SB Nation User Blog: wiggins

Ichthyomancy Returns!

wiggins — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 16:08:01 -0000

Edit: Craig here. The following post was first made on FishStripes on April 3, 2006, Since you can't improve on a classic, it is reposted here today. If you didn't know Wiggins, I immediately know two things about you. One: you still own all the pieces of your family's silverware. And two: you missed out on a lot of laughs. So without any further ado, here is an oldie but a goodie.

"Ichthyomancy - what the hell is that?" Do you say?

Well... I'm glad I'm here to help.

If one were to check the site dictionary one would see that the definition is "Divination by the heads or the entrails of fishes."

Now - isn't that helpful?

Okay, okay - enough beating around the bush - Ichthyomancy is our fun way to make predictions about upcoming games, getting everyone involved and having a grand old time with each game of the season. It's fun, it's free and everyone's invited!

Here's how it works (a lot of you already know this but for our more recent friends, or just for anyone who hasn't played before) -

For each game we will have an open thread, and in the comments for that we will invite anyone who wishes to, to make predictions about the game (whether you actually use the heads and entrails of fish to make your predictions - I leave that up to you). After the game, we will give out points to those who made the best predictions - keeping a tally of points as the season goes on and crowning a glorious winner at the end!

For each game you can make three predictions -

Attendance. This is straightforward enough, and I think the object for most of the games at JRS (since I still can't bring myself to call it Dolphin stadium) will be to go as low as possible. One point awarded per night - the winner will be the one who guesses closest (duh).
Players of the game. Also pretty straightforward - and since this is a Marlins site, we'll be giving points only for Fish players (unless you are visiting from another team's site - Dex, I'm looking in your direction!). You get to pick one player who you think will contribute most to the night's win, and if he has a good night you're set. We'll award points for a maximum of three players per night, and no points awarded in blowout losses.
Above and beyond picks. This is where it gets fun! Everyone gets to make one more pick where they can predict something else that will happen during the game. Do you feel in your gut (or your fish's guts) that Hermida will hit another grand slam - and it will be in the fourth inning? Make that pick. If it happens - you look like a genius and get a point - maybe three as that would be a really good pick. The more detailed and imaginative you get, the more points you get, but also the less likely it is to happen. Have fun with it! But not too much fun (Dex - I'm looking in your direction again).

That's about it. Remember - this is for everyone and it is fun! Don't feel shy - if you haven't done it before, now is the perfect time to start. We'll have an open thread up later today for tonight's game and I expect to see some picks made, people! If you are a lurker who hasn't signed up for the site - now's the time!

Did I mention we will have FABULOUS PRIZES for the winner??!?!?

Oh yeah. Fabulous prizes.

Ichthyomancy. It's where it's at, baby.

[Update] I forgot to mention - and this should be self-evident, but... picks need to be in before the game starts, with the exception of attendance, which can be changed/added after the game has started (up to an hour after game-time), to allow for everyone to change their minds about the guess after seeing the stadium. Sound fair?

Fishstripes Fantasy League

wiggins — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 17:39:56 -0000

I haven't been around in a bit... but I have to declare...

I am the smartest man alive!!!

Okay... sorry. But I did win the Fs.com fantasy league, after being near the bottom the whole season. And I know exactly how it happened -

I owned Anibal Sanchez AND had him active for the no-hitter.

That was all the good voo-doo I needed to make a push at the end and hold off fishfan and Dr F (and whoever else was doing it - I don't even rememeber).

Anyway - this is just my obnoxious way of saying - Nyah-nyah-nyah!

Anyway... more importantly - congrats on the Ichthy win, Dr F. That's MUCH cooler, as that actually took work and intelligence. I do indeed have prizes in mind. craig and I will talk - hopefully you'll like...

Open Thread and Ichthyomancy: Marlins at Braves (5/15)

wiggins — Mon, 15 May 2006 18:19:05 -0000

Here we go!

Opener of a four-game series. All of our starters will be under 25.

Tonight's is Josh Johnson. He'll be facing Kyle Davies in a battle of young'uns...

7:05 start time.

I'm once again bitter that the only one of these games that is on TBS is Thursday's matchup - and I will have to miss most of that one (I hate work). At least I can catch some of it, since it is an afternoon affair...

I'll let Craig take care of the table, etc., for Ichthyomancy, but don't let the fact that there isn't one here throw you off - make your picks now!

Here's today's Ichthyomancy pick table:

FishStriper	Attendance	Player	AAB
Bobbob	14,000	Cabrera	Marlins: Bat K< Pitch K
Carolina
Colombo	27,134	Cabrera
Dan	31,062	Uggla	Helms: PH RBI
Dex
Double B	23,451	Johnson	Marlins P walk 10
Dr F	25,048	Jacobs	3 Marlins 3+ H each
Eaglephin
Fishfan		Cabrera	Bench clearing brawl
Fluxuation	32,324	Ramirez	Marlins R=2 x Braves H
HadMatter	19,019	Cabrera	Johnson: CG
Jscape	23,765	Ramirez	Marlins: IBB except Cabrera
Jsprt06
17MarlinS35	17,000	Willingham	Jacobs: HR in 6th
Maverick	28,997	Willingham	Uggla & Cabrera back to back HR
NULaw
Pete
StrandedX02
Wiggins
Zheke

Best of Luck to Everyone!

Too Tired

wiggins — Mon, 15 May 2006 14:34:38 -0000

There's plenty to talk about today, I guess.

The Fish finally won a three game series (against a team that is worse than they are).

We have some big roster changes (as Maverick noted in his diary, and on his website...)

We start a four-game series today with the Braves. I'm already sick of them. Do we really have to play them sixteen more times? Bleh. Well... hopefully they can split the series at least. Maybe the young starters (now that Nolasco is due to take the hill on Wednesday) can make something happen. I wonder how old Big Moe feels around these guys?

Anyway... Like I said - plenty to discuss.

I'm just too tired.

I got nothing - which is less than usual, and you thought that wasn't possible, didn't you?

If you have any other topics to bring out - feel free to do that here. I'm going back to sleep now.

Off Day Today!

wiggins — Mon, 08 May 2006 15:03:53 -0000

I know one thing for sure.

The Marlins will NOT lose today.

Whew.

The Fish will get some rest today and try and regroup from the ass-whupping the Cards just put on them. Maybe they can take out some frustration on Chipper and the boys from Atlanta.

I hope so.

I'm bitter about this series because only one of the games is on TBS and I can't watch that one...

I am a bitter bear. Nothing new there.

What's new? Any Comments? Consider this an open thread...

Okay... so THAT sucked.

wiggins — Mon, 08 May 2006 14:54:23 -0000

I had planned to write more of the back-story of Mike and Dan (and Stella Mae, of course) - and how they all got together with Shadez in the D.R. one summer on vacation...

But man - am I bummed out.

I know that losing to the Cards is not really a bad thing - they are a great team, and we all know we suck... but anytime you get your ass handed to you seemingly so easily - swept! - at home, by ANYONE... that's painful. And for all of that to come after the little tease of the state stadium money....

Damn.

I needed some cheering up. So what did I do? If you've been reading any of this for a while your first guess would probably be scotch.

I can't say that hasn't been involved...

However - I actually have Marlins-related goodness here. Granted, it ain't much - but it's something.

Look at this page. It is the current NL hitting leaders, with addendums for our fish. Notice that for every category (except home runs and hits) we have a representative in the top ten - and in the ones we miss - we miss just barely. I know it is early and that our representatives consist entirely of Cabrera, Willingham and Ramirez, but hell - I'll take good news where I can get it. By the way - Miguel comes up as third in the league in OBP. Mmmmm...

If we could get Hermida back and hitting like he was supposed to, this team might actually be able to score some runs.

Of course - we won't talk about the pitching. Good God... Did you realize that Mitre is technically the Marlins' ERA leader at 4.89?

Back to the scotch...

What's wrong with Dontrelle?

wiggins — Mon, 08 May 2006 14:54:11 -0000

Anything?

I was just talking to a buddy of mine (not a Marlins fan - but he has the A-train on his fantasy team) and he asked me that question - except he wasn't as polite about it.

I know that I (and my friend) should cut Dontrelle some serious slack, as he should have won the Cy Young last year, and he is an amazing pitcher, is a joy to watch and has actually pitched fairly well at times this year... in fact his April over all was pretty good.

But this May has been pretty awful. Two starts - 10.50 ERA.

Am I over-reacting? It's just two starts. I don't know... his ERA has steadily risen with each start of the season, and with what I have seen he just hasn't seemed quite right. Is the team getting to him, perhaps?

The answer I gave my friend was this - so much of Dontrelle's game seems to come from his own inner energy, and the atmosphere of losing on the team MAY actually be getting to him. That is obviously going to be true, to a certain extent, of every player - but I have never really seen anyone (especially a pitcher) who seems to - every game - bring so much energy to the field and really feed off of it.

That HAS to be hard to maintain when you are losing constantly, and know there is not much of a chance to win even if you pitch well (witness the one win even when he pitched decently).

I hope this does not sound like I am saying anything bad about Dontrelle and I certainly do not wish to put him down in any way, shape or form. I also hope that these last two starts are a mere aberration against two good offensive teams (the Phills and Cards can ruin any pitcher's day). Hell - even in his phenomenal 2005, Willis had an off month (he just waited till July for that), and May has been typically an off month for him (lifetime 1.49 WHIP)...

Maybe I am just over-reacting. I hope so. I hope he makes me eat my damn words and makes me look like a big fat idiot (which isn't hard to do, because I am one). But I have to say I am concerned. I have never watched an athlete to whom fun, happiness and energy means more - which is what makes watching him SUCH a joy - and now he is in a situation where things probably won't be very positive for a little while.

I sincerely hope that he doesn't let that bother him over the course of the season.

Leave your comments and tell me I'm an idiot.

Please.

RFK Fun!

wiggins — Thu, 04 May 2006 16:35:04 -0000

So I had a grand old time at the game last night.

I decided to go by myself and splurge on a good ticket - better than I would normally get for my broke-ass self, anyway. I wanted to make sure I got a good view of all the new guys and really got into the game experience, and it was great! It was also kind of nice not having to worry about anyone else (I usually go in large groups of friends - which is cool, but a whole different thing).

I didn't take a camera, since I don't own one... so you guys don't get any cool pictures to look at (sorry - I suck), but here are my impressions -

I sat right in front of four older gentlemen (all at least seventy, I would say) who had been baseball fans and amateur players since they were kids. They talked knowledgably and appreciatively about the game, throughout. They cracked my ass up - including one guy yelling at his friends - "When the hell did you start coming to games and NOT drinking beer! What's a baseball game without beer!?!?!" The coolest part was that these guys remembered all the old senators players and also knew all the Nats - although they had to ask me what Christian Guzman's name was. Frankly, if I was a Nats fan, I'd try and forget him, too.

There were actually a decent number of Marlins fans at the game, too - especially in my section. I didn't get to talk to any of them (we were too far away, and frankly I was enjoying my solitude, broken by the old guys), but we did get up and cheer at each other when good things happened for our team, annoying the crap out of the Nats faithful. If any of them check the site - thanks for making me feel happy to be alive my friends!

For those of you who haven't been around here long, you might not now - I have never actually been to a Marlins home game. I know, I suck... but I recently decided that I have to figure out how to get down there later this summer and catch a couple of games. Last night confirmed this, for I must say it is a nice feeling to have actual fans of your team around you when you go to a game...

My favorite moments of the night were in the ninth (of course). When Uggla was up to bat to start it off with the score still tied... before he doubled he hit a ball foul that JUST MISSED going out. And I mean he got EVERY INCH of that ball. It was a screamer - and everyone in the park just froze. All the Washington fans were completely scared that some kid named Uggla had just ruined their night. About two seconds after it came down foul and while everything was still quiet some kid a couple rows behind me yelled out "Better not throw that SAME pitch again!!!"

I just about peed myself - and the kid was serious! AND it was good advice, because I'm pretty sure that was the pitch that Uggla lined to the wall for the double to start of the rally.

Good times.

Then - they brought in Cordero. They try and make it a production there at RFK when he comes in (a la Hoffman/Rivera, etc.), but I just can't take him THAT seriously. However - there was definitely a feeling in the house that this game was over. I mean - the Marlins had a five run lead and lost it - and this game looked destined for extra innings. I don't know about you, but I'd take their pen over ours any day. Not that their's is necessarily all that great, but...

This game was over. No way the Marlins recover from that, right? I was certain of it - the Nats fans were certain of it. NO ONE thought that Hanley would do anything other than strikeout.

Then he muscled out a bloop pinch hit - just enough to win the game.

It was magic, I tell ya.

Of course - the game was meaningless. Nats/Marlins - who cares, right? I doubt it will even really turn around the fortunes of the team in any meaningful way... but it is nice to know that they can indeed recover for once from losing a big lead and come bck on a good reliever and win a damn ball game (by one run!) in the ninth. It made me happy. I'm sure they did it just for me.

Go Fish!

Open Thread and Ichthyomancy: Phillies at Marlins (5/1)

wiggins — Mon, 01 May 2006 20:00:55 -0000

Bad news - the Phillies are supposed to be a good team.

Good news - they haven't been THAT much better than the Fish so far this year.

Bad news - They HAVE to get better.

Good news - they are sending Ryan Madson (AKA - South Street Moehler) to the mound tonight! There are ichthyomancy points to be made, my friends!!!

Better news - we got Dontrelle going. I smell a chance for victory!

A chance!

7:05, people - get those picks in!

Here's today's Ichthyomancy pick table:

FishStriper	Attendance	Player	AAB
Bobbob	11,500	Cabrera	Marlins: Bat K< Pitch K
Carolina
Colombo	18,501	Willis	Marlins: Bat around
Dan	12,913	Willis	Willis: Bat H>Pitch H
Dex
Double B	17,689	Willis	Marlins P walk 10
Dr F	10,044	Jacobs	Willis: 7+ IP, 10+ K
Eaglephin
Fishfan		Cabrera	Bench clearing brawl
Fluxuation	15,432	Willingham	Willingham RBI>Phillies H
HadMatter	15,989	Uggla	Fish: win by 1 R
Jscape	23,765	Ramirez	Marlins: IBB except Cabrera
Jsprt06
Maverick
NULaw	14,241	Willis	Willis: Quality start
Pete
StrandedX02
Wiggins
Zheke

Best of Luck to Everyone!

Get to Know Your Fish!

wiggins — Mon, 01 May 2006 11:06:58 -0000

So I was complaining to Craig the other day - "I don't know these guys!" - I bitched.

That's me. I can't stop with the bitching.

Now - I know we will get to know our beloved rookies and all their personalities/quirks as the season progresses. I know that as we watch these guys in action and watch the interviews, read quotes, etc., we will get at least a little feel for how they are as people (much as we had done for the old guard)... but I'm an impatient man. I want to have that connection RIGHT NOW!

So I'm going to fake it.

Starting today I am going to fabricate personalities and even backgrounds for some of our new guys, just so we can all have something to relate to.

You can all come along with me on this - or not. I'm going. And you can't stop me.

You ready?

We'll start with the right side of our infield, since both of them are new to both the team and the organization. Plus they were born only seven months apart! How cool is that? They could have gone to high school together! In fact - I'm going to say they did!

Daniel Cooley Uggla and Michael James Jacobs.

It says they were born in Kentucky and California, respectively, but PHOOEY, I says - Phooey. That's what I says. They were both born and raised in Muncie, Indiana. They played ball together from little league, all the way through high school (everyone knows the School Song, I hope) -

Fight on, fight on, dear old Muncie
Fight on, hoist the gold and blue
You'll be tattered, torn, and hurtin'
Once the Muncie is done with you.
Go... Eagles!

Since Dan and Mike were the best of friends, they sang that song with glad hearts every day, and happily led their team to victory... until tragedy struck - in the form of a WOMAN!

Unfortunately, they both fell in love with the same Muncie girl (a sweetheart named Stella Mae) and then fell out of friendship with each other and (of course) stopped talking entirely. The bitterness between them got so bad - the school team lost the state championship!

It was horrible.

They haven't spoken since.

So... if you ever see Uggla not quite make that throw to first, or Jacobs muff a throw over from Dan - NOW you know why. It has nothing to do with talent, but... as always - cherchez la femme.

Curses, Stella Mae - curses.

Now of course - does it matter if any of this actually happened? Not really. It's not like we really get to know these guys, anyway. I like my story - I'm sticking with it.