SB Nation User Blog: winningugly

Is Buehrle A Future Moose?

winningugly — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 02:51:06 -0000

Is Buehrle A Future Moose?

One wonders if he would be too shy to make a speech at Cooperstown in 2014, his first year of eligibility, or whenever the voters find time to do a serious study of his credentials. Debates over Mr. Mussina's qualifications for the Hall of Fame have kept many a baseball Web site buzzing for some time now.

The naysayers note that he has never won a Cy Young Award (though he placed in the top six in nine of his 18 seasons); that he doesn't have a World Series ring (though he's pitched in two Series as a Yankee); that he has a losing record in the postseason (though he has a respectable playoff ERA of 3.42 and has struck out 145 batters in just 139.2 postseason innings); that he never led the American League in earned run average (though he was in the top six 10 times); and that he led the league in wins just once (1995, though he finished second three times, including 2008). But such arguments focus on what he hasn't done, rather than on his achievements -- which are considerable.

(I wonder if Buehrle will be thought of as the lefty version of Moose. I found it interesting reading today on Jim's blog that his fastball improved by .6 MPH this year. Is he getting better as he gets older?)

Upset Over Higher Ticket Prices? Get Used to It.

winningugly — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:22:42 -0000

Upset Over Higher Ticket Prices? Get Used to It.

William C. Rhoden, of the New York Times, wrote last week that "the Yankees, who had a major-league-high $209.1 million payroll this year, offered pitcher CC Sabathia a 6-year deal worth at least $140 million, which would make him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history."

He went on to ask: "How can this be? Global markets stagger, but baseball rolls on," and speculates on the "attraction of sport as an escape hatch, a 2- to 3-hour refuge."

Similarly, Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist at Smith College, told Sean Gregory of Time magazine: "Historically, revenues in the sports industry don’t dip along with the economy." But Gregory then quoted Stanford University economist Roger Noll as saying, "Player salaries are extremely sensitive to market conditions."

Is That A Hair In My Bubblegum? Upper Deck Gives Baseball Card Collectors a Hair-Raising Experience

winningugly — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:26:21 -0000

Is That A Hair In My Bubblegum? Upper Deck Gives Baseball Card Collectors a Hair-Raising Experience

On a recent evening, Barbara Ann Artusa and her husband hunkered down on the living room floor for their Saturday night ritual: opening packs of baseball cards.

That night, however, Ms. Artusa, a baseball-card collector since the 1970s, found something unusual in one pack -- a scratch-off code that pointed her to a Web site. The site told her she had won something too delicate to include in a regular pack: a single strand of hair from the head of Abraham Lincoln.

Who's Worth The Free-Agent Big Bucks?

winningugly — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:53:50 -0000

Who's Worth The Free-Agent Big Bucks?

Free agency is baseball's great con game, as anyone examining this year's World Series rosters can see. The most important free-agent contributor for either Philadelphia or Tampa Bay was probably the Phillies' J.C. Romero, a decent but hardly inspiring relief pitcher.

(Interesting to see the Wall Street Journal refer to baseball salaries - any baseball salaries - being obscene.)

The Original "Wild Thing" Finds He Can Go Home

winningugly — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:16:09 -0000

The Original "Wild Thing" Finds He Can Go Home

Life is often unkind to baseball's goats. Blamed for failure by millions of fans, they usually retreat into quiet ignominy.

Then there is Mitch Williams.

Fifteen years after giving up a World Series-losing home run for the Philadelphia Phillies, Mr. Williams is enjoying a resurgence matched by his former team's. On Monday night, the Phillies were one win away from clinching the championship, the closest they'd been since the pitcher known as "Wild Thing" took the ball from manager Jim Fregosi in 1993's Game 6 and served up a ninth-inning three-run bomb to Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Phillies had won only one World Series in their history. The notoriously passionate fans were devastated by that 1993 Series defeat, and Mr. Williams took the losses in two of the games. He received death threats after Game 4, and fans egged his home when the Series was all over.

Maybe It's Time For a New Logo?

winningugly — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:57:49 -0000

Maybe It's Time For a New Logo?

Forty years ago, Mr. Dior worked as a graphic designer at Sandgren & Murtha, a New York City-based marketing company. In 1968, Major League Baseball commissioned the agency to design an original logo. The mark was to serve two purposes: to signify that MLB was placing league-wide merchandizing rights under the auspices of a new umbrella company, and to commemorate the national pastime's upcoming centennial.

"Baseball was going through a bad period," says Tom Villante, an advertising executive who helped choose the logo. "The NFL was gaining rapidly, and baseball was viewed as my grandfather's sport. We needed something to give the sport a boost."

Rays Already Crying Poor - Are They The Canary In the Coal Mine re: MLB Economics?

winningugly — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:48:18 -0000

Rays Already Crying Poor - Are They The Canary In the Coal Mine re: MLB Economics?

The Tampa Bay Rays have slain the big-market bullies from New York, Chicago and Boston, but the team will soon face a much greater foe.

"The economy could kill us," says Stuart Sternberg, the team's principal owner and a former partner at Goldman Sachs

A Rays Win is Good For America, As They Are Now America's Team

winningugly — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:04:57 -0000

A Rays Win is Good For America, As They Are Now America's Team

We so badly need them to win Game 7 tonight. We so desperately need them in the World Series.

If John McCain and Barack Obama were debating this issue of national importance, even they would be forced to agree. As a nation, we need a standard and a symbol for hoping and coping. We need America's Team in the World Series.

We need the Tampa Bay Rays to show us it's possible to endure tough economic times; that somehow, someway, you can scrimp and scrape and scramble and struggle and find a way to git 'er done.

Hoodie Has an Evil Twin, or An Englishman's love of baseball

winningugly — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 14:08:15 -0000

Hoodie Has an Evil Twin, or An Englishman's love of baseball

For around half the year, my day begins much like anybody else in my line of work. I start with the Today programme or, if in conscientious mode, with the news at 5.30am and Farming Today. I listen to the sport with foreboding – the natural consequence of being a Tottenham Hotspur fan.

During the seven months of the US baseball season, however, I begin my day with a pilgrimage to the Boston Red Sox website to find out the previous night’s result, examine a stream of statistics that decode the game and watch a three-minute video of highlights. In recent years this has largely been a soothing activity – in 2004 the Red Sox abandoned an 86-year attraction to glorious and improbable defeat in favour of the more lucrative and satisfying activity of winning the World Series, professional baseball’s only championship of merit. At the time of writing, they are still – albeit precariously – in with a shout of playing the Philadelphia Phillies in this year’s World Series, which begins this week.

(WU sidebar - in the printed version ths title is as above. Interesting on the Web version they replace "love" with "obsession". The article, once you get past the Red Sox angle, is beautufully written and lyrically captures much of what I love about the game.)

This Is What We Will Be Paying Attention To When Obama Is President

winningugly — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:16:38 -0000

This Is What We Will Be Paying Attention To When Obama Is President

The Red Sox look very white.

The trade of left fielder Manny Ramirez and loss of shortstop Julio Lugo to injury left the Sox with a predominantly Caucasian roster.
Why bring this up now, with the Red Sox in the American League Championship Series? Well, the free-agent market will open in about a month. The makeup of the Red Sox's roster could be a concern for players they pursue, whether it's this offseason or in the future.