Proceeds from the ads below will be donated to the
Bob Wuesthoff scholarship fund.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006 |
Pickoff Moves
"The AL Is Better" Meme Reproduces Itself Again
When Rich Lederer compared the AL to the NL back in January, he wroteI think the National League may have only two teams that are as good as the top seven in the Americal League. Other than the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, I don't see a NL club that can compete with the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's, or Toronto Blue Jays.So here we are again in February on pitchers-and-catchers-report day (which almost oughta be a national holiday), and what do we learn from Alan Schwartz at ESPN Insider ($$$) but that American League teams appear to be better than their NL counterparts -- or maybe not so much:
Objectively measuring "talent" is virtually impossible, as the season statistics by which we evaluate individual players are built in their own, relatively self-contained league spheres (i.e., Vladimir Guerrero is of course fantastic, but are his AL-helped stats a result of the DH, or worse pitchers, or...). Yet there are some ways to take a closer peek. Mainly, there's more competition between AL and NL teams than just midsummer and fall classics. It's called interleague play -- and the evidence there makes Sam Alito look committal.In the 2,200 matchups since interleague play began in 1997, the National League has won 1,104 times, the American League 1,096. (Think about how even that is -- these guys have played almost 14 seasons' worth of games with records of 81.3 wins versus 80.7.) The AL did go 136-116 last year, but in the last three seasons combined it's almost a dead heat: NL 378 wins, AL 377.
Edwin Jackson's New Start
Edwin Jackson's in Tampa Bay now, and the surrounding military bases remind him of home:His father, Edwin Sr., served in the Army for 23 years, reaching the level of staff sergeant. Jackson spent his childhood moving from base to base - from Germany to Ohio to Louisiana and back to Germany before settling at Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga."I can definitely say I know what they're going through as far as not having both parents around all the time," Jackson said. "I can definitely relate because it's something that not a lot of people have experienced. It's a tough life sometimes. There's a lot of stop and go. It hits close to home.
"I know about base life," he said, looking out the window of the charter bus.
...
"Everything's definitely new, and I'm excited," Jackson said. "There are a lot of young guys here, and we'll be an exciting group. I think because we have a lot of young players, it takes a lot of the pressure off. That might have been just what I needed."
More Front Office Guys Leave The Dodgers
Heh, including Dan "Feiny" Feinstein (the video guy in Moneyball), trainer Pat Screnar, who moved to Tampa Bay, and strength and conditioning coach Todd Clausen, who is now Eric Gagné's personal trainer. Also, the team confirmed the dismissal of equipment manager Dave Dickinson.Dodgers Open Spring Training
Pitchers and catchers have already reported if you're Derek Lowe, D.J. Houlton, Danys Baez, Hong-Chih Kuo, Lance Carter, Jonathon Broxton, Kelly Wunsch, Greg Miller or Takashi Saito. Ah, good news.
Comments:
The Schwartz article is actually free. Also, I thought it was kind of stupid when he compared the All-Star starters of each league and said "The more interesting part is the types of players on here -- specifically, Beltran vs. Ramirez, Abreu vs. Guerrero. The National League's style of play appears either to call for or cultivate more well-rounded players." Those are terrible examples: Vlad has been in the AL just two years and Beltran in the NL just one year.
Rotoworld is announcing that the Angels have signed Weaver for 1 year, $8.5m. No word on the official site though. Personally I'm happier with Weaver than with Carrasco as 5th starter, and even more pleased that it's a 1 year deal.
# posted by 
: 2/15/2006 11:52:00 AM
: 2/15/2006 11:52:00 AM
Dude, do you really follow baseball in the UK? How hard is that? Do you ever get to see a game?
# posted by : 2/15/2006 12:25:00 PM
: 2/15/2006 12:25:00 PM
This is not at all personal - just a question to the crowd. Am I the only person sick of the word "meme?"
Nah, not me.
I understand they used to belittle Jefferson because of his invention and use of the word "belittle", too.
I understand they used to belittle Jefferson because of his invention and use of the word "belittle", too.
Yeh I follow baseball in the UK. Last season I had a subscription to MLB.tv which meant I could watch the early games, obviously the Angels foremost but I'd watch anything that was a good game if they weren't on. I also check blogs like this and halosheaven a lot. Isn't that difficult if you can be bothered to read a lot!
# posted by : 2/15/2006 12:48:00 PM
: 2/15/2006 12:48:00 PM
There used to be a British blogger who wrote about general baseball topics, but I can't remember what the name of the blog was, and my not-very-thorough search doesn't yield a name, either.
Matt UK:
Is there any interest whatsoever in baseball over there? Is the public even aware the sport exists? Are there bars that cater to American expatriates who want to watch baseball games? If you have the time or inclination, fill us in on the baseball fan's lot in the U.K. Thanks.
Is there any interest whatsoever in baseball over there? Is the public even aware the sport exists? Are there bars that cater to American expatriates who want to watch baseball games? If you have the time or inclination, fill us in on the baseball fan's lot in the U.K. Thanks.
# posted by : 2/15/2006 03:01:00 PM
: 2/15/2006 03:01:00 PM
Baseball in the UK is still very much a minor sport. Games are shown on TV, on Channel 5 which is the smallest and least popular of the 5 'free' channels that you can get in the UK. But they only show 1 game a week, on Sundays, usually one of the east coast games that starts at 7pm ET, which is 12 midnight here. There is a channel on satellite, NASN, which I believe shows games, but they also show football, basketball, hockey so it isn't solely MLB coverage. Also, you have to pay for NASN on top of your standard satellite fee, so I doubt many people see it (although I am sometimes able to watch it somehow even though I don't subscribe :D).
In regards press, baseball is rarely if ever mentioned apart from in the post season where it might have a small paragraph, although there was a column the other week in the Metro newspaper (a free paper distributed on the underground in London) that mentioned the Anaheim name case, but it was about an inch of column.
In other words, its quite hard being a UK baseball fan, but having MLB.tv makes it a hell of a lot easier.
In reply to Rob, I'm actually going to try and join one of the teams in the league his link points to, Richmond baseball club. I'll let you know what it's like once I've been to a training session!
In regards press, baseball is rarely if ever mentioned apart from in the post season where it might have a small paragraph, although there was a column the other week in the Metro newspaper (a free paper distributed on the underground in London) that mentioned the Anaheim name case, but it was about an inch of column.
In other words, its quite hard being a UK baseball fan, but having MLB.tv makes it a hell of a lot easier.
In reply to Rob, I'm actually going to try and join one of the teams in the league his link points to, Richmond baseball club. I'll let you know what it's like once I've been to a training session!
# posted by : 2/16/2006 09:26:00 AM
: 2/16/2006 09:26:00 AMNewer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.