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Last Friday I attended my second game of the 2003 season -- the Mariners vs. the Red Sox in Safeco -- as I alluded to on an earlier game thread. The game itself was compelling enough -- a 9-4 Seattle win featuring an Ichiro grand slam, a mammoth solo homer by Manny Ramirez, and some questionable umpiring -- but equally exciting were the following events.

1) I sat with someone who had never attended a baseball game;
2) Shigetosi Hasegawa, one of the unlikeliest closers in recent memory, somehow threw 88 MPH fastballs by major-league hitters -- and good ones at that;
3) During batting practice, David Ortiz showed enormous raw power, regularly pounding balls off the restaurant in RF at Safeco;
4) Also during batting practice, I had a ball hit by Doug Mirabelli ricochet off my left ring pinky and ring finger;
5) My wallet somehow fell out while I was at the stadium, only to be retrieved, money and credit cards and Starbucks card and business cards fully intact, by an honest staff person.

Some additional commentary, in order.

This was the first time I had attended a baseball game with an Official Baseball Game Virgin (OBGV), who, it turns out, offered up some fine questions about the grand 'ol game. To wit: after a walk to, I believe, Jason Varitek, the OBGV leaned over and said "What are those two guys doing over there (at first base)?" Later on: "You know what would make this more exciting? If all those people out there on the field [also known as the players] would do something." Still later: "Do all games run this long?"And yet, after the game: "You know? I would do this again. It wasn't terrible." I have always found baseball to be a solid entertainment value, particularly in the daytime, but the questions our OBGV poses really do make sense. There is so much down time in baseball in comparison to other sports that it is easy to see how a first-time viewer would be monstrously bored by it. Baseball, like beer and Marxism, is an acquired taste. It can't always be acquired after one sip, however ...

Last night I said I was confident I could hit Josh Towers. I am even more confident about my ability to hit Hasegawa. It's not like his fastball moves like Roy Halladay's or has the giddy up of Rafael Soriano's; it's not like his changeup is that much slower than his fastball; it's not like he even has a good fastball or a good changeup. So how does he do it? It's a fair question.

I saw Hasegawa his first year in the bigs (1997) during the spring in Arizona. My first impression was, "Wow, this guy's not much taller than I am" (5'7" on good days -- that is to say, days when I wear my ½-inch-high Sketchers). We were sitting right next to the Angels' bullpen when Shiggy was warming up, which led to my next thought: "Wow, this guy's going to get devoured." Well, Shiggy hasn't been rocked as I thought he would, nor has he been lights out in his career (best ERA+? 1998, at 150) -- at least until he arrived at Safeco, where he can lay out his pedestrian stuff, because crushed fly balls disappear into Mike Cameron's glove, because sharp grounders are secured by Bret Boone and Rey Sanchez, because it is in Safeco where he can survive with a K rate -- 28 in 58 innings -- that would be good, maybe, in slow-pitch softball leagues.

The point of all this: if ever an organization could save money by rotating closers from year-to-year or by using a closer-by-committee, it's the Mariners, because of the built-in advantage of their home park. I bet even Bruce Chen -- Bruce Chen! -- could close out games in Safeco. No doubt Hasegawa is having a year for the ages, at least E.R.A-wise, but he's been a mediocre pitcher during his career. Assuming the M's hold off the A's and Red Sox to make the playoffs, he may get exposed in a short series when, typically, the hitting is better. (I don't have Shiggy's numbers against the Yankees or Royals or A's or Red Sox, so this may be bogus.) The M's bullpen is strong, no question, but how much of that is due to the park or pitchers? Because they are small-sample sizes by their nature, the playoffs, unfortunately, will not answer the question satisfactorily, but I have a hunch (remember those?) Hasegawa will get burned in October ...

Watching Ortiz take BP reminded me of a cross between Robin Ventura and Mo Vaughn: Vaughn because Ortiz crouches slightly (though not as coiled as Mo), Ventura because Ortiz finishes his swing with a vicious helicopter motion. But, wow, does he have raw power, which makes me wonder why his career high in homers is 20, achieved last year with the Twins. With 16 in mid-August, he should break that this year, but after hitting five homers in seven games in late July/early August, he's gone 11 games (39 at-bats) without clearing the fences. Maybe facing the A's and Mariners in Oakland and Seattle had something to do with that dry spell. Whatever the case, Ortiz put on quite a surprising show during BP, another reason why it's a good idea to get to the game early. And, while we're at it, another good idea when attending a baseball game is to ...

... bring a glove. Last Friday, for the third time in my life, my swollen Italian fingers touched a foul/BP ball in a major-league stadium, and for the third time in my life I walked away embarrassed and with sore fingers. (I have, however, caught a few balls, with a glove, during my many years at spring training. Never bare-handed, though.) Part of the problem is that some people behind me were shoving me out of the way, but part of the problem also is that it's hard as hell to catch a ball bare-handed.

Except that one of the drops I did have a glove. During BP at the Oakland Coliseum one afternoon, my dad and I were sitting in left field, directly below the foul pole, when Terry Steinbach launched one which I knew right away was heading right for me. I got my glove ready -- that is to say, I prepared my roommate's glove (remember this fact, dear reader) -- only to determine, as the ball got closer, that it would hit the foul pole. I lowered the glove. But once again, I was wrong: the ball missed the foul pole. I raised my glove in desperation. The ball hit the heel of the glove. I dropped the ball. The ball drifted over to a kid -- that was OK -- and I skulked back to where my dad was. He shook his head at me, obviously disappointed his collegiate son had learned about Marx and Pater and Byron but had forgotten how to catch a baseball hit directly to him. (Come to think of it, he wasn't all that thrilled about my new-found love of Romanticism or of Marx, but that's another story.)

Now, I do have a valid excuse: the glove. My roommate's glove was an outfielder's glove -- and a shabby one at that -- and, since I played third base and shortstop, I was used to a far smaller slab of leather. OK, there's no excuse. In all my years playing baseball and -- sigh -- softball, I have dropped one fly ball in my life (using a glove). That was it. Oh, well. At least it was hit by a major leaguer ...

Regarding #5: I'm a lucky fool, and, while I am a severe pessimist by nature, every now and then someone will surprise me, such as the kindly, underpaid and overworked maintenance person at Safeco, who toils in a filthy before-game, in-game, and post-game environment of 43,000 consuming humans. I could not even leave a thank you note, or a gift card, or even the impersonal cash, for my benefactor, because he or she did not leave a name. The cynic in me says that the person was just doing their job, but George Orwell, in Keep the Aspidistra Flying, writes that there's nobility in doing your job -- as a spouse, as a parent, etc. -- doing it well, and doing it quietly, no matter how mundane, demeaning, or "unimportant" it may be. In a world of naked cynicism and a "Hey, look at me!" mentality, it's nice that I can still be surprised by my fellow humans.
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Pepper Moffatt - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 09:20 AM EDT (#93974) #
http://economics.about.com
Baseball, like beer and Marxism, is an acquired taste.

One of these things is not like the other.

Mike
Coach - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 09:22 AM EDT (#93975) #
Wonderful stuff, John.

it is easy to see how a first-time viewer would be monstrously bored by it

Your OBGV companion had the advantage of sitting with an expert. Imagine how difficult it is to understand and appreciate the game without an interpreter.

Now, I do have a valid excuse: the glove.

Carlos Tosca said before the game yesterday that everything "speeds up" for a player who is thinking too much. I'd guess a couple of uninvited thoughts about how much you wanted to make the catch crept in, then as soon as you considered the foul pole, your focus on the ball diminished. So it arrived a fraction of a second before you expected it, and turned into a rare E-Gitz.
Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 09:32 AM EDT (#93976) #
One of these things is not like the other.

The other thing is also not like the other. That's what comes from having two things.

Anyway, I have no joke here, I just like saying

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his thirst."
Pepper Moffatt - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 09:39 AM EDT (#93977) #
http://economics.about.com
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his thirst."

That'd make a great slogan for a drinking team.

I'm probably the most virulent anti-communist around, but I'm trying my best to keep quiet. My loathing of communism comes from reading too many books, having friends who were Chinese-Cambodian, plus I visited East German and Tito's Yugoslavia as a kid.

But I'll shut up.

Back OT: I told Coach, rodent and Robert about this already, but I thought I'd mention it again. A few years ago I took a friend of mine from Finland to her baseball game. It was a terrific pitching matchup: Bartolo Colon vs. David Wells and we were sitting about 30 rows behind home plate. In the second inning Sara turns to me and says, "Are pitchers always that fat?"

Mike
_Andrew Edwards - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:09 AM EDT (#93978) #
Not to harp on this, but there really was a lot of Marx in that post. You could've at least alternated between, say, him and Rawls.

For me, at least, Marxism isn't an acquired taste but is rather, like the SoCo I used to get drunk on in high school, an acquired distaste.

And I couldn't hit Josh Towers. I couldn't hit Josh Towers' mom.

HIJACK: The Toronto Maple Leafs lost game 7 of the intercounty baseball league semifinals to the Brantford Red Sox [link]. Which means no more baseball at Christie Pits this summer. Boo!
_Spicol - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:45 AM EDT (#93979) #
like the SoCo I used to get drunk on in high school

*shudders*

You and me both, brutha.

In the second inning Sara turns to me and says, "Are pitchers always that fat?"

Hilarious!

It's taken 7 years, but I think my wife is finally understanding when a runner needs to be tagged and when not. You see, she's much more interested in what everyone is wearing and popcorn. Most recently, the runner running after swinging on a dropped third strike set us back about 6 years. But at least she goes with me to watch this goofy, goofy game.
Pepper Moffatt - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 11:13 AM EDT (#93980) #
http://economics.about.com
It's taken 7 years, but I think my wife is finally understanding when a runner needs to be tagged and when not. You see, she's much more interested in what everyone is wearing and popcorn.

Hannah's family is Danish, so they don't know the first thing about baseball either. She's learning pretty quickly, but there's still quite a few things that puzzle her. I love how she phrased her understanding of the game:

"I think I understand all of the rules, but I don't understand all the exceptions to the rules"

I had to admit to her that although I umpired for 8 years, I still don't know all the rules. I was more of a balls-and-strikes guy anyway. :)

Mike
_Nigel - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 12:24 PM EDT (#93981) #
One of the things that I like most about sites like this is that you see that your experiences related to baseball are similar to others and that makes my uber-passion for the game seem more normal.

I took my fiance to her first baseball game at Safeco last year. She had played softball a few times over the years but knows nothing about baseball. The game was against Boston and Pedro was pitching. Because of that, the only scalpers tickets we could get were in the third level way down the first base line, so we were a mile from the action. My fiance studies child behaviour in schools so she's into studying body language. Bottom of the first (and I haven't told her anything about Pedro and how great he is and remember we're a mile from the field) before the first pitch is thrown she says to me "the little tiny guy with the ball is the best player here right? Everying about his body language says "I know I'm going to win"" Of course Pedro then goes on to throw a shutout striking out 12. And you know now when I watch Pedro I can see what see's talking about. He just has a cockiness that I never really noticed before. Sometimes going with non- baseball fans can take your head out of the balls and stikes part of the game.
Gitz - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 12:29 PM EDT (#93982) #
I apologize for being (mildly) thick on Marxism; I hope my capitalist mentor, Mike Moffatt, wasn't too offended. Not to get into a thick debate on this -- I would lose it -- but what I most like about Marx were his concerns about sex and art, and the deleterious effect the drudgery of working a lousy job had on them.

Coach, what "expert" are you talking about?!)@)!#? Me? The one who picked the Twins to win the World Series? Son of a diddly!
Gitz - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 12:34 PM EDT (#93983) #
Oh, I should add, in case the FBI is monitoring me, that I'm not a commie. Socialist? Yep. A Stalin/Mao/Castro communist, or a believer in that type of repressive/authoritarian system? No chance.
Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 01:51 PM EDT (#93984) #
what I most like about Marx were his concerns about sex and art, and the deleterious effect the drudgery of working a lousy job had on them.

The delterious effect of "alienation" is the most perceptive of all Marx's critiques, and the principal of the two reasons why Marx/Engels is still relevant now. The other is their critique of mercantilism, which occupies an important way station on the road from Adam Smith to Galbraith and now contemporary critiques.
_benum - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 02:01 PM EDT (#93985) #
The delterious effect of "alienation" is the most perceptive of all Marx's critiques, and the principal of the two reasons why Marx/Engels is still relevant now. The other is their critique of mercantilism, which occupies an important way station on the road from Adam Smith to Galbraith and now contemporary critiques.

ZZZZZZZZZ, huh? Oh, uh hmmm, yes Mr. Burley? Yes, I was paying attention sir. What? No, I was listening. 4 Pages?? Can I double space that? Oh...ahhh...can I have until Monday?
_Scott Lucas - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 02:08 PM EDT (#93986) #
Hey Gitz:

Didn't Orwell say the worst advertisement for socialism was its adherents?

:)
_A - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 02:27 PM EDT (#93987) #
but what I most like about Marx
What I hate most about Marx: he defined Capitalism.

A Stalin/Mao/Castro communist
Stalin and Mao were not communists, they were fascists. Castro/Cuba can have arguements made for and against how communist it is depending on how you prefer to interrpret Marx. Regardless, it isn't Capitalism so that's enough to be on any Administration's hit-list.

I wonder if Castro's real beef with the Americans is that they keep taking his pitchers? ;-)
Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 02:45 PM EDT (#93988) #
ZZZZZZZZZ, huh?

Wake up, benum.

Oh, uh hmmm, yes Mr. Burley?

Wipe the drool off your chin, benum.

Yes, I was paying attention sir.

I take it you were having that dream again, with Eric Hinske and the gallon jug of coconut oil?

What? No, I was listening.

Good, perhaps you can tell me why the hell we keep getting on to economic theory topics here at Da Box?

...

Well, perhaps you'd like to prepare a little something for me, say a paper for Friday. Four pages, say, on the importance of sticking to baseball?

4 Pages?? Can I double space that?

Ahem. Do I *look* like Prof. Moffatt?

Oh...ahhh...can I have until Monday?

Very well. Students who rub me the wrong way, benum, come to a sticky end.

Now, getting back to the topic at hand...

In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the...

Anyone? Anyone? ...the Great Depression, passed the...

Anyone? Anyone?

The tariff bill?

The HAWLEY-SMOOT Tariff Act?

Which, anyone?

Raised or lowered?

...RAISED tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government.

Did it work?

Anyone?

Anyone know the effects?

It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this.

Anyone know what this is? Class?

Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before?

The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount of revenue as at this point.

This is very controversial. Does anyone know what Vice President Bush called this in 1980?

Anyone?

Something-d-o-o economics.

"Voodoo" economics...
_benum - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 03:06 PM EDT (#93989) #
lol
_jason - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 04:39 PM EDT (#93990) #
O.K. I'll take a shot. My opinion on Marx is that he was a great historian, a seminal economist but lousy excuse for a prognosticator. He took the equivalent of an A Ball pitchers record and predicted how he would do in the majors. Believing that capitalism was a static and inadaptable system, he fortold of the coming of the inevitable proletarian revolution. Oh we all do it; I myself believe that 'Moneyball' we prove to be a turning point in the history of baseball. But Marx's predictions were not enough to base a religion on.
Pistol - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 04:42 PM EDT (#93991) #
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minors/03afl_peoriaj.html
Sorry to hijack this discussion, but the AFL lineups are out.

5 Jays will be playing, all from New Haven: Adams, Rich, Godwin, Dejong, and Bauer. Click on my name for more details
Gitz - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 04:46 PM EDT (#93992) #
Though I maintain a fundamental liking of some of Marx's writings -- and especially the one Craig mentioned, alienation -- I will level an additional critique about Marx, reminded to me by someone in the Jays organization we're familiar with here: Marx was a raging anti-semite.
Gitz - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 04:48 PM EDT (#93993) #
Oh, and Lucas: nice work.
Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 05:12 PM EDT (#93994) #
Hee hee... Peoria Javelinas.

"The nocturnal gregarious wild swine..."

Interesting lineup. It's getting close to the time for Pete Bauer to show the Jays what he's got... for a former 2nd rounder he's been somewhat indifferent.

Jordan DeJong... he's pitched very well in AA, if he can get guys out in the AFL he's going to vault himself forward pretty far as a prospect.
Craig B - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 05:16 PM EDT (#93995) #
Hey, neat. Last year Rule V pick Gary Majewski's going to be on the Peoria roster too. He's having an OK year in the bullpen in AAA, and he's still not on the Sox 40-man roster...
Gitz - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 05:33 PM EDT (#93996) #
That Jordan DeJong is a heckuva contributor here at Da Box.
_Jabonoso - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 06:09 PM EDT (#93997) #
Marx anti semite ? I do not get it. The part that I respect the most and enjoy the most in Marx work is his definition of justice, which comes from a thorough study of the Torah and what justice meant to every prophet ( ref: Marx and the bible by Porfirio Miranda ), is like saying Jesus was anti semite for his passion regarding higher standards for humanity. And the fact that Marx was also a jew.
_perlhack - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 06:22 PM EDT (#93998) #
Shifting gears for a moment, over at ESPN they have a few articles about the Expos and their potential "home" (you may have heard that they'll be relocated, eventually...). There's also an article about the Blue Jays finances.

Stark's Expos column
Neyer's Expos column
Possible new destinations
Blue Jays finances

That ought to waste some of your time :-)
_gid - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 06:30 PM EDT (#93999) #

HIJACK: The Toronto Maple Leafs lost game 7 of the intercounty baseball league semifinals to the Brantford Red Sox [link]. Which means no more baseball at Christie Pits this summer. Boo!


Did you see the first episode of this game Tuesday night at the Pits? When the lights failed to turn on? What a disaster. I couldn't tell from the PA announcements whether they were trying to get permission to turn the lights on, or that they were just trying to figure out how to get the lights on. If it turns out to have been just a matter of getting permission -- how ridiculous is that? By comparison, at that time, SkyDome was lighting up the night. And anyway, this was at 8:30 or later -- long after peak power demand. In any case, with proven incompetence from the city of TO, it's no surprise they moved the remainder of the game to Brantford, and you've got to wonder how much of an advantage that turned out to be.
Pepper Moffatt - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 06:41 PM EDT (#94000) #
http://economics.about.com
I hope my capitalist mentor, Mike Moffatt, wasn't too offended.

Gitz, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.
_Andrew Edwards - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 07:14 PM EDT (#94001) #
gid:

Yeah, I thought that was pretty lame. I betcha the Leafs would won if it had stayed at home, too. They seem to have a pretty strong homefield advantage.
Gitz - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 07:52 PM EDT (#94002) #
Anyone else think Moffatt is lying about having a girlfriend?
_Donkit R.K. - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 08:13 PM EDT (#94003) #
lol ... That last post suggests he could be tellin a lil white lie.
Pepper Moffatt - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 08:18 PM EDT (#94004) #
http://economics.about.com
Anyone else think Moffatt is lying about having a girlfriend?

Well, she claims to be female. I guess with those chat rooms, you never really can tell.

Mike
Gitz - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 08:22 PM EDT (#94005) #
I don't get it, Mike: you seem to have a good sense of humor, and yet you're an economist?
Pepper Moffatt - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 08:25 PM EDT (#94006) #
http://economics.about.com
I don't get it, Mike: you seem to have a good sense of humor, and yet you're an economist?

I'm not very good at it.

Mike
_benum - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:32 PM EDT (#94007) #
I don't get it, Mike: you seem to have a good sense of humor, and yet you're an economist?

Well...he is a CANADIAN Economist...
_Spicol - Thursday, August 21 2003 @ 10:44 PM EDT (#94008) #
And teaching Americans. Now that's funny.
_Jurgen - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 12:54 AM EDT (#94009) #
Gitz:

You're missing the point. Have you seen Capturing the Friedmans? Having a wife or girlfriend clearly isn't proof of anything.
Pepper Moffatt - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 10:31 AM EDT (#94010) #
http://economics.about.com
Having a wife or girlfriend clearly isn't proof of anything.

If wish I had a dime for every time a guy tried to pick me up with that old line.

Mike
Pepper Moffatt - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 10:32 AM EDT (#94011) #
http://economics.about.com
Remind me to use the preview function, will you?
_Mick - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 02:55 PM EDT (#94012) #
Ah, taking spouses to the ballgame.

My lovely bride of six years, who is the smartest person I've ever met (insert Coach or Gitz joke about "why'd she marry you, then?" here) normally takes a Jane Austen novel or something with her when we suffer the heat of The Ballpark in Arlington. She tried to hex Wil Cordero for beating his wife then we saw the Sox score 21 against the Rangers and Cordero homer. That same game -- we were behind home plate -- she actually fended off a foul pop by Bill Haselman with a book about the British monarchy.

She claims to not understand the game then every once in a while will say somthing like "Einar Diaz couldn't hit in Cleveland, why would you think about replacing Pudge with this guy?"

And now she's bought a book to plan vacations that encompass North America's finest restaurants -- she's a "foodie" -- by visiting major and minor league ballparks nearby. So I think this marriage has a shot at lasting.
_Pfizer - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 03:05 PM EDT (#94013) #
It's funny actually, I guilted my wif into watching the game on TV with me last night, and it was quite a bit of fun for the six innings it lasted.

Of course, when one pitcher is a former NBA pro and the other the softest "tosser" in the league, there's plenty to talk about.
Gitz - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 03:52 PM EDT (#94014) #
Now Mick, how can your wife be the smartest in the world when MY wife cleary holds that title (her questionable taste in husbands notwithstanding)?

Rather than fending off foul balls with books on British Royalty, my wifey would be batting them away with tomes on infectious diseases and biostatistics. We have great dinner conversations:

JOHN: So how was your day?
CINDAN: I'd say it was 84 percent good, 16 percent rotten. Yours?
JOHN: I read some Rilke.
CINDAN: Did he write "Outliers: The Secret to Successful Statistical Analyitcal Methodology"?
JOHN: No, he was a German poet.
CINDAN: You know, four out of five German poets were good. I bet Rilke's not an outlier.
JOHN: Maybe you're right, Cindan. Maybe you're right.
_Mick - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 04:23 PM EDT (#94015) #
Cindan? My better (WAY better) half's name is Sandye. So unusual names are apparently highly statistically correlative with intelligence ("Rush" notwithstanding).

Sandye's a medical editor, so it we managed to get all four of us to a game, they could talk about icky things like "Epidemic and Nonepidemic Multidrug-Resistant Enterococcus faecium" while you and I could talk about icky things like Chan Ho Park's ERA and Jeremy Giambi's "potential."

P.S. John, I said she was the smartest person "I've ever met," not the smartest person "in the world." The smartest person in the world is clearly the genius who originally combined peanut butter and chocolate and introduced the world to the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Or else Bobby Valentine (just ask him).
Gerry - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 04:37 PM EDT (#94016) #
Gitz: I'll pass on the dinner invitation. I have to make sure the grass is growing at the park.
Pepper Moffatt - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 04:55 PM EDT (#94017) #
http://economics.about.com
So unusual names are apparently highly statistically correlative with intelligence

I'll have to see your evidence on that. What sources can you site?

- Everybody's Named Mike
Pepper Moffatt - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 05:13 PM EDT (#94018) #
http://economics.about.com
The fact that I spelled "cite" wrong proves your point, I guess.

Mike
_Shrike - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 05:19 PM EDT (#94019) #
I'm not at all sure it's relevant, but I sitting next to Gitz during this extravaganza at Safeco. I would have posted earlier but for the last idyllic week I have been vacationing on a Parskville beach far from computers.

A couple of memorable moments from the game John did not mention:

Manny Ramirez hit a no-doubt shot to dead center field, prompting both of us to turn to one another and say "Yes, Manny Ramirez sure can hit!" (between the two of us we've owned him in roto ball every season during his fine career, I do believe)

I was proclaiming all night that we were sitting in the Bermuda Triangle because Mark McLemore, Dan Wilson and Rey Sanchez were getting hit after hit.

John kept saying how he hated the look of Ichiro's swing. Ichiro proved that his swing was just fine, thank you very much, as he rounded the bases after his grand slam.

John implored the Boston pitching staff to bean Bret Boone after one of his patented bat flips immediately following an opposite field home run.
Gitz - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 05:39 PM EDT (#94020) #
Welcome back, Sean. On a seperate thread I had mentioned the Ichiro swings, and how I had said that he'll take garbage hack after garbage hack and then slam the ball 400 feet.
Gitz - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 05:39 PM EDT (#94021) #
Come on, Gerry: Join us for dinner. I make a mean chicken picatta.
Craig B - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 06:06 PM EDT (#94022) #
I have been vacationing on a Parskville beach

Sean's spellchecker clearly messed up the phrase "park bench".
_Shrike - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 07:38 PM EDT (#94023) #
What are spellcheckers, really? I never use them (which makes me the victim of the occasional typo) so surely this is just a symptom of oe'erweening pride? ;)
Gitz - Friday, August 22 2003 @ 07:41 PM EDT (#94024) #
You Canadians crack me up. Americans are the people who need a sense of humor about life, and you've got plenty of it -- can we borrow some?

(Except Moffatt's, of course.)
Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, August 24 2003 @ 03:17 PM EDT (#94025) #
http://economics.about.com
Except Moffatt's, of course.

Geez, I've become your favorite whipping boy lately. You're just jealous because I'm fabulously good looking, plus I'm about a foot taller than you. Plus I have no life. :)

I do think I need my head examined. I did something which on the surface seems incredibly stupid: I took your advice. I went out and bought two of those Incrediballs. Those things are great! I'm organizing a baseball game using them in London, ON in a couple weeks. If there's any Batter's Box readers who are interested in playing, e-mail me at economics.guide@about.com.

Mike
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