Monthly Archives: June 2018

Terra Linda Invitational

Congratulations to Jacob Bobrow,  winner of the 2018 Terra Linda 12U Tennis Invitational, which took place this morning.  Jacob won all three of his matches to take the title.  Thanks to all the other participates for some hard fought tennis in the summer heat!

World Cup

About time to start paying attention to the World Cup.  Robert just figured out that the US is not in it this time.  They had a very disappointing set of games at the qualifiers. Here’s an interesting video about US men’s soccer needing help.

Google Visit Today

We visited the Google main campus today. Robert’s good friend Halbert Au-Yeung was kind enough to give us a tour of ground zero.

 

Pierce Statistics-Phillies Minors 2018

Rory Pierce
Phillies Minors 2018
Statistic Result Rank on Team Notes
OFFENSE
GP = Games played 17 2
PA = Plate appearances 54 4
AB = At bats 46 1
H = Hits 20 2
1B = Singles 19 1
2B = Doubles 1 3
3B = Triples 0 4
HR = Home runs 0 4
RBI = Runs batted in 13 3
R = Runs scored 11 5
HBP = Hit by pitch 0 4
ROE = Reached on error 3 1 ROE most times on time
FC = Hit into fielder’s choice 4 1 Hit into most FC of players on team
CI = Batter advances on catcher’s interference 0 1 No instances for team.
BB = Base on balls (walks) 8 11 Fewest BB on team
SO = Strikeouts 8 1 Tied for fewest Strikeouts on team.
AVG = Batting average (season) 0.435 3
OBP = On-base percentage (season) 0.519 4
SLG = Slugging percentage 0.457 4
OPS = On-base percentage plus slugging percentage (season) 0.975 4
PA/BB = Plate appearances per walk 6.75 12
BB/K = Walks per strikeout 1 5
C% = Contact rate 0.826 1
K-L = Strikeouts Looking 3 1
SB = Stolen bases 2 5
CS = Caught stealing 0 1 Tied for first with six others.
SB% = Stolen base percentage 1 Tied for first with five others.
PIK = Picked off 0
GIDP = Hit into double play 0
GITP = Hit into triple play 0
XBH = Extra-base hits 1
TB = Total bases 21 4
AB/HR = At bats per home run 0
BA/RISP = Batting average with runners in scoring position 0.364 5
PS = Pitches seen 148 12 Least on team
PS/PA = Pitches seen per plate appearance 2.741 12 Least on team
2S+3 = Plate appearances in which batter sees 3+ pitches after 2 strikes 3 5
2S+3% = % of plate appearances in which batter sees 3+ pitches after 2 strikes 0.056
6+ = Plate appearances with 6+ pitches 8 6
6+% = % of plate appearances of 6+ pitches 0.148
FLB% = Fly ball percentage 15.15%
GB% = Ground ball percentage 75.76% 12.00% Lowest on team
SAC = Sacrifice hits & bunts 0
SF = Sacrifice flies 0
LOB = Runners left on base when batter is out 20
2OUTRBI = 2-out RBI 4
HHB = Hard hit balls: Total line drives and hard ground balls 3
QAB = Quality at bats (any one of: 3 pitches after 2 strikes, 6+ pitch ABs, XBH, HHB, BB, SAC Bunt, SAC Fly) 16
QAB% = Quality at bats per plate appearance 29.63%
BABIP = Batting average on balls in play 0.526
DEFENSE
IP = Innings Pitched 5
GP = Games pitched 4
GS = Games started as the pitcher 0
W = Wins 0
L = Losses 0
SV = Saves 0
SVO = Save opportunities 0
BS = Blown saves 0
SV% = Save percentage 0
H = Hits allowed 10
R = Runs allowed 8
ER = Earned runs allowed 7
BB = Base on balls (walks) 5
SO = Strikeouts 7
HBP = Hit batters 0
ERA = Earned run average (season) 8.4
WHIP = Walks plus hits per innings pitched 3
BF = Total batters faced 31
#P = Total pitches 105
TS = Total strikes 60
TB = Total balls 45
P/IP = Pitches per inning 21
P/BF = Pitches per batter faced 3.387
<3 = Batters on or out in three pitches or less 14
<3% = % of batters on or out in three pitches or less 0.452
LOO = Leadoff out (1st batter of inning) 1
1ST2OUT = Innings with 1st 2 batters out 0
123INN =   1-2-3 Innings 0
<13 = Innings of 13 pitches or fewer 0
FIP = Fielding Independent Pitching 4.652
S% = Strike percentage 0.571 3 Third out of 7 pitchers
FPS = First pitch strikes 22
FPS% = First pitch strike percentage 0.71
FPSO% = % of FPS at-bats that result in an out 0.5
FPSW% = % of FPS at-bats that result in a walk 0.045
FPSH% = % of FPS at-bats that result in a hit 0.455
BB/INN = Walks per inning 1
0BBINN = Zero-walk innings 2
BBS = Walks that score 0
LOBB = Leadoff walk (1st batter of inning) 1
LOBBS = Leadoff walk that scored (1st batter of inning) 0
WP = Wild pitches 0
ABA = At Bats against 26
SM = Opposing batter swings-and-misses 17
SM% = % of total pitches that are swings and misses 0.162
K/G = Strikeouts per regulation game 8.4
K/BF = Strikeouts per batter faced 0.226 4 Fourth out of 7 pitchers.
K/BB = Strikeouts per walk 1.4
WEAK% = % of batted balls weakly hit (fly balls and ground balls) 0.947
HHB% = % of batted balls that are line drives or hard ground balls 0.053
GB% = % of all batted balls hit on the ground 0.632
FLB% = % of batted balls that are hit in the air 0.368
GO = Ground outs 5
FO = Fly outs 1
GO/FO = Ratio of ground outs to fly outs 5
BAA = Opponent batting average 0.385 5 Fifth out of 7 pitchers
HR = Home runs allowed 1
BABIP = Opponent batting average on balls in play 0.5
LOB = Runners left on base 8
BK = Balks 0
PIK = Runners picked off 0
SB = Stolen bases allowed 0
CS = Runners caught stealing 0
SB% = Opponent stolen base percentage 0
FB = Number of pitches thrown as Fastballs 0
FBS = Number of Fastballs thrown for strikes 0
FBS% = Percentage of Fastballs thrown for strikes 0
CT = Number of pitches thrown as Cutters 0
CTS = Number of Cutters thrown for strikes 0
CTS% = Percentage of Cutters thrown for strikes 0
CB = Number of pitches thrown as Curveballs 0
CBS = Number of Curveballs thrown for strikes 0
CBS% = Percentage of Curveballs thrown for strikes 0
SL = Number of pitches thrown as Sliders 0
SLS = Number of Sliders thrown for strikes 0
SLS% = Percentage of Sliders thrown for strikes 0
CH = Number of pitches thrown as Changeups 0
CHS = Number of Changeups thrown for strikes 0
CHS% = Percentage of Changeups thrown for strikes 0
OS = Number of pitches thrown Offspeed (Curveball, Screwball, Changeup) 0
OSS = Number of pitches thrown Offspeed for strikes 0
OSS% = Percentage of Offspeed pitches thrown as strikes 0
TC = Total Chances 39
A = Assists 0
PO = Putouts 36
E = Errors 3
DP = Double Plays 1
TP = Triple Plays 0
FPCT = Fielding Percentage 0.923
cINN = Innings caught 13.2
cPB = Passed balls allowed 7
cSB = Stolen bases allowed 18
cCS = Runners caught stealing 1
cCS% = Runners caught stealing percentage 0.053
cPIK = Runners picked off 0
cCI = Batter advances on catcher’s interference 1

Phillies 2018

Orioles beat Phillies, 7-2

The Orioles really pitched well tonight, and they took the championship away from the rag-tag underdog Phillies. A team that was in last place at one point during the season took themselves all the way to the championship final. But it was not meant to be.  The sadness ended quickly after the appearance of second-place TROPHIES.  Woo Hoo!

Phillies 2018

Murphy v. Smith

This term the US Supreme Court heard the case of Murphy v. Smith. This is a fun case because it demonstrates how tedious, and one might say small, much of the work of that court really is.  On one day, the Supreme Court decides on fundamental constitutional issues that define the structure of our political system and society, on the next day, in a different case, it parses through the text of an obscure statute trying to figure out what some completely messed up wording written by Congress in the middle of the night was supposed to mean, in order to settle a case in which the parties are fighting over a few thousand dollars. The issues are always important to the parties, but the work of interpreting statutes could often, it seems, be done by a court with less prominence.

In the Murphy case, the court was tasked with making sense of 42 U. S. C. §1997e(d)(2). That federal code section deals with how attorneys fees are paid in lawsuits brought by prisoners. When a prisoner wins a lawsuit against the government, because, for example, he was beaten by a prison guard, he can win a damage award and an award for his attorney’s fees.  Congress decided that despite that award, a prisoner should be required to pay some of his own attorneys fees, and that some of his damage award should be used to pay his attorneys fees.  The statute that Congress wrote uses wording that, when one focuses on it, is totally unclear.

To wit:

“a portion of the [prisoner’s] judgment (not to exceed 25 percent) shall be applied to satisfy the amount of attorney’s fees awarded against the defendant.”

The central question is whether the judge who is deciding upon how much of a plaintiff’s damages award to use for plaintiff’s attorney’s fee is entitled to use his/her discretion in setting that amount, OR, whether, alternatively, s/he must use as much of the damages award as needed to cover the attorneys fees, but never more than 25% of the damages award.

The oral argument is worth a listen because it demonstrates how hard working and serious the justices are, even on minor matters.

Spoiler: Neil Gorsuch wrote in his opinion that the rule is the latter.

The opinion demonstrates how judges go through language with a fine tooth comb, so to speak, in order to determine meaning.  It is also one of those opinions in which the judge strives to add flair to an altogether minor and laborious subject.

 

Cakeshop Decision

The Supreme Court today issued its opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop. It ruled in favor of the cakeshop owner.  But the court did not really get to the heart of the constitutional matter. May a cakemaker be punished for refusing to make a custom wedding cake for a gay couple if doing so is inconsistent with his firmly held religious beliefs?  We still don’t know. The court ruled merely that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had not treated this particular cakemaker’s religious claims respectfully enough in its proceedings. So, we will need to await a future case, it seems.

Here’s the write up on Scotus Blog.

A “view” from the courtroom: Justice Kennedy’s Master-pièce de résistance