Baltimore seems like a good place for Drabek to make his debut (compared to, say, Boston or New York). I for one am totally stoked to see him pitch on Wednesday night.

The O's are a pretty good club notwithstanding the record.  They made a decision during the off-season that this was not their year to compete and have acted accordingly.  I expect that they will take a different approach in 2011. 

I am happy to see Kyle Drabek getting a taste of major league ball this year.  At the beginning of the year, I predicted that he would make the final start of the season in his debut but I don't mind being wrong about that...

In the spirit of Magpie's headline analogy:  if this was a concert on the roof of the Apple studio building in 1969, can we assume that Drabek is the John Lennon of the audition?  Shawn Hill might be the McCartney, and Zep might be the George Harrison.  So who is the Ringo -- Scott Richmond?   Get Back, indeed.

Does it matter who's who?   Elvis has gone to pitch in Philadelphia.

Well I hate to take this analogy any further, but the fab four on that roof top in 1969 were pretty well established.....sort of like Shawn, Ricky, Brandon and Brett.  Sorry, Brett, you're Ringo.

In the spirit of Dewey, it's Shaun and no, he's not dead.

I'd always figured Dewey would be more of a stickler for math.

The walrus was Dennis Lamp. Goo-goo-ga-joob.

Some Jays content from Bryan "don't call me Bryn" Smith over at Fangraphs:

Comment From Gil Fisher Gil Fisher: ] What are your thoughts on Henderson Alvarez? He seemed to be really lucky in the first half of the year and really unlucky in the second half. How reliable is batted ball data in the low minors?

Bryan Smith: 

I was moderately impressed at the Futures Game, despite his struggles. His HR/9 jump is a little concerning given the environment, but we'll see next year in the EL. Right now, especially given Toronto's young pitching depth, I think middle relief might be his ultimate destination. But commanding a fastball with velo is a nice foundation for success in any role, and I wouldn't be surprised to be wrong.

Bryan Smith: 

And to answer the batted ball data: not very. I think groundball rates are somewhat reliable, but LD vs. FB is just not at all.

All right, whippersnappers, don’t think I haven’t noticed these little barbs.  (I do approve your *paying attention*, now.  Does ya good.)    I can still spot a solecism at 20 paces and beyond; so watch it.

So then, Dewey, what do you make of the notation at the top of every page:

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them.

I'd made a couple of attempts in the past to get that whomever 'whoever'd", but maybe I need someone with more seniority...

For fun... baseball teams as Simpson characters. Sadly, the Jays pick is too darn accurate :P

I'd be pretty surprised if the Jays split with the Orioles in the remaining games this year. I thought Showalter would give them a big immediate impact, but I was thinking that with not playing the Orioles for so long they would come off their high. They're not, and I'm pretty sure they are going to be pumped to beat the Jays right now. And we're responding with the worst part of our rotation. I just hope we don't get swept here.

You are quite right about the erroneous “whomever”, JohnL;  and I am delighted to have an ally in this long and weary struggle.   I don't know why your correction was not heeded.  The Roster is usually quite receptive to positive criticism.  (Maybe Joe The Computer Guy has to be aroused for some reason on that one?)   Patience, patience, and still more patience.  Keep the faith  And your composure.  We shall overcome--or at least give the bastards a good tussle.

Kasi, how are you coming with "than" and "then"?  (Still mixing them up the other day.)  I'm keeping notes.

I post quickly from work or between doing other things. I try to watch my grammar, but years of posting quick messages on different boards doesn't lead to proper grammar. Most of which have a pretty relaxed standards. (think Drunk Jays Fans for example) Be glad I capitalize properly. But no I don't spell check or grammar check before hitting post. I try my best to get it right, but I'm not putting any more effort into it. Sorry if this offends you, but I'm not.

On the who(m)ever thing, I agree -- and double-barrelled my two graduate degrees in English, Rhetoric and Technical Communications at getting that fixed a couple of years ago. But that language does have to be edited by Joe or someone else technically astute (say, he's not Joe the Plumber ... Joe the Boxer? :-) but frankly, it's such a minor thing that I dropped it long ago. Joe does genius work here, and does it for free, so this is about eleventy-teen-billionth on the priority ladder. (Though, Joe, we'll double -- no, triple -- your pay if you make the change!)

 

P.S. thanks to John Northey for that MLB/Simpsons link. Outstanding!

Dewey, I hope that you didn't take my comment as a barb.  Fastidiousness about the correct spelling of a Jay pitcher's first name seems to me to be on a par with grammatical rectitude. 

As for the whomever/whoever correction, I hope that the reply wasn't "whatever". :)

I had no idea about Joe and the challenge of changing that line... just assumed it was easy. By this point, I hardly never notice it no more, so just Let it Be.

Gentlemen:

I feel compelled to utter a partial disclaimer here.  I’m really not as curmudgeonly an old fart as I like to sometimes pretend.  And I like to be ironic/jocular. ( I should know better:  irony is almost impossible on the internet, but I keep trying.)  So, no Mike, my use of “barb” was ill-considered,  and I’m certainly not offended by anything you wrote.  (I also agree that spelling people's names correctly matters, especially to them.)

More importantly,  it’s not me that anyone offends by misusing language:  it’s their own language that is offended.  People abuse it at *their* peril, not mine.  Or at least not mine primarily:  we are all losers if a poster thinks it just doesn’t matter enough to get something as basic as human communication right.  (Kasi, if you repeatedly confuse “than” and “then” in contexts other than this site, I assure you, you’ll pay for it somewhere.  You’re undermining the force of your usually articulately-presented views by doing so.)   I do take language seriously, and think that its misuse causes real damage;  but I try not to get bent out of shape about it,  unless some bozo starts performing the Sarah Palin I’m-ignorant-as-hell-and-proud-of-it schtick.   If I “correct” someone’s language,  I’m not trying to show him/her up:  I’m trying to do him/her a favour.  I’m retired, have lots of time, am fascinated by language and its use.  That’s all.    Cheers.

Oh I know I have grammar mistakes that I repeatedly make. My wife bugs me about them too. But when you're doing a post in 30 seconds while waiting for a program to compile or start up you get in the habit of speed posting. Which leads to stupid stuff going through. I tend to like to make my posts short and concise and focus on a point or two. Tends to waste less time and I went through my period of writing essays. I'm tired of it now. I am more used to reading people's posts who don't have good grammar. I've learned to filter the language from the thoughts the person was trying to articulate. I've known a couple posters on various boards who had brilliant ideas but couldn't write worth a damn.