Goldglover, A spiders touch, such a cold finger ...

Doug:
Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Derek Jetah won the Gold Glove at short!?! What the hell?

 

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Arturo, the hot dog vendor:
Yeah, well, both Fishsticks Paltro and Cher have won Oscars for best actress, so whad'ya expect?

 

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Doug:
I dunno, I just expect a little more integrity from MLB than I do from Hollywood.

 

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Arturo, the hot dog vendor:
Ah, integrity … you mean like Barry Bonds single season homah record or Raphael Palmeiro testifying before Congress?

 

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Comments

[Dave S.]

Well I'm rather upper class high society
God's gift to blogdom notoriety
And I always fill my blogdom
The event is never small
The social pages say I've got
The biggest blog of all

I've got a big blog
I've got a big blog
It’s such big blog
And it’s dirty big blog
And he's got big blog
And she's got big blog
But we've got the biggest blog of them all

And my blog is always bouncing
My blogdom always full
And everybody comes and comes again
If your name is on the guest list
No one can take you higher
Everybody says I've got
Great blog of fire

I've got big blog
Oh I've got big blog
And it’s such big blog
Dirty big blog
And he's got big blog
And she's got big blog
But we've got the biggest blog of them all

[h.b.]

Actually TypePad does offer the preview button but I took it out. :)

I'm against the preview button. I don't see what the difference is between proofing your work before you push the "post" button and pushing a "preview" button to then proof your work. Know what I mean? Just don't push any buttons until you're really ready.

I always try to go with the "less is more" option.

[BigBri]

H.B. - please stop! You are embarrassing yourself! The blog was discontinued exactly ONE YEAR AGO, today. I turned out the lights when Theo put on his gorilla suit and walked out the back door on the SAWX.

THIS, is how you measure yourself against others??? Google searches and Alexa listings? Please go to a mirror and place your thumb and forefinger in the shape of an 'L' on your forehead. This was NEVER a debate about 'My blog vs. your blog'. I can understand your need to change the subject given the ASS KICKING you've received from me today, but still...

This is about YOUR blog and it's steady decline due, in no small part, to your inability to concentrate on your love of the SAWX. You focus too much on hatred for the Yanks and this hatred clouds your (otherwise clear) thinking. Take a look around at the awards and the write-ups. They are all from '04 and '05. Nothing recent. Your glory is fading like that '04 championship. More and more faint with each passing day...

[Kaz]

From BB's wet-fart he calls a blog: The Red SAWX are no longer relevant. One and done. Paper champs. Not worth the trouble. And I encourage you all to follow my lead. Turn your backs on Boston.

Hypocrite. Something h.b. is not.

14-0.

As for the preview button, h.b. It's seriously hellish to vette html tags in plaintext in a 40-char-wide box (most URLs these days have more than 40 chars in their domain name). Maybe I'll just have to find a greasemonkey script or plug-in that lets me preview submissions (for more than just this site).

[yazbread]

HB,

No need to invoke the mercy rule. You delivered a KO. Let the corner men come in to claim the body.

[jdog71]

// You focus too much on hatred for the Yanks and this hatred clouds your (otherwise clear) thinking.//

Direct quote from the poetic "Red Sox Nation Haters" 'blog':
"we focused our hatred and reduced a championship baseball team (Sox)to a pile of rubble. Hats off to us!"

I guess, in your world, you have varying degrees of hatred,and focused hatred is not that same as judgement clouding hatred? Douchenozzle.

[Jack]

h.b. - you forgot one:

You're a Sox fan who has a blog about the Sox.

BigBri is a Yankee fan who has a blog about... the Sox.

Game, set, match.

[Dave S.]

When assessing fielding, a focus purely on errors, even significantly on them, is pretty shortsighted. It's nice not to make them, sure, but I'd rather have someone with great range who made errors than someone with crap range who occasionally threw it away. Errors are just another example of a play that should have been made, but they're really no different in outcome from, say, the ball up the middle that Jeter doesn't get to, which is recorded as a hit.

Put it another way, the Red Sox didn't make a lot of errors. Okay, but take into consideration all non-HR balls that were hit into play against them...that is, all plays that could have been made by the players in the field, non-HRs, BB, K or HBP...and as a team, the Red Sox were fifth worst in baseball, allowing the hitter to reach base at a .320 clip. That includes their errors. Of course, the Sox play at Fenway, which favors hitters, and their pitchers were line drive machines, so they're probably more average to average +...but their defense, while clean of the error, really wasn't as great shakes as many like to think it was.

[h.b.]

This was NEVER a debate about 'My blog vs. your blog'.

Really? That isn't what I take away from this?

H.B - you've never been accused of underestimating your own abilities. You seem VEEERY secure in the knowledge that you're the smartest kid in the class. Just ONE of the reasons this here blog has tumbled recently.

And I responded with:

"And, while I know I'm not the smartest one in the class, I'm very assured that I'm better at this particular game than you are."

The "particular game" was blogging, BigBri.

And, as it goes, you came back with:
I'm sure you do, H.B., I'm sure you do. And here, surrounded by the twelve or so Soxaholix keyboard sniffers, you'll get plenty of folks to agree with you. But it doesn't make it so.

It's pretty clear when you say "the 12 or so..." that you were implying this blog is not very popular.

So, BigBri, I had to call you on it.

And as for "it's steady decline" well, again, it's really a question of what metrics you're applying.

The traffic has increased on this site every month during the regular season since inception in April 04. Yes, we take a traffic hit during the offseason (all one sport focused blogs do) but even that has seen growth: '05 offseason had more traffic than '04, '06 is on pace to beat '05.

The 05 ad revenue was larger than 04 by a factor of 5. My '05 revenue was such that I had to declare it on taxes and, to give you some sense of that dollar value, it was 7% of my total income and, as it happens, I make a pretty good wage at the day job. And the '06 revenue increased from '05...

So those are tangibles, BigBri. You may feel you don't like the site as much or that it's declined, but those are "intangibles." And, frankly, who cares what you think?

If some of the regular readers and Red Sox fans feel that way, well, that's a different story.

But again, the metrics all show increased traffic, increased page views, etc. etc etc.

As for the no recent awards, well, that's true. But I do believe the same could be said about World Series victories for a certain team in the Bronx.

And seriously, you can't really expect the site to get attention like a feature story in the Wall Street Fucking Journal every day? That's a once in a lifetime kind of thing.

Any your point was?

Oh, yes, the horrible ass kicking you gave me. Whew. Yes, you sure showed me!

[BigBri]

From one of my earlier posts:

"//And, while I know I'm not the smartest one in the class, I'm very assured that I'm better at this particular game than you are. //

I'm sure you do, H.B., I'm sure you do. And here, surrounded by the twelve or so Soxaholix keyboard sniffers, you'll get plenty of folks to agree with you. But it doesn't make it so. "

Thanks for proving my point all you Soxaholix out there.

Jdog - While I applaud your use of the term 'Douchenozzle' (evocative, to the point, etc.) I'm saddened by the fact that I have to point out the obvious to you again - My blog never CLAIMED to be anything other than a place to 'hate the SAWX'. H.B.'s little venture can't make the same claim...

[Dave S.]

HB, one of my wife's policy professors in grad school was fond of saying (in a taut Pakistani accent), "But it is like swatting a fly with a ballistic miss-yle".

[h.b.]

My "little venture" is doing just fine, BigBri, that was kind of my point.

More readers every day. You can look it up.

And, of course, each time you visit and comment, you help the Soxaholix page ranking and increase my ad revenue.

It's a beautiful world.

[Kaz]

Hitters reaching base don't equate to plays that "coulda/shoulda" been made. Hits off the Green Monster, hits to shallow right field, etc...there's plenty of ways to get to first that don't involve sub-par fielding. Even an amazing baseball team can't reach *every* ball put into play.

When your pitching gives up fat pitches, the other team is going to put them places on the field in order to get on base. Places that nobody's going to field. Opponent OBP is more about the pitching than statuesque players.

In the meantime, I really found this blog's take on the issue hilarious.

[BigBri]

//The "particular game" was blogging, BigBri.//

Actually, the game I was referring to was 'commenting'.

//It's pretty clear when you say "the 12 or so..." that you were implying this blog is not very popular.//

Actually, I was referring to the number of people who post regularly. Don't be so touchy, H.B. I have no doubt that traffic is fine around here.

As for ad revenue, etc. I'm glad this is working out for you. You work hard at this here blog and it's nice that it's providing you with some greenbacks. That doesn't speak to the quality, however. I know you don't want to talk about 'intangibles', but honestly, when was Sienfeld at its best? In the beginning, when the show was on the brink of being cancelled all the time? Or at the end when they were making money hand over fist?

Have a great weekend H.B...

[jdog71]

BigBri, I'm saddened by the fact that you felt the need to devote time and effort for hating something so much when blogs like Soxaholix devote time and effort to creativity and humor. Most of us would agree that we don't dislike the Yankees team NEARLY as much as we dislike their bloated, bitter, 'entitled' fans, and that really doesnt take much effort when it comes right down to it. If you approached the rivalry with the same amount of class that your team claims to have, maybe it wouldnt be so easy. I fart in your general direction.

[Dave S.]

Kaz...the reasons you site are pretty much why I take the Sox up from 5th worst to average or average +. Fenway creates hits. Opponent OBP is more about pitching when you look at walks and home runs inclusive...the stat I referred doesn't. It's balls in play, balls available to the defense. Low error total notwithstanding, the Sox defense just wasn't the creme de la creme people seem to think it was.

[BigBri]

Jdog - there are no more 'entitled' fans in the world than in Boston. Fans that produce signs that say 'Buckner we forgive you' are the MOST entitled sunsofbitches on the planet. Really. You can look it up.

[h.b.]

I actually thought Seinfeld was at its best the season of the Moops and John Cheever and Cubans. What was that, season 4, '92/'93?

Meanwhile, so now all of BigBri's comments need to be prequalified as only referring to the comments to any given strip?

So BigBri is the master of all Yankees fan commentators on Soxaholix?

Hmmm... I think Jason O. might find that amusing. Or to use Jason's fave language, caveat lector.

Funny, too, how none of the regular Yankees fan commentators ever come to BigBri's defense.

Ah, well, onward we go with our little venture...

[jdog71]

BigBri, I'd say the "1918" signs and Ruth references that were jammed in our faces for years point to a bit more of a sense of entitlement on your part than forgiving Buckner's blunder does on our part....but that would be a logical assumption, and clearly that is not what we are dealing with here.

[Kaz]

Dave S., I'm going to bet that Wily Mo Pena single-handedly had more to do with how many outs were not made from balls-in-play than the rest of the team combined. Add to that the loss of our best CF for most of the season. I can't find some of the numbers right now, but I'm guessing that fly balls were our bane this season and that we smothered anything on the ground. Letting the OF shadow the triumphs of the IF by looking at total team stats in that regard is a bit disingenuous.

[buckner was framed]

I may be in the minority here, but one of the reasons I was disappointed for AGon being totally jobbed in the GG rankings was that it was important to HIM. I remember an interview with him late in the season when he still had only 4 or 5 errors and he admitted that winning the glove would be very special to him, since he prided himself on his D (knowing, of course, that he's never gonna win a batting title). So, even though WE may feel it's a meaningless award, I wanted him to win it because he gave us more than we expected this season, and in a professional, classy way to boot. Plus, he was just the superior fielder. I, for one, would like to see the same left side infield in '07

[Rob in CT]

Sharks with laser beams on their heads? Allegorically speaking, BigBri doesn't even have ill-tempered sea bass...

Manhattan clam chowder does indeed taste like ass. God, I laughed out loud reading that.

[Rob in CT]

Dave - Nice AC/DC riff! Musta been fun putting that one together, if only for the chance to read the original lyrics in the process.

[Coyote]

I've been enjoying today's friendly banter, but are we sure that it wasn't the lesser known Gold Plated Glove that Jetah won which is awarded to the player who is the very best at making routine plays LOOK spectacular. I think we can all agree that he's at the top of his game in this category.

[BigBri]

Jdog - How does '1918' or a 'Ruth reference' point to entitlement? Please. Help this poor village idiot out by expanding on this line of 'reasoning'.

H.B. - Your legs must be WORN THE FUCK OUT from all this backpeddaling today. You are CONSTANTLY attempting to redefine the argument. When did I ever say I was 'the master of all Sxaholix yankee posters'???

//Funny, too, how none of the regular Yankees fan commentators ever come to BigBri's defense.//

AGAIN, you attempt to define success in a way that is soooo sad. I know Jason is a smart, witty guy. I don't need him to jump to my defense. I wouldn't know or care if he did.

Once again, I'm glad this is working out for you H.B.

[Dave S.]

Kaz- my point isn't that the Sox infield is overrated (although most defensive metrics I have seen suggest that they aren't the golden calf they are made out to be). My point is that errors as a means of determining defensive value is. Errors are, by themselves, a pretty meaningless stat.

[Bob]

Do they even have ass-chowder in Chillicothe?

[Dave S.]

Rob...it's one of MS Word's actual benefits, the search and replace thing. But thanks, it was fun, anyway! It's really such a great, fun song. I love AC/DC...they've got the tongue in cheek thing down so well, and I remember reading a great interview with Angus, who described the guitar riffs and solos he did as being designed for young people who wanted to be able to play their music...he wanted to make their stuff accessible to other aspiring players.

[Bob]

And BigLie's secret is out; his name is Rod Cameron:

http://www.thetoque.com/031202/liveparents.htm

[h.b.]

I kind of like the way you define success, BigBri127:

1) It isn't about popularity.
2) It isn't about recognition among your peers.
3) It isn't about money.

No, it's all about you coming over and telling us how smart you are, how your arguments are killing us with wit, yet you offer nothing to back this up except your own imagination.

It's admirable in its own way, though kind of pathetic, too.

I hope in your real career, you have some higher standards to gauge your abilities than your own opinion of yourself.

If you were a singer (perhaps you are), I'd suggest you try out for American Idol since so many hopefuls there also seem to have no ability to discern the difference between thinking they are a good singer and actually being a good singer.

You'd be one of those crying to the cameras after being booted by the judges, "What does Paula Abdul know about singing? Her last hit was in the 80s. And Simon is dumb. And Randy is fat. And I'll show them all when I have 5 super mega hits. Fools. Mommy, hold me."

[BigBri]

//I hope in your real career, you have some higher standards to gauge your abilities than your own opinion of yourself. //

Ahhh, H.B. if you only knew...

You are correct in that I am defining success in terms of QUALITY. NOT money, NOT recognition, NOT popularity. The fact of the matter is, in my opinion, the QUALITY of this blog has suffered recently. Specifically, the quality goes down whenever you make lame attempts at lampooning the Yankees. Which, if you notice, is the only time I drop by here to comment. Otherwise, I read your stuff - especially the Lostaholix stuff (when you can resist attacking the yankees), laugh and move on.

[Dave S.]

Okay, stupid question: are we going to have to go through all of this again if Jeter wins MVP?

[Bob]

When, Dave, not if.

The writers like to go down on Jeter even more than managers and coaches.

Truth be told, he deserves the MVP a lot more than he does the Golden Glove.

[jen in HI]

Holy crap! Fishsticks Paltrow, a Portuguese hot dog vendor, Marmaduke, Jetah, sharks and piranahs with lasers on their heads, BigBri missing the point and making sophistic arguments, and louc dropping it like its hot. Thanks guys. I love starting my day here.

[Bob]

"Starting my day here."

I remember when I lived in Honolulu. It's quite strange to be 5 or 6 hours behind the rest of the country.

Do the local news stations have weather men yet? When I lived there, the weather was so consistently great, the anchor just came on at the end and did the whole "mauka showers" routine.

[h.b.]

BigBri127,

You're not my target demographic. So the more you find the quality lacking, the more I'm most likely doing the right thing.

In that sense, you're a great bellwether.

BTW now that you said you like the Lostahoix stuff, the more I think I should probably drop that.

[yazbread]

jen in HI,

The time difference serves you well althought reading the strip at your end might be like arriving at the scence of a fire that has been burning for hours.

On EST, I am hitting the refresh button from 9:00 am onwards. On the days that the strip is posted later than usual, I am like a junkie wondering if it is going to be a bad day.

[h.b.]

Okay, stupid question: are we going to have to go through all of this again if Jeter wins MVP?

Naw, once is enough on going through this.

When Jeter wins the MVP, which he will, I'll just delete any and all of BigBri's comments.

Oh, how could you, censorship! We've touched a nerve! H.B. is a pussy!

Blah blah blah fish biscuits.

[jdog71]

I like the Lostaholix stuff hb. Don't let that troll force your hand...although it'd be nice to come here without being tagged 'village idiot' by someone who probably has a tough time remembering to breathe.

[Ice Princess]

I'm a lot like Jen with the arriving on scene late usually, but it makes the time spent here much more intriguing as I never have to be disappointed at only 4 panels & whatnot as the comments, especially the conflicts, keep going & going. I smile for my own entertainment, as much as for H.B.’s success, when I get to the end of the strip & see 70+ comments posted.

And anytime I see that BB (the Big Baby in my book) has surfaced, I just smile cause he’s such a tool (& clearly doesn’t have a clue as to this obvious fact) so the hits against him just keep on coming. If he were in my 5th grade class I would feel a pull to protect him from himself, but this is so anonymous, & since he truly asks for it, I get to sit here & smile bigger.

Thanks for the ever-cool blogging H.B. – Keep up the good work!

[jen in HI]

"weather today and the rest of the week moderate trade winds, highs in the mid 80's, windward and mauka showers." same as ever, Bob, though yeah, there are weathermen now.
yaz, you are absolutely right. On the upside I don't have to stay up very late to watch late night TV but sadly I miss a lot of Red Sox games because I'm at work.

[Natalie]

Bob and Jen, speaking of Hawaii weather, did you ever see Triumph the Insult Comic Dog from Conan actually doing the weather report in Hawaii? One of the funniest things I have EVER seen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frg5L_BxY3Q

[Kaz]

http://www.progressiveboink.com/dugout/

The Dugout has a pretty funny take on the Gold Glove today too.

BTW, a google search for "jeter gold glove" results in a few Yankee fans (with no stats/facts) lauding him over the past three years...and a billion "how can JETER win (another) GOLD GLOVE" links on baseball sites all across the internet.

[jen in HI]

Oh my god Natalie...that is totally funny. So so true. We're in the middle of 3 days of shame right now!!!

[Kaz]

Haha, jen in HI, he said you're suffering under 3 days of shade...hahaha, but I like your version better.

[Natalie]

Actually, Kaz, Triumph said shame. Jen- glad you liked it. I have seen it about 10 times and I laugh out loud each time...

[BigBri]

H.B. - You're not in my 'target demographic' either. Much like you, I know I'm on the right track when you and the rest of your flock zero in for the attack. It means I've poke yet another hole in your anti-yankee logic.

IcePrincess - You'd never need to protect me sweetheart. And, if called upon, I doubt you'd be up to the task anyway. I can't think of any higher praise than to be known as a 'tool' by a bunch of bitter SAWX fans..

Have a GREAT weekend everybody...

[Natalie]

Okay, wait, I take it back... Kaz, on repeat listening, maybe you were right that it's shade. Hmmmm, I always heard it as shame. Oh well. Still funny. :)

[JD]

BYE "big"! Have fun tending to your Damon voodoo doll and memorizing lines from "Working Girl" this weekend!

[yazbread]

HB,

Can we take a poll on creating a kill file at your end? And then occasionally we can vote people off the island?