Having raised more than one toast to the arrival of Pitchers and Catchers earlier this week, I’m lucky it didn’t all come up on me at midnight last night, when I did a spit-take after reading that the Yankees had signed Scott Erickson to a minor-league deal. Suffice it to say that I was not …
Continue reading ‘Pitchers and Catchers: Dawn of the Undead’ »
In a recent L.A. Daily News article, Kevin Modesti strained a metaphor in comparing the Dodger organization’s history with that of the (sigh) Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. No matter. What caught my eye was Modesti pointing out that in the entire organization, the current Dodgers have but two links to their World Series glory …
I had lunch on Thursday with an old college pal who works down in the Wall Street area — we’ll call him B. Ever since reconnecting at our 10-year reunion in 2002, we’ve been playing fantasy baseball together, more as an excuse to talk smack than anything else. This is the friend who’s called his …
Though the main banner I designed for the site has since been replaced to no great advantage, it’s with no small amount of respect and admiration that I tip my cap to the sixth birthday of the mighty Baseball-Reference.com website. Congratulations to Sean Forman on the site’s success. Quite simply, there’s virtually no chance you’d …
Even with Pitchers and Catchers just about a week away, and the new PECOTA cards now up at BP, it’s about the deadest time in the year as far as baseball is concerned, s as dead as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ chances in the NL Central — and I’ve got no more sympathy for Steeltown after …
I received a couple of interesting book-related emails yesterday, and with a few other books I’ve been meaning to mention and the need for something to do while the blue-and-green face paint dries before kickoff of the big game, I bring you the latest Book Rodeo: • Starting with the obligatory plugs of things I’m …
Continue reading ‘Futility Infielder Book Rodeo — Super Duper Edition’ »
This Sunday’s Super Bowl is a bit more special for me than most. I grew up rooting for the Seattle Seahawks, who are making their Super Bowl debut after 30 seasons notable more for futility and a few trick plays than for glory. I’m not a die-hard football fan, but when I was a kid …
Sunday’s New York Times found noted sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, a frequent critic of Major League Baseball’s financial chicanery, giving a sloppy wet Op-Ed page smooch to the Yankees’ plan for a new stadium: Plans to build a new Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx have kicked up a small storm of local protest. Many …
Can’t Stop the Bleeding points to this New York Daily News column by Bob Raissman which offers hope that Fox Sports’ 10-year relationship with Major League Baseball may be coming to an end: Fox’s exclusive negotiating period with MLB is about to expire — probably in the next two weeks — and the two sides …
It wasn’t quite a clean bill of health, but it counted as good news. My orthopedic surgeon, who repaired my right labrum in November 2003, reviewed my recent MRIs on Thursday and declared, “You’ve got a slight tear of the rotator cuff, and some fraying of the biceps tendon. But that might have been there …
Continue reading ‘Clearing the Bases — Torn and Frayed Edition’ »