- 10:17 PM
- 07/08/08
| Member since: | February 1, 2007 |
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| Last visit: | May 27, 2008 |
The Crafty Sousepaw has posted 15 links and 573 comments to SportsFilter and 2 threads and 186 comments to the Locker Room and has written 1 column.
Brand strategy Fashion guy Marc Ecko put the fate of #756 into the public's hands... and the results are in.
posted on Sep 26, 2007 - Go to the detail view for this result
Ballplayer , poet, musician, pitchman [youtube], quotable broadcaster, Phil Rizzuto passed today. He was the oldest living Hall of Famer whose Induction speech was unforgettable. He was also the baseball voice for generations of Yankees fans, and he will be sorely missed.
posted on Aug 14, 2007 - Go to the detail view for this result
He's back. Some are calling him "The Natural." Some are calling him the next Ruth. While the doubters were eating crow, all eyes were on Rick Ankiel's glorious return last night, and he did not disappoint.
posted on Aug 10, 2007 - Go to the detail view for this result
Jon Lester is a winner.
posted on Jul 23, 2007 - Go to the detail view for this result
60 Years Ago Today Larry Doby integrated the American League. He was signed by Bill Veeck, whose desire to integrate was criticized by some. The sale of Doby by Negro Leagues owner Effa Manley set a precedent for compensation back to the ill-fated league's owners as they lost more and more stars, and illustrated her willingness to sacrifice her star players for the greater good.
posted on Jul 5, 2007 - Go to the detail view for this result
The Playoffs, As We Know Them, Are Bunk My (quixotic, admittedly) proposal for overhauling the playoff and regular season system for all of American sports. A sportsfilter column by our own chicobangs.
posted to General at 7:14 AM CDT
Barry Bonds' ex-mistress details star's steroid use, temper. In exchange for a pictorial in this November's Playboy, Bond's former lover Kimberly Bell confirms his steroid use and describes the consequences.
posted to Baseball at 11:02 AM CDT
I was dreading this thread. Whatever happens from here on, that post, wfrazerjr, will have made it worthwhile.
posted at 11:24 AM CDT on October 4
Rockets fine Yao Ming for attending Special Olympics opening ceremony Doesn't strike me as the wisest of PR moves.
posted to Basketball at 5:36 AM CDT
Eh. Yao has contractual obligations to the team that he is choosing not to meet at his own expense. I see this story as less "Rockets fine Yao Ming for attending Special Olympics opening ceremony" and more "Yao Ming willing to attend Special Olympics ceremony at personal cost."
posted at 10:33 AM CDT on October 4
"I just wanted to give the fireworks guy a rest." Good Sporting News profile of Sox manager Terry Francona.
posted to Baseball at 3:04 PM CDT
This is a necessity because Francona has the most difficult job in sports... uh, what?
No team draws crowds like the Red Sox... WHAT?
Otherwise, nice article. Francona is easy to root for -- great manner, great sense of humor, plenty of character. The story about Manny asking to use the cell phone is pretty classic, too.
Boston deserves to be in the spotlight.
Yeah, poor Boston and their media deprivation.
posted at 9:36 AM CDT on October 5
1. If you don't see making the claim that "managing the Red Sox is the hardest job in all of sports" as stunningly cartoonish hyperbole, then no, we are just not going to agree on this. The hardest job in all of sports? I don't think it's the hardest job on his own team.
2. His point has absolutely nothing to do with what people on vacation in Boston have on their itinerary. To say that no team draws crowds like the Red Sox is not only wrong, it is physically impossible. Even if you want to argue that he's speaking in generalities, and really what he means is that no team draws attention like the Red Sox, he'd still be wrong. I'm not denying the Red Sox draw, but I don't think you can separate them as standing alone in the way the writer does.
Semantics. These are pretty small and peripheral points in the article that I just found surprising. I'm not really sure why I'm bothering to argue this -- maybe I'm just grouchy today.
posted at 12:30 PM CDT on October 5
Leave Steve Bartman Alone! Now that the Chicago Cubs have returned to the playoffs, Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti thinks the scorn heaped on Steve Bartman for the foul ball grab has made the infamous fan darker, sadder and lonelier. "I'm sorry," Mariotti writes. "And, really, Cubdom should be sorry, too. Without knowing his identity, I scolded him in print for acting like a dummy fan who should have known better. Next thing you knew, crazy message boards on Major League Baseball's Web site were outing his name, turning an ugly scene at Wrigley -- who can forget Bartman burying his head in his jacket while beer and obscenities were hurled? -- into the beginning of his new, unfortunate life."
posted to Baseball at 1:42 PM CDT
Dear Jay,
How about a little less apology and a little more shut the hell up.
Sincerely,
Steve
posted at 2:27 PM CDT on October 3
For The Love of Sport: Sooners Stake a Claim Make no mistake, the bellwether game for Oklahoma this year is this Texas game. The latest column in a continuing series by sportsfilter's own kyrilmitch_76.
posted to Football at 9:08 AM CDT
Thanks for your comment NavyChop. Unfortunately, the only word we're getting back here about Djibouti is that its capital is Djibouti. Keep up the good work.
posted at 2:24 PM CDT on October 4
Most Popular NFL Teams (in Order): Cowboys, Colts, Steelers, Packers This year's Harris poll of NFL team popularity has the Dallas Cowboys passing the Pittsburgh Steelers to claim the top spot, ahead of the fast-climbing Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers. The least popular team for the third straight year: My Jacksonville Jaguars.
posted to Football at 6:34 PM CDT
Steelers fans have such an away presence because there are Pittsbourgeoisie living all over the place; a massive number of Steelers fans show up to games in, say, San Diego, because a massive number of steeltowners emigrate every year to somewhere, anywhere, nicer. Like San Diego.
Rand-McNally holding on line one.
posted at 9:09 AM CDT on October 4
Karma is the key for Rockies play-in to playoffs The gods smiled on this one. The Rockies had to win 13 out of 14 just to get to this game. They won it in the bottom of the 13th by scoring three runs against the most successful closer in the history of the game. The winning run came on a controversial play at the plate. Of course it was scored by Matt Holliday, who just moments before got RBI #137, allowing him to claim the RBI title from Ryan Howard. Some think he's the MVP, and if he wasn't in that game (and the whole month of September), when the team needed him most, then the term has no meaning. Holliday could've been the goat after misplaying a fly ball that allowed the Pads to tie it up in the 8th. Pads fans no doubt are unhappy with how the play at the plate was called, but maybe it makes up the for home-run-no-it's-a-double that was taken from Brad Hawpe, the third time THIS MONTH(!) the Rox were robbed of a home run by a bad call.
posted to Baseball at 11:30 AM CDT
Trevor Hoffman is a stand-up guy. He's taking an awful lot of heat for losing a game in which Jake Peavy gave up six runs in 6+ innings.
Only one of the eight teams from last year's post-season is going back again this year. If you're still rooting for a change in the financial structure of baseball -- like a salary cap -- you can pretty much forget it.
posted at 11:42 AM CDT on October 2
Dodgers tried it for a while and found they weren't very good at it.
I shouldn't have made that comment. I was trying to make a back door observation about the parity in baseball. I didn't mean to turn this into a discussion on finances. Forbes laid out a pretty good case for why your argument, Seve, while popular, doesn't align with the financial reality of the game. Along the lines of yerfatma's response, there is a lot of revenue out there not being spent.
I'm a Padres fan, and with the way the Rockies have been playing, and with two of our key guys out, I'd much rather see the Rockies in the postseason than the Pads, who would most likely just limp to another drubbing in the division series.
The playoff game hurt the Padres' chances of advancing a lot more than the Rockies. The Padres had to burn their ace for the game, while the Rockies went with their number... uh... well, it's hard to say, but not their ace anyway.
posted at 12:50 PM CDT on October 2
The case for Jimmy Rollins.
Rollins is the first major leaguer to have at least 200 hits, 15 triples, 25 home runs and 25 stolen bases in one season. He is also only the third everyday shortstop to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in a season, joining Barry Larkin in 1996 and Alex Rodriguez in 1998.
Rollins ranks first in the N.L. in runs scored (136), at-bats (704), multihit games (62) and triples (19). He began the day tied for second in hits with 207 before adding to his total and drawing within one at-bat of the single-season record of 705, set by Willie Wilson of Kansas City in 1980.
“Thirty homers, Gold Glove at shortstop, steals bases, hits for average — yeah, I’d say you could make a case he’s as good as there is,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said of Rollins.
My view on this today is the same as it was yesterday. If the Rockies lost last night, Rollins would win the MVP. But because they won (and additionally, because Holliday was involved so directly in the victory) it will probably go to Holliday.
I have to say, though, that Rollins candidacy is better than many people are giving him credit for. He had a seriously awesome season.
posted at 2:56 PM CDT on October 2
So is it "more valuable" to play sub-par shortstop than average 3rd base, etc? How about if the comparison is to a player in an "easy" position, such as LF?
Hal, that's a great point. My response to that, I think, would be to expand a little on dyams' point. The DH has one job, hitting, which he does about once an hour during a game and then returns to the bench. A fielder has to withstand the rigors of playing his position and he doesn't have the opportunity to only focus mentally on one aspect of the game. Even if he was a league-average fielder, I think to be able to perform near equivalently on the offensive side to a DH with the additional workload is sufficient to push a position player over a DH. Shoot, Ortiz usually has the luxury of a couple of innings to go hit in the cage between at bats if he was so inclined. I do agree, though, that if the player is a terrible fielder that should be given more consideration than it is, largely because it's a more subjective element of the game that requires watching a player regularly to judge fairly.
I also agree with you that Ortiz is in line for a "lifetime achievement" type of voting from the writers, but I don't think he will beat out Ordonez this year for the simple reason that the writers know he isn't likely to win and they won't see any great value in making sure he's second again rather than third. Ortiz will get those votes in a season that has no clear runaway favorite.
posted at 10:14 AM CDT on October 3
After all, what comes easily to one player may require hours of work for another, but we don't say "Gee, Player X really worked hard on properly fielding ground balls this year while the very gifted Player Y hardly ever did...so what if he has a bunch more errors, give him the Gold Glove for effort."
I don't see how you got from quantity of effort given in a game to work ethic between games. I guess the two thoughts I have on this are:
1. I believe the Red Sox would be harmed less by dropping their DH and letting their pitcher hit than the Tigers would be by deciding to remove their right fielder and using two DH's, regardless of who the right fielder is.
2. With regard to your comment
The MVP award is, of course, often determined by very subjective criteria (such as getting along with the press), but in theory, it should be purely based upon Value - the winning player being the one who added the most value to his team above and beyond what an average player might have contributed.
I would respond that this "Value" you speak of is unquantifiable and misleading, and furthermore I bet I can convince you that you don't even believe what you just wrote. On the Red Sox, would you really rather replace Beckett or Okajima or Papelbon with an average player than Ortiz? Seriously, Okajima was a good deal more valuable (in my eyes) beyond the average set up guy than Ortiz was over the average DH -- where would the Sox be without that bridge to Papelbon? They were 48-18 in games in which Okajima appeared and the Red Sox finished 30 games over .500. Yet, I don't believe you think Okajima will or should get more votes than Papi come election time.
posted at 1:15 PM CDT on October 3
Both MVP candidates discussed here already have homers today. Just, you know, to say.
posted at 2:38 PM CDT on October 4
So what you're saying is that the super-fragile chandelier-istic spikey clump's atrocious?
Post. Of. The. Week! :)
That was good, but this one is tough to beat.
posted by SummersEve at 1:19 PM CDT on October 6
It's that time of year when every week is a must win and every post means something. We can't worry about the past posts, we have to keep focusing on today's post and hope that we can pull off a win this week. Sure, you catch yourself message-board-watching. I know Fraze is putting up some big posts lately. He's got a lot of momentum. Nobody said it was going to be easy, but if we can take advantage of some mistakes this week... like "NUFF-in man"... hopefully we can put ourselves in a position to move on.
Perhaps surprisingly, I'd like to look at Chico's suggestion from a baseball perspective. The evolution of baseaball went roughly thusly: before 1903, leagues had a decided pennant winner at the end of the season, and that was pretty much that. There were a few seasons in which pennant winners from rival leagues faced each other, but these were exhibitions (of the sort chico seems to be proposing) and were far from official. In 1903, the AL and NL decided to start a tradition of formal post-season games in the form of a World Series, and minus a hiccup in 1904 when the NL champ Giants refused to play the AL champ Red Sox and 1994 when some miserable rotten bastards ruined everything, the World Series has been used to determine the regular season champion of the two league's pennant winners. The growth of baseball and expansion of the leagues has brought about expansion of the post-season, but the purpose continues to be to determine the regular season champion. To say that there can be a notion of a regular season champion that supercedes any post-season accomplishments sends us right back to the beginning of the 20th Century. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but it does sort of blatantly ignore what the World Series is supposed to be doing in the first place.
As an admitted baseball traditionalist, my knee-jerk reaction (really, even before I read the column) is to say that these suggested changes will never work. But I am willing, for the purpose of spitballing, to put aside that narrow view for a moment to explore how your plan, chico, might be put to good use in baseball.
I don't like the idea of moving the post-season into the following year for these reasons:
1. I consider the link between the regular season and the post-season to be too strong and it would damage my view of "The Season."
2. The period from Opening Day to the World Series I think should be an endurance test -- not as much as a measure of pure talent, but I would not want to see the element of endurance removed. Part of the allure of any season's "Mr. October" is knowing that this player endured a full 162-game season (or presumably some good chunk of it) and still rose up to a high level of achievement at the end of all that. That means something to me.
3. The age and development of players contributes to the magic of October. I don't want to see players who reached their peak value in their career year mean nothing in the post-season because they lost all their magic in the off-season. Likewise, rookie sensations are more seasoned the following year (and some potentially experiencing their "sophomore slump," and I'd rather their regular season magic and newness remain on stage for the post-season.
4. It would make managing pitchers and rotations even more complicated. The potential plus is that it simply adds more strategy (e.g. do you use your ace or closer in the game to win for this season or save him for last year's post-season game), but the end result is that one or the other gets compromised and the incentive to abuse and injure pitchers becomes greater.
That said, I would consider sacrificing some or all of this if by either moving the post-season or independently creating a mid-season "exhibition series" you were able to achieve any of the following:
1. the total removal of any incentive to have post-championship fire sales;
1a. the increased incentive to retain as many players as possible on winning teams, mitigating player movement in the free agency era;
2. somehow making the exhibition series revenue exclusively attendance driven -- either by not adjusting broadcast contracts to include them or by making the exhibitions "camera-free" non-broadcast events. My theory, possibly faulty, being that if a greater percentage of team revenue is made up of gate receipts, it will create a stronger incentive for teams to put a competitive product on the field;
3. bring back the nostalgic notion of barnstorming.
For my part, instead of moving the post-season to the following year, I'd be all for eliminating the month of stupid Interleague games and replacing them intermittently through the season with some kind of exhibition/barnstorming format that involves all the teams. If you work them as short series, they might prove to be good ways to measure how a playoff hopeful will stand up in such a format. And I'm sure there are benefits that aren't occurring to me right now.
And to finish, though I recognize it's not really the discussion here, relegation would not work in baseball, at least not with minor league teams. AAA teams are not separate clubs, they are farming operations whose players move up and down routinely throughout the season. They are not whole professional teams trying to climb the ranks. Frequently they are dotted with major league players on injury rehab or temporarily sent down for seasoning, which makes them temporarily more powerful, thus throwing off the actual balance of power in the lower leagues.
Nuff said. Sorry I was so long.
On edit: what bender said re: relegation.