Oregon's Rose Bowl Unis Channel Darth Vader

Oregon's Rose Bowl Unis Channel Darth Vader

MMO Top 20 Prospects – #1 Zack Wheeler

No big surprise here.

A few nice write-ups on Mets pitching prospect Matt Harvey

Nice write-up on Matt Harvey. This part is promising, to say the least:

"...Harvey has a reasonable chance to be evolve into a legit #1. As far as a floor, if he stays healthy and keeps his walk-rate in check I think the Mets are looking at a #3 starter at worst and that’s certainly not too shabby."

Mets Merized Online has a great write-up on him too, when they named him the #3 pitching prospect in the New York Mets organization.

"Meet the Mets, Meet the Mets, Step right up and BUY the Mets!"

The New York Times got its hands on the term sheet being offered to those looking to buy an ownership interest in the New York Mets. Reading this passage about one of the ownership perks proves how pathetic the Wilpons really are:

"Access to Mr. Met, the team mascot, although the degree of access is not entirely spelled out. It definitely means you, as a part-owner, can schmooze with Mr. Met at Citi Field. It’s less clear whether you could get him to come to your child’s birthday party without a fee."

Seriously? A friend of mine from high school got this at his wedding without forking over $20 million for 4% of the team:

Everything 'Clicked' When Andres Torres Confronted ADHD | Baseball Nation

As someone that went through a similar experience myself roughly a decade ago, I'm glad to see Andres Torres raising awareness of ADHD and hopefully helping to remove all of the stigmas associated with it.

Mets Merized Online | I Don’t See Murphy As Part Of The Future Plan

Joe DeCaro of Mets Merized Online has an interesting post about Daniel Murphy's value to the Mets versus his value elsewhere.

There is no question that Murphy is a pure hitter in the Wade Boggs mold. Personally, I think the Mets are holding on to Murphy for now because his trade value is low from the knee injury and from whether or not he can play 2B. However, if either Reese Havens or Jordany Valdespin starts hitting the cover off the ball in Buffalo, you will likely see one of them get a call-up and see Murphy relegated to the bench. You can then start to wonder if he's trade bait from the number of spot starts he gets in David Wright's place at 3B.

Joe mentions Murphy's natural position being 3B. Which leads me to wonder if by July 15th:

- Reese Havens is healthy and playing well at Triple-A, matching or exceeding his average Double-A slash line of .301 AVG/.379 OBP/.505 SLG.
- Daniel Murphy is matching or exceeding his average MLB career slash line of .292/.343/.441.
- David Wright is matching or exceeding his average MLB career slash line of .300/.380/.508.
- The Mets are in last place 20 or more games behind the division leader and 10 or more games behind the 2nd Wild Card team.

If these things are happening in July 2012, would the Mets be better off trading Wright for the prospect haul, thereby moving Murphy to his natural position of 3B and giving 2B to Reese Havens? Something to think about if you're a Met fan looking towards the future.

Is Centerfield Taken? Mets should bid on Norichika Aoki | Double G Sports

This is an interesting idea. The author makes a good point:

"But his posting fee may be low like Nakajima who was won by the Yanks for $2M."

Also, you only have to pay the posting fee if you sign Aoki. If you fail to reach an agreement, you don't pay the posting fee and Aoki returns to his Japanese baseball team. It could be something and not as expensive as people may initially think.

At the very least, if he does come to the Mets, what better place for Norichika Aoki to try to get free meals in New York than the restaurant that shares the same name?

Book says Wilpon asked MLB to doom Einhorn’s Mets deal - NYPOST.com

All the more reason why Fred and Jeff Wilpon must go and Bud Selig must follow them out the door. This is collusion at its worst solely to protect the narrow interests of someone lacking the intelligence needed to own a baseball team by someone lacking the intelligence to run a major sports league.

Improv Everywhere Film (Teaser)

Here is the teaser trailer for the Improv Everywhere documentary film.

Are the Wilpons About to Lose the Mets? | Fangraphs.com

One can hope, right?

MMO Mets Top 20 Prospects – #4 Jenrry Mejia, RHP

The Mets Merized Online Prospect countdown continues with Jenrry Mejia checking in at #4. Which means the potential monkeywrench in the countdown that I wondered about last Thursday won't be happening.

It also means that unless Petey Pete is really high on Jeurys Familia, we'll be reading about Familia at #3 this Thursday and finding out next Monday which of Zack Wheeler or Matt Harvey takes the #2 spot, leaving the top spot for the other guy.

New York Mets 2012 Top 15 Prospects | Bullpen Banter

The guys at Bullpen Banter are working their way through the top 15 prospects of every Major League Baseball team and made their way to the New York Mets today. Here are their top 15 lists:

1 Matt Harvey / Matt Harvey
2 Zack Wheeler / Zack Wheeler
3 Brandon Nimmo / Brandon Nimmo
4 Jenrry Mejia / Jeurys Familia
5 Reese Havens / Jenrry Mejia
6 Cesar Puello / Michael Fulmer
7 Jeurys Familia / Reese Havens
8 Michael Fulmer / Cesar Puello
9 Kirk Nieuwenhuis / Juan Urbina
10 Juan Urbina / Kirk Nieuwenhuis
11 Jordany Valdespin / Domingo Tapia
12 Domingo Tapia / Cory Mazzoni
13 Wilmer Flores / Bradley Marquez
14 Cory Mazzoni / Jordany Valdespin
15 Akeel Morris / Wilmer Flores

While I'm not surprised by Harvey, Wheeler, and Nimmo being the top three, I'm surprised both writers have Havens so high, which I agree with, and Tapia and Mazzoni in the top 15, which I do not agree with.

An interesting list nonetheless and yet another opinion on the Mets future stars. What's more telling is the two top draft picks of 2011 and a 2011 trade acquisition are in the top ten and occupy #'s 2 and 3 on these lists, giving you a good idea of how depleted the system was prior to the arrival of Alderson and Company.

Want to go to the 2012 Democratic National Convention? | Blue Jersey

Blue Jersey has the details if you're interested in being a New Jersey delegate at next year's Democratic National Convention on September 3-7 in Charlotte, NC.

The Strangely Thin Beltran Market | Fangraphs

I find it very interesting that there has been little interest in Carlos Beltran this off-season. Fangraphs lists a number of teams that could be interested, such as St. Louis, Washington, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, and Seattle. I'm very curious to see where he ends up.

Ice Cube studied architectural drafting?

I couldn't believe it until I heard this line myself: "Before I did rap music, I studied architectural drafting." That is pretty cool.

Baseball Prospectus | Baseball ProGUESTus: Sunset in Flushing

A great analysis on where the Mets stand as an organization right now. This part caught my attention:

"The hitting side of their system is a hodge-podge of filler and risky players with potential. The 2011 class, led by Brandon Nimmo, was very heavy on high-upside, high-school talents, most of whom made only token appearances in rookie ball after signing. It will be years before the Mets can evaluate whether they have any keepers in that lot. They have toolsy hitters Wilmer Flores and Cesar Puello several levels up in A-ball, but neither has converted his tools into skills yet. The most polished position prospects in the system are center fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis and second baseman Reese Havens, both of whom missed much of 2011 with injuries. Havens cannot stay healthy, averaging only 63 games played in his three professional seasons, and Nieuwenhuis’s ultimate future may lie in a corner instead of center. Both will get their shot; with Angel Pagan gone to San Francisco and Ruben Tejada moving over to shortstop, center field and second base could be open on the major-league team as early as spring training. But these players don’t have the high ceilings of their pitching counterparts. New York doesn’t have any cornerstone prospects who play the field; the next Jose Reyes or Carlos Beltran isn't waiting in Double-A. Those guys the Mets will have to go out and get."

For what it's worth, my guess is by the end of 2012, Nieuwenhuis is the starting centerfielder with Andres Torres serving as a capable 4th outfielder, Daniel Murphy will be manning 3B for an American League team, and either Reese Havens or Jordany Valdespin will be the starting 2B, depending on Havens' health in 2012. Let's wait and see what happens.

MMO Top 20 Mets Prospects – #5 Brandon Nimmo, OF

The Top 20 Prospect countdown at Mets Merized Online continues today with #5 Brandon Nimmo. I mentioned a few months ago that this kid has the potential and, more importantly, personality to be the Mets' Derek Jeter. Let's hope he stays healthy and lives up to the potential everyone sees in him.

So, as I said in my blog post last week, the top six will end up being Nimmo, the four pitchers, and either Neiuwenhuis or Rodriguez. Since Captain Kirk was #6 and Nimmo was #5, I guess the four pitchers Zack Wheeler, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, and Jennry Mejia will round out the top four. Not much of a surprise left except for the order in which they'll show up in the list. That is, unless Mejia's major league service disqualifies him, in which case we'll have to see who replaces him on the list.

Love Works Both Ways | Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest

A very rational and objective post by Mike Silva today. He squarely places the Mets failure to re-sign Jose Reyes on ... BOTH SIDES!

"Let’s look at this objectively and understand that Jose Reyes was a franchise player for about 2.5 seasons out of the 9 he spent here. In 2006, half of 2007, and 2008 he was a player you would build around. Prior to ’06 and the last three seasons, he was an incomplete player that was injury prone. This past season was a perfect example as most of his production was stuffed into the first three months of the year. This isn’t Tom Seaver or Darryl Strawberry leaving, this is Edgardo Alfonzo leaving. A very good player that we all loved, but won’t cripple the franchise for a long time. As a matter of fact, I predict the fans won’t think much of Reyes as the new crop of kids starts to make an impact the next couple of years.

I wish I could have asked Jose if he showed the fans love in the second-half of 2007 when he sulked as the Mets collapsed down the stretch. How about those ’07 and ’08 September swoons when you hit .205 and .243 respectively? I am sure that gave the fans a “warm and fuzzy” feeling. Let’s not forget the mental lapses at shortstop that required a veteran second baseman to keep you “focused.” See, unlike the fans blinded by orange and blue, I don’t forget those little things.

Don’t get me wrong, Jose Reyes is very good player. The Mets still should be ashamed they couldn’t match a 6 year/$106 million dollar deal when they play in New York. That’s an indictment on ownership, and in many ways a separate issue; in a vacuum there is plenty of reasons to not like the years and dollars given to Reyes. Outside of the desperate Marlins, no other team felt inclined to make an offer as well. That tells me an awful lot."

A grateful Andres Torres: “I’ll put some part of the Giants in my heart” | Extra Baggs

To get a better idea of what kind of player the Mets are getting back for Angel Pagan, read this blog post about new Met CF Andres Torres. More interesting is the love being showed to Torres by the fans in the Comments section.

At the very least he can keep CF warm until Kirk Nieuwenhuis is ready to make the move from AAA.

ESPNcricinfo: India batsman tops highest 1-day cricket score

The best way to explain this event to baseball fans would be imagine a guy going 6-for-6 with three grand slams and 15 RBI's in ONE baseball game. That's how big a deal this is.

MMO Fan Shot: My Tribute To Jose Reyes

I was planning to write a post about why it feels different for the Mets to lose Jose Reyes to free agency compared to other players but guest blogger Noah Rainwater beat me to it with a phenomenal tribute of his own at Mets Merized Online. It is definitely a must-read for any Met fan trying to make sense of the Reyes situation.

For me personally, I remember Jose Reyes' major league debut against the Texas Rangers. As big a baseball and Met fan as I am, the only other Met whose major league debut I remember watching is Dwight Gooden against the Houston Astros, and I was only 11 years old at the time of Gooden's debut. So it's Jose and that's it. Honestly, I can't even remember the team against whom David Wright made his major league debut.

There was something about Reyes, especially watching him get his first big league hit and scoring from first base on a hit by Roger Cedeno that didn't even reach the warning track in left-centerfield. I remember thinking to myself, 'I've never seen a baseball player run that fast in my entire life.' Watching that cannon of an arm on his first fielding chance also made me downright giddy. Like I said, the guest blog post sums it up very well and is worth reading.

America's Investment Problem.

Great op-ed piece by Fareed Zakaria in today's Washington Post. He pragmatically lays out the issues with the economy today, which are none of the things the Republican Party claim are the problem:

"One theory heard a lot these days is that the economy is burdened by excessive government regulation, interference and taxes. All these pressures on business, especially small business, are keeping the economy down. Cut them, the Republican candidates all say, and the economy will be unleashed. It’s a compelling picture, but the data simply do not support it."

Some of the data he presents in his column:

* A World Economic Forum survey that ranks countries on their overall economic competitiveness puts the United States fifth; the countries ahead of it, including Singapore and Finland, are tiny, with populations around 5 percent that of the United States.

* The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a study last week measuring tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product. The United States came in 27th out of 30 countries.

* The World Bank study finds that the only category in which the United States is not in the top 20 is “paying taxes,” where it ranks a miserable 72.

* Only five years ago, American infrastructure used to be ranked in the top 10 by the World Economic Forum. Now we’re 24th. U.S. air infrastructure has gone from 12th to 31st, roads from eighth to 20th.

* The United States used to have the world’s largest percentage of college graduates. We’re now No. 14, according to the most recent OECD data, and American students routinely rank toward the bottom of the developed world.

* The number of engineering degrees conferred annually decreased more than 11 percent between 1989 and 2000. Even with the increase in college attendance over the past two decades, there were fewer engineering and engineering technologies graduates in 2009 (84,636) than in 1989 (85,002).

So yeah, tax cuts are the problem to fix issues in national infrastructure and education caused by a lack of tax revenue. Let me know when this alien math is supposed to work.

Reyes contract breakdown

From this post on metsblog.com:

"In case you’re interested, according to Newsday, the Marlins will pay Reyes $10 million in 2012, $10 million in 2013, $16 million in 2014, $22 million in 2015, $22 million in 2016, $22 million in 2017 with a $22 million option for 2018 or a $4 million buyout."

This is backloaded like Carlos Delgado's contract in 2005.  Which basically means it's a two-year/$20 million contract for the Marlins, followed by a four-year/$82 million contract for someone else, with a $22 million option in 2018 or a $4 million buyout. This second part is scary in light of this exchange Metsblog founder Matt Cerrone posted:

"Matthew Cerrone: I talked to a player’s agent yesterday who ruined my night by saying, ‘How much do you want to bet me that the Marlins trade Jose Reyes to the Yankees in two years, when the Yankees can buy out Derek Jeter‘s contract?” He wasn’t basing this on any inside information. It was simply an opinion, and clearly designed to get a rise out of me. It worked, because I hadn’t thought about that scenario before. At that point, Reyes would have four years and $75 million left on his deal and Jeter will be 39 and with a $3 million buyout. It’s fairly plausible, which makes it all that much worse."

Even The Believers Stop Believing At Some Point | Mets Merized Online

Great column by Satish Ram over at metsmerizedonline.com.

Metsblog | The Mets are better today than they were yesterday!

This is how moral victories are celebrated. All joking aside, this is a great point:

"The Mets were sixth in the National League in runs scored last season, despite missing Ike Davis, a half season from Daniel Murphy and Carlos Beltran, a poor year from Angel Pagan, and with Jose Reyes on and off the disabled list, and with David Wright and Jason Bay having down years. Yet, they scored more runs than every other team in their division. At the same time, the Mets were sixth in the league with 24 blown saves."

That's where the new bullpen guys and the better defensive centerfielder come into play. Just 10 of those blown saves being converted turns a 77-85 team into a 87-75 team.

Mets sign Frank Francisco to a 2-year, $12 M Deal

Mets sign Frank Francisco to a 2-year, $12 M Deal

Mets trade Pagan to the Giants for Torres & Ramirez

Mets trade Pagan to the Giants for Torres & Ramirez

Mets agree to terms on a one-year deal with Jon Rauch

Mets agree to terms on a one-year deal with Jon Rauch

Study Tallies a District's Return on Investment | Education Week

How much is a good school system worth?

If all goes (incredibly) well…

If all goes (incredibly) well…

MMO Top 20 Mets Prospects – #6 Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF

As I mentioned last week, Mets Merized Online is counting down the top 20 prospects in the New York Mets organization. Today we got prospect #6, OF Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

So now we have to wait until Thursday to see which of Nimmo, Wheeler, Harvey, Familia, and Mejia makes #5 on the list.

How to blog better | The Incidental Economist

Hmm. Stuff to think about.

Choosing Mets Over Reyes | Mets Merized Online

This is a long post but the last paragraph really sums up what I feel:

"When it’s all said and done. I’m not a Wilpon fan, a Sandy fan, a J.P. fan, an Omar fan or a Reyes fan. I’m a Mets fan."

Very well said.

My Mets Journal: Jose Reyes! The one that got away! Another fish st...

My Mets Journal: Jose Reyes! The one that got away! Another fish st...

The curious cases of Sandy Obama and Barack H. Alderson

Two Harvard Law grads are in an unusually similar predicament today. As news broke of Jose Reyes agreeing to a six-year deal to be another athlete that will "take his talents to South Beach", Sandy Alderson tried to send some semblance of calm and, as President Obama often says, be the grown-up in the room. Just like the president, he succeeded privately and failed miserably publicly.

Alderson is being vilified from this friends and enemies today, not dissimilar to the treatment the President gets from the Left and Right. If there is one statement that describes Obama's relationship with these two groups, it would be he's disappointed the Left and distrusted by the Right.

Likewise, the reaction to the Reyes signing has been negative from all but the most diehard supporters (known in politics as "The Base"). Folks that hate the Mets or New York Sports or East Coast Sports are elated at this "failure" because it shows at least one big market team that cannot do whatever it wants. But what about Met fans?  They think Alderson didn't do all he could to keep Jose Reyes in spite of an exclusive negotiating window that didnt give the kind of security people thought it did. Kind of like the lack of a public option in spite of a House majority and filibuster-proof Senate majority in 2009 and 2010.

Like the President, Alderson is stuck trying to placate supporters who know deep down inside that problems cannot be fixed overnight but generally don't have the patience to wait that long in the face of competition that may seem insurmountable today but is likely making decisions at could be foolish down the road. In that vain, which is the lessor of two evils: 2008 Republican Presidential nominee Newt Gingrich or 2017 Miami Marlins leadoff hitter 34-year old/$18 million per year Jose Reyes?  Or a better question would be, is either of these options favorable to the alternatives that Obama and Alderson present to you today?

I'm aware that you can't compare politics to sports (most of the time) so lets focus on Reyes. You can say all you want about Rickey Henderson and Ichiro Suzuki performing as speed players at an older age but does Reyes have their durability, not to mention Ichiro's pure hitting prowess?

Both President Obama and GM Sandy Alderson know that the media will dissect everything superficially but that they are really chess players while everyone around them is telling them they're playing checkers. I don't have a window into what is happening behind-the-scenes but I'm not naive enough to think that nothing constructive is going on out of sight and out of view.

So if President Obama gets to welcome the World Champion Miami Marlins to the White House in his first year after winning re-election, so be it. I'd be willing to trade that if there's a chance the last year of his presidency and the first few years of his successor's presidency that the White House is welcoming the multiple-time World Champion New York Mets. Perhaps Jose Reyes can watch the White House visit on his iPad5 while he's getting his hamstring rehabbed for the n-teenth time in his career.

Why I Won’t Boo Jose Reyes | Mets Merized Online

Very well said.

Sandy will address media at 9 pm ET from Dallas

More bad news, I'm sure.

Marlins offer Reyes six year, $111m contract, Mets out

Uh oh. This can't be good.

In case you were wondering about the Euromess, here's a great map!

A great map in the New York Times Magazine that breaks down the Euromess and how each country is interconnected with every other Euro country.

Balanced Baseball Leagues...what about schedules?

I wrote back in 2009 that a solution to improve Interleague play would be to balance the leagues with 15 teams each. I doubt the powers-that-be at Major League Baseball read my blog post on this but they seem to have done the same thing with the move of the Houston Astros to the American League West in 2013.

One thing I left open in my 2009 post was how the opponents outside of the strength-of-schedule method that I proposed would be selected. My solution: starting with the team with the worst record, select the nearest opponent that is not already scheduled until all of the teams are scheduled. Then, also beginning with the team with the worst record, schedule the three games against the teams with the best record at home, leaving the other three as road games. As the home/road splits get assigned, things start to shake out where everyone gets equitably scheduled.

If this seems a bit random and arbitrary, it's meant to be. Considering that baseball schedules cannot be determined until two years in advance (unlike at the end of the regular season like the NFL), it wouldn't be a huge impediment if, say, Baltimore played Philadelphia more often than other teams because there is not telling where those teams will be two years from now (okay, maybe Baltimore and Philly are bad examples but who would have thought Arizona would go from worst-to-first while Minnesota and San Diego both went first-to-worst in one season?)

I went through this exercise for all of the teams based on the final records of the 2010 and 2011 seasons (because this is how I enjoy spending my free time) and here's a sample of what I came up with:

- The Mets would play six games against the Yankees as a "regional rival". They would also have played, based on the 2010 schedule, Toronto and Seattle at home and Boston and Kansas City on the road. Based on 2011, the schedule in addition to the Yankees would be Houston and Baltimore at home, Toronto and Cleveland on the road.

- Pittsburgh had the worst record in MLB in 2010 and ended up with Detroit, Toronto, and Cleveland at home and Baltimore, Kansas City, and Seattle on the road.

- Houston had the worst record in MLB in 2011 and ended up with Arizona, Colorado, and St. Louis at home and Miami, Chicago, and San Diego on the road.

- Philadelphia had the best record in MLB in both years and ended up with (based on 2010) Baltimore, Minnesota, and Toronto at home, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Texas on the road; and (based on 2011) Toronto, Boston, and Baltimore at home, and the Yankees, Detroit, and Texas on the road.

Definitely enough variety there to make the scheduling interesting but also increasing local/regional fan interest by ensuring that teams closest to each other have the best chance to play each other more often.

How to Avoid Food Waste This Holiday Season | Time.com

Great tips to help reduce the 1.3 billion tons of food wasted each year.

New York Mets Top 10 Prospects Lists ('Tis the season for this too.)

As many Met fans measure the length of rope necessary to hang ourselves when Jose Reyes signs with another team, the more optimistic ones like myself look to the future and see whether the stuff growing down on the farm are worthwhile buds or just sprouting weeds. With this in mind, I was very interested in reading Baseball Instinct's recently released list of the top ten prospects: in the New York Mets organization. Baseball Instinct's top ten Mets Prospects are:

1. Matt Harvey - RHP
2. Zack Wheeler - RHP
3. Jennry Mejia - RHP
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Brandon Nimmo - OF
6. Michael Fulmer - RHP
7. Jordany Valdespin - 2B/SS
8. Reese Havens - 2B
9. Wilmer Flores - SS (for now)
10. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
Bonus - Aderlin Rodriguez - 3B

A few weeks ago, Baseball America released a fairly similar list, with the exception of Cesar Puello making the list instead of Valdespin:

1. Zack Wheeler - RHP
2. Matt Harvey - RHP
3. Brandon Nimmo - OF
4. Jeurys Familia - RHP
5. Cesar Puello - OF
6. Jennry Mejia - RHP
7. Kirk Nieuwenhuis - OF
8. Michael Fulmer - RHP
9. Reese Havens - 2B
10. Wilmer Flores - SS (again, for now)

I have to admit though that the countdown that has fascinated me so far is the one over at MetsMerizedOnline.com, where Petey Pete has been counting down the list of Top 20 New York Mets Prospects and released #7 on the list earlier today. (The list of prospects #7 through #20 are listed at the bottom of the link. Petey Pete was kind enough to oblige my request to hyperlink each prospect on the list to his own page in the countdown.)

The interesting part about the list is it's safe to assume the four stud pitchers (Familia, Harvey, Mejia, and Wheeler) and Brandon Nimmo will take five of the remaining six spots. So who gets the last of the six spots and who is left out, Aderlin Rodriguez or Kirk Nieuwenhuis? Or do both of them get dropped in favor of LHP Robert Carson, CF Matt den Decker, or OF Fernando Martinez? (Not likely but possible and yes, F-Mart is still considered a prospect and, in spite of his arthritic knees, is still only 22 years old.)

I know I'm anxious to see who makes #6 on the list on Monday!

For Bobby Valentine, charity can be all-consuming | Boston.com

It's hard not to root for a guy like this. Or someone with enough intelligence to do this:

"[Bobby Valentine] would eventually learn 2,042 kanji characters out of an instructional book, practicing them in the dirt with the toe of his cleats during practice, and by the time he made his tearful goodbye speech to the team’s fans in 2009, he did so in Japanese."

Why Revenue Sharing and Luxury Tax Failed | Mets Merized Online

A very well written post at Metsmerizedonline.com. Worth checking out...

Payroll Tax Cut Calculator | WhiteHouse.gov

Here's a nifty little interactive tool to figure out how you got screwed by the Super Committee's inaction:

When Did the GOP Lose Touch With Reality? When Did Liberals Become So Unreasonable? | New York Magazine

Jonathan Chait offers a left-wing critique of liberals. Likewise, David Frum offers a right-wing crtique of conservatives. Both very long yet interesting reads.

The Language of the Hot Stove League - Baseball Prospectus | Baseball ProGUESTus

Just in case you were confused by all the hot stove language in baseball, Ted Berg offers a primer on the language of the Hot Stove League, which is a hilarious read.

Religion & the individual mandate | The Incidental Economist

As the court cases and appeals of the Affordable Care Act move on through the system, I have a feeling this particular charge is going to gain traction on the Right.

Why is the McRib Sandwich only a temporary item at McDonald's? | The Incidental Economist

I never noticed this. I don't get why someone else would either.

WHAT?!?!?! | Teens Using Vodka Soaked Tampons To Get Drunk

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!?! This is an actual news story and, scarier still, it's not just girls doing this.

"If we’re not going to finish first, it doesn’t matter if we’re last."

In a column in today's New York Times, Tyler Kepner states the obvious:

"In a loaded division, one team must absorb a lot of losses. In the A.L. East, that team has long been the Baltimore Orioles. And in the N.L. East, that team could well be the Mets. That may be true no matter where Jose Reyes ends up, but it is especially likely if a division rival snags him."

He also brings up an interesting thought, one which I've agreed with:

"General Manager Sandy Alderson is viewed as a realistic decision maker. He could let things become worse for a while if it means a sound future for the organization. The healthiest thing Alderson did last season was trade Carlos Beltran for the minor league pitcher Zack Wheeler, who is now considered the Mets’ best prospect.

“Sandy’s not afraid to say, ‘If we’re not going to finish first, it doesn’t matter if we’re last,’ ” said an official of a rival team, who was granted anonymity so he could talk candidly about another team’s plans. “He’ll break it down if he has to. The question is, can it get by ownership?”"

Welcome to the 1982 New York Mets.

Always More To The Story

I'm glad someone finally wrote what I've thought for years.

The importance of developing starting pitching

This post reminds me a lot of what the Mets did in the early 1980's when they brought up Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling and made the trade for Bob Ojeda.

The Flagrant Fan: Unique Talent of Jose Reyes

The Flagrant Fan: Unique Talent of Jose Reyes: Jose Reyes has already compiled the third highest fWAR of all shortstops since he began his career in 2003. Only Derek Jeter (41) and Ji...

Trading a 29-year old superstar...

Picture for a moment a team with a 29-year old superstar that is considered the face of the franchise. He plays for the team he cheered for as a boy and is loyal to them beyond dollars and cents. His team is a few years removed from contention but is not considered to be in contention in the near future regardless of what the ownership or diehard fans believe. Thus the team considers moving him to another team, for whom he could be "final piece to the puzzle", in exchange for bodies to fill the roster.

No, I'm not talking about a potential David Wright deal. I'm talking about Mike Piazza. The only difference is that, in 1998, the Mets were the team on the cusp of contention that needed Piazza. And no one is going to argue that Piazza meant less to the Dodgers in 1998 than Wright means to the Mets today.

Much has been written about whether or not the Mets should trade David Wright, including by me. Joel Sherman wrote an excellent column outlining what the Mets could get back in exchange for Wright. The blog Metzilla shared its thoughts on moving Wright, as did the SNY Why Guys.

If Sherman's reporting is accurate, I wonder what kind of bidding war could take place between the Angels and Rockies (the two teams rumored to be interested in Wright) if the Angels were to include Peter Bourjos and the Rockies were to include Dexter Fowler in a potential deal. I admit, these aren't marquee names. However, they could be pieces to build upon until the potentially marquee names of Wheeler, Harvey, Familia, Flores, Nimmo, et al arrive in Flushing.

Met fans were deeply depressed when Lee Mazzilli, the homegrown Brooklyn native and lone All-Star of the 1979 Mets team, was traded for two minor league pitchers. However, one of those guys netted in that deal was Ron Darling and the other, Walt Terrell, was flipped later for Howard Johnson. Of course, it only helped the psyche of anyone still hurting from that 1982 deal that Maz was a free agent in the middle of the 1986 season and was re-signed for the stretch run for the eventual 1986 World Champions.

Met fans got over Mazzilli, Dodger fans got over Piazza, and Red Sox fans certainly got over Garciaparra. This will be a sad off-season if Reyes signs elsewhere (which he probably will) and Wright gets traded (which he likely could.) However, life will go on for Met fans and eventually the core will be re-built to establish a consistent year-in, year-out, level of superiority and respectability.

My only request: keep Wright and Reyes out of the NL East and, preferably, both of them end up in the American League on different teams. Beyond that, I can only say as a fan, best of luck and thanks for the memories. Too bad there wasn't more to the minor league talent pool beyond those two guys to create something sustainable beyond 2006.

Klapisch: Backman shows loyalty to Mets - NorthJersey.com

Klapisch: Backman shows loyalty to Mets - NorthJersey.com

Rex to Play Pats Fan in Sandler Movie - TheJetsBlog.com

This is a funny idea.

A Statistical Analysis of Michael Bay Movies

The fact that someone did this is crazy. The fact that there is such a high correlation between explosions and profit is funny.

What is a New York payroll? | Metsblog.com

I never thought about it this way but Matt Cerrone of Metsblog.com makes a fantastic point about the difference between a New York baseball team and the other 28 baseball teams:

"The difference between New York sports and other cities is that our teams have to compete with eight other franchises, not to mention Broadway, world-class restaurants, historic museums, and a variety of other ways to spend an entertainment dollar."

Half Man, Half Amazing - TheJetsBlog.com

Yet another tale of the incredible Darrelle Revis. Best of all, it's starting to rub off on Revis-Lite.

Loyal to a Fault?

In his article on the Mets' chances of trading David Wright, Andy Martino shares a great tidbit about David Wright:

"It is also worth remembering Wright's loyalty close friends say, affectionately, that he is loyal to a fault and his genuine desire is to lead the Mets out of this latest wilderness. In an age of cold capitalism in sports, those qualities are rare."

Yes, those qualities are rare. And very heartwarming too.

Holly Petraeus Talks the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Senate | The White House

Holly Petraeus Talks the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Senate | The White House

"I'll tell you who is an attractive man: George Will."

There's a great exchange between Elaine, Kramer, and Jerry in the Seinfeld episode "The Jimmy":

Jerry: "Elaine and I we're just discussing whether I could admit a man is attractive."
Kramer: "Hmm! Oh! Yeah. I'll tell you who is an attractive man: George Will."
Jerry: "Really!"
Kramer: "Yeah! He has clean looks, scrubbed and shampooed and...."
Elaine: "He's smart...."
Kramer: "No, no I don't find him all that bright."

It turns out Kramer was right as George Will makes the ridiculous leap from an on-campus religious organization at Vanderbilt University expelling a member after finding out he was gay to claiming progressives would want pharmacists to lose their licences if they refuse to dispense the morning-after pill:

"Here, however, is how progressivism limits freedom by abolishing the public-private distinction: First, a human right — to, say, engage in homosexual practices — is deemed so personal that government should have no jurisdiction over it. Next, this right breeds another right, to the support or approval of others. Finally, those who disapprove of it must be coerced.

Sound familiar? It should. First, abortion should be an individual’s choice. Then, abortion should be subsidized by government. Next, pro-life pharmacists who object to prescribing abortifacients should lose their licenses. Thus do rights shrink to privileges reserved for those with government-approved opinions.

The question, at Vanderbilt and elsewhere, should not be whether a particular viewpoint is right but whether an expressive association has a right to espouse it. Unfortunately, in the name of tolerance, what is tolerable is being defined ever more narrowly."

This is what I don't get about conservatives like George Will. There is no nuance to their positions. What does one issue have to do with the other? Nothing. Then why would the same principles apply? To Will and other neocons, every idea must apply equally to everything completely unrelated to it. Either you are with them or you're against them. The whole world is one big gray area yet they are so blind to it that everything can only be black or white.

Another great part of that Seinfeld episode was the character of 'Jimmy', who used to refer to himself in the third person and got George Costanza to do the same.

In that case, Amod agrees with Kramer. Amod doesn't find George Will all that bright either.

R.A. Dickey Partnering With Bombay Teen Challenge

Let's Go Mets! New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will be partnering with Bombay Teen Challenge this January to end human trafficking in Mumbai. Check out the video:

Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and that's pretty much it.

If you read Afghanistan's history, the only men to conquer this essentially landless region were Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Everyone else pretty much failed miserably. Tom Friedman references that with yet another excellent column in today's New York Times:

"Last week, I toured the great Mogul compound of Fatehpur Sikri, near the Taj Mahal. My Indian guide mentioned in passing that in the late 1500s, when Afghanistan was part of India and the Mogul Empire, the Iranian Persians invaded Afghanistan in an effort to “seize the towns of Herat and Kandahar” and a great battle ensued. I had to laugh to myself: “Well, add them to that long list of suckers — countries certain that controlling Afghanistan’s destiny was vital to their national security.”"

The rest of Friedman's column is worth reading as well.

Excellent op-ed by Bill Gates in today's Washington Post

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates wrote an excellent op-ed piece in today's Washington Post, ahead of his presentation to the heads of the G-20 nations on Thursday. One key blurb from his piece:

"Aid is targeted to fill specific gaps in development. The most important of these gaps is innovation. When the private sector doesn’t have incentive, and poor governments don’t have the money, smart aid pays for breakthrough solutions. The green revolution that fed a billion people in the 1950s and ’60s never would have happened without advanced agricultural science funded by U.S. aid."

Bill Maher: Football & Baseball or Democrats & Republicans

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before but it never hurts to remind people, especially now since a great World Series has ended and the NFL season is in full swing:

The Castaways of Revis Island

This is just plain sick (and very enjoyable for Jet fan like myself). Pro Football Focus recaps the only 10 passes completed by the opposing team through the first seven games of this season to a receiver being covered by Darrelle Revis, resulting in a mind-boggling 2.9 QB rating on passes thrown in his direction.

Deion Sanders was a dominant cover corner but I haven't seen a defensive back this complete since Darrell Green.

Pictures of New Wall and Dimensions at Citi Field - Metsblog.com

They're bringing back the Blue Walls!!! ESPN.com has some great pictures too. The issue of the blue walls is something that was widely discussed and endorsed by the fan base on Metsblog.com and other blogs. In fact Alderson was surprised in September when a beat writer asked him about it but seems like his team did their research on the fan support for this.

Hopefully they can bring back winning baseball too. (That will probably take more work but at least they seem to be on the right track.)

Happy Diwali!!!

Diwali at the White House | The White House

Why Obama Should Pay Attention To Occupy Wall Street’s Critique Of Higher Education | The New Republic

Interesting op-ed in The New Republic:

"...for most college students, debt is a legitimate and growing problem. As recently as the early 1990s, most undergraduates didn’t borrow. Now, two-thirds emerge from college with a loan. Over the last three decades, college tuition has grown far faster than inflation, in good economic times and bad. Even health care costs have grown slower by comparison. Colleges like to blame feckless state legislators who won’t financially support higher learning, and in states like California they certainly have a point. But much of the guilt lies with higher education institutions themselves. They have spent billions on vanity building projects, administrative overhead, and money-losing sports programs in order to compete for status and fame. Students and parents have been left with the bill.

At the same time, the economy has increasingly organized itself so that people require a college degree in order to pursue a decent career. Unemployment rates during the great recession have been catastrophic for the uneducated even as graduates have mostly kept their jobs. So students and parents have little choice: pay what colleges choose to charge you, and if you don’t have the money in the bank, take out a loan."

For what it's worth, the White House is trying to get the message out that it's making an effort to Help Americans Manage Student Loan Debt.

New York Mets Do Wright Thing, Plan To Move Fences In At Citi Field | Rich Coutinho « CBS New York

WFAN's Rich Coutinho gives yet another explanation as to why it makes sense to move in the fences at Citi Field:

"Players talk to other players. I firmly believe most major leaguers knew the Mets were spooked by this park. If for no other reason than they were spooked by it as well. I remember Alex Rodriguez looking out at a screaming line drive he hit to left-center and appearing shocked when it did not leave the yard. And so the baseball world knew what a player would be up against offensively if he came to call Citi Field home."

I remember watching that game this season and as much as I enjoyed the look on A-Rod's face when he went into his home run trot only to watch the ball hit high off the wall and force him to hustle it to second base. However, the Yankees were only there for a three-game series and once the weekend was over A-Rod was going back to his little league ballpark in the Bronx to hit 40+ homers on a bunch of half swings again.

Climate change skeptics running out of excuses...

Eugene Robinson's column today talks about a climate change skeptic that decided he would disprove all the global warming science and ended up proving it himself.

I'm guessing the Republican Party will disavow this guy pretty quickly now that he hasn't fallen in line with the ideology. The future will talk about today's Right Wing like the way the church is described today for executing Copernicus for saying the sun is at the center of our solar system. Of course, if there is a future since we may not survive it based on the science proven in the op-ed.

Work has started on Citi Field’s new dimensions

Now I really feel like taking that new Citi Field ballpark tour.

Report: Mets To Announce New Dimensions For Citi Field After World Series - SB Nation New York

Report: Mets To Announce New Dimensions For Citi Field After World Series - SB Nation New York

Mets Expected To Announce 'Dramatic' Changes In Citi Field Dimensions - Baseball Nation

Mets Expected To Announce 'Dramatic' Changes In Citi Field Dimensions - Baseball Nation

Jose Reyes, David Wright, and that Great Wall of Flushing

This year's World Series is a brutal reminder for Met fans that the National League representative is the same team that knocked the Mets out in that magical 2006 season just five years ago. Joel Sherman acknowledges that reminder and takes it further by laying it out as a reason for letting go of both Jose Reyes and David Wright. Sherman writes:

"Losing both of their signature players this offseason might be too large a hit for an organization already in bad stead with its fan base. However, plugging the leaky ship around Wright and Reyes since that fateful 2006 NLCS has not worked. It might be time to build a new boat."

Sherman doesn't connect the two dots that, in my opinion, what happens with Reyes will determine what the Mets do with Wright. As I've said before, the current top prospects in the organization would not be ready for the MLB until Wright is past his prime and I'm begrudgingly starting to agree with the premise (as Sherman says in his column) that Wright is a great player but not the cornerstone player that Albert Pujols is.

Speaking of Wright, David Lennon of Newsday first reported/tweeted that the Mets should be making an announcement on the walls at CitiField shortly after the World Series. As reported on Metsblog.com:

"Lennon says to expect the left-field wall to be ‘shortened and pulled in,’ the right-center bullpen fences to be ‘pulled in,’ and Mo Zone ‘fenced off.’

The last day of the season, while broadcasting from Citi Field, WFAN’s Mike Francesa reported ALL fences in the outfield will be 8 feet tall next year. Also, he said both foul poles will remain exactly where they are, but the walls in center and by the Mo Zone in right field will be 390 feet."

I also had another thought when I was watching the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS this year. When they brought in the left field wall at Comerica Park, they moved the bullpens to the newly formed space between the old wall and the new wall, allowing the Tigers to add additional premium seats in right field. Considering the easy access to the current bullpen area in CitiField, it's worth investigating if the bullpens can be moved to left-center field and the current bullpen area turned into a picnic area like the one that used to be behind the left-field bleachers in Shea Stadium. I hope the team considers this, although it would be a shame if they do this and then trade Wright before he has a chance to play in smaller dimensions.

What Investment Bankers Can Learn From Stand-Up Comedians - Kevin J. Williams - Harvard Business Review

Great blog post at the Harvard Business Review, written by someone that quit investment banking to become a stand-up comedian. (I can sort of relate to that.)

Poverty And School Performance

Matt Yglesias has a great post at Think Progress about how parents' socioeconomic factors are a very large component in a child's educational success, as typified by this picture that is posted with the caption "This only works if mom can read."

This post is worth the time to read even if you're not a regular Matt Yglesias and/or Think Progress reader.

Jon Huntsman makes no one happy...

In an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal, former Utah Governor, former US Ambassador to China, and current Republican Presidential Candidate Jon Huntsman complains about Too Big To Fail and the Dodd-Frank Act. However, he says the following, which will not be well received on the Right:

"Congress should explore reforms now being considered by the U.K. to make the unwinding of its biggest banks less risky for the broader economy. It could impose a fee on banks whose size exceeds a certain percentage of the GDP to cover the cost they would impose on taxpayers in a bailout, thus eliminating the implicit subsidy of their too-big-to-fail status. Congress could also implement tax reform that eliminates the deduction for interest payments that gives a preference to debt over equity, thus ending subsidies for excess leverage."

Hmm, a model based on one from a European country? Strike 1 says the Republican Party that prefers fake "American exceptionalism" over logic and reason any day of the week (and twice on Sunday). Impose a fee on banks that are too big? This is Socialism (as they see it) by having the government try to limit the size of a business; strike 2! Tax reform that eliminates the deduction for interest payments? Hey, that's a corporate tax increase! Strike 3!

Then he says the following:

"Once too-big-to-fail is fixed, we could then more easily repeal the law's unguided regulatory missiles, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. American banks provide advice and access to capital to the entrepreneurs and small business owners who have always been our economic center of gravity. We need a banking sector that is able to serve that critical role again. Otherwise the sector's endgame will be continental Europe—an unsustainable socialist state and the death of entrepreneurship."

This very obviously misses the point of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whose job is akin to the Better Business Bureau and protects consumers from those de-regulated companies that are allowed to profit from taking advantage of consumers since there is no regulation to prevent them from acting unethically. So the Democrats that liked you (like the guy that appointed you Ambassador to China) won't like this op-ed piece either.

You're usually a reasonable sounding guy Jon but the policy analyst that wrote this piece for you (FYI, politicians don't write op-eds for themselves. Someone writes it for them.) clearly doesn't share your sense of reason.

Detailed, informative protest sign.

At least it's thorough, isn't it? The post at The Monkey Cage is equally interesting and almost as detailed.

Pro Wrestler Interrupts Wedding

Count on the awesome improv troupe Improv Everywhere to take the opportunity to turn the wedding of two troupe members into another stunt:

Take a Guided Tour of Citi Field

This is pretty cool. Nifty little way to make some money on the side from diehard fans like me too.

Wonky Protest Sign Highlights Growing Inequality

This sign gets to the point very quickly. (Photo from Think Progress.)

Why Occupy Wall Street is Not the Tea Party of the Left | Foreign Affairs

This piece definitely makes you think deeply about how Occupy Wall Street is different:

"If Occupy Wall Street resembles any movement in recent American history, it would actually be the new women's movement of the 1970s. When that struggle emerged in the wake of the civil rights movement, it shocked conservatives and befuddled liberals. The first saw the activists as a bunch of bra-burning anarchists; the second considered them unladylike, or, well-meaning liberals gone off the reservation. Although the leaders of the new women's movement had policies they wanted on the agenda, their foremost demand was for recognition of, and credit for, the gendered reality of everyday life. Likewise, when the Occupy Wall Street activists attack Wall Street, it is not capitalism as such they are targeting, but a system of economic relations that has lost its way and failed to serve the public."

Protests And Power: Should Liberals Support Occupy Wall Street? | The New Republic

The New Republic is skeptical about whether liberals should support Occupy Wall Street. However, The Monkey Cage is skeptical about the motivations behind The New Republic's skepticism. Got that?

As gas stations close, Manhattan runs on empty | Crain's New York Business

Only 11 gas stations left in Manhattan south of 96th Street, and seven of them are on 10th and 11th Avenues.

1963 Ford Thunderbird magazine ad with unfinished Shea in the background (Pretty Cool!)

From Metsblog.com: A great ad in the October 1963 issue of Popular Science magazine with an unfinished Shea Stadium in the background.

Simms to Bavaro against the 49ers - December 1, 1986

In yesterday's Giants-Seahawks game, Eli Manning had a pass play to Tight End Jake Ballard, who rammed through some Seattle defenders to gain a few extra yards. The announcers calling that game said it was Bavaro-esque (it was not). It got me thinking though if there was a YouTube clip out there of the catch Mark Bavaro made in a Monday night game when he plowed through the San Francisco 49ers defense. I found the clip, which is below. The picture and sound quality are weak (it looks like the guy was recording it with a camera pointed at the TV.)

Even though I'm a life-long Jet fan, I never hated the Giants (unlike the way I despise a certain baseball team in the Bronx) and this clip of Bavaro, which I remember watching live when I was 13-years old, is still my favorite Monday Night Football highlight of all time. ENJOY!

Trading David Wright: What You Need to Know

Howard Megdal of The Journal News' LoHud Mets Blog writes a primer on what trading David Wright would entail for the Mets. He repeats a point I made about a week ago about trading Wright becoming a possibility of Jose Reyes LEAVES rather than re-signs:

"Look, Wright is obviously a good fit with the Rockies- like Jose Reyes, he’s a good fit pretty much anywhere, since he’s one of the best players at his position. Still, that doesn’t mean it won’t make sense to trade him, given certain other realities. Here are some things that are worth keeping in mind:

“Should the Mets trade David Wright?” is not a binary question. I cannot stress this first point enough. Trade him or don’t trade him has everything to do with what the Mets can get for him in return, and what the overall plan for the roster is. I would actually argue the opposite of what Renck does- that it is precisely if the Mets don’t sign Jose Reyes that the prospect of dealing Wright starts to make more sense.

(And let’s not pretend this wasn’t all avoidable, by the way. It only makes sense not to keep your developed superstars in their 20s if you are suffering from the kind of financial problems that the Mets are.)"

Mike Silva of NY Baseball Digest suggests some interesting trade scenarios if the Mets choose to move Wright (and possibly Mike Pelfrey) to the Colorado Rockies. A Pelfrey and Wright for prospects trade sounds similar to the one made by the Tigers and Marlins in December 2007. Even though that trade has had mixed results for both teams, you can make a case for it having an equal impact on both teams involved.

Colbert Super PAC ad on the NBA Strike

You know Mark Cuban has more up his sleeve than just this ad with Stephen Colbert's Super PAC:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

Just came across this Apple ad that never aired when it was created in 1997, which was voiced over by Steve Jobs:



"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."

Likewise, The Rachel Maddow Show re-ran the clip of the introduction of the Apple Macintosh from 1984, which was fun to see again after so many years:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Why Steve Jobs' death matters

Much is being written today, and will likely be written for a few days, about the life and death of Steve Jobs. I was wondering why I felt so sad about the passing of Steve Jobs. Then I remembered the quote about the guy who fell to his knees crying at FDR's funeral. When a man next to him asked him, "Did you know the president?", the man replied,"No, but he knew me."

That's what the passing of Steve Jobs feels like. This man was given up for adoption as a child, led a fairly ordinary life in his early years, dropped out of college (which is probably something many more of us thought about doing than actually admit to thinking about doing) to lead a much more "adventurous" life, and always followed his own path. He lived the life we all hope to live even if we know we have the slimmest of chances of actually accomplishing all that he did.

The question is, why does it matter? As Matt Bai explains in The New York Times (and as The Onion, in its typical fashion, more succinctly and accurately puts it), Steve Jobs had an ability to understand how people could benefit from something they never thought of before. Many people say he was all about marketing but even the best marketing people can't get people to buy something they don't need or don't like.

More than anything, as the obituary in The Economist pointed out, he utilized his experience in the regular, everyday layman's world to viscerally understand what people do and don't like at a time when the technology world was almost entirely populated by people who only knew technology and very little of anything else. He didn't give the customer what they were asking for; he thought about what they could use and found a way to give it to them in a way that the average person can use anytime, anywhere. In fact I'm even typing this on the pre-installed 'Notes' app on my iPad as I wait for my NJ Transit train to pull out of NY Penn Station. (Although I have the 'Wi-Fi only' iPad so I had to copy and paste this into Blogger when I got home.) That explains why he was such a pioneer in education, where a child's curiosity can naturally get piqued if he or she can quickly and fundamentally grasp the device or program they are using.

He wasn't a perfect person but perhaps that's the most important part about Steve Jobs. He accomplished so much not despite his many imperfections but because of them. He was quoted as saying he's been a lousy father (then again, supposedly so was Gandhi), he was called a micromanager, he was considered egotistical (to the point that the New York Times reported there are 317 patents with his name as one of the co-creators). Yet he understood people in a way very few people really do.

It was because he embraced his imperfections that he understood the imperfections in all of us. It was because he understood that we are imperfect beings that he sought to give us things we could understand (such as the point-and-click usability of the Mac) but knew where to draw the line when it crossed over into something we would never get (like the restriction on users accessing the operating system on a Mac).

The world will miss Steve Jobs because he was so unique. But the fact that he was unique and there aren't many people in the world that can see things from the average person's point of view is the saddest reality of all and why we will miss him. He had such a profound impact on our lives while exemplifying talents that we all assume we have yet none of us really do (again, as The Onion astutely points out.) The official White House statement hit the nail on the head when it said:

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented."

We will all miss not just Steve Jobs' contribution to the world but his fundamental ability to understand the people in the world both as individuals and as a collective society.

Fortunately the world he helped create gives us the ability to keep his digital memory alive, such as his commencement speech at Stanford University six years ago.



Rest in Peace Steve Jobs. As a Buddhist, I hope you have found nirvana.

Why the Proposed Changes to Citi Field Should be Made - Rising Apple

All great points. Now let's see it happen soon.

1986 playoffs still resonate 25 years later – USATODAY.com

Probably the greatest baseball playoffs of all time.

Reagan Called For An End To ‘Crazy’ Tax Loopholes That Let Millionaires Pay Less Than Bus Drivers

Great video showing Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan essentially saying the same thing:



Sshh! Don't tell any conservatives Reagan was a pragmatist. For them it's like a kid finding out there's no Santa Claus.

"...if it weren't for the politicians, the economy would have a fighting chance."

The Economist explains how politicians are getting in the way of, rather than spurring on, a recovery:

"In America, the biggest policy-related threat is the fiscal tightening that will happen automatically in the next four months as prior stimulus expires and legislated cuts to discretionary spending bite. Barack Obama has proposed $447 billion in new or renewed stimulus to neutralise that threat, but it requires an ambitious deal in Congress’ super committee, and odds of such a deal by its November 23rd deadline are shrinking. Democrats are reportedly trying to get it to consider tax hikes immediately, and Republicans are apparently saying that puts a big deficit reduction deal out of reach."

Blue-collar Republican voters vote against their self-interest. It was only a matter of time before Republican politicians started doing the same. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Rico Brogna: New York Mets Should Say Goodbye To Free Agent Shortstop Jose Reyes « CBS New York

Finally, someone that said what I was thinking! Former Met and MLB first baseman Rico Brogna writes this in his opinion piece on Jose Reyes:

"I have seen this young talent rise through the minor leagues, scouted him in his rookie and sophomore seasons in New York, and now have finally seen his development take him into his veteran years (free agent years) as a major league baseball player. My opinion and belief as a scout and front office executive (baseball ops) guy is to say “thank you” to Jose, but we are moving in the proverbial different direction.

Wish him the best, and start growing your roster with other players … and yes, I would trade David Wright as well (for pitching, pitching, and more pitching!)."

My personal belief is Reyes is the tipping point that determines the Mets philosophy over the next five years. If they re-sign him, they should keep Wright and build a championship-caliber team in 2-3 years while both are still in their prime.

If Reyes leaves, the current top prospects in the organization would not be ready for the MLB until Wright is way past his prime. In that case they should trade Wright and hope to build the team around Ike Davis, Brandon Nimmo, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Zack Wheeler, and whatever haul Wright brings in to be playoff caliber squad in 3-5 years.

The difference between NJ Republicans and the Tea Party folks

The Week lists five reasons why Chris Christie cannot win the GOP nomination. They are:

1. Christie is no hardliner on immigration
2. He has a soft spot for gun control
3. Hardliners won't like his stand on the "ground zero mosque"
4. He's got an uncomfortable Madoff connection
5. A possible clincher: He believes people are causing climate change

So aside from #4 (which, if you read the article, is a dubious connection at best), Gov. Christie would be unacceptable to the Republican base because he prefers to take his posiitons based on common sense rather than party orthodoxy? I'm no Chris Christie fan but this essentially validates Bill Maher's claim in 2009 that Democrats Have Moved To The Right and The Right Has Moved Into The Mental Hospital.

First Lady goes on incognito Target run!

This is why Michelle Obama is just plain awesome! Apparently the Target store didn't know until the cashier recognized her. The store manager was quoted in the CNN article:

""We did not have advance notice; it was as big a surprise to us as it was to everyone else," she said.

She continued, "In hindsight, there was a sweep, but it was not obvious to us beforehand. When she left we thought 'Oh, that's what that was!'""

Drama of Rays, Red Sox and Braves made for unforgettable final day - Tom Verducci - SI.com

Great column by Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated. Probably one of the finest sports columns I've read in a long time.

Where collapses by Red Sox and Braves rank among worst ever - Cliff Corcoran - SI.com

Where collapses by Red Sox and Braves rank among worst ever - Cliff Corcoran - SI.com

Replace "Derek Jeter" with "Brandon Nimmo" and replace "good Yankee" with "good Met"

I recently heard a story during a Yankee telecast (one of the few I watched this season) that when the Yankees drafted Derek Jeter with the 6th overall pick in the 1992 draft, he was brought to meet the team and management at Yankee Stadium. Upon meeting Jeter and his parents, then-manager Buck Showalter remarked, "I don't know if he's going to be a good ballplayer but he's going to be a good Yankee." Now the die hard Met fan will question the existence of "a good Yankee" but I think Showalter's point was that he would represent the organization well and not embarrass himself or the team, which I begrudgingly admit is generally the norm for Jeter.

Watching this video of the Mets first-round pick in this year's draft brings that statement to mind. Keep in mind that this kid is only 18 years old.



Aside from the maturity in the press conference, I noticed he has a sweet swing, which is really smooth. He is often compared to Andy Van Slyke, which is a pretty good comparison if he has that kind of glove to go along with that kind of bat.

Of course I'm no expert on evaluating talent but out of the big three outfield prospects the Mets had in the mid-2000's, I thought the order of talent was Carlos Gomez, then Lastings Milledge, and then Fernando Martinez (I may be proven right here). On the pitching side, I felt that Mike Pelfrey should have gone in the Johan Santana trade and the Mets should have held on to Philip Humber (which I was nearly wrong about but may be proven right in the end too.) Perhaps it was the years prior to then hearing about the over hyped Alex's (Ochoa and Escobar) that conditioned me to look for signs of talent rather than take everyone else's word for it.

Then again, if I'm what I've read about Bryce Harper blowing a kiss to the opposing pitcher after hitting a home run is an indication of his psychological state, I may be proven right in the end with what I said about him two years ago.

Better Government Doesn’t Mean Smaller or Bigger: Edward Glaeser - Bloomberg View

Great column on Bloomberg View by Harvard Economics Professor Edward Glaeser, who says the big government vs. small government debate in Washington is a red herring. As Prof. Glaeser says, the goal should be for a smart government. He even takes a quick jab against the Right:

"Republicans, who often pledge to reduce federal spending, don’t have a great track record shrinking the share of government to GDP. Federal outlays as a share of GDP rose under three of the last four Republican presidents, and it’s easy to understand why. Cutting taxes, which Republican administrations did regularly, is fun and popular, but doing so without lowering spending is just passing the buck to our children."

and later on against the Left:

"Cutting even 15 percent of [Government's GDP share] will be tough, given that advocates of liberal spending will argue that our government is already quite small relative to the size of the public sector in other developed countries, and cutting 15 percent would mean reducing government’s share of the economy by 1 percentage point."

Today's Flavor of the Day: NJ Gov. Chris Christie

It seems like there is such disappointment with the Republican field right now that everyone is trying to entice New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to join the already convoluted race. "Should he or shouldn't he?" aside, Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post and Politicker NJ both weigh in -- no Christie-related pun intended (although Politicker NJ does bring it up) -- with three and five reasons, respectively, on whether or not he should run.

Additionally, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight tries to figure out how Christie differentiates from Republican frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Perry.

And these are just the article about this topic today. If this Republican field gets any less appealing, who knows how many calls there will be for Christie to enter the race. Stay tuned.

Family dinners may have health benefits for teens - Boston.com

Great post at Boston.com about a survey that indicates family dinners have a number of health benefits for teens:

"“It’s not the food at the table but the parent engagement that takes place during dinner when parents ask how a kid’s day was,” said Kathleen Ferrigno, director of marketing for the [National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University]. That daily conversational experience paves the way for communication when problems arise like pressure from a friend to smoke or drink."

David Frum: Why our government is broken - CNN.com

Former Bush speechwriter David Frum pens an excellent column on how politics has changed from the 1950's to the 1980's to today:

"Under the old rules, there were certain things that political parties did not do -- even though theoretically they could. If one party controlled the Senate and another party controlled the presidency, the Senate party did not reject all the president's nominees. The party that controlled the House did not refuse to schedule votes on the president's budgets. Individual senators did not use secret holds to sway national policy. The filibuster was reserved for rare circumstances -- not as a routine 60-vote requirement on every Senate vote.

It's incredible to look back now on how the Reagan tax cut passed the Democratic House in 1981. The Democratic House leaderships could have refused to schedule votes on Reagan's tax plans. Instead, they not only allowed the tax plan to proceed -- but they allowed 48 of 243 Democrats to break ranks on the key procedural vote without negative consequences to their careers in the Democratic party. (Rep. Dan Glickman of Kansas, for example, who voted for the tax cuts would rise to become Secretary of Agriculture under President Clinton.)

Hard to imagine Speaker John Boehner allowing his Republicans to get away with similar behavior on a measure proposed by President Obama."

Although I personally think he conveniently avoids the issue of how usage of the filibuster has became so prominent (Republican senators after the 2006 Democratic takeover of both Houses of Congress), the column is an excellent read on how our politics got to where it is today.

$10 million prize in a national election lottery? I'd get out the vote in that election!

Matt Miller writes a very interesting and thoroughly detailed column in The Washington Post about the type of stump speech a pragmatic centrist third party candidate would make. Although I don't agree with his ideal notion of a third party, this column really puts some cold hard truths out there:

On Education:
"We’ve been tinkering at the edges when it comes to school improvement, because we’ve ignored the most important question: Who should teach? While the world’s highest-performing school systems — those in places like Singapore, Finland and South Korea — recruit their teachers from the top third of their graduating class, we recruit ours from the middle and bottom thirds, especially for schools in poor neighborhoods. This “strategy” isn’t working. Up through the 1970s, the quality of our teacher corps was in effect subsidized by discrimination, because women and minorities didn’t have many other job opportunities. All that’s changed, but as career options have multiplied for those who used to become teachers, salaries haven’t kept pace to attract top talent."

On Health Care:
"We need to make sure every person in America has basic health coverage that doesn’t break the bank. To achieve that, Democrats must accept a private insurance industry and Republicans must accept that some people can’t afford decent policies on their own. This “grand bargain” is about liberals agreeing that innovation shouldn’t be regulated out of U.S. health care and conservatives agreeing that justice has to be regulated into it. The 50 million uninsured may seem invisible, but today their ranks are equal to the combined populations of Oklahoma, Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi, Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, West Virginia, Nebraska, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Montana, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Alaska, Vermont and Wyoming. Would America turn its back on these 25 states if they all lacked basic health coverage? That is what we’ve been doing for decades."

On the Financial Markets:
"The banking system is now more concentrated than it was before the financial crisis. There are two ways to avoid the “too big to fail” threat that still exists. We can limit the risks these big banks take — though regulators don’t have a great track record of getting this right. The most important thing we can do, therefore, is make sure big banks have enough capital to absorb any conceivable losses. Yet bank lobbyists are now swarming Washington to keep capital requirements low – in part because higher levels of capital reduce what top bankers can pay themselves. Their bonuses are often based on such metrics as a firm’s “return on equity,” which can be goosed by continually piling debt atop a tiny equity base. That’s Wall Street’s plan. Heads, I win; tails, taxpayers lose. Again."

His idea for turning the national election into a lottery with a $10 million grand prize is definitely out-of-the-box, as is the recommendation to lower the voting age to 15. All-in-all, it's definitely worth the time to read this article all the way through and see how far you actually are from these ideas, regardless of your political ideology.

"Tell me lies, Tell me sweet little lies (Tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies...)"

PolitiFact does its usual fact check of the latest Republican debate. I don't know if it was because the candidates knew it would be Fox News viewers watching or if they were just having a very comfortable day but there were some whoppers in the debate.

"Oh, no, no you can't disguise..."

A subway ad that can only run in New York...

One of the reasons I love the New York City subway: would this ad run in any other city in the United States WITHOUT causing controversy? I took this picture on the #1 train earlier this week.