Walkoff Walk

The Inevitable Tim Lincecum Advertisement Rejiggering

2009-11-20T20:30:00Z

I'm glad that someone (a) took the time to re-voice this Tim Lincecum video game ad after his pot bust and (b) made it funny and just a tiny bit NSFW. Please to enjoy.

(Thanks to Hot Clicks and Chris Mottram)

Bat Attack Roundup: Friday, November 20, 2009

2009-11-20T16:00:00Z

There are days when you find yourself lying on a Pacific Ocean Beach letting the waves sing you to sleep. There are days when you're surrounded by friends, family and multitudes of other loved ones, and the affection warms you like a fleece blanket. There are other days when some crazy bastard is going to swing at you with a baseball bat.

In those first two instances you should savor each moment to the fullest. In the third scenario, you should duck.

On to this week's non-fatal/non-critical bat attacks!

Our first story takes place outside Seattle's famous Pike Place Fish Market. You know it as the place where the employees throw salmon at each other mere blocks from where that one real world guy slapped that one real world dame with the fro. So obvs the place is no stranger to violence, but don't you think if someone was gonna get their bell rung it'd get rung it'd be with a fish? No dice. This week a guy got chopped back to the mound. But did he roll over and play dead like Irene did? No way, "After being hit with the bat, one suspect tried to steal his cell phone, but the man kicked the robber in the face." Solid.

Nothing can come between two men like a financial dispute. Money is the crowbar that tears people from each other. Whether the amount be $50 or even $100, consequences can be serious. So imagine when the amount is $27,000 and you don't wanna pay it back. That's when you get driven deep to cheap seats by a fellow member of the Bridgeport, CT hispanic community. But take comfort in the fact that the news item will take no interest in why there was a $27,000 personal loan at stake.

A miracle was averted when Richie Sambora discovered two fans on his roof weren't burglars and decided not to kill them. Tragedy struck when he returned to bed and no one had fallen off the roof. MAKE THE VIDEO ROB.

And finally, it's time to dispense with the humour. It's time to get to down to business. You may notice the gratuitous use of the letter u when I just spelled humor. Well that's because Graeme Lloyd's Heathen Foot Soldiers have struck again Down Under. And as if that wasn't bad enough, it looks like they're hooked on bathtub speed. Two kids in Brisbane, one armed with a bat and one armed with A SWORD, have been holding up pharmacies and stealing the Sudafed. I got my eye on you, Dave Nilsson Jr.

Eric Gagne Wants to Bring Baseball Back to Montreal, Eh?

2009-11-20T14:30:00Z

Former MLB star reliever and emo kid Eric Gagne, who spent the summer leading the Quebec Capitales to the Can-Am League title with his 6-6 record and 4.65 ERA, wants to let you know that he'd like to bring baseball back in Montreal despite his lack of business prowess.

At a charity event in Quebec City, Gagne was asked if he would lead an investment team to help Montreal get a professional baseball team. His response:

His response, translated from his native French-Canadian tongue:

"I know baseball but I'm not a businessman and there are other things involved that I don't want to deal with. I know how to lead a good team. I know there's a lot of people and potential in Montreal but can't say much more than that. I'd need to know more about the business side of things...but yes I would be interested."

Ask folks in Boston if Eric Gagne "knows baseball" and "knows how to lead a good team" and you'll get a wildly different reaction than Gagne's own opinion.

Tim Lincecum Goes Back-to-Back With Cy Young Award Honors

2009-11-19T19:00:00Z

San Francisco Giants starter Tim Lincecum has won his second straight Cy Young Award and can now lend one to his video game doppelganger. Lincecum struck out a whopping 261 hitters over 32 starts that included four complete games and two shutouts. His 15 wins were a low total, indeed, but the sorry San Fran offense supported him to a tune of 2.38 runs per game in each of the twelve Giants losses he started.

Oh, and his FIP was just 0.01 higher than Zack Greinke's and nearly half a run better than anyone else in the NL. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Not you, Tim.

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter, who was the only gentleman to post a lower ERA than Lincecum in the National League, finished second, mostly because his time missed due to injury prevented him from matching Lincecum's innings and strikeout totals. His teammate Adam Wainwright finished third.

In a bizarre twist, Lincecum didn't even receive the most first place votes, but won the award because more folks thought Wainwright deserved third place than second. Also, Carpenter was left off of two ballots in favor of Javy Vazquez and Danny Haren; had he made those ballots, Carp would have ~~won~~ come a bit closer.

	1st	2nd	3rd	Points
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants	11	12	9	100
Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals	9	14	7	94
Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals	12	5	15	90
Javier Vazquez, Atlanta Braves		1		3
Dan Haren, Arizona Diamondbacks			1	1

I think Lincecum is one of the few players in baseball that the entire staff at Walkoff Walk admires. He's talented, he's quirky, he's charming, and he's uglier than half of us. Congrats, Mr. Lincecum! Have a hot dog with us!

Be a Good Baseball Fan and Help Feed the Hungry

2009-11-19T14:00:00Z

All over the world, people go to sleep hungry. Even in the United States of America and it's little Northern sister Canada, there are an alarming number of needy folks who don't get to enjoy the fruits of their labors on a regular basis. In these hard times, an alarming 15% of Americans are struggling to put food on the table while numbers are similarly skyrocketing in Canada.

Here in the US, Thanksgiving is just a week away and the terrifically terrifying Black Friday trails close behind. Maybe instead of spending insane dollars on crap we don't need we can direct those funds towards a good cause. Just like we did last year, we're going to persuade you to (read: guilt you into) donating cash or food to your local food banks or, even better, volunteering at your local soup kitchen.

Food banks operate year-round, not just during the holidays, and are constantly in need of volunteers and donations. Things have not been easy with companies and individuals cutting back on their charity AND more and more people showing up hungry on a daily basis. So please, do what you can and ignore that nonsense from the MLB marketing department. You DON'T need a Cleveland Indians themed Rubiks Cube as much as your neighbor needs a bowl of soup and some bread.

But hey, some of us are busy bees buzzing around the hive and we don't have time to volunteer. Lucky for you, these places take credit card donations over the Internet. Once again, here's a nearly complete list of food banks in MLB cities. Pick your favorite.

Anaheim - Second Harvest of Orange County
Arlington - North Texas Food Bank
Atlanta - Atlanta Community Food Bank
Baltimore - Maryland Food Bank
Boston - Greater Boston Food Bank
Chicago - Greater Chicago Food Bank
Cincinnati - Freestore Foodbank
Cleveland - Cleveland Foodbank
Denver - Food Bank of the Rockies
Detroit - Gleaners Community Food Bank
Houston - Houston Food Bank
Kansas City - Harvesters
Los Angeles - Los Angeles Regional Food Bank
Miami - Daily Bread
Milwaukee - Hunger Task Force
Minneapolis - Second Harvest Heartland
New York - Food Bank for New York City
Oakland - Alameda County Community Food Bank
Philadelphia - PhilAbundance
Phoenix - St. Mary's Food Bank Alliance
Pittsburgh - Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
San Diego - San Diego Food Bank
San Francisco - San Francisco Food Bank
Seattle - Northwest Harvest
St. Louis - St. Louis Area Food Bank
Tampa - America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay
Toronto - Daily Bread
Washington - Capital Area Food Bank

If your city or town isn't represented here, head on over to Feeding America. Thanks for reading; let's hope that by the time we all sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, there are millions of folks who can take their names off the list of the hungry.

(Photo courtesy of Mr. Kris at Flickr)

The Manager of the Year Award Winners Failed to Excite Me

2009-11-18T19:00:00Z

Mike Scioscia, who led his Los Angeles Angels of Angelheim to a tidy division title despite the untimely loss of one of his employees, won the AL Manager of the Year award. Jim Tracy, who led his Colorado Rockies to a tidy Wild Card spot despite the untimely mishandling of the team by his predecessor Clint Hurdle, took the NL Manager of the Year award.

Ron Gardenhire finished second in the AL despite "doing so much with so little". You hear that, Joe Mauer? You're inconsequential to the success of your squadron! Some old fart did all the heavy lifting!

The Manager of the Year award is the least analytical of any post-season award doled out by the BBWAA, which is why I cannot allow myself to critique their choices. Go ahead! Reward some middle-aged greaseballs for screwing up the least. Managerial moves aren't strategically that important to the outcome of a game anyway.

Merry Christmas From MLB's Marketing Department!

2009-11-18T16:20:00Z

With retailers already stocking Christmas decorations and Christmas specials already airing on TV, it's time your friends at Walkoff Walk got into the act! Let's kick off the Christmas season by mercilessly mocking this article from MLB.com about the Virtual Catalog.

It's that time of year
When the world falls in love...

When the Virtual Catalog launches at the MLB.com Shop -- signaling the official start to another season of holiday shopping.

I swear this is the actual opening to an article about what overpriced products you should buy from Major League Baseball this Christmas.

When you put out the Forever Collectibles Holiday Decor. It's still early so let's get right to those ornaments, snow globes, stockings, candy canes and whatever else you might need to get your home into holiday mode -- baseball-style. It's what many of your fellow fans are doing right this second, and these essentials start at only $14.99.

Forget the recession, people. This year, you're going to give all your money to Major League Baseball and its related properties. I mean, really: What sport goes better with early winter holidays than baseball!

When you need the official site to be sure, when you know it's safe and easy, when you need help navigating the upcoming shipping deadlines. The MLB.com Shop will make it easy for you to manage these. Guaranteed To Get There reminders will keep you organized if you push things to the deadline, as so many of us do.

Holy crap, he's still going on the "Christmas Waltz" theme. Yes, that Carpenters' song really does have a lot to do with Guaranteed To Get There Reminders. I am also extremely excited that MLB.com will be there for me just in case I push things to the last minute, as many of us often do.

When a new World Champion drives the momentum, and that is happening right now with the much-anticipated "27 Collection" arriving at the MLB.com Shop. Order the Yankees 27-Time World Series Champions cap or maybe a 27-Time Dynasty T-shirt. The line that will feature fleece, tees, fitted caps, jackets and hoody items, adding to the largest selection of title products in sports history.

I have to tell you, I've been anticipating this 27 Collection for months now. I was all, "Man, I hope the Yankees win the World Series, because then there might be a collection of merchandise involving the number 27." I am impressed that it's the largest selection of title products in sports history, too; last year I bought a pair of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Champion pajama pants. What other products could they have added?

You'll be happy to know the Carpenters' parody is over, and it's time for some marketing-speak.

"The idea behind this is to own Black Friday as far as licensed sports apparel is concerned," Howard Smith, senior vice president of licensing at Major League Baseball Properties, told Sports Business Journal. "None of us really imagined 27 would be what consumers would be focusing on, but since it is, that's where our focus will be."

Hey! Howard Smith! Did you just see what I wrote above? I've been hoping for 27-themed championship apparel since at last July. I am a marketing genius! Hire me! You'd be able to own Black Friday every year, even if it doesn't fall on a day that's coincidentally the same number of World Series championships the Yankees have won. (Last year's Phillies "November 2" sale was a bit too early.)

It's that time of year...

Oh, I'm sorry. Did I say the "Christmas Waltz" parody was over? Ha. It actually continues for 15 more paragraphs, one of which is just, "When babies enter the baseball fold." (Yes, on MLB's site the word "babies" links to baby apparel, but c'mon.) Other exciting products include a Hideki Matsui 2009 World Series MVP Mini Dirt Collage. Is dirt (sorry, "game-used dirt") really all that exciting?

Let's just go to the last paragraph.

Right now, baseball season has given way to holiday shopping season. The Virtual Catalog is here. Soon enough it will be Black Friday, leading right into that wonderful Cyber Monday excitement on Nov. 30, and then one shipping deadline after another on into the magical holidays of December, when the presents are unwrapped.

That's about right. If you're wondering, it is, in order: baseball, holiday shopping, the Holiday of Black Friday, the Holiday of Cyber Monday, shipping deadline #1, shipping deadline #2, magical holidays of December. And pretty soon, it'll be time for Spring Training!

Zack Greinke Wins Cy Young Award in Convincing Fashion

2009-11-17T19:00:00Z

Kansas City starting pitcher Zack Greinke has won the American League Cy Young Award thanks to a superior and dominant season despite a lack of support from a poorly assembled Royals team. Greinke received 25 of 28 first place votes for a whopping 134 total points.

Look, he beat out Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay, Jon Lester, and Justin Verlander, each who had outstanding years of their own that, translated back a season, probably would have beaten 2008's winner Cliff Lee. King Felix actually posted a lower ERA than any AL Cy Young winner of the past decade not named Pedro, but Greinke came in half a run lower than Hernandez. That's just how awesome he was.

But only Greinke led the league in ERA, WHIP, and fewest homers allowed, finishing second in strikeouts, complete games, and shutouts, and leading the world in columns penned about his battle with depression. Yep, we just fell face first into that trap by mentioning his infinite sadness, something completely secondary to his pitching prowess.

No matter, Greinke can now be referred to solely as "Cy Young winner Zack Greinke" and not "Poster boy for the human condition Zack Greinke" in the official WoW stylebook. Kudos!

Addressing Baseball's Broken Systems: The Draft

2009-11-17T16:00:00Z

Given all the talk about baseball economics and unfair advantages afforded to deep-pocketed clubs, and Chief Wahoo's passionate screed and the equally ~~dismissive~~ passionate commentary that followed, I thought I'd take a couple ideas I've had kicking around my head and see if we can't think of a way to make the draft process work for everyone. This is especially important these days when the economic disparity is so great (between teams that own their own TV networks and those that must pay to get their games on local TV.)

It is a most delicate process, as the interests of keeping the field level for small market teams must be tempered by the union and its fight to ensure the players are "fairly compensated." As an unapologetic Canadian pinko, there is no way in hell I'm interested in imposing a hard slotting system on player bonuses as in the NBA, because Andrea Bargnani ain't no Lebron James just as Bryan Bullington ain't no Stephen Strasburg.

Without overhauling the entire basis of baseball business, how can even the playing field for teams handcuffed by penny-pinching owners? One simple way: allow trading draft picks.

One of the main complaints about the existing slotting system (merely a guideline and often dismissed out of hand) is it prevents struggling clubs from drafting the best players available to them as they are unable to meet their bonus/salary demands. If we allow draft picks to be traded, teams can either select the best player(s) or entertain offers from teams more in the stud's price range. As I see it, allow trading draft picks until 2 weeks after the signing deadline, currently August 15th. If a potential trading partner is willing to work with the agent's number, the drafting team can sweeten the pot. If the unsigned player isn't traded, he goes back into the draft with the original drafting team receiving the current level of compensation.

This is seemingly minor change that could benefit all teams. The big spenders can still flex their might but the little guys have more leverage. The draftees don't have to sacrifice much aside from the increased chance of playing in Pittsburgh. Giving quoteunderfundedunquote teams the opportunity to draft the best available players is really all anyone can expect of any amateur draft.

The international draft scene is rife with landmines (seriously, the Cambodian baseball association is an international force!) and attempting to impose North American labor law didn't work where my shoes, jeans, computer, car, hat, phone, or food were made, why would it work in baseball?

Full draft rules and regulations available here (Wikipedia. Shhh).

The Tyranny of Batting Average: Chris Coghlan Wins NL ROY

2009-11-16T19:10:00Z

Because Florida Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan hit .321 on the season, highest among NL rookies and in the top five overall, the good folks at BBWAA decided to award him with the 2009 National League Rookie of the Year award. Nevermind the fact that Pirates rookie outfielder Andrew McCutchen outplayed him in every single important aspect of the game: smacking more taters, recording more outfield assists, covering more range in the field, stealing more bases, drawing more walks and doing a far better hip bump. All this with 70 fewer plate appearances.

Because, you see, Chris Coghlan had a decent batting average. Above .300. That's really good and doesn't require any voter to look past the most basic of statistics to really evaluate who the better player was in 2009. You can accuse me of tilting at windmills here, but upon hearing that McCutchen did not win this award, my first reaction is to go mount my horse and take on those horrid giants.

In the American League, Oakland closer Andrew Bailey picked up the award because BBWAA voters know that throwing one inning in 26 wins is more important than, you know, starting 30 games and pitching 180 innings like his teammate, fellow rookie Brett Anderson, or like Tigers phenom Rick Porcello. Or fielding with aplomb and helping his team improve their miserable glovework like the Rangers' Elvis Andrus.

The Walkoff Walk 2009 Thievin' Creampuff Awards

2009-11-16T15:00:00Z

I understand the following is sort of arbitrary and doesn't mean that much. OR DOES IT????

I took the top 50 position player salaries for 2009 and then I divided them by games played. It's one thing to get injured alot. It's an entirely nother thing to be a dole ridin' Puff who sits at home eating bon bons while your brothers take on the Diamondbacks.

Follow me after the jump as we single out 2009's Paper Tiger.]]> Here's the top 50 by their 2009 salary and games played.

NAME	SALARY	GAMES PLAYED	$ PER GAME
Alex Rodriguez	$33000000	124	266129
Manny Ramirez	$23854494	104	229370
Derek Jeter	$21600000	153	141176
Mark Teixeira	$20625000	156	132211
Carlos Beltran	$19243683	81	237576
Carlos Lee	$19000000	160	118750
Magglio Ordonez	$18971596	131	144821
Torii Hunter	$18000000	119	151260
Ichiro Suzuki	$18000000	146	123287
Alfonso Soriano	$17000000	117	145299
Aramis Ramirez	$16900000	82	206097
Todd Helton	$16600000	151	109933
Ryan Howard	$15000000	160	93750
Vladimir Guerrero	$15000000	100	150000
Miguel Tejada	$14811415	158	93743
Lance Berkman	$14500000	136	106617
Albert Pujols	$14427327	160	90170
Miguel Cabrera	$14383049	160	89894
J.D. Drew	$14000000	137	102189
Matt Holliday	$13500000	156	86538
Adrian Beltre	$13400000	111	120720
Derrek Lee	$13250000	141	93971
Jorge Posada	$13100000	111	118018
Michael Young	$13054527	135	96700
David Ortiz	$13000000	150	86666
Jim Thome	$13000000	124	104838
Hideki Matsui	$13000000	142	91549
Johnny Damon	$13000000	143	90909
Mike Lowell	$12500000	119	105042
Kosuke Fukudome	$12500000	146	85616
Troy Glaus	$12137000	14	866928
Paul Konerko	$12000000	152	78947
Carlos Delgado	$12000000	26	461538
Jose Guillen	$12000000	81	148148
Eric Byrnes	$11666667	84	138888
Scott Rolen	$11625000	128	90820
Justin Morneau	$11600000	135	85925
Travis Hafner	$11500000	94	122340
Eric Chavez	$11500000	8	1437500
Jermaine Dye	$11500000	141	81560
Chase Utley	$11285714	156	72344
Joe Mauer	$10500000	138	76086
Gary Matthews	$10400000	103	100970
Chipper Jones	$10000000	143	69930
Carlos Guillen	$10000000	81	123456
Juan Pierre	$10000000	145	68965
Mike Cameron	$10000000	149	67114
Aaron Rowand	$9600000	144	66666
Julio Lugo	$9250000	88	105113

Then I rearranged the Google Docs so that I was looking at Dollars Per Game. It looks like this:

NAME	SALARY	GAMES PLAYED	$ PER GAME
Eric Chavez	$11500000	8	1437500
Troy Glaus	$12137000	14	866928
Carlos Delgado	$12000000	26	461538
Alex Rodriguez	$33000000	124	266129
Carlos Beltran	$19243683	81	237576
Manny Ramirez	$23854494	104	229370
Aramis Ramirez	$16900000	82	206097
Torii Hunter	$18000000	119	151260
Vladimir Guerrero	$15000000	100	150000
Jose Guillen	$12000000	81	148148
Alfonso Soriano	$17000000	117	145299
Magglio Ordonez	$18971596	131	144821
Derek Jeter	$21600000	153	141176
Eric Byrnes	$11666667	84	138888
Mark Teixeira	$20625000	156	132211
Carlos Guillen	$10000000	81	123456
Ichiro Suzuki	$18000000	146	123287
Travis Hafner	$11500000	94	122340
Adrian Beltre	$13400000	111	120720
Carlos Lee	$19000000	160	118750
Jorge Posada	$13100000	111	118018
Todd Helton	$16600000	151	109933
Lance Berkman	$14500000	136	106617
Julio Lugo	$9250000	88	105113
Mike Lowell	$12500000	119	105042
Jim Thome	$13000000	124	104838
J.D. Drew	$14000000	137	102189
Gary Matthews	$10400000	103	100970
Michael Young	$13054527	135	96700
Derrek Lee	$13250000	141	93971
Ryan Howard	$15000000	160	93750
Miguel Tejada	$14811415	158	93743
Hideki Matsui	$13000000	142	91549
Johnny Damon	$13000000	143	90909
Scott Rolen	$11625000	128	90820
Albert Pujols	$14427327	160	90170
Miguel Cabrera	$14383049	160	89894
David Ortiz	$13000000	150	86666
Matt Holliday	$13500000	156	86538
Justin Morneau	$11600000	135	85925
Kosuke Fukudome	$12500000	146	85616
Jermaine Dye	$11500000	141	81560
Paul Konerko	$12000000	152	78947
Joe Mauer	$10500000	138	76086
Chase Utley	$11285714	156	72344
Chipper Jones	$10000000	143	69930
Juan Pierre	$10000000	145	68965
Mike Cameron	$10000000	149	67114
Aaron Rowand	$9600000	144	66666

1. This is a really good way to visualize how much money A-Rod makes and how much the Yankees pay in general, but I digress.

1a. That's actually 51 names, but I had to include Lugo.

1c. LOOK AT WHAT A LOWLIFE ERIC BYRNES IS.

B. "Who's the Thievin' Creampuff, you bastard?"

I'm glad you asked. By sheer numbers it should be Chavez, but that dude is a fossil. Gas comes out of his pores. No one expected him to do anything this year, and frankly I'm shocked he appeared in 8 games. Did he just walk across the infield in a white Polyphonic Spree robe with talcum on his face?

That dude doesn't count.

When I was at Cardinals camp in March (which feels like ten years ago) I watched Glaus in the cage. I watched him horsing around in the locker room, and I listened to him tell ME that he was "feeling pretty good, but he was going to take it day by day."

Well that's a novel idea. But you didn't play much at all. And you make too much. And you're a huge creampuff.

TROY GLAUS YOU'RE A CROOK. 2009

P.S. If you wonder why the Cubs did so bad, look at that list.

Yes, But Will He Be Making Me An Offer I Can't Refuse?

2009-11-15T22:15:00Z

Just like last week I'll leave you with an inherently hysterical image. This time it's courtesy of the other fearless leader, Kris, who noticed that there was something rather unusual about Todd Helton's Baseball-Reference page, hastily screen-grabbed with terrible MS Paint above. Click to embiggen...

I suppose this nickname inspires more fear than had they named him after that character on Scrubs. However, it does little to alleviate the problem of a rapidly growing pile of horrible nomenclatures emanating from Colorado.

Matt Holliday Scorns Your "Sustainability"

2009-11-15T13:35:00Z

Matt Holliday is really quite good at this thing called "baseball." Attempts to catch meaningful fly balls with his taint aside, the dude can flat out hit. Yes, I am being Captain Obvious, but I feel it's a necessary frame of reference to begin eviscerating myself for a mistake I made. In this post in my other domain, I argue that if the Yankees were to pursue a free agent outfielder, it should be Bay and not Holliday because of roster flexibility down the road. I still maintain that to be true, but in a moment of stupidity, I rather ham-handedly say that Matt Holliday's time in Oakland was "underwhelming" and a poor indicator of his ability to hit in the AL.

I did some digging and was even angrier at myself because his 120 OPS+ in white and green is nothing to sneeze at. If anything, I allowed myself to be blinded by his unusually low BA, and how monstrous his return to the NL was. I am sorry, Matt Holliday.

I mention being blinded by his batting average because, of course, as I am often wont to do when looking at stats, I started considering a lot of the numbers on the page and noticed a larger trend: Holliday's BABIP has been consistently high throughout his career. Save for his brief tenure in Oakland, it has never been below .330. It's no wonder that the dip to .315 on balls in play he saw in Oakland was mirrored by his substantially lower average. After more digging, I noticed something else about Holliday's tenure with the Athletics: his swing percentages were substantially lower than some of his best years, especially on offerings in the zone that a good hitter like him would probably deliver on. As soon as he got back to the NL, he started swinging with a higher frequency and the results were truly impressive. In short, the Matt Holliday we were seeing in Oakland, was not really the same mashing outfielder we thought we knew.

Here's the thing though, a lot of times people will talk about certain BABIP figures as being "unsustainable," partly because of the sheer luck factor that is associated with the number. While Holliday certainly isn't the only one who is "guilty" of consistently boasting a high number in this category, do you think he can sustain this fuel for his impressive numbers, or is his new team, who will have shelled out a fat contract to get him, going to get closer to the .286 hitter instead of the .300+ hitter?

Whither The Love For Mike Cameron?

2009-11-14T12:20:00Z

I was perusing the SI.com archives from Jon Heyman (aka The Boras Propaganda Machine) and found myself re-reading his nominations for the top 20 MLB free agents going into 2010. The names you'd expect were all featured about where they should have been, but one name struck me as conspicuously absent: Mike Cameron. I whined about Cameron not getting a meaningless Gold Glove in the comments a few nights back, but I really am surprised the guy isn't getting more love as a short-term, cost-effective free agent option because that's exactly what he is.

Yes, Mike Cameron will be 37 years old in the 2010 season, but what he did as a 36 year old in 2009 cannot be understated: 24 HR, .346 wOBA, 111 OPS+, .202 ISO, and he played a stellar defense (to the tune of a 10.3 UZR/150) despite being "aged" by most modern baseball standards. What's not to like about that? Sure, he's no Franklin Gutierrez, but then again, few people are. And remember, before there was Franklin Gutierrez becoming the veritable death of any flying object, there was Mike Cameron doing the exact same thing.

I think part of the reason why I'm so perturbed by Heyman's lack of candor for Mike Cameron stems from the fact that he does give Rick Ankiel an "honorable mention" after his list. Really? He of the .288 wOBA? Not to mention his defensive abilities are nowhere near Cameron's. Saying that Ankiel has "fall down range" might be a bit generous. In other words, Rick Ankiel wishes he was Mike Cameron.

The rumors have it that Cameron is seeking a one year deal for about $7-8 million. Considering he was a 4.0+ WAR player and "worth" over $18 million in production for the Brewers each of these past two seasons, there would hopefully be many a smart GM leaping at the chance to add this man to his team. Let's see if the fella starts getting some love.

State With Huge Mall Brings You Ballpark That Feels Like Huge Mall

2009-11-13T19:40:00Z

Come on along with Dave Lee of WCCO Radio as he takes you on a personal tour of the Minnesota Twins' new ballpark, Target Field! Open air baseball in Minneapolis? Sure!

Seats that hang over the playing field? Obstructed views in the right field seats? A Budweiser party deck? These things sound like planning mistakes to me.

Radiant heaters? Ash wood back seats? Pork chop on a stick? Sign me up, now you're talking a ballpark with character!

For a more folksy, genteel tour of the park without any of that newfangled video, Minnesota Public Radio has got you covered.