Top this!

This is so happy-making I can't stand it.



(h/t Toast)

Read the f&@#*ing chart!

Nerdpocalypse

This comment thread right here, breaks the nerdmeter beyond repair.

Does swinging at a pitch constitute a melee attack or does it require a saving throw?

Yes, you read that right. A D&D argument among SABRmetricians. Get your fallout shelters ready.

Nobody could have predicted...

...empty seats at Yankee Stadium.

And while we're at it, here's the Yankee defense so far, courtesy of NoMass, who really should have direct links by now.


Of course, this is a really small sample size, but utterly consistent with the past 4-5 years.

The numbers represent runs saved above or below position average per 150 games (UZR/150).

UPDATE: To clarify, at this point, Swisher will give up 70 more runs over the course of a "season" than an average RF. Again, small sample size, but he is definitely below average.

THAH FAHKIN SAWX RAWK!!!

Have another one...

(h/t deadspin)

Summing up 8 years of futility in one paragraph

I'm working on my Yankees season preview, but I wanted to follow up my book review with a key excerpt from The Yankee Years:



Ho. Lee. Shit.

I knew it was bad, but that's comically, befuddlingly bad. By hey, we spent a few hundred million on Kevin Brown, Javier Vasquez, Jeff Weaver, Alyssa Milano Pavano, Randy Johnson, and Roger "Oh my goodness gracious" Clemens (2007 edition). So we have that going for us. Which is nice.

Jeetus.

Book thoughts

I couldn't resist picking up The Yankee Years, by Tom Verducci with Joe Torre.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, chock full of detail about Torre's 12 years as Yankee manager. An important point: it was, as I suspected, not at all sensationalistic, as the initial reports from the NY tabloids would have had us believe.

I've always enjoyed Verducci's writing with SI, and he doesn't disappoint here. It took a few chapters to get used to the time-jumping, but he ties the jumps together so well that you never ask "what the hell is going on here?"

Highly recommended. I had issues with some of Torre's management style, primarily the "trust" card in the bullpen that led him to overusing certain guys every year to the point that they were useless by October (remember QuanGorMo?), but hey: job security in pro sports, especially with the Yankees, is pretty much nil. He did things his way, was highly successful at it, and went with his convictions, repercussions from the higher-ups be damned. This book makes it crystal clear how fucking difficult that job is.

Next, it's time for my annual re-reading of Ball Four to get geared up for the baseball season. Not only the best baseball book ever written, one of the best books period. In my all-time top 10 for sure, maybe even top 5. I don't think about book lists as much as music lists.

It's all A-Rod's fault

Bwah ha ha ha ha!

The DR loses to the Netherlands again! Check out this box score! Three or four potential HoFers, some perennial All-Stars, and some generally solid players matched up against a team of whodats, and they lose to them TWICE?!?!

Too funny.

I love this game.

Would Wade Boggs have tested positive?

Chicken and steroids.

Juiced

Well, at least he admitted it and got it over with.

Let's see if he gets the Pettite/Giambi treatment, or the Bonds/Clemens treatment.

Social experiment begins... now.

(h/t for the image - tj)

You guys and A-Rod

Top 10 By Rickey and Rice
by beisbolct

Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson on Letterman.

Numbers, stat!

Placed my order for my three annual baseball books (for about a decade now), plus second editions of a couple more recent additions to the collection.

Within a few days, these two will be on my coffee table and/or at my bedside:



And as they're released in February, these will get added to the pile.



Oh. Baby.

I cannot tell you how many times I've read 2007's first edition of The Fielding Bible, or 2008's Gold Mine. And the Hardball Times Annual? Chock full of good shit every year.

Of course, I've got Anathem to work on too. It will be a good Winter/Spring for reading. Then again, it always is.

Life is just a fantasy, can you live this fantasy life - the conclusioning

I have the skillz that pay the billz!

I'm sure you have been jonesing to find out what happened since my last fantasy summary post.

After a frustrating bye week, the Fucknecks kicked some major ass, dispatching Fridge's Authoriteh with ease in the semis, and ruthlessly crushing Toast's Problem Child in the finals.



I had a 2 point lead going into Sunday night's big game, with Darren Sproles still to play, while Toast had Eddie Royal. This truly could have gone either way. Except... DENVER SUCKS! It turned into a laugher as Sproles relieved LDT and scored two garbage time touchdowns and a accumulated an Imperial buttload of yards.

And when, you ask, did I make the genius move of putting Sproles in my lineup? Oh, about 5 minutes after I picked him up the day before the game, prepping my roster early because I'd be on a plane when the games started!



I'm a genius, I tell you. Anyway, real happy with this one. League's point leader, overall best record, and now champion. All after losing my #1 pick 8 minutes into the season. Who would have thunk that juggling Matt Ryan, Kyle Orton, Matt Cassel, and Joe Flacco would lead me to a good fantasy year?

My team MVP? Tough call, but I'll go with Michael Turner, because Brandon Jacobs was hurt too much this year.


In my other league, I... WON!!!

Yes, Learn to Logic rode a 6th seed (7-7 regular season) playoff invite to my second title in three leagues.


The Corn Snakes went down in a blaze of suck, with only her kicker and Defense scoring in double digits.


Hey, that Sproles character seems familiar... and you know your league has a whack scoring system when the Cutlerfucker can score you 43 points with an 8745-interception performance.

Fantasy is always fun, if for nothing else than opportunity to talk smack with your leaguemates, and March can't come soon enough.

Is it baseball season yet? I need to find myself a second league, because being in just Toast's Blue States Baseball League won't be enough.

March can't get here soon enough

In the spirit of Christmas, here are some baseball links.

Shysterball on the silly annual exercise of bemoaning the Yankee payroll. Smart comments too.

On a related note, people who are bitching about Yankee spending don't seem to be mentioning the fact that $77 million came off the books this offseason.

Yankees by the numbers.

On the ethics of not signing Barry Bonds. Can we please not endure this line of questioning again this season?

Is it getting drafty? Yes, yes it is.

Sorry, the Yankees haven't been the "team to beat" in a while now. Yes, I like that they signed two very good players still in their twenties for a change, but let's calm down here. Soon we'll have Buster Olney and Toast exclaiming "the Yankees could score 1000 runs this year!" again. Just like every year.

Speaking of Buster, many good points here.

Doug Glanville on winter ball. Very well done.

Give this man a job.

Projecting the Mets.

Phew. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Ouch

Shysterball asks an interesting hypothetical.

Um, maybe? Would I recover? I'm not worried about fertility, just regular function.

We are all Rays fans now

What a glorious evening.



The bandwagon keeps chugging along, baby!

Suck it, Sox.

And man is David Price a keeper.

How you doin'?

This cracks my shit right up.

Cash money!

Cash is staying.

Now if we could only get Hank to shut the fuck up.

I love Ken Tremendous

...and want to have 10,000 of his babies

This is a thing of beauty.

Nice inning there, jackasses

Hey, good thing we traded away a decent reliever for a washed-up catcher.

Angels 7th inning:
2 solo homers, Yankees give up a 3-1 lead.

Angels 8th inning:
homer (1)
double
single (2)
error
double (3, 4)
single
single (5)
wild pitch (6)
single (7)

Yup, that's 7 runs in, and no outs yet.

Good thing I have to take a shower and go downtown to drink, so I don't have to watch the rest of this shit.