Spurred by a reader email, I took a look at where the Mets’ newly-minted Johan Santana-Pedro Martinez tandem fit in as far as great duos — not necessarily in terms of how well they pitched as teammates but rather what they had done or would do over the course of their careers. I measured each …
Writing about steroids in a way that challenges people’s assumptions isn’t much different from taping a “kick me” sign to your own ass. You can expect to mix it up with a certain percentage of passers-by who are just spoiling for a fight. Some of them are articulate, some laughably not; responding is usually fun, …
If you’re like me, you’ve almost certainly got topic fatigue when it comes to steroids in baseball. Lord knows I do, even given the fact that big steroid-related news tends to put my services as a pundit in demand. Given the way the stories like Barry Bonds’ indictment and the releases of the Mitchell Report …
Paul White has taken the extraordinary step of withdrawing the entire scathing post to which I responded: I’m sorry if this screws up any links that might be out there, but I’ve decided to remove this post. While I still believe in the substance of what I was trying to say, in retrospect it was …
The following is a response to a blog entry by one Paul White, a writer I had never heard of until Tuesday afternoon but one who took no prisoners in dishing out the most scathing attack I’ve received in nearly seven years of writing about baseball. His blog entry went so far as to include …
Continue reading ‘An Open Letter to Paul White (Apparently Not the USA Today Reporter)’ »
Johnny Podres, who won arguably the single biggest game in the Dodger history, passed away on Sunday. Just 23 at the time, Podres will forever be remembered for pitching a complete-game shutout against the Yankees in Game Seven of the 1955 World Series, giving the Dodger franchise their first World Championship after seven World Series …
As you’re no doubt aware, Rich Gossage got the call from the Hall last Tuesday, receiving 85.8 percent of the vote. He was the only candidate to gain entry this year. Jim Rice fell just 16 votes shy at 72.2 percent, followed by Andre Dawson (65.9 percent) and Bert Blyleven (61.9 percent). Tim Raines, the …
Continue reading ‘The Loose Goose and the Pain for Raines’ »
Just a quick and almost belated note to say that I’m going to be discussing JAWS and the recent Hall of Fame vote today (Saturday) at 10:25 AM on XM 175’s “Minors and Majors” show with Grant Paulsen, the 18-year-old broadcasting wunderkind. Better pound some coffee…
The day after my JAWS-flavored take on the starting pitchers on the 2008 Hall of Fame ballot ran at Baseball Prospectus, my take on the relievers is up as well, thus — to my great relief — completing this year’s series (the reliever portion is free, the starter one is sub-only). For those who have …
Happy 2008, everyone! Just a few quick notes this morning, the first of which is time-sensitive: • I’ve been invited to appear on XM 175, Hot Stove with Chuck Wilson today (Thursday) at 12:25 PM Eastern to discuss JAWS and the 2008 Hall of Fame ballot. I’m told I’ll be doing a second segment at …