• As I probably have mentioned once or nine times, Bill James has a new book out. I can't review it for the same reason I can't (honestly) review my wife's new hairstyle. Fortunately, Dave "Studes" Studeman has reviewed the book and I happily endorse nearly all of Studeman's opinions. I'll say this, though ... No, it's not a return of Bill's famous Abstracts. It can't be; the last Abstract was published 20 years ago, and anyway Bill has a full-time job these days. I love the new book. I just wish there was more of Bill in it.
(On the other hand, there's plenty of Bill in
this interview.)
• Speaking of Bill James, in 1986 he "postulated that when a player experienced a sudden spike in walk rate one year, it would often be followed by a substantial drop in batting average the following year." But James didn't offer much evidence. Now, Craig Brown takes a look at what he calls the "Harrah Hypothesis" and says
yeah, there's probably something there. Watch out,
Todd Helton!
• Atypically,
this edition of Cardboard Gods is rated PG-13 (for language), and I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to post links to PG-13 material. But if there was ever a time to give it a shot, this is it, as Josh Wilker ventures into uncharted territory and comes back with a haul of
Gervais-esque pathos. (I know, that's not exactly right. Just read the PG-13 thing.)
• White Sox management continues to float the notion that their poor record in 2007 was due, more than anything else, to a
lack of passion. Or swagger. Or both. But as
Patrick Sullivan points out, the Sox's sudden decline last season was predictable, and in fact anybody who paid any attention to the numbers
did predict it. Sullivan makes his point with an explanation that he would
like to hear from Kenny Williams (but won't, not in this lifetime anyway).
• I know it's too early to pencil in
Ian Kennedy for 300 wins (or even 100), but he looks like yet another example that you don't have to throw 100 mph (or even 90) to make a good living as a major league pitcher. As
Tyler Kepner writes, "Kennedy's average fastball is probably 89 miles an hour, and what was exceptional in high school ... is nothing special now. But Kennedy, who studies the control artist
Greg Maddux closely, has extra life on the pitch to make it seem harder." The scary thing -- unless you don't believe in pitching prospects at all (and there are days I don't) -- is that Kennedy is supposedly the Yankees' third-best pitching prospect.
• I don't mean to make light of
Dmitri Young's diabetes. If you have diabetes and you want to joke about it, be my guest. I'll even laugh with you. But I'm not telling the joke. Nevertheless, the news that Young reported to camp weighing 298 pounds reminded me of
this recent photo of Young and
Nick Johnson. Two-hundred ninety-eight pounds looks better on some guys than others, don't you think?
• Can
Jeff Allison become the pitching version of
Josh Hamilton? Well, he's back on the mound and he says he's been
sober for 15 months. And we're not talking about booze and pot.
Not close. He's 23, he hasn't pitched professionally since 2005, and he's logged only 104 innings since high school. But if Hamilton can come back so quickly, who knows?
• If he hadn't died in 1987, today would have been
Bobo Holloman's 85th birthday. In 1953 -- his one and only season in the majors, in which he went 3-7 with a 5.23 ERA while pitching for the last-place
St. Louis Browns -- Holloman tossed a no-hitter in his first start. According to Bill James -- see how I brought everything around in a pretty circle today? -- Holloman's was the
second least likely no-hitter in the 20th century.
Rob Neyer
