gunnarthor

Yeah, I think if you're going to punish guys like McGwire, Sosa etc for roiding up then the voters should also reward a guy like McGriff who (everyone believes) didn't roid up.

This country had several hundred years of no voter ID voting. The reason that voting impersonation doesn't happen is because the risk far outways the payoff. One additional vote for Romney isn't going to mean anything in a state where nearly 3m people vote. But a person who registers himself under another name faces a felony. The better way to improve Romney's turnout is to disenfranchise groups that typically vote Democratic. Democrats don't assume their supporters are lazy or irresponsible. What Democrats oppose is the idea that 200,000 people will automatically lose their right to vote and have to go to the government to regain that right. In fact, democratic voters are usually better informed on the issues. That's why, when conservatives hear about these sort of issues, they respond with insults and refuse to learn about the issue. Hence we have conservatives who think Obama was born in Kenya, that Saddam was connected to 9/11, that voter fraud exists. All of those things were pretty accurately reported but conservatives refused to believe it. Any report to the contrary - despite valid confirmation - was part of some strange liberal conspiracy.

My understanding is he won't be in the debates unless he has 15% nationwide support. So even though he's on the ballot in all 50 states and has more executive experience than Romney (more than Obama for that matter, although 8 years as gov of New Mexico probably isn't the same as 3+ years as POTUS), he'll stay way under the radar. I like him on some issues and think he's nuts on others. I might throw my vote to him but he does have some problems. I met him in Florida in January. Nice enough guy. Kinda intense.

Didn't get my absentee ballot in the mail yet. It would be racist and unfair if I had to do something to get one. Wow, that's just sad.

Voter ID won't have any impact on felon voting. (I think we had something like 200 felon votes out of over 2.9m votes cast in MN so clearly we must create a new law that disenfranchises 200,000 MN and costs tax payers millions of dollars and does nothing to solve that tiny problem). You can vote from your living room with an absentee ballot, although that will also be changed dramatically under voter ID.

I'm not going to say you're wrong but I really dislike the cumulative argument for HOFers. I'd prefer it if people looked at a player's seasons instead of trying to compile a specific number in whatever stat you like. Oliva played in parts of 15 seasons but in 3 of those, he played less than 10 game. His 8 year peak was better than any 8 year run that Rice or Evans managed. He finished in the top 10 in RC 6x, WPA 5x, WAR 4x, OPS+ 6x. Rice (ignoring his first and last year) in 14 seasons Rice finished in the top 10 in RC 6x, WPA 3x, WAR 2x, OPS+ 5x. In 19 seasons, Evans (really underrated player) finished top 10 in RC 7x, WPA 6x, WAR 2x, OPS+ 5x. It's also a bit of a stretch to say those three played in the same era. Oliva's last great year was 71. Evans and Rice didn't really start having their peaks until the late 70s to mid 80s. The lg OPS for both of them for their career was about .740 to Oliva's .715. I think Oliva had a HOF type peak and, if he was put into the HOF, it wouldn't be an embarrassment. That said, if guys like Oliva and Evans are outside looking in, it gives a pretty good dividing line for the HOF.

I'm actually quite impressed by both football players. Good for them and remember to vote no! this November. Also, feel free to give money to groups http://www.aclu-mn.org/ and http://mnunited.org/ that are working on the equality issues.

There's a lot wrong with the voter ID plan but on a simple level, why should 200,000+ people have to go to the government to get back their fundamental right? That's sorta the opposite of small government. This election year, I'm moving about 3 weeks before election day. Under the voter ID plan, I probably wouldn't be able to vote b/c my "government issued" ID wouldn't have my correct address and ID + a utility bill wouldn't work. (Incidentally, your 36 year old isn't exercising his right not to vote, the government is prohibiting him from voting b/c he didn't fulfill a government created voting requirment. Huge difference) Minnesotans typically have the highest voter turnout in the country. Last presidential election, over 70% of eligible voters voted. That's remarkable. Over 500,000 of those voters were people who registered to vote on election day. Voter ID will end same day registration as we enjoy it. Instead some sort of provincial balloting method will be created. Voter ID isn't just affecting old people in nursing homes, it'll also affect MN servicemen and women, students, and victims of domestic abuse. And what would voter ID try and fix? Voter impersonation. Not voter fraud. The only thing voter ID would try and fight change is me attempting to vote in two different locations under two different names. Something that just doesn't happen (and we've been voting without photo IDs for hundreds of years). And to all that, voter ID will require municipalities to raise property taxes to pay for the new voting system - estimates range from 30-50 million.

Who cares about his English? It certainly has no impact on his HOF voting or how good of a baseball player he was.

It is interesting. His 8 year peak is about as good as Tim Raines 8 yr peak (although their value was amassed in different ways) but Oliva started old - his first real season was age 25 and after his injury, he was basically over. Raines was able to play 12 years after his 8 year peak and compile some better career numbers.

The HoF factors in a lot more than just play on the field and I don't have any issues with that. Puckett easily got through the voting process because of his personality, his rings, and his career-shortening glaucoma as well as his all around play. But if we're comparing only what was done on the field (which is generally the point of player comparisons), guys like Lofton and Murphy aren't terribly different than Puckett as overall players. Added that for you. There are a lot of problems comparing the two that can't easily be fixed. WAR, for instance, is high for Lofton based on defense and baserunning, two of the weaker components in WAR calculation. WAR also has been criticized for not taking into account durability. Puck played about 400 games less than Lofton even though Lofton played 7 more seasons. That said, Puck avg over 4WAR/season and Lofton was about 3.8. Lofton also played throughout the steroid era and his erosion as an offensive player was hidden by the fact (something that helps Tim Raines as well). Despite a career .372 OBP, Lofton only finished in the top 10 (never higher than 7th) 3x in his 17 years, and he was hitting leadoff. But most of the problems in comparing the two is you are giving Lofton too much credit for compiling totals as opposed to looking at seasons. Lofton didn't have that many truly dominating seasons. In 17 seasons, Lofton finished top 10 in WAR 3x but those were based nearly entirely on defensive calculations. If you look at other season grading stats - RC, WPA (one top 10 season in both to Pucks 4 in each) - Lofton falls off. Basically, all arguments for Lofton being close to Puckett have to insist that defensive WAR calculations of both players are accurate. Hardball times wrote an article a few years back that specifically mentioned how the Metrodome's baggy (and Fenway's Monster) created havoc for calculating true defensive values, not coincidentally, Puck's defensive value in his RF years were pretty bad.

To add to Steve - Bill James listed him as the 7th best CFer ever. He was a clear HOF choice by fans, managers, stat heads and traditionalists. I always thought his induction was a good one by the sportswriters. It showed they didn't need a certain numerical benchmark.

Mauer's probably the better value guy but, man, I loved Puck.

Tim Belcher was also a Boros client way back when who refused to sign with the Twins.

Probably about two weeks ago. Now, I'm more concerned with draft position and watching how Hendriks and Parmelee finish the season. Watching the prospects finish up was fun, too.

I think someone came back of the DL and then Slama was sent back to AAA and got hurt and missed a lot of time.

What's interesting about Slama is his situation, not necessarily the pitcher himself. He could fail as a MLB reliever. The interesting question is "why isn't he getting a shot instead of Gray/Perdomo/scrub reliever?" The team has answered that question several times. The question has become do fans know more than the Twins FO on player development? This actually sorta reminds me of the Kila Ka'aihue situation in KC. KC fans demanded that Ka'aihue be brought up - he had dominated the minors (although prospect sites weren't as heavy on him). He got 12 games in the majors at 24, spent all of his age 25 season back in AAA, as well as most of his age 26 season. In 5 seasons at AAA (over 400 games) he had an OPS over .900 while drawing nearly as many walks as strike outs. KC fans were going crazy that he didn't get a shot since KC sorta sucked while letting vets like Mike Jacobs play first base. Things from the FO like his defense is horrible, he has plate issues, he can't hit ML pitching were part of some vast conspiracy by a FO afraid of stats. Of course, he was a disaster at the ML level, traded for a crappy relief pitcher and DFA'd by Billy Beane.

I had hoped he'd finish the year healthy - he was on pace for about a 5 WAR. If he had remained healthy, I think the Twins could have gotten a pretty good deal for him, considering his contract and potential demand for a lead off hitter (esp after the Reds flame out). I think the Twins will move him but it won't be for much. Other teams will point out he's only played in 178 games over the last two years which is a pretty good point. The Twins will probably be able to get a back of the rotation ready type starter (with good command and low Krates) and 1-2 low A/rookie ball guys with the hope that they develop. And that lets them move Revere to center and give RF to Parmelee until Arcia/Hicks is ready to come up. But, who knows? Lead off hitters are always in demand. Ryan held onto a lot of players this trade deadline when he didn't think he got a good enough offer. Maybe other teams will know that and the Twins get more. I think Span would be a really good fit in Cincinnati - he'd probably hit about 10 HRs there.

Hope nobody lights a match, all those straw men will burn down. Another Slama thread, really?

In a recent chat, Callis wrote: Jim Callis: Fully recovered from elbow surgery that held him back in 2011, Arcia has looked terrific this year. He continues to show the potential for a solid bat with plus power, and he has made improvements in controlling the strike zone. He could be a solid regular, maybe more. The ceilings for Sano, Buxton and Hicks all seem to have higher upside.

What are those results for the entire Gardy/Andy years?

I'd disagree. Arcia has had great results but his upside (from what I understand) is a solid RFer whereas Sano, Hicks and Buxton could all be all stars or more and none of them have shown reasons to rate them lower at this time.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to throw my vote away down ballot somewhere this year. I don't like either candidate and in MN it won't matter, Obama will win the state pretty convincingly. On the other hand, the MN ballot does have a couple ballot amendment questions - voter ID and marriage amendment - that people should vote no on. You can register to vote at http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=204

Unbelievable thread.

I'm shocked that the free Slama crowd didn't appreciate Ryan's reasoning.