dearth of baseball.  making dark days unnecessarily long.

The good news is that this is the time of year players start migrating down to Tampa.  I think they’re allowed to work out accross the street from the Yankees’s training complex, literally.  So pretty soon we’ll be hearing about how ARod looks slimmed down, extra muscle Cano has added, Swisher’s new haircut, etc.

What’s even MORE important, I think we’re getting pretty close to SG starting his, “Looking Ahead” pieces…which means we have another chance to debate projection systems, fielding statistics, and who pitches the eighth…

[2] I hope no KC fans roll through here. They won’t be happy to see people bitching about a team projected to win 99+ games.

[3] I wonder how Royals (and to a lesser extent Pirates) fans feel about their team being the universal shorthand for “hopeless franshise.” Better to be known for something than for nothin’ at all, I guess.

They won’t be happy to see people bitching about a team projected to win 99+ games.
Those poor fools, they don’t know what life is.

[4]  The Pirates and Royals have been run particularly horribly for about 10-15 years now, it’s true.  But I’d rather have the history of either franchise to think on than that of, say, the White Sox, who have been futile for most of the last 100 years.  But I’m an historian and we work in strange ways.

“an historian”

The article annoys me, esp. assuming you aspirate the “h” - you did that intentionally, didn’t you?

[7] I rarely post intentionally to annoy you, Rilke.

I once aspired to be an historian

I once aspired to annoy Rilke.
But the moment passed.

[6] At some point the history becomes far enough back that the White Sox recent success necessarily must overweigh it.  Alternatively, the actual “history” of the White Sox is very unusual, albeit for generally unfortunate reasons.  I might take the Pirates history over them but the Royals?  No chance.

Say it ain’t so Mark

[11] I’m not really arguing anything here, personal preference being what it is, but it’s worth noting that the Royals were the model of a successful expansion franchise for the first half of their history.

Honest question:  why does anyone care at this point whether McGwire admits to and apologizes for using steroids? 

I think I have read that this is what it would take for him to get HoF votes.  I don’t understand that.  He’s a better person/player now that he’s cleared up the (dubious) mystery and shown throat to the world?

“shown throat”

?

“Shown throat”

Like an animal, e.g. a dog, admitting they are beaten by presenting an undefended vital.

“Say it ain’t so Mark”

“I was not in a position [to come clean] five years ago”

What the heck does that mean?  He has to write, “I wasn’t mature and self-respecting enough to come clean five years ago”.

I hope he gets into HOF.

I happened to live in America for the summer of 98 and it was a magic summer. HOF would be a joke without him.

Not sure what effect if any this has on his chances.

“I was not in a position [to come clean] five years ago”

Maybe he had some kind of endorsement he didn’t want to lose.  Or maybe his charity was trying to raise money and he didn’t want the admission to get in the way.  Or maybe he felt his son was too young to deal with it.  I mean he’s an idiot, but I can imagine reasons why he might have continued to keep it a secret.

What the heck does that mean?

I suppose it could, somehow, maybe mean that he was worried that he would possibly incriminate someone else by coming out and saying he did steroids—maybe LaRussa, or the Cardinals, or his Dominican cousin, or Roger Clemens 17 year old girlfriend, or whatever.

Or it could mean that he or his lawyer had spoken to the feds and determined that anything he said could get him in really big trouble and charged with actual crimes somehow, and once he was being charged with obstruction and possibly perjury then his lawyer really told him to shut up until he had worked out something with the feds.

But yeah, it’s probably bullshit.

“I was not in a position [to come clean] five years ago”

yeah, that sounds like a polite way to say that there are fewer (media) consequences to coming clean now.  Steroids were still a big deal five years ago. Imagine if A-rod’s name was leaked then..

“I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come,” Popeye said. “It’s time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh.”

He became the second major cartoon star in less than a year to admit using spinach, following the New York Yankees’ Alex Roadrunner last February.

Others have been tainted but have denied knowingly using vegetables, including the Tasmanian Devil, Yosemite Sam, Mighty Mouse and David Ortiz.

more here.

The only guy I know is clean is bugs.

The only hall I care about is the small hall they should have had instead of this one.

[18] Oh Hibernian please… You are killing me.
Don’t disgrace our race, dude.
See 23.

I was not in a position [to come clean] five years ago

Statute of limitations ?

“Hibernian please”

I don’t know what you do for a living, but if it is not writing humorous things for money you are in the wrong business.

“Hibernian please”

Ok, what linguistic milieu is this from for the out-of-touchers?

Statute of limitations ?

From what I heard on the radio this morning that was it.  MacGwire’s attorny tried to get him immunity but the AG said no, so recommened MacGwire say nothing.  Apparently, the statute expired 4 years ago so the question was, “why wait until now”, but…

I don’t understand that.  He’s a better person/player now that he’s cleared up the (dubious) mystery and shown throat to the world?

Well Americans are big on forgiveness.  People are more willing to forgive and forget those who admit to wrong-doing and show contrition.  We see that everywhere, including the legal system; an expert I am not but pretty sure (most cases) you get a lighter sentence if you plead guilty.

“I was not in a position [to come clean] five years ago”

What the heck does that mean?

I’m pretty sure that it means he was under oath without an offer of immunity.

And I prefer “an historic” and don’t know why rilke finds it annyoing.  It may seem affected (it may be affected), but “a historic” sounds clanky to my ear.  It also sounds like a single word that means something else.

Ok, what linguistic milieu is this from for the out-of-touchers?

Hibernia is the latin for Ireland. “____ please” is a little more contemporary..

speaking of which, I probably switched from “a historic” to “an historic” after taking latin. I would probably now use either one in conversation and “an historic” in text.

Not exactly what everyone was thinking for “RH hitting OF”, but according to Lohud Yankees have picked up Reid Gorecki on a minor-league deal.  Probably for some depth in AAA, as the only returning (regular) OF from last year in SWB is Colin Curtis, and I don’t think anyone in AA distinguished themselves last year.

[32] + Gorecki, - Duncan, right? From what I read, he looks like he’s less with the bat and a little more with the glove.

Man, I was just thinking about how awesome it is that we signed Nick Johnson.

Nick Johnson, huh?

I agree with MC about clunkiness, but:

link:

You should use “an” before a word beginning with an “H” only if the “H” is not pronounced: “an honest effort”; it’s properly “a historic event” though many sophisticated speakers somehow prefer the sound of “an historic,” so that version is not likely to get you into any real trouble.

link

...Still, most guides prefer a before any h that’s sounded: “a historic occasion,” “a hysterical joke,” “a habitual offender” — but “an honor” and “an hour” because those h’s aren’t sounded. [Entry revised 21 April 2006; revised again 10 December 2006.]

[33] Yeah, Duncan signed with Cleveland.  Sounds accurate.

Basically, Yankees lost Duncan, Jackson, and John Rodriguez from the guys who played the most OF in SWB last year (those guys were leaders in PA, not sure about OF innings).  I think the only player who put in innings last year in the OF left in SWB is Curtis, unless Pena starts in AAA and we all know how much he played the OF.  Only AA OF that looks like he may even have a future at AAA is Austin Krum, and he hasn’t proved that he can hit AA pitching yet.  So Yanks are stocking AAA with minor-league FA.

“Americans are big on forgiveness”.  Yeah, no kidding, but that doesn’t explain why. 

I believe the lesser sentence for pleading not guilty has much to do with sparing the state the burden of proof.

[37]  I guess I was answering the (implied) question of, “why this will get him more HOF votes”.  And yes, I think there are some voters who believe that he came clean and now it’s okay to vote for him.  The psychology behind it, I’m not going to tackle.

For the legal stuff…I guess there’s a difference between a plea bargain (which even if you say you are guilty your defense lawyer should try to get) where the DA agrees to a lesser charge or a lighter sentencing recommendation, as opposed to someone who pleads guilty w/o a bargain.  E.g. judge is more likely to go light if you plead guilty and show remorse.  But that’s just my limited impression, not backed up by any data.

See “aspirated” above re “an historian”, but my original comment was mostly a joke.