Link Roundup: Bucs Preview by a Cardinals Fan
by Charlie Wilmoth on Jan 27, 2010 3:12 AM EST
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PrintSeveral relatively minor things:
-P- Here's a long Pirates preview over at Viva El Birdos. There are a couple problems with it. (Where's Ronny Cedeno, who's likely to be the Bucs' starting shortstop? There's almost no way Bryan Morris will pitch for the Pirates this year. And Jeff Clement doesn't look too likely to catch.) Overall, though, it's thorough and fair-minded.
-P- The Traverse City Beach Bums sign former Bucs minor leaguer Bobby Spain. Traverse City is in northern Michigan and is a beach town in the same way that Cleveland is a "north coast," but it's nice up there. I spent a summer near there in high school. Anyway, happy trails, Bobby.
-P- Indianapolis sets its Spring Training schedule, so you can catch some extra games if you happen to go down to Bradenton.
-P- The Post-Gazette covers the new Mazeroski schedule.
-P- Pat lists his Top 21 pitching prospects. Pat's been doing a good job this offseason, and I really should be linking him more.
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That El Birdos piece was spot on.
I’d totally do two chicks at the same time too.
What? Pirates preview? What Pirates preview?
I hate the cards
man there so arrogant , the way they win and fold in the playoffs . shall I sat it, like a house of cards.2012 we win the central.
'position flex-ability, yea baby' austin powers
Very good job overall.
My main issue is I think he undervalues Morton by a wide margin.
Not really digging that VEB piece, to be honest.
In addition to the problems Charlie mentioned:
1) It’s McLouth, not McClouth.
2) He thinks Garrett Jones “looks just fine in the outfield”.
3) He doesn’t mention (and thus probably doesn’t know about) Doumit’s injury when analyzing his season.
4) He doesn’t have McCutchen in the competition for the 5th starter’s spot.
5) He apparently didn’t look at Morton’s numbers past the raw ERA.
6) He admits in the bullpen section that he doesn’t know much about our farm system, and apparently didn’t bother to learn, either.
Which would all be sort of expected for someone who doesn’t follow the team, if not for the “accuracy is preferable to immediacy” bit in the header, which means that he’s handing out checks that his writing apparently can’t cash.
That’s why I have problems with other blogs writing up previews on other teams. They just don’t know enough about the organization to have a detailed evaluation.
I got in a war of words with a Phillies blog last year because of their Jeff Pearlman like season preview that consisted of the same old generalities. It got to the point where I told him if the Bucs are not competing in 2012, I’ll come back and eat my words, because it was a futile argument.
I really like when the editors from SB Nation blogs interview each other like we did a few times last year (I think we did it with a D’backs and Nationals blog). Those are much more informative.
by Maxwell.C on Jan 27, 2010 2:31 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
not to mention
his tag line wrongly credits “Jolene” to the White Stripes without mentioning that it’s a Dolly Parton cover.
by chicos_pants on Jan 27, 2010 2:51 PM EST up reply actions
hey ... you're right
doesn’t excuse wanting to learn a cover version of a cover.
by chicos_pants on Jan 27, 2010 5:45 PM EST up reply actions
Milledge
He also states that Milledge had sexual assault charges. That’s a pretty serious factual error (at least I think it is). Maybe he’s confusing him with Dukes?
IIRC, Milledge was kicked out of his high school as a junior because he had sex with a freshman.
by gorillagogo on Jan 27, 2010 12:43 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, and that’s really relevant to the upcoming season
/
by Adam Reynolds on Jan 27, 2010 12:50 PM EST up reply actions
That's it!
He’s off the church softball team.
by MarkInDallas on Jan 27, 2010 1:04 PM EST up reply actions
Funny you mention that. I think the main reason he was expelled was because he went to a particularly strict Christian private school.
Your Smizik exchange...
Wow Mark, it’s been a while since I’ve read any of Smizik’s blog entries and i just happened to check his latest one out at lunch today and noticed that in the comments section he calls you out as a employee of the Pirates. I guess you could say he’s not technically a journalist anymore, but his responses to comments that disagreed with him in any way seemed impetuous and juvenile. It blew me away that an employee of a respectable newspaper would act that way.
Smizik has become not just a troll, but a full-fledged Troll-osaurus Rex.
by Adam Reynolds on Jan 27, 2010 5:23 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, accusing a critic of working for the Pirates is really slimy, even for him.
by Charlie Wilmoth on Jan 27, 2010 6:44 PM EST up reply actions
Saddest thing of all?
He’s taking a job away from another journalist. Not a big or flashy (or well-paying) job, but in a place that a young journalist would love access to.
Maybe now with the release of the iPad, newspapers will make a comeback with the under 50 crowd and they’ll demand Smizik be put out to pasture.
by MarkInDallas on Jan 27, 2010 9:42 PM EST up reply actions
No pun intended, but...
I can’t see the iPad revitalizing newspapers unless people want to go blind (from the screen glare) while doing so.
I’m looking forward to holding one to see how the experience is.
by MarkInDallas on Jan 28, 2010 12:09 AM EST up reply actions
My reaction is mixed.
It’s a very good piece of technology at a decent price, but I’d really prefer if were more of a laptop and less of an iPhone. (In other words, give it a stronger OS and a screen that’s 11"-12" diagonally.)
I’ll wait and see what it can do in about a year, when there will be more programs built specifically for it and the hardware might have improved.
From what I saw
It seems that it would be all that many people would need as their main computer. Many people people don’t need the amount of power that expensive laptops give you under the hood.
From what I understand about it, the display is much better than a laptop display. It may be slightly physically smaller, but it’s crisper and higher resolution. I think for many people the display is going to be seen as an upgrade, and the visual component is what most people are equating their experience with.
The fact the OS is pared down and multi-tasking is minimized will help it to respond faster and use less energy, thus allowing the longer battery life.
I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I think it could be a good primary computer for many people, and a good add-on computer for professionals.
It’s probably not for me, though.
by MarkInDallas on Jan 28, 2010 12:32 PM EST up reply actions
The biggest draw for Mac is that they aren’t Windows. The touchpad looks very gimmicky, as a keyboard/mouse on computer and phone keypad are a lot more natural.
I’d recommend trying the free open-source Ubuntu (link) before making the jump to Macintosh just because of the horrible viruses, speed, and basic software on Windows. It can be tried without installing anything just by burning the ISO to CD and restarting with the CD in the drive. It’s not for computer professionals, but for basic use (which is all I need) Ubuntu is very good.
by Adam Reynolds on Jan 28, 2010 1:20 PM EST up reply actions
I should say I’m coming at this both from the point of view of an Apple investor, as Apple stock has done pretty well for us last last few years, and as a developer.
I do use linux in my LAMP web application biz, but my main computers have been Macs, which I got into many years ago when the Performer sequencer on Mac was head and shoulders above anything the PC had.
I haven’t gotten into creating any iPhone apps yet, but I’m probably going to head into that soon.
As for physical keyboards and mice being more natural than manipulating the actual “thing” on the screen, that’s debatable.
Certainly a tactile sensation seems to be important, but good examples of how humans got used to something completely unnatural are both the keyboard and the mouse.
There’s nothing natural at all about typing. And the mouse was seen as completely unnecessary by Bill Gates until the success of the Macintosh.
As technology improves, typing on a screen might become just second nature and the smaller footprint of a tablet might be seen as a plus overriding the negative of the lack of tactile sensation.
This is how many people have felt about the iPhone and other devices that lack physical keyboards.
by MarkInDallas on Jan 28, 2010 2:47 PM EST up reply actions
Hey Mark
has anyone ever told you that you look a bit like Top Gear’s James May?
by BlindSquirrel on Jan 28, 2010 7:46 PM EST up reply actions
Mark...
You’re making it like shooting fish in a barrel here…
Free your ass and your mind will follow.
by cocktailsfor2 on Jan 28, 2010 8:53 PM EST up reply actions
I would kill
for that job in 2 years or so. Just sayin…
The glare of the spotlight is harsh, and the pressure that success breeds immense. We revere our heroes, but expect much. And criticism can come as easily as praise.
Yeah, I obviously get under his skin.
I think it started when he made the ridiculous assertion that Sano was not going to be worth the money, but the Pirates should sign him anyway so they can show the fan base they are serious about winning.
Truly astounding reasoning.
And, of course, he can’t stand it that he has no intelligent retort when I call him out on things that he says that don’t make sense.
Notice how I didn’t say Nutting has the best ownership group in sports. I just said it’s ridiculous to say they can’t be.
It is seriously incredible that this man has any say in the HOF and baseball awards voting.
by MarkInDallas on Jan 27, 2010 5:38 PM EST up reply actions
During the Littlefield era...
…Smizik’s knee-jerk criticism made him a useful idiot.
Now that we’ve got a competent management team in place, he’s just an idiot.
I remember Smizik leading the charge that questioned whether the Rule 5 fiasco was really a gambit to make a fast $100,000. I emailed him at the time complaining about how ridiculous that notion was, and he responded that the idea had gotten a lot of discussion. Of course, he completely ignored the fact that the only reason people were discussing it was because he wrote about it in the paper.
I think you have to be a 10 year writer.
by MarkInDallas on Jan 27, 2010 6:05 PM EST up reply actions
That would explain a lot of things wouldn’t it?
by MarkInDallas on Jan 27, 2010 9:23 PM EST up reply actions
You need to be a . . .
member of the BBWA for 10 years. I think you generally need to write baseball for a while to get inducted into the BBWA. Recently, they started to add bloggers (including, famously, Keith Law and Rob Neyer).
Charlie
It seems like it would be a cool thing for the different SBNation bloggers to do an overview of the coming season that would be distributed to those covering other teams.
I’d love to read one by all our division rivals about their teams and what expectations are for the coming season.
I guess I left out the implied next question...
Do you think an exchange like that would be something you might get together with the other division bloggers?
by MarkInDallas on Jan 27, 2010 1:18 PM EST up reply actions
We're saved!
Claggett and Jackson make it through waivers and will be non-roster invitees to spring training.
Just saw that the Padres released Will Startup
Anybody interested as a minor league deal? Before his TJ, he looked like he’d turn into a solid lefty reliever, and he was back throwing again in August. Fun to watch, too, with that big leg kick.
Stats here
I love the fact that the Cards blogger states something to the effect of ‘if you don’t know about the subject, then do your research.’ Then he goes on to show that he doesn’t know the subject and that he didn’t do any research.
"I choose to gamble with my life
Twice the risk, four times the prize
Nothing knocks me over"
by lighthouse913 on Jan 27, 2010 4:42 PM EST via mobile reply actions
my biggest problem with the cards fan writeup is a few things...
1. Assuming Pedro is starting the season in Pittsburgh which is very unlikely, and him dis-crediting Alvarez as a thirdbase before he has even played an inning there in the majors.
2. Not giving Morton the credit he deserves; he mentions Lincoln as a possible #2 ceiling guy (which I think is accurate), but I think Morton is also a #2 ceiling guy as well. I can’t recall the sports writer that wrote about Morton while he was in the Braves’ system he stated something along the lines of If Morton can throw his 1st pitch for a strike he has the stuff to win 18+ games in this league. Notice I did’nt use quotes, because I don’t recall/can’t find the exact quote….
3. His failure to even mention Joel Hanrahan as a bullpen option this year. Not only do I think he will be an option this year I think he’ll pitch the most innings as a Pirate reliever this year, and will be very affective.
ps I like how he mentioned Craig Hansen as a possible comeback story, but as this point it does’nt even look like Hansen will make the team. Does he have any options left or if he does’nt make the team out of spring training he’ll have to go through waivers right? Anyway we can hide him on the DL for 60 days?
He's off the 40-man.
They already slid him through waivers, so he’s safe until the end of the year.
That said, I doubt he makes the pen out of spring training.
I think you're wrong...
Cardinal fans are the smartest and best baseball fans in the world. They know everything and applaud at all the proper baseball plays. So says Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. And they’re experts ! They’re FOX broadcasters !
"Baseball is better than football. Think about it, eighty degrees, a cold beer and a short-sleeve shirt is better than 30 degrees, a hip flask and six layers of clothes under a lap blanket. Take your pick: suntan or frostbite. " - Thomas Boswell
by Ketcham Bruce on Jan 27, 2010 8:24 PM EST up reply actions
You could be right about Morton
The few times I saw him against the brewers he didn’t look too inspiring.
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