What the Downtown LA Skyline Would Look Like Without the Community Redevelopment Agency of LA – Curbed LA

Ridgecrest Redevelopment Agency has taken some hits, but to their credit, they have a thriving Business Park to show for it. I might also point out, that the park hasn’t caused blight or empty buildings as almost everybody that moved in there has been backfilled. (Taco Bell-Desert Valleys) And there are a ton of new businesses. So imagine the good work of a redevelopment agency on a much larger scale not having it’s incentives available for incoming business and check out the City of Los Angeles.

What the Downtown LA Skyline Would Look Like Without the Community Redevelopment Agency of LA – Image Interlude – Curbed LA.

 

2011 in review- Thanks to Everyone!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

Ranger Fans: Trust in Nolan and JD

It was a stunning day, to say the least. The Angels score Pujols and Wilson. Don’t even get me started on what a ridiculous contract this is. Or the fact that you can not cite one single time of one of these monstrous contracts ending “happily ever after”. Usually ends with the signing team eating a large amount of the contract so that someone will take them off your hands.

Let’s look at the numbers for a minute.  We’ll start with Pujols and what he means to the Angels offense.  Not going to go all “Moneyball” on you here, but here are some numbers in a nutshell.  Mark Trumbo played a lot of first base for the Angels last year (yes there were others) but since the number of AB’s are close, we’ll just ballpark this-

Player	AVG	HR	RBI	SLG
Mark Trumbo	.254	29	87	.477
Albert Pujols	.299	37	99	.541

Albert was hurt AND got off to a slow start, so you can imagine his numbers being much better BUT, this was the third straight year Albert’s stats have declined. Ultimately, the difference isn’t that huge. The Angels were 10th in the AL in hitting. The Rangers were 3rd. The Angels were the 8th best at the long ball, while the Rangers were 2nd. If you tack on the additional 8 homers that Albert had, they are still 8th. The Rangers had the 3rd most RBI’s in the AL, while the Angles were 10th. By a sizable margin. Not that there were many offensive weapons available via free agency, but it seems that Albert’s $50 mil per season might have been better spent on 2 or 3 players. There is no one in the Angel lineup to really protect Pujols. Unless someone comes to the forefront, nobody will ever have to actually give Albert anything to hit. Wells and Hunter are declining, in fact, I would seriously doubt Vernon Wells will be an everyday player for them this year based on his HORRIBLE 2011.

The Rangers still are considerably ahead of the Angels on depth and the fact there really isn’t anyone you can pitch around in our lineup. Did anybody notice that our most productive hitter during the series (and all of the post season really) hit EIGHTH?

I have no illusions that Mitch Moreland would be anywhere close to Albert Pujols. But Nolan pointed out that his recently operated on wrist caused his production to disappear in the second half of the season. Take that and the fact that the hot stove season isn’t even over yet we don’t have to point out that a Ranger signing of Prince Fielder almost makes the Pujols signing moot.

Without dazzling you with stats on the pitching front I will point out a couple of things about the Angels getting C.J. Wilson. And I will try not to be just another bitter fan. These are legitimate concerns I had while we were still deciding if we would keep Wilson. In July C.J. made some remarks about being as good as or better than Jered Weaver. There were a couple of ugly things he said down the stretch about the media. Then pepper in the fact that the reason why the Rangers didn’t have home field for the Series was a homer he surrendered in the All Star game. Then came his pathetic post season work. All of that concerned me well before the Winter Meetings.

Now while the Rangers have a new wild card in the rotation and a deep farm system that can be used to maybe bring another starter to Arlington (Shields, Garza), the Angels have been rumored to be willing to trade Ervin Santana for some offensive help which of course would water down their rotation.

Nefi Feliz? He started a ton of games and was dominant in the minors. When we first called him up, it wasn’t unusual to see him go two full innings. Question mark? For sure. But I trust in Nolan and JD. You should too.

 

When Did Rob Ryan Become A Star?

As I write this, the Cowboys are losing to the Dolphins 16-10. We might come back and win, we might now. Two things are in my mind right now. The first, why do they show Rob Ryan after almost every single defensive play? Has Rob made a difference this season? No way to measure that fully and sometimes it appears they are still learning his system. But what are they expecting to catch from Ryan after our corners are burned on two consecutive plays?

I know the Dolphins have been hot and are focused, but let’s face it…we aren’t looking at many, if any, Pro Bowlers here. Those two long passes showed something. Alan Ball is in over his head and Terrance Newman’s time has come and gone.

But honestly, how much of a defensive problem is there when the co-ordination is on TV more than his players?

 

MLB trying to speed up decision on Oakland Athletics potential move to San Jose, sources say….Ken Rosenthal

SO many issues in play for this park. While the A’s are a division rival for the Rangers, Billy Beane and crew have been slaving away. below baseball’s poverty line, for quite some time and have been rewarded with poor attendance even in competitive years. I love the South Bay area south of San Francisco and therein lies one of their problems. Would this stadium cause some market erosion for the Giants, where Oakland is not a threat. Great article from Fox’s Ken Rosenthal.

MLB trying to speed up decision on Oakland Athletics potential move to San Jose, sources say – MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN.

 

Check out the Farmers Field “Wing”

There have been some incredible new stadium designs that challenge the eye. Almost all of them have been in Europe or elsewhere. Wasn’t sure I liked this after they added this wing look, but the more I see it, the more I like it.  Most of the challenges for the stadium have been met, including L.A. City Council approval. Still a matter of selling $275 million worth of seat binds. Oh yeah and finding a team.

Check out all of the new design for Farmers Field.

 

Box Stores Take Note-

Communities who don’t allow box stores rule that way for a lot of reasons. One of the main ones is to protect local business, but there are others. One of the main ways they keep them out, is their generic nature. If more of the chains figure out ahead of time to bring a design that is aesthetically pleasing or blends with the rest of the native architecture the might find the planning process goes a little better.

Costco; Westfield; malls; Los Angeles; San Fernando Valley – latimes.com.

 

Me Thinks Garrett’s Reign Is Over

Still listening to today’s Cowboy-Seahwaks tilt, but it is apparent that the measured control of Jason Garrett has come to an end. Or at least a grand pause. I have been pointing the finger of major blame for the Cowboys continued struggles at Jerry Jones and I will continue to do so, but during the course of this game, there are so many mental miscues there is only one place to turn. The Head Coach. Loss of temper against a team of which we have no real history is just an embarrassment and honestly shows a selfishness that can only come from an atmosphere Monday through Saturday that has no discipline

I like Jason Garrett, but one of his influencers has the same problem in San Diego. Like Norv Turner, Jason has shown he can lead an offensive group to success. Leadership for a whole squad? Not so much.

In the grand scheme, this still points out the “job security” issue at almost every position. That comes from Jones. I guess I am old school enough to still be “old school”. The best way to get a player to respond is to threaten them with their job. It’s a tough environment, job security wise, because they make so damn much money. But this group is showing itself to be a self centered lot and on game day there is only place to look the be responsible for this and it’s the man with the headset.

 

MLB Old School Let’s Down Guard and BAM!

One of the best and at the same time most frustrating things about baseball is its’ insistence on “tradition”. Over the years we have seen some movement against tradition. Small steps. Sporadic use of instance replay. The inevitable opening of the door to free agency. Women GM’s and PA announcers. No place has baseball dug it’s heels in more than the good old boy’s club known as baseball ownership.

Without doing the research but to my recollection, Nintendo tried to purchase the Seattle Mariners, but foreign ownership was forbidden. They had the money and who knows what kind of owners they would have been.

Here’s what I can’t quite figure out. They let Frank McCourt in. Now, is that because he was a white man with money? Or was it because he totally conned them.

McCourt is a conman. Pure and simple. He talked his way into getting the club and then gave all of them a bad name. He raped the fan base and pillaged the coffers. As a Ranger fan, I thought Tom Hicks was as bad an owner as the game had ever seen. McCourt makes Hicks look like the Busch and Wrigley families. If anyone is deserving of the old fashioned lifetime ban from baseball it is this man. And his wife.

The McCourt’s had means and then some. And STILL managed to live beyond them.  The rest of the Dodgers decline is well documented. As a fan of baseball as an institution, it was stomach turning to see what he did to this storied franchise.

Let’s hope whoever buys the Dodgers next, will go through a little tighter “tradition” process.

 

Though derailed, Texas set up to return | texasrangers.com: News

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though derailed, Texas set up to return | texasrangers.com: News.