39 thoughts on “September 22, 2013: Birthday Season”

    1. yeah, that's why one has to be careful in using Pythag to measure a manager's success. Some claim that good managers don't waste their best relief pitchers in a blowout, winning more close games while letting some games be lost causes.

      The most interesting case to me is the 2006 Indians. They underperformed their Pythag by 11 games! They had the second best offense and the sixth best pitching staff but still somehow wound up with a losing record. It's difficult to fathom how they underperformed so badly. If there's one culprit, it's Roberto Hernandez. He pitched 74 innings in relief and went 1-10 with a WHIP of 1.6. Ouch.

        1. Oh you mean Fausto!
          I was bummed when the Clevelands removed him from closer, as I was going to a game at the dome in a couple weeks and I wanted to see them keep him in there.

          Also, I think Wedge was a pretty horrible game manager (although I can't remember the specifics of why).

    1. They’ve said that any discipline is going to have to come from the NFL, because the 49ers have no intention of disciplining Smith.

      Holy cats.

  3. Jonah Keri points to this piece on how the Pirates are helping to ruin baseball by utilizing sabermetrics returning to winning. Fun stuff to see how analytics can affect actual baseball organizations.

            1. You have to be on the book of faces/twitterverse to get this one...or have someone explain it to you. CH had a run-in with a former mayor (I believe) that was quite memorable.

  4. perhaps a cash grab to get a football game played at a baseball stadium is not the brightest idea

    for years, baseball teams like the Twins tried to leave their multipurpose stadium for a baseball haven, but it seems like the people running the stadium dont care for that stuff and schedule football games and music concerts during the season only to make a few bucks.

    1. If the Cards want to enhance their flexibility to host these events at Busch, maybe they could make it easier on their groundskeepers and install artificial turf.

  6. Michael Beschloss is a historian and tweet out some pretty good sports (and political) pics. Like this:

    Michael Beschloss ‏@BeschlossDC
    Here the 1888 Philadelphia @Phillies (then sometimes still called Quakers): #LOC

    that top hat on the manager (or owner)!

    3. That was a hilarious game. Mind you, I am not just sitting there wasting my day. I painted closet, folded clothes, etc. But my spidey sense told me that this was going to be an epic egg-laying season, so I decided that I might have to pay attention a little.

      That Browns team is terrible and they absolutely deserved to win. Epic.

      1. This was the dangerous game for me, but I'm now 3-0 in my survivor pool simply by picking against the Vikes. I even got a win out of the Browns!

        1. Have you heard that the funding mechanism, e-pulltabs, has brought in basically zero revenue? Just as big of a debacle as the Vikings themselves. I was okay with Twins getting stadium, but adamantly against the Vikings.

          1. So is there a back-up funding plan to pay for it then? (I'm not caught up on MN politics.)

            Also, it's amazing that Big-Z makes both Red and the Pohlads look like nice folk.

          2. I assume I could go to Mankato or New Ulm and play the E-Slots, but I have no idea where to find them. They are not in my local Legion.

            The funding would have been better off as the State putting out special Vikings lottery scratchers that you find at the gas stations and instead of the money going to the General Fund/Enviroment it just goes to the Stadium.

  8. Got back last nite from a week-long guided hiking trip in Sicily. Great weather, excellent food, and very interesting hikes through various parks and historical sites - BC'ers, Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, Arabs, Franks, Italianos.

    I found a huge porcini mushroom in the hills by Mt. Etna - our guide said it was the largest porcini he had ever seen - when we stopped in the neighborhood town for a beer, it was like I was a celebrity. We had our restaurant cook it up that evening - twas delish!

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