Jack Moore is currently working a on post about the Yankees’ trade of A.J. Burnett to the Pittsburgh Pirates. This is his first draft, which is clickable for the purposes of embiggening.
Founder David Appelman’s wife, who possesses flawless (a) skin and (b) taste, bought 25 of these shirts — which make reference to a certain, famous chapter in this site’s annals — for her husband. They (i.e. the shirts) may or may not have been designed by the present author and Eno Sarris.
I can’t guarantee that it’ll work, but if this is something about which you’d be interested in acquiring in exchange for American currency, you might consider writing your senator. Or, alternatively, making note of same in the comments section.
Brayan Pena expresses the gratitude of millions.
I don’t know what the coverage of baseball was like last night for those of you in the U.S. of A., but up here in the Great White North sports coverage needs a bit of help with priorities. They were talking about games in Florida, Maryland, and other sordid little burgs, but hardly mentioned the story they should have led with: Bruce Chen’s eight innings of shutout ball (somehow matched by Carl Pavano’s nine) in Minnesota on an emotional night that might have been Chen’s last game in a Royals uniform.
We are all reeling from the emotional night at Target Field, but those who may have happened upon one of my FanGraphs chats know that this is particularly difficult for me. While I celebrate the greatness that is Chen, it is time to bid the meme him farewell.
I wrote a book that some people — people not even related to me — think is pretty good. That book [deep breath], Reggie Jackson: The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball’s Mr. October, is now available in trade paperback at championship retailers everywhere. Just look at it!
If you’ve previously purchased and enjoyed the the boundless charms of the hardcover edition, please know that this one is much more ergonomic and comfortable. But that’s not all! Here’s an interview with me about said book, which, I may have mentioned, is available for purchase.
In the timeless words of the Video Professor, “Please try my product.” In fact, if you purchase this book, then I’ll come to your house, place of business or favorite darkened boulevard and sign it for you!*
*I will almost certainly not do this. But I do love all of you.
Today I have something in common with the idle rich. I am manifestly not rich, but I am now quite, quite idle. That’s because yesterday, after nine years of service — service that gave off every appearance of being loyal — FOXSports.com let me go. It was a budgetary decision, which allows me to fall on the less displeasing end of the somewhat blurry laid off/fired continuum. So that’s something. Right?
Anyhow, I’m not going to sit here and meow on and on about my grim circumstances. Plenty of people are much worse off, and I have cabinets full of canned goods, SSRIs and mind-altering spirits. I’ll be fine. Rather, I’d like to reflect upon some positives that have arisen from my new, blighted condition. To be sure, I have some regrets right now — no longer working with some terrific editors over at FOX is chief among them — but some things sustain me …
Above all, I carry with me no hard feelings, and I still, in my own estimation, number among the lucky bastards of this world. And as with all things in life, an Internet meme provides guiding wisdom …
Thank you for listening.
If you’re at all like me, reader, you find yourself feeling underrepresented in many of the heated political debates this country is always seeming to have.
Health care? Bah! Immigration? Double-bah! The economy? Excuse me while I fall asleep!
It’s almost like baseball nerds don’t even have a voice anymore!
Well, thanks to a combination of Free Time™ and Paint.NET, now we do — as NotGraphs presents Co-Opted Political Slogans.
For our first (and, very likely, last) Co-Opted Political Slogan, we present “These Colors Don’t Run.” Featuring FanGraphs’ trademark beige and green, “These Colors Don’t Run” is a great way to have your voice heard without even opening your mouth!
Perfect for anything from large, rhetoric-filled rallies to totally chill backyard BBQs, “These Colors Don’t Run” lets everyone know that you’ve studied linear weights pretty effing closely, thank you, and you know the break-even point for stolen bases when you see it.
Made from 100% Great Idea, “These Colors Don’t Run” will never shrink, fade, or moan in a really inappropriate way.
So buy “These Colors Don’t Run” now — and let everyone know all your political beliefs instantly!
In case you missed it, reader, you’ll be pleased to discover that, on this past Friday’s edition of Pardon the Interruption, America’s favorite orange-faced sportswriter Tony Kornheiser made reference to our fair site — and, specifically, to a post by our man Dave Cameron — during a segment on uber-prospect Bryce Harper.
Though modesty prevents us from sharing the entire segment, I can inform you that co-host Michael Wilbon’s reaction would best be described as “totally incredulous.”
As for Tony Reali, his reaction may or may not become the lyrics to The Official Baseball-Nerd Rally Song.
Regard:
Important American Filmmaker (and occasional FanGraphs contributor, turns out) has turned his attention ever so briefly away from DIPS theory and towards the always wholesome field of advertising.
The product he’s promoting? Actually, it’s The Process Report 2011, discussed by our own Jackie Moore in these pages last week.
Little else to add from me — except that I’ve watched the video and have suffered no lesions or other ill effects as a direct result.
So Kathy Lyford, my gifted and patient editor over at FOXSports.com (much like Yahoo!’s exclamation mark, the caps-locked FOX is a marketing flourish without which the business model could not survive) has undertaken the yeoman’s toil (yeowoman’s toil?) of putting together galleries of every mascot, ballpark and signature concession in MLB.
And now we shall crowdsource … What’s the best mascot? What’s your favorite ballpark? Delectable?
As for moi, you can probably guess from the photo above that I’m quite fond of the Oriole Bird. While Fredbird will always have my greater, more profound loyalties, Oriole Bird gets this nod. This is because I’ve always admired birds who walk upright, have no wings, and wear caps, stirrups and clown-cleats. He was also outstanding in season five of “The Wire.”
Ballyard? PNC without question. Concession? Wholesome, nutritious alcohol.
And what of you, handsome readers?
Mankind has often wondered aloud — or in the form of modern epic poems — where the line is exactly between self-promotion and community service. This post seeks to ride that line as one might a 1950 Triumph 6T Thunderbird motorcycle — that is, very stylishly and with seemingly no effort.
The reader might be aware that we at FanGraphs recently released our preseason fantasy guide, The Second Opinion. Given its low price-point and white-hot content, the Second Opinion itself is more or less a gift to humanity.
The reader might also be aware that, unlike last year, we neglected (at first!) to provide a PDF version of same. Reader demand, however, has prompted the Dark Overlord not only to provide a PDF download, but to suggest that a more satisfyingly formatted one might be available next year.
On its own a PDF can be slightly unwieldy — good for printing, certainly, and maybe searching, but not necessarily ideal for reading. However, with iBooks, users of the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch can import the Second Opinion PDF into a considerably more friendly “reader” format. Search functionality also remains available in this form, too, allowing readers to access all player-specific information (in preparation for — or even during, I suppose — a fantasy draft). Furthermore, links to FanGraphs player pages remain active, in the event that readers require deeper statistical information on a player.
So, uh, “Ta-da!” is what I mean to say about all this. And also maybe “What a country!!!”
