Richard Griffin talks about sex today. Ewww.

As for the Canadian angle... I think if the Jays could get a Canadian star, it would be one thing. A Gagne or Walker (at least, a Walker from a couple years ago) might actually make a difference. But a bench player like Pond, or even a reliever like Quantrill, isn't likely to make any difference.

I can't believe the secrecy about the radio schedule. No mention on the Jays or Fan590 sites. I'm taping a Centre Ice channel today just in case Fan 590 carries the game.

http://me.woot.net

Just make sure you have your Google Toolbar with pop-up stopper installed!

Here's a better idea:

http://economics.about.com
I quite like FireFox, but unfortunately it's got too many incompatibilities to be useful to me.

Cheers,

Mike

If the Jays really want to have a player that boosts attendance then they need to expand financially their commitmant to signing Chinese and Korean prospects. Even one player making the majors from either community would pay for the extra expenses involved.

MatO - excellent point. Then they could braadcast the games in Chinese like the Raptors do.

I'm stumped on the lyrics again today.

He's back to poppy, early 80s "British Invasion - Second Wave".

Personally, the back of my throat starts to tickle when I think of that period of time and I have to put my head below my heart to get my blood flowing correctly again.

http://me.woot.net

I quite like FireFox, but unfortunately it's got too many incompatibilities to be useful to me.

These "incompatibilities" are generally (i.e., almost always) the fault of the person who wrote the webpage. Luckily with standards-compliant browsers like Firefox and Safari gaining support, these sites are becoming fewer and further between.

Normal people's surfing generally works fine, which just goes to show you that if you're Moffatt, you're not normal.

The Fan never carries mid week spring training games. Saturdays game is on the Fan. Sunday there is a Raptors game so no Jays on the Fan but you might hear it on a St. Catherines station, AM570 I think.

Wilner will provide updates every 20 minutes or so on the Fan.

http://economics.about.com
These "incompatibilities" are generally (i.e., almost always) the fault of the person who wrote the webpage.

I'm not speaking of webpages per se, but web applications like Web Outlook, which a lot of corporations run as their internal e-mail service. There's also the plug-in issue, which was a huge thorn in the side of Mozilla. Don't know if Firefox has fixed this yet, I haven't played around enough with it to try.

As philosophical note, I don't really care whose fault if an application does or doesn't work. I just want to be able to run my programs without hassle.

Mind you, there's no rule saying you can only have one browser. I have three, with IE and Opera getting the bulk of my usage.

Cheers,

Mike

If you boys are going to keep fighting about browsers you're both going to be sent to the principal's office.

"Please, please, kids stop fighting. Maybe Lisa's right about America being the land of opportunity, and maybe Adil has a point about the machinery of capitalism being oiled with the blood of the workers."

Personally, the back of my throat starts to tickle when I think of that period of time and I have to put my head below my heart to get my blood flowing correctly again.

Me, I just want to know where I put my thin leather tie.

I can't believe the secrecy about the radio schedule. No mention on the Jays or Fan590 sites. I'm taping a Centre Ice channel today just in case Fan 590 carries the game.

About two minutes ago on the Fan they said that Saturday's game would be the first one that they broadcast this year.

Thanks for the plug, Mike!

Any chance that there's an away team feed for today's game?

Are you guys Ludites? The game's on TV too, 1:00 pm Sportsnet, don't know about outside Ontario, perhaps a world's strongest man competition for your enjoyment?

Opps, read carefully next time. I'm talking about Saturday's game.

http://economics.about.com
If you boys are going to keep fighting about browsers you're both going to be sent to the principal's office.

I'm sorry. I've already nerded up the Box enough. I won't do it again.

Thanks for the plug, Mike!

I'll throw that plug in as many times as I can. I wanna see the Dome rockin' this year.

Cheers,

Mike

For you United States Blue Jays fans:

Saturday's game, against the Yankees, will be aired at 1 P.M. on the YES Network.

There's also the plug-in issue, which was a huge thorn in the side of Mozilla. Don't know if Firefox has fixed this yet, I haven't played around enough with it to try.

As philosophical note, I don't really care whose fault if an application does or doesn't work. I just want to be able to run my programs without hassle.

Moffatt's on a roll today. Joe's persistent hype did eventually lead me to get FireFox, but I haven't been using it because of the annoyance of the plug-in issue (No, FireFox has not fixed it). Like Moffatt says, I just want things to work, and I don't care how much hassle the web page developer had to go through to make it so. Sorry Joe!

http://me.woot.net
Oooh, don't get me started on you guys if you haven't reported the bugs you've been finding to the Firefox developers. Or at least asked in the Firefox support forum, which is frequented by said developers.

Forthcoming from me (COMN for my other thoughts) is my "Three Rules for users of Free Software." Here's a preview of one: Report Bugs.

From Griffin's column:

"Baseball is like opening a Christmas present every day," Tosca said.

I've never heard it put any better.

http://economics.about.com
Oooh, don't get me started on you guys if you haven't reported the bugs you've been finding to the Firefox developers.

It's not as if they don't know about the problems, Joe. It's right in their FAQ.

Is "Read the FAQ" one of the three rules? If it isn't, you ought to consider adding it as a fourth.

Cheers,

Mike

Any other Ivey alums lurking out there wondering how Mike Moffatt has time to post here 25 times a day?

They get rid of that 'no wireless card in class' rule?

Looking forward to the Ivey Cup this weekend.

Keep up the good work Mike. Should be a great season for the new-look Jays.

According to Gameday Audio, Cincinnati isn't broadcasting the game - I think we're out of luck.

Can't wait till tomorrow at 1:00 pm. I'll be in XTC.

http://economics.about.com
Any other Ivey alums lurking out there wondering how Mike Moffatt has time to post here 25 times a day?

I work in an office, and all I do all day is run economic simulations that take about 10 minutes to run. So I change some parameter values or whatever, let the thing whir away, and kill time by either posting on here or by whipping superballs around the office. Needless to say, I'm pretty bored at work, as the 5-10 minutes isn't enough time to do anything else constructive. If the sims took an hour or so, I could go to the gym. I need a slower computer, I guess.

Once I start doing theoretical work again, I'll be a lot more scarce.

They get rid of that 'no wireless card in class' rule?

Yep, though I'm not taking any classes right now (thank god!). Last term I was sitting in an MBA class that required students to take their laptops to the front of the class from time to time to show their work. A lot of students would forget to turn AIM off, so once every couple weeks or so we'd see a message like hey assface pop-up in the middle of someone's powerpoint presentation to the rest of the class. :)

Cheers,

Mike

"Baseball is like opening a Christmas present every day"

Yes, and even if we're only unwrapping a highlight package of today's game, it's a welcome gift. I'm already excited about tomorrow (we aren't in midseason game thread form yet, but we'll get the kinks out) and hoping they start Aaron Hill at short -- unless you're visiting Florida soon, it might be the best chance to get a look at him.

For you United States Blue Jays fans:

Saturday's game, against the Yankees, will be aired at 1 P.M. on the YES Network.


I'll have my VCR ready (fantasy draft tomorrow), and I'll have the mute button handy when I watch it.

There's a couple people on YES that are tolerable, but the overall homerism is unbearable most of the time.

Are you guys Ludites? The game's on TV too, 1:00 pm Sportsnet, don't know about outside Ontario, perhaps a world's strongest man competition for your enjoyment?

Looks like that it's only being shown in the GTA region, my digital cable says Sportsnet is showing pool and world of skiing. Like living in Windsor wasn't bad enough already.

Looks like that it's only being shown in the GTA region, my digital cable says Sportsnet is showing pool and world of skiing.

Funny? ExpressVu has the game carried on all feeds, East Coast to Left Coast.

I'm living in downtown TO, anyone going to a bar to watch the game tomorrow?

If there are enough people based downtown, would it be too optimistic of me to suggest during the season picking one game a week and a sports bar to watch it in? Say pick 3 or 4 sports bars around TO to rotate thru, and what looks like the best matchup of the week. Like a rotating drinkfest where terms like "UZR", "OPS+" and "VORP" get thrown around way, way, way too much. Even if on any given week only 3 or 4 people show, it still be more exciting then watching at home.

Just a thought.

Personally, I love FireFox, and it has all but replaced IE as my browser of choice. My only quibble is that my MSN Messenger only pops up when I visit Hotmail in IE, so I have to start up the stupid thing just for that and it lags the hell out of my system. It's a nice reminder of how sparingly I have to put up with lag now that I'm using Mozilla, though.

Wilner mentioned today's starting nine: Pond (3B; batting third), Phelps, Griffin, Hudson, Woodward, Cash, Johnson (CF), Rios (LF), and Gross (RF). My guess is Phelps is at 1st, with Griffin DH-ing. (They're playing with DH today, even though the Reds are home!)

Oggman, while I'm not up for the game tomorrow, I'd be interested in that kind of get-together for other games, especially regular season out of town games.

...and people are still invited over to my place for the pre-season game on Saturday, March 27th. Big TV. E-mail me.

N4H,

Tomorrow is a bit short notice, but I had the idea yesterday for a place to get together to watch away games. Once a week would probably be too much for most people, but if you have a group of about 15-20 people who live in the TO area, getting 4 or 5 out once a week shouldn't be a problem.

I've added my email, if anyone is interested in getting this going email me. If you do email me, add what part of town you live in (or have access too) and what bar you think we should watch the games at. I haven't living in Toronto in 7 years, so I have no clue where is a good place to watch games. Easiest suggestion would be to pick places by Subway stops/Union Station.

Andrew

It's 2-0 Cinci in the bottom of the 3rd.

For the Reds, this is a split squad game.

2-2 top 4th.

Now it's 2-0 Jays! What a game!

Wilner's up next on the Fan.

Yahoo has it corrected: It's 2-0 Jays in the bottom of the 4th.

Jays 2-0 in the fifth.

Woodward - 2 doubles, 2RBI.

Arnold faced six, threw 16 pitches, 13 for strikes.

Arnold also struck out the first batter he faced. Kirshner and Ligtenberg engineered (couldn't resist!) the next two shutout innings!

Eddie, are you getting this via the Fan or is there an Internet source on this (Steve's Yahoo link is just a boxscore). Unfortunately the Fan's online listening tool is down at the moment and Montreal is just a few K out of their range.

I'm listening to the FAN over the web and following along with the ESPN boxscore.

A - I just started the Fans web tool - its working now.

it's nice to see Woodward actually do something.
i'm sure it'll dry up by the time the regular season starts, though.

it's nice to see Woodward actually do something.
i'm sure it'll dry up by the time the regular season starts, though.

For me, baseball season has now officially started. Thanks pal.

I love my Mozzila but I think this is one of those times it falters. The Fan's online stream works just fine with IE.

For me, baseball season has now officially started. Thanks pal.

Baseball season hasn't officially started for me until Woodward boots his first easy ground ball.

Baseball season hasn't officially started for me until Woodward boots his first easy ground ball.

Ah Chris, It looks like you've already made a friend and the season is so young.

Try listening to the Fan590 updates, on the hour. At 3:05 ET, Wilner will provide another in-game update.

For those who question Spencer Fordin's position of objective journalist working on the Jays official site, check out Scott Carson's latest column at Sportsnet.ca

Try listening to the Fan590 updates, on the hour. At 3:05 ET, Wilner will provide another in-game update.

For those who question Spencer Fordin's position of objective journalist working on the Jays official site, check out Scott Carson's latest column at Sportsnet.ca

Sorry about that!

3-0 Jays in the 6th. Baseball's back baby!

Prediction: Lexi hit a solo shot for the 3rd run!

Baseball's back baby!

Leetch who?

4-0 now according to ESPN.

Pete, if you keep doing this it's going to get really old really fast.

I agree Pete, give it a rest.

Cincy's other split squad is getting beat 6-2 by Minnesota, and the Red Sox are in tight with Boston College, 4-2...

Hey - I speak the truth.

Breaking News... Martha Stewart verdict reached!

CNN: Stewart Guilty on all 4 charges!

Interview with Frank Catalanotto coming up on the FAN 590.

CNN: Stewart Guilty on all 4 charges!

I have nothing to say about this, except a Nelson Muntz-esque "HA HA" to all those who were buying Omnimedia stock all day in the expectation that an early verdict meant innocent.

Back to the topic:

- Jays up 4-0 still, through 8 innings
- Arnold (6 up, 6 down), Ligtenberg, Kirshner, and Speier have shut out the Reds thus far
- Pond is 1/4, with a double over Junior's head in center; he looks "awfully comfortable" at third base (in Wilner's words)
- Woodward (2/2 with two doubles, 2 RBI) has been spelled by Hill at SS

CNN: Stewart Guilty on all 4 charges!

They just better give her a real sentence instead of the usual slap on the wrist white collar crimes generally receive.

We're into the 9th now, still 4-0.

Game over... 4-0 Jays.

How excited should we be about the potential of a solid campaign this year from Arnold?

http://premium.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2642
COMN for BP's triple play with comments on the Jays' corner outfield situation. Werth's PECOTAs are better than Gross' or Rios'. Pshaw. They've obviously got work to do in the PECOTA formula on the weighting of more recent vs. less recent performance for young players.

http://economics.about.com
Maybe Craig can explain this to me, coz I don't understand it at all.

The judge threw out the securities fraud count, which to me implies that there was no evidence.

How can she be found guilty of making false statements about the securities fraud, when the judge said there wasn't sufficient evidence about that fraud in the first place?

Law is hard.

Cheers,

Mike

Hard parts over

What a great day. Baseball's officially back, or at least as back as it can get until April 5th. Spring results don't mean much, but it's good to see Arnold and Woodward especially faring well.

I echo the comments about hoping to see Stewart get more than a slap on the wrists, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

How excited should we be about the potential of a solid campaign this year from Arnold?

One one hand this is the first game of spring training so his performance is no big deal. On the other hand there was a story earlier this week that Arnold had corrected a mechanics issue that caused him to struggle last year at Syracuse. Rather than the score, look at the reports tomorrow to see how Arnolds "stuff" looked. Also look to see how many K's he had. Part of last years problem was an inability to finish hitters.

I thought Rosario was due to pitch today. If he did not does that mean we get treated to him on TV tomorrow. Here's hoping.

He had one K and threw most of his pitches for strikes without giving up a baserunner. Six spring training batters is too small of a sample to draw conclusions from in any case. It would be nice to get a scouting report on Arnold's performance as short as it was.

Door #1: Guaranteed 87-win season.
Door #2: 25% chance of a 97-win season, 75% chance of a 77-win season.

The recommendation here is to leave left field to Catalanotto until he does something to prove that he doesn't deserve it, but to open right field up for one of the young'ins, restoring Johnson to the fourth outfielder role for which he is naturally suited. The Blue Jays' best hope to reach the playoffs this year involves hitting big on a parlay of breakout and career seasons, and that means giving every opportunity to those players who are most capable of them.

What BP fails to analyze is the risk in bringing Rios or Gross up too early (and thus, hindering their development) on the Blue Jays playoff chances 2005-2008!

More notes from Wilner:

- Maurer, Harper, and Matos pitched the last 3 shutout innings (the Jyas staff allowed 3 hits in total)
- Pond played a flawless third, with an "arm that puts Hinske's to shame"

Wasn't Pond supposed to be only a tad worse, defensively, than Hinske at third?

Hinske's throwing ability is just that suspect. He's fine fielding the ball though he doesn't have great range but most of his throws are an adventure.

Where the Reds had a split squad going it will be interesting to see what six hitters Arnold actually faced. It would have been nice if he'd have started tomorrows game instead. Maybe McGowan will get a inning vs the Yanks?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-bluejays-reds&prov=ap&type=lgns
According to the AP (COMN), Bruce Chen, Bob File, Jayson Durocher, Talley Haines, Vinnie Chulk and Dustin McGowan (!) are scheduled to pitch tomorrow following Hentgen.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=240305117#
Maybe McGowan will get a inning vs the Yanks?

Shane, you're in luck. COMN for today's AP game recap. McGowan will pitch an inning tomorrow against the Yanks.

MLB.com filed this report.

Pretty sweet. Actually, for the kind of Jays fan that frequents this site, that's a pretty good buffet of guys to get a look at in a spring training game: Chen, File (very curious), Durocher (never seen), Haines (never seen), Chulk and McGowan (never seen). Looks good. Now what's the weather for tomorrow?

Shane, Arnold faced d'Angelo Jimenez, Larkin, Griffey Jr., Kearns, LaRue and Valentin. It's only six batters, but they were major leaguers anyway. Actually for a split squad, the Reds lineup was pretty good. Missing only Adam Dunn really.

What happened to Rosario?

Thanks Mike.

Here's the boxscore. Fagan, Singleton, Chiaffredo, Rich and Godwin all saw some action.

Arnold seems to have corrected the arm angle. And it's good to see he's not afraid to pitch inside!

How can she be found guilty of making false statements about the securities fraud, when the judge said there wasn't sufficient evidence about that fraud in the first place?

Because the "securities fraud" charge was a crock of excrementitious matter, and the SEC must have known it. It was a case of "run it up the flagpole".

The "securities fraud" charge had nothing to do with the other charges, and they did not directly concern the sale of the ImClone stock. The "securities fraud" charge was related to certain public statements that Stewart made when the charges were laid, essentially saying "I am not guilty". The SEC charged that this was a fraud on the public intended to boost the stock price of _Martha's_ company.

Essentially, the fraud was alleged to relate to Martha Stewart Omnimedia, and not to ImClone. It's a weak-ass charge, because it basically tells execs that if they defend themselves from the SEC, they're open to these extra charges. Bush-league stuff.

The other charges, though, were based on much more solid evidence including - as I recall - the testimony of two people inside the brokerage.

This confused the hell out of a lot of people. You're not alone.

Well, a very tidy three-hitter for the staff.

That was a good big-league lineup that Arnold retired 1-2-3-4-5-6.

Jimenez
Larkin
Griffey
Kearns
LaRue
Valentin

Nice.

Josue Matos also went two hitless in the 8th and 9th against the scrubs. Nice to see Dave Maurer notch a perfect inning.

I am hoping that Our Man (soon to be Men) In Dunedin can give us a little bit of feedback on some of the players that we can pass on later.

http://economics.about.com
The other charges, though, were based on much more solid evidence including - as I recall - the testimony of two people inside the brokerage.

Thanks for the info... It's starting to become a lot clearer.

This confused the hell out of a lot of people. You're not alone.

I'm already starting to get a few questions about the verdict from my About readers. I got this one about 2 minutes after it was announced:

With respect to the martha stewart trial, I just heard she was found guilty on all counts. What do you believe should happen, and what do you think is going to happen to her? Also,if one of us (ordinary citizen)was caught doing what she did , what do you think would happen to them? Do you think bias occurs frequently among people of fame,and what can the average person do to change this policy whithin the american judical system?

If there's any topic that I'm not going to touch with a 10-foot pole, it's this one.

Cheers,

Mike

Ah, a rare opportunity for me to make myself useful around here. Whenever people ask what a "securities litigator" is, I say, "You know -- Martha Stewart?"

Craig's exactly right. In case you want a little more detail...

The government's logic behind the securities charge was as follows:

1)Martha issued public statements and Internet postings that said, in effect, "I am innocent of the charges against me."
2)Martha was guilty.
3)Therefore, Martha was lying to the public.
4)Since she was still affiliated with Omnimedia, her lies constituted a misrepresentation to Omnimedia investors.
5)She made this misstatement in order to mislead investors and encourage the market to continue to invest in Omnimedia.
6)Therefore, Martha's "I am innocent" statements were material misstatements, designed to defraud the market and manipulate the stock price of Omnimedia.

As Craig noted, it's a ludicrous charge. Was she supposed to issue an "I am so guilty" statement while she was on trial -- having pled not guilty and exercised her Fifth Amendment rights? The judge, properly, criticized the prosecution for twisting the securities laws beyond their intended scope.

Similarly, courts have recently been chastising prosecutors who have been trying to pull off stunts related to the new, tough anti-terror laws. They've been applying the new laws to, for example, simple burglars -- their argument being "well, they terrorized that family, didn't they?"

Obviously, that's not what was meant by the word "terrorism" in the statute. Similarly, "I am innocent" is not what the drafters of the securities laws had in mind when they wrote the sections on material misstatements.

Law is hard.

Nah, it can't be. If I can do it...

Mike Moffatt, if your readers continue to ask questions, I think that the "Law" page on CNN is by far the best balance of sophisticated U.S. legal analysis and readable, understandable prose for lay people.

http://economics.about.com
Mike Moffatt, if your readers continue to ask questions, I think that the "Law" page on CNN is by far the best balance of sophisticated U.S. legal analysis and readable, understandable prose for lay people.

Sweeet. Usually when I get a question I can't answer, I try to refer them somewhere else, preferrably other About sites. I think I'll send them there. If I keep getting e-mails about it (5 so far), I'll link it on my homepage.

Cheers,

Mike

Here are Fordin's game notes.

MSO was up 15% today.

"I was trying to attack the zone with my pitches. Hit it if you want, if it's there."

If Arnold takes that attitude into every AAA start this year, his numbers will improve, and he'll earn a look in September. I'm very happy for Jason; this is a fine beginning. Gil Patterson sounds pleased with his whole staff -- "your job is to make pitches" is excellent advice. Don't get too emotional, ignore results, just keep doing your job. That's what I tell my high school pitchers -- throw aggressive strikes, and good stuff happens.

Justin Singleton and Noah Hall got to play, as the Jays left the "A" team at home. Pond, Phelps and Woodward got key hits, and Rios contributed. Kershner, Maurer and Matos all look good in the box score. That's a lot of promising news for one game. Tomorrow should be fun.

While enjoying a beautiful, spring-like day in Toronto, I envied those who were there. Is a trip to Florida in anyone's plans this month?

In other game day news, some of our past cast-offs (is that redundant?) got action today as well:

Tanyon Sturtze started for LA and got beat up, going 2.3 IP, giving up 6 hits and 4ER in the process.

Everyone's favourite Cory Lidle went 2 innings, giving up 3 hits and an unearned run, striking out one and hitting a guy.

Esteban L____ went 3IP, gave up 4 hits and 2 unearned runs, K'ing 1.

Billy Koch struck out 2 in a perfect inning of work.

Felix Heredia gave up 3 earned runs in 2 innings on 3 hits and 2 walks and 1 homerun.

Ben Weber pitched a perfect inning against San Diego.

An one time Jay Omar Daal got beat up badly, giving up 4 earned runs on 7 hits in 2 innings, striking out and walking no one versus the Marlins. Ouch.

Is a trip to Florida in anyone's plans this month?

I'll be at Jays vs. Minny in Ft. Myers on Tuesday the 16th. Ohhh yeah. I know, it's just spring training. But still, it's baseball!

http://www.floridatoday.com/!NEWSROOM/baseballstory0306SARNIEE.htm
Since we all love to watch the scouting-soap-opera that is Jason Arnold, this is some actual content the Toronto papers swept aside this morniing, but the Florida papers were inclined to report:

Arnold, who left 20 tickets for his mom, wife, in-laws and friends, reached 94 mph on his fastball, which even surprised him.

"I haven't thrown that hard in a few years," he said. "But I did a lot of work in the offseason, so it's really nice to reach back and throw the ball past some guys, for a change."

Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi told Arnold after the game, "That's the Jason we traded for."

*link above

Thanks for that link, Shane. Local boy gets the "opening day" start over two Cy Young winners -- priceless.