by
Greek Giant
It has been confirmed by Major League Baseball that the Giants are among six teams to exceed the luxury tax threshold. The Cubs, Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers are the other five. The official word was reported by CBS here. Among readers of TWG and various commentators there appeared to be a fair amounto of confusion and incorrect information regarding the Giants and the threshold tax. In fact, it is not a simple calculation when you explore how players are paid different amounts according to the different stipulations of their contracts.
The bottom line is this: The Giants are officially $3.4 million over the threshold of $195 million for 2016. This means they will pay a hefty 30% surcharge for every dollar they spent for the year. This is the Collective Bargaining Agreement in action which is designed to give smaller market teams like the Rays and the Brewers a fighting chances against the likes of the big bad Yankees, Cubs and Dodgers. Next year, in 2017, the Giants figure to be considerably beyond the threshold. Bobby Evans has already stated that the team may pay up to 50% tax on every dollar spent for the payroll in 2017.
From a political standpoint it’s called the re-distribution of wealth and it’s a good thing for the game of baseball lest MLB end up like the Premier League in England. For those of you unfamiliar with English football, the Premier League is the most prosperous and most popular professional soccer league in the world. If you think the NBA, MLB and the NFL have popularity you ain’t seen nothing till you examine the Premier League. It’s fans are truly global and the ravenous hunger for the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal are unmatched in any other sport. The league, however, has a major competitive balance problem: only 4-5 teams can realistically compete for the championship in any given year (not withstanding the miracle that was Leicester City last season) since they have nothing comparable to the luxury tax or a salary cap to maintain competitive balance.
I am a firm believer that the central key to the NFL’s popularity is its competitive balance. The parity around the league allows for a renewed sense of optimism every season. Coupled with a schedule of only 16 games, this parity in the NFL generates perpetual fan interest in just about every city.
For the Giants, the luxury tax is really not a big deal if you consider the success of the franchise from a financial standpoint. The Giants are unique in baseball as they are owned by a consortium and possess many other business interests that generate huge income streams, ranging from real estate to entertainment.
Giants fans don’t have anything to worry about from a monetary standpoint. We’re part of the “haves” The next time you fell self-pity about the Giants not signing someone like Yoenis Cespedes or J.D. Martinez remember the poor fans in Tampa Bay, San Diego, Minneapolis and other small market cities.
***The bottom line is this: The Giants were officially over the threshold of $189 million for 2016 and owe a $3.4 million tax bill***
Other than that, great post. Nice reflection on the Premier League and the football phenomena. As you can imagine, they go bonkers for their teams in South America too. Tragic about that plane crash 🙁
ps- Love your tweet that is sort of Dear Santa, but from a young Astros fan to the GM Luhnow:
Don’t trade George Springer!
Yes, that’s right. You don’t know the exact tax for a specific season until it’s over, due to trades and such. We won’t know what the Giants paid in luxury tax for the 2017 season until this time next year.
You should add “part-time accountant” to your resume!
That’s funny. My husband is a tax attorney and now works for a large accountancy firm after 20 years in California state tax agency. Guess who does the taxes and manages the money for our household?–That’s right: the English major.
I’d rather be a travel planner. That’s fun!
that’s funny!
Speaking of the FTB, they must be the most difficult “tax agency” in the country. My interaction with the IRS was enjoyable compared to these wienies.
He worked for the Board of Equalization (sales/business/property tax), not the FTB.
Whew. I’m already in enough trouble.
Marital abuse …
Thanks for the explanation/analysis, GG. I must admit I was confused. My question: Since they’re already over the threshold of $195 million for 2017, could they decide to spend on another outfielder without further penalty? Because once you’re over, you’re over, right?
Bobby Evans said a couple weeks ago that their tax for this year would be 50%. Specifically, he said that for every extra dollar they spend on salary going forward, it would actually cost the team $1.50. So yes, there’s not an additional penalty, but the tax is the tax, and they’re already into it.
Okay. Thanks, Lefty. That breaks it down. How do you rate the chances of the Giants bringing in another outfielder? I’m starting to get worried about the Span, Pence, Mac, and Parker foursome working out. Gorkys too.
It just makes sense to me that they would bring in another bat (could be a 3B and push Nunez to the outfield). They’ve already spent a lot of money and they definitely are in a win-now window. It doesn’t make much sense to go to all that trouble and end up one player short.
A $3.4 mil tax is nothing for a team with the Giants’ resources.
I’m really okay with Nunez at 3B to start the season. I wish the Giants would do something to shore up the outfield. I don’t think the Giants can count on Span and Pence being healthy all season long.
are they going to “hopscotch”? I think you still have to explain that one for me. Having a hard time with the image.
Oh, I did explain it. I guess you didn’t see my response:
hopscotch = skip from place to place, as in back and forth from the roster to the DL, for Span and Pence.
Especially if and when the Dodgers trade for Brian Dozier.
Have to win the division. It’s going to be difficult for a Wild Card to rise out of the tough NL West.
You’re alive! How many feet of snow have you guys been blanketed with?
I’m not exactly sure. It’s been 3-6 inches new snowfall daily for about a week now.
The accounting for the luxury tax takes place at year’s end, which is why the bills for 2016 were just released. This is so that any new payroll added or subtracted via trade during the season is accounted for.
I don’t think the Giants are currently over any threshold at the moment. I think they are close enough to the threshold that any contract added at the deadline would push them over. By my accounting, their 40 man roster AAV payroll should be right about 180 million. Player benefits are an additional roster outlay and I don’t know what those amount to – perhaps 8-12 million??
In sum, every team’s payroll with respect to the threshold is a fluid thing, which is finalized at years end (or after August waiver deadline). Salaries may come and go. If by some stroke, the Giants were to offload some of Matt Cain’s salary in trade, then their position relative to the threshold would improve.
There you go again, Ryan. Hoping Matt Cain would waive his full no-trade clause and that a team would be interested in trading for Cain.
p.s. Thanks for explanation. Somewhere I read that player benefits this year for the Giants would be an additional 12-15 million?
Oooh thank you for that juicy bit. I have not seen any recent figures, but 12-15 would be the range that would be the Giants right up against it. I’m hoping to find an article that talks about benefits.
‘Twas a tweet by Alex on Dec 10 in response to a query by a follower: “$13-15 million in benefits, bonuses.”
Is the luxury tax 30% of the entire payroll, or just the amount over $195m?
Just the amount over $195 mil.
Thank you. I knew I’d get the answer on this forum.
It works like federal income tax brackets. Let’s say the 29% bracket kicks in at $225,000. You’d pay 29% in federal income tax for every dollar of taxable income OVER that amount. You’d pay the lower rate on everything up to $225,000. With baseball, there’s just one bracket, and either you’re under it (no tax) or over it (your tax rate depends how many years in a row you’ve been over it–for the Giants, this will be the third).
It’s -24° here. We’ve had no Chinooks so far. We have large mounds of snow all over our yard from shoveling sidewalks and driveway and paths to the back gate. Back in August, one of our neighbors said, “I hear we’re going to have a real winter this winter.”
Having lived with Chinooks for several years, I’m wondering if most people have any idea what they mean to those in the “Frozen North”. The City of Calgary (at that time the city with the highest number of vehicles per capita in North America), had two (count’em 2) pieces of snow removal equipment. They figured that a Chinook would clear the streets and roads and so why should they waste the money.
What a monumental joke!
Huh, that surprises me, actually. Chinook is just a concept to me, having lived much too far east of the mountains for them to affect me. But I’d have said that these occur only towards the end of winter, so you need a snow plow army.
My first experience with the northern states was a plane transfer in Minneapolis, where I observed about ten plows clearing a single runway, in a sort of V-formation, where the middle plows were passing to the outer ones, who were getting it off the runway. Impressive.
Many years later I was talking to a cab driver in Helsinki (in December) about snow, and this chap proudly said “Finns keep going”. On the day I was to leave, there was ample deicing at the airport, all planes on time, but great concern about whether the same storm would shut down Frankfurt.
dgg, keep warm, -24 is serious stuff.
In Calgary, the appearance of the “Chinook Arch” was like waiting for Santa. They were a regular occurrence there; not sure about the rest of the FN.
I understand this to be a regular phenomenon from Montana on up through the entire Alberta province, but you have to be close enough to the mountains that the warm descending air reaches you. Maybe I’m too influenced by my friend in Edmonton, which is a little further from the mountains than is Calgary. It seems to be how their winter ends, in a rapid melt. Speaking of the FN, did you ever make it to the Yukon or Yellowknife (those are still on my bucket list)?
There is a huge difference between Edmonton and Calgary. Calgary is barely out of the Rockies, not so was the other place. Once on a short plane trip north, as the plane rotated into a sharp climb on take-off, the pilot came on the intercom and said, “OK, Gang, we’re of to the Chuck*” while 3 cans of “blue” rolled down the aisle toward the back of the plane.
*Chuck was the diminutive for Edmonchuck, the Calgary preferred pronunciation for Edmonton.
**Blue refers to Molson beer which comes in a blue can, Six-packs are unknown in Canada. It’s 12-packs or larger. Ice-cold beer in the winter, in Alberta, is like ice-cold beer in the summer for the rest of the world.
Did you ever get your stolen car back?
Yes. Apparently two kids wanted to go to the beach in La Jolla. They wrecked the ignition switch and put a dent in a fender, but left it on the street and a La Jolla patrol car spotted it a day later. I was called while they were still on scene and they turned it over to me then and there. Good folks, all around. I had called the Car Theft Detail and left my number right after it happened. Sometimes knowing how things work within a PD pays off.
I had a car stolen a few years ago from in front of my house. It was abandoned in Richmond, stripped, but we got it back and fixed it. I had a pretty good idea that it was an inside job from a recent stint at a Richmond body shop but I couldn’t get the RPD to even take finger prints, I had to be satisfied that I got the car back. I was charged $400 to get it out of police impound as a bonus. Glad yours worked out better.
Sometimes it seems the police just keep score, and charge a gratuity to do so. I guess it’s the way of the world.
Apparently I still have a “U” number linked to SFPD or, at least, that’s what I was told. My situation was much more rewarding.
A friend of mine, years ago quit (by mutual agreement) the Houston Police Department because he took umbrage with being gigged for not writing enough tickets month in and out. He was an income source for the City, and actually thought he ought to be a cop. Bad attitude. As it turned out, another of those ex-soldier types who misunderstood his true purpose. Funny thing was, it all came to a head when he had a tow truck unhook a car for the owner(lady and a kid), rather than tow it. His Sargent happened by and wrote him up. Like I say, the way of the world.
Care to explain that?
Ultra clear to me.
You usually can’t explain what you mean, let alone what someone else means.
You have no body standing in line with you with *accusation* so continue on with your unapologetic pathetic slanderous comments. I mean WHO haven’t you argued with here before or rather been condescending with? dgg, me, Matthew, Foothills, CC etc….You on the other hand belong to a Club of 1.
What CC wrote about his friend in Houston was 100% clear and easy to understand.
Thats not what I was asking him to explain.
Why? You may not like it, but to a cynic like you, I’m surprised you ask. Drop the Socratic BS. For once state your position and why you take umbrage with mine.
I’d be happy to, if I knew what you meant by “Sometimes it seems the police just keep score, and charge a gratuity to do so.”
Puzzle on it for a fortnight.
Wow, CC, this is a knock out!
It must translate differently/
Yes it is “UP YOURS”
I was wondering what you meant, but it isn’t worth “puzzling” about for a second after you declined to explain.
You’d just refute it because YOU know everything to know about law enforcement because you are the oracle. (little o)
BTW Bapah I suffered a complete tear of the distal biceps tendon in my off arm in mid September. Procrastinated on seeing the ortho doctor till November, I didn’t want to miss the late October tournament with my sons. STUPID! By the time I got the appointment and the MRI the tendon was (is) all balled up and scarred and healed just above my inner elbow. So, the surgery became a more dicey option, cadaver tendon and all that, so I decided to live with it. Will never be nearly as strong in that arm but it doesn’t limit me from playing ball or golfing or really anything else (other than doing curls at the gym). My wife thinks I’m nuts, not the first time I chose baseball over health, but what’s a junkie to do?
Apparently it is common to not repair the proximal tendons so I assume the distal tendons fall within the same protocol. Since hurting my off-arm, I did it to my throwing arm too. Once the capsule pops it’s pretty much all over for old-timers, anyway. I can still throw, but I won’t be burning any leather ever again.
They were willing to try but I declined, the surgeon said the cadaver tendon would never be as strong either and it made the healing process take longer as well. If it was my strong arm I’m sure I would have had it fixed while still fresh but I could still throw so I played on through it after it had healed enough to where the pain was gone.
Cops always try to call the owner before towing a stolen car, as long as they’re fairly close. No one like to stick a victim with a towing charge.
(or impound fees)
If they have a number easily available, which is the reason I called the detail. It was very cool they waited as long as they did for me to arrive.
Every stolen car entry in the state’s computer system contains the owner’s phone number. It had nothing to do your call. It was entered into the system as soon as you reported it stolen.
Ah, that’s why I called. My son met with the PO when it was stolen and they took his number. Hence my call.
Not CHP
Oracle I caught up on some of your recent police commentary (and that chilling video) and it reminded me of something I wanted to ask you regarding my fallen teammate Sgt. Lunger. Did you ever hear any inside info on how his event went down? One of my teammates said he didn’t even have time to go for his weapon but I think that was just speculation. After big funeral all the news has gone quiet on his case, never hear anything about the guy under arrest, etc.
I don’t have any inside information, but it sounds like he got shot as soon as he walked up to the truck, which is the most precarious moment in any car stop. As far as the court case goes, it’ll probably drag on for a few years.
I prefer Elsinore.
I had not heard this term (Edmonchuk) but ‘blue’ made perfect sense! Not my favorite, but Atlantic Canada’s Moosehead seems rare in Western Canada. My Australian friend speaks of a “slab” of beer, which is 24 cans – Aussies like their brews.
Actually, I think Moosehead is brewed in Alberta. Blue is popular in Alberta, as with most of the plains provinces, because it can be ordered while totally wasted. “Blue, bluuu, bluh, Bbblah are the common references when ordering after the first dozen, or so, beers. Also when ordering, “a beer” definitely puts you as a “foreigner”, real Canadians order 3, 4, 5, or 6 beers per order since they’re afraid the barmaid might not make it back in time when their first one is gone.
Saint John, NB: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moosehead_Brewery
Perhaps I was thinking about a town called Moose Jaw.
LMAO. So true.
Bought a six-pack of Moosehead recently, and really enjoyed the first 2-3 cold ones. Also really like Labatts. Mrs TF is Canadian (Newfie), so kinda makes sense.
I can’t believe it. What’s the beer size in litres? 0.33 ? 0.5? 0,75?
I thought it was a fish.
Good points and corrections gang. Thank you. The luxury tax figures cited are for 2016. Next year’s will be tallied at the end of the calendar year. I just gave my fact-checking team a serious tongue-lashing. Refresh your browsers for the updated/corrected version of this post.
Say, that’s Mike Broadway giving Buster a fist bump.
NFL popularity is down. It lost 17% of it’s TV audience last year.
Cool map video.
http://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
Whoa.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/04/22/08/042208100c561c688536a8e08aae0650.jpg
I’ve droned on before about one of my favorite memes, Baseball is Life. Well there is new book out by Michael Lewis (Moneyball) called The Great Undoing that’s about how really irrational human’s economic behavior is. It took years to write because it’s built around the work of Tversky and Kahneman (Nobel Prize, Economics) and interviews with Tversky. Among the many things it deals with is why ultimately, baseball scouting is futile, but inevitable. The one comment that captured me is one from Jared Kushner, a baseball fan and Trump’s son-in-law, ” we just
did Moneyball for politics. We Moneyball-ed the Electoral College”. A great interview in ‘538’ with Michael Lewis by Nate Silver.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nate-silver-interviews-michael-lewis-about-his-new-book-the-undoing-project/
Well I naturally enjoyed Moneyball, but also really liked The Blind Side as well. This sounds great. I read that Kushner was part of a group that tried to buy the Dodgers.
I just ordered it off Amazon myself. I had to correct the title by edit, btw. Tversky and Kahneman will, in the fullness of time, be recognized as great men, maybe to greatest economist since Adam Smith, who knows. Silver’s interview is a great one. Did you know he was trained as an economist at University of Chicago.
Kurt Vonnegut’s school!
I enjoyed the insight into Lewis’ writing process.
LOL. With me, I’m not sure 15 songs would be enough. We are weird animals indeed, when you squeeze all the mysticism out, we’re just weird little sacks of bacteria bobbing around in a sea of irony totally beyond our control.
That was a very Vonneguttural sentence!
I’m just trying to Ice down the content. It’s no accident there are 9 players on a baseball team. LOL, you scheming provocateur, you.
I know it’s not sports but Liar’s Poker is his best work.
I think this captures the essence of scouting.
“uncertainty is a tough sell”
I liked the one from Voltaire’s letters, myself. “doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is an absurd one.”
$3.4M…chump change for this organization.
One weekend of crab sammies and garlic fries.
Every year when I see the price of the 16 oz “canned” Coors Light go up (because tapped domestic is watered down at ball parks), I just pay willingly to prevent Larry Baer from standing on the corner of 3rd/King with a cardboard sign.
Hi Lefty, caught me up on some TWG this morning, I’d like to do the Rivercats game this summer if the timing works out.
Awesome. Will make sure you’re in the loop!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1f215ec38c3eebbde05328d9ec3091b4886ccb1ab06699ce0f1ed380d92b7e43.jpg
Greetings today from Coronado. Mrs. Crawnik and myself are taking in a few days down here on vacation. Only 58 days until pitchers and catchers report!
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 12/12/16 For Baseball Foothills 101
http://tinyurl.com/For-Footy-baseball-101
Bleacher Report has stated there is no truth to the report the Putin and Gang has hacked his site.
Seen on Twitter: While every reliever of note has cashed in, still looking for work are the HR leaders of both leagues and the AL RBI leader.
Weird market.
Not HR hitters.
Now that’s funny.
Did I miss Romo and Casilla being signed, or are they not “relievers of note”?
Boogie going to do…what Boogie going to do.
http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/joyce-terhaar/article121429187.html
Knicks?
The Kings are a disgrace and Cousins is the symbol of that. The worst part is all the money that sleazy mayor KJ put Sacramento on the hook for to build that Cadillac arena.
How he avoided taking that stadium boondoggle to a vote, I’ll never figure out. In 5 years, his ‘Cadillac arena’ will be hosting tractor pulls again to make a buck.
Shame on the NBA if Cousins isn’t significantly fined for that behavior. The NBA deserves every bit of stink that the Kings put on the league and its brand. That franchise should have been sold to the Seattle group and relocated to a city/region that never should have lost their team in the first place. Instead, Stern and the greedy owners took the new money/bigger offer and lined their pockets. On top of that, Sacramento is on the hook for the new arena? Shameful.
Whereas I agree that Cousins is a head case, I also believe that a Sac Bee writer deciding to bring a story about his brother into things was uncool. Cousins handled it wrong -he always does. But so did the writer. What’s off limits for a journalist? I dunno, but I know it when I see it.
Furillo’s column seems pretty factual to me. It happened. It was relevant. He didn’t badmouth Boogie’s brother. He just said what happened.
http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/andy-furillo/
His brother’s altercation is relevant background to this story. Cousin’s taped response to the writer reeks of the physical violence these young fellas like to traffic in. Imagine getting elbowed in the face by a 6’9″ 275# male. No bueno.
Cousins’ latest problem happened at a club. The writer referenced another occasion where Cousins’ group had police involvement at a club and he had to be rushed out. It was relevant. The fact that his brother was involved in the second incident doesn’t make it less relevant.
I would agree with you. Let’s also not forget that Barnes has quite the history outside of basketball; which makes the NY incident more believable than not. I think this has been brought up before, but it bears repeating…Divac was an idiot for signing Barnes and adding to the Kings team dynamic.
Joe Davidson Retweeted
Marcos Breton @MarcosBreton 8h8 hours ago
Marcos Breton Retweeted Wayne Gravelle
It would, but look around. Look at the fan boys – and girls – rushing to Cousins’ defense.Why? Because they aren’t journalists. They’re fans
Wayne Gravelle @GiantGators
@MarcosBreton – i agree, but if reporters agreed to not talk to or report about Demarcus wouldn’t that be bad for him?
What does that mean? I get that DeMarcus is nuts, but I think many fans (I’m not one of his fans, by the way) want reporters to report on games. I just feel they have all become TMZ types who live for dirt.
Cousins wasn’t upset by the report on he and Barnes. He, like anyone, wants his family left out of it, no matter how messed up his family is. I’m not saying he’s right. I’m saying I get his point.
You have no idea as much as anyone on this blog what happened in that NY club. If in reality both payers had attached some patrons they would have been arrested on site. Yes they were in the wring place, but in the local papers looks like they got into it with some unsavory characters that aren’t always the nicest to out of town players.
It’s gong to go down as a much ado about nothing.
You think they are the first players to get in a skirmish in a club this year? I’m sure it happens all the time, just don’t hear about it.
From the past: Brent Musberger calling the Las Vegas bowl. he is unrecognizable.
Remember when he called MLB games about 20 yrs. ago? “Put it on the scoreboard, oh baby.”
New twitter feature. Fact check Trump.
http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/you-can-now-fact-check-donald-trump/
Sounds like an exercise in separating the chaff from the chaff.
It’s a Russian wheat thing.
There’s no hope left in the world.
There is one in Arkansas. It’s a trendy place.
Know your mythology. Pandora’s box…
Sounds like Festus Ezeli, who has yet to play a game for Portland, needs season-ending knee surgery (again). Dubs are lucky he turned down that extension offer last year.
Festus with his chronic knee issues…and of course Bogut sidelined with his perennial issues. So if we kept them both…
They’re better off going forward with young athletic guys like JaVale and Damian Jones. I liked Bogut & Ezeli, but you could never count on them.
And (though a Bruin), dont forget Kevon
you do realize that UCLA over the past 20 years, while not the same winning pedigree as Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina is perrenially one of the top 5-6 teams in NBA players every year. Do the research.
Guess they dont exactly get coached up in Westwood
for one it’s consistency, the three other schools have had the same coaches forever, that and a lot of one and done kids like Westbrook and Love who may have won a title or two if they had stayed in school.
But when you are slotted to be drafted in the lottery in the NBA, a kid can’t rationalize going back to school because there is always the threat of a serious injury.
Did you hear that piece on the NBA and superstars missing games purposely this AM on NPR. It focused on a game between Cleveland and Memphis where James didn’t play, didn’t sit on the bench, in fact he didn’t even make the plane. Some stiff in the audience, I think, paid ~ $600 to bring his family and got bupkis for it.
James, Irving, AND Love. It was a big deal.
It would be to me, were I the family involved. Lady, that’s just mean spirited.
It is? I agree with you. I think it’s an awful way to treat fans.
This is just plain hilarious. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article121530222.html
There’s something wrong with that man.
I think the problem is, there are just too many games. 4 games in 5 nights??!?
Fans pay to see players. When players get injured, or they take a scheduled break, fans miss out.
Would such scheduled breaks be reduced or eliminated with less games? I dunno tho…
Pops has done this for years and has had quite a lot of success and the owners of SA stand behind him. The Cavs kept James fresh all season last year and we know who well he looked in the finals while the Dubs wilted like old lettuce.
The Dubs should have rested more down the stretch and they may not have avoided one of the biggest let downs in any major sports finals history.
Funny, NPR has no business commenting on what NBA teams do and who they sit. You are placing the important of a family outing over the health of a club or player needing to withstand a long season? Ridiculous assumption.
Grading the College Football Bowl Season, game by game.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/grading-the-many-many-many-college-football-bowls/
Hmm, maybe I could buy this calendar and then just tape over pictures of all the other Rays besides Duffy with my favorite Gmen. http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/rays/rays-pet-pal-team-up-for-new-players-and-pooches-calendar/2306634
But then you’d be shallow, and tacky. Cut the photo out and just hold on to tacky.
Thanks for the false adjectives!
You’re welcome. It’s a small thing. Sort of an homage to Hunter S. Thompson. You ever see, Where the Buffaloes Roam with Bill Murray as Thompson.
Rockets go 3-point crazy.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/17/houston-rockets-nba-record-three-pointers-pelicans
Lefty don’t go enjoying this Warriors clinic against the Blazers, it’s not really that fun because they lost to Cleveland in game seven last season.
Hahahahaha, exactly.
It is obvious the Warriors get fired up for the Blazers. Lillard and others were a little too chirpy about how they were right there with the Warriors last year (never mind that Steph missed 3 of the 5 games in their playoff series). It’s clear the Warriors want to make sure everyone knows who the alpha dog is in this matchup.
Not happy
22o
Shoveling driveway snow
Have pitchers reported?
Well Clutch, it could be worse, and it is in Minneapolis where my older son lives. Just looked it up, minus 18 degrees with wind chill down to minus 40.
Oh, and thanks for the Coach Noce tidbits, much appreciated. I wanna say that his son Paul (?) played for Sequoia HS back at the time I played. High average hitter, about the same class as Kevin Bass and Bob Melvin. Man, our league was stacked.
ClutchUp=dgg ???!
http://uploads.neatorama.com/images/posts/925/88/88925/1457583811-0.jpg
That’s painfully close to the Giants’ final inning of 2016!
deeg is much tougher
Good morning from Coronado. 42 degrees here. Pretty good piece about the Greenjackets in a SAL preview.
Previewing the 2017 Augusta Greenjackets | Notes From The Sally
http://notesfromthesally.com/2016/12/13/previewing-the-2017-augusta-greenjackets/
Ha ha – I was just opening tabs from Baseball Blogs Weigh In and that’s one I’m gonna read.
We’re on the same tab, man. Great minds …
It was a pretty good read. Enjoy!
Yeah, I recognize that guy. He has great reports on the Sally. He wasn’t all too impressed with Phil Bickford when he saw him last year (didn’t make his Top 20 prospects in the league) – and I don’t think the Giants were too worried about giving him up either.
If that’s the case, then the G’s just drafted Spicoli to use as a trade chip; which is exactly what they did.
local weather, since that’s the last two posts: up to -10 after -12 overnight, but the storm dgg sent eastward ran out of snow leaving Minnesota so I can still see the very top of the old grass. I’m with ClutchUp, when do those pitchers report?
There may be some pitchers throwing some toss and getting their core work in.
About 38 above 0 here. Did not freeze as predicted. Inside the house temp at rise and shine: a balmy 57 degrees. Yesterday morn was about 52. As long as I can’t see my breath inside the house, it’s not too crazy cold.
Probably not the time of year that midwesterners want to hear about climate change/global warming.
It was 32 when we went to bed last night (sheltered East Bay valley) so my wife actually let our three cats sleep with us (for warmth) and that never happens. They were kicked out in the middle of the night though, they get restless, start cleaning themselves, etc, and she can’t stand that. I sleep right through it.
Ha ha! We’re suckers too and let the cats sleep inside when it’s cold. Fortunately they moved away from the bed and sleep on the couch. But yeah, nothing like a cat kneading your leg through the blanket in the middle of the night.
My wife has so many blankets on the bed right now that I don’t think that Wolverine character could need through.
Happiness is a warm puppy.
Winter is just something to talk about. My furnace is only about 5 years old, and I’ve gotten a new “split unit” heater for my coldest room. Plants for the yard are chosen for Minnesota’s growing zone, and non-appetizing qualities for deer. The former works, everything will be fine next spring, but the latter doesn’t actually work if we get snow and it covers up the stuff the deer like better. And if it does snow, my cross country skis turn it into fun.
Wait, Minnesota. I had the notion entrenched that you were in Kansas so that if you’ve mentioned MIN, it just went right past me. How about that ? Remember Stickman?
Born in Kansas, live in Iowa, used to live just across the river from Minnesota in North Dakota. That experience leaves me unimpressed with winters down here in Iowa. The “polar vortex” storm put nine inches somewhere in one of the counties touching Minn, but then fizzled out except for some solid cold. We hardly ever reach -20 here, since the global warming has come on, so -12 was fairly impressive for December.
Yeah, a lot of great commentators like Stickman have fallen by the wayside. Richard in Winnipeg too, where they have car plug ins at people’s work place.
How did you end up being a Giants fan?
Willie Howard Mays, #24. Why not pull for the best player ever?
I reckon that’s a big club.
We must be going down in numbers, as Old Farts turn into dead guys. It is up to Buster Posey to get the numbers back up. He is doing an excellent job.
A friend told me the snow in Banff is so cold they don’t salt it. It’s like sand. They spent 2 years up their.
Don’t believe it. I used to live there.
They’re both dead now, so I guess you get to be the authority. It was in the late 1970’s.
It is true, below a certain temperature, the salt doesn’t work, and so amounts to being expensive sand. No one uses NaCl, itself, but that stops working at -6 F.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezing-point_depression
(this message sponsored by the Science Hour division of TWG!)
My oldest was born there in ’72. What IS true is the Bighorn sheep are a traffic hazard. Canada and the National Parks folks are very conscientious of their use of road salt. Diminished use of salt in Banff is done because they found plants and animals are harmed by its use. Bighorn sheep populate the highways around there to lick salt.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1fcd65ac3a426c3f7b91b18c27deaebb22ef0c81e0f5575bbb6d6277ca232a72.jpg
Cool foto gracias!
Proof that sandy snow kills
still in jail
Crawnik will let you know later, he’s in a countdown mode. Fifty eight days was the last count I remember reading. I don’t pay much attention to spring training so April 1 is about when I start paying attention.
It’s warming up here. -9° right now. No new-fallen snow in two days. There’s so much snow (1-2 feet) piled up around our window wells that we can barely see the sky looking out the downstairs windows. I need to shovel pathways to get to the windows. But I’m off to the gym first with my ice cleats.
Yikes. I enjoy a little bit of snow shoveling, as it is very aerobic, but use a snowblower after the first three inches. I do love your weather reports, they remind me of when I too lived in the Frozen North.
There’s no such thing as a “little bit of snow shoveling” up here. No one in our neighborhood uses snowblowers (or leaf blowers, for that matter). Too much racket. Shovels don’t require much maintenance and don’t blow snow in unwanted places.
Here we have to wait a while if the snow comes on a weekend morning before blowing our drives out – maybe to 9:30 or so. My neighbors both have those leaf blowers, so I have resolved that I never will – beyond annoying, almost up to chalk scratching on a black board (if anyone can still remember that).
I googled your comment in the Montana to California translator, but it came up, “No results found”
80 degrees here today…..
The unfinished part of the 2017 roster is the OF. But there is not that much chat about Hunter Pence, who has played in 52 and 106 games the last two seasons. And his absence is sorely felt. His contract runs two more years, at 18.5 million. dgg thinks he can’t be counted on for 150+ games. Winebaroness says move him to LF. I think the latter is a wonderful idea, but has anyone heard anything like that from inside the Giants? I also think Pence is a smart guy, and has maybe figured out how to turn down his inner exercise bunny, and so stay on the field for 500 at bats. Does anyone but me think Pence can be “Comeback Player of the Year” in 2017?
He’s due to stay on the field and hit .280/.345/.460, 20 HRs ! I don’t think that will qualify as “hopscotching around”.
Maybe when the Giants trade for Lorenzo Cain, Pence can move to LF.
I kind of like the idea of Mac Williamson on patrol in RF, but heck yeah, Cain’s a great vision of a dancing sugarplum. Please, Santa, Please!
Evans is no Santa, unfortunately.
“hopscotching around” Very funny!
Hey, Ryan. Did you see my response re: $ for benefits way down below?
‘Twas in a tweet by Alex on Dec 10 in response to a query by a follower: “$13-15 million in benefits, bonuses.”
Thank you for that. The budget picture is complete! There are right on the cusp! I do wonder what that means: benefits and bonuses.
Pence can be very productive but I doubt CPOTY type numbers, he is on the downslide of his best years. As long as he stays on the field and gives them good number it will be good for the team, but not anything like his best years.
I do as well. I don’t remember exactly what his injuries were but I think some bad luck was part of the mix. Honestly with him I’m more concerned about the fire and edge that have been so key to the Giants success since he arrived in 2012. Ultra wealth, cushy life, settled down home life, hard to keep the intensity with all that. Hopefully he’ll figure out how to be the old Hunter Pence, the winning no matter how ugly the style is Hunter Pence. And hopefully the get a hair cut once in a while Hunter Pence.
Let’s hope he shares his barber’s name with Crawford!
This year it was his hamstring. He had problems with it back to spring training, it kept acting up, and then he finally tore it completely on June 1 in Atlanta and had to have surgery. The previous year he had a broken wrist from a HBP in spring training (so yeah, bad luck), and complications from that cost him two extended stays on the DL. Then an oblique injury in late August ended his season.
I’ve no doubt he’ll bring the same fire and intensity. He’s been ultra wealthy now for sometime. We saw it last yr when he returned from serious hamstring surgery. Same guy giving his all. The drop off will be due to age not his desire.
I seriously doubt Pence will be the “Comeback Player of the Year” in 2017.
That should be added to the my guy contest.
During the Hot Stove League, the beer in my glass runneth over, the entire world looks rosy through my specs, and my prognostication has the Dodgers in dead last. Cheers!
His downfall started with his stolen scooter.
HA! That’s where that came from in the SNL cold opening. Reminiscent of “strategerie” and “nukular”.
Goodness, just have to laugh. What else can you do?
https://twitter.com/hankschulman/status/810184891279151105/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
http://www.thewrap.com/snl-cold-open-alec-baldwin-trump-john-goodman-rex-tillerson-putin/
It took 87 minutes for the Trump team to correct Donald’s misspelling. By then, Twitter had had a field day. Someone asked to see his High School Diploma, which made me laugh out loud. Even Merriam-Webster joined in:
Merriam-Webster Dec 17:
Good morning! The #WordOfTheDay is…not ‘unpresidented’. We don’t enter that word. That’s a new one.
There’s a Freudian slip on a massive scale on that one as many would love nothing more for him to be unpresidented.
Baldwin must have had fun with that one on SNL last night.
Goodman looks great. Lost a lot of weight.
He’s dating the guy from Bird Cage
Somewhere Dan Quayle is smiling
Glad everyone is sticking to sports.
You got a problem with pop-culture?
HI Matthew, I’ll be happy if you’ll let me stick to humorism and laughing.
How about the dark 1984isms?
It goes up and down following the moon and the tide. It’s very normal stuff here in Venice.
Oh, come on. That’s fake and you know it.
Yep I just came on. LOL
We’re distracted. Sorry, it turns out Tillerson is a Putin partner. That’s what you look for in every US Secretary of State, isn’t it. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/18/leak-rex-tillerson-director-bahamas-based-us-russian-oil-company
Come on, Matthew. Politics is fine as long as you have the correct political view. What don’t you understand about that?
Ah, good point. I’m sure he wouldn’t object at all if it were a pro Trump/Putin post.
A “pro-Trump” post would create TWG apocalypse. My issue here is always the “it’s accepted because most of us agree ” gang mentality.. This ought to be taken well…
Actually, at least from you, it would engender a reasoned response from many of us. We respect you. It’s the content of that rational response that is most troubling to many Trump supporters. For my part, I’m way beyond worrying about elections.
Actually, I just hope I’m around to see how this whole thing shakes out. It’s one of the biggest curiosities in my lifetime. We could be living in a significant, if not the most significant, period in recent history.
P.S. it won’t be fun.
I have my popcorn, and am anticipating the end of civilization, or at least Trump’s slow steady development of a crop sac under his chin. Hell, maybe he’ll overdose on Viagra.
Thanks… I wouldn’t necessarily make one, but mine would be “Yikes” about the freak outs I’m seeing, which would be construed as “pro Trump”
Who cares how anyone takes the truth?
It’s just a shame. Sure. Hillary Clinton lacks integrity, but she’s a great speller.
The election is over. Hillary Clinton’s integrity and spelling are therefore irrelevant. All we have left to do is mock Trump who has no integrity, AND can’t spell. It’s nice of him to give us so much material.
I give you credit for reaching the acceptance stage. Many are still working hard to try to change the result of the election, a strategy I’m sure they’d agree with if the tables were turned.
The results of the election are apparent to all.
“Integrity.” What a precidential concept that would be.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/china-said-it-would-return-a-seized-us-naval-drone-trump-told-them-tokeep-it/2016/12/18/9e3f6f82-c4d3-11e6-9a51-cd56ea1c2bb7_story.html?postshare=1901482088081615&tid=ss_fb-bottom&utm_term=.06c53a5b213f
What does that story have to do with integrity? It’s about a political strategy.
The Unpresident is practicing international diplomacy with 140 characters. That’s very strategic.
At least he finally gave himself a name.
PG&E will be getting my money this month!
You need vintage Pam Grier to snuggle with.
Pam Grier or Lola Falana flip a coin
and in a pinch Gabrielle Union (if Dwayne did not mind)
PG&E may be your best friend if they follow through with those 5000 electric charging stations they’re adding to the California road grid.
Last game for Rex Ryan
The Jose Abreu deal with the White Sox seems a little light to me.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/12/17/abreu-white-sox-agree-on-1-year-deal-for-nearly-11-million/95558548/
MLB.com is asking whether Vlad belongs in the HOF.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guerrvl01.shtml
If Cepeda did, so does he.
In many ways, Vlad has a better case to make than Cepeda.
https://i.imgur.com/H2CbyTy.png
Cepeda doesn’t have to make a case!
You have to continually make a case in a series of beauty contest.
When is the exercise of finding the lowest common denominator for induction finally going to stop?
I think I framed this incorrectly. I believe both Cepeda and Vlad belong on merits – but as players get bigger and better (leaving out the ‘roids issue), so many of them hit 450 HRs and .300 for their careers that it’s almost ordinary.
That’s why I used wOBA, it’s based on normed utility and performance, not baseball writers hype.
Probably never. The HOF was conceived as a publicity trick anyway and this meeting of the ‘cardinals of baseball’ to decide who gets inducted, on the face of it, is silly. But we demand some kind of iconography as fans, so there you go. These inter-generational arguments did lead to the concept of WAR, so something useful did come out of it.
Yes. Where would we be without WAR? I hate to even think about it.
There would still be bridges at Toko Ri?
Maybe we separate the Hall into 2 wings – for example, The Babe Ruth/Cy Young wing and the Billy Williams/Don Drysdale wing, if you get my gist.
WAR allows you to avoid that in fact. That was the entire motivation in the beginning for the metric.
So then it comes down to the arbitrary number where the line is drawn or in or out?
*for*
I’m not sure how they use it, or if they even do, but WAR as a metric, was conceived to compare players from different eras. So if you want to compare players in the 50s objectively, that’s by far the best way to do. wOBA is a somewhat deficient surrogate, but since WAR isn’t on the Fangraphs Compare menu, it’s what could be graphically used in a comparison.
i can understand that but when the comparisons to determine HOF induction revolve around “if Bill Mazeroski, therefore Phil Rizzuto”type discussions, I have a problem.”
Ergo my comment about the silliness of it all in the end.
Not any more. But he got in thru the Vet’s Committee, if I’m not mistaken. That pot thing hung over him a long time.
Vlad WAS a baseball impaler ’til the end. It’s a shame a lot of peeps’ memories are spoiled by his terrible 2010 WS, when his knees tortured him in RF.
Another question – wasn’t he signed by the dogers?
His 6-foot-3-inch frame, strong arm, and unusual ability to hit balls out of the strike zone drew attention at a Dodgers training camp. After injuring his hamstring running out a double, he allegedly hit a home run in his next at bat to avoid having to run the bases. Due to his leg condition, Guerrero only received a 30-day contract. But he grew frustrated with the structure of the Dodgers camp, and left. In March 1993, Guerrero signed with the Montreal Expos. During the process he lied about his age, claiming to be born February 9, 1976. It was not until March 2009 that he revealed to Major League Baseball that he was born February 9, 1975.
The (going out of business) Wiki
Great research there, Clutch!
Hank Schulman, talking weather and misspelling, just like us:
Hank Schulman 1hr ago:
Man, this cold snap is unpresidented. Set my thermostat to the lowest possible temp (it has no off switch) and heater is still going. #brrr
Hank has no integrity.
He’s a four, but he may be my first choice these days. He’s a nasty writer.
If you’re quoting Schulman, you’re sticking to sports! ⚾️👍🏻⚾️👍🏻
That’s what Ryan did too! But not everyone noticed. I’m really enjoying Hank’s wry comments.
Boom!
Hank the Tank! Hank the Tank! …
Maybe it’s already been clarified – but isn’t the luxury tax surcharge (30/50%) applied on every dollar spent OVER the limit – and not on total team salaries?
Yes, that’s right.
Some new (?) games for Xmas that might be fun to some. They’re co-op games.
http://www.dailydot.com/parsec/best-cooperative-games/
In this time of disquieting uncertainty, it’s comforting to know that we still have the dependable predictability of the 49ers. They are my rock.
Very mature diabolical infatuation. You and Ann Killion should be dating.
I root against the bad guys. I suppose it is more mature to root for a team no matter what your opinion of the individuals involved. It certainly requires much less thinking.
The Oracle is allowed some consideration regarding your immaturity as to why you root so vehemently against the 49ers. I imagine if you had a 23 yr old son that was a member of the 49er roster that you would exercise some weird parental right and urge him to have himself removed from the team.
Is it me or does Susan Slusser have some hubba-hubba about her? #brownie’sgirl
Slusser is married to San Jose Mercury News sports writer Dan Brown. Although they cover different beats—Brown primarily covers the 49ers—there have been some challenges along the way. For example, the three years that Brown covered the Giants while Slusser was on the A’s beat. “It was strange, because he was always gone while I was home. We met once for lunch in Columbus when the A’s were in Cleveland and the Giants were in Cincinnati. I do not know how we did that for three years. It was awful!”
“Now he tries to stay away from doing A’s stuff. He did do one A’s piece last year that made me mad. It was a feature on Jonny Gomes and it was just tremendous and I was so envious. But I’m a beat writer, so when he has to do something [on Oakland], he’s at a disadvantage.” Once Brown had to cover an A’s transaction for the Merc and Slusser had inside info to which Brown was not privy.
“I told him to go to his office so he wouldn’t be home while I was fielding all the phone calls. The team told him that Johnny Damon wasn’t available for comment, but I had Johnny Damon quotes in my second paragraph. So that was awkward.”
-Baseball prospectus
You’ve been dead on about this team. I don’t always watch football, but when I do, I watch whatever happens to be on TV.
I finished a little carpentry gift for my wife and when I was done, I wanted a beer and I wanted a little sampling of some good old NFL. My goodness, the Niners can’t tackle.
It doesn’t get much worse than that last TD run.
Well, the Raiders need one win and they’re in the playoffs, but they’re playing like they don’t care.
For those of you that treasure your pets like a member of the family – take heed.
http://www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/article/In-the-night-coyote-stalks-house-cat-10802376.php
that’s why I’m a sucker for letting them sleep inside. and for keeping them away from Reymundo. c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzEabBDWoho
Finals
Browns 13 Hue Jackson is safe
Bills 33
Lions 6
Giants 17 Big win for the NY Giants
Eagles 26
Ravens 27 The better Harbaugh coach helped lead team to a win
Steelers 24 Mike Tomlin – one of NFL’s best Head Coaches
Bengals 20
Colts 34 Not sure how long Pagano has …
Vikings 6 Vikings in free fall
Packers 30
Bears 27 Rumor is John Fox and the GM are safe
Titans 19
Chiefs 17 Andy Reid will need an abundance of KC BBQ to get over this loss
Jaguars 20
Texans 21 Head Coach Bill O’Brien cut his teeth with the Patriots and Penn State
Crabtree caught the ball = TD
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2b3c31f0d2e4f93ae8fe042a7cc1e0d90ace3f15644249cb15db99a02f2e2645.jpg Crabtree got the ball?
This guy has a habit of melting my face. Shout out to Vegas Giants Fan and The Sincere.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3DsErlBPdY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33PVyaZzgY0
TO is our very own Godzilla
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T65rW_SIzg0
Godzilla actually had a point. TO seems to be farming his.
To those of you who have an interest in podcasts, The Atlantic’s take on the 50 best.
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/12/the-50-best-podcasts-of-2016/510698/
The iconic dissection of Ted Williams as icon, man, and hero, by Richard Ben Cramer.
http://classic.esquire.com/editors-notes/how-richard-ben-cramer-tamed-ted-williams/
I’m certainly not disputing that Ted Williams was a hero, but my uncle once told me an interesting story about him. I apologize if I’ve related it here before. My uncle was a career Marine, and was a fighter pilot in Korea. When Williams was called back to fly in Korea, he naturally needed some refresher training. He went through the training, but then told command that he didn’t feel ready, so the training continued. This went on long enough that it started to anger some of the pilots who were flying combat missions, who felt that Williams was dragging his feet and should be flying missions as well. The animosity reached a level that those in charge began to fear that Williams might face a friendly fire situation when he finally returned to combat. Fortunately, that never happened.
He was a complex man. I read an article some time ago that contained a description of the time he flew as John Glenn’s wingman. Glenn saved his life, and some sort of bond was forged. They flew, I believe, that near obsolete F-9, and Glenn would bore into rock throwing distance on close air support missions. I think, that maybe Williams learned something about personal courage from Glenn. Ever see The Bridges at Toko-Ri?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/F9F-2_VF-21_CVA-41.jpeg/300px-F9F-2_VF-21_CVA-41.jpeg
Great movie.
One of the best. Who knew Mickey Rooney could act. It was Holden’s life tuneup for The Wild Bunch, one of my favorites of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY7dmBF6RkY
I think his story would be just a little too heroic if he was a regular Chuck Yeager or Jimmy Doolittle. Can’t blame him if his focus on hitting baseballs better than anyone distracted him from the discipline of flying jets.
After flying for 4 years in WWII, he should’ve got a pass on the Korean conflict.
There’s something to be said for that, but I doubt he was the only pilot in Korea who also flew in WWII.
No doubt – your uncle probably knew many.
Small minded thinking must run in the family.
I’m sure you’re far brighter, and have accomplished a great deal more, than a Marine Col./fighter pilot. You’re no doubt better off sticking to your one liners. Wait a minute…unless you were talking about your family. If that’s the case, I apologize.
But I’m not sure you should automatically blame your ancestors for your own shortcomings.
Oh, did poor little Oracle get his feelings hurt?
Ha. By something said on a blog? Yeah, right. But great comeback, anyway. Very witty.
That’s a lame response, he said he had an interesting story about Ted, he did, it just happens to have been relayed by a relative and the relative made no value judgment with regard to William’s actions.
I think this article is fantastic. Another great look at the process of writing. Is there something Hemingway to Williams?
A complex, enigmatic man, for sure.
920pm 4degrees
*Balmy
I’ve been absorbed with a Beth Hart Pandora channel this afternoon God she’s good, but this came up. It’s a warming agent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQjONsUDCm8&list=PLNXCf6uGiCFx-JYIa84d5Hf9T8VYVePLo
Holy crap she’s good!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiPL2S07uMs&list=RD5chkHjTNFgk&index=5
Zsa Zsa Gabor has passed at 99.
Ted Williams honorably served his country in two wars. He saw more combat in the Korean War than WWII. A brief history of his military service was written in October 2002 by LtCol Ronald J. Brown, USMCR (Ret), the author of “A Few Good Men” and “Counteroffensive: U.S. Marines from Pohang to No Name Line.”
“Captain Williams flew 39 combat missions [in Korea], his plane was hit by enemy gunfire on at least three occasions, and he was awarded three Air Medals before being sent home with a severe ear infection and recurring viruses in June. Williams was formally discharged from active duty on 28 July 1953, the day after a cease-fire in Korea went into effect.”
https://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/remembering-ted-williams-marine-fighter-pilot
A Hero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5bKtRU0Q6c
Are you wearing a turtle neck today? And is Robbie Robertson the 2nd from the right?
lol..not since the late ’70’s…yes robbie is between levon and danko
between who and who? 😉
I guess I don’t know The Band very well. You going to Atlantic City tonight? I’ll meet you there, do my hair up purty.
from l-r..garth hudson, richard manuel, rick danko, robbie, levon helm…did you listen to the christmas song? they were special..
I did. They seem to grow on me as my tastes mature 🙂
everything that dies someday comes back…
they did a great job covering atlantic city by the boss. here’s another great cover. this was written by bobby d, but nobody does it like the band. the beautiful voice belongs to the late rick danko..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AygowPLl06k
ohh man, I thought it was the other way around, The Boss covering The Band. Shows what I know!
Great band. Highly underrated, IMHO.
Scout when you get a chance add a pic of Run DMC without their shoe laces ok we need a little bit of spice up in here dammit!
For grins, Google “turtle sweater” instead of “Turtleneck sweater.” The results will make you smile.
28 outside, 52 inside. Getting back under the covers would feel so nice. May be a 2nd cup of coffee in order with some hot oats.
Speaking of hot stove, shouldn’t we have ourselves as little blog contest? Where will the remaining top free agents sign?
Edwin Encarnacion?
Mark Trumbo?
Jose Bautista?
Matt Wieters?
Jason Hammel?
Mike Napoli?
Ivan Nova?
Angel Pagan?
Sergio Romo?
Santiago Casilla?
Joe Blanton?
any other names worthy of entry into this illustrious contest?
Greg Holland?
Describe “top”?
Top remaining?
Top ramen?
Buster Olney’s column today was about the unusually large group of free agents still looking for jobs. He had a humongous list that included Angel Pagan but sadly did not include Gregor Blanco (though it did include such OF luminaries as Drew Stubbs and Jeff Francoeur). BTW, Blanco has a substantially higher career WAR than does Francoeur (but smaller than Stubbs).
Olney notes that the long list of free agents depresses the trade market, and vice versa–for example, we know what J.D. Martinez’s and Jay Bruce’s and Brett Gardner’s salaries will be for 2017, so teams look at their respective values when considering free agent outfielders.
What I took from this is that there are no excuses for the Giants not to sign or trade for another outfielder. There may never be a better buyers’ market.
Caught the end of the Raiders/Chargers game yesterday. Raiders win, clinching their first playoff spot since the Super Bowl season of 2002. Raider Nation *stole* Qualcomm from Chargers fans–sounded like they were playing at the O.co. Huge, vocal crowd of rowdy Raiders fans were definitely a factor in that win.
True. Being down here in Coronado on vacation for a few days, I was rocking my Raiders shirt yesterday (did not attend game), and I didn’t get any backtalk from Chargers fans.
A quick off season “Good Morning, y’all.” Hope everyone is having a good December. Nice that Santa brought us a closer for Christmas/Hannakah/Kwanza/whatever.
The Golden Gate Audubon Society annual bird count was this weekend. Wanted to come on here and tip my cap to our own AVWH, who most here will remember lost his life doing what he loved – counting and photographing birds during last year’s count. We miss you, Allen!
Happy Glug! A7!! Mele Kalikimaka!!!
Feliz Navidad, my south of the border friend! Glug!
New Post: http://fe0.84e.myftpupload.com/giants-history/great-moments-in-giants-postseason-history-2002-nlcs-game-5/
I had NO idea that was Matt Reynolds in the photo above. (Had to go look it up) #57