Upon Moving to Wordpress

At the urging of friends, I have moved the blog to www.cleverlytitledblog.wordpress.com.

Check there for all future updates.

Thanks blogspot for 4 good years.

Upon "News ?"

I set my television alarm this morning to wake me up at 7:30. After falling asleep while watching CSI Miami last night, I awoke to the CBS Early Show. With a serious expression on her face, the lead anchor began the first segment back from commercial thusly: "We now return to our breaking coverage of Britney Spears." This was followed by a split screen discussion with a "reporter" from Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, two programs which also run on CBS. The anchor began to tout the merits of CBS' exclusive coverage, all but crowing about their scoop that Dr. Phil McGraw had gone to visit Spears in the hospital.

Now I may not be the most ardent news viewer in the world, preferring SportsCenter to the 6:00 news. However, I can not believe that Britney Spears not only leads off some national news boradcasts, she has become the subject of round-the-clock breaking news coverage. I believe tha the celebrity obsessed news culture dates back to OJ Simpson's trial, and we have been descending the slippery slope ever since.

If you were to ask the average American what story stood out in their minds most from 2007, specifically as it relates to news coverage, I have a feeling that the majority of responses would involve a celebrity. Just thinking back on some of the media storms which were created last year, I can remember

Anna Nicole Smith- her son's death, her own death, the mystery surrounding her daughter's paternity

Paris Hilton- DUI and subsequent 35 second jail stay

Lindsey Lohan- rehab galore

Amy Whinehouse- rehab was missing

Britney Spears- shaves her head, loses her kids to the equally hopeless Kevin Federline, goes to rehab thrice, and her most recent meltdown

Michael Vick- dogfighting scandal


Now there was a lot written about all of these stories, and to use the alien corrolary (visitor to this planet comes down and uses our news media to get a sense of what our country is all about) we would seem to be an oblivious nation, blind to the fact that our currency is devalued, our most utilized resource is wildly overpriced, we are still entrenched in two armed conflicts...etc.
(though I must admit I hate when people drop the "There's a war going on" line when they want to devalue something they are against or don't agree with)

Early Mitchell Report Suspects

From an inside source

Brady Anderson, Manny Alexander, Rick Ankiel, Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds, Aaron Boone, Rafaeil Bettancourt, Bret Boone, Milton Bradley, David Bell, Dante Bichette, Albert Belle, Paul Byrd, Wil Cordero, Ken Caminiti, Mike Cameron, Ramon Castro, Jose and Ozzie Canseco, Roger Clemens, Paxton Crawford, Wilson Delgado, Lenny Dykstra, Johnny Damon, Carl Everett, Kyle Farnsoworth, Ryan Franklin, Troy Glaus, Rich Garces, Jason Grimsley, Troy Glaus, Juan Gonzalez, Eric Gagne, Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Giambi, Jeremy Giambi, Jose Guillen, Jay Gibbons, Juan Gonzalez, Clay Hensley, Jerry Hairston, Felix Heredia, Jr., Darren Holmes, Wally Joyner, Darryl Kile, Matt Lawton, Raul Mondesi, Mark McGwire, Guillermo Mota, Robert Machado, Damian Moss, Abraham Nunez, Trot Nixon, Jose Offerman, Andy Pettitte, Mark Prior, Neifi Perez, Rafael Palmiero, Albert Pujols, Brian Roberts, Juan Rincon, John Rocker, Pudge Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Scott Schoenweiis, David Segui, Alex Sanchez, Gary Sheffield, Miguel Tejada, Julian Tavarez,Fernando Tatis, Maurice Vaughn, IJason Varitek, Ismael Valdez, Matt Williams and Kerry Wood

Upon Jimmy Rollins, MVP?

After several weeks of debate on the MVP candidacy of David Wright vs Matt Holliday, the NL MVP was announced today. The winner...... Jimmy Rollins. I know playoffs are not taken into account in the regular season awards (which is why Josh Beckett and Troy Tulowitzki didn't win at CY Young and NL ROY). However, I STILL think that Matt Holliday was clearly the most valuable player in the National League, which was borne out as they rode to the World Series, ans crushed Rollins' Phillies in the process. So why was Rollins the MVP? Lets go to the stats( both real and made up):

Who had more, and by how much-

Runs: +19 Rollins
Hits: +4 Holliday
Doubles: +12 Holliday
3b: +14 Rollins
HR: + 6 Holliday
BB: +14 Holliday
SB: +30 Rollins
Total Bases: +6 Holliday
Wins Shares: +2 Holliday

Pretty close race so far, right? rollins has the edge in the speed categories, and Holliday in hitting. With total bases and win shares favoring Holliday, I'd probably vote for him by a nose strictly on these numbers. But what about the production numbers you ask? Let's continue....

RBI: +43 Holliday
Avg: +.44 points Holliday
SLG%: + .76 Holliday
OPS: +.136 Holliday

Well, that seems to be a pretty decided advantage statistically, wouldn't you say? Even if you factor in Rollins lead in runs scored, Holliday still accounted for 24 more runs than Rollins.
Also, Rollins recorded 80 more at-bats than Holliday.

Much has been made of the home and away splits for Holliday. He was by all statistical accounts a better offensive player at home than on the road. However, his extrapolated road numbers would still have constituted a good season. In fact, lets look at some simple numbers for Rollins vs Holliday if their home park numbers were removed and they played an entire season with their road numbers


Holliday- .301 23 HR 117 RBI 198 Runs
Rollins- .293 24 HR 94 RBI 140 Runs

Thats a runaway for Holliday. 58 more runs!!! 23 more RBI!! Where's your Coors effect now?

You want more splits, let's look at the playoff run (September and October):

Holliday- 30 runs, 12 HR, 32 RBI
Rollins- 22 Runs, 6 HR, 18 RBI

So who helped their team more down the stretch, when every game counted?


So Jimmy Rollins is the NL MVP. That Gold Glove must count for a hell of a lot.

Upon some more Joe Torre perspective

As Joe Torre inherits the job of manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, one wonders how his team can hope to fare in the upcoming years. Torre had great success in his first year as manager with the Yankees, and won the World Series.

Courtesy of ESPN:
"Opening Day lineup (in 1996) at Cleveland featured Wade Boggs, Mariano Duncan , Paul O'Neill, Ruben Sierra, Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams, Gerald Williams, Jeter and the man who just replaced him in New York, Joe Girardi"

In addition, his starting pitchers included:
David Cone
Jimmy Key
Andy Pettitte
Kenny Rodgers
Doc Gooden

In the Pen:
John Wetteland
Jeff Nelson
Mariano Rivera
Bob Wickman

The team acquired supertars and legends each year thereafter, but the common thread in the championship years was outstanding pitching.

Upon Do it Again

The Boston Red Sox just won the World Series.

They swept aside a Colorado Rockies team that had an incredible run through the playoffs, winning 4 straight. For the most part, the outcomes of these games were never in much doubt.

You have to tip your hat to a team that won the most games in the regular season, came back from a 3-1 series deficit in the second round, and smashed their opponent in the Series.

This marks the second title in the past 4 years for the Red Sox, which is a very impressive feat. The only thing I can say to rightfully cocky Boston fans is: Do it again.

You have now won 2 world series in baseball's modern era... do it again.

You dominated your opponent in the series... do it again.

You won the AL pennant in inspiring fashion... do it again.

You won the AL East over the Yankees... do it again.

You won the most games in the majors... do it again.

Do all these things, again and again and again. Make the playoffs every single year. Win your division every year. Walk into every stadium you play in for a decade and have your opponent get up as much as they can to play you. Boston is on its way, but remember that Florida has won two titles in the modern era as well. Your championship should be enjoyed, and you now have the keys to the AL East. We will forget that you finished third in 2006, and say that the balance of power has shifted. The Yankees are without a manager and their superstar 3b appears on his way out the door. They are a team in flux, and you are riding high.

The only thing you have to do, is do it again. And again. For years, and decades. Do it 20 more times, and come close every year you don't. Then you can start comparing yourselves to the Yankees.

Upon Opinions on Torre

When word emerged that Joe Torre would not be returning as the manager of the New York Yankees, the resulting furor had every Tom, Dick, and Sally offering their opinions on the unsuccessful contract negotiations.

The story began when reporter Ian O'Connor obtained a quote from Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, where the Boss said: "His job is on the line," the Yankees' owner said in a phone interview. "I think we're paying him a lot of money. He's the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don't think we'd take him back if we don't win this series." Both fans and reporters wondered if this was a motivational technique, or signs of Steinbrenner returning to his "what have you done for me lately"/Billy Martin ways.

When the Yankees lost to the Indians 3-1 in the ALDS, speculation regarding Torre's future continued. It ended late last week, when both Torre and the Yankees announced that he had turned down their contract offer, and would not be returning to the team. While the proposed contract would still have had Torre as by far baseball's highest paid manager, it included performance incentives which would have paid him approximately $1 million per playoff round reached. The contract would also have automatically renewed for the 2009 season if the Yankees had reached the World Series.

During a news conference held on Friday Torre was, for the most part, gracious in his exit. However, he did reveal that he felt insulted by the lower base salary, with the inclusion of performance incentives as what he said the Yankees termed "motivation".

So, where do I stand on the subject? For now, I only have bulleted thoughts.

• I have been a fan of the Yankees since 1991-1992, and remember Buck Showalter and the esteemed Stump Merril as managers.
• I was a big fan of Torre during his tenure, and thought he did a great job as manager of the team most years.
• I think that Torre was a fantastic regular season manager (as shown by his record with the Yankees). He knows how to guide a team, first of champions and later of superstars, to optimal regular season performance. He always got his team to the playoffs, and almost always won the AL East.
• I think that Torre was faced with a unique job among all other managers in baseball. He won a title in his first year as skipper, and 4 in his first 5. Expectations were that this would continue, and the payroll for the team and pressure adjusted accordingly. The New York media is relentless, and Torre never had any scrapes.
• Persevering through his own poor health, and that of his family was admirable.
• Torre never became a good bullpen manager. Ramiro Mendoza, Jeff Nelson, and Mike Stanton were luxuries which he got used to, and never adequately replaced. A more than solid long man, and a lefty-righty combo who threw hard from unique angles often served games to the untouchable Mariano on a platter.
• Tanyon Sturtze, Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill, Scott Proctor...etc. All these guys have had their arms nearly fall off due to the constant use that Torre put them to. HOWEVER (italics for emphasis)- Joe Torre had to win his division each year, and make the playoffs. He could not afford not to do so. Therefore, he used his best guys to win games in September vs Boston, but in my opinion, he also felt compelled to use them in 5-4 games at Tampa or Seattle in May. Being a Yankee during the must-win times we live in now meant that the relievers who performed best were used, because losing a game b/c Torre ran one of the average guys out there was not an option.
• While he has received an increasingly potent lineup, Torre's pitchers never matched the level that he had with Cone, Pettite, Wells, Clemens the younger, Jimmy Key, El Duque the somewhat younger...etc. the recent Yankee bomb squads can ravage a 3-4-5 starter, and get an ace in trouble. In the playoffs, you get as many aces as a team has, and your own pitchers have to match that.
• The 4 titles the Yankees won were littered with heroic moments. You need these breaks to win it all. However, Torre often showed signs of being outmanaged tactically. The Yankee lineups of recent years may have lulled him into some managerial complacency, which can't happen in the playoffs.

I've got more thoughts rattling, but I'd like to hear what other people think too. Anyone? Bueller?