It’s frequently the case that the human interest-type stories one encounters are just naked attempts on the part of the news outlet in question to generate pathos and manipulate readerly emotions.

Other times, it happens that real life conspires to produce authentic instances of humans behaving well.

Conor Glassey’s story from today’s Baseball America represents the latter case.

In said story, Glassey introduces us to Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter, who literally gave a kidney to a freshman on his team, Kevin Jordan, after the latter had developed a rare illness affecting the organ.

Glassey writes:

Jordan moved from his hometown of Columbus, Ga., to Winston-Salem, N.C., for his freshman year in August. But two days before classes began, another doctor’s visit revealed his kidney function was down to 8 percent and a transplant was recommended as soon as possible.

When medical testing of Jordan’s family did not yield a good match, Walter stepped up to the plate to undergo the compatibility-testing process. The entire process took five weeks and the anxiety of not knowing what would happen was more stressful than deciding to start the process in the first place, Walter said.

Walter said that as soon as he had the support of his family, Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman and his team, donating a kidney to Jordan was a “no-brainer decision.”

“I would do anything to help any one of my players or any of my family members—anything in my power to help them have a better quality of life is something that I want to do,” Walter said. “Maybe it’s something as little as helping mentor them in their academic pursuits, or helping them choose a major, or something of a greater magnitude like this. My number one priorities in life are my family and my team and I’ll do anything to help any one of those people.”

Obviously, we can’t speak to Walter’s life in toto, but so far as conspicuous acts of generosity go, this is very clearly one of them.

More news like this, please!

H/T: Bad Badler

For those who are unaware, residents of Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood awoke this morning to find that a statue of broadcasting legend and famous drunk person Harry Caray had been tagged under cover of darkest night.

First off, let it be noted that this may or may not represent a case of real-live irony (I’m not very good at telling), as much of Caray’s commentary was of a similar level of coherence as the message his statue now bears.

Second of all, let it be stated immediately that the author has no intention of taking the high road with regard to this situation. I have no idea as to the whereabout of this high road and can find no evidence that Metro Transit of Madison, Wisconsin, offers access to said road. Which is to say: I am not outraged that someone has chosen to besmirch Caray or the Cubs or anything like that.

Rather, the real crime here is not the act of vandalism itself, but rather the manner in which said vandalism has been borne out. It’s obvious from the visual evidence that our pranksters have acted quickly and largely without a plan. While the Cubs have been tasked with physical damages and must clean the statue now, the greatest damage is to White Sox fans as a whole, who must wear a collective yoke of shame for this middling attempt at public mockery.

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I’m skeptical of anyone who’s pointed his or her (but, really, mostly his) internet browser to this site but somehow decides he doesn’t have two minutes to watch Mr. Bradley Woodrum’s new video on LOB%.

When you talk about this video, you’re talking about a video that has pan flute-sounding background music, that features a pretty accurate rendering of famous Bermudan Sidney Ponson, and which, perhaps most notably, reveals the true identity of sabermetrical patriarch Tom Tango.

Other thing: don’t neglect to note that this video has also been preserved for all time in Mr. Steve Slowinski’s Saber Library, a project designed to hold you close as your traverse the wilds of sabermetrica.

In just a short amount of time, NotGraphs has distinguished itself for its heady content and hard-hitting reportage.

Now’s your opportunity to participate in this phenomenon that no one in particular is describing as “the most important thing there is.”

“How?” you ask. Keep reading!

The advent of The Year 2011 in Baseball brings with it a litter of baseball annuals and other published materials of the print and electronic variety. We at NotGraphs are interested in reading and shamelessly promoting such items under the guise of a “review.” But before we do that, we need you to send us this stuff for free.

The ways of contacting us are manifold — and many are unrepeatable in mixed company — but the most efficient way is by emailing us at not+tips@fangraphs.com with information about you, your finely crafted product, and other relevant information. We will almost definitely reply without delay. We will almost definitely want your free stuff.

When it comes to child-rearing I (a) have no first-hand experience whatsoever but (b) possess an inordinate number of opinions on how strangers could be doing it better. Yes, I’m aware that this is an unattractive combination — one quite hostile to people who’re tasked with the responsibility of raising the leaders of tomorrow. And, yes, I’m definitely about to elaborate on this most indefensible of positions.

Particularly, I’d like to address the pang of hurt that manifests itself in my soul when I read press releases with headlines like this one (courtesy of the Seattle Mariners)

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I’m not sure that I ever considered it possible, until this moment, to feel something like unbridled joy while gazing upon the hirsute visage of Mr. Darrell Porter. But that’s what’s happening this second. And this next second. And now this one, too.

And it can happen to you, bespectacled reader, just by following my seven easy steps to reaching your full potential looking at the images I’ve embedded after the jump.

What you’ll see are paintings by Derek Erdman, a person who, if we’re in the habit of trusting Wikipedia, is a Seattle-based painter and contributes to that city’s generally excellent alternative weekly The Stranger.

All of the following images are stolen shamelessly from Mr. Erdman’s website, where they (i.e. the paintings) are available for what are sometimes very reasonable prices.

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What you see in this image here (which you should right click and open in a new window for intimate viewing) is a selection from Baseball-Reference’s draft database thing. Specifically, it’s a selection from the second round of the 1971 amateur draft — a round in which generational baseball talents George Brett (91.6 fWAR) and Mike Schmidt (110.6 fWAR) were drafted one after the other.

FanGraphs Contributor and Ace of Database Jeff Zimmerman sent this to me and asked the question, “Are there any other HOFers drafted back to back?” To which question I replied both “I don’t know” and “I have zero of the skills required to find out such a thing.”

Luckily, NotGraphs isn’t about “knowing” “facts.” It’s about embedding photos and then decorating them with spirited prose.

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I have definitely attended SABR meetings before — and even made the acquaintance of a certain National Baseball Editor at one such event — but, owing to a lethal cocktail of poverty and sloth, have never found myself making the commitment to join this most peculiar of fraternities until just recently.

While I’ll share my own experiences with the Society momentarily, here are the official benefits of membership per the SABR website:

• SABR publications, including Baseball Research Journal, The National Pastime, and the SABR Bulletin
• An online membership directory to help you find other members with your interests
• Eligibility to participate in SABR research committees
• SABR lending library
• Eligibility to participate in SABR-L, called by some the “most intelligent general baseball list on the web
• Access SABR Research Exchange
• Access to SABR’s online encyclopedia
• Member discount on annual convention registration
• Regional chapter meetings
• The fun of being part of an international community of baseball fans of all types

As I’m sure is not particularly shocking, some of these things will be more relevant/interesting to one’s experience of the game than others.

What I can say is that, in my week or so of membership, I’ve already used the directory to good effect, having contacted — and been replied to almost immediately — by the co-chairs of the Scouts committee, James Sandoval (who also works as a scout for the Twins) and Rod Nelson. Those connections have already proved quite valuable.

As Justin Bopp of Beyond the Boxscore noted quite recently, the SABR experience is certainly not one saturated in advanced statistics — quite to the contrary, in fact, as most of the presentations I’ve observed have concerned the history of the game more than anything else.

One issue with membership, certainly, is the cost. It’s $65.00 annually for American adults and $45.00 for seniors and people under 30 (a benefit of which I’m no longer qualified to take advantage), which might be expensive for those with only a casual interest in the sport. Whether as a result of the cost or not, meetings are mostly populated by a slightly older crowd — say, 45 and above. I’ll add immediately, however, that I was always treated warmly, and perhaps even benefited from my relative youth.

Earlier today, Full-Time Employee Dave Cameron announced that FanGraphs will be hosting not one butbutbut two live events in Phoenix, Arizona — on March 11th and 12th, respectively.

While Cameron’s notice surely gives a basic sense of what to expect, I thought I might elaborate on some other notable events that are sure to occur as the weekend unfolds.

Here are they are, in no particular order:

• Eno Sarris will not once be seen in the same room as Malcolm Gladwell. This, of course, has less to do with their physical resemblance and way more to do with how Macolm Gladwell will actually just be swimming in a pile of money in some gigantic New York loft apartment.

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News from the internet reveals that the Alberta Clipper which descended last night upon the Upper-ish Midwest, has wreaked havoc upon damaged one thing at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Regard, courtesy of the Associated Press:

CHICAGO (AP) — Wrigley Field has been damaged by a severe storm that caused tiles to fall from the top of the press box at the 97-year-old ballpark.

Emergency Management spokesman Roderick Drew says high winds from the snowstorm battering Chicago on Tuesday night sent the tiles flying. Two streets near the Chicago Cubs’ famous stadium were closed to cars and pedestrians.

[…]

Drew says high winds were keeping maintenance crews from repairing the tiles. He says crews from the city’s building department were also on the site monitoring the situation.

Unfortunately, for Cubs fans, Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome were not affected in any way by the storm.