Grab Bag Of Random Posts

[Amol]

Do you live in Manhattan Blind3?

[Dubbel]

Why the Angels and not the Dodgers?

I think the Dodgers suck because they play in blue. And the looks of their fans gives me the impression that the Dodgers give away free tickets at the welfare office. Their players are all mediocre with the possible exception of new guy Maddux. Their stadium is neatly located though and their link to Brooklyn is cool. But still, the whole Dodger experience just reeks like Feijenoord to me.

The Angels play in red and white like Ajax. The team and their stadium both start with an 'A'. There are lots of babes in the stand. Also the fans provide just as little atmosphere as an Amsterdam Arena crowd. It felt like a homecoming. They have great players like Guerrero, Anderson, Figgins and others. The team thrives on good pitching; the latest additions (Weaver, Saunders, Speier) add to the likes of K-rod, Escobar, Santana, Colon and Shields. It's fun to follow the rotation.

Even though the Dodgers bring up a foul comparison I don't mind it if they do well. Us Angel fans are pretty mellow. Even the Yankees are quite welcome at the big A. And for 12 bucks a ticket and the weather generally being good it is a nice outing to go see the Angels, it's less then half an hour drive for me. Who cares if they win or lose, this is Southern Cal, life is good...

[aveslacker]

Sounds like you've got this whole baseball thing down pat.

I will say that I attended a game at Dodger Stadium a few years ago and absolutely loved it -- Southern California cool, everyone laid back and hanging out -- it was great.

Having said that, it probably ranks about 4th or so on my favorite places to watch baseball.

1) Camden Yards, Baltimore (the coolest stadium I've ever been in)
2) Pac Bell Park, San Francisco (right on the fucking water! Awesome location)
3) Minute Maid Park, Houston (a great stadium, home to my team, the Lastros, er, Astros)
4) Chavez Ravine (see above)
5) The Ballpark at Arlington (nice stadium, but it's in the middle of the suburbs -- blech)

That's probably my list. Still waiting to go to Fenway, Wrigley, the Bronx and a few others.

Good to have a new baseball season underway.

[Dubbel]

Last night the A's got a HR of Angel closer Franky Rodriguez to win it 4-3. Amazing, nobody could hit him for months at the end of last year's season(ERA sank below 1). So I was already trying to figure out who had to throw in the inevitable extra inning and there he goes picking up a loss cause of a misplaced -high- fastball. I guess pitchers need some time to get into a season?

[Dubbel]

Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dice K or Special K. I believe it all refers to the same guy. All over the ffin' media! Is Japanese pitching hyped and thus overrated or he is really that good? Anyone out there who's seen him play?

[aveslacker]

Daisuke Matsuzaka, Dice K or Special K. I believe it all refers to the same guy. All over the ffin' media! Is Japanese pitching hyped and thus overrated or he is really that good? Anyone out there who's seen him play?

I don't know if Japanese pitching is hyped (my theory is that most Japanese pitchers are overrated) and I've never seen Dice-K pitch, but I like the buzz about him. I hope he does well.

I like some of the Japanese hitters, though (H. Matsui, Ichiro).

I think we'll have until he makes about 20 starts to see if he's the real deal.

[Amol]

I saw him the other day - pitching against Seattle. Seattle's 21 year old Felix Hernandez made him look pedestrian though.

He's given up 14 hits in 2 games already. Inspite of that, he's got good stuff.

Loved the way Pavano & Pettitte pitched, back to back the other day.

[Dubbel]

Yeah, that Felix Hernandez guy is great. The Angels may not have the best bats in the league but the latest times that Seattle has had Hernandez on the mound we had no chance against him.

Angels play 4 at Boston this weekend but there seems to be no Special K on the menu(Wakefield, Schilling, Beckett, Tavarez). On monday my hero Jered Weaver returns to the mound after some weeks on the DL. Hope for at least a split series.

[aveslacker]

I saw him the other day - pitching against Seattle. Seattle's 21 year old Felix Hernandez made him look pedestrian though.

He's given up 14 hits in 2 games already. Inspite of that, he's got good stuff.

Loved the way Pavano & Pettitte pitched, back to back the other day.

Meh. Hernandez is hot, but he'll cool off by the end of the season and will be nothing more than an average pitcher, winning about .500 and with an ERA around the league average. (And Huntelaar is more valuable to Ajax than Sneijder ;) .)

A split of the series with the BoSox is well within the reach of your Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Dubbel. Wakefield and Tavarez are good, but not great, Beckett is overrated, and Schilling is not as good as he used to be. You guys match up pretty well, imo.

[Dubbel]

Felix will cool off, huh? Perhaps... How about a bet for 100 posts(our only currency on AT?) that Hernandez ends the regular season with a lower ERA then Dice K? ;)

[Amol]

Yeah Schilling's old now. I'm going to cheer for the Angels this week while I watch the Yanks kick some Oakland butt.

[aveslacker]

Felix will cool off, huh? Perhaps... How about a bet for 100 posts(our only currency on AT?) that Hernandez ends the regular season with a lower ERA then Dice K? ;)

How about an avatar bet?

[Dubbel]

Yeah Schilling's old now. I'm going to cheer for the Angels this week while I watch the Yanks kick some Oakland butt.

Sounds like an excellent exchange, I shall root on the Bronx Bombers to hopefully sweep the A's! :headbang:

[Dubbel]

A split of the series with the BoSox is well within the reach of your Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Dubbel. Wakefield and Tavarez are good, but not great, Beckett is overrated, and Schilling is not as good as he used to be. You guys match up pretty well, imo.

8 shut out innings... :sad:
Just how well did this guy pitch when he was still good?

[aveslacker]

A split of the series with the BoSox is well within the reach of your Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Dubbel. Wakefield and Tavarez are good, but not great, Beckett is overrated, and Schilling is not as good as he used to be. You guys match up pretty well, imo.

8 shut out innings... :sad:
Just how well did this guy pitch when he was still good?

I'm never predicting anything for you again. :nooo:

Curt Schilling

2002 W 23 L 7 ERA:3.23 StrkOut:316
2006 W 15 L 7 ERA:3.97 StrkOut:186
Like I said, not as good as he used to be (though still good). N.B. he won his first four starts last year.

Look at the bright side: you can still split the series. :hypocrite:

[ajaxusa]

Good news: According to Google Maps, you can now DRIVE from NYC to Amsterdam
Bad news: You have to go through France.

(Just kidding Bertrand. I love Paris, especially in the Springtime.)

[Cedric]

When you'll have swum for 3462 miles, don't forget to make a stop near A13 "Autoroute de Normandie", I will be very much willing to pay you a coffee.... :D

[SE6Ajacied]

Good news: According to Google Maps, you can now DRIVE from NYC to Amsterdam
Bad news: You have to go through France.

(Just kidding Bertrand. I love Paris, especially in the Springtime.)

Well, I'd have thought it was a farly routine journey....?

http://www.hometownlocator.com/City/Ams ... w-York.cfm

(couldn't resist that one - have seen this place before on Google :D )

[Amol]

Did you know that the travel time from Amsterdam to Rotterdam is 27 minutes -

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q ... &z=11&om=1


Also, Amsterdam to Rome is about an hour & half -

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q ... 8&z=9&om=1

Last one - Amsterdam to Bombay -

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q ... 8&z=7&om=1

[DCLXVI]

Rome and Geneva west of Amsterdam...
Bombay north of Amsterdam...
Manchester, Dover, Cambridge, and Rotterdam to the east...

When did american schools stop teaching geography?

[Dubbel]

I just saw this quote on mlb.com:

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner says he believes in Brian Cashman and Joe Torre.

Does this portend the end of the Joe Torre era? Who might be his successor?

[SE6Ajacied]

There aren't many Dutch films released here in the UK so when one came out today (and it's payday!), I thought that I had to get it. It's called "Black Book" (Zwart Boek) directed by Paul Verhoeven and set during WW2 in Holland. A really excellent film if you get a chance to watch it. It actually helps with my understanding of Dutch too to watch with subtitles so a sort of double-bonus.......

[carcajou]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!

GO LIVERPOOL!!!!

Oh god, seeing Chelsea fail like that is just priceless. In your face Mr Abramovic, all your dirty monies will never buy a spirit and a soul for Chelsea and it will never buy you european titles.

I hope Milan will advance to the final and that Liverpool will kick their sorry italian ass ONCE AGAIN.

I'm watching the crowd sing right now, they'll definitely NEVER walk alone.

[Philippe]

le 6 mai, barrons la route au lepen en cravate, et votons Ségolène !

[carcajou]

le 6 mai, barrons la route au lepen en cravate, et votons Ségolène !

And that I will do sir. Unfortunately, he's at 55% in recent polls.