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biggentleben

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Everything posted by biggentleben

  1. biggentleben
    Not exactly. A huge portion of how perception sits has to do with modern information saturation. The internet and "easy" access to tons of information has allowed even the most casual of fans to see a 16 year-old Bryce Harper video on multiple formats whereas even the most devoted of fans, like myself, could not find a video of Alex Rodriguez doing anything nor Peyton Manning. Andrew Luck certainly wasn't regarded as a "prodigy" as he wasn't even considered the unanimous #1 pick in his own draft year (for that matter, neither was Peyton). Harper has been labeled with generational talent at hitting a baseball since he was barely a teenager, and he was hitting home runs in the major leagues when he was a teenager. Yes, he sports an attitude, but much of that attitude is media-driven and frequently off base as well. I found Bryce incredibly engaging and one of the hardest working players on the field in the multiple games I saw of his last summer. Heck, he's the best player for a division rival of my favorite team, and I find myself defending him more often than not because I'm blown away by how 5-10 minute snippets of Harper are what people take away as who he is as a person. God forbid anyone view my life similarly.
  2. biggentleben
    I do appreciate this aspect of baseball. My nephew loves Kurt Suzuki, but before that, he loved Joe Mauer. He doesn't necessarily love players, he loves the position of catcher and the way it's used in the game. Baseball as a game is a great game, and I cannot wait to have children of my own to introduce them to the great game as well. Heck, my wife has found my passion for the game infectious and learned to find things in the game that she really enjoys now, beyond the best food stands and amenities at each ballpark.
  3. biggentleben
    There have been 50 1.1 picks in baseball. There are probably over 50 guys right now in baseball who can top 99. I watched Jamarcus Russell throw a ball over 80 yards and he was less an athlete than Matthew LeCroy, as far as his ability to succeed as a professional. Harper was doing things with a wood bat that were legendary for professional players. He got a lot of hype starting at a very young age, and I think that media attention has turned a lot of people off of him, no matter how his personality was - good or bad, much like LeBron James has a similar cloud, though he's very possibly the opposite end personality-wise of Harper, but he was hyped from about age 13, and there gets to be a level of fan dissent just because of over-saturation.
  4. biggentleben
    If he never had 2015, he'd be a prodigy. Before he was 16, he hit a ball completely out of a AAA park with a wood bat. No one had e ever done that before. When he was still 13-14, he hit a home run in a game that landed on a car outside the park, with estimates on the distance between 480-500 feet! Most of us at 14 are figuring out which acne cream to use. He was using wood bats to hit balls distances reserved for guys like Mickey Mantle. That's the textbook definition of s prodigy, even if he never makes the majors.
  5. biggentleben
    Good day for me to reflect... I actually took a blind date to my senior prom. I went to 5 proms in my high school career, but my own senior prom, my date ended up backing out last moment due to an issue her new boyfriend had with her going with me as a friend. One of my good friends had a girl friend who was going to be unable to attend her own senior prom, so the connection was made. It was a good time. I'm quite proud of my own handyman work recently. I've recently built an access door for the hallway next to the bathroom after a leak required some of the drywall to be removed in order to get to the leak. I also have been utilizing the peg board design in the sides of my garage to organize tools, garden equipment, and even a huge ladder. Most proudly perhaps, I am doing all the safety and security work in the house to prepare for our "inspection" to become foster parents - hanging child safety doors, putting on safety locks to the hot tub, putting up a protective gate around the fire place, etc. Anyone knowing me would know this is certainly not my cup of tea, so it's been a learning experience and one I've taken a lot of pride in actually not screwing up TOO badly!
  6. biggentleben
    We're still working on the mass page that will have all my reports in one locale, but here's one example of what I've done. Full disclosure, hitting is absolutely my weaker point in evaluating a player. Give me pitchers any day! Scouting report on Rio Ruiz
  7. biggentleben
    The Astros have a bunch of depth at 1B/DH, though, hence their release of Chris Carter, so I doubt Morneau would have made any sense for them. Yankees do make some sense, as would a return to Colorado, albeit on the cheap.
  8. biggentleben
    The best ever combo was Cracklin Oat Brand with Yo-J put on top of it. Sounds nasty until you try it...
  9. biggentleben
    I just choose other things than cereal, nothing to do with time nor cleaning. I always preferred stuff I could add to when I was growing up, though, like Wheaties or Grape Nuts or Cheerios to add fruit or cinnamon or stuff to. Hence, I'm a big fan of oatmeal.
  10. biggentleben
    I like my way better...
  11. biggentleben
    And on a pro level, it's a lot of what's done. Where I struggle vs. the guy at the game is watching the entire play. I rely on Milb.tv's feed, so many times its three to five broadcast cameras on the game instead of ten times that at an average MLB game. So when a ball goes to center, I see the ball off the bat and the eventual play as the ball lands, rarely can I see things like the read off the bat from the center fielder, how the ball is fading, and how runners reacted right away to the ball in air that could show great or poor natural instincts based on that first step. Those nuances require looking intentionally at video over and over to see the few times such things make the video by chance whereas the scout at agame could maybe catch that in the one viewing. At the pro level, they have both the guy at the game and the guy watching video. We're working on a page for all "significant" minor leaguers for the site I write for which will include video, stats, and my scouting reports as they're done. Once that master page is up and publicly viewable, I'll link it so folks can take a look at what I see when I watch a game. I have a report each day coming out this week, then back to two per week until the season starts, at which point my focus turns to the action of the field. I'm coming to both Twins/Braves games in late July, and you can bet my seats will be strategically chosen. I've already got low behind home plate for Wednesday night.
  12. biggentleben
    That's where video scouting in my case gives me a good chance to really see that stuff. I can review stats and find ball placement data on hits and outs and watch how the guy responded. Showing up live for a handful of games is still random. Being able to know the days you're going to see a hitter work 30 pitches over the course of a day is a great day to see his ability to spoil pitches. Being able to use stats and game summaries to intentionally watch a guy gives you the chance to see a guy's top end and struggles both intentionally.
  13. biggentleben
    That's why I stick to at least three starts for pitchers, 5 appearances for relievers, and 6 games of video for a hitter as my minimum for a report.
  14. biggentleben
    Joey Fleek, country singer
  15. biggentleben
    To answer your question, nothing can guarantee that on one network. National television deals pre-empt MLB.tv, but they have every other game, regardless of market.
  16. biggentleben
    I guess for me a big reason why I subscribe isn't necessarily to watch the game live. I can watch archived games for days afterwards to see how a certain pitcher is doing or a certain pitcher. That would take away the benefit of anything focused on more live viewing. It also takes away issues with the blackout because I'll listen live and then watch anything I wanted to see in archive later.
  17. biggentleben
    Um, yes MLB.tv will have every game. For every team. That's separate from the local TV deal, so FSN or whomever will have their share as well. I also watch 2-3 games each weekend day around the league along with scattered major and minor league games during the week for my writing.
  18. biggentleben
    In all seriousness, the only time it's ever an issue for me is when the Twins and Braves play, but I will be at both games this year in person. So I'm not really hit too hard by blackout stuff personally.
  19. biggentleben
    Gets all the games in what way? MLB.tv has over a half dozen spring games available for every team as well as audio for every game in spring. Also, DirectTV would involve signing up for DirectTV in the first place, something I'm not at all interested in.
  20. biggentleben
    I gladly pay full price every year for a premium subscription to mlbtv and milbtv. I don't have any baseball on a channel available without a $100+ monthly cable package here, so it pays for itself before the first discounted price option of the season. By far the best sports streaming service available. Yes, the blackouts suck, but that's not on the service, that's on MLB and the MLBPA. Heck, even in a blackout, I get the choice of the radio feed, and for a hardcore baseball nut, there's nothing quite like listening to a ball game narrated to you, so that's about like being denied filet mignon only to be offered center cut sirloin.
  21. biggentleben
    Yes, I did half a lifetime ago, crazy enough. It's crazy that the eating I had to do just to maintain weight for football was what put on the first major batch of weight after eye surgeries ended my ability to even exercise at all for almost two full years.
  22. biggentleben
    Thanks! It's been work, but it's been fun to enjoy the results, but I have plenty more to go. I've gotten rid of a ton of clothes, but there were certain clothes I wanted to keep to work back into.
  23. biggentleben
    I will say that I saved certain clothes that I wanted to be able to work back into as I lost weight, and that has been fun to hit my first major level of those clothes recently...so sometimes there are things that you'd like to hold onto.
  24. biggentleben
    After I'm done throwing up due to my allergy to the smoke of most grasses and thick leaves, including marijuana, I absolutely call the police. For one, even after losing the weight, I can still easily bench press Shaq...
  25. biggentleben
    Peanut butter has been vital to my 75-pound weight loss since November (and still going). PB and carrots or celery has become my "sweet" snack of choice in that time, and it's been a big help. Love me some good peanut butter.
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