List contains the top 30 in Saves. I know you will all be shocked that K-Rod isn't #1.
Closer Rankings
1. Mariano Rivera, Yankees
17.3 Win Shares
34.0 VORP
10.3 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg W L G GS CG SHO GF SV IP H R ER HR BB SO HBP WP BFP IBB BK ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
2008 38 NYY AL 6 5 64 0 0 0 60 39 70.
6 p.m.
• Good for you, Bob Ryan. He's on Around the Horn's face time ripping apart Patti LaBelle's rendition of the National Anthem. Wow. I thought I was the only one that thought it was godawful.
I can't stand it when people try to put their own "spin" on the Anthem. Most times it fizzles.
• I did it. I did it. I did it. I found the ONE BLACK GUY who isn't voting for Osama!
It gets even better. Check out what Troy Polamalu said about what's important to him in
Eight years ago, Bill James produced his book on win shares. In that book, he listed each franchise's top 25 players by that statistic. In the ensuing period, the Phillies have had a run of success, finishing above .500 nearly every season and winning back to back division titles for only the second time in franchise history. With the club now producing several franchise players, I thought it might be worth updating the list.
1. Mike Schmidt (467)
2. Ed Delahanty (365)
3. Richie Ashb
6 p.m.
• So my little part of the country has been in the news as of late. The latest DRAMAH~! Is an out-of-state chick that claimed some black guy robbed her and carved a “B” on her face after seeing her car’s McCain bumper sticker.
This just didn’t seem right from the start. Don’t believe me? Check the other place.
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It's the list you've all been waiting for...the guys who aren't good enough be starting pitchers or closers!!!!
I almost decided to skip doing middle relievers this year as I'm rarely satisfied with the final rankings and always change the guidelines that I use for who I include in the rankings. This year I opted for the top 60 in relief appearance, excluding those who will be on the closer list. I should probably do more than 60 as there's a few good ones that don't qualify (Grant Balfour
Finally. Finally, finally, finally, finally I am excited about a World Series. I don't give a shit about the predictions of this being lowest rated World Series ever. If this ends up being true, then it's Fox and MLB's fault (and by proxy the WWL) for programing casual fans to think that only the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs matter. I personally have not watched the majority of a World Series since 1997 and let me run down each year as to why I didn't care.
1998: New York Yankees vs. San Dieg
This week I spent five minutes working on the poll instead of the usual ten.
1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Oklahoma State
5. Oklahoma
6. Georgia
7. Florida
8. Utah
9. USC
10. Ohio State
11. LSU
12. TCU
13. Pittsburgh
14. Boise State
15. Texas Tech
16. Missouri
17. Georgia Tech
18. Boston College
19. Minnesota
20. South Florida
21. Northwestern
22. BYU
23. Florida State
24. Ball State
25. Tulsa
This list lives up to Smues' hype!
Also...Ryan Ludwick: Big Fluke or Biggest Fluke Ever?
Right Fielder Rankings
1. Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals
26.4 Win Shares
53.6 VORP
10.9 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 29 STL NL 152 538 104 161 40 3 37 113 4 4 62 146
9:30 p.m.
• So last week the better half and I were watching this 100 Greatest Rap Songs of ALL TIME, or something like that. (I think there’s a TSM thread about this.) I have no idea why we were watching this. I had it on because it was late and I was curious to see if there were any “Where are they now?” features to the hip-hoppers I grew up listening. Mrs. kkk was watching just to laugh at the names (bitch got a slap for dissing my “Q-Tip” from A Tribe Called Quest). It was down to the l
Center Fielders
1. Carlos Beltran, Mets
32.6 Win Shares
57.6 VORP
10.4 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 31 NYM NL 161 606 116 172 40 5 27 112 25 3 92 96 .284 .376 .500 131 303 1 6 13 1 11
2. Grady Sizemore, Indians
3. Josh Hamilton, Ran
The TSM Blogosphere has been busy lately with talk of vacations and all the "problems" that go along with them. This got me thinking about some of the trips we took as a family (myself, Mom, Dad, and little brother)...and some of the problems that came with them (though none of them involve my dad getting the cops called on him).
Mount Rushmore/South Dakota
I think this was around 1990 or so. I remember this was the trip that my mother tried an experiment to get the two of us to behav
7:30 p.m.
• So just under two weeks ago Max bolted from our happy home into the wild. On Monday night we set out a cage trap that was loaned from one of Mrs. kkk’s friends. Basically, an animal walks into the cage and it shuts, trapping it. These devices are used at the friend’s workplace, so we began putting food in this contraption in hopes Max would not notice the chain links and hanging wall waiting to block any chance of escape one would have from entering this narrow corridor. Well Mo
Tim McCarver's hatred for this man almost made me want to root for the Dodgers.
Left Fielder Rankings
1. Manny Ramirez, Red Sox/Dodgers
33.4 Win Shares
83.5 VORP
10.8 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 36 TOT 153 552 102 183 36 1 37 121 3 0 87 124 .332
7:30 p.m.
• So there is this poster WHOSE NAME WILL NEVER BE REVEALED UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH that is recapping his trip to some overpriced corporate theme park. Reading his entries of unforgettable family moments got me the thinking of the time I went to the Magic Kingdom.
I can’t remember how young I was, but my old man was in-between his second and third marriage. After he married my old lady, she divorced him (probably for good reason) and sold the house that he spent YEARS fixing u
Is Hanley Ramirez the most underrated player in baseball right now? Of course playing for the Marlins doesn't help him.
Shortstop Rankings
1. Hanley Ramirez, Marlins
32.5 Win Shares
80.7 VORP
10.9 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 24 FLA NL 153 589 125 177 34 4
So I waited two weeks before doing my 2nd Pointless Top 25 because I wanted to do some hard research on all 119 I-A teams...or I just didn't feel like it last week. You make the call!
Again I spend about ten minutes doing this so don't bother spending more than ten seconds reading it.
1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Penn State
4. Oklahoma State
5. Oklahoma
6. Georgia
7. Missouri
8. Florida
9. Utah
10. BYU
11. USC
12. LSU
13. Texas Tech
14. Virginia Tech
15. Ohio Sta
6:30 p.m.
• So I was never a huge AMG fan, although "P-Funk" has got to be one of my all-time favorite tracks because it used polka music used in this brief selection (still trying to find it on YouTube, but click here for an audio sample). However, what makes this great isn't the song, but rather the video and the comments that followed. Someone got served.
-- nice shit rip the great easy e
-- nice video
-- i luv this song
-- this is amg!!!
-- Good song,
So sfaJill and I were in Target last night walking up towards the registers when I noticed a display of 'funny' Halloween cards featuring our Presidential candidates. There was one with the Obamessiah on it that read something to the effect of "this man might be our next President--and you thought Halloween was scary" (cue laugh track).
I briefly thought about buying it and sending it to my dad, but decided against it because he'd probably 1) think I've turned gay because I sent him a ca
Hey look another position where the A's had the worst everyday player! How I got through this season without slitting my wrists, I'll never know.
Third Basemen Rankings
1. David Wright, Mets
29.1 Win Shares
66.2 VORP
10.6 WARP3
Year Ag Tm Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG *OPS+ TB SH SF IBB HBP GDP
+--------------+---+----+----+----+---+--+---+----+---+--+---+---+-----+-----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+---+---+
2008 25 NYM NL 16
