Wednesday was a big day here at Futility Central. In addition to doing three radio hits in a 24-hour span on topics as diverse as fantasy duds (XM’s Rotowire Fantasy Sports Hour with Chris Liss), the impact of maple bats on baseball’s scoring levels (XM’s MLB preview show with Mike Ferrin) and the exciting debut …
As I’ve said before, I’ve often traced my yen to write about baseball back to my paternal grandfather, Bernard Jaffe. Last Tuesday, May 20, marked his centennial birthday, and with my various deadlines and other obligations out of the way, I’d like to honor his life and share some fond memories. Bernard — “Bernie” or …
Continue reading ‘Bernard Jaffe: a Centennial Celebration’ »
Things are suddenly looking a bit more sunny for the Yankees. In this week’s Hit List, I had this to say: A dismal week for the Yankees ends on a high note with the return of Alex Rodriguez (4-for-11 with two doubles and two homers after a 17-game absence) and strong performances from Darrell Rasner …
I’ve got a piece today in the New York Sun, writing about the Chicago Cubs’ recent tear and their chances of winning the NL Central. The piece was held for a day — in the interim the Cubs lost their last two games to narrow their lead to one game — and it also received …
Continue reading ‘Cubs’ Chances and Chamberlain’s Change of Pace’ »
Quick radio note: in addition to my usual gig on Toledo’s WLQR 1470 AM at 4:10 PM Eastern today, I’ll be this week’s Baseball Prospectus representative on Boston’s WWZN 1510 on “The Young Guns Show” at 3:05 PM Eastern. The Toledo gig doesn’t have a means of listening via Internet (hey Norm, get on it!) …
It’s only been a few days shy of four weeks since my last Baseball Prospectus chat long since we last chatted, but the powers that be have threatened to show me naked pictures of David Wells if I don’t take the hill for another chat on Tuesday at 1 PM Eastern. Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Brewers, …
Over the weekend, the news came down that one of my favorite baseball eccentrics, Dock Ellis, is critically ill due to cirrhosis of the liver, fighting for his life in the hope of getting well enough to be put on a transplant list. He’s had some problems with health insurance in recent years; Yankees president …
The great sportswriter Leo Tolstoy once observed that all unhappy teams are unhappy in their own way, and so it was with New York’s two baseball teams as this weekend’s Subway Series arrived. The series always generates a lot of hype in NYC, but with the two teams dealing with inner turmoil while playing mediocre …
Continue reading ‘The Subpar Subway Series and Its Sub Rosa Subplots’ »
The second installment of my historical take on recently deceased former executive Buzzie Bavasi is now up at Baseball Prospectus. It’s even longer than the first part, covering not only the Dodgers’ 1960s heyday — Sandy Koufax’s prime — but also his tenures with the Padres and the Angels. At one point, I was sure …
Through thick and thin over the past few years, even as their pitching and middle relief has gotten shakier, the one thing you could always rely upon was the Yankee offense. During the Joe Torre era, the team averaged 896 runs per year, 5.53 per game, with last year’s 968 (5.98 per game) topping them …