MLBLM C/V Marpril: Give Your Life to All the Losers Out There

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > MLBLM C/V Marpril: Give Your Life to All the Losers Out There

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Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Kevlar v2.0 posted:

White Sox Fans Drink the Most of Any MLB Fan Base, Study Shows

TLR is gonna fit right in

The only reason this isn't Brewers fans is because they got too drunk in the parking lot and never made it inside.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2021 21:08

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 22:19

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Salvor_Hardin posted:

Jose Canseco is spilling beans on twitter. Claims McGuire corked every game.

e: https://twitter.com/JoseCanseco/status/1368035338388668417

Myth Busters did an episode on this and they found corked bats where actually detrimental. Probably why we haven't seen it since Sosa. It makes sense, you're losing barrel mass which is going to have a bigger negative effect for a power hitter than the benefit of swinging slightly faster.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2021 07:04

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

bewbies posted:

Diameter of the bat makes a big difference in how big the hitting area is also, so it isn't necessarily optimal to make a skinnier bat even if it is denser.

I think the optimal bat is the fattest barrel possible (which is limited by "rules") coupled with the densest possible surface layer plus the lightest possible swingweight. Obviously these are all kind of competing with one another, so you're seeking balance of all the factors. The best wood solution is probably something like a bamboo core surrounded by hickory or maple but I think that's against the "rules" also.

Barrel size actually doesn't matter as much as you might expect, the point of contact with the ball is a very small section of the barrel. Hitting above or below the middle of the barrel is going to result in weak contact (fly ball, ground out). Bigger barrels are mostly preferred because more mass at the end of the bat results in more power.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2021 21:11

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

There's lots of bat companies that have tried different woods Guayaibi, Beech etc. but really the only 3 in use are ash/maple/birch with maple being king and birch making some headway, ash is definitely falling out of favour.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2021 21:47

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Chief McHeath posted:

I think what's being overlooked is that a lot of players are using axe handle bats and not axe bats

Wood bat trends are funny because there really is only so much you can do given MLB bat restrictions to differentiate them and ultimately it's still a wood bat although non-MLB legal wood bats can get more creative in their construction. The big trend these days is funky knobs you see them as a big selling point.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2021 22:00

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Javier Baez got hit by pitch yesterday and he just walked straight into the dugout done for the day. Apparently the Cubs just decided to end the inning after that despite having runners on and only 2 outs, I enjoy these ultra-lax spring training games.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2021 23:11

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

I've swung Axe bats a number of times, some people swear by it. I thought it felt fine but I wasn't about to turn around and drop $200 on a new wood bat just for that knob.

Also since you can only hit with one side of the bat I think for metal bats there is issues with wear. I had a buddy blow up an aluminum axe bat a few months after he bought it.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2021 04:22

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Hirez posted:

also wasn't there someone here who was gonna do a mega-post about their bats? We're still waiting

Yes that was me sorry. I got lazy about cropping the images.

This ended up being quite a bit longer than I was expecting. This first post will be mostly be about wood bats, I'll put together another post about metal.

Hi I'm Popete and I like to play baseball, here is a picture of a bunch of my baseball bats. I've tossed out plenty of broken wood ones over the years and you'd think I'd have more than enough but there is always something new I want to try and so I keep buying more. I figured I'd post about baseball bats because they are cool!

Bat Basics:

Baseball bats can be split into two major categories wood and metal. Broadly speaking metal bats will out perform wood in just about every way, although over the years new standards have been put in place to limit how "hot" metals bats can get the nature of how they are manufactured still gives them an edge over wood. Bats are usually referred to by their "drop", drop is simply the difference between a bats length and weight. So a -3 (drop 3) bat would be 3 ounces lighter than it's length, probably the most common bat length being 33" long and weighing 30 oz. BESR/BBCOR/MLB standards have a drop limit of no more than -3, you will see -2 wood bats for those who like more weight in the barrel but that's usually as high as it will go with the exception of overloaded bats for training.

Bat Standards

BESR 1998-2011: Ball Exit Speed Ratio or BESR was a former standard that people usually mean when they say metal bats are insanely juiced. BESR is really just a formula for a balls exit speed based on the balls pitched velocity and it must be under a certain limit for a bat to be certified. A lot of the controversy surrounding BESR was around composite metal bats (not the same as wood composite!), we'll get into what composite bats are later but the idea is the more you hit with a composite bat the more responsive the barrel becomes and the bat gets "hotter". This allowed manufacturers to make bats that passed the BESR standard when brand new but would exceed these standards the more you hit with them. This started to get dangerous and the NCAA eventually banned composite bats leading to the formation of the BBCOR standard.
BBCOR 2012-present: BBCOR isn't too disimilar to BESR, it sets standards for both wood and metal bats including length, weight and responsiveness of the barrel. One major change was the BBCOR tests "break in" bats prior to testing, manufacturers have to ensure their bats won't get too hot over time or their bats can be banned. This actually happened with the 2020 Louisville Slugger Meta 33" in 2020 and it was banned from NCAA baseball.

Note: BBCOR is the defacto standard outside professional leagues. Most high school/amateur leagues follow NCAA rules and bat bans and require a bat to be BBCOR certified.
USSSA: This is for little league and senior leagues, it allows for greater barrel performance and bats of greater drop than BESR/BBCOR which limit to only -3. USSSA bats can go down to -8 which allows for some insanely light bats that would be dangerous to use for adults.
MLB: I'll just post the rules below, but the gist of it is Major League bats must be no lower than -3 drop and have to be one solid piece of wood, this rules out any composite or bamboo bats that are allowed in BBCOR.

quote:
(a) The bat shall be a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42inches in length.
The bat shall be one piece of solid wood. NOTE: No laminated or experimental bats shall be used in a professional game (either championship season or exhi-bition games)
until the manufacturer has secured approval from the Rules Committee of his design and methods of manufacture.
(b) Cupped Bats. An indentation in the end of the bat up to 1� inches in depth is permitted and may be no wider than two inches and no less than one inch in diameter.
The indentation must be curved with no foreign substance added.
(c) The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip.
Any such material or substance that extends past the 18-inch limitation shall cause the bat to be removed from the game.

Note: (c) you'll notice does not specifically refer to pine tar but allows for "any material or substance to improve the grip". Most of what you see these days are pine tar alternatives like Tiger Stick, which are those push pop things you see guys using on deck. Actual pine tar is really messy and stains everything, such as Justin Turners jersey.

MLB bats must also pass an ink dot test for maple wood bats. With the growing popularity of maple and their propensity to explode in dramatic and dangerous fashion MLB introduced the ink dot test in 2009, a dot of ink is placed 12" from the knob which is considered the most fragile point of the bat and the woods fibers must run no more than 3 degrees off parallel with the bat as seen by the ink dot. This is mostly a safety selection test so that only the highest quality maple wood which is less likely to shatter is used in MLB bats.

Bat Components:

Knob: This is really all about "feel" and comfort. Power hitters who like to hold the bat with the bottom hand pinky hanging off the end might prefer a cone knob. But again there are no rules here, just whatever an individual is most comfortable with. Me personally, I like a traditional knob. Here is an image of 3 common knobs; a cone, traditional and tapered another common knob which I don't own is the bell knob which is like a fatter tapered knob.

Today bat makers are experimenting with knobs such as the Axe handle, you've probably seen this in recent years as guys like Mookie Betts have really helped drive it's popularity. As the name suggests it's shaped like an axe handle, the manufacturer Axe Bat claims it improves range of motion in the swing and extra comfort. I've swung Axe bats and think they're perfectly fine, I know other people don't like the feel and some people swear by them. Can't say I personally have a strong preference either way and since bats have to license the knob from Axe you don't have a lot of options for bats with this knob. Another new competitor to the Axe handle is the ProRX

Axe Handle

ProXR
Handle: This is the part you hold in your hands and is usually dictated by the turn model for wood bats. A thicker handle is more durable and usually preferred by contact hitters who find it gives them more control as well as less end load making the bat feel lighter. Power hitters usually like a thin handle which shifts the weight towards the barrel.
Barrel: For wood bats a bigger barrel means more mass towards the end of the bat (end loaded) versus a smaller barrel with a thicker handle (balanced). Power hitters want end load, contact hitters usually prefer a more balanced bat that is easier to control.

Wood Bats:

Almost all wood bats are BBCOR certified so they can be used in amateur as well as professional leagues. There are 3 main wood types used in the Major Leagues today; ash, maple, birch. BBCOR allows for bats to be made from more than 1 solid piece, so you will see bamboo/composite and other wood types but the big 3 are still very much the majority.

The big 3 wood types, I only own a single ash bat and it's a fungo. Notice the wood grains, I'll talk about it below but ash has a much more distinctive grain than maple/birch so you can usually spot these bats fairly easily.

Wood Type:

Ash: This used to be THE wood of the MLB, until one day a guy named Barry Bonds came along swinging maple and everyone decided they should probably swing that too. Ash is a porous grain wood, meaning it is less dense and slightly more flexible and is more forgiving on mishits off the sweet spot which are usually characteristics favoured by contact hitters. You can recognize ash bats by their very pronounced grain patterns (Ben Zobrist bat is a good example).
Maple: Barry Bonds pretty much single handedly made maple the standard wood baseball bat today. Maple is a very dense and rigid wood, it's favoured by power hitters for the extra mass in the barrel as well as a rigid handle that allows for maximum pop. Maple also shatters when it breaks and was almost banned because they posed such an injury risk (Welington Castillos maple bat speared Tyler Colvin in the chest in 2010). MLB eventually limited the density and species of maple wood that can be used in bats along with the ink dot test described above but it's still very much the preferred wood bat species today.
Birch: Birch is a relative new comer, it's sort of a hybrid between ash and maple as it's denser than ash but has more flexibility than maple. It's not as popular as maple but more players appear to be swinging it.
Bamboo: Bamboo is not approved by MLB as it is not a single piece of wood (also it's a grass) but a bunch of compressed bamboos strips. It's allowed under BBCOR standards so you will see it occasionally in amateur leagues as it's very durable. Often used for batting practice or the more budget conscious hitter.
Wood Composite: This means different things depending on the manufacturer, but generally a wood composite bat is some kind of composite core (bamboo, carbon fiber) surrounded with a wood shell often maple. The handle will also usually be made of the composite material for additional strength. Composite bats are very durable and will last for multiple seasons but have similar performance to traditional single piece wood bats. Again these are only allowed in BBCOR, so you won't see these in MLB.

Cupped or uncupped?
Well if you're playing the infield you really should have one, if you're in the outfield unless you're Matt Holliday you can probably go without... oh right, baseball bats. Wood bats today will often have a cup carved out of the barrel end, this allows the bat manufacturer to balance the weight more finely as well as play around with the weight distribution. An uncupped wood bat will usually have more mass in the barrel. Most bats today are cupped and I've never heard anyone who has a strong preference either way.

Turn Models: Wood bats are referred to by their turn model. This gives a general description of the bat dimensions and profile regardless of the manufacturer. Some common turn models are; 271, 110, 243. I'm not sure why turn models are numbers and what those numbers mean specifically, that's just what they are. Outside of the common turn models there are many many different player specific models such as the AP5 (Albert Pujols) or the CB15 (Carlos Beltran).

110/271/243 respectively.

110: This is usually a contact hitter bat, it's a smaller barrel with a long taper to a thick handle. This provides more mass towards the handle and is easier to control with less pop because of a lighter barrel.
271: Slightly more end loaded than a 110 but still a pretty balanced bat. A shorter taper to the barrel with a slightly thinner handle. Good all around bat.
243: This is a very end loaded fat barrel bat with a very thin handle. Big among power hitters it provides a lot of mass for mashing dongs but can be a lot to handle compared to a more balanced bat like a 110.

Baseball bat manufacturers today are all about customization whether that is turn models/colours/knobs/engravings there is a lot more to choosing a bat than picking a length. I hope you found this post informative!

# ¿ Mar 7, 2021 06:04

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Chamale posted:

Awesome stuff, I had no idea about most of those bat facts. I remember when I mentioned the maple bat problem to a classmate around 2010 and he said "Maple bats would hit a ball harder, but they shatter?" He wasn't a baseball fan, just knew a lot about wood.

In Japan they use some different woods than here in the U.S. although I think for the most part wood types in MLB bats won't change much in the foreseeable future it is an interesting area to explore that a lot of smaller bat companies have gotten into.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2021 08:55

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

GalacticAcid posted:

interesting

https://twitter.com/jmontana41/status/1368584209858768901?s=21

https://twitter.com/JessicaCamerato/status/1368607752294129666

# ¿ Mar 7, 2021 18:46

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

MrMojok posted:

Thanks for the bat post, Popete! That was great.

Are MLB hitters mostly using 31 oz bats these days?

Most MLB hitters from what I've seen are swinging 33.5" or 34" bats with a -2 or -3 drop. 33" is on the small side for an average MLB hitter and I can't think of seeing anyone swinging a 32" lately.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2021 22:43

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

There's a pretty big difference between 20% capacity and %100 capacity as far as the ability to distance people. 20% isn't great but it's a hell of a lot better than a full stadium.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2021 20:08

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

They're leaving out that he actually ran into a wall well eating a steak.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2021 17:54

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Carlosologist posted:

https://twitter.com/lindseyadler/status/1370121928241991688?s=21

Big fan of making bases bigger, gently caress getting rid of the shift

Larger bases and the step off rule are all fine. Limiting pitcher to only 2 pick offs per plate appearance is dumb pace of play poo poo. Banning the shift also dumb.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2021 22:48

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

https://twitter.com/BaseballQuotes1/status/1370489725484732423

# ¿ Mar 13, 2021 05:22

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

I got 70% on my first try and I feel ashamed it was that high.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2021 23:57

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

John Jaso owns

# ¿ Mar 17, 2021 21:52

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

To be fair the Cubs did sign upcoming MVP winner Joc Pederson.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2021 03:02

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Poque posted:

Hoerner looks JACKED

Yeah he's one those BSOHL guys who actually looks like he's put on a some muscle this off season.

This is just reminding me of Bregman saying he put on 20lb of muscle in like 2 months lol.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2021 05:54

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Unless the league is already planning to scapegoat a couple of high profile guys (like Bauer) there is no way they're going to enforce this. You can pretty clearly see pitchers with pine tar on their hats during any given game, Craig Kimbrel is an obvious one not that it seems to be helping him.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2021 19:36

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Probably made the Albies deal look good.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2021 05:13

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Haha, La Stella owns. He was actually quite good with us considering he had such a limited pinch hitting roll.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2021 21:55

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Wow, can't believe they actually are gonna try and do it. This has to be a slam dunk case for his service time fuckery case his lawyers should be working on right this second.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2021 03:12

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Bryant's case had the very thin veneer of "needs defensive work and Mike Olt is here. Oh shoot look at that Mike Olt got injured at the exact perfect time."

It was obvious to everyone but at least the front office never publicaly stated they were manipulating his time like Kelenic. If ever there was a case that would win this has to be it.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2021 04:25

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Kumar Rocker might lose #1 draft pick to his own teammate Jack Leiter lol. Vanderbilt is pretty insane this year.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2021 06:14

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Damnit I really wanted to see Yoked Nico mashing this season.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2021 18:20

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Farm & Fleet Stadium vs Fleet Farm Field

# ¿ Mar 30, 2021 21:21

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

No actually it's not a personal decision.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2021 22:17

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

I miss you Starlin.

If the Cubs are going to tank and dump all their fun players at least bring back my dude for a reunion. It's not like Starlin isn't used to playing on terrible Cubs teams.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2021 23:13

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Sydin posted:

https://twitter.com/JonHeyman/status/1377249033622802434 Not all that exciting but the Cubs need a backup catcher with Romine probably out for a while with a knee injury. I guess they could have just rolled with Higgins, but he looked awful behind the plate whereas Wolters is if nothing else pretty dang good defensively.

You know who would have been better? Victor Caratini

# ¿ Mar 31, 2021 18:08

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Is it that surprising that the top jersey sales for 2021 are a bunch of Dodgers who just won the World Series? It's not like the 2020 season was particularly notable for the Angels/Trout.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2021 19:55

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Inspector_666 posted:

Also I feel like Hernandez is a weird edge case in that he's incredibly well-liked, just won the World Series, and signed with a new big-market team so you have two fanbases who probably want to buy one.

I'm also interested to know what timeframe this is supposed to cover because who is still buying Boston Betts or Washington Harper jerseys?

It's gotta be a fairly narrow window since you have Nolan Arenado Cardinals jerseys up there as well.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2021 20:08

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Nissin Cup Nudist posted:

Angel Hernandez lost his discrimination lawsuit https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31172557/umpire-angel-hernandez-loses-race-discrimination-lawsuit-mlb

We finally have legal proof Angel sucks at his job

lol what an incredible self own.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2021 01:26

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

R.D. Mangles posted:

It is so loving cold today for the cubs opener, love that April baseball.

We've had such nice weather and of course for opening day it dips back down to the 30s, baseball is truly back.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2021 16:40

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

The mandatory day off after opening day should be a crime.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2021 23:24

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Miguel Cabrera hit a homerun in the snow and it looked cool. Oh and also he thought it was a ground rule double so he slid into 2nd.

https://twitter.com/BleacherNation/status/1377676237540368388

# ¿ Apr 1, 2021 23:36

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Nissin Cup Nudist posted:

This rules, surprised anyone can hit in a snow storm

I feel like it's even harder for the outfielders.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2021 23:58

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Quick tune into the Astros @ A's game for some quality booing. Carlos Correa is about to take his first AB.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2021 03:25

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

I hope someone cut up that jersey with scissors, as is tradition.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2021 03:43

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 22:19

Popete: Oct 6, 2009; This will make sure you don't suggest to the KDz
That he should grow greens instead of crushing on MCs; Grimey Drawer

Once mid at bat the opposing pitcher gave the warm up sign for a fastball (glove wrist flip up) and then threw me a slider off the plate. I swung and missed.

# ¿ Apr 2, 2021 05:05

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Sports Argument Stadium > MLBLM C/V Marpril: Give Your Life to All the Losers Out There

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quote: