Friday, December 20, 2019
A regular Nostradamus over here.
Lupica actually publishes an article where he picks nine teams to win the World Series:
"Not giving odds here. This isn’t the sports book at Caesars Palace. No particular order for the rest of the field. But if the Yankees don’t win the World Series, who might?"
No.
It isn't the sports book at Caesars Palace.
The sports book at Caesars Palace has more integrity.
It's not even nine teams. It's nine teams "if the Yankees don't win." That's ten teams total. Out of 30.
I mean, unless you're trying to miss on purpose, one of these teams will almost certainly win the World Series.
"I just don’t believe in the Cubs, at least as presently constituted, and actually think the White Sox might be a more fun team to watch in 2020. I’ve seen too many postseason failures from the Twins against the Yankees to believe in them. The Red Sox are a lot of things right now. A serious contender doesn’t appear to be one of them."
Good to know.
At least it's an actual opinion, written down for posterity, without a hedge.
Mike Lupica does not think the Cubs or Red Sox are going to be good in 2020.
But why not just include the Cubs and White Sox and a few more teams while you're at it?
Bump it up to 12 or 13.
Heck, you can pick these teams randomly and you'd have a good shot at picking the winner.
"Not giving odds here. This isn’t the sports book at Caesars Palace. No particular order for the rest of the field. But if the Yankees don’t win the World Series, who might?"
No.
It isn't the sports book at Caesars Palace.
The sports book at Caesars Palace has more integrity.
It's not even nine teams. It's nine teams "if the Yankees don't win." That's ten teams total. Out of 30.
I mean, unless you're trying to miss on purpose, one of these teams will almost certainly win the World Series.
"I just don’t believe in the Cubs, at least as presently constituted, and actually think the White Sox might be a more fun team to watch in 2020. I’ve seen too many postseason failures from the Twins against the Yankees to believe in them. The Red Sox are a lot of things right now. A serious contender doesn’t appear to be one of them."
Good to know.
At least it's an actual opinion, written down for posterity, without a hedge.
Mike Lupica does not think the Cubs or Red Sox are going to be good in 2020.
But why not just include the Cubs and White Sox and a few more teams while you're at it?
Bump it up to 12 or 13.
Heck, you can pick these teams randomly and you'd have a good shot at picking the winner.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
ARod's contract was worth it. Maybe not for the Rangers.
The Yankees' net worth is now estimated at $4.6 billion. It rose so quickly, I was off by 50%. In my mind, it was $3 billion.
Today is the anniversary of ARod's mind-blowing Rangers' contract.
It's in the news.
According to this analysis ...
"The Yankees paid him $307.8 million for 12 seasons, 351 home runs, 2 MVPs, and one World Series trophy. In the end, the Yankees did get a lot of good production from Rodriguez, but it was also clear that they also got a lot of the bad as his production quickly fell off a cliff at the end."
The first comment I heard the morning after the Cole signing was, "Cole needs to win at least two rings with the Yankees."
Probably won't happen.
Rings, WAR, salary divided by WAR ... all of this analysis misses the main point.
As I've mentioned many times before, ARod's presence immediately pushed the Yankee attendance from 3 million to 4 million, and it stayed there.
It would not be inaccurate to describe the new Stadium as the House that ARod Built.
I'm relying on one guy (Mike Ozanian) to provide the data, and I didn't do all the work.
I'd like to see the rise in the Yankees' net worth year after year since that day in 2004 when they traded away Alfonso Soriano.
This is especially impressive in the context that the Jeter-led four-ring Yankees couldn't do the trick. It was the inexplicably entertaining Villain/Hero.
The Yankees are not a sports team, they are a brand.
The Yankees are not in the baseball business, they are in the entertainment business.
Of course the Yankee owners want a winning team ... because that means more people come to the stadium and walk around with $500 in their pocket.
Do you know how I know ARod's contract was worth it? Because people are still talking about it. In terms of tactical efficiency, I suppose it could be considered a bust.
But how many units did Hiroki Kuroda move?
How many people drove to the South Bronx to buy a Jon Lieber jersey?
Did anyone notice when Bob Abreu sunbathed topless in Central Park? (I have no evidence of this, but try to get the image out of your head.)
Is the Cole signing worth it?
Of course it isn't ... if you really think this is about baseball productivity and payroll efficiency
Come see me in nine years and I'm inclined to believe the Yankee Machine will be rolling along, stronger than ever.
Today is the anniversary of ARod's mind-blowing Rangers' contract.
It's in the news.
According to this analysis ...
"The Yankees paid him $307.8 million for 12 seasons, 351 home runs, 2 MVPs, and one World Series trophy. In the end, the Yankees did get a lot of good production from Rodriguez, but it was also clear that they also got a lot of the bad as his production quickly fell off a cliff at the end."
The first comment I heard the morning after the Cole signing was, "Cole needs to win at least two rings with the Yankees."
Probably won't happen.
Rings, WAR, salary divided by WAR ... all of this analysis misses the main point.
As I've mentioned many times before, ARod's presence immediately pushed the Yankee attendance from 3 million to 4 million, and it stayed there.
It would not be inaccurate to describe the new Stadium as the House that ARod Built.
I'm relying on one guy (Mike Ozanian) to provide the data, and I didn't do all the work.
I'd like to see the rise in the Yankees' net worth year after year since that day in 2004 when they traded away Alfonso Soriano.
This is especially impressive in the context that the Jeter-led four-ring Yankees couldn't do the trick. It was the inexplicably entertaining Villain/Hero.
The Yankees are not a sports team, they are a brand.
The Yankees are not in the baseball business, they are in the entertainment business.
Of course the Yankee owners want a winning team ... because that means more people come to the stadium and walk around with $500 in their pocket.
Do you know how I know ARod's contract was worth it? Because people are still talking about it. In terms of tactical efficiency, I suppose it could be considered a bust.
But how many units did Hiroki Kuroda move?
How many people drove to the South Bronx to buy a Jon Lieber jersey?
Did anyone notice when Bob Abreu sunbathed topless in Central Park? (I have no evidence of this, but try to get the image out of your head.)
Is the Cole signing worth it?
Of course it isn't ... if you really think this is about baseball productivity and payroll efficiency
Come see me in nine years and I'm inclined to believe the Yankee Machine will be rolling along, stronger than ever.
Monday, December 09, 2019
Miller finally made the HOF.
Bittersweet because it's posthumous, but I still never thought I'd see the day.
Monday, December 02, 2019
There is no such thing as story of the decade.
As you read this, please don't forget that it's written by a guy who thinks Josh Hamilton's home run streak at Yankee Stadium ... during the HR Derby ... is one of the greatest moments in Yankee Stadium history:
"This all plays out a little over a month from when last season, and the last decade, ended with a tremendous World Series, won by the Washington Nationals in seven games after they trailed the Astros three games to two, and with the series returning to Minute Maid Park."
Which is a reminder that this is written by a guy who explained how important home field advantage is during the playoffs.
"So before we do turn the page, and before baseball does start making Hot Stove headlines, it is worth noting again that nobody had a better October in the past decade, not even the Cubs, than the Nationals did, starting with their National League Wild Card Game win against the Brewers."
No, I don't know what that could possible mean.
Every team that won the World Series had the Best October.
It's binary. You win or you do not win.
"Think of them as the Cubs without more than a century of waiting."
Then they're not the Cubs.
Follow?
The narrative is the same as the Cubs ... without the central theme that gave the Cubs a compelling narrative.
"Fact is, nobody ever had a better October in any decade."
Nobody ever had a better October in any decade than the Washington Nationals in 2019.
That's a "fact" according to the deranged author.
Then, there is a bunch of nonsensical interpretations of baseball games, by which the 2019 Nationals became the best October baseball team in the history of baseball.
"This all plays out a little over a month from when last season, and the last decade, ended with a tremendous World Series, won by the Washington Nationals in seven games after they trailed the Astros three games to two, and with the series returning to Minute Maid Park."
Which is a reminder that this is written by a guy who explained how important home field advantage is during the playoffs.
"So before we do turn the page, and before baseball does start making Hot Stove headlines, it is worth noting again that nobody had a better October in the past decade, not even the Cubs, than the Nationals did, starting with their National League Wild Card Game win against the Brewers."
No, I don't know what that could possible mean.
Every team that won the World Series had the Best October.
It's binary. You win or you do not win.
"Think of them as the Cubs without more than a century of waiting."
Then they're not the Cubs.
Follow?
The narrative is the same as the Cubs ... without the central theme that gave the Cubs a compelling narrative.
"Fact is, nobody ever had a better October in any decade."
Nobody ever had a better October in any decade than the Washington Nationals in 2019.
That's a "fact" according to the deranged author.
Then, there is a bunch of nonsensical interpretations of baseball games, by which the 2019 Nationals became the best October baseball team in the history of baseball.
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