True Blue LA

The arbitration system

is amazingly effective.

Yes, seems to have taken general managers a few years to understand or maybe I’m off the mark.

I want to have 2 names like you man, im jealous

Decent pay bump there for Clayton.

found a really cool story about my #1 baseball passion (other than the Dodgers): Negro Leagues

You been to the KC Museum?

One day. Probably not for a while with money being so tight, so hopefully it will still be open. I really want to go and then make a little BBQ trip from KC to Memphis to Texas.

I want to do a BBQ trip like that too. Don’t see how it wouldn’t be fun.

diarrhea

Maybe if you have the constitution of an infant.

Pure Azure - February 8, 2012 via Android app reply

The 1930s

Pittsburgh Crawfords, Homestead Grays or Kansas City Monarchs would have been very formidable opponents for the Yankees and Athletics.

The Brooklyn Dodgers sure weren’t.

Yup. Those dudes could ball back in the day. Some of the best players that ever lived.

One of the first baseball books I read

was this one that I checked out at the library.

One of my favorite books. Every Christmas my Mom buys me a new book that is Negro League related. I think I read that one when I was 13 or 14.

Not as much Negro League stuff because he was there for only a year

but Jules Tygiel’s great book on the signing of Jackie Robinson is another good one.

I knew Clayton would wrap things up well before Valentines Day, he has a wife to take out on a nice date, he doesnt have time to deal with arb meetings.

probably why he has an agent

yeah but I was under the impression players showed up at these hearings, but maybe not.

I’m happy with this news. It shows dedication from the team and a willingness to negotiate in good faith from Kershaw/Kershaw’s agent. I imagine the third year was simply too difficult to handicap as it involved two unknown variables (2012 & 2013 performance). I will be shocked if Kershaw never signs a long-term deal with us.

basically

the team and Kershaw are in the same place the next time his contract is up and Kershaw saw how they treated Kemp.

While the position player market keeps rising [Pujols, Fielder], I wonder if the FA pitching market is slowing down (mega-contract wise). After Yu Darvish, who will be the next $100m commitment?

Hamels or Lincecum probably.

Lex in Brooklyn - February 7, 2012 reply

Will anyone get the Zito deal?

yes, including the several guys who have already done better than Zito since he signed it in 2006

Lex in Brooklyn - February 7, 2012 reply

Whats the longets contract given to a pitcher since the Zito deal?

depends if you count CC’s deal plus the extension or not

johan got 6 years, lee took 5, CC signed for 7 then opted out after 3 and signed a 5 year extension.

Burnett got 5 years

CJ wilson got 5, Weaver/Verlander/Felix all signed 5 year deals pre-free agency.

I think Hampton’s 8 year deal soured some teams on long-term deals for pitchers. And BJ Ryan’s 5-year deal was just stupid.

not sure there’s ever been a long term deal for a left-handed starting pitcher that the team is happy with by the end of it.

CC could be the first, but even then he didn’t make it to the end of the deal.

I forgot Kei Igawa once got a five year deal . . .

think he spent the last 3 years or so of it in the minor leagues

CC’s original deal with the Yankees was worth more money than Zito got, and one fewer year.

yes, including the several guys who have already done better than Zito since he signed it in 2006

Hamels is the guy I was forgetting.

Cain could get paid in a big way after this year too.

I would bet Hamels does not get 100m

delias man - February 7, 2012 reply

He is going to get $100 million

5/90 or 5/95 something like that

but not 100

delias man - February 7, 2012 reply

lol

Not after his arm explodes.

the market for elite pitchers isn’t slowing down, and it’s gone up from Zito to Johan to CC to Halladay to Cliff Lee back to CC

Ned after Kershaw starts 1-3.

"Why is it? Because he got a new deal? Can’t tell you. But you
know, it’s below-average. If this is the last day of the season and
people are voting for the Cy Young, his name is not even on the
ballot. It’s a shame that he would go from where he was a year ago to
revert back to when the ball goes out of his hand and you’re not sure
where it’s going, or if it’s going to get caught."

This is freaking awesome.

Well done.

But if Kershaw fails to cover home plate after a wild pitch, then we’re truly golden.

JonWeisman - February 7, 2012 reply

Fun Greek Fact

Hesperia is Classical Greek for “evening”.

Related Latin Fact

Hesperia means “western lands” in Latin.

because the sun sets in the west?

That’s what I was thinking

It’s all Greek to me.

I will now refer to the beach cities as the evening lands

I’m going to retire now to Chez Stephen in my beloved beach city. :)

Zhto Hellas!

Inteesting

I assumed it was Classical Greek for “HellHole”

No

thats what it means in English.

Interestingly enough, its the same definition as Mojave.

/usedtoliveinMojaveandcanconfirmthis

EMDarrow - February 7, 2012 reply

Ned Colletti, King of the Two Year Deals.

Coffey just demanded an extension!

he has an option

Eric called it a thinly veiled deferred payment.

true that

He never asks for a second cup at home

That’s funny

This, and the Clemenza comment in the last thread were gold.

Any reference to gold

Bania: Why do they call it Ovaltine?
The mug is round; the jar is round… they should call it Roundtine.
(pauses) That’s gold, Jerry! Gold!

Per Tony Jackson

Kershaw is deferring $2 million in this year’s salary to January 2013.

we where all waiting for it

$5MM this year makes me the winner!

But we all went over

signing bonus of $0.5M + Salary of $7.5M – $2M deferred = $6M in 2012, doesn’t it?

Right

Right. Okay, so I ended up pretty close

Tony Jackson called $8 million ‘well below’ the midpoint of $8.25 million, so you might be way off. :)

Good catch. Tamin getting props from Ned in that piece. A four-year deal wouldn’t have made much sense to me though.

Four year discussions? That’s news…

Not sure what I’d think about that.

“He obviously was one of our own since the beginning,” Colletti said. “We watched him mature and get better and more refined as somebody who had plus, plus talent and needed the experience to match it. He is a student of the game. He learns what he needs to do, and then he can execute it in the midst of a game. That is the mark of the beast.”

Bolding and typo mine. It’s really “best.”

BREAKING: Clayton Kershaw signs 30-year, $666 million deal with Dodgers.

Kinbote just turned that upside down and signed himself to a $999 deal.

I feel like I’m being the reverse of trolled—and I’m loving it.

BeastMode!

$8M is 3% less than $8.25M. Tony Jackson didn’t major in math.

Bugs Bunny never studied law

Wild E. Coyote never studied medicine

Cecil Turtle never lost

Tweety never studied linguistics or optometry.

or first name knowledge/spelling :)

Wasn’t Wild the fat cousin to Wily?

Wile E.

Phil Phailed Two!

You just compared yourself to the Astro’s, how does that feel?

better than comparing myself to USC basketball

Though he doesn’t have a degree to show for it, Foghorn Leghorn is an ACME-certified linguist.

I am seeing veiled tweets that

there is not good news re Chauncy Billups coming out soon

Now seeing tweets

that the Clipper are considering JR Smith and more importantly, Billups is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. But nothing from Clippers as yet.

That sucks. I liked Chauncey a lot.

Sucks more for Chauncey than anything else really. If anywhere, the Clippers actually have depth at guard so the team can deal with this. Really a bummer for him though.

And

it is now official, he might not be back until next season’s training camps start in September.

We have depth a point guard, shooting guard not so much. Foye can step in but Mo and Paul is one short set of guards.

True

What are our external options assuming Josh Smith goes to NY?

Just go the other way...get even bigger

Derrick Caracter is available

Landry Fields is the Clipper blogs rumor of the day. Fields for Mo.

Which would be awesome.

YCT…

N/A. The Clippers definitely still want Mo. I think he only gets moved in the case of a perfect fit coming back on the other end….

I haven’t seen the Knicks much, 2nd round pick, must have made quite an impression. 3 point% kind of blows. 6’7 is nice, I’m guessing he’s considered a top defender?

Defender, rebounder, effecient scorer. He’s like a WP superstar.

I’m guessing he sucks in the 4th quarter compared to Billups. I’ve no doubt we can replace Chauncey’s game production but I doubt we can replace his balls.

We have this Chris Paul guy…

And clearly Blake Griffin has fixed his free throw approach as he owned the free throw line yesterday. WGT

Realistically we were a stretch to be contenders this year, but having a playoff backcourt of Chauncey/Paul gave it a shot. We could end up with second best record in the West but our playoff hopes took a dump with Billups.

Not complaining, this season will still own but anyone who thinks this does not hurt is kidding themselves.

If the NBA went back to the tighter short-shorts, it would be easier to get the balls readings on these guys.

#nolosho

OK, I’m done

The Curse of the Clippers XXVI

whatever

Old guy gets hurt… Clippers curse!!!!

Billups sacrificed himself onto the Clipper Curse to save the young ones.

I knew you would say that!

what is worse then a troll?

Chris Paul’s tender knees?

engineers

GFY!
;-)

without engineers, where would the trolls live?

down by the river

in a van

as far as the general populace concerned we are in the same tent

GFM!

Tent rolls.

Bobcats

A college-age girl that is clearly destined to be a cougar?

Resides in Charlotte.

Houston Trolls.

Los Angeles Cougars as the new football team?

/EverySportsTalkRadioHostEver

oh my god that must hurt so much

Total win for the Dodgers

Even if Kershaw has any thoughts or feelings about not being sufficiently appreciated by the Dodgers…new ownership is around the corner!

latenite - February 7, 2012 reply

I would be surprised to hear any

such thing from that young man

This is great news!

A 5+ year deal would have been even better, but its good to have him locked in and happy for the next two.

BFDC - February 7, 2012 reply

Billups is done

Likely taking my fantasy season with him. Between him and Ginobili, I am not looking so good right now.

What do your league standings look like right now?

I’m #6/12. Things were looking up with Paul being healthy, but it’s not looking good anymore.

Ok, good luck.

You had Chauncey Billups on your fantasy team?

Yes, and now I have to replace him with Luke Ridnour probably. Bleah.

Mo Williams?

Taken. Some jackass cut him a couple of weeks ago.

Josh Smith?

Its JR Smith, not Josh Smith, unless Clips are trying to trade for the Hawks forward.

or Earl Smith the 3rd if you really wanna get technical

Right, still reeling from Wily

According to Wins Produced ( a composite metric), Ridnour is having a considerably better year than Billups anyway.

I have no doubt, but my league inexplicably doesn’t use that as a category.

Of course, but the inputs of the metric are things like points, FG%, rebounds, assists, etc. Can’t be too far off from the categories you use.

They are pretty similar actually. I didn’t realize how much better Luke is in FG%

Ridnour has been getting his minutes too since MIN quickly realized that the two best players in their backcourt were him and Rubio so they are playing both as much as possible.

I assumed Nolij was in a single-category fantasy league, and that category is free throw percentage.

I was definitely going to make that joke. Free throws made count for 50% of the fantasy points!

Wasn’t Billups averaging 15 points and 4 assists

Yes, and that still prompts the question.

Yeah, I’m not as screwed as I thought, mostly it’s just annoying to have to get a different dude.

I wonder if Kmart would still have gone to Clips even with this happening. Besides money, I thought maybe playing with Billups was a key reason he chose Clippers. Also felt JR Smith would go to Clips as well to reunite with his Nugget buds….he still may go now anyways because he would start at SG and play an even bigger role now I think.

JR seems like a money guy and we can’t match the Knicks for money. We will find out soon enough.

FWIW, He is currently owned in 86% of Yahoo leagues. I think it was 89% when I dropped him and probably even higher yesterday.

Payroll worksheet is updated. Don’t anticipate too many big changes between now and opening day.

Dodgers have 18 players under contract in 2012 for $85.975 million.

Dead money is $22,262,432

Remaining seven 25-man roster slots, plus one more for Rubby on the DL, at $3,925,000

Total: $112,162,432

If anyone was wondering (and I’m sure you were), the payroll worksheet has 7,561 words in the post.

Half of those are Adam Kennedy incentive details.

MLS releases no contract information. It’s frustrating. There was a press release I saw earlier in the season where the Clippers didn’t release contract information, but I don’t think that’s for all contracts, this was that D-League guy.

Is there a salary cap in MLS? Is there a limit to how many out of country players you can sign?

correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe there is a very low salary cap but each team is allowed to have two players who don’t count towards the cap.

yeah, im reading about it now… the designated player rule, nicknamed the Beckham rule.

Landon Donovan was grandfathered in

Because of his receding hairline?

Awesome

Rec'd

Damn, I knew there was a joke there.

I just did a dance around my room

yes there is a salary cap in MLS, teams are given a budget of $2.6 million. You’re allowed three designated players, who you can pay out of pocket and only count for 335k against the budget.

A team is given 8 international spots, which can be traded, so some teams have 7, some 9

can only trade 1?

you can trade them all if you like, just trying to illustrate that 8 isn’t a fixed number

thats why i asked

The vast majority of teams in the big three/four/five pro sports don’t release any contract info.

Some teams do, sometimes. But it is rare.

Blue Jays and White Sox come to mind as teams that include contract info in their press releases, but it is not all the time. I think the Phillies official Twitter account tweeted one of their relievers signed for $1.15 million last week or so.

so the Dodgers are a rare bird? Are most sportswriters then like MLS writers who depend of the players union to release contract info?

The Dodgers never release contract info, other than the length of the deal.

ah see, we don’t even get that in our releases, we don’t know who’s out of contract until they start tweeting about it.

is there a MLSPA?

yup, almost went on strike a few years back over the tiny tiny salaries

to answer your question though

they release salary numbers twice a year, but no contract lengths

On the Juninho and Leonardo press release, it was announced Juninho is on loan for 2012 and that Leonardo “joined the club permanently on a free transfer.”

The Leonardo part is what you are talking about? A free transfer could be of any length?

yes they can

delias man - February 7, 2012 reply

free transfer refers to the nature of acquisition, same thing as free agent, but across international lines. But for him, for any rookies drafted, any MLS players signed, we don’t know when their contract ends unless their Press Conference level like Beckham, where you can ask right there

Interesting

Maybe

Kit

and even with Beckham, we were told two year deal, and when we asked if that’s two solid years or one year with an option Leiweke essentially said “wouldn’t you like to know”

Follow up being “seriously, we’re gonna find out in a couple hours, just tel us”

(sotto voce) “smug motherfucker”

To your second question, yes. Either through the players union or agents or team sources

so Dylan Hernandez hears Kershaw got a two year contract, and he’s on the horn trying to get dollar figures. Must be cool to have the LA Times nane to burst doors open for you.

I think being from the Times gets your phone call answered. Being a good dude like Dylan gets your questions answered.

Being an asshole also gets your questions answered, i dont’ see a correlation.

There’s got to be no less than a dozen news reporters asking that question. I don’t tell Simers.

You also don’t happen to hold the gate keys

Fezzik, tear his arms off.

Or wait a few hours until everyone is updated, the instant gratification of information that will not change if you know it now or five hours from now is fascinating.

“as first reported by” has kept Ken Rosenthal employed

Only because you all care, the question is why?

Because Eric has spreadsheets to update!

and because no one reads the fifth article about Kershaw’s contract, they read the first

What players make has been a fascination since professional sports started.

Even back 100 years ago, Walter Johnson wrote an article about how unfair the Reserve Clause and on the other extreme, you had the $100,000 infield in Philadelphia.

Money is always an interesting topic.

especially since there’s that financial investment if you’re a fan. Same with following local politics, or companies you own stock in, it’s a matter of “how’s my money being spent”

What do boxing and the Golden Girls have in common?

Big purses. Goodnight everybody!

Both are dead.

and I used to watch and enjoy both in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

I’m not questioning the thirst for knowledge I’m just questioning why everyone is so concerned that they have to have the info instantly since it is not a dynamic situation but a static one. Once the contract is signed nothing is going to change. Knowing before Bob knows because they have 4G instead of 3G is whack a doodle.

Not that they have to break every story, but part of the beat writers’ jobs is to be an insider and (a) provide news that nobody else yet has; and (b) establish themselves as a trusted source of information, in both directions

Yes, that has never changed. Just seems pointless to me in today’s world. Instead of leaks the information can be disseminated by the organizations in charge of the information by simply Tweeting to everyone who gives a crap (followers) when the information is final. No need for middle people.

why would those in charge willingly spread information beyond the most basic facts?

Whatever eventually gets leaked might as well be controlled by those in control. Then the leakers lose their leverage and have to get their noses out of someone ass and do something productive.

Agreed on most news but its understandable why a team wouldn’t release financial info, at least not officially.

and as long as there are people who want that info, as well as game analysis, then an industry has a role

Because we want to make the first snarky comments.

Apparently

Simers was having lunch with Coach VDN when VDN got the text about BIllups.

HA

I’ve never heard of him being referred to as something that sounds like it requires a visit to the clinic.

Better than Billups getting the text about VDN, you’re saying?

VD is serious business

The guy who was the beat writer for the giants has moved on to csn to cover them, but someone snatched up the new twitter handle he was going to use and is trolling giant fans

Baggs CSN @BaggsCSN

Sources: Matt Cain being shopped to Dodgers for Andre Either and prospects

Haha

a) That is pretty funny
b) Baggarly moved? That must have been very recently; I think I linked to a piece of his from the San Jose Mercury News from this weekend in the Giants’ review.

Yeah apparently he is just in the process of moving right now

I saw it announced and confirmed on twitter today.

Isn't that Andrew "I gave an MVP vote to Jeremy Affeldt" Baggarly?

Or was it a Cy Young vote. Either way.

Ivdown - February 8, 2012 reply

So my twitter really blew up today

With the [politics redacted] news, Kershaw signing, the “baseball boyfriend” kerfuffle, Billups medical report, there have been tweets galore.

take all that, add in Juninho resigning with the LA Galaxy and you have my twitter-splosion.

twitter invested in a whole new warehouse of server space to be able to handle the Juninho news.

Were you able to catch ManU-Chelsea in the midst of all the SB madness? What a freaking game! I’ve watched it twice already on my DVR.

well it happened seven hours before the SB : ) Yeah it was amazing, as a United fan I let out a cheer with Chicharito’s equalizer

What the hell happened to Chelsea? It seems like yesterday they were the Miami Heat of the EPL =X

Well Drogba’s in Africa for the Cup of Nations, and Anelka left for China

I had an indoor soccer game on Sunday. I left at halftime when it was 1-0, and the indoor place had a small TV with the game on and I saw Chelsea go up 3-0 before my game started.

Then, after my game, I was informed that it was 3-3.

Missed a terrific game, apparently.

insofar as any soccer game could be called “terrific”.

go collect your troll toll troll

Who cares about Chelsea. How did you team do?

Lost 5-1. My coed team is pretty terrible, I’m pretty sure there are only two of us who have played more than a year or two of soccer.

I scored a nice goal and had a couple more I should have scored but I’m just too damn out of shape.

twitter free since 1993

You’re a “baseball boyfriend”? WTF???

KellyStephen - February 7, 2012 reply

Baseball boyfriend

link. There were a lot of hilarious tweets in my timeline bashing this.

Were they mostly of the “Vicente Padilla sure is unattractive kekekekeke” ilk?

No, I said they were hilarious.

I know the

fangraphs interview with Logan White came up in an earlier comments section, but this bit about Nathan Eovaldi caught me eye:

"We took him in the draft and then worked him out that summer, when we went in to play the Astros. I had Nathan throw for Joe Torre and Rick Honeycutt. I introduced him to everybody, which I think helped us. He was going to go to Texas A&M — he was going to be a tough sign — but I left him alone with Chad Billingsley, James Loney, Matt Kemp, and all those guys. I said, ’talk to them’ and walked away. I had no idea what they’d say — whether they would tell him to sign or to not sign — and obviously they made a good impression on him.

Notice he did not let him talk to Andre

Dre can't know any prospect

It’s so they don’t get a big head

Tommy Blackjack - February 7, 2012 via iPhone app reply

I just hope he took the how to find a girlfriend advice from Bills, the how to walk an icy staircase advice from Loney, and the how to drive a sports car advice from Kemp.

He busy doing zumba at the time.

NTTAWWT

What’s the TBLA equivalent of this situation?

Not Chad

Meeting Vin in the press room? (I have not had the good fortune yet.) No, that is better than the above.

Being treated nicely by the beat writers?

Obviously lvdown getting the “man talk” at the one TBLA game I attended.

Yes!

In a story that only Josie and Mike may like

Buffy denied chance to meet Eli the Patriot Slayer

neat! Apparently there’s a similar story with Katy Perry trying to meet Tom Brady after the Super Bowl loss

TJ Simers went with the Clippers on this road trip. I’m guessing it was the first time the Lakers and Clippers were on the road at the same time and Simers was assigned to the Clippers.

Billups was lost for the year.

I think we can clearly blame TJ for this.

So Sweet!!!

that is all now back to work…..

MammothDodger - February 7, 2012 reply

Hey Nolander

The Texans picked up Karl Dorrell to be the new QB coach? Good luck!

Did a pretty good job with Matt Moore last year

really, in general, he has done a great job as an assistant everywhere he has gone. If Kubiak thinks he is the right fit he probably is.

He was a pretty good WR coach in Denver

though that was a long time ago. Wasn’t the greatest HC at UCLA but as QB coach should be solid.

underdog - February 7, 2012 reply

Here's a correlation for you

No QB who led the regular season yardage category has ever won the Super Bowl

I think part of that is because

when a QB is throwing that much, either its because the defense or running game are poor, and you are either having to air it out to catch up or stay in front of the other team, or because you can’t use your running game to run down the clock.

Apparently Maria Menuonos lost a Super Bowl bet

involving her wearing a Patriots colored biking in Times Square in winter temperatures.

Hot damn

Always thought was incredible looking.

technically its giants colored isn't it?

but the teams have the same colors anyways so who can tell.

It is a Giants bikini

She is a Pats fan (and Celtics fan).

If one were to find and watch video of this, one might see a small NY Giants logo on the left side of the left breast of the bikini. You know, if one were to Google such a thing and find a video of this.

Yes, I got confused for some reason and said it backwards

… and if one were to magnify the video 100×...

If one had a conference room projector in their office….

There are a lot of those in Chatsworth.

Weird. The combination of “number” “x” “period” with no spaces caused that x to be vertically centered.

100x
100×.
100×...
x.
5×.

as in 5×3=18 : )

Well

5×3 makes sense, by why with a period instead of a number following the x ?

because the magical elves that make my words appear don’t know the difference between 3×5 and 4×.

Though apparently 4x? won’t work or 4x!

Because if you were multiplying by a decimal, you might write 4×.5 for instance.

Lame. I would always write the zero: 4×0.5

David Young - February 8, 2012 reply

so that when I say Chris Paul is 10000x the LA sports figure Kobe Bryant is right now, my trolling doesn’t get confused with poor math.

thanks, Dave

just post the david beckham ad

or pictures of The Todd. Gotta go nuclear on this.

Yeah, why pander to the 99.9% when the .01% are so clearly left out of the loop.

Everybody’s pandering, pandering. Da da da da dada da.

Wasn’t she pandering by making the bet in the first place? No one insisted that her end of a bet involve flashing her bod, nor did she have to take that bet.

But yeah, I’m pandering to some of the commenters here.

If we want to get into the layer behind the layer, yes a hot woman wearing a bikini in New York in winter knows exactly what she’s doing

Of course.

But does she have a baseball boyfriend?

typical engineer

I don’t get it.

I'm just being stupidly passive aggressive

Fuck that

LET’S THROW HANDS!

x

What about the other .09%?

It had to be done.

I’m having a hard time telling if she is cold or not

it was Times Square in winter, she was cold.

It was around 48-50 degrees

and sunny yesterday afternoon in mid-town Manhattan.

So she was cold.

For us

that seems cold, for middle of winter in NY, it probably feels okay.

Every time I go out in a bikini in Hesperia (i.e., Thursdays) in that weather, I am not that cold. But I weigh a tad more than Ms. Menuonos.

she had a big fluffy robe she wore between takes, and she was never on camera more than fifteen seconds. In the video. Which is on the internet.

Probably not while one is nearly nude.

I for one am glad she lost.

Because fuck the Patriots.

Doesn’t look that cold to me

Tripon’d

I had to work

She loses a bet, and we all win!

Honestly we could do better by walking the beaches of Hermosa and randomly selecting 20 girls in about 20 minutes. JMO

It wouldn’t come with AC Slater.

Even better.

Are you this guy

The first week of January, in Homer Glen, Illinois, a man (name not given) was at a bar called Mullets Sports Bar & Restaurant. They have photos of famous mullets on the wall, including one of Mario Lopez as A.C. Slater. The man ripped the photo off the wall and smashed the frame on the ground. His excuse to the owner? “I just don’t like Slater.”

Where I come from, when you don’t like Slater, you convince him to move to Hawaii, you give Mr. Belding a Buddy Band to make them uncool, or you enter him into a beauty pageant but tell everyone he beat up Screech so no one cheers for him. Tearing his photo off the wall and breaking a frame (which police later estimated at $11) isn’t going to win you the title of Bayside’s top hunk. Amateur.

she is noticeably underweight

hater

i dunno

she’s pretty tiny

I figure no obviously visible rib cage, no foul.

I can make out ribs 9-11, but I see your point

you know what i mean. when a woman, or man for that matter, is too skinny the first noticeable thing is a protruding rib cage. She’s thin, but she’s not nicole richie.

Josie never forgets

Back in 2008, Maria

gave interviews on how back in college (she is now 33) she was a size 14 (at 5 foot 8), she described her workout plan and diet and for the last several years has been reportedly a size 4 (I have no idea how female sizes work).

she’s not a 0, wouldn’t have thought she was, but 4 is model size. In The Devil Wears Prada, there’s a whole subplot about how Anne Hathaway’s character is a six, and that’s SO HUGE for someone in the fashion industry.

In college v Now

also

I’m 5’9, and a few sizes down from her college weight (will not say exact number)

Your hair is a size 14 though.

Don’t understand the fascination with skeletons.

As some comedian once said, sleeping with her would be like lying on a pile of coat hangers.

I imagine in real life w/out the camera “adding 10 pounds”, I would agree wholeheartedly.

Ned acknowledges Prince bidding

link

“Considering we signed Matt long term, Clayton to a multi-year [deal] and made a strong bid for Prince Fielder, Frank deserves a lot of credit for trying to put the organization in the best possible position,” said general manager Ned Colletti.

Yes

Good job Ned and Frank.

Basically Ned is saying its all his fault

l

I know these things are not that important, but I’m really curious what the plan for Loney would’ve been. Traded? LF? LOOGY?

Brewer 1st baseman

Tonight (tonight), let it be Loneybrau.

Gurnick

also mentions that a four year plus an option deal was discussed.

Now that’s something I would have liked. Probably would have approached nine figures.

not when Felix and Verlander signed for 5/80 and 5/78. Why would Kershaw have gotten 20% more than them?

Probably 10% more, which is “approaching” :)

In case you wanted to hear the 911 call from one of the cars James Loney hit in November, TMZ has it.

Funny part was when the lady first kept trying to dial 4-6-3.

Funniest thing you may ever have posted

Easy rec or easiest rec?

then later 0118 999 881 999 119 7253

Kareem and

Zooey: (click on pic for full size in new tab/window)

I almost retweeted a picture this morning of Kareem at The View with some snarky comment, but ended up not doing it.

So is paying Kershaw 8 this year with two deferred and 10.5 next year any different than 6.5 this year and 12.5 next year? I can’t even think of luxury tax loopholes.

It is when “oh my God I don’t have any money right now”

Poorly phrased it. Why say 8/10 million with 2 differed instead of just 6/12.

Sets the salary standard for future arbs differently. I assume MLBPA likes the former.

Makes sense to me.

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Josie Signal

Does Everton have a chance?

so glad HJ isn't here

they’re 11th in the league table, so not likely to finish in the top 6 which would get them a European tour. They’re still in the FA Cup, and they have Blackpool next so they’ll likely make it to the Quarterfinals, then it’s all on who you draw. They won’t be relegated, that’s for sure.

I cannot believe I missed the hashtag subthread. I would submit one here, but for the last four hours, I have been screamed at by a sick baby. Four goddam hours straight of screaming baby. I am ready to kill myself.

That situation is the worst. Been there – it is so stressful.

at least you learned your lesson the first time

Well, not exactly. We ended up with only one child. That was not our preference.

The bright side is that she is still sick and the daycare has a 24-hour-symptoms free policy, which means I get to do it again tomorrow.

/killsselfforcingBridetotakecareofneworphan

Is there enough gin?

worded poorly

not enough gin to kill you, but enough gin so that you make it through

the only word Humma associates with gin is

More

Tommy Blackjack - February 7, 2012 via iPhone app reply

You are doing good work. Parenting demands everything yet gives few rewards. I hearby give you an internet pat on the back. (I’ve also been enjoying your Pale Fire comments directed at me.)

We have kinda exhausted my knowledge of Pale Fire. Zembla reference, Shade reference, that’s all I got.

Wait, I’ve got one more. I just thought of it. It’ll appear upthread!

If it makes you feel any better (and I hope it doesn’t), my 2.5 year old just held the entire household hostage for an hour while he stalled going poop and my 6 year old & I spent a while today arguing over throwing trash away. To top it off, my wife and I appear to be some sort of cold war. Looks like I picked the wrong month to quit drinking.

is there a right month?

nolander - February 7, 2012 via Android app reply

The only month to even attempt such a maneuver is February, what with its fewer days.

I’m on a 31 day health kick (ending with the first spring training game March 5th). Moderation sucks.

You’re gonna get so wasted on March 5th.

I’m going to need to. We suck this year :)

Actually, in my deepest delirium, I fantasize about Ethier/Kemp/Loney/Rivera emerging as a solid middle of the lineup. I still worry about the #2 spot in the lineup and much much more.

Are you sure you’re not drunk now?

You probably shouldn’t have built that retaining wall in the back yard. I can still hear Mrs. Kinbote from here:

“Kinbote, tear down that wall!”

I specialize in stupid mini-snaps (usually an implosion linked with some small self-destructive gesture like kicking a barbeque or punching a door.) About five minutes ago I ripped my zip-up sweatshirt.

Oh, I totally picked a fight with Bride last night. We had to set aside our private conflict, though, as we re-engaged our war against our children.

You should be more careful; she could just hammer you into the ground with her fist.

Litters are so useful, when the young meerkats give us trouble we just put them outside the burrow and let Mr. Hawk handle the situation. You only have to do that once per litter and they round into shape fairly quickly after that.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-10-best-transactions-of-the-winter/

TBLA favorite Dave Cameron lists the top ten transactions of the offseason (Carlos Beltran is #1)

SIGH

#6 -Yankees Sign Hiroki Kuroda for 1/$10M

[rips kinbote’s sweatshirt]

give me a sleeve

I must wipe away my tears

Tommy Blackjack - February 7, 2012 via iPhone app reply

Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain.

Purple rain, purple rain

one of the all-time greats

never meant to cause you any sorrow
never meant to cause you any pain

(that songs kills me every time)

x

Speaking of Blake, what young actor will kill his wife 30 years from now, 10 years after they stopped being relevant in the industry?

Giovanni Ribisi

Was Ellis number two?

Phil Gurnee - February 7, 2012 reply

Oh he’s number two all right.

That is why the child is crying

Phil Gurnee - February 7, 2012 reply

It’s her diaper, let her change it.

That’s what I told the social worker

Phil Gurnee - February 7, 2012 reply

With the signing of Jamey Wright, Josh Bard, and Adam Kennedy, one has to wonder if any other crappy ex – Mariners think the Dodgers are the best place to land for work in 2012.

Monta Ellis has 30 points at halftime against OKC tonight