Random Baseball Musings

[imb]

those franklin batting gloves are the best. i remember mowing yards so i could save up for a pair of black on blacks that i wore as a third grader despite our unis being grey, green and orange.

[jersey cubs fan]

How can any cubs fan not immediately recognize that [expletive]?

 

Because he looks like warmed over death and I haven't seen a picture of him in a decade.

 

You didn't see any photos of him during his Gordon Gecko rise to fame and fortune then fall from grace?

[Sammy Sofa]

How can any cubs fan not immediately recognize that [expletive]?

 

Because he looks like warmed over death and I haven't seen a picture of him in a decade.

 

You didn't see any photos of him during his Gordon Gecko rise to fame and fortune then fall from grace?

 

I didn't even know he was in jail until this. What a turd.

[Guest]

Dempster plunked A-Rod... caused some chaos

 

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9580007

 

Also... why are teams still pitching to Miguel Cabrera? He boosted his OPS 9 points today. He's sitting a 1.141 for the season. His OPS+ going into today's game was 203... It's probably higher now after a 2/3 day with a 3 run homer and a walk. He's otherworldly right now

 

 

He was suspended today for 5 games, and Girardi is complaining that is not enough.

 

I agree, anytime its you vs A Rod, and you somehow manage to become the biggest douche in the matchup, it should be minimum 10 games.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

You didn't see any photos of him during his Gordon Gecko rise to fame and fortune then fall from grace?

 

Didn't he like randomly pick some stocks in the middle of a bull market and the resulting gains convinced him (and others) that he was some sort of capitalist guru?

[SouthSideRyan]

You didn't see any photos of him during his Gordon Gecko rise to fame and fortune then fall from grace?

 

Didn't he like randomly pick some stocks in the middle of a bull market and the resulting gains convinced him (and others) that he was some sort of capitalist guru?

 

Others include Jim Cramer. My recollection was that he subscribed to some analyst's commentary, and just used his picks as his own.

[Sammys Boombox]

Does anybody else have the goal of reaching each stadium before they die? Anybody have some decent progress to this point?

 

This week I'm going to ball games at my 18th (Angels), 19th (Padres) and 20th (Dodgers) MLB stadiums. (21 if you count both Busch Stadiums.) I only count parks where I've actually been to a game, but here are the 10 I am missing:

 

Seattle

Oakland*

Texas

Chicago AL*

Toronto

Boston

Milwaukee*

Atlanta*

Washington*

New York NL

 

I've seen and/or been inside the stadiums with *, but the Nationals was RFK.

 

Yankee Stadium is unbelievable. Pittsburgh has the BFIB based on my limited experience of a handful of games there and their spring training facility. Chase Field, Tropicana Field and Marlins Park all tie for the absolute worst for differing reasons.

 

Colorado and SF have the best overall aesthetics. Houston is just weird. Can't decide if it's a mall or a ballpark. I somehow went to a game in Minnesota when it was 100F. Baltimore and Philadelphia have crappy fans. Comerica is HUGE! St Louis and Philadelphia are strikingly similar.

[jersey cubs fan]

You didn't see any photos of him during his Gordon Gecko rise to fame and fortune then fall from grace?

 

Didn't he like randomly pick some stocks in the middle of a bull market and the resulting gains convinced him (and others) that he was some sort of capitalist guru?

 

Others include Jim Cramer. My recollection was that he subscribed to some analyst's commentary, and just used his picks as his own.

 

http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2009/07/15/dykstra_another_too-good-to-be-true_story_97309.html

 

Dykstra advised almost exclusively buying deep-in-the-money call options which give a holder the right to purchase a certain number of shares of stock at a certain price (the strike price) by a certain date (set forth in the options contract). The strike price of a deep-in-the-money option is well below that of the actual price of the stock, which is why it's called in-the-money. Since these options contracts sell for considerably less than the actual price of a share of the stock, Dykstra promoted this strategy as a way for small investors (presumably his audience) to "control" significant blocks of stock and limit their risk. Dykstra advocated exercising these options quickly, on small moves upward in the stock, often booking as little as $1,000 profits on a position. His strategy was to build up lots of little wins.

 

The problem is that Dykstra was minimizing to his readers the downside. It is very possible to lose one's entire investment in these options if a stock sinks quickly and deeply, sending the value of the option to zero. And so, for instance, even though by following Lenny's advice you might have put down only $6,000 to ‘control' $20,000 worth of shares, you could lose your entire $6,000 investment, especially in the volatile market of the last year. As Michael Comeau, a former researcher at TheStreet.com and now a financial blogger, wrote of Dykstra's strategy: "A portfolio of DITM [deep-in-the-money] calls is nothing but a leveraged bet on the market, even if you only select the most conservative, well-managed companies. If the market goes down 30%, you're broke. If it goes up 30%, you're rich."

 

Back in April Comeau predicted that Dykstra would file for bankruptcy because of the long market slide and because, "I've never met a rich person that tried so hard to look rich." And indeed, Dykstra's bankruptcy filing suggests that most of his outsized lifestyle was financed by debt, not big market profits. He declared just $50,000 in assets while claims against him amount to more than $30million. He's lost his $18.5 million home to foreclosure and had his Gulfstream jet taken back for failing to pay some $228,000 for remodelings. In an article in GQ, a former Players Club employee claimed Dykstra used his credit card number to wrack up some $14,000 in charges to rent a private plane after Dykstra's financial woes started. He similarly stiffed his mother for $23,000 after using her card.

 

He's also left a string of unpaid bills for his business excursions. Doubledown is asking for $350,000, while a Minneapolis design firm says it's owed $250,000. He owes two law firms nearly $2 million (not a great move if you are filing for bankruptcy), while a California doctor, Festus Dada, claims Nails owes him $500,000 because he tried to change the terms of a deal to sell Dada one of his California properties then, when Dada balked, Dykstra kept the half million down payment and walked away.

[Cubswin11]

According to baseball reference he made $36.5 million in salary in his baseball career. So even after tax, comissions, etc. he should have netted somewhere around $18-22 million. What a degenerate, that's more than enough to ride off into the sunset and never be heard of again or get into a much safer industry to continue making money.

 

Even if he would have taken $5-10 million of his total earnings and invested it safely/conservately he could have been making six figures a year on interest alone.

[jersey cubs fan]

According to baseball reference he made $36.5 million in salary in his baseball career. So even after tax, comissions, etc. he should have netted somewhere around $18-22 million. What a degenerate, that's more than enough to ride off into the sunset and never be heard of again or get into a much safer industry to continue making money.

 

Even if he would have taken $5-10 million of his total earnings and invested it safely/conservately he could have been making six figures a year on interest alone.

 

While that sort of comfortable ride into the sunset is what could/should happen, it almost never does with these guys. They are largely uneducated young guys who want to live the high life. And even their investments often go to poop.

 

Behind Dykstra's notoriety was a good story, and if there is one thing that some people love more than the hard work of building a portfolio and watching it work over the years, it is a good story. Dykstra claimed that after an investment adviser lost a hunk of his money he educated himself in the markets and began investing on his own--making a bundle.

[OleMissCub]

ICHIRO, 4,000 hits. Stud.

[Careless]

According to baseball reference he made $36.5 million in salary in his baseball career. So even after tax, comissions, etc. he should have netted somewhere around $18-22 million. What a degenerate, that's more than enough to ride off into the sunset and never be heard of again or get into a much safer industry to continue making money.

 

Even if he would have taken $5-10 million of his total earnings and invested it safely/conservately he could have been making six figures a year on interest alone.

So you're saying he should have been Antoine Walker's financial advisor

[TruffleShuffle]

According to baseball reference he made $36.5 million in salary in his baseball career. So even after tax, comissions, etc. he should have netted somewhere around $18-22 million. What a degenerate, that's more than enough to ride off into the sunset and never be heard of again or get into a much safer industry to continue making money.

 

$18-22 million isn't even enough to start up a failed video game company!

[Hairyducked Idiot]

ICHIRO, 4,000 hits. Stud.

 

Does that include his high school totals? Probably better pad those in, too.

[TruffleShuffle]

ICHIRO, 4,000 hits. Stud.

 

Does that include his high school totals? Probably better pad those in, too.

 

it's a pretty easy argument that he'd actually have more than 4,000 hits if he'd played in the US instead of japan from age 19.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

ICHIRO, 4,000 hits. Stud.

 

Does that include his high school totals? Probably better pad those in, too.

 

it's a pretty easy argument that he'd actually have more than 4,000 hits if he'd played in the US instead of japan from age 19.

 

Paging abuck

[Have a seat, Neifi]

Found this interesting (from Keith Law's chat this afternoon (Wednesday, 8/21)):

 

Oscar (Santo Domingo)

 

I think that underneath insinuation that Albert is older than 33 when you say "at least" is not fair. Maybe Trout is older too or on HGH? Putting a cloud on someone that has done great things without proof is putting a cloud on the game IMO. Or just plain racist (after all he is dominican!)

Klaw (2:13 PM)

 

Or maybe it's based on industry rumors I've been hearing for a decade, including from people who at least claimed to have heard it from Albert or his wife. But hey, if believing I'm racist helps you feel better about ignoring the likelihood that Albert isn't 33, go for it.

[TruffleShuffle]

that was a pretty pathetic comment by oscar. like it or not, a lot of latin american players have been busted for lying about their ages, and the rumor has always been there with pujols. i can't think of a single american-born player who was found to be lying about his age.

[TruffleShuffle]

ICHIRO, 4,000 hits. Stud.

 

Does that include his high school totals? Probably better pad those in, too.

 

it's a pretty easy argument that he'd actually have more than 4,000 hits if he'd played in the US instead of japan from age 19.

 

Paging abuck

 

page abuck all you want. he averaged 227 hits per year from age 27-33 in major league baseball. if you extrapolate that rate to his age 20-26 seasons in japan, he'd be somewhere around 4,350. they play a month less baseball per season in japan, which matters a lot.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

I'm not denying that it's possible. I'm just not sure why I should care that it's possible.

[TruffleShuffle]

because theoretically he might have accumulated more hits than any player in the 130 year history of major league baseball? that's way more interesting than most of the boring stuff you post about.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Put his Japan numbers through the MLE first.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

because theoretically he might have accumulated more hits than any player in the 130 year history of major league baseball? that's way more interesting than most of the boring stuff you post about.

 

I guess that is a little interesting, but I'm still not interested in pretending he reached "4,000 hits!" tonight.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Put his Japan numbers through the MLE first.

 

Back when he was about to come over, we did. It was interesting.

[Careless]

http://mrphilroth.com/mlbpayrolls/ past and future payrolls.