KnorrForYourMoney
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^treated for nauseau by Nats trainers
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« Reply #100 on: February 23, 2010, 09:55:48 PM » |
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aw, just missed it!  Ah, same here, but nice to know that he'll answer inquiries elsewhere. Thanks for taking out time, Ben! |
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Lintyfresh85
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Pay the man his money!
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« Reply #101 on: February 23, 2010, 10:13:13 PM » |
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Thanks Ben!
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DPMOmaha
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Midwest Correspondant
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« Reply #102 on: February 23, 2010, 10:17:49 PM » |
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Absolutely not. I love writing about baseball -- and I love ballpark food, which probably means my palate isn't sophisticated enough to be a food critic, anyway. Speaking of that, I need to find some dinner...
Awesome... Thanks Ben. |
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saltydad
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« Reply #103 on: February 24, 2010, 12:10:02 AM » |
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Fantastic thread! Thanks to Ben, and to Tom. I think this shows the increasing sophistication of the forum, and it's really nice to see. Thanks Chief!
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UMDNats
formerly Nats19
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a serious jamjob
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« Reply #104 on: February 24, 2010, 12:17:45 AM » |
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Well I'll jettison my really silly question and just tell a story then. Today, about 4 hours ago, I was in a press box for the very first time, with a press pass for the very first time, to cover baseball for the very first time - Rice University's home opener against Texas State. Got up there, thinking, "Is anybody going to stop me? Am I really allowed to do this?" - like the kid in the candy shop - got up there, a very nice gentleman pointed out where the scorecards were, offered some free Chik-Fil-A, and gave me a seat in front of the bank of windows. So I sat down, looked out over the field - covered in tarp, because it was raining (the game got rained out) - looked down at my scorecard and laptop, looked around at the veteran reporters, some of them students from Texas State and some of them decades older than I, even a man in his 60s with a Rice jacket - and thought ... what am I doing here? What do I do now???It was a ton of fun, just the feeling of sitting there being some place where I felt I didn't deserve to be. Sad that the game was canceled ... but on the other hand, I hadn't quite figured out how to fill out the scorecard yet!  Yea dude. I'll never forget my first press box experience. Crazy stuff. |
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sportsfan882
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« Reply #105 on: February 24, 2010, 12:37:02 AM » |
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thanks a bunch, ben. good stuff  |
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KnorrForYourMoney
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^treated for nauseau by Nats trainers
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« Reply #106 on: February 24, 2010, 12:56:33 AM » |
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Good stuff indeed. Lots of nice little trinkets in there.
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Nathan
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I has a sad :'(
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« Reply #107 on: February 24, 2010, 01:04:09 AM » |
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Fantastic thread! Thanks to Ben, and to Tom. I think this shows the increasing sophistication of the forum, and it's really nice to see. Thanks Chief!
Yeah, thanks Ben! Don't be a stranger! Oh, and I think JMad helped set this one up, so thanks JMad! |
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Ben Goessling
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« Reply #108 on: February 24, 2010, 06:33:47 AM » |
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Hey all, Just wanted to let you know I set up a running thread -- http://masnsports.com/2010/02/running-post-wnff-question-thr.html -- to answer whatever questions you didn't get to ask last night, or whatever else you've got on your mind. I'd also love to hear what you'd like to read about -- I've got a few things in mind for the rest of the week, but I'm always curious about what's on your minds, too. You can leave leftover questions and ideas in the comments section, and I'll keep answering them as long as they're out there. Thanks again for the great questions last night. Talk to you soon! |
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JCA-CrystalCity
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Cites Fangraphs too much.
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« Reply #109 on: February 24, 2010, 08:00:41 AM » |
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Love the question. Because of the accounting background, I'm a fair bit more comfortable with numbers than a lot of reporters, many of whom viewed journalism school as the promised land where math's reign of terror held no sway. :-) So I enjoy the sabermetrics stuff, and try to use as much of it as I can in my reporting. The problems I have with it are these: Some of the stats aren't commonly agreed upon yet, and some, like zone rating, have a few subjective elements to them. And as reporters, we still have to cater some of our stuff to the average fan, who doesn't know OPS from UPS. The challenge becomes writing about it in a way that bridges the gap from the baseball-savvy people we cover to the fans who read our stuff. You'll see me write about OBP and OPS quite often, and I'll probably write more about VORP and WARP this year than I have in the past. You have to balance some of it out, though.
Ben - Thank you for taking this question. Even if a stat captures the essence of a pitcher or hitter (velocity, % first strike, contact type, etc...), it is only useful in writing or video if it can be understood by those who you communicate it to. I can see that being thrown back at me here  |
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The Chief
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I happen to like trash
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« Reply #110 on: February 24, 2010, 08:37:03 AM » |
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I wussed out after the first farewell last night so allow me to give a belated "thank you" to Ben especially for taking time out of his day to come talk to us, and also to JMad and Tom for setting this up |
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CJames0569
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« Reply #111 on: February 24, 2010, 08:47:30 AM » |
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Great stuff Ben, thanks.
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tomterp
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« Reply #112 on: February 24, 2010, 08:57:16 AM » |
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I wussed out after the first farewell last night You missed the encores! |
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Kevrock
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Anytown, USA
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« Reply #113 on: February 24, 2010, 10:53:19 AM » |
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Great morning read. Thanks, Ben.
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