Say Goodnight, Gracie

I'm doing my best to digest congealed Thanksgiving leftovers.
I'm doing that and also gearing myself up for the Missouri/Kansas game set to kick off in about four hours.
However, TV listings are only giving me the "To Be Announced" description.
If "To Be Announced" turns out to be "Duck Tails: The Movie" then a certain offending television set is going to find itself flung right off the balcony.

So this is the biggest game in the history of EVER. And it just got BIGGER because #1 LSU lost. So now there's a number one ranking on the line in addition to all that other stuff. Insane. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around it.


Anyway, as far as baseball goes, Torii Hunter is an Angel now, and that's interesting because the Angels already have a full outfield. Maybe they're defecting to a softball league and will play four in the field instead of three.

The Cardinals patched up the holes in their dismal team by signing... a backup catcher. Jason LaRue hit an astoundingly awful .143 for the Royals last season. His OPS+ (a stat measuring offensive production against everybody else in the league [an average player has an OPS+ of 100]) in 2007 was just 33. The Cardinals have pitchers whose OPS+ is higher than that. But don't overlook the fact that LaRue's stolen base percentage last year was 100%. One-for-one, baby!

They're saying we won't know what killed Joe Kennedy, who the Blue Jays picked up late last season, for another two months. It's tragic and a little bit disturbing to find out a 28-year-old athlete in good physical condition apparently dies of natural causes. Around Thanksgiving, too. In Florida for a wedding. With a wife and one-year-old son. So sad.

Don't confuse George Burns with George Burns or, of course, Nathan Birnbaum. All were born within seven years of each other. All were fairly popular at one point or another. Only two were MVP candidates (with George Henry winning the AL award in 1926, although it's worth noting that prior winners [*cough* Babe Ruth *cough*] weren't eligible to win repeat MVP awards until 1930).
Today is George Joseph's birthday. That's what spurred this Burns tangent. Happy 118th.


I'm going to go now because every minute I spend typing is another minute I spend not watching college football.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly [writing]

Some quick GOOD/BAD labeling.

-Alex Rodriguez just won the AL MVP award. GOOD. He's, like, the best player in the universe, and that's just something everybody will have to deal with.

-Alex Rodriguez will play for the Yankees after all. GOOD. All the silly drama will continue next season and things in Yankeeland will still be interesting.

There are no other baseball players besides Alex Rodriguez, don't you know?

-Barry Bonds was finally indicted for something. I can't proclaim a GOOD or BAD verdict because, while I want to see Bonds get his just desserts, this whole thing saddens me.
I'm no legal expert, but something is still confusing me quite badly; Barry Bonds, indicted for purjery/obstruction of justice for lying about taking steroids. However nobody has proven that Bonds took steroids. So... he's been indicted for lying about something that hasn't been proven yet. Maybe something will be revealed during the preceedings. Or maybe evidence is optional in cases like these. Regardless, I wish he'd been indicted four or five months ago... BEFORE he went and broke that homerun record.

-The USA just won the Baseball World Cup. GOOD. Take that, World. As if I knew these games were being played anyway.

-Tom Glavine will play another year. BAD, actually. He had a so-so 2007 season, not an awful one. His numbers were merely average, but he'll be 42 years-old next year and decline is inevitable. He should leave the game with good memories of his 300th win still fresh in the fans minds instead of dampening them with the subpar performance he's bound to have with the Braves next season.

-Derrek Lee won the NL Gold Glove for first basemen. BAD. Because statistically Albert Pujols deserves the prize. Better fielding percentage, more assists, higher Range Factor. The voters must've only looked at the errors category where Lee had seven, Pujols with eight. Just one more error despite playing in fifty more innings.



Want to see why mainstream media doesn't take sportsbloggers seriously?
Okay.
Now check out my FireJoeMorgan imitation.

"Alex Rodriguez Does Not Deserve the 2007 AL MVP Award"

How's that for a confronting title? He does deserve the 2007 AL MVP, by the way. As if you couldn't tell where I was going with this.

"What a complete and utter joke."

This article, a complete and utter joke you say? Continue...

"ESPN reported today that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been named the 2007 AL MVP. If this isn't a sign that the world is coming to an end, I don't know what is."

Well, Biblically there are wars and rumors of wars and false prophets and horsemen and whatnot. Oh, wait, here in Revelations... "And the fifth seal was broken, and it doth declare the winner of the 2007 American League Most Valuable Player Award. Alex Rodriguez, it spake, and there was much gnashing of teeth..."

"Forget about A-Rod's stats for a second..."

Oh dear, here we go.

"...and focus on a much more important question: where did the Yankees end up this year?"

Don't tell me. I can totally guess this. Um... um... shoot, I give up.

"Exiting from the playoffs after the first round, that's where.

So how in the hell can you justify giving their star player the MVP award?"

Because he led the league in home runs.
Because he led the league in RBIs.
Because he led the league in total bases.
Because he led the league in slugging percentage and runs scored and a bunch of other offensive categories.
Because MVP awards aren't contingent on their postseason performance.
Because his postseason performance wasn't all that terrible anyway.

"It would be one thing if A-Rod valiantly led a small market team to their first playoff appearance. But that couldn't be further from the truth."

Valiantly? Like, on a horse?
And what do small market teams have to do with absolutely anything regarding MVP awards? Should he NOT get the MVP because he doesn't play for the Royals? WHAT THE BEANS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???

"A-Rod plays on the best team money can buy. The Yanks are expected to get to the playoffs every year. With their payroll, anything short of a World Series championship should be considered a complete and utter failure for the franchise."

I spy an attempt at logical reasoning. But regardless of payroll, I think that anything short of a World Series championship should be considered reality. The Yankees look good on paper, but my spiral notebook isn't in an early-season slump, isn't dealing with a pitching staff emaciated by injuries, isn't dealing with HIGHLY UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.
By the way, "complete and utter" sounds like the name of a toast spread.

"Since the Yankees didn't win a world championship, there's simply no way A-Rod should get the MVP."

If I drank coffee (which I don't... it upsets my stomach) I would have spat it all over my monitor just now. Only teams that deserve to win the World Series should have MVP award winners? But there's an NL and AL MVP award. Who doesn't get one because their team didn't win the World Series?

This is also a good time to point out that one man does not make a baseball team. A team doesn't lose because one player isn't doing too good. If, say, Alex Rodriguez has a bad set of games and the Yankees lose ten in a row, it's probably because the whole dang line-up is slumping. The pitching staff is tossing softballs. Alex Rodriguez's teammates aren't producing. He may contribute to the team's failure, but he's not solely responsible for it. This isn't the New York A-Roddys.

"MVP stands for "Most Valuable Player." Not most home runs or RBIs—which aren't too difficult to rack up when you are surrounded by the league's best talent."

If there are men on base you've still got to knock them in. Good grief. And obviously hitting the most homeruns does not automatically get you an MVP award. A Silver Slugger, yes. An MVP... leading the league in most offensive categories sure helps.

"The player who means the most to their team is supposed to win this award."

Rodriguez, yes, check, means the most, wins the award. Goodnight everybody.

"Where would the Tigers be without Magglio Ordonez? Could the Indians have had the year they did without the efforts of C.C. Sabathia on the mound?"

They can't all be MVPs. C.C. was the 2007 AL Cy Young award winner, so he got his props. And as for Magglio, the Tigers didn't even make it to the playoffs this season, so the author is making a case for points he rebutted earlier.

"What about can't they be considered, you biased hacks?"

You no write goodly.

"All season long, all we ever heard about were the Yankees, the Red Sox, and A-Rod's stellar season. It's time for the real gems of the league to be recognized, and the overpaid, underperforming superstars to be put in their proper place once and for all."

So did Rodriguez have a stellar season, or did he underperform? MAKE UP YOUR MIND. And what do the Red Sox have to do with anything else mentioned in this article?


If I ever write anything overwhelmingly stupid I want you to pick it apart line by line, then lop off my typing fingers, 'cause Lord knows I don't want to end up like this fool.

Alex Rodriguez: Coloring By Numbers

I get the impression that people think Alex Rodriguez is something of a liability. Critics, many of them in the New England region, many of them Yankee "supporters", consider him a choker, or a selfish goon disinterested in team cohesion.

He's currently making his free agent rounds and will end up with whoever is willing to pay the most cash for him. Thus far there aren't many takers, and it's not due to post-season unproductivity or big fat jerkiness. The only reason Major League ballclubs aren't clamoring for Rodriguez is because he's the highest payed player. He's simply unaffordable.

Let's say I'm a big league team. Probably the Royals. I'm poor but I want to -- I don't know -- street race. I can't afford the high-performance sports cars, so I'm left with my dumb (and ageing) Ford Escort. If I want to seriously compete I can't simply go out and purchase the best models. I'll need to build up my own cars myself and work with what my budget allows.

Alex Rodriguez, therefore, is a gold-plated time-traveling DeLorean with a rocket engine. His salary this season (part of that gargantuan 10-year, $252 million deal) was $22.7 million. Tampa Bay's 2007 TEAM payroll totaled $24.1 million.

(Completely amusing, by the way, is the thought of Alex Rodriguez in a Rays uniform... and, for financial reasons, the only player on the field.)

(You'll notice, too, that I'll never call him A-Rod. He's not some sort of load-bearing I-Beam, and I'm not so lazy that I can't say and spell his dang name.)

As far as Rodriguez's talent is concerned, FireJoeMorgon.com has already beaten this topic to death. I like to play with the numbers myself, though, so here's my argument that Alex Rodriguez is not as crappy as you think. And not crappy at all. And actually quite good.

Postseason Meltdown
Some time ago Alex Rodriguez got the reputation of being a clutch choker. I don't remember when the scapegoating began, but it probably started during the 2004 ALCS. In the twelfth innings of Game 5 against the Red Sox, the Yanks up three games to one, Rodriguez had a chance to knock in the go-ahead run standing on second base. A win here would take the Yankees to the World Series. With two outs, instead of hitting a Hobbs-like home run, he flied out to centerfield. In fact, for the rest of the series he could do absolutely nothing with runners on base. It was hard to watch, and since so much expectation had been heaped upon him, and since it absolutely mortified Yankee fans to watch New York botch a three-game series lead, he was the natural boo-ee.

Fast-forward a year to the 2005 ALDS against the Angels. Two-for-fifteen, five strikeouts, no home runs. Yankees did not advance.

The 2006 ALDS against the Tigers. One-for-fourteen, four strikeouts, no home runs. Yankees did not advance.

Naturally the Yankees' failure as a team is due to Alex Rodriguez's inability to play the game of baseball, ain't it? Right? Aren't they awful because Choke-Rod is awful?
Well, first of all I don't consider four playoff appearances in four years awful.
Secondly AREN'T THERE, LIKE, THIRTY OTHER PEOPLE ON THE TEAM?

2007 ALDS Breakdown
So the Yankees fall to the Indians in the first round of playoffs and it's all Rodriguez's fault again.
Yes and no.
Yes -- because Rodriguez amassed zero hits in his first eight plate appearances.
No -- because A) he then went four-for-nine with a homer, and B) he wasn't getting much help from his teammates.

In this series the only Yankees who got more hits than Rodriguez were Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon with five. The Yankees as a team batted .228 (.223 without Rodriguez). Derek Jeter, the Captain, Clipper, Savior, Etc., went three-for-seventeen with four strikeouts. No walks, no extra-base hits. Grounded into three double plays. And Chokey Rodriguez is the bad guy?

Hideki Matsui, two-for-eleven.
Jorge Posada, two-for-fifteen.
Melky Cabrera, three-for-sixteen.
Chien-Ming Wang, fourteen hits, twelve(!) earned runs in five-and-two-thirds innings.
Roger Clemens, three earned runs in two-and-two-thirds.
Some guy named Ohlendorf, three runs in one inning.

Again, Alex Rodriguez, .267 series batting average, a home run, a couple walks, a couple runs, grounded into ZERO double plays. Not great, but not deserving of his wretched public perception.

And if you go back and check the numbers for the 2004, 2005, and 2006 playoffs series you'll find that, shockingly, Alex Rodriguez was NOT the only player on the New York Yankees who performed poorly. Egads! In fact, you'll find that he was one of the better ones on the 2004 team where in that postseason he hit .320 with three home runs, eight RBIs, two stolen bases, and five doubles.

And if you go back even further, as a member of the Seattle Mariners his postseason totals are fairly impressive. In fifteen postseason games spanning from 1995 to 2000 he hit .340, had three homers, three doubles, six runs, eight RBIs. These are not choking numbers.

Rodriguez and Jeter, Head-to-Head
It's the natural tendancy of Yankee fans to like Derek Jeter and dislike Alex Rodriguez. Jeter is a born-and-bred Yankee, a first-round draft pick who rose up through the organization to become the first Yankee captain since Don Mattingly. For many years Rodriguez was seen as something of a rival; both played shortstop, both excelled at baseball, and they would meet each other in the playoffs. So when Rodriguez came to the Yankees and gave up his shortstop position it was immediately apparent that he was to be second-banana. And when, heaven forbid, they weren't chummy with each other... well, every good guy needs a bad guy.

But I would much MUCH rather have Alex Rodriguez on my team than Derek Jeter. I mean, it's great to have them both together, but if I had to choose it'd be Rodriguez all the way. That's not to say that I don't like Derek Jeter. I love the guy. He's got a great bat and seems to be a pretty good team leader. But athletically he's no Alex Rodriguez.

Although they are different types of hitters (Jeter with his inside-out good-for-gaps swing, Rodriguez with his big good-for-home runs swing) they both have remarkably similar offensive stats. Per 162 games they average about two-hundred hits, thirty-four doubles, seventy-ish walks, and a .388 on-base percentage. (Interestingly they're both also hit by pitches about eleven times every season.) So it's clear that they're both equally adept at reaching base, but it's how they reach base that's so very important.

Per 162 games:
Derek Jeter's slugging% = .462
Alex Rodriguez's SLG% = .578
This means that for each at bat, Rodriguez is going to average more bases. More bases equals more opportunities to knock in runs and be in scoring position himself. Speaking of runs batted in...

Per 162 games:
Derek Jeter's RBIs = 82
Alex Rodriguez's RBIs = 128
It's quite an accomplishment to attain 100 RBIs in a season, even extrapolated to 162 games. Rodriguez averages 128.

There's also Bill James' Runs Created stat, which is a calculation of how many runs a team of Derek Jeters or a team of Alex Rodriguezes would score.

In 13 seasons Derek Jeter's Runs Created per game is 6.8, meaning a team of Jeters would score 6.8 runs per game in Major League baseball.
In 14 seasons Alex Rodriguez's RC/G is 8.4, meaning a team of Rodriguezes would score more runs than a team of Jeters.
In 2007 Jeter's RC/G was 6.3. Rodriguez's was 10.4.

So clearly, and I don't even know why I'm arguing this, Alex Rodriguez is a much better offensive weapon than Derek Jeter. But what about DEfensively? Both are Gold Glove shortstops, but which one is better at his position?

By the numbers Rodriguez is only an average third baseman, but I don't think it's fair to compare stats from his secondary position. So any numbers I pull up for Rodriguez will strictly be for games played at shortstop.

Their fielding percentage is about the same (Jeter's .975 to Rodriguez's .977), but we need to be able to figure out who has the better range. The point of being a fielder is to make outs, and naturally you'll be able to make more outs if you're able to get to more balls. Fortunately there's a range statistic, and in this instance the results are very telling.

The Range Factor is calculated by adding assists and put-outs and then, for the sake of averaging, dividing by games played. Somebody who is able to get to more balls will have a higher RFg.

Derek Jeter's career RFg is 4.05, which is actually below the league average of 4.12 for that span of time he's played.
Alex Rodriguez's career RFg at shortstop is 4.42, well above the league average of 4.15 for his span of time.

And as for double plays turned, Jeter averages a double play every 1.8 games played, or 90 every 162 games.
Rodriguez at short averaged a double play every 1.5 games played, or 108 every 162 games.

Alex Rodriguez is a better shortstop than Derek Jeter.
Alex Rodriguez. Is a better. Shortstop. Than Derek Jeter.
So why did Rodriguez have to move to third base? Because Jeter wouldn't have even been able to play the hot corner. He's a subpar shortstop who wins Gold Glove awards because of that neat jumpy throw he does.

But Alex Rodriguez is the bad guy. And the boos of finnicky fans and finger-pointing media probably aided in his decision to persue free agency. And now the Yankees will lose their best player.


[By the way, I didn't pull any of these numbers out of my hindquarters. Baseball-Reference.com is the source for all of these stats and more.]