Apr 13
My first piece of commissioned baseball writing is up over at The Score’s Getting Blanked. It’s an introduction to the baseball teams and their narratives. Over the years, I’ve done a few posts on baseball here but they’ve been few and far between. (That’s what I use twitter for. Seriously — if I had to watch games …
Mar 04
You don’t need to be a baseball fan to like the Bill James story. Actually, it may be easier to like him if you’re not a baseball fan. His insights still polarize people. Insights that overthrow established beliefs often do. It’s not uncommon to hear people claim that he wrecked baseball or that he makes it impossible …
Mar 03
Something from the 2010 season stuck in my head. Cito was being asked about Jose Bautista and a city and he said something to the effect of: ‘He likes it there, that’s where his tailor is.’ I can’t remember much more than that. But fuck you. It’s kinda amazing I remember anything. If you recall, …
Nov 08
Ron Washington’s clubhouse speech to his team before Game Seven of the World Series has been leaked. It’s just plain amazing. But who would expect anything less from Mr. Washington? He do what he do. My favorite quotes from it: “Motherfuck golf.” “He pitch ball and ball cross plate, we gonna knock the shit outta it.” “Ain’t …
Aug 12
According to unnamed sources from an opposing team (who threw the world series in 1919) in a far-fetched ESPN article that holds up to neither statistical scrutiny nor commonsense, the Blue Jays have been using a mysterious man in white to steal signs then relay them to their batters. It sounds insane. It is insane. But then we see the photographs …
May 20
I said on the twitter that I’d given up Edwin. But like most things relayed in 140 characters, that’s not the full story. I haven’t given up on him as a player. I’ve given up on defending him as a player. He just makes it too hard. Like, fuck’s sake Edwin, break me off something. …
May 08
pic nicked from here In baseball, safety is separated by ninety feet of danger. Touching the base, you are safe. The moment you lose contact with it, you are in peril. To score a run, you must navigate these ninety foot sections four times. If unsuccessful, you either get out or are stranded. If successful, you arrive back where you started. Home. …
Apr 19
A computer program has written a better sports story than a human.* But, in all fairness, the human did a really bad job of it. A really bad job. TNW says: NPR’s All Things Considered reports how writers at Gawker’s sports site Deadspin assumed that a story written on GW Sports about a baseball game had been written by …
Apr 04
Bases loaded, two out, bottom of the ninth. Blue Jays behind by one run and the clean-up hitter, Adam Lind, at the plate. He hits the first pitch he sees. Softly. To the first baseman. Game over. Blue Jays lose. Final score 4-3. This sets the blogosphere, twitterverse and talk-radio to sudden debate. Should he …
