Twitter Q&A, part 2

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Might I suggest asking Twitter for questions?

I’m probably not be the best person to ask about this, since my approach to writer’s block is about the same as my typical approach to physical pain, emotional distress and most other problems, and I’m not sure it’s always the most productive one: Power through.

With writing, and really any creative pursuit I’ve endeavored, it’s especially frustrating because I find it nearly impossible to know for sure which things will hit and which will miss. Presumably some of that’s on me, and obviously there’s a lot of randomness at play. But sometimes I’ll feel like I have almost nothing to say and struggle through a post, then people will seem to really enjoy it. And other times I’ll feel like everything’s really flowing and almost no one responds in any way. Totally emo. Are you there world? It’s me, Ted!

Anyway, that doesn’t matter. Point is, if you’re reading today and video stuff isn’t your thing, thanks for sticking out the last few days.

Man, I wish I were better qualified to talk about that. Truth is I don’t know exactly how rare a choice it is, nor all of what the rehab entailed, nor even that it was the best choice — who knows if Gee would be a better pitcher today if he went the surgical route? This Daily News article from last year suggests he still endures pain in the shoulder.

I can say with some confidence, though, that the human body is an amazing and mysterious thing. My wife and I took in Knuckleball! this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival (which answers @dpecs‘ question), and the movie detailed R.A. Dickey’s lack of an ulnar collateral ligament and the way it cost him his first-round signing bonus out of college. Dickey explained how doctors said he shouldn’t be able to turn a doorknob without pain even though he had been throwing fastballs in the 90s.

I know it’s kind of an old story by now, but really… think about that! The guy threw fastballs in the 90s without one of the main things that’s supposed to be holding his elbow together. At 37, the guy still throws pitches in the mid-80s, and he still doesn’t have that thing. And for all we know there are five other Major Leaguers who don’t have UCLs either who just never posed for the wrong picture at the wrong time.

When I was diagnosed with M.S. in 2008, my doctor showed me MRI images that showed 10 small lesions on my brain, then said I had nothing to worry about because only about 50-percent of brain lesions affected people in any way. That freaked the hell out of me, because I’m good enough at math to know that 50 percent of 10 is five, and I didn’t want five lesions operating on my brain. So after a couple of weeks of fretting, I brought it up to the doctor. He explained that it ultimately didn’t matter at all — the lesions were there and likely would be forever, but even if some of them did have some small impact, the brain and body ultimately create new pathways and means of compensation, and neither I nor anyone else would ever be able to notice any difference.

You ever see those local news features about the people who lose their arm functions and learn how to do everything with their feet? We’re all kind of like that in various less-obvious ways. This sounds depressing but it’s actually the opposite: The longer you live the more crap you need to deal with, and you either figure out ways to deal with it or it deals with you.

I do hope that, yes. Yo whatup Paula Deen? How great is butter? You want to come make a sandwich with me? Ladies’ choice.

Traction Park’s looping waterslide remembered

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Via @njbuzz19 comes this thorough investigation of Action Park’s legendary but infrequently operative looping waterslide and the real reasons it closed.

Longtime TedQuarters readers will remember I tackled Action Park in a From the Wikipedia post a few years ago, in which I wrote:

The biggest and best symbol of all that was awesome and ridiculous about Action Park was the looping water slide. A water slide with a loop-de-loop. How would that even work? You’re not harnessed into anything, like you are on a roller coaster. Doesn’t seem to make any sense, right? But it made perfect sense at Action Park.

The Wikipedia claims it was actually operated on occasion, but I never saw it open. And anytime you asked anyone about why it was closed, you always heard the same thing:

“Some fat guy got stuck in there and drowned.”

It turns out that was probably an urban myth, as were the stories that crash-test dummies sent down the tube to test it out came back dismembered. But who really thought a looping water slide was a good idea?

According to a former employee quoted in the io9 post, it was “some Swiss guy.”

Twitter Q&A

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I’ve been struggling with some early-season writer’s block, so I turned to Twitter for some help. Here we go:

I’m going to go with a shoutout to Montgomery Brewster and say “none of the above.” Wright’s very unlikely to be traded this season, as I’ve covered here ad nauseum. And given Bay’s veteran status and salary, he seems more likely to get benched, pawned off somewhere or even straight-up released than sent to Triple-A.

As for Davis, well, I was hoping someone would ask about Davis and several people did. I’ve noticed suggestions that he should be sent to the Minors starting to creep their way into Twitter and comments sections (presumably they’ve come up on talk radio too, if that’s your fancy), but I didn’t want to dedicate a whole post to a few rogue Twitterers and commenters.

I don’t think Davis will get sent to the Minors and I don’t think he should. He has looked awful this season, no doubt. Yesterday’s double-header, in which he struck out three times and thrice left the bases loaded, might mark the low point of his young career. Plus there’s that looming, mysterious Valley Fever thing, even if he’s never been officially diagnosed with it and has never reported any symptoms.

But it’s April 24th, and three weeks ago many Mets fans and analysts likely would have guessed Davis would be the best player on the team in 2012. It’s way, way, way too soon to panic over a slump, no matter how deep. Davis’ swing features a ton of moving parts, so when he struggles it’s easy to get caught up in scout-speak and start diagnosing all his issues from our couches. Remember, though, that even when he’s going well, nothing about his swing looks particularly pretty until he makes contact. I’m not a scout or a hitting coach so this is far beyond my scope, but it sure looks like Davis’ timing is off right now.

Davis says the ankle injury that ended his 2011 isn’t affecting him now, and I have no reason not to believe that. I wouldn’t be shocked, though, if the five-month layoff prompted by that injury is partly responsible for his current drought. He has also seen fewer fastballs than he ever has before and suffered from what seems like an extremely unfortunate series of bad calls from umpires — none worse than last night.

There’s burgeoning talk that the book on Davis is out and pitchers need only throw him breaking balls in the low outside corner of the strike zone, but that’s way easier said than done. Presumably when Davis straightens himself out, he’ll have no trouble laying off the breaking stuff that misses low or outside and hitting anything that creeps over the plate. Just give it time.

Which is to say, I guess: Small sample size, small sample sample size…

No sooner than Memorial Day. Two months’ worth of games still represents a very small sample, but that’s generally a good benchmark for distinguishing total flukes from things that might actually be happening.

Sure. I think most Mets fans would have signed up for a .500 start, for one thing. For another, and knocking on wood with crossed fingers, nearly everyone is healthy. Andres Torres is the only regular sidelined, and Kirk Nieuwenhuis has done more than an adequate job filling in. And the big thing, to me, is that Johan Santana’s shoulder is still healthy. Every start he makes without a setback means another. That’s good news.

As for the 4-5-6 hitters, it’s really only Davis that can be called “non-existent” to date. It’s a tiny sample yet and both Jason Bay and Lucas Duda have been frustrating at times, but offensive totals are so far down around baseball that their numbers hold up well against players at their positions and batting order spots. Bay’s .776 OPS to date is more than 100 points higher than that of the average National League left fielder, and slightly better than the average NL fifth hitter. Duda’s .732 mark is a touch below the .759 standard for NL right fielders, but better than the .709 average for sixth hitters in the Senior Circuit in 2012.

And of course, it’s still that time of the year when a good night can lift a guy’s OPS by 70 points or more. There’s a song about that.

 

Satchel Paige pitched three innings at “59”

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Another notable number came up after Tuesday’s game, when the sports-information company STATS LLC pointed out that the Rockies had listed Moyer’s age incorrectly, and that he was, in fact, a day older than the team had reported. You can’t talk about old pitchers and age discrepancies, however, without paying tribute to the undisputed king of both categories: Leroy “Satchel” Paige, the Negro Leagues ace and baseball folk hero. Moyer’s win on Tuesday was impressive, but Paige has him beat on one score, at least, by a decade. On September 25, 1965, Paige pitched three credible innings of baseball for the Kansas City Athletics against the Red Sox at the decidedly incredible reported age of fifty-nine—making him the oldest player to ever appear in a major-league game. He faced ten batters, recorded a strikeout, gave up just one hit (a double to Carl Yastrzemski), and was replaced at the start of the fourth inning, leaving the field to an ovation from the nine thousand or so fans in the stands who’d come to watch the A’s finish out a losing season.

– Ian Crouch, The New Yorker.

Everything about Satchel Paige is awesome. Every day that goes by without a biopic getting made is an opportunity lost. Check out Larry Tye’s biography of the man if you haven’t yet.

I’d cast Dave Chappelle in the movie myself, but it’s probably worth noting that I’d cast Dave Chappelle in pretty much everything. Via Alex Belth.