I enjoyed pitching in Seattle and Yankee Stadium, and had pretty good success in both places. I really disliked pitching in Detroit, KC and Oakland. Pitching in SF seemed like it was WAY easier to keep the scoring down vs somewhere like Boston- so as you move around you start to understand how ERA+ and FIP make winners and losers more value averaged across the league.

I got to pitch against Halladay in Philly, and batted against him. It was truly a high water mark of my career.

Ok everyone, thanks for asking so many questions!

I'd like to round it out by putting together my list of favorite/funniest teammates over the years, just because I really think this is a fun way to address playing in the league for so long. I think about this all the time in terms of building the ultimate team of fun/productive players and the stories they would generate.

26 Man Roster

Outfield: RF: Kole Calhoun CF: Josh Hamilton LF: Mike Trout 1B: Mark Trumbo 2B: Michael Young SS: Elvis Andrus 3B: Adrian Beltre DH: Vlad Guerrero UTIL: Mark DeRosa C: Matt Treanor

Bench: Nelson Cruz, Omar Vizquel, Hank Conger, Mitch Moreland

RP: Darren O'Day RP: Darren Oliver RP: Eric Gagne RP: Frank Francisco RP: Joe Smith RP: Kameron Loe RP: Scott Feldman

they did the same with Albert, same with Trout's deal etc.

But in the mean time, they could have signed Sabathia, Cole etc but didn't pony up.

I am honestly terrible about sending stuff through the mail.

If you cannot get me in person there is no guarantee on my timing.

I don't think guys have that much self awareness right now, they're just focused on 'how sharp' they can make their pitches...which is fine for power pitchers and relievers.

But conceptually if you look at my ERA and my HR/9 stats they were way way lower than I should have been as a Texas Ranger, in that crazy stadium.

yeah. So, unless I'm making 10M a year or something that's too much to spend...granted it's shared by a few people, sponsors etc. but WOOOO

I am enjoying this, it's really my first time using it but can see how I'd get hooked. There are a lot of cool people like Lyn Alden getting on here

Bitcoiners are going to rule the world in another few years.

Rendon is introverted and Arte's attitude is to control the press so the stories always look worse than they are...last year they were hiding that he had a broken leg!

Arte does this to try and protect the trade values of the players...which is really stupid IMO.

Same with contract shape...they will pay the player too much at the end of the contract instead of normalizing it on an average.

I remember telling them it was stupid they wanted to pay me more in the 5th year than I made in the first 2 years combined...but they insured my contract and got it all paid back by insurance when I got hurt and missed time so maybe I was dumb...

to run the 24 Hours of LeMans is about 800,000 Euros. To put that in perspective...

yeah a few but I'm not going to doxx them bro!!

cars are a direct relationship business. you need someone new to work with...depending on where you are, this is hard- as it's a very big nepotism process to get a car dealership...so they're not that incentivized to improve. I enjoy the higher end stuff because the clients and I can take our time and not rush the transaction.

My sales background is Nordstroms...so I really like the client relationship process.

As a shopper I can relate. Imagine being a relatively wealthy young baseball player that shows up in a 100k + car and not being taken seriously! it happened to me all the time and that's why my stores are better.

direct sales is a scam. it's like a digital slot machine. when you're buying 100% online you really don't know if you're getting a good deal or not because you cannot read the human across the table. DM me on twitter about your location and I can tell you who is best in your area.

I don't really think defi is going to be as necessary until we reach hyperbitcoinization and that is still years away.

I think the risk to your personal bitcoin is too high right now to want to lend it out for yield. I think fiat money is easier to rehypothecate and therefore the defi thing on fiat is really easy.

I think lightning works for stuff like daily purchases and products like the prebuilt nodes from umbrel and vendors like zaprite can bridge the daily use thing...

the big challenge is seeing how we are all going to get PAID in bitcoin...

I went to Lancashire County Cricket Club and practiced with them in 2007. I think batting in both sports is really similar.

My buddy Steven Croft has been someone I follow over the years intently!

In 2010/2011 I watched a lot of cricket in the offseason but to be honest I like watching pitching in baseball because it's something I relate closer to in terms of technique, strategy etc. I think bowling in cricket is really specialized and has so many different styles it's something past where I can relate at the moment.

I think I'd always be on the outside looking in on sports team ownership. Nobody in ownership wants me telling the truth about stuff publicly. But, I'd love to be a owner of the Angels. Arte needs to go.

I am in CA because I run a brick and mortar business here, and it's really successful.

Also, living in Fresno is like Dallas- but cheaper cost of living. It's close to Yosemite, no traffic, housing is cheap, I can drive cool cars etc.

I'd retire to Wyoming, Montana or somewhere like that if I had enough money...but I'm still building up my car business, my net worth etc.

I am 43 so have a LOT of energy left.

I just started a coffee roasting biz with a friend of mine locally, and will be going to market and selling beans for bitcoin eventually.

At one of the winter meetings for the players union, I went to dinner with Gerrit Cole and Max Scherzer. Max and I were convincing GC to stop throwing sinkers and forcing contact and instead telling him to try and strike people out with bigger velocity differences and 4 seam spinning stuff. He was like 'guys I don't think that would work' and Max and I were laughing at him going DUDE NOBODY WANTS 99 CHEST HIGH JUST TRY IT.

I had come off a year where I had struck out 200 guys and remember saying - dude there is no universe that exists in which I should have more strikeouts than you!

GC got traded to the astros a few years later and ended up getting into the spin rate/ carry thing and has been at another level since.

exactly.

I threw the following pitches, and variants: 4 seam / carry 4 seam / cut 2 seam sink 2 seam sideways run 2 seam sail 4 seam changeup 2 seam changeup split finger cutter slider curveball spike curveball sidearm 4 seam carry sidearm 2 seam sink/run sidearm slider

I was the first person I know of to actively increase the 'noise' and try to deceive the scouts in this manner. I even threw a few knuckleballs as a starter just to confuse hitters if I was totally in the zone.

I was very analytical but it pushed me to be 'creative' as opposed to robotic.

I would do things like Nestor Cortes and Cueto with the leg kicks etc and my coaches would LOSE THEIR SHIT- especially when I would drop down for different angles.

But I can 100% say with confidence that dropping down and throwing 93-95mph was one of the wackiest things I could show a lefthanded hitter and contributed to my extreme success against some lefties over the years.

I really like watching Scherzer when he is healthy, along with Cole and Kershaw. Strider is a beast, sad to see him get hurt. I really like seeing Alcantara from Miami throw 200+ IP. Glasnow is a total beast when he is on, I really hope he stays healthy.

I have to say the guys who only go 4 2/3s and 5IP are NOT my favorites to watch. I'm absolutely baffled that managers and front offices are emphasizing that type of pitcher to be in their starting rotation.

Nolan Ryan said something to me that made a lot of sense at the time:

The more pitchers you put in a game, the more likely one of them is to have an off day and cost you a win.

The better the starting pitcher, the longer he should be encouraged to go.

100% if MLB baseballs had a more uniform coating/ process it would reduce arm issues a ton. Baseball slipperiness varies day to day and has to do with the work ethic of the clubhouse team and the umpires. Slick baseballs = problems

I think Gabapentin for example is a great theraputic for nerve conditions. It's especially valuable when combined with anti inflammatory stuff in the bony joints like the knee and elbow...for instance with Diclofenac- it soothes arthritic pain and allows for more normal motion.

I don't know how it would work as a non-topical pill, that could be wild as it then goes into your whole body.

I don't think you're dealing with anything easy if these are your choices and medications.

It is probably still a problem. Skaggs was a tragic example of what happens under a 'don't ask don't tell' scenario.

The angels teams I was on were really wild in terms of permissioned alcoholism. The rangers teams were much more hard working in the weight room, and it seemed like a few of the guys were stoners on the rangers over the years...but the angels teams had more dudes that would slam booze.

the angels culture has been very lazy for over a decade...my first spring training we didn't even have a real weight room to use which was FUCKING CRAZY. this was 2012.

yep. I think every 5-10 years we see these players with historical comps like Bryce Harper, Acuna, Trout, Spencer Strider, Gerrit Cole, Verlander, Scherzer, Kershaw etc.

These guys are all Hall of Fame level talent and will be measured against Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Hank Aaron etc.

Josh's flame burned out too quickly, which is sad for fans and his family. I really enjoyed my time with him.

Trout was easily the most polished player I have ever seen- his approach was so dialed and so consistent it was hilarious. He absolutely had the best approach to his hitting that I'd ever seen...the only other player I played with who was so disciplined and inspired so much confidence he'd 'show up nightly' was Michael Young.

Playing with Mike Young was amazing. We literally thought he would get 2 hits every night. I think if he would have been able to play a few more years he would have gotten 3000 hits. He was that good.