Wow! Big changes for the Tigers

If you've read my blog much you know I'm a big Detroit Tigers fan, and I do occasional commentary on them. And there is a lot to comment on this week!

To say that this season has been disappointing would be an understatement. But not necessarily unexpected, as a lot of stars would have to have aligned in order for them to have any success. Key injuries (Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez, Miguel Cabrera), a chronically bad bullpen, and other players who have not lived up to their billing, and you have a recipe for a flop. Which led to a selloff of their top talent to aquire prospects. 

Really, this needed to happen. This team was not the juggernaut they have been in the past, and they weren't going to win anything as currently constructed. All reports indicate the prospects they got were top-notch. 

The unexpected move was yesterday's firing of team President and General Manager Dave Dombrowski. 

Many fans have called for him to be fired over the last couple of years because for all the money spent on star players the team has not won a World Series.  Still, this was a bit of a surprise at this point in the season. Some had even thought that the deals he made in the selloff meant that ownership was going to let him continue the makeover. 

So now Al Avila, longtime assistant GM takes over, and apparently not as an interim. He has long been speculated as Dombrowski's replacement, especially last year when there was talk of him wanting the Commissioners job when Bud Selig retired. 

I expect there are more changes to come, especially in the offseason. Manager Brad Ausmus is on shaky ground, and probably some or all of his coaching staff. 

Whatever happens, they have to fix the bullpen. They score a lot of runs, but they give up a lot of late runs and cough up late leads at an astounding rate. That needs to be fixed first. After that, they need a solid starter to shore up the rotation, as Simon and Green are not getting it done. Green still has potential but Simon does not. After that they probably need some outfield help, unless Tyler Collins really impresses through the remainder of this season.  

We'll see. 

First Perry Update

First update, from the US Army Marksmanship Unit Small Arms Firing School, day one, Lauren reports she shot 92, 1X on rapid-fire prone.  I'm assuming 200yds and 10 shots, so that is a lot of 9's and 10's.

The Army supplies the real M16's and ammo for this 3-day school.  No Select-fire allowed though - bummer!

Pete Rose

I want to save the commissioner a little trouble as he is trying to decide whether to re-instate Pete Rose from his lifetime ban from Major League Basebell for gambling.  I know you are going to call me for some input, Mr. Commissioner, so here it is.

H--- NO!  He knew what would happen if he gambled and he did it anyway.  He needs to be kept out forever.  There is no forseeable reason why he should be re-instated.  You shouldn't have even let him near the All-Star game yesterday.

When Cervid meets Steel at 75 mph

For those of you not up on your animal nomenclature, a Cervid is a deer. Or in this case, an ex deer. The deer lost but so did I, as my van is now consigned to the scrapyard. 

Camp Perry here she comes!

The ammo is all loaded (550 rounds).  The shooting chair/cart is built.  All the gear is purchased or borrowed (except a mount for the spotting scope - I still can't find what is needed.  Perhaps one can be found at Perry).  Range lunch items have been purchased.  Money for gas and food has been set aside. Clothes have been washed and packing will commence tomorrow. Sometime in the afternoon/early evening she will be dropped off for the trip to Camp Perry.

I wish I could be there for it all!  Dad and I are going down for a day to watch her this week, but other commitments are keeping me here at home.

Shoot Straight, Lauren!!!

It's the All-Star Break, and the Tigers are stinking up the Central Division

There is a big debate going on right now as the Tigers stagger into the All-Star break with a .500 record, and sitting 8 games behind the division-leading Royals.  And 3-1/2 games out of a wild-card spot.

After watching this team bumble and stumble and give away games all season long (witness the wasting of a 7-1 lead late against the Twins this week as the latest example) I'm firmly in the camp of those who want to sell off assets to gain some payroll flexibility for next year, as well as some good, young talent.  The other side says "go out and get a quality starter and a quality reliever and things will be all right".  I don't think so.  There is more wrong with this team than a couple of pitchers.

Untouchables in this sell-off:  Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, JD Martinez, James McCann, Jose Iglesias.  Everyone else is fair game, even Justin Verlander.  Never thought I would say that about Verlander.

What should they get back?  Pitching first and foremost.  Good, strike-throwing, consistent pitching, not older than 25.  Left-handed if possible.  A closer candidate if possible.  Also a speedy corner outfielder with some pop that can hit .280 or so.  They have that last one with Cespedes, but he is a free agent, and there isn't much there on the farm to give the job to. 

They also need to start thinking about replacing V-Mart and Cabrera, as they are both at the point where their bodies are starting to fail them.  Cabrera can move to DH eventually, but that 4-year contract Victor got is going to be a problem in years 3 and 4, probably, when his knees finally give out completely.  It will be sad to watch a scintillating hitter fall apart physically like that.

When the year is over (or maybe before if they really go in the tank) they need to find a new manager.  Mr. Calm has not instilled the toughness in these guys that it takes to win it all.  I have no doubt he's a smart guy, and he may eventually be a terrific manager, but right now he seems more concerned with helping everyone feel good than he is getting after them for screwing up so much and giving so many games away.  It was good they sent Joba Chamberlain packing, it sent the message that if you can't get guys out, you're going to be gone.  Now maybe guys like Rondon and Soria will get the message.

The Tigers are soft mentally, and they can't pitch very well.  That's why they won't win anything this year.

Headlight lens restoration

OK, I admit it.  This is a little outside my normal realm of comment, but this really worked well for me so I thought I would share.

I have a beater minivan, a 2000 Grand Caravan.  It looks like crap, but it starts up and runs every time, so we keep driving it.  But its headlight lenses were really bad, to the point of having visible pitting.  And of course, lots of yellowing also.  To the point where it was making my wife nervous to drive it at night.  I have to admit, I was squinting a lot more to see at night too, so I decided to do this.

I already had much of what was needed, but the sandpaper I picked up at Walmart for about $3.50 a package for each of the 3 grits, and it took one sheet of each total to do both headlights.  I think the clear paint was about $3.50 also, at the local "big box".  Walmart didn't have what was recommended, or I would have gotten it there along with the sandpaper.

After completing the process as described in the video, my headlights are clear and bright, and they are back to being useful at night for seeing things in front of you, instead of just being seen by others.  I highly recommend it if you have this problem on your vehicle.

Now this guy's voice is kind of annoying, but he paces well and gets through the whole thing pretty quickly and thoroughly, so just hang in there:

Supreme Court Gay "Marriage" responses: "Ignore the Ruling"

While I am as disappointed with the recent US Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges about gay "marriage" as anyone else, I am also leery of those (including one congresscritter) who are planning to ignore the law or advising others to do so.

This would seem an unwise course.  Consider the Heller and MacDonald decisions from this court over the last few years, which found that the 2nd Amendment is indeed an individual right, and therefore individuals have the right to own firearms.  Those who say "ignore the law" are creating precedent that would allow governments at any level to ignore these two decisions simply because they didn't like them or thought they were immoral.

Do you think the politicos in Chicago wouldn't love to find some way to ignore those cases?  D.C.?  N.Y.?  You bet they would. And this would hand it to them.

This is just one of many possible issues this could apply to.  So let's not shoot ourselves in the foot over this one, OK?  Let's think this all the way through.

Sopwith Camel Restoration

I thought this was pretty interesting. From The Detroit News

Full Article

"It was the space shuttle of its time," Kozura says.

Together, these authentic parts are being assembled in a suburban garage and basement in west Michigan into what Kozura says will be the finest airworthy Sopwith Camel reproduction in the United States.

And no, it doesn't look like this:


 

It was a 600 yard day

Much scurrying around trying to get preparations complete to send Lauren to the National Matches this month.  I learned from my friend Aaron over at The Shekel that the Washtenaw Sportsmans Club in Ypsilanti was having a 300/600yd. practice session today which was open to the public, so we made the drive.

First, let me give a big THANK YOU to the Club and the members I met there today for taking us in, waiving the 600-yard qualifier (Lauren has shot several shorter matches, and knows the ropes) and letting her shoot for free.  This kind of support for Junior shooters is very much appreciated, and really helps to keep the shooting sports from fading away in the late, great U.S.A.  One of the guys even let Lauren borrow his cart so she didn't have to carry all her gear back to the firing line.  Everyone there was just as nice as could be, and glad to see a Junior there and doing well.

Second, if you are in the area and looking for a club for shooting sports, give them some consideration.  The facility looks to be first rate for many different shooting disciplines as well as archery.

Third, Lauren was kicking some serious backside today.  We got there too late to shoot at 300, so all we could do was 600, which was just fine with me, as there are so few 600 yard ranges available. Winds were fairly light with some gusts, moving left to right, the temperatures were comfortable in the mid 70's, and the sky was mostly cloudy so there wasn't a lot of glare to deal with either.  The range has military-style pits, so the targets were being spotted and scored there so we could see them back at the line (this wasn't a match so scores weren't being kept, but your hits were scored on the target for you to record if you liked).  She got lots of help from an experienced shooter, and he seemed pretty impressed with her shooting.  Her windage was really good, and once she got her come-ups figured out (the main reason for going today) she was knocking out 9's and 10's and a couple of X's with great regularity.

A shift in the pits capped our time there, and once again everyone was as nice as could be.  So thanks and a big thumbs up for Washtenaw Sportsmans Club!  We enjoyed our time there today!

Camp Perry Prep

My daughter is going to shoot at the National Matches at Camp Perry this year, on the Michigan Junior Team.  So we are loading ammo for her to take.  She has been away at camps the last two weeks, so I have been working on the cases she had begun prepping before she left.  I've primed 500 or so cases over the last few days, and now I've started loading them.  Here's what I did today:

That's 100 rounds.  Here's what I loaded them with:

I'm used to loading pistol rounds on my turret press and cranking out a couple hundred in an hour, but these we do single-stage and very exactingly.  It takes me a minute or so per round to throw the powder charge, carefully trickling the last tenth of a grain or so.  Seating the bullet is much faster than throwing the charge!  Those 100 rounds represent about 3 hours of work for me today, and that doesn't include clearning, sorting, depriming, resizing, trimming, and priming the cases.  And swaging the crimp out of the primer pockets of the military brass (that is a pain in the posterior!)  I'm glad Lauren helped with the prep work!

I can also say that Varget powder is Un-Obtainium right now.  None of the local shops has any, nor do any of the on-line retailers.  I even checked Jay's up in Clare (a couple of hours drive from here) and they didn't have any either.  I had a pound to start with and I'm down to about a third of a pound, and I'm shaking the trees for more to finish out her ammo loadout for Perry.  I'm hoping there will be some available at the vendor booths at the matches so we can get ready for next year!

Post Proposal 1 vote - What if it's voted down?

With most polls showing a 2-1 or 3-1 defeat for Proposal 1 in Michigan, I've been thinking about what would happen if the Proposal is actually voted down.  For those not familiar, Proposal 1 is a tax hike (sales and fuel) which ostensibly will be used to fix roads in Michigan (State roads anyway.  City, county, and Interstates not included).  All this at a cost of 2 billion dollars, not all of which will go to road repairs.  And what does go to road repairs will initially be quite small.  Plus a bunch of special-interest pork included to get Democrat votes in the legislature.

We can look to history for a clue as to what the Honorable Rick Snyder will do - specifically the Bridge to Canada project from a couple of years ago which the Governor lobbied hard for, but which the Senate rejected.  Rather than accept the fact that there were major questions about the cost estimates for this bridge and working with the legislators who voted down the bill in committee, our PO'ed Governor went around the legislature and got the Canadians to foot the bill for the construction, for which he didn't need any legislative approvals.

So, what does the Governor have up his sleeve this time to get around the rejection of his plans (if that happens)?  What new plans does he have to extract more money from the overtaxed populace of Michigan?

Governor - nobody disagrees with you that the roads are bad and getting worse.  We all know things need to be fixed.  But surely you understand that people are tired of tax hikes, fee hikes, and the ever-growing size and scope of government.  You really need to get your own house in order in State government before you come looking for more money from the already highly taxed populace of Michigan.

If you do that then we will all know you are serious about dealing with the problems in this state, rather than creating new burdens that only enhance your (already soiled) legacy.  You know, sort of like what you did with Detroit when you made them get their financial house in order.  You should apply the same firmness and critical eye to State Government.  If you look hard enough you will find the money you need to get the job done without raising anyone's taxes.

Proposal 1 Will Cost Average Michigan Household Up to $525 a Year in Extra Taxes

From the Michigan Capital Confidential:  (full article by Tom Gantert)

The average household in Michigan will pay as much as $525 more in taxes in 2016 if Proposal 1 is approved by voters on May 5, according to a study by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
The study estimated that increasing the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent would cost a typical Michigan household $389 and the change in the fuel tax would cost between $88 and $136.

I'm a pretty typical Michigan household (family of 4), and I know I could use $525 in better ways than these blundering politicians can.  I have a kid going to college next year, and that would buy a lot of books for her, for instance.

No, I'll say it again:  The State needs to get its own financial house in order before it comes knocking at my door for more money to feed boondoggles and the failing public education system.

VOTE NO ON PROPOSAL 1

Gov. Moonbeam doesn't like Ted Cruz because he's falsified global warming data?

As reported in WND.com today, Gov. Jerry Brown of California went on "Meet the Press" and said he thinks Ted Cruz isn't qualified to be President because he has falsified global warming data.  From the article:

California Gov. Jerry Brown on “Meet the Press” on NBC called Cruz “absolutely unfit” to seek the high office, mostly because of his views on climate change.
“That man betokens such a level of ignorance and a direct falsification of scientific data,” Brown said, just hours before Cruz made his Twitter announcement. “It’s shocking and I think that man has rendered himself absolutely unfit to be running for office.”

That's pretty rich, Jerry, considering the long and storied history of falsified data from the true believers in global warming.

Hey Californians - maybe you should recall Gov. Loonbeam, as by his own standards he is not qualified to be governor.

Ransomware and Michigan Road Proposal

In the IT realm where I spend my working hours, there is a class of nefarious software called "Ransomware".  It's a type of virus that infects your computer and encrypts the contents of your hard drive.  The next time you boot your computer all you get is a message stating your computer has been hijacked and you have to send money to a certain place to get the decryption key to recover your drive.

Michigan's Proposal 1, which we will be voting on in May, is similar to Ramsomware.  The State is saying that if the voters don't approve a 2 billion dollar tax hike, the State isn't going to fix the roads.

Frankly, I find this disgusting and there are a lot more like me out here who feel similarly.  Steve Gruber, at WJIM Radio, is one:  "Governor Says My Life is in Danger: Really?"

During one event highlighting the “Safe Roads Yes” campaign Snyder held up a chunks of what he said was from crumbling roads and bridges. “Can you imagine one of these coming through your windshield?” he said for effect.
It seems disingenuous and a bit silly at this point to be preaching doom and gloom and telling us frankly we could die- I mean how long have these people been trying to fix the roads anyway? And when they finally arrive at a $2 Billion dollar tax hike solution they lack the political courage to figure it out themselves. No, instead they send it back to the people… you know the ones that elected them to solve tough problems in the first place. At first I thought that was a good idea. Of course that was when I thought they actually intended to put the money, all of it, toward roads. That is a long way from the reality.
In fact only about $1.2 billion is actually intended to be used for roads and that won’t happen until at least 2018. The rest is why so many people despise politics and politicians because it is a pile of other spending that has exactly nothing to do with saving our lives from concrete falling out of the sky. According to the House Fiscal Agency $600 million a year would go to schools, cities, mass transit, the state’s general fund and tax breaks in the form of more earned income tax credits. With a debt far north of $75 Billion dollars it seems more likely our financial house will crash in on top of us before a stray piece of concrete gets us.

For myself, I'll say it again - Fix the problems with State Government bloat and overreach before you come for any more of *my* money.  MEDC and the Dept. of Education are two good places to eliminate if you want to find some more money.

Now this is interesting: Vincent van Gogh

From the Article:
Most of us know the sordid story of the lovelorn Van Gogh sending a nasty Valentine (his ear) to a floozy he hopelessly pursued.

Yet Van Gogh’s original heartbreak didn’t come from a French prostitute, but from the church.

The frayed narrative of Van Gogh’s crummy love life and repeated rejection at the hands of les femmes, ignores his original great passion in life – the ministry of Jesus Christ (or Jezus Christus in Dutch).

Vincent was a socially progressive and idealistic young pastor who clashed with the rigid respectability of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1878. Ministering to starving miners and roughnecks, he suffered along in complete solidarity – ill-fed, dirty, cold and ugly. The church at the time didn’t much care for his scandalous empathy and abruptly cut off all support.

http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/vincent-van-gogh-was-crazy-for-christ/ 

Uttering Sacrilege in the land of Sparty

So here is that which is sacrilege to even think around here:  Has Tom Izzo lost his touch?

It used to be he would find diamonds in the rough and coach the crap out of them and they would respond and win conference championships and go to Final Fours with regularity. But over the last few years he seems to find head cases that won't listen to him, and his teams have been more disappointing than anything else.  They might make a tournament run and get through the first couple rounds against flawed or outclassed teams, but when the competition gets better, they wilt.

We see this pattern far too often, as in the home loss to Illinois this weekend.  Spartans play bad, guys don't perform, and at the presser afterwards Izzo tells us all how mad he is and how he's taking full responsibility and is going to coach those guys like never before.  They come out and whack their next opponent, think everything is OK now, and then lose to a team they should beat by 15.  Izzo rants at his presser again.

It used to be he might do that once a season.  Now, it seems like it's every other game.

I'm just asking the question.  Has Izzo lost his passion?  Has the game passed him by?  Or, does today's player not respond to him like his National Championship team did 15 years ago?  Is it time for new blood at the Breslin?

Late word today - Former Tigers 1B Dave Bergman dead at age 61

One of my favorite players on the 84 World Champs, first baseman Dave Bergman died today after a long battle with cancer.

I still remember the game at Tiger Stadium that year against Toronto (who also had a really great team) when Bergman came up with 2 on in the 10th inning and commenced an epic battle with Toronto reliever Roy Lee Jackson.  Bergman fouled off pitch after pitch until finally, on a 3-2 pitch, he golfed one into the right-field seats to win the game for the Tigers.  Here is that memorable at-bat:

I was managing the women's softball team at my Church that year, and a couple of my friends and I went to Houlihans at the Lansing Mall after our game to have a little dinner and watch the Tigers game.  I still remember that at-bat after all these years.  The whole place erupted when that ball went out.

Bergman wasn't the big star of the team, and he didn't have big stats, but he knew his role on the team and played it very well.  Rest in peace, Dave.  You gave us some great memories.

Snowstorm!

We have had our first big snowstorm of the year since yesterday morning, which has dumped about a foot here.  I blew 8 inches out of my driveway last night, and another 4 inches this morning.  Fortunately, I had enough gas to mix up a batch for my snowblower so I'm set for this one and probably the next one too!

My daughter got her first experience driving in a big snow dump, and got stuck before she went 50 feet!  We dug her out and got her going again (with an assist from a neighbor and her snowblower.  She apparently made it to work, as I didn't get any other help calls from her - probably the main roads had been plowed by the time she left at 10:00.

There is enough firewood inside to last through the day, but I'll have to shovel a path to the woodpile to bring in more.  I do love my woodstove!

Now I know that anyone from the UP or Wisconsin or Minnesota would probably laugh at a 12-inch snowfall, but here in central Michigan, that's a lot.  School closings, snow emergency declarations, cancelled events - everything. 

Offseason Detroit Tigers Musings

Well, pitchers and catcher report in about a month, so it's time for a little offseason baseball musing, especially since I have mostly boycotted the NFL this year and there isn't much to talk about now that college football is over (how 'bout them Spartans?) and college basketball hasn't really gotten interesting yet.

So, after getting briskly swept out of the playoffs this year, the Tigers have been reconstructing themselves a bit.  Gone are Tori Hunter, Phil Coke, Rick Porcello, Drew Smyly, Joba Chamberlain, and Max Scherzer (maybe).  Newcomers are Shane Greene, Alfredo Simon to the rotation, a bunch of other "guys" in the bullpen, another "guy" from Toronto in center, and Yoenis Cespedes in left.  And the returns of Jose Iglesias at shortstop and perhaps Bruce Rondon in the bullpen.

Rotation
The rotation is noticeably weaker than last year at the beginning of the season, with the losses of Scherzer, Smyly, and Porcello.  Still, when you have Justin Verlander, Anibal Sanchez, and David Price as your top of the rotation, you aren't exactly fielding a Triple-A staff there.  The keys will be:

1. Will Verlander return to some semblance of his old self?  If you get 18+ wins out of him the answer is yes.  If he's the .500 pitcher he was last year, you're in trouble.  If you are the Tigers you are hoping that his healthy, normal offseason has him in prime condition for a bounceback year.
2. Will Sanchez stay off the DL?  If so he will probably win you 18 games.  If not, you better hope there is someone down on the farm that is farther along than you thought he was to fill in for him.
3. Simon and Green.  If both of them win you 12-15 games you are probably OK with that.  Your big 3 are going to get you through the playoffs, but your 4 and 5 guys are going to get you *in* the playoffs by giving you a chance to win in every one of their starts.  That's what you got with Porcello, and to a lesser extent Smyly.
4. Scherzer.  The big offseason question is "Where will he end up?"  The Tigers obviously made some of the moves they did because they didn't think he would be back in Detroit.  And realistically, a 6-year contract for a 30-year-old pitcher is crazy.  I finally saw one suggestion that made sense in the Detroit News today: 4 years, 112 million (28 mil/year).  That is Verlander money without the long-term financial risk.  Maybe throw in a 5th year mutual option at 15 or 20 just to see if he bites.  But any contract beyond 4 years on a pitcher of his age is crazy for any team, not just the Tigers.  If he comes back they can trade off some surplus pitching or move someone to the bullpen.  But if Scherzer sticks to his guns he won't be back in Detroit.  EDIT: Scherzer to Nationals for 200+ million over 7 years.  Good for him, crazy for Washington.  Wow.

Bullpen
Once again this area of the team will be the biggest source of heartburn for the fans.  The bullpen was in shambles for much of last year and at the start of the year it doesn't look much different.

Joe Nathan was a disaster for much of the year, and Joakim Soria was just as bad for the short time he pitched before landing on the DL for most of the second half.  These two will have to become a reliable late-inning combination for the Tigers to have any chance of defending their division title this season.  That's the bottom line.  The rest of the guys have to do their part too, but these guys blew a lot of games last year, and they both had their reputations as crunch-time pitchers take a big hit.

One name that is always thrown around when talking about the Tigers bullpen is Bruce Rondon.  He has that 100 mph fastball that blows hitters away, but he has been hurt for most of his big-league career.  He is coming back from Tommy John surgery this year, and that puts a significant question mark on his ability to pitch at all for starters, at least at the start of the year.  After that the questions becomes "how effective will he be?"  Anything he gives will be a bonus.

Most everyone else in the bullpen is a collection of guys you say "who?" when someone tells you their name.  The team has been collecting relievers over the winter, and they'll all get a chance to sort themselves out in Florida.  Don't think there's much bullpen help in the minors right now.

Position Players
The first player you think of in this category for the Tigers is always Miguel Cabrera.  And this year there is another major surgery in his offseason, this time for fractures in his ankle.  As I write this in mid-January he is just getting out of the walking boot, and hasn't even started off-season workouts.  This doesn't bode well for his return to anything like his usual form anytime soon.  Still, even a hobbled Cabrera put up numbers that any other player would give his eyeteeth for, so if his ankle is strong enough to play he should put up at least those kind of numbers again.  Look for him to platoon with Victor Martinez a lot early on, just to keep him from overdoing it and not being available for crunch time in August and September.

And since we just mentioned him, let's talk about the second most feared hitter on the team, Victor Martinez.  If ever a guy deserved a big contract at age 35 it's VMart.  The guy just flat-out produces at the plate, and is a leader in the clubhouse.  If he stays healthy, there's no reason to think he won't continue to produce excellent numbers for the length of that contract.  Stay healthy, Victor!

Then there's the other Martinez - J.D.  All you can say is you hope he wasn't a one-year flash in the pan.  He'll be playing right field this year, pretty much full-time.  If he keeps hitting, he will be the biggest steal for the Tigers this side of Carlos Guillen. If not, Steven Moya is waiting in the wings at Toledo.

Center Field will probably a platoon of newcomer Anthony Gose and the surprising Rajai Davis.  Davis exceeded expectations last year and was a good guy to have when the Tigers traded Austin Jackson away.  He filled in decently in left and center field, and gave them a boost on the bases.  Gose is a .236 hitter in 2 years of part-time duty in Toronto, about 500 at-bats.  Hard to get a read on him, but he is supposedly very fast - an asset in the spacious outfield of Comerica Park.

Left field will be patrolled by one of the big acquisitions of the off-season, Yoenis Cespedes - he of the highlight reel arm and somewhat underwhelming offense (.263 career hitter).  We'll see what happens with him too - hope he was worth parting with Rick Porcello to get.

Others:  Ian Kinsler needs to have a better second half this year - he faded noticeably last year.  Seemed to be an improvement over Omar Infante defensively.  Jose Iglesias - who knows what we'll get.  Supposed to be a defensive wizard, but his hitting work so far has not been respected, even though his average is respectable.  Again, we'll see.  Hope he stays healthy this year.  Nick Castellanos, it is pretty much agreed, has to improve defensively.  He has been getting a pass after transitioning back to third base after a couple of seasons working in left field to try and get him to the bigs.  He was a prized prospect, and showed some promise at the plate as well.  Reports are he has lost some weight and has been working on his speed and first step this offseason.  If so, that is a good thing.  They need him to carry his weight over there at the hot corner.

Big concern for Alex Avila at catcher.  The man has taken a beating back there, and it shows in his offensive output.  Defensively there aren't many better, but Alex, you have to think of your future self.  You're going to be in a home drooling on yourself if you don't get out soon.  If this new mask you're working with doesn't help, you need to retire.  The Tigers need to use whoever their backup is more than they have in the past, just to minimize Avila's exposure to the concussions and keep his legs fresh.  Perhaps that will bring his average up from the .220 or so he has hit the last three or four years.

As for the bench, who knows?  Right now it looks like Don Kelly, Andrew Romine, and Hernan Perez are the potential extra infielders on the major league roster.  Tyler Collins is probably the extra outfielder.  There are a couple of other guys on the 40-man roster that they are probably protecting for the future, but the only one we might see this year is Steven Moya.  These guys will all be fighting it out for a roster spot.  Kelly can play everywhere but has a light stick and little power.  Romine and Perez play both middle infield spots, and if you can play those you can probably play third as well, but neither of them have been known to take a turn in the OF.  Collins is a guy that made the team out of spring training last year, but was sent down to Toledo so he could play instead of sit.

Edit:  Don Kelly is apparently a free agent, although the ESPN roster site I was looking at didn't show him as one, and he has reportedly signed with the Marlins, so count Kelly out of the mix.

Division
The Central Division has gotten a lot tougher over the offseason.  Chicago and Cleveland have made marked improvements, especially in their pitching staffs.  And of course, Kansas City went to the World Series in 2014, but have lost several key players to free agency and may not be at the same level this year.  They still have some talent there, certainly.  In the long run, having a tougher Central Division may make whoever wins it a better team for the playoffs next fall.

NYPD Police Officer Funeral Today

I was at a small family gathering today with a bunch of relatives I don't get to see very often (and some who, because of their age, I may never see again).  At the restaurant there were a few TV's hanging in corners, and one of them had CNN coverage of the funeral of one of the NYPD officers assassinated this past week.  I was trying to keep my head in the conversations at the table rather than watching the TV, when I caught sight of Shotgun Joe Biden speaking there, shortly followed by Red Bill DiBlasio, the marxist mayor of NYC and chief apologist for the assassin. 

I was very surprised that these two men, who have done more to promote racial disharmony over the last few years than anyone this side of the Sharpton/Jackson syndicate, were even allowed into the building, let alone given a microphone.

I feel very sorry for the wife and family of this slain officer.  They, and their loved one, deserved better than these two clowns at this ceremony. 

I noted that many officers from departments other than NYPD continued turning their backs in disgust on DiBlasio.  Good for them.

Gubenatorial La-La Land

I read with interest the articles in the papers yesterday reporting on Governor Snyder (RINO-MI) and his assertion that the driving public is clamoring for his new 1.2 Billion dollar gas tax hike.

Well Gov. Snyder, here is at least one Michigan voter who is most emphatically NOT clamoring for your latest tax increase.  You have consistently hiked taxes and fees on all kinds of things over the last four years, but you haven't done one thing to decrease the size and scope of state government over those four years.  More agencies, more projects, the bridge to nowhere, on and on the list goes.  Big Government Rick has never seen a state program he didn't want to expand.

Now, before my readers think I am a complete left-wing loon (which would be silly since left-wing loons *like* big government) I am not going to launch into some anti-capitalist, anti-business screed criticizing his business tax cuts.  That was necessary and needed to be done, and all you hand-wringers out there who think it unfair need to understand what the real engine of the economy is, and it isn't an ever-expanding government full of social programs.

I do, however, expect the Governor to understand (and not violate) basic laws of economics, one of which is "you can't tax your way to prosperity".  He seems to have not gotten the memo on that one.

Look, I'm as frustrated by the state of Michigan roads as the next guy, but laying another tax hike on the backs of already stretched Michiganders is not the way to fix the problem.  If you want to re-allocate how some tax monies are distributed - go for it.  Certainly downsize departments and stop or delay non-imperative projects within those departments and redirect that money toward roads.  There are a host of things you could do without raising taxes one penny, and you have majorities in both houses to get it implemented.

Yes, you would have all kinds of special interests whining and complaining about how the world would end if we don't build that bike trail from Iron Mountain to Escanaba, but don't you think it would be a real feather in your cap if you could say at the end of the day that you got those billions of dollars to fix the roads without raising taxes?  If you do indeed have aspirations to national office, that would be a huge card to play, wouldn't it?

Alan Trammell returning to Tigers

Just read this in the paper. Returning as Special Assistant to the GM. 

There aren't many players who embody what being a Detroit Tiger means, but Tram is one of them. I couldn't be happier for him to be back with this organization. Good on the Tigers for picking him up. 

Random Thought: Nations

Is anyone besides me tired of every team or group having a "Nation" of followers?  "Spartan Nation", "Bulldog Nation", this Nation and that Nation and the other Nation. 

YOU ARE NOT A NATION!  YOU ARE A GROUP OF FANS. 

Thus endeth the rant.

State Senator Elbert Guillory's new anti-Landrieu ad: A Good Thing?

The headlines read "Democrat turned Republican lambastes Landrieu", or words to that effect.  Louisiana State Senator Elbert Guillory has produced an ad in support of Landrieu's Republican opponent in the U.S. Senate race in Louisiana, and it has gone viral on the internet. Republicans are all excited about it because, it seems, a black man has seen the light and come out from the evil empire of the Democrat party.

But as I listened to Guillory's ad, and to his subsequent interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox News, it seemed that Guillory had only changed his party and not his stripes.  I heard the same old class warfare cliches, victim-speak, and big-government rhetoric we hear all the time from the Dems, just repackaged and redirected toward a Dem.

Friends, the answers that the black community seeks are the same ones that the white community seeks, that the hispanic community seeks, that the asian community seeks, and thus are not specific to any community or other labeled group that seeks to elevate itself over others.  The answer will look different depending on the person, but it will be comprised of the same elements.  Among these are:

• Responsibility - being responsible for yourself and those who depend on you, rather than expecting others to take care of you.  This includes things like self-control, self-discipline, self-respect, and respecting others. It also means not taking from others what you can provide for yourself.  The level also increases as your standing increases, that is, the better you do the more responsibility you are going to have to have.
• Work Ethic - working hard at whatever you are doing, whether it's bagging groceries, sweeping floors, pouring concrete, or writing software.  Do your work and take pride in doing it right.  The reward is in the doing, but the other rewards will come too.

So, Sen. Guillory, I agree with you when you say Mary Landrieu is not representing her constituents well, but please understand - a Republican welfare state and a Republican class war is just as vile and despicable as the Democrat versions we have been force fed since the 1960's.  We must disband the welfare state and get past the class warfare in order to advance American society, not just putting a new wrapper on the old one and calling it good.

Sandy Hook: It was those damned homeschoolers

An article in the Connecticut Post is describing the conclusions reached by a commission appointed by Gov. Dannel Malloy to investigate the shooting.  And, as would be expected, the answer is:  More government, less freedom, and less privacy, in the form of greater scrutiny of homeschoolers.

May I remind readers of the following massacres that were committed by young people already under the observation and influence of public educators and the state:

• On March 21, 2005, Red Lake Senior High School student Jeffrey Weise killed five students, one teacher, one security guard, and then committed suicide.
• On April 20, 1999, Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students and one teacher, and wounded 21 others before committing suicide.
• On March 5, 2001, student Charles Andrew Williams killed two students and wounding 13 others at Santana High School in California.
• On February 27, 2012, TJ Lane walked into the Chardon High School cafeteria and fired into a group of students sitting at a lunch table. Three students died in the attack. His “emotional disability” was such that he wore a t-shirt with “Killer” scrawled on it to his sentencing.

How did all that government scrutiny work out for those people?  All that oversight?  All those rules, regulations, and procedures?  All those professionals?  Yeah, that's what I thought.  But more of that stuff that doesn't work is somehow the answer in Connecticut.

Dear readers, the government cannot save you or protect you from an evil person who is committed to performing an evil act upon others, as all these incidents show.  The wise person takes steps to protect and defend himself and those he is responsible for from these evildoers.  This very expensive report isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

The Lake Freighters

One of the coolest things about living in Michigan is our Merchant Marine.  Well, I guess we kind of co-own them with Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, and Ontario.

Regardless of who actually owns them, the sight of them gliding over the big lakes or through the Detroit or St. Marys rivers is one of the most impressive things you will ever see.

Today, I stumbled across this YouTube video about one of the biggest on the lakes - the Paul R. Tregurtha.  It's a full 45 minutes long, but it gives you an inside look at one of these behemoths.  I also found it funny that the Captain looks like someone you would meet in deer camp, not on the bridge of a 1000-footer.

So, here she is:

2014 ID4 Match at CCRC

ID4 is an annual match held at my club, and this year I took my daughter to shoot in it:

It's similar to an NRA High-Power match, I guess.  The course of fire is:

1. 10 rounds plus 2 sighters in 10 minutes, Prone position.
2. 10 rounds in 2 minutes, Prone.
3. 10 rounds in 10 minutes, Offhand position, no sling.

All of these are shot at 200 yards, no optical sights or shooting coats, but shooting gloves are allowed. 

There are several classifications based on what era your rifle comes from:

• Early Wars - 45/70 Springfield or other single-shot military.  Even flintlocks!
• WW I - 30/40 Krag, Springfield 03, etc.
• WW II: Springfield 03-A3, M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, and I saw some Mausers in there too (6.5 Swedes mostly).
• You can shoot an AR, but you would only shoot for score, and not be eligible for any prizes.

Lauren was the only girl there, and one of two 'yutes.  She was high youth, scoring 222 1X (out of 300) with a borrowed M1 Carbine she had never shot before. She even got a plaque, although it was the "Early Wars" plaque, since there were no competitors in that classification.  So they considered the word "Early" to mean "Youth" in this instance.  That was darn nice of them I thought.  She was 10th out of the 13 shooters there, overall.

No, I didn't shoot, as I don't have a rifle that fits in those categories that I have ammo for.  I need to get one of my two Krags working and shoot that someday!

Thanks to Bob Steketee for running the match today, and to CCRC for sponsoring it, and letting the Youth shoot for free.  And to Dale, who I think is from the Brighton area, for letting us use his M1 Carbine.

This Post is for you, Murphy's Law

We were picking up and dropping off kids at camps today, and we visited the USS Silversides museum in Muskegon, MI. I'm also posting the pictures from my iPod Touch, to show it can be done from an Apple device. 

Sorry, no inside pictures. I was busy explaining how the different parts of a submarine work to my wife and daughter. They were amazed at the size of the heads, and how cramped everything was. And laughing at 6'3" me getting through the hatches between compartments. 

Conning tower. 

From the bow, facing aft. 

From the stern, facing forward.  Notice the fog coming in off of Lake Michigan at about 1:30pm. It was probably 78 degrees and sunny, but the wind was out of the northwest and coming in off the lake. Kind of cool to watch, it didn't make it very far onshore. 

Michigan Politicians and how to Fix the Roads

The big news story out of Lansing this week centers around road repair funding, and how to pay to fill in all the extra potholes and repair the crumbling roads that were created by the long, hard, cold winter here in Michigan. 

Most of the smoke and fire centered around the gasoline tax, and how it is inadequate to fund the couple of billion dollars needed to do everything that needs to be done.  Michigan has a flat 15-cents per gallon gas tax (in addition to what the feds charge us) which is decried as a decreasing pot since cars today are so much more fuel efficient, thus using less gas.  One proposal is to repeal that flat tax and replace it with a 15% wholesale gasoline surcharge, so the higher the wholesale price goes, the more tax revenue it (supposedly) churns out.

The other plan that has gotten a lot of churn is one to repeal the gas tax all together and add an extra percent to the state sales tax.

After debating these and other proposals, and all kinds of wheeling and dealing, the pols left for their summer break without doing anything of any substance.  To me, this was the best of all possible outcomes for Michigan taxpayers.

I am as frustrated by the decrepit state of the roads here as the next guy, but I am more frustrated by a political class that is unwilling to do anything but add to the tax burden of an already over-taxed populace.  The hand of government at all levels keeps reaching deeper and deeper into the pockets of its citizens for more and more "necessary" or "compassionate" projects, or "investments in our future" that never seem to pay off, but always seem to require more money than originally projected.

To all you takers in Lansing I say enough!  I say if you want to fix the roads, then cut  some new park that you want to build, or office allowances for legislators, or taxpayer-funded junkets to "open up new markets", or any combination of a hundred things you could cut if you really thought about it for, oh, five minutes or so. 

The other important thing for you economic illiterates over there to consider is this:  one of the axioms of economics is if you want less of something, tax it.  So while the dollar signs keep rolling before your eyes, consider that if you increase the gas tax, you will get less driving because nobody can afford the gas to do anything but drive to work every day.  Those dollars are not going to roll in, and in two years, when you realize it, you will be back in our pockets again wanting even more.

So good for you, legislators, for doing nothing.  It's the best thing you could have done for all of us.

Zapping batteries

Among the several projects I had set for myself while at my in-laws during the holiday weekend was to "zap" the NiCd batteries from my two cordless drills.

There are dozens of YouTube videos on how to do this, using everything from a Mig welder to another battery.  My dead batteries were 14.4 volt, and I used a 19.2 volt battery that my father-in-law had laying around doing nothing.

The first thing I had to do was determine the positive and negative contacts on the battery, since they weren't marked.  I used a multi-tester for that (YouTube is your friend on that one, too!)

I took the multitester and checked the voltage being delivered from the dead battery.  It was about 7 volts.

Once that was done I hooked the negative terminals from both batteries together.  Then I put the wire onto the positive terminal of the 19.2 battery, then used the other end an just touched the positive terminal of the dead battery 10 or 12 times.  Each touch was about a half-second each.

I then tested the voltage delivery again, and it was now around 15 volts.  That was a very positive sign.

Then I put it in the charger.  Before when I tried to charge it, the charger told me the battery was faulty.  Now, it began charging.  Another very positive sign.  So I repeated the process on the other three batteries I had and got similar results.  So it really does work.  For how long I don't know, but for a little while at least I don't have to buy new batteries for two otherwise functional drills.

A couple of things I found while doing this project:

• Don't let the ends of the wires from the source battery touch.  All kinds of heat and smoke will result.  Ask me how I know.
• Apparently, the source battery has to be of a higher voltage than the dead battery. I did see one video where someone used a car battery for zapping and it seemed to work, but most of the videos said you need a higher voltage.
• Two of my batteries had two terminals and two of them had four.  As long as you find positive and negative it doesn't seem to matter which ones you use.
• For the wires, I used some test leads I found, which had alligator clips on the ends and they worked nicely because the terminals on the batteries were blade-types.  If you don't have blade type terminals you will have to get creative with your wiring.  The test leads weren't very heavy duty.  If I were using the welder I probably would have wanted to use heavier wire.
• One video had some separate wires he connected to the dead batteries terminals rather than touching them with the wires directly connected to the source battery.  Sometimes this will generate sparks and it can damage the terminals, which means you will have some touch-up work to do after zapping. Touching the wires rather than directly touching the battery terminals makes sure this doesn't happen.

Home on the Range: Steampunked - ePostal Match Time

Home on the Range: Steampunked - ePostal Match Time



This looks like fun - I think the kids and I are going to try this one!

Suburban Skunks

So the Mrs. and I went grocery shopping last night about 10pm (our only free time available to do it!), and as I was making a trip through the garage to bring in another armload I noticed movement in the driveway.  Another two steps and it was confirmed - a skunk was waddling up my driveway heading for my side yard.  I quickly grabbed the remainder of the groceries in the trunk, took them inside, and closed the garage door.  He didn't seem interested in coming in the garage, but I didn't want to take any chances of coming out to a trapped skunk in there this morning!

I'm really not liking skunks in my neighborhood, and they are more and more frequent visitors.  The problem is - you can't shoot them to get rid of them.  They don't live in my yard so I can't trap them and take them somewhere else.  They probably smell my compost pile, but they are in other parts of the neighborhood too, so it isn't just me they are attracted to.

They seem to be nocturnal, as my other encounters with them have been at night also.  I guess that's both good and bad, since in the dark you don't really know they are there until you are right on top of them, but you aren't out in the yard much after dark, either, so your chances of an encounter are reduced.

Wish I knew of a repellant.  I would spread it around my yard!

Lagniappe's Lair: President Reagan cracks jokes

Murphy's Law found a great one today.



Lagniappe's Lair: President Reagan cracks jokes



I sure miss President Reagan.

Facebook app suckage

Just a vent post tonight. I have the Facebook app on my iTouch, and this must be the worst app in the world. Why? It always crashes on my first attempt to load it, and even if it does load it crashes when you try to scroll through posts, or it crashes when you try to follow a link in a post. Or it crashes when you try to reply to a post. It is a crashomatic. 

Of course, there is no way to send feedback to Facebook about their app, and it would probably crash too if you tried. 

I'm ready to dump Facebook altogether. 

Question of the Day: Freedom.

This question was posed as part of a discussion I was reading today, and it really struck me:

I don't know....I think the cold war definitions of freedom and oppression may no longer be valid. Are Americans truly "free" with Obama as president? Being able to cast a vote doesn't make anyone free. being able to make and keep money and be unmolested in your daily life by the machinations of government is being free. If we actually measured "our freedom" against other people in other countries I think most Americans would totally shocked.

Thoughts anyone?

Oklahoma Sheriffs Visiting State Capitol Ordered to Disarm

This from "The Blaze" (Source Article)

Wagoner County Sheriff Bob Colbert traveled to Oklahoma City, the state’s capitol, earlier this week with 40 other sheriffs from around the state like they do every year — to meet with politicians and lobby.

Everything was going fine in the state capitol building on Tuesday. More than that, “everybody in that building knew who we were,” Colbert told KTUL-TV in Tulsa.

“One of the senators, who they wouldn’t tell us, complained because we were armed in the building,” Colbert added to the station.

Then he said the sheriffs were given a choice — disarm or leave.

“So we all packed up and left,” Colbert told KTUL.

Colbert said he doesn’t know which senator complained, but he has his own beefs about the treatment he and his associates received.

“We’re the people that protect these people,” he told KTUL.

In addition, Colbert said politicians should be more concerned about improving state business than law enforcement officers who happen to be carrying guns.

“If the state troopers are satisfied that we’re OK in that building,” he told KTUL, “I’m pretty sure that the legislators should have something else to worry about such as the economy or something.”

While Colbert acknowledged that some lawmakers have called to apologize about the incident, the insult will be felt for a while.

“Pretty sad day for me,” he told KTUL.

BizPac Review noted that a different account of the incident was reported in The Oklahoman, a paper which serves Oklahoma City.

When the sheriffs entered the Senate gallery, “the sergeant at arms asked the sheriffs to take off their guns or leave the building,” the Oklahoman said. “But a state Senate official says the sheriffs were only questioned briefly before being allowed back into the Senate gallery, still wearing their service weapons.”

I have a couple of comments on this:

1. Sheriff Colbert, I hope this opens your eyes to the state of things for millions of law-abiding gun owners every day who are forced, under penalty of law, to disarm themselves before going into places like churches, restaurants, government offices, post offices, and yes, even State Capitol buildings, because the presence of that gun on their hip is somehow "threatening", even though no one can see it.  
2. Sheriff Colbert also needs to educate himself about the legalities of his statement "we're the people who protect these people".  In fact Sheriff, the Supreme Court has ruled this is not true, and you have no legal duty to protect anyone. (Castle Rock v. Gonzales, DeShaney v. Winnebago County). You may have one in your own ethos, but that is not a legal matter.
3. Someone needs to out the Senator who complained.  I suggest looking for the one who has a package of adult diapers in their office.

A Sunday Symposium

Sitting in the Music Building at Alma College today, where my daughter is attending a Woodwind Symposium for Flutes, Saxophones, and Clarinets.  Her teacher, Dr. Miller, is one of the presenters today.  She was pretty excited about coming, and it was by invitation so there are only a half-dozen of each instrument here, making for lots of individual attention for everyone.

Dr. Miller is also going to talk about performance anxiety this afternoon.  This is what she did her doctoral dissertation on so she should have some good information to pass along to everyone.  I'm planning to attend that one!

I am grateful that we are able to provide these kinds of experiences for our kids - they may well have had them when I was her age, but I was never interested in pursuing them the way they are.  I wish I would have been!

We had a snowy drive up this morning, as another inch or so fell overnight.  Road crews were out, and I was able to average about 60MPH, with very light traffic.  The Camry handled it well, but I realized when I got up here that I hadn't transferred my snow brush from the old car yet, so I went and bought a cheap scraper after dropping Lauren off, just in case.  Of course, now the sun is out, and I probably won't need it, but it's good to have it anyway.

Sochi Olympics

Gee, the winter Olympics start today.  I can feel a huge wave of indifference rising up within me.  I have decided that I will not be watching any of these games on TV or internet.  They may come up in headlines that I see in the various publications I read, but I will not read the articles, or watch video replays.

I did read the article this morning about 3 of the media hotels not being finished yet, and was humored.  That may well be the extent of my reading unless the Chechens get restive.

The Great Debate: Ham v. Nye

So I watched with great interest the live stream of the debate tonight between Bill Nye ("The Science Guy") and Ken Ham (Answers in Genesis).  I may get into more details and specific thoughts later, but I have some first impressions that I thought I would post.

The question the two gentlemen were debating was this:  "Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern, scientific era?"

Frankly, no debate like this has a winner or a loser - it is always a platform to try to promote your own viewpoint or your own agenda.  In that sense it was just as you might have expected.  I can report that neither Ham nor Nye had an epiphany and converted to the other side.

As my blog headings indicate, I am a Christian, and so you might guess what my rooting interest is in this debate, but in this post I'm mostly thinking about my impressions of the men themselves and how they handled the debate, rather than anything specific about their position on the topic being debated.

I was actually impressed by Bill Nye.  He has received great criticism from what he called the "mainstream science community" for even showing up for this debate, and I half expected him to be something of the vile lunatic that Richard Dawkins has been, and I was pleasantly surprised - he was affable, polite, and even respectful.  I give you full marks there, Mr. Nye.

However, it was very obvious from the start that Nye could not for an instant admit that anything "scientific" could come from a creationist viewpoint, or his entire argument would collapse.  Even when Ham offered up such trivial names as Sir Isaac Newton or Michael Faraday, or even Dr. Raymond Damadian (inventor of the MRI), Nye could not admit that anything good or useful could ever come from creationist scientists.  He kept asserting that there was nothing of a "predictive nature" that comes from creationism - that you can't take the tenets of creationism and say that "based on these things being true, that thing will happen".  Ham continued to give examples, but Nye wouldn't hear or acknowledge them.  This condescension got a little annoying after a while.

In some ways, Ken Ham was disappointing.  Even though he has been a public speaker for decades on these topics, he is not a very polished speaker.  His speech is sometimes halting, sometimes stumbling, and sometimes hard to follow.  I would have thought that with all the practice he has gotten he would have been better at this.  Nye certainly came off better in that area of the debate.  Ham made his points and got his message across, but Nye was much more polished.

I found myself wanting more details about all the points that were being made, that would have made things a whole lot clearer, especially when they were talking about radiometric dating, or about increasing complexity in organisms over time.  So all I really got was a 10,000 foot flyover on this topic, rather than anything to really sink my teeth into, and in that sense it was kind of disappointing.  I guess I wanted a more knock-down, drag-out than I got!  But as I said earlier - no debate like this is won or lost.  It's just a platform.

Finally, the moderator.  If you've ever watched a Presidential debate, the moderator is as much of a player as the debaters (see Candy Crowley), often to the detriment of one or the other side of the debate.  Tom Foreman, of CNN, was tonights moderator, and he did an excellent job of staying out of the way and letting the two principals have at it.  He injected just the right amount of lightness and humor and did a fine job.  Frankly, when I saw he was from CNN I was saying to myself "uh-oh!".  But kudos to you, too, Mr. Foreman.  You did a fine job.

"He picked the wrong house in the wrong neighborhood"

Well this just crossed my inbox, and I thought I would share it.

This video forcefully and pointedly answers the questions "Why do you need a gun?" and "Why do you need more than 10 rounds?"

Ice Storm aftermath

As you may have heard, parts of the Great Lakes region was hit with an ice storm Saturday night into Sunday.  At 6:00 am Sunday we lost power, and 28 hours later (as I write this) we don't have it back yet.

Fortunately for us, I was one of those tinfoilers who thought Y2K was going to be a disaster, and so we added a woodstove for heat and kerosene lamps for light, and major food storage in our basement, and now all that prepping has paid off, as we are warm, well fed, and well lit.  The water and gas service are still on, so we can still shower and flush.  The kids, however, are a little stir-crazy, and I think I am a little as well.

So, I packed up my laptop and drove in to the office today, and I threw a couple of gas cans in my trunk so I can run the generator my friend Paul Townsend is lending me for a couple of hours to re-freeze my freezers.  Now, my laptop is charged, and I can use it to charge all our phones so we can stay connected a little bit, although cell service is spotty at best.

This may impact our Christmas plans, as we were scheduled to host it for my wife's side of the family, but we may have to go there if the power doesn't come back on.  We'll have to see.

Jack Morris belongs in the Hall of Fame

So let it be written...so let it be done.

Trade of the off-season, so far

Wow.  Just wow.  Prince Fielder and cash for Ian Kinsler.  I never would have thought that any team would take Fielder and his contract but I'm sure glad someone was, as it was an albatross around the Tigers financial neck, and would have continued to impact the team negatively going forward.

That deal should never have been made at the time.  I postulated a 2-year, 20 to 30 mil deal back then because he was the best bat available at the time, and Victor Martinez had just shredded his knee, but there were probably other options internally that might have been better long-term for them.  Fielder biggest asset is his ability to hit home runs.  But it seems he only does this during the regular season and only if something important isn't on the line.  He now has a proven track record of playoff disappearance (batting average under .200 career, and a handful of RBI), and when the Tigers needed him to step up and carry more of the offensive load late this season because of Miguel Cabrera's injuries, he was unable to do it.  He is Rob Deer with more drama and a bigger paycheck.

This trade brings up some interesting possibilities both offensively and defensively.  Kinsler probably takes Austin Jackson's leadoff spot which is probably a good thing for all concerned.  Cabrera probably stays in the third slot, as you want baseballs best hitter to get that potential extra at-bat every game.  Right now Martinez moves to cleanup, but wait to see what happens now with the opening in left field.  A left handed power-hitting outfielder would look really good there, and V-Mart in the 5-hole worked pretty well this past season.  Jackson then joins Iglesias, and Avila in the bottom half of the order.

The most common defensive scenario has Cabrera moving back to first base, which would probably bring top prospect Nick Castellanos up to third base, with Iglesias and Kinsler rounding out the infield.  Another scenario has Cabrera staying at third, Martinez moving to first, and someone else DH'ing.  Castellanos probably goes to left field in this case.  A third scenario has Cabrera at first, Jhonny Peralta at third, and Castellanos either at Triple-A or in left field, and Martinez staying at DH.

As well as Miggy did at third, for his long-term good he needs to go back to first base, where he will take much less of a physical pounding.  It's better for him and better for the team if he does so.  Then, it depends on Castellanos' ability to hit major league pitching.  If they think he can hit above .270 with some pop he needs to be in the majors, either at third or in the outfield - preferably at third.  If they don't think he can hit at that level, then another year or two of Peralta at third is not a bad or expensive option while Castellanos gets more time to learn to hit at this level.  I don't want Martinez as a defensive regular.  His role is "see ball, hit ball".  Part time fill in at first or emergency catcher - fine.  But his biggest value to the team is his bat.

So now, the biggest holes in the roster are where they have always been; left field and the bullpen.  But now, their ability to fill those holes effectively has been greatly enhanced.

Dave Dombrowski again shows why he is the best GM in baseball.

Gloating tonight

Watched the Michigan State - Michigan game today. I believe the technical term for what we saw there today was "Beatdown". -49 yards rushing. No that is not a misprint. 

No World Series for Motown

Now that this season is over, a couple of Detroit Tigers thoughts. 

1. The biggest weakness this team had is what really cost them in the end - the Bullpen. They tried to patch it all season, but this is THE BIGGEST offseason reclamation project. 

2.  Prince Fielder is ARod with a better personality. You will never win with him in your playoff lineup.  He has not played or hit well enough to deserve the contract he got. Time to admit your mistake and move on. 

3. Miguel Cabrera. On one leg he outperformed Fielder, Jackson, Avila, and Peralta. His case for MVP was only strengthened by his injury. What a disappointment for him to have a scintillating season derailed by injuries. 

4. Jim Leyland. Managed his butt off all season. His detractors are flat wrong about him. His biggest strength and fault is his loyalty to his players and coaches. He needs to let Lloyd McClendon go.

To all the Washington power brokers currently squabbling over fiscal issues

It is no service to the people of this nation to continue a course that will lead to their ruin.  Neither side has any proposals, nor any idea how to solve the financial problems we are facing.  Neither side will admit that there are no easy solutions.  Neither side will admit to the pain and suffering that will be necessary to truly fix the problem.  Both sides continue to listen to academics whose pretty theories have gotten us into the gargantuan mess we are in, and cannot seem to engage the brains God gave them to realize that the academics are wrong.  Neither side is willing to pay the political price that national survival requires.

Obama, Reid, and the democrats will probably win this fight.  Spending the country into oblivion will continue with only lip service toward actually solving the problems.  And all the lemmings who voted for more of the same will eventually get what is coming to them - ruin.  Ruin that will make the Great Depression look like a frat party.  There will be no FDR to steal money to spend on Hoover Dam and the CCC - there won't be any money to steal, and nobody in the world will take our debt.  There won't be any fuel because Obama has shut down all the mines, wells, and pipelines to make his green friends happy. 

That is what this fiscal battle is about in Washington.  And nobody there has the foresight or the guts to do what is necessary to fix the problem.

Tigers Musings

1. As I write this the Tigers "magic number" to clinch the division is 2, and Cleveland is five back with six to play, so it would seem that the boys from Motown will be winning the division for the third year in a row.  Note to team:  you have bigger fish to fry - no champagne showers until you win the World Series.  A celebratory toast would be fine, perhaps a fine cigar of celebration, because being a division winner is certainly an accomplishment.  But you have been here before, and you have three playoff series to win before you can really celebrate.  Then you have to work on sustained excellence.  We'll talk about that later.
2. Here's hoping that the injured Miguel Cabrera doesn't end up looking like the injured Alex Rodriguez did last year - a hobbled shell of a player that hindered more than helped.  I know there is no suitable replacement for him, but his performance has tailed off so significantly the last month that he isn't even a "normal" player.
3. Justin Verlander starting Game 1 of the Playoffs.  Please - not this season.  Max Schertzer deserves that honor more, and Anibal Sanchez should start Game 2 before Verlander.  Game 3 for Verlander.

"I'm Ready for Hilliary"

Seen on bumper sticker last night. 

Friends, nobody has any cause to look down on or sneer at Detroit any more. Why?  Because the whole country is willing to do to itself what Detroit did - elect corrupt and incompetent leaders who drive us to insolvency and collapse. 

Range Day with The Shekel

Well, it was more like half a day, but I recently got to spend some time with my friend Aaron from The Shekel Blog indulging in some high-velocity lead stress therapy.  The link will take you to Aaron's report, where he talks about his new M&P 40c, his 9x18 pistols from Czechoslovakia and Poland, and his new .300 AAC-based AR.

Me - I brought my trusty Springfield XD9sc, which is my carry gun, and which needed the waistband lint blown out of it.

I also brought my own CZ-82, unintentionally synchronizing with Aaron and his CZ, so we were both trying out range commands in Russian in honor of the 9mm Makarov round.  Well, Aaron actually knew the Russian words, I just used a very bad Russian accent. Boris Badenov would not have approved.

I also went a little old-school with my Smith & Wesson Model 10 revolver, too.  4-inch heavy barrel for those interested, with the original grips.

Aaron mentioned the FAST Drill we were doing, and which in absolute terms I sucked, but I did a lot better than I thought I would.  I really lost time at the mag change, and picking up the front sight on the first round.  Areas to work on, certainly.  And let's not talk about the mag change on the CZ, except to say that the mag release is a definate weak point of this design, both in its stiff and gritty movement, and in the design of the grips around it.  I may have to attempt a detail strip to see if that can't be smoothed up a little.

I did get a few cylinders full through the revolver before we moved down to the 100 yard line for some musketry (as Aaron put it).  We each pulled out our new beauties, his an AR in .300 AAC and mine a Sig 556R in 7.62x39.  This picture isn't mine, but I neglected to take pictures of it so I filched this one off the internet.  Mine has Midwest Industries iron sights on it, though - for some reason Sig includes a chinzy red dot scope with this rifle instead of their excellent diopter sights which are included on other 550-based rifles.

I had this rifle out a few weeks ago but didn't get to do much beyond function tests at 25 yards, and some test shots at 50 yards just to see what happened.  So today was the first test at real rifle distances.  Everything was shooting off the paper high initially, and I found that the AR-style sight tool I have is slightly smaller than standard size and doesn't fit the Sig.  It was made for the Tech-Sights on my 10/22, and which is not standard AR size.  So I had to improvise for my elevation adjustments, which seem to have worked since the rifle is now just a little high at 100 yards.  Another session or two and I'll have this thing dialed in.

A couple of observations about this rifle.  First is that it is a nice shooter that doesn't beat up you at all.  It's not a mild recoiler like the AR, but it's pretty easy to handle nevertheless.  Second, this thing completely outclasses my AK.  They have very similar operation, but the Swiss have certainly refined it and made it better in every way. I really like this rifle. From what I am reading, this rifle is really showing the true potential in the 7.62x39 round, and with good glass will hit effectively out to 500 yards.  It would be nice to see some decently priced US made brass-cased ammo in this caliber.  The East-bloc stuff can be pretty inconsistent in its quality and consistency.  I suppose it won't happen though - the AK's can't really tell and there aren't enough of the 556R's in circulation yet to make it worthwhile.  I guess you can get Lapua, but that's pretty spendy.

Still, for what I bought this rifle for, there is more than enough good ammo available.

About this time our stomachs were telling us it was time to pack up and go, so we went into Williamston and had lunch at a local diner - a nice sandwich, chips, and drink type of place.

Sorry it took so long for me to post this, Aaron, but it was great to see and shoot with you again!