Well, I didn't get Fantasy Camp for Christmas, but I did get a ball covered with replica autographs of Your 2008 Cincinnati Reds.  Of course, they didn't tell me who exactly is on there. Hey, I thought, this ought to keep the RR gang amused for about 5 of the approximately 61,000 minutes until pitchers and catchers report.

It's very unclear when the signatures were gathered -- quite possibly before the season, so perhaps no Cueto and Volquez.  There are 27 signatures, and one is Dusty.

So, here are the pictures.  How many can you figure out?  One million points to whoever can identify the most autographs, with a bonus one million to whoever gets the 27th one.

Picture #1:

Jeff Keppinger is easy in this one.  Looks like Ryan Branyan in the middle, except that Ryan Branyan doesn't exist.  Maybe it says Ryan Farney?

Picture #2:

Stanton is easy.  The other one is hard.

Picture #3:

Looks like Hit By Pitch, but maybe it's #4 Brandon Phillips?

Picture #4

CoCo and Jr.  and.... Dan Valentine?  Huh?  Could be Alex Gonzalez on there, too.

Picture #5

Looks like Bronson is a better singer than speller.

Picture #6

Dusty and Weathers and a bunch more.

That's 7 I'm reasonably confident in, leaving 20 more.  Li'l help?

(Besides, I'd get hurt in fantasy camp anyway.  Yeah, that's the ticket.)

(And by the way, it's not for sale.  This baby is my retirement.  You can't get these reproduction autographs anywhere except at www.autoball.com for $12.)

Well, it looks like Ozzie doesn't have as much respect for Junior as Dusty does -- he batted 7th last night, and 2nd today.  The Veteran Presence who fills the 3-spot: near-rookie Carlos Quentin.  Of course, CQ has about 140 points of OPS on Jr...

Of course, my WhiteSox-fan friends are irate that they are actually playing him in CF.

Which leads to a larger question: is the fanbase of any team in baseball generally satisfied with their manager?  It seems like most of the other SBNation blogs generally think their managers are idiots.  Maybe it's less a function of the manager, and more a function of the nature of the job.

Or, maybe its just that idiot managers who play the book, know how to win, and inspire veteranicity are the only ones who get hired.

Sorry for sending this to everyone; I couldn't figure out how to send it directly to Verka.  That being said, I'd love to hear anyone else's input on this.

Verka, I don't understand exactly what you are doing, but I think it's enough to say that you are working for social justice -- that is, a kind of equality -- for disadvantaged folks in the Latin Caribbean.  First off: Good for you, and thanks!

Now, my question.  I've often wondered whether the much-discussed inequality of income is as important as the absolute level of income.  That is, which is better: to have everyone get nearly equal income, or to have a bigger spread, but have the median be higher?

Of course, you have to define what "better" is.  But for these purposes, I think something like "satisfaction," "economic stress-level," or "contentment" might be the right definition.

I can answer this question for myself.  I'm doing reasonably well --don't have to worry about what I'm going to eat, don't have to worry too much about paying the mortgage.  It doesn't bother me a bit that Griffey's option year alone would bring him over 100x my income.  Because I'm content with what I've got, I don't care what he gets.

This makes me wonder if we shouldn't focus on raising "the bottom," and not worry about the disparity, except secondarily insofar as the megaincomes actively screw the poor.  If we could raise the standard of living of the 5th percentile in income in each country -- get it up to the point that the 5th percentile lives a decent life, maybe it doesn't matter what the 99th percentile is making.

So, Verka -- in your experience, which would make people more content?  Reducing the disparity, even if that means everyone is poor, or boosting the 5th percentile, even if some people are making 100x or 1000x that amount?

Continue reading this post »

Hi all,

Well, after last night, and remembering how last year it seemed like the Reds kept leaving ducks on the pond in inning after inning, I decided to do a little analysis to see how the Reds compare to the rest of the league in leaving men on base.

The summary is: the Reds were just about dead on the league average in 2007.  They are obviously on the high side for this year, but the sample is still small.

I put the whole analysis on my blog: http://briansbaseballblog.wordpress.com.  Most of that blog is about a fantasy league that I am commissioner for (but not playing in) so you won't care about all that.  (Listening to blather about someone else's fantasy league is usually about as interesting as listening to someone else's latest medical saga...)

The good news is that if the Reds return to their usual form, these current LOB issues are just temporary.

Anyway, you are all pretty smart about such things -- I'd appreciate your reactions, either here or there.

Thanks!