I always hated the Rally Monkey. For those of you who haven’t been to an Angels game lately, the Rally Monkey is the Angels’ device for getting the crowd excited when the team is behind. It started about a year ago, and now every time the Angels need runs, they show a clip of this…
NO BLOCKBUSTER DEALS THIS YEAR, THEY SAID "I think anyone would agree that this makes us a better team." —Billy Beane, Athletics general manager, on the three-way trade that brought outfielder Jermaine Dye to the A’s "We’re trying to create a deep, 40-man roster. We have a lot of holes to fill. It’s going to…
Last week’s column about pitch counts, game lengths and run scoring got quite a lot of response, most of it taking me to task for not answering the question properly. Though MLB has backed down after the directive to “hunt for strikes” caused an uproar, it still remains an interesting topic for analysis. Here’s a…
There’s a rather extended thread–actually a series of threads–on the Usenet newsgroup rec.sport.baseball concerning the value of Barry Bonds, and whether he or Luis Gonzalez is the more valuable player this year. Some people are rather staunch in their believe that Bonds isn’t a "clutch" player, pointing to his lackluster postseason performances for the Pirates…
During my first stint living in the Bay Area, I spent a lot of time watching A’s broadcasts on local TV. There was usually one broadcast on a weekday night, and one broadcast on the weekend–usually on Sunday, preceded by Mel Allen on "This Week in Baseball." I remember back to when I was at…
I realize this is going to seem like piling on, but I want to talk a little bit about Wednesday’s three-way deal. The latest Allard Baird silliness has garnered most of the attention, but it’s really an interesting trade on all sides. The A’s added a right-handed hitter to play right field and bat fifth….
For this week’s column, I can either excoriate Allard Baird in print for the hundredth time, or I can open the ol’ mailbag. And since my lawyer friends insist that "battery" covers written as well as verbal threats, I’ll let reader Greg Godowsky defuse a touchy situation with his question: I don’t know if this…
TRANSACTION ANALYSIS For the love of God! Where is Transaction Analysis?!? Please Chris, take mercy on my soul and post a new Transaction Analysis! –AC Well, it should hopefully warm your heart to hear that TA is gearing up for daily coverage of the trading deadline action, starting on Friday. Sorry about the quiet period,…
(Ed. note: The unofficial kickoff to Rumor Week got the staff here at BP riled.) Rany Jazayerli: The following deal is about to take place: Kansas City trades Jermaine Dye to Oakland, which trades Mario Encarnacion, Jose Ortiz, and a pitcher to Colorado, which trades Neifi Perez to… Do I need to finish the sentence?…
IN THIS ISSUE American League National League
The promised run through the NL stats: The NL MVP race: PA AVG OBP SLG EqA RARP VORP R RBI Luis Gonzalez 438 .342 .435 .725 .363 58.8 68.6 83 94 Barry Bonds 403 .290 .474 .778 .399 73.1 75.5 72 78 Barry Bonds still gets my vote, but his slight decline since June at…
I know we went around the AL last Friday, and I’d planned to look at the NL today, but I’m pushing that back for a day. I want to point out some mediocy from last night’s A’s/Royals game. Down 4-2 in the top of the ninth with no one out and Jeremy Giambi on first…