MLB 2011 Part Two

Off Topic
301

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also what was bizarre about my pre-season predictions? Or were you talking about the 80-85 win line that was just a mix up?

Before the season started I said:

Cody Ross was playing out of his skull in the 2010 playoffs and isn’t actually a good hitter. True.

Aubrey Huff was getting on in years and he wouldn’t be as reliable as he was in the past. True.

Miguel Tejada is garbage. True.

Buster Posey might struggle this year. Undetermined.

I wasn’t convinced the Giants would win their division this year albeit I predicted the Rockies would be the ones that could overtake them not the Dbacks. Slightly off here.

I predicted Bumgarner might struggle since it will be his first full year and pitchers tend to not progress in a linear fashion. I was wrong.

[/quote]

First of all, predicting that Cody Ross’ postseason accomplishments would not be indicative of his success (or lack thereof) this year hardly means anything. That’s like me predicting that the Blue Jays will finish behind the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Aubrey Huff hasn’t been reliable for 2 of the last 3 seasons and was never more than a slightly above average hitter in the first place. Given that he’s 35 now, you hardly went out on a limb with that one.

Miguel Tejada is garbage? Gee, takes a real original thinker to think that a 37 y/o shortstop isn’t going to be a good player on the defending World Champions’ team.

Posey: again, hardly going out on a limb. What was bizarre was your repeated argument that he would struggle because other sophomore players have struggled. I remember you cited Adam Lind as an example. What others have done has no bearing on what Posey would have done. Each player should be judged strictly on their own merit. You’re thinking like someone who’s main exposure to baseball is through fantasy leagues.

You may not have been convinced the Giants would win their division, but let’s be real here. If the Giants had remained relatively healthy this year instead of being besieged with injuries (Their entire Opening Day starting infield has spent time on the DL) they’d be cruising to the Division title this year and you’d have looked pretty stupid for going with Colorado. But they ARE injured and they ARE in danger of not winning the division so I suppose you’ve blindly stumbled upon something there.

Regarding Bumgarner: yes, you were completely wrong on that one and I was completely right. Aside from one historically bad outing and the fact that his loss total is so high due to having the lowest run support in the NL, he’s had a fantastic first full season in the bigs.[/quote]

People make predictions about future performance based on past performance. Maybe that’s a new concept to you?

With respect to Cody Ross come on dude, we spoke at length about him. You were convinced he would be a decent hitter in 2011 and I told you he was just a utility player that got hot at the right time.

Miguel Tejada - You obviously couldn’t figure out he would be shit. So if it wasn’t a “real thinker” then that just means you are a fucking idiot for not figuring that one out.

Buster Posey - Yes, nothing another player does has any effect on him. I made my prediction on past performance of players in his same situation. I bet if he stayed healthy it would have come true. Unfortunately we’ll never know.

Aubrey Huff - How far out on a limb I went is not what we’re discussing. You disagreed with me and I was right. You have a choice of praising me for this or question your ability to understand Major League Baseball.[/quote]

Are you trying to get out a rise out of me?

Who is Josh?[/quote]

You are.

Yeah, the fun is in discussing baseball while getting a contentious debate going.
[/quote]

Also, I’m having tons of fun here. I doubt that you are, though. Your barbs and insults have a nasty edge to them, to the point where I’m beginning to think you’re taking all of this very poorly. My barbs and insults have ALWAYS had a nasty edge, regardless of the thread, and an edge nastier and more depraved than anything you’re capable of. But I can sense that your tone has shifted from its normal state over the last page, an indictment of your large emotional investment in the Giants’ season. All because people like WestCoast and myself have GOTTEN to you.

302

I fell behind this for a few pages but the DBCoop avi change reminded me of the thread.

I don’t think any of the Giants injuries outside of Buster Posey had any real impact. Bochy and Sabean should both be fired for their handling of Belt. That is the one other thing costing them wins.

303

I need to kick back with a beer and read that three page raj/dbcoop debate. Damn son.

304

[quote]scj119 wrote:
I fell behind this for a few pages but the DBCoop avi change reminded me of the thread.

I don’t think any of the Giants injuries outside of Buster Posey had any real impact. Bochy and Sabean should both be fired for their handling of Belt. That is the one other thing costing them wins.[/quote]

Are you slipping into the Big Drool or what? Belt’s mishandling is hardly the reason the Giants are faltering. He’s a legit talent, but he’s just that. He hasn’t done a single thing at the major league level. His body of work isn’t that big, but he’s only hitting about .230.

Losing Freddy Sanchez for the year is a huge blow. For a poor-hitting team to lose their #2 hitter is a big deal. It’s a pivotal spot in the order for most teams and ESPECIALLY for teams that are forced to manufacture runs as much as possible. Losing Tejada wasn’t that big of a deal, but the revolving door in the middle of the infield in general hasn’t helped their offensive woes at all. Losing Sanchez has been huge and his regression as a pitcher when he’s healthy has been disheartening as well. Aubrey Huff came into Spring Training overweight and in horrible shape and it’s carried into the season.

Andres Torres has taken a HUGE step backwards, and while I didn’t expect much from him, his dropoff has been precipitous. They’ve had players banged up all year, and while their team could never hit that well even when healthy, the nagging little injuries have taken their toll and now things have come to a head.

I’ve never liked Sabean as a GM and I think that he could have and should have done more to improve the team’s weaknesses in the offseason. I thought that this year’s team could have been as good as last year’s if they remained healthy, but that’s a big if. But I still felt that they had a good enough team to get back to the Series. I don’t blame Sabean for the health issues, only for not having a deeper team in place that can better handle this sort of adversity.

As far as Bochy goes, I don’t know how you can blame him for any of this. The Giants had been decimated by injuries and they’re still in contention. Look at their Opening Day 25-man roster: Wilson is injured, Romo, Zito, Sanchez and Casilla have all been on the DL, & of their infielders are either out for the year or have been on the DL (three of which are or were on the 60-day DL) and they’ve had 3 outfielders on the DL. This doesn’t even take into account the players who have been injured who weren’t even on the Opening Day roster (Beltran, Ford, Keppinger). If you take into account players who have missed a few games without going on the DL due to injury, they’ve had 17 players get injured throughout the course of the season, and I’m probably forgetting a couple. If they win the division, he should get serious consideration for Manager of the Year.

305

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
I fell behind this for a few pages but the DBCoop avi change reminded me of the thread.

I don’t think any of the Giants injuries outside of Buster Posey had any real impact. Bochy and Sabean should both be fired for their handling of Belt. That is the one other thing costing them wins.[/quote]

Are you slipping into the Big Drool or what? Belt’s mishandling is hardly the reason the Giants are faltering. He’s a legit talent, but he’s just that. He hasn’t done a single thing at the major league level. His body of work isn’t that big, but he’s only hitting about .230.

Losing Freddy Sanchez for the year is a huge blow. For a poor-hitting team to lose their #2 hitter is a big deal. It’s a pivotal spot in the order for most teams and ESPECIALLY for teams that are forced to manufacture runs as much as possible. Losing Tejada wasn’t that big of a deal, but the revolving door in the middle of the infield in general hasn’t helped their offensive woes at all. Losing Sanchez has been huge and his regression as a pitcher when he’s healthy has been disheartening as well. Aubrey Huff came into Spring Training overweight and in horrible shape and it’s carried into the season.

Andres Torres has taken a HUGE step backwards, and while I didn’t expect much from him, his dropoff has been precipitous. They’ve had players banged up all year, and while their team could never hit that well even when healthy, the nagging little injuries have taken their toll and now things have come to a head.

I’ve never liked Sabean as a GM and I think that he could have and should have done more to improve the team’s weaknesses in the offseason. I thought that this year’s team could have been as good as last year’s if they remained healthy, but that’s a big if. But I still felt that they had a good enough team to get back to the Series. I don’t blame Sabean for the health issues, only for not having a deeper team in place that can better handle this sort of adversity.

As far as Bochy goes, I don’t know how you can blame him for any of this. The Giants had been decimated by injuries and they’re still in contention. Look at their Opening Day 25-man roster: Wilson is injured, Romo, Zito, Sanchez and Casilla have all been on the DL, & of their infielders are either out for the year or have been on the DL (three of which are or were on the 60-day DL) and they’ve had 3 outfielders on the DL. This doesn’t even take into account the players who have been injured who weren’t even on the Opening Day roster (Beltran, Ford, Keppinger). If you take into account players who have missed a few games without going on the DL due to injury, they’ve had 17 players get injured throughout the course of the season, and I’m probably forgetting a couple. If they win the division, he should get serious consideration for Manager of the Year. [/quote]

I blame Bochy for playing the corpse of Huff when Belt is on the major league roster, and for when he did the same thing with Posey/Molina in the past. He puts too much importance on being a veteran, and not enough on talent.

Is Torres’ dropoff due to injury? I know he’s sucked but I thought it was just random.

If you are relying that heavily on Freddy Sanchez you don’t deserve to be a playoff team. He is completely average at getting on base and has no power whatsoever. He’s an average offensive second baseman.

306

[quote]scj119 wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]scj119 wrote:
I fell behind this for a few pages but the DBCoop avi change reminded me of the thread.

I don’t think any of the Giants injuries outside of Buster Posey had any real impact. Bochy and Sabean should both be fired for their handling of Belt. That is the one other thing costing them wins.[/quote]

Are you slipping into the Big Drool or what? Belt’s mishandling is hardly the reason the Giants are faltering. He’s a legit talent, but he’s just that. He hasn’t done a single thing at the major league level. His body of work isn’t that big, but he’s only hitting about .230.

Losing Freddy Sanchez for the year is a huge blow. For a poor-hitting team to lose their #2 hitter is a big deal. It’s a pivotal spot in the order for most teams and ESPECIALLY for teams that are forced to manufacture runs as much as possible. Losing Tejada wasn’t that big of a deal, but the revolving door in the middle of the infield in general hasn’t helped their offensive woes at all. Losing Sanchez has been huge and his regression as a pitcher when he’s healthy has been disheartening as well. Aubrey Huff came into Spring Training overweight and in horrible shape and it’s carried into the season.

Andres Torres has taken a HUGE step backwards, and while I didn’t expect much from him, his dropoff has been precipitous. They’ve had players banged up all year, and while their team could never hit that well even when healthy, the nagging little injuries have taken their toll and now things have come to a head.

I’ve never liked Sabean as a GM and I think that he could have and should have done more to improve the team’s weaknesses in the offseason. I thought that this year’s team could have been as good as last year’s if they remained healthy, but that’s a big if. But I still felt that they had a good enough team to get back to the Series. I don’t blame Sabean for the health issues, only for not having a deeper team in place that can better handle this sort of adversity.

As far as Bochy goes, I don’t know how you can blame him for any of this. The Giants had been decimated by injuries and they’re still in contention. Look at their Opening Day 25-man roster: Wilson is injured, Romo, Zito, Sanchez and Casilla have all been on the DL, & of their infielders are either out for the year or have been on the DL (three of which are or were on the 60-day DL) and they’ve had 3 outfielders on the DL. This doesn’t even take into account the players who have been injured who weren’t even on the Opening Day roster (Beltran, Ford, Keppinger). If you take into account players who have missed a few games without going on the DL due to injury, they’ve had 17 players get injured throughout the course of the season, and I’m probably forgetting a couple. If they win the division, he should get serious consideration for Manager of the Year. [/quote]

I blame Bochy for playing the corpse of Huff when Belt is on the major league roster, and for when he did the same thing with Posey/Molina in the past. He puts too much importance on being a veteran, and not enough on talent.

Is Torres’ dropoff due to injury? I know he’s sucked but I thought it was just random.

If you are relying that heavily on Freddy Sanchez you don’t deserve to be a playoff team. He is completely average at getting on base and has no power whatsoever. He’s an average offensive second baseman.

[/quote]

With a pitching staff like the Giants’ all they need is to be average at the plate. It worked last year. Besides, he’s a far-above average defensive 2nd baseman. In the 2-hole OBP and slugging isn’t as important as it is in other spots. What’s important is that he puts the ball in play, is patient and doesn’t strike out often. He does all that stuff well.

As far as Belt goes, they DID play him over Huff at first for the first 2-3 weeks of the year. But Belt hit below .200 and Huff couldn’t catch a cold in the outfield, so they sent Belt down to get time in the outfield when Cody Ross came off the DL. When he came back to the bigs he hit about .200 and then broke his wrist. So they sent him back down to get more playing time after he was able to swing the bat again. Have they handled him well? No, and when I get worked up I can easily start ranting like a madman about all of this, because I have in this very thread.

But when I look at things without emotion the bottom line is that Huff has actually hit better than Belt has this year. Talent only gets you so far. Walking the fine line between going with talent and going with who did it for you last year is hard. I don’t blame Bochy for being cautious in this respect. There’s no way around the fact that when Belt has played, he hasn’t hit very well at all. Neither has Huff. So really, it’s a lose-lose situation for Bochy. I do feel that he should have given Belt more at-bats in Huff’s place, but this failure to do so isn’t even remotely close to being the reason they’ve struggled since the All-Star break.

307

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also what was bizarre about my pre-season predictions? Or were you talking about the 80-85 win line that was just a mix up?

Before the season started I said:

Cody Ross was playing out of his skull in the 2010 playoffs and isn’t actually a good hitter. True.

Aubrey Huff was getting on in years and he wouldn’t be as reliable as he was in the past. True.

Miguel Tejada is garbage. True.

Buster Posey might struggle this year. Undetermined.

I wasn’t convinced the Giants would win their division this year albeit I predicted the Rockies would be the ones that could overtake them not the Dbacks. Slightly off here.

I predicted Bumgarner might struggle since it will be his first full year and pitchers tend to not progress in a linear fashion. I was wrong.

[/quote]

First of all, predicting that Cody Ross’ postseason accomplishments would not be indicative of his success (or lack thereof) this year hardly means anything. That’s like me predicting that the Blue Jays will finish behind the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Aubrey Huff hasn’t been reliable for 2 of the last 3 seasons and was never more than a slightly above average hitter in the first place. Given that he’s 35 now, you hardly went out on a limb with that one.

Miguel Tejada is garbage? Gee, takes a real original thinker to think that a 37 y/o shortstop isn’t going to be a good player on the defending World Champions’ team.

Posey: again, hardly going out on a limb. What was bizarre was your repeated argument that he would struggle because other sophomore players have struggled. I remember you cited Adam Lind as an example. What others have done has no bearing on what Posey would have done. Each player should be judged strictly on their own merit. You’re thinking like someone who’s main exposure to baseball is through fantasy leagues.

You may not have been convinced the Giants would win their division, but let’s be real here. If the Giants had remained relatively healthy this year instead of being besieged with injuries (Their entire Opening Day starting infield has spent time on the DL) they’d be cruising to the Division title this year and you’d have looked pretty stupid for going with Colorado. But they ARE injured and they ARE in danger of not winning the division so I suppose you’ve blindly stumbled upon something there.

Regarding Bumgarner: yes, you were completely wrong on that one and I was completely right. Aside from one historically bad outing and the fact that his loss total is so high due to having the lowest run support in the NL, he’s had a fantastic first full season in the bigs.[/quote]

People make predictions about future performance based on past performance. Maybe that’s a new concept to you?

With respect to Cody Ross come on dude, we spoke at length about him. You were convinced he would be a decent hitter in 2011 and I told you he was just a utility player that got hot at the right time.

Miguel Tejada - You obviously couldn’t figure out he would be shit. So if it wasn’t a “real thinker” then that just means you are a fucking idiot for not figuring that one out.

Buster Posey - Yes, nothing another player does has any effect on him. I made my prediction on past performance of players in his same situation. I bet if he stayed healthy it would have come true. Unfortunately we’ll never know.

Aubrey Huff - How far out on a limb I went is not what we’re discussing. You disagreed with me and I was right. You have a choice of praising me for this or question your ability to understand Major League Baseball.[/quote]

Are you trying to get out a rise out of me?

Who is Josh?[/quote]

You are.

Yeah, the fun is in discussing baseball while getting a contentious debate going.
[/quote]

Also, I’m having tons of fun here. I doubt that you are, though. Your barbs and insults have a nasty edge to them, to the point where I’m beginning to think you’re taking all of this very poorly. My barbs and insults have ALWAYS had a nasty edge, regardless of the thread, and an edge nastier and more depraved than anything you’re capable of. But I can sense that your tone has shifted from its normal state over the last page, an indictment of your large emotional investment in the Giants’ season. All because people like WestCoast and myself have GOTTEN to you.[/quote]

Just trying to keep up.

308

Also scj, you may say that OTHER than losing Posey, injuries haven’t impacted the Giants that much this year, and that’s fine.

But really, Posey’s injury was HUGE. Losing him is arguably the biggest loss this team could have suffered, including potentially losing Lincecum or Cain or Wilson. Saying that, other than losing Posey, their injuries haven’t impacted them much is like saying that, other than having his legs blown off by an IED, any minor injuries Michael Phelps suffers shouldn’t impact his ability to win 6 Gold Medals in the next Olympics.

309

^^^ that’s a fair point, but part of my problem also was that I thought the dbacks are better than they really are. Made it easier to argue the Gs shouldn’t be in first, but the DBs aren’t spectacular.

310

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also what was bizarre about my pre-season predictions? Or were you talking about the 80-85 win line that was just a mix up?

Before the season started I said:

Cody Ross was playing out of his skull in the 2010 playoffs and isn’t actually a good hitter. True.

Aubrey Huff was getting on in years and he wouldn’t be as reliable as he was in the past. True.

Miguel Tejada is garbage. True.

Buster Posey might struggle this year. Undetermined.

I wasn’t convinced the Giants would win their division this year albeit I predicted the Rockies would be the ones that could overtake them not the Dbacks. Slightly off here.

I predicted Bumgarner might struggle since it will be his first full year and pitchers tend to not progress in a linear fashion. I was wrong.

[/quote]

First of all, predicting that Cody Ross’ postseason accomplishments would not be indicative of his success (or lack thereof) this year hardly means anything. That’s like me predicting that the Blue Jays will finish behind the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Aubrey Huff hasn’t been reliable for 2 of the last 3 seasons and was never more than a slightly above average hitter in the first place. Given that he’s 35 now, you hardly went out on a limb with that one.

Miguel Tejada is garbage? Gee, takes a real original thinker to think that a 37 y/o shortstop isn’t going to be a good player on the defending World Champions’ team.

Posey: again, hardly going out on a limb. What was bizarre was your repeated argument that he would struggle because other sophomore players have struggled. I remember you cited Adam Lind as an example. What others have done has no bearing on what Posey would have done. Each player should be judged strictly on their own merit. You’re thinking like someone who’s main exposure to baseball is through fantasy leagues.

You may not have been convinced the Giants would win their division, but let’s be real here. If the Giants had remained relatively healthy this year instead of being besieged with injuries (Their entire Opening Day starting infield has spent time on the DL) they’d be cruising to the Division title this year and you’d have looked pretty stupid for going with Colorado. But they ARE injured and they ARE in danger of not winning the division so I suppose you’ve blindly stumbled upon something there.

Regarding Bumgarner: yes, you were completely wrong on that one and I was completely right. Aside from one historically bad outing and the fact that his loss total is so high due to having the lowest run support in the NL, he’s had a fantastic first full season in the bigs.[/quote]

People make predictions about future performance based on past performance. Maybe that’s a new concept to you?

With respect to Cody Ross come on dude, we spoke at length about him. You were convinced he would be a decent hitter in 2011 and I told you he was just a utility player that got hot at the right time.

Miguel Tejada - You obviously couldn’t figure out he would be shit. So if it wasn’t a “real thinker” then that just means you are a fucking idiot for not figuring that one out.

Buster Posey - Yes, nothing another player does has any effect on him. I made my prediction on past performance of players in his same situation. I bet if he stayed healthy it would have come true. Unfortunately we’ll never know.

Aubrey Huff - How far out on a limb I went is not what we’re discussing. You disagreed with me and I was right. You have a choice of praising me for this or question your ability to understand Major League Baseball.[/quote]

Are you trying to get out a rise out of me?

Who is Josh?[/quote]

You are.

Yeah, the fun is in discussing baseball while getting a contentious debate going.
[/quote]

Also, I’m having tons of fun here. I doubt that you are, though. Your barbs and insults have a nasty edge to them, to the point where I’m beginning to think you’re taking all of this very poorly. My barbs and insults have ALWAYS had a nasty edge, regardless of the thread, and an edge nastier and more depraved than anything you’re capable of. But I can sense that your tone has shifted from its normal state over the last page, an indictment of your large emotional investment in the Giants’ season. All because people like WestCoast and myself have GOTTEN to you.[/quote]

Just trying to keep up.
[/quote]

Genuinely curious: who is Josh? Be honest, why that particular name?

311

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also if you still feel the avatar I chose for you is soft, feel free to switch it with one of the Buster Posey ones if you want. Since you don’t feel enough of a punishment.[/quote]

Nope. I like this one more. It’s kind of gay-looking, something that you can’t handle in your avatar, hence all the pre-qualifications you demanded from me when we made this bet in the first place. I’ll use any avatar you supply, but I won’t change it after you’ve belatedly come up with something after being harangued about your poor original choice from more than one poster on here.

I like it even more because it reveals how your mind works when you do a little original thinking for once. You think for yourself and you come up with pink hearts and pesudo homo-erotic imagery. Nice.[/quote]

Also something like the avatar I gave you would be fine. It’s the pics of 2 guys physically rubbing their cocks on each other that I don’t want to see.

312

[quote]scj119 wrote:
^^^ that’s a fair point, but part of my problem also was that I thought the dbacks are better than they really are. Made it easier to argue the Gs shouldn’t be in first, but the DBs aren’t spectacular.[/quote]

Well, the Diamondbacks look pretty legit. Sometimes we miss a team that is better than we all give it credit for, and rather than just admit that we’re wrong we call them a “surprise”. Look at football for instance. These dumbfucks on NFL Live don’t know shit about how good any of these teams are. How many of them thought Seattle would win in the playoffs last year? Not many. How many thought Green Bay would win it all? Not many. There’s always some team out there that is better than any of us think (myself included regarding the D’Backs) and it may surprise US when they do well, but not them.

In retrospect, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched for them to be a contending team. We knew they could hit going into the season. We’ve all known that Upton is a legit superstar in the making, we’ve all known that Stephen Drew is one of the better SS’s in the league (when he’s healthy), we’ve all known that Kirk Gibson is a good coach (proved last year that he could manage when he was the interim), we’ve all known that their offense is legit.

The only surprises to me are the starting pitchers. Ian Kennedy? Didn’t see that coming. Daniel Hudson? Same thing. So maybe it should be shame on us rather than call them a surprise. With the offensive potential they have, we should have realized that a career year from a couple pitchers, combined with a key injury to the Giants, could catapult them to the top of the division, or at least into legitimate contention for a postseason spot.

Because really, that’s all it takes for ANY team with a decent amount of talent to succeed. Look at the Kansas City Royals, or even Raj’s beloved Blue Jays. Next year, with their talent and maybe a career year or two out of a starting pitcher and a key injury to a top contender in their division and they could easily contend down to the last day of the year. That’s exactly what happened to the Padres last year. If you can get a REALLY good bullpen, starting 5 or offense together a team has a legit shot, combined with a few breaks, to contend.

313

Mainly I thought they had a better record/run differential. I definitely did not see Hudson and especially Kennedy having this type of year.

Love Upton though (traded for him in fantasy keeper league last year). They’re good fo sho, but I wouldn’t call them great.

Strasburg should be back in Sept… I have something to cheer about. Going to Phils-Nats this weekend, gotta represent the home team when we get outnumbered in our own stadium.

314

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also if you still feel the avatar I chose for you is soft, feel free to switch it with one of the Buster Posey ones if you want. Since you don’t feel enough of a punishment.[/quote]

Nope. I like this one more. It’s kind of gay-looking, something that you can’t handle in your avatar, hence all the pre-qualifications you demanded from me when we made this bet in the first place. I’ll use any avatar you supply, but I won’t change it after you’ve belatedly come up with something after being harangued about your poor original choice from more than one poster on here.

I like it even more because it reveals how your mind works when you do a little original thinking for once. You think for yourself and you come up with pink hearts and pesudo homo-erotic imagery. Nice.[/quote]

Also something like the avatar I gave you would be fine. It’s the pics of 2 guys physically rubbing their cocks on each other that I don’t want to see. [/quote]

Who is Josh? I was right, wasn’t I? You’ve been searching for me all over the Internet, haven’t you? And now you erroneously think you’ve found out my real name.

315

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also if you still feel the avatar I chose for you is soft, feel free to switch it with one of the Buster Posey ones if you want. Since you don’t feel enough of a punishment.[/quote]

Nope. I like this one more. It’s kind of gay-looking, something that you can’t handle in your avatar, hence all the pre-qualifications you demanded from me when we made this bet in the first place. I’ll use any avatar you supply, but I won’t change it after you’ve belatedly come up with something after being harangued about your poor original choice from more than one poster on here.

I like it even more because it reveals how your mind works when you do a little original thinking for once. You think for yourself and you come up with pink hearts and pesudo homo-erotic imagery. Nice.[/quote]

Also something like the avatar I gave you would be fine. It’s the pics of 2 guys physically rubbing their cocks on each other that I don’t want to see. [/quote]

Who is Josh? I was right, wasn’t I? You’ve been searching for me all over the Internet, haven’t you? And now you erroneously think you’ve found out my real name. [/quote]

Haha yeah all over the Internet man. No, I thought you said your name was Josh in another thread, it was in the back of my mind.

316

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also if you still feel the avatar I chose for you is soft, feel free to switch it with one of the Buster Posey ones if you want. Since you don’t feel enough of a punishment.[/quote]

Nope. I like this one more. It’s kind of gay-looking, something that you can’t handle in your avatar, hence all the pre-qualifications you demanded from me when we made this bet in the first place. I’ll use any avatar you supply, but I won’t change it after you’ve belatedly come up with something after being harangued about your poor original choice from more than one poster on here.

I like it even more because it reveals how your mind works when you do a little original thinking for once. You think for yourself and you come up with pink hearts and pesudo homo-erotic imagery. Nice.[/quote]

Also something like the avatar I gave you would be fine. It’s the pics of 2 guys physically rubbing their cocks on each other that I don’t want to see. [/quote]

Who is Josh? I was right, wasn’t I? You’ve been searching for me all over the Internet, haven’t you? And now you erroneously think you’ve found out my real name. [/quote]

Haha yeah all over the Internet man. No, I thought you said your name was Josh in another thread, it was in the back of my mind.[/quote]

Oh. Uh, disregard all of my wild theories about that.

I would never reveal anything about my identity on here. There’s just too many whackos on the Internet and I’ve heard too many horror stories about identity theft and harassment and that sort of thing. So yeah, I’ll never say my real name on here. But I can assure that it is NOT Josh. That name’s too boring and Biblical for me.

317

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

As far as Belt goes, they DID play him over Huff at first for the first 2-3 weeks of the year. But Belt hit below .200 and Huff couldn’t catch a cold in the outfield, so they sent Belt down to get time in the outfield when Cody Ross came off the DL. When he came back to the bigs he hit about .200 and then broke his wrist. So they sent him back down to get more playing time after he was able to swing the bat again. Have they handled him well? No, and when I get worked up I can easily start ranting like a madman about all of this, because I have in this very thread.

But when I look at things without emotion the bottom line is that Huff has actually hit better than Belt has this year. Talent only gets you so far. Walking the fine line between going with talent and going with who did it for you last year is hard. I don’t blame Bochy for being cautious in this respect. There’s no way around the fact that when Belt has played, he hasn’t hit very well at all. Neither has Huff. So really, it’s a lose-lose situation for Bochy. I do feel that he should have given Belt more at-bats in Huff’s place, but this failure to do so isn’t even remotely close to being the reason they’ve struggled since the All-Star break.[/quote]

I mentioned it earlier, when you have a talent like Belt, they need security in knowing a 2 week slump will NOT get them sent down to the Majors. I see the Jays doing the same thing with Travis Snider and I don’t like it all.

318

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]therajraj wrote:
Also if you still feel the avatar I chose for you is soft, feel free to switch it with one of the Buster Posey ones if you want. Since you don’t feel enough of a punishment.[/quote]

Nope. I like this one more. It’s kind of gay-looking, something that you can’t handle in your avatar, hence all the pre-qualifications you demanded from me when we made this bet in the first place. I’ll use any avatar you supply, but I won’t change it after you’ve belatedly come up with something after being harangued about your poor original choice from more than one poster on here.

I like it even more because it reveals how your mind works when you do a little original thinking for once. You think for yourself and you come up with pink hearts and pesudo homo-erotic imagery. Nice.[/quote]

Also something like the avatar I gave you would be fine. It’s the pics of 2 guys physically rubbing their cocks on each other that I don’t want to see. [/quote]

Who is Josh? I was right, wasn’t I? You’ve been searching for me all over the Internet, haven’t you? And now you erroneously think you’ve found out my real name. [/quote]

Haha yeah all over the Internet man. No, I thought you said your name was Josh in another thread, it was in the back of my mind.[/quote]

Oh. Uh, disregard all of my wild theories about that.

I would never reveal anything about my identity on here. There’s just too many whackos on the Internet and I’ve heard too many horror stories about identity theft and harassment and that sort of thing. So yeah, I’ll never say my real name on here. But I can assure that it is NOT Josh. That name’s too boring and Biblical for me.[/quote]

That’s true, but I couldn’t care less about first names personally. My username is my first name twice.

319

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

As far as Belt goes, they DID play him over Huff at first for the first 2-3 weeks of the year. But Belt hit below .200 and Huff couldn’t catch a cold in the outfield, so they sent Belt down to get time in the outfield when Cody Ross came off the DL. When he came back to the bigs he hit about .200 and then broke his wrist. So they sent him back down to get more playing time after he was able to swing the bat again. Have they handled him well? No, and when I get worked up I can easily start ranting like a madman about all of this, because I have in this very thread.

But when I look at things without emotion the bottom line is that Huff has actually hit better than Belt has this year. Talent only gets you so far. Walking the fine line between going with talent and going with who did it for you last year is hard. I don’t blame Bochy for being cautious in this respect. There’s no way around the fact that when Belt has played, he hasn’t hit very well at all. Neither has Huff. So really, it’s a lose-lose situation for Bochy. I do feel that he should have given Belt more at-bats in Huff’s place, but this failure to do so isn’t even remotely close to being the reason they’ve struggled since the All-Star break.[/quote]

I mentioned it earlier, when you have a talent like Belt, they need security in knowing a 2 week slump will NOT get them sent down to the Majors. I see the Jays doing the same thing with Travis Snider and I don’t like it all.[/quote]

I agree, to a certain extent. But you have to realize as well that the Giants are not in the same position as the Blue Jays. They have a title to defend and part of playing on a championship team is the reality that you need to produce at the Major League level if you want to stay at the Major League level. And part of that reality is that the Giants DID have a guy who was hitting better than Belt and has more experience than Belt AND has a track record.

The security aspect of your comment also applies to Huff, perhaps even more so. The last thing you need is a proven veteran to feel that a two-week slump is going to cost him HIS job. Granted, his slump has been over the course of the whole season, but the difference between a proven veteran and a prospect (remember, that’s really all Belt is at this point) is that the veteran has earned the benefit of the doubt from his manager and the longer leash that comes with that. Belt hasn’t earned any job security, yet. Huff is definitely starting to see his job security erode very quickly as crunch time nears. But Belt still has to play his way into the starting lineup.

Look at Nate Schierholtz. You guys all laughed at me when I said he was a good player and not worth trading away, given their needs. And I was right. The guy is talented and is a legit 5 tool player. But he had to EARN his way into the lineup on a regular basis, something that he wasn’t always given a proper chance to do, but something that he also didn’t really earn until this year, either. Now, with their injuries, he and Sandoval are probably the two best players they can put on the field right now. Now that he’s got a legit chance and capitalized on it, he’s proven himself to be one of the best defensive corner outfielders in the league and while he isn’t a great hitter, he isn’t some punching Judy hitter, either.

320

So aside from your team, what potentially playoff bound franchise do you want to see succeed this post season?

For me it’s the Brewers, I’m a big fan of their team makeup and Shaun Marcum was one of my favourite players when he was a Blue Jay. They are amazing at home, and I know this run has been mostly against bad teams but shit they are still taking care of business. They will be the team I’m cheering for come October.