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Age and Your Fantasy Team: Why We Should Be Worried about Garrett Jones
by Eno Sarris //
Age matters. We know, for example, that the age of a prospect matters. If he's a 23-year-old slugger beating up on 19-year-olds in A-ball, that should be noted when looking at his stats. We also know that a slump at 37 is not the same as a slump at 27. But does the age at which a player debuts in the league matter?
It seems that it does. Baseball analyst /economist J.C. Bradbury took a look at age and career lengths (pay link) and Colin Wyers provided some summary and additional work at The Hardball Times late last year. It looks like the later you join the major leagues, the shorter your career is. Intuitively, it makes sense. If a player has to be closer to his peak to even make it to the bigs, then he will be gone earlier once he falls from that peak. To say the same thing in numbers, look at the table to the right. It shows the average career length by age of major league debut.
It's always nice to see a player finally make it after struggling in the minor leagues for years. Ryan Ludwick, who crossed 300 major league plate appearances at 28, and Nelson Cruz (who did so at 26) are relative success stories for this group.
There's also Garrett Jones knocking on the door after his great 2009 season. In just 358 plate appearances, Jones made an impression, especially as a slugger. Take a look at the Bloomberg Sports Fantasy Tools spider graphs on the left for an idea of how good he was last year.
While Ludwick and Cruz have gone through slumps and have made it through to the other side, Jones is currently slumping. Since he debuted at 26 and didn't get a regular gig until last year at 28, it's possible that we should be more worried about his current slump than we should about your garden-variety slump. After all, the average player that debuted at 26 only lasted three years in the bigs.
In Jones' defense, players with lesser debuts might be happy to be putting up the .259/.352/.411 line that he currently sports. Those numbers are above-average compared to the average hitter, but slightly below average for a corner outfielder. But after showing a .274 ISO (isolated slugging, i.e. slugging average minus batting average) last year, his slugging has fallen off, and his current .152 ISO is below his .192 minor league ISO. Since ISO takes 500 plate appearances to stabilize, his career major-league .219 ISO is just barely statistically significant. If he did experience a little power surge, it would take Jones away from a guy on pace for 20 home runs to one closer to being useful in mixed fantasy leagues.
But it's no sure thing that a surge is coming. For one, Jones is chopping the ball into the ground (47.7% this year, 41.8% career) while his flyball rate is low for a supposed power hitter (33.6%). Via minorleaguesplits.com, we can see that Jones has hit more groundballs than flyballs every year since 2006 in the minor leagues. Even during last year's big league breakout, he hit just 41.3% flyballs. He's no flyball-heavy slugger.
Most of his swing rates are similar this year to last year's breakout numbers, but there's evidence that the league has adjusted to Jones in the pitching mix he's seeing. FanGraphs tracks Linear Weights, which use game-state statistics to attempt to give value to specific pitches. Jones was very good against fastballs last year – his plus-14.6 runs put him just short of established sluggers Lance Berkman (+15 runs) and Brad Hawpe (+16.4 runs) against the heater. So this year, pitchers are throwing the fastball less often: 49% of the time, versus 54.9% of the time last year. It's up to Jones to adjust now.
Given the fact that Jones hits a lot of groundballs and is seeing a different pitching mix this year, we probably shouldn't expect a repeat of last year's power binge — and he probably isn't a good buy-low candidate. Placing him in the context of other late-blooming players like Cruz and Ludwick only makes the picture worse. If you own Jones in a deep league, you might as well just hold. In a shallow league, you might find something better on the waiver wire.
For more on Garrett Jones and other late-blooming baseballers, check out Bloomberg Sports' Fantasy Tools.
3 Comments
Hey Eno,
I just wanted to jump in and try to clarify something. I'm not so sure "we should be more worried about his current slump than we should about your garden-variety slump."
The table you reproduce from Colin's article doesn't necessarily say that players who debut at the major league level at an older age are any different than players who debut at a younger age. If you look, it seems that the average career ends at Age 29 regardless of debut age, indicating that aging effects are the same regardless of debut (of course it's not a definitive study, but this table is all the evidence we're focusing on for now).
That Garrett Jones (an Age 26-debuter) is struggling at Age 29 shouldn't be anymore worrisome than if an early-debuting 29 year old like Alex Rios or Shane Victorino were struggling – at least in the absence of other evidence. That's not to say we shouldn't worry about Jones (that's another matter entirely). I just wanted to clarify the age point.
Otherwise, nice work 🙂
Derek Carty
The Hardball Times Fantasy
You make a good point. However, I think I still have a point as well in re Jones.
If a 21-year old debuts and we are looking at a slump from him in his age-29 season, we have 8 years of data to look at to determine if the player is 'average' or not. So we have all sorts of sample size to use in our analysis to determine if a guy will be so bad that he may not be in the league the next year. Or if the slump actually represents his true talent level.
However, in Jones' case, he's a 26-year old debut that's slumping less than three years later. We have a mere 629 plate appearances to use to determine if he's one of the average 26-year-old debuts or one of the above-average ones.
Another way to look at it might be intuitively. If a guy debuted at 21 and he's 29 and slumping, what does that player look like? A former top prospect that never made it? Or a utility player that has outlived his usefulness? Those might be the guys that are out of the league at 29. If he's a star that debuted at 21 and is slumping at 29, we have little to worry about.
But a guy that debuted at 26? I'm not sure what that looks like typically, but it might just be Garrett Jones. We just don't know what point of the bell curve of that player's personal career he's at.
In any case, I said none of this in the article, so you're right to point it out, and I enjoyed thinking it through. And I may yet be mistaken.
I get your general point, Eno, but it's not as if all we have of Jones is his 557 major league ABs. We also have a couple thousand from the minor leagues. I don't believe that MLEs are as good as they're ever going to be, but they have been shown to be nearly as reliable as major league data (I'm pretty sure MGL showed this, but I can't find a link at the moment).
Again, I get your general point. I know that there are things we aren't considering, but I too have enjoyed discussing this.
Derek Carty
The Hardball Times Fantasy


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Music is combined with the US culture and you cannot find a city in US that is not influenced by music. Blues, jazz, hip-hop, rock & roll are uniquely American musical genres. Music is knotted with the history of the United States and most of the cities across the country are full of musical landmarks.
A massive part of buying a home is enjoying the entertaining things your city has to offer. As far as people are concerned, music is an important entertainment thing in their life. If you wish to buy a home in US, you can choose any city in the country since every city in US will be a paradise for music lovers. The following are just some of the country's best cities for music lovers to choose to buy a home: Continue reading

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The BBC are broadcasting from Reading Festival this weekend, and we have some highlights from day one of the event to share with you.
There are live streams and plenty more full sets being uploaded over on the BBC R&L website - bbc.co.uk/readingandleeds - which is where you'll also be able to watch Foals' full set this evening, as well as on BBC Three. Oh and before we get to the embeds, we should probably point out that you can join the discussion on the DiS boards about R&L on the telly, here.
Frightened Rabbit
Frabbits played Reading for the first time, and as you can see from 'Backyard Skulls' a packed R1/NME tent lapped it up. Watch the full set on the iPlayer here.
The Scottish trio recorded this lush, stripped-back live 'treehouse session' version of 'The Mother We Share'.
A$AP Rocky
'Wild For The Night' got Reading dancing...
System of a Down
Here's a video of a song entitled 'Radio/Video' which was performed on the Main Stage of Reading yesterday.
Billie Joe & co headlined Friday night at Reading. You can watch the full set over on the iPlayer but here's 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams'.
BBC Introducing
The BBC also have their stage full of 'emerging' new acts. Here's a playlist of tracks they've uploaded, which opens with Thumpers - you might recognise the singer and drummer if you were ever into Pull Tiger Tail and Antihero.


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Got home, and realised the petrol was about 1/4 full in Car1 and 1/3 full in Car2. We asked if there was refund for the excess petrol we fill up (because we didn't want to worry about it on the wedding day). There was no refund. I am used to renting cars with a full tank of petrol. They need to review this policy.
On the night before returning the car, we accidentally went through the tolls without a tag. We reported this to the staff, and she was happy to advise that they would take care of it - me assuming that given our experiences, they were happy to pay the $2.50. Unfortunately, I just received the toll notice. Very disappointed.
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For African-American women, the black beauty salon, like the black barbershop, is a place where women can safely let loose on any and all hot topics, but Crunk Feminist Collective writer Robin Boylorn recently had a different experience. Chatting away in the salon one day, another woman took offense at Boylorn's conversation and vowed payback.
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I was warned, when I returned to the salon a few weeks ago, that this unnamed black woman (who I had never seen before) had announced her intention to "get me in trouble" on my job for the things I said in the salon. Her assertion was, in addition to being ludicrous, absolutely inaccurate. What, I wonder, could I have said in the hair salon that would warrant some kind of reprimand at work (especially when I work at a public institution where I study, research and teach on taboo topics, and as an auto/ethnographer, part of my job is to write about and critique social encounters)?
Read Robin Boylorn's entire op-ed at the Crunk Feminist Collective.
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Our second trip is over, and I'm sitting here in my condo only about 7 miles away from the Dockweiler RV Park, wishing it was still going.
To get back into it, I would have to drive 66 miles inland to pick up our coach from the storage yard, and then drive about 70 miles in the coach to get back to Dockweiler. Compared to a 300 mile driving day, it's not too bad, but it's still more than a hop, skip, and jump. Guess I'll just have to stay home for now.
Dockweiler has some features that are hard to love.
It's very close to LAX, and depending on wind patterns and the time of day, you might have noisy jets taking off right over your heads every few minutes. It can get loud enough to stop conversation.
Across the road, and visible from the RV Park, is Hyperion – LA's oldest and largest sewage treatment plant.
Off shore, oil tankers tie up and connect to pipes that take crude oil into the Standard Oil Refinery, which is a mile or so south.
Cost is high – $65 per night for the row closest to the sand, $60 per night for the middle row, and $55 per night for the back row.
The park isn't lushly landscaped and attractive, either. At first glance, the park just looks like a parking lot with hookups. It is long and skinny, with three rows of spaces. It's not a tiny park….there are 118 spaces.
This is a very popular park, especially in the summer. It fills up fast. Reservations are required. Why is that, with all of the problems?
Most of the bad features don't actually impact you much. There is a breeze that normally blows from the ocean onto the shore. This usually insures that the smells from Hyperion, LAX, and Standard Oil don't hang around in the RV park. The smells generally blow inland. You get nice clean ocean air.
The airplane noise can be bad, but it comes and goes, and after a while I don't notice it very much. Laura doesn't agree with me on this…..she thinks the noise is a really big problem.
The best part about this location is the bike path. Its about five steps from the first row of spaces at the park, separated by a low fence with openings about every 15 feet or so. This bike path is the famous "Strand", which runs through Torrance Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Porto, Playa Del Rey, Venice Beach, and Santa Monica Beach. The food, drink, and entertainment selection along the Strand is ENORMOUS. World class. Almost everybody I saw at this campground had bikes in order to take advantage of this.
The beach next to the RV Park is very nice also. If you like to body surf, it's a very nice location. It's also a good place to fish. There never seems to be many local surfers there. The location of the RV Park helps with that. Dockweiler is a very large beach. To the north of the guard shack is day parking ($6), and the "day use" part of the beach. That is where day visitors and surfers are. To the south of the guard shack is the RV park, but there is quite a bit of open ground between the day area and the RV area. Too far to lug surfboards and other beach equipment. The beach by the RV park isn't legally restricted to RV'ers, but the topography keeps day users on the north side of the beach.
The first trip that we took in the new Georgetown 328 was a shakedown, at an RV Park that was only about 4 miles from the dealership and the storage yard. It was a great trip, but there was very little driving involved. This time we had more of a drive…about 70 miles one way. The driving was almost all freeway driving….you go about a mile from the storage yard to get to I-10. Then it's over to the 605 freeway, and finally the 105 freeway. The 105 turns into Imperial Hwy. That road literally ends at the guard shack for Dockweiler State Beach, about a mile or two after the 105 ends.
Our adventure started on a Thursday. Before we left the storage lot, I wanted to check and adjust the tire pressure. The sticker in the coach says that the tires should be set at 92 PSI. I checked the front tires and the rear inside tires. They were all set at 80 PSI. The rear wheels have wheel covers on them; those make it impossible to check the pressure on the outside rear tires. You have to remove the wheel covers to do that, but the little tool provided to undo the nuts that hold the wheel covers on didn't provide enough leverage. Crap. I used my air compressor to set the front wheels to 92 PSI, and left the rears alone, not wanting to have the dual wheels set at different PSI levels.
The drive down to the beach was easy. The new rig handled great! I-10 is an older freeway with a lot of big rig traffic, so it was the roughest ride. Even with that, I was able to drive the rig with one hand on the wheel most of the time, although due to the PSI issue on the rear wheels, I tried to keep my speed under about 60 MPH. The 605 freeway is a lot smoother than I-10, and was a breeze to drive on. The best was the 105 freeway, though. That one was built in the 1980s, and it is as smooth as silk.
Dockweiler has a lot of little rules, and one of them is that you have to pay an extra $17 bucks to go in before the 1:00pm check in time. We were in no danger of getting there early, though. I had spent more time than expected trying to deal with the tire pressure issue. There was also more traffic on the roads than expected in a couple of spots. We pulled into the park a little after 3:00 pm. There were three rigs in line ahead of me when I pulled into the check-in processing area.
Our spot was about halfway down the first block, in the middle isle. The spaces are angled but not pull through. They are generous in size, and easy to pull in to. I was able to pull our 34 foot rig in far enough to allow our car to be parked behind it.
The spaces are full hookup, with 50 amp and 30 amp service, fresh water, and sewer inputs. There is a picnic table for each space, and a simple BBQ. A strip of grass about 8 feet wide separates the middle spaces from the back spaces….this is a perfect place to walk your dog, but there are also special areas for dogs with waste bag dispensers, and two dog runs, which are in the sand and only big enough for one dog at a time. There is no cable TV, and no WiFi. Cellular reception and 3G/4G/LTE worked well on AT&T.
There are two bathroom/shower facilities for the RV Park, on either end, plus a public rest room to service travelers on the Strand. The RV Park facilities have a keypad entry. You get the code as part of the check-in process. The public restroom is always open, and not nearly as clean as the RV park restrooms.
Planting is pretty simple…..a few palm trees and shrubs, along with the grass. No shade trees.
After getting set up at the park, Laura and I were both pretty beat. Time to have a drink and relax. Then I spent a little time in the late afternoon trying my hand at surf fishing, but it was a tad too windy to get my bait out far enough. There was a family trying their hand at the time I was out there. Nobody was having much luck, but I've fished around here quite a bit over the years, and have had good luck many times in the past. The fish are there more often than not.
After a while, it was time to get back to the coach. I picked up my tackle and headed back in. The water is about 100 yards from the park at high tide.
Laura made some of her famous Melange for dinner….eggs, peppers, onions, potatoes, cheese, and sour cream, topped with a little hot sauce. Then we turned on the TV. There is good HD reception over the antenna for Channels 2 and 7, and also PBS and a few other stations. Thursday night is an ABC night for us, so using the antenna was perfect.
The next day (Friday) was busy. We came to a close RV Park for a couple of reasons. One reason was stocking…..being close to home and the stores that we frequent is helpful. We also wanted to have a small get together at the coach, to show it to the family. They all live within about ten miles of Dockweiler. The party was planned for Saturday. Friday was stocking day. We did some shopping at Walmart in Torrance, and also brought some items to the coach from home.
The weather was nice on Friday. I did some more fishing in the morning, and had better luck getting my bait out to where the fish should be. I got one good strike, but that was it. Skunked again.
Laura and I did have fun walking the dog around, and exploring the park. Here are a few pictures from our walks. You can see the clouds rolling in on some of these shots.
Later in the day, Aaron, Jennie, and Elliot (my son, his wife, and daughter) paid us a visit, and we had a really nice time. While they were there, the wind started to pick up. About twenty minutes after they left, we got hit with a fairly heavy rainstorm that lasted the rest of the evening. The wind was strong enough to rock the coach all night, even through we had our leveling jacks down. This storm was a good test of our new rig….no leaks that we could find.
Come Saturday morning, the rain was gone, but the wind was not. It was blowing really hard…..way too hard to do any fishing, or even much walking. That was OK, because we needed to prepare for our party. The big job was getting the chili going in the crock pot.
The party was a success, even though it was too cold and windy to be outside of the coach. The family seemed to enjoy it quite a lot, and Elliot was a joy, giving plenty of attention to everybody there. We had four generations of the family all in the coach at the same time…..Great Grandparents, Grandparents, Parents, and child. Three of my four sons were there…..it was so nice to see everybody. Our dog was nervous, but she was well behaved most of the time. Laura's friend Lani showed up too, and brought some Chocolate Wine.
After the party, Laura drove her mom and my parents home, and then we cleaned up the coach. We had a nice quiet night after that, except for some raucous partying going on here and there around the park. It was still windy and cold outside, but since there was no rain this night, people seemed to be making up for the rained-out parties of the prior night.
Sunday morning was beautiful. The wind was gone, and we had sunshine and clean air. Checkout time is noon, and we had a lot of work to get done, so it was a busy time.
Back to the wheel covers and tire pressure. I put some questions about my problem onto the Forest River Forum, Georgetown section. I got a lot of great responses. I wasn't the only person who couldn't get the retaining nuts loose with the special tool provided by Forest River. The suggestion was to use a breaker bar and socket with extension. I had those at home, and picked them up during one of our supply runs. That did the trick….I got the wheel covers off, and was able to check and adjust the PSI on the rear tires. Now all tires are set at 92 PSI.
We had the coach ready to go at about 11:58, and left for the long drive back to the Storage Yard. I was able to keep the speed up at 65-70 MPH during most of the trip, now that the tire pressure was correct. The increased PSI made for a harder ride, but handling was more positive. The drive went well, and it was easy to get the coach pulled back into our storage spot and buttoned up.
I think our second RV trip was a great success. The coach worked flawlessly. I keep wondering when all of the defects are going to show up. I haven't run into anything yet that would require a trip back to the dealer for warranty service. There are a few small issues. The door is a little hard to close. Some screws on the handle were loose. I tightened those, which helped, but I think I need to adjust the door jamb to align better. I think the grey water tank valve leaks a little bit, too. When I removed the cap over the dump pipe, some grey water came out. Good thing I was wearing my rubber gloves! But that was it…..no other problems.
Can't wait to get back out there. We are probably looking at mid-May for the next trip.


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DICE working on non-Battlefield projects, doesn't want to be one trick pony
DICE has revealed that it doesn't "want to become a Battlefield factory", according to EA Games vice-president Patrick Soderlund. The studio has confirmed it is working on non-Battlefield projects. Commence Mirror's Edge 2 speculation…now.
As part of an OXM interview, Soderlund was asked if the success and security brought by the Battlefield franchise gives DICE license to tackle riskier prospects like Mirror's Edge and other new IP, to which he replied, "Well it depends, right? Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. It's also important for us – the DICE guys are roughly 300 people in the Stockholm studio; not all of them are working on Battlefield things, and that's intentional, because we don't want to become a Battlefield factory."
On the dangers of becoming a one-IP production line, Soderlund continued, "The minute we start saying 'you're going to make a Battlefield game for the rest of your life', they're going to go some place else.
"So for them to make great Battlefield games there need to be other things for them to do as well. That's why we have people who move around quite a bit. And then obviously we have a boatload of people that just want to make Battlefield because they love it."
Comparing DICE to EA stable-mate Visceral Games, Soderlund added, "Same thing with the team in San Francisco that are making Dead Space. It's a stunning team and they're passionate about what they do, and they love making Dead Space. Then the answer's 'well, then make Dead Space'. Then we have to figure out how to sell it and make it successful."
Battlefield 4 is the next game in DICE's shooter franchise, due before March 2014. What else could it be working on then? Would you buy a second Mirror's Edge title? What would it look like or involve ideally? Let us know what you think below.
Thanks Eurogamer.


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Kasich to deliver election-year address in NE Ohio
Ohio Gov. John Kasich will take his State of the State speech on the road again Monday, heading into the northeast Ohio home turf of Democratic gubernatorial rival Ed FitzGerald.
The Republican governor has signaled that he doesn't intend to shy away from major initiatives just because it's an election year. He's expected to plug fresh ideas involving education, job and career training and economic development in the speech at the Performing Arts Center in Medina.
It remains unclear whether an ambitious agenda emerging from Kasich would be welcomed in the state Legislature, where his fellow Republicans are seeking to retain their House and Senate majorities this fall.
Medina is also home to GOP House Speaker William Batchelder, who's winding up a 46-year career in public service this year. Kasich has said he selected the location as a tribute.
His speech last year was held in Lima, in the district of Senate President Keith Faber. He began the tradition in 2012, with a speech in the heart of Democrat-heavy Steubenville after losing a contentious battle with unions that turned back collective bargaining restrictions.
Medina Mayor Dennis Hanwell thanked Kasich and legislative leaders for gracing his city in an open letter Friday.
"This will permit our wonderful city to be showcased in the state spotlight, as well as share the many positive and appealing amenities that our city has to offer," Hanwell wrote.
The local Chamber of Commerce has arranged tours of local manufacturers for state lawmakers, along with private receptions at area restaurants ahead of the speech.
Debra Lynn-Schmitz, president of the Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce, said the organization estimates that about 250-300 legislators, their staff and guests will be visiting the town. She said she hopes they leave the city with a better understanding of the community and what it's done for its businesses.
"If we can create some interest in the community itself that's going to help our businesses in the long run - it's a good thing," Lynn-Schmitz said. "It's commerce."
One legislative committee planned to hold its meeting at the Medina Hospital's conference center.
Members of the governor's Cabinet also scheduled area events and roundtables. The directors of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and state Environmental Protection Agency planned to highlight efforts to plug vertical oil and gas wells that are no longer in production. The abandoned wells from oil and gas drilling pose a risk for groundwater contamination if left unplugged.
Near the site of the speech, the labor-backed We Are Ohio organization plans to discuss Kasich's policies, which they argue have made it harder for working- and middle-class families. The group led the successful 2011 ballot repeal of collective bargaining restrictions for public workers.


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Patients with constant shaking can have trouble with some of life's everyday activities. Things like eating and drinking or holding a pen to write, are almost impossible. Now, a breakthrough procedure could help some patients get a steady hand.
"My hand shook constantly, it would never stop," says Billy Williams, a tremor patient.
For the past 10 years, Williams suffered from a tremor in his hand.
"Constantly, it never, never quit," he says.
No one knows why he shakes, but the tremor was so bad, he stopped eating out in public and his writing became illegible.
"I had trouble writing my name, I couldn't sign anything," he explains.
Now, neurosurgeons are using a new procedure called MRI guided focused ultrasound that stops some types of tremors.
"It involves high resolution MRI scanning as well as ultrasound technology," says Jeff Elias, M.D., neurosurgeon at the University of Virginia Medical Center.
Other procedures involve invasive brain surgery, but the new scalpel-free surgery is the first to use ultrasound in the brain to treat tremors.
"We really have to be precise to within a millimeter to stop the tremor," say Elias.
The procedure is done in an MRI scanner that allows doctors to aim pulses of harmless ultrasound waves through a patient's skull to a targeted region within the brain known to be effective for treating some types of tremors. Thousands of ultrasound waves converge, heating up the area being treated, so that tremor-causing cells die.
"One of the real advantages of this technology is that it allows us the opportunity to test the patient during the treatment," explains Elias.
Billy Williams and his doctors watched his tremor get better, and better during treatment. The end result?
"Almost immediately after the procedure my hand was as it is right now," says Williams.
The world's first clinical trials using MRI guided focused ultrasound to treat essential tremors recently wrapped up at the University of Virginia Health System. Officials say patients are experiencing immediate improvement that's been sustained through the study's three month follow-up period.
Future trials are planned to investigate the technology in treating functional brain disorders like Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and stroke.


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HELENSBURGH Heritage Trust, very conscious of the forthcoming bicentenary of Henry Bell's Comet this year, is helping to ensure that this important anniversary is marked in a major way in the Clyde area.
The 150th anniversary saw a Comet replica sailing across the Clyde from Port Glasgow to Helensburgh, with many associated events.
A celebration on that scale is not viable, and the Comet replica can no longer sail across the Firth because of modern health and safety regulations, but the Trust — while too small a body to organise a major event — is working to ensure that the bicentenary does not pass without appropriate recognition.
Trust chairman Stewart Noble wrote to over 60 Clyde organisations inviting them to attend a meeting which was held on Friday January 15 2010 in Glasgow's Museum of Transport. In the event some two dozen representatives of different organisations attended.
The aims of the meeting were to determine whether an organising committee for the bicentenary of the Comet should be set up, and if so, to appoint members to this committee.
A decision was made to form a committee, and it held its first meeting in Greenock in February when the respective Provosts of Inverclyde and of Argyll and Bute both attended. Further meetings have been held in Helensburgh, Greenock, the Clydeport building in Glasgow, and on board the Maid of the Loch steamer at Balloch Pier.
Meetings continue to be held at regular intervals to plan and co-ordinate events, seek funding, and prepare a marketing strategy. It is hoped that a number of small steam vessels will come to the Clyde to mark the occasion.
The first of a regular series of Newsletters was published in May 2011, with preliminary details of some of the bicentenary events, and the second in January this year. They are available as Downloads on this website's home page. A Comet Bicentenary website is now online.
The postcard below was produced in a limited edition to mark the centenary in 1912.


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Reed channels closer Percival in return home
ANAHEIM -- Addison Reed entered the ninth inning of Thursday's contest to protect a one-run lead and finish off a third straight victory. But as the White Sox closer ran in to preserve his 13th save in 14 opportunities, Reed admitted to thinking about his childhood hero, Troy Percival, who was one of the reasons Reed always wanted to be a closer and who picked up all but 42 of his 358 career saves with the Angels.
"I'm not going to lie. That thought crossed my mind when I was coming out of the bullpen and onto the field," Reed said before closing out Friday's victory with save No. 14. "I kind of had a flashback to when I was in the stands, watching him run in and thought it was a cool feeling I got to pitch [Thursday]."
Reed has pitched three scoreless innings in Angel Stadium, just 35 or 40 minutes from where the right-hander grew up in Rancho Cucamonga as an Angels fan. He had a number of supporters in the stands, but he only had to leave six tickets for his family.
"So my friends helped me out a lot," said a smiling Reed of friends paying their own way in. "I left a lot of tickets last year, so it's about time they pay me back."
"They want to hang out, get here early and see you, which is great," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura of players returning home to play in front of friends and family, which he also did in Anaheim as a California native. "But you are still working. Sometimes you've got to be a little, I wouldn't say rude, but be a little shorter than you normally would if you were just hanging out."


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Average Annual Inflation by Decade
The Chart below shows the Annual Inflation Rates for each decade. Each bar represents the average Annual Inflation for that decade (not the total cumulative inflation for that 10 year period but how much it increased each year on average during that decade).
The final Yellow bar shows the average annual inflation rate since the government began tracking it in 1913.
If we look at the cumulative inflation for the entire decade we can see that only two decades had prices that fell for the entire decade and that was the 1920's and the 1930's. The 30's you would expect because of the great depression but prices actually fell during the "roaring twenties"? Yes, even though the 20's were wild and crazy and immortalized by F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel, The Great Gatsby not everyone participated in the boom. The vast majority of Americans lived on farms and from 1920 to 1921, the price of wheat, the major crop of mid-west farmers, lost almost half its value. Cotton, the lifeblood of Southern farmers, lost three-quarters of its value. Thus the farms themselves lost 50% of their value since you would have to be crazy to want to buy a farm under those conditions. In addition, the supply of farms for sale increased because farmers were being foreclosed on because they couldn't pay off the loans they made on those "newfangled" tractors. Although it is possible that those same tractors were the cause of the increase in the production of wheat and thus the fall in the price. A possibly bigger factor was the government, which offered farmers a $2 per bushel price subsidy in an effort to supply Europe with wheat during WWI but when the war ended the subsidy drastically encouraged over production.
As we saw the Average annual inflation rate is 3.22%. That doesn't sound too bad until we realize that at that rate prices will double every 20 years.
That means that every two bars on average prices have doubled or about 5 doublings since they began keeping records.
Since, 5 x 2 = 10, Five doublings sounds like maybe prices increased by 10 times, right? Or they are ten times as big as they were in 1913.
2275% Inflation!
But it gets much worse than that! Because it isn't just a arithmetic doubling it is a compounding. So just as compound interest can multiply your savings, compound inflation can multiply the effects of inflation. As you can see from the cumulative Inflation chart since 1913 we have seen 2275% inflation.
Yes, that is right Two Thousand Two Hundred Seventy-Five percent inflation.
It is difficult to wrap your mind around 2200% inflation. But that means that prices increased by 2200% or they cost 22 times more.
When inflation is in the single or double digits this concept is easier to follow. For example from January 2005 to January 2006 there was 3.99% inflation. That means that something that cost $100 in January 2005 would cost $103.99 in January 2006.
In other words you add the increase due to inflation to the original amount. So if we have 2275% inflation, something that cost $100 in 1914 would cost $2375 now. (The original $100 + $2275 inflation).
Something that cost $100 in 1914 would cost $2,375 now!
Example prices: The Model T was first produced in 1913 and sold for $575. Ford continued to produce the same model until 1927. By 1927 however through mass production Ford was able to reduce the price of a Model T to $290. In 1927 Ford introduced the Model A which ranged from $385 for a roadster to $570 for the top-of-the-line Fordor. In 2012 the MSRP for a bare bones Ford Fiesta was $13,995.
Using our previous formula or you can plug these
numbers into our "How
Much Would it cost Calculator" :
$575 starting price + 2261% inflation and you get $13,575 which is amazingly close to the actual price of the Ford Fiesta but today you would get the bottom of the line rather than the top of the line for that price! But to be fair although the 1927 Fordor was top of the line and had much more metal than todays cars it didn't have "antilock brakes, stereo sound systems, GPS tracking systems, On-Star, Air-bags (or even seatbelts), Automatic Transmissions, Air-Conditioning etc. It's possible that even windshield wipers were optional in 1927.
You can plug these numbers yourself into our "How Much Would it cost Calculator" which is on the same page as our Cumulative Inflation Calculator.
So whenever someone mentions 3% inflation as being low remember compound interest can work for you... but compound inflation can work against you too!
- Inflation and Consumer Price Index- Decade Commentary
- Inflation and CPI 1913-1919
- Inflation and CPI 1920-1929
- Inflation and CPI 1930-1939
- Inflation and CPI 1940-1949
- Inflation and CPI 1950-1959
- Inflation and CPI 1960-1969
- Inflation and CPI 1970-1979
- Inflation and CPI 1980-1989
See Also:
Use our custom search to find more articles like this


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FSKC to televise Royals marathon on Christmas Eve
FOX Sports Kansas City will replay five of the best Royals games of 2012 in a marathon of Royals programming on Christmas Eve.
The 10 ½ hours of baseball will start Monday, Dec. 24 at 12:30 p.m. with a replay of Royals Rewind: Season Review, a 30-minute look at the 2012 season.
Replays of five of the most compelling games televised on FSKC in 2012 will start at 1 p.m. The full schedule and game descriptions are below. Each game will be condensed into a two-hour window.
The Royals Christmas Eve marathon will be available on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest in western and central Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa.
Royals Christmas Eve marathon on FOX Sports Kansas City – Dec. 24
Times Central | Schedule subject to change
12:30 p.m. - Royals Rewind: 2012 Season Review
1 p.m. - May 3, 2012: Yankees at Royals
The Royals build a 4-1 lead behind Danny Duffy and hold on after great plays by Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer in the 9th for a 4-3 win.
3 p.m. - June 14, 2012: Brewers at Royals
Jarrod Dyson scores the game winner in a wild 9th to give the Royals the sweep.
5 p.m. - June 17, 2012: Royals at Cardinals
Billy Butler hits a pinch-hit homer to tie it in the 9th and the Royals win it in the 15th.
7 p.m. - Aug. 19, 2012: White Sox at Royals
Jeremy Guthrie carries a no-hit bid into the 7th.
9 p.m. - Aug. 28, 2012: Tigers at Royals
Royals score eight vs. Tigers ace Justin Verlander, and Mike Moustakas knocks in the go-ahead run in the 8th.


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Like most families, we have so many electronics- cell phones, GPS, Ipod, Games, a laptop and so much more!!
Finding a way to keep everything charged up and everyone happy can be tough, especially if you are short on space.... it can begin to look like a store at your house charging everything up with wires going crazy!
Then there was the Powermat. A charging station that is not only compatible with hundreds of electronics, but is wireless. Now I call that Genius!!
Winner will be chosen by random & contacted by e-mail, then respond within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen.
If you do not complete the required entry, your other comments will be deleted. If you do not verify your e-mail link, all your entries will be deleted as well. Follow the rules, don't spoil it for everyone.
I was not paid for this review, and received no compensation. I did however receive the above mentioned product to facilitate my review


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State Ballot Measures Include Hot K-12 Issues
Funding, teachers, charter school access all on election menu
Big changes to the way teachers are evaluated and paid, expanded access to charter schools, and increased education funding are major issues on state ballot initiatives and referendums as election season enters its final weeks.
Some of the education-related ballot items, like those in Arizona and California, are part of the perennial effort to obtain more financial support for schools and seek to help K-12 school systems recover in part from the Great Recession and subsequent economic stagnation.
But other proposals—such as ones in Idaho and South Dakota—represent resistance from teachers' unions and other groups to changes they view as antagonistic to public education, such as reduced collective bargaining rights or a bigger emphasis on standardized testing.
"That's sort of what we're seeing in general with popular referenda right now, ... that sort of pushback," said Jennie Bowser, a senior fellow at the National Conference of State Legislatures, in Denver, who is tracking ballot initiatives and legislative referendums in 2012.
The list below includes notable education-related ballot initiatives and legislative referendums up for a vote Nov. 6. Some deal with K-12 education, others with higher education, and still others with fiscal matters, such as taxes and budgets, that could have an impact on the schools' level of state support.
• Proposition 204—The Quality Education and Jobs Act would extend a 1-cent sales-tax increase originally enacted in 2010 but set to expire in 2013. If voters approve it, the ballot initiative will provide at least an additional $625 million to K-12 education in the state in the first year it takes effect, and will also prevent state lawmakers from making cuts to public school funding.
• Proposition 118—Would increase the amount of money derived from state trust lands available to K-12 public education. If enacted, it would provide $62 million to schools, $10 million more than they would receive under the current formula used for deriving money from those lands, according to supporters.
• Proposition 30—Backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, it would increase personal income taxes on annual earnings over $250,000 for seven years. Brown has said huge midyear cuts to K-12 education will occur if Proposition 30 is rejected by voters.
• Proposition 38—Backed by lawyer Molly Munger, it would increase personal income taxes on annual earnings over $7,316 for seven years.
• Resolution 1162—Would amend the state constitution to permit the state to create public charter schools. Specifically, it would re-establish a state-level commission that could authorize charters. The commission was created in 2008 but abolished by the state supreme court in 2011. State superintendent John Barge, a Republican, opposes the measure.
• Proposition 1—A "yes" vote would restrict the scope of teachers' ability to bargain collectively to just salaries and benefits, and also limit the duration of negotiated contracts between teachers and local school boards to one year.
• Proposition 2—A "yes" vote would uphold "pay for performance" for teachers based in part on student test scores.
• Proposition 3—A "yes" vote would uphold increasing the use of technology in classrooms, such as mandating that each high school student have access to a laptop computer.
The Idaho Education Association and the National Education Association are leading the fight to repeal the laws, passed in 2011 with the backing of state Superintendent Tom Luna.
• Proposition B—Would tax different tobacco products at various rates and use the proceeds to fund both K-12 and higher education. Estimates on the additional revenue range from $283 million to $423 million annually. A Health and Education Trust Fund would be created and would also fund efforts to reduce the use of tobacco in the state.
• Question 4—A "yes" vote would allow undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition at community colleges, subject to certain preconditions. Such immigrants would have to register for the Selective Service System and show intent to apply for permanent residency in order to qualify. This referendum concerns a state law passed in 2011.
• State Question 759—Deals with access to higher education. Asks voters whether the state should be prohibited from granting "preferential treatment to or discriminating against" individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, ethnicity, or national origin for public employment or public education.
• Measure 85—Would allocate the state's corporate-income and excise-tax revenue "kicker" specifically to K-12 education. Under current Oregon law, the governor's office must provide a revenue estimate for every two-year period. If the revenue of corporate-income and excise taxes exceeds that estimate by more than 2 percent, the additional revenue is returned to the private sector, proportional to businesses' tax bills. The initiative would require that this additional revenue instead be directed to K-12 education.
• Initiative 1240—Would allow either local school boards or a new state-level commission to approve charter schools in the state. Outgoing Gov. Christine Gregoire, a Democrat, has opposed allowing charters to begin operating in the state, but her successor could be more open to them. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Jay Inslee, opposes charters, but his Republican opponent, Rob McKenna, supports them.
Teachers Fight Back
In Idaho, teachers are leading the effort to roll back key initiatives passed in 2011 with the backing of Republican lawmakers and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna, collectively called the "Students Come First" laws by supporters.
The three laws up for repeal—in Propositions 1, 2, and 3, respectively—would strip teachers of collective bargaining rights except on salaries and benefits; establish a pay-for-performance system for teachers based on student test scores and other factors; and provide for more classroom technology, such as requiring every high school student access to a laptop computer.
But unlike in Ohio and Wisconsin, where collective bargaining rollbacks sparked fierce backlash, the highest-profile issue in Idaho could be the classroom technology at the heart of what opponents have labeled the "Luna Laws."
Teachers in the 11,000-member Idaho Education Association, the state affiliate of the National Education Association, are upset that their salaries were reduced to pay for the technology requirement, and many feel it won't actually help students, said Karen Echeverria, the executive director of the Idaho School Boards Association.
The school boards' association officially supports Proposition 1, but has not taken a position on the other two ballot items. A "yes" vote is a vote to uphold the law in question.
In contrast to the technology issue, most voters don't comprehend collective bargaining issues, said Ms. Echeverria.
Foes of the three laws are running ads saying the law that Proposition 3 seeks to repeal will be "replacing teachers with technology," Ms. Echeverria noted, while the state Republican Party is organizing grassroots support to keep the laws.
Individual voters, meanwhile, will likely decide to support or reject all three laws as a package, she predicted.
"I think it is very partisan right now," Ms. Echeverria said.
Like its Idaho teacher counterparts, the South Dakota Education Association, an NEA affiliate with more than 6,000 members, successfully mobilized enough public support for a popular referendum, Referred Law 16, that would repeal an education law with several components, signed by Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican.
Included in the law is the elimination of state-sponsored teacher tenure in 2016; the establishment of a teacher-bonus system; and the creation of a new teacher-evaluation system, half of which is based on quantitative measures.
Sandy Arseneault, the union's president, acknowledged that the union faces an uphill battle, given the Republican control of both the legislature and the governor's office. But she also said many voters believe the law linking a portion of teachers' evaluations to student test scores would ultimately hurt students.
"Our new law says that we will test every student, every grade level, every year, every subject," Ms. Arseneault said.
But Tony Venhuizen, a spokesman for Mr. Daugaard, said that the portion of new teacher evaluations requiring quantitative measures need not rely solely on test scores. He also said Mr. Daugaard was motivated to change the state's public schools because of largely flat scores on ACT college admission and the National Assessment of Educational Progress for decades.
"The push from every level of government is to have greater accountability, greater metrics. Testing is becoming easier to administer; … this is really the way things are going at every level" he said.
Choices on Spending
Both Arizona and California have ballot items to increase education spending. But voters face a potentially complicated choice, since each state features two such items that aim to boost school aid.
In Arizona, Proposition 204 would make permanent a 1-cent sales-tax increase set to expire in 2013; the increase was originally approved through the passage of a ballot measure in 2010. Supporters of this year's measure say public schools would receive at least $625 million in new funding in the first year the proposition takes effect.
Ann-Eve Pedersen, who chairs the committee leading the Proposition 204 push, said that when the tax increase was passed in 2010, voters supported making the increase permanent, although doing so at the time would have taken a two-thirds vote of the legislature, in the absence of another proposition placed before voters.
"It will not fully make up for what has been lost. But it prevents future cuts, and it begins the future reinvestment in eduction," Ms. Pedersen said.
But Proposition 204's opponents, like state Secretary of the Treasury Doug Ducey, say it would extend a regressive tax that hurts the business community, the middle class, and the working poor.
Mr. Ducey, a Republican, is supporting another education item on the ballot, Proposition 118, that he stressed has the support of both the business community and the Arizona Education Association, the state's 31,000-member NEA affiliate. Proposition 118 would increase the flow of trust fund dollars derived from public lands in the state to public schools, by setting aside a certain percentage of those dollars for the public sector. Supporters say schools would receive $62 million next year, $10 million more than under the current formula, if Proposition 118 is approved by voters.
California Duel
In neighboring California, voters are faced with dueling ballot initiatives that would both shore up school funding.
Proposition 30 is backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat. It would provide additional funding to schools by raising taxes on annual incomes of over $250,000 for the next seven years. Mr. Brown has said that the state will have to cut K-12 aid by roughly $4.8 billion in the middle of this school year if it fails, since the state's budget assumes the proposition will pass.
Proposition 38 would also raise taxes on personal income, although the minimum income subject to a tax hike is much lower, $7,316. Proposition 38, which is backed most prominently by civil rights lawyer and activist Molly Munger.
Proposition 38, is pitched as guaranteeing that the new revenue—$10 billion annually, according to supporters—would go to classrooms, not to "Sacramento politicians."
Recent polling by the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education shows 55 percent support for Gov. Brown's favored proposal, although it erodes slightly when they those polled view ads for both sides related to the proposition.
Dominic Brewer, a professor and vice dean of research at the Rossier School of Education, said that while the public generally supports a school-spending hike, voters believe that waste and state mismanagement of public schools require major, nonfinancial reforms.
"They're not expecting to see dramatically smaller classes or a lot more extracurricular activities, or arts programs being reinstated. "They [have] a very 'let's stop bleeding' mentality" when it comes to school finances, Mr. Brewer said.
Vol. 32, Issue 05, Pages 19, 22Published in Print: September 26, 2012, as State Ballots Sport Hot-Button K-12 Issues
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Motorcycles are running behind their larger road companions when it comes to antilock brake systems (ABS). This technology, which is now standard on all U.S. passenger vehicles, and required on all European motorcycles, is only available on some American motorcycles and scooters. But this list continues to grow as ABS becomes a more popular feature.
Here are things to consider about ABS on motorcycles:
What is ABS?
Unlike cars, motorcycles generally have separate brakes for the front and back wheels, which riders engage with separate controls. Braking too hard or applying uneven pressure can cause the wheels to lock and the rider to lose control. In emergency situations, ABS kicks in to keep this from happening.
How does ABS work?
"The objective of ABS is to apply optimal breaking for the conditions," says Tim Buche, president and CEO of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. When the system senses that a wheel is going to lock up, it reduces brake pressure. Then it increases pressure once the wheel regains its grip on the road.
What are the benefits?
Research suggests that ABS could improve safety by allowing riders to stop suddenly and maintain control. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study found that motorcycles with ABS are 37 percent less likely to be involved in fatal accidents. The Highway Loss Data Institute discovered that riders filed collision claims for ABS-equipped bikes 23 percent less frequently than riders without it—and motorcycles with ABS were 30 percent less likely to have collision claims during the first 90 days of a policy.
What are the drawbacks?
Not all manufacturers offer ABS, plus it's not as common on smaller bikes. Motorcycles with ABS also cost up to $500 more, Buche says. And spending the extra money doesn't automatically make you a safer rider. Riders must remember that safety features like ABS aren't substitutes for riding defensively, thinking responsibly and practicing good judgment.


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A pair of security researchers in England recently released a draft of a paper that documents what they describe as the "first real-world detection of a backdoor" in a microchip—an opening that could allow a malicious actor to monitor or change the information on the chip. The researchers, Sergei Skorobogatov of the University of Cambridge and Christopher Woods of Quo Vadis Labs in London, conclude that the vulnerability made it possible to reprogram the contents of supposedly secure memory and obtain information about the internal logic of the chip. The chip's manufacturer, California-based Microsemi, issued a statement saying it had "not been able to confirm or deny the researchers' claims."
The reported security breach is a particular concern because of the type of chip involved. The affected chip, ProASIC3 A3P250, is a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). FPGAs are used in an enormous variety of applications, including communications and networking systems, the financial markets, industrial-control systems and a long list of military systems. Each customer configures an FPGA to implement a unique—and often highly proprietary—set of logical operations. Any mechanism that could allow unauthorized access to the internal configuration of an FPGA creates the risk of intellectual-property theft. In addition, the computations and data in the chip could be maliciously altered.
Assuming that the researchers' claims stand up to scrutiny, an important question immediately comes to mind: How did this vulnerability end up in the hardware in the first place? It is possible that the backdoor was inserted at the behest of a nation-state with malicious intent. It is also possible that the backdoor exists because of carelessness. Someone in the design process could have inserted it to enable testing without realizing that it would later be discovered and potentially exploited.
Regardless of the source of the vulnerability, its presence should serve as a wake-up call about the importance of hardware security. The overwhelming majority of cybersecurity vulnerabilities identified to date have involved software, which can be replaced, updated, altered and downloaded from the Internet. In contrast, a hardware vulnerability is built into the actual circuitry of a chip and can be very difficult to address without replacing the chip itself.
This certainly won't be the last time that a hardware security vulnerability will be identified, and we should put in place preemptive measures to minimize the risks they might pose.
Adapted from the Guest Blog at blogs.ScientificAmerican.com/guest-blog


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Monetizing Gas: Focusing on Developments in Gas Hydrate as a Mode of Transportation
Full Text:PDF
[1] Berner, D. (2003). Hydrates for Transportation of Stranded Natural Gas. SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, 5-8 October 2003, Denver, Colorado.
[2] Gudmundsson, J. S., Anderson, V., Levik, O. I, & Parlaktuna, M. (1998). Hydrate Concept for Capturing Associated Gas. Presented at the 1998 SPE European Petroleum Conference, the Hague, Netherlands, 20th- 20th October.
[3] Fitzgerald, A., & Taylor, M. (2001). Offshore Gas to Solids Technology. Paper SPE 81805 presented at the 2001 Offshore Europe Conference held in Aberdeen, Scotland, 4-7 September.
[4] Makogon, Y, F., & Holditch, S.A. (2002). Gas Hydrate as a Resource and a Mechanism for Transmission. Paper 77334 presented at 2002 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, 29th September – 2nd October.
[5] Masoudi, R., & Tohidi, B. (2005). Gas Hydrate Production Technology for Natural Gas Storage and Transportation and CO2 Sequestration. Paper 93492 presented at the 14th SPE Middle East Oil & Gas Show and Conference, Bahrain, 12-15 March, 2005.
[6] Sloan, E. D. (2000). Hydrate Engineering. SPE Monograph Vol. 21.
[7] Sun, Z., Wang, R., Ma, R., Guo, K., & Fan, S. (2003). Natural Gas Storage in Hydrate with the Presence of Promoters. Energy Conversion and Management, 44(17), 2733-2742.
[8] Link, D., Ladner, E., Elsen, H., & Taylor, C. (2003). Formation and Dissociation Studies for Optimizing the Uptake of Methane by Methane Hydrates. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 211, 1-10.
[9] Gudmundsson, J. S., Khokhar, A., & Parlaktuna, M. (1994). Storing Natural Gas as Frozen Hydrate. SPE Production & Facilities, 9(1), 69-73.
[10] Taylor, M., & Dawe, R. (2003). Fire and Ice. Gas Hydrate Transportation – A Possibility for the Caribbean Region. Paper SPE 81022 presented at the 2003 SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Conference held in Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies, 27-30 April.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.est.1923847920120402.569
DOI (PDF): http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/g3220
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Age nothing but a number for Nathan
Closer relying less on power, more on mechanics at age 38
At his peak as an All-Star closer for the Twins, Joe Nathan had a fastball that averaged about 95 mph, and he threw it about 65 percent of the time.
That's no longer the case. Right now, Nathan's best fastball only occasionally touches 94 mph. His average is 91.8, and he's down to throwing the fastball just 52.5 percent of the time. The rest is the slider, the curve and a very occasional changeup.
"Yeah, I think this is really the first time I've really had to pitch," Nathan said. "I relied on pure stuff for a lot of my career, and [I had] been able to attack hitters with just stuff and pound the strike zone. The one thing I do similar is mix it up and try to keep the batters guessing, but I used to get away with far more before.
"I still have a good enough fastball, but I have to locate the ball better than I have in the past and throw strikes in the right location. Before I could get away with making mistakes. Now I can't get away with them. I have to stay ahead of the hitters, keep them guessing and use all four of my pitches at any time."
Nathan is doing exactly that, and he is not making very many mistakes. At age 38, in his 17th season of professional baseball and having pitched 688 Major League games -- seventh most among active pitchers -- he is as good as ever.
Nathan goes into the All-Star break with 30 saves in 31 chances, a 1.36 ERA, and with opponents hitting .149 off him. Not even undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2010 derailed his career. For the second consecutive year, Nathan is representing the Rangers for the All-Star festivities, which this year are taking place at Citi Field in New York. It is his sixth All-Star Game appearance.
"He's a total professional," Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who is leading the American League squad, said. "He knew how to come back, he knew how to work it. He's been a terrific closer for a long time. I don't think there's any question. I think he's a stud."
The 30 saves are the most by a Rangers closer at the All-Star break, and Nathan now has 328 all-time -- the 13th most in Major League history. That's pretty good considering the Twins didn't make him a closer until he was 29. That was in 2004, and to that point he had just one career save.
Nathan's never going to catch all-time saves leader Mariano Rivera, but he is leading the Yankees' Hall of Fame-bound closer in one critical category. Nathan, who has been successful on his last 14 save opportunities, has the best save percentage (90.11 percent) in baseball history among all relievers with at least 200.
One of the most enjoyable parts for Nathan being an All-Star this year is that he gets to witness Rivera participate in his final All-Star Game, in New York of all places.
"Obviously, what he's done on the field, everybody knows about [that]," said Nathan. "But I think him away from the field and what type of person he is is what we're going to miss most. He's a true leader. Quiet leader. You never hear negative things about him.
"That's just a credit to him and his family and just a guy to look up to, on and off the field. A guy you can look up to in your profession but also living your life. It just shows how he's going around visiting ballparks and talking with employees of visiting ballparks and just his thanks for what they've done for the game of baseball."
Nathan marvels at what Rivera has accomplished.
"He's done it for 17, 18 years," Nathan said. "For me, I'd have to continue to do this until I'm about 47, 48 years old. We'll see if I can get there."
Even so, Nathan is building quite a legacy of his own.
"Joe Nathan very quietly is one of the best closers," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "When you look back over his track record over a long period of time, I think a lot of people miss how good he is. He has a lot of ways to get you out. The best closers are guys that are more than just throwers, they're pitchers. He's a pitcher. He's got a lot of different weapons, and he's not afraid to use them."
Being selected to the All-Star Game does not get old for Nathan, especially since he has gone two straight years since signing with the Rangers.
"No, not at all," Nathan said. "The game is always exciting. It's always an honor to be selected. It gives my family and friends [the opportunity] to experience something not many people get to do. So I go there to represent the team and take in everything I can.
"As a player and competitor, you want to reward the faith they showed in you. They brought me over to an organization that had been very successful, and it means a lot that I've been able to make this team better and help give us a chance to get back to postseason."
Nathan has been one of the game's best relievers this season, but he may be more than that. A case could be made that he's been the Rangers' best pitcher and even their Most Valuable Player. Certainly, the bullpen has been a surprising strength of the team, and a big part of that is the confidence Nathan brings when he jogs to the mound in the ninth inning.
"It's definitely a lot less stressful ninth inning," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "Next to Mariano, he's the best in the game. You always have confidence in Joe regardless of the results, just by the work he puts in and the mentality he has. He is ready to pitch every day, and we know we're going to get the best out of him every day."
Nathan thrives because of his attitude and his work ethic. Last week in Baltimore, a few hours before the Rangers were getting ready to play the Orioles, he was seen in the weight room, familiar sweat band wrapped around his head, working the StairMaster.
"He's the oldest teenager we have," pitching coach Mike Maddux said. "He plays with the passion of a Little Leaguer. He has fun while he is out there and gets excited. When it's over, he's excited. He has the grit of a man while doing his job but the enthusiasm of a Little Leaguer. It's a pretty good blend."
That's how you stay effective at age 38. Nathan is signed through this season, and the Rangers have a $9 million option for 2014. His stated goal is to pitch well enough for Texas to pick up the option, but he is not thinking about just one more year.
Nathan isn't looking for the finish line. He is looking for the ball in the ninth inning, another save opportunity, another win for his team and another step toward getting back to the playoffs. He has been there before, but he hasn't pitched in a World Series. That's what he wants more than anything, and he's not worried about the date on his birth certificate.
Nathan has somewhat reinvented himself as a pitcher, but the results have still been outstanding, and he sees no reason why that can't continue.
"I've always said I hate a number being put on age," he said. "As long as you work hard and prepare yourself and do what you need to do to take care of yourself, you can still play. To me, 38 years old is not that old in other employments. For me it just means a lot to come over to this team and show them that signing me was worthwhile."
The Rangers have no complaints to this point.
The final phase of All-Star Game voting will again have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet. During the Midsummer Classic, fans will vote exclusively online at MLB.com via the 2013 All-Star Game MLB.com MVP Vote, and their voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining the recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.
The 2013 All-Star Game will be played at Citi Field on Tuesday. Come to MLB.com for extensive online coverage of the All-Star Week festivities.
The 84th All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports, in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS, and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International's independent feed. ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide national radio coverage of the All-Star Game. MLB Network and SiriusXM also will also provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage. For more information, please visit allstargame.com.


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Bruce B
Joined: 18 May 2005
Posts: 11488
Location: The Peoples Republic of California
Posted: Sun 24 Jul 2011, 11:37
Post subject:
Some of you guys! You probably don't trust pirates either.
I trust the Department of Defense Linux a lot. I'm posting from it now and I've not seen one Drone, not even an AH-64 Apache.
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Moose On The Loose
Joined: 24 Feb 2011
Posts: 970
Posted: Sun 24 Jul 2011, 12:26
Post subject:
amigo wrote:
"They could have just used Puppy" -surely you jest. Puppy is absolutely the furthest you can get from being 'secure'! Anybody who says otherwise is hiding their head in the sand and has no idea at all about what is secure.
I won't point out that the copy of 4.31 I use is still exactly as it was when I burned the ISO onto the CD. That is really cheating on the question of security.
In many ways, puppy does things in a manner that improves security. By keeping things very simple, the odds of a flaw are reduced. By not mounting every drive at startup, the drives are less likely to get written. When you first boot puppy it doesn't connect to the network. If you stay off the network you are a lot safer.
Microsofts NT was supposed to be reasonably secure. It turned out to have holes big enough you could drive a truck through. If you truly want security, the best option is to keep things very simple and only let a machine do those things it is needed for.
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Joined: 16 Feb 2011
Posts: 814
Posted: Sun 24 Jul 2011, 15:30
Post subject:
puppyluvr wrote:
Well, it doesnt, and in fact wont, mount a native drive..
But I`d be afraid to connect it to the net....
Gonna pick at it some more later, and see whats REALLY there..LOL
Remarkably similar to Puppy, in "run as root" and package selection...
I`ll bet the initrd has some interesting stuff in it..
The dir structure is a cross linked mess, to me at least...
But at 135mb, its hiding something...
Basically, its Icewm, Firefox and Leafpad..
And I wonder what else??
A big part of the distro is the smartcard drivers and programs which is why i assume it is so big in that sense. Btw has anyone tried to get smartcards working on puppy i mentioned before i tried and failed horribly. I for one trust that there are no hidden backdoors intentionally put in as if this was made to access secure dod sites and transfer sensitive dod information why would they risk a backdoor which would eventually be found and compromised.
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Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 2647
Posted: Mon 25 Jul 2011, 04:07
Post subject:
"still exactly as it was when I burned the ISO" -that's of course correct. But you are ignoring what your computer may do while you are on-line. This is why I always argue with the 'puppy is secure' statements. Even though your OS, as loaded, may be clean, attacks can occur while you are running. This is also no help against lack of anonymity. Of course most users don't have any *visible* problems -maybe not any at all. But it simply madness to assume that you are safe because you run Puppy or run from RAM, etc. All the discussions here about 'security' are too one-sided and don't touch on the full gamut of problems which can occur. Viruses, trojan, root-kits, lack of anonymity, bot-nets -they are all diferent things and each should be addressed in its' own way.
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Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 2647
Posted: Mon 25 Jul 2011, 04:11
Post subject:
@puppylvr, just because the command 'mount' is missing or apparently won't mount a drive does not mean that the distro doesn't or can't mount a drive. The code in the mount program uses the kernel system call mount() which can be integrated into any program you like. So, the thing could be actually mounting everything available on the machine, without showing any evidence of it....
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Joined: 29 Jun 2008
Posts: 10548
Location: SwedenEurope
Posted: Mon 25 Jul 2011, 10:44
Post subject:
I know there is google to use but may I kindly ask what is that "smartcard"?
Why does Puppy fail to use them? Does not Puppeee even have those drivers? Are the smartcard hardware producers keeping the drivers proprietary? could one borrow those drivers from this distro and reuse it on Puppy maybe?
How does one know if one have a smartcard or not? Is it a BankCard with Chip like the ones from France maybe? What else can it be?
I use Google Search on Puppy Forum
not an ideal solution though
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Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 2647
Posted: Mon 25 Jul 2011, 12:41
Post subject:
Aren't SmartCards like your crecit card (or EC card?) -the ones with a little square of gold-colored metal in them which contains a small chip?
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Joined: 16 Feb 2011
Posts: 814
Posted: Mon 25 Jul 2011, 13:38
Post subject:
Sorry for my late reply but yes they have the small 32kb chip in them and are used by military/government to access certain dod websites and for access to military bases. No puppy that ive seen can handle smartcards however ubuntu, and mint are both able to use smartcards and have both the programs and drivers to use them.
@nooby if you aren't military and dont work for the government chances are good you do not have one.
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Mediation is a process in which people with a conflict work with a neutral adviser to reach an agreement that addresses the needs of all participants. It allows you the opportunity to be heard and understood, and to hear and understand the other party. It is not adversarial; it helps you work with the other party to solve your dispute. You design the agreement so that it specifically addresses your concerns.
Mediation allows you to solve your dispute in cooperation with the other party. Judges and attorneys recognize that litigation is not always the best way to resolve conflicts, particularly between family members.
Mediation is not a win-lose situation. You have a chance to get past your anger and direct your attention to resolving the dispute at hand. Relationships between family members are often torn apart by the adversarial nature of litigation.
Mediation allows you to solve your dispute in cooperation with the other party. Judges and attorneys recognize that litigation is not always the best way to resolve conflicts, particularly between family members.
Mediation promotes trust, cooperation and respect.
Mediation can reduce the cost, time and stress of resolving conflicts. The parties select the mediator and can arrange mutually convenient meeting times. The mediator is there to help focus on the critical issues and assist in finding useful and creative methods to solve problems. No one is pressured to give up his or her rights, and the participants are in control of the outcome.
One of the main objectives in family mediation is to protect the interests of children. Another priority is to help parents establish and/or maintain consistent involvement in their children's lives. Children are often severely affected by conflict between parents, and the child's stress can lead to incidents of juvenile delinquency and other self-destructive behavior.
Any family issue can be resolved through mediation, including custody, visitation and support. In custody cases, the mediator can explain to you the practical differences between such terms as joint, sole or shared custody. Different visitation arrangements that have proved successful with other parents can be explored. Your mediator will also make available to you the support guidelines used by the judges in your area.
In all court involved custody and visitation cases where both parties live in Virginia, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, located in Manassas, requires the parties to attend a mediation orientation and evaluation. The parties will receive notice of their orientation appointment at the Office of Dispute Resolution. The 45-minute session is designed to pre-screen participants for suitability and educate them about the mediation process. This no-cost evaluation is your opportunity to have your questions about mediation answered by a qualified professional.
There must be a case filed in court in order to obtain mediation services. You may contact the Juvenile Intake Office, Manassas (703) 792-6210 or Woodbridge (703) 792-7350, to learn about filing a case with the court. If you already have a court order and wish to amend the order, you may call the Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Clerk's Office, (703) 792-6160 for filing information.
Once the case is determined to be appropriate for mediation and the parties choose to participate in mediation, the parties select a date and time that will work with their schedule. The appropriate information is sent to the selected mediator by the Office of Dispute Resolution and the process begins.
When an agreement is reached through mediation, it is recommended that each party have an attorney review it to ensure that party's legal rights have not been compromised. The parties may agree to have the agreement filed through the Office of Dispute Resolution for direct submission to the court without requiring anyone to appear on the court date. The agreement will be entered as a court order.
If an agreement cannot be reached in the mediation process, the case and parties will proceed through the normal court process. If some of the issues have been resolved through mediation, you can limit the Court hearing to the remaining issues.
Mediation services are offered by attorneys, private individuals and organizations throughout the Northern Virginia area. The Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, located in Manassas, refers disputants to:
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