Super Bowl XL MVP
I don’t watch a ton of football. I have trouble picking a 4-3 defensive alignment out, for instance, though I understand what’s going on. Even I can’t believe that game. The MVP was clearly the officials, who made more game-changing plays than any player on either team, almost all against the Seahawks (“Touchdown? Let’s toss a flag.”). I haven’t seen bad umping like this since the Indy-Pittsburgh game. Maaaaaaaaaaaaan. This sucks.
Baseball Between The Numbers
Friend of USSM and general man-about-town Jonah Keri has a new article at Baseball Prospectus about their new book, Baseball Between The Numbers. Jonah uses Bruce Sutter’s election to the Hall of Fame as an opportunity to talk about some of the chapters within.
You’ve heard us talk about the new volume before, at and immediately after the BP/USSM event a while back. Now, you can pre-order the darn thing.
It’s too bad we don’t have a post category for “commercialism,” because I’m going to use this same time-hook to plug the book again. If half of Jonah’s excitement about the project is justified, then I’m sure I’ll enjoy it twice as much as anything I’ve read lately, non-Okinawa category.
Here’s a summary excerpt:
Baseball Between the Numbers covers 29 seminal baseball debates that will get both casual fans and hard-core statheads whipped into a frenzy. The book includes the chapter “Are Teams Letting Their Closers Go to Waste?”, which tackles the very topic that sparked huge differences of opinion in SutterGate. Following in the tradition of John Thorn and Pete Palmer’s “The Hidden Game of Baseball,” the work of Bill James and other influential thinkers, Baseball Between the Numbers brings new analytical tools to bear, with BP’s unique writing style adding a twist.
That ‘graph’s not my favorite bit from Jonah’s article, though. That would be this:
If you’re a member of the media and would like to request an advance copy of the book, please e-mail Jonah Keri by clicking here.
Ah, the fringe benefits of being a world famous baseball blogger/freelance writer/whatever. Jonah, just dial 1-900-2-JEFFY and I’ll give you the address.
Between The Numbers has jumped in sales over the past few hours, and so has Baseball Prospectus 2006, which is offered as a package with the forthcoming title. You can be the first kid at your school, house, basement or block party to have read it.
Unless you invite me to your block party. Which you should.
Atlanta readers?
This post has nothing to do with baseball.
If any of our fine readers happen to live in the Atlanta, Georgia region and might be interested in doing me a favor, please email us and I’ll fill you in with the details.
Thiel quip
I know I’ve poked at Art Thiel before for his occasional reach for metaphors and similies, but this, on the Sonics:
An incredibly wealthy ownership, nevertheless quivering at continued operational losses, must have limited the talent search to the bench of the Los Angeles Clippers, where they found guard Rick Brunson and center Mikki Moore. Each has contributed about as much as the most recent first-round draft choices, Johan Petro and Robert Swift — a four-man whiff unseen locally since the bottom of the Mariners lineup.
I laughed, I winced, I shook my head and grinned.
Also, former M Dave Edler is now the mayor of Yakima. Yes, it’s a slow news day.
Happy New Year, everyone
It was a fun year for the site, even as the M’s didn’t do so well. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves, learned something, or at least felt like part of a larger group, and I hope you hang around for the next year, too. Official USSM Endorsements will be coming over the next week or so, but feel free to send nominations. Or comments, complaints, thoughts for the new year… whatever.
Fun 2005 stats
972 posts by authors
~72,000 comments by authors and readers (74 comments/average article)
Comment Power Rankings
1. Me, with 2,860*
2. David J. Corcoran, 2,209**
3. Dave, 1,794
4. Jim Thomsen*** 1,592
5. (tie) Evan and msb with 1,559
7. eponymous coward, 1,361
8. ray 1,117
9. Jason, 1,058
10. LB, 787
* this was not a last-minute drive, obviously, and yes, that means I’m responsible for 4% of all comments
** and Corco is 3%
*** Thomsen, no ‘p’
Top searches not obviously people looking for USSM*
1. Kenji Jojima
2. Mariner
3. Jeff Clement
4. Lastings Milledge
5. Safeco Field
6. Felix Hernandez
7. Daisuke Matsuzaka
8. Andruw Jones contract
9. Cameron Maybin
10. Jennifer Pankratz**
* ie, overall 1 “uss mariner”, 2 “ussmariner” 3 “u.s.s. mariner” 4 “ussmariner.com”
Most annoying search engine
Yahoo! crawlers sucked 2% of our total bandwith this year. Way to be. People who came here through Google outnumbered Yahoo about 5:1
Ichiro to make acting debut. Also, puppies
Well, that last thread was fun. Who else is ready for the new year?
Only two words can right the ship: frivolous and links. First, enjoy my second-favorite link found through Google Ads,* basset hound puppies! Take that, pandas.
Second, your friend and mine, Ichiro, is making his acting debut. He’s going to play a murderer on an episode of a Japanese TV drama.
Among Fuji Television’s Hi-Vision shows are Ooku Special, from the popular drama series focusing on women of the inner palace of the Tokugawa shogunate (Dec. 30, 9 p.m.); Pride Otoko Matsuri 2005 (Dec. 31, 9 p.m.); Count Down TV Year-Crossing Live Special (Dec. 31, 11:50 p.m.) and the three-night Furuhata Ninzaburo Final (Jan. 3-5, 9 p.m.).
In the second night’s episode of Furuhata, major league baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, who has described himself as a big fan of the series, plays himself in a cameo role written for him–as a murderer. In the show, he confronts a formidable detective played by Masakazu Tamura.
The role isn’t that much of a stretch. He’s been killing American League pitchers for years.
* My favorite Google Ads link? Ben Broussard, Musician.
** Thanks to Dustin for the Ichiro link.
Happy Festivus!
I can’t believe I almost let this go by! I hope everyone had a great Festivus, your Airing of Grievances was cathartic (and if it involved sending angry email to the Mariners, so much the better), and you amazed all with your Feats of Strength.
The Hit King Sits On The Strip
Hunter S. Thompson is dead, and I am in Las Vegas. This is equal parts appropriate and absurd, since I loathe excess and am embarassed by spectacle. But now that Hunter has passed, somebody has to bear witness. Read more
Rumor roundup
Not much new to report. The dailies are mostly rehashing rumors we’ve hashed out in the past (Juan Pierre, Jeromy Burnitz, etc.).
One older rumbling is effectively shot down by both Larry Stone and certain east coast media reports. Evidently both the Tigers and Mariners have asked about Carl Pavano and been rebuffed by the Yankees, who say they aren’t trading him. This is for the best. For the M’s, anyway.
The team’s pursuit of A.J. Burnett looks less and less likely, and it seems their attention is turning to Kevin Millwood. Word is that the M’s came way up on their offer to Millwood this morning, and they’re pushing Scott Boras to get a deal done in the next few days.
Then there is this in today’s TNT:
Sources say the Mariners have already approached the Rockies to inquire about starters Aaron Cook and Jason Jennings. But Colorado has balked so far.
Neither of these guys excites me. Jennings has been terrible, and he can’t blame all of that on Coors Field given his road splits. Cook pitched pretty well during his partial season, but there’s that scary history of pulmonary blood clots. As with all trades, it would depend on what we’d have to give up –but it appears the Rockies aren’t interested anyway.
Finally, in other news: I was going to argue that Congress had much more important things to do than investigate the BCS. But seeing what they did to Oregon, I say go, legislators, go!
ZAO Water
All of us here are baseball nuts. We spend far too much time thinking, talking, and writing about the game. However, for each of us, baseball is still just a part of our lives. So, for a moment, I want to take a break from talking to you guys about the Mariners and show you an opportunity to join with me on another part of my life.
One of the organizations I’m involved with is a non-profit group called ZAO Water. It was founded two years ago by a guy named Matt Peterson, who I’m proud to call a friend of mine, who believed he had an idea that could impact the world in a significant way. At its heart, ZAO is committed to providing fresh drinking water and sanitation to the impoverished nations of Africa. The numbers of diseases that have decimated Africa due to the lack of clean water are staggering:
2.3 billion people worldwide have a water-born disease.
5 million people a year die from water-born diseases (including cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, etc…). It is the number one killer of humans worldwide.
The W.H.O. estimates that by 2025, 2/3 of the worlds population will live in areas of water shortage.
The lack of access to fresh drinking water in Africa is a huge problem. It’s also one that isn’t that hard to fix. For less than $5,000, ZAO was able to hire local experts to go into the town of Ntagacha, Tanzania, and change the town’s access to fresh water. Three springs have been provided and a well has been dug, as well as several latrines, and community hygiene education was provided for the entire village. When hygiene education is teamed with access to fresh water, the health of a village can be increased by 85 percent.
In a short period of time, ZAO has already made a significant impact on parts of Tanzania. We are committed to seeing this through until the problem is eliminated. And this is where you guys come in.
In order to raise funds, ZAO has entered the retail bottled water business (again, as a non-profit organization). We have an artisan well in North Carolina and are working to build our own bottling facility which will allow us to produce millions of bottles of ZAO water every year for retail sale, competing with Dasani, Aquafina, Le Bleu, etc… The price for ZAO water is extremely competitive; $1 for a 15 ounce bottle or $9 for a 24-bottle case. The difference? Every dime of profit that comes from the sale of bottled ZAO water goes directly to providing fresh water for people who badly need it in Africa. You get water, they get water, and everyone wins. If you’re interested in ordering ZAO water for your business (or, if you’re just a very thirsty individual), the contact information will be at the end of this post.
Also, we’ve had an donor come forward and offer a donation challenge; he is going to match every dollar we raise through the end of the year with one of his own, up to $500,000. So, if we receive a half million dollars in donations between now and December 31st, he’s going to write us a check for $500,000. Essentially, every dollar donated to ZAO between now and the end of 2005 will be immediately doubled. And, of course, it is all tax deductible, and you will receive all the necessary reciepts to claim a deduction on your 2005 tax statement. If you would like to participate in the ZAO donor-match challenge, you can give directly through paypal.
ZAO’s administrative overhead is basically nil. What we receive goes to help those in need. It’s a great organization, one that I’m proud to be affiliated with, and one that I believe strongly in. We really do have a chance to change the course of a continent in our lifetimes. If you guys are interested in purchasing ZAO Water, helping to increase our distribution, or simply giving directly to the efforts, feel free to contact us through any of the ways provided below:
Email: office@zaowater.com
Phone: 336-712-4008
Mail:
ZAO Water
3812 Littlebrook Drive
Suite A
Clemmons, NC, 27012
Any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments.