A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everybody; I hope your Turkey Day was as good as mine. Andra and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner in our small East Village apartment, with her mother visiting us from Milwaukee and my brother and his girlfriend joining us as well. Andra did a superb job on the bird and all the trimmings, my bro chose well with the wine, and we’ve got a fridge full of leftovers. Yet another reason to be thankful.

Progress with my surgically repaired right shoulder has been slow. I’m still wearing a sling 97% of the time, taking it off only for showers and clothing changes. This means most of my typing is being done left- (and one-) handed. Not only has this slowed the speed with which I can record my thoughts in writing, it’s apparently slowed the formation of those thoughts. I feel like I’m pedaling a bicycle with one leg, hence the scarcity of work being done for this space.

I am making forward progress on something, however. My hunt-and-peck style is suitable for manipulating a spreadsheet, so I have begun culling the data necessary to create Defense Independent Pitching Statistics (DIPS) for 2003. It will be awhile before I can present full data here, but my hope is to have at least some of it to offer for my upcoming analysis of the Yankees’ options for starting pitchers.

So while you’re waiting for my arm to grow back, check out what Alex Belth has to say about the Curt Schilling deal, read Rich Lederer‘s fascinating interview with Will Carroll, start arguing at Baseball Primer or on your local barstool over which of these men should be elected to the Hall of Fame, or check out some of the other usual suspects listed at left.