2/16/12 Morning OT
by Pith on Feb 16, 2012 3:04 AM CST
Second all-nighter of the week...it doesn't get much better, folks!
| 1924 | Boston Braves' third baseman Tony Boeckel becomes the first major leaguer to be killed in an automobile accident when he dies from injuries received as an passenger yesterday in San Diego. Yankee outfielder Bob Meusel, also a passenger of the car driven by L.A. theater man Bob Albright, escapes without any serious injuries. |
| 1950 | Former Giants Mel Ott and Bill Terry are the top vote getters, but fail to be elected into the Hall of Fame. |
| 1952 | After 40 years in the major leagues as a player and coach, Honus Wagner retires. The 'Flying Dutchman' will receive a pension from the Pirates. |
| 1953 | Brooklyn, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia participate in a four-way trade that sends five players to new clubs. Joe Adcock (Reds) and Jim Pendleton (Dodgers) will now play for the Braves, Earl Torgeson (Braves) goes to the Phillies, Rocky Bridges (Dodgers) is now a Red, with Russ Meyer (Phillies) joining the Dodgers. |
| 1967 | Red Ruffing, as a result of getting the most votes in a run-off election, is selected to be in the the Hall of Fame. The writers, who did not did not initially elect anyone, gives the nod to the former Yankee pitcher, author of 273 major league wins, as the top vote-getter on the second ballot that listed the 20 players with the highest percentage. |
| 1989 | Orel Hershiser becomes baseball's first three-million dollar man when he signs a three-year $7.9 million contract with the Dodgers. The 'Bulldog' will earn $3,166,167 in 1991. |
| 1996 | General Mills announces a special edition Wheaties cereal box honoring Negro League superstars Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and 'Cool Papa' Bell. |
| 2001 | Yankee premier reliever, Mariano Rivera (7-4, 2.85 , 36 saves) signs a four-year approximately $40 million contract with the Bronx Bombers. The 31-year old Panama native surpassed Dennis Eckersley major league record with 16 saves in post-season games. |
| 2003 | Although banned by major league baseball for a Cooperstown induction, Pete Rose becomes a member of the Ted Williams Hitters Hall of Fame. 'Charlie Hustle' joins 1998 inductee Shoeless Joe Jackson, who is also banned from becoming a member of the Hall of Fame. |
| 2007 | Baseballl’s Playing Rules Committee approves several changes making it the first time since 1996 that the rules of the game has been altered. A ten game suspension for a player who scuffs a baseball, elimination of tie games which must be halted (after the fifth inning) due to weather by resumng the game before the next schedule start at the same ballpark, players may no longer go into a dugout to make a catch, and allowing pitchers to wear undistracting multicolored glove are among new rules which will start this season. |
| 2011 | Speaking to reporters at the Phillies' spring training complex, a tearful Dallas Green, former big league manager and senior adviser to general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., thanks everyone for their support after the shooting death of his granddaughter. Nine-year old Christina Taylor Green was one of six victims killed five weeks ago in a shooting rampage outside of a Tucson supermarket. |
235 commentsOT: Vegas Baby - 30th Birthday
by peachygbc_1 on Feb 15, 2012 6:05 PM CST
OT III
by I am Neftali Feliz on Feb 15, 2012 5:05 PM CST
wiki:
Urine drug screen
When an employer requests a drug test from an employee, or a physician requests a drug test from a patient, the employee or patient is typically instructed to go to a collection site or their home. The patient or employee’s urine is collected at a remote location in a specially designed secure cup, sealed with tamper-resistant tape, and sent via express delivery service to a testing laboratory to be screened for drugs (typically SAMHSA 5 panel). The first step at the testing site is to split the urine into two aliquots. One aliquot is first screened for drugs using an analyzer that performs immunoassay as the initial screen. If the urine screen is positive then another aliquot of the sample is used to confirm the findings by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) methodology. If requested by the physician or employer, certain drugs are screened for individually; these are generally drugs part of a chemical class that are, for one of many reasons, considered more abuse-prone or of concern. For instance, this is, due to their wide recreational use[citation needed] (much more than similar drugs), done to oxycodone and diamorphine, both sedative analgesics. If such a test is not requested specifically, the more general test (in the preceding case, the test for opiates) will detect the drugs, but the employer or patient will not have the benefit of the identity of the drug.
Employment-related test results are relayed to an MRO (Medical Review Office) where a medical physician reviews the results. If the result of the screen is negative, the MRO informs the employer that the employee has no detectable drug in the urine. However, if the test result of the immunoassay and GC-MS are non-negative and show a concentration level of parent drug or metabolite above the established limit, the MRO contacts the employee to determine if there is any legitimate reason – such as a medical treatment or prescription. If the test results are for other reasons, the testing laboratory will instead contact the physician who ordered the test.[citation needed]
On-site instant drug testing is becoming more widely used in those jurisdictions allowing it[citation needed] (such as some states of the USA) as a more cost-efficient method of effectively detecting drug abuse amongst employees, as well as in rehabilitation programs to monitor patient progress.[citation needed] These instant tests can be used for both urine and saliva testing. Although the accuracy of such tests varies with the manufacturer, some kits boast extremely high rates of accuracy, correlating closely with laboratory test results.[citation needed]
[edit] Hair testing
Main article: Hair analysis
Hair analysis to detect drugs of abuse have been used by UK and Canadian courts,[citation needed] and hair testing for alcohol markers is now recognised in both the UK and US judicial systems. There are guidelines for hair testing that have been published by the Society of Hair Testing that specify the markers to be tested for and the cutoff concentrations that need to be tested. There are only a few UKAS ISO17025 accredited laboratories in the UK including Tricho Tech based in Cardiff and Alpha Biolaboratories based in Warrington, UK. Drugs of abuse that can be detected include Cannabis, Cocaine, Amphetamines and drugs new to the UK such as Mephedrone.
The hair follicle test is growing in popularity because it is less invasive than a urine screen, it is harder to falsify or tamper with the specimen, and the detection window is extended to roughly three months. Hair for testing can be collected from anywhere on the body, so the test can be utilized even when someone is bald or shaves their head. Because body hair grows at a different rate than head hair, some people[who?] have made the correlation that drug use can be detected in body hair for up to 12 months.
[edit] Alcohol
In contrast to other drugs consumed, alcohol is not deposited directly in the hair. For this reason the investigation procedure looks for direct products of ethanol metabolism. The main part of alcohol is oxidized in the human body. This means it is released as water and carbon dioxide. One part of the alcohol reacts with fatty acids to produce esters. The sum of the concentrations of four of these fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs: ethyl myristate, ethyl palmitate, ethyl oleate and ethyl stearate) are used as indicators of the alcohol consumption. The amounts found in hair are measured in nanograms (one nanogram equals only one billionth of a gram), however with the benefit of modern technology, it is possible to detect such small amounts. In the detection of ethyl glucuronide, or EtG, testing can detect amounts in picograms (one picogram equals 0.001 nanograms).
However there is one major difference between most drugs and alcohol metabolites in the way in which they enter into the hair: on the one hand like other drugs FAEEs enter into the hair via the keratinocytes, the cells responsible for hair growth. These cells form the hair in the root and then grow through the skin surface taking any substances with them. On the other hand the sebaceous glands produce FAEEs in the scalp and these migrate together with the sebum along the hair shaft (Auwärter et al., 2001, Pragst et al., 2004). So these glands lubricate not only the part of the hair that is just growing at 0.3 mm per day on the skin surface, but also the more mature hair growth, providing it with a protective layer of fat.
FAEEs (nanogram = one billionth of a gram) appear in hair in almost one order of magnitude lower than (the relevant order of magnitude of) EtG (picogram = one trillionth of a gram). It has been technically possible to measure FAEEs since 1993, and the first study reporting the detection of EtG in hair was done by Sachs in 1993.[10]
In practice, most hair which is sent for analysis has been cosmetically treated in some way (bleached, permed etc.). It has been proven that FAEEs are (surprisingly) not significantly affected by such treatments (Hartwig et al., 2003a). FAEE concentrations in hair from other body sites can be interpreted in a similar fashion as scalp hair (Hartwig et al., 2003b).
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LSB DFW Dynasty Keeper League
by RangerFloppy on Feb 15, 2012 3:45 PM CST
I know there is already at least one LSB Keeper League going on right now, but I wanted to see if there was enough interest to start another league. We are still forming the general rules, it will more than likely be an auction draft, H2H (daily or weekly), 12 teams, $100 buy-in. We are debating on the roster format right now, but I am thinking a 40 man roster, 25 major league players, 15 minor league players. Would have separate Major and Minor league drafts. I would prefer this to be a live draft, but we can always do it online if there are guys outside of the metroplex. If you are interested either post in the comments or shoot me an email, abstellar@gmail.com.
by Crowd Sourcing: First Base
by philkid3 on Feb 15, 2012 9:06 AM CST
Thanks for voting in the catching poll, everyone.
Next up is first base. CAIRO gives Mitch Moreland a .759 OPS this year, while ZiPS gives him a .753. Pretty close. For these purposes, I'm going to split the difference, and ask you how regularly he'll play if that's the case. We can debate whether that's too high or too low when Adam puts up his thingy. Commence cut & paste.
Hey guys. I'm going to do another Rangers forecast this year based on some projection system (probably ZiPS or CAIRO or a mixture, don't know yet). I'll use that for the rate stats, but the best way to forecast playing time is to ask the knowledgeable fans. And LSB is, of course, the most knowledgeable Rangers fanbase.
So, I'm going to put up a series of polls trying to get y'all's ideas on playing time, and those will be the basis of the thingy (and I'll be acknowledging your help). Feel free to argue or OT or whatever in the comments, the poll is all I need. Suggestions and stuff also welcome.
This is not meant as a replacement or opposition to the LSB predictions that I assume we will eventually do. It may help you in gauging PA totals there, though.
Your help is greatly appreciated!
OT 2/15/12
by Chrom on Feb 15, 2012 7:23 AM CST
Fraggle Rock (also known as Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock) is a children's live action puppet television program series created by Jim Henson. The central characters were a set of "Muppet" creatures called Fraggles. The show ran from January 10, 1983, to March 30, 1987, on CBC Television in Canada, ITV in the UK, HBO in the United States, and TV1 in New Zealand.[2] The show became a worldwide hit, likeSesame Street and The Muppet Show. The "Fraggle Rock Theme" reached number 33 on the British music charts during the phenomenon.[3]Writers included Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, and Jocelyn Stevenson, with songs by Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee.
As described by Henson, "[The series is] a high-energy, raucous musical romp. It's a lot of silliness. It's wonderful."[4] While the program was accessible to audiences of all ages, it used the fantasy creatures as an allegory to deal with serious issues such as prejudice, spirituality,personal identity, environment, and social conflict
LSB Up All Night (2/14) - Lover's Edition
by benjihana on Feb 14, 2012 5:37 PM CST
| Valentine’s Day Statistics | Data |
| Average annual Valentine’s Day spending | $13.19 Billion |
| Number of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually | 180 Million |
| Average number of roses produced for Valentine’s Day | 196 million |
| Percent of Valentine’s Day cards bought by women | 85% |
| Percent of flowers bought by men | 73% |
| Percent of women who send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day | 14% |
| Amount the average consumer spends on Valentine’s Day | $116.21 |
| Percent of consumers who celebrate Valentine’s Day | 61.8 % |
| Percent of women who would end their relationship if they didn’t get something for Valentines day. | 53 % |
| Average number of children conceived on Valentine’s day | 11,000 |
LSB Keeper League, (ESPN 10 team league) Wanted Existing and New Managers
by MikeEl on Feb 14, 2012 2:41 PM CST
This is an existing 10 team LSB Keeper League on ESPN. We have two teams that need new managers and I still need to hear from 4 others.
I need to hear back from Abu Muquama Allstars, Big Fly Boomstix, Team Ruth, and Inappropriate Hugs about whether they are going to play this year.
Gossamer, JBImacknee's Owls, Montreal Expos, and my team, Cruz Missiles, are in.
The two open teams are Jetstream Jenny's and West Texas Hog Jockeys. They both have some good players, and with only 3 keepers, there should be no problem becoming competitive. Jenny's has Bautista, Ellsbury, Stanton, and McCutchen. West Texas has Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Santana, Ethier, and Lawrie, among others.
Let me know if you're interested in joining the league or if you're one of the returning managers, let me know you're stll in.
*****EDIT******
Jetstream Jenny's team is gone.
Here's the roster for the available team and more league info.
Roster Size: 22
8 starting position players, plus 1 utility slot
5 starting pitcher slots, 3 reliever slots
5 man bench
IP and GP limits
3 Keepers
Rotisserie Scoring (6x6), categories:
AVG, HR, R, RBI, SB, OPS
ERA, WHIP, K, S, W, QS
West Texas Hog Jockeys
C -- Carlos Santana
1B -- Miguel Cabrera
2B -- Ben Zobrist
3B -- Danny Valencia
SS -- JJ Hardy
OF1 -- Corey Hart
OF2 -- Lance Berkman
OF3 -- Andre Ethier
Util -- Brett Lawrie
Bench -- BJ Upton
Bench -- Eric Hosmer
Bench -- Matt Wieters
Bench -- Chris Young
Bench -- Eric Thames
SP1 -- Carpenter
SP2 -- Lester
SP3 -- Daniel Hudson
SP4 -- Jaime Garcia
SP5 -- Vance Worley
RP1 -- Joel Hanarahan
RP2 -- Jordan Walden
RP3 -- Joe Nathan
DL -- Clay Bucholz
OT II
by I am Neftali Feliz on Feb 14, 2012 2:14 PM CST
Pablo Escobar said that the essence of the cocaine business was "simple - you bribe someone here, you bribe someone there, and you pay a friendly banker to help you bring the money back."[13] In 1989, Forbes magazine estimated Escobar to be the seventh-richest man in the world with a personal wealth of close to US$25 billion[14] while his Medellín cartel controlled 80% of the global cocaine market.[15]
While seen as an enemy of the United States and Colombian governments, Escobar was a hero to many in Medellín (especially the poor people); he was a natural at public relations and he worked to create goodwill among the poor people of Colombia. A lifelong sports fan, he was credited with building football fields and multi-sports courts, as well as sponsoring children's football teams.[7]
Escobar was responsible for the construction of many hospitals, schools and churches in western Colombia, which gained him popularity inside the local Roman Catholic Church.[16] He worked hard to cultivate his "Robin Hood" image, and frequently distributed money to the poor through housing projects and other civic activities, which gained him notable popularity among the poor. The population of Medellín often helped Escobar serving as lookouts, hiding information from the authorities, or doing whatever else they could do to protect him.
Despite his popular image among Medellín's impoverished community, Escobar was well-known among his business associates to be a calm and sensible negotiator, that preferred to use money before the gun[citation needed]. Many of the wealthier residents of Medellín also viewed him as a threat. His brother said that Pablo knew that money generated more loyalty than fear, so violence was often unnecessary[citation needed]. At the height of his power, drug traffickers from Medellín and other areas were handing over between 20 and 35% of their Colombian cocaine-related profits to Escobar, because he was the one who shipped the cocaine successfully to the US.
The Colombian cartels' continuing struggles to maintain supremacy resulted in Colombia quickly becoming the world’s murder capital with 25,100 violent deaths in 1991 and 27,100 in 1992.[17] This increased murder rate was fueled by Escobar's giving money to his hitmen as a reward for killing police officers, over 600 of whom died in this way
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