Alio's Monday Morning To Do List: 1. Complain about not having Matsui and/or Damon? Check. 2. Complain about Nick Johnson? Check. 3. Complain about Brett Gardner? Check. 4. Search for positive comment (but make sure to follow up with a minor complaint)? Check. 5. Add random complaint of the day? Check. The Yanks went 4-2 on the road against two of the best teams in baseball (never mind the division), despite the apparent horrors of having Nick Johnson batting second and Gardner in left field. Life is good, dude. Lighten up.
Just because I've haven't done it enough today, Fuck Nick Johnson, Fuck Bubba Gardner, and Fuck Javier Vasquez. Oh, and Fuck Joe West. 4-2 is just not cutting it. We're in second place after a full week of the season. Toronto is already a game up on us and climbing. If this ship doesn't turn around soon, it's time to start thinking about a change in management of this team. Is it Jets season yet?
There are only 162 games in a season. We've already played 6 of them. If you don't see the problem here, I don't know what to tell you.
You forgot #7: Sigh loudly when people take things too seriously or refuse to even acknowledge an obvious point. Seriously, man. I've said it before, but it looks like I need to say it again: I'm not "arguing incessantly" because I think I'm right and everyone else is wrong, or because I'm trying to give people a hard time. I'm mostly doing it to try to gain some understanding in to how other people think here. I see people say one thing, I see facts say something else (and, no, it's not just stats, although it's nice to see you miss the point on that... again. Stats aren't fabrications. They directly represent what happens in the games), and I wonder, "What's up with that? Why would think that if the facts point in another direction?" My default position is not "you're wrong" in these cases. My default position is that there must be some kind of valid reason for you to believe the things you do, and I'd like to find out what it is. As I said before, if it boils down to you not liking Nick Johnson because you think he's an injury risk... or even if you just think he's ugly... I got no problem with that. Where I get confused is when people start taking points of view that are contradicted by reality, and even more confused when they (not me) are the one who argue incessantly to continue to hold said contradictory position. My preliminary conclusion on this is that most people don't like changing their opinions, regardless of what new information comes up. They'd prefer to "stick to their guns" than seek the truth. That would certainly explain the apparent anger.
Good to see you checked off a number of items on the list. Even more amusing that you just sit in a thread and wait for someone to post. I deleted that part of the post almost immediately after hitting "Submit Reply" because I didn't want to be a douche. Yet you still managed to grab it. Good for you! Dude, seriously, I'm not mad. I don't have any anger at all. As for your whole "gain understanding into how people think around here" just let it go. You really sound like a completely socially-inept scientist. We're not here to be studied by you. Why don't I like Nick Johnson? Because I'd rather have Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui in the DH slot this year. Period. I want either Damon's speed coupled with his bat, or Matsui's HR potential. I don't give a shit how many times Johnson walks. He's a DH. A DH should hit for power. Fuck Nick Johnson.
The architect of Tropicana Field should never work again. I feel bad for the Rays who have to play there. Also, the lighting in the place sucks... Cap, I posted the exact same thing you posted about Gardner 4 posts before mine. You edited out "For those parties interested" How could you post what you did, in the way you did it and not expect me or someone else (who dislikes Gardner) to post his stats when he has a shitty game? I didn't even have to wait long, it was the next day... Let the numbers play out...I watch all of the games, I don't need a statistical recap every day.
Actually, I just subscribe to certain threads. The board emails me when a reply is made in a thread I'm interested in following. Much easier way to follow the conversations. Are you sure you don't want to be a douche, though? Because it kind of seems like you do. And thanks for the insight, but I'm not really interested in your opinion of my social skills. I'm not trying to study you. I'm asking questions. I'm interested in why you hold the opinions you do. It'd be nice if you didn't take that as some kind of personal affront. It's a message board. People converse. If you want to espouse your own opinions in an insular setting, get a blog and turn off the comments. I don't see what the problem is. Here's a good example of the kind of stuff I don't understand. I don't know where you come up with these ideas about what a DH should or should not do. I'd like to know, though. But from what I've been able to gather - and please correct me if I'm wrong - you don't really know, either. It's just "common baseball wisdom" that might be right, or it might be wrong. You don't know why it works. You don't know why that's the strategy, or if it is an effective one. And you seemingly don't really have an interest in finding out. Even more surprising is that the degree of conviction you have for your opinions seems to be inversely proportional to how solidly you can back them up. Yes, I get what you were trying to do there. I even said that I understand that you were just trying to be a smart ass or funny. It was rather obvious (and, yes, I suppose, expected). You're not telling me anything new here. But as I tried to explain, your attempt at... whatever... missed the point. Baseball is a game of failure. Even the very best players have a few dozen 0/4 nights. A-Rod was 0-fer over 25 times last year, and he missed the first five weeks of the season. Carl Crawford, whom Alio drools over, went 0-fer 48 times last season. Mauer, the batting champion, was 0-fer 28 times. Before you flip out, no... I'm not comparing Gardner to Mauer. But you pointed out a game line that is very common in baseball, from the best to the worst player. The game line I posted is one that is not common if players are truly as awful as you guys seem to be claiming Gardner is. You see the difference? Here's the thing... my opinion on Gardner is not etched in stone. If he performs poorly this year, I'll think less of him as a player. But - as I've tried to explain before - from the body of work he's put up as a player so far and the skill set he possesses, I have a hard time understanding the degree of dislike for him as anything but irrational. He hasn't been great, but he hasn't been atrocious, either. Most of what I've seen points to a guy who can be league average. From your #9 hitter in the lineup, that's fine by me. No reason to call for his immediate replacement. But the bottom line is that there really isn't enough of a book on him to be so utterly convinced that he's going to be awful. You keep saying that we should let the numbers play out (and I agree!), but you also seem pretty damn sure that he's a shitty baseball player... to the point that you've said nothing will convince you otherwise. I have no idea where that kind of conviction comes from on a guy who has yet to play a full season.
You're insane Alio. You are talking about making changes to managament a WEEK into the season, the previous of which, you won the WS. The Blue Jays started out hot last year too, look where they finished up. Bottom of the shit heap. The Red Sox pitching has been on par with yours, and the hitting hasn't been there very much. Patience man. It's a week into a 28 week season.
Alio was being sarcastic. Johnson's swing looks good Alio. He is making great contact. That first line drive he hit was a double but Zobrist made a great play.
Haha. Thanks. Dude, whatever. I believe a DH should hit for power. How many don't? The position is designed for offense. Not "Oh, look! Fuckface just walked again!" I don't need OPS, OBP, or any other statistic to believe that a DH should be a designated hitter. Wow. Just...wow... At least this topic isn't an argument. Damn man. You really put me on that level? He's hitting .136. I don't give a crap how often he's lining out "hard." And he's still not going to hit a bunch of homers. That's what I want from a DH. A power bat. Nick Johnson isn't going to provide that, so fuck him.
It's cool man. :beer: Yeah. I was actually a lot more in favor of bringing back Damon than Matsui, but Matsui would have been a very good DH on this team.
