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Yahoo! News – Timothy White, Billboard Editor, Dies

Okay, I’ve not posted much lately, and now I dive back in with some very un-fantasy-like posts.

For about 24 hours once, perhaps 15 years ago, I felt like I was friends with Tim White. I had cocktails with him one evening, during which he turned me onto the darkest, oddest and catchiest roots reggae band I’ve ever heard (Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus, check them out), and then talked with him at his book party the next night at Private Eyes, a goofily futuristic nightclub of the time (1985 or thereabouts) that featured, well, a lot of video screens showing videos.

I’d always admired his writing at Rolling Stone, but my brush with greatness went no further. I don’t think we were ever again in the same room, though I’ve turned many onto Ras Michael over the years. But his passing, by heart attack, in his office at Billboard at 50 seems far sadder than John Entwhistle’s nearly simultaneous passing by heart attack at 57 in his hotel room just before the Who kicked off their latest reunion tour in Las Vegas, simply because there’s this somewhat personal connection.

Of course, that brings us to Darryl Kile. I had no idea Darryl Kile was such a great guy. Was this common knowledge out here in fan-land? Because if it was I missed it.

Back to the personal. It isn’t that I had no connection to Entwhistle. The Who at Forest Hills (with Patti LaBelle) on the Who’s Next tour was probably the best big rock show I’ve ever seen, and I cut out of high school the day The Kids are Alright premiered in New York City, taking the train in from the suburbs to see the first show on the first day at the arty theater on East 57th Street at which it premiered. It was a kickass crowd of other fans who saw no reason to go to school when the Who had a movie opening.

But Darryl Kile… The only thing I can say is that Darryl Kile seems to have lived the life. His friends say he was loyal and forthright, honest and true, and he suffered when he was unable to make things go the way he wanted them to. But he also prevailed so that things went most of the way he wanted, and he left behind a trail of love that should be the envy of anyone.

He died too young, yet I can’t think of anyone else whose accounts were in better balance. Death sucks, but nothing else helps us put living in perspective, does it?

ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score

I didn’t dig into the Kent-Bond brouhaha the other day. Bonds said it was a non-issue, we always knew the two weren’t buds, big deal.

But what I know is that years ago, when Bonds and Kent became teammates, it was clear that Kent would benefit greatly by having Bonds hitting in front of him. And he clearly has.

And today, with Bonds hitting behind him, Kent benefitted again.

ESPN.com – MLB – Scoreboard

I noticed that Luis Gonzalez, Wiki Gonzalez and Alex Gonzalez all hit homers today and wondered what the record was for most guys with the same last name hitting homers on the same day?

As you know I’ve been kind of tied up, but I did try to post on Friday. Blogger ate my home work. Whenever that happens I swear I will save every post before I post, and I do, for a while. But then nothing bad happens and I get lazy and blammo. Blogger is really a great system, but it’s not terribly reliable. That doesn’t make it less great, it just means one has to make adjustments.

It seems that since the end of April, when I advised someone to take Jay Gibbons over the then very much struggling Tim Salmon, Salmon has been a substantially better ballplayer. How much better?

AB H AVG R HR RBI SB
Salmon: 126 43 .341 26 8 27 4
Gibbons: 112 26 .232 14 3 16 0

Since I compiled these stats Salmon has dinged twice, Gibbons once.

The fact is I got it wrong. Salmon had been pathetic for so long I violated rule number one, which is Don’t ever underestimate the capability of vets with track records to resurrect their careers. You could also call it the Gary Gaetti rule. Or the Vinny Castilla rule.

I like taking credit when I get something right. Well, this one I got wrong. Sorry.

MLB.com Fantasy: Ask Rotoman

The new column is up at mlb.com. In one of the questions a reader asked about a strategy of sitting closers when they’re at home. He rightly ascertained that closers save about 55 percent of their games on the road. It also turns out that they win nearly all their games at home.

All of which is interesting, but not very useful in roto leagues. But he plays in a league that allows free substitution, but limits the number of days relievers can be on the roster. So, by taking an extra closer and rotating these guys in only when they’re on the road, he gains a five percent edge in saves.

It also turns out his league counts Losses, and closers lose more games than they win, and they lose most of them at home, too. Another reason to sit them when they’re at home.

This type of research and thinking is essential in games that allow free substitution. It isn’t that a five percent edge is always going to work out, but if it comes without additional cost you’d be crazy not to exploit it.

MLB.com Fantasy: Rotoman’s Dollar Values

The dollar values for May are finally posted at mlb.com. I delivered them late and my editor graciously did not bite my head off.

I’m trying to keep up with your questions but I am failing right now. I have too many hours of work to finish each day to be able to take the time to answer all emails individually. You will find answers to some of your questions in the mlb.com column that appears tomorrow,.

Thanks for writing.

COURT TV ONLINE – TOP NEWS

If you sometimes wonder about what it means to play fantasy baseball, rest assurred that there are alternatives and that the Fantasy Sports Players Association is there keeping an eye on them.

ESPN.com: MLB – Reds add Branyan in trade with Indians

Lot’s of Reds news today. Last night Junior Griffey’s right hamstring locked up. That’s not the hammy that knocked him out of large parts of 2000 and 2001. It’s also not as bad a strain, according to the Reds’ trainer, as it could be. But Junior sounds frustrated and he hasn’t shown much resilience bouncing back from whatever cuts him down.

And anyway, since he’s come back none of the Reds’ outfielders have been hitting.

Bob Boone says Branyan will be a pinch-hitter utility guy, which makes a certain amount of sense. “In the sixth inning you don’t worry so much about the strikeout,” Boone said, “but you do like the homer.”

How is it that Dave Kingman got all those at bats?

The new column is up at mlb.com. I think, I haven’t gone to check.

Too busy on the football magazine. I think I lost a number of reader questions last week. If you didn’t get an answer, that’s why. They were in the queue one day and then I couldn’t find them. My hosting service changed mail servers, so that might explain it partly. I didn’t get mail for a full day.

Feel free to write again. I’m trying to answer all of them individually, though I can’t promise.

ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score

I was watching the Red Sox-Yankees game tonight on the tube and saw Tony Clark have three of the worst at bats of all time against David Wells. He was helplessly behind Wells’ fastball, woefully overmatched by his curve and unable to adjust to any changes of speed.

I managed to miss Clark’s at bat against Mike Stanton (that’s the AB he dinged on) but I can tell you that his homer was a gift for fantasy players, and more a testament to Stanton’s ineffectiveness than Clark’s skills.

Tony used to be one of my favorite players. He had a long swing when he reached the bigs, but he reined it in and appeared to be headed for a glorious career. I believed, at the time, he represented the best a hitter could accomplish, overcoming all the instincts that got him to the bigs so that he might thrive in the bigs.

I may be making excuses (for myself as an analyst, not Tony) but I think Clark’s problems stem from his bad back. That said, I will be surprised if Clark gets back on track. I’ve watched him work up-close in Lakeland, and seen him hit enough to still believe in his desire and intelligence. But while the spirit may be willing, the body is no longer there.

Other notes: Bernie Williams is still looking clueless in center field, a condition that has persisted since his father took sick and died last year. His recent hot streak at the plate overshadows what appears to be a steady decline.

The Yankees are very bad defensively. They’re slow and not particularly adept with the leather. I think a case can be made that they’re below average at every position, except maybe shortstop and catcher, where they aren’t great. They’ve been hitting the ball lately, but that isn’t going to last, and I suspect that soon they will look as bad as they did early in the season.

Lou Merloni made a couple of wonderful plays at second base, and Derek Lowe was fabulous. He was physically completely out of rhythm, but managed to throw just enough strikes to work his way out of a series of jams (thanks in large part to Merloni). I’m not checking the box score, but I think Lowe walked five and didn’t record a strikeout. Two rain delays didn’t help him, but it was a wonderful performance because of all the trouble he squeaked through.

Final note: I’m still working on the football magazine and really shouldn’t have watched any baseball at all. And I really shouldn’t be trying to write coherent notes, because I don’t have time. But I had a ton of fun sneaking peeks at this game. Perhaps absence makes the heart grow fonder…

There’s a new column up at mlb.com, rantings and ravings about trades and the players in the big leagues who will be the best players in baseball in five years.

Also, if you’ve been following the Erubiel Durazo story this week, he’s been benched for ordinary rest, benched against Livan Hernandez for reasons we’re unsure of and benched because the hand that hurt so badly he missed six weeks of the season was hurting again.

Pardon me, and I know he’s going to hit six homers tonight to make a monkey of me again, but if you’re counting on him to be some kind of star, I think you’re going to be disappointed.

Just as I love all the hand-wringing at Baseball Prospectus about Jeremy Giambi, I’m betting that Durazo ultimately confounds their aggressively singular view of the world, too. The point is that there are human elements to all this, and if you stick too closely to the metrics you may just end up championing Roberto Petagine long past anyone cares.

Cheers.