Let Freedom Ring

When it comes to nations smaller is better.

Europe seems intent on slicing itself up into ever smaller pieces. In the next month, Kosovo is likely to declare independence – making it the seventh new country to emerge from the wreckage of Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union has given way to 15 new states. Even in western Europe, there is talk of Belgium dividing in two, while a pro-independence party has taken power in Scotland...

But if the formation of new countries can be achieved peacefully, it is usually a cause for celebration. This is the age of the small state.

Sports Guy

I must say his tie sports an excellent knot. Nice job.

Rudy's Old Stomping Grounds

Are there still people out there that believe Government is in business to protect you?

Three Definites

For the Baseball Hall of Fame that is. I'm a Small Hall guy and for me to pick even three players is stretching it but there are some wrongs to be righted from past elections.

Bert Blyleven

Bert Blyleven was an absolute pitching monster. He featured a devastating 12 to 6 curve ball and a rubber arm that allowed him to log the 13th most innings pitched, strikeout the 5th most batters and hurl the 9th most shutouts in history. Playing for more poor teams than good ones throughout much of his career hindered him in his pursuit of three-hundred wins. He ended his career just thirteen short.

Marvin Miller

Marvin Miller is easily the most influential actor in the economic sphere of Major League Baseball in the second half of the 20th century. Miller served as the head of the Major League Baseball Player's Association from the mid-1960's through the early 1980's. In less than two decades Miller was able to transform the entire economics of the game through his winning of numerous benefits for the players through a series of collective bargaining agreements. When Miller began his tenure the players were slaves to the franchise that drafted them for their entire careers if the club so desired. By the time Miller had retired the right to free agency for players had been in existence for over five years.

Goose Gossage

When talking about relief pitchers three names immediately come to mind: Hoyt Wilhelm, Goose Gossage and Mariano Rivera. All three men enjoyed (or are enjoying in Rivera's case) remarkably long career peaks. Here are their ERA+ figures for those peaks:

Wilhelm (1958 - 1969): 157 - 173 - 115 - 168 - 191 - 132 - 173 - 176 - 190 - 229 - 184- 159

Gossage (1977 - 1985): 243 - 180 - 155 - 173 - 461 - 178 - 171 - 124 - 195

Rivera (1996 - 2007): 239 - 238 - 232 - 259 - 169 - 191 - 161 - 265 - 231 - 307 - 251 - 142

Why Gossage still hasn't been elected to the Hall after all these years is still one of life's great mysteries.

Junk Politics

From the new TV series Junk Food Lobbyists Don't Have Enough Money comes this exciting episode.

Federal lawmakers are considering the broadest effort ever to limit what children eat: a national ban on selling candy, sugary soda and salty, fatty food in school snack bars, vending machines and cafeteria lines.

Slow News Day

I've always wondered about this.

Punchline at 0:40

Paul Reality Check

Stillwell notes that some talking heads are beginning to question whether or not American troops should occupy Korea, Japan or Germany indefinitely. This is a new development for Washington Insiders to broach such a sacrilegious idea because it aims a stake at the heart of where our Federal masters draw so much of their influence and power.

While some of the reason probably is the Ron Paul effect, I think a bigger reason is the dawning realization that the American economy is teetering on the brink of suffering a dramatic downturn. The costs of maintaining a huge military presence in the three countries noted above and the continuing fiasco in Iraq will quickly become too much to bear for the quickly devaluing dollar.

If the economy goes in the tank in '08 the easiest place to look to in the Federal budget to cut will be on the Empire Maintenance line.

Americans will ask, What is the Empire doing for me? And they'll answer, Well, not too much.

Then they'll ask, Do I want to maintain my social security disability pay/my soak the young medicare coverage/my daughter's ability to get Federal loans for college so I don't have to ante up? And they'll answer, Hell yes!

One Nasty Baby

The Patriot Act and Patriot Act II's evil child will soon become law if the House's 404-6(!) vote in its favor passes the Senate and the President's pen. That evil child is the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

This devilish piece of legislation will officially extend the War on Terrorism to American citizens who are deemed radical violent terrorists. When reading the language in the bill it becomes very apparent that there is no specific definition of what a radical or violent terrorist is. That will allow government bureaucrats to have lots of fun with us in the coming years.

Once again,

404-6

That's a remarkably discouraging vote count. My god, you can really see what Ron Paul and his supporters up against.

Another Spike

Ask and ye shall receive.

Maryland Raises Taxes

Luckily for the Democrats the only people that will move to Pennsylvania and Delaware due to the newly passed tax bill increase are voters who would vote for less government. This demographic movement, which began in the 1950's with flight from Baltimore City into the neighboring counties and then from the neighboring counties into Delaware and Pennsylvania starting in the 1980's, allows the Democrats to continue to hold both houses of the legislature with fillibuster-proof majorities.

Oh, and they slipped the computer services tax back into the bill.

Maryland's sales tax would rise from 5 percent to 6 percent. The sales tax also would be extended to computer services - a key change that would raise an estimated $190 million. The computer services that would be affected include support services for computer systems or data processing facilities, custom computer programming, consulting services regarding computer systems design, and computer disaster recovery services.

Damned if we, our accountant or the Supreme Court will be able to tell if all, some or none of the family business will be subject to this new tax.

Ahhh, but that's exactly the point. The ability to make arbitrary rulings as a result of unclear laws has always been a great tool for those in power to employ.

Bright Red

Images from Moscow during the November, 7th 1975 celebration of some Communist victory. Unlike in America, fedoras still ruled the day.

Shortstop Chain Reaction

Edgar Renteria has already been moved. Now it's Orlando Cabrera getting moved to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for starter Jon Garland. What shortstop could be on the move next?

...the addition of Garland, a 28-year-old who went 10-13 with a 4.23 ERA last season, gives the Angels a rotation surplus that would enable them to package a young starter such as Santana or Saunders in a trade for a slugger such as Florida third baseman Miguel Cabrera or Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada.

It would be a great move for Oriole fans if Tejada could be flipped for Ervin Santana and a prospect. Even Tejada for Santana straight up would be acceptable.

Scotland On It's Own?

All the better for the world (including Americans) if Scotland and England break apart. With America's most powerful ally split in two, it's never-ending quest for world domination would be taken down another notch.

Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister, has predicted that Scotland would be independent within a decade.

The surprise forecast is the first time the SNP leader has set a concrete deadline for the break up of the 300-year Union since his party took power six months ago.

Early Prediction

The following are my predictions for Ron Paul in the Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada primaries. I'm going to retain the right to change these after the Boston Tea Party since the money raised from that day for the Paul campaign could be a major event that pushes Paul even higher.

But at the moment I see Paul generating 4% in Iowa, 22% in New Hampshire and 14% in Nevada. Iowa just seems too ideologically moderate and the demographic too old to go for a Paul candidacy. But good percentages in New Hampshire and Nevada seem doable for populations that have strong Libertarian streaks in them.

Smearing Paul

Eating my lunch at work in the cafeteria afforded me the opportunity to watch Fox News on one of the big-screen TV's. For the first time since probably the late 90's I saw a television report on domestic hate/terrorist groups. Neo-Nazis, Timothy McVeigh, Muslims, Militias and other baddies figured prominently in the piece.

Various commentators, politicians and bureaucrats were discussing the looming threat of a domestic terror attack from these groups that "hate" our country. Of course, no distinction was made of the fact that it is the government that is the main focus of their anger. There was also the talk of a possible alliance between the white domestic fringe groups and Muslim extremists from the Middle East.

I found the timing of this report to make perfect sense since the neo-conservative establishment
has recently begun to try and indirectly link Ron Paul to Neo-Nazi groups in an effort to slander his reputation.

This campaign against Paul is only just beginning and I expect it to get hotter in the next few weeks. Ultimately, though, I don't think the establishment will be successful with this line of attack. Since Paul has a palpable decency about him and a nearly pure freedom voting record in Congress these smears will quickly fall by the wayside since they are illogical. Add into that the quick-fire response of the internet to smears and distortions and the establishment will have to move onto a different smearing campaign.

Brave Development

The fact that the Braves are going to be increasing their payroll by millions of dollars is quite the unexpected development. Perhaps a run at Carlos Silva will be in the offing? I think he'd be a nice fit. Extending Mark Teixeira is probably a good chance now.

It's good to read this because the Braves will be able to hang with Philadelphia and New York for the forseeable future on the payroll front. And then there's Washington who's going to be gearing up their payroll over the next few years.

All in all the National League East should be a fun watch for the next few years. Here are ten reasons all under the age of 30 -- Hanley, Rollins, Zimmerman, Escobar, Wright, Reyes, Milledge, Cabrera (for the next two weeks at least), Howard and Teixeira.

Ron Paul Defines Chickenhawkism

From the Rolling Stone interview comes this deliciously accurate quote by Ron Paul.

Giuliani seems to be the warmonger in chief — leading the drumbeat for war with Iran. What would a Giuliani presidency mean for our national security?

If someone is unhappy with the Bush policy, they would find Giuliani's would be even more extreme. But since Giuliani is so anxious to go to war, somebody ought to ask him why he didn't go when he was called up instead of ducking it like some of those other chicken hawks — he took, what, four deferrals?

The kids today are expected to go because Giuliani likes this stuff. But whether it's Cheney or Giuliani, these guys think it's quite proper to go to war when they feel like it. But they never had to expose themselves.

Sabathia's Three Million Dollar Haul

The take on Sabathia's Cy Young Award win today from Baseball Prospectus. It's about the Benjamins, er, the innings.

Sabathia pitched 241 innings to Beckett’s 200.7, an advantage of more than 20 percent. He completed the 7th inning 24 times, as opposed to Beckett’s 15, a critical threshold for a team with a set-up man as effective as Rafael Betancourt, but inconsistent middle relief. As a result, Sabathia finished with a 65.2 Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) to Beckett’s 58.6. The voters have started to look at these statistics, and it’s giving them a more complete picture of pitcher performance.

Bannerman's Island

About 1-2 hours due east of where I grew up in upstate New York there exists a couple of regions whose best years have passed them by. The Catskill Mountains were the home of a great many resorts and weekend getaway spots for upscale northeasterners through the 1960's. And the Hudson Valley (due north of New York City) was home to what passed for much of the prominent landed aristocracy in the United States since the 1600's.

In my lifetime I've only known it as that creepy area between the most famous city in the world and the Adirondack Mountains. While the Catskills are filled with tired towns and empty hotels the Hudson Valley has a bit of old history still haunting the area today.

The B-Burgs may remember this area as the place that we saw the ghost of Mickey Mantle.

Revenue Pigs

A perfect example of the immorality of taxing authority occurred in Maryland over the weekend. Down in Annapolis the Democratic-dominated legislature was trying to finagle the Democratic Governor's $2 billion tax increase past the voters. For a state with a budget around $30 billion that's quite a nice increase for those pigs.

Anyway, there was a controversial tax on landscaping companies and computer service businesses that was set to be passed. The computer service tax rose the eyebrows of my wife and I since she has one of those evil computer service businesses. Well, someone (i.e. influential and vocal citizens/business leaders) got to the legislators before both of those were passed and they were stricken from the tax bill.

Great then! Whoops, not soooo fast. They quickly replaced those two newly stricken tax sources with a brand new one - a tax on all automobile repairs.

The legislature wised up and figured that old people that depend on landscapers as well as regular people might get a bit steamed about the tax increase and choose to lessen their reliance on those businesses. Over the long-term this might decrease tax revenue as Maryland citizens would scale back their use of these services. And in regards to the computer services tax that puppy would strike right at the heart of one of the most dynamic parts of the economy and surely raise the ire of businesses since those types of services can relocate to Pennsylvania or Delaware.

But the auto repair industry? That's an easy one for the politicians. It's a guaranteed consistent revenue stream. Auto repair shops can't easily relocate to nearby states and unlike computer services or landscaping, auto repair is an absolute necessity for consumers. Most people can mow their lawn and some can shop for computer services out of state. But in the case of one's car you gotta have wheels to make money, get those groceries and take grandma to her doctor appointments. Plus, what do the auto repair shops care? They know that their revenue stream is safe because people gotta have them wheels. Therefore, they don't really have a reason to lobby Annapolis and scare the politcians into moving on to some other industry to extort from.

So in the end, Maryland consumers are stuck and the politicians get to stick the tax bill right up their asses.

In the Money

If we assume the vig is 10% and the bets are $100 a game then the B-Burgs are up $80 on the year.

Reliever Romero Signs

J.C. Romero is the classic example of the up and down performance of relievers on a year-to-year basis. The key with this group is to find one who doesn't embarrass himself in the down years and can put up great years when he's on. Romero is one such reliever.

The Phillies just signed him to a 3-year $12 million contract today. For a guy who's thrown less than an inning an appearance the past three seasons that may be a bit steep but the Phillies desperately needed to get Brett Myers back into the starting rotation so they had to make sure their bullpen would be solid enough.

A positive note about Romero's up and down career is the fact that since 2002 he's only had one season in which left-handers have had a +.700 OPS against him.

A Six-Man Ro

I can say with near certainty that no major league team has ever employed a six-man starting rotation over the course of an entire season.

With the recent signing of Curt Schilling, though, it could become a possibility with the 2008 Red Sox. Boston GM Theo Epstein has said he's considering the idea. It would be constructed to provide plenty of rest for the oldsters, Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield, in an effort to keep their arms fresh. While Taylor Buchholz and Jon Lester, the under age 25 set, would get plenty of rest to protect their young arms over the long season. Josh Beckett, the least likely to break down, would be kept on an almost full five man rotation schedule while Daisuke Matsuzaka would start a few less games than Beckett.

One possibility of how the rotation would be constructed would be to start Beckett 32 times with Matsuzaka starting 29 games. Lester would start 27, Schilling and Wakefield 25, and Buchholz would bring up the rear with 24 starts.

The Red Sox are an organization that's brave enough (i.e. handle the media criticism if it doesn't work) to give this a go. They'd also be an organization brave enough to move to a four man rotation if the personnel they had could make it work.

Great Job

By Ron Paul this morning.

The Next Push

With the 5th of November now in the past Ron Paul supporters can look forward to the 11th of November for the next fundraising push. They're looking for 10,000 pledges of $100 by the 11th to provide a cool $1 mil for the campaign on that day. Sitting at 571 pledges at the time of this writing the 10,000 looks a ways off but look at today's vertical trajectory.

Plus, an additional 245k has been donated today. I think you could say there's a bit of a buzz developing around Paul as people begin to look for a way to save their country from the rotten-to-the-core D.C. establishment.

Liberty's Pocketbook Just Got Bigger

After raising a little over $4 million dollars yesteday (November 5th), the Ron Paul campaign has pulled in $65,000 in the first hour of November 6th. One thing I hadn't thought of was the residual effect of a big 11/5 for Paul. With the publicity of the event hurtling through the internet the big dollars may continue to roll in for a number of hours or perhaps even days.

The $12 million 4th quarter goal is looking more and more feasible as each hour passes.

California's Got It Right

Drew Carey defends the civilizing practice of smoking marijuana for medical reasons. Contrary to the belief of many bureaucrats and the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, it's the outlawing of marijuana use (for any reason actually) that is a mark of a society that is uncivilized.

Reason.TV has a nice way about it. First I've seen of it. Oh, and where did Carey's flat-top go?

This Fall's Baseball Book

This is cool. Jamey Newberg's been writing a yearly book providing a synopsis of all things Texas Rangers since 2000.

Class Moves Again

Edgar Renteria's trade to the Detroit Tigers for two prospects this week has kicked off baseball's off-season with a bang. Renteria has been a solid shortstop since his first year in the majors in 1996 and with 1,934 hits to his name after his age 31 season he looks like a good bet to reach 3,000 hits.

A pro's pro, Renteria has been willingly employed up and down batting lineups for four different teams throughout his career. Renteria's batted 2nd the most in his career -- 963 games. He's batted 6th and 7th the next most -- 273 and 245 games. He's also played in 200+ games batting 1st, 3rd and 5th in the lineup. Throughout all those changes Renteria has performed consistently at the plate as a good doubles, batting average and on-base average hitter. He'll serve as a nice upgrade to the Tiger offense and defense in '08.

One of the great things about successful veterans being traded for prospects is that many times it introduces me to minor league prospects I've never come across. With well over 4,000 minor leaguers plying their wares each year I'm bound to miss a few during my daily baseball studies. Two such prospects that I hadn't heard of are the two traded for Renteria -- Gorkys Hernandez and Jair Jurgens. Zach Jett provides a nice synopsis of the two. As Jett says this will help replenish the Braves somewhat depleted minor league system after the surge of Brave minor leaguers that graduated to the majors during the impressive 2005 season and the trade for Mark Texeira this summer that sent five Brave minor leaguers to Arlington.

The trade of Renteria also frees up money for the tight Atlanta budget so a free agent starting pitcher can be signed. And Yunel Escobar should slip in at short nicely for the Braves in '08. Especially at a sub 500k salary.

And what would a Brave's post be without comment from Rowland's Office regarding Renteria.

Still, it's sad to see such a classy pro leave so quickly. Has there ever been such an excellent, popular, solid citizen and winning player who's changed teams so often? Vagabonds like Sheffield and Lofton are fine players. But popular? Good in the clubhouse? Not quite.

Detroit will be Edgar's third club in four seasons, after stints here and in Boston. In appreciating Edgar, I struggled to recall standout moments. And maybe that's the point with Edgar. He's not a player who hits a game-winning homer, or makes a spectacular play that defines a season or career. Rather, he's a guy you need to watch daily to truly appreciate.

Edgar is more Columbo than Magnum PI: an unassuming genuis, a player of pure substance.

I would offer that Edgar, in his two seasons here, established himself as the best shortstop in Atlanta Braves history. It's no landslide and maybe you don't achieve that in just two seasons. However, I think it's proper in this case.

My sentiments exactly.

On Mark

Paul talks foreign policy in Iowa.

Abandoning Flint

Baltimore has some of the same themes as what is described in Bryan Finoki's post but it's not nearly as extreme as what has become of Flint. As seen in the pictures in the post, I have not come across abandoned strip malls or neighborhoods with the overgrowth that high in Baltimore.

There we were in this plain white vehicle truckin’ northbound on the I-69 with oversized Starbucks cups in our hands...whizzing past corn fields and Rest Areas and strange taxonomies of roadkill that accumulated every few hundred yards or so on the highway’s shoulders... squirrels, raccoons, mice, gophers, rabbits, cats, drivers (who knows what else) … the road to Flint was already a stroll through a long cemetery.When Wes, Nihal, and I headed up there a few weeks ago I couldn’t wait to pick up on that geography of urban ruins that weaves so many of my interests together about architecture, global economies, lost histories, indigenous culture, systemic poverty, the road trip, contexts of abandonment, informal communities, urban salvagers, and so on.

Old Man Winter Arrives

It feels like 1995 all over again.

Secession and Ron Paul

Via Lew's blog comes Jeiel Schalkwijk's socialist case for Ron Paul.

I will give three examples, socialized healthcare, moral laws and gun control. Ron Paul is not an advocate of these things, but his presidency will help the groups that advocate these things.

Since the federal government will take in less tax, states can afford to raise taxes as high as they see fit and use it to implement socialized healthcare. Now you do not need to convince the entire United States that socialized healthcare is better, but you only need to convince the people of your state, a much simpler task.

Your state can have its own healthcare plan and you could withdraw from Medicare and Medicaid.

Among the many reasons I support Paul is that I believe he would not murder secessionists if they initiated leaving the United States. I don't think there's another candidate in the Democratic or Republican fields that wouldn't at the least try very hard to cajole secessionists away from pushing forward with their plans. Many would use overt force of arms.

During my evening exercise I realized that this goes to the crux of why I support Paul. He recognizes the inherent right to secede and the flourishing of humanity and freedom that would occur during a peaceful secession. While I don't think we'll see him openly advocating secession as a means to weaken the Federal behemoth I do believe that if posed the question he would unequivocally support the right to secede from the United States.

Knocking on the Door

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Ron's 5% showing in Gallup is the highest he's garnered to date with Gallup. He's keeping in step with Huckabee and distancing himself from Brownback, Hunter and Tancredo.

And these baby steps may start turning into adult steps real quickly as the money continues to pour into his campaign.

The Best Pitcher You Don't Know

Webb

Underappreciated Sawx

Lowell

Devilish Movement

Carmona

Colorado's Twenty-Two Year Old Leader

Tulowitzki

The Final Four

I haven't looked this forward to the Major League Baseball Championship Series for years. The Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians offer a match-up of great 1-2 punches in the starting rotations as well as top-to-bottom strong offenses. Out west the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks match-up holds many of the game's youngest stars and should be a rollicking affair of homers, stolen bases, fine pitching and great defense.

On Pace to Exceed 3rd Quarter

Here's a guy that knows how to have fun with graphs. And the subject is Ron Paul's fund-raising.

Lock Up Your Back Door

Jen, I found this interesting. You may also.

Paul's Live Show

Now you can track Ron Paul's campaign contributions by the hour.

Computer Warfare

John Robb gives an overview of a particularly nasty bit of malware. It reminds one a tad of fourth generation warfare.

Storm is designed like an ant colony, with a separation of duties. Only a small fraction of infected hosts spread the worm. A much smaller fraction are C2: command-and-control servers. The rest stand by to receive orders. By only allowing a small number of hosts to propagate the virus and act as command-and-control servers, Storm is resilient against attack. Even if those hosts shut down, the network remains largely intact, and other hosts can take over those duties.

Well, That Was Quick

Not a good last half week for the Angels and Vlad Guerrero. Also, not a good week for me. The Angels just finished getting swept by the Red Sox today. I picked the Angels to win the World Series this year in what my Dad called a sentimental pick. Looking back in retrospect I think he was half right. The Angels were a 94-win force all season but I did feel a shine towards a ball club that's run by one of the best all around managers in the game and is led by a superstar player who plays the game hard and asks for no special favors from his team or teammates.

But, gone are the Angels until next February. Vlad must come down and be replaced by no lesser a man than Ron Paul.

The March to One-Hundred Million

I've pledged my 100 bones! It looks like I was number 1,043.

Jocketty Out

Will LaRussa be the next to go? And if he does where would he manage? Possibly he'd pull a Lou Pinella and sit out a year and then consider the inevitable openings that will arise after the 2008 season.

I don't envision too much manager movement this off-season. The Royals have an opening. Torre may not survive another Yankee winter. Toronto's Gibbons could be a darkhorse firing. Randolph still has to be cleared by the Met's upper brass. Mackanin in Cincy doesn't know if he'll be retained as of this writing. And with a new sheriff in town, Pittsburg's Jim Tracy could have a one-way ticket handed to him.

Barring any surprise retirements everyone else seems safe and secure in their positions.

If LaRussa leaves St. Louis he'll pick his next situation very carefully. LaRussa places the relationship he has with his General Manager high on his list of priorities and also places a high premium on organizational stability and shared purpose. That would put Kansas City and the Mets at the top of the list. The Pirates would be a distant third. I can't see the Yankees as the right fit for the mercurial LaRussa and in Toronto the general manager has an entirely different idea of in-game strategy than LaRussa.

The Royals have highly thought of general manager Dayton Moore at the helm and as a protege of John Schuerholz he bleeds competency and stability. In New York the Mets have experienced strong and competent leadership during general manager Omar Minaya's tenure. Minaya definetly sets a stablizing tone at Shea (look at how he rallied the troops in Montreal on a shoe-string budget). In Pittsburg general manager Neal Huntington is less of a known quantity and may not be secure enough to bring in such an overpowering personality as LaRussa for his first year on the job.

I wish I knew more about Drayton Moore's personality to determine whether he and LaRussa would be a good fit but I'll go out on a limb and say that if LaRussa leaves St. Louis and looks to manage in '08 he'll be heading to the Royals. The Midwest is more his speed and he'd be making a trimuphant return to the American League to try and raise a once proud franchise back from the dead.

Secession on the Table

Two of America's major secessionist groups lead a conference to discuss secession from the United States.

Vermont, one of the nation's most liberal states, has become a hotbed for liberal secessionists, a fringe movement that gained new traction because of the Iraq war, rising oil prices and the formation of several pro-secession groups.

My question for the leftist Vermont secessionists is whether they'll tone down their secessionary rhetoric if a Democrat wins the presidency. Because, you know, a Democratic President will bring us home from Iraq.

*wink*

Ron Paul Tops $5 Mil

A huge third quarter fundraising haul for Paul. The $5 million-plus he raised is five times the amount that the MSM's anointed top second tier candidate Mike Huckabee raised. On this ABC news video Paul talks about his impressive 3rd quarter figures and is the most relaxed I've seen him since he started campaigning.

Temporary Changing of the Guard

Ron Paul's been the pictoral standard bearer for Notes of Interest since he replaced Vida Blue on July 22nd. In KC just days before, Rush had said, "Vida's gotta go!" and I took his advice and put up Paul's snazzy pic.

Now enter Vlad the Impaler for as long as the Angels stay alive in October. Hey, a guy with Willie Mays, Duke Snider and Frank Robinson as his top three age-thirty comparables can't be all bad.

Experience Will Matter

The Angels begin their march to World Series glory tomorrow evening against the Indians. Baseball has not had a repeat World Series champion since the Yankees won in '98, '99 and '00. Since then there have been six different champs. The 2002 Angels were one of those six teams and if they take the crown this October they'll have to be in discussion for who the team of the aughts is.

So, who on today's club played on the '02 championship team and how was their performance?

• Chone Figgins played in 12 games that year and served twice as a pinch-runner in the Series
• Garrett Anderson enjoyed one of the two best seasons of his career in '02 placing 4th in the MVP voting
• John Lackey rode a half-season rookie year into a 2-0 post-season record including the World Series game seven win over the Giants
• Francisco Rodriguez pitched in his first five major league games in September of '02 and then delivered an impressive post-season run for a twenty year old with twenty-eight strikeouts in 18.2 innings across eleven games
• Scot Shields produced a 197 ERA+ during the '02 campaign but saw very limited action during the post-season

All five of the above have played significant roles during the 2007 campaign. In the upcoming series this experience should make a positive difference for the Angels as they face a first-time playoff team in the Indians.

The Stats Are In

Time to tool around Baseball-Reference.com and find some interesting year-end numbers. As an ode to my Kansas City homies let's start with the Royal offense. Twenty-two Royal position players took a turn at-bat during the '07 season. Only two of them produced an OPS+ above the league average. Reggie Sanders led the team with a 131 in twenty-four games and Billy Butler put up a 102 in 365 plate appearances.

Every other Royal batter produced an OPS under 100. Here's the tail of the tape for the starting lineup.

C John Buck 87
1b Ross Gload 92
2b Mark Grudzielanek 97
3b Alex Gordon 84
ss Tony Pena 63
lf Emil Brown 66
cf David DeJesus 86
rf Make Teahan 95
dh Billy Butler 102

The Royal offense combined had an OPS+ of 82. That's the lowest team total since Detroit's 81 OPS+ in their 119 loss season in 2003.

Despite these horrid numbers the Royals boast two very good (possibly great) projectable hitters in Gordon and Butler, an additional solid one in Teahan and an average one in DeJesus. If they can produce at the level they're projected to reach and the rest of the offense can stop being horrendous and just plain old below average the Royals could make a big offensive move into the top half of American League teams in 2008.

The Push To Iowa

Cool idea here at PledgeBank.com. If a million people pledge a $100 to Ron Paul's campaign then Ron pulls in a cool 100 mil. The nice catch is that if the pledge doesn't reach a million then you don't have to feel obligated to donate.

So far 793 people have signed up. There's a nice stat page to track the progress of the campaign in the coming months. Do yourself a favor and favorite this site! Then make a pledge!!

The Capitulators

The Senate approved a new $150 billion Iraq/Afghanistan War funding package by the vote of 92-3. That means that some Democrats came along for the patriotic ride. Terrified of a backlash by the 30% of Americans who still support the wars, the Democrats who oppose the wars but just voted to continue funding them are, quite simply, capitulators of the worst kind.

The tired argument that if the troops aren't funded then they will starve on the battlefield is non-sensical. Cutting off funding for the troops would cause field commanders in-theatre to immediately re-deploy their forces out of harms way. They'd use the remainder of the funds in the pipeline to fold up shop and retreat to safer territory in Kuwait or Saudi Arabi and await their return home to the United States.

Using the logic that we can't cut funding off to the troops essentially takes all power out of the hands of the Congress and provides the Imperial President the power to decide on all matters relating to war. That is a dictatorship, no?

Umpire Assignments

Tonight's choice of umpires for the playoff entry tie-breaker that was played between the Rockies and Padres was a refreshing and interesting one. Tonight's six man crew consisted of Tim McClelland behind the plate, Ed Montague, Tim Tschida and Chuck Meriweather around the infield and Fieldin Culbreth and Jim Wolf on the foul lines.

It was refreshing because all six are serious about there performance on the field, aren't attention-getters and are typically measured in their on the field responses to challenges to their authority.

It's interesting because I believe those Major League Baseball officials who decide on who umpires which games made a calculated decision to field a) a skilled and competent crew and b) a crew where the personalities are such that if some player/manager confrontations occurred these six would be the least likely umpires to go off the handle and create an unnecessary scene.

Fielding Culbreth

The blatant baiting of Padre outfielder Milton Bradley by umpire Mike Winters in the last week of the season as well as a number of other incidents over the past few months has highlighted the ridiculously short fuses of some umpires. I believe this has caught Major League Baseball's attention and they have begun to take real steps in addressing the actions of these umpires.

The first step in the process of getting the umps in line was to suspend Winters for the remaining five or so games of the season after he uttered something akin to, "You're a f****** piece of s***" to Bradley under his breath in an attempt to provoke the notoriously short-tempered player. In the ensuing argument Bradley was wrestled to the ground by his manager and during the fall tore his ACL. He'll be on the disabled list well into next year. In regards to the Winters suspension I can't remember the last time an ump was publicly suspended.

The second step was the assignment of these six umpires to tonight's game. While the Winters suspension was more for public consumption tonight's game assignment was probably meant more for the umpiring fraternity's consumption. In other words, if you want to make tens of thousands of extra dollars each October umpiring the playoffs and World Series you'd better not be a jack-ass when dealing with players, coaches and managers.

In tonight's crew Major League Baseball got it right.

The Collapse

Over the weekend the Phillies took over the lead in the National League East and pushed the Mets officially out of the playoff picture. My observation back on 8/30 was not correct.

Willie Randolph is not a manager who will panic and make poor in-game decisions because he's looking in his rear-view mirror at the Phillies. Complimenting Randolph is a veteran team that will most likely follow their manager's lead.

According to Tom Singer at mlb.com the Mets have pulled-off the greateast collapse in the history of Major League Baseball this September. Holding a seven game lead as late as September 12th, the Mets will now lead a list that includes the '51 Dodgers, '78 Red Sox and '64 Phillies. The '64 Phils lost a 6.5 game lead with twelve games left which to me seems more drastic than the Mets collapse this September.

September Push

As the season winds down Newberg checks in with some Ranger crack. With seventy-five wins that makes them the 19th best team in baseball with two games left to play in the regular season. A nice turnaround from their atrocious April and May. At the end of play on May 31st they were tied with the Royals for the worst record in baseball at 19-35.

Paul in Baltimore

It seems like Paul got much of the applause in last night's debate from what I've read and seen. Of the clips I saw it probably wasn't his best performance but it's good he was able to hit on some of the domestic issues that he hadn't been able to discuss in earlier debates. His tax-free tip bill is a dandy.

I got lost on Morgan State's campus in the hour before the debate and finally happened upon the hall where it was being held at around 8:30. Besides seeing numerous Paul 2008 signs on the median strips surrounding parts of the campus, I saw no visible support of Paul in the form of crowds of supporters. In fact, the largest constituency around the campus were Baltimore City Policemen. I ended up driving home and watching You Tube clips of Ron later last night.

Ever Growing

His article is a bit tounge 'n cheek, but as a believer in the American Greatness Doctrine I take him at his word when he presents his wishlist of where the next five American states will come from. Never has meglomania been so humorous!

A Larger Conflagration

Philip Giraldi wargames World War III. Depressing as hell but, hey, it may not happen.

For the Movie Buffs

To honor Ron Paul I've linked to Snarkerati's Top 50 Dystopian Movies of all-time. I've spent the last hour watching trailers on You Tube.

Pick 'Em

The B-Burgs have asked for me to pick the National League pennant winner. I must decline. Since the National League is teeming with a bunch of above average (but no great) clubs waging an eight team battle to fit into four playoff spots I'm not even going to hazard a guess. I want a clean 1-0 record this October. Go Angels!

Baseball Continues to Lose Its Grip on America

Major League Baseball breaks its own attendance record in 2007.

As did the 175 minor league teams that feed the majors their players.

By the time the regular season ends this Sunday the combined fan attendance for the majors and minors should reach 120 million. I was just one of those this year when I went to an O's game in the spring. It's the lowest total for me in any year since I was a teenager.

That Philly-Atlanta series in Filthadelphia starting tonight is pretty damned tempting, though.

Pirate Helmsmen and Other Notes

I haven't calculated how the Neal Huntington hiring as General Manager in Pittsburg is going to affect my close-to-official prediction of a ninety win season for the Pirates next year.

New Pirate President Frank Connelly seems to think good things could happen quickly, though.

Heyman's got some other nice tidbits on baseball attendance, Houston's GM search and a possible umpire suspension.

The Establishment

In the space of a paragraph Andrew Sullivan effectively describes who Hillary is...and Bush and the rest of the Washington Elite -- regardless of political affiliation -- at his blog today. Here's his closing,

The conservative Washington Establishment is swooning for Hillary for a reason. The reason is an accommodation with what they see as the next source of power (surprise!); and the desire to see George W. Bush's invasion and occupation of Iraq legitimated and extended by a Democratic president (genuine surprise). Hillary is Bush's ticket to posterity. On Iraq, she will be his legacy. They are not that dissimilar after all: both come from royal families, who have divvied up the White House for the past couple of decades. They may oppose one another; but they respect each other as equals in the neo-monarchy that is the current presidency. And so elite conservatives are falling over themselves to embrace a new Queen Hillary, with an empire reaching across Mesopotamia, a recently deposed court just waiting to return to the salons of DC, a consort happy to be co-president for another four years, and a back-channel to the other royal family. She'll even have more powers than Clinton I, because Cheney has given her back various royal prerogatives: arrests without charges, torture, wire-tapping, and spy-ware on your Expedia account. Only the coronation awaits.

One can imagine the fear that the Establishment would have if Ron Paul became a major player in the upcoming election year. In much the same way the Establishment deals with the current Iranian "problem", I truly believe nothing would be taken off the table in combating a surging Paul candidacy.

Nothing.

A Check to Ron Paul

I'm getting ready to dip in my wallet for my biggest Paulian contribution. Gotta get it in before September 30th, though, so the media's collective jaw can drop when the 3rd quarter fund-raising figures are released in mid-October. I know Stilwell made a fund-raising prediction in late August on how much Paul will pull in. My uneducated guess is $4.7 million for the 3rd quarter.

What about you guys? Any revisions, Stilwell?

Zap Reader

This reading tool drove me nuts. I kept slowing down the speed with which the text appeared but it only annoyed me more.

2002 Redux

Rush at the B-Burgs is bravely making his college football picks known to the public this year. After this weekend's play he's a respectable 12-10 on the season.

This has inspired me to make my only pick of the fall season.

The Angels will win the World Series.

Note on Dunn

Adam Dunn has put up his fourth straight forty homer season this season. Through his age 27 season he has 238 career homers. According to Baseball-Reference his nickname is "Big Donkey". That's something I did not know.

Playing in Cincy sure keeps your profile low.

Wash Plays GM

Ranger goodies from Jamey Newberg.

Ron Washington's unvarnished outspokenness with the press was a refreshing change over the winter and when spring training got underway, but some of his comments lately have been a little curious.

Asked on a talk show on Friday morning whether he wanted Vicente Padilla back in 2008, Washington responded: "I don't think I have a choice there." Honest? Sure. Tactful? Not sure.

Other examples of Washington's straight-talk express abound in Newberg's piece.

Washington seems to have gotten a lot more than expected out of his players over the past four months. It would be a shame if his downfall was losing the clubhouse with a few too many jabs at his own players.

Very few managers can get away with pounding on their players in the press consistently. Lou Pinella is an example of one manager who can get away with it. The odds are against Washington, or for that matter most other managers, being able to pull that off over the long-term.

May It Come to Pass

The next country where secessionary forces may win out could occur in the country where the European Union is headquartered. Open talk of a break-up of Belgium abounds in the northwestern European state and would probably occur along the lines of the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemings. The scenario seen in the picture below shows three new countries being formed. There are other possible scenarios that could unfold during a break-up of Belgium. Some of those include pieces of Belgium linking up with France, Germany and Luxemburg. Let's hope that doesn't happen and they eventually split into a bunch of new countries. The more the merrier for the cause of liberty.

Ron Paul at His Best

Whoa Doctor!

B-BURGS CALLS FOR PATIENCE REWARDED

Lovin' It!

Frank Thomas hit three homers in today's game versus the Red Sox. He's got twenty-five on the year and has upped his RBI total to ninety-one. The homers pushed him past Mel Ott and into a tie for 18th on the all-time list with Ernie Banks and Eddie Matthews at 512.

Thomas will go down as one of the greatest percentage hitters in the history of the game. In any single season during his peak years from 1990-1997, Thomas never hit less than .308, reached base less than 42% of the time or slugged less than .529. His lifetime OPS+ ranks 19th all-time.

If I were to make a rough list of hitters who mixed high percentage results, with excellent body control in the batters box and an ability to out-think the pitcher, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Barry Bonds would top the list. Frank Thomas would be in the next group of players after those three greats.

The way Thomas shifts his weight in the batters box has always been a sight to behold. He's truly unique in how he uses his body to strike a baseball. A Charley Lau disciple, Thomas expertly shifts his body weight in such a manner that it allows him to hit balls 450 feet even when his arms appear to be moving disjointedly away from the rest of his body. While it's partly a testament to the great strength he possesses in his 6'5'' frame, it's also due to the excellent body control he exhibits in his hips and legs throughout his swing.

The next time you see Thomas hit watch his feet. They have the appearance of gliding towards the pitcher as he moves his bat down to meet the ball. There's a lightness about how he moves in the box that's made all the more amazing because of his size.

It's remarkable that some still question whether Thomas should be in the Hall of Fame. I think that number's gotten considerably lower this past year but some naysayers still persist.

I would've put the guy in if he'd retired five years ago.

The Reason Why

Via Lew's Blog comes a succint article by John Ozberkmen helping to explain why Ron Paul receives such intense support from his supporters. An excerpt,

I don't want to work one fourth of my year paying federal taxes. I don't want to ask permission from a government worker for a permit to redo my bathroom. I should never have to ask the government for a permit to marry my beautiful wife. I can't start a business without asking permission.

That about sums up the reason for much of the Ron Paul hub-bub. Some people simply want to be left alone to freely make the decisions in their lives that only effect themselves and their family.

From Iowa to Manhatten

I'm fond of this account of a one man sushi eating contest from this past winter. One reason it resonates is that the fellow in the picture below, our contestant, looks like an old friend of ours. Another reason is that the post concerns eating a vast quantity of sushi. This is an activity that I desperately wish to try sometime before I pass from this earth.

Holy Crap

Most anyone over the age of thirty who watched a lot of TV when they were younger will remember that Chevy Chase had his own late night talk show back in the early 90's. It was the golden age of late night talk. Carson was on his way out. Letterman and Leno were at the top of their games. Arsenio was hanging on. Tom Snyder's reincarnation was only a few years away.

Andrew Hearst at the panopticist serves up two delicious posts that accurately represent what all of us viewers got to enjoy when flipping the channel to Chevy Chase's show for the five weeks it was on.

The stink bomb that was The Chevy Chase Show first wafted over the airwaves on September 7, 1993, a week after David Letterman's CBS debut and a week before Conan O'Brien took over as the host of Late Night...

I watched The Chevy Chase Show that first night...The four-minute clip below contains part of Chase's interview with the show's first-ever guest, Goldie Hawn, as well as their truly unfortunate attempts to get the audience dancing—to "La Bamba"—as the show went to commercial break.

That clip is bad enough but if you want to feel uncomfortable (and I mean real uncomfortable) you have to see the opening of that night's show.

This new clip is the first 10 minutes of the show, and Chase is entirely, existentially alone. The phrase "deer caught in the headlights" is a cliche, but it really applies here. He rubs his hands together; he repeats himself; his eyes dart around...

He seems acutely aware that the next hour is going to go very very badly.

I'm surprised Cheney hasn't thought to forcibly show these two clips on an endless loop to the prisoners at Gitmo. Then again, they may be more certain than ever that they do want to carry through with destroying Western Civilization.

From the Knights of Liberty

Street Symphony

I first heard of the idea of eliminating traffic lights and stop signs on city streets from one of the co-editors of The B-Burgs back in the mid-90's. If I remember correctly he supported his argument with appeals to personal liberty rather than making the argument based on improved safety.

Well, a German town has made the move to such a street environment and their rationale is based on the safety they believe it will provide.

...all traffic controls will disappear from the center of the western town of Bohmte to try to reduce accidents and make life easier for pedestrians.

In an area used by 13,500 cars every day, drivers and pedestrians will enjoy equal right of way, Klaus Goedejohann, the town's mayor, told Reuters.

"Traffic will no longer be dominant," he said.

I know that every time I come to an intersection where the street lights have died (which happens often in Baltimore) the efficiency with which drivers coming from all four directions manuever their cars safely through the intersection always makes a strong, positive impression on me.

Think about the natural ordering effect that such an environment would produce. Within days, if not hours, all jack-ass drivers would immediately realize that in order for them to live another day they had better start slowing down as they approach the next light-less intersection. Plus, things might become a bit more civil on the roads since motorists would almost always be in motion and not getting annoyed idling at red lights every two blocks.

Back to Germany. This offers a unique philosophical problem for the politcial arm of the European Union. These ninnies probably love the idea of cars losing much of their influence on the roads and will applaud the reduction in greenhouse emissions. But at the same time a major symbol of state-imposed public order will pass from the scene when those traffic lights get taken down.

Steady Going

Perceptions of players and teams for any given baseball season are usually hardened after the first few months of the season. For instance, the Texas Rangers stood at 19-35 entering June, there was open questioning of Ron Washington's job stability in Arlington and Michael Young was on pace to fall short of a fifth straight 200 hit season. We, the baseball viewing public, saw a disaster in progress. Most of us left the Rangers behind and searched for a more palatable baseball diet consisting of the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers, a certain Yankee third baseman, a bevy of young pitching stars hitting the majors and Arizona's youth movement.

Well, things have changed a bit down in Texas and when the baseball viewing public looks back on the 2007 season hopefully some will recognize the turn around. Since May 31st the Rangers have put together 14-12, 14-12, 14-14 and 8-3 months. With a record of 69-76 the Rangers are getting in position to make the season respectable.

Will the surprise teams of 2008 be the Texas Rangers and Pittsburg Pirates? Chris chuckled when I mentioned Pittsburg a couple of days ago and while it's not an official statement by me yet I'm getting close to making these my two sleeper picks for 90+ wins next season.

The Shortstops

Yunel Escobar or Edgar Renteria? Who would you keep if you're Schuerholz? Or maybe keep them both?

Davidson envisions parting with one of them to get a starting pitcher for Atlanta's 2008 campaign. Both seem to be in the same mold offensively and if a deal can't be swung then how about keeping Edgar at short, moving Yunel to third and Chipper Jones back to left. While getting more starting pitching is always a good idea, I wouldn't feel bad being a Braves fan with Tim Hudson, John Smoltz and Chuck James returning as your top three starters.

Last Rites

There now stands one team in the Major Leagues with a worse record than the Baltimore Orioles. Beginning with the August 22nd doubleheader 39-10 drubbing by the Texas Rangers, the Orioles have run up a record of 3-18. In those twenty-one games they've been outscored 196 to 96.

In the twenty-one game slide the Orioles have been outscored by 100 runs. That means the opposition has scored nearly five runs per game more than the Oriole hitters. While the hitting has been below average it's the pitching that's wrought this nightly destruction.

Just look at the names of the pitchers for the O's in the past two games in the order that they've appeared,

Victor Santos
Rob Bell
Fernando Cabrera
Kurt Birkins
James Hoey
Radhames Liz

then

Daniel Cabrera
Rocky Cherry
Fernando Cabrera
Danys Baez

Simply horrific. We're stuck with them until the end of the year and some of them into next year since they've been labeled 'prospects' by Oriole management. These guys are significantly worse than the inning fillers that usually occupy the last two spots on most team's staffs. Unfortunately, they fill the last four or five spots on our staff.

And as far as next year goes the O's have absolutely no help on the horizon in the minor leagues. Their top prospect, Billy Rowell, is having a solid season in the Sally league for a nineteen year old. He won't see the majors on a regular basis until '09 at the earliest. Other than that there's nothing.

My Uncle Jim has proclaimed the Orioles to be cursed. He says that no run of bad luck could ever happen to a team like it has to the O's night after night. The way they're losing simply seems impossible. Therefore, a curse may be the only explanation.

Between us we catch a lot of the innings the O's play and it truly feels like we're in unprecedented territory here. While there has been hope in each of the last nine losing seasons for a better tomorrow there's something that just tells you that things are not going to be OK this time around -- and for a long, long time into the future.

It Was Worth It!

A little something for the law and order types out there. A primer,

And in the ultimate display of cruelty, a SWAT team member drove a dog trying to flee the home back into the inferno, where it met an agonizing death. Deputies then reportedly laughed as the dog's owners came unglued as it perished in the blaze.

Role Reversal

I watch very little NFL football throughout the course of a season. But I'll be following two teams this year. Since I listen to local sports talk radio for Orioles news on the drive in every morning I'm forced to listen to Ravens talk. I'll also be peeking at the Chiefs record to see if they have a worse season than the Royals this year. The 20-3 thumping of the Chiefs at the hands of the Texans is a good start.

The Leavenworth Competition

Great looking meats for the 10th place finishers. My only question is what that last hunk is? Salami?

Granderson in Elite Company

Curtis Granderson has joined Willie Mays (1957) and Frank Schulte (1911) as the only players in a single season to hit the twenty mark in doubles, triples, homers and steals. Taking things one step further Granderson has thirty doubles which marks him as the only man along side of Schulte as a 30-20-20-20 man.

Jimmy Rollins needs three more triples this season to join Granderson and Schulte in the 30-20-20-20 club.

Dealin'

September Dog Days

Here's what passes for news in Oriole-Land these days.

Victory!

I voted for the first time since 1996 this past Sunday. The site was the Maryland State Fair and the event was the Republican Straw Poll. Jen voted also. It was beautiful day.

Paul took home 28% of the vote and Guiliani's strong second place showing confirmed Maryland's totalitarian lean. Still, even though it wasn't the resounding straw poll victory we've come to expect from Paul it was a win.

As you can see above I registered Republican for one reason and one reason only on Sunday.

The Other Chaser

I check in at Rowland's Office regularly to get a feel for the state of the Atlanta Braves. Their assessments are always pithy and succinct.

We just saw the Phils dispatch the Mets this week and now the Braves meet the Mets starting tomorrow sitting 4.5 back.

Phillies Roll

After muddling around for the entire season the Phillies just completed the 4th game of a four game sweep of division leading New York this evening. They sit two games back of the Mets now.

Tonight's game was a crazy 11-10 affair that saw Chase Utley run the count to 3-2 versus Billy Wagner and then line a one out single to right to drive in Tadahito Taguchi for the winning run.

The Phils appear to be getting hot at the right time but overtaking the Mets will be no easy task. Willie Randolph is not a manager who will panic and make poor in-game decisions because he's looking in his rear-view mirror at the Phillies. Complimenting Randolph is a veteran team that will most likely follow their manager's lead. I don't think I've ever seen Moises Alou break a sweat on the diamond.

These teams meet for a final series midway through September and both teams play a majority of their September games against divisional rivals.

On Acta

Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta is in his first year managing in the major leagues and is winning about as many games as could be expected for what is practically an expansion team. The Nats have 58 wins and with a month left in the season have a real shot at a 70 win season. The reviews on him have generally been good.

Tim Brown's article at Yahoo Sports has two interesting tidbits. First, Acta meets a hero of his, Jim Leyland, back in June.

For those three days in June, Acta, 38 years old and some 70 games into his managerial career, could summon no way to approach Leyland.

"I was too shy," he said.

So, Acta trailed the clubhouse attendant out of the clubhouse, through the doors and to Leyland. He stuck out his hand.

Leyland hugged him instead.

"He had no business talking to me," Acta said. "But, he took the time to talk to me in private. He told me to keep it up. He told me he went through the same thing early on in Pittsburgh. He told me, 'You can do it.' "

And then this Acta quote raised an eyebrow because I've never heard such a statement uttered anywhere by anyone -- including statheads.

Acta pressed his optimism and core philosophies – fewer outs on the base paths and fewer sacrifice bunts for an offense that would have difficulty scoring runs anyway, surer hands in the field behind a no-name staff – against the predictions of a historically bad season.

I have never heard or read of anyone positing that a team that's going to have trouble scoring runs should eschew bunting, or in the parlance of today, eschew small-ball. It just may make sense. At nearly all levels of baseball lighter hitting teams are expected to sacrifice a few of the precious twenty-seven outs they're granted each game to move a runner up one base via a bunt or lightly tapping the ball to the right side with a runner on second. The reasoning is that the light hitting team that gets a base runner on first needs to get them into scoring position immediately so that another of their light-hitting teammates can knock them in from second.

But why the assumption that such a strategy is optimal? Doesn't it make sense that a team that creates fewer runs per out needs to protect and save those outs as best they can throughout the course of a game? A high-octane offense like Philadelphia possesses could be handicapped at the start of every game with, say, just twenty-four outs and still be able to compete with Washington's anemic offense and their twenty-seven outs. So why would Washington sacrifice any of their outs?

This one sentence comment in an innocuous article in late August deserves some lengthy numbers crunching. If I were a college professor I'd ask for a sabbatical at about this point.

Wikipedia on the Printed Page

Not as much as I thought.

Greece

I'd missed the news regarding the multitude of fires that are raging in Greece. Particularly interesting is John Robb's take.

And be sure to click on the map in his post to see it at full size.

Hoey...Burres...Bradford...Birkins

I'm a little late with this post since I was on vacation but it still seems appropriate to look back on the Orioles 30-3 loss at the hands of the Texas Rangers last Wednesday. Since that loss the O's have dropped six straight. Tonight's was another doozy. Leading 6-3 going into the 8th inning, four Oriole relievers allowed e-l-e-v-e-n runs to send the home team on their way to a 15-8 loss.

My Uncle Jim struck while the iron was hot last week and sent me the following email with his observations on the 30-3 game.

I saw history being made last night. In an intriguing attempt to broaden their fan base the Orioles played football against a Texas team (Texas is known for its great football prowess) yesterday evening but managed only a field goal while conceding 3 touchdowns and 3 field goals to a superior Texas squad. The O's quarterback had just been signed to a one year contract so it was particularly embarassing for him as he sat on the bench almost the entire game while the O's had to be on defense so much. In fact amazingly the Orioles field goal in the first quarter gave them a brief lead. But the pigskin parade passed them by quickly,
30-3 ,and tonight the Orioles will revert to baseball after their unsuccessful fling at football. But it was a bold and creative marketing ploy that may have worked.

Tonight's game would've needed a safety.

Freedom Vote #1

I just received an email from Ron Paul 2008 urging me to vote at the Maryland State Fair GOP Straw Poll before it closes down on September 3rd.

This will be my first trip to the State Fairgrounds off York Road in the lovely city of Timonium.

Chris Brunner Does the Math

And finds that Ron Paul has the most combined straw poll votes since the Iowa straw poll.

September Sacrifice

One of the great things about The Hardball Times is that they serve up articles on unexpected subjects to its readers on a consistent basis. They reach back, grab a pennant race from forty years ago and write about a pitcher who carried his team to the brink of the World Series only to fall just short. Other sites would serve up the Yastrzemski September of '67 softball but the Times kicks it with Jim Kaat and his 1.51 September of '67 ERA for the Twins. Its baseball candy for those yearning to learn new things about the game every day of their life.

Wash

Readers of Minor League Ball weigh in on the Ron Washington bullet point.

Kudos from Ed Coffin,

Washington is a refreshing change from the prototypical fire and ice MLB manager. He doesn't oil up his pregame and postgame commentary, it seems to come straight from the shoulder. To which his head is attached.

Not sure I'd be qualified to judge or grade him, but these impressions stand out. He is an expert at the conduct of the game, and the conduct of playing the game, and is a teacher. He is less than expert (as yet) at situational and tactical calling of shots, yet seldom 'appears' to be theoretically wrong. He may need more depth of knowledge (or better advice) about deployment of pitching. In the case of the 2007 Rangers, I suspect just about anybody would have some indecision about pitching, though.

Some negatives from peanut,

If there is one big thing that worries me about Washington, though, it's his tendency to engage in a couple of old manager foibles, such as going with a player who had a hot spring training over someone with a track record or who otherwise shows more potential for long-term success. Using Jamey Wright and Matt Kata in April are good examples.

I think, too, that he likes players who remind him of himself when he played - a scrappy, good at fundamentals player not good enough to be a starter - and this leads to some of his questionable lineup/roster decisions (Hairston, for example).

Since my Newberg/Washington post on 8/4 the Rangers have put up a solid 10-10 record with a lineup full of youngsters. Some are speculating that Washington could be gone at the end of the year but barring a 4-25 September he'll be back for at least another year. This team is rebuilding and even if '08 is tough he'll stick around if he doesn't lose the clubhouse.

Man's Footprint

Curzon digs up two cool maps. The second one is interesting in how it shows how high a
percentage of the world's shipping occurs between Europe-America and Japan-America.

Stilwell on Paul

Stilwell predicts Paul to be a solid #4 in the Republican field come October. Plus, he has a clip of Alan Keyes acting crazy!

In other Paul news it appears that my wish may be bearing itself out as we move towards the beginning of the fall.

A Man With a Plan

Even in light of the recent losing streak the Orioles are experiencing this guy keeps me hopeful. He's Dave Trembley and he's on-board through the end of next season and will have a chance to get the ball rolling in Spring Training 2008 the way he sees fit. He doesn't seem like the push-over that Ray Miller, Mike Hargrove, Lee Mazzili and Sam Perlozzo proved to be. Maybe the players will be more apt to listen to a guy who holds Miguel Tejada to the same rules as Tike Redman.

MLB.com: Is it hard to go from being a coach -- and being friendly with the players -- to being the manager and the chief disciplinarian in the dugout? I know it's been that way for most of your career, but is it an adjustment?

Trembley: No, because I don't feel as if I was ever a buddy. I was cordial and respectful to all these guys, but I kept my distance from them. I never socialized with them off the field. I care about them and I give them their space. I talked to them when I was a coach, though, and especially in Spring Training. A lot of guys came to me and confided things in me.