TenuredVulture wrote:

mozartpc27 wrote:

TenuredVulture wrote:Moving any team to LA

Who said anything about moving a team to LA?

I thought I read it somewhere. Maybe in the article linked? I could be wrong though.

There's speculation that the A's owner, Lew Wolff, might be in line to buy the Dodgers with the A's being bought by MLB. Similar to how Loria bought the Marlins and sold the Expos to MLB.

Dodgers file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. http://t.co/o5Eu7xf

I wonder if Peter Gammons is aware of the legendary status of his pocket tweets?

CrashburnAlley wrote:I wonder if Peter Gammons is aware of the legendary status of his pocket tweets?

Already a legend here...

viewtopic.php_f=2&t=11604&p=1246422&hilit=gammons#p1246422

Those baseball chats on the interwebs can get a bit frustrating. I know doing them isn't easy but I wish the guys would just answer the questions sometimes. Here's a pretty reasonable question that Goldstein doesn't really answer:

Mark (Vineland): Are Trevor May's strikeouts a result of a lack of control which would force batters to swing outside of the strike zone or does he have legitimate ace offerings?

Kevin Goldstein: Ace? So few aces in baseball, and May isn't one of them. He's a very good pitching prospect, but seriously folks, we have to lay off the ace and No. 1 stuff. It's crazy rare.

I guess he answers half of it. But I think the first part is more interesting. Of course, Goldstein might need a lot more time to truly address the issue. But I think the question is kinda interesting.

Anyways, a lot of times these guys focus on what I would consider a minor thing in the question and ignore the interesting part.

Goldstein is actually very good and is far from the worst offender in this regard. He once explained in detail the way he goes about evaluating prospects and it was very impressive. He misses a lot but so does everyone. But the process he uses is solid.

So that's my gripe about the baseball chats. Don't get me started on the idiot questions about video games and what music are you listening to stuff that is always in there. WGAS?

// grumpy old man

Edit: On the other hand, fine job on the Gose question:

Zach (Toronto): How do you see Anthony Gose' bat progressing

Kevin Goldstein: I don't. Still has huge contact issues. Speed and defense alone will get him to the big leagues, but I'm not sure he'll ever hit.

And this is very good:

The real R.A. Wagman (Not related to R.A. Dickey): Kevin - love the chats. Two part question. 1) For those of us who like to play scout, is it fair to say that the more process related we can watch the better, the more result oriented, the worse? 2) How would you compare sandals and flip-flops on the 20-80 scale? Bonus third question - how do you go about weighing low-level minor league performance in terms of the competition? In other words, a towering homerun hit off a fringe org guy - do you discount it much? Thanks for the entertainment.

Kevin Goldstein: 1. There is always a balance between WHAT a guy is doing and HOW he is doing it. The lower you go level wise, the more important the HOW becomes. 2. 20. I don't trust any man who wears sandals or flip flops. 3. Very fun question. There are some discounts made due to park, opponent, whatever, it's always tough. It's more extreme in the draft, where, for example, you could go see Bubba Starling at his high school in Kansas, and you could see Starling hit a 78 mph fastball 425 feet, but what can you really learn from that?

smitty wrote:

Kevin Goldstein: 2. I don't trust any man who wears sandals or flip flops.

Uh oh, Don't tell Floppy!!

viewtopic.php_f=2&t=249&p=7081&hilit=sandals#p7081

Good thing Goldstein didn't come to the tailgate.

So I have a good friend who spends a good chunk of his work day tooling around BR looking for oddities and he send me Hoyt Wilhelm today.

Didn't make the majors till he was 29, pitched for 21 seasons anyway.

Random tidbit almost certainly only of interest to me: I am reading a book published in 1956 by Ernest Miehl, of the Kansas City Star, about the Athletics' shift from Philadelphia to Kansas City. If this book is to be believed, the Athletics may never have left Philadelphia but for Connie Mack's chauffeur. Arnold Johnson, the man who wound up buying the Athletics, met the chauffeur at the Waldorf Astoria in New York when he brought a very sick, very elderly Connie Mack to the hotel for a meeting of the American League, at the request of a syndicate of folks from Philadelphia who were intent on buying the Athletics and keeping them in Philly. Their offer was rejected by the American League, and later, four of the people in the syndicate made another attempt to buy the team.

Arnold Johnson, meanwhile, finally secured the agreement of both of Connie Mack's sons (Roy and Earle) to sell their stock, with Earle giving the proviso that he would only sell his if his father also agreed to sell to Johnson. So, both Johnson and the four guys from Philadelphia wound up courting Connie Mack and (more importantly) his second wife. One day, she told all parties that she would make a decision by noon the next day. Arnold Johnson showed up early with his attorney, and the Philadelphia guys planned on meeting at 12:30 and then proceeding to the Macks' apartment. Johnson came early thinking it might give him some advantage, though he wasn' sure what; next thing he knows, he sees the Macks' chauffeur in the lobby of the apartment building, they recognize each other, have a brief conversation, and the chauffeur tells Johnson he is rooting for Johnson to win, and suggests he doesn't have to wait until noon, he can get Johnson in to see the Macks early.

And that was it. Johnson made his final pitch without the Philadelphia group present, and it was accepted by Mrs. Mack.

"twas longer than I intended. Also, if one paragraph that takes up no more than half a screen is too much for your attention span, you should get some ritalin.

oh mozzzz

mozartpc27 wrote:"twas longer than I intended. Also, if one paragraph that takes up no more than half a screen is too much for your attention span, you should get some ritalin.

ffs

I was just trying to rib back! I am not sitting here going, "FOr shame, the kids these days with their lack of attention spans and their MTV and their CD players!!"

mozartpc27 wrote:I was just trying to rib back! I am not sitting here going, "FOr shame, the kids these days with their lack of attention spans and their MTV and their CD players!!"

It is a horrifically long paragraph though, needs editing.

needs more pedro

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mozartpc27 wrote:Blah blah blah, Chauffeur buys A's.

Fixed.

etched Chaos wrote:

mozartpc27 wrote:I was just trying to rib back! I am not sitting here going, "FOr shame, the kids these days with their lack of attention spans and their MTV and their CD players!!"

It is a horrifically long paragraph though, needs editing.

Suggestion taken. Made it two paragraphs!

Soren wrote:So I have a good friend who spends a good chunk of his work day tooling around BR looking for oddities and he send me Hoyt Wilhelm today.

Didn't make the majors till he was 29, pitched for 21 seasons anyway.

His nickname was 'Ol Sarge. The war interrupted his career but also the fact that he threw a funny pitch must have delayed his big league debut. He was one of the first relief aces who had a long career. That led to him being the first reliefer elected to the Hall of Fame.


http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Hoyt_Wilhelm

The son of a North Carolina farmer, Wilhelm learned the knuckleball as a boy by emulating big leaguer Dutch Leonard. After high school, he signed with the Mooresville Moors of the North Carolina State League in 1942 and went 10-3 with a 4.25 ERA for the club that year. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army and missed the next three seasons while serving in World War II. During the war, he fought and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge and earned a Purple Heart.