Baseball DIY

If you've been watching American Chopper lately (and if you haven't how can you call yourself an American?!), then you saw the Teutels build a wickedly cool chopper with a NY Yankees theme last night. It was all for charity and included a gas tank signed by the entire team and coaches - which raised a cool $150,000. It's a nice souvenir for some Yankees fan! I was impressed by how good it came out though and it was pretty neat seeing all the Yankees step up to plate and do what they could.

There are a couple of new books coming out from Penguin next year for young adult readers that have piqued my interest. Mike Lupica did the outstanding Travel Team last year and has returned with Heat about a Yankees fan who dreams of playing in the Little League World Series. It has a twist or two from a family drama standpoint and should be considered an easy choice for baseball fans. Lupica is a great writer and he clearly knows his audience.

I'm also looking forward to Sue Corbett's Free Baseball. In this title, Felix knows his father played ball in Cuba and gave up everything to send Felix to America. But he doesn't know anything else about his dad and ends up running away with a visiting team of Cuban players in order to learn more.

I'm hoping Free Baseball will touch a bit on the hypocrisy of US/Cuban relations. I'll report back in the Spring with how it turns out!

Kevin Kennedy (who managed both the Red Sox and Rangers and is now the top baseball analyst for Fox) has a new book coming out with Bill Gutman: Twice Around the Bases: The Thinking Fan's Inside Look at Baseball. It got a pretty good write up at Booklist and sounds like a peek inside a manager's head - how decisions are made during the game, that kind of thing. It's a book about baseball strategy (if you can believe that!) Kennedy also managed teams in the Latin America winter leagues and includes stories from that period as well.

One line about the book in the Booklist review really caught my eye: "tales of....the nature of baseball's good-old-boy network, which keeps recycling failed managers." So someone's finally admitting it. Now that should make interesting reading!

Okay, let’s make this quick and painless, since I’m at work and I don’t necessarily like my conclusion. I think we all agree that the top candidates for National League MVP are Albert, Derrek Lee, and Andruw Jones.

Albert Pujols vs. Andruw Jones

Ummm, Pujols pretty much wins every category other than home runs and RBI. Albert’s OPS is 92 points higher than Andruw’s at the moment; he has walked 25 more times and struck out 42 fewer times; he has scored 27 more runs, stolen 12 more bases, hit eleven more doubles; and, for those who care about this, his batting average is 62 points higher. In the runs created race (runs created is defined here...it's a good shorthand stat), Pujols is ahead by almost 27 runs. These advantages completely outweigh the eleven-home run, sixteen-RBI advantage Jones holds in those two categories (one of which is just about worthless).

Let’s all get over the home runs. Sure, he has hit a lot of them, but Andruw Jones is not the MVP.

Albert Pujols vs. Derrek Lee

Here’s where I get mad. Comparing Pujols to Derrek Lee, Lee comes out ahead. His OPS is 38 points higher; he has hit 4 more home runs; his 46 doubles outpace Pujols by 11; they’re pretty even in hits and runs, and they’re tied for stolen bases with 15 each. Pujols’ 137.5 runs created are bested only by Lee’s 144.9.

Even if you somehow call the offensive stats between them a draw, defensively, Derrek Lee wins hands-down. Pujols’ range factor of 11.23 is almost two plays higher than Lee’s, but (a) Pujols has 250 more total chances than Lee and (b) I’m willing to bet that this is at least partly due to the Cardinals pitchers' ability to induce more groundballs than the Cubs pitchers, meaning that Albert is on the receiving end of more outs at first. When it comes to zone rating (a better gauge of defensive abilities), Lee holds a slight advantage, and he has 25 more assists than Pujols (again, with fewer total chances).

Derrek Lee: MVP

You (I) hear a lot of people saying that a player can’t be the MVP unless his team gets into the playoffs. The "rationale" behind this sentiment runs thusly: if the team that had him didn’t make the playoffs, how valuable could he be? Well, some teams are just really, really bad, and even one awesome player can’t help them overcome their suckiness. Would the Cubs have made the playoffs if Andruw Jones or Albert Pujols played for them? No. Would the Cardinals have won the NL Central if they had Derrek Lee? Yes. Would any team be better if they had Derrek Lee (and, to lesser degrees, Albert Pujols or Andruw Jones)? Yes.

As much as I hate to admit it (you really have no idea), Derrek Lee should win the MVP.

...I’m getting pretty sick of one stupid player a year having a better season than Albert. What’s he gotta do to get one, baseball gods? One thing that makes me happy: Albert is the youngest of the three.

2005 National League Central Divison Champions! Bring on the playoffs!

This past Saturday, I got to play in a St. Louis Unions game. I played well at short and had two hits (to go with two bound-outs...it's a frustrating game). My first hit of the day was definitely my best, but I didn't make the most of it. It felt good off the bat; it had that proverbial "give" that you hope for every time you swing. I pulled it into left center, and it crossed the paved path that separates shallow left field from deep left field at Lafayette Park. I touched first, second, third, and home. The umpire called me out at the plate, though, stating that the catcher tagged me before my foot hit the plate. This is objectively false, but maybe I deserved the bad call.

You see, I screwed up in three ways:

1) Physically. I didn't run hard all the way. I didn't really start running until midway between second and third when it looked like I might have a home run on my hands.

2) Mentally. I knew that it was going to be close at the plate. I also knew that there was one out, and Mayhem was batting behind me. He'd have no trouble getting me home, but I decided to try to go all the way.

3) Spiritually. This is probably the most egregious error I made: I wanted to have hit a home run. For whatever reason, a triple would not satisfy me. I had to have that home run. I put my own interests above those of the team, which is the worst thing you can do in baseball.

We ended up winning the game, 10-1, so it's not like I cost us the game or anything. What makes it especially troublesome is that it's the second time I've made this mistake this season.

Oh well, I'm just a second-year player. I haven't earned that veteran's wisdom yet.

We're watching football and baseball at work, and I got to thinking about how each "play" begins in the respective sports. One is pretty logical: a guy throws the ball to another guy who tries to hit it. The other is just completely arbitrary: the quarterback puts his hand between the legs of one of several hunched over three-hundred-pound monsters and receives the football like he's pulling an egg from a chicken.

What if baseball worked this way? That is, what if the pitcher "hiked" the ball to the hitter? For safety's sake, every pitch would be from the shotgun formation. And woe betide the pitcher who doesn't turn around quick enough and catches a liner in the tochus.

Just one more reason why baseball is better than football.

The current issue of the New Yorker has an article about Ricky Henderson who is playing for the Surf Dawgs in a league I have never heard of (they say it is the bottom of the bottom and that sounds about right). He is apparently hanging on this season in the hopes of getting to the majors so he can retire in a major league uniform - something that was impossible when he was dumped by the A's.

It is, without a doubt, one of the saddest articles I have ever read. It's not right for him to be left like this, not right at all.

(You will have to buy the magazine to read the article I'm afraid; they don't have it up on the website.)

I'm taking a break from all things literary and baseball for just a moment (although where Juicy fits in those two categories I have no idea) to mention a project I'm working on with Parkview Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, LA. Everybody and their third cousin knows what Katrina did to the Gulf Coast. I have gotten in touch with Josh Causey at Parkview and he and his group are helping out the kids sheltered with their families at Southern University. They are playing games, reading stories, doing arts and crafts; that kind of thing. The program is expanding to other shelters nearby and I'm trying to help all these kids by giving them some books and games to keep - things that will be theirs to replace some of what they have lost.

I've set up two wishlists at Amazon, one for books and one for games. (The books one is getting lots more traffic, so please visit the games list!) If you buy from these lists the stuff goes to Parkview, gets opened and then goes right to the shelters, no stops along the way. If you want to donate some books direct, email me at moroaircraft@verizon.net and I will happily provide the mailing address.

If you've been wondering how your could change the world, this is it. It's the world for at least these kids anyway, and that's a good place to start. Hell, from where I'm sitting, this is the best place to start.

I just got back from the Cardinals game, where I saw Albert hit two home runs. Not that the MVP is a meaningful award or anything, but if anyone has to win it, it should be Albert. I'll go into this in more detail tomorrow or Saturday, but it's Albert's award to lose this year. Actually, if I were going to give it to anyone, I'd give it to Barry Bonds for not playing this year. I've really enjoyed his absence.

I don't know where to go with this thought, but yet another thing that I like about baseball is how each season spreads over two school years (except for those freaky trimester schools, I'm not sure how those work). I think I've mentioned before how I graduated high school at the beginning of the '98 season and watched McGwire's 62nd home run in my freshman dorm. It just seemed like, each year, there was external evidence that you had matured along with the baseball season, and you got a chance to talk baseball with two different sets teachers and classmates. I don't know, maybe you can help me out with this, or maybe I'm just high on a great game. I guess maybe it was that baseball feels/felt so overarching and connective.

I'll probably have more on this in the future too, but since Busch Stadium will go the way of the Kingdome, only to rise again as Newer Busch Stadium, I wonder how you would design a new ballpark. What would the dimensions be? How many decks? What color would the seats be? Would you allow space for a Jumbotron? More on another day...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I want football to go away.

It's been very hard to pull myself away from the 24 hour a day Katrina coverage on cable - not that I love seeing the Third World level suffering going on in America but I can't seem to separate myself from the drama. It is so compelling and heartbreaking and unbelievable; who has time for baseball?

But this isn't a blog for politics or weather or shock, although hopefully I'll be back in a day or so with a way for readers to help some folks I've met via the internet who were affected by the storm. In the meantime though, there are always baseball books on the horizon and a few upcoming titles have caught my eye:

ESPN's Sportsguy, Bill Simmons has a title coming out, Now I Can Die in Peace. It is, of course, about the 2004 season from the perspective of diehard Red Sox fan. I would say that we have waaaay too many of these books out (plus a movie) but Simmons seems to be writing with a certain amount of tongue in cheek and it could be a fun read.

I love books from the Smithsonian and this one, highlighting the best private collections of baseball memorabilia in the world is pretty much a no-brainer for me. There are so many things that the Smithsonian does well in their books and I can only imagine what they are going to reveal this time. I'm sure I will be jealous for days after reading it, but still, who can resist?

Wrecking Crew is about a bunch of washed up punk rockers and ex drug addicts (and some comparatively dull folks I imagine as well) who join an amature baseball league in LA. It sounds - well, it sounds different. The point of course is that these guys are playing strictly to have a good time and the book seems to be written in the spirit of celebrating baseball as truly America's game. Take a look, it's out now.

And then there's Juicy - would you believe. Yes, written by Jessica Canseco, the ex-wife of everyone's favorite steriod addict. Poor girl, she was addicted to Jose, and could not break away! She loved him inspite of his cheating ways and even invited the girls back to the house for threesomes to keep her husband happy, but he just didn't love her enough!!! Oh the humanity!

Someone please, put the Cansecos out of their collective misery. Better yet, make the world a better place and don't buy their books, instead, donate to folks who are making a difference. Save New Orleans, it's a far worthier cause.

And hey, congratulate Lance Armstrong while you're at it. He's going to make an honest woman out of Sheryl Crow. Let's hope that marriage doesn't make the music suffer.

Occasionally, I play the role of wannabe-rocker in my band, Prairie Rehab. We’ve played a baby’s handful of shows and hope to play more in the future (which is to say, if you’re in the St. Louis area and want to rock in a controlled manner, send me an e-mail). One thing I was thinking about yesterday after drumming a little in my basement is that newspapers don’t interview the band after they play a show. They interview them before, maybe for some fluffy feature in the Sunday edition, but there’s no post-show press conference or locker room debriefing like there is after a baseball game.

This is clearly a wrong that must be brought to rights.

I, for one, would love to do one.

“Eric, how did you feel about tonight’s show?”

“Well, you know, we didn’t get a lot of the breaks tonight. John brought the wrong harmonica for ‘Dream Girl,’ so that kind of threw him off. The monitors were in and out all night. A lot of things were just outside our control. But, you know, we’re mentally tough, and we played it out to the end. This band’s got a lot of heart.”

“Is it fair to say that you didn’t have your best performance tonight?”

“Yeah, I think, yeah, you could say that. I’ve kind of been trying to find my groove the last few shows. We’ve been on the road for awhile now, and I think it’s hitting us all in different ways.”

“What do you plan to do to bust out of this slump?”

"’Slump’? Who said anything about a slump? We’re not sucking, we’re just, just not playing straight-A shows the last few nights. "Slump" is an overstatement. We just need to go back out tomorrow and play like we know we’re capable of playing. It’ll work itself out in the end. We just gotta keep plugging away.”

On second thought, I think we can do with as little of that kind of “news” as possible. The older I get and the more I think about it, I think pretty much anything in the sports section outside of box scores and injury reports is just useless ephemera that no one needs to waste their time writing or reading.