Thanks for the link - that's just a fantastic piece of writing; of course it helps that Greinke is an interesting story, but Posnanski's ability to make you feel connected to the story is what drives it IMHO. His ability to mix anecdotes with his own observations and impressions make him one of the best reads on the web IMHO.It's a couple days old, but this feature on Zack Greinke is awesome. Then again, I'm biased-- Greinke is probably my favorite active non-Sox player.
So, there was this game when Royals relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt gave up a home run. He was upset in the dugout, of course, and he stormed around, muttering at himself, “Man, that wasn’t even that bad of a pitch.” Of course, all his teammates kept their distance.All except Zack Greinke.
“That wasn’t even that bad of a pitch,” Affeldt barked at himself again.“Actually,” Zack said, “it was a pretty bad pitch.”
Excellent article, thanks for posting it.It's a couple days old, but this feature on Zack Greinke is awesome. Then again, I'm biased-- Greinke is probably my favorite active non-Sox player.
The genius of the Snuggie is that is an entirely useless product that solves a problem that did not exist. There is a lot more in that single sentence than meets the eye. Lots of infoco products are useless. In fact, I’ll just break away from generalities and tell you that they’re all useless on some level. Some are entirely useless. Some are mostly useless the way that Wesley was mostly dead. But they’re all useless.
Q: Unless I got this wrong, you are a relatively new father. Getting a lot of sleep? What’s your best early fatherhood story?
Schur: Yes indeed, our first child, William, was born last year. I am not getting a lot of sleep, but that’s more due to the show than to the baby. I wake up before he does. As far as my best early fatherhood story…there was this amazing time when he cried a lot and then pooped. And there was this other time when he pooped and then started crying. We have fun.
Another hilarious quote from that column. And it is a great column.Poz loves his infomercials. At this point, I want to read his grocery list.
Yes, it is comforting to know that there are scientists out there working with the various principles of fusion technology in order to create a cooker that can smoosh graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows together. Of course, they patented it. We wouldn’t want that sort of technology to get into the wrong hands.
Sometimes I almost think that he's too good to write about sports for a living.Excellent column on Nick Adenhart's death in SI.
Man that's a great story and he got it done pretty quickly, too. Joe Pos is a talented man. . . .unbelievably talented. He's the best writer that I read and he pretty much can take any topic and make it interesting.Sometimes I almost think that he's too good to write about sports for a living.
EXACTLY.He has a way of writing about sad things without being schmaltzy. That's a talent.
That’s the game. That’s why even when a manager makes what seems an obviously dumb pitching move, it is still likely to work.** **This “still likely to work” rule is not in effect when it comes to Royals manager Trey Hillman, who has now gone NINE DAYS since pitching Joakim Soria. NINE DAYS. Maybe he’s saving Soria for private functions, birthday parties, bar mitzvahs and so on.
I'm also looking forward to reading Posnanski's SI cover story on Zach Grienke:Koufax (1961-66): 129-47, .733%, 2.19 ERA, 35 SHO, 1,713 Ks, 412 BBs, 3 Cy Young Awards, MVP, 156 ERA+.
That’s awfully good, of course, but Koufax had many advantages. He was pitching in the best pitchers park in baseball. He was pitching off a very high mound. He was pitching during an extreme low-run environment … that’s why his 2.19 ERA over six years comes out to a 156 ERA+. Truth is his BEST ERA+ for a single season was 190, which is remarkable, but is not as good as either Maddux’s or Pedro’s entire seven year stretch.
My guess is that you'll be able to find a link to it here:I'm also looking forward to reading Posnanski's SI cover story on Zach Grienke:
Grienke will be the first Royal on the SI cover in 16 years; should be a great read.
It's a couple days old, but this feature on Zack Greinke is awesome. Then again, I'm biased-- Greinke is probably my favorite active non-Sox player.
The SI hasn't yet been published (or just been published).My guess is that you'll be able to find a link to it here:
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?s=&...t&p=2192424
In 2007, when third baseman Alex Gordon was a rookie, he struggled terribly at the start. Before Gordon's seventh game, Greinke pulled his teammate into the video room and showed him a clip. It was of Greinke hitting his home run. "In case you forgot," Greinke said, "this is what a home run looks like." Gordon hit his first big league homer that night.
Say, for instance, you have the not-evil-but-certainly-misguided Professor Francoeur* roaming the countryside with his .307 on-base percentage and using his anti-walk machine to remove on-base percentage from every scoreboard in America.
*Francoeur's quote — "If on-base percentage is so important, then why don't they put it up on the scoreboard?" — is making the Internet rounds now. My sense is that Francoeur was saying it as more of joke — I know some people are hammering him about it, but I think it's mostly just amusing. Still, it should be noted that on-base percentage does seem to be on many scoreboards at ballparks I go to. It is in Kansas City, for sure. And it makes you wonder if they don't put it on the scoreboard in Atlanta because … of Jeff Francoeur.
Anyway, the cartoon would start with a few fans shouting,
"Oh no, Professor Francoeur has taken on-base percentage off the scoreboard!"
"Now we're stuck with just batting average!"
"Leave slugging percentage up there, man!"
"I have no idea what the true value of Kenji Johjima is now!"
Then, Big Bill James walks over. And he says to the last fan: "Uh, Johjima's plate discipline isn't too good. He has only walked once this year. He only walked 19 times in 409 plate appearances last year."
Professor Francoeur: So, at least we meet, Mr. Bill James.
Bill: Yes, it's nice to meet you.
Professor Francoeur: Likewise. But now, I will take your statistic, on-base percentage, off the scoreboard forever! Ah ha ha ha!
Bill: It's not my statistic. It has been around for more than a hundred years. Branch Rickey was a big proponent of on-base percentage, for instance.
Professor Francoeur: Yes, well, if you had not written that book Moneyball …
Bill: I didn't write Moneyball.
Joe Morgan (special guess appearance): He's right. It was Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane!
Professor Francoeur: Um, well, fine! So, if Billy Beane had not written that book Moneyball …
Bill: It wasn't Billy Beane either. It was Michael Lewis.
Professor Francoeur: Michael Lewis? The guy who wrote The Blind Side and Liar's Poker?
Bill: I guess so, yeah.
Professor Francoeur: Well, um, OK, I'm confused now. Joe, as long as you're here, can you talk about how you were able to walk as much as you did?
Joe Morgan: It's about heart, Jeff.
Yeah. I was kind of wondering about that.Is anyone else getting an error when trying to visit Posnanski's blog? Looks kinda suspicious to my untrained eye.
On Facebook, he said that they shut him down because his site was "too popular". He's moving from Hostmonster to Go Daddy and the site should be back up at some point this weekend.http://host223.hostmonster.com/suspended.page/
Looks like someone forgot to pay their bill; or he has a plan with a traffic limit and saw a sudden spike.