Turnover Margin Volatility & You(SC)

Football Outsiders recently looked at year-to-year points-off-turnover margins, concluding about what you would expect: extreme values in Season A revert toward the mean in Season B.

Of interest to Gamecock fans is that South Carolina finished 2008 ranked 100th nationally in Turnover Points Margin (-3.5). The Football Outsiders piece notes that values for last season's Turnover Points Margins weren't as extreme at the, er, extremes as they have been in past years. Nevertheless, with (hopefully) fewer turnovers this season and some bad luck swinging back in our favor, there's reason to hope we weren't as bad as we looked last season.

Marcus McBeth called up by Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox recalled former South Carolina Gamecock Marcus McBeth on Friday from AAA Pawtucket. In 51 1/3 innings at Pawtucket, McBeth has struck out 54, walked 17, given up 31 hits, and allowed 13 earned runs.

Like so many Gamecocks, Marcus McBeth was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2001 (e.g., former Gamecock Landon Powell is currently backing up Kurt Suzuki). McBeth was drafted as an outfielder but was converted to a pitcher in 2005.

Nastalgia Trip: By Request

Some of you requested you're favorite players from your childhood be posted. Here's a few that I've found first. More to come.

Sammy Sosa in Chicago. No, the other Chicago.

Roger Clemens: The AL East. No, the other AL East. Also, notice how small his head looks...

Ozzie Smith enjoying himself. I'm guessing post back flip.

A little Otis Nixon action for ya.

Nolan Ryan.

Ken Griffey, Jr. Sorry about the sideways deal. It's late and I don't feel like re-scanning.

Cal Ripken, Jr.

Bo Knows: powder blue.

Bob Wickman: asshole!

Barry Bonds. His head sure looks a lot smaller too...

Curt Schilling pitching for the O's.

Nastalgia Trip: First in a Series

As some of you may know, I've recently happened upon my baseball card collection from the days of yore. I promised to upload some of them just for kicks, and I'll start with the Braves.

No tour de force of the early ‘90s Braves would be complete with manager Bobby Cox. Just look at this young star. A happier face there never was.

The Pride of my Braves collection: two Chipper Jones #1 draft pick cards. What a stud.

The immortal John Smoltz. Pre-beard.

Mad Dog: Pre Braves.

Tom Glavine: Pre-Mets.

Steve Avery: Pre-Obscurity.

Sid Bream. Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!

Going Gallardo

On Wednesday afternoon Yovani Gallardo blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates for eight innings, striking out eleven, walking one, and allowing just two hits.

Somewhat more impressive is that he scored the Brewers' only run of the game with a seventh inning homerun off of Pirates starter Ian Snell, Gallardo's second HR of the season. While a homerun hit by a pitcher is certainly a rare sight, Gallardo's feat was even more unusual.

Not since Odalis Perez (LAD) took Rick Helling (ARI) out of the park on August 28, 2002 has a pitcher's homerun accounted for his team's only run(s) in a shutout victory. That is, of course, until today.

Random Factoid You Want to Know of the Day

While we may lay claim to 2009's Mr. Irrelevant, we already know that's not such a bad thing. Plus, Succop still GOT INTO the draft. The ACC's career leader in receptions? Not so much.

Good work, ACC. Your greatest receiver of all-time did not even get into the draft. You're a talented bunch.

Mr. Irrelevant? Try Mr. Important.

I recently read Michael Lewis’ The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game – detailing one young man’s journey from the wrong side of the tracks to what we now know to be an eventual first round selection in the NFL draft. Michael Oher, the book’s protagonist, is said to be such a valuable asset to a football team due to his incredible combination of size, strength, and agility. Specifically, his unique set of physical attributes makes him an ideal candidate to play left tackle; a position which the author argues (and average NFL salaries support) is the second most important in professional football. The logic follows that as the passing game has increased in importance, so too has the value of the left tackle because good play by the left tackle is essential in allowing a quarterback to perform his duty. The quarterback’s duty is to throw touchdowns, and, as we all know, the team that scores the most touchdowns wins the game.

But that’s not always the case. There is another way to score points in the game of football: namely, field goals. It has always baffled me as to why kickers get so little respect in the football universe. They are constantly admonished for their small stature and berated for their follies - all the while their accomplishments being largely taken for granted.

Consider the following. Peyton Manning’s career completion percentage stands at 64.4%. Tom Brady’s is an even 63%. The active leader in completion percentage? Chad Pennington at a whopping 66%. Meanwhile, the 2007 NFL season saw 15 kickers average better than 85% on field goal attempts. Jeff Reed led the way for Pittsburgh with a 92% completion rate. Kickers, the unsung heroes of the NFL, are outperforming their quarterback counterparts. And it’s not just in completion percentage.

The fact of the matter is kickers score points – a lot of them. In 2008 the kicking game, and Ryan Succup specifically, accounted for exactly one third of South Carolina’s total points. Not possible you say? Believe it. Well, you might then reasonably assert that South Carolina’s offense was so putrid in 2008 that it is just not representative of football as a whole. You would only be half right. While kickers accrued fewer points across the SEC and NCAA as a whole, the percentage still hovers right around 25% (25% and 24%, respectively). In fact, we can see that the kicking game could be counted on for about 6.5 points per game on average across the NCAA while the passing and rushing games accounted for about 9.3 and 9.7, respectively.

Add a kicker’s point scoring ability to his other on-field duties and he is even more indispensable. A good kicker can neutralize the opponent’s ability to score on kick-off returns via touchbacks – a very real threat if the opponent has a Devin Hester-type player. In Succup’s case, his ability to handle punting duties as well further increases his value. In a close game field position takes on extra importance. An opponent pinned inside its own 10 yard line from a punt provides the punter’s team with a greater opportunity for scoring. Not only will the team likely have shorter distance to drive toward the goal once the ball is punted, the team will also have a chance to earn two points through a safety.

For some reason, few coaches seem to catch onto the importance of the kicking game in football. Lou Holtz, in particular, was infamous for his policy of refusing to allow a scholarship kicker on his teams. In the years under Holtz, the Gamecock teams (and fans) suffered because of it. So Kansas City fans, don’t make the mistake of thinking Ryan Succop is actually Mr. Irrelevant. Come August, he might just be the second most important player on the field.


Sources:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_cmp_perc_career.htm
http://www.getlisty.com/wfaa/2007-nfl-leaders-field-goal-accuracy/
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2008/Internet/trend/FBS_trend_conf_1.pdfhttp://gamecocksonline.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html

Manny Acta isn't good at his job

Manny Acta isn't good at his job. Furthermore, he appears to be unwilling to accept responsibility for the decisions he makes (decisions which culminated in a mind-blowing loss to the Phillies on Monday night), instead putting it all on the collective back of a pitching staff that was asked to do something that it wasn't physically capable of doing. Acta after the game:

I hope I don't wear out this word, but, again, it was deflating... Our offense just battled all day and scored enough runs. We played so hard for eight innings to score enough runs. You lose the game in one inning, it's just tough for the whole team.

First of all, the idea that the game was lost in one inning is preposterous, and speaks to Acta's flawed decision-making process. But I'll delve more into the chronology and consequences of said process later.

The Nationals' bullpen has come under a lot of fire in recent weeks for their incompetence, and I have no problem with coaches calling out specific players or groups of players if the situation warrants such measure. But it does grate on me when a coach comes down on a player for failing to do something he is physically unable to do (or unlikely to do, more probably), especially when the coach failed in the first place to put his players in position to optimize their performance.

I went into considerable detail about how I think a manager should handle the Phillies line-up in high-leverage situations after the Braves narrowly escaped blowing a lead against them during the first game of the season. Why any manager would leave a right-handed pitcher in against Ryan Howard in a situation where a lot of runs could be put on the board is completely beyond me.

Let's revisit Ryan Howard's career triple slash splits:

Facing LHPs: .231/.315/.468
Facing RHPs: .305/.412/.652

That's a no doubt Hall-of-Famer against one type of pitcher and someone who probably doesn't belong on a major league line-up against the other. Even so, Acta let righty Shairon Martis (who?), of all people, face Howard with the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate in the fifth inning. It's not like he left Pedro in to face Howard - no, we're talking about Shairon [expletive deleted] Martis. The rationale? Probably that Martis was only 2 outs away from being the pitcher of record. Ah, the things managers do to chase meaningless statistics. In case you were wondering, the result was a game-tying grand slam.

Fool me once...

Later in the game, Acta brought RHP Joel Hanrahan into the game in the eighth inning to pursue another meaningless statistic - saves. Hanrahan was charged with the task of recording the last out in the eighth inning with a two run lead and Ryan Howard at the plate and Chase Utley on first. Now, Acta had already used his lone bullpen lefty, Mike Hinckley, earlier in the game. However, that fact does not absolve Acta of the mistake he committed when he travelled to Philadelphia with only one LHP in the bullpen. Heck, bringing in Scott Olsen in this situation would have been a better idea.

The result this time was no less ugly: Howard walked, Werth walked, Ibanez hit a grand slam (Ibanez has the same problem with lefties that Howard has, though less pronounced).

Acta, noble soul that he is, put it all on Hanrahan, demoting him to middle relief. This decision represents a failure to realize that Hanrahan is his best relief pitcher and a failure to accept responsibility for putting Hanrahan in a situation in which he had a low probability of succeeding.

Because Manny Acta has a chronic habit of putting his players in these types of situations, he is not good at his job and should be divorced of it forthwith.

Some bullshit about a cable bill

Mike Morgan, beloved sportscaster and personality for Gamecock Sports Properties, was fired earlier this week. (Contradictory to the initial line that he resigned). It seems that it all boiled down to a personal vendetta that the President of GSP, Liz McMillan (my ex-aunt through marriage, incidentally) held against Mr. Morgan.

I sent the follwing email to Ms. McMillan just a few moments ago:

Ms. McMillan,

The shameful firing of Mike Morgan (to say nothing of the bizarre attempt to cover up his firing) should be considered a great loss for Gamecock Sports Properties and, more importantly, Gamecock fans and alumni everywhere.

The brilliant job he has done covering and calling Gamecock sporting events does not warrant the exile from the Gamecock family that you have cast upon him. Mr Morgan deserves better. The Gamecock family deserves better.

Sincerely,
Connor Tapp


I feel I should mention that, despite my relation to this woman, I've never actually met her.

For any interested party, Ms McMillian's email address is lmcmillan@ispsports.com

Bombs away

UPDATE: I've created a facebook group that you should all join to express your distaste for reckless behavior of Gamecock Sports Properties.

Please, if you have a moment, give them a call and complain about this bullshit.

Gamecocks Split Season Series with Tigers

So it's official. After taking the first two games from the Upstate Tigers, USC dropped the last two - resulting in a series tie for the season. And we all know what that's like:

For those of you unfamiliar with the philosophical musings of Eddie Erdelatz, you can find them detailed here.

Game four was a pitcher's duel - until the sixth inning, that is. That's when the Tigers broke the game open with 5 runs off USC starter Adam Westmoreland. It was all downhill from there. Story from The State here.

For a little over 2 years USC fans could boast that we had not lost a game to the team from the upstate in baseball. Well, .500 isn't bad. There's always next year to re-assert our dominance.

Quick with the hook

Putting strict limits on the workloads of young pitchers: smart
Putting strict limits on the workloads of durable, veteran pitchers: not smart

Exhibit A

Derek Lowe cruised through 8 innings on opening night against the Phillies, striking out four, walking none, and allowing just 2 hits. With that uber-efficient line, Lowe was able to take the game to the ninth with just 97 pitches.

With righties Rollins, Werth, and Utley on deck for the Phils, Lowe seemed a cinch to finish off the game... at least to this observer. Bobby Cox, as you can see from my irate facebook updates, disagreed. He took the ball from Mr Lowe and gave it to Mike Gonzalez, a lefty.

Lowe has proved himself to be highly durable while he was with the Dodgers, so "protecting" him in this situation hardly seems like a pressing priority.

So maybe there was a significant platoon advantage Cox was exploiting. Well, Rollins is a switch-hitter, so maybe he's better against righties?

Rollins (Career) v. Lefties: .287/.341/.452
Rollins (Career) v. Righties: .274/.330/.437

Not a huge difference either way, but he's actually stronger against lefties.

Werth?

Career v. Lefties: .293/.396/.546
Career v. Righties: .258/.346/.407

That split is the difference between Ryan Theriot and Matt Holliday. Bringing in the southpaw certainly makes no sense with respect to this match-up.

Utley barely has a split, but it is slightly pro-righty. So it might have made sense to send Lowe into the ninth and have Gonzalez ready to go if there were runners on when he got to Utley.

Certainly, bringing in Gonzalez makes a great deal of sense from Utley on, as Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez both struggle mightily against lefties.

An Eric Bruntlett double, a Jayson Werth single, and a Chase Utley walk later and the Braves were at serious risk for blowing a four run lead over the course of one half-inning. Fortunately, the hacktastic approaches of Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez bailed Mike Gonzalez and Bobby Cox out of that jam.

But Trey Hillman would not be so lucky...

Exhibit B

In the Royals' opener on Tuesday, a brilliant effort by Gil Meche was spoiled by Trey Hillman's decision to remove him from the game in favor of Kyle Farnsworth.

Meche (91) had thrown even fewer pitches than Lowe (97) and, like Lowe, had cruised through seven innings, striking out six, walking none, and giving up just one earned run.

Where Howard and Ibanez failed to make Bobby Cox pay for his mistake, Jim Thome succeeded, putting a decisive three-run homerun off Farnsworth on the board in the bottom of the eigth.

Though I would have left Meche in, some bullpen alternatives may have been acceptable. But if you're going to get cute with the bullpen, why not bring in a lefty to face the platoonerific Jim Thome?... or at least some non-Farnsworth reliever?

If I recall, the Royals have somebody pretty decent in their bullpen.

Gamecocks Blank Purple Paladins

Gamecock pitchers Jay Brown, Adam Westmoreland, and Michael Roth combined for a 10-0 shutout win against Furman on Wednesday.

The State's story here.

The University's story here.

In other news, Dawn Staley picked up the commitment of the #2 women's player in the country. Welcome to Columbia, Kelsey Bone!

Gamecocks Take 2 from Kentucky, Citadel Takes Away Any Chance of Gamecock Ranking Next Week

Carolina performed admirably on the road in the SEC this weekend, taking two of three from Kentucky. It could have been three of three, but senior reliever Alex Farroto gave up gave up a two run homer in the bottom of the 9th inning, giving Kentucky the "W" in the second game of the Saturday double-header. Given Farotto's performance thus far this season, I think we can all forgive this one setback. What was more troubling was the way Carolina's 13 run lead rapidly dissipated in the later innings of the first game. The Gamecocks held on for the win, but only after letting the Wildcats 1 run of tieing. The final score of the game? 20-19. The number of hits? USC - 25 UK 18. I think it's safe to say that Carolina's pitching is a bit of a concern this season. Still, I'd be remiss if i didn't mention Blake Cooper's complete game win on Sunday. The junior hurler allowed just 2 runs on 8 hits with 5 strikouts while Carolina held on for the 4-2 victory. Cooper's move Sunday from week day starter? I Like. Overall, taking 2 on the road in the SEC makes for a good weekend.

Complete Wrap-Ups:

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

In other news:

The Gamecocks managed to lose their Tuesday match against the Citadel. What gives? *Ahem* Pitching. Should we be upset that USC dropped only its first mid-week contest of the year? Yes. USC currently sits at 4-5 in the SEC and it hasn't even faced UGA or Florida yet. While it might be too much to expect USC to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament this year, we'll need to a strong showing in our out of conference schedule to make our case to get in. Sound familiar to anyone?

Also, I had the chance to attend the UGA vs. Clemson game Tuesday night. Georgia looked impressive. UGA happened to win, although, not before Kyle Parker and his nice pants made it interesting by driving in a run in the 9th to bring the Tigers to within one.

Trouble in ButtParadise

I think I've been made.

My trade offer of Chipper Jones for Ramon Hernandez has been vetoed. But there's been nothing on the league's message board. Where is the OUTRAGE?!

I will continue to create havoc, and keep you all posted.

Gamecocks Outlast Pesky Georgia Southern

The Gamecocks outlasted Georgia Southern Wednesday night in a 10 inning affair. Lefty freshman pitcher, Mike Roth, got the start for Carolina, giving up 1ER, 1BB, and 2HBP in two innings of work. Roth was replaced by fellow freshman pitcher Matt Price in the top of the third. Price pitched beautifully as well, going 7 innings while giving up 0ER, 1BB, and 1HPB. This is good news for the Gamecocks, as pitching has struggled a few times this season. On a related note, I’d love to tell you why Roth left in the 2nd, but the truth is I have no idea. Senior Alex Farotto came on in the 10th to finish out the game. Farotto’s stats were indicative of his entire season thus far. The only blemish in his inning of work was one hit batter after getting the first out on a ground ball.

On the opposite side of the ball (does that cliché work for baseball, too?), the Yardcocks just couldn’t get much going all night. Consider this odd series of events in the bottom of the 7th: after leadoff batter Scott Wingo walks on four straight balls, Bobby Haney proceed to strike out trying to bunt him over… with a 2-2 count. Then, after a Bradley, Jr. line out to center, the Gamecocks ended the inning when Wingo was caught stealing second. But it didn’t end there. In the bottom of the 9th Scott Wingo doubled to left field with two outs already on the board. Not to be outdone by his 7th inning antics, Wingo then ends the 9th inning by being thrown out attempting to steal third base. Amazing. The Gamecocks finally prevailed in the 10th when hometown hero and all-around baller DeAngelo Mack singled to right field with two outs, scoring hero-in-the-making Jackie Bradley, Jr.

As my dad always says, “A win is a win is a win.” Mid-week games can sneak up on even the best teams, as UGA’s loss to Wright State yesterday illustrates. Still, I have to think that Southern probably didn’t send their best pitcher to the mound with a weekend series a couple days away. Carolina needs to find a way to score some more runs without all the gaffes on the bases. Perhaps some of our sambermatricians out there could provide a comment or two on the soundness of the above-described base running strategy?

Gamecocks Take Down Cougars

I know one cougar I'd like to take down...
(Other titles considered for this post include: Gamecocks Get On Cougars Early, Cougars Lay Down for Gamecocks, Gamecocks Come from Behind - Finish Over Cougars, All is Not Lost, Cougars Still Hot. ...I could go all day, but I won't.)

Well, The Gamcocks took a convincing 14-2 victory at College of Charleston Tuesday night. As I was unable to follow the game live, on tv, radio, or even via the internet, I have no commentary to offer up. You can check out The State's coverage here or the athletic department's coverage here. One note of interest: former USC assistant coach, Monte Lee, left the Gamecocks last year and is in his first year as head coach of C of C, his alma mater.

Nick's Six: Best Sports (Movie) Plays EVER

This list needs no explanation. Let the debate rage.

Disclaimer: I will say that I don't want to hear anyone's shit about the floater from "Rookie of the Year." That play was horseshit and Henry Rowengartner is a bitch. Yes, I am partially biased because that pitch took the fictional 1994 Mets out of the fictional 1994 playoffs. Although I will give Henry props for enticing a runner to be picked off through a game of chicken.

1. The Annexation of Puerto Rico: This genius play entered our living room in the movie "Little Giants." It wasn't innovative, as it is basically just a very long version of "Fumblerooskie." But it went 99 yards, and helped to beat that bastard Kevin O'Shea and his team of future high school douchebags. The only problems I had with this movie are that the wide receiver cheats by using stick-um, and girls can't play football. Other than that -- it's a masterpiece.

Best line from the movie: "What a hunk. What am I talking about? I'm the Icebox. Icebox doesn't like boys. Except for that one..."

PS -- Look at the Icebox NOW.

2. Ahh...the ol' rosenbag as the ball, security guard stool, hidden ball trick: Although probably illegal, prodigious manager Billy Heywood in "Little Big League" got his team rolling with this play. It involved everyone, including the token African-American security guard. Add a montage to Dion's "Run Around Sue," and a bullhorn drowning out cuss words? Classic.

Best line from the movie: "What am I supposed to do? Go home and tell my wife I got cut by a 12-year-old but it's OK because he likes my baseball card?!"

3. The Catch: Before Jim Edmonds started making ridonculous catches for the Angels, Matthew McConaughey was doing it, but not without the help of some divine intervention. The only flaw in this movie is that it tells you believing in God will bring your deadbeat father back. Sorry, Roger...good luck on "Third Rock From the Sun." Also, this is the last movie I saw Matthew McConaughey in before I hated him (don't worry, "Dazed and Confused" came out a year earlier).

Best line from the movie: "I know who you are. I heard you on the radio. You sure do have a big chin."

4. Ricky Bobby's finish: If every NASCAR race ended like this (a firey wreck, followed by a a footrace to the finish, and ending with a simultaneous slow-motion dive), then I would consider tuning in.

Best line from the movie (not possible): "If you don't like Big Red, then Fuck you!"

5. The Jet steals home: OK, this play is at the end of "The Sandlot," but I mean...what other white guy besides Benny Rodriguez has ever stolen home? Please, I'd love to know. Then again he DOES look like Jacoby Ellsbury. I'd also love to know who made two sequels to this movie...they should be shot in the throwing arm.

Best line from the movie: "You play ball like a giiirrrrrrrrl!" (OBVIOUSLY)

6. Bobsled walk: There's nothing more touching than four Jamaicans carrying a sled down an icy hill while four Germans start a slow clap for them. "Cool Runnings" changed my life. Tears. But seriously, you can't tell me these guys would've past any routine IOC drug testing.

Best line from the movie: "I'm freezing my royal Rastafarian nay-nays off!"

Hell Must Be Frozen...

...Because I actually agree with Columbia Sports Columnist, Ron Morris. In today's issue of The State, Morris actually makes a sentient argument for something. What's more, Morris' issue of choice is actually relevant! Morris, seen right, usually spends his columns jumping to conclusions and writing with about as much forethought as a monkey takes when it flings poo. I'm not even going to go down the road that most Gamecock fans take when discussing Ron Morris. I don't think Morris has it in for USC. I don't think Morris secretly cheers for Gamecocks losses or Clemson's successes. The only thing I know about Ron Morris is that 98% of the time he is incapable of conducting the most basic investigative journalism.

Here, though, Morris comes through in style. The Confederate flag is a hot button issue in the South, particularly in South Carolina. Whatever you think about the flag as a symbol, the bottom line is it is keeping the entire state of South Carolina from joining the 20th century. Get rid of the Confederate flag, and amazing things will start happening around the state. Mullets will disappear at a rate commiserate with that of the "Great Mullet Blight of the 90s." Only actual wife beaters will wear wife beaters, improving the efficiency of the legal system. Baby-momas will cease to be the predominant family unit. Hell, even Croakies might go out of style. Well one can always dream, anyway. As a Georgia native, I suppose I'll always be accused of not being able to fully understand the issue of the Stars & Bars as it relates to SC. I do know this: Georgia used to actually have half of its state flag devoted to the confederacy, but we actually booted it the fuck off. Why can't South Carolina do the same?

USC Drops 2 to LSU

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper247/stills/1tv390o0.jpg

Well, the Yardcocks dropped the weekend series to LSU by a 2-1 margine. After starter Sam Dyson pitched well in the Friday contest, the freshman starting pitchers failed to hold up on Saturday and Sunday. Although, it should be noted that Freshman hurler Nolan Belcher performed considerably better this time around than in his other outings. Belcher left with the score knotted at 3 in the 5th inning.

One of the bright spots this season, aside from the new Carolina Stadium, has been the play of Freshman Jackie Bradley, Jr. The kid's got all the makings of a college star in the making. This weekend Bradley hit .500 with 2 HRs. Two weekends ago, vs. Long Beach State, I had the opportunity to take in a game at Carolina Stadium. Even though the Gamecocks lost, Jackie Bradley, Jr. put on a show for fans. During the game he laid down a text book bunt (more on Ray Tanner's propensity to bunt in another post), coaxed out a walk, singled, and showed off his cannon for a arm from right field. He's going to be a good one, folks.

Also, per the article above, it appears Ray Tanner is finally playing around with the 2B spot. Whit Merrifield moved there Sunday in what could very well be a permanent move. Scot Wingo (So.) has held that position since last year. However, Wingo's AVG has hovered around the .240s in both seasons (I think, I don't have stats in front of me). That's just not going to get it done in college ball. The difference was, last year Wingo's OBP was helped by a ridiculously high 30 hit-by-pitches. This year, pitchers have not been so kind (or unkind, depending on your point of view) to Wingo. If USC is going to make any noise in the SEC or even make the post season, they are going to have to get more production out of their second baseman.

Former Gamecock to Keep Goal for USA National Team

Former Gamecock, Brad Guzan, will be in goal for the USA's World Cup qualifying match against El Salvador on March 28. After yellow cards in consecutive games, usual starter in goal, Tim Howard, will be forced to sit out the match with El Salvador. The match will take place in El Salvador's capital, El Salvador, and will be televised on ESPN2 at 9 pm. Guzan, who already has a pair of shutouts in World Cup qualifying against Barbados, currently plays for the English Premier League team, Aston Villa. In 2007 he was named the Major League Soccer "Goalkeeper of the Year."

ButtPirates Update: Done Deal

I'm happy to report that 'team wally' has accepted my offer of Hanley Ramirez for B.J. Upton. He immediately sent me an offer: Yunel Escobar for Chipper Jones.

I countered.

Wally now has a Chipper Jones for Ramon Hernandez deal sitting on his table.

I also received a reasonable trade request from another league member. I declined. This person must understand that I deal solely with team wally.

As for team wally, I looked at his fantasy history. Impressive. 48 teams managed, mostly football. He's won a few football leagues. It is my personal mission to get him his first baseball league title.

Ajiboye Arrested for Purchasing Arbitrarily Demonized Pain Reliever

So it turns out that DT Ladi Ajiboye's suspension from the USC football team was in response to a February arrest for allegedly participating in a drug deal.

According to the incident report, shortly after midnight on Feb. 21 at the intersection of Harden and Lady streets, investigators witnessed Ajiboye engage in a “hand-to-hand transaction” with another person. The other person was not identified in the report.

After Ajiboye returned to a car driven by USC offensive lineman Terrence Campbell, sheriff’s personnel followed the 2004 Ford Crown Victoria and pulled it over after Campbell failed to signal for a turn, authorities said.

They found evidence of marijuana use and five grams of pot between the two front seats, which Ajiboye admitted belonged to him, the report stated.

“Our narcotic agents witnessed a drug transaction,” sheriff’s department spokesman Chris Cowan said. “They saw him get into the car. They made the stop. He was arrested.”

I'm a little confused about the sequence of events here. Why was the arrest made after the failure to singal instead of after the transaction was witnessed by the narcotis agent?

Maybe one of our law students could shed some light on this?

ButtPirates Addendum

OK so after some deep thought on the toilet this morning, I decided just trading studs for Pirates won't work, because nobody owns anybody on the Pirates with a few exceptions.

So instead, I have chosen one guy in my league that I will offer ridiculous trades to, that will benefit him, and him only. This way about 12 other middle-aged men get their undies in a bunch all season, and this one guy gets the greatest fantasy team of his life. I was going to choose this at random, but when I logged on to the league today, a guy named Wally posted 'I will consider any reasonable trades.'

CONGRATULATIONS WALLY, YOU'VE WON!

About three minutes ago I offered Wally Hanley Ramirez for Adam Jones. Touche.

More updates are sure to ensue.

Pirate Fetish

Dear Sirs,

Since I am so god-awful at real fantasy baseball, I have decided to conduct a small social experiment.

I have joined a public league on yahoo.com, and named my team the ButtPirates. My goal is to draft a regular roster of studs, and then immediately begin offering up trades for any members of the Pirates that people might own. Then I fill the roster with undrafted members of the Pirates. The initial "David Wright for Nate McClouth" trades will certainly cause some serious upheaval, as I'm positive that whatever league I join will certainly be rife with fat 50-year-old men living in their mother's basement who LIVE for fantasy baseball, and the occasional trip to Hooters.

I will keep you posted on this blog as to how the ButtPirates fare, from draft day, until the end. If you have any other suggestions on how to keep pissing people off in order to keep the fun going, let me know.

Here is my confirmation letter. If you do not laugh at the first line, you are not a real person.

"Hey nick_mets06,
This note is to confirm that you've
created the team called ButtPirates and signed up for one of our Public Leagues,
where you'll compete against other managers who've chosen the same settings as
you have."

ASS!

It's pronounced "Stee-ven," you prick.

FUCK!

MSU (pictured left) takes the Gamecocks (pictured right) out of the SEC and NCAA tournament in one fell swoop.

The Outlook Happy Hour Invite

I just received an Outlook happy hour invite and realized how depressing post-college drinking can be.

College "Let's drink" invites usually consisted of no more than a text message and bar name. For example: "Chubby's. Drunk." was a perfectly acceptable message.

Now, I just got a "A few people were talking about getting together tomorrow after work" Outlook message. My boss is invited. His boss is invited. Its written professionally. There is a time attached. The happy air of uncertainty surrounding the weekend is totally out the window because people have wives and little toddler-shitting kids to get home to.

Its not that my coworkers aren't fun, its just that the process is so amazingly soul-crushing compared to my carefree lassez-faire drinking days of USC. In addition, its not like I can pre-game in the office - or avoid paying less than $25 if I want to get a buzz (f*ck you DC).

But getting paid is nice.

Is there a player you hope used steroids?

If there's a player I hope used steroids, it's Derek Jeter. I think that'll probably get a lot of seconds on this blog.

Jeter would just completely topple the media's "clean player, dirty player" paradigm. And it would also put one of the most overrated douchebags in sports firmly in his place.

I'm curious to hear other nominations.

Lester: Mid Rotation Starter

I am with Connor on the Lester as a mid-rotation starter.
I will take Steve's challenge to name more than 5 teams where he wouldnt be a #2 starter:

The following teams, generally in order of how solid the argument that Lester is #3:

1. New York (CC & AJ)
2. Arizona (Haren & Webb)
3. Seattle (Felix & Bedard)
4. LA Angels (Lackey & Santana)
5. San Fran (Tim & Cain)
6. Cincy (Volquez, Cueto, Harang)
7. Atlanta (Lowe & Vazquez)
8. Tampa (Shields,Kazmir, & Garza)
9. Cubs (Zambrano, Dempster, Harden)
10. LA Dodgers (Billingsley & Kershaw)

Lester would only be the undisputed ace on 4 teams:
Baltimore, Washington, Pitsburgh, and Texas.

Although, he would have an argument for ace status on:
Florida - against Nolasco
St Louis - Wainwright (but a healthy Carpenter is better)
KC - Grienke
Oakland - Duchscherer
Colorado - Jimenez, Cook, and Francis.
Mil - Yovani!

Yahoo has Lester ranked as #21 fantasy starter, but I think we can all agree Lester's value is inflated by pitching in Fenway (yes, its a pitchers park!) and by playing with Boston's offense and bullpen behind him.

Pumping Gas

According to Lane Kiffin, all players from South Carolina who play for USC wind up pumping gas for the rest of their lives. You'd think he'd at least throw in coke and appearing at every charity auction within a twenty mile radius of the USC campus.

Jon Lester...WTF

On Monday, Red Sox Nation was delighted to hear that Jon Lester had signed a five-year $30 million with the Red Sox. However, it turns out that Jon Lester did not in fact make the mistake of signing long-term for less than he's worth. ESPN made the mistake, quoting Yahoo! Sports on an erroneous report. Is this really what mainstream media is becoming, even in sports?

The Wet, Bleak Days of March

Your optimism astounds me Connor. You are a true Gamecock.

I look at the depth chart and am distraught.

Moe Brown is still on this team and is listed as a starter?! He couldnt catch herpes from a 60 year-old French whore.
While you see "capable replacements" filling in for Captain and E Cook, I see... Addison Williams, this should be a delight to 11 people: the starting SEC QBs.
With both Cooks (E and J), McKinley, Jasper, Succop, and Captain all gone, I see 6 of our 7 best players gone. And, as for our best returning player, Eric Norwood, how many games do you think it will take until he goes into "Im mailing in this season because I dont want to get hurt and have Mel Kiper call me an injury risk" mode?

Stephen THE SAVIOR OF THE PROGRAM Garcia (copyright cocknfire from garnetandblackattack.com) has done nothng to suggest he will be anything beyond frustratingly inconsistent. Perhaps we should realize the truth about Garcia's "flashes of brilliance": even the sun shines on a horse's ass every once in awhile.

No, this time of year is not magical - its a depressing cock-tease: rays of sunshine will be at a premium between the bleak, cold days of March.

Spring practice depth chart released

It's that magical time of year when 45 degrees with heavy rain feels like a tropical retreat. As we watch spring training games in Florida and Arizona, our minds start to consider the possibility of leaving the house without spending five good minutes of heavy layering.

It's that magical time of year when girlfriends nationwide are put on notice that they have no reasonable expectation that their boyfriends will pay them a lick of attention in the build-up to (fantasy) baseball season.

And every once in a while, when you least expect it, you'll stumble upon a tasty treat like the release of the Gamecock football team's spring depth chart.

For losing three stars to early departure plus the stalwart Jasper Brinkley and Kenny McKinley to graduation, this group looks surprisingly strong. The defensive line should be one of the best in the SEC. The secondary shouldn't lose much from last year, as Munnerlyn and Cook will each be succeeded by capable replacements in Akeem Auguste and Chris Culliver. The offensive line looks like it will be stronger and deeper than ever before.

It would seem as though our success will (once again) hinge on our ability or inability to generate production from the offensive skill positions.

Nick's Six: Most Underrated Douchebags In Sports

Let's play a little word association. Pacman Jones. Douchebag. Kobe Bryant. Douchebag. Alex Rodriguez. Uber-douche. You get the point. Many popular sports figures are guilty of douchebaggery. But there a few that you should put on your douche-dar. I don't want to have to say I told you so.

But I will.

1. Eric Devendorf: No, this is not because I am a UConn fan. No, this is not because I hate (HATE) Syracuse. This is because Eric Devendorf is simply a huge douchebag. There's no getting around it. So let me get this straight. Deven-douche punches a woman in the face THIS YEAR, and is still enrolled at the University of Syracuse, and still playing for Jim "I should give my Hall of Fame plaque to Carmelo Anthony" Boeheim. I bet I could make an entire Nick's Six of douchebags from that program alone. Then again, I don't think six slots would be enough.

2. Jon Gruden: When Tony Dungy became the first black man to win a Super Bowl, it had to feel good doing it just years after being replaced in Tampa by Gruden, who in his first year became the first douchebag to win a Super Bowl.

Disclaimer: Mike Ditka is not a douchebag. Well he was until he appeared on the SI cover with Ricky Williams, and made a hilarious appearance in a Will Ferrell movie.

Anyway, back to Gruden. There's just something about the guy that I can't stand. Maybe it's the fact that he reminds me of Gordon Gecko in Wall Street. Or maybe the fact that after Chris Simms almost died on the football field, Gruden demoted him, and then wouldn't let him leave.

3. Andy Roddick: OK, first of all...ANDY ROD-DICK. I could rest my case. But I won't. It starts with the hat. Any player who cares about the position of his HAT on his head won't win jack. Other examples include Pokey Reese, and (this year) C.C. Sabathia. At least those guys wear New Era, and not Lacoste (ultimate douchebaggery). But the real reason for Roddick landing on this list is breaking up with Mandy Moore. Also, his nickname is A-ROD.

4. Michael Phelps: I would like to start by saying that I thought Michael Phelps was a douchebag way before everyone else. I would also like to say that I enjoyed his 8-medal run. It was good for America, and the Olympics. But holy (bong) smokes. You just look at this guy and think of every douchebag you've ever met. The douchebagginess of this guy is thicker than Mark Spitz's mustache during a monsoon. And if you're not sold yet, he appears in an incredibly douchebaggerian commercial with fellow douchebags Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez.

5. Every white guy that ever played for Duke: I know, I know. This was originally supposed to be a list of individuals. But I can't take it anymore. If Miami is football's running back U, than Duke is definitely basketball's douchebag U. Here is their all-time douchebag team: 1. J.J. Reddick; 2. Greg Paulus; 3. Christian Laettner; 4. Josh McRoberts; 5. Jay Bilas. I will say that Shane Battier, who is half white, was actually pretty likeable. But that's it.

6. Stephen A. Smith: Right, Stephen A. Smith is not an athlete. But he's still on ESPN more than most professional sports figures. His show "Quite Frankly," was almost as bad as CNN giving a show to D.L. Hughley -- almost. And speaking of his athleticism, apparently he played some college hoops at Winston-Salem University. In fact, he played for Hall of Fame coach Clarence Gaines. He then wrote an article for the school newspaper claiming Gaines should retire for health reasons.

Douche-BAG.

February: The worst month ever (Nick's Six Edition)

While sitting on my couch (OK, my mother's couch) this morning and eating Honey Nut Cheerios, I realized something about this little (no really, it's pretty brief) month they call February.

It sucks.

Honestly, what have we got to look forward to in February? If anyone just said, "the Pro Bowl," I will personally force you to watch every Pro Bowl until you realize why it should be banned. Aside from football's February farse, here are six other sporting "events" that allow more time for me to be whipped in to a March Madness frenzy.

Disclaimer: If the Stimulus Bill happened every February, it would be No. 1 on this list. Also, in keeping with the sports theme, I could not include the Oscars, and Valentine's Day...But I digress.

1. The NFL COMBINE: Until MTV's "Bromance" (were you really expecting a link to that? come on) came out this winter, there was no rival programming for a bunch of grown men running around trying to impress other grown men. When I (my parents) paid for our cable to include the NFL Network, I did not envision having to watch the desk toss to Steve "Thank you Brett Favre and Steve Young for my career" Mariucci for live updates on a 40-yard dash. NFL.com actually describes the combine as an "annual job fair." I've been to job fairs. I never had to complete a shuttle run. Then again, I still don't have a job, so maybe I should have.

2. Spring Training: There's nothing like knowing that a bunch of unathletic white guys are being paid millions to go to Florida and Arizona, work for two hours, golf for four hours and drink for 24 hours. And somehow the majority of them still do not know how to run from the mound to cover first base. Go figure.

3. The aforementioned Pro Bowl: Oh the Pro Bowl. Remember that time in the 1995 Pro Bowl when...uh...wait...I've never actually watched a Pro Bowl in its entirety. I think I watched some guy from Connecticut hit a halftime field goal for money once. Or maybe he missed it, I really don't know. Reaching far back in to my memory bank (centralized, of course), I recall crying in the first grade when I realized I had missed the previous night's Pro Bowl. By the next year I had grown smart enough to realize that the Pro Bowl was like my school's cursive writing curriculum-- it's completely irrelevant, and has no contribution to society. And yes still I hold a grudge because of Robert Edwards.

4. Signing Day: Oh my! Which school will the 57th-rated defensive back choose to receive his all-expense paid trip to la-la land from?! Now we've even got live coverage of such decisions. Although I am against such publicity for 17-year-olds, I did like this young man's way to make a decision. In fact, it appears it's how George W. Bush made the majority of his.

5. The NBA All-Star Game: Yes, I went there. I will say that I have become a bigger fan of the NBA now that it's become the only sport not linked to steroids in a big way (yet). It's got plenty of good characters and there is a nice balance of power among league teams, yet still, it's winter classic doesn't do it for me. The dunk contest is great and the pre-game intros are hilarious. There's just one problem. The NBA All-Star Game lacks one aspect of basketball that I'm pretty sure Dr. James Naismith had in mind -- defense.

6. Bracketology: Apparently ESPN, in another attempt to take over the world, has created a new form of science. So until the games are actually played, we must hear about the bracket busters, the on the bubbles, the longshots, one seeds, two seeds, three seeds, four seeds, must-wins, RPI, key losses, etc. They've even got us believing that a 12-seed over a four-seed is more likely than your next paycheck. Then again, in these times, they might be right.

To Tell The Truth

My mother would often tell me not to lie.

So I would do something wrong, get caught, come out with a half-truth, and call it even.

I recently found the transcript of a lie I told my mother many years ago. I looked it over, and it looks a lot like Mr. Alex Rodriguez's current plight. Mr. Rod, I encourage you to take a look at this dialogue. Maybe you'll realize it's important to tell the whole truth.

Enter my mother (MM). After working all day just to feed me, she has returned home to find out that I may or may not have eaten the entire box of frosted animal crackers that she bought.

MM: Did you eat all of the animal crackers?

Me: No! I would never do that! I'm confident in my ability to climb the playscape faster than everyone else without the assistance of a box of sugar-coated wafers.

MM: So you're sure, you didn't eat the animal crackers?

Me: *Looking her straight in the face* Nope, not at all.

MM: So why were you so hyper from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.? What could possibly explain that?

Me: I'm not sure. I mean, I was feeling pretty good from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. I guess I was in the prime of my day.

MM: OK. Well the thing is, I know your brother and sister have eaten an entire box of frosted animal crackers before. I would be mad, but would certainly understand why you would do it too.

Me: Like I said, I'm pretty confident in my abilities, as a superior sibling when it comes to the playscape. Why would I even need to eat an entire box of frosted animal crackers?

*Dad enters kitchen home from work. Tells my mom he knows for a fact I ate the entire box of frosted animal crackers. I'm pretty upset now. My dad was supposed to keep it a secret!*

MM: So you DID eat the frosted animal crackers!

Me: Yeah I did, but it was only once I swear! It was a stupid mistake! I'm so young!

MM: Why did you lie to me?!

Me: Mom, I convinced myself I hadn't eaten the frosted animal crackers! How am I supposed to tell you the truth, If I'm not truthful to myself?!

MM: Who gave you such an idea?!

Me: Well, my cousin said it would be a good idea. We took the box of frosted animal crackers off the counter, and he showed me how to bite all of the legs off first. Looking back, we had no idea how to properly eat them.

MM: Your cousin is 5!

Me: I'd rather not get in to my cousin, mom. And also, my brother and sister at entire boxes of frosted animal crackers! I had to keep up with their intense sugar highs if I wanted to be able to climb the playscape as fast as they were!

MM: So if you said you didn't NEED the crackers, why did you eat them?

Me: *Pause. Long Pause. Head turn. Mouth quiver. Eye watering. Lip bite.* Good question.

MM: You know, this is going to make me reconsider letting you in to the museum next week.

Me: No! Not that! Anything but that! That's what I've wanted my whole life! I'll do anything to get in to that museum!

MM: Anything huh? Like eating an entire box of frosted animal crackers?

Excuse me while I yawn

A-Rod did steroids. Now, Red Sox fans are supposed to point out what a cheater he is. Now, Red Sox fans are supposed to really hate him.

Weren't both of these already true? He cheated in 2004 and didn't get away with it; apparently he cheated in 2003 and eventually didn't get away with it. Red Sox fans didn't particularly like A-Rod even before he joined the Yankees. Every time he would bat in Boston, Fenway would chant, "Nomar's better."

Maybe it's because I'm a libertarian. Maybe it's because he helped me win in fantasy last year. Maybe it's for the same reasons that I don't hate Barry Bonds. Whatever the reason, I just don't care about A-Rod. He's in great financial shape, but he's always struggled with personal relations. I've always felt kind of bad for the guy.

He's never been accused of intentionally hurting someone else. Most people who hate him do so mainly out of jealousy of his contract, which they would obviously have too if they had his talent.

New face, same dirty tricks

I guess the good news this time around is that Tennessee isn't getting away with cheating.

Maybe everything that Lane Kiffin does at UT should have an asterisk next to it.

No, we only feel extreme moral outrage at cheating when it involves baseball players.

Bud's outrage and outrage over some bud

Bud Selig is so incensed by A-Rod's confession that he's considering a measure so abominable that the Framers banned it from government (see: Article I, Section 9). Obviously, the Constitution's prohibition against ex post facto laws isn't binding against the MLB Commissioner, but given the extreme violation of A-Rod's privacy (not to mention the 2003 Collective Bargaining Agreement) to this point in this scandal, I think Bud owes it to A-Rod to just let this die.

Meanwhile, the Richland County Sherrif's department is considering bringing charges against Michael Phelps for being photographed allegedly doing something less dangerous than drinking alcohol. This is the same city whose cops brought you the excessive beating of Kevin Young in August of last year.

It's a dark day in sports for the rights of the individual.

Hold Me, Thrill Me, Foul Me, Bench Me

Let me just open this by saying that of all the major sports to which I have devoted strategic thought, my opinions on baseball strategy are probably the most well-formed, with football a distant second and basketball an even more distant third.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I've always thought the behavior of basketball coaches in one particular area of the game somewhat odd: benching players after accumulating a certain number of fouls.

***Disclaimer 2: I have no data supporting the assertions made in this paragraph*** If a player accumulates 2 fouls within the first couple minutes of the game, he is often benched. If at any point during the first half he accumulates 3 fouls, foolish is thought the coach that fails to bench this player for the greater part of the half's remainder. And, like Devan Downey at the mid-point of the second half against Florida, a player that acquires a fourth foul in a close game is sure to see the bench until the game is getting close to its end.

To make sense, this modus operandi would have to assume at least one of the following:

1) Benching the player will ultimately increase the amount of his playing time
2) Having the player available late in the game is more important than having him available at any other time
3) Players are less effective when they have a large number of fouls relative to the time elapsed in the game

I don't really see how you could make an argument that #1 is true, so I will omit analyzing it in detail. It seems to me that the act of benching such a player merely shifts his contribution to the team along a timeline and may inadvertently cut short the potential impact that he may have on the game.

Imagine a world in which athletes do not get fatigued. Player X can play 38 minutes before committing 5 fouls. But when Player X commits his fourth foul, the coach takes him out of the game for five minutes before subbing him back in for the last four minutes of the game. In this scenario, Player X is only on the floor for 35 minutes instead of 38 minutes. After all, neither the coach nor the player can know when he will commit his fifth and final foul.

For the decision to pay off in this scenario, the player's contribution in the final two minutes would need to be at least 1.75 times as valuable as his contribution from the 9 minute mark to the four minute mark*. I'm having difficulty coming up with a possible reason that the final two minutes would be that much more valuable. After all, aren't points scored or prevented in the first minute of the game just as valuable as points scored or prevented in the final minute of the game?

The only real problem that I see with my theory is that players might not perform at their peak level when they are saddled with a large number of fouls for a fear of the consequences of committing subsequent fouls. But I feel that, to some extent, this fear may be exacerbated by the prevailing coaching heuristic in which players with a certain number of fouls at a certain point in the game get sent to the bench.

To summarize: if players are much less effective when they have a large number of fouls and/or it is much more valuable to have a player available at the end of the game than at any other time, then benching players with fouls is a good idea. But those gains would have to be so large (if they exist) that they would outweigh the cost of potentially shortening the amount of time the player is on the floor.

Thoughts? Criticisms?


*Am I thinking about this right? With 9 minutes to go in the game, you could bench the player for 5 minutes (9-5=4) or let the player foul out (9-2=7), giving 7/4=1.75

Nick's Six: Reasons To Watch Super Bowl XLIII

There have been a lot of nay-sayers (does anyone actually say 'nay'?) surrounding this year's Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals. I'll admit, it's not the dreamiest match up, but this year's game has some compelling aspects. And no, I'm not talking about Ken Wisenhunt's revenge, the emergence of Larry "Unlike Anquan Boldin, I will not throw a" Fitzgerald, or a battle between long-time franchises. Here are six REAL reasons to watch this game.

1. Cardinals fans: Until about a week ago, I had no idea that people actually rooted for the Arizona/Phoenix/St. Louis/Chicago/Racine Cardinals. I will be interested to see how these people will react to things like: a big game, potential rain, and people from Pennsylvania without a trace of a tan.

2. NBC has the game: This means no Joe Buck. This means no Tony Siragusa. This means no Howie, Terry and Jimmy. This means no robot football player during timeouts. This means telestration by John Madden. This means actual comprehensive coverage from the studio with Costas, Collinsworth, and Dan Patrick. Unfortunately, this also means Keith Olbermann.

3. Sans Manning: I already consider this Superbowl a success, as it is physically impossible for the member of the Manning family to win it.

Disclaimer: I should note that the previous picture was not of the Manning family I was speaking about. But it: A. was what I found when I googled 'Manning brothers'; B. is hilarious; C. sums up how I feel about the actual Manning brothers.

4. Tampa: No, this is not in reference to Tampa's beautiful beaches, gorgeous views, or place in UConn basketball history. This is in reference to Tampa's apparent bevy of strip clubs. Using a Pacman Jones joke would be too easy here. My favorite excerpt:
"local lawmakers passed an anti-lap-dance ordinance before the last Super Bowl here in 2001, making it a misdemeanor offense for dancers to come within six feet of patrons."

Hi my name is Ben Roethlisberger, how much for an air dance?

5. Bruce Springsteen: The Bossman is providing the halftime entertainment. For Kurt Warner, I suggest "Countin' On A Miracle," and, "I'm Goin' Down."

6. Senor Bean: Check out the television listings for Sunday night. Unless you're in to reruns of The Drew Carey Show (Cleveland SUCKS by the way), or Teen Cribs...you'll probably want to stick with the game. Although Mr. Bean on Telemundo will probably be on my recall button.

Baseball Managers

The recent hot stove uproar over Joe Torre's new book has made me wonder: how important is a baseball manager anyway? Traditional sports media types love to talk about baseball managers (four letter network, I'm looking at you), but how should baseball managers be judged? It appears that the manager's value is yet another front of the "sabermetrics vs. intangibles" war - sabermetrically inclined teams/organizations don't care about their team's manager whereas less sabermetrically inclined teams care a great deal (Oakland's Bob Geren makes the league minimum, Lou Pinella makes 3.5mil).

Let's first examine what a manager actually controls:
- Playing time - specifically who to play and where to play them (obviously, this must be judged based on the players available for the manager to use)
- Stolen base success rates
- Bullpen usage
- Other game theory related issues (shifts, hit-and-runs, bunts, etc)
- Motivational ploys
- Day-to-day public relations of the team's 40 man roster

If we assume that the decision to call up prospects from the minors is an organizational rather than managerial decision, then a manager's control is extremely limited. However, a manager can do good things, or, more often, bad things (like, say giving Corey Patterson 366ABs). As for Torre, how many tough decisions has he had to make over the years? Penciling in the likes of A-Rod, Jeter, Giambi, etc makes the job much easier, however, allowing Jeter to take two steps and let balls roll by while he blows bubbles for a decade when a better fielder is 10ft to his right seems like a bad call. Torre has shown an ability to learn as he goes along - notice the Yankees SB% doesnt drop below 70% after '01 (however, such a drastic change could be attributed to baseball as a whole rather than Torre as an individual). Clearly Torre handled the New York media well but his motivational ability (especially in the playoffs) lacks any sort of distinction; Torre has always seemed content to not cause any waves while other managers (Bobby Cox's foul-mouthed trots out of the dugout are an especially poignant example) seem to at least try to motivate their players by getting thrown out of games. Perhaps it is telling that one a manager's best options to motivate his players is to get thrown out.

Obviously, only some of the manager's responsibilities are quantifiable, most of the job's success or failure falls under the scope of opinion - but in the humble opinion of this baseball fan some managers are clearly good, bad, and downright terrible.

King Selig

Apparently, Jordan Schafer never tested positive for HGH nor was it otherwise proven that he took it. According to Schafer, his 50-game suspension was based on associating with other players who were taking HGH.

I suppose we can only take Schafer's word for what it's worth, but if circumstantial evidence is the best MLB has on a player, it seems like suspending such a player stands on, at best, shaky ground.

Great Day for the Braves

What a glorious day for Atlanta Braves fans. Derek Lowe and Kawakami in the same day! My how our rotation will look different

1. Hudson (when he's healthy)
2. Lowe
3. Jurjens
4. Kawakami
5. Vazquez


It's not the Yankees but not too shabby.

Does anyone have any info on Kawakami? I have seen his youtube video, seen his stats from Japan, but not sure about his pitches, etc.