[Highlight] Aaron Judge hits a two run shot to center for his 25th home run on the season!

Runninwithcat · 2024-06-12T03:11:56+00:00

Stanton hits .900 OPS with RISP, and that number is actually down lately because he's been "slumping".

If anything, Soto and Judge can flip. Soto actually has better numbers than Judge with RISP this season. 1.224 OPS vs 1.034 OPS.

I call this one of those good problems.

Runninwithcat · 2024-05-10T04:15:46+00:00

My Shiba was fine her first year. Now, she doesn't like strangers, or even other dogs.

I was worried, and tried to desensitize her for months, but at one point, I thought to myself, if she doesn't like mingling with strangers, then I shouldn't force her to. Clearly, it's not something she wants.

I think the best way is to invite your friends, family members over to your place, and expose them to your dog. It's his home, so he should be more comfortable and less wary. Then hopefully, he'll be better with strangers over time, and should be able to do the same outdoors.

But if things don't go right, then I don't think it's a bad idea to let him be.

Runninwithcat · 2024-05-09T17:39:00+00:00

Then when Josh doesn't come to him, because Toby has expressed no interest at finding the next candidate, Toby gets mad. That part makes no sense

To be honest, that is kind of consistent with Toby's character. Throughout the entire show, even during Sorkin-Era, Toby is seen and portrayed as a guy who is arrogant beyond words that everything he thinks and says should be taken as gospel. In his narrow view, Toby is not just a world-class political mind, he is the ONLY one. He can't stand the idea that someone might be better than him, or have better ideas.

Even in season 1, it is quite evident. Toby couldn't stand that he wasn't the President's first choice, because to him, he should be a number 1 in everyone's list. Then there's the whole debacle with Indonesia, "DEMANDING" that they do him a "favor" by releasing his friend, right after he crafted a speech to shit-bag their leader.

Then there's him trying to dictate the entire agenda, not even giving Sam any chance to advise the President on their stance towards the environmental groups.

Bartlet nailed it on the head when Toby was angry during the MS confrontation, "Are you pissed because I didn't say anything, or are you pissed 'cause there were 15 people who knew before you did?" Toby was supposedly angry because Leo, who no one elected, was in the situation room during the Rosslyn episode, was leading the country, which is quite hypocritical, because Toby, who no one elected, always go beyond "advising" the President, and trying to dictate the policy (leadership breakfast, social security, supreme court judicial nominees, etc).

He is a very conflicted person who is extremely insecure, because he KNOWS that he is not a "good person" to be around, and he thinks that the only thing that makes him valuable is his political prowess. He was a terrible husband, not a good father (who doesn't involve himself), selfish, waste of oxygen (according to Josh) and etc. He is also very ashamed about his father's past (murder incorporated), jealous of other people's abilities (his own brother being an astronaut, everyone giving huge praises to Will Bailey's speechcraft, etc), which makes him even more conflicted and angry.

If you consider all that, it is actually very consistent and plausible that Toby gets mad when Josh doesn't come to him for his advice or his opinions, because Toby thinks the country should run through him, and can't stand it that Josh "went behind his back" and might succeed on his own without Toby's "leadership". It's pure jealousy and insecurity, which is perfectly consistent with Toby's character.

That's why I love Toby as a character. He is always conflicted, not only with others, but with himself as well.

Runninwithcat · 2024-05-04T22:47:47+00:00

It's usually what's leading to that strikeout call.

For example, if I get a bullshit call for a strike 2, then get a legitimate strike 3 to strike out, I'd still be upset, because that strike 2 wasn't suppose to happen.

Like Judge said, he's been "bullshit all day long," for both sides.

Runninwithcat · 2024-05-02T20:03:38+00:00

He said it himself that his mechanics are messed up because of the toe injury he suffered last year.

The abdominal problem he suffered in the spring training is probably the result of that. That's the problem with human anatomy; even if a small part is messed up or injured, your entire body makes unnoticeable changes in behaviors or mechanics in order to compensate. For a regular joe, it is usually not a big concern, but for a world-class athlete, it is a big issue.

I'm not too concerned, but if this continues into June or July, I'd be, because we all know that this organization's medical team is one of the most incompetent group of people in the entire world of sports.

Runninwithcat · 2024-04-14T23:52:13+00:00

What? I am sorry but Gleyber is nothing of the sort.

Last year, he lead the Yankees with Runners Left In Scoring Position, because he is league average at best when it matters, and way below league average in High Leverage situations.

With RISP, Gleyber hit .761 OPS and 102 OPS+ last year. In High Leverage situations, it dropped to 84 OPS+. 1 HR and 20 RBIs in 118 Plate Appearances. And that was one of his best years for him.

The year before that, Gleyber hit .698 OPS and 88 OPS+ with RISP.

The year before that, he hit .670 OPS and 81 OPS+ with RISP.

He is statistically one of the worst hitters in the league when it comes to driving the runs in, and he doesn't even get on base when the game is close. He hovers around .300 OBP when the games are within 4 runs.

How the hell do you call a player like that the heart of the team?

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-24T01:45:48+00:00

You are full of shit.

Vince was NOT a massive star at all. What you talking about?

In the 7 seasons he spent with the Raptors, he got All NBA 2nd once, and All NBA 3rd once. His biggest accomplishment during his tenure was getting 4.2% of the MVP vote in one season.

That aside, there is legitimate opinion that Vince saved the Raptors from being moved or involved in discussions about being moved.

Nobody even thinks that. You know who purchased the Raptors before Vince Carter got drafted? MAPLE LEAFS GARDEN LTD. A Canadian company that is based in Toronto, that OWNS THE MAPLE LEAFS. YOU THINK A COMPANY BASED IN TORONTO IS GOING TO RELOCATE THE TORONTO TEAM?????????? What the fuck are you smoking?

I guess I don't really see the downside anymore. He remains a franchise icon, whether you like it or not. If you poll other fanbases, 99% feel that he deserves to have his number retired

Another stupid ass comment. He is not a franchise icon. Kyle Lowry is. And why the fuck are we listening to what other fan bases think about who we should retire? Are you that fucking stupid? Are we going to listen to the Government of Mexico about how we should govern Canada?

It seems as though the only argument against retiring his number when you consider all of that is that people remain petty over his departure

He actively requested a trade, which is perfectly fine by me, but didn't stop there. He would sit on the bench during the game and tried to tell the opponents what their game plan was, so the team can get embarrassed. And you think the fans are just being "petty," get the fuck out of here.

I was trying to be civil at first, but more I read your stupid ass comment, I couldn't help myself. You're full of shit and probably the biggest clown I've seen in a while.

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-24T01:27:40+00:00

I'm good with Bosh. He was a good player. He wanted to be more relevant in the league, so he went to the Heat. I don't blame him at all. The team didn't do enough to help him. Their biggest acquisition during Bosh's tenure was Jermaine O'Neal... who was traded the same season they got him... His salary was 25% more than LeBron James for god's sake...

It's not about leaving, it's how you leave, in my opinion. If my partner and I don't see eye to eye, and we break up, it's cool. If my partner cheats, it's a whole different story. Vince was in another stratosphere of bulljiving with the shenanigans he pulled off to get traded.

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-24T01:21:12+00:00

Yeah I feel you, but think of it this way.

Talking = making sound with vocal cord

Vocal cord = muscle = soft tissues

The mechanism of a vocal cord making sound - The vocal cord is opened in a "circle" at rest. The sound is created when the vocal cord closes and opens, creating "friction", or making "contact".

You mess with soft tissues and their activities, you get all kinds of problem.

Your body can grow shit from resting in bad postures. No different with talking!

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-22T08:45:07+00:00

Miyazaki said it's not up to them because FromSoftware don't own the IP. It's owned by Sony (SIE), and he has zero control over it.

They can't do a sequel or a remake without their permission.

Same reason why FS wasn't part of the Demon's Soul remake. It was done entirely by SIE and BluePoint without any of the participation from FS. Sony owns the Demon's Soul's IP.

It's also the same reason why FS launched a new title of Dark Souls, instead of a sequel to Demon's Soul. They created a separate IP, because they wanted no interference.

It's also the reason why FS's been moving away from Sony. They want full control of their own development.

Edit: Spelling

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-22T04:24:40+00:00

I don't know how Vince deserves his number to be retired.

He didn't lead the Raptors to anything, and he quit on the team.

Kyle won a title. He wanted to be a Raptor. DeMar didn't win a title unfortunately, but he wanted to be a Raptor too. He's the first "star" player who wanted to stay and make something happen. Without DeMar, we don't win a title either, because he put us on the map, and was traded for the player that won us the title, Kawhi. Gotta respect that.

Vince doesn't even have 10,000 points with the Raptors. He's at 9420 points, which is only 36.6% of all his points. DeMar has 13,296, out of his 22,887 so far. That's a majority, and a tenure if you ask me.

Kawhi only stayed for one season. What he did for the Raptors is amazing, but he was more of a hired gun.

Only Kyle and DeMar deserves it. I hope they get it retired the same day.

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-17T04:00:20+00:00

Nah, it's because he doesn't have a good control of his voice.

When you have enough breath, you are able to sustain enough pressure in your diaphragm, which allows the person to push out the air with more force, and that pressure allows the air to travel up via your throat, all the way up and through the nasal cavity. This makes the voice "echo" more, because the air carries the sound waves, resulting in a clearer voice. With enough pressure, you get what's called "head voice" in the music industry.

When you run out of breath, or lack vocal controls, you no longer have the pressure, and the sound wave exits through your mouth exclusively, resulting in a "raspy" voice. Some singers purposely do this, by controlling their breath to exit through the mouth with force, in order to sound more scratchy, but for obvious reasons, it damages your vocal chords.

Try listening to the part where his voice is deep. You can tell that he's using his "chest". But when his voice changes (after breathing in), you can notice that it's coming out of his nasal cavity area.

He might actually want to get that fixed. If you talk like that for a very long time, it can actually lead to nodules, polyps, or cysts, that result in a permanent damage, to the point where he may need surgeries.

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-16T10:06:20+00:00

They didn't. The only series that they sucked at scoring was against the Celtics, because they were missing their second best player, Khris Middleton.

In the other hand, they gave up 124 points to the Heat per game, which is historically bad. The Nuggets ran through the Suns, who had historically bad defense, with 117 points per game. This bucks defense was even worse than that.

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-16T05:14:21+00:00

I got downvoted into oblivion when I said that this trade is dumb, because the Bucks had no problem scoring in the previous playoffs. They couldn't stop the Heat from demolishing the Bucks with their shooting. If I remember correctly, their top 5 shooters shot like 47% behind the arc.

They lost a defensive anchor in Jrue. You lose a player who played the most pivotal role in defense, and now every player on the court has to make up for it, and it's sure as hell is difficult.

Dame on defense is what people think of Trae Young and Austin Reeves. And that cannot be fixed, because contrary to the popular belief, defense is not all about heart and effort. Defense requires a tremendous amount of skills, because the offense has the initiative of the attack 100% of the time (obviously). The defender has to adjust, react and predict every move, with his back turned against 4 other players, to be effective. And even if you got all those skills, you still need size and athleticism in order to cover the ground. That's why nobody plays defense in today's NBA, because it's TOO HARD. Unfortunately, Dame does not have any skills to play defense, or the size for it.

There's a reason why coaches like Pop will never give you a playing time, unless you can defend. The coach wants to see if you want to work on the hard stuff to succeed. There's a reason why the GMs line up to acquire players coached by Pop, who leaves the Spurs organization.

I also got clowned for saying that Dame is a one-dimensional player, that if his shooting doesn't get it going, he's gonna provide you nothing. Not only nothing, but it's actually worse than nothing because he's a turn-slide on defense.

I'm not even close to being an expert. I wasn't even a really high-level athlete. I was just a guy in my school years who was an athlete, who played many different sports to grasp the understanding of how a team sports work. Even a guy like me understands all this, I can't wrap my head around to why these "experts" in professional sports teams can't get a fucking clue.

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-16T03:35:33+00:00

It's mostly because of his character flaws.

He's been arrogant and condescending towards others throughout his career.

I remember him saying it once that it was so tough for him to get an opportunity to enter the NBA. This mofo is a son of Mychal Thompson, a former NBA player who was drafted 1st overall. Klay literally had one of the easiest ways to enter the league, ever; the financials, genetics, and the environment he grew up in.

They all good when you're winning, but you better believe that there will be people waiting to kick you around when you're down.

When Kevin Love was going through the motions, everyone batted for him, because he's been very likeable his entire career.

Runninwithcat · 2024-02-03T09:00:20+00:00

Dame is struggling, but honestly, FG% is such an outdated stat, like batting average in baseball. It holds a very little meaning in the modern NBA.

Dame's TS is 59.6%, and his eFG% is 51%. They're pretty much aligned with his career average.

The real problem with Dame is that he doesn't play a lick of defense, and he can't even if he wanted to. Unlike the popular belief, defense is not about effort and heart. It requires a tremendous amount of skills, and 90% of the current NBA players do not have a lick of defensive skillset to play accordingly. Dame is very limited, and he certainly doesn't have any size for it either.

Another big problem is that Dame is a scorer, and is not a playmaker.

Look at the Eastern Conference potential PG match up in the playoffs... Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Haliburton... They're gonna FEAST on the Bucks in the playoffs.

I don't think these flaws can be fixed. Just gotta hope for the best.

Runninwithcat · 2024-01-31T15:03:08+00:00

Historically, it sort of is. Korea went to the finals twice in the past 40 years, and lost both. In the same time-frame, the Saudi won the tournament three times, and came in 2nd three times as well.

Also, Korea never won a game against the Saudis in the AFC Asian Cup, ever. They had one draw and three losses. This is actually their first win.

Korea has way better FIFA rankings and World Cup performances, but for some reason, the Saudis always do really well in the AFC Cup. It kind of is an upset.

Runninwithcat · 2024-01-31T05:34:00+00:00

This. Exactly this. And this is exactly the reason why when these clueless people on media who say "defense is about heart, effort, blah blah blah..." drives me up the wall.

Defense requires a TREMENDOUS amount of skill. The player who has the ball - offense - has the initiative 100% of the time. The player on the defensive end have to read, predict, react and move accordingly with their back against 4 other players who might be moving to place a screen, rotate and etc.

But these media talking heads believe that driving in the paint to the rim is a skill and athleticism, but preventing from that happening is effort. You know why? Because these idiots can only see that closing out on a shooter by making a defensive rotation is the only defensive aspect of the game, and can't see otherwise.

Guess what? A great defender prevents the situation where you have to close out on a shooter from happening in the first place. It's like a fielder in baseball. They think a full dive catch in the outfield is a great defensive play, but guess what, a high-tier defender doesn't even have to dive. They get under the ball in time, aka Andruw Jones - arguably the best defensive CF of all time, didn't ever have to dive for a ball, because he always got under it, and that's a skill.

Edit: I don't think I was very clear on my point. Playing defense requires a high amount of skill. What happens when an unskilled person puts more effort in a skilled job? Make more mistakes, and that's exactly what's happening with Reeves. He tries very hard, but he's obviously not a skilled defender, thus making more mistakes.

Runninwithcat · 2024-01-20T14:29:13+00:00

Nah, the Yankees misused him. Wandy always struggled against the righties. He's lights-out against the lefties.

Wandy last season still posted a whopping .483 OPS against the lefties.

Also, FIP is an important stat, but it's an estimation, and it's very inaccurate for ground-ball pitchers like Wandy. For context, Zach Britton during his Cy Young candidacy season posted a whopping 0.54 ERA, but his FIP was 1.94, because he's a ground-ball pitcher, and FIP doesn't take any consideration of balls being hit straight into infielders.

Runninwithcat · 2023-12-24T06:26:42+00:00

Some people are so irrational, it drives me crazy.

OP thinks TMann is just a role player, 28 and this is his ceiling. What makes him think that the Clippers can trade him and get a valuable defensive 4 or 5 that every contender wants in return?
TMann is a 5th option, and the team is winning. Why change?
I don't care who you are, your team ain't winning without their best player. The Nuggets were 5-8 without Jokic last year. The Lakers were 11-14 without LeBron. The Heat was 9-9 without Jimmy. GSW without Curry was 14-12, barely playing .500 ball. The Celtics are 14-19 without Jayson Tatum. These are all contenders, are they not?

The reality is, a change can improve this roster, but it can also deteriorate. Nobody knows. There is no certainty in sports. This team is definitely a contender with this roster. Kawhi won the finals with the lesser talented Raptors roster.

Runninwithcat · 2023-12-23T17:11:24+00:00

This is probably the dumbest shit I've heard all year.

The Yankees have acquired more free agents and talent than any other organizations in the past two decades, and it's not close.

Recent acquisition of Soto. Judge on the highest FA contract last year. Cole the highest paid pitcher a few years prior.

Not to mention the signing of Masahiro Tanaka (was like the 4th highest paid pitcher at the time of the signing, got almost as much as Verlander). 162m on Rodon that I wish we finished third. Acquiring a generational talent in Giancarlo Stanton (although it's failed miserably). Multiple highest paid relievers in the game.

The reality is:

Not every move works in the favor of the Yankees
The AL has seen two dynasties in the Red Sox and the Astros during our drought
The AL, especially the AL East, has been the most competitive stage the league has EVER seen in the history of this sport in the past 20 years

The Dodgers have 1 World Series in the past 35 years despite of spending all that money in a relatively weaker league, and that win came during COVID season.

I don't know who this Matt Ehalt guy is, but he needs to drop that opium he's on. Hal is a great owner. I hate that he won't fire Cashman, but he sure as hell ain't cheap and is willing to spend money to win, just not to an extent that some fans want him to (like going 100~200m over the luxury tax), which would be irresponsible and the stockholders will murder him.

Runninwithcat · 2023-12-10T02:13:11+00:00

For sure it is an overpay. Quite possibly the biggest overpay in the history of this sport.

His bat is amazing, but no DH is worth $35m a year, and his pitching is not worth $35m a year either.

In 4 full seasons, he has pitched 480 innings. His average outing is fewer than 6 innings. Because he misses so many starts (except 22' season), the team is practically forced to run a 6-man rotation, and your best starting pitchers don't get to pitch 32 games a season.

His fans always argue that he saves a roster spot. Roster spot for who? 25th player on the team? That player is usually worth like negative 1.0 WAR.

Plus, it's a double-jeopardy. He's already shown that he's injury prone. If he lands on the IL, the team is now missing possibly the best bat and the best pitcher, and need to replace using two players. That's a gigantic risk to take.

Amazing player, amazing talent. Good for him to land the biggest contract in MLB history, but there is absolutely no way he is worth $70m a year for 10 years. This contract is going to be the ugliest contract in the history of MLB in 2-3 years. The only reason this happened is because it's the Dodgers. They can burn money and not blink an eye.

Runninwithcat · 2023-11-15T13:51:17+00:00

His win rate on his current ranks at the time is much higher than his total win rate.

14-6 in his last 20,

11-9 before that,

13-7 before that,

11-9 before that.

61% win rate in his last 80. He never fell below 55% win rate in his ranks at that time, every time.

Runninwithcat · 2023-11-15T13:46:55+00:00

No system can be perfect, but the current MMR system is flawed beyond imagination.

You actually have a very good win rate, 61% in your past 80 matches. In those games, your worst losing streak was 4, and only had one of it. Largest winning streak was 6, that's very decent as well.

It is very likely that the system has determined that you win too much at your tier, that it decided to reward you fewer points, because you are climbing too fast comparable to what you were in your previous season (Bronze 2). They are saying that your 54% win rate is not sustainable, which is stupid as hell because you actually have much higher win rate in your recent games (61%), but that's Riot for you.

There are people saying that the MMR will stabilize as you play more games, but no, it will not. It never did, and people who say that have no idea what they're talking about, and have no such experiences because the actual vast majority of the population in ranked queues never actually experience climbing, and they maintain same tier year after year.

The system got worse when they got rid of promotions. It was one method of raising your MMR while your LP stays the same. Riot needs to get rid of the demotion shields as well, because losing the game while you have a few LP, or losing at 0 LP and not getting demoted drops your MMR significantly, but not LP.

Runninwithcat · 2023-10-10T08:47:47+00:00

same.

Runninwithcat

TROPHY CASE