Year 2004

The secret of their success? Ignoring the facts.

Another rant on baseball writers — this one mercifully brief. Baseball writers, like all people, have their own set of beliefs. In order to reconcile actual outcomes with their projected outcomes, they often make the facts “work for them.” Typically…

Riding the Pine on the Day of Atonement

I try not to read Jack McDowell’s column. Honest. I’ve long found him irritating, whether he was giving interviews after games or sparring with my father on television. But his columns have been particularly grating. However, with a bit too…

Ichiro — Good, not Great

Don’t Believe the Hype It’s about time…. Somebody (Dayn Perry) finally published something realistic about Ichiro Suzuki. The Mariner’s right fielder is exciting to watch. He gets down the line in a blur, had a seemingly bionic right arm, and…

Breaking Down a Deal

A few days ago, Dodgers GM Paul DePodesta “gutted” (in the words of some journalists) a team that had been among the hottest in baseball, going 20-6 in July. Most of the articles I’ve read have scored this as a…

Fahrenheit 9/11 — A Boiling Point

While there has been no shortage of media coverage about the recent release of Michael Moore’s movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, I feel compelled to add my voice to the mix. For those of you who have paged through previous blog entries,…

Harold Reynolds, Celebrity Kids, and MythTV

Harold Reynolds I used to really enjoy listening to HR on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, but this year, I’ve made the mistake of paying attention to what he’s saying. I think that the problem with many analysts who are former players…

MoneyBall Angst

If there has been anything as controversial as the issue of steroids in baseball, it’s been the reception of Michael Lewis’s book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. It seems that many pundits and self-appointed experts continue to…

The Monday Sports Spectacular

INDIGESTION I’ve seen some funny pictures online, but these pictures of 400+ pound competitive eater Eric “Badlands” Booker at the Second Annual Hebrew Institute of Riverdale Hamentashen Eating Contest were hysterical. DREAM JOB Making fun of the contestants from ESPN’s…