Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

We almost made it without him


Ever work in retail? I worked at the office supply counter at the Ohio State Bookstore for a couple of years when I was in college. The worst thing ever was when it was five minutes from closing, you were all set to bust out of there and go throw back beers at Larry's (RIP), and then some departmental secretary came in with a purchase order for six of everything, ruining the whole deal. It kind of felt like this:

With mere hours remaining before the ball drops, so to speak, for the new MLB Network, veteran sportscaster Bob Costas has joined the party.

The Network announced on Wednesday that Costas, an eight-time sportscaster of the year, would host a conversation with Don Larsen and Hall of Famer Yogi Berra to be interspersed during a New Year's Day airing of Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, when Larsen threw the only no-hitter and perfect game in postseason history.

Costas isn't the devil or anything, and his role on opening day, as it were, isn't terribly big, but I certainly felt like the MLB Network was saying something important by not including the Shadow Commissioner before now. Like it could go its own way and forge its own path instead of relying on Costas to give it his perceived gravitas. Including him now is like the Oscars going back to Billy Crystal all the time because they don't have any other ideas. Sure, he's fine. He does a professional job and everything. But hiring him isn't exactly a profile in creativity or vision.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 3:39pm (11) Comments

The Scouting Life


Ever want to know what it's like to be a scout? Here's one guy's experience.

My guess is that it's a fake article. Why? Not a single mention of cigars, cheap whiskey or pork pie hats. Based on all of the baseball movies I've seen, scouts always have that stuff.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 8:29am (1) Comments

Pants No Longer on Fire


You may still think that Selig and Fehr are liars, but Congress doesn't:

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Tuesday that it was satisfied with the explanations provided by Commissioner Bud Selig and Donald Fehr, the executive director of the players union, about the accuracy of their testimony and that of other high-ranking baseball officials before the committee in 2005.

“Baseball and the players union provided additional information that clarified the record, and I am satisfied with their response,” the committee chairman, Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, said in a statement.

In June, the committee sent letters to Selig and Fehr about “apparent discrepancies” between the 2005 testimony and information in the Mitchell report that was released in December 2007, the biggest inconsistency involving a moratorium on testing in 2004.

In related news, Brian McNamee and Roger Clemens' requests for similar absolution remain un-acted upon, mostly because Congress cannot stop laughing about it.
Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 6:06am (3) Comments

Today at THT


It's four in the morning, the end of December. I'm writing you now just to see if you're better. New Albany is cold, but I like where I'm living. There's music on Market Street all through the evening. OK, I'm sorry for that Leonard.

  • Last week professional ethicist Jack Marshall wrote a piece in which he explained why Barry Bonds is different -- in a bad way -- from every other steroid user and how it is a good thing that he has been shunned, tarred, feathered, and whatever else. The piece caused quite a stir. It ticked off John Brattain in particular, and today he has a reply to Marshall. If anyone cares, I am with Brattain. There are many reasons for this, but chief among them is that I cannot accept Marshall's argument that baseball's hands are morally or ethically clean on steroids in light of the Mitchell Report and thus I cannot accept the notion of baseball rejecting Barry Bonds as some sort of pariah based on it. This is especially true when there are so many other legitimate reasons to reject Barry Bonds. Anyway, read Brattain's piece, because it's a good one.


  • Brian Borawski checks out the last week in the business of baseball.


  • Tuck! gets all pharmaceutical on us.


  • Finally, over at Fantasy Focus, Jonathan Halket discusses how to value various stats for your fantasy league. Given that I have just joined a league in which the standings will be based purely on catcher's interference, I found this article particularly enlightening.


    • Given the holiday and the drinking and the revelry and whatnot, it will be a bit slower than usual in these parts today, but things should get back to normal soon. In the meantime, have a safe and happy new year, everyone.

    Posted by Craig Calcaterra at 5:52am (1) Comments