Jack Griffin

TEST

Been a minute.  Will update soon (at least by 2013)

SIGN KAZMIR!!!!!!

Links: 6/14

Not sure what is going on with the design of this site - for some reason the theme gets all messed up when viewed with IE9. 

I’ll try a few different ones and see what happens, but considering I’ve barely scratched the surface of this thing, I should really focus on writing more and worry about the themes when more than 3 people look at this damn thing.   In the meantime, I’ll at least clean out my bookmarks and put up a few posts with random links, such as:

Awesome People Hanging Out Together - Exactly what it sounds like.  You could debate the “Awesome” part on some of the photos, but they are people nonetheless.

Hipopotam’s digitalised collection of handheld electronic games - A lot of these were well before my time, but I definitely blasted through several 4-packs of AA batteries back in the day playing these stupid shits.

THIRTY-NINE QUESTIONS FOR CHARLIE DANIELS UPON HEARING “The Devil Went
Down to Georgia” for the First Time in 25 Years.

“Electric like Dick Hyman”: 170 Beastie Boys references explained

Men’s Journal: Everything You Know About Nutrition Is Wrong

The 25 Most Terribly Awesome ESPN Baseball Head Shots - There are some serious goons in baseball.  Nice to see credit where credit’s due.

Are you also exposing your private parts to strangers on Facebook? - I laugh when I see my own friends accept a request from a BIMBOT (great term) but funny to see how several well respected media figures are just as lax with their own shit.  

Bad Education - Not much more to add other than that the student loan bubble is going to be nasty.   I’m optimistic in that unlike others I don’t think my generation is completely fucked, but it’s hard to believe there won’t be some serious pain in order to get to the other side.

Madoff’s Curveball

When We Tested Nuclear Bombs

Outstanding Baseball Analysis

In the 6th inning, with Shane Victorino on second, Brian Schneider on third, and the Mets infield drawn in, there was a sharp grounder hit to second baseman Dan Murphy. Victorino instinctively broke for third, realized it was a mistake, and doubled back toward second, prompting Murphy to fetch after him and tag him out for the second out of the inning. Schneider never moved off third base, and I can understand why: he saw Murphy running toward Victorino, which was also toward third, and when you see someone running in your direction you generally freeze or retreat to your base. But, the correct play would have been for Victorino to continue toward third once Murphy came after him, and for Schneider to break for home. Because once Victorino was caught in no-man’s land, an out was imminent, so what you want to do is make that out as difficult as possible. If Schneider broke from third, Murphy would have been forced to throw home, and three things have to happen for an out to occur: a good throw by Murphy, a clean catch by Josh Thole, and a timely tag on Schneider. Major Leaguers generally execute those simple tasks, but you want to make them have to do it because there’s always a chance of something going wrong. And if Schneider breaks for home, the Mets execute perfectly, you still have the same situation: man on third, two outs. Granted, it is very difficult to think “on your feet” (pardon the pun) this quickly, but if you can, that is the ideal way to make lemonade out of lemons.

The Emaus Era Has Come To An End

Yesterday, I read a good article at Fangraphs explaining why the Mets shouldn’t give up on Brad Emaus this early.  

I’m a firm believer in the power of sample sizes in all statistical analysis, but particularly baseball, and the conclusion of the article was spot on:

If Emaus ends his 300th PA with a .232/.311/.338 slash line or something similarly putrid, then the Mets should begin to reassess the situation by comparing the numbers to scouting reports. But not after six games. Not after twelve games. And not after a month. It’s  too easy to sacrifice potential long-term success for a win or two in the interim. The Mets need to resist that urge and bite the bullet.

While it wouldn’t be Mets Baseball if they didn’t screw this up, I didn’t expect it to happen within 24 hours.  Guess I was wrong. 

 
(Image courtesy of cbcsports.ca)

Here’s to you Braaaaaad - I hope you clear waivers and return later in the year but we all know you’ll catch on with a team like the Brewers or Reds and absolutely TORCH US in the future.   

No Inflation = Horse Shit

Just Kidding!   All you need in life are TVs, motorcycles and linens anyway. 

Best chart I’ve seen in a while on Barry Ritholtz’s The Big Picture, and that’s saying a lot.   He provides a link to a John Melloy article that points out that U.S. inflation is actually close to 10% using the pre-1980 methodology.   Funny how the way we calculate inflation changes over time to make things look better.  Just like the way we calculate unemployment.   The sad thing is these “out of date” methodologies are what we’re supposed to compare current things to.   At least baseball stats have come a long way, right?