Talk:Phil Nevin/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Batard0 (talk · contribs) 07:04, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

I'll pick this up. First impression is that it looks fairly good, but needs some improvements to the prose before it meets GA criteria. I'll come back to you in a bit with a rundown.--Batard0 (talk) 07:04, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

First take:

• Do we need to list every team he played for in the lead section as well as the corresponding years? I think it's sufficient in accordance with summary style to do one of two things: 1) eliminate the year ranges next to the teams in the lead, saving that information for later in the body of the article or 2) describe only the teams for which he played for a significant amount of time, i.e. "He played for seven major-league teams, including the Detroit Tigers and San Diego Padres." I would suggest doing the latter, since the teams he played for are listed in the infobox directly beside the lead, and we discuss the timeline in fuller detail in the body.
  • I've gotten similar feedback on this point on other GA noms, so I'm trying not to do that in my newer nominations. I took out the year ranges, which is what I've been doing in other articles that have passed as GA's. – Muboshgu (talk) 19:46, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
• I would also suggest moving the description of the MLB teams he palyed for lower down in the lead. I.e. start with the first two sentences you already have, then after a paragraph break talk about his college career, as you already do. THEN discuss the MLB teams he played for. This way it's in chronological order, making it clearer, more focused and easier to read.
  • Withdraw this concern.
• Can we put in a citation for Nevin's supposed $100,000 signing bonus offer?
  • Ref added. – Muboshgu (talk) 19:51, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
• We say in the lead that he played for six MLB teams, but we list seven. Which is it?
  • Does it say that? I see it say seven, which is accurate. Did I delete the mistake already? – Muboshgu (talk) 19:51, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
    • I fixed it myself because it became obvious it was a simple error...--Batard0 (talk) 04:07, 9 July 2012 (UTC)
• Any word on the performance of the team in the 1992 Olympics? Did the team Nevin was on get a medal?
  • Team USA finished fourth in 1992. That's now mentioned. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:43, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
• The subsection headings in the professional career section are quite long. I would consider rephrasing them or making some cuts for brevity.
  • Agreed, fixed. – Muboshgu (talk) 19:53, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
• I'm going to go through and make some minor copyedits. Please check them, and let's discuss if you disagree with them. These are things like fixing missing words, grammatical corrections, etc. More to come later.--Batard0 (talk) 07:16, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
• I'd consider removing the currency conversions for all but the oldest dollar figures. The newer ones from the 1990s and 2000s are not significantly different from their present values.
  • Removing them entirely for consistency. I get in the habit of using those when I write articles on turn-of-the-century (as in 19th to 20th) players. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:09, 17 July 2012 (UTC)
• What happened in the 1992 Olympics? We say Nevin played, but did the team win any medals?--Batard0 (talk) 09:28, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • You mentioned this point twice :) – Muboshgu (talk) 21:43, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
• When we say opposing teams' fans hurled insults at him when he was with the Astros, I'm not clear what kinds of insults these were. Were they criticizing him for poor performance despite that he was the first overall draft pick?--Batard0 (talk) 09:31, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • I thought it was due to the attention of being the first overall pick, but now that I look I can't find it backed up in the source. I deleted it. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:17, 17 July 2012 (UTC)
• Let's have a picture of Nevin, please. Even if there are none in commons, you can certainly put together a fair-use rationale for something from somewhere else.--Batard0 (talk) 11:55, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • I'll read up on the fair-use to see if a rationale can pass for a living person. I was under the impression it's a no-go. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:43, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
    • Ah, maybe so. I forgot about the BLP restriction -- you're right.--Batard0 (talk) 08:27, 12 July 2012 (UTC)
• The number of quote boxes (seven) should be reduced. I'd like to see three, at maximum, in an article this long. The rest can simply be integrated into the text itself. The problem with the boxes is that they're on occasion out of context; we don't know exactly under what circumstances these people said these things. Generally I think they'd work better within the text, anyway.--Batard0 (talk) 11:55, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • I cut three of them. I'll think about which others to cut. Cut down to three. I think I added that many to counter the fact that there are no free images available. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:43, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
• What does "spelling" mean in the injuries and final seasons section?--Batard0 (talk) 12:56, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • Alternating with. – Muboshgu (talk) 20:22, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
• I don't understand the bit about Nevin hitting a double in 2004 and being frustrated with the dimensions of the park, which caused him to make an obscene gesture. What was the gesture? I don't think we need to pussyfoot around it.--Batard0 (talk) 12:56, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • I was sticking with what the source said. Another source says he pointed at Towers' suite and flung down his helmet in disgust. I also found another source for him giving the finger in 2002. – Muboshgu (talk) 20:35, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
    • I rephrased this a bit to begin with "Nevin was often frustrated with the dimensions of Petco Park." etc. Is that ok? I looked at the source, and it's really hard to tell why he'd blame the GM on the dimensions of the park...I guess the GM has some say in where the fences are placed?--Batard0 (talk) 15:14, 14 July 2012 (UTC)
      • I don't think the GM has say in the fences, that probably comes from higher up in management. A GM may be the highest ranking official to have regular contact with players, though, so I suppose this is why Nevin directed the frustration at Towers. I found out what was meant by "obscene gesture" (not quite so obscene in my book, but whaddyagonnado) and expanded on it. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:11, 17 July 2012 (UTC)
• What happened with the Twins in 2006? We have him competing in a pennant race; how far did the Twins go?--Batard0 (talk) 12:56, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • Not far. Swept in the only round. It's now mentioned. – Muboshgu (talk) 21:43, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
• We need a fuller explanation (and citation) for Nevin's work as an announcer for the Padres and an ESPN analyst. What's the Super Regional?--Batard0 (talk) 12:56, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • I'm surprised that was an uncited paragraph. I cited that he joined the pregame show on the Padres radio network and ESPN work. The Super Regional is part of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which is now clarified and linked. – Muboshgu (talk) 22:18, 11 July 2012 (UTC)
• In the Personal section, we say he visits his daughter weekly and calls daily. As of when? And this should be attributed properly to avoid POV, i.e. "Nevin said in XXX that he visited his daughter weekly and called daily."--Batard0 (talk) 13:03, 8 July 2012 (UTC)
  • I cut that bit, since he could be lying for all we know. I did a little more research and dug up info on his current wife and three children he's had with her. – Muboshgu (talk) 22:04, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Ok, good deal. I think all the issues have been addressed, and it now meets the GA criteria.--Batard0 (talk) 04:00, 18 July 2012 (UTC)