RHP, Wagner. 2.03 ERA this past year, in 44 1/3 IP. Struck out 53, walked 16. Wagner profile here. Is a junior, had TJ surgery this year.
Michael Leake, RHP, Fallbrook (CA) HS. I think he finished 10-1, with a bunch of Ks, or something. Info is really scarce on him.
Angel Sierra, CF, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy. That's an info black hole. I've tried. It doesn't work.
Danny Hamblin, 1b, U of Arkansas. Hit 289/382/557/939 in the SEC. All below his average. Arkansas profile here.
Christian Vitters, SS, Fresno State. He's a junior. (profile). 340/431/557/988 in the WAC. stats. Was the WAC player of the year, but also broke a finger.
Jason Fernandez, RHP, Louisana-Lafayette. 2.86 ERA, 101 Ks/37bbs in 91 1/3 innings. 9 hbps, 9 wild pitches. Was 9-2. (profile)
Shane Pertussi, RHP, Franklin Pierce Coll. 2.64 ERA, 9-2. 95k, 31bb in 85 1/3 ip.
Ben Jukich, LHP, Dakota Wesleyan. He's good.
Toddrick Johnson, CF, Southern Miss. (profile). Lefty, hitting 363/444/552/996 against CUSA. Has 11 jacks.
Kyle Christensen, RHP, Millikan HS, Long Beach, CA. MaxPreps stats. Not very good a team, had to forfeit several times this year. 1.64 ERA, 75 Ks and 15 bb in 64ip.
Branden Dewing, LHP, San Jos? State. (profile). 3.14 ERA, 7-5. 114 1/3 IP, 72 K, 31 BB, .251 BAA.
Michael Affronti, SS, LeMoyne College. (profile). 389/434/662/1096 against the MAAC. (stats).
Michael Ambort, C, LaMar University. He's a junior. (profile). Played only 6 games this year. Set all kinds of records in 2005.

Also signed last year's 36th round pick, Shane Keough, the draft-and-follow from last year.

You'd rather not see this - the disaster from a WinExp point of view.

Jjjsixsix — Fri, 26 May 2006 05:03:15 -0000

Everything's under the cut this time.

Yikes. The high water mark was in A+ territory, 97.9%. When the 2nd out was gotten in the horrible 6th inning.

Just thought you'd like to know how this Winexp takes it for big/scoring plays (stadium adjusted, Apricot will have different numbers)

Thomas drives in run 1: +6.3%
Kielty drives in run 2 & 3: +9.5%
Johnson drives in 4: +6.9%
Kotsay drives self in for 5: +4.5%
Swisher HR for 6 & 7: +5.6%

Lead up to the GS:
Teixiera gets on: -.7%
Blalock FC: +1.0%
Nevin out: +.8% (to 97.9%)
Mench gets on: -.5%
DeRosa loads them up: -1.0%
BAM! -11.2%
BAM2! -8.6% (to 76.6%)

Teixiera HR: -14.1%
Kinsler HR 2: -28.8%
Nevin HR: -45.4%

That's it. This game sucked.

WinExp Graph, May 6th.

Jjjsixsix — Sun, 07 May 2006 22:14:30 -0000

Thought some of you guys would like to see this... so here it is. (For those of you on the Diaries menu, everything is under the cut, since the image is huge.)

Yes, it did actually fall under 30% in the 8th inning.

Really big positive plays:

38.9%, Huff's error. Killed his day, didn't it?
18.2%, Lee's K in the 9th.
17.1%, Hall's 3rd out of the 9th.

Really big negative plays:

-25.4%, Norton's homer.
-20.6%, Scutaro's double play, which I split up and credited Scutaro for only one out (-10.8%; I could have charged him with a second) and credited Lugo with getting the second out (9.8%), since he was the one that created it.
-17.2%, Crawford's leadoff double in the 9th, which Kennedy somehow wiggled his way out of.

Kennedy's +13.8% was at one point a -21.5%, when there was one out and the bases were loaded. Which makes sense, since the Lee and Hall outs accounted for +35.3%. That, of course, is trumped by Huff's error, a whopping 38.9% (which yes, I did attribute to Kendall). By comparison, all of Albert Pujols' contributions in the month of April totaled 336.7% - which means if he made the error that Huff made on May 1st, it would have gone down more than 10%. Kendall, for the month of April, meanwhile, was -84.4%, so if you attribute it all to him, he just erased almost half a month, and just more than 6 early-inning double plays.

Another tidbit of note is that Duke ended up -14.2% - the Norton homer was -25.6% - which gives back almost 21% of his April total. Zito, meanwhile, erased almost all of his -34.6% April total in one start with a 31.4% contribution.

That is all. Week 5 in Review from Apricot will come up soon.

Poll

What was weirdest?

The Payton "stolen base"

7 votes

The double play, which was either a triple play or a blown infield fly call, depending on the manager you listen to

8 votes

The Huff impression of Bill Buckner

4 votes

The fact that Macha has not been fired yet

5 votes

24 votes | Poll has closed

Barry Zito ERA Tracker 3

Jjjsixsix — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 19:09:22 -0000

Z's ERA again lowered, but did not reach an area code, though it came quite close. Since 753 does not exist, the closest area code is:

754: Broward County, Florida

2006 BET Index

Game ERA Target

3 7.53 near Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
2 8.59 Lexington, Kentucky
1 47.25 deep space

(Since I have nothing better to do this Saturday morning, I hijacked crosis' feature. Sorry, crosis.)

The fantasy baseball advertising and discussing thread // OPEN THREAD

Jjjsixsix — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 04:51:33 -0000

So since none of the fantasy threads can be recommended anymore, I've decided to make this so hopefully consolidate most of the talk (and not bump other worthy diaries off the page) and allow us commissioners who have yet to fill our leagues a space to get people to fill said leagues.

If you want to ask for fantasy advice, go ahead, and see how far you get.

If you want to play with this as an open thread, go straight ahead. I have no objections, and can't stop you. (Besides that, I cleverly hid "OPEN THREAD" behind the ellipsies anyhow...)