Ruth & Bonds: Learning about Numbers

Posted on August 11, 2014 by admin

Is a LF who played 22 seasons with a career batting line of .298/.444/.607, the greatest baseball player ever?

What do AVG/OBP/SLG actually mean?

The most important batting statistic in baseball is (and has always been) on-base percentage (OBP).
OBP adds up all plate appearances, and measures how often a batter doesn’t make an out.
Making outs is bad for batters because after 27 outs, your team loses; unless there are extra innings. It is not helpful to make outs in extra innings either.
Over the course of a season, OBP is 2-3x more valuable (in terms of winning) than the second-most useful measure of hitting: SLG.

Slugging percentage (SLG) blends AVG with power– crediting extra weight for doubles, triples & HRs.
Extra-base hits directly correlate to increased run production.
Power creates runs, and teams need runs to win.
Therefore, SLG creates wins.

Batting average (AVG) is a subset of OBP & SLG.
It is the measure of how often a batter gets a hit when he puts the ball in play.

OBP is the better overall measure of batting value, but AVG tells you things OBP can’t.
In a situation against a good pitcher, who doesn’t walk many batters; AVG is a better measure of the hitter’s chance for success than OBP.

Example: The difference between a .240 and .320 AVG hitter (both with .360 OBPs), is that the .240 batter will strikeout or hit into an easy out substantially more often than the .320 guy, against good pitching.
The .240 hitter exercises more patience & strike-zone judgement by taking more walks when they are most available, against inferior pitching.
The .320 hitter will swing at more pitches outside the strike zone, but is better at hitting line drives.

Most hits are line drives.
Increased SLG means more line drives go over the fence.

Adam Dunn (RF/DH) .237/.365/.492 14 seasons (still active)
Ichiro Suzuki (RF) .317/.360/.412 14 seasons (still active)

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This is why Billy Beanes’ shit doesn’t work in the post-season.
Over the course of a long season, it’s OBP that determines who is best.
In the smaller sample-sized post-season, its a different model in favor of SLG.
The strongest teams line up their best pitching in a short series, and it’s much tougher to produce runs with only OBP and no SLG.

That doesn’t imply an endorsement of “small-ball” tactics.
High-percentage base stealing & the ability to take the extra base gives any team an added dimension, but the gains are negligible in relation to hitting & pitching power.

If a manager needs an extra base in a clutch situation, a pinch runner (w/ a high SB%) is a better option than sacrificing or calling for the hit-and-run.
Terry Francona demonstrated this famously in using Dave Roberts in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS.
Since this era is built around power, letting hitters use their OBP & SLG skills (instead of excessive bunting & other small-ball tactics), is understood as better managing in today’s game.

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It is power pitching & hitting, along with good defense, that historically wins in the post-season.
Power costs money, which is why it is usually high-payroll teams playing late into October.

Pitching power is measured in staff ERA & Strikeouts (or K/9 IP).
Starting pitchers with 200+ IP, high K’s with good ERAs in relation to the league average, are the aces.

Closers must be over a strikeout per IP, with an ERA well under 3.00 (low walks) to be considered reliable.
Relief pitching is the most volatile commodity in MLB.
More money (as measured in $$/win) is wasted on relief pitching, than any other part of the modern MLB roster.

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The arguments for greatest (non-pitcher) player ever are:

Ty Cobb (CF)         .366/.433/.512 24 seasons
Honus Wagner (SS)    .328/.391/.467 21 seasons
Rogers Hornsby (2B) .358/.434/.577 23 seasons
Babe Ruth (RF/LHP)   .342/.474/.690 22 seasons
Lou Gehrig (1B)      .340/.447/.632 17 seasons
Ted Williams (LF)    .344/.482/.634 19 seasons (DNP his age 24-26 seasons and most of his age 33-34 seasons due to military service)
Willie Mays (CF)     .302/.384/.557 22 seasons
Mickey Mantle (CF) .298/.421/.557 18 seasons
Hank Aaron (RF)      .305/.374/.555 23 seasons
Barry Bonds (LF)     .298/.444/.607 22 seasons
Alex Rodriguez(SS/3B).299/.384/.558 20 seasons (suspended in 2014, but still active)
Albert Pujols (1B)   .318/.405/.592 14 seasons (still active)

The players with the highest OBP are Williams (.482), Ruth (.474), Gehrig (.447) then Bonds (.444)

The highest career SLG are Ruth (.690), Williams (.634), Gehrig (.632) then Bonds (.607)

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Base running and defense:

*In 1916-17, Babe Ruth (age 21-22 seasons) was an ace LHP with the Boston Red Sox, the best pitcher in the AL. Ruth helped BOS win the World Series in 1915, 1916 & 1918, before he was sold to the NYY.
Ruth’s incomplete career base running numbers are: 123 SB / 117 CS.
CS weren’t counted in the AL until 1920, so Ruth’s career SB% was likely under 50%.
He infamously ran into the last out of the 1926 WS; getting thrown out trying to steal second base with the NYY down by multiple runs.

Barry Bonds was a 8-time Gold Glove LF and an outstanding base runner/base stealer: 514 SB/141 CS; translating into a nifty 77.3% career success rate.

Lou Gehrig played 1B well by most accounts; 102 SB / 100 CS in his career. First basemen have all their value in their bat.

Ted Williams was slow on the bases (24 SB / 17 CS career), and considered a poor defensive LF.
He would often be observed taking practice swings in the outfield.

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“Character” issues:

Ruth drank, smoked and whored around excessively.
The media of that era ignored it; today that would be inconceivable.

Gehrig was (and still is) under-appreciated, playing beside the Bambino.
His farewell speech at Yankee Stadium still stands as one of the most moving moments in sports history. If he had lived he may have become the greatest, and that is the heroic tragedy of Lou Gehrig. He was diagnosed with ALS in his age 36 season.

*Both Ruth & Gehrig played entirely in the pre-integration era of MLB.
Surely their dominance would have been curtailed by the likes of RHPs Smoky Joe Williams, Satchel Paige, etc… and their numbers rivalled by (C) Josh Gibson , (1B) Buck Leonard, etc… if blacks had been allowed to play MLB.

Williams & Bonds were sensitive to criticism and castigated by the sporting press of their eras.
Ted Williams lost 5 prime seasons due to military service, and would have added 150+ HRs and 900+ hits to his career totals.
He was still the greatest hitter ever (.344/.482/.634).

By the early 2000’s, Bonds joined baseball’s PED scandal; becoming a permanent scapegoat for the MLB policy of tolerance/encouragement, which began a decade earlier.
In 2007 at age 42, Bonds hit .276/.480/.565 with the SFG; breaking Henry Aaron’s career home run record and establishing the new mark at 762.
That year, Pac Bell Park was sold out all season, for a SFG team that finished last in the NL West at 71-91.

Bonds was not offered a contract by any team in MLB for 2008, when he surely could have been a productive LF/DH for at least 2 more seasons.

*As a fan of the newly-renamed TB Rays, I believe they squandered their best shot ever at winning a World Series, by not signing Bonds in 2008.

—–

If you go on his feats & the numbers (and include his pitching– which you must), then Babe Ruth is the greatest baseball player ever.
Realistically however, too much of what the Babe did (and was allowed to get away with) would be impossible now.
The best player must be able to dominate in any era.

Bonds won 7 MVP’s and probably should have won several more.
He was clearly the best player in baseball from 1990-2004– a 15-season span.
Barry Bonds was the greatest baseball player of his or any era.

What is Zionism & Antisemitism?

Posted on August 5, 2014 by admin

Atheist Psalm mp3
RS: gtr & vocal
TomP: percussion & production

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Zionism is Israeli/Jewish nationalism.

Most Jews live in Israel (42%) or the US (42%), and their aggregate population of 14 million comprises 0.2% of the world’s total.

Judaism’s Old Testament texts, traditions, values and hierarchy, strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions such as Christianity & Islam.

Historically, Jews were educated servants of the aristocracy as moneylenders, rent collectors, etc; any jobs the ancient Greeks, Romans or medieval Church aristocracies considered too odious for their own hands.

This is the origin of the merchant class under feudalism, and the bourgeois class under capitalism as defined by Karl Marx.

This hatred, by the ancient aristocracy of the rising business class, is the modern origin of antisemitism.

The great bourgeois revolutions of the late 18th (US & France) and 19th (Napoleonic Wars) centuries, swept away monarchies and reorganized the world under the modern system of nation-states.
The historically stateless Jews were now being systematically persecuted by nationalist racism & terrorism.

By the early 20th century, Jewish immigration to the US increased sharply; first under the whip of tsarist terrorism in feudal Russia, then under the rising tide of European fascism after WW1.
Six million Jews were murdered by Nazis in Europe during WW2, because fascism was allowed to grow unchecked worldwide in the preceding decades.

The capitalist Cold War solution to prevent another Holocaust was to create a nation-state for Jews.
On May 1, 1949 Israel was recognized by the UN as a nation; occupying Palestine– previously a nation of Islam.
Millions of Palestinians were evicted by US/NATO-assisted military force, in order to build Jewish settlements.

This conflict has steadily escalated ever since.

The Six-Day War in June 1967 and the current Israeli Defense Force (IDF) assault on Gaza, are historical markers for Zionism’s war crimes against the people of Palestine.
Since May 1, 1949 anyone expressing sympathy for Palestinian civilian casualties caused by indiscriminate IDF shelling is slandered as antisemitic.

————

Fascism is antisemitism applied indiscriminately.

Zionism is conservative Jewish fascism.

While a mortal enemy of European (Nazi) fascism, Zionism shares many Nazi attributes in ethics, style and function.

Since Zionism is a religious-based ideology, it is important to have a clear understanding of religion.

ALL religions are mythology, and have no basis in scientific fact.

Religion offers ancient philosophy, wisdom & poetry; but no material solutions to complex modern problems– be them technological, economic or political.

————-

The state of Israel serves US ruling interests in the Middle East, as a permanent garrison in the most petroleum-rich portion of the globe.
Oil is the most important natural resource commodity under modern capitalism, replacing cotton in the late 19th century.
Human labor is the most valuable commodity–Karl Marx, Capital

Israel currently has an estimated 120 nuclear-tipped ICBMs.
That is only an estimate, because the state of Israel refuses to even acknowledge it has a nuclear arsenal.

Israel (goaded by ruling fanatics in the US) remains a potential flash point for global nuclear war– which human civilization will not survive.
Once started, human civilization will burn (or perhaps fossilize) into geologic ash, as Mutually Assured Destruction is the only possible outcome to WW3.

Short-sightedness & hubris are threatening our species’ survival, which only measures a fraction of the dinosaur’s geologic existence.
The dinosaur’s demise was after over 150 million years of surviving & thriving– by a chance asteroid collision.
Homo sapiens have only lasted a few hundred-thousand years in total, and we are already facing self-annihilation– which would be a senseless act of species suicide.

If that becomes our fate, then maybe in a few billion years when life can finally return to this beautiful planet, a more highly-evolved species will discover and properly interpret why we didn’t have it in us to survive.

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Why Hollywood Entertainment Sucks

Posted on August 1, 2014 by admin

1-3-14 Yahoo! headlines

Snaps From Jennifer Aniston’s Sun-Soaked, Star-Packed Mexican Vacation
By Elizabeth Durand Streisand January 2, 2014 11:56 AM omg!

Hillary Clinton Debuts New Haircut, Bangs: See the Picture

Alyssa Milano Responds to Jay Mohr After Comedian Takes Jab At Her Weight

The best US films made today are independent documentaries.
Hollywood is organically incapable of making any kind of meaningful film anymore, due to its myopic class perspective which can only guess as to the needs and aspirations of working people everywhere.
Hollywood mostly offers animated pablum; action flicks that glorify the military, police & violence along with uncompelling dramas & unfunny comedies– all reflecting a misanthropic glorification of the wealthy & powerful.

Reclaiming the 1994 Baseball Season

Posted on July 31, 2014 by admin

Twenty years ago during July/August/September 1994, the MLB season & World Series were cancelled.
The source of the dispute was a deliberate provocation by ownership & its puppets in the MLB commissioner’s office.
This piece is an attempt to educate & reclaim what was stolen.

Background & Trajectory:

Nineteen-ninety four was a turbulent time in US politics. The neo-conservative reaction to Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 was in full swing, as Newt Gingrich would led a right-wing Republican takeover of the House of Representatives and Senate. This reaction would successfully roll-back Clinton’s liberal-leaning Comprehensive Healthcare Initiative; and turned both of his terms as US president into a tabloid witch-hunt, culminating in the first-ever impeachment of a US president. In 1998, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Bill Clinton for perjury; for lying to conceal an extra-martial affair with staffer, Monica Lewinsky.

What followed in US foreign policy, was a sharp turn towards militarism, starting with missile strikes in Sudan & Afghanistan in August 1998 and the US/NATO bombing of Serbia (March-June 1999).

Domestically, the Bush vs Gore Supreme Court decision, which halted the counting of cast ballots in Gore’s favor, was a consensus ruling-class decision to dispense with democratic rights in order to ruthlessly pursue ruling-class interests. This hijacking of a US presidential election in November/December 2000, is still poorly understood by working people, as are the circumstances around 9-11-2001. These events are the foundations the global surveillance apparatus & modern police-state conditions were all now live under. This has been reviewed & clarified to provide context to events affecting MLB.

The MLB owners had lost their last battle with the players in court in December 1990, when a judge ruled collusion by all 26 team owners and the MLB commissioner’s office, headed by Peter Ueberroth. The player’s union (MLBPA) was awarded $280 million in stolen wages. From the off-seasons of 1985-1987, baseball’s greatest stars including: Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Phil Niekro, Kirk Gibson, Jack Morris, etc. were not allowed to sell their services as free agents, because all the owners had a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ to not sign ANY free agents. This was planned by MLB commissioner Peter Ueberroth, and carried out by every team’s management & staff; making all of them accomplices in the ownership’s conspiracy to defraud the players.

By 1994, the owners were in no mood to compromise; threatening to retract previously won collectively bargained player’s rights by unilaterally invoking a hard salary cap in order to depress player salaries. Ownership was intransigent on the hard salary cap, knowing the players would reject it.

The players walked out on August 12, 1994 because it allowed them receive most of their season’s salary while hurting the owners financially by cancelling the post-season.
Much of MLB’s season revenue comes from the post-season. The owners provoked the walkout by insisting on a salary cap, thinking they could smear the players as greedy if they refused. It worked well for awhile, as the sports media attacked the players with its usual reactionary vigor, but when ‘acting commissioner’ Bud Selig went before the cameras on Sept 14, 1994 to announce the cancellation of the World Series; no one believed any owner to be innocent.

The last baseball commissioner Faye Vincent noted, “The Union basically doesn’t trust the Ownership because collusion was a $280 million theft by Bud Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf from the players. I mean, they rigged the signing of free agents. They got caught. They paid $280 million to the players. And I think that’s polluted labor relations in baseball ever since it happened. I think it’s the reason [Union Legal Council, Donald] Fehr has no trust in Selig.”

Donald Fehr and the MLBPA insisted the owners collectively made billions of dollars annually. Fehr argued the players create the value so they must be fairly compensated according to free-market principles. You would have thought he was V.I Lenin leading the Bolsheviks, the way the sporting press vilified him.

The MLB owners were desperate by the spring of 1995. They had decided to bring in replacement players, pressuring minor leaguers to scab for the owners in order to break the strike. One minor league player under particular scrutiny was Michael Jordan, OF for AA Birmingham Barons– a CHI White Sox affiliate. Jordan had retired from basketball after the death of his father, and dedicated himself to becoming a big-league baseball player.

His progress was encouraging, impressing scouts with his development in skills & power in the 1994 Arizona Fall League (AFL), and there was speculation he could be a September call-up in 1995.All that was pushed ahead as he was repeatedly questioned in the spring of 1994, if he would be a replacement player. Jordan was in a particularly difficult situation in that the owner of the Chicago White Sox was the same man who owned the Chicago Bulls, Jerry Reinsdorf.

Reinsdorf had been one of the leaders in the MLB owner’s collusion conspiracy.
To Michael Jordan’s credit, he always refused any offer of becoming a replacement player, insisting that he earn his way to the majors.
All this likely contributed in pushing Michael Jordan back to the NBA, and it was probably where be belonged anyway.

Minutes after the owners submitted, and the ink was dry on the new collective bargaining agreement; Reinsdorf signed free agent Albert Belle to a 5-year $55 million contract, the first super-contract of its kind.
Players salaries have escalated ever since, thus vindicating the players as being correct in not believing the owner’s cries of bankruptcy.

How Bud Selig became MLB Commissioner

Faye Vincent was fired by the owners in September 1992 and replaced with “small market” Milwaukee Brewers owner– Bud Selig. Selig constantly whined about “competitive balance”, having to compete against big-spending teams such as the George Steinbrenner’s NYY and Peter Angelos’ BAL. He pointed to Camden Yards, the Orioles beautiful new park (which was often sold out), and exclaimed, “We need a new ballpark if we are going to compete.”

This came from an owner who employed a front office led by old-time GMs Harry Dalton and Sal Bando, who managed to run off their best prospect ever, Gary Sheffield (3B FLA .276/.385/.584); then claimed they couldn’t afford franchise hero DH Paul Molitor after 1992. Molitor took his HoF bat to TOR in 1993, where he was the second-best player in the AL (Frank Thomas MVP), and became a WS hero helping TOR repeat as WS champions. TOR teammate RHP Dave Stewart famously said here never played with a more unselfish player than Paul Molitor.

The MIL front office led by the Dalton gang had plunged into free agency in the late-1980’s, signing free-agent busts such as 1B Greg Brock (career line .248/.338/.399) & 1B/DH Franklin Stubbs (career line .232/.303/.404). When MIL re-signed fan-favorite & ace LHP Teddy Higuera to a large $ deal, Higuera immediately tore out his rotator cuff; the Brewers front office hadn’t insisted on an MRI while negotiating his extension.

Now under GM Sal Bando (above), the only valuable MIL player was LF Greg Vaughn (.254/.345/.478). Left field and the County Stadium bleachers past its fence, was designated Vaughn’s Valley by the local faithful. Unfortunately, too many balls thrown in by Brewers pitchers ended up in Vaughn’s Valley. In 1994 MIL was last in the AL Central, 15 games behind the CWS when the season was cancelled.

As a fan, I always felt MIL manager Phil Garner was a good skipper, but he had no chance with this team. A friend & I would regularly go to games at County Stadium around that time, and we would observe Garner walk out to the mound again & again in the middle innings. My friend would always put his hands behind his back and make a gesture of being handcuffed.

1994 Hall of Famers

On Jan 12, 1994 LHP Steve Carlton was elected to the HoF.
Carlton was one of the greatest LHP ever: W-L 329-244, 3.22 ERA, 5217.2 IP, 4136 K
The HoF Veterans Committee tapped manager Leo Durocher and NYY SS Phil Rizzuto; career .273/.351/.355 hitter. Nicknamed “Scooter”, Rizzuto played under manager Casey Stengel with Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, etc.; and helped the Yankees win 10 AL pennants and 7 World Series in his 13 seasons. Rizzuto served 3 prime athletic years (1943-45; his age 25-27 seasons) in the US Navy.

The 1994 Baseball Season (All stats 1994, unless noted)

In 1994, there was a newly-added Divisional round of playoff games, via the Wild Card. From 1969-1993, MLB had 2 divisions in each league, with only its division champions advancing to the post-season. The NL & AL West were both short-stacked with only 4 teams; all other divisions had 5 teams.

It was a memorable Opening Day at Wrigley Field when Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes hit 3 HRs (2 off Doc Gooden), but the Mets still won 12-8.
The CHC would finish last in the new NL Central.
The Cubs best players were 1B Mark Grace (.298/.370/.414) and intriguing young RF Sammy Sosa (.300/.339/.545).
HoF numbers player 1B Rafael Palmiero, whom the Cubs traded to TEX for reliever Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams a few years earlier, hit .319/.396/.550 for BAL that year.

A no-hitter by LHP Kent Merker (ATL) in his first start of the season on April 8, raised eyebrows around MLB.
If you weren’t a Braves fan, you could only be envious of their pitching riches.
The ATL rotation included HoFers Greg Maddux RHP (16-6, 1.56 ERA, 202 IP), Tom Glavine LHP (13-9, 3.97 ERA, 165.1 IP) and John Smoltz RHP (6-10, 4.14 ERA, 134.2 IP); along with young upstart LHP Steve Avery (8-3, 4.04 ERA, 151.2 IP) and now LHP Kent Merker (9-4, 3.45 ERA, 112.1 IP).
This ATL starting rotation under Bobby Cox & Leo Mazzone became the best staff ever when ATL added All-Star LHP Denny Neagle from PIT for the season in 1997 going 20-5, 2.97 ERA, 233.1 IP as their 4th starter.

RHP ATL Greg Maddux 10 CG, 202 IP, 1.56 ERA in 1994
For comparison: RHP Bret Saberhagen (NYM) was 2nd in NL ERA at 2.74

NL Central– CIN leads, with HOU 0.5 GB led by HoF 1B Jeff Bagwell (.368/.451/.750–MVP), HoF 2B Craig Biggio (.318/.411/.483), and All-Star 3B Ken Caminiti (.283/.352/.495).
The Reds were led by HoF SS Barry Larkin (.279/.369/.419), LF Kevin Mitchell (.326/.429/.681) & RHP Jose Rijo (9-6, 3.08 ERA, 172.1 IP). Deion Sanders, an NFL All-Pro CB & punt returner was their CF (.283/.342/.381) acquired from ATL mid-season. In the spring of 1995 as the baseball strike was nearing an end, ‘Prime Time’ negotiated a $35 million deal to play for the Dallas Cowboys, whenever he was done with the baseball season.
Note: Deion Sanders’ career batting line was .263/.319/.392.

PIT lost HoF LF Barry Bonds after 1992, and finished 22 GB of PHI in the NL East in 1993. They were 13 GB in the NL Central when the season was stopped in 1994.
It would continue to a streak of 20 years of finishing below .500 before the Bucs grabbed a WC in 2013, finishing 94–68.

The NL West was poor, with LAD at 58-56, 3.5 games ahead of SFG.
LAD were led by HoF C Mike Piazza (319/.370/.541), young fiery RF Raul Mondesi (.306/.333/.516) & RHP Ramon Martinez (12-7, 3.96 ERA, 170 IP).
SFG were led by HoF LF Barry Bonds (.312/.426/.647) and 3B Matt Williams (.267/.319/.607)
COL was in its 2nd year of existence, and had serious starting pitching issues.
SD was the worst team in the NL.

RHP Scott Erickson (MIN) threw a no-hitter against punchless MIL on April 27, 1994.
The next day, LHP Kenny Rogers (TEX) threw a perfect game against the CAL Angels.
The standings in the AL West were unprecedented in MLB, at the time of the work stoppage. TEX, with a 52-62 record led the division, one game better than OAK and 2 games ahead of SEA. CAL was 19 games under .500 (47-68), and yet only 5.5 GB.

The CLE Indians had the best lineup of their era:

1B Paul Sorrento .280/.345/.453
Switch-hitting 2B Carlos Baerga .314/.333/.525
Gold-glove SS Omar Vizquel .273/.325/.325
Young slugging HoF 3B Jim Thome .268/.359/.523
All-Star C Sandy Alomar .288/.347/.490
MVP candidate LF Albert Belle .357/.442/.714
Under-rated (borderline HoFer) CF Kenny Lofton .349/.417/.536
HoF rookie RF Manny Ramirez .269/.357/.521
HoF veteran DH Eddie Murray .254/.302/.425

The CLE pitching staff was anchored by Charles Nagy (169.1 IP, 3.45 ERA), and was above-average overall.

The CHI White Sox were 67-46, one game ahead of CLE when the season was called.
The White Sox were led by their great pitching staff of RHP Jack McDowell (181 IP, 3.73 ERA); RHP Alex Fernandez (170.1 IP, 3.86 ERA); LHP Wilson Alvarez (161.2 IP, 3.45 ERA); and young stud prospect RHP Jason Bere (141.2 IP, 3.81 ERA). Between CWS & CLE in 1994, the team that didn’t win the division was likely going the be the AL Wild Card.

The best team in the AL was the NYY at 70-43, 6.5 games clear of BAL.
Defending WS winners TOR were in 3rd, 16 GB. The NYY had finally been allowed to rebuild themselves through the farm system. From 1990-92 MLB suspended owner George Steinbrenner, creating a window of opportunity for the Yankee front office led by Gene Michael, to develop their prospects. Steinbrenner had a propensity for meddling, rushing and/or trading away top prospects. He also handcuffed management by overpaying on free agent bats. This had led to a post-season drought for the NYY that stretched back to 1981.

By 1994, fourth-year NYY player Bernie Williams (.289/.386/.453) was their CF; and they had already smartly acquired valuable parts in Paul O’Neil (.359/.460/.603), LHP Jimmy Key (17-4, 3.27 ERA, 168 IP), and HoF 3B Wade Boggs (.342/.433/.489).

Future Yankee stars still in the minors included: Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte. This was the core for their great championship run from 1996-2000, where they won 4 WS in 5 years. The 1994 season was the end for 1B Don Mattingly (.304/.397/.411), and the season being cancelled cost him only best chance at a post-season. He would be replaced with Tino Martinez (.261/.320/.508), from SEA.

The best AL pitchers were:
RHP Roger Clemens (BOS) 9-7, 2.85 ERA, 170 IP
RHP Mike Mussina (BAL) 16-5, 3.06 ERA, 176.1 IP
LHP Randy Johnson (SEA) 13-6, 3.19 ERA, 176 IP
RHP David Cone (KC) 16-5, 2.94 ERA, 171.2 IP
LHP Jimmy Key (NYY) 17-4, 3.27 ERA, 168 IP

Best AL players were:
1B CWS Frank Thomas 38 HR .353/.494/.729
LF CLE Albert Belle 36 HR .357/.442/.714
CF SEA Ken Griffey Jr 40 HR .322/.403/.674
CF CLE Kenny Lofton .349/.417/.536; 60 SB, 12 CS

NL Best team: Montreal Expos .649 winning % in 114 G.
Les Expos were 6 games better than the Atlanta Braves.
Managed by Felipe Alou, the 1994 Montreal Expos are in the discussion (with the 1995 ATL Braves), as the 2nd-best team of the decade.
The 1998 NYY were all-time great.

Left fielder Moises Alou (.339/.397/.592); CF Marquis Grissom (.288/.344/.427) and borderline HoFer RF Larry Walker (.322/.394/.587) were the best outfield in baseball, driving the MON lineup. Their starting pitching had HoF RHP Pedro Martinez (11-5, 3.42 ERA, 144.2 IP), along with established workhorses RHP Ken Hill (16-5, 3.32 ERA, 154.2 IP) & LHP Jeff Fassero (8-6, 2.99 ERA, 138.2 IP). Their bullpen had young, hard-throwing RHPs Mel Rojas (3.32 ERA, 84 IP) and John Wetteland (2.83 ERA, 63.2 IP).
The 1994 MON Expos were a patiently assembled team, and this franchise was truly cheated out of their best chance of ever winning a World Series.

Brief history of the Montreal Expos since the 1994 strike

After the 1994 strike was settled, MON Expos management began shedding its key players. Art mogul Jeffrey Loria bought the team in 1999, and so mismanaged it that the Expos did not reach an agreement on television and English radio broadcast contracts for the 2000 season. Thus, no Expos games were broadcast on local TV or radio in 2000.

In December 2001, the Boston Red Sox accepted a purchase bid from a group led by John W. Henry, owner of the FLA Marlins. Henry sold the Marlins to Loria, and MLB bought the Expos from Loria for $120 million.

Loria immediately moved the entire Expos front office and on-field staff, including manager Jeff Torborg, to Miami — leaving MON without personnel, scouting reports, and office equipment– including the team’s computers. Without an owner willing to operate the team in Montreal, it was widely understood that the sale of the Expos to MLB was the first step in the process of either moving or folding the franchise.

It was widely speculated around 2001, that the MON Expos & MIN Twins were to be the two teams eliminated by contraction. The contracted-team owners were to be paid handsomely by the survivors. All this was being seriously discussed by MLB owners, only a few years after the ARZ Diamondbacks and TB Devil Rays came in existence in 1998. Owner plans for elimination of two franchises were scuttled when the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, operator of Minnesota’s Metrodome, received an injunction requiring the Twins to play in the Metrodome during 2002, so MLB could not shut down the MON Expos alone while easily preserving its 162-game schedule.

Post-1994, the Expos became a farm system for contending teams to raid or pick off in free agency. In the summer of 2002, Expos GM under MLB Omar Minaya engineered arguably the worst trade in MLB history; acquiring 3 months of RHP Bartolo Colón (10-4, 3.31 ERA, 117 IP) from CLE in exchange for future All-Stars 2B Brandon Phillips, CF Grady Sizemore, as well as Cy Young ace LHP Cliff Lee.

Believe it or not, Los Expos played home games at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico for parts of two seasons (2003-2004). After losing HoF RF Vladimir Guerrero to free agency after 2003 (without even offering him arbitration, so they could not collect their compensatory draft pick), the Expos finished their last year in Montreal (2004), with a 67–95 record.

In 2005, MLB moved the franchise to Washington, and renamed it the Nationals. The franchise was sold to real estate magnate Ted Lerner (estimated net worth $4 billion) in 2006.

The Montreal Expos from 1994 until their end in 2004, are an example of the ruthless nature of business in sports. The Expos never again had a chance to compete, as MLB and its ownership conspired to strangle the franchise. Their fertile & productive farm system along with their small-market ingenuity & creativity were systematically destroyed by powerful forces that viewed them as an impediment to greater profits. That is the legacy of baseball in Montreal & the lost 1994 season.

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Medical & Recreational Marijuana

Posted on July 14, 2014 by admin

Ric Size ” The Cliche Song”

Florida’s Amendment 2, is a popular initiative ballot measure concerning legalizing medical marijuana; which the public will vote upon this coming November 4.
Early polling shows public support in Florida to be 70-80% in favor of legal medical weed.
Unless there is major manipulation of the electronic voting from conservative interests, this measure is likely to pass.

The origin of this amendment is, of course, the grassroots campaigning of pro-pot activists to legalize marijuana.
Reformists & their business partners always insist on a multi-staged approach, as this slows things down enough to make sure the money gets funnelled to the right people.
John Morgan, an Orlando-based attorney has spent $4 million getting this measure legal traction through Florida’s notoriously murky political machinery.
The Good Old Boys have been paid for now, and Morgan can add Amendment 2 to his resume when he runs for political office in 2016, as is widely speculated.

Unfortunately, Amendment 2 leaves many hurdles to be cleared after it is approved by the voters, and very little public discussion is currently taking place.
One issue that is conveniently being ignored is that there is no provision for patients to grow their own medical marijuana.
Production is limited to five (5) select large-scale growers, thus establishing a monopoly.
Patients who can’t afford dispensary prices (estimated to range from $225-450 per ounce) are priced out of their medicine, and have no right to grow their own.

Is marijuana medicine?
The correct answer is: yes, for some.
Generally speaking, medical marijuana used for pain relief has higher cannabidiol (CBD) and lower tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content.
It is THC that gets the user high; CBD does not.

For most, marijuana is about getting high, which makes it roughly equivalent to alcohol & tobacco; and therefore it is sensible for its recreational use to be regulated in a similar manner.
Obstacles to legalization will continue to be religious groups everywhere, as well as the pharmaceuticals, big alcohol & tobacco; who use their influence & lobbying money to keep a strategic competitor out of their market space.
The major breweries would also take a hit in revenue if recreational marijuana was legalized.
Legalized marijuana federally would wipe out billions in annual profits for these industries, which is considered anti-capitalist in ruling circles.

Marijuana comes from cannabis, an extremely versatile plant.
The banning of hemp, one of the most useful industrial crops known to man, only proves how unscientific & unreasonable the anti-cannabis position has become.

Hemp is a high-growing variety of cannabis that has many useful qualities such as: strong & durable fibers that can be made into rope, paper & clothing.
It has resins & oils that burn cleaner than petroleum-based comparables.
Hemp can replace Styrofoam, plastics, nylon and other petroleum-based synthetics that end up polluting our Earth.
Hemp seed is widely understood to be healthy food.
It has a low THC content, but is kept illegal under federal law as part of a fanatical ‘zero-tolerance’ policy in its war on marijuana.

Federally, marijuana is a Schedule I drug, and the DEA can always claim jurisdiction to bust pot growers, dispensaries and users.
DEA funding is starting to scale back, as it’s becoming clear to most that legal marijuana is going to happen, eventually.
Legalizing medical marijuana in Florida sends a clear message, which is: if one of the most conservative & politically-rigged states can pass medical weed, then it’s time to legalize it everywhere.

Florida will have a long way to go after November 4, to win the rights the voters of Colorado & Washington have earned.
Unless all people are allowed to grow marijuana, then there really is no freedom won in Florida’s Amendment 2.
Still, Amendment 2 is a clear signal that the tide has qualitatively shifted in the war on drugs, as the greater public is no longer heeding Uncle Sam’s ethics.

When enough people finally realize the war on drugs is really a war on the working class, then the fight for legal marijuana will become a plank in the program for medical science & revolutionary socialism.

———————————

Post Script: Amendment 2 was killed by $6.2 million [mostly] from Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson:

Legalization reformists vow they will be back in 2016

Soccer: A Beautiful Game for Everyone

Posted on July 4, 2014 by admin

The US men’s soccer team earned respect from players & fans around the world for their World Cup performance in Brazil, losing to Belgium 2-1 in extra time, in the round of 16.
It now behooves US sports fans to watch the remaining matches (of teams entirely from Europe & Latin America) with a deeper appreciation for their unique skills & marvellous physical fitness.

Please notice, you never see an overweight soccer player at the professional level.
The current low level of youth physical fitness, along with the concurring epidemic level of youth obesity, is a major reason the US remains far behind the rest of the world in men’s soccer.

The US players are correct when they say it is not up to them to grow the game.
It is truly up to adults to more fully understand & learn the game, so they can encourage & teach their kids to become better players.
Presently, there are not enough qualified (or even competent) coaches at the youth levels to teach the requisite skills needed to keep pace with European & South American players.
The US men’s team needs to develop better overall skills before a skilled play-maker can emerge. Until then, they will remain outside the heavyweight class that defines the World Cup, when the field is reduced to eight.

When people ask the question, “Will the US ever win a World Cup?”, they are being ignorant & chauvinist.
The US women’s soccer team won their inaugural World Cup in 1991, and also again in 1999.
Today’s ‘soccer moms’ are women who grew up in the 1990’s emulating Mia Hamm & the rest.

The US women won gold in the first-ever US women’s Olympic soccer competition; winning a thrilling final match 2-1 in front of a rapturous crowd of 76,489 in Atlanta. Inexplicably, NBC chose to not broadcast the match and the press conference afterwards was heartbreaking, as team captains Julie Foudy & Mia Hamm wore gold medals around their necks, and frowns of hurt & disappointment on their faces. No one outside the stadium saw the game.

The reason for the blackout was largely political vindiction. In the months before the 1996 Olympics, many of the US women’s star players had held-out before agreeing to play in this all-important inaugural event; insisting they be paid the same as the US men’s soccer players. For months the US women’s best players were vilified by a foul & reactionary sporting media for being greedy & unpatriotic, simply for demanding equal pay. Eventually the US women’s terms were agreed to (with stipulations–the US women had to win gold to receive everything they negotiated), but the real price they paid was the scorn of a paternalist corporate media for being so bold. Therefore, the best story of the 1996 Olympics was ignored. All this & more is well-documented in Dare to Dream.

In 1999 the women’s World Cup was held in the US, and that team became an unstoppable & transformative force, a beautiful example of dialects in popular culture.

The 1999 Women’s World Cup final match played on July 10 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California was not only one of the most dramatic sporting contests ever, but moreover the culmination of a modern sports revolution.
It forever established a niche for women’s professional athletics, as their meteoric rise to popularity proved to girls & boys, as well as women & men everywhere, that women’s competition could be just as exciting & dramatic as men’s competition.

By the time the final match-up between the US & #1-ranked contender China was set, the entire nation had become passionately invested. These women redefined feminine beauty with their naturally athletic look, as well as their skills; making them the dominant world team of the 1990’s. Their best player throughout that period was Michelle Akers, a large and powerful athlete, physically towering over the rest of her teammates. Akers always stood apart from the rest of the team core that centred around Mia Hamm, Joy Fawcett & Julie Foudy.

This is the best cover of SI ever– a natural female athlete, perfectly photographed in her moment of triumph.

Tim Howard may have had the greatest goalkeeping performance in World Cup history in 2014, but the greatest save in any history– men’s or women’s– was Kristine Lilly’s in 1999.

Soccer is a beautiful game because everyone can play it, and it is played everywhere by boys & girls, rich & poor in all nations.

Culturally a shift has occurred, as scientific data on concussions (a by-product of the inherently violent nature of American football), and the mainstream adoption of the ‘soccer mom’ phenomenon; has more & more parents turning their kids away from football and towards soccer.

Note: Soccer has concussion risks too, so be aware.
Heading a ball punted by the goal keeper is a concussion, every time, so don’t do it!
Use your chest or lower body instead.
Soccer is a physical game; Michelle Akers received one of the most viscous intentional spears to the head in the 1995 WC, an example of unsportsmanlike conduct that should never be tolerated.

If you choose to watch the 2014 WC, then take time to appreciate its history & culture. It’s important for all of us to embrace diversity, and for many here in the US, soccer is still a foreign game. Everywhere else, it is the most popular sport in the world, so appreciating the skill & beauty of this game, regardless of sex or national origin, unites us all.

MLB Midseason 2014: The TB Rays & Other Notables

Posted on June 11, 2014 by admin

We are deep enough into the 2014 season to be able to use the numbers to make sense of what’s going on in Major League Baseball. The concept of ‘fair sample size’ is important in statistical analysis. In baseball, this means we need to wait until around June before we can positively identify significant season trends.
Before then, the sample size is often too small to be accurate.

Baseball’s two most important batting stats are OBP & SLG, in that order.
OBP & SLG are conventionally presented with batting average (AVG) as triple slash stats AVG/OBP/SLG; which tells you basically everything you need to know about a hitter in one line.

——————–

The TB Rays have the worst record in baseball.
Didn’t the experts anoint them as the best team in the AL?

Fans should not be too surprised, as the TBR have operated on a razor-thin margin for a long time now. When it collapses it quickly becomes a free-fall, because there is little depth.
TBR lineup is a least 2 bats short (at 1B & DH); the two most-important production slots.
An adaquate catching platoon would be helpful; Ryan Hanigan (.212/.299/.336) and Jose Molina (.129/.180/.129) doesn’t let you compete in the AL East.

The Rays 17th in OBP (.315) and 26th in SLG (.365).
Their once historically-great defense, is now middle-of-the-pack by most metrics.
The Rays innovations in shifting defenses & alignment have been noted by MLB, thus eroding another advantage they once held.
The Rays DER (Defensive Efficiency Ratio: the measure of converting balls-in-play into outs) is .687, 18th in MLB.

Note: NYY is 27th, BOS 28th, and TEX 30th in DER; all high-priced, veterean-heavy– under-performing teams.

TBR are 22nd in team ERA at 4.10.
#2 starter Matt Moore needed TJ surgery, and is out until next June– minimum.
Ace starter David Price is a free agent after the season, so it won’t get better.

Joe Maddon is a great field manager, but he needs some help if the Rays are ever going to seriously compete.
Rays owner, Stuart Sternberg is worth an estimated $800 million. Player payroll needs to increase by $20-30 million/season, otherwise TBR will no longer compete in this division.
Someone with nearly a billion dollars in wealth should invest in his business, and not use poor attendance as an excuse for frugality.

Rays fans don’t come to Tropicana Field because: 1) there is a jobs depression in Tampa, just like everwhere else– only it’s a bit worse there; 2) it’s located in congested traffic at the end of a penninsula; 3) it’s a dump.

The problem with the Rays in 2014 is that they were set up to fail.
They have always competed short-stacked against payroll behemoths in TEX, NYY, BOS… and every year they eventually bust to one of them.
Attrition through free agency has diminished the ranks somewhat, but few of the name players they let go (Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton) are really helpful at their free-agent contract prices.
The real problem is in Scouting & Player Development, starting with when they chose Tim Beckham over Buster Posey with the #1 overall pick in 2008.
They’ve had other drafts with multiple compensation picks, and failed to develop an impact player.
As a result there is very little help on the way from their once-fertile minor league system.

TBR are not the worst team in baseball, but they might end up with the worst record in 2014.
This is because they play in the toughest division in sports, the AL East.

———————-

TOR is the best team in the AL East as of mid-June, and they are for real.
TOR is 4th in OBP (.332) & 2nd in SLG (.446) to COL (.462).
Mark Buehrle (10-2, 2.04 ERA) anchors a decent rotation, and their team ERA is 18th (3.99), which is an improvement over recent seasons.

OAK is a MLB best in team ERA (2.91) & OBP (.336), and 2nd in DER (.717); which is why they have the best record in the AL.
If you still don’t believe in Moneyball, then you are hopeless.

The NYY are old, injured, and heading for a 4th-place finish.
Masahiro Tanaka (9-1, 2.02 ERA) is the only thing keep them afloat, at this point.

BOS has starting pitching injury issues, ERA 17th (3.89), and a completely unproductive outfield.
RF Shane Victorino (.242/.276/.352) tops the BOS outfield in SLG.

LAD have the best RF in baseball, Yasiel Puig (.333/.430/.584), and a hugely overpaid remaining lineup.
No disrespect to MIA RF Giancarlo Stanton (301/.393/.589)
Clayton Kershaw (5-2, 3.17 ERA) & Zack Grienke (8-2, 2.62 ERA) are the best 1-2 in the NL.
The MIL, SFG, & STL are all better bets to go to the WS.

MIL finally has some starting pitching (ERA 3.65, 11th in MLB) and have stabilized their defense (5th in DER at .706), so they are for real.
They can always mash; 8th in SLG (.409).
This is the good Rickie Weeks .307/.365/.443; I hope he stays healthy.
I don’t believe anything Ryan Braun (.299/.337/.529) says in front of a camera or through his spokespeople.

TEX is last in MLB in team ERA at 4.60.
They had a great lineup, until they: 1) let Nelson Cruz (.303/.374/.636) get away to BAL; and 2) traded Ian Kinsler (.287/.316/.449) to DET for Prince Fielder (.247/.360/.360 in 150 AB before neck surgery ended his season) and $30 million.
TEX gets this season and six more of Prince Fielder at $24 million/year.
I don’t know why Nolan Ryan left the front office, but I’m betting decision-making like this was part of the problem.

All part of the game, as bad trades a just part of baseball…

Enjoy the summer:)

Rush Records & the R&R HoF

Posted on June 9, 2014 by admin

In the high school halls
In the bathroom stalls
Rush
2112

According to Billboard, their only top 40 hit was “New World Man” from Signals (1982), yet Rush has sold tens of millions of records worldwide.

Rush has been together for almost 40 years now, and that should be appreciated. [1]
Few bands last that long, much less have their success– commercially and/or artistically.
A large reason for Rush’s sustained existence is their talent as virtuosos & artists, along with their professional approach.

All the World’s a Stage (1976) proved Rush could play live as a tight band and as expert instrumentalists.
By the 1980’s Rush abandoned this approach and eventually limited their touring.
Rush would eventually evolve into mostly a studio project.

Rush always provided the lyrics (with Peart) and made attempts at interesting album artwork.
This was important & valuable in the record album era– when the sound got scratchy, the listener could go the the album jacket for clues to the music.
Rush wanted you to know everything going on, down to infinite details in their liner notes.
Rush is best experienced on vinyl.

Rush is:

Geddy Lee as their utility infielder on bass, vocals & eventually synths.
In baseball terms, think Robin Yount (or Ben Zobrist) value.

Alex Lifeson, the guitar master of all styles including: rock, classical, jazz, ska, reggae. His fluid soloing, clean harmonics & arpeggios, heavy riffing, and everything in between fill in a lot of space with thoughtful sounds.
Choosing a favorite band member in Rush goes like this: if you are a drummer it’s Neil Peart.
If not, most choose Geddy Lee.
For me, Alex Lifeson’s subtle and intuitive sense of riff & melody, as well as his technical mastery is what has always been most interesting about Rush; live and in the studio.

Neil Peart replaced John Rutsy (in order to save him from himself; died in 2008) shortly after their first record was released in 1974.
Fly by Night (1975) introduced a powerful & technically brilliant percussionist; with many percussively melodic ideas.
As a bonus he wrote poems & stories, so Peart immediately became Rush’s chief lyricist.
Peart’s artistic ideas were heavily influenced by mysticism and the writings of Ayn Rand.
Rand was an American author whose Objectist philosophy was “rationalized self-interest” & support of laissez-faire capitalism.
Peart’s ability to rhyme words & create a narrative has always been flawed by this reactionary perspective and it limits Rush, artistically.

Despite this shortcoming, Rush is qualitatively better with Neil Peart.
By their fourth record 2112 (1976), Rush had achieved a commercial breakthrough.
2112 is a concept album whose side one is filled with oracles & mythical heroes of a future world.
Tempos shift & drift with machine-like precision as Geddy Lee wails through the 20-minute tale. He really can sing.
Hardcore fans often insist this Rush’s best record.
As a rule: I never argue with hardcore Rush fans.

My personal favorite Rush record is A Farewell to Kings (1977).
“Closer to the Heart” is maybe their best single.
The rest of the album hangs together, with concepts that (mostly) don’t stretch too long.
“Cinderella Man” is one of Geddy Lee’s best self-penned songs.

Hemispheres‘(1978) last track is sub-titled “An Exercise in Self-Indulgence”, an instrumental jam that works– thanks largely to Lifeson & Peart’s wizardry.
This tongue-in-cheek nod to their own pretentiousness– which often led to long set pieces that sound silly, processed and impersonal– is a great finish to one of their best album sides.

How much of it you the listener are willing to put up with is a measure of your fanhood.

Rush made rock operas in the era of Queen & Black Sabbath, and there is always a certain Spinal Tap quality to that genre.

Rush of that era, fit in perfectly with the early video & role-playing games.

Moving Pictures (1981) is often hailed as the zenith of their commercial & artistic success.
At least three of their best songs: “Tom Sawyer”, “Red Barchetta” & “Limelight” are on side one, so it’s hard to disagree.
Side two is experimental or filler, depending on perspective.

What changed mostly at that time was the industry landscape.
MTV was launched on August 1, 1981 to huge commercial success.
Ageing arena-rock acts like Rush didn’t fit in with the new model.
Nothing in Rush’s music ever resembled dancability, plus they had little crossover appeal to women.

This new media form favoured young celebrities, who looked sexy & energetic such as: Duran Duran, INXS & Madonna.
Technically precise instrumentalists over 30-years old, didn’t fit the new mold.
By 1984, Van Halen & Def Leppard defined mainstream rock.
Grace Under Pressure (1984) with “Distant Early Warning” & “The Enemy Within” is a sensible jumping-off point, marking the end of Rush’s classic period.

Rush continued to get distribution and AOR promotion with diminishing returns, until grunge forever banished them to dinosaur status in the 1990’s.

Not all bands can be the Beatles, and what that means is: appreciating something that isn’t obvious has its own rewards.
Rush gets backhanded by everyone from classic-rock critics to post-punk purists.
Their historic value is the standard they set for musicianship, which is still hard to match.
Describing their sound evokes comparisons to Led Zeppelin, Yes, and King Crimson.
Among the great rock-era trios, Rush holds their place with Cream & Green Day; in that tier just below the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Police, the Minutemen, Husker Du & Nirvana, for me.

You can argue their success, but you can’t deny that they took their craft seriously.
For some reason that doesn’t get respect with certain people.
Rush was eligible for the R&R HoF in 1999 and finally inducted in 2013.

Does Rush belong in the R&R HoF?
Sure, but what about Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, Cheap Trick, Devo, Pere Ubu, Wire, Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Bikini Kill…and the rest?!

———————–

The R&R HoF is a moribund institution, erected in the image of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone magazine.
Bands like Rush have to patiently wait their turn, and when it’s convenient, they are admitted.
Meanwhile, punk and 1980’s underground is condescended to, and ignored.
Even 25+ years later, that rock music is a still too out of control for the R&R HoF.

The Video Game Phenomenon

Posted on May 24, 2014 by admin

All the best games are easy to learn and difficult to master. –Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari, Inc.

You may have noticed, kids play video games and they don’t quit when they reach adulthood.
Today, gaming is the largest entertainment industry for children.
According to this 2008 survey, 97% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 play video games.
Gender distribution of gamers is roughly 60% male and 40% female, with the average age around 30 and getting older.

Mine was the first generation that grew up with video games.
For better or worse they are a permanent fixture in popular culture, thus they should be understood in their correct historical & material context.

This piece is written from a retro-gamer perspective.

Japan spearheaded the PC and video game revolution that eventually became popular culture, ever since it took the lead in the global electronics industry in the 1960’s.

Early video game templates were SpaceWar! (1962 MIT) & Computer Space (1971 Nolan Bushnell & Ted Dabney).

Atari is a Japanese verb meaning “to hit the mark.”
Atari, Inc, was established by Bushnell & Dabney in California in 1972.
Atari was a pioneer in arcade games (1972 Pong) and home video game consoles (1977 Atari VCS); defining & dominating the industry until the North American video game crash of 1983.

US video game manufacturing was led by Atari, after founder Nolan Bushnell sold it to Warner Communications in 1976 for $28 million.
Bushnell designed the Atari VCS (Video Computer System– later re-named the Atari 2600), and it started retailing at Sears in fall of 1977 for $199.
By 1979, it was the best-selling Christmas gift in the US.

The Atari 2600 was the first true home gaming console of the arcade era.
By today’s standards this machine is archaic.
Memory for computers was very expensive at the time, and the Atari 2600 ran on a mere 128 bytes RAM, 4 KB ROM, with a CPU @ 1.19 MHz.
Graphics were blocky and game-play was limited to 2-D, but the games themselves although much inferior to their arcade versions, were still intense & addicting to many.

The success of the Atari 2600 forever established the home video game market.

The success of Space Invaders (1978 Taito) & Asteroids (1979 Atari) sparked the golden age of arcade video games.
Prior to this era, pinball machines were dominant.
The limitation of pinball was that it tested a very limited skill-set, as every game depended solely on flipper control.

Video games established in the Golden Era of Arcade Games broke through this, with a variety of different types of games; from Shooters to Maze, Puzzle & Platform styles.
Pac-Man (1980 Namco) & Centipede (1981 Atari) crossed-over to females, making video games a permanent phenomenon.

Nintendo entered the market with Donkey Kong (1981), a deceptively simple design that is still one of the most difficult (and simultaneously amazing) games ever created.

Defender (1981 Williams Electronics) was a scrolling Shooter with multiple controls, needing to be used with split-second precision.
Only the best gamers could dominate this mind-blowing masterpiece.

Professional computer programmers soon became professional game designers, employed by emerging Japanese multinational giants including:

Taito (1978 Space Invaders, 1981 Qix)
Namco (1979 Galaxian, 1980 Pac-Man, 1981 Galaga, 1982 Dig Dug, Pole Position)
Nintendo (1981 Donkey Kong, 1983 Mario Bros., 1984 Punch-Out!!)
Konami (1981 Frogger, 1983 Track & Field)
Sega (1982 Pengo, Star Trek, Zaxxon)

In this period, designers were cut out of the royalties for the hit games they created.
Before disenfranchised Atari programmers created Activision in 1979, third-party game developers did not exist.
Atari (owned by Warner Communications) ruled the market, and was the only publisher of games for the Atari 2600.

Activision created a new model, by rewarding, crediting and promoting game developers; along with the games themselves.
Activision included a page to the developer in their instruction manuals, and encouraged players to send in screen-shots of high scores, etc.
This grassroots, fan-based approach helped the newly-formed company attract experienced talent.
In 1982, Activision released Pitfall!, a best-selling game for the Atari 2600.
Today, Activision is one of the largest third-party video game publishers in the world.

Warner responded by releasing the Atari 5200, for the 1982 Christmas season.
The Atari 5200 is both the best and the most-maligned home console from the arcade era (defined as pre-NES).
Released with great fanfare, just before the industry collapsed, the Atari 5200 was rushed to market by Warner with serious design flaws; namely it’s controllers were poor quality & unreliable, plus the system wasn’t compatible with old 2600 cartridges until an expensive adaptor (which didn’t fit all 5200 models) was later made available for purchase.
In spite of these limitations (which were never addressed due to market crash) the Atari 5200 was still the most advanced non-PC gaming console of its time.
All the best titles of the arcade era from Berzerk to Zaxxon (except Donkey Kong which was licensed by Nintendo to ColecoVision) were available on the 5200.
The 5200’s signature game was its port of Star Raiders (1979 Atari; designer-Doug Neubauer), but nearly every title was clearly superior to the 2600 in graphics & game-play.

Industry revenues in 1982 had peaked at $3.2 billion, then fell in 1983 over 95% to around $100 million; wiping out Atari and dozens of other US video-game manufacturers.
The cause was: over-saturation of the market with hundreds of lousy games (on over a dozen different platforms), which resulted in high prices & loss of consumer confidence.
The fastest-growing company in the history of American business, Atari Inc would go on to lose $536 million in 1983, and was sold off by Warner Communications the following year.

The North American video game crash of 1983, was an abrupt mass-extinction in the industry that lasted until the Nintendo Entertainment System arrived in 1985.
It wasn’t until Microsoft’s Xbox in the 2000’s, that a U.S. manufacturer became competitive in the home gaming console market again.

The widespread success of the NES, was made possible by Nintendo introducing a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers.
This authorized (recognized & paid) game designers to produce and distribute titles for Nintendo’s platform.
Compensating game designers more fairly led to higher-quality titles, and helped restore consumer confidence.

Nintendo would revolutionize the industry again in 1989, introducing the Gameboy, the first high-quality portable gaming console.
The Gameboy bundled-in Tetris, a simple yet addicting puzzle game, which became a cultural phenomenon.

By the early 1990’s the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive (1991 killer app–Sonic the Hedgehog) & Super Nintendo upped their consoles to 16-bit microprocessors, which allowed graphics and game-play to approach and even exceed arcade machines.
This was the death knell for mall arcades, as new best-selling titles were now released directly for home consoles or PC.

Video games of this era became more graphic in their representations of sex, death & violence. In 1993 Sega started rating its video games for content, in a similar way to which films were rated.

Best-selling games of this era included:
Grand Theft Auto (1997 DMA Design), notable for its violent content.
Final Fantasy (1987 Nintendo) & Diablo (1996 Blizzard Entertainment) were massively popular role-playing games.
Doom (1993) & Quake (1996, both from id Software) were 1st-person shooters for home computers, which upped the ante on anti-social violence, while pioneering play over the Internet.
One of the best-designed games for PC & Mac in this era was SimCity (1989 Maxis), a city-building simulation video game.

Sony entered the 32-bit console market with its PlayStation in 1994.
The PS2, released in 2000, became the best selling console in history, with over 155 million units sold in its 13-year manufacturing run.

Microsoft’s Xbox (2001) entered the market with it’s killer app, Halo: Combat Evolved; an ultra-violent first-person shooter that fit in perfectly with the cultural militarism of the period.
The Xbox was reportedly sold to consumers at a loss to achieve market penetration, in order to realize its overall objective of being a leader in online gaming which was still in its infancy at the time.

The Nintendo Wii (2006, pack-in game: Wii Sports) capitalized on the intuitive nature of motion control, and once again Nintendo revolutionized video gaming.

By the early 2000’s, mobile phone gaming had been hugely popular in Japan for years.
The popular US conversion to Smart phones and the iPhone (2007 Apple) brought the mobile gaming phenomenon to North America.

——————–

It is always imperative to understand that video games are a form of television, which is boredom-killing entertainment.
Video games are isolationist & voyeuristic by their very nature, making them unproductive while highly addictive.
Video games, along with all other forms of mass media, reflect society’s values which is why they are now largely misanthropic.

Controlling these media means real power & influence, for those who own it.

Imagine this scenario:
Ten people in a room competing for attention– the least assertive person gets pushed into the background.
Next, the marginalized person obtains a remote control to DirecTV or a game console– and suddenly this non-entity transforms into the most powerful person in the room.
His/her choices in volume & programming become impossible for anyone to ignore.
This effect is the same on a global scale, which is the reason why it needs to taken out of the hands of private corporations, and brought under the ownership & democratic control of working people, meaning everybody.

Today, all mass media is far too violent, sexist, misanthropic, etc. to have much educational value for children or anyone else.
Homo sapiens must do better if we are to prepare our children to solve the many problems we have created for ourselves and our planet.

In short, the history of the video game industry is the story of globalization, advances in technology, and idea sharing.
Innovation runs into the barrier of private ownership, which slows down development in the name of profits & reactionary ideology.
This leads to vapid content using sophisticated technology, which dovetails into apathy & militarism.

Steam Locomotion & Modern Economics

Posted on May 13, 2014 by admin

Mount Dora has tried this before.

Here is what I found to be the most helpful review of the Mount Dora Railroad (MDRR) on Yelp, published by Steven I. on 2/27/2010:

“I suppose a child who has never seen a train before might be curious, but on a scale of 1-10, these trains are 1’s. They have bought old commuter train cars from around the country and somehow got them down here. When they arrived, they are rusted hulks in need of windows, paint, chairs etc. Many came from electrified tracks. Well guess what, these tracks are not electrified. So they have to retrofit them with car engines to make them run. Track foundations are not frequently inspected by the government with sections washing away by rain and erosion. No routine maintenance is performed on tracks since it is cost prohibited. This tourist train has been leased out to several companies over the past ten years. None of them had any great success. Most of the track runs along side the road. Great scenery eh?”

Baldwin Locomotive Works originally located in Philadelphia, PA; stopped producing locomotives in 1956. Bankrupted in 1972.

History: steam locomotives are a relic of our nation’s past and part of our history. They deserve to be appreciated in their proper historical context. The steam engine is a symbol of rising American capitalism. It’s revival as a tourist industry in Mount Dora, FL under modern capitalism, is the nostalgic vision of decision-makers who think (& live) in the past.

The introduction of electric locomotives at the turn of the 20th century, and later diesel-electric locomotives, ended the era of 19th-century wood/coal steam locomotives.
Steam engines are considerably less efficient than modern diesels, requiring constant maintenance and labour to keep them safely operational.

According to the engineer and his assistants, the MDRR burns a cord of good wood per day, in its three trips to nearby Tavares & back.

For longer distances, water is required at many points throughout a rail network and becomes a major problem in drought & desert areas.
The reciprocating mechanism on the driving wheels of a two-cylinder single expansion steam locomotive tends to pound the rails, thus requiring more maintenance.
Smoke from steam locomotives is deemed objectionable, although diesels can not be considered “clean” by any modern rational standard.

————All Aboard!!—————

Tip of the Cap— Ric Size, Tom Pearce, Craig Roy, Bill Pelick

As far as the railroad being a modern tourist attraction goes, consider this: How many Floridians do you think are interested in riding at a leisurely pace, without air conditioning in 90+ degree heat? Most Americans consider that a Third World experience, meaning they’re likely not up for much of it.

The city of Mount Dora tries to market itself as quaint, but that shouldn’t mean short-sighted and wasteful.
Over $1,000,000 was spent repairing the tracks which run from Mount Dora to Tavares.
Based on past history, and ongoing maintenance needs; what is this costing? How much of a deficit is it running? These are typical fair citizen/taxpayer questions that are never answered with honesty or accountability, anywhere.

The MDRR runs only on weekends (Fri-Sun), during the snowbird season (roughly Nov-April).

Snowbird (n.)– self-acclaimed, old folk know-it-alls with money, who vacation in Florida during the winter months; then leave when the going gets tough from heat & hurricanes, in order to migrate ‘home’ and gossip to their colleagues about how superior they are.

Sits idle most days

Diesel MDRR workhorse here, as the steam engine is usually only fired up for big chamber of commerce events

There has been an inherent lack of openness & coordinated planning in this whole railroad-as-tourist-attraction scheme.
The resources wasted on this effort would have been much better used for constructing sidewalks, as well as a much-needed FREE public-parking garage; so people can get around Mount Dora more easily & safely.
The owners of Mount Dora have proudly marketed their quaintness; and if that’s their way of saying: it’s the same corruption here as everywhere else since the dawn of capitalism, then Mount Dora is a picture of American quaintness.

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