Friday Bird Droppings

by Camden Chat on Oct 30, 2009 6:41 AM EDT in Open Threads Comment 36 comments

Your Off-Season Ex-O of the Day:Melvin Mora

Orioles decline Mora's 2010 option

Already posted in FanShots by OEutaw, but the article is worth a read. Several players officially had their team options declined. -duck

Yanks take Classic duel to pull even

The Yankees won 3-1 last night. Game 3 in Philadelphia Saturday night. -duck

Key dates ahead in O's rebuilding project

Here's a somewhat concise summary of key dates over the winter for arbitration, setting the 40-man roster, the Rule V Draft, and the Winter Meetings. -duck

Bell, Snyder making strides in Arizona

Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder hope to play with the big club next year. And they just might get the chance. -duck

Guthrie bent on making '09 an anomaly

Jeremy Guthrie doesn't need statistics to tell him how his year went. He went to Stanford, you know. He's really smart. He knows darn well he sucked. And he doesn't want to suck next year. That's a Stanford education for you, right there. -duck

Inbox: What's Uehara's role in 2010?

In the latest mailbag, the Orioles beat reporter fields questions regarding Koji Uehara's role, Nolan Reimold's position and the decision to bring back manager Dave Trembley. -duck

O's head to offseason market with quite a list

Andy MacPhail and his staff have got some work to do in a free agent market that probably doesn't provide answers to most of the team's questions. -duck

AFL Update (Roch version)

"Brandon Snyder and Josh Bell were a combined 0-for-7 today in the Phoenix Desert Dogs' 4-0 loss to Peoria Saguaros." -duck

Orioles hire Datz as bench coach

Jeff Datz is the new bench coach, so that search is over. Oh, yeah, and they declined Melvin Mora's option, apparently as an afterthought. Melvin at least deserved his own press release. This is shabby, Orioles, shabby. -duck

An Interview with Jeff Datz

Jeff Datz, 50, has fond memories of his first hit in MLB. It was off Gregg Olson in Baltimore. In 1989. And he's now 50. Man, I'm getting old. -duck

McCrory upbeat after surgery

Bob McCrory thinks he will be ready to pitch in Spring Training. He also, apparently, thinks he will actually be at Spring Training. With the Orioles. Right. Love that optimism, Bob. -duck

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt accuses wife of affair, insubordination

"Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt on Wednesday filed papers opposing his wife's demand to be reinstated as the team's chief executive, citing insubordination and an affair she allegedly had with her bodyguard." Pop some popcorn, pull up a chair, and relax. This is going to get good... -duck

Integrating Major League Baseball retroactively with Strat-o-Matic cards

I'm a big Alternate History fan (can't get enough Harry Turtledove), and this sounds like a interesting idea. But Strat-o-Matic cards? That was played out when I was a kid in the Cenozoic Era. -duck

Ten shining moments: The '80s World Series winners

Rick Dempsey makes two, count 'em two, appearances on this photo collection. -duck

Great Gameday Threads in Camden Chat History - You Had Me At Melmo

You didn't really think I'd fail to link to this most awesome Gameday thread we had celebrating Melvin Mora, did you? And my post-game put a nice little bow on the evening, if I do say so myself. -duck

"We'll always have Melmo."

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And as my 5401st comment, I say again: Ph*ck off, Phillies. Would you be 3rd or 4th in the AL East? Tough call, I know...

A truly loathable team from everyone’s favorite City of Brotherly Losers, which no doubt remains angry that the A’s left, leaving them with the NPL or nuttin’. Tough.

Meanwhile, back at the filthy lucre:

The biggy: SC at Orygun, with the Rubbers a 3.5 pick. With apologies to Westie – and despite the, what, 4800 yds or something they gave up to OSU last week – I think SC will do this deed, and probably by more than a 6. It’s time for them to stop f*cking around, and they know it. They have the best players and probably the best coaching, time for the best commitment.

Cal at ASU is a tougher call, and it’s hard not to pick the Scum Debbils in the desert—but I’m gonna, even at 6.5, cuz I think Cal has actually decided to turn into the team it was supposed to be. Just who is the Best running back in the country, btw?

And today’s real poser: Is a middling Notre Doof team really 29 points better than genuinely awful WSU (in San Antonio)? Y’know what, I don’t think so. More like 21, which is how far they bent for SC in the Coliseum. The Farting Irish had to be artificially ref-suscitated to stay within hailing distance of SC at S. Bend. Enough.

Oh, and S’long, Memlo— and don’t forget to bunt!

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Oct 30, 2009 7:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Who REALLY ruled: Strat-o-Matic or APBA?!?

And please, no coaching from the audience.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Oct 30, 2009 8:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Atari 2600

That’s who

"I would approve signing a pitcher that ate kitten tacos if he won 20 games a year." -BPinOK

by duck on Oct 30, 2009 8:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Baseball Classics

http://www.playbaseballclassics.com/

I now have a blog: http://justanotherbaltimoresportsblog.blogspot.com/

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Oct 30, 2009 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

not that i'm complaining

but do you only bet on the pac-10? theres probably easier games out there to call, i feel like the pac-10 is pretty unpredictable as conferences go.

"you know what the orioles could use right now? a day off." - joe angel

by swilhelmross on Oct 30, 2009 9:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Granted, the conf really has been a handicapping mess this year, and it's cost me a couple times.

But normally it offers up a steady one or two Big Anomaly games per year (SC gets beat, plus some other one) while the rest fall within reasonable norms.

I stick with it because I know the venues (a degree from one, summer school at another, teaching at a third);

it tends to have a larger adjusted share of the best college athletes available than other confs (using in-and-out stats: h.s. numbers and NFL/CFL/etc. placements); and

oddsmakers regularly underrate it out of conf, which is suh-weet.

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Oct 30, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You're a big alternate history fan?

haha me too. I’ve got a book with some great short stories like ‘The West is Red’ (I’m sure Titov can guess what that one is about) and ‘The Ink From the New Moon’ (what if the Chinese had colonized America a good 500 years before Columbus?). I love that stuff.

Oh, and Strat-o-matic RULES.

by NewYorkOriole on Oct 30, 2009 8:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The technological advantages

the Chinese had over the West in sailing by 1400 were almost unfathomable. They were using multi-compartment ships (if there’s a hole in the side, it fills that compartment, not the whole ship) 1,000 years before Europeans, and their ocean-going ships in 1400 put to shame anything Columbus used almost 100 years later.

Here’s a primer.

Moreover, Zheng He’s ships … were impressive examples of naval engineering. His so-called treasure ships (which brought back to China such things a giraffes from Africa) were 400 feet long. Columbus’s flagship the St. Maria, in contrast, was but 85 feet in length. Zheng He’s treasure ships … displaced no less than 10,000 tons and had an aspect ratio (width:length) of 0.254; in other words, they were wide and bulky—"the supertankers of their day." Aside from the treasure ships, Zheng He’s fleet also contained a variety of other, specialized vessels: “equine ships” (for carrying horses), warships, supply ships, and water tankers.

Animated comparison of a Zheng He ship and a Columbus ship

"I would approve signing a pitcher that ate kitten tacos if he won 20 games a year." -BPinOK

by duck on Oct 30, 2009 9:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

That’s one of the plot points. The main character (a Chinese poet/historian traveling to the ‘wild’ East coast) comments on how inefficient the square rigging of the European ships are, and how impressed they are when the Chinese ship comes sailing into the cove, against the wind. In fact, Columbus tries to steal one at night….

by NewYorkOriole on Oct 30, 2009 10:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sounds interesting

I also love alternate history/speculative fiction, but can’t stand Harry Turtledove’s writing style (I’m a book snob). Another Columbus-era alternate history is Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus by Orson Scott Card. Yeah, he’s a nutcase nowadays, but his earlier writing is great.

Another favorite of mine is a novella by John Crowley called Great Work of Time, which combines two of my favorite things: 19th-century Britain and time travel. It’s Cecil Rhodes like you’ve never seen him before.

by PhilR8 on Oct 30, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

have you read....

…Jack Finney’s TIme And Again?

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Oct 30, 2009 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No

At first I thought you meant Time After Time which I have seen and enjoyed. I think I’ll buy it, though. I like the sound of it.

by PhilR8 on Oct 30, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's really great

time travel that focuses more on anthropology and less on sci-fi. fascinating stuff, particularly if you like depictions of nyc in the late 1800s. the book is also fun because it was written in the 70s, and some of finney’s language is a bit dated.

he put out a sequel in 1995 right before his death, and this discussion prompted me to go reserve it at my library.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Oct 30, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

OSC

Ender’s Game is awesome. I’ve heard of his Columbus book….

by NewYorkOriole on Oct 30, 2009 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What is the name of the collection of alternate history stories?

by PhilR8 on Oct 30, 2009 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"Roads Not Taken"

http://www.amazon.com/Roads-Not-Taken-Alternate-History/dp/0345421949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256914826&sr=8-1

by NewYorkOriole on Oct 30, 2009 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oooh Gene Wolfe

Me like.

by PhilR8 on Oct 30, 2009 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah his story...

""How I Lost the Second World War", by Gene Wolfe, makes a great closing story. The plot is too weird to describe, but suffice to say that it takes place in an alternate version of the ’30s, and involves Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, Dwight Eisenhower, an automobile race, a strategic wargame, and an early invention of the transistor."

by NewYorkOriole on Oct 30, 2009 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also...

What Ifs? of American History 1 & 2

The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century

And as far as HT, “The Guns of the South” is a classic. Alternate Civil War history. I’d describe the plot, but you’d laugh at it. But HT actually pulls it off.

"I would approve signing a pitcher that ate kitten tacos if he won 20 games a year." -BPinOK

by duck on Oct 30, 2009 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've read it....

Since it involves ‘Time Travel, I’m a little sketchy on calling it ‘Alternate History’…

And here’s an interesting AltHist page…some of the ones on there are pretty decent:

http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

and another one that has some funny and quirky ones:

http://www.ahtg.net/

by NewYorkOriole on Oct 30, 2009 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wish that wikia had maps :(

Maps make everything better.

by PhilR8 on Oct 30, 2009 12:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It does

Under the different timelines, there are usually several maps…like:

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/althistory/images/1/1b/1983DDWorld-July2009.PNG

by NewYorkOriole on Oct 30, 2009 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's the book that turned me off of HT

I bought it because the plot sounds awesome; I had never heard of HT, so I bought it. I don’t think I made it through the first chapter.

by PhilR8 on Oct 30, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry to hear that

Then again, I’m the guy that walked out of “The Gods Must Be Crazy” because I thought it was such a boring movie.

"I would approve signing a pitcher that ate kitten tacos if he won 20 games a year." -BPinOK

by duck on Oct 30, 2009 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

amen

i couldn’t tell what the big deal was

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Oct 30, 2009 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No accounting for taste

This coming from someone who didn’t like Time Bandits!

You can't fix stupid. Stupid is forever.

by sluggo 2.0 on Oct 31, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Another good collection

Alternate Presidents
Alternate Kennedys
Alternate Tyrants
Alternate Warriors
Alternate Outlaws

All edited by Mike Resnick

You can't fix stupid. Stupid is forever.

by sluggo 2.0 on Oct 31, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Orson Scott Card...

I love the Ender’s Game series, but whyyyyy does he have to be such a homophobic crazy-face?

by O Nina on Oct 30, 2009 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Turtledove is great at plot

and HORRIBLE at actual writing, especially dialogue.

"I would approve signing a pitcher that ate kitten tacos if he won 20 games a year." -BPinOK

by duck on Oct 30, 2009 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like looking at his books

I like reading the dust jacket and looking at the alt-history maps that are usually at the beginning of the book. But then I close the book and move on to something else.

by PhilR8 on Oct 30, 2009 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Alternative History Book o' the Month: The Moscow Option, David Downing

Aug. 1941, the Germans are halfway to Moscow, Hitler is in an accident and goes into a coma, leaving the generals to manage the campaign— which they do, and fairly well. But taking Moscow didn’t do it for Napoleon, in the end, and guess what…

A well (enough) written and at times cleverly imagined alternative WWII scenario, with key stops pulled out at the Panama Canal (instead of Midway) and at the gates of Jerusalem (for el Alamein). I recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/Moscow-Option-Alternative-Second-World/dp/1853676748/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256920064&sr=1-1-spell

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Oct 30, 2009 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man, I’m getting old.

I’m not sure the word “getting” belongs in that sentence.

"I doubt he could reach [second base]...mostly cuz his fucking arm was in Aybar's nuts." – twistedlogic

by zknower on Oct 30, 2009 9:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Baseball, meet Replay: "Enough is enough with these blown calls", J. Passan

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-umps103009&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

“It’s confounding to see players and managers and executives pooh-pooh the idea of instant replay when MLB is approaching a dozen missed calls in its most important month of the season. And it’s horrifying to see games turn not on the actions of players but of the men charged with enforcing the rules. And it’s sad that only an epic World Series will save this month from being remembered for the dodgy eyesight of middle-aged men.

Welcome to Blindtober…"

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Churchill,1942-- a rebuilding year.

by Titov on Oct 30, 2009 12:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Jinx is real

I now have a blog: http://justanotherbaltimoresportsblog.blogspot.com/

by BaltimoreSportsFan on Oct 30, 2009 3:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

HA!

They’re both 0-8 with 6 Ks. ::cackles maniacally into the night::

by O Nina on Oct 30, 2009 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m mostly indifferent towards Pedro, but he was a pleasure to watch last night. The old fart’s fastball topped at 88 mph but he changed the speed and locations of his pitches like a magician. And pitch sequence with Matsui in the 7th was just awesome. Pedro had him at 1-2 and threw a breaking pitch at his shoelaces. Matsui chases but he golfs it out of the park. Good pitch but that MFY managed to hit it out. Great game, hope to see Pedro again in game 6.

Vizzini: Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?
Man in Black: Yes.
Vizzini: Morons.

by birdman on Oct 30, 2009 4:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs