Despite some technical difficulties that delayed its start and had the old rage-o-meter in the red for a few minutes, my chat at BP yesterday was pretty fun, lasting nearly three hours — much longer than I intended to go. Tons of questions about JAWS, Frank Thomas, Trevor Hoffman, the MVP races, the Hit List …
I’ve got a Baseball Prospectus chat scheduled for Wednesday at 1 PM. Drop by, or submit a question beforehand — the Hit List, JAWS, Yanks, Dodgers, the NL Wild Card race, the postseason, the offseason, the secret lives of futility infielders, and barrels full of rabid monkeys — it’s all fair game.
With the Dodgers idle after Sunday’s second Nomar Garciaparra walkoff of the week — NOMAAAAAAH! — this one a grand slam to close out the regular-season schedule in Chavez Ravine, Monday night was a helluva night for scoreboard watching as I finished the week’s Hit List. The NL playoff picture, in particular, is more fun …
Continue reading ‘More Fun Than a Barrel Full of Rabid, Knife-Wielding Monkeys’ »
Last Friday night, I finally got a chance to watch Twins reliever Pat Neshek. By way of belatedly introducing this week’s Hit List, in which Neshek appears, I just had to share a few of my favorite things about this guy. 1. First and foremost, he’s a rookie big-league pitcher who has his own blog; …
Basking in the afterglow of that miraculous Dodger win, I caught the MLB.com postgame interview footage with Jeff Kent. Now, I’m not a fan of Kent’s winning personality, as I wrote before, but I respect the hell out of his game, and for a guy who treats baseball like a job instead of a passion, …
With the Yankees coasting towards their ninth straight division title, my attention has been riveted on the NL West the past several days, where the Dodgers and Padres have been fighting tooth and nail for control of the division and its likely consolation prize, the NL Wild Card. Coming into the series, the Dodgers held …
A few months ago, when Al Leiter suddenly became a staple in the YES Network broadcast booth, I predicted to a couple of friends that Leiter was being groomed to replace Jim Kaat. As great as Kaat is as an analyst, he’s clashed with Yankee brass before over everything from contracts to criticizing the team …
As I mentioned earlier, this week’s Hit List — the first full one I’ve done since August 20 — is up at Baseball Prospectus. For the second week in a row, the Yanks top the list, followed by the Tigers, Mets and surging Twins, who not only look poised to keep the White Sox out …
Big congratulations to my good friend Alex Belth on his engagement to his lovely gal, Emily. Having met Em and watched a ballgame in the happy couple’s home up in Riverdale, I can vouch that Alex is getting one of the good ones. Mazel tov to both, and best wishes for the future. The news …
Anyone needing an explanation for why Yankee fans love Derek Jeter need only look at his measured response to David Ortiz’s pre-emptive whining about the upcoming MVP vote now that the Dead Sox are 10.5 out of first place: “Don’t get me wrong — he’s a great player, having a great season, but he’s got …