Bucky

I said it's absurd to claim that Greinke "should" have 15 wins. Some guy--no names, just some guy--emailed to tell me I'm a freak, that he knows more than the well-respected Baseball Prospectus, and that I had committed "blasthemy." I think he meant "blasphemy," although I think equating Greinke with the divine is itself blasphemous or at least sacrilegious.

But why do some people have to whine so much if you don't agree with them? Are they babies, or is that an insult to babies.

I cannot download the rule books, but I thought that in both the NCAA and NFL it was illegal for a ball-carrier to jump over a defender and land on his feet. I thought that dated back to the early 1900s when they also outlawed an offensive player pushing on a ball-carrier.

Or have they changed the rules on me?

She build a sports facilty that is part of the reason that she left her home-town over $20 million in debt.

For a town of fewer than 10,000 people, that seems like quite a feat!

http://thinkprogress.org/wonkroom/2008/09/03/wasil...

He was a liberal Democrat, then he was Republican and a Bush supporter, now he claims to be independent. He's taken almost a quarter million dollars from oil companies but claims to support green fuels. He was a mayor who said he had no interests in other offices and then ran against a man he had supported. And his wife only shows up for campaigns or commercials, yet he shows himself as a good family man.

So, is he at least still true to ONE conviction in his life?

A Steeler "guarantees" a victory. Mike Tice "guaranteed" one when he coached the Vikings. It's fairly common.

But if you guarantee a product, I get something if you don't deliever.

Do they refuse their paycheck for the week if the "guarantee" isn't met?

I’m not saying he was awful. But I keep reading some people on YA saying he was the “most feared slugger in the game.” I just don’t see it. To reduce park effects and their distortions, let’s look at where he ranked in things like Slugging, OPS+, Runs : Created in his years in the AL.

NTT=Not in the top ten.

1975: Slugging 9, OPS+ and RC NTT.

1976: SLG 2, NTT and NTT.

1977: #1 SLG, #6 OPS+, #2 RC (Behind Rod Carew, a non-slugger)

1978: #1 in all three—kudos.

1979: 2/4/2

1980: 7/NTT/NTT

1981: NTT/NTT/3-way tie for 10

1982: NTT/NTT/NTT

1983: 2/6/6

1984: NTT/NTT/NTT

1985: SAME

1986: 10/6/6

1987/1988/1989: NTT/NTT/NTT

That's good. But that's not feared or dominant more than anyone else of his time.

George Brett led the league more often in slugging percentage. So did Schmidt, Jackson, Yaz, McCovey...he is tied with Fred Lynn.

That doesn't look like #1 dominant guy to me.

You know--they use three center-fielders for their All 2007 team, or they shift a 3rd baseman to 1st for the All Irish team or such.

I always thought that players played where they did for a reason. Isn't part of the challenge of forming these fictional teams that you have to follow some rules.

(Unless you want to come up with a Best Out-of-Position Team. That might be fun.)

I have been teaching on military bases for over three years now. My students are from all the branches. But they tell me they wonder why they should feel all warm and fuzzy about people saying they support them and not doing anything else.

If you claim to support the troops, other than trying to bring them home, you could:

enlist,

teach for the U of MD or Central Texas College,

join the USO or Morale Welfare and Recreation,

and there are more options.

I am a bit tired of so-called conservatives who argue that the wars are going great from the comfort of their own homes. Meanwhile, I spent most of last year in the war zone of Afghanistan and I'm left-wing.

Who is really doing more to support the troops?

I'm looking for a very traditional pub in Amsterdam with a nice selection of beers, maybe a good simple menu. I speak only a little Dutch/Nederlander, but I think I can at least operate around placing an order and finding the WC.

Thanks!

I'll be staying in a houseboat in the harbor, if that helps narrow choices.

Most of us are not experts. If we are, we could describe how--former major league player, or college baseball champion, etc.

Or people can just leave the source part blank.

So why do people list "me" or "my own head" or other nonsense as a source? (In my speech classes, I would drop people a grade for claiming to be an expert without explaining why.)

I won't call him out by name, but some Yankees fan was explaining that Jeter's poor range factor is due to injuries or this or that and that it is subjective.

Let's see--you watch a couple of highlight films and decide if a player has good range or not.

Or you look at number which compare him to others at his position.

Sure, the ratio of groundballs and such will vary, but it means it's not a perfect fielding stat.

But subjective? How uninformed are some people here, anyway.

(Not YOU, of course!)

I don't mean when someone is truly worthy. Obviously a guy who is plays and deserves to play 15 or 20 ASGs is great.

But let's say I am a pretty good ball-player on a lot of bad clubs. Every club HAS to have a player in the ASG, so I keep getting in. Nobody would rate me better than say #6 in my league at my position ever, but when I retire I make 15 ASG appearances. A few years pass, and people start saying I should be in the Hall of Fame.

(And of course, I could be a good player on a team that is in the WS a lot so my manager chooses me the next year. Or I am very popular with fans who rig an election ala A.J. Pierzinski (sp?) in Chicago a couple of years ago.)

In other words, since I would argue that the ASG makes a lot of bad decisions, should an accumulation of these be a big factor in making the Hall?

After all, Rafael Palmeiro won one in 1999 and played only 28 games in the field.

Players win them over and over if they have sufficient reputation. Even my beloved Ryne Sandberg probably didn't deserve all the GGs he received, but he was a bigger name than Jose Lind.

And there's a story somewhere about when an old coach was asked how his inept fielder could possibly win a GG, the coach said, "With his bat."

So, is the award a sham?

If so, should it be considered at all in HOF votes?

baseball-reference.com

Bill James Historical Baseball Abstracts

I know it's not law and I do believe in the right of expression.

But I see people who would claim to be "honoring" the flag flying ragged tattery ones, letting yard flags droop into mud, wearing them on clothes and spilling this and that one them, putting the logo of their favorite team on them...

Do people not know? Not care? Or do they think everything has changed with 9/11?

If it's simply an assumption that all athletes are better today, I don't know if there's any point to discussing it.

But I look at the generally much better mechanics and leg kick of earlier pitchers, check the stats, watch documentaries and clips, read extensively on baseball history...and I simply cannot see it.

I don't think that old-time players are automatically better. But I don't think they're automatically worse, either.

So what would lead someone to claim that pitchers today are simply better? Is it evidence or ignorance?

Whoever helps me understand this best will get the points and the thanks of a grateful nation.

Let me begin by saying I think he was a great player and that all the evidence suggest he is arguably the finest defensive right fielder of all time.

But I have read and heard people suggest that he was the finest right fielder overall of his day or even of all time. Have they forgotten about Aaron and Frank Robinson (or Mel Ott or Babe Ruth)? Some people said it was an outrage that he was left off the all-century team.

But he is not in the top 100 all-time in on-base percentage or slugging average or home runs or OPS or OPS+…he is #66 in Runs Created, #78 in runs scored, and #38 in total bases.

Several right fielders place much higher.

And don’t forget that these guys were not defensive slouches, either. But even a great right fielder only saves a handful of runs a year compared to an average one.

A great player, yes, and certainly worthy of the Hall of Fame. He might have been an even better man off the field.

But I think his playing has been over-rated.

Baseball-reference.com is great, but it doesn't do as good a job of putting fielding stats into context as I would hope outside of FA and range factor versus the league.

I cannot seem to find anything which would tell me (for example) how many times Honus Wagner lead the league's short stops in double plays.

If there is no site, can anyone suggest a good book on the subject?

Many thanks! I will definitely give ten points to an answer which yields results.

Frankly, I find it sexist and a contributor to the outrageous cost of American weddings. I've also known people who cancelled weddings or got divorced solely because of the "Bridezilla" syndrome.

Obviously, lots of you have.

For a lot of the questions here, however, the people asking them would get faster answers more accurately if they just went there. So I am not so much asking a question as giving some advice to question askers.

Go to baseball-reference.com!

(Note--I'm not paid by them.)