I realized at today's game that the ideal visiting team for any game we attend has these properties:
1. Multiple "tell your kids you saw him play" greats, but with top-to-bottom depth of fun talent.
2. Better offense than pitching staff (if Julia is along)
3. Loyal fan base of regional transplants, yet not a huge bandwagon following.
(Games with 10K fans are depression, but on the other hand crowded concourses and a mad throng onto the BART bridge are problems unto themselves, and one or two teams just have jerky fans.)
My completely subjective ranking of potential visiting teams to Oakland (only 16 of whom actually do visit the A's this year) by how excited I'd be to see them play, all other things being equal (day of week, month of year, weather, A's starting pitcher, etc.). Assume the visiting starting pitcher is equally likely to be any of their top five. (Teams shown in italics don't actually visit Oakland in 2008.)
1.Milwaukee. For scarcity reasons (yeah sure, we could see a team play at the Giants, but... brr!) this list might overrate NL teams. (An unwittingly pro-interleague play data point? Incidentally Julia strongly favors a balanced schedule across all 30 teams, tradition be damned.) And alas, the Brewers don't visit Oakland this year (and haven't since they were an AL team). But man: Ryan Braun? Prince Fielder? Rickie Weeks? Beloved former A's backstop Jason Kendall? Baseball-cheeseheads who haven't had a team to be this excited about in many years? Suspect pitching staff?
2. Cleveland. As they announced the visiting lineup Julia and I cheered for both Grady Sizemore (tremendous player) and Asdrubal Cabrera (his name is Asdrubal). The past n times I've seen the Indians, Oakland has started a LHP; this time finally Travis Hafner was still in the lineup. And the hypnotically undulating paunch made Dana Eveland look svelte. (Ah, I have a weakness for overweight southpaws. I too am lefthanded.)
3. Philadelphia. Reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins went to Julia's high school. The marquee value is top-heavy (as marquee value tends to be) but Rollins, Utley, and Howard more than hold their own. And I've greatly enjoyed the transplanted visiting fans at every Phillies-Giants game I've ever been to. We'll see the Phillies in person at least twice in June.
4. Cincinnati. Once Jay Bruce (Jay Bruce! no relation that we know of) gets his call-up, Ken Griffey will only be the third-biggest draw (for me) in the Reds' outfield!
5. Detroit. Tough call between the Tigers and Red Sox until I remembered Miguel Cabrera (don't fret about the slow start: I say cold weather + sample size fluke), and more importantly some points against BOS@OAK games.
6. Boston. The defending champions need no introduction. Quite a lineup surrounding Ortiz and Manny. But... the most annoying road fans I've ever seen in the Coliseum have been Red Sox fans. Also, the place gets mega-crowded.
7. NY Mets. Another very top-heavy roster but oh, those stars. And a 40% chance (health permitting) to see Johann or Pedro? Even after discounting for injury I like those odds.
8. Chicago White Sox. I assume this is the biggest surprise so far. In no particular order it's Ozzie, beloved former A's slugger Nick Swisher, the 20% chance to watch Mark Buehrle pitch, and a great fan base.
9. Arizona Young rising stars, plus 40% chance to see Dan Haren's homecoming or watch Brandon Webb pitch. (But Webb vs. A's might just be too depressing.)
10. Atlanta Maybe I overrate Brian McCann and Kelly Johnson for fantasy baseball reasons. But Chipper Jones is still surprisingly good and there's beloved former A's center fielder Mark Kotsay to welcome back.
11. LA Dodgers This is tricky, since it's not as if Jackie Robinson or Sandy Koufax were on the 2008 edition. And I wouldn't go anywhere near a Dodgers-Giants game given all the hubbub. But since the next LAD@OAK series won't actually conflict with our wedding, I imagine Julia will really want to go.
12. NY Yankees. Franchise cache (thinking about Julia's likely preferences led me to drop the next two teams two spots apiece at the last minute). And they're still very good.
13. Colorado. Tulo, Helton, Holliday, and if nothing else they're the defending NL champs.
14. LA Angels. This was a fine rivalry when the A's were good. But if both teams aren't at each other's throats, the Angels are... still generally fun to watch, and they have Vlad. Oh, and Torii Hunter now. Still not quite top 10 material (if you count both leagues) given that the rivalry will be a little one-sided for a bit. There's also anti-scarcity at play: Can't come to this series? Catch them again in six weeks.
15. Chicago Cubs. This could be their year but I really suspect this wouldn't be worth the annoyance factor (crowds, some of the visiting fans).
16. Seattle. The Mariners are Oakland's archetypal opponent, sort of the traveling partner, also the "not the good one but not the bad one" division rival. The star power is basically just Ichiro.
17. San Diego. This is almost entirely for the 40% shot at Peavy or Maddux, neither of whom I've seen in person before.
18. Tampa Bay. About ten spaces higher than they would've been a year or two ago. Obviously no road fan base to speak of, but interesting lineup + leaky pitching staff.
19. Kansas City. Also quite a bit higher than I'd have predicted. Essentially Butler, Gordon, 20% shot at Greinke, and of course the Kubicek connection.
20. Toronto. Beloved former A's DH Frank Thomas is the closest thing to a face on this surprisingly good yet unspectacular team.
21. St. Louis. Pujols!
22. Minnesota. Joestin Mauerneau can only sell you so many tickets.
23. Pittsburgh. Are you shocked they're this high? I can commiserate with the Pirate fans I know, and really, the next six teams are all bland at best.
24. Washington. Lastings Milledge and Ryan Zimmerman can only sell you so many tickets.
25. Texas. The "bad" division rival.
26. Houston. We've welcomed back beloved former A's shortstop Miguel Tejada many times as it is. After him and Berkman, blah.
27. Florida. Why?
28. Baltimore. Below the Marlins only because they come at least once a year. (And I guess Hanley Ramirez beats... Nick Markakis?)
29. San Francisco. Sure there's a 40% chance of Matt Cain or Tim Lincecum. But it's still the worst of both worlds: Depressingly bad opposing team, yet aggravating crowd situation.
No idea whether Baseball Tonight still employs Forrest Gump, but if you want to see/hear something priceless go to the MLB.com Media Center for Wednesday, April 2, click on the Daily Rewind link for ARI @ CIN, and wait for (or skip to) the 1:15 mark.
You were saying, Jeff?
(In a perfect world, "This guy is not a clutch hitter" would become a SportsCenter cliche. Well, in an almost-perfect world that nonetheless has SportsCenter cliches at all.)
I'm too lazy to check the archives, but I believe I predicted Gore as Obama's obvious running mate in January. The latest news.
"The only position higher than a Cabinet post is vice president. While Obama seemed to dangle that possibility in his answer Wednesday, he has repeatedly said it is far too early to discuss potential vice presidents because the nomination has not been won."
Coincidentally, the ad I see on the page is one of those fake polls: "Should Hillary quit?"
"It is also not clear that Gore, who had the job for eight years under Bill Clinton, would even want to be a vice president again."
Oh yes he would. You can take the man out of the wonk but you can't take the wonk out of the man.
Meanwhile, despite my intent to vote for John McCain, I must say I'm excited by literally none of his most plausible running mate choices. Some of them frighten me (I still worry that McCain will take Huckabee out of a misapprehension that this shores up his conservative base, combined with gratitude for Huckabee focusing 100% of his attack on Romney), others just leave me cold.
The best thing one can say about McCain's running mate is that whoever it is, won't be Dick Cheney.
A NY Times op-ed contributor apparently had a recent 2.5-hour interview with Robert Mugabe. The result is this shatbit-crazy editorial.
Sure, he's plunged his country into poverty and is directly responsible for the starvation of millions. But why not engage him? Why not try reasoning with him.
Keep right on thinking that way.
"Channel 4 San Diego will carry 150 Padres games this season, all of which will be in high definition. Matt Vasgersian, who is in his seventh season, and Mark Grant, entering his 12th season, are the main play-by-play team, with Tony Gwynn and Steve Quis coming off the bench. The pregame show for 7:05 p.m. home games starts at 6 p.m. The postgame show with John Weisbarth and Bob Scanlan follows all home games and most away games."
--this column (emphases added)
Along those lines, Denny Hocking can be heard on Fox Sports Radio on the weekends now. Your mission is to find still more obscure/mediocre players (but just distinguished enough that we'd actually remember them) who now have obscure/mediocre media gigs.
Six teams, 169 roster spots filled as of March 31, 2008 (Opening Day for most of the league).
Obviously doesn't account for future add/drops; also doesn't include the "suck league" team that drafts later this week.
Team representation:
Arizona Diamondbacks: 11
Atlanta Braves: 11
Cleveland Indians: 10
Kansas City Royals: 10
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 9
[...]
Seattle Mariners: 0 (purely unintentional)
4-time offender:
Conor Jackson (1B-ARI)
3-time offenders:
Adam Jones (OF-BAL)
Josh Bard (C-SD)
Kelly Johnson (2B-ATL)
Lastings Milledge (OF-WAS)
2-time offenders:
Adam Dunn (OF-CIN)
Andrew Miller (SP-FLA)
Asdrubal Cabrera (2B-CLE)
Billy Butler (1B-KC)
Brian McCann (C-ATL)
C.J. Wilson (RP-TEX)
Carlos Pena (1B-TB)
Chris B. Young (OF-ARI)
Daniel Cabrera (SP-BAL)
David Wright (3B-NYM)
Derrek Lee (1B-CHC)
Hiroki Kuroda (SP-LAD)
Huston Street (RP-OAK)
Jacoby Ellsbury (OF-BOS)
Jamie Moyer (SP-PHI)
Joakim Soria (RP-KC)
Jonathan Broxton (RP-LAD)
Justin Duchscherer (SP-OAK)
Justin Verlander (SP-DET)
Kosuke Fukudome (OF-CHC)
Matt Diaz (OF-ATL)
Peter Moylan (RP-ATL)
Rickie Weeks (2B-MIL)
Troy Percival (RP-TB)
Zack Greinke (SP-KC)
Today, two posts in a row here are worth comment:
1. I strongly agree: Get rid of the penny AND the nickel. Or at the very least replace them with a design that costs far, far less to mint.
2. Philanthropic fraud?! Who knew? Well, I knew, but that's just because my knee-jerk impulse is to associate charitable trust mavens with Ayn Rand villains. Also blah blah United Way blah.