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handelplayssims · 6 months

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Now we’re just vibing until the library “opens” at 9:00. I glanced at the google at that is about the time they open up! Sent Ian to birdwatch and Derek to write a little.

Annnd this is why I sent Ian to the birds. High singing ability means we can sing with them! Beautiful! Anyway, it’s time to pop over to the library in Britechester. It’s where Derek wants to go and Ian needs to meet someone in another location for his aspiration. Also I suddenly remembered I could have Ian introduce people to Derek. Because he would if there were traits in common. (It’d be the only way he’d make friends) Anyway, Ian’s going home while Derek’s going to work on his novel. ...or the computer could break down. That too. Anyway now I’m just going to stare at the person hogging the one computer remaining.

Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare. I’ll give it until 4PM until I go home ..IT BROKE DOWN AS WELL. BASTARD GAME! To home with us!

Paying bills and...3 thousand. YEESH. These men need pensions or something! The grip of mortgage payments looms over us all. -sees fox rushing towards the coop- NO! Go away! I’ve got a chick to hatch! Hopefully. Right. Ian needs to make 12 friends. Ho boy. Let’s get to work. Ohp! Wait! I was going to finish writing the book before Derek went to bed. Let’s go do that. Ian made a friend with Aubrey Shelley, a near randomized Sim I made up in an alt file and moved into Henford. Annnd his want isn’t clearing. We know what we have to do for that then. Anyway, the Creature Keeper, who is now a random sim named Barret Case (again, the starting Sim died) is out and about so befriending time! Right, after some chatter, and talking up Derek to a fellow animal lover, we head back home. Ian’s sleepy, after all! Meanwhile we finish off writing that book and send it off for Derek. Some passive income, yaaay!

Neighborhood Watch!

Brindleton Bay: The Raghavan household moved out.

Right, it’s been long enough another patch has happened. So now I have a new test file Sim to add to the world. Patricia Moss, an evil botanist. Well gardener for now but botanist is the goal. And she’s going into...Sulani. Not her first choice but we’re running low on starter lots.

Back to Moody and McMillan! Ian’s up and it’ s Love Day. Day of loooove.

Oh, Discovery Quests are a new thing. Basically tutorial for how the Sims works. I’m experienced enough to not care but I might as well do them on this file just to get the basic rewards. Anyway, Ian wants to practice a comedy routine since he’s a goofball, so let’s compose one first ...oh I evidently didn’t need to compose a routine to practice one. Welp. Ah well. Anyway, Derek’s finally awake, so let’s walk on over to the National Park for a date! ...yes I am having the two walk over there in-game as well. Gotta enjoy the scenery somehow.

Oh hey! I can have both Sims go and be playful for this date since Ian is already playful ...annnnd he’s hysterical now. God. If he dies during this date! Well we got gold for the date at least. Just some nice romantic chatting. I’m going to the restroom with Derek, (in a bush even) don’t die! No death towards eating food. Hmm, let’s have a snowball fight. That might-

And there we go.

Please Grim! It’s Love Day! Have a heart? No? Nope. Alas. I guess we’re just trudging home with a new fear of death in our hearts and much sadness. Eight days of mourning to be had. (Man mourning is overbuffed in Meaningful Stories) So we’re just going to be sad and listen to the tunes Derek likes. Or even perhaps...write! Channel that grief! Needs quest specifically calls for a nap so might as well. Let’s get back to writing then. But then!

Neighborhood Watch!

Carson Allen in the Allen household is now a Captian in the Detective career.

Book is finished and now we send it off! And get our proper sleep.

#sims 4 #blogging #moody & mcmillian #ian moody #derek mcmillan #eventual second day!#even if it took ages because I also use the sims for other purposes now

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urdamage · 2 years

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✧ closed starter ; ian @ianfm ✧ location ; the turner-vogt residence

even when his life had been a blur of exhaustion , desperation and pain like none other bo had ever felt before , he couldn’t escape the fact that valentine’s day was approaching . every time he was forced to leave ian to face the mall that had taken so much from the two of them , more and more valentine’s day decorations had been littered all throughout every store . it was upsetting , to say the very least , to be met with something that felt like shrike mall’s attempt to rub love in all of their faces at a time when they were responsible for so much of the opposite of love . because of the mall - that’s where bo currently placed blame , at least - he had almost lost the love of his life ; he couldn’t handle the fact that the mall acted like that wasn’t the case , that they acted like everyone would be able to celebrate valentine’s day reservation free and without the icky feelings that crept up slowly when walking through decorated doors into stores flooded with paper hearts and everything shiny , red and pink .

despite how the mall’s attempt of celebrating made him feel , however , bo felt differently when thinking about the holiday in reference to ian only . they had never gone without celebrating valentine’s day while together , and bo didn’t want to start missing holidays now . so much had changed since the attack ; bo thought they at least deserved this , that they deserved to feel one moment of normality amongst the chaos , during the time that was so unlike any other . now more than ever , perhaps , ian deserved to know just how loved he was , but it was complicated figuring out while in this state how to express that in a way that wouldn’t also bring up feelings that would upset ian . his plans were usually extravagant and organized well in advance ; this year’s valentine’s day wouldn’t be the same , but bo hoped that what he pulled together last minute in his frazzled and sleep deprived state would still earn him a smile from the injured man who hadn’t been doing much of that lately .

after a rushed trip out to various places - including the mall , which was a detail he would be keeping secret from ian for now - bo finally returned to their apartment with his backpack and his arms filled with gifts and treats . he kicked his shoes off first to ensure his footsteps were quiet before he placed everything down on the kitchen table , organising the sweet treats ( chocolates , candies , even licorice despite bo’s disdain for it ) , the small gifts ( a pile of new books for them to read together , ones that eilonwy promised would be safe and lovely choices at a time where people were struggling with so much , along with a selection of really nice new handkerchiefs to replace the ones bo had been ruining with nose bleeds ) , the lush bouquet of flowers and their heart shaped pizza time pizza with what bo guessed should be ian’s favourite toppings right now . he looked at his efforts and he sighed . it didn’t feel like enough , especially not for ian who always gave him so much . the gifts weren’t even wrapped as bo knew it would be too hard for ian to open them and it broke his heart . he wished he could do more , but right now bo wished for a lot of things that weren’t able to be realised .

after a moment he stripped out of his coat so he was in a jumper and sweats to match the ones he left ian sleeping in , and he finally made his way to the bedroom to see his love . his heart ached at the sight , but at the same time finally getting ian in view once again was comforting . after he had disappeared the night of the attack , bo couldn’t stand being away from him for long . he gently peeled back the blankets and slid in next to him , ensuring he kept clear of any injured spots as he got to work on waking him up . “ hey handsome , hey my sweet boy , i’m back . ” he started , rubbing ian’s left cheek gently as he leant in carefully to start pressing soft kisses to the cheek closest . “ baby , ” he called for him in a sing-song voice , wanting to gently prompt him waking up properly as bo saw him starting to stir - as to be expected , as he had timed this day as perfectly as possible . “ i got us a special dinner , and i got you some special treats . ” his method of waking the other man was much gentler than usual , but he had perfected making it careful yet still successful . “ it’s time to get up gorgeous . ”

#∘₊✧────── bo turner ; starter #bo & ian #closed starter

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gabriellapatterson-blog · 6 years

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brido · 6 years

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Your Opening Week Baseball Guide

Well, March Madness is over. Your bracket probably sucked anyway. So you probably need to get caught up on the first week of baseball. I’m here to help you. And while it’s probably way too early to draw any real conclusions from the first week, I don’t want you wandering around looking as clueless as Gabe Kapler. EARLY SEASON BURN. It’s okay if you don’t get that joke yet. You will. Let’s start...

AL East

Current Playoff Team: Red Sox

Projected Playoff Teams: Yankees, Red Sox

See, what did I tell you last week? Winky smile. After the Red Sox blew a comfortable lead on Opening Day, I’m guessing that every psychotic Boston fan wanted Alex Cora run out of town. Now they’ve rattled off 5 wins in a row and we’re contemplating whether or not the Red Sox might have the best rotation in baseball. I mean, probz not. But a week in they sure do.

You think Giancarlo Stanton is under a microscope in New York? Dude already got booed. It’s all fun and games in New York when you’re crushing two home runs on Opening Day, and it’s a lot harder four games later when you’re 0-for-5 with 5 K’s in football weather in the Bronx. I think he’ll be fine. Maybe Yankees fans should worry more about Dellin Betances.

AL Cy Young: Dylan Bundy, Orioles.

For all the deserved accolades of Boston’s starting pitching, the best in the AL so far as been Bundy, whose WAR leads the league, accompanied with a 1.35 FIP and a 0.69 ERA. That being said, the rest of the conversations surrounding division are a guessing game about where the Blue Jays will be before the trade deadline and whether or not they should trade Josh Donaldson. Right now, FanGraphs has them a game off the second wild card spot and FiveThirtyEight has them at 26% to make the playoffs. That’s a tough call if that happens. It’ll probably be a much easier decision for the Orioles, so we’ll see who gets to slobber all over the chance to land Manny Machado for the postseason.

AL Central

Current Playoff Teams: White Sox, Twins

Projected Playoff Teams: Indians, Twins (FiveThirtyEight only)

If you’re a Twins fan, you’ve got to be loving this early start from Brian Dozier. And Jose Berrios. And Eduardo Escobar. Right now I’m feeling confident in their chances. I’m probably even more excited if I’m a White Sox fan, since projections have them around 68-73 wins and they’re currently on pace to crush that. Yeah, they’re only 5 games in. I don’t want to get too excited. But the Sox have homered in every game. Matt Davidson’s 3 home runs on Opening Day were just a blip on the radar compared to the attention Stanton got. And this is a young team already headed in the right direction. The national sports media is still waiting around for the Indians to get hot before they care about any of this.

AL West

Current Playoff Teams: Astros, Angels

Projected Playoff Teams: Astros, Angels (FanGraphs only)

Did you see all the fancy Astros ring and banner celebrations? It’s looking like that’s gonna happen a lot down in Houston. George Springer led off the season with a home run for the second year in a row. They’re widely considered to have the best staff in the Majors (sorry Boston... and I guess everyone else). They’ve got four guys playing the outfield. And if the Division wasn’t looking so tough, we might be able to project the Astros at a billion wins this year. Speaking of which...

AL MVP: Carlos Correa, Astros.

This Opening Week shit can probably get eye rolls for most things, but Correa wouldn’t be a bad pick to be MVP, anyway. Right now, Correa leads the League in WAR and he’s been the second-best hitter, so I’m giving him the early lead over Mitch Haniger of the Mariners and Didi Gregorius of the Yankees.

AL Rookie of the Year: Shohei Ohtani, Angels.

Remember when this guy fucking sucked in Spring Training? That was kind of fun. Now the Babe Ruth comparisons aren’t actually that insane. Ohtani might be the hardest-throwing starter in baseball. His hitting is starting to resemble the power exhibition he puts on in batting practice. And maybe we don’t need BREAKING NEWS every time this guy gets a hit, but this is one of the only over-hyped stories of the young season that actually has my full attention. Oh yeah, and he’s only 22.

NL East

Current Playoff Teams: Mets, Braves, Nationals

Projected Playoff Teams: Nationals, Mets (FanGraphs only)

I think there might be an East Coast bias when Derek Jeter sitting in the stands in Miami gets more attention than actual games in the Midwest. But a lot of the attention is actually warranted so far. The Mets are going to be interesting this year. They only won 70 games last year, which made me skeptical of picking them for a Wild Card. Right now, they’re projected anywhere from 81-88 wins. Maybe Mickey Callaway is changing the culture there. I don’t know. But after the first week, I’m actually going to say...

NL Cy Young: Matt Harvey, Mets.

He’s back, baby! Or not. Like I said, nobody knows. But I’ll take that 0.00 ERA and 1.56 FIP as a good sign. Plus, it’s not like he has to be ‘the man’ in Queens anymore.

NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, Braves.

He’s been the best hitter in the League so far. And he’s probably the best player in baseball that America and your girlfriend have never heard of. The Braves have had the best offense in baseball early on. Freeman is a big reason why. Because he always is.

The Nationals always seem to have fifteen different compelling storylines over the course of a season. There’s the lingering fact that they’ve never advanced in the playoffs. They have the impending free agency of Bryce Harper to talk about over and over and over again. I’m sure Nats fans love that shit. And since Harper always seems to be amazing in April, it’s not going to slow anything of those talks down. How anticlimactic will it be when he re-signs with Washington? Anyway, Adam Eaton has also made a big splash in his return from injury. So there hasn’t even really been much attention on their non-Dusty-Baker manager just yet. It’s just a matter of time to see who they’re gonna lose to in the first round. HUGE BURN to their zero fans that I know of.

You know which new manager is getting scrutiny? Gabe Kapler of the Phillies. It seems like every team has a new manager, but only one pulled their starter when he was dealing on Opening Day and then blew a 5-run lead. And only one called to the pen with nobody warming up. And only one looks like he’s not gonna be done reigning down destruction on Philadelphia until every one of their relievers have Tommy John surgery. That’s probably harsh. But it’s also probably funnier to me because he also looks incompetent anywhere outside of a cross fit box or a gym that only plays butt rock. I’m guessing he figures it out eventually.

Hey, look! Derek Jeter is sitting in the stands with Papi and Posada!

NL Central

Current Playoff Teams: Pirates, Brewers

Projected Playoff Teams: Cubs, Cardinals.

Is it ever too early to start freaking out about the Cubs? I mean, Ian Happ was great in Spring Training. Then he homered on the first pitch of the season and after that, it’s basically been suck city. The Cubs offense is setting all-time records for striking out. They’re 2-3 after playing the Marlins and Reds, who are projected to win a combined ZERO games this year. Maybe we can blame the 17-inning game against the Marlins on Day 2. Maybe it’s way too early to be worried about anything. Maybe I should take solace in the fact that their bullpen has looked dope AF and that was a huge problem last year. They’re fine, right?

As far as the rest of the division goes, you’ve got a fast start from the Pirates, who have only played in frigid weather. The Cardinals picked up Greg Holland, which could be huge for their chances at the Wild Card... or the Division, I guess. The Cardinals and Brewers played in a game that started and ended with back-to-back home runs. And Paul DeJong has probably been the most interesting story for STL. He’d be my second pick for MVP, after Freeman. He also hit .257 last year so whatever.

NL West

Current Playoff Team: Diamondbacks

Projected Playoff Teams: Dodgers, Diamondbacks (FiveThirtyEight only)

If you’re a Dodgers fan, what’s freaking you out more; bad outings and decreased velocity from Clayton Kershaw or bad outings and decreased velocity from Kenley Jansen? Because both things are happening. Kershaw is 0-2 and you can hear the whispers about whether or not he’s past his prime, even though everyone was blowing him in Spring Training. Jansen has an 18.00 ERA. Is this the dreaded World Series hangover that is obviously not happening in Houston? I’m looking at the rest of that staff and thinking they’re probably going to be fine. The moral of this post is that everything is fine. Probably because as a Cubs fan, I’m trying to convince myself that everything is fine.

As far as the rest of the Division goes, Nick Ahmed has had a hot start in Arizona. Joe Panik’s solo home runs in the first two games led to two 1-0 games for the Giants, which was super fucking weird. And Charlie Blackmon actually hit on the road for the Rockies... where he’s staying put. And just for fun...

NL Rookie of the Year: Christian Villanueva, Padres.

Maybe the Phillies should call up Hunter Greene to make anyone give a shit about NL rookies this year. But Villanueva is tied for the NL rookie lead in WAR and he’s mashing for the shitty Padres. The Cubs actually got Villanueva with Kyle Hendricks in the Ryan Dempster trade. But they decided they probably didn’t have room for him in the infield, since he doesn't strike out every time at bat. Oh man. SELF BURN.

So this is a good place to start. Everything will look completely different in a week. But that’s part of the fun. Baseball is fucking awesome.

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junker-town · 7 years

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These teams stink at finding second basemen, and these teams are great

Did you know that Chase Utley and Robinson Cano had good careers? Sure, but about those White Sox ...

Welcome back to SB Nation’s series of the teams that are bad at filling positions around the ol’ baseball diamond. If you’re a glass-half-full kind of person, you can call this a series of the teams that are great at filling these positions. But as the planet burns and we sink deeper into the cosmic tar, I prefer to laugh at incompetence.

You can find our look at which teams are good/bad at finding catchers here, and which teams are good/bad at finding first basemen here.

Here’s the problem with today’s position, though: Teams are generally pretty okay at finding second basemen.

Our last installment about first basemen pointed us to the devastatingly sad recent history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who found more All-Star-caliber catchers over the last two decades than barely competent first basemen. There isn’t a team nearly that bad with second basemen. Of the 30 teams in baseball, two-thirds of them had a deserving starter at second just last year.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t a couple of exceptions.

The goal is to look for which teams found the best second basemen over the last two decades, from 1997 through 2016. The system is simple, and it uses the Baseball-Reference quick-’n’-dirty guide to what WAR totals mean:

2+ starter 5+ All-Star 8+ MVP

Note that I’m rounding up — a 1.5-WAR player counts as a starting-caliber second baseman — because decimal points in WAR are kind of silly.

So which teams have been better than others at getting their hands on second basemen? Which teams have failed more often than their fans would like? To the numbers!

The quietly consistent

At the bottom of this post, there’s a table, and some of the teams won’t surprise you at all. With the catchers, for example, the Rangers fared well and, yeah, that’s because they had Ivan Rodriguez for a chunk of the last two decades. The Cardinals had the most MVP-caliber first basemen because Albert Pujols was absurd.

When you think of the Tigers and second base, though, who do you think of? Ian Kinsler recently, sure. Hall-of-Famer Charlie Gehringer and Should-Be-Hall-of-Famer-I-Will-Fight-You Lou Whitaker from the past, of course. But it’s not like they had someone you instantly identify with the franchise.

They usually had someone, though. Of all the teams in baseball, the Tigers have been the most consistent team at finding second basemen, doing it in 17 seasons out of the last 20. It’s even more impressive when you consider how awful they were in the early ‘00s. It’s a varied list, too:

Damion Easley (five times)

Placido Polanco (five times)

Ian Kinsler (three times)

Omar Infante (twice)

Ramon Santiago

Warren Morris

That’s the best part of this series, in my opinion. One minute, you’re sipping a cup of coffee, not thinking about Warren Morris, and then, BAM, Warren Morris.

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And now you’re thinking about Alex Cora, who showed up on this search for the Dodgers. What a world.

The East Coast Second Base Hegemony

The Tigers have been consistent, sure, but if you want stars? It’s the Phillies’ and Yankees’ world, and all we can do is be super jealous about how awesome their second basemen have been over the last few years.

This shouldn’t be a surprise, really, when you remember Chase Utley and Robinson Cano. Of the 12 seasons where a second baseman cracked that magical 8-WAR barrier, half of them came from those two (with three each). In addition to those MVP-caliber seasons, the Phillies also had nine starting-caliber seasons and three All-Star seasons.

The Yankees got the three MVP-caliber seasons from Cano, and they also got four starting-caliber seasons and five All-Star seasons. If there’s a tiebreaker between these two teams, it’s that the Yankees haven’t had a second baseman worth two wins since Brian Roberts in 2014. Starlin Castro appears ready to break that drought, though.

As for the other guy on the East Coast? Dustin Pedroia got close, and the Red Sox have enjoyed five starting-caliber seasons, six All-Star seasons, and one MVP-level season, which is outstanding compared to the rest of baseball, but they couldn’t quite get where the Phillies and Yankees were.

I’m using this specific article as my only source for making Hall of Fame picks in 10 years. And it looks like the numbers say ... hey, wait, come back.

The Worst

Again, there aren’t any completely destitute teams in this regard. But there are a few teams that stand out.

The Braves got an MVP-caliber season from Marcus Giles, who finished with 7.8 WAR in 2003, when he was 25 ... and then finished with 7.8 WAR over the final four years of his strange career. Other than three seasons from Giles, though, the Braves have had seven kinda-sorta-okay seasons from Dan Uggla, Kelly Johnson, and Quilvio Veras, but nothing more.

The Dodgers, Pirates, and Brewers all had a decent-to-good second baseman every other year, roughly, but none of them have had a breakout season in the last 20 years, with no All-Star seasons to be found. You might expect that from the small-market teams, but the Dodgers is something of a surprise. Logan Forsythe might help them get over the hump soon, but if that doesn’t happen, expect them to pay cash for Jose Altuve or D.J. LeMahieu soon.

The worst of the worst, though? I’m guessing that White Sox fans were waiting for their team to come up since the opening paragraph. The only reason they weren’t the biggest story here is that they employed Ray Durham, a two-time All-Star who was one of the more underappreciated second basemen of his generation. The White Sox got five solid seasons from him (and more earlier) in the last two decades. When he left, they got an okay-OBP, sweet-defense season from Willie Harris, two pretty-okay seasons from Tadahito Iguchi, and a stellar rookie campaign from Alexei Ramirez in 2008.

Since then: nothing. Absolutely nothing. In order, the second basement they’ve tried:

Brett Lawrie

Yolmer Sanchez

Micah Johnson

Gordon Beckham

Angel Sanchez

Tyler Greene

Chris Getz

Oh, my goodness, there’s a lot of Gordon Beckham in here

Danny Richar

D’Angelo Jimenez

Roberto Alomar, but bad

It’s not exactly the Curse of Ray Durham, but you can call it something like the Curse of Please Just Find One Lousy Second Baseman if it makes you feel better.

As for 2017, we’ll just peek in at what’s going on, and ...

Yolmer Sanchez, .291/.333/.425, 1.2 WAR and counting

[rubs eyes]

Well, alright.

Career BABIP: .291 2017 BABIP: .359

Not now, facts. He’s probably just hitting more line drives

Career line-drive percentage: 25% 2017 line-drive percentage: 25%

NOT NOW, FACTS. His defense is solid. He’s probably fine.

(Root for him if you get a second, though. Thoughts and roots go out to the entire White Sox organization in these troubled times.)

The full table:

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