SAT - The Sports Aptitude Test

1.Derek Jeter is to Tom Brady as Peyton Manning is to:

a) Jason Giambi
b) Gary Huckabee
c) Alex Rodriguez
d) Archie Bunker
e) None of the above
f) All of the above

2.  Openly rooting for two professional sports teams in the same league is acceptable when:

a) You are personal friends with someone on one of the teams.
b) You have lived exactly half of your life in each city represented by the two teams.
c) You won enough money to become independantly wealthy betting on one of both of the teams.
d) It is never acceptable.

3. If Scott Weiland was an NBA player he would most closely resemble:

a) That guy from the Rockets
b) Jeff Van Gundy
c) That guy who keeps getting busted for dope.
d) Allen Iverson.

4.   Joba Chaimberlain should begin the 2008 season:

a) In the bullpen
b) In the starting rotation
c) In Minnesota
d) In a hyperbaric chamber filled with midges

Not worth the time.

I will not write about the Mitchell Report, Roger Clemens, Brian MacNamee, or Chuck Knoblauch. I will not write about it at all. 

Conservatism, it’s not just for Ron Paul anymore.

Will Carrol pinch hit at the LoHud blog the other day, which spurred a lot of talk over at Bronx Banter like this:

“I think what Verducci and Carroll are trying to do is cram common sense into a rule. We all know that pitchers in general are fragile, and younger ones are even more so. As a result, they need to be handled conservatively and monitored closely. I don’t think it means they need to be conformed to an innings model.

There are lots of example of pitchers who have defied the 30 IP rule, and lots of others who have comformed to it. What I do think is evident is that minor league innings need to be weighed, if not fully, then pretty close. Otherwise, there would be a whole host of pitchers who’d fail the test. Guys like Peavy, Cain, Maddux, Buerhle, Zambrano, Kazmir and Sabathia are all active pitchers who either debuted with huge workloads or experience significant major league spikes early in their careers.” — Posted by Williamnyy23 at Bronx Banter
 

Now, I’m by no means a Will Carrol fanboi (I choose the punk spelling but pronounce it Frenchily *fan-bwaa*), but I will say that he’s an authority on this subject, and if he tells me that Phil Hughes is swimming in shark infested waters after 60 IP, I cap Phil at 50 or pull the trigger on the Santana deal.

There’s no point holding on to Hughes if you’re just going to roll the dice with his arm.

Also, citing examples of guys who are the exception to the rule, is like the wishfulest of wishful thinking being passed off as analysis.

If the Triumverate needs three seasons before carrying a full time starter role, you have to err on the side of caution or sell high.

I’ve been in favor of passing on Santana, and I still am, but not if you’re going to be reckless with Hughes. 

How Come?

In all the analysis of the Giants - Cowboys game, noone has made mention of the fact that Plaxico only caught one ball? That would seem to imply that either the Dallas coverage was almost perfect, or that Plax wasn’t 100%.

Hello world!

The internet needs another baseball blog like it needs a hole in the head. Clever, huh?