Astounding bit of research uncovered by this blog. A commenter says “best post ever” and I find it hard to disagree. Well, maybe by degree. But then I remember the first time I heard someone say “suck my ass,” which profoundly changed me. Best post ever!
Blogs
Pat Jordan on the trouble with sports journalism.
By Pat Jordan – Slate Magazine What isn’t clear to me is how we could ever return to those halcyon days when athletes were too dumb and powerless to protect their interests? I also question whether the change Jordan describes is because things have really changed, or is it that when Jordan met Catfish Hunter by the pool he had far more status and represented the preeminent sports magazine of the day (that would be Sports Illustrated). When Jordan called Beckett recently he represented the NY Times Magazine, not really a sports magazine, and he himself is now an older freelance sportswriter, not from Mr. Luce’s empire. In other words, if Rick Reilly (who recently jumped from SI to the ESPN family of sports outlets, as Brent Mussberger described him today during the Belmont Stakes show) wanted to profile Beckett would Josh be as reticent? And might he go through with it anyway, even if he was? Nonetheless, a fun story from a thoughtful baseball writer. Maybe the only former baseball player who is a better writer than Doug Glanville, but I’m being glib.
[This post was rewritten some on June 7th, because I had some better ideas and because the initial presentation was crap. Sorry about that. I hope this helps.]
Buzz Bissinger Will Abuse You Into Civility
Serious Business: Gawker reefers a Bob Costas joint. Will “Deadspin” Leitch does a great job of explaining why the blogosphere is different than the mainstream media, and why both need to exist, but Bob and Buzz and (to a lesser extent) Braylon aren’t really listening. Will is brilliant, we all know, but the issue here is really about what’s news and why it matters. And he makes the far better argument than the workaday Buzz and the hyperprivileged Bob. That they seem to see him as some sort of sports journalism Al Queda is entrancing. Which is why I ended up watching all of the 18:00 minute clip, despite the curse words by the mainstream guys. That’s not newspaper talk.
How Did A-Rod Get So Good?
Freakonomics – Opinion – New York Times Blog
You have to read the Tyler Kepner story linked to within to get the whole story, but Dubner is right to point out Bobby Meacham’s quote. Learning to do something better than everybody, everything I’ve read says, is the result of practice, practice, smart coaching and more practice.
I didn’t work hard enough at the piano, to mention one thing.
Willie Mays Nude:
Supposedly the only photo of Willie Mays’ willie is for sale on eBay, and Deadspin has the story. The seller has placed a Giants logo over the sensitive area, perhaps a bit of subliminal seduction. Thanks, baseballmusings.com.
The 3 Stages of Rotisserie Grief
BBTF’s Primate Studies Discussion :: Eugene Freedman
It sounds like this is Eugene’s first fantasy baseball article. He does a good job of explaining Patton’s roto stages and teases his next story, but things really take off when the discussion starts. There are no answers here, but it’s good to hear the chatter.
One suggestion: Do what you like. I’ve never played in a league with holds. Changing BA to OBP is the best move any league can make.
Changes in home run rates during the Retrosheet years
Tom Tango methodically and revealingly demonstrates, using information gleaned from Retrosheet and MLB’s ball-testing lab, that there is real evidence that the home run boom that began in 1993 was a product of a juiced ball. Don’t believe me? Read the story.
Which isn’t to say that this is the final word. Tom’s data relates to balls put into play as they relate to home run rate, which is the best way to figure out the effect of hitting the ball farther, but not so good for determining changes that might stem from the umpires’ calling of the strike zone (in which case the ball might be hit less often).
Plus, I find it hard to believe that given the potency of Mile High in Denver, that the control group of players had a similar increase in home runs to those who didn’t play in Colorado. That’s something to think about while reading Tom’s story.
David Pinto, of baseballmusings.com, says that manufacturing standards tightened up for the ball manufacturers in 1993, and that balls were tested more often. His theory is that the manufacturers established a more tightly wound ball (but still within the official specs) as the de facto standard. Unlike times past, when the equipment would slide and the balls would loosen up and a range of tightnesses were created, the modern ball is uniform and tightly wound.
In no way does this argument rule out the possibility that other factors played a part in the recent power boom (Tom doesn’t publish the numbers after 1998 for one thing), but it does establish that only modest changes to the ball could readily explain much if not all of the changes. That’s worth remembering when it is tempting to overreact.
The One Pitcher Congress Believes
The best single summary of yesterday’s events in Congress I’ve seen. And shorter than a lot of them, too.
So this is what a Baseball Forecaster reader looks like
I don’t have the photo thing down yet, but this is worth clicking on for a laugh.
The running of the monkeys —
Sal Baxamusa — The Hardball Times
Sal looks at the way the Marcel the Monkey projections change based on a ballplayers’ (in this case Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones) recent hot and cold streaks. His charts do a particularly good job of showing how short-term changes shape our overall picture of a player’s skills and future value.
His conclusion is pretty dull, considering how much fun the charts are (if you like charts), but that’s probably right, too.
Would anyone like to see more of these?