6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Recently, The Dog Snobs ran a story entitled "That's not how that actually works you know a.k.a. The AKC is not the enemy and why you sound stupid when you say so.". I normally love the Snobs, but it is exactly when they start talking about the AKC that they end up making really dumb comments. Having been a sometime observer of the AKC and its defenders, I now understand why they write this sort of apologetic -- but refuse in the strongest possible terms to excuse it. And if you presume to lead with the provocative headline that "you sound stupid" when decrying the AKC as an enemy of dogs, you either clearly haven't done your homework, you cling to prejudice about an organization whose real flaws you do not wish to address, or both. Neither prospect reflects well on the Snobs.

The myriad institutionalized flaws of the AKC should come as no surprise to anyone who has befriended me on Facebook for any substantial period of time. I have had the great good fortune to acquire a number of knowledgeable friends with longer history with dogs and vastly more detailed understanding of genetics. My friend Heather Houlahan back in 2010 penned a fantastic analysis of the AKC's dysfunction and decline, "The Emperor's Striptease". While there is a great deal there worthy of discussion, I want to focus first on her synopsis of Donald McCaig's excellent book, The Dog Wars. The short version is that the AKC mounted a hostile takeover of the Australian Shepherd Club of America, except

... the Aussie owners' club had no interest in being so honored. It was doing just fine by itself, with a registry, pageant shows (there was their mistake -- a topic for another day), and open-to-all obedience and working trials.

But AKC was in an acquisitive mood. It cobbled together a little group of Aussie owners who wanted to enter the big pageants, declared them the official club, and to Hell with the studbook -- they'd just take your word for it on the pedigree.

Most of the Aussie people I knew at the time took a fatalistic view -- they didn't like it, but basically rolled over and peed themselves. "I guess I have to double-register, or else lose puppy sales. They're going to close the studbook." (Edit: I do not mean to imply that all Aussie owners went this way; I was just shocked and disappointed about the ones I knew at the time, who all did.)

The AKC next tried to absorb the Border Collie, which effort was marginally successful, in that there are now BC's registered with the AKC, but as Heather notes,

The ABCA continues to register over 20,000 border collies a year -- more than ten times as many as the AKC. Most of those latter are "captured" agility and obedience dogs, and many of those are dual-registered.

So when the Snobs tell us that "The AKC is first and foremost a registry business", what they omit is that it has done so against the wishes of Aussie owners and breeders, and as well of the Coton de Tulear, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and Leonberger, in varying degrees.

But this transgression amounts to petty larceny compared to the felony assault that the AKC commits on the canine genome. And it is here, at the Snobs' item (3) -- "The Breed Clubs are not the AKC" -- that the bulk of their argument collapses in a heap. It takes either willful blindness or a refusal to comprehend how the AKC being a mere "registry" (their item 1) drives the operation of their constituent breed clubs.

The AKC is a closed registry. This, really, is in two dimensions:

1. It is closed to outside review, that is, outside of the AKC. Breeders and buyers alike have but limited visibility at the contents.
2. It is closed to new dogs, i.e. there is no such thing, as in the Border Collie registries, as a "Registered on Merit".

So when the Snobs say that "the breed clubs are not the AKC", what they're really trying to imply is that the AKC has no responsibility for the actions of the breed clubs. This is disingenuous in the extreme. And the reason why is that breed clubs must use the closed registry, without exception.

The AKC promotes breeds with terrible health. The most visible example I can think of here is the blog entry Patrick Burns wrote in 2010, in the case of Ch. Roundtown Mercedes of Maryscot, the Scottish Terrier that won Westminster that year. Not only was it the Westminster winner, it was a triple crown winner, also winning the 2009 National Dog Show and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship that same year. And yet, as Burns points out,

• This is a breed in which 45 percent of all dogs die of cancer.
• This is a small breed dog where the average lifespan of the dog is just 10.15 years -- not the 15 years it should be.
• This is a breed where a person buying a professionally-bred Scottish Terrier is twice as likely to have that well-bred dog die at two years of age as they are to have that Scottie live to age 16.
• This is a breed where AKC show breeders have demonstrably less healthy dogs. As Joesph Harvill, editor of Great Scots Magazine notes, professionally bred Scotties are more expensive than casually-bred dogs, but they are not healthier. He concludes that "The empirical evidence indicates that the best shot -- even if a long shot -- at a long-lived Scottie is from a non-professional breeder."
• This is a breed in which the health of the dog is in rapid decline. When Joseph Harvill, the editor of Great Scots Magazine compared health survey results between 1995 and 2005, he found "an alarming trend" that "may signal the rapid declension in a gene pool which can happen when inbreeding depression reaches critical mass in a small, closed population."
• This is a breed where owners spent an average of $492 per dog per year on medical bills -- and 12.9% spent between $1,000-$5,000 per dog per year.

This is the result of the AKC's idea of "improving" dogs. It is a direct consequence of the closed studbook. While it is true that closed studbooks are a consequence of the actions of the breed clubs themselves, how many exceptions can you name? I personally am aware of only one, the low-uric acid Dalmatian project, which backcrossed Pointers to reintroduce the normal uric acid gene into the Dalmatian gene pool. (AKC Dalmatians often cannot convert uric acid to purines, which frequently results in kidney stones.) And even still, the Dalmatian Club of America (the AKC's subsidiary breed club) voted against inclusion. In the face of a known and serious health problem, the DCA clung to its closed stud book rather than attempt a fix.

This brings me to my next issue: their proposed solution, one pillar of which includes

Some tighter reins on the breed clubs who are being deliberately ridiculous (I know, dog people being insane? Say it ain't so!) would be nice. We're not saying they have to shove modifications of the standard to reduce extremity and mandatory health testing down the breed clubs' throats, but holding them down and making them chew on it a little isn't the worst idea.

If mere "education" and "modifications of the standard" were all it took to repair the damage wrought by supposed renegade or ignorant breed clubs, why did it take so long to garner any measure of acceptance for the LUA Dalmatian? And why is the LUA Dalmatian an apparent anomaly?

To answer that question, you'd have to have an understanding of the social aspects of the AKC and its breed clubs. As the estimable Ms. Houlahan put it,

The AKC cannot make up its mind whether it is a Most Anciente and Exclusive Order that has charged itself with governing a small, fanatical, and timorously obedient cadre of social-climbing dog-pageant addicts, or the divinely-ordained Government of Dogs in all of America.

One identity is primarily insular and snobbish. The other is primarily totalitarian and expansionist. They commingle gracelessly into something resembling a Stalinist Switzerland.

The AKC is fundamentally at war with itself, as can be seen by its imperious treatment of its own internal delegates. And here, the point that the breed clubs are not the same thing as the AKC proper is largely a copout, and ultimately meaningless. The problem isn't simply the many breeds ruined by extreme standards -- think, for example, of Pugs and Bulldogs, brachycephalic breeds that have overheating problems, as well as the many breeds that can no longer deliver puppies vaginally, such as the Scottish Terrier. Such degradation is widespread across multiple breeds, and exists in the European fancy as well; see, for instance, this pictorial history of European German Shepherd Dog champions, which feature the increasingly misshapen hindquarters common in the US. It also ignores the consequences of closed gene pools, which stem from the itch to "breed the best to the best". The "popular sire syndrome" is both nearly irresistible and all too common, as is the urge to deliver "typy" looks.

The problem, really, is this pre-Mendel ideal that ignores genetic diversity, that pretends nothing aside from immediate, known traits will be transmitted to the descendants of the proposed parents. As John W. Campbell observed, you can't do just one thing. Genetics are nothing if not tricky, and the AKC and its constituent clubs routinely ignore the real-world complications that inevitably follow from those flawed assumptions. If you are going to lecture others about "sound[ing] stupid", if you are going to claim you "don't just know better; we are better", you had damned well better have a rudimentary understanding of the subject of which you discuss. And it is crystal clear the Snobs, for reasons political and emotional, do not, and are not even slightly interested.

Labels: dogs, offtopic

I have (too late!) made general policy around here that politics are offlimits (I talk about them enough on Facebook), but today I'm making an exception to stop PIPA/SOPA, a pair of horrible bills that would do untold damage to the Internet. Please visit the EFF for more information. Also, Gizmodo has a nice gallery of sites going dark in protest.

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Here's something fun for late on a Sunday: telephone promos for The Empire Strikes Back.

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Dodgers Extend KABC Through 2011

It doesn't seem like very long, does it? Anyway, it won't really be Opening Day (for the Dodgers, at least) until I can hear Vinny call a regulation game in the regular season.

Burying The Lede: Baseball Prospectus Fails To Notice Yankees Getting Really, Really Old

But probably not fast enough to hope for a home sweep next weekend. This Village Voice piece is something I saw while in Arizona during spring training but kept forgetting to mention:

Based on the study of hundreds of players in their declining years, Silver projects these slides for the Yanks' elders in 2010:

Jeter from a 2009 batting average of .334 to .286 this year, a drop in home runs from 18 to 11, and in stolen bases from 30 to 10. Posada from a .285 BA to .263, home runs from 22 to 12. Pettitte from 14-8 and an ERA of 4.06 to 10-11 and 4.70. Scariest of all, Rivera from 44 saves to 22, and and ERA the moves from 1.76 to 3.53.

If Silver is right, the 2010 Yankees are sunk. Worse yet, Steinbrenner and Cashman seem to have no plans for how to replace the Core Four. Last year we suggested that the Yankees were going to be in trouble if Jeter played at the level of a typical 35-year old shortstop. He made us look foolish by playing way above it. But what happens if age catches up to him this season? Where will the Yankees move him to, and who is ready to step in at shortstop? The problem hasn't gone away, it's just gotten a year older.

Yet, reading the book itself, the intro is a paean to the brains of Brian Cashman, with nary a peep about this very visible issue facing the core quartet of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera. I don't get it.

Also Slightly Old: Mets Shopping Matthews, Jr.

Already. "Maybe the Mets are anticipating [him complaining about a lack of a starting role]" says New York Post writer Joel Sherman.

OT: A More Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy

Seriously? A Star Wars animated sitcom?

Labels: dodgers, mets, offtopic, predictions, radio, rumors, sabermetrics, the horror the horror, yankees

Merry Christmas from 6-4-2 World Headquarters!

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From 6-4-2 World Headquarters, Happy Thanksgiving. It's been a fairly quiet offseason around here, and I imagine it will probably be a quiet Turkey Day weekend. Hoping it's a happy one for you and your families.

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Meta: Dog Slow

Those of you who follow me on Facebook know that we have a pair of new dogs, English Shepherds rescued from a Montana breeder who allowed her situation to get out of control; her property was raided in December of last year, with about a hundred dead dogs found, including one next to her bed, with the remaining 200+ still alive basically feral. The dogs were released to the National English Shepherd Rescue earlier in the month, and we elected to get two, a five-month-old puppy and a five-year-old adult, both females. Both arrived yesterday. Neither are house trained, and there will be some adjustments as we get everyone settled. Posting will likely be slow for a while.

Let's Hang On To What We've Got: Angels 5, Indians 4

With a name like Fausto, you'd think that Carmona would be pitching better than he has; but apparently deals with the devil come with revokability clauses, and he ended the day with a 6.31 ERA, giving up five runs, three earned, to the Angels. Andy Marte provided a two-out error in the second that allowed the Angels to ultimately score a pair.

Vlad did Vlad things, going 3-for-5 but only scoring one run and driving in none, but the glory was distributed fairly evenly offensively. Trevor Bell managed his first major league win, and was two outs away from a quality start. Luckily for him, the bullpen didn't implode, or at least, too badly (Jason Bulger gave up a run but that was it).

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Dodgers Make The Most Of Their Rotation Matchups: Dodgers 7, Cardinals 3

Vin Scully was commenting during the game how the Dodgers were facing Chris Carpenter Monday, and Adam Wainwright Wednesday, so they needed to make the most of their opportunity to get to Mitchell Boggs yesterday. They did, and while they didn't get started until the fourth, by the end of five they had amassed a 5-0 lead that eroded but never evaporated, banging out a fusillade of mostly singles that chased Boggs after only four. It was a good game for the Dodgers and a rare win against an NL Central opponent that's played them tough all year.

Sore toe or not, Jonathan Broxton even pitched a scoreless inning and a third. Go him.

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Labels: angels, cardinals, dodgers, indians, offtopic, recaps

Just One Inning: Angels 5, Orioles 1

Random bullet points about a game I listened to in passing to a friend's birthday party yesterday:

• All the scoring came in the third, with both sides stranding a ton of runners, ten each. The Angels got plenty of help scoring that frame, with Baltimore starter Brian Matusz giving up a bases-loaded walk to kick off the scoring, and centerfielder Adam Jones aiding the Angels' cause with an error.
• Lackey posted one of his better games lately despite seven hits; at least he only walked one to six strikeouts. It was his 99th career win, so go him.
• Jason Bulger, who's been having some pretty good games lately, failed to make an out in the ninth in a game that Mike Scioscia was certainly hoping to keep Brian Fuentes out of. Bequeathing a pair of baserunners to Fuentes, the Angels closer kept either of them from scoring, a neat trick considering he came in to face the 9-1-2 batters.

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Enervation: Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 3 (10 Innings)

What didn't go wrong with this game? Hiroki Kuroda got nailed in the head with a line drive off the bat of pinch-hitter Rusty Ryal, recalling the September 8, 2002 game against the Astros in which Kaz Ishii got clocked for a double by Brian Hunter. (Is there some special rule for this? Why didn't Ryal take second on that play?) The limited good news there is that Kuroda escaped major injury; Rotoworld says it's not clear whether he will need a DL stint, one the Dodgers can scarcely afford. (Incidentally, it was Ryal's sixth game in the majors since being called up from AAA. He sent Kuroda a letter expressing his sincere good wishes for a speedy recovery, which is all you can hope for. I've yet to hear of anyone who really wants an opposition player to be injured, especially in that way.)

Adding insult to that particular injury, the Dodgers went into the ninth with a 3-1 lead, and Jonathan Broxton's toe once again blew the save, giving up solo homers to Mark Reynolds (his 37th of the year and thus somewhat excusable) and Miguel Montero (which was not, this being his 12th). And then came Ramon Troncoso's tenth inning implosion that ended with a bases-loaded "single" to drive in Augie Ojeda. It was really a showcase of every one of the Dodgers' recent flaws in the bullpen, with only a Rockies rainout keeping the day from being a total wash.

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Roster Notes

• The Angels optioned the little-used Reggie Willits after yesterday's game to make room for Torii Hunter.
• Vlad will be given the day off today.
• Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger will likely make his major league debut on Monday in the first game against St. Louis on Monday.
• Eric Bedard has expressed an interest in returning to the Mariners next year.

OT: Michael Vick Is An Eagle, And How Depraved Is That?

My Facebook friends have already seen my mini-rant about Michael Vick's reinstatement in the NFL after landing a job with the Eagles. To me, there are three relevant facts that override any concerns about him being allowed to find work in the NFL:

1. The depraved nature of what he did to the animals. Via Heather Houlihan's excellent blog, Raised By Wolves, a comment in Bad Rap Blog:

   The details that got to me then and stay with me today involve the swimming pool that was used to kill some of the dogs. Jumper cables were clipped onto the ears of underperforming dogs, then, just like with a car, the cables were connected to the terminals of car batteries before lifting and tossing the shamed dogs into the water. Most of Vick's dogs were small - 40lbs or so - so tossing them in would've been fast and easy work for thick athlete arms. We don't know how many suffered this premeditated murder, but the damage to the pool walls tells a story. It seems that while they were scrambling to escape, they scratched and clawed at the pool liner and bit at the dented aluminum sides like a hungry dog on a tin can.

   I really don't care what he does with the Humane Society of the United States, an organization that actually recommended the euthanasia of the surviving dogs on his property; it's not really transformative, for reasons we shall see presently...
2. He spent no time on actual animal cruelty charges. He pled not guilty, but animal cruelty charges were ultimately dropped by the state in a plea bargain; his time served was on federal RICO statutes, some of the easiest in the U.S. Code to prosecute.
3. His allocution evinced no remorse. From his Wikipedia page:

   A significant portion of the plea agreement involved Vick cooperating with federal authorities pursuing other dog fighting cases as well as a complete allocution on his role in the Bad Newz Kennels, including detailing his role in the killing of dogs after the fights. The allocution proved to be a "sticking point," as both federal prosecutors and FBI agents reported that Vick was giving contradictory statements about how dogs were killed, what his role in the killings were, how many dogs were killed, and other details. According to reporters who spoke to Judge Hudson after the sentencing hearing, Vick's pre-sentencing behavior, especially during an FBI polygraph administered in October 2007 which showed that Vick was being deceptive when asked direct questions about killing dogs, was a factor in selecting the length of the sentence.

This is a man who wants fame and fortune restored to him, not a man who has any genuine remorse. The blood-curdling horror of his actions is lost on him; as Houlihan put it,

Torturing helpless animals to death and laughing while you do so is the outward expression of a depraved consciousness and a dead psyche. Some souls go to Hell long before the body follows them. It's a choice.

The Eagles should hear about this, as should their corporate sponsors.

Labels: angels, diamondbacks, dodgers, injuries, offtopic, orioles, recaps, transactions

I published a brief review of last Christmas's Bolt on Facebook yesterday, which should tell you how backed up I am...

Labels: movies, offtopic, reviews

Thanks to SOSG for passing along the SI slide show about what happened to Michael Vick's pit bulls.

Labels: offtopic, woo hoo

For those who care, my brief review of the new Star Trek is up at Facebook. (Note this comes with a spoiler alert.)

Labels: movies, offtopic, reviews

Los Angeles Angels Will Stay That Way, In Anaheim

A state appellate court said so.

Hank Conger Looks To Stay Healthy

What a list of injuries, culminating with a torn shoulder labrum last year. Gah.

In just three minor-league seasons, they have happened to his back, wrist, hamstrings, thumb and shoulder, limiting him to roughly half-seasons in Class-A each of the past two years.

...

All the injuries have "slowed" Conger's development, Angels GM Tony Reagins admits. But the team still regards him as a top prospect.

"The evaluation is still kind of waiting," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "The projection – with his tools – is still very, very high.

"(Conger has) all the things that project into a terrific major-league catcher. The evaluation hasn't been able to move forward because we haven't seen him catch enough. That's kind of on hold right now until he gets healthy and gets out there and catches 100 games during the season."

Good luck with that, kid.

Angels To Bring Back Former Greats As Spring Training Coaches

The list will include Tim Salmon, Jim Abbott, Mark Langston, Bobby Grich, and Chuck Finley.

Preston Gomez' Last Gift: Jose Arredondo

Mike DiGiovanna of the Times:

The Angels this season will wear black diamond-shaped patches, inscribed with the name "Preston," on the right sleeves of their jerseys in honor of Preston Gomez, the team's beloved advisor, scout and coach who died in January at 86.

If it were up to Jose Arredondo, the hard-throwing 24-year-old reliever who had a breakthrough 2008 season for the Angels, the patch would be sewn over his heart.

"I love that guy," Arredondo said, his soft voice barely audible amid the bustle of the team's spring-training clubhouse. "He taught me everything."

...

Arredondo was a self-described "troublemaker" as he came up through the minor leagues, a prospect whose arm was clearly major league-caliber but whose temper threatened to derail him.

The Dodgers' Damage Duo Dares Destiny

... with talk similar to Hank Conger's. First, Jason Schmidt feels good after a throwing session:

"It looked like he had an easy time throwing the ball," Manager Joe Torre said. "He's been in a great frame of mind. Even last year when he was going to rehab in places, in between there would always be that one day when he wasn't sure."

How was Schmidt's stuff?

"He got me out, so his stuff was real good," said Pierre, laughing.

Not. A. Measure. And then the O-Dog (Vinny's gonna love calling games this year):

And, he said pointing to the season-ending wrist injury he suffered in 2008, he wasn't surprised or upset that it took so long for him to find work.

"It's not something you see in baseball quite often," said Hudson, who spent the winter recovering from a dislocated bone and damaged tendons in his left wrist. "It's something you see in baseball. Why would you take a chance on somebody like that? If I was a GM, I would do the same thing."

Funny, I keep thinking of Nomar when I think of wrist injuries.

Tech: Another Reason To Stay With Verizon

An AT&T customer who got shafted after using his data card to watch a Bears game while in the United States on a ship docked in port, with no indication of roaming.

When Burdick received the bill he complained to AT&T, who eventually offered to reduce the bill down to $6,000 - hardly comparable to the $220 he reckons is average. Luckily the chaps over at the Sun-Times were able to argue his case, and AT&T has credited Wayne with $27,776.66, though really it shouldn't have taken media involvement to fix a case like this.

We had a similar circumstance in which our contract expired and AT&T decided to triple our base rates without warning and slapped us with an obscene bill (from memory about $500-$600). Just awful, and a reminder of why, despite the temptations of the iPhone, I still haven't switched.

OT: Recovering From The Bad Dog

Facebook friends know why it's been quiet around 6-4-2 World Headquarters; our other dog, Hannah, the best bad dog in the world, finally and suddenly succumbed to the consequences of cancer a week ago Monday. Her tumors, originally in her vagina, had migrated into her lungs, where they were inoperable because of her age. Pieces of them started breaking loose early that morning, and she started having seizures, at which point it eventually became clear she wouldn't last much longer except in an ICU. That, sadly, prompted us to euthanize her, a painful decision as she clearly wasn't ready to go.

We got her ashes back from the crematorium yesterday, and even in death she managed to be unruly: the container didn't quite seal properly, so I had to take it apart and fix it. Bad old dog, Hannah. We miss you, girl.

Labels: angels, dodgers, injuries, offtopic, tech

After creating Superman, Joe Shuster found himself in financial dire straits, so he created a series of related fetish art pieces which were eventually banned in the U.S. Recently rediscovered by Craig Yoe, they are collected in a book to be released on April 1 (I know, I can't believe it either) called Secret Identity. Mildly NSFW, especially considering the distance in time, but you've been warned.

Labels: offtopic

... after that 5.0 earthquake. Look here for the map.

Update: Apparently now downgraded to a 4.5.

Labels: offtopic

Happy New Year, presently; I'm still on CST, and my brain's ready to call it a night. Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. 6-4-2 will be on sabbatical for a little while, anyway, at least for the rest of the year ...

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Hoping everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas. 6-4-2 will resume posting after the holiday.

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Bettie Page passed away at an LA hospital today at the age of 85. A strange fish, she never quite seemed to understand her own appeal, especially late in her life when she got religion.

A religious woman in her later life, Page was mystified by her influence on modern popular culture. "I have no idea why I'm the only model who has had so much fame so long after quitting work," she said in an interview with The Times in 2006.

Wherever you are now, Bettie: rowr.

Labels: obituaries, offtopic

One of our neighbors has a liquid amber tree that, like many, hasn't dropped its leaves yet because of the unusually warm December. He's got a ton of lights in the tree, and it's just gorgeous. Behold...

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6-4-2 World Headquarters wishes you and yours a happy Thanksgiving!

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And many happy returns!

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