HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: lsmith@cs.umn.edu (Lance "Not Here" Smith)
Subject: Re: Artificial Turf: Embarassment to the Game
Organization: The Little Squids of the Poor
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 16:00:06 GMT

In article <4990@transfer.stratus.com> jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com writes:
>
>You can get the same effect with real grass by building the appropriate
>drainage under the surface. Look at Camden Yards.  They claim they
>can get that field ready after a rain delay as fast or faster than
>someone with artificial turf. 

Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. Chattanooga has had a big
problem with their drainage sytem. A lot depends on what sort of weather
patterns you get. Different places need different drainage systems. What
works in Baltimore may not work in Miami. Getting the right drainage system,
despite what the turf marketers say, is a very complex thing.

>Another gripe about turf:  for those stadiums that have to have
>this abomination, can't they at least get a variety that's the same
>color as real grass.  Artificial turf is ugly stuff to look at.

Now this is just getting plain silly. Artificial turf's color can
be altered to taste. I find that the carpet in MetroDome has a nice 
color comparable to mowed grass. (If you've only seen the Dome's 
grass on TV, take my word for it.) Some aturf looks good some looks
bad. Don't make sweeping generalizations.

Besides which color of grass should we choose? The idealic bright
green (that some would say looks unrealistic) or the dead grass look
of a California stadium during one of their seasonal droughts? Nothing
so attractive as playing on a nice yellow field.
-- 
   Lance "Zeppelin" Smith      | "O hateful error, melancholy's stat!
    (lsmith@cs.umn.edu)        |  Why dost thou show, to the idle thoughts of
 Prove it! Show us your work!  |  Mediots, the things that are not!
    Huh? What's your point?    |                 _Jose Caesar_, V. iii. 67           
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: jch@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (jeffrey.c.halle)
Subject: The *SURE* sign of the apocalypse...
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 13:56:11 GMT

You know the world is going to end, sometime in the ninth inning of game
seven, when the world series is between the

Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs!!!!!
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: tedward@cs.cornell.edu (Edward [Ted] Fischer)
Subject: Well paid relievers
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 04:57:47 GMT


I suppose you all know that Eckersley signed a contract extension
Sunday.  A $750,000 signing bonus, two years at $3,375,000, and an
option year for the A's at $4 million (with a $300,000 buyout).

While Eckersley is arguably the best ever, he signed for a bit *less*
than John Franco did in March.  Are we seeing salaries slip a bit,
maybe?  Or is this merely a case of an older player preferring
security to the risks of free agency?  (Loyalty may have played a part
here, too.)

After Eckersley and Franco comes Harvey.  After that?  The fourth and
fifth most expensive closers are Mark Davis (signed in *1990* for $13
million/4 years) and Bobby Thigpen.  What a waste of good money!

The Red Sox, however, may have the most expensive bullpen.  Their
salaries in 1991 (counting a pro-rated share of signing bonuses).

Danny Darwin	$3.25 million
Jeff Reardon	$2.58 million
Matt Young	$2.27 million
Greg Harris	$1.30 million

I don't know the full terms of their contracts, but those numbers are
pretty impressive! :-) How many blown saves have we had to suffer? :-(

It is *this* kind of spending that is a waste of money.  Not spending
$6 million on Bonilla or $7 million on Ryne Sandberg.  Spending $9
million on a bullpen of mediocre 35 year old relievers is *stupid*.

Simply put, I would rather have one Bonilla than a Brunansky, a Young,
and a Fermin, and an Espinoza.

Cheers,
-Valentine
-- 
Quantrill gets his shot at the bigs.... 	tedward@cs.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: rickert@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.Edu (John H. Rickert)
Subject: Re: RP/PA for AL and NL (More bogus RP stats)
Organization: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 20:30:29 GMT


In article <BrssqD.KzH@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu>  
djohnson@cayley.waterloo.edu (David Johnson) writes:

> On most teams isn't the number 3 and 4 guys good RBI men who knock in
> the number 1 and 2 guys who get on base a lot.  By this theory the number

I wish. 
This passage brings back such wonderful memories from the beginning of the  
season
-- B.J. Surhoff is batting *third* for the Brewers?!? ---
and a few weeks ago
-- B.J. Surhoff is batting *fourth* for the Brewers?!? ---

Must be that aggressive NL style of lineup selection :-/

But, then, the Angels cleanup hitters have an OPS of .535 so I guess I  
shouldn't complain too much.

john rickert
rickert@nextwork.rose-hulman.edu
Thinks Garner is doing OK, but some of that stuff is dring me crazy...
(as shown by the change in tense :-)
From: deaven@physics.Berkeley.EDU (David Deaven)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Orioles at All-Star Break
Date: 21 Jul 1992 17:30:18 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: physics.berkeley.edu

trn@warper.jhuapl.edu (Tony Nardo) writes:
>OK, you asked for it. :-)  The top 10 reasons why the Orioles are on a
>pace to draw more than 3 million fans (some serious, some not):
>
>	10) Over 2.5 million tickets were sold in the pre-season, before
>	    most people knew just how poor some of those "every-view-is-
>	    perfect" seats really are.

All I can say is I've sat in seats in parks across the country, and I
liked Camden Yards the best so far. The bleacher seats are most
excellent, in particular. This "reason" sounds like sour grapes to me.

>	 9) Baltimore and Howard County stubbornly refuse to carry Home Team
>	    Sports as part of their basic cable package.

Of course. But folks outside of these areas watch HTS diligently and
add to the huge support for the O's. You can't expect Baltimore to
show HTS without blacking out the home games, these days--that's how
cable works, like it or not.

[3-8 deleted]

>	 2) Several thousand undiscourageable DC baseball fans hope to show
>	    Eli Jacobs that attendance at Orioles' games increases as distance
>	    to DC decreases.

But, we all know the Baltimore inner harbor is a much better place for
a baseball park--and think of all the fans that would be killed if
they had to go into DC--the "murder capital of the country". Fans dumb
enough to be living in DC can take the light rail line right to the
gates of Camden Yards.

>and, the number one reason...
>
>	 1) Tens of thousands of Baltimore baseball fans have been made
>	    suddenly nervous by the revelation that the 15 year "lease"
>	    EBW signed for Camden Yards was not really a lease, but only a
>	    letter of intent.

Let us hope that Camden Yards becomes a permanent fixture in the
harbor... it dure does compliment the area, and it's a GREAT place to
see a game!

>Tony Nardo,		   INET: trn@warper.jhuapl.edu, trn@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu
> Johns Hopkins Univ./APL   UUCP: {backbone!}mimsy!aplcomm!trn


-- 
David Deaven (deaven@physics.berkeley.edu)
Physics Department
University of California at Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720
From: kenf@darkstar.cso.uiuc.edu (Ken Fortenberry)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: The Commish is Gone (maybe) !!
Date: 22 Jul 92 20:06:55 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Brt3vJ.GGu
Reply-To: kenf@uiuc.edu
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

In article <361@sbmsg1.UUCP> acw@sbmsg1.UUCP (Alvin White) writes:
> In article <1992Jul17.172759.7787@asd.com> scott@asd.com (Scott Barman)  
writes:                                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                                              s/b kenf
> 
> >>Given that Sherri can't even SPELL Giamatti, I don't think
> >>it unreasonable to demand proof of these allegations.
> 
> I find it quite humorous when people are running out of steam 
> in their arguments they resort to pointing out spelling errors.  
> When you screw up...ADMIT IT.  This is rec.sport.baseball.
> When I want perfect text, Ill go to rec.spelling.
> 
Bad attribution, Alvin. I confess to having written the above.
I have already apologized on this forum for that outburst but
when I posted that I had barely started my spirited defense of
A. Bartlett Giamatti. Run out of steam, indeed.

--
Ken Fortenberry                            | Internet: kenf@uiuc.edu
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | BITNET: KENF@UIUCVMD.BITNET
Computing & Communications Services Office | UUCP: uunet!uiuc.edu!kenf 
1304 W. Springfield Ave.  Urbana, IL 61801 | Phone: (217) 244-3215
From: msw10@nepenthe.as (Michael S. Wong)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Cone threw how many pitches?
Date: 27 Jul 92 18:16:16 GMT
Reply-To: msw10@nepenthe.as
Organization: Sun Microsystems


In article 25795@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu, jm0i@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (JOSEPH ALOYSIUS MCVEIGH) writes:
>kbos@carina.unm.edu (Kurt Bose "of Biscayzee") writes:
>
>>Buddy Harrelson must be back.  Cone pitch counts last year included 148, 137,
>>138, 139, and 141.  The most pitches thrown an ANY NL game last year was 154.
>
>Well, he survived and pitched well in his last start. But according to the NY
>Times, he's averaged 141 pitches over his last six starts. This is
>confirmation that the home bullpen at Shea is there solely to save HR balls
>for the next day's BP.
>
>-- 
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Joseph Aloysius McVeigh  | "When you're a guru, it's easy to emphasize your
>       **********        |        successes and ignore your failures."
>       "N.I.N.A."        |   (John Rekenthaler, on stock market "experts")
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Wim a few games this year at the expense of a Cy Young caliber pitcher's career.
Makes a lot of sense to me. I guess Roger Craig isn't the only manager that has no
clue about how to handle pitchers. At this rate, I'll bet Cone's career won't last
more than 2 more years.

Michael Wong.
msw10@nepenthe.ras.amdahl.com
From: lotto@math.berkeley.edu (Ben Lotto)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: Strike 1 on Commissioner
Date: 25 Jul 92 19:33:43 GMT
	<1992Jul24.174851.3874@leland.Stanford.EDU> <36088@sdcc12.ucsd.edu>
	<LOTTO.92Jul24151916@asmara.math.berkeley.edu>
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Math. Department.
NNTP-Posting-Host: asmara.berkeley.edu
In-reply-to: lotto@math.berkeley.edu's message of 24 Jul 92 15:19:16

>>>>> On 24 Jul 92 15:19:16, lotto@math.berkeley.edu (Ben Lotto) said:

>>>>> On 24 Jul 92 20:14:41 GMT, demers@cs.ucsd.edu (David DeMers) said:

David> If distance is the issue, then we need two groups of six such
David> that the sum of the intra-group distances is minimized.

Ben> I did this, with distances (in miles) from a Rand McNally road atlas.

I did it again, this time with air distances, which were computed from
latitudes and longitudes taken from comp.mail.maps.  The aggregate
distances are in multiples of the earth's radius.  I've included the
smallest 20 and the largest 1.  (Apologies to people who saw a flawed
version of this article, which I've now cancelled.  I hope this is now
correct.)

8.9715: ATL CIN MIA MTL NY PHI PIT
9.18945: ATL CHI CIN MTL NY PHI PIT
9.38024: ATL CHI MIA MTL NY PHI PIT
9.4459: ATL DEN HOU LA SD SF STL
9.59221: ATL CIN MTL NY PHI PIT STL
9.60497: ATL DEN HOU LA MIA SD SF
9.6905: ATL MIA MTL NY PHI PIT STL
9.82402: ATL CHI DEN HOU LA SD SF
9.84921: ATL CHI CIN MIA MTL NY PHI
9.85831: ATL CHI MTL NY PHI PIT STL
9.94034: ATL CHI CIN MIA NY PHI PIT
10.0873: ATL CIN DEN HOU LA SD SF
10.1123: ATL CIN MIA MTL NY PHI STL
10.1207: ATL HOU MIA MTL NY PHI PIT
10.1487: ATL CHI CIN MIA MTL NY PIT
10.162: ATL CIN MIA NY PHI PIT STL
10.1735: ATL CHI CIN MIA MTL PHI PIT
10.2302: ATL CHI CIN MTL NY PHI STL
10.3129: ATL CHI CIN NY PHI PIT STL
10.3668: ATL CIN HOU MTL NY PHI PIT

13.8196: ATL CIN DEN HOU LA MTL PHI
--
-B. A. Lotto
Department of Mathematics/University of California/Berkeley CA 94720
510-642-8464
lotto@math.berkeley.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: meadows@cslvax.weeg.uiowa.edu
Subject: Re: Best Looking Swing
Reply-To: meadows@cslvax.weeg.uiowa.edu
Organization: U. of Iowa - Weeg Computing Center
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 16:47:03 GMT

In article <Brt5x3.pp@me.utoronto.ca>, steinman@me.utoronto.ca (David Steinman) writes:
><ALWHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> writes:
>
>>    When I watch a good hitter at the plate, they will show the swing of the
>>  hitter in slow motion. IMHO the best looking swings I've seen are:
>>        1) Dave Justice
>>        2) Will Clark
>>        3) Don Mattingly
>>        4) George Brett
>
>>    These  are all good hitters. Of course, there are more but these are the
>>  ones that I can name offhand. If you care to add more or comment on those
>>  that I have just named  feel free. I know that George Brett was influenced
>>  by Charlie Lau's  style of hitting, I don't know about the others though...
>
>Let's not forget "the sweet swing of John Olerud".  He really does have a nice looking
>swing.  And he's batting over 280 now :-)
>--
>Dave!
>
    Maybe its because he's a former Cub, but the one I really like is
Raphael Palmiero of the Rangers. Raffy & Will Clark must have been some
duo playing on the same college team.

Howard


***************************************************************************
* Howard Meadows       Sr. Systems Programmer     Weeg Computing Center   *
* University Of Iowa   Iowa City, Iowa  52242     Phone: 319-335-5519     *
* meadows@cslvax.weeg.uiowa.edu        or         meadowva@uiamvs.bitnet  *
***************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: josh@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (joshua.h.rosenbluth)
Subject: Re: Yankees..Whats UP?
Organization: AT&T
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 22:02:08 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.182812.23655@wam.umd.edu>, ledzep@wam.umd.edu (John Henry Bonham) writes:
> Well I'm a big Yankee fan down here near D.C. I just wanted to know what was going on. I've following them but can you all give me anything thats not in the box scores, like who is this Stankiewics? He's pretty damn good for someone i have heard of before> !

I've done a little research into the Yankee offense (don't know much about
their pitching) and can tell you:

Stankiewicz has been one of the highlights of a team awash in mediocrity.
He's been one of the top hitting shortstops, seems to field the position
well, and has a great attitude (a "spark-plug").  Definitely a fan favorite.

Now the bad news:  Stanky is a 6-year minor leaguer who turns 28 in August and
has never hit like this before.  His 1991 season, in which he hit .272 with
little power and only a few walks, was very close to his carrer norm.  The
major-league equivalency was a .245 BA with an OBP of .291 and SLG of .284.
He has either reached a new level or is primed for a fast drop.  Unfortunately,
the latter is much more likely.  Alvaro Espinosa had a similar story.  In 1989,
at the age of 27, he debuted with a .284 BA after a 5-year minor league carrer
in which he proved he could not hit.  But the Yankees were sufficiently
impressed they let him drag the team down for 2 more years.  And he too was
a fan favorite because of his attitude and desire.

Now the good news:  If the Yankees seize the opportunity and have the courage
to ignore the (temporary) fan opinion, they have a fine 24 year-old SS
in Columbus, Dave Silvestri, who is ready for prime time.  They could trade
Stanky for some much needed help at 2B or 3B (Do they realize Charlie Hayes
doesn't hit enough to justify his glove) or 1B (Mattingly is getting old and
is only mediocre) or OF (Hall and Barfield are old).

As you can see, the big problem with the Yankees is that they have holes
all over the place:  they lack good *young* ballplayers.  Instead, they have
collected a bunch of mediocre aging guys who are getting worse.  Notable
exceptions are R.Kelly (in his prime and just fine) and Tartabull (a little
old but a great hitter).

More bad news:  The minor-league cupboard is close to bare.  Besides
Silvestri, only Bernie Williams (CF) and Bam-Bam Meulens (3B??) have
shown anything, and they both flopped with the big club in 1991.

The Yankees are at least a couple of years away from contending, but only
if they get started on attacking their problems now.

Josh Rosenbluth (attmail!jrosenbluth)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: hhenderson@vax.clarku.edu
Subject: Re: 1969 Mets Rotation
Organization: Clark University
Date: 29 JUL 92 13:30:23 GMT

The 1969 Mets had a five-man starting rotation:

Tom Seaver (25-7, 2.21, 36 starts)
Jerry Koosman (17-9, 2.28, 32 starts)
Gary Gentry (13-12, 3.43, 35 starts)
Don Cardwell (8-10, 3.01, 21 starts)
Jim McAndrew (6-7, 3.47, 21 starts)


Heather
HHENDERSON@vax.clarku.edu
From: a_copeab@ccsvax.sfasu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: More quiz questions
Date: 23 Jul 92 02:00:31 CST
Distribution: usa
Organization: Stephen F. Austin State University

In article <magyar.711765567@hss>, magyar@hss.caltech.edu (Ted Turo'cy) writes:
> 
> 2.  Bases loaded, batter hits ball over CF fence, but no runs score.
> 
> Assume two are out.  If the runner on 2nd overtakes the runner on 3rd
> before the runner on 3rd crosses the plate, the runner on 2nd is declared
> out.  Since this is the third out, and it took place before the runner on
> 3rd crossed the plate, no runs count.

	Okay, pet peeve; I've never liked this rule, as it seems rather silly
(no, I don't mean just passing a baserunner; I mean passing a baserunner on an
out-of-the park homerun). The batter loses something he had to work for quite
unfairly (unless he was batting against Lamp or the Ackmeister...). I don't
think that passing runners should apply on an out of the part HR. Of course,
the baseball rules committe has other silly things it won't fix (ex. a batted
ball that hits a baserunner is a single, runner out -- to paraphrase Larry
Dierker, as soon as somebody loses a no-hitter because of the stupid thing,
you'll hear people clamoring for a change in the rule).

Brandon Cope
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols)
Subject: Re: Value of Stats
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 16:48:40 GMT

In article <Brrr8I.4uw@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> djohnson@cayley.waterloo.edu (David Johnson) writes:
>In article <1992Jul22.000141.12304@adobe.com> snichols@adobe.com (Sherri Nichols) writes:
>>In article <BrrGCL.FI7@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> djohnson@cayley.waterloo.edu (David Johnson) writes:
>>>If Rance Mulliniks, Derek Bell, and Rob Ducey don't think that a .300 hitter
>>>15HR and 50 RBI man so far shouldn't be playing then they shouldn't be
>>>considered team players as well.  
>>
>>Even if that .300 hitter with 15 HR and 50 RBIs is a grouch who hates
>>everybody else on the team, and only gives 75%? 
>
>If he is having bad effects on the team and causes the rest of the team to
>play poorer then maybe he shouldn't play and should be traded but that
>decision is up to management.  It also depends on who can replace him.  If
>they had a Ducey to replace him with then the decision becomes harder but
>if they have Derek Bell, a great prospect and can do the job then yes I
>would consider getting rid of him off the team.  Do you have any examples
>of this situation?

So, you think that management should get rid of such a player, but you
don't think it's okay for Derek Bell to think the same thing.

Is that correct?

Sherri Nichols
snichols@adobe.com
From: stown@pyramid.COM (Scott Townsend)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
Subject: Re: WHAT SHOULD THE DODGERS DO???
Date: 24 Jul 92 16:00:44 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corporation, Mountain View, California

Another thing that I fel that the Dodgers need to do is to give Lasorda
another job in the organization and take him off the field as manager.
Tommy has done many great things for the team. But, I feel that he no longer 
has the ability to manage in the majors. His constant shuffeling of players
on and off the field is ,to me, an indicationof his uncertainties. He also
seems to stay with his starting pitchers too long. He also seems to have
trouble communicating with the superstars. Why didn't Daryl go to a rehab
assignment in AAA before making his totally unimpressive return after many
days on the DL. 

The Dodgers are beginning to make a transition to a much younger and faster
team. They need a good manager who is not resting on the past, but is hungry
for some championships. Replacing Lasorda at the end of this season would
be a smart move for the team to make.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball
From: rlm7638@tamsun.tamu.edu (Jack McKinney)
Subject: Re: Dawson, was: Re: GMaddux to Test Free Agency Waters
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 15:54:44 GMT

dtate+@pitt.edu (David M Tate) writes:
>
>We should see 25 HR out of almost *any* hitter with any power at all, if he
>plays half his games in Wrigley.  25 HR in Wrigley is not impressive.  For
>Andre, who no longer has his speed or defense, and never had any OBP, 25 HR
>is totally inadequate, since it represents the greater part of his personal
>contribution to the offense.
>
     The standard by which he was to be judged was 25 HR just a couple of
articles ago. 

+---------------------------------------------------+------------------------+
| "A lot of stuff in school... you don't appreciate | Jack McKinney          |
|  'til you get to be older, you know, little       | jmckinney@tamu.edu     |
|  things, like being spanked everyday by a middle- +------------------------+
|  aged woman... Stuff you'd pay good money for     | Blessed be the ties    |
|  later in life."      -Emo Philips                |      that bind...      |
+---------------------------------------------------+------------------------+
Newsgroups: rec.sport.baseball