SB Nation User Blog: 3744nsheffield

Come on, Al, put the magic number up

3744nsheffield — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:25:34 -0000

The Cubs' magic number to clinch the division is 28 this morning. It's 24 to clinch the wild card. Cool Standings has the Cubs at 85.7 percent to win the division and 98.3 percent to make the playoffs. That's second best in baseball, behind only the Angels (99.9 percent in their pathetic division).

I realize, after my last post, that many of you are still a little gun shy about this, and see any mention of the magic number as putting the cart before the house, tempting fate, and playing into the hands of Cardinals fans, who will then be able to make tremendous fun of us. Perhaps. But let me ask you this: What would a Yankees fans do?

Some perspective for Mariners fans

3744nsheffield — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:23:40 -0000

I'm still laughing about Jeff's recent post that had "binoculate" in the headline. It was, as most of the posts here are, quite clever. I've been writing professionally for a very long time and have never used binoculate, let alone seen it in an article.

Yet the post also demonstrated that Mariners fans are getting a little punch drunk after all this losing, and that you need some tea and sympathy. So, as a public service, here are some organizations that may actually be worse:

• The Chicago Cubs. One almost season does not make up for all that futility (shamless plug for a piece I wrote about the Cubs' all-time worst players). And, as I like to point out, the North Siders taught Jim Riggleman all he doesn't know about managing.

• The Texas Rangers. I live in Dallas, and get to watch them on a regular basis. Ouch. That means I have seen them trade away Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez, John Danks, and Francisco Cordero in the past couple of years for almost nothing.

• Kansas City Royals. This does not even require an explanation, does it?

• Washington Nationals. Jim Bowden may be the most inept general manager in baseball -- and he hasn't been fired yet.

• Pittsburgh Pirates. Its last winning season was 1992. How many of you reading this even remember 1992?

Hope this helps. And, regardless of anything else, the Mariners have Ichiro. They can't say that in Kansas City.

Cubs magic number is 39

3744nsheffield — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:02:32 -0000

It's time to acknowledge this fact, since the number went below 40 after Wednesday's doubleheader sweep in Atlanta. Which means -- all together now -- that any combination of Cubs victories and Brewers defeats totaling 39 means the Cubs clinch the division. (And those of us who are old enough to remember 1969, when the magic number never went down to zero, need to take a deep breath or two.)

Cool Standings, by the way, says the Cubs have an 81 percent chance of winning the division and are 97.4 percent to make the playoffs.

Baseball Prospectus' take on the presidential election

3744nsheffield — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:12:38 -0000

Turns out Nate Silver is a political stats junkie as well as well as a baseball one. He runs a site, fivethirtyeight.com, that analyzes polling data in the same way that BP analyzes baseball numbers. The goal is to predict who will win the presidential election, in much the same way it predicts player performances and season results. Which is spiffy enough (and no, this not a post about the election, so don't comment on that).

But what's even spiffier is that Will Caroll, who analyzes player medical histories at BP, did the same thing for John McCain on the fivethirtyeight site. I've been following baseball and politics for a long time, but this has to be a first. What gives out on a politician? Do the legs go first? Can they have Tommy John surgery for their brain? Where do they go for a rehab assignment?

Ponson and Strip Club Jones

3744nsheffield — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:39:07 -0000

Sidney Ponson gets drunk and mouths off, and the Rangers release him with all sorts of high-sounding words. I'm curious: Is what Ponson did worse than what Pac Man Jones has done? Will the mainstream media rip Ponson and praise the Rangers for taking a firm stand (like Jim Reeves did in the Star-Telegram)? Will Rangers fans take a similar stand?

Because that's not what either did when the Cowboys signed Jones. No one was using high-sounding words. No one especially cared that Jones is a thug of the highest order, that people have died around him. What did Galloway say? "Jones makes sense" for the Cowboys. I can hardly wait to hear how he praises the Rangers for letting Ponson go.

But what will be more hypocritical will be the reaction on this blog and elsewhere. The same fans who were whooping and hollering when the NFL said Jones can play this year if he's a good boy in training camp will sound as sanctimonious about Ponson as Jon Daniels did.

Visitors here spend a lot of time ripping the MSM. Next time you do it, make sure you're not making the same mistakes.

Why Mariners fans are some of my favorites

3744nsheffield — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:34:12 -0000

And I'm completely serious when I say this. You guys are great, and I always get a kick out of reading this blog and USS Mariner.

I'm a Cubs fan and have been so since 1968. As such, I understand the futility of life and the joy of small victories (or even almost victories). As my bartender, another life-long Cubs fan of my generation, says: "You lose more often than you win in life, and being a Cubs fan prepares you for this."

The problem, though, is that most Cubs fans today don't understand this. They see the experience as some sort of amusement park ride, where there are going to be ups after the downs because there are supposed to be. They don't understand that sometimes, the downs are all you're going to get.

Which is why I enjoy reading this blog so much. The existential angst! The hopelessness and loathing! The Kierkegaardian dread! Plus, you do it so intelligently. Most sports blogs, sadly, are places for the lame of mouth and the halt of brain to feed their fixes. Here, and at USS Mariner, you not only roll Sisyphus' boulder up a hill, but can explain, using cold, hard logic, why it will fall down again. I shudder at the grandeur of this achievement.

And, to be honest, losing is probably more fun than winning. One appreciates the game more, and you don't run the risk of turning into a Yankees fan. The perfect example is the Red Sox, whose fans were crusty yet lovable New Englanders until just a couple of seasons ago. Winning, however, has turned them into insensitive louts who are no fun to be at a game with.

So hang in there, Mariners fans. After awhile, it's a badge of honor to have endured so much mediocrity.

Glorypark: Yet another reason why Tom Hicks must go

3744nsheffield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:38:13 -0000

Those of us who were at opening day had to deal with traffic jams, horrible parking, long lines, and few vendors. And what did the owner of the Rangers offer as consolation? That we would all be able to go shopping in a couple of years.

Hail to Glorypark! (That's sarcasm, by the way.) Hicks told The Morning News that fans must be patient and put up with those inconveniences for as long as three seasons so he can build the silly thing.

This is another sad example of little he cares about the fans -- and how little he understands the role of fans. Hicks sees the fans as cash flow, not as the team's reason for being. Glorypark is "synergy" for the Rangers, so it's no big deal to inconvenience the fans for three seasons. It's inconceivable to him that Glorypark would anger fans or keep fans away, because we're supposed to do what the marketing people say we will do.

Hicks can build all the shopping malls he wants, and he can make as much money as he wants. But that doesn't make him a good owner. Somehow, I don't think George Steinbrenner, for all of his other faults, would make it difficult for fans to get to Yankee Stadium so he could build a shopping mall.