SoSG Glossary: Oh My God, Why Don't You Start Another Blog

Based on one of yesterday's posts, I figure it's time for another entry to the SoSG Glossary. Whoo hoo!

Back in 2009, the Giants had this horrible pitcher named Merkin Valdez. In three years of service, he gave the Giants an ERA+ of 84 / ERA of 5.24. He was awful. But more importantly, he had a name that was ripe for "plucking" (so to speak).

So when the Giants finally shipped Valdez off to Toronto (for cash), it was only fair that we gave ol' Merkin one more run at the obvious pun:

There really isn't much to this news, that Valdez was let go to make room for Aubrey Huff.

But I couldn't resist the headline! (No picture, though.)

Which of course stoked the ire of SoSG commenter "Dodger Heaven", who wrote:

Dodger Heaven said...

Oh my God, why don't you start a Giants blog and report their news on that blog.

1/14/2010 12:43 PM

Now, you had to go back five or six posts to find the next prior Giants reference. Granted, it was only two days prior, but shit, man, it's the off-season! News is hard to come by! Let it go!

But of course, we couldn't, beating the dead horse further.

Other readers joined in (really, more than one!). (No, really.) Echoes even existed in the same chorus.

And it even spread beyond SoSG.

With all this pub, one might ask: Is this a true internet meme? Some might say, yes. We're more humble, of course. And we're too busy starting other blogs to really perpetuate this further.

SoSG Glossary: Scooby-Doo Threads

Thanks to SoSG resident historian Josh S. for his spot-on description of "Scooby-Dooing" here at SoSG:

When multiple posts go up on SoSG within a small timeframe, we commenters tend to pop in and out of each one, trying to figure out where most people are "hanging out." Someone (Mr. C? Dusty?) once remarked that the phenomenon is very similar to when the Scooby gang would run in and out of different doors while chasing/being chased by the monster of the week.

May 4, 2010 is the first time I can find mention of it in a comment, but I don't think this is the official origin ( on May 7, 2010, Dusty Baker actually coins the phrase correctly, but again I think there's a prior reference). Any help?

UPDATE 4/12/2011 6:32p: Just found the origin of the "Scooby Doo Threads" term. Dusty was right, and NicJ did coin the term, on May 3, 2010 at 8:25p. The official comment was this:

is this where we are all hanging out? this feels like a chase scene in the old scooby doo cartoon. everyone just going through random doors with no definite direction.

There, now I can sleep!

The World According To GAARP

Didn't want to end this week without some words on Garret Anderson, who retired from baseball on Tuesday. Anderson was with the Dodgers for much of 2010, and in typical Joe Torre style favoring veterans, appeared in 80 games for the Dodgers, which was at least 70 games too many.

Oh, what a horrible year. Anderson's batting average sunk beneath the Mendoza line on April 17 and never made it back to .200, dipping as low as .119. Anderson ended with an OPS+ of 30 (for comparison, specialty pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo had an OPS+ of 54 last year). He had 28 hits in 80 games, with 13 of those hits being XBH. He struck out 34 times. He actually was intentionally walked once, by the Mets' Mike Pelfrey, who opted to face Brad Ausmus and his .250 BA with a man on third and one out (Ausmus scored the run; the Mets lost the game in the 13th on a FJL solo HR).

Anderson did have highlights in 2010. Well, maybe one: a walk-off single to center in the 14th inning that won a game for us in June. He smiled on that day, as you can see below. But smiles were rare for Anderson, or for any of us watching Anderson, in 2010. It was, by and large, a year to forget.

Anderson was released August 10 and no other team picked him up. And then on Tuesday this week, the understated Anderson retired, ending a 17-year baseball career.

So why this coda to Anderson's career? Simply because I couldn't let the term "GAARP" go extinct without applauding its brilliance one last time. As far as I can tell, the first use of "GAARP" was from SoSG regular Josh S. in this GT, from May 14, 2010. It was perfect--a mash-up of the initials "GA" and the "AARP"--reflecting Anderson's bat speed which rivaled James Baldwin's pace from the mound to the dugout at the end of an inning. You could hear Anderson's bones creaking on every swing.

Five letters soon became the stuff of legend, as "GAARP" not only entered the SoSG lexicon, but took a place of honor (dishonor?) for most of the year.

I won't miss Anderson. But I'll miss the term "GAARP."

Anderson viewing his popup photo: Getty Images; Anderson smiling photo: Jeff Gross / Getty Images

SoSG Glossary: FJL (Free James Loney)

Continuing our series of SoSG Glossary entries, here's SoSG regular rbnlaw (now, ironically enough, named "Free rbnlaw") with a glossary entry for FJL:

FJL, or Free James Loney: Term used as a shorthand reference to Dodger 1st baseman, James Loney. The phrase, Free James Loney, refers to the campaign started by the Sons during the 2007 season when perennial fan favorite, and Whittier native, Nomar (No-mah) Garciaparra was the Dodgers' starting first baseman. As an aside, Nomar was named after his father, Ramon, only backwards.

Tired of seeing Nomar continually pop-up, strike out, and GIDP in clutch situations, The Sons began the movement to Free James Loney from his dugout confines. It was hoped that the kid from Houston, Texas would connect his flashes of brilliance seen in spot starts to a significant run as the Dodgers' every-day man at the first base bag. Unfortunately, Nomar would find ways to make himself useful between bouts on the 15-day DL, and thus delay Loney's moment to shine. Not to be deterred, the Sons used their massive Internet presence to pressure Dodger brass into the only logical decision.

When the oft-hobbled Nomar could no longer answer the bell at first, the Dodgers were left with no choice but to make him a modern day Wally Pipp; replacing him with James Loney. Loney would go on to post a .331/.338/.538 line in 2007, and, best of all, hit a series-changing grand slam at Wrigley Field in the 2008 NLDS; totally justifying the Sons' "Free James Loney" campaign.

Thanks, rbnlaw! And if any of you would like to contribute entries, please email us on the sidebar for consideration!

SoSG Glossary: Rancho Ardiendo

Here's another entry in the SoSG Glossary, compliments of SoSG regular and resident eternal optimist, karina. Today's topic: "Rancho Ardiendo". Take it away, karina:

From all the terminology created in the always-entertaining Game Threads sponsored by the Sons, this phrase might be a little difficult to understand for either the English or Spanish-speaking readers.

To understand it, it’s not necessary a literal translation. In Venezuela, “Rancho Ardiendo” is slang for two situations: a large family, which the mother is pregnant; or, applied to a baseball game, it means bases loaded.

“Rancho Ardiendo” started appearing on Game Threads around April-May 2008. Time has passed, so Sons and readers have modified the term, randomly in the spur of the moment (as we all live at the SoSG bar), according to some play or player: e.g “Rancho Caseando” means Casey Blake contributed to the bases loaded situation. Sky is the limit to the variations of “Rancho Ardiendo”.

As a reader, I’d like to think this blog is always in the other common use of “Rancho Ardiendo”: a large family of passionate Dodgers fans and new people always joining in.

If you'd like to contribute a SoSG Glossary entry, just email us with your entry and we'll try and post it. Thanks again karina!

SoSG Glossary: The MSB

Since we've been around here for a number of years now, we've developed a series of terminology germane to our site--our own "language", if you will. And for those of you who are newer to SoSG, we want to make sure you don't feel out of the loop.

One term that has required explanation a couple of times in the last two weeks is "MSB". MSB refers to "Mini Sirloin Burger", a new product that was heavily promoted during the 2009 season by Jack in the Box. Let's roll the tape, so those of you who are out of market can hear the catchy tune (and those of you who are in-market can thank us for getting said tune stuck echoing in your skull for the rest of the weekend).

On SoSG, we use the term to describe a specific type of player. And I had forgotten that Orel was kind enough to add this term (and defintion) to Pitchers and Poets' "Rogue's Baseball Index" glossary a while back:

The MSB

The MSB is a pejorative term for a tiny, annoying player, often a middle infielder. The Mini Sirloin Burger at Jack in the Box? Tasty. Getting beat by a player who looks small enough to fit in Ryan Howard’s back pocket? Like a mouthful of ashes. Such annoying players can be identified by these media-friendly descriptors: Pesky. Grit. Hustle. (The non-media-friendly version? Pain in the ass.) The MSB rarely puts up impressive numbers, but always seems to be knocking in the game-winning run against your team — on a bloop single, naturally.

Current MSBs include:

• * David Eckstein (listed at 5′7″)
• * Craig Counsell (amazingly, listed at 6′0″)
• * Maicer Izturis (listed at 5′8″)

We can do more of these glossary entries if you all think this is helpful. Just post a comment on a term on which you'd like more context. Thanks!

(You think that song is catchy? Just remember, they followed up with this one.)