Things That Exist

FACT 1:



FACT 2:



They're still around (some places, at least)

Jamey Carroll, this one's for you, you tiny, beautiful bastard.

Boom-de-yadda

I hate the Giants
I hate misplayed pop flies
I hate Stairs pinch hits
I hate Bill Plaschke's lies
I hate Joe Morgan
And all he represents
Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda
Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda

I hate the Yankees
I hate the MSBs
I hate Bond's noggin
And Sweeney 0-for-3's
I hate Chris Berman
And all his east-coast love
Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda
Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda

I hate the Phillies
I hate smug Angel geeks
I hate bad grammar
And Padre winning streaks
I hate blocked comments,
Conflicting edits, too!
Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda
Boom-de-yadda, boom-de-yadda

---

HT to rbnlaw and SoSG for the inspiration.

Solution: A Grain of Truth

Here's the solution to yesterday's VORP installment.

You were presented with a puzzle in the shape of an hourglass. the top bulb contains a cryptic clue, but the bottom bulb contains gibberish. I guess we should start with the top, then! Reading through, we are instructed to "Erode away all the other options" to find the "Grain of Truth", so there must be something more to the top passage than meets the eye.

The "glass" is full of sand, so not much can be eroded that way. letting "gravity" work on each by dropping the contents of the upper half to the lower yields interesting results.

---

FL
IP
TODE
CODE
OUCROEET
RERLBESF
NGDEEEGPTHIN
ESTELUTEAWOR
ITOTHHDLRTIESG
VUSOURCKHLEAYS
TSEOHTOJBUAIONET
IJDYFTUKSAGOFTAU
ESHITKAMNEPEXNOSCI
GSNYOFRDREVOVLTWLC
ETPREMATODMGOWASAU
EQOAGALHGATETOIOAL
MYAGZADODDREERFLUHMM
ETUNOSSIEALNFACAQOPC
ULAHVJEGAMMOHTITIOAV
WAVOERTDSOTYAMRSRICK

---

OK, that makes sense. It is an hourglass after all. When we turn over the puzzle and apply the same solution, we get this -

---

TO
MM
YLAS
ORDA
MANAGEDT
THEDODGE
RSAFTERHISRE
TIREMENTODJV
RACTEVSKDLASOO
ILFOGPBJMAMAZH
IQIOVOAKCURFGANV
OUAWXEULDOAKERGA
COOTLOGHTURTFOYOUA
AHSONIARGEHTHTIPAL
PAWTFELEBLLUOYDNQT
MASNOITPOREHTOEHTY
KLLAYAWAEDORETSUJSEW
VUCESEHTEDOCEDOTSSEU
CCUSROFSEPICERSEVIGE
MITGNITEELFTUOGNITEM

---

"Tommy Lasorda managed the Dodgers after his retirement." A quick trip to verify with your baseball reference of choice, and you will know that Walter Alston immediately preceded Tommy when he took over the club.

Thanks to all those who participated. Initial standings will be posted shortly.

A Grain of Truth

Welcome off-day refugees. The inaugural VORP classic is officially underway.

---

Baseball is a game without a time limit, but these off-day puzzles are not. If you can't find a solution in the time allotted to you, you take your participation points and your pride and go home. There will be no extra innings, so don't underestimate the gravity of the situation. Your timer starts...NOW!

---

METINGOUTFLEETINGTIM
EGIVESRECIPESFORSUCC
ESSTODECODETHESECU
ESJUSTERODEAWAYALL
THEOTHEROPTIONSA
NDYOULLBELEFTW
ITHTHEGRAINO
FTRUTHGO
ODLU
CK
JB
UKSA
KAMNEPEX
YOFRDREVOVLT
PREMATODMGOWAS
QOAGALHGATETOIOA
YAGZADODDREERFLUHM
TUNOSSIEALNFACAQOP
ULAHVJEGAMMOHTITIOAV
WAVOERTDSOTYAMRSRICK

---

Just like in the PCS, the answer to the puzzle is a Dodger. Comment freely in the thread, but if you have the solution, please don't give it away to everyone in the comments section. Instead, do the following:

• E-mail me with the first and last name of the Dodger who is the answer, along with your reasoning. Please include your screen name in your email.
• Post a comment simply saying you have emailed your solution attempt. I may not be able to reply to your original email immediately, so please be patient and check back on the comment thread for the latest news; I will confirm correct answers there.
• Points will be assigned based on the time your correct e-mail response was received.

You have until 11pm PT tonight to submit your answer. Solution will be posted tomorrow. Good luck!

Hint #1: Added link above

Hint #2: Decode the hidden message in the top bulb by following the pull of "gravity", then do as the hidden message instructs to solve the bottom bulb.

Hint #3: ------------------------------------>

Hint #4 - The method to solve the puzzle works a little like the game shown on the post game thread on SoSG from last night.

Surely, you have nothing better to do

In response to the the contraction of the PCS season, the board of directors has voted to institute a sensible alternative (final vote: 1 for, 0 against) to relieve the monotony of those summer days without baseball. On days (other than Mondays) when the Dodgers are not playing, a puzzle will be posted for your viewing enjoyment. It's a little thing I like to call "Value Over Replacement Puzzle"

The rules are simple. The puzzle will be posted at 8:00 AM. When you have a solution, E-mail your answer to the address on the sidebar and post a notification in the comments. Sound familiar? Here's the lineup.

• May 13
• June 10
• July 1
  
• July 14
  
• September 2
  

Because there always needs to be a meaningless distinction between leagues, there will be a few differences in the scoring system. When the puzzle is posted, each solver starts with 90 points, with 10 bonus points being awarded to the first correct solution. Every 15 minutes, 1 point will be subtracted from that total. A solution submitted at 10 am scores 82 points, while one submitted at 2pm scores 66, etc. If a player does not submit a correct solution before 11:00 pm, participation in the thread is still worth 10 points.

Rankings for the VORP classic will be calculated by a weighted total. The most recently solved puzzle will be worth 3 times the puzzle score, the previous puzzle will be worth twice the score, and older puzzles will be counted normally.