Welcome to the Weekend Gene Pool, soon to be the subject of a Ken Burns documentary titled “When Substacks Go Bad.” As always, we’re seeking your input today on an issue we will raise, and in return we solemnly agree to entertain you.
You want baseball-speak. How about, "You need the cheese for the kitchen and the yacker for the kudos."*
*Cheese is a fastball. Throw that in the kitchen - up and in - and it keeps a guy off the plate. A yacker is a curve. Sometimes when a guy swings and misses, he's so off balance that he kinda bows toward the mound. Thus, the kudos. Thank HOF pitcher Dennis "Eck" Eckersley for the deathless prose.
When Eck was doing color for the Red Sox, we had our "Eckisms" bingo cards ready. It's the only thing that made him tolerable -- unlike everyone else who heard him, we couldn't stand his shtick.
Same here. I didn't take either of the polls, as I have not the first clue (although I wonder if there are nine NBA players over seven feet). Also, I do not buy coffee at Starbucks (or anywhere else); I drink at home. Consequently, comparisons to prices of expensive fancy coffee do not move me.
I would like to see the games played and I think perhaps the tall basketball player might score more. But some shorter players can nail three-point shots. Let the games begin!
Also I think catchers can hit better than pitchers. And score more runs.
We do have fads in food and right now it is to avoid processed food. But another fad has been to avoid fat, while fat has the flavors we like. I like brisket and prime rib roast for its fat. Tasty and right now I have no weight problems. I can eat as much as I want. Fat is not a problem if we do not eat too much.
Good beef is called "marbled" when the fat and lean are mixed together. That is also why we make ground beef. The fat is mixed in. Marbled steak (roasts) and ground beef should have a texture that does not bother you. However, it is all a matter of personal preference. We all pick what we like to eat.
It's not 6-foot-plus, its 6'2" and under. It's approximately the same number of players as those 7'+. There's a giant excluded middle of players from 6'3" to 6'11" who are not available to either team in this situation.
Yes -- pitchers can hit marginal pitching better than catchers can pitch against marginal hitting. Also--while the populations are approximately the same size on the basketball side, there are a lot more pitchers to choose from (five starters and a top reliever or two per team) than there are catchers (one starter per team).
I picked the catchers to win by alot. Then I recalled Shohei Ohtani (formally Angels, now Dodgers). Doh! Even Max Scherzer hit a home run in 2017 with 2 men on base against the Marlins. That said, all of the players would have to play in positions 2-9 (pitchers) to 1, 3-9 (catchers), to which I would give advantage catchers, especially for the outfield positions.
Find yourself having a sudden insight into something today ? Could be because it's Epiphany or Three Kings Day in the US, celebrated worldwide by a number of Christian denominations of the Western traditions. The Orthodox Christian faiths celebrate it on J/19. So, if you have any leftover gold, frankincense and myrrh, a good day to pass it on to a small child of your acquaintance.
I assume the answers (or at least your answers) to the baseball and basketball team questions are hidden in plain sight, requiring no special knowledge of either sport. As you will soon note from my responses, I have ignored that possibility, deciding instead to think outside the box or paint.
I put the basketball question to my beloved spouse, who is a basketball scout. (I had already selected "Team A, by a little," after determining that Steph Curry is 6'2) He agreed about Team A & said it also might be by a lot. Since he's also a Dodgers fan, he said that answer would be catchers, by a lot. I await the results with interest.
This is from Maureen Dowd’s opinion column about Donald Trump:
He put up a video on Truth Social on Friday touting the idea that God created him as a caretaker and “shepherd to mankind.” (It also chided Melania, showing her tripping and acting as if all she had to do was lunch with friends.) A narrator intones: “God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, fix this country, work all day, fight the Marxists, eat supper, then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight at a meeting of the heads of state,’” topping off a hard week with Sunday church. “So God made Trump.” It was bound to happen: Trump playing divine victim, to pass himself off as Christlike or even hard-working. Both are equally untrue.
Need a ruling on the baseball "puzzle." Are we to assume the term "pitcher" refers to the official position designation or, anyone who throws from the mound ?
I neither know nor care about basketball or baseball and with all due respect (...) hope you won't do this sort of thing too often.
Once in a year! Anyway, attend to item two. That should be in your wheelhouse. And non sports.
Until recently I didn't know I had a wheelhouse. When did this apparently nautical expression start appearing all over the place?
Anyway: okay, I'll try.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wheelhouse
You're right. It defines, but does not explain, the sports application.
You want baseball-speak. How about, "You need the cheese for the kitchen and the yacker for the kudos."*
*Cheese is a fastball. Throw that in the kitchen - up and in - and it keeps a guy off the plate. A yacker is a curve. Sometimes when a guy swings and misses, he's so off balance that he kinda bows toward the mound. Thus, the kudos. Thank HOF pitcher Dennis "Eck" Eckersley for the deathless prose.
When Eck was doing color for the Red Sox, we had our "Eckisms" bingo cards ready. It's the only thing that made him tolerable -- unlike everyone else who heard him, we couldn't stand his shtick.
Same here. I didn't take either of the polls, as I have not the first clue (although I wonder if there are nine NBA players over seven feet). Also, I do not buy coffee at Starbucks (or anywhere else); I drink at home. Consequently, comparisons to prices of expensive fancy coffee do not move me.
There are, I believe, more than two dozen over seven feet. However, you are already a paid subscriber so you can ignore the analogy.
I would like to see the games played and I think perhaps the tall basketball player might score more. But some shorter players can nail three-point shots. Let the games begin!
Also I think catchers can hit better than pitchers. And score more runs.
But the pitcher team can have Shohei Ohtani.
We do have fads in food and right now it is to avoid processed food. But another fad has been to avoid fat, while fat has the flavors we like. I like brisket and prime rib roast for its fat. Tasty and right now I have no weight problems. I can eat as much as I want. Fat is not a problem if we do not eat too much.
I would probably like the flavor, but never could get past the texture issue.
The possibility of fat/gristle/whatever in my mouth makes it so much easier to avoid meat -
Good beef is called "marbled" when the fat and lean are mixed together. That is also why we make ground beef. The fat is mixed in. Marbled steak (roasts) and ground beef should have a texture that does not bother you. However, it is all a matter of personal preference. We all pick what we like to eat.
A) the six-foot-plus basketball team wins because there are a lot more players to choose from.
B) the team of pitchers wins because pitching is a more necessary skill than catching.
It's not 6-foot-plus, its 6'2" and under. It's approximately the same number of players as those 7'+. There's a giant excluded middle of players from 6'3" to 6'11" who are not available to either team in this situation.
sure helps if I read! (I stand by the pitchers v. catchers assessment, though)
Yes -- pitchers can hit marginal pitching better than catchers can pitch against marginal hitting. Also--while the populations are approximately the same size on the basketball side, there are a lot more pitchers to choose from (five starters and a top reliever or two per team) than there are catchers (one starter per team).
I picked the catchers to win by alot. Then I recalled Shohei Ohtani (formally Angels, now Dodgers). Doh! Even Max Scherzer hit a home run in 2017 with 2 men on base against the Marlins. That said, all of the players would have to play in positions 2-9 (pitchers) to 1, 3-9 (catchers), to which I would give advantage catchers, especially for the outfield positions.
Find yourself having a sudden insight into something today ? Could be because it's Epiphany or Three Kings Day in the US, celebrated worldwide by a number of Christian denominations of the Western traditions. The Orthodox Christian faiths celebrate it on J/19. So, if you have any leftover gold, frankincense and myrrh, a good day to pass it on to a small child of your acquaintance.
I assume the answers (or at least your answers) to the baseball and basketball team questions are hidden in plain sight, requiring no special knowledge of either sport. As you will soon note from my responses, I have ignored that possibility, deciding instead to think outside the box or paint.
I put the basketball question to my beloved spouse, who is a basketball scout. (I had already selected "Team A, by a little," after determining that Steph Curry is 6'2) He agreed about Team A & said it also might be by a lot. Since he's also a Dodgers fan, he said that answer would be catchers, by a lot. I await the results with interest.
Have you all seen this? It looks like a parody video that the MAGAs wouldn't recognize as parody:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111703421569603715
This is from Maureen Dowd’s opinion column about Donald Trump:
He put up a video on Truth Social on Friday touting the idea that God created him as a caretaker and “shepherd to mankind.” (It also chided Melania, showing her tripping and acting as if all she had to do was lunch with friends.) A narrator intones: “God said, ‘I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, fix this country, work all day, fight the Marxists, eat supper, then go to the Oval Office and stay past midnight at a meeting of the heads of state,’” topping off a hard week with Sunday church. “So God made Trump.” It was bound to happen: Trump playing divine victim, to pass himself off as Christlike or even hard-working. Both are equally untrue.
"Donald Trump was sent by God."
"Why? Did He run out of locusts?"
See my avatar.
Excellent avatar! I had seen that meme elsewhere and thought it fit perfectly here.
I obviously loved it, too! :) Thanks!
LOL!
Apparently my computer is allergic to Truth Social and won't load the page. WHO'S a good computer? YOU are! Yes, you are!
i;m pretty bored with the starbucks compaison thing. mix it u a llittlr!
Need a ruling on the baseball "puzzle." Are we to assume the term "pitcher" refers to the official position designation or, anyone who throws from the mound ?
So instead of leaving stories in the comments, Saturday brings complaints for management! Let's all go back to the DMV!!
PS - I love this mental game and hope the joy of it will sink in to others, too.