vivalaultra

Since I'm probably not going to see BBTN, could you go into...more detail about that?

One thing that I did think was odd about the movie was how the President was referred to as President Schwarzenegger when it was clearly Rainer Wolfcastle, both in character and voice. I know that Rainer Wolfcastle, on the show, is meant to be a 'Schwarzenegger'-esque character, but I just thought it was odd that instead of calling him what he's been called on the show for the past several years, they referred to him as the celebrity he's meant to parody.

They don't really have any need to. Upton and Young will most likely outplay Byrnes in 2008 (and do it for the ML minimum) and Carlos Quentin will be good, too. Despite Byrnes saying that he's willing to do a hometown discount, I haven't read anything where the D-Backs are extremely interested in him, and I think they don't really have any reason to be interested in him.

If Tim Lincecum wants to win 300 games, the Giants are going to have to not suck for more than just a decade. Even in the unlikely scenario that he wins 20-games a year for 10 years, that only gives him 200 wins. That said, there's absolutely no way that Tim Lincecum, nor any other pitcher, will win 20 games a year for a whole decade, arm durability be damned.

Jason Jennings can't pitch worth a shit, but he just got a pinch-single to drive in a run in the top of the 14th to give the 'Stros a 1-run lead. Maybe they'll try him at 3rd base or in RF...

Classy moment in Atlanta. Before the Astros/Braves game, John Schuerholz presented Craig Biggio with a check for The Sunshine Kids in an on-field presentation and just a minute ago, they showed a 2 and a half minute highlight video of Craig's career with 'Thanks for the memories, Craig' imposed on it and then the crowd gave him a standing ovation and a curtain call. Haha. Today at Dodger Stadium, it was 'Steroid Awareness Day'. That's hilarious.

Damn straight it was tremendous. And the FO wants to get rid of Lamb at the end of the year, despite Lamb repeatedely saying that he WANTS to stay in Houston, even if it means playing on the bench and Lance Berkman saying that he'd shift back to playing RF so Lamb could play at first.

So Rocket got booed? God, those New York fans are brutal. By the by, has anyone seen the Roger Clemens Cingular commercial or is it just local to Texas? It's absolutely hilarious.

I suck at driving a stick shift. That leaps out at me. About 7 years ago, I bought a 1978 Volkswagen camper van in just excellent condition, all original interior and everything, for $1000. My Dad tried to teach me to drive a stick, but I just couldn't get the hang of it; I tore up 3 transmissions in three weeks. One morning, I was driving it to work and I tore up the transmission and had to leave it on the side of the road until I could come tow it later that afternoon. When I got back, it had been impounded and I had no money to get it out of impound. Now I drive a boring fuckin' Mazda. I can't drive stick because I have terrible hand/foot coordination; that's why I can't play drums or classical piano.

You're right. I had forgotten about that. I don't wanna sound like a drooling fanboy, but, seriously, throwing in something poignant in a spot that could've either been left out or explained away with little to no effort is just great writing.

In all of the interviews I've read and seen with Rowling lately, I'm really amazed at how effortlessly she just goes into such great detail about this world that doesn't actually exist, how she just gives out this backstory and all these random details that just make the whole world she's created come alive. I just think that's so amazing how 'real' she's able to make this whole complex, magical world. I know that she uses reference points from the real world and from other mythologies and stories, but still, it's pretty amazing how she's able to just reel off little tidbits not in the books almost effortlessly. I'm just in awe of the level of detail and thought that she's put into the whole thing.

My White Stripes: 'De Stijl' 'White Blood Cells' 'Icky Thump' 'The White Stripes' 'Elephant' 'Get Behind Me Satan' The Flaming Lips (minus 'Zaireeeeeeeeeeka!!!!!') 'The Soft Bulletin' 'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots' 'Transmissions from the Satellite Heart' 'Clouds Taste Metallic' 'In a Priest Driven Ambulance' 'At War With the Mystics' 'Hit to Death in the Future Head' 'Oh My Gawd!!!!' 'Telepathic Surgery' 'Hear It Is' 'The Flaming Lips'

And his name is only 5 letters off from mine! Kelly Johnson is kicking the Astros' collective ass tonite. I mean, the trading deadline's passed and we didn't trade Lidge or Oswalt and we're not gonna make a run, but if we're going to lose games, I'd at least like our losses to be advantageous to my fantasy team...and the fact that Chris Sampson sucked tonite and Andruw Jones is the only Brave without a hit does not help me one bit.

The only move the Astros made at the deadline is trading Ensberg and cash to the Padres for a PTBNL and cash (or just cash). There was speculation up till about five minutes ago that Loretta was headed to Seattle or that Loretta and Lamb were headed to Seattle or San Diego, but Tim Purpura just gave a statement saying that although there was a lot of interest in Loretta, Lamb, Qualls, and Lidge, none of the returns would've been enough to warrant trading any of them. So, the last two seasons, the Astros' big trade deadline move was trading for a Devil Rays' third baseman.

Yeah!!!! I don't imagine that it's anybody good, but still, it's a good trade, considering the Padres could've gotten Ensberg for the league minimum in about a week.

Well, the New York fans DEMAND a winner... Seriously, that's just disgusting on every level. First to kill someone. Second to kill your Mom. Third to do it over something as trivial as baseball. Absolutely disgusting.

Well, remember earlier in the novel, after the '7 Harrys' episode where Lupin was telling Harry that his 'trademark' Expelliarmus wasn't going to cut it and he was going to have to use Killing Curses if he wanted to defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters. I thought it was kinda poignant with Harry using the Expelliarmus spell to defeat Voldemort. As for why it actually killed him, I think it was a combination of Harry being the rightful owner of the Elder Wand and the same reason that Voldemort couldn't kill Harry in the first place-because Harry's mother's sacrfice gave him extra protection where Voldemort's spells couldn't hurt him, similar to when Voldemort cast a spell at Harry during the first chase and Harry cast a spell that he had never heard of and had never learned, even though Voldy was using a wand that didn't have a twin core shared with Harry's wand; it was Lilly Potter's love that protected Harry.

I agree with the sentiment about A Confederacy of Dunces. Toole modeled it after Cervantes' Don Quixote where it's more of a series of episodes than a continual linear story. It's good to read selected parts of it, but reading it from start to finish, it's kinda all over the place. And, for the record, Toole did have another book published. It's called The Neon Bible and he wrote it when he was 16, but it wasn't published till...I think 1987 (several years after he had died) by his mother. It's a decent enough read, kinda depressing.

Cheer or boo, it's a big moment in the history of baseball. I'd go just for that. And, like Al said, it's a game; why pass it up? Shit, if I don't have anything to do, I'll go watch little kids playing pick-up softball games at the park down my street.

Having seen every Ensberg game (and every Ensberg at-bat) since he broke into the bigs, I will continue to say that he is just not that good offensively, despite what the numbers say. Call me 'old school', but, you really have to watch the guy play to appreciate how craptastic he is in the face of some of his good numbers.

Ensberg did injure his shoulder last year, but actually, he had already declined by the time he hurt it. He hurt his shoulder diving for a foul bunt in a game against the Braves at the beginning of June (either the 8th or the 9th; I think the 9th). His BA and other stats had already started declining before that. From baseballreference: Mar/Apr .329/.467/.765 with 21 BB and 19 K, 9 HR, 19 RBI in 24 games. May .216/.328/.450 with 19 BB and 28 K, 8 HR, 17 RBI in 29 games. By June, his average had dipped below .150 and he only hit 1 HR in 19 games started that month. He went on the DL July 16th. Before that, in 8 games started, he had 1 HR, 3 RBI and a .200 BA. He sucked, also, in August to the tune of a .209 BA. He actually heated up in Sept./Oct. hitting .273 in 57 PAs. However, his power was zapped, as he only hit 6 HRs after the month of May. I agree that him trying to play through his shoulder injury didn't do him any favors (actually, all of the reports I heard at that time was that he misled/outright lied to the team about how bad his shoulder actually was and that they basically forced him onto the DL), but he was in decline at least a month before that happened. And, if you look at his month by month stats this year (with a completely healthy shoulder), he was still largely poor offensively. So, I don't buy the shoulder injury excuse and his playing through it as something to base his poor performance on. What I think happened is that in 2005, I remember him getting hit by a pitch on the wrist (arm, possibly?) and missing a few games. Before that, he had a more closed batting stance. After he came back, he started tinkering with his stance, opening it up, closing it up, shifting his feet, turning his body almost completely towards the pitcher; every AB, he would have a different stance. I think his change in stance helped him to see pitches and judge balls and strikes better, but it caused him to not be able to get around as quickly on pitches or to turn on pitches, so most of the times he did make contact, he popped up weakly or rolled over and hit a groundball. If you look at his walk numbers from his first few seasons compared to his last couple of years (pre-HPB/post-HBP) it backs up my theory. Pre-HBP (2002-2005): 187 BBs, 74 HRs in 1434 ABs Post-HBP (2006-2007): 141 BBs, 31 HRs in 611 ABs Also, after he fell of a cliff last season, Garner started putting him in situations designed for him to succeed; he started playing exclusively against lefties (against whom he has a .30 BA advantage compared to righties over his career) and was used more as a pinch hitter in situations where it would be more advantageous for him to walk than to get a hit (blowout games, leading off innings, etc.). Ensberg's a weird case. If you look at his walk rate and OBP and disregard his low batting average and relative lack of power, you see a guy that should be an All-Star, but, if you actually watch games where he's playing, he's just...not that productive. The last two years, he's been, at best, a platoon player or a bench guy, and $4 million dollars for a platoon player is kind of pricey.

They traded Wheeler to get a 3rd baseman who is under club control for the next 2 years who is making far less than Ensberg (who is making $4.3 million this year). It's true that in 2005 and 2006 Wheeler was one of the best set-up men in the league. However, before that, he wasn't anything great. This year, his peripherals are still good, but he's been largely ineffective. Sure, the price of pitching is high, but who knows what the market on Wheeler was? Maybe Wigginton was the best offer they received. It's true that Wheeler's been mostly good for the Astros since his stay here, but this year, he has an ERA over 5 and is only under club control till the end of next season. It was apparent that one of Qualls, Wheeler, or Lidge was going to be traded. Brad Lidge is back to being one of the 10 best relief pitchers in baseball. Qualls is very good and under control for the next three years, so Wheeler was the obvious choice. I know that Ensberg's numbers look decent, especially if you throw out batting average, but, watching Ensberg over the course of the last couple years, I've come to the conclusion that sometime at the beginning of 2006, he got a copy of Moneyball or a subscription to BaseballProspectus.com and decided he wanted to be one of those guys that walked a lot. However, he also decided that in order to walk a lot, he could never swing the bat never, in any circumstance, ever again. Ensberg's role on the club was to be an RBI guy. However, in RBI situations, he was content to look at pitches, pitches right down the middle of the plate, pitches above his head, pitches inside, pitches outside. Dude looked at a lot of pitches. Granted, he walked a good deal, but, still, he was being counted on to drive in runs. He didn't do that. Ty Wigginton, in the front office's estimation, is better equipped to be an RBI man than Ensberg was. Whether that proves to be correct or not, that remains to be seen. I think, in Ensberg's case, he just feel off track and couldn't get back on. With a change of scenery and in a line-up where he won't be counted on as an RBI man, he might succeed again or he might not. The fact that the Astros had to DFA him and that nobody took a flier on him when he's been freely available since last year seems to suggest that the Ensberg market wasn't that large. I think that the Ensberg case is a case where the stats don't project the whole story, but we'll see.

This is fuckin' unsane. After it was 11-0 with 2 outs in the top of the first, it's now 15-11 Padres in the bottom of the 5th with 1 out. Let's get em, 'Stros!

I guess the Astros wanted to let their new acquisition, Ty Wigginton, feel at home by letting the Padres score 11 runs in the first inning. Either that, or Jason Jennings is just a very poor pitcher. I'm inclined to go with the latter.

The Houston Astros have designated Morgan Ensberg for assignment. They don't wanna send him to the minor leagues, so they're gonna try to trade him, possibly for a hot dog and a box of Pecan Sandies.