Trimeguy

Round 2 NFL Playoff Picks Against the Spread

2012-01-13T14:53:00.001-08:00

Tebow time came up big against the Steelers suddenly porous defense, and the Texans offense actually scored last week. The Saints surprised nobody by routing the Lions. I didn't have a good enough feeling about the Giants to do anything in that game. Hopefully, this weeks picks will make some money.

- Take the Saints and give the 49ers 3 1/2 points. It's hard to imagine the 49ers scoring enough points to keep the game close. As long as the Saints don't turn the ball over too much, this should be easy money.
- Take the Patriots and give the Broncos 13 1/2 points. Tebow will have a tough time replicating his long passing success this week.
- Take the Packers and give the Giants 7 1/2 points. The Packers will score and the Giants will be playing catch up all game, which will put more pressure on Eli to come up big. My money's on Brady, not Eli.
- Take the Ravens and give 7 1/2 points to the Texans. There's no way that TJ Yates does anything against the Ravens might defense. I'd take the Ravens in this one if the spread was two touchdowns instead of just one.

Round 1 NFL Playoff Picks Against the Spread

2012-01-04T11:43:00.000-08:00

Playoffs are usually harder to pick than the regular season because you generally have two good teams playing against each other. So, the point spreads are smaller, and both teams have a good chance to win. This year, there are a few good chances to make some money:

- Take the Bengals plus 3 points against the Texans. I hear Dan Pastorini just signed to play Quarterback for Houston.
- Take the Steelers minus 9 against the Broncos. This is a little risky given how awful Big Ben played the last time out against the 49ers. But, the Steelers defense is intact, and the Broncos will be lucky to score at all.
- Take the Saints minus 10 1/2 against the Lions. This is a lot of points, but the Saints have been rolling lately, and the Lions will have trouble keeping up with Brees and the 5 quality receivers the Saints put out there on almost every play. No other team in the NFL has as many good targets as the Saints: Graham, Colston, Sproles, Moore, Meachem, Henderson and Thomas all have over 400 yards receiving.

Week 17 - NFL Picks against the spread

2011-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

Week 17 is always a tough week to pick. You never know which teams are going to play their starters for 4 quarters. For example, the 49ers are almost certainly going to beat the Rams, so are the Saints going to play hard against the Panthers? You just have to assume the teams are going to play it honest and hard, and hope for the best.

- Since the Saints are playing the Panthers in an early game, they will play hard and try to win against the Panthers, and force the 49ers to win against the Rams. So, take the Saints minus 7 1/2 against the Panthers.
- In a normal week, I'd love the Packers against the Lions, but the Packers have the #1 seed locked up, so who knows what they will do. Assume that he'll play and take the Packers minus 3 1/2 against the Lions.
- Take the Eagles minus 9 against the Redskins. Both teams are out of the playoffs, but the Eagles have been playing much better lately.

Week 16 - NFL Picks against the spread

2011-12-24T09:05:00.001-08:00

This looks like another tough week. Nothing too exciting really stands out.

- Take the Packers minus 12 against the Bears. The Bears have been awful since losing Cutler, and now they;re trying McCown. Look for another disaster against the Packers.
- Take the Saints minus 7 against the Falcons. Saints have been rolling, and haven't lost at home this year.
- Take the Seahawks plus 1 against the 49ers. The 49ers haven't looked as good on the road team this year as at home. Look for the Seahawks to take advantage of the 49ers short week.

Week 15 - NFL Picks against the spread

2011-12-15T17:59:00.000-08:00

There are a few more good games for us to make money again this week.

- Take the Titans minus 6 1/2 against the Colts. The Titans looked pretty good last week, even with Jake Locker. They almost cost me my pick with their comeback try against the Saints. They should pound the Colts to continue their season of misery.
- Take the Lions minus 1 against the Raiders. The Dolphins and the Packers have exposed a weak Raiders defense, and look for the Lions to continue the pattern against the Raiders.
- I also like the Steelers plus 2 1/2 against the 49ers. Two good defenses have exposed the 49ers pass blocking. Look for the Steelers to continue to push the 49ers line around. Wait until you're sure that Roethlisberger is starting before you place the bet though. I like the Steelers, even if Harrison's suspension is upheld, but not if Charlie Batch is starting instead of Roethlisberger.
- Take the Saints minus 6 1/2 against the Vikings. You have the 2nd best team in the NFC against the 2nd worst team in the NFC. The game should not be close. But, I remember saying that same thing when the Saints played the Rams earlier this year.

Good site for odds.

Week 14 - NFL Picks against the spread

2011-12-09T06:46:00.000-08:00

There are some good opportunities to make some money this week!

- I like the Saints minus 4 against the Titans. After destroying the Giants and scoring at will against the Lions, the Titans should be easy prey. The Saints should win be several touchdowns as long as the can keep Chris Johnson
- Take the Cardinals plus 4 against the 49ers. The 49ers have clinched the division and the Cardinals still have a shot in the wild card. Kevin Kolb is back and playing well. This should be a close one.
- Take the Colts plus 17 against the Ravens. With a new quarterback the Colts are looking better, and it's hard to imagine the Ravens scoring more than 17.

Week 13 - 2011 NFL Picks against the spread

2011-12-01T10:56:00.001-08:00

There are several good ones this week. I'm tempted to take the Patriots and give 20+ points to the Colts, but that's so many points. If the Saints can beat the Colts by 50+ points, maybe the Patriots can do it too.

- Take the Packers minus 7 against the Giants.
- Take the Raiders minus 2 1/2 against the Dolphins. The Raiders look to be much better than they're getting credit for. Carson Palmer is playing well.
- Take the Falcons minus 1 1/2 against the Texans. You might not be able to get this line because of the quarterback problems of the Texans.
- If you can't get a Falcons line, take the Chargers minus 3 against the Jaguars.

Best place to find the NFL point spreads is here:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/odds

Week 12 - 2011 NFL Picks against the spread

2011-11-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

My top 3 NFL picks against the spread this week are:

1) Take the Steelers and give 11 points to the Chiefs.
2) Take the Texans and give 4 points to the Jaguars.
3) Take the Falcons and give 9.5 points to the Vikings.

If you can find a line on the Patriots/Eagles game, take the Patriots. I saw some line with the Patriots minus 3. If you can get that, take it.

Week 11 - 2011 NFL Picks against the spread

2011-11-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

My top 3 NFL picks against the spread this week are:

1) Take the Jets and give 6 points to the Broncos.
2) Take the Patriots and give 15 points to the Chiefs
3) Take the Falcons and give 6 points to the Titans

I also like the Packers minus 14 against Tampa.

Double Play Ratio

2011-09-07T13:59:00.001-07:00

Based on latest stats from baseball-reference.com here are the ratios that the AL teams hit into double plays:

Tm R H 2B 3B HR BB TB GDP HBP DP Ratio SEA 485 1112 220 20 89 390 1639 72 33 0.124352332 TBR 598 1149 244 34 143 476 1890 88 52 0.124822695 NYY 770 1275 228 31 200 544 2165 124 69 0.134199134 CLE 583 1167 248 23 128 428 1845 90 58 0.134328358 TOR 658 1236 250 33 167 444 2053 96 37 0.139332366 BOS 761 1388 306 29 175 513 2277 118 45 0.145859085 OAK 573 1179 256 28 95 459 1776 104 45 0.148997135 TEX 733 1377 278 31 172 422 2233 115 36 0.161971831 MIN 544 1181 225 18 93 382 1721 101 30 0.162903226 KCR 640 1356 287 32 111 412 2040 108 36 0.164133739 CHW 564 1211 213 15 134 392 1856 111 72 0.166666667 DET 671 1332 252 28 141 453 2063 122 29 0.166666667 LAA 583 1220 255 29 131 394 1926 117 42 0.193708609 BAL 593 1231 233 10 164 378 1976 131 45 0.215106732

The DP Ratio is calculated by adding up the number of hits, walks and hit batsmen a team gets, and subtracting the number of doubles, triples and homers, and then dividing this be the number of double plays the team has gotten. Of course, this isn't perfect, as it doesn't take into account the number of times a hitter reaches first base by errors.

The Baltimore Orioles hit into a double play an amazing 21.5% of the time a runner gets to first base. Notice that the Rays and Yankees are only hitting into double plays about 13% of the time.

Why umpires miss most close calls...

2011-09-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'll give you an example... Umpires at first base are too close to see the runner's foot hitting the bag at the same time as the ball hitting the fielders glove, so they rely on being able to hear the ball hitting the glove while watching the base for the runner's foot to hit the bag. This is obviously stupid since many times the ball hitting the glove doesn't make much sound at all. You're much better off moving further away and being able to see both events at the same time. Or alternatively, using video replay. There's also the minor problem that light moves much faster than sound, so even if you're standing 10 feet away from the base there's a time lag of 100th of a second between the time you see the event and the time you hear the event. So, there's almost no way for an umpire to get a close call correct.

How to get your SQL table into the correct order...

2011-08-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Replace t and key below by the correct table name and column (or columns)

create temporary table t2 as select * from t;
delete from t;
insert into t select * from t2 order by key;
drop table t2;

My 2011 All-Star Ballot

2011-05-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

American League:

1B - Konerko, Paul
2B - Cano, Robinson
SS - Cabrera, Asdrubal
3B - Longoria, Evan
C - Wieters, Matt
DH - Guerrero, Vladimir
OF - Bautista, Jose
OF - Gordon, Alex
OF - Markakis, Nick

National League:

1B - Howard, Ryan
2B - Phillips, Brandon
SS - Tulowitzki, Troy
3B - Polanco, Placido
C - Posey, Buster
OF - Berkman, Lance
OF - Bruce, Jay
OF - Kemp, Matt

Playing Santa Teresa Golf Course

2011-05-20T16:20:00.001-07:00

Playing Santa Teresa Golf Course

Santa Teresa is a public golf course in South San Jose, CA. I don't live too far away, so it's the course that I play most frequently. It is pretty crowded, but is pretty well maintained for a city owned course. If you play on the weekend, plan for at least 5 hours. The official site doesn't have much of a description for the holes on the course.

Here's how I get around Santa Teresa Golf Course...

1st hole

It's beyond me why this is considered the toughest hole on the course. This is a reasonably long par 4 dog leg to the left. The fairway is very wide, but extends quite a way out to the left away from corner. There's a big sand trap to the right-front of the green so the approach should be from the right. The perfect drive is a big draw, and I've played with people that have ended up within 100 yards of the green. I don't play a draw, so I normally hit a two or three iron off of the tee to keep the ball down the left side of the fairway, and I'll then have about 175 yards into the green from the left. By keeping the ball way left, you can cut off a significant amount from the stated yardage.

2nd hole

This hole is a pretty fair par five. It isn't that long or narrow, but the approach into the green is narrow, uphill, and heavily bunkered. The tee shot is into a wide fairway that tails a little off to the right. The landing area for the tee shot has a bunker to the right and to the left about 240 yards out, so they don't normally come into play for most people. If you try to go for the green with your second shot, beware, there's lots of trouble waiting for you. There's several bunkers around the green, a lateral water hazard that comes into play along the left side of the fairway up to within about 50 yards of the green, and a road that passes to the left and behind the green. So, I normally don't bother trying for the green with a fairway wood, and instead lay up with an iron so that I can hit a short iron into the green for my third shot.

3rd hole

For me, this is the easiest hole on the course. This is a short (343 yards), dogleg right par 4. You don't want to go to far right, since then you'll have to approach over a trap. So, I try and aim my drive down the left side, and have my fade bring the ball back into the fairway. If I do this right, I end up with about a short iron into the green. I can get a par on this hole more often than not. If you go too far right there's out of bounds and a road. So, just like on number one, try and keep the drive to the left, even though this is a dogleg in the opposite direction from number one.

4th hole

This is a pretty tough hole, that puts a lot of emphasis on a good drive. It is a bit uphill, and many people have a tendency to hit there drives down the right side, even though there's plenty of room down the left. Since this hole is on the boundary of the course, and just to the right is Bernal Road, you'll occasionally see passers by with ball retrievers picking up errant drives that strayed too far to the right, and off of the course. So, keep the drive to the left, and away from the trouble on the right. During the late winter and early spring, there is a depression to the right that fills with water (and ducks), but is not marked as a hazard, so is presumably casual water. So, if you can keep your drive safe, you'll have a pretty easy approach into a generously sized green.

5th hole

This is a short, easy par three that for some reason, I have trouble getting on. It is straight, flat with few bunkers. Make sure that you don't overclub on this hole, since the downhill kick off of the back of the green will take you out of bounds. There is now a sand trap the guards much of the read of the hole, but long and right can still take you out of bounds. After this hole, the waiting after each hole to hit should alleviate, and the pace of play should pick up some.

6th hole

This is a long par 4 that has a dogleg to the left. The fairway runs a little downhill off of the tee, and this downhill picks up as you make the turn on the dogleg after the bunker in the corner. You can get a bit of extra carry off of the tee with a solid drive, especially if you hit a big draw. The approach to the green is significantly easier from the right side of the fairway. If you carry the tee shot past the sand trap then you will probably have a bit of a downhill lie. The green is a little elevated from the fairway, so be cautious with your shot into the green, since the slope on the sides of the green will carry an errant shot well away from the green to either side. Behind the green the slope goes up further towards the 7th tee. The green, which has been recently replaced slopes sharply from the back towards the front.

7th hole

This is another short par three. There was a huge, extremely deep sand trap to the right front of the green which has been sized down significantly, and is now a much more manageable depth. Since the pin will often be placed at the right front, it makes this hole a little less difficult one to go right for. I normally try to fire the ball at a big oak tree just to the left of the green, and let the ball fade in towards the green. The wind is almost always from the left to the right, so that helps bring the ball in as well.

8th hole

Another long straight par 4. The landing area off of the tee is deceptively narrow. The tee area is elevated from the fairway, and the drive must cross a narrow ravine about 40 yards from the tee. There's a fairway trap in the right rough, so there's a tendency to aim to the left which can put you into the left rough, and if you go too far left you can end up out of bounds. There are some trees towards the front left of the green, so the approach is a little easier from the left rather than the right.

9th hole

This is the longest par 4 on the course. Try and avoid the electrical wires (that cross above the fairway) and their supports off the tee. To the right of the fairway is out of bounds towards the par three course. The fairway is quite wide, and there is no real trouble. The green is right next to the clubhouse and putting green, so you can count on a bunch of people there to watch you come in.

10th hole

After you go past the clubhouse and pick up some refreshments, you come to a par four that sweeps a bit around to the right. There are a lot of trees in the right rough, so it is safest to play your drive out to the left, and approach the green from that direction. The green is a bit uphill from the fairway, so allow a bit of extra distance on your approach. The grass on the green is not in real good condition, especially towards the back of the green, so unless the pin is placed at the back (the blue flag indicates this), I'd try and stay near the front of the green.

11th hole

For me this is one of the most difficult holes on the course. It is a big, uphill dogleg right par five. Off of the tee, you can either hit an iron straight down the fairway, or pull out the driver and launch your shot over the trees and a ravine that crosses the fairway. I'd estimate that you need a carry of at least 225 yards on your drive to make it out into the fairway. If you push your drive out to the right too far, you'll be out of bounds, and if you pull your drive to far to the left, you'll be in the ravine. And if you do make it over the ravine, you'll probably still have about 200 yards to get to the green, which is quite a bit up a very steep hill, which makes a nearly impossible to get to the green. So, I will normally take out an iron off of the tee, unless I get a pretty good wind at my back, which does happen more than occasionally. On your second shot, you'll be looking straight up the hill (and on the third shot as well. The fairway is pretty wide, and it narrows a bit as you huff and puff up towards the green.

12th hole

This is a short par 4 that heads back down hill, so your tee is quite elevated from the fairway. You need to get your tee shot over a ravine that crosses the fairway (this is the same one that just crossed the fairway of the 11th hole) that is about 125 yards out. The fairway is a dogleg to the right around a large hill, but if you aim your drive at one of the big oaks at the left side of the hill, you can get very close (within 100 yards or so) to the green. The safer shot is to steer to the left of the hill, and you'll end up with a bit longer to the green. The trick to this hole is the two large oak trees that are guarding the front of the green (one on each side), so if you are too far left or right, you'll have a pretty challenging approach into the green. This is another green that has recently been replaced. It is large and sharply sloped from the back to the front.

13th hole

This straight par 4 has a blind shot from the tee, as there is a small ridge that runs through the fairway around a 100 yards out. There's not much trouble on the hole, but on the other side of the ridge, the fairway has a little jump to the right, so sometimes you'll think that you've hit a drive down the middle, but you're really over in the left rough. So, aim a little further right than you think.

14th hole

This is a short, flat, straight par 3. The green is generously sized, and my recollection says that there is a nice healthy sand trap to the front left of the green.

15th hole

After the third hole, this is the shortest par 4 on the course, and it plays even shorter since the tee is significantly elevated from the fairway. The fairway is sloped a bit from left to right, so if you can aim down the left side then you have a chance of getting a good kick down towards the middle of the fairway. Be careful not too aim too far to the left, since if you go over the slope of the left rough, you'll end up going down the hill onto the 16th fairway.

16th hole

This is a nice little par three, with good views of the valley. The tee is quite elevated from the green. If you are hitting from the normal tees, you can assume that the distance to the green is reduced by at least a club length (probably closer to two lengths). Make sure to pay attention which tee you are on. Sometimes, the white tees are placed in an area about 20 yards in front of the normal distance, so you'd be only 170 yards from the green. Also take caution not to land to the right of the green. The green slopes off very quickly, and you'll get a huge bounce down off to the right, and there's a chance that you bounce off the course, if you're unlucky enough to find the cart path.

17th hole

Now that you're nice and tired, here is the longest hole on the course. The fairway is quite wide and flat, but be careful of the sand trap on the right side of the fairway. Only the longest hitters can go for the green in two shots. So, stay towards the left on your tee shot, and you're a little better approaching the green from the left, since there is some sand in the way from the right, so try and keep your second shot down the left side as well. Do this, and you'll have a nice easy pitch into the green from inside 100 yards.

18th hole

This is a long par 4 (over 400 yards) that plays even longer since the green is a bit uphill. Note also that there is a little tiering of the green, so you don't want to be at the front of the green when the pin is at the back (or vice versa). There's is not much trouble (other than the length and uphill green) on this hole, so feel free to bang away.

Strange Interview Question

2011-04-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

Another interview question... You're in a room with many other people. Everyone in the room is wearing a hat that's either red or blue. Every minute a bell rings, and if you are sure that you are wearing a blue hat, you raise your hand and you win a prize. If you raise your hand and are wrong, you are punished. And you can't actually look at your hat...

Scroll down if you need to see the answer...

If you look around the room, and all you see is red hats, then you must have a blue one. If you look around the room, and you only see one blue hat, and all the rest are red, but after the first bell the person with the blue hat didn't raise their hand, you must have a blue one on too!. If you look around the room, and you only see two blue hats, and all the rest are red, but even after the second bell the people with the blue hats didn't raise their hands, you must have a blue one on too!. Extrapolating that, if you look around the room, and you only see "n" blue hats, and all the rest are red, but even after the nth bell the people with the blue hats didn't raise their hands, you must have a blue one on too.

2011 Fantasy Baseball Draft

2011-03-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

In my Fantasy League which includes 16 teams, we get to keep 10 players from last year for this year's roster of 25 players. My keepers from 2010 are:

Tim Lincecum
Matt Cain
Clayton Kershaw
David Price
Carlos Santana
Justin Morneau
Dustin Pedroia
Evan Longoria
Pedro Alvarez
Nick Markakis

My draft started slowly... Somehow, I thought that I'd tested connecting from work, but apparently not. I had to make a dash at 4:30 to the local coffee shop so that I could use their wireless network. By the time I got there, and got set up, Brandon Belt had already been auto-drafted for me. It was a little bit of a surprise, as I'd ranked several players in front of him. I was really hoping to get Corey Hart, but Belt will probably work out better.

My main goals for the draft were to get more power potential, get decent production again from the SS position, and pick up a couple of closers. Last year, I had Stephen Drew as my SS for the year, and I was pretty happy with his performance. The only problem was that he began to sit against most left handed pitchers after the DBacks got Gibson as the manager. So, in 2011, I figured that I could get someone at least as good as Drew with a little more power. I decided to focus on Juan Uribe and Miguel Tejada as my targets. I figured that they'd last a while, so I could concentrate on some outfield power and closers for a while.

So, after I got Belt in the 11th round, I concetrated on closers. In the 12th round, I got Valverde, one of my closers from 2010, and next I picked up the Marlins closer Leo Nunez. Nunez may not get as many opportunities as other closers, but he's pretty effective. Hopefully, the Marlins will keep him as their closer. Valverde was very effective in 2010, but he was nagged by injuries here and there. If he's healthy all year (and that's a big if), he will get close to 40 saves for the Tigers.

Now, I turned my attention to some outfield power, and grabbed Jason Kubel from the Twins and Ryan Raburn from the Tigers. Kubel will be useful even if his 2011 is somewhere between his very 2009 season, and his more pedestrian 2010. Even so, he did hit 21 homers in 2010, and I'd definitely take that for this season. I picked Raburn up in midseason 2010, and he was amazing down the stretch. He really picked up the slack after Pedroia, Morneau and Santana all will down in rapid fire succession last year. I'm hoping for a repeat performance in 2011, but it will be interesting to see how he performs in his first full season as a starter.

I had been hoping to get Rajai Davis to get some steals, but he went much earlier than I'd expected (12th round), so I took the next best thing and get Michael Bourn from the Astros in the 16th round. He should easily get me 50 steals leading off for Houston. Next, I turned my attention to the Shortstop position, and as expected both Tejada and Uribe were still available. I went for Uribe, since he'll be eligible at multiple positions. Both should put up similar numbers. I predict both will hit around .260 and hit 20 homers. Tejada actually lasted until the 23rd round. Now, it was the 18th round, and the pickings were starting to get pretty slim. I needed a few more relievers, and at least one more outfielder. So, I grabbed Will Venable, who's a good power speed guy who should bat at the top of the order in San Diego.

My league unfortunately uses holds as a stat, so I looked into who could get some holds. But, this stat is so random from one year to the next, I decided to not waste too much effort on it, and just see who's near the top of the reliever depth charts once the season starts. So, I grabbed the Angels setup guy Fernando Rodney in the 19th round, and the Cardinals setup guy Jason Motte in the 22nd round. In between, I grabbed a couple of decent starting pitchers in Dallas Braden from the A's and Wade Davis from the Rays. The coffee shop closed at 6pm, so I set up my rankings just to get some more starting pitchers, and ended up with Barry Zito, Homer Bailey and Jon Garland. It's unlikely that any of these three will log many innings for me, but you never know how things will work out.

All in all, I'm happy with the draft. I was able to augment my protected players with some decent power numbers, I got my two closers, and my shortstop isn't awful.

ASBBO Fantasy Baseball All Time Standings

2011-03-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

			‘02	‘03	‘04	‘05	‘06	‘07	‘08	‘09	‘10	Average
1	Lizards	(B)	3	1	5	1	4	1	4	1	2	2.45
	2.Georgia	(F)	2	5	2	3	3	9	8	3	3	4.23
3	Smack	(C)	6	6	1	4	1	3	7	2	13	4.78
4	Stones	(A)	1	2	4	5	2	2	3	11	14	4.89
5	Elkton	(D)	8.5	8	8	2	9	5	1	10	5	6.28
6	Rockets	(H)	4	3	14	7.5	5	10	5	8	15	7.95
7	Grim Riders	(G)	---	4	6	10	6	4	13	12	9	8
8	Greenbats	(I)	10	10	3	16	11	7	6	4	6	8.12
9	Rejects	(E)	14	12	13	6	7	6	11	5	1	8.34
10	Gurky	(J)	7	7	7	9	8	14	16	9	4	9
10	Mendoza	(O)	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	7	11	9
12	4 Aces	(M)	---	15	9	7.5	10	15	9	15	8	11.07
13	Evil Empire	(N)	---	---	11	15	12	12	10	13	7	11.43
14	Camden	(K)	8.5	14	10	14	14	16	15	6	12	12.17
15	Amish	(L)	11	13	12	13	16	13	14	16	9	13
16	Hoiles	(P)	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	-------

2011 Giants

2011-03-01T18:44:00.000-08:00

Here's why the 2011 season will be interesting:

- Will we get the good Aubrey Huff of 2010 or the bad one from 2009, when he almost couldn't get a job?
His 2007 and 2009 were similar. I bet that we get the Aubrey Huff.
- Will we get the good Pat Burrell of the Phillies or the bad one from the Rays?
I will be (pleasantly) surprised if Burrell gives us anything close to what he gave us last year.
- Will we get the first half Buster Posey when he was hitting .355 at the end of July, or the second half one that hit .255 the rest of the way?
If Bochy is able to give him some rest along the way, we should see more of the first half Posey than the second half. I'm concerned with the lack of a decent hitting backup. Will they go with Whiteside again? Holm?
- Will Pablo keep his weight off, and play like he did in 2009, or was 2010 the real Pablo?
I'm optimistic that Pablo will be back to hitting .300 like he did before. I blame 2010 more on Sophomore slump and frustration than anything else.
- Will Jonathan Sanchez finally discover some consistency? Or will he continue to frustrate the fans with a mixture of wild bad games, interspersed throughout the season?
This is the big question. We've seen him be dominant, and then we've seen him unable to throw strikes. I have no idea about this one.
- Will Madison Bumgarner experience a sophomore slump or will he build on his great rookie season?
Sophomore slump seems inevitable, but you never know.
- Will the Giants starting rotation continue to stay healthy?
Cain, Lincecum and Zito have all proven to be innings eaters. Bumgarner and Sanchez are more question marks.
- Who is that guy, and what did they do with the real Cody Ross?
- Will Freddy Sanchez be recovered from his wrist surgery? Ditto Mark DeRosa?
There's no reason to believe that Sanchez won't come back to his usual .280 - .290 with solid defense. Anything that DeRosa contributes is a big plus after last year.
- Will they miss any of the guys from 2010 that they lost?
This seems to be a big NO to me. Some people are worried about Uribe and Renteria (post-season wise), but I don't see it. Tejada's at least as good as Uribe, and I'll worry about the post-season when we get there.

Freeing a singly linked list in C

2010-12-08T14:40:00.000-08:00


struct list {
    char           *value;
    struct list    *next;
};


void free_list(struct list *pv) {
    struct list *p = pv;
    while (p) {
        if (p->value) {
            free(p->value);
        }
        p = p->next;
        free(pv);
        pv = p;
    }
}

AL Rookie of the Year

2010-11-15T12:17:00.001-08:00

Looks like they screwed this one up too. I'm not a big fan of giving these awards to relievers. Feliz participated in about 4% of his team's innings. Was he that much better than an average closer? It's best to vote for position players or starting pitchers, as they have a much more significant impact on the team's overall season. Austin Jackson was clearly the best candidate. At least they got it right in the NL. Posey was the right choice, though you could probably make a decent (though incorrect) argument for Heyward.

AL Gold Gloves

2010-11-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

If I were voting, here's who I'd choose (since I know you're interested).
C - I'm not sure how you can give the gold glove to Mauer when he doesn't throw anyone out anymore. Of the few full time catchers in the AL, Wieters clearly has the best arm. It won't be long before he starts collecting gold gloves. He deserved it this year. He should begin to get some consideration soon.
1B - Teixera is a nice first baseman, but his range is not what it used to be either. Daric Barton of the A's is a marvelous 1st baseman with terrific range, and he really deserved the award.
2B - Cano, Hudson or Ellis would all be viable choices at 2nd. I would probably have voted for Cano as well.
SS - Jeter's selection is clearly wrong. He's a statue out there. Elvis Andrus was the obvious choice. I wonder how close the voting was.
3B - Evan Longoria is a good choice here. He has some competition from Beltre and Kouzmanoff. However, I don't think any of them could give Brooks Robinson a run for his money.
OF - Franklin Gutierrez is a wizard out there, and they got this one right. He's head and shoulders above every other outfielder in the AL.
OF - Adam Jones didn't win the award again. He's got great range, was 2nd in the league in assists, but just had too many errors I guess. I really liked the job that Brett Gardner did in Left Field for the Yankees. He seems to be quite a gifted outfielder. He'll likely be patrolling CF there soon.
OF - BJ Upton would be my third choice for the OF GG. His range is much better than Ichiro's, and though he doesn't have a great arm, he gets to everything.

Giants Awful Contracts for 2011

2010-08-30T01:14:00.000-07:00

Zito $18.5 million
Rowand $12.0 million
Renteria $0.5 million buyout
DeRosa $6.0 million
Affeldt $4.5 million
-----------------------------
Totals $41.5 million

With these commitments, I wonder if they'll be able to resign any of the pending free agents. What will happen to Burrell, Huff and Uribe who they'll probably want to resign. I can't imagine that Ross, Guillen and Renteria will be tendered contracts or offered arbitration.

Della Reese said all you need to know...

2010-08-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.rosswalker.co.uk/movie_sounds/sounds_files_20100522_76672091/harlem_nights/kiss.wav

Fantasy Baseball Slump...

2010-08-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

First it was Pedroia and Morneau... then Andrew Bailey went down, and now Carlos Santana is on the DL. Saw the highlight of him getting run into at home plate last night. It was really ugly! As Della Reese would say: "Ryan Kalish can kiss my entire ass!"

Using a Simple C Macro inside another Simple C Macro

2009-11-25T12:08:00.001-08:00

SOmetimes in C code, you want to put a macro inside another one. You have a string macro that you've defined for use in your code, and you also want to use it to create another string for insertion into a database table. So, you can do the following...

#define SQL_NAME "COLUMN VALUE 1"

#define TAG_INSERT "insert into master (name, type) VALUES "\
"(\' "\
SQL_NAME \
"\', 2)"

Giants plans for 2010

2009-10-26T17:50:00.001-07:00

I don't think that the Giants will make any major news in the Free Agent area for 2010. They will be pretty tight in the salary area, and won't know their exact budget until Lincecum's and Wilson's arbitration hearings or contract signings. I expect that they will be owed around $15 million combined for 2010. They may want to sign Penny to a contract, but he should be long gone by the time Lincecum and Wilson are signed. Let's say some team in need of veteran pitching, like the Orioles, offers him 3 years and $30 million, there's no way the Giants can match that, without knowing the impact of the arbitration.

So, the Giants will probably sit tight with a rotation of Lincecum, Cain, Zito, Sanchez and Bumgarner for 2010.

The only real move that I foresee is that the Giants will exercise Freddy Sanchez' option for 2010. They certainly don't have a better option at 2nd base, and if they don't exercise the option, then Sabean will look like an idiot for trading away Alderson.

They'll probably not resign Bengie either, and will hand the catcher's spot to Posey. Winn will not be resigned either. So, your starting lineup for 2010 will be:

C: Posey
1B: Ishikawa/Garko (platoon)
2B: Sanchez
3B: Sandoval
SS: Renteria
OF: Rowand
OF: Velez
OF: Schierholtz
UT: Uribe

I guess that Whiteside will be back as 2nd string catcher, which leaves two open spots on the roster. We'll probably see Fred Lewis back as the 4th outfielder, and Bowker as the 5th outfielder who can also play first.

Giants Centerfielder

2009-09-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Who would you rather have now, Aaron Rowand at $12 million per year, or Rajai Davis who the Giants released last year?

Rowand .264/.320/.428, 15 HRs, 63 RBIs, and 1 SB. RF/9: 2.44.
Davis: .317/.374/.437, 3 HRs, 47 RBIs, and 40 SBs. RF/9: 2.9.

Oops. I sure hope Rowand rebounds next year.

Giants Salary Changes for 2010

2009-09-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

Fitz and Brooks were talking about the Giants salary savings for next year. I looked into it, and the savings are not that great. Here's what I figure:

Subtractions:

Dave Roberts: 6.5
Randy Johnson: 8.0
Randy Winn: 8.25
Bengie Molina: 6.0
Noah Lowry: 4.5

Additions:

Edgar Renteria: 2.0
Freddy Sanchez: 8.0
Jeremy Affeldt: 1.0
Matt Cain: 1.6
Tim Lincecum: ~4.0
Brian Wilson: ~4.0
Jonathan Sanchez: ~2.0
Ryan Garko: ~1.0

Lincecum, Wilson and Sanchez are all eligible for arbitration (I think). It also looks like Brandon Medders and Justin Miller will be eligible for arbitration too, though
I wouldn't think that they'd get huge raises.

Approximate net savings = 33.25 - 23.6 = 9.8 million.

Pablo Sandoval will probably be a super two and be eligible for arbitration in 2011. The Giants should also plan for him getting a big raise in 2011.

SQLite sample code

2009-06-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

#include

#include "sqlite3.h"

static int callback(void *NotUsed, int argc, char **argv, char **azColName){
int i;
for(i=0; i
printf("%s = %s\n", azColName[i], argv[i] ? argv[i] : "NULL");
}
printf("\n");
return 0;
}

int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
int rc = 0;
sqlite3 *pDB = 0;
char *createTable = "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS T (ID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, Y, Z)";
char *insertStmt1 = "INSERT INTO T VALUES (1, 2, 3);";
char *insertStmt2 = "INSERT INTO T VALUES (2, 2, 3);";
char *szErrMsg = 0;

rc = sqlite3_open("foo.db", &pDB);
if ( rc != SQLITE_OK )
{
printf("Failed to open/create database foo\n");
return -1;
}
printf("Database foo opened successfully.\n");

rc = sqlite3_exec(pDB, createTable, callback, 0, &szErrMsg);
if( rc != SQLITE_OK ){
fprintf(stderr, "%s: SQL error: %s\n", createTable, szErrMsg);
sqlite3_free(szErrMsg);
}

rc = sqlite3_exec(pDB, insertStmt1, callback, 0, &szErrMsg);
if( rc != SQLITE_OK ){
fprintf(stderr, "%s: SQL error: %s\n", insertStmt1, szErrMsg);
sqlite3_free(szErrMsg);
}

rc = sqlite3_exec(pDB, insertStmt2, callback, 0, &szErrMsg);
if( rc != SQLITE_OK ){
fprintf(stderr, "%s: SQL error: %s\n", insertStmt2, szErrMsg);
sqlite3_free(szErrMsg);
}

rc = sqlite3_exec(pDB, "select count(*) from t", callback, 0, &szErrMsg);
if( rc != SQLITE_OK ){
fprintf(stderr, "BEGIN TRANSACTION: SQL error: %s\n", szErrMsg);
sqlite3_free(szErrMsg);
}

rc = sqlite3_exec(pDB, "select * from t", callback, 0, &szErrMsg);
if( rc != SQLITE_OK ){
fprintf(stderr, "BEGIN TRANSACTION: SQL error: %s\n", szErrMsg);
sqlite3_free(szErrMsg);
}

rc = sqlite3_close(pDB);
if ( rc != SQLITE_OK )
{
printf("Failed to close database foo\n");
return -1;
}
printf("Database foo closed successfully.\n");
return 0;
}

How to recursively touch files in current directory

2009-03-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

Touch will update the access and modify time of a file, but it doesn't have a flag to descend recursively into subdirectories.

So, to do that, you have to use the find command to start the subtree walk, and have it call touch.

find . -exec touch {} \;

will do the trick!!!

Dodgers vs. Giants

2009-03-08T09:08:00.001-07:00

I was listening to Fitz and Brooks Friday (3/6/09), and a caller called in to talk about the Dodgers signing Manny, and how much better the Dodgers were than the Giants now. Fitz and Brooks disagreed with the caller, and challenged the caller to name one other hitter in the Dodgers lineup. I'm in my car talking to the radio telling the caller some names, but unfortunately, he can't think of any, and somehow that proved Fitz and Brooks' point. So now I'm wondering if they're right. So, here's what I came up with:

Dodgers Lineup Giants Lineup
============== =============
C - Martin C - Molina
1B - Loney 1B - Ishikawa
2B - Hudson 2B - Frandsen/Burriss
3B - Blake 3B - Sandoval
SS - Furcal SS - Renteria
LF - Ramirez LF - Lewis
CF - Kemp CF - Rowand
RF - Ethier RF - Winn

So, I'd make it a tossup at catcher, and give an edge on 3B to the Giants (if Sandoval can come close to what he did at the end of last year). But offensively, I think that the other 6 positions are on the Dodgers side. I think on the defensive side that the Giants have the edge, except at SS where Furcal is probably better than Renteria. In the discussion, Fitz and Brooks didn't talk about pitching, but I'll bring it up. Here's my guess at the rotations.

Dodgers Pitchers Giants Pitchers
================ ===============
S1 - Billingsley S1 - Lincecum
S2 - Kershaw S2 - Cain
S3 - Kuroda S3 - Johnson
S4 - Wolf S4 - Zito
S5 - Schmidt (?) S5 - Sanchez/Lowry
CL - Broxton CL - Wilson

Lincecum is clearly better than any of the Dodgers pitchers, but Billingsley is probably better than any of the other Giants pitchers. I'm optimistic that Cain will have a breakthrough year, and Kershaw is supposed to be the next real thing, but who knows? If Johnson can stay healthy at 45, and replicate what he did last year in Arizona, he'll be at least as good as Kuroda, maybe better. I'm just concerned about his durability. I know longer have any confidence in Zito to be anything but awful. I'd originally thought that he had a good 2nd half last year, but I checked out his 2nd half starts, and they were an improvement over the first half, but they were still pretty bad. So, I'll give the edge to the Dodgers on this one. Sanchez was pretty bad the 2nd half last year, but maybe it was a result of the injuries, and he'll bounce back. Schmidt or whoeve the Dodgers throw out in the 5th spot will probably be worse than Sanchez, right? I'd say that the closer position is pretty equal. Both Wilson and Broxton seem pretty good. So, it seems like the pitching is a tossup to me. Lincecum is the only clear plus for the Giants, Wolf is the only clear plus for the Dodgers. Hopefully, we'll get to see Bumgarner in a Giants uniform soon (maybe in 2009?).

Base one computing

2009-02-10T19:06:00.001-08:00

consider a computer that has two "states": even and odd. it's reads an input tape, and ends up in a state that tells you if the input tape contained a number that was even or odd.

the input tape contains a string of zeroes. the input alphabet is base 1. the only digit in base 1 is a zero. so, one zero is the number 1, two zeroes is the number 2, etc. you with me so far?

good. so, the computer starts off in the state "even" and reads one digit at a time. each time it reads a digit, it changes states. either it goes from even to odd or odd back to even.

thus after the computer has read all of the digits on the input tape, it will end up in the proper state, and tell you whether the number of the input tape was even or odd

Where did all the good jobs go?

2008-07-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Just curious...

The results are in

2008-06-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

I got my report from superior. It was somewhat disappointing. My returns are about 70% of estimated retail value for the coins. That's after taking into account Superior's take from buyer's and seller's premiums. I think the premium's total about 20%. Their catalog looked nice, but I thought that their estimates were a little low, and I'm sure that they didn't do much beyond making the pretty catalog to promote anything. Such is life. You'd hope for a little more, but I guess they only do that for the really valuable collections. They seem to be better than Heritage, at least.

About my trimes that I sold

2008-06-10T01:43:00.000-07:00

My main collecting interest for a long time has been 3 cent silver pieces. Over the years, I've assembled a complete set of them by date (and mint mark, i.e. it includes a nice 1851-O
specimen). For a variety of reasons, I've decided to put it up for sale. I've occasionally sold things by the ones and twos on eBay myself, but selling my collection is something more suited to the professional numismatists. To that end, I consigned it to the Superior Pre-Long Beach Sale. Since I spent the better part of 15 years assembling the collection, and I was frequently adding new coins, or upgrading ones that I already owned with somewhat nicer specimens, I figured I write up a little bit about my collection, and some of my favorites.

I'd collected coins while growing up in New Orleans in the 1970's, but
stopped for a while when I went to college, and started working. I
finally went back to it in the early to mid 1990's. I had been
carrying boxes of whitman folders, etc. around and started going
through the old stuff to reminisce. One of the coins that I came
across was a nice AU 1851-O 3 cent piece. For whatever reason, it
intrigued me more than the other items that I'd assembled. I had many
copper and silver coins from lots or different series. So, I decided
to learn more about the series, and assemble as nice a collection as I
could.

As I added to my collection, I was able to decide that I was mostly
concerned with the strike of the coin, and then looked at the toning
or lack thereof as an important though secondary concern. I happily
noticed that my old 1851-O piece had a very nice strike, as opposed to
most of the New Orleans coins. I determine strike by looking at
several main features on the coin.

- are the vertical and horizontal lines on the shield within the star
on the obverse of the coin clear and distinct, or are they flattened
somewhat?
- Are the letters along the obverse rim bold or mushy?
- Are the stars along the reverse rim bold with the raised interior
lines, or are they flat and mushy?
- On type II pieces (1854-1858), are the obverse shield outlines clear
and complete, or are they missing at some places?

Unfortunately, even in higher grades, you'll see weak strikes. I have
a total of 35 coins up for auction with Superior. All of them are in
slabs from NGC, PCGS or a few in ANACS. When I bought them raw, I
mostly sent them in to ANACS for grading. The only one that I never
saw up for sale or auction was an 1869/8 proof. The last time that I
checked, the NGC population report only had 4 or 5 of these graded.
Not all of the three cent silver pieces in the pre-Long Beach auction
are mine. They have a couple of MS67, and I never had a coin graded
that high. I had a couple of MS66s that are included here. Most of
the coins are in the 3 cent pieces section:

http://www.sgbh.com/Shop/Control/fp/cat/32612/SFV/30298/order/asc/ord...

The pattern and the mint error are in the separate category. Superior
did a really good job of imaging and presenting the coins.

Here are some highlights:

1851-O MS64 - This is the best struck New Orleans trime that I ever
saw. I looked at many MS65 specimens that weren't as nice as this
one. I was very excited when I came across it. I already have one in
the same grade, but the one up for auction made the previous one I had
look like a piece of junk. Notice the obverse shield lines, and the
well struck stars on the reverse.

1851-O MS63 - Interesting planchet defect on this guy. A large part
of the right obverse shows the "crack" in the planchet. I'm not sure
how it ended up looking like this. I'm guessing that some part of the
planchet flaked off or something prior to striking, but I could be
wrong.

1852 MS 62 - Even though it is a lower grade, this is still pretty
interesting. It has a strongly repunched Date, and it's not listed in
Breen or the Cherrypickers Guide, and unfortunately not even in the
lot description :(. A nice close up of the date is in the little
article I wrote on the 1852 date varieties: http://www.trimeguy.com/1852dates.html

Type II pieces - My 1854 - 1858 MS pieces are all nicely struck, and
with the exception of the 1855, which is in a PCGS MS 62 holder, are
all graded MS 64. There's a big jump in prices to get a type II
piece in MS 65, and I could never justify it. I think that mine are
all really well struck for the variety, and most Type IIs are not.
I'm not sure why the 1855 is only graded MS62, but I never tried to
resbmit it, even though I thought that it was way nicer than many
others that I saw in higher grades. It's probably because I look
first at strike, and maybe the grading services don't.

1858 PF 62 - This is the earliest "affordable" proof year.
Supposedly, there were only 75-80 proofs struck in this date, and I
felt lucky to get this one. There are no obvious distracting marks,
and it's nicely toned, so I always thought it should have graded
higher.

1859 PF 65 Cameo - I bought this one at the Santa Clara show a few
years ago. Hopefully, I didn't drool too much on the dealers table.
If memory serves, I bought it from Gary Adkins, who came all the way
from Minnesota. This one, and the 1871 Cameo are as nice looking as
modern cameos, and they weren't even trying to make them back then.
I'll be surprised if this doesn't sell for over their estimate. You
rarely see 1859 proofs this nice, with such a pretty cameo.

1862/1 MS 66 (Richmond) - This is one of two MS 66s that I had. The
other one is an 1852. This is a beautiful coin, with almost no
toning, and a fabulous strike. I'd honestly never noticed the clashed
die. If you ever wonder about the term "full mint luster", just look
at this guy! I sure wish I had the chance to look at other coins from
the Richmond collection. If this one is any indication, that
collection must have been something!

1863 PF 64 - This was always one of my favorites, since it was the
first slabbed coin that I bought. I got it from Heritage at least 10
years ago. After studying the series, I decided that this one was
undergraded, so I resubmitted it to NGC when the ANA show was out here
in San Francisco. Unfortunately, I must have done something wrong,
and they just reholdered it.

1863/2 PF 64 - The overdate proof variety. Supposedly was struck in
1864. I like this one for the story.

1866 PF 64 - This one just has really cool green and blue toning. I
never saw another one like this.

1866 AU Details - This guy has a few light scratches, but the major
damage is a slight punch, not a hole. It looks like someone started
to make a hole, but didn't try real hard, and then gave up. It's not
easily visible in the holder, and Superior didn't mention it, but it's
there. This is still a nice coin, and very rare since most of the
1863-1872 business strikes were melted.

1867 PF 64 - I always thought that this one should have been
designated Cameo

1868 MS 62 - Another nice type III business strike that somehow
survived the melting pot.

1871 MS 65 - Beautiful strike, blast white coin. I got this one from
John Macintosh at the Santa Clara Show many years ago. Macintosh is a
good guy, and quite the talker, but I wish he didn't hold his
Sacramento show on the same day as my coin club show.

1871 PF 65 Cameo - As nice a Cameo as on the 1859, but this coin has
less toning, so the Cameo is much more appealing to the eye. The edge
of the coin has a slight pink toning which really adds to the beauty.

1872 PF 63 - I bought this one raw too, and sent it in to ANACS for
grading. If you want a good buy in three cent pieces, look for coins
in the older ANACS holders. They were always the most conservative of
the three grading services for three cent pieces, and yet the prices
are cheaper.

1873 - PF 64 - This is a proof only year, and whenever I brought this
one in for show and tell at my coin club meeting, I got plenty of oohs
and ahhs! Nice cameo contrast (not noted on the holder, since it's
not complete), and awesome toning. Another one that I resubmitted to
NGC for regrading, but they just reholdered. It had been in a really
old NGC holder.

Type II Off center - I only ever saw one other off center three cent
silver piece. That one was on Weinberg's table at the Santa Clara
show. His was a nicer piece, not in MS, but with the date showing,
and no scratches. Mine was well circulated, though I think that it's
nicer than the F grade on the NCS holder, and has scratches on it, and
unfortunately has no date. Weinberg was asking $10,000 for his. I
felt lucky to get mine for $2,000 or so many years ago. Look for this
one in the Errors category.

1850 Pattern - I always liked this piece's design. The Liberty Cap
design with the Palm frond on the reverse is really cool. The obverse
isn't struck as well as I'd like, but it's still pretty nice. I'd
always wanted one of these, and was finally able to find a nice one
four or five years ago. The other pattern that I really liked, but I
never found one cheap enough was the 1870 Liberty Searted Pattern.
Look for this one in the Patterns category.

That's the higlights! I really enjoyed putting this collection
together, and I'm not sure what I'll do now.

Sold most of my trimes

2008-06-10T01:36:00.000-07:00

I consigned my collection with Superior, so now I don't have a trime collection. It was fun accumulating and learning about them over the years. Now, I have to find something else. Not sure what it will be next though.

Powerseller

2007-12-11T14:59:00.000-08:00

eBay has just anointed me with the esteemed honor of Bronze level Power Seller, and I barely sell anything.

Check this out!

Equalogic?

2007-11-06T17:17:00.001-08:00

How can EquaLogic possibly be worth $1.4 billion?!?!?

Night Owl Explorer Pro 5x Night Vision Scope

2007-08-02T18:53:00.001-07:00

Since I moved up into the Los Gatos Mountains, I decided that I need to take a look and see the night time wildlife. So, I ordered this scope from Amazon. I'm looking forward to trying it out next week when it gets in.

Latest purchase

2007-05-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

Just got a 1922 (Plain) Die Pair 2.