Tag: daily facepalm

Daily Facepalm: 2.10.12 – Uber-facepalm edition

Obstructed View Daily Facepalm

Self-directed facepalm

AC and berselius posted new Daily facepalm posts one minute apart from one another. So now they are merged. Those responsible have been sacked

Mish Mash

Let's face it, half the content on this blog is just stuff Mish posts, so today is a look back at Mish's contributions to the world of Obstructed View and beyond. If you'd like to talk about baseball or even the Cubs, I'm sure there are places you can go for that kind of thing.

Cubs top prospects

ESPN's Keith Law released his top 100 prospects list  ($) yesterday, and the Cubs had three players on the list (the system ranked 20th overall). Anthony Rizzo came in at 36, recent first round pick Javier Baez came in at 95 and top prospect Brett Jackson came in at 89. That one's a real head scratcher but KLaw's ranking criteria is different from most prospect listers. He sees a problem with BJax's strikeout rate, and if he doesn't figure it out he's "just" a solid-average regular. Former Cubs prospects Hak-Ju Lee and Chris Archer came in at 12 and 63, respectively. I find ranking Lee that high to be even more ridiculous than the Brett Jackson ranking, but I've never been high on Lee.

A Tale of Two (Second) Cities

Mish linked to this free story on BP about not one but two baseball teams, both of which play in Chicago, but (we hope) they're headed in very different directions.

Jed Hoyer Interview

Jed Hoyer went on ESPN 1000 yesterday. You should take everything he says with a Milton Waddams sized grain of salt, but the main headline from the interview was that he says Soriano will more than likely start the season with the Cubs. He also left open the possibility of maybe thinking about talking in the general area of an extension or similar type contract or agreement with Matt Garza.

Thread-Hijacking Discussion Mish Recently Enjoyed

If you want to know how to post images in the comments, you should follow mb's helpful instructions to Mish in yesterday's facepalm thread.

Speaking of salary dumps

The Pirates and Yankees are apparently talking a A.J. Burnett trade, and the Yankees are willing to pay at least 2/3 of his deal to do it. Much like Blake DeWitt getting cut by the Cubs, being salary dumped to potentially clear up room for 1000 year old Raul Ibanez should be a reason to consider instant retirement.

News about Apple Mish Recently Enjoyed

He enjoyed this story. He didn't actually eat an apple. Unless . . .

Is Mish's Dad Dead?

No.

Is there a Cubs game today?

No.

Mishtweeted

Image Mish Recently Enjoyed

Cool Interactive Infographic Mish Recently Enjoyed

Is there Wrigley Talk Friday today?

Check it out at 1 pm CT. Link

Video Mish Recently Enjoyed

Finally, happy birthday to Mish's favorite video evar. Can't believe Mish has been debating between kicking in the back seat and sitting in the front seat for 52 Fridays, but here we are.

Daily Facepalm 2-8-2012: Numerology

Obstructed View Daily Facepalm

Campana's Number 1!

With Fukudome now saving face in free agency, Tony Campana has claimed the number 1 spot in the jersey lottery. Still think he should be wearing 5/8, but whatevs. In other numerical reassignments, Matt Garza has changed from 17 to 22, apparently to match the regularly changing arbitration numbers that have since been rendered moot. And Jason Jaramillo will try to earn his dinner wearing Carlos Zambrano's old 38. Isn't this exciting?

Photographic Evidence of Baseball

Tim Sheridan is the Cubs sprint training P.A. announcer, and he posts regularly over at Boys of Spring. He usually gets plenty of good shots of mediocre players, and the images of spring training have already started to pour in as players show up to camp early. David DeJesus,Josh Vitters, Jeff Samardzija, Darwin Barney, and all their scrappy friends have begun working out and are, by the looks of it, in the best shape of their lives. Here's a shot of Kim DeJesus's husband:

Is There a Cubs Game Today?

Nope.

Tweettastic

Link I recently enjoyed

Not to get all political, but . . . 

Daily Facepalm 2.1.12

Garza arbitration hearing set for Friday

Matt Garza's arbitration hearing is set for Friday. The Cubs offered $7.5m and Garza asked for $12.95m. We haven't heard any rumblings about a settlement, but that doesn't mean much given the Cubs reporters' access to this front office. No word from ace Cubs reporter Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe either.

Image of the day

Comment of the Day

Read the first 56 comments of this tedious thread about reliever usage. Then read comment 57 and laugh. Then come back here and tell me not to tell you what to do.

Fireworks factory update

When are we going to get there? As soon as the Theo compensation is worked out, which could be "any day now"

Is there a Cubs game today?

No

Who owns the Cubs?

Is that like the Executive Chairman?

Daily Facepalm 1-31-12: Um . . .

Obstructed View Daily Facepalm

UPDATE: Yankees Hire Jim Hendry

According to Bruce Levine, the New York Yankees have hired Jim Hendry as special assistant to Brian Cashman. Good news, Yankees. there will always be doughnuts. 

LOOGY

The Cubs signed ex-everything left-handed reliever Trever Miller to a minor league contract, and he'll be yet another non-roster invitee to spring training. Just to give you an idea how highly coveted he is, Miller pitched for three teams last season. The Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Red Sox all celebrated Miller time last year, and let's hope the Cubs join that party. Man, 2015 can't get here fast enough.

Thread-hijacking Topic I Recently Enjoyed

If you missed it in the comments yesterday, Fangy inquired about the polymerization process in cast-iron cookery, sparking an enthralling conversation amongst the seasoned veterans of ferrous food prep. While MO argued that intimate relations with flaxseed oil weren't worth the cost and RC's food storage methods seemed both anal and unorthodox, the discussion was pretty informative about cleaning and seasoning and the science involved in the cooking process. Among the gems is Fangy's conclusion that the answer to their question is as elusive as a definitive defensive metric: 

Eh, I don’t think the catalyst is that important, actually. The catalysts they used in the experiment were cobalt, zirconium, and calcium, and they were mixed into the oil before applying it to steel. When they use the catalysts, the polymerization starts at like 90C. I think that stuff would be in hardware-grade linseed oil but not food-safe flaxseed oil.

I do get the impression that nobody out there really understands the seasoning process completely, so everybody is just muddling through with whatever their granny used. There’s plenty of “success” stories, but they all contradict each other, and nobody seems to be too confident about the science behind it, on the web at least.

Cool story, bros.

Is There a Cubs Game Today?

No.

Someone Please Make This

I don't always do the Super Bowl party thing. I'd really rather watch it at home with my family than with a ton of people who may or may not be interested in football or commercials or pretending to listen to me talk about the Cubs. But if someone made this, I'd probably be there:

A stadium made of cold cuts

DFP 1-12-30: He Saw It All

Obstructed View Daily Facepalm

In Peace

One of the last living witnesses to the Cubs dynasty bids us farewell

Henry Widegren was the rarest of Cubs fans. A lot of people can say they’re the biggest fan or the craziest fan or the fan least likely to succeed (I’m not sure why people would say such things, but they can without any real basis for dispute), but Henry could boast of something few people alive can compare with: he lived to see the Cubs win the World Series. Granted, he wasn’t even a year old, but he was alive when it happened. Sadly, the list of living witnesses to the Cubs’ championship years has decreased by one. Henry passed away at the age of 104. It seems like he lived a long and happy life. But today’s facepalm has begun as depressing as hell. Who’s ready for baseball?

Bid Selif

I know the recent quotes from Bud Selig about the Cubs/Red Sox compensation are old news, but this Trib article is a must read simply for the typos. Great galloping Gallardos, there’s some good stuff in there.

Is There a Cubs Game Today?

No.

Tweetastic

I’m not even making fun of this tweet. I admire the ludicrous optimism. If one must be optimistic, one should take it to the extreme.

Reader Photo of the Day

Thanks to Josh for posting photos of his recent meetup with MO, SK, Ryno, RC, and Mish.

Josh and the guys chillin' after the big "game"

Daily Facepalm | 1.25.12

Site news: at some point today we'll be moving from Joomla to WordPress. The site should not be down too long, but it will be down at some point. Once the site transfer is complete, registered users will have to click the lost password link in order to retrieve their password. You'll notice the change.

International news

Yoenis Cespides is now an officially official resident of the Dominican Republic, clearing the biggest hurdle required for a MLB team to sign him.

Recent sketch I enjoyed

Courtesy of commenter Suburban Kid yesterday

When I was a child sequels were only inferior cynical cash-ins. I know not your emotional franchise investment. I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and run off into the hills, or wherever.. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine, I wonder: "Did little demons get inside and type it?" I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know – when a man like my client slips and falls on a sidewalk in front of a public library, then he is entitled to no less than two million in compensatory damages, and two million in punitive damages. Thank you.

Batting Order hand-wringing

MLB.com's Carrie Muskat answered fan questions in her latest mailbag column. I'm hoping that she doesn't have inside information in this case, because her guess at the lineup was

  • DeJesus
  • Barney
  • Castro
  • LaHair
  • Byrd
  • Soriano
  • Soto
  • Stewart

I wonder if Dale Sveum would be fired on the spot by Thoyer if he had Barney batting second and Geo batting behind Soriano.

Facepalm of the day

Fielder to the Tigers might top Zito, Adolfo, and Ryan Howard as the worst deal in MLB. For more, check out mb's post on Fielder's projection. I've long felt that Fielder is underrated because people can't look past his weight (there's a joke to be made here), but this is ridiculous.

Is there a Cubs game today?

No.

Punctutation spotlight, take two