Desipio Message Board

I'm sure you want to know about the Cardinals and Brewers. At 89 and 90 wins, nothing too bad happened. Yelich came back to earth a little bit, Braun sucked a bit so they traded for Khris Davis, and their pitching wasn't as strong. St. Louis had some injuries, particularly to Andrew Miller, that seemed to hurt them.







(St. Louis traded for Familia in July)



And real quick, here's just a thumbnail of the two other division winners as well as the Phillies.

I bought OOTP XX because I am a bit of a geek when it comes to things like that, and while watching the Cubs play Boston last night, I had OOTP simulate the 2019 season. Maybe I'll do it again a second time tonight. OOTP this year has a "live start" feature in which we picked up on 3/25 with most of the teams current at the moment (Seattle was 2-0, for example). They did not have Eloy Jimenez's contract in it, and he played 15 games at Charlotte. Ian Happ also spent zero days in simulated Des Moines.

For those wondering, Dallas Keuchel signed with Washington the first week of April, and Craig Kimbrel held out until July when he signed with the Angels.

As for some good news:



The Cubs won the division comfortably over Milwaukee and St. Louis, who both miss the playoffs. Surprisingly, Philadelphia finishes fourth despite a 7+ WAR season from Harper, and the Braves and Nats go to the Wild Card. The Padres got hot in September and beat out the Rockies in the West.

The Cubs won the division despite Yu Darvish (herniated disc) and Brandon Morrow (Tommy John disease) went on the DL. Bryant and Baez had good years, and strangely, Ian Happ displaced Schwarber in left. Strop and Carl's Jr.  did a fine job as closer by committee.



The computer AI somehow decided that the Astros would trade Colin McHugh for Caratini and Cole Roederer shortly after Darvish went down. Look at what Caratini did in Houston, though. Still, roboJepstink did a fine job.




(nice 1-for-53 from Lester)

Did anyone have him in the pool?

Quote from: World's #1 Astros Fan on February 26, 2019, 10:49:23 AM

Quote from: Tonker on February 26, 2019, 09:16:15 AM

Quote from: Brownie on February 26, 2019, 08:07:08 AM

Quote from: Tonker on February 26, 2019, 02:03:46 AM

Quote from: CBStew on February 25, 2019, 02:07:28 PM
Who is that guy doing the audio for Cub games on MLB TV?  He sounds like he is 14 years old.  What happened to the crew who did the games for WGN?

I don't know who he is either, but during last night's game he informed us that not only did David Bote have two walk-offs last year, but he hit them both when the Cubs were behind!

You can't hit a walk-off with your team tied?

It doesn't make much difference, does it?  Your team's not winning, and then all of a sudden, you win!

Sorry to split hairs here, ole mate, but I've gone on some Twitter crusades about announcers failing to make the distinction between a walk-off hit and a lead-changing walkoff hit.  It actually makes quite a bit of difference in that in one case you're about to lose the game but in the other there's no such risk.  Lead-changing walkoff homers are far more exciting than walkoffs that occur when a game is tied, in my humblest of opinions.

Also, do we know for a fact that Bote even hit 2 lead-changing walkoff homers?   I know the granny off Ryan Madson was a lead-changing shot, but I don't think his other one was.  I'm pretty sure I'd remember it if it was because, as I've just demonstrated, I'm pretty goddamn vigilant in recognizing the difference (and goddamnit, Tonker should be too).

Mike D. is right. The other came a couple weeks after his "golden" slam against the Reds with the score tied 2-2.

Also, of note: this game in which he hit a 1-out, 2-run homer to tie the game at 6. Rizzo followed with the walkoff homer.

His other homers were a 3-run shot in an 9-0 trouncing of the Reds, a 2-run homer in an 8-2 decision at Detroit, and a solo shot in a 5-2 win against Detroit.

The Cubs were 6-0 in games in which Bote homered.

Bote also walked a walk-off in July against the Reds.

Quote from: World's #1 Astros Fan on February 26, 2019, 10:45:02 AM

Quote from: flannj on February 26, 2019, 10:32:23 AM

Quote from: Quality Start Machine on February 26, 2019, 08:35:03 AM

Quote from: Canadouche on February 25, 2019, 10:18:24 AM

Quote from: Quality Start Machine on February 25, 2019, 08:46:43 AM

Quote from: flannj on February 24, 2019, 01:07:01 PM
So while I was setting up the DVR on WGN for this afternoons Hawks matinee game I came across what was currently being broadcast.
Apparently Channel 9 discovered a bunch of the "Bozo's Circus" episodes from the 1960's and have digitally remastered them.
So they are replaying them as an hour long special.

They shouldn't have, God it's horrific.
The stuff we we used to watch while eating lunch was not exactly formative.

I don't know how we all didn't get seizures from the camera swinging around looking for Grand Prize Game contestants.

It's how they weened the weak out of society. Only the strongest failed to seize and die. You weren't just a fan of Bozo, you were a survivor.

Even getting tickets was some Hunger Games shit. People ordered tickets the day their child (or grandchild) was born, and the classified ads were full of people looking for Bozo tickets. I'm guessing that was quite the cottage industry.

I actually went to one of the shows. Some very long time friends of my parents were the Chicago distributors for 7-Up (could this conversation be any more 60's?) and they had connections. I was friends with their son and they invited me. I was 6 or possibly 7 which makes it 1965 or 1966. I remember bits and pieces of it. The stands are just bleachers and they herd you around in order to get everything in place because it was broadcast live. Most of the black kids were sitting towards the back. I remember being severely disappointed because i wasn't picked for the grand prize game. I think all the cast members were drinking and although I wouldn't have recognized it at the time I'm sure everyone smelled like cigarettes because everyone smelled like cigarettes back then. I wanted to meet Bozo and that didn't happen so now I just light devotional candles to Bob Bell.

This is a great post; I'm hanging a star on it.

I had a friend who got to go and it was only because his aunt had put in a request for her kids several years earlier but by the time her number came up her kids were all grown so my friend and his sister were the beneficiaries.  His sister got selected for Bozos buckets and apparently shit the tub on bucket #4.  She was to receive a "years supply" of Bozo hot dogs  that in reality turned out to be like 5 packs.

Also, I never really cared for Bozo and wished more people yelled "Cookie" when they were asked "Who's your favorite clown?" and was very satisfied on the two occassions when I was watching and they engineered it for that to happen and punk Bozo's ass.

Also, if you want to go way back, a couple years ago my dad attended my daughter's school for "Grandparents Day".  One of the events they had was when the grandchild would "interview" their grandparent.  I read the answers when my daughter got home that day  and it was unsurprising stuff for a guy born in 1933 (Favorite President--Harry Truman etc.), but I was curious about my dad's answer to what TV show he watched.  His answer was something called Super Circus which appears to have been an ancestral predecessor to Bozo (indeed, check out the low-rent Bozo at the beginning of   this clip.)  I was delighted but also somewhat horrified to discover this--I mean...being born at the nadir of the Great Depression was bad enough but having this as your entertainment?

So now you know the rest of the story.

Super Circus aired from 1949 to 1956, so your 16-year-old Dad was tuning in to this?

Quote from: Tonker on February 26, 2019, 02:03:46 AM

Quote from: CBStew on February 25, 2019, 02:07:28 PM
Who is that guy doing the audio for Cub games on MLB TV?  He sounds like he is 14 years old.  What happened to the crew who did the games for WGN?

I don't know who he is either, but during last night's game he informed us that not only did David Bote have two walk-offs last year, but he hit them both when the Cubs were behind!

You can't hit a walk-off with your team tied?

Quote from: Quality Start Machine on February 08, 2019, 09:02:16 AM

Quote from: Oleg on February 08, 2019, 08:46:44 AM

Quote from: Canadouche on February 06, 2019, 02:02:57 PM
Bryce should sign an incentive-laden one year contract with the Cubs (maybe with player options), bet on himself to put up a monster year, and collect his payday next off season.

I don't think he should do that at all. That seems like a bad thing for him to do.  Especially considering (if rumors are true) there is still a 10/300 out there from Washington and I'm sure he can get an opt-out or three thrown into that deal.

Am I the only one who thinks Boras has been conspicuous in his silence throughout this offseason?

He's working the phones to get the DH implemented, which would immediately and irrationally boost the market for Harper.

58 homers. 174 RBI, .281/.370/.468 in 310 games as a DH. (Also 1-for-7 with four walks and 2 SF and a HR as a pinch hitter for a DH)

Guilt by association.
Guilty of looking at someone wrong.

Complain about Brock Turner and his unbelievably weak sentence. Complain about Jason Van Dyke, whose sentence is light because of both deficiencies in Illinois law and the judge's interpretation of case law.

Agree that some of the kids were obnoxious, doing the Tomahawk chop and screaming back at the protesters who approached them.

But tell me, what consequences do you think the smirking kid should suffer? Seriously. This overblown incident has become a national story, the rush to condemn these kids over a confrontation they did not initiate was so furious that the online mob identified the wrong student initially, and the school was closed today due to concerns about student safety. Over what? A group of high school boys acting like shitheads on a school trip?

As adults, all of us have participated in several stupid, juvenile, likely hurtful and offensive gags. What consequences would you all like to suffer? Are we going to promote an environment where you're going to keep watching your back for one ill-advised comment in an attempt to be funny instead inflamed the wrong Twitter handle?

I'll leave you with the words of President George W. Bush, speaking at the funeral for the murdered Dallas police officers three years ago:

"Too often, we judge other groups by their worst examples - while judging ourselves by our best intentions. And this has strained our bonds of understanding and common purpose."

There are 425 Hall of Fame voters for whom you might want to request a wellness check. Ted Lilly didn't receive a vote, making it easy for him to figure out who snubbed him.

Quote from: World's #1 Astros Fan on January 14, 2019, 11:55:43 AM

Quote from: Brownie on January 11, 2019, 05:46:26 PM

Quote from: World's #1 Astros Fan on January 10, 2019, 03:44:23 PM


My only Vina-as-a-Brewer memory didn't even involve the Cubs--it was when Albert Pujols (?) forechecked him about 20 yards near second base.

No, my black heart brews nothing but darkness for Fernando-Vina-as-a-Cardinal, stupid fluky-tomohawk-line-driving-a-Kerry-Wood-fastball-at-his-head-for-a-triple-the-same-day-poor-Bill-Mueller's-knees-were-unceremoniously-eaten-by-the-Busch-Stadium-walls (and many other offenses) motherfucker.

Albert Belle.

That's it.  Bad mistake by me since Mueller tore up his knee the same day that Vina tomahawked a Wood fastball at his face for a triple, and that was 2001 which we all know was Pujols' rookie season.  BAD PANK, BAD.  Albert Belle--of course. * smacks self on Tron helmet *

Here it is.

Quote from: World's #1 Astros Fan on January 10, 2019, 03:44:23 PM


My only Vina-as-a-Brewer memory didn't even involve the Cubs--it was when Albert Pujols (?) forechecked him about 20 yards near second base.

No, my black heart brews nothing but darkness for Fernando-Vina-as-a-Cardinal, stupid fluky-tomohawk-line-driving-a-Kerry-Wood-fastball-at-his-head-for-a-triple-the-same-day-poor-Bill-Mueller's-knees-were-unceremoniously-eaten-by-the-Busch-Stadium-walls (and many other offenses) motherfucker.

Albert Belle.

Quote from: World's #1 Astros Fan on January 11, 2019, 12:09:53 PM
In light of this Today Show bullshit, I've gone from wanting to give the kid a shot at redemption and keeping him from hurting them down the road to wanting his ass cut STAT and I don't care what he does afterwards but instead of living in dread that he'll come back to haunt us  I will instead spend every amount of energy I have in  lustily rooting for his failure.  And if he does come back and delivers a ballbreaking loss to the Bears with a successful kick I will run him over repeatedly with a golf cart.

ARE YOU HAPPY, RV?

Per Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer, Parkey set up the appearance without any help from the Bears crack PR team. I'm on team Huey.

Quote from: Yeti on January 04, 2019, 09:57:18 AM

Quote from: Yeti on December 28, 2018, 09:12:31 AM

Quote from: Yeti on December 26, 2018, 11:00:03 AM

Quote from: Brownie on December 21, 2018, 12:07:03 PM

Quote from: Yeti on December 21, 2018, 05:13:28 AM

Quote from: Brownie on December 20, 2018, 02:30:48 PM
Are we doing this again?

Yes, I have my email set up still:
thrillhoistheworst gmail

And Thrill has been paying attention to it because when I go to pop someone in that's died, he's already have done it. So, I can set up an auto-forward (or I'm assuming I can) so both email addresses will have it in case he dies again

Excellent.

Received from Teej, Krut, and TIME TO POST

And from Huey.

I will jam myself into so many DMs. Get the shit in.

I failed to jam into DMs. I received picks from Huey, Oleg, TJ, Fork, BigDrinky (I'm pretty sure that's TW), Butthead, Krut, Wheezer, PenFoe. Missing from last year: Chuck, CT, Saul, flannj, TEC.

Come on, fellas.

Chuck is busy running for public office, saving Glenview from Communism. TEC has a young family keeping him young and making him forget death. Flannj  probably is still consuming his Christmas gifts, has started slurring his speech and thinks today is December 29. I'm not sure what CT and Saul's excuses are.

Quote from: Yeti on December 21, 2018, 05:13:28 AM

Quote from: Brownie on December 20, 2018, 02:30:48 PM
Are we doing this again?

Yes, I have my email set up still:
thrillhoistheworst gmail

And Thrill has been paying attention to it because when I go to pop someone in that's died, he's already have done it. So, I can set up an auto-forward (or I'm assuming I can) so both email addresses will have it in case he dies again

Excellent.