Preview - Thursday, May 26th.

[jas]

This is not the official lunch thread for today because I have volunteered to do the writing and I have not eaten lunch yet.

But I wanted to grab this space before somebody stole the thread like yesterday.

And I wanted to give you all a heads-up as to what I'll be writing about so that you can spend the next few hours researching my topic and educating yourselves in order to be the kind of intelligent, informed readership that I expect and so richly deserve.

I haven't quite decided yet but it will probably be one of the following topics:

1) My dislike of the sacrifice bunt in virtually all offensive situations.
2) My love of the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
3) Why Amsterdam is my favorite city.
4) Why don't computers play backgammon in the Joe Dweck style.

Stay tuned.

-John

[johnreardon]

Sorry, too late, I've already had my lunch. Think you lot should call this something else, because we are always going to be in advance of you. Unless you want us to delay our lunch by 5-8 hours.


Why not call it the breakfast/lunch/dinner/supper report and we all agree to only enter details at a specified time. Being as we Brits control the World's times, how about 12 GMT? ;)

BTW Chicken baguette and a bottle of lucozade

[jas]

I assume lucozade is something old people drink.

It's for gout or osteoperosis or low iron content, innit?

-John

[DanHund]

1) My dislike of the sacrifice bunt in virtually all offensive situations.
What's wrong with increasing your odds of advancing the runner?

2) My love of the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand".
Did you get to actually hold some cute and unassuming girls hand once?

3) Why Amsterdam is my favorite city.
Because of the drugs and prostitution?

4) Why don't computers play backgammon in the Joe Dweck style. Because Joe Dweck doesn't program computers.

[jas]

Are you looking for a fight, Dan?

You came to the right place. You do not increase your odds of advancing the runner with a sac bunt. What you do is increase your odds to near certainty of using one of your precious 3 outs. Making an out severely DECREASES your odds of scoring which is more important than advancing runners. Why can't people who are paid millions of dollars per year to make these decisions understand this simple fact?

Now I'm upset - see what you've done.

-John

[DanHund]

Are you looking for a fight, Dan?

You came to the right place. You do not increase your odds of advancing the runner with a sac bunt. What you do is increase your odds to near certainty of using one of your precious 3 outs. Making an out severely DECREASES your odds of scoring which is more important than advancing runners. Why can't people who are paid millions of dollars per year to make these decisions understand this simple fact?

Now I'm upset - see what you've done.

-John
Trading an out for a run is an acceptable loss. I'd take 27 runs per game. Hell, I'd take 9 runs per game, assuming that you only had an opportunity to sac. once per inning.

[Sherpa]

Veal, salad, water - rather dull today.


Bunts according to a Japanese Red Sox fan:

"The regular season hadn't started yet, it was just exhibition (A's vs Giants), but it was still a bajillion zillion times better than Japanese baseball. In Japanese baseball, the strategy is to get a man on base...then bunt. They bunt with no outs, one out, two outs, runners on first, second, third, the bases loaded, it doesn't matter. The pitcher bunts, the power hitter bunts, the leadoff hitter bunts, they might as well call it Buntball and just be done with it. The funny thing is, the Japanese almost sort of think that they invented baseball. A friend of mine asked why do the Japanese always bunt, and I told him "Are you kidding?! Sacrificing yourself for the good of the team, really was there any other choice?"

Beatles: :confused:

Amsterdam: Coffeeshops, with never a dull menu of the day, i.e. smokable Smorgasborg?

Last question: :confused:

[Mak]

It wasnt until the Japanese got invloved that I realised you were talking about Baseball. You see, being British, we have absolutely no idea what a 'bunt' is - sacrificial or otherwise.

And while im on the subject of Baseball.... how on earth can you guys sit for four hours or more watching such a slow goddam game? Dont you get bored? I went to see the RedSox play last time I was over. I had to leave about 2 hours into the game because I was gnawing at the hair of the woman in front of me and she was starting to get a bald spot - I was THAT bored! The best thing about baseball is the guys who walk around with the snacks. Swear to god they could stand 50 yards away from me and hit me on the head with my peanuts or popcorn or whatever other rubbish I had to eat. (I 'Had' to eat to stop me starting on the woman in fronts husands hair and he was about 6ft 6 and 500lb's!)

Baseball? ZZZzzzz......:rolleyes:

Football? Dont get me started?

Mak.

[jas]

Well, you've already got me off topic.

I had a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich on rye with dijon mustard that my wife made for me.

Dan, trading an out for a run would certainly be acceptable. But the sacrifice bunt not only does not guarantee you a run, it DECREASES your chance of scoring that run - I have numbers to prove that statement. Furthermore, it severely decreases your chances of scoring more than one run that inning.

Some managers know this. Terry Francona, Bobby Cox, LaRussa. Earl Weaver, the greatest manager ever, sure knew it.

There is no situation - nobody on, runner on 1st, runner on 1st and 2nd, and so on - where an out does not cost about MINUS 1/2 run. A real sucker's bet.

Mak, baseball or "rounders" as it is called here on BaM is quickly catching on as the sport of choice in the British Isles. You need only ask fellow BaM member John Reardon who, though Welsh, is now an internationally-recognized expert on baseball. Our Darren (IRWCustom), a funny-speaking Englishman, has attended numerous games. JP (Sherpa) holds a Brit passport, lives in Spain and is a Boston Red Sox fan.

That said, compared to me, none of these people know anything. So let me answer your questions.

Baseball can be severely boring. I leave many games early - I feel it is my right as a long-time fan for three reasons: 1) when I was young, games lasted less than 2 hours; 2) when I was young, I had an attention span; and 3) I hate traffic and crowds even more than I love baseball.

But there is something very attractive about an event where there is no clock - where time is suspended. Then you add these fantastic stadiums and beautiful grass fields, the arc of the ball travelling 400 ft through the air and the indescribable athleticism of every player and you could wax lyrical about it.

But yes, many games are deadly dull - think how an average American must think about a Premier League championship that ends in a shootout. Oh, wait, you Brits don't think the average American thinks at all, do you. ;)

-John

[DanHund]

Well, you've already got me off topic.

I had a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich on rye with dijon mustard that my wife made for me.

Dan, trading an out for a run would certainly be acceptable. But the sacrifice bunt not only does not guarantee you a run, it DECREASES your chance of scoring that run - I have numbers to prove that statement. Furthermore, it severely decreases your chances of scoring more than one run that inning.

Some managers know this. Terry Francona, Bobby Cox, LaRussa. Earl Weaver, the greatest manager ever, sure knew it.
There is no situation - nobody on, runner on 1st, runner on 1st and 2nd, and so on - where an out does not cost about MINUS 1/2 run. A real sucker's bet.

Mak, baseball or "rounders" as it is called here on BaM is quickly catching on as the sport of choice in the British Isles. You need only ask fellow BaM member John Reardon who, though Welsh, is now an internationally-recognized expert on baseball. Our Darren (IRWCustom), a funny-speaking Englishman, has attended numerous games. JP (Sherpa) holds a Brit passport, lives in Spain and is a Boston Red Sox fan.

That said, compared to me, none of these people know anything. So let me answer your questions.

Baseball can be severely boring. I leave many games early - I feel it is my right as a long-time fan for three reasons: 1) when I was young, games lasted less than 2 hours; 2) when I was young, I had an attention span; and 3) I hate traffic and crowds even more than I love baseball.

But there is something very attractive about an event where there is no clock - where time is suspended. Then you add these fantastic stadiums and beautiful grass fields, the arc of the ball travelling 400 ft through the air and the indescribable athleticism of every player and you could wax lyrical about it.

But yes, many games are deadly dull - think how an average American must think about a Premier League championship that ends in a shootout. Oh, wait, you Brits don't think the average American thinks at all, do you. ;)

-John
And yet, they still call for a bunt when the situation is right. Why is that? If anyboy plays the numbers game in baseball, its LaRussa. He still calls for the bunt when we need a run. It doesn't always work. What does? But, there's no way Tony would make a call if it didn't increase his odds in some way. That's just the way he manages.

[jas]

Dan, I think we bored everybody. Where'd they all go.

There is a time and a place for a sac bunt - even I admit that. I'll bet you never see Larussa doing it before the 8th inning or with a non-spastic pitcher.

-John

[DanHund]

Dan, I think we bored everybody. Where'd they all go.

There is a time and a place for a sac bunt - even I admit that. I'll bet you never see Larussa doing it before the 8th inning or with a non-spastic pitcher.

-John
Not bored, just confused. They want to talk, but they don't know what the topic is. You never clarified in the offical thread for today. You pointed them here, and said that you were done talking.


You're right. He would only use it in the late innings, as would most managers. But he would not linmit it to hapless pitchers(actually, the Cards have pretty decent hitting pitchers). He has had position players(even the power guys) lay down bunts. But the way you present is that it is a play that has no place in baseball. Clearly not the case.

Just like the intentional foul in basketball. I despise watching a game that is decided at the free throw line. In my mind, that is not the way the game was meant to be played. But, I can respect a coaches decision to do what they have to do to get the edge in a tight situation.

[jas]

But the way you present is that it is a play that has no place in baseball. Clearly not the case.
I'm certain I used a qualifier like "almost" or "nearly". I almost nearly always do - specifically for instances like this.

I would be very sorry to see the sac bunt disappear completely from baseball - I couldn't argue like this with people like you, first of all, and secondly it's always entertaining to watch a guy who hasn't bunted in three years try to lay one down.

If you continue to prod me, Dan, I'm going to have to actually look up some numbers on LaRussa and then we're BOTH going to be sorry.

I think in the interest of BaM Peace, we should appeal to Mak or JRear to give a Solomonic ruling on the sac bunt question.

-John

[jas]

Not bored, just confused. They want to talk, but they don't know what the topic is. You never clarified in the offical thread for today. You pointed them here, and said that you were done talking.
. I accept this as valid criticism. My performance as lunch eater and writer of the day was, I concede, disappointing and disorganized.

I blame you. You drew me into an argument on an obscure baseball practice when I really wanted to talk about bridge architecture or global malaria eradication. Now I'll have to wait for all 1,000 other members to have their day so I won't have another shot for almost 3 years.

Thanks a lot, Dan!

-John

[DanHund]

I accept this as valid criticism. My performance as lunch eater and writer of the day was, I concede, disappointing and disorganized.

I blame you. You drew me into an argument on an obscure baseball practice when I really wanted to talk about bridge architecture or global malaria eradication. Now I'll have to wait for all 1,000 other members to have their day so I won't have another shot for almost 3 years.

Thanks a lot, Dan!

-John
You started it.

[Mak]

Permission Denied in the interests of Health & Safety.

And you were averagely almost nearly correct, except for the fact that I have never seen nor met an 'Average' American. Most are distinctly larger than average and work on the assumption that, being so large, they have no valid need to 'think' as other people can do this for them. The latest craze to sweep Las Vegas? A personal 'chewer' - some one employed to perform the service of chewing a persons food on their behalf, passing the masticated pulp back to its rightful owner for swallowing. It really is only a matter of time before this catches on in a big way. I personally am considering starting a 'mobile' or drive thru version of this over here in the UK. My only concern being that the government will levy a new 'mastication' tax which will sap my profits. Still, I do know several particularly attractive young ladies who know how to chew very well and are looking to earn a little more cash on top of their night jobs.

Americans? Average?... In the interests of international BaM relations I reserve judgement to a later date.
:)
Mak.