EVIL~! alkeiper

Great post Czech. I was curious about the PCL comment, this one came up from 1955.

Remember the Angels just felt Torii Hunter was worth $18 million last season. I can see Toronto being a fit. The Cincinnati Reds just dumped Adam Dunn and should have some money to play with. I just can't see an elite hitter going for a two-year deal.

If he didn't, it's merely a formality. The idea of a two year deal for Ramirez is even more far-fetched than a six year contract that Boras suggests.

They have exactly one, Josh Vitters.

All three finished well in the fielding bible votes. Hunter and Ichiro received first place votes, and Sizemore finished third overall among center fielders. I think all three are perfectly fine choices. Crawford only played 109 games this year. I can't see giving him a serious award when he missed nearly a third of the season.

That's why I emphasize defense. With a competent shortstop, plays are made that should be made and all the sudden, Garrett Olsen is a solid rotation option.

Reports are that Michael Young is set to win the Gold Glove at shortstop. Yes folks, despite their brilliant Gold Glove shortstop, the Rangers allowed 967 runs.

Identifying problems with the Baltimore Orioles. 1. They have a lot of useless players under contract. Melvin Mora, Ramon Hernandez, Danys Baez, Jamie Walker. 2. They lack a shortstop, and have nothing coming up in the farm system. Shortstop was a revolving door with five guys logging 25+ starts apiece. 3. Alex Cintron was particularly bad in the field. Melvin Mora also finished in the bottom five in plus/minus this season. That is the left side of the infield. Notice the abysmal hit rates of young lefty starters Garrett Olsen and Brian Burres. It is much, much easier to buy gloves than to buy arms. If I were the O's front office, I would first look to sign either Adam Everett or Cesar Izturis. Also check on the availability of Joe Crede. Shore up that infield defense, and all the sudden the pitching they have looks a lot better.

I think those who discounted the White Sox gave them too little credit for their offseason moves, which hurt the club long term but gave them a short term boost. The perception is that Gardenhire did more with less. I gave Gardenhire the third place vote, but I do think Guillen is a fine manager. National League Gold Glove Award Winners 1B: Adrian Gonzalez 2B: Brandon Phillips SS: Jimmy Rollins 3B: David Wright OF: Carlos Beltran OF: Shane Victorino OF: Nate McLouth C: Yadier Molina P: Greg Maddux Nate McLouth? I'm sorry, but the notion that the Pirates allowed the most runs and doubles in the league despite the gold glove defense of their center fielder is ridiculous.

Reports from Keith Law have indicated that Ned Colletti is not interested in trading Russell Martin.

McCain with an incredibly classy concession speech here.

The Flair and Perfect sets are full documentary, then matches.

The awards are coming next Monday, the tenth. One a day, with the MVPs finishing up on the following week.

Howard is overpaid, but given what he's done for this franchise and his power, I think you have to carry him. It's hard to measure, but the culture of the Phillies has changed tremendously over the last five years. Attendance is way up and the team is white hot. I don't think the Phillies can suffer the P.R. hit.

As far as the Howard deal, right now he's a better player than James Loney straight up. Loney's OBP after 1000+ at bats is .353, not really outstanding for a first baseman. You can look at the monetary savings, but when you have a championship nucleus and an extremely popular player, you don't want to start tinkering with it.

I'm in. This is too good to pass up.

I've had great success using MalwareBytes, available at their website at Malwarebytes.org or at download.com. It's taken care of quite a few problems including that damn WindowsXP2008 crap that's been going around.

The 2009 Bill James Handbook arrived in the mail. With the proliferation of baseball-reference.com and oter media sites, one might wonder the value of an annually produced career register. Every year though, the crew at Baseball Info Solutions finds new details to add, providing more unique information to the reader not readily available elsewhere. The big newsmaker is the Fielding Bible awards and the accompanying fielding statistics. Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) uses a system called plus/minus to evaluate fielders. Explaining the system in full would take several parapgraphs but in short, it compares plays made by a fielder to an average fielder at the position. Hit locations, trajectories and velocity are taken into consideration. If there is a weakness to the system, I think it is that not all missed plays are created equally. A third baseman who misses a play to his left creates a single, one to his right creates a double. Otherwise, I think the system is effective. A look at the numbers might reveal some obvious truths. Nate McLouth rates dead last among center fielders. Coincidently, the Pirates' pitchers posted some surprisingly bad numbers. Are the two related? And on a similar note, might the Pirates' run prevention overall skyrocket if McLouth is moved to a corner and replaced with say, Andrew McCutchen? Statistical analysists long underrated defense, but it has become apparent that a large portion of what we consider good pitching is in fact, defense. Good defense creates good pitching, as more confident pitchers locate the strike zone, avoid nibbling and carry longer into games. The book lists both the 2008 leaders and trailers, but also the 2006-08 leaders. Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Feliz and Chase Utley all finished in the top two in their positions over the last three seasons. Is it any wonder that Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer came up big this season? Another less publicized but much appreciated section is baserunning data. The staff tracks how often a player took an extra base on a hit, again comparing it to the MLB average. Runners are penalized for outs on the basepaths, and stolen base data is taken into account. Willy Taveras rates as the best baserunner, Dioner Navarro as the worst. Among teams, the Phillies proved the most efficient baserunning team. Much of that however is their advantage in basestealing. In terms of pure baserunning, the Texas Rangers score surprisingly the highest with the Florida Marlins trailing close behind. The Washington Nationals rate as MLB's worst baserunning team. Leaderboards are provided, leading to some interesting observations. The shortest average home run distance belongs to Kevin Millar, perhaps a harbinger of things to come. Justin Upton is responsible for the longest average home run distance. Who knew? Bobby Abreu swings at the first pitch the least often of any hitter. Jesse Litsch throws the fewest fastballs of any non-knuckleballer. Ben Sheets throws the curveball most often, Edison Volquez throws the most changeups while Armando Galarraga throws the most sliders. Ubaldo Jimenez throws the fastest average fastball, Tim Wakefield the slowest (Jamie Moyer is second). Matt Lindstrom is fastest on average among relievers, but Jonathon Broxton throws them over 100 mph the most often. Win Share data is here. The Young Talent Inventory is back, but without Bill James' insightful comments about the individual players, it is wasted. You'll find player projections, expansive park data, relief pitching statistics, and many other sections. Currently, the book is available for $16.29 on Amazon.com. At that price, it is well worth the price for baseball fanatics.

Why did I have a sneaking suspicion that it was coming? I get the feeling that the Phillies' fanbase is really going to test my patience next season.

I don't know if there is a good way to sum up an event like this. I probably should not even try. A lot of things have gone through my head as to what to write, and suffice to say I'm not a terribly poetic writer. I got to watch quite a few of the Phillies' players come through the minors, including Chase Utley, Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard. Frankly, I am shocked it came about so easily. The only other year the Phillies won the World Series was 1980. In that season, the Phils won the division by one game, coming back from behind to win three times in the last week, including the clincher. They won a best of five series 3-2 against the Astros, trailing all three times before they won, and seeing four of those five games go extra innings. They won the World Series 4-2 against the Royals, and they came from behind to win three times. Twice they had to beat Dan Quisenberry to do it. The only game they won in the playoffs but never trailed was the clincher, game six. This time they went 11-3 in the postseason. They were never a loss away from elimination. The only game the Rays even led at any point was their game two victory. Cole Hamels established himself as a Phillies postseason legend, going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five starts. Brad Lidge rocketed up the postseason saves list. He has now saved more postseason games than all but two pitchers, Dennis Eckersley and Mariano Rivera. Ryan Howard hit three home runs. I think credit is due to the Rays though, who enjoyed a fine season. They lost fighting, with the tying run at second base and losing out only when a line drive stayed in the air too long. Baseball is truly a game of inches, hits turning into outs and vice versa by the smallest of margins. A couple of breaks and the championship easily could have gone the other way. Was it a boring postseason? More or less, yes. I was thankful for that from a Phillies' perspective but disappointed in the other series. The game five ALCS comeback from the Red Sox will live as a classic. Game five of the World Series was very good as a whole (it will hopefully live in one piece on the dvd), as was game three. Little was memorable about the Fall Classic though. I think we can lay blame on Fox, the weather, MLB as much as we want. The fact remains however that if the games are lacking, there is little you can do to dress them up. Baseball needs exciting games, and then needs to market them properly. It bears repeating. If you long for the days that your children could enjoy baseball, take them to a minor league game. The lower, the better. You get cheaper tickets, cheaper parking, cheaper concessions, and the players are much more accessable. It amazes me how much merchandise MLB will attempt to sell in the wake of a World's championship. Within an hour, the Phillies' website proudly displayed a couple hundred items for sale, all proclaiming the Phillies "2008 World Champions." Hats, shirts and dvd sets are customary. Here are some other fun items you might purchase. * Wincraft Philadelphia Phillies 2008 World Series Champions Galvanized Pail ($29.99) * Seven different 2008 World Series Bobbleheads, including the Phillie Phanatic, all holding the trophy ($24.99 each) * Mr. Potato Head, Complete with Phillies hat and trophy ($19.99) * 2008 World Champions Snow Globe ($34.99) * Cole Hamels Autographed World Series Baseball ($217.99) I can just imagine someone in the process of redecorating their den. A final note on the parade. Chase Utley has raised a bit of a stir by declaring the Phillies, "World F'n Champions!" That is not the most distressing thing on its face, but it is a bit disheartening how this type of language has seemingly become acceptable at Philadelphia sporting events. It makes it difficult to introduce non-fans into the sport or to a sporting venue. Winning is not a ticket to act like a jackass. In summation, this is really the first championship win I was alive to witness. I don't think anything in the future will measure to this. Thank you Phillies!

PWI claims '85 ended a two year run. I would think promoters would have lobbied PWI to retain the WWWF title's status at the time. "Unification" matches were a big attraction for a few years.

It worked the opposite though. The WWF title WAS recognized as a world title until 1983. The only rational explanation for it is that PWI did it to attempt to counter Vince's national expansion.

Record low ratings, but game five earned a 73 share in Philadelphia.

"Isn't that cheating?" God bless her. That's fantastic.