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Rights and Rudeness: Isn't Being Politically Correct Simply . . . Correct?
By Mary C. Curtis - Politics DailyIn Washington, Mayor Adrian Fenty has signed legislation to legalize same-sex marriage, despite objections from Catholic clergy and some ministers, and pending a 30-day review period by Congress. I can safely say lawmakers in North Carolina are very far from taking that step. However, in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County commissioners last week did approve domestic-partner benefits for county workers in same-sex relationships, starting in 2011. The 6-to-3 vote last week followed party lines, with Democrats voting for and Republicans against. Mecklenburg became one of seven municipalities -- ...
Roy Oswalt Wants A-Rod's Stats Gone
By John Walters - AOL NewsIt's always interesting to see how peers react when one of their own get clipped for steroids. Barry Bonds seemed to get more vilification from fans than from players (except for maybe Turk Wendell). You would think that among his own, Alex Rodriguez would get the same kind of support. But not from Roy Oswalt. And forget asterisks. Forget about calling him "A-R*d". If Oswalt had his way, he would take all of Rodriguez's numbers and wipe them from the record book with a paper towel and some lemon-scented Pledge."A-Rod's numbers shouldn't count for anything," Oswalt said in a phone interview ...
Bill James Rips the BCS, Calls on Fellow Statistical Analysts to Boycott
By Michael David Smith - AOL NewsIn the years when the BCS works more or less as well as can be expected, and the top two teams play each other for the national championship, the powers that be in college football like to pat themselves on the back for using computer rankings as part of the BCS formula. "See?" they say, "We're using the computers to make sure we have a fair, objective system."And then in the years when the BCS doesn't work well, and college football fans are up in arms, the powers that be in college football like to blame the computer rankings in the BCS formula. "The poll voters got it right," they say, "But ...
Notes From the Clubhouse: Angels Look for Answers Within
By Andrew Johnson - AOL NewsOur MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.From afar, everything appears to be business as usual in Orange County. As of Thursday evening, only two teams in the majors have more wins than the Angels -- the Red Sox and Cubs, and only Chicago has a better winning percentage than Mike Scioscia's bunch.Look closer, though, and the problems are readily apparent. The Halos have outscored their opponents by a mere 19 runs this season. Going by Bill James' formula for expected wins, the Angels should be 41-38, not 48-31. Oakland, which trailed Los ...
MLB Essentials: JoePo on Junior
By Matt Watson - AOL NewsMLB Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.1. Joe Posnanski: There have been a lot of articles written about Ken Griffey today; Joe's is the best. 2. Big League Stew: Catching up with the Mitchell Report All-Stars.3. New York Times: Grading the best ballpark cuisine from coast to coast. (Bonus: Endless Simmer lists the best grub the NYT overlooked.) 4. Dugout Central: Does Bill James deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame?5. Gem Mint Ten: Don't let anyone say you don't have the body of a professional athlete.6. Surviving Grady: Sean Casey & Ric Flair = BFF. You just know Jonathan ...
Bill James Should Offer Opinions About Win Shares, Not Causes of Death
By Josh Alper - AOL NewsThe worst part of the Steroid Era in baseball is that we'll never be quite sure who was or wasn't on drugs during the years when testing was nonexistent. We all have our suspicions about players whose production and/or muscles exploded but they usually remain just that. Bill James, however, went a step further in his new book The Bill James Gold Mine 2008.Cameron Martin of the fine baseball blog Bugs & Cranks was reading the section of the book devoted to Atypical Seasons which highlighted years that saw players over or underachieve in notable amounts. James found that two of the greatest home ...
For The Last Time, Hanley Ramirez Is Not a Good Fielder
By Josh Alper - AOL NewsLast night FanHousers were debating if we'd want Jose Reyes or Hanley Ramirez as our shortstop. The vote went in Reyes's favor, though it was close, mostly because of defense. If you're going to talk about which one player you'd like to have, regardless of position, Ramirez ranks higher than Reyes. But does he rank higher than Reyes's teammate David Wright? Not to Bill James, who named Wright as the player he'd pick to start a franchise. That rankled Mike Beradino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He accuses James of naming Wright because the Red Sox once traded Ramirez and then pulls out ...
Saber Bomb: Bill James Still Loves Scouts
By Matt Watson - AOL NewsSaber Bombs are MLB FanHouse's introduction to sabermetrics, those new and sometimes unwieldy metrics that are changing the way we think about baseball. Each post highlights a specific stat, player, team or media member either embodying that understanding, or missing the boat completely.Among baseball fans, Bill James is either a pioneer of enlightened baseball thought or some nerd who enjoys math more than actually watching a game. It's that black and white, with staunch proponents on both sides of the "stats vs. scouts" debate often refusing to see shades of gray. But if those people who ...
How Can You Tell if Your Lead Is Safe?
By Josh Alper - AOL NewsIt's strange when a Tuesday morning brings about the confluence of the film Marathon Man and the father of baseball sabermetrics but perhaps that's why they call it March Madness. In the film, Laurence Olivier tortures Dustin Hoffman by performing dental work with no anesthesia while asking, over and over, "Is it safe?" He was asking about a plot to sell jewels stolen by Nazis in WWII but college basketball fans can relate. It's torture watching your team trying to close out a win and you're constantly trying to figure out if your lead is safe enough to carry the day. Finally, thanks to Bill ...
How Rob Neyer Got His Start
By Matt Watson - AOL NewsBill James may be the grandfather of baseball sabermetrics, but Rob Neyer has to be considered some kind of great uncle. James was well-established among hardcore baseball nerds before Neyer came along, but it was Neyer's column on ESPN.com that brought sabermetrics into the light and in front of a national audience. The Hardball Times recently caught up with Neyer for an interview, where he discusses how he got his start, including just how rough things were for him before finally finding his niche:My freelance "career" lasted for 10 months, and I think I made something like $8,000. At best. ...
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