Sunday, February 27, 2005
Bryan Bullington's 2004 Stats, 1
Part 1 of an expected 3 parts (I hope)
Like I need to be spending time on this, three days before we leave for Florida. Laundry and packing and house-preparation go undone, as I sit here digging up stats for Bryan Bullington's 2004 season at AA Altoona. Bullington, you recall, was our somewhat controversial #1-overall pick in the 2002 draft. If you aren't familiar with the details, you can find a description of that draft here.
Why am I ignoring my real work to do this? Well, there was this comments thread at Honest Wagner yesterday (in reference to this article at the Pirates' website), where I chimed in with my little opinion based on my memory of the games that I saw or heard Bullington pitch last season:
Then I thought to myself, Self, just how do the facts correspond with your anecdotal memory of them? Since I am always searching for interesting 'technical' subjects to prove that I am not just an annoying-sideline-chick where Bucco Blogging is concerned, I thought that this topic was worth a little looking into. Click-Drag, Ctrl-C, Click, Click, Ctrl-V. Lather, rinse, repeat.
FYI, and attention Jason Dambach: Why are all the 2004 stats GONE from the Curve website? I am boggled. They just put all sorts of new Javascriptishness and twitchy marketing links all over that site, and REMOVED THE ACTUAL CONTENT. Jason, honey, I love you but you have to do better than this. People need to be able to look up prior years' information on players, season by season and player by player, all the way back to 1999. That is what a team website is FOR, not just for shilling merchandise.
Anyway, here's Part 1, which due to my current time constraints is just the raw data I've assembled from the indicated sources.
Below BB's game-by-game stats, I've also included some aggregate 2004 numbers from other Altoona starters, as a point of comparison. I arbitrarily cut off at a minimum of 9 starts, since that's what Zach Duke had after he arrived at AA in midseason. I don't have the analysis done on any of these numbers yet (BB/SO ratios, conclusions, etc), but that's in the works for Part 2. If you can't wait for me and you want to get started number-crunching, and post some results/opinions in the comments, please feel free. I'd be very grateful, and I'll give you credit in Part 2 once I post it. As I said, I shouldn't really be doing any of this this right now to begin with. DogBoy's gonna kill me if he finds out.
I also hope to add a Part 3 where I post some details of Bullington's batter's counts in some of his 2004 games. Not all the games at the MILB site had the counts indicated, and unfortunately there were no complete pitch-counts (including foul balls) given even for the ones with batter's counts, which is really what I was after. But I'll put up what I was able to assemble. That may have to wait till I get to Florida though, maybe if we have a rainy day down there (oh banish the thought!). I sure do wish some site somewhere would post minor-league pitching details on a per-batter basis where the complete pitch count was included. I don't know if I've ever seen that anywhere online, even for MLB pitchers. Coach Jerry ALWAYS had me keep pitch count stats, even to knowing whether the strikes or balls were heat or offspeed.
Bryan Bullington, 2004 appearances for Altoona Curve (AA)
taken from:
http://tinyurl.com/3znmh
full link:
http://milb.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=minorbaseball&page=
milb-east/teams/331/schedule.aspx?team=331,season=
taken from:
http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/teamstats?league=EAST&team=ALTOONA&type=pit
Like I need to be spending time on this, three days before we leave for Florida. Laundry and packing and house-preparation go undone, as I sit here digging up stats for Bryan Bullington's 2004 season at AA Altoona. Bullington, you recall, was our somewhat controversial #1-overall pick in the 2002 draft. If you aren't familiar with the details, you can find a description of that draft here.
Why am I ignoring my real work to do this? Well, there was this comments thread at Honest Wagner yesterday (in reference to this article at the Pirates' website), where I chimed in with my little opinion based on my memory of the games that I saw or heard Bullington pitch last season:
"Just from what I've seen of them in Altoona, either Snell or Duke have way more potential for front-of-the-rotation success than BB. Even disregarding the whole Upton thing, I would like to think that when you pick a pitcher #1 overall, you can expect him to have the gumption to become an ace guy. Nothing like that has been in evidence so far, IMO. I can't recall seeing one game where BB was lights-out, and I can think of several with the other two. I hope I end up wrong, but I just see Bullington as Kris Benson without the horny wife."The comments thread continued onward from there, it's worth a read.
Then I thought to myself, Self, just how do the facts correspond with your anecdotal memory of them? Since I am always searching for interesting 'technical' subjects to prove that I am not just an annoying-sideline-chick where Bucco Blogging is concerned, I thought that this topic was worth a little looking into. Click-Drag, Ctrl-C, Click, Click, Ctrl-V. Lather, rinse, repeat.
FYI, and attention Jason Dambach: Why are all the 2004 stats GONE from the Curve website? I am boggled. They just put all sorts of new Javascriptishness and twitchy marketing links all over that site, and REMOVED THE ACTUAL CONTENT. Jason, honey, I love you but you have to do better than this. People need to be able to look up prior years' information on players, season by season and player by player, all the way back to 1999. That is what a team website is FOR, not just for shilling merchandise.
Anyway, here's Part 1, which due to my current time constraints is just the raw data I've assembled from the indicated sources.
Below BB's game-by-game stats, I've also included some aggregate 2004 numbers from other Altoona starters, as a point of comparison. I arbitrarily cut off at a minimum of 9 starts, since that's what Zach Duke had after he arrived at AA in midseason. I don't have the analysis done on any of these numbers yet (BB/SO ratios, conclusions, etc), but that's in the works for Part 2. If you can't wait for me and you want to get started number-crunching, and post some results/opinions in the comments, please feel free. I'd be very grateful, and I'll give you credit in Part 2 once I post it. As I said, I shouldn't really be doing any of this this right now to begin with. DogBoy's gonna kill me if he finds out.
I also hope to add a Part 3 where I post some details of Bullington's batter's counts in some of his 2004 games. Not all the games at the MILB site had the counts indicated, and unfortunately there were no complete pitch-counts (including foul balls) given even for the ones with batter's counts, which is really what I was after. But I'll put up what I was able to assemble. That may have to wait till I get to Florida though, maybe if we have a rainy day down there (oh banish the thought!). I sure do wish some site somewhere would post minor-league pitching details on a per-batter basis where the complete pitch count was included. I don't know if I've ever seen that anywhere online, even for MLB pitchers. Coach Jerry ALWAYS had me keep pitch count stats, even to knowing whether the strikes or balls were heat or offspeed.
Bryan Bullington, 2004 appearances for Altoona Curve (AA)
taken from:
http://tinyurl.com/3znmh
full link:
http://milb.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=minorbaseball&page=
milb-east/teams/331/schedule.aspx?team=331,season=
Date IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Record
4/11 5.1 4 1 0 2 0 0 0.00 ND
4/17 6.0 3 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 W 1-0
4/23 3.2 5 3 2 2 7 0 1.20 ND
4/29 5.0 6 3 3 2 4 0 2.25 ND
5/4 5.1 7 3 3 0 3 1 2.84 ND
5/10 3.0 7 4 4 3 3 3 3.81 L 1-1
5/16 5.0 4 1 1 1 2 0 3.51 W 2-1
5/22 6.0 7 2 1 0 5 0 3.20 W 3-1
5/27 5.2 7 3 3 2 3 1 3.40 W 4-1
6/1 4.0 10 6 5 1 6 0 4.04 L 4-2
6/6 6.0 5 2 2 1 7 1 3.93 W 5-2
6/11 6.0 6 3 3 4 4 1 3.98 ND
6/17 4.2 6 6 4 4 4 1 4.25 L 5-3
6/22 6.2 6 5 2 2 3 0 4.11 ND
6/28 7.0 4 1 1 3 2 0 3.86 W 6-3
7/3 6.0 5 2 2 3 2 0 3.80 L 6-4
7/8 5.0 7 3 3 2 4 1 3.89 L 6-5
7/20 5.0 9 5 5 1 5 3 4.15 W 7-5
7/27 6.0 7 6 4 1 5 1 4.26 L 7-6
8/1 6.1 7 5 5 1 4 2 4.43 L 7-7
8/7 6.2 3 1 1 3 5 0 4.25 W 8-7
8/13 6.0 6 2 2 3 2 1 4.19 W 9-7
8/18 7.0 8 3 3 0 4 0 4.17 W 10-7
8/23 6.0 8 4 4 2 7 1 4.25 W 11-7
8/28 6.0 7 1 1 1 4 0 4.13 W 12-7
9/2 5.2 6 2 2 2 4 1 4.10 ND
--------------------------------------------------------
tot 145.0 160 77 66 47 100 18 4.10 12-7
taken from:
http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/teamstats?league=EAST&team=ALTOONA&type=pit
Pitcher W L S ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER
Z Duke 5 1 0 1.58 9 9 0 0 51.1 41 11 9
B Bradley 5 4 0 3.11 19 19 0 0 101.1 85 42 35
I Snell 11 7 0 3.16 26 26 3 2 151.0 147 54 53
M Peterson 9 6 0 4.03 26 25 0 0 140.2 133 69 63
B Bullington 12 7 0 4.10 26 26 0 0 145.0 160 77 66
M Connolly 8 7 0 4.71 21 21 0 0 112.2 124 65 59
L Jacobsen 5 2 0 5.32 14 13 0 0 64.1 76 44 38
B Borner 4 6 1 5.47 38 9 0 0 100.1 120 76 61
Pitcher HR BB SO HB WP BK
Z Duke 2 10 36 1 1 1
B Bradley 8 41 78 3 14 1
I Snell 16 40 142 5 6 0
M Peterson 18 67 119 6 9 2
B Bullington 18 47 100 9 5 0
M Connolly 10 41 103 6 5 0
L Jacobsen 8 22 40 3 4 0
B Borner 17 30 62 1 1 0
Friday, February 25, 2005
TV & Radio For Grapefruit Games
Just to put this information in one place (all times Eastern):
Television:
And then the regular season kicks off on Mon 4/4 at PNC, vs Milwaukee, which will be televised on FSNP at 1:35pm.
I can't vouch for the reliability of all the Pirates Radio Network stations airing all of the listed games. I know that my own stupid local AM station often decides that it is more important to anesthetize its geezer clientele with a midafternoon dose of Andre Kostelanetz than to fulfill its obligation as part of the PRN. We don't get the Sunday extended pregames during the season either (Littlefield report, etc), because evidently God doesn't like baseball before 1:30pm. I end up having to pay for an MLB audio subscription just to get the ST games and the Sunday pregame stuff.
An unrelated television factoid, pertaining to the Altoona Curve: I've had confirmation from the team that there will be no local television broadcasts of any Curve games this season, none, nada. In years past there were usually at least two or three games aired on either Channel 10 or 6, but the stations no longer want to give up their sitcoms and Amazing Fear Of Idolizing Apprentice Bachelor Survivors in order to broadcast night games. So if you want to watch the Curve and can't get to BCB, your only option will be to pay $4.95 a pop for broadband video at this site, although the Curve doesn't appear in its list of teams yet. I am told they will. This is to be for home games only, although I guess you could watch them from the other team's feed when they're on the road, if that team has a similar deal going. Being local to Blair County, I have no wish to pay $5 to watch a home game on my computer when I can go see it live for $7. Duh.
Sorry I don't have any pithy commentary on the reports coming out of Pirate City, but I am just not in the mood to digest stuff off of these here Internets and reconfigure it for posting on this blog. My own abilities as an analyst are below normal right now anyway, as I just had an epidural c-spine cortisone injection yesterday (roids!) and it's not much fun to sit here and type. Just go read Rowdy, he's so much better than I could ever be at keeping up with the daily stuff. I bow down to you, Rowdy.
DogBoy and I head south in 5 days, and one week from tomorrow I WILL BE AT MCKECHNIE FIELD. We received 6 more inches of snow here in the last day or so, and I can't get away from it soon enough. I've got orders to transport at least 3 pounds of chipped ham to my sister in Georgia. Does chipped ham freeze okay?
I promise I will do my best to post first-person observations, comments, and pictures once I am in Bradenton, to make it up to yinz all for your patience. I'll be on a borrowed dialup account so online time will be an issue, but I'll do the best I can.
Television:
Thu 3/3 1:15pm @ NYY ESPNRadio:
Mon 3/14 7:15pm @ NYY FSNP
Sun 3/20 1:05pm vs BOS FSNP
Sat 3/26 1:05pm vs PHI FSNP
Thu 3/3 1:15pm @ NYY
Sat 3/5 1:05pm vs MIN
Sun 3/6 1:05pm @ TB
Sat 3/12 1:05pm vs CIN
Sun 3/13 1:05pm @ PHIL
Mon 3/14 7:15pm @ NYY
Fri 3/18 7:05pm @ PHIL
Sat 3/19 1:15pm @ NYY
Sun 3/20 1:05pm vs BOS
Sat 3/26 1:05pm vs PHIL
Sun 3/27 1:05pm @ BOS
Sat 4/2 1:05pm @ MIN
And then the regular season kicks off on Mon 4/4 at PNC, vs Milwaukee, which will be televised on FSNP at 1:35pm.
I can't vouch for the reliability of all the Pirates Radio Network stations airing all of the listed games. I know that my own stupid local AM station often decides that it is more important to anesthetize its geezer clientele with a midafternoon dose of Andre Kostelanetz than to fulfill its obligation as part of the PRN. We don't get the Sunday extended pregames during the season either (Littlefield report, etc), because evidently God doesn't like baseball before 1:30pm. I end up having to pay for an MLB audio subscription just to get the ST games and the Sunday pregame stuff.
An unrelated television factoid, pertaining to the Altoona Curve: I've had confirmation from the team that there will be no local television broadcasts of any Curve games this season, none, nada. In years past there were usually at least two or three games aired on either Channel 10 or 6, but the stations no longer want to give up their sitcoms and Amazing Fear Of Idolizing Apprentice Bachelor Survivors in order to broadcast night games. So if you want to watch the Curve and can't get to BCB, your only option will be to pay $4.95 a pop for broadband video at this site, although the Curve doesn't appear in its list of teams yet. I am told they will. This is to be for home games only, although I guess you could watch them from the other team's feed when they're on the road, if that team has a similar deal going. Being local to Blair County, I have no wish to pay $5 to watch a home game on my computer when I can go see it live for $7. Duh.
Sorry I don't have any pithy commentary on the reports coming out of Pirate City, but I am just not in the mood to digest stuff off of these here Internets and reconfigure it for posting on this blog. My own abilities as an analyst are below normal right now anyway, as I just had an epidural c-spine cortisone injection yesterday (roids!) and it's not much fun to sit here and type. Just go read Rowdy, he's so much better than I could ever be at keeping up with the daily stuff. I bow down to you, Rowdy.
DogBoy and I head south in 5 days, and one week from tomorrow I WILL BE AT MCKECHNIE FIELD. We received 6 more inches of snow here in the last day or so, and I can't get away from it soon enough. I've got orders to transport at least 3 pounds of chipped ham to my sister in Georgia. Does chipped ham freeze okay?
I promise I will do my best to post first-person observations, comments, and pictures once I am in Bradenton, to make it up to yinz all for your patience. I'll be on a borrowed dialup account so online time will be an issue, but I'll do the best I can.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Selah, Hunter
Damn, damn, this is unexpected and sad news. First Spalding Gray (was it a year ago already?), now Hunter Thompson, voluntarily declining to go on living.
This trumps anything coming out of Bradenton, at least for the day. Time to get out the Wild Turkey and raise a glass.
This trumps anything coming out of Bradenton, at least for the day. Time to get out the Wild Turkey and raise a glass.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
How Not To Be Seen
(photo taken LAST March)
Catcher J.R. House, perennial favorite for the "Most Breakable Pirate" award, has already clinched the 2005 prize [pirates.mlb.com] with an impressive performance that has him likely to be out for the season before his Spring Training even managed to get underway. Damage to his right labrum and rotator cuff was discovered during his initial physical upon arrival in Florida, this past Thursday. He's to see Dr. Andrews in Birmingham on Monday, and if surgery is warranted, he'll be under the knife on Tuesday. Buh-bye, 2005.
Here is a quick list of House's injuries since being drafted in the 5th round in 1999:
• 2000, Hickory: out a month with mono (not an injury but he was on the DL so it counts)
• 2001, Altoona: strained left rib cage (on DL twice during season, late April and most of May)
• 2002, Altoona: surgeries for an abdominal muscle pull and a hernia, only played in 30 games
• 2002, post-season (9/10): reconstructive elbow surgery
• 2003: missed 3½ months of season rehabbing after the elbow surgery
• 2004, Nashville: DL in late May for left knee sprain after home-plate collision
• 2005, pre-season: torn right labrum and rotator cuff, probably out for the year (stay tuned)
I question the wisdom of letting someone with "chronic shoulder pain" play winter ball, then rehab himself at home after the chronic problem resurfaced 9 games into that season, forcing his early departure from the team (see Dejan K.'s article here for those details). Yes I know the argument would be that he needed the playing time, but still. It would be interesting to know if this goes all the way back to his quarterbacking days, thus perhaps highlighting the downside of trying to be a two-sport athlete where overuse of one's throwing arm is concerned.
So the depth chart needs modification, and Ryan Doumit moves up to the #3 spot, despite having spent most of 2004 on the DL himself, in Altoona. I'd guess that it's a close call whether Doumit or Ronny Paulino is closer to spending real time with the Bucs, at least until Doumit proves that he's healthy again. And the chart doesn't have Craiggers listed at catcher at all; it remains to be seen whether he's going to be a part of this mix.
Someone buy an extra case of
Thursday, February 17, 2005
The Smell Of Orange Blossoms Is In My Brain
The four mostest wonderfulest words to hear on a frigid February day in Pennsylvania are:
Pitchers And Catchers Report!
I'll wait till we get some actual information from Bradenton before I blather more on the goings-on at Pirate City. The Leeeny Countdown is today at 16, and I'm drinking a big glass of Tropicana OJ to help me celebrate the day. For those of you who may not know, Tropicana's processing plant is in Bradenton, not far from Pirate City. The "orange juice train" that brings the loaded boxcars every day from the groves to the factory crosses the Manatee River on a wonderful bridge right outside our window where we stay. See for yourself:
I am ready to START PACKING.
Pitchers And Catchers Report!
I'll wait till we get some actual information from Bradenton before I blather more on the goings-on at Pirate City. The Leeeny Countdown is today at 16, and I'm drinking a big glass of Tropicana OJ to help me celebrate the day. For those of you who may not know, Tropicana's processing plant is in Bradenton, not far from Pirate City. The "orange juice train" that brings the loaded boxcars every day from the groves to the factory crosses the Manatee River on a wonderful bridge right outside our window where we stay. See for yourself:
I am ready to START PACKING.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Bits And Pieces
More on the visit to Moscow by Pirate scouts Des Hamilton and Adam Souilliard, posted on the Russian Baseball Federation's website. Not to worry, the page is in English. If you're up on your Russian, try this one instead.
I'm a little late with this (I'm not a scoop-the-other-blogs blogger), but here's the team's summary of the life of Nellie Briles, who died suddenly last Sunday. I have a lot of good memories of his days pitching for us, back in the 70s. More recently he was the portly, well-dressed gentleman with the shining silver hair, seen occasionally around the ballpark. From what I understand, he was participating in a golf tournament when he had a heart attack and died. Sad though this is (far too early for one thing, he was only 61), I know a lot of guys who would be pretty happy to depart their mortal coil directly from the links.
I'm off this afternoon to take one of my monkeyboys over to Pittsburgh, for a visit with his great-grandparents and a trip tomorrow to see the dinosaurs at the Carnegie. When you're five and can't get enough of Really Big Reptiles, this is as good as life gets. In my own youth I spent many, many, many Saturday mornings at the Museum and adjacent Music Hall, as an art student in the Tam O' Shanter classes taught by Joseph C. Fitzpatrick. I still know the place like the back of my hand. The nice bit of timing for this trip is that Dinosaur Hall is JUST ABOUT to be completely renovated, so the visit tomorrow will introduce it to my little guy still in the same form as it has existed in my memory all these many years. Then we can go back later and see it in its new Jurassic-Park-esque reincarnation, and compare. So I probably won't be blogging again until Friday or the weekend.
I'm a little late with this (I'm not a scoop-the-other-blogs blogger), but here's the team's summary of the life of Nellie Briles, who died suddenly last Sunday. I have a lot of good memories of his days pitching for us, back in the 70s. More recently he was the portly, well-dressed gentleman with the shining silver hair, seen occasionally around the ballpark. From what I understand, he was participating in a golf tournament when he had a heart attack and died. Sad though this is (far too early for one thing, he was only 61), I know a lot of guys who would be pretty happy to depart their mortal coil directly from the links.
I'm off this afternoon to take one of my monkeyboys over to Pittsburgh, for a visit with his great-grandparents and a trip tomorrow to see the dinosaurs at the Carnegie. When you're five and can't get enough of Really Big Reptiles, this is as good as life gets. In my own youth I spent many, many, many Saturday mornings at the Museum and adjacent Music Hall, as an art student in the Tam O' Shanter classes taught by Joseph C. Fitzpatrick. I still know the place like the back of my hand. The nice bit of timing for this trip is that Dinosaur Hall is JUST ABOUT to be completely renovated, so the visit tomorrow will introduce it to my little guy still in the same form as it has existed in my memory all these many years. Then we can go back later and see it in its new Jurassic-Park-esque reincarnation, and compare. So I probably won't be blogging again until Friday or the weekend.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Talking Points
(Advance notice: if you're terribly fond of the two senior members of the Pirate broadcast crew, you will find this entry to be a rather critical rant in spots. It is. Process accordingly.)
John Mehno reports that the Pirates still don't have anyone chosen to replace Steve Blass in the color-guy's chair for away games this season (scroll down past the first few items in the column). Blass announced last fall that he is no longer going on road trips. I'd like to know what the team's thinking is on the issue of his part-time replacement, because it seems to me that there'd be a thousand people begging for this job, just to get their foot in the door. Are we going to run with a solo broadcaster on the radio side? Lots of teams have a dedicated person or duo for radio and another for television, rather than the two-pairs-alternating arrangement that the Pirates have employed in recent years. I recall one season several years ago when Lanny Frattare was assigned to radio only, but he threw enough of a hissy fit over the loss of his TV face-time that they went back to the dual tag-team.
And I've not seen it confirmed anywhere yet (I plead guilty to not looking very hard), but I assume that Greg Brown didn't get the Cubs job vacated by Chip Caray, and will be back with the Bucs in '05. It took me a while to warm up to Brownie, and I still think his pregame Valium dosage is a bit low, but he's come along nicely, and I didn't want to see him leave the Burgh for theWindbag Windy City.
My own main squeeze, broadcaster-wise, is the ol' Whirlybird, Number 17, Robert Vernon Walk. Bob is always the guy I tune in to hear, even when it means I have to put up with Lanny in order to get him. I've been wishing for years that they would keep Greg and Bob together for the radio games, and Lanny and Steve together on television (and idle on TV-less days), so that I could hear Walkie 162 games a season, and Lanny/Steve zero. I'm sure Bob would miss his days off, but hey, my needs trump his. Bobby dearest, you know how much I care - I need you to be there for me, every game without fail.
Blass's heart is in the right place, and I do not doubt for a moment that he's a wonderful guy/citizen/granddad, but his 'tip-o-the-cap' brown-nosing and dumb-hick shtick are just old, old, old. So half a retirement is better than none, until the other half arrives. Frattare, on the other hand, has always taken himself waaaay too seriously. Here's a man whose website is devoted to selling his old game scorecards as if they were Holy Relics. I expect he thinks he's a due for a Frick Award, not realizing that there's a big difference between longevity and excellence. I'll never forget the game on 4/23/98 where he started eulogizing James Earl Jones instead of James Earl Ray - I laughed so hard I thought I would have an aneurysm.
What I want to hear from the mouth of the broadcaster whose official title is Voice Of The Pirates is the ballgame happening on the field. Not shilling for golf tournaments, Millard Fillmore's inauguration date, or the menu from the latest Chamber Of Commerce luncheon in Upper St. Clair. The acid test of a play-by-play announcer is how frequently he gives you the FACTS, as in: "It's the Bucs three and the Cards nothing here in the bottom of the fifth, one out with Craig Wilson batting and JayBay leading off second." You'll... tear... your... hair... out... waiting... for... these from Lanny, but you'll know all there is to know about the fine time that he and Gertrude had at Atria's last night. (Lanny's wife's name is Christine, by the way, but he calls her Gertrude, without explanation, on the air.)
Conversely: I have learned more about the game of baseball from listening to Walkie than from anyone since my scorekeeping days on the bench at Shaler High, sitting beside Coach Matulevic. Bob's intelligence and deadpan wit, and the way he lets you see how a smart player thinks about the game as it is going on, have sometimes been the only things keeping me clinging to the gunwales during these years of perennial suckage. Bob's English isn't always the King's, but his voice is authentic and it's what he says that matters, not how his sentences parse. Jim Leyland has called him "the first guy I'd pick" to be on his own personal baseball team. High praise that triggers a tsunami of paranoia in my brain whenever I think about it, because I can't believe that no one in MLB has ever offered Bob a job as a pitching coach or even manager. I recall he interviewed for our manager's job before they hired McClendon, but I don't know if that was a serious thing or not. If it wasn't, it should have been. But if Bob ever takes a field job, I will be positively suicidal over his departure from the booth (unless they mike him up to do color from the bench - that would be fabulous.) It's pure selfishness on my part because I think he'd make a great skipper, but my hope is that his wife has given him some sort of Permanent Spousal Edict against ever taking a uniformed job. I want him to stay in the booth forever, or until we win another World Series, whichever comes first. Unless we can discuss that remote-mike thing. Maybe.
My choice for Blass's road replacement, and for home games too as soon as possible? Ken Levine. Ah, if only.
And Happy Valentine's Anniversary to the sweet man who left two dozen roses on the kitchen table this morning when he went off to work, AND made the reservation for dinner out tonight. Do I know how to pick 'em or what?
John Mehno reports that the Pirates still don't have anyone chosen to replace Steve Blass in the color-guy's chair for away games this season (scroll down past the first few items in the column). Blass announced last fall that he is no longer going on road trips. I'd like to know what the team's thinking is on the issue of his part-time replacement, because it seems to me that there'd be a thousand people begging for this job, just to get their foot in the door. Are we going to run with a solo broadcaster on the radio side? Lots of teams have a dedicated person or duo for radio and another for television, rather than the two-pairs-alternating arrangement that the Pirates have employed in recent years. I recall one season several years ago when Lanny Frattare was assigned to radio only, but he threw enough of a hissy fit over the loss of his TV face-time that they went back to the dual tag-team.
And I've not seen it confirmed anywhere yet (I plead guilty to not looking very hard), but I assume that Greg Brown didn't get the Cubs job vacated by Chip Caray, and will be back with the Bucs in '05. It took me a while to warm up to Brownie, and I still think his pregame Valium dosage is a bit low, but he's come along nicely, and I didn't want to see him leave the Burgh for the
My own main squeeze, broadcaster-wise, is the ol' Whirlybird, Number 17, Robert Vernon Walk. Bob is always the guy I tune in to hear, even when it means I have to put up with Lanny in order to get him. I've been wishing for years that they would keep Greg and Bob together for the radio games, and Lanny and Steve together on television (and idle on TV-less days), so that I could hear Walkie 162 games a season, and Lanny/Steve zero. I'm sure Bob would miss his days off, but hey, my needs trump his. Bobby dearest, you know how much I care - I need you to be there for me, every game without fail.
Blass's heart is in the right place, and I do not doubt for a moment that he's a wonderful guy/citizen/granddad, but his 'tip-o-the-cap' brown-nosing and dumb-hick shtick are just old, old, old. So half a retirement is better than none, until the other half arrives. Frattare, on the other hand, has always taken himself waaaay too seriously. Here's a man whose website is devoted to selling his old game scorecards as if they were Holy Relics. I expect he thinks he's a due for a Frick Award, not realizing that there's a big difference between longevity and excellence. I'll never forget the game on 4/23/98 where he started eulogizing James Earl Jones instead of James Earl Ray - I laughed so hard I thought I would have an aneurysm.
What I want to hear from the mouth of the broadcaster whose official title is Voice Of The Pirates is the ballgame happening on the field. Not shilling for golf tournaments, Millard Fillmore's inauguration date, or the menu from the latest Chamber Of Commerce luncheon in Upper St. Clair. The acid test of a play-by-play announcer is how frequently he gives you the FACTS, as in: "It's the Bucs three and the Cards nothing here in the bottom of the fifth, one out with Craig Wilson batting and JayBay leading off second." You'll... tear... your... hair... out... waiting... for... these from Lanny, but you'll know all there is to know about the fine time that he and Gertrude had at Atria's last night. (Lanny's wife's name is Christine, by the way, but he calls her Gertrude, without explanation, on the air.)
Conversely: I have learned more about the game of baseball from listening to Walkie than from anyone since my scorekeeping days on the bench at Shaler High, sitting beside Coach Matulevic. Bob's intelligence and deadpan wit, and the way he lets you see how a smart player thinks about the game as it is going on, have sometimes been the only things keeping me clinging to the gunwales during these years of perennial suckage. Bob's English isn't always the King's, but his voice is authentic and it's what he says that matters, not how his sentences parse. Jim Leyland has called him "the first guy I'd pick" to be on his own personal baseball team. High praise that triggers a tsunami of paranoia in my brain whenever I think about it, because I can't believe that no one in MLB has ever offered Bob a job as a pitching coach or even manager. I recall he interviewed for our manager's job before they hired McClendon, but I don't know if that was a serious thing or not. If it wasn't, it should have been. But if Bob ever takes a field job, I will be positively suicidal over his departure from the booth (unless they mike him up to do color from the bench - that would be fabulous.) It's pure selfishness on my part because I think he'd make a great skipper, but my hope is that his wife has given him some sort of Permanent Spousal Edict against ever taking a uniformed job. I want him to stay in the booth forever, or until we win another World Series, whichever comes first. Unless we can discuss that remote-mike thing. Maybe.
My choice for Blass's road replacement, and for home games too as soon as possible? Ken Levine. Ah, if only.
And Happy Valentine's Anniversary to the sweet man who left two dozen roses on the kitchen table this morning when he went off to work, AND made the reservation for dinner out tonight. Do I know how to pick 'em or what?
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Yes, I Am A Southpaw
I spent entirely too much time this afternoon dissecting my CSS template to figure out how to dump my blog's text title in favor of a graphic one. I have a few clues about CSS, however not nearly as many as I need. I must do something about that. But eventually I succeeded (the secret was #logo), and the result now tops the page you see here. I wasted more time trying to get the picture to sit flush against the green bar in MSIE the way it does in Firefox, but I am giving up and blaming that one on IE. You shouldn't be running that insecure MS browser anyway, don't you know that? Do you smoke in bed too? So if my artwork doesn't look just perfect the way I intended it, it's your browser that's at fault, not my coding skills. I hope. Go get Firefox and make us both happy. And quit smoking, it's bad for your health.
This last couple of weeks (days!) before Pitchers&Catchers is really the pits in terms of having anything to talk about. DL has (knock on wood) managed to restrain himself from rooting through the neighborhood's curbside trash piles, the way my dad used to do until my mother saw all the crap he was bringing home and made him cut it out. This lack of subject matter is therefore to be viewed as a good thing, because normally all we'd be doing is bitching about the newly-acquired semi-bozos, and I'm already on record as not wanting to see any more of those. Most of the blogs I visit have gone into Circle-Jerk mode, which is an occupational hazard of blogging to begin with, but even more unavoidable when everyone is trying to kill time and fill space while waiting for the preseason to get under way. Leeeny blushes to be so indelicate with her metaphor (and she is not entirely immune herself, metaphorically speaking), but it does fit, especially since we all know that baseball bloggers are mostly all Guys, present company excepted. And Batgirl. And RHP Hirsch. Well, you get my point.
And another thing: I'm starting to see an increasing number of blogs 'conglomerating' lately. The scenario: somebody starts up their own homemade blog, builds a bit of a regular audience, then gets an invitation from one of these BlogBorgs to add their biological and technological distinctiveness to the collective's. I'm not sure what the bait is, but the lure of assimilation is apparently too great to resist. I shan't point any fingers but there are several out there, and new ones seem to be popping up like mushrooms. Perhaps the conglomerated bloggers will be able to retain their unique voices despite the franchised cookie-cutter interfaces. I hope so, but this trend (if it is a trend) towards uniform graphics, uniform layouts, uniform ads, etc. is worrisome to me. You know what they say about food on a plate: you taste with your eyes too, visual variety is important. We've already seen how the independently-created MLB team websites (remember Pirateball.com?) were assimilated by the MLBorg a few years ago. They went right down the toilet in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and personality, and if you're color-blind, it's now impossible to tell them apart. Is the same thing happening to blogs? Are we headed for USBlogToday? Forewarned is forearmed, and resistance is not always futile. Assimilate this!
This last couple of weeks (days!) before Pitchers&Catchers is really the pits in terms of having anything to talk about. DL has (knock on wood) managed to restrain himself from rooting through the neighborhood's curbside trash piles, the way my dad used to do until my mother saw all the crap he was bringing home and made him cut it out. This lack of subject matter is therefore to be viewed as a good thing, because normally all we'd be doing is bitching about the newly-acquired semi-bozos, and I'm already on record as not wanting to see any more of those. Most of the blogs I visit have gone into Circle-Jerk mode, which is an occupational hazard of blogging to begin with, but even more unavoidable when everyone is trying to kill time and fill space while waiting for the preseason to get under way. Leeeny blushes to be so indelicate with her metaphor (and she is not entirely immune herself, metaphorically speaking), but it does fit, especially since we all know that baseball bloggers are mostly all Guys, present company excepted. And Batgirl. And RHP Hirsch. Well, you get my point.
And another thing: I'm starting to see an increasing number of blogs 'conglomerating' lately. The scenario: somebody starts up their own homemade blog, builds a bit of a regular audience, then gets an invitation from one of these BlogBorgs to add their biological and technological distinctiveness to the collective's. I'm not sure what the bait is, but the lure of assimilation is apparently too great to resist. I shan't point any fingers but there are several out there, and new ones seem to be popping up like mushrooms. Perhaps the conglomerated bloggers will be able to retain their unique voices despite the franchised cookie-cutter interfaces. I hope so, but this trend (if it is a trend) towards uniform graphics, uniform layouts, uniform ads, etc. is worrisome to me. You know what they say about food on a plate: you taste with your eyes too, visual variety is important. We've already seen how the independently-created MLB team websites (remember Pirateball.com?) were assimilated by the MLBorg a few years ago. They went right down the toilet in terms of signal-to-noise ratio and personality, and if you're color-blind, it's now impossible to tell them apart. Is the same thing happening to blogs? Are we headed for USBlogToday? Forewarned is forearmed, and resistance is not always futile. Assimilate this!
Everyone Please Give The Clap To Mandy
That has to be one of the best lines I've read in a blog ever, but it's not what you think, you potty-brain. Find it in Middle-Aged Men Pulling Muscles, an event-specific blog written by Eric Brown, a current resident of San Francisco but a Queens NYC native and lifelong Mets fan. He did a simply wonderful job of documenting his trip to Mets Fantasy Camp a month ago. Make sure to read the entries from the bottom up, in chronological order.
[wistful nostalgic digression]
Uniform-wearing personal participation in organized baseball has been nothing but a fantasy for me, my entire life. When all the boys my age on my street started leaving our neighborhood pickup games to go to Little League practice, I was left standing in the yard with my glove and bat, and nobody to play with anymore. My early schooldays pre-dated Title IX, and I never liked softball enough to want to play it instead (it was the only option available to girls at that time). I thought it was a poor substitute, even at age 10. So eventually I got into doing stats and scorekeeping for the guys' teams in junior high and high school, but I never had any on-the-field experience as a member of an organized baseball team. It's something that has been a regret in my life, no question. And something I hope to remedy in my next one, assuming I don't return as a cockroach. Some people try to live an honorable life so that they can spend eternity in heaven - I try so that I can come back as an all-star shortstop. Everyone constructs their own vision of paradise; that's mine.
[/wistful nostalgic digression]
In the meantime, the little dose of bliss channeled through Eric's blog is pretty sweet. Going to Fantasy Camp and pretending to be a real ballplayer is a vicarious thrill to begin with, so I guess we're talking meta-vicariousness here, or vicariosity-squared. It still feels good.
[wistful nostalgic digression]
Uniform-wearing personal participation in organized baseball has been nothing but a fantasy for me, my entire life. When all the boys my age on my street started leaving our neighborhood pickup games to go to Little League practice, I was left standing in the yard with my glove and bat, and nobody to play with anymore. My early schooldays pre-dated Title IX, and I never liked softball enough to want to play it instead (it was the only option available to girls at that time). I thought it was a poor substitute, even at age 10. So eventually I got into doing stats and scorekeeping for the guys' teams in junior high and high school, but I never had any on-the-field experience as a member of an organized baseball team. It's something that has been a regret in my life, no question. And something I hope to remedy in my next one, assuming I don't return as a cockroach. Some people try to live an honorable life so that they can spend eternity in heaven - I try so that I can come back as an all-star shortstop. Everyone constructs their own vision of paradise; that's mine.
[/wistful nostalgic digression]
In the meantime, the little dose of bliss channeled through Eric's blog is pretty sweet. Going to Fantasy Camp and pretending to be a real ballplayer is a vicarious thrill to begin with, so I guess we're talking meta-vicariousness here, or vicariosity-squared. It still feels good.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Пираты Of The Future
I don't know if that title will display properly on everyone's computer, but if it does and Babel Fish knows its stuff, the Cyrillic word is Russian for "PIRATES".
Pittsburgh scouts Adam Souilliard and Des Hamilton recently spent time in Moscow, and Los Angeles Times writer Kim Murphy reports on their experience. My pal Andrey was involved with this visit - he belongs to the Russian Baseball Federation mentioned in the article, and he oversees its website. He plans to post an interview that they did with the scouts. As soon as he has an English translation up, I'll link to it here.
Back to the Western Hemisphere: Leeeny's McKechnie Countdown stands today at 23. I'm hoping we sit pat with the roster we have right now. I don't want or need to see any more moves, especially the sort where we sign some semi-bozo at the last minute who was holding out for a better offer elsewhere, and didn't get one. I'm tired of those, DL, let's stop with that already. Time for you to start shedding the Dumpster Dave moniker.
Put our guys on the field in Florida, let 'em all play, and pick the best ones out of the bunch to come north in April.
Pittsburgh scouts Adam Souilliard and Des Hamilton recently spent time in Moscow, and Los Angeles Times writer Kim Murphy reports on their experience. My pal Andrey was involved with this visit - he belongs to the Russian Baseball Federation mentioned in the article, and he oversees its website. He plans to post an interview that they did with the scouts. As soon as he has an English translation up, I'll link to it here.
Back to the Western Hemisphere: Leeeny's McKechnie Countdown stands today at 23. I'm hoping we sit pat with the roster we have right now. I don't want or need to see any more moves, especially the sort where we sign some semi-bozo at the last minute who was holding out for a better offer elsewhere, and didn't get one. I'm tired of those, DL, let's stop with that already. Time for you to start shedding the Dumpster Dave moniker.
Put our guys on the field in Florida, let 'em all play, and pick the best ones out of the bunch to come north in April.
Monday, February 07, 2005
It's Over, Finally
Post-Super-Bowl thoughts:
1. It was hard for me to get behind either the Patsies or the Iggles, due to my lingering disgruntlement over the fact that my guys slapped both of them upside they haids during the regular season (I ignore that AFC final). But when I read that Governor Rendell postponed presenting his budget to the State Legislature because he wanted to keep the day free to attend a Victory Parade in Philadelphia, that cheesed me off enough to decide that Boston could enjoy the pleasure of a "City of Champions" tag, which (correct me if I am wrong) hasn't been done since the Pirates and Steelers both won titles in 1979. Governor Rendell needs some major slapping upside his own haid.
2. The game was not very entertaining to watch. Too many penalties, and I kept waiting for Terrell Owens' foot to fall off à la Jason Kendall. I think a good dozen of the Steeler games this year were more exciting in terms of the football action. It was nice to see that Philly didn't roll over, but it wasn't one for the ages by any means.
3. All that buildup for Paul McCartney, and he only did four quick songs? Sheesh. Live And Let Die was cool with the fireworks though. Does anyone know how much he got paid for that appearance?
4. I predict that the skull-with-axe-blade thing pictured above will be the most popular Halloween mask in Pittsburgh come next October. You heard it here first, boys and girls. Click the picture, or here, to go to Nike's website to see the full ad. You can download a wallpaper image of Ben with his Scary Head on, too. Looks a bit SS-ish to me though, hmm.
5. The ads were nearly as boring as the game. Thanks so very much, FCC. The only ones that made me guffaw out loud were Carson Kressley amidst the guy-ogling babes, and Burt Reynolds (looking positively cadaverous) and the dancing bear. That one started out stupid until "8. Product Message (optional)", which completely redeemed it. And was I the only person in America to get the joke about the "Lincoln Fry" being a parody of the Virgin Mary Cheese Sandwich? That was pretty damn funny, but I expect it went over the heads of most of the fry-eating public.
.... addendum, 2/8 0914est ...
This page will let you click on links to streaming video of all the commercials that were shown during the game. The bad news is that they need MSIE to pop up in, so non-IE users need not apply.
Twenty-six days left till I am sitting in the sunshine at McKechnie, watching the Bucs play the Twins - the countdown has begun for real now. And NO MORE NETWORK TELEVISION till next fall. Hallelujah!
1. It was hard for me to get behind either the Patsies or the Iggles, due to my lingering disgruntlement over the fact that my guys slapped both of them upside they haids during the regular season (I ignore that AFC final). But when I read that Governor Rendell postponed presenting his budget to the State Legislature because he wanted to keep the day free to attend a Victory Parade in Philadelphia, that cheesed me off enough to decide that Boston could enjoy the pleasure of a "City of Champions" tag, which (correct me if I am wrong) hasn't been done since the Pirates and Steelers both won titles in 1979. Governor Rendell needs some major slapping upside his own haid.
2. The game was not very entertaining to watch. Too many penalties, and I kept waiting for Terrell Owens' foot to fall off à la Jason Kendall. I think a good dozen of the Steeler games this year were more exciting in terms of the football action. It was nice to see that Philly didn't roll over, but it wasn't one for the ages by any means.
3. All that buildup for Paul McCartney, and he only did four quick songs? Sheesh. Live And Let Die was cool with the fireworks though. Does anyone know how much he got paid for that appearance?
4. I predict that the skull-with-axe-blade thing pictured above will be the most popular Halloween mask in Pittsburgh come next October. You heard it here first, boys and girls. Click the picture, or here, to go to Nike's website to see the full ad. You can download a wallpaper image of Ben with his Scary Head on, too. Looks a bit SS-ish to me though, hmm.
5. The ads were nearly as boring as the game. Thanks so very much, FCC. The only ones that made me guffaw out loud were Carson Kressley amidst the guy-ogling babes, and Burt Reynolds (looking positively cadaverous) and the dancing bear. That one started out stupid until "8. Product Message (optional)", which completely redeemed it. And was I the only person in America to get the joke about the "Lincoln Fry" being a parody of the Virgin Mary Cheese Sandwich? That was pretty damn funny, but I expect it went over the heads of most of the fry-eating public.
.... addendum, 2/8 0914est ...
This page will let you click on links to streaming video of all the commercials that were shown during the game. The bad news is that they need MSIE to pop up in, so non-IE users need not apply.
Twenty-six days left till I am sitting in the sunshine at McKechnie, watching the Bucs play the Twins - the countdown has begun for real now. And NO MORE NETWORK TELEVISION till next fall. Hallelujah!
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Two Ballfields
Here are two photographs of baseball fields. There are a few obvious differences: the left one has an artificial surface, while the right one is grass. The left one is missing the decks, the lights, and the crowd of the right one. The color picture was taken this past summer (2004), while the old black-and-white one's date is unknown (at least to me). 1955 would be a reasonable guess though, so there are roughly fifty years between the two.
But there are some similarities too. The field on the left has a lovely wooded verge beyond the outfield. While the photo on the right doesn't show it, so does that field. The neoclassical structure on the left is the main building of a large university, and is the tallest educational building in the world. The neogothic structure on the right is the main building of another large university, and is the second-tallest educational building in the world.
The first photo was emailed to me recently, and I immediately thought of the second.
(L) Matsumae Memorial Stadium, on the campus of Moscow State University
(R) Forbes Field, formerly adjacent to the campus of the University of Pittsburgh (the field was demolished in 1971)
I won't bother posting links to information about Forbes Field, because I don't know any more about it than Google does. I did get to attend one game there, my very first major league ballgame ever. The Pirates lost 6-2 to the Cubs, on Sunday afternoon, July 14, 1968. I also know that my mother was at the ballgame the day they did the crowd shots for the original version of Angels In The Outfield.
But as for the Russian park - here's a video describing its origins and specifications, which fortunately for me and probably for you too, is narrated in English. It's a .WMV file (requires Windows Media Player to view), about 5.5MB.
And here's another one, summarizing the 2004 Matsumae Memorial International College Baseball Tournament, held at the stadium. The eight teams participating were: Tokai University, International Budo University, Kyoto University (all from Japan), Moscow State University and Moscow State Pedagogical University (from Russia), a Ukrainian collegiate all-star team, Kyung Hee University (Republic of Korea), and the Tianjin Institute of Physical Education (People's Republic of China). This is a larger .WMV file, 15.9MB.
My pal Andrey, who gave me the links to these files (and who took the left-hand photo above), said that the crowd for the final game of the 2004 tournament was the largest he's ever seen watch a baseball game in Russia. [The seating capacity of the stadium is 1500.] The final also had television coverage across much of the country, which was a first ever. Tokai beat Moscow State, 3-2. There are some still photos from the game here. In particular, I think the sixth picture down the page is just wonderful.
Andrey recently commented to me, "It's probably great to watch baseball in big league ballparks. A lot of people, everybody is cheering, etc. Great!"
Yes, Andrey, it is.
But there are some similarities too. The field on the left has a lovely wooded verge beyond the outfield. While the photo on the right doesn't show it, so does that field. The neoclassical structure on the left is the main building of a large university, and is the tallest educational building in the world. The neogothic structure on the right is the main building of another large university, and is the second-tallest educational building in the world.
The first photo was emailed to me recently, and I immediately thought of the second.
(L) Matsumae Memorial Stadium, on the campus of Moscow State University
(R) Forbes Field, formerly adjacent to the campus of the University of Pittsburgh (the field was demolished in 1971)
I won't bother posting links to information about Forbes Field, because I don't know any more about it than Google does. I did get to attend one game there, my very first major league ballgame ever. The Pirates lost 6-2 to the Cubs, on Sunday afternoon, July 14, 1968. I also know that my mother was at the ballgame the day they did the crowd shots for the original version of Angels In The Outfield.
But as for the Russian park - here's a video describing its origins and specifications, which fortunately for me and probably for you too, is narrated in English. It's a .WMV file (requires Windows Media Player to view), about 5.5MB.
And here's another one, summarizing the 2004 Matsumae Memorial International College Baseball Tournament, held at the stadium. The eight teams participating were: Tokai University, International Budo University, Kyoto University (all from Japan), Moscow State University and Moscow State Pedagogical University (from Russia), a Ukrainian collegiate all-star team, Kyung Hee University (Republic of Korea), and the Tianjin Institute of Physical Education (People's Republic of China). This is a larger .WMV file, 15.9MB.
My pal Andrey, who gave me the links to these files (and who took the left-hand photo above), said that the crowd for the final game of the 2004 tournament was the largest he's ever seen watch a baseball game in Russia. [The seating capacity of the stadium is 1500.] The final also had television coverage across much of the country, which was a first ever. Tokai beat Moscow State, 3-2. There are some still photos from the game here. In particular, I think the sixth picture down the page is just wonderful.
Andrey recently commented to me, "It's probably great to watch baseball in big league ballparks. A lot of people, everybody is cheering, etc. Great!"
Yes, Andrey, it is.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
We Have Always Been At War With Eurasia
Bob Smizik takes on the Ministry of Truth. Probably every Bucco blog out there this morning is cribbing this same title from Orwell's 1984, but it's just too good to pass up.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Doubletake
Look at this New York Times/AP photo of Nepal's King Gyanendra (image taken from a television broadcast; login required) and then tell me that your very first thought wasn't "What the hell does that guy have on his HEAD?" I had to squint at the enlarged version of the photo to verify that only the little patterned cap is kingly headgear, while the rest is a royal or national coat-of-arms, painted on the backdrop behind him. Geeeez. Even when I was a kid taking Kodacolor snapshots with an Instamatic 126, I knew not to put my subject right in front of a tree that made it look like he had antlers growing out of his ears.
And yeah, I know I should probably not post someone else's photos like this, only link to them. I promise I won't make a habit of it, but this one needed to be seen, without the extra clicking. Please don't sue me, NYTimes or AP. My little blog's four daily readers are not depriving you of any income, honest.
Okay, back to whatever you were doing. My next long basebally post is still under construction, you'll have to wait a little longer. Life preempts blogging, sometimes.
