A weblog of baseball news and analysis
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
What Can Brown Do For You? "Watching Kevin Brown struggle in pinstripes again this past weekend raised the question -- at least in my mind -- is he the greatest Brown ever to play major league baseball? Raise three fingers in the air if you know the answer to that right off, as we prepare for another exciting rendition of Baseball's Hall of Names ... Woohoo!" (Batter's Box Baseball Blog)
Tek the Best Catcher, Pythagorean Standings. "Jason Varitek has to be one of the best catchers in the game. With apologies to Texas, Florida, and Detroit, it is no longer Ivan Rodriguez. With emphatic statements to New York, it is not, never will be, and never was Jorge Posada. Let’s compare." (Fire Brand of the American League)
King Kaufman reviews Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel by Steven Goldman.
Tek the Best Catcher, Pythagorean Standings. "Jason Varitek has to be one of the best catchers in the game. With apologies to Texas, Florida, and Detroit, it is no longer Ivan Rodriguez. With emphatic statements to New York, it is not, never will be, and never was Jorge Posada. Let’s compare." (Fire Brand of the American League)
King Kaufman reviews Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel by Steven Goldman.
"When Stengel joined the Yankees in 1949," Goldman writes, "and for most years thereafter, the team required a wise hand to smooth over its flaws. The years Stengel spent managing untalented ball clubs prepared him to recognize talent, distinguish it from the chaff, and utilize it in ways that enabled his teams to exceed the sum of their parts."(Salon.com)
That, and not when to call for a bunt or yank a pitcher, is what makes a great manager, though Goldman shows Stengel was pretty good at those things too. "He simply ran rings around other managers," Goldman writes, detailing a few instances when Stengel outmanaged a foe. "It turns out that the class clown had been paying attention."