BOOG and the Hall of Fame, Part 1 (Introduction)
3 hours ago
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Why I Write (Part Deux)
TFTIO want to see some of my non-baseball scribblings. For a while I had a blog I called The Astigmatic Eye that was basically a dump of various things from my My Documents folder. The Golfing Bear was Opus 1. That's what got the ball rolling. The formatting is all fouled up for some reason. My apologies. Here's a mini-mystery story. And, last but not least, this is a how I envisioned a WSJ story about a deerslayer if a stoner Joe Friday worked in rural Michigan. I really liked that one.
Two Great Things That Go Great Together
Josh Wilker and Bill Lee. I love 'em both. Saw Lee a couple of times when he rolled through greater Hartford. He was a joy to talk to. As far Josh: I've said it before. He has the best baseball blog out there.
I'll have some more stuff to say later today about writing, God willing.
I'll have some more stuff to say later today about writing, God willing.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Why I Write
The best writer at Fangraphs (Carson Cistulli) has been doing a series called Why We Write. Here's the latest entry. I'm no rock star of the sabersphere, so he's not gonna ask me. But I'll try to answer anyways.
In my high school entrance exam, I tested pretty high across the board and wound up thrown in an English class I wasn't prepared for (it had the pretentious title of Literary Arts.) The experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. I still liked to read, but I gravitated towards non-fiction. I was into baseball as a high-schooler; a friend of mine and I would engage in a primitive form of rosterbaition and propose some interesting trades. Once I got a job, I bought a ton of baseball books. Bats, by Davey Johnson and The White Rat come to mind. As does Weaver On Strategy. Dynasty by Peter Golenbock might have been the first adult baseball book I bought. I seem to recall that. Eventually I stumbled upon Bill James and Pete Palmer.
Bored with school, I joined the Army, where they sent me to foreign language school. When people think of their college days, that was my equivalent. Afterwards, I did go to college for a year but it didn't take hold. I wound up getting a job as a security guard (like Bill James!)
One day, I was sitting in the maternity ward of the hospital I was assigned to. We were supposed to carry a notebook with us at all times. Bored, I started writing down a story based on some hi-jinks I participated in at the Defense Language Institute. I think I lifted the first sentence or two from a Faulkner short story I once read. The story sat in that notebook for a few years. I eventually got a laptop from work and I started transcribing the story in to Word over the course of an evening or two and emailed it to some friends. The response was positive.
One friend who was an English teacher said the story was as good as some stuff that he read in the New Yorker. He also asked for permission to show it to his students. For all I know, it is on the syllabus in some California high school. But it never got published. I sent it out to the New Yorker, but it got rejected. I still have the letter somewhere. And I caught the bug. I started trying to write short mystery stories that usually petered out after about four pages.
In the spring of 2001 I joined SABR. I think what triggered it was an article in the Hartford Courant about Bill Ryczek. He's a fellow Nutmegger who writes on sports history. I also decided to adapt the Kevin Bacon game to baseball and did a presentation on it at a regional SABR meeting. Jim Furtado was in attendance, asked me to write it up for Baseball Primer (as The Factory was called at the time) and the rest is history. Since then, I've written a few articles for others sites, blogged intermittently and have written a few biographies for SABR.
None of that long introductory explains why I write does it? I suppose one of the main reasons is the egorush I get seeing my name in print and hearing my work discussed at the virtual watercoolers of the sabersphere. But I do want to write a book at some point. It's been a long journey; on and off for ten years, but I believe that I am getting closer. Since I started Designated Sitter, the best pieces IMO have been about the roundabout connections between ballplayers and others. Last week, I started to branch out a little bit and believe this may be the key. Maybe I can broaden my audience a bit. But even if I don't write a book, I am enjoying writing this blog. I sometimes envy folks like Craig Calcaterra and the back and forth they have with their readership, but I am slowly accepting the fact that it takes time to build that audience and Shysterball wasn't built in one day. And I have been getting some feedback lately.
Thanks guys and gals. You don't have to read me, but you do.
In my high school entrance exam, I tested pretty high across the board and wound up thrown in an English class I wasn't prepared for (it had the pretentious title of Literary Arts.) The experience left a bitter taste in my mouth. I still liked to read, but I gravitated towards non-fiction. I was into baseball as a high-schooler; a friend of mine and I would engage in a primitive form of rosterbaition and propose some interesting trades. Once I got a job, I bought a ton of baseball books. Bats, by Davey Johnson and The White Rat come to mind. As does Weaver On Strategy. Dynasty by Peter Golenbock might have been the first adult baseball book I bought. I seem to recall that. Eventually I stumbled upon Bill James and Pete Palmer.
Bored with school, I joined the Army, where they sent me to foreign language school. When people think of their college days, that was my equivalent. Afterwards, I did go to college for a year but it didn't take hold. I wound up getting a job as a security guard (like Bill James!)
One day, I was sitting in the maternity ward of the hospital I was assigned to. We were supposed to carry a notebook with us at all times. Bored, I started writing down a story based on some hi-jinks I participated in at the Defense Language Institute. I think I lifted the first sentence or two from a Faulkner short story I once read. The story sat in that notebook for a few years. I eventually got a laptop from work and I started transcribing the story in to Word over the course of an evening or two and emailed it to some friends. The response was positive.
One friend who was an English teacher said the story was as good as some stuff that he read in the New Yorker. He also asked for permission to show it to his students. For all I know, it is on the syllabus in some California high school. But it never got published. I sent it out to the New Yorker, but it got rejected. I still have the letter somewhere. And I caught the bug. I started trying to write short mystery stories that usually petered out after about four pages.
In the spring of 2001 I joined SABR. I think what triggered it was an article in the Hartford Courant about Bill Ryczek. He's a fellow Nutmegger who writes on sports history. I also decided to adapt the Kevin Bacon game to baseball and did a presentation on it at a regional SABR meeting. Jim Furtado was in attendance, asked me to write it up for Baseball Primer (as The Factory was called at the time) and the rest is history. Since then, I've written a few articles for others sites, blogged intermittently and have written a few biographies for SABR.
None of that long introductory explains why I write does it? I suppose one of the main reasons is the egorush I get seeing my name in print and hearing my work discussed at the virtual watercoolers of the sabersphere. But I do want to write a book at some point. It's been a long journey; on and off for ten years, but I believe that I am getting closer. Since I started Designated Sitter, the best pieces IMO have been about the roundabout connections between ballplayers and others. Last week, I started to branch out a little bit and believe this may be the key. Maybe I can broaden my audience a bit. But even if I don't write a book, I am enjoying writing this blog. I sometimes envy folks like Craig Calcaterra and the back and forth they have with their readership, but I am slowly accepting the fact that it takes time to build that audience and Shysterball wasn't built in one day. And I have been getting some feedback lately.
Thanks guys and gals. You don't have to read me, but you do.
BDD: Baer: Analyzing The Internets Impact On Sabermetrics
Link
I appreciate the fact that Baer is one of the few younger guns of sabermetric writing that hangs out at BTF, so I'll let his anti-Catholic bigotry slide. But I think he overstates some saberist conclusions. For instance pitchers control over the batting overage on balls put in play against them (commonly referred to as BABIP.) Ever since Voros McCracken came up with his Defense Independent Pitching Stats, iconoclasts have shouted "no control!" But Mike Emeigh has said that this isn't necessarily the case and Pitch f/x analysts are discovering new things.
Over at The Factory, one of the better commenters (fra paolo) called this article smug buncombe. I bookmarked that thread so that I can catch up with it when I can.
I appreciate the fact that Baer is one of the few younger guns of sabermetric writing that hangs out at BTF, so I'll let his anti-Catholic bigotry slide. But I think he overstates some saberist conclusions. For instance pitchers control over the batting overage on balls put in play against them (commonly referred to as BABIP.) Ever since Voros McCracken came up with his Defense Independent Pitching Stats, iconoclasts have shouted "no control!" But Mike Emeigh has said that this isn't necessarily the case and Pitch f/x analysts are discovering new things.
Over at The Factory, one of the better commenters (fra paolo) called this article smug buncombe. I bookmarked that thread so that I can catch up with it when I can.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A Home-Run Record You Don't Want
This is what I've been talking about.
Did you know that Moyer's first start was against Steve Carlton? When Carlton was a rookie, he once appeared in the same game as Warren Spahn. Also in the article, we get to know what wezenball does during the day.
Did you know that Moyer's first start was against Steve Carlton? When Carlton was a rookie, he once appeared in the same game as Warren Spahn. Also in the article, we get to know what wezenball does during the day.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday Morning Shortstop
Opening Day was this weekend for me.
It turns out that Hi And Lois may be from Connecticut after all.
I made a throwaway reference to Skunk Baxter on Thursday. It turns out that he is quite the polymath. There aren't too many other missile defense experts who play guitar like him.
I've continued watching Mad Men. This time I went right to the first several episodes. Not only is it a period piece, it also has retro production values. The camera shots are nice and long and steady. Too, there isn't incessant background music. AFAICT, the only music outside of incidental music, comes at the beginning and end of the episodes.
In the meantime, I will continue searching for stories like the two from last week in my spare time, but it will be hard to come up with ones that I like better than those two.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Sterling, Cooper, McMann, & Tate
About six weeks ago, I came across a video store that was going out of business. Scarfed up Season Two of Mad Men for $8. Better late than never, I suppose.
One disappointment. I kept waiting for Betty Draper to get out of some domestic mess by wiggling her nose. If that happens, it happens in one of the other seasons. Too, Mark Moses plays "Duck" Phillips. I didn't realize it, but he was also the LT in Oliver Stone's Platoon. I see the physical resemblance (and it makes me feel old), but the voice sounded a little different to me.
One disappointment. I kept waiting for Betty Draper to get out of some domestic mess by wiggling her nose. If that happens, it happens in one of the other seasons. Too, Mark Moses plays "Duck" Phillips. I didn't realize it, but he was also the LT in Oliver Stone's Platoon. I see the physical resemblance (and it makes me feel old), but the voice sounded a little different to me.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Must See Thursday
I don't know if NBC still uses that slogan. They did back in the days of Cheers and Seinfeld. And they still have a pretty strong Thursday comedy lineup: Community, Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, and The Office (although I hear that's in the Ken Griffey phase of its career.)
Chevy Chase is in Community. He's had a varied career. He was a municipality in Maryland at one point. He played drums in an early version of Steely Dan. Steely Dan were named after a dildo in William S. Burrough's Naked Lunch and were a very idiosyncratic group. Later on Michael McDonald sang backup for them. McDonald went on to join the Doobie Brothers. The Doobies were one of those groups like Fleetwood Mac who reinvented themselves so radically, that their later output sounds totally different from their earlier stuff. This would all be germane if Skunk Baxter was making a guest appearance on Parks and Rec. But, as far as I can tell, he isn't.
Chase became a movie star, appearing in such flicks as Caddyshack (a highpoint of Western Civilization), Fletch, and the Vacation series. But he got his big break on Saturday Night Live. You can make a chain of castmembers from 1975 to the present day. One such chain goes like this: Chase was a castmember with John Belushi who worked with Brian Doyle-Murray, who worked with Mary Gross, who worked with Jon Lovitz, who worked with Chris Farley, who worked with Colin Quinn, who worked with Tina Fey. Gross is really helpful here because she was on the show from '81 to '85 when there was mondo turnover.
Fey, of course is on 30 Rock. So is Alec Baldwin. Baldwin was in the atrocious Pearl Harbor movie directed by Michael Bay. In it he portrayed Gen. Jimmy Doolittle. Doolittle's best known for his daring raid on Tokyo in 1942 where he led long range bombers over the capital of Japan from the USS Hornet. Doolittle was assisted by an admiral named Miles Browning in planning and executing the raid. Aircraft carriers were in their infancy back then and Browning was a pioneer in developing strategy and tactics for them. He also had a daughter who's son got into show business. That boy's name was Chevy Chase.
This is for Devin McC, by the way.
Chevy Chase is in Community. He's had a varied career. He was a municipality in Maryland at one point. He played drums in an early version of Steely Dan. Steely Dan were named after a dildo in William S. Burrough's Naked Lunch and were a very idiosyncratic group. Later on Michael McDonald sang backup for them. McDonald went on to join the Doobie Brothers. The Doobies were one of those groups like Fleetwood Mac who reinvented themselves so radically, that their later output sounds totally different from their earlier stuff. This would all be germane if Skunk Baxter was making a guest appearance on Parks and Rec. But, as far as I can tell, he isn't.
Chase became a movie star, appearing in such flicks as Caddyshack (a highpoint of Western Civilization), Fletch, and the Vacation series. But he got his big break on Saturday Night Live. You can make a chain of castmembers from 1975 to the present day. One such chain goes like this: Chase was a castmember with John Belushi who worked with Brian Doyle-Murray, who worked with Mary Gross, who worked with Jon Lovitz, who worked with Chris Farley, who worked with Colin Quinn, who worked with Tina Fey. Gross is really helpful here because she was on the show from '81 to '85 when there was mondo turnover.
Fey, of course is on 30 Rock. So is Alec Baldwin. Baldwin was in the atrocious Pearl Harbor movie directed by Michael Bay. In it he portrayed Gen. Jimmy Doolittle. Doolittle's best known for his daring raid on Tokyo in 1942 where he led long range bombers over the capital of Japan from the USS Hornet. Doolittle was assisted by an admiral named Miles Browning in planning and executing the raid. Aircraft carriers were in their infancy back then and Browning was a pioneer in developing strategy and tactics for them. He also had a daughter who's son got into show business. That boy's name was Chevy Chase.
This is for Devin McC, by the way.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Speaking of Mark S.
Mark touches on Bloom County. To me, the 80s were the golden age of comic strips with Bloom County, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Far Side. I think I still have a collection or two of this strip lying around.
A Quick One
Gary Cooper portrayed Lou Gehrig. Lou Gehrig played with Dixie Walker. Dixie Walker played with Duke Snider. Duke Snider played with Gaylord Perry. Gaylord Perry played with Rafael Ramirez. Rafael Ramirez played with two Gary Coopers. Both were cup of coffee players; one Brave and one Astro. The Brave had one assist, two steals, and no hits. He never started a game and was mainly used as a defensive sub or pinch runner. But he did go 0-2.
Thanks to STATLG for turning me on to that.
Thanks to STATLG for turning me on to that.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What Mark Read
That's one of the blogs in my Reader. I know Mark from The Factory. Our tastes don't always match, but we both like James Ellroy. Mark's a pretty voracious reader. Check his site out if you get a chance.
Eat A Peach
Ty Cobb and Ted Williams were friends until they had a spat over Rogers Hornsby and The Georgia Peach kicked The Splendid Splinter out of his hotel room. They don’t have nicknames in “The X Y” format anymore. I think the most recent notable one was The Mad Hungarian (Al Hrabosky), but I digress. Williams thought that Hornsby was a better hitter than Cobb. He may’ve had a point. There’s one book out there by a Dr. Schell that adjusts for all sorts of things (playing era, ballpark, et cetera) that lists Hornsby as the #3 hitter of all time.
Cobb ended his career with the Philadelphia A’s. He played with Lefty Grove and Jimmy Foxx. That pair of Hall of Famers were sold to the Red Sox by Connie Mack and they were still on the team when Williams made his debut. But I like to look at more circuitous connections between ballplayers.
Cobb was a Tiger first and foremost. He played with second baseman Charlie Gehringer who was on the team when pitcher Virgil Trucks played for Detroit. Trucks was on the 1945 world champs. He came from a musical family. His nephew Butch Trucks played for the Allman Brothers Band. His great nephew Derek is currently with the group.
I’ve sometimes thought of The Allmans as Apollo and Lynyrd Skynyrd as Dionysius but I could be wrong. My thinking was that the Allmans are sort of the thinking man’s Southern group, what with their diverse influences. They strike me as jazzy wheras Skynyrd is pure straight ahead rock and roll. The Brothers, of course are Duane and Gregg. Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident almost 40 years ago. Gregg met an arguably worse fate. He married Cher.
Cher was a singer at the time, but she moved on to acting in the 80s. One of the films she appeared in was Witches of Eastwick. Susan Sarandon also appeared in this one. She was also in Bull Durham, but we’re not going there today. Eastwick was adapted from a work by John Updike. Who’s Updike? Updike may be best known for his Rabbit tetralogy, but around here Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu may sound more familiar. That was his essay on the last game and home run of Ted Williams.
Peachy.
Cobb ended his career with the Philadelphia A’s. He played with Lefty Grove and Jimmy Foxx. That pair of Hall of Famers were sold to the Red Sox by Connie Mack and they were still on the team when Williams made his debut. But I like to look at more circuitous connections between ballplayers.
Cobb was a Tiger first and foremost. He played with second baseman Charlie Gehringer who was on the team when pitcher Virgil Trucks played for Detroit. Trucks was on the 1945 world champs. He came from a musical family. His nephew Butch Trucks played for the Allman Brothers Band. His great nephew Derek is currently with the group.
I’ve sometimes thought of The Allmans as Apollo and Lynyrd Skynyrd as Dionysius but I could be wrong. My thinking was that the Allmans are sort of the thinking man’s Southern group, what with their diverse influences. They strike me as jazzy wheras Skynyrd is pure straight ahead rock and roll. The Brothers, of course are Duane and Gregg. Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident almost 40 years ago. Gregg met an arguably worse fate. He married Cher.
Cher was a singer at the time, but she moved on to acting in the 80s. One of the films she appeared in was Witches of Eastwick. Susan Sarandon also appeared in this one. She was also in Bull Durham, but we’re not going there today. Eastwick was adapted from a work by John Updike. Who’s Updike? Updike may be best known for his Rabbit tetralogy, but around here Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu may sound more familiar. That was his essay on the last game and home run of Ted Williams.
Peachy.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Are the Flagstons Nutmeggers?
Witness today's Hi and Lois. In fact, that looks like Burnside Ice LLC on Tolland Street in East Hartford.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
New Stuff
I discuss Jamie Moyer and whether or not he should be enshrined in Cooperstown with Howard Megdal over at The Perpetual Post.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Alive And Well
Tybalt said that he misses Designated Sitter. April may or may not be the cruelest month, but I've been busy. First it was tax season, then I took a long-needed break and spent a couple of days in Bennington, Vermont. That cut into my time.
I also started the month by trying to see if any publishers had interest in a collection of stories like the ones I posted here and at Seamheads linking various baseball figures. Haven't heard anything yet, but then I got sidetracked when my girlfriend mentioned that she was flipping through The Big Sleep and said that my writing reminded her of Raymond Chandler. Like Derek Zumsteg, I have dabbled in fiction in the past and this got me thinking about trying my hand at a detective story again. So far, I'm about 1200 words into one. (By the way, there's a baseball themed one in the latest Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.) So I'm still writing, but haven't done much that's DS-worthy.
In the meantime, I want to let everyone know that Jason Heyward still has the longest homerun of the season and that Jamie Moyer is up to 494 home runs surrendered in his push for 500 and the record.
I also started the month by trying to see if any publishers had interest in a collection of stories like the ones I posted here and at Seamheads linking various baseball figures. Haven't heard anything yet, but then I got sidetracked when my girlfriend mentioned that she was flipping through The Big Sleep and said that my writing reminded her of Raymond Chandler. Like Derek Zumsteg, I have dabbled in fiction in the past and this got me thinking about trying my hand at a detective story again. So far, I'm about 1200 words into one. (By the way, there's a baseball themed one in the latest Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.) So I'm still writing, but haven't done much that's DS-worthy.
In the meantime, I want to let everyone know that Jason Heyward still has the longest homerun of the season and that Jamie Moyer is up to 494 home runs surrendered in his push for 500 and the record.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
This and That
This is the vintage base ball league I will be playing in. They spelled my name wrong, but I actually like the ambiguity. I'll answer to Jon or John. I'll answer to Daly, Daily, Dailey, Daley, or Dayley.
I finally saw Sherlock Holmes Friday nite. It was steampunk and Arthur Conan Doyle probably rolled over in his grave.
According to hittrackeronline, Jason Heyward had the most prodigious blast of the year so for by a comfortable margin.
I finally saw Sherlock Holmes Friday nite. It was steampunk and Arthur Conan Doyle probably rolled over in his grave.
According to hittrackeronline, Jason Heyward had the most prodigious blast of the year so for by a comfortable margin.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Trey Junkin, Eat Your Heart Out
Check out this play by Mark Buehrle. This is what I mean by Maranvillesque showmanship!
I caught this highlight somewhere yesterday, but thanks go out to The Factory for alerting me to the clip.
I caught this highlight somewhere yesterday, but thanks go out to The Factory for alerting me to the clip.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Someone is stealing my schtick!
And doing a good job with it. Click-thru to read "Six Degrees of Don Lund."
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Orlando Isales and The Farm
I see a lot of folks link to their first major league game attended either using retrosheet or bb-ref, but here's a question for you? What was the first minor league game you attended? I haven't figured mine out yet, but I narrowed it down.
When I was a kid in the Ellington Farm League, some roving minor league instructor for the Red Sox gave us a clinic. He also gave us tickets to a Bristol Red Sox game. That played at Muzzy Field. That field is still there and they use it for high school football (the minor league franchise moved down Route 72 to New Britain.) I believe it was old enough that Babe Ruth played there on some barnstorming tour.
In any event, my family went to the game and I remember my aunt jokingly wondering why there were no players with names like Orlando Grabowski. As far as I can tell, Orlando Isales was the only Eastern League Orlando during that era. So that narrows the game down to a 1978 battle with the Reading Phillies.
I can probably narrow this down more when I get a chance to visit ProQuest (the dentist beckons), but what about you? What was your first minor league tilt?
When I was a kid in the Ellington Farm League, some roving minor league instructor for the Red Sox gave us a clinic. He also gave us tickets to a Bristol Red Sox game. That played at Muzzy Field. That field is still there and they use it for high school football (the minor league franchise moved down Route 72 to New Britain.) I believe it was old enough that Babe Ruth played there on some barnstorming tour.
In any event, my family went to the game and I remember my aunt jokingly wondering why there were no players with names like Orlando Grabowski. As far as I can tell, Orlando Isales was the only Eastern League Orlando during that era. So that narrows the game down to a 1978 battle with the Reading Phillies.
I can probably narrow this down more when I get a chance to visit ProQuest (the dentist beckons), but what about you? What was your first minor league tilt?
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Life Imitates Art
Old time hockey leaves Johnstown. After ol' Reg Dunlop died, it was only a matter of time.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
The Fighting 25th
The Twenty-fifth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion
I've been reading this off and on this month. The coolest part is that they celebrated Washington's Birthday with a ball game. Some day, when I have more free time, I'll investigate further. The Sesquicentennial is coming up and I've been on an occasional Civil War jag since I read Tony Horwitz's Confederates In The Attic last summer.
I've been reading this off and on this month. The coolest part is that they celebrated Washington's Birthday with a ball game. Some day, when I have more free time, I'll investigate further. The Sesquicentennial is coming up and I've been on an occasional Civil War jag since I read Tony Horwitz's Confederates In The Attic last summer.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
More ramblings at Seamheads
I figure anyone who reads this blog with interest knows about my Seamheads pieces, but here's a link to the latest, Justin Case.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Another piece at Seamheads
This one connects Buffalo Bill to George Steinbrenner via Billy Southworth. Enjoy.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Jose Reyes, Modern Day Rabbit Maranville
Joe Posnanski thinks so. Do any of you guys know the excitement formula that he and Bill James came up with? I don't think you can boil this stuff down to integers, but I like where he was going.
I'd add looong home runs and big whiffs to this list. I may counter it with unexciting plays (How often is the player intentionally walked? Does he hit a lot of routine grounders?)
Bill James and I plotted out formula (admittedly the formula is a lot more me than Bill — he just offered suggestions) to try and determine the most exciting players in baseball. I lost that original formula, but I tried to recreate it, taking into account triples (the most exciting play in baseball!), stolen bases, batting average, defensive excitement (subjective) and a couple of other things.
I'd add looong home runs and big whiffs to this list. I may counter it with unexciting plays (How often is the player intentionally walked? Does he hit a lot of routine grounders?)
Monday, March 8, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Another Tug McGraw Circle Change
I don't think Tug ever used a circle change. It's vogue came after him, but I think that Circle Change is a good classification for these little stories that I post. I talked about Tug McGraw before, but I have a thing for lefties. I’m one myself. One of Tug’s teammates on the “Ya Gotta Believe” Mets was Ron Hodges. If you’re a Red Sox fan, think of Ron as Flushing’s answer to Bob Montgomery. A career backup catcher who played his whole MLB career for the same team. Monty was a Tennessean and Hodges was a Virginian. But I have no clue if Ron is broadcasting AAA games.
Hodges last season for the Metropolitans was 1984. They had an outfielder who had a cup of coffee that year and the next. Went by the name of Billy Beane. He went on to more fame off the field as the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. A lot of that fame was due to a book written by Michael Lewis. Moneyball was the title.
Although he is mainly a business writer (Liar’s Poker is a particular favorite of mine), Lewis has written about sports on other occasions. Another one of his books was The Blind Side. This discussed the evolution of the left tackle position in football and focused in particular on a young man named Michael Oher. Taken in by a family off the streets of Memphis, Oher went on to go to school at Ole Miss and was an NFL rookie last year. They made the book into a film last year, starring Sandra Bullock as Leigh Ann Tuohy; Oher’s adoptive mother.
Her husband was played by Tim McGraw, the country singer and Tug’s son.
Thanks go out to Rob from Portland for inspiring this whimsy.
Hodges last season for the Metropolitans was 1984. They had an outfielder who had a cup of coffee that year and the next. Went by the name of Billy Beane. He went on to more fame off the field as the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. A lot of that fame was due to a book written by Michael Lewis. Moneyball was the title.
Although he is mainly a business writer (Liar’s Poker is a particular favorite of mine), Lewis has written about sports on other occasions. Another one of his books was The Blind Side. This discussed the evolution of the left tackle position in football and focused in particular on a young man named Michael Oher. Taken in by a family off the streets of Memphis, Oher went on to go to school at Ole Miss and was an NFL rookie last year. They made the book into a film last year, starring Sandra Bullock as Leigh Ann Tuohy; Oher’s adoptive mother.
Her husband was played by Tim McGraw, the country singer and Tug’s son.
Thanks go out to Rob from Portland for inspiring this whimsy.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Lousy Ten Percenters
In a thread at The Factory, Mike Webber had this to say about unwritten books:
I once wrote about Bob Woolf. It was for a book on Pumpsie Green that, as far as I can tell, has not been published yet. But I think that I can give you a small taste:
Upon further reflection, I might throw Robin Roberts name in that mix, too.
Some biographies I haven't seen yet,
Willie McCovey, Dazzy Vance, Hoyt Wilhelm, Home Run Baker, Kid Nichols, Zach Wheat, Rickey.. and that just a few Hall of Famers.
As far as great unexplored areas... Agents? There has been a fundamental change in the game with agents, but is there a book that describes the who, what and why?
Cuban baseball will be very fertile when the wall finally comes down, and it seems to be thinning.
I once wrote about Bob Woolf. It was for a book on Pumpsie Green that, as far as I can tell, has not been published yet. But I think that I can give you a small taste:
Woolf was an attorney who got his start in sports agentry through the pitcher Earl Wilson. He would go on to represent Carl Yastrzemski, Ken Harrelson, and Reggie Smith. He would also branch out into other sports and represent Larry Bird, Derek Sanderson, Russ Francis, and others. This was innovative at the time. The MLBPA was young. Thanks to the American Football League, some football players had options; those good enough to be drafted by both leagues. But even in football, agents weren’t always accepted. Basketball players had a rival league bidding for their services starting in 1967 when the ABA debuted. Baseball players were still serfs. Thanks to antitrust exemption, baseball players couldn’t take competitive bids. At least they used to be able to do that when they came out of school, but a draft was instituted in 1965.
Much has been written about how Marvin Miller helped players gain economic independence. It would be worth looking into the role of Wilson, Koufax, and Drysdale; as well as Bob Woolf and Bill Hayes.
Upon further reflection, I might throw Robin Roberts name in that mix, too.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday Morning Shortstop
Nothing much to report this weekend. But my first article at Seamheads was published yesterday. Have a taste.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Following Me
I didn't really want to do this, but a wiser man than me said that it would increase my visibility. So a couple of weeks ago, I set up a Twitter account. You can follow me at http://twitter.com/designatedsittr. It's mainly announcements of posts here and an occasional friendly jab at one of the NBC boys (Gleeman and Calcaterra.) A more interesting person to follow is OldHossRadbourn.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Keystone Kombo
I don't have much to say about second basemen. Does anyone know who is good at turning the double play and who isn't? That's a position specific type of item that I'd like the answer to. By the way, these numbers aren't rankings. I'm just making comments on these guys still.
1. Chase Utley. To say dual threat would be an understatement. And I hear that he's hotter than Derek Jeter.
2. Dustin Pedroia. He reminds me a bit of Pete Rose; which is actually good in this context.
3. Brandon Philips. Power/speed combo guy. He can field, too.
4. Mike Fontenot. Dreck.
5. David Eckstein. Not really my type of guy, but here's what one of my readers had to say about him.
"I have always found it immensely pleasurable to watch David Eckstein play baseball. There probably isn't a ballplayer alive who couldn't benefit from adapting something Eckstein does to his own game. (The last guys I remember who were like this were Ozzie Smith and Tony Fernandez). I hope Aaron Hill absorbed a lot of the lessons visible in Eckstein's play while he was able to play with him this year - noted the furious commitment (to the moment and to the cause of winning) that carries ordinary players and ordinary teams to the top of the heap.
That said, Eckstein is not a major league shortstop anymore and since he still delivers value with the bat he really should be playing second base (presumably with the D-Backs he will). It's been difficult to watch Eckstein struggle to make his body respond to the demands of a position it can no longer handle. I imagine Eckstein could still play a very fine second base... his feet are definitely not too slow, his footwork is still very fine and his arm, now a total liability at short, is plenty good enough for second.
Much like Mike Bordick before him, David Eckstein was an utter class act and the great thing about his time here is that he's undoubtedly made tens of thousands of more fans for life. Players like David Eckstein actually deserve the hero worship that people give to athletes. I say that without knowing a thing about his personal life (he could bite the heads of baby rabbits for all I care); I mean he plays baseball like a religious mystic in the throes of a frenzied ecstasy."
Shortstop
1. Hanley Ramirez. Okay, he IS #1.
2. Jose Reyes. Back when the Mets were in the playoffs the crowd at Shea sounded like they were at a soccer match when he came to bat. He gets points for that, but he's exciting when healthy anyways.
3. Derek Jeter. Hypothetical: Let's say that the War of The Worlds really took place and the Martians captured New York and spent a little R and R afterwards taking in games at Yankee Stadium. Never having seen baseball before, would they gravitate towards Jeter like the broadcasters do, or has his popularity bred more popularity? Jeter did have two of the bigger highlight reel moments of the last decade: his flip to the catcher to put out a non-sliding Jeremy Giambi during the '01 ALDS and his dive in the Fenway boxseats in July of '04 as Garciaparra watched from the bench.
4. Asdrubal Cabrera. No impression of him either way, but I wanted to type his Carthaginian name. As a second sacker, he had an unassisted triple play.
5. Ryan Theriot. Dreck.
6. Rafael Furcal. Has an UATP on his resume. And, he did it on ESPN.
7. Troy Tulowitzki. Another guy who's turned three on his own. While researching this piece, I realized that these were most common in the '20s and the aughts. Makes sense, when you think of it, a lot of baserunners in those decades. But why were they non-existent in the '30s?
Well, that's it for now. Next time, I'll tackle the Hot Corner.
Just When I Thought That It Was Safe To Go To Work
Sean Forman and company added college hoops stats.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A Tye Is As Good As A Win
Satchel wins Casey Award. No word on whether or not Casey won the Satchel Award.
Virtual tip o' the cap to Gordon Edes via Rob Neyer. I read this book this month. It helped me think of the history of Negro League ball more systemeatically. I was a ware of a lot of the players and teams, but now I understand more about how they fit together.
Virtual tip o' the cap to Gordon Edes via Rob Neyer. I read this book this month. It helped me think of the history of Negro League ball more systemeatically. I was a ware of a lot of the players and teams, but now I understand more about how they fit together.
When Roadgeekery Meets Baseball
You put your chocolate in my peanut butter!
No you put your peanut butter in MY chocolate!
Actually, this has something to do with someone who's fame is larger than Pokey Reese's.
Linc
No you put your peanut butter in MY chocolate!
Actually, this has something to do with someone who's fame is larger than Pokey Reese's.
Linc
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
News
I want to link this just for the Ronnie James Dio reference. Who knew that statheads listened to stuff other than indy rock?
Another look at the regional SABR meeting that I attended. Which brings me to bigger news. That piece is from Seamheads.com. I signed up to be a contributor there. I haven't published anything at that site yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do. I'd like to expose my work to a broader audience and when Mike Lynch called, I accepted the charges. I started Designated Sitter to see if I could write regularly again and have been successful for about four months now. I may cut back on posting as I try to get in shape for the upcoming vintage baseball season* but I still plan on posting some stuff here; especially if it pertains to other sports.
*If I wanted to write every morning and work out AND get to work on time, I'd have to get up around 4 AM. (Forget) that.
Another look at the regional SABR meeting that I attended. Which brings me to bigger news. That piece is from Seamheads.com. I signed up to be a contributor there. I haven't published anything at that site yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when I do. I'd like to expose my work to a broader audience and when Mike Lynch called, I accepted the charges. I started Designated Sitter to see if I could write regularly again and have been successful for about four months now. I may cut back on posting as I try to get in shape for the upcoming vintage baseball season* but I still plan on posting some stuff here; especially if it pertains to other sports.
*If I wanted to write every morning and work out AND get to work on time, I'd have to get up around 4 AM. (Forget) that.
Monday, February 22, 2010
How Come I didn't Know About This Forum?
My inner roadgeek is like a kid in a candy store after he saw this.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Monday Morning Shortstop
Comment of the week comes from digamma who discusses what happens when you bring at risk kids to an athletic event.
It's Winter Olympic time and has been for over a week. I've been catching bits and pieces of the games, but not much. Mainly I've been watching curling because it happens to be on when I get home from my day job. I suppose I could watch some stuff online, but I have yet to think of a computer as a substitute for a TV. I won't click on a YouTube video longer than 2:00. By the way, get off of my lawn.
Anyways, Joe Posnanski has a curiously short post about Miracle on Ice. That was 30 years ago? Back then, 30 years earlier was the Truman Administration.
Some Sabermetrics 101 stuff, if you are interested and do not know much about wOBA.
The main thing you missed this weekend that I didn't miss was the Smoky Joe Wood Chapter of SABR's winter meeting.
Larry Levine discusses what it was like growing up a Giants fan in the Bronx during the '40s and having to deal with Yankee and Dodger fans. This made 1951 feel that much sweeter for him (it also cancels out my feelings of impending old age after reminiscing about the Miracle On Ice.) This presentation sort of reminded me of Fever Pitch (the book, not the movie) and was probably the highlight of the afternoon. It was also early on in the meeting.
Joe Runde made a presentation of various tabletop baseball simulations like APBA and Strat-O-Matic. I should do a presentation someday on Earl Weaver Baseball.
My old girlfriend once took a bunch of troubled kids from this craphole to see Woodsville host Tilton in high school basketball. A fight ensued, and it ended with the dramatic scene of her escorting the group out past bleachers full of people all screaming at them.
It's Winter Olympic time and has been for over a week. I've been catching bits and pieces of the games, but not much. Mainly I've been watching curling because it happens to be on when I get home from my day job. I suppose I could watch some stuff online, but I have yet to think of a computer as a substitute for a TV. I won't click on a YouTube video longer than 2:00. By the way, get off of my lawn.
Anyways, Joe Posnanski has a curiously short post about Miracle on Ice. That was 30 years ago? Back then, 30 years earlier was the Truman Administration.
Some Sabermetrics 101 stuff, if you are interested and do not know much about wOBA.
The main thing you missed this weekend that I didn't miss was the Smoky Joe Wood Chapter of SABR's winter meeting.
Larry Levine discusses what it was like growing up a Giants fan in the Bronx during the '40s and having to deal with Yankee and Dodger fans. This made 1951 feel that much sweeter for him (it also cancels out my feelings of impending old age after reminiscing about the Miracle On Ice.) This presentation sort of reminded me of Fever Pitch (the book, not the movie) and was probably the highlight of the afternoon. It was also early on in the meeting.
Joe Runde made a presentation of various tabletop baseball simulations like APBA and Strat-O-Matic. I should do a presentation someday on Earl Weaver Baseball.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Interwiew With An Umpire
Arne Christensen recaps an interview with Ron Luciano. I'm not sure if we need men in blue on the Rabbit Maranville All Stars, but if we do, Luciano is one of them.
The Big Mac Behemoths
I cracked wise about catchers last Friday. For the uninitiated, I'm looking at how Maranville current players are; loosely using criteria from my Johnstone List. I haven't followed everyone in recent years, so feel free to chime in. This time first basemen are my victims. I named them after McGwire because BP was appointment viewing when he was around.
1. Ryan Howard. Opposite field power. Hits home runs the other way more often than anyone else. Strikes out occasionally.
2. Kevin Youkilis. The Paul O’Neill of the Red Sox. If you like that, good for you. I have a temper, but I usually vent in private. 12th most patient regular in the bigs last year swinging only 39% of the time. That approach works for him, but I find it boring. It was cool when Wade Boggs took that approach, but so was Quiet Riot back then. And Kevin Dubrow is dead. One plus for the Greek God: the “Yooouk” cheer at Fenway. I consider that part of the experience. Will jaw with theump and (occasionally) a teammate. I forget if that's Maranville or not.
3. Pablo Sandoval. Takes the opposite approach at the plate. Best bad ball hitter since Dorf. Also has a cool nickname in Kung Fu Panda. Not sure where to list him, so I picked first.
4. Derrek Lee. Dreck.
5. Adam Dunn. I think that the home run has become cheaper since I was a kid, but this guy hits long ones. His fielding may add entertainment value, depending on your POV.
6. Russ Branyan. Swings and misses 17% of the time which is QUITE OFTEN. Outside of putting a ball in play, a swinging strike is the most exciting outcome of a pitch.
7. Lyle Overbay. Latinos may be well represented in today’s game, but the only two active Pig Latinos are Overbay and Mark Kotsay.
8. Ty Wiggington. Sounds like the name of someone who attended Avon Old Farms.
9. Michael Aubrey. The O’s used to have Aubrey Huff. By this logic, they will soon have a corner infielder with the last name of Michael. This is almost as intriguing as my dream outfield of Junior Felix, Felix Jose, and Jose Cruz Jr..
10. Chris Carter. I hope that the A’s use the X-Files theme when he saunters over from the on-deck circle.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
I Went To A FIght And A Basketball Game Broke Out
This happened near me last week.
This wasn't in the inner city. These teams were from the suburbs and, frankly, not good. Sherman Cain of the subscription-only Journal Inquirer had this to say.
I attended a couple of high school basketball games this year and would guess this is an aberration. The crowds seemed pretty well behaved.
Police said some players started the fight allegedly after a player who didn't play in the game shoved an opponent while the teams shook hands. A police officer assigned to the game broke up that fight but then had to radio for backup when more fights broke out and parents spilled from the bleachers, police said. The officer then saw one parent attack another and then more parents joined the fray.
This wasn't in the inner city. These teams were from the suburbs and, frankly, not good. Sherman Cain of the subscription-only Journal Inquirer had this to say.
Sgt. Daniel Casale of the Enfield police department said that “The heckling started before the game was actually over.’’
Heckling? One team entered the game with a 3-12 record. The other entered the game with a 1-14 record. With those kinds of records, everybody needs to just shut up and play, or shut up and sit on your hands if you don’t know how to root properly at a high school event.
I attended a couple of high school basketball games this year and would guess this is an aberration. The crowds seemed pretty well behaved.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Carpetbaggers
New York UFL Team Moves To Hartford.
This will make up for Brooklyn stealing the Dark Blues way back in 1877. An 0-6 team. But the roster may be different. Jason Page said a lot of UFL players moved up to the NFL last year including J.P. Losman and Garrett Hartley.
Did anyone here catch a UFL game last year? I caught a bit of one on VS, but I forget if the style of play was more run-oriented or pass-oriented . I imagine it they passed a lot, but that's just the nature of football today.
This will make up for Brooklyn stealing the Dark Blues way back in 1877. An 0-6 team. But the roster may be different. Jason Page said a lot of UFL players moved up to the NFL last year including J.P. Losman and Garrett Hartley.
Did anyone here catch a UFL game last year? I caught a bit of one on VS, but I forget if the style of play was more run-oriented or pass-oriented . I imagine it they passed a lot, but that's just the nature of football today.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday Evening Shortstop
It's a holiday weekend and I have to go in early tomorrow. This is my window for the Shortstop.
Comment of the Week:
From ty4:
I started writing some comments about current players. I began with catchers and mentioned Molina and Pudge II.
As for Ryan, Rich Lederer writes about the Nolan Ryan Fan Club. (Do many bloggers ego-surf and see when I mention them? I know one guy did and he mentioned me. You know who you are, Gorbous fan.) Randy Johnson had just as high a three-true-outcomes percentage, but Ryan's is higher relative to his peers.
Also, Jack Moore writes about how the Florida Marlins have adopted the Cincinnati Reds policy from the late 1970s regarding free agents. Enjoy.
I spent 11 days reading Larry Tye's bio of Satchel Paige. Jeff Kelly Lowenstein expressed apathy towards the book. But I must say that I'm glad I read it. It explained quite a bit about the Negro Leagues. I knew quite a few facts about them, but not in a systematic way.
Last but not least, I asked a trivia question in the comments of a post last week. Bert Campaneris and Cesar Tovar are two of the four players who appeared in all nine positions during one game. Can you name the others? A ham sandwich is on the line.
Comment of the Week:
From ty4:
Re more Maranvillains - Pudge Rodriguez, the way he used to intimidate basestealers. That was awesome. Baseball fans just a little older than me, though, the guy they rave about is Johnny Bench. I have probably heard more raving about the incredible, eye-popping all-round play of Johnny Bench than anyone else I can think of.
Nolan Ryan, another Maranvillain by the way. While I am thinking of it.
The guy in Pudge's mold who impresses me the most now with his play behind the plate is Yadier Molina. I love watching that guy play baseball.
I started writing some comments about current players. I began with catchers and mentioned Molina and Pudge II.
As for Ryan, Rich Lederer writes about the Nolan Ryan Fan Club. (Do many bloggers ego-surf and see when I mention them? I know one guy did and he mentioned me. You know who you are, Gorbous fan.) Randy Johnson had just as high a three-true-outcomes percentage, but Ryan's is higher relative to his peers.
Also, Jack Moore writes about how the Florida Marlins have adopted the Cincinnati Reds policy from the late 1970s regarding free agents. Enjoy.
I spent 11 days reading Larry Tye's bio of Satchel Paige. Jeff Kelly Lowenstein expressed apathy towards the book. But I must say that I'm glad I read it. It explained quite a bit about the Negro Leagues. I knew quite a few facts about them, but not in a systematic way.
Last but not least, I asked a trivia question in the comments of a post last week. Bert Campaneris and Cesar Tovar are two of the four players who appeared in all nine positions during one game. Can you name the others? A ham sandwich is on the line.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Yogi Yahooeys
Okay, these aren’t really rankings, but I do plan on making some comments about players at each position when I have an opinion of them. I’d appreciate feedback because I’m just now attempting to be a liberated fan again (like I was as a teen) and don’t follow everybody; especially guys who have spent most of their career in the NL.
I am going to start with the catchers. For the historic Rabbit Maranville All-Stars, I think Yogi Berra should be on the team. He was a goofy looking hitter of bad balls and quite a character. I’m a Red Sox fan and I like him. In his honor, we’ll call these the Yogi Yahooeys.
1. Russell Martin. One characteristic I am looking at in a catcher is a throwing arm. Gerald Laird may have thrown more guys out. But with 11 stolen bases of his own, Martin led the majors last year in net steals with 44. 11 SB? Who does he think he is, John Stearns?
2. A.J. Pierzynski. Kind of an ass, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the Rabbit Maranville All-Stars. Too, “Don’t Stop Believin’” is a guilty pleasure of mine and A.J. was a fan before Tony Soprano was.
3. Joe Mauer. One of my readers calls him “baseball robot.” That’s not good. But consider this: He’s won an MVP Award and may have deserved another. He’s had health problems and is at all for a catcher, so his career may not be that long. If I had a vote for the Hall Of Fame, I’d probably look more at career value, but RMAS are more likely to be meteoric. Bethlehem Shoals is sort of my inspiration for this and he was a fan of of Ritter and Honig's The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. He especially liked how Pete Reiser and Herb Score were in the book. Mauer seems like a genuinely nice guy from what I’ve read and I hope we haven’t seen the best of him yet. But no one knows the appointed day, nor the appointed hour.
4. Matt Weiters. Hyped prospect. Too soon to tell.
5. Buster Posey. Ditto. But he has a cool nickname. The last Buster to play in the majors was Buster Narum. His final appearance was half a year before I was born. For my entire life, the olney Buster in baseball was a writer.
6. Yadier Molina. Second-best caught stealing percentage out of any full-timer last year. And unlikely home run hero in 2006.
7. Geovanny Soto. Dreck.
8. Jason Kendall. He’s still around?
9. John Baker. He should be in a platoon with Frank Poncharello.
10. Rob Johnson. He should really be in a platoon with Carlos Santana. Can Seattle and Cleveland make this happen?
11. Ivan Rodriguez. He has emeritus status. Can still throw guys out at a better than average clip. I realize that’s not the alpha and omega of catcher defense. Blocking bad pitches may be more important. But that’s the fun part to watch.
12. Rod Barajas. I was told he was boring. By a Canadian. “I hated every second of watching that guy - he didn't even have the joyful slowness of the Flying Molina Brothers.”
13. Greg Zaun. His uncle or cousin was Rick Dempsey. Too bad he doesn’t do that thing where he pretends he’s Babe Ruth on a rainy day and slides across all the bases on a wet tarp. That would be worth the price of admission.
This should get the ball rolling.
Tom Tango Might Be Happy
I took yesterday off form work due to the fearmongers (weathermen) predicting impeding doom for Central Connecticut. Didn't happen, but I wound up watching a bit of the MLB Network. Saw a couple episodes of "Prime 9." One was on lopsided trades and the other was on leftfielders. Tim Raines came in 9th, ahead of some Hall of Famers like Jim Rice, Lou Brock, Willie Stargell, Joe Medwick, and Billy Williams. THe only one who seemed out of place was Ralph Kiner at #8. The most glaring omission was Shoeless Joe, but I can understand why he might not've been included. MLB Networks list:
1. Williams
2. Bonds
3. Musial
4. Henderson
5. Ramirez
6. Yaz
7. Simmons
8. Kiner
9. Raines
Coming soon: I hope to do some positional rankings of some current players by how Maranville they are.
1. Williams
2. Bonds
3. Musial
4. Henderson
5. Ramirez
6. Yaz
7. Simmons
8. Kiner
9. Raines
Coming soon: I hope to do some positional rankings of some current players by how Maranville they are.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The 1966 Chicago Cubs
That team would make a great hub or node in a Kevin Baconesque game. Their pitching staff covers 34 seasons of baseball history from Curt Simmons' rookie year in '47 to the twilight of Fred Norman's career in 1980. And the manager had been in the game for quite a while.
Many thanks to Infinite Monkeys Typing pointing out that that team has the all time record for caeer wins by a pitching staff. Post #42 (Doesn't that sound like a VFW hall?) here.
Many thanks to Infinite Monkeys Typing pointing out that that team has the all time record for caeer wins by a pitching staff. Post #42 (Doesn't that sound like a VFW hall?) here.
The Johnstone List
Okay. I decided I wanted to get more systematic about these Rabbit Maranville All-Stars of mine. Last nite, I decided to come up with some criteria. So I came up with a list of questions. Bill James had his Keltner List. This is my Jay Johnstone List. Eight questions:
1. Would you go out of your way to see this player?
This is, for me, the Ichiro question. When asked to pick a game to attend at Yankee Stadium III this summer, I chose a Seattle game. I've been to a Red Sox - Yankee tilt there before and Seattle's probably going to be a good team this year, but I mainly did it to see Suzuki. I'm not sure if I've ever seen him live.
2. Did he do anything that made him stand out from his peers?
This could be a player with a unique skill set. Ichiro stands out in this era because it's like he's from 100 years ago. His polar opposite would be Gavvy Cravath, a deadballer who hit like he's from the future. Guys who combine power with speed (or defense) may fit here. Ditto badballhitters in this day of take and rake. For pitchers, this question would be answered yes for those with unique pitches (knucklers, cutters) or unique, colorful deliveries.
3. Did he have any on-field antics?
This is one thing that made Mark Fidrych one of the first guys I thought of. Al Hrabosky also comes to mind. This question also makes me think that Earl Weaver should skipper this team. Bobby Cox may have more ejections, but Earl was an entertaining arguer.
4. Was he in the national spotlight?
How did the player do in the postseason or All-Star games? Did he do anything exciting on a national Game of the Week back when you could only get one out of market game a week? Did he have an international following like Fernandomania?
5. Was he a good player? Was his career more meteoric than steady?
I prefer the guys with more meteoric careers for this team. This is a point that is not in a Dewey Evans's favor.
6. Did he have any historical impact?
One of the lower criteria here, but it helps. Could be for being a pioneer like Ichiro being the first major position player from Asia. Heck, it could be something wacky like Kelly Gruber being the only baseballist to win the Superstars competition. If you want to go waaay back in time, King Kelly would get points for this for all the rule changes due to his gaming the system.
7. Did he demonstrate vigorously what Americans, quoting French poorly, call je ne sais quoi?
I lifted this one from Carson Cistulli, but I said something similar before.
8. Is he the best choice for his position?
Certain positions seem to generate better candidates for this team, but I can't have five third basemen and no catchers. Too many passed balls.
There you go. Eight questions. I wrote most of them in the past tense, but they can all apply to the present.
1. Would you go out of your way to see this player?
This is, for me, the Ichiro question. When asked to pick a game to attend at Yankee Stadium III this summer, I chose a Seattle game. I've been to a Red Sox - Yankee tilt there before and Seattle's probably going to be a good team this year, but I mainly did it to see Suzuki. I'm not sure if I've ever seen him live.
2. Did he do anything that made him stand out from his peers?
This could be a player with a unique skill set. Ichiro stands out in this era because it's like he's from 100 years ago. His polar opposite would be Gavvy Cravath, a deadballer who hit like he's from the future. Guys who combine power with speed (or defense) may fit here. Ditto badballhitters in this day of take and rake. For pitchers, this question would be answered yes for those with unique pitches (knucklers, cutters) or unique, colorful deliveries.
3. Did he have any on-field antics?
This is one thing that made Mark Fidrych one of the first guys I thought of. Al Hrabosky also comes to mind. This question also makes me think that Earl Weaver should skipper this team. Bobby Cox may have more ejections, but Earl was an entertaining arguer.
4. Was he in the national spotlight?
How did the player do in the postseason or All-Star games? Did he do anything exciting on a national Game of the Week back when you could only get one out of market game a week? Did he have an international following like Fernandomania?
5. Was he a good player? Was his career more meteoric than steady?
I prefer the guys with more meteoric careers for this team. This is a point that is not in a Dewey Evans's favor.
6. Did he have any historical impact?
One of the lower criteria here, but it helps. Could be for being a pioneer like Ichiro being the first major position player from Asia. Heck, it could be something wacky like Kelly Gruber being the only baseballist to win the Superstars competition. If you want to go waaay back in time, King Kelly would get points for this for all the rule changes due to his gaming the system.
7. Did he demonstrate vigorously what Americans, quoting French poorly, call je ne sais quoi?
I lifted this one from Carson Cistulli, but I said something similar before.
8. Is he the best choice for his position?
Certain positions seem to generate better candidates for this team, but I can't have five third basemen and no catchers. Too many passed balls.
There you go. Eight questions. I wrote most of them in the past tense, but they can all apply to the present.
Monday, February 8, 2010
I Never Smoked Astroturf
I’m no expert on country music (but I did see Crazy Heart last week), so I apologize in advance if I flub this. Garth Brooks trained with the Padres back in the late 90s. He had a number of influences, including Charley Pride. Pride was a rara avis; a black country singer. Brooks would go on to influence another one; Darius Rucker formerly frontman for Hootie and the Blowfish. Brooks was the King of Country for a while; even though folks like Kinky Friedman called him the anti-Hank on “Imus In The Morning.” Then his throne was usurped by Tim McGraw.
McGraw’s dad was the pitcher Tug McGraw. Tug did not acknowledge Tim as his son until Tim was 17 years old, his son being the product of a brief fling, but the two later developed a close relationship. McGraw was part of the “Ya Gotta Believe” Mets of 1973. He later helped the Phillies win their first World Series title in 1980. It only took them 97 years. Another lefty in the bullpen for the Phillies that year was Sparky Lyle. Lyle was acquired from the Texas Rangers in mid-September and appeared in 10 games. Lyle was stolen by the Yankees from the Red Sox for Danny Cater and sat on cakes in the Bronx during the prime years of his career. He was on the 1976 squad. That was the team that finally brought back the AL title after a 12 year drought.
In August, the Yankees picked up Cesar Tovar for the stretch drive. As a kid, I remember Tovar because I had the 1977 Baseball Encyclopedia. For his 1968 season, his position was listed as ALL. He played all 9 positions one game that year. He was the second of only four players to do this. (Jose Oquendo played all nine positions, but not in one game. Ditto Bobby Reis.)
Tovar played for Missoula in the Pioneer League was back in 1960. A tovarich on the team was a former Negro League pitcher trying to hang on. He came to the Memphis Red Sox as a teen phenom for a couple of years before joining the Army. He played on a service team that included Leon Wagner, J.C. Hartman, and Willie Kirkland. After playing in Montana, the hurler tried to catch on with a couple of expansion teams. When he realized that even the Angels and Mets weren’t interested in him, he decided it was time to hang up his spikes and find another career. That pitcher’s name was Charley Pride. He still gets involved with the Texas Rangers. Conway Twitty and Roy Acuff also played a little ball, but Pride went further than those two country singers.
McGraw’s dad was the pitcher Tug McGraw. Tug did not acknowledge Tim as his son until Tim was 17 years old, his son being the product of a brief fling, but the two later developed a close relationship. McGraw was part of the “Ya Gotta Believe” Mets of 1973. He later helped the Phillies win their first World Series title in 1980. It only took them 97 years. Another lefty in the bullpen for the Phillies that year was Sparky Lyle. Lyle was acquired from the Texas Rangers in mid-September and appeared in 10 games. Lyle was stolen by the Yankees from the Red Sox for Danny Cater and sat on cakes in the Bronx during the prime years of his career. He was on the 1976 squad. That was the team that finally brought back the AL title after a 12 year drought.
In August, the Yankees picked up Cesar Tovar for the stretch drive. As a kid, I remember Tovar because I had the 1977 Baseball Encyclopedia. For his 1968 season, his position was listed as ALL. He played all 9 positions one game that year. He was the second of only four players to do this. (Jose Oquendo played all nine positions, but not in one game. Ditto Bobby Reis.)
Tovar played for Missoula in the Pioneer League was back in 1960. A tovarich on the team was a former Negro League pitcher trying to hang on. He came to the Memphis Red Sox as a teen phenom for a couple of years before joining the Army. He played on a service team that included Leon Wagner, J.C. Hartman, and Willie Kirkland. After playing in Montana, the hurler tried to catch on with a couple of expansion teams. When he realized that even the Angels and Mets weren’t interested in him, he decided it was time to hang up his spikes and find another career. That pitcher’s name was Charley Pride. He still gets involved with the Texas Rangers. Conway Twitty and Roy Acuff also played a little ball, but Pride went further than those two country singers.
Monday Morning Shortstop
Comment of the week, from Nick:
Inspired choice. Bo knew strikeouts, he knew home runs, and he knew stolen bases. In 1989, he led the league with the highest Power/Speed number. A look at the yearly leaders shows some other guys mentioned here: Reggie Jackson, Mark Reynolds, Jackie Robinson, and Larry Walker to name a few. Versatility isn't just for Meryl Streep. It may also be a good quality for Maranvillains, now that I think about it. How was he as a fielder? I seem to recall him as aggressive, but most of his career coincided with my Army days and I didn't follow baseball much those years. It was hard to without a TV back then.
There was some sporting event last nite, and Brian Burke commented on the ballsiness of one coach.
A call for scoresheets.
Dave Allen has an idea for a new boxscore. To tie these last two together, Bill James had an idea in one of his Baseball Abstracts that involved a scoresheet style boxscore. I liked that and thought it was the most concise way to tell the story of a game.
One of my friends calls Joe Mauer a baseball robot, but this is a nice story about him; if you get ESPN Insider. If not, it's in the latest "The Mag."
Jon,
(Disclaimer: I made a comment along these lines Friday, but it's never appeared on your blog. Don't know what happened.) Anyway:
Bo Jackson would be a good Maranvillian. Some of the stuff he did was breathtaking. A homer I saw him hit off Oswaldo Peraza in 1988 is probably somewhere around Saturn by now.
Inspired choice. Bo knew strikeouts, he knew home runs, and he knew stolen bases. In 1989, he led the league with the highest Power/Speed number. A look at the yearly leaders shows some other guys mentioned here: Reggie Jackson, Mark Reynolds, Jackie Robinson, and Larry Walker to name a few. Versatility isn't just for Meryl Streep. It may also be a good quality for Maranvillains, now that I think about it. How was he as a fielder? I seem to recall him as aggressive, but most of his career coincided with my Army days and I didn't follow baseball much those years. It was hard to without a TV back then.
There was some sporting event last nite, and Brian Burke commented on the ballsiness of one coach.
A call for scoresheets.
Dave Allen has an idea for a new boxscore. To tie these last two together, Bill James had an idea in one of his Baseball Abstracts that involved a scoresheet style boxscore. I liked that and thought it was the most concise way to tell the story of a game.
One of my friends calls Joe Mauer a baseball robot, but this is a nice story about him; if you get ESPN Insider. If not, it's in the latest "The Mag."
Friday, February 5, 2010
Casual Day Comments
A reader sent me a message this week.
Ozzie Smith was an oversight. Guy would do cartwheels before games. BTW, I picked the Cardinals as my NL arch-nemesis during the mid-'80s. Some stoner kid in my brother's high school class just moved here from Overland Park Kan. so we were rooting for the Royals in the 1985 World Series. Iorg's single in Game Six was one of my favorite moments in baseball. Too, I was following the Mets back then (For the first time I remember, one of the Hartford stations carried their games)and they were in a fierce rivalry with the Redbirds at the time. But a number of the guys I've mentioned as Maranvillains have St. Louis ties.
I'm not sure about Ripken. From what I recall, he was a good fielder due to positioning. I don't remember that many flashy plays because he had to dive for balls or anything. Did he put fannies in the seats? Maybe; especially later in his streak when he saved baseball before McGwire and Sosa saved the game. But how much of that was the Camden Yards effect?
I've already mentioned Evans. Walker, sadly, is a guy I know less about. I followed the National League more back when NBC did the Game Of The Week than I did afterwards. I didn't have cable during the '90s and by the aughts, I watched so many Red Sox games, I rarely watched anyone else. I'm trying to move from that this year. It's one of my resolutions.
Carson Cistulli has certain criteria for his All-Joy team.
1. An MLB player whose advanced metrics (i.e. EqA, wOBA, VORP, UZR – really anything that attempts to improve upon AVG, HR, and RBIs) suggest greater production than is commonly perceived.
2. An MLB player whose peripheral numbers (i.e. xFIP, PrOPS, tRA) suggest greater production in near future.
3. Either an MLB part-timer or older (27 and up) minor leaguer whose production suggests probable success in expanded MLB role.
4. A younger (under 27) minor leaguer, but not top prospect, whose minor league numbers suggest success at the MLB level.
5. A player who demonstrates vigorously what Americans, quoting French poorly, call je ne sais quoi.
I should come up with something similar for Maranvillains. #5 is definitely part of it. But the rest of these rely on numbers. Nothing against Mark Bellhorn, but a player like Pokey Reese, albeit better, is more likely to be a Maranvillain. I still remember this game. Two very different home runs and I think he had some flashy defensive play in the game.
I have another suggestion for your Maranvillains. Two, actually, both shortstops. I think you already mentioned Eckstein, or he’d be a third - I loved his fury on the diamond.
I wanted to mention Ozzie, of course, because he was truly a delight and always worth the price of admission by himself, but also Cal Ripken, especially for his defensive play and his marvellous throwing arm especially. And he played the field so intelligently, and was a very very fine hitter.
Another guy who played with Eckstein’s reckless abandon and a far greater player with greater gifts was Larry Walker, who was a dynamo in right field with all the tools but also maximum commitment at all times, and a guy who could beat you with any style at the plate - walk, single, double, triple, long bomb. Another guy in Ripken’s mold - the guy who could have taught his position at Harvard - was Dwight Evans.
Ozzie Smith was an oversight. Guy would do cartwheels before games. BTW, I picked the Cardinals as my NL arch-nemesis during the mid-'80s. Some stoner kid in my brother's high school class just moved here from Overland Park Kan. so we were rooting for the Royals in the 1985 World Series. Iorg's single in Game Six was one of my favorite moments in baseball. Too, I was following the Mets back then (For the first time I remember, one of the Hartford stations carried their games)and they were in a fierce rivalry with the Redbirds at the time. But a number of the guys I've mentioned as Maranvillains have St. Louis ties.
I'm not sure about Ripken. From what I recall, he was a good fielder due to positioning. I don't remember that many flashy plays because he had to dive for balls or anything. Did he put fannies in the seats? Maybe; especially later in his streak when he saved baseball before McGwire and Sosa saved the game. But how much of that was the Camden Yards effect?
I've already mentioned Evans. Walker, sadly, is a guy I know less about. I followed the National League more back when NBC did the Game Of The Week than I did afterwards. I didn't have cable during the '90s and by the aughts, I watched so many Red Sox games, I rarely watched anyone else. I'm trying to move from that this year. It's one of my resolutions.
Carson Cistulli has certain criteria for his All-Joy team.
1. An MLB player whose advanced metrics (i.e. EqA, wOBA, VORP, UZR – really anything that attempts to improve upon AVG, HR, and RBIs) suggest greater production than is commonly perceived.
2. An MLB player whose peripheral numbers (i.e. xFIP, PrOPS, tRA) suggest greater production in near future.
3. Either an MLB part-timer or older (27 and up) minor leaguer whose production suggests probable success in expanded MLB role.
4. A younger (under 27) minor leaguer, but not top prospect, whose minor league numbers suggest success at the MLB level.
5. A player who demonstrates vigorously what Americans, quoting French poorly, call je ne sais quoi.
I should come up with something similar for Maranvillains. #5 is definitely part of it. But the rest of these rely on numbers. Nothing against Mark Bellhorn, but a player like Pokey Reese, albeit better, is more likely to be a Maranvillain. I still remember this game. Two very different home runs and I think he had some flashy defensive play in the game.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
This makes me feel old
Today’s Hartford Courant said that Tebucky Jones Jr. signed a letter of intent to attend UConn. I didn’t know Jones was old enough to have a son that old.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Thoughtful piece about online writng
Mike Emeigh linked this article over at The Factory. Some folks tip hats, others slap gloves. I'm not sure what I should do. Maybe I'll salute Mike.
Prospects Lists
You see them popping up this time of year. Oftentimes, they break prospects down by farm system, which is cool. I imagine most of the consumers are guys who play fantasy ball and are interested in that aspect of it. But what if you're some schmoe who wants to see a minor league game. I live in Connecticut, which means that I can go see Eastern Leaguers in New Britain. New York Penn-Leaguers (now) in Norwich, or drive to Pawtucket to see International Leaguers. I'd be totally interested in seeing a guide that breaks it prospects down by league. I do imagine, though, that it might be difficult to guess what league a particular phenom will wind up playing in a particular year. But it would be nice to know who to watch for when I take in a game.
Flood v Kuhn
SABR’s latest Baseball Research Journal is devoted to baseball and the law. Shysterball, some call this subject. It seems to be the second most popular topic in the sabersphere after rating players using advanced metrics. One article mentions perhaps one of the most celebrated cases in the pastime’s history; Flood V. Kuhn. The defendant was Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where it lost. But it was a signal that the times, they were a changin'.
The plaintiff, Curt Flood, was a centerfielder for the Saint Louis Cardinals who felt that his rights were violated when he was traded by that team to the Philadelphia Phillies. He had been with Saint Louis for over a decade. Won two World Series with the Cardinals. You may have heard Tim McCarver talk about him. Before that he was with Cincinnati and their farm system. They miscast him as an infielder.
But before he became a big league star, he played in Oakland. Not for the A’s. They were still in Kansas City at the time. He played for McClymonds High School. He was a teammate of Vada Pinson. A number of players came from that school and its rivals during that era. They had a helluva coach in George Powles. Other McClymonds Warriors included Willie Tasby, Frank Robinson, Jesse Gonder, and Bill Russell.
That wasn’t Russell the shortstop. That was Russell the basketball center. He would go on to win two NCAA titles with the University of San Francisco, a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics, and eleven NBA titles with the Boston Celtics. He was also the first black coach in a bigtime professional sport when he took over the Celts in 1967. Before he became player-coach at Boston, the head coach was Red Auerbach.
Auerbach was an alum of George Washington University in the District of Columbia. He coached and taught in high schools for a few years after graduating from there. One school he coached at was Roosevelt High. While there, he noticed that the tallest kid in school was not on the basketball team. He stopped him in the hall one day and asked him why he was never tried out.
“Because I’m a lousy player,” replied the student.
“Let me be the judge of that.” said Auerbach.
After a weeks worth of practices, they both came to the conclusion that the kid didn’t belong on a basketball court. The student’s name was Bowie Kuhn.
The plaintiff, Curt Flood, was a centerfielder for the Saint Louis Cardinals who felt that his rights were violated when he was traded by that team to the Philadelphia Phillies. He had been with Saint Louis for over a decade. Won two World Series with the Cardinals. You may have heard Tim McCarver talk about him. Before that he was with Cincinnati and their farm system. They miscast him as an infielder.
But before he became a big league star, he played in Oakland. Not for the A’s. They were still in Kansas City at the time. He played for McClymonds High School. He was a teammate of Vada Pinson. A number of players came from that school and its rivals during that era. They had a helluva coach in George Powles. Other McClymonds Warriors included Willie Tasby, Frank Robinson, Jesse Gonder, and Bill Russell.
That wasn’t Russell the shortstop. That was Russell the basketball center. He would go on to win two NCAA titles with the University of San Francisco, a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics, and eleven NBA titles with the Boston Celtics. He was also the first black coach in a bigtime professional sport when he took over the Celts in 1967. Before he became player-coach at Boston, the head coach was Red Auerbach.
Auerbach was an alum of George Washington University in the District of Columbia. He coached and taught in high schools for a few years after graduating from there. One school he coached at was Roosevelt High. While there, he noticed that the tallest kid in school was not on the basketball team. He stopped him in the hall one day and asked him why he was never tried out.
“Because I’m a lousy player,” replied the student.
“Let me be the judge of that.” said Auerbach.
After a weeks worth of practices, they both came to the conclusion that the kid didn’t belong on a basketball court. The student’s name was Bowie Kuhn.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Baseball Analysts: There Are Two Types of Players...
... Elvis players and Beatles players.
Variety is the spice of life, or so they say. I've mentioned Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Dunn, and Mark Reynolds as Maranvillains and all three are close to one pole or the other on the deadball-style/livelyball-style continuum. I can't believe I haven't mentioned Ichiro yet. That's a total oversight. In fact, I was given a choice of games to go see at the new Yankee Stadium this summer and I picked a Seattle one just to see him. (I'm not sure if I've ever seen him live.)
As Andrecheck says:
Variety is the spice of life, or so they say. I've mentioned Jacoby Ellsbury, Adam Dunn, and Mark Reynolds as Maranvillains and all three are close to one pole or the other on the deadball-style/livelyball-style continuum. I can't believe I haven't mentioned Ichiro yet. That's a total oversight. In fact, I was given a choice of games to go see at the new Yankee Stadium this summer and I picked a Seattle one just to see him. (I'm not sure if I've ever seen him live.)
As Andrecheck says:
Personally, I find both styles of player fun to watch as their extreme styles seem to make them more colorful, though I think that the power guys have historically caught more grief from fans and have been underrated up until the recent sabermetric revolution.Now, just making these lists doesn't make you a guy I'd go out of my way to see (witness Jason Bay), but it's a start. I'd be curious to see team scores.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Tommy Brookshier, 78
Tom Brookshier succumbed to cancer at the age of 78 last Friday. He was a Philadelphia Eagle way back in the '50s and '60s, but I remember him as a color guy on TV. CBS teamed him up with Pat Summerall. I first became conscious of football around the time of the Pisarcik Fumble. I got some Sports Illustrated book about football by Bud Wilkinson for Christmas around that time and Brookshier and Summerall seemed to cover a lot of the games I watched in those days. They were the number one team for CBS. (I still remember the pregame with a young Brent Musberger, Irv Cross, and Jimmy the Greek.) My dad was a Giants fan and I became one, so we watched their games. Plus, the Cowboys seemed to be on quite often back then.
Brookshier probably wasn't that much older than I am now when I used to watch those games.
Brookshier probably wasn't that much older than I am now when I used to watch those games.
Monday Morning Shortstop
Comment of the week:
With regard to the Rabbit Maranville All-Stars and the lack of a catcher and second baseman, Nick said:
I like Robinson. Stealing home during the World Series? That's the type of thing I'm looking for.
A new bio of Willie Mays is coming out. A ham sandwich for the first person who can tell me who the Mets traded for him. (Don't look it up.)
Brian Burke asks if Kurt Warner is a Hall of Famer. He shows some of his advanced stats but admits that that's only part of the picture.
I celebrated SABR Day Saturday at a breakfast with some other Nutmeggers. One was a prof at Turk Wendell’s alma mater. Says that when Turk’s meal plan money ran out, he would hunt birds with rocks and eat them. Another once went to a Negro League game. Saw the Indianapolis Clowns. Goose Tatum played first.
With regard to the Rabbit Maranville All-Stars and the lack of a catcher and second baseman, Nick said:
I dunno, maybe Jackie Robinson at 2B, although he played first in '47. For catcher, maybe Johnny Bench.
I like Robinson. Stealing home during the World Series? That's the type of thing I'm looking for.
A new bio of Willie Mays is coming out. A ham sandwich for the first person who can tell me who the Mets traded for him. (Don't look it up.)
Brian Burke asks if Kurt Warner is a Hall of Famer. He shows some of his advanced stats but admits that that's only part of the picture.
I celebrated SABR Day Saturday at a breakfast with some other Nutmeggers. One was a prof at Turk Wendell’s alma mater. Says that when Turk’s meal plan money ran out, he would hunt birds with rocks and eat them. Another once went to a Negro League game. Saw the Indianapolis Clowns. Goose Tatum played first.
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Shortstop In The Rye
It all goes back to Rabbit Maranville. He liked to have the more-than-occasional pop. So he was in the rye (and the bourbon and the brandy). I've written here before that I've seen old sports columns that said that he was the second biggest gate attraction after Ruth. The columns in question were written by in 1951 an old Hartford Times sportswriter named Arthur McGinley. McGinley grew up in New London, Conn. with future playwright Eugene O'Neill. In fact, O'Neill based his only comedy "Ah, Wilderness" on the McGinley family.
Now O'Neill had a daughter named Oona. Oona would go on to marry Charlie Chaplin. But before that she dated director Orson Welles and author J. D. Salinger. What dioes Salinger have to do with baseball? He was a character in W. P. Kinsella's magic realism novel Shoeless Joe. This was later adapted onto film as Field Of Dreams and the character of Salinger was replaced. Another character in the book and movie was Moonlight Graham. Graham may be the most famous cup of coffee player ever, thanks to Kinsella.
Graham went on to become a small-town doctor, but not before making one appearance with the New York Giants in the summer of 1905. Art Devlin was on that team. Devlin was an alum of Georgetown University back when they were producing ballplayers who weren't basketball players. He was a third-sacker; a fast one who led the NL in steals in '05 with 59. Later on, the Giants sold him to Boston. They were just named the Braves that year because their owner was a bigwig in Tammany Hall. Tammany's symbol was a Native American. While in Boston, he shared the left side of the infield with ... Rabbit Maranville. It's all connected, folks.
Now O'Neill had a daughter named Oona. Oona would go on to marry Charlie Chaplin. But before that she dated director Orson Welles and author J. D. Salinger. What dioes Salinger have to do with baseball? He was a character in W. P. Kinsella's magic realism novel Shoeless Joe. This was later adapted onto film as Field Of Dreams and the character of Salinger was replaced. Another character in the book and movie was Moonlight Graham. Graham may be the most famous cup of coffee player ever, thanks to Kinsella.
Graham went on to become a small-town doctor, but not before making one appearance with the New York Giants in the summer of 1905. Art Devlin was on that team. Devlin was an alum of Georgetown University back when they were producing ballplayers who weren't basketball players. He was a third-sacker; a fast one who led the NL in steals in '05 with 59. Later on, the Giants sold him to Boston. They were just named the Braves that year because their owner was a bigwig in Tammany Hall. Tammany's symbol was a Native American. While in Boston, he shared the left side of the infield with ... Rabbit Maranville. It's all connected, folks.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Big Mac Attack
I haven't really had much to say about the whole Mark McGwire kerfuffle. I don't think he farts rainbows, nor do I think he is pure concentrated evil. I know it's not fun to be this way. But I see shades of gray and if you think that's wrong, then so be it. But one of the smarter guys in the sabersphere reminded me of something. In this thread at Baseball Think Factory, Ron Johnson (one of the smartest saberists I've ever met said:
I do recall being caught up in the hysteria. Even my grandmother, who was more of a hoops fan than a baseball fan got into it. I guess that McGwire qualifies as a Maranvillain as well as a villain (and if Dick Allen can make the team, so can he.)
The team so far:
P - Wakefield
P - Lincecum
P - Fidrych
P - Paige
C - vacant
1B - McGwire
2B - vacant
SS - Maranville
3B - Zimmerman
CI - Allen
OF - Edmonds
OF - Manny Ramirez
OF - Evans
DH - Dunn
PH - Johnstone
Keep in mind that I put this team to gether as scientifically as the Hall of Fame was put together in Cooperstown, so if I am misrating someone it is clearly an oversight.
McGwire in his St. Louis days was one of the few players I've ever found that had a tangible impact on attendance beyond the on-field contribution.
Shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. I mean his BP was an event.
I do recall being caught up in the hysteria. Even my grandmother, who was more of a hoops fan than a baseball fan got into it. I guess that McGwire qualifies as a Maranvillain as well as a villain (and if Dick Allen can make the team, so can he.)
The team so far:
P - Wakefield
P - Lincecum
P - Fidrych
P - Paige
C - vacant
1B - McGwire
2B - vacant
SS - Maranville
3B - Zimmerman
CI - Allen
OF - Edmonds
OF - Manny Ramirez
OF - Evans
DH - Dunn
PH - Johnstone
Keep in mind that I put this team to gether as scientifically as the Hall of Fame was put together in Cooperstown, so if I am misrating someone it is clearly an oversight.
Interesting Discussion on Pro vs College Hoops
It's on this page. Start at post #7626. I make an appearance under the pseudonym Gary Geiger Counter.
The Defenders Return
This time, in NYPL form.
This is good news for me. I've been spending some time in that part of Connecticut. But one man's meat, is another man's poison.
PS - Saturday is SABR Day this week.
Norwich, Conn. —
An announcement is expected today that the Oneonta (N.Y.) Tigers of the short-season, Single-A New York-Penn League will be the new tenants at Dodd Stadium beginning this summer.
City and league officials will introduce the team at 1 p.m. at a City Hall press conference.
This is good news for me. I've been spending some time in that part of Connecticut. But one man's meat, is another man's poison.
PS - Saturday is SABR Day this week.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wild Bill
Wild Bill Donovan was a turn of the century fastballer who mainly pitched for the Tigers. He was also fast with his legs, not unlike teammate Ty Cobb. Over his career, he had 36 stolen bases. That's a record for any hurler who started his career after 1893. Why did I say 1893? That's when they moved the mound to the modern distance of 60'6".
After his career with Detroit wound down, Donovan managed the Yankees for three years. Like many managers of the day, he occasionally took to the field of combat. Among his charges and teammmates were a pitcher named Dazzy Vance and a shortstop named Roger Peckinpagh. Donovan later coached the Tigers for a season then managed the Phillies for part of 1921. He was set to manage Washington in 1924, when he was killed in one of the most famous train wrecks of the time.
Vance only played a handful of games for the Yanks. In fact, he wouldn't win his first big league game until seven years later. He was a late bloomer; the most Famous late bloomer in baseball history. Made his name with the Brooklyn Robins. In 1923, they had a young Ivy League shortstop who made his big league debut.
Roger Peckinpagh was traded by the Yankees right around when they started getting good, but he did get a World Series ring with the Senators in 1924 and also won the MVP award the following year. He wound up his career with the White Sox in 1927. A teammate that year was a weak-hitting utility player who donned the tools of ignorance for the first time that year. Ray Schalk and the other Chicago catchers were hurt, so they needed someone to fill in.
That player was the same Ivy League shortstop who played four Brooklyn a few years ago. He was a hanger-on in the majors, but he was probably best known as a multilingual polymath who dabbled in spycraft. I'm talking about, of course, Moe Berg. During World War II, Berg worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was a precursor to the CIA. (Julia Child was a fellow agent.) The Director of the OSS? Wild Bill Donovan. A different one. The old hurler didn't work from beyond the grave.
Thanks to Bob Dernier Cri at BTF for inspiring this tale.
After his career with Detroit wound down, Donovan managed the Yankees for three years. Like many managers of the day, he occasionally took to the field of combat. Among his charges and teammmates were a pitcher named Dazzy Vance and a shortstop named Roger Peckinpagh. Donovan later coached the Tigers for a season then managed the Phillies for part of 1921. He was set to manage Washington in 1924, when he was killed in one of the most famous train wrecks of the time.
Vance only played a handful of games for the Yanks. In fact, he wouldn't win his first big league game until seven years later. He was a late bloomer; the most Famous late bloomer in baseball history. Made his name with the Brooklyn Robins. In 1923, they had a young Ivy League shortstop who made his big league debut.
Roger Peckinpagh was traded by the Yankees right around when they started getting good, but he did get a World Series ring with the Senators in 1924 and also won the MVP award the following year. He wound up his career with the White Sox in 1927. A teammate that year was a weak-hitting utility player who donned the tools of ignorance for the first time that year. Ray Schalk and the other Chicago catchers were hurt, so they needed someone to fill in.
That player was the same Ivy League shortstop who played four Brooklyn a few years ago. He was a hanger-on in the majors, but he was probably best known as a multilingual polymath who dabbled in spycraft. I'm talking about, of course, Moe Berg. During World War II, Berg worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which was a precursor to the CIA. (Julia Child was a fellow agent.) The Director of the OSS? Wild Bill Donovan. A different one. The old hurler didn't work from beyond the grave.
Thanks to Bob Dernier Cri at BTF for inspiring this tale.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Tuesday's Post- Today!
Tuesday's meeting day, so I wanted to provide some content for the silent deep that hang out here so when they get to work tommorrow they'll have something to take their mind off of work or Haiti or Brett Favre. I was thinking about the best baseball moment I have ever seen live when I did not have an emotional stake in the game; the very essence of a liberated fandom moment. It was probably at this game. I was sitting with the most triumphant Chris Jaffe all game. It was the top of the ninth inning and Jason Larue hit a bomb. 'Twas out of the park, but Jim Edmonds snatched it up. Check out the play by play. The normally cool, calm, and collected Retrosheet scorer got emotional. I was looking for a YouTube clip of this but didn't have any luck. But I know that FOX Sports has shown this catch on one of their shows. A still of the catch is probably in this clip:
The Funnies
As a kid, I loved to read the sports pages, but I also liked the funny pages.
But lately, I just skip them and let Josh Fruhlinger read them for me. I don't think he's ever snarked on Tank McNamara, but he'll occasionally tackle Tank's sister strip Cleats. He's also inspired a slew of single strip bloggers like Jason Beattie of This Week In Milford. Unfortunately, GT hasn't been as fun to read since the Clambake story (or did the Kaz PI one come after that?) That's better than Mary Worth, though. It's been a big letdown ever since Aldo Kelrast took his plunge.
But lately, I just skip them and let Josh Fruhlinger read them for me. I don't think he's ever snarked on Tank McNamara, but he'll occasionally tackle Tank's sister strip Cleats. He's also inspired a slew of single strip bloggers like Jason Beattie of This Week In Milford. Unfortunately, GT hasn't been as fun to read since the Clambake story (or did the Kaz PI one come after that?) That's better than Mary Worth, though. It's been a big letdown ever since Aldo Kelrast took his plunge.
Monday Morning Shortstop
Comment of the week:
digamma on Doug Glanville:
It's not Strat-O-Matic or DMB, but Roger Maris had a baseball game.
Speaking of old-timey stuff, Stan "What's" Opdyke looks at NYC baseball radio in 1953. Take it away, Stan.
Fangraphs looks at the Rob Deer Apathy Club.
Rich Lederer looked at two of the three true outcomes over the weekend.
And last but not least, NBC is looking to get back into the baseball broadcasting business. In line with their habit of providing coverage for programs that were once good but now irrelevant (like Jay Leno or Notre Dame), they will be carrying Pittsburgh Pirate games on Saturdays this year.
digamma on Doug Glanville:
Doug Glanville is the best baseball comedian of the last 20 years.
It's not Strat-O-Matic or DMB, but Roger Maris had a baseball game.
Speaking of old-timey stuff, Stan "What's" Opdyke looks at NYC baseball radio in 1953. Take it away, Stan.
Fangraphs looks at the Rob Deer Apathy Club.
Rich Lederer looked at two of the three true outcomes over the weekend.
And last but not least, NBC is looking to get back into the baseball broadcasting business. In line with their habit of providing coverage for programs that were once good but now irrelevant (like Jay Leno or Notre Dame), they will be carrying Pittsburgh Pirate games on Saturdays this year.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Meritorious and (Maran)Villianous, if not Famous
Someone mentioned Doug Glanville the other day, but I want to talk about another Phillie.
The list of players in the Hall of Merit but not in the Hall of Fame includes some stylish players. Two of them are listed at third. The hot corner seems to be a hot spot for entertaining players. I may think that Graig Nettles was a prick, but he did his best Brooks Robinson impression in the post-season a few years after Brooks himself grabbed the limelight. Then there's Dick Allen.
If you follow the sabersphere at all, you know about how controversial a figure Allen was; even if you are too young to remember him. I'm in my 40s and I barely recall his playing career. When he was good, he was great and could hit the ball a country mile. You may see references online about him hitting a 529 foot home run on May 29, 1965. I checked the Hartford Courant and New York Times for the next day and they say 510 feet. While I think that the home run has become cheap in recent years (due to various factors, of which 'roids are only one), the long long ball is mighty entertaining. Bill Jenkinson wrote a book that was unfortunately titled The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs. Some folks think he was always biased towards Ruth, but growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania, he thought that Allen could hit the ball further than anyone. Whether Dick was a clubhouse cancer or not, and there are folks like Anthony Giacalone who disagree, the man could rake. I wish I could have seen him in BP.
The list of players in the Hall of Merit but not in the Hall of Fame includes some stylish players. Two of them are listed at third. The hot corner seems to be a hot spot for entertaining players. I may think that Graig Nettles was a prick, but he did his best Brooks Robinson impression in the post-season a few years after Brooks himself grabbed the limelight. Then there's Dick Allen.
If you follow the sabersphere at all, you know about how controversial a figure Allen was; even if you are too young to remember him. I'm in my 40s and I barely recall his playing career. When he was good, he was great and could hit the ball a country mile. You may see references online about him hitting a 529 foot home run on May 29, 1965. I checked the Hartford Courant and New York Times for the next day and they say 510 feet. While I think that the home run has become cheap in recent years (due to various factors, of which 'roids are only one), the long long ball is mighty entertaining. Bill Jenkinson wrote a book that was unfortunately titled The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs. Some folks think he was always biased towards Ruth, but growing up in southeastern Pennsylvania, he thought that Allen could hit the ball further than anyone. Whether Dick was a clubhouse cancer or not, and there are folks like Anthony Giacalone who disagree, the man could rake. I wish I could have seen him in BP.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Knuckler
I mentioned before that I like to watch Tim Wakefield. I like the knuckleball. Some say that the pitch was invented by Eddie Cicotte. Cicotte, of course, was one of the infamous Black Sox. You may have read or seen Eight Men Out. That was originally written by Eliot Asinof, a former minor league ballplayer.
John Sayles adapted the book into a movie and in it, he has a small part as Ring Lardner. Lardner was a Chicago sportswriter at the time. He also wrote stuff like You Know Me, Al and Alibi Ike. He had four sons, John, James, Ring Jr., and David. Incidentally, Hemingway was a fan and would use the pseudonym Ring Lardner Jr. when writing for his school's paper.
The real Ring Lardner Jr. wasn't a Black Sock, but he was part of the Hollywood Ten. We was a screenwriter for four decades and adapted the book M*A*S*H for the big screen. The film was a big breakthrough moment for director Robert Altman. It was also a highpoint of Eliott Gould's career.
Three years later, Gould and Altman teamed up again to film The Long Goodbye. Gould was the lead in this movie; playing Philip Marlowe. Marlowe had a close friend named Terry Lennox. Lennox was played by Jim Bouton. Bouton used the knuckleball when he tried to come back as a pitcher . This is one of the major plots of his book Ball Four. He also collaborated on a piece of fiction called Strike Zone with, you guessed it, Eliot Asinof. The circle is complete.
John Sayles adapted the book into a movie and in it, he has a small part as Ring Lardner. Lardner was a Chicago sportswriter at the time. He also wrote stuff like You Know Me, Al and Alibi Ike. He had four sons, John, James, Ring Jr., and David. Incidentally, Hemingway was a fan and would use the pseudonym Ring Lardner Jr. when writing for his school's paper.
The real Ring Lardner Jr. wasn't a Black Sock, but he was part of the Hollywood Ten. We was a screenwriter for four decades and adapted the book M*A*S*H for the big screen. The film was a big breakthrough moment for director Robert Altman. It was also a highpoint of Eliott Gould's career.
Three years later, Gould and Altman teamed up again to film The Long Goodbye. Gould was the lead in this movie; playing Philip Marlowe. Marlowe had a close friend named Terry Lennox. Lennox was played by Jim Bouton. Bouton used the knuckleball when he tried to come back as a pitcher . This is one of the major plots of his book Ball Four. He also collaborated on a piece of fiction called Strike Zone with, you guessed it, Eliot Asinof. The circle is complete.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Maranville Moment
Perhaps I should have used Bobby Grich instead of Dwight Evans. If you didn't read the Cistulli post linked in my previous post he said:
A member of the All-Joy Team will probably be:
1. An MLB player whose advanced metrics (i.e. EqA, wOBA, VORP, UZR – really anything that attempts to improve upon AVG, HR, and RBIs) suggest greater production than is commonly perceived.
2. An MLB player whose peripheral numbers (i.e. xFIP, PrOPS, tRA) suggest greater production in near future.
3. Either an MLB part-timer or older (27 and up) minor leaguer whose production suggests probable success in expanded MLB role.
4. A younger (under 27) minor leaguer, but not top prospect, whose minor league numbers suggest success at the MLB level.
5. A player who demonstrates vigorously what Americans, quoting French poorly, call je ne sais quoi.
A crude method of coming up with an all-time team like that would be to look at players who are in the Hall of Merit, but not Hall of Fame. I suppose J.D. Drew is a current player who is on that career track. These guys are an acquired taste. Maranvillains, OTOH, are players who- let's say you go to a game cold, without knowing who anyone was and they weren't wearing uniforms. Maranvillains are the guys you'd say "wow!" about without knowing any of their back story; how they may have started their career slowly, but learned plate discipline and improved their bastting skills under the tutelage of a Walt Hriniak.
Jay Johnstone: Maranvillain?
Someone mentioned Johnstone at BTF yesterday and I thought of him for the first time in a long time. They asked "Is it bad when your top comp is Jay Johnstone? I have to think it is." I said, "He had a decent career (No one who plays 20 years in the majors sucks), but it would help if the player was also a joker like him." Johnstone was born in the town where I now reside, but he moved when very young. He's definitely on the the Flintstone All-Star team along with folks like Flint Rhem. And I have some of his books like Temporary Insanity. He sort of reminds me of a more PG version of folks like Bill Lee. He was known for his antics, but I forget how many of them you could see if you were at the ballpark. I'll have to reread about him. I do remember that he dragged the infield with Jerry Reuss once and he used to pull pranks on Tommy Lasorda.
There is a theory that my friend Peter Handrinos has. He thinks that a sense of humor is the one intangible quality in baseball that matters. Helps keep your teammates loose over the long season. If that's true, Johnston may be better than his raw numbers suggest. The same would apply to someone like a Kevin Millar.
Carson Cistulli muses on fandom. I'm not sure if I agree with all of his requirements for the All-Joy team. It looks like someone like Dwight Evans would make it. I love Dewey, but I'm not sure if he qualifies as a Maranvillain. He DID have one huge Maranville moment on the national stage, though. I could go on about this, but work beckons.
There is a theory that my friend Peter Handrinos has. He thinks that a sense of humor is the one intangible quality in baseball that matters. Helps keep your teammates loose over the long season. If that's true, Johnston may be better than his raw numbers suggest. The same would apply to someone like a Kevin Millar.
Carson Cistulli muses on fandom. I'm not sure if I agree with all of his requirements for the All-Joy team. It looks like someone like Dwight Evans would make it. I love Dewey, but I'm not sure if he qualifies as a Maranvillain. He DID have one huge Maranville moment on the national stage, though. I could go on about this, but work beckons.
Monday, January 18, 2010
"Faith, an excellent tale"
I did not intend, when starting this blog, to scramble to fill a 10-post-a-day quota by finding the same zany links that show up again and again on other blogs and repost them. But I caught a virus. A fellow factoryite linked The Two Gentlemen of Lebowski last week and I just love it.
I'm a fan of the flick it parodies and got the The Big Lebowski DVD as a Christmas gift. I've probably watched it four times since. And I saw it in the theater and probably once a year after that. But there was one thing that I never noticed until Saturday nite. What happened to the Uzi? After tossing out the ringer for a ringer at the wooden bridge, Walter and the Dude go bowling. The Dudes car is stolen while they're inside. He's interesting in getting back the briefcase and the money, but no mention is made of the Uzi. Perhaps, Walter brought it back to his store, but we'll never know, will we?
I'm a fan of the flick it parodies and got the The Big Lebowski DVD as a Christmas gift. I've probably watched it four times since. And I saw it in the theater and probably once a year after that. But there was one thing that I never noticed until Saturday nite. What happened to the Uzi? After tossing out the ringer for a ringer at the wooden bridge, Walter and the Dude go bowling. The Dudes car is stolen while they're inside. He's interesting in getting back the briefcase and the money, but no mention is made of the Uzi. Perhaps, Walter brought it back to his store, but we'll never know, will we?
Monday Morning Shortstop
Comment of the Week: Bill, responding to "This and That"
I just finished reading Billick's book. I found it quite interesting; especially his perspective on how the league has changed even over a relatively short time.
I've enjoyed reading your blog. Keep up the good work.
It was the only comment of the week, but it did expand on the post.
Jonah Keri pines for the days of Roenicke and Lowenstein (and Ayala.) I'm not sure if platooning made the baseball of my teens more fun than the baseball of today. But trotting out faceless relievers inning after inning doesn't make baseball more interesting. Maybe it's because I had more time, but I used to be able to tell you pretty much who was on every roster when I was in high school. They added more teams, but what I think really diminished my ability to do that was that teams started devoting more roster spots to pitchers and pitchers break down more than position players. So there were more guys going on the DL and more guys getting called up from Iowa or Pawtucket to replace them. Made it more difficult to keep track of everyone. Guys were uni numbers in the 60s now. That's lineman territory.
Still working on the bio for Tom Lynch right now. I have a really rough draft, but I'm finding enough conflicting info that it may take me a bit to sort it all out.
I just finished reading Billick's book. I found it quite interesting; especially his perspective on how the league has changed even over a relatively short time.
I've enjoyed reading your blog. Keep up the good work.
It was the only comment of the week, but it did expand on the post.
Jonah Keri pines for the days of Roenicke and Lowenstein (and Ayala.) I'm not sure if platooning made the baseball of my teens more fun than the baseball of today. But trotting out faceless relievers inning after inning doesn't make baseball more interesting. Maybe it's because I had more time, but I used to be able to tell you pretty much who was on every roster when I was in high school. They added more teams, but what I think really diminished my ability to do that was that teams started devoting more roster spots to pitchers and pitchers break down more than position players. So there were more guys going on the DL and more guys getting called up from Iowa or Pawtucket to replace them. Made it more difficult to keep track of everyone. Guys were uni numbers in the 60s now. That's lineman territory.
Still working on the bio for Tom Lynch right now. I have a really rough draft, but I'm finding enough conflicting info that it may take me a bit to sort it all out.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Roadgeekery - 2 million-pound generator passing through (Montgomery) county
In addition to being interested in sports, I'm a bit of a roadgeek. When I first found kurumi.com, I spent hours reading and rereading all the pages. I even subscribe to a mailing list. That's how I found out about this story. It's only of interest to fellow roadgeeks and power generation enthusiasts, but I figured that I may as well pass it on.
Friday, January 15, 2010
This and That (Ctd)
To continue my thought from yesterday, I think that I enjoy sports more when they are not just a clash of two opponents, but a clash of competing philosophies. As my friend, the Sheriff, said four years ago, "Certainly, that’s something else the NCAA has over the NFL. The varied offenses provide a lot of entertainment. There’s so little difference in the pro game that a game between two random teams carries a lot less interest to me."
I guess that's why baseball during the 1980s might have been better than it has been through most of it's history; what with The Saint Louis Cardinals practicing Whiteyball versus Harvey's Wallbangers in the'82 World Series.
I guess that's why baseball during the 1980s might have been better than it has been through most of it's history; what with The Saint Louis Cardinals practicing Whiteyball versus Harvey's Wallbangers in the'82 World Series.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
This and That
1. Some more thoughts on Wilt 1962:
It's the kind of book that I like; a microhistory of one particular event. I've read a couple of books like that on the Colts-Giants game (Gino Marchetti was there AND at this game, So were some other Colts, They played a warmup game against the Eagles before the main event.), Don Larsen's perfect game, and Dan Okrent's Nine Innings. The book reminded me that the game took place in Hershey, Penn.; not Philly or any other big city. It also had a lot of info about the games' other participants. It sort of game me a taste of what times were like 15 years before I started following sports. Today, there'd be a bunch of YouTube clips of the game. Then, there was one photographer and no media other than those that followed the Warriors. In any event, they moved to the West Coast the next year.
2. Bethlehem Shoals moved from TSN to Fanhouse (He still blogs at Free Darko) and recently wrote about stardom. How do you define it? I'd like to see someone tackle that for baseball. Maybe I will some day. But I still want to discuss the basketball labor struggles and haven't made much progress. BTW, Shoals alludes to those here.
3. I read a couple of chapters of the Brian Billick book. He shows an awareness of the football blogosphere. Too, the added variety in the NFL since my childhood is sets, not plays; at least according to that book. Some say that most teams run the same few plays. I didn't play fantasy football this year and the Giants didn't have a good season. Without those two incentives to watch, I thought college football was more interesting. This is the reverse of how I felt about the two popular forms of basketball a couple of years ago. (I have notes on this somewhere. I just can't find them at the moment.)
It's the kind of book that I like; a microhistory of one particular event. I've read a couple of books like that on the Colts-Giants game (Gino Marchetti was there AND at this game, So were some other Colts, They played a warmup game against the Eagles before the main event.), Don Larsen's perfect game, and Dan Okrent's Nine Innings. The book reminded me that the game took place in Hershey, Penn.; not Philly or any other big city. It also had a lot of info about the games' other participants. It sort of game me a taste of what times were like 15 years before I started following sports. Today, there'd be a bunch of YouTube clips of the game. Then, there was one photographer and no media other than those that followed the Warriors. In any event, they moved to the West Coast the next year.
2. Bethlehem Shoals moved from TSN to Fanhouse (He still blogs at Free Darko) and recently wrote about stardom. How do you define it? I'd like to see someone tackle that for baseball. Maybe I will some day. But I still want to discuss the basketball labor struggles and haven't made much progress. BTW, Shoals alludes to those here.
3. I read a couple of chapters of the Brian Billick book. He shows an awareness of the football blogosphere. Too, the added variety in the NFL since my childhood is sets, not plays; at least according to that book. Some say that most teams run the same few plays. I didn't play fantasy football this year and the Giants didn't have a good season. Without those two incentives to watch, I thought college football was more interesting. This is the reverse of how I felt about the two popular forms of basketball a couple of years ago. (I have notes on this somewhere. I just can't find them at the moment.)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tim Lemke On Sports Books
Greg Franklin mentioned this post over at Baseball Think Factory. (Discussion)
I just finished reading Wilt 1962 by Gary Pomerantz. (That website really complements the book.) Lemke would probably classify it as a Feinstein-esque Book. I'm a sucker for these microhistory books. Anyways, Pomerantz mentioned something in the acknowledgements that may or may not stick with me. I've been kind of down on oral history because it has been demonstrated that peoples' memory can be pretty hazy most of the time. However, he found it useful providing you use multiple sources. That wasn't especially profound, but it hadn't occurred to me recently.
I just finished reading Wilt 1962 by Gary Pomerantz. (That website really complements the book.) Lemke would probably classify it as a Feinstein-esque Book. I'm a sucker for these microhistory books. Anyways, Pomerantz mentioned something in the acknowledgements that may or may not stick with me. I've been kind of down on oral history because it has been demonstrated that peoples' memory can be pretty hazy most of the time. However, he found it useful providing you use multiple sources. That wasn't especially profound, but it hadn't occurred to me recently.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Monday Morning Shortstop
A lot of stuff in the baseball blogosphere happens over the weekend or on holidays. If you're a guy like me who mostly goes online at work you may miss some of the stuff, so I'll recap some for you. Actually, this past weekend was relatively quiet, but I found a couple of things that touched upon a couple of my idiosyncratic interests.
Steve Lombardi reviews the advance copy of the upcoming Cardboard Gods book. Lombardi used to run a forum called Netshrine that I'd occasionally hang out at. A Yankee fan friend gave me tickets to an April 2008 game against the Jays so I trained down from
Connecticut with a friend. I thought of him when they showed Steve Lombardi answering a trivia question on the Diamondvision, but wasn't sure how many Steve
Lombardis are out there. It turned out that it was him.
I'm not sure if I should like The Faster Times or hate it, but they had an article about Adrian Beltre last week. The author quotes (I think) his brother:
"Being able to enjoy watching the new Beltre/Cameron Red Sox will be a challenge. A lot of being a better defender is just getting to more balls, covering more space, being in the right place at the right time, in a way that could go unnoticed. We won’t notice all the flyballs Mike Cameron runs down that Jason Bay wouldn’t. We will notice when Cameron grounds out with 2 guys on in the 8th. So, new year’s resolution, growing a keener defensive eye, or this season won’t be that fun"
But then he contradicts himself by embedding a YouTube montage of exciting Adrian Beltre plays. To be honest, I think the Red Sox will be more fun to watch this year than they were in '09. But some of that is addition by subtraction (Jason Bay.)
Finally, and not baseball, but here's a MarketWatch piece on writing.
Steve Lombardi reviews the advance copy of the upcoming Cardboard Gods book. Lombardi used to run a forum called Netshrine that I'd occasionally hang out at. A Yankee fan friend gave me tickets to an April 2008 game against the Jays so I trained down from
Connecticut with a friend. I thought of him when they showed Steve Lombardi answering a trivia question on the Diamondvision, but wasn't sure how many Steve
Lombardis are out there. It turned out that it was him.
I'm not sure if I should like The Faster Times or hate it, but they had an article about Adrian Beltre last week. The author quotes (I think) his brother:
"Being able to enjoy watching the new Beltre/Cameron Red Sox will be a challenge. A lot of being a better defender is just getting to more balls, covering more space, being in the right place at the right time, in a way that could go unnoticed. We won’t notice all the flyballs Mike Cameron runs down that Jason Bay wouldn’t. We will notice when Cameron grounds out with 2 guys on in the 8th. So, new year’s resolution, growing a keener defensive eye, or this season won’t be that fun"
But then he contradicts himself by embedding a YouTube montage of exciting Adrian Beltre plays. To be honest, I think the Red Sox will be more fun to watch this year than they were in '09. But some of that is addition by subtraction (Jason Bay.)
Finally, and not baseball, but here's a MarketWatch piece on writing.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Jets beat Bengals 24-14 in NFL playoffs
Story
I have to friends about my age whose dads were WWII vets. I think it's interesting that they were the dads who became Jet fans. Wasn't Joe Willie Namath supposed to be a counterculture icon? Richard Nixon may have thought so, but apparently he wasn't.
I have to friends about my age whose dads were WWII vets. I think it's interesting that they were the dads who became Jet fans. Wasn't Joe Willie Namath supposed to be a counterculture icon? Richard Nixon may have thought so, but apparently he wasn't.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Hats off to Andre Dawson
I feel like being topical for once. Instead of writing about Gavvy Cravath or Bob Petit (which will happen soon enough), I'll weigh in on the election of a man called Hawk. Congrats!
Everyone likely remembers Andre Dawson as an Expo or a Cub. But he also spent two years as a Red Sock during the benighted Butch Hobson era. It's interesting looking back at who was passing through in those days. A lot of the "I Can't Believe They Were With Boston At One Point" list. Among others, there were Dawson, Tony Pena, Billy Hatcher, Rob Deer, and Ivan Calderon.
BTW, yesterday I mentioned Rabbit Maranville as the patron saint of this blog. Perhaps it should really be Rod Allen. Appeared in 31 games in his career. 18 were at DH and 4 were in the field. The rest must've been as a pinhhitter or runner.
Everyone likely remembers Andre Dawson as an Expo or a Cub. But he also spent two years as a Red Sock during the benighted Butch Hobson era. It's interesting looking back at who was passing through in those days. A lot of the "I Can't Believe They Were With Boston At One Point" list. Among others, there were Dawson, Tony Pena, Billy Hatcher, Rob Deer, and Ivan Calderon.
BTW, yesterday I mentioned Rabbit Maranville as the patron saint of this blog. Perhaps it should really be Rod Allen. Appeared in 31 games in his career. 18 were at DH and 4 were in the field. The rest must've been as a pinhhitter or runner.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Belated Feast Day
56 years ago, the patron saint of this site passed away. Walter "Rabbit" Maranville died just before he was selected to baseball's Hall Of Fame. Apparently they moved up the elections at some point afterwards, because results of the BBWAA vote will be announced today. Some folks of the statistical bent will say that he isn't that deserving of the honor. However, as I've said before, I've seen old sports columns that said that he was the second biggest gate attraction after Ruth. Should that count for something?
A few years ago, SABR put out two books of biographies of players from the Deadball Era. Maranville's appeared in the NL one. Here's the link. Happy belated Rabbit Day.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Wednesday Nite Football
Tuesday means early morning meeting, which means I have to provide content tonite for the legion of readers who glance at the Sitter over cereal and OJ. I have been meaning to get this off my chest for some time: There is a week of great bowl matchups in early January, but why is Troy facing Central Michigan Wednesday? Shouldn't that game have been played December 13th?
Monday Morning Shortstop
A lot of stuff in the baseball blogosphere happens over the weekend or on holidays. If you're a guy like me who usually goes online at work you may miss some of the stuff, so I'll recap some for you. I don't know if this will be a regular feature, though, so don't hold your breath.
Joe Sheehan is leaving Baseball Prospectus.
Another Joe (Posnanski) wrote a lengthy retrospective of the KC Royals in the naughts.
It's not a blog (but I heard about it at BTF), but Baseball America looks at the best baseball books of 2009.
A lot of Hall of Fame stuff. The election results will be announced Wednesday, but my friend Chris Jaffe is already calling the race. I wish that he'd invert his story and put the methodology at the end, but it's a good piece.
Joe Sheehan is leaving Baseball Prospectus.
Another Joe (Posnanski) wrote a lengthy retrospective of the KC Royals in the naughts.
It's not a blog (but I heard about it at BTF), but Baseball America looks at the best baseball books of 2009.
A lot of Hall of Fame stuff. The election results will be announced Wednesday, but my friend Chris Jaffe is already calling the race. I wish that he'd invert his story and put the methodology at the end, but it's a good piece.
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