SB Nation User Blog: Steve Nelson

Halos Heaven humour - Loux, I'm No Longer Your Father

Steve Nelson — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 20:25:43 -0000

Halos Heaven humour - Loux, I'm No Longer Your Father

Indians 22, Yankees 4

Steve Nelson — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:58:38 -0000

Indians have a 14-run 2nd inning.

Wang: 1.1 IP, 8H, 8ER, 1K, 52 pitches, 34 strikes.

From a commenter at BTF: "Wang entered this game with a 28.93 ERA, and saw it go up."

The Yankees did not bring in Swisher. I guess that Girardi thought the game was too far out of hand to justify wasting another bullpen arm.

Silva channeling Ryan Frankllin

Steve Nelson — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:30:36 -0000

From Baker's post-game blog this evening:

He thought his sinker was sharper tonight, as did manager Don Wakamatsu and catcher Kenji Johjima. They all said he was able to command it and spot it where he needed to.

The problem was two change-ups that got golfed for home runs.

"I felt great with my mechanics and everything,'' Silva said. "Besides those two change-ups that I threw, I wouldn't take anything back.''

Wakamatsu on the same subject: "With Silva, I thought we saw a lot more sink than we saw before,'' Wakamatsu said. "It was similar to the last (spring training) outing. It's just too bad that two bad pitches cost us the ballgame.''

Geez - I thought the spirit of Ryan ("I thought I pitched great tonight except for two pitches that got away from me.") Franklin had been exorcised from the clubhouse. But I guess the demons were granted permission to infest Silva's carcass instead.

Alyssa Milano previews the AL West

Steve Nelson — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:29:18 -0000

Alyssa Milano previews the AL West

Thanks to RedReporter

"Many of you probably didn’t know that Mariner is another term for a seaman, and I am FASCINATED by seamen. Always have been. I just can’t get enough."

Dayton Moore talks about Willie

Steve Nelson — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:25:01 -0000

Although it now often seems ages past, it's really only been in the past five years that the chasm has been bridged between numeric analysis neos posting on blogs in their pyjamas, and the old school scouting types in their khakis with clipboards, stop watches, and 20-80 calibrated eyeballs. Bavasi called it "squat" vs."quant". Of course, following the classic thesis->antithesis->synthesis dialectic, what we are seeing is the merging of the two modes into a new model. Even the Mariners, of all teams, now appear to be intent on setting up a department for number crunching.

Despite this evolution occasionally we yet see pockets of good old baseball men still holding forth, like shadow figures in the mind of Rod Serling. I offer to you one Dayton Moore, General Manager of the Kansas City Royals, and seemingly enamored of all things formerly Mariner. Observe Mr. Moore talking about his team, the KC Royals:

SN: You mentioned Bloomquist. How do you see the situation at second base playing out over the spring?

…Willie Bloomquist is somebody who we felt is one of the most versatile players in the game. We think he's one of the better leaders in the game, and anybody who's ever been associated with him or has played with him will tell you that's the case. He has great character and is someone who's been part of pennant races as well.

You could dismiss this as the usual stuff that a GM says to the media. Moore is obviously not going to dis one of his players. But in this case this Willlie is a guy DM voluntarily signed; he wanted Willie on his team. So we've got to think he actually believes this stuff.

Our prospects in Grass Creek are looking exceedingly fine!!!

Writing about the Yankees, in the style of Jeff Sullivan

Steve Nelson — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:44:18 -0000

Writing about the Yankees, in the style of Jeff Sullivan

Then the Yankees rolled in #1: How movies would change if the Yankees were involved
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Charlie is a kid from an extremely poor family, but he is not without hope. A local chocolatier has announced that he will be giving out candy bars with golden tickets, where the winner will win lifetime, free chocolate, an interest in the chocolate factory, and all the hope (and riches) that you could imagine.

Then the Yankees rolled in and bought all of the available chocolate bars on the market, netting the Yankees all five golden tickets and, thereafter, the entire Wonka franchise -- besting even Veruca Salt.

In desperation, Charlie's mama started whoring herself out to French tourists, Charlie's papa served as her pimp, and Charlie's grandparents died a bitter, painful death from bed sores. Charlie, himself, was sold for $59.45 by his parents to a Vietnamese grocer, who butchered little Charlie and sold him at the market as dog meat.

and others

Dayton Moore channeling Bill Bavasi

Steve Nelson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:46:11 -0000

The Royals sign HoRam and plan to use him in the rotation:

[Club] officials are convinced Ramirez can be an effective starter and inject a left-handed element into their rotation. He was 38-29 with a 4.55 ERA in 104 starts from 2003-07 for Atlanta and Seattle.
“We expect Horacio Ramirez to be in our rotation next season,” Moore said. “He’s healthy, and some of our other guys have options. We like the idea of having at least one left-hander in our rotation.”

What an example of Bavasi-style results based analysis. Despite HoRam's lack of overall pitching skills, Bavasi thought HoRam was an unpolished gem because HoRam had some success in Atlanta. Predictably, HoRam stinks it up in Seattle so badly even Bavasi lets him go.

HoRam hooks up with KC on a minor league contract and stumbles into a lucky streak. Moore then trades him to the White Sox, and I'm thinking Moore's showing signs of a few functioning synapses when Moore takes the opportunity to flip HoRam to Kenny Williams based on a lucky streak. But no ..... it appears that Moore actually thought Ramirez was as good as his results in KC last year.

It was ugly when David Glass fired Allard Baird by stringing Baird from a tree, cutting off his nuts, and letting him twist while onlookers averted their eyes. But I thought that long-suffering Royals fans had a glimmer of hope with Dayton Moore coming on-board.

Looking at Moore in action though, we see things such as the Jacobs trade and this Ramirez signing. It's almost as if Moore's in a trance being led by the spirit of Bavasi.

I really feel sorry for Royals fans. (At least the ones who didn't post about Jacobs at FanGraphs. The KC idiots who did post there deserve Moore and more.) They've been through so much, and it looks as if they are yet consigned to damnation. No town, with the exception of Oklahoma City, deserves what is being heaped on KC.

Cashman warned by Gillick about working for Lincoln

Steve Nelson — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 21:32:30 -0000

Sometimes Gillick is like a guy from a slasher movie; even if you think he's gone you know that somehow he's going to find a way to come back and get you.

So now here's Jon Heyman supporting what has been suggested elsewhere; viz., that Cashman never gave any serious consideration to the Mariners job. And it's because of difficulties Gillick had working for Lincoln:

Cashman was warned about Mariners honcho

Brian Cashman is still a Yankee in part because of Gillick's stories about working for the current Mariners regime. Gillick told Cashman for years what it was like to answer to Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln, and Cashman is said to have never seriously considered going there in part because of those stories.

So if Lincoln couldn't keep from meddling when someone with Gillick's pedigree was GM, does the Z-man stand a chance??

I don't understand???

Steve Nelson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:58:19 -0000

How can Tampa Bay be leading the Red Sox 3-1 in the League Championship, particularly having now won two games on the road?

For years the esteemed and knowledgeable experts on Baseball Tonight, in the news media, and at ESPN.com have assured us that when it's the post-season teams simply cannot advance if the players on the roster don't have playoff experience. We've been advised in no uncertain terms that the post-season is "a different game" and if players "haven't been there before" there is no way they can prepare for it and they will wilt under the pressure. Isn't this precisely why rosters must be salted with veterans; why proven veterans are always worth more than untested youngsters, or even players with MLB experience but who have never experienced post-season play??

Surely the differences between the Rays and the Red Sox aren't as great as has been seen so far in their series. If those two teams played each other all 162 games in a season, overall wouldn't we expect no more than about 10 games separating them at the end of the season? If the teams are that closely matched, why isn't the veteran experience of the Red Sox manifesting as the deciding factor in a playoff series?

So why is Tampa Bay stomping the Red Sox? What am I missing here?? Could it be that the those esteemed experts about baseball are as full as BS as the stock broker who was telling me three months ago that with the pullbacks in the stock market stocks were oversold and it was one of the best times to buy stocks he had ever seen?

Poll: How offensive was Chuck Armstrong's decision to keep Washburn?

Steve Nelson — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:21:22 -0000

We've commented ad nauseum about Chuck Armstrong's decision to kill the deal to trade Washburn to the Twins. That FanPost generated more comments than any other that I've done.

But I think it's time to get more quantitative about our feelings. Yes, the decision was offensive, but how offensive was it? Midlly offensive or gut-sickening bad??

And what better way to get quantified than by getting polled. So here it is, a Lookout Landing poll for gauging our revulsion.

Poll

Which of these is least offensive?

Overflowing seasickness slop bucket.

30 votes

Wastebasket filled with used tampons and sanitary napkins collected from a hospital gonorrhea and syphilis treatment ward.

28 votes

5-gallon pail filled with liquid that oozes out of the bottoms of garbage cans.

37 votes

The stuff dragged back up the sewer pipe after RotoRooter finishes clearing your house lateral.

17 votes

Chuck Armstrong's decision to kill the deal to trade Washburn to the Twins.

23 votes

135 votes | Poll has closed