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Friday, May 06, 2005
IN MagazineI took a course this semester called "Magazine Editing and Production" where the class created, designed, wrote, and produced one issue of an actual magazine. Each person in the class applied for jobs on the staff and then we worked all semester on what is hypothetically the "premiere" issue of the magazine. I was pegged to be one of two "staff writers" for IN Magazine, which basically meant my job was to write a lengthy, feature-style piece.The editorial staff had a few ideas for story topics that I wasn't thrilled with, and I pitched pieces on both poker and blogs that they shot down. In the end, we settled on me writing about a topic that I've written about here occasionally, insomnia. In fact, you may remember me asking for any insomniacs who read this blog to e-mail me a couple months ago. Well, I was overwhelmed by the number of responses I received, and ended up using a handful of you in my story. The magazine came back from the printer earlier this week, so those of you who are hanging around the University of Minnesota campus will probably stumble across a copy somewhere before the end of the semester. They are supposed to be available all over the place, from the student union and all the dorms to on-campus restaurants and stores. Here's what the front cover looks like, just so you can be on the lookout for it:  As you can see, my piece is the "cover story," although sadly that's not my bloodshot eye. We actually did a photoshoot with my eye, but apparently it wasn't bloodshot enough or something. My dreams of becoming a cover model were quickly dashed. Anyway, we also have a website devoted to the magazine that I thought the rest of you might be interested in checking out: InMagOnline.com I have eight copies of the magazine (I was supposed to get 10, I only got nine, and then someone was able to convince me to give them one on my way home from class Wednesday) and the finished product looks really great. Far better than I could have imagined, especially after witnessing all of the chaos that went into producing it. IN Magazine is a one-time publication, but it took some extremely hard work from a lot of people, and it would be nice to get as many eyes on it as possible. Plus, it has some really good content written by some really good writers. So go check it out, and if you read an article you like, go click on the "contact" page and let the person who wrote it know you enjoyed it. Hell, if you're a person in a position of power at a magazine somewhere, do yourself a favor and hire some of these people. Incidentally, you'll notice that my contact information and picture are strangely and mysteriously absent from the contact page. I have no explanation for this, as I had my picture taken in the same photoshoot as everyone else. I can only assume that our editor-in-chief, Kay Steiger, made an executive decision not to drive traffic away from the site with my ugly mug. www.InMagOnline.comToday at The Hardball Times: - Have No Fehr Toss Don On His Ear (by John Brattain) - Ten Things I Learned From A Book (by Studes) Today's Picks (27-17, +$1,170): Los Angeles (Penny) -110 over Cincinnati (Wilson) Houston (Oswalt) +130 over Atlanta (Smoltz) Chicago (Hernandez) -100 over Toronto (Bush)     
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Link-O-RamaMy favorite comment from this particular group of angry White Sox fans? It must be great to be a stathead, you don't even have to watch any games.If you can find a human being on earth who has watched more innings of baseball over the past few years than I have, I'd like to meet him. There are several kinds of funny. One major kind is scripted funny, like Jerry Seinfeld or Chris Rock, who put together standup sets that are pure genius. However, my personal favorite kind of funny is unscripted funny, and specifically unscripted, ranting funny. In this category, the only person who can even come close to Howard Stern is Carolla. Of course, I am also one of perhaps as many as a dozen people who loved Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, a show that the same Comedy Central executive who hired Colbert and Carolla canceled because it "felt like the same show every night." By the way, for those of you about to send me an anti-Stern e-mail, don't bother. Well, either the glaring lack of bench options for Ron Gardenhire in late-innings situations lately forced their hand or Joe Mauer's knee is really feeling good, because the team called Tiffee up from Rochester yesterday. And Miller, who has one hit in his last 55 at-bats in the big leagues, amazingly went unclaimed on the waiver wire. Will it be a hitters' or pitchers' park?Normally I would comment about how this is bad news, since teams are better off building their new ballparks to favor pitching, but can there really be "bad news" in this case? I'll take another Coors Field if it means I can get a sun burn while watching a game. Today at The Hardball Times: - Faceoff 300 (by Craig Burley) - Business of Baseball Report (by Brian Borawski) Today's Picks (27-17, +$1,170):
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
AG.com Game Chat: Indians @ Twins (5/4/05)CLE (10-15): Kevin Millwood (0-3, 3.90 ERA)
AG.com Game Chat: Indians @ Twins (5/3/05)UPDATE: The combination of my regular writing gigs and some end-of-the-year school work has me wiped out and busy as hell, so I'm going to skip writing up this game. So in place of my regular post-game entry, please feel free to chat about theCLE (9-15): Jake Westbrook (0-5, 6.35 ERA)
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Juan Rincon's SuspensionI suspect everyone else was as completely shocked to hear this as I was yesterday afternoon, but Juan Rincon has been suspended by Major League Baseball for using what is assumed to be banned, performance-enhancing drugs. I say "assumed to be" because, according to the Associated Press, "Under baseball's drug rules, the sport doesn't announce the specific substance a player tested positive for."I talked to and heard from a number of Twins fans about Rincon's situation yesterday and was surprised by how many of them are talking about things like booing Rincon every time he pitches, boycotting the Twins, and even wanting Rincon released from the team. I have to say that, try as I might to understand this point of view, I can't conjure up even a fraction of that sort of disgust over the situation. As has long been my policy here, I don't talk about the ongoing steroid story in baseball. In fact, I wrote about steroids in a meaningful way just once since this blog debuted in August of 2002. In short, I don't care. I know from the last time that a lot of people get upset when someone says that, but it's how I feel and it's tough for me to change that. It is far more upsetting to me that the Twins will be without Rincon in their bullpen than it is that Rincon allegedly took performance-enhancing drugs. (My journalism teachers would be so proud to know that I used "allegedly" there.) I am fine with a player being suspended for breaking the rules, because I am one of those guys who strongly believes that rules should be enforced strictly in almost every instance. So in that sense, I am upset at Rincon for knowing the rules and breaking them (although certainly it's possible that he thought he was taking something that was allowed by the rules; I suspect we may hear more about that angle in the coming days). At the same time, I am not going to demonize Rincon or talk about how the Twins need to release him from the team in order to set an example. I am not going to get all high and mighty about how something like this shouldn't happen to "a team like the Twins." All I am willing to say is that Rincon took a substance meant to improve his ability to play baseball in some way, it was against the newly established rules of baseball, and he now must face the consequences. Dozens of athletes do what I consider to be worse things every year, and millions of people in this country take "performance-enhancing" drugs every day. If there was some pill I could take that would make me a better writer while potentially taking five years off the end of my life, I would take it twice a day, just in case the first dose didn't work. Half the people reading this paragraph right now are probably "on" something, whether for job performance, sexual performance, or performance in life. That doesn't make them bad people or disgusting human beings, of course, and it doesn't make Rincon that either. In his case, he unfortunately has a job that now bans and tests for whatever substance he was on. So that's that. He'll serve his suspension the same as he would if he'd have gotten it for starting a bench-clearing brawl with a beanball (or perhaps corking his bat, if he were a hitter), and in a couple weeks he'll be back setting up Joe Nathan. Oh, and before I drop this subject (and trust me, it will be dropped after today), I want to comment on the mainstream media coverage of Rincon's situation. No, I am not going to criticize the media for how they are portraying him or his "crime." Instead, I want to comment on the actual wording of the stories. Here's how the Associated Press (via ESPN.com) worded it: Rincon was hit Monday with a 10-game suspension after testing positive for an undisclosed substance.Now, here's how the Minneapolis Star Tribune worded it: Twins reliever Juan Rincon has become the highest-profile player yet to receive the mandatory 10-day suspension for first-time offenders of Major League Baseball's new steroid testing policy.One story says it's a "10-day suspension," while the other says it's a "10-game suspension." I saw the same inconsistencies from other news outlets yesterday as well. For instance, MLB.com and FOX Sports had it as 10 games, while Yahoo! News and the St. Paul Pioneer Press had it as 10 days. This may seem like me picking nits, but there is a difference and the fact that the story is being reported both ways is strange. The Star Tribune reports that Rincon has a "10-game suspension" that "began Monday." Similarly, the Pioneer Press reports that Rincon "will be suspended for 10 calendar days starting [Monday] through May 11." If those reports are correct, Rincon would be eligible to return next Thursday, May 12, which would mean he'll miss nine games. But if the other wording is correct, he would miss 10 games and wouldn't be eligible to return until Saturday, May 14. So which is it? Well, Ron Gardenhire seems to think the local papers have it correct, saying, "You feel bad for him, but you have to do the best you can until May 12 when he comes back." Of course, Gardenhire is the same guy who keeps giving Luis Rivas at-bats, so you never know. UPDATE: David Ortiz speaks out with some interesting thoughts on Rincon's suspension. Today at The Hardball Times: - Whither the Closer? Part One (by Steve Treder) - Face Forward, Please (by Studes) Today's Picks (26-17, +$1,055): Boston (Halama) +115 over Detroit (Maroth)
Monday, May 02, 2005
Twins Take 2 of 3 From Angels, Santana is HumanThe loss was Santana's first since the Tigers beat him on July 11, 2004. The interesting thing, aside from the fact that it took him 21 starts to lose another game, is that the loss to Detroit was very similar to the loss to the Angels yesterday afternoon. Santana gave up just two hits to the Angels yesterday, both of them solo homers, and lost the game 2-1 because the lineup couldn't score him any runs. Santana also gave up just two hits against the Tigers last July, one of which was a two-run homer, and lost 2-0 because the lineup couldn't score him any runs (literally this time). Incidentally, Santana is now 4-1 with a 3.29 ERA and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings through six starts this season. After six starts last year, he was 1-0 with a 4.59 ERA and 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings. The Twins, meanwhile, are 15-9 after two dozen games this season, the exact same record they had through 24 games last year. They were just 10-14 through 24 games in 2003 and 14-10 through 24 games in 2002. In other words, everything is right on schedule. - Joe Mauer walked. - Justin Morneau homered to right center. Kelvim Escobar couldn't find the plate in the first inning, so after he started Morneau off 2-0 Angels pitching coach Bud Black came out to have a little chat with him. I imagine Black's message was something along the lines of "throw strikes," because Escobar's next pitch was a chest-high fastball right over the heart of the plate. Needless to say Morneau hit the ball a very long way. It would have been a three-run bomb if Jose Molina hadn't picked Jason Bartlett off first base in the middle of Mauer's plate appearance. Aside from yesterday's 0-for-4 performance, when no one could hit Colon, Morneau has been in an amazing zone since coming off the disabled list. Here I was worried about whether or not he would be the same hitter after being beaned in the head by Ron Villone in the first series of the year, and all Morneau has done is go 14-for-33 (.424) with two homers, three doubles, and nine RBIs in his first eight games back in the lineup. Because it's going to cost 20% more? So what? If you've already got a plan for 80% of the funding needed to build the best possible ballpark that could be built in Minnesota, why not hold out for that last 20%? The extra money may seem like a big deal now -- and perhaps it would be a deal breaker, I don't really have any idea -- but in 10 years it's going to be just as big deal when games are being snowed out like they were in Detroit. If you're going to do this, you have to do it right, and for a ballpark in a cold-weather state like Minnesota that means the ability to go indoors every once in a while when the weather dictates. Even without considering the potential for freezing temperatures and snow ruining games and hurting attendance, simply being able to end all potential for rainouts from April to October seems like a worthwhile investment to me. UPDATE: Here's what Angels beat writer Mike DiGiovanna wrote in the Los Angeles Times after visiting Minnesota over the weekend: "There has been a big push in the Twin Cities for a new open-air stadium to replace the Metrodome, but proponents of such a facility should take note: There were snow flurries in Minneapolis on Sunday morning, and the temperature outside the dome at game time was 40 degrees." Until I figure out how to do that, however, I think I'll leave them open as a sort of experiment. So, feel free to comment away and I'll try to stop in as often as possible throughout the day to take part in whatever discussion is going on. However -- and I can't stress this enough -- I will not stand for personal insults in the comments. If you want to talk baseball, that's great. If you want to talk poker or Elisha Cuthbert or any other non-baseball topic, that's just fine too. But keep it civil, both to me and to everyone else in the comments. And if you posted something and it suddenly disappears, that probably means I thought you were being a jackass. Today at The Hardball Times: - Hardball Questions: Kevin Youkilis (by Ben Jacobs) - The New Sox (by Aaron Gleeman) - Getting Graphic (by Studes) - State of the Site: Help Wanted (by Aaron Gleeman) Today's Picks (26-17, +$1,055):
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 Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com OFGoAG.com Timeline: Heidi Klum (8/2002 - 12/2003) Jessica Alba (12/2003 - 10/2004) Elisha Cuthbert (10/2004 - 11/2006) Vacant (11/2006 - 6/2008) Keeley Hazell (6/2008 - 3/2010) Mila Kunis (3/2010 - Present) OFGoAG.com Candidates: Marisa Miller Jenna Fischer Kate Beckinsale Keeley Hazell Diora Baird Top 40 Twins Prospects of 2010: 1. Aaron Hicks, CF 2. Kyle Gibson, SP 3. Wilson Ramos, C 4. Miguel Angel Sano, SS 5. Ben Revere, CF 6. Angel Morales, CF 7. David Bromberg, SP 8. Danny Valencia, 3B 9. Matthew Bashore, SP 10. Billy Bullock, RP 11. Rene Tosoni, RF 12. Chris Parmelee, RF 13. Adrian Salcedo, SP 14. Joe Benson, CF 15. Jeff Manship, SP 16. Tyler Robertson, SP 17. Carlos Gutierrez, RP 18. B.J. Hermsen, SP 19. Anthony Slama, RP 20. Max Kepler, CF 21. Alex Burnett, RP 22. Robert Delaney, RP 23. Luke Hughes, 3B 24. Ben Tootle, RP 25. Deolis Guerra, SP 26. Shooter Hunt, SP 27. Trevor Plouffe, SS 28. Michael McCardell, SP 29. Reggie Williams, 2B 30. Estarlin De Los Santos, SS 31. Derek McCallum, 2B 32. Jose Morales, C 33. Chris Herrmann, LF 34. Bobby Lanigan, SP 35. Danny Rams, C 36. Josmil Pinto, C 37. Steven Tolleson, 2B 38. Anderson Hidalgo, 3B 39. Loek Van Mil, RP 40. Joe Testa, RP |