In Technology on
19 June 2008 tagged firefox, safari with Comments Off
Big Contrarian:
Firefox, the little web-browser that could, hit 3.0 today. And it seems they think they’ve built a better browser than Safari.
The sad fact is, in most ways, WebKit/Safari is the superior browser. And it damn well better be. Apple caused a huge ruckus when it chose to use the kHTML engine as Safari’s starting point instead of Gecko. The long run has proven their decision was correct. They’ve managed to build a faster, more compliant-browser with fewer programmers and less glitz than the Firefox team. WebKit is increasingly being chosen as the default “browser component” for other manufacturers, from Nokia to Adobe to Google, and the recent Acid 3.0 browser-team-showdown didn’t make Firefox look particularly good.
Comparing themselves to Safari in such horrendously silly, self-congratulating, masturbatory ways is just begging for trouble.
I’m still amazed how popular Firefox is on the Mac. There’s no Firefox add-on that trumps the integration of Safari with the Mac OS. And yes, I also found the comparison chart comical.
In Sports on
19 June 2008 tagged jemele hill with Comments Off
Boston Herald:
ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill was suspended yesterday after sparking outrage by comparing rooting for the Boston Celtics [team stats] to Adolf Hitler and nuclear war.
ESPN has a habit of hiring hacks as writers; Jemele Hill being a good example. You can find better and more informed writing on numerous amateur blogs, yet Hill is paid to write for the biggest sports site on the internet. When trying to entertain the lowest common denominator you’ll hook more fish with cliched drivel than substance. In that respect, Hill delivers consistently. Her appearances on ESPN’s First and 10 are equally embarrassing, though with Skip Bayless as co-host the show is already more comical than anything else.
Comparing anyone to Adolph Hitler is a bad idea when writing your first High School paper, and just as bad when writing for ESPN. Perhaps Ms. Hill missed the first day of Journalism 101.
In Sports on
13 June 2008 tagged kevin cash, red sox with Comments Off
Kevin Cash is a terrible hitter; always has been. After starting the season hot he’s now 1 for his last 24. Having Kevin Cash hitting 9th is very similar to having the pitcher hit. In a National League park, where the pitcher does hit, Cash is pushed up to the 8th spot, as he was tonight.
I realize catching a knuckle ball is difficult; that’s why Kevin Cash (and before him Doug Mirabelli) has a job. But you have to wonder if a few missed knuckle balls wouldn’t be worth having another Major League hitter in the lineup.*
The bottom three in the Sox lineup tonight read Lugo, Cash, and the pitcher. By the 7th those three were anchoring a lineup without both Ortiz and Manny. That’s brutal.
I’ll miss Tim Wakefeild when he’s gone, but I won’t miss the accompanying black hole in the lineup.
*Finding a catcher that can hit is another problem altogether.
In Sports on
13 June 2008 tagged Yankee Stadium with Comments Off
Tim Marchman, a writer for the New York Sun, on the soon to be closed Yankee Stadium:
Yankee Stadium is on the merits one of the worst places in the country to watch a ballgame, and there’s really little that’s more hilarious in baseball than the pretense that this giant concrete bowl is some magnificent cathedral and monument to the glories of the game. It just drips with pompousness and fake old-timiness, and I won’t miss it at all.
Ouch. With all the attention given to the last year of Yankee Stadium Marchman’s comments are a bit shocking.
I’ve never been to a game at Yankee Stadium (something I regret) but I’ve read the same type comments about Fenway, a park I adore, so I doubt I’d agree with Marchman. I’ll admit I’ve never thought Yankee Stadium was very impressive on television, but it seems to me that it’s the history that’s happened in that “concrete bowl” that makes is special, and not the architecture.
I’ve always thought the monuments in the outfield were a little cheesy, but that probably stems from Roger Clemens’ narcissistic habit of visiting them before each game.
In Sports on
13 June 2008 tagged red sox, terry francona with Comments Off
For whatever reason it’s now clear Terry Francona’s brain locks up when Okajima is on the mound. For the second time in a little over a week Francona left an obviously ineffective Okajima in until a lead was obliterated.
Francona:
He was up with a lot of pitches and behind in the count…
No kidding. That’s why you make a change before the game slips away. Here’s hoping Francona’s irrational confidence in Okajima is a thing of the past.
I’m not the only one frustrated with Francona’s use of Okajima. This post by yfsf (almost strangely) mirrors my first post.
In Sports on
11 June 2008 tagged johnny damon, yankees with Comments Off
It’s been two and a half years since the Yankees signed Johnny Damon to fill their hole in center field (a signing, remember, that Damon never gave the Red Sox a chance to match). Damon became a short term solution as he was switched to left just a year and a half later.
Damon’s been on fire lately and I’ll be the first to admit I thought he was through (though I have little doubt his numbers will cool off soon), but watching his defensive play over the first half of the season confirmed what I’ve thought for a while now. Damon is incapable of playing center field at any respectable level. His arm, always bad, has regressed further. As a kid playing catch we’d often get bored and start throwing to each other with our catching arm and catching with our throwing arm. That’s Johnny Damon’s arm today.
Joe Posnanski:
it’s ASTONISHING how weak his arm is
And if Damon can’t play center, he’d have no place in Boston even if he’d stayed. He’s not a good enough player at this point in his career to put Manny or Drew on the bench. It’s clear now that not signing Johnny Damon (and Pedro Martinez) was the correct move.
Yankees Pitchers Go Head Hunting
It’s becoming apparent that Yankee pitchers are incapable of retaliating without throwing at a hitters head. Chamberlain? Check. Farnsworth? Check. Hawkins? Check. And all three lacked the guts to admit their intentions.
Joe Girardi Does His Best Earl Weaver Imitation
Watching Joe Girardi kick dirt and throw a tantrum was great entertainment. Acting out like a child only goes over well if you’re old enough that people just think you’re senile, or Earl Weaver. Girardi hadn’t yet shown the fiery change from Joe Torre Yankee fans had expected.
You could almost see Girardi’s mind spinning. “Here’s my chance to get the fans on my side”. It was very similar to the Lou Pinella commercial.
Other Yankee Observations
- Turning Joba into a starter is the right move. Still, it’s going to be nice to face 7th and 8th innings without him around.
- Mussina’s success has surprised me. I have no idea how he’s getting away with the stuff he’s got left, but give him credit. Still, I’ll be shocked if he can continue at this level as the season progresses, and I’m confident a healthy Red Sox lineup eats him up.
- Giambi’s Mustache does the impossible; making him look even sleazier than his normal greasy, swollen, sweating self. Who told him this is a good look?
So why are my thoughts all on New York? Because Boston was playing Tampa recently, and even though I subscribe to MLB’s cable package, two of the three games were unavailable to me. Why? Because I live in Florida, so I should use the local broadcast. Except that Florida is a big state. Tampa is 7 hours away, and I don’t get the majority of the Rays’ games.
Even the middle game, shown on ESPN, was blacked out. To put that into perspective we were unable to watch a game shown to the whole country, taking place a thousand miles from us, even when we paid an extra 200 bucks to see every game. So I’m stuck watching Giambi scare small children.
Great job MLB.
In Sports on
4 June 2008 tagged abraham, yankees with Comments Off
After Mike Mussina allowed only one run in six innings tonight Peter Abraham asked:
So, does Moose follow Cliff Lee in the All-Star Game?
Well, considering Mussina ranks somewhere around 25th in the league in ERA, 20th in WHIP, and coming into tonights game opposing batters were hitting .286 (286!) against him, I’ll go out on a limb and say no.
Of course, Mussina will probably be there. The brain-dead notion that wins is a good measure of a pitchers effectiveness still, unfortunately, lives on.
Edit: It appears I misconstrued Peter Abraham’s comment. I don’t believe Mussina belongs at the All-Star game, and wins is certainly an overused stat, but I mistakenly took his question on face value. My mistake.
In Sports on
4 June 2008 tagged francona, red sox with Comments Off
I’m a fan of Terry Francona and have little doubt he’s the best manager in Red Sox history (or at least in my life time). For that reason I often cringe when Boston fans refer to him as Francoma. He’s brought two championships in four years to a town that had been the failure poster boy for 86 years. He’s not perfect, but he’s damn good, and the job he’s done should afford him some respect.
But recently, well, I can certainly see times the name fits. I first started having a change of heart when Francona recently allowed Timlin to pitch the 12th inning of a tie game with Papelbon rested and ready. Luckily, Timlin managed to get out of the inning. After the Sox scored three in the top of the 13th Francona finally brought in Papelbon. To recap, in a tie game where one run means an immediate loss Francona relied on Timlin. With a 3 run lead, Francona went with his best pitcher, Papelbon. It defies logic.
But hey, it worked. It’s hard to argue with scoreboard.
Then came a 6-3 loss to the Orioles in the last game of what could have easily been a four game sweep. Two non-moves by Francona made sure that didn’t happen.
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In the top of the 8th with the bases loaded, one out, and Alex Cora at bat Francona could have pinch hit with Dustin Pedroia. It didn’t happen; Cora swung at ball four grounding into an inning ending double play leaving Boston with a slim one run lead.
Yes, Pedroia had been struggling, but there are reasons Pedroia starts at second instead of Cora; the main one being Cora is a bad major league hitter. Maybe Pedroia strikes out, maybe he also grounds into a double play. We’ll never know because he didn’t get a chance. A better hitter sat in the dugout while a .245 hitter did what .245 hitters do; kill a rally.
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In the bottom of the 8th, clinging to a slim one run lead thanks to Cora’s timely hitting, Francona brought in Okajima. I have confidence in Okajima, but he’s not an overpowering pitcher. If he’s off, he’s toast. He’s not Josh Beckett. He can’t give up four home runs and still strike out ten.
After the first three hitters singled off Okajima it was clear to anyone paying attention it wasn’t his night. Yet Francona left him on the field until the Orioles had scored four to take a 6-3 lead. And that was the ballgame.
One of Francona’s strengths is his steadiness. He doesn’t panic, he has a plan, he looks at the big picture. But sometimes, when a victory is there for the taking with just a little deviation from the original blueprint (Pedroia getting the day off, Okajima pitching the 8th), it would be nice if he’d step up and pull the trigger.
In Sports on
29 May 2008 tagged red sox with Comments Off
How much confidence do Red Sox fans have in Mike Timlin? Look no further than to the reaction at Sons of Sam Horn when Timlin was brought into a tie game in the ninth inning Tuesday.
Ugh Timlin + Safeco = disaster
Everyone can go to bed now. Losing Pitcher: M. Timlin (2-3)
Timlin Time. Please keep all barf bags nearby.
Hmm, Timlin. I’m terrified.
In a recurring theme Timlin later stated that he made good pitches but simply didn’t get good results. How a 1 ball, 2 strike pitch down the middle of the plate is good pitching defies logic, but so does Mike Timlin much of the time.
Meanwhile, Papelbon, who was brought into the previous night’s game with a 5-1 lead, was left on the bench. I’m guessing he was being saved for Wednesday’s game, perhaps when the Sox had the lead; a lead that never happened.
Of course, it’s the Red Sox offense, or lack of offense that is a growing concern. Check out these dismal stats from Boston’s first 6 games of their current road trip.
- They’ve failed to score in 45 of the 54 innings.
- A whopping 14 runs have crossed the plate.
- The bats are 32 for 189 — a robust .169 average.
- With 21 walks, their team OBP in this stretch is .252.
- The team has more whiffs at the plate (45) than hits & walks combined (43).
- The best of the lot: Casey (4/11, .364), Manny (6/17, .353), and Ortiz (5/19, .263).
- The essence of bad: Drew (4/18, .222), Lowell (4/22, .190), Cora (1/6, .167), Ellsbury (3/20, .150), Lugo (2/14, .143), Pedroia (3/23, .130).
- Zip, Zero, Nada: Youk, Tek, Coco & Cash are a combined 0-for-40.
Francona will give the usual spiel about facing good pitching, and it’s true; the sox have. But that doesn’t explain the complete collapse of the offense; not if the Sox have post season hopes. No matter how it’s spun, losing 2 of 3 to the lowly Mariners is troubling.
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