I love the Mattingly & Hernandez pic. Does it get any more 80s NY baseball than that?

Is it true that they only open the Champions bar when the Yankees come over?

there's something to be said for owning an authentic Bobby Bo jersey

[3]

But it can't be printed in a family newspaper ...

[2] Love that!

i wish there was a Mookie shirt in there! hell, how 'bout Hubie Brooks?!

[2] hysterical!

Love the Mattingly/Hernandez, of course. Classic.

And what's that first one? Is that modeled after some 1960s Futurist LaGuardia aesthetic? Very weird.

[7] all i noticed about the 1st one, was the hot blonde! but then i noticed the 2 to-go boxes, so she's probably waiting for her b/f. oh well... ; )

it's winn tonight, not russo. well, i hope we WIN(N)!!!

Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cervelli C
Winn LF
Hughes P

[8] Yep, because if she was single, you would be on Delta 1886 and all over that.

(I bet they have cute blondes Turner Field, no?)

I liked Kevin Russo yesterday. I even forgot that he isn't an outfielder.

But we should have Granderson back on Thursday! A real outfield! Three guys who can hit and catch the ball! Like other teams have!

Twins/Brewers on MLB right now, I gotta make it out to Target Field. Place looks gorgeous.

[8] You're too funny, friend. Yes, yes, I noticed her too! I'm not blind, you know, and I do have a pulse.

[11] Like other teams have!
Won't it be grand?
And to think last year I railed against Swisher being out there because of all the lunging he does. Now that I've seen how bad bad can be Swish looks like a gold-glover.

And btw, how does Thames get so far without being able to field his position? I just don't get how someone makes it to the major leagues not being able to catch the baseball.

It's like grade inflation.

[14] It will be grand. Grandish, anyway. Kinda.
Swisher does catch balls, he just doesn't look graceful doing it. To put it mildly.

Thames can DH! Against lefties, at least, but he's been hitting righties okay this year too. And today he can PH.

And it's not like grade inflation. Grade inflation is harmless.

Excellent pics, Al. Love em. I kept looking for a Yanks jersey. Looks like Matt Damon put on a lil weight (and became a HoJo fan).

Played softball with friends today. Makes you really appreciate the kind of athletecism that's req'd to do that everyday. I'm already sore! Funniest moment: I'm playing 2B and my one friend (who's a lefty) smokes a grounder right at me. I get the glove down, and 10 feet in front of me it hits a stone or something and sails clear over me head. We all got a laugh and I got to keep my teeth. Yeah, it's a horribly groomed municipal field.

[15]

And it’s not like grade inflation. Grade inflation is harmless.

=====================

Oh realllly .... not to get quasipolitical here, but how many kids get promoted in school without core competencies?

[16]

sounds like Fenway Park's infield :-)

[17] I dunno. How many?
I'm confused.

[19]

I'm merely pointing out that many kids graduate high school having only the vaguest notion of how to construct an essay, or solve a math problem.

Why? Because they get promoted to keep the school's scores high, and they are taught "to the test" (a standardized test which is supposed to test core competency, but is deeply flawed).

(sorry .... Its just that I have many friends who are teachers, and I hear their stories of being pressured to get "the score")

Ok.
But what does that have to do with grade inflation? If all the kids got X points lower, the teachers would stop teaching to the test and the kids would all know math and write good essays?
The grade inflation thing is a distraction. I'm not against deflating grades, I just think it's irrelevant and people who get upset about such things should get upset about what really matters.

[21] Well, on my end, here's how it matters: At least two particular students to whom I gave D's this semester were convinced they'd earned something better. One of them was shocked to have gotten a D on her final paper, going so far as to insist that "writing is my strong suit," to which all I can say (not to her, of course) is, "If writing is your strong suit, God help you."

Meaning, the harm that comes from grade inflation is when work that is "poor" by any reasonable measure is not allowed to be evaluated as such and people go around thinking they're more capable than they actually are. They harm is that, rather than taking the opportunity to reflect upon their own efforts and how they might improve in the future, they're convinced they don't really need to improve, it's that the teacher has unfairly evaluated their work.

I guess in short, grade inflation distorts people's understanding of true excellence and waters down the general pool. In baseball terms, it means people think they don't need to be able to bunt or catch, so long as they can hit the ball 400 feet on occasion.

But Weeping, this student knows about grade inflation, right?
So, if you gave her a C, instead of a D, she would understand your point. C now means "poor". Big deal.

On the other hand, it does matter that Marcus Thames can't catch. That matters a lot.

This isn't going to be the game thread, is it??

You're probably right, RI. One of my colleagues made the same point, suggesting that in the future I should just give Cs instead to spare myself the inevitable bellyaching.

Oh, fuck me!--it's on Fox?

[10] cute is an understatement! it's ridiculous there. just insane...

[26] You guys have serious blonde inflation in Atlanta.

I might put the radio on this evening. I don't have the stomach for Fox.

[27] is it Evil Joe Morgan and the Skipper from Gilligan's Island?

[27] Better Fox than ESPN. I don't know how I'll get through tomorrow night.

Boo mixed with Yay = Bay ....

Kevin Russo hitting a double is "resourceful?"

[27] yes, we do! but the queen of all of them fucked me up real good. that's why i pretty much stay away... : (

thankfully, about 100% of my teaching jobs don't requiring me grading. i do a lot of preparation for students' auditions, however...

i'd grade the blondes in atlanta as off the frickin' chart!!!

i've got the radio on now for the braves. but they're in a rain delay in shitsburgh. i'm eating, so can't get to the tv for fox and i can't get 880am on my radio in the house. i have to go to work soon, so it looks like i'll be texting Cult later for the score, like i had to last night...

ty cobbinton hit his 13th homer today...

[32] ya know, not trying to break up the comradarie twixt you and cult, but I'm sure you can have your phone co txt you the score. Before I had the ipoop, I used to have verizon wireless txt me NYY game scores at the end of every 3 innings and final.

[34] yeah, but i've got a real basic simple phone plan and i plan on keeping it that way. no internet, can't even get pictures on it. hell, i even have limited texts, so i try to keep those at a minimum...

Damn.
Well, nice hitting by Alex and Robbie.

c'mon robbie. get a ribbie. or 2 or 3.

Curses. Good rip though.

Because of the radio, I knew what happened before I saw him hit it.

BTW, Austin Jackson is hitting all of .129 against lefties this season.

Interesting, amidst all the hype about his great start.

[40] You know what else is surprising? The Yankees with RISP this year are hitting .279/.380/.458. Seems like it should be much lower, no?

He's fast, that Bay. Thought it would be closer.

[30] Just BOO now.

new game thread...

God, shut UP, Tim.

Is it me, or does the field mike trail the audio by a second or so tonight?