MLB 2018

[Dr. Medulla]

Yeah I know there was some level of interest and even ARod was lobbying for the Yankees to sign him. By all accounts he's a great teammate. I hope he does well against every team but the Yankees.

Undoubtedly one of the reasons why Boston wanted to lock him up was that last year he was a Yankee killer. Plus Boston's rotation is lefty-heavy. The expectations for him to continue that role are going to be massive, for good or ill, in the same way that Price is a "*shrug* well, do your best" guy against New York.

[tepista]

Luis :(

[BostonBeaneater]

Luis :(

Having driven in neighboring Colombia I have to say that we should be thankful for our roads and traffic laws. This is sad.

[tepista]

Luis :(

Having driven in neighboring Colombia I have to say that we should be thankful for our roads and traffic laws. This is sad.

even worse, y'all. It seems to be a common occurrence for thieves to knock cars off the road with large rocks and rob them when they crash.

https://metsmerizedonline.com/2018/12/c ... bery.html/

[BostonBeaneater]

Luis :(

Having driven in neighboring Colombia I have to say that we should be thankful for our roads and traffic laws. This is sad.

even worse, y'all. It seems to be a common occurrence for thieves to knock cars off the road with large rocks and rob them when they crash.

https://metsmerizedonline.com/2018/12/c ... bery.html/

Fuck, that’s awful. I’m a total cynic and that is just awful.

[Wolter]

Luis :(

Yeah this one sucks. I always liked him.

[Boddington]

Napoli retires. I will always love him for 2013.

[Dr. Medulla]

Napoli retires. I will always love him for 2013.

2013 Napoli was so easy to root for. Looked like a lumberjack and crushed those moonshots over the Wall.

[Wolter]

Napoli retires. I will always love him for 2013.

2013 Napoli was so easy to root for. Looked like a lumberjack and crushed those moonshots over the Wall.

*desperately tries to remember anything about the 2013 Cubs, lovable or not*

Nope. Drawing a blank.

[Dr. Medulla]

Napoli retires. I will always love him for 2013.

2013 Napoli was so easy to root for. Looked like a lumberjack and crushed those moonshots over the Wall.

*desperately tries to remember anything about the 2013 Cubs, lovable or not*

Nope. Drawing a blank.

I just looked at the b-ref page for the 2013 Cubs. Yikes but you're right. Hilariously, Edwin Jackson, as part of his career of pitching for every team under the sun, was the highest paid player by far at $13M. Remarkable that in three years the roster had transformed into world beaters.

[Wolter]

Napoli retires. I will always love him for 2013.

2013 Napoli was so easy to root for. Looked like a lumberjack and crushed those moonshots over the Wall.

*desperately tries to remember anything about the 2013 Cubs, lovable or not*

Nope. Drawing a blank.

I just looked at the b-ref page for the 2013 Cubs. Yikes but you're right. Hilariously, Edwin Jackson, as part of his career of pitching for every team under the sun, was the highest paid player by far at $13M. Remarkable that in three years the roster had transformed into world beaters.

Oh wow. I forgot entirely about the Edwin Jackson experience.

[Rat Patrol]

Napoli retires. I will always love him for 2013.

2013 Napoli was so easy to root for. Looked like a lumberjack and crushed those moonshots over the Wall.

Until he had that risky sleep apnea surgery and was never the same. That ailment runs up and down my family (including yours truly). My docs said to NEVER EVER get the surgery out of inconvenience for using the CPAP machine nightly, because it's an extremely painful procedure that's disfiguring on your airways...and done wrong it'll mess up your day AND night breathing for life.

Sudden athletic decline immediately midseason after getting the reconstructive airway surgery, and never returning to form? Sounds exactly like what my specialist said about surgery gone wrong.

Seriously, meatheads...just let all the tail you bring to the hotel room on the road invent fun games to play with the mask instead. It's not worth it for your vanity's sake.

[Dr. Medulla]

Napoli retires. I will always love him for 2013.

2013 Napoli was so easy to root for. Looked like a lumberjack and crushed those moonshots over the Wall.

Until he had that risky sleep apnea surgery and was never the same. That ailment runs up and down my family (including yours truly). My docs said to NEVER EVER get the surgery out of inconvenience for using the CPAP machine nightly, because it's an extremely painful procedure that's disfiguring on your airways...and done wrong it'll mess up your day AND night breathing for life.

Sudden athletic decline immediately midseason after getting the reconstructive airway surgery, and never returning to form? Sounds exactly like what my specialist said about surgery gone wrong.

Seriously, meatheads...just let all the tail you bring to the hotel room on the road invent fun games to play with the mask instead. It's not worth it for your vanity's sake.

So do you use a CPAP gizmo? The Boss has sleep apnea but not serious enough to pursue any kind of relief. I've learned to just ignore it, occasionally giving her a bit of a kick to start breathing again if it seems to be taking too long.

[revbob]

Wait are we saying sleep apnea surgery led to Napoli's offensive decline? For real? If so I'll avoid that for sure, cant afford to have my softball skills decline.

I've heard that the surgery tends to offer little in terms of positive results/effects.

I do tend to snore and have the apnea thing too but three things mitigate this.

1) Not sleeping on my back.
2) Losing a few pounds 3-5 makes a big difference. I have a definite threshold.
3) Drinking water.
4) Not drinking alcohol.

I mainly work with the first 3 for "best" overall results.

[Rat Patrol]

So do you use a CPAP gizmo? The Boss has sleep apnea but not serious enough to pursue any kind of relief. I've learned to just ignore it, occasionally giving her a bit of a kick to start breathing again if it seems to be taking too long.

It's diagnosed with a sleep test where they hook up electrodes and monitor your brain waves. Have >7 breathing events per hour confirmed by the brain waves, and you've got apnea. <7 events/hr...you don't. There's leeway for lifestyle & sleep hygiene changes to rein it in if you don't have it too severely. Mine is moderate-severe (~10/hr.) so I've had to use the mask for the last 7 years as nothing else would even come close. Thank you, immediate family for your shitty airway genes!

Wait are we saying sleep apnea surgery led to Napoli's offensive decline? For real? If so I'll avoid that for sure, cant afford to have my softball skills decline.

Pretty much. He was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea, but didn't like the CPAP. So in the 2014 offseason he had an 8-hour surgery that broke his upper and lower jaw + chin and installed plates and screws in his head to reshape his airway. Long recovery, had to be on a liquid diet for almost half the offseason. He claims he felt fantastic after healing, but tanked in every offensive category and lost alarming bat speed in his Age 33 season. Was never the same...out of the game by 35 despite not having much of a DL history.

I know Boston writers were starting to poke around the issue of the surgery as culprit by midseason '15 when it was clear he wasn't turning it around, but then he got traded to Texas after the AS break so it didn't end up getting much play. In the absence of any injury history to explain why a slugging, high-walks 1B lost it that suddenly at a fairly early age for hitters of that profile to start losing it...it's tough to ignore the highly disfiguring elective surgery he opted to have. Have your very facial bones repositioned somewhere they were never meant to be and you might breathe better sleeping, but it's going to change your entire breathing patterns when awake and active...often not for the better. (To say nothing of what other side effects and health impacts later in life can come from having your face hastily rearranged.)