WGN Radio Wants YOU
WGN is having a song-writing contest to find their next rah-rah Cubs tune to play before, after, and during Cubs games and on a nonstop loop inside Judd Sirott's headset. All you have to do is record your song and send an mp3 of it to cubssong@wgnradio.com. If you'd like, I can supply the lyrics, and you can be in charge of the music. Here goes:
See the runner in his stance
See him gunned down where he stands
TOOTBLAN
Was he running on his own?
How'd he get picked off at home?
TOOTBLAN
TOOTBLAN
Cubbies need a better plan
Save me.
Play on W-G-N
Save me
Save me
Come on don't get thrown out
Come on don't get thrown out
Come on don't get thrown out
Come on. Come on. (Santo: Oh, Come ON)
Hey, Chicago, say again
Cubs are never gonna win
TOOTBLAN
You don't even have to pay me. You only have til February 29, so get cracking.
Theo Compensation Coming Soon: Not a Rumor
I have a source that says the compensation from the Cubs to the Red Sox for Theo coming from the Red Sox to the Cubs will come from Bud Selig's ruffled lips to our tingling ears before spring training begins. Oh goodie. I bet it will be Kerry Wood.
The Rebuilding Process Will Be Televised
The Cubs announced their broadcast schedule for the 2012 season. Opening day is April 5 on WGN. 1:20. Be there. Or don't bother being there, it will be on TV.
Is there a Cubs game today?
No.
Thread-Hijacking Discussion I Recently Enjoyed
You've seriously got to catch up on the psychological manipulation of post-secondary architecture. Or something.
Video I Recently Enjoyed
Will Ferrell introduces the Bulls and Hornets starting lineups. It's pretty funny. Especially because Carlos Boozer most certainly does still live with his parents.
Dylan,
Didnt say shit about Maples. And if it did it would not have been pretty. He is not a fan of his arm slot and thinks he will be a reliever
I like how none of these facepalms include anything about PECOTA or Law’s rankings. Do we even cover baseball anymore? (dying laughing)
Free BPro article on divergent directions of Cubs and Sox.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=16003
Mish wrote:
Pipe down… This blog is discredited
@ Mish:
Enough.
That’s a lot more complicated than hitting the “insert picture” button (dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
i see that Tango and MGL had a lively discussion with Colin W over at the book blog regarding the New New Pecota.
dylanj wrote:
It’s a discussion I recently enjoyed.
@ dylanj:
That was tame compared to some of the “conversations” they’ve had over the years. Especially Colin and MGL.
http://doeskeithlawhatemyfavoriteteam.tumblr.com/
Awesome song, AC. Well done!
So this is the new Chicago city sticker design after the previous winner was revoked for potentially using gang signs in the design. Is it just me or does the superhero in the middle look like he is grabbing his dick?
mb21 wrote:
Nothing can top some of those epic Colin vs JC threads on various websites.
Why no Concepcion in the Keith Law Top 10 prospects rankings? Is it because he sucks, or because he’s not yet eligible?
Knew we should have got Soler instead.
Bubbles, did Law write an explanation of his methodology at the beginning of the prospect list? I’m pretty sure in years past he explained that he does the rankings based more on upside/chance to be an All-Star vs chance to be a MLB regular. Within that framework the likelyhood that Jackson is going to be an average MLBer hurts him somewhat.
@ Pezcore:
They arent mutually exclusive you know
Nevermind, it’s in the open part that non-insiders can access
In shocking news
Rich Harden ———-> out for 2012
bubblesdachimp wrote:
I know, just interested in what he thought of him. I forget who, but one of the scouts said Concepcion ranked #6 right now in the Cubs org.
Is Law an idiot? Or is he pretty accurate with his rankings?
Pezcore wrote:
It was Kevin Goldstein
@ Berselius:
@ Mucker:
I think he is pretty fair for the most part. Except for his hate of Jackson.
I debated with Mish on twitter today. (debate probably isnt the right word) But i think Jackson is really valuable
I agree with bubbles, I like Jackson a lot. The comp we kept using was Drew Stubbs. Hilariously, Drew Stubbs was also ranked as the 89th prospect on a KLaw ranking. Jackson’s minors numbers are better than Stubbs’ were in the raw, but IDK about after park and league adjustments.
great read from Fangraphs on prospect ranking http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/how-much-risk-is-worth-additional-upside/
see what I did there Mish?
a good read Sickels did about how his past rankings have played out http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/2/8/2785017/prospect-analysis-lessons-learned
@ dylanj:
I’m pretty sure I haven’t posted unnannotated links since SK’s bitching-like-a-woman about it.
Your dad says hi, Mish.
@ Suburban kid:
My dad’s dead, asshole.
@ Mish:
Not sure if serious, but if serious, very sorry for your loss.
Also, I enjoyed the lyrics AC made, but don’t have enough composing ability to set a tune to it.
Rice Cube wrote:
I do some serious gangsta rap. In the ‘I’m white and suburban’ sort of way.
Klaw ranks by nothing but upside. That’s why he is so low on Szczur. Apparently a scout told him he is a “slappy hitter” and Klaw hasn’t back off that Szczur = (dying laughing).
What doesn’t make sense to me is if he ranks by upside not probability, why is Baez so far down? Ranking Zach Cates is pretty funny too. I must agree that these rankings are horrid.
I’ll say that I would be surprised if Mish was legitimately upset at something said on this blog in jest, given his personality, but I’m still shocked at whatever asshole -1′d his comment without knowing for sure. (dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
I’m never serious. My dad’s alive. But I shut SK right up. (dying laughing)
Mish wrote:
Really, this was unnecessary. Don’t you have your own blog for lying about the death of your parents?
@ Mish:
I’m glad that your father is not dead and that you’re still an asshole (dying laughing)
GBTS wrote:
I want to give this 1000 faget points.
GBTS wrote:
Correct
jtsunami wrote:
He’s probably mixing Zach up with Phoebe.
GBTS wrote:
http://www.mishsblogaboutlyingabouthisparentsdeath.com
Rice Cube wrote:
You and I don’t agree often, but on this, we do.
I’m pretty sure I should earn a spot in tomorrow’s Daily Facepalm, something like:
Is Mish’s dad dead?
No.
@ Mucker:
Law is an idiot. Those rankings are absurd. I have no doubt whatsoever that Al Yellon could come up with a more competent Cubs top 10 and probably provide more insight than he did.
And I’m going to shut up now because my dad is old and not in the best health so I’m probably tempting the gods to punish me.
mb21 wrote:
I want to agree but I can’t even give Al that slightest benefit of the doubt. (dying laughing)
I’m pretty sure any regular here could probably put something together that’s better.
I think the person who -1′d Mish’s comment knew that was a bit.
I was pretty sure it was a bit too because I’ve seen it before, but it’s such a good bit that I couldn’t be sure. (dying laughing)
@ jtsunami:
They make no sense. If you rank by upside then obviously Brett Jackson is a far superior prospect to Rizzo. It’s even less close than it is if you rank based on what the player is most likely to become. Rizzo hasn’t done shit that Jackson hasn’t done, but Jackson plays a premium defensive position. Ranking based on potential makes even less sense when you have Zach Cates 5th. When can we finally be done talking about Josh Vitters’ potential? He’s a low strikeout, low walk guy with average power. Maybe he can play 3rd and maybe he has to move to 1st. If he moves to 1st he’s completely useless. If he can stick at 3rd he might be a decent backup. And Reggie Golden? He has the potential to be the first player to strikeout 300 times in a season.
That list is garbage.
@ Mish:
I couldn’t.
@ Mish:
Sure. I was just making a point that even Al Yellon could provide a superior list.
Suburban kid wrote:
Yeah it’s pretty clearly a bit, and since apparently you’ve become my sworn enemy on this board, I had to go to the nuclear option. (dying laughing)
@ Mish:
Jackson was better and a little younger. He had a better average, better OBP, higher slugging. Jackson’s career wRC+ is roughly 150 while Stubbs was about 120 in the minors.
@ GBTS:
What are you supposed to do though? +1 it if you think his Dad is dead? That’s one thing I’ve hated about Facebook. I’ll read some article that disgusts me and I have an option to like it. If Mish was serious and he apparently wasn’t, I would definitely give it a -1.
I think the naysayers may have a point about Brett Jackson’s strikeout rate, but as long as he can get on base okay, I guess nobody really cares how he makes outs.
for some reason, when i read that song, i thought of “whip it” by devo. you’d have to alter the lyrics slightly to get it to fit but i think it works pretty well.
berselius – what math building were you talking about in yesterday’s post? which building at UW is considered the “math building”? van vleck, i assume? just curious as to what UW campus building would have a great view and i never really took any math while i was a badger.
@ Rice Cube:
The whole problem with just looking at the strikeout rate is that you could do the same for every other player. If you really wanted to, you could look at Rizzo being a 1st baseman and just leave him off the top 100. That he plays 1st base is a weakness. Or you could just look at Brett Jackson and compare him to other high walk guys and come to the conclusion he has a much higher chance of success than the average prospect. I guess I expect the people who rank these guys to be more intelligent about their rankings and Law is quite clearly an idiot.
Jackson has some issues. So do most prospects, but there aren’t 50 of them who are better than Jackson. There probably aren’t 40.
@ mb21:
Usually when someone posts about something awful on FB (i.e. “Westboro Baptist Churchs vows to rape corpses”), me liking it is usually just acknowledging the poster’s comments/thoughts on that link. Or agreeing with their disgust.
Mish probably thinks his parents are dead because he repeatedly compares himself to Batman.
I’ve received a request to run Discredited Fantasy Baseball again. I’m all for it, are people still interested in doing it? Do we want to do H2H this year instead of Roto? I kind of like Roto, to be honest.
RC, if you want to record your version of the song, just find a karaoke version of this:
GBTS wrote:
I’d prefer roto. I’m already in a H2H keeper league and I don’t particularly care for H2H. Mostly because my team pulls a 2008 Cubs in every damn playoffs.
@ Mish:
I know, but sometimes I read something I hate the idea of having to “like” it in order to share it.
GBTS wrote:
(dying laughing)
I just noticed if you highlight some text and then hit the quote button it works. Weird.
GBTS wrote:
mb21 wrote:
I discovered this yesterday but I thought everyone knew. I’m still sucky at posting pics though. (dying laughing)
i gave mish the – point. I was pretty sure he was joking and also if he wasn’t i was just giving parental death a negative faget point. No risk.
Mish wrote:
It’s really simple.
img src=”http://www.mish.com/batman.jpg”
Surround that with less than and greater than signs (carrots).
img: image
src: source
Surround the url of the image in quotations
You’re telling it that the image source equals the url you provide.
Once you get used to writing the html it’s a lot easier than clicking a button.
@ mb21:
I actually know a bit of HTML and don’t have a problem posting pics. I do like the old method but it’s pretty immaterial.
dylanj wrote:
This is sound reasoning.
@ mb21:
So your objection is merely that the guy is cherrypicking one attribute of the player to penalize him instead of looking at the player as an aggregate, correct?
Non-blog related post (I’d say baseball but IDK if we talk about that much here anymore):
Apple is worth more than Google and Microsoft combined. DAMN.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/apple-stocks-lofty-heights-in-context/
Mish wrote:
Don’t you have your own blog where you can post baseball-related crap?
@ AndCounting:
I started one. But then I realized I enjoy criticizing the people here more. (dying laughing)
@ Mish:
I’m tempted to ask if the only reason you come here is to criticize the people here just so you can tell me to scroll up and read your thoughts on the matter. (dying laughing)
@ AndCounting:
(dying laughing)
This is effin’ awesome, and that’s all I’m going to say:
http://images.4channel.org/f/src/589217_scale_of_universe_enhanced.swf
@ Mish:
That was awesome.
EnricoPallazzo wrote:
Yeah, it’s Van Vleck. The building is utter shit save for the view and the copious amounts of blackboards in the classrooms. The worst part is the lack of a modern seminar room. We would get some famous visitor or another and the Big Lecture would be in our dingy basement lecture hall that can’t mount a ceiling projector (so it has to be propped across some chairs). It also has those old wooden chair/desk systems that make a ton of noise whenever anyone moves and are adorned with decades of student graffiti.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-downtown-tilted-kilt-sued-for-sexual-harassment-20120209,0,6697866.story
If women can’t find a respectful workplace at a knockoff Hooters, where CAN they go???
Mish wrote:
*inserts decades long rant about the quality of Apple’s products vs their abhorrent branding and software policies*
Mish wrote:
Damn, I wish that was bigger.
(The screencap.)
Berselius wrote:
I love PIXAR. (dying laughing)
@ GBTS:
(dying laughing)
@ Rice Cube:
I don’t know. I didn’t read Law’s scouting report. I was speaking in the generic sense. Jackson strikes out a lot, but there are other aspects of the game he is very good at.
To be completely honest, I don’t care what Law says. The only time I even think about reading something he’s written is when he does his prospect lists. I don’t know what he said about Jackson and only know he rated him near the bottom of the top 100. That’s fine. If he thinks there are that many better prospects, great, but Rizzo isn’t a better prospect.
http://encyclopediadramatica.ch/Singing_Shark#SUCK_MY_DICK_THE_MUSICAL
The Olney tweet that said the Yankees wanted to trade AJ Burnett to the Pirates for Garrett Jones made me (dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
(dying laughing)
I think it would be cool to see someone so efficient that you were literally compelled to break down into blood curdling screams.
I dunno much about advanced basketball stats, but as a a fan, I’m glad Luol Deng made the All Star team.
Mish wrote:
http://sabermetricresearch.blogspot.com/2011/01/sabermetric-basketball-statistics-are.html
Mish wrote:
With Thibs coaching, he’ll probably play 44 minutes.
@ GW:
I’ve read that before; actually, probably a few times. After I blew my load on all things baseball, I ventured slightly into the basketball side. I get the basic concepts and am familiar with the more well-known stats, but IDK, some combination of it not hooking me or winning me over.
DRose, for example, strikes me as a phenom. But the advanced stats knock him down quite a bit, and I do understand why. That said, I can’t harmonize what I read from the stats and what I see on the TV. Baseball sabermetrics is alive to me. I see that hitters who walk often and hit for power are the most valuable. I see pitchers that strike out many and walk few are the best. I see that a good defense gets attributed to good pitching, etc. I know they are my lying eyes, but I don’t see Derrick Rose being the 7-10th best player in the league.
But, given my outlook on baseball stats and science and math in general, I do realize that there are people that know way more than me, so I won’t deny them that authority. So I’m basically stuck in a “throw my hands up and back away” philosophy with basketball stats.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/02/hoyer-talks-alfonso-soriano-matt-garza.html
Just like the link says, SK.
This might sound crazy but i think Vitters goes bananas this year and has a huge breakout.
new shit: http://www.obstructedview.net/projections/projecting-the-2012-cubs-1st-basemen.html