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Not to get all cyber stalkerish on JoeBlogs, but there was a quick thought in the Weakest World Series Winners since WWII post that we mentioned in our EvRA post, that we thought was worth looking into.

Joe's counting down the weakest teams since 1946 to ever win the World Series and gets to #4 on his list, the '85 KC Royals:

"4. 1985 Royals

-- Many view the '85 Royals as the worst team to win the World Series in 50 years, but it's a similar illusion to the 2010 Giants. The Royals had a lot of really good pitching.

Offensively, though, yeah, it was a nightmare. Call them George Brett and the Eight Outs. I've often thought that Brett should have been MVP in 1985, not necessarily because he put up the best year (Rickey Henderson's year was awesome; Don Mattingly was certainly great) but because it would have been a nice gesture after making him play on that lineup all year. I think it would be hard, as you look through baseball history, to find a player have THAT GOOD an offensive season on a lineup THAT BAD. Maybe Ralph Kiner in '51. But I don't think so."

So, we took this as a mini-challenge.

First, try to find other players to throw into the discussion and see who would rate highest in Good Season : Bad Lineup ratio.  After searching baseball history online and in a couple of actual books, we settled on the following group.

Pittsburgh had great shortstops and stars on lousy teams.

Geore Brett, Royals 1985
Ralph Kiner, Pirates 1951
Tris Speaker, Indians 1916
Wally Berger, Braves 1935
Eddie Matthews, Braves 1953
Ted Kluszewski, Redlegs 1954
Roy Sievers, Senators 1957
Willie Mays, Giants 1964
Willie Mays, Giants 1965
Rusty Staub, Expos 1969
Andre Dawson, Cubs 1987
Kirk Gibson, Dodgers 1988
Brian Giles, Pirates 2002

Let's look at how these players' seasons and their team's lineups rate by three of our favorite offiensive statistics: OPS+, Baseball-Reference's Offensive Wins Above Replacement (oWAR), and wOBA from Fangraphs.

Sorted by Difference between OPS+ and TeamOPS+
Brian Giles 2002, 177 OPS+ 82 tmOPS+ (Diff: 95)
Tris Speaker 1916, 185 OPS+ 92 tmOPS+ (Diff: 93)
Ralph Kiner 1951, 185 OPS+ 93 tm OPS+ (Diff: 92)
Willie Mays 1965, 184 OPS+ 93 tm OPS+ (Diff: 91)
George Brett 1985, 178 OPS+ 95 tm OPS+ (Diff: 83)
Willie Mays 1964, 172 OPS+ 93 tm OPS+ (Diff: 79)
Rusty Staub 1969, 166 OPS+ 87 tm OPS+ (Diff: 79)
Roy Sievers 1957, 164 OPS+ 87 tm OPS+ (Diff: 77)
Ted Kluszewski 1954, 167 OPS+ 91 tm OPS+ (Diff: 76)
Eddie Matthews 1953, 171 OPS+ 96 tm OPS+ (Diff: 75)
Wally Berger 1935, 147 OPS+ 87 tm OPS+ (Diff: 60)
Kirk Gibson 1988, 148 OPS+ 90 tm OPS+ (Diff: 58)
Andre Dawson 1987, 130 OPS+ 97 tm OPS+ (Diff: 33)

To be clear, we aren't saying anything close to this being a Top Leaderboard.  These are people we thought could be in the discussion.  Dawson, of course, is the only player to ever win an MVP award on a last placed team, but he should not enter into this discussion.

We only included Kirk Gibson because someone in Joe Posnanski's comment section threw his name into the discussion in a forceful manner.  Check out the other two categories...

Sorted by Percentage of Team's oWAR
Brian Giles 2002, 93% (6.8 oWAR : 7.3 Team)
George Brett 1985, 85% (7.9 oWAR : 9.3 Team)
Roy Sievers 1957, 57% (6.8 oWAR : 11.9 Team)
Ralph Kiner 1951, 51% (8.9 oWAR : 17.6 Team)
Eddie Matthews 1953, 49% (8.6 oWAR : 17.5 Team)
Willie Mays 1964, 46% (8.6 oWAR : 18.7 Team)
Rusty Staub 1969, 45% (6.7 oWAR : 15 Team)
Willie Mays 1965, 40% (9.7 oWAR : 24.3 Team)
Tris Speaker 1916, 38% (8 oWAR : 20.9 Team)
Ted Kluszewski 1954, 36% (7.5 oWAR : 20.6 Team)
Kirk Gibson 1988, 32% (6.4 oWAR : 20.3 Team)
Andre Dawson 1987, 20% (2.9 oWAR : 14.3 Team)

The oWAR list is incredible, when looking at the comparable dominance of Giles and Brett.  It's interesting on the wOBA list (below) how Ralph Kiner and a 34-year old Willie Mays shoot up the chart, while Giles again finishes ahead of George Brett.  Another Posnanski Brilliant Reader uncovered Wally Berger in this comment.

Sorted by Difference in wOBA and Team's wOBA
Ralph Kiner 1951, .481 wOBA : .337 tm OPS+ (Diff: .144)
Willie Mays 1965, .448 wOBA : .310 tm OPS+ (Diff: .138)
Brian Giles 2002, .445 wOBA : .308 tm OPS+ (Diff: .137)
Tris Speaker 1916, .453 wOBA : .320 tm OPS+ (Diff: .133)
Ted Kluszewski 1954, .461 wOBA : .339 tm OPS+ (Diff: .122)
Willie Mays 1964, .428 wOBA : .306 tm OPS+ (Diff: .122)
Rusty Staub 1969, .424 wOBA : .303 tm OPS+ (Diff: .121)
George Brett 1985, .433 wOBA : .316 tm OPS+ (Diff: .117)
Roy Sievers 1957, .418 wOBA : .303 tm OPS+ (Diff: .115)
Eddie Matthews 1953, .450 wOBA : .336 tm OPS+ (Diff: .114)
Wally Berger 1935, .402 wOBA : .312 tm OPS+ (Diff: .090)
Andre Dawson 1987, .378 wOBA : .329 tm OPS+ (Diff: .049)

Pirates Fans have had little the cheer for since the '80s

Looking at these numbers make it seem, to us, that Brian Giles in 2002 was the best example of Great Player in a Bad Lineup.  If you like Offensive Wins Above Replacement, (and who here doesn't?) then, you have to be blown away by Giles and Brett.

Here's an assignment for all the aspiring sabermetricians out there.  It shouldn't be very difficult.  Let's see if we can find more people to add to the list of players who contributed over 50% of their team's oWAR.

Again, here is who we have so far...

Sorted by Percentage of Team's oWAR
Brian Giles 2002, 93% (6.8 oWAR : 7.3 Team)
George Brett 1985, 85% (7.9 oWAR : 9.3 Team)
Wally Berger 1935, 73% (4.7 oWAR : 6.4 Team)
Roy Sievers 1957, 57% (6.8 oWAR : 11.9 Team)
Ralph Kiner 1951, 51% (8.9 oWAR : 17.6 Team)

This past week, our favorite writer, Joe Posnanski had a great run.  He produced more than a handful or columns, including four that really stood out.  Here is Joe's Sparky Anderson eulogy, a ranking of the weakest World Series winners since WWII, a look into the new Bill James Handbook and Active Certain Hall of Famers, and this piece about baseball stats:

For some of us, it will always be fun to explore the new numbers, to try and separate what a pitcher does from what the defense does, to break down a hitter by what he contributes to winning and losing rather than by how many hits he gets per at-bat, to judge a player's defense beyond the occasional diving catch and by how often the ball boinks off his glove. As I've always said, there are a lot of ways to enjoy baseball. And there is no wrong way.

So with that as my preamble, I've been thinking about the most basic baseball stats -- and five very simple ways I would improve them. And let me say up front that my suggestions would not make the basic stats more advanced -- the opposite. They would make the basic stats even more basic, which I think would be good.

The entire post is worth the read, of course, but essentially Poz is showing how he would change five basic statistics.  They are:

1. Pitcher Wins
2. Sacrifices
3. RBIs
4. Earned Run Average
5. Middle Reliever Stats

Instead of boring you to smithereens with rambling tangents on each of these ideas(for once), let's just take a quick look at what Joe writes about ERA:

The funny thing about xFIP and how much some people despise it is that it's hardly a new effort. People have been trying to pinpoint and separate a pitchers individual ability from the team's defense for 100 years and more. That's the whole concept behind the earned run. The idea is that if a fielder makes an error, well, that's NOT THE PITCHER'S FAULT. And if it's not the pitcher's fault, then why should you count it against his statistics?

This, of course, leads to all sorts of ridiculousness. My mother really was right. For one thing, we don't add runs to the pitcher's "earned run" total when the fielder makes a spectacular run-saving catch. We don't add a home run to the pitcher's home runs allowed total if an outfielder leaps at the wall and brings a home run back. In those cases, the pitcher and the fielders are all in it together. So why discount the pitcher's ERA because of errors? Why mess with reality?

Second, you do know how unearned runs are figured, right? The official scorer goes through the inning and attempts to RECREATE the inning without the error. That is to say, a third baseman boots an easy ground ball with two outs, the official scorer makes the determination that the inning SHOULD be over. That's why every run scored after that error is called "unearned." Sometimes, believe me, this sort of recreation can go beyond absurdity. Let's say a guy is on second with one out. A ground ball is to short. The shortstop throws the ball away, and the batter goes to second. Well, at the moment, that's an unearned run because the guy would not have scored. But if the NEXT GUY hits a single, then it becomes an earned run because now it's assumed the guy would have scored. There are a lot of assumptions like that.

Third, of course, an error is in the eye of the beholder. It's a moving target. An error in Cincinnati isn't necessarily an error in Baltimore. Baseball stats should not change and shape-shift at the whim of some official scorer. Make it ERA -- Every Run Allowed -- after all, it's a pitcher's job to work around errors, to make the best of any and every situation.

2010 Leaders in Every Run Average
1. Josh Johnson, 2.50
2. Roy Halladay, 2.66
3. Adam Wainwright, 2.66
4. Clay Buchholz, 2.85
5. Felix Hernandez, 2.88
6. Tim Hudson, 2.91
7. Ubaldo Jimenez, 2.96
8. Roy Oswalt, 2.98
9. Johan Santana, 3.03
10. David Price, 3.06

Isn't the 2010 EvRA leaderboard fascinating?  (Let's abbreviate Posnanski's Every Run Average as EvRA.)  Josh Johnson lead the National League with a 2.30 ERA, while King Felix lead all of baseball with a 2.27 ERA.

I wondered how good of an EvRA, historically, is Johnson's 2.50?  How good is Santana's 3.03 EvRA compared to his career norms?

Mets fans need Johan's shoulder to be A-Ok.

The latter question, here, is easier to answer.  With some quick math, Johan Santana's career EvRA is 3.34.  The Mets didn't put Johan Santana's efforts to good use, but he had another very good season in 2010.

Finding out how good Josh Johnson's 2.50 EvRA is historically appears to be much more difficult.  Finding seasons of the Best EvRA seems like it could be educational, fulfilling, but unfortunately way too time consuming.  I can't find a way to have the computers do the work on baseball-reference or fangraphs.  Manually checking all the leaderboards could ruin my marriage, career, and memories of a social life.  If you're good with computers and know how I could find a list of players by EvRA, please let me know.

We can have some fun just looking at ERA leaderboards.  Then, if there's time, we'll dabble in unofficial looks into EvRA.

First, we'll start with the leaderboard of Best ERA seasons in the history of the game.  Hmmmm.  Only Bob Gibson, Dwight Gooden, and Greg Maddux are in the Top 50 for single-season ERA.  In other words, 47 of the top 50 ERA seasons were before 1920.  That stinks.  After arguing for Joe Cronin and Lou Boudreau to @MLBNetwork last week, I'm ready to look into a lot of those guys, but figure no-one wants to read about them.*

Old Hoss Radbourn research would be time well spent.

*We may get posts about some or all of these guys down the road, anyway.  But, Please let me know if you wan to hear about Mordecai Brown, Orvall Overall, Dolf Luque, Old Hoss Radbourn, or Tim Keefe.

The deadball era ended around 1920, and the spitball was outlawed in 1921, so let's draw a line there to take a closer look at ERA while removing those 47 deadball stars and looking at the Top 25.

Best ERA since 1921
1.) Bob Gibson 1.12, 1968
2.) Dwight Gooden 1.53, 1985
3.) Greg Maddux 1.56, 1994

Gibby's 1.12 is proving hard to reach.

4.) Luis Tiant 1.60, 1968
5.) Greg Maddux 1.63, 1995
6.) Spud Chandler 1.64, 1943
7.) Dean Chance 1.65, 1964
8.) Carl Hubbell 1.66, 1933
9.) Nolan Ryan 1.69, 1981
10.) Sandy Koufax 1.73, 1966
11.) Sandy Koufax 1.74, 1964
Pedro Martinez 1.74, 2000
Ron Guidry 1.74, 1978
14.) Tom Seaver 1.76, 1971
15.) Mort Cooper 1.78, 1942
16.) Sam McDowell 1.81, 1968
Hal Newhouser 1.81, 1945
18.) Vida Blue 1.82, 1971
19.) Phil Niekro 1.87, 1967
Roger Clemens 1.87, 2005
21.) Joe Horlen 1.88, 1964
Sandy Koufax 1.88, 1963
23.) Kevin Brown 1.89, 1996
24.) Max Lanier 1.90, 1943
Pedro Martinez 1.90, 1997

Interesting how different it is when only considering time after they lowered the mound:

Best ERA since 1969
1.) Dwight Gooden 1.53, 1985
2.) Greg Maddux 1.56, 1994
3.) Greg Maddux 1.63, 1995
4.) Nolan Ryan 1.69, 1981
5.) Pedro Martinez 1.74, 2000
Ron Guidry 1.74, 1978
7.) Tom Seaver 1.76, 1971
8.) Vida Blue 1.82, 1971
9.) Roger Clemens 1.87, 2005
10.) Kevin Brown 1.89, 1996
11.) Pedro Martinez 1.90, 1997
12.) Luis Tiant 1.91, 1972
Wilbur Wood 1.91, 1971
14.) Gaylord Perry 1.92, 1972
15.) John Tudor 1.93, 1985
Roger Clemens 1.93, 1990
17.) Steve Carlton 1.98, 1972
18.) Gary Nolan 1.99, 1972
19.) Orel Hershiser 2.03, 1985
20.) Catfish Hunter 2.04, 1972
21.) Roger Clemens 2.05, 1997
Dave Righetti 2.05, 1981
23.) Jim Palmer 2.07, 1972
Pedro Martinez 2.07, 1999
25.) Bill Swift 2.08, 1992
Roger Nelson 2.08, 1972
Don Sutton 2.08, 1972
Tom Seaver 2.08, 1973
Jerry Koosman 2.08, 1968

Ignoring time before 1969 would cost us Gibson and Koufax.  They would have still pitched better than everyone else at the new mound level.  It's all about timing, with people's careers.

Love Maddux.  Pedro makes himself look really good.  So does Seaver, Carlton, Clemens...  It was nice nice to see Luis Tiant have a 1.91 ERA in 1972, therefore making both lists.  Don Sutton supporters can counter the "longevity" argument against Sutton's Hall of Fame worthiness can point to 1972 as the 25th best ERA since 1969.  Personal note: One of our favorite player's of all time, Dolf Luque, had a 1.93 ERA in 1923.

Zack entered RARE company in 2009.

The Top 10 ERA seasons since the strike and steroid super explosion is an exclusive club, with its membership limited to five players.

Top 10 ERA since 1995
1.) Greg Maddux 1.63, 1995
2.) Pedro Martinez 1.74, 2000
3.) Roger Clemens 1.87, 2005
4.) Kevin Brown 1.89, 1996
5.) Pedro Martinez 1.90, 1997
6.) Roger Clemens 2.05, 1997
7.) Pedro Martinez 2.07, 1999
8.) Zack Greinke 2.16, 2009
9.) Greg Maddux 2.21, 1997
10.) Greg Maddux 2.22, 1998

Well, we're here, so why not?  Let's give this EvRA thing a shot.  This is the most Unofficial of Unofficial lists out there.  I'm sure that I've missed someone.  If you know of anyone, please alert us in the comment section.

Best EvRA since 1995

Maddux could do it all.

1.) Greg Maddux 1.68, 1995
2.) Pedro Martinez 1.82, 2000
3.) Roger Clemens 2.17, 2005
4.) Roger Clemens 2.22, 1997
5.) Greg Maddux 2.24, 1997
6.) Chris Carpenter 2.29, 2009
7.) Kevin Brown 2.32, 1996
8.) Pedro Martinez 2.36, 1999
9.) Pedro Martinez 2.42, 1997
10.) Jason Schmidt 2.43, 2003
11.) Josh Johnson 2.50, 2010
12.) Pedro Martinez 2.51, 2003
Zack Greinke 2.51, 2009
14.) Randy Johnson 2.54, 1997
Derek Lowe 2.54, 2002
16.) Al Leiter 2.56, 1998
17.) Tom Glavine 2.63, 1998
18.) Jake Peavy 2.65, 2004
19.) Adam Wainright 2.66, 2010
Roy Halladay 2.66, 2010
21.) Randy Johnson 2.67, 2001
Andy Pettitte 2.67, 2005
23.) Greg Maddux 2.69, 1998
24.) Kevin Brown 2.70, 1998
Randy Johnson 2.70, 2002
Jake Peavy 2.70, 2007
27.) Randy Johnson 2.73, 1995
28.) Cliff Lee 2.74, 2008
29.) Tim Lincecum 2.76, 2009
Johan Santana 2.76, 2004
31.) Pedro Martinez 2.80, 2002
32.) Johan Santana 2.84, 2008
33.) Randy Johnson 2.85, 1999
Clay Buchholz 2.85, 2010
Mark Prior 2.85, 2003
Tim Lincecum 2.85, 2008
37.) Kevin Brown 2.86, 2003
Pedro Martinez 2.86, 2005
39.) Felix Hernandez 2.88, 2010
40.) Clayton Kershaw 2.89, 2009
41.) Adam Wainright 2.90, 2009
42.) Tim Hudson 2.91, 2010
43.) Kevin Brown 2.92, 1997
44.) Jake Peavy 2.96, 2008
Hideo Nomo 2.96, 1995
Ubaldo Jimenez 2.96, 2010
47.) Jair Jurjens 2.97, 2009
Kevin Brown 2.97, 2000
49.) Roy Oswalt 2.98, 2010
JA Happ 2.98, 2009
Esteban Loaiza 2.98, 2003
52.) Johan Santana 2.99, 2005
53.) Dontrelle Willis 3.01, 2005

How about that JA Happ in 2009?  Who knew?!  Also, Al Leiter at 16th on this list is mighty impressive.  He had a great career, which he is currently extending as one of the better play-by-play men in the game.  Kevin Brown also makes another Hall of Fame case, if not for that whole Mitchell Report problem.  Maddux, of course, looks great at the top of the list, and Pedro shows up three times in the Top 9.  Amazing.

At least we found out that, according to our informal study, Josh Johnson had the 11th best EvRA season since the 1994 player's strike.  Comments below are more than encouraged; in fact, we insist.  Thanks again for stopping by.

For the record, we think gambling is stupid and dangerous.  That being said, here are our Week 9 picks!

Ndamukong Suh!!!

Lions +4 vs Jets
Texans +2.5 vs Chargers
Bucs +8.5 @ Atlanta
Saints -6.5 @ Carolina
Bills +3 vs Bears @Toronto
Cardinals +8 @ Minnesota
Patriots -4 @ Cleveland
Dolphins +5.5 @ Baltimore
NY Giants -7 @ Seattle
Colts +3 @ Philadelphia
Raiders -1 vs Chiefs
Packers -7.5 vs Cowboys
Steelers -5 @ Cincinnati

This week's locks are the Lions, Bills, and Cardinals.  Incredible!  If you're gambling, you definitely want to go against our picks this week.

Season Record: 21-19-1 (started week 6)
Locks: 4-4-1

As always, we suggest not gambling or doing whatever you feel like it because anything could happen.

Weino, I expect to see your picks in the comment section.  Keep them up, and we'll keep track of your picks, as well.

Last year, we were lucky enough to attend the New York Yankees championship parade in the Canyon of Heroes.  Here is a link to our photographic retrospection from 12 months ago.  It felt cool because I took all of the pictures myself.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to attend the San Francisco Giants celebration today.  However, with the help of modern technology, namely Twitter, we've been able to borrow from the images that thousands of parade goers shared, tweeted, and retweeted again during the parade.  I apologize if anyone thinks I'm stealing photos here, but they are from fans not newspapers or the AP.  I figure if they're being shared all over Twitter and Tumblr, they should be good enough for us.

Before we get started, I wanted to share a picture of the plaque commemorating the last time the baseball Giants had a ticker tape parade.  It was in New York's Canyon of Heroes, from when they last won the World Series, 1954.  Here's the image:


The first photo I clipped from was from Facebook friend and our favorite editor, King Kaufman.  He noted that two miles and two hours before parade time, it looked like half a mile and a half hour before game time.


The next picture, also pre-parade, shows the cool convertible that will shuttle Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper through the parade.


The following pictures attempt to show the upswell of crowd density and anticipation for the big party to begin.  It was different last year because I could hear the murmurs and hollers from the crowd.  From the chatter I've seen on social media sites, San Francisco is going crazy.  It's going to be a long weekend in the Bay Area.












The first stars we see are Willie McCovey...


... and Willie Mays...


The last time the Giants won the World Series was 1954.  They were a New York team.  Willie Mays was 23 years old.  Here he is in 2010, basking in the San Francisco parade...


Bruce Bochy with the 2010 World Series trophy...




Here are Outfielders, Aaron Rowand and Cody Ross...


King Kaufman also supplied the image above and wrote that Cody Ross was waving at him, in his Cody Ross t-shirt.

The next two pictures, below, are of Andres Torres.  For a brief period of time this afternoon, he shot up the eligible bachelor rankings.  Women were fawning all over their tweets when they saw him strutting his stuff in his leather jacket.


Torres was so hot, he didn't need a float.  He was his own float.  Oh, brother.

This Giants team is filled with ladies' men.  Below, you see the baby-faced Buster Posey in his dark hoodie.


In this tweet, Mark Topkin of the Saint Petersburg Times joked that the photo below is THE photo for Rays fans.  It shows longtime Ray, Aubrey Huff, and failed experiment Ray, Pat Burrell, celebrating their title in San Francisco.  These two are old friends, from being college teammates at Miami (FL).


Here's the meeting everyone waited for.  Would the Governator fear the beard???


These are the Giants leaving the party together on their charted buses, and...


The finally of our slide show has what may end up being the most iconic photo shared today.  All that's left, for Giants' fans, is bliss...

Sorry about the required sourcing, but we clicked on this tweet from @yardbarker "Bill Walton: Carmelo Anthony is not 'a great player' http://bit.ly/diYRZc (via @BallJunkie_com)", linking to this post from something called BallJunkie.com.

We haven't really done a lot of basketball talk here.  March Madness isn't nearly enough.  Here's a bit of  Nate Tunyce's Bill Walton/Carmelo Anthony post:

"When asked on ESPN radio about what he thought about Anthony and Stoudemire possibly joining forces Walton frankly stated,
"Carmelo, to me, does not have what it takes to be the great player. He puts up nice numbers, he makes a great salary, the media, publicity all likes him, but does he win the games? Does he make the squad better? Does he pull guys together?
It hasn’t happened in Denver at all. I’m a big Amar’e Stoudemire fan, I will hold my tongue on Carmelo."
Wow, that’s holding your tongue? Sheesh ..I wonder what he says when he actually SPEAKS HIS MIND."

"Move it or lose it, punk."

Could it be that Bill Walton is jealous of Carmelo Anthony?

Carmelo Anthony and Luke Walton both entered the NBA seven years ago. Carmelo famously was drafted 3rd overall in the '03 draft; Luke was drafted 32nd Overall.  A quick look at the highlights of the 2003 draft:

Pick # - Player

"Man, I like it in New York."

1. LeBron James, Cavs
2. Darko Milicic, Pistons
3. Carmelo Anthony, Nuggets
4. Chris Bosh, Raptors
5. Dwayne Wade, Heat
...
9. Mike Sweetney, Knicks

The Knicks could have drafted David West or Josh Howard, but that's just talk with the benefit of hindsight.  Besides, in the long list of New York Knick fiascos of the past dozen, or so, years, Michael Sweetney is under the fold.

For what it's worth, Carmelo Anthony has 49.2 career Win Shares (from basketball-reference).  Luke Walton has 13.3 career Win Shares.  Last season, Walton and the Lakers won another championship, but Walton only attributed 0.3 Win Shares AND was a negative in the postseason with 0.0 WS and negative -0.018 WS/48.  Carmelo has 0.5 WS for the three games he's played so far this season.  Luke had 0.3 in 29 games last season.

Win shares are usually more of a baseball thing, but I mean, does Bill Walton have any constructive criticism for his boy, Luke?

Carmelo Anthony won an NCAA championship and has been a very good NBA player.  He has averaged over 20 points per game his entire career.  He took his team to the Western Conference Final in '09.

Carmelo can't help that the NBA is Fixed.

Addiction is a terrible disease.  Gambling addiction ruins lives.

Norm MacDonald would joke that the problem with his gambling habit isn't even the thousands of dollars he's lost on bad bets, but rather, the thousands and thousands of hours he's wasted.  He could have been productive during that time.  He could have spent time with his family.  It's more sad than funny, but hasn't that been MacDonald's shtick after Dirty Work came out?


If you gamble money that you can't afford to lose, or are spending time at an OTB when you should be with your kids, do your self a favor.  Stop reading this and get some help.

If you are a healthy gambler or just happen to be in Las Vegas, then I suggest betting on the opposite of what we pick below.  Without further ado, here are our Week 8 NFL Gambling Picks!

KC -7.5 vs Bills
Cowboys -6.5 vs Jags
Rams -3 vs Panthers
Broncos +2 @ London 49ers
Lions -2.5 vs Redskins
Dolphins +1.5 @ Cincinnati
Packers +6 @ NY Jets
Titans +3.5 @ San Diego
Bucs +3 @ Arizona
Vikings +6 @ New England
Raiders -2.5 vs Seahawks
Steelers +1 @ New Orleans
Texans +5.5 @ Indy

The locks this week are the Broncos, Bucs, and Texans.  Enjoy the games, and Happy Halloween!

A little less than four weeks ago, we contemplated the bright future of Logan Morrison.  That verbal jaunt took a handful of first basemen from throughout history and attempted to see how LoMo stacked up.  His numbers, through the age 22 season were greater than or equal everyone we looked at: Mark Grace, Keith Hernandez, John Olerud, Enos Slaughter, Will Clark, Paul O'Neill, Bobby Abreu, and Don Mattingly.

This essay began as a look into the bright future of Brett Anderson, but there didn't seem to be as much of a story to tell.  Let's just say that that all of us here at the ol' blog are very bullish on Brett Anderson.

While researching old scouting reports and anything else for one of the Oakland A's young and talented starting southpaws, I was distracted by thoughts of shortstops throughout the history of the game.  How great have the Edgar Renteria moments in this World Series been, so far?  The home run in game 2, of course, but even the plays in the field bring nostalgia and grace to the 106th Fall Classic.  How good is Elvis Andrus?  How good will he be in a few years?  Like I said, I just started thinking...

A little background and a trip down memory lane: I played baseball throughout my childhood and often played shortstop.  It was a glamorous position, and I was blessed with enough of the skills required to get nonathletic, suburban peers out on routine ground balls.  Unfortunately, I was not gifted with the nimble footwork, soft hands, and rifle arm that land scholarships.  Physically speaking, I was closer to what an old coach used to say about some kids, that they have "a 99 dollar glove, and a 59-cent body".

At the very least, I knew from listening to Steve Stone that I had a good head on my shoulders.  I began watching baseball over 25 years ago, catching glimpses in 1983 and ‘84, before getting completely hooked by Harry and Steve, on WGN, the next few years.

Stoney has this uncanny ability to inform the TV viewer of what will be happening on the next pitch.  I'd say he hovers around a 95-95% accuracy rate for predicting pitch type and location throughout the game.  Wading through the relatively subdued craziness that could come from Harry Caray, Steve often brought a level of sanity back to the broadcast.  We all loved when he'd start a brief lesson with, "For all you youngsters out there..."  Harry and Steve were a match made in heaven, as Cub fans and WGN viewers from the 80's and 90's will attest.  It's true what they say, all you ever needed to know, you learned from your local baseball announcers.

Shawon Dunston made his Major League debut in 1985 and quickly became one of my favorite players.  He was always hustling and smiling.  Even the way he wore his hat up high on his head, while in the dugout was cool.  His throws were erratic, and he’d strikeout a lot... especially on breaking balls bouncing in the dirt, nowhere near the strike zone.

Heads Up!

Shawon was a fan favorite because of his hustle and excitement.  Although they didn’t help the team, Dunston’s wild throws over the 1st basemen’s heads were exciting to behold.  Scalpers charged more for seats behind first base, while warning that Dunston could hit you with a ball going between 90 and 100 mile per hour.  "Cool!" many people would say.

Occasionally, some fans would gripe that, instead of taking Dunston with the #1 overall pick, the Cubs could have drafted Dwight Gooden, who went #5 overall to the Mets.  In 1985, the season Dunston debuted at shortstop for the Cubs, Doc was 20-years old and having the best season of his career.  He won the Cy Young after finishing second in 1984 to the Cubs' Rick Sutcliffe.

Also in 1985, about 90 miles north of Wrigley Field – the same distance as between the United States and Cuba – Hall of Fame Brewer Robin Yount moved from shortstop to the less demanding outfield in Milwaukee County Stadium.  During the past 25-years, especially when Arod, Jeter, and Nomar were STARS, it has been fairly well documented that we are in a golden age of shortstops.

In addition to the four players listed above, we've seen the tremendous careers of Cal Ripken Jr., Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, Davey Concepcion, Barry Larkin, Miguel Tejada, and Omar Vizquel.  (Jeter could learn something from Robin Yount and take great pride in moving to the outfield.)  Troy Tulowitzki and Hanley Ramirez could also join their ranks in a few years, if they haven't already.

Rightfully speaking, most arguments of best shortstop ever include Honus Wagner and players from the past 25 years.  Although it’s an arbitrary cutoff point, I thought it’d be fun for bar stool argument’s sake to dig up some history on the best Shortstops I’ve never seen play.  (For the record: Rogers Hornsby is a Second Baseman).  Who were the best shortstops in baseball before the Robin Yount/Davey Concepcion generation?  Let the random debates begin!

20.) Jim Fregosi, 1961-78, California Angels, NY Mets, Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates
I guess since I know Fregosi as a manager, I always thought he was a catcher.  In reality, he was a good offensive catcher, with 41.1 oWAR in 11 seasons with the California Angels and an overall career 113 OPS+.

19.) Bobby Wallace, 1894-1918, Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Perfectos, St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals
Here's a passage from The Baseball Page: "In the first decade of the American League's existence, "Rhody" Wallace was the best shortstop in the loop. He finished in the top ten in runs batted in eight times in his long career, despite playing for losing teams most of the time. He played in the big leagues until he was 44 years old, largely because of his defensive savvy and intelligent play. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1953."

18.) Maury Wills, 1959-72, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, and Los Angeles Dodgers
Wills was known for his speed.  He won the National League MVP in 1962, with 104 stolen bases.  He wasn't the best hitter, as his career .330 OBP suggests.  Unfortunately, for Wills, he wasn't given a chance in the show until after he turned 26.  It's unclear how much of that was needed minor league seasoning and if any of it was due to racism/segregation.

17.) Luis Aparicio, 1956-73, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Boston Red Sox
Aparicio must've been one heck of a defensive player.  He's in the Hall of Fame, and the nine Gold Gloves must have a lot to do with that.  His career 82 OPS+ (100 is average) and career .636 OPS is comparable to Rabbit Maranville and Bert Campaneris.

16.) Phil Rizzuto, 1941-56, New York Yankees
The Scooter gets major points for losing three of his prime seasons to WWII.  He was a legendary character, fan favorite, natural team leader, above average defensive player, and beloved announcer.


12.) Johnny Pesky, 1942-54, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators
I love Johnny Pesky.  We met during my season working for the 2006 Portland Beavers, and I got to know him rather well.  He would come to most games throughout the summer, and I'd have a chance to sit with him for an inning or two here and there.  Mr. Pesky was born and raised in Portland, graduating from Lincoln High School, where I would referee basketball games about 70 years later.  Mr. Pesky is as wonderful and gracious as any person can be, a true legend and national treasure.  Sentiments aside, he also lost three prime seasons to the War, and his career .307 batting average and .394 OBP dwarf most shortstops of all time.

11.) Joe Sewell, 1920-33, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees

10.) Bill Dahlen, 1891-1911, Chicago Colts, Chicago Orphans, Brooklyn Superbas, New York Giants, Boston Doves, Brooklyn Dodgers

"I'm Bad."

About ten weeks ago, Dahlen was the starting shortstop for our 1st Annual non-Hall of Famers Team.  He was an outstanding all around shortstop.  I love his nickname "Bad Bill".  It reminds me of how Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart would say, "I'm Bad.  I'm Bad Blake."





5.) Luke Appling, 1930-1950, Chicago White Sox
Stability has more often than not been a trait of Southside Chicago shortstops.  They have had three different shortstops with over 1,500 games played: Luke Appling (2,422 games; 1930-50), Luis Aparicio (1,511 games; 1956-62, '68-70), and Ozzie Guillen (1,743 games; 1985-'97).  Luke Appling was a Hall of Fame player, but he suffered through 20 years of futility with the White Sox.  According to The Ultimate Baseball Book (c) 1979, "No player in the game's history would play for so long with a club that was never once in contention. [snip] In his 20-year White Sox career, they never finishEd Higher than third.  Fortunately, wrote Warren Brown, Appling 'was completely relaxed at all times, winning or losing.'"  On a possibly related note, Leo Durocher was quoted as saying, "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you an idiot".  Appling makes the top 5 of our list primarily for a career .399 OBP, his 2.47 BB/K ratio, and an outstanding 1936 season, where he hit .388 - the highest batting average by a shortstop since 1900 A.D.

4.) Joe Cronin, 1926-1945, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Senators, and Boston Red Sox
Cronin was blocked in Pittsburgh by #2 on this list, Arky Vaughan, so the Senators were able to get him on the cheap, about $7,500.  In 1933, Cronin was named player/manager at the young age of 26.  He responded by leading the team to a pennant, and the only trip to the World Series of his career.  The following year, Clark Griffith, the owner of the Senators introduced Cronin to his niece, and the two youngsters were married later that year.  That didn't stop Griffith from selling Joe Cronin to the Red Sox for $225,000.  Cronin showed more power than the shortstops ahead of him on this list, but much of that was attributed to his surroundings and moving to Fenway Park, where he thrived as a hitter.  Overall, Cronin's career could be a sappy Disney movie.  He spent fifty years in professional baseball.  In addition to his managerial record, where he had 11 winning seasons in 15 years, Cronin was a general manager at 42, and became President of the American League at 54.  Joe Cronin is no longer a household name, mostly for being overshadowed by the likes of Branch Rickey, Bill Veeck, and numerous Red Sox legends.

3.) Lou Boudreau, 1938-1952, Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox
Amazingly, Lou Boudreau became player/manager of the Indians in 1942, as a 24-year old.  He played and managed the club for the next nine seasons, compiling a 728-649 Won-Loss record, and capturing the 1948 American League MVP and World Series Championship along the way.  He received MVP votes in ten different seasons and retired with a .380 career OBP and 120 OPS+.

2.) Arky Vaughan, 1932-1948, Pittsburgh Pirates and Brooklyn Dodgers
Pittsburgh doesn't get enough respect for being Shortstop City, USA.  Imagine for a minute that you were born in Pittsburgh the year Thomas Edison invented the light bulb: 1879.  So you're growing up in Pittsburgh in the nineteenth century.  Not too much is going on.  As a child, you are fortunate to not be affected by the nearby Johnstown Flood of 1889.  When you're 20 years old, the hometown Pirates trade for Honus Wagner.  Ten years later, Wagner leads the Pirates to a World Series Championship over Ty Cobb's Detroit Tigers.  When you're 33 years old, a 38-year old Wagner finishes 2nd in MVP voting to the New York Giants "laughing" Larry Doyle.  Fast forward to 1942; you're 63 years old.  The life expectancy of a US male in 1942 was 65 years, so this is possible.  Let's say you stayed in Pittsburgh your whole life, as a Pirates fan.  You would have not only experienced the Honus Wagner era, but you would have also just witnessed another Hall of Fame career by Arky Vaughan, where he received MVP votes and/or an All-Star selection in all 10 seasons for the Pirates.  In 1935, Vaughan had an almost unimaginable .491 OBP and .385 batting average.

1.) Honus Wagner, 1891-1917, Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirates
Honus is the best ever.  Historians often say that if not for Babe Ruth, everyone would talk about early 1900’s as The Honus Wagner Era.  His on base percentage was at least .395 every season for 14 consecutive seasons, from 1899 through 1912.  For traditional and advanced stat geeks, over 21 seasons, Honus Wagner’s career batting average was .328 and career OPS+ was 150.  He had over 3,200 hits and 142.1 avWAR.  If you have any Honus Wagner baseball cards, take good care of them.

Honorable mention to Joe Tinker and Marty Marion.

The only thing we know for sure is that Bengie Molina will be winning a World Series ring this year.  Most of you probably know this by now, but it bears repeating because it's pretty cool.  After everybody's All-American, Buster Posey, won the starting catching job for the San Francisco Giants, the team traded Molina to the Rangers for prospect Michael Main and journeyman reliever Chris Ray.  It would have been much cooler if they had traded for filmmaker Michael Mann.

In an effort to build exciting anticipation for the Fall Classic, here is our overly simplified position by position breakdown.

Catcher: Buster Posey, Giants
1st Base: Aubrey Huff, Giants
2nd base: Ian Kinsler, Rangers
Shortstop: Elvis Andrus, Rangers
3rd base: Michael Young, Rangers
Left Field: Nelson Cruz, Rangers
Center Field: Josh Hamilton, Rangers
Right Field: Vladimir Guerrero, Rangers
RH Pinch Hitter/DH: Jorge Cantu, Rangers
LH Pinch Hitter/DH: David Murphy, Rangers
Util IF: Mike Fontenot, Giants
4th OF: Julio Borbon, Rangers
Game 1 SP: Cliff Lee, Rangers
Game 2 SP: Matt Cain, Giants
Game 3 SP: Jonathan Sanchez, Giants
Game 4 SP: Madison Bumgarner, Giants
Relief/Setup: Lopez/Affeldt/Romo/Mora, Giants
Relief/Closer: Neftali Feliz, Rangers

The closest call above was Neftali Feliz over Brian Wilson.  Wilson has had a tremendous year and is on the upswing of a promising career.  He may have been the best closer in the game this season.  The reason we take Feliz is purely on the strenght of his scintilating fastball.  We're wearing our scouting hat and are drooling all over the triple-digit readings of the radar guns when Feliz gets his arm cranked up.

We decided not to rank the field managers because there is no way to accurately say who will do a better job managing their teams in this World Series.  When it comes to funny baseball card pictures, Bochy never stood a chance against R-Wash.

We love the musthache, but...

... the Jheri Curl trumps all.

Back to the games, the most striking development, for me, is the Rangers refusing to start Cliff Lee on short rest to allow him to pitch games 1, 4, and 7.  Perhaps I'm making too much of this, but there is a time for babying a prized pitcher's arm, and there is a time to push it and go for the championship.  The fact that Cliff Lee has never pitched on short rest is baffling to me.  We're not talking about him having a poor track record on short rest.  We aren't suggesting that they push him to throw on 2 days rest.  The word on the street is he's not "comfortable" doing that.  Well, I'm sorry, when you're making $9,000,000 this season and are looking for an offseason pay day exceeding $150,000,000 from your next team, I think it is reasonable for you to be pushed a little past your comfort zone in the last week of the postseason.

In our opinion, the Rangers have the edge in many of the position head to heads.  Of course, this isn't basketball, so it's not like Ian Kinsler will be playing man-to-man against Freddy Sanchez.  Pitching wins championships, right?  Sometimes, I think it means pitching wins postseason births and luck/timely hitting wins championships.  That's where the futility of these predictions lay.

Still, we're here.  We need a prediction.  I'm going to side with pitching and experience.  We give the pitching edge to the Giants in each game, except Game 1.  Why?  Well, as Joe Posnanksi put it, Cliff Lee has pitched like "a little bit of Glavine AND a little bit of Maddux."  If the games when the Giants are underdogs are the games when Tim Lincecum pitches, I think they will do just fine.

Pick: San Francisco Giants in 6