This and That

I have always thought that players stood too close to a batter at the plate, while waiting in the general vicinity the on deck circle. This is a sad reason why it can be very dangerous. Just think how big a story it would be if it was a superstar player hurt in this manner. I don't think there needs to be any kind of new rule (or new found after the fact enforcement of the rule if it does exist) to prohibit on deck batters from creeping too close. Common sense should hopefully make sure something as awful as this doesn't happen again. [When I played baseball in high school, one of my friends was hitting in the batting cage and he fouled a ball up and off of his own face!! It left a pretty decent welt on his cheek. It was such an odd angle for a foul ball. Has anyone else ever heard or seen that happen?]

I have to admit the recent mini-debates on ESPN.com comparing certain players head to head has been pretty entertaining. (As usual the Neyer part was my favorite) Better than a lot of the fluff ESPN.com has on there. I know they weren't an extensive analysis by any means but the chats were engaging reading I thought. Even though I know it means nothing, the fan side of me was pretty glad to see Joba win out over Buchholz, if only for The Pride of the Yankees. I am looking forward to seeing both young men pitch this upcoming season. Even though the odds of this happening are just about zero, the chance that Hughes and Joba could be potential 1-2 punch, a la Maddux and Glavine or some duo like that, for the next ten years in the Bronx has me very excited. Certainly the best young pitchers the Yankees have had since I've been old enough to know any better. But if they don't pan out, at least they still have this guy.

I found this after being referred by Neyer. I particularly found the "All star baseball" graphs to be pretty interesting. Once I started blogging, I have made a point to seek out more "amateurs" sports writing and there is certainly a wealth of excellent reading out there. I almost wonder why any serious baseball fan would want to read the work of most of the "professional" writers other than to mock and ridicule them. (I know this isn't nice, and it's a disservice to the good writers, but in my opinion there is no excuse for some of the garbage the bad writers put out)