Thomas Malthus

I hope he lands on his feet. Best writer on the Jays IMO.

Dayum, seems like I have some fans. Too much unwarranted pressure. *gif of buster suffocating*

So these hirings are why Donaldson is going to arbitration...

I think he gave himself all the love he needs.

I haven't been online much since it's the holidays but...what happened? o.O

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! I feel you, I'm knitting my fiancee a scarf but I've never knit before. Luckily my sister is teaching me but it's slow going. I probably won't make it.

Good, then Miles can be mine! Muahahaha. Just nobody steal the name with their f***ing dog or something. Grats again, Brownie!

That was a typo, I was writing that post on my phone >.< Though I suppose I probably shouldn't be using the word "crazy" either.

I'm a genuine and certified noobie and may embarrass myself in the league. But there's nothing quite like fantasy to help with player awareness and push me to learn more, right? I'm down if you'll have me.

My fiance got mine from etsy. There's this one store based out east that offers a cray good warranty on their rings. We didn't go with them but I just thought I'd mention it.

Yeah but a bunch of other Americans were planning on moving here because Obamacare is the devil so it all evens out.

Nah. I proposed last November but we aren't having the wedding until spring of 2017. Over the past year I got more behind the idea of wanting a ring because a) I feel kind of naked not having one (not sure if this is because I feel like we've already been married for a while or what) and I think it would be nice to have something that reminds me of her that I can see and fiddle with everyday. So she got it for me for Christmas Thanks for the congratulations (and to everyone else who said it as well).

Fangraphs - How (Not) to Set Up a Fastball (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-not-to-set-up-a-fastball/) I have a couple of quibbles and some questions about this article (plus I wanted to post it since I thought it was interesting). Quibbles Starting graphs away from zero is something that I don't think should be done without a very good reason, I'm not sure there's justification here and so the disparities presented seem much larger than perhaps is appropriate. Not presenting the number of observations for each preceding pitch type was probably a clutter/brevity decision but without them it makes it difficult to even quickly ballpark whether or not the differences between the preceding pitch types are statistically different from zero. Questions The bolded text - simply pretending that these effects don't exist doesn't mean that they don't in fact matter. I understand that it may seem like they don't matter when answering the question, "Is there evidence that there exists an optimal pitch preceding a four-seam fastball?" but it seems like there could be significant interaction effects between those components and the selection of preceding pitch, no? There doesn't appear to be any explicitly stated sample restrictions. I don't really know the answer to this but how much does it matter that we're including non-starters (specifically, closers)? I know that they pitch fewer innings but intuitively sequencing matters less for a guy like Sanchez (or perhaps Osuna would be a better example?) than it does for a guy like Greinke, right? I mean I understand that imposing certain types of restrictions will introduce attrition bias but not making those restrictions could also be problematic. There's a fundamental assumption imposed or if not "imposed" then underlying the analysis - that fastballs are the pitch being primed, not the priming pitch. Is this a reasonable starting point? For example, in this article (http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/marco-estrada-has-maybe-the-changiest-changeup/) talking about Estrada's changeup it seems that the ordering is fastball then changeup. Additionally, in the comments section MGL (I assume the real MGL?) wrote: Wouldn't this only be the case with perfect information? Does anyone have any links or anything about this particular point? EDIT: Found more pitch sequencing stuff where MGL makes an appearance: http://www.hardballtimes.com/defining-the-pitch-sequencing-question/ http://mglbaseball.com/2013/10/08/do-ex-pitchers-understand-how-to-pitch/ And here's a few other links on it for those interested in reading more: http://cheaptalk.org/2011/10/19/serial-correlation-in-baseball-pitch-sequences/ http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=11585 http://www.galvanize.com/blog/the-data-science-behind-baseball-pitching-strategy/#.VnpgjJMrKRs http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/game-theory-says-r-a-dickey-should-throw-more-knuckleballs/ EDIT 2: On further thought I understand MGL's comment abut equal value, it is a direct result of the equilibrium. Just had a brain fart.

The holidays aren't only about gifts, but gifts are a part of the holidays. I'm posting this now because I got a few early gifts (I'll update later with anything else that's pretty cool). So, what did ya get? Gift #1 - A two-tone Cooperstown Jays snapback http://i.imgur.com/NEMKMl6.jpg?1 Gift #2 - A copy of baseball between the numbers Gift #3 - A bentwood engagement ring

Gah. I was hoping to do a list but my exams were all bunched together. Sorry, fellas. I can't wait to see the results!