Fewer links and more commentary today.
I definitely suggest checking out all the chats at Fangraphs. But the one from Jeff Sullivan is always the highlight of the week. He’s extremely witty and makes funny responses out of standard questions. For example:
Question: “is it just me or is gio gonzalez’s dad the worst at excuses”
Answer: “he’s probably not the *worst*, but that’s just from the probabilistic perspective”
Classic, just classic.
But there’s a couple lines from the end of the chat that really stand out, as a fan of a team that has been bad for about fifteen years:
fans of bad teams still care because it’s the bad that makes the good. if I were just getting into baseball, and if I had to pick a team to like, I’d pick a bad team over a good team. I want to feel like I earned the success, if and when it ever comes…also, it isn’t just about winning. it’s about the whole experience and the distractions and the coming and going discussion topics that carry us through month after month. baseball is just a thing that goes on and bad teams don’t provide any less material than good teams
I couldn’t have said it better myself. It doesn’t matter if your team is bad or good, you still follow them. It can be frustrating year after year after year, but you don’t give up the hope that next year could be the year it all comes together (like last year for the Orioles). I still get excited when my guys do well and sulk when they hid a bad skid. It’s like we’re in this secret club and those who aren’t in it just don’t get what’s going on.
Back to the links…
I always enjoy skimming the minor league transactions at Baseball America. This time of year, there’s a lot of names you’ll recognize on there. Looks like Charlie Haeger’s getting another shot with the Red Sox.
Why is there still Spring Training in Florida? Because of contracts and politics. Arizona makes so much more sense given the location of all the camps. This article talks about trying to possibly lure another team east, but I don’t see the payoff.
I admit it, I have a thing for rookies in fantasy (football and baseball). I think most of these guys are already gone in one of my leagues where you’re allowed to keep guys their whole careers.
One final thought…I love Craig Calcaterra’s smack down of stupidity in most things he writes. His article on ARod and the idea that he might walk away from his big contract is no different.
Langerhans' Loogy 