Baseball / Toaster Ovens / Mitt

So I'm of course gearing up for baseball season and reading Bill James Handbook and noticed that Ryan Braun is on the fringe of Hall of Fame  . . .if not for the PEDs.   I love this book but MAN the player projections are in the tiniest font that is printable.

I've been comparing Bill James projections to Baseball Prospectus projections in a non scientific way using only MY team. So far Prospectus is doing better.

One thing I learned from last year is that it is better to have 8 average players then 5 REALLY good and 3 really bad players.  You would think with Yelich AND Trout there would be so many runs scored it's crazy - NOPE - the black hole at the bottom of the lineup was . . . a black hole of no runs.

Reading James one thing he mentioned is that good players on bad teams to better.  For instance.  Henry Mancini . . NO - Trey Mancini on Baltimore.  Average to good players get more playing time on bad teams.  I drafted Mancini 2 years ago to take Freddie Freemans place this year (lost to free agency) and Trey had a .899 OPS this year.

I was moaning about  last years draft where I could not find enough ABs for catchers - I had to draft 5 just to get 700 plate appearances.  The draft was FUBR for me but I did get a good number of great picks in low rounds.   Danny Santana in round 19 became a full time 1B with a .857 OPS, Greg Garcia round 20 excellent Utl Inf against right handed pitchers, IIidemaro Vargas round 18 (wow three good picks in a row) is great vs. lefties at 2B.

Swing and a miss on the high expensive rounds but not to bad for the bottom feeders.

I have the 2nd pick for Free agents and while last year there was a 20% raise in salaries will be more this year.  I'll have a choice of Verlander who will be the most expensive player ever in our league.  OR Kershaw . . the 2nd most expensive. 

OH there are some GREAT players out there but I NEED pitching.

BTW - Baseball Prospectus has Travis Shaw as one of the top 10 hitters to have a much better year

They also predict that Bryce Harper will have a poor year along with worst fielding 2B in the league Keston Hiura

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Toaster ovens

Our toaster could no longer burn toast so we went to buy a toaster. They are like $15-$20. WELL - looking we saw toaster ovens for like $35.  WHY NOT.

WOW - WHO KNEW (everybody probably).  They are amazing.  We had baked chicken breasts last night.  Bake potatoes tonight.  Toast and bagels in the morning.  Who knew they were A TINY OVEN! LOL  it takes 5 minutes to heat to 450. They do everything a real oven does but in less time.  You can make cookies and muffins and it does not warm up the entire house.

I am floored.

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members of Cult45 move on - this will only upset you more.   

Thank you Mitt Romney - at least there is one non-spineless GOP Senator in the group. What a total embarrassment for the so called "Republican" Party which is now the brainwashed  Cult45 jellyfish.

How can anybody listen to the outright lies the impeached "President" spewed the other night - I GOT A BRIDGE YOU CAN BUY!

"I've also made an ironclad pledge to American families: We will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions,"

FREAKING BULL SHIT LIE.  yet the gullible will believe him.

The Trump administration backed a lawsuit claiming that the Affordable Care Act's protections for pre-existing conditions are illegal. 

"If we had not reversed the failed economic policies of the previous administration, the world would not now be witnessing this great economic success,"       

More lies!  98% of economists say the "current period of economic growth began during the Obama administration. Some say Trump's tax cuts might have boosted it, but the economy was not on the decline when Trump took office."

throwing gas on a fire does not mean you created fire.

"And I was pleased to announce last year that for the first time in 51 years, the cost of prescription drugs actually went down," Trump said.

Bull shit lie - Prescription drugs prices have never been higher and are rising.  How can people believe this shit mouth.

and my comments about the dirt bag homophobic racist neanderthal piece of scum Rush?  I stand by my comments.   remember what he said

“There is no conclusive proof that nicotine’s addictive... And the same thing with cigarettes causing emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease.”

Rush on Michael J Fox having parkinsons disease:

"He is exaggerating the effects of the disease. He's moving all around and shaking and it's purely an act... This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn't take his medication or he's acting."

Rush on LGBT:

“When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation.”

Of course Rush listeners all agree.  He is the Tokyo Rose of the old white male population who spread propaganda do divide America.  He should be put in jail as a clear and present danger to America but he will have a wonderful place in hell instead  . . . .  along with the sniveling cowards in the so called "Republican" now Cult45 Senate.

I didn't like Bush or other REAL Republicans but it was fine. It was their turn.  But they were not  dividers of America.  I feel sorry for members of Cult45 as they have been mislead with propaganda. 
Nuff said - Thanks Mitt for being the only honest real Republican.

Sorry - it pisses me off.
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The death of the Caucus ? Andy Reid / Rush - not the band

 WOW - DJ and I had so much great TV to watch last night,  Picard, Curb Your Enthusiasm and the fantastic Avenue 5 (The Office in space)  so what did we have on?  The Iowa Caucus's . .for FOUR HOURS!

It was actually fascinating and looked like fun - totally undemocratic process where pretty much only white people and collage students were involved.  Iowa, one of the whitest States in America and where most of the minorities work 2nd and 3rd shift cannot be involved in the "democratic" process.

Well - the totally inept DNC (compared to the totally corrupt  GOP) decided testing was not needed.  So THE APP they were suppose to use was totally incomprehensible to the normal humans that were suppose to use it.  The programmers found it easy but it seems the people in the field could not download it MONDAY MORNING and when they did they could not figure it out.

No worries - there was a back up . . . but who knew all 1500 Caucasus's would try to call at once which brought down the phone lines.

What a bunch of buffoons!

One thing was clear though.  The #1 reason people were there was not Health Care or the Environment, the number reason was To Defeat Trump the Impeached. They kept asking people at every caucus and that was #1.  Get corruption out of the White House.

That is why Trump will lose.  Liberals are 100% united THIS TIME and have one and only one big reason to vote.  Beat trump . . . . unless the young crowd who are ALL for Bernie lose and they take their toys and decide to not vote again in protest like last time.  No participation ribbon for you.

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Rush as advanced lung cancer! 

My dad died of lung cancer 35 years ago Wednesday. You don't beat lung cancer.  You endure and then die a long and slow death finally drowning on your own phlegm.  I'm sure Rush will have all sorts of medical aid and I hope when he is laying in bed for a year trying desperately to breath he can reflect on how he was against poor people having health care, only the rich deserved it.

I listened to Rush maybe 10 times for 5 minutes (the radio was on the Brewer station) before I was so pissed at his lies, fake news, homophobic and racist views on the world I would be pissed for hours.

Rush is a clear and present danger to America.

If Trump the impeached had lung cancer I would feel sad for him. He is just an ignorant little bitch boy in his racist ways, but Rush?  Rush is smart and went out of his way to spread fake news, spread homophobia and promote racism.

I will not shed one tear when he is gone.  Good riddance.

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More people watched The Halftime show then they watched the actual game!  And it looks like the show is being ranked as one of the best. 

In fact the Super Bowl had good ratings.  Last year was the lowest ratings in like 5 years.  This year the trend started back up again.

Congrats to Andy Reid.  Check this out. This is little Andy Reid at a Punt Pass and Kick competition when he was 13 years old.   NO REALLY IT IS.   He won.  Not fake news.

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80% of ebooks are sold on Amazon and they track how fast you read. 

Since people started steaming music and artist started being paid by the number of complete songs people listen to the average length of a song is 20 seconds shorter now.    The same thing with books.

 If Amazon tracks WHEN you read a book and how fast will books become shorter so they can sell more?

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DANG - my phone kept dinging - it was a TEXT from Legal Eagle a cannabis dispensary in Colorado with their daily deal on cannabis.  Buy 1/2 ounce of Blue Dream for $150 and get another half ounce for $50

Compared to Illinois . . well . . you can't because Illinois does not have any cannabis for recreational users. One place in Springfield you can buy 1/8 of an ounce for $69 . . plus 25% tax if you get there at the right time before it's sold out  What a deal.

There are 8 grow houses in ILL and they cannot keep up.  One is starting a 1 million foot expansion.

Bernie the Old said "If elected, on day one, I will make cannabis legal in all 50 states  through Executive Order".  yea what could POSSIBLY go wrong there LOL  Dream on Bernie

I like Bernie - I will have a very hard time voting for him but I gotta say - I'm still undecided.  Vote Blue No Matter Who and all that.

Biden - sigh - I tossed his hat OUT of the ring last night with his speech that sounded more like a Dewey vs. Truman campaign speech.  Seriously - you can only say "folks" 25 times in a speech before it becomes old.   He officially got check off my list on people to not vote for . . . unless I have too.

At the moment Trump the impeached is way behind almost everybody in the key states to most of the blue candidates.  In Wisconsin Biden and Bernie both beat trump, Warren is 1% behind trump and Buttigieg is 2% behind.

I believe blue can defeat Trump the impeached. Should not be a problem and the Senate is a distinct possibility (that you GOP).  The GOP is defending 25 seats and the DNC are defending 12.  All the DNC need to do is pick up 3 or 4 gerrymandered seats and they have the momentum. 

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Nuff said for today.

Shakira and J Lowe - seemed to have a mix reaction / inner dialog / knee / The Stick

I was going to lead off with the results of my new knee doctor visit but then I decided the "inner dialog" discovery where people can have conversations with themselves . . in their brain (I can't) or Jimmy the Stick year 25?? but then  . . . .  the half time show happened.

Truth in advertising . . .I own two Shakira CDs AND listen to them so . . . . . .

Yesterday I was watching the Audience Network as they had a REALLY REALLY good INX concert and then I saw there was a Shakira concert. I had never seen her in a real concert so of course I tuned it.

YIKES - I instantly was looking MORE forward to the halftime show.   Well she did not disappoint me long along with J Lowe.  GREAT music, great dancing and DJ loved it as I did and many others.

HOWEVER one comment on my thread was . . . .

 Are you kidding me...worst show ever...pornographic, strip club venue with thong costumes, pole dancing, pelvic thrusts, writhing on the floor, butt slapping, tasteless trash...all in prime time with children watching! Even children involved in sacrificial costumes...this was an atrocity. Shame on them! Call me a prude, but our morality is in jeopardy. There is so much that could have been done...but wasn't!

Sacrificial costumes?

Admittedly I felt there would be some people that were annoyed and probably the conservatives  Christians that voted for Trump.  America is one of the most sexually repressed countries in the world you know.  We elected a leader that brags about groping MANY woman . . . because he can, but the same people hate a little butt grinding?

and trust me - Shakira was conservative in the halftime show.  Only in America would people have issues with this halftime show.

OH - the impeached President with the largest brain ever congratulated the Kansas City Kansas Chiefs last night.  Of course he did.

a joke

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LOOK BEHIND YOU!!

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Then that whole dialog thing.   There was an article about people having an "inner dialog".  They have complete conversations with themselves.  They can hear their own voice in their brains.  It SEEMS many people have this.  I do not.

In fact it seems many people with dyslexia do not have this.  A friend said her husband and one of their kids cannot hear their own voice in their brain . . and both have a little dyslexia.  I battle dyslexia and I can hear my voice but only 3 or 4 words before it fades into boredom.

The ONLY time I can hear my voice in my brain is when I type.  I would bet $1000 that Trump has no inner dialog, thus, his tweets.   Thus my writing a blog.  Maybe those words NEED to get out because there is no way for the brain (no matter how small) to process the thoughts as they cannot be internalized.   Just thinking out loud (the only way I know how).  OH - I have ideas and thoughts but they don't form words anywhere.   Curious.

Do you have inner dialog?
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Went to Prairie Ridge for my knee appointment Friday morning and WOW - what a difference between UW. I got more information in an hour and a half then all my meetings total at the UW.

The PA looked at my x-ray and said Oh my Gosh that knee is in BAD shape. And I asked WHY am I not in any real pain.  Only minor discomfort and a tiny bit of swelling (but no long long walks).  He looked at what kind of cortisone injection I had and said (unlike all the other non-committal  doctors)  that that type of cortisone wore off within a few weeks . . . . . well?? 

It's probably the prednisone that I am being weened off of 1 mg at a time.

So the plan now is to have a CT scan the end of May for maybe a fall TKR . . UNLESS . . I need it sooner because of pain and so forth.  OH - I'll need a TKR but if I can hold off for the golf summer I'll go for it.  It's all about timing.

All I can say is I was impressed with the amount of information.

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OH YEA - "M"   "Darmok and Jalad"    I JUST went to Amazon to see when a book I ordered last night would get here.  Guess what I saw - Darmok and Jalad T-SHIRTS!!!    WHAT???  

And yea - I ordered 2020 Baseball Prospectus . . .it's on back order  WHAT?  Did they only print of 50?  It's a major thing!!!

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JIMMY THE STICK YEAR 25.

The original Jimmy has been missing since we finished the basement. I swear he is in the garage  . . somewhere.  But as Gus the Weather Dog commented yesterday on his facebook page (now with 402 followers).  Who ya gonna believe, a rodent?  a stick?  or a talking dog on the internet.  Knock Knock Anyone home?   Talking Dog wins.

He saw his shadow which ACTUALLY has a tiny bit of science behind it.  Clouds mean moisture which is a spring condition.  Sun means dry air which is a winter thing.  THUS - if there are clouds it's a good sign that the air mass is not a winter air mass . . . we had clouds for 11 straight days.  Bad luck for the sun on THIS ONE DAY.

But we should have a slightly cooler spring with above average participation.  SO far - "knock on wood" we have had an easy winter with nothing in the next 2 weeks that have anything different.

In fact the next 2 weeks look REALLY average.  Highs 27-30  an inch snow fall every 4 or 5 days.

Nuff for today