It pays to be scrappy!

"In January of 1971, the Fordham University Rams played a basketball game against the University of Massachusetts Redmen. The game was in Amherst, at the legendary arena known as the Cage, where the Redmen hadn’t lost since December of 1969. Their record was 11–1. The Redmen’s star was none other than Julius Erving—Dr. J. The UMass team was very, very good. Fordham, by contrast, was a team of scrappy kids from the Bronx and Brooklyn."

And guess who won? In last week's New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell takes a look at the ways in which underdogs - the scrappy teams - exploit conventions and win. I'm not a Gladwell fan, but this is a good read.

Making Pitchers Pay

The other night I tuned into the Dodgers-Padres game to follow Randy Wolf, and basically see if one of my last three starters could get one quality start between them (they couldn't, and they can't). When the Padres' David Eckstein came to bat, Charlie Steiner kept gushing about how Eckstein 'just made other pitchers pay,' and all 'with his winning ways.' He couldn't sing his praises loud enough, and just stopped short of calling him the team's most valuable player.

Eckstein's numbers on the year? .261/.343/.359, with 0 HRs and 6 RBI. David Eckstein, making major league pitchers pay since 2001.

Nails! The Musical

Perhaps some of you read this New Yorker profile of Lenny Dykstra last year, in which we catch up with the ex-ballplayer flying in private jets, making a killing on the stock market, and starting up his own niche magazine geared towards extremely wealthy athletes. Well, it seems that Lenny doesn't have the business acumen that we were led to believe. This week, ESPN takes a closer look at Lenny's empire and things aren't so rosy. He's knee-deep in debt, mired in lawsuits, and nearly his whole family has turned against him. As Lenny says, "It's about living the dream, bro."
(Yes, that's Jim "Mad Money!" Cramer in the photo with Nails.)

MLB Player Blogs

I present to you Adam's new favorite blog: The Official Blog of Jeff Francoeur.

A couple of years ago I thought it might be fun to track all of the blogs written by MLB players. Sadly, there were only a handful of players who blogged, and those who did posted infrequently. Curt Shilling is probably the most prolific, but Hunter Pence, Jay Bruce, and Dontrelle Willis updated their blogs sporadically. (Willis was actually my favorite blogger - not quite Gilbert Arenas entertaining, but good.) These days, Pence seems to have quit, Willis is focused on learning to pitch again and hasn't blogged in a year, and Bruce's last update was in February.

But 2009 is a new year, and Francoeur seems to be part of a new wave of player bloggers/twitterers. Nick Swisher tweets regularly (after pitching on Monday, he wrote, "My arm is killing me! hahahahaha"), as does Chien Ming-Wang (last post: "Preparing for my first start of '09 season. I am very excited!" Poor Chien), and Barry Zito (who asked yesterday, "In what year will they consider Radiohead's OK Computer a classic? I'm glad Barry has the balls to ask this). Other Twitterers include C.C. Sabathia, Brian Wilson, C.J. Wilson, Justin Morneau, and Chad Durbin. M's pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith maintains a pretty candid blog. And is anybody surprised that Alyssa Milano is on Twitter?

Do you know of any other player blogs out there? Let's get a list together.

Jackie Robinson Day, diversity, and MLB

Larry Stone, on his Seattle Times blog, writes about the lack of African Americans in MLB. The Dodgers have the most African Americans (seven), while the Red Sox have the least (zero). Here's the entire list (based on opening day rosters):

Seven - Los Angeles Dodgers: C Russell Martin, RHP James McDonald, RHP Cory Wade, 1B James Loney, 2B Orlando Hudson, OF Matt Kemp, OF Juan Pierre.

Five - Los Angeles Angels: OF Torii Hunter, OF Chone Figgins, 2B Howie Kendrick, LHP Darren Oliver, OF Gary Matthews Jr.

Four - Milwaukee: 1B Prince Fielder, 2B Rickie Weeks, 3B Bill Hall, CF Mike Cameron; Pittsburgh: LHP Donnie Veal, RHP Ian Snell, OF Craig Monroe, OF Nyjer Morgan; Arizona: 1B Tony Clark, RP Tom Gordon (DL), OF Justin Upton, OF Chris Young; Washington: OF Lastings Milledge, OF Elijah Dukes, OF Willie Harris, 1B Dmitri Young (DL); Detroit: RHP Edwin Jackson, DH Marcus Thames, CF Curtis Granderson, LHP Dontrelle Willis (DL); Cincinnati: 2B Brandon Phillips, LHP Arthur Rhodes, INF Jerry Hairston Jr., OF Chris Dickerson.

Three - San Francisco: OF Randy Winn, OF Fred Lewis, SS Emmanuel Burris; Houston: RHP LaTroy Hawkins, CF Michael Bourn, LHP Wesley Wright; San Diego: OF Cliff Floyd, OF-INF Scott Hairston, OF Jody Gerut; Chicago Cubs: 1B Derrick Lee, OF Joey Gathright, OF Milton Bradley;

Two - Minnesota: OF Delmon Young, OF Denard Span; Chicago White Sox: OF Jermaine Dye, OF Dewayne Wise; Cleveland: OF Ben Francisco, OF Grady Sizemore; Tampa Bay: OF B.J. Upton, OF Carl Crawford; Baltimore: OF Adam Jones, SS Robert Andino, Philadelphia: 1B Ryan Howard, SS Jimmy Rollins; New York Yankees: SS Derek Jeter, LHP CC Sabathia; New York Mets: OF Marlon Anderson, OF Gary Sheffield.

One - Kansas City: OF Coco Crisp; Florida: OF Cameron Maybin; Atlanta: OF Garret Anderson; Colorado: OF Dexter Fowler; Seattle: OF Ken Griffey Jr.; Toronto: OF Vernon Wells; Oakland: OF Rajai Davis; St. Louis: INF Joe Thurston; Texas: OF Marlon Byrd.

None: Boston.

The whole piece is well worth your time.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution

An amusing jab at my hometown's local sportswriters.

Harry Kalas, 1936-2009

I don't know most of you beyond those introductory emails, but I think that its safe to assume that I'm the only Phillies fan here. That being said I'm only now truly coming to terms with the tremendous loss of Harry Kalas. I was travelling yesterday, so I wasn't in Philly to hear the news, but I DVR'd yesterday's game. I tried watching this morning, knowing that Harry the K was not going to be coming through speakers, but not knowing how I would react to it. I didn't make it out of the second inning. That was pretty much the official end of my childhood. His voice got me through long drives (the Phillies flagship station had one of the biggest coverage areas of any team's in the country), came out of the radio I tucked under my pillow at night, and always sounded the same, whether the Phillies were in first or last (which was most of my childhood).

I had the great pleasure of meeting him once, when I was in high school. When I introduced myself to him, he repeated my name back to me, "Ro-dol-fo Fer-nan-dez", knowing, without me saying another word, that was exactly what I wanted to hear. My name had never sounded so good and it was one of the great thrills of my life. I can say, with a pretty high degree of certainty, that I would not be the passionate baseball fan I am today without Harry K. and probably wouldn't be in this fantasy league, typing this post, or having the chance to share a memory or two with a group of complete strangers who I think might just 'get it'. Baseball is a beautiful game, made more so by artists like Allen, Scully, Harwell, Brennaman, Buck and Harry Kalas. He will be missed. I'm just glad I got to see this before he left us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4IHefE3xgY

Performan Can Hurt.... Ummm, yeah.

I've never been much of a Jimmy Rollins fan, but his recent ad for Dick's leaves me in stitches. Now I kinda wish I drafted him.

Nick Adenhart, 1986-2009

Angels rookie right-hander Nick Adenhart died early Thursday morning in a car accident in Fullerton, Calif., a family member told television station WHAG, located in the pitcher's native Maryland. More.

Joe Posnanski: An Interview With Michael Schur

One of the best baseball bloggers interviews one of the best retired baseball bloggers. I'd happily give up Parks and Recreation and/or The Office for more FJM. Long live Fremulon Insurance!

Q: Do you like what Billy Beane is doing or are you, like me, confused by it all but certain that he must know better than we do?

Schur: The latter. I love Billy Beane. The only mistake he has ever made was writing that braggy book about himself, and how he’s so good at computers.

Do you know these people?

"Erica and Rich Halverson aren't just spending the summer running their fantasy baseball teams.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professors are also studying fantasy leagues..."

http://www.news.wisc.edu/13936

I know it's a couple of years old, but one of the guys in my other league just sent this to me.

"I'm dangerous again," he said, flashing a toothy grin.

(Gwinnett Daily Post)
ATLANTA - Jeff Francoeur had back-to-back birdies while playing a round of golf with Tiger Woods and caught a 6-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass just before a Grapefruit League game against Houston...
____

And he also hit a home run tonight. So...what's the over-under on how long it takes before someone grabs Frenchy? Also, how many home runs does Francoeur have to hit in a week before Adam takes the bait? I vote for eight. If Jeff Francoeur hits eight home runs in a week, hello, Newman. These are the questions that I'm looking forward to answering now that the season is underway.

*Wouldn't it be awesome if his wife was wearing a Red Sox shirt?

Indefensible

As Adam can tell you, I'm usually willing to defend just about anything/everything Philadelphia (or at least try to put it in some sort of context that makes it seem more favorable), but even I have my limits, i.e. Eagles' fans who harass stadium workers on golf carts. I know it seems subtle and they were only going to wear them tonight, but those uniforms were awful. These pictures don't really do them justice. Its not even so much the gold trim. All offseason you heard about the players and coaches 'turning the page' on last year and the World Series. This doesn't seem like the kind of thing that type of team would do. I guess this kind of stuff comes just comes with the territory, but I'm really starting to get the whole championship hangover thing (keep in mind this is the first championship of my life).

Trade Needs / Players Available

I'm not sure exactly how this will work since this is the first time I've been involved with a blog affiliated with a fantasy league. Anyway, I thought it might be fruitful to start a separate thread for all posts regarding team needs and players who are "on the block." This way we will avoid a separate post each time a team wants to advertise.

Joe Morgan time!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, they add Steve Phillips to the Sunday Night Baseball team. The game hasn't even started and I already have a headache.

Predictions

I'm heading to Vegas:


AL East
NY Yankees - all that money has to payoff this year, right?
Boston Red Sox* - with a healthy Beckett, they take the Yanks down to the wire.
Tampa Bay Rays - so much to love about them, but I think they come back to earth a little.
Baltimore Orioles - just not enough pitching
Toronto Blue Jays - For his own sake, I hope Roy Halladay is traded someday.

AL Central
Cleveland Indians - they can mash, when they're healthy, but is Travis Hafner himself again?
Minnesota Twins - I'm convinced that they'll be competitive forever.
Detroit Tigers - last year was an aberration, but they still have big holes in the bullpen.
Chicago White Sox - I bet before the end of the year Ozzie's going to wish he had Vasquez back.
Kansas City Royals - not yet

AL West
LA Angels of Anaheim - Mike Scioscia will make it work
Oakland Athletics - they'll push the Angels. At least until they trade Holliday.
Texas Rangers - same old story, they'll score 900 runs and give up 950.
Seattle Mariners - maybe this year they'll only lose 95.

MVP: Grady Sizemore - THE reason I have Cleveland winning their division
CY: Roy Halladay - how many games would he win if he pitched for the Yankees?
ROY: Matt Wieters - I know he just got sent down, but he'll be back, sooner rather than later.

NL East
Philadelphia Phillies - Sue me, I'm a homer.
NY Mets* - it'll come down to the last weekend again. I've got a bad feeling about K-Rod.
Atlanta Braves - Chipper has to stay healthy, but either way, they're much better than last year.
Florida Marlins - you never know what you're gonna get, but they'll cause trouble, as usual.
Washington Nationals - will anyone ever go to watch this franchise play?

NL Central
Chicago Cubs - Kevin Gregg is the closer?
St Louis Cardinals - any team with Pujols is bound to be at least competitive
Cincinnati Reds - could be the sleeper in the NL. Even without Dunn, they'll rake.
Milwaukee Brewers - No C.C., no playoffs.
Pittsburgh Pirates - so sad that they can't put a quality product in that beautiful park.
Houston Astros - Ed Wade.

NL West
LA Dodgers - Manny being Manny for the whole season.
Arizona Diamondbacks - so young, so many strikeouts; on both sides
San Francisco Giants - not the team you want to run into if you're not hitting well
Colorado Rockies - they need some of those young pitchers to put it together for a full season.
San Diego Padres - so long, Jake.

MVP: Albert Pujols - not very creative, but it's gotta be at least even money
CY: Tim Lincecum - I'm sick of the commercials, but he can bring it
ROY: Jason Motte - 35 saves (and not just because he's on my squad)

Welcome to Scrappy Nation

So I had been thinking of having an excuse to set up a little blog for a while now and this fantasy baseball league may be just that excuse. I figured we could all use another place to go to waste time talking baseball, about other fantasy leagues, discussing possible trades, etc. without having to clog our inboxes or the league message board. I'll send you a link so that you can all sign on to post as well. I really do have too much time on my hands.