9999

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When Whitey Herzog took over the Cardinals around 1980, he decided he had to get Ted Simmons, Pete Vuckovich and Rollie Fingers out of his locker room.  (For you kiddies out there, this would be loosely comparable to Davey Johnson taking over the 2013 Angels and deciding he wanted Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson and Albert Pujols off his team.)  Herzog called Harry Dalton in Milwaukee and asked him, How would you like to win the pennant next year?  Dalton's reply was classic.  He deadpanned, "I'd like that fine."

Supposing that the Seattle Mariners won the World Series next year in a 4-game sweep.  Would that be all right with you?  

Let's say that Zduriencik brought in Josh Hamilton, that Paxton and Erasmo had big years, that the Mariners posted a 107 ERA+ and 95 OPS+.  Let's say they Pythag'ed 88 wins, had 88 wins' worth of run differential, but actually won 94 due to an excellent bullpen, some rawhide-tough hitting in close games, and/or some random luck.

Here's the question.  As sabermigos, would you take joy in that?  Or would your "knowledge" that the M's weren't the best team spoil a lot of it for you?  Wouldn't spoil any of it for me:  my saber-mig'ing would enhance my appreciation of a championship.  Will tell you exactly why.

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=== Point Counterpoint "You Ignorant Misguided Feeb" Dept. ===

Brian Sabean, having won two World Series in three years, chortles about a victory for tools scouting.  Baseball Girl tears him a new one.  I mean you think we get pithy around here?  Check that article out...

Baseball Girl's basic premise is, hey, let's not get carried away here, Brian.  You spent $117M and won 94 games.  The A's spent $55M and won 94.  Let's not declare the Computer Revolution dead yet.  That premise is, obviously, rock solid.  You go girl.

She goes on, however, to ask "Bruce? Pumpkin?"  (HEH!!) Did you realize that the only thing you did that the A's didn't, was win 9 more games in the playoffs and "was that due just to better luck"?

Not wishing to misrepresent that blog, we're talking about a growing sentiment among sabertistas -- that winning a World Series gives you exactly zero to brag about.  In fact, the implication almost seems to be that the 2012 Giants just had a year they should be ashamed of, at least relative to the A's.

It's a reaction to an overstatement, of course, which are mitigating circumstances.  An old sensei once taught me, if you want to get somebody to take an overly extreme position, just hit them with the opposite extreme position ... 

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=== Founding Father Dept. ===

On the other side of the ball, here's Bill James on the Giants' ... um, DYNASTY?!

I reread portions of your Dynasties article to see what the Giants still need to do to be regarded as a dynasty under your system. As I understand it, they earned five points for their 2010 championship, but they lost two points in 2011 for failing to get into the playoffs or win 90 games (they won 86) leaving them with a two year running total of three points. After winning the World Series this year they are back up to 8 points. If they only win their division next year with 90 or more games, that would give them 2 more points and a running total of 10 points for the period 2010-2013 thus qualifying them as a dynasty. Is this correct?

Asked by: Michael Skarpelos

Answered: 10/30/2012

I believe so.   Two World Series titles is a big deal.   If they can do anything at all to build on that, they deserve to be listed among the great teams of history. 

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Sabermigos complain about the view of sabermetricians that they "need to catch a game sometime."  Of course sabermigos watch as much baseball as anybody else.  But it's this kind of thing that does imply that they are losing the thread of what on-field competition is for.

The basic complaint here is, "The Giants don't get to declare sabermetrics dead."  Well, sure.   The Giants' championships don't resolve such a discussion.  There's no closure here.

Am not sure they were doing that, exactly.  But the follow-on complaint is, "The Giants don't get to brag about winning two World Series."  Actually they do get to brag.  And they get to brag about how they did it.

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=== It Depends On What Your Definition of IS is, Senator ===

It's one thing to have the best team on paper.  It's another thing to win a championship, and to become the champion.  

As Bobby Fischer put it, "It's not enough to be a good player.  You also gotta play good."  That's what the PGA Masters tournament is for:  not to determine who is the theoretically-best player, but to determine which warrior walks out of the coliseum that day.

We asked James once, right before 2004, what he thought it took to win the World Series.  He said "Maybe it's like 30% who has the most talent, 30% whose roster is best constructed for a short series, 30% luck, and 10% some other factor."  It took the San Francisco Giants a whale of a lot of FORCE to suppress the teams that they suppressed, and it wasn't as simple as getting hot for two weeks.  Saying that they got hot for two weeks implies that it was totally up to fate, and not at all up to their ballclub to control their own destiny.

Felix Hernandez IS a step in the right direction, as it pertains to October baseball warfare.  Josh Hamilton would be, also.  There is such a thing as an athlete you'd prefer to have on the mound, or at the plate, when 100 million people are watching the game.  When sabermetricians argue that it is now ONLY about WAR, that personality does not factor into the discussion, then they do open themselves up to the "watch a game sometime" protest.

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=== Don't Ask the Question If You Don't Want to Hear the Answer, Dept. ===

The San Francisco Giants have kicked booty and taken names.  Local blogs have asked how they did it; it's an appropriate question, one that can lead to light bulbs.  And shouldn't we listen, at least, to the Giants' own answer?

"Hey, we used our intuition.  That was the big key to our finding Pagan and Melky and Scutaro and these other guys.  We didn't choose them because we saw stats other people didn't see.  We chose them because our judgment told us they were going to have good years."

Maybe the Giants do have better judgment than other teams.  Pat Gillick did.  Maybe Sabean does too.  I wonder why this possibility is so distasteful to sabermigos?

..............

If Jack Zduriencik manages to find 25 guys who can win 11 games in October, against the ferocious level of competition that he will face, he'll get a ring for it.  And he'll deserve it.

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Usually, when people head to the airport they expect the plane they get on to fly away to some other destination within a reasonable amount of time.  What they don’t usually do is sleep on the plane while it’s still on the ground.  On an unused airport runway in Stockholm, Sweden, however, that choice is available to those that wish to sleep in the converted 747 known as the Jumbo Hostel.

As technology improves, many old planes lay about, unused, rusting and falling apart.  One individual decided that one of these would be the perfect location to create a hostel.  This particular plane was built in 1976 and is well past its prime.  The sheer amount of space within the shell provided enough room for him to create 27 rooms as well as a few areas for people to hang out.

Most of the rooms in the Jumbo Hostel have been turned into multi-bunk dorm 

accommodations though there are a few that offer double occupancy private rooms.  This is no bare-bones hostel, however, and they offer the modern conveniences that a 1976 jet never had, such as flat-screen TVs in every room and free Internet access.  The first class cabin of the jet has been converted into a 24-hour café and the top deck sports a private lounge for people to relax in.

Despite all the renovations, there’s still enough left in the jet to keep it looking like a proper plane.  Decorations on the walls speak of its origins and the staff are all dressed up in old-school airline outfits.  Perhaps not so desirable, but still 

realistic, is the fact that the food gets prepared via microwave, just like on a real plane.

But what’s there isn’t the last of what the owner has planned.  He wants to expand the plane even further by hollowing out and converting the wings and engines.  The wings he wishes to alter for recreational purposes and the engines will eventually become two new, capsule-shaped rooms.

Being as how it’s located right there at Stockholm’s airport, the Jumbo Hostel is a perfect place for travelers to settling in for the night, either before leaving or after arriving.  It costs a little more than other hostels, because of the atmosphere, but if you don’t mind paying the extra few bucks, it’s worth it to stay at least a night.

This week’s post brings to you yet another in the long line of wacky and weird Japanese theme cafes.  This one, as opposed to the usual costumes and atmosphere that one might normally expect, offers customers a chance to sleep with someone that they don’t know.  No, it’s not a house of illicit activity.  In fact, there’s no sex involved whatsoever.  What customers pay for is the privilege of lying down and cuddling with someone.  Nicknamed the “cuddle café”, the proper name is Soine-ya.  It’s located in Akihabara and is the first café of its kind to open.

All this human contact with a stranger comes with quite the price tag, however.  The basic membership fee runs about $40 and then one still has to pay for cuddle time.  Twenty minutes costs around $40, an hour about $100 and if you really want to get some sleep and spend the whole day (the café is not open at night) with a cute girl, you can drop $650 for a 10-hour cuddle.

But wait, there’s more.  You are allowed to perform certain acts while cuddling (nothing dirty), although each costs a bit more cash and is measured in mere minutes.  These extra services consist of giving or getting a foot massage, having a girl pat you on the back or head, having the girl rest her hand on your arm, being able to look into each other’s eyes and putting your head in their lap.  You also have to pay more if you want to choose which girl to lie next to.

Catering to the lonely otaku population of Akihabara, Soine-ya is likely to become a hit and spawn another wave of theme-café imitations.  Businesses such as hostess clubs have already proven themselves popular and for those that want a little more contact (and don’t require drinks), the cuddle café concept might be just the thing.

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G-Money sez,

It's a really big year for this team. I would not be surprised to see an extension for Felix, but if I were him I'd want to see what kind of team we deliver to him for the '13 season before he inks his name to that line. I want Felix's Mariners to compete for WS titles going forward, not basement standings. We've acquired a LOT of young guys. Time to move some of em for the RIGHT player(s) to enable us to take that next leap.

 

He's been sitting there in the middle of 93-loss seasons, and ESPN asks him on SportsCenter about going somewhere else, and he practically bursts into tears at the suggestion.  This is a guy for whom comfort and relationships are obviously number one ... and it's not like $20M isn't more than he can spend...

You'd think he'd be sick and tired of losing 2-1 games, of going out and battling his heart out and having zero to show for it.  Game after game, year after year, he goes out and performs miracles, and then gets kicked in the gut at the end of the three hours.  You'd think he'd have a quitting point.

But, inexplicably, Felix just doesn't seem to have that frustration point, and that's one more gigantic PLUS for Zduriencik as he shapes the final ballclub...

..............

At field level, Jack's got to be near tears, so to speak, watching all those Felix masterpieces getting paint-splattered by vandals at the last second every time.  I bet you that was part of what came up in the discussions to change the fences.  What can we do about these Felix games.

For fans, it's a frustration.  But for the athlete, and his trainers, it's not acceptable.  By "Not Acceptable" we mean that the situation cannot be tolerated, and even if you were to try to tolerate it, the situation wouldn't tolerate itself.  The boxer puts in his dreary roadwork, morning after morning, does all the prep, goes out and fights like a lion, performs like an artist and a scientist, achieves pinnacles of success that are superhuman.  Then he wins the fight and the judges rob him and send him home with a loss .... 

If it happens now and then, you can get over it.  But if it happens every time?  It's no accident that you find so few great pitchers who were willing to compete their entire careers without postseason action.  The very thing that gets them through the tough innings, is their competitive heart and thirst for victory.  When ESPN asks Felix about where he's going next, that's because they've seen what champions do when they're stuck without the possibility of victory.  They go somewhere they CAN win.

Felix' 2-1 losses haven't merely been revolting.  They've been an unpossible situation, a situation that can't continue without something having to give somewhere.

...............

But there's a mystery here.  Felix doesn't seem to mind.  He just goes out and battles like Rocky against Apollo Creed, and then after the game goes "Ah, no biggie.  Put on some music, guys."

Maybe with the fences coming in, 2013 will bring the onset of the 17-6 Felix seasons.

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