T.G.

Glad someone did...

notti - I get it... just don't like it.

It's one thing to interview for an open position... it's another to interview for one that's still occupied.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/sh-t-doesn-good-baseball-managers-lifers-react-joe-maddon-cubs-situation-blog-entry-1.1992195

If this is true, the stink factor of it all is pretty high for me. I will think a little less of Maddon for basically taking a job that belonged to someone else who is being let go despite doing a good job. I think a lot less of Epstein and Hoyer too. I hope the Cubs don't sniff the post season for another 100+ years.

Renteria had two years left on his contract...

If he had denounced the "contact play" earlier in his broadcasting career, he might still be working at ESPN.

When I heard the news.... the first words out of my mouth were.... "Of course."

The announcement will be made in the bottom of the 9th this evening... but only if the score is tied and the bases are loaded with two outs.

I would love to see the unexpected decide this game... like Billy Butler stealing home in the bottom of the 9th or Guthrie throwing a no-hitter... I love the unpredictability of baseball and I'm hoping tonight the game will be just that.

My point is that if so much of the focus is on how the home team wins game 7 so often - the opposite will happen. I don't remember if that was the focus in 2002 - but for this series it comes up constantly.

My blog is banned in China. ok.... actually all blogs are banned in China, but I like saying mine is just the same. I have a friend living there and sent him a link when I first got it up and going and he told me he couldn't access it because blogs are banned....

I just hope it's an epic game. Is that too much to ask for? I'm pulling for the Royals... but... the more talk about how hard it is for a visiting team to win game 7 makes me think the Giants will win because that's how that crap works... Go Royals.

sounds like he just tells it like he sees it.

http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/bill-james-statistical-revolution/ From one of my favorites... Joe Posnanski... James on WAR... Here is Bill James on Wins Above Replacement, perhaps the hottest advanced statistic in the game right now: “Well, my math skills are limited and my data-processing skills are essentially nonexistent. The younger guys are way, way beyond me in those areas. I’m fine with that, and I don’t struggle against it, and I hope that I don’t deny them credit for what they can do that I can’t. “But because that is true, I ASSUMED that these were complex, nuanced, sophisticated systems. I never really looked; I just assumed that the details were out of my depth. But sometime in the last year I was doing some research that relied on these WAR systems, so I took a look at them, and … they’re not very impressive. They’re not well thought through; they haven’t made a convincing effort to address many of the inherent difficulties that the undertaking presents. They tend to get so far into the data, throw up their arms and make a wild guess. I don’t know if I’m going to get the time to do better of it, or if it will be left to others, but … we’re not at anything like an end point here. I assumed that these systems were a lot better than they actually are.” On clutch hitting: The young Bill James rather famously wrote that he could not find any evidence that certain types of players could consistently hit better in the clutch – he still has not found that evidence. But unlike his younger self, he will not dismiss the idea of clutch hitting. He has been a consultant for the Red Sox for more than a decade, and he has watched David Ortiz deliver so many big hits in so many big moments, and he finds himself unwilling to deny that Big Papi does have an ability in those situations others don’t have. He wrote an essay with this thought in mind, suggesting that just because we have not found the evidence is not a convincing argument that the evidence does not exist. “I think I had limited understanding of these issues and wrote about them — little understanding and too-strong opinions,” he says. “And I think I damaged the discussion in some ways when I did this. … these sorts of effects (leadership and clutch-hitting and how players interact) CAN be studied. You just need to approach the question itself, rather than trying to back into it beginning with the answer.”

1. Get rid of "Buttercup" once and for all 2. Stay Healthy 3. Be Lucky 4. Throw Strikes 5. Hit 'Em Where They Ain't

dude... it was a joke.

You'd think the Angels just released Manny Machado...

Calzone - I'm not trying to diminish the accomplishments of the Giants IF they win the WS. I'm just putting it in the proper perspective. I have a higher bar for "dynasty" labels. We just have to agree to disagree.

Best franchise of the decade? Yes. Dynasty? No. Some people are too quick to assign a "dynasty" title to a team. UCLA basketball was a dynasty. The Boston Celtics were a dynasty...

I seem to remember someone talking about obsessions in another thread... Who was that?

Take away the six championships Jordan won and he's not very good.

Angels - congratulations - you've done it again. You've taken a thread and turned into your own personal pissing contest. Bravo. Well done.

Yeah, because you and everyone else knew that Maddon was going to be great, right? The Mariners, Red Sox and others passed on Maddon before he ended up in Tampa Bay. Hired Scioscia on name? Please elaborate... He had earned the opportunity through his work as a minor league manager. Make no mistake about it... Maddon had talent over the years - talent that was drafted with high picks in the draft because the team sucked for so long...