ashbury

I've been to Cooperstown twice this year, somewhat by chance. I have never been there in summer, though, and I'm told the crowds really do change the nature of this otherwise small town atmosphere. Parking near the HoF museum itself is nearly non-existent, so be prepared to park in one of the satellite lots at the edge of town and ride the shuttle in. (Unless you are staying at one of the hotels in town, but I think they don't let you stay parked past checkout time in their lots.) Those in your party who deeply love baseball will be able to spend the entire day in the museum and not get bored. Depending on your interest, stop inside the HoF Library and chat with the staff there - you could pick up various tidbits if you have any bent toward research and history, however loosely construed. Those who need a change of pace can wander down Main Street after an hour or two in the museum, though most of the shops are baseball themed so those folks may still feel a bit hemmed in. I like the used bookstore on Main Street, Willis Monie Books - they do have an excellent baseball section but there is plenty more in that store for other readers too. Once you wander a couple of blocks south from Main Street, it becomes more like the small town it really is, and maybe will be interesting just for that. There's a surprisingly big regional hospital in that direction, though I doubt it's much of a tourist highlight. The Susquehanna River starts at the southern tip of Lake Otsego, just east of downtown, and I recall statues and other memorabilia regarding the Revolutionary War - a patriot general intentionally breached the dam that used to be there. The lake itself is a vacationer's destination in its own right, so one alternative would be for the baseball junkies to spend the day at the museum and the others drive north a few miles on the east side of the lake to Glimmerglass State Park . On the west side of the lake is the Glimmerglass Opera, which is supposedly good although opera's not my thing, if you're looking for an evening activity. The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown is a grand old place harkening back to the Gilded Age and might be a worthwhile few minutes of looking around. Miniature golf seems to be a very big thing in the area, in season, due no doubt to the number of families passing through. My guess is that getting meals in the area will be time-consuming for you due to the crowds. We had a very good meal at Council Rock Brewery back in May, except we sat through a 90 minute wait because the staff failed to mention they had a large party in the back and the kitchen couldn't keep up. If it's like that in the shoulder season, I suspect you'll find that kind of treatment everywhere - just plan to roll with the punches and consider it part of the local color. But the HoF and museum itself? Just go!

Diehard's plan there is pretty close to how I would have written up a response too.

Where were your seats? I don't know if you saw my post at the tail end of last night's game thread, but my son and I got to witness Ricky Nolasco lead his team to a fun win. I am coming to appreciate Sox fans - sounds like you had a similar experience.

I didn't get a chance to post in advance, nor do I have time now for a real field report. But Ashburydavid and I attended the game last night. Outstanding experience for us, almost independent of the final outcome being in the Twins' favor. The Fenway crowd, at least in the area that we were in near third base, is a real treat. Total positive energy, toward their own team and not against the opponent. They took the overturned out call on Vargas completely in stride, where I was expecting an eruption. And I dare anyone NOT to smile during Sweet Caroline. Most of the crowd was still in attendance at the end, 4:11 from the first pitch. I haven't been to enough Sox games, for a variety of reasons, but I need to find excuses to go more often. Great baseball town.

The level at which the league sets the QO would be well above market value unless he ups his game dramatically, wouldn't it? He's still viewed as a bat-first backup with below average defense.

Manager's first visit to the mound: "I just noticed, your shoulder hurts." Manager's second visit: "Ump, my pitcher's hurt. That's right, ain't it, Ace?"

Somebody please post a spoiler in a few days. I'll offer Star Trek spoilers in exchange.

Ergo we should have traded Plouffe. Except, there was no market for Plouffe.

There was no market for third basemen. Zilch. David Freese, a pretty equivalent player, languished on the free agent market (where you don't even have to give up a prospect to get him) and he didn't sign until March and only for $3M. To acquire Plouffe would have meant taking on his $7M salary - why would another team give up anything at all to do this, to speak nothing of it being an actual good prospect? Trading Plouffe would have accomplished nothing. And he's a non-tender candidate for this off-season, so there was no urgency to move him simply for the salary relief.

This sums it up for me, and many of the presumed pieces for the future are already in place. They should play. If they do well, the 2016 team will win some games. Maybe not at a .500 pace, but not bad enough to accomplish tanking. If they do badly, this team has worse troubles than a slightly higher draft pick next June can fix.

Perhaps Hillary wanted somebody she could put in charge of all domestic and foreign policy.

It still is, and Socialism even more so. Trump would have trounced Bernie in the general election, by bringing it down to a single issue: do you want free enterprise or socialism? He might even have ditched his Make America Great Again slogan, and go with "Trump/Pence, the choice is clear." The hard Left would vote in one direction of course, the hard Right in the other, but too many voters in the middle would get spooked by the constant hammering on that word, and Sanders would have no chance. Obama early in his first term acknowledged he was governing a center-right nation, in terms of it affecting what he would go after. And of course McCain and later Romney tried to pin the Socialist label on Obama but it didn't stick. The nature of the country has not changed since then. If Sanders wants a lasting legacy he needs to figure out how like-minded candidates can win more local elections, building an actual groundswell. Governing from the top is not a recipe for lasting change.

OK, here's one I have often wondered about: What if Chuck Klosterman had been born a horse?

Are they talking about giving us some of the oversupply of shutdown guys other teams seem to have?

I just had an idea how to inflate the trade value of prospects. Twins, contact me directly, with regard to your present GM opening.

It's what Sabrmetricians DO. / I am not a very good one

You get better by getting rid of the guys who don't perform, and bringing in guys you hope will. I'd caution that it can be at best two steps forward, one step back, due to Small Sample Size that even a half-season represents. Some of the guys who failed to perform will end up having decent second halves and give you some regret, and some of the guys you keep will mysteriously stop performing and give you different regret. Nothing wrong with that. I'm just cautioning against taking the kind of calculation you performed too seriously as a measure of reality going forward.

You're right. I left out "Hands Down".

FTFY.

That's the only kind Chief ever invites me to.

Yese.

Tastes like water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COiIC3A0ROM Great green intro R&B.

You really know how to make me feel old. This is some kind of accomplishment??? Tell the producers to just come over to my house; they can start with my sock drawer.

People. You need to learn how to pull off a proper Rickroll.