New Sabermetric Discovered!

It's called Grindiness Per Nine Innings (G/9). To calculate a player's G/9, you simply multiply the amount of heart a player has by his ability to "grind" in "clutch" situations and then divide that by the difference between his BA and OBP. Then, add X, where X is equal to how many World Series ring this player has. Finally, multiply your figure by 9 and you will have any given player's "Raw Grindiness Factor" (RGF), which must be adjusted for park factors like "it's really hard to be on the Yankees because people expect big things from you" or "used a Shortstop's mitt at Second Base."

Players who annually rank top 10 in G/9:
01. David Eckstein (Small Guy, Big Heart, TWO World Series Rings!!)
02. Derek Jeter (Captain Clutch, Mr. November, makes appearances on SNL)
03. Darren Erstad ("The Punter", dirties up his uniform every single game)
04. Scott Posednick (From Rule 5 To Fifth String OF!: The Scotty Pods Success Story)
05. Jacque Jones (strong ability to try hard trumps weak arm and inability to walk)
06. Justin Mornaeu (Captain Clutch Jr.)
07. C.C. Sabathia (completes every game he starts and has the ability to pitch on three days rest five consective times late in a season after throwing over 5oo innings over the past two seasons because he's "competitive")
08. K-Rod (you might as well nickname him Jesus for all the shit he saves)
09. Juan Pierre (Mr. "What Is This New-Fangled OPS Shit? Did You See How Many SBs Pierre Had In 2008?")
10. Carlos Zambrano (His sheer manliness prevents him from hydrating during games)

Players who annually rank bottom 10 in G/9.
01. Alex Rodriguez (anti-clutch, "overpaid")
02. Adam Dunn (doesn't try, not entertaining enough to watch, can't run the 50 yard dash in 3 seconds)
03. Barry Bonds (cheater, drug-user, sells poison milk to school children)
04. Jason Giambi (the biggest bust in baseball; only hits 33 HR a year)
05. Aaron Harang (strikeouts are fascist, couldn't get Cy Young votes if his life depended on it, brags too much about his 4:1 strikeout rate, what are statistics?)
06. Pat Burrell (his career .852 OPS is too inconsistant)
07. Frank Thomas (clogs the bases, strikes out too much)
08. Johan Santana (ONLY won 16 games in 2008; his inability to complete every outing last year showed his lack of competitiveness [that and the fact that he did not pitch on 3 days rest five consecutive times])
09. Bert Blyleven (ONLY has 3701 career strikeouts, ONLY has 287 wins, no perfect games)
10. Mark Teixeira (his refusal of an 8-year, $140 million contract from the perennial losers that are the Texas Rangers in favor of an 8-year, $180 million contract from the perennial winners that are the Yankees makes him greedy)

Former Billy Beane Protege Loves Grinders

Paul DePodesta was depicted as the stat nerd in the book "Moneyball". He was the guy who would sit behind Billy Beane looking up stats on his stat finder and reciting those stats over to Beane for final approval. He was to be the next great GM and so was hired by the Los Angelas Dodgers to drive them into the groud...errrr...bring them back to prominence in a cost efficient way. He did get his economics degree from Harvard, what could possibly go wrong?

He turned out to be no Billy Beane, not even close for that matter. One of his major problems can be summarized in his last blog post, yes he has a blog for some reason. Being apart of the San Diego Padres front office, he commented on the teams recent signing of none other than David 'MVP' Eckstein. Paul speaks very highly of Eckstein's grindiness. I mean he has the dirtiest uniform in sports, you cant even clean it cause it's so dirty. Cause he grinds. And he wins championships all by himself, well him and his grindiness that is.

2009 WBC Provisional Rosters

The (relevant) World Baseball Classic Rosters

United States
C - Brian McCann, Chris Ianetta, A.J. Pierzynski, Brian Schneider
1B - Derrek Lee, Kevin Youkilis
2B - Mark DeRosa. Dustin Pedroia, Brian Roberts
SS - Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins
3B - Chipper Jones, Evan Longoria, David Wright
OF - Ryan Braun, Curtis Granderson, Brad Hawpe, Ryan Ludwick, Carlos Quentin, Grady Sizemore, Shane Victorino, Vernon Wells
SP - John Danks, Jeremy Guthrie, Scott Kazmir, John Lackey, Ted Lilly, Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy
RP -Jonathan Broxton, Joey Devine, Brian Fuentes, J.P. Howell, Matt Lindstrom, Joe Nathan, J.J. Putz, Chad Qualls, B.J. Ryan, George Sherrill, Scot Shields, Matt Thorton, Justin Verlander, Brad Ziegler

Dominican Republic:
C - Wilkin Castillo, Miguel Olivo, Ronny Paulino
1B - Carlos Pena, Albert Pujols
2B - Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Placido Polanco
SS - Jhonny Peralta, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Miguel Tejada
3B - Aramis Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez
OF - Moises Alou, Melky Cabrera, Vladamir Guerrero, Jose Guillen, Alfonso Soriano, Willy Taveras
SP - Daniel Cabrera, Fausto Carmona, Johnny Cueto, Ualdo Jimenez, Fransisco Liriano, Pedro Martinez, Odalis Perez, Wandy Rodriguez, Ervin Santana, Edison Volquez
RP - Jose Arredondo, Santiago Casilla, Fransisco Cordero, Juan Cruz, Octavio Dotel, Carlos Marmol, Damaso Marte, Tony Pena, Rafael Perez, Edwar Ramirez, Ramon Ramirez, Frenando Rodney, Jose Valverde, Jose Veras

Venezuela:
C - Henry Blanco, Ramon Hernandez, Dioner Navarro, Humberto Quintero, Max Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval
1B - Carlos Guillen, Oscar Salazar
2B - Alex Cabrera, Jose Lopez
SS - Cesar Izturis, Macier Izturis, Marco Scutaro, Omar Visquel
3B - Miguel Cabrera, Melvin Mora
INF - Edgar Alonzo, Jose Castillo, Jesus Guzman
OF - Bobby Abreu, George Blanco, Endy Chavez, Carlos Gonzalez, Magglio Ordonez, Gerardo Parra, Juan Rivera
SP - Armando Galarraga, Angel Guzman, Felix Hernandez, Anibal Sanchez, Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Carlos Zambrano
RP - Jose Ascanio, Rafael Bentacourt, Carlos Carrasco, Cesar Jimenez, Jorge Julio, Jose Mijares, Victor Moreno, Fernando Nieve, Renyel Pinto, Juan Rincon, Fransisco Rodriguez, Victor Zambrano

Puerto Rico:
C - Raul Casanova, Bengie Molina, Yadier Molina, Pudge, Geovany Soto, Javier Valentin
1B - Carlos Delgado
2B - Felipe Lopez
SS - Mike Aviles, Alex Cora,
3B - Mike Lowell, Ramon Vasquez
INF - Ivan DeJesus, Luis Figueroa, Andy Gonzalez, Jose Valentin,
OF - Carlos Beltran, Hiram Bocachica, Jesus Feliciano, Luis Matos, Alex Rios, Andres Torres, Bernie Williams
SP - Jonathan Sanchez, Ian Snell, Javier Vasquez, Joel Pineiro
RP - Giancarlo Alvarado, Federico Baez, Fernando Cabrera, Kiko Calero, Pedro Feliciano, Nelson Figueroa, Javier Lopez, Ivan Maldonado, Josue Matos, Juan Padilla, Saul Rivera, Orlando Roman, J.C. Romero, Jose Santiago, Tomas Santiago

Canada:
C - Cole Armstrong, Luke Carlin, George Kottaras, Pete Laforest, Brett Lawrie, Russell Martin, Chris Robinson, Max St. Pierre
1B - Justin Morneau, Joey Votto
2B - Pete Orr
SS - Chris Barnwell, Cale Iorg
3B - Shawn Bowman
OF - Jason Bay, Matt Stairs, Mark Teahen, Aaron Guile, Jamie Romak, Adam Stern, Nicholas Weglarz
SP - Chris Begg, Jesse Crain, Jeff Francis, Rich Harden
RP - Eric Gange, David Davidson
P - Phillipe Aumont, James Avery, T.J. Burton, Rheal Cormier, Eric Cyr, Scott Diamond, Bryan Dumesnil, Steve Green, Blake Hawksworth, Mike Johnson, Christopher Leroux, Kyle Lotzkar, Brooks McNiven, Alex Periard, Vince Perkings, Scott Richmond, R.J. Swindle, Phillipe-Alexandre Valiquette

Mexico:
C - Rod Barajas, Humberto Cota, Genonimo Gil, Miguel Ojeda
1B - Adrian Gonzalez
2B - Luis Cruz, Edgar Gonzalez, Augie Ojeda
SS - Jerry Hariston Jr., Omar Quintanilla
3B - Jorge Cantu, Freddy Sandoval
INF - Juan Castro, Erubiel Durazo, Augstin Murillo, Oscar Robles, Jorge Vasquez
OF - Alfredo Amezaga, Karim Garcia, Scott Hariston, Cristhian Presichi, Mario Vanezuela
SP - Matt Garza, Yovanni Gallardo, Jorge De La Rosa, Jorge Campillo, Oliver Perez
RP - Joakim Soria, Eddie Guardado, Luis Mendoza, Ricardo Rincon, Denny Reyes, Oscar Villarreal
P - Luis Ayala, Fransisco Campos, David Cortes, Elmer Dessens, Rafael Diaz, Edgar Gonzalez, Arturo Lopez, Rodrigo Lopez, Pablo Ortega, Heriberto Ruelas

Japan:
C - Kenji Johjima, Sinnosuke Abe, Toru Hosokawa, Yoshiyuki Ishihara, Shinji Takahashi
2B - Akinori Iwamura
INF - Yasuyuki Kataoka, Menenori Kawasaki, Kenta Kurihara, Nobuhiko Matsunaka, Suichi Murata, Hiroyuki Nakajima, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Michihiro Ogasawara, Kensuke Tanaka
OF - Norichika Aoki, Kazuki Fukuchi, Kosuke Fukudome, Arsunoria Inaba, Yoshiyuki Kamei, Ichiro Suzuki, Seiichi Uchikawa
SP - Dice-K, Yu Darvish
RP - Masahide Kobayashi, Hideki Okajima
P - Kyuji Fujikawa, Hisashi Iwakuma, Minoru Iwata, Takayuki Kishi, Satoshi Komatsu, Takahiro Mahara, Katsuhiro Nagakawa, Toshiya Sugiuchi, Masaru Takeda, Masahiro Tanaka, Hayato Tehara, Tetsuya Utsumi, Tsuyoshi Wada, Hideaki Wakui, Shunsuke Wantanabe, Tetsuya Yamaguchi

Panama: the big names
C - Carlos Ruiz
OF - Carlos Lee
RP - Manny Acosta, Manny Corpas

Italy: the big names (no Mike Piazza)
C - Mike Napoli, Vinny Rottino
1B - Frank Catalanotto
SS - Nick Punto
RP - Jason Grilli, Mike DiFelice

The Netherlands: the big names (no Andruw Jones)
SP - Jair Jurrjens
RP - Rich VandenHurk

Australia: the big names
SP - Drew Naylor
RP - Grant Balfour, Ryan Rowland-Smith, Phil Stockman

Korea: the big names
OF - Shin-Soo Choo

Chinese Taipei: the big names (no Chien-Ming Wang)
No MLB players

China: the big names
No MLB players

Cuba: the big names
No MLB players

South Africa: the big names
No MLB players

The Cubs Should Be Angry With The Provisional WBC Rosters

When you are paying millions of dollars for top caliber athletes, the last thing you want to do is expose players to extended workloads -- especially if they are already injury prone.

Rich Harden, who has a history of injury and is currently rehabbing a "minor labrum tear" that often warrants surgery to repair, was listed as a provisional player on the Canadian roster. Harden also threw 110 innings over what he did in 2007. All flags point to GM Jim Hendry pulling Harden from the WBC as an injury risk.

Alfonso Soriano, who has had leg injuries each of the last two years that have kept him out of a cumulative 65+ games, is slated to play for the Dominican Republic.

Carlos Marmol, who played in over one-half of the Cubs games last year (82 games, 87 innings), is also slated to pitch for the Dominican Republic.

Then there is Carlos Zambrano, whose career of heavy workload put him on the DL in late August/September, is set to throw for Venezuela.

Ted Lilly is set to pitch for the USA, despite throwing career highs in innings each of the last two years.

Finally, there is Geovany Soto (Puerto Rico), who needs to work with the pitching staff during spring training (not the WBC team)

All in all, you have guys with heavy workloads and looming injuries slated to add to their 162-game long season. That's just a recipe for disaster. Recall Peavy's 2006 season; the added workload from the WBC ultimately tired him out enough to add a full run and a half to his end of season ERA.

Yankee's 2008 Payroll Efficiency

The numbers in these charts, by the way, are in terms of millions of dollars.



The 2008 Yankee's cumulative net payroll win-value was +12.23 million. The win-profit margin is nothing impressive, given the size of the Yankees payroll (est. at $210 million).

As one might notice, there are very many negative value contracts on the Yankees payroll for the primary roster spots. Carl Pavano, Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi were the most inefficiently paid players on the 2008 squad; each had a win-value profit margin below -$10 million.

Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady and (suprisingly enough) Derek Jeter were the only primary offensive players whose contract values provided a postive win-value profit margin.

It was the Yankee's pitching, anchored by rookie arms, that kept the team's cumulative win-value profit margin positive. Players like Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, who were paid in peanuts, kept payroll way down while providing the team some value along the way. That and Mike Mussina's stellar final year in the majors.

A-Rod, suprisingly enough, wasn't really overpaid in 2008. He provided the Yankees with just enough offese to create $160,000 in win value profit.

What one could conclude from this graph is that the 2008 Yankee's offense was, indeed, highly overpaid.

The Orioles Love Washed Up Cubs

Rocky Cherry, Corey Patterson, Steve Trachsel, Paul Bako, Sammy Sosa, LaTroy Hawkins and now Felix Pie.

These are just the few players I can think of off the top of my head from the past two seasons.

Cubs Payroll Efficiency, Take 2

Here is a breakdown of the payroll efficiency of the 2008 Cubs pitching staff



The overall contract profit of the team's rotation and bullpen comes out to about $43.5 million, meaning that the Cubs organization did a decent job at value pricing contracts in 2008. Of course, this neglects the impact of backloaded contracts, which easily skew payroll efficiency.

The team's biggest losses were in Jon Lieber, who cost the team roughly $4.4 million, and (no suprise here) Bob Howry, who was overpaid by about $3.6 million. Though Jon Lieber really wasn't that bad outside of 3 outings, his injury and minimal playing time lead to a negative WARP in 2009.

Zambrano was also a hefty loss at -$3.48 million, although much of that negative value comes from his late season injury/ineffectiveness. Prior to mid/late August, I'm sure that the contract value was about even. Regardless, it is easily discernable that Zambrano is overpaid at his current rate as Dempster and Harden, who had better years than Big Z, had production values that only slightly edged out Z's 2008 cost; as Z's costs increases over the next few seasons, the probability that he provides a contract profit will decrease -- even (and especially) if he produces at his career averages for the remainder of his tenure with the Cubs.

What you may find shocking in this data is that Jason Marquis had a slightly profitable contract in 2008, producing $1.8 million above his salary value. In 2007, his contract profit was even higher. However, this is and was largely due to contract backloading (Marquis is set to make $9+ million -- or little under one-half of his three year, $21 million contract value -- in 2009). If his contract were to have been evenly set at $7 million a year, his two-year contract profit value with the Cubs would have been a cumulative $1.2 million (Marquis was worth $7 million in 2007). So while Marquis may have sucked, he surely wasn't overpaid -- at least not relative to the rest of the league.

On a final note, given Kerry Wood's overwhelming productive contrubution to the team (his contract profit was fourth to only Harden, Dempster and Marmol) in 2008, I'm shocked the Cubs decided not to bring him back for 2009. Even at a cost of $10 million last year, he would have been "underpaid."

This information is courtesy of Fangraphs.com, who calculated the 2008 pitcher WARPs and WARP values.

Rich Harden Hurt Again

News came today that Rich Harden has a partial tear in his pitching shoulder. He chose to forgo surgery and and rehab using Larry Rothschild's patented towel throwing methodology. Rothschild may have to work on his brutal honesty saying Harder is no where close to pitching off a mound. Injuries are mostly unpredictable. Alfonso Soriano was never on the DL prior to joining the cubs, yet has spend much of his 136 million dollar contract on the DL. JD Drew was notorious for sitting out half the season prior to finally leaving St Louis for the Braves. It wouldnt surprise me if Milton Bradley played out 140 games for the Cubs this year. However, some guys just can't help but break down physically, mentally, every freakin year. Harden and Prior seem to fit description to a tee. Prior may never see a baseball field again, and harden is destined to spend much of every year on the DL. Lets just hope it's the 15 day DL and not the 60

Pie runs out of options with Cubs

Felix Pie is no longer a Chicago Cub. Pie was out of options and if he didn’t make the roster out of spring training, he would become a free agent. It looked doubtful that Pie, the once highly praised prospect, would make the club. This came evident when they signed Joey Gathright who is the same type of player as Pie, but Pie had more potential.

The Cubs traded him today for two pitchers, left-hander Garrett Olson and right-hander Henry Williamson. Olson is 25 years old year and was a rookie last year. As a rookie he went 9-10 with a 6.65 ERA. In his minor league career he was 12-10 with a 2.96 ERA in 71 career Minor League appearances.

Olson will either be used as trade bait or will battle for Marshall for the 5th spot in the rotation. The other candidates for the 5th spot are Angel Guzman and Jeff Samardzija. If we keep Olsen this mean we will have at least one lefty in the bullpen besides for Neal Cotts who is very inconsistent.

I think Olson will be traded though. The road blocks in the Jake Peavy trade was Jason Marquis contract, and not enough pitching prospects. We received pitching prospects from trading Pie and DeRosa. Thus, those obstacles are no longer in the way. As long as Kevin Towers the GM of the Padres doesn’t demand to many prospects including Sean Marshall, Josh Vitters, and all the other prospects we just got in the trades this off season. We will see what happens.

Although I Was Gone For Like 12 Days...

1) Illinois deserves to be fucking ranked
2) My prediction of a Steelers/Eagles Superbowl seems to be coming to fruition
3) The White Sox still haven't made a move to address their key concerns
4) The Chicago Cubs still haven't made a move to address their key concerns- although they've added players (haha fuck you Cubs fans!)
5) Boerhs and Bernstein still blow
6) Mac, Yurko, and Harry still blow
7) The Milwaukee Bucs have a better record than the Bulls! WTF!?
8) I have really absolutely no idea what's going on in sports
9) You three post WAY too much- and that's coming from ME

The good and the bad of the digital world

We are all aware that the world is moving exclusively to the digital age. This has greatly enhanced the sports watching experience making it much more pleasurable in the process. Personally speaking, i couldn't live without my tivo/DVR. Those are essential components to any true sports fanatic. Firstly, sports was never meant to be watched with commercials. How moronic is it that there is a commercial every half inning during a baseball game. With the gift of the DVR, you can simply skip over the commercial in 3 seconds flat, unless the sale at Macy's turns you on or something. Secondly, you dont even have to be home to see any sporting event. Just set the DVR to record one or two events from that night and then watch it in half the time when you get home. This isnt anything overly new. The VHS has been around for decades, but the digital recorder and high definition 16:9 televisions have taken it to an extreme.

However there are flaws with with the digital signal and the reason i'm writing this useless blog entry tonight. Knowing that I was going out for Chinese with the folks, I set the DVR to record both the Bulls and Blackhawks game that I was gonna stay up till 4am watching in crystal clear HD (btw, this is my example of the perfect night). I get home, turn on the Blackshawks game, and what do I see? A frozen, distorted, ruined hockey game. I couldnt play it, fast forward it, or watch a single second of it. Motherfucker!! This almost never happened with VHS. The picture may suck, the sound may go in and out, but it got the job done. With the DVR, it's more like flipping a coin to see if it records the game.

So if you ever lost an important recording, or your computer went dead, or an extermal hard drive erased all of your photos from Cancun, you can blame it on the digital world. You take the good with the bad, but god knows i couldnt live without it.

Gotsta go with the red contacts bro

The big news today from the Cubs convention was the news that Carlos Zambrano is going to have laser eye surgery before the start of the baseball season. Somehow this is supports to add the 5 mph and nasty sink on his fastball that he has apparently lost the past 2 years. This procedure has actually improved many hitters ability to identify pitches. Denard Span of the Twinkies had the procedure last year allowing him to tear up AAA and secure a job in the majors. Consequently, both Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer are having the same prodecure done this winter.

I recommend something different, something better! In 2005, Brian Roberts started wearing special red contact lenses that helped him identify pitches better. Despite his season high of 5 home runs prior to the 2005 season, his 10 homers in April of 2005 seemed kinda strange. I thought this was the new steroid, but it never seemed to catch on. How awesome would it be if Big Z was starring down hitters with Bull red eyes and possibly a little more control

BP Takes On The Salary Cap

Shawn Hoffman did a great article last week on the Salary Cap; I'm reposting it here to share with the world.

January 9, 2009

Let Freedom Ring

Busting the Myth of the Salary Cap

by Shawn Hoffman

Small-market teams love salary caps. Or rather, they think they do. At least on paper, caps stop teams in New York, Boston, and Chicago from oligopolizing the free-agent market, and should therefore help level the economic playing field. And, to a certain extent, they do; a small-market team in a capped league is more likely to acquire or retain top-tier talent. But there's a catch. That same small-market team will need to win, and keep winning, just to stay financially viable. And sometimes, winning might not even be enough.

Let's say, in some far-off universe, MLB owners and players actually did agree on a salary cap. With it would come the normal provisions: a salary floor at around 75-85 percent of the cap, and a guaranteed percentage of total industry revenues for the players. Since the players have been taking in about 45 percent of revenues the past few years, we'll keep it at that figure (the other three major sports leagues, which are all capped, each pay out over 50 percent).

Using 2008 as an example, the thirty teams took in about $6 billion (not including MLB Advanced Media revenue), for an average of $200 million per team. Forty-five percent of that (the players' share) is $90 million, which we'll use as the midpoint between our floor and cap. If we want to make the floor 75 percent of the cap (a low-end figure, relative to the other leagues), we can use $77 million and $103 million, respectively.

With a $103 million cap, nine teams would have been affected last year, and a total of about $286 million would have had to be skimmed off the top. Since total salaries have to remain at existing levels, the bottom twenty-one teams would have had to take on this burden, which had previously been placed on the Yankees, Red Sox, et al. On the other end, fourteen teams would have been under the payroll floor, by a total of $251 million. Even discounting the Marlins' $22 million payroll, the other thirteen teams would have had to spend an average of $15 million more just to meet the minimum. Some of those teams might be able to afford it; most wouldn't.

Imagine being Frank Coonelly in this situation. Coonelly, the Pirates' team president, has publicly supported a cap. Had our fictional cap/floor arrangement been instituted last year, the Pirates would have needed to increase their Opening Day payroll by $28 million. Not only would the team have taken a big loss, but Neal Huntington's long-term strategy would have been sabotaged, since the team would have had to sign a number of veterans just to meet the minimum payroll.

Now fast forward to 2009. Let's say the Pirates' sales staff runs into major headwinds, with the team struggling and the economy sinking. The team's top line takes a hit, falling $10 million from 2008. The Mets and Yankees, meanwhile, open their new ballparks, and each team increases its local revenue by $50 million. If the twenty-seven other teams are flat, total industry revenues rise by $90 million (not including any appreciation in national media revenue). Forty-five percent of that, of course, goes to the players. So even as the Pirates' purchasing power decreases, the payroll floor actually rises.

In other words, without a more egalitarian distribution of income, the system crumbles.

Until recently, the NFL has been uniquely fit for this type of model, since most of its revenues have come from national television contracts. But now, with local revenues rising, small-market teams are feeling the pinch. This past May, the owners unanimously voted to opt out of their CBA, which was supposed to run through 2012. Some blamed the players' share of revenues. Others, including Dan Rooney of the Steelers, cited the need for more local revenue sharing.

But sharing local revenue has a major drawback: it is a tax, which inevitably lowers incentives and decreases output. If the NFL shared all (or even most) local intake, why would an individual team ever look to maximize revenues at its own cost (i.e. by hiring a sales staff, or cleaning its own stadium)?

The NHL, which also has a hard cap, does very little revenue sharing, partly thanks to an overly convoluted system. On a league-wide level, the results have been very positive; the NHL has had record revenues every year since its lockout, and Gary Bettman has been very positive about this season as well. But the NHL is a great example of why caps and capitalism don't mix: as the league grows, it ends up leaving teams behind. Small-market clubs like the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Nashville Predators are forced to spend almost two-thirds of their revenue on player payroll. And the Phoenix Coyotes, after years of hemorrhaging money, are on the verge of going bankrupt.

So what's the best solution? Certainly not the NBA's soft-cap system, which has too many problems to even count—imagine having to take on Luis Castillo or Carl Pavano every time you wanted to unload a high-priced veteran.

So instead of these models, what if there was an uncapped league, with limited local revenue sharing to support small-market teams, and a post-season system that naturally created tremendous parity? Does this sound familiar? It should. It's what MLB has had in place for over a decade, leading to record growth in both attendance and revenue.

The expanded postseason is key. More than any other sport, MLB's playoff system acts as an equalizer. Fair or not, in broad strokes, a team that wins 83 games in a bad division has as much chance of winning the World Series as the Yankees or the Red Sox. Seemingly, no matter how much those teams spend over the winter, that competitive advantage is neutralized come October.

So while the capped leagues all struggle to find the right balance between capitalism and socialism, baseball continues to prosper operating within a much more free-market system. Teams in big markets and small markets alike are making money, and everyone has a chance to win it all.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And right now, baseball is anything but broke.

(Note: All salary data taken from the Lahman Database.)

Cubs Sign So Taguchi

For just under a million bucks, the Cubs have signed ex-Philly (08)/ex-Cardinal (06) So Taguchi. Taguchi, who is 39, hit a laughable .220/.283/.297 in 103 ABs last year. While Taguchi is little more than a late game defensive replacement, it seems like a waste of payroll for a team to cheap to sign Jake Peavy. Why do we need Taguchi, who can't hit, when we have Pie, who is out of options, can't hit and has potential? I smell a Pie trade in the wind. Also, is Taguchi -- a fifth string back up utility outfielder -- worth $900M??

So chalk up the Cubs offseason moves:
-Cubs re-sign SP Ryan Dempster, who is 32 and had an uncharacteristic career year, to a $4 million, four-year deal.
-Cubs trade super utility man Mark DeRosa (and his $9 million '09 salary) for 3 grade B- prospects.
-Cubs sign SS/2B Aaron Miles to a two-year, $4.9 million deal
-Cubs sign OF Joey Gathright to a one-year, $800K deal
-Cubs get trade SP Jason Marquis (to free up payroll and migrains) for RP Luis Vizcaino.
-Cubs sign injury/temper-tantrum prone Milton Bradley (who plays great when he actually plays) to a three-year, $30 million deal that has an injury protection clause (3rd year is a vesting option based on his health in 2009)
-Cubs sign So Taguchi to a one-year deal worth $900K

So far, I can't say anything other than the Bradley move has been an improvement for the Cubbies. I think we overpaid Dempster (whose 2008 seemed more like a statistical aberration rather than a sustainable level of production based on his career numbers) and I would much rather have Peavy on the team leading the roation. Hell, I might even prefer Kerry Wood.

This offseasons looks worse and worse every day. At least the Padres got to David Eckstein before us...I wish we had a new GM :(

Cubs convention starts Friday

The Chicago Cubs annual convention starts this Friday and will last three days. There are many current and former players attending in addition to the coaching staff. Some of the headliners are: Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Fergie Jenkins, Ryne Sandberg, Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto, Ryan Dempster, Milton Bradley, Kevin Gregg, Aaron Miles, Joey Gathright, Neal Cotts, Mike Fontenot, Rich Harden, Reed Johnson, Carlos Marmol, Sean Marshall, Jeff Samardzija, Ryan Theriot, Carlos Zambrano, and the coaching staff. Also some past Cubs who will be there are: Glenn Beckert, Bill Buckner, Jose Cardenal, Jody Davis, Bob Dernier, Leon Durham, Doug Glanville, Randy Hundley, Keith Moreland, Rick Reuschel, Scott Sanderson, Lee Smith and Tim Stoddard.During those three days I usually stay glued to Sports Central on WGN radio which usually broadcast live from the convention and have many guests on during those days. There will also be many articles when things get revealed, which they usually do. We usually learn the batting order Lou is thinking of, the rotation or some of it, depth chart at certain positions and other things. It will be interesting to see what we learn.One day I hope to go to the Cubs convention. I think it would be a great experience. If anyone does go, please post about it.

Mark Prior gets another chance

Mark Prior was signed by the Sand Diego padres to a minor league deal. This is the second chance their giving him in 2 years. Last year he had a guarantee deal and made a million dollars for doing nothing. He didn’t throw a pitch! This year the Padres have a tight budget so he gets the minor league deal and can make a million dollars if he makes it to the major league level. Supposedly the Yankee’s were also interested in him, but he decided to go back to his hometown team. That tells me the Yankees wouldn’t pay more than the million. Mark hasn’t pitched in the Major Leagues since the 2006 season. We will see if he makes his comeback this year.

Henderson vs. Raines

Here are Rickey Henderson's numbers and here are Tim Raines' career stats. They played during the exact same era, in opposite leagues, for about the same time. Look at the 162 game averages for the two players and you will find the smallest of small differences. Although Henderson may be 7% better than Raines, he is 70% better than Raines in terms of hall of fame voting among baseball writers(95%-23%). This is ridicules. Let me tell you the main difference. Rickey played in New York and California and spoke in the third person. That is what Rickey did and that is what Rickey does. Raines played in lonely Montreal where they dont even speak english and measure homers using the metric system. Raines was the penultimate leadoff man in all of baseball for 20 years, just behind Rickey the Great. They should be entering the hall of fame side-by-side as the leadoff men for the AL and NL, but it was never to be for "the rock"

Baby Mangino

You guys have probably no seen this, but a funny idea of dressing up a portly baby as Kansas football head coach Mark Mangino has become an internet sensation. Baby Mangino recently won deadspin.com sports human of the year award beating out people like Erin Andrews, Isiah Thomas, Chris Berman, and even Matt Lienart. Here he is!

It's a long season

Rednecks and folding chairs dont mix

Wrestling isn't really a sport but this is too funny


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The World Of Baseball Also Hates Bert Blyleven

Bert Blyleven had a spectacular career, in my opinion. He pitched 22 years (largely for the Twins) and posted solid numbers (10% or more above league average) in all but four years (three of which understandably came about during the last four years of his career) of his career. His career ERA+ is 118; his season high in ERA+ was 158. He racked up 3701 strikeouts, good for fifth all time. His K/BB is a well above-average 2.8. His career WHIP is under 1.2, while his career ERA (in the AL, mind you) was 3.31. Just in case you are into wins, he's also got 287 of those.

So how is he not in the hall of fame?

Note: If Blyleven doesn't get in, Mussina probably won't either.

Cubs announced spring training broadcast schedule

On Friday the Cubs announced their Spring Training broadcast schedule. They have nine games on t.v. which seems to be more than last year. Last year I was mad that they only televised a few games. There will be 11 games on WGN radio. With nine games on t.v. we will have a better opportunity to see how the club looks before the season starts. We will also have a chance to see some of our prospects play which we don’t have much opportunity for. That is what I like most about spring training games; to see how the minor leaguers look and judge them for myself.

Random

While writing my Dunn article, I came across this website which analyzes a team's statistics and spits out historical-data-based projections based on lineup ordering and each player's OBP (OBA) and SLG. Just for shits and giggles, I typed in the Chicago Cubs 2008 AL roster (using the teams nine most used players in the calculations) -- I was unable use the NL roster because the same pitcher doesn't bat every game and I wanted to maximize realism based on sample sizes -- and this is what I found.

The ideal batting lineup (in the AL) would have been:
1. Theriot
2. Edmonds
3. DeRo
4. Ramirez
5. Soto
6. Lee
7. Johnson
8. Soriano
9. Fukudome

This team, on average, would produce 5.922 runs-per-game (RPG). Three other teams would have been equally productive, with similar lineups. However, something that remains noticibly consistant between permutations is that 1) Soriano should be batting (according to this data) in the #8 spot, while Ramirez should be (and rightfully is) batting in the #4 slot. Most combinations also have Edmonds batting #2 and Soto #3.

Given all possible permutations, however, the team's overall RPG average was calculated to be 5.761. This would have yielded a grand total of approx. 919 runs.

In reality, the Cubs "only" scored 855 runs (while giving up 671).

Once you factor in the fact that a pitcher hit in the #9 hole (as opposed to Reed Johnson or Fukudome) and that the team used much more than nine offensive players, the predictive figure doesn't seem to be too far "off the mark" of what the Cubs actually produced. I think it's clear that, like any other team in the NL, the Cubs would have been a better offensive team in the AL, but that there is some untapped potential for 2009.

The lineup in 2008, as I often complained, wasn't being maximized.

The World Hates Adam Dunn (Updated Version)

Adam Dunn can't catch a break. Despite the fact that he annually hits 40 HRs, walks over 100 times and consistently posts an OPS near 130, he sucks. Despite everything he has accomplished, he is a terrible baseball player who doesn't try and clogs basepaths. He's slow. He doesn't steal bases. He's not clutch. He clogs the bases. For confirmation of Dunn's suckiness, look no further than Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star (as if anyone in KC knew anything about baseball).

I think it’s probably fair to say that Adam Dunn, for all his obvious talents, can be a remarkably frustrating player to watch.

The sheer enjoyment one derives by observing players is much more important than winning games. Aaron Rowand is an MVP.

He is a dreadful left fielder, a designated hitter in outfielder’s clothes.

Adam Dunn's range factor is generally below league average.

He’s slow, though it should be noted that he’s not a bad baserunner…according to the Bill James baserunner analysis he’s actually a very GOOD base runner.

Adam Dunn is so slow is that, despite being a very good baserunner who scores on hits, he isn't fast enough to be fun to watch.

He’s brutal going first to third, as you might expect, but he tends to score from second on singles and from first on doubles, he doesn’t run into many stupid outs, he doesn’t get caught stealing,

So what if he doesn't make outs and scores runs? His jogging isn't fun to watch. Believe me you, Adam Dunn is no Willy Taveras!

and he doesn’t ground into many double plays

He's also no Derrek Lee!

(though in his case that probably has little to do with his running and a lot to do with his fly ball tendencies and his many, many strikeouts.

If only Adam Dunn stopped hitting balls out of the infield (and out of the park) and slapped the shit out of grounders like Michael Bourne; imagine the possibilities.

He strikes out a ton. He hits .225 with runners in scoring position for his career (and over his career he has never hit better than .248 in those situations).

Who needs to hit the ball with runners in scoring position when you hit yourself in 40 times a year and walk 20% of the time?

He walks (797 times) about as often as he gets a hit (955 hits) — those walks might be good for value but that doesn’t make them fun to watch.

Fuck winning and valuable contributions. I want to see great plays, not great players.

There is a sense around the game that he does not especially like playing baseball; and nobody who has watched him play with any regularity would argue that he demonstrates Willie Mays’ joy.

Again, who gives a shit how little you try or how little enthusiasm you show when you rack up 40 home runs and 122 walks in the process? That's like saying "the U.S. Constitution is a piece of shit because James Madison didn't like writing as much as John Locke and other Enlightenists."

At the same time, I think it’s probably also fair to say that Willie Bloomquist, for all his obvious shortcomings,

Shortcomings like hitting one extra-base-hit (a double) all season long (192 PAs)

can be a fun player to watch, if you are a certain kind of baseball fan.

The kind of fan who enjoys singles and watching a player contribute to 101 losses with an 83 OPS+ in 2008.

He plays all the positions — he has at least 10 games at every position but pitcher and catcher — and he seems to play them all credibly.

Tony Pena Jr. struck out Pudge last year. So what?

He can run (he has stolen 71 bases in 87 attempts), and he hustles, and he has that underdog thing going for him.

He doesn't hit 40 home runs like clockwork or walk 122 times a season, but MAN is Bloomquist a hotdogger! He's got so much heart! He might even be the next David Eckstein (who, likely out of work for 2009, just penned the century's most anticipated baseball novel "Have Heart").

He has only six career homers, but, hey, one was a grand slam.

Hey, even though he really sucks, he did have one good at bat once.

No one who has ever watched Willie Bloomquist play would doubt that the guy loves ball.

No one who has ever looked at Willie "underdog" Bloomquist's career numbers would ever doubt how bad he is at baseball.

Yes, in my mind, Adam Dunn and Willie Bloomquist are almost perfect opposites.

Adam Dunn is good at baseball and Willie Bloomquist is not. End of article.

And while they are not anything close to equal baseball players, I would also say that you would not want to build a whole team of Bloomquists or Dunns.

Actually, if you were to tell me I could build a major league roster of players who would all hit 40 home runs and walk 120 times a season, I'd cum in my pants.

According to the Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis — one of my favorite toys— a whole team of 2008 Adam Dunns would average 6.67 runs per game — so that’s 1,080 runs per season. A whole team of 2008 Willie Bloomquists, meanwhile, would average 4.177 runs per game — 677 runs per season. So using the Musinator, Dunn is 400 or so runs better offensively than Bloomquist. That sounds about right to me.

According to data from 2005-2008, teams that scored 5 runs in a game had winning percentage (in those games) upward of .613, while every run scored beyond the fifth seemed to increase the team's winning percentage by about .100. By contrast teams who scored 4 runs per game won approximately .465 of the time. Considering that Adam Dunn's career OPS+ is 30% above league average and Willie Bloomquists is 26% below league average, I'd say Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis did a good job here.

Of course, it’s downright frightening to imagine how two Adam Dunns would turn the double play.

They'd make up for the error by walking and then hitting a two run blast in the bottom of the inning.

By the way, this Lineup Analysis is sort of a fun way to compare players. Take the great NL MVP race of 2008. According to the Musinator, a team of 2008 Albert Pujols would score 1,488 runs for a season. A team of 2008 Ryan Howards would score 977 runs for a season.

In other words, Adam Dunn isn't as good of a player as Albert Pujols, but he's better than Ryan Howard. You see no objections by me here.

So, by this way of thinking, Pujols is 500-plus runs better. And he’s a much better defensive player, and a much better base runner, and … I’m really not sure why this was ever really an argument.

In actuality, the 2008 NL MVP wasn't much of an argument. Idiot sportswriters like you, however, tried to fuck it up with ancient, obsolete baseball intuition.

It’s also a fun way to look at the Hall of Fame Ballot. Here, using the players career numbers, is what a complete team made up of each player would score for a season:

Mark McGwire: 1,199 runs per season.
Rickey Henderson: 953 runs per season.
Jim Rice: 948 runs per season.
Tim Raines: 918 runs per season.
Don Mattingly: 916 runs per season.
Dale Murphy: 880 runs per season.
Dave Parker: 864 runs per season.
Andre Dawson: 837 runs per season.
Alan Trammell: 812 runs per season.

For a guy who is knocking on Adam Dunn, you just showed that his career numbers, thus far, would surpass those of Shoe-in hall of famer Rickey Henderson. Granted, Dunn is in his prime and has yet to regress on the back end of his career, but he's still a really fucking good player.

Of course, that’s just offense, and it doesn’t take into account much base running,

Considering that Bill James has already proven that Adam Dunn's baserunning is well above average, who cares?

the home park or anything else. A defensive spread with McGwire or Rice is positively frightening, and I’m not sure how a lefty-throwing Rickey plays shortstop or catches. I would say that eight Trammells would have the best defensive team, though it’s worth remembering that Murphy began his career as a catcher.

Perhaps you could just visit www.baseballprospectus.com and look up these player's WARPs and we wouldn't be having this pointless arguement. It's not like researching sports to make an educated opinion is your job or anything...

I find all this to be a little bit more than an interesting side note — I think that, in many ways, Dunn and Bloomquist represent opposing philosophies about baseball.

The old good versus bad philosophy?

I think the Adam Dunn philosophy is built around what you can see, what is measurable, what is cold and hard and real.

Not to mention what is consistent and independent of luck.

With Dunn, you get a titanic power hitter who plays every day, hits long home runs (exactly 40 ever year — no more, no less), walks a lot, strikes out every three or four at bats, plays zero positions, doesn’t have much speed and doesn’t do those little things that show off his great love of the game. The Dunn Way is the Michael Corleone Way, strictly business.

Adam Dunn is a souless robot who hates baseball and would murder his own brother if given the opportunity.

The Willie Bloomquist philosophy, meanwhile, is built around passion, what is intangible, this sense that if you can get a bunch of guys who KNOW HOW to play the game, who LOVE the game, who HAVE BASEBALLS BEATING IN THEIR CHESTS,

First and foremost, this is not "the Willie Bloomquist way"; it is the David Eckstein way. David Eckstein patented "heart" in 2002 and renewed the copyright in 2006.

Secondly, as clearly evident by his career 74 OPS+, Willie Bloomquist doesn't not "know how to play the game" of baseball, no matter how much he "loves" it.

then you can do wonderful things (even if the players can’t hit worth a damn).

Actually, without getting on base or clubbing home runs, you can't do shit. No matter how fast you run.

With Bloomquist you have an astonishingly weak hitter who plays occasionally, cracked ONE EXTRA BASE HIT last year, doesn’t get on base, plays seven defensive positions,

A glaring endorsement for Willie Bloomquist's 2-year, $3 million deal.

can really run and gets his uniform so dirty that, according to his jarringly lengthy Wikipedia entry, he has over the years been called (mostly in jest/derision) Wee Willie, Ballgame, The Ignitor, Effin, WFB, The Spork, Princess Willie, Willie Boom-Boom and, by Angels announcer Rex Hudler, The Mighty Bloomquist.

I can't put my finger on why, but somehow, nicknames like Princess Willie the imposing punch of "Big Donkey."

And my point is that I believe every baseball fan, at his/her core, leans Dunn or Bloomquist.

Every baseball fan is either understands the game as enumerated by historical data and scientific reasoning or doesn't. The ones who don't are generally afraid of the the magic and sorcery that is sabremetrics and have continuously called for Bill James and Michael Lewis to be burnt at the stake.

People who believe that on-base percentage and slugging are the most significant things, that defense and speed are overrated, that what matters is what you do and not how you look doing it lean heavily Dunn.

These people are nerds who live in their mom's basements and do nothing with their lives other than crunch numbers and not play baseball.

The New York Yankees have leaned heavily Dunn: Get on base, slug the ball, don’t worry too much about catching it. And so on.

The New York Yankees, despite their inefficient payroll, also made the playoffs for 13 consecutive years.

At the same time, there are plenty of people in the game and in the stands who believe that you win by doing the little things,

Little things that don't actually contribute to winning games consistently.

by playing defense and running out ground balls and playing the game with passion every day. They lean heavily Bloomquist. The Minnesota Twins, for instance, lean Bloomquist. The Twins run and catch the ball and they have not worried too much about power or on-base percentage. This, no doubt, frustrates the heck out of a lot of Dunn-leaning Twins fans.

Actually, the Twins were carried by a phenomenal starting/relief pitching core (Slowey, Baker, Blackburn, Liriano, Nathan, Reyes, Crain) that was carried by what little offense that Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Denard Span could mustard on their own (since the rest of the team was largely too concerned with doing all the "little things" that don't win games). Willie Bloomquist-like offense didn't win the Twins 88 games last year; great pitching did.

You know who also won more games than the Twins in 2008? Those awful Yankees and their Adam Dunn-philosophy to winning.

It’s an irritating feeling when you lean heavily one way and have a team that leans heavily the other way. But I think the more irritating feeling is when you do not know which way your team leans. And that, finally, leads us to the Kansas City Royals, recent purchasers of Willie Bloomquist himself.

The Royals under Dayton Moore have TALKED about leaning Dunn. That is, Dayton has made statements that would lead you to believe he cares a whole lot about on-base percentage and power numbers.

Mark Jacobs? Mark Teahen? Ross Gload? The Royals are not leaning towards The Dunn Method, no matter what claims management has that they are looking for "on-base players" for 2009.

That’s what he says. But everything he DOES leads you to believe he leans very, very Bloomquist.

I'd add another very for good measure, actually.

Here are Dayton’s big-money signings and trades the last couple of years:

1. Jose Guillen ($12 million per): .323 on-base percentage.

2. Mike Jacobs ($3 million or so): .318 on-base percentage.

3. Coco Crisp ($5.75 million or so): .331 on-base percentage.

4. Willie Bloomquist ($1.55 million plus incentives): .324 on-base percentage.

5. Miguel Olivo ($2.7 million): .275 on-base percentage.

That’s actually quite remarkable. Look at that list again. You have five pickups totaling about $25 million per year — and you have to suspect that all five will be in next year’s lineup quite regularly. And not one guy — not ONE GUY — has even a league average on-base percentage for his career.

This is why, more or less, the Royals have sucked every year for the past 15 years. They are the Pittsburg Pirates of the AL.

Look at that list again. That’s the core of the Kansas City lineup — the leadoff hitter, the four-five hitters, the eight-nine hitters probably. And that’s a combined .314 on-base percentage.

And yet fuck Adam Dunn and his career .381 on-base percentage.

So why did Dayton sign these guys?

Good question.

1. Jose Guillen: Because he was the best right-handed “power” bat available, and he’s “a real competitor.”

2. Mike Jacobs: Because he’s got power, and “his work ethic is off the 3. Coco Crisp: Because he’s an excellent defensive center fielder, has speed and could blossom playing every day. Plus, he has “been a part of championship teams.”

4. Willie Bloomquist: Because he’s got some speed, he’s versatile and “He’s an on base guy(??), a speed-type player and a hustler.”

5. Miguel Olivo: Because he’s got a little pop in his bat and he can throw out baserunners.

The Royals believe in the Bloomquist Way.

The philosophy of losing.

And look, I am not saying that these moves will not work.

Good, because -- just like with the 2005 Nationals -- they probably won't.

They could work, I guess. There are many ways to win baseball games. Guillen could have one more good season left in him. Jacbos could pop 30 homers. Crisp could revert back to his Cleveland days and could win a Gold Glove in Kansas City’s big center field. Bloomquist could, um, … well, he could be used as a super utility player. Olivo could … well, anyway.

Yes, if every player on the team were to have to career highs in every statistical category, you could probably win some games.

The Royals also spent $4.25 million per year on Kyle Farnsworth and $1.9 million on Horacio Ramirez.

Spent or overspent?

Man, the Royals threw around a lot of money to a lot of players who did not have good years in 2008. Maybe it will work.

But probably not.

They do have a lot of guys in the clubhouse who love the game.

But suck at playing it.

I personally would have taken that money and signed Adam Dunn and a couple of other guys who may not like baseball a whole lot but at least get on base and get batters out.

Hey, me too!

It's a different philosophy.

The philosophy of winning.

MLB 2009 hall of Fame class announce on Monday

Tomorrow we find out who has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the class of 2009. There are many candidates on the ballot including: Harold Baines, Jay Bell, Bert Blyleven, David Cone, Andre Dawson, Ron Gant, Mark Grace, Rickey Henderson, Tommy John, Don Mattingly, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Dale Murphy, Jesse Orosco, Dave Parker, Dan Plesac, Tim Raines, Jim Rice, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Greg Vaughn, Mo Vaughn, and Matt Williams.

I would like to see Andre Dawson finally make it. He deserves it! I would also like to See Mark Grace make it, but he won’t and doesn’t really deserve it like Dawson does. Ricky Henerson should be a first ballot hall of famer and should get every vote, but I don’t think that has ever happened before. It has been 20 years since a left fielder has been inducted into the hall of fame. You can get analysis on all of these players other places so I am not going to. We will just find out tomorrow what happens!

Milton Bradley interview on Monday

On tomorrow’s sports central with David Kaplan on WGN radio he will be interviewing the Cubs new outfielder Milton Bradley at 7:15pm. It should be interesting to hear Milton Bradley. I saw a video of the press conference where they introduced him and he seemed to handle him self well. We will find out tomorrow how he does when it is not scripted. He is supposedly a nice guy and a good teammate, but just has some trouble with the media. We will hopefully find out if he has any preference on where he plays and bats in the lineup.

Kerry Collins proves not to be MVP worthy

Not only did Kerry Collins not win the MVP of the National Football League, well he didn't actually get a single vote for MVP, but he also sucks in the playoffs too. After a first round by, Collins led the titans to a listless loss to the ravens. Let's just say he didnt do much to help his team win. I will be shocked, shocked i tell you, if he is the titans starting QB next year. They will simply go back to Vince Young, regardless of how suicidal he may be, and forget this little Collins experiment ever happened.

Tim Tebow Only 99% perfect

Tim Tebow has been compared to superman for his ability to pick his team up and carry them to the promise land. He will most likely return next year, win his second heisman, and go down as the greatest college football player ever. If that wasnt enough, he's a motivational speaker to death row inmates, and travels to third world countries preaching on the wonders of christianity when the people would much rather prefer some clean water.

But getting hit in the head by 300 pound men can take it's tole, even on superman himself. Apparently Tebow got an 890 on his SAT I. Not on a single section, on the whole darn thing. That puts him in the lower 25% of the population. But considering he is absolutely perfect in every other aspect of human life, it averages out to 99% perfection. He is able to maintain a 3.7 GPA at UF, in Family and Community Services. Hotel hospitality was taken i guess

Kids dont do drugs

Meet Darius. Meet Darius on drugs

The 2008 Mariners were worse than you thought

It's hard to pick a single player that epitomizes the the burning pile of crap that was the 2008 Seattle Mariners. There are so many options from Carlos Silva to Jose Vidro From Kenji johjima to Richie Sexson it was just pitiful. But i have found the worst of the worst. Everyone meet utility man Willie Bloomquist. He managed to get a single extra base hit(xbh) all year long. Thats 165 at-bats with a single xbh. How is that even possible. There isnt a single player in the bigs, hitter or pitcher, who could pull off that feet. You give 165 at-bats to a special olympics kid and he will accidently get 3 doubles. You have to be horrible, and horribly unlucky to do what bloomquist did. His slugging was only 6 points higher than his batting average .279ba .285slg. Fucking unbelievable. I wont even do him the justice of putting up his pic